Here in Normandy I am thinking of the room as ‘the heated side of things’ - making the most of the heating system - rather than the exterior being the hot side, as would be the case further south.
Which do you mean?
Vapour control is always on the living side/room side of the insulation. It’s there to prevent condensation of warm moist air inside the insulation, which is clearly not a good thing.
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Talking of horizontal vs. vertical, when our house roof put on we gave the roofer Tyvek ‘underfelt’ and asked him to put it on under the tiles.
On the East roof he did it correctly, Tyvek running up-and-down the roof.
On the West roof he put it horizontally. Didn’t notice 'till too late.
Duh!
I’ve always seen & used Tyvek (other membranes are available) horizontally. Why do you think that is incorrect?
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The shape made by the wood battens and the metal uprights looks square to me. So, if a standard board will go OK portrait format on a pair of metal uprights, it will go OK landscape on a pair of wood horizontals.
Bodge has negative connotations, in English. But maybe this bodge is a ‘chapuza’, a Spainish bodge? Chapuzas can be good bodges as well as bad bodges.
For example, a friend from Valencia, on hols on the Spanish north coast, lost reverse gear. The local Renault agent said “New gearbox. 1200€”. Well, main agents don’t repair cars anymore, just fit new units. My pal, by judicious calculations, managed to avoid requiring reverse all hols.
Getting back to VLC his usual garagista suggested una chapuza - replace reverse gear. This was done at 1/4 the cost of a new g/b.
So maybe there is una buena chapuza in mind here?
For moment I thought Tyvek was dashing a Polish roofer! See how much I know about this membrane biz.
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looks like it is set up for tongue and grove wooden wall boards.
That’s novel
Did he fix the lathe and tiles the same way 
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In my travels around here I came across a small barn with the corragated iron ridges going horizontal instead of vertical.
Seems this chap works in a wide geographical area.
Thank you Jonathon.
This place is on my faves list for buying. The large room in the first photo would be a picture gallery/studio. Those t & g wall boards would not do for that. Presumably the wooden battens could be removed and plain plasterboard or similar fitted?
I really am hopeless. I often make this sort of error - trying to type quicker than I think - and get everything a about f.
Of course, what I should have said was that on the East side of the roof he put the Tyvek horizontally but on the West side, when we were not here, he put it running vertically. But at least he overlapped it.
Have I made another error by not checking this post? … I think it is ok.
Hi, please add your full real name as per our T&C - many thanks.
Now there is agreement on what the wooden battens are for, I’d pass on t & g for some other form of board.
What would be your choice of heating system, given that the details of the house specify ‘individual convector heaters’ at the mo?
Given my age, 71, and my limited resources, it can’t be the sort of effective but expensive rig that is going to be a joy to generations to come ["… we did it because it was the right thing to do"].
The windows have been done - d/g all round. One long side of the house is ‘insulated’ - from the weather, at least - by being a party wall.
Perhaps better to save money that will probably not be recouped by greater efficiency/lower running costs by simply upgrading electric rads and staying electric?
Depending on the cost of air source heat pumps I would always bare that in mind. They shouldn’t cost too much but some like to profiteer making it impossible.
If you stick with electric rads look at additional radiator fans to circulate the heat rather than just convection.
Thanks John. Funnily enough [or not!] I was just on my way to dialing up some sounds on YT by the great jazz-fusion guitar player Larry Carlton when I was side-tracked by a couple of vids by Fermacell …
My heating in Spain was by ‘split’ aircon units. It is remarkably reasonable to run, costwise. Is that what heat pumps are, but without the cooling factor?
Having had a Nov to April winter in Normandy with just basic electric rads, I can imagine that with decent insulation all round, such as those rooms are set up for in those photos, heating to a comfortable level will not take loads of energy.
Yes the heat pumps, some are reversible some not, hence the difference.