Simon Carey - Carpenter & Joiner

Welcome to the Surrey Carpentry website.

For whatever kind of carpentry or joinery work you’re interested in, please click the categories to the right and browse through the work we have done in the past.  Please also feel free to leave a comment or two.

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch to talk about what we can do for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch

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Built-in Childrens Cabin Bed with Drawers, Guildford, Surrey

Built-in Childrens Cabin Bed with Drawers, Guildford, Surrey

This cabin bed was built to replace an existing one that could not be positioned under the window illustrated because of it’s size.

With the cabin bed being under the window, the space in the room was put to much better use, and good use of space was also achieved by incorporating drawers, cupboards and a slide-out bookcase into the cabin bed itself.

Positioning the batons

Positioning the batons

The initial framework for the drawers is set out

First of all, the batons that will support the built-in cabin bed are fixed to the wall. Once these are in place, the main slat rail can be positioned between the two walls at either end of the bed. With this in place, the framework for the drawers can be set out and placed. It is much easier to build the drawer carcass first of all, rather than later on when all the slats are fixed in place.

Drawers are fitted into the carcass

The slats, front and sides of the bed are positioned

A small ladder will be fixed to the sliding bookcase

With the drawer carcass in place, the drawers could then be fitted using 450mm ball-bearing telescopic runners.

Next were the ends of the bed, which were fixed to the batons initially set out, before fitting the front of the bed into place. This had a cut out section to allow the user of the bed easy access. Below the cut-out was to be a small ladder made of pine which was attached to a small bookcase on castor’s that was able to roll in and out of  a compartment under the cabin bed. This worked well as good use of space as well as adding a little novelty!

The small bookcase and ladder on castors

The cupboard (or hiding place!)

The drawers next to the ladder

Cabin beds… a great solution to space saving for grown ups, a great space station for kids!… or ship… or hideout… or cave… 

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Built-in Fitted Bookcase and Media Centre

Built-in Fitted Bookcase and Media Centre, Godalming, Surrey

This job was a real pleasure to do.

The customer had nearly finished the build of the house, which used to be a bungalow,  now transformed into a superb, modern open-plan dwelling, and this MDF and softwood floor-to-ceiling Audio/TV cabinet was one of the last items to be completed before the family moved in.

As you can see in the picture to the left, the cabinet has a multitude of compartments, all measured and designed by the customer to fit around the objects and equipment they were intending to place in it… can you guess where the quite substantial TV will be going?!

Other than the TV, the media centre will accommodate an array of equipment including speakers, amps, sub-woofer, DVD or blue ray player, and perhaps some books and a nice lamp on one of the curved shelves at the end

Batons are fixed to the wall

The curved base goes down

The curved base goes down

After marking out on the wall where all the shelves will go, the batons that will hold them in place are fixed to the wall.

One of the customers requirements for this job was that no batons were to be seen, because they wanted the shelving to appear as if it was floating. This was achieved by using 25mm baton, and 50mm thick shelving, into which 25mm grooves were centrally cut along the relevant edges, allowing the shelf to be slotted over the baton, therefore concealing it.

Once the batons were on the wall, the next thing was to lay the base of the unit onto the floor, carefully working out the radius of the curved end of the unit, which was to be projected upwards to the ceiling and plumb up perfectly with all the other curves of that end of the built-in media centre.

The top of the unit is fixed to the ceiling

Bottom and top fixed in place

Bottom and top fixed in place with laser accuracy

Next, the top of the unit was fixed to the ceiling, using a laser level to achieve plumb accurately.

Building the shelving up from the base

Shelving grooved over the concealed batons

Shelving fixed to the wall with concealed baton

The Media Centre starts to take shape

All the curved ends are now cut and fitted

Shelving now completed, and softwood lipping is attached

With the top and base of the Media Centre now in place, it was time to start filling in between with the shelving.

This was fairly laborious, as each shelf and each upright was formed of 25mm MDF laminated together to make 50mm thick pieces, which then had to be individually scribed to the wall. Once each piece was scribed, it then needed to be rebated to slot over the batons that would support it.

In addition to this, a further four pieces would need the curve cut from the end of the shelf, which needed to be absolutely plumb with the floor and ceiling curves.

Once this was all done, the next stage was to begin fixing on the softwood lipping to the front edges of the unit. This would conceal the unattractive MDF edge, and create a better surface to be decorated. This is when the Media Centre really started to look impressive!

Softwood lipping being attached

Lipping slotted to allow softwood to curve

Lipping complete, Media Centre ready to go!

Getting the solid pine lipping to flex around the curves of the unit was achieved by cutting slots into the back of the lipping, leaving 3mm uncut on the face side. This allowed the timber to flex easily, and the slots would be filled prior to decoration.

Floor to ceiling Media Centre

Built-in Media Centre, end view

Something that is really pleasing about this job is that because it will be used for TV, movies and music, it will quite often be the centre of attention, and I really think it looks the part!

Built-in Fitted Bookcase and Media Centre, Godalming, Surrey

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Built in Fitted Wardrobe, Guildford, Surrey

Built in Fitted Wardrobe, Guildford, Surrey

This was a softwood (pine) and MDF floor to ceiling wardrobe with two sliding doors.

Inside was a single shelf, 1.8 metres high, with hanging space below, divided into two. The central divider gave the shelf strength and stopped it sagging over time.

The full height sliding doors on this fitted wardrobe were plain MDF, but some pleasant detail was added by fixing rectangles of small beading to them.

There is a pelmet at the top of the wardrobe to conceal the sliding door runners, whereas the sliding doors themselves are simply scribed to the wall and the skirting.

There was coving around the ceiling as well, but instead of cutting it away to make space for the wardrobe, I just scribed the timber around it. This way, if the wardrobe is ever taken out in the future, there won’t be any nasty holes to be patched up in either the skirting or the coving.

Batons fitted for shelves and divider

The divider is fitted

The shelf is fitted onto the divider, levelled by laser

Marking out is always first, and then the batons are fixed to the wall, to which the MDF shelf and divider are fixed.

This is done using a laser level, a great tool to have!

The sliding doors are cut and fitted

Finally, the rectangles of softwood beading are fixed to the sliding doors

After a great deal of attention to getting the top and bottom tracks of the sliding doors level and parallel, the pelmet can be fixed on to conceal the top track, and the wardrobe doors can be cut, scribed and hung.

Then finally the plain doors can be smartened up by fixing rectangles of beading to them.

A nice job, and a great use of space!

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Built in Fitted Wardrobe, Woking, Surrey

Built in Fitted Wardrobe, Woking, Surrey

This job was for a customer who had just moved into the house, but didn’t have room for a wardrobe that had hinged doors, and needed a lot of storage space for clothes.

In this case the solution was to use sliding doors, with hinged cupboards above. They were to be painted, so it made sense to save money and use cheap materials like softwood and MDF.

As you can see in the picture to the left, this wardrobe has three sliding doors, with six hinged doors above them. It was 2.8 metres in total length. The large blank sliding doors were brought into proportion by fixing rectangles of bead to them, giving the effect of smaller doors matching the ones above.

Shelving and first stage of framework

The upper doors are fitted

The sliding doors are fitted and the beading is fixed to all doors

First of all, was to mark out where the shelving was to be placed. These were for folded items such as shirts or jumpers (blokes stuff!) After that, the sides of the wardrobe needed to be scribed to the wall. This can be fairly time consuming if the house is old, which this one was! The walls were all over the place!

Once the wardrobe sides were scribed they were fixed to the wall using softwood baton. The shelves could now be cut and fitted into place including the main shelf along the total length to which the sliding door gear would fixed. A runner was then fitted directly below the top track of  the sliding door, to which the bottom track would be fixed. These needed to be absolutely horizontally parallel.

The upper doors were then fitted using cabinet hinges, and adjusted accordingly to even up the gaps between them.

The hanging rail was fitted next, which ran the entire length of the wardrobe, and was safely supported at intervals using brackets fixed to the shelf above. No-one like dresses in a mess on the floor!

Last of all, the sliding doors were cut and fitted, making sure there were the correct overlaps and stops, before the beading was then pinned on. With the beading pinned on, this fitted wardrobe really came together well.

A built-in fitted wardrobe is one of the best ways to use space in a bedroom, every last centimetre is put to good use. And there is the added bonus of not having to dust the top of them all the time!

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Oak Banister Refurb - Alton, Hants

Joinery – Oak bannister refurbishment – Alton, Hants

This job was a replacement of existing handrail, which was the largely undesirable 70’s “Planks nailed to the newels” look.

It’s always fun to put a sharp handsaw through those planks to make way for a nice new balustrade, and this time we used solid oak handrail, base rail and stop-chamfered oak spindles and newels with oak pyramid newel caps.

These were sourced from the Richard Burbridge American White Oak range.

The first step was to determine the height at which the existing newels should be cut, as the Richard Burbridge newels were pre-drilled to receive the handrail at the top, and spigoted at the bottom to be inserted into the stub of the old newel.

Once this was done, the existing newels could be cut, and a hole drilled in the centre to receive the spigot of the oak newel about the be inserted.

The edges of the existing newels also needed to be rounded over to match the bottom ends of the new oak newels.

Existing "plank" bannister's

Existing "plank" bannister's

Existing newels cut down, rounded over and drilled

Once the stub newels were ready, the new oak newels could be placed into position to be levelled. With the newels level, the handrail could now be cut to fit between the newels.

Oak handrail cut between oak newels

Handrail, baserail, spindles and newel caps fitted

The finished and sanded up solid oak bannister refurbishment

With the newels and handrails in position, the baserails could now be fitted, followed by the spindles and newel caps.

All that was left to do now was fill the fixing holes and sand off the edges.

Another handrail success story!

Technorati Tags: bannisters, oak, oak newel posts, oak newels caps, refurbished ballustrade, refurbished handrail, replacement bannisters, solid oak handrail, spindles, stop-chamfered oak spindles

Bespoke Pine Winding Open-tread Staircase - Guildford, Surrey

Bespoke Joinery – Pine Winding Open-tread Staircase – Guildford, Surrey

Staircases are always a pleasure, and even more so with this one.

There was a great deal of work involved but the end result paid off.

The open treads of the staircase and the stop-chamfered spindles work beautifully together with the dual pitches and the angles of the winding treads.

To conform with staircase regulations, in particular the one about not being allowed to pass a 99mm sphere through the staircase at any point, the 99mm sphere representing a baby’s head, each tread although “open” had to have a stub riser beneath it to bring the gaps in the staircase down to 98mm.

Gluing pine treads together

Gluing pine treads together

Routing tenons and tread housings

After setting out the staircase on a sheet of MDF, the first thing to do was glue up all the pine treads, as they were larger than timber that could be supplied, and while they were clamped and drying,  the next thing was to mark out the strings (sides of the staircase), and route the housings for the treads.

Newel housings and mortices

Cutting winding treads to size

Checking sizes of winding treads on the drawing

While the router was set up, I also routed the housings and mortices into the newel posts.

Next was to cut the winding treads to size, and check them on the drawing.

The assembled the risers and treads

Assembling the main flight of the staircase

Main flight assembled including 3rd winding tread

Pictured above are the assembled treads and risers. There was quite a bit of work to do to get them to this stage, such as plane off excess glue, sand them flat, route the grooves, rebates, round-overs and , as well as fix the risers into the treads.

Once this was done, assembly of the main flight of stairs could begin, as seen above.

Main flight assembled including 3rd winding tread

The finished staircase, ready for fitting

As well as  the main flight of the staircase, there were all the other components to be done including the handrails, baserails, stop-chamfered spindles, apron nosing and draw-bore pegs to fix the mortice and tenon joints together. Once these were all done, making the staircase was complete, ready for stage two, the fitting of the staircase.

Building the stairwell platform

Building the stairwell platform

Because of the layout of the stairwell, which used to be the entrance to the house, a platform which was essentially the first tread of the staircase had to be built before installing the new pine open-tread staircase on top of it. The space where the windows are in the images to left would eventually become a small, rarely used “nook”

The main flight is offered into place

The main flight secured to the trimmer joist

The main flight in position and on its platform

Once the platform was complete, the main flight of the staircase could be lifted into position, secured to the trimmer joist on the first floor, and have it’s newel posts fixed on, giving it “Legs to stand on”

Winding section, handrail and spindles now fitted

Mitred handrail detail to get over (or under!) a low window sill problem

Winding section and first floor balustrade handrail and spindles now fitted

With the main flight in place, all the other components could now be fixed on. These were the winding section, the handrails, baserails, nosing, aprons, and spindles.

Then it was time to stand back and enjoy the result!

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The converted office, with new worktops and bookcases

Home Office Conversion – Worktops, Bookcases and Filing cabinet, Shalford, Surrey

Its always nice to bring new life to a room that when you first enter it, has a strange damp smell, no electricity, and very little appeal whatsoever. This was exactly the case when we converted a damp, dank and dark old scullery in a grade 2 listed building in Shalford, Surrey into a well spaced out, attractive and useable home office for the family.

The room was already equipped with worktops made of slate and granite, and planning control stipulated that they must remain where they were, and not be touched, even though they had seen better days.

To soften and warm up the room ready for office use, the solution was to clad the existing stone worktops in 25mm Oak-faced MDF, which would be much more pleasant for day to day use.

In addition to this, we installed bookcases with adjustable shelving throughout the room, maximising the useable storage space, and also a bespoke fitted filing drawer cabinet system, described in detail HERE.

Main existing slate worktop

Other existing slate worktops

Other existing slate worktops

First "L" shaped section of oak-faced MDF worktop being fitted

First "L" shaped section of oak-faced MDF worktop being fitted

First "L" shaped section of oak-faced MDF worktop being fitted

First of all, we got the oak-faced MDF worktops fitted.

To do this we had to establish where the highest point of the unlevel existing slate worktops was, and use that as the datum level to which the new oak MDF worktops would be set. The necessary packers were cut and placed, and the new worktops were then cut and scribed into position. The first worktop was the main “L” shaped one, which was made of three peices, all biscuit jointed, glued, and wound together with worktop connectors, seen above.

"L" shaped worktop fitted, and being wedged down

"L" shaped worktop fitted

Worktops 3 & 4, 3 being the top of the filing cabinet, and 4 on packers, above existing slate worktop

Worktops 2, 3 and 4, came after this, in clockwise fashion. Worktop 2 was essentially the base of one of the alcove bookcases, worktop 3 was the top of the filing cabinet, and worktop 4, pictured above, went onto the last of the slate surfaces, and had to be packed up by approximately 50mm to bring it to the same level as the rest of the worktops.

Fitted bookcases

Electricity meter cabinet

Electricity meter cabinet

Once all the worktops were fitted, we attached solid oak lipping to the front edge of the oak-faced mdf to conceal both the mdf core and the stone worktops beneath. Of course the lipping on worktop 4 had to be much larger that the rest of the worktops due to the extra 50mm packers between the stone and the new worktop.

The next stage was to fit the bookcases onto the new worktops. These were done in plain MDF. We scribed the sides into place and fixed a fluted trim to the front of them, which would conceal the gaps between the adjustable shelves and the sides of the bookcase.

Once they were cut to size and lipped with softwood for a better finish, the 25mm thick mdf adjustable shelves were placed on “Tonk” inset shelving strip, which allows increments of about 15mm in adjustment, so they are very versatile.

We also housed the electricity meter below the main worktop in a small cabinet to conceal it, this was also done in oak-faced MDF.

The finished oak worktop and bookcase

Bookcase above worktop 3 and filing cabinet

Bookcase above "L" shaped main worktop

Bookcase on worktop 4, with its solid oak cornice, and side fluting

Finally the solid oak cornice was fitted to the bookcase above worktop 4, and it really put the finishing touch to the job. The reason you now see all the books and items already on the shelves is that we planned for the painters to come and paint the plain MDF parts of the job before we came back to fit the cornice, which took a little longer to get hold of from Mayford Joinery, Mayford, as they were quite busy at the time.

In this picture, you can also see the routed fluting down the side of the bookcase, which was the same on all the other bookcases.

All in all, this job was a great deal of work, but as always, it’s great to stand back and enjoy the result.

Technorati Tags: adjustable shelving, bookcases, Cabinets, fitted bookcase, fluting, guildford carpenter, guildford carpentry, mdf, oak, oak-faced mdf, Shalford, Shalford Carpenter, Shalford carpentry, Shalford Surrey

Bespoke fitted filing cabinet in pine and MDF - Shalford, Surrey

Bespoke Fitted Filing Cabinet in Pine & MDF – Shalford Surrey

This large, two drawer filing cabinet was done together with installation of the bookcases and worktops described here, when we converted an old scullery in a grade 2 listed building in Shalford, Surrey into an office.

Once the room was tanked and treated for damp issues, we got to work.

The scullery already had worktops made of slate, which cold, out of level, and very uncomfortable to work on by today’s standards, so in order to modernise it, and because it was a listed building meaning we could not remove or alter any of the existing features, the slate worktops were clad in 25mm Oak-Faced MDF.

Oak MDF top and plain mdf carcassing

Heights of oak-faced mdf worktops uniformed off various slate heights

Large MDF filing drawers are made to fit the carcassing before fitted using strong telescopic ball bearing drawer runners

First of all, we had to establish the highest point of the unlevel slate worktops, from which we could level round the height of the new oak faced MDF worktops, which would give the available internal height for the filing cabinet drawers.

With this done the  carcassing could be constructed, and then the filing cabinet drawers themselves, which were made of plain MDF, and fitted using some very robust telescopic, ball-bearing drawer runners. The drawers‘ width and depth dimensions were based on having 4 outsourced metal filing chassis’ fitted inside them, which maximized the storage space, as well as kept the cost down due to less labour in manufacturing the drawers.

Drawers fitted and working

Pine and MDF drawer fronts

Two drawer fronts per drawer breaks up the large size of the filing drawers to make them look more proportional

Because of the large size of the filing cabinet drawers, we decided it would look nicer if each drawer had two drawer fronts on it to make them look more appealing and proportional. If we had actually had four drawers, we would have lost about 20cms of storage space, and it would have been more work and more money. In this case, I think we chose the best option

Locks fitted for security

The completed filing cabinet, yet to be painted

The completed filing cabinet in action, and using every millimetre of space!

Security was another important factor for the client, so we happily fitted some cabinet locks to the filing drawers, a necessary addition considering the important home and work documents that will be filed in them.

Technorati Tags: bespoke, bespoke mdf cabinet, drawers, filing, filing cabinet, filing drawer, joinery, mdf, pine cabinet, Shalford Carpenter, Shalford carpentry, worktop

Multi-level decking

Multi-level decking – Pirbright, Surrey

This job was quite satisfying.

Decking is a fantastic solution to making a pleasant space out of a part of your garden that is lumpy and uneven, and that was exactly the case here.

It was built from right outside the back door of this house in Pirbright all the way to the shed, angled at 45° to the house onto the grass, and stepped up around the corner of the house.

In this case, plywood with a softwood grain was used for the finished surface rather than the normal decking timber, and in doing this, we saved about three quarters of the price!

This will look just fine when it has been stained and preserved, and besides, it would be very easy to take the ply up and lay decking timber, should it be required sometime in the future, perhaps when the economy picks up!

Initial stages of the framework

Initial stages of the framework

Initial stages of the framework

Above are some shots of the initial stages of the decking, which is to fix the outer joists of the frame to whatever you have available that is secure, ensuring that they are level as you fix them.

Once they are fixed, the common joists can then be fixed between them, and in theory, should be level providing you were accurate in fitting your initial joists.

Common joists fitted in first section

Common joists fitted in first section

First section now supported on bricks and noggins fitted

Sometimes though, the timber can be a little bent which can lead to the decking being out of level. To counter this, i fitted the joists with the bend hanging down, then later they could be wedged into level from the ground when the framework is supported on bricks. The noggins also add strength and rigidity.

Beginning the framework for the lower section

Building the second section around a tree stump

Second section completed, leveled, supported and noggined

Quite a bit of digging was involved before i could begin the second section, which was a triangle and around 150mm lower than the first. This was to ensure that the framework, once level, wasn’t touching the ground and rot would be prevented.

Luckily for me (not!), the 8 or 9 wheelbarrows of earth which had to be removed was around an old tree stump, and I lost count of the amount of roots I came across that need to be sawn off! There were a few swear-words, but i think all the neighbours were out. If they weren’t, their windows were closed!

The framework had to be built around the tree stump, which was cut off at the same level as the top of the framework, so that the ply could be kept level.

The third section went more smoothly

All sections completed, level and secure

The next step is laying the plywood boards

Thankfully the third section, which was the same level and adjacent to the second section was a lot more simple to do because it was basically another square. There was a bit of trimming around the drain to do near the back door but other than that, it was quite straight-forward. Once it was all leveled and supported, it was time to start laying the boards.

The tree stump was ground down

A plastic membrane covers the stump

The boarding continues with the stump leveled off and fixed to

That tree stump hadn’t finished with me yet.

It was poking up higher than top of the framework, so it would’ve interfered with the ply boarding. I took an angle-grinder to it and ground it down to the same level as the framework. It seemed like quite a good idea to use something that hindered my structure as part of my structure! Before I layed any ply on it, I covered the stump with a piece of plastic membrane to prevent the stump from drawing moisture from the ground and depositing it on the underneath of the ply, possibly causing it to rot.

I then carried on laying the boards, using the stump to fix to.

Decking complete!

Decking complete, a great improvement!

The good thing about a job like this is that the easy bit laying the boards, was the last bit!

Tree stump aside, this job went really well, and will look really great when stained up.

All we need to do now is wait for summer, and then its time for barbecues!

Technorati Tags: Carpentry, Decking, framework, guildford carpenter, guildford carpentry, joinery, multi-level decking, ply, plywood, St johns carpenter, st johns carpentry, surrey carpentry, timber decking, woking carpenter, woking carpentry