When it comes to home improvement, you need information you can trust. Inside each issue of The Family Handyman, you’ll find see-and-solve expert repair techniques, a variety of projects for every room and step-by-step, do-it-yourself photos.
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com A BETTER WORK LIGHT You’ve probably used halogen work lights. And you’ve also probably burned your fingers on them, cussed the fragile bulbs and sweated from the heat they generated. Now there’s an alternative. The Husky Portable LED Work Light is cool to the touch, can take abuse, won’t heat up a tight work space and costs only $35 at The Home Depot. I’ve been using it for various small projects, and I love it. Especially the fact that I can knock it around a bit. And since it’s got an LED, its power use is minimal. All that is great. But one thing you need to know: It can’t match the brightness of your typical halogen work light. A traditional halogen work light might produce 8,000 lumens, 10…
handyhints@thefamilyhandyman.com SAVING HARDWOOD SCRAPS Short scraps of hardwood are too good to throw away but hard to store neatly. So I bought a 4-ft. tube form made for concrete footings, cut it in half (the cardboardlike material cuts easily) and set the tubes on end. I tack the tubes to a wall or a bench leg so they don’t fall over. With the wood scraps stored upright, it’s easy to find a piece just the right length. Tube forms are available in various diameters for $5 and up at home centers. Bill Wells Fix for noisy floors Here’s a simple fix for squeaking floor joists: Screw a 1-1/2-in. corner bracket to the joist about 1/8 in. below the subfloor. Then when you drive a screw up into the subfloor, it’s…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com All paints are the same; all paints are different. They’re all the same because their primary job is to coat and protect surfaces. They’re all different because chemists tweak each component to balance performance for hundreds of different situations. All that tweaking has produced lots of extraordinary paint. Here’s a sampling of products to help you get great results throughout your house. A PRIMER THAT’S EASY TO SAND If your goal is an ultra-smooth topcoat on a bare wood with visible pores, like pine, your best bet is to prime the wood first. A good primer will fill in the pores, and a good sanding will smooth out all the brushstrokes. Trouble is, many primers gum up sandpaper like nobody’s business. Here’s one that doesn’t. Benjamin Moore’s Fresh Start…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com I designed this pergola with simplicity and economy in mind, but not at the expense of good looks. The pergola is made from standard dimensional lumber, so you just cut the parts and screw them together—no special skills required. To keep the cost down, I used pressure-treated lumber, which looked great with two coats of semitransparent stain. I sized the pergola for small gatherings of family and friends. With an eye toward daytime comfort, I spaced the roof slats to block some sun but still let in enough rays for warmth. You can build this project in about two weekends if you have an agreeable helper. I spent just under $1,300 on materials. The concrete floor, which is optional, added another $500. Your floor could be flagstones, paver bricks…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com HEARING PROTECTION: WHICH ONE SHOULD I USE? Sure, the risk of hearing damage is highest for those who use loud equipment every day. But if you use a shop vacuum, leaf blower or circular saw without hearing protection, you’re doing permanent damage every time. And that’s just dumb because protecting your ears is so easy. The goal is to reduce noise levels to 90 decibels. All forms of hearing protection—earmuffs, disposable foam earplugs, reusable plugs—are adequate for most noise. With super-loud equipment like framing nailers and chain saws, it’s smart to use both plugs and earmuffs. Of the carpenters we talked to, some preferred earmuffs, others liked plugs, but they all said the same thing: “I hated them at first—uncomfortable, inconvenient, a #&%* nuisance. But after a day or…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Some people think black holes exist only in outer space. Not true. There’s probably one under your kitchen sink. Place detergent, cleaners or sponges under there and they disappear forever—or at least become really, really hard to find. Here’s a simple project to bring order to the chaos: a doormounted storage rack. You can modify this basic idea to organize other cabinets too. WHAT IT TAKES TIME: 2 hours COST: $10 to $20 SKILL LEVEL: Beginner TOOLS: Circular saw, miter saw or jigsaw, and drill Planning and materials As you plan your rack, consider building multiple racks. Building two or three doesn’t take much more time than building one. Also think about (and measure!) the items you want your rack to hold. You may want to mount the upper…
