Roof Reveal: Cedar Shakes = Cottage Love

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There are a lot of new plastic or rubber shingles that have a cedar look, but we chose to go with old fashioned wood shakes. And Arthur and his crew installed them the old fashioned way, nailing them in one by one (with the modern application of course of the nail gun!)

We chose white cedar because it weathers gray - and gray will be a sweet look for a modest cottage like ours with white trim.

Here is what the shakes looked like out of the box:

Before you can begin, you have to remove about five layers of old asphalt roofing. Then level out any unevenness where the pitched roof of the original cottage meets up with the 1980s addition. 

The plywood boards are covered in felt paper, then a ventilating underlayment goes on. This is made of an airy material that allows the next layer of rubber sheathing to breath. After this, the shakes are added over the rubber sheathing. 

Here are a few progress shots from my phone about midway through the work, starting at the back of the house, where you can see the deck and outdoor shower shelter:

A bit closer. Can you believe that fall foliage!

And a shot of the pallet of shingles:

Finally, a close up of the shakes on the roof:

Sweet!

While he was at it, Arthur replaced the rotted out boards of the front stoop:

And cellar hatch:

He also did some much needed though not so visible tuck-pointing to the cement-block foundation -- and more importantly, some animal-proofing so that no little critters can burrow under the house. 

We are so happy to be able to take care of these things this fall. These types of projects are not as much fun as, say, the kitchen renovation or even painting the beadboard was -- but so necessary. 

We just nreathed another 30 years of good health into this house. Which means many more years of summer fun for us.

Next up for the cottage - landscaping, certainly, while we save up funds again to finish shingling the back of the cottage to match front and the new awesome roof.