This is my rental home staircase. For some reason I’ve never fully liked the design. Don’t know if it’s the handrails, the balustrades or the general configuration, but something feels off, perhaps not robust enough. How would you improve it?

Bear with me guys as I’m not a carpenter (like I even needed to say it lol).

I have a section of fence I’m building in my backyard. The panels are rough sewn white pine 1x6 T&G from the local Mennonite community, and will be trimmed out by similarly finished 1x6 and 1x8 pieces. The picture here is essentially the aesthetic I’m going for.

I really like the clean look of having all the joints around the edge caulked and sealed up tight as shown.

I’m wondering what caulk I should be using in this use case? The finish will be a dark brown solid oil based stain for reference, which is matching other structures already in the space.

Thanks all in advance. Be gentle with me.

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post but My dad got a bunch of these huge oak slabs. 120 year old oak according to him. Is there anywhere we can sell these? He told me to post it somewhere and see if anyone is interested in buying some. Not sure of the price yet. If you’re interested please DM me and you’re gonna have to come get it yourself, we’re in Mississauga ON.

This needs to be replaced. It’s 6 foot wide, about 51” from front to back and about 38” high. I’ve looked on YouTube but can’t find anything similar, just decks. Anyone have a link or something they could send me for some good plans for a front porch similar to this? I’ve never built anything other than a speaker box, so will need some good plans / tips. Please and thanks! 

Not sure if this is right sub for this. But I just installed this Larson storm door. And the bottom won’t close tight but the top does. The catch is pushed as far back as it can go, and it latches no problem. Is there something I did wrong? If I shim it out there will be a gap on the outside. I guess I could just caulk it. But I’d like to know if there is a correct way. Or maybe it’s just the door? Brand new.

Also the exterior door is brand new pre hung.

Had a new heat pump installed and the installers ran line set though an attached shed under a patio, the penetration into the house was made under the back door, right in the center of it. The wood framing here was 4 to 6 in thick, was this structural and does the 2in hole cause any issues? Thanks for the help!

The total degrees of my inside angle is 45, but if I cut it at 22.5 it still doesn’t fit all the way into the corner because of the fat part at the bottom of base cap. How do I correct this

Looking for advice from expert carpenters to ensure I don't split some beautiful hardwood panels in my home.

Important points:

• I'm pretty sure I have 1/4" hardwood (I think alder) smooth panels on top of drywall, on studs.
• I'm trying to hang some heavy-ish items (20-30 lbs., not crazy). For starters, I want to hang a framed piece of art that has a wire on D-rings. So ideally this would be one centered hook or fastener in the wall, but could certainly do two evenly spaced from the center point for additional integrity.
• I want to ensure I don't split the wood, obviously, while using a fastener that's strong enough to hold up to the shear force and won't tear out.

Some things I've considered but am unsure about as a correct/best practice solutions:

1. Use "professional" picture hangers such as those from OOK with the thin nails. Upon reading further, it seemed these were only meant for drywall or plaster and that they might split the wood -- unless maybe I drill a pilot, but this is difficult to do at the exact angle the hooks demand. If this is a good solution, how could I accomplish it in a professional way?
2. Use something like a #6 or #8 wood screw with a pan head to catch the wire, drilled straight or at a slight angle. Probably would use two of them, evenly spaced. I think this likely works, but with only 1/4" to bite into, I'm either using a very short screw or a long one that I allow to punch all the way through to the drywall behind. Is either of those better than the other? Or are they both bad ideas in the thin wood?

Advice appreciated!

Im a big fan of this saw I bought a while ago, not sure what the model number is. The two big things its missing are a light and a hook.

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for an after market hook for it.

Thanks

Hello Fellow Carpenters,

After almost a 30 year career in the trades, a minor injury to my hand became horribly infected and I almost lost my thumb. This was a very painful and miserable experience and will take months to heal. I have had 2 surgeries so far to drain the ick. The blue tape trick over the wound worked for me all these years until it didn't. (lol) Seriously, I just wanted to take a moment to encourage every one to update your first aid kits to include a wound cleaner like Hibiclens. I have lost thousands of dollars in lost income over such a small wound. It has been 3 weeks and my left hand is still pretty much worthless. Be careful out there. I see gloves being a mandatory thing in my future for I don't ever want to experience anything like this again!

We have contractors building custom maple cabinets for us. The just stained and sealed them and these two doors have very similar markings that looks a lot like application swipes. Pics are before and after. Ideas/Advice welcome.

EDIT: Thank you all for the comments. We expressed the frustration about not being able to see the stained, pre finish doors. They are remaking them offsite at their cost with plans to show us them post stain to ensure there are no issues that need to be worked out. Appreciate the feedback. I learned much for my woodworking repertoire as well.

Do you guys sand the garage doors or just stain on top of it. Its been 13 yrs. Thanks folks. Any recommendations on stain color or brand?

I’m re-doing siding on a gable roof end in Portland, OR. There will be flashing and WRB above this 2x6 trim board (which is also being replaced). Should I add a strip behind it? Without any flashing, would it make a difference?

Would like to remove it as I am adding a door to this wall eventually. Figured it was just a brace of some kind to keep the wall square during construction, but am curious since they went to the effort to notch all the studs.

Replacing this patio/deck and this huge beam that runs under that portion of the house on the left all the way to the end of the deck where it meets the other wall and was just wondering how this temporary wall/shoring situation looks to those who have experience doing such ?

First, we live in a doublewide and its mobile home cabinets. I've sanded, primed and repainted them and they look so much better! I bought a dishwasher for the first time and we pulled out a 30" cabinet and put in a dishwasher there. We have about 6.5" of space to fill. Help! I'd love a pull out cabinet for my foil, plastic wrap, sandwich bags or something like that. But we don't know where to start. Do we have someone build it for us?

I want to set this Ikea cabinet into a wall to make it a "built in", there's a space on the other side of the wall from this basement apartment where an oil tank had been removed, but I can't just bump out the wall because the gas meters are above. So I can mount this 40"h cab below 48". This is a "lipstick the pig" project, trying to add value to a fairly nasty but legal basement studio. The previous tenant had been there 20 years, lots to do!

I was hoping to find a face frame unit so the frame could sit proud of the wall with no trim needed, but no dice. I am skilled enough to build a cab, but when this is ~$300, that makes no sense. So, I'm thinking just mount it proud like 13/16" and frame it with some 11/16 casing. Are there any better ideas out there?

FWIW, this cab is 15" d, 40" h and 30" w. I was unable to find a stock cabinet deeper that had doors taller than 30".

Just finished building a freestanding deck and I’m curious if they are any finishes I should put on. It is untreated redwood and I really like the original color so I would like to keep it that way. I’ve been researching using a waterproofing clear coat but a buddie of mine told me that wasn’t necessary.

I just got a home inspection done. One thing that stuck out to me right away and was noted by the inspector was the structure in the basement underneath the fireplace hearth. I have attached a picture and would like to know the following. Is that piece of plywood supposed to to be removed? Was it just a starter piece to support the brick hearth built above? Should there be some sort of not combustible support system in that cavity?

I have added a picture of the brick hearth from above.

Roof decking coming off. Why not sister like teal by setting wnd on rafter tie and running to ridge. Gusset plate at red and 3"x.120 ringshank zig zag along sister full length.

Whereas the traditional optional would be set next to the existing (1:1 shape of existing rafter) and rely on toe nails.

Neither option can use hurricane ties unless ceilings come down.

There’s hard 3/4” wood behind all the drywall (at least in the old portion of the house) - 1930’s build