Pinetree Home Services

Pinetree Home Services Over 30 years of designing and completing home enhancement projects large and small. Minor electrical, lighting, plumbing, carpentry, trim and finish.

Former US Army NCO. Call, text or message me to discuss your ideas!....Ross Statham

Furniture assembly isn't particularly difficult-- but it's time consuming, detailed oriented and requires attention to d...
07/01/2026

Furniture assembly isn't particularly difficult-- but it's time consuming, detailed oriented and requires attention to detail. (And sometimes it requires an ability to understand "Engrish", too.) When Audrey and I bought our 122-year-old house in Chipley, it needed more pantry space in the kitchen, and a new six foot cabinet in the bathroom. So... I "get it".

Typically these come in large, heavy boxes that are delivered to your front door. You get to do the rest.

Obviously we put these together for people-- I had an outreach this morning via "Angi" from a couple in Panama City looking for someone to assemble their furniture. Easily done, and in fact, we have a page on our website that describes it:
https://pinetreehome.com/furniture-assembly/

So here's a few tips for those of you who want to do this yourself:
1. Pull everything out of the box and set the items where you can see the numbers. Position them in number order, so that you can find them when needed.

2. Read the instructions through FIRST, look at the box to see if it has an illustration of the finished product.

3. Go slowly, and look carefully at the parts shown (to make sure you're not putting something together upside down, for example).

4. If things aren't looking right, backup.

5. If it says to hold off on tightening until "X", then do what it says!

Be patient. You'll love the result.

Let's talk about china cabinets- a project this past Winter. This is the built-in that came with our 122 year old house...
06/19/2026

Let's talk about china cabinets- a project this past Winter. This is the built-in that came with our 122 year old house, and while it had been loved in the past, it was in need of some "maintenance" to return it to prime time. The hinges and latch were painted over, doors didn't align or even fully close (because they'd been painted over, duh!).

First thing was to fix the doors, and repair the shelves. Combination of sanding, a bit of using the hand plane (just like the good old days), new latch. The old brass hinges had at least four different layers of paint on them, and rather than use a chemical stripper on them, I chipped off the paint while they were installed.

The shelves were in pretty good shape, just a matter of adjustment for most, but did need to replace one. (That's why we have table saws.) A new coat of semi-gloss Valspar (one of my favorite paints), and a like-new cabinet.

But what really made the project was the addition of a series of two "puck" lights above each shelf, with hidden wires down to the controller and transformer hidden out of sight. Then used a bit of white trim to cover the wires above and on the sides. The lights came with a controller that included a timer and dimmer, and all for less than $75.

My wife loves to light this up when we have guests over for dinner, since it's in the dining room. It really lights up that corner of the room in a most pleasant way. She has it dialed down to just the right amount of light, and it shuts off automatically later.

This was one of those projects where I got to use my carpentry, painter, lighting guru and electrical skills. Fun.

This has been one of my most satisfying lighting projects. My buddy Ken and I put high powered solar powered streetlig...
06/18/2026

This has been one of my most satisfying lighting projects.

My buddy Ken and I put high powered solar powered streetlights up at each of the two driveway entrances for the Chipley Church of Christ. No power to hook up, no permit needed with the city. We used Ken's bucket truck to set the two poles, but these will also mount on barns, houses, other buildings. (Ken's a commercial electrician, but again, no permit was needed. But I did make sure to go to "Call before you dig" first and get things marked!)

We’ve had them up two years now and they’re doing great, even on long winter nights. As you can see, they’re strong lights and really do the job. The members at the church have been quite pleased.

If you're looking to add real value to your home- the sort of value that causes potential buyers down the road to want t...
06/17/2026

If you're looking to add real value to your home- the sort of value that causes potential buyers down the road to want to pay your asking price for your property-- consider your landscaping. Landscaping is something that just about anyone that doesn't mind getting dirty can do, and there are several nurseries in the area that are more than willing to look at your current areas and sketch out what they suggest to make it better.

When installing, use a top quality landscaping fabric first, place the plants where you want them, then mark out a circle and cut the fabric. Dig out the dirt and save it for other stuff-- and use a top quality topsoil like Black Kow below and around your plant. Make sure you mulch! I like to use washed brown stone or rubber mulch at my house, just because I'm lazy. Another excellent choice is the relatively inexpensive bagged wood chips. I do NOT recommend pine straw. Looks pretty, but requires annual maintenance- and it's a pretty mediocre mulch.

What about watering? Glad you asked. Use digital timers (these use AA batteries) and half-inch tubing (which you can buy at Lowe's.) Put some small blue watering "heads" at each shrub that are plugged into the tubing, set the timer to water for about a half hour every three days, then leave it alone.

And of course, install plants that make you happy!

I've learned the best way to build customer loyalty is to practice these three things, in all of my dealing with people:...
06/12/2026

I've learned the best way to build customer loyalty is to practice these three things, in all of my dealing with people:
- Care about them.
- Take ownership of their problems.
- Do everything you said you would do, when you said you would.

Your comments appreciated.....Ross Statham

Barn doors are an interesting way to separate rooms. I designed and built this one from plywood and 1x6. (I like the p...
06/07/2026

Barn doors are an interesting way to separate rooms. I designed and built this one from plywood and 1x6. (I like the plywood because it made for a sturdier and robust door, and was easily stained.) The boss lady loved the results!

Ripped the plywood into “boards” that glued and screwed onto the 1x6 frame. Used pocket screws to assemble the frame, similar to furniture construction. These doors can be a challenge, but are great if you have the space.

This was in a shop; also works well for home interiors.

I’ve also installed these from online “put it together” kits. Either way, I do like the results!

Need a split rail or privacy fence? Can do.
06/07/2026

Need a split rail or privacy fence? Can do.

I should have taken a few photos “before.” Completely transformed this back foyer. New trim, glass insert, major light...
06/07/2026

I should have taken a few photos “before.” Completely transformed this back foyer. New trim, glass insert, major lighting upgrade.

06/07/2026

Remodeled bathroom with new walls, flooring and lighting. The “before” was a dark bathroom with brown walls, dark green tiles on the floor and around the tub. There was an EIGHT INCH deep and three inch high “wall” between the whirlpool bath and the bathroom, making it hard to get in or out of the tub.

The shower was a mess. Broken and cracked tile and some mildew. Previous homeowner had rented out the upstairs and had simply neglected it.  I recommended we block the shower door off from the rest of the bathroom, put in a new door with a new light switch and new ceiling fixture, and repurpose the shower into a big closet for the upstairs bedroom. This made the upstairs much more usable, and it saved considerable money from not having to re-tile and refloor the shower.

After Shane and I removed the tile, I re-framed the shower door, put in an opening into the bedroom for a 30 inch door and put a much smaller frame in front of the tub. Put down LVP flooring in the bathroom and in the closet, and reinstalled the toilet and the vanity. Put new orange peel finish on the walls, and the final touch was to build a easily removable pair of doors that snapped on the front of the whirlpool bath that are firmly held in place by rare earth magnets. (This is a very important step. Being able to get to the plumbing and the recirculating pump easily is called, “thinking ahead“.)

Note the wainscoting and vinyl trim above the tub.

New drywall and major drywall patch and transition. Light blue paint, new white baseboard to match the rest of the baseboard already upstairs.

Lighting was awful. (A two bulb ceiling fixture and a three bulb fixture above the vanity.) No light anywhere near the toilet and like I said, a dark room. To resolve that, I put track light on the ceiling and used three spots which shine against the walls. That and the light blue paint really transformed the lighting in the room.

The only hard part about this project was removing the tile. Dust control, and mildew in the shower gave it a couple of small challenges, but these were dealt with by using high-quality masks. Air hammer and some muscle did the rest.

If you have any kind of a bathroom challenge, let me know. Always happy to listen to your thoughts.

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Chipley, FL
32428

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