Shake it baby, Shake it!

Now that I'm on my own it is time to tackle a few outstanding projects around my home.  Although I am always up for a challenge, I won't lie and tell you that I have much carpentry experience.  I do have determination and a logical brain, so I think I'm up for the challenge.

I've had an eyesore in my yard for some time now.  We built a woodshed and attached cedar shakes to the sides.  Most of the sides I should say.  My husband must have been distracted and left a few choice areas unfinished.  Specifically the two end gables, around one side of the door, and the front upper portion.  

After looking the project over, I began by measuring 6" from the bottom edge of the last row of shakes.  I then used a chalk line to draw a straight line across the top of the existing row of shakes.  Next, I selected individual shakes and began nailing them on using the chalk line as a guide.  I placed my nails 6 1/2" from the bottom edge of the shake in order for them to be hidden by the next row of shingles.

Persuading someone to help you make the afternoon a lot more fun.  It is always good for kids to watch you  figure things out and learn something new.  

When you get to the last shake, you will need to measure the space required and use a sharp blade to score and cut the shake to the proper size.

Once I got into the gable, things got a little more tricky.  This is likely why the former shake installer left the project :)  I measured from the bottom edge to edge of the roof on first one corner and then the other.  Then I joined those two marks to give me the angle needed for the shake.  I scored and cut that line.  That worked really well on most occasions.

Overall, not a hard project.  The gables were time consuming with all of the cutting, but definitely not difficult - which is great because I still have the other gable and two sides of the chicken coop to finish!

 Project difficulty : 4 out of 10
Sense of accomplishment : HUGE!