Woodworking Service 101
1. Take the time to learn about the service you are considering purchasing.
2. Ask for the advice of local experts.
3. What should the service cost?
4. What is typically included in the service?
5. What level of training is typically required and is the service a licensed service by your state contractor’s license board?
6. Does the service provider offer references? Check them out!
7. For services above $1,000.00 work - out payment schedules that you can monitor and see so that you pay as the work progresses.
Woodworking Services
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
What is your cancellation policy?
If you need to change or cancel a scheduled service, we require 24 hours notice.
If we really like the woodworking contractor you sent us can we request them again?
When you are satisfied and happy with your service provider every effort is made to have the same contractor provide you with regular scheduled service. We suggest that you schedule your regular service based on the contractor’s availability and that you try to stay with the agreed upon schedule.
Who Is responsible for breakage or damage to my property?
Each contractor is responsible for all breakage or damage to your property. Generally it is a very good idea for you to take a few minutes the first time a service is provided by a team and detail your expectations.
When the work is completed it is a very good idea to do a detailed walk thru and to point out any thing that may have been missed. The contractors are happy to correct missed items and it is far less costly for you and the contractor to have it done right the first time VS coming back to fix it later.
Does someone need to be home when the woodworking contractor arrives?
You can make a variety of different arrangements to enter your home if you will not be there. We recommend that once you have established a regular housekeeping contractor that you decide together the best arrangement for your specific situation. Many customers prefer to give us a key. Others leave us a key in a safe place each visit. Alarm systems can either be left off or you can give us entry/exit codes.
What about tipping?
We leave that up to you. Tips are always appreciated!
What if I am not happy with the woodworking contractor that you refer?
If you are compatible with the first woodworking contractor and use the service on a regular basis, then the first contractor will provide you with services at the frequency you request. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied, we will refer a contractor who better suits your needs for the next service. If you are not happy we want to know so we can make things right.
Do you accept credit cards?
YES. You can also pay with cash or a check at the time of your service.
Woodworking Services
Paint Tips:
When the paint remover has done its job and the surface is softened, you are ready to remove the loose paint. It is usually best to remove as much remover and paint as possible the first time. A scraper works well for this.
Paint or varnish can be sanded away with any type of power or hand sander. For bigger sanding jobs, you'll want to use a power sander. Belt, disk or drum sanders can be used.
Although sanding removes a painted surface quickly and easily, it has one basic disadvantage - it also removes some of the wood surface underneath the paint. If you are working on a fine piece of furniture, sanding is not recommended. When sanding old paint or varnish from the surface, use open coat, coarse sandpaper. Fine sandpaper clogs up quickly, making it ineffective as a paint remover.
After cleaning and allowing to dry, most surfaces will need to be lightly sanded to prepare the surface. With a better grade of remover, no sanding or swabbing is necessary. Some types of paint can be especially hard to remove. This usually requires a second coat of paint remover after you have removed the first coat of enamel. If the surface has several layers of paint, it may be necessary to apply paint remover a third time. As a rule, sanding is recommended only on extremely rough jobs. Chemical paint removers are much more effective and easier to use.
Drywall Tips:
Very few people have ever heard of "hydrous calcium sulphate." And even fewer are aware that hydrous calcium sulphate - CaSO4.2H2O as chemists know it - is gypsum, the rock that nobody knows.
In addition to being found in the Egyptian pyramids, gypsum rock is referred to in the ancient cuneiform scripts of the Assyrians. Its use was probably developed by the Greeks, whose influence certainly remains in the name by which the rock is known. They called it Gypsos, the source of our word "gypsum."
Gypsum is a rock that, like limestone, occurs naturally in many parts of the world, and like limestone, in an absolutely pure form it is white. However, the usual presence of darker impurities produces rock in varying shades of gray, brown, and even black. Since it normally is found close to the surface, gypsum can be mined or quarried easily.
The biggest part of the gypsum rock used in this country goes into wallboard for homes. Gypsum "boards" are formed by sandwiching a core of wet plaster between two sheets of heavy paper. When the core sets and is dried, the sandwich becomes a strong, rigid, fire-resistant building material. Fire-resistant because in its natural state, gypsum contains water, and when exposed to heat or flame, this water is released as steam, retarding heat transfer. Manufactured in unbelievable quantities on continuous machines almost a quarter mile in length, gypsum wallboard and lath, prefinished wallboard, and gypsum sheathing for use under exterior finishes are among the most important materials used in housing.
Here are a few other ways in which gypsum is seen during an average day.
First of all, there is toothpaste. Gypsum forms the basis for some of the well-known brands of toothpaste, and thereby helps to pay the salary of some of television's best-known entertainers.
Most of the fixtures in bathrooms are made of clay formed in a mold of gypsum plaster, and chances are that gypsum board is behind the wall tile.
At the breakfast table, plates, cups, and saucers are present which were shaped on or in a gypsum plaster mold, a mixture of plaster of paris and water. So were the sterling silver handles of knives, forks, and spoons.
On the way to work or school, people step on sidewalks made of Portland cement, which contains a percentage of gypsum to regulate the setting time.
Maybe their walk is covered with chalk marks from the game the children played the night before. But of course, they weren't made by chalk at all, but by a molded stick of, you guessed it, soft gypsum plaster. Many streets and highways also contain their share of gypsum.
Doctors and dentists, too, use gypsum for everything from dental molds to splints.
Benjamin Franklin, the great experimenter, was one of the first to introduce it in this country when he used ground raw gypsum, called land plaster, on his farm.
Today, thousands of tons of land plaster are used in the U.S. each year.
Woodworking Services
DRYWALL FAQs:
What is the "R" Value for gypsum board?
For purposes of calculating "U" values, the "C" factor for 1" gypsum board is 1.2; Resistance "R" for 3/8" board is 0.32; for 1/2" board 0.45; for 5/8" board 0.56; and for 1" board 0.83.
What's the difference between "regular" and "type X" gypsum wallboard? ASTM C 36 designates two types of gypsum wallboard, regular and type X. Type X wallboard, which is typically required to achieve fire resistance ratings, is formulated by adding noncombustible fibers to the gypsum. These fibers help maintain the integrity of the core as shrinkage occurs providing greater resistance to heat transfer during fire exposure.
By ASTM definition, type X gypsum wallboard must provide: not less than a one hour fire resistance rating for 5/8" board or a 3/4 hour fire resistance rating for 1/2" board applied in a single layer, nailed on each face of load-bearing wood framing members, when tested in accordance with the requirements of ASTM E 119, Methods of Fire Test of Building Constructions and materials.
Additionally, the Gypsum Association requires 1/2" type X gypsum board to achieve a one hour fire resistance rating when applied to a floor ceiling system, as described by GA File Number FC 5410, in GA 600, the Gypsum Association Fire Resistance Design Manual.
What is Hi-Impact Wallboard?
What is Hi-Impact Wallboard? Hi-Impact wallboard is a specially designed product consisting of 5/8" Fire-Shield Type X wallboard with a stronger core and face paper that is backed with Lexan polycarbonate film manufactured by GE Plastics.
What is "Green board"?
Green board is designed as an indoor tile backer board and can be used as sheathing. Gypsum sheathing has a moisture-resistant paper and a treated or non-treated gypsum core. Green board also has a moisture resistant paper and a treated core. Green board has a tapered edge while sheathing is a square edge product. If you plan to attach vinyl or steel siding over the sheathing, there will be a dip at the taper; therefore, this application is unadvisable.
If the substrate is a stone or brick cavity wall, however, the application can work.
We strongly suggest using building felt over this type of sheathing. It appears that for any high humidity application Green Board he preferred product. But that’s not necessarily the case.
For ceiling applications, green board requires extra support. According to Gypsum Association guidelines, green board in a ceiling application needs 12"o.c. support. f supports are 16" o.c., 5/8" green board should be used. Why is this additional support needed? Moisture repellents, such as the asphalt and wax emulsions in the green board core formulation, act as lubricants. These lubricants cause the gypsum crystals to slip easily, resulting in board sag.
For bathroom ceiling applications, we recommend regular or Type X board. Simply apply a good quality sealer and two coats of latex based paint after installation.
As your house gradually settles over time, small changes in the alignment of door jambs can cause doors to stick. Other things, such as loose hinges or new thick carpet can make it difficult to open or close a door. Fixing each of the things that causes a door to stick is easy, though and requires at most a hand plane or circular saw.
When a door sticks in the jamb (the fixed frame around the door) look to see where the door hits the jamb. If it hits on the top of the door on the lock side of the door, shim the top hinge with cardboard to move the lock side of the door down a hair, away from the jamb. Remove the screws from one side of the hinge as in photo 1, cut a piece of thick cardboard (not corrugated) to the size of the mortise for the hinge and reinstall the screws.
