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Posts from the “Uncategorized” Category

3-D printers?

Posted on 14 August 2013

I believe it’s rare for tradespeople to think of themselves explicitly as business owners, and I’m not an exception.  We see ourselves as makers of things, and we grudgingly accept the business side as the necessity that allows us to keep making.  For example, in the past when people asked me about my business model, I used to fumble for a coherent answer.   I’ve gradually come to realize that I do have a business model, though it’s been implicit for much of my company’s existence:  We can succeed if we provide products and services that can’t be replicated in a factory.  We’re based in Boston, where wages and expenses are very high, and we rarely make the same thing twice.  This is not…

Categories: Shop work, Uncategorized, victorian, vintage

Tagged: bracket, corbel, Jamaica Plain, mahogany, sapele, shop work, victorian

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Honor system

Posted on 8 June 2013

I have the pleasure of working with some really great people.

 

Today, we were in the final stages of pre-demolition work on a large renovation project.  A couple of folks from Castle Electric, my usual electricians, were on the job yesterday pulling light fixtures and generally making the place safe for the guys who will be taking down the plaster next week.  I had asked them to be careful with a number of the fixtures so that we could donate them to the Reuse Center.  This morning I found a collection of fixtures ready for new homes along with this note:

 

Broken light fixture with note in apology
Categories: trade secrets, Uncategorized

Tagged: Castle Electric, Electrician, light fixture, Reuse Center

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The gang

Posted on 17 February 2011

For the first time in living memory, we all managed to gather in one place, and what a place!  a wonderful Jamaica Plain restaurant called Vee Vee, owned by our friends Dan and Kristen Valachovic.  Unfortunately, the event that finally motivated us to gather en masse was John’s going-away dinner.  Today was his last day (tiling to the end!), and Saturday he starts the drive back to San Diego, via Vermont, to honor his love of non-Euclidean geometry. Best wishes and happy travels to John, and we hope to lure him back to the fairer coast soon.

Categories: History, Uncategorized

Tagged: Vee Vee

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Unintended consequences

Posted on 24 December 2010

The chimney wasn’t so good.   It was failing structurally, and someone had made a half-hearted attempt to splint it back into soundness with a couple blocks of wood, screw hooks, and a turnbuckle.  It was also on the small side — only 16 inches square, but was supporting large hearths above — and the house was sagging around it. There was also a question of respect.  I make no claims at knowing the electrical code, but I’m pretty sure it’s not recommended to run wires down the center of a chimney.   Given all thie, the clients asked us to remove it, shore up the house around it, and replace the non-functional fireplaces with something more user-friendly. While the weather was still reasonably…

Categories: Structural work, Uncategorized

Tagged: bricks, chimney, Santa, structure

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Navigation and security package

Posted on 29 November 2010

Two dogs in cab of Isuzu box truck

 

Musti and Luc, on the clock.

Categories: Uncategorized

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History versus gravity

Posted on 23 November 2010

We’ve recently started work on the temporary stabilization of a lovely 1840 Greek Revival carriage house near Boston, MA.  When I was first asked to look at the project over the summer, the building was substantially out of plumb.  When we started work last week, the condition of the building was becoming alarming.   The building had been leaning considerably to the right; now it had pitched over further, and seemed to be tipping backwards as well.  We set up a plumb line as a reference mark to allay our fears that it was moving further by the hour.   Among the carriage house’s many woes, the floor framing system, sill, and foundation had all failed on the right and rear sides of the building. …

Categories: Structural work, Uncategorized

Tagged: carriage house, footings, structural work

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The walnut saga

Posted on 18 November 2010

We recently finished a renovation in Brookline, MA, in a generally worker-friendly building:  there was air conditioning and heat at the appropriate times, and, since we were working in a penthouse unit, an excellent view.  The building had only one dammit feature, which will become relevant later in the story. The architect we worked with, Carol Marsh of Helios Design Group, did her job perfectly:  she designed a beautiful space, and left the details of execution to us.  Perhaps the most challenging detail of the kitchen was a ten-foot-long walnut counter, supported at one end by cabinets and at the other end by a single leg. The fun started early, as it turned out that stock of sufficient length was not common.  Highland Hardwoods…

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Brookline, screw-ups, stairs, steel, table, walnut

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