Projects on Belican Builds

Outdoor Shower

Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There was nothing wrong with the backyard. It just was not being used. An outdoor shower would give it a reason to exist.

I walked the space and found the right spot: three feet off the sunroom and the back of the house. Enough room to move around, enough room for a lawn mower to get through. The footprint came from standing in the yard and feeling where the structure wanted to go.

Mid Century Slat Wall

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Whoever built this house thought it was a good idea to plant a porch pillar right between the dining room and living room. Structurally necessary, but visually an eyesore that split the space awkwardly and drew the eye for all the wrong reasons.

The client had always loved slat walls. This was the perfect opportunity. Rather than hiding the pillar, I made it the centerpiece.

Before

Studio

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This was a 500 square foot detached two-car garage. It had a big overhang at the entrance and nothing else going for it. What it had was potential and enough square footage to work with.

I converted it into a 700 square foot studio. But I did not do it alone.

A good friend and mentor of mine grew up in Charleston. A few years back he built out a Mercedes Sprinter van and headed west, hiking and running and picking up carpentry work along the way. When the time came to convert my garage, I called him. He came back.

Craftsman Walk-in Closets

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The upstairs of this house had two bedrooms sharing a bathroom between them. Each room had a big walk-in closet, and both were running the same wire rack system. Three walls of it. The kind that comes in a box and takes an afternoon to put up. It works fine for a while, but it does not last and it does not look like anything.

I pulled both of them out and built something to replace them.

Bluestone Patio

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Getting from the back door to the garage meant crossing patchy grass. On a rainy day that meant mud in the house. There was nowhere to sit outside and no reason to linger. Bluestone was the answer.

Before

During

I dug out the footprint, added the base materials, and started laying stone. Once the initial area was in place I could see the path between the garage door and the sunroom entrance was going to be tight, and seating would be in direct conflict with it. The space did not feel right.

Stage

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It was a big backyard and it was not doing much. Grass, azaleas, a chain-link fence. Plenty of space and nothing to show for it.

Before

After

I built a stage. Large enough for a band, topped with a clear polycarbonate roof so you keep the sky without losing your gear to the rain. Hardware for a projector screen went in so the space works for outdoor movies too.

Big L Desk

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I had two things happening at my desk: a day job and music. They were fighting over the same surface. That is not a hard problem to solve if you are willing to build the right tool for the job.

Before

Build

Felix is a half a bubble off plumb, but the desk isn't.

After

I built an L-shape. Day job on the left, music on the right. Each side has enough room to spread out without crowding the other.

Den to Office Refresh

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The den had good bones but it was tired. Popcorn ceiling, dark trim, a layout that did not have a clear purpose anymore. I needed a home office. This room was going to become one.

Before

After

I scraped the popcorn ceiling, repaired the drywall, and painted everything fresh. Then I borrowed some square footage from an adjacent closet and built a bookshelf and cabinet into the wall. It gave the room storage without taking up floor space.

Fence

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The chain-link fence had been there a long time. Long enough to rust through in places and disappear under years of vines. It needed to come out.

I started in the winter of 2025, which is the right time to dig post holes and frame in Charleston before the heat sets in.

Before

Progress

I began at the driveway. Set 8x8 posts there because eventually a driveway gate will hang from them. Better to do it right the first time than to come back and redo it.

Fireplace Refresh

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The house had an old Black Bart cast-iron fireplace insert. When it worked, it plugged into an outlet and used a blower to push warm air into the room. The blower was shot. The fireplace had not been used in years.

The insert was interesting but it was broken, and a broken fireplace is just a hole in the wall.

Before

After

I pulled the insert and set it aside. It will end up in an outdoor build someday, or maybe a cabin. Good cast iron does not go to waste.

Laundry

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A space dedicated to cleaning things should itself be clean. That was the whole brief.

The room worked, technically. But nothing had a place. Supplies piled up wherever they landed. It was the kind of space you rush through because it never felt sorted out.

Three changes fixed it.

A cabinet sized to actually hold a big box of Tide, plus everything else that accumulates: dryer sheets, stain remover, the things you always need and can never find. Open cubbies on the side for smaller items that should be visible and within reach.

Closet Office Conversion

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The closet had become the room where things went when there was nowhere else to put them. Wire racks, bags, boxes, the accumulated weight of a busy house with a young kid in it. A good friend’s wife needed somewhere to think and work and close a door. This was the space that was available.

Before

After

I pulled the wire racks, patched the walls, and painted everything fresh. Then I cut a desktop from birch plywood that runs the full width and depth of the closet. Not a shelf. A real desk. Floating shelves on each side wall for books and small things. A high shelf and a black steel bar up top so the room can still function for guests when it needs to.