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Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea. While termites are commonly known, especially in Australia, as “white ants,” they are only distantly related to the ants. They will feed around and in moistened wood and lumber as well, gates – doors and windows – siding – eaves and fascia boards , that get wet during rain , plumbing leaks or everyday home watering. Building anything that rids of moisture will aid in your fight against the elements of nature.
There are products for protecting against termite infestation on the market including local sprays , orange oil. These can lower the termite control costs and help you DIY the termite treatment(s) around your home.
Like ants, some bees, and wasps—which are all placed in the separate order termites divide labour among castes, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10 percent of the estimated 4,000 species are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.
We got the call to remodel a fireplace, hearth and full wrap mantle. Unique in many ways, this full wrap fireplace mantle would have a pair of arched recessed panels in the center below the crown top sitting above the columns on both sides of the fire box.
No exotic wood species here though, my clients wanted it painted white. So we built her out of 3/4″ MDF [multi-density-fiberboard] with some various El & El moldings to create something extraordinary!
Any above average painter can fau out this resin flex molding too, so even all the real wood lovers can enjoy a radius molding appearance without the extra shop tools and mind bending , wood bending tasks. Whatever the type of molding you are using, IE., baseboards, casings or even a 5 1/2″ crown molding , then the flex mold can bend – curve or wrap around to meet up with any other common or custom molding your using.
MDF full wrap mantle with Flex Moulding
Underneath the arch , a piece of flat stock was implemented to return and butt into the face of the travertine stone that was used on the wall and hearth areas of this fire place.
This resin pour custom flex mold is highly pliable and very much paintable or stained. Acts like wood when cutting – nailing – sanding or glueing , for any DIY ‘er thats ready to make a difference!My-diy.net
Flexible flat stock to aide in the return
Why call the guy? When YOU can DIY!!
This approach to creating counter space is growing daily and will give identical appearance as some of the other more expensive counter top options. Using concrete on top of cabinetry or even a pass through shelve, can certainly change the look in any room or office. Outside of the concrete color or veining techniques, the mixing and pouring is essentially identical.
Here in this concrete counter form image with reinforced steel or rebar, 
we have used 4″ lag screws to anchor the #3 rebar, staggered every 24″O.C. The counter or shelve here is formed to 2″ in depth and 12″ wide with the length being 10′ long between the two end points of the adjacent walls. Because it sits atop a 2×4 framed wall, it will cantilever 2″ to the kitchen area and roughly 6″ pass the other side of the same wall into the living room. 
The image to the left here shows the importance of protecting the wood framing beneath with flashing paper to act as a moisture barrier and future dry-rotting adherent. The small spacers under our #3 rebar allows the new aggregate pour to completely surround the reinforcement steel for optimum strength.
- plywood or melamine, plus screws to build the mold
- bagged countertop mix (or “scratch” mix below)
- dyes or pigment if you’re coloring your counter-top
- grinder / polisher with water feed (can be rented)
- diamond polishing discs of various grit
- Tupperware or similar sandwich containers to make concrete samples
- concrete mixer- concrete vibrating tool (can be rented)- dusts masks
- eye protection- ear protection
That’s why it’s a good idea to make sample pours first so that you can get an idea what you’re working with and how small variations in the concrete mix can make a difference.
Many people start with a premixed concrete countertop mix. They are specially formulated to be flowable and high strength with plasticizer that makes it flow well even at a low water / cement ratio.
A low water / cement ratio is important for a good result that resists cracking. The Quikrete mix has high enough flow that the need for mechanical vibration is minimized, and it’s made for minimal shrinkage.
Alternately, you could start with regular bagged concrete mix that is rated for a hardness of 5,000 psi or greater, available @ Home Depot or most of your home improvement centers.
Here is a counter top mix you can make “from scratch” that’s enough to make a small test block and that can be scaled up by weight.
You can use a kitchen or postal scale to weigh out the sample measurements. It is recommended that you use white sand and white cement to maximize your color options:
Product / Weight in Grams
Portland Cement 210g
Sand 625g
Nycon G nylon fiber 1g
Metakaolin 30g
Fritz-Pak FR1 Water Reducer 5g
Water 80-90g
If you’re using Quickrete Countertop Mix or Sackrete 5000, or some other pre-mixed countertop mix, start with about 875 grams of dry mix and about 85 grams of water to make a sample.
Whether you’re using a bag concrete mix or my “scratch” concrete countertop recipe, use the smallest amount of water necessary to craft a mix that you can work with.
Of course, you can only estimate how it’s going to look once it’s cured, but again, you have to start somewhere.
Write down how many grams of colorant you use in every batch so you’ll have a basis for guessing how much more or less you need in subsequent samples and so you’ll also know about how much you’ll need for the final product once you get the color you want.
If you want a darker concrete countertop – all the way to a dark charcoal gray – start with Home Depot’s Quickrete Countertop Mix, which is darker than the scratch recipe above, and add charcoal colorant.
Start with one bottle per bag of concrete countertop mix when mixing the final countertop.
Of course you can still experiment with the colorant in your sample slabs.
After you’ve poured your sample, allowed it to set and removed it, ask yourself what’s right and what’s wrong about it. Color will likely be the thing that determines what you should try next.
In fact, you should keep all of your samples so you can try out your concrete polishing and sealing techniques on them. Once you have your sample smoothed to the finish you want, you can seal it, according to the directions or you can seal it with beeswax (which may not be the best at standing up to what the average kitchen countertop endures) or even pure tung oil (like what is used on wood). It depends on the final look you want.
We’ve covered a few basics of hand saw sharpening before, but here are some additional tips to keeping your hand saws in working order. As a recap, saw files are used for sharpening teeth. You’ll want to maintain a consistent pitch – angle of the leading edge of the tooth – while the saw is positioned lower between softwood pieces in the vise. The blade should protrude only the minimum amount while still exposing the teeth.
When hand saw sharpening, place your saw file with one of the three corners fitted into a gullet. Keep the hand saw horizontal at 90 degrees to the blade. When you’re properly positioned, file with an even forward stroke with the saw file firmly between your thumb and forefinger. Take your time and try not to get frustrated; hand saw sharpening is a skill that takes time to master.
Hand Saws are an important part of a Mister Fix-Its workshop. Hand saws come in a variety of designs depending on whether they’re needed for metal working or wood working. A metal cutting saw includes coarse, thick teeth whereas wood cutting hand saws utilize softer teeth. There are four basic categories of hand saws that a handyman or woman will come across.
The four types of hand saws are hacksaws, sheetsaws, junior hacksaws, and padsaws. A hacksaw can cut a wide range of metals and is best used for cutting pipes and bars, but not large metal sheets. Sheetsaws, on the other hand, are ideal for cutting large metal sheets to any depth. Junior hacksaws are much smaller than a normal hacksaw and may contain multiple adjustable blades for complex work. Padsaws have a pad handle which fastens with a clamp over one end of the blade, and are mainly used for jobs in confined spaces.
Power tools are a wonderful invention, but there’s something to be said for old fashion hand tools. The hand miter saw is one such tool that is still widely admired by woodworking enthusiasts. The saw is suspended on rollers in a metal guide with a miter box to create accurate cross and miter cuts. Master Carpenter, Norm Abram, described in the Q and A section of the “This Old House” magazine what is needed to cut crown molding by hand.
The handyman who posed the question wanted to know how to cut a joint using a hand miter saw and a slotted miter box. Norm Abram recommended using a metal miter box frame because wood and plastic miter boxes wear out easily. Additionally, a poor quality miter box may limit the cuts that can be made to 45 and 90 degrees- not much versatility. To re-cap: the hand miter saw is a trustworthy woodworking tool, but make sure you have the right miter box frame to accompany it, so you can have the fancy crown molding you’ve always wanted.
Trex Nightmare: Having had over $3,500.00 worth of Trex Decking installed. The material bought in Feb. 2005, for my front deck, is deteriorating. Not mold or mildew but flaking off of surface. This deck has had only rain water. Trex sent two people to evaluate my problem and their report to Trex resulted in them offering me $380.84 for replacing 220 lin ft. of decking.???
The story continues:
My quote for this replacement material amounted to $647.44. It will cost me another $400.00 in labor to dismantle and reinstall.—My back deck , installed late in 2005, has so far, shown problems on only 2 boards, 20 ft. long.—The problem starts with bubbling and then completely deteriorates by flaking off of surface material.–This was obviously a bad run of material, as several other decks of same time period have had exactly the same problem.Trex manufactures claim “to make it right” said they have been good about replacing the material but in my case they do not want to replace this much material. I have heard nothing from them since refusing their offer. Their warranty on their product is 25 yrs.–They want me to accept half price of material, do all the labor myself and sign a full and final release for all of my Trex decking. I bought 1540 lin. ft @Approx. $2.20 per ft. when doing my decks. The same material is now $2.60 per lin.ft.–
That story tells the truth about composite decking material, although it can be worked (drilled-notched-sawed) much like lumber, it is man made and this particular batch end up imploding itself. Internal mold issues caused premature delamination and forced a class action suite against TREX. I believe in lumber, built right the first time and looks and feels natural a redwood deck is the way to go.
If you plan on DIY decking in your future, weigh the difference and consider your geographical location. East coast vs. West coast IE., but either way it turns out, you will have improved to curb appeal of your home and will most likely recoup any out of pocket expense (ROI) from that home improvement. Here @ MY-DIY ……….Done Right the first Time!
If you want to update your countertops consider installing plastic laminate. Laminate comes in many colors, patterns, and designs. In order to execute the project you will need: plastic laminate, contact cement, hand saws, paint brush, roller, sand paper, work gloves, and a straight edge.
Steps:
1. Thoroughly clean and sand the surface where the laminate will be applied.
2. Cut the laminate sheets to size using fine-toothed hand saws, such as Disston hand saws.
3. Brush the contact cement on the clean, sanded surface, as well as to the back of the cut laminate pieces.
4. Let the cement sit for 15 minutes and then move the laminate pieces into position.
5. When the pieces are laid down, go over the top with a roller to evenly apply pressure, ensuring the laminate will stick.
6. To give the project a polished look, finish the trim in the same laminate, using the steps listed above.
Request come in all kinds. “Remove my ice maker and build some cabinet storage or drawer storage”, and make it look as if you were never even here!
The removed ice machine had a huge cavity to restructure, for the set of drawers to work here I had to down size the area inside this cabinet. With an existing face frame, the drawers need a set of runners framed in place to carry the drawer slides, or furring down the size of the existing void.
The existing opening has to be consistent through to the back, so all pieces can be pre-cut and assembled prior to installation. Once layout had been carefully measured, and the drawer boxes were fabricated in the shop, the drawer runners and back boards are installed. And the drawer slides are now ready for leveling and placement.
With a Kreg Jig, the face frame dividers are pre-drilled and installed next. Leaving clearance for the drawer boxes to slide freely and smooth. To align the drawer faces, they can be pin nailed in the proper location first. 
We can now pre-drill the front of the drawer boxes so they can be screwed to the back of the drawer faces.
The painter gets the call to come and spray finish our clients new diy drawer storage cabinet. If all has been executed precisely, no one will ever know the new drawers have been retro-fitted into an old cabinet!
Crosscut saws can trace their earliest roots to ancient times. There are historical records indicating that crosscut saws were employed in parts of the Roman Empire, though their construction would likely differ from what we know today as a saw. Although we know the Romans used them, they did so in small quantity. The use of such saws was rare and not widespread. In the 15th century, however, all that changed.
The crosscut hand saw became a popular implement in Europe. It was around this time that the crosscut saw solidified itself in human history as one of the most important technological and revolutionary achievements of all time. Since that time the crosscut saw has become popular with loggers and anyone looking for high-performance crosscut action. Today the crosscut saw enjoys a rich history steeped in the centuries-old practices and traditions of master woodsmen from all over the world. The crosscut saw is a mainstay in the history of human technological development.