More recycled furniture

    Here are some more pieces Ive put together out of recycled building materials for our house.

Recycled furniture

  I live in a very old house and in my spare time I like to make furniture that I feel fits with the house's character and looks good.  I try to reuse any materials from past jobs that would otherwise end up in the landfill.  Sometimes its old doors, flooring, worn siding, barn boards,etc.  Here's a day bed/couch  that I'm working on for the living room which used a bunch of old doors.  It still needs some finishing details.

Finished Porch Railings

    Here are the finished railings ready for install.  The side view photo shows the slight angled pitch I put on the top rail. This allows the rain and snow to drain off  which will add to the railings longevity.
   

Painting Endgrains

Most rot damage on trim is cause by moisture being sucked up into  any unpainted exposed endgrain.  I always keep paint handy to seal the endgrains up good before I install any trim.  These are usually in places a painter cant get to after installation.  In this I case I painted the top and bottom endgrains of my ballisters before assembling my railings.  Even though they wont be exposed to the weather, the added coat of paint will be one extra step against future rot damage.

Portable Planer

  Some of my older house projects require the use of a portable planer to mill the wood to dimensions that are not in stock at the lumber yard.  In this case the customer wanted the original dimensions retained for her porches cedar railings.   The old porches original ballisters were 1 5/16 x 1 5/16 and the rail supports were 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 and 1 3/4 x 2 3/4 which are not in stock.

       So I took a massive 6x6 and made the  various rail supports, first ripping them on a tablesaw to rough size and then planing them to exact dimensions.  I also did the same to some 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 cedar stock to get the 1 5/16 ballister size.  This planer performs great and gets the job done quickly.

Carport Transformation

You wouldn't know it by looking at it but this was an old carport we transformed into a simple usable heated space for a 98 year-old customer and her many plants. This project was completed in just under 2 weeks at a relatively low cost.

Chester Porch part 2

     Here I replaced the bottom rotted beams with PT and Simpson galvanized metal post standoffs.  This keeps the wood off the ground where it is prone to suck up the moisture and rot.   The top porch posts were  sitting on the porch floor which would eventually lead to moisture or termite damage.  I also installed standoffs here. 

    I gave all end grains a coat of paint and put a piece of aluminum flashing in between the standoff and post.  This will protect the posts from rot and keep any future bugs from trying to tunnel up any of the posts. The 5 1/2 inch finish base trims will then hide the standoffs.

Basement Doors

Here's a pair of cedar basement doors I did for a customer.  We opted for these instead of the standard steel Bilco doors because they are more similar to the house's design features.   Primed and ready for finish paint.

Dormer Restoration

These dormers required all new trim,shingles,weatherproofing, and various flashing details. I wrapped the dormers first in ice and water shield for extra protection from leakage. The trim is 5/4 PFJ cedar screwed and glued at all joints with all hidden end grain cuts receiving a coat of paint . Trim and shingles are kept 3/4 inch off the roof line to prevent moisture damage.The trim is now ready for a coat of finish paint

Chester Farmhouse Porch Restoratiion

This classic farmhouse porch required a lot of work. I was able to save the fir floor but all the front beams and lower posts were replaced with 4x6 pt. New railings and trim skirts were constructed out of cedar. A few of the upper posts also required replacement

Narragansett Renovation

Here are some pics of my most recent job. This cottage is located in Bonnet Shores in Narragansett RI. We have done a total gut and redo- adding a large deck,screen porch,new kitchen,etc..

One of my favorite projects

Here are some pics of one of my favorite projects to date.  This Dr. Marks neoclassical designed new house in chester.   I worked on this house for almost 5 years with general contractor Paul Knudsen.  I did the columns,trim,decks,barn restoration and much more.