I have had a few inquiries about how to attach things to outside walls, like signs, wires and Christmas lights without causing any damage.For a brick wall there is a wonderful gadget called the Brick Clip that simply has a spring on the bottom and teeth on the top which grab a brick by inserting ...
How many times do you have to return to the plumbing department of your hardware store before you finish that sink installation job?It took me 5 trips for this job (in front of the TV cameras), as I slowly discovered things that didn't fit, or didn't reach, or I didn't think of ahead of time.Does...
Aluminium screws should not be used with pressure treated wood, and galvanised screws should not be used with Cedar. The tannic acid in the cedar reacts with the galvanisation.The photo shows special cedar coloured screws who's coating helps to resist rusting. Type 18-8 stainless steel would be...
Some tools go un-noticed on the hardware store shelves, like the rotary hammer chisels. At first glance this appears simply to be a heavy duty hammer drill. It has a special quick change chuck called an SDS system and will only work with drills and other accessories with the special SDS shanks....
You want to make a Lazy Susan?Here are some working tips.To draw a large circle put a screw through a long stick or yard stick and drill a hole for a pencil. When you use this for drawing the circle, you also have defined the centre of the circle with the depression made by the screw pivot.Find ...
Rene from Thunder Bay, Ontario has a corner joint in a counter top that doesn't sit perfectly flush and the water is getting in and swelling up the counter. What to do?Unfortunately, if the counter has swollen up, you may not be able to fix the problem. However, to avoid problems when things do...
Piano hinges are one of the strongest of the very discrete hinges available for lids and doors. The problem is that the screws often work themselves loose, or the heads of the screws prevent the hinge from closing completely.Use long screws, like 2-1/2" #6, even into the edge of half inch plywoo...
There are lots of different door stops on the market. Some serve just to keep the door handle from going through the wall. Others have clamps or magnets on them to keep the door open, especially when the wind tends to slam it shut. I really like the one in the photo because of its round shape, ...
Clothes hangers provide a ridgid, often plastic coated, wire that can be used to build or fix just about anything around the house. Even the new plastic type of clothes hangers can be broken up to make clamps and hooks.You'll have to catch the re-run to see the gadgets that I made in minutes wit...
If you connect copper plumbing pipes directly to galvanized plumbing pipes, or even let a copper pipe touch a galvanized heating duct, you will get an electrolytic reaction between these two metals. The reaction is accelerated if the pipe is hot, so this is worse with hot water lines than cold o...
