Timber framing as a career.

[Flyfisher]

Having seen your cottage, Rob, and your approach to the work needed, I'd say you've already got conservation in your soul. No doubt about it.

 

[middi]

Having seen your cottage, Rob, and your approach to the work needed, I'd say you've already got conservation in your soul. No doubt about it.

I agree with FF on his comments.

Nevertheless, Your approach to restoration is more suitable for grade I lsted properties or for repairs and restoration managed by English heritage.
Conservation and restoration in humble and mediocre status listed ( or non listed ) properties, needs a different approach, ie:- the need to conserve the structure and elevations with it's aesthetical appearance must be respected but judicious applications of modern materials to protect, keep costs to a minimum and achieve thermal efficiency are also very important.
For example, if wattle and daub has long disappeared from the building, there is little point in reproducing the stuff with the labour intensive , and costly, exercise to replace it when it could be achieved much faster, cheaper and more thermally efficient with modern materials.
Don't interpret this the wrong way, as I would prefer the " romantic " and " purist " notion of working to museum standard, the reality is that we are not in an ideally " romantic " world and practicality tends to superseed cost and idealism. If you wish to make a carreer in building restoration you have to evaluate and understand both sides of the coin, keep English heritage happy with your work and keep custumers happy with your work , manage to keep costs at an acceptable level and try to get enough work to make a decent living.
In many case your head has to rule your hart but ypu still need to achieve good standard of work acceptable to a CO or a customer and especially for the building wellfare.

A lot of the above will be learned with experience in different aspects of restoration . i am sure that if you are determined enough you will succeed. I just advise to approch it all with a very open mind .

I appreciate that all you need is the opportunity to do an " apprentceship" to get you on your way and, by all means, keep your ears and eyes open on this " unique and specialised " sector of employment.

Middi
X

 

[robgil]

Cheers guys, i think the only reason i am being so hard on my own cottage is because its just that , if it were a customers house things might be different.
Unless they asked me to nurse a daub wall back to life for them in which case i would be happy to oblige.
It is time consuming though, sometimes i wish i could approach it differently to save time but i cant change what it is, the whole bloomin house is made out of the stuff , and most of it needs repairing.
Ive been told ''next time we are getting a stone house'' more times now than i care to remember.

 

[Penners]

Ive been told ''next time we are getting a stone house'' more times now than i care to remember.

Don't regard stone houses as trouble- or work-free, Rob!

Our one venture into having a stone building (in Oxfordshire) was no less work than my rather greater experience of timber-frame. Walls running with damp (when we bought the place the walls were so wet that the even the upstairs wallpaper was actually nailed up!), huge masonry cracks, acres of repointing (the world's most boring job). Plus the fact that you can't just scarf in a new piece of timber as and where necessary - masonry is much more unforgiving.

Give me timber-frame every time.

 

[MdB]

Don't regard stone houses as trouble- or work-free, Rob!

Having spent 2 months (part time) on one side of a 3.5m by 3m stone wall, I would have to agree with this. It looks nice now though ;-)

 

[iockus]

Am i supposed to introduce myself in some way?

Well, normally we expect two character references from prominent members of the community and a letter of introduction from the Bishop of Bath and Wells. But in the case of a professional, I'm sure we can make an exception.

:wink:

I'll get onto it right away