We’ve pretty much done it. We have manhandled a 125kg steel I-beam from the front lawn into the big bedroom upstairs. There were no more than three people working at any one time. And I am relieved to report no injuries.
This was a job we didn’t expect to have to do. All we wanted was to move a partition to make space for a bathroom under the eaves. Thankfully, we found out in time that the partition was actually holding that part of the roof up. So we needed to replace it with something substantial.
That is where the steel I-beam comes in. But this presented us with a number of questions. For starters, our drive has a tight bend in it, and comes off a narrow country lane. No lorry of any size can drive onto our property. Neither could we get any major lifting equipment onto the back lawn. And what happens once you’ve got the I-beam in the room but not up at ceiling level, supporting the rafters?
We would have to do this by hand, with only minimal equipment. In the end we used
– a home-made dolly on wheels
– a scaffolding tower
– blue rope
– lifting eyes and pulleys
– trestles
– bits of wood
– bottle jacks
– sheer muscle
The first hurdle was the delivery of the I-beam. Alex wondered how he would even get the thing off the delivery lorry. But the driver soon put him straight: just throw it off. It made a big clanging noise, but nothing was damaged. The dolly, with the two of us pushing, took it the rest of the way up the drive.
That little exercise made it obvious that Alex could relatively easily lift one end of the beam on his own, as long as the other end was supported. While he was preparing the room upstairs to receive the beam, he cooked up an elaborate plan.
He put in place additional wedges and pieces of wood so the roof could be supported with acrow props. He also built the scaffolding tower underneath the balcony window (where a balcony is yet to be built) which would be the entry point for the beam. He also made holes in the walls, ready to receive the ends of the beam. We mocked up the entire process with a 2×4 of equal length to make sure there was enough room to manoeuvre the beam into place. All looked well.
The first task was to simply get the I-beam from ground floor level into the room on the first floor. It was a stressful day, as it was all too easy to drop this heavy thing quite a long way. We made sure that the beam was always attached or supported in at least two places, so that we wouldn’t lose control in the event of anything failing.
We started by attaching a pulling eye to one end of the beam. With a simple rope and pulley, we managed to get it quite a long way up. We also needed to do some pushing at the other end, which was resting on the dolly. Our friend Tim helped us with this.
When the beam’s nose was resting on the edge of the scaffolding platform, we needed to lift it higher. Alex added another element to the scaffolding tower so the pulley could be attached higher up. With some more pulling and pushing, we got it even higher.
By then, we needed to start lifting the other end. We did so very carefully, resting the beam on trestles that got progressively taller.
At one point, we had a little incident where the trestles gave way and the end of the beam clonked to the floor. Thankfully we had been careful to not go and stand in the way of it, so no harm was done.
Eventually, we got the end of the beam as high as we could, and as far into the room as we could. Alex’s dad Roger came over to help us with that bit. Now, we could put pressure on the end in the room to level it out and just pull it inside, sliding across the scaffolding platform. Getting it inside the room was easy after all that, and we called it a day.
On the second day, Alex’s friend Andy came to help us out. Now that the beam was in the room, we needed to get it resting on the walls on either side. It was a slow process, where we slowly and carefully lifted the beam, always making sure it was attached to something solid. Even if one end dropped, it could never go very far. That day, we managed to get it resting on the wall on one side, higher than it should be. The other end was nearly up to the other wall, dangling from a rope.
The I-beam on day 2: nearly at the level where we need it.
The third day, we did the same again, carefully inching the beam further up, securing it every time. Eventually, the beam was resting on the wall on both sides, raised on some bricks. It was more or less at the level that we needed it, but not quite in the right place. This was when we took the partition stud work out, making sure the roof was supported with acrow props either side.
On day four, we slowly inched the beam sideways, until it was resting under the wooden wall plate where we need it to be. The next puzzle was how we were going to crank it up so far that it was pushing up the wall plate and effectively lifting the roof. Alex decided the way to do this was to use bottle jacks to push the ends of the beam up, while supporting them with acrow props further towards the middle. With every pump of the bottle jack, the acrow props were tightened too.
Today, one concrete pad was cemented into place under the end of the I-beam. It took some working out how to cement it in while it is tightly in place under the beam. Alex cleverly lifted it on some wooden pegs, and pressed the mortar in with a thin plank.
Tomorrow, the second pad will go in, and when all the cement has gone off, we can take away the acrow props. I’ll let you know if the roof stays up after that.
A few months ago, we discovered we are going to have to do some work to keep the roof up. This is an unforeseen complication to our project, and we’re having to do some critical things before the work can be done.
We had it all beautifully planned, of course. We are going to super-insulate the house, which involves making an airtight envelope around the spaces we live in. We’re going to wrap the floor, the walls and the loft in hight quality insulating material.
We decided to start the job by taking the old insulation out of the loft. When Alex and his dad, Roger, finished that job, they discovered a distinct dip in the joists over the extension. A worrying dip, in fact. The roof was’t about to cave in, but we would have to do something about it before we could go ahead with the rest of our renovation work.
When a professional came to look at the problem, we also learned that the partition upstairs, which we wanted to simply move to divide the rooms up differently, is actually partially holding up the roof as well. It needs to be replaced by something more sturdy.
Alex, the I-beam, and the dolly he constructed to get it up the drive. The answer to our roof problems.
The solution suggested by the structural engineer is to replace the partition with a steel I-beam. This is something we can do as a DIY job, with a little help from friends. 125kg worth of steel beam isn’t actually as heavy as it sounds.
But. We will have to get it up to ceiling height on the first floor and install it securely. There are a few practicalities obstructing this process.
We had not planned to do anything to this side of the house until after the insulation was in place. So we had stored our belongings in the big bedroom upstairs, certain that we wouldn’t have to move any of it until we could move into the renovated older part of the house. (Currently we live in a small flat in the extension.)
But because the beam has to go in, and the partition has to come out, and the ceiling has to come down to replace the bendy joists, we need to completely empty the room we never planned to empty. Alex has taken a few days to do just that, and puzzle all our belongings into the other two bedrooms.
Furthermore, we had also started constructing a raised vegetable bed outside the extension. In order to get the I-beam in place, we need to finish the foundations up to ground level, so that can be made good for the scaffolding to go up. The scaffolding we need to get the I-beam to ceiling level on the first floor, remember?
This wouldn’t be a problem if we weren’t having a typical English winter: either too cold or too wet for brick laying.
You probably knew that you can’t build a wall when it’s freezing. All the water in the mortar would just freeze and break apart your wall faster than you can build it. And the kind of rain we had recently flooded the foundations so we had to pump them out. If you tried to build in that kind of weather, your wall would be just as ruined for being too wet.
Did you know that you can’t build a wall with wet bricks? When you are building a wall, the moisture from the mortar is drawn into the brick, which helps to bond your wall together. If the brick is wet through, this can’t happen and you get a really weak wall.
So for that part of our critical path to holding the roof up, we will just have to wait for a couple of dryish, mildish days. Hopefully they will come soon.
## In this issue
– Westacre’s latest
– Winter Solstice meditation
– The Warrior’s Call new web site
– What you can do to help Westacre
## Westacre’s latest
After several weeks of off-and-on disruption, a lot of noise and a lot of dust, all the triple glazed windows are in! Westacre’s first step towards maximal insulation has been achieved.
We’re pleased with the result. The white windows at the front will blend in nicely with the Edwardian look we want to achieve there. And the grey windows at the back and sides will give the rest of the house a more modern slant. Inside, everything except the large folding sliding door is smart looking wood.
Just ahead of the Winter Solstice, darkness has descended on Westacre. After a trip to Glastonbury to celebrate the dark time of the year with my spiritual family, I have drawn closer to the warmth of our hearth fire. And deeper into a darkness that I can’t quite see the bottom of yet. I wait and trust, knowing that new light is just ahead.
The meditation in this Newsletter will help you let go of the whirlwind of activity we often get caught in at this time of year, and enter the point of stillness we so crave. As our bones rest against the body of the Mother, we dream the life of the year to come.
Withdrawing into my roots, close to the Mother Earth, I have also become more viscerally aware of the things that threaten her. With the spectre of fracking and related technologies hanging over many parts of this country and many regions of the world, I would like to introduce the Warrior’s Call web site, a great resource of information and motivation.
This Solstice season, we’ll be travelling to visit family an friends. You can expect the next issue of the Westacre Newsletter in January.
Whatever you are doing this Yuletide, make sure you get time to rest and to listen to the stillness, to dream into the darkness. And may your life waken with your dreams as the light returns.
Blessings of the Solstice,
Hilde
## A Meditation for the Winter Solstice
‘Solstice’ literally means ‘sun standing still’. Every day in the waning of the year, the sunrise and sunset move closer to the South along the horizon, making the arc of the sun shorter. In the few days around the solstice, this movement slows and stops, before the days begin to lengthen again.
The world is dark for two thirds of the time. Often, the weather is dark and cloudy as well, and with the lack of sunlight, our animal bodies long to rest, to sleep, to cuddle up and stay warm.
Our culture chooses this time of withdrawal and stillness to fill the world with artificial light and busy shopping, cooking and travelling. With noisy gatherings of people. Just the opposite of what we need.
So even if we do choose to spend time celebrating the season with family and friends, and enjoy the preparations and the flashing white LEDs, it is important to take a little time to ourselves to align with what Nature is doing. To be still. To turn towards the dark and rest.
This meditation will help you to do just that.
Choose a quiet place where you can be alone and undisturbed for a while, ideally a place where it is dark. If you wish, bring a candle and something to light it with. Leave it unlit for now, and turn off all other lights.
Sit in a comfortable position. Take some breaths, allowing yourself to surrender to gravity as you breathe out. Let yourself rest on the Earth.
Keep your attention on your breath for a while. Notice it coming and going. Don’t try to change it at all. Just notice your natural breathing rhythm.
When you notice a thought arising in your mind, just allow it to be. Let it become a solid object in your mind. It is a thing separate from you. There is no need to attach any emotions to it. Pick it up and put it aside.
If many thoughts are swirling around at once, just give attention to one at a time. Let it become a solid, independent thing. Pick it up and put it aside, before turning to the next one.
Keep working like this with the thoughts that come up. It doesn’t matter if you have to put some thoughts away more than once. Give yourself plenty of time, until you feel clear and free.
Let the pile of thoughts gently dissolve.
Now feel the darkness around you turn into a black velvet blanket. Draw it close around you. Feel its warmth and comfort. Allow yourself to rest in its soft darkness.
When you feel rested, take your awareness deep within. Deep within the darkness, within your body, at its very centre, somewhere close to your heart, a tiny light is shining.
Let your awareness be lit by that tiny light. Sit and breathe with it. When you clearly feel it shining at the heart of you, gently open your eyes and light your candle. Make the tiny light manifest in this world.
Sit with the light inside you mirrored by the light of the candle. Stay in that gentle warm light for as long as you like.
When you feel complete, blow out the candle. Take a few more breaths in the darkness. There is no rush to return to the light. The Sun will take several days to start moving along the horizon again. Let the darkness be for now.
When you are ready, turn on a gentle light and jot down your impressions of this meditation. Then return to your day.
## The Warrior’s Call web site
The whole reason why we are renovating Westacre to a high standard of energy efficiency is because we are concerned about the effects of climate change on our world. We want to do all we can to reduce our energy use, so that we can live more lightly on the Earth and do our bit to protect her.
It is by now abundantly clear that, in order to preserve the world humanity originated in and in which we thrive, we need to drastically reduce our use of fossil fuels. We need to keep the bulk of oil reserves that are still there in the ground.
So when governments and corporations advocate digging more fossil fuels out of more unlikely places in ever more destructive ways, I reel at the insanity of it.
When my Warrior friend sent out his call to protect this particular land from fracking, one of those destructive and unlikely methods of fossil fuel extraction, I knew I had to be there. So did a lot of other people.
The Warrior’s Call ritual was a massive success. The central ritual at Glastonbury had hundreds of people in attendance. All across the world, many others came together for this one purpose: to protect our lands from fracking.
I have stayed involved with The Warrior’s Call ever since. Right now, we are organising talks to bring information and resources to pagan communities threatened by fracking in South Wales. We will continue in other parts of the country through the year. If you’re in the UK, keep an eye out for our talks at local Pagan Moots.
The Warrior’s Call also has a beautiful new web site. In its pages, you can find resources to help you learn more about fracking and what you can do about it. The site contains
– information about the techniques of extreme energy extraction.
– videos and articles about the effects on the local and global environment.
– suggestions of things you can do today to help protect your sacred land.
– video documentaries about fracking, its corporate and political backers, and its effects.
– links to detailed scientific information about the techniques involved.
– fracking news from around the world.
– events listings.
– ways to get in touch.
Go and have a look. The site is beautifully designed, and you are guaranteed to learn something.
## How to help Westacre
You know what? Don’t. This time, just head over to the Warrior’s Call web site and click on the link ‘What can you do’. Pick one thing from the list and do it today. It’s that important. And don’t forget to share it with your friends on social media.
If you’d like to stay in touch with the Westacre adventure, find links here.