I realize that I have never posted any pics of my work. This is typical of what I mostly deal with. For some reason I have fallen into rot restoration.
All moldings on these posts were made in red cedar and mahogany, the base is seasoned pt and the trunk is Azak. I used my table saw, router table, router & molding planes.
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Replies
Hey, Jer- is this from the job in Princeton?
I haven't done any rot repair in a while, but it does give some satisfaction to bring an architectural detail back.
I'm wondering, tho. With using cedar, mahogany, and Azek, why did you also use PT? I find the stuff checks quite a bit, and doesn't seem to hold paint well.
OK, I reread the post, and noticed you said seasoned PT, so that should deal with the checking. But I still haven't had much luck painting it. It seems to start peeling in just a couple of years.
"I'm wondering, tho. With using cedar, mahogany, and Azek, why did you also use PT? "A very good question, and my answer and solution comes from several years of trial and error. Yes, the secret is very well seasoned pt. but it's also the wood itself
What I do whenever I'm in the PT section of a lumber yard or HD, I will go to the 2x10's or 12's and check them out to see the quality of the actual wood. Once in a blue moon there will be a shipment of some very good straight grained lumber relatively knot free. Sometimes I will even find a piece of quarter sawn with fairly tight grain, I found one I think 2 years ago. That's like gold, so I buy it and stick it up overhead in the garage for exactly the purpose that you see here.
I have 2-3 good boards drying right now, and the stuff in the photo must be about 9 months old drying. So the wood is actually quite stable and I have found that if you use this type of wood with the alcohol primer, it stays very well.I prefer pt to cedar or mahogany when it comes in contact with the floor or ground like this since that's where water will collect and stay and I have seen both cedar and mahogany rot, but seldom if ever pt.Sometimes I will have to run the dried pt through the thickness planer to get consistant dimension.Yes, this is the job in Princeton. Great people too which makes the commute worth it.The structural rebuilds are done , next I have to attack some major fill spots with epoxy. I use the Abitron liquid wood impregnater and the woodepox dough. Stuff's expensive but well worth it. .
...Abatron & Woodepox...how do you find the fume factor on those? I had to give up the Smith's Waterthin, which I liked a lot, because of the fumes - toxic & very long-lasting. My chemically-sensitive stepson had to go to a motel...
On the Abitron stuff I don't really notice the fumes since most of it is for outside work. I'm fairly immune to light fumes but if it is real strong stuff like paint stripper or alcohol primer inside, I don the respirator.What I have to start wearing more protection for is my hands. Mostly for the chemical stuff I handle. I know that some stuff can actually get through the pores and into your bloodstream.
My problem went way beyond that I wear a respirator, but this was in the basement, & poisoned the whole house for ~24 hours...
Your work looks really good - thanx for pix!
Man, I LOVE jobs like that - take C R A P and make it look like wedding cake icing - Nice work.
Forrest
Perfect saying for what some jobs are like.
Matt
Never would have guessed that you had not posted pics of your work...you must be good at describing your work in your prior posts...I have been assuming your work looked great--and it does.
Great work Jer. Thanks for the pics
fka (formerly known as) blue
Jer
Nice work and as someone else said, a lot of satisfaction in restoring worn out architectual woodwork.
Doug
jer,
Impressive !
Thanks for the photos.
Jer,
You do very nice work. You east coasters are fortunate to have treated SYP. Out West it is all incised fir, and the treatment goes in only a quarter to a half inch.
In pic #383, there look to be major planer ripples in the new PT repair. How did you get those out after it was installed? Or was that pic just a test fit?
Someone mentioned PT not holding paint well. I have wondered if the alkalinity of ACQ'd lumber will attack paint films. After all, lye is used as a paint stripper. My current job has painted ACQ as well as painted redwood. It will be interesting to keep an eye on it to see how they both fare over time.
Bill
"In pic #383, there look to be major planer ripples in the new PT repair. How did you get those out after it was installed?"The post is structural and that pt piece is the new 6x6 post that I notched into the old post as you can see. This is completely covered up by the Azak trunk and rest of the molding work. The only exposed pt is the base of the post, and that's the stuff that I make sure is totally dry and in good shape.I have found that with a good couple of coats of the alcohol base exterior primer and a high quality paint, seasoned pt will hold paint. I glue all large joints with PL and the smaller ones with the Titebond 3. The base of the Azak which touches the floor is set into a thick bead of alkyd flexible caulking as is the pt exposed base. Caulking all joints is important. Most of the fasteners are ss. I use the ss 21/4" trim screws a lot on a project like this.I have worked on this particular house intermittently inside and out for the past 7 years or so and will be back no doubt. I'm keeping an eye on this just to see how it holds.The other pics are from the front porch of the same house on columns that I restored in the last 2 years. They were all structural amputees like the other. As you can see, they have held up.It's interesting to note the change in detail that has evolved on a house of this age...especially a Victorian because of the vast amount of detail. One of the pics shows two posts together that look the same from a distance but have different detail. I suspect this was from the first time they were rebuilt.One of my favorite things to do while working on old homes is to play detective and figure out what was done to it through the years. There are always clues, some being very subtle.
I've never tried the exterior alcohol primer; that's something I will look into.
I usually use the water base int/ext BIN primer; I'm too lazy to use oil. But it does have it's drawbacks.
Goo, staedy customers are great. Right now, I'm replacing the front door for people I've worked for for over 20 years. And she's got a whole list of more stuff for me to do.
I know her so well, and get along with her, so that I'm always teasing her. And every once in a while she gives me a ( light ) smack.
But she treats me well- coffee in the AM, cookies when I'm there more than a few days.
And they pay promptly, without questioning the bill- the best kind of customers.
"Good, steady customers are great."We moved to this area about 10 years ago and for about 5 of those years I worked for 2 companies, so I don't quite have the return customers like I did for almost 20 years before that when we lived just north of NYC. I have some, but not as many. They are like gold. When the building industry was in its slump in the 80's & some of the 90's and no new work was really coming in, they were an absolute lifesaver.I got spoiled. Never advertised, all word of mouth. If I could have about 10-15 people like these, I would never have to take on new work.
That's my situation right now.
I live two towns over from where I grew up; I've been working in the area for over 30 years.
I haven't advertised for at least 5 years, and pretty much all my customers are from word of mouth. And I usually have 3-4 months backlog, which is a very comfortable level for me. I've had customers wait months to get on my schedule when I've gotten backed up.
I am spoiled!
Jer - where is the house? (I live in Princeton).
Jeff
The house is on Kingston Rd (Rt 27 north of town) If you're traveling north it's on the left, I think it's #706. I'll be there for the next few days at least.
I know where you mean - opposite Carnegie Drive +/- ??? I may stop by - I have a project in Kingston.
Nice work by the way
Jeff
Exactly opposite Carnegie Dr. Stop over.
Nice to meet you Jer and to see your work -
I still recommend this - http://www.advancedrepair.com/architectural_epoxy/architectural_epoxy.htm very highly - try it out some time.
Jeff
Yeah, likewise. I'm a little miffed I didn't meet you earlier because the stuff from Abitron was supposed to be here on Tuesday and it's still not here, so now I have to wait. I would have bought your product at Hamilton Supply but I just needed someone like you to come along an tell me more about it and confirm it was the real deal.
Suffice it to say I will try it next time. In general I have been pleased with the Abitron products as well as the West System, but am always up to try another.
I asked the owner how old the original part of the house I'm working on was and he said 1846. If that's the case then it must have had a major overhaul in the 1870's or so given the detail. My own guess was just after the Civil war.
Hope to see you again.
Would love to see the pics as well. How about knocking them down a bit for the dial-uppers.
Thanks!
If that was the format for the dialup, thanks for doing that. I just wasn't sure how to go about that.
I'm setup with the Irfanview system.
Free downlaod. Once it's set up it's a series of clocks to downsize. About 15seconds a pic.
Here's a link to a summary of posts explaining it.
24441.75
cheers
Thanks Rez. U da bomb!!!Live in the solution, not the problem.
Ok, yer hired. Lotsa that work ahead of me too.
Looks great, but I keep the Marples Boxwood handled chisels in the shop, site chisels take a beating, so I use disposable cheapies..LOL
In total agreement on the wood choice, some times that rare good hunk of PT can save the day.
I was out with the local farmer yesterday harvesting Cedar poles for my porch posts ( yeah, going rustic) and some posts for the fenceline..anyway, he takes me back to an old ( as old as my house) abandoned dwelling..log, like mine, and all poplar clapboard siding, ginger bread porch details and completly panelled inside with handplaned SYP and Poplar...I'll be snagging a lot of stock outta this baby...really cool old wood.
I wished I took the camera along, but didn't expect to find anything like that, way back in the sticks...just the doors that survived all these yrs made my heart thump.
Thanks for the pics..you need to post more!
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
"I keep the Marples Boxwood handled chisels in the shop,"You have keen eyes there. I usually have my cheaper set of Stanleys out for this but there were corners and pieces that no spokeshave or plane could get to. I'm actually thinking about getting a few Barr chisels...it just takes time to rationalize the price of those things.I used to have a farmhouse complete with barns, woodshop etc. where I could take in old wood to sticker & stack. those days are gone and the only wood I take in anymore are the smaller but real valuable pieces...like the 2x10x48" piece of Brazilian rosewood that these so called carpenters once threw away into a dumpster.I'll use it when I make my first guitar.
LOL.
I had me a hunk of Bubinga with Bees wing...make your eyes bleed pretty..woulda made a back and sides for a dreadnought.
It was in the fire that ate my shop..I think I miss that Pc of wood more than the tools.
Yup, Barrs are $$$$, I still use Stanley on site, or homemades from files and horse shoe rasps.
My newest work on Montrose, requires more Gouges than I have in my arsenal..thats quite the shopping spree tha I am avoiding. and sharpening them on site is just a pile of more stuff I have to haul out, that oughtto stay in house. I still have yetto really master excellent gouge sharpening, what I do is "servicable", I leave the sculpting to those that reign as masters.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Good work Jer... Execellent!
Thanks man.
Jer, thanks for posting those. Beautiful work, and great to see. (Had to wait until Rez downsized them ... thanks, Rez!)
I've also used PT SWP for some exterior millwork, even some mouldings. This was the old style stuff, and dried ... and selected for relatively straight, tight grain. Five years later, it's all still holding paint well (alkyd).
The only trouble I've seen is on a couple lengths of sill trim where the grain has raised. Maybe those pieces weren't dry enough?
Allen