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Oak porch

The brief was design and make the principle elements of a porch that was sympathetic to a house that  has a lot of "Arts & Crafts" aspects to it..

  
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General description

The oak structure is  the frame for the porch and the roof was to be  tiled with reclaimed  tiles. The house is the same thatched house  that has  the Oak beams and Oak gates also featured on this website.

The oak is "green oak" meaning that it has  not undergone any  significant seasoning  since it was cut down as a living tree. Oak is never  cheap   but  the  "green"  form is the cheapest option.

The downside is that it will shrink as it dries, given half a chance it will try and move  but in an external application and not in direct sunlight movement is likely to be minimal. 

In terms of working green oak it is a nightmare  when it comes into contact with steel tools. The   wet wood coupled with the   tannin in the oak  causes steel tools to (a) quickly blacken and  (b) in  the case of saw tables or planer tables rapidly  rust . 

Photo 1: The frame in place 3/4 view.

Photo 2: A side view of the frame.

Photo 3: View of the frame square on.

Photo 4&5:The householder wanted a slightly different design from the conventional. This meant that the  intersection between the sloping timbers for the roof  and  the frame would expose the  "bird's mouth" joint.  To improve the appearance I made two  small mitred  pieces  that would  improve the appearance of this joint. Brass screws were used.

Photo 5: The vertical piece of timber is called a "king post" and you can see here a  fixture at the top that brings the vertical and two sloping pieces of timber  neatly together. Think of it as an understated finial.

Photo 6: You can see here the  bottom of the post as it abuts the house. The plugs disguise the use of "rawlbolts" to hold the frame against the house. The top of the dwarf wall is yet to be finished off.

Photo 7:The point at which the bottom of the "King Post" joins the horizontal beam is  made in the same style as the unit at the  top of the king post. Brass screws are used front and back to locate it.

Photo 8: Above left, with the frame in place the owner of the house set about tiling the porch. He has made a lovely job of it. . You can see how the tiling and ridge cap have been positioned to set off the king post.

Photo 9: The porch square on.

Photo 10: You can see here the very neat work of the householder as he has set in and  pointed up the lead flashing.  A bit of paint on the pointing is all that is required in order to finish this part of the work off.  It only remains to add the  brick work   on the dwarf wall, and the work  is almost complete.

Photos 11 and 12 below..

Here you see the final effect with  the householder putting paving  in place and applying a dark stain on the oak.

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