Tips & Techniques

The next time you need to install trim on a finished wall, consider using rare-earth magnets to show where the studs are. Simply move these powerful little magnets over the…

I had to make some urgent plumbing repairs under a kitchen sink, so I hunted around for my flashlight. Its batteries were dead, so I reluctantly set up a 300w…

Lining up the blade of a miter saw with the cut mark on a piece of molding can be difficult to do perfectly. Rather than sneaking up on the mark,…

A how-to for when you have to put in a skirtboard the hard way.

As a handyman in the city, I work on jobs consisting mainly of repairs and small installations such as closet organizers or shelf units. I don't need a big truck…

When it came time to install the window hardware (blind mounts, shade mounts, valance mounts) in my restored 1880s home, I discovered that a tool typically used for metalworking really…

I like to carry a countersink—the kind that includes a tapered drill bit—in my tool pouch. I find it nice to have on hand when I have to set a…

Scrap 2xs and the cutoffs from I-joists make strong yet quickly constructed sawhorses. Leg spread is determined by the center-web height and the flange width. In my experience, 2x4 flanges…

If you do enough remodeling work, you’ll eventually encounter a situation that calls for extending the depth of an existing electrical box to match the thickness of a new wall.…

Sometimes there just isn’t enough room in a base cabinet, or some other confined workspace, to get the leverage required to install compression-fitting angle stops. In this situation, I turn…