Tongue-and-Groove siding should go quickly, he said...

Austin's dad generously let us pick through a stack of rough-hewn Cypress planks that were strewn, forgotten, under a collapsing shed. Austin picked out the best boards, trying to avoid the worst of the water and bug damage and sent them off to the mill to be planed and tongue-and-grooved. We paid $0.84 a linear foot. The resulting planks are phenomenally gorgeous.

Now, tongue and groove should be relatively simply, right? You just snap them into place. Voila. We envisioned just flying through the siding in one day and moving on to the roof in quick fashion. Um. No. Two days of labor and we only completed the two long walls. Obstacle #1: insect and water damaged boards. Many of the beautiful long planks had to be chopped up into smaller pieces due to damage. Obstacle #2: warped and bent boards. About 1,000 chop saw cuts, several colorful curse words, and two grueling days later, we have both long sides mostly sided ... minus the highest segment on the loft.

I'm gladly taking suggestions on coating ... I was thinking polyurethane. I don't want to stain ... I want to maintain the original color and beauty of the wood. I just want to add water protection and gloss.