90% done, 90% left to go....

While the structure went up amazingly quickly (just three days) there is still much to do, not the least of which is getting all that raw wood coated for the coming winter weather. The week following the build, we got a fair amount of rain which splashed mud up on the bottom portion of the siding.  While a lovely shade of red, it wasn't in our color scheme. After a lot of cleaning we were able to start the painting with a coat of primer. As you can see from the picture above, Lisa jumped right in and started covering the walls. One thing we discovered is that the siding we chose (commonly called T1-11) has a groove every 10 inches to mimic the look of board and batten siding. While the rollers did a fine job of covering all of the wide panels, each of the battens had to be painted by brush. We have a lot of battens.

So here's the barn with a coat of primer over the entire bottom portion of the structure.  Next on our list is to put siding on the gable end in the picture. We decided to use Hardiplank siding because of its reputation for long lasting good looks. We also chose Hardiplank Panels to side the dormers which Lisa prepainted. Neither one of us are overly fond of heights so we'd rather do it one time and not have to go up again.

Here is our intrepid carpenter-girl posing with the gable half finished. We like the way the two sidings look together and are really happy with how it turned out. We hope to have it painted this coming weekend.  Our colors are a dark green for the gable ends and dormers and a medium green for the general siding. Once we get some doors and trim up we'll do them in white.

So here's the finished product. After a lot of work and climbing up and down ladders and scaffolding, all the lines match up. I think the scaffolding was the best "extra" we included in this build process.  We still need to get some soffit and fascia up to finish this end but we'll get to it as the weather allows.  As I'm writing this entry, we are getting a visit from Ida, a rather messy and blustery old girl who is keeping us from our appointed rounds. Hopefully this weekend we'll have good weather so we can get back to it!  Also, Happy Veteran's day to all of our veterans currently serving and those who have in the past. We love you and appreciate all you have and continue to do for us.