Poplar Forest: Restoring Jefferson's Retreat

The restoration craftsmen are shaping and placing the shingles on the wing roof. Because each wooden ridge joist and gutter joist varies slightly, each shingle must be hand-shaped to insure a tight fit. One craftsmen marks the shingle and passes it to the other, who uses a hand-plane to shave and shape it. The shingles are then attached to the gutter and ridge joists.

It takes approximately 100 shingles for each ridge joist. With 40 ridge joists spanning the wing roof, it will take about 4,000 shingles to complete this phase of the terras roof construction.