Latest job:

[speeder]

Refinishing some 9 foot tall mahogany french windows that the last guy screwed up on a 1924 house in Hancock Park. (Los Angeles).

These windows are absolutely incredible, I doubt that they would be replaceable (exactly) for any price today. They are in pretty good shape for their age, from 10 feet away they look perfect but up close they have some flaws. Still, the automotive equivalent to these would be a Dusenberg or a Pierce Arrow.

Enjoy.

[Evans, Marv]

Wow Denis, those are really impressive. It's great they are originals. I will be looking for some flat arch interior and entry doors. Do you know any sources for either buying from stock or making them?

[speeder]

Here are some shots of them stripped; the varnish was failing more than it should have because the last refinisher put some tint in the spar varnish. (Long story). These windows are exposed to the sun and need to be done in a high-quality marine spar that has UV protection, and even then they need to be redone/touched-up every 6 months to 1 year.

I am stripping one set of doors that were mucked up a little and putting about 8 coats of new varnish on, (sand between coats), for best results you need to remove them for this so I take them off and bring them in the garage every day then put them back on at the end of the day. By myself today. My back is a little sore.

[tabs]

Looks like the house needs alot of renovation. while the prices in Hancock Park are over the Moon, the cost of doing a first rate job would probably be a cool million.

[jorian]

Wow those are stunning. I think the flaws make it better. Patina always hints of history and exudes durability. The rest of the house must be pretty spectacular too.

[speeder]

Originally posted by Evans, Marv
Wow Denis, those are really impressive. It's great they are originals. I will be looking for some flat arch interior and entry doors. Do you know any sources for either buying from stock or making them?

I can refer you to someone who can make anything, but he's not cheap. That's the only guy I know.

[speeder]

Originally posted by tabs
Looks like the house needs alot of renovation. while the prices in Hancock Park are over the Moon, the cost of doing a first rate job would probably be a cool million.

You are right about the cost of restoring these houses, but this one is actually in good shape. They just did the zillion dollar re-do in '04. The stuff that I'm doing falls under maintenance, plus they might have me paint all of the exterior trim just to change the color. It was just done, so it's perfect otherwise.

The interior of the place is amazing. Take a wild guess on the owner's profession, Tabs. (Husband and wife both work, they're fairly young).

[Porsche-O-Phile]

So nice to actually see some REAL design elements on a building in this town instead of more of the same tired old junk. Beautiful!

Now if they could please do something about the god-awful yellow-painted stucco on the exterior. . .

[speeder]

They are both attorneys whose field is construction litigation. In other words, they sue builders and contractors for shoddy work. It takes a certain amount of confidence to work for them, but they love me and they're really cool. It's an absolutely booming field they work in, what they used to call "a blue sky opportunity"......

It's like the guy is a builder, he's a very "hands on" type and both of them know construction backwards and forwards. We have common friends from back in the punk rock/club days and he went to USC w/ people I know. Also, FWIW, they found a house that they want to buy but are passing on it because they would have to sell this one. He told me that he is never selling another piece of RE. He still owns the houses that they lived in before this one, they're all rented out. It's fun to be around people that are business/$$ smart, because I am so the opposite.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally posted by Noah
...Young couple...Hancock Park...expensive house....Porn?

They are both attorneys

...either way there is some screwing going on!

Nice work Denis. A 6 month re-touch? Thats nice repeat biz. I'd say your not too shabby with the biz accumine either

[rcecale]

Denis,

What are you using to strip the old varnish? It really looks immaculate, they way you have them cleaned off. Can you share your process, or is it a trade secret?

Reason I'm asking is because I've still got a bunch of wood trim Ii need to re-finish, but the stuff is being a real PITA.

Whoever did the job before be did a decent enough job of staining, but they followed up with a coat of poly-urethane that looks to have been applied with an old, dirty mop.

Randy

[vash]

i have been kicking around the idea of going to law school for just that; construction!

those windows look sweet.

[RickM]

Beautiful work.

[Racerbvd]

Sir, you are a craftsman, very nice work!!!

[speeder]

Randy, The only way to safely remove polyurethane, or most other varnishes, is with chemical stripper and a good scraper. It's nasty stuff, so make sure to use it in a well-ventilated area or you'll wind up like Mul.

On these particular windows, I thought that I would have to use stripper on, but the old varnish just scraped off dry. Mind you, I have the best tools available, (carbide blades), they are REALLY sharp, and you have to use care like you are de-fusing a nuclear bomb w/ wood this valuable.

[speeder]

Thank you guys for the compliments.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

"a blue sky opportunity"

Hmm....I'll have to look into those.

make sure to use it in a well-ventilated area or you'll wind up like Mul

ROFL!!!

Really nice work. I'm starting to wonder if I've asked Bob Wallace to fix up my Pontiac, though.

Those are beautiful windows, btw.

[notfarnow]

Question for you...

Before applying the finish, how fine will you go with the sanding?

This is an ongoing debate between my father and I. He likes to sand the wood to 200, thinking it creates as smoother finish. I don't like to sand the wood past 80 or so, so that it has "tooth" for the finish to hold onto. I'll sometimes sand with 200 between the last couple coats.

This is how I learned to do brightwork on boats, I assumed it would be the same for applications like the one you're working on.

What are your thoughts?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've actually toyed with the idea of going back to school for a law degree. . . I'd be a shoe-in for construction law (architecture background with law?) But I'm terrified about the cost. I'm already carrying over $80k in student loan from one graduate degree. . . Not so sure I need another load. Granted one could make it back if things were good in short order, but I believe that fresh-out-of-law-school grads don't exactly make all that much to offset the high cost of the education - and you'd be unlikely to specialize for several years. Not to mention the quality of life issues. Right now I have a pretty decent schedule, 40-hour weeks (occasionally more, but not that often) and stable work. It'd be hard to trade that for 80-hour weeks, dog-eat-dog environment and all the rest just to earn a paycheck in order to pay off another student loan.

Then again, the potential return on investment is inticing. . . Any thoughts?

[rcecale]

Originally posted by speeder
Randy, The only way to safely remove polyurethane, or most other varnishes, is with chemical stripper and a good scraper. It's nasty stuff, so make sure to use it in a well-ventilated area or you'll wind up like Mul.

On these particular windows, I thought that I would have to use stripper on, but the old varnish just scraped off dry. Mind you, I have the best tools available, (carbide blades), they are REALLY sharp, and you have to use care like you are de-fusing a nuclear bomb w/ wood this valuable.

I've been using a couple of different brands of citrus stripper and also a "regular" style, but it still seems like wasted effort. Perhaps it's my "cheap-o" style tools, like you say.

My main pieces of hardware have been a plastic wood stripping blade, recommended because it's plastic and supposedly doesn't harm the wood, and a plastic stripping brush, to work the nooks and crannies.

Fortunately, the wood I'm working with is nothing like what you have there. Beautiful work, by the way (yours, not mine ).

When you combine my low-budget tools and my over-all lack of patience in waiting on the stripper to actually work, I can assure you, my finished product isn't looking anywhere near the quality of yours. Maybe if I drag the job out a little longer, my wife will cave and let me buy all new wood...

Thanks for the info, Denis!

Randy