While at a home show in Calgary, Marsha asked me to save her from her husband Martin. Actually marriage counselling is as much a part of my business as "divorce dust" is a part of renovation.Martin was doing a wonderful job of building Marsha a professional sewing centre above his new garage/wor...
The first photo shows a respirator. If you have ever used a respirator you will really love this new one. It has a quick latch release that allows you to drop it down off of your face without loosing any of the adjustments of the straps on your head, and quick latch it right back. When using...
Jim in Newfoundland has suggested using vegetable oil to remove paint from hands.Poor Phil, one of the guys who builds the props for the show, became our test subject. With dried oil paint all over his arm, he set about trying different ways of getting it off.The vegetable oil did pick up and re...
Most portable vacuum cleaners have fairly poor filters. Sure most of the real "dirt" gets caught in the bag, but much of the very fine stuff just blows out the back end. A central vac has the same problem, but because it is placed in one place, it can have a much stronger motor to allow it to d...
The National Building Code of Canada, the basis for most building codes in the country, requires mechanical ventilation in all new housing because it is now recognised that our modern energy efficient homes must have the possibility of good through ventilation beyond opening windows.There are man...
As people become more and more safety conscious, the products to protect us are getting better and better. If you are looking for safety glasses you need to decide what you are protecting yourself from. The minimum glasses protect from direct flying debris with a little side protection. Slight...
Making your home safe for young children is a subject that I like to return to every year, as the principles of caution and safety are still the same, but there are constantly new products to help us keep our homes safe for the kids. For last years list, visit child proofing a home.This year we ...
Few furnace filters, except expensive HEPA filters, do much about trapping or killing germs. Electronic air filters will reduce somewhat the air born germ count because the high electrical voltages do kill some of the bacteria passing through them and probably all that is caught on the plates. ...
