Porches

UK Design/Drawings/Product & Automation Service

[tab name='My Journey']

With a previous career as an IT consultant in data storage systems, working for a number of the UK’s major banks, I decided to make a career change in 2013.

I’ve always loved working with my hands. By the end of my IT career, the more experienced I became, the more my job shifted to 70% bureaucracy and only 30% techie work—the part I actually loved. It was time for a change.

Growing up on a farm in South Africa, I was always fixing things, whether it was a two-stroke motorcycles or building things out of wood. Without any formal experience, I started an oak timber framing business from my shed in the back garden. A few years later, that business grew into a 3,000-square-foot factory with multiple 3-phase machines, producing beautiful oak timber frames by hand.

That said, I always kept a finger on the IT pulse. Early on, I relied on architects for all planning and formal drawings, but I found it hard to find architects who truly understood oak timber framing (no disrespect). The cost of drawings was also hitting hard, so I took on the challenge myself. After some research, I opted to use SketchUp Pro and Layout, mainly because I could write my own add-ons using Ruby Console—timber lists, volume calculators, m³ timber costs, etc. As the business owner, this allowed me to quickly model in 3D, produce cut lists, generate workshop drawings, and streamline operations.

I quickly found I was converting more prospects to sales by being able to present 3D models in a quick, timely fashion. Over the years, I lost count of how many frames I produced by hand—each one incredibly rewarding once erected. However, in the last couple of years, I noticed I was losing customers on price to CNC suppliers for standard products like gazebos and pergolas (bespoke frames were still fine), so I decided to test the waters by reaching out to CNC suppliers for standard products.

Again, I found myself paying repeatedly to have structures drawn up in various software flavours to generate machine files compatible with Hundegger CNC machinery. In the UK, there are several applications for this (Seema, Dietrich’s, HSBDesign). I always intended to move to Spain for a climate I was more familiar with, so after research, I discovered Cadwork was widely used across Europe. I bought a license and am now Cadwork proficient, which means I can design structures and supply CNC-ready files directly to manufacturers.

Long story short, I now live in Spain and supply CNC-produced frames to local Spanish businesses on a B2B basis. I also help a number of small to medium-sized UK timber frame businesses with:

- Design & Concepts

- Elevation Drawings

- Block/Location drawings (with Ordnance Survey maps )

- Planning Submission

- Design, Access and Heritage Statements (AI driven)

- Workshop Drawings

- Product Design & branded pdf´s if required

- DXF file supply

- Structural Calcs if required

- IT Automation and bespoke app creation

at a significantly better cost of what it would cost in the UK (no VAT as invoicing from Spain, for the smaller outfits).

Essentially, having started and run my oak timber frame business from the ground up, I have a very good understanding of the industry. Having produced all but two of my frames by hand, I fully appreciate what works from a workshop and fabrication perspective along with timber dimensions and spans.

Keeping the IT fire lit, I also help businesses with automation and streamlining backend processes. Many small to medium-sized businesses use various platforms and integrations, creating a proprietary and unique IT footprint. I can help automate, streamline, and connect these backend data processes to reduce man hours and manual data entry. In addition and via the use of Appsheet i can additionally create bespoke proprietary apps that are compatible across all platforms

I´m here to help in any aspect of your timber frame business

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