Squaredy

Wow, that is going to make serious garden furniture!! Like the Massey; what should it lift?

Yes this log is from a tree only felled a few weeks ago. In fact all these pictures are from logs from that one tree. I have more yew logs to mill that have been in my yard for several years.

Yew is beautiful. Came home today and told my wife this and she blushed. Women are strange…

Lost on people who don’t remember the Audi adverts of course!

If you are cutting near a power supply consider a corded saw. I recently bought the most powerful one Husqy do and it will cut all day and cost less than £200. And there is no battery to fail in xx years.

If he is spending £15,000 to save nearly two thousand per year that sounds like a decent investment. I would do that if I could. Actually, I would look at the possibility of doing some work myself to reduce cost. But when you think many people spend £15,000 on a car which is a terrible investment you could argue.

As most people (myself included) do not subscribe to the telegraph can you summarise the article so we may learn what this myth is please?

And whilst I am at it (showing off that is - even though I didn't do much of the joinery personally) here is my porch - built with Coastal Redwood, and a reclaimed door. The wall is original of course. Not exactly finished - little details to do still but generally done and in use.

A few photos showing progress on my new inverter shed. Floorboards are a bit wonky as they are rough sawn and not even planed on a thicknesser. A few more cladding boards left to do and of course a simple ledge and brace door. All from Lawson Cypress. I haven't quite decided if there will be windows. I think one or two might be sensible otherwise it will be a little dingy. I mean dark and gloomy not a small boat. I thought it was spelled dingey but my computer says not...

Oak.

It is worth remembering that the reason the damage happened is probably more to do with the fact the roof is at the end of its life than anything else. Would a hole have been caused if it was a corrugated steel sheet? No of course not. The chances are the council are planning to re roof or demolish the building at some point in the next few years; though I doubt they would admit that to you. Near me such council garages have largely been simply removed as they are not being used and are problematic to maintain. A key question is: is the garage in use? If not then is it worth worrying about?

One more option open to you (as it is very near the lower edge) is to simply insert a steel corrugated sheet under the cement (or asbestos) damaged piece. You might need to remove one or two fixings at the very lowest edge (with great care as it is clearly brittle) and then slide the steel sheet under and right to the end and support the upper end with a 3X2 or similar fixed at an angle between existing purlins. Just take great care as this could become a very expensive full roof replacement job if the owner is the sort of person to see this as an opportunity to get something for nothing.

The Two Ronnies did it.

I guess you could have two totally separate systems - use the combi boiler for hot water only and have all the rads plumbed in to the back boiler on the wood burner. But then you wouldn’t even be able to use the combi in the morning before work. Also you need to search old threads as I think there was one recently about woodburners with back boilers. It seems there are very few available these days.

I know someone who did this about ten years ago and it was over ten grand, but I assume this included the new log burner. Is it not feasible to fit a second log burner downstairs?

You need a suitably qualified person to advise you what is possible and does it work out for you. Assuming your existing central heating is a combi boiler then the way to link the two is by using a thermal store, which is a significant investment itself. Otherwise you have two incompatible systems - combi boiler system is high pressure closed loop; wood burner with boiler will be gravity fed with a header tank. It is worth thinking long and hard if it is really worth it or if you can make the log burner heat lots of your house by opening doors etc!

Very beautiful. Do you know what it is?

As far as I am aware a very high proportion of the really old trees in the UK are trees which have been coppiced or pollarded. It is generally accepted that with trees such as oak and ash it actually extends the lifespan.

Might be best to ring it up and sell the rings to wood turners. Milling such a stem is a nightmare, especially if the tree has been dead a few years. Those knots will be as hard as iron.

Spring has finally arrived in South wales. Loads of insects flying around today - way more than yesterday.

Veteran oaks often become hollow, and this is not necessarily a problem. To extend the life of the oak most likely a bit of reduction is likely to help it. You won’t stop rot inside the trunk. Post a couple of photos and see what other Arbtalkers think.

So can you clarify exactly which irrelevant tickets you have?!

Yes, Cherry. The bark is a dead giveaway. The light colour wood is sapwood, the dark wood is heartwood. In other words the dark streak is simply the natural colour of the timber and not a fault at all. Some timbers are poisonous (eg yew) though I doubt it would really cause a major problem if used in a kitchen. After all many household materials are poisonous if you ingest enough of them. The classic timbers for use in the kitchen are beech, sycamore, maple. I know plenty of chopping boards etc made from oak and ash also.

Maybe a better response might come from an online support group for people who have this type of stoma. You never know someone on this forum may have knowledge of this, but if so they haven’t seen the post yet. Presumably the answer would be similar to many activities that could create dust.

I suspect what you are up against is what many business owners find over the years - that having all the financial risk, stress, commitment and effort doesn't always mean earning good money. I have known people who employ dozens or even hundreds of people who one day jack it all in and go freelance, or even just get a PAYE job somewhere and say they are much happier. It is horses for courses. Running your business may be the future for you but you will have to make it happen and make the figures stack up. And there could be times when someone working for you just doing his or her job and going home at 4pm earns more than you. And they won't have to deal with the crap that you do. Only you can make it work as you want. Or maybe it never will work as you imagine - plans in business have to keep evolving, and sometimes head in a direction not predicted. However you move forward good luck; and even if it doesn't give you what you want in the long run the experience should prove invaluable.