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Slate Roof Entries

Slating Roofing Begins

Monday, August 15th, 2016

Our slate roof is the last major project between us and a completely finished cottage. We've been trying and failing to schedule a day-long crash-course in slating with a local roofer for weeks. This weekend, with a sunny forecast before us and sti...

Preparing the Cottage Roof for Slate

Saturday, April 30th, 2016

This weekend was doubly productive—while we worked on trimming the indoor eaves, Dan and the crew from Arlington Roofing were here to prepare our cottage for slate. This meant removing our old, holey tar paper, adding a sturdy sheathing, cleaning u...

Bringing in Help

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Building your own home is an amazing adventure, but one that should probably end at some point. Carly, Vermont Natural Homes Since Tyler and I held our Life Summit, I've been busy getting quotes from different companies to tackle vari...

Slate Delivery

Friday, March 18th, 2016

The slate for our cottage roof arrived from the New England Slate Company today. It was delivered by Jim of Leicester Service Center, one of the nicest, most craggily photogenic folks we've met in a long time. Thanks for all your he...

Spring is Coming

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

As much as I dearly love winter, there is nothing like a bit of warmth and sunshine to make me feel like a brand new person. Knowing it was going to get up to 65 degrees today, I awoke early, raring to tackle a few painting projects best done in mi...

Visiting The New England Slate Company

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

On this snowy winter's morning, Tyler is taking a few hours off work for the express purpose of going on a homestead-related field trip. He and I take to the road, picking up our friend and neighbor, Charlie, on the way out of town. Together, the t...

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part Four: Slating Begins

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

We originally planned to put asphalt shingles on the outhouse, but Tara convinced Shlomy and I to use our reclaimed slate, citing that it would be good practice for next year (when I plan to slate the roof of our cottage). This weekend, after sever...

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part Two: Preparing Slate for the Roof

Sunday, October 25th, 2015

Today, Shlomy and I spent the afternoon preparing slates for the roof of the outhouse. There isn't enough of the reclaimed slate we bought a few summers ago to cover the roof of our cottage, so we're using it here. This is our first time working wi...

Trimming the Cold Roof

Sunday, October 26th, 2014

This afternoon, we trimmed the cold roof sheathing which was overhanging the eaves by an extra two feet or so. On paper, the process looked quick and easy: just snap a chalk line and cut the extra plywood off. In practice, most of actual work was s...

Strawbale Cottage SIP Panel Cold Roof

Sunday, October 5th, 2014

It wasn't until our roof panels were installed that I learned we would need to build an additional "cold roof" on top of them. A few months ago, I had no idea what a cold roof even was. The physics of it make perfect sense, though. When warm air in...

Unloading Slate

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

Now that the Bonettis have headed home, it's time to unload the slate from the back of our heavily-laden truck. It's a laborious process—Tyler sits in the bed of the truck, taking each tile and tapping it lightly with a hammer. We've read that a r...

Weekend Road Trip, Part Two: Sightseeing with Beth

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Before Tyler and I hit the road with our slate, Jim tells us that we really must see the nearby Island Line Trail, saying it would be a shame to be this far north and miss the railbed-turned-bikepath that crosses the lake. He also advises us not t...

Weekend Road Trip, Part One: Buying Slate

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Last night, we stayed up into the wee hours, re-living some of our travels and travails in Vietnam. It's not often that we read our own journal entries—we're usually focused on the present, busily writing new stories. But, I'm having my second an...

Switching to Slate

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Over the past few months, we have come to the realization that a thatched roof for our cottage just isn't in the cards. We're both in love with the idea, but making it a reality would be a massive undertaking, and right now, neither of us can must...