Home Improvement Projects

DAD has been charged with completing a long list of projects ranging from the simple, like cleaning tile grout, to the challenging, like completing the installation of the door he installed 10 years ago.

The goal is to either ready the place for sale, or make it less of an eyesore for the Family if they continue to reside there. More likely it is the former since the Twins are growing up and need space, their own rooms, and a secure yard to play in with a huge tree house.

To see pictures of some of the projects, click below to continue.

Paint cabinets

After so many years, and so many wonderful meals made in the New Family kitchen, oil has covered nearly every surface and the paint has worn in high use areas. Sometimes cleaning isn't sufficient. Above, the left cabinet frame was repainted. The unpainted right cabinet shows the yellowing that occurred over the years. These are painted frames so cleaning did not remove the yellow despite Dad having tried several products.

Paint worn away.

And of course no amount of cleaning can restore paint that has worn away.

"Regrout" tile floor in bathroom.

Over time the grout on the floor had cracked, broken, and in some places come out because the the subfloor swells and contracts with the change of seasons. Rather than actually replace the grout with new grout which would do the same over time, or even go so far as removing the tile and repairing the subflooring, Dad found a nifty product that fills in the grout and expands and contracts with the shifting tiles. It is as easy to install as caulk. He tested it for a year. It has held up well.

Remove and clean all cabinet doors while paint dries.

The cabinet doors are faced in a material that makes them easy to clean. Easy that is if Dad uses the right cleaner. See below.

Before cleaning

Cabinet doors after cleaning.

Dad had never thought about using Dow scrubbing bubbles in the kitchen. He always thought of it as a bathroom cleaner. However, it made quick work of the accumulated grease on the laminate facings.

He was so impressed he used it on the ceiling fan blades. There dust settles into the oil and is really hard to clean. Normally Dad removes them and scrubs them. HE didn't have to do that this time.

Paint side table

Painted side table

Of course he is not relieved of childcare.The Twins do not just disappear while all of this is taking place.

Replace bedroom door.

This old hollow core door is damaged, though the photo doesn't show it well. Plus it has a vent at the bottom that Dad installed years ago for reasons lost to time. A potential buyer will not want that.

Fit new bedroom door.

You can tell the skill of the carpenter by examining his "curlings" the shavings that come off of the plane. Notice Dad is not prominently displaying his curlings? That is because there aren't any. Sure, anyone could use a power planer and get perfection. Dad used a hand plane for good reason. Read on.

The doors were going into existing door frames, so the doors have to fit existing openings, which may have been square when installed back in the 1970s, but are no longer square today.

Mortise hinges

This is how Dad normally likes to work wood - power tools. Above he routered out the hinge mortises. They are perfect (but yawn). They only look a bit raggedy because the paint has yet to be trimmed.

Paint and install

These six panel doors have such nice detail that could easily be lost if Dad had decided to cover them in one coat of paint. So he painted three thinner coats to preserve the detail.

Sand and paint shelf. And sand and paint again.

Near mirror perfect.

Sanding down a project to a high, near mirror perfect, luster is a joy for Dad. Starting with rough grit, material removing, sand paper Dad made the MDF shelf smooth to the touch. Then he followed up with alternating coats of paint and increasingly finer grits until he was able to be the brush-stroke-less semigloss above. This is very time consuming, and he had to quit and move on to other projects before he reached perfection, but it is still very good.

Mortise relief for latch plate.

This is the door Dad installed when he and Mom first married. Although it was a prehung door, it came without the latch plate relief. Dad was certain cutting this void required a trim router which he did not own. So it was never completed. A while ago Dad was reading about using hand tools as woodworkers 100 years ago did. The author persuaded him that for some jobs, hand tools were superior to power tools if they were sharp and proper technique used. Cutting this mortise with a chisel convinced Dad that this was one such case that would support that assertion.

Without the mortise, the latch plate strikes the strike plate and prevents closure.

Dad followed the techniques that he read about. He scored a 1/32" outline of the latchplate profile. The chisel bevel faced the material to be removed.

One of the conditions required, according to the article, was that the wood be solid hardwood. This technique works poorly on hollow core doors and on MDF. Dad bought this door believing it to be solid oak. It is not. It has an oak strip edge glued onto MDF. The oak strip is only 1/2" thick. Dad proceeded anyway hoping that would be thick enough.

As per instructions, he began removing material with the bevel side out.

Then he flipped it over, bevel side in, to control cutting depth.

After completion he was not pleased with the results. The corners were raggedy and the depth of plane was not uniform. Since this will be covered by the latch plate, it is acceptable for his level of skill. Next time he does this, it will be closer to perfect. Also, because the oak strip was too thin, it began to split on the right side. Wood glue and clamps will solve that problem.

Once installed, the latch plate sits flush with the edge if not completely square in the recess. Well, it will sit flush once he finds and installs the bottom screw. Darn kids, "WHERE IS IT? IT WAS RIGHT HERE WHEN I STARTED! DON'T LAUGH AT DADDY. IT WAS RIGHT HERE! Oh come kids. Where is Daddy's screw? Buggy can you help Daddy find his screw?"

The kids were not forthcoming in telling Dad where the screw was, so he is in search of a replacement screw.