Wood working.

[Jes]

Well, after spending almost all year working in basements or crawl spaces I finally get to work outside and on something that is half way interesting. I'm finnising up some trim work, installing rail caps on some winder stairs, and facing off the stair stringers with redwood...

Since they're winders there's a lot of angled cuts to make mistakes on.
More...

An overview...

These clients wanted the best looking stuff so no exposed screws on the deck at all. All the trim and decking are screwed from the back which is a real PITA but it's satisfying work which I've had little of in the past year.

Jes

 

[Safari Ary]

no exposed screws but they don't mind the exposed anchor plates??

Looks good, what do you do for a living??

 

[Jes]

no exposed screws but they don't mind the exposed anchor plates??

Looks good, what do you do for a living??

LOL, actually they don't like the brackets at all. They'll probably have me face them off with 1X.
If you didn't know, I'm a carpenter.

Jes

 

[Rev Den]

Since they're winders there's a lot of angled cuts to make mistakes on.

Jes

Good carpenters make few mistakes, great carpenters hide theirs.


Looks real nice.

Rev

 

[Safari Ary]

If you didn't know, I'm a carpenter.

Jes

Oh, cool. I miss working with carpenters. Seems like they're the only "redneck good 'ole boys" left on jobs anymore.

Earth work guys just make me worry, never had a good honest experience with one. Drywall guys don't speak english, so who knows what kind of people they are. Plumbers are so afraid of breaking some union rule, they won't talk to you. 'lectricians are just kinda weird :laugh3:

I'm a site manager during the summers in case you didn't know. Yeah, I'm that annoying "kid" that "supervises"

Ary

 

[lesslimited]

VERY nice work, Jes. I'm a carpenter/ remodeling contractor also, and I mostly finish basements, but I do enjoy building decks, at least when it's nice out. I haven't done any that fancy yet. Most of my customers now want the composite decking, usually with cedar rails. What do you do in crawl spaces?
Ary, I agree with you on the electricians, even though a couple good friends do that for a living. The plumber I work with is only in the union for the benefits, and he's into 4-wheeling, so we get along great. My drywall hanger is Mexican, but he's been here for about 25 years, and is a real character. He talked one of my customers with a million dollar home into taking him and his helper to Hooters for lunch

 

[Jes]

I mainly do seismic upgrades(hold downs, column bases, foundation bolts, shear wall, etc.) and dryrot/termite damage reconstruction. I do a lot of concrete work too(footings, raising foundations above grade, etc.) including the rebar, forms, and pouring of the concrete.

Jes

 

[woody]

"I do a lot of concrete work too(footings, raising foundations above grade, etc.) including the rebar, forms, and pouring of the concrete."

That explains why Jes is built like a manimal!

I recall the first bridge deck pour I helped look after (testing the concrete for % air) all the crew was freakin huge, arms the size of my torso etc... and there I was fetching 5gl bucketfuls and humping it across the rebar...which was perfectly spaced to snag my leg shin deep. Did that crap all day and kept smiling. Folks that do that stuff everyday must be nuts (or well paid)

BTW nice work Jesse!

 

[lesslimited]

Yeah, concrete work is tough. I worked with a guy that did his own concrete for additions before pumps were readily available. If we were lucky we could use a Bobcat, but otherwise it was the good ole wheelbarrow all the way to the back of the house. He liked it because he made pretty good money, but he paid me the same as framing walls or putting up trim. I'm not a gorilla, so I'd rather put up trim

 

[Safari Ary]

Hmmm, concrete guys.... Haven't had any long-term encounters with them(past couple projects I've been on have been renovations). The one experience I did have way back in my childhood was with this really nice hispanic man who owned a concrete company. My dad used him because he was a very nice/fair-priced/hardworking man, and I remember him as that. That's about all I know about concrete work, other than it's a bitch to spread inside a barn with no air circulation and the outside temp is peaking at 100*(ask me how I know )

Ary

 

[Poison]

Good to see a tradesman that is proud of what he does. It seems like in this hurry up world I work in there's no time for a craftsman. Must be different where you are. I'm a glazier by trade and proud of my work most the time.


eace: , Jim

 

[KY Chris]

Wow, man, that looks great. I did a redwood project recently, but it doesn't look nearly as good as that. Nice to see fine craftsmanship still exists.

 

[Beezil]

that really is some FINE work there, very impressive.

keep the pics coming, this is good stuff



:thumbup:

 

[RichP]

Electricians weird, hmmm, maybe, I did develop a twitch but that was mostly from checking circuits using the back of the hand method when I didn't want to walk back out to the truck to get my tester...then I went into the navy and electronics and got to play with 400 cycle stuff for the navigation systems on board subs... no more 60cycle twitch, more of a 400 cycle stutter...

 

[Safari Ary]

Electricians weird, hmmm, maybe, I did develop a twitch but that was mostly from checking circuits using the back of the hand method when I didn't want to walk back out to the truck to get my tester...then I went into the navy and electronics and got to play with 400 cycle stuff for the navigation systems on board subs... no more 60cycle twitch, more of a 400 cycle stutter...

Like I said, WEIRD

 

[Economos]

Damn Jes, that looks great.

 

[Hunter-LynchburgVa]

im guessing redwood is pretty hot for decks out west seeing as you guys have a lot of the trees around. around here on the east coast the only decks ive ever seen that werent treated were the white cedar ones my dad put on the bungalows we lived in.

Hunter

 

[Safari Ary]

im guessing redwood is pretty hot for decks out west seeing as you guys have a lot of the trees around. around here on the east coast the only decks ive ever seen that werent treated were the white cedar ones my dad put on the bungalows we lived in.

Hunter

I've seen a few around the neighborhood. We were gonna do a redwood deck, but after we did all the siding in redwood, the redwood budget was kinda dry At least we won't have to worry about it ever rotting.

Funny story behind the redwood siding actually. Our house is located in a historic district and is historic itself(built in 1890 by my great great grandparents). Well we renovated it back in 1991 and as you can imagine certain building standards had changed over 100 years. Since we lived in the historic society, we had to have every freakin detail approved by the historic commission before we could build. Well the windows in the house were a very oddball size, they were an inch taller and an inch narrower than the standard windows on the market. Seeing as how having the custom sized windows would costs thousands more, we opted to redo the openings since they were easily changed at the time. Well the historic commission didn't like that, they said it would alter the apperance of the house too much(we had to take them to court to change their minds ). They also wouldn't let us build a garage because their wasn't an existing one. We had to go and find photographic proof that there was once a garage on the property. So after all that you might guess that we were more than a little pissed at the historic commission(mind you none of these people were historians, or anything like that, they simply grew up in the neighborhood).

When it came time to do siding we chose redwood(which for once they didn't have a problem with it). Well, we decided we wouldn't stain the redwood for as long as possible We had a city inspector out at the house every other day for months asking when the painting was going to start. They really thought we were going to leave the house bright orange The inner satisfaction was amazing Here's a pic of the house so you can see just how much orange their would have been.

Front elevation:

Rear elevation:

Anyway, just thought I'd share that story as it makes me grin deep down inside

 

[XJEEPER]

If you didn't know, I'm a carpenter.

Jes

Putty and Paint makes a carpenter what he ain't...............

I spent 10 years slinging a brush, with the majority of my time painting custom homes. There were a few good carpenters that allowed me to make good money...........but there were all too many that cost me time in patching thier screwups so my paint job would look good........I remember these two guys, I called them "Nick and Gouge".... the Sliver Brothers. They could destroy more nice wood trim than anyone I'd ever followed through a home.
I finally stopped working for GC's and just worked remodels and repaints for homeowers with money and that cared about a quality job.

Good work Jes, looks real nice.

 

[4ward]

I've done carpentry work most of my life. My family always built our own houses until this last one, everybody in the family is like that. My uncle works for the local power utility so we always had a free certified electrician to come over and sign off our wiring. I owned my own interior trim business when I lived in Denver. Worked on high end custom homes ($3 million plus). I wish I had a shot of the last deck I did here.

Nice work Jes, kinda makes me want to get back into wood workin' full time, but then I remember all the headaches that made me get out of the trade.

Oh yeah, my buddy and I had these ultra corny shirts when we were workin' in Denver, they said "I would work, but I'd rather woodwork".