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Work on the Window Casings

Bob Ryley confers with finish carpenter Dennis DeVore as he cases out a window at the Mt. Pleasant house in South Carolina.
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Work on the Window Casings

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" I see you've already started them on this one here. We have 2 x 6 walls so you've got your extension jams on."

" Correct."

" And I can't help but noticed that you're- you're plugging them. Why is that?"

" For structural integrity, I always use glue and screws and plugging"

" No kidding."

" on a classic house of this style."

" Uh huh."

" Well, I tell you that everybody does it in different way when they're trimming out windows. That's the first time I've seen that. Once you get your extension jams on, what- what's the next thing you wanna do?"

" Well, what I do, is I cut a 12-inch long pair of the casings that we're gonna be using on the house."

" Okay. Yeah."

" And I go ahead and mark a 3/16th's reveal with the combination square"

" Yeah."

" and I will place them at the proper plane of a pre-mark line that I have here where the actual window stool is gonna go."

" Good. Okay."

" So all I have to do is just line this up where I'm gonna want it to go and I'll tack it on. And what I will do now is I will get my outside dimension measurement."

" Yeah."

" And I've got 42 and three quarter."

" Okay."

" I want a three quarter inch reveal on the return of the window stool, so, of course, twice a three quarter and inch and a half."

" So we just cut an inch and a half long."

" Okay, now you've got a cut to length with your [unk] on it. What's your next procedure?"

" My next step was gonna be to find the center of the window stool "

" Okay."

" The center of the window."

" Okay, I got to hold of it."

" It was 44 and 3/8th's was the length"

" Right."

" So the center would be 22 and 3/16th."

" Got it?"

" So we have the center, we'll be marking the centerline to the center of the window."

" Okay."

" From the extension jams and that is 60 and 3/16th."

" Okay."

" So with the combination square, we go ahead and mark our centerline and there'll be a mark here"

" Okay."

" that we can have the relation to."

" What that does is, that would, that gives us a three quarter inch overhang. It gives us"

" Pass our casing."

" Pass our casing. We are ready to notch so that the stool itself will slip in into the notches of the windows"

" Yeah."

" and be able to give us the depth that we need."

" Okay, why don't we mark it and go ahead and cut it."

" That gives us our width cut and now for our depth cut we can go ahead and remove the stool. "

" Okay."

" And we wanna use this dimension here which is 2 inches."

" Enough."

" Okay, so if you set your gauge to two inches"

" Do you like the combination square?"

" I do, I, I'm, I'm on [unk] and I've, and I've, and it's gotta be that way with what I do, and use that as a guide."

" We're on it."

" And you flip it over, and you will do the same thing here. And then we go and cut the notches out."

" Well now we got this cut, can we go ahead and help me take these temporary casings off?"

" Okay, these come out."

" We've got clear shot."

" I put it our window stool in and it should just a fix."

" [Unk]"

" Nice, okay now what's next?"

" We applied the apron."

" Okay."

" Which is this piece of wood right here."

" It's already cut."

" I see a little burrows on it, but let me just take the sandpaper on,"

" take the burrows off a bit."

" Prior to, I've already cut it to the right length which was the same dimension as the outside casing dimension."

" Got it."

" I've already pre-made my mark for my centerlines so this reveal on the apron and the casing will become perfectly in line."

" Okay."

" And so we're ready to attach this."

" I'm a stickler for structural integrity and precision and quality, so I always use wall adhesives to attach any moldings that have to be, we don't want it to go away."

" Okay, well that's a good idea."

" Then what I'll do is I'll use wood glue on the very top of it."

" Okay."

" And that will give me a good glue joint between the stool and the apron."

" Alright, it'll make it good and solid."

" Then, we kind of get it in place."

" Alright."

" and we give it a good glue on."

" And eyeball our centers right on down and we're ready to nail it."

" Very good."

" If you could hand me the nail gun sir?"

" You got it."

" That's a little long. There, right there, and we're ready there and to see to it that this will never come loose."

" Yeah."

" I always clamp my stool and apron together after I glue it. Then we go ahead and check for level to make sure that good [unk]"

" Pin this roller down just a little bit."

" And there we are."

" So now we're ready for the casings."

" And the reason why I put this returns on first Bob, is that if there's any discrepancy, I can sand them the sandpaper and the glue and sandpaper will mix and hide any cracks or joints to make it super cool for the painters."

" That makes good sense and I can see you put the 45 on it 'cause this is got an OG to it on the stool cart."

" That's correct."

" Okay, so now we're ready for the top casing, are we?"

" That's correct."

" I've already predetermined what our length is gonna be on this and we're ready to nail that in place."

" Okay, here we go."

" Thank you."

" Now we're ready for our side casings. Bob I always glue my joints 'cause I always consider my interior trim like fine furniture work."

" I can see that."

" And I usually put two nails here to start it, line up my miter to tack nail it there, and we'll do the same to the other side. Then I take a long pipe clamp, attach to the [unk] that are in the center"

" Yeah."

" of the molding itself and clamp it down to see to it that we have a good tight fit on their joints."

" The painters are gonna love you, Dennis."

" Thanks."

" That was great."

" And I just worked the casing to my pre-mark previous lines. Those we're brads [unk] and I'll shoot a larger finish and nail in a 15 gauge."

" Okay."

" And it isn't necessary to really use too many nails. It will uphold itself. Because there's plenty of sturdying behind the walls and after the glue dries, remove the clamps."

" And you're all done."

" Ready to go."

" Nice job."

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