Cut To The Chase

I made good strides in almost completing the siding on the north side today. I have just a couple more pieces to put up and then it's just painting. I thought I would show some of the technicalities of siding work. I guess that is what you would call it. In this pic you can see why they refer to this type as 'lap siding', 'cause it laps over piece below it. I am using Hardiboard which is a cement-based composite. You can also see in this pic, the drip cap I installed over the window trim. This is just a thin, L-shaped piece of metal that goes up under the siding and keeps water from standing on and soaking into the wood trim. A small bead of caulk over crack after the siding is installed seals the whole deal up.
This type of siding comes in several widths and surface textures. I am using the 8 1/4" wide with a 7 " reveal. You can lap it as much as you like, I suppose, but I think normally, to get the most coverage out of the material, you lap it over about an inch or so. They make it up to 12" wide I think and down to 4 or 5". It is about 5/16" thick and comes in 12 foot long boards. This type is nailed up with 4 penny galvanized commons. I think the manufacturer also says you can screw it up. I mean, use screws to put it up. I assure you, you can screw it up 'cause I did one or two pieces! Ha!
This is a shot of a finished window so you can see how it ends into window trim. The exterior trim is cypress milled to a full inch thickness. This is also referred to as five-quarter boards.
Ya'll may remember my rafter tails are exposed (ooh, I'm so embarrassed!), so I am having to cut the siding up around all of those too. One reason this is taking so long! The next to top piece of siding just has these little notches cut out to accept the underside of the rafters. Maybe you can see that in this pic. I just have them marked but not cut out yet. Now, with something like this, I go up and make my measurements and do a little drawing too, labeling each section with the measurements. One hint here, when you have to cut out several little sections in anything; take all your measurements from one end. What I mean is, don't measure between each rafter individually say, because you'll get off that way. Clip your tape on the end and pull each measurement from that one end. So, my measurements came out 2', 4', 6' (approx) etc. from one end to the right side of each rafter. Then, pull from each of those marks, over and measure for each notch. Did I explain that right?
Also, when I go to measure for each notch, I 'cut an inch' on the tape. This is good when doing any kind of fairly precise measuring like trim or whatever. That little clip on the end of the tape can throw you off sometimes (and yes, it is supposed to wiggle back and forth) so if you just scoot down to the inch mark you can line up well. But remember, you must add that inch you cut, back to the measurement! So, here I wanted 4 3/4" but marked 5 3/4". Got it? And yes, I have screwed that up too.
So, there is your little carpentry lesson for the day! Ha! I'm sure you all knew that stuff anyway but I got to write about something.
Hopefully, I will finish this side tomorrow. I have a couple of errands I must run in town so won't be able to get on it right away. Heehee, also might have a visitor this weekend of the male persuasion! He seems a very nice fellow and one that is man enough to handle yours truly.


*Rush