Shingling from a Quilter's Perspective

So as we're about to begin shingling, Troy is explaining how it all works to me. (I think he likes to use me as an audience just to talk things through out loud, but I just patiently listen...) As he's talking, this is sounding more and more like quilting. The pattern is like a strip quilt except the pieces overlap a little more than in a strip quilt. Even the scale is similar as the shingles show 5" for each row and a very common quilt square size is 6 inches. What is not similar is the area which needs to be covered. In quilt terms, the south face alone is about 17 king sized quilts. Pretty big. In quilting, your tools are the rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat. In roofing, your tools are the utility knife and a spare piece of shingle. Of course what you don't get in quilting is the pneumatic nail gun. Shingling might be more cool just on that difference. (Of course, I think my new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine is pretty cool so maybe it's still a matter of opinion.)

But enough of that...on to the pictures. First we have the south face as Troy is preparing the first layers of moisture wrap (there's $400 I'll never spend on shoes, thanks to Inspector BS), tar paper, and fussy cutting (another quilting term) the first row of shingles.
Then the south face as the shingles are about half done. The last two rows were put in by yours truly, aka Rosie the Riveter.

This pic shows a piece of the house and you can see that the new shingles match pretty well in colour. The pattern is a little "livelier" on the shop, but I can live with it.
And finally, the north face, all swept off. But I will say I swept it in the dark, so I'm really not going to guarantee the quality. Of course, if we don't get the tar paper down quickly, we'll just have to sweep again anyway.

Troy and I worked quite diligently on Sunday after getting home from church with a break for the rain around 4:30 and to visit with Troy's uncle and aunt who stopped in. Apple pie is good for lifting spirits so we went back out until almost 8. The weather being so nice is encouraging and the threat of snow by the end of the week doesn't hurt for motivation either.

Monday I went out (yes on my own, since everyone asks that) after work and put in a hour or two. It was all worth it when someone drove up the drive to ask if he could put up a political sign in our yard the next morning for election day. I didn't really think about it until later, but in retrospect he was very surprised to find a woman working on a roof on her own. I was just happy he hit the cycle when I was using the nail gun! ::grin:: He commended me for working so late, and all I thought was, "It's not even 8:00 yet." I'd better watch it...I think Troy is rubbing off on me!

Still grinning,

christina