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Five tips for repurposing household items
These days, the easy availability of branded items is turning us all into prolific spenders. For every little need that arises within our homes, be it for practical or aesthetic purposes, we tend to...
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Remodel of the Week - Week #3
A transformation of a classic shingle style home Showcased in Marvin's Remodelers Gallery
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Remodel of the Week - Week #2
Opening up a Lakeside home to bring in the natural light and scenery Showcased in Marvin's Remodelers Gallery
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Remodel of the Week - Week #1
1 commentLate 19th century schoolhouse remodeled as a residence Showcased in Marvin's Remodelers Gallery
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Energy-Efficient San Francisco Remodel
1 commentThe Kumar Residence, nestled in the hills of Belmont, CA is an 1100 square foot addition and remodel of an existing 1950′s mid-century modern ranch house that needed updating, and more living...
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Claw Foot Bath Tub = Up Dated Bathroom
This remolded / updated bathroom started with the claw foot tub that my friend gave me. The claw foot tub was bigger than the old tub, so I had to redsign the bathroom (this is my house) in order to...
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Contemporary Kitchen
Contemporary Kitchen featuring large pantries on each side of refrigerator, with soft close dovetailed drawers, and open shelves.The floor to ceiling bi-fold doors match the cabinet doors and...
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Sneak Peek: Building the carriage doors in the shop
3 commentsHere, the doors are still being assembled. They're now completed and in place, so stay tuned for a full article about their construction and installation.
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Justin Fink and Chuck Bickford thinking about a door
2 commentsJustin built these carriage doors in the woodshop.
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Door-trimming jig
The hinge side of a door must be trimmed to width at 90°. The latch side is usually trimmed at 5° off vertical for a beveled edge. Making these long cuts straight and smooth is easy with this...
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Sill seal
2 commentsI came up with a solution for weatherstripping a door bottom where a thick rug prevents a spring-loaded bottom sweep from retracting. I used a length of vinyl bulb weatherstripping, intended for a...
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Easy door buck
Building a door buck (FHB #8, p.35) is a good idea if you find yourself dealing with a house full of door hanging from scratch, but for a quick setup, the answer is right in your toolbox. I use two...
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Frictionless hinge
1 commentFor me, the most .frustrating part of making and installing a heavy, handmade entry door has been finding the right hinges. Even with a good set of heavy butts, the hinge barrels begin to grind down...
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Hinge-mortising jig
2 commentsI use a router and a jig to mortise hinges in doors and casement windows. By using a 1/2-in. diameter hinge-mortising bit and a standard round-cornered hinge, I achieve a consistently clean fit that...
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Radiused window casings
Recently, while building a half-circle window, I needed a way to make the casing and interior stops. Instead of transferring the curves from templates onto the stock and then joining these pieces, I...
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Offset jig
1 commentWhenever I install door or window casings, I use the jig shown here to make sure that I get an accurate 1/4-in. reveal. It's made of two square pieces of hardwood, 1/4 in. thick, that are glued...
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Installing a new threshold
It's important for a door to fit snugly against its new vinyl-gasket threshold, particularly if the system you're using doesn't include a door-bottom sweep. But fitting an old door with one means...
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Holding a level plumb
1 commentI use a 6-1/2-ft. spirit level to plumb and straighten interior door jambs. In order to leave both hands free to handle the shims and to drive nails, I wedge the level against one of the jambs to...
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Plumb-bob anchor
1 commentWhenever I'm hanging a door with wood jambs, I use a chisel or utility knife to lift a small sliver in the center of the head jamb. Then I use it to anchor the string on my plumb line, as shown...
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Drilling foam-core steel doors
I had to drill holes for deadbolt locks in some steel doors that had foam cores, and I almost destroyed the first couple of doors using a standard hole saw because the 1/4-in. pilot bit would wander...
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Locating latches
1 commentHere's a fast, accurate method that I use for locating the centerpoints for door latch and dead-bolt mortises. First I center a hole for a 6d nail in the end of a short piece of dowel (a 1-in. dia...
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Better backing for doors
1 commentIf you think about how most doors are mounted to most jambs and visualize the relationship of hinge-to-door and hinge-to-jamb, you may see some room for improvement. Standard butt hinges, heavyduty...
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Chiseling hinge mortises
I typically use a router and a template to cut mortises or to enlarge existing mortises for new door hinges. But for small jobs where it doesn't make sense to cart along a lot of gear, I use a...
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Solo window installation
I was recently faced with installing windows in a new house, all by myself. Here's how I did it, First I cut a couple of 2x4s about 8 in. longer than my widest window. Then I measured the distance...
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Installing tall doors
Faced with installing some 60, 3-ft. by 8-ft. prehung doors, I developed the jamb-setting fixture shown in the drawing. Not only did the fixture keep the hinge jamb and the head jamb at 90°, but...
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Putting a new window in an old brownstone
1 commentIn Brooklyn, where turn-of-the-century brownstones and bricks are the norm, window replacement often calls for some ingenuity. I have used both Bonneville and Andersen brick-to-brick replacement...
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Hanging solid-core doors
When I have to muscle a solid-core door into or out of its hinges, I let a drywall lifter (a tool designed for placing drywall on walls) do the heavy lifting. Unlike a flat bar, a drywall lifter...
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Quick, accurate shims
Obtaining the right-size shims for a job can be quick, easy, and precise if you put in about 10 minutes’ preparation. Begin with the shim stock. A proper shim has grain running its entire...
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Shim gauge
1 commentIn home building, square, level, and plumb are admirable goals, but we sometimes fall a little short of the ideal. As a consequence, we turn to shims. They are vital for adjusting the fit of prehung...
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Get a grip on window installations
The last thing I want when struggling with a heavy window during installation is to drop it. Even small falls can fracture the flange, making for a time-consuming repair. After watching my glass guy...
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Fixing warped doors
1 commentA warped cabinet door can be a real pain. When you have spent hours matching panels, colors and grains, the last thing you want to do is remake a door. My approach takes a couple of hours and $5 in...
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Drying rack
2 commentsWe preprime and varnish a lot of the trim we install in houses, and finding a good place to let the material dry without getting in the way used to be difficult. To solve the problem I came up with...
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How to Paint Fiber-Cement Siding
Painter Jim Lacey shares some tips for caulking and painting fiber-cement siding. read more
