The blocks/masonary are made of dense concrete and are 4 inches thick. The concrete blocks are built as 2 seperate skins with a 3" inch cavity/void between them (partially filled with an insulation board), the 2 skins are tied together with steel ties built into the mortar joints between the blocks. The "Inner leaf/skin" is the internal block wall. As you can see this build uses both traditional block/masonary type construction along side the even older timber framing.There are many timber framing companies emerging in the u.k. (Timber framing is becoming very popular again) which are now carrying out this type of build, that is - mixing "old" with "new" But these companies are not very free with their advice!
Back to the original post - The Oak I am using is a good quality French Oak I have seen the tree trunks and they look reasonably straight (still with bark on) but as i am inexperienced in framing I wonder if there may be any movement As the frame dries which might damage or even push the block wall. The posts are 10" by 8" I was thinking of leaving a gap of 1/2 inch between the posts and the block inner skin, do you think this would be enough?
