I recently did an onsite furniture refinishing job, and the outcome was amazing!

The "Before" picture of this old table looks absolutely hopeless. Most of the lacquer finish has worn off. Kids have "decorated" it with red, green and purple crayons, and there are countless rings and scratches.

I didn't have much hope for it, but my clients weren't too worried about that.

"Just do the best you can," they said. "We're trying to sell our house, and we need a decent table in the dining room."

So I got started. Click any picture to see more:

As you can see, a few passes from my sander stripped the old finish right off, including the crayon "art" and the water rings. What was revealed was a gorgeous white oak top which worked beautifully with my clients' other furniture:

My clients liked it so much that they decided to keep it. I love it when I can take an old beat-up table and unearth its "family heirloom" potential.

If you have battered old wooden furnishings, why not ask me over for a furniture touch-up session? I can also fix scratches on wooden trim and baseboards. It's a great way to breathe new life into old wood.

Egads! It's the middle of February, but it's already porch weather here in Asheville.

Of course, here in the mountains, the weather might be like this in the morning:

and like this by evening:

...or vice versa... but I'm not complaining! I just enjoy the good weather while it's here.

And speaking of enjoying the good weather, is your porch in good shape and ready for Spring? Outdoor spaces are an important part of your home value, so give me a call if you need someone to replace your rotten porch floorboards:

....or repair your deck flooring. We do that, too:

Another common problem is paint peeling on railings. We can repaint that for you! Check it out... it makes a big difference:

If your railings are in worse shape, we can do a total replacement. Here's one I did with Trex synthetic railings:

We can also beef up existing railings:

Or add a gate to keep in pets and kids:

Speaking of pets and kids, we can add lattice to protect your screened-in porch from little claws and fingers... or install a whole new set of screens:

So if you're ready to enjoy your porch again, give us a call. We'll get it in good shape for the sunny Spring weather.

Today we're doing SCIENCE.

Not long ago, I was standing in the hardware store staring at the bewildering array of paintbrushes and wondering whether the expensive ones are worth the extra five bucks. So in the interest of handymankind, I did an experiment: I bought brushes from the two most popular brands and compared them.

The Purdy cost about $15 and the Wooster cost about $10. Here they are in almost-new condition:

Now when it comes to paintbrushes, I am a cruel master. It comes with the territory. As a handyman, one of my top priorities is keeping your home clean during the job, and the last thing I want to do is rinse my brushes in your sink. So paintbrushes get tossed into paint cans or brush keepers or plastic bags, then taken home and rinsed out later. This is basically the worst thing you can do to a brush, but that's the handyman life.

Here's the same brushes after a month of misuse. So far, so good. The brush keepers (those plastic boxes on the right) have kept the paint from drying on the brush, so I've been able to get most of the paint out after each use.

At first glance, the Purdy (the expensive brush with the dark bristles) looks like it's performing poorly. As you can see, it's not holding its shape as well compared to the Wooster:

However, at this point I really prefer the Purdy, because it's great in action. That curly little tip holds a nice bead of paint, and it's much easier to cut in and make neat lines with it.

The Wooster is stiffer. It can be harder to control it, and I can't get into to corners with it as well as I can with the Purdy. The Purdy just feels better to paint with.

So I was all set to recommend the Purdy, until this happened:

One of my "brush keepers" popped open when I wasn't looking, the brush dried out, and I discovered just how unreliable these fancy plastic gadgets can be. (I should have stuck with my trusty Ziploc bags.) As I've said, the handyman life is hard on brushes, and this was a timely reminder that dead brushes are a real problem for me.

So which brush is better?

The Wooster is the most cost-effective. Use it as your "beater" brush.

The Purdy paints better. Use it if you really need to cut in a straight line and/or you have the time to clean your brush.

Or you could just hire me to paint your house. I'm good at it!

We usually post pictures of important house repairs (when I take the pictures) or pretty pictures of pretty houses (when my wife takes the pictures) but this time we're sharing something entirely different: goats! goats in every direction!

And a goat shed.

Mark Anderson, one of the handymen in our network of craftsmen, recently shared photos of a winter project on his mountain homestead. They were so interesting that we asked him to let us share them here.

Like any frugal farmer, Mark used as much reclaimed and inexpensive lumber as possible, including these old logs.

He used a winch to drag the logs in place, then hand-chiseled the ends where the beam will rest on the log post. Trust me, this is hard work!

Fortunately he had a few helpers. ("Here, let me hold that post up for you.")

"No, a little to the left."

Even though he was just building a goat shed, Mark made everything plumb and level, and braced it well against the goatly onslaught.

The goats seem happy...

...but Mark's even happier.

Do you have a building project in mind? Mark is an experienced carpenter and is available to build small deck additions and similar projects. He can also install interior trim and custom built-in shelving and cabinets... and goat sheds!

Click the button to request an estimate, and we'll be glad to put you in touch with him.