Tips & Techniques

Everybody agrees that back-priming wood siding improves the durability of the exterior-surface finish and the longevity of the wood. But I’ve seen siding installers ignore this important step because it…

Cutting vinyl soffit and siding material can be done quickly and accurately with a saw guide, and the jobs I work on usually have a commercially available guide on site.…

Ensure your stair stringers are strong using this simple trick.

Click here to enlarge the illustration above. Our company frequently builds timber-frame houses and garden structures with decorative cuts on the ends of the timbers. These timbers are at least…

I needed to dig a number of 4-ft.-deep holes for a row of posts. Fortunately, the soil was pretty soft, and I had a clamshell post-hole digger to get each…

A glass mirror had been glued to a wall with a special type of mastic. The mastic had several days to cure, and the mirror wasn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately, the…

Adding a new electrical outlet, switch, cable-TV jack, or computer-network wiring is pretty simple in single-story homes. You have attack points from the basement and/or the attic to route wires…

This jig is quicker to build than the routed-slot system, but the best part of it is the ends.

The bed of my compact pickup measures only 40 in. between the wheel wells. To be able to carry 4x8 sheets of plywood without canting them up diagonally on one…

If you’ve ever needed to locate a radiant tube hidden under the floor but have been unable to find that careful diagram you made, your local fire department may be…