PandA HomeCraft

My favorite person doing one of her favorite things.

My favorite kind of camping.

PandA HomeCraft updated their business hours.

Sometimes everything is balanced.

(Sometimes everything goes out of balance, things break, and messes are made)

Sometimes I make cutting boards.

This one is alder with food grade mineral oil.

Sometimes I build a shed.

Arizona is so beautiful. Pictures never do it justice.

Herring bone shiplap under a kitchen island.

https://pandahomecraft.com/herring-bone-shiplap

I recently finished this little board & batten and wallpaper project. I milled the batten from rough dimensional aspen. I’m not sure that I would do it that way again, but I know they got a good product. Please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/board-%26-batten%2Fwallpaper to see some progress photos.

Mixers covered in cookie dough marks the official beginning of Christmas! Man, I love my wife.

This is how you make 5 sheets of melamine into a closet system. Please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/closet-shelving to see more photos.

I recently finished a custom white oak mantle build and install and new tile fireplace surround. Please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/oak-mantle to see more photos. What do you think?

I recently made a custom white oak mantle and did a new tile surround on a fireplace. What do you think? Please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/oak-mantle to see more photos.

Your life is the product of materials you have either been given or you have acquired, the choices you have made, and the skills you learn and choose to use. You are always either improving or declining. It’s entirely up to you. Make it good!

Wood geek alert! If you don’t geek out on hardwood, move along. Otherwise, read on:

I have a project coming up in which I’m doing a custom closet system (that’s the white melamine in the photo which is irrelevant to this post) and board and batten in a powder room (that’s the wood in the photo which is entirely relevant to this post).

I stated in my bid that I will use solid poplar which I will mill to size. I arrived at the supplier to find out that they had doubled the price of poplar a couple days prior making the numbers not work. I looked around and found that they had aspen for the price of poplar. I purchased it and explained the change to the client. He was fine with the change.

Today, I learned that poplar wood is from a tree of the genus liriodendron. That’s the same genus as magnolia, not poplar. But aspen is from the genus populus. That’s poplar.

So I promised poplar but it wasn’t feasible to get poplar which is not poplar so I got aspen which is poplar. Coincidence? I think not. I would argue that God is helping me keep my promises without me even knowing or understanding that He is doing so. Isn’t He good?

One day recently I removed a door in a house in central Phoenix built in 1941 and installed a door in the garage-made-casita in the back. I was amazed at the differences in materials and workmanship from then to now.

The first photo is the door jamb that I removed. The grain of the wood is so tight that it is clearly old growth pine meaning that it is strong and less likely to bow, twist, or crook. It is a 2x4 and was attached directly to frame using 8 penny nails. Concrete was formed around it to keep it in place.

The second picture is a modern door jamb. The loose growth pattern shows a lot of soft material. This tells me it has an accelerated growth cycle to churn out material as quickly as possible. It is only about 5/8” thick and must be grooved on the back to limit bowing, twisting, and crooking. Modern doors are installed floating off the wall frame using shims and 16 gauge brads.

I do understand that there are plenty of good reasons for growing wood at a faster rate and using efficient work practices, especially in the midst of a housing crisis. I just hope that people are able to truly take pride on their work despite these efficiencies.

A laundry room I designed and installed. The client wanted to keep costs low as it is a laundry room so we went with low cost materials. I think we pulled it off. The couple was thrilled with the result.

To see more please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/laundry-cabinetry

Sometimes I remove closets.

To see the process, please visit https://pandahomecraft.com/closet-removal

Sometimes I remove closets.

Safety fourth.

First, seek God.
Second, have fun.
Third, do work.
Fourth, think about safety.

These folks removed cabinets in an upstairs office to convert it into a spare bedroom. This required running the shiplap to the floor and painting. The board is scribed to the floor as there is no baseboard. I also had the replace the vertical board on either side as it ran to the top of the baseboard. I had to cut the baseboard back and run new boards to the floor. This was a really fun project. I ran into a snag when I sprayed too much paint on the wall though. A couple days prior I was spraying lacquer through an HVLP which is slower than an airless. I carried the principles of HVLP to airless and ended up with runs all over. I solved the problem by chasing drips, letting the paint dry, sanding everything, and painting again. It definitely added a few hours to the project. See if I ever do that again!

Recently put the finishing touches on this tile shower and floor.

Really looking forward to seeing it with glass, paint on the walls, and all the bathroom fixtures in place.

Really happy with this custom shelving unit. I do see the flaws and will return to fix them, but until then…

The supports are schedule 40 steel pipe. I tack welded everything together to@make up for the varying lengths of the pipe. No realistic way to get it perfect, but tacking it helped a lot. Big thanks to Stacy Connor at Connor Contracting for letting me use the welder. Even more so for sending the client my way! He doesn’t have Instagram but maybe will let him know? 🙂

The wood is framing alder. I used Varathane special walnut stain and satin lacquer.

Hopefully the client is happy with this for many years to come.

I think this applies to life in many ways, but to give an example: There is so much advice out there to help you improve relationships. “5 steps to a better marriage” etc. I have no doubt that people had strong marriages long before this modern advice existed.

Don’t get caught up in all the hype. Just take it back to first principles. In work, seek the end goal. The path is somewhat irrelevant. In relationships, selflessly seek what’s best for another. The path is somewhat irrelevant. Apply this to whatever you will.