Tips & Techniques

While building and trimming staircases, I often run into odd angles that must have mitered trim applied. I find them simply by using a bevel gauge and a piece of…

Wrapping a strap around the bowl in a figure-8 pattern provides a sturdy handhold for pulling a toilet.

Last fall, we had a job putting new siding on a house. When we set up our pump jacks on the south side of the house, right below the eaves,…

Here’s a tip that your customers will thank you for. Before placing the light-switch plate back on the wall after painting a room, I write on the back of the…

When I see a fellow carpenter install a prehung door the old-fashioned way with layers of opposing shims, I shake my head. Why hasn’t my new and improved way caught…

I use a wood-handled California framing hammer for framing jobs. To provide better balance to the top-heavy framer, I installed a “cow magnet” in the end of the handle. Dairy…

While I was trying to finish a new house in time for the holidays, the forecast called for a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The house is…

For years, our crew installed vented frieze blocks that featured time-consuming drilled holes and stapled screening to keep out bugs. The theory was good, but in practice, squirrels and birds…

Unable to find a factory-made pair of adjustable-height sawhorses, I designed my own a few years ago. Made from scrap pieces of plywood and short lengths of oak and 2x4…

This handy homemade tool takes the guesswork out of shimming doors and windows.