We’re now working to get the siding on the cottage before the winter rains set in. When deciding what to clad this thing with, we were originally looking at fiber cement siding (Hardieplank). I specify it a lot on commercial buildings, and it has a good mix of affordability, longevity, and it’s mostly recycled. Oh, and it’s fireproof, which is handy if you live in a forest. But after some thought, we decided to go with cedar siding, because it’s what the place wants. All those pretty trees need a house made of wood, one that feels and smells like nature. And cedar has benefits, too: it’s environmentally friendly, easy to work, smells great, resists rot and insects, weathers beautifully, and is a locally grown and sourced material.
Above, we see Emily demonstrating how to apply cedar shingle siding. Most of the house is horizontal bevel siding, but we’re using shingles to accent the bumpouts and create visual interest. Ironically, the shingles are by far the most fun to put on, but make up only about a fourth of the wall area. Hmm, gotta plan that better next time. Emily and I sided the south side of the mudroom, and she showed Allyson how to do it the next day on the north side. Experts!
Here’s a funny picture that may need explanation. Emily is hauling a battery up the hill to the house. It’s a special battery, deep cycle large capacity for the solar power system. I haven’t talked about that much yet, as we’ve only just begun installing it, but we’ll be getting into it in a later post. She’s working pretty hard, because that battery weighs 125 pounds. Thank goodness there are only 15 more to get up the hill besides this one.
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