Working above the roof line

[beardley]

Hi Folks!

My wife and I have been slaving away at a barn for about a year and a half now. We did the entire timberframe ourselves, but elected to have a local contactor install the roof. It's a 12/12 pitch and frankly it just didn't seem like a job I wanted to take on. After we get the roof on, the next biggest task is the siding, which the plan is 10" board and batten, but I'm not sure the best plan of attack to install the siding on the highlighted side below safely, above the roofline of the attached pavilion. That lower roof is an 8/12 pitch. Is a lift my best bet here to handle this safely?

 

[2manyrocks]

Scaffold should make it a safer job. If you installed the siding before the roofing contractor, it would be easier to attach some blocking to use walkboards to the timber framing. Going to have to flash the transitions anyway. So why do the roof first?

Other thought is have the roofing contractor install the same metal roofing as siding in that area. Shouldn't have the maintenance issues of wooden siding, either.

 

[beardley]

It's going to be a shingle roof, not metal. Because the entrances are under the eaves, we didn't want to deal with the snow slide. We're in upstate NY, so we can see some fairly heavy snow falls. It's not in this picture, but we've already put blocking on that final rafter that buts to the main building, in order for the roofers to run the flashing up under where the siding will eventually be.

Thought about snagging some scaffold, but the lower roof covers the part I'm most concerned with, which is the peak above that last tie beam. I could run some planks from the scaffold over the peak, but seems sketchy to then put a ladder on that

 

[newbury]

Sort of depends on the size of your wallet versus the value of your time.
A rental lift is there and done as soon as you can finish. But can cost several hundred/day and is very expensive to buy.
Scaffolding (new) costs about 200 to 300/unit to either buy or rent for several weeks.

but if you buy it you can work at your leisure and have it for other projects.
I'm a scaffolding type guy.
If you need a ladder up to the peak just tie it off with a heavy line over the roof - To a fixed object.
Not to a vehicle someone will drive off while your on the ladder.

 

[2manyrocks]

Wood planks and walk boards can skate out from under you unless they are screwed or otherwise secured to something to hold them firmly in place. Easier to attach them to the wood beams when there's no roofing on them and then remove them when you're done.

 

[Smokeydog]

What we just used.

 

[beardley]

What we just used.

hmmm wanna drive that up to NY? Ill see ya in a couple weeks

 

[nyone]

Yes put that siding on before the roof. You can srew to framing. You cant really screw things to a finished roof.

Also in NY and we did something similar but finished the siding before we built our porch at all. So we had a flat subfloor to work from.

 

[EddieWalker]

Since you said that you are going to have shingles installed, does that mean they are installing the Decking too? OSB or plywood? Both have their pros and cons. In my opinion, ZIP System is the best option out there, but it's more money and probably not worth the expense for a barn. But it is really nice!!!

If you are paying them to install the Decking on the roof, why not have them install Sheathing to the walls? Being able to install the board and baton to the Sheathing would make it a lot easier and make the building a lot stronger.

To get to that gable end that you highlighted, and for a one time job, I would just frame up a platform from a bunch of 2x4's to walk on. If you watch enough YouTube videos, you'll see that this is very common in home construction. Most home building crews don't spend a lot of money on fancy stuff like scaffolding that is difficult to carry from place to place and store when you're not using it.

Whatever yo do, make sure they use plenty of flashing!!!! As a Contractor that does a lot of repairs to homes, the lack of flashing to save a little money on a roof is a huge source of income for me.

 

[2manyrocks]

Board and batten siding that isn't protected from the weather by a substantial roof overhang will weather and deterioriate. It won't be the easiest thing to reach to reapply protective coatings in the future, either. I'd want something maintenance free if such a thing exists.