First pic, you spelled it wrong.... It was supposed to be 'Rosie's'




j/k, cool project an looks great

I keep telling myself...not to screw up the spelling.


I once drew commercial millwork with autocad for a cabinet shop.
One particular job was a very large school, with a huge amount of woodwork, cabinets, stairs etc. When I submitted the drawings of every detail, drawn to scale, for approval.... they were judged to be technically perfect....except for one small detail. I had misspelled the name of the project.:o

So, you will love this one, Bob.

We are cleaning up outside and the 3" round lamp post has been push over more than just a few degrees by the roses of Sharon, planted by my better half. I was elated to see the whole trunk of the bush come out in her hand today, as it had rotted at the root from too much mulch!

I tell her about this thread and that I can have the basic materials list in a jiffy. Well before I could put pencil to paper, she has a Made in the USA blown PVC unit, with the 3" galvy pipe, for $120 shipped! We will see how it looks, but cant buy material and build it for that price! (she found it on Bed Bath and beyond site cheaper than manufacturer's site (Mayne))

Apples & oranges I think Ross. My experience is you get what you pay for......a 10" square by 7' tall pvc lampost is going to cost a lot more than $120. I dont get involved in the costs of things very much these days... I build whatever I'm asked to without negotiating price and i like it that way. Spent way too many years sharpening my pencil to bid jobs I wouldn't get. Even had customers tell me my price was too high...then call me when they've been shafted by the lowballer.


Finished building and painting this sign job....no idea what it costs....and I enjoyed doing it.

Back to working at the jobsite for a couple of weeks now. Our new home sales are still going strong and we are working hard to keep up. We had a few customers back out for various reasons during the pandemic.....but other buyers stepped in right away.

Lookin good Bob

Same with tree work Bob. Quoted a job and the guy laughed at me. Said he got a price 1/2 mine. The Asshats dropped the tree on the guys garage and had NO insurance. Guys call me back and wanted me to clean up the mess. Told him I was too busy.

Paul....It was quite a few years ago, I remember working diligently on the estimate, it was for a family room and large attached garage, big enough for the guys RV... total package ...everything included. I never gave prices on square footage....always a total breakdown of every aspect/cost start to finish. When we met to look over my proposal, the guy says "wow thats the price? I'll call you when I hit the lottery"
Waste of my time for sure....was a few weeks later, one evening around 10pm I get a phone call....woman was sobbing....something about the guy they hired ripping them off, and wanting me to consider renegotiating. Told her there was nothing I could do for them.

I love my trade.... never even thought about any other line of work, but dealing with customers...I dont miss that at all.

We sub out the hardwood install.....sure they're fast ....but the morons install every piece in the carton, including many pieces with defects...cracks, splits, checking etc....so they blame the manufacturer. We could have them come back and replace all the bad ones....we just dont want it to look worse when they're done....which it will....so I do it. Tedious job ...but hey I got the AC cranking ...:o

You should be fishin, Bob

There is no job I hate more than thieving out a piece of flooring....except getting the new piece in.
But....if I had to do it, the A/C cranking would definitely makeitg easier.

I agree Chris! I get out to fish the surf a couple nights a week after work but, its been a crapshoot, as far as wind and wave height, trying to pick good days to take the boat out... ahead of time....and that my days off dont conflict with work schedules/closings on new homes. Forecast for next week shows lower winds and calm seas, so I will get out there. Company I work for takes good care of me....so I cant let them down when we're real busy.

Ha Yeah....it's a real PIA, and this flooring is white oak....pretty hard stuff...doesnt come out easily.....having patience prevents damage to adjacent flooring pieces. Guys coming in from working outside.....say brrrrrr its cold in here.:)

Just decided to redo the kitchen- I need you to consult.

Got a question? My advice is free....but not infallible.


Few months ago...I got a kitchen to install.. new house.
Looking at the plans I could see right away it was a a complicated design...big job with stacked cabinets and lots of optional bells and whistles. Usually we direct our customers to a kitchen designer we use all the time. He's not perfect but when there's a problem it is taken care of right away. But this customer wanted to save a lot of money by going to Lowes. I started noticing missing and incorrect items and plan discepencies right away ...I backed off installing and i brought this to my boss' attention and the customer was notified. Turned into a #^&#^&#^&#^&show when they tried getting help from Lowes.

I could see that whoever put this plan together had amateur level experience. Took weeks to get it all straightened out. House didnt get finished on time due to the customers decision to reject our designer to save money.

When not doing kitchen installs there are plenty of other projects.
A client renting space at the mill, wanted to find someone to assemble a project for them. No plans or instructions. Boss started to ask if it would get done that day. I interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, with a firm "No". He did send a guy over to help with all the fastening....I jokingly told him it was for a detention center.

Notice the "distressed" hardwood flooring. It is very pronounced....a little too rough for my taste......but you can probably repair any gouge or scratch with some stain and you're good. I also didnt like the location of the light switches and how they ended the backsplash there. The large crown moulding is popular but covers so much of the soffit...

Thanks. I just put a deposit on the cabinets last night. 11 weeks from them to come in. We like our design women. I need to decide on a contractor. I'm gonna do the demo myself and my buddy will do the electrical so I'm saving a good amount of $ there.

How many do you have???

A binder full.
I kid, I kid.


Nice work RMarsh, you do good work.

Thanks...I do my best, not as good as I once was.
The day I did the crown moulding in that kitchen, I struggled a little.
My eyesight is getting worse and my hands ache constantly with pain.
I wasnt 100% happy with the job I did with fitting the miters......but
the customer showed up the next day and praised the work....said "Incredible job on the crown moulding I love it...you're like a jeweler!"...never heard that one before.

Look familiar? I moved the frig to the left of the co
Attachment 67416

I don't do that many kitchens. I just finished one up that I started this summer. It was a full gut remodel. She got her cabinets from homies, Thomasville line. 30 inch tall cabinets with the two piece crown on top. The soffit part was rock hard maple painted white. That stuff is almost impossible to get a clean miter on the corners. Crown was tedious due to the fact that the house was from the 70s, truss roof, no strapping. We went over the old popcorn ceilings with another layer of 1/2 drywall. Had a bitch of a time to get the corners and miters to line up.

Been there Trevier... For the hardwoods, like maple crown stock, I have a designated 80T blade and set up a goof proof jig so I don't pooch the spring angle. Of course if the ceiling or plaster is off, well... then it's shim, cut, test fit, shim, cut, test fit, check how much stock I have on site.... And the cabinet manufacturers do not take into account for face frames that run proud of the cabinet's side panel, which is always fun to point out to a fancy kitchen designer that has sold the client on a fancy crown. ("Oh, I have never come across that before...") It's all problem solving boys.
Here's a kitchen I did not long before I had my knee replaced. Designer's plans were off by 3.25 inches on the height. She would not even show her face onsite until the counters were in....

Can someone smarter than me rotate these pics or tell me how?

when you open your pic , sometimes there is a little icon that has an arrow signifying that it rotates, do that until correct. I do it on my phone first usually.

I don't have much trouble with hard maple fascia, I actually prefer it. A Forrest Chopmaster 12" blade cuts it so smooth and chip free.
I have done thousands of feet of kitchen crown I don't even realize that others might struggle with it, I guess it comes natural for me. I take my time and do not rush it, sharp pencil marks are imperative. I also tend to sometimes use a beltsander on edge to semi-cope the inside miters or over-miter the outside to relieve the cuts so the profile points meet up clean.

I have gotten pretty good with the coping saw, and do not shy away from a table saw to remove material for the inside corners. Having a wide sharp chisel in your belt can help relieve some of the sins the plasterer/finisher has left on ceilings and walls.

The blade I used to do it was a brand new sharpened 80 tooth blade on my 12 inch slide. I had to tape the back edge when doing it so it wouldn't splinter out on me.

A Chopmaster blade has a negative rake on it so it tends to not even chip out the backside of veneer plywood. 80 teeth is decent but it depends on what grind the teeth are set, maybe a triple chip blade would be better for you or make slower cuts or invest in a Forrest, you won’t regret it.
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