[AMA] I am a professional construction carpenter. Feel free to ask me anything.

Pretty much always DIY, only asking for help when I'm doing something that will take an important piece of the house out of commission for longer than a day. (like when replacing kitchen cabinets) definitely want that done within a day.

Things have been fairly stagnant material wise since I've started. There are metal studs and ceiling systems, and they have their uses and caveats to usage. I prefer to work with wood when possible though it's interesting to do housing rehabilitations and see the old wood we used to use. The new quickly grown lumber cannot compare to the older woods.

First and foremost, any evidence of water damage/leaks. It's amazing how simple it is to fix a ton of issues quickly and easily, but water damage is a beast that just makes everything worse.

Generally I get to clean up some other carpenters issues most of all. I've completed work that someone else has started more often than just getting to do the work from start to finish. Either they were not doing things well enough, quickly enough, or and most often, taking advantage in both time and money of the person they are working for. I've heard of some tradesmen making really crazy aggressive comments when being let go. One of the people I worked for had told me that when she let the previous guy go, he made it a point to inform her that he had an open carry license.

As for the type of work... Poorly installed floors, drywall, and doors are the most common.

It's not really a 'carpenter' thing, but a decent pair of channel locks are great for many things.

Toothpicks are also something most people don't think about, but they can be wonderfully useful for when you have unscrewed pretty much anything as a filler to make sure the screws grab.

I'll edit if I think of other unconventional items that are good to have on hand.

I wish construction carpentry had joinery as a normal part of it these days, but for the most part we use fasteners (nails/screws) to join the lumber. On the rare occasion I have a reason to make nice joints, it's usually very simple.

On the side though, I really like the looks of the various Japanese joints, and everyone appreciates a well fitted butterfly.

Second hand items are a marvelous resource. I can't compete with anyone who are just looking to offload a house full of furniture.

Thank you, and I hope you're able to find someone in your area that is able and willing to help you with your mother's house. It can be very overwhelming at first, but the most important part of any job to is get priorities together and break it down step by step so it becomes manageable.

Being handy in general is a wonderful skill to have. From doing simple household tasks like changing out a light fixture to doing minor (or even somewhat major) plumbing work and just being involved in all the bits and pieces of working on buildings really opens up opportunities to save a ton of money on random little things that would otherwise be quite expensive.

I had a neighbor who was a carpenter and was willing to give me a job for a bit. I spent a lot of time doing very minor things, most of which had very little to do with carpentry. After that I applied for a decent amount of carpenter airbrush jobs online, though most wouldn't accept my previous experience.

So I ended up taking a practical test at the local union apprenticeship school and managed to do well enough to get asked to join.

Nah. Each part is integral to getting the job done (though deckhand is generally a different type of job altogether).

For example while I can paint I can't do it nearly as efficiently as an experienced painter. Same is true for each of the trades. I can do a decent amount of each of those trades but when it comes to certain more advanced topics, I'll gladly let a professional come do the work.

Plumber, electrician, roofer, carpenter, deckhand, painter

There are a few sad reasons why you're having issues getting someone and why they keep pushing you to get a handyman. 1. It's a small job that is tedious to do and requires just enough expertise that most general carpenters don't really want to mess with it. 2. It's a short enough job that whoever you're talking to would see it as a loss for income on the day. They cannot justify pricing out mobilization, travel time, etc for a maybe 2 hour job. Depending on how much it needs to be tweaked, any handy person with a couple tools should be able to handle it but because of the perceived issues with the job, many will flat out deny it.

Door work is one of the most tedious because it's immediately apparent if something is slightly off. You're putting a rectangular block into a rectangular hole, any small defects are VERY accentuated by the nature of it, which is why many people do not want to get involved with a door that needs tweaks. (which is one of the things I've been dealing with at work this past week. Welded steel frames in plastered walls and just having to make the door fit.. no matter what shape the frame has moved itself to.

I like it all tbh. There's something to be said for putting up walls, joists, and the roughs of a building, but it's also enjoyable to spend some time getting a bit more precise for finish work and making all the various joints fit together seamlessly. And seasonal changes are always a factor too. At the moment I'm doing mostly finish work on the job, being indoors with most things ready to go and the heat turned on. Sadly, it's not going to last for the whole winter, so I'm going to get whatever work will come to me after this comes to an end.

Edit: Realized I didn't answer the second part. For finish work there isn't much of a next guy on that work, but I generally try not to finish nail the ever loving mess out of my trim so that the painters have an easier time with their work.

But for framing.. There are SO many things. The single easiest and most important thing on a wooden building is crowning your lumber when applicable. It doesn't take very long, but it saves so much time and effort from everyone after you, and can extend the life of a floor pretty significantly. It helps walls align more nicely from stud to stud, and just makes things nicer.. The other main thing is a no brainer, but checking everything for plumb, level, and square before locking everything in place is a timesaver in many ways. Other smaller stuff is making sure that all surfaces have nailers for the next layer, which is much easier for a framer to put in than the poor rocker who may only have a screw gun.

Pretty much anything under the label of 'hardwood' is what you'd likely want. Honestly you don't even need that for something like a media rack, but if you're willing to pay for some nice wood, it can really add something special to the space it occupies. As for which one you'd want, that's entirely up to you. Maple and Cherry and lighter colored, ebony and walnut are darker, and there are plenty of everything in between. There are also plenty of interesting grain patterns that you can look over that can really make a piece pop. Burled wood like this doesn't have a uniform grain, but instead looks like the wood has waves or bubbles running through it and depending on the piece can look absolutely amazing.

At the very minimum, it's a good idea to check the local laws and regulations for expanding your garage. Most people can get away with interior improvements without needing much in the way of official documentation, but something as overt as adding 15ft on the back of a garage gets noticed. It's always a good idea to make sure you have yourself covered in any situation.

1. depending on weather, bondo isn't suggested for much more than surface issues because it doesn't shrink/expand at the same rate as wood, so if you have cold winters and hot summers it's a very temporary fix. Wood filler would be better.

2. If the damage has extended more than halfway through the material, it should be replaced. Sistering is an option, but honestly for something visible (as opposed to floor joists underneath the floor), that doesn't end up looking very good. It may be possible to replace the entire length of lumber so that it just looks a bit newer than the others. It really depends on what you want and how much work you're willing to have done. Most pergolas I've seen would be able to have a few sections removed without becoming structurally unsound.

As with all things I've said in here, I am not to be taken as the 'final word' on anything you're experiencing, as there are always situations and particulars that I'm not familiar with and someone who can be there in person would be much more able to tell you your options.

No. Thank you for your question.

I don't see why not.

New construction and some rehabilitations really frustrates me. I was just in a rental that had no water shut offs to anything besides the main. If it just isn't in the code for the area, some unscrupulous builders will just forego common sense to save a few bucks. Adding one in thankfully isn't all that hard, it's just kind of frustrating that there isn't one already there.

Always wanted the freedom to work outside, particularly out of an office. I'm the type of person who gets mentally bored from going to the same place day in and day out and doing similar tasks. I'd have been burned out in less than a year of dealing with the same people and the same problems. Once that happens my enjoyment for everything drops through the floor and I just become really unpleasant to the point that I'd likely lose the job.

Added bonus for doing a physical job is that I NEVER have a problem getting to sleep. I've had the same routine long enough at this point that I don't even have an alarm set up for waking up, just one for when I'm supposed to hit the road.

The main issue at the moment is that the work is incredibly hard on the body. My knees are starting to feel rough, I've stressed a back muscle to the point of pain a few times this year, and I have developed the dreaded 'dad bod' from the muscles I do work. I had planned to transition into a supervisor role over the next 5 years, but that opportunity just floated away with the rest of the company. However, I am only about a year away from getting a bachelors degree and am likely going to go finish that up for engineering so that I can eventually shift out of the field if I'm unable to get into a supervisor role before my body REALLY starts getting upset at me.