This article is a follow-up to “The Misused & Confused Chair Rail“, which I wrote for TiC a couple of years ago. It generated a lot of positive and negative feedback, and hopefully it challenged your ideas of how to use a chair rail. That article also led to many questions about other trim elements. One question that continues to come up concerns how to build mantels. Read the full article…
In Part 1 of this article, we reviewed the details of casing joinery and how to measure for new casing around a door frame. We also reviewed the necessary cut list, so that you can cut your casing right the first time. In Part 2, we’ll move on to the details of baseboard. Read the full article…
Four-centered arches are most often found in Victorian homes for a simple reason: Victorian architecture is a blend of neo-classical styles and Gothic designs. And there is no better example of Gothic revival architecture than a four-centered arch. Read the full article…
Two-centered and four-centered arches share something in common—a pointed peak. It’s not surprising that both are commonly found in Gothic and Gothic-inspired architecture. But a three-centered arch—sometimes called a ‘basket-handle arch’ or ‘Anse de panier’—closely resembles an ellipse, which puts it in a field of its own. Read the full article…
Recently, a builder looking for help with a few projects referred a client to me. One of the projects was a mantel with cabinets on either side. They were unsure exactly what they wanted for the mantel, but the cabinet design would be similar to the kitchen cabinets they already had in their home. Read the full article…
A while back, Dan Broadbelt wrote an article about a computer stand he built for his work van. It was simple, but seemed like an ingenious idea. One problem, though: I use an iPad. Nonetheless, the idea was planted, so I decided to try my own version. Read the full article…
How high should we install chair rail? Ask most carpenters and they’ll either say 36 in., 32 in. or they’ll measure the back of a chair and tell you to lay it out so the chair won’t scar the wall. Well, I’m sorry to say, that unless your ceilings are 16-ft. tall, 36 in. is way too high for the chair rail; and letting the back of the chair set the chair rail height is like letting the size of a rug decide the size of a room. In most cases, it just doesn’t work! Read the full article…
I apologize. I read this book more than a year ago and wanted to write a review but never made the time, and I should have. Sure, we’re all busy and short of time, but the truth is, if something is important to you, you make the time, even if it means sacrificing something else that isn’t as important—at least for a little while. And that’s often what it takes to read a good book. This is one I recommend highly to anyone interested in classical architecture and the design of traditional American homes. Read the full article…
Most of my work is at the high-end of the New England custom home market. For the jobs I do, in Boston brownstones that even today sell for several million dollars, there are no off-the-shelf parts—everything is completely custom, or an exact reproduction of work done in the 18th or 19th centuries. Read the full article…
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been whining about Bosch’s Angle Finder for years. I mean, I even whined during my presentations at JLC Live shows: “How come the ‘Hold’ button doesn’t hold anything when you press it!?”
But the folks at Bosch must have been listening because they’ve improved their Angle Finder—finally! And while they haven’t done everything I would have liked (it would be nice if they’d put a key pad right on the tool, so you could just key in the crown molding spring angle), they have taken the tool to the next level. Read the full article…
Like a lot of high-end jobs I work on, I’m sworn to secrecy about the clients. All I can say is, this job was on a pristine 7-acre waterfront property on Long Island’s Gold Coast, overlooking Connecticut and the Long Island Sound. The main house is about 7500 sq. ft. of new construction. It’s a to-die-for spot—the view was breathtaking. Even working on this job was incredible. The funny part is how I landed the work. Read the full article…
I am a cabinet maker. I own and operate a small shop. I do it all, from making the sale to installing the pulls. Crown molding is standard on all my cabinets, unless the client wants something different. So on 99% of my installs there is crown molding involved. I used to use a small 10-in. single bevel miter saw that worked just fine for most of the crown I needed to install. Occasionally, I would run into something that was too big for my saw to cut, but I was always able to find a way to “make do.” Sound familiar? Read the full article…
If I were to say: “Hi are how you? Brent I’m Hull.” You might wonder what I drank for breakfast. I mean, you’d recognize the words, they’d sound familiar, but the way I used them wouldn’t make any sense. But if I said: “Hi, how are you? I’m Brent Hull,” you’d respond without a hitch, my words would make perfect sense (depending on what you drank for breakfast!).
Well guess what? There is a language to classical design, too; a vocabulary that’s dependent on moldings for communicating purpose in a room. If you speak the language, all your finish work—your, bookcases, mantelpieces, doorways, and ceilings―will communicate fluently with your customers. Read the full article…