Roderick James Architects wanted us to build with Clay Blocks. An environmentally friendly material (clay), cleverly engineered with natural insulation and thermal mass, but very expensive. Mike Hope said that we could afford this system because it is so simple that we could lay the blocks ourselves. I could imagine that indeed, we could lay the blocks, but knowing when and how to stop seemed to be an entirely different and much more difficult problem. How to know when you’ve reached a door or a window and what you do when you get there, REALLY worried me. More
Tag Archives: @RJA_LLP
Carpenter Oak Magic @ Easterdown
Now you might think that Carpenter Oak magic at Easterdown is something to do with magic’ing up this gorgeous timber frame. Yes that’s part of it. But it doesn’t stop there, I’ve always thought that the guys from Carpenter Oak are ‘super’ men, but read on – you’ll believe a Carpenter can fly! More
Carpenter Oak, at the end of the day
Carpenter Oak were supposed to take three days to erect this frame. I reckon they will be ready to leave here at 11am tomorrow morning. They don’t hang around! More
Onward and upward
Getting off the ground
Showing me the ropes
Up in the air
Things are really moving here
All Falling into place
Log store starting Friday and Solar Panels will follow. SO exciting – Carpenter Oak have kindly emailed photos of the framing! OUR HOUSE! So good to see:
First Guest Drops in
It’s not ALL work at Easterdown. Our first visitor! More
Bits of progress
Looking Up!
Can it get busier?
No days off for us, unlike our neighbours with the steam engine!
I keep asking myself the above question. Trying not to stumble under massive irony – We have phone and internet at Easterdown, but at the cottage where we are staying someone accidentally put a chainsaw through the telephone line, so no internet/email/voip in the evenings. Tough to arrange stuff, but we’re still progressing –
On Top of the World
We are now out of West Acres but not quite at Easterdown. Up on the Brendon Hills, half a mile away from Easterdown. More
On the Ceilings
It’s a Sign
New Skills
Getting a move on
Flue in, floor and bathroom underway, all we need is a plumber….
We HAVE to move in soon, this Cabin is so lovely in the sunlight: More
Outside In
A Home
Dropped in to Easterdown today and suddenly it no longer looks a construction, it looks like a home More
Opening the front door
and 3 more days later…
Dropped in to Easterdown yesterday. Roof well underway and one roof light already installed. Really starting to look like a home. More
Did this really take 3 days?
Yes, it did. Well, two and a half, actually. This has to be the future. Self builders living in micro cabins, well insulated, beautiful, sustainable construction, and this becomes part of the final house. Plus we get to try out lighting, heating, electricity and cooking off grid and see what works and what doesn’t before we commit to the whole house. A microcosm of our future lifestyle. More
What a difference a week makes, 3 weeks and 3 days later
When I showed up this afternoon, Thursday, what did I see? More
What a difference a week makes (3 weeks later)
3 weeks later and Carpenter Oak bring the cabin to Easterdown. This transformation in 3 days is astounding. More
What a difference a week makes, (2 weeks later)
One week to go and Andrew Parkin has got the groundworks perfect. Less than 4mm height difference across those stones.
More
What a difference a week makes
Or I probably should say, 3 weeks. This has been an incredibly busy time. Click for photo diary of just how quick the house came down and the Cabin goes up. More
Fantastical Contraptions
Originally we approached Roderick James Architects asking if there was some way to get onto site quickly, but not have to make all of our decisions at once. Could we somehow build in phases? More