Notes from a pro carpenter

Just a few days ago, May 21, the last bit of snowdrift melted from my yard. It's odd to hear stories from other people all over the country already complaining about the heat. We hit the 70 degree mark for the first time this year on Saturday. Spring has finally arrived and with that Spring Projects.

Its been a few weeks since I have done any serious work in the shop, now that the weather has shifted, I'm looking forward to getting back into some of the projects that have been idled. My shop is in my unheated basement that is accessed by an exterior door. When I do work in the winter or during cooler parts of the year I run a couple of portable propane heaters, It takes an hour or so to bring the temp up from the low 30's to what is warm enough to start working. Now that spring is here I can just jump in and start working, what a treat.

This weekend I hope to sand some more T&G boards that are destined for our cabin. I'm using Blue Stain Pine, which is a locally milled product. Not only is it locally milled but locally harvested. This is timber from our extensive beetle kill forests here in Colorado, Steve Graham, recently wrote about beetle kill lumber here on the Networx site, you can read more about it here.

This T&G that I'm working on will be used throughout our cabin, this particular lot is destined for more of the ceiling. One of the joys of working on our cabin is that it is a project that I started...Just me... so all of the work is my own, from the foundation up. If something is out of square by a bit, I can only blame myself. Working on many other projects over the years I often run into some weird stuff and can't help but think....What is up with that? Some of these observations made their way into my top ten list.

So to start the spring building season off with a little humor, I would like to share some of these with you.

Crappy Carpentry I have encountered over the years.

1. Drywall found sandwiched between a total of 7 layers of roll roofing on a collapsed cabin roof.

2. Lean-too addition on cabin...18 out of square in only 7 feet.

3. 3/8 thick piece of cedar siding used as a ridge beam (14' x 20' foot room)

4. Room Addition set 18 below grade, back filled with dirt up along wood siding and framing.   

    (None of the lumber was treated)

5. Kitchen floor 3 out of level in less than 8 feet.

6. Deck footer, poured slab 2 deep...in 48 frost depth zone...demolition with 1 hand lift.

7. Plumbing repairs to frozen pipe...8 previous repairs in less than 2 feet of pipe.

8. Toilet rough in 18 from back wall, in concrete slab (normal is 12)

9. Exterior window trim, installed with 16d framing nails

10. Interior doors, installed with (3) 3 gold cabinet screws THROUGH THE DOOR STOP...

      and nothing else.

I'm sure this list will evolve as I experience more projects in the future...but for now...its enough to put a chuckle in the minds of my fellow carpenters. So If you think you have It bad, keep these in mind, and If you have something that tops these I would be glad to hear about it.

Posted by: Kevin Stevens

Photo credit: KMS Woodworks