Progress, but slow

You might notice a slight change between this photo and the previously posted one?

Yes, it the one course of stone to provide a base for the garden office front wall. Physical progress is slow, but planning is storming along?

The idea is that the timber frame is lifted off the ground and sits on the block work, preventing damp from penertating the frame. I'll run a piece of DPC along between the blocks and timber frame.

On the heating side I have sourced a chinese pot bellied stove on ebay, sorry but it is cheaper than all other stoves. It doesn't chuck out too much heat but is big enough to heat the space and with a baffle should stay in all night.

Things to remember when buying a stove is that all the flue pipe, brackets etc can cost as much if not more if you are constructing a new chimney. Also stoves should be installed by a recogonised engineer to deal with leakages, H&S etc.

The stove is going to have to be flued through a timber wall, so insulation and fire safety are going to be important, unless I want a particularly warm but shortlived office. Apparently, the flue should be 3x its diametre from flammable materials or surfaces. You can use masterboard for boarding near stoves, as this is heat resistant. Where the flue passes through the wall I'm going to use masterboard on the interior, with rockwool insulation and a hardwood cladding on the outside. Matured hardwood has a higher scorcing point than soft wood.

The flue through the wall will be an insulated twin walled flue, this will reduce the external temperature of the flue wall.

On the heating side I have just acquired an old oak tree! Dead but good for about two years wood supply for the garden office and the other stoves in the house.