Transition
Dear friends; Hope Builders closed on December 1, 2011. I will still be accepting work under the category of building maintenance service; DBA Old Pro Handyman
The economic crises and collapse of the housing market has pushed me into new directions. I am now in school at Salt Lake Community College and working part time.
BTW most customers opted out of getting building permits and so my license was futile.
Custom log work
I love working with wood! This is an example of work that makes my job a delight because I enjoy the artistic aspect.
condo window bunk
log detail
These logs are gathered off the forest floor from private property. They must be selected like fruit; at the stage when the bark is almost completely dried itself off and yet there is still color in the wood. If left on the ground a few more months the wood will turn gray and if collected earlier the bark cannot be easily removed.
The logs are sealed with clear sealer for a couple reasons: because the logs are dirty they will be quite a mess if not sealed and because natural wood is porous it absorbs dirt and oil from hands. Sealing it makes it easy to clean.
This project is in the Prospector Square Lodge and Conference Center in Park City, Utah, USA and is available for nightly/weekly rental;
w.prospectorsquarelodge.com
Finish carpentry
After getting a substantial background in framing I learned finish carpentry. Finish carpentry usually refers to all the wood work that is visible at the end of the job. Finish or trim carpentry includes: installing doors, door casing, door hardware, window sills, window casing, crown molding, baseboards, closet shelves. It may also include cabinets, book shelves, wains-coat, chair rail and other moldings.
Typically finish work is divided into two degrees of finish; stain grade and paint grade. Stain grade is a higher degree of finish because there is little or no putty used to cover errors and what you see after the carpenter is done is what you will see forever. Paint grade is a lesser degree of finish because paint will cover putty and so putty can be used to cover the carpenter’s imperfect work. BTW if you are a perfectionist you should stay out of the carpenter trade! Nothing in the building trade is actually “perfect” we just strive for the appearance of perfection.
paint grade crown
Fireplace mantle
This mantle created using a build up technique rather than installing a factory built mantle. We use stock moldings lain upon each other.
Finished attic
Sample of custom shelving and stain grade moldings.
Bungalow
This classic Sugarhouse bungalow desperately needed some help! Sugarhouse is an area in Salt Lake City where the average age of homes is 1900 to 1940 and average size about 900 sq. ft. They typically have a dysfunctional design element with one small bath, one or two small bedrooms and often going through a bedroom to get to the rear of the house. In this project we opened the wall between kitchen and living room, enlarged the main bath eliminating a small hallway, vaulted the ceilings in kitchen and master bedroom adding skylights. We added a small bath where there once was an odd walk in closet. Leveled the kitchen floor, new cabinets and floor tile. The project also included a complete new roof and redesigned front porch creating better access to the driveway. If you are struggling with what to do with your dysfunctional bungalow let us step in and design your project.
living room towards kitchen
Wyoming rebuild
This project was in Kemmerer Wyoming, fall 2007. The front deck was falling down and had a poor design. We redesigned and completely rebuilt. The asbestos siding was in bad condition. We removed the siding, covered the house in building wrap, applied new siding and painted. Also replaced all windows and interior trim front and rear doors. We removed garbage from the yard and created better drainage to keep water flowing away from the house. New garage doors also.
#1 before remodel
progress
ready!
This project took about 2 1/2 months and it sold as we were doing the finish moldings.
Commerical interiors
I love doing commercial interiors. I usually assist with design as well as the construction.
Reception counter
The curved oak baseboard is created by using many small pieces glued and nailed and then sanding. The laminated front is bent over an MDF frame. The curved frame is made by many small pieces glued and nailed together then sanded. Auto body filler is used to create the smoothly curved sub-surface. The top is solid surface by Staron.
Maple based counter
This is a simple work station of laminate over MDF. We always make sure that the legs have strong structural supports unseen under the counter top.
Framing homes
Framing examples from the Park City, Utah area
craning a beam
beams set
roof rafters on beams
