Gallery
Here is where you can see some of the work I have done. All the pictures shown here are pictures I took before, during and after projects I completed.
Heat Pump Outdoor Coil Cleaning
These people had heat pumps not providing heating or cooling with error codes on their indoor units saying that there was overheating/ice buildup. I went and looked at the outdoor coils and they were so clogged that almost no air could even flow over them to have heat/cold exchanged. I cleaned them, reset the error codes, ran the units through their paces a little bit and the problem had been completely solved, with plenty of hot and cold air now being provided. I am very careful while doing this. First I start with just my bare hands grabbing the leaves, twigs and large chunks of fluff that are easy to grab, being careful not to smash or bend any fins. Then I use an air blower to get out as much as I can dry, that way minimal wet debris will settle down to potentially clog any condensate drain ports. Then I soak the coils with coil cleaning solution, let it sit for a little while, and spray the coils off with slightly pressurized clean water. You don't want a lot of pressure while doing this, even a garden hose if aimed just wrong can bend some of the tiny metal fins and prevent full airflow, but if you're careful a hose will work. I also make sure to spray out any condensate drain areas and verify those are not clogged. Once done, I straighten out any fins that may have been damaged by past pets or people bumping into them, to the best of my ability.
Branch Removal
This customer had some low hanging branches that were starting to hit their roof/gutters which they were concerned about. I trimmed this tree back a bit for them.
Roof Drainage Repair/Modification
This customer had an interesting problem. Whoever they bought their house from had a custom covered porch built at some point, and quite frankly it wasn't built all that well. The covering tilted down toward a dirt/grass/paver path they have on the side of their house. This caused rain water that came down the side of the house roof connecting to the porch roof to want to run off the side of the porch roof instead of going to the end where they had put the gutter. It poured over the wood fascia, causing the paint to start bubbling and flake off over time. It also poured onto the path, making a muddy mess. The flashing installed was downturned with no drip edge, allowing the water to flow off unimpeded instead of being guided toward the gutter on the end of the porch roof. They said they weren't concerned about how the top of the porch roof looked since they could never see that anyways, their only concern was the water messing up the fascia and the path beneath it. I sanded and repainted the fascia, then installed rain diverter flashing to guide the water to the gutter. I put a bead of weatherproof roofing sealant under the flashing before screwing it down using roofing screws with rubber washers, then put dabs of sealant on top of each screw head and along the entire interior edge of the flashing to really make sure no water leaked under the flashing or through where I put the screws.
Hedge Trimming
A customer had not clipped their hedges in a while and wanted the heavy overgrowth removed. It did take more time than a normal trimming would because this particular type of plant has some very thick heavy branches once it grows this big, but I was able to get it done.
Shower Mold/Mildew Removal and Recaulking
A customer had a shower with caulk over the grout on the perimeter of the shower floor and up the wall a little bit which was old, failing and had moldy mildewy growth collecting. I brought a scraper made from epoxy resin which wouldn't damage the underlying grout and used that with acetone then rubbing alcohol and towels to remove all the old caulk and clean the microbial growth. Once the grout had all dried I applied a new bead of some high quality caulk.
Garage Storage Shelf
A shelf for some extra storage. You can see the progression of the project a little bit, and then some photos showing the different types of structural, construction, and general purpose screws I like to use on a project like this to make it as strong as possible. At the end you can see me proving the strength of the shelf by sitting on it along with some boxes of things being stored.
Custom Security Camera Installation
When people buy security cameras, they are usually trying to catch a view of a certain area. Sometimes it seems like there is just no good place a camera can be mounted to allow a view of the area you want. One example could be if you have a porch with a sliding glass door and you want your porch to be watched by the camera from inside. On most sliding glass doors, the frames are too thick to be able to have a camera mounted on the drywall near the door and still be able to see the porch outside. In these situations, I can figure out how to build some sort of bracket or box to hold the camera exactly where you want it to enable you to get the view and the peace of mind you desire.
Grass Wallpaper Removal and Painting
For this project, a customer had some old grass wallpaper covering wood paneling which a dog had gotten to. Most of the bottom portion of the wallpaper was scratched off. They wanted it removed and paint applied instead. I rented a commercial-duty steamer, steamed and scraped all the grass wallpaper off the wall carefully to make sure I didn't put gouges in the paneling, then left it to dry for the night. I came back the next day and used my electric sander with my dust extracting vacuum connected to sand any remaining bits of adhesive that I couldn't scrape along with any rough spots. Then I put on 2 coats of a color they selected.
Jump Starting a Car
With this portable jump starter I am able to safely jump cars without having to use a long set of jumper cables and another vehicle. This allows me to jump cars in places where you normally might not be able to, since I can just walk right up to the dead car wherever it is without needing to be able to pull another car up next to it. This device also has safety features that make it safer than using cables and another car.
Custom Deadlock Installation
For this project, someone was worried about criminals being able to pick the keyed deadbolt on their front door and come in while they were sleeping at night. To solve this, I installed only one side of a deadlock for them, which is slightly different than your usual deadbolt. With this lock, you do not have to install the key cylinder if you don't want, no big hole is required in the door in this situation, and you are still able to lock it when you are home for extra security. Of course you can't lock it when you leave in this case, but that wasn't a concern with this person. I installed it with extra long construction screws on the female/receiving end which go all the way into the wall framing, not just the door frame. Obviously if someone wants to get into a house, any door can be broken down, but with a setup like this they would have to make significant noise to get through your door since there is no cylinder that they can quietly pick and turn. They would have to smash through this or cut through the door to get in. Hopefully this would wake you up and alert you to the fact someone is trying to break in.
Pre-fab Shelf Installation
This project was a fairly straightforward installation of some storage shelves for someone. The only unique thing here was that they were going to be accessing these shelves from a step-stool that they were concerned about possibly slipping on while reaching. To ensure that grabbing onto a shelf in the result of a slip/fall would not result in the shelf being ripped from the wall, I used specialty toggle bolt style wall anchors instead of the type that swell into drywall with a screw. I also purchased extra-strength brackets and used more than the minimum required. Based on the ratings of each fastener and shelves, each shelf individually should be able to support about 100 pounds more than the weight of the person who will be using it.
Pre-fab Dresser/Changing Table Assembly
For this project, I assembled a dresser/changing table that someone had ordered.
Custom Picture Frames
For this project, I made some custom tongue and groove picture frames for someone's artwork. The frames were left barely sanded for a rough, natural look.
Baseboard and Door Casing Replacement
For this project I replaced all the baseboards in one room and at the bottom of some stairs, and the casings around both sides of one door and only one side of another door. Basically the customer was having new flooring installed by another company, but those guys did not want to do the trim work, so I came in and took care of all that. The customer also repainted their own door frames.
Car Stereo Upgrade
Here I replaced an old, outdated receiver with a new one and a kit custom made for this car which turned some of the empty area where the old stereo used to be into another pocket that can be used to hold a smartphone, wallet, or any other small things like that. The new receiver also came with a small separate microphone that I installed near the windshield to provide better voice quality when making phone calls through the receiver using bluetooth. It also came with a new HD radio tuner that I connected to the old antenna, which automatically turns typical radio quality sound into almost CD-quality, as long as the radio station is able to broadcast in HD.
Custom Shelves Made and Installed
For this project, someone wanted a shelf made to specific dimensions to fit between other things on a wall. A pre-fab product was not an option in this scenario, so I cut, doweled and glued this together for them and then hung it on the wall using overly strong toggle bolt style bolts to be sure it would never come down. The drywall will tear off the studs before this shelf comes down. I finished it with just a rough sanding to keep it natural looking and rubbed it with some boiled linseed oil to bring out the beautiful grain in the wood and give it a little protection.
Freehand Routed Nameplate
This was a simple little piece of reclaimed 2x4 that I used my router to put a name into and a nice edge on for someone.
Bathroom Trim Upgrade
For this project, a customer had a problem with kids constantly getting out of the shower way too fast and partially flooding the bathroom floor, resulting in their MDF baseboard material becoming swollen and water damaged over time. I was able to recommend and install new pre-finished, PVC-made baseboards that are completely waterproof.
