Category Archives: Remodeling

All things having to do with maintaining or upgrading your home.

BiFold Door Mod (Narrower)

Reading Time: 3 minutes BiFold Door Mod (Narrower) I needed a bifold door mod recently. This article will cover why I needed a mod, and how I accomplished it. It does not cover the installation of the doors which is in another article. Why I needed a Door Mod The finished bifold doors project would block part of the… Read More »

How to Remove Plastic Drywall Anchors

Reading Time: 4 minutes How to Remove Plastic Drywall Anchors This article is about how to remove plastic drywall anchors from drywall so that there is a minimum of damage and prepare the leftover holes for filling. My wife needed to have some anchors removed recently. She placed it on the top of my to-do list. So I needed… Read More »

Bifold Door Installation

Reading Time: 8 minutes Bifold Door Installation Do you have a bifold door installation on your horizon? Are you nervous about installing these type of doors? You’re in good hands, this article will walk thru a complete installation. It also includes how to set up the doors to the opening. It seems that each bifold manufacturer can have slightly… Read More »

DIY Rain Gutter

Reading Time: 7 minutes DIY Rain Gutter I need a DIY rain gutter and it needs to match my existing gutters. Putting up something less than a full match will only scream out “Look at me I’m different”. Well, it will scream out to me. I’ll need one more thing. It will be important to remove the gutter in… Read More »

Is My Diamond Blade Dull

Reading Time: 3 minutes Is My Diamond Blade Dull Is My Diamond Blade Dull? I bought a used wet saw so that was one of my first questions. So how do you tell if a diamond blade is dull? I always believed that since the blade uses diamonds for cutting that the diamonds had worn away enough that the… Read More »

A Strong Rain Gutter Splice Technique

Reading Time: 3 minutes A Strong Rain Gutter Splice Technique A strong rain gutter splice technique is definitely needed for my new gutter. The gutter material I have chosen comes in standard lengths. My new gutter is going to be longer than that standard “off the shelf” length. So somewhere along the gutter, there will need to be a… Read More »

Scribing flooring

Reading Time: 6 minutes Scribing flooring Scribing flooring is the one job that is always needed when you’re installing your own laminate, wood, or vinyl planking. It is usually needed on the first and the final row of the project. You may also need to scribe for floor registers or any walls in the middle of your project room… Read More »

How to Template for Diagonal Tile Cuts

Reading Time: 4 minutes How to Template for diagonal tile cuts I learned how to make a template for diagonal tile cuts recently. I have tiled quite a few floors but for those floors, the tiles were always square to the room. Now for my latest tiling project, I was going to continue a previous tiling job(square again) to… Read More »

How to layout a floor

Reading Time: 5 minutes How to layout a floor How to layout a floor starts with a tape measure and a spreadsheet.  This technique will work for tile, wood, laminate, or vinyl plank floors. I created a spreadsheet that will tell me where the seams(the point where one row meets the other) will be when the floor is put… Read More »

Patching a Leaking Gutter

Reading Time: 2 minutes Patching a Leaking Gutter Now that the rainy season(winter in California) is drawing near it is the perfect time for patching a leaking gutter. I face this task after enduring a leaking gutter due to some slipshod work on one of my gutters. I recently had some work done and this gutter was in place… Read More »

Plumbers Putty and Plumbers Grease

Reading Time: 4 minutes Plumbers Putty and Plumbers Grease I recently had a job where I needed to use plumbers putty and plumbers grease. Let me explain. My kitchen faucet developed a leak and it only leaked when the water was turned on. A quick inspection showed the leak to be coming from a place where the hoses from… Read More »

Why You Need Plumbers Sockets

Reading Time: 2 minutes Why You Need Plumbers Sockets I knew I was in trouble when I mentioned that I needed a set of plumbers sockets and the “Pro” at the big box store didn’t know what I wanted. Let me explain. My kitchen faucet had developed a leak every time I turned the water on. Upon inspection, I… Read More »

Reverse Osmosis Add Membrane Flush Kit

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reverse Osmosis Add a membrane flush kit Add a membrane flush kit and extend the life of your RO membrane. The purpose of the flush kit is to help prevent scaling or fouling of the reverse osmosis membrane. By removing the contaminants(thru flushing) from the membrane it extends it’s life. Membrane fouling is a process whereby… Read More »

Installing Door Casing to Perfection

Reading Time: 7 minutes Installing Door Casing to Perfection Installing door casing to perfection is all about the corners. Every technique discussed in this article is about getting a tight miter joint. The following techniques if applied will ensure that your efforts produce a first class job. But you will need some powered tools to get the best results.… Read More »

How to Remove Tile

Reading Time: 6 minutes How to Remove Tile Learn how to remove tile with less dust and save some money. Are you like me and have received an astronomical bid for tile replacement? How would you like to save three dollars to five fifty per square foot on your tile job? That’s how much you can save if you do the demolition.… Read More »

Building a Deck

Reading Time: 8 minutes Building a deck Building a deck takes time and effort. Time and effort that you will enjoy for many years. I have such a deck that has stood for more than 35 years. But recently the deck has shown its age and is in need of rebuilding.  This time there are new materials that will… Read More »

Installing Baseboard to Perfection

Reading Time: 6 minutes Installing baseboard to perfection Installing baseboard is all about the splices, corners, and nailing into the wall studs. The techniques applied to these three areas will ensure that your job looks top rate. Also during contraction/expansion cycles the splices and corner cuts will not appear to change should they open up. You will need some… Read More »

Deck Construction How To Straighten Bowed Boards

Reading Time: 5 minutes Deck construction how to straighten bowed boards I recently needed to know how to straighten bowed boards. I was rebuilding my deck and of course, I wanted to rebuild it with as much of the old deck materials as possible. The largest problem was that most of the deck boards were bowed. The boards that… Read More »

Deck Construction DIY Spacers

Reading Time: 3 minutes Deck Construction DIY Spacers I recently had to rebuild a small deck. DIY spacers would be needed to provide drainage gaps between the finished deck boards. These spacers would be used to provide the gap then moved to the next row after securing the deck board. After determining my spacer size I needed to use a… Read More »

Selecting a Security Mailbox

Reading Time: 4 minutes Selecting A Security Mailbox I decided to go with the security mailbox when my home got a facelift. Postal theft from unlocked mailboxes seems to be in the news a lot. It’s time to tighten up my mailbox security. My thinking being that if my mailbox was more secure than my neighbors they(the thieves) will move… Read More »