Welcome to Custom Woodwork by Fred. Family owned and operated we specialize in custom-designed wood piece including entertainment centers, wine cabinets, display cases, built-ins, bookcases, desks, beds, and other handmade wood furniture for homes or businesses. With over 30 years experience we take pride in our creative designs, professional craftsmanship and attention to detail.
We are located in Gibsonville NC. You will find information on our projects here and how some of our projects come together. We hope you enjoy what you find here.
It’s been some time since we last posted. We have had a very busy year both in and out of the shop. Follow along and see what we were up to. In the next few weeks there will be several new posts. From this past years projects and we hope to have posts for our current projects as well.
In the last year we have been involved in a master bathroom remodel. Starting with a custom vanity with a few upgrades, a huge custom shower, slipper soaking tub and more. We will have highlights of the entire process along with plenty of pictures.
Our current year projects are, 2 garden bridges that we hope to re-purpose wood used from shipping large items. The shipper uses this as dunnage. This material would have been discarded in a landfill. We used this material for a bridge last year to replace a bridge we lost due to a storm. It was thought to be a temporary solution but has held up very well.
We also have a deck build that we are looking forward to sharing as well. Phase one of our deck project complete and we will be starting phase two this spring if all goes well.
We also used this material to build a trash can enclosure with a rustic charm. See how we use a simple treatment to discourage bugs and wood rot.
Using this free material is a great way to keep it out of a landfill. Plus, the added bonus of keeping money in our pockets.
Some of the material is twisted and warped. Cutting it down to smaller sizes allows us to continue to use most of the material. For our garden this year we will be using it for a raised herb garden.
Lots of projects and little time have delayed our up dates but we hope to catch up this year. We also hope to bring you content that interests and inspires you.
While building any of our projects, there is always time between stages. Especially when waiting for a finish to dry or glue to set up. This is when I clean up the shop or move on to an outdoor project. Always something to do around the shop.
While cleaning, I find that I keep every cut off and scrap in a pile here or there. Over time it looks like a lumber yard for Lilliputian’s from Gulliver’s travels. At times I have to dispose of this material due to the amount. The preferred method is to re-purpose these materials into other useful things.
Small but useful
During a flooring project I collected cut-offs from a wood look vinyl floor. The kind that clicks together. It has a nice rustic gray color and it was made to be durable. The bottom has a thin insulation layer making it a good choice to re-purpose this into something useful.
My dog has been getting up there in years and needed something to assist her with eating. Raised dog bowls are nothing new and quite pricey. They assist the dog by raising the dish to a more comfortable position. Problem is I also have a cat. The raised dishes would make it difficult for her to reach the water. I extended the length creating a platform for said cat. I trimmed using leftover pallet wood from another small but useful project. Store-bought feeders did not offer a solution.
So here I have this material, time and design. The ideal situation to re-purpose the left-over material. However, this is only a small amount of material for one project. My finish is still drying on the wine cabinet project so I used the rest to make a few birdhouses. It only took about an hour after hanging them to have new tenants.
Multi-Functional Elegance:. Imagine a stunning piece that not only stores your favorite wines but also provides convenient storage for miscellaneous items in its charming “junk” drawers. The integrated bookshelves of the Legacy Wine Cabinet, add a touch of sophistication, making it a perfect fit for any living room.
The inspiration for this wine cabinet stems from a piece I crafted several years ago for my wife. Intrigued by its design, a client approached me expressing admiration for the cabinet and inquiring whether I would be willing to create a similar one for her. The foundational layout and specific requirements were conceptualized by my wife, serving as the guiding vision for this bespoke project. The images below are the original design.
My neighbor had been looking to close off his car cover. He wanted to hide his tractor and equipment from view of his home. He contacted several companies in the area but had no luck in finding anyone interested in a small project. At some point during our conversation, it appears I had agreed to do this for him. The details are still fuzzy. The barn door Handles came to me while building his doors.
When we built our home across the street, he was very inviting and has been there for us when we were converting our land from farming to our lawn.
Shou Sugi Ban or Yakisugi is a traditional means of preserving wood. Usually used as siding it provides water-proofing, insect resistant and fire retardant qualities. Yes you literally burn the wood! If you would like the technical information just click here. This was the perfect choice for my “Firewood Bench”
With my garden planted and the pond area cleared it was time to sit back and relax. The problem was no where to do that. I priced out buying a simple bench. About $500 on average. Even with the cost of pressure treated I could make maybe two benches for a hundred bucks. With inflation on the rise and material costs out of touch with reality I decided I would just get some pressure treated lumber and make a cheap bench to get me through until I could make something nicer over the winter. So a quick search for bench plans yielded a few ideas but I kept my design simple.
Like most of us, time seems to slip by and any good intentions we had get lost in day to day life. While trying to get caught up I came across past projects I had planned to post in a blog someday. I am happy that I had at least taken pictures as I worked on these projects.
I will be posting several of these projects that were made prior to our blog. The first up is a bathroom vanity in Brazilian Cherry for a home in Melbourne FL. This vanity was contracted by the home owner for a DIY installation so I will not have any pictures of the installed vanity.
This is the last photo I had of this project. I’m hoping to find the pictures of the matching medicine cabinets that flanked both sides and the center of this vanity.
Special Features
The simple clean lines were requested by the homeowner based on a drawing they provided. Although it seems like a basic vanity a few simple tweaks increase the functional use of this bathroom staple. This vanity is for the master bath which could not be increased in size so maximum storage was a requirement. The home owner provided a drop in sink and had some leftover laminate from another project which we incorporated into this project.
Some of our want list had to be delayed to replace a poor quality handrail installed by the builder. Needless to say the railing failed due to poor preparation and material selection. Upgrading a builder grade railing can add value to any home.
When learning how to remodel and build homes, my father always spent the time to hand select every 2×4, 2×6 etc. etc. I hated it. But as I got older I excepted the process and I just do it naturally. The reason I mention this is due to the material that was used to construct the railing we are replacing for this project.
As a force of habit I automatically go to the best quality material I can locate and scrutinize every piece. So this brings us to the choice the builder used. In the vast number of years I’ve been remodeling I have never stumbled across a finger jointed 2×4. This is the wrong choice for an outdoor wood project.
I know the builder chose this material because it is cheap and with a fresh coat of paint who would know. The choice of material is not the only mistake. During installation proper preparation did not occur. The exposed end grain was not sealed and I could not find any signs of a primer being used. Poorly prepped and a low quality paint job and the railing is destined to fail. The failure is the railing had rotted when exposed to the elements.
This project was not on the to-do list. The contractor who built the house used very cheap paint and after a few years, it showed. We decided to paint the family room and kitchen in the future but with all the rain this past year we moved forward and repainted. The original color was called Greige and is somewhere between brown and gray. Cleaning the paint without it showing was impossible and literally would wipe off as you tried. We opted to change the color to one that was slightly brighter and of better quality. We also applied primer over the original paint to ensure the new paint would last. For our High bar Renovation, we added to our painting project to tie the whole space together.
This post is not about painting the living space. We chose a neutral Grey which ties in better with the trim. However, when it came to the kitchen island we knew it needed something more. Also, the Grey did not contrast with the Granite countertop which is grey’s whites and blacks.
A client came to me and asked if I could make him an Oak side table as a Christmas gift. This was Mid December. Not one to say no I asked him what he was looking for. He asked for a simple table to sit beside his mother’s chair so she could enjoy the view of the property from the window. Sounds simple enough so I asked what type of wood he wanted and size and so on. “Well,” he says “Not to make it more difficult I have this tree I cut down a while back” Remember this is mid-December. Not deterred I pressed on and asked if I could see the wood and asked how long it had been cut down into slabs. He figured about a year or so.
I just happened to be between projects at the time and had wanted to work from slab to finished project for an upcoming project and thought the Oak side table would be a chance to see how it goes. Making no promises I agreed to take on the project. He provided several slabs and I began work.
In our previous post, we showed you how we built our Potting and Garden shed. We promised to add our upgraded shed in an upcoming post. Well, here it is. I knew I liked the Craftsman style but adding columns to a shed is a little overkill. While I traveled during my enlistment in the Navy the style of homes in the Northwest appealed to me. I saw how the Craftsmen style in the Northwest was used in that area and I knew I liked it. Looking back it probably was the furthest thing on my mind but it must have lodged in my brain.
The Craftsman-style homes in the Northwest use wood siding. In particular, Cedar shakes. They are a very versatile and durable material. The shingles (or shakes)can be installed in straight lines or staggered for a more rustic look. We chose the latter. Finding the shingles was a little difficult. I discovered they are quite popular for grilling. Since I am not in the Northwest I have to assume that’s why they are used in North Carolina. This is not a how-to post but more of a here you go what do you think.
Before UpdateAfter Update
In addition to adding the shakes, we added some more trim to the Barndoor and the eve of the shed. The additional detail ties the look together.
