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Posts tagged with “built-ins”

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My Living Room Wall: Part 2

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In “My Living Room Wall: Part 1,” I documented the design concepts, the firewood box, and the stone mantel-shelf; now we’re onto the cabinets and shelves.

Installing the tops and trim, the face frames and doors, as well as the tapered columns, took a lot of thought and a lot of time. Other than baseboard molding, I didn’t want to install any scribe molding or trim on top of the face frames, so the wood tops had to go in first. After calling around to a few local lumber mills, I found two 8/4 x 14-in. pieces of old growth Douglas fir, one 16-ft. long, one 14-ft. long. I bought them both: one advantage—besides world-class steelhead fishing—to living in Southern Oregon. Read the full article…

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My Living Room Wall: Part 1

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I’m fortunate not to be a packrat. I know many people who are. My father would never throw away anything! Which is probably one reason I’m so averse to saving stuff. I’ve even thrown away a few things I had to buy again! But there is one thing I’ve always had a problem with—books. My entire life, I’ve collected books. In fact, I still have most of my favorite first reads from when I was a kid. Read the full article…

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Laying Out Wainscoting with BuildCalc

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I’ve been using construction calculators for quite some time. They are an indispensable tool for all kinds of layout work; from squaring up foundations, calculating materials, rafter layout, right on through to finish work. When I start any wainscoting job, I reach for a calculator before I even think about cutting any wood. A few minutes crunching numbers saves time and helps me avoid costly mistakes with expensive material. Read the full article…

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Adjustable Closets

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Custom closets with adjustable shelving are the norm for my business today.

About a year and a half ago, my friend Gary Striegler gave me the idea of building closets with adjustable rods and shelving. At first, I was a little confused about how the rods could be adjustable, but after I read an article Gary wrote for JLC, it all started becoming clear. The shelves adjust like any cabinet with adjustable shelves, but it’s the adjustable rods that make this system really cool. Read the full article…

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Closet Shelving Layout & Design

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When I started out in the building business, interest rates were low, money was easy to borrow, and custom homes were the way to go. But six years later, in the early 1980s, that all changed. Interest rates went over 15%. No one could afford, let alone qualify, for a loan. Economics and demand dragged us into multi-family housing—we started installing finish work on apartment complexes, condominiums, and townhouses. The work was hard, the prices competitive, but the profits were good if you had your act together, if you were fast and didn’t make mistakes. Read the full article…

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Historic Cabinets

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I’m more of a carpenter than a cabinet maker. I do mostly trim and cabinet installations now, and use my cabinet making knowledge on rare occasions—mostly to alter existing cabinets, as opposed to making new ones from scratch. For the few new cabinets that I do make, I use the latest technology. For example, I use pocket screws to assemble face frames, and SenClamps (Senco corrugated fasteners) to fasten cabinet sides to the frames—eliminating the clamping and drying time saves so much time when you’re making cabinets. Read the full article…

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Craftsman Style Mantel & Bookcases

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Tackling a demanding project requires a careful drawing & plenty of wiggle room.

Not long ago, a friend of mine referred one of his coworkers to me who was interested in replacing the fireplace-surround of an old bungalow he and his wife had just purchased. Excited by the opportunity, I set up an appointment to visit the site. What I found was a room in desperate need of a makeover. The phone conversation I had with the clients before the meeting gave me an idea of what they were looking for: something traditional, while keeping with the bungalow theme. Armed with a few books and magazine clippings, I met with the new owners. Read the full article…

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Shop Kitchen

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About twenty years ago, I got some rough cherry boards from Grandpa’s garage attic. He had cut down a cherry tree in his yard back in the 1930s, sawed it into boards, and put it up in the attic to dry. It sat in my barn for more than 10 years before I could figure out what to do with it.

A few years ago, I decided that it was time to renovate the Collins Tool Company shop kitchen—make a nice place where we could fix lunches, and also demonstrate our tools. I didn’t have enough of the cherry to build boxes, and I didn’t want to buy a bunch of expensive plywood, so I decided to use it for the kitchen project. Read the full article…

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Making Money on Built-ins

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Selling yourself: Like it or not, marketing matters.

I started my Handyman business in Los Angeles, CA back in 1999 after leaving a 23-year sales career. I made a good living in sales, but it wasn’t satisfying. I’ve always been interested in fixing things, and even more interested in working with wood.

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot — there’s a huge difference between the work I do today and the funky 1×10 knotty-pine nailed-together bookcase I built for my bedroom as a kid. Today, the jobs I enjoy most, and the ones I make the most money on, involve fine finish work, including custom cabinets, bookcases, and built-ins of every type. Read the full article…