Murphy Beds are incredibly popular, probably because they help us use space more efficiently, and today, with living space at a premium, that’s critical. It sure was for me. I wanted to use the guest cabin I built down by the river as a yoga studio—after all, guests aren’t that common, but yoga is.
If you’re building today you’ve probably succumbed to the demands of the ubiquitous smartphone, being assaulted with job-related texts, emails, and notifications—not to mention Instagrams from Mike Guertin and tips from Gary Katz on THISisCarpentry.
As much as I love technology, it can be a relief to take an afternoon off, and just hold and read a book. This is exactly what I did when my roof framing expert and friend, Will Holladay, emailed me asking if I would review his latest book, “From the Top Plates Up: A Production Roof Framer’s Journey.”
As a kid, Michael wasn’t known as a strong student. He got into trouble a lot, or maybe trouble found him. “My parents weren’t saving for college,” Michael says, “they were saving for bail.”
Michael Haynes grew up on a family farm in a blue-collar rural area of Warwick, Rhode Island. His parents worked hard to make ends meet. Both his father and uncle built their own houses from the ground up. Michael learned how to work hard and how to work with his hands.
When Haynes entered high school, he decided to combine traditional learning with technical studies in construction by attending West Bay Vocational School (WBVS) in Coventry, Rhode Island. Like a lot of tradespeople, Michael discovered he wasn’t a poor student, he simply learned better with his hands than with a chalkboard. In fact, at WBVS, Haynes excelled at learning and soon found a trade that could support his future. Read the full article…
Raise your hand if you have ever cut what you thought was a perfect crown cope only to find out it was open on the top or bottom? I’m raising my hand, too!
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about how copes work: for many carpenters, pressured by the need to ‘get the job done,’ cope joints are mysterious puzzles they haven’t the time or the patience to solve. But if we understand what makes a coped joint work then every cope can fit perfectly on the first try. Read the full article…
When I bought my little house in southern Oregon, I knew I’d be removing the existing concrete patio and the funky patio cover. The concrete had been mixed in a wheelbarrow and poured in sections, maybe over a decade or two, at least that was the forensic evidence. In some places the finish was smooth as glass, in others there was a heavy broom texture, and in a few sections, no finish at all. It was cracked and heaved. Read the full article…
Dave Snyder is a lucky guy. He loves his work. Dave is the lead instructor for the Building Trades program at Adams County Tech Prep, in Gettysburg, PA. And Dave believes in training young folks who are genuinely interested in the building trades. Read the full article…
I recently took a little job to build a shelter over an entry door for an historical New England house. The budget was low, but the job satisfied my new motto: “Never again will I build something I didn’t design.”
I wanted to build something that could have been part of the original house, but this house presented a little mystery. Read the full article…
As usual, back in the day things were simpler. When it came to “running trim” or “trimming out” the exterior of a house, we used wood. We installed it with tried-and-true methods handed down from previous generations, and for the most part it stayed in place and provided years of trouble-free service.
One of my customers needed to keep his new tractor and hardwood slabs dry. He had this old horse barn or stable and wanted to remodel it. Calling the dilapidated pole structure a ‘horse barn’ gives it too much credit: Read the full article…
I designed my new shop to look like an old horse barn, so it would blend in with the rural area of Southern Oregon where I now live. Being from Los Angeles, I went all the way with insulation and energy efficiency when I designed and built the shop. I even put in a radiant slab so my timid feet would stay warm in the cold, cold winters (it gets down in the low 20s here; sometimes even below 20 degrees!). So when it came to the 12-ft. wide x 9-ft. tall roll-up door, in order to get a good R-rating, I knew I had to use an insulated steel door. I found one rated at R-17, but it looked like something you’d see on a commercial building. Read the full article…
Patrick Molzahn, the program director of the Cabinet Making and Millwork Program at Madison Area Technical College (MATC) in Wisconsin, is no stranger to hard work. Hired in 1998, and taking on the lead teaching position by 2000, Molzahn recognized one of those magical moments in life few people are prepared for and fewer are offered—a moment where Patrick could effect a tremendous creative change in an education program, in the students who attend the program, and in his own life, too. Due to his passion and determination, and his interest in “lean” practices, Molzahn turned a bare-bones, one-year program into a much sought-after educational opportunity for students interested in fine woodworking, as a career and a craft. Read the full article…
When I started designing my new shop I thought of all the shops I’ve hated working in and what I wanted to avoid: poor electrical outlets, terrible lighting, inefficient heating (always having cold feet), inefficient cooling (bugs everywhere in the summer because all the doors had to be open)… Read the full article…
“As I live my life, I will view every challenge as an opportunity to: Set goals, Build character, Gain knowledge, Maintain balance, Demonstrate perseverance, Broaden my perspective, and Invest in my community. Through this process, I am being transformed into a Self sufficient, contributing member of society! When I say “Youth”, you say “Build”, YOUTH BUILD! YOUTH BUILD! YOUTH BUILD!”
-YouthBuild Pledge
Now that we’ve explored ledger attachments, let’s look at lateral load requirements, and not on handrail but on the ledger and joist diaphragm.
According to the 2009 code, decks that were supported by attachment to an exterior wall were required Read the full article…