The Finishing Steps to Building Your Log Cabin: Roofing, Siding by Jack Hudson

The Finishing Steps to Building Your Log Cabin: Roofing, Siding by Jack Hudson

The Finishing Steps to Building Your Log Cabin: Roofing, Siding
and Interior

After the rafters are in place, you will be ready to put on the
roof boards. These boards can be 5/8-inch by 6- or 8-inch
tongue-and-groove boards. There are some exceptions to this
which are covered in the next section.

For siding, probably the most practical and easiest material to
use as the exterior finish is wood. It has the advantage of
coming in many different shapes, colors, and textures. It can be
stained, painted, or left natural.

As noted in previous articles, I have not specified that
sheathing must be used. Plywood or one of the composition
sheathings or diagonal sheathing boards may be used--in fact,
should be used if you plan to use the cottage year-round at some
time in the future. It should also be used if you are going to
use plaster or plasterboard on the inside.

The sheathing helps to stiffen your structure. One of the most
common types of siding is the lapped bevel. Cedar is one of the
popular woods from which this siding is made. It comes in 4-,
6-, and 8-inch widths. The thick butt edge is usually 7/16 inch
thick. The 10- and 12-inch widths have an 11/16-inch butt.

The minimum headlap for 4- and 6-inch widths is I inch; widths
over 6 inches should have I inches headlap. Hot-dipped
galvanized nails should be used for applying the siding to the
studs. If sheathing is used, try to nail through the sheathing
to the stud.

Rustic and drop siding as well as shiplap and matched siding are
also popular. The first two should have a finished thickness of
inch. The maximum width is 8 inches. Shiplap or matched siding
should be a minimum of 25/32 inch thick. The maximum width is 12
inches.

Plywood is always a possible exterior finish. It is very
important that it should be exterior grade--never use
interior-grade plywood for exterior purposes. Cottage No. 2
would look particularly attractive if it were finished with
%-inch exterior-grade plywood.

In this case I would nail the 8-foot length of plywood
horizontally. The horizontal joints and nails would be covered
with batten strips. Similar batten strips could be nailed
horizontally every foot above and below the joint. This
procedure would also keep the plywood from warping or raising at
the edges.

Be sure the vertical edge joints are joined at the mid-point of
a stud. One of the best ways of finishing the exterior of your
cottage is the use of vertical tongue-and-groove boards. This
type of siding is usually nailed at the bottom to the sill, at
the top to the plate and in the middle to a herringbone brace.

In Hawaii the vertical siding is often used without any
intermediate framing members. The roof load is actually carried
by the siding. Shingles can also be used to cover the exterior
of your cabin. I would suggest that you follow the instructions
of the manufacturer for laying these.

Usually the manufacturer recommends the use of sheathing. If
plywood is used for sheathing, the shingles should be applied
over l-by-2-inch nailing strips, and attached with copper or
galvanized nails. Asbestos-cement shingles should be attached to
the sheathing with barbed nails.

Fiberboard sheathing is not acceptable as a nailing base for
this type of shingle. Wood shingles should be attached to
l-by-3-inch nailing strips which have been spaced according to
the shingle exposure.

There are many types of roofing materials that can be used on
your cabin. To some extent, the choice of materials will depend
upon whether the roof is pitched or flat. The table on page 120
indicates whether you should use a roll or shingle type of
roofing material.

Asphalt shingles require a roof pitch of at least 4 inches to
each lineal horizontal foot. When the pitch is this low, most
manufacturers of roofing materials recommend that roofing felt
or asphalt-saturated building paper be laid under the shingle
roof. If your roof has any valleys, I'd suggest that you start
your work by laying heavy roofing felt down the center of the
valley.

One layer of felt, 18 inches wide, should be laid face down.
Then a second layer, full width, should be laid face up. After
this is nailed down, you can start laying the under roofing felt
or paper. Manufacturers' recommendations vary, but you'll be
pretty safe if the edges overlap about 2 inches horizontally.

Start with the lowest part of your roof. Let the edges of the
paper overlap the end of the roof by 2 or 3 inches. This overlap
should be cut later, a little under the first shingle course.
The next layer of paper will overlap the lower one by 2 inches.
Continue this process to the peak of the roof.

When both sides of the roof are finished, lay one width of paper
over the ridge pole. Short wide-head roofing nails should be
used with this paper. When the paper has been put down, use a
carpenter's chalk line, which is impregnated with chalk, and
snap the guidelines for the shingles. If your shingle exposure
is 4 inches, you will want to snap chalk lines with this spacing
all the way from the first course to the last at the top.

You are now ready to start laying the shingles. The first course
of shingles should be laid double and should extend % inch
beyond the roof edge. The guidelines on the paper will align the
overlap which each course will have. The last rows at the top
will have to be cut; and a strip of granulated roofing paper, a
metal cap, or a ridge piece, or shingles laid edgewise will be
required to finish the top as shown in the illustration.

Wood shingles are laid much as asphalt shingles are except that
they are not butted on the sides. Leave a %-inch space between
the shingles. The ridge piece can be made of wood strips as
shown in the illustration.

Roll roofing is one of the easiest types to apply. The
accompanying illustration shows how this is done. You'll note
that there is an overlap that is cemented down and nailed. This
overlap varies with the type of roofing felt used.

One type has half of the width granulated, the remainder heavy
felt. The granulated section is left exposed, and the felt part
is cemented and nailed. This type can also be used on roofs
having only enough pitch to drain the water, provided that the
roofing boards are first covered with roofing mastic.

Flat or pitched roofs can be covered with a number of materials,
but one of the least expensive methods is to build up the roof
with a number of layers of roofing felt saturated with asphalt
binder. The illustration shows how this is done. A cold roofing
compound or hot pitch may be used as a binder.

Regardless of the above directions, be sure to follow the
manufacturer's directions for applying his particular roofing
material.
About the Author
About the Author: Jack Hudson is a writer for
http://www.log-cabin-plans-n-kits.com and
http://www.best-house-n-home-plans.com/. These two sites work
collectively as a resouce for the planning and building of log
cabins as well as choosing from different house plans. Visit one
of these sites for informative articles as well as free TIPS for
building a log home or choosing a house plan.