This has been trending in our new homes.

Nice, nothing like a little detail to give a home style.

I always liked those but as I get older my neck and body does not like working above my head for that long.

I would need upside down bifocals to do those nowadays

Good staging makes it much easier. Had to install crown moulding in every room of this 5,000 sq. ft. house......not done on step ladders.

Very nice
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That's a ton of work... :musc:
Nice job Bob

Wow. Really nice!

:claps: :claps: :claps:

Thanks guys.....the company I work for keeps me very busy.
I've been remodeling some commercial property they own for a client who is expanding. When we don't have new houses ready to be finished....they always have work for me at "the mill".

.......second picture you can see the motorized cable for lowering the chandelier.

This is our current model home. Staged with some furniture to make it look nice.

Kudos Bob.

Is your stock clear, primed, or painted when you are doing install? It looks good to go yet I see your staging and tools in the pics? When I am done with my work, it isn't quite like that.... I do "some" caulking and filling, certainly more than most finish carpenters, but still would need the painters to make my work shine like your pics show up your work.

Thanks Ross....stock we use comes primed....fingerjointed pine...(i like poplar better for interior painted woodwork)....we have to sand the surface at the joints to get them perfectly flush. Last pic was after painting
Painters would rather we let them do the caulking.
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awesome work

more stairs and cabinets..

Houses are selling fast...got to pick up the pace to keep up.

Things never change....sales department giving customers unrealistic completion dates. I start finish work and am told the house was supposed to be done already.
Not good to rush the finish work, but office people insist on "telling customers what they want to hear" when they sign up.
Another thing that irks me is customers that walk thru and point out things that they assume I am finished with that I am not.... thinking they need to "remind" me. This happens a lot.
I was installing cabinets, a man came in said he was the grandfather of the customer, asked if he could look around and report progress to grandson. I said "sure but keep in mind that I'm not finished with anything yet" he said he understood. Few minutes later he comes back and tells me that although the bathroom cabinets are screwed together they don't appear to be fastened to the wall studs. I said "you are absolutely correct sir.... and what did I tell you five minutes ago"? DUH!
Also I have no idea what the electrician was thinking when he located recessed lights in kitchen....they line up with nothing!

That second picture...with adjustable shelving....is that melamine material or is that wood?

It's melamine.
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Done.....got in to take pics just before the moving trucks arrived

few more

Young couple ...... mid twenties....both driving new Lexus....
I'd be jealous but I can say everything I have is through my own hard work since I didn't benefit from a trust fund...."Must be nice"

Lastly the exterior. And I'm onto the next job...more cabinets.

It's melamine.
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Just curious Bob,


I've only worked with "finished" edges with any melamine projects I've done....but when you're required to cut it, how good or easy is it when applying the edge tape? I think you're supposed to iron it on or something....have you (or anyone reading this) ever tried that?

If so.....is it a pain in the - - - .....or does it go on easy and STAY on long term?

I've edgebanded melamine many times .....miles of it.....and real wood veneer onto finish grade plywood using an old clothes iron....takes a little getting used to how much time and pressure to apply...edgebanding comes with hot melt glue already applied on the back and is slightly wider than the thickness of the material it is being applied to. It cools and sticks right away...then you trim excess with a flat file. Also they make a saw blade for melamine that produces chip free cuts...wich is important
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Like he said


Gilly, it just so happens that my next step on this kitchen I am building is to edge band all the casework parts. Maybe I should setup my iphone to video it for you.
There are a couple methods of edge banding. The hot iron or heat gun method and then there is the automatic edge bander machines for production work, those use a pvc tape and have a separate glue pot to supply the glue that gets put on in process, there are cutters to trim also.

I have a tabletop iron machine that holds the roll of tape and has an adjustable thermostat because the wood tape needs more temp. than the vinyl tape does, it has cooling aluminum rollers. It is a bit faster than a handheld iron but both ways work. 95% of my edge banding is with real wood veneer tape.

The melamine with edge tape is ok but it can delaminate if you catch an edge. The PVC tape looks cleaner and hold up better. But for most stuff like closets, they don't get overly abused.

Slip is right.... there are edgebanding machines and they come in all sizes...i worked in large commercial millwork shop and it could handle a continuous flow of door slabs to be edged...self feeding....routers that trimmed both edges...... adjusting the cutters........checking glue temperatures... conveyer belt...but for my shop and many small to medium projects the iron on has got the job done. Its low teck but i have it down pat...easy job really.

Mail room dividers that I built, had 72, 3/4 plywood shelves, edgebanded with the iron-on tape..... was just a few hours work.
Customer wanted to put labels on front edge of each shelf so 3/4 thick.

Mail room dividers that I built, had 72, 3/4 plywood shelves, edgebanded with the iron-on tape..... was just a few hours work.
Customer wanted to put labels on front edge of each shelf so 3/4 thick.

Wow. I am going to build something very close to this to organize all of my glass color at my studio. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Thanks guys.

Googan question....

Why are you using plywood and not MDF or even poplar or pine?
Is it cost driven?

Bruce, even a short video of you applying the edging would be great, it sounds pretty straight forward, but I may see you doing something that raises a question...but don't embarrass yourself in front of the other subs, :heybaby:....I wouldn't want them knowing you were weird.

poplar and pine can warp way worse than plywood might.
Some clients can afford a no particle board option so veneer core plywood is good. I use it on almost everything as I build a lot of cases.
That's OK Gilly, they already know I'm weird.
Just use an Iron and chase it with a block of wood, you'll be fine.

:kewl:

Edgebanding video......I dont use the special edge trimmer tool he uses in the video ....I use the edge teeth of a flat file.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5a40hj

Good staging makes it much easier. Had to install crown moulding in every room of this 5,000 sq. ft. house......not done on step ladders.

I did 5" crown molding in 2 rooms with cathedral ceilings. Never again. Cutting the joints took lots of trial and error and PATIENCE.

I did 5" crown molding in 2 rooms with cathedral ceilings. Never again. Cutting the joints took lots of trial and error and PATIENCE.

Putty and paint....makes it what it ain’t. 😂
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....makes a carpenter what he ain’t. 😂


Big difference in paint grade jobs versus stained or prefinished.
For the latter you need more skill and patience....using putty in poorly fitting joints looks like crap.

....makes a carpenter what he ain’t. 😂


Big difference in paint grade jobs versus stained or prefinished.
For the latter you need more skill and patience....using putty in poorly fitting joints looks like crap.

I have a ton more welding experience over carpentry experience, so my old saying was always- a grinder and paint makes you the welder you aint! but yes i can see how a stained job would make a big difference.

We just did crown molding around our gallery and i was quite humbled by it. i tried a few different approaches and for me, I found that the best method was to use my makita grinder that i usually use on metal paired with a 40 grit sand paper disc was the best tool for corners... but one end and then cope the other side with the grinder.

I grind and polish glass occasionally... that is a zen art that i could write a book about....

A couple thoughts on crown molding, which I have done a lot of;

Check ceiling lines first for level. If level, easy peasy. But if you put your eyes up at ceiling level you will find sighting 4 out of 5 will make you seasick... If delta is less than .5 inch, caulk between top of crown and ceiling.

Be sure you have a tall enough fence on your miter saw and mark or tape the base for the spring angle so your joints will be consistent.

Make up 4 set up pieces and mark them inside left, inside right, outside left, outside right. These will help you to minimize mistakes when setting up your cuts, especially on inside pieces that are to be coped. I still do this every time.

Makes a pencil line on the profile after cutting. It will make coping much easier as you can see the line better. Take your time with coping saw. It is not a race. And it does not matter how nice the backside of the cope looks. I usually have a tablesaw handy to knock down anything I think might help the final fit.

Nebe, I will butt end both ends of wall opposite entry to room as first piece to install. Then cope left and right, looking for where outside miter joint or long wall requires mid joint to prevent doing a double ended coped piece

A couple thoughts on crown molding, which I have done a lot of;

Check ceiling lines first for level. If level, easy peasy. But if you put your eyes up at ceiling level you will find sighting 4 out of 5 will make you seasick... If delta is less than .5 inch, caulk between top of crown and ceiling.

Be sure you have a tall enough fence on your miter saw and mark or tape the base for the spring angle so your joints will be consistent.

Make up 4 set up pieces and mark them inside left, inside right, outside left, outside right. These will help you to minimize mistakes when setting up your cuts, especially on inside pieces that are to be coped. I still do this every time.

Makes a pencil line on the profile after cutting. It will make coping much easier as you can see the line better. Take your time with coping saw. It is not a race. And it does not matter how nice the backside of the cope looks. I usually have a tablesaw handy to knock down anything I think might help the final fit.

Great tips ! I wish I talked to you last week.
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Great tips Ross.

How about putting blocks in the corners and make straight cuts!
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How about putting blocks in the corners and make straight cuts!
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Stick to fishing

It’s easy nowadays compared to a hand miter box, lion trimmer and hammer
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It’s easy nowadays compared to a hand miter box, lion trimmer and hammer
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I still have a lion trimmer.....

Or a spiral ratchet screwdriver......still use it in the shop once in a while....for nostalgia.

In the 90's I was working as a foreman installing architectural millwork, in banks, libraries, country clubs, airports etc. Most of my crew were usually unskilled guys who could not cope prefinished 5" cherry crown moulding to save their lives. When we landed a job finishing out a five story hotel with crown moulding throughout, I suggested that we buy a machine called a Copemaster.
It will cope any moulding profile in a few seconds. With it we "precoped" left and right ends of crown moulding stock in the shop, making it easier for the installers on the job.


https://youtu.be/LWqF5r6RhyM

Or a spiral ratchet screwdriver......still use it in the shop once in a while....for nostalgia.

In the 90's I was working as a foreman installing architectural millwork, in banks, libraries, country clubs, airports etc. Most of my crew were usually unskilled guys who could not cope prefinished 5" cherry crown moulding to save their lives. When we landed a job finishing out a five story hotel with crown moulding throughout, I suggested that we buy a machine called a Copemaster.
It will cope any moulding profile in a few seconds. With it we "precoped" left and right ends of crown moulding stock in the shop, making it easier for the installers on the job.


https://youtu.be/LWqF5r6RhyM
That is an interesting machine, some setup time but it should make money.

That is an interesting machine, some setup time but it should make money.

Yes....if I remember correctly it cost around $500, my company saved more than that on that one job alone. These days I'm back doing residential...still do a lot of crown moulding...but no need for copemaster.
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Yes....if I remember correctly it cost around $500, my company saved more than that on that one job alone. These days I'm back doing residential...still do a lot of crown moulding...but no need for copemaster.
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Now it's $2495 but skill levels have not gone up

Now it's $2495 but skill levels have not gone up


When I started in the home building trade, the entire house was built without any nail guns....framing, siding, roofing, trim....all nailed by hand. Todays carpenters use a nail gun like it's an automatic weapon....way too many nails and in all the wrong places.
Also I've noticed that almost none of them have a block plane,sharpening stone, or handsaw:scratch:

When I started in the home building trade, the entire house was built without any nail guns....framing, siding, roofing, trim....all nailed by hand. Todays carpenters use a nail gun like it's an automatic weapon....way too many nails and in all the wrong places.
Also I've noticed that almost none of them have a block plane,sharpening stone, or handsaw:scratch:
And sawzalls were for Plumbers
I had a box with 4 handsaws
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Things ain’t like they yusta wuz.....

Laid flown my floor trim yesterday. I guess that is when you discover how uneven your subfloor is... 😆
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When I started in the home building trade, the entire house was built without any nail guns....framing, siding, roofing, trim....all nailed by hand. Todays carpenters use a nail gun like it's an automatic weapon....way too many nails and in all the wrong places.
Also I've noticed that almost none of them have a block plane,sharpening stone, or handsaw:scratch:

Me too.... my shoulder still hurts from nailing off the ceiling strapping... :jump:

Me too.... my shoulder still hurts from nailing off the ceiling strapping... :jump:




Yeah Gup...that underhanded nailing was a tough job for me as a scrawney 18 yr. old....but I did learn to hammer left handed once my right arm went numb.:rolleyes:.....and driving 16d nails in all day long... with a 22 oz hammer...after the first six months my blisters turned to calluses.

Finished up on two more....The furniture style legs on the island can go either way vertically...customers choice.

So clean. Does the home owner hire you or are you hired by a designer to execute their concept?
I make pendant lighting for kitchens if you ever have a client that wants something very unique.
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So clean. Does the home owner hire you or are you hired by a designer to execute their concept?
I make pendant lighting for kitchens if you ever have a client that wants something very unique.
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I work directly for the developer/ home builder....they refer customers to kitchen design/cabinet provider...then I install with very limited contact with customer....which is just how I like it to be honest...for me.... after 45 years of doing this.... customers are usually a PIA.

Haha! I bet they are a pain in the ass.
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I work directly for the developer/ home builder....they refer customers to kitchen design/cabinet provider...then I install with very limited contact with customer....which is just how I like it to be honest...for me.... after 45 years of doing this.... customers are usually a PIA.
This is the problem I have with pro builders is when you don't get to hover over their shoulder. You see something you think isn't being done right, it's easy to google an expert YouTube video on how to do it on your iPad so you can just show them the right way. They're never very happy about it.

:hidin:

A customer recently told me he had spent 80 grand on his cabinets and appliances and told me my installation had to be perfect. I do good work but not perfect and i told him so. All I can do is my best.
I also told him it wasnt too late to get someone else.
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A customer recently told me he had spent 80 grand on his cabinets and appliances and told me my installation had to be perfect. I do good work but not perfect and i told him so. All I can do is my best.
I also told him it wasnt too late to get someone else.
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Good for you
As an old carpenter I knew said: We ain't building a piano, ya know

This is the problem I have with pro builders is when you don't get to hover over their shoulder. You see something you think isn't being done right, it's easy to google an expert YouTube video on how to do it on your iPad so you can just show them the right way. They're never very happy about it.

:hidin:


I am not an entertainer or performer.....so I don't allow anyone to watch me work. The last time a customer took issue with my methods, I said nothing.. packed up my tools....never went back:wavey:

Here is a handy calculator app for finding angles...I use it a lot when doing stair work. I set it to side / angle / side and put in the rise and run of my stairway. It gives me both the level and verticle angles of all the cuts... I can set my saw to the given angles with confidence.
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-plane/triangle-theorems.php

I think they tried to teach me all that in high school :deadhorse:

I think they tried to teach me all that in high school :deadhorse:


Catholic grammar school had us doing square root, long-hand in fifth grade....not that I remember how...:shocked:
A pitch block is an old school method of getting the angles and has other important uses.... including getting newel post the correct height for any given location.

Bob, you use the sure-tite hardware?

I'm using the ones in this video....when the situation allows. Some of my posts are teneoned down through into the floor framing.
https://youtu.be/uNMy2FdlW-M
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These new houses all have a lot of prefinished hardwood flooring.
No more sand in place for now. Upside for me is we have to hookup and run the AC to keep the humidity low...also dehumidifiers in basement ......otherwise the flooring may absorb too much moisture and start cupping.

#^&#^&#^&#^&stains framing a house across the street wearing hooded sweatshirts..... with temps in the low 90's.:huh:
Co-worker of mine couldn't find his four foot level he was just using after looking everywhere he had been....I said "check with the framers they "borrow stuff" without asking".....Bingo.

Developer I'm working for is going all-out to build as many homes as possible in this booming economy. Demand is incredible for these smaller homes on ridiculously small lots, all pre-sold before construction begins. Current subdivision of 54 lots all sold and finished. Already breaking ground on another large tract of land, with no slowdown in sight. Sales people have told me that their job is easy, largely due to quality of interior finish materials and workmanship in comparison to other builders. Also our homes are Energy Star certified, which means they meet standards beyond the current building codes for energy efficiency.

Catholic grammar school had us doing square root, long-hand in fifth grade....not that I remember how...:shocked:

When my ex hired some guys she had worked with before to build us a nice deck years ago I had to calculate the baluster spacing for them and they still managed to forget to subtract for the top riser so that tread was 3/4 off. And I've never built a set of stairs in my life.

I went to a small Catholic school where we were drilled relentlessly ...while the nun teacher walked the ailes ...slamming a ruler on the desks of students slow to respond.
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Bob, you and I now have the luxury of working with top grade materials and doing the job right the first time. Many clients are looking for the cheap route, which ends up costing more in the end. You are in the build end. I am in the remodeling end, so I get to see a lot of crappy work... and crappy or sometimes incorrect materials they used. (Many of these homes are hundreds of years old. It is the more recent work that is crappy.) Fortunately I am now at a point where I can choose my jobs for the most part and definitely choose who I want to work for, or not. I will not do band aids. Period. Do it right, or call someone else.
I used to charge the same across the board, but when I do get into a situation now, I will tack a difficulty tax into the estimate.... Life is short from this vantage point and there are way too many hacks putting their names on trucks and getting work that they have no business doing....

Bob, you and I now have the luxury of working with top grade materials and doing the job right the first time. Many clients are looking for the cheap route, which ends up costing more in the end. You are in the build end. I am in the remodeling end, so I get to see a lot of crappy work... and crappy or sometimes incorrect materials they used. (Many of these homes are hundreds of years old. It is the more recent work that is crappy.)
News reports seem to suggest people don't event want to get into construction jobs these days...I wonder of the finer aspects of the trade will just die off or become so expensive only the wealthy can afford them. It might already be this way now.

My master stairs are almost 160 years old and aside from a few tweaks needed looks as good as new. Neighbor's was made by the same guy a few years earlier and looks even better.

Spence...both of my sons... who are grown men with good jobs, never showed any interest in going into the carpentry or building trades. I remember someone asking my youngest if he wanted to be a carpenter like his dad. His response was "no"and when asked why not? he said "My dad always comes home from work dirty and tired and his back hurts"

Bob, you and I now have the luxury of working with top grade materials and doing the job right the first time. Many clients are looking for the cheap route, which ends up costing more in the end. You are in the build end. I am in the remodeling end, so I get to see a lot of crappy work... and crappy or sometimes incorrect materials they used. (Many of these homes are hundreds of years old. It is the more recent work that is crappy.) Fortunately I am now at a point where I can choose my jobs for the most part and definitely choose who I want to work for, or not. I will not do band aids. Period. Do it right, or call someone else.
I used to charge the same across the board, but when I do get into a situation now, I will tack a difficulty tax into the estimate.... Life is short from this vantage point and there are way too many hacks putting their names on trucks and getting work that they have no business doing....


Yeah Ross...our industry has no qualifying standards.....nowadays anybody who straps on a tool belt calls themselves a carpenter.
I think you are right to tack on a difficulty tax........some customers you can tell going in that they will be difficult....I use to add money to cover something I call the ashhole quotient.

Yeah Ross...our industry has no qualifying standards.....nowadays anybody who straps on a tool belt calls themselves a carpenter.

Kind of like canal fishing :laugha:

Three sons got a hammer in their hands around age 14, it stuck on one...
Best thing I coulda done...
all four of us on the same frame a couple times, I was on cloud nine...

Three sons got a hammer in their hands around age 14, it stuck on one...
Best thing I coulda done...
all four of us on the same frame a couple times, I was on cloud nine...


That's great Ray!

Both of my boys chose a profession that will take good care of them and their families. Youngest is a bar manager at a private country club....some weeks makes as much or more than a master carpenter. The other is a land surveyor and cad operator for an established engineering company with opportunity to advance

The construction trade I went into as an 18 year old 45 years ago has changed dramatically. Over time it has become the bastion of illegal immigrants......wages are suppressed......their shoddy work has become acceptable.......they pay no taxes, workmans comp, unemployment insurance, health ins....sick days holidays...etc.

Many days I dont hear or see another english speaking worker

A once proud profession has been ruined...sadly I wont be missing it when I retire in a few years. Glad that my boys dont have to compete on this out of level playing field.

Got to know one of the coyotes who smuggles these workers up here. When they hit the ground here they owe the man $3,000...which means they work for nothing until it's paid off. Then he can fire them or keep them on at less than minimum wage.....and if they get hurt...they are on their own and disappear.

That's great Ray!



Got to know one of the coyotes who smuggles these workers up here. When they hit the ground here they owe the man $3,000...which means they work for nothing until it's paid off. Then he can fire them or keep them on at less than minimum wage.....and if they get hurt...they are on their own and disappear.

there's a special place in hell for that guy:af::splat:


I have to meet you someday soon, maybe we can go fishing

there's a special place in hell for that guy:af::splat:


I have to meet you someday soon, maybe we can go fishing


Slip....c'mon down..... maybe after work sometime.... I'm always happy to show off my homemade boat...hang out in the man cave.. have a cold one...tell some fishing tales...etc.

At age 17, before my high school graduation ceremony, I got a job with a construction company run by two hard-XXX red neck brothers. The crew would meet up at 5 am and make the drive to cape cod where we framed condominiums.

Every Friday, the boss would point to a load of lumber and tell me to load it on the truck. Didn't think nothing about it and did as I was told. Now these two guys were always talking about a camp they had up in Maine, and all the hell raising and drinking that went on up there. Eventually they invited me to go up with them for some R&R. When we arrived there I commented about the fine looking cottage they had built. Thats when I realized it had been built with all the lumber they were stealing.......and I was loading on the truck!

Slip....c'mon down..... maybe after work sometime.... I'm always happy to show off my homemade boat...hang out in the man cave.. have a cold one...tell some fishing tales...etc.

Sure thing, not sure when as I have not had much free time lately at all
Would love to see the boat

For accuracy and good fitting crown moulding joints, I make a block of wood that represents the wall and ceiling coverage...then mark the wall, ceiling and miter saw so that the moulding is cut and then nailed at the same angle. Without these marks you are just guessing. In this case I'm installing crown moulding on a fireplace mantle that I am building.

Great illustration of how to make repetitive cuts of the correct spring angle. Many DIYers assume the spring angle is 45 degrees. It is not, normally.
I also make idiot blocks of miter cuts and mark them for left inside, right inside, left outside and right outside. This helps me avoid errors in setting up the saw and cutting the wrong end of the stock, which can be costly. Also helps avoiding cutting upside down.

It is worth noting that I back cut the inside joints whenever possible.

I have been a craftsman for 30 years, mostly working with glass, but also in metal, wood and occasionally composites and I have to say... crown molding Was the most frustrating project I have ever worked on. That’s where I learned the saying “putty and paint makes it what it ain’t”.
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Nebe....i love doing crown moulding....its one of my favorite jobs and ive installed miles of it...mostly by myself ...very simple really and if you try the technique i showed, i think you would see much better results. As far as installing it in large rooms solo....i have found methods that make it a cinch.
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Simple mantel for gas fireplace will all be painted white. I like working with poplar....tile guys will do 6" border.

Simple mantel for gas fireplace will all be painted white. I like working with poplar....tile guys will do 6" border.
Do you lap those or just stick them in?

I do similar with crown around a room. First I make up short lengths of a examples of inside corner and an outside corner if there are any. I use those to pencil mark the ceiling and walls. Then when nailing a piece going into a corner just hold back with the last couple nails so the cope piece fits perfect, then get the last 2 nails nailed. Of course sometimes you have to cram a putty knife in the joint for a while til glues sets up. There are so many tricks I can't even describe them all as I am sure it just comes second nature to you too Bob.

Nice looking mantle!

I do similar with crown around a room. First I make up short lengths of a examples of inside corner and an outside corner if there are any. I use those to pencil mark the ceiling and walls. Then when nailing a piece going into a corner just hold back with the last couple nails so the cope piece fits perfect, then get the last 2 nails nailed. Of course sometimes you have to cram a putty knife in the joint for a while til glues sets up. There are so many tricks I can't even describe them all as I am sure it just comes second nature to you too Bob.

Nice looking mantle!


Bruce...excellent tip in there about leaving out the last few nails of the first piece so that the coped end can control and improve the fit of the joint. I do that .....there are ways of doing things that we are sometimes taught by others....and other times it is born out of trial and error.:smash:

Great illustration of how to make repetitive cuts of the correct spring angle. Many DIYers assume the spring angle is 45 degrees. It is not, normally.
I also make idiot blocks of miter cuts and mark them for left inside, right inside, left outside and right outside. This helps me avoid errors in setting up the saw and cutting the wrong end of the stock, which can be costly. Also helps avoiding cutting upside down.

It is worth noting that I back cut the inside joints whenever possible.


That's right Ross very rare for spring angle to be 45. I am fluent with Autocad and at the millwork shop I worked for I drew custom moulding profiles. Once the drawing was perfect it was downloaded to a cnc machine to cut a pattern, from there the hardboard template was used to cut the profile on the steel knives used in the moulding cutter head.
We could...in an eight hour shift go from drawing board to producing hundreds of feet of custom crown moulding in any wood species required.
The moulding cutter head has three steel knives, after grinding the knives to the correct profile with a special machine using the template...they must be weighed on a digital scale, and tweaked until they all weigh exactly the same, before being installed into the cutterhead.

We had a job doing the finish work on the renovation of a very old historic building. I was sent to inspect the existing trim we would have to match. I was amazed because there were moulding profiles i had never seen before...really odd shapes. I cut small samples off the existing trim, went back to my cad program and kept drawing and printing until I got a perfect match. Those knife profiles were a one off and never used again.

Boss says he wants a PVC lantern post for every house in the 54 lot subdivision. We are only just starting so I'll do six at a time. In that second picture it looks like porch roof columns for my shop, they just happen to be the same height by coincidence. Walpole woodworking sells something similar for around $1,200.

Nice Posts! Is there a pressure treated 4x4 in the middle?



Here is a shot of a set of stairs I did this summer in maple. It was a lot of work going from carpeted stairs that were closed in, the left wall was opened up and an LVL put in.

And here is a set of stairs I helped out with. My friend made almost all the pieces shown including the wall panels. Very complex foyer and a ton of money, but it looks killer.

Nice Posts! Is there a pressure treated 4x4 in the middle?



Here is a shot of a set of stairs I did this summer in maple. It was a lot of work going from carpeted stairs that were closed in, the left wall was opened up and an LVL put in.


Beautiful work Bruce! Looks like you made the newel posts yourself?
I like the metal balusters too.....those pitch shoes did get slid up against the railing and tightened with a set screw...I assume:o

Yeah the lantern posts are hollow...they will slide down and over a pressure treated post that is dug into the ground and set in concrete.... with room for a wire.

Thanks, no those maple newels and the one narrow one upstairs(not in the shot) were bought by the homeowner, I don't like the radius on the raised panel look to them, done with router obviously and looks good to them but cheap to me. and yes those shoes will be brought up, he was still polyurethaning.

v-fold method for long miter joints with pvc

v-fold method for long miter joints with pvc

Use to do that with step flashing on opposite side for corner boards,, the more you push the tighter the joint....
I almost miss working.... ;-)

Use to do that with step flashing on opposite side for corner boards,, the more you push the tighter the joint....
I almost miss working.... ;-)


I am looking forward to retiring in three years.......I will miss working...because that is all I have done for the last forty five years.

Also hoping that the pain in my shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands and fingers won't force me into retiring sooner. I could find other work that doesn't involve using my hands but I wont be happy about it.