The cabin roof got some attention today. Now having collected all of the sections of ash and hazel for the roof battons I can start to put on the shingles onto the roof. I have been focusing on starting at the back end so I can have a dry cover for the back wall with the fireplace. This will allow me if the shingling process takes longer then expected and the full roof is not covered before winter I can still work on the fireplace and cordwood back wall in the dry. This will also mean that the loft is dry allowing a useful storage zone for shingles, planks ect, that is dry through the wet winter months.
The shingles are radially split out of a 1ft long round of sweet chestnut. These are split out radially to ensure minimal tapering off when being cleft out. This is to get as many shingles out of a round as possible. Sweet chestnut is used due to the tannins in it making it extremely durable and excellent at withstanding the outdoors. I get in the ball park of 40 – 48 shingles per the round. I estimate it will take about 1800 to cover the entire roof. The shingles are also overlapped with a minimum of two shingles cover at any given point. This will hopefully last a good many years and keep the cabin water tight.
The Den workshop 