Sawdust and Shims
A working journal of small repairs, paint and trim, written a job at a time.
Archive
Entries grouped by the month they were written, newest month first.
November 2015
- Cutting a clean line where wall meets ceiling 8 November 2015
September 2015
- What a shim actually does, and why you need more than one 27 September 2015
August 2015
- Reading a stud finder that keeps lying to you 16 August 2015
June 2015
- Patching a doorknob hole so the repair disappears 21 June 2015
May 2015
- Choosing a sheen before choosing a colour 3 May 2015
March 2015
- Scribing a baseboard to a floor that is not flat 15 March 2015
November 2014
- Undercutting door casing before the floor goes down 30 November 2014
October 2014
- Acclimating boards, and what happens when you skip it 12 October 2014
August 2014
- A small tool kit that covers most of a first year 24 August 2014
June 2014
- Why the second coat looks worse than the first 8 June 2014
April 2014
- Sanding between coats without sanding through 20 April 2014
February 2014
- Setting a fence post that stays where you put it 9 February 2014
November 2013
- Sharpening a chisel on sandpaper and glass 17 November 2013
September 2013
- Fixing a squeaking floor from above 22 September 2013
Labels
- Paint and Finishes (4)Brushwork, sheen, sanding between coats and the things that go wrong on the second pass.
- Walls and Trim (3)Plaster and board repairs, finding what is behind the surface, and fitting trim to rooms that are out of true.
- Floors (3)Boards, thresholds, squeaks and the preparation that decides how a floor behaves later.
- Tools and Materials (3)What a tool is actually for, what a first kit needs, and keeping an edge worth using.
- Outdoors (1)Work that has to survive weather, frost and ground that moves.