TAH-DAH !

    The balustrade is finished and, while there is yet more to do to complete this restoration/renovation, I am so pleased with the results.  Try to look past the boarded up windows, the plastic hanging off the 3rd story, the muddy drive and the dumpster to see 

what I see.  

BEFORE on  2-27-11




AFTER on 5-22-12

* See the complete project links here.

BUILDING THE BALUSTRADE, PART 5

    As I write this post, the balustrade is complete.  (In fact, we finished it 5 days ago.)  It has been a long involved carpentry project which was more time consuming than originally anticipated.  In my opinion, it is the single most impressive project we've undertaken.  Check it out in it's entirety in these earlier posts (building posts,  in preparation, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 ) .

Gathering installation tools

Centering the first baluster

Leveling the first baluster 

Gotta love the nail gun

12 down , 228 to go

A portion of the balustrade as seen through my bedroom window

A block is used as a spacer in order to level and insure equal distance between each baluster

Another block at the top lines up the balusters 

The power driver and brute strength are some of our best tools

Each top rail (part of a 3-part assembly) is cut to size

A curved portion of the post is removed for a custom and snug fit

The cap from the original post is incorporated into the final post on the north side of the house

Balusters, rails, trim are all attached and ready for the painters to caulk
and give the new balustrade its final coat of paint.

Satisfaction for a job well done.

* A photo of the completed balustrade to be revealed at a later post.

BALUSTRADE PART 4

The bottom rails are installed and are a perfect fit. 

BUILDING THE BALUSTRADE, PART 3

  As I mentioned before, this is not just a weekend project.   

A total of 240 turned balusters must be cut to exact specifications.

A portion of the primed balusters await milling

3/8 of an inch comes off the top end

Taping off the bottom end getting an angle cut helps prevent splintering

Each bottom end runs through the table saw twice at a 12.5 degree angle.

Like soldiers all in a row

Short end squares

Long ends with 12.5 degree pitch

     Leftover ends must have some use in this world.  Any ideas?????    'Aunt Carlie's Craft Camp' and 'Art Camp for Boys'  campers will surely come up with some uses.  Until then I will store them in the eaves of the studio space.  After all, cedar fends off moths.

What a mess we made in Billye's room!

BUILDING THE BALUSTRADE PART 2

    The task of building this balustrade is not just a weekend project.  It is made up of  many stages.  After last weekends' work we were ready to cut the rails to size and mock up a sample section of the railing.

The bottom rails we put together last weekend were purposely longer than required

We measured and cut each bottom rail to size

Propping a section of rail on a 2x4 at each end gives us a visual of how it will look.

Cut to size rails are laid out and marked for location

Half of the 250 balusters, primed and
ready to be cut to size

A sample  section of the railing

On to milling the 250 primed balusters!

                                                                       

BUILDING THE BALUSTRADE

We now are continuing the task of building the balustrade.

   We are taking a pile of wood and ripping it.

(What a pile of sawdust!)

We are stacking it.

(The grain must go in the same direction.)

We are gluing and clamping it.

We are  routing it.

(Before routing)

(After routing)

We sanded it.

(Billye helped sand.)

(Wallace used the orbital sander to get the saw blade marks out of the wood.)

                     All this to duplicate the existing balustrade. 

A POST POSTING

The time has come to reproduce the balustrade on the roof of the front porch....

starting with the posts.

  

Using a post found in the basement, we started and assembly line.

Fir boards are cut to size

Pressure treated wood is run through the table saw and given  a bevel .  Result....8 post caps

The fir boards are primed and nailed together into boxes

Each box forms a sleeve around the 6 x 6 pressure treated post built into the  roof structure

Each post box is leveled and attached, leaving an inch of space between post and roof

The next carpentry project for me is fabricating the rail and building the balustrade.  

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?