• Take a course in basic first aid.
• Watch out for your fellow worker. Be aware of who is nearby so you don’t hit someone with a piece of lumber or with your hammer.
• Try to have a good, positive attitude.
• Keep your work area clean. It’s easy to trip over scrap wood, lumber, tools, and trash.
• Pull or bend over nails that are sticking out of boards so nobody gets injured.
• Spread sand on ice in winter to provide traction.
• Don’t turn the radio up so loud that you can’t hear other workers. Concentration and communication on the job site are critical to avoiding accidents.
• Concentrate on the task at hand.
• Work at a steady, careful pace.
• Back injuries are very common on the job. To preserve your back, remember to lift with your legs, not with your back.
• Take care of your body by eating good food and exercising. And don’t forget to rest. Getting enough sleep is important to keeping your concentration and to avoiding fatigue.
• Take a break when you feel tired. Don’t overwork yourself. Exhaustion leads to carelessness.
• Don’t drink or take drugs while working. Operating power tools under the influence is as dangerous as driving under the influence.
• Watch where you walk, especially when working on scaffolds or on the frame of the house. Many injuries on the job are the result of falls.
• Follow your instinct. If something you are about to do feels unsafe, it probably is. Pay attention to the voice inside your head when it says, “Be careful.”
degree of skill. Still, installing a prehung door requires attention to detail, which is why I’ll discuss the process more in Chapter 8. I’ll also talk about how to install a lockset.
Exterior and interior trim
Trimming out a house is like adding the frosting to a birthday cake. Whether you are installing exterior or interior casing, sills, aprons, or baseboard, there’s a wide variety of styles and profiles from which to choose—from simple 1×4 trim to ornate crown moldings.
Clear stock is pricey, but it’s ideal for trim because it can be stained, left unfinished, or painted with little preparation. Finger-jointed stock (short pieces glued together) is less expensive than clear stock but needs to be painted to cover the joints (that’s why it’s called paint-grade trim). Knots aren’t an insurmountable problem as long as they are sound and won’t fall out, and trim can be preprimed so that the knots won’t bleed pitch through the paint.
Exterior casing around doors and windows not only serves a functional purpose but also adds beauty and character. Look at houses as you drive around your neighborhood and note all of the different kinds of trim. Check out the vertical boards nailed to the corners. See the casings that go around doors and windows. Fascia boards are nailed to rafter tails to give them a finished look. Frieze boards are nailed between rafters to seal them off. All of this exterior trim can be as simple as a plain 1×4 or as elaborate as the filigree that you
