Brody Ekberg

R Scott wrote:Nails will still loosen as the wood swells and dries in thickness, but shouldn’t split or get loose enough to be an issue. My preference for board and batten is to nail the boards on one edge, then finish the boards if you’re going to. Then screw the prefinished battens in place with stainless or color matched screws. That way you can tighten the battens if they dry a lot or remove them to re finish. You can also screw a few boards on the same way if you need an access panel.

I might screw everything and skip nails all together. I just dont want issues since its my house and it seems like screws will just hold much better

R Scott wrote:Flat head nails split and finish nails pull out if the wood moves too much. Which is better depends on the species, thickness of board, and where the nail is placed. And how it’s driven—over driven flat heads definitely split worse. I don’t know the right answer for your situation, test your options and pick your poison. Finish nails definitely look better in my opinion, unless you overdrive them with a gun and then they are ugly.

Galvanized nails for a nail gun are a slight premium over regular, stainless are available but $$$.  We would use galvanized ring shank nails in a regular air gun turned way down, then finish driving them with a hammer and a special punch—it has a guide collar so you can’t miss or bend the nail. I think they call it a trim nail punch.  Made for driving nails into aluminum trim.

A quarter inch air gap between the siding and sheathing will do WONDERS for letting the siding dry and last longer. You can rip pieces of plywood or 2x material or buy the stickers material from a lumber mill. They make bug screens for the top and bottom, some are like heavy filter material used for ridge vent (cobra filter) and some are perforated metal and some are corrugated plastic. None are cheap, but if you have a Menards they sell sheets of Coro-plast you can rip down for a decent price.

As of now I think we’re going with Spruce, and maybe 3/4” thick. Unless thicker or thinner would be better. Seems to me that nails shouldn’t pull out from wood movement if the boards are only nailed on one edge or in the center right? I thought I read for hidden fasteners you want to nail on one edge of a board where the batten will cover it but if you arent worried about seeing nail heads, just put one in the center of the boards and let the battens hold the sides down. If nailed on both edges then nails pulling our or splitting boards seems inevitable. No experience here though, thats just my logic. I would consider using screws instead of nails if puling out is a concern regardless of how their nailed. And if I do use nails, I will likely hammer them in. I dont mind swinging a hammer and dont get to do it often.

As for an air gap goes, Im still planning that. We have 2x4 walls so are considering adding some insulation to the outside and not sure how thick or which route to go on that. Also looking into rain screen materials like nylon mesh strips and whatnot. I forget the brand names but there are a few products out there that I could lay 1/4” thick by 4” wide strips horizontally across the sheeting and it would allow air flow and water drainage behind the siding. Im sure they are expensive and maybe coro plast would be just as good and cheaper, Im not sure. And bug screen is also going to be part of it. Not sure what to use for that yet but definitely will be putting something in the gaps on top and bottom.

Matt McSpadden wrote:I'm no expert, but I think the pine would resist rot a bit better than spruce.

But if you are planning to paint/stain/burn or in some other way protect it... it might not be a big difference.

I assumed pine would last longer due to resins but have had other people say the spruce would last longer, although they couldnt say why.

I have no interest in painting wood, but definitely will use an oil based stain.

Mike Haasl wrote:I'm not sure about which would last longer as siding but you may want to check if they're sound before counting on the spruce.  By me they tend to get rotten on the inside a while before they die.  Same for balsam fir...

That’s a good idea, thanks.

Any opinions on spruce vs red pine for siding? Leaning towards board and batten except for maybe doing some live edge lap siding on the gables.

Was planning to use red pines but I have a lot of obstacles to avoid dropping them and kind of like where they are at. But then remembered we have at least 8 big spruces on the property and have access to more nearby. They are in a bad spot and would be good to get out of the way. Plus, spruce are getting sick and dying around here so it could be good to get some use of them soon.

Would one be more desirable than the other for siding? Or are they more or less interchangeable?

Any opinions on spruce vs red pine for siding? Leaning towards board and batten except for maybe doing some live edge lap siding on the gables.

Was planning to use red pines but I have a lot of obstacles to avoid dropping them and kind of like where they are at. But then remembered we have at least 8 big spruces on the property and have access to more nearby. They are in a bad spot and would be good to get out of the way. Plus, spruce are getting sick and dying around here so it could be good to get some use of them soon.

Would one be more desirable than the other for siding? Or are they more or less interchangeable?

Eric Hanson wrote:Brody,

Lack of/poor sleep/insomnia can pretty much wreck every part of one's life--certainly human relationships.  Some basic anatomy/functional explanation of the effects of sleep loss go something like this:

Believe it or not, despite running literally *thousands* of tests, the only human function that suffers from lack of sleep is the ability to focus or concentrate*.  I put a little asterisk at the end of the sentence, because the ability to concentrate then affects virtually every other human function and therefore lack of sleep worsens virtually every human function but in a slightly indirect way.

With regards to mood/cognition/emotions/etc., our frontal lobe (especially the prefrontal cortex) serves in part as a sort of switchboard that automatically bats down emotional impulses.  For instance, if you were told to *NOT* hit the person directly next to you, then the very first thought that enters your mind is "Hit the person next to me."  Of course, that is a bad idea and the frontal lobe immediately shuts off that impulse, you just sit there and the person next to you is none the wiser that momentarily you were thinking about hitting them.

But when we are sleep deprived, our frontal lobes don't do this job so well or automatically.  We can still shut down the impulse, but it takes a more concentrated effort, and sometimes when we are concentrating on shutting down one impulse, another might slip through.  With regards to mood and emotion, our frontal lobes are constantly shutting off impulses that are situationally inappropriate.  If we are happy and some angry impulse enters our mind (hit the person next to you), we shut that off and we keep being happy.  But when we have to constantly *WORK* to shut these off, other impulses slip through.  What others perceive is that we are moody, we snap easily, lose tempers and get emotionally impulsive.

So good for you that you found the mold and the two of you are getting better sleep!

Eric

That is very interesting and makes a lot of sense!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
You're not the only one. My personal experience indicates that a heavy mold exposure (and the immune response it triggers) definitely sends my tolerance and mood and perception into the sewer. Renovations in old wood shavings walls, compost heaps that went sideways, and deer mouse crap (even 10 years old) all hit me pretty hard. And then I'm a grumpy, irritable, cranky old bear that's pretty darn miserable to be around. I have learned to recognize the symptoms (and the causes) and beg pardon from Dear Wife -- sorry I'm being chippy and grumpy, I stirred up the big pile of X yesterday and I feel like crap. it's me, not you.

Its interesting isnt it? Does your wife get affected the same way? I literally dont feel any different mentally or physically than before. And didnt really feel any different while doing the mold removal, other than the expected itchy eyes.

Matt McSpadden wrote:I heartily second the idea to go around and ask people what they might like, and how much they would buy it for.

I will mention that under normal circumstances, eggs are not a money maker. You can make money with them, but it is rarely very much. Most farms I know sell eggs to get people in the door to buy other things with a higher profit margin. In this climate, you might be able to do both.

How about a community garden space as part of it? It would take much to till up some plots, add some compost on top and let people rent them. You probably wouldn't make tons, but it gets the word out and gets people on the property on a regular basis to tend to their plot.

Berries have a pretty fast turn around time. I didn't catch what zone you are in, but could you plant strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries? Those will often produce a little the first year, but a decent crop the second. So you would not have to wait as long as some perennials for a harvest. And berries always sell pretty good around here.

Since you mentioned goats or sheep as one thought that ran by... I would check out some info from The Shepherdess. She has a youtube channel with all kinds of good information on sheep... but also on business. She came from a marketing background and became a farmer. I just came across a new video of hers that seems to fit in with your questions.

She answers 3 questions in the video. What to do before starting? How much land do you need? What mistakes do people often make? Spoiler alert... Make a plan, not very much, and diving in without a plan or not being bale to shift to a new plan.

Correct me if Im wrong, but the only reason eggs arent a money maker is because of feed costs right? Seems to me that if feed is minimized with foraging and maybe buying bulk grains and fermenting them, then there would be way more of a profit margin than buying bagged commercial feed pellets like I do with my own chickens.

As for community garden, we are planning that. I think we have an event scheduled for this summer to build garden beds.

We are near the zone 3/4 border. If I remember right, we planted blackberries, raspberries, apples, plums, asparagus and grapes (among a lot of nut trees) last year. Maybe strawberries too but I dont think so. But it was a ridiculous amount of planting done sort of haphazardly. A lot of things arent fenced in and we have significant deer pressure. And theres no water on site so things even surviving will be a miracle. And theres no weed control. We do have a pile of woodchips to use for mulch and plans to get a bunch more stuff planted. I think its going to be a real survival of the fittest situation… I do feel we’re trying to run before we can walk and plan to bring that concern up next board meeting.

Ill check out that video later, thanks!

Anne Miller wrote:

Brody Ekberg wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:This sounds like your organization has a lot of projects and little money.

Fund raisers might help get some income to finish those projects.

Set up a farmers market or road side stand to sell vegetables and other items. Members could donate items to sell until gardens are producing enough to sell.

As for selling produce… i dont think that will be enough to pay for much of anything.

Our farmers market here has a lot more than produce.  As I suggested, member's would donate items to sell at the farmers market or road side stand.

Breads and other baked goods, salsas, jellies and pickles, microgreens and sprouts, and even meats products like jerky.

What about custom made jewelry or pottery?  Things that member's can donate.

One of our members is pretty crafty and does have things that would sell. She just also works and homeschools 2 kids on top of being our clerk/accountant. So she doesnt have time to make the things that we could sell…

I do like the microgreens idea though. That could be super cheap and easy and possibly generate at least a little income.

Its such a double edged sword, because any time our members put towards making goods to sell takes away from the time they could be applying for grants or doing hands on work at the farm. We need another member or two but its all volunteer work and it seems like theres 2 kinds of people around here: ones that do everything possible, are already volunteering elsewhere and flirting with overwhelm and burnout and people that literally do nothing.