Got a call to look at this building, and some others on the grounds of the Historical Museum. This particular item was the jail, and they want the roof redone. The existing comp is so bad it’s worn thru in a lot of places. There is cedar underneath. I peeled back one edge very slightly and can see the butts of three cedar shingles stacked at the edge. They were cut back and a 1x installed when the comp was put on. Under the cedar appears to be skip but it’s hard to say.
Anyway, the majority of this roof would be easy to redo with cedar shingles, it’s that cupola that I am thinking about. It’s roughly 48″ square at the eave and that’s a pretty good radius there. I cannot see what’s underneath it, but since we used to have lots of boatbuilders I am assuming that someone used their bandsaw to make a steaming form and bent some shingles. It would be impossible to simply nail shingles into place on that radius. And then what about capping those hips?
Not sure I really want to do this, but the cupola has me intrigued. I can imagine a day or two in the shop steaming and bending, and then making up some caps.
Oh, and then what about that pointy thing on the top? It’s just sitting there.
Comments?
Replies
Rereading above... just to be clear, they want a cedar roof installed, not comp.
Just re-do the Cupola with copper, easy-peasy. (G)
Inmate # 40735 At Taunton Federal Penitentiary.
Steaming the shingles should work. I'll be doing that this weed for white cedar flares on the sidewalls of the house I'm building. Just throw together a plywood box, line it with rigid foam, and set up a wallpaper steamer connected to the box.
The rule of thumb is an hour of steaming per inch of thickness (IIRC) so 20 minutes or so should be enough time. You could set up a form, or just nail the shingles on quickly before they cool off/dry out. We're hoping to avoid forming them but I'm afraid we'll have to, at least for the woven corners.
Your woven corners could be done just like on a sidewall. Back up each joint with some tarpaper, Grace, or copper, and use Piffin's trick of a dab of PL Premium to keep the joint closed. I don't think you could preassemble the caps on the cupola, and I wouldn't do it on the main roof hips either--I like to get it close with a utility knife and finish it up with a block plane.
You could apply caps like you would for asphalt shingles or for shakes, but the beauty of sawn cedar shingles is that you don't need to.
I bet that pointy thing is lag-bolted from below. Cap the cupola with copper or a scrap of EPDM and plant the pointy thing in a bed of butyl caulk. Re-lag from below.
Those shingles don't need steaming unless you are using cedars that have been stored indoors drying for a long time. At the most, I would need to stand a bundle in a basin of water overnight. Easy would be to stand them in hot water for a couple hours is all.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
>>>>>>>It would be impossible to simply nail shingles into place on that radius.
What Pif said - soak 'em and nail 'em.
>>>>>>>And then what about capping those hips?
Same thing -plane them to fit in place.
>>>>>>>>>Oh, and then what about that pointy thing on the top? It's just sitting there.
Pay careful attention to how the finial is attached when you take it down. It's hooked on somehow. I can't tell if it's metal or wood.
http://logancustomcopper.com
http://grantlogan.net/
"We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart?"
"">>>>>>>>>Oh, and then what about that pointy thing on the top? It's just sitting there.Pay careful attention to how the finial is attached when you take it down. It's hooked on somehow."" Probably has a few of the early models of piffen screws run thru it.
Well, I'm skeptical about bending the typical WRC shingles here without some steam. I put the same shingles on my house--bending them to the flares was difficult, and that radius is much easier. Some of those were soaking wet (stored bundles outside in winter) and it was still a struggle.
The typical cedar ridge cap here is a preassembled two-piecer, at they are way out of scale for a small area like that cupola. The finial is wood, appears to be assembled (hollow) and is on there somehow but pretty loose.
I've bent them tighter than what you're facing. I've only steamed them going the other way. I've never used pre-fabbed ridge caps, but they certainly won't work in this situation. Make your own and make them to scale.http://logancustomcopper.com
http://grantlogan.net/
"We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart?"
same here for many squares of them.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
FWIW.. I took a cupola off a barn some years back that had the flared eaves that are shown in your picture. Probably built about 1920 or so . The originial roofing was red cedar over skip sheathing .
Who ever installed the first roof slid the top of the shingles under the skip sheathing at the flare instead of having the shingle have to lay tight to all the skip sheathing as the courses went up the flare. Doing that allowed for less of a bend in the shingle. Seemed like it held up fine over the years.
Edited 3/25/2007 8:02 pm by dovetail97128
pre-assembled ridge are crap especially for the context of a historial building, not that I see anything speial about that one. You relly need to lern how to run ridge if you are going to take on historical work.It's about the same as weaving corners on shinglewalls - just keep cross-lap and planing them
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!