Author: handyandrewblog

Stan and Tilly recently renovated their house; the place was buzzing with trades whenever I went in to do a small job. The walk-in closet got left behind a little with all the other updates to keep track of. So they asked for a design, and did some of their own, for some storage space and hanging rails. Between us and several drafts of drawings we came up with a nice design. Then it was time to build!

I divided the tall cabinet into two parts in order to get it into the room. I used soft-close drawer hardware made by Grass. Drawers are made of 1/2 inch plywood with MDF drawer fronts.

Next I made the upper cabinet and painted the shelf pieces.

Once the paint was dry, it was time to install! It was a long day of getting everything just right, but it turned out very nicely.

Closets are difficult to photograph. Here is a panorama that almost gets it…

This summer has been pretty busy with a variety of jobs and customers.

I helped Ron put down some ties to make a tiered garden/storage area beside his house.

I built a mini-deck for an air conditioner with a bridge for Mike.  It had to go on a steep gravel slope beside the house.

He sent me a picture after the unit was installed:

I attached a couple of hose reels to a house for Rhonda. One was in hardiplank and one was on masonry.

I installed some Indian Wedding Lights on a big house.

I taped, mudded, and sanded a basement ceiling.

I built some low rise steps for John and Alice.

I’ve had a lot of drywall jobs and quotes recently for some reason. Here is a ceiling match I did this week. Note that it is not perfect, and I explained beforehand to my customer that I couldn’t guarantee a perfect match. However it is much better than before and not very noticeable.

Here are some pictures of a deck I built for a customer last week. From posts to railings!

Laminate flooring repairs can be tricky. Last December it was Christmas Eve and I was working on a floor in an apartment, getting frustrated. It had a ‘bounce’ and I couldn’t get rid of it. I finally gave up, put it back together, and told the customer I couldn’t do it. Then a few weeks ago I was asked to replace a few boards that had water damage. I agreed to do it and budgeted a few more hours this time. It still took a lot longer than I thought!

When you think you just have to take out a few boards in the hall…like this:

…And then you realize that to access all of the boards, you have to take apart half of another hallway, like this:

…then you are happy when everything goes back together like it’s supposed to!

I made a couple of picnic tables recently.

The first is a rounded top for my neighbour, to fit a standard table which had the top glass missing. It is made of pressure treated 5/4 boards.

The second one was requested by my in-laws. They sent me a Youtube video with instructions for an octagon table. (It was nice using someone else’s design for a change!) If you are interested, here is the link to the first video (there are four): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSliTVOxKlc

If you are in the area and would like one, I can make another one out of pressure treated lumber and deliver it for $700 including tax. You need a flat/level square of ground, 6.5 feet x 6.5 feet minimum.

I added a little overhang for Stephanie. It’s nice to stay dry when it’s raining!

Here is a cabinet I built recently for Ron and Aimee. They had a space in their kitchen that they wanted to use more efficiently:

So it was proposed to make the cabinet a bit bigger. However, there was a light in the way…so the top cabinet had to stay.

Also they didn’t want to spend a fortune (understandably!). Instead of ordering new doors, I bought some used ones and re-sized them a little:

I took out the old upper cabinet so that I could copy it. (There was a bit of a hole in their kitchen for a few weeks) This was very helpful for matching the oak stain.

Then I built the new cabinet exactly like the old one, but with a few modifications to flow into the rest of the kitchen design.

Lastly I installed the new unit. And it turned out pretty good!

One of my customers bought a swing but needed a swingset to hang it from. I built it out of 4×4 pressure treated posts and 7 inch lagbolts. It is large, heavy, and seems to be okay without being fixed to the ground.

Ron and Aimee had a beautiful piece of pine that they wanted to attach above their fireplace. I offered to stick it on top of a couple of angle brackets, but they wanted a cleaner look, so they ordered some brackets on Amazon and hired me to attach them.

I screwed into the brick and drilled holes in the back of the mantle. After I slid it all the way on, I couldn’t get it back off…luckily it was in the right place!