News from The Bothy

Much later

John Ketch — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:08:40 +0000

Much, much later & The Bothy now feels like home, well home from home at any rate. There have been no problems with regard to the materials and build quality and everything is working very well indeed. It is easy and cheap to heat and very easy to keep it cool. The former is done on a separate zone on the house central heating system, and the latter is achieved simply by opening two skylights, two windows and a door. This, in combination with the solar powered ceiling fan ensures that the air is changed over in seconds… of course the cats also get in!

One of the big adjustments to working at home is the lack of social contact during the working day. On the plus side it does encourage you to get involved in stuff outside of work & I tend too enjoy these activities more as a result.

I’ve been busy learning Joomla, the content management system, since I was last on here. This have been a good exercise and I have built a number of websites along the way. The only one that I will own to right now however is www.ourgardenplan.com which you are welcome to take a peep at. If you do have a minute you might let me if there is any one thing that you would change if it were your site. A photo of The Bothy taken during the last few weeks appears there also.

Speaking of photos, I’m in the process of taking a few of The Bothy now that it is in use and will post them next week all going well.

The Merry Move-In in Progress

John Ketch — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:02:56 +0000

It’s almost Christmas week, so in a somewhat Gilesian manner, in seems appropriate to refer to our move into The Bothy as The Merry Move-In. After a session of carrying stuff for most of the day yesterday the floor is now more or less full & the ham radio equipment is stacked high on a temporary shelving system, not in use of course. While Martin is busy in his workshop making the radio operating bench, Tom from Ikon Systems is working today to set up the server.

Tom from Ikon Systems at work connecting the server & making everything work....

....while I need to figure out where all this stuff goes

John Ketch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:57:07 +0000

Martin & Joe are working late this evening to get the shelving fixed in the server space and to get the carpet tiles laid in time for tomorrows move-in. Ikon Systems are on-site on on Friday morning to connect up the server, plotter, printer & fax machine. Martin is planning to have the radio bench ready just in time to ensure that I’ll be able to work late on the 24th getting my ham station back up and running for the Christmas holidays!

Martin is busy working at night to get materials in for the shelving in the server area....

... while Joe completes work on the floor.

Inside The Bothy

John Ketch — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:19:53 +0000

Working together with Martin and his electricians we have progressed the work to the point where we have now positioned the services inside The Bothy. Electricity, broadband and telephone wiring is currently being placed and our IT consultant, Ikon systems has been on hand to advise on how everything should be done. AC, telephones and data will circle the room from the entry point and reach the Ketch work desk, taking in the position of the server, plotter and fax area. DC power from the solar panels and battery bank will be added to the trunking later and DC wiring will also be built into the overhead shelving in order to power the DC lighting. Each of the services will also be taken onto the island bench which will form the new amateur radio station for EI2GN.

Interior of The Bothy showing the Electrician working in the server area and Martin working outside to complete the external details. A very light green has been apllied to the walls to work with the varnished pine ceiling, window details and rear wall. The landscape architecture work-desk will soon be located under the horizontal window.

The focus throughout the project has been on allowing natural light into The Bothy. In order to maximise the delivery of natural light we have used Dulux Light and Space paint to maximise reflected light within the space. This wall will largely be behind the amateur radio bench so it really is a test of what the paint technolgy can do. On the left hand side is the entry and distribution point for the electrical, data, telephone and radio cables.

Shedworking

John Ketch — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:53:28 +0000

More and more people are discovering the merits of working from home, but not just from any old room in the house. We are realising that it is possible to work from home and still maintain an effective degree of separation between our work and our home life. Having closed my rental office recently in the very excellent Marina Commercial Park I am at home, on-site, while The Bothy is being built. I am therefore of course uniquely positioned to sample the nuances of working from the house itself as opposed to very shortly working from The Bothy.

I’ll revisit this discussion again when we’ve got everything into The Bothy & when operations are up and running from there. During the process of deciding to take this route towards working from home, and during the design and build phase, one point of reference that has been of great benefit has been Alex Johnsons Shedworking, which takes three forms:

The blog which has daily updates of all sorts of interesting and innovative and practical ideas for working from sheds or shed-like places
The Twitter account which is part of a wide-ranging discussion on all things shed-like & on the world in general
And the new book which is due for publication in June 2010 and which you can now pre-order on-line.

This is your very best One-Stop for all things to do with knowing about working in sheds or in shed-like places.

Internal Finish

John Ketch — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:56:36 +0000

The first part of the internal finish was completed yesterday by Denis who was busy fitting the T&G ceiling around the Velux roof-lights. After some discussion we have decided to use a clear varnish on this part of the inside in order to let the the pine age and darken in it’s own time.

The tongue & groove ceiling is fitting neatly around the Velux.

Testing LED Lights in The Dark Bothy & Ghostly Graffiti

John Ketch — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:19:19 +0000

While testing the impact of the proposed LED lighting system in The Bothy I noticed some ghostly writing on the dusty window.... see the next photograph where I think I've captured it....

....ghostly graffiti in support of www.shedworking.co.uk!

Moving Indoors

John Ketch — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:35:04 +0000

Last week was a busy one, with being around to a number of suppliers assembling the various components needed for the fit-out. First stop was Buckley Caravans to pick up a range of LED 12volt light fittings. These include spotlights from Lumo and a Labcraft caravan awning light which is just the ticket for mounting over the work areas.

Next stop was at EcoStore.ie where I had a good look at rainwater harvesting equipment and where I benefited greatly from the advice offered by Daniel Connolly.

While writing this post my DC ceiling fan arrived by courier from www.mysoalrshop.co.uk where Nigel and Anne have have both spent a great deal of time advising on Solar equipment.

This morning also the last of the insulation materials have arrived and the pine tongue-and-groove ceiling boards are also on site.

Denis and Martin are happy to work indoors today as we have had a very cold few days culminating this morning in a heavy frost, which is clearing now as the sun is gaining a bit of altitude. There is nothing like buying a couple of solar panels to make you aware of the solar access afforded by your property.

Denis completing the underfloor insulation

The first piece of rainwater harvesting kit ready for istallation at The Bothy

Windows, door and rainwater gear

John Ketch — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:32:58 +0000

While keeping a very close ear to the shipping forecast for further expected rain and gales Martin and Denis have been very busy today adding the finishing touches to the exterior of The Bothy. The windows were installed before the worst of the weather arrived yesterday and thankfully we have not been effected so far by the fallout from the storms

The Plumber and gas fitter were both on site today and we expect to see them again on Monday to move/replace the gas boiler and to install our AD and DC electrical systems. Martin expects to make progress with the flooring next week also and tomorrow will be spent researching light fittings and floor coverings.

From here it looks like we might begin to paint and decorate the interior around about December 11th and be all moved in and operating before Christmas, which will give me an opportunity to re-organise my amateur radio station during the holidays. It also means of course that when our good friends the Jacksons arrive at Cork Airport on January 3rd for a long overdue few days visit, they will have somewhere to stay, as my current radio room will become the new guest room.

Windows and Rainwater Kit

The new windows from inside The Bothy

Denis working hard to complete the windows before the next rain and windstorm arrives.

Part of the roof structure prior to insulation and finishing using T&G pine boarding.

Velux Rooflights

John Ketch — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:11:39 +0000

What looked like two very over-sized Velux roof-lights have now been fitted and, in fact now that they are in position look just right. They are admitting a whole lot of light to The Bothy even in the relatively low November light conditions to the north of the main dwelling.

Rather than readjust the balanced flue attaching to the gas boiler it now looks as if the thing will need to be replaced. In any event it looks like it will need to be moved and placed in The Bothy. This is good news as we will be able to add a radiator, but bad news from the point of view of the solar electrical system, which will now need to be operated on lesser batteries and reduced technology. Nigel and Anne at www.mysolarshop.co.uk have of course been inputting to the decision making process for the P.V. system all the way through. The one must-have right now from them is a DC fan which will operate to re-distribute warm air which will rise into the roof space from the ham gear, PCs and server, and which can be reversed during the long hot summers to ventilate the space.

Martin fitting a Velux roof-light...

....and descending having completed the job.