A quickie update on the glazed section on a rural house we’re working on in Mayo:

The design concept has been discussed briefly as one of the ‘Sun tracking Designs and variations in the story’ and this one has a glazed corner where a mono-pitch roof cantilevers over and provides a canopy and some shade:

This post is just highlighting one aspect structurally; there’s a lot going on here in terms of bending moments, cantilevers and uplift; but lets look at what holds the roof down in the wind…

Think of a roof of this type as a giant kite in the wind; the kite is desperate to take off into the skies but the kite is held back via the string which is held tightly by you and then to the ground.

In the same way this roof needs to be held down from taking off; the roof layers are firmly fixed to each other into the rafters, the rafters are held onto a steel beam with welded steel brackets:

The steel beam is then held to the wall and down to the ground with steel bands (much in the same way as the string holding the kite). nb gap between beams has been filled & welded:

Now what has this possibly got to do with cycling?

Well as the faithful readers know, I like a bit of cycling. Occasionally I push it a bit too far and the old knees start to pain a bit. I’ve been trying out some kinesiology tape and thought I’d apply the same principles of the above structural engineering to my knee by strapping under and across the knee and then up the leg along the IT band. Call me crazy but I think it does work. BIG DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE – FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY !!!

I’ll spare you the image of my thighs but below is how the tape is working on the knee; structures and physiology combined!:

All advice online is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support – in and of itself – should legal action be taken. Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.