Light Carpentry

How To Make $25 -$45/Hour As A

Finish CarpenterCopyright 2007 by Lee’s Painting Service. All rights reserved.

Light Carpentry

© Copyright 2007 by Lee Cusano, Lee’s Painting Service

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted inany form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, datedand signed permission from the author.

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES:

The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date ofpublication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reservesthe right to alter and update his opinion based on the new conditions. The report isfor informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify theinformation provided in this report, the author does not assume any responsibility forerrors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations areunintentional. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services ofa fully qualified professional should be sought. This book is not intended for use as asource of legal or accounting advice. You should be aware of any laws, which governbusiness transactions or other business practices in your country and state. Anyreference to any person or business whether living or dead is purely coincidental.

Introduction

If you have a gift for working with tools and you would like to start orexpand your business, there is no reason why you cannot find plentyof jobs, and make fantastic money in the carpentry business.

You don’t really need to fork out a lot of money to start. You basicallyneed a compound mitre saw, an inexpensive air nailer and compressorand a few other small tools you can keep in a toolbox.

Do small jobs at first and upgrade your power tools to better ones asyou get more jobs. You can contact building contractors and ask forsmall projects or to help out where they get behind.

Do good work and a contractor or residential referrals and new leadscan keep you business and making as much as $1,000 - $1,500 perweek.

You can also do just handyman projects if you are looking for more ofa part-time retirement type of business or side business.

Tools and materials needed:

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Compound Miter Saw, stud finder, brad nailer, finish stapler,compressor, small square, finishing hammer, small amount of sandpaper, pencil, tape measure, tube of wood filler, drill & piloting bits,sawhorses, a junk board you can use as a work table, safetyglasses or goggles,

Best wood to use for trim: Poplar unless specified

Get a trim catalog from lumber yards: shows all the styles ofcasings and baseboard trim. Get it at your local lumber yard

Where to get lumber: local lumber company yard or a companythat specializes in trim, doors, windows, etc. They can also alterany trim if needed.

Getting it delivered: as low as $12 delivery charge (unless youhave a truck that you can carry 9-foot, 10-foot lengths in, etc.)

What lengths to buy: pre measure the size of the room forbaseboard and measure your windows and doorways for the correctamount of casing.

Finishing Nails (4D 1 ½” & 6D 2”), liquid nails, shims

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Here is the trim I had delivered to the house I am currently workingat. It is called “poplar” and it is what carpenters normally use to trimout houses. It paints up and stains really nice also.

It is best to measure how long the walls are so you can have your trimcut long enough to complete a full wall.

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Here I am fitting in my door casing with a scrap piece to lineeverything up before I tack the side-piece.

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Here is a better shot of how I line up my trim. I leave a quarter inchspace all the wall around (that I just eyeball). You can sell the quarter-inch spacing just left of the trim where the door hinge goes.

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Here is the only tool you need besides a cordless drill and a finishinghammer and nails. I bought my miter saw at Lowe’s for around$100.00.

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Once I have my trim set I pilot drill the casing for easier nailing and soit won’t split. I use two sizes of trim nails for my casing. You can seethem further down in this manual.

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When you first begin to tack your casing in place I like to use just 3nails (one in the top, middle and bottom) along the leading edge. Idon’t drive the nails in all the way either. That way I can pull the trimback off if needed to make any changes or adjustments.

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Here are the two sizes of finishing nails I use for the casing trim. Forthe baseboards I use just the larger trim nails. The nail sizes are 4D 1½” & 6D 2”.

♦ Getting an inexpensive brad nailer will save you lots of time.

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I keep a tube of wood patch on hand to fill the holes with also. Itcleans up with water. We wipe away the excess wood filler with adamp cloth.

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Here are a couple pieces of trim to help you check your corners whendoing doorways.

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In this picture you can see how I run my legs first before measuringand fitting in the top piece of trim. I tack everything in place first andwhen it is all set in place to your liking you can secure it.

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I tack the corners in the side to keep them flush together when nailingsecure later.

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Notice how everything is just “tacked” in place until it is complete.

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Here you see me (baldie) using a shim to keep the trim consistent inplaces where the wall has uneven areas.

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You can easily cut the extra shim off with a razor blade knife once youhave it set in place.

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Here you see me using a nail set to sink the trim nails so we can hidethem with wood filler. I used 4D nails on the inside and 6D nails on theouter edge where the trim is thicker.

Again, I pre-drill the casing for easier installation and so the woodcan’t split.

You can invest in a nail gun and compressor to make your job fasterand easier and in return make money faster.

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Here is another shot of how I need to trim the left leg down another“blades worth” as you can see my guide piece on top shows the edgeis still too fat (see below the “L” written on the guide piece).

I walk all my cuts in for accuracy. I always cut my trim about an inchlarger than I need it and then slowly cut it and fit it into placegradually. Once I’m on a trim job for a while I get faster and don’thave to be as careful.

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Here is where I begin to install my baseboards. I don’t pre-drill thebaseboards like I do the casings. I just use two 2” nails on the bottomwide area.

I mitered the end and I will secure the whole piece in place so thatwhen I do the next wall I will get a true mitered corner.

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See here is the end corner that is cut at 45-degrees.

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Here are two walls meeting nice and clean with the 45-degree cut.

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Here is a reason on a small bedroom why you want to pre-measureyour walls – so you can run the full wall and don’t have to do a splicelike this one.

It is a good splice and you will from time to time have to cut one inplace. I cut both pieces at 45-degrees and overlapped them makingsure I had a stud to nail to close to the splice.

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Here I used my square to draw a line where the studs are along thebottom of the wall. I just used the last holes from the originalbaseboard as my guide.

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If you have a piece of door trim going in, it is wise to pre-fit yourbaseboard at the same time to see if you can squeeze both into placegracefully.

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Here’s a picture of pre-joining a spliced-in area.

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My saw set at 45-degrees cut for the Baseboards cuts.

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Those blue things up front are a set of super comfortable knee pads Ibought at the lumber yard for $30. They come in handy for installingbaseboards.

I have a different set I use for exterior work. These are soft and won’thurt carpet or hardwood floors.

Find yourself a board you can set on sawhorses for a cutting table. Itmakes life much easier when cutting!

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Here you can see where I tacked two nails in the middle and on theends. This is the pattern I use to nail in baseboard.

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I pre-drilled the ends because they were too close to the end of thewood and I didn’t want it to split.

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Here I am installing “shoe” trim into place. I definitely pre-drill thisstuff! And by the way, I use a very small pilot drill bit.

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Like baseboards, I secure one wall down at a time so I can get a goodmitered fit on the next piece of my shoe trim.

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Here is a trim catalog that you can pick up at the lumberyard to showyour customers.

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Here is the cover to it.

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Here is a splice for the shoe molding. If you have to do one, try tochoose to pieces that have the same thickness. You can also sand itdown easily with 100-grit sandpaper.

I like to have all my splices running in the same direction for a betterappearance also.

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Here is a trickier spot where baseboard trim meets the casing in atight fit.

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Here you see the casing removed and where we notched out thebaseboard to compensate for the tight fit so we can get a neatinstallation.

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Here are the simple tools I used to notch out the piece of baseboard.

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Here’s the finished look. If there is any sign of notching, it can be hidwith caulk since we are going to prime and paint this woodwork. Ifstaining I would have to probably use a router to do a more precisionfit to hide any gap.

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In our other room you can see where we had a similar problem withcasing meeting baseboard, this was a much easier fit and if you plan itright you can match them up before you secure the casing since it isinstalled before the baseboard trim.

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Here is an alternative to mitering corners. Some people may like theblock in the corner look and it also makes fitting corners a little easier.Personally, I don’t mind mitering the corners. I think they look bettermitered.

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A smaller block is shown here. They have a name for the corner block.I forget what it is now, a “frip” or a “piff” or something like that.

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Here I am running a bead of glue using Liquid Nails® on the back of apiece of trim that is too small to nail into place.

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Here I am also gluing the small piece of “shoe” to go in place also. Thenext day this trim will be solid and strong as if it were nailed.

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Here is a look at the finished glued in piece of baseboard completewith the shoe in place.

Gluing small pieces in place is much easier than trying to nail thembecause you don’t always have a stud to fasten to and they can alsosplit when nailing.

In this case I had to tear out my first piece and start over with glue. Itcame out nice and straight this time compared to my first attempt,which looked slightly crooked.

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Here I am setting a “windowsill” in place. I made the sill out of a pieceof 1 x 3 poplar that I notched into place gradually to make it fit. I willtake the sill back out and router the edges later on before securing itinto place.

Here also I used a piece of casing to set my length for how long thewindowsill should be. In this case it was 44 1/8”. I made a pencil markon each end and then pre-cut all four of my sills to this length for the4 windows I had to trim out. (Note how the sill extends about 2” pastthe casing.)

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Here’s the notched look on the left end of the windowsill. I used anelectric jigsaw to cut and notch it out. It didn’t have to be too accuratesince the notching will be hidden.

If you look closely, you can see that the end of the windowsill is cutinward at 220.

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Here’s a picture of a torpedo level I used to get my sill nice and levelbefore adding the casing trim underneath the sill and casing above italso.

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I had trouble taking these pictures due to outside light but if you lookclosely at the bottom underneath the windowsill I have a section ofcasing installed. The thick side of the casing is up tight next to thebottom of the windowsill.

The ends of the casing are mitered at 22 degrees – a common anglethat is also preset on my mitering saw. I put a mitered look on theends of the windowsill at 220 also.

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Here you can see the bottom casing and mitered edges better. Noticehow the sill is still loose? Once everything is set and slightly tackedinto place, the sill can be taken back out for mitering and will still benice and level when put back in place.

Basically when trimming out a window, you start with the sill first andwork around it. It is your base or foundation for the rest of the windowtrim (casing) to follow.

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Here I am putting the sill back into place. Once I put a slight roundededge on the sill using an inexpensive router table that accepts aportable router, I will begin to secure all the trim casings just likethroughout the book.

I will pre-drill and toenail in some 6D finishing nails into the top of thesill to secure it into place into the window framing inside the wall.

HOW TO ESTIMATE FOR CARPENTRY WORK

So far, small carpentry jobs have been add-ons to my paintingbusiness. Once people get to know that you are reliable and that youdo good work they automatically will add extra projects to their list.

Many times on call-backs I don’t get asked for an estimate. Even whenit’s just painting, many customers just ask me when I can get to it.

I haven’t been asked for an estimate on carpentry work yet. I justkeep track of my hours and materials. I even write down my time forgetting materials.

If you do get asked for an estimate I would first measure out the roomand write down all the materials needed.

Next I would call or go down to the lumberyard and get a price on allthe materials needed to complete the job.

Next I would figure in days and weeks about how long it would take tocomplete the work.

Then I would put everything on a “time and materials” bid and just tellthe customer that you will try to keep it as close to budget as possible.Just tell then you will keep track of your hours and materials and youwon’t charge them any more than it will actually cost.

You should save all your receipts and keep a daily log of your hours. Ifit costs about $350 in materials to trim out two normal size bedroomsand about a week’s labor to complete it, ask for a third down for laborand supplies.

Let’s say it’s $1,000 labor @ $25/hour based on a 40 hour week.That’s $1,000 + $350 for materials. That equals out to $1350. Youcould ask for $400 - $500 down to get you started.

Charge for your gasoline also. If it takes a full tank to get to work allweek and for running back and forth to Lowe’s add it in there. Youcould make the bid an even $1400.

One thing that will speed up your work is to invest in a nail gun forfinishing. You can get a nail gun and a pancake compressor for under$200 And a mitre saw for $100. The rest is just hand tools that you

can scrape up from your garage or basement. You can even get acheap aluminum stepladder at Lowe’s for $29. Remember, as yougrow and get more jobs you can invest in tools or better tools alongthe way. Then relax and take a little time off between jobs. Go fishingor something!

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You can get work through other contractors/builders by looking in thephone book’s yellow pages.

BASIC POWER TOOLS YOU WILL NEED

Strait-Line Stud Finder - $19.95 (This is a handy tool for figuring out your nailing spots)

DEWALT DW703 Heavy Duty 10-Inch Compound Miter saw - $197.00 (Here’s a nice starter saw)

Bostitch CPACK3 Finish Nailer, Brad Nailer, Finish Stapler and Compressor Combo Kit - $289.00 (agreat deal. You get all your power tools for under $300.)

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