Room for Drama
Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Seattle (demonstration)

The slab that is too hot in July and too slow to dry in November

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When barefoot crossing is open for crossing barefoot

Each month read on its 30th, or the last day of a shorter month · 2026
Crossing it barefoot, through the year. Barefoot crossing is open for crossing barefoot 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, every month of the year. 12 months open, 0 shut, 0 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from 9 am at the centre to 8 pm at the edge. Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline. Each month is its 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, not a promise about the other days.

Barefoot crossing is open for crossing barefoot 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, every month of the year.

  • All year: open 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
February 2811:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
March 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
April 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
May 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
June 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
July 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
August 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
September 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
October 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
November 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h
December 3011:00 AM–6:00 PM7 h

Barefoot crossing for Crossing it barefoot. October 30, 2026 at 1:00 AM, America/Los_Angeles. Now on this date. Confidence low.

Ten seconds, no shoes, between the door and the water.

Crossing it barefoot

Barefoot crossing works for crossing barefoot at this hour.

“Works” means the model's weighted checks support this use, and no reading is past its own limit. A reading listed as close still needs attention; it does not mean every reading passed.

  • Surface heat is inside what this use needs: about 48°F against at most 120°F.

Confidence low (37%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
Use
Crossing it barefoot
Place
Barefoot crossing
Weather
Temperate maritime, mild, grey, damp (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
Method
Traced geometry and radiation at this hour, measured against what this use needs
Try a changeMake a document

What next here

Testing a change

3 of 8 milestones. One thing is still in the way of privacy, sightlines and screening advice.

  1. Getting an honest answer3 of 4 done
    • Placed on the earth — done. The sun is in the right part of the sky for this address.
    • A spot to read — done. 1 spot is being read.
    • What stands in the way — done. 2 things are drawn, so the shade is worked out rather than assumed.
    • Who can see in — not done. Privacy is the most common reason a terrace goes unused, and it cannot be answered without knowing which windows look at it.
  2. Testing a changeyou are here0 of 2 done
    • A change tested — not done. Testing a change before buying it is the cheapest part of the whole exercise.
    • A forecast checked — not done. A forecast nobody goes back and checks is a guess with a date on it.
  3. Proving it well enough to spend money0 of 2 done
    • Corrected against reality — not done. After a couple of rechecks the model can be corrected against this specific garden.
    • Photographed — not done. A photograph is what turns a drawing somebody sketched into a drawing somebody can check.
  1. Mark the windows that look at this spot

    Being overlooked is one of the most common reasons a good terrace goes unused, and it is the one reading here that cannot be inferred from anything else.

    a tap per windowneeded for privacy, sightlines and screening advice
  2. Get this place to Annotated

    A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions. Right now: Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place. What is missing: Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one. Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement. Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

    3 things left
  3. Test a change before you buy anything

    The plan is good enough to ask what a screen, a tree or a canopy would actually do here — including the ones that turn out to be a waste of money.

    a few minutes, nothing bought
3 more things worth doing here
  1. Add a second spot and compare the two

    One spot gives a verdict; two give a reason. Most of what is worth learning here is why one corner works at six and the other never does.

    one tap, then read across
  2. See how this spot changes through the year

    A terrace that works in July can be unusable in September for reasons that have nothing to do with temperature. The same geometry read in four seasons is the cheapest insight here.

    a read, nothing to enter
  3. Photograph the spot and mark what is in shot

    A photograph is what separates a drawing you sketched from a drawing somebody else can check. It is also how heights get corrected without a ladder.

    one photograph

How well this place is described

Mapped
  1. Quick
  2. Mapped
  3. Annotated
  4. Measured

Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from the geometry on this plan. Unmeasured dimensions remain estimates, not verified measurements.

Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place.

To reach Annotated

  • Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
  • Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
  • Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

What that buys: A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions.

Everything that was checked
  • Quick A place on the earth: Seattle (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
  • Quick Somewhere to read: 1 spot marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
  • Mapped The things in the way: 2 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
  • Mapped What is underfoot: 1 of 1 readings sit on a mapped surface.
  • Mapped Where the property ends: Drawn, so the product can tell you when the cheapest fix stands on someone else's land.
  • Annotated Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
  • Annotated Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
  • Annotated Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.
  • Measured Heights off a tape: All 2 objects are marked as measured.
  • Measured Something checked against the day: Nothing has been checked against a real afternoon. The model is unopposed, which is not the same as being right.

What to measure next

Ranked by how far the answer moves, not by a checklist
  1. 1Who can actually see inSit in the chair

    Sit where you actually sit and look around. Mark the one window or path you can see a person from. Until one exists, privacy is a question we are not answering rather than one that is fine.

    This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

    Mark it on the plan

    Currently assuming: nobody is overlooking this. Tested across one confirmed observer changes the whole privacy answer.

  2. 2What you are looking atSit in the chair

    Mark the direction of the view worth keeping. No view has been marked yet, so nothing weighs what the view is worth, and a screen that blocks it looks free.

    This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

    Mark it on the plan

    Currently assuming: no view is being protected. Tested across one corridor changes what screening is worth doing.

Drawn
Worked out
Mixed-exposure concrete slabHouse18 ft 1 inDense deciduous tree30 ftBarefoot crossing91215N16 ft
BuildingNot yours (dashed edge)CanopySun’s path today (schematic)Can see inProposed

To scale · to the measurements given: Drawn to scale from the measurements given. Not a survey. It is not a survey.

Reading at

1:00 AM·October

The sun is down.

October 30 · Barefoot crossing Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline.
  • Works (solid)

The sun reaches Barefoot crossing at 7:52 AM. Barefoot crossing loses the sun at 5:52 PM.

The evidence behind this whole day is thin, so nothing on the strip is marked out as worse than the rest. The shape of the day is still the model’s best reading; the confidence in it is low, and it stays low until something it needs is measured.

Barefoot crossing is open for crossing barefoot 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

About 7 hours in October.

The same day as a table
The same day hour by hour, in text.
HourSunVerdictConfidenceSun position
12:00 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
3:00 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
6:00 AMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
8:00 AMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis1° up, bearing 112°
9:00 AMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis10° up, bearing 123°
10:00 AMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis17° up, bearing 136°
11:00 AMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis24° up, bearing 150°
12:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis27° up, bearing 166°
1:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis28° up, bearing 182°
2:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis27° up, bearing 198°
3:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis22° up, bearing 213°
4:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis16° up, bearing 227°
5:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis8° up, bearing 240°
6:00 PMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
9:00 PMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis
When the sun arrives and leaves, to the minute.
WhenWhat happens
7:52 AMThe sun reaches Barefoot crossing at 7:52 AM.
5:52 PMBarefoot crossing loses the sun at 5:52 PM.

Direct sun at barefoot crossing, month by month

Schematic · computed: Computed from this place's own plan and climate, then drawn as a shape rather than to scale.

Barefoot crossing gets the most direct sun in April, about 15 hours on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and the least in November, about 9 hours.

  • Sun reaches the spot (solid)
  • Sun up, something in the way (lined)
  • Sun down (empty)
The grid, in a table
Hours of direct sun at Barefoot crossing on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and when.
MonthDirect sunWhen
January10 h8:00 AM–6:00 PM
February11 h7:00 AM–6:00 PM
March13 h7:00 AM–8:00 PM
April15 h6:00 AM–9:00 PM
May12 h6:00 AM–4:00 PM, 7:00 PM–9:00 PM
June12 h6:00 AM–4:00 PM, 7:00 PM–9:00 PM
July13 h6:00 AM–5:00 PM, 7:00 PM–9:00 PM
August13 h7:00 AM–8:00 PM
September11 h8:00 AM–7:00 PM
October10 h8:00 AM–6:00 PM
November9 h8:00 AM–5:00 PM
December9 h8:00 AM–5:00 PM
The sun’s path on the plan, October 30, in a table
Where the sun is at each hour it is up.
HourComes fromHeight
8:00 AME (112°)1° up
9:00 AMSE (123°)10° up
10:00 AMSE (136°)17° up
11:00 AMSE (150°)24° up
12:00 PMS (166°)27° up
1:00 PMS (182°)28° up
2:00 PMS (198°)27° up
3:00 PMSW (213°)22° up
4:00 PMSW (227°)16° up
5:00 PMSW (240°)8° up

What the place is doing at 1am in October

Temperate maritime, mild, grey, damp (scenario shape).

What it feels like

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.cold

43°F

Felt temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The air is 48.0°F. It feels about 5 degrees cooler than the air, near 43°F.

What is doing it

What makes this reading 43°FA running total. It starts at 44°F with every named influence removed, then each influence is added in turn.44°Fshaded air−2°FHow much s…43°Fwhat it is

Take every named influence away and this reads 44°F. How much sky is overhead takes off 2°F. That lands at 43°F.

How this was worked out
Air
48.0°F from Temperate maritime, mild, grey, damp (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
Radiant
35.7°F mean radiant temperature
Method
Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

Direct sun

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.after dark

0 W/m²

Beam reaching this point

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above; the tick is where this use stops working.

The sun is down.

How this was worked out
Sun
below the horizon
Traced
0% of the beam reaches this point

Glare

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.none

0

On the 0–100 reporting scale: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale. Not a measurement.

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

Nothing bright is in the line of sight at this hour.

How this was worked out
Facing
120deg (assumed, not measured)
Assumed
Which way the seat faces has not been set, so glare is estimated from the open direction. (assumed, not measured)

Privacy exposure

Unanswered: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

No observer has been placed yet. Privacy is a question about who can see in from where, and until one is marked there is nothing to answer.

Wind

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.still

1 mph

Wind at the seat

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

Dense deciduous tree is taking about 38% of the wind off this spot.

What is doing it

  • Dense deciduous tree

    −0.4 mph
How this was worked out
Reference
7.4 mph at 10 m from Temperate maritime, mild, grey, damp (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
At seat height
0.9 mph before shelter
Shelter
38% removed by what stands upwind

View

Unanswered: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

No view worth keeping has been marked, so there is nothing to weigh a screen against yet.

Surface heat

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.comfortable

48°F

Surface temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The surface is running about 48°F.

How this was worked out
Surface
Mixed-exposure concrete slab
Method
Absorbed shortwave against air temperature, flattened by air movement (from a published source)

Wetness

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.dries-fast

1 × the open

Drying time against the open

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above; the tick is where this use stops working.

Still air here; moving air does a surprising amount of the drying.

How this was worked out
Drying rate
0.000 in/hour here
Method
Penman combination equation on the radiation and air actually reaching this spot (from a published source)

Light after dark

Unanswered: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

No exterior or window light has been placed yet, so what changes after dark is unanswered.

Ask something else about this place

Everything on the plan, in text
ThingReadingStandingNote
House18 ft 1 inMeasured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.100 per cent solid.
Dense deciduous tree30 ftMeasured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.75 per cent solid, and seasonal.