Posts by Chuck Curtis
I completed one of my short summer projects – just in time to head to Australia. I built a much better lumber stack in the unused garage bay. It had been sitting in one of the bays where I park, but I needed to make the stack flat so the wood wouldn’t dry bowed. I also made the stack 4-feet deep vice 2-feed deep.
I had forgotten how heavy the red oak planks were.
I may someday move more lumber into that garage bay, but not this summer…
I finally finished Ben’s bedroom today. Almost all the tools are back in the shop (ok, one more trip left). I just finished touching up the paint – but it is a boy’s room – so touching up paint could be a weekly project if I desired.
He now wants shelves in his closet – but I’m counting that as a second project.
Now off to the movies (something to do on a rainy day) – then to Target to get some storage bins for Ben. He is slowly in the process of moving his stuff from his old room to the new one. I won’t show a picture of the big pile of toys and stuff he has in his old room – I’m hoping he decides to go through it and throw a lot out.
The afternoon started off well. The boys were about as expected, running around with their friend, Justin. Of course at times it got a little out of hand. Of course one of those times, Will got in trouble (don’t worry, Ben got in trouble as well the other time). So he got a time-out in his room (and yes, for those without kids, time-outs do work).
I’m outside with Ben and Justin – I have my phone set to go off when Will’s time-out is over. From above, I hear the sound of glass breaking – from Will’s window. I run upstairs – a little angry- I’ve assumed the window broke because he was angry and threw something that broke the window (hey, seems fair – the usual cause of broken windows is things being thrown ).
Well, it turns out that he wasn’t throwing things. He had just been leaning with his hand on the window pane and it broke. And he was upset – upset about the time-out – scared he had broken his window (there was glass all over the floor). Thankfully the only thing on him was a small scratch on his arm (I am VERY thankful for no trip to the ER).
So, after he calmed down (and I calmed down), I sat down with him. I told him that he wasn’t in trouble (it was an accident), but that he needed to help fix the window. That made him more upset (he wanted to play with Justin). I told him it wouldn’t be all afternoon – if I break a window, I am expected to fix it, so it seemed fair if he helped.
I think he must have realized that it wouldn’t be fair to play the whole time I was working on fixing the window he broke – he complained a little bit, but did help with the window.
We carefully cleaned up the broken glass (work gloves and shoes on). Then off came both stops, and out came the sash. I don’t know why, but the stops on this window have only one screw in the middle, and nails on the top and bottom. Maybe I’ll change it to three screws each tomorrow when I put the window back together (like the rest of the windows in the house).
Will cleaned out the rabbet where the broken pane had been (lots of nice old hardened putty). I removed the other pane (the putty was in bad shape – and since he had only broken the one pane, Will didn’t have to help with that pane). Then Will was back to paint the sash. After the paint had dried to the touch, we put a new piece of glass in (strangely enough I had a new piece of glass sitting around the right size), and reglazed the window.
I use Glaze-Ease from Advanced Repair Technology, Inc. to glaze the windows. I love the fact that it can be painted 2 hours after glazing (traditional glazing needs to cure for several days prior to painting). It comes in a caulk tube and they have a special tool to get the finish to look like traditional glazing. I’m still working on getting it to turn out perfect – but this is a second floor window, so no one will see the glazing job.
Tonight I painted the glazing and removed the tape. Tomorrow I’ll second coat the glazing, and Will and I will wax the sash where it rubs against the parting bead and stop (keeps the paint from sticking) and put the window back together.
So Will gets one night without a lower sash (he still has a storm window). And he had a lot less play time this afternoon than he had originally wanted.
On the good side, Will learned how to take the lower sash off a double hung window and replace a pane of glass. Another good thing – that window sash was in the worst shape of all of them in the house – so reglazing and repainting was needed. Even better – I got to work on a project with Will for a good part of the afternoon. And I’m pretty sure he won’t lean on a window again.
Ok… so the room isn’t totally done. Just almost done. Yesterday I made the baseboard trim. I had decided that I wanted trim that was taller than I could get at the box store, so I purchased a router bit to make the molding. Initially I was going to use some of the red oak I have sitting around to make the trim. But that would require me milling the lumber. And since it was going to be painted anyway, I started with 1×8 pine from home depot.
First I made a test piece from a piece of a 3/4″ x 7 1/4″ board I had sitting around.
This allowed me to check the look of the trim before I decided to go purchase the lumber.
After Ben and I had agreed that the trim was a good fit to the room, I went out and picked up the lumber and spent the afternoon milling the baseboard trim and priming the trim.
Today, I plan on painting the trim, and will put it in tonight (or later this week if the paint isn’t dry enough to install today (It is humid and raining – it may take longer to dry than normal).
At least Ben has been sleeping in the new room – he is very happy to have a larger room. He just hasn’t moved all his stuff over; he is waiting for me to finish the trim before he does that.
I’ve been working on Ben’s room for a long time. A very long time. I started in the room when we first moved into the house. And it kept going on and on… It’s really not that fancy or complicated of a room to renovate.
A lot happened since I started the room, including a divorce and a year living in a different house. And the room stayed under construction the entire time. After a while, the project just seemed to live there and have no end in sight. I would start other projects instead of finishing the room.
Not that I chose the easiest path to redoing the room. Initially the though was to keep the original plaster. So we peeled the wallpaper off the walls. Then, after leaving and coming back a year later (after much discussion with my dad), I decided to tear out the plaster walls on the exterior wall so I could insulate the room. That was last August (a year ago). My dad showed up and we spent a part of a week late that fall, and we put the insulation up and put up the walls, and the plywood for the ceiling (I had purchased materials to put up a tin ceiling several years ago).
I spent that winter putting up the tin ceiling. I had to hand nail every 6-inches with the painted decorative nails. This spring I got the windows in, and at the beginning of the summer, I ordered the flooring. I also had to install the crown molding.
I finally go the floor installed last night, and Ben wanted to move his bed in today. As I write he is spending his first night in the room.
It was a lot of work…. I restored both windows (repaired and repainted the sashes, and replaced the sash cord with sash chain). I installed a metal ceiling. The room needed all new electrical – so I added outlets on all the walls, and a switch for the light. I ripped out three walls, and installed drywall on all the walls (covering the plaster on one of the walls) – I had a lot of help for that. I installed a new floor (an inexpensive cork floor – but it feels nice under the feet) and painted stripes on the walls.
I had a lot of help with the project. Thanks to my dad for helping get me moving on the project last year. And this summer I was able to get a huge amount done thanks to Susanna’s help and encouragement.
Of course it’s not completely finished. I still need to mill and install the baseboard trim (but Ben didn’t want to wait). One of the outlets is missing the cover (I couldn’t count when I ordered the outlet covers). The paint needs to be touched up, and the crown molding needs to be caulked. I should get most of that done this weekend – assuming I can find enough red oak to make the baseboard trim (ok, shouldn’t really be a problem). Of course one of the sash chains came off today – but I may wait a while before I fix that – the window is still working.
It has been a very busy summer… at least the boys and I have been able to enjoy the other big summer project – a new patio in the back yard. I think I’m going to take it easy on house projects for a little bit. The workshop is a disaster and needs to be cleaned, and I have a whole list of woodworking projects that I want to finish.
Yesterday we decided to take a family day and visit Six Flags of New England. Wet Mark and Jessica Matkovich, and Nick and Sarah. Of course, as the only ones in the group with kids, we wound up spending most of the day with just the four of us.
We got tickets at the Submarine Base MWR office – a great deal for those able to get tickets there. Our plan was to get there when it opened at 10:30. We had a little late start, but were there by 10:40.
We picked a perfect day for a trip to the park. It was overcast and threatened to rain all day – which meant no crowds – though maybe it being a week day was a bigger reason than the weather. The overcast sky also meant that it wasn’t too hot.
The boys got their first chance to ride on real roller coasters. Ben was just a little too short to get on a bunch of the rides (a lot of the rides need him to be 48″ tall; he is 47″ tall). Will was just big enough to fit on all the rides (54″ tall). We started the morning on the newest roller coaster – some sort of mouse maze type (Gotham City Gauntlet Escape). Not very fast, but lots of turns and starts and stops. It was a pretty good start. We also spent a lot of time on the one they called “Catwoman’s Whip ” – a mild family coaster – but much better than the ones that are at the local fairs.
That afternoon, I was able to get Will on some of the bigger rides. We started with the smaller of the two wooden coasters. Ben was almost tall enough – next year he’ll be able to ride it. Will came off that ride and said “That was SOOO scary.” And he didn’t want to do it again. So we went back to the smaller rides. I finally convinced him that there was no line for the big wooden coaster – so he went on it with me. Much scarier than the smaller one. But he did it. And he screamed every time we went down a hill.
And then we walked by the biggest ride in the park, “Bizarro” – a huge fast metal coaster. With the first drop a 225 foot plunge and reaching 77 miles an hour. There was no line in the afternoon, and he said he would try it. Talk about scary…… But he did it. He kept talking about it the rest of the day. The final big ride we did was “Batman,” with two loops and two corkscrews. He said that one wasn’t nearly as scary as the big one.
We finished the day by letting the boys run through “Pandemonium” several times by themselves… It is the best ride Ben could get on this year (the cars spin as the coaster goes around). Then took the skyway back to the center of the park, and finished with a ride on “Catwoman’s Whip.”
Overall, we stayed until almost 7:30pm. Nearly 9 hours at the park. What a great day.
I’ve been slow posting on this blog… there is lots to do outside and around the house in the summer. Finally it is hot enough this weekend, that writing seems like a good thing to do.
The big family trip this summer was a road trip to West Virginia. The trip started in the evening of the 24th. We started with a short drive to New Jersey for a night sleep (leaving after the boys arrived here for their vacation period). The next morning, we drove around a bit to find breakfast (and new headphones for Will) and then drove to Washington DC. We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at last year (Homewood Suites in Alexandria VA).
We took it easy on Saturday, with dinner at the Olive Garden (it was my birthday dinner). The next day we decided to head into Washington to visit the Holocaust Museum. We got distracted.
When we arrived at the Mall, the boys wanted to walk to the Washington Monument. It was right there, so why not. When we got up to the monument, one of the other tourists gave us 4 tickets for the 10:30 am tour… normally you need to get down there very early to get tickets. What good luck. So we went to the top. The boys thought the ride up was pretty cool, but got bored after 5 minutes at the top. Then back down and to the Holocaust Museum.
We should have done lunch instead. It was getting close to lunch time. Will was getting hungry. He couldn’t stand still at all while we were in the lobby of the museum. We tried to walk through the children’s exhibit, but Will couldn’t stop running. He got very upset when I took him outside. He had a screaming meltdown on the way out. Not the best day. In hindsight we should have done lunch first, he would have been much happier on a full stomach. But all he wanted to do was go back to the hotel and swim.
After lunch we took the metro back to the car and drove back to the hotel, spent the afternoon swimming and ordered pizza for dinner (after Will calmed down – he was very upset from the events of the morning).
The boys are visiting their grandmother this weekend… which gives me lots of time to work on the house. I was able to mow the grass as well as work on Ben’s room.
Last weekend I put together the crown molding pieces for the edge of the ceiling where it meets the sloped wall. Crown molding is designed for a 90 degree angle (normal vertical wall), but the room has two sections of the wall where it isn’t vertical. It wouldn’t be a problem if I had put drywall on the ceiling. However, I did a tin ceiling (well, aluminum) and that requires crown molding to cover the edge of the metal ceiling. This morning I was able to prime and paint the crown molding, and this evening I was able to install the two pieces on the sloped wall. The rest I will cope and install tomorrow. Excuse the color of the first image, the inside lights make the image a bit yellowish.
To make the crown molding fit, I cut a piece of wood to fit in the gap between the molding and the sloped wall. I glued the wood piece to the molding and then attached it as a single piece of trim.
I also painted the trim around the door to the closet. I don’t have any baseboard trim up yet, so painting one door at a time make sense. I’ll just have to touch up where I install the baseboard trim. The process was pretty easy. I taped around the trim. I then ran a bead of caulk around the edge of the trim (to make up for unevenness in the wall), smoothing the caulk with my finger. I then removed the tape before the caulk cured. After the caulk cured for two hours, I re-taped around the trim and primed and painted the trim. The result is a very clean joint between the trim and the wall. The first picture is of the trim as installed.
The trim pieces are original. Some of the pieces were damaged when they were pulled off the wall when I started renovating the room. I made the rosettes (a bunch of the originals broke when I removed them).
A suggestion to anyone removing and reinstalling trim:
In my last house, I made the mistake of hammering the nails from the back of the trim, then pulling them out from the from. That caused the large holes where the finish nails pushed chips of wood out. For this project I pulled the nails out from the back. Trim is installed with finish nails, and they are simple to pull out from the back. That leaves the front of the trim looking clean. I purchased a special pair of pliers for this purpose (crazy that they make a tool for specifically pulling the nails through the trim from the back).
Making the Rosettes
I purchased a drill bit to make the rosettes. I had searched at Home Depot and found trim rosettes, but they were just a little too small for the trim I had. So I had to make them. I milled some scrap sapele to 1″ thickness and then cut squares out the appropriate size. I set up a fence on the drill press and drilled out enough rosettes for the room (and a spare or two). Of course it is a shame to prime and paint a nice wood like sapele… but it was scrap so it is cheaper than getting pine at the box store.
When I was waiting for painting projects to dry, I started my next workshop project. I milled most of the white oak needed for a sitting bench that will go out by the fire pit (what is there now looks terrible). The big question is do I make it a quick project (and use pocket hole screws to put together), or do I take the time and make it with mortise and tenon joints. I’m actually leaning towards mortise and tenon joints – I’ve been avoiding traditional joinery for the past few projects.
The boys had been talking about this trip all week. I had done some research on where to do river camping here in Connecticut and found that the state has several campgrounds that are accessible only by canoe or kayak. Several weeks ago I checked the DEP website, got the address needed, and then wrote to them requesting a camping permit (of course enclosing the needed $15 to cover the permit). A week later I had a permit waiting in the mail for Ceders Camp Area in Selden Neck State Park.
I called my dad and asked if he wanted to go camping with the boys this weekend. He was actually in DC this past week, so the trip up wasn’t too far out of his way. I picked him up on Friday afternoon, and we quickly packed up the car before the boys came home from school.
We tied the canoe to the roof and drove to the Hadlyme Ferry. Of course I wasn’t sure how often the ferry ran, so we drove all the way around. Next time I’ll just take the Ferry across. $3 for the car and it runs about every 15 minutes (we took it home). We unloaded in the parking lot next to the ferry and loaded up the canoe. It was nearly 5pm by the time we were on the river.
We paddled down the river for maybe 20 or 30 minutes and arrived at our campsite (I had to pick a site near the put-in – the boys don’t get out of school until 3pm and with a 9am transition to their mother’s house on Sunday morning, a Saturday night camping trip was out of the question).
We had a great night camping. Both Will and Ben took some time when we got there to go swimming in the cold water, then set up their tents (with help). We found firewood (we had to hike a bit to get it), made a fire, and cooked dinner. Ben was pretty tired; he had stayed up until almost 10pm the night before. After dinner, as we were getting the s’mores ready, Ben decided to go lay down in his tent. I asked him, “are you going to bed?” He replied, “No, I’m just taking a nap.” I explained that if you take a nap at night and wake up the next morning, then it counts as going to bed. But either way, I let him take his nap. He slept until the morning.
Will followed not too long after that. The boys had insisted in each sleeping in their own tents. I didn’t really want to buy enough tents for them to each sleep in their own tent, but I pulled out an old tent I had for my dad and I to share, and let the boys sleep in their own tents. I was sure they would get afraid at night and not want to sleep alone. I was wrong. Not a sound was heard from either of them until the next morning.
I was up early – it get’s light around 5am this time of year, and dad snores. I got the fire going again and walked around a bit. Will was the next one up, followed by my dad and Ben.
That morning both boys wanted to try the rope swing into the river. I told them the water was cold, but they could use the rope swing. They got in their swim trunks, put life jackets on and headed over the the rope swing. Will got Ben to agree to try the swing if he did it first. In Will went. Into the very cold water. Next it was Ben’s turn. In he went. The look on his face was perfect. He was very surprised by the cold water. I’m pretty sure if he could have found a way to walk on top of the water he would have.
The boys then decided to change into their dry pajamas (which they wore the rest of the trip). We finished breakfast. I stayed in camp while my dad took the boys exploring our part of the island.
When everyone was back (and the kids getting a little bored), we broke camp and decided to canoe around the island. I had talked to a pair of rowers that were passing by earlier – they told me it was a nice 3.5km loop around the island.
It wound up being a pretty long canoe trip around the island. Not too long, but getting close to too long. We stopped to check out the other campsites on the island (the boys chose Hogback Camp Area for the next trip – scheduled for early June). The wind was a bit strong when we rounded the island and left Selden Creek and entered the Connecticut River. The wind and wakes from the passing boats on the Connecticut River made the passage back up the river a bit slow going. But the boys were as patient as could be expected.
Overall it was a great first camping trip for the boys. They are excited to go again. It was a great starter trip for the year to highlight missing gear, planning etc. We made the trip in a 17′ Mohawk canoe, brought 3 tents (2 small Eureka backpacking tents for the boys, and one large cheap 4 person dome tent for my dad and I – I”m not sure how well that would have fared if it rained). I could definitely use another dry bag before the next trip and a couple more duffel bags to store gear (it is easier if all the gear is in bags to stow in the canoe). I also need more camp chairs (we only had one, but there were picnic tables at the site). We packed in all of our water, and went through nearly 2 1/2 gallons of clean water that night – if it were for a longer trip I would have to get a new water filter. I also forgot how much colder it can be on the river, and next time should pack another layer or two for the boys. I also need a coffee press – no coffee is no fun. I brought backpacking pads to sleep on. But I’m getting old, and weight isn’t as much of a problem on a canoe, so I think I’ll get a more comfortable sleeping pad for the next trip. Maybe trade some weight off with tents and pick up a smaller/lighter third tent. The propane stove is also on it’s last leg. I have a gas backpacking stove, but I do like the convenience of the big double burner propane stove when weight isn’t as big of an issue.
Sometime last winter I had decided that it was time to replace the ugly cheap shoe cubes that sit in the mud room. I figured that I could build a quick set of shoe racks that would last until I decided to eventually renovate the mud room. Of course I started the project, and then other things came up and I didn’t finish (yes, I’m good at starting projects, a little less good at finishing them).
So the project sat in the basement until this week. Partially completed. I had milled the lumber out of scrap red oak. Of course the shop isn’t heated in the winter, so I did rush and didn’t really spend much time picking out the wood for the project. The pile of red oak I have isn’t the nicest wood.
It was a pretty hasty construction. The rails and stretchers are attached to the legs using pocket hole screws. The slats are just glued to the supports. All the stretchers, rails and slats were milled to 1/2″ thickness, and some small details were routed into the legs.
So what do I not like about the shoe rack? Several things. I would debate remaking the whole project if it weren’t temporary, but it is better than what I have, and I have lots of other projects to work on.
From a design standpoint, I don’t like the supports for the slats. The stretchers are attached in the middle of the leg, so to get a gluing surface I milled a 3/4″ square piece of oak and cut a dado into the legs to support the support. Then the slats were glued to the surface. No end grain gluing, so it is pretty strong…. We’ll see if it fails over the next couple of years. I think I would make the shelves similar to a door, using rails and stile construction, and then just sliding the shelves into the dados.
The other design change would be to make the shelf slats out of thicker material. The 1/2″ oak is feels a little too flimsy across the span. Maybe mill it to 5/8″ vice 1/2″.
I think also changing from pocket hole screws to mortise and tenon joints would look much nicer. Maybe I’m still afraid a little to try my own mortise and tenon joints.
From a construction standpoint? I made several mistakes. First, I should have spent more time looking through the lumber stack to find better wood . Look at the picture on the left and see the big knot in the leg.
I also cut one of the slats the wrong length… I felt too lazy to mill another part and get it to the right length. Of course it was cut too short. I could have shortened the rest of the slats, but didn’t think that would look good.
I should have constructed the frame, and then attached the lower shelves first. That would have ensured that the frame was square (there is no front stretcher to ensure that). It turns out that the front is maybe 1/16″ wider than the back.
I didn’t spend much time finishing the project. It is only going to have shoes put on it… and will eventually be replaced with something more permanent when I redo that room. I should have given myself one more night to sand the slats before gluing them on. My planer still makes little ridges on the surface (I think one blade is the wrong height – I really should check it before the next project). The oak isn’t the straightest grain, so I did get tear out. Maybe this is an area where a drum sander to take the boards to the final thickness would help.
I did a single coat of shellac followed by two coats of wiping varnish. Maybe I should add a third coat tomorrow night, at least to the visible parts.
What is the next project? I think a quick set of outside benches out of 2x4s for next to the fire pit. Another nice project I can cheat with pocket hole screws. I still think I need to make a storage shelf for the study/guest room. And bunk beds for the boys. On top of that lots of house projects to finish.