How Old Was It?

Usually when you end up rebuilding a deck the project started with only decking boards. I can tell you that they purchased the property 35 years ago and the deck was looking good then. Thirty five years later it’s looking not so good and worse than that, there seems to be a couple of joists missing. And they feared the worst.

Rebuilding a Deck

So our plan was to remove all the decking and see what the frame looks like and what needed upgrading. All the posts were in the ground with concrete balls surrounding them. Rather than digging out the cement ball, we’re planning to dig down so it’s visible and cut the post flush with the top. In the pictures you can see the new post bases are sitting on the ground. This saved us a whole lot of time and money.

The weather was prefecting for working on the deck, sunny, dry and warm. If we’re digging holes in the ground for posts we’d want the ground wet, but for what we did dry weather was great.

Issues With the Framing

With the decking removed we could see what’s going on. There were 2 joists that had fallen down and the one on the back left fell because it had no hanger. If you look carefully, you can see that none of the joist on left side have hangers. They were fortunate that none of the others had fallen, and they all will need hangers going forward.

But the worst problem was with the double beam in the center of the deck. So, the double beam cut the deck in half by , with half the joist attached on one side and the other half on the other side. Baring the weight of the whole deck, the beam was badly bowed in the center. So, I replace the double beam, which means all the joists had to be detached and the hangers removed.

Because we’d gotten so far into removing the joists I decided to flip all the joists over when I discovered one that was rotted on top and couldn’t hold a screw. The same for the right side but because they had hangers it was easy to remove them and flip them over.

The second joist that had fallen was the front right, as seen in the photo. It likewise didn’t have a hanger but this time because it attached to the angled step frame board, and none could be used. I was able to put a support board under the joist, on the step frame. It won’t fall again now.

Finally New Wood Decking

We worked the plan and installed all the new wood deck boards and rails. Now they only need to stain it every three years to keep it looking fresh.

If you need to refurbishing your deck, give me a call.

This customer was thinking they wanted to improve their large screened in porch. They were talking about maybe improving the openings with new moldings, and replacing the screens. So I asked if they had considered reframing for double-hung windows instead of screens to make a full side porch enclosure.

Side Porch Enclosure

They liked the idea so much there was no looking back. She wanted know what it was going to look like on the outside. I said we would use the same cedar siding as on the house to tie it all in together for a unified look.

Once she was happy with the curb appeal, their minds were made up. Rather than the porch having floor-to-ceiling screens, a knee-wall was already in place, so it would be pretty easy to frame out the desired window sizes. For uniformity, we stayed with the exact same window height used on the front of the house. Again, without this the detail the result wouldn’t look right.

No-Rot Outside Trim Boards

We trimmed the windows outside with weatherproof PVC boards, which don’t need to be painted, if you like white. We also used the same size trim board between the new windows and the roof, so, again, there would be uniformity with the main house.

Getting the Details Right

We replaced the half-round window as it was in bad shape, and used aluminum siding on all the window sills. As you can see, we painted everything the same color as the main house. And the windows we used were special ordered the same color as the main house windows.

We trimmed the windows on the inside with wood moldings and used wood wainscoting below and above the new windows. The ceiling was left undisturbed; it was the original ceiling.

Weather-Sealed Entry Door

We special ordered a wooden entry slab-door to fit the existing opening, the way it had been originally framed (shown above). Then we added weather molding around the door and a steel and rubber threshold beneath, perfectly weather sealed.

She also request a storm door, which we added.

She hired us because she wanted the details done right, and she was not disappointed. If you’re interested in getting something like this done, be sure to check out my carpentry page and give us a call.

You may be asking yourself, should I replace or repair my shed, and what is the cost of repairs? After all, a new shed may look better and you can get an 8 x 12 shed for $2000, plus tax.

But there are other costs to consider. You’ll want to know what the delivery charge will be on a new one, if any. Then there’s the demolition of the old shed and removal of all that trash, which will cost you $1250 to $1500. And if there’s electric running to your shed, that would represent an additional expense.

Trash removal can be a big problem. Demolition can take 2 guys a day. That’s expensive! And a 10 yard dumpster rental will cost you another $500 today.

There are other situations where there’s limited access to the backyard, and there would be an extra expense to have the shed delivered in pieces and assembled on-site. Even hauling the old shed away will cost more under those circumstances.

That being said, there are two kinds of shed repairs that are quite common. Repairing or replacing the siding is one and the other is putting on a new roof. We’ll look at each one individually and what you’ll pay for repairs.

Repairing or Replacing Siding

The siding on the left side was replaced, along with all the trim boards, and a fresh coat of paint was added to everything.

Water damage always happens on the bottom 24 inches or so of the siding. When this happens, the siding may split and curl away from the frame. This happens because the paint has worn thing and allows water penetration into the siding.

FYI, to avoid this problem you can put a fresh coat of exterior paint on all wood surfaces every 10 years or 2 coats every 20 years.

If you’re concerned about how the repair will look when only cutting out and replacing the bottom portion, then you should replace all the affected siding panels, from top to bottom. If you can’t see the repair from the street, maybe it doesn’t matter so much what the repair looks like.

The original siding panels are called T1-11, and they are 5/8 inches thick, 4 foot wide, 8 foot high, and cost $78 a piece. T1-11 panels are available at all lumber yards and Lowe’s has a cheap version that’s less than 1/2 inch thick, which I don’t recommend.

I have included photos of both siding panel replacement here and repair at the bottom.

The siding replacement above involved replacing all the siding panels on the left side only. Also, all the trim boards around and within the doors were replaced along with all the corner boards. I also replace the door hinges and the latch and painted all the existing siding boards with 1 coat.

A nice repair that would cost you $1400.

Shed Roof Replacement

Unlike your house roof, people wait too long to put a new roof on their shed. By the time I see it the damage is already done: the plywood is shot and many of the rafters have to be reinforced or replaced as well.

And making this repair even more expensive is the trash disposal problem. If you feel like you can handle 30 plus contractor bags full of the demolished roof, then you’ll save yourself money, otherwise you’ll need a dumpster for this repair.

So the whole roof needs to be replaced, plywood and all. New drip edge, new tar paper and finally new shingles. For a small 8 x 12 shed you’re looking at a $2000 repair, but it would likely be about half the price of buying a new shed.

I hope this article was informative, and please call us if you need help with your shed repair.

Screen Door Install – Wallingford

The first door I want to show here is the install of an exterior screen door, as opposed to a storm door, for a basement entryway. After I measured the size, the customer found this door online. It’s a solid wood with just a screen, made by Kimberly Bay.

What made this install more difficult was the opening was far from square.

If you look closely you can see that the hinge-side frame board was replaced because it had deteriorated.

I was able to install the new hinge-side frame board plumb, but the latch-side had different opening measurements at the top and bottom. So, this required me to trim the latch-side of the door to make an even gap; that’s why an aluminum storm door was not an option here.

Also, the top frame member and the bottom sill were not nearly level, so again I had to compensate by trimming the door, top and bottom.

Lastly, it didn’t come with a handle so I picked one out at Home Depot, and drilled the necessary holes and attached it.

Install Custom Made Double Double Shed Doors

The original doors on this shed were badly deteriorated. Sometimes I can rebuild shed doors, but these were so bad that it was easier to build new ones.

The first thing I do is check the opening for level and plumb. I decided that the both left and right jams were straight enough, but the header board and the floor boards were not. So, I replaced both the sill board and the header board to give me a square opening.

The components of these doors consist of a 2 x 3 frame on the inside of the doors, which prevents them from warping. Each door starts as a piece of plywood, cut to size. As you can see, there’s also an exterior framing employed with 1 x 3 boards.

We used exterior plywood and pressure treated trim boards on the outside. Though they are rated for exterior use it’s still a good idea to paint them, particularly the plywood. While you’re at it you might as well paint the trim boards so it looks uniform.

Finally, we bought new hinges, door handle and latch to complete the project.

If you need to install any kind of exterior door, take a look at my Carpentry Page. And if you need help, give me a call. Thanks!

There’s many sides to a ceiling fan installation. Such as, is there already a fan installed that you want to replace? If there’s no fan currently there, then is there electric running to the location where you want the fan? In other words, is there at least a light fixture there? And failing that we’d have to find a power source, run a wire, and possibly put in a wall switch.

No Electric to the spot where you want the fan.

If there’s no power running the location, we’ll have to do some digging into the ceiling to run the wire. And we’ll then patch the plaster or drywall again.

And if you’re getting a fan that’s controlled by a remote, no wall switch is needed. However, if you want and old-school fan with pull chains, then we’ll have to install a switch as well as a wire.

Already a light fixture where you want the fan

Now, if there’s already a light fixture there we may have to upgrade the electric box. Reason for that is to make sure the fan is securely fastened to the ceiling. If the current electric box is not attached securely, it could wiggle and come loose, or even fall down.

Replacing an existing ceiling fan

Lastly, if there’s already a ceiling fan there we’ll have to make sure, once again, that’s it’s attached securely, so it doesn’t come loose. Time has a way making things come loose.

This picture is of the ceiling fan I just installed today. There had already been a ceiling fan there and I was able to put up the new one without too much modification to the existing box; I just added a couple additional screws.

Price Estimates

The cost of this was $200, and that’s the low end of the scale, and here’s the exact fan I installed today To replace the electric box could the cost could almost double, add maybe another $150 or so. And to run a new wire without a switch there’s going to be some drywall work, which might add another $750 to the cost of the job.

For more electrical services, please see my Other Services page.

Why Make Custom Nook Furniture?

The area available for this nook was maybe a couple inches short of a standard size of 6 feet.  Because a standard item could not be found they asked us to build them custom nook furniture.  I had made some cabinets in the past, and like doing challenging things, so we agreed to make the furniture.

Planning the Project

They gave us some pictures they had seen online as a basis for the work.  The design called for 2 benches with slanted backs that had a seat that swung up to reveal a storage area beneath.  Our design for this custom nook furniture called for 6 rounded feet on each bench and it would be painted white.

A project like this has to be thoroughly planned or you’ll waste a lot of time with missteps.  We made up our drawings and cut everything to size according to the plan.

The Design

We tried to make the storage area as roomy as possible.  It also had to be strong so a few people could sit on a bench without it eventually breaking down.  So we designed it with a solid food frame covered by plywood front and back. Then we used poplar board panels on the sides, which were connected to the front and back frames.  The frame give strength to the structure as well as providing a solid base to attach the feet.

The inclined back rest was made of solid wood tongue and groove boards for high strength and low profile.  This allowed the back to be very shallow so the table width could be maximized.  The top was purchased as is and only need a polyurethane finish. It was supported by the inside wall and a single leg on the outside middle.  This design would allow someone to slide their feet under the table without having to maneuver them past table legs.

The seat would be made of one solid board and hinged to a smaller board towards the rear of the seat.  When we tried to move it we found out that it was not only sturdy but heavy .  So heavy, in fact, we didn’t install the backs until the benches were brought into the nook area.

A Beautiful Result

As it turned out it was a nice addition to their brand new kitchen that we had just installed.  The trim boards on the bench sides were made similar to the design of the cabinet doors and the white paint matched the woodwork.  Please also see carpentry services for what else we can do.

Rebuild or Replace

This large shed, 10 x 20 feet, was just about demolished when a very large tree limb fell about 25 feet and crashed down on the length of the peaked roof structure. As you can see, the near side was obliterated when the roof was suddenly flattened. The force pushed the sides walls out, but 2 of the walls. front and far side, were intact. The shed needed extensive carpentry repairs.

The question was whether to rebuild it or replace it. The homeowner first got a price to have a new shed constructed on the same spot. The present shed would have been removed by demolition and thrown into a large 15-yard trash container parked in the driveway. That contractor specialized in shed construction. But then the homeowner also wanted a price to rebuild the shed so he’d have options.

Cost of Rebuilding

He said if we could rebuild it for $3000 we could do the work, but the price ended up about $4000. I didn’t ask how much the new shed would have cost, but I know how much I spent on materials. All the materials added up to $1200. Framing for the roof and 1 side, sheathing on 2 sides, roofing plywood and shingles, and finally paint and a new dusk-to-dawn light fixture in the front.

The Shed Carpentry Repairs

We started by cleaning out the debris and tossing it into the on-site 10 yard dumpster. Then we propped up the walls to get them plum. After that we built all the trusses in a mass production fashion on a makeshift table. With the trusses completed it was time for assembly.

As you can see, we nailed down the pre-assembled trusses one at a time, all on 16-inch centers. After that came the plywood for the roof and then the roofing shingles and trim. Also, we cut and nailed up the new siding on 2 sides and then built the soffits in the front and back. Also see my Carpentry page.

Why Rebuilding Was Better

The customer was happy because the shed had been there many years ago when they bought the house and they were glad to restore it. But not just as before, now with new framing, siding and roof the structure is ready for the next 20 years.