Spring has come to Asheville, and so have the bugs! It's the time of year when I start installing a lot of screen doors. This is a great time to talk about how to choose the right screen door: should you go for the cheapest option, or shell out a little more money for an upgrade? A client of mine recently picked out this nice screen door from Home Depot. At around $30, it's hard to argue with the price.
Fortunately I've worked with screens before, so I had the right tools in my van. I also had to trim the frame down to fit it to the opening. (Replacing a door is trickier than it looks.) It turned out well in the end, and it looks much better than the sagging and weathered door that was there before. You can make inexpensive materials look good... it just takes a little more work.
If you need someone with the know-how to finish and hang a screen door correctly, why not call your trusty Asheville handyman? I'll be glad to help. If you love your home and are always looking for ways to make it look "finished," then adding trim may be a great option for you. Trim is one of those things which home builders skimp on, and it's a shame, because it can really make a room. A house without trim is like art without a frame. Take a look at my latest project and you'll see what I mean: My clients' home is in the historic neighborhood of Montford, and it has many old-fashioned architectural details, so I was surprised the builder hadn't installed any trim around the doors. As you can see, it gave the rooms the finishing touch they needed. I started by measuring the doorways. Then I went back to my workshop to cut and mill the trim pieces. I used pre-primed wood for efficiency, but I made sure to sand and round the edges to soften the look of the wood and make it appear original to the house. I basically have a portable workshop in my van, so I could have done the mill work onsite, but this kept all of the sawdust and noise in my shop instead of my clients' yard. It made their life easier and kept dust to a minimum. Once I had it milled up, I took it to their home and cut it to length on site where I could be sure to get the perfect fit. Of course, I'm simplifying my explanation. There were lots of little details to fiddle with. For example, this doorway was originally out of square, so I had to correct it: It turned out beautifully. As you can see, the new trim blends in perfectly with the classic woodwork that was already there. It really frames the views into the next room nicely. Could your home use a few small updates like this? If you live in Asheville or Weaverville, give me a call, I'll be glad to help.
Ah, Spring! First the flowers begin to bloom... then the birds begin to sing... then the mosquitoes begin to bite. That's right, it's time to get the screened-in porch out of storage. If your porch needs a little TLC, you might get inspiration from a project I recently finished on an historic Asheville home. The Puppy Porch Peril One of my clients owns a lovely home in the Montford neighborhood. It's 75 years old, and although it's in great shape, it needed a little help here and there.
Her first concern was the aging porch. It has screens going all the way down to the floor. Her cats had already clawed a few holes in the mesh, and she was about to adopt a puppy, so more damage was on the way unless we could find a solution. I've been working for a property management company that runs a large apartment building. This kind of building presents a challenge: there are some doors which should be locked to the general public, but easily accessible to the residents. This nifty lock is a good solution to the problem: To open the lock, you simply punch in a short numerical code and then twist the silver knob just below the key pad. The lock can also be opened with a key in case the battery dies and the electronic parts stop working. The nice thing about this is that if you don't need to change locks or replace keys in order to keep out trespassers; you can just update the code every so often.
This is an excellent way to keep fitness rooms, laundry rooms, swimming pools and other amenities limited to use by the residents. In fact, it's great for anyone who regularly forgets their keys. You can even have two codes, with an "override" code for yourself and another code which you give out to friends or to the kids. These locks sell for about $70 at the hardware store, so it's an inexpensive investment for the convenience it brings.
My most recent job reminds me of this old song:
If you go exploring in the mountains around Asheville, you will discover many little churches tucked into the curves of the road or nestled in the little hollows. Many of these churches have been here for many generations, and the old-timers tell of times when the little churches were so crowded that the women and children sat indoors while the men stood outside the windows in order to hear the sermon.
Times have moved on, and most of the congregations have dwindled to a little handful of people, but the churches still stand. I was recently hired to do a little maintenance on one of these churches, Price's Chapel:
The church is just a few feet from the road; it was built before paved roads and fast cars. Back then the traffic past this church was mostly on hoof or foot. If you look at the roof line, you can see that the central part was added first, and then the wings on each side were added as the congregation grew.
One of the first things the congregation wanted me to do was get the door cleaned up. It had been painted at one time and then later stripped to reveal the old wood. The refinish job was probably really beautiful at one time, but this door is on the side that catches the wind and weather (not to mention the road salt). After consulting with the congregation, it was decided that a simple paint job would probably be easier to maintain.
I did a few small repairs indoors as well. The most important one was fixing the ceiling fans. The original fans were cheap and tended to clank and wobble. Apparently the clanking was so bad that some of the church members couldn't hear the Sunday school lesson.
I made a point to match the old fans. The new fans are very similar, but of much better quality, so they won't be as likely to squeak and hum as they age. Aesthetically not much has changed, but now everyone can hear the service.
All in all, this was an enjoyable job, and I'm glad I got the chance to help maintain this historic little building. |
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April 2022
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