21: Siding (part 1)

After finishing the roof, it was time to start putting on the siding, which other than installing the door is the last step needed to make the house weatherproof. The siding I'm using is salvaged redwood fenceboards that are about 7/8" thick and vary in width from 6 to 12 inches.

What I'm doing is fairly standard (other than the fact that it will be salvage wood), but the non-standard thing I'm doing is leaving out any sort of moisture barrier in the wall (such as tarpaper or tyvek) and instead putting on two layers of siding. The reason for not including any moisture barrier is to keep the wall breatheable to prevent mold/mildew/rot damage to the insulation from water vapor from the warm interior air condensing on the inside of the barrier. I was, however, worried that just one layer of siding wouldn't be sufficient to keep water from the outside out, hence the two layers of siding.

Since the siding I'm using is all salvage, it required a good amount of milling and processing. Here's a photo of some stacks of boards, sorted, but not milled:



And one of Chris chopping off beveled ends of the boards:



My friend Michele came and helped with some of the milling, but I neglected to get any photos of her, so instead here's a picture of some of the refuse from milling:



Then a stack of milled boards ready to go up:



The first boards we put on the wall. Miko, Chris, Dave and all worked to put the siding on the first two walls:



Chris chiseling out for the board that goes around the corner of the window:



Chris putting a board up on the wall:



And finally, a photo of the team at work: