testing...testing

A few decisions to be made on site urgently for M House ...here are some examples....

on the left are different colours for the wall finish - シラス壁 ("shirasu-kabe" external rendered finish with volcano ash); on the right are the different timber decking types

bolt testing at the top junction of roof rafters (if you look closely, the bolts are all different colours and sizes); this is quite important because after 20m of exposed continuous roof rafters, bolts can be very distracting...  here we realised the length of the bolt thread (the long bit that has the grooves) is of vital importance and we need to find the one that is the same size as the nut (the hexagonal donut that goes around the thread)

timber sealant; the idea is to be as close to the raw timber as possible. here we tested this product "木肌美人" (timber skin beauty....), on the left is timber sealed with oil based product, on the right is raw, unsealed timber.  On the top right corner of the raw timber is a small testing patch with "木肌美人", water based product ....Once when the "木肌美人" is dried, it becomes just like the raw unsealed material. Timber has to be sealed to control moisture content, termite attack etc for longevity....we can't just ignore the practical side for our aesthetic preference... Best is to be able to have both!