Bay Windows

Everyone loves a bay window for the obvious reasons. It punctuates the room and brings the outside in. I am currently working on a house in New Hampshire. The client approached me and asked for a custom bay window to be built in front of the house. After looking for countless hours at designs on the internet I think I found what I am going to do. First, the two side windows are going to be double hung and slightly smaller than the front window which will be fixed with no grilles. Second, the roof is going to be curved sort of like a scotia molding and probably metal. To save money though I will probably put shingles on it. Can you think of any good ideas for a custom bay window. Also, stay tuned for pics!

Recycled Floor Joists

Safety on the Job Site

Yesterday I had a subcontractor rush up to me and say I need to go to the hospital. After putting down my tool and whipping around to see what happened I rushed him to the ER. What had happened was he put his finger near the table saw blade and knicked the end of his thumb. This blog is about job site safety on a table saw. If you are using an old table saw like this subcontractor make sure you always use a push stick, the blade is sharp, the fence is straight, the wood is flat, and free of knots. Can you think of any more ways of preventing such accidents from happening?

Manufactured Storm Shelters

Lightweight fiberglass storm shelters are much more portable then precast concrete units. The critical first step of an efficient installation is a correctly sized excavation with a flat, level bottom. A skilled machine operator and a pole-mounted laser level can be a big help. The shelter is then lowered into the excavation with a backhoe. The hole is then filled with rock-free soil. Are you ready for a tornado? Where would you hide in the event of one?

Linking: Outbound, Inbound, and Internal

When you have a business you need a website. On your website you need to make sure you have three different types of links: Outbound, Inbound, and Internal. Outbound links are links from your web site to a different web site. Inbound links are links from a different web site to your web site. Internal links are links within your website. An example of links can be found at the following website: www.hannonconst.com.

Building a Free Standing Deck

Check out my first podcast on building a free standing deck! http://hannonconst.podbean.com/

Flickr Account

Check out some of my photos of one of my favorite projects on Flickr. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannonconst/

Cedar Shingles Over Foam Sheathing

I've seen a lot of people start to get back into cedar shingling their homes. I've also seen a lot of people put a layer of foam sheathing on their homes first. You are probably wondering how do I securely fasten cedar shingles to walls covered with rigid foam? Well the answer is it depends on the thickness of the foam. If the foam is 1 1/2" or less then you should apply a product called Cedar Breather over the taped foam to provide venting behind the cedar shingles. Cedar breather can be found at the following link: http://www.benjaminobdyke.com/visitor/product/key/cedarBreather If the foam is 2" or more the best option is to use cedar shingle panels which is made out of shingles laminated to a plywood backing. They can be nailed to vertical battens on top of your rigid foam. You can also install a layer of 1/2" OSB plywood over the rigid foam and install cedar breather over the top of that. That's all the ideas I can think of, can you think of any?

How to Promote Your Construction Business with YouTube

If you don't have a YouTube account for your construction business you should. I know your probably saying, I don't own a video camera and I don't have the time to film everything I do during the day. Well it's easier than that. You can use the stills that you take before , during, and after your construction projects to make a great video for your company. The more creative the better of course. Here's an idea for your first video! For example, if you are building a house take a picture from the same spot everyday that you are building there. After you are done your project take all of your photos and import them into Windows Media Player. Put them in consecutively so that you don't jump from framing to finish trim. Now make the time of each picture about a second and a half Add a dissolving transition between all the photos and press play! You will be so amazed with your first movie on YouTube it will inspire you to make more. That's my idea! Do you have any cool and unique YouTube video ideas for a construction company?