Work order line 04: Carpentry and Doors
Rotted thresholds rebuilt, pre-hung doors set, walls put back true
Drywall, trim and crown, interior and exterior doors, storm doors, furniture assembly, TV mounting and sheds, built by a former general contractor.
Chapter 01
A door usually fails at the sill first
A sagging door, a draft along the bottom, a threshold that gives under your boot: in most Knoxville houses the door is not the problem, the wood under it is. Water sits on a threshold, the sill softens, and the frame follows. Drywall dents, loose trim and wobbly furniture are the same story at a smaller scale.
John Blakemore covers the whole list: drywall repair, door and window repairs, interior and exterior door installation, storm doors, moldings including baseboards, door trim and crown, flooring of all types, flat screen TV mounting, furniture and office furniture repair and assembly, and porch and deck repairs. His own line on the services page is "Accidents happen, making them go away is nice too!"
New pre-hung half-lite back door set in its frame, a level resting on the jamb.
Strip back to sound wood, rebuild, then set the new door
On one door repair he removed the storm and entry doors, rebuilt the rotted thresholds, and set new pre-hung doors with storm doors. Then he painted the doors, the frames and the molding, so nothing was left bare for the weather to find.
Another exterior door replacement used a new pre-hung door and kept the original interior trim, with the storm door special-ordered to follow. That job came by referral from a neighbor's job.
Walls get the same treatment. A homeowner's warped three-quarter-inch by six-inch tongue-and-groove covering had pushed the fireplace mantel 2 inches off the wall. John demolished it and rebuilt the exterior wall section with treated plywood, studs, insulation and a vapor barrier, hung two layers of sheetrock, taped and finished it, then reinstalled the trim, the crown and the original mantel.
Chapter 03
Paint, trim and the year after
A door is not done when it swings. It is done when the frame is painted and the molding is back. John treats paint and trim as part of the job rather than a leftover, and he builds for the finish: Chris Brown hired him to build a storage shed, and the foundation, walls and roof came with a window, a flower box, a workbench and a drip edge added on.
Every job carries a 1-year guarantee on all labor, and contracts are only paid in full when the finished work is to your complete satisfaction. Estimates are free.
1-year guarantee on all labor. Free estimates. Call or text 865-978-0489.
A back door and a mantel wall, opened up and closed again
The same two jobs described above, with the frames John started from and where they ended up.
“John is the only person I'll be calling for my next project.”