Construction of a historic gardening shed

[Anne Repnow]

Still rather an airy affair - the brickwork is still missing. And look at the floor inside! Fortunately we remembered to have an empty pipe built in at the base of the wall (guess who thought of it - yes, my husband...) in order to be able to get electricity into the wee house.

The inside of the sandstone walls looks pretty rough. Eventually they did something about that - but the outside is definitely better looking.

[brianw]

Buildings with a large overhang may sometimes use vertical chains instead of down pipes. The RHS Rosemoor restuarant does if I remember correctly. A bit splashy in heavy rain but fine otherwise.
Great building.

[Maggi Young]

I love your garden house, Anne - it should have beautiful fairies living in it!

Vojtech Holubec's Czech house  has chains as Brian describes - will try to find a photo. 

[Anne Repnow]

Thank you, Maggi, I,d like a few fairies!  Maybe they could help with the weeds...
Rainchain: great minds think alike. That is the solution I eventually thought of, too. Particularly since the gutter-problem still hasn't been solved. The roofer didn't send a bill yet, either.... 

Before the wonderful brick-layer, Ayan, could start on filling in the framework, we had to nail triangular wooden cleats (do you call them that???) to the beams. We were told to do that so the brickwork can't fall out if the framework moves with the weather and humidity. It was my job to measure and cut the wood, my husband nailed it to the beams.

[Anne Repnow]

Our wonderful bricklayer, Ayan, has filled the first frame. The brickwork protrudes about 0,5 cm from the framework so - theoretically - the rain drips off and doesn't puddle on the beams.
Because he had to cut many bricks and was a bit of an artist, Ayan only managed 1,5 frames per day. But eventually - with a little help from his friends - the brickwork was finished. (Ayan alone would have mixed the colours of the bricks better - but I don't want to be finicky...)

[Brian Ellis]

Wow, how wonderful does that look?  We will all want one now   A marvellous job has been done by everyone and I am sure you are inordinately happy with the result, it looks smashing.

[Julia]

We have a building with a chain as the down pipe and it works very well.

[Jan Tholhuijsen]

Read the whole topic, thanks for sharing with us, it was very instructive, and beautiful,
I look forward to the next posts.
Best regards Jan

[Maggi Young]

Well done Julia - I'd forgotten about the chains on the Douglas Pavilion in the Explorers' Garden.

I can't find a good photo of the Holubec house   

Anne, I think this is the nicest garden building I have seen - I know it has been  lot of work, but I really think it was worth it.   

[Julia]

And the chain works with snow and ice 

[johnw]

Even works in this climate.

johnw

[Anne Repnow]

Thank you so much, Brian! It has been a great project and has given me (together with the garden) great joy and happiness in difficult times. (Mind you - I think I wouldn't have started it had I realised how much work was involved.

Julia: A lovely building! I have just spent a pleasant half hour on the website of the Explorers' Garden. What a beautiful place! It has been too long since I was in Scotland...

Lovely garden, John! Your and Julia's rainchain photos make me think I made the right decision.

Well - here is the (preliminary) end of the story:
The floor of the house was a real mess, but after a ton of brocken rock had been tipped in and flattened by one of those vibrating machines it looked better. I decided to have the old bricks layed out in a herringbone pattern. Again, many of the bricks had to be cut to fit.

As the door opens to the outside my helpful builders suggested laying down a large sandstone slab. Excellent idea.

[Anne Repnow]

The inside wall looks a bit better after the men chipped away at it a bit. And the floor is finished.
But the rainchain is still missing....

[Anne Repnow]

A few years ago I was charmed by the rainchains I saw in Zen Temples in Kyoto. I looked for simple forms of this but didn't find any I liked in Europe. But I found just what I was looking for in the USA, thanks to the internet! It took a few months and I had some hassle with customs but eventually got my rainchains. (I know - totally mad and crazy...) - The only thing I was disappointed about was the fact that the box said "made in India". And I had thought to support American industry...

Maybe a bit too exotic - but I like it.

My great-grandfather's green bench has found a place between the jutting stones and various gardening paraphernalia are finding their way...
The vine is conquering the back of the house and I am thinking of doubling it up next year. It is an east wall so not perfect for grapes but we'll see. Drosophila suzukii will probably destroy the harvest anyway 

[Anne Repnow]

On that last photo you can see that I have not yet managed to put linseed oil on all the beams and on the boards of the gable... Work for next year.

Now I nagged my poor husband about the electricity. He led an underground cable into the house, attached many yards of empty tubes to the beams and eventually wired the whole place with lights, sockets and switches galore, bless him. Goodness knows what we need a three phase current socket for... Physicists...

Not beautiful but very functional.