A handbook for new diggers?

[Jack]

Up here in the north, the south bit is important. Yep east = morning light. Guess for us this was most important as the fire had gone out.
But then..........thinking back............ooo, found the site online.

here


Yep, doorway pointed south-east.

I remember it was a big opening that flooded the place with light for most of the day. Once it started to get dark the fire sufficed.

If i remember my structural engineering, (and using the design used where I stayed)........

The load created by the weight of the roof is transferred down the roof beams to the upright posts of the wall (no internal ring in that house) either directly or via horizontal beams set onto the ring of wall posts.
The load over the door is spread via a lintel to the posts supporting the lintel.

If a widow is built onto the roof its extra weight also needs to be supported. The extra weight/load would be from holding the roof material away from the main slope of the roof. But I guess this could be done via cross braces to the roof beams?

Dunno. Depends of where you want your windows, how they are constructed and what keeps the rain for going in the hole.