A Glimpse of the Finished Product

 It has been said that once a house is dried and framing is completed that the project is far from complete.  What looks like a house is really just an empty shell.  With the foundation, walls and roof complete our house has now the basic skeleton in place.  What remains to be done constitutes a great deal of time, effort and money but will ultimately result in a worthwhile finished product.  From this point forward, as steps are completed, it will be evident how the finished product will appear.

It was decided when this house was conceived that we would use natural materials for much of the construction, both inside and out.  For a house set in the woods, it just seems a crime to outfit one any other way.  So, naturally, wood was chosen for the exterior skin.  I have always loved the look and feel of cedar and portions of the siding will be done in cedar shingles.  Other portions will be cypress bevel.  In order to reach some of the areas of the house high up on the roof, I built some temporary scaffolding.

I wanted to get this done before the finished roofing went on so I decided to go ahead and install the cedar shingles on the highest point of the house, the chimney.   Doing this allowed me to get a good look at the finished product.  I have been pleased with the result.  Of course, doing the whole house like this is going to take a great deal of time.  Staining the shingles one at a time and nailing them up, one at a time, is going to take patience and attention to detail.  That is something I hope will bring out the quality of the house and make it that much more special.

Staining cedar shingles

Shingles laid out to dry

 

 Once I got most of the chimney done, I was able to remove the scaffolding I had put up.  The roofing crew started soon after that and by the end of the third week of October, the roof was complete.

Rear shot of finished roof

It is good to see some of the finished product showing through!