Making the Perfect Roof - $20 in Popsicle Sticks Later

I scored the popsicle sticks at the half way point and snapped

After combing the internet-highways and the craft stores, I finally came up with just using good ol' popsicle sticks for the roof.  I wanted it to look like shingles.  The itty bitty ones you find for smaller dollhouses would look like random wood chips on this beheamoth.  So I scored and split popsicle sticks... in fact 750 scored and split popsicle sticks.

This part of the process took about 2 days... in fact this is how I spent New Years!


Using wood glue, a ruler and two clamps, I layered them up the 35 inches of board on each side.  After gluing each strip of popsicle sticks, you need to clamp down the popsicle sticks for a few minutes to hold them tight while the glue dried a little bit.  I found that I could easily blow through 5 rows this way and the clamp down the 5th row for about a half hour before progressing to next set.

Here is the top of the peak. 

I clamped down the final row and made sure the glue was good and dry.  I added a strip of wall molding to cover the cracks, uneven edge where the two sides of layered popsicle sticks meet.    

The molding is in place and the finished roof looks great!