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 pretty severe leak in the master bath shower?  You go.  When you get there are find out the house has a 28 inch crawlspace and you’re going to have to crawl about 2o feet, around drain pipes, under air ducts, squeeze into an impossibly small and contorted space, lie on mud and rocks just to get to the drain pipe?  You take a deep breath and change your shoes.

24 hours later, when you’ve made that trip into “crawl space Hell” over a dozen times to finally get the old, mangled-up drain off (A result of it being cross threaded when installed years ago and not fixed immediately) and a new one installed, you realize you didn’t do this particular job for the money.  (Oh, it didn’t hurt, but that – by itself – misses the point!)  You did it because your clients are also your friends.   (And you believe that every client should be treated exactly like you would treat a friend.)  You helped them out – on a moment’s notice – and took one major headache off of their hands… Because you could.  You knew the sub floor was wet, as were floor joists.  But you also knew they weren’t rotten – yet, and this wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  Telling them that was perhaps as important as getting the new drain installed.

Sure, they could have called a plumber.  And this job would have cost them three or four times as much.  If the plumber showed up.  If the job weren’t “sold up.”  If the guy’s buddy didn’t get a bone thrown in for extra “reconstruction” that wasn’t needed.  (And here I hate to be negative but I see it happen far too often.)  They didn’t need all that.  They needed a new drain put in.  They needed it now.

So I helped – and made a little cash.  And washed a load of laundry totally separate from anything that ever leaves the work shop downstairs!  It’s all good.  Even when it’s not.

(By the way – this ended up taking 4 hours instead of 1 & 1/2 because the old drain had to be loosened enough to get a keyhole saw into it so the cross threaded lock nut could be cut off.)

When we were talking back last year when I built some Bread boxes for them, he mentioned that he would love to have a “footlocker.”  We’ve kicked around the idea of “the box” for months since then.

Part of the problem with this is just any old wood box will not do.  These guys are really serious about their “props.”  Muskets really fire, tents really are nothing but canvas, uniforms really are wool, (they look hot, itchy, and tend to smell), and anything around camp has to look “period correct.”

Which means a box like this – during the Civil War, would be pine planks, nailed together, and would weigh a ton without a single item inside!  (Officers and non-coms didn’t worry about weight back then, they just loaded it on the supply wagons.)  But within a year or two, that “box,” schlepped around from battlefield to battlefield, would be splitting, probably rotten, and just thrown away.  Not something reenactors tend to do with their equipment.

So, the challenge was to build a box that looked old – even to the iron hardware and period correct screws – and yet not fall apart after a season or two.  My solution?  A box that looks old on the outside – yet on the inside is engineered.  It’s lighter than solid wood, stronger than solid wood, and framed from treated lumber.  (The same stuff you build your back deck out of.)  It’ll hold more gear, take more abuse, and last longer than the original would have!  (With a company available like Restorers, you can also find all the hardware to make this kind of project work.)

This isn’t a project to make money on.  Frankly, there’s too much time and labor to ever get out of it what you put into it.  But for the pleasure of actually creating something “new” that looks, and will be used as, something “old”… this was worth every minute!

See all the photos HERE.

It’s not that aluminum cladding is a bad idea – I have the exact same thing at home on my garage doors.  The problem is in this picture at the right.  Above the frame, exposed to weather, this aluminum was pieced together, a gap left unsealed, just waiting for water to infiltrate.  The water gets in behind the aluminum cladding and can’t get out.  It only takes a few years for the entire frame to be rotted like this picture on the left.  And eventually, if nothing is done, this rot will spread to the header assembly.  That’s structural – and it’s a HUGE deal.  More than a handyman who works by himself can deal with.  That’s essentially rebuilding your entire garage.  Expensive?  Take a guess.

Here’s a checklist if you are concerned about something like this:

• First, look in the center of your garage door opening to see if the aluminum is pieced (pic above).  (Use a ladder if you can’t see above the door framing well.)  Especially check the top side in the center of the span, just outside your siding to see if there is a gap open to the weather.  Even a ¼ – ½ inch gap over a few years could mean trouble.
• Another trouble sign is any discoloration, either on the aluminum cladding or streaking down the garage doors.  Dark stains and oxidation that won’t clean away are a sign of wood rot inside.
• If you suspect rotting, you can try another simple test.  Squeeze the 1 & ½” board through the aluminum.  If it feels “spongy” at all, the wood underneath is probably rotten.

The good news is, caught early, this is a cosmetic repair and won’t cost a fortune to fix properly.  I usually follow these steps:

• Remove the aluminum cladding (I don’t save it)
• Remove all rotten wood and replace with two layers of treated lumber (One I’ve already done in this neighborhood had regular (non-treated)  framing lumber installed in this location!)
• First I frame the opening with “regular” 2 inch treated framing lumber, routed on the facing edge (for a finish), then I add another layer of 5/4″ treated lumber, also routed on the facing edge for an additional seal on the garage door.
• Add aluminum drip edge above all for water resistance.
• I then caulk, paint and replace the PVC garage stop molding.  With vinyl siding I remove the “J” channel as needed, re-install afterward and seal with silicone caulk.
• A typical estimate sheet (I bill by the hour plus materials) for this type of repair is HERE.

No, this repair is technically not “maintenance free” – but I’d much rather put a coat of paint on this every few years instead of replacing the whole thing again in a decade!  (Or have this show up as the “Deal Breaker” on the inspection report that scares a buyer away from your home.)

Watch the video – It’s amazing.

I hate – literally HATE – to waste good wood.  I think it’s a sin for any wood with life left to be thrown away, burned in a fireplace, chopped up, left to rot… (You probably get the idea!)

So when an old market umbrella needed to be replaced, it didn’t get thrown into the landfill.  It was disassembled, part by part, and all the wood and canvas stored until needed.  (The canvas has long since been recycled into something for a church pageant; I just can’t remember exactly what.)  When the idea for some extra hat and jacket storage came up recently, I realized the perfect thing was sitting in the recycle bin.  A few dowel pieces, some craft store wooden balls, the drill press, some left-over furniture varnish, about $1.98 in hardware… And there they are.

Don’t throw your wood away!  You would be amazed at what kind of creations are still waiting for you in those old boards you thought were all used up!

Pressure washing and sealing outside decks certainly isn’t glamorous – but when an old deck looks almost new again… It’s satisfying to everyone!

The deck’s pictured here took approx six hours, spaced over a three-day period to make sure all wood was completely dry before clear sealer was applied.  They also hadn’t been cleaned and sealed in five years, and soaked up almost five gallons of sealer.  But the result?  You judge from the before and after pics.

The page above will list your invoice as a “donation” since Pay Pal doesn’t have a “pay now” option for services.  Simply insert the total amount on your emailed invoice and log in to process.  You will receive both a Pay Pal receipt and one from me as well.

The real fix is to know what to do and how to do it, to replace these cheap faucets with better quality ones you can buy at your local home repair center.  (When they break and you’re on the road somewhere, you just find a Lowes or Home Depot, instead of paying 3 times the price at the nearest camping center – assuming they have what you need.)

Not everyone is familiar with mating copper tubing to Pex tubing or knowing which connectors are needed to modify an installation like this – and if you’re unsure of what to do, chances are you won’t be able to do it laying on your back, contorted into a small space, working almost totally by feel.  That’s why people pay me to do what seems simple – I know both WHAT to do as well as HOW to do it.

A couple of hours and this rig is ready to hit the road again!

More photos of before and after HERE.

The really cool part is what no one else sees.  With WordPress as your Content Management system (CMS) you don’t need expensive software like THIS to keep your website fresh.  You need an Internet browser – that’s it.  Firefox, Safari, M.I.E., you’re ready.  (Maybe throw in a free FTP software if you really need it… but forget spending hundreds of dollars on software that you then have to learn how to use.

For example, look at the image above.  Notice that there are SIX window tabs open.  They are open because you’ll need them at one point or another to create any document for your website.  To be fair, the program shown here is a good one.  It’s powerful and versatile.  It also has a really steep learning curve.  (My manual has 836 pages and perhaps a hundred or so bookmarks shoved in it.)  If creating and maintaining your website is this intimidating are you really going to use it as a communication tool?  REALLY?  I didn’t think so.  (Neither would I!)

Now look at the WordPress “write post” tab above.  One click off of the DASHBOARD and you’re ready to go.  Look at the visual or click it over to HTML code – add pics, video, audio… one click each.  (And do you see the resemblance to another program almost every computer user has some experience with?)

That’s it.  An hour or two learning the Dashboard and anywhere you have an Internet connection, you have the ability to keep your website fresh, clean, inviting… useful.

Oh, there are dozens more reasons why I’m truly a “believer” when it comes to WP.  But these will get you started!

With WordPress it’s different.  There are literally THOUSANDS of themes out there waiting for you to find the right one.  Many are free – some are so reasonably priced you wonder how developers pay their electric bill!

Say you find a theme – the layout looks great; but you’re not thrilled with the color scheme?  Not a problem – I’ll help you take your own custom color scheme and adapt it to what you want.  You end up with truly a one-of-a-kind website that reflects your tastes the way you want it to.

Click the images below for a gallery of just a few themes.  As you look them over, remember they are the beginning point – much like paint chips at the home improvement store.  Look for what “can be” – not just what is there.  Once you can “see it?”  I’ll help you build it!