On the 26th of April we received our first load of shingles for the Stone House roof. Many of our readers may recall the previous post on 5th of February 2019 titled “Long Biaxially Tapered Side-Lap Shingles.” As explained in that article, these shingles “are biaxially tapered, or wedge-shaped in profile, because they are split out of large red oak logs and then finished by shaving them smooth with a drawknife.” They are also free of sapwood and core heartwood. The only way to manufacture these shingles is by hand. They are not sawn into shape. They are split along the natural lines of the wood’s grain. This helps them not to warp or “cup” after they are installed and exposed to the elements. Because they are made by hand, they represent many hundreds of hours of hand-skilled labor. The skills and obsolete technologies used to manufacture these shingles are no longer commonly understood and practiced by those in the carpentry business, finding contractors who can make them can be a challenge. Fortunately, our consultants Doug Reed and James Houston were able to help us connect with a man named David Dauerty who has a great deal of experience making this type of shingle. Mr. Dauerty personally delivered the first load of our order for the Stone House on that day. (See photo below.)
Mr. Dauerty also delivered a punch bench that will be used in the installation process. This device ensures that the nail holes are correctly placed on the shingles. The pre-punched holes prevent the shingles themselves from splitting during their installation on the roof lath. (See photo below.)
This load of shingles will be enough to cover the stone side of the Stone House. Once we have the remaining part of the order from Mr. Dauerty, we will finish shingling the roof over the log addition of the house. The next steps we will be taking this summer will involve the necessary work of removing the old metal roof and installing the gutter brackets which will be mounted to the rafters and roof lath before the shingles go on above. This is an exciting time in the history of the Stone House, and we will share our progress on our social media pages, in our next newsletter, and on our website. Stay tuned!
