Replacing rotted beams with new ones. My client has a U shape home in Phoenix, with a nice front yard. A grid of six by ten wood beams added lovely accent to his home. Two years after he bought this property he decided to check those beams that were covered with aluminum sidings. The previous owner was covering a big problem there. My client called me and asked me to bid on this job. I started with removing the siding, some of the beams were so...

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Refurbishing an Entry Way What in the world the architect / builder was thinking? You are looking at a condo unit in Scottsdale. This is the main entry door to a two story home and another dummy door above it for decoration. The home owners asked me to change the door, remove the dummy and stucco above the new door. The new door was selected by the home owners from catalogs I presented at the free consultation I gave them at their home. The...

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Tongue and Groove Pine Ceiling Installing Tongue and Groove (T&G) planks is not an easy job. It requires scaffolding, two installers or more and strong necks. The material has to be straight. It is very easy NOT to keep the lines straight and true parallel. The soft pine tongues and grooves need to be in good shape or it would be hard to engage between two planks and to get a tight fit. I always use a small chunk of the material between...

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Replacing patio sliding doors with double French doors, low-E and mini blinds between the glasses. In order to remove the frame of the sliding doors, you have to cut the stucco with a four inch diamond blade. I cut it two inches away from the exposed frame and remove the stucco and the Styrofoam. Now the flange is exposed, I remove the nails or screws and the frame can be pulled out. Installing the new pre-hung French door unit is next. Wide...

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Removable wood deck My client purchased a condo in NYC Walking outside his back door, there was a roof for his use as part of the deal. He asked me to build a wood deck for him. The existing roof deck was made of plywood and black asphalt roofing material. The original roofing needs to be served every now and then. I had to come up with a unique idea. The plan was to built it in sections that can be lifted and removed. pile up half the deck to...

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