An absolute thing of beauty.

[Ben H]

http://bcove.me/ht5l2vu4

It's a damn shame homes are not built with this kind of attention any more.[:-cry]

[gtblum]

Someone should introduce that guy to a finish nailer. What happens if you need or want to replace these doors later on down the road? Sizes vary from different manufacturers. Instead of wasting all of your 8ps, go swipe some romex staples from sparky's gang box.

I don't bother shimming interior doors. The nails will hold the door in the center of the opening by themselves. Once you case both sides, you're not moving it.

[Tom Raymond]

His math is a little off. Most manufacturers make their doors undersized, a 32" door measures 31 3/4", but several do not. The fact that 3/4" jambs are almost always 11/16" doesn't give you enough room to set the thing in his opening. Dead plumb or not, you need more than an 1/8" to get a jambset into an RO, and with a full size slab the opening is 1/4" smaller than the jamb. Add a 1/2" to the opening and throw in a couple shims and I could have set the door in the time he spent fiddling with those jack studs.

Also, anyone with that much experience ought to know how to hold a hammer. He didn't swing too well either. Batting only about 500. Somebody better buy Gramps a lighter mallet.

[Ben H]

I think you dudes are missing the point. I think it's nice to see an old timer who still trying.... never mind.

[gtblum]

Sorry Ben. I'm all for old timers who are still trying. Problem is, this guy is teaching people on a DIY video.

I once spent half of a summer at the state fairgrounds with an old guy who was a retired school principal, turned apprentice teacher for the union, who decided he needed a taste of the field. The guy didn't have a clue. He was painfully slow.

He measured the height of kick down door stops that never made it to the ground, then spent more time lowering them so they would work and bondoing the first holes he made in the doors. He wasted time arguing and insisted on mitering furring strips being used as a half assed attempt at trimming the area between a block wall and a ceiling in an outdoor shithouse. That was just two examples of what went on.

We were under the gun to get the place ready. No time for making stuff like that pretty.

I never got more dirty looks or been chewed out by a boss for another guy's screw ups than on that job. They assumed it was me. Why? It couldn't be the old guy. He's been around. He's an apprentice teacher.

As it turns out, I ended up learning a lesson from him too.

[Tom Raymond]

He's promoting methods that will not work with modern materials. He's admitting as much when he says 'prehung door' then mumbles 'or one you built yourself', and again when he bemoans the quality of 'today's wood'.

It's interesting to see how things used to be done. It's irresponsible for Fine Homebuilding to promote it as a 'how to' video, but I'm not surprised. Hanley Wood has a bunch of low quality, questionably accurate online content.

[Chad Fabry]

Sorry Ben, I'm on the other side too. Spending 5 minutes fixing what's was good enough ( good enough is perfect in real life) doesn't make sense. It's called rough framing for a reason.

And really, the guy did hold his hammer like a girl and I may be wrong but I bet about half his toenails failed to make it to the second piece of lumber.

[ericwlewis]

he DID hold his mouth right when he looked at the level....

[Ben H]

You guys are a tough crowd. I just thought it was nice to see an old timer still swinging. Given his age, and likely his eyesight, I didn't think his hammering was half bad.

[Mark P]

I liked it to Ben - made me miss my Granpa.

[John Kogel]

You guys are a tough crowd. I just thought it was nice to see an old timer still swinging. Given his age, and likely his eyesight, I didn't think his hammering was half bad.

I had to watch it, after all that. Maybe he's used to swinging a smaller hammer, typical old fashioned claw hammer, but for the video, they gave him a big framing hammer.

Now I get the toenail remark. Not his personal toenails but the nails he bangs in, too shallow of an angle. Also, nailing the header, when you can see the other side of the stud, don't you just drive nails thru the stud into the header?

And finally, the door opening is always built a little too wide and a little too tall. That way, we know it will fit. []

[kurt]

Same here.....I finally watched it to see what's what.

The guy is Larry Haun; he's a "famous" old timer from the Woodie Guthrie days, a true blue union framer type guy. He wrote a memoir, got some press, FH (of course) loves this stuff, and we end up with a video of an old guy working to outdated ideas.

He recently passed away and got a few words in the NYT lauding his time on the job.

If you're interested?..

[Les]

I knew Larry. Some of your comments may be true, but he was an important figure in the wood building business. He was not always an "old guy" and he really did drive more than a few nails. For me, it was the first time I'd seen him in several years.

For my money he was a hell of a lot more knowledgeable than Mike Holmes, Bob V or several dozen home inspectors I know.

Edit: I let a few minutes pass before posting an edit. Larry does represent a bygone homebuilding era, but houses of that era are what most of us inspect. It is important to know how it "used to be done". I do agree that this particular video may not be at the top of my list. We all learned what we know at the knee of an old fart. Or at least I admit that I follow many characters that came before me.

guess I'd better get back to my oatmeal and Geritol.

[Marc]

The link didn't work for me but I found him on youtube. What was most noticeable to me was that this was a guy who really loved and took great pride in what he did for a living. How many people get that?

Marc

[kurt]

Shoot, I tried it again and it worked.....don't know what's wrong.

Go to the NYT and search for "larry haun".

Wait, it may be because you don't have an account. NYT is changing to paid accounts now.

Basically, Larry was a very interesting guy with a lot of good things to say. His was a Brady Bunch, blended and raised 5 kids in a 940sf bungalow; the two additions he added weren't BR's....they were a space for homework and a quiet sitting area...he had his priorities right.

He was a philosopher, always wondering how the houses we live in shape who we are.

He was actually a pretty cool guy. The video doesn't do him any justice.

[hausdok]

Hi,

Well, I don't really have an issue with the guy's technique. He was an elderly gentleman swinging a long-handled heavy framing hammer. So, he had to choke up a little bit for accuracy? At his obvious advanced age, who cares. Wait until you're an older fart than you are now and see how well you handle one of those large hammers. You might find yourself looking up and saying, "Sorry, Old Timer, I should have shut up 'cuz now I'm finding out that what goes around comes around."

The thing that bugs me more than anything when reading this thread? Fne Homebuilding is a Taunton Press pub...NOT Hanley-Wood.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[gtblum]

I don't doubt any of what's been said about this man or his ability.

I really don't have a problem with the way he let his hammer do the work instead of having a death grip and shocking the crap out of his wrist, elbow, arm and shoulder for years on end.

I don't really think a guy in his late fiftys/early sixtys is an old guy.

I just think more detail and more thought about who these DIY clips are being watched by, should be taken into consideration when they make them.

I didn't notice the installation of the header between the trimmers method the first time. That, I don't understand. Obviously not a load bearing wall, but why not cut the trimmers to length and nail it from the top?

[munanbak]

Larry Haun is a real treat to watch. Thanks for posting this. He is the Chuck Norris of framing.

[kurt]

I don't really think a guy in his late fiftys/early sixtys is an old guy.

Larry was 80 when he passed....he was framing full tilt well into his 70's.

I used to swing a 28 oz. waffle head; gave me the carpal tunnel that still messes with me.....it's a miracle Larry could even hang on to the thing.