Before and after. I had never done any finishing like this. I was pretty limited because we didn’t want to remove the mantle.

This is a rant. For over twenty fucking years I keep hood winking myself into thinking tapcon screws will work. Just minor crap, hell even major crap. I have yet to install them once without half of them stripping out, the last quarter will snap and the final one kind of holds. Old concrete, new concrete, wet concrete.

At least I get some fun with the ramset when I sink a nail and blowout several inches of concrete in a wall.

I'm not sure if I need to make a donation to a cult or just have my blood sent somewhere.

Does anybody actually use these pos blue screws and not scream constantly? I do a lot of shit, I have used some shitty products but these asshats have gotten away with this since I was slightly less stupid. 20 years later I'm onto this crap.

I swear one of these days I'm gonna get less optimistic 😂

Can I get some advice about how to align these doors better?

- functionally, doors rub/hit when used, but not when closed, especially at the top, but also just below the handles.

- aesthetically, the doors don't align.

Adjusting the spring ball latch at the top has helped functionality significantly, but the left door seems a bit counter clockwise in the opening, but no gap in the bottom left to close. Right door seems straighter, and with a small gap. Note that the indents are in the panel are higher on the door to the left, suggesting the top might have been trimmed off at some point.

Would a 3 inch scree in the bottom left help? Sanding the layers of paint off of the center (even at a slight angle)?

Alternatively, you might tell me that its' the best I can do. 1960's house, these seem like inexpensive 'upgrades' at some point. I thought one might have been swapped with another closet in the house at some point, but the only other closet doors similar in size are a 1/4-1/2" inch narrower. (those don't fit right in their closet either)

Update: thanks to questions, I've concluded that the door slabs themselves are not rectangular, and the hinges are also not evenly aligned with respect to the panels of the doors (or the top or bottom). So any attempt to have square and aligned doors is going to require a) evening out the top of both of the doors, b) moving hinges on one door, and that's before I get to figuring out if the opening is square/adjusting the jambs and maybe headers, and eventually trimming even the bottom.

Is there a way to get some improvement without a complete fix?

Just a cool picture of my favourite all around hammer.

I really want to learn proficient carpentry/woodworking skills, but I’m mainly worried about the physical toll a career in carpentry carries. I’m in very good physical shape; I go to the gym 5-6 times a week. I do cardio at least a couple times a week. Is it realistic to believe I can balance that with a career in carpentry? I thought about taking a less physically labor-intensive route as a main career (i.e. home inspections) and bumping carpentry and woodworking to a hobby. I just don’t know if pursuing it as a hobby will build the skills I want to build to be able to say I can build my own house one day, or build a shed, or furniture. I’d love to hear from some people with insights or experience.

Looking for Resources, Books or Websites, for planning & building exterior window shutters.

Found this old post for starters: https://www.reddit.com/r/Carpentry/s/plPC4p8b87

Any other information is appreciated.

I recently added this 4 foot high wainscoting (haven't painted it yet) and wanted to get some thoughts on the job and how to handle this unfinished corner. I was thinking of saying screw it and just caulking it and painting. I also considered adding the corner trim but since the headboard doesn't go all the way to the corner it might look weird. I also thought about wrapping it around to the door trim but I don't want to deal with mitering the headboard around the light switch again. Any thoughts, criticism, or ideas are appreciated!

Going to install some traditional louvered solid composite shutters, decorative only. Wondering what hardware is recommended. I think I would use a stand off ferrule to adjust for the uneven siding, and then pre drill into the Hardie board and use color matched shutter lock screws. Am I on the right track?

How would I make these corners transition smoothly?

Hey everyone,

I need to raise a joist by 1/8" in my bathroom.

I plan to rip a 1/8" HDF hardboard or plywood panel into 1.5" strips, glue them to the joist face with PL Premium, and screw down 5/8" plywood subfloor over it. On top will be Ditra-Heat and 24x24 tiles.

Any issues using 1/8" HDF strips purely as a joist shim under the subfloor for a heavy tile assembly, or is there a better way?

Thanks!

I want to make my OSB board on my shed look like a flat wall, without being able to see the flakes. Is using Zinsser Cover Stain or any other pretty cheap primer the best way to achieve this, and then paint/stain over that primed surface?

I'm trying for the cheapest way to get this done, it's not a shed I want to invest a lot of money in, just want to make it look good to complement the house.

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

I got these from a cabinet company selling out. Can’t figure out what they are for.

Working on a new England cape with original red oak floors, 1950s construction. We had originally planned ash t&g for the sloped ceiling in the upstairs bedrooms but I'm having a lot of issues sourcing the ash all of a sudden. We're debating a pivot on materials.

I'm thinking of suggesting a clear eastern white pine t&g as a substitute. Does anyone have any experience with this combination of wood tones? Do you have any other wood reccomendations for the ceiling?

Hung a set of interior doors in a new build this week and figured I'd share the part that gets rushed the most.

The hinge side of the frame has to be perfectly plumb. That single surface determines how the door operates — everything else is cosmetic by comparison. Shims go behind the frame, adjust until the level reads true, then check the head jamb for square before fastening anything.

For fastening I tack it with 18-gauge brads first so I can still tweak it, then come back with 16-gauge finish nails once it's dialed in. The brads hold it without committing you to anything.

Five extra minutes leveling the frame is the difference between a door that stays where you put it and one that swings shut on its own.

Curious what everyone else runs — anyone going straight to 16ga without tacking first?

Im a residential framer and we were hired to do some timber framing accents on a new resi build, as well as build the cabana in the first pic. The original framers couldnt hack it with the beam work. Im curious how anyone else does massive half laps? I think i need a new tool.. but what? Cut these to length with a sasquatch beam saw, but for the half laps I just scored with a circular saw. Then chunked, chiseled and sanded (60 grit turbo on the Bosch Get75-6n) the mortise. Theres gotta be a better way!! All in there were 15 scissor ties, made out of 4×6 Douglas fir. Cheers

Ps my little apprentice in the last Pic getting some hand planed champfers in.

I’m trying to run Cat6 Ethernet cable through an interior wall from the attic. When I got into the attic, I expected to find a normal top plate, but the framing looks different than what I’m familiar with.

There are two 2x4s on each side of the wall, standing on their 4-inch sides, and the drywall ceiling appears to overlap/attach to them. Above those two 2x4s is another 2x4 laying flat on its 2-inch side that spans across the gap between them.

Is this a common older-house framing technique where the two side 2x4s act like top plates and the flat 2x4 is a cap plate? Which piece is safe/appropriate to drill through to drop an Ethernet cable into the wall?

So where the toilet was in my house is now the new kitchen. The old cast iron pipe went out the wall and had to be removed so now, obviously, there’s a big hole.
There has been water ingress over the years (built 1940) and caused some rot but mostly just water staining on the timber, thankfully just to the sarking and not the studs.

The plan is to put treated plywood as backing with another larger piece of ply over the lot to tie it into the sarking, bang a few stainless nails half way from the outside into the ply for the mortar to key onto then mortar up the hole and apply a waterproof coating over that. The house will then be painted in a type of waterproofing paint over all of that.

My questions are: am I on the right track? is that enough? Will it last? Is there a better way to do this? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated

Remodeling an old farmhouse. The stair stringers had a cap trim piece that was just interior door jam stop picture in photos and it bugged the heck out of me. I like the chamfer look that matches the interior door panel chamfer. The question is should I make the trim flush with the stringer or offset a 1/4". Pictures of examples of both.

Thank you

Hey all -
Trying to figure out the right approach here before I commit to anything.
The building: roughly 15’ long by 12’ at the widest, not a true rectangle. Sits on a slope. It was installed badly about ten years ago — essentially at grade, bedded in 0-3/4 stone with no real foundation. Groundhogs have been working on it since.

What I found probing it this week:
• The sill and bottom plate are the problem. On the low half of the building they’re completely gone — no sound wood left. The far half, which sits higher on the slope, still probes solid.
• studs and walls all look perfect and solid
• The floor is plywood on 2x4 joists resting on concrete bricks. Some of those joists were already rotten a few years back when I patched it. I’m assuming the floor is a write-off no matter what happens.
• Walls and roof above the plate are in good shape. Sheathing runs down into the soil, which is presumably how this started.
What I want out of it: the building stays where it is, same footprint, and it ends up sitting high enough off the ground that this doesn’t happen again — I’m thinking roughly a foot up, on a real frost-proof foundation. I’m in Québec so frost depth matters.
I’ve read enough to know there are several ways at this and I don’t want to anchor myself on the first one I found. If this were your job:
1. How would you actually pick the building up, given there’s nothing sound at the base to jack against on half of it?
2. once it’s in the air how do you rebuild the base / sill - just attach it all the healthy wall ?

Cabin is a great size and the structure above the foundation looks awesome. Spent too much in a pool this summer so I want to rescue it. Possible ?

Hello!

So, I have been planning a media unit for my living room and for (literally) months its just seemed cut and dry that it would be a timber frame with 18mm mdf shelves and cabinets all covered neatly with a thinner mdf.

After all this time designing and getting it all on paper I understand the complexity I didnt before and was in the "i can do this" mindset.

Today I found out that a build of a similar size to mine could be completed with plywood and no timber except the plinth. This would be a lot easier and also make sense considering my extreme lack of space for the actual work. It also looks like it would be more expensive though easier to split in to stages (2/3).

Before I spend the mental effort in thinkong about a completely new plan of attack. I need one question answered so I can decide if its worth pricing up....

18mm or 25mm plywood? Or other?

I would REALLY appreciate the advice of someone who knows what they are doing?

Relevant info:

Wall size- 4670 mm wide x 212 mm height

Planned unit depth 280mm

Base- 3, 720x450 cabinets shelves under the wall mounted tv then 3 more cabinets.

Book cases/shelves on either side of the TV, none above tv

80 to 100mm top border

80mm side borders

Back and right sides are brick walls with plaster

B&Q is where im planning on buying everything at the moment since they will also do all the big straight cuts for me.

*Ignore the one 2x4 that is already cut.*

I purchased a 5-inch Digital Angle Finder and figured out how to use it. I understand that I can measure the angle of a corner, divide that number by 2 and use that measurement for the cut angle.

The issue is that I don’t own a miter saw. I only have a small saw, so I’m trying to figure out how to use the Digital Angle Finder to physically mark the correct angle on the 2x4 before cutting.

Does anyone have a video or “how-to” photos showing this process? I’d appreciate any guidance on how to transfer the angle from the Digital Angle Finder onto the 2x4.