“How did you start the Roadshow?” I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked that question. There are two answers—a long one and a short one. The short one is: hard work, luck, and opportunity. The long answer… Read the full article…
“How did you start the Roadshow?” I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked that question. There are two answers—a long one and a short one. The short one is: hard work, luck, and opportunity. The long answer… Read the full article…
This article might not appeal to all TiC readers, but that’s not the point of THISisCarpentry. Our goal isn’t to reach everyone. Our mission is to provide quality educational material for carpenters, even if it’s only a few of them. Still, I expect that even if you never have to install doors to meet HVHZ code, you’ll learn a few interesting things from this demonstration, things that will probably apply to normal door installation, too. Read the full article…
In two previous articles, I described techniques for installing a single door and a sidelight-door-sidelight unit. In this video, I use the same techniques to install a pair of doors, because a pre-hung is a pre-hung is a pre-hung. Read the full article…
Back in the mid-1980s, my brother and I were growing tired of installing 1 1/2-in. clamshell casing, and 2 1/2-in. streamline baseboard. As finish contractors, that’s all we did on every job, day after day (after we had installed the doors and windows). By then we’d nailed off miles of small trim in thousands of apartments and hundreds of single-family homes. The market was starting to soften up about that time, and one of the contractors we worked for needed an edge against other spec builders in the same subdivision. We suggested upgrading the moldings in one of his homes. Not the whole house, mind you, only the first floor. We told him we’d do it for our cost, just to prove a point. Read the full article…
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…
DEAR GLENN: I’ve read many of your articles in JLC and I’ve watched videos on your website, too. You seem to be the go-to guy when it comes to deck construction. Maybe you can help me with my headache! I apologize if my rant is long (see below), but I’m hoping it’ll straighten out the issues for other builders, too. — Scott Wells – Scott Wells Construction Co., Medford, OR Read the full article…
I wanted to build my shop so that it’d be really comfortable to work in. What’s more, I wanted to be sure to build it responsibly. I mean, who knows who will work in my shop when I’m gone? Read the full article…
While this article won’t teach you everything about crown molding, it will get you started on the right foot!
Read the full article…
For the 2014 IBS show, Plastpro asked me to produce a special presentation on installing an SDS unit. They shipped me all the materials so I could practice the presentation and shoot a video before the event. I was kind of surprised when the freight delivery arrived and the package was so small—the entire unit came knocked down, which reminded me of the olden days. Read the full article…
For the last six or seven years, I’ve included some type of architectural trim presentation during my Finish Carpentry Clinics at Katz Roadshow events. For most of that time, I’ve built a fancy pediment with raking molding joined by a transition piece—a Greek Revival design common throughout the country. You can read more about that pediment in “Greek Revival and Italianate Trim.” Read the full article…
Lately I’ve been surprised at how much I don’t know about stuff I thought I knew a lot about. And I mean some pretty simple stupid stuff—at least, I thought it was simple. That’s one reason you’ll be seeing some new “Tool Tips” articles on TiC, and they’ll be in our Tips department. This is the first article in the series. Read the full article…
We’ve been asked many times by attendees how to build the pencil dispenser we use at our Katz Roadshow events. It is a handy and cool thing to have in a shop. Just ask Jed Dixon—he has the very first one I made…at least, the first one that worked. Read the full article…
Co-written by Mike Sloggatt
Around 2,500 years ago, a Greek philosopher we all met in high school named Pythagoras discovered a theorem that can make life easy for carpenters and contractors—if we just knew how to use it, and how to find right angles!
Most of us remember our ABC’s from high school, and we remember the Pythagorean Theorem, too, which applies to any 90-degree triangle. Read the full article…
I’ve been hanging doors for over thirty-five years, and writing about it for nearly twenty-five. For many years, I approached door installs differently every time (like most carpenters). After all, there are so many steps, and there is a lot you need to watch for! It’s tough to do it the same way every time. But a door is a door is a door. Which means unless you’re doing exactly the same thing every time you install one, you’re wasting valuable energy and time. Read the full article…