Week nineteen on the Braid Hills house. Roof on, scaffold half down, and the first afternoon I could stand in the courtyard and feel the thing I drew two years ago: the wind going over the top.
Concrete
The last pour was the south wall, the one with the deep openings toward the hill. Board-marked, 350 mm, and the shutter carpenter has done something close to joinery with the board pattern around the window. We had one blow-hole the size of a fist at the base of the west wall, which is now a small stone inserted by the mason, and which the client has decided is a feature. I agree.
The courtyard walls
Whinstone, laid dry, from the quarry two miles down the road. The waller is a man of few words who arrived with a van of stone and a flask and has laid about four metres a day for a month. The walls are 1.8 m high, battered inward slightly so they lean into the wind, and they already look older than the house. That was the intention, but it is still a surprise to see it work.
Decisions made this fortnight
- The courtyard paving will be the same whin, sawn, laid on sand so it can be lifted for the drain.
- The internal doors go to full height. The joiner sighed; the rooms will be better for it.
- No downlights in the living room. A single line of tube lights in the concrete slot, as drawn, and floor lamps for the rest.
Next visit in a fortnight for the first-fix inspection. If the frost comes early I will find out whether the courtyard section works, and I will write it up either way.