Building Frames and a Roof With 2 boards, at 22 cm x 4 cm x 225 cm, Sonja was able to cut 6 lengths – 3 for each door frame – to get a maximum width from each, 6.5 cm. Placing this width to face the door left plenty of space to accommodate both the thickness of the door and the weatherproofing that will come. Except for two hinges that needed to be replaced on the salvaged door, we only needed to attach the receiving end of the new hinges on the frame. These were set flush with the outside face of the door; creating a tiny gap between the frame and the door. This is the inside of the door, turned upside down to maneuver the hinges into place. The bottom was left long on purpose; this will be cut to its appropriate height when installed. The top piece, or lintel, was joined by tongue-and-groove, and secured with two (ideally) wooden pegs diagonal from each other. With the frame completed, we removed the doors and cross-braced the corners to help the frame keep its shape until the house is finished. Its final measurement – to accommodate when laying out the concrete block pillars on either side of the frame – is 98 cm (the door is 90 cm and each side of the frame is 4 cm). We built another frame with only the measurements of the door to go on. With each door 79.3 cm wide, Sonja planned for a 1 cm gap in the center, and 5 mm on either side, equaling 168.6 cm to accommodate when laying out the pillars.  The roof beams will be laid on top of both the north (standing up) and south (laying down) facing walls. Sonja used an overlap joint to join the separate pieces, placing each joint where they will be supported by the load- bearing concrete-block pillars. These pieces will be connected by two 10 mm wooden dowels, diagonal from each other. The angle of the roof was determined by adding 30 cm to the length of the north wall over the south wall. Engineering these heights at a workable level, Sonja was able to plan the notches in the rafters where they sit on top of the beams (I think beam is the terminology). To draw out where the notches should be cut on the rafters above the taller north wall, we drew lines straight line up from both sides of the beam, and connected them with a line parallel to the top of the beam. To make the notch on the shorter south wall, we drew a straight line up from the inside of the beam, only a cm this time, then another line parallel to the top of the beam all the way to the rafters end. Making a template with both these notches on a scrap piece of wood made marking all the rafters that much easier. The rafters, overhanging by 10 cm on the shorter south side and 20 cm on the taller north side, will be placed at 80 cm intervals, each one secured to the beams with two nails pounded in at angles. Natural Building: Abroad Friday, April 18, 2008 Sonja, our handy wood-worker, ensured straight cuts by measuring the distance from the inside of the blade to the end of the guard, then clamping an iron rod at that distance from the needed cut. Shie also pulled out just after beginning a cut, to make sure it was where shie wanted it before continuing.