Interesting Projects that Bill Nowicki Has Completed

Over the years I have taken on some interesting projects other then boat repairs. In the winter, I like to take a break from doing fiberglass repairs and take on a challenging job that interests me. I do so many Fiberglass repairs in the summer so I look forward to winter and using my skills in a different way. This is my recuperation and relaxation period. Climbing in and out of boats all day for eight months and wearing a tyvek suit zaps a lot of energy out of you, so I enjoy the change of scenery. However this is getting tough to do. I'm getting hit with some big boat jobs that the customers only want me to work on. While I should get some help, I have learned from past experiences that other workers all have shortcuts on doing a repair and six months later it comes back to haunt me. That's why I chose to work on my own, so I can ensure every job is completed to perfection. Check out some of my other projects below and enjoy!

Building My House

This was my first project building a house that I was going to live in. It all started when I moved onto a barge that was docked on the Hudson River in the mid 70's. This barge was 110 feet long by 30 Feet wide. I ran electric & water lines to this barge to make it livable. On the sides of the barge I had floating docks, which is where I would do my boat repairs from. After six months of living on the barge, I decided to build a house on top of it. The view from the barge looking at The New York Skyline was spectacular. A lot of my customers & friends couldn't believe that I built this house and was living on the water with a NY view. Below are some photos of me building my home. The photos of the wooden frame where taken by a very special friend that also helped me do the job. She was the most Talented, Creative, Free Spirited girl that I had ever met. She wanted to learn how to build a house and we had a lot of fun building it together. I wish I had more photos of this period to share, as it was a great adventure. The area soon started to change and in the mid 80's developers started building. They made me a deal I couldn't refuse, float the barges out and make very good money doing it.

Wooden frame going up. That's me making measurements on the floor.

A creative view from a special girl's eye

What a view of NY. Me walking back. I looked good then. Now I'm an antique.

Reflection of frame on a sunroof.

Getting ready to close it up with plywood.

This is a photo of the inside of the fireplace that I installed.

I built this bay window from scratch. It worked out real good.

House Finished. I installed a Oil Fired Boiler with baseboard heat, I did all the wiring for my lights. Rear section of house had a Plexiglass roof. My bed was built into the frame of the house right under the plexi glass roof. I loved that place.

Building a Portable Light Show for a Band

This was a very interesting project 40 years ago. I was introduced to a friend of a friend who was interested in how I lived on a barge. When I showed him how I built my house, did my own wiring and plumbing, he was very impressed with my skills. We became friends and he asked if I would be interested in building him a portable light show for his band. After going to his home and hearing his band play as well as meeting the other members, I thought to myself what a bunch of talented guys. I jumped on the project with enthusiasm.

Throughout this project we had several meetings to discuss how to put on a spectacular light show. We talked about what kind of equipment we would need and how to make it all portable. We came up with using Lasers, A Fog Machine, Strobe Lights, Projectors, Flash Pots & Revolving Pin Spot Lights. We used 2 way Motorola Private Communication Radios so that when the band played and I needed the fog machine to start, which was in a remote location, I could call the roadies on the radio to start the fog machine while I was controlling the lights. I also built them a simulated stage so that they could get used to the spot lights as well as practice with the fog machine & lasers so that when they went out on stage everything was on target and very professional. After a month of practice with the lights we set out to our first gig in New Jersey. That night was such a huge success that other bands wanted to use my lighting system and the bar owner wanted us back to do a weekly gig there. We passed and went right to New York where we played at Great Gildersleeves which was also a big success. They wanted us back to do several more shows and it was a lot of fun!

Floating Barge Project

I have taken on some interesting jobs while being on the Hudson including floating old wooden barges off a piece of property that had been slated for a new condominium complex 33 years ago. The developer contacted me because he needed someone to remove the barges. Contractors told him that the rotted structures needed to be ripped apart and the only way to remove them was by crane, a very expensive endeavor. I am always up for a challenge, so I came up with the idea of floating them away. My Idea was a success and definitely a lot cheaper.

Article: Powerboats Magazine

Dick DeBartolo from Powerboat Magazine was so impressed in how I floated these barges, he wrote about it in his section of the magazine. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Read the article from Powerboats Magazine, written by Dick Debartolo

Building a Reception Desk

This was a project that a friend asked me to help him with. A company he knew needed a Reception Desk for the lobby of their office that would look good with the surrounding area that was finished in Granite and Marble. There was nothing on the market that would work and could handle granite as a work surface. So check out the photos and see what we came up with.

This is a wrap around reception desk that will handle Granite & Marble on the work surface. So this was to be built very strong to handle the weight of the stone.

I'm gluing the frame together here.

Cutting out the main work surface support.

Connecting the outside layers of plywood together.

Now I'm attaching the outer skin to the desk.

Attaching the main work surface support to the desk.

Now the inner skin is put in place. This covers up the support beams.

All the seams are smoothed off.

A special coating is applied to the wooden surface. This is to stop my finish from being absorbed into the wood.

My finish is applied. The lower lip on the desk gets a Marble kick plate.

All completed. A Marble top with a black granite work surface.

A side view of desk.

The Company liked the color so much, they asked me to spray their staircase and filing cabinets the same color.

Building a Coffee Cabinet

The reception desk came out so good that the company also wanted me to build a Coffee Cabinet for their office. This cabinet also had a black granite work surface. This area housed the coffee maker and a built in sink. The shelves above held all the supplies to make coffee. The cabinet below was for the plumbing and electrical lines. This cabinet was built to fit in this corner section of the office. Check out the photos below on how on how we put this together.

Cutting up the doors for the cabinet.

Inside panels cut to size and sprayed lacquer.

Gluing the parts together.

Hanging the doors on.

Making sure the doors line up and close good without hitting.

Granite top installed in cabinet. Plumbing hooked up.

All finished, everything works.

Another job completed. And a very happy customer.

Custom Welded Steel Tables With Granite Tops

My friend got in touch with me about making steel tables that would hold granite tops. He was telling me that their weren’t any companys that made them to hold that much weight. A granite top can weight anywhere between 200 & 500 Lbs. The tables on the market looked real flimsy. If you put that much weight on one of those tables someone could get seriously hurt if the table collapses. I built many of these tables in all sizes, and sprayed them with custom colors that match with their interior of the house or chairs that the owners purchased. All of the customers that I built one for where very pleased with my work. Check out the photos and see what you think.

Here I'm lining up the steel legs and getting ready to weld them.

The welds are cleaned up, table degreased, getting ready for primer.

Table Primed and ready to be painted.

Another table completed with round legs.

Table with chairs.

Side View of table.

Top view of Granite.

This is a small dinette table sprayed with a custom color to match chairs.

Another view of the table & top. This customer was very happy with this custom table that I built for him.

Bobcat Excavating Services

This is the best machine that I have ever bought. It's a Bobcat 843, and now a new Bobcat S770. I bought this machine to move the boats around my yard, plow the snow in the winter time, pull engines out of boats and to Install radar arches on boats. During the years I bought many attachments for it. I now have:

Machines

Attachments

Many years ago a customer came to me during the fall season and asked if I was interested and if I had the time to clear out some rocks & boulders from his yard. The guy knew me in my younger years that I used to run Heavy Construction Equipment. He saw my machine and all of the attachments I had for it and he asked. I said sure. This was another interesting & challenging project for me. So I went out and bought a hydraulic hammer attachment for my machine and I blasted 950 Tons of rock from his yard. I loaded thirty-five triple axle dump trucks with the boulders. No one could believe that this machine did this much work until they saw it for themselves. If you have something that needs to be dug out, or blasted get in touch with me. If I have the time, I'll be happy to help you out.

Here is a list of the Heavy Construction Equipment that I ran over the years for two Contractors. Let me say that they didn't want me to leave.


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