Nine's Bootcamp Experience (BRK)

A book you might find interesting, if it’s not already in the library there- https://www.springhousepress.com/new-products/the-illustrated-encyclopedia-of-woodworking-handtools.

Julie Reed wrote:A book you might find interesting, if it’s not already in the library there- https://www.springhousepress.com/new-products/the-illustrated-encyclopedia-of-woodworking-handtools.

Ooh, the artwork is gorgeous! I'll look and see if I can find that in the books here. Thank you for that suggestion, Julie!

Post #9

Today Josiah, Louis, and I spend on the Love Shack again. First we installed supports for the future installation of the siding of the upper area of the exterior walls. Then we were able to get it wrapped and put the siding up for the east wall. I scribed and cut the bottom trim for the north and south sides and installed them. We installed the North and South corner siding pieces. As they were hanging the east wall siding, I went down and trimmed the siding for the north wall. We were able to install about a third of that wall before the end of the day. I forgot to take a picture of it at the end of the day, so tune in tomorrow for more progress! 😉😁

The middle rail (why does this thing even exist??) needed to be cut to allow the insertion of our new window framing.  

Hans wrote:. To nail the middle of the vertical shiplap siding.  In my fathers day they avoided it by putting the shiplap on at a 45 degree angle which braced the structure at the same time.  He did that building concrete forms for our infamous Purdy bridge.

Just a tip for anyone looking at copying this style or learning from it- This would not be typical, as it’s a weak form of framing. Normally studs are run full length (base to top of wall) then put the horizontal pieces in between. Years ago they were called ‘cats’, not sure why. It’s done as fire blocking on runs taller than 8’, but can also be done for the reason of vertical siding like board and batten or board and gap. BUT- also typically, if you are running vertical siding you would install horizontal purlins first. All the little 45 angle braces were needed here because there is no diagonal support as would be typical with sheathing, or, as Hans mentioned, running the siding boards at a 45 degree angle. But if you install purlins 16” on center, that will strengthen the wall adequately on a cabin or shed this small.

Julie Reed wrote:
Just a tip for anyone looking at copying this style or learning from it- This would not be typical, as it’s a weak form of framing.

This plus everything else you wrote - Yes. Thank you for explaining it so well, Julie. I appreciate it.

My original "why is this even here?!" is directly related to your explanation regarding weakness and better methods of accomplishing this style of siding. I suppose if the original builders were trying to save materials it would explain why they didn't add the purlins, but it made for an unstable build and more work while we renovate it.