Installing barn board sheathing continues after LONG hiatus!

As many readers know, the timber frame of our house is encased in a shell of insulated panels called SIPs (structural insulated panels). These SIPs allow for the full depth of the timber frame to be visible from the inside, since they are nailed to the outside of the frame. Nothing of the frame is lost to studs and drywall. However, the panels are composed out of two layers of particle board (OSB) sandwiched around 4" of rigid insulation. Now, I'm a pretty huge fan of contemporary architecture and design (hey, I read DWELL magazine), and I have seen a lot of tastefully done OSB interiors. But that's not the route we chose for BHB. Instead, I have been sheathing over the OSB with 5" horizontal strips of antique barn wood - the very same wood that protected our barn from the elements when it was in tis original location up in maine.


In the shot above, you can see the OSB inner panel of the SIPs surrounding the tall window at the end of the hall. You can even see the tufts of yellow fiberglass insulation sticking out around the window frame. See what I'm dealing with!!)




I had finished sheathing upstairs a few years ago (well, except for that spot over the refrigerator...), but the downstairs has remained unfinished far too long. The process is fairly time-consuming. I first have to wash or otherwise clean the wood (since most of it still has the "original" dirt and cobwebs still attached!), rip it to the 5" dimension, cut it to size and then fit it in place. This past year (while I was on sabbatical) I found the time to begin working on the downstairs. In this photo and the one above, I am working on the downstairs hall. It went quite smoothly, most of the pieces being very small and manageable to work with. I'm pleased with how it turned out!