Siding

Probably the most practical and easiest material to use as the exterior finish is wood. It has the advantage of coming in many different shapes, colors, and textures. It can be stained, painted, or left natural.

As noted in the framing section of this book, I have not specified that sheathing must be used. Plywood or one of the composition sheathings or diagonal sheathing boards may be used—in fact, should be used if you plan to use the cottage year-round at some time

in the future. It should also be used if you are going to use plaster or plaster- board on the inside. The sheathing helps to stiffen your structure.

One of the most common types of siding is the lapped bevel. Cedar is one of the popular woods from which this siding is made. It comes in 4-, 6-, and 8-inch widths. The thick butt edge is usually 7/16 inch thick. The 10- and 12-inch widths have an 11/16-inch butt. The minimum headlap for 4- and 6-inch widths is I inch; widths over 6 inches should have I¼ inches headlap. Hot-dipped galvanized nails should be used for applying the siding to the studs. If sheathing is used, try to nail through the sheathing to the stud.

Rustic and drop siding as well as shiplap and matched siding are also popular. The first two should have a finished thickness of ¾ inch. The maximum width is 8 inches. Shiplap or matched siding should be a minimum of 25/32 inch thick. The maximum width is 12 inches.

Plywood is always a possible exterior finish. It is very important that it should be exterior grade—never use interior-grade plywood for exterior purposes. Cottage No. 2 would look particularly attractive if it were finished with %-inch exterior-grade plywood. In this case I would nail the 8-foot length of plywood horizontally. The horizontal joints and nails would be covered with batten strips. Similar batten strips could be nailed horizontally every foot above and below the joint. This procedure would also keep the plywood from warping or raising at the edges. Be sure the vertical edge joints are joined at the mid-point of a stud.

One of the best ways of finishing the exterior of your cottage is the use of vertical tongue-and-groove boards. This type of siding is usually nailed at the bottom to the sill, at the top to the plate and in the middle to a herringbone brace. In Hawaii the vertical siding is often used without any intermediate framing members. The roof load is actually carried by the siding.

Shingles can also be used to cover the exterior of your cabin. I would suggest that you follow the instructions of the manufacturer for laying these. Usually the manufacturer recommends the use of sheathing. If plywood is used for sheathing, the shingles should be applied over l-by-2-inch nailing strips, and attached with copper or galvanized nails. Asbestos-cement shingles should be attached to the sheathing with barbed nails. Fiberboard sheathing is not acceptable as a nailing base for this type of shingle. Wood shingles should be attached to l-by-3-inch nailing strips which have been spaced according to the shingle exposure.

Roofing

There are many types of roofing materials that can be used on your cabin. To some extent, the choice of materials will depend upon whether the roof is pitched or flat. The table on this page indicates whether you should use a roll or shingle type of roofing material.

Asphalt shingles require a roof pitch of at least 4 inches to each lineal horizontal foot. When the pitch is this low, most manufacturers of roofing materials recommend that roofing felt or asphalt-saturated building paper be laid under the shingle roof.

If your roof has any valleys, I'd suggest that you start your work by laying heavy roofing felt down the center of the valley. One layer of felt, 18 inches wide, should be laid face down. Then a second layer, full width, should be laid face up. After this is nailed down, you can start laying the under roofing felt or paper. Manufacturers' recommendations vary, but you'll be pretty safe if the edges overlap about 2 inches horizontally. Start with the lowest part of your roof. Let the edges of the paper overlap the end of the roof by 2 or 3 inches. This overlap should be cut later, a little under the first shingle course. The next layer of paper will overlap the lower one by 2 inches. Continue this process to the peak of the roof. When both sides of the roof are finished, lay one width of paper over the ridge pole. Short wide-head roofing nails should be used with this paper.

When the paper has been put down, use a carpenter's chalk line, which is impregnated with chalk, and snap the guidelines for the shingles. If your shingle exposure is 4 inches, you will want to snap chalk lines with this spacing all the way from the first course to the last at the top. You are now ready to start laying the shingles.

The first course of shingles should be laid double and should extend % inch beyond the roof edge. The guidelines on the paper will align the overlap which each course will have. The last rows at the top will have to be cut; and a strip of granulated roofing paper, a metal cap, or a ridge piece, or shingles laid edgewise will be required to finish the top as shown in the illustration.

Wood shingles are laid much as asphalt shingles are except that they are not butted on the sides. Leave a %-inch space between the shingles. The ridge piece can be made of wood strips as shown in the illustration.

Roll roofing is one of the easiest types to apply. The accompanying illustration shows how this is done. You'll note that there is an overlap that is cemented down and nailed. This overlap varies with the type of roofing felt used. One type has half of the width granulated, the remainder heavy felt. The granulated section is left exposed, and the felt part is cemented and nailed. This type can also be used on roofs having only enough pitch to drain the water, provided that the roofing boards are first covered with roofing mastic.

Flat or pitched roofs can be covered with a number of materials, but one of the least expensive methods is to build up the roof with a number of layers of roofing felt saturated with asphalt binder. The illustration shows how this is done. A cold roofing compound or hot pitch may be used as a binder.

Regardless of the above directions, be sure to follow the manufacturer's directions for applying his particular roofing material.

Painting and Finishing

The best advice that I can give you about painting your cottage is to follow the directions on the can. Use a good titanium-oxide-base paint. It pays to use the best. Choose a color that will harmonize with your surroundings.

Personally I prefer a natural exterior finish. Varnish, or stain alone, will not hold up. The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Products Laboratory, recommends a finish that is made of half spar varnish and half turpentine or other paint thinner. This mixture is wiped on the wood surface. When the surface begins to shine, be sure to wipe this excess material off. This will give you a dull finish, but it will keep your wood natural-looking.

Interior Finishes

Perhaps I'm prejudiced, but I like wood as the interior finish material for almost any of the cottages. A camp that may stand vacant for long periods without heat needs a finish that can take it. Composition materials that may be ideal for a year-round house are apt to buckle or be damaged by condensation in a summer cottage.

Plywood is a common material that can be used. Several finishes are now available, including striated surface, a raised grain finish, and the more common smooth finish. Plywood can be cut and laid in a number of different patterns. The edges can be butted together, covered with batten strips, or planed on the edges to make a noticeable V joint. It will help to stiffen your structure and is, therefore, a real building material.

Planking with square edges, tongue-and-groove, V-jointed or other surface markings can be used horizontally or vertically in your cabin. Like plywood, it is a serviceable material that will help your structure.

Ceilings can be made of wood laid up like the side walls. Camp No. 2 has a novel ceiling which could be used in any of the camps. It is made of cedar bevel siding.
The siding is nailed directly to the roofing rafters with the narrow edge of the siding toward the outside walls, the wide edge toward the center of the room.

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