Jobs Blog

I had done some work on the brick mould of Josephine’s front door some time ago; touching up the paint where it had peeled over time. Then she asked me if I could paint the door itself. It had been white for many years and it was time for a change. (Many of her neighbours have doors in different colours). However she didn’t want to add another colour to the overall scheme, so I said I would try to match the cedar shakes in the front. How to turn a white metal door into a cedar door?

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I chose two shades of gel stain and over 3 trips I layered them over the white paint. I started with a lighter shade and then used a darker shade with a wood-graining tool ($3 at Michael’s!). This made the door a shade darker than I had planned, so I went over it all again with the first colour. It was still a tad dark but luckily my customer liked it.

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Now in most situations it would be advisable to remove the door and work on it elsewhere, but for various reasons that was impossible this time. So I had to be careful not to get stain on the nice white frame. I used paint markers along the edges where the door contacts the weather stripping, and that dried quickly enough. Varnishing was another matter – the first coat of varnish went on at 1 degree Celsius so it did not dry very quickly. For the 2nd coat I tacked a blanket over the door and left it open for the day, and it dried nicely.

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So there you have it. A cedar metal gel stained varnished door!

Gary asked for a 3-foot roof over his porch door to help keep him dry this winter. So I made a drawing and sent him a quote. The roof in my drawing happened to be red and when he saw that he knew he had to have that colour. So I spray-painted some galvanized steel roofing with a nice, gloss regal red.

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The supports are fir 2x4s ripped in half and painted white. Installation was fairly straightforward with a bit of flashing above the roof and a pocket for the vinyl siding to slide into below.

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We were both really happy with how it turned out…especially the red colour. However Gary’s wife disagreed… so now I have to go back and paint it white. Too bad, little red tin roof… you can live on in this blog post.

I was very surprised to be contacted recently by a director I have worked with at Gallery 7, about building a set. Ever since I packed away my last project in March I had not thought I would be building a set until a Covid vaccine was available. However, TWU SAMC was filming their show so I suppose this is technically a film set. I won’t post much in the way of pictures…basically it was 3 walls with windows and a door, some of the walls being moveable. Great to build!

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Gilbert asked me to do some tiling in his kitchen. I had done one backsplash a couple of years ago so had to watch some Youtube videos again 🙂 but it all came back to me pretty fast.

I charged 8 hours (2 half days) though it took a little longer–I always forget how long it takes to clean off the grout and put the plugs back together! My customer bought all the materials (tile, adhesive, grout, caulking). I also asked him to do the final cleaning the next day after the grout is good and dry.

I have a nice diamond blade on my wet saw which works well for cutting glass sheets.

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I worked on a rental suite recently. The cabinets were in OK shape, but there were some mould issues and most of the drawers were not working. So the landlord asked for a quote for new cabinets. They also requested a built in dishwasher.

As they wanted to keep costs down, I quoted using basic hardware, basic paint, basic doors (MDF slabs). It also helped that it was a simple layout.

I spent a few days at the workshop making the cabinets. Plywood sides, melamine shelves.

Then it was time for demo and install, over a couple days and part of a weekend.

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Everything went fairly smoothly. The countertop didn’t fit through the door but luckily it slid nicely through the window!

It turned out beautiful and now we are just waiting for the plumber to install the dishwasher!

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.