"I am extremely pleased with the repair of my 45-year old deck and steep wooden staircase from Ted Brown, the Deck Doctor. Ted was quickly responsive in getting me a reasonable work estimate. He began the work quickly, replacing damaged wood while maintaining original deck to keep my costs down where feasible. He was honest, personable and helpfully communicative. He and his assistant worked quickly and provided a thorough clean up each day. I highly recommend him."
"Where do I even begin telling you about Tony and the wonderful work he does, the attention to detail, the cleanliness, the "going beyond the call" mentality? We had a water mark showing up on our family room ceiling that was gradually getting bigger and darker. With two bathrooms on the second floor right above the damage we were pretty sure what the problem was. We really didn't know of any contractors that would do this "small" of a job so I went searching. Stumbled across Midwest Remodel and Handyman in my search, saw some good reviews and that's when we were fortunate enough to have met Tony! He came right out and assessed the damage and within a day gave me a fair quote and an estimate of when he would be able to do the work. Hired!!! Then, before he even started this job for us, my mailbox post decided to crap out on us and was almost leaning in to the street. I called Tony just to see if by chance he could fix it for me. Again...he came right out and took care of the problem for me! Unbelievable! When the time came to actually do the work I initially hired him for, he was prompt, diligent, efficient, he cleans up after himself literally every day before he leaves, and I have to say that watching Tony and his helper Brandon work together is entertaining, to say the least! What a couple of great guys with a great sense of humor! And when all was said and done, he stuck to his quote, no overcharging and the work was impeccable. But here is a testimony to the true character of these guys...in the midst of all the repair work going on, my wife had a medical emergency. I had to go pick her up from work and leave her car in the parking lot where she left it as she was unable to drive. On day two of her hospitalization, these guys offered to take me to go get my wife's car so it didn't have to sit in the parking lot any longer. They did not have to do that but that's the kind of guys they are and I was incredibly grateful! Class act all the way! Best of all, we now have someone that we can trust and rely on to do things around the house for us that we just don't have the talent or skills to do ourselves! What a relief!!! We already have more things for him to do! This guy is so good, it didn't take long for our neighbors to catch on...he's doing work for them now too!"
"Josh arrived at our home right on time. He introduced himself right away and got straight to work. He was very efficient and got the our recently purchased dining table with a leaf put together. Before making making sure it was level he moved it where we wanted. Thank you!"
"Josh did an amazing job with my new deck project. The demolition and disposal of the old deck and construction of the new deck was top notch. He is very reliable, works quickly, and communicates well."
"LNE Property Preservation delivered timely, high quality work at a affordable price. The owner Luis and his assistant were courteous, professional, and very easy to work with. They arrived on time and were careful to work safely. They also thoroughly cleaned up their work area, which I appreciated. From his first call to me, Luis listened to my needs to be sure he would provide the service I wanted. The initial project was to remove a pergola from our large deck. In talking through my future plans for the deck, Luis offered his ideas as well, and so I added solar lights to the deck bench and overhead solar lights with motion sensor. Luis and his assistant also found a way to use the beams from the pergola to replace the damaged lattice skirt on our deck, This allowed us to recycle the good beams and save money, both important to me. He also power washed the house, which was long overdue. In the course of the work, I’d asked Luis if he had time to also replace a couple of damaged deck boards. It was fortunate he could, for we found a colony of carpenter ants under these boards damaging the wood. After I had the ants treated, Luis returned and replaced a dozen boards. LNE delivered excellent professional work and customer service, and I would indeed call on them again. In fact, I’ve already made a list of several other projects for them!"
"He came immediately. Unfortunately, we noticed a structural problem that we need to fix before we can hire him to do the exterior work. I called him and hope to use him in the Spring when this problem is remedied."
Most of the time, you’ll want to use screws on your subfloor rather than nails. Nails can actually weaken plywood, whereas screws can easily penetrate without damage. They also form a more secure connection because of their shape, preventing squeaky floors and tightly holding the subfloor in place. That said, some contractors do prefer nails depending on the type of floor covering because they allow for more flexibility.
Learning how to frame a house includes picking the right lumber for the job. Most people will want to pick pine, spruce, or fir for the framing. These types of lumber are affordable and produce sturdy framing for structures. Look for kiln-dried lumber to reduce the risk of shrinkage or insect damage after installation. As part of what’s included in framing a house when you hire a professional, the contractor should order the lumber, so you don’t have to worry about finding the right lumber.
There are approximately 5.33 board feet in a 2x4. You can use the board foot calculator in this article to easily find the answer. A 2x4 is 2 inches of thickness by 4 inches of width, so you need to find the length, with 8 feet being the most common. You’d use the calculator here to multiply 2 times 4 times 8, and then divide by 12, arriving at a total of 5.33 board feet.
Duration varies by project size, but average-sized homes typically take a weeks.
Yes, walls on the top floor can be load-bearing if stacked on the floor’s foundation.
The Carlisle, IA homeowners’ guide to carpentry services
From average costs to expert advice, get all the answers you need to get your job done.
When you’re tackling a project or hiring a contractor, it’s helpful to know key carpentry terms. From end grain to dovetail joints, here’s a complete list.
