Rambler

I went back to work for the summer framing for Ben Barney. The residential construction market is not like it was a few years ago when I was working for him. Only the strong and the lean have survived the housing crisis. The price of labor is dirt cheap right now. I'm basically working for fun but it beats what I was doing last summer. He put me in charge for a few weeks while he and his other lead man went on vacation. This is a decent size rambler with a walk-out basement in Pleasant Grove. It was fun to work with mis antiguos amigos mexicanos who still work for him. This house was fun to frame.

Tray Ceiling

I have been wanting to rip out the ceiling in this bedroom for a long time. So I finally did. I replaced the flat, sagging, 8' garbage ceiling with this tray ceiling. The idiots who built my house tried to span 10' with a single 2 x 4 ceiling joist with no supports from the rafters. Thus the sagging. The idiot who "remodeled" the house only put new sheet rock on that old glittery pop-corn ceiling garbage. So I ripped all that trash out in one fail swoop. I had a blizzard of blown in insulation to deal with as I ripped it down. But me and Robert got it all cleaned up and put back in the attic.

After that it was rafter cutting- mayhem 2010. For a trucker Robert caught on pretty quick to the skill saw and he can still boast all his fingers. Then the sheet rock and texture kept me busy for a few nights afterward. I had Zoo Zoo paint everything because I fell ill due to seasonal allergies. Now that room feels bigger.

Neighbor's Fence

Back Yard fence my house

Well, ever since I did the fence on the side of my property I have wanted to do the back fence. So when the heavy winter snow knocked down the old garbage that was back there my neighbors decided to take me up on my offer to do a new fence. So here it is. I have to thank everyone who helped me out. Now I have fence lust and I want to do the other side fence. We'll see if I can con the landlord of the ajoining property into buying all the materials if I do all the labor.

Twin over Full Bunks

I finished the twin over full bunk I started a little over a week ago. I have been scrambing like a mad man on cocaine but the beds went together nicely. I have a few little tricks up my sleeve that make my work go faster. Those idiots at Home Depot have to be so sick of seeing me there every day exchanging broken router bits or exchanging the wrong size bolts or hauling more lumber in the back of my Honda Civic than these wanna-be rednecks who drive lifted Double Extended Cab Super-Hemi Duramax Cummins Power Strokers will probably ever haul in thier lives. How many times have you seen a truck like the one I just described with something actually IN IT???

Mom and Dad's Bathroom Cabinets

Well I have wanted to put cabinets down in the basement bathroom of my parent's house for years. I finally got around to it this year. I made them huge like this so my parents have room to hide more junk. I had them buy regular knotty pine from Home Depot because getting hard wood to the remote town they live in would have been a nightmare. I think they turned out fine for pine.

Double Armoire

Melody wanted a place to put her clothes. She saw something she liked in some furniture store in the Valley so she sent me her sketch. She wanted me to match the bookcase I made for her last year. So I came up with this. It breaks apart into two units so it can be moved. It took forever but it went way more smoothly than last year because I learned so much on that one. This is my best work yet.

Blake in the Box

I went down to AZ for 3 weeks during Christmas. I got to see my first nephew for the first time. I offered to make something for Loo Loo. He wanted to make a toy chest for his baby. So we designed one up and he and Randy helped me for 2 days and we came up with this. I had Loo Loo out hand crafting the little feet.