There will be no food photos, look-at-this-sunset photos, or archaeology photos in this post. (Apologies if any of those are your thing.) Around here lately it’s all construction, all the time.
There will of course be some cat and dog photos. I am not a monster.
One section of the main beam in place
Previously we showed you the central spine of the building: a series of beams, sitting up on columns, that help to hold up the roof. These beams and posts were only half the story though. Another series of even bigger beams has to go up on top of the first one in order to form the ridge of the roof. The longest section is about 5.5 metres long, and getting all that wood up there was probably the toughest and scariest job we’ve done so far.
Main beam complete, plus a rare summer storm with rainbows
In the second photo you can see how the ridge beam looked once it was secured in place. You can also see that we get the occasional dramatic summer storm.
And from another angle it’s clear how close the building is to the pool. We’re hoping that will turn out to be a good thing as the roof itself, with its wide eaves, will provide some much-needed shade on the pool terrace in the late afternoons.
Sirem and Koray taking a break by the pool; ridge beam in the background
With the ridge beam up we were ready to start work on the roof, which meant a final big timber delivery. Here’s a stack of six-metre planks ready to be used as rafters.
Rafters delivered
The rafters need diagonal cuts on each end to get them to the right length, plus a “bird’s mouth” cut to make sure they sit nicely on the top rail of the wall framing. We’ve also been sanding the bits that are going to remain visible once the insulation and the ceiling panels go in — it would be a shame to hide all that nice wood behind a plain white ceiling.
Evening shot of the first few rafters installed
The roof structure starting to take shape
Of course Cezmi went up on the roof to inspect it
The roof isn’t finished yet, but it’s already made a big difference to the site. Even a partial roof provides a lot of shade and the rising summer temperatures are easier to bear now we can get out of the sun. The cats and dogs have noticed this too and are hanging around even more than usual.
Zeytin is always helpful
Cezmi takes a break from his supervisory role
Tea breaks are much more pleasant in the shade
It’s harvest time for wheat farmers in the area, so we’ve been buying straw bales while they’re cheap. So far we’re paying 9 lira, or about £2.15 per bale, delivered. (Apparently if you leave it too late in the year, the price goes up quite a lot.) The first batch was 80 bales that came up on the back of a tractor trailer, but we’re going to need about 500 in total for the building. And another 500 later for buildings two and three, but that’s a future problem.
Straw bales arriving
For now we’re storing the bales in what will one day be the cafe kitchen. You can see some ceiling joists in the top of the shot, as the kitchen will have a little storage loft above it.
Straw bales stored in the kitchen
Here’s a view from inside the cafe area, looking over at the doorway to the kitchen. Those two interior window structures on the right will eventually become the bar (a very important feature).
Looking across at the bales via the kitchen door and the bar
Sookie, mother of kittens, has taken to disappearing on mysterious multi-day journeys now that the weather is warm. She decided that sleeping on straw bales was a good enough reason to come home though. It’s always a relief to see her back safely.
Sookie returns
We decided on old-school wooden planks over OSB or plywood for the roof. One reason is that real wood will hold up better if there is ever a leak. Another is that sections like the verandah roof and under the eaves (where there won’t be any insulation or ceiling panels) will look a lot nicer in real wood. And the cost worked out about the same as OSB anyway.
Roof planks going on
Another view from the pool area
After all the rafters and planks are up, the next steps are gutters, waterproof membrane, and ceramic tiles, in that order. Then we can get to the fun part of stacking those straw bale walls.
Incredible, that you guys are just building that yourselves! So impressive! Is this something all Australians can just do, like Dutch people with bicycle riding? (I’ve heard rumors)
I hope you won’t get too many rare storms while the bales are out there!
And thanks for posting the animal photos!
Thanks! I don’t know the source of our absurd optimism that we could just build a hotel, just like that. Maybe my Australian childhood was part of the problem, sure. I also blame YouTube and Wikipedia for giving us just enough information to be a danger to ourselves and others. :)
And yes, you’re right, more rain storms would be a hassle right now. But we have some big sheets of plastic on standby to cover the bales in an emergency.
The animals would not have forgiven me if I did not post some photos of them.
It’s looking amazing. Just recently I saw a Grand Designs episode where they restored an old cow shed and used straw bales for interior walls. The completed project was great. Can’t wait to see more progress pictures as the straw bales go in.
Cheers, Anne. Straw bale walls are definitely the next big milestone after the roof is properly on. From looking at other people’s projects it seems to be a slightly strange effect, in that there’s straw all over the place while you’re building the wall, but after it’s all done and plastered nobody would know it was straw underneath. So lots of photos will be needed to record the process! :)
It looks like you know what you’re doing! Nice one. (Making it look like you know what you’re doing that is…) Very cool. Hope to see it in real life one day. x
Thanks — it continues to be a learning experience! :) And it would be great to see you and the family here one day: we will put some olives on the barbie for you.
Love, love, love. The whole structure is beautiful. x
We like it too, cheers. Thinking of just leaving it like this: who needs walls anyway? :)
Yeah what JP said. It is amazing what you’re achieving from just hard work, determination and youtube vids :)
But I think the biggest respect is for having the strength to follow your own path in the first place.
Thanks very much, Tim.
That looks amazing Jason – thats massive progress! The woodwork looks beautiful. well done!
Very kind! Come and see it up close soon!
It’s always so nice to see how much you are getting done. It looks fantastic. Lots of love.
Hi, Laura. (Sorry, didn’t check back and missed your comment until now.) Thanks very much — we’re really pleased and it feels more like a building now there’s a roof on it.