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We used it on a renovation--working with intense architects. We did flat board horizontal nailed over and spaced by galvanized flashings (about a 1" reveal, actually like a drip flashing so barely over the top of the next board) that we had custom made. What we ended up with with was a strong...

Also late to this party--and have done a bunch of rooms with 9'+ ceilings--I prefer horizontal (for the reasons Zeke said. I did top sheet, middle sheet then fill strip on bottom. This leaves you with two horizontal seams to tape and fill, but you barely notice the difference. Even if you...

Well, going by the number of posts on hearth.com, lots of people have a real problem trying to burn wood with high moisture content, and will complain about how their stove is "broken". Sometimes there are draft issues which exacerbate the problem (and perhaps your good experience is because you...

You need to size your stove correctly--and not over-fire. Our current stove is the largest that Jotul made--and we got it for free (!) off Craigslist. The family we bought if from installed it in their Philadelphia Main Line fairly modern, sealed house and they were dying from the heat. They...

We did a Habitat handicap ramp this spring in conjunction with our local VFW chapter. They own metal ramp systems that they put in place for veterans (or dependents thereof). The week before we were supposed to begin, someone raided their storage place and helped themselves to a lot of the alu...

This is my system for getting rounds into the pickup when I'm out picking up wood. The splitting is most often with the Dirty Hands 25t running horizontal, which is about the same height as the tailgate, so I roll the rounds out of the truck and straight onto the splitter. You can have the...

Brakes! My personal bete noir. Our Acura was a so-called Certified Used from an Acura dealer. The front brake job was exactly that--new pads jammed into calipers that were obviously binding etc. I'm not the best mechanic, but I still hear dad's voice in my head. Clean, free, lubricated and...

A lot of what I do is remodeling--my own and elsewhere. The standard for me is that I want the work to be good enough that you have to look closely to see someone was in there fixing stuff. I'm not the best at a lot of the jobs that I have had to do--but I am dogged and will stick with the...

I got a Mirka 5" and a Festool (plus Bosch for job site stuff)--and I find I reach for the Mirka every time if I'm in the shop. Small light and unstoppable. (I use a Festool vac with anything I can attach it too.) Also spendy. (And I love the Mirka Abranet discs too). Mirka 5" with case

Another wood burner here--I scavenge wood from around the nabe, the local tree guy and off Facebook. It is a fair amount of work (we burn 4-6 cords a winter). I finally broke down and got a gas powered splitter which made it less laborious to process wood. I like that is a heck of a lot cheaper...

We're on round 2 of dealing with iron/manganese in our water. First installation was a Fleck head/green sand/pot perm injection for regeneration. What I will say about that--the pot perm stains like crazy, and is hard on the injection mechanism. We got only a few years of good service before the...

if replacing, make sure it is spaced out a little from the face of your footing, so the drips don't roll back against the footing. I picked this idea up years ago off This Old House--Tommy daSilva used to complain that everyone put drip edge too close to the face of the material below--his...

Yes--tear-away--perfect for where you need sharp edges like against windows. Must have had a brain freeze to leave it out of the story. And the non-rusting for plastic trim is definitely a plus for bathrooms!

If you are working with good drywall install, where you have good edges and plumb corners the plastic trim is fine, and you can put it up with adhesive quickly. It's easy to cut and it takes less fill when it comes to mudding. However, I tend to be doing reno work, where my corners are more...

I have much less hardware, and only a little electrical, but I built one stack like Tarmy's above for the "most used" using the Harbor Freight cases (cheaper than Stanley). These tend to get dragged out on projects in places other than the workshop, so portability is a plus. I then have a couple...

For new tools, I finally got a well-made soft head hammer after working with a pro doing a kitchen cabinet install, It was one of his go-to tools for the small tap-tap-tap adjustments when trying for perfect placement of some piece of trim or whatever. I bought one of my own, and it has been a...

Yes, if you are going to burn seriously--full stainless liner from stove/insert to top. block off plate at bottom, capped and sealed at top. If the chimney is external, insulated top and bottom as well. The problem with trying to use a new-ish stove/insert in a existing masonry chimney without...

Mine's worked out OK as well--hasn't seen much use though. Bought it with some free birthday money!

Cul de sac developments with no back lanes/alleys. together with small lots and you have to put the garage somewhere were the final nails in the coffin. \ But I think it goes back further--look at the Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian houses (and other influential designers of MCM houses) and you have...

The last major kitchen remodel I worked on, we were removing a section of bearing wall, adding an L made of two steel beam sections to open the kitchen up to the LR/DR, and were required to post down to the ground floor (over the carport, thank goodness). PITA, but we got a tidy section of the...