In my youth, upon returning from an overseas excursion I can remember going to the construction site with my grandfather. And he was always tinkering around in a workshop. He was always doing something. Somehow, some of that busyness got handed down to me. By watching him, playing with Lincoln Logs and building blocks, and building model airplanes, I developed reasonable hand to eye coordination and spatial preception. It wasn't until after High School that it clicked and became a part of my life. Now I try to do the best with what I've got.

In the early days of being a poor irresponsible musician, I used to pay part of my rent by doing work for various landlords. I taught me a LOT about roofing. It seems they all have an aversion to it. Or at least the ones I dealt with in my young adolescent days. I also got pretty good at plumbing for the same reason. I learned patching drywall because I had a lot of angey friends.

In my mid 20's I indentured into an apprenticeship through the United Brotherhood of Carpentrers and Jointers Local 1849. I learned many tricks of the trade here which have carried me through some tough jobs. It helped pay for my college.

I find that I do more remodel but I prefer new construction. It seems most builders prefer new work. It's cleaner, easier to go from the ground up, and usually square and plumb.Through my networking I get a lot of folks who are getting ready to sell a house and they need someone to get it up to par for a quicker sale. I find it is funny that people put the money into the improvement to enhance their sale potential rather than enjoy their efforts. But I try hard to give the customer what they want rather than what I think they want.

Below are some before and after pictures of things I have done over the years to improve homes.
 
  Bathroom Before           Bathroom After              Bathroom Final
 

   Kitchen Before               Kitchen After
 

   House Before                 House After
 
 
   Doors Before                 Doors After                  Doors Final
 

   Porch Before                  Porch After                  Porch Final
 

 

Having a sense of spatial relations, being good at math, and longing with desire to understand how things work has given me an ability to visualize how things work from the bottom up. It has given me license to be artistic, or austic-you decide, in my woodworking.

Here are some photos of other things I have made from wood.
 
 

  Picture Frames in the works (White Oak and Purpleheart)
 

  Cabinet for Mom's Buddah Stuff  (Teak)
 

  Vanity Set including Facia for light set (Ash)
 

  Handrail for Porch (Cedar)