Really a Rev! Really Handy!
The Handy Rev
Really a Rev! Really Handy!
Civil War Footlocker
A friend is a Civil War reenactor. That means he spends his weekends putting on his Sargent’s uniform and going out to march, shoot, camp, and generally be miserable with his unit! You should check them out HERE. (If perhaps you don’t think these guys like being miserable, think about wearing all that wool for [...]
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Garage Door Surround
Recently I’ve spoken to several folks in a nearby neighborhood, all with a similar problem. Their garage doors were framed and then cladded with aluminum fascia material. It looks nice, doesn’t need to be painted, and is usually called “maintenance free.” The problem is, some 10 years later, many of these are completely rotten. (From [...]
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Handy and Green
What do these pictures have in common? The hat racks on the left began life as the redwood stays in a market umbrella just like this one on the right. I hate – literally HATE – to waste good wood. I think it’s a sin for any wood with life left to be thrown away, [...]
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Antique Chairs
A set of six antique chairs; 75 – 100 years old; three generations in the family… in poor shape from a previous repair. A non-flexible, epoxy-type glue used some years ago wouldn’t allow the flex and give that these old, poplar chairs need. The old glue had broken and in some places, actually cracked the [...]
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Making it Work
The problem: A storage room off a carport with doors to the back yard. Sometime in the past a couple of interior luan doors had been cut down to fit the odd size opening. Not surprising that some years later, those doors are rotten and the whole assembly is, to put it bluntly, a mess. [...]
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How to save over $2,000
The problem: Windows that aren’t plumb, won’t lock properly, and have substantial air drafts. Which is a big issue in a house for sale that every potential buyer sees in the breakfast area. The bid from a contractor? Over $3,000 for new windows. The fix: I milled additional molding in my shop to inset in [...]
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For Friends… And a Little Bit of Cash
But not enough (cash, that is)… There’s not enough profit in a job like this to ever make it worthwhile solely based on monetary terms! Back up a bit: It’s the chicken or the egg to call them clients or friends. Both apply. So when the call comes in that a rental house has a [...]
Not Glamorous But Necessary
Wood decks are everywhere in our area. And that means that they need to be cleaned and sealed every so often. And the truth is most of us don’t do this chore often enough. So when it comes time to call me, it’s usually a bigger job than folks have the time or energy to [...]
Common Sense in the Repair Business?
The problem: A water heater that keeps “tripping” the reset breaker on its upper thermostat. The breaker at the house panel is fine, but the heater intermittently turns off. Adding to the problem is the fact that this water heater is behind a panel in the master bedroom walk-in closet. Calling a plumber with a [...]
What I Mean
A friend confesses; she’s not very “handy.” The new can opener arrived in the mail, she opened the box, read the directions, scratched her head and read the directions again. Then she gave me a call. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. I understand drills, screws, spacers, cabinet clearances and she doesn’t. The stuff [...]
