The TLAR method of window placement

You know you're never going to get an actual tip about a building method on this blog, don't you?

TLAR is inspired by how my Grandfather made dresses for his daughters.  Legend has it (and everything about him is legend - eg he met his bride singing Tristan to her Isolde) that he would hold a piece of fabric up in front of a passing daughter, pin, pleat and mutter, then send her off to have a bath and get ready.  When she emerged, she slipped into a new frock and he went back to inventing air compressor patents, writing literary reviews or similar.

We need some windows in the east wall, we like passive solar and 3D design is hard.  But mud shed can't be any harder than clothing a teenager, right?

So we held windows up against the east wall at about equinox, which is when we want the sun to come in the windows each year.  When somebody said That Looks About Right (TLAR) we put a pencil mark on the frame.

Horizontal? Nyeh.

2nd vertical window? Yeah TLAR.

And one on this side, yes.

Those windows will need shading in Summer.  So around solstice we'll see how much shade they get from the roof and decide if we need to add some. We'll leave some decent supporting framework embedded in the mud in case we decide to make some awnings, but maybe it will be canvas blinds.  TJ fancies permanent shutters that open to the side, because they would offer top bushfire protection as well as conforming to some aesthetic standard I hadn't realised he held.

Sharp eyed readers will notice all the windows are behind the diagonal strapping that holds the frame rigid.  Once we had the window locations marked, we cut and re-attached the strapping.

Sadly, I didn't get an "after" photo before we started burying the new strapping in mud.  You know, this is the one thing the building inspector would worry about and I forgot to goddamn photograph it.  I kind of like the building inspector, though.  He came out to inspect the frame, and tested it by grabbing bits of it and giving them a good shake. Very TLAR.

Also, what about those windows, ey?  Five bucks at the Daylesford Tip, the pair of them. See-through and everything.  Bargain.

The TLAR method of window placement took us about half an hour.  Yes, we have done more since then.  I'm just slack with the blog, and the computer is in a cold room.  I'm going to catch up by doing a few more posts in the next couple of days, then after that we won't be about to build for at least three weeks.