Studio/Workshop Progress Report - Endless Details

Tony is a very helpful and energetic neighbour who seems to know everyone in our little town; he was therefore well-placed to co-ordinate an effort to dispose of the mountain of surplus straw bales stacked in the centre of the workshop. Thanks to his involvement, they were gone within a couple of hours once buyers had been found and a pickup date agreed upon. A convoy of local orchardists and gardeners descended on the workshop on the designated morning, and as I slid the bales down a ramp I'd hastily constructed out of one of the window openings facing the road, they were quickly loaded onto an assortment of trailers and tray-back vehicles before they were whisked off to new homes. The congestion I'd experienced for months was gone, and an unimpeded view from one end of the workshop to the other materialised as if by magic!

There's been a prodigious amount of work involved in stuffing gaps with loose straw -  either between adjacent straw bales, or between bales and adjoining timber posts - and in covering the posts that border door and window openings with wire mesh. There's a danger of cracks developing in the render due to differences in rates of expansion and contraction wherever different materials meet, and the wire mesh alleviates that concern to a large extent, much as rebar does in a concrete structure.

Because the double-glazed windows and doors are horrendously expensive, I've practiced avoidance behaviour over the past couple of months and have yet to commit myself to confirming the order. I've carefully measured the window and door openings a couple of times, and all that remains is to double-check my measurements against the overall dimensions provided on the manufacturer's quote one last time. I know I can't postpone this step much longer but it's still making me nervous!

One of the remaining tasks on the "to do" list is to build a timber structure above the top-most bales at the gable ends, stuff it with straw and cover it with wire mesh. Aside from that, there are any number of small, finicky jobs on the horizon as I inch towards the point at which I'll be ready to engage the rendering experts.

Eighteen months into this project, I find myself continually devising new mind games to give myself a jolt of enthusiasm and help persuade myself that I'm at least entering the home stretch; for example, I regularly remind myself that whatever small task I manage to complete on any given day constitutes progress, and is a positive step along the seemingly endless path to completion.

Cheers
Pete

Studio/Workshop Progress Report - Straw, and More Straw

Based on the lack of recent progress reports you could be forgiven for thinking that I've either lost interest or have decided to hibernate for the duration of our winter months. Neither is true, and although the pace has slowed a little due largely to other work commitments, I've accomplished a lot since my last post.

Installation of the roof in March was certainly a major milestone, and meant I was able at last to order the straw bales which form the walls, safe in the knowledge that they'd be shielded from the the weather.

The tarpaulins I erected around the perimeter of the building provide additional protection and have withstood some fierce thunderstorms that saw me nervously inspecting them for damage once the weather had abated. 

Here's a recent photo of her, decked out in her winter pyjamas.

With the tarps in place, the most noticeable change externally has been the installation of a rainwater tank which will service the needs of the bathroom as well as those of the surrounding trees, shrubs and vegetable plot.

Under the covers, the straw bale walls were erected quite quickly, but I'd definitely underestimated the work involved in constructing the timber framework that fills the gap between the top of the bale walls and the rafters above. As if this wasn't time-consuming enough, the remaining task was to surround this framework with wire mesh and pack it tightly with straw. As the photos below show, there's still some work to do to complete this aspect of the project.

The cost of transporting the straw bales was significant, and I adopted a cautious approach by ordering far more bales than I thought would be necessary for fear of requiring a second delivery. The supplier was very generous and loaded an extra 20 bales onto the semi-trailer free of charge. Needless to say, there's an enormous stack of spare bales occupying the workshop floor space. I'm almost at the point at which I'll know my remaining requirements with some certainty, and it will be a happy day when I can dispose of the surplus bales and my views of the interior spaces are unimpeded by the straw mountain.

Cheers

Pete

Studio/Workshop Progress Report - Framing Complete!

There have been some barriers and distractions over the past couple of months, and I haven't matched the rate of progress I would like to have achieved. Nevertheless, I'm pleased to report that the timber framework is finally complete.

As I've reached each goal over these past months I've felt a sense of accomplishment that's often been mixed with feelings of relief; this building project has been a solo effort so far, and I must admit that there have been some stages along the way that have become tedious as well as taxing in a physical sense. Nevertheless, it's been rewarding to have ticked each box on the "to do" list, and, having done so, given myself permission to come up for air long enough to reflect on what I've achieved. After a very brief respite, it's been time to square my shoulders and look ahead once more, anticipating the next set of logistical and physical hurdles.

More so than at any point previously, completing the timber framework marks a truly significant milestone that encompasses all of those mini milestones I've alluded to in the paragraph above. I can now look forward to engaging the professionals to install the roofing sheets, guttering and down-pipes, after which I'll finally be in a position to order the straw bales that will form the walls. It's tempting to think that at this point I'm entering the home stretch, but I'm old enough and wise enough to know better than that! 

Cheers
Pete