Step by step woodyworking

Well, its the start of a new project! This ones in Northville, Michigan. The project calls for running crown molding in two bathroom areas, installing endpanels and new base on the kitchen cabinets, installing 3 large arch trim sections on the high part of the Wall of Troy in the entryway, and installing a new decorative chair rail and box trim in the entryway and dining room. With the selections made by the homeowners, I made the first trip today to Home Depot. Most of the trim work can come from Home Depot since its going to be painted. If it was going to be stained, Id be inclined to get it elsewhere.

Here are some initial pics of the trim, back in the shop. Everything gets sanded and painted. I guess the important thing here is to make sure you have a nice open space to work in so your comfortable. Painting will take the majority of the week, since theres so much trim. Another tip: its easier to paint the trim before putting it up, and you can fix blemishes, etc.

The customer has requested an upgrade to the mantle, and this one is going to take some figuring out! They would like to have lighting embeded in the top of the mantle and a switch to turn it on and off! This would have been alot easier a week ago when I was gluing the mantle together, but now it looks like the only choice is to router out a trough for the lighting, and a recess for the switch. Ive located some LED lighting online that is low to no heat, so that will work fine. I also want to put a glass cover over the trough, so this lighting will accomodate that as well. I will post some pictures when I start to dig out the trough.