Top Of The World

attic Last weekend I went on a little exploration of my attic. There are two water tanks up there, quite a lot of wooden beams and lots of rockwool insulation. Not all of the rockwool is in the right place, so I've attempted to distribute it properly with a pair of sturdy gloves and a fancy dust mask.

Anthony Axford delivered a batch of quarter-boards of chipboard and some aluminium angle which I've used to board up some of my attic. Using the aluminium angle as guide rails I've been able to put down boards to create useful storage space while still allowing me to lift the boards up in case I need to do any electrical work in the future. The south side of the attic already contained quite a lot of wiring which I couldn't cover in case of overheating, but the north side was free of it so I've been able to create quite a lot of useful space there.

Happily, a quarter sheet of chipboard is exactly the width of the rafters in my attic. I didn't know that would be the case when I ordered them - it could be a coincidence but it's probably something deeply entrenched in ancient building codes that makes things a multiple of one foot sizes.

Bed #2

A few weeks ago I thought it'd be a good idea to make myself a bed rather than buying one. After all, I'd get to make one to my exact specifications and it wouldn't look like anything you could buy from Ikea. In addition, I'd made a bed before and it had served me very well.

The thing is, when I say 'a few weeks ago' I actually mean 'over a year ago' and I've had the timber cluttering up my front room since then, and simultaneously been opposed to buying a proper bed because I'd already made that small initial investment. Since then other commitments kept appearing, such as fences blowing down and my employers who continually expect me to do the job for which I'm paid.

Last weekend I finally finished sawing, chiselling, filing and sanding the components and got the bed assembled, and to be honest it's not that great. My last bed - a bunk bed - creaked quite a bit but I was confident with it because I knew I had enough cross-bracing. The legs on this depend on the quality of the top joints and they're not that accurate, so in engineering terms it's a bit disappointing. Still, it is very solid. I'm mainly glad that all the timber is out of my living room.