Buildings

Kiln Shed: Siding Part 2

With the kiln roof on, now we deal with the blackflies and the raindrops, we managed to squeeze in a few hours to continue working on the siding on the kiln shed. I think I would rather work in the rain if I had to choose. Either way, we still had to finish one long side plus the gable ends. Working on the second pallet of poplar boards, we started with great optimism.

kiln shed,poplar,siding
Working on the 3rd side

I believe it was at this point that the air nailer died. Jim took it into the workshop and in no time had it disassembled on the workbench. He found the problem but it wasn’t fixable. He also said it wasn’t worth getting fixed. I couldn’t remember when we bought it, turns out it was 30 years ago. Time to retire this one and buy a new one.

In the meantime, we didn’t want to waste a sunny day, so we decided to go old school. Like ‘Little House On the Prairie’ old school.

kiln shed,poplar,siding
Progress has slowed

Thats right, we continued on using a good ole hammer. It wasn’t that bad really, only slightly slower. The rest of the process was the same, trim four boards to length at a time, carry them over, nail them in place. We continued around the corner and finished the siding on either side of the door opening as well.

Next up was the gable ends. Jim had suggested we could do something different for the gable ends. Sarcastically I said “You mean like a chevron pattern?” This is where it went off the rails. What I expected him to say next was “Whats a chevron?” Instead he said “Damn, thats a good idea.” Wait… what? I thought I would have to explain. Not so. Well….chevron it is.

We added a wide center board to nail the angled boards to. Also added another skinnier center board on top of that.

kiln shed,poplar,siding
Getting the angles right

I was just hoping that cutting angles in wood like when we tried to build a twisty table hadn’t scarred him for life. Apparently not.

kiln shed,poplar,siding
Dry run

We cut the boards for one side, did a dry fit, and then traced the angles onto boards for the other side. Worked like a charm. Here is our fancy chevron end gable.

kiln shed,poplar,siding
Neat

Now I do have a confession to make. We didn’t get the other gable finished yet. Actually we didn’t get it started yet. This one only took about 1/2 hour so first thing when we get back at it will be to replicate our chevron pattern on the other end.

Also before I go, I have a tip for any of you who have to deal with blackflies in the spring. Dish liquid. Thats it. No fancy drugstore products. Just dish liquid. Rub a few drops of any kind of dish liquid on your blackfly or mosquito bite and the itch is instantly gone. You may have to repeat this a few times if it is a really big bite. Your welcome.

Have a great weekend. Next up, the kiln’s electrical installation.

Later

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