Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2014 i Family Handyman

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com PRESSURE-WASHER PARADISE I’ve owned two gas-powered pressure washers. The motor in the first one blew after year two. The second one had a crummy, too-short hose without quick disconnects. Both were loud with hard little wheels and other design flaws that made them tough to move around the compound. But worst of all, with either one, you never knew when it would decide to blow high-pressure water or an ordinary stream. It was always hit or miss. For my third “investment,” I got a Ryobi 3,100-psi pressure washer for $400. I added the crankcase oil to the 2.5-hp Honda engine, filled it with fuel and hooked up the hose—and it started on the first pull. It purrs like a kitten, until you pull the wand trigger. Then the engine…

Wavy walls, crooked studs, uneven floors and out-of-square corners are the norm in most houses, and they all add to the challenge of getting your moldings to fit just right. To help you out, we’ve collected problem-solving tips from three veteran carpenters with a wide range of trim carpentry experience. Jeff Gorton editors@thefamilyhandyman.com The TIPS issue! TIGHTEN UP OPEN MITERS Uneven walls or misaligned jambs make it hard to get tight-fitting miters. If your miter has a consistent gap at the front, there’s a good chance that putting a slight back bevel on both moldings will fix the problem. If you own a compound miter saw, you could tilt the saw about a half-degree, but that requires fussy adjustments. The quickest and easiest way to cut a slight back bevel…

Most people choose a faucet based on looks alone. And that’s a mistake. Looks are important, but you can usually get the look you want without compromising on convenience and long-term dependability. For advice on those practical considerations, we talked with faucet designers, manufacturers, retailers and plumbers. Here’s what we learned. Spend enough but not too much Plan to spend at least $65 for a bath faucet and at least $100 for a kitchen faucet. You might get a great faucet for less, but it’s more likely that you’d get a low-quality faucet. If you spend much more, you’re paying for extra features or style rather than basic reliability or durability. Watch the spout height and reach Faucet spouts vary a lot in height and reach, and most of the…

Working with PVC conduit For outdoor wiring—hooking up a hot tub, adding outlets to a deck, powering a shed—installing conduit makes a lot of sense, and many times it’s required. Conduit even has its uses inside, wherever wires would otherwise be exposed and could be damaged. And if you have a circuit you may want to extend someday, conduit will enable you to pull additional wires. We’re going to show you how to install plastic (PVC) rigid conduit rather than metal conduit. Plastic conduit is less expensive, lighter and much easier to work with. Here are great tips from commercial electrician Jason Bouchard to help you make wiring runs with conduit. MEET THE EXPERT Jason Bouchard has been a journeyman commercial electrician for more than 19 years. He’s worked on…

FROM OUR READERS handyhints@thefamilyhandyman.com Clear leaf bags for storage I had a few clear leaf bags left over from fall, so I decided to put them to good use. Because they’re large, I can cover lawn chairs, cushions, space heaters, fans and other items to keep them dust-free in the rafters or on shelving in the garage. The best part is that I can easily find items at a glance because the bags are transparent—a feature my old black garbage bags lacked! Frank Normoyle Digital can labels My stain and wood finish cans get messy with drips and become difficult to read. When I want to use them again, I often can’t read the contents and instructions. I now shoot a digital photo of the labels with my smartphone. I…

The Family Handyman has been dishing out table saw wisdom for more than 50 years. The saws themselves have improved dramatically over that time, but even the best modern saw can benefit from some old-fashioned ingenuity. So we selected some of our favorite tips from the past few decades to help you get more from your saw, whether it’s an antique or the latest model. FAST, FLAWLESS PLYWOOD EDGING If you’ve ever covered plywood edges with solid wood, you know how hard it is to position the edging flush with the plywood surface. Next time, try this: Start with edging that’s about 1/8 in. wider than the thickness of the plywood. That way, you can attach the edging fast, without worrying about a flush fit. To trim off the excess…

If you’re digging holes in your backyard, you should always call 811 a few days beforehand to mark all the underground utilities. Unfortunately, privately owned wiring will not be marked, so it’s still possible to strike an electrical cable. It’s especially likely if you’re digging between the house and a freestanding garage, shed or yard light. If you do cut a power line, though, it’s easy to fix. Here’s how. Assess the damage Turn off the circuit breaker to the cut cable and double-check at the damaged area with a voltage sniffer to be sure it’s really off. Then enlarge the hole to a 2-ft. diameter. If the cable is cut cleanly, you can just splice it back together with a single underground splice kit. But if it’s cut or…

You bought a pickup truck because you needed to haul things. But what can you haul in a pickup bed that’s not going to destroy the finish and eventually rust out the bed? Pillows? Precisely. That’s why you need bed protection. Your choices are a preformed hard plastic drop-in liner, professionally applied epoxy coating or a DIY roll-on coating. The best preformed liners cost about $500. That’s about the same cost as for a professionally applied epoxy liner. However, you can roll on a fairly high-quality bed liner yourself for about $150. (See “Other Bed Liner Options,” p. 75). That’s the path we’re going to take you down. Choosing a roll-on product Herculiner, Dupli-Color and Rust-Oleum are the most popular retail brands. You can find them at most auto parts…

When you’re fertilizing your lawn, mistakes are easy to make. I know, because I’ve been in the grass business for a very long time. And I can tell you that professional turf managers and homeowners tend to make the same four mistakes when they feed their grass. Read along, avoid these blunders and you’ll be thrilled with your lawn and get the most for your buck. MEET THE PRO Joe Churchill has worked in the professional turf industry for more than 30 years. He is a branch manager for Reinders, a major turf supply and equipment distributor in the Midwest. BLUNDER #1 FAILURE TO TEST THE SOIL When I’m asked to help bring a homeowner’s lawn back to life, the first thing I do is to make sure they have…

When disaster strikes your home, you can text a friend, call a plumber or dial 911. But until help arrives, you’re the one on the scene, the only one who can act fast. And what you do can make the difference between minor damage and destruction. As usual, it all comes down to preparation and know-how. This article provides the know-how; the prep work is quick and inexpensive. So read on—the payoff could be huge! First aid for roof damage Minor roof damage can lead to major water damage inside your home. But if you keep a few simple materials on hand, you can seal most roof injuries in just a few minutes. A section of flashing is the perfect patch for smaller holes—often caused by blown-down tree branches (Photo…

If sharpening your dull kitchen knives or blunt chisels sounds like drudgery, we can help. We’ll show you some cool sharpening tips and tools that’ll motivate you to tune up the edges on all the dull tools and knives in your shop and kitchen. We don’t have space here to teach every sharpening step, but we’ve collected tips to help you get started on the most common sharpening tasks. For more detailed sharpening information, go to familyhandyman.com and search for the topic you’re interested in. 1 Flatten the back of chisels and plane blades It’s impossible to get a sharp edge on a chisel or a plane if the back of the blade isn’t flat. If you’re using the glass and sandpaper method of sharpening (Tip 10), press the back…

FROM OUR READERS greatgoofs@thefamilyhandyman.com HOODWINKED Our new house had a very old kitchen, and our first project was to replace the nasty, greasy range hood. Simple enough, I thought—it would only take a few minutes. To protect the cooktop, I covered it with cardboard. The old hood came out easily, but while I was putting in the new hood, the clamp I used to hold it in position slipped. The hood fell onto the cooktop and then down onto my shoeless foot. I picked up the new hood, set it back onto the cooktop and proceeded to hop on one foot into the next room to assess my injury. When I hobbled back into the kitchen, there were flames shooting up from the cooktop. I threw the hood and the…