A viewer on my HGTV program asked: "Does the type of siding make a difference in attracting Cluster flies?"
I always wanted to learn more about those flies that cluster on the side of houses (usually in the country) and mass in the windows in the early spring and late summer. They are larger ...
Low flow toilets: do they work? do they not work? This is an ongoing very interesting debate. This history of the evolution was first written in 2001. For the latest updates on this story and current data on toilets that do work, click here.
The average Canadian household uses between 7 hundred...
If any one thing distinguishes Canadian home improvement from American home improvement, it is the Robertson (square socket) screw. In this segment, we took a look at the history of this famous Canadian invention and visited their head office and warehousing operation in Milton, Ontario. Wikipedi...
When you need to stand a ladder on uneven ground, you always have to mess around to get something sturdy under the feet. Now there is an incredible invention from British Columbia that attaches to the bottom of any ladder.
Place it on uneven ground. Step on one of the two release levers and the ...
When we are working with wood studs we generally build the wall on the floor and then lean it up to the wall. But in the basement we have all kinds of overhead obstructions, so if you just tip it up, you will probably find yourself blocked by pipes or ducts.
The secret is like in the photo, to b...
For years we have talked about protecting the sill plate of basement walls from moisture rising up from the concrete. This could be water in the concrete from plumbing spills, or even from under the slab from a high-water table. The old standard ways to protect that bottom piece of wood on t...
Have you ever tried to run a string up from the gate latch, through the post and then put a ring or something on the outside. Of course it gets stuck in the wood or breaks, requiring you to either go through the house with your muddy boots, or over the fence.
So finally (2014) one of those inven...
A great new tool for measuring angles – The SawSet. Cabinet makers and finished carpenters have always used two legged devices that you could set to any angle, lock down and transfer that angle to something else. But to measure angles, we have always been limited to reading impossible little ray...
(This is a real good example of a living history. I wrote the first part of this entry in 2001. With a book you would have to wait for the next edition for developments. With a bulletin board you would have to read a lot of old entries. What I love about my web site is that I can change, adapt an...
