Carpentry for Women Natural Builders

This popular introductory course is for women who feel they lack the carpentry that invariably belongs to all building projects, be they wood, straw bale, earth, stone, brick etc. No experience necessary.

Over the five days of this course you will be led through all the essential parts of constructing a building, from sub flooring to roofing, working on a small timber framed structure.

Note: this course is now a 5 days course. After receiving feed back from our participants we have decided to extend the course by 1 day to fit more finishing carpentry into the schedule. The course is for women only.

You will learn hands on how to construct:

• a subfloor
• stud walls
• window and door frames
  

  

• roof structure
• hang a door
• put in windows
• lay a floor
• clad the structure
• apply roofing material

The course will also include:

• theory on how the parts of this structure would relate to other structures, for example straw bale, earth and stone buildings.
• working with power tools: i.e. circular saws, chop saws and jig saws
• hand tools and their maintenance
• making a cutting list and pricing up your project

The natural building aspect of this course is in regards to the knowledge of your tutor in natural building techniques and that we use green local rough sawn timber. We will go through natural building details in theory sessions only. The work itself is standard carpentry, exactly what you also need, but often not taught, in the natural building world. About 50% of natural builders are women, and many do not have any carpentry skills – a frustrating limitation to a crafts-woman. This course is about changing that.

If you are not a natural builder, you are very welcome too!

For the course you are asked to wear suitable work clothes and steel toe caps shoes/boots (not wellies) and ear protectors. Fingerless work gloves and a tool belt is recommended.
You are also asked to bring your own cordless combo screw driver/drill and some hand tools which will be detailed in the information letter you receive as you sign up. Please don’t bring impact drivers. If you have any questions regarding the above, please get in touch.

Course  Instructor

Sara Tommerup: Sara is a natural builder and carpenter with a broad range of experience within the different natural building techniques spanning earth, straw, stone, wood and lime. Sara has learnt from many different natural builders around the world. She also holds a Msc in Architecture.

Venues/Accommodation

Venue for May’s course: Bronhafod is a small-holding owned by Ella Gibbs, situated by the Usk Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The site has an organic permaculture garden and two examples of eco cabins – one a cruck round wood timberframe. Accommodation is camping on the site, water is from a spring on the land and there is a toilet and washing facilites as well as a warm space available in the main house. Ella will be doing the catering – we can only say, look forward to it!

We will email directions along with detailed course information after you sign up to a course.

Courses at Coed Talylan is a 70 acre woodland on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons. Nestled below the iron age hill fort of Garn Goch in the foothills of the Black Mountain it offers a secluded and peaceful location for our course participants to learn and explore the potential of applying agroecology within a co-sufficient community settlement.
Accommodation is available for camping around our guest lodge, an A-frame wooden cabin with kitchen and dining/living space. We have running filtered spring water throughout the site, compost toilets and wash facilities.
We will email directions along with detailed course information after you sign up to a course.

London Course: Participants must find accommodation near by

Fees

We endeavour to make our courses and events affordable to all. Unfortunately, we do not receive any external funding and rely on large amounts of voluntary input. Concessions are available for pensioners, unemployed and full-time students only.
See the Coed Talylan Terms and Conditions

Booking and Paying for your place

To book a place on the course contact us for a booking form or use the link below. Please note that we ask for a £75 non refundable deposit to secure your place on the course. The course requires a lot of initial material costs and planning. Therefore, the course fee must be paid in full 14 days before the course starts, and after this date we will not be able to refund you the course fee.

Carpentry – Course Booking Form