Is a Carpenter a Magician?

Occasionally, I wonder how people regard my profession as a carpenter and
business owner. I can see how some people see my profession as an athlete. Others may
think of my profession as a backdoor to earn a decent living without formal training. I’ve
come across others who probably see this career as a multi-step career in which you start
as a laborer and end in some sort of management position.


I see my job through many lenses, but to the outsider I think my job is easiest to
understand if you compare it to how a magician executes a magic trick. I know that this
comparison may be corny to many, but I think that this comparison has a lot of truths to
my job as a carpenter.


There are many types of magicians, which include the amateur to the ultra-
professional just like the world of carpentry. Some magicians are flashy and try to exploit
all the visual and auditory senses as much as possible. Just as there are some carpenters
who have all the fancy, expensive equipment and props that exploit customers’ assurance
that they can execute a project. Light shows, booming audio, and fancy equipment do not
execute tricks or projects, but they certainly can help.


When I am executing a task in carpentry, I am operating in a world of imperfection.
Overall, I am battling imperfect measurements, imperfect equipment, and imperfect
materials. Like the magician, I am fighting the environment to perform a task or in the case
of a magician, a trick. My job is creating an illusion in an imperfect world that can
withstand time; just as the magician is visually trying to convince your brain and your eyes
that the trick performed appears real.


A professional magician who executes a trick well can blow your mind. The first
question is, how did they do that? A well-trained, experienced carpenter also begs the
same question.

Please consider American Building & Design for your next remodeling project

Split-Level Homes – Some Facts

If you live in the Seacoast of New Hampshire or Massachusetts a residential starter
home that is not uncommon to find in older housing development is the Split-Level home.
Dover, Durham, and Portsmouth have numerous older developments with this style
architecture and most of these homes are over fifty years old. Overall, this style
home began its popularity in the mid to late 1950’s and stopped being mass built by the
late 1970’s.


The Split-Level home is essentially a multi-level ranch that maintains its horizontal
dominance, low pitched roof lines with large overhangs. The Split-Level home was the
counter to the dominant Ranch style home being built in the same era and had a lot of
popularity in the Northeast and Midwest.


Unlike a ranch home, the Split-Level home are generally compact residences that
combine four-integral separate spaces, which include a drive-in garage, a Rec room in the
basement, living room- kitchen on the second floor, and a private hallway with bedrooms,
which is generally on the second floor.


The Split-Level home is classified as “Modern architecture”, which began in the US
in the late 1930’s and is still present in today’s architecture. There is not one person or
building company credited with creating the first Split-Level home architectural style.
Over the years I have worked in numerous Split-Level homes and most of the
people that I have worked for were either single-professionals or empty nesters. The
common negative traits most of them shared were poor ventilation, inadequate roofing-
framing and substrate, poor natural light, textured ceilings, and the lack of general
upgrades to the residence.

Please consider American Building & Design for your next remodeling project