30169658 215 Great Building Tips

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25 years of great

CHAPTERS

Drywall 32

r Repair

r lnstallation

r Strategy

r Tidy Application

r Prep& Cleanup

r Rules

r Roofs

r Walls

r Floors

ElFinish arpentry6

rRules

r Cutting& Coping

r Installing rim'.

r Construction

r lnstal lat ion

r EfficiencyGuideline

2t DRYWALLL, Z REPAIR

a4 H.MEMADEI I MrrERLAMPs

.orrrf,i.tiluoll4

Painting 40

Framing 48

Cabinets 7A

www.finehome u d ng com



Mechanicalystems80

r Electrical

r plumbing

DEPARTMENT

108

Editor'sNote

Benches

& Sawhorseslmproved sawhorse,Multipurpose art,

Knockdownsaw stand

Doors& WindowsRoutinghinge mortises,

Solowindow nstallation

EnergyEfficiencyCutting rigid nsulation,

lnsulated eaders

Ti l ingTechniques

Accuratediagonal i lecuts,Removing broken

ti le, Applying atexgro.ut

Math& MeasuringArch ayout,Measuring

odd shapes

TheThuntonPressInspiration for hands-on ivingo

6

B

r Roofing

r Siding

r Trim

Stringers

r Treads& Risers

r Rail ings

Outdoor paces102

. becks

r Porches

r Patios

28

11 6

Exteriors 86

Stairs 96

al al{lf DRYWALL-rAPE

^ I ( r D | S P E N S E R- -



editor'snote

Welcome othe tailgateparty

AN OLD-TIMERONCE TOLD ME that the key to working effi-

ciently on any building project is to avoid stupid mistakes. I think

he had the answer to half the equation. Knowing that you should

measure a board twice before cutting it once and that you should

remove masking tape before the sun bakes it onto the window is

important. But it's the clever solutions to common construction

problems that make up the other half of the equation.

Builders are a resourceful, gregarious lot. They delight in com-

ing up with ingenious ways to do things faster, with greater

accuracy,and typically with tools and materials already on hand.

Luckily,builders like to share their ideas, whether standing in th e

checkout line at the hardware store or sitting on a tailgate with a

favorite beverage in hand at the end of the day.

For the past 25 years, Fine Homebuilding has

encouraged readers to submit their gems of use-

ful wisdom. The ideas are presented in ou r "Tips

& Techniques" column, where builders offer up

their job-site brainstorms, and they're scattered

throughout articles and other departments.

This special collection brings together some of

the best advice we've received addressing both

halves of the working-smarter equation. Here,

you willfind professional-grade guidance on

how to avoid mistakes and how to work more

efficiently, taken from a variety of feature articles on topics such

as framing, drywall, and painting. You also will find a wide range

of tips across he entire spectrum of tasks that make up this

occupation and this passion that we call home building.

ff you'd like to find ou t more about Fine Homebuilding, please

turn to p.121 fo r more information, or check out ou r Web site

at www.finehomebuilding.com. And if you've got a tip that you'd

like to share, send it in. Join the party.

-{harles Miller, special-issues editor

Editor

Kevin lreton

ExecutiveArt DirectorRobert Goodfellow

Special-lssuesditorCharlesMiller

ExecutiveEditor.fim Snyder

Senior Editor CharlesBickford

AssociateEditors

DanielS. Morrison,

Brian Pontolilo

Assistant Editors

Justin Fink,

Christopher Ermides,John Ross

SeniorCopy/ProductionEditor

ChrisHoelck

Copy/Producti on Editor Julie Risini

Deputy Art DirectorsDan Thornton, Marne A. Mayer

Art AssistantKrysta 5. Doerfler

AdministrativeAssistant

MaureenFriedman

ContributingEditors

Scott McBride, Rick Arnold,Mike Guertin,Scott Gibson, Gary M. K

IndexerHarriet Hodges

Publisher

Tim Schreiner

AdministrativeAssistant

Christina Glennon

Sr .MarketingManager

Carolyn Turoczi

SingleCopy SalesManager

Mark Stiekman

AdvertisingSalesManager

John Dyckman

CorporateAccountsManager

Judy Caruso

SeniorNationalAccountManagers

Joel Burger,JamesSpangenberg

NationalAccount Managers.

Charles Howe, Wendy Baxter,

MichelleErca

Ad SalesSupportAssociate

Sharon Zagata

FineHomebuildingBooks& VideosExecutiveEditor,Home building

Steve Culpepper

F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Photo:CharlesMil ler

Printed in the USA



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READER ERVICEO.46

G R E A T B U I L D I N G T I P S 2 0 0 6



enches&sawhorses

The mprovedsawhorse:t has ips

My work as a carpenter who specializes n repairing and replacing exterior trim means

that I spend a lot of time fussing with long workpieces that have to be planed to fit.

As shown in the drawing below, I made some simple modifications to my sawhorses to

make the planing go a little easier.

First, I cut the ends of the sawhorse crossbars o create little liplike ledges on their ends

that are wide enough to support a piece of 1x stock on edge. Second, I bored f -in.-dia.

holes in the sawhorse crossbars to accommodate the stationary jaw of a bar clamp.

To use, I simply rest the workpiece on the horse's lips, clamp the stock to the cross'

bars, and plane away. - J O H N M I C H A E L D A V I S N e w O r l e a n s

2x4sawhorsecrossbars

Lip supportsworkpiece.

TheThuntonPressInspiration for hands-on livingo

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Lewis,JayLigouri.

A safer step stoolI've been a remodeler and a

handyman for more than 20 years

no% and in that time,I've really

come to appreciate the simple

perfection of my little step stool.

Itt made entirely out of scraps

rescued from the burn pile.

The thing I like best about my

little stool is its stability. Becausethe sidesare tapered, it's a lot

harder to tip over rhan a stool with

straight sides. ts l4-in. height

makes the stool narrow enough to

passbetween stud walls framed on

16-in.centers,but still tall enough

for rne to reach the top of a wall

in a room with 8-ft. ceilings.

_ M I K E N I E M E Y E R

Lawrenceburg,nd .

%-in. plywood

sides and top,

screwed and

g lued

1 4 n .

Rubbershoes

Holes in sawhorse crossbars

provide purchase for bar clamps.

F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Drawings: harlesMil ler



arketing: Dennis O'Brien, Patrick Cozens,Keri DeGross,

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Removable

casters fi t

in plastic

sleeyes.

C O N T I N U E D

Multipurpose cartTo move heavy or awkward items around a iob site, use his

small cart consistingof a l2-in. by l8-in. plywood base,2x2

curbs,and casterwheels.

As shown in the drawing below,I use he sort of casterswith

stems hat fit into plasticsleeves. y drilling right through the

curb, these sleeves an be slipped in from the top or bottom.Foam or carpet padding is great when I have ro move items like

vanities.The cart alsomakes a dandy mechanics-style crawler

Padded side

for accessing he under-

sideof sinks or lavatories,

and it'll scootaround fo r

low-level work on outlets

or baseboards.

With the recessed ide

of the cart up, I drag my

compressoraround,lug

paint pails, and move

bucketsof drywall mud.- P E T E RB L A C K M O R E

SaltSpringsland, .C.,

Canada

15 n. --->l

2-in'-dia' asters 'v

T[iple-duty stoolMy little work stool staysput,

or scootsaround on wheels,

depending on what I need t for.

As illustrated in the drawing

above, he stool s accompaniedby a dolly with 2-in.-dia. swivel-

type casters.

Most of the time.I use he srool

without it s dolly. Its l\Vz-in.

height is enough ro reachg\Vo

Notches fo r stool legs

of the construction iobs nsid

the house. It's also useful for

small children to reach the s

I put the stool on its dolly

when I want to scoot aroundclose o the floor for nailing

drywall finishing. It's even g

for waxing the car.

- J O S E P HS . K O W A L E

Ridley ar

,81h

in .

\zF-u /----:

II

1O1/zin.

II

It_1t:l'

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READER ERVICEO. 9

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READER ERVICEO. 35



Double-duty miter-sawI upgraded my miter saw

recently, and that got me look-

ing at commercially available

stands. Then I wondered

whether I already had com-ponents that could be recon-

figured into an acceptablesaw

stand. I did a little improvising,

and now I've got what I think

is a more adaptable saw stand

than any commercial unit I

reviewed_and it didn,r cosr

me anything extra.

The basic stand consistsof an

extendable aluminum scaffold

plank held up by a pair of fold-

ing sawhorses. used Werner's

PA 208 plank (Werner Ladder

Co.; 888-5233370). It weighs

401b., s 14 n. wide, an d

extends from 8 ft. to 13 ft., but

any similar plank will work.I

C O N T I N U E D

benchaffixed a power strip to

one of the sawhorses.

I made a pair of sup-

ports to hold up the ends

of long piecesof stock.The supports are mirror

images of each other,

and like the chopsaw,

the supports are

anchored to the plank

with C-clamps. Capping

the edges hat contact

the lumber with alumi-

num angle stock reduces

friction and makes the

rig easier o use.

Extendable aluminum

scaffo ld p lank

Right-sidesupport/stop

Aluminumangle

2 in .by 4 in .

Left-side

support/stoclamped oplank

\.__4

Winand

by 12in./

1 n.by4 in.by15 n .

Support/stopin mult iple-cutoff mode

Each support includesa movable stop that can be

raised above the support when

I need to make multiple cuts

(top detail),even up to 11 t.

long. For one-off pieces,I ower

Height o matchmiter-saw ase

the stop to the position where

its vertical edge can be aligned

with the saw's ence (bottom

de t a i l ) . - LARRYJAcoBSoN

Seattle

Verticaledge ofsupport/stop nfence-alignmentmode

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1 2 F T N E H O M E B U I L D I N G



Slot or -- .crossbar

\

C O N T I N U E D

Roof framerrs sawhorseNo matter how careful you are, the metal fasteners n

sawhorses ventually encounter a spinning sawblade.

The inevitable result is aggravation and lost money on

a new blade. The drawing

shows the kind of sawhorses

I use when I cut roofs. The

design s simple, and the

material is scrapplywood.

Best of all. thesehorses

require no fasteners. nter-

locking plywood pieces tore

flat in the back of a truck,

and the crossbarcutout

can be adjusted to accom-

modate any piece of l umber

adequate o the task. I've

found that with a load of2xl0 rafters, need at least

a2x6 crosspieceo support a

dozen or more rafters.

_ W I L L I A MR A Y N S

Hurricane-tiesawhorseI stole the idea for this

sawhorse from a local

road crew. The horses

can be taken apart

for transport and

quickly reassembled

with a screw gun. The

knockdown connec-

tions all are made by

way of metal framing

connectors.

At thetop of the 2x legs,a pair

of hurricane iesacceptshe

Hurricane ies,

both s ides

Cut slots toplywood thickness.

Equaloheight ofin PartA

slot

crossbar.Below the crossbar

rail screwed o joist hangers

the leg brace stiffens the hors

I made a pattern out of har

board that gives me the profi

of the standard sawhorse.With the pattern,I can whip

up a new set from wood scra

whenever I need a worktable

- M I C H A E L D e Y O

Chil l iwack,B.C. ,Canunset,Maine

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Strapsmadeof 2-in.-wide trips of 3/q-in.

plywoodattachedwith 172-in. crews

Puttinga new window in an old brownstoneIn 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 windows. These units are custom-made to be % in. narrower

than the brick opening, with a brick molding already attached. In theory, they drop

into the opening and are strapped to the interior-wall framing with vendor-supplied

galvanized straps. Caulk the brick moldings to the bricks, and you're done.

But with solid-brick walls, what do you strap the new window to? When old windows

are removed, the area once occupied by the sash weights is now a large void. Rather

than make a mountain of

unstable framing in the void, I

improve on the strap idea. As

shown in the drawing, I screw

2-in.-wide strips of 3A-in.ply-

wood to the sides, bottom, and

top of the window. Now I can

attach the plywood strips to the

stud wall, shimming as neces-

sary to square to the window.

The strips then are cut flush

with the studs.

The strips also serve as sup-

port for jamb extensions or

drywall. Before installing the

drywall, I stuff the sash-weight

voids with insulation.

_ M A T T H A U S M A N N

Brooklyn, N.Y.

- \ , )

New window

r\ Stud wallBrickmolding

*s

shim as -/

Space ormerlyoccupie'd

by sashweights

:'-t::\\

N. \ . \ .,\rri.

necessary.

F IN E H OME B U ILD IN G

Once heyareaffixed toframing, cutstraps lush

with stud

20

S,ra "tt jVg

plywood trap

Drawings, xceptwhere noted: CharlesMiller.Photo his page: CharlesBick

Use a nail to markthe center of thestrike-plate holeLocating a passageset

in a door isn't too tough.

Heights are standard, an

many manufacturers pro-

vide a template with the

hardware. Locating the

latch hole in the jamb can

be more difficult. Here's

the most accurate way I'v

found to do it.

Close the door, and hold

tight to the stop. Then pu

a 6d nail through the %-i

pilot hole in th e door edg

unti l i t pierces he door

jamb; a pry bar provides

leverage if necessary.Now

drill holes for the latch an

the strike using arsAr-in.

spadebit. (A %-in. bit istoo small for most latch

mechanisms, and the trole

left by a l-in. bi t won't be

covered completely by the

latch plate.)

- T O M O ' B R

New Milford,Co



%-in.plywood

Attach hinge leafto plywood.

Routerbasefollows template'scurue as it cutshinge mortise.

(drawing4).

FINE HOMEBUILDING

C O N T I N U E D

Routing hinge mortisesI had a fair number of doors hat needed anging,

and I wanted to take advantageof my router and

my 3/t-in.-dia.straightbit to makequick work of the

hinge mortises. had tried freehanding he mortises

with mixed results.So decided o make the hinge-

mortising templateshown n the drawingsbelow.

I startedwith a pieceof Vz-in.plywood, to which

I attachedhe eaf of a radiusedbutt hinge aligned

to the edgeof the plywood as t will beplacedon

the door or jamb (drawing l). Using the hinge as

a guide for the router'sbase, routed a shallow

groove n the plywood.

The insideedgeof this shallow

groovebecamehe cutline hat I fol-

6n

d-rT:v_..- .1

(

f

t

lowed with my jigsaw as I made a circular cut in

the template (drawing 2). Next,I cut the template

along the dotted lines (as shown in the drawing) to

make it more convenient to maneuver.

To cut a hinge mortise,I screwed the template to a

iamb and followed the curved edge of the plywood

with the router's base drawing 3). I used the same3/q-in.straight bit, set at a depth equal to the thick-

nessof a hinge leaf, to make the cuts. By the way,I

placed the screws that hold the template to the jamb

so that their holes will be covered by the doorstop

Router base

22

-RAy FREUDCherryHi l l , .J . and moved on. -SCOTT BRUCE GrandBlanc,M

Screw hinge leaf to

door stile, and cut

around its perimeterwith a utility knife.

Chiseling hinge mortisesI t ypically use a router and a template to cut mortise

or to enlarge existing mortises for new door hinges.

But for small jobs where it doesn't make sense o ca

along a lot of gear, I use a utility knife and a chisel

for the same purpose. First, I screw the hinge to the

door stile in the desired position. Then I score aroun

the edges of the hinge with the knife as shown i n th

drawing above. With the hinge removed, I chisel th

mortise to the thickness of the hinge. Now I can

reattach the hinge using the same screw holes.

- D A N IE L E . H ILL l l G r i s w o ld

Solo windowinstallationI had to install windows

in a new house by

myself. First, I cut a

couple of 2x4s about 8 in.

longer than the widest

window. Then I mea-

sured the distance that

the windows projected

from the house and cut

four blocks equal to

this distanceplus %in.l

screwed one block to the end of each2x4.

Working from outside,I installed a vinyl window

placed the 2x4s over it, screwing them to the wall on

sides. Now I was free to go inside and level the bottor

the window and center it in its opening with shims.

extra Ycin.letme move the window without interfere

from the 2x4s. When the window was centered and

level,I went back out and nailed it in place,beginnin

with the bottom flange. Then I pulled out the crossb

Crossbarwith blocks hwindow during i nstalla



C O N T I N U E D

A stronger ioint where thecasing meets the stool

Common practice is to nail up throughthe stool into side casings.But biscuits

hold better than end-grain nails and

won't come out through the exposed sur-

face of the side casing.

-JOSEPH BEALS ll Marshf ie ldi l ls , ass.

Hanging heavy doorsWhen I have o musclea solid-core oor

into or out of its hinges,I eta drywall

lift (a ool designed or plac ingdrywall

on walls)do the heavy ifting. Unlike a

flat bar,a drywall lift features n ntegral

fulcrum (so don't have o set t on top of

a2x4 to get everage) nd a stirrup that

permitshands-free peration.As shown

in the drawing, when I'm ready o hang

the door,I slip a toe hrough the stirrup,

usemy foot to center he lift under the

door,and effordessly aise hedoor nto

position. You can ind these ools at the

big drywall-supplyoutlets hat cater o

the pros.Expect o spend rom $15 o $20

for one.

By the way, he sharpmetal edges f the

lift canscratchwood surfaces, o usuallycover hem with a ayerof duct tape.

_ T O M O ' B R I E N

New Milford,Conn.

likea Elayour Bas

rnsu[arcba[[pane[sfrom real nsulations the key to a comfortableand

basement.OvrX InsulatedSub-Flooring ile and Wall Pan30 yearsof proven echnology.The engineeredwood pan

in combinationwith STYROFOAMinsulation,an helpprotectyour investmentagainstwater and mildew.OvrXwill a

r" *"!.

ffi #ffiffitffi:i'lriL"T"1**"trT"JlHt""#ft*nREADER ERVICE O.54


Swim or exercise gainsta smoothcurrentadjustableto any speedor abili ty. Ideal for swimming,wateraerobics,ehabilitationand un. No traveling,no crowded pools, no heavy chlorine.

The 8'x 15' EndlessPool@ s simpleto maintain,economical o run,and easy o install insideor out.Modular constructionmeansmanysizesand optionsare available.

efreaOyown a pool?Ask about.n. (to S T L A N F

READER ERVICE O.62



C O N T I N U E D

Thimming foam flush to studsI use foam insulation from an aerosoi can

when insulating around rough window and

door openings.The next day,I trim all the

excess oam away from the wall and the win-

dow frame with a mastic trowel (drawing

above). Its serrated edgessaw through the

foam,leaving the foam flush with the wall.

-KEITH METIERHighland ark,l l .

TWo ways tofix a door thatwon't latchIf the door contactsthe

latch-side stop at the top

but not at the bottom (or

the other way around)

and is difficult to latch,

the door is warped, or the

jamb is twisted.

- S C O T T M c B R I D E

Sperryville, a.

; ' i' t l * l

fTi'il; l '

t l' . 1 ' ,

' irf{i

Fix 1:Moving thehingecancornpensatefor warpingotwisting. A docanbe coaxe

into closingsmoothlybyshifting eithethe top orbottom hingeoutward at thjamb.

Fix 2:lf moving thehinge doesn'fixthe probleentirely, t mabe necessaryto move thedoorstopso tit contacts theentire latch sof the door.

WARPEDDOOR

TWISTEDJAMB

READER ERVICEO. 8


READER ERVICEO.12



Wall-sheathingnsulation topsWhen I switched to blown-in cellulose insulation in the attics of

new homes, I saw the trouble installers had stapling cardboard

insulation stops between the rafters or trusses above the exterior-

wall plates to keep insulation from falling into the soffit.

I came up with the idea of extending the exterior-wall sheath-

ing above the top plate to become an integral insulation stop.

Instead of trimming 1 ft. off the last row of sheathing to end it

flush with the top plate, I let it run above the plate. I calculated

the height between the bottom and top truss chords at the point

above the outside face of the exterior wall. Then I deducted 1!zin.to leave a ventilation slot between the top of the wall sheathing

and the underside of the roof sheathing. and cut off the rest.

After nailing on the wall sheathing, I marked the roof-truss lay-

out along the top edge of the sheathing and squared down the

lines to the top-plate level, Before lifting the walls, I cut 132-in.

slots for each truss to drop into. The slots quickly positioned

each truss and allowed me to float the walls beneath until they

could be tweaked straight; then I could nail down the trusses.

Expanding spray foam seals any gaps between the truss and

the wall sheathing so that no insulationslips by. The extra work

saved me more than it cost me in time because the insulators

didn't have to charge for crawling on their bellies to staple

cardboard stops. -MIK E GUERTIN EastGreenwich,R. l .

A 2x6 providessheathingsupport.

2x4 stud fordrywal l blocking

Entire corner cavitycan be insulated.

1x3o rplywoodstrip

A hybrid corner that eliminates therrnal bridgrngContributing editor Mike Guertin a2x6 on the exterior corner and na

long hasbeenconcernedwith exterior a2x4 anda lx3, or a strip of plywoo

corners,which canbenotoriouscold together o form the nterior corne

cavities. lthough thermalbridging is Insulation hroughout he cornerca

a concernalong he entire wall, fram- ity eliminateshermal bridging by

ing alternatives uchasdouble-stud breakingcontactbetween he shea

wallsare not cost-effective. orners, ing and the drywall. Guertin says

on the other hand,carry essoad han that thecorner still providesgood

a typical stud and are structurally support or top platesand for nailin

more flexible. Guertin is experiment- (Although Guertin's building inspe

ing with a2x6 corner (photo left) that tor approved the corner, check with

can be insulated completely. He uses your local inspector before trying it.

%-in.OS Bsheathing

Fiberglassinsulation

1/z-in.

drywall

F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Drawings:CharlesMiller.Photo:Scott Ph



Cutting rigtd insulationFoam-insulation oardsarehigh in R-value,

but they alsocanbe a nuisanceo cut---{spe-

cially oam boards hat are 2 in. thick. A

utility knife won't cut deeplyenough.A

kitchenknife works,but not very wellbecausehe triangularcross ection f the

bladebindsas he cut deepens. aws eave

roughedges nd spewstatically harged

insulationparticleshat cling to everything.

A2-in. putty knife doesa grear ob of

cutting foam nsulation.The trick is to

sharpenone side of

the blade. Teamed

with a straightedge,

a sharpened putty

knife cuts through

foam like butter,and its wide blade

keeps the cut from

wandering.

_ C H R I S L L I S

Brewster,Mass.

of

Insulated headers forcold climatesI've seena lot of different ways to

make built-up headers, rom the2x

traditional to the bizarre.The tra-

ditional method sandwiches Vz-in.

plywood between 2x material until

it matches the depth of the wall

studs. Unfortunately, this causes

two problems. First, the header

often isn't the exact thickness of

the wall, and when trim time rolls

around, you have unhappy carpen-

ters. Second, this kind of header has

no insulative value.

The drawing at right shows the

header that I've been assembling to

solveboth problems. Ir's essentiallyabox beam with plywood tops and bot-

toms, and sidesmade either of 2x or, my

favorite, laminated lumber. The result

is a header precisely the same dimen-

sion as the wall and a continuous void

the engthof the header or insulatio

My engineerhad no problemswith

the structuralcapabilityof this desig

The key s to provideadequate ailinthroughthe plywood nto the sides.

these eaders,Iused8d nailsspaced

the same enters s he perimeterna

in our plywoodwall sheathing.-B ILL WELCH Jackson,W

C O N T I N U E D

knife

Sharpen

Foam

insulati

8d na it\"[i\ \

Ir\\i \ \, t \ \

['\L l . t

N.,)

READER ERVICE O. 16


READER ERVICE O. 15

30



Repairand how o

5 commonproblemsfix them ByMyRoN.FERGU

racksor holes n dry-

wal l , wet or stained

drywall, peeling oint

tape,poppednails or

screws. Any of these problems

means a drywall repair is inevita-

ble. I know that some people gri-

mace when faced with a dreaded

chore like fixing a hole in drywall.

The framing never seems o be in

the right place for attaching a

patch, and the quarter-inch layer

of joint compound used to fi x it

looks nearly as obvious as the gap-

ing black hole, except now drywall

dust coats the furniture and the

wall needsto be repainted.

Unlike most people in my busi-ness,I love walking into a drywall-

repair job. I savor the look on a

customer's face when I say,"Sure,

no problem. I ca n fix this in no

fime." The more severe he dam-

age, the more gratifying the look.

Over the past two decades, must

have faced every possible type of

drywall repair, and I have gotten

good no t only at patching holes

but alsoat permanently concealing

repairs and doing them as quickly

and easilyas possible.

MyronR. Ferguson www.that

drywallguy.com),uthorof Dry-

wall: Professional echniques

fo r GreatResu/tsTh eTaunton

Press, 005), ivesand works

in Galway,N.Y.Photosby Zach-

aryGau lk in .

@^ingpoppednails ndscrews

Nailsand screws ear heir headswhenthe dryrall panel is not fastenedfirmly

against he framing,when the framing

shrinksor twists, or when the wall or

ceiling s struckor moved slightly dur-

ing remodelingwork.

Protrudingfastenersare easy o fix.

Whatever the causeof the telltale

bulge, called a pop, the best remedy is

to refasten he panel near the popped

nail or screw. usuallypresson the

panel next to the pop and drive a dry-

wall screw nto the stud aboutlVzin.

away (sometimeson both sides),draw-

ing the panel toward the framing. I

removethe popped fastener or drive

it back nto the framing.

Covering he dimples is easy. f the

paper surfaceof the drynvallhasnot

been damaged, us t fill the depres-

sion with three thin coatsof joint com-pound, etting the compounddry

between coats, followed by light

sandingwith 1SO-grit andpaper.f

the paper has orn or if the core of

the drywall is damaged, t's best to

removeall loosematerial, il l the

holewith joint compound,and then

cover the areawith fiberglass-mesh

tape. (Youcan usepaper tape, but I

prefer self-adheringmesh ape.)This

approachalsoworks for any hole

2 in. wide or less.

Fill dimples with three thin coatsof compound, but use tape if thesurtace s damaged.

Refastendrywall to the underlyingfram-ing near the popped nail or screw.

32 FINE HOMEBUILDING



2 rtl l ing nd aping racks

Chip away loose material,andcut a V-shapedgroove along th e length of the crack.

Cracks in drywall usually are caused by structural

movement, such as the settl ing that happens in

new homes. Most often, cracksoccur on a seam, but

sometimes they can be found in th e middle of panels

over doorways or windows. (l n modular homes, cracks

in th e middle of panels can occur as a result of trans-

portation an d placement on a foundation.) In new

construction, I recommend waiting at least si x months

before repairing cracks to give the structure timeto settle.

Most cracksgo completely through the panel, so

just repair ing the surface s not enough. The first step,

as in all repairs, s to remove any loose material with

a putty knife or utility knife. Next, cut a V-groove

along the crack,opening i t up aboutVzin. and go ing

almost completely through the panel to the paper on

the back. Fil l the void with joint compound (for more

about choosing oint compound, see p. 35), an d cover

it with mesh or paper tape. Then smooth the area

with two or three coats of joint compound, blending

it into the surrounding area and l ightly sanding after

the last coat. l' m careful o let the compound dry

between coats.

'ffiffi,

'&

Fillthe groove with joint compound,and

apply sel{-adhering ape over the crack.

Applvthree hincoatsof

compound,

f eatheringit into the

rest of thewall.

#-,

frr



3t"tching an old electrical-boxpening

Whenan outlet or a switch s eliminated, he

box may be removedor left in the wall. f the

box is left behind,makesure here are no live

electricalwires n it . (Wiredboxesshouldnot be

coveredwith drywalh hey shouldbe closedwith

a coverplate and remainaccessible.)Start by beveling he outsideedgesof the hole

with a utility knife o a 45ochamferall around.

Next, cut a drywallpatch he samesizeas he

beveledopening,and bevelback he edges o

fi t the hole. usea utility knife o adjust he fit

of the patchuntil itt snug.The patchworks best

when it sinksslightlybelow the wall plane, eav-

ing room for a thin layerof joint compound.

Spreada generous ayerof compoundonto the

edgesof the opening(or the patch),and press

the patch n place.Thencover he seamswith

meshor paperape, and two or three coatsofcompound.Sandafter the lastcoat.

Bevelthe edges of the wall opening,then cut a matching patch and bevelits edges.

Add joint compound to the opeing or the patch, then press thepatch into place.

Repairingwater-damage. 1 .

ceilrngs

A water leak usually unsalong he top of dryw

until tfindsa seamor corner,often looseningtape and the joint compound o createan exit.

Damage o the drywall tself s generallynot exte

sivebecausehe water doesn'tsit for too long.

Seams, owever,usuallyneed some work. Onthe leakhasbeen repaired, emove oose ape

and oint compound. f the drywall s loose, t ca

be refastened o the framing with drywall screw

Cover he seamswith paper or mesh ape; then

apply two or three coatsof joint compound.

Drywall saturated with water may loosenandsag. t will have o dry thoroughlybefore t can

be reattached.However, aggingareaswill be

difficult to reattachwhen dry because he dryw

can ake on a new shape. sometimes an ix sabefore the drywall dries by supporting it with a

temporarysupport or with furring strips asten

to the framing.Removinganywet insulation o

that it candry is alsoa good idea.

Aftermasking urrounding reas,emoveany oosedrywalland joint ape.



Cover seams with meshor paper tape,followed by three coats of compound.

Paint the damaged area with a stain-blocking primer to prevent stains frombleeding through repairs.

Apply compound o taped seams;cover with three coats.

CHOOSE HERIGHT OINTCOMPOUND

Thereare two broad categoriesof compound:drying and setting. Within

each of those categories,different mixes are available hat dry faster or

slower, softer or harder,depending on your needs.

Drying-type ompound

Most drying-type compoundsare premixed and ready to use

right out of the bucket, but there

are different types. Taping com-

pound is used o embed the joint

tape for the first coat and to fill

for the second coat. lt is strong

and doesn't shrinkmuch.Topping

compound is a lighter-weight

compound hat is used or the

thin finishing coat. lt feathers out

nicely,dries quickly,and sands

smooth.All-purpose

ompoundcan be used or all stages. t's

availablen most lumberor hard-

ware stores. For small repairs, f

you don't want to buy more than

one bucket,usea topping or an

all-purposemix.

Whatever varie$ryou use, all

drying-type compounds require

an application emperatureof

at least55"F (thiscondition

applies o surface,compound,

and air temperatures). he

compoundmust dry thoroughly

between coats; drying times are

affected by temperature,

humidity,and airflow.

Setting'tyPe compound setting-type ompounds, hichhardenWhile drying-type compounds quickly,aregreat or repairwork.

cure as water evaporates,setting-

type compounds harden by chemical eaction.Setting times vary from

20 minutes o six hours,depending on the type used.Becausehese com-

poundshardenchemically, umidity and cooler emperatureshave ittle

effect on setting time.

Setting-type compounds are great for quick repairs,but they can bedifficult to sand.I like to use a lightweight setting compoundfor the

first two coats beforefinishing with an all-purpose or a topping) drying-

type compound.

The big drawback of setting-Upe compounds,however, s the inconve-

nienceof mixing them yourself.On the plus side,you can mix only what

you need and store the rest dry. For all but the smallestbatches, mix the

compound in a S-gal.bucket, using a mixing paddle attachmentwith a Vz-in.

electric drill. With setting-typecompounds,additivescan be mixed into the

batch to acceleratedrying time even more.

GREATBUILDING TIPS 2006



5Repairingargeholes

When people have o repair

largeholes hat fall between

wall studs or ceiling oists,

they often cut the drywall

back o the framing o

createa spot for fasteninga patch.The problem s that

the repair he n becomes

much arger.

I try to keep the repair

as smallas possibleby not

attaching he patch o the

framingwhen he damage

is betweenstuds.For round

or square penings such s

those hat are created

when a light fixture is

removed), he patchcanbe measured nd cut to fit

precisely. or oddly shaped

holes, simplycut a patch

slightly arger ha n he dam-

aged area,hold it over the

hole,and trace around t

with a pencil; hen I cut out

the damagedarea o match

the patch.

To strengthen he repair,

I use urring strips o hold

th e patch. cut the 1x2stripsabout6 in. onger

than he holeand sl ide

eachstrip into the open-

ing, fastening t on both

ends with drywall screws.

Th e patch s fastened o

the furring strips with dr

wall screws,making t a

firm part of th e panelan

flush with the surface.T

method makes he patc

easy o conceal nd unlito crackor loosen.

To ape the patch, irst f

any arge gapswith joint

compound; hen coveral

the edgeswith meshor

paper ape. Because ap

Make a squareor rectangular patchslightly arger than the damaged area.

Hold the patch over the damaged areaand trace its outline onto the wall.

--"t'n--

With a drywall saw, cut along the pencilline, then test the patch until it fits.


::.*\*.*=*ii"

'---* t' ,*15

Strengthen the repair by installing 1x2 furring str4rs inside the wall cavity. Strips shouldbe 6 in. longer than the opening and fastened at both endswith drywall suews.

J



tape is stronger than mesh

tape, I recommend it for

larger, more difficult repairs

and those that are attached

directly to wall framing.

Cover the tape and patchwith three thin layers of

jo in t compound, making

sure to feather out the

edges properly and not to

build up the patched areas

too much.

Repairs hat span wall

framing can be a real test

because of t he large surface

area they involve. I start by

removing the damaged area

with a utility saw, cutting to

th e wall framing. (For cuts

perpendicular to framing, I

first mark an outl ine so that

th e patch area wil l have

square corners.)

Because cut along the

inside of the framing, I have

to attach 1x2 furring strips

or 2x4s to studs for fasten-

in g th e patch. I make sure

that the str ips are flush with

or sl ightl y back from the

back edge of the drywall

surface. f possible, I us e

on e piece of drywall for the

repair. I leave about a 1/a-in.

gap to avo id damaging the

edges of the patch.

THREECOATSOFCOMPOUNDMAKEREPAIRS ISAPPEAR

The final step in all drywall repairs is

to coat the patch with at least three

(and sometimes four) layers of joint

compound-letting each coat dry in

between-followed by a l ight sand-

ing. No matter how carefully I patch

a sect ion of wa l l , the tape and jo in t

compound form a high spot or bump.

A poorly feathered patch can be as

not iceab leas the damage i t was

meant to concea l .

Th e key to avoiding an unsightly

high spot is spreading and feathering

the layers of joint compound over a

large area without building up excesscompound on any high areas. l ike to

begin each coat by a pplying a liberal

amount of compound to the entire area

an d then feathering the outside edges

first, working the compound smoothly

toward the thin layer left in the center.

The first coat should be as thin as pos-

sible while sti l l hiding the tape.

After th e first coat of compound is

dry, I use my trowel as a straightedge

to see how far the high spot projects

f rom the p lane of the wa l l . The b igger

and more not iceable he hump, the

more area I wil l need to cover with

joint compound to feather it into the

rest of the wall. (For small patches, I

just rub my hand over the repai r to

fee l how wel l the high spot is d isap-

pearing with each coat.)

The second coat is a fi l ler coau I fi l l

in any voids, feathering the outside

edges whi le keeping the compound

very thin on any high spots. When the

second coat is dry, I check the high

spot again (b y hand or by trowel)and apply more compound to w iden

the area further and to fi l l in voids or

unfeathered edges. This third coat of

jo in t compound increases he diame-

ter of the patched area even more.

Depending on the size of the repair,

each coat wil l f eather out 6 in. to

12 in. from the previous coat.

Attach the patch to the furring with drywall screws.

Spread a thin layer of compound over the seams, and applymeshor paper ape.

; . : ' : ' !..|,.....

( ; I t F , \ T I J U I I - I ) I \ ( ; T I I ) S ] I I { I t ,



lnstallation

A self-mudding

drywall-tapedispenser

Peoplehavegivenme someprettystrangeookswhen I carrymy drywall-

tapingmachineontoa ob site.But

the machine'sooksare deceiving.As

shown n thedrawing at right,I built

theunit outof scrap2x4s,a2x6rand

1-gal.plasticbucket.The bucket s

affixed o the2x6crossbarwith four

shortscrews.

I made wo slits n the sideof thebucketwhere hey engagehe bottom.

The slitsare on opposite ides. he rear slit shouldbe iust argeenough o

allow drywall tape o passhrough it. The front slit shouldbeslightlywider

to allow both the tapeand a thin layerof ioint compound o passhrough it.

A roll of paper apehangs rom a2x4 upright toward thebackof therig.

I run thetape hrough the slits n the bucket,and thenI fill thebucketwith

thinned oint compound.Now I'm ready o pull the tapeout to thedesired

length, op it off with a razorknife,and apply t directly o thewall-no

premudding necessary.

Usingthis setup,wo of us tapedan 1100-sq.-ft.ousen five hours.

-cHRls MATISHAKelburne,l ta. , anada

DrywallkickerI hang drywall once n a while, but

not oftenenough o iustify nvest-

ing in a real drywall "kicker,"alevermade ust for lifting a piece

ofdrywall. Instead, modified

my pry bar by attachinga 3-in.

lengthof l-in.-dia.dowelwith a

bolt throughthe nail-pulling hole

that is countersunkn the dowel.

A little toe pressureifts a drywall

panel2 in. off thefloor._ A N D R E W K I R K

Independence, Calif.

piece ofdowel

rape emerses ith a thin t***i

cdatingof-joint ompound. -y'

2x4 upright

Rollof paper

Bucketofthinned ointcompound

Depthof score

When I slide his toolalong heedgeof a

pieceof drywall, theblades ut from bot

sides,making it quick and easyo remo

uniform strips rom a sheet f drywall.-BRIAN USH af ter

Drawings; CharlesMillcr. Photo: Mike Gucrtin and Randy O'R

-/

Drywalledge trimmer

Our crew uses in-line" framing for walls

to save umber (weight from above bears

directly on studs, and platesare joined with

steel splices).Because his style of framingallows a single top plate, our walls are a

little less han 8 ft. tall. The downside to this

technique is that we have to trim about an

inch off the ends of our drywall. This work

is tedious with a utility knife, and the $25

edge trimmer I bought didn't work very

well. I made my own trimmer by screwing

together some piecesof lx scrap to make

a cutting guide and attached a couple of

"snap-off'utility-knife blades o its top edge.

rF-ie:,-

Blades l ignedwith

1 scrap

;,r.$3-in.- longf -in.-dia.




%o-in.-thickposter-boardstr ips

Ceil ing oists

Invisibledrywall butt joints

During 40 years n the trades,I've had a number of high-

end drywall jobs that required dead-flat ceilings-no

bulges allowed where the ends of the drywall sheetsabut

one another. This method is our crew's solution to the prob-

lem. I've inspected obs that we did 25 yearsago using thi s

method, and you still can't seewhere the butt ioints occur.

This trick starts with a sheet of plywood the same thick-

nessas the dr ywall. First, trim an inch off the width of the

sheet, hen crosscut t into 10equal strips. They will be

9%in. wide by 47 in.long. Next, staplestrips of Vrc-in.-

thick poster board to the long edgesof the plywood strip.

Before raising a drywall panel for installation, screw one

of the plywood strips to the end of the panel. The poster-

board strip goes between the plywood and the drywall. As

the drywall goesup, the butt ends are arranged to fall

etween the ceiling joists.When th e adjacent drywall

anel is screwed to the plywood strip, a shallow dip is cre-ted where the drywall bends over the poster board. This

hallow dip createsa hollow for the tape.

We tape our joints in the usual manner, beginning with

he butt joints. Once that joint compound has dried, we

ape the long edges. ncidentally, a 20-in.-long piece of

IVz-in. aluminum angle is a handy tool for leveling the

of joint compound over rhe butt ends. Using

we never had a joint show up on a punch

at the completion of a job.

-T l M HANSON ndianapo l is

I REMoDELTGTrP

Patchingholes n textured drywall

From ime to time, my work includespatchingholes n

drywall. And if the holesare in textured walls, either

orange-peelor knockdowntexture, I have o set up my

commercialsprayer o retexture the patch. Between

setup and cleanup, hat's a lot of work for a small.job.

As shown n the drawings, 've found a better way.

I begin a patchby applying mesh ape over the hole

(1).Then cover he meshwith all-purpose rlnrall

compound don't use setting-typecompound)applied

with a 4-in. taping knife. This processpatches he hole

but also clogs the crevices hat create he texture (21.

Once he drywall compound hasdried, I sandsmooth

the center of the patch. Then I feather the edges of the

patch with an old toothbrush dipped in warm water anda dry cloth. I work my way around the patch (3), eav-

ing a tapered surface hat makesa gradualtransition

to the smoothly sandedcenter of the patch. To finish, I

preparea mixture of water and all-purposecompound

thin enough to produce a splatter. Next, I suck some

of the mix into a turkey baster and practicesplattering

on a piece of scrapuntil I get the effect I'm looking for.

This step is important: Trialand error is the key to mak-

ing this techniquework. When 've got the right consis-

tency, 'm ready to texture the patch (4).

-DAVIDA. ROJAS asVegas

Gently scrub perimeter of patchwith a moistened toothbrush.

Apply new splatter texturewith a turkey baster,

GR E A TB U ILD IN GTIP S2006

Screws, 5 in. on center

Drywall dips over poster-board strips, creatingarecess or tape and oint



Strategy7 steps o aprofessionalp.int job

BY FRANK SINICROPE

1. PRorEcr HEFLooR

AND PREPTHE WALLSI l ike o moveal l urnitureout or to the centerof the room

and cover t with plastic.To protect the floor, I roll ou t 4-mil

plasticand ape it to the baseboard.Unless 'm painting he

ceiling, t's necessaryo cover only the first 3 ft . or 4 ft. of

f loor from th e wall. Bluemasking ape is besU t adheres o

most surfaces nd peelsoff cleanly or up to 14 days.Th e

green ap e ca nstayon even onger.

Next, I makesurewallsand rim are clean, tain-free, nd

smooth.Nail holes,bumps,and cracks an be patched; f

they're ess han % in.deep, I use ightweightoint compound,

whichdriesquickly. Fo r ips on drywall ep air, ee p. 32).

Essentialpatching to

Use a 6-in. ting knife an

5-in-1 ool fo

wall prep.

os t peop le h i nk t ha t

painting the nterior of a

house sa iob that requiresjust a couple of tools, a high tolerance

for boredom, and very little experience.

Only after they've come to the end of

their messy first jo b do they begin to

wonder about that old guy in painter's

whites they once saw working at some-

one else'shouse. How could he paint an

ent i re room in a seamless lychoreo-

graphed sequence of brush and roller

strokes before hi s second cup of coffee

and no t spill even a drop of paintl I'm

not that old guy yet, but I am a paint-

ing contractor. People always ask me

how they can improve their painting

techniques. If you consi der the act of

painting on par with a trip to the den-

tist, the answers ahead will provide some

Novocain to ease he pain of your next

painting project.

Frank in icropesa paint ing ontrac-

tor in Hawthorne, .J.Photos y

Charles ickford.

ffire

reffircF

@

LongJasting, low-tack

tape is best (3M Corp.;

888-364-3577;

www.3m.com).

F IN E H OME B U ILD IN G



[--*"t*-*,*****']

-tf

4d)*";

saF

-'*t;/'

@fi

"t.,

Easy does i t" Too much pressur-e

on the rol ler wi l l leave l ines n the^ ^ i - . + ^ ^ l l ^ - JP<1 i l L Lc l rVU r UPs ) .

r. i t i ; i i i : i i' i I ] i , : i . .+ i i l { . :< ; ; r- ; , i i i ;;

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: - : . . i i t i | . j r i . l i d i i i ; ,

i i , - . . t , , , , , , . r :' : - . r ' l. t , i r i , i i .p i . : : r- . r- i :.: ;1.

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:: j11 ,' j l ' .,:) : : i ;;, rr,rl; 1 r' -, i u,.: :: .:,'

i : , . - :t i i : , , ' ir f ; I i l ' : ; i : ' t t ) i : r r i i i : t ' , , ; ; . , ; , r . ; ' ;

. r :' l ' i , - . , , - , , i : , r , ; , ' l - 1 , - ,- . '

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. steRTwtNDows N THEND WORKOUTWARD

paint he muntinsof a window first, then move o

e frame.With a 21/z-in.ashbrush, angle he tip

edge and draw the paint along he

with one smooth stroke. lf you're unsure

your techniqueor don't want to bother,you can

glasswith blue tape or scrape he glasshe paint has dried.)Don't apply too much

window frame; also,open and close

e window while t's drying so that it doesn't dry

f the window is paintedshut, carefully un a

blade between he window sashand casing o

. BEcrNpANELED ooRs Ar rHE ToP AND woRK DowN

doors shouldbe primed with a high-quality

eliminatebleed-throughstains.Multiple inish

(usually wo) may be necessaryo get good cover-Ask your paint supplier o tint the color of the primer

as possible o the color of the paint you've cho-

Again, he secret o stopping lap marks s to use a

ast strokewith little paint and light pressure.

r Start by painting at the top of the doot panels irst,

rails, hen stiles.Here, esspaint is better to prevent

wo coats ightlyappliedare better than one heavy

drips or sags.r Be sure o keep the paint's eadingedge wet to pre-

brushmarks.A final light stroke across he panel

he intersections f the railsand stiles

agsand brushmarks.r When you reach he doorknob, useeven esspaint

get a seamless troke pattern.The trick is to brush

he knob with continuousstrokesand avoid

Masking s also an option, as s removing he hard-

which allowsyou to follow the grain.

o Be sure o checkyour work for drips, particularlyn

and alongdoor edges.As long as he paint

*illfairly wet, dripscan be erasedwhh a light brushstroke.

The proper order for

an even coat. To avoid

lap marks, paint the

muntins first, then the

window frame, and fin-

ish with the casing.

A ftnal brush stroke

defines joinery. No

matter how you apply

the paint, finish with a

stroke in the diredion

of the wood grain.

7. CLEAN PwtrH PLENwoF wATERFor latex paint, I first flood the bristleswith water,working out the

majorityof the paint. I use a wire brushgently to scrapeout all rem-

nantsof dried paint. f not cleaned horoughly, he brushwill lose lex-

ibility. usea little dishsoap o remove he tracesof oils hat are n latex

paint, inseagain, hen shakeor spin he brushdry. For a video ip on

cleaning il paint rom brushes, o to www.finehomebuilding.com.

Rollersare certainlyworth cleaning. f washed horoughly, hey

can be used repeatedly.Scrapeexcesspaint out of them with a

5-in-1 ool, then wash hem using he same echniqueas he brushes,

without the wire brush,of course.

GREATBUILDING TIPS2006 43



stiltsthrough

square of ply-

makes a handy

work

finish is applied.

a door, for

a pair

stilts on the floor to

and

the

the top of the

as shown below._ M I C H A E L . S W E E M

Downey,Calif.

KEEPTHEEDGESCLEAN

Cleanedges where paint meets wood

When a painted surfacebutts up to unpaintedwood,

frustration lurks. Masking ape alone isn't enough toblock the paint completely. t flows into the minute

irregularitiesunder the tapet edge, leaving a fuzzy line

when the tape is peeled away.

We recently solved this problem in an entertainment

center that my companybuilt. As shown in the drawing,

the cabinetryhas painted uprighr and lacqueredshelves.

To get the clean ine we were looking for, we first

applied a strip of low-tack blue masking ape to the

shelf.Thenwe ran a thin bead of latex painter'scaulk

along the intersectionand wiped it with a moistened

finger a couple of times to remove virtually all the caulk.

We weren'tconcernedabout leavinga bit of caulkon the

parts to be painted, only on sealing he edge of the tape.

After we finished painting the uprights, we carefully

removedthe tape while the caulkand paint were still

wet. Result:A cleanpaint line without a master'shand.

A word of caution: f the caulk and the paint are dry by

the time you remove the masking ape, run a sharp util-

ity knife down the intersection irst.

-CHUCKGREEN shland,ass.

Paintedupright

Thinbeadof 'painier'scaulk

Lacqueredshelf

Easy-releasemasking

Use paint stilts tosupport work while inish

Paintingnext to carpet

Cutting in a baseboard hat borders a carpet can be

a bit messy. use 2-in.-wide, ow-tack masking apeto hold the carpet tufts away from the baseboard so

that the paint can be applied below the top of the

carpet line.

First, I lay the tape so that it runsabout 7s n. up the

baseboard 1). Takecare not to press he tape against

the baseboard.Next, press he tape onto the carpet

about 1 in. awayfrom the baseboard,and usea putty

knife to work the folded side of the tape into the

cornerwhere the carpet and baseboardmeet (2).This

makes he tape stick to all the carpet tufts right up to

the edge of the baseboard.Now when I tug the tape

toward the middle of the room, the tufts are pulledawayfrom the baseboard,and the baseboardside of

the tape can be worked down (3).This wraps the edge

of the carp€t and protests it from the paint. Pulling he

tape more from the room edge exposesmore of the

baseboard or painting! then pressing he room edge

of the tape to the top of the carpet attaches he tape

so that the gap between the carpe t and baseboard

remainsopen (4).

-A L LEMKE Hopewel lJunction,N.Y.

Work tape into cornerwith putty knife.

Keep tension on the roomedge of the tape asyoupress he knifeinto the corner.

Pull out the knife andpress the tape securelyto the carpet.

a

g

E

GREAT BUILDING TIPS 2006



Prep& Cleanup

Strainingpaint for touch-upsBy the time a gallon of paint or varnish has been around long

enough to have been opened a half-dozen times and still not

completely consumed, you can be sure it has collected enough

dried gunk to leave an unsightly surface. It's time to strain the

paint. However, straining the entire contents of the can is messy

and time-consuming if you're doing just touch-up work.

As shown in the drawing,I take a different approach.

Instead of pouring the paint through the strainer, I put the

strainer in the paint.

I stretch the cheeseclothsffainer over the can and secure t

with a rubber band. The cloth hangs in the paint or varnish,

and the finish that accumulates above the cloth is free of con-

taminants; it t just right for touch-ups.

- D ON MA TH IS ia ma i l

Centrifugal forcespinspaintandwater off roller.

Direct waterjet alongedge ofroller.

Cheeseclothstrainer ecuredwith rubberband

Gal lon ish

Paintbrushgarage

Real painters clean their brushes every day. I am not a real painter. But

I often seal end-grain cuts and back-prime siding and exterior trim

with an oil-based primer. To save cleanup time at the end of the day,I

keep my brush in the rig shown in the drawing below.

My brush garageconsistsof a 1-gal. paint parl, a lx4 crossbarnailedto a doughnut-shaped plywood base,and a5-gal.drywall bucket with

a lid. To use t, I put several nches of paint thinner in the paint pail

and suspend the brush from the nail hanger so rhat the bristles are

immersed in the thinner. Then I cover the drywall bucket to keep the

thinner from evaporating.

This setup allows me ro go weeks without cleaning my brush. And

at the end of a long day of running siding and trim, it sur e is nice not

to have to deal with paint-thinner fumes and drips.

- J OH N C A R R OLL ur ham, .C .

Nai l hanger

1-gal .paint-th innerpail

The problemof latex overoi l paint

I'm amazed by how

often contractors an

homeowners alike a

ply latex paint direc

over a semiglossoil

ish without first rou

ing up the old surfa

or applying a prime

Before long, the slig

est ding can result in

large chip, exposing

old oil-based finish.

I've owned twohomes with this pro

lem, and I've spent

hours sanding off th

latex layer on more

doors than I care to

remember. Recently

stumbled upon a gre

stripping aid: water.

I've found that if the

latex surface is damp

ened with water a fe

minutes prior to san

ing, the topcoat will

easily off the oil-bas

undercoat with gend

prodding from 8O-g

sandpaper. A wet ra

al l you need. us t ma

sure the paint staysw

for a few minutes pr

to sanding. I've often

had entire sectionsp

away from a door.

Once you've remov

the latex, rough up t

basecoat with sandp

per and give it a coat

primer. Now you're

ready for a new topco

- J O N A T H

A P P L E B

Westfield

\

\of varn{W

Centrifugal oller

cleanerCleaning water-soluble

paint from a paint roller

used to be a tedious chore

until I came up with this

idea. Now after I've fin-

ished painting, I simply

attach an extension handle

to the roller, stepoutside,

and use a garden hose to

do the work. Directing a

stream of water along the

edge of the roller revsit

up to a good speed, so the

paint and water spin off the

roller. Be sure to perform

this operation well away

from anything that might be

damaged by the paint and

watery overspray.

_ M E L W O L P E R T

Weatogue, Conn.


Drywallbucket

\_--z

Plywood

base

1x 4 crossbar nai led to base

46

Brush uspendedn paint hinner



FROMTHE RECYCLING IN

arrierI paint trimwork, I hate to waste

up and down the ladderget the right brush. could eave

brushes n the paint bucket,

soon would become a drip-

mess.

My solution is to cut the top off a

plasticantifreezeug with flat

then cut two slits in one of the

and thread a nylonbelt through

shown n the drawing. slide

e loosebelt ends hrough the loops

painter'spants, creating a paint-

carrier hat rideseasilyon my

have severalbrushesclose atThe carriercleansup easilywith

or paint thinner.

*MIK E E LL IS Seat t le

Plasticug with

bottom removedacts as paint canor funnel.

Cut rim into equal portions, and bendupward every other segment.

Low-budget paint mixer

The next time you need to stir some

paint and can't find a mixer or your

drill, makeyour own. As shown n

the drawing at right, I cut the r im of

a metal peanut-butter-jar id into a

seriesof segments hat can be bent

into an effective mixer. Drill a hole in

the center of the lid, and affix it to a

3/e-in.-dia.by 6-in.-long oggle bolt.Now use a pair of metal shears o

cut the lid into equal segments,and

bend up every other section. Mixing

even old paint is a snapwith this rig.

_ M I C H A E L J U P P E

Hudson, Ohio

Combo paintbucket/funnel

Instead of working directly outof a galloncan of paint or a

smallerbut hard-to-holdcof-

fee can, I usea chopped-down

milk ug . Not only s the buih-in

handlea plus,but the container

alsodoesdouble duty. When

l' m finishedpainting, just

removethe cap and set the jug

on top of the paint can. Any

leftover paint drainsback where

it belongs.

- R . 8 . H I M E S

Vienna,Ohio

:

Scraper leanup

Paintstripper combined with old paint or varnishmakesa stickygoo that can be tough to removefrom a scraper or a putgr knife.

To make an easy ob of it, I cut a straight slit about 2 in. long in a

large in can.Then slide he bladeof the knife nto the slit close

to where t joins he handle.When I pull the blade out, the old

finish falls into the can, ready for disposal.

-ROY VIKENBoise,daho

GREAT BUILDING TIPS 2006 47



Rulesto know how good good

10 ways o workefficiently ndis enough BY LARRYHA

-ft was a coincidence hat another

Icontractorand I began raming

I houses ext door to oneanother

-I - on the same day. By the timehis housewas framed, mine wasshin-

gled, wired, and plumbed. It was no

coincidence hat the other contrac-

tor ran out of money and had to turn

over the unfinished house o the lend-

ing company, while I sold mine for

a profit.

Both houseswere structurallysound,

plumb,level, and square, ut every2x4

in the other housewas cut to perfection.

Every joint looked ike finish carpentry.

The other contractorwasbuilding fur-

niture, and I was framing a house.

Unlike f inish carpentry, framing

doesn't have to look perfector satisfy

your desire o fit together wo piecesof

wood precisely.Whether you'rebuild-

ing a house,an addition, or a simple

wal l , the goals when f raming are

strength,efficiency, and accuracy.Fol-

lowing the building codes nd the blue-

prints should akecareof the strength;

efficiencyand accuracy are rickier.

During 50 yearsof framing houses,

I've comeup with the following rulesto help me do good work quickly and

with a minimum of effort.

LarryHaun,authorof Th e VeryEffi-

i ient Carpenter Th eTauntonPress,

1999)and Habitat or Humanity:

Ho w to Builda House Th eTaunton

Press,2002),has been framing

houses or more han 50 years.He

lives n Coos Bay,Ore.

Don't movematerialsanymore hanyou haveto

Hauling umber from place

to place s time-consuming

and hard on your body.

Make it easieron yourself

every chanceyou get, and

start by having the folks

at the lumberyard do their

part. Make sure lumber

arrives on the truck stacked

in the order it will be used.

You don't want to movehundredsof wall studs to

get to your plate stock, for

instance.And floor joists

are stacked on top of floor

Floorsheathing

Wall and roof sheathing

sheathing, not the other way around.

When it's time for the delivery unload he building materials

as close as possible o where they will be used. Often, lumber

can be delivered on a boom truck, so stacks of lumber can

be placed right on the deck

or on a simple structure built

flushalongside he deck.

Once the material is deliv-

ered, don't move it any more

than you need to. Cut studs,

plywood, and anything else

you can right on the stack. lf

you do have to move wood,

plan so that you have to

move it only once.

Floor ram

EJWin

-/

Rooframbot

Cut 2x4s righton the stack.

Drawings: Christopher Clapp. Photo: Bnan P



Cut top

plate to

exad

Iength.

Capor doubleplate canbe up to1/tin. short(not long).

yourlumbercounts

Thesedays, if you cull every bowed or crooked

stud, you may need to own a lumber mill to ge t

enoughwood to frame a house.How do you

make the most of the lumber that you get?

Use he straighteststock where it's absolutely

necessary: here it's going to make problems

for you later on if it's not straight.Walls,espe-

cially n bathsand kitchens,need to be straight.

Itt not easy o installcabinetsor tile on a wall

that bows in and out. Straightstock is also

necessary t cornersand at rough openings

for doors.

The two top platesneed to be

straight aswell, but the bot-

tom plate doesn't.You can

bend it right to the chalkline

and nail t home. lf you save

straight stock for the top

plates,you'll have an easy lt ime aligning he walls.

And every project needs

lots of short stock for i ,,blocking; ake bowed ,'

'

material and cut it into i

the cripples, eaders, ..and blocks.

",'

Use straightstudsfor corners, orrough openings,for top plates,andin kitchensandbaths.

Usebowedstock or bottomplates,blocking,cripples,and \\ /headers. \=-__/,

Builda hous€,not furniture

In other words, know your tolerances.Rafters don't have to

fi t like the parts of a cabinet.Nothing in frame carpentry sperfect, so the question is: What's acceptable?

You need to get started right, and that means he mud-

sills.Whether they're going on a foundation or on a slab,

they need to be level, straight, parallel,and square.But

there'sno harm done if they're cutlh in. short. A rim joist,

on the other hand,needs o be cut to the right length

(within thoin.) before being nailed o the mudsill.

When it comes o wall framing, the bottom plate also can

be th in. or so short, but the top plate needs to be cut to

exast length (againwithin the in.) because t establishes he

buildingt dimensionat the top of the walls. But the plate

that sits on top of that, the cap or double plate, shouldbe

cut % in. short so that intersectingwalls ie together easily.

Once you've raised he walls, how plumb or straight is

good enough? n my opinion, 1/ rin, out of plumb in 8 ft .

is acceptable, and a Tq-in. ow in a 50-ft. wall won't cause

harm to the s tructure or problems for subcontractors.Take

special care by framing as accurately as possible in kitchens

and bathrooms. Theserooms require more attention partly

becauseof their tighter tolerances,bu t also because he

work of so many trades comes together here.

Bottom plate

No more han % in . out of plumb n 8 ft .

Ri m joist cut to exact length (within l/rcin.)

t

fIf

\Cutting the mudsill up to 1A in. short (not long) is OK.




7l Work in aEJ logicalorder

Establish n efficient routine

for eachphaseof work, do

it the sameway every time,

and tackle eachphase n its

logicalorder. n the long run,havingstandardprocedures

will save ime and minimize

mistakes.Let's ake wall fram-

in g as an example.

First, snapall the wall l ines

on the floor; then I cu t the

top and bottom platesand

tack al l of them in place

on the lines.Next, I lay

out the plates,detailing

the locationof every win-dow, door, stud, and

intersectingwall.

I pry up the top plate and

move it about I ft. away

from the bottom plate,which

I leave acked to the

deck. I scatter studs

every 16 in. for th e

length of the wall.

I nail he top plate

to the studs and keep

the bottom of the studs

snug against he bottom

plate. Thishelps o keep the

wall square, traight,and in

position o be raised. try to

establisha rhythm and work

consistently rom one end to

the other.Once the top plate

is nailedcompletely, pry up

the bottom plate and repeat

the processon the bottom.

It'sworth saying hat I didn't

just make up these steps;they evolved over time. Rec-

ognizing nefficiency s an

important part of framing.

2. Tack top and bottom

3. Detailplates or studs,doors, windows, and ntersectingwalls.

plates in place. yin'| ,/' '\| . ..t'"

\ . - r + "\ -----

--.

4. Pryup top plate.Bottom plate remains

5. Scatter studs every 16 in.

for the length of wall. Nai/ studsto top plate.


6. Pry up bottom plate

and nail o studs.

1. Snap wall l ines.

,:.r.,r1..,



f Keep he otherl trades n mind

you want to waste time

money when framing,

work, the plumbing, the

drywall, orfinish carpentry . Whether

do them yourself or hire

hese trades

unlessyou're

with them in mind

step of the way, your

be in the way.

For example, when you

on the double top plate,

he nails ocated over

tuds. This placement

he area between the

the elestrician

plumber to drill holeswith-

hitting the nails.

Don't measureunless ou have o

best way to save ime when you're framing a

by keeping your tape measure,your pencil,

your square n your nail pouch as much as pos-

have to use a tape measure o lay out the

accuratelyon the deck, but after that, I

plates to length by cutting to the

wall lines. I position the plate on the line,and then make the cuts at the intersect-

g chalkline.

Another time-saver s to make squarecrosstuts

or 2x6swithout using a square. Experience

shown me that with a little practice,anyone

n make these square cuts by aligning the leading

of the sawt base, which is perpendicularto

lade, with the far side of the lumber before

cut.

Center studsbehind tub formixing valve.

When nailing ogether thedouble top plate, align the nailswith the studs.

Behind he lavatory,center theopen areabetween studs or themedicine cabinet.

When installing extrawidetrim, include blocking foreledrical switches.

With pradice,you can makesquare cuts byaligning the froniedge of the sawtbase with thefar edge of theboard.

lnclude backingfor drywall.

-e G €

Trimming1/tin.

from a board's length

shouldn't require measuring.

Ripping (lengthwisecuts) onger

pieces also cin be done by eye if you

use the edge of the saw's base as a guide.

Trainyour eye. lt'll save ime cutting, and as you

develop, you'll also be able to straighten walls as

easilyby eye as with a string.

GREATBUILDING TIPS 2006 51



gl Finish ne taskft beforegoing on to the next

My first framing job was with a crew that would lay

out, frame, and raise one wall at a time before moving

on to the next. Sometimescrew memberswould even

straighten and brace the one wall before proceeding.

We wasted a lot of time constantly switching gears.

lf you're installing oists, roll them all into place,and

nail them before sheathing he floor. Snap all layout

lineson the floor before cutting any wall plates, then

cut every wall plate in the house before framing. lf

you're cutting studs or headersand cripples, make a

cutlist for the entire proiect, and cut them all at onc

Tie all the intersecting walls together before startin

straighten and brace the walls.

Finishingbefore moving on is ust as important wh

it comes o nailingand blocking.You might be temp

to skip these smalljobs and do them later,but don'

Closeout each part of the job as well as you can be

moving on to the next. Working this way helps to

maintain momentum, and it prevents tasks from bei

forgotten or overlooked.

Ef,il:H:ff?s*,eYou don't need a mathematician o

know that it takes less ime to cut two

boards at once than it does to cut

each one individually.

lf you have a stack of studs that all

need to be cut to the same ength,

align one end of the top row, snap a

chalklineall the way across, nd cut

the studs o length right on the pile.

Or you can spread them out on the

floor, shovingone end against he

floor plate, snap a chalkline,and cutthem all at once.

Joists can be cut to length in a simi-

lar way by spreading them out across

the foundation and shoving one

end up against he rim joist

on the far side. Mark

them to length, snap a line,and cut

the joists all at once.

Also, don't forget to make repetitive

cuts with a radial-armor chop/miter

saw outfitted with a stop block, which

is more accurateand faster than

measuringand markingone

board at a time.

First, spread studson the plywood floorwith one end againstthe floor plate.




Don't cl imb a ladderunless ou have o

don't use a ladder muchon a framing ob

get to the second loor before

are built. Walls can be sheathedand

while hey're ying lat on the

Waiting until the walls are raised

on plywood sheathing

you have o work

or a

Both are

With a little foresight,

u can do the rafter layout

a double op plate while t 's

Otherwise,you'll

o move the ladder around he

b or climb on the walls o mark he

p plate.

Know hebuildingcode

codes exist to cre-

safe structures. Because

are not

of monitoring al l

of every project, your

s to know the

code and to build

it .

For instance, he code actu-

specifieshow to nail a

plate. You need

16d nails f you're nail ing

through a plate nto the end

of the stud, or four 8d nails

if you're oenail ing.When

you nail plywood or oriented

strand board (OSB) oof

sheathing, ou need a nail

every 6 in. along the edge of

the sheathingand every

12 in. elsewhere.And if

you're usinga nailgun, be

careful not to overdrive he

nails nto the sheathing.

Attach the

sheathing while

th e wallis sti l / on..''t the plywood floor.

A final word: lf specialsitua-

tions arise,consult he build-

ing inspector.He or she s

your ally,no t your enemy.

Get to know the building

code for your area.Get your

own copy of the IRC lnterna-

tional ResidentialCode) and

build well, but build eff i-

ciently,with the understand-

ing that perfection sn't what

is required.

Work safelywhateverthe rule

Working safelyshouldbeat the top of your prior-

ity list. Safetyglasses,

hearingprotection,and a

dust maskshouldbe the

norm, as shouldattention

aroundcoworkersor dan-

gerousdebris.

Safety devicesand

good intentions,however,

won't help f your mind

isn't on the work. Pay

attention,approach hework with a clearhead,

listen o that inner voice

that says, This is too

dangerous," nd be extra

careful oward the end of

the day.

Mark rafter layout on

top of the wall plate.

Roof sheathing is nailed every

6 in. along the edges and every

12 in. elsewhere. n high-wind

areas, sheathing along

th e eaves, rakes, an dridges is nailed

every 6 in.

7a-in.sheathing

The American Plywood

Association says there's no

reduction in strength for nails

overdriven by thc in. or less. lf

more than 20% of

the fasteners exceed1/ein., add one nail

for each two

overdriven nails.

2x8 rafter




Roofs

Framing ig

I havea rapid,accuratemethod or assembling ny wall, flooq or

roof that uses tandarddimensions.My methoduses jig, which

is simply aZx4 notchedon 16-in.or 24-in.centerlineso receive

the framing members.Two such igs are handy,and for large-

scalework, four can help. To use, ust slip one memberat a time

into the ig until everythings n place, hen nail. No measuring s

requiredexcept or cutting pieceso length.The jigsreallyhelp

on long runsthat need o becoveredwith drywall, plywood,

etc.For trusses, verythingcan be assembled ith the igs, he ply-

wood started, nd thenthe igs pulled up. No nails o pull.

I put togethera 1000-sq.-ft. orkshop with this method-

mostlyby myselfand on evenings nd weekends.t reallyworks.

M.R. HAVEtTIS t. Albans,W.Va.

Roof-sheathingigWhen I'm nailing down the first row of ply-

wood sheathing on a roof that will have soffits,

I usea pair of jigs shown in the drawing to-position

the panels.Using these igs,I can ad-

just the amount of overhang to suit the fascia

detail by moving the blocks in relation to the

lip that supports the edge of the plywood. I've

found the jigs to be especiallyhelpful when I

am working alone and in need of a third hand.

_ J O H N S H E P H E R D

Charlottesville,a.

Notch

detail

A double-bevelplumb cutfor valley rafters

Mark two plumb lines he samed

tanceapartas he thickness f the

ley rafter 1) .Set he saw o 45o,

makethe first cut so hat the outs

linebecomeshe ong point (2).Cu

the inside line in the other direction but with the

same bevel (3). -R IC K ARNOLD Wi ck fo r

Hanger notch

When I have to

attach a rafter to a

beam with a joist

hanger,I find it help-

ful to kerf the rafter's

plumb cut with a

Skilsaw. Then I can

insert the hanger into

the kerf, as shown in

the drawing, and nail

it in place. The kerf

depth coincides with

the full cutting depth of my 7Yc-in.saw, so I don't have to mess with adjust-

ments. I also can stack the rafters and make one cut to kerf them all at the sa

time. This method is a lot easier han notching the rafter, and it provides a co

tinuous plane up the rafter to attach drywall.

_ G R E GH A L V E

Portland

Notches 24 in.

F--_------*l7:::: : -1: :_ ::=l j- - - *-i

+ __v_ +C*tt/zin.l V* *l'.-T;

Eli7, n.

or 16 in. on center

Jigs or trussassembly

lnsert hanger.

%-in. plywood

54 F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Drawings, exceptwherenoted:CharlesMillcr. Drawing center ight: Toby Welles/DesignCorc. Photos his page;Brian Po



piece, showing you where to finish the cuts.

Now you cdn put the pieces ogether with a

couple of 8d nails near the end of the splice.

Depending on how long the piecesare,

you either can assemble hem on the

ground and carry them to the

ridge, or put them together

in place.

Equa l/ ,

/

Splicing idge boards

As a framing carpenter, I frequently come acrossa ridge span longer than

the overall length of the material I'm using for the ridge. To extend the

material to the correct length,I splice ridge boards with a V-shaped joint as

shown in the drawing below.

My crew and I call this technique "penciling the ridges," after the big pencil-

shaped piece of wood that resul ts when the cuts are made. To begin the cuts,overlap the ridge material with the crowns pointing in the same direction.

The overlap should be at least equal to the rafter spacing (usually 16 n.

around here). Now take your tape and mark the rafter layout lines as shown

in the drawing. Draw cutlines from the center of the top ridge board to its

end, and make these cuts with the sawblade set % in. deeper rhan the cut.

This depth will put saw tracks in the bottom

I REMoDELTGTrP

SteppingupI recentlyadded three dormers on a

12-in-12 oot, using a toe-board and

roof-stair system that saved me a lot

of time, risk, and effort. As shown n

the drawing below, the stairs are made

of hvo 2x12 stringers with 16-in.-long,3/c-in.plywood treads. The uphill end of

eachstringerwas cut in a curved pat-

tern to keep the front edge from dam-

aging he shingleswhen it slid onto

the roof. The downhill end should be

notchedon the underside or a flat 2x4

toe board. I placedone ladder on each

side of the dormer layout and hookedeach over the 2x4 toe board that

was nailed at the eaveparallel o the

ridge. A 2x12 plank then could be laid

across he treads of the turo stairs, and

moved up and down the pitch of the

roof. Framing,siding,trimming, paint-

ing, and shingling he dormers and

surroundingareawere relativelyeasy,

and the system causeda minimumof

damage o the existing roof.

-WAYDE MILLANYDillon, olo.

Curved stringer preventsdamage o shingles.

Rafter ayout

Cutl ines

I like this detail because

it's clean and because

it holds together bet-

ter than a couple of

toenailed, butt-ioined

boards. t's alsosim-

pler than scabbing

on a plywood gusset

or a2x splice.

_R Y A N HAWKS

Flagstaff, riz.

Use8d nails o secureassembledidge boards.

Sheathingsteep roofs

When the pitch of a roof is 10 or more, we like to sheathe rom the top down.

This method requires a litde more staging, but it is much saferand saves ime.

Set the staging so that you're standing up between the rafters about 6 ft.

from the ridge. From the center of the ridge at eachgable end, measure

down 4 ft.r/q n., and snap a line across he rafters. Begin the layout witha full sheet on the line as you would if

starting at the eaves.After you finish

a row, nail it off completely, and lower

the staging toward the outside of the

building. Continue with the process,

completing the last course from the out-

side staging.

_ M I K EG U E R T I NN D R I C K R N O L D

EastGreenwich, .l.

10- in . i se1O- in .un

2x12p lank

2x4to eboard

16 n .

y./Y t

%-in. plywoodtreads

*q-.

hotos, except whe re noted: Mike Guertin and Randy O'Rourke G R E A T B U I L D I N G T I P S 2 0 0 6 55



WallThehooterstickPlumbing and aligning stud walls canbe

quitea chore,sometimesnvolving the

better part of a five- or six-membercrew.

On a recent ob,I became cquainted

with the tool shown in the drawing below.Here in Austin, Texas, t's calleda hooter

stick,and I haven't found anything that's

bettersuited or adjusting ong, all, or just

plain awkward walls.

Basically, t is nothing more than two

studs, 2x4 block 20 n. to 30 n. long,and

an old hinge.To assemblehe stick, irst

cut a 45"V-notch n theend of one stud,

and scab he block flush to the bottom

end of the other stud. Then fasten he two

partswith the hinge.

To use he hooterstick, place henotchedend against he undersideof the

top plate,neara corneror an ntersection

with anotherwall. To brace he bottom of

the stick,you can useeither your foot or a

block that is tacked o the subfloor.Now

you're ready o push n the direction hat

you want the wall to move.The hooter

is an awkward pieceof equipment o

manipulateat first, but onceyou get used

to it, you will be surprisedat what you

cando to an outside wall full of offsets

and headers. _ P A U L W I L S O N

Austin, Texas

V-notch

- ,\"

FINE HOMEBUILDING

20-in. o 30-in.

The easiestway to keep he bottom plate of a framed wall from walking when it

is being raised s to toenail t into the subfloor.The nailsbend easilyasyou lift the

wall, and the bottom plateusually emains n the mmediateneighborhood f its

intended ayout.A more secure ystem seshe strapping hat binds umber oads.Cut it into l2-in.

pieces, nd nail oneend to the undersideof the bottom plate.The other end should

run under the wall and be

nailed into the subfloor.

Concretenailswill pierce

the stuff; or you can abuse

yourzhz-innailsetand start

a hole.The strappingcan

be e ft in placeand covered

by the finished flooring.

_ F E L I XM A R T I

Ridgway,Colo.

SheathingwallssoloFor those onerswho put up their own sheathing

here s a method that makes t simple for onepers

tocontrol a 4x8sheet f plywood or OSB. The keto put up the framed walls before he top platesar

doubled.As shown n the drawing at eft, make a

coupleof short 2x blocks,and clamp hem to the t

edgeof the sheathing.Make sure he blocks are flu

with the edge. No*, using the blocks as hooks, hang the sheathing on the

top of the wall and nail it home. The blocks will ensure that the sheathing

ends up flush with the finished height of the top plate.

_ J A M E SH U R

NevadaCity,C

Stud

Subfloor

-/

,* ;: ,.*-j_>

Toenail



12-in. o 18-in. ca bwith 45' bevel

and wal l to

subfloor.

ft .

prop polesthree or four site-built

jacks like the one shown in

drawing above, a two-

lift 30-ft.- to

The jack

s made of a2x4 about 7 ft. long

ith three nailed-on scabs2 ft.

The scabs orm ledges to

upport the wall as t is lifted.

With the stud wall lying flat

o it, toenail each ack to the

floor so that its base s tight to

the wall's top plate. Now begin

at one end of the wall, and lift

it to the first notch. Move back

and forth along the wall,lifting

one notch at each station until

you've reached the third level.

From there, it's an easy push toget the wall upright.

_ E D W I L S O N

Seattle

Straighteningstuds

It's not unusual for a stud wall to have some sticks in it that bow in or out of the wall

plane, making it tough to do a decent job on the drywall or paneling. Here's how I fix

both situations. After identifying the bowed-in studs, I work on the worst one first.

Using a straightedge held vertically against the side of the stud,I find the high point

of the bow and measure across t for a notch that will accept a2x4 cross member.

Then I set the saw depth to make a cut iust a little deeper than the thickness of the

2x4 crossmember-about 1% n. Now I nail the crossmember to the bowed stud,

flush one end of it to the adjacent stud and nail it , and toenail the opposite end as deep

as needed to remove the bow (drawing left). To fix a bowed-out stud (drawing right),

I make a notch l3/c n. to l% in. deep at the point of the stud that is bowed out the

most. Then I drive a pair of 16d nails--one angled up and one angled d6q7n-1e

anchor the cross member to the stud. When the cross member is flush and nailed

with the adjacent studs, the bow is gone. This second method works well when the

opposite side of the wall is inaccessible--rovered with a shear wall, for example.

_ J O H N R I E D H A R T

Ventura,Calif.

Bowed

Angle nail

down.

-out stud

\__=r

\,,.l,,,Notch 13/r n. to1% i n . deep

I REMoDELTGTrP

Header retrofit

Next time you put a built-up

header nto an existingwall, usea reciprocating saw to sever the

nailsat the top and bottom of all

the studs to be removed. Rotate

the freed studs 90", and align them

to one side of the bottom and

top plates.Next, place rimmers

(cut o their finished ength)at an

angleon eachside of the open-

ing. Raise ne half of the head-

er into place,and tap the trim-mers nto their vertical position

(dependingon the span,a mid-

support for the first half of

the header may be required).

Remove he original studs, add

the other half of the headen

and spike the halves ogether.

-FELIX MARTIRidgway,olo.

Toenail cross member as deep

as needed to remove bow.

Notchnodeeperthan

( l

Rotate studs to allowroom for the first half ofa two-piece header.

Plan ie w




FloorsRubber an d

i lsent

7a-in.hole

fo r nozzle %-in.pine body

8d na

\I'1,

Gluesled

Call me persnickety, but I like to place a nice full bead of consrruc-

tion adhesive down the center of the floor joists before I lay down a

sheetof plywood subflooring. Too many rimes, I've been on a job site

where the glue was applied carelessly, esulting in an erratic line with

skips and unacceptably thin smears. f it's worth the expenseand

effort of gluing a subfloor in the first place (and I think it is), then it t

worth taking the time to do it right. The device shown above is my

solution to the problem. I think the best part is that using this gad-

get, I center the glue bead on the joist every time without having to

go back.

The glue sled, as I call it, is nothing more than a I%-in.-wide block

of 3/q-in.pine with a hole in it. The block issandwiched betweenVc-in.-thick plywood sides.The hole acceptsrhe nozzle of the glue

cartridge, and the rubber band loops over the caulk-gun frame, hold-

ing the sled in place. In use, he plywood sides ride along the sidesof

the joist, keeping the nozzlecentered.-I

think a3Ae-dia. ead ofglue is the ideal amount. And although I

don't obsess ver this detail, I can tell you that cutting the nozzle3/ain.

from its tip yieldsalrt-in. open-

ing for the glue to exit. f yourjoistsareon 16-in.centers,igure

on usingabout hree-quarters

of a 10.5-oz.ubepersheet f

plywood.Where sheets ome

togetheron one oist,you canget a fairly evenoff-centerbead

of glue by lifting up thesledand

angling he gluegun to the side._ H E R R I C K I M A L L

Moravia,N.Y.

Blocking rheader upportedbetween oists

Solo raming

A carpenter working alone can hold a

header, blocking, or similar framing mem-

ber in place for final nailing with a few bent

nails. I use 8d nails,driven about a third of

their length into the top edge of the work

and then bent 90". These ears will support

the piece until the first nail is set.

_ C R A I GS A V A G

Carpinteria, alif

The twister

One of the first

things we do on a

new framing siteto build a "twister

to help straighten

corkscrewed lum-

ber. Our twisters

made of two 3-ft.

2x4s and one 2-ft.

2x4. As shown in the drawing above, the

long 2x4s sandwich the short one, crearin

a slot at one end. To use the twister, we n

the twisted piece of stock at one end. The

we slip rhe2x4lever over the other end

and move the twister until the stock com

flush with its nailing surface. The twister

usually provides enough leverage that it

takes only one hand,leaving the othei fre

to swing a hammer or fire a nailer.

-SEAN SHEEHAN as in , o

Rubberband hooks




I REMoDELTGTtPs

Beam stair

In the courseof building a family-roomaddition,we had toplacea 22-ft, glulam atop an old stud wall to carrythe weight

of a couple of rooms above.The glulamweighed almost 500 lb.,

and we had no accessor a crane,a boom truck, or a forklift.

After easing he beast nsidewith rollersand a ramp,we made

a "beam stair" fo r makingshort ifts, one end at a time.

Once the ceiling oists were shoredup temporarily,we

removed he old wall and nailed n three crippleson eachside.

As we framed adjacentwalls, we left out a stud on each side

for maneuvering oom. In front of the double-widthstud sPaces,

we built two temporary stairsteparrangements,dividing the

height of the lift into four intervals of about 22 in. each.

The stringerwas a 2x8 affixedo the crippleswith duplex nails

and tacked securelyat the bottom to the subfloor.The "steps"

were 2x6 blocks,eachabout 18 in. long, secured o the stringer

with four duplex nails apiece.They were canted toward the

stringera bit so that the beam wouldn't tilt forward onto us.

We lifted one end of the beam at a time onto a step until the

beam sat on the cripples.After more acking,prying,and shim-

ming, we nailed t in placeand added oist hangers or the

second-flooroists.

_ROBERT GAY SCAIIIE

Joist ower ha n header

Upside-downjoist hanger

Joist lift

During a recent

remodelingproj-

ect, we had to put

a new floor over

an old ceiling.The

crampedquarters

made t impossible o swinga hammer rom

below to bring the joists lushwith newly added

headersand beams.The drawingshowshow

we used a temporary upside-down oist hanger

and a crowbar o bring a joist flush, allowing ts

hanger o be installed n the right position.

- J I M L O C K W O O D

Brookline,Mass.

Adding new joists

I strengthened he originaljoists n my houseby sistering

on somenew ones.The typicalproblem s trying to get the

endsof the joists to fit betweenthe mudsillsand the subfloor.

When ilted, the joist is a bit too big to fit without serious

persuasion. o avoid his, I cut a wedge from eachend of

a new oist, allowing

me to tip the joist into

position easily.Then I

tapped in the wedges

and nailed hem in place

for full bearing.

_ R O G E R W E S T E R B E R G

Verndale,Minn.

Wedge is driven under new joist after installation.




:RulesUse hese10 ips o get started

BYWILL BEEME

y first construction jo b wa s as a tr im carpenter's

helper during school summer vacation. All I did that

first summer was fetch and carry; I wasn't allowed to

measure,cut, or nail. I was told to observe. n doing

so, learned that finish carpenrry isessentially a visual exercise.

Even if the framer couldn't read a level, the finish carpenter's ob

is to make the doors, windows, an d cabinets work, an d to make

the house ook good. Finish carpenrry is more than interior trim. It

includes roofing, siding, decking: anything the owner will seeafter

moving in. Rough carpenters evolve into finish carpenrersby learning

how to measure, mark, and cut more accurately.With practice, split-

ting the pencil line with a sawcut and working to closer toleran

become second nature.

Perfect miters are only part of finish carpenrry. Finish carpen

must develop an eye for proportion and detail. They must learn

visualize the steps hat lead to the finished product. Now,I teach thskills to novice carpenters.To help make learning theseskills eas

I've organized the following ten rules of thumb.

Wi l l Beemer is d irector o f the Heartwood School in Wash-

ing ton , Mass.,and co-executivedirector o f the T imber

F r amer sGu i l d .

AVOIDUSINGNUMBEIt is usually more accurate to hold a board

place to mark its length (drawing left) rath

than to use a tape measure and i nvolve nu

bers. Sometimes, using a ruler or a tap

unavoidable. I use a tape measure on a lo

piece that's too difficult to mark in place,

generally, I don't like tapes.A tape can f

and change shape,and the movable end ho

bends easily,affecting accuracy.

A rigid rule is better than a tape for meas

ing lengths under 6 ft.; hence, he 6-ft. foldi

wooden rule takesover during trim and c

inet work.The best folding rules come w

a sliding brassextension that makes taki

inside measurements easy.Open th.e u

to the greatest length that fits berween f

points to be measured, and slide out the br

extension the rest of the distance.Hold it

that length, and carry it to the board to be c

(top drawing, facing page). No need for num

bers; ust mark the board from the extend

ruler. A combination square or a wood blo

of known dimension is the best way to lay o

Don't measure.

It is more accurate tomark trim in placethan to measureandthen transfer numbers.It's easy to misreada ruler or to confusenumbers whilewalkingto the saw.


tu*

Drawings: Dan Thornton. Photo:Charles Bick



Diverging lines are obvious mistakes. With shingles or lapped siding, diverging starting

and ending points can be hidden a little at a time by slightly tapering the course widths. But

this technique doesn't work with other materials,such as tongue-and-g roove flooring, whose

course can't be varied easily.

Out-of-paral le l wal ls

Moldings hide the gap.

Floorboards don't have o be

a uniform distance from the

wall. As long as the base/shoe

molding covers t, the gapcan vary.

SPLIT HEDIFFERENI f y o u ' r e r u n n i n g c o u r s e s o f m a t e r

between two diverging surfaces,and y

s ta r t ou t w o r k ing pa r a l l e l to one , y

won't be parallel to the other. With de

ing, roofing, or siding, you can adjust

gap or coverage slightly at each coursethat the coursesare para l le l to the o th

surface when they reach it.

Th i s ad jus tmen t i s f i gu r ed eas i l y .S

that you're shingling an ol d house,and

roof measures 135 n. f rom r idge to e

on one end and 138 n. on the other. Div

on e of these igures by the ideal expos

pe r course,5 in. for normal three-tab sh

gles. Thus, 135 n. divided by 5 equals

th is is the number o f coursesat 5 in .

course . A t the o ther end of the bu i ld i

138 n . d i v i ded by 27 y ie lds 5V a n . L

ou t eac h s ide o f the r oo f us ing the t

different increments, and snap chalklin

between them. Wi th these ad jus tmen

the c ha l k l i nes s ta r t ou t pa r a l l e l to

eavesand end up parallel to the ridge.

In c as esw he r e the gap o r c ov e r ag

not ad jus tab le , as in tongue-and-g roo

flooring, yo u have to make up part of

discrepancy at the start and the re st at

end. Sayyou're install ing flooring betwe

tw o w a l l s tha t a r e I i n . ou t o f pa r a l

and you're leav ing a minimum expans

gap of Vz n. be ween the f loor ing a

the wall. Make the expansion ga p I in

each side of the wi de end of the room a

Vzin. at eachs ide o f the nar row end. S

molding and baseboardscover the gap

you're us ing a one-piece hin baseb o

you' l l have to r ip tapered f loorboards

the start and finish to keep the expans

ga p narrow and parallel to the wall.

Use boards as wide as possible as yo

star t ing and ending courses o keep c

verging l ines as ar apart as possible.M

sure the room width at both the wide anarrow ends, and subtra ct the expans

gaps . D iv ide these measurementsby

f loorboard wid th . Mu l t ip ly the rema

ders by hal f the board width. These w

be the widths of t he star t ing and end

str ips at the wide and narrow ends of

room. If these str ips are narrow, try a

ing ha l f a board width. As long as th

sums are less ha n ful l board widths,

them for the starting and ending str ip

Baseboar

*)

Floorboards la id to spl i t the di fference

62 F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G

Hidden ap



AVOIDEXPOSINGENDGRAINEnd grain absorbsstain and paint differently

from face or side grain; even if left natural,

end grain reflects ight differently. Unless you

want to emphasize this difference, plan your

installation to hide end grain or cut mitered

returns to cover it up.

A return is a small pieceof trim, often trian-

gular in section, hat ends a run of molding.

Tiaditionally, returns are used on stair treads,

window stoolsand aprons, butted head cas-

ings-anywhere a pieceof molding doesn't

end in a corner.

On a power mit er saw, the blade often

throws small returns to some dimly lit, inac-

cessible orner of the room. I cut them with a

small miter box and a backsaw.

FITTHEJOINTBEFORECUTTING O LENGTHIf you're coping or mitering a joint on a piece

of base chair rail, or crown, make sure that

joint fits well before you cut the other end to

length. You may need the extra length if you

make a mistake and have to recut the cope

r miter. If you had cut the piece to length

efore miscutting the cope or m iter, you'd be

rumbling on your way back to the lumber-

ard insteadof calmly recutting the piece.

Don't show endgrain. lt absorbspaint and especiallystains differently

from flat grain. If

a piece of moldingmust end abruptly,

cut a return for it.

Mitered

return

Fit the more difficult endbefore cutting to length.ln this case, he left sideis coped and the fit is

checked before the miter

is marked.

t

Coped joint

DON'TBEFUSSYDON'T

HAVETO BEthink ahead to see f what you're

on will be covered later, which is

the function of moldings. If the floor

wall undulates, you might be tempted to

or fill behind the baseboard o follow

he contours. In older houses,where walls

always undulated, you often see

baseboards,with the thin base-

molding attached to the wall and follow-

its contour while the shoe does he same

the floor. The thicker baseboard nstalls

easily because t doesn't have to

what the shoe and cap do.

Some joints don't

need to be perfect,

Baseboardwill hidethe ugliness where

the drywall meets

the floor.

Baseboard

The baseboard spanshollows in the wall and

floor. The cap and shoe are

flexible and confonn to ins

and outs, hiding them.

Base-cap

mold ing




Trimming a room with baseboard and a minimum of perfed cuts.By following the numericalseguence in the drawing below, onlypieces 2 and 3 require pertect cuts on both ends. The chanceoferror is reduced by first coping them and then holding them in placeto mark their lengths. rhe copes are plannedso that any crackswillbe less obvious to people entering the room.

coped ioints. The first piece s butted to the wall. The second pieceis mitered as for an insidecorner, but the mitered end is cut off whereit meets the molding face, eaving a negativeof the profile that fitsperfealy over the butted piece.

Butt thisll end to

the wall.

PLANTHESEOUENCTO AVOIDPERFECTCUTS T BOTHENDSThere is usually a sequenceof trim insta

tion that requires he fewestperfect cuts.

example, with my method of casing do

and windows, only th e last cut on the hneed be perfect. Cu t this end slightly lo

and shave t with a chopsaw unril it fits

r igh t . One neat t r ick here : Push the c

ing up to the lowered, idie chopsaw bla

Raise he blade without moving the cas

then make the cut. The teeth are serslig

w ider than the body of the b lade, so

cut wil l take of f Vtz n.If you ha d insta

the head first, you then would have had

make an exact miter cut on each casing

to make th e joint turn out r ight.

The sequenceof installation also s imp

tant when runn ing t r im around a roo

whether i t 's baseboard, hair rail, or cro

molding. I prefer to work from right to

around a room because 'm right-hand

and generally do a faster,nearer job of c

ing the right end of a board.

Working my way around a room, I of

end up with a piece that needs o be coped

both ends, a challenge fo r even the bestc

penters. I try to plan my installation so t

this last pieceof trim is n the leastconsp

ou s place. f a coped oint isn't perfect o

it opens up over time, the crack is most vble when viewed at right angles o rhe cop

piece. Wherever possible, orient the cop

piecesso that people entering or using

room won't have right-angle views of the

\

IMi ter

,r-al{' ^ " , /

Lines

8

of sight

Gaps show along

coped end.

Coped joints lookdifferent from differ-ent angles. lf a copedjoint opens up, thecrackwill be obviouswhen viewed parallelto the uncoped pieceand nearly invisible

viewed parallelto thecoped piece. Plan hecoping seguence sothat crackswill be lessobvious along likelylinesof sight. Cracksalso will be lessobvi-ous f the uncopedpiece s stained orpainted beforeinstallation;rawwood sticks out.

Butt this endto wall.




S MOREHAN

R SQUARErules of carpentry change from fram-

ork. Instead of keeping track

plumb, level, and square,you now must

parallel to the wallsThe eyesees iverging lines more

than it sees lumb and level.

The only exceptions are cabinetsand doors,

plumb to work properly.

floor isn't level, trim the door bottoms

to the floor rather than leave them

with a taperedgap. If the deck framing

out of squaie, run the decking parallel to

wall. If for some reason wo lines

separate hem as widely aspos-

o that the difference is harder to see.

But I hung it plumb.

A level door bottomover an out-of-level

floor hasa tapered,

eye-catchinggap atthe bottom. Trim the

door bottom so that

it's parallel o the floor.

It won't be level,bu tit'll look good.

Trimmed paralle

to the floor, the

door looks right

Unfevel loo, -/

i i r i i i l i

ti, .=,1,,[I Scribe the door bottom

/:

parallelto the floor.

RANDOMI f ind myself saying," It doesn't

the red flag goes up. Which end of

you cut first, which face is out,

yo u pu t the nails-this all matters,

you put into the details shows

raftsmanship in the entire job. "God

the det ails," said architect Ludwig

and th is is especial ly

carpentry. Occasional ly , t

but you first should consider

As your experience ncreases

becomesmore efficient, it will

to line up nails in an

pattern and to look critically at

oard asyou carry it to the saw.

Nothing is random. Even something as simple as decking benefits from thoughtful lay-out. The randomness left) looks sloppy compared with careful ayout (right).

r l

II

t '

\i

i ti l. t

t 1r litI

i-

II

I

i

I!t

fI

t

THE JOBusually has o complete a punch

before inalpayment is ssued,but some-

all the details wrapped up

pulling teeth. The clean-slateattrac-

of starting a new job can overpower the

the old. This temp-

good clients and lose eferrals.

Owner-builders doing their own work

tempted to move in t o a house

work is done, thinking it

will be easier o do when it's close at hand.

After a while , they don't notice the lack of

tr im, and it becomes harder and messier

to set up the tools and work around the

obstacles. t can be a strain on a marriage if

the bathroom doors aren't hung after a few

years of residence. advise owner-builders

to get everything done before they move in,

and contractors to finish all work before they

move on . They'll be glad they did.




Cutting& Coping

Coping table

As much as I appr eciate the delicate craft

of coping moldings by hand, a jigsaw

is faster. To hold the foot of the saw in

plane with the 45o bevel on the end of the

workpiece whi le foll owing the lines of

the molding profile,I use the coping table

shown in the drawing at right.

The table is a pyramidal box with slots

cut into both sides or the molding stock.

After beveling a pieceof molding on the

miter saw,I slide the stock into the cop-

ing table. The box's dimensions allow

ample hand room for holding the work

steady,while my fingers remain clear ofthe blade. The saw rides on the angled

side of the coping table. I made the table

out of the sink cutout from a plastic-

laminate countertop, so the saw glides

easily over t he surface. The jigsaw should

have a roller guide and a fine-tooth scroll-

cutting blade.

-GRAFTON H. COOK Dowagiac, ich.

Molding stock extends through

slots in coping table.

-<==l*1i--,r;-_7_

Jigsaw base rides on' J - - - -

angled table.

Height of mi ter-saw able

Easiercoping with the jigsawCoping crown molding with an electric jigsaw is much easier when

you attach a radiused auxiliary base o the jigsawt standard flat base.

I was stumped about making this modification until I spotted a golf

ball on my shop bench.

As shown in the drawing below,I started by cutting the ball into

unequal parts. I did the cutting on my bandsaw after driving a

couple of 3-in. drywall screws nto opposi te sides of the ball to act as

handles. The screws kept my fingers a safe distance from the blade.

Then I made a perpendicular cut in the larger portion of the ball.

Still at the bandsaw,I cut a slot to accommodate the jigsaw's blade.

Next,I drilled a couple of r/e-in.holes in the saw's base,on oppo

sidesof the blade, for a pair of screws. positioned the slotted gol

ball as shown in the right-hand drawing and affixed it to the bas

with a couple of small screws.

This jig provides a pivot point right where the blade enters the

back side of the molding. As a result,I have the control to make

exact relief cuts. I have found that longer blades are useful for cu

ting big crowns. Different configurations could be obtained by

cutting the ball into segments of various sizes.

-J lM DELVINDesMoines,

Cut along

dotted lines.

Drilllh-in. hole in

both sides.

JigsawScrewgolf balltojigsawbase orcopingangled cu

Cut slot for blade.


saw base,

Drawings: Charles



220 grit sandpaper contact-cemented o identicalmolding

Molding wi th

coped joint

up coped oints

above shows a trick that I teach my students

perfect coped joints. We use water-based

to glue a sheet of 220-grit sandpaper to

that has the same profile as the work-

a custom-made, contoured sanding block.

to make a few back-and-forth strokes

end of the workpiece smooths out unsightly

-DAVID JOHNSONClinton,owa

Acute angleson the chopsaw

A couple of years ago, I was doing some trim with my

friend Marcos Bradley. He was running basearound a

seriesof odd angles-2ngles he couldn't readily cut with

his chopsaw. After some thought, he assembleda jig simi-

lar to the one shown in the drawing below.

Use clamps or screws to

secure one of the jig's

fences o the saw's ence.

Clamp the workpiece

to the jig (block under

the far end of the long

pieces), nd you're

all set o cut accurare

acute angles.

_ F E L I XM A R T I

Ridgway, olo.

PLANVIEWOF J IG

Jig clamped

or screwed

to saw's

fence

1x2 ences

quarter-round rim

had to install alot of 3/+-in.quarter-round trim. I prefer coped corners to mitered

given the amount of trim required by this job, I had to find an expedient

to cut the stuff. As shown in the drawing,I devised a fixture that yields

with a minimum of effort.

I started with a scrap piece of 2x6 about 14 n. long. Using my tablesaw,

plowed a3/q-in.by 3/+-in.groove the length of the 2x6 to accommodate

trim. This groove holds the trim as t is cur by a

. hole saw from above.As shown in the drawing, the

saw is guided by a 1x4 guide block. I made this block out

3/+-in.by 3/a-in.

groove

1x4oakgu ideb lock(

\

1|/z-in.-dia.ole saw

t holds up well after repetitive cuts.

Using this rig makes coping quarter-round trim a

quarter-rounds of a different radius, simply

a groove to fit the trim, and use a hole saw that is

of the trim.

-M.P. WHIPPLE fton,N.Y.




basehookfor

ool called a basehook elimi-

for a bevel square n some

Similar in concept o a siding

simply an L-shaped piece of a sta-

wood usedprimarily for

end cut of baseboardwhere it

standing moldings such asdoor

use he hook, lap it over the base-

it hard against he standing

scribing a cutline across he

Be sure he facesof your base

are perfgcdysquare o ttre edges, r

introduce a margin of error.

_ J I M T O L P I N

PortTownsend,Wash.

ngleblocksdo the finish trimwork for a small builder of moderatelypriced

Va. He has ound that it is actually essexpen-

have he walls plastered han to have drywall hung, hped,

and painted.Because laster s a hand-tooled product,

a itde uneven,and the basemoldings rarely end

plumb. As a consequence,I'veearned hat to keep the coped

tight, the 45" bevel needs o be cut at a small angle off

usually between88oand 92".

When I first startedcoping these oints, I useda bevel gauge

eachangle,and then I'd adiust the compound-miter

That iustI now cut five

of basemolding

88oand 92",in1"

As shown in the

the right,I test-fit

of blocks o get the

Then I readthe

on the block,

that number,

I'm ready o cut. No moreiddling.

-DENNISSMITH uf fo lk,a.

Two hardwood blocks,2 in. by 2in. by thin.

Basemolding

Gap causedby unevenwall surface

Tight fit indicatesthe proper angle.

Casing-reveal auge

When I install door or window cas-

ings, use he jig shown above o

fnake sure hat I get an accurate /+-in.reveal. t's madeof two squarepieces

of hardwood,rAin . thick, that are

glued togetherwith a Yc-in.offset.

This jig hasso many corners hat half

the time I grab it out of my nail bag,

it'sn he ight':l:lf'rl'*'"r,*o"

Fort Dodge, lowa

Cudahy

Test blocks

8s




ConstructionThis dimension is

equalto the width of

the block minus the

thickness of the blade.rimmingcabinetdoors

Here's a useful tablesaw setup for trimming the horns

off small frame-and-panel doors.

First, cut a piece of stoc k that fits between the horns,then rip the stock to about 2 in. wide. This piece s the

alignment block. Now move the saw fence toward the

blade a distance equal to the thickness of the blade, about

% in. With the saw running, just barely put the block into

the blade to make sure the fence has been moved a dis-

tance exactly equal to the blade's thickness.

Now put the block between the horns, and hold the

door and block against the fence as you cut off the horn. If

you've set t up correctly, the cut will be exactly flush with

the stile.

Lift the door up and away as soon asyou've cut through

the horn, and repeat the process or all the other corners

of the door. Be sure to clear the horn offcuts from the

blade asyou proceed.

-BRIAN EVEREST elson, .C . ,Canada

late

III

Router em p

Frame-and-paneldoor

Affixing a router template to aI've seesome carpenters use double-face

foam tape to hold a template in place for

routing. However, itbso sticky that I've

found it to be a do-or-die situation when

positioning the template. Plus, double-face

tape can damage finished surfaces.For

holding templates, I use ordinary hot glue

and masking tape (drawing left).

I cover the area under the template with

a layer of 3M blue masking tape. Then I

squeezea line of hot glue around the

perimeter of the template and stick it to the

tape. The router template in the drawing

Hot-meltg luegun )

Maskingape

gnment b

crosscut o fibetween hor

finished surfaceis made for outlet boxes that frequently

need to be installed in kitchen-island c

nets; it beats rying to run a sabersawo

a lacquered surface right at the edge o

raisedpanel.

I have used his method on all kinds o

materials, finished and unfinished, verti

horizontal, and upside down. The tape

vents damage to finishes, and on raw wo

it keeps the glue out of the grain. If the

plate isn't positioned correctly, I simply

it off, scrapeoff the glue, then try again.

-GREGGROOSSanFra

Drawings: Charles Miller. Photo this page: Daniel S. MoI N E H O M E B U I L D I N G



panelswith a routercabinet-door panels with a traditional under-

router table can produce wavy cuts because t's dif-

to hold the panel absolutely flat ro a vertical fence.

To regain the advantage of a horizontal worksurface,

my router at 90o to the conven-

As shown in the drawing,

affixed the router to a piece of Yz-in.

plywood. The baseof the

n a shallow recess outed

the plywood. The plywood

plate attaches o a

top by way of twomachine screws driven

threaded insertsembedded in

One screw acts as a pivot

The other projects through

in the mounting plate. A

and a large knob on rhis

the mounting plate to

at the desired height relative

worksurface.

With the router bit below the work as the panel is passed

raise the panel with a seriesof shallow passes.

that the locking point is twice as far from the pivot

the center of the router bit. At this relationship,

the plate r/+in. atthe locking point lifts the bit % in.

-DONALD C. BROWNRuckersv i l le,Va.

clamps

clamps (known as

in our part of the

are mighty use-

putting pressure on

mitered frame during a

or nailing session.

But miter clamps are noteasy o locate. As

in the drawing,I

my own pinchdogs

components

can be obtained easily:

clampsand drywall screws.

I first center-punch nd drrllVa-in.

n the aws of a springclamp. put

a bit off-center. his placement

permits the clamp to

reach a bit farther and

to grab the work at

odd angles.The offset

placement also allows

me to use a couple of

clamps at the same

time if I need to apply

extra pressure.

I run a #6 drywall

screw into the holes

in the spring-clamp

iaws.The sharppointsof thedrywall

screwswill bite nto almostany

_ S V E N H A N S O N

Albuquerque,N.M.

Accuratestaplingfor drawer assembly

I had a stack of melamine drawer bor-

toms and sides hat had to be stapled

together, and if the stapler'snosepiece

was slightly off-center or out of plumb,

I ran the risk of a staple blowing out

the face of a drawer side.

To ensure perfect alignment,I tacked

together a wooden sole with a regis-

Wood nosepiece registersagainstdrawer side.

Drawer id eBlocksscrewed oworksurface

Opposingwedges holddrawer sidesnug oblocks.

tration nosepiece or the stapler.The

sole, made of 3/q-in.plywood, envelops

the stapler's magazine. A piece of

solid stock planed ro rhe width of the

magazine fits between rhe plywood

sides,creating a flat, stable base or the

stapler. At the businessend of the tool,

I put a wood nosepiece hat extends

an inch below the sole. This nosepiece

registersagainst the drawer side and

the edge of the drawer bottom, hold-

ing them flush as the staple s driven.

-RICH VA N RHEENWest inn , re.

Direction

of feed

l/z-in.

plywoodmountingplate

Verticalpanel-raising i t

Adjustmentknob

1/a-in.-dia.

threaded nserts

#6

screw

drywal l

material.




CABINET ACKS,3 WAYS

1 ll Scissorslnstallingwall cabinetsby yourselfcan be a dangerous uggling act.

To keep them plumb and level long enough to install hem, use ascissorsack. A scrap of plywood atop the base cabinetsprovidesa

surface or cranking he cabinet into position.A 12-in.-sq.pieceof3/+-in. lyrood covered with carpet and attached to the bottom and

top of the jack protects the casework. | fitted my jack sleeve with an

old hole-sawarbor to raiseand lower it with my electric drill.

RONDeLAURENTISorth urora,ll .

2 // LegsI use hese

jacks o installupper cabinets

by myself. The

jacks have a 2x2

frame covered

with %-in.ply-

wood and are

braced with

2x3 legs . I line

the backsand

tops of the

jacks with car-

pet to keep

them from

2x3 legs

Zx2 frame K- t O n. ->l

scratching he walls. Rubber eet keep the

legs from slipping as I adjust cabinet height.

To use the jacks, I mark a level line on the

wall to show the bottom of the cabinet. I

place he jacksabout 6 in. insideeach end

of the cabinet and set the cabinet on them.

Moving the legs n or out adjusts he

height. When itt right, lfasten the cabinet

to the wallthrough holes n the hang-rail.

-DARRYL B. WEISER Dahlonega,Ga.

Wall cabinet

Scissorsac k

\

Hole-saw arbor

-a-.........c

':-- *

3 // Pipeclamps

As shown in the drawing to the right, my rig consists of trryo5-ft.

pieces of 7c-in. ron pipe attached to a 2x4 frame by way of threaded

pipe flanges.The movable part of a pipe clamp rideson eachpipe,

working side up, to support the arm assemblies. place he frame

on the floor, butt it up to a wall, and slide a cabinet onto the arms. I

raise he cabinet either by grabbing the clampsand pulling upward

while standingon the frame or by raising he cab inet by hand and

holding t up with one arm while raising he clampsone at a time.

This may sound a little awhrard, but it's not in practice.

ROY L. SAMUELSON Alameda, Cal i f .

ilIJ I

i

%-in.pipec lamp

\._-4

%-in.pipen ipp le , 0 n .long

1- in . y1/z-in.

bushing

%-in.pipec lamp

ARM ASSEMBLY ETAIL


tz-,n.p,p"nipple

- _UPPe, abinet'" '1

1 - in .

73



Efficienc Guidelines

BY SVENHANSON n my years as a cab inetmaker , 've found

tha t i t ' s r a re l y the b ig s r r ok e o f gen ius

that makes the difference; rather, it 's the

avoidance of dumb mistakes. Simplifying

cabinet designs and standardizrngconstruct ion

have made me feel a whole lot smarter. By mak-

ing f rameless cab inets ,order ing the doors and

drawer fronts from an outside vendor, an d using

product ion-or iented j igs, I 've e l iminated a lo t o f

expensive router bits and stock preparation.

low theseguidelines, and you'll be able to go f

shop drawings to f in ished cabinets qu ick ly

accurately ,w i th a min imal number of expen

tools and mistakes.

Sven Hans on s a c ab ine tmak e r n Mar ie t ta ,G

a n d A l b u q u e r q u e ,N . M . P h o t o sb y D a n i e lS .

Mor r i s on ,ex c ep t whe r e no ted .

7 4 F I N E H O N 4 E B U I L D I N G Photo this page; Rober



BUILD THE BOXES, BUT BUY THE DOORS Makinsabinetoors oublesthe amountof t ime needed o bui lda ki tchen, o I let someone lsedo it . Before star tbui ld-

ing cabinets, orderdoorsand drawer ronts rom an outside uppl ier. hey' re sual lyeady

(including anding nd in ishing,f specif ied) y the t ime 've bui l t he cabinet as es.t 'shard

for me to mee t he quality/price atio hat a shop delivers;wo suchsuppliers re www.scherrs

.comandwww. lakesidemould ing.com.omeothersmartcharacter ist icsreshownbelow.

Uppercabinet Doors and drawer fronts can

be ordered in any size and

in a wide variety of styles.

Factory-applied inishesare

an option, but ma y be hard

to match o cabinet boxes.

Us econcealed inges.They

are complex-looking nd

more expensive han other

types of hinges,but they'readjustable n three direc-

tions,making he doors

easier o install.

Base cabinetl-"':&o-.1iqa;

tr,i ;i..^: *

Simplify he joinery.Cabi-

ne t casesar e made from3/c-in.veneeredplywood.

Assemblys done with glue

and 17a-in.r im screws.

Use %-in.plywood backs

to square he cases.

The toe kick isn't part of the cabinet.Simplifycase

construction andcabinet nstallation) y setting the

cabinet box on a platform framed in 2x material.

Eliminate ixed shelves nbase cabinets.Drawers

and roll-out shelvesmake

base cabinetsmore use-

ful. With a dril l ing ig ,

drawer-slidehardware s

easy o install.

Use ull-extensiondrawer slides,Fo r

stickydrawers, rim the drawer width

where he slidesattachby moving he

drawer box through a tablesawwith

the blade height set at about 2 in.

fl

se applieden d panels.

Exposedscrews n casesides

wil l be hiddenwhen cabinets

ar e oined together. Fo r

end-of-runcabinetsides,use

finishedplywood panels.

O N L I N E E X T R ATo see a video of Sven Hanson making story poles for a

ki tchen-cabinet job, go to www.finehomebui lding.com.




FINISH BEFORE YOU START Edgebandingndapply ing in ish rebest oneto b ig pieces,but not too b ig . My usuals t ra tegy s to r ip 4x8 sheets of p lywood in to 2x8

pieces,a s ize hat 's easy o f in ishand move. You ' l l have o go back and add a l i t t le edgeband-

ing af te r a l l he parts are cut, but work ing on 2x8 sheets i rs t wi l l get the work done fas ter .

Iron on the edging. Usingthe plywood as a ruler,snapof f a bunchof 97-in.-

long strips.With the helpof a spring clamp, bal-ancea strip on the topedge of the plywood sheet

so that it overhangseachend. With the iron on a hot(linen)setting, tack downone end of the edgeband,

then iron toward the otherend. To ensuregood

adhesion, cuff theplywood edge

beforehand

with 9)-grit

sandpaper, i

then c/eanthe dustfrom the

surface.

s,

Trim one edge at a timeEdge trimmers normally

both sides at once. That

fine for vinyl edging, butyou'll get smoother resu

with wood if you show sorespect or the grain. Pu

the tool apart, and workside at a time to avoid sp(www.vi utex.com 800 8

9663).

When the varnish has dI knockdown the bumps

before applying a seconcoat. Sandpaperworks fi

but I like o smooth the f

with a cabinet scraper.

Tip: Singte-edgeazobladesmake reatscraers or theedgebandin

::::-:-{*tclr

ff'!t l



STICKWITH BASICDIMENSIONS bes inthe processby makinga cut-

l istof al l he parts ' l l need

(sides, ops, bottoms, backs,

etc.) and note the dimensions

both on the cutlist an d on an

unfinished nd of the part

(bal lpointnk wi l l last ) . use

basicdimensionshat d iv ide

well into a plywood panel.

To account or the sawkerf,

subtract 1/ain. from the follow-

ing sizes: in. and 9 in. work

well for drawersand toe-kick

s tock ;12 in . ,16 n . ,and 18 n .

work well for varyingdepths

of upper-cabinet ides, ops,

and bottoms; 24 in . is good

fo r base cabinets.

SPEEDASSEMBLYWITH SIMPLEJOINERYAND A LOW TABLEI rarely abbet cabinetbacksor dado drawerbottoms. nstead, fastenbacksand bottoms directly

to the edge of the plywoodwith polyurethane onstruction dhesive nd nailsor screws.When

assembling, use homemade ornerblocksand a low assemblyable o keep hingssquareand at

a comfortableworking height.

Corner blocks

are made with

shop scraps. Ply-

wood cutoffs with

square cornersand lipped sides

work well for

clamping cabinetsides ogether

or, as shown, or

drawer assembly.I use a drawer

side as a gauge to

space the blocks

properly.Then,

with front and

back standing,I wedge a sidebetween to keep

them steady while

fastening theother side.

Cornerblocks

Tip: Sandoff the finr'sh hat will

be glued. A rabbeted sandingblock allows me to do this quickly

and neatly. With a piece of A0-grit

sandpaperglued in the rabbet, Irough up the varnished surtace thatreceives the butt joint.

Cut plywood

efficiently. To avoid

making crosscuts n

full-sizesheets of

plywood,l rrp sheets

lengthwise, then

turn to crosscutting.

My shopmade cross-

cut sled rides n the

tablesaw's miter-gauge slots, making

precise crosscutting

easy o do.

The bottom is

structural. With

the drawer sides

assembled,use the

drawer bottomsto rackand hold

the boxes square.

I prefer plywood

over hardboard or

medium-density

fiberboard for the

bottoms (and cabi-

net backs)because

of its light weight,

durability, and ability

to hold fasteners.

",ll/G R E A T B U I L D I N G T I P S 2 0 0 6



USE DRILLING TEMPLATES Becauseth ink that base cabinetswith f ixed shelvesare a sin

against common sense, f i l l them with drawers or

rol l -out upgrades. But instal l inga l l ha t drawer

hardware can be f in icky business. avoid a lot o f

mistakesby using a ful l -s ize emplate made f roml/q-in.plywood or melamine. My template defines the

posi t ions of the ho les or drawer s l ides n k i tchen

base cabinets (three- and four-drawer type), van-

i t y cabinets, nd i ledrawers,oo. I s imply o lor-

code he holes o minimizemistakes.

For upper cabinetswith adjustableshelves,

ensure accuratehole spacing by using a dr i l l ing

template, which I made with a piece of melamine

on a f r iend's ine-bor ing machine.You a lso canbuy a template from most woodworking stores

for around $25. Th is emplate's spacing ensures

consistencyan d lets yo u take advantage of the

Europeancabinetmaking system, with holes every

16 mm (% in.) hat al ign shelvesand hardware.

Notch f or 3 / t - in .fastening s t r ip

( , i ,^.,1 T.p -I" r ,Je-

i .^\,...t .i r Tr ?

r : i i i r ' , . . , t i ; . ' r . i : . - ' 1 . . , . ' i " i '

@@)

R.r/G*..... {}.--'*' 6.r,^J:

7a-in.notch

for face

f ra me s

l\

;

;

l ) r r l l T x , , P . ' w ^- l l l t l

C I o @) O

0l l l Thi ' R.ou * l / l t l 9 l " e f. t

o o oJ Ptrwar 61, ial. Glc- C"b.

Don't crawl into acabinet to installdrawer hardware.Do it on a benchinstead.With thecabineton its sideand the templatewedged in place,drillthe holes orthe drawer slideswith a cordless rill.Flip over the cabi-net and template,align the {ront edge,and drillholes n theother side.

Use a cordlessdrill to place

shelf holes

accurately. Setthis templateagainst hebottom of the

cabinet, andwork your wayup. The templateis symmetrical,but working fromthe bottom upavoids any prob-lemscausedby acabinetside thatmay havebeencut a bit shorterthan the other.

,r Dr,ll TLls Kew o-l Art R./e* t.'-riD**€ '-'L"f,3

f 0 @ @ o-it t1.,€

3, > . " t ] r

i$ tso$$F-

' i Bolfer'l / c'Li"t ?"{^lt"'Ll

' ! 1 1.\ ^

|i l - , t tT ! , r rRouAr l" . l Js Ll ,

eg30: ^rtl. ts rr F/.qcr,J ?i,- Cu."{e ,{ {Dtaq th.h.'I.{ srlo- _

{*a*r:r:.:^,"r,.,ii"

t- A 20-in.width allows he templar. ._-------->l

to be used for a vanity cabinet,

too. Place he template so that it is

flush with the front of the cabinet.

17hon . 21/z in.

11/a n.

Off-center

holes

allow th e

template

to be

used for

f rameless

or face-

f ame

cabinets.

*.

a

; * ' .t. ",t

& . . . i

. g - i

fr€]\. ' .,,*"

. : ':

/*.+,eFi'{i.r.

.* J

e . ' : ' - * 'i a$ i .

#it'

I+'i *, - . i". , '}i'l.i{*. ',,1

Tip: lnstall he cabin

backs last after drillingholes and installing'thehardware.This approaboosts your screw-drivcomfort zone by allowiaccess rom front or ba

'ti:ri

l!ii*r:

113/d n.

7 8 F I N E H O M E T J U I L D I N G



INSHLL DOORSWITH A HINGE STICK European-styteinsesomein two piecesia cup and a baseplate.The cup mounts o the

door, and the baseplatemounts o the cabinetside.The twoparts then snap or screw ogether. Because hey're two-part

hinges, t's crucial ha t the correspondingpieces ine up, or theywont snap ogether. My hinge stick keeps he distancebetweenbaseplatesand the setback rom cabinet front consistent.Touse t, insert cup hinges nto the holes,and with hinges n the

closed position,screw he baseplateso thecabinetside.Test he operationof the hingestick. f all'swell, adjust he

bumperedscrews o the distancebetween he open door

and the cabinet.Now you can nstallal l the baseplateswith thestick n the open position.

The cup hole mustbe close to theedge of the doolor the door will rubagainst he cabinetwhen opened andclosed. You almostcan't be too close,but you certainlycan be too far.

About Ve n. willallow the door tooverlay he cabinetframefully withoutrubbing.With thecup hinge squarelyin the hole, setone screw. Ihiswill ensure hat allhinges are installedconsistently.

Set the adjustablebumpers after thefirst set of hingesis in place andworking well.

Drill holes all theway through sothat the stfck canbe used for left-or right-hingingandas a drillingguide.

Cup holes are drilledan equal distancefrom the end sothat the stick can beflipped top or bottom.

Baseplaternounts tocabinet.

Adjustmentscrews

Align the hinge stickwith the top of thecabinet, drill pilot holes,and drive the baseplatescrews. The bumpersensure consistent setbackon all the hinges.

The best way to borethe cup holes is to use d13h-in. Forstner bit witha depth stop in a bench-top drillpress. Set upa fence with reference

marks to ensure consis-tent alignment. Without abenchtop drill press, thehinge stick can make agood drilling template ifclamped to the door.




Electrical

hole

5\vtew

\

Site-builtwire spinner

Workmanlike wiring is easier o achievewith a wire spinner.The site-

built versionshown belowwas whipped up by electricianPhil Clements

in 15minutes,usinga handful of wire staples, few l6d nails,a fender

washer,assorted x4 offcuts,and short engthsof Romex cable.Phil

first nailed together a pair of 2x4s o make a postabout 24 in. tall,

then attached he 24-in.-longbasepieces.He stapledshort lengths

of Romex to createa loosecradle hat holdsa coil of wire as t comes

from the box. Hung from a nail in a ceiling oistor door header,Philb

wire spinner rotateson the washer ashe pulls and uncoilsflat lengths

of wire without twistsor kinks.

M. SCOTT ATKINSrl ington,Va.

Wire-nut 1

wrench

When wiring the 800-

sq.-ft.addition to my

home,I had o installabout 100duplex

outletsand switches.

Halfway through the

job,my fingerswere

blistered rom twist-

ing wire nuts.That's

when I got the dea

for this device.

I mademy little wrench out of lxl maple scraps. he hole

in its business nd hasslotson bothsides o accommodateh

wings on the sides f the wire nuts.The wrench'swide han

lets me get a firm grip to apply plenty of torque to the wire n

-RICHARD N ELSON Sa nLeandro,C

Clamp-nail ing

Sometimesan elecffic oudet or switch box has o go betwee

a couple of studs hat are so close ogether, here'sno room

for a hammer or a drill bit. In this case,I each or a C-clam

As shown n the drawing, a clampcan be used o squeeze

nail into the stud. For good

bearing, use oofing nails

during this operation.Occa-

sionally,I have o drill holes

in the side of the box for

the nails.

_D A V E K O HL E R

Clarks Summit, Pa .

Whenspace s tight, pull nailinto stud with a C-clamp.

1/z-in.-dia.

Bottom

Sawkerf lot for wire-nutw

Bent 16d nailhanger

2x4 base

\l i

\\\ \\ v

A I

80 FINE HOMEBUILDING Drawings: CharlesMiller. Photo his page:CharlesBi



Electrician'stickThe next time you have o affix electricalboxes o

stud framing for switchesor outlets, ry using the jig

shown n the drawing at right to position the boxes

consistendy. make the jig out of a strip of 3/+-in.by3/+-in.pine.Two pairsof 4d nailsdriven through the

stick correspond o the threaded holes n the boxes.

To use he stick, position the boxesover the nails and

place he stick on the floor adjacent o the stud. Now

you can nail the box to the stud, andthe height will

be right every ime.

-SANTO A. INSERRA amestown,N.Y.

,I\[

Sectionfromplasticwaterbottle

4d nails

3/+-in.by %-in. pine

Clean cuts for recessedcans

ElectricianMel Minor installsa ot of

recessedight fixtures n ceilings. n some

cases, e has o cut a hole n the drywall

aswell asmount a fixture in the ceiling

joists.To keep he mess o a minimum, he

makes hecircular cutoutswith the clever

contraption in the drawing at left.

Although it looks ike a harpoon, his

tool is actually a jumbo hole sawaffixed

to a pipe extension.Mel madethe rig

out of sections f Yz-in. alvanizedpipe,

joinedwith couplings, nd a threaded

shaftat one end that fits into the chuck ofhis%-in.drill.

Beneathhis hand is a hefty section rom

a plastic5-gal.water botde.The water

botde sglued o a sleevemadeof PVC

pipe. When the shaft urns, the botde

remainsstationary s t catcheshe dust.

_GARY M. K A T Z

Reseda, Calif.

Outletbox

\

\

Ifi

\)

PVCsleeve

1/z-in.

galvanized

,rfl

w

Planning or unknownwiring alterations

Adding a new electrical oudet,

a switch, computer-qetwork

wiring, or a cable-TV jack is

pretty simple in single-story

homes. You have attack points

from the basement and./or the

attic to route wires through

walls. But I build and remodel

a lot of two-story homes. Run-

ning wires from a basement

service panel to the second floormeans punching holes in walls

and ceilings.

As a result,I've gotten into

the habit of installing at least

two 2-in. conduits from the

basement or service panel up

to the attic when I build a new

house. In houses hat I remodel,

I try to incorporate conduits for

future alterations while I have

walls open. Two conduits are

important because household-

current wires aren't supposed

to commingle with cable-TV,

phone, network, or other low-

voltage/communications wir-

ing. I flag the conduits in the

attic with fluorescent orange

surveyors'tape so that future

installers can locate them. I also

label the conduits at the service

panel so that the homeowners

know what they are for. And

if I'm feeling especiallygen-

erous,I pull a few stringsthrough the conduits to make

wire-pulling easier.My electri- :

cian has even had to use the

conduits right away while

installing the finish on a project

when he forgot a home run for

a lighting circuit.

_ M I K E G U E R T I N

EastGreenwich, .l .




Adjustingrecessed-canulb socketsOn a recent ob, I installeda row of recessed-lightixtures n a

kitchenceiling.These ixtureshaveadjustable ulb sockets.Generally,by the time a fixture is nstalledand the trim is attached,

the socket s almostalwaysout of position. f the bulb positions

are not the same, he whole installation ooks

sloppy, o t's mportant to get them uniform.

The first time I did this, I spenta lot of time

install ing he first bulb, removing t to adjust

the position of the socket o my bestguess,

reinstalling he bulb, and so orth. None of

this was helped by the fact that the R-40

flood-lamp bulbs requested y -y client

virtually filled the light-fixture's cavity,

making it necessaryo useonly my fingertips

to screw he bulbs n and out. As you might

imagine, several f theseexpensive ulbs

were casualtiesof this awkward handling. By the time I

finished, I was convinced that there had to be a better wayto do this job.

The solution was simple. As shown in the drawing at left,I mad

a Tlshapeddepth gauge hat registers n the

light-fixture's rim ring. The vertical eg of

T is equal o the distancerom the socket o

the faceof the ightbulb.

To set he depthof a socket,I oosents

bracket'swing nut enoughso hat the socke

will slideup and down, yetwill stayput with

out support.Then I hold the gaugeagainst

trim ring and either raiseor lower the socke

asnecessary.ighten the wing nut, and you'

in business.-BERTDAWKINSorthpor

Rotary ishing odWhen fishing a wire for a doorbell, I ran into a seem-

ingly impossiblesituation. I'd drilled the hole for the

bell push,and an angled hole through the wall plate

into the proper stud bay from the eellar.But try as

I might I couldn't get a wire from one to the other.

Itried fish tape, a weighted string, bell wire, beadchain, profanitlr, hooks, and probes. I couldn't find

any obstruction, but I couldn't find the wire either.

As my last attempt before ripping off clapboards, I

made the fishing rod shown at left. Starting with a

piece of l/r-in. dowel about a foot long. I drilled a

%e-in.hole acrqss he diameter about 7a n. from one

end. Through this hole I inserted a 15-in.piece of bell

wire that I securedwith a squaneknot, leaving the trro

ends equal. I then chucked the other end of the dowel

into an electric drill. Folding the endsof the wite so

that they stuck out ahead of the dowel like antennae,

I shoved the contraption into the hole in the plate as

far as it would go, and turned on the drill. At 1200

rpm, the ends of the wire whipped out centrifugally,.

lashingaround inside he wall and entangling the

weighted string left dangling from the bell-pushhole.

When I pulled the drill back through the hole in the

prate'ound":'J::il'::::f[Ti'H":::*".

EleCtriCal (continued)

R-40bulb

Socketadjustsupand down.

face

ICeiling

Cardboardgau9e

Hold gauge againsttrim ring to setsocket depth.

I neMoDELTNGrP

Recessed-canight fixture




,(i l i

Plumbing

cRossSECTION

Rotate blocks to raise sink.

This unit will fit snugly between the

forms, and it can be wired to the rebar

and spreadersat the top of the forms to

stay in place during the pour. When the

forms are pulled awa\tyou have a cou-

pling embedded on each side, flush

with the wall and ready for another

length of pipe.

-D.A . FLEURy ur lew, ash.

Pipe-soldering last shieldAnybody who has ever sweat-soldered copper

pipes at closequarters in a wooden house knows

the feeling: The torch flame dances around the fit-

ting, glancing off an old floor joist, and some wood

smoke fills the air. Will this solderever meltl

I don't take any chanceswhen it comes to solder-

ing in a wooden building. I keep an extinguisher

on hand, and even more important,I don't let the

flame get anywhere near something flammable.

As shown in the drawing above, I use a pair of

brackets to support an old cookie sheet when I'm

working overhead. The cookie sheetshields he

ceiling, the brackets protect the joists,and the sol-

der can melt whenever it wants without me wor-

rying about it.

_ J O H N C A R R O L

Durham, .C.

Couplings t both ends

Cookiesheet restson brackets,

\ d iscarded galvanized-'. \

steel ducts, both sides i

Caulkingan undermountsink n place

I needed to affix a stainless-steel ndermount sink to a

granite counter that was already installed on its cabinet

bases.One of the problems presentedby the situation was

how to get a good silicone-caulk sealbetween the underside

of the counter and the rim of the sink. Rather than rely on a

bunch of bracesand shims to wedge the sink in place, I used

rope and a couple of wood blocks.

As shown in the drawing below,I placed a wood cross

brace over each bowl of the sink. Then I threaded a length

f small-diameter rope through a hole in each brace and

hrough the drain holes. On the underside of the sink, the

rope runs through a wood block under each drain tailpiece.

fter running a bead of silicone around the rim of the sink,

rotated each block, short-

the ropes and drawing

he sink upward with even

around the

rim. The resulting

is so strong it almostthe mechanical fas-

redundant.

_ A N D R E W H E P P A R D

Madison, onn.

Wood block

ipe couplingspipe or conduit through a

foundation wall with no

patch and without cutring holes in

forms sounds too good to be true, until

this trick. Cut a piece of the

you need, and attach couplings to both

so that the total length of pipe plus

exactly matches the thickness of

wall, as shown in the drawing.

his page:Tom O'Brien

Wood crossbraces




Seala drain penetrationin a foundationwall

I've been searching for a better way

to seal he gap around a drainpipe

where it exits a foundation wall.

The standard technique that most

builders in my area use is to pack

the gap with mortar or hydraulic

cement. But lately, plumbing

inspectors have been frowning on

this practice becauseany shift in the

soil during frost cycles can crack a

rigidly installed pipe.

Instead of mortar,I now use ow-

expansion urethane foam to fill the

gap around the pipe. This is the

Foundation all

Hole in foundation

Soi l ine

Roof vent-stack lashing Urethane

foam

same stuff I use to sealcracks and

crevices hroughout the house to

reduce air leaks. Once the foam

has cured,I apply a layer of roof

cement to the outside of the wall.

This is the thick stuff, the kind of

roof cement that you spread with

a trowel. Then I slip a roof vent-

stack flashing over the pipe and bed

the flashing in a %-in.-thick layer

of roof tar.I lap the tar over the

edges of the flashing to promote a

better seal.

At backfill time, care must be

taken to prevent damage to the

flashing. This extra care has pre-

sented no problems, and I've had

great luck with the results.

_ M I K EG U E R T I N

EastGreenwich, .l.

t a r


Plumbing (continued)

Trimmingpipes n place

As I set he plasticshowerpan nto itsmortar

bed,I saw heproblem.The drainpipewas% n.

too ong, he pipe wasglued n place, nd the

plumber was onggone.Becausehe clearance

around thedrainpipeamounted o no more than

about % n. on eachside,no sawof mine would

beable o trim the drain below he surface f the

showerpan.

To solve heproblem of

cutting he pipe,I madea

tubing cutter hat works

from the nsideof the

pipe.For a cutter,Iuseda

drywall screw.As shown

in the drawing above,I

ran a 2-in.drvwall screw

through a small block of wood. To this pieceof

wood,I affixed a small handle,which also unc-tioned asa depth stop. n use, hehandle ests

atop he end of the pipe.Then I turned the device

with the point of the drywall screwbearing

against he nsidesurface f the pipe.After a few

turns, pulled out the cutter andset he screwa

little deeper.n no time,I'd cut through thepipe.-WALTERGORR ittsburgh,a.

Drainpipe

Cutting plastic pipe

While on oneof my daily inspection oursof the ob site,I sawout of the cornerof

my eyea plumberdoing what looked ike an aerobicexercise hile standingshoulder

deep n a narrow ditch.With sweat unning down his face,he was rapidly pulling back

and forth on a pieceof nylon mason'sine. When I askedhim what he wasdoing,he

gaveme one of those ou-ignorant-dweebooksand replied hat he was cutting a piece

of 4-in. ABS plasticdrainpipe.

Sureenough,he ust had madea perfectlystraightcut through the pieceof pipe.The

pipe wasalmost otally buried n the narrow ditch, n a position hat would havebeen

tough to reachwith evena reciprocal aw.The plumber

had threaded he ine under the pipe,asshown

in the drawing. Then he useda quick saw-

ing motion to cut-maybe burn is a better

lsyrn-ths pipe n half. The trick to doing

it right is to useenough ine so hat you canmake ong passes,umping back and forth,

or up and down as he casemay be.Don't

stop,or the ine will seize n the melted kerf.

It turnsout that mason'sine will cut ABS

and PVC pipe,schedule 0or 80.The method

is equallyuseful or flush-cuttinga pipe

where t emergesrom a wall or a slab._ C R A I GS A V A G E

Carpinteria,Calif.

2-in. drywall-screw ut

Nylonmasol ine

A3A-in.by %-in. handle also undionsasa.depthstop. ^

handle o cut pipeinside.

erYrTwistfrom

\

)

A' )I

\

\ :

Plast

Pipe.

\



UNHEATED ARAGE

12-in. rostproofsill cocksZ--

H OU S E IDE

SharedwallFreezeproofing garagesink

Every shop needs a slop sink, so I decided to install one in my attached

garage workshop. Because live in a cold climate and wanted to use the

sink year-round, frost protection was mandatory.My solution was to

locate a plastic laundry sink on the wall shared with the house and to use

frostproof sill cocks for the hot and cold water supplies. These valves

normally are used for outdoor faucets and are available in both 8-in.

and l2-in. lengths. The supply lines run up from the basement nside

the shared wall, protected from the cold by the warm interior of the

houseand its insulation.

The tailpiece from the sinkt drain takes a 90o turn by way of a lVz-in.

horizontal PVC drainpipe, which penetratesthe rim joist before joining

a P-trap in the basement. Putting the P-trap in the basement keeps its

contents frorn fr eezing.

Whether it be for washing paintbrushes or just for scrubbing my dirty

hands, the slop sink has been a satisfying addition to the workshop.

-KARL JUULGlenmont , .Y .

Ho t and coldsupply ines

Trap

To buildingdra in

Garage

floor

Dril l ingholes n EPS

I neededo drill an 8-ft.-longhole n the EPS(foam)

coreof a stress-skin anel n order to installa vent pipe

for a kitchensink. I don't know of anyoff-the-shelfbits

or holesawsdesigned or a task ike this, so mademy

own, usinga pieceof the samepipe hat would end up in

the hole.With my copingsaw, cut teeth n the end of a

pieceof ABS pipe.A coworkeruseda Surform plane o

sharpen he teeth.

I mounted he otherend of the 2-in.pipe n a

2%-in.-dia. ole saw. t fit perfectly. hree drywall

screwshrough the slots n thesideof thehole saw

securedhe ABS. Presto! hada holesaw8 ft.long

attached o my Yz-in.Hole Hawg drill. It easily ut a hole

in the foamthat was heexactsizel needed.

Hole saw

- J l M F R A N D E E N S o q u e l , a l i f .

Screws

I REMoDELTNGrP

2. Cutsection away'

from halved coupling.

PVC-pipe atchTo ix a leaking oint in a PVCwater-supply ine, I start by cut-

ting a coupling n half, makingsure o remove he stop in the

middle. I then cut one of the halves n two. The ratio should

be about 600loo 40o/o, ith the larger piece ust big enoughnot to break as t is pushedonto the pipe like a C-clip.

I shut off the water and drain the line to let the joint dry out.

Then I apply multipurpose glue, made for ABSand PVCpipe,

to both the pipe joint and the patch. With the factory-edge

side of the modified couplingtoward the leak, I snap he

patch over the pipe and slide it hard against he leaky oint.

Someglue should squeezeout. Le t it dry overnight, and the

water ine s ready or use. -BRUCECALDERWOODiaemail

3. Coat with glue,then snap modifiedcouplingonto pipeand slide against eak.

cutting eeth(

\

LeakingPVCwater pipe1. Cut coupling in half

G R E A T B U I L D I N G T I P S 2 0 0 6 85



Roofi g

Shingle ut table

On a recent roofing job, my brother askedme tocut several undlesof shinglesnto starterstrips

to usealong the eaveand rake edges.As shown n

the drawing below,I madea simplecut tableby

nailing a lx3 along the bottom edgeof a 2-ft.by

3-ft. scrapof 3A-in.orientedstrandboard(OSB).By

setting hecut tableon a pair of sawhorses,I ould

work with it at a comfortableheight.A lx4 prop

on the underside ilted the table o a better position,

and I cut a 3-ft.-longby 7-in.-widestripof %-in.

OSB asa rip guide for cutting shingles.

I seta pile of inverted shinglesagainst he lx3

stop.Then I adjusted he bladeon my utiliry knife

so hat it just scribed he surfaceof one shingle

when I ran it along the 7-in. guide. I wasdone

cutting the starters n half the time it ordinarily

takesme.-I foundother

shingle-cuttinguses

for the table, oo. By

restingal2-in. trian-

gular framing square

(sometimesalleda

SpeedSquare)against

the stop,I could

make accuraterepetitive rosscuts

for rakestarters r

trim shingles or end-

ing courses t walls._ B R U C EG U E R T I N

Coventry,R.l.

3-ft.by 7-in.ri p guide

1x 3stop

Roofsheathing

Waterproofmembrane

Drip edge

MembrancoversgaP

\..tt',

" \

Fascia

lce-dam prevention

The drawing aboveshowshow to modify the typical roof-edgedetato seal he gap between he fasciaand the roof sheathing rom ice

dams. run waterproof membranea coupleof inchesdown the fasc

to apoint below the top of the gutters.Becausewaterproof membra

aren't rated or exposureo sunlight,I cover he membrane'witha

pieceof flashing that runs from the edgeof the roof sheathing o the

middle of the fascia.With this detail, cebuildups forming up from

the gutter might get under the drip edge,but they can't get through

CHUCKGREEN shland,

Drawings, cxccpt whcre notcd: Charlcs Millcr. Photo this page: Roe A. Os

Starterstrips

1x 4prop

FINE HOMEBUILDING

Z-ft. by 3-ft. scrapof plywoodor OSB

the gap.



Shingling rom the top downlot of people think I'm kidding when

sing the praisesof shingling a house

the ridge down. Quite to the

shingling a roof from the top

(we're talking asphalt shingles

can be faster than going from the

up, and it alwaysgives a better

For example, starting at the ridge

working down savesyou from

over the materials you just

On a hot day, the wear and tear

asphalt roof can be considerable.

On roofs requiring staging, you can

the duckboards and scaffold sup-

to the deck without special

They'll also be convenient ro

on your way down, without fear

the roof.

In reroofing, there is an additional

Becausedebris slidesdown

only the old roof, you can redo only

coursesat a time as you feel

removing.

The trick is to have several starter

and initially to nail theseshin-

t the top only. As shown in the

abbve, snap a line below the

that gives you a comfortable reach.

should be an exact number of

his page:Bill Phill ips

Start first course with nailsonly

Tuck owercourseunderthis row.

)

Second startingcoursebeginsan equal numberof exposuresbelow the first row of shingles.

courses rom the eave, asdefined by the

shingle exposure. Now nail your first

course of shingles with the lower edges

following the line, but tacked along

the top only. Shingle upward from this

course to the ridge in normal fashion.

Move your staging down, if need be,and snap another line an exact number

of coursesbelow your first one, again

within a comfortable reach. As you

prepare to nail down this second srarter

course, don't forget to start with a full

tab or a half tab at the rake, depending

on whether you have an odd or even

number of courses o lay. Shingle

upward to the initial starting course,

which you will lift out of your way to

allow the lower course to tuck under

it. With the lower course safely nailed

in place, you can nail the initial srarter

course of shingles in the normal fashion.

Repeat this sequenceas often as neces-

sary to reach the eave.This technique is

simpler to do than it is to describe,and

in my experience, this method becomes

part of the permanent repertoire of all

who try it.

E M A N U E LA N N A S C H

Halifax, .S.,Canada

I nEMoDELTNGrP

Asphalt-shng e reroofing

Have you ever noticed the wavy pattern

on a roof with two layersof asphaltor

fiberglass hingles? his s due to the

uneven hickness f the shingleswhere

they overlap,whichcancreateas many

as six thicknesses.

To preventshinglebuildupon the typi-

cal 5-in. exposure oof, trim the first rowof new shingles o 5 in. and the second

row to 10 in.,and butt them against he

bottom edge of the old courses bove.

Theseshingleswill work as spacers hat

allow the new roof to start a different

overlappattern that misseshe old

bumps,with a 3-in.exposureon the first

row and a normal5-in.exposure rom

there on. This method letsyou butt the

new shingles gainst he bottoms of the

old. First, hough, makesure he cours-

es on the old roof are straight.Yournew roof now will lie flat.-JACK McGH IE Tucson, r i z .

Original

-nias"r@

==FTHEWRONGWAY

roof\




ROOfing (continued)

Removing damagedshingleSome oof repairs-nail pops, or example-require replac-

ing singleshingles.Removing the damagedshinglewithout

damaging the surrounding shingles s the tricky part. Thisprocesssbestdonewhile shinglesare coolenoughnot to

melt underfoot and warm enoughnot to crack. n the sum-

mer,I handle his part of the repairbefore8 a.m. n the win-

ter, I do only emergency epairs.

1 First, break the bond createdby the seal-downstrips

below and on the two courses bove

the shingleyou want to remove.This

stepmay'bedifficult with somenewer

laminatedshingles: 5O-yearhingle

with a 110-mphwind warranty has

an aggressive dhesivebond. In these

cases,I ut the adhesive tripwith apry bar.

2 With the bondsbroken,I can

remove he four nailsholding the

damagedshingle.

3 Before remove he shingle,

though,I have o remove our more

nailsdriven through the courseabove.

4 Now I canpull out the damagedshingle,slip in a newshingle, nd renailall the oosened hingles.

When refastening hingles, on't pur new nails n the old nailholes; hey'll pop right out. Insread, ail nexrro the holes, ndput a dabof sealant ver he old holes.While your caulkgun

is handy,sealdown all the loosened hingle abswith a dabof sealant. -STEPHEN HAZLETT kron,Ohio

1- in.-widetop b lock ,4 n.long by % in. hick

Exposure lus 1 in.

Cedar-roofshinglingguideA few yearsagoat a cedar-shinglemanufactu

er'sseminar,he ocal ep showeda film of a re

professionalnstallingshingles. his guy wasnailing so ast that the entire room burstout

laughing.Roofing sonly part of my repertoir

and that levelof skill isn't n thecards or me.

When I do installwood shingles,Iset he

courseso a pencil ine that I mark usinga sim

guidemadeout of a 4-ft. to 5-ft. engthof %-in

plywood.To makethe guide,I rip the plywoo

to a width equal to the exposureof the shingle

plus in. I affix l-in.-wide,4-in.Jong,Vz-in.

thick stopblocks o the undersideof theplywo

at eachend asshown n the drawing at left.

I position he guide so hat the stopblocksca

the buttsof thepreviouscourse f shingles, n

I draw a line along the top of the guide to loca

the buttsof the nextcourse.Next,I move he

guideup,lay its bottomedgealong his ine,an

mark another ine along he top of theguide.O

course,he shingles over his ine as hey're a

down, but theguideprovidesa referenceine f

nailing on the eadingedge.As a control,I sna

chalklineevery ew courses.-ARNE WALDSTETNreat arrington

Markingguide

FINE HOMEBUILDING8 Photos this page:Daniel S. Mor



Shingle older

Roofswith a 5-in-12 o a 7-in-12pitch canbewalked, but shingles

awaiting nstallation end to slide.To keepshingleswithin reachas hey

are nstalled, usea shingleholder madeup of a str ip of lx4 about 8 ft.

long anda2x4 blockand wo 4x4blocks,3r/zin.long.

Attach the blocks o the strip by nailsdriven through the back of thelx4. A 40-in.space etween he blocksaccommodatesither 36-in.or

lm shingles. t the top of the 1x4,I drilled aVz-in.-dia. ole,which I

threadovera roofingnail drivenhalfway nto the roof. I place his nail

just above he top of the groove

of the shingle 've already

installed n the previous

course.When I move

the shingle older,I

justpound n that nail

all the way, and the

,....nextcourse verlapst,

r r ' : . . - J O H N C A R R O L L

: "' Durham,N.C.

Shingles est on4x4 blocks.

I REMoDELTNGIPS

Shingle leanup

Stripping he old shinglesoff a house s a messy ob by any-

body's standards. he accumulated iecesof cedaror asphalt

tend to rain down around he house,often damaging ragile

landscaping. o prevent his problem, use a sheet of 6-mil

poly to act as a combinationprotectivebarrierand tarpaulin,as

shown n the drawing below. I staple the poly to the top piece

of a 2x4 frame, making sure

that the top edge of the

poly is doubled and

wrapped around

the horizontal2x4.

Thisarrangement

savesa lot of

cleanup ime

and leavesmyclientssmiling.

- C H A R L I E

W O O D H O U S E

Kensington, Calif.

Holder ssecuredby apartiallydrivenroofing nail.

--\.:i

-- ,/' --a-' .-/

-

a

Exposure lushalfof doublecovera9e

Wirehook

Centerl ineof holes

Lengthequalshalf

of doublecoverage.Wire hook

madeof 1O-ga.copperwire

Slate-roofrepair

The drawing above showsmy method for

replacinga broken roof slatewithout

exposedwire.

After removing he brokenslate,drill a pair

of holes n the new slate.The distance rom

the bottom edge of the s late to the center-

line of the holesequals he exposureof the

slateplushalf ts double coverage that por-

tion of the coursewhere three slatesover-

lap one another).The bent endsof a 1O-ga.

copper-wirehook pass hrough the holes.

The rest of the wire hook passesunder the

replacement late and hangson the top edge

of the slate directly beneath t.

-RANDYE. MEDLIN aur inburg,.C.

'(/.

GREATB U ILD IN GTIP S2006



Siding

Nai l as

safety stop

a---/-'.,7----

-----?7

A site-madesaw guidefor cutting vinyl

-

Cutting vinyl soffit and siding marerial

be done quickly and accurately with a sa

guide.I usually have a commercially ava

able guide on site. Once in a while, thou

it goes missing, and I have to improvise.

In one such instance,I noticed a few

scrapsof 1x6 shiplap siding on the burn

As shown in the drawingr l cut two piec

33 in. long and, with their rabbeted edge

facing one another,laid them upside dow

atop a couple of 2x6s.With the 1x6 piece

set at a distance equal to the width of my

saw's base,I screwed them to the 2x6s.T

setup made a nifty little slide guide for c

ting vinyl siding or squaring lx or 2x sto

The sawkerf in the far 2x6 indicares rh

cutline. In the near 2x6,a nail actsas asafetystop to keep the saw from acciden

tally backing out of the guide.

_ W I L L R U T T E N C

Valdost

Kert markscutline.

V.inyl offit orsidingmaterial

1x sh ip lap id ing

S5w base ridessiding rabbets.

2

)

z n:

Cleancorners or manufactured idingI've been installing a lot of nonwood siding over the past few years,such as cement-basedand hardboard lap siding. To complement their clean look, I've taken toinstalling custom-made steelcorners. As shown in the drawing below, the corners

have flanges that are nailed to the wall and act as ntegral flashings in caseanymoisture gets behind the siding. The siding abuts the projecting corner of the metaltrim details.

A local metal shop makes the corners from steelgutter stock. This material isi-nexpensiveand comes n brown, white, or primer. The steelcorners hold paintbeautifully. Before I started using these corners,I used cedar corner boards. Theywould shrink eventually,leaving a cracked caulk joint. With steelcorners, rhar

problem is a thing of the past.

RICHARD ARBYMer l in , re .

1 i n . r r , r r t

1- in . olds

ShingleTLC

I had to replace windows in a 30-year-old

house that was covered with cedar shing

and try as I might,I found it impossible

to scar some of the shingles with my ladd

Also,I had to remove some shingles o tr

them, which further damaged their face

After thinking about th e problem,I

decided to try reviving the shingles with

a very soft wire brush. I brushed with the

grain, starting at the top and working

down. I first tried a small spot in an unob

trusive placeand found that the shingles

had a nap like suede or velvet. Brushing

with the grain pushed all the fibers back

into the grain lines that emerge as the

shinglesweather with age.I brushed al l tshingles around each window about a foo

out from the casings,and then I spraysd

them lightly with a hose o clean the wall

of fine particles.When everything dried,

evidence that any work had been done w

_ R I C H A R D E . R

Doylestown,

Outsidecorner InsidecornerInsidecorner

at bay windowOutside cornerat bay window


barelynoticeable.



CLAPBOARDIDING

Scribing curved clapboard ends

I had to apply clapboardso the side of a garage hat has

archeddoors, which meant that I had to cut the ends of the

clapboards o match he changingarc of the trim around he

doors. I think the method I came up with to mark the curve

worked out better than the typical scribing echnique. As shown

in the drawing, I cut a pieceof scrap sheet metal into a strip

about 8 in. ong and % in .

wider than the curved rim.

I laid the metal ight against

the trim and held it with a few

finishingnails.Then I rubbed

a pencilalong he edge of the

metal, held a clapboardagainst

it, and pressed irmly. The backof the clapboardnow had a

perfectly curved cutline to fol-

low with my jigsaw.

_ R I C K B O I S V E R T

North Dartmouth, Mass.

Tar-paper plinesensurealeakproof oint

Placedunder eachbutt joint and at the

windows, he splines ap the lower course

by th in . and guide any water that enters

the joint to the outside of the clapboards.-MIKE GUERTINast reenwich,. l .

Finishing ails

Gang-cuttingangled clapboards

The next time you're cutting clapboards hat run from a verticalwindow

or sidewall o a rake board, ry this trick.Cut the roof angleon one end

of five clapboards l stack hem and cut them all at once with an 8%-in.circularsaw).

While he pointsof the clapboards till are lined up, slide a squarealong

the bottom edge of the top clapboard.As shown n the drawing, align the-exposuremark (in his case4 in.)with the edge of the clapboardend.

Now, mark the edge of the top clapboard, lip the square,and extend the

mark across ll the clapboards.Slide he boardsso that the pointed ends

line up with the marksabove hem, as shown n the drawing. Measure he

Problem:Lay out and

first clapboard,and you're

readyto make he cut (l

gang-cut the clapboardsbetween the window

suggesta 1O-in. ower

miter saw for this).

After about 15 clap-boards, t's a good

idea to remeasure

becauseerrors have

a tendency to

accumulate.

_ R A N D A L L S M I T H

Barrington, N.H.

and the rake board. Rake board

First, ind theexposure with

a square.

/-4-in' exPosure

p-Roof angle

Markthe bottomedge of the topclapboard.

Next, extend the markacross all the clapboards.

-*t4fif \..4t:.-47--

'l'z'Z::V ,

/Now, spread the boards so

page: Andy Engel GREAT BUILDING TIPS 2006



sheathedmy workshop with 1x6boards oined

galvanized plines. his methodgets

out of the width of a board. For the

used2-in.-widegalvanized teel, om-

strap ogethershipmentsof bulky

thin stripsof nylon or plasticalsocould

used).My wall framing consists f 4x4son

2-in.galvanized-steel spline

1x6siding

with platesat top andbottom and

il. I ran eachpieceof sidingover my

a l-in.-deep kerf in eachedge.

had a board n place,I nserteda full-

spline n the kerf. The neighboringboard

he protruding spline. kept nailsaway

the splinesand left a little playbetween

boards o allow for woodexpansion.-J O NATHAN DAVI ES Queensland, Australia

hingles

seen number of tips or cuttingoutside

on shingledwalls,but none s assimple

as he method shownin the

above.As illustrated, usea bearing-

flush-trimmingbit in a small router to

the overlappingshingleas he bearing fol-

the profile of theguide shingle.

W I L LH E S C H

Atascadero,Calif.

Guideshingle

Birdhouse ent box

I often remodelor add on to

older wood-clapboard ouses.

When I'm facedwith unsightly

holes n the walls,suchas he

dryer vent picturedhere,

offer to conceal hem with thissimplebit of craftsmanship. he

"birdhouse" smade rom scrap

clapboards nd trim stock, akes

little time to fabricate,and really

impresseslients.

I position t so hat the roof

nestles irecdy undera clap-

boardor flash t with a thin strip

of copper f needed, hensize he

box to allow the ventflap to

open,or whateverelse 'm cov-

ering to function.The sides re

trim stock5/4 cedar n this case,scribed o theprofile of the clap-

boards.The roof isa clapboard

sizedappropriately, nd the

front isclapboardswith half

the revealof the wall they're

mountedon. Hidden cedar

cleats reused or attachment.

Theseboxesnot only solve

little problemsbut alsoare a lot

of fun to build.

-ED WEBER Locustv i l le , a.

4

3 Scribebirdhouse sidesto clapboardprofile.

5 Afirsides and top to cleats. Finishsiding scraps. Leavebottom open.


5 rri^ birdhousesides o scribemarks.

_-__z_

7 o$r-*nt holehasbeencutin clapboardiding.

2 hstatlvent flap.

---")

4 etti" cleats aboveand to sides of vent flap.

with



Trim

Markinga squarecut on a round column

Recently,I had to cut an 8-in.-dia. wood column to length.Because he column was too big for my miter box and

needed to be cut exactly square,I mulled over my options.

A colleague recommended using a piece of rosin paper

to encircle the column at the required length. When the

edges of the paper were aligned,I marked my cut and

used a jigsaw to lop off the unwanted portion of the col-

umn. Note in the section of the column how I angled the

jigsaw a'bit to create a slight back cut, ensuring a tight fit

where the column sits on its base.

- P A TR IC KA . MoLZA H NOr egon ,W is .

Roof sheathing-- \

Blocking for crown

. , r t '

,' ' t" ' '

Rafter tai l Soffitnailerblock

Bedmold ing

Spacer lockson

Soffit

Corrugatedvent strip

tb-in. enters.1

Frieze //

Circulatingair ---------vZ

Siding ucts --//

Column section

behind frieze.

Framed nd sheathedwall

Stealthventing for a traditional boxed eaveOrdinary strip or button-type soffit venrs can ruin the look of a

complex eavedetail, such as the one shown above. Instead,I hold

the frieze board off the wall sheathingwith spacer blocks; a hid-

den vent strip allows air to enter and circulate into the rafter bay

Specialblocking attached to the rafter tails provides nailing for t

inside edge of the soffit and for the flat crown molding.

-ROBERT WEATHERALLpswich,

8-in.-dia.wood column

Hanging asciaboards

Even with two people, t canbe pretty

precarious ut thereon theend of arafter,straining o supporta heavy as-

cia boardwith one hand while trying

to line up a miteredcornerand sink.a

galvanized16dnail with theotherhand.

With the helpof a simple ig, one person

cando it comfortably.

I tack one jig near each end of the

fascia,driving the nails just far enoughto support the fascia. Then I lower the

fascia nto the slots n the jigs (cut the

slots a little oversize to prevent binding).

The jigs hold the fascia n approximately

the right place while I adjust it for align-

ment and nail it in place.

-NEAL BAHRMAN entura, a l i f ,

F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Drawing top right: Rick D



Plastic container with lid keepsprimer from drying out.

smaller container.

he life of exterior trimy priming he end-grain uts

r maximum durability,I back-

exterior components such as

boards wirh 100% acrylic primer.

t what about the ends of these

If they also are primed and

together, end-grain splices

last over the long haul. Withour

end-grain cuts will soak up

quickly and begin ro rot.

problem is rhar end-grain cuts

be painted until they are cut and

by the carpenrers.

Priming boards can be a potential

for carpenters, so I devised asystem to make the processgo

as possible.As shown in

drawing above, I keep the primer

a clear plastic container with a lid

on it. A paint pad also ives in the con-

tainer, resting in a smaller plastic box

to keep the pad's handle out of the pool

of primer.

Now when the carpenters are run-

ning exterior trim, they can easily

swab the ends of the boards with a

pass rom the paint pad (a paint pad

is much faster than a brush because

it carriesmore paint). I used this

technique on the last spechouse that

I built, and it worked grear. The car-

penters billed me for only a couple of

extra hours of work becauseprimingthe end-grain cuts barely made a dent

in their speed.

_ B Y R O NP A P A

Durham, .C.

\._

Primeend-graincutsduringconstrudion.

WAY

RIGHTWAY

Backerboard

Caulk

;_j=)Backerboard

Trimboard

Caulkneedshelp tostay lexible

Caulk that is allowed to bondto all sidesof a joint cannot

expand and contract without

becoming unstuck. A foam

backer rod enablescaulk to

behave ike an accordion in

response o seasonalexpansion

and contraction.

_ J O H N M I C H A E LD A V I S

bottom eft: Christophe Clapp

Caulk

Trimboard

New Orleans

95

Zero-maintenancecrown molding

I recently enclosed the porch on our

house,and in doing so,I neededa

crown molding for the gable-end

bargeboards. I didn't have to look far.

By ripping some lengths of alumi-

num gutter, as shown in the drawing

below,I was able to fashion'inexpen-

sive, zero-maintenance crown mold-

ings that match the gutrers. I ripped

the gutter into two portions,leaving a

Save this

piece

for drip

edge.

1. Ril

|( " '

N2. Fold flapupward. 3. Drill nail holes

on 12-in.centers.

Aluminum ascia

l-in.-wide flap on rhe crown-molding

pieces. bent this flap by hand over

a pieceof Vz-in.stock. Then I drilled

through this folded edge on l2-in.

centersfor nails. The rest of the gut-

terl I'll use t for drip edgeson my

next project.

_ J A C K M U R P H Y

Pittsburgh, a.


Roof sheathing

1- in .a luminum nai l



StringersA fast, accurateway to makemortised stairs

The typical approach to stair-building is to cut

bird's-mouth notches n a pair of stringers, hen

affix the treads to the tops of the bird's mouths.

Cutting mortises n the sidesof the stringers o

accept he treads s far stronger, so I deviseda ji g

to lay out and cut mortised stringers quickly.

First, lay out the stair's ise and run on a piece

of Yz-in.plywood. The plywood (1) should be big

enough to work as both a router template and as

a layout tool for the next mortise.

Next, cut a slot in the plywood deep enough to

accommodate the depth of the treads.The slot's

width should equal the thicknessof the treads,

plus a bit of wiggle room. Align the plywood ii g

Rise

Guide slot {or mortise

equals depth of treads.

4. Secure treads

with three corrosion-

resistant screws

or nails.

clamps can come in handy at this point for drawing the opposin

stringers toward one another. They should not be so snug that y

have to pound things together, and not be so oose that the asse

wil l rack.

I prefer screwing the stringers o the treads (4) as nsurance ag

the stringers'warping and pulling the nails out of the end grain.

- R IC H A R DWA S H U R NP enobs c o

1. Clamp ig tostringer.

Guide cleats,

both sides

Room for router to

maneuver w i th in

dotted l ines

Mark herefor topof nextmortise.

2. Router with

bearing-guided

bit follows slotcontour, cutting

tread mortise.

:\

3. Cut treads to equal

lengths, and snug

them together

with pipe clamps

or a block and

hammer.

on the stringer, and affix a pair of guide cleats o each side of the

jig. The cleats egisterthe

jigon the stringer and give you purchase

to clamp the jig. Clamp the jig to the stringer, and use a router with

a bearing-guided bit to cut a3/q-in.-deepmortise (2). Make more

than one pass o cut the full depth. Before moving the jig, draw a

line across ts top edge to mark the edge of the next mortise. Cleats

on both sides et you flip the yig and rout the other stringer.

Cut all the treads o equal lengths (3). Set one end of the first

tread in the first mortise of one stringer. Bring the other stringer

to it . and set the tread in its first mortise. Continue from one end

to the other, getting all the treadsstarted n their mortises. Pipe

Stable stringersand an accurate ayout

A few years ago,I read a Fine Homebuilding article by a carpenter who laminated 3/q-rn.

plywood fo r stringer stock because x stock tends to shrink, which makes treads sag. t

occurred to me that an LVL (laminated-veneer lumber) would be even better. Although

LVL stringers remain stable,LVLs aren't always straight, so check for crown before lay-

ing them out. LVLs come in standard l3/c-in. hickness, n standard widths, and in almost

any length.

LVLs cost more than 2x stock, so be extra sure of your layout before cutting. I prefer

to use ocking pliers with a framing squarewhen marking the layout because hey have

more surface iding on the stringer stock and are more accurate han stair-gaugestops.

Also, they're easier o find in your toolbox.


- J O H N S P I E RB l o c k sl a n d , . l .



bolts hookof 2x4s.

2x4 bending orm

2x remjaw

Balcony

subfloor

Anchor-boltclamps

To build a circular staircaseon site,I needed about 100 clamps.

C-clamps were too slow to install and tighten, too valuable to leave

on a job site, and too heavy to lug ar ound, so I devised two kinds of

clamps that use Yz-in.anchor bolts and 2x framing lumber.

To laminate a stringer, I start by laying out the stair plan on the

subfloor. Then I make a bending form by securingZx4s to the lay-

out lines. The 2x4s become part of the clamp. The top of each remov-

able jaw is secured to its 2x4 with a 6-in. anchor bolt. The bolt's hook

fits througha%-in. hole in the side of the 2x4;aspacer block of suit-

able thickness takes up the bolt's unthreaded portion. The bottom

of the jaw is secured to the form by an 8-in. anchor bolt through the

2x4.In use,I insert the top bolt first, snug it to keep the assembly

together, then run the bottom bolt through. I use an electric impactwrench with a deep socket to tighten and remove the nuts quickly.

For handrails,I use a seriesof clamp brackets,as shown in the

drawing. Here, they are screwed to a balcony subfloor to laminate

a simple curved handrail, but they also can be affixed to stair treads

to laminate spiral handrails. -ROBERT J. D ICK Lovet tsv i l l e , Va

frame

Handrai lclampsscrewed osubfloor

va>

Eight-in.bottomanchorbolts runthrough 2x4s.

Plywoodgusset

stress relief

has taught me to cut stringers out of 2x stock carefully. If

goes even a litde bit beyond the intersection of the rise and

can create a weak spot that either can weaken the stringer or can

one of the ears that support the treads to fall off if it's bumped

installation. The drawing below shows how I avoid the problem.

After marking the layout for rise and run,I bore Yz-in. -dia. keyholes

the backs of the treads and the bottoms of the risers are ro meer.

use a circular saw to make the bulk of the cuts, stopping short

the cuts with a jigsaw.

keyholes provide stress elief, minimizing the

of a sawcut-induced crack weakening the

I've been using this technique for the

or so years,and the method hasn't failed

yet. _ M I C H A E L S T A N D I S H

West Roxbury Mass.

Plywood

gusset

2x4 cleat

Reinforcinghe first stepThe bottom of a stringer can be weakened if you have '.

to cut the first step shorter rhan the unit rise to allow

for tread thickness (usually I in.)and if the stringer is

notched for a2x4 floor cleat. Because he wood wants to

split along the weak diagonal grain,I always beef up the

carriages by screwing and gluing a piece of plywood to

the sides.

- MIC H A E L v o r . r ECKBAR-FRABBIELEewOr leans

Strengthening he roughstringer's first step withglued and nailedplywoodgussetsensures hat thestringerwon't breakacross he weakdiagonalgrain.

Finishcutouts,taking care notto overcut.

Bore1/z-in.-dia.

holesat insideintersectionofriseand run.

w,',!,1

/Lay out riseand un intypical manner.

2x stair stringer

exceptwhere noted: Robert Goodfellow. Photos:Roe A. Osborn.facing page, his page op and bottom eft:CharlesMiller.

Rough tringer\

Y--li t r ' i il i , / i l//" L'1'

i . {

f

/GREAT BUILDING TIPS 2006



Treads& RisersGaugemeasures him hickness

In many cases, tair stringers are built by the framing carpenter,

who is long gone by the time you come along to make a silk purse out

of an old sow's ear. Although many framers do a great job, it's n your

best nterest to build the rough stringers yourself,,or at leastcheck

them with a level and rule before you bid on finishing the stairs.

A tapered shimgauge, cut froma scrapof wood and calibratedby the 16thof an inch,makesa handy gauge for

determining shim

thickness.

Leveling across the width of

a tread rs easier with a 10-in.

Ievel cut from a larger level.

Extension caps screwed

to each end of the level

accommodate cupped treads.

hffi{lu'llu*,Y)

block

I make a shim gauge out of a scrap of wood. I measure along

edgesof the shim and make marks every Vrcin. n thickness. t

color in every other segment with a marker. After I've got the g

made, I rip shims of different thicknessesand keep them on ha

Some people use shingles as shims, but their tapered profile givthem uneven bearing; the surface to be shimmed only hits the h

point of the shingle.

To use the gauge,I simply slip it under the tread or behind the

riser (inset drawing at left) that needsshimming and tap it in un

the tread is level or the riser is plumb. I note the mark on the ga

remove the gauge, and replace it with one of my precut shims. O

you have the shim in place, the difficult work is done. Then it's

a matter of fastening the tread or riser to the stringer.

The whole processof shimming treads is slowed or voided if

center stringer is too high. When cutting my own stringers,I el

nate the possibility by overcutting both the treads and ri sers of t

center stringer by %in. to3/sin. When I install the treads, leve

and shim the two outside stringers. Then it is simply a matter o

gluing and screwing a lYz-in. cleat to the center carriage, which

brought into contact with the finished tread. I use the same pro

for the risers.

- M I C H A E L v o r . rD E C K B A R - F RA B B I E L E e w O

colored marker

for easy

reference.

Fitting stair treads

Cobbled together out of scrapplywood, the jig shown in the

drawing below makes it easy o fit sta ir treads between a pair of

walls or skirtboards. To use the jig,loosen the wing nuts and lay

it across he tread cuts of the stair stringers with its back tight

against the riser cuts. Then extend the legs so that they're snug

against the walls

or skirtboards.

and tighten all the

nuts. Remove the

jig carefully, place

it onto the tread

stock, and scribe

the end cuts on the

stock. When cut-

ting, leave ust a

trace of the cutline

for a perfect fit._ R O B E R T

P L O U R D E

Atlanta

* \

Fill in with /

Woodlevel cutto 10 n .

Cuppedtread

Shoftened level fits on treadWhen leveling treads from front to back, it's handy to have a sm

level. For years,I used a2-ft.level, bu t I was constantly knoikin

off the step because t hung off the end of the tread. I've also nev

found a small bullet level that didn't seem ike a toy. To solve th

problem,I cut down a larger wood level to 10 n. and screwed s

extension blocks of wood on the ends. The blocks extend past th

bottom of the level and give me an accurate read on cupped trea

- M I C H A E Lv o r , r E C K B A R - F R

New O

Drawing bottom eft: Charl

1/+in. by 1/+in. carriage bolts

Extend egs or asnug fi t againstwallor skirtboard.




RailingsCovering newel-post bolts

Sometimes he only way to fasten he newel post s to

anchor t to the stringer.Often, the bolt holes ou have o

drill are at anangleother than square o the faceof the

newel. Off-angle holescan be hard to plug, and when you

do plug them, hey usuallydon't look right. Insteadof

pluggingholes, saw%in. off the aceof the newel with a

bandsaw, rill and install he bolts,and then glue he piece

over he holes.The bandsaw imits the lossof stock o

about Ytzin.-hardly noticeable<r you can plane offr/+in.and make a new faceplateo glueover he holes.

- M I C H A E L v o r ' r E C K B A R - F R A B B I E L E

Cutting a 1/e-in.

sliceoff the edgeof the newel witha bandsaw,and

gluing it backonafter running nthe bolts, coversthe holesandmakes or a neat,finished look.

New Orleans

Newel post

1. Make plumb cut at endof handrail.

l *! [

\t rj "'

Hidden handrail

connectionI recently needed to fasten

a handrail to a wall and

didn't have room for a

rosette to secure the hand-

rail becauseof the minimal

clearance o the outside

corner. So I devi sed an

invisible bolted connection

through the rail into the

wall framing. As shown in

the drawing, the lag bolt is

hidden beneath a wedge-shaped cap taken off the

top of the handrail.

The first step s to make

the plumb cut on the end

3. Lag-bolthandrailto wallframing.

,.u.,..1

The 1/a-in.

slice of

newel is

glued on .

of the handrail (1). But don't cut the handrail to length yet. Now

rotate the miter saw's able to make about a70" cut, and take off the

wedge-shaped cap that will cover the lag bolt (2). Thp. the cap back

onto the handrail so that it is flush with the radiused top of the rail.

Notice that it's a little short becauseof the material removed by the

sawblade. Recut the end of the rail so that the cap and the rail end i

a flush plumb cut.

Next, drill the necessaryholes to receive a lag bolt and washer, an

the shank hole (3). Cut the handrail to length, run home the bolt,

and glue the cap in place (4). Sanded and stained, the cap seam is

nearly invisible.

-WALTER D. COLTONWellsboro,

Lag bolts

F,:*,*\"\.

l;

4. Conceal bolt

Circular-rail enter finder

For finding the centeron oval or round handrails hat havebeen

fit and either permanentlyor temporarily astened,Imodified a

marking gaugeby letting a evelvial into thegauget beamand

replacing he metal scribewith a pencilheld n placeby a woodwedge.An auxiliary enceprovides he additionalheight hat is

needed o compensateor the ncreasedength of the pencil.By

watching he evelvial,I can keep he beamhorizontalas run the

gaugedown the engthof the handrail,and I make a pencil ine

along ts bottom center.

On a similar note,I've found that one of the most useful ools or

both shop work and work in the field is a regular marking gauge

with themetalscribe eplacedwith a mechanical encil.

- M I C H A E L v o r . r E C K B A R - F R A B B I E L E

Modifying amarkinggaugeeases he processof finding the

center of a circularor ellipticalhandrail.

Pencilwith

into beam

N wedge\- replaces

metal

scribe.

Drawing top right: CharlesMiller

NewOrleans




Railings (continued)

Pinpoint stair-rail accuracyIn my experience,he oints n the handrailarewhat people

reallyscrutinize.They are easy o see, nd f a misalignedjoint doesn't atchyour eye, our handeventuallywill find it

instead.Here'sa tip to help keep hoseointsbetweenhandrail

sections,uchas he ntersection etween he easing nd the

rail,alignedproperly.

As shown n the drawing, I set wo little brads nto the

rail, then clip off their heads, eaving

pointed brad ends above

the rail bolt. Now

when I draw the tw o

pieces together by

tightening the nut

on the rail bolt, th e

handrail sections

won't twist._ S T E P H E N .T O B I N

Ridgefield, onn.

Spindle-hole sizing gauge

The diameter of the top, or thin end, of a tapered spindle can

decreaseas he spindle gets onger. Therefore, the hole drilled into

the handrail for the back spindle on a tread can be smaller than the

hole for the front baluster.

I take a block of wood and drill a seriesof different-diameter holesin it. The holes are drilled at the same angle that the spindles meer

the handrail. After I cut a tapered spindle to length, I plug it into

the sizing gauge to determine which size hole fits best; hen I bore

the hole in the rail. To save ime, it's best to have rwo or three drills

chucked up with the bits you most

likely will need.

- M I C H A E Lv o r . r E C K B A R - /F R A B B T E L E

. r . . . " 'NewOrleanr

\

PlumbingbalustersWhen layingout a handrail o drill holes or balusters, usea

plumb bob o get a vertical ine from the marks I've laid our on rhe

treads.Rather han fiddling with the plumb bob's tring engthon

each readand waiting for the bob o stopswinging, mark the

stringat the heightof the front balusterand the rearone.When I g

up to the next tread,all I have o do ishold the ine on the mark fothe particularbaluster ocationand hold it on the rail. The referen

marksmean don't have o fumble with string ength.

Here'sanotherhint: I've found that usingbraidedstring,as

opposedo the morecommon wisted-strand tring,helps o keep

my plumb bob rom spinningand swingingaround when thebob

hang ing f ree . -MICHAEL von DECKBAR-FRABBTELE ew Or l ea

Marking he plumbline with a felt-tippen makesa quick

referenceor plumbingsuccessive ets ofbalusters.

Mark

line with

colored

pen.

Distance A is the

approximate height

of the front baluster;

distance B is the rear

baluster.. "1

, J . - \

\\I

Railbolt

Testing he fit of a taperedspindle n a block withdifferent-sizeholes drilled init determineswhat size holeto drill in the handrail.

Handrai l sections

Clippedbrads

Holesdri l led n1/sz-in.incrementsat angleof handrail

1OO FINE HOMEBUILDING Drawing top Ieft:CharlesMill



Judicious grinding

of spade bits

makes them bore

holes in diameters

between stock

sizes. Beveled

corners preventtearout.

Paint

indicates

modified

bits.

Regroundspade bitswork better

The worst thing in

the entire world that

can befall a stair-

builder is to hear his

just-installed treadssqueak. The second-

worst thing is to

have the spindles rattle.

For spindles not to rattle,

they have to fit perfectly in

their holes. To make a per-

fect fit,I modifv common

spade its. tt easy o grind down

the bitsby %z n. (o rYain. on each

side).So, or example, nsteadof jumping

from'A in. to rVrcrn..vou'll havea bit that's2Vtzrn.

Another hint: Because he newly mod ified bits will have their former

sizes stamped on them, it's important to paint new numbers on the sides

of each bit. One time, a carpenter who was setting a balustrade went

into my toolbox without my knowledge and bored 35 holes with what

he thought was a3/+-in.bir.

Another thing about spadebits: When boring at an angle, say, nto an

oak handrail, a spade bitb 90" corners tend to tear out chunks of wood

as the bit starts a hole. Grinding off the corners makes a clean cut by

producing a scraping action as the bit spins into the wood. I grind a long

lead on some bits to make them useful for grinding holes in steep hand-

rails. The long lead establishes he bit in its hole before the shoulder

engageswood.

- M I C H A E Lv o x D E C K B A R - F R A B B I E L Ee wO r l e a n s

Beveled corner

Grind 1/cein.

off each side.

Grind aIongerIead forangleddrilling.

Cappinga pipe rail

I occasionally use lVz-in.-dia.

steelpipe for handrails. It is

plenty sturdy and easy o grip,

but it needs something other

than a lYz-in.-dia. cap threaded

on its ends to look presentable.

As shown in the drawing,I use

a 1-in.-dia. cap threaded onto a

1-in.-dia. nipple instead. wrap

the nipple with a couple of turns

of electrical tape to ensure a

tight f it. The nipple is held in

place by a3Ae-in dia. stovebolt

that is run into a hole drilled

and tapped into the pipe and

nipple from below.

_WA LTE RD . C OLTON

Wellsboro, a.

Baluster auge

Some staircases all for square-ended balusters that fit

into a groove plowed into the underside of the handrail.

Becausebaluster lengths can vary as much as3Aen. for a

given position on each tread,I made a baluster gauge that

employs the sliding metal ruler taken from the end of a

folding rule.As shown in the drawing below,I let the thin metal ruler

into a piece of wood a couple of inches shorter than the

shortest baluster. Small wood straps hold the ruler in place.

A leve l vial secured with Bondo makes plumbing easy.

- MIC H A E L v o r , r E C K B A R - FR A BB IE LEewOr lean

Baluster engthscanvary.On railswith a grooveplowed on the underside,thisgaugemakesquickwork of findingthe proper ength.

Groove

plowed nhandrai l

Gauge length

is shorter

than shortest

baluster. extension from

folding rule

11/z-in.pipe

ra i l i ng

\l - in . n ipp le

Elearic|ro" \*c-in. stovebolt

Level vial

let in an d

secured wi th

Bondo

101rawins bottom eft: CharlesMille G R E A T B U I L D I NG T I P S 2 0 0 6



Hl=height ofinstrument

Masking ap e

Z-\

Gradestick

Mark Hook tapemeasurensawkerf, hewrap the tapover and dothe grade s

Decks

Measuringpostson unevengroundWhenever I build decks,I place the piers and then cur posts

to carry the girders that will support the deck framing. The

bottoms of the girders are in the same plane, but all the piers

are at slightly different elevations.The problem becomes how

to calculate the length of each post efficiendy. As shown in the

drawing to the right, the method I've devised eliminates

almost all the calculations. I simply read the length of each

post off the scaleon the grade stick. Flere's how my system works.

To start, calculate the height of a post needed for one of the piers,

for example, pier No. 2. Suppose ts post needs tobe l2%in. from

the top of the pier to the bottom of the girder. Have a helper hold

a lxZ grade stick atop the pier, and shoot it with a builder's level.

(Note: The grade stick must be long enough to shoot the lowest

pier.) Mark your HI(height

of instrument) on the grade stick andmeasure down 123/ain.Now use a handsaw to make ar/t-in.-deep

sawkerf at this line.

Insert the hook of a tape measure into the sawkerf, and wrap a

pieceof masking tape around the blade of the tape measure so thar

it's secured to the grade stick. Now run the tape measure over the

\rr,ld.r 's level

Pieril;--'----

s_PierNo

PierNo. 1

top of thegrade stick and backdown past he sawkerf.Lock the

tapemeasure, nd wrap a couplemorepieces f tapearound he

stick and the tape-measure lade o hold things together.

Return to pier No. 2 and shoot he gradestickonceagainwith tbuildert level.The crosshairshould ine up with the 123/t-in.m

You are now ready o shootall the remainingpiers.What you rein the evel s the engthof eachpost.

This proceduremay seem ike a ot of trouble,but it goesmorequickly than reading his tip. And you canapply hesamemetho

to all kinds of post-and stud-lengrh alculations.

WI L GORDON PotterVal ley,C

Masking ap e

<14

iSr

Gypboard concreteformsWe recently did a foundation iob in very crumbly, sandy soil. The first task was to

set27 pier blocks in pier holes that were 18 n. on a side and12 in. deep. But by th

time we had dug down a foot, we often had a hole that was more than2ft. across

the top and growing. Faced with filling these craters with concrete, we calculated

that we would waste more than a cubic yard.

Instead of ordering extra concrete, we transformed four sheetsof gypboard into

form boxes. We cut the sheets nto 6-ft. lengths and scored them along their length

at 18 n. on center,leaving the face paper intact. Perpendicular to thesescored ine

we cut the board into l2-in.-wide strips. These strips then were folded into square

boxes,placed in the oversize holes, and backfilled. The forms not only savedcon-

crete, but alsogave us an accurate way to calculate our ready-mix order.

-SUNRISE BUTLDERSanta ruz,

1O2 FINE HOMEBUILDING

Gypboard orm foldedwith facing ntact

Drawings, cxceptwherenored:CharlesMiller. Photo his page:CharlesBick



PorchesStan with clamp open,then close t to applypressureo the decking.

webbing to make

a bearing point.

Clamping ongue-and-groove oards

A clever method for clamping deck boards usesa pry bar as a bearing point for

pipe clamp (p. 103).Simply insert the pry bar into the gaps between deck board

then hook the clamp to the pry bar; repeat asnecessary.But what if there are n

gaps between the deck boardsl

I ins talled tongue-and-groove decking on my porch, and as a consequence,I h

to use other clamping methods to draw the boards together. I used the rim jois

the bearing point for one end of the clamp until the 12 ft. of pipe could no lon

reach the boards. So I came at the problem from the other side.

As shown in the drawing at left, I turned the clamp's tail stop around so t

it was positioned to push on the workpiece. Then I used a grinder to remov

a bit of the webbing from the back of the screw clamp. This step created a

bearing spot that gave me some purchase on the opposite rim joist. Now I

could screw the clamp to its full open position, then turn it toward its closed po

tion to push on the deck boards. This trick made getting the boards into positio

easy and fast.

_B E R N A R D H . D E R B Y S H IR E ew tow n ,C

Tongue-and-

groove block

wi th tongue

removed

->

Ri m oist Grind away

RAILING DETAILSTHAT KEEPROT AT BAY // 5:ilJI,K#AHO

781/z-in. by 81/z-in.

/*:*d pine cap

Mold ing

iBlocksoregisternewel

%-in. blocks

Moistureproofrailings

lbuild porch ail ings

that prevent water

from collecting. Before

assembly, he spindles

are sealed, sanded,

and primed. Two coats

of marineepoxy seal

the top rail.

The spindles 1% n.

sq. at each end) are

held together at the

top with a %-in. by

1%-in.subtop rail

and on the sideswith

stepped molding. The

top rail is fastened

from below to elimi-

nate exposed fasten-ers. At the bottom of

the railing, he spindlesare sandwichedbetween 272-in.byrYrc-in.shingle molding. I install he railing sections4 in.

off the porch deck and toenail them to the posts with 8d

galvanizednails.Long sectionsof railing are supported with

pressure-treated blocks wedged underneath.

Weather-resistant ewelpostsThe trick to this long-lasting newel post is the vented

plinth. The base s made from shaped 5/4 by 21h-in.

pine, and the corners are mitered, biscuited, andglu

together with epory. I glued four 2%-in.-sq. y %-in.-

blocks to the bottom corners for feet. Two wood bloc

that slide nto th

hollow post and

vent lateral mov

ment are glued

the top of the pl

The entire asse

gets two coats o

marineepoxy.

To vent the top

a %-in.plylood

subcap overhan

the post by %e

on each side (og

molding hides hedges).Semicir

3-in. cutouts:all

airflow. Secure

beveled top cap

with constructio

adhesive.

Subtoprail

\-z

1 0 4 F I N E H O M E B U I L D I N G Bottom drawings: Robert Good



Alignment marks

register balusters.

\

5/4deckingsPacers

2x2baluster

1x4bottomrail

=J

etup or porch ailingsshowsa simple ndexing fixture to

railing. In this example,I assem-

railings hat had 3l-in. balusters, 2x4 top rail, and

rail. The key to the system s a pair of 5/4-in.

madeout of a coupleof 8-ft. engthsof decking.

Set a sheetof 3/t-in.plywood on a pair of sawhorses,

of pieces f straight,5/4-in.decking

the plywood. n this case,Iplaced hem 3l in. apart.

the balusterspacingon the two pieces f

Flere, he balusterswere on 5-in. centerswith

paces etween hem. Now place he top and bot-

rails against he outsideedges fthe decking,spread

nd align their edgeswith the spacingnail everythingoff and affix the trim.

It takesme about15minutes o assemble -ft. sections

railing using his method,and the balusters re all

lumb. -MtcHAEL FoRTUNA rting, ash.

Gazeb - ayout te mp ateDuring the construction of an eight-sided gaze|.cr.,Iameup with a simple

layout template o set he eight posts n the ground at equalmeasurements.

In this gazebo,the nside facesof the oppositepostsare l0 ft. apart, so

began here.As shown n the drawing below, first lappeda pair of l0-ft.

2x4satright angles o one another.Then I drilled aYz-in.-dia. ole hrough

the exact enterof the ap oint.

I used al2-in.length of Vz-in.dowel asa stake o pin the centerof the

template o the center of the gazebo ite and marked the positionsof the

first four posts t the end of each2x4.I rotated he template emporarily o

dig the first four holes, then

I put the template back in

place to set the posts (they

should be touching the

ends of the template as they

are set n concrete). Once

the first four posts were

set,I rotated the template

45o, with equal measure-

ments between all posts,and repeated the process.

_ K E N M A C K L I N

Sarnia, nt.,Canada

l l

Locate irst four posts,then rotate the template45o o locate the secondgroup of posts.

I

2x4

f r"pV, rail

4x4 gazebopost

Layout emplate/made of 10-ft. 2x4s

lt,,'

W.

\- a ,1rP+'- l '

/ - ^

.11it

Half- lapoint,Q, screwed ggether

screenscan be more than difficult to stretch screening evenly acrossa frame without bags,

and zigzags. With the help of a stretcher board, though,I can get professional

every time. As shown in the drawing,I run the screening a few inches long

After stapling the screen to one of the short sides of the f rame,

aple the other edge of the screen to a stretcher board. With the screen attached

hang the end of the frame that I'm working on over the

table and press down on the stretcher board to tension the screen. I staple

to the frame with my free hand. After removing the staples rom the

repeat the processon the unstapled sides of the frame. The bcreen

out straight and taut.

Wood frameframe on two

sides.

Temp6rary taples

Stretcherboard

-DAVID TOUSAIN Coon Rapids, owa




Patios

Lineof cutBrickchisel

1x 6chiselgu ide

4-in.by 4-in.by 1/+-in.angleiron,6 in. on g

2x4 stockcut at45" holdsangleiron n place.

Cutting patio curvesThe thoughtof having o cut curves n concrete av-erscanbe ntimidating,but it shouldn't imit thedesignof a patio. To cut curves n paver patios or ourclients,we usea cutoff sawwith a diamond blade,3/+-in,braided ope,and a pencil. In our area,acutoffsawwith a diamond blade rents or about$90a day.)

First,lay out thepavers o hat theyrun beyondthe curveyou wish to cut,asshown in the left photo

above.Then usea engthof 3/q-in.braided ope,which bendsand holdsa curvewell, to layout theradius,and mark it with a pencil.

Finally, after lighdy scoring he pavers n placewiththe saw o make a smoothcurve,removeeachpaverand complete he cut (photoabove ight).

_ D I C K H E N R Y

ChapelHill,N.C.

BrickcutterThe deviceshown at left is a simplebut effective rick cutter harworks by shearingabrick betweena fixedangle ron and a brick chisel.Using thebrick cutter s notas asbreakingbrickswith a masonthammer,but you will get moreaccurate utsand a lot waste.To make thecutter,file a true edgeon the outsidecorner of a shortpieceof angiron andplace t on a heavybase, uchasa beamoffcut,with the outsidecorner acing

Securehe angle ron by placing hemiteredend of a2xtight against achside.On one sideof theangle ron, positiona lx6 on a thick block to acrasaguidefor the

brick chisel.Be sure o set heguide high enough to clear he thickest brick you plan tocut.Adjust theguide's engthso hat when the bevelsideof thebrick chisel s held tighagainst he guide, the point of the chisel s directly over the edgeof theangle ron. On topposite ideof theangle ron, placea supportblock to cradle he brick.

To use hecutter,place hebrick on topof theangle ron with your mark centered vits edge.Position he chiselon top of thebrick, bevel side ight against heguide. One otwo blows with a heavyhammer shoulddo the ob. For facebrick, cut thebrick Ysin.the wastesideof the mark, and clean up the exposededgewith short,controlled paringstrokes f the chisel. -w l LL FOSTER berdeen,W

Bumpers implifystair constructionSome clients asked me to improve

the steps that led from the street to

their front door. The old stepscon-

sistedof crushed stone held in place

by some decaying railroad ties. We

wanted to follow the same arcing

path around bushesand trees,but

with materials that would hold up to

the elements. Stepsof cobblestones

and bricks seemed right, but the

thought of all the complicated form-

ing that it would take to fashion con-

crete footings for the stepsconcerned

us. A trip to a masonry-supply yard

led to the more affordable solution

illustrated in the drawing.

I happened upon a stack ofcon-

crete parkingJot bumpers. They

were straight, with flat tops and

bottoms, and about 5 ft. long. Perhaps

bestof all, theywere ight enough or me ro maneuverby myself.I arrangeda dozenof thebumpers n the required arc,adjusting the

height and spacinguntil I had the layout right. Then I securedeachbumperby driving 2Vz-ft.lengths f rebar hrough the holescast nto rendsof thebumpers or that purpose.

After paintingthetopsof thebumperswith concrete onditioner,Imortared rows of cobblestonestop eachbumper to create he risers.Then I filled in thespacesetweenadjacent iserswith tampedearthaa ayerof bricks arranged n a running bond patrern or treads.Thesestepshavebeen n place or yearsnow and are nonethe worse or weadespite ur wicked New Englandwinters.

-BOB J EPSON J R. M i l t o n ,M

Base , . \iN

Cobblestonesmortaredto concretebumpers

21/z-ft.lengthsof #4 rebar

106 FINE HOMEBUILDING Photos this page, acing page:Chris G



A GOODPATIOSTARTSELOWTHESURFACE

I

For a lastingpatio, nothing is more important than getting the stone

base irm and flat. I excavate the site 9 in. to 10 in, below finiehed

grade to make room for the base,To engureprop€r drainage,slope

the excavation about th in. per foot. I extend the excavationand the

stone base10 in. to 12in, beyond the perimeter of the final patio

to allow for minor adjustments in patio gizeand to provide stability

at the edge. Oncethe excavation s complete, begin spreading he

stone, ABC stone, which includes all gradations from dust to 1'h-3n,-

dia. gravel,can be packed lat and densewithout losing ts drainage

properties. Apply the base in several 2-in. to 3-in. layers, wettingit down to aid compaction. To pack and flatten the layers, I rent a

pfate compactor (about $75 a day). Repeat the layering process

untilthe base s 3 in. from the finished elevation.

I generally use concrete pavers for patios, so my next layer is a

maximum of 1 in, clean, coarsegand. nitially, start with a little

more sand han it appears need. After runningthe plate compac-

tor, l'm closeto the target elevation.-DICK HENRY hapelHi l l ,.C.

b__g

Fine ethered friendRunninga plate compactor is a boring job

(photo below), but it mugt be done before

pouring a concrete slab.The last time I

was faced with a day behindthe bouncing

handlebars, decided to automate the job.

Plate compactors are designed to creep

slowly forward in a straight line. My job

was to get it to turn without me. As shown

in the drawing above, I tied it to a gtake

driven in the center of the excavation. Each

revolution of the compactor shortened the

leash, resulting in circles of everdecreasing

diameter. This left me free to take care ol

other tasks on the site as I kept track of

the machineout of the corner of my eye.

I still had to finish up the cornercby hand,

but the trick

saved me a lot

of time, andwear and tear

on the wrists

and elbows.-MARKWHITE

Kodiak, laska

Brick-path creed

All walks, drives,and patiosshouldbe constructed o ensureproperdrainage.Concrete idewalksare normally flat,but walks madeof brick, tile, or paving

blocksshouldhavea slightcrown built into them.The crown promotesdrainage,

minimizing the effects f the freeze-thaw ycle,and eliminates uddling.

Before aying a brick path, usea wood screedwith a slight arch o contour he

sandbed.The screed asa notch cut into eachend,asshown n the drawing. The

notches,which areV+n. shallower han the thickness f the brick I'm using, ide

on the path'swood borders.Before use he screed, moistenand tamp the sand

to minimizesettl ing

Ro DG.ETTELMANN ncentown,.J .

- f'

, . .

Drawing t op left: Dan Thornton GREATBUILDING TIPS 2006 , .O7



Accurate iagonal ile cutsFor a bathroomremodel, my client requesteda horizontal ow of

square,dark tiles orientedvertically, ikediamonds,as a decorative

border. As shownin the drawing, two rows of white triangular tiles

flank the diamonds.The challenge: utting the white tiles at a 45o

angle, as accuratelyas possible, nto two equalportions.Any

error would createan installationnightmarebecauset would be

doubled. f I cut a piece%r in. off center, or example,one side

would be % in. bigger than the other.Tocut preciselybut efficiently,

rigged up thejig

shown n the foreground of the drawing.My first step was to buy two inexpensive riangular plasticsquares

($3 each).Next, I made wo identicalcuts on the squares.Todo

this, I hooked he fence of the squareover the right side of the

sliding able on my tile saw,making sure hat the other side of the

squarebutted against he saw ence. Wth eachsquare n this posi-

tion, I made he cutswith the tile saw.Becausehe blade on thetile

saw s designed o grind through ceramicmaterialand not the compositematerialof the

squanes, made these cuts in severalpasses, aking off a little each ime. When done, both

squareswenecut preciselyhe same,with the cut parallel o the fence of the square.

Next, I clampedone of thesecut squareson the sliding able to the right of the saw-

blade. As before, I hooked he fenceof the squareover the right edge of the sliding able

and butted the edge of the squareagainst he saw ence. used a 1-in.C-clamp hreaded

through one of the holes n the sliding able to hold the square n place. n this position,

the cut edge just kissed he right side of the sawblade.

After clampingdown the first square, used another1-in.C-clamp o affix the other

squane o the left of the sawblade. But first I had to cut away half of the fence on the

squareso that it would lie flat on the table. I used acopingsaw ollowed by a belt sander

for this task.After sliding he edge of the squareagainst he fenceof the saw and

positioning t so that the cut end just kissed he left sideof the sawblade, clamped he

square o the table. The spacebetween the two squaresequaled he width of the kerf

created by the sawblade.

When using he jig, I slid a tile into the V-shaped pace ormed by thetwo plastic

squares.As the drawingabove shows, his spaceheld the tile at a45" angle,with the cor-

ner of the tile in line with the sawblade.After a few trial-and-error uts andminuteadjust-

ments o the positionof the squane n the left, I achievedprecise,uniform results. was

able to cut the 100 triangularpieces hat I needed n about 20 minutes.- J OHN CARROL L Du rh a m,N .C .

Simple iig forcutting small tileCut with a wet saw, small

glass iles often are difficult

to hold and cut accurately.

I make an L-shaped cut in

a larger piece of tile and

use it as a jig to hold the

smaller tiles in line with

the sawblade.

_ T O M M E E H A N

Harwich, Mass.

'F: .P'^>4

1 08 FINE HOMEBUIL DING Drawings:CharlesMiller.Photos:CharlesBic



C O N T I N U E D

Removing a broken tileWhen I'm calledon to replace broken or

chipped ile,I prefer o removehe offend-

ing tile using ananglegrinder outfitted

with a 4-in.diamond blademadeby Pearl

Abrasive $42;www.pearlabrasive.com).This approach sgood for thick, sof t-bodied

tilessuchassaltillo,but it works on others

aswell.The tile mustbe arger han 4 in., or

there won't be room for the grinder blade.

If the tile issmaller han 4 in., I usea

hole saw o cut out the centerportion of

the cracked ile. Although it'sa slow pro-

cess,'m left with a hole n the tile that

is pried easilywith the tip of a chiselor

a screwdriver.

1. lsolate the victim.To keep he neighboring iles ntact,the first step is to score he groutlines with a utility knife. A few lightpassesdo the trick.

2. Protection is prevention.Before cutting, it' s a good ideato maskoff any nearbycabinetsor furniturewith plasticand tape.On the floor, angle brackets apedto the surrounding iles protectthem from inadvertent slipsof the

grinder'sblade.

3. Diagonal cuts open up the tile.With both hands irmly holdingthe grinder, carefullyplunge heblade into the tile's center and cutdiagonally,hen along he tile's sides.A helper holds he vacuumhose o

'catch the dusty exhaust. Editor'snote: A two-sided guard, such asthe DeWalt DW4705,provides muchbetter protection when cutting with adiamondwheel.)

4. A junky tool still has its uses.Usinga hammerand an old chiselor .putty knife, I work from the outsidetoward the tile's center,carefullyprying out the pieces.

Beforestarting,I make sure o maskoff

any surrounding cabinet acesor furniture.

I also usemetal anglebrackets o protect

neighboring tiles from possible vercutting

(photo2). Following the four steps hown nthe photosbelow, use he grinder to cutan

X in the tile to be removed. usea Dremel

tool fitted wi th a small #7134diamond-

point bit (www.dremel.com)n the corners

where the grinder can't reach.Once the

tile is removed,I scrape ut anyremaini

thinsetwith a putty knife and an old chi

and I vacuumthe substrate. then make

sure he replacementile fits,mix a smalbatchof thinset, rowel it into the space

set he tile. Once he thinsethasdried.I c

grout the ile'-JANE AE.N Berkerey

. I 1 OFINE HOMEBUIL DING



C O N T I N U E D

The dust-isolation borSometimes have to make a lot of dust in finished

spaces---{utting tile in a kitchen, for example.

In thesesituations, control dust with a dust-

isolation work chamber made from a translucent-

plastic storage box.

I cut the bottom off the storage container, then

use duct tape to securea sweatshirt over the open-

ing. The arms of the sweatshirt are the openings

for my hands to reach the tools I need. Tools and a

worklight pass hrough the neck opening, which

then is clamped shut around t he power cords.A

hole in the box side accepts he nozzle of my shop

vacuum. To keep dust from leaking ou t around

the edges of the box, I affix strips of stick-on foam

weatherstripping to the lip of the container.

To us e t,I turn on the tool and the vacuum,

and look through the t ranslucent sidesof the con-

tainer to chart my progress.Be sure to empty thevacuum o[any potentially flammable contents,

such as sawdust, before trying this operation.

- D ON MA TH IS i a ma i l

r't '1

.'ot,iE --i

Translucentstorage bo

with bottom removed

Corded tools are fed

through sweatshirt

neck opening.

Worklight

Cutting tool

Vachose

)

/

Foam weatherstr ipping

websitelately?

finehomebuilding

The Thunton PressInspiration ferrhands-on l ivingo

READER ERVICE O. 32




techniC O N T I N U E D

Applying latex grouVcaulkwhen it came ime to fill the gap betweenour tile counterand itsbacksplash,I ickedup a coupleof tubesof latexgrou/caulk ina matching color.The stuff comesn big toothpaste-rypeubes,and once t has warmed up abit, the grout flows pretty well----orat least t doesuntil the tube hasbeen educed o aboutone-third

full. At that point, the tube becomes o small that it'shard tocompress noughto squeeze ut the remaining grout.

To get a bettergrip on the diminishing tube,I turned to acoupleof spring clamps. usedone to clamp off the bottom ofthe rolled-up tubeand the other to compress he

remainingwad of grout. I

found that by vary-

ing the pressure

appliedby the

clamps,Icould regu-

late the flow of the

grout, right down to

the ast ittle bit._ C H A R L E SM I L L E R

Newtown, Conn.

2x4 frame

l : lj r

Installing large ceiling tilesBefore this job,I had never installed l2-in.-sq.'by %-in.-thick

tiles over my head. I proceeded to bed them in thinset and

squeeze hem to the concrere board above my head, iust as I

easily done with 4x4 ceramic tiles. I had three of them in plac

when a tile whizzed past my ear and shaftered on the edge o

the tub. At that point,I realized, "This technique doesn't wor

A colleague who is a highly skilled tile installer gave me the

advice I needed to get the iob done. I built the2x4 frame sho

in the drawing above. It nearly reaches he ceiling, with abou

Vz-in. clearancebetween the thickness of a tile and the top of

frame. I pieced together the puzzle this way: Trowel thinset o

tile, slide it above the frame, and shim it in place. Two days la

I removed the frame, and the tiles stayed put.

- B ILLP H ILL IP S ur ham

Marbleceil ingt i les

Springclamps oaxthe last bit of groutfrom its tube.

f' - Str;ms'Uearing-on'n' , i' ' '-frarneworksippon ,! :.

.

):*, tnortar ures.,r<4-

/ MarblelUltn-aL"tenclosure

READER ERVICEO.61




math&measuring

Adjustable torystickFor thoseof usplain'vanillaboys and girlswho don't fike o remembernumberson tapes or whichside of the mark to use,story stickscan simplify a number ol measuringsituations.you can buy

commercially vailabfegadgets hat do the same hing {theyare calledbar gauges},but

l'd rather make my own, Here'show.

I start with a piece of garden-variety3/e-in.copper pipe about 4 in. long.

As shown n the drawing, I drill a hole in its sideand soldera1/*in,

brass nut to the pipe, centered over the hole. A l-in.-long r/a-in.

machinescrew with a knob on one end screws nto the nut. The

screwactsas a clamp,bearingagainsta?/e-in. owel that hasbeen

split in half. To use his device, simply loosen he screwand let

thedowel halvesslidepastone anotheruntilthey bearagainst

the surfaceof the target. Let'ssay t's an inside meaEurementor

a window amb: Extend he dowels against he opening,clamp,

transfer o workpiece,and cut. No numbers equired.

Another option is to add nail points o eachdowel hall,as

shown in the drawing. Th.y can be used o transfer outside mea-

surements.For measuringdiagonals,as n drawer boxesor pic-

ture frames,bevelthe endsof the dowels so that they tuck into

90ocorners.

%-in.dowel,split n half

%-in.nu t soldered

Optionalnailpointsfo r outsidmeasurem

Optiobeveltips fomeasd iago

'l6d

Cap affixed omachine crew

1x 3stock

)Loosenscrew,slidedowels apartto desired ength,and tighten screw

Clampedsquareregisters short pointof miter.

-PAUL K. KINCAIDLawrence,an .

Short-pointmeasurementAny pieceof mitered trim has

two points on its end. The

acute angle at the very tip of

the workpiece is called the long

point; the short point is the

obtuse angle on the inside edge

of the trim piece. Measuring

from the short point is a

recurring problem: There is no

place to hook your tape.

The next time you need to

finding circle centersWhen you must find dead cenrer on a circle, this tool can h

you to get spot on. To make it , dado a couple of lx3s to fash

a 90o half-lap joint. Then glue and screw the pieces ogethePick one edge of the longer arm as your scribing edge,and

drive two l6d nails through the short arm. The distanceof

nails, A and B, should be equidistant from the scribing edg

To use this center-finding

tool, set the nails against

the circumference of your

circular object, and scribe

a line down the long arm.

Now rotate the tool a

quarter-turn or so, and

repeat the process.Where

the two scribed lines cross

is dead center.

This gizmo can be any

size,but the two nails

should be no less han a

quarter of the diameter

apart, and no more than

three-quarters of the diam-

eterapart. T.H. RtcHARDS

Mont-Tremblant, ,ue., anada

Mitered

en d of

tr im

Hook tape oit

measure from a short point, try rhis trick. As shown in the drawing,

use a spring clamp to affix a square to the end of the workpiece. It

can be a SpeedSquare, a combo square, or a tri square; just make

sure to align the blade of the square with the short point. Now you

can hook your tape measure to the square'sblade and rest assured

that yoir are measuring from the right point.

-BRUCE GU E R TIN ov en t r y . l .


square's lade.Centeratintersedionofscribed ines.

Half- lapjoint, glueand screw

Scribedge

Scribe theedges.

7n-in. opper -- \

Drawings: harlesM



C O N T I N U E D

Calculating the radiusof an archSometimes it's useful to know the radius of

an arch or head casing long before the shop

work takes place. I have found that the fol-

lowing formula provides p recise dimensions

96 in.

and takes advantage of the simple calculators

on the market. Even calculators without a

square-root function can handle this one:

Rise2+ (Span/2)2

2 x Rise

For instance,ett assumehat an arched

opening eading from a dining room to a

greatroom has84-in.-tallsides, he span s

96in.,and the centerof the arch s to be 96 n.

above he floor.The rise sthen 12 n. as

shown n the drawing above.When you sub-

stitute he numbersand reduce he formula.you get:

Rise2 (Span/2)2

2 x Rise

122+ (96/2)2

2 x 1 2

144+ 482

24

144+ 2,304

24

2,44824

102

The radius s 102 n., with no errors esult-

ing from inadvertentstretchingof chalklines

or other mechanicalimitations,suchas ry-

ing to lay out a curve with a 102-in. adiuson

a pieceof plywood that's only 96 n. long.

-CHARLES W. DAVIS Watsonvi l le, al i f .

11 8 F T N E H O M E B U I L D I N G

End height

Use ape toscribe archwith a pencil.

Pivot point

Centerheight

Tape#1

Chalk l ine

Arch layoutHere's a way to lay out arches that need

have specific heights at the ends or cente

even though the spans vary. First, snap a

long chalkline on the floor (drawing lef

Lay your material at one end, square to

the line. After determining the span, en

height, and center height, put the end o

tape measure #l at the center height, an

stretch it out next to the chalkline. Hook

tape measure#2 on a nail located at the

height, and stretch it out at an angle so t

it intersects tape #1. Now move tapelt2

until the numbers on both tapes match

the chalkline. Put a nail in the chalkline

this point. This is your pivot point. Hook

one of your tapes over it and use t as a

giant compass o trace your arch. For hu

arches,you can make one half and use a pattern.

_ S P E N C E RH O M

SantaMonica

Arch trammelI discoveredhis technique or laying out wide, shallowarches t a shipyard.

On a clear, lat, wood surface, uch asa subfloor,draw a straight ine as ong as

arch will be wide, asshown below.Drive a finish nail at eachend of this baselin

so hat about I in. of the nail'sshank projectsabove he floor. Find the center of t

baseline, nd draw a perpendicular ine extendingup from the center,making a

invertedT. Decide he height of your arch,measure long he perpendicular inefrom the baseline, nd drive a third finish nail at the apex.

Now find two straight lx boards,eachone a litde longer than the length of the

baseline.Snug one board againstone basenail and the apex nail, and lay the othe

board against he other base ail and the apexnail. Where the boardsoverlap,m

them for a half-lap joint. Then cut the joint and screw he boards ogether.

Pull out the apexnail, and hold a pencil n its place.Now slide he boardsalon

the baselinenail guides rom right to left to mark the arch. As a variation, you ca

mount a routerat the apexand cut or mold arches f any size.

rERRYZEVEDO orval

Half- lapoint

securedwith screws

Nail m.arks apex.

Nailguide Baseline

'L__

Replacenail at apex with a pencil, and slide trammelalong, pivoting on nailguides, to describe arch.



C O N T I N U E D

lrregular sheathing

piece goes here.

Measuring odd shapesOne day when I was trying to figure out

how to cut an irregular six-sided pieceof

roof sheathing,another carpenter showed

me a trick used by boatbuilders to mark

the outline of oddball workpiecesquickly.

The method is called tick-sticking. To do

it, all you need s a scrap of plywood and a

pointed stick.

As shown in the drawing, begin by

affixing a plywood scrap to a point along

the edge of the hole in need of sheathing.

It 's handy but not necessary or the scrap

to be near a corner. It will give you a ready

point of reference.

Now take the stick and lay it across he

plywood scrap so that the point of the stick

touchesone of the cornersof the hole. Drawa line along the edge of the stick, then mark

a "tick" on the stick and a corresponding

tick on the plywood scrap.Mark them both

#1. Do this for each corner,assigningeach

one numbers.

I work from left to right as make my

marks, but you can use any order thatsuits you.

Once all the marks have been recorded,

place he scrap of plywood next to the

material you are going to cut and reverse

the process. ay the stick on the lines, align

the ticks, and note the positionsof the

corners.Connect the corner marks, anyou've go t the outline of the workpiece

This method is accurate,easy, heap,a

low-tech.

Plywoo

s c ra P

- P H I L L I P C A R P E

Nelson,B.C. ,C

plywood scrap. . ';..\<o--../

Transfer marks

to workpiece.

Draw

line

' ; ,- Mark reglstrdtion

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READERERVICEO. 7

YouNeedTLeeCity USA

iry neesadd thesoft touch of

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USA where you live:For your free booklet,write: TreeCiry USA,The National ArborDay Foundation,NebraskaCity, NE68410.

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30169658 215 Great Building Tips

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