wooden framework

Two weeks in already, time is flying and I’m partly wishing that I could stay here for ages and see this project advance much further than I will be able too. Mainly though, I am excited to be getting closer and closer to the magic date when my own project can start in earnest.

It’s great to be working on a project with a good team of knowledgeable people who know what they are doing, with plans to be followed and a decent amount of organisation.  The foundations are already in place, we took off the formwork last week and since then have been flat out building the five  wooden structures that will hold the weight of the building. 

foundations

 It’s been touch and go with the weather as its been cold and showery, but progress has been swift between the showers.  I am now becoming expert at using a router, a drill like machine that we are using for cutting notches in all the beams and rafters so that they hold together and for supporting the rest of the structure once it is in position.  Hopefully this will become clearer once the structure is upright and the next stage is underway.

We’ve spent the last ten days or so constructing five very similar structures, all slightly different, from massive lengths of timber.  The wood comes direct from the saw mill which, fortunately, is a stones throw from the building site, tree trunks are fed in at one end and our pieces, along with an impressive quantity of waste, comes out the other end, directly to where we are building the forms.  A lot of the offcuts are resized for planks and smaller posts, the rest is being rescued for building raised beds for the garden.

the sawmill

one of our beams

Our timbers of varying dimensions are then cut precisely, fitted together with varying joints and marked to ensure that they are complete before they are transported to the building site.  It involves a lot of maneuvering, sawing, cutting, planing and moving, just as I wanted, an opportunity to improve my carpentry skills, it’s great.  Everything is now done for this stage of the build.  

technical bits

even more technical bits

Next week the frames be transported, reassembled in site and lifted into position, bolted into position and then we’ll immediately see the outline framework of a new house.  It’s going to be an exciting week.

In the meantime, when the weather has been less kind, there’s been plenty to keep us occupied indoors.  Swaan and Bert are starting a new venture at the same time as building, to keep money coming in.  Making biscuits.  There’s a cute little building in the village that they’ve rented and turned into a ‘biscuiterie’ so we go there and get stuck into baking.  It’s a completely new project that’s been going for just a couple of weeks and a great opportunity get warm and dry out from time to time.  (the weather has turned much colder than it was a month ago, the usual upside down spring that were becoming accustomed to)

two frames nearing completion