Work in progress

Wherever you are in the World there are three things people love to watch; a fire, running water and other people at work.

Ed. of Kilchoan Diary takes time off to inspect the work and advise

The old byre we are renovating is right on the roadside so we have also had free advice. In fact I gave a prize to the only person who didn’t tell me that the walls aren’t perpendicular. John Chaple, got a cabbage.

The byre has stayed in the same place for, we think 90 years, in the face of N. Atlantic gales and gusts of over 200km/hr so a bit of flexibility is essential, like Damascus steel it bends but doesn’t break.

Its only 50mm out of perpendicular.

The "Playboy Joiner" you can't keep him off the slopes

 After the battens are on,where the boards join, it needs a coat of preservative and then a spray with bituminous paint (tar) for weatherproofing and black goes well with a dark green roof.

It may also be possible to make it weasel, stoat, mink and pine marten proof if we concrete the edges of the base inside and cover the eaves ventilation with weldmesh. Its worth a try.

Over the year the stone base has been eroded so we'll build it up and concrete it.

Should be good for another 90 years.

By using re-cycled roofing sheets, caravan windows* and locally grown and milled timber the work has been done for less than the cost after grant if we had used new roofing sheets. 

*The caravan was destroyed by time and weather many years ago only the aluminum windows and the steel chassis remain. This is the best type of caravan.