This will be the place I stash my shortcuts.
When removing cabinets alone, it is helpful to stack sawhorses as a support while you remove the mounting hardware. I have two horses, a saw pony (what else would you call a 1/2 sized sawhorse?) and scrap 2 x 4s … Continue reading
The closet in our foyer is (was) impossibly dark, so I mounted a fluorescent fixture behind the header inside the closet, and installed a limit switch that opens when the door is closed. Camille opens the door to get her … Continue reading
Many new homes have “great rooms” that make typical molding and millwork look puny. There are larger variations of common sizes available at the big box home improvement stores (5 1/2″ baseboard to replace 3 1/2″ for example), but sometimes … Continue reading
Fitting Shelves into a curved space. Our new staircase is curved, so the understair storage area is also curved. It is off the kitchen, designed to be used as a pantry. So, how to put shelves in here… There must … Continue reading
Replacing locksets and striker plates. Every home past a certain age has a lockset or striker plate that has been removed and replaced multiple times by inept people, leaving a crater of mangled wood fibers where the mounting screws need … Continue reading
We live in an earthquake zone that is in constant motion. As a result, I have adopted a habit of bolting all cabinets to the wall so that a small tremor cannot make them fall on top of someone passing … Continue reading
On a previous post, I mentioned mitering the ends of a piece of MDF millwork. The reason to do this is that it looks so, soooo much better than just hacking off the end of the trim and slapping it … Continue reading
Overcoming thread size mismatches. So. I want to hang one of those wire racks in the shower that holds soap and a few bottles of shampoo. I get the brilliant brain fart that this faux crystal knob would work well, … Continue reading
Every guy knows that the only reason we suffer through home repairs is to justify the purchase of MORE TOOLS! Today I landed a new laser level, that shows me how bad everything really is! In this shot, the wall … Continue reading
Sometimes, it’s all you can do. When I discovered dry rot under the kitchen counter top, it launched the entire discussion about how to go about repairing/replacing/remodeling the kitchen. For now, we’ve decided to make do until we can figure … Continue reading
“The definition of mastery is knowing how to disguise your mistakes.” Another day, another puzzle. The drawer in this cabinet will not stay in the rails. The width is off by a full 1/2″, which makes me wonder how anyone … Continue reading
I make a fair amount of jigs and fixtures in order to provide a higher degree of precision in woodworking. This image shows the construction of a jig that will hold crown molding stock on my chop saw so that … Continue reading
Need to take a break from painting, but you know you’ll need to use that roller and brush again in a few hours? Cover it with plastic wrap. Push it down into the pan so it is in contact with … Continue reading
Home Depot has these flashlight/glowsticks in three colors for $4. I picked up a blue one, and now that it is getting dark so early, I carry it along on our evening walks. I turn on the glowstick when we … Continue reading