Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Family Handyman

MEET THE EXPERT Glenn Anderson is the owner/operator of Above Quality in Prior Lake, MN. He’s been finishing slabs, laying block and stacking stone for 25 years. A concrete driveway makes a beautiful gateway to your home that can last for decades if it’s installed correctly. But if you don’t follow the proper procedures, it could turn into a pile of rubble in half the time. The good news: Installing it the right way doesn’t take extra time or money. We tagged along with a longtime professional mason, who showed us the best ways to prevent water from pooling and stop unsightly cracking, spalling and scaling. We’ll feature the actual pour in this story. For great tips on prepping the ground before the pour, visit constructionprotips.com. Protect adjoining concrete Our…

Tile stores carry a wide selection of beautiful stone tile. And that’s the inspiration for this table. We chose a slate tile ($7), but you’ll also find granite, limestone and marble tiles costing anywhere from $5 to $20 each. You could also use manufactured tile, though the edges may not match the face of the tile. Figure A Stone-Top Table Choose any 16" x 16" tile you like! MATERIALS LIST WOOD 6' of 2x2 oak 14' of 1x2 oak HARDWARE 1 lb. 1-1/2" galvanized finish nails Eight 1-5/8" galvanized screws Exterior wood glue Construction adhesive 120-grit sandpaper 1. CUT THE PARTS To cut identical parts without measuring each one, screw a stop block to a 1x4 base. Position the base and clamp it in place. Miter the top supports at 45-1/2…

A. WIDTH MOVEMENT IS THE MAIN ISSUE Wood moves as its moisture content changes. Wood doesn’t move much lengthwise, so you don’t have to worry a lot about boards getting shorter. But a board can move quite a bit across its width. A board that’s 6 in. wide during a humid summer might shrink by 1/32 in. in winter. That’s not much, but it’s enough to cause a crack in a tabletop or gaps between floorboards. B. MOVEMENT IS CAUSED BY MOISTURE CONTENT When wet wood dries, it shrinks. The amount of movement is determined by the type of wood and the degree of change in its moisture content. Applying a sealer or paint can moderate wood movement. But it’s nearly impossible to seal wood so completely that its moisture…

Ever get to the cash register at the home center with a cart full of lumber, only to find the bar code stickers missing? When this happens, the cashier has to spend several minutes either looking up the item or waiting for somebody to run back to the aisle to get the item number. I avoid this annoyance by making sure there’s a bar code sticker on the product before I take it to the register. If it’s missing, I grab my cell phone and snap a photo of the shelf label, which usually has the item number and bar code or price information on it. I just hand my phone to the cashier, who can then scan the bar code or punch in the item number manually. This is…

7 Great solutions to maximize your time in the garage 1 Keep your tools handy with a rolling cart In the old days you laid out the tools you needed on a fender pad. Try that on a late-model vehicle with a sloped fender and you’ll find your tools on the floor. So buy a rolling cart (U.S. General No. 5107; $45 at harborfreight.com) and keep all your tools right at your fingertips. 2 Jack and jack-stand holder Haven’t you tripped over your jack stands long enough? Build this simple storage rack and get them off the floor. If you have a lightweight floor jack, add mounting hooks under the holder. Screw a 2-in. PVC coupler to the side of the rack and a 2-in. cap on the wall near…

UPS AND DOWNS Backward Trap This trap is installed the wrong way, requiring extra fittings and creating a situation that could result in water being siphoned from the trap. THE RIGHT WAY: The long side of the trap connects to the sink tailpiece. The key is to make sure the tailpiece is the right length so the waste arm lines up with the drain opening. That’s easy to do by either cutting the tailpiece or adding a tailpiece extension as shown at right. WHAT’S WRONG PERFECTLY WRONG Upside-Down Air Barrier Putting plastic sheeting on top of insulation may tidy up the attic, but it’s a bad idea. It will trap water vapor inside the house. But worse yet, in a cold climate, the trapped water vapor will condense when it…

“Melamine” is the common name for particleboard that’s coated with a thin layer of plastic finish. The melamine finish is similar to the plastic laminate on countertops, but it’s not as thick. The advantages of building with a melamine-coated product are its durable finish and its relatively low cost. But it can be frustrating to work with. The particleboard can be hard to fasten, and the brittle finish is tricky to cut. Here are 11 tips to make your next melamine project a success. 1. BUY A SPECIAL BLADE The melamine finish chips easily when cut, especially if you’re using an everyday saw blade. But you can largely avoid chipping by investing in a special blade that’s designed to cut plastic materials. The teeth on these blades are less angled,…

1. AVOID MITERS OUTDOORS Miter joints hide end grain and look more refined. But the effect is ruined when the miters don’t meet tightly. Huge changes in humidity, and wetting and drying from rain and sun, cause wood to move more outdoors than it would indoors. So whereas a miter joint will look good for decades indoors, it may start to look really bad after only one season outdoors. That’s why it’s usually better to avoid miters outdoors whenever possible. Use a butt joint instead. 2. PLAN FOR DECK BOARD MOVEMENT Deck boards can shrink or expand after they’re installed, depending on how much moisture they contained when you fastened them down. To allow for this, space wet treated boards with a 16d nail (1/8 in.) and dry boards such…

If soap and detergent aren’t doing a good job of getting you or your clothes clean, you might have hard water, a problem easily solved with a water softener. Water softeners rid your water of “hardness”— naturally occurring calcium and magnesium ions that are in your water and leave spots on dishes, cause scale buildup on shower walls and doors, and damage water-using appliances. But before you go spending thousands, or even hundreds of dollars, installing a water softener, go to the home center and buy a water quality test kit ($10). These kits measure total hardness and other contaminants like iron, copper and nitrates. The results are instant— you don’t have to send the samples to a lab for analysis.…

An electrical panel upgrade can cost anywhere from $1,200 to $3,000. So why do it? Master electrician and electrical inspector John Williamson offers the following reasons: ▪ If you have an old 60-amp breaker panel (or fuse box), a mortgage lender or insurance company might force you to replace it with a new 100-amp panel to prevent an electrical fire, thereby minimizing its risk. ▪ An upgraded panel might help you sell your home faster because it gives a prospective buyer one less thing to worry about. ▪ Some old panels won’t accept modern GFCI- and AFCI-protected circuit breakers, but a newer panel will. ▪ A new panel, along with a new meter socket and service entrance wires, is an opportunity to increase the capacity of the electrical system. Old…

Operate your garage door from anywhere with a smartphone. Daytime burglaries are on the rise, and an open garage door is an invitation for thieves. But an Internetconnected system makes it easy for you to check the door’s status and close it right from your smartphone or tablet. We talked to the experts from the major opener manufacturers to get the scoop on how the openers work, what they cost and how they’re installed. Here’s what we learned. MORE THAN JUST OPERATING THE DOOR The smart device apps also alert you if the door has been open too long, opened manually (indicating a break-in), or opened by a friend or neighbor from the wireless keypad. Plus, you can program the app to close the door after a set number of…

GOT A DIY QUESTION? Finding answers is easy at familyhandyman.com. Just use the search box at the top of the page to get expert step-by-step help with your projects. GOT A HANDY HINT OR TIP FOR US? To share your information with us, submit a copy of your original contribution, including photos and/or sketches, by email to: submissions@familyhandyman.com Or mail to: The Family Handyman, 2915 Commers Drive, Suite 700, Eagan, MN 55121 Please include your name, mailing address and email address if you have one, and indicate to which department you are submitting. We reserve the right to publish your submission in any appropriate department, or elsewhere. Contributions will not be acknowledged or returned. RIGHTS By submitting material to us, you grant Home Service Publications, Inc., its parent company subsidiaries,…

A stack of plastic bins can organize thousands of small items. But it’s not very convenient when the bin you need is at the bottom of the stack. That’s the point of this cabinet: You can slide out any bin—no stacking and unstacking. You can easily build a cabinet identical to this one. Or you can customize it, using larger or smaller bins, more bins or fewer. Whatever configuration you choose, this project is a great clutter solution for the garage, workshop or craft room. Shop before you build Our cabinet is built for Husky 11-in. Parts Bin Organizers ($4) from The Home Depot. Most discount stores and home centers carry similar bins. Be sure the bins you choose have a sturdy rim that can rest on the runners. You’ll…