An 8 step guide to building a sweet chestnut shelter

Click 1 to 8 to see the build steps

This is a sweet chestnut lakeside shelter was built by a small group of volunteers lead by Jamie Miller (2nd on the right in picture No.7) at Denmark Farm in Ceredigion, Wales. The upright pillars that make the main frame of the shelter are charred (see picture No.1) to protect the wood from rotting [discussion]. The pillars are half cut to support the roof beams that are shingled (picture No.6).

Sweet chestnut is a hardwood found in South west Europe, Australia, North Africa and Asia. It's a very strong wood much like oak, but not as strong. It cleaves well (see picture No.5) when the grain is straight and should always be pre-drilled before nailing because of its tendency to split. Sweet chestnut is a wood that Ben Law highly recommends for roundwood timber framing, wind braces, cladding and shingles.