Shop Online
Check Local Availability
check your local store, for in store pickup
Archive for the ‘DIY carpentry’ Category
Hand Saw “teeth”
A hand saw is one of the more basic tools, so you may not have given much thought to the proper way to use one. However, like other hand and power tools, using proper form and technique with a hand saw is important for your safety as well as achieving your desired result.
First and foremost, reading the documentation packaged with the saw is advised. All hand saws are not the same, so following the recommendations from the manufacturer will help you both use the saw properly and protect yourself. Hand saws come in different types that are designed for various purposes, so be sure you are using the right kind of saw for the task at hand. For instance, some saws are designed to cut with the grain, while others are designed for cutting against the grain.
Ensure your saw blade is sharp and clean before you begin. The first step to using a hand saw - determining exactly where the cut will be made - begins before you pick up the saw. Create a line to guide your cut, double checking that your measurements and angles are correct. Also ensure that the surface to be cut is stable.
Start sawing slightly to the outside of the line to account for the width of the blade. Hold the saw such that your wrist, shoulder and the handle of the saw are lined up, and you are not sawing at an angle that feels unnatural. Professionals generally advise holding a hand saw with all of the fingers except the pointer, which should be straight and pointed in the direction of the cut. But, be sure to check the documentation to ensure that you are holding the saw according to recommendations. Remember that cutting should be done on the down stroke. Apply pressure to the saw as you push downward on the cut, but release pressure as you pull the saw back toward yourself. Getting into a steady rhythm as you saw will help you achieve the cleanest cut.
If you are inexperienced with hand saws, you may want to practice cutting on a scrap piece of wood before you move on to the real cut. It bears repeating that all saws are not the same, so be sure to read the documentation outlining the proper use of your fine hand saw.
DIY how to Build a Drawer
Drawer sides made from prefinished melamine consist with a dado cut 1/4″ deep running the length of the drawer depth. Building a drawer pullout is simply a box, with a drawer front screwed to the drawer face and a drawer knob attached to the drawer face. A typical drawer bottom is 1/4″ white melamine cut on a table saw. 
Any cabinet can use some sort of box to pullout and fill with just about anything. The dimension can vary and prefinished drawer sides can be purchased up to 12″ deep for larger capacity. Hardwood drawer fronts and backs are considered mostly for the durability. Once the drawer box has been assembled with finished nails, gun or hand nails will suffice. The drawer slides can be mounted and installed inside the cabinet. All drawer slide hardware has adjustable slots or cams for fine tuning. You may now install the drawer faces and pull hardware.
Is Drop in Home Sales Good News?
Is Drop in Home Sales Good News? Only if you want to thrive!
“For all of you out there who accuse me of perpetual bearishness, here’s a twist: What if the drop in existing home sales in May is a good thing? Try to follow me on this: Everyone expected home sales to surge in May because this Realtor’s survey is based on closings in May from contracts signed in March and April. The May and June numbers should reflect the surge from the now-expired home buyer tax credit. Well today’s report showed a drop of 2.2 percent in existing home sales, leading us to believe that this last government stimulus really didn’t do the trick. So what if it didn’t? Last fall the tax credit really juiced the market, pulling demand forward, so that we saw a huge drop-off in the months following what we thought was the end of the credit, which was then of course extended and expanded.
So now we’re not seeing the same juice, but the numbers aren’t terrible either. Perhaps there was no big rush, so perhaps there will be no big drop-off. Here’s what we do know: (a) First-time homebuyers accounted for 46% of sales in May (49% in April) (b) Investors accounted for 14% of sales in May (15% in April) (c) All cash accounted for 25% of sales in May (26% in April). So first time buyers actually fell in numbers, but investors and all cash (which are often investors) remained pretty steady. Investors, at least for distressed properties, are what we need right now to soak up all the excess inventory. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty certain we’re going to see a drop-off in sales. A lot of sellers probably got caught up in the idea that the stimulus would create lasting recovery, and so decided to jump in. Tomorrow we get the report on sales of new construction in May. That report is based on contracts signed in May, not closings, so it will give us an idea of just how ba
d the post credit hangover will be.”
DIy flooring plwood
Throughout the USA building codes vary and new technology has changed with the times as much as green technology taking over in many facets. Flooring plywood remains fairly consistent though, 5/8″ sturdy floor tongue and groove plywood has been manufactured and used predominately with an adhesive and fasteners that create a silent floor sound covering used in second story home construction as well as mezzanine commercial truss construction. Standard 4×8 sheeting cdx, c grade ply laminated over and sandwiched between typically 5 ply fabrication with an exterior glue, [x is for exterior]. 3/4″ plywood can be used as well because structural engineers give tables noting minimum requirements. 
Often flooring plywood for an exterior deck for instance, that has a coated surface, could call for 1-1/8″ tongue and groove plywood, that is essentially unbendable and has superior strength and sound resonating abilities when applicable. Budgeting your costs and understanding the options on any home improvement project, will get you further down the planning and orchestrating road faster and more efficiently.
Plywood DIY
Knowing your plywood thicknesses and UBC ratings, for a better understanding of the project in your head! Thoughts will become things, so do your due diligence.
Plywood grades are determined by a veneer quality on the face and back of each panel. The first letter designates quality of face veneer (best side), while the second letter denotes the surface quality of the back of the panel.The letter “X” indicates the panel was manufactured with scrap wood as the center plies, not “exterior” as is commonly thought. The A-D rating is only good for construction (softwood) plywood, not for hardwood plywoods such as oak or maple.
“A”: Highest grade quality available. Can be defect free or contain small knots, providing they are replaced with wooden plugs (the fillers having a “boat” or an “American football” shape) or repaired with synthetic patch. This grade may contain occasional surface splits that are repaired with synthetic filler. The surface is always sanded and provides for smooth paintable face quality.
“B”: Second highest quality veneer grade. Normally a by-product of downgraded “A” quality veneer. Solid surface, but may contain small diameter knots and narrow surface splits. Normally repaired with wooden plugs or synthetic filler. The surface is normally sanded smooth.
“C”: Considered to be a lower end face quality, but a reasonable choice for general construction purposes. May contain tight knots up to 1½ inches diameter, some open knot holes, some face splits, and discoloration. Some manufactures may repair the defects with synthetic filler. Panels are typically not sanded.
“D”: Considered to be the lowest quality veneer and often used for the back surface for construction grade panels. Allows for several knots, large and small, as well as open knots up to 2½ inches diameter. Open knots, splits, and discoloration are acceptable. “D” grade veneers are neither repaired nor sanded. This grade is not recommended for permanent exposure to weather elements. CDX is the grade for many home construction needs, shear walls are generally built with 3/8″ cdx in which the plywood gives a anti up-lift rating for several applications including replacing wall strength value, as windows and doors take areas in a wall that actually weaken the home structural value. Any DIYer is able to get more local code information in their area, the building or planning department[s] will be happy to assist here.
A Stucco NO! NO!
Here is a stucco no, no! In this photo, the simple project of combining a stair stepped yard border line, the walkway below the cedar 1×6 dog eared fence is poured in place and has the treated 4×4 fence post’s set during that concrete placement.
The public sidewalk was poured on the graded slope so 2 elevations are the challenge. Stucco exterior finish was the call at all the concrete below the fencing, the proper approach would have avoided this problem, cement materials cannot adhere to wood for any length of time, but the answer is adding some stucco lathe screen or wire fastened to the post to allow the stucco brown coat some tooth to grab and hang onto for life!
This property is located in Redondo Beach CA, where the homes median price range is over $700 k, and 10 years ago even in this current market the ROI has more than doubled. Location, location, location kids, but the name of the game is real estate anywhere has proven to beat any stock market over time…
DIY Converting under Stair’s to Storage
In our busy lives of living, we all tend to accumulate too much stuff. Therefore storage is always a premium, and storing seasonal items or momentos or whatever we tend to deem, savable things, there is typically not enough usable space to go around. But in most instances under our staircases there is several extra square feet of area to convert into usable space.
![staircase [bookcase] storage](http://www.my-diy-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/thumbnail-21.jpg "staircase [bookcase] storage")
Be creative and succeed in utilizing the space that otherwise tends to go unused, storing and organizing cubicles make more cent’s than anything for the cost involed per the square foot price you will spend on your annual property taxes. A set of full height pullouts that will hide as well as allow easy access of almost any items you can dream of. The return on investment can prove to be advantageous too.
Many builders know how their clients are constantly asking about cabinet storage, well here is the DIY warrior’s greatest tool. The ability to think outside of the box!! And diy your way into the new rich lifestyle of real estate investing that has you thinking away instead of rotting away in front of the boob tube……
DIY and do it better
Home affordable foreclosure alternatives. As for banks, they’ll face loan losses, but HAFA could trim expenses.”The new plan doesn’t keep people in their homes, but it does eliminate the costs of foreclosing properties and the deterioration of value associated with vacancies,” Cooper said.Banks often spend $20,000 to $40,000 to take a home all the way through foreclosure. Short sales can be the cheaper option, says Eli Tene, president of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based I Short Sale.
“Any savings through short sales will help,” Tene said. “But once (HAFA) kicks off, it will have limited success as it reaches only about a quarter of homeowners in trouble.”
Short sales have become more common, but they’ve been hard to pull off. They can take months, even more than a year to complete, says Leonard Baron, a real estate professor at San Diego State University. To understand all the complexities the investor needs better knowledge of the tools he can obtain. Just like the weekend DIY warrior, tools make the job! That new combo slide miter saw that enables quick and accurate crown molding cuts for the fixer needing a face lift.
Attic Dormers
Add an attic roof dormer will enable the re purposing of space in one the the seldom used areas of your home. Your attic can become effective living space and produce instant equity in a considerably down real estate market, adding living space that will produce the end results.
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.
Often conflated with the term ‘dormer’, a dormer window is a window set into the dormer. Like skylights, dormer windows are a source of light and ventilation for top floors, but unlike skylights (which are flush with the roof surface) they also increase the amount of headroom in the room and allow for more usable space.
A blind dormer is a dormer that can only be seen from the outside of the house: it’s roofed off on the inside, and doesn’t provide any extra space or light. These are often used to make the house appear more impressive.
A dormer will often be one of the primary elements of a loft conversions.
Fix it Now
Whatever may be in disrepair around your home will eventually need quite a bit more attention as time elapses. Does your rain gutter hold water from 2 weeks ago when it last rained? As much as we would love to ignore this fact, what you may not realize that the nearest seam is breaking down and starting to leak, could be a small drip straight to the front porch or it might just be working its way through the fascia board and rotting away at the roof’s eave or a few rafter tails. Hence causing more dry rot and or concrete water damage than the earlier quick minor repair, sealing the rain gutter.
Procrastination isn’t the name of the game if we really ever want to get anywhere folks, a buck ahead for that proverbial rainy day and or as Napoleon Hill once wrote “money conscious or poverty conscious” which way is your mind taking you? Another marketing genius and extremely successful self made entrepreneur, is Jeffrey Combs and his whole mantra is about already being instead of waiting to be, it all begins at that perception of ” somethings else that needs to be done as a home improvement project” when it should be thought of as ” protecting the biggest investment in your portfolio”. See you at the new rich extravaganza !!