Bow Wall Siding Goes Up Lickety-Split

What a relief it is to see that fascia board over the dormer windows stained! Its significance is added to by the knowledge that all of the eaves and their pesky little cubbies between rafters were stained in the same afternoon. Egad!  Three cheers for the staining crew, of which C and I provided the grand finale (we thought -- more about that in a minute).  To the left in this photograph may be seen the still as yet unsided bow wall, prepped (with shims over the studs) in order to receive the cedar siding boards, which were planned to run the full width and height of the wall.   However, after much (much!) discussion, it was decided to put up a sort of pentagon of cedar 1x3s, about a foot in from the outside edges of the wall and eaves, and side around that, leaving the inside of the pentagon to be paneled with stained luan.  This would finish the bow wall more quickly, and leave it weatherproof (enough) to survive until the shed, which could be constructed separately and installed finished (like a kitchen cabinet -- thanks Big D!) would be installed. 

To that end, Kyle removed all the carefully attached shims. As the bow wall now needed a new pattern of them,  he made several more, and attached them in their new pattern.

Around this time, we had a day or two of chilly windy weather, reminding us that the idyllic days of Indian summer were not going to last forever. In the studio it was more protected from the breeze, but not too much warmer than outside.

Mid-shim-making, with luan and other bits of lumber leaning against the port wall.  The wheels are covered here with an old vinyl tablecloth, a test of something I had been meaning to do ever since I noticed that the afternoon sun had been beating down unmercifully on those rubber tires all summer long. The wind blew it half off in a day or two.  Clearly I need to do  more than tuck it snugly around the tires. 

Two sheets of 5/16" luan plywood, stained face and edges, waiting to dry and be cut to go up on the bow wall.  This was the extra staining that came up suddenly.  Kyle got the luan, and needed to cut it (stained) the same day in an effort to get the bow wall done before the party. I gave the two sheets and their edges a good thick coat, along with the hopes the luan would survive winter exposure.

Stage one of the bow wall siding turned out to be attaching the pentagon of luan, including a drip edge along the horizontal seam, and flashing along the top diagonal edges of the paneling.  Next, stained cedar 1x3s would be screwed on top of the paneling, to secure the luan (which doesn't line up perfectly with the studs inside) as best we could.  In part, the paneling will be attached only to the 3/8" plywood sheathing.

This was the moment when the saving of all those short pieces of cedar siding came in handy.  It was very satisfying to be able to get all the bow wall siding done using the "leftover" pieces, and Kyle said it was almost uncanny how perfectly it worked out.  We had realized several weeks before that if we were going to completely cover the bow wall with cedar siding boards, we would have to order more. And shell out more money. And stain more. Hence this change of design was helpful on many fronts, and resulted in the bow wall looking gorgeous in time for the long-awaited tiny house-warming party!

Voila!

 

This close-up photograph shows both drip edge and flashing, making the wall complete and weatherproof for the time being, and still ready to have a shed slipped in and hung like a cabinet later.  


 

And, after many weeks of dry weather, a full day of rain came along, and thankfully the drops beaded up beautifully on the siding, trim boards and stained luan.  Yay!