Not all roses and red carpets out in the field on the job! Sometimes you have to set a trim plate overhead and work upside-down to make it fit!
How To: Mortise Trim plate Upside-down
Leave a Comment
How to: Rotted Window Sill Repair
A fairly common problem: how to fix a partially rotted or damaged window sill without disturbing the interior woodwork or sash assembly?
As it happens the solution is not that complicated even with window sills built circa 1940!
Modern replacement plates will work, though in this case I did make a custom nose with the original as my pattern.
The repaired sill plate is indistinguishable from the other window sills on the house!
Footnote: this is a demonstration, not a tutorial. If you need a detailed description please consult an experienced local woodworker.
Update: For those of you unfamiliar with replacement plates and nosing here are links to two examples of vinyl replacement moulding available at the big box lumber yards. (Copy and paste into toolbar)
In the video I used wood because the seams are nearly invisible when caulked and painted.
To see the entire archive of Blog Video Posts CLICK THIS LINK
Tales Of Cantilever Decks
-
- Fancy Floating Deck with Diagonal Planks
-
- Retrofit Deck Over Back Door Steps
-
- Deck Assembled With Quick Disconnect Girder Pins
-
- Really Big Deck (for the time)
Today, the cantilever deck is found everywhere, but back in the dark ages the design was considered to be a somewhat radical proposition.
Until I browsed through the archives, I did not realize what a diehard proponent I must have been in those early days, because most of my deck pictures, even those just a few feet off the ground, are of the cantilever variety.
The advantage, then and now, of course, is the ability to build a square frame that is more or less parallel to the attached house without corner post alignment difficulties.
Neat Idea:Easy Entry Door Upgrade
This idea works best on a painted door. (New glazing muntins on stained doors have color disparities).
A glassworker supplied custom dimension bevel glass panes for the existing panels on these two six panel doors.
With very sharp tools I very, very, very carefully split off the muntin section from the one piece molded rail and stile, removed the panels and inserted the glass.
A little touch up paint on the reattached muntin pieces and a dramatic difference inside and out for this entryway!
Try it, you will like it!
Cottage Bungalow Replacement Door
This story has got to make you scream.
The 3’0″ x7’0″ (3 foot wide x 7 foot tall) door on this cottage bungalow had been in continuous service since original installation sometime in the 1930′s.
UNTIL some punks in 2009 destroyed it in order to steal a few hundred dollars worth of TV’s and Laptops. ( Hey guys! Next time use the window. It’s cheaper!) (Next time the owners maybe inside with a shotgun!)
As it happens a careful examination of available special order doors uncovered this exquisite modestly priced all wood reproduction door.
For an authentic installation I used a hand plane from the shop to dress the edge when I sized it to fit the original jamb.
Nifty Habitat Corner Cabinet
Cute Project- 2 sheets of cabinet grade Birch plywood, an unfinished ornamental glass French door from Habitat For Humanity ($65.00 A BARGAIN) and bingo! a built-in display cabinet for fishing rods,golf clubs and even the odd pike or spear!
From The Great Ideas File-A “Staycation” Doggie Bread and Breakfast Outdoor Kennel
If your dogs run free at home in a big fenced-in yard and they need a safe place down at the farm where the territory is a little more unfamiliar here is a genuinely fun project made from odds and ends and careful planning. A regular doggie Taj Ma Hound, it is adaptable to endless variations.
In this specific case you have to bless the fork lift operators at the Big Box Lumberyard! Of six panels in a premium upscale kennel one was completely destroyed and three were mildly mangled by careless handling!
Naturally, the manager marked it down to slightly higher than a scrap metal price and the five usable panels became the foundation for a nifty doggie bread and breakfast outdoor kennel. The ultimate scratch and dent bargain!
With an ordinary $50.00 fence panel to replace the broken metal section; some deck lumber; T-111 siding to fill the gaps and bingo! a really attractive and inexpensive kennel came together from odds and ends!
Two Track Sliding Panel Base Cabinet
Three Panel Two Track Cabinet
Another example of a built-to-order cabinet base made from birch plywood and clear fir trim.
Two panel doors slide on one track, the third panel door slides on a separate track behind the other two.
Interior adjustable shelves.
Backyard Children’s Playset Explainer Post
Basic Metal Swing Set
In the beginning the world was filled with basic metal swing sets. (Okay, in the beginning of the beginning the backyard playground was a tire suspended by a rope from a tree limb! A little before my time!)
Anyway, the metal playground swing was a true kit with factory finished steel tubes and predrilled holes and hardware to assemble it all.
Then came the wood swing set with plastic accessory kits which included instructions for the assembly of the swing set from stock lumber to which the plastic accessories could be attached.
Early in the 1980′s Lowes Lumberyard came up with a unique marketing idea called the Treeless Treehouse. Crude by today’s standards this was a backyard playhouse designed to be built by Dad over the weekend.
The Shed Files
The Shed Files
Sheds! Plain sheds, fancy sheds, backyard sheds, carport sheds, poolside sheds, metal sheds, even cinderblock sheds!
Raleigh has always been a hands-on Do-It-Yourself kind of town and over the years I have been fortunate to assist people who wanted to build their own shed, but needed a certain amount of technical assistance and support.
There is no limit to the number and variety of designs my clients have created for themselves. Here are a few from the files.
Fancy Shed
Probably one of the fanciest sheds I’ve built-vinyl siding, full soffit, recycled entry door and multiple windows.
Assorted Restoration Projects And Repairs
Contrary to conventional wisdom the life of a handyman is not filled to the brim with limousines and red carpets.
Most jobs are routine patch-and-plaster fixit repairs invisible when complete.
Note the circular column bases and column repair blanks were not turned on a lathe but cut on a table saw, or in some cases a radial arm saw and dressed with a router.
I have never used a miter chop saw to cut circular blanks but it would probably work as well.
So here in no particular order are examples of some repairs and restorations which are normally unnoticeable when finished.
Click on the thumbnails for a better view.
-
- Sash Repair
-
- Another Sash Repair
-
- Garage Panel Repair
-
- Another Garage Panel Repair
-
- Column Base Repair
-
- Another Column Base Repair
-
- Column Repair
-
- Basic Gate Latch
Assorted Replacement Door Installations
-
- Store Front Door
-
- Full Glass Door
-
- Standard 6 Panel Door
-
- Commercial Kitchen Door
-
- 9 Panel Door
-
- Handmade Log Cabin Door
Doors! Fancy doors! Ordinary doors! Handmade doors!
One of the most common jobs for me over the years has been door replacement,repair and accessory installation.
Herewith a small selection of just a few of the doors that found their way into my scrapbook.
Click on the thumbnails for a bigger picture.
Field Cut Fascia Miter
Another video! There may be more than a few of these lurking about the shop.
Okay, I am not exactly Bob Villa, but I did manage to drag a camcorder up on the roof with me and not get killed.
That has got to count for something.
So, to proceed….in the ordinary course of routine repairs many times the best repair is to “first do no harm”.
Bath And Shower Grab Bars
Corner Bar In Fiberglass Shower Stall
Grab Bar Installed With No Tile Damage
From the custom job files……….
Job Shop fabricated stainless steel grab bars for a fiberglass shower stall and fully tiled bathtub.
The challenge was to install completely functional safety bars without damage to the existing tile or fiberglass.
The solution was to weld the custom shaped handlebars to a wall-plate which was drilled in place with attachment holes to bolt the entire assembly directly to the wall studs.
The completed bars easily supported the full weight of a 300 lb male engaged in strenuous push-ups and other suspension exercises.
WINDOW GLAZING MONTAGE VIDEO
True story.
Somehow I wangled a video camcorder way back in the dark ages of 1994-ish.
I may have actually rented it from some now defunct upstart video rental place.
Without benefit of video playback (primitive beast that it was!) I taped about an hour and a half of glazing video.
From that raw stock I was able to glean this three minute montage of the multiple steps involved in the process of putty replacement for the classic single pane window.
All the footage was made on an actual job with no staged preparation or artificial techniques.
These are real windows on a real house with real putty removed and replaced.
Labor and time intensive, this is the way life was before vinyl replacement windows!
Remember, these windows must still be primed and painted, preferably with an oil based exterior gloss enamel!
Enjoy!
For more window glazing commentary visit the Window Glazing Archive CLICK LINK
For two other examples of window glazing from around the country CLICK HERE or HERE
Assorted Chimney Cap Projects
-
- Copper Chimney Cap In Raleigh Before Copper Was Cool
-
- Copper Cap On Old Wake Forest Road, Aging Gracefully After 20 Years
-
- Another Copper Cap
-
- This Behemoth was made from plate steel for a ranch style house. Also aging gracefully.
-
- Standard Galvanized Conestoga Wagon Style-Without Bird Screen By Request
As a revival Handyman in the 1970′s;80′s and 90′s one of my great treats was to have people ask me to do just about anything.
Naturally, many job requests were referred to specialty trades, but some trades simply did not exist in Raleigh back in the Pleistocene.
One was Chimney Caps.
Job shops would make them, but no one really wanted to climb up and install them.
So, for good customers I filled the gap and ordered and installed specialty chimney caps.
Before the Internet it was not uncommon to go to the library and find some musty book with specifications and details on the care and feeding of chimney caps.
Many of my chimney caps are still in place today quietly doing the work they were designed to do.
Copper chimney caps-in Raleigh-before copper was cool!
Black Walnut Candle Holder
-
- Candle Holder Without Candle
-
- Candle Holder With Candle
(CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION)
So there was this 60 foot Black Walnut tree soon to be claimed by highway construction down in the front field of a little place in farm country.
We knew at some point the construction contractor would cut the family yard tree but no one knew exactly when.
One day I get THE phone call: the tree has been cut down.
I hurried over to the farm and discovered the worst case scenario:
The tree was severely diseased and almost completely hollow in the main trunk but even so, by the time I arrived every part had been salvaged-trunk- limbs-branches-the works- presumably for firewood-if nothing else-with the exception of one, exactly one, 3 foot long, 5 inch diameter tree limb remnant, fairly twisted with knots.
Still, it was the last piece of the yard tree so I loaded it up and carried it back to the shop.
Two years later the tree limb had not really cracked badly, so I thought maybe I could get one or two ornamental pieces from what remained.
The good news: I was able to turn this candle holder on the lathe. The bad news: it does have about a 1/8th inch crack on the backside which I closed with a patch splint.
The design is very basic for fear of losing the entire piece, but overall it is a nostalgic reminder of a once proud and productive walnut tree.
We will find a very fancy carved candle to put into this memento of the past.
Vintage Furniture Repair
Before
After
Before
After
Today for the edification of the curious a vintage 1950′s Phillipine settee with some original rubber web seat straps and a few later replacement repair straps as well.
The client found some industrial strength polyester webbing and asked to have the whole business refurbished.
An interesting indoor project to keep me busy while storms howled outside.
Click on the image for high resolution
Door Jamb Repair
Today’s project, water damage right at the bottom of door threshold.
An all too common job–the damage you see is usually a result of rain water back-splash from some hard surface onto the lower few inches of exposed wood.
In most cases not too hard to fix. Enjoy the video!
Cottage Bungalow Siding Repair
-
- From this……
-
- To this……
-
- To This……
Strange but true, in this age of Masonite, vinyl, and Hardiplank, genuine yellow pine Dutch Cove Siding or in the jargon of the vernacular, “German Siding” is still available at a modest price ($1.59 @ linear foot)!
The new siding perfectly matched the vintage fifty year old planks from yesteryear on this Cottage Bungalow in a historic downtown Raleigh neighborhood.
Good ole pattern number #105- a true classic!
Click Image for high resolution picture.
Redwood Handrail Repair
The good news: this magnificent handrail from the good old days is cut from *SOLID* redwood! No finger-joint stock or laminate, just solid continuous redwood.
You will be hard pressed to find such on any new construction today.
The bad news: it has suffered tremendously from the slings and arrows of multiple outrageous reattachment to the porch columns for which it was made so many years ago.
The only solution was to peg the damaged holes and slots with dowels and fillets and dress out the raw spots with epoxy.
Maybe it will receive kinder, gentler treatment in it’s old age and not need to be rebuilt for many years.
November Backlog Post
Amazing! In November the camera filled up with pictures and video and I did not post a single thing!
Yikes! Videos will take longer but here are a few teaser photographs from the job board that are downloaded and ready to go!
-
- Radius Crosshead Cut With Circular Saw
-
- Removeable Stairwell Bulkhead To Keep Water Out Of Commercial Building
-
- PVC Replacement Window Sill
The Special Video Category
Almost 74,000 Views! Thanks Raleigh!
!!!!!!******VIDEO CATEGORY CLICK LINK HERE******!!!!!!
For those loyal readers who follow my little blog I have collected all the videos on this site into a special category called, naturally, “Videos”.
This includes my homemade videos-both listed and unlisted- and other videos I thought were interesting, educational or entertaining.
So now, if you wish, you can scroll through two years of videos to find the ones that tickle your fancy.
There should be something for everyone…urban vulture, dove, snipe, shoptalk and techniques, wood borer beetles, clever artifacts, and etc……
Happy NEW YEAR!!
Finished Door Pictures
Door Pictures
How To: DIY Dropcloth Dust Curtain Poles
The dropcloth dust curtain is used to partition work areas off from the rest of the living
space in a home or office with the creation of temporary walls made from plastic sheets
held in place with tension poles.
Sadly most jobs need more than a few poles (say at least four- one for each corner). And..it turns out the cost for four commercial poles can be incredibly expensive.
Really, CLICK LINK HERE….
For light duty work there is an inexpensive alternative made from nothing more complicated than
a 1×3 furring strip and a cheap caulk gun. Caulk guns can be found at Big Lots and K-Mart ( you remember K-Mart?) for as little as 1 or 2 dollars and furring strips are about 3 dollars for an 8 foot length which is perfect for the average 8 foot ceiling.
Wow! 100,000 Video Views!
Well, I’ll be darned! My little repair videos have attracted the attention of 100,000 viewers. Not a real big deal in the Youtube world, but nevertheless something of a milestone for home repair videos with minimal editing and narration.
Link to Blog Video Archive CLICK HERE
Home Built Air Skid
Air skate or air skid or air bearing or air caster technology has been available on an industrial scale since at least the 1960’s and used by NASA and Boeing et.al. to move heavy equipment from pillar to post.
Example CLICK HERE or HERE or HERE
For light commercial use the impediment has been the availability of inexpensive compressed air.
Now, in spite of the widely available light duty air compressor and pancake tank, the air skid still remains widely unknown and unused in light commercial settings.
Here at the International Handyman Headquarters we could not resist the opportunity to cobble together some experimental variations with ordinary parts and materials to see what it would take to move equipment around the shop.
The results were somewhat surprising.
The first lesson learned was the relation between air volume and air pressure. To make a skid from a plastic pail bottom does not require much air pressure, but it does require a significant volume of air to work properly. Hence, the leaf blower attached to Version #1. A good but awkward attempt.
For Version #2 caution was the order of the day with a miniature adaptation of the widely built high school hovercraft project made from plywood and 3 mil plastic. CLICK LINK HERE or HERE
Again, even slight experimentation proved ineffective when alternate materials – woven polyester tarp fabric or sheet rubber were too cumbersome compared to ordinary garbage bag grade plastic. It works well, but does not have a heavy lift capability.
This brought our experiment to Version #3. In many respects, version #3 is the simplest- a hollowed out block of wood covered with a sheet rubber bladder and an air hose nib on one side. But what performance specifications! It will easily support an 80 pound load on 120 PSI of compressed air! Right now, the only problem is the configuration of the bladder opening since a minimum weight is required for a smooth lift.
Refurbish Repair Restore Window Sash
This novelty sash pair from a backyard playhouse came into the shop in bad shape.
No glass, severely weathered wood, broken rail, it was ready for a session of tender loving care. The upper appeared to be signed by the original joiner complete with a serial number for the unit.
After a patch, putty and paint job it should last for another few decades.
How-to Tip: Homemade Paintbrush Spinner
Painters know the most important trick to paint work around a job is to always have a clean paint brush available, even after a lunch break or when work stops to reset ladders and drop-cloths.
Perpetually clean paint brushes come from a 2 step process.
Step 1– whenever the paint brush is not in use let it dangle from a rack in a 5 gallon bucket partially filled with solvent or clean water. (Important! Do not let the bristles touch the bottom of the bucket!)
If the bucket has a lid you can even transport the soaking brushes around the site without worry they will splatter sidewalks and trim with gunk.
Then, step 2, take the brush from the bucket and spin dry it.
Commercial painters buy special tools for this task, but for household chores you can make a simple spinner with parts from a hardware store that fits into any hand cranked “eggbeater” drill or power drill you might have handy.
To see commercial spinner CLICK LINK HERE
No need to spend $25.00 for a item you will rarely use when the components to do the same job are already in your toolbox.
I made my first homemade spinner many years ago from galvanized pipe parts.
Today with PVC pipe pieces you can make a spinner even better, faster and cheaper!
Take a look!
