COMPACT CORDLESS MITER SAWS

A veteran carpenter puts eight ultraportable sliders

Taunton’s to the test and picks a winner

ISSUE 303 // NOVEMBER 2021

ISSUE 303 // NOVEMBER 2021

54
CAST IRON,
UNDER COVER

64
SOME ASSEMBLY
REQUIRED

32
FEATURES BUILT-IN STORAGE
SOLUTIONS

COV E R STORY // TOOL TE ST 60 Drawer Slides for

32 A Bevy of Built-Ins 46 Compact Cordless Every Budget
A bed, a desk, a closet, and a laundry Miter Saws Undermount, soft-close slides are a
hamper transform an attic into a cozy, A veteran carpenter puts eight cabinetmaker's dream, but lower-cost
do-it-all space ultraportable sliders to the test options can be reliable when installed
BY RODNEY DIAZ BY BEN BOGIE with care
BY BEN SCOTT
40 10 Trim-Carpentry 50 The FHB Interview:
Essentials Gary Katz 64 One-Stop Woodshop
Use these tips to increase efficiency, A master carpenter and pioneering Sometimes it makes sense to have one
minimize mistakes, reduce headaches, educator teaches us that the best way to company handle all the woodwork for a
and boost quality in your interior learn is to never stop being a student project, from fabrication to installation
finish work B Y A A R O N FA G A N
BY STEVEN BACZEK
BY TYLER GRACE
54 Custom, Shop-Built
Radiator Covers
A furniture maker pairs traditional looks
with mechanical fasteners to manage
extreme temperatures
60 HARDWARE
MATTERS

BY BRIAN ALCORN

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Cover photo by Rodney Diaz
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IN EVERY ISSUE
8 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM

10 CONTRIBUTORS 86
PERIOD
CARPENTER
12 LETTERS

14 TIPS & TECHNIQUES

▪ Scribing a skirtboard to
an existing stair
▪ Can't-fail stud finder
75 FLEXIBLE
TRIM

▪ Taper flat stock

…and more

20 KNOW THE CODE

Taste is not the
00
VERENGANS QAGH
code's concern

24 TOOLS & GEAR

▪ Hardworking brad nailer 00
VERENGANS QAGH
▪ Modern plumb bob
▪ Precise box-joint cutter

70 HOUSES BY DESIGN
78
DOORS AND
OLD FLOORS
75 SPEC
▪ Old-world finish for 20
CODES FOR FINISH
interior woodwork CARPENTERS
▪ Find finesse with
flexible trim
▪ Three unique adhesives

78 A S K T H E E X P E RT S
▪ Fitting out-of-level
prehung doors
▪ Working with tongue-
and-groove boards
▪ Get casing miters tight
…and more
24
NEW
TRIM
TOOLS
82 B U I L D I N G M AT T E R S
What is "good enough"?

86
00
KEEP CRAFT ALIVE
Garland Wood,
master carpenter
70
WA’ BUD INSPIRED INSIDE
AND OUT
YOD AH REH
REDEFINING
THE STANDARD
Our innovative FineLine™ corner weld
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Endure™ windows and patio doors.

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reminiscent of handcrafted woodworking.

What may seem like a small detail will make a huge difference.

DOORS | WINDOWS
SIDING | STONE | ROOFING provia.com/fineline
 Visit our website for these
digital exclusives and more

A new project guide

for durable siding
and exterior trim
Siding and exterior trim are a home’s first line
of defense against sun, rain, and wind. The
variety of siding and trim materials available
today is greater than ever before, but the
choices can be confusing. With expert advice
from carpenters and builders, this project
guide will help you evaluate all the material
options and learn tips and techniques for
installing siding and trim the right way.

FineHomebuilding.com/projectguides

How to build
and install Ep. 262: PRO TALK
kitchen cabinets with Dejah Leger
Senior editor Patrick McCombe talks with
Are you building cabinets
carpenter Dejah Leger about her career shift
from scratch, or fixing
into carpentry. Watch this and more episodes
warped cabinet doors?
at FineHomebuilding.com/protalk.
Do you want to use stock
cabinets, or get them
custom-made? Not sure
where to start? Whatever
the problem you’re trying
to solve, this collection of
helpful hints and step-by-
step guides will assist you
in the process of creating
or installing beautiful
kitchen cabinets: Rainscreen and
FineHomebuilding.com
/kitchen-cabinets.
window installation
In this Job-Site Diaries video, builder Josh
Salinger shows how to install, waterproof, and
air-seal a window in a wall with rainscreen siding
details: FineHomebuilding.com/jobsitediaries.

FineHomebuildingMagazine @finehomebuilding fhbmagazine @fhbmagazine finehomebuilding

8 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo bottom left: courtesy of Merillat

 Editorial Director
Creative Director
Brian Pontolilo
Rodney Diaz
OUR BOND
IS OUR WORD
Editor, Rob Wotzak
FineHomebuilding.com
Managing Editor Samantha Maver
Senior Editors Patrick McCombe
Mark Petersen
Senior Editor, Kiley Jacques
Green Building Advisor The right advice. The right solutions. The right sealants.
Special Projects Jessica Chaloux
Editor
Assistant Editor, Lana Melonakos-Harrison
FineHomebuilding.com
Assistant Editor Brian Alvarado
Assistant Art Director Melinda Vazquez
Social Media Editor Carissa Duhamel
Editorial Assistant Jennifer Morris
Builder-at-Large Justin Fink
Editors-at-Large Kevin Ireton
Charles Miller
Editorial Adviser Mike Guertin
Contributing Editors Asa Christiana
Andy Engel
Sean Groom
Matthew Millham
Michael Maines
Joseph Lstiburek
Contributing Writers Scott Gibson
Glenn Mathewson
Scott McBride
Video Director Colin Russell
Manager, Video Studio Jeff Roos

Executive Editor, Books Peter Chapman

Fine Homebuilding: (ISSN: 1096-360X) is published

bimonthly, with a special 7th issue in the spring and
a special 8th issue in the fall, by The Taunton Press,
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contributors
THE VOICES OF EXPERIENCE

Publisher Renee Jordan

Senior Vice President, Russell Ellis
Sales 917-767-5338
BRIAN ALCORN (“Custom, Shop-Built [email protected]
Radiator Covers,” pp. 54-59) is a woodworker Associate Publisher/ Noelle Kennedy
Advertising Director 203-304-3530
and furniture maker who uses both hand and [email protected]
power tools to create and replicate period Senior Account Manager/ Robert Reed
furniture and architectural elements, though Integrated Media 630-460-2585
Midwest/Northwest [email protected]
he also enjoys making modern pieces. In
Group Marketing Robina Lewis
order to support his woodworking habit, Director 203-304-3532
Brian is a full-time real estate conveyancing [email protected]
Sales and Marketing Kelly Kingston
attorney. He lives and works in Westford,
Manager
Mass., with his wife, dog, and two cats. You Social Media and Taylor Nicole Richards
can follow Brian’s woodworking exploits on Marketing Coordinator
Instagram @alcornwoodworking. Director of Digital John Maher
Advertising Operations
Digital Advertising Erin Nikitchyuk
Operations Specialist

BEN SCOTT (“Drawer Slides for Every Bud- SVP, Consumer Erica Moynihan
Marketing
get,” pp. 60-63) started working in a custom
Director of Consumer Matthew Ulland
cabinet shop in 1999, right out of high school. Marketing
While working at Stirling Woodworks Ltd, Senior Marketing Sara Springborn
he completed his apprenticeship training at Manager
Marketing Manager Danielle Shpunt
BCIT and achieved his Red Seal certification in
joinery. Since 2011, he’s been running Stickle
Cabinets + Millwork (@sticklecabinets on Ins- Single Copy Sales

tagram) in Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada, a small

firm specializing in high-end, fully custom, Member
BPA Worldwide
modern residential interiors by some of Van-
couver’s most well-known architects.

Architect STEVEN BACZEK (“One-Stop

Independent publishers since 1975
Woodshop,” pp. 64-69) has been in the Founders, Paul & Jan Roman
building industry for over 30 years, and has
designed hundreds of projects across the President & CEO Renee Jordan
spectrum of energy performance and sustain- CFO Mark Fernberg
ability. Steven is committed to marrying beau- COO Brian Magnotta
SVP, Sales Russell Ellis
tiful aesthetics with trusted durability, health,
VP, Human Resources Carol Marotti
comfort, environmental responsibility, and
energy efficiency for all his clients. In addition Publishers of magazines, books, videos, and online
Fine Woodworking • Fine Homebuilding
to his design work, he is the author of over a Threads • Fine Gardening • Green Building Advisor
taunton.com
thousand energy-smart construction details
for GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.

write an article
Fine Homebuilding welcomes articles from our readers. We’ll acknowledge all
proposals and return any we can’t use, and we’ll pay for any articles we publish.
For details, check our website at FineHomebuilding.com.

10 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: courtesy of the contributors

letters
READER FEEDBACK

The fun part

FROM THE EDITOR

At Fine Homebuilding, we hold houses to a high stan-

dard. Our ideal home has a smart floor plan and is
no bigger than it needs to be, is extremely durable,
exceeds the energy codes for its climate, considers
homeowner comfort and health with well-designed
mechanicals and proper ventilation, and uses the
homeowner’s budget wisely to reach these goals. In
light of all of this, I was recently challenged to justify
the projects we choose to share in our HOUSES by
Design department, which are commonly the most lav-
ish and expensive projects in the magazine.
It’s true, we don’t vet the homes we publish in
our design department for the characteristics listed
above—we choose them solely for the inspiration they
offer. Given the practical sensibilities of our editorial
team, I have to admit that HOUSES by Design does
sometimes feel out of place in
the magazine. But I was recently
reminded by former Green
Building Advisor editor Martin
Holladay how important it is
to be inspired by our homes. In fact, he said that it’s the most
important thing.

“ It’s OK to be
Preparing for a new project, I emailed Martin looking for
advice. Familiar with Martin’s writing on what makes a Pretty
Good House, I predicted some of his answer: simple shapes, an
idiosyncratic. If
unobstructed south-facing roof for a PV array, well-planned mechanicals. What I didn’t you want a certain
expect was his first comment: “It’s OK to be idiosyncratic. If you want a certain design, design, go for it.

”
go for it. It’s your house. (Remember, beauty and love trump energy efficiency.)”
Martin’s right. What we love about homes tends to be the work of trim carpenters
It’s your house.
— M A R T I N H O L L A D AY
and those of us who tackle trim, cabinetry, and built-in projects for the love of the
work, and of the result. It’s this work that often makes our homes beautiful. And so,
that’s what we’re featuring in this issue—skills, tools, materials, and project ideas to
empower and inspire you to make sure you, and your clients, love your homes. And I
bet you’ll agree, of all the hard work that goes into a house, this is the fun part!
—BRIAN PONTOLILO
editorial director

12 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: Brian Vanden Brink

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reproduction without permission of The Taunton
Press, Inc.

NOVEMBER 2021 13
tips&techniques
E D I T E D A N D I L L U S T R AT E D B Y C H A R L E S M I L L E R

New drywall
TIMELESS TIP
Curved cut for
Masking tape bullnose
ISSUE 196 // JULY 2008

Offcut Have you ever found yourself installing a skirtboard after

the stairs are in place, perhaps when remodeling? If so,
you can thank Forrest McCanless for sharing this tip. He
describes how he made a 14-ft.-long paper pattern to
make templates of the stair skirt with all its ins and outs.
Cutline The finished product fits so well, you’d never know it was
installed after the treads and risers.
—CHARLES MILLER

Chalkline
(top of Scribing a skirtboard to
1
8 ⁄2-in. by
skirtboard)
an existing stair
11-in. sheet of paper Typically, skirtboards are sandwiched between the
trimmed to tread and
riser profiles stair stringer and the wall, and are installed before the
treads and risers that abut them. That’s the easy way. In
a recent remodel, I had to put in a skirtboard the hard
way—with the treads and risers already in place.
As shown in the drawing, I made a pattern out of
taped-together 81 ⁄2-in. by 11-in. sheets of paper. Without
any measuring, this method yielded an exact profile of a
stair that had its share of crooked lines.
Reinforce narrow portions
Align pattern with with offcuts and tape. First, I snapped a diagonal chalkline at the angle of
the edge of the
skirtboard stock. the stair. The chalkline represented the top of the skirt-
board. Working from the top, I next cut, fit, and taped
together pieces of printer paper, filling each triangular
space from the tread and riser up to the snapped line. I
used scissors to cut the curve around the tread bullnose
1x10 stock
and tapered the riser cuts in places where the risers
weren’t plumb. I used the offcut triangles from each
Got a tip?
Share your methods, piece to reinforce the narrow parts of the pattern.
tricks, and jigs with This process yielded a 14-ft.-long pattern, which I cut
other readers. Tag them
away from the wall and taped to a 1x10 piece of skirt-
@FineHomebuilding on
social, email them to us board stock. I aligned the long edge of the pattern with
at [email protected], the stock and carefully traced the outline. This paper-doll
or upload them to
pattern worked like a charm.
FineHomebuilding
—FORREST McCANLESS
.com/reader-tips. We’ll
Oxford, Ga.
pay for any we publish.

14 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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tips&techniques CONTINUED

Protective
felt
1
Try metric measurements
⁄2-in.-dia.
rare-earth A few years ago, as an experiment, I trimmed out a
magnet few rooms in my house using the metric system for
measuring. After some initial awkwardness, I found it
Nail was faster and more accurate than using inches. I think
heads
it’s because metric measurements use whole numbers,
which are almost always easier to manage than frac-
tions—especially when math is involved.
For example, can you divide 1044 in half faster than
411⁄8 in.? How about adding a couple of 14-mm reveals
to a 1133-mm window case, versus 9⁄16-in. reveals to a
445⁄8-in. case? I now use the metric system almost exclu-
Can’t-fail stud finder
sively. The only downside to going metric in the United
Forget electronic stud finders and punching endless
States is that nobody else will understand your meas-
holes in drywall with a finish nail to find framing mem-
urements. I highly recommend taking the measuring
bers. Instead, use a 1⁄2-in.-diameter rare-earth magnet
system the majority of the world uses for a test drive.
and cover one side with self-stick felt pad to prevent
—TIM SAMUEL
scuffing the paint. You can find both items at the local
Kent, Wash.
hardware store. There are mass-produced magnetic
stud finders, but I think my version works better. One Protect your wood floors
additional benefit to a magnetic stud finder is that you The scratches left from dragging an air-hose coupling
can stick the magnet to a drywall nail or screw and across hardwood flooring while you’re installing it or
leave it there—no pencil marks needed. nearby trim can ruin your day (and your client’s too).
—TODD BRADLEE
A great way to prevent this expensive mistake is with
Bishop, Calif.
Superglue
a flooring scrap. Tape the hard fittings to its back side
Temporary
with duct tape, as shown in the drawing. The scrap
wedge Blue or yellow protects the floor from damage if someone steps on or
masking tape
Portion to drags the fitting.
be removed —ARON JONES
by planer
Grand Manan, N.B., Canada

Scrap of
hardwood
Temporary
Taper flat stock Couplings used upside
are kept away down
wedge When I have to mill material to make a wide, sloping from wood
surface—for a flooring transition, for example—I use flooring.
my planer, temporarily attaching a wedge-shaped piece
of scrap to the underside of the stock and gradually Masking tape
removing material until I reach my desired profile.
To do this, cut a piece of scrap wedge at the correct
angle, clean up any saw marks on the jointer, and cut it
again to its final height on the tablesaw. Next, adhere
a piece of painter’s tape to the underside of the work-
piece and the wedge, and place dabs of superglue on the
tape—one on the wedge and a corresponding dab on
the workpiece. Set your planer height so that it just nips
off the top corner of your workpiece, and take extra
care to guide the piece so that the wedge and the work-
piece are making good contact with the bed rollers.
—LAURA SMARRITO
Philadelphia

16 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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knowthe
code
MASTER THE RULES OF HOME BUILDING B Y G L E N N M AT H E W S O N

Taste is not the code’s concern

A
s you’ve probably things related to stairs. Rise and
noticed, the theme of run is a common subject and it’s
this issue is interior wise to verify the math at rough
trim and cabinetry. But if you and final inspections. Within a
read through the pages of the flight of stairs, the tread finish
2021 International Residential material won’t affect the riser
Code (IRC), or versions before height, as adjacent treads gener-
it, you’ll discover very little ally have the same thickness.
regarding either. Code gets very However, the risers adjacent to
specific about things like how the upper and lower landings
many nails of a particular size often create headaches. The top
are needed to fasten sheathing, and bottom landings are usually
but says little about installing part of a larger floor, and the
door casing or kitchen cabinets. thickness of the finish flooring
Not that it has nothing at all to may be different than the thick-
say about the topics, but what ness of the treads. Planning the
it does say is often indirect. flooring before building the
For the most part, trim and stairs is critical so that your tall-
cabinetry are fabricated and est riser is no more than 3⁄8 in.
installed according to conven- taller than the shortest. Don’t
tions developed by carpenters, worry about carpet, rugs, or
not code writers. But there are runners, though. Since 2009, the
some things that require plan- IRC has required the dimen-
ning and attention in order to sions be measured exclusive of Mind the gap. Code requires at least 30 in. of clearance from the
pass inspection. these textiles. top of a cooktop to combustible materials above it, which can
factor into the range-hood design with custom cabinets.
Many final inspections fail
because electrical, plumbing, or Baseboard
mechanical “trim” isn’t correct. Baseboards aren’t something to the plates and studs––to plates, it must extend at least
Carpentry trim can fail, too, you generally think about with prevent fasteners from poking 2 in. above and below the top or
and it’s usually something relat- codes, but there is some rela- holes in these utilities. These bottom edge of the plates. This
ed to stairway handrails, which tion––just ask plumbers. Pipes guards protect from drywall extended protection is specifi-
we touched on in “Guardrails that run through wall plates fasteners, but also from a nail cally to safeguard pipes from
vs. handrails” in FHB #289. and studs typically require from hanging a photo, or a nails in baseboards and crown
In this issue, let’s look at some large holes, which don’t leave a nail from baseboard or crown molding. That’s plumbing
other places where the code lot of wood between the pipes molding. On the plumbing code, not trim carpentry, but it
and trim carpentry meet—or at and the drywall. Plumbing, as side of things, this requirement does speak to the relationship
least pass each other and wave. well as wires and dryer vents, originally came from the 1993 between every trade and feature
needs to be protected from BOCA plumbing code serving in a building.
Stairs errant fasteners, and this is usu- the Northeast, and says that One place that baseboard has
With your handrails up to ally accomplished with stud when nail-plate protection is unfortunately faced code is in
snuff, let’s clarify some other guards––strips of steel applied required at bottom and top overzealous interpretation of

20 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: Brian Pontolilo

 CONTINUED

minimum stair and hallway Cabinetry ACCA Manual D, an engineer- windows, which are known as
width requirements. Section When it comes time to set the ing standard for duct design. “emergency escape and rescue
R311.7.1 requires stairways to cabinetry, the code is mute on Following this standard, you openings” in the IRC. These
be at least 36 in. wide. Though how to install it, but there are find, not surprisingly, that you can be no more than 44 in.
baseboard would reduce the some provisions to consider. can’t effectively push supply above the floor. Up until the
clear width at the treads, this The code won’t stop you from air into a room unless there is 2021 IRC, the maximum height
section makes it clear that the arranging kitchen cabinets a path for return air to leave. of 44 in. above the floor was
36-in. width is only required in such a way as to make the In recent years, builders and referenced to the “window sill,”
above the stair-handrail height space unusable, but if you want building departments have which led some people to mea-
of 34 in. to 38 in., but not below. to include cabinets or a range caught on to this standard, sure to the trim in front of the
Baseboard or other finishes hood of combustible materials and called for transition grilles actual window. A large revi-
below the handrail can intrude above your new range, you’ll in walls between bedrooms sion to this entire section was
on the stairs just as much as the have to look to the mechani- and hallways, where a large approved in the 2021 edition
handrail, which can protrude as and the reference is now to the
much as 41⁄2 in. on one or both “bottom of the window open-
sides of a stair, leaving a mini-
mum 27-in. clear space between
“…no one expects the ing,” clearing up an issue that
likely stressed many a builder/
handrails. This allowed reduc-
tion in width follows the shape
trim carpenter to peek building inspector relationship.

and movement of the average

person using a stair: wider at
at the HVAC plans.“ What about trim?
It’s worth mentioning the one
the shoulders than the feet. and only code provision that
Though the code is clear cal and fuel gas chapters of the return-air opening is located. specifically refers to “trim,”
that it’s OK for baseboard to code. Sections M1901.1 and However, codes and standards described as “picture molds,
encroach on stairways, sec- G2447.5 require at least 30 in. are full of options, and you can chair rails, baseboards and
tion R311.6 for hallway width between the top of a cooking design a large undercut under handrails.” It’s in an exception
doesn’t make the same state- top and combustible materials the door rather than a transition to section R302.9.1, which cov-
ment. Hopefully there are few above. Section G2447.5 goes a grille. How much undercut is ers the “flame spread index” of
inspectors who would make step further and includes metal needed is directly related to the wall and ceiling finishes. The
an issue about it, but they do cabinets, with exceptions for cubic feet per minute (CFM) IRC limits the flame spread
exist. Commentary to the code items with adequate flame pro- delivered to each room and the index of wall and ceiling fin-
has previously stated that the tection. Wood and wood-clad width of the door; the height ishes to 200 or less but exempts
requirement for 36-in.-wide range hoods are allowed, but of undercut based on these two the above trim details, as well
hallways was meant to accom- their design and placement has variables is provided in Table as doors and windows and their
modate moving furniture into to be carefully planned. If you A12 of ACCA Manual D. frames, from the limit. Though
rooms off the hallway and want to install a microwave That said, undercutting a it’s not specifically listed, it’s fair
allow safe egress from the struc- with integral exhaust over door to serve as a return-air to include crown molding in
ture (commentary for the 2021 the cooking surface, section path is not exactly the best this category. It might not mat-
IRC hasn’t been published yet). M1503.2 requires these systems choice. An average-size room ter, though, as common wood
If that same furniture is hauled be listed and labeled in accor- could require 200 CFM, and species are all below 200 any-
up a stair with 27 in. between dance with UL 923. for a 30-in.-wide door, a 3.2-in. way. The “smoke developed
handrails, it will fit through a vertical undercut is required–– index” for these trim elements
36-in.-wide hall with standard Doors and windows measured from the top of the is limited to 450 or less under
baseboards––whether it can When setting interior doors, finished flooring or carpet. section R302.9.2 and doesn’t
make the turn into a bedroom as mentioned above, there Communication from the carry this same exception.
with a 16-in.-wide door is are no size requirements. superintendent or foreman is However, wood products have
another question. When consid- However, depending on the critical for this design, as no one a smoke developed index below
ering the importance of hallway HVAC design, you may have expects the trim carpenter to 200, so this is another nonissue
width and if baseboards should to pay attention to the space peek at the HVAC plans. for conventional trimwork.
be a concern, keep in mind that between the bottom of the door Windowsills are also part of
there are zero requirements and the floor. For nearly two the trim package, and the code Glenn Mathewson is a con-
for interior door size and keep decades the IRC has required once referred to them in a very sultant and educator with
things in reasonable perspective. duct designs to comply with important subject—egress BuildingCodeCollege.com.

22 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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tools&gear
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS

HARDWORKING
BRAD NAILER
W
ith an ability to drive a 5⁄8-in. to 2-in. it does have a yellow indicator on the
nail, an 18-ga. brad nailer has to be magazine that tells you when you’re
one of the finish carpenter’s most ver- running out of nails. The belt hook is
satile tools. I use my pneumatic brad nailer all the frustration-free and you can put it on
time, but I’ve never felt the need to buy a cordless either side of the tool. Visibility at the
model, because lugging a small compressor—all driver tip is good and the contact safety
that’s needed for a brad nailer—isn’t a huge deal. is small and unobtrusive. There is no
However, managing the hose, which seems to ramp-up like the early flywheel nail-
get hung up at the worst possible moments, can ers and it drives brads as fast as I can
be a problem, and rolling it out and coiling it up fire them. Although I haven’t had a
adds time to the beginning and end of every job. single jam, it has a tool-free nosepiece
Unfortunately, most cordless brad nailers are for clearing them.
pretty big and heavy compared to my air-powered The manufacturer claims 1650 nails
version, which makes them less appealing. per charge, but doesn’t specify the nail length or
A notable exception is Metabo HPT’s new cord- material. For testing, I drove 1080 11⁄4-in. brads
Metabo HPT NT1850DF
less brad nailer. The maker claims it’s 30% smaller into Douglas-fir 2x4s before the battery was spent.
and lighter than the previous model, and the size The fan-cooled charger brings the 18v pack to Weight: 5.4 lb.
Height 11 in.
comparison seems legit to me. But most impor- a complete charge in just over a half-hour. It’s a
Length: 101⁄2 in.
tantly, it works without drama and checks all of great tool because you don’t have to think about
Thickness: 31⁄2 in.
the boxes for a full-featured brad nailer: head- it—it just works.
Price: $350 (kit with 3-amp-hr
light, bump and sequential firing, and adjustable battery and charger)
depth-of-drive. There’s no dry-fire lockout, but Patrick McCombe, senior editor

24 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: top, Rodney Diaz; bottom, courtesy of Metabo HPT

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tools&gear CONTINUED

Modern take on an ancient tool

T here was a time when a $200, 78-in. door-hanger’s level wasn’t a toolbox standard. When
I started out, in the pre-laser days, we used plumb bobs to plumb anything over 4 ft.
Plumb bobs never get knocked out of calibration. They take up very little room in a toolbox
or pouch, and the batteries never die. And you can check plumb on a skyscraper if you have
enough string. But now we’ve reached the rub: the string. No matter how carefully you wind
it up, the string ends up a matted rat’s nest of impossible knots. Plumb-bob history—and my
life—took its biggest step forward in 4000 years when Tajima, the Japanese company, came
up with the Plumb-Rite 400 plum bob (about $40). Finally, a plumb bob designed for carpen-
ters. It has a self-retracting line to mind the string, a spring-loaded pin that can be driven into
a wooden door jamb, and even a magnet for steel jambs.
The original version had a 23⁄16-in. offset, which corresponds to some metric
standard, but the new ones are 2 in. even. Yes, you have to measure the dis-
tance between the string and jamb, but you can get it close with your eye and
make adjustments with the string in place instead of re-checking with the level

Photos: Rodney Diaz

every time you move a shim. And with Tajima’s plumb bob, I can carry every-
thing I need to set a door in a 5-gal. bucket. Even though I have high-quality
European levels in every size from a torpedo to a 12-ft. plate level, the 141⁄2-ft.
Door-hanging specialist. Quick
Plumb-Rite is still my favorite door-setting tool.
to deploy with a self-retracting
line, the Plumb-Rite 400 makes it
easy to hang the tallest doors. Andrew Grace, a roofer and remodeler in Ligonier, Pa.

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tools&gear CONTINUED

Precise, fast joinery

F reud’s 8-in. Box Joint Cutter Set ($95) has been a favorite of woodworkers and cabinet-
makers for many years. Its two blades cut precise 1⁄4-in.- or 3⁄8-in.-wide box joints and
grooves. Compared to a dado set, two groove sizes might seem limiting, but this is offset by
their fast setup and precise cutting, which results in box joints or grooves with flat, square bot-
toms and zero tearout. I put these cutters through a workout on a recent built-in project. Using
loose-spline joinery for web frames and carcase construction, the cutter’s 1⁄4-in. groove perfectly
matched my 1⁄4-in.-thick MDF splines, making web-frame glue-up fast and easy. Where hid-
den dust panels were needed, I opted for 1⁄4-in. plywood, which is slightly undersized and slid
easily within the grooves. For paint-grade frame-and-panel construction, I used the same setup
but switched back to MDF for the panels. The tight-fitting MDF aided in aligning frame
members as I pocket-screwed them together.
You can use slot cutters and straight bits in a router table for these joints, but the Box Joint
Cutter eliminates the tearout that sometimes comes with router-cut joinery. When it came time
to build 15 drawers, I employed a tongue-and-rabbet joint that uses a single setup on the table-
saw to cut the drawer sides and the fronts and backs. This requires a groove exactly half the
thickness of the drawer stock. For 1⁄2-in. stock, I used 1⁄4-in. grooves. For beefier drawers made

Photo: Rodney Diaz

from 3⁄4-in. stock, I used 3⁄8-in. grooves. The 1⁄4-in. setup was also ideal for grooving the sides
At the ready. A case with a threaded
and fronts for the drawer bottoms. Few specialty tools can do so many things. knob secures and protects the two
cutters. The set makes perfect 1⁄4-in.
Rodney Diaz, creative director and 3⁄8-in. grooves and box joints.

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28 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
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NOVEMBER 2021 29
WHEN YOU’RE BUILDING TO THE CODE,
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 ISSUE 303 // NOVEMBER 2021

A Bevy of
Built-Ins
A bed, a desk, a closet, and a laundry hamper
transform an attic into a cozy, do-it-all space
BY RODNEY DIAZ

A
5-ft.-tall access door off the stair landing, just a couple of steps down from the second
floor in our house, makes for an awkward entry to the 13-ft. by 12-ft. space above the
kitchen. But once inside, there’s a surprisingly large amount of room to move around in
under the gable ceiling. Originally an unconditioned storage space, the previous owners
attempted to finish out the room with fiberglass-batt insulation behind paneling, padded carpet over
a plank subfloor, and rudimentary electrical outlets and a ceiling fixture.
We gutted the room, insulated it properly, and installed outlets and light fixtures to comply with code
and coordinate with built-in cabinetry designed to fit the space and maximize the room’s functionality.
The design of the built-ins was a long time in the making, as it was challenging to figure out how to
make the most of this small space. The construction, by comparison, took less time but was no less of
an undertaking. The end result is a carefully planned and executed build-out that I hope inspires you
to make the most of an underused or overlooked living space in your home or office. □

Rodney Diaz is Fine Homebuilding’s creative director. Photos by Jody Lawson.

32 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawings: Christopher Mills

DESIGN NOTES

A TALE OF TWO WALLS

With a roof pitch of roughly 12-in-12 (give or take a couple of degrees), the
steeply sloped ceilings left short kneewalls on either side of the room. At less
than 2 ft. tall, this space under the eaves had little practical use. Leaving that floor
space open and confining the cabinetry to the gable-end walls creates a sense of
a larger space, with a surprisingly roomy 6 ft. between the bed and the desk.

The window wall

A single double-hung window on the exterior gable wall provides ample
natural light, yet limits the options for cabinetry at that end of the room. To
maximize storage, a bed platform centered under the window is flanked by
matching corner cabinets outfitted with drawers. A trio of drawers under
the bed align with the lower drawers in the corner cabinets, tying everything
together in a 13-ft.-wide chest of drawers.

Hamper with
Pullout closet pullout drawer

The door wall

The gable wall opposite the bed houses a pullout closet, a floating desktop,
and a hamper for dirty clothes. The closet is actually a large pullout drawer
mounted on heavy-duty drawer slides, outfitted with a rod for hanging clothes.
A pair of drawers fills the void to the left of the closet. The desktop is mounted
to the wall with large angle brackets, eliminating desk legs and keeping the
floor space open. The corner hamper is tucked under the eave next to the
doorway. It has a pullout drawer that holds a laundry basket.

NOVEMBER 2021 33
 THE WINDOW WALL

START WITH A LEVEL BASE

Building a massive cabinet that spans the width of the room was challenging. Did it
make more sense to build the bottom row of large drawers as a unit, then add the
smaller drawers on either side of the bed? Or would it be better to build and install
the corner cabinets and tie them together with the bed platform? Either way, a level
base had to come first, as the floor was out of level by as much as 11⁄2 in., sinking Splines, 1⁄4-in. MDF
toward the center of the room from the window wall and the eave walls.

Drawer
divider
Locate the low spot first
assembly
A cutoff from the front of the 1x
base is placed at the front center
location of the cabinet, also the
lowest point in the room. A laser
set to the top of the cutoff casts
a level line across the wall. At
six locations, the height
of the level line is
measured where Drawer
2x framing will runner
run from front assembly
to back under 3
⁄4-in. plywood
the built-ins.
Each 2x is
ripped to
width.

Base back, 1x4

2x crosspiece

Scribed, shimmed, and screwed

The front of the base is a long
1x6 scribed to the floor. With the
back ends of the 2x crosspieces
resting on the floor at the wall,
the front ends are shimmed flush
with the top of the front and
screwed together (above). The
back ends of the 2x crosspieces
are fastened flush with the top
of a long 1x4, which is in turn
screwed to wall studs (right).
With the base secured at the
wall, a few angle brackets are
screwed to the backside of the
base front and fastened to the
floor to lock everything in place
(far right).

34 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 Back panel,
1
⁄4-in. plywood

Cherry top,
1 in. thick

1
⁄4-in. MDF panel

Bed planks,
3
⁄4-in. plywood

Dust panel, Face frame,

1 3
⁄4-in. plywood ⁄4-in. poplar
Base
front, 1x6

LIGHTWEIGHT BUT
STURDY FRAMEWORK
The web-frame construction
of these chests of drawers
was borrowed from traditional
furniture-making. Using loose-
spline joinery makes glue up
easy. The grooves are cut
with Freud’s box-joint cutter
and are exactly 1⁄4 in. wide,
which matches the thickness Glue up in stages
of the MDF splines, resulting The vertical drawer
dividers are glued up
in tight glue joints. Where Groovy joinery separately from the
dust panels need to float in Unless the tablesaw flat drawer runners.
the grooves, 1⁄4-in. plywood, is set up to cut Once the glue sets,
which is slightly less thick, exactly in the the two are glued
slides in easily. This approach center of each and screwed together
workpiece, the potential for misaligned parts from the bottom,
also keeps the weight of the during glue up is high. Make a light pencil mark creating a strong
carcase down compared to on one side of each piece and make sure that side framework to support
using only 3⁄4-in. plywood. is against the fence as it’s grooved. the bed platform.

NOVEMBER 2021 35
 THE WINDOW WALL CONTINUED

BUILD IN LAYERS
Once the cabinet construction began, it became
clear that building the corner cabinets separately and
connecting them with the bed platform was the way to
go. At over 3 ft. square, each cabinet is hefty but slides
easily into place thanks to the level base. Cabinet
face frames are added to the front and side before Clamps as a workbench Add the second layer
The bottom web frame is glued up with The upper web frames are added
installing the bed framework, planks, and face frame.
parallel bar clamps, which proved to be and incorporate a lip to support
a solid, stable platform for the rest of the ends of the planks that make
the cabinet build. up the bed platform.

Support where you need it Top off the framework Solid backup
Blocks clamped to the vertical divider hold The subtop is fastened in the same The angled subtop is screwed from the
the web frame for the top row of drawers at way, while drawer runners for the upper outside with angled cleats holding it in
the proper height. Outer supports are pocket- drawers are glued and clamped in place. position. It and the short outer support are
screwed to it and the frame below. the only solid 3⁄4-in. plywood components.

Slide it into place

With a 1⁄4-in. plywood back added to
lock everything square, the assembly
comes out of the clamps and slides into
final position before being screwed to
the base at the outer front edge (inset,
right) and the opposite rear corner.

36 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
Scribe the face-frame parts Scribe, scribe again
The face frame is scribed to the Scribed to the wall with a compass
ceiling with an angle finder. The and to the floor with a scrap of new
angle is transferred to the miter flooring, the side and bottom edges
saw for a matching cut. are trimmed with a jigsaw.

Assemble the face frame A clean front

The parts scribed to the wall The assembled face
and the floor are pocket- frame is clamped in
screwed together. The position and screwed
assembly is then clamped in from behind, leaving
place while subsequent parts a clean front that
are cut and fit one at a time. needs no nail holes
The last piece of the puzzle filled. The end panel
is a triangular 1⁄4-in. MDF facing the bed is
panel set into grooves cut in installed using the
the same fashion as the web- same technique.
frame joinery.

Fill in the gap Cut curves in place Pulling it all together

With the plywood bed planks installed, Rectangular stock for the curved Like the corner cabinets, the bed’s face frame is
cleats are installed between drawer bed-rail brackets is easier to attach installed as a unit, pocket-screwed from behind,
dividers to add rigidity behind the face to the face frame before shaping except for the bottom, which had to be face-nailed.
frame at the front edge of the bed. with a jigsaw and sandpaper.

NOVEMBER 2021 37
 THE DOOR WALL Back,
3
⁄4-in.

A PAIR OF PULLOUT BOXES plywood

The closet and the hamper function

1
in a similar fashion, with drawer ⁄4-in. MDF panel
boxes riding on full-extension drawer
slides. The closet is outfitted with a
false front door and a rear upright
panel supporting a closet rod. The
13⁄8-in.-dia.
hamper works in the same way, with
hardwood rod
a cabinet-door panel on the front of a
box that holds a laundry basket.
Drawer bottom,
1
⁄2-in. plywood

Support,
3
⁄4-in.
plywood
Mounting block,
1 13⁄4-in.-thick plywood
⁄2-in. poplar
Applied drawer drawer side
front, 3⁄4-in. poplar End
Square the opening panel,
3
A plywood mounting block is ⁄4-in.
squared flush with the front of the poplar
corner cabinet and pocket-screwed Mark in place Vent grille, Back and sides,
to the floor. The face frame is assembled 1
⁄4-in. MDF 3
⁄4-in. plywood
with the top diagonal
piece left long. Once
Install the
clamped in place,
end panel
the horn is marked
The end
where it meets
panel is
the end panel
pocket- Applied
and trimmed drawer
screwed from
to fit. front,
behind to 3
the mounting ⁄4-in.
poplar
block at the
bottom and
to a 3⁄4-in.
plywood
back panel
that’s
secured to
the wall.

Nail it off
A plywood cleat fastened
to the ceiling provides
backing for nailing
the top edge of the
face frame and
the end panel.

Hidden hardware Get the funk out

Blum undermount drawer slides The hamper is a miniature version of the closet
enable the closet to smoothly open in both form and function. Its one unique feature
and close while supporting a rack of is a laser-cut 1⁄4-in. MDF vent grille in the hinged
hanging clothes. hanging door for airing out dirty laundry.

38 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 THE DOOR WALL CONTINUED

A FLOATING DESKTOP
A 5-ft. long panel of solid cherry is fastened to wall-mounted workstation brackets.
Absent legs or an apron, the surface appears to float against the wall. Above the
desktop is a shelf mounted on top of a Shaker-style peg rail.

A touch of Shaker trim Bracketology Turn the corner

A 10-in.-deep shelf is pocket-screwed Aluminum brackets from A&M Hardware The corner of the desk is curved with a 13-in.
from behind to the peg board before are screwed to wall studs. Weighing only radius to ease entry into the room. The edge is
the assembly is nailed to wall studs. 4 lb. each, the two brackets support over softened with a bullnose profile routed with a
5
1400 lb. together under load testing. ⁄8-in.-radius roundover bit.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

CABINET TOPS AND DRAWERS

The corner cabinets are capped with 1-in.-thick solid cherry tops that mirror the
desktop. Unlike the closet and hamper, the drawers slide on drawer runners
built into the cabinets.

A consistent overhang
Each cabinet top is scribed to the wall, then an angled cut on the back pins it under
the ceiling. The tops are marked from underneath where they meet the face frames.
Then the top is flipped upside down and a 1-in. offset is marked and cut.

The movement you need Easy sliders

The leading edge of the A coat of paste wax applied to the drawer
top is held in place by runners in the cabinets and to the bottoms
screws fastened from of the drawer sides make even the biggest
below through slotted drawers slide in and out with ease.
holes in the subtop,
allowing for seasonal
movement. The exposed
Drawer details
edges are shaped with For a step-by-step look at the drawers’
the same bullnose profile rabbet-and-groove construction, visit
found on the desk. FineHomebuilding.com/magazine.

NOVEMBER 2021 39
10 Trim-
Carpentry
Essentials
Use these tips to increase
efficiency, minimize mistakes,
reduce headaches, and boost
quality in your interior finish work
BY TYLER GRACE

A
s a remodeling contractor in southern New Jersey, I perform the
work of various trades on each of my projects, but finish carpentry is
something I enjoy more than almost anything else. I am a bit of a per-
fectionist and a stickler for the details, so what could be better than getting
paid to possess those personality traits on the job and then manifest them through my work?
By the time you get to the finish stage of a job, you do not want to be aggravated, stressed,
frustrated, and out of patience. Trim installations should be precise, effortless, painless, and
pristine. You are past the point of heavy hammers, beater blocks, and brute force. In my
opinion, what separates a good carpenter from a great carpenter is someone who can think
ahead and plan, cover their tail, account for inconsistencies, remain organized, work fluidly,
and be efficient while doing so. Here you will find a handful of tips, tricks, and principles that
will help you hone your skills and become the best finish carpenter that you can be. Ԃ

Tyler Grace is a Fine Homebuilding ambassador and owner of TRG Home Concepts
in Haddon Heights, N.J. Drawings by Dan Thornton.

40 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
1 PLAN FOR TRIM
FROM THE GET-GO
A quality finish-carpentry project requires
adequate forethought and planning. Success
is not a fluke or coincidence. If you want to
deliver a great product, you need to plan to
do so. You cannot simply show up on day one
with your tool belt and expect to knock it out of
the park.
One of the best things you can do is take the
time to walk the job after mechanical rough-
ins are complete. Mark all of your studs on
the subfloor, and highlight critical areas such
as the location of utilities and where blocking
is needed. And document the job site with
photos. I constantly refer back to my phone
while trimming to see what is behind the walls.
It’s saved me many errant nails over the years.
Now is also a great time to install any
blocking that will aid in your trim, millwork,
or cabinetry installation. Ensuring you have
structure where kitchen crown will be installed,
cabinets will be hung, stair skirts are located,
and trim will be installed will save you boatloads
of time throughout the duration of the project.
It will also reduce the number of callbacks
you have down the road. Start wrapping your
head around the finish carpentry to come at
the rough-carpentry phase of the project. It
will make your life much easier when the time
comes to break out the compressors and saws.

2 ACCLIMATE Wood moves. It is affected by temperature and moisture. You must do everything that
you can to get your material to the job site as early as possible to acclimate. The job site
YOUR MATERIALS must also be conditioned. It does not matter if your trim or cabinets show up to a job a
year early if they’re sitting in a hot and humid work site. As soon as the HVAC is fired up,
and the moisture is drawn from the space, those tight joints will not be so tight anymore.
There is no specific amount of time that it will take for your trim and millwork to
acclimate to a site. You have to measure the moisture content of the wood and the
substrate to which you are applying the material. I have had molding dropped that
was in a safe range to install on day one, and I have had lumber dropped that after
a week still required dehumidifiers to reduce the moisture content of the wood.
I recommend getting to the job when the material is delivered, measuring the
existing site conditions and the moisture content of the wood, and tracking them
until they are both within a stable range independently and with respect to
each other.
I do my best to ensure that the moisture content of trim in a conditioned space
is between 6% and 10% prior to installation. Typically it gets delivered from an
unconditioned space and arrives with a moisture content between 12% and 14%.
The relative humidity in the room will affect how quickly that newly delivered trim
will acclimate. I also aim for the moisture content between the material and the
substrate to which it will be applied to be within 2% to 3% of each other. Installing
properly acclimated trim with a 7% moisture content onto plywood or drywall that
has a moisture content of 16% will wreak havoc on that installation. They are 9% off
from each other and the trim will draw the moisture from the substrate.

NOVEMBER 2021 41
3 STABILIZE YOUR
MATERIALS
Acclimating your materials and dialing in site conditioning
4 SORT AND BREAK DOWN
STOCK WISELY
Properly sorting and breaking down trim and millwork parts
is a fantastic start, but it is not always enough. My is not only one of the first steps of many trim jobs, but done
feeling is that we should do all that we can to ensure our right, it improves the quality of the work, makes the most of
installation remains intact for years to come. How do the material, and saves you trips to the lumberyard when you
we do that aside from acclimation? run short.
Here are a few things that I Running baseboard is a good example. While it may be
do to help control pesky more convenient to run down your cutlist and cut each piece
material movement. of baseboard in sequential order, you should instead cut all of
Prime all of your your longest lengths first and set them aside. There is nothing
drywall or plaster worse than needing to purchase more stock because you
prior to installing ran short of long lengths, and there is no need to cut a
trim. Primer seals 16-in. piece of baseboard out of a 16-ft. piece of stock
the surface of unless you have no other choice. As you go, save all of
the substrate your scrap pieces to use for returns, closets, and other
and reduces the choppy areas like halls and bathrooms.
transmission of Place damaged boards aside to use in an inconspicuous
moisture from area. Painters can often fix damaged boards, but use
one material them inside of a closet, behind a sofa, or in an attic or
to another. basement space where imperfections matter less. Do not
Also, back-prime use the worst piece of trim in the foyer of the home where
any unfinished it will be seen as soon as you walk in the door.
lumber to ensure the Finally, always double-check your lumber at delivery, not
material is completely when you are strapping on your tool belt and setting up your
sealed. The more we can control how mu much moisture can saw. Ensure that you have extra stock and that what was
penetrate the materials, the better off we are. dropped at the site is what you ordered. It would be very
Ensure that areas around windows, mudsills, doors, and disappointing to show up to a job with the finish-carpentry crew
floors are air-sealed. Leaking air will create temperature only to realize that you are short on material, or the material is
fluctuations within the space which will affect your incorrect or damaged. That’s time and money lost while
installations. I carry around a can of spray foam while the crew waits for the right material to arrive.
installing trim. That way, I can seal off any drafts prior
to installation.
For interior millwork, I do not seal my end cuts
with primer. With proper acclimation, you should not
have enough movement to create any major moisture
transmission through those surfaces. I do use
mechanical joinery whenever possible. Although
nothing can actually prevent wood from moving
when it wants to move,
glue, adhesive, tenons,
pocket screws,
biscuits, and other
mechanical joinery
will help immensely.
It is an additional
layer of protection
to ensure a long-
lasting installation.

42 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
5 USE THE RIGHT FASTENERS
THE RIGHT WAY
Not all fasteners are created equal. It is important to understand
how fasteners work, when to use various gauges, and why we use
different fasteners for different applications. Some hold better
than others, some have more drawing power, some are easier to
conceal, some are used in the place of clamps, and some have a
higher shear strength.
When I first started installing trim, I always questioned which
fastener to use when. I believe there are no steadfast rules,
but common sense is an incredibly powerful start. Most trim
is ornamental and simply needs to be able to support its own
weight, such as casing, baseboard, wall details, crown molding,
and cornices. Other trim and millwork needs to be able to handle
loads, like door jambs, cabinetry, and thresholds. I prefer to use
the smallest fastener possible for each job to help create a better
paint or stain finish.
Cabinetry must be held in place with structural fasteners. Drywall
screws have very little shear strength, and cannot support the load
of the cabinet and their contents. If you have gotten away with
installing cabinets with drywall screws in the past, it is probably
because of the friction caused by the pressure between the wall
and the cabinet, and not the shank of the screw. You must ensure 16-ga. nails, ensuring that I adequately nail my casing into my
that you penetrate the framing adequately as well and choose an jamb. This locks the assembly together and secures it as one unit.
appropriate-length fastener for cabinetry. I prefer using a fine- Baseboard, casing, and crown molding can be installed with
thread structural screw with a head that locks into a specialized 18-ga. or 16-ga. fasteners depending on how much holding power
drill bit. These screws are stronger and easier to drive, and your you need. I like assisting my installation with adhesive so I can
driver won’t jump off the fastener and damage the cabinetry. use a smaller-gauge fastener, which finishes better and the piece
Prehung doors and door jambs require a fastener that is long is still fully supported with the adhesive. This technique is great
enough to penetrate the framing, but also thick enough with for prefinished cabinetry trim and millwork. You can back-glue the
a substantial head to reduce movement. Typically jambs and trim and use a headless pin to hold it in place until the adhesive
prehungs are installed with 15-ga. nails, but I often get away with cures, which requires less putty and results in a cleaner install.

6 BE PRECISE
WITH PLACEMENT
Every subtrade should have the following trade in mind. Carpenters are not an exception
to this rule. Typically the painters follow the trim carpenters, and you should do all that is
within your power to make their lives easier. Whenever it is possible, you should attempt
to hide nails where they will be covered by succeeding layers of trim. Nail casing where
a backband will cover your holes, nail baseboard low enough that the shoe molding or
quarter-round laps over the fasteners, nail fascia or frieze where the bed molding will
hide the brads, and so on.
Moldings should be fastened in a specific pattern and consistent manner. Ensure that
nails penetrating the jamb are in the same horizontal plane as the nails for the casing.
Line your nails up on baseboard, cap molding, and transitional moldings. Does this affect
the structural integrity of the installation? It does not, but it shows that you care, it
makes the painters’ lives easier by not having to search for fasteners, and it ensures that
you do not miss any necessary fastening locations.
When fastening prefinished moldings or stain-grade trim, nail placement is even more
critical. Divide your material length into equal segments so that any visible fasteners
are uniform and neat, ensure the nail is not proud or too deep, and nail with the
grain where possible to disrupt the grain of the wood as little as possible. A nail
placed with the grain of the wood will enter the material and set itself without
crushing and damaging the area around the fastener. All of these efforts show that
you have integrity for your craft, and they also make for a better finished product.

NOVEMBER 2021 43
 8 MINIMIZE
YOUR STEPS
In order to be efficient as a finish carpenter, you must understand
economy of motion. Each task and movement must be purposeful
and deliberate. Each added step and trip back to the saw reduces
efficiency and in turn reduces profitability. Therefore, each
project should be broken down into repeatable tasks. If possible
you should complete each task prior to moving onto the next.
For example, you should prep your entire job for trim prior to
beginning trimming. It is not as efficient to cut back drywall, sand
down mud, and address out-of-square corners as you go as it is to
do it all at once. If you have to stop what you are doing to grab
different tools and then clean up before getting back to it, you are
losing a lot of time and wasting a lot of energy.
Do your best to batch-cut parts. It is possible to measure each
window and/or door and then calculate all of your dimensions for
stools, aprons, and casing at once. You can do it at a workstation
or at the saw—it does not need to be done at each window or
door. You can pre-cope all your ends at once, so that you do not
need to constantly be adjusting and switching the saw, back-
cutting, and filing. It is much faster to line up all your cuts at
once and blow through each task entirely than it is to hop back
and forth.
Use hand planes whenever possible. You can save a lot of

7 TAKE CARE
WITH YOUR TOOLS
footsteps and trips back to the saw by having a quality low-
angle block plane to adjust miters, back-bevel a scribe, or relieve
the back of a piece of molding to flush out a miter. Every finish
carpenter should have a high-quality plane in their tool belt.
You can own the best tools in the world, but if you do not
know how to use them, how to maintain them, or how to Do your best to reduce the amount of times you switch between
tune them, they are worthless. Always protect your tools. nail guns or fastener sizes. Ideally, use multiple nailers—but if that
One violent drop of a miter saw can create out-of-square cuts is not financially feasible, learn to nail off molding in a way that
that will make you want to pack it in and quit. Every good allows you to switch nailers once throughout the task. Bouncing
carpenter should know how to tune their miter saw. You need back and forth between an 18-ga. and a 16-ga. nailer for every
to understand how to ensure that the fence is square to the door, window, and baseboard can waste a lot of time.
blade and coplanar on each side of the blade. You should be
able to inspect the table of the saw and adjust the height,
detents, bevels, and miters. A well-tuned miter saw is worth its
weight in gold.
Make sure that you know when it is time to sharpen your bits
and blades. A good carpenter understands when you can get
away with a quick cleaning, when you need a full sharpening,
and when you must replace a bit, blade, or chisel. After every
job I sort through my sawblades, router bits, knife blades,
chisels, and plane irons and inspect them. I dispose of those
items that are past their usable life span, I package blades that
need to be shipped off to be professionally sharpened, I clean
pitch off blades that are still in decent shape, and I sharpen my
irons and chisels on sharpening stones. Having sharp blades is
not only safer, but it creates cleaner and tighter joinery.
It is also important to clean your tools to ensure that metal
is not rusting, bearings are lubed, electronics are clean, and
brushes are fresh. At the end of the day I always vacuum the
sawdust off of my tools. Many people blow compressed air
into their tools, which drives dust and debris into the motor,
electronics, bearings, and seals. This is not ideal and will create
issues down the road. Invest in high-quality tools and routinely
take care of them; you will be rewarded with well-performing,
reliable equipment for years to come.

44 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 9 KNOW WHEN AND
HOW TO SCRIBE
A decent finish carpenter should comprehend the fundamentals of scribing.
You must understand if you are scribing to be parallel or scribing to be
plumb, level, and square. Not all situations call for plumb, level, and square,
and doing so can, at times, make the irregularities more pronounced. You
must be able to grasp the nuances of each and know when to apply the
appropriate principle.
Scribing to an irregular surface will draw attention to that transition. At
times this is good, and at times this is less than desirable. A complex scribe
around a natural stone or brick wall can showcase your carpentry talent and
create a tight joint that makes an incredible focal point. On the other hand,
scribing a baseboard to an irregular or uneven tiled floor can highlight the
undesirable floor irregularities, and is at times better disguised with one
gradual cut.
Scribing should be an accurate and finely tuned technique. It helps to
back-bevel the molding you are scribing, so that once you are ready to
make a final pass, you do not have to hog out so much material. It is easier
and more accurate to only remove a portion of the stock when fine-tuning
your scribes. I typically use a combination of a tablesaw, a track saw, a belt
sander, a Festool RAS (a grinder-type tool with dust collection), and a hand
plane to scribe moldings and millwork.

10 KEEP IT
NEAT
Last but not least, you must maintain a clean and
organized workspace. Finish carpentry requires skill and
patience. You are often working in and around completed
spaces and components that must not be dirtied
or damaged. Having a tidy, well-thought-
out, organized workspace can make or
break morale and the overall project.
A carpenter should have the
forethought to set up their workspace for the
duration of the project. You do not want to be
constantly altering, adjusting, or moving your setup
for various tasks. Adequate space to function and
prevent damage to existing surfaces is critical.
I prefer to create stations to perform each
task. I will create a cut station for my miter
saw, a station for my tablesaw and outfeed,
a large area for assembly, a place to break
down larger pieces of plywood or cabinet
parts, a space for scribing, and a
place for fasteners and tools. At
the end of each day you must
reorganize, neaten up, and provide
a clean slate for the following day.
Starting each day with clutter creates
haste, inefficiencies, and mistakes, and
reduces quality. Having a clean, organized
workspace and job site also shows your customer that
you respect their home, you respect your craft, and you
respect yourself.

NOVEMBER 2021 45
Compact Cordless Tool Test

Miter Saws

A
A veteran carpenter lthough the trend in the last 10 larger blades, resulting in exceptional cuts,
years seems to be increasingly big- but the ability to easily carry the saw to the
puts eight ultraportable ger and heavier sliding miter work site with one hand and get right to
saws, I started my career over work cord-free is the real reason to get one.
sliders to the test 20 years ago learning on an 81⁄2-in. Hita- For this test, I limited our selections to 71⁄4-
chi, so returning to this size of saw feels in. saws, assuming that this will be a super-
BY BEN BOGIE familiar. There’s a lot to like about sliders portable second saw to complement the
this size. The small blades deflect less than larger miter saw you probably already have.

46 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo this page: Rodney Diaz

 45° 45°

45° 57°
METABO HPT
C3607DRAQ4
BARE TOOL $950
BATTERY AND
CHARGER $200
BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in.
VOLTAGE 36
CROSSCUT 90° 21⁄4 in. by 1213⁄16 in.
CROSSCUT 45° 21⁄4 in. by 89⁄16 in.
WEIGHT 34 lb.

48°

48°

RIDGID
I also included the 71⁄2-in. Makita because it R48607
seemed close enough. BARE TOOL $380
48° 48°
If you’re used to a corded saw, you may BATTERY AND CHARGER $150
assume these battery-powered versions BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in.
are just for punch lists, but modern high- VOLTAGE 18
capacity batteries mean you can set up one CROSSCUT 90° 2x8
of these saws up in the morning and cut a CROSSCUT 45° 2x6
day’s worth of trim without ever tripping WEIGHT 25 lb.

NOVEMBER 2021 47
CRAFTSMAN over a cord. I compared all the models, side
CMCS714M1 by side, making cuts in 2x stock, 3⁄4-in. ply-
wood, 5/4x6 poplar, and 1x9 hard maple. I
KIT WITH BATTERY AND 45° quickly plunged the saws into 2x stock to
CHARGER $230
evaluate their power and cut quality. I made
BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in.
crosscuts in wide maple to check for wander-
VOLTAGE 18
CROSSCUT 90° 2x8
ing cuts. The Achilles heel of sliders is play in
CROSSCUT 45° 2x6 0° the sawhead. Excessive play causes the blade
WEIGHT 26 lb. to wander and creates a belly-shaped cut in
wide pieces. At full extension, most of these
saws had minimal head movement—I was
surprised. The Craftsman and Kobalt had
the most play, with the DeWalt, Milwaukee,
Makita, and Metabo HPT having almost
none. The others fell in between.

Controls and features

Out of the box, only three saws had their
47° 47° miter and bevel stops and pointers properly
calibrated: the Metabo HPT, the Makita, and
the DeWalt. I make it standard practice to
check and calibrate a new saw, but it’s a nice
feature to not have to. All of the saws have
1° front miter locks and bevel locks in the back.
Milwaukee has a miter-detent override, a
DEWALT nice feature when working close to a detent.
DCS361M1 The Kobalt makes you hold up the lock lever
46° to pass detents, which I found awkward.
KIT WITH BATTERY AND
CHARGER $380 For bevel locks, the Makita and Metabo
BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in. HPT have short-throw levers that are quick
VOLTAGE 18 and effective. The Metabo HPT has a bevel-
CROSSCUT 90° 2x8 adjust knob that allows you to dial in the
CROSSCUT 45° 2x6 exact setting. All of the saws have compact
WEIGHT 29 lb. footprints compared to 10-in. and 12-in.
miter saws, which is nice for portability, but
also means there isn’t a lot of room to sup-
port stock. Makita and Metabo HPT include
48° 48° accessory wings that expand the saw table.
The small footprints also mean that some
of these saws couldn’t crosscut through the
83⁄4-in. maple. The Makita, Metabo HPT,
48°
and Kobalt have larger crosscut capacity.
KOBALT KMS Many of the saws feature a shadowline
0724B-03 cut indicator, which I find to be superior to
BARE TOOL $270 48° lasers as they’re crisp and don’t require even-
BATTERY $100 tual adjustment while also illuminating the
CHARGER $45 cut zone in low-light conditions. Notably,
BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in. the Ryobi and Makita feature neither a light
VOLTAGE 21.6 nor a laser, which felt like a glaring omis-
CROSSCUT 90° 2x10 sion. The Metabo HPT was the only one in
CROSSCUT 45° 2x6 the pack to use a laser, which is quite good,
WEIGHT 30 lb. and also includes onboard lighting with two
brightness settings.

Build-quality and power vary

48° 48° As far as material quality, machining, and
assembly, the Makita and Metabo HPT saws

48 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
are very close, with a slight advantage to the MAKITA XLS02Z
Metabo HPT. The Ryobi and the Kobalt BARE TOOL $600
scored lowest in this area. For power and cut TWO BATTERIES WITH 45°
quality, it’s hands down Makita with Metabo DUAL-PORT CHARGER $260
HPT very close behind. Both of these saws BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄2 in.
feel more powerful than the others and abso- VOLTAGE 36
lutely plow through cuts with no noticeable CROSSCUT 90° 21⁄16 in. by
hesitation or blade run-out. 113⁄4 in.
The cut surfaces were smooth, square, and CROSSCUT 45° 21⁄16 in. by
5°
straight. The Ryobi was the least powerful- 83⁄8 in.
feeling while still delivering fair cut quality, WEIGHT 34 lb.
and the Craftsman was adequately powered,
but had a great deal of blade run-out, result-
ing in poor cut quality that I don’t think was
a blade issue. An honorable mention goes to
the Ridgid, as it’s well-powered, bevels in
both directions, and makes decent cuts, even
in hardwood. 47° 57°

And the winner is …

For me, it all comes down to quality of cut
and precision of the adjustments. Overall, the
Makita and Metabo HPT saws are the clear 48°
leaders. They are beautifully executed saws
with excellent cut quality. I’ll gladly take MILWAUKEE
either for the most demanding finish car- 2733-21
48°
pentry. But for me, the Metabo HPT takes KIT WITH BATTERY
the crown. It has excellent cut quality, great AND CHARGER $550
capacity, and dual-bevel capabilities, and was BLADE DIAMETER
the only one with a bevel-adjustment knob. 71⁄4 in.
You can also run it with a 110v adapter. My VOLTAGE 18
only complaint is that I’d prefer a shadowline CROSSCUT 90° 2x8
cut indicator instead of the laser. CROSSCUT 45° 2x6
The Makita saw is a close second; it has WEIGHT 28 lb.
phenomenal cut quality and power, great
capacity, and great build quality, but loses
points for missing lighting and no cutline
laser or shadow, and it’s only single bevel. 48° 48°
Next would be the Milwaukee and DeWalt 45°
saws, which are perfectly adequate, but lack
the refinement and precision of the Metabo
HPT and Makita. The budget winner here
for me is the Ridgid. It’s a good-quality tool
with strong features and decent performance RYOBI PBT01B
at a good price. BARE TOOL $200
Note: For the specs listed here, we weighed BATTERY AND
all the saws and checked miter and bevel CHARGER $130
capacities ourselves. Battery offerings by BLADE DIAMETER 71⁄4 in. 0°
manufacturer are varied and constantly VOLTAGE 18
changing—we’ve done our best to present a CROSSCUT 90° 2x10
fitting comparison for each tool if a kit was CROSSCUT 45° 2x6
not available for purchase. □ WEIGHT 25 lb.

Ben Bogie is project manager for BPC

Green Builders of Ridgefield, Conn.
Photos by Melinda Vazquez, except 47° 47°
where noted.

NOVEMBER 2021 49
 The Interview

Gary Katz
A master carpenter and pioneering educator teaches us
that the best way to learn is to never stop being a student

BY AARON FAGAN

F
or more than 30 years, Gary Katz, a licensed general con- Handbook (The Taunton Press, 1998) and Finish Carpentry: Efficient
tractor based in Oregon, has specialized in every aspect Techniques for Custom Interiors (JLC/Craftsman, 2001). More
of finish carpentry. He has been a pioneering presenter recently, Gary launched THISisCarpentry.com, described by car-
at national trade shows and lumberyards, and has taught penter and author Craig Savage as “today’s version of the pamphlets
everything from basic techniques to advanced design and joinery to carpenters read in the 18th century.” Written by carpenters for car-
generations of carpenters. penters, the site offers detailed, illustrated articles about construc-
A prolific contributor to leading trade magazines and finish- tion techniques as well as a community to those looking to improve
carpentry forums, he is also the author of The Doorhanger’s their carpentry skills.

AF: You have remained active in the AF: It’s hard to imagine how someone on the job and set the forms for the con-
building industry through a long and would have executed a project like that crete, and they’d pour the concrete. They’d
dynamic period of its development. What on one’s own. set the steel, and supervise the excavators.
are some of the most interesting changes GK: Next to where I’m putting this deck Then they’d come back to frame the house.
you have witnessed? there is an old bolt embedded in the rock— Then they’d come back after the plasterers
GK: I would compare them to the changes it must be an inch and a half in diameter and electricians and trades had done their
that occurred in my father’s or your father’s with a steel plate on it. It’s all rusted and jobs and set the finish. They would build
lifetime—it’s dramatic. For example, I’ve bent over. The gold miners who came the cabinets right there on the job. They did
been working on this little meditation-deck through here in the late 19th or early 20th everything. That day is definitely done.
project down by the river near my house century probably had some kind of a dredge
here in Oregon. I bought a cordless rotary or maybe even a little bridge secured to that AF: Even the distinction between a fram-
hammer with a 2-ft.-long, 1-in. carbide bit bolt in the bedrock. I look at that thing fre- ing carpenter and a finish carpenter
with which I was able to drill 18-in. holes quently. You can’t help but imagine how didn’t come until after WWII.
into solid rock in minutes. Then I bought much effort and work they went through GK: Precisely—not until true production
two-part epoxy in a caulking tube with a to place that thing. And here I am, able to building stepped into high gear with the
special tip that mixed it automatically as put those footings in alone in less than a day. postwar boom brought about by the VA
I filled the holes and stuck in rebar that I housing and education program for veter-
cut with a chop saw with a metal-cutting AF: You were able to use the skills of sev- ans. That’s what really fueled the specializa-
blade. Then I used cardboard Sonotube and eral people as one person. tion trend. It started in Southern California
scribed it to the rock, instead of having to GK: It used to be even more that way. It with production framers and finish crews.
build some plywood form for the footing. may appear that I’m using all these differ- Slowly but surely, you’d encounter a crew
There were some gaps at the bottom of the ent skill sets from the example I just gave, that just hung doors or just built stairs.
tube, so I used closed-cell expansive foam to but if you look at it through a historical lens,
fill them in. It just goes on and on. None of it reminds me of my dad’s carpenters who AF: Social media does a lot to educate
that stuff existed when I was a kid. used to do everything. They would come building professionals and clients alike

50 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawing: Joe Ciardiello

NOVEMBER 2021 51
 The Interview with Gary Katz

about what quality craftsmanship is. Can or product promotion, they are focusing that kind of stuff that the Greene broth-
you talk about using education as part of on techniques, instruction, and education. ers originated and borrowed from Japan
a business model? These companies are seeing folks with and the Victorian architects. It has driven
GK: I love the phrase “marketing through 300,000 followers, and they want to get me nuts. They learned a lot about it from
education.” Twenty years ago, I toyed their products into the hands of those influ- the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in
around with that idea in various ways encers. It’s remarkable what social media is Chicago, where they were exposed to the
and it became the secret sauce of the Katz doing for our trade. Japanese pavilion. So were Frank Lloyd
Roadshow, which was the only national, Wright and the architects McKim, Mead,
hands-on, peer-to-peer series of carpentry AF: What is your advice to young people &White. I’d always thought the Greene
clinics, hosted at lumberyards all over the trying to educate themselves? brothers came up with those ideas out of
United States. We depended on marketing GK: Until you discover the real motivation thin air. Or that Frank Lloyd Wright came
through education for our success. We con- inside of you, you’re not going to be edu- up with the prairie style all on his own. But
vinced all these manufacturers to support cated. You won’t learn anything until you this past year, with the studying I have been
the roadshow with what I thought at the are truly motivated from the inside. What doing, I see there is a clear evolutionary line.
time were big dollars. It cost tens of thou- that motivation is doesn’t matter. If you Each one of those ingenious inventions has
sands of dollars for each sponsor to support are motivated by money, great. If you are an evolutionary tail. It has been fantastic to
our program, and we produced 20 to 30 motivated by desire, wonderful, that’s even see that and learn to recognize it. I don’t
events every year. People would come in better. Whatever it is, you need real fuel to know if I will ever finish my mantelpiece
for a whole day of serious, hands-on train- drive you. When you grow from your mis- book, but boy has that project been a win-
ing with professionals. The companies takes as a carpenter, you evolve as a person. ner for me.
supported it because they wanted to sell
their products. AF: Where are you at in your own evolu- AF: Asher Benjamin’s handbooks had
Some of the lumberyards had been hesi- tion and education as a carpenter? a nearly ubiquitous influence on early
tant to bring our sponsors’ products in, GK: It would be fair to say carpentry is American architecture, and that influ-
which is one reason the shows were valu- still pursuing me. I can’t get away from it. ence persists in many ways. Who was he
able to the manufacturers for what they I just love it. I love making stuff. I’m glad to you?
call “pull through.” The idea is that if we I’m a carpenter. These days—while I’m GK: He was a profiteer and a plagiarist.
used the products, the audience would still working almost every day in my shop Asher Benjamin plagiarized Sir William
realize the benefits and ask the lumberyard or on something around my place—I am Chambers’s books in an egregious way.
to bring those products into the store. Of trying to finish a book I started 20 years He didn’t just take a paragraph here and
course, many of the sponsors also wanted ago on American mantel pieces. And to do there, he took whole chapters and pub-
to support the show because their number- lished them verbatim with the same illus-
one problem was improper installation: trations and called them his own. He never

“When you grow

improper flashing techniques or incompat- gave Chambers any credit at all—none.
ible sealants and on and on. They wanted to You read any good architectural historian
get the word out on how to properly install from your mistakes like Vincent Scully, and they’ll tell you the
their products. It spares both builders and truth about who Asher Benjamin really
manufacturers time, money, and dam-
as a carpenter, you was. He had an enormous impact on the
aged reputations.
All of it, the secret to the whole thing, was
marketing through education. It stunned
evolve as a person.
” whole classical drift of architecture in the
United States, primarily because he was so
driven to be seen as an authority. He pub-
me to find myself in this position, keeping it, I’ve been having an enormously good lished the same kind of stuff over and over
people in their seats for a whole day and time researching architecture and learning again, and republished his books. He was
simultaneously using a variety of different more about architectural history and period good at marketing and sales. All the way
products without making it look like a sales styles, and putting together a lot of missing through the 19th century, that whole exten-
thing. We stuck to real solid techniques pieces of my puzzle. sion of the Federal and classical styles—
while using a company’s products. It was a I have tried for decades to understand some people call it “academic style”—was
perfectly balanced program. why certain architectural styles make me largely dependent upon people like him
That’s what’s neat right now. I see it feel giddy and why certain architectural and him specifically.
today—companies supporting people on ornaments stick in my mind like Devils Yeah, I think his homes were wonder-
Instagram who are really teaching other Tower did for Richard Dreyfuss’s character ful. I have an incredible appreciation for
people serious stuff. And occasionally they in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The the Greek-revival, classical, Georgian, and
use a product by that company, but they’re Craftsman stuff has driven me crazy—the Federal styles. I go nuts over them because
not focusing on supporting the company cloud lift and the waterfall brackets. All they’re so perfect. But if you idolize his

52 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
homes, then you’re not recognizing the real it’s important for people to understand composite decking or plastic or whatever, I
essence of architecture, which goes way the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and wanted to use wood.
beyond those styles that are so common in Composite orders, their differences, and It’s right next to the water, and it’s beauti-
the New England area. what makes them proportionate and all ful—it’s more than you can handle some-
I think a lot of folks out there bought into that, but there’s also other things that are times, it’s so overwhelmingly glorious. I
this partly because of writers like Asher truly equally important, and that’s the part wanted to put my yoga mats right above
Benjamin, and unfortunately they still of the art form that’s a bit more human. where the water comes out and over some
aren’t able to truly appreciate what the People like Asher Benjamin and the propo- rocks into a pool right at this deck, and I
early Victorian architects accomplished. I kind of hurried to put the deck boards
mean, how many of those neat old Federal down so I could start using it right away.
and Georgian homes have a front porch?
Or a back porch? Or even something you
might call a veranda where you can put
“thing
…it’s not the finished
that ultimately
I put them down, but I didn’t want to cut
the ends off until I sat with it for a while
and decided what the final shape should
your chairs and sit outside to enjoy a sun- be because it’s tucked between these big
set or sunrise? None. Those houses didn’t
turns you on the most, bedrock outcroppings. I kept thinking,
have them. They didn’t have stuff like that it’s what you learn from one side should be scribed a couple inches
because they were classically inspired boxes from the rock all the way, so it looks like
that were cut up inside into little boxes.
Whereas in the mid-1800s, architects like
Andrew Jackson Downing and Henry
doing it.
”
nents of the academic style say it’s all based
it came out of the rock but doesn’t touch
it. And the other side should be straight so
it’s angular. And then a friend pointed out
Hobson Richardson embodied that style of on human proportion and it’s natural. But that it will be under water when the river
building homes that expressed what made it’s not based on human proportion and it’s comes up every year and it would be good
humans comfortable. They brought the not natural, it’s a temple. It’s all based on if I could remove a few of the deck boards.
outdoors indoors and the indoors outdoors. temples. Temples aren’t made to be lived It would reduce some of the hydraulic pres-
That was huge. They built verandas all the in. Temples are places of worship. I am sure on the uplift as the river’s rising. And I
way around a house like they did down in not demeaning religion. I’m saying we’re thought, what a good idea. Then I realized,
the South. Federal homes in the South had not gods, we’re humans; and to be com- thinking about it a few days more, what a
these huge verandas all the way around a fortable, we need to create homes that are bother it would be unscrewing those boards
house—you couldn’t live without one. more human. because eventually the screws would rust
or strip or snap off. Then it dawned on me
AF: Speaking of appreciating accomplish- AF: What’s your favorite thing to that I should take three or four boards and
ments, who are some figures we should work on? panelize them, put 2x4s under them that
never forget? GK: I really enjoy working on something land in between the joists bays, and then
GK: The Greene’s homes should all be that’s way over my head, that I’ve never screw the deck boards to those so you can
museum houses and never be threatened. done before, and that I have little chance lift the whole panel out. And don’t bother
Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses should never of succeeding at, which frankly is pretty screwing the panel down, it won’t move.
be threatened either, even though he was easy to find. I really like working on stuff Just lift the panel out each year before the
a terrible builder. His houses leak like a that I don’t feel I need to finish right away river comes up above it.
sieve and his cantilevers were totally over- so that it can sit in different stages while That’s the kind of thing I really enjoy:
extended and unsupported. To repair, fix, I absorb what’s going on or it absorbs me having the time to allow some of my proj-
and save many of his homes would be a gar- more. I guess that’s a good way of putting ects to evolve and cook, and me to learn
gantuan amount of money—many would it: It absorbs me. I’m able to allow the proj- from them, because it’s not the finished
have to be pretty much rebuilt. ect to evolve before I force its completion. It thing that ultimately turns you on the most,
Then you have to go back to the 1850s and changes because of that. it’s what you learn from doing it. We learn
’60s and save stuff even earlier than that. Take this deck I am doing down at the in little pieces throughout our lives, but it’s
We’ve already lost a lot of those houses. I river—such a perfect example. It’s just a not until we have the opportunity to let go
never knew who Downing and Richardson little project, yet so compelling in a way. I’ve of the completion that we truly understand
were. I never knew that McKim, Mead & already installed the deck boards. I did it the value of that experience—how much
White originally designed revolution- really quickly once I got the joists up. I put we learn from waiting and patience. □
ary homes. I think those houses need to ice-and-water strips on top of all the joists. I
be saved. Personally, I believe more effort used hidden fasteners. I bought the decking Aaron Fagan, a former associate editor
should be made to expose people to those material from this company I’ve worked for Fine Homebuilding, is a freelance
revolutionary and beautiful ideas and a with in the past named Thermory, which writer and the author of three books of
little less energy put into trying to educate makes thermally modified decking. I used poetry, including A Better Place Is Hard
people about the classical orders. Sure, products I believe in. Instead of using some to Find (The Song Cave, 2020).

NOVEMBER 2021 53
 Custom, Shop-Built

Radiator
Covers

54 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: Rodney Diaz. Drawing: Dan Thornton.

 A
A furniture s a woodworker whose focus is furniture- ate the constant cleaning—radiator ribs are highly
making, most of what I do is more efficient at collecting dust and cobwebs.
maker pairs likely to end up in the pages of Fine The techniques I use here can easily apply to
traditional looks Woodworking than Fine Homebuilding.
But I do get the odd commission that falls into the
other woodworking projects where traditional
joinery may not work, or is too fussy for something
with mechanical home-building realm, usually projects like replac- that isn’t intended as an heirloom piece. If you’re
ing columns and stair parts or repairing damaged planning to make your own radiator covers, mea-
fasteners to or timeworn elements of the colonial-era homes sure carefully, and be sure to leave at least one inch
manage extreme where I live in eastern Massachusetts. Recently, clearance above, in front of, and on each side of the
though, a family needed a solution to cover their radiator. From there, based on your material thick-
temperatures home’s eight cast-iron radiators. nesses and desired overhang, you can figure out
Installing covers to protect occupants from pos- the dimensions of the sides, face frame, and top. Ԃ
sible burns from old radiators is a requirement in
BY BRIAN ALCORN
some jurisdictions, especially for rental properties Brian Alcorn is owner of Alcorn Woodworking
and for houses that shelter foster children, like my and a real estate attorney in Westford,
clients’ home. Some homeowners just don’t like the Mass. Photos by Matthew Millham, except
look of the old radiators, and many don’t appreci- where noted.

Glued-up top panel

with bullnose edges

Cove molding

Corner brackets with

pocket-screw joinery
and slotted screw
holes for top JUST LIKE
A SMALL
CABINET
These decorative
radiator covers
are built with
stiles, rails, and
intermediate panel
dividers joined
together with
pocket-screwed jack
miters. The arched
bottom rail and
slotted side panels
add style and allow
for more airflow
around the radiator.

Build it
yourself
The material for this
paint-grade cabinet
Notch for Jack miters
with pocket-
is 3⁄4-in. poplar. The
baseboard
screw joinery overall dimensions will
depend on the size of the
radiator, but for a closer look
Metal at this particular cover, download
Glued-up side panel screen Arched bottom rail
with decorative slots our full-size SketchUp model at
panels
to provide airflow FineHomebuilding.com/magazine.

NOVEMBER 2021 55
FACE FRAMES FIRST
While not all radiator covers will be the
same size, the construction of the front
face frames is the same, each with a
pair of rails and stiles like those found
on kitchen cabinets. After considering
the swings in heat these joints will see,
I determined that pocket-screw joinery
would work best.

Nip the rails, cut the stiles. Less

prone to opening from wood
movement, jack miters combine a
45° miter at the profile and a butt
joint for the rest of the material.
With the blade tilted at 45°, cut
the miter on the stiles equal to the
depth of the profile. For the flat
portion of the joint, use a tenoning
jig to hold the stock vertically and
square as it passes through the
Joint, rip, and profile. For straight material blade. Nip off the corner of the
and tight joints, run the stock through a profile on the corresponding rail
jointer. Rip the rails to 3 in. and the stiles (Not shown). Cut and practice with
to 21⁄4 in. Profile one edge of each piece on sacrificial boards until you fine-
the router table with a beading or cove bit. tune the setup.

Draw and cut the arch. The Dividers need some handwork. With the frame temporarily
lower rail gets an arch cut assembled with clamps, you can lay out the 2-in. divider
in it to aid in airflow and to locations on the rails and mark the mitered cuts and flat bottom
help with installation later in of the joint using a combination square. The double-mitered
the event of any wonkiness ends of the dividers are easily cut with a miter saw set at 45°.
in the homeowner’s floor. For the rails, you can use a router and jig, a coping saw, or a
It’s easier to lay this out with number of other methods,
the face frame temporarily but I prefer to remove the
assembled with pocket waste for the flat portion
screws. I laid out the arch by of the joint using a crosscut
making a mark 1 in. up from sled and a dado set on
the midpoint of the lower the tablesaw. I then use a
rail and struck the profile wide chisel and 45° miter
using a flexible batten as a jig that sit on the rails like
guide. I then roughed it out a saddle and has a bevel
on a bandsaw and finished that the chisel rides on to
with a spokeshave for a remove the corners of the
perfect curve. miters cleanly.

56 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 Pocket screws pull it together.
With the female portion of the
jack miters cut, assemble the
outer perimeter of the face
frame, measure and cut the
lengths for the dividers, miter
their ends, drill a pair of pocket
holes in each end, and fasten
the dividers into the frame.

SIDES SECOND Bore and rout.

I make the sides by jointing and edge-gluing stock with Titebond III. To After boring the
holes, rout the slots.
help with airflow and for a more aesthetically pleasing look, rout 1⁄4-in. Raise the bit up
slots into the sides, 2 in. apart and centered in the case. The face frame through the hole
will be added to the sides, so account for this when measuring. and align it using the
marks struck earlier.
With the router table
Lay out the slots. Strike lines fence adjusted and
delineating the centerlines of the locked and the bit
slots, and mark points 3 in. from centered in the hole,
the top and bottom of the piece start the router and
for the 5⁄8-in. holes. Mark 1⁄8 in. cut the slots in a
from each side of the centerlines single pass, moving
to find the outside of the 1⁄4-in. slowly and steadily
slots. I prick the hole locations to account for the
with an awl to help center the thickness of the
spur of the Forstner bit when I cut material.
the holes at the drill press.
ALL TOGETHER NOW
The top is a glued-up panel with a bullnose profile and
is sized for a 11⁄4-in. overhang on the front and sides.
A cove molding complements the face-frame profile
nicely. I use Titebond III glue again and 11⁄2-in. 18-ga.
brads to join the sides to the face frame, with corner
brackets to square it up and secure the top.

Hold it square.
Use 90° clamping
jigs to do a dry
assembly of the
sides and face
frame, then,
leaving the jigs in Clamp it up. In order
place, glue and to ensure tight joints,
fasten one side at immediately clamp the
a time. entire case and leave the
clamps in place while the
glue sets. Look for a
uniform amount of glue
squeeze-out along
the joints and clean
it up immediately.

Block it square. Once the glue is set, replace the 90° clamping jigs with a pair Shape the top. Using the router table, profile the
of right-triangle blocks glued and pocket-screwed into the upper corners. Cut ends first (across the grain) and then the length
the blocks so that the grain runs parallel to the triangle’s hypotenuse in order to in order to minimize the chances of the corners
maximize the strength of the joint. These triangle blocks hold the case square blowing out deeper than the bit will cut.
and provide a means of attaching the top.

58 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 FINAL TOUCHES
The inner field of each face frame is
filled with perforated decorative sheet
metal, which is readily available at
most big-box stores in 2-ft. by 3-ft.
panels—large enough to fit the field on
smaller covers. For larger ones, I use
inner dividers to break up the field. I
opted to make the center panel slightly
narrower on this cover for interest.

Attach the top. Drill pocket holes near the back of each side of the case, and drill
elongated holes into the triangle corner blocks. The screws at the rear hold the top fast
in place, while the screws in the elongated holes allow the top to expand and contract
and minimize the risk of warping or cracking. If expansion does occur, it can only move
outward, preventing a gap from opening at the wall.

Fill the frame. Cut each sheet roughly

11⁄2 in. larger than the openings in both
directions, and predrill the sheets for the
#6 washer-head screws so that the sheets
don’t distort when the screws are driven.
Make a cove. Use a cove bit in
a router table to make a cove
molding. Profile both sides and rip Beveled cleat fastened to
the pieces free at the tablesaw. framing with structural screw

Mating beveled cleat inset

between sides of the assembly

Secure it
with cleats.
Attach the cove. Mark the To prevent
cove sections using the case tall, narrow
as a guide and fasten them covers from
with short brads and glue to tipping,
the sides only. Fastening to install French
the top could cause the cove cleats. Rip
to separate if the top expands these from
from the heat. a 4-in. piece
of square stock. Fasten one half to the case
with pocket screws and the other to the
wall. During installation, the screens can be
quickly popped out for cleat alignment.

NOVEMBER 2021 59
 Undermount, soft-close
slides are a cabinetmaker’s
dream, but lower-cost
options can be reliable
when installed with care

BY BEN SCOTT

Drawer
Slides
for Every Budget

60 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: Jody Lawson. Drawings: Peter Wojcieszek.

W
ith over 21 years in the cus-
tom cabinet and furniture GET WITH THE SYSTEM
industry, I’ve used most The most accurate way to install slides and build drawer
of the drawer slides on the boxes is to use millimeters. An 8-meter tape measure
market, but now my shop only uses under- is useful for breaking down plywood and other
mount soft-close slides. Their smooth opera- panel products. A 3-ft. cabinetmaker’s rule
tion, weight capacity, and adjustments in all includes metric measurements and is
directions make up for any cost savings that useful for precision work.
come with a lesser slide. But not every bud-
get has room for the most-expensive slides 8-Meter Tape Measure
Lee Valley 06K1108, $12
available, so in this look at drawer slides, I
included some lower-cost options that I’ve Cabinetmaker’s Rule
had good success with. The two low-cost Lee Valley 06K2036, $21
options are a bit more finicky to install
because they lack built-in up/down and tilt
adjustments, but they are very reliable when the front of the case on both sides. Drawer plywood or MDF template and use it to drill
installed with care. The more-expensive boxes must also be made the correct size. the holes in the cabinet sides before attach-
slides have built-in adjustments and ultra- Using metric measurements makes both of ing the slides. The slide dimensions here fit
smooth operation. And they mount on the these tasks easier, because all the drawer-box a 24-in.-deep cabinet, and the prices include
drawer bottom instead of the sides, so they’re measurements and slide layouts are in milli- a pair of slides and the locking devices for the
hidden from view when the drawer is open, meters. Good metric tape measures and rul- drawer box. The Grass prices include the rear
letting the craftsmanship you put into your ers are available from Lee Valley. drawer-box mounting brackets as well. Ԃ
drawer boxes shine instead of the hardware. We use an adjustable Blum jig to drill the
One of the keys to drawers that operate holes for the slides at the needed height; it Ben Scott is cabinetmaker in Maple
smoothly is getting the slides installed on the is quite costly, but it saves a lot of time. You Ridge, B.C., Canada. Photos by Rodney
cabinet box at the same height and square to can also lay out the slide mounting holes on a Diaz, except where noted.

HEAVY DUTY Accuride 4034 side mount

MODEL NO. C403422D LENGTH 22 in.
LOAD RATING 150 lb. PRICE $35 per pair

These are standard slides for commercial

projects. They operate well, are fairly
smooth-running, and have a good load
capacity. This model is not self- or soft-
close—you have to push the slides closed and
a detent holds them shut. There are soft-close models,
but in my experience, they don’t operate very well, and the added
cost comes to nearly the same as heavy-duty undermount slides.
Drawer boxes can be made with a plant-on bottom or grooved-in material is usually 1⁄32 in. undersized, so we cut the front and back
bottom, but because the slides mount to the sides of the drawer of the drawer box 2 in. smaller than the inside of the cabinet. The
box, a plant-on bottom can pull off if it isn’t well-attached. undersized 1⁄2-in. material provides the additional 1⁄16-in. clearance
Side clearance is 11⁄16 in. smaller than the opening. We typically needed. The slides must be straight on the cabinet and the drawer
use veneer core plywood for our drawer boxes, with a 3⁄4-in. for proper operation. The downsides are a lack of adjustments and
front and back and 1⁄2-in. sides, doweled together. The 1⁄2-in. side-to-side racking on wide drawers.

NOVEMBER 2021 61
NO FRILLS Blum 230M side mount
MODEL NO. 230M5500 LENGTH 22 in.
LOAD RATING 55 lb.
PRICE $7

These are the lowest-price standard drawer slides.

They work well and are self-closing—when the
drawer is almost closed they ramp into the closed
position. They are easy to install on the drawer
box by either screwing to the underside or to the
outside. The slides wrap under the drawer so you
can use a plant-on bottom without risking the
drawer bottom pulling off. Drawer boxes are 1 in.
narrower than the drawer opening.
These are reliable low-cost slides. I like that if the drawer is
slightly smaller, the slides will still work, because one side of the slide hooks
the nylon wheel to keep it tracking correctly, and the other, straight side
accommodates up to 1⁄8-in. undersizing. These slides aren’t as smooth-running
and are a little louder than more-expensive options. The weight capacity is the
lowest of the bunch, and there is no soft-close option. And with only three-
quarter extension, there’s limited access to the back of the drawer.

AFFORDABLE UNDERMOUNT BLUM Tandem

MODEL NO. 563F5330B LENGTH 21 in.
LOAD RATING 100 lb.
PRICE $30

Standard
locking
device

These were the first widely available undermount drawer slides I All undermount slides from Blum and Grass use the same
used. They’re smooth-running, they mount under the drawer box, sizing. The drawer-box front and back are 42 mm smaller than
and they’re hidden by the drawer sides when the drawer is open. the inside measurement of the cabinet. The drawer-box sides can
The first version didn’t have soft-close, and then the feature was be any thickness up to 5⁄8 in. (16 mm). The depth of the drawer
an add-on; now, all Tandem slides have soft-close built in. These is determined by the slide length, sold in 50-mm increments.
were the first slides that I used with up/down and tilt adjustments The drawer is always 10 mm shorter than the slide length. For
to the drawer faces. Clips hold the drawer box to the slide at the example, a 550-mm slide holds a 540-mm drawer.
front, and a 6-mm hole drilled into the back of the drawer holds The drawbacks are no side-to-side adjustment, and the hole in
the back of the drawer box and provides the tilt adjustment. The the back of the drawer is hard to locate. It typically lands where the
drawer bottom must be above the bottoms of the drawer sides drawer bottom and the back of the drawer box meet. We use the
for attachment and so the slides are hidden from view. manufacturers’ jigs to drill these holes, but the location isn’t ideal.

62 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
EXCELLENT ADJUSTABILITY Grass Dynapro 16 Adjustment
adapter
MODEL NO. F130100728204 LENGTH 21 in.
LOAD RATING 100 lb.
PRICE $35

These slides (and the

Tipmatic version below) are really
the only slides we use now. They are smooth-running,
Front come in a heavy-duty version for additional weight capacity, and seem
locking to have less side-to-side racking than all the other slides I’ve used, which is
device great for wide drawers. Up/down, side-to-side, and tilt adjustments are built
into the front mounting clips, and there’s an add-on for in/out adjustment.
Sizing is the same as the Blum; the inside width of the drawer is 42 mm
smaller than the inside width of the cabinet. The
depth is the same as Blum too: 10 mm
less than the length of the slide.
The big plus of these slides is the back-
of-drawer mounting bracket, called an
“adjustment adaptor,” that’s screwed to
the drawer box and accepts the hook for
the tilt adjustment. It is easy to locate
the holes for the mounting screws with
a shop-made or manufacturer’s jig. The
setup creates a positive connection at
the back of the drawer and makes the tilt
adjustment easy to access and operate.

BEST PUSH-TO-OPEN Grass Dynapro 16 Tipmatic

MODEL NO. F130116434204 LENGTH 21 in.
LOAD RATING 100 lb.
PRICE $75

These are Grass’s top-

Adjustment
shelf slides. They have adapter
up/down, side to side,
and tilt adjustments
as do the standard
Dynapro, but these
slides also include a
push-to-open feature
that is built into the
slides. The push-
to-open has three
Narrow
settings so you can front
adjust them for each locking
drawer weight. device

NOVEMBER 2021 63
One-Stop
Woodshop
Sometimes it makes sense to
have one company handle all
the woodwork for a project,
from fabrication to installation
BY STEVEN BACZEK

I
n the not-so-distant past, building a house was much simpler. becomes a challenge relative to the complexity and expectations of
Contractors were generally carpenters who worked with one or the project.
two helpers to cover most of the tasks needed to complete the On a recent gut remodel, my client wanted the look of clear-finish
building. The same crew that framed the house installed plaster Douglas fir and mahogany installed with top-quality craftsmanship
and did the trimwork too—the responsibility for the entire building for all the interior woodwork. With those expectations in mind, the
was largely on one crew. builder and I closely scrutinized the conventional approach to finish
As production-building methods took hold, crews became more work. We could hire a subcontractor for each of the interior finishing
and more specialized and building products came from supply tasks and shop around for door and cabinetry and custom millwork.
houses instead of being made on-site. On a typical job these days, But with different companies supplying those things, we were con-
the finish work is broken down into several dedicated disciplines: cerned about maintaining consistency in the grain, color, and finish
One crew installs kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, another of the wood. The clients also wanted the woodwork to have a uni-
crew hangs interior doors, a separate crew installs trim, and so forth. fied, custom look, which would be difficult to produce with lots of
While this is often the fastest and least-expensive approach, consistent different contractors. Beyond the materials themselves, we also wor-
quality of workmanship and materials, as well as coordination, often ried about coordinating and timing the installation of the work. How

64 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos left and middle: Steven Baczek

 CURVED COFFERED CEILING
The crew laminated the curved panels and built
this ceiling in five sections in the shop, and then
installed the sections on the living-room ceiling.
could we ensure an exceptional level of craftsmanship and consistency
throughout the house?

Hire a woodshop that does it all

After working through these questions with the builder and client,
our solution was to have a single millwork shop handle all the interior
woodwork. One shop would be responsible for sourcing and milling
the wood; building and finishing all the doors, paneling, cabinetry,
and trim; and installing it all in the home. The builder had previously
worked with Traditional Wood Works (TWW) out of Berwick,
Maine, and after a meeting with the builder, the shop owner, the shop
manager, and myself, TWW seemed to be a good solution to our
concerns. We discussed the parameters of the project and agreed on a
strategy that would work for everyone. At that point we’d all have a

NOVEMBER 2021 65
CUSTOM PROCESS FOR A CUSTOM OUTCOME
Having one woodshop responsible for assembling
and installing all the doors allowed for a process that
resulted in a durable assembly, minimized exposed
fasteners, and matched grain and finish throughout the
house. The install starts, as usual, with shimming and
plumbing the door jambs.

HIDDEN
ATTACHMENT
To minimize
visible fasteners,
the crew drives
screws through
a shallow dado
in the jamb.
Stops fit into the
dado to cover
up the screws.

STOP INSTALL
The stop
strips, with
rabbets along
the edges,
glue into the
dadoes in the
door jambs to
conceal the
attachment
screw.

stake in the project, with each of us relying on the talents of the other Cost-effectiveness comes with scale
team members for its success. As with most projects I work on, the goal is never to make things
TWW offers complete woodworking services. The same team that cheap, but rather to use the most cost-effective methods to achieve
fabricates everything in the shop installs what they build on-site. This the desired result. With this project, we could have shopped around
approach covered our aesthetic concerns, while providing a single for less expensive materials, and then just hoped the look and fin-
source of responsibility and accountability for the work. ish matched. But with single-source millwork, all the wood used for
The strategy for executing the finish work in this manner begins the interior finish can be purchased at the same time from the same
with me, as the architect. I guide the client through each design deci- wood lot. The trimwork made from that wood then has a consistent
sion. With the client’s approval, I develop the details and then give appearance—from baseboard and wainscot to doors and built-ins.
that information to the builder. After approving my drawings, the The interior doors in this project are a good example of that way
builder sends them to the millwork shop. The shop then generates of thinking. Well-made Douglas-fir doors are available from many
precisely detailed drawings that are used to build and install each different manufacturers. But going that route would mean sacrificing
component. This process helps us manage expectations, timing, and control over consistency, as well as limiting the potential to customize
of course, costs. the look of the doors. On top of those factors, installing and trimming

66 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 NO HOLES, NO FILLER
After applying glue to both surfaces, the
crew clamps the trim into place without
leaving fastener holes to putty.

BISCUIT TRIM
The crew cut slots in the
trim and the jambs for
biscuit joinery earlier in the
process. Here they insert
biscuits into the slots for
attaching the trim. Note
that the outside edge
of the jambs were left
unfinished to facilitate the
gluing process.

INVISIBLE PINS
Tiny pins that are nearly
invisible hold the stop strip
in place while the glue sets.

REATTACHING THE HARDWARE RAIN-GLASS DOOR

Each door has custom-fit hinges A few of the 36 interior doors custom-built in
and latches, so the crew simply the shop include translucent rain-glass panels.
inserts the hardware back into the The crew prebuilt the jamb assemblies and
mortises and drives the screws. casing kits in addition to the doors themselves.

the doors would be additional considerations. Working with TWW Custom meets production
for everything eliminated all of those concerns. This one-shop solution allowed us to customize the look and change
When questioned about the cost-effectiveness of this strategy, the the parameters of these interior doors. Instead of the conventional
shop owner gave me this simple answer: “If you ask me to build one 13⁄8-in. thickness, we upgraded to 13⁄4 in. for a heavier, more solid feel.
or two interior doors, I can’t compete with the cost of commercially We also widened the top rails to 51⁄4 in. and the bottom rails to 71⁄4 in.
manufactured doors. But give me all 36 interior doors, and now I These changes would have raised the costs exponentially for a typical
can be competitive. Throw in the trim and installation, and the cost- door manufacturer, but with one millwork shop making all the doors,
effectiveness improves further, and so on.” it was a simple and easy adjustment to the production process.
In other words, this approach becomes more cost competitive as the Despite being mass-produced, each of the 36 doors was targeted
scale of the project increases, while streamlining the process by com- for a specific opening in the home. Each door was mounted in jambs
bining responsibility for the manufacturing with the installation of made from the same fir, and the hinges and locksets were fitted to
all the finish work. A single woodshop can handle each of the tasks each door in the shop. The shop also made a trim kit for each door
individually for a project, but the more they’re asked cover, the more from the same wood. At the job site, the crew pocket-screwed the
efficient and cost-effective the process becomes. trim assemblies together and then biscuit-slotted both the trim and

NOVEMBER 2021 67
the jamb assemblies. The assembled trim kits and the jambs were
then stacked or racked awaiting installation. Before delivery to the CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THE
job site, each piece was sanded and given a coat of clear finish. This
coat of finish protects the wood during shipping and installation.
Once the installation was complete, the crew applied another coat of For this project, the architect and client worked out the
finish, finalizing the process on-site. trim, cabinetry, and other millwork details in a Craftsman
This project included a laundry list of custom features: a barrel- style with traditional Douglas fir that the woodshop
vaulted coffered ceiling, wood-paneled divider walls, wainscot, pass- sourced, milled, and used to fabricate every piece.
through pocket doors, and stairs and stair parts, along with many
built-in cabinets and components—and all that in addition to the
doors and trim. With all these moving parts, it was imperative that
everything be manufactured, brought to the site, and installed in the
right order. Again, TWW took the responsibility for coordination
and timing out of our hands.
When the work is done in the conventional manner, the builder
has to be constantly vigilant to make sure that things are done in the
right order to prevent damage or having to redo work. With one shop
responsible for all the finish work, everything is done in the proper
sequence. For example, the crew installed ceiling finishes (coffers and
paneling) first, so that those rooms could be used for storing and stag-
ing other material such as doors and trim kits. With one company
carrying all that responsibility, the more efficiently they work, the
better their financial rewards.

Installation starts at the shop

I have some experience and knowledge of building and woodwork-
ing, but I was happy to rely on the expertise and experience of TWW
for the installation. The curved coffered ceiling would have been an
interesting challenge for any crew, but the team had the benefit of
prefabricating the ceiling sections in their shop. The same crew then
raised and installed the sections on-site.
After I gave them the dimensions and basic design, the shop did
working drawings and the crew built the ceiling in five sections. They
used Festool Dominoes to connect and precisely align the sections as
they were raised into place. Having built the actual sections, the crew
had direct knowledge of exactly how the ceiling would go together,
resulting in a smooth, flawless, and efficient installation. PASS-THROUGH POCKET DOORS
The crew had a particularly innovative approach to installing and Pocket doors open to reveal a pass-through from the kitchen
trimming the doors with the goal of minimizing exposed fasteners into the dining room. The crew built the doors and mounted
the original stained-glass panels, and also mounted the doors
in the natural wood finish. Their process begins in the shop. After and trimmed out the opening. Vertical fir paneling graces the
fabricating and labeling the doors, jambs, and trim kits, everything is adjacent walls of the dining room.
stacked neatly on the job site to await installation. During fabrication,
the stops for the side jambs are purposely left off, with wide, shallow
dadoes plowed into the center of each jamb. most cases, there is almost no work to be done before they receive
For installation, crew members set the designated jamb assembly their final coat of finish.
in the opening and shim it level and plumb. When satisfied with the Using a single woodshop worked exceptionally well for this project,
fit, they drill holes through the center dado and screw the jamb to and I learned a lot working with this team. While you may experience
the rough frame. Next, the crew typically installs the trim, inserting success using this strategy with a smaller project—say a library or an
biscuits and clamping the trim to the jambs. Note that the outer edges extensive kitchen renovation—the economy of scale makes single-
of the jambs were unfinished during assembly so glue could be used. source woodworking an even better choice for a whole-house remodel
Additional fasteners are driven as needed to draw the jambs into any or new construction. Ultimately, it always comes down to choosing the
uneven places in the wall. Plinth blocks at the bottoms of the jambs right team and being open to a collaborative effort to solve problems
provide microadjustment to fill in the spaces to the floor. and share information for the best outcome on any project. Ԃ
After reattaching the door to the jambs, the crew installs finished
stops on the side jambs. Those stops have rabbeted edges that fit into Steven Baczek is an architect from Reading, Mass., who spe-
the dadoes on the side jambs. Glue and pins hold the stops in place. cializes in high-performance homes. Photos by Roe Osborn,
Using these methods, the doors go in quickly and efficiently, and in except where noted.

68 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
CRAFTSMAN STYLE
NO DETAIL
TOO SMALL
These small, angled
fir brackets allow
the level mounting
brackets for these
pendent lights
to fit against the
cathedral ceiling.

PINWHEEL
PANELED CEILING
In the dining room,
the crew installed
fir ceiling panels in
a pinwheel pattern.
In addition to the
window trim, they
also custom-built
wooden valances to
conceal the window-
shade hardware.

CRAFTSMAN CORBELS
Flanked by built-in bookcases, Douglas-fir
corbels support a mahogany mantel.

CUSTOM STAIRS
Every element in this dividing
wall and stairway located just HORIZONTAL WAINSCOT
inside the entry to the home In the primary bedroom,
was custom-made in the shop, the crew installed horizontal
including the handrail and Douglas-fir wainscot around the
tapered balusters. window on the exterior wall.

NOVEMBER 2021 69
HOUSES
ARCHITECTURAL CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

BY DESIGN
C U R AT E D B Y J A N I C E R O H L F

COTTAGE CAMOUFLAGE
Ingenuity on the part of the designer and builder was called
for to make this 3000-sq.-ft. golf-course cottage built on the
footprint of a pre-existing residence feel more spacious. The
owners wanted it to be both fully functioning and elegant.
First, to grab height where possible, the wood shiplap ceiling
(painted Benjamin Moore’s Frostline in a satin finish) was
raised to an open 24-ft. peak above the great room, mak-
ing the new structure feel graciously proportioned despite
its modest size. To solve the conundrum of incorporating a
full chef’s kitchen into the large common room, appliances
and other components were camouflaged in such a way that
they’re completely hidden from view when not in use: The
wall oven is concealed behind cabinet doors; the exhaust
hood pops up from behind the Wolf induction cooktop; the
Dornbracht faucet retracts down; the sink can be covered
with a stone cutting board that matches the absolute-black
granite countertop; and a refrigerator panel with a touch
latch virtually disappears into the high-sheen lacquered walls,
as do the cabinets that house a coffee station and pantry. In
other rooms, sleek floating nightstands and a bathroom van-
ity feature cantilevered custom millwork in a white-lacquer
finish. Additionally, the bedside tables have integral outlets
and light switches positioned on the sides facing the bed.

Designer Suzanne Lovell, Inc., suzannelovellinc.com

Builder Hobgood Construction, Inc., hobgoodconstruction.com
Location North Palm Beach, Fla.
Photography Eric Piasecki/OTTO

70 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
NOVEMBER 2021 71
 CONTINUED

FROM SHIP TO SHORE

For the contemporary interpretation of a nautical theme
in this waterside house, the client gave Polhemus Savery
DaSilva Architects Builders the latitude to be playful. In
turn, the firm studied, designed, and proportionally cal-
culated myriad trim details to come up with ship motifs
and abstracted 19th-century Greek-revival elements
like columns and balustrades. Perched high in the two-
story bunkroom with built-in beds that sleep nine, you
can stand in a facsimile of a tugboat’s wave-splashed
pilot house and see the water outside through a dormer
window across the room. In the primary bedroom, a
fanciful built-in wood canopy for the bed fills the space
hollowed out into the roof, which forms a cupola above.
Throughout the home, built-in furniture for maximum
storage is the result of judicious allocation and use of
space. Restricted by the footprint and height of the
former house on the site, architects John and Sharon
DaSilva were challenged to devise ceilings that lent
airiness to the rooms, like arched and coffered ceilings.
In the roof space of a bay window, mahogany beams
resemble the curved timbers of a ship’s bow, while
nearby a backlit perforated wood panel creates a pattern
of stars and dots that you can experience from inside or
outside the home through the windows. To make the
study feel taller, horizontal paneling on its walls, doors,
and ceiling fools the eye into thinking the upper panels
are farther away than they really are. Starting at the
floor and going up to the high point of the ceiling, each
panel is a different width, becoming incrementally nar-
rower as they go up.

Architect/builder Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders,

psdab.com
Location Cape Cod, Mass.
Photography Brian Vanden Brink

72 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
NOVEMBER 2021 73
 2020 Fine Homebuilding House
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

t s w r a pp e d for a
Pos a e sthetic
m o d e r n

tile
Concrete- or
porch flo

A Porch With Character

FHB House Connecticut is nearing completion and the exterior is looking great. Updated for
a clean, yet still rustic style, the house’s main entry has an original take on the farmhouse porch.
The porch floor is made with 36-in.-square, 2½-in.-thick precast concrete pavers by Wausau Tile
in Wisconsin. The structural posts and beams are wrapped with hemlock from The Pennsylvania
Sawmill Company and are finished with Benjamin Moore’s ARBORCOAT exterior stain.
Decorative rafter tails were added to complete the modern farmhouse look.

Follow the build: @finehomebuilding and FineHomebuilding.com/fhb-house

THANK YOU TO OUR 2020 SPONSORS
 N E W A N D N O TA B L E P R O D U C T S

OLD-WORLD FINISH FOR

INTERIOR WOODWORK
A natural oil finish is a great alternative to
polyurethane or lacquer for wood flooring,
countertops, doors, trim, or any interior wood
surface if you want to show off the beautiful
grain and vibrant colors that inspired you to
choose real wood in the first place. Because
of its ease of application and durability, my
go-to clear finish for any interior surfaces is
Sutherland Welles’s Polymerized Tung Oil,
which is available in low, medium, and high-
lustre versions, plus in a tung-oil sealer that’s
generally used as a first coat. Since I started
using Sutherland Welles products years ago,
the company has introduced a Botanical
line of this finish, which is simply their same
high-quality polymerized tung oil that’s been
formulated with an even more sustainable, non-
ozone-depleting citrus-based solvent instead of
the traditional petroleum-based solvent.
At $105 to $160 per gal. with 600 sq. ft.
to 1000 sq. ft. of coverage per coat, a hand-
rubbed oil finish like this costs a bit more than
basic polyurethane, but the rich look that the
tung oil provides is well worth it. Plus, unlike
polyurethane or lacquer, tung oil is a living
finish that can be refreshed or even spot-
finished at any time with just another coat of
oil without the hassle of sanding or stripping
the original finish like you would need to with
most other interior finishes. —Rob Wotzak,
digital brand manager

Photo: Kevin Anderson. Inset photo: NOVEMBER 2021 75

courtesy of Sutherland Welles
 CONTINUED

FIND FINESSE WITH FLEXIBLE TRIM

Crisp lines and precise angles are common signs of a well-executed
construction project, but there is something about an arched window
or a curved staircase that will never go out of style. Carter Millwork,
Inc. makes the curved trim details needed for these features much
more accessible with its several lines of bendable molding. Made of
flexible polyurethane, these trim options are resistant to moisture and
can be matched to the original grain of wood you’re working with.
To find the specific molding you are looking for, you can peruse the
thousands of profiles on their website or send in images to get the
right match.
Molding lengths typically come in foot-long increments between 4 ft.
and 12 ft., but longer lengths are available. For installation, common
woodworking tools work just fine with this trim, and pieces should
be fastened with a combination of construction adhesive and narrow
finish nails or screws. Pricing is dependent on the profile and material
choice. —Lana Melonakos-Harrison, assistant editor

THREE UNIQUE ADHESIVES

The one drawback of glue in the debate between Glue manufacturers have paid little attention
adhesives and nails is the time required to establish to the aesthetic characteristics of their products.
a chemical bond. Glues provide strong, permanent Visible glue lines can spoil a clean joint. And when
adhesion, but they often need clamps to hold pieces the glue oozes out inadvertently, it can ruin an
until the glue sets. Enter Tightbond’s Instant Bond Wood adjacent surface. The Gorilla brand’s new caulk-
Adhesive Gel. Used with the activator, the glue gives cartridge dispensable Max Strength Construction
you 30 seconds of handling time, has a 20-second set Adhesive Clear blends the company’s strongest
time, and takes 60 seconds to cure. Used without the adhesive into a crystal-clear bead that is paintable,
activator, the time doubles. Designed specifically for VOC-compliant, and non-foaming, and that works
wood, the viscous gel works like a clamp for quickly even underwater. A 9-oz. bottle is $12. —Fernando
bonding difficult-to-clamp shapes and preassembling Pagés Ruiz, home builder and developer
moldings, such as door and window casings, to install as
a single unit. The 2-oz. option is available for around $10.
Sometimes, glue comes out of the tube in sloppy globs
that make it difficult to do fine work. To glue the finer
things, Loctite has introduced Power Grab Ultimate, a
high-tack, multisubstrate adhesive. The dispenser metes
out a single dot of adhesive with each click. Two clicks
will hold 2 lb. instantly and 44 lb. after full cure. A 9-oz.
tube is just over $10.

76 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photos: top left and right, courtesy of the manufacturer; bottom, Rodney Diaz
ON STANDBY
WHEN IT COUNTS
MADISON,
WISCONSIN
A practical and
high-performance
country loft

Having your power go out is never fun. With severe storms becoming
a more common occurrence, and longer outages as the result, it has
also become a safety issue. Fine Homebuilding House Wisconsin is
now backed up for good with a whole-house standby generator from
Champion Power Equipment. Local electrician Justin Schraufnagel of
Just In Time Electric installed the 14kw generator and 200-amp transfer
switch. This means that when the grid goes down, the generator fires
up automatically and powers the circuits that the homeowner prioritizes.
With this setup, there’s also no chance of back-feeding the grid, keeping
the lineworkers safe as they work to restore power in the area.
Follow the build @finehomebuilding
and FineHomebuilding.com/fhb-house

THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 SPONSORS

askthe YOUR QUESTIONS — PRO ANSWERS

Fitting out-of-level space between either of the jamb legs and

prehung doors the floor. Hold the compass with the point
I’m new to installing prehung doors. I’m on the floor directly below the edge of the
finding that I sometimes can’t get the head jambs, and scribe lines on each jamb leg.
level without raising one of the legs off the This is the line you’ll cut. It should be zero
floor with a shim. Is there a better way to at the point the jambs are highest above the
accomplish this? floor, and at the maximum where the jambs
—DIANA
Set the jamb
touch the floor.
via email head level. Make the cut with whatever works—
miter saw, handsaw, or jigsaw. In many
Contributing editor Andy Engel replies: cases, it’s good to back-bevel the cut
Assuming both jamb legs (by the way, the slightly—the old floor will be higher in the
term “jamb” comes from the French word spots where earlier door jambs were located
for leg) are the same length, this means your than between them because of previous
floor isn’t level. I work on a lot of old houses LEVEL THE HEAD floor sanding.
and encounter this condition all the time. Prehung doors have equal-length jamb
legs, but old floors are often out of level.
For ease, take the door out of the frame, To install a door in this situation, start by Working with tongue-and-
and then put the frame in the opening. getting the head level with a shim beneath groove boards
the jamb leg on the low side, which will
Stick a couple of shims between the studs help you to determine how much you need I plan to finish the walls of a room with
and the jambs at the head to hold the frame to cut from the opposite leg. If the floor is tongue-and-groove boards—the real stuff,
in place, then check the head for level. Raise out in the other direction, scribe and cut not sheet goods with beads milled in the
the jamb legs to level the door.
the low side by inserting a tapered shim face. Are there any tricks I should know to
between the bottom of the jamb leg and the handle wood movement due to changes
floor. When the head is level, make a pencil in humidity?
mark on the shim where it meets the bot- —JOHN POND
tom of the jamb. The thickness of the shim via email
at this point is the amount you need to cut
from the bottom of the other jamb leg for Andy Engel replies: It sounds like you
the head to sit level. already know that the most important
In old houses, it’s common for the floor consideration when creating wall paneling
to be out of level in both axes and under Use
with solid-wood boards is wood movement.
both jamb legs. The process is a little more a shim to You cannot stop it—you can only minimize
involved here. Start the same way, with measure the cut and accommodate it. Like wood floors,
when one jamb is
the door frame shimmed into the opening higher than the other. solid-wood paneling needs to be able to
and the head level. Take a compass—the expand or shrink with changes in humid-
cheap metal kind with the sharp point that ity. Whenever possible, use quartersawn or
kids can’t take to schools anymore works Use a compass to vertical grain (VG) boards because they are
best—and open the gap between the metal measure the cut more stable during humidity swings than
point and the pencil point to the widest when one side of plain-sawn material.
the same jamb
needs to be Store the boards on-site until they become
trimmed. acclimated to the room’s temperature and
Need help? humidity level. This will happen faster
Get answers you can trust from the if they are unbundled and stacked with
experienced pros at FHB. Email your stickers between the layers. And finishing
question to [email protected]. the boards prior to installation makes a dif-
ference. Not only does finishing slow the

78 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Drawings: George Retseck

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askthe
CONTINUED

wood’s moisture gain or loss, it prevents jambs. Do you have any tips on how to the miter on the saw to 45° and the bevel to
unfinished wood from showing through the work around this? 1° so that it takes a little more off the front
joints if the planks do shrink. —JACOB SMITH of the molding than the back. Usually, I
Your installation will depend on the via email leave the saw’s bevel at 90° and just shim the
conditions of the material and the site. If back of molding up by the amount the dry-
you’re installing high-moisture planks on Brian Campbell, finish carpenter for Solid wall is proud of the jamb. That saves me the
the hottest, most humid week of the year, LLC in Saint Paul, Minn., replies: I wish trouble of forgetting I’ve set the bevel at 1°.
you can expect them to shrink when things manufacturers would add another 1⁄16 in. Making and applying jamb extensions is a
cool down and dry out. This may leave to 1⁄8 in. to the standard jamb to avoid this good choice when the wall is 1⁄4 in. or more
gaps, so the planks can be butted tight to issue altogether. But they don’t, and trim thicker than the jamb.
one another. If you’re installing dry planks carpenters have to fix it in the field. The opposite happens occasionally too,
during the coldest and driest week of the Preassembling mitered casing with bis- when the jamb is deeper than the wall.
year, the planks will likely expand with the cuits and glue will handle minor discrepan- Then it’s just a matter of shimming the
rise in humidity, which could cause them to front of the molding instead of the back.
buckle. Gaps may be unsightly, but severe Final tuning of miters can be done with
buckling can be a disaster. a low-angle block plane as the trim is
If you suspect the planks will expand, the installed, and just that simple old tool can
main trick is to avoid pinning both ends of save many trips back to the saw.
long planks tightly between intersecting
walls. The planks on the longest wall will Keep jambs from rotting
see the greatest total amount of movement I’m concerned about my exterior door
and will need bigger gaps to accommodate jambs (and bathroom door jambs, for that
that movement, so starting on the long matter) rotting because they soak up water.
walls will allow you to cover up those gaps Is there something I can do to prevent this?
with a corner board or the planks on the —R. H.
adjacent wall. via email
Narrower pieces of wood expand less
than wider ones, so I vary the gaps between Andrew Young, owner of Young & Son
boards depending on the width of the Woodworks in Portland, Ore., replies: My
board. For stock under 3 in., I’ll use a thin company always seals the end grain at the
drywall knife to gap the planks at both bottom of jambs for exterior doors, as well
ends. For wider stock, I’ll use the thin end as for interior doors set on concrete, and
of a cedar shim, doubling or tripling that “Preassembling we’ve started taking the same approach
for very wide planks such as 1x12s. for all interior doors because of the overall
You also need to allow the paneling to mitered casing with decline in the quality of jamb stock.
move at intersections with door and win- Spray-can primer or lacquer seals jambs
dow casing just as with abutting walls. biscuits and glue quite well, as does a quart of primer and a
I’ve seen paneling swell enough to jam the steady supply of chip brushes. In a pinch,
door so it won’t close. You can avoid this by will handle minor even exterior-grade wood glue does a great
simply using wider jambs and installing the job. Just paint on a couple of coats with your
casing over the paneling. discrepancies in finger and give it a few minutes to dry.
In short, think about how the wood is Along with the door jambs, we also seal
likely to move after installation and accom- wall thickness.” the top and bottom edges of interior doors
modate that movement. to prevent movement and fit issues down
the line. Temperature and humidity vary
Getting casing cies in wall thickness. When the drywall is a lot on a job site before the painters show
miters tight no more than about 1⁄8 in. proud, I score it up, and the sooner the vulnerable end grain
When I’m installing prehung interior doors, with a utility knife and beat the rock back of a door’s stiles are sealed, the better. This
I often have trouble getting the casing with a hammer, which allows the casing to is especially important for pocket doors,
miters tight. I’m sure this is because the fit without rocking on the proud edge of the which don’t have hinges to help keep them
framing and drywall aren’t perfect and the drywall, though it doesn’t help the miters. true and are often used in bathrooms where
wall ends up being a little thicker than the To get these miters tight, I’ll sometimes set the humidity levels are high.

80 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: Matthew Millham

 FHB
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buildingmatters
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD BY KEVIN IRETON

What is “good enough”?

M
y friend Buffalo “I don’t care if it’s an outhouse I will admit that, while I con- reveals around their window
is trying to finish or a courthouse, I can find a sider myself to be an extremely casing with a set of calipers.
a custom kitchen mistake in it.” And despite conscientious carpenter, my That said, there is something
renovation. Unfortunately, the wanting to add the line “We best work varies. So does my about the process of building
homeowner is helping. The settle for perfect” to the busi- judgment. What time of day and remodeling that makes
other day Buffalo caught him ness cards for my remodeling is it? I do my best work in the people pickier than they would
up on a ladder, using a vernier company, I know he was right. morning, when I’m rested and normally be.
caliper to measure the reveals Perfect does not exist. Not in the day’s frustrations haven’t Maybe because the work costs
around the window casing that the real world. Every day, all yet worn me down. More than so much money (and builders
Buffalo had just installed. He day long, I make judgment calls once, I have begun my day can have such sketchy reputa-
was checking to make sure they about my own work, decid- by ripping out and redoing tions), homeowners want to
were each exactly 1⁄4 in. ing what is and isn’t “good something that had seemed make sure they’re getting what
Buffalo didn’t have to move enough.” “good enough” at the end of they paid for. But homeowners
any casing, so apparently his Sure, I still shoot for perfect the day before. also are being asked to consider
reveals passed muster. But the miters and perfect scribes, and How comfortable am I? I can so many details—from trim
homeowner also took photos everything exactly plumb, work under the sun in 95°F tiles to drawer pulls—a process
of a joint in the crown mold- level, and square. But in the heat with 75% humidity, but I’ll that heightens their awareness
ing and sent them to Buffalo’s old houses I work on, the do better work in the shade and and demands that they look
boss. Maybe the painter could floors slope and the boards even better work in the air con- closely at things. It can make
have hidden the gaps and are cupped. Walls and ceilings ditioning. What kind of mood an otherwise normal person
minimized the misalignments, aren’t flat. Corners are never am I in? Did I just scratch off a become strident about the dif-
but we’ll never know because square. And I am paid by the winning lottery ticket? Or did I ference between a piece of trim
the homeowner insisted that it hour. If the initial fit of the just have a fight with my wife? with a 1⁄4-in.-diameter beaded
be redone. It wasn’t Buffalo’s
fault—another carpenter had
installed the crown—but it was
Buffalo’s responsibility to fix the “…a building inspector is not going to
problem and make the home-
owner happy. make value judgments about the grout joints
The most critical aspects of a
home—the structure, insula- in your tile or the miters in your trim.
tion, and mechanical systems—
are subject to the scrutiny of
Nobody’s life depends on them.”
the building department. But
a building inspector is not
going to make value judgments trim is a little bit off, then mak- The definition of “good edge and one with a 3⁄16-in.
about the grout joints in your ing it better will cost someone enough” also varies from proj- bead. As designer Jamie Wolf
tile or the miters in your trim. money—whether it’s me, my ect to project, usually because puts it, “Details can take on
Nobody’s life depends on them. boss, or my customer, some- of money. The best work takes a significance out of propor-
Finish work just has to look body’s paying. Is it worth it? longer and costs more. Not tion to their place in the fin-
good—or good enough. But The answer depends. How bad everyone can afford it. But it’s ished project.”
what exactly is “good enough,” is it? Is it interior or exterior also true that not every home- Five or six years ago, my
and who gets to decide? work? Is it paint-grade or stain- owner cares about the details to friend Pat tackled his first really
Years ago, I worked with an grade? Is it in the back of a the same degree. For example, big job—a gut renovation out-
old carpenter who used to say, closet or in the front entry hall? most people do not measure the side of Boston. He had worked

82 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 DRYWALL
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buildingmatters CONTINUED

for the owners on their previous the right person had a bad day. on “good enough,” or what you out of court. As my friend
place. That project had gone It happens; you fix the prob- they refer to as “achievable Pat learned, there are some peo-
smoothly, so as he put it, “I was lem and move on. The other minimum levels of workman- ple you can never make happy.
cocky.” He assumed all would explanation is trickier: Maybe ship.” It’s called the Residential But it’s important to know that
go well this time around. He the work is good enough and Construction Performance industry standards exist, and
was wrong. the client is being unreasonable. Guidelines, and you can view a their existence is a reminder
When the owner saw the What then? PDF online free of cost or buy a that acceptable tolerances
finished tile job in the walk- At that point, you have to ask print copy for $34. vary—from job to job, from
in shower, she was livid. The yourself, am I fixing a legiti- The guidelines cover every- homeowner to homeowner, and
grout lines were not all per- mate problem and therefore thing from foundations to from carpenter to carpenter.
fectly straight, nor were they reestablishing trust with the landscaping. In the section on So many things affect the
a consistent width. Pat said client? Or am I acquiescing interior finish, you’ll find the quality of the work I do that it
the discrepancies were 1⁄16 in. to an unreasonable demand following: “When the contrac- would be hard to list them all.
My years of experience matter,
of course, but at 40-plus, it’s
hard to say whether they’re a
“…there is something about the process of factor in favor or against. Tools
make a difference. I can gener-
building and remodeling that makes people ally do better work in the shop
than in the field because of the
pickier than they would normally be.” tools available. The difficulty
of the actual task matters too.
Scribing baseboard to a hard-
or less, but the owner didn’t and ceding authority over the tor installs the door frame wood floor is easier than scrib-
care—she wanted a new acceptable tolerances in my pro- and door, the door edge will ing a mantel shelf to a stone
shower. According to Pat, “It fession? You really don’t want be within 3⁄16 inch of parallel fireplace. I’ll likely do a better
was all so emotional for her.” to give up control of the job. to the door jamb.” Also this: job with the former.
He thought to himself, “This Some builders resolve con- “Individual cabinets should not Ultimately, though, I am a
is her dream house. I have to flicts by turning to industry have a deviation of more than professional, which means
make her happy.” He also wor- standards. Various organiza- 3⁄16 inch out of level.” And this: the variation between my best
ried that without good refer- tions offer them. If my friend “…gaps between mitered edges work and my worst work won’t
rals he wouldn’t be able to stay Pat had known where to look in trim and molding will not be something most will notice.
in business. in the ANSI standards, he exceed 1⁄8 inch.” Yes, you can still catch me say-
Pat ripped out the tile and had would have found the fol- As a veteran trim carpenter, ing “good enough” on occasion,
his installer redo the shower, lowing: “Of necessity, in any I found the standards hor- and it means I’m not happy
but the result was the same. installation, some grout joints rifying when I first read them. with the result. I’m always
She was still unhappy. Whether will be less and some more than An early mentor of mine once aiming for perfect and usually
to his credit or his shame, Pat the average minimum dimen- pointed to a miter joint that settle for good. “Good enough”
ripped out the tile a second time sion to accommodate the spe- was open 1⁄8 in. and said, “You means I’m running out of time,
and had a different installer tile cific tiles being installed.” He could throw a cat through that or patience, or both, but it also
the shower. He heard nothing could have gone on to explain gap.” These days, I draw miters means I’m pretty sure that no
for a week, then got a text from that tiles are made from clay, together with pocket screws one else will question the result.
the homeowner saying that she which naturally shrinks when and beat myself up over gaps Of course, I’ve never worked
had marked a few problem fired in a kiln, and it doesn’t of 1⁄32 in. But the NAHB is not for someone who used a feeler
areas with tape. “When I got always shrink uniformly. That recommending 1⁄8-in. gaps in gauge to check the gaps around
to the job,” Pat said, “there was leads to minor variations in miter joints. They’re defining my inset cabinet doors. No
blue tape everywhere.” the dimensions of the tile. By the worst possible result that wonder Buffalo still hasn’t fin-
When a homeowner declares varying the width of the grout would still be acceptable. Any ished that kitchen.
that something isn’t good joints slightly, a good tilesetter worse and either the work gets
enough, there are two possible can mask the variation in the torn out and fixed, or the law- Kevin Ireton, editor-at-large,
explanations. First, you screwed dimensions of the tile. yers get a phone call. is a writer and remodeling
up, and the work really isn’t The National Association Of course, pointing to indus- contractor who divides his
good enough. The wrong per- of Home Builders (NAHB) try standards may not mollify time between Connecticut
son was assigned the task, or publishes an entire manual an irate homeowner or keep and Arizona.

84 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM
 New
NEWfrom
FROMfine woodworking
MICHAEL PEKOVICH
FOUNDATIONS OF Foundations of Woodworking
WOODWORKING gets to the very core of the craft of
woodworking: laying out, cutting, and
Essential joinery techniques and building strategies
assembling joinery for furniture and other
treasured wood objects. Michael Pekovich dives into a step-
by-step, project-by-project description of the essential wood
joints, from rabbets and dadoes through mortise-and-tenons
to dovetails and miters. Master these joints and the door is
open to create just about any design you can think of.

The book concludes with a selection of inspiring projects,

including a wall cabinet, a chimney cupboard, an arched
entry table, a desk divider, a dining chair, and many more.

RABBETS AND DADOES JOIN THE CASE

Fixed shelves
and bottom are
rabbeted to create
1
⁄4-in.-square
tenons.

Case side has

1
⁄4-in.-wide by 3 4
5
⁄16-in.-deep
dadoes.
5 The ends of the
vertical divider are
The deeper dado rabbeted on each

MICHAEL PEKOVICH
ensures a tight joint face to create a
at the shoulder. 1 centered tenon,
which is notched at
the leading edge.

CHERR Y CHIMN
EY CUPBO ARD
16 3⁄4 in.

Subtop rails, 3⁄4 Top, ⁄8 in. thick

7
in. by
thick by 3 1⁄2 in. wide 12 1⁄2 in. wide by
by 15 1⁄2 in. long 16 3⁄4 in. long Back rails, ⁄4 in.
3
thick;
top rail, 3 in. wide;
all
others, 3 1⁄2 in. wide
Rabbet, 1⁄2 in.
wide by 3⁄4 in. Stopped dado for
Back panels, 3⁄8 vertical divider
deep Face-frame stile, 7 in.
⁄8 thick, rabbeted to Tenons, 1⁄4 in.
thick by 1 3⁄4 in. widein. fit 1⁄4-in. groove thick by 1 1⁄4 in.
70 in. long by
long

27 in. near the center for the shelf and drawer dividers, I 6
21 7⁄8 in. clamped a long hook stop to the crosscut-sled fence (1 &
Sides and back, 2). The dado for the case bottom is trickier because the
1
⁄2 in. thick Bottom, 5⁄16 in.
thick, rabbeted to
long side can pivot during the cut. For that dado, I made
CHIMNEY CUP fit 1⁄4-in. groove a stop block with hold-down clamps and attached it to the
BOARD: Fixed shelf, 5⁄8 in. sled (3). Clamping the piece in place kept it tight against
A SMART USE OF thick by 11 3⁄8 in.
both the fence and the sled base (4). The vertical drawer
SIMPLE JOINERY 2
wide by 15 in. long
divider required a stopped dado in the top and center
70 in. shelves. Clamping them together and routing both dadoes
at once ensured that they would line up once assembled
C ombining a rabbet with a dado on the case joints has because the joint registers off the shoulder, you can cut
and result in a truly vertical divider (5). The ends of

W hile rabbets and Dadoes, 1⁄4 in. big benefits. First, rabbeting a part to fit a dado is much the dado
Front,
a little deep, which allows room for excess glue to
dadoes may be 5 1⁄4 in.
simpler wide by 5⁄16 in. 3 in. easier than milling a part to a precise thickness to fit a gather 3 and prevents squeeze-out. The face frame and back
⁄4 in. thick the shelves and case bottom were rabbeted to create
to execute than deep
dovetails or mortise-an full-width dado. Second, the rabbet creates a shoulder on panel hide any gap at the bottom of the joint. a tab sized to fit the dadoes in the case sides (6). A
tenon joinery, I want d-
constitute a versatile to stress that they the shelf that registers against the inside face of the case To Tenons,
cut the 1dadoes
⁄4 in. in thePanel,
case3sides for the shelves, Vertical divider, featherboard clamped to the rip fence provided downward
and powerful combinati still thick by 1 in. ⁄8 in. thick, 5
3 5⁄8 in. ⁄ in. thick
8
pressure to keep the part from lifting during the cut,
it comes to building on when side. This makes for much more accurate glue-ups because dividers,
long and case bottom, I used aoncrosscut
rabbeted back sled and a
furniture. This is
down” way of building not a “dumbed- it doesn’t rely on the bottom of the dado being perfectly 1
⁄4-in.-wide dado blade on to thefittablesaw.
groove The long sides create resulting in tabs of consistent thickness. Aim for a snug
or a compromise fit and fine-tune it as necessary with a shoulder plane.
ease of constructio for the sake of even (which is difficult to pull off on a wide case side). And a bit of a challenge when dadoing. To cut the three dadoes
n. The classic Shaker
board is a great chimney cup-
example of how 70 7⁄8 in.
elegant furniture you can make sturdy,
using simple joinery.
joints on this project Most of the case
are rabbets and
subtop rails are dadoes. The
connected with
but I’ve substituted half-blind dovetails,
a rabbeted dado 72 F O U N DAT I O N S O F WO O DWO R K I N G R A B B E T S , DA D O E S , A N D G RO OV E S 73
occasion. (You can joint for those on
also replace the
drawers with pinned dovetails on the
rabbets.)
We face the same
challenge here as
wall cabinet, in that on the previous 30 3⁄4 in.
a dado joint offers Rabbet, 1⁄4 in.
means to hold parts no mechanical 25 in. Drawer guide,
together like a dovetail wide by 1⁄4 in. 1 in. wide
also provides no does. It deep
long-grain glue
sults in a weak surfaces, which
glue joint. It sounds re-
but with a smart like a nonstarter,
building strategy
strength to the case we can provide
joinery that the dado the
As on the wall cabinet, alone lacks.
we’re adding vertical
create a partial face stiles to
frame to tie the Adjustable shelf,
sides. Because this shelves into the 3
is a larger floor-stand ⁄4 in. thick
will encounter more ing piece and Bottom rail
racking stresses, on lower door,
ing the glue joint we’re fortify-
with some mechanica 3 in. wide Stiles and rails, 7
piece, the sides connect l help. On this ⁄8 in.
to the face-frame thick by 2 in. wide
tongue-and-groove stiles with a
joint. In addition, 3 3⁄4 in.
cured to the shelves the stiles are se-
with pins. A frame-and Groove, 1⁄4 in. wide
ties the shelves to -panel back 11 1⁄2 in. by 1⁄4 in. deep, inset
the sides at the rear 5
⁄16 in. from front
Glue block, 3⁄4 in.
The dadoes that of the case. 1 1⁄8 in. face Thumbnail profile, square by 4 in. long
connect the shelves 1
⁄4-in. radius,
get an upgrade. to the sides also CASE SIDE
Whereas the wall 5 1⁄2 in. mitered at corners
dadoes the full width cabinet employed 16 in.
of the shelves, on
shelves are rabbeted this project the Bottom, 3⁄4 in. thick
to fit narrower dadoes.
more work, but adding It’s a little by 10 1⁄2 in. wide Side, 3⁄4 in. thick
a rabbet to the process 70 F O U N DAT I O N S DOOR DETAIL 15 in. long
by
by 11 1⁄2 in. wide
solves some challenges actually O F WO O DWO R
KIN G
and makes for more by 70 in. long
work. The idea accurate dado, the shoulder
is to cut a dado of the joint becomes
stock and then rabbet narrower than the ing factor in how the determin-
the end of the stock it comes together. become easier and
tongue that fits into to create a the dado a little deeper So the aim is to cut more enjoyable,
the dado. A big than you need in skills will improve not just because
advantage of this that the rabbeted order to ensure but because your your
approach is that part doesn’t bottom will improve as approach and strategy
it saves you from well. The more
stock to an exact having to mill your shoulder seats. This out before the effectively you can R A B B E T S , DA D
thickness to match is a lot easier than gate through a project, navi- O E S , A N D G RO
OV E S
benefit has to do a dado. The other exact dimension. trying to nail an the more you can 71
with ending up with into your work without build accuracy
a full-width dado, square work. On Understanding how adding effort.
the stock bottoms something as simple It’s also a good
any inconsistency out in the joint, so a rabbet to a joint as adding illustratio n that
in the depth of can lead to more doesn’t rely solely sound construct
the dado (which important to your accurate work is on the strength ion
not all that uncommo is woodworking journey. choose but in the of the joinery you
n) will affect the This one step application of those
the case. When dimensions of does away with often think of design joints. While we
you rabbet the stock worrying about exact
that fits into the exact depths and thicknesses and in terms of how
makes your life termining how something a piece looks, de-
time. As you become easier at the same will go together
68 more experienced, will stand the test and whether it
F O U N DAT I O N S
O F WO O DWO R the craft will of time is an equally
KIN G the design process. important part of

R A B B E T S , DA D
O E S , A N D G RO
OV E S 69

Michael Pekovich’s first book, The Why & How of Woodworking, was the
woodworking event of the year when it was published in 2018. Foundations
of Woodworking is sure to pick up where Why & How left off, inspiring and
instructing thousands of woodworkers worldwide.

Available at TauntonStore.com or wherever books are sold

 C E L E B R AT I N G PA S S I O N F O R B U I L D I N G

I n the summer of 1982, after his junior year of college, Garland Wood
took a six-week job at renowned Colonial Williamsburg, the world’s larg-
est living history museum. He was hired into the carpentry department,
at the time a fledgling two-year-old program, and worked under carpen-
ter Roy Underhill. Roy was the very first master carpenter at Colonial
Williamsburg and the energizing force behind the institution’s approach
to building traditional homes completely by hand while providing the
public the opportunity to watch. His influence on Garland was immeasur-
able. Garland would spend another 38 years at Colonial Williamsburg,
helping exponentially expand the historical trades
program, constructing 50 of America’s most trea-
sured buildings, and rising to the position of master
carpenter himself—only the second person to be
given the designation in the foundation’s history.
Garland oversees a crew that employs exclu-
sively 18th-century techniques and processes
“Building a house is
in the construction of colonial-era buildings.
From pit-sawing pine boards, hand-hewing
simply a matter of
timbers, and hand-splitting shingles to
cutting and raising timber frames in the
solving problems.
Tidewater style and laying up hand-
made bricks in oyster-shell mortar—
I can only use 18th-
the painstaking approach to histori-
cal accuracy in the work is nothing century solutions.”
short of incredible. Garland and
his crew spend nearly 60% of GARLAND WOOD
their project time just milling MASTER CARPENTER
WILLIAMSBURG, VA.
and producing the materi-
als of a build. And they will
spend many months raising
a home or village building
on a new brick foundation
in the very same way it
was done over 240 years
ago—teaching fellow
tradespeople and the pub-
lic throughout the entirety
of the process. —Rob Yagid,
executive director, Keep
Craft Alive

Keep Craft Alive is our campaign celebrating those who have chosen to passionately pursue Listen to the full interview
a career in design, building, and remodeling. Find out more and show your support by on the new KCA Podcast at
visiting KeepCraftAlive.org, and use #KeepCraftAlive to share your passion for the cause. FineHomebuilding.com/podcast.

86 FINEHOMEBUILDING.COM Photo: courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

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