WNY Handyman

My wife found a wonderful project that she wanted to complete on her own.  The only help that she needed (wanted) from me was the purchase of a few packs of shims.

I purchased 2 different types of shims and it turned out that the grain pattern between the 2 was wildly different.  This allowed for some nice contrast in the mirror.

• Shim 1:
  http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202533319/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
• Shim 2:
  http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100082960/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Shim Mirror - A mirror made from shims

This short guide will give you a method to build a simple chair rail that is inexpensive and easy to build. The end result provides a much more finished look that your typical off the shelf molding can. With the cost of molding today, the price per square foot should be about half (50%, 1/2) of what you would spend for molding and will look like a custom job. Hey, it is a custom job.

Tools needed:
Router
Router Bit (chamfer bit, cove bit, or any other profile you would like to see)
Table Saw (optional. Purchase your lumber in the exact width -1″x2″ nominal- if you don’t have one)
Hammer
150 grit Sand Paper

Material Needed:
Pine board: For each 8′ of wall length, you will need 1 8′ 1″x4″ pine board. As knot free as possible without spending too much.
2″ finish nails
Paint (trim color of your choice)
Caulk (I prefer White Alex Plus Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone)

When you begin, you should already have your wall surface material in place. In this case, you can see that we used a Ply-bead material.  Once that is secured to your wall, you will add your face material.  This must be nice and level as it supports that cap and provides you with the nice visual level line.  Your cap piece will be secured to this.  If you desire a profile on this piece, do so before securing.  In our case, we routed a 45 degree chamfer on the lower edge.  When you ease the edge of a trim piece, it gives a much nicer (and more professional) visual.

You should either have a level line, or level as you go.  The length of your run will probably determine which way you go. If you are doing a 20′ long room, snap a level chalk line, or use a laser level to create a line to follow.  Secure your 1″x2″ to the wall using your finish nails.  The 2″ face should be against the wall and your profile (chamfer or other) should face down.

Once secured, you are ready for your cap.  The cap pictured is simply a 1″x2″ piece of poplar.  You can use any type of lumber, but I prefer poplar due to the lack of knots and ability to hold paint very well.  Set your piece down upon the face molding that you just secured and press so that it is flush with your wall.   Just about any wall will have some waves or imperfections.  You can take much of that out by pressing your lumber cap in toward the wall.  If you are using a white paint (like me) you will be able to cover anything that exists with a nice smooth bead of caulk.

Once your cap is in place, simply secure with finish nails by nailing into the face piece below (the 1″x2″ piece).  You should angle back to avoid exiting out the face.

There you have it.  A simple chair rail detail that is inexpensive, professional, and custom looking.  Good luck with your own chair rail. Get creative and consider incorporating moldings into your face piece. The room that the 1×2 cap piece provides will allow you ample depth to experiment.

Update 8/15/2011: The bunk beds are in.  I am really surprised at how much space a bunk bend affords you.  This was a rather tight room (we were calling it the “no-room-room”), but as you can see the bunk beds fit nicely and provide a nice amount of space for a dresser/desk.  The ceiling fan will be moving.

Bunk Beds with lights

Bunk Beds

As we mentioned earlier, our next project is a Lake Erie Cottage.  We should be closing before the end of the month (July 2011) and have already been hard at work with some project planning for when we arrive.

Project 1: Bunk Beds
My son and any of his visiting friends will need a place to sleep.  The air mattress will get pretty old after the 2nd night.  I decided to build a simple set of bunk beds.  What kid wouldn’t want a set of bunk beds?  My goal was to find a set of plans online that were for a simple bed that feels right in the space.  I didn’t want anything that was too fussy (Bunk Bed Plans) or too large.  Price was a consideration as well.  A minimal amount of hardware such as rail brackets or ladder hangers would be a great way to save money on the project. If the ladder and rails are integrated into the design, there wouldn’t be a need for $50 in extra hardware.

Bunk Bed Project

I ended up selecting a plan from ana-white.com.  The plan is simple and has an integrated ladder.  This is built with common lumber and comes in at about $80-$100 in material (not including mattresses).  If you are going to build your own set from the Ana White plan, be sure to read the comments. The material list is not accurate.

This project is an easy one to build since it is essentially 4 wide ladders that are then bolted together. If you choose to take them down, simply remove the bolts and hide them away.

Update 8/01/2011: The bunk bed project is moving along. The structure has been built and painting is taking place. As you can see, the garage is a bit of a mess.

Bunk bed painting

Every year I run into the issue of poor garage storage space.  This year I am going to do something about it.  Well… that is what I have said for 5 straight years.  Each year I’ll add a shelf, some hooks, or a cabinet, but nothing seems to work.  My space needs have either grown, or my hodgepodge of shelving isn’t cutting it.

Garage Storage Unit

This year, my intention is to alleviate our issues by moving things up off of the floor and providing high storage with some custom cabinet storage along the entire wall.

This plan comes from The Family Handyman Magazine and is a terrific concept.  The lumber won’t be cheap, but if it helps to clean up my garage, then it will be mission accomplished.  It would be nice to park both vehicles inside the garage

Click on the image for the complete plan (pdf).  If the link is dead, please post a comment below and we will email you a copy of that file.

Have fun.

When building an interior railing, you will have a few choices.  the choices that you make will have a big impact on the final appearance (obviously), but will also have a major impact on the time to build.  If you don’t to many stair railings, you probably don’t have some of the custom tools that make the job easier. On top of that, you won’t have the knowledge needed to avoid mistakes and make the job easier.  From the newel that you select to the baluster and finish, a stair can be tricky.

Our recent renovation was formerly a 1 family home that was converted to a 2 family home many years ago.  The conversion to a 2 family was minimal, so bringing it back to a single family was not a major job. In fact, the separating wall that was built at the staircase was only 3″ thick.  The following is a picture of the staircase after demolition of the dividing wall (with some new 2×6 framing added for the newel/railing structure).  You can see that we built a solid framework for our newels and bolted them in from the backside (we had to cover the panels from 1889 as they were unusable).  Click on the image for a larger version of the before and after stair railing pictures.

Stair railing rebuild

Our railing was built from the ground up, this is often easier than a remod.  We had a very specific look that we wanted to achieve and a standard newel wasn’t going to cut it. We went with a beefier newel post that is 5″ at its widest and 4″ at the narrow points. This gives a real custom (and older style) look.  It was a bit of a search to find the box newel post.

In building out this stair rail, I walked away with 2 tips.  If you are working with multiple elevations that will transition with a newel, the less detail on the newel, the better.  A detailed newel can limit the railing position when you transition to a new elevation.  Another tip that we learned the hard way was to use a baluster (spindle) that is squared at the top and bottom. This will allow for easy cuts and fitting.  Our original plan called for a pin top. Since we didn’t have the boring jig to ease the job, we altered the plan to use a spindle that was square at the top and bottom.

The before picture doesn’t really seem to fit.  The explanation for this would be the dividing wall that blocks the stair along with the closet, basement door and interior entry door for the lower unit.

Entry hall before and after

The end result turned out terrific.

If you have a crumbling rubble foundation, you are probably wondering what your repair options are and what the cost might be.  For starters, this is not a DIY job.  Typical do it yourselfers don’t have the ability to lay the blocks required to make this repair.

Rubble Foundation Wall Repair

My experience with a rubble foundation repair.  I happened to be fortunate that the water infiltration into this basement was minimal. Because of that, I did not have wash out issued in the foundation.  These old rubble foundation walls eventually give way if water infiltration is an issue.  Over the years, the force of the water will break down the cement and the wall can start to crumble.  On top of that, most people will apply a band-aid fix that will essentially skin the wall with cement.  This will hold for a bit, but eventually the skin will start to flake off in large bits.

Rubble foundation repair

In our case, we had a foundation wall that was 14″ to 16″ thick.  There was only one area where I had concern about the amount of rubble that had crumbled from the wall.  When enough of the rubble foundation material crumbles away, it will compromise the integrity of the upper foundation (usually large stones or cement) and cause cracks, settling, or worse partial collapse.  We hired a competent contractor who has done hundreds of jobs similar to this.  The contractor is from the East Aurora, NY area where an old stone foundation is common.

Our fix could have been accomplished using a variety of techniques.  The 2 best solutions were a poured interior wall, or a block interior wall.  Due to cost and accessibility, we selected a block interior wall.  The new block wall is tied to existing structure with Rebar and the wall itself is built to last.  This interior wall is placed against the existing rubble foundation wall and will eliminate future crumbling of the foundation.  Not only that, but it provides a crisp interior wall with a nice clean look.

The cost for a repair of this nature will depend on the linear feet you need to cover and the height of the new wall.  Assuming you catch the repair prior to any structure being compromised, you will not have a need to do any lifting of the existing structure.  This new interior wall essentially acts to “retain” the current footer.

Don’t let your rubble foundation get to the point where your house needs to be lifted and the foundation dug out and rebuilt.

Since we have a smaller basement area (there is some crawl space that isn’t affected), our cost was below $5,000. Some might not consider this a cheap fix, but it would certainly beat the $20,000 bill you will face should a major repair/reconstruction be required.  Get multiple estimates and be sure to go with a contractor who has done this repair before.