The Dr. Grunge Advanced Wood Clinic

KKarns

Good to know you found it helpful...I enjoy working the wood and spend a good bit of time in that area on my builds. Cheers.

geoawelch

Hi Ken,

Was going to ask this privately, but thought it might answer questions for others.
The question pertains to detailing the ends of boards and hope it’s not a silly question.

Most walls are glued in place over a template with the board ends extending over the guidelines and then the tops and bottoms of the wall trimmed at once. The question is - do you detail the ends and line them up with the guidelines or detail them later in place (which seems like it would be challenging)?

Thanks again for all the time and effort you put into this clinic and to Brett for encouraging you to do so.

Cheers,

George

KKarns

Hey George, appreciate the question and it's a good one to clarify how I go about it. Thank you for your continued support and your camaraderie here on the forum my friend...appreciate ya!

"Walls by Brett"...trademark!...:) are provided in three main configurations; board-on board in which boards are placed over wood framing, boards over templates, which George is referring, and pre cut walls such as clapboard siding. I have specific ways I go about detailing the walls depending on how they are provided in the kit.

Boards over templates:

I always start by painting both side of the template flat black for obvious reasons. I detail my boards, and specifically the board ends, individually prior to applying to the template. Most of the distressed detailing (cracked, missing, rotted, damaged, etc.) occurs on the bottom of the boards near or in contact with the ground. In my work, placing boards overhanging the bottom of the template (ground end) and then cutting straight along the edge of the template results in a much too clean uniform edge. My method involves individually placing the detailed board ends along the bottom edge of the template as I see fit. Depending on how weathered and damaged I want the bottom edge to look I may have some boards not quite reach the bottom and others reaching the bottom to give a staggered random look. The top of the template, at the roof line, I most often overhang the boards and trim straight away. I then rough up the clean edge after all the boards are on and glue is dry. The top edge is most often less weathered and damaged compared to the bottom. However, individual boards can still be detailed after being glued to the template, just a bit more fiddly to get a good look.

The obvious issue with detailing missing, damaged, rotted wood at the board ends over templates is exposing the underlying template. The bottom of the template, in selected areas, can be carefully cut away to give the illusion of traditional siding over studded walls. If I want larger areas of missing boards. I will cut away the template and put in a small section of studded wall so the studs are visible due to the missing siding. The following are a few examples:

KKarns

Template walls with a portion cut out and replaced with studding for effect.



Here is the structure with the siding placed over the templates



Example of scribed clapboard with studding put in and horizontal siding on the interior.



Board-on-board with horizontal interior siding showing through.

geoawelch

Thanks a million, Ken

glandesjr

Hi Ken:
This is great information and great help in understanding how you do your weathering. The results certainly speak for themselves. I look forward to trying out some of your techniques in my next build. Take care.

KKarns

You bet George W.

Thanks much George. Appreciate the support.