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.
ADD CURB APPEAL WITH A NEW GARAGE DOOR A new garage door may be the quickest way to give the exterior of your house a face-lift. Often the largest and most prominent feature of a home, a garage door that’s tailor-made can make a highly visible improvement. And Clopay makes choosing the right door a breeze with its Door Imagination System, which lets you upload a photo of your house and plug in any door style, hardware option and window configuration you can dream up. The door styles range from old-fashioned carriage house doors to modern translucent ones like the door shown here. Clopay makes doors with real and faux wood, steel and composite, and in a variety of colors and stains and finishes. If good looks aren’t enough of…
handyhints@thefamilyhandyman.com CUT SMALL PARTS SAFELY Recently I needed to cut some small furniture legs on my miter saw. With their irregular shape, they were impossible to hold safely, so I attached each leg to a scrap 2x2 with a dowel screw. These assemblies stayed straight and kept my hands far from the blade. David Alexander Slide-proof ramps If your vehicle ramps slide forward as you drive onto them, secure them to a piece of plywood. I used 3/4-in. plywood, some 2x4 blocks, lag screws and bolts. Now as I drive onto the plywood, the weight of the car holds the ramps in place so they don’t skid away on contact. Drill a hole in the plywood so you can hang the ramps on the wall. No slipping, no splinters To…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com This storage system is made mostly from wire shelving and plastic-coated particleboard (called “melamine”). Those two simple materials, along with some clever engineering, provide three big benefits: Quick, simple construction. If you can make a few easy cuts (which don’t have to be perfect), drive some screws and brush on a little paint, you can build this system in a weekend. If you’re an experienced DIYer, you might even be done in a day. Fits any space. The system is made up of separate units, so you can build just one, cover an entire wall with several units or leave spaces between units. Versatile storage. Aside from wire shelves, the system includes optional hanging spaces for clothes and outdoor gear, plus oversize upper shelves for bulky stuff. As your…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com A funny thing happened when I began thinking about writing this article: I started noticing pegboard everywhere—panels, hooks, doodads, you name it. Every hand tool in the hardware store was hanging on pegboard. Every bag of bolts, roll of duct tape and tin of Tic Tacs at the checkout counter—pegboarded. Even the pegboard hooks were hanging on pegboard hooks. But I guess that should come as no surprise. Retailers want a display system that’s sturdy, easy to rearrange and adaptable— the same qualities we need in our work spaces at home. PEGBOARD SPECS All pegboard has holes with 1-in. spacing, but there are two thicknesses and two hole sizes available. ■ “Small hole” pegboard is usually 1/8-in.-thick hardboard with 3/16-in.-diameter holes. The holes will accommodate only the smaller 1/8-in. pegs.…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Cleaning out gutters is a miserable, messy, stinky job. Installing gutter guards could put that headache behind you, but how the heck are you supposed to know which type to buy? In this article, we’ll examine the three most popular types of gutter guards: screen, surface tension and fine mesh. We’ll compare the different features, installation methods and prices to help you decide which ones will work best for your house. And if you install them yourself, you can save tons of money— some pro installers charge as much as $20 per ft.! The guards we’ll cover are designed for 5-in. K-style gutters, typical on many homes. Screens 10¢ to $2 per foot Screens are the most common type of gutter guard. They come in a wide variety of…
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com We’re sorry to report that our friend Roy Doty, the creator of Wordless Workshop, passed away this year at the age of 93. Roy was one of America’s most prolific and longest-working cartoonists. He got his start after art school, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was drafted into the Army and began drawing cartoons for “Why We Fight,” “Overseas Woman” and “Stars and Stripes.” Wordless Workshop is only one piece of his huge portfolio, but it’s unique. It is the longest-running syndicated comic strip by a single artist in American history: nearly 60 years. Wordless Workshop began in Popular Science in 1954. When Popular Science decided to drop it, The Family Handyman picked it up without missing a single month of publication. For the past 26…
