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My garage's old rear is now facing the street--back of house became front due to new street and new cluster of houses. The POs took out the old back wall (badly)--which I reinforced. Previously there was a man door, and a solid wall, so the section that was under the wall had no slope. It takes...

I'm by no means an expert, but with a proper install, they will set the bottom panel level (I like to put the weather strip on the bottom after it is installed). Then they will stack the panels one at a time on top, and add the hinge brackets and tighten as they go. The weight and profile of the...

I bought the first gen Milwaukee String trimmer when they dumped them because the gen 2s were coming out. Even at the relative bargain price, I'm not that impressed. It's heavy, has a bad balance point and no automatic head. OTOH--I do like not putting gas in it, so there's that. I've got an...

Not an upgrade, but when we purchased our current home, they sent an agent out to inspect (The Hartford, through AARP). She had a pretty good look around, and made noise about having a tree that was close to the house taken down. Huge white oak that I think the owners saved when they laid out...

There's a couple of ways to fill box cut outs. One tried and true is scrap wood behind the drywall across the opening, held in by drywall screws above and below. Then you screw (or glue) your cut-to-fit piece of drywall to the scrap wood. Step three--tape all the cut edges (I like to do miters...

I'm just hitting the age that my Dad was when he passed--taken by renal carcinoma in his early 70s, a disease closely connected to working with hazardous materials (which he had done for a lot of his life). It's shocking to think that he must have felt pretty much like I do now-- except for the...

For some reason I saw a flood of ads/vids for these a couple of days ago on Facebook--probably because I keep looking at used Kubotas/Yanmars/Mahindras . I don't need the mower (yard is not suitable even a riding tractor), but would love the help of the front end loader and backhoe. Good...

I overspent on the previous renovation--put in Grohe faucets that cost a boatload. Then we had to sell the house at a huge loss, so... This time I picked bathroom faucets that looked modern, that were affordable, and would be (relatively) trouble free. American Standard Ceramix--they are often...

Agreed. Not sure where in VA, but most of the State gets gully washers, and the occasional snowfall. I think I would cut into the bank probably 3' back, and use landscape block to square it up. Then dig down, put in PVC perf (wrapped) then gravel, and slope the gravel away from slab. Looks like...

I'm a big fan of the following sites-- the first two lean towards topics of energy conservation, but also best techniques/current thinking. John Bridges is the best ceramic tile forum online: Building Science Green Building Forums John Bridges Tile your world forums

Impressive! Nice to see people who can still work hard the old-fashioned way!

Best durability that is "affordable"--if you can find the right contractor would be 5/8" firewall (type x) gypsum blue board, then a plaster skim coat. Type X, as well as being fire rated, it has more fiberglass in its manufacture and is tougher and heavier. The small downside--it is not...

This is what I remember FWIW. They used to sell flat zinc strips that you would slide under the tabs up near the peak, and the washing action would change the Ph. You might still need to clean off what is there, and then try the zinc to maintain. Looks like HD has a continuous strip for the job...

From memory, I think that GAF (who we get free shingles from for Habitat builds) has exactly this requirement--Ice and Water (or their equiv) on the whole deck. Back in the day, installers would trowel on roof goop under each tab of the three tabs IIRC Agree about the flashing as well--I see...

Copper flashing as a capillary break also helps--the builders here use it as a matter of course. Home Depot sells a light gauge product for this purpose. I also think that if I were in serious termite country I likely would not be building with ICFs, or putting foam on exterior walls.

I've been curious about the companies that sell premade cabinet boxes to order, and then you decide on door style etc. I think I saw someone in Fine Homebuilding for whom this was his preferred way to work. You are starting with square cabinet boxes, and then doing your own plinth/leveling and...

We inherited our setup when we moved in. Called the local company whose sticker was on the install, and they came and inspected. His comment: 'It doesn't owe you anything.' We had a good chat and I will call them to replace the pressure tank if/when we need to. Our well is about a 75' well...

A long time ago, I used to run the tapping station at my dad's shop--production quantities of simple stamped wing nuts that we were threading after stamping the blanks. My dad rigged up a table with a foot pedal and a collet style holder, Wing nut loaded upside down, I pressed the foot pedal...

Good story, Ray. It's a bit like the blitz clean on the house before company comes! I thought of this thread when I saw this: Words to live by.

Yep. I've commandeered our original one-car for use as a wood shop--and it is too small even for that. Cars get worked on in the gravel driveway, and that gets less pleasant every year. I've played around with the idea of building a new garage, but I would likely need to build into a bank...