I'm looking for a lock for my workshop door that will unlock when I'm near it and doesn't require taking a key fob out. Anything like that on the market?

The issue is that I need to go in and out of this door a lot while carrying something in my hands and I want to prevent visitors and other family members from entering the workshop for safety reasons.

Any advice appreciated!

I'm looking for a lock for my workshop door that will unlock when I'm near it and doesn't require taking a key fob out. Anything like that on the market?

The issue is that I need to go in and out of this door a lot while carrying something in my hands and I want to prevent visitors and other family members from entering the workshop for safety reasons.

Can anyone point me to a picture or video like this with a false back, but held in place with magnets rather than hinges? I want to illustrate this concept to a client but it’s an unusual application and Google searching is not giving me anything.

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/otmpja/nightstand_with_false_back_secret_compartment/?share_id=4Fv6SEV71Le_c1FXFXdeq&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Can anyone point me to a picture or video like this with a false back, but held in place with magnets rather than hinges? I want to illustrate this concept to a client but it’s an unusual application and Google searching is not giving me anything.

Did several handyman jobs for some customers including some custom stuff that they were into like a new kitchen island top. We also had some new cabinetry on the books that was unfortunately delayed due to family illness and supplier problems, which I proactively communicated about.

A few weeks ago they asked me to frontload some smaller stuff like trim repairs. I told them that'd be a priority over the cabinets and they agreed. When it came time to do the work they really rode me on everything: questioning my decisions, contradictory feedback, approving then disapproving custom trim profiles and a lot of talking down to me, constant aggressive questions, etc.

Then of course they hit me with wanting the cabinet deposit to count toward the work they had asked me to frontload while saying a bunch of other negative stuff. I suggested we settle up and cancel future work and they acted super nice about it, but I suspected this was just their plan with me the whole time since they changed their minds about the cabinets.

I've got a pretty good radar for bad customers at the estimate or even phone call / email stage, but this was the first time I had a customer go sour on me.

Anybody got similar stories? And anything to do to mitigate it? I don't mind if someone decides they don't want to do business with me, but getting jerked around feels pretty awful.

I’m a solo handyman / carpenter and have been taking on more custom cabinetry builds as I “graduate” to more skilled work.

Are there good suppliers you would recommend reaching out to for flat pack cabinets who would work with a small company like mine? I have customers who want to do larger projects and I can’t do 10+ cabinets in my workshop in a reasonable amount of time. If I could find a supplier, I could focus more on design, install and the more fun custom stuff like trim and countertops.

Obviously, I’d like to find suppliers that also do filler strips and the like. I’m starting to decline jobs where customers have cheaped out at Lowes and need someone to fix it.

Thanks!

I'm having trouble figuring out where to look for Union veterans singing John Brown's Body (or other Civil War era songs). Seems like there should be some on record given how long active veteran chapters were operating. FWIW, started thinking about this after reading Sherman's memoirs and his recollection that the finest rendition he heard was at the victory march in Washington.

Here's a general response to all the "coders" spamming this sub and other contractor subs.

Stop asking tradespeople to do free market research for you. If you truly have some new idea for extremely basic stuff like invoicing and doing estimates, and if you truly think you have something good enough and sustainable enough to take market share away from the dozens of multi-million dollar incumbent companies, PAY FOR MARKET RESEARCH.

If you can't afford to pay for market research, EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR MARKET RESEARCH.

If you don't have enough money to pay for market research, call a contractor and offer them $100 and lunch to ask about how they organize their work.

If you don't have $100 and can't afford to take someone out to lunch, go find something else to do with your time.

If you already built an app and think it's god's gift to tradies, PAY PEOPLE TO TEST IT OUT. Setting up a new account on your "free" demo costs people time, which costs them money. If your app doesn't exist in six months, now your "customers" have to go change systems again.

The likelihood that you are inventing something that is SO MUCH better than existing products is almost zero. Every other dude with a ChatGPT subscription thinks they can reinvent the wheel for one of the oldest industries on Earth.

Meanwhile, the guys who actually do contractor / handyman / carpentry work make an honest living and if you're not willing to pay them for their time, YOU are bad at business.

EDIT: Mods, can we add a rule that's like "Pay for market research - Asking for free advice for developing software will be deleted as spam. Offer to pay for research."

I’m building a walnut fireplace mantle cap that will go over stone. What’s the best way to prevent the cap from moving unevenly over time? In addition to shellacing the wood, I was thinking about placing a vapor barrier material over the stone.

EDIT: I meant to ask about keeping the wood from warping / moving over time to be clear; I was planning on using a line of caulk to attach it; it's resting on top of the existing stone mantle, which is not being removed, so gravity is going to do most of the work keeping it in place.

Burned out on office work and I've been doing handyman and solo woodworking jobs for 2 years now. The money is good and the clients are good, but it's been hard trying to find someone who will hire me onto their crew to work on larger projects, which is where I'd like to grow.

Any advice?

I've got a website, good Google reviews, and cards and have introduced myself to more than 20 GCs, cabinet shops and custom builders in the area. The handful who have gotten back to me have been clear that I'm on the bottom of their list after guys they've worked with before and of course whatever family members they're trying to help out. I've got one guy who will do quotes with me for larger jobs, but we haven't landed one yet.

And not to be too cynical, guys will tell me how badly they need help but what they seem to really mean is they want to hire a 19 year old they can underpay and string along for a couple years. Or they'll hire a young guy and complain about how he's always on his phone or some desperate guy with substance abuse problems then complain about how they're always late and unreliable. Unfortunately, I think most of these guys see me as someone who might work with them for a year, learn a ton, then move on or, worse, become their competition. And there are a lot of great builders here who have a tight crew and keep themselves booked out for a year+; I get why they are not hiring since they like their teams and are not trying to grow.

I'm in Delaware for what it's worth. I've also called the union programs around here and they have a massive backlog of applicants and discourage older folks from starting. I keep telling myself I just need one guy to give me a break.

What kind of composite lumber would you use to construct outdoor furniture? I’m trying to price out a custom couch for a customer. Thanks!

What kind of composite lumber would you use to construct outdoor furniture? I’m trying to price out a custom couch for a customer. Thanks!

I've gotten better at avoiding red flag customers and tire kickers, but some customers are still in a gray area for me and I'd love to hear some other perspectives.

I've had a few customers who seem eager to do the work but aren't making selections or communicating with me clearly. Like we've met, they've reviewed the quote, said they want to do the work in email and then don't follow up without me asking about scheduling, selection, etc. And of course the key thing is they have not written me a check, so we are not under contract and they have not hit "approve" on a quote.

I've tried to limit myself to just 1 or 2 follow-ups in these situations because it seems borderline if the customer is just busy with other stuff or actually doesn't want to get the work done. But at a certain point, it turns into a yellow to red flag for me that it's someone who doesn't respect my time or doesn't have enough time on their end to even prioritize their work. And of course, I'm not getting paid extra for sending multiple texts and emails just to get a simple selection question or scheduling question answered.

Then there's the opportunity cost -- 90% of my customers have a specific job or set of jobs in mind, they pay me quickly and we're good to go, so why spend time on the 10% that aren't actually interested in doing business?

For bowing out of a job I've said stuff like: "Thanks for getting back to me. It's been a while since we spoke and I'm sorry to say I'm booked out for a long time now and don't think I'll have time to get to your job. No worries if you need to find someone else to help you out." But most other times I've just ghosted and never hear back from them after 1 or 2 attempts at followup. And the stranger interactions in my mind are the people who keep engaging with me to be polite but who never actually take the next step which seems even worse.

I’m getting 20 spam calls a day to the point where I’m worried I’m missing real calls. 90% of them are spoofing local numbers. Any way to make them stop? I’m blocking and reporting as spam. They stop for a few months then come back.

I have a lot of older customers who still call first rather than text, so I still get leads from the phone.

Is there a subreddit for Friedland’s show or the old CTown pod? I swear I remember one from like six months ago but can’t find it now. Thanks!

Customer has a 50lb dog and has seen some photos online of decks getting scratched up by "normal" use from dogs. They are debating between Trex Enhance and Trex Select. It doesn't make a huge difference to me, but I don't want to steer them wrong. Any thoughts?

I'm also seeing a lot of people with more experience installing decks online saying customers should just trim their dogs' nails more often then they don't have to worry about scratching anything, which...yeah fair.