Plug welds offer a simple way of joining two pieces of metal when you don’t want a visible weld bead. You can see a plug weld happening in the video above. There are several circumstances where this approach makes a lot…
If ever your basement was going to smell musty, the height of hot summer weather is when it’s most likely to happen. The thing is, musty basements are more than just annoying. They’re also an indication of poor indoor air…
Home thermostats have come a long way since the early mercury and bimetal models from years ago. Modern smart thermostats give you intelligent temperature control and the ability to reduce your energy use, which can lower costs and increase comfort….
When a huge stone was uncovered while excavating for an addition my son Robert is building, we got out our fastest rock drill and some ancient tools called plug and feather wedges. You can see the situation in the video…
On July 4, 1987, I laid the first stone in what would be the basement of my homestead house on Manitoulin Island, Canada. Back on July 26, 2018 I laid the last stone in the last of four peaks in this…
Brick ties are hidden pieces of hardware that tie brick veneer to the underlying wall frame of some modern house. Conventional brick ties are one of those common construction details that strikes me as just barely good enough to do…
Are you interested in learning to work with wood? You’ve come to the right place. The best way to make that happen is to practice doing things the right way, and that’s what you’ll begin to learn here, with the…
Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man, informs homeowners of the benefits of powder-actuated tools (PATs), especially for basement renovations.
Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man, provides 5 pitfalls woodworkers should avoid when working with routers.
From everything I see, modern kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors in many homes are in bad shape. It’s mostly because of faulty European-style hinges. Doors sag, they hit each other, or they do a funny flip-flop when you move them,…
If you’re considering getting an awning, pergola, or maybe one of those cool canopies for your backyard there’s one more benefit that you probably never considered. Most people do it for the obvious reasons, staying cool, looking good, having a…
People who live in Lemoyne and the surrounding areas in Pennsylvania experience temperatures in the mid-80s to low 90s Fahrenheit in the summer. In the winter, the weather dips below freezing, and hovers in the mid-20s to 40-degree range. Throughout…