Good morning from a windswept UK. Today, I’m sharing a first look at part of the redesigned Materials chapter for the 2026 rewrite of Mitchell’s Construction.

For over a century, this series has been the foundational text for architects, builders, and draughts people. But the world has shifted. We no longer just select materials for their colour, shape, or strength; we specify them for their planetary legacy.

In this draft, we move beyond the local geology of Cotswold Stone and London Stocks into the “Urban Mine” of the 21st century. We explore how desalination is becoming a source for the rare earth minerals like Lithium and Magnesium that power our sites, and why the “60-Year Rule” must now dictate every chemical coating we apply to a facade.

From the sequence of operations on a Gantt chart to the AI-driven automation of the future, this is how we are preparing the next generation of builders to move from “construction” to “stewardship.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts—especially on the “Support Act” of materials we often overlook.

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Materials

Architecture is taking materials to a new level, but we should not forget the development of materials over time, how they have survived, or failed. Many do still exist, and we need to protect them and blend with them, both visually and structurally

Hash Tags

#Article#Detailing#Scaffolding#Materials#Sequence-of-Operations #Gant-charts

This is the basis of both an article, and part of the new copy for the Materials section of Mitchells

What are Materials

In the introduction section of this book, we looked at what materials are. In simple terms, materials are used to create buildings, because we can’t create a building fully formed. Even when creating 3D Printed houses, we have to look at the material used for printing.

Materials:

Even in the construction of a simple house, the number of materials used can easily exceed 1000’s, with no one material being capable of providing all the properties needed to keep its occupants warm, dry, secure and above all safe from the building itself.

No one material can perform all tasks, they rely on each other to come together as a whole.

Some materials are as nature intended, such as timber cut from trees to come together as doors, windows and floors, held in place with glue, screws and nails, painted to protect and give colour.

Others dug from the ground manufactured by adding water, chemicals and heated to transform materials such as clay into bricks, roof tiles, and wall and floor tiles.

Historic Materials

Up until at least the later part of the 19th Century, many common materials were manufactured onsite, Brickwork, Lime, and clay tiles for both roof and floor, being classic examples. It was not until the early 1900’s that bricks were manufactured in bulk by factory units that provided limited control over raw materials and production. Far more than could be expected by onsite kilns, and rough clay pits.

So often there is a huge relationship between local geology and regional building traditions, (Cotswold Stone, Welsh Slate, London Stock Bricks). So the choice of building materials was often local supply, and the often-limited transportation of goods from other areas. We should also consider the local craftsmen using local materials simply because they understood their use and limitations.

Modern Materials

The design and manufacture of so many materials are now regulated by both trade associations, British Standards and the building regulations need to fit for purpose.

Transportation has eased the supply of almost any material, with global certification and efficient manufacturing, with an almost instant communication and ordering system of the internet.

There are so many different materials used in the construction industry broadly they can be listed as below, but remember it’s not just the building but the support act we need to consider, Scaffold, and Temporary works.

* Limes and Cements

* Sand

* Aggregates

* Concrete

* Asphalts

* Plastering

* Stones

* Rock Fibre Insulation

* Rammed Earth

* Plant Fiber

* Bricks

* Clay tiles

* Iron and Steel

* Brass

* Timber

* Timber Composites

* Plywood

* Chipboard

* Particle Board

* Block boards

* Gluelam Beams

* Temporary Works

* Plywood Shuttering

* Temporary decking

* Gravel gravel roads

* Glues

* Adhesives and Sealants”

* Chemicals ( Variety of acids and solvents)

* Paints and Varnishes

* Glass

* Plate

* Laminates

* Fibre Optics

* Lighting

* Water (Potable)

* Water reclaimed under rainwater Harvesting (SUDS)

* Grey water

* Plastics

* uPVC

* Polystyrene

* Gas

* Propane

* Oil

* Marking Paints (Aerosols)

The list goes on, almost all manufactured in one way or another.

Almost all producing waste and or consuming many of the other products on the list

Water is a classic example, it has to be potable, free from contaminants, no salt, or any other suspended substances, that may be held in the final material and expressed as efflorescence on the external or internal surface, maybe even causing internal destruction of reinforcement.

The use of potable water may be replaced by desalination of sea water, this has till recently, caused even more pollution by the return of a slurry to the sea causing oxygen depletion and upsetting the natural balance of the sea water.

But as we begin to understand the slurry, it can be seen to contain many rare earth minerals such as:

* Lithium: Crucial for the EV battery revolution. Extracting lithium from brine is becoming more cost-competitive than traditional hard-rock mining.

* Magnesium: Used in high-strength, lightweight alloys for construction and automotive industries.

* Rubidium and Cesium: Rare metals used in high-tech applications, including atomic clocks and specialized drilling fluids.

* Calcium and Potassium: Frequently reclaimed for use in fertilizers and cement production.

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Manufacturers

Almost all materials are manufactured, the days of historic buildings being built with materials mostly manufactured onsite are long gone. The building regulations across the world demand that full accountability as to the manufacture of the materials we use, and their testing to prove fitness for purpose is carried out, in accordance with often many different codes.

Before any product is allowed to be used, it undergoes years of testing, and above all, detailing ready for insertion into both Technical literature and approval documents such as Agrement certificates.which also list the relevant codes where its approved.

Their installation is also governed by the many building codes, and inspected daily by teams of surveyors checking on the materials installation alongside the many other components that will almost inevitably surround it.

Manufacturers are always keen to make sure that their products are installed correctly, and offer many standard details

Many of the construction books available, only offer sample details as to the fitting together of the manu components, little is said as to why they are used and the methodology of their use. Such as general impact, weathering, solar protection, wind, rain snow, hail,

Sequence of Operations

Almost inevitably, once we talk of materials we need to consider the sequence in which materials may be used, and this involves timing, or when they need to be delivered to site.

Gantt Charts

An industry standard method of charting the materials used, their delivery schedule, and the time needed to install the material including curing if needed, can easily be charted on a simple spreadsheet, which can be expanded to include equipment needed to be supplied by the main contractor, and manpower requirements.

There are basically two types of Gantt Chart, the simple spreadsheet, or Critical Path which controls the timing of each installation as a function of the preceding works, ie footing brickwork prior to placing the DPC, it can’t be laid till the footing is both installed and cured.

The advent of CAD and AI means a lot of this can be automated, allowing for 3D models to be automated to show the creation of the building as a video.

Future

As we progress through the 21st Century, and head towards the 22nd Century, we need to consider the longevity of a lot of the buildings, which may well live into this century, the need for materials, that will reduce CO2 emissions both in manufacture and transportation to and from the place of manufacture, which has now become global in its ability to transport, or even set up local manufacturing, but also in its removal or demolition.

CAD, the use of AI, and an almost instant communication network free up the design and manufacturing of bespoke materials, and custom shapes breaking free, buildings of the future from ridged shaped orthogonal designs to free flowing artistic, and living, smart aware buildings. Digital Twin is now being used to track so much of the building.

So often, buildings we design now rely on humans and very limited automation to steer them through use, and the ravages of the weather and so often seismic events. AI together with ever increasingly sophisticated sensors, and materials will protect themselves, how to achieve this, is the next big design quest.

In a later chapter within this section , we will take an in-depth look at materials, their design, manufacture, use, and control in the building regulation and how they survive modern life and a climate that is reacting to humans in ways we just can not survive without radical intervention.

Waste Pollution of material manufacturing

Most modern materials are manufactured from often complex lists of materials and subject to long and complex manufacturing processes, resulting in some of the materials being used ending up as a waste by-products and some being contained and locked away within the product often staying there till the building is demolished or repaired / renovated.

Both the byproducts of manufacture and those locked away need to be listed to aid careful disposal. A form of Environmental Product Declarations as part of a practice Planetary Health Check, a yearly report run by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany.

We generally design a building to have a life span of say 60 years, perhaps we should use this information on chemical use to determine a new 60-Year Rule: Asking design practices to research the “Design Life” vs. “Material Life.” If a coating lasts 15 years but the building lasts 60, what happens to the chemicals during the three maintenance cycles in between?

A statement in the Design and Research Document as part of any planning application would go a long way to highlighting the chemical content and waste generated.

There it is, Materials, and I have only just scratched the surface, it needs a book devoted to the subject, and as it happens, Mitchells has one in its series, “Mitchells Materials” by Alan Everett and C M H Barritt. still available, although It will hopefully be revised. My copy says last printed 2013 so 13 years out of date, but still worth getting.

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I may have said this before, but Markdown, has become the basis of all my knowledge bank notes, I currently host the vault, or file, on Dropbox, so I can access it from all my devises, my Mac, my iPhone, and my Linux machine, which is slowly becoming the basis of everything. More on that side later, in fact a whole article on Linux. But first its a little experiment I carried out to make one of my markdown files more useable.

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The article below on the various means of generating power will be included in the Mitchells rewrite, but I wanted to see if I could make the markdown file, a little more printable friendly.

Generally, txt files just print, no formatting but, markdown allows you to add a little formatting, but thats it, I wanted to format the text so that it printed on an A5 paper and that the pagination was set so that it looked just a little better, ie each page started with a particular section.

After doing a little search, and talking to Gemini and Grok, I was set, I needed to add a little line of html that would set the page break, and not be printed.

A simple line of code sorted it out, so instead of adding a page break as in Apple Pages, or Google Docs, this line of code sorted it.

But, and there is always a but, I needed a method to determine where I needed to add the code. This I did by opening up the print, command, and setting the page format to A5, and switching the pdf format. I could now see the pagination, counting the paragraphs I could now set the page breaks, so I could print the page correctly.

Normally I will never do this, as most of the time my markdown files end up in Obsidian and are part of my knowledge base, but there are times when I want the file to become the basis of an ePub, formatted to A5, this will enable it to become just that.

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I could of course ask the community on Obsidian and low and behold there is a community add in that does much the same, but I wanted to be independent of Obsidian. Often these little apps leave code I do not understand, and if you switch of the community side it leave files wondering what to do, adding code my way, keeps me in control and independent of Obsidian, a core belief for me.

As always, the article below is there for you to add to your Knowledge base and enhance with your own notes. I use “One MArkdown” a nice little app for the Mac, it shows the editing in one side and the viewed copy in the opposite panel.

It have become my go to means of writing these days, with the exception of the Mitchells rewrite, it’s in Word, and as I refuse to have anything to do with Microsoft word, I use Google Docs, which handles word docs very well.

I am looking for a Markdown program for the Linux machine, there are several, but as of today, I have not found one I like as much as One Markdown.

Oh, as a final note, Apple Notes exports to Markdown, this releases a lot of information, I tried to select all, and export, which it did, but not with some of the pdf attachments, seems I might need to takle that export on a file by file basis.

# Scays on Energy

Steve Scaysbrook

2026-03-23

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### Revision Notes

2026-03-23 transferred from mitchells rewrite as a markdown file

#Energy

#Power-Generation

#Article

## Scays Energy Review

Energy has always been a problem, the easy to burn fossil fuels and been plentiful, but their use has caused many problems and in part the plentiful supply is running out, Solar, wind, tidal and thermal sources are now being explored, along with nuclear energy, but it will take a Architectural leap to utilise these often free and none polluting power sources. Here we explore just some of these new and exciting possibilities.

### Gas ( Natural )

We still, as a country, have natural gas. It would be a shame not to use it, the infrastructure and generators are there already, but we need to clean up the exhaust.

Gas ( Bio ) Methane

Other countries also have vast reserves, and shipping it as a liquid solves a lot of problems.

### Hydrogen

The most abundant element in the Universe and highly flammable, Technically not a fossil fuel but one that is derived from splitting water with Electricity, it burn well, and has no other pollutant, just water

### LPG

Not to be confused with Natural gas, LPG or Liquified Petroleum Gas is a mixture of several gasses, specifically propane, n-butane and isobutane., its used extensively in rural areas for both cooking and heating. Delivered both in bulk, via below ground  or above ground tanks or via Portable steel bottle often seen on small sailing boats, caravans and Canal barges.

### Heating Fuel Oil

Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine fuel oil (MFO), furnace oil (FO), gas oil (gasoil), heating oils (such as home heating oil), diesel fuel, and others.

Stored in tanks in the open garden its position like LPG tanks requires careful positioning for both refilling, and maintenance.

### Coal

Finally, coal is being demoted to a last resort fuel; still in use by some countries, its supply is limited, but some countries with a large stock of coal wanting to use it, we need to help them convert.

### Wood Fired Burners

In rural areas, with a natural supply of well-managed timber, burned in wood-fired burners are a natural source of heat and energy. A lot of the new generation burners have secondary burn chambers to reduce the amount of exhaust gases by secondary burning, together with a small fans turned by both the exhaust and thermal energy. The heat from the exhaust could easily help heat pumps be more efficient.

### Wood Pellets

A mix of many different timbers, offcuts and sawdust compressed into small pellets

Waste

A lot of energy is created by the burning of waste material, either as a bi-product of manufacturing or from public waste collections.

### Waste (Black Water) Briquets

There are some interesting methods being explored for harnessing energy from wastewater, including from “black water” (i.e., toilet waste). One common approach is to process the solid matter in the waste to create biocrude or biogas, which can then be burned for energy. There’s also research into using waste streams for anaerobic digestion and resource recovery, as well as hydro voltaic generators that harness energy from water droplets.

It’s certainly a compelling idea, especially given the sheer volume of wastewater produced globally. However, there are still many technical and logistical challenges to overcome before these technologies can be widely implemented. But one man’s waste could indeed be another man’s treasure (or energy source)!

### Compost Heaps

Large commercial gardens produce a large quantity of waste vegetable matter, leaf and grass plus annual plants. Commercial compost heaps are required to be quite hot, a network of pipes under the compost could easily syphon some of the heat to help heat greenhouses.

### Nuclear Power

Seen as a problem particularly when we see the effects of the Chenoble Accident, Japans earthquake disaster, or perhaps the USA, 3 mile long Island incident. But as already discussed, it’s a technology that is increasingly being used despite the dangers, and now mini reactors and the use of alternative spent fuel, Newclear Reactors still have a major role to play. Below I list the two areas of my research, the mainstream Large reactors, but most of my time I am giving to Mini reactors, small, still very efficient, and perhaps the future, for so many applications.

Main Reactors

So many countries rely on Nuclear power, France generates almost 72% of its power from 56 operational reactors, with some due for closure, some being built. Large but very efficient, producing very large outputs. But main reactors have their problems, is size, waste and operation. When they go wrong its a global problem, Long Island, Chenobal and the latest being the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

### Mini Reactors: The New Powerhouse

The rise in power requirements from internet-based companies is so high that several are now installing their own small modular reactors (SMRs). While they occupy a footprint significantly smaller than a traditional nuclear station, they require highly specific advanced materials and technical detailing.

In essence, these are sophisticated “heat engines” using a molten-salt cooling system and ceramic pebble fuel (TRISO) to drive a turbine. Unlike older water-cooled designs, these operate at low pressure, allowing for simpler, safer building structures.

Google has ordered a fleet of six to seven Kairos Power advanced reactors to meet the 24/7 electricity needs of its data centers. The first commercial unit is scheduled to come on stream in 2030, with the full 500 MW fleet operational by 2035.

### Heat Pumps

The idea of getting more energy out than is put into a Heat pump seems absurd, but that seems to be the case with the new-generation Heat pumps.We will explorethis concept, looking at both refurb, new build and how Reclaimed energy can be fed back into the system,

The planning and positioning of heat pumps should be well documented in the design drawing on a new build and refurbishment of older property. To make sure the machine can opperate at full efficiency, it can be maintained and the outgoing energy being supplied to the building is efficient.

As described earlier, there are three main sources of enegy the heat pump can extract, ground  source, water source and the most common air source.

The correct positioning will ensure an efficient extraction of that source. Together with its transfer into the building and into the desired storage medium, offten a specific water tand ready to transfer to the distribution tank.

Heat pumps are use primarily for producing heat for both the domestic use of hot water, ie showering, bathing, and heating the living spaces, using main electricity to power its pumps,  but can work well with Solar panels taking power from stored energy, or direct from the panel feeds, together with providing energy from water solar panels to preheat the incoming main water feed to the hot water tanks.

### Heat Recovery & Storage

We waste so much energy, water heated for just a few minutes to wash clean cook, then its poured into the waste system still full of energy, All buildings should recover this energy and return it for reuse, heating incoming water for hot water tanks, heating a small mass for low level house space heating, this list is endless.

### Airsource

The air is the main source of energy for many heat pumps, being probably the simplest to install, the unit drawing in air, and removing the energy, or temp and transferrin it to the internal units. Works well in most climates, but the colder the air the more work it needs to do and the less efficient the unit.

### Water Source

Drilling a hole into the ground and reaching the natural ground water level allows the heat exchanger to have a constant supply of ambiant water to withdraw energy from. Relativly simple to install, with a small drilling rig the deaprer the hole the better the supply.

### Ground Source

The laying of pipes in a shallow tranch, utalising the space in a garden is probsably easier than a drilling rig, but care needs to be taken not to Buch up the pipes to prevent freezing the ground, also a reasonable depth needs t be achieved for the same reason.

### Heat Recovery

Passing waste water through a waste water heat recovery pipe or passing it though  store such as rock stones of gravel, allows the energy in bath/shower water, sink waste dish and washing machines to transfere energy into the store. Large fins attached to the waste pipe spreads the heat into the stone ready for the heat exchanger pipe to transfer it back into the dwelling.

Waste Water Heat Recovery pipes (WWHRP) and fast becoming the norm on domesting and commercial property, there are easy to fit and use gravity on a vertical pipe to pass warm or hot water from baths, shower and other appliances as a thin film on the inside of a copper or similar pipe with either incoming mains water passing on the outside being preheated for hot water tanks, or for Heat exchager coils. A horizontal system embedded into the floor adjacent to a shower or bath unit it just as easy to install into existing property.

Bathroom or kitchen extract fans can easily exchange the warm expelled air across to the incoming cold air, preheating the supply ready for additional heating if required.

### Water Solar Assist

Solar panels with water can also transfer solar energy into the heat store, in a simple yet effective manor. 

### HydroPower

Norway is unique because it produces roughly 90% of its electricity from water. 

The Scale of Geography: Unlike many countries that build massive concrete dams across wide rivers, Norway uses high-altitude reservoirs. Students can research “Pumped Storage,” where water is pumped back uphill during low-demand hours to act like a giant physical battery.

Materials & Tunnels: Much of Norway’s system is underground. This involves complex rock-blasting sequences and unlined pressure shafts—a great topic for those interested in heavy construction and geological engineering.

Efficiency: Modern turbines in these plants can reach over 90% efficiency, compared to the ~35-40% efficiency of a standard coal plant.

### Pairing of Power Resources

Pairing different power generation technologies can offer some interesting synergies and help address some of their respective limitations. For instance:

Nuclear + Solar: Nuclear can provide a steady, baseload power supply, while solar can help meet peak demand during the day.

### Wind + Hydro: Hydroelectric power can be used to balance the grid when wind energy fluctuates.

Tidal + Battery Storage: Tidal energy can be stored in batteries for use during periods when the tide is not generating power.

Exploring these combinations could lead to more efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy systems in the future.

### Smart Home / Buildings

We leave so much to human interference, turning up and down heating systems, being subjected to the whims of a very volatile energy market place, and a weather system resisting violently to human alteration, the alteration we can easily fix given time and political willing, although the more I see the less I believe that latter point will ever be seen. 

But having a smart home system capable of running a small control system, creating and using energy efficiently , reclaiming and storing energy when allowed, should be the norm. The creating is as I have said above not impossible, and Solar may well be the route ahead, but not in its present form of stationary ridged panels, more smart panels following the sun to maximise collection, positioned to make this possible, talking to the main house system .

Exploring these combinations could lead to more efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy systems in the future, and above all it seems to be melting into my Adaptive Architecture, so watch this space for updates.

### Solar Panels

This technology can be split into two distinct technologies, permanently placed roof panels with a fixed direction and acclimation, ie the angle to the sun, and portable solar panels.

Panels that are easy and light enough to be repositioned manually to follow the sun, allow easy positioning and portability,  although the technology to adapt a simple sun path base automates the process.  The technology is not new, and can be seen in operation on any camp site or caravan park. The power generated is collected, stored, and converted in small easy to use units, but with limited hours of use.

Fixed panes are predominant and relatively easy to fix to a pitched roof, but are reliant on the orientation of the roof. In older houses / buildings with pitched roofs the orientation is fixed and almost always non-negotiable. New buildings with pitched roofs can and should be designed to allow the best view of the solar path for your hemisphere. The power is again stored and converted in much larger fixed units. That can easily run a house for many hours. 

Both systems fit well into a smart environment, looking at power consumption, and utilising low power lights and appliances. 

### Electric Cars

Adapting to the use of electric cars to both backup power use or charge when excess power can be fed into the cars own battery.

Sharing in small communities now becomes not just a pipe dream but a reality.not all houses will be oriented to collect the optimum sun collection, but collectively they will always collect the max available, to share.

Flat roofs open up an almost unlimited solar collection possibility, with fixed panels being placed to pick up the solar path throughout the day. Adding solar tracking technology just increases the output to the max.

I can quite easily see supermarkets selling portable solar power units at a price that feeds part of the collection back to them, or is linked to the supermarkets flat roof array keeping their refrigeration power consumption from the main grid as low as possible, linking the power supplied to say my Tesco card app.

Orbiting satellite units.

### Orbiting Satalites

As of February 2026, the concept of small satellites capable of generating solar power has become real. With an FCC approval for SpaceX to launch a lot of these units into part of the low earth orbit, to power the existing Starlink network and act as an orbiting Data Centre. This is not easy, the units will generate a lot of heat, that needs to be dispersed, again not easy in a vacuum of space

### Connected Energy

The UK and several continental countries that are linked to the UK via electrical cables under the English Chanel and the north Sea.

Where we can share energy. Between Ireland, Norway, Holland Belgium and France with roughly 11 GW of electricity, rising to 12 GW in the very near future.

Other countries will almost certainly be doing much the same linking. The linking of power generation is politically and culturally difficult, but the physics and technical problems are now understood and feasible.

Countries within the tropical bands of the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn will be a huge source of energy with large solar arrays ringing the earth, always producing power .

### The “Closing the Loop” (Sustainability Focus)

“Power” is the invisible thread that connects every material, every CAD drawing, and every construction sequence in this book. From the waste heat of a shower pipe to the molten salt of a nuclear core, our goal is a closed-loop system. As you step into the industry, remember: a building is only as sustainable as the energy it consumes. The tools for a cleaner future—SMRs, pumped hydro, and smart grids—are now in your hands.

How will you draw the next chapter?”

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#Google#Apple

Without realising it, I have slowly been migrating a lot of my Apple pages documents, and Keynote lectures to Google Drive. The reason is quite simple, Apple does not play well with other OS and Google just does.

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I have several personal examples of what I mean here, first I am writing a major construction update for Mitchells Construction, and the publisher, Routledge asked for the Apple Pages singular file to be split into separate chapter files and be converted to Word.

Now I hate word, its just not a nice program, bloated and has a weird way of working, But Google does do Word using their nice and easy Docs program, it also easily migrated the file to very good .MD or Markdown, so Google suddenly became the working platform for the book,

As it happened we and I mean the writing team I had put together, were complaining about Dropbox and its creation of copy files was instantly solved by the move to Google Drive, and its sync, and all comments also came across, so the team is now happy.

As part of our writing, I was building up my new website, www.frogupordown.co.uk built, in Google Sites, it’s easy to use and the point and click ease to add my slides was a major point in migrating all my lecture slides over to google, I might add, this is ongoing, there is a lot of them!

It’s at this point, I suddenly realise I am talking to Google Gemini a lot, and I mean, 10 - 15 times or more a day, asking , discussing construction, asked to proof read, and do research.

Enter here Google Keep, its like Apple Notes, but its not. and after using it, I don’t like the comparison, its easier to use, more tightly integrated in every thing, and that includes Gemini.

I frequently ask for some of Gemini’s research or comments to be placed in a new Keep file, just because I can open it up as a side bar on most of the Programs I’m using in Google, and it’s so handy.

Oh and before I forget, Google Gemini keeps all of our conversations and has a nice link creator I use it a lot to find conversations.

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Suddenly Google is becoming a lot more important to me than Apple, in fact Apple gets in the way, so much so, I have changed over to Chrome, it solves so many niggly little things.

I have even changed over to Google Calender simply because the writing team prefers to use the Google Meet. It’s simple and easy to use, plus It interacts with Google Docs so well.

My iPhone is mostly now Google Apps, I still used a couple of Apple apps, but I have created a single screen for Google and moved it to the front . Oh have you tried Google TV yet, I use it a lot now linking all my different movie channels, including Apple TV and of course, YouTube for all mr Google purchased movies.

A feature I really like is the way I can link notes I have made in my day book, simply by opening google drive on both my i{hone and also my Pixel 3a and using the small icon to the bottom right over the + button to create a pdf, with the camera. It asks to save it to a folder, and if you do not want the inspired file name to replace it. Now the good bit, its so easy to create a link and paste the link into a set of meeting minutes, it creates a nice little icon. Hovering over the icon with the mouse, brings up a small reminder. A realy nice way to link my written notes in my day book to the actual google doc.

So how long before I move completely, well living on the Apple Google fence is a lot easier, using the right apps, and my Macbook Air is ok, What has happened is I have downgraded my Apple subscription, do I really need iCloud, as I continue to move files over to Google Drive, simple answer is no. I will monitor disk space and react accordingly, but the more I move over the better it becomes.

I have tried several times to set up a Linux machine on an old MacBook Pro. Opening up google on the linux machines web browser, means I have a new access route to google files. An interesting safety route. And one I am exploring, I even have a new email address on a Swiss site.

It made sense after writing a couple of articles and bits for the book, to import photos I have in Apple into Google, I spoke to Gemini and I now have a permanent link set up, importing photos into google. Yet another nail in Apple’s dominance in my life.

Looking into the future, I just can not justify the cost of an Apple machine despite the new power and privacy. Google Docs running on the range of Chromebooks, opens up the difference between Apple and Google, Apples reliance on power chips to keep what ever is coming as far as the Siri AI replacement and its use on their machine, in direct contrast to Google who use servers to do the power work. As far as I can see, there is no difference in performance, its just down to privacy.

For me Apple is spending its time trying to keep that privacy, and I just do not see it in my future. Whatever I write is not that private, the exception is banking and my bank is looking to keep that information secure and private.and away for all eyes except mine.

So my computing future will not include Apple for much longer. They have forced me into ever more expensive machines that I suspect a lot of people will just not need. Google on the other hand opens up ever increasing power to me on machines I can afford. The classic example is running Gemini on my old Pixel 3a XL. with no loss in speed or service.

The argument against running their data centres is, I think, short lived, I can easily see Google’s ideas for collecting power via a satellite and beaming it to earth as viable, and Elon Musks idea of space data centres equally as exciting, and viable.

So Google is it, My last Mac is in front of me. And I hope it will last at least a year of more, so will my iPhone 15, although I might be tempted with the Pixel 10 when the new 11 comes out.

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#Maths#Pi#Infinity#Ratio-of-a-circle-to-its-diameter

In this lecture, I want to explore the concept of the universe being never ending. It’s hard enough to contemplate the distances of space, but to have a concept of space being so big as never ending, is the stuff of headaches.

Yet it’s a question some people will have spent a lot of time, trying to prove or disprove,

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Some people just accept the notion its just to far away to even consider,

Some are convinced there is a wall,

But if there is a wall what’s it made of, and what’s on the other side, can there be nothing, a void of nothing, The concept of 0.

Let’s savour that point for a while, it’s certainly a possibility, but what if it is just too far away for light to even reach us? How can I prove or disprove infinite.

Perhaps there is maths, and here we have some proof of the infinite in the equation C=πD or the circumference of a circle is equal to Pi x Diameter

But what is π, well its the relationship of the Diameter to the circumference, It turns out that the answer is never ending, π is a number so big it holds all the knowledge, books, telephone numbers, names of every one who ever was, is, or will be, and then keeps on going, never repeating. For ever!

We do not have a computer capable of calculating this unique number,

For all intent, π is infinite.

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Most of us know Pi as 3.1416, as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. and that’s not so easy to prove, Scientists and mathematicians have not yet figured out a way to calculate pi exactly, since they have not been able to find a material so thin that it will work to find exact calculations. In the physical world, our pens and rulers have thickness. But in the world of pure math, π exists with zero thickness—which is why it can be infinite while our physical tools are not.

But these methods taken from https://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Pi

Can I teach π well yes we can just measure the perimeter of a jar or circle

And use π=C/D

It’s a little crude but with practice you might get close to the 3.1416

Or use the Gregory-Leibniz series.

* π=(4/1)-(4/3)+(4/5)-(4/7)+(4/9)-(4/11)+(4/13)-(4/15) ⋯

* Take 4 and subtract 4 divided by 3. Then add 4 divided by 5. Then subtract 4 divided by 7. Continue alternating between adding and subtracting fractions with a numerator of 4 and a denominator of each subsequent odd number. The more times you do this, the closer you will get to pi.

Or try this on a calculator, and this is were kids they will all start reaching for there phones,

Plug your number, which we’ll call x, into this formula to calculate pi:

x * sin(180 / x). For this to work, make sure your calculator is set to Degrees. The reason this is called a Limit is because the result of it is ‘limited’ to pi. As you increase your number x, the result will get closer and closer to the value of pi.

Just to prove it works

Try it with a small number first (like x=10), and then a huge number (like x=1,000,000). Watching the number “climb” toward $3.14159$ on you screen.

To put it simply If you want to move away from π for a moment, consider Zeno’s Paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise. To walk across the stage , you must first walk halfway. To cover the remaining half, you must first cover half of that. And half of that π is everywhere.

Ok we can now see the importance of Pi in proving the concept of Infinity

Can nature help, it turns out the answer is yes

If we look at a snowflake under a microscope we see intricate patterns, if we zoom in that pattern keeps repeating as far as we can zoom in. They are called fractals, and we see this concept in so many places in nature. From snowflakes to plants, they use these repeating patterns because it’s the most efficient way to maximize surface area for sunlight or nutrients) using a very simple “instruction manual” in their DNA.

For example the Romanesco Broccoli (The “Perfect” Fractal)

This is the “gold standard” of botanical fractals. If you look at a head of Romanesco, it is made of smaller cones. Each of those cones is made of even smaller cones, and so on.

The Connection: It shows that a complex, infinite-looking structure can be built by repeating one simple rule over and over again.

Ferns (Self-Similarity)

A fern leaf is a classic “self-similar” fractal. The entire frond is shaped like a large leaf. But if you look at a single branch (a pinna), it is shaped exactly like a miniature version of the whole frond.

The “Infinity” Angle: In theory, if the plant didn’t have biological limits (like cell size), that pattern could go down to the microscopic level. It’s a “finite” object containing the logic of the infinite.

Its quite clear, that we struggle to perceive infinite space, but we hold infinity in our hands every time we pick up a piece of broccoli or a fern. Nature doesn’t see infinity as a ‘wall’; it sees it as a blueprint for growth1

How much “infinity” we actually need. While π goes on forever, NASA only uses about 15 decimal places of π to calculate interplanetary navigation with extreme accuracy. To calculate the circumference of the observable universe to the precision of a single hydrogen atom, you only need about 40 digits

So why do we keep calculating more digits of π if NASA only needs 15?, for two reasons: Stress-testing supercomputers and pure human curiosity.

The best of the best computers have calculated over 100 trillion digits so far.. We aren’t doing it because we need the measurement; we’re doing it to see if the pattern ever breaks. So far, infinity is holding steady.”

So, the next time you look at a wheel, a coin, or even the iris of a girlfriend or loved ones eye, remember that you aren’t just looking at a simple shape. You are looking at a boundary that contains an endless ocean of information. Infinity isn’t ‘out there’ in the stars; it’s tucked inside every circle on Earth, waiting for a decimal point that never comes, and we have not even touched the fibonacci sequence.

Will you ever walk past Romanesco Broccoli in the supermarket again without thinking of π?

Thank you

* Gemini. (2026, March 2). On Fractal Geometry in Botany and the Concept of Infinity [Large Language Model]. Google AI.

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#Materials#Material Development#Old-Vs-New#Refurbishment#Research#Brickwork#Frog#Bond#Coursing#Pointing#Reclaimation-Yard

Introduction

First, let me apologise for coughing, I have not been able to shake of a nasty cold and cough.

This article is part of a chapter I am writing to the update of Mitchells Construction. Its an important part of construction, and sadley one that has been badley looked at and in so many cases got wrong.

There is a massive difference between old and new construction its not just the maintenance and repair of older materials, its the expansion of older building, by adding new onto old.

In this article we will begin look at how and why we build, how materials fit together, what they do, and the sequence of operations.The Laws, test and training involved.

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The growth of material manufacture

As we began to build shelters to defend early humans from both the onset of the weather, and to protect us from other animals and often other humans, materials quickly developed fron caves and huts made from fallen branches and loose stone to stronger more designed dwellings, with materials that were manufactured to perform specific jobs, Trees were cultivated to produce long thin branched by a process of continued cutting called polarding. We learned to dig and quarry materials such as specific stone and clays to use as building materials, and their size became more uniform as we learned to use them,

Bricks for example became the size we now now, because it was an easy to hold item, the perfect fit for a bricklayers hand. But for many years, not one but many local standard sizes became available, and because they lasted time and the onslaught of the weather and use, still remain in place.

Some materials must have been found by accident, Limestone used to contain a fire, spilt with water reacted and turned into a paste, bonding the other stones together, lime mortar was found, calling it an invention implies that some one intended to find the properties of lime mortar, is taking it a little too far.

Local variation in size and shape gave rise to local designs, cotswold Stone, Welsh slate, Granit cities like Edinborough, often supported by the lack of some materials like clay.

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Some designs like doors were based on a need to fit sixe, fitting a space left by the builder or stone mason, or the need for something more robust such as a castle entrance, needing strength to rebuff an attack.

Size is often a function of wealth, the more it costs the better it is, regardless of ease of use, or function.

Modern materials because of the volumes needed became a standard size but a change in measurement from imperials to metric, again changed materials sizes to round up sizes or fit a more modular way of building.

Altering, repairing or attaching a new design onto an older building, requires a lot more work to establish the material sizes of the existing building, and detailing to allow the two worlds to meet and work together. Ignoring this results in misaligned brickwork, doors that just do not fit, or if sitting side by side, old next to new, are instantly seen to look odd.

Adding old to new in any format often brings material performance, into question, older materials often not having the same performance as a modern material, weaker in strength, far more porous and bleached by often several hundred years of sun.

Old buildings are and were damper, and very often drafty, updating them to modern standards can cause the building to dry out, crack and almost self destruct.

The quality of some older materials is certainly worth considering before applying new materials and or living conditions. No accurate measurement of materials to make a clay brick, differing temperature in a kiln, quality of water, and so often an illiterate work force, who could not read the new standards.

Several different trades did recognise this and took steps to organise it workforce, The Masons who built with stone the carpenters, the thatchers, the master builders set up guilds to rase standards and train their members with a view to protecting that trade and keeping wages higher for members of their guild.

As always this article is meant to be a starting point for your research into this particular subjct are of construction. Littered in the article are many areas of research, that you may like to expand on. and make your own notes.

Some areas I have covered in the book version of this article, and shown a hashtag, like pointing, and Frogs.

As I posted this article, I suddenly thought of the use of reclaimed bricks and other materials, so thats on the list to expand for another article.

If you want to discuss any points, then please drop me a comment, and I will get back to you.

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I kind of like this subject, there is no rules, its a state of mind, can I imagine the endlessness of space

Check out Cosmic Mind’s video! #TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRy2s3Cy/

No edge, no barrier other than time

No slides, no argument

Space is infinite

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Yet no matter how far we can see, we can understand the science, & physics,

Yet I can prove infinity:

Add 1 to1 and keep adding 1, the number grows, there is no limit, its an infinite equation. Pi there magical equasion, when we calculate Pi, its an infinite number,

Fractles, those pretty shapes we see in snow flakes, they are infinite, zoom in and more appear, zoom in and still more, we keep zooming in till the machine can not go any further, still they appear,

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But so many people just can not see this, Its a state of mind

But still people ask, “How big is Space” the question infers a limit to calculate the volume, they still see it as a room, a hallway, a box, there minds can not see infinity.

Even the film “Back to the Future” gets it wrong, to infinity and beyond, as though there is a barrier to cross.

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Water is a product of nature, whatever we have is it, we can’t generate any more, yet we hardly know much about it, yet it is fundamental to life.

In my article on the Frog Up or Down website, I have taken a step back and looked at water, mostly from my perspective as a Construction Technologist. The source, the storage, its use and so often its misuse.

Can you imagine, I did not add a major part, that of the Atmosphere in the collection of the rain, so I have added this, plus some of you knoticed my video, not being of me, but my desk, I did wonder is any of you might comment, well some did, so pleased. I have replaced it :-)

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But that’s only the beginning,

This is a new departure from my normal posts here on Substack, I Write mostly in Google Docs, formatting it, and linking other notes and sides into both the article and so often the Bibliography.

But copy and pasting the article into Substack loses that rich metadata embedded into the document, and I see no way to overcome that. So for this first of a series of posts, I am leaving these documents as is, and letting my Google Site handle the links I have embedded.

This does mean that to get the best out of the links, you should be using Chrome and your Google account to open the links, but I think it’s worth it.

Embedded into the article are not just notes for you the reader, but also notes to any AI that will want to translate the document into say another language ie: French and the technical notes into local French equivalents, not a translation but French legal documents. Jon Pickup added a NewZealand translation onto the end of the document as an experiment, and I am mightily impressed.

I have also embedded documents helping the student to understand Plagiarism citing not just my work, but that of any AI who may be helping them.

I use Bitly to generate the link, this does several things. First I can see the number of people who visit the site on a daily , weekly, monthly, yearly basis, but also each login so I can verify anyone’s access, an important point in plagiarism .

So as I head into this electronic AI world I need a site to at least give it a fighting chance, which SubStack currently does not, but I have all my readers here, so I will post a link to the article only. Lets give it a try.

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#Mars#Mercury#Pluto#Venus

I took this snapshot of the planets at around 10:30 pm on the 24th Jan, with the Skyviewer app on my iphone . It has a great view of the Planets, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Pluto all lined up. It has nothing to do with day to day Construction Technology, I just find it facinating.

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To understand the layout, I took a screen shot of the planets orbit positions for that day to show the alinement.

Although they look on top of each other Pluto is the last planet on our solar system and is a long way out, almost twice the distance of Mars, which in itself is twice the distance of Venus. The earth is on the other side of the sun, so the app is just showing the position not actual.

The orbits are again a simulation and defiantly not drawn to scale,and the orbit shape not circular but mostly oval in shape but usefull to see the grouping.

https://www.theplanetstoday.com/index.html

I used to include a lecture on the planets as part of my weather lecture, the Earths orbit, out tilt, and the different summers.

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I have written this article in Markdown, simply to prove a point, markdown is so easy, why bother with word, or almost any other text editor that saves to its own format, prevents sharing and most of all hinders search.

Here I take the original pencil note, the tanscription into txt, the use of Markdown and just one of the programs that makes use of it in ways that does not harm the original txt format, that can alway be read on ant computer, unlike Apple Pages, Word, Google Docs, the list goes on.

I have a link below to expand on an idea of the Free Flow of Ideas, as I was writing ths article, I suddenly thought of the ideas flowing, the way I often let the pencil direct the course of the ideas evolvement, its life so to speak. Computers just don’t allow that.

Although Markdown Dows easily let me start an article, and link to it, as I have here, so I have added the short piece at the bottom, in the Markdown, its a link.

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# Markdown for the Construction Researcher

#Pencils

#Notebook

#Rubber

#Knowledgebase

#Article

A new student, when entering a college or University, will be attending lectures of a subjects they know little about, you will be drawn into a world of standards, materials, design, detailing and drawings

Rule one at least take into every lecture a note pad a set of pencils and a rubber, do not at this stage sign up to any online storage system note taking app, or wizard helper. We will delve into this side of your Knowledge base later.

Your choice of pencils, may seem a little strange after all a pencil is a pencil, well no, you will soon see, your choice of pencil will say so much to those already in the profession.

Do not by cheap pencils, they do not last, and often break or at least the lead will break far to easily.

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My preference is to by a box set to start, from either:

- Faber-Castell

- Stadlier

Both offer box set, in a small tin box, this is going to be with you for a long time, and both companies know this, its permanant advertising, but the tin box protects your pencils and keeps the exposed lead core safe.

In the tin Box you will have a collection of pencils that offer line thicknes and depth, that is the dencity of lead left on the paper.

On the pencil, place at the top, or oposite end to the pointed lead, there will be a small code 2H or 3B.

These letters indicate two things:

The hardness (H) and blackness/softness (B) of the graphite core. H stands for Hard (lighter,,,fine lines), B stands for Black/Soft (darker, smudgy, for shading), HB is Hard-Black (medium, for writing), and F stands for Firm (sharp, fine point). Higher numbers (e.g., 4B, 2H) indicate greater intensity of that property.

H (Hard): Contains more clay binder, creating lighter, precise lines. Ideal for technical drawing, blueprints, or light sketching.

B (Black/Soft): Contains less clay, creating darker, softer lines that blend easily. Used for shading, sketching, and artistic work.

HB (Hard Black): The standard, balanced, multi-purpose pencil for writing and everyday sketching.

F (Firm): A specialized, fine-pointed, and firm-lead pencil.

Number Prefixes:

The Numbers before letters (e.g., 2H, 4B) indicate the degree of hardness or softness. Higher numbers signify a more extreme, such as 9H (extremely hard) to 9B (extremely soft).

The choise is yours, My prefereance has always been Faber-Castell, the Tin Box is well made, it clicks shut so will not open in your bag

I purchased a 12 pencil box set a log time ago and replace pencils as needed.

These days I tend to by from an Artist shop where the staff are not just shop keepers, they are very knowledgable on the products.

I sometimes buy online, but only when I can be assured on the delivery, and protection of the pencils.

And here we need to underdtand that useing a pencil as a drum stick, is not good for the pencil, the Leads break and make for shapening the lead very difficult.

For online purchases, I tend to use the Faber-Castell web site [Faber-Castell](https://www.faber-castell.co.uk)

Faber-Casell, tend to send out pencil sets in well packaged tins or pencil wrapped in card and plastic hangers, although I prefer to visit my artist shop to browse paper, card and other things I probably don’t need !

Pencils are now but one option, for years I used a clutch Pencil, buying just the leads to fill mt various clutch pencils, using a specific sharpener not a pencil sharpener to sharpen the lead.

It may seem complicated, but taking notes in pencil is a lot easier than typing, it offers a [free flow of ideas](free-flow-of-ideas.md), a quick sketch or idea, typing, on any system or program restricts this and prevents that free flow of thought. The code above links to another .md txt file, that expands my thoughts on what I mean by a free flow of ideas, I do this a lot, rather than put all of the content into one file I make new files when I think I might want to share it with another note.

A rubber is so much easier than backspace of highliting a word and hitting deleat, so next purchace, a Staedler Mars Plastic Rubber is the best delete button ever, but even better, just line out a section if its wrong and don’t waste time rubbing out, just carry on, and remove later. although I rarley do.

A small but usefull tool when you own a set of pencils, is a pencil sharpener, again don’t by cheap, go gor a nice sharp little shapener that cut the woon and leaves a nice sharp lead.

Next your note book, It needs to be handy, an A4 is ok, but it takes up a lot of bag space, and realestate on a desk, so I went a long while ago to A5. I tried Moleskins, and they are very nice, but exspensive, also they do not lay flat and open, so eventualy I found a Spiral bound A5 notebook as the perfect notebook, I like it to have a very faint dot grid, 10mm is ideal, for sketching to scale.

I an currently on book 5 of a new find, from RHODIA called simply dotbook.

The paper is ideal just good enough to stop bleed through when using a marker, and the dots just visable, excellent. I tend to use Cult Pens to suppy my order, but my last purchase of five with a discount was from Amazon, search for “Spiral bound A5 Notebook” or take a look at [Cult Pans](https://cultpens.com)

---

Next is what to do with your notes, the simplest, and one that will make you think of both the lecture and subject, is to transcribe your notes, into a digital form.

Why you might ask when my notes are already done, well tanscribing does many things, it makes you thing about the subject, and it reinforces the lesson, as a memory, I often do searches for items, and these days I often ask my AI of preference to expand a point, more on this later.

Plus, and here is a major point, as your notebook collection increases, so does the content, and so often I spent a lot of time trying to find a note I made which I was convinced was in a certain book, only to later find it in another completely unrelated notebook.

Seach on most digital Platforms have progressed to a point where the program searched, not just names of files, but content.

To make this easier I use just plane old txt files, hardley any formating, and almost any computer no mater how old, will read it and most important, search it by file name and content.

To format the text thats as easy as writing some text, that does not make the content readable by only one specific program, then we need to look at Markkdown.

Markdown is based on pure txt, and uses spefic simple code to make text bold, layout and link in a very simple way. Best of all its not linked to any specific program, use any text editor to type the article, some have specific help programs to aid adding markdown code.

Search is therefore very easy for most computers. But like most searches you will get a long list of files. Therefore your search term needs to be very specific. I use hashtags where in each file I list a number of very specic tags to aid search and reduce the return to files that are what I want.

So what do you read the text files on, well, the internet is made of txt, and it understands Markdown as a version of html and will show the layout as the author intends.

But there are some specific programs that use Markdown and txt files as their main file format. One such program is Obsidian, not only does it use txt files but uses Markdown as original intended. as a simple layout code

.

But Obsidian comes not just as a reader, but more its a gateway to building a Knowledge base, that uses the file name, the text and links to aid search and take it to another level.

Enter Graphical Visual Display of your search, See photo above, showing not just the files you searched for, but showing how the files link to each other.

For instance, say you write a major file on say Drainage, and then write several other documents on say single pipe systems, twin pipe systems, fall, load, sewage plants, and say leveling, and surveying for setting falls, the Graphical Visual display in Obsidian will show how each file links to each other with each node, or file, displayed by how many links it has.

Do I need to leave Obsidian to write, no, you can make new files, type as to want, and use a very nice help system to add Markdown to your txt, and see the change in its own html viewer.

All the while each file is still a txt file all be it with a .md rather than a .txt tag.

One small point, linking your file to another file, to say expand on a word or Phrase, is very easy, but there are certain rules. first, links to other files in the same folder need to be exact, also spaces between words often causes problems, so either add a dash free-flow-of-ideas, or remove spaces altergether. The code above is a good example, copy and reuse.

Obsidian also has a vast library of extensions that adds some form of addition to the search, or how the file can be used, without changing the core .txt format, ok it might add extra txt to help the extension work, but its still txt, and most are free community plugins.

Obsidian is free, although you might want to donate a small sum to help development, but the program is free.

whilst we are looking at the digital transcribing of your notes, lets not forget AI, what ever your choice, mine is currently Google Gemini, It is not plagorism to ask your AI to expand on a subject. I now do this a lot, not just with lectures I am attending, but with books I read, or conversations I have. Most AI programs will be only to happy to expand on a subject, your job is to define the conversation, tell it what you already know, if your trying to undersand a lecture, or your notes are not clear, tell the AI what you want, other wise it will just bable on, like any other Prof, me included, last thing you want, so be clear and presise in your conversations, and thats an important point, commands get you nowhere, but a conversation will get you results.

Another nice point of AI requests is that your conversation is saved, and will have a link you can add to your Obsidian notes, I have, in the past, copied the conversation and added it as a text file to onsidian or my .md markdown files and expanded it with the link, and some additional notes like hashtags, that will help link it to my master file or files on the subject in question.

The point of all this is making a knowledge base is not making a database, or a spreadsheet loaded with fact, a knowldge base should be a flowing link of easy to read txt files, open to search, and linked as best as you can to each other. Certainly Obsidian is the first program to open up the file structure to its simplest format and show that the data in what ever format is yours not the programs.

Freeflow of Ideas

#Free flow of ideas#Pencill

When I get an idea, I like to use just a pencil and paper to get the gist of an idea down, I tried a keyboard, but it just slowed me down, I lost the idea just because the computer took over

A pencil is not bound by anyhing, just a piece of paper and a fairly good point to the lead, and away I go, writing notes adding notes to clarify, annding a sketch, a thumbnale comment.

So now carry almost always an A5 note pad and so often a clutch pencil but does that mean I don’t use some form of computer, no I can often load up my iPhone and use Apple notes to scan a text in a poster, or book I am reading, I can used my audio record in Apple Notes to make a verbal notes, but I always revert back to my notebook that make a note of the event, I am always liable to forget I have done it, but the note is a permanant reminder.

Sketching is fun, I like the time spent, I sometimes redo an idea several times till I get to a point where am satisfied.

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Yesterday, I watched the excellent “Escape to Rural France”

where Dan Preston is rebuilding an old Chateau,( Château de Chaumont) . It was burned down in the late 1980’s and Dan is slowly rebuilding it, along with a few trades people and contractors, paid for by I suspect a really good YouTube Account documenting the progress on an almost daily basis.

The Stats are amazing

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I watch simply because it’s all about construction, the materials and his choice of construction. In the short YouTube link above, he shows the Masons, who have been repairing a lot of the old stone wall to the basement, and repairing the doorway arches have used lime as the mix of choice. But it was this episode, that I took notice of, when the design of the first lower ground slab was cast, and the masons, who poured it, went for a Lime mix

This is not surprising, given all the work they did pointing up all the old walls and resetting a lot of Arch’s. But it gave me an idea for today’s article to trace back the use of Lime in Roman and Egyptian construction, comparing it with modern day use,

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Vitruvius - Marcus Vitruvius Polli

If you ever need to look at Roman Construction, then “Vitruvius The Ten Books on Architecture” is the book you need. My copy is based on an early 1960 edition, but it’s still relevant.

But who was Vitruvius, well that’s a question I put to Gemini, but here I must admit, I explained why, outlining my thoughts on the use of Lime, in construction, comparing Roman Egyptian and modern day constructions I do not like diving in with such a direct question, I like to give background, I find its answer so much more useful.

So who was he? This is Gemini’s response, “To answer your question: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (active c. 50–20 BC) was a Roman author, architect, and civil engineer. While we don’t have many surviving buildings credited to him personally, he is immortalized by his treatise, De Architectura (known today as The Ten Books on Architecture).

Why is Vitruvius so significant? Vitruvius is essentially the “Godfather of Draughtsmanship and Construction.” His work is the only major contemporary source on Roman building methods to survive into the modern era.

It seems the Romans did not invent the use of Lime, more they took its use, and developed it, trialing different mixes, and methods , they even managed to develop concrete that would set under water, and the evidence still exists.

Limestone when heated to a hight temperature, changes, and when crushed in its new state and water is added, it chemically reacts to produce line , the idea that early Babylonian, or Samomans lit a fire and the stones surrounding the fire got wet, producing the earliest lime, is probably true, more or less.

Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture - Somers Clarke

My next book is the next book, looking at Egyptian Construction. Their use of lime is in total contrast to the Roman, who use lime as a chemical mix, bonding items together. The Egyptians used it as a bedding material to level out the stone blocks, and we are talking huge stone blocks here. I think of this style of construction as pure gravity, the stone needs no bonding, just something to make the interface.

Mitchell’s Construction Introduction & Advanced,

both books that has lasted almost 150 years in constant updates and improvements, here Lime take centre stage, the mix, and quality, the manufacture and installation, Lime in all its uses was the main component in so many products, plaster, bedding,

Building with Lime - Stafford Holmes

This book, brings lime into the modern day.In some form Lime has been used as both a chemical binder, and as a leveling medium, I say this because the Egyptians Architecture was what’s called a gravity based design, large blocks of stone held in place by gravity, the mortar between the blocks was there to level, to fill out the irregularities, Where as The Romans and I might add the people before them used it as a structural material that got its strength from the chemical reaction between the lime and the component mixed with it. This book has it all, plus the appendix is loaded with standards, and also includes French and German standards as well.

There can be no doubt, Lime is making a come back, I for one will be researching the product, looking at current manufacture and use, specifications and detailing.

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