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Carpentry students gain hands-on experience

The carpentry class at New London High School is working on hanging siding on a house this fall.

The class has 23 students interested in learning about carpentry and some of the jobs and duties involved.

“The course is a yearlong course that gives the students a chance to learn and test their abilities. There is no better way to learn than by doing, so the siding opportunity is a great one,” explained instructor Andy Fuhs. “The class started by taking off the old siding and preparing the house for siding. This included checking for any damage and wrapping the house with Tyvek paper. After this step the students began putting J-channel and starter strip on the house.

“There are many challenges in siding a house, but doing an old house adds to it as often things are not square. Once the J-channel is on and the starter strip up the siding begins. It is hung not nailed tight so the siding can expand and contract with the weather,” explained Fuhs. “Some of the challenges in this project are siding a house is a 3-4 person job and having 23 students working is a big challenge. It is tough to have 23 pairs of snips, hammers, tape measures, ladders, and scaffolding for all to use as needed.

“The students all had to J-channel a window or something, as well as hang several pieces of siding. The weather in Wisconsin is something else we had to learn to deal with as well as communicating where we would be, and when,” stated Fuhs. “Overall, the project went well. The house looks nice and the kids did a good job and learned a lot!”

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