Trim Carpentry for the Homeowner Make It Square. Make It Tight. Make It Right.

129 Pages·2008·12.625 MB·English

by  Glen Huey

0
POPULAR
WOODWORKING
FOR THE
H o m e o w n e r
Glen Huey
1
Trim Carpentry
for the Homeowner
Glen Huey
BETTERRRWAAAY BOOKS
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.popularwoodworking.com
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Read This Important Safety Notice Trim Carpentry for the Homeowner.
Copyright © 2008 by Glen Huey. Printed and bound
To prevent accidents, keep safety in mind while you
in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may
work. Use the safety guards installed on power equip- be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
ment; they are for your protection. When working on mechanical means including information storage and
power equipment, keep fingers away from saw blades, retrieval systems without permission in writing from the
publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief
wear safety goggles to prevent injuries from flying wood
passages in a review. Published by Betterway Books, an
chips and sawdust, wear hearing protection and con- imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith
sider installing a dust vacuum to reduce the amount of Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. First edition.
airborne sawdust in your woodshop. Don’t wear loose
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make the contents as accurate and correct as possible. England
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Plans, illustrations, photographs and text have been
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carefully checked. All instructions, plans and projects E-mail: [email protected]
should be carefully read, studied and understood before
beginning construction. Due to the variability of local Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link
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were current at the time of publication and are subject
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Metric Conversion Chart 12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1
to convert to multiply by Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Inches . . . . . . . . . . . . . Centimeters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.54
Huey, Glen, 1959-
Centimeters . . . . . . . . . . .Inches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 Trim carpentry for the homeowner / by Glen Huey.
Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Centimeters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.5 p. cm.
Centimeters . . . . . . . . . . . Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 Includes index.
ISBN-10: 1-55870-814-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Yards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.9
ISBN-13: 978-1-55870-814-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1
1. Trim carpentry--Amateurs’ manuals. I. Popular
woodworking. II. Title.
TH5695.H845 2008
694’.6--dc22 2007034910
Acquisitions editor: David Thiel
Senior editor: Jim Stack
Designer: Terri Woesner
Production coordinator: Mark Griffin
Photographer: Glen Huey
Illustrator: Len Churchill
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About the Author Acknowledgements
Glen grew up in the homebuilding business. His Many thanks to the companies that helped me
father had a successful building and real estate gather information and photos to fill this book.
business for most of Glen’s childhood. In fact, after Thanks to Great Traditions Homes in
graduating from the University of Cincinnati with Cincinnati, Ohio and their sales manager, Chip
a degree in business, and not landing a job dealing Browne. Chip was my first contact that opened a
in stocks and bonds, Glen pulled his father out of model home for me to take photos.
retirement to start his own homebuilding business. Thanks to McCabe Lumber in Loveland, Ohio.
His early resume, in addition to homebuilder, Their showroom is full of doors, mouldings and
includes construction superintendent and carpenter. mantles. They did not hesitate to allow me access
Later, Glen decided to change professions and build to any area in the showroom (which is attached
furniture in a temperature controlled shop, instead to the adjacent lumberyard where the products
of homes in the cold Ohio winter months. are available for immediate use). Inside the show-
As a furniture maker he has authored three room they have a complete home that’s full of fin-
books: Fine Furniture for a Lifetime, Building ished carpentry that shows what is possible.
Fine Furniture and Illustrated Guide to Thanks to One Stop Tool Rental in West
Building Period Furniture, published by Popular Chester, Ohio. They graciously allowed me to take
Woodworking books. photos of floor refinishing tools. They were help-
In 2006 Glen joined the staff of Popular ful and are knowledgeable about other tools you
Woodworking magazine as a senior editor. While his might need for general home repair.
passion is building and writing about furniture, he Thanks to McSwain Carpet and Flooring in
still considers himself a carpenter. Whether build- West Chester, Ohio. They allowed me to learn
ing furniture or building homes, it’s the creative about and photograph hardwood flooring of all
process that he craves. designs. The staff is knowledgeable about their
products and eager to help.
Thanks also to David Thiel and Jim Stack of
Betterway Books. I agreed to write this book at
the same time that I joined the staff at Popular
Woodworking magazine. My time on this book
became short and my work slow. These guys
found a way to extend me the time to pull things
together.
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INTRODUCTION
[ PAGE 6 ]
1 tools and materials
[ PAGE 8 ]
s
2 design ideas
[ PAGE 20 ]
3 window trim and casings
t
[ PAGE 26 ]
n 4 door trim and casings
[ PAGE 36 ]
5 room trim
[ PAGE 48 ]
e
6 fireplace solutions
[ PAGE 68 ]
t 7 wainscotting and wall treatments
[ PAGE 78 ]
n
8 built-ins and window seats
[ PAGE 88 ]
9 repair and replace
o [ PAGE 96 ]
10 preparation and finish
[ PAGE 102 ]
c
11 hardwood floors
[ PAGE 106 ]
LIST OF SUPPLIERS
[ PAGE 126 ]
INDEX
[ PAGE 127 ]
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Introduction
After a career in the world of education, my grand- maintained. If you choose to replace a door, fix
father worked as a carpenter and painter. My kitchen cabinets or build a windowseat, you want
father was in the homebuilding business for more the construction or repair to last. You don’t want
than 30 years. As a result, my background is exten- to leave it in disrepair. It takes a few short hours
sive when dealing with projects around the house. on the weekend to do the necessary upkeep and to
My wife is amazed at the things I consider do-it- add features. You may have a neighbor ask for your
yourself jobs. advice or become the go-to person for home repair
I spent several years working with my father in your neighborhood.
in the homebuilding business. Later, I started If you are in the business of remodeling homes
my own homebuilding company. I eventually left (sometimes called flipping) you need to do the job
that career to build reproduction furniture. Then, right. Nothing is as hard to build or as easy to lose
a few years later, I joined the staff of Popular as a reputation. By doing repairs the right way,
Woodworking magazine. When I sat down to write you’ll be able to maintain and build on a good repu-
this book, each of the homebuilding tips and tech- tation. Now days, home buyers are well read and
niques that I had learned easily came back to me. knowledgeable. All it takes is one small error and
As you peruse the pages of this book and learn the sale — along with your reputation — is gone.
the techniques, you’ll notice that the methods I use In the pages of this book you’ll find ways to
are dated. I like tried-and-trued methods that have quickly fix a door that sags or, change a rough
stood the test of time and are passed from genera- opening hang a replacement door in its stead.
tion to generation. You’ll also discover short, inexpensive fixes that
Because your home is possibly your most valu- may save you a major repair.
able asset, it should be properly cared for and
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As you look at the list of tools for doing
1 trim carpentry work around your home,
rental property or properties that you’re
renovating, don’t become overwhelmed.
tools
and materials
Upon first inspection the list appears enormous. But, if you dig
into the tools you may find that a large number of them are already
around the house. Many of these tools are part of any household
inventory. And, if you enjoy doing odd jobs around the house, there
may be only a few items on the list that you don’t own. If some of
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tools and materials
This is a good, basic miter box and saw. You can cut
45° miters all day long with it.
these tools haven’t yet found their way into your chapter seven), purchasing a miter saw and that air
toolbox, please don’t go out and buy the entire compressor with a nail gun is a smart move.
list all at once. There’s no need to purchase tools Look at the different design ideas throughout
unless you have a specific need for them. Because this book. When you decide what items would add
each aspect of trim carpentry requires different the most value to your home, read through the
tools, I recommend that you buy the tools as you steps and plan your work. This method helps you
need them. edit the list of tools down to what you need. The
For instance, if you need to reattach a loose money you save by not buying unnecessary tools
piece of door casing you don’t need to buy an air can be put towards additional renovation.
compressor and nail gun. A hammer, nail set and a The tools listed are by no means in order of
few finish nails are enough to complete this task. importance. The only grouping I’ve done is to
If, on the other hand, you plan to create wain- arrange similar tools together. We’ll look at saws,
scot by using a series of different mouldings (see tools for measuring, air-powered tools and their
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