Tips
Green Homes Series: Foundations
A solid foundation is essential for any home. But today’s emphasis on “green” suggests that other factors be considered as well. A good foundation is important. It helps a house withstand vertical and horizontal loads and protects from frost heaves. Foundation Basics...
Vapor Diffusion Retarders and Air Barriers
Vapor diffusion retarders, air retarders, and air/vapor retarders all relate to the interaction of temperature and moisture in and around the building envelope. A vapor barrier or vapor diffusion retarder (VDR) is a material that reduces the rate at which water vapor...
Framing a Garage Workshop
When choosing the framing and construction materials for your garage, consider how it will be used, what fire and safety requirements you may have, and what additions you may need later on. Today’s garage holds cars, big toys, and serves as a central home workshop or...
Laminated Veneer Lumber
The laminated veneer lumber (LVL) manufacturing process creates a strong and stable product that can reliably support large areas. Wide open spaces are great for country music singers, but can be a real headache for builders. To create large, open rooms, builders and...
Insulating Concrete Slabs, Foundations and Basements
Most residential concrete-foundation systems will come into contact with the ground and face moisture-management and heat-loss issues. Protecting the foundation of the home starts with the right barrier. Concrete slabs, basement foundation systems, and crawl-spaces...
Load-bearing Walls
Before you grab a hammer, saw or crowbar to remove an unwanted wall, make sure you understand its role in holding up your house. Today's typical floor plan often includes bright and open spaces with high ceilings. Before the advent of today's modern building...
Expanding a One-Story House: Build a Second Story or a First-Floor Addition?
You’re expanding your home, but should you build up or out? Enlarge the footprint of your single-story residence or add a second floor? Before you call in the architect, here’s what you need to consider. Julie Languille and her husband, Larry, love everything about...
Stairbuilding Basics
Take the quick way to the top with a simple lesson in basic stair construction. Building nice staircases takes patience and skill. But it's worth the effort: beautiful stairs help make a home special. But, before you break out the tape measure and circular saw,...
The Carpenter’s Square
The carpenter's square is a deceptive tool. It looks simple, it's a ruler with an elbow, a straightedge that turns a corner. Yet it is a great deal more, because it can function as a sophisticated arithmetical guide to many of the complexities of laying out a...
Roofing Materials
Cost, ease of installation and appearance are all factors when choosing a roofing material. While asphalt shingles account for close to 90 percent of all residential roofing jobs, they certainly aren't the end of the story when it comes to roofing. Sheet metal, cement...
Roofs: Design, Function and Maintenance
A good roof is graceful, it's good-looking, and it ages well. To realize that end, however, you'll need to do three things: design the roof appropriately, build it right, and take good care of it. Your roof is critical to basic house performance. It gives your house...
Six Steps to Better Roof Protection
The weak link in most existing houses is in the connection of the roof sheathing to the rafters or roof trusses. The weak link in most existing houses is in the connection of the roof sheathing to the rafters or roof trusses. There are several ways to strengthen this...
Building a Tighter Roof with Roofing Underlayments
Roof underlayments are designed to protect the roof sheathing and structure from moisture and penetration. Advances in materials and technology have created more options and increased manufacturers’ warranties. Roofing underlayment was originally used for temporary...
Asphalt Shingles
Asphalt shingles are an economical roofing solution. But shop around, because not all shingles are the same. Asphalt shingles are economical and versatile, which may be why they represent more than 80 percent of the roofing market. They're relatively inexpensive to...
Cedar Shingle Maintenance
Cedar roofing and siding are a classic building material, and with proper installation, care and maintenance will last 20 or more years. Left untreated, they will weather to a natural gray, or they can be painted or stained. Cedar shakes and shingles are highly wind...
Your Home’s Exterior: Comparing Paint and Siding
It's tempting to judge a home by its cover, but for decisions about paint or siding, you need to go a little deeper and consider what's already there, what shape it's in, your budget and aesthetics. With advances in paint and siding, how to color and protect your home...
Window Properties and Design
The doors and windows that are right for you will depend on the climate you live in and the design of your house. Windows can make or break a building project. Choose wisely and your home will be comfortable, attractive, and easy to maintain. Buy the wrong ones and...
Natural Ventilation
Natural ventilation relies on the wind and the "chimney effect" to keep a building cool. The wind will naturally ventilate your home or business by entering or leaving windows, depending on their orientation to the wind. When wind blows against your home, air is...
Blade Breaks
If a bandsaw blade breaks, it can be brazed or welded. But check for the cause. The most common causes include: 1) misalignment or adjustment of the guides, 2) either forcing or twisting a wide blade around a curve, 3) feeding in the work too fast, 4) dull teeth or not enough tooth set, 5) excessive tightening of blade, 6) top guide set too high above work being cut, 7) using a blade with improperly finished braze or weld, and 8) continuously running the blade when it is not used for cutting.
Sawing Posts
Say you’re building a deck in your yard and have to cut a 10-in. thick post in half. How do you do this with a circular saw with just an 8-in. blade? Make matching straight cuts on opposite sides of the timber. Set the thickness guide to just over half the woods width.
Drill Depth Indicator
When drilling a hole, such as for hardware in a cabinet, use a back-up board of a wood that is different in color from the wood you are drilling through. By doing this you will know immediately when the drill is all the way through the cabinet wood because the wood chips coming out will turn a different color.
Glue Sticks
There are several adhesive glue sticks to choose from for your hot glue gun. Here’s a description of the most common to help you determine which is right for the project you’re working on: 1) General purpose glue. Dries to a clear finish. Like its name, it’s a good general purpose adhesive to have available. 2) Fast bonding glue. Will dry within 20 to 30 seconds after you apply it. 3) Wood glue. Specially formulated to bond with wood fibers. Dries to an opaque tan color. 4) Caulk/sealant. Formulated to resist heat, cold and moisture. Ideal for sealing windows, doors, and exterior surfaces. 5) Glass and ceramic adhesive. Dries almost instantly to a clear, almost invisible coat. 6) Decorative adhesive. Available in a variety of colors. Ideal for matching colors of your decorative craft project.
Joint Sizing
Glue will soak more into the end grain of wood and can potentially result in starved glue joints. To help prevent this, you can “size” any end grain to be glued with a mixture of glue diluted with water. Dilute just so that when it is applied, glue drops don’t form at the lower edges of the wood. Another method, somewhat less effective, is to coat the end grain with full-strength glue, allow it to dry 5 to 10 minutes, then re-coat with glue and assemble.
Glazed Door Options
There are several options when choosing a glazed door. For maximum light, consider a door with a large glass area. For privacy and security, opt for one or two small sections of glass, or glazing that is decorative and obscures the view into your house. If there is a possibility of ultraviolet (UV) damage to floors, rugs and furniture, consider choosing a glazing that resists UV rays.
Part Vibration
Several methods are available for dealing with screws that tend to vibrate loose on covers of equipment such as chainsaws. One good fix is to remove the offending screws and wrap 1/2-in.-wide Teflon tape around the threads and then screw them back in. The tape will hold the screws tight, yet will allow you to remove them when necessary.
Pro-Rated Warranties
A pro-rated warranty reduces the amount of reimbursement according to the length of time the item has been in service.
Router Safety
When working with a router, use only sharp bits, this will ensure clean and precise cuts in the material. Check before each use and have them sharpened when needed.
Soldering Clay
Keep a mound of modeling clay handy to your soldering equipment. You can use it to hold small pieces at odd angles to each other. Push the ends of the items into the clay and position them so they meet each other. The modeling clay will hold the pieces securely and eliminate any metal contact from a vise that can conduct heat away from the work.
Tool Depreciation
The depreciation factor can help you out when you buy more expensive quality tools. A high-quality tool usually will depreciate less, as a percentage of its purchase price, than a lower-priced tool. This means you can use that quality tool over the years and, if you resell it, you recover a higher percentage of its cost than with a lower-quality tool.
Wood Splits
To reduce wood splits, such as when building a deck, first drill pilot holes for the nails using a drill bit size about three-quarters the diameter of the nail. In a pinch, if you don’t have a bit you can chuck in one of the nails being used. Blunting the nail point will also help prevent splits, since a blunt nail will tear, rather than spread the wood fibers. An alternate method to avoid splitting the ends of boards is to allow an extra length to hang beyond the edge of the deck, do the nailing, then use a circular saw to trim off the ends.
