Boyds, a rural town near the intersection of state routes 117 and 121 in Montgomery County was named for Col. James Alexander Boyd, a Scottish immigrant who worked as a construction engineer for the B & O railroad.  Boyd built temporary housing for the workers as the railroad was building the Metropolitan Branch line after the Civil War.  The railroad began service in 1870 making the area accessible to Washingtonians.   James Boyd established dairy farms in Boyd and lived in the town until his death in 1896.

The town today includes two churches, a general store, an antiques shop, a MARC train station, a smattering of historic houses, schools and other buildings.  The county master plan protects an area with a radius of about two miles extending out from Boyds’s historic district, including 600 homes on a mix of horse farms and pastures.  Commuter Rail service primarily to DC is still provided today by the MARC system.

One of the historic homes in Boyds is called “Friend in Need”.  The owners believe the home to have been a small dairy farm as there is milking station in the barn.  Fichtner Services was called in to replace the roof on the home.  The home still had the original stamped metal roof which was not able to be saved.  The homeowners opted for a 1” historic standing seam panel roof keeping true to the period and character of the house.  We used 24 gauge steel in Colonial Red.  Additionally, the siding on the dormers needed to be replaced.  We installed Western Red Cedar certi-cut diamond shingles to replicate the historic pattern.  Lastly, we were able to save the front and back porch roofs by applying Acrymax liquid applied roofing system.

The owners said that “the workers were very professional and experienced and did an amazing job.  The new roof is beautiful”.