| A friend of mine, who is a home builder by trade, | | | | And that is exactly what I set out to do! |
| approached me one day and commented how he | | | | For those of you who may not have read any of |
| wished there was a better way to apply a | | | | my previous articles, I am the founder and |
| backer, fascia board and shingle band to roof | | | | president of Cedar Knoll Log Homes. While the |
| rafters. He complained how tedious this job was | | | | main focus of Cedar Knoll Log Homes is the |
| because it required buying three pieces of lumber, | | | | design and development of log homes, I am |
| making three sets of cuts and having to climb up | | | | fortunate to have some very talented engineers |
| a ladder to affix the backer, come down, put up | | | | on staff who are always up to a good specialty |
| the fascia board, come back down, and then go | | | | design challenge. So off they went to the machine |
| back up the ladder to nail up the shingle band. | | | | shop to create a set of custom knives that would |
| "There has got to be a simpler, better way to do | | | | produce a one-piece fascia board / shingle band. I |
| this job," he said. | | | | got back in touch with my friend and asked him |
| For those of you who may not be familiar with | | | | to give the prototype one-piece fascia board / |
| these terms, a fascia board is a band of material | | | | shingle band a try on his next job. He happily |
| that covers the rafter ends and sides when it | | | | agreed. After he finished the job, he called me up |
| goes up the rake. A shingle band (also commonly | | | | and said, "While I doubt this new one-piece fascia |
| called a rake board) is a trim board that is | | | | board / shingle band will cause snow in July, it did |
| attached at the top front of the fascia board to | | | | make this job much easier and saved me several |
| support the overhang of the roof shingles and to | | | | hours back up on a ladder. |
| step out and protect the fascia from water drips. | | | | At $1.49 per linear foot (made from white pine or |
| Traditional wood-framed construction | | | | $2.49 per linear foot in white cedar), this new |
| methodology requires two separate pieces of | | | | time-saving product also allows home builders to |
| lumber and a two-step application process to | | | | save up to 30% off materials cost to purchase |
| apply the fascia board and shingle band over the | | | | separate fascia boards and shingle bands. This |
| backer board. | | | | means that home builders who use this one-piece |
| Having done this up-and-down the ladder fascia | | | | fascia board / shingle band can either pass the |
| board, shingle band routine a few times myself, I | | | | savings on to their clients or keep the saving to |
| understood what my friend was talking about. | | | | enhance their profits. Either way, the time savings |
| This got me to thinking; a one-piece fascia board | | | | means that builders are working smarter instead |
| shingle band seems to work nicely for metal or | | | | of harder and the time saved can be used to get |
| vinyl siding applications, so why not make one | | | | a jump on other tasks. |
| from wood? | | | | |