The Special Video Category

!!!!!!******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!!

Replace Insulated Glass Panes

This is a picture of a premium wood sash with true wood muntins and individual 12×12 insulated glass panes.

Known generically as a “true divided lite insulated glass window”. The glass is held in place with wood glazing sticks. (NO putty!!)

With proper maintenance these windows with their all wood construction should easily have a service life of 100+ years.

But the devil is in the details.

As it happens insulated glass panes have a relatively short service life before the seal between the insulated panes is compromised and moisture accumulates and randomly fogs the window. In some cases less than 20 years.

It is an exercise in futility to replace one 20 year insulated glass pane with another 20 year insulated glass pane in a long life sash so the owner opted to use single sheet 3/8 inch plate glass to exactly fill the space formerly occupied by the insulated glass pane.

As an added bonus the plate glass replacement is cheaper than the insulated pane counterpart.

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.

http://www.menards.com/main/home-dcor/mouldings/exterior/vinyl-mouldings/7-ft-white-vinyl-sill-nosing/p-1448790.htm

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/lumber-composites/moulding-millwork/never-rot-7-ft-x-514-in-x-114-in-vinyl-sill-moulding-43634.html

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!

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”.

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.

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

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

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

How To: Fix Hood Lift Support Strut

Two solutions to the annoying hood lift support strut problem. For about six months I carried a stick in the back of the car. But it turns out mechanics have a simpler solution.

Vote For Miss North Carolina!

!!!!CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!!

There is still time to cast your vote for the hard working Miss North Carolina!

Pottyology Pictures

Tree Felling With Crane

The tree guys came by to take down a 110 foot tree before it destroyed a bungalow style cottage I periodically repair.

They brought their crane. Turns out life with a crane is a little bit different.

These guys were real life spidermen who rode up and down that thin crane cable like an elevator.

The 110 foot tree came down in 20 foot chunks and was safely cut up on the ground into bite size pieces.

Once the crane was in position it took little more than an hour to get the entire tree prone in the driveway.

The entire procedure was quite a memorable performance.

To see how firewood is made visit this Arbormax video:

Link: Arbormax Firewood Video

Turpentine Lighter Pine Window Sill

From North Carolina, the Tarheel State, comes this example of lighter pine in the form of a window sill in service for at least 100 years!

After all that time the turpentine fumes remain as fresh and pungent as the day the wood was milled and installed.

This wood is still so saturated with pine tar resin it burns at the touch of a match.

Volatile hydrocarbons, not from some internal combustion engine, but from all natural, completely organic pine trees!

The light blue smog emitted from this pine tree resin gave the Great Smoky Mountains their name!

Read more here….CLICK LINK