Jobs Blog

Last week I realized I had worked on a lot of different doors in a short space of time. There were closet doors, exterior doors, door frames, sticky locks, and cabinet doors. There were new frames, old ones, sidelights, painting, stripping/sanding… Below are some pictures. I do not consider myself a door expert. But, thanks to my gracious customers, I am learning.

Replacing an old door/frame/sidelight with a new door/frame, and adding a custom sidelight

Sanding white paint off of an old cedar door

Painting some cabinet doors

Replacing an old frame with a new custom frame, made out of 2×6 fir

Mrs. G. had another project in the rec room. It took a long time to settle on a plan–I had trouble envisioning how the cabinets would integrate with the mantle over the existing fireplace bricks. It was high time to use SketchUp to make a scale model!

Before

Scale Sketch

First cabinet

Adding doors

adding MDF top

Dan asked me to finish up the bottom of the bay window he had re-done some time ago. He did not have matching siding so needed some panels. He sent me a picture and I tried to follow the general gist of it. It turned out so nicely!

About a year ago I quoted on a shelf for Walt. Last October I dropped off the raw plywood with spruce fronts, and Walt spent the winter staining and varnishing it. Just yesterday we installed it. It turned out really nicely and fits well between walls.

I made some custom tops to go beside/above a fireplace mantle. They are stained dark brown to match the customer’s handrails. They are made of birch plywood with solid birch edges.

Gallery 7‘s production of The Mousetrap is now playing at MCA. It was the largest set build I’ve done this season and I was particularly glad to have Trevor’s (G7 volunteer) help for most of it. I think the reason it was more difficult was because it’s a house interior–all of the other sets have been slightly more abstract (though Doubt was close).

Here is a link to a video that shows a time lapse of the set from a blank stage to finished product:

https://youtu.be/C3cq_NNxfck

Jeff and Stacey asked for some deck railings and handrails for their porches/steps. I drew up some plans and they said go ahead! I finished today and am proud of my work (except for a couple tiny things I should have foreseen…see if you can figure out what they are).

The middle railing on the rear deck is removable.

Ms. G. requested shiplap as part of her reno; I assumed the quarter inch plywood style like you see on Pinterest for $80, but she preferred Lowe’s pre-painted MDF shiplap, and it was actually quite nice to work with.

First I had to build out part of the wall.

Then the shiplap went on.

While I was at it there was a stair skirting to do (the carpet is getting replaced)

And finally the railing needed to be sanded and stained. I also added some custom brackets and two more short railings. She had her house professionally painted before I put the railings on. It looks amazing!

Misty asked for a quote for some custom shelves above a cabinet that I had put in for her awhile ago. They are plywood with spruce fronts, painted white with white backing. The TV is a wall-mount that I had moved as well. They turned out nicely!

Last night we took down the set for Gallery 7’s performance of The Miracle Worker. It was a great play! The set build was fun as usual, lots of gothic arches etc. (Set design by Dustin Froese) Here’s a picture right before we took it down. Next I am working on The MouseTrap.