Siding - Pretty as a new outfit!

We have sided the house in hardwood (oak-red&white).  Most of the tall straight oaks were taken off the acres here as we had a large grove of them that was left here when we bought the cut over acres.  The previous owner had left 7 acres of hardwoods to make for better hunting grounds.  There were so many there you can hardly tell that they took out a bunch to make our siding.  It was completely "free" if you don't consider sweat, muscles, time and gas to run a chainsaw and the TimberKing for Carpenter and his crew of boys. For this task it was mostly Micah and oh the hours Carpenter and him spent getting the trees, sawing the boards into planks on the sawmill and planing and straightlining them into lap siding boards.  The job was completed in June 2010.

We recently priced a nice solid oak board at the local home lumber store like we put on the house - about 2000 of them wennt into our siding - and they were a mere $23 each!!!!!!!!!!!  So $23 x 2000 give or take a bit = $46,000 we could have put into siding!  With sawmill blades and gas I wager to say we have a bit less in it than that!

Doesn't it look like the house got a new dress!?  We put a semi transparent OLYMPIC stain on it - DESERT SAND which has a few pale grey streaks in it that goes well with the stonework we are doing on the house and looks as natural as possible as that suits Carpenter!

Undressed and waiting for siding:

We stained each board before they went up to keep stain spills and such off the shingled roof.

Micah, Luke, Samuel and Carpenter's Wife did this job. 

The first boards going up looked great!

Sam Asher still faithfully doing his job! Staining those boards!

The house is dressed and ready for the next thing on the list!