Sawhorses are something you find on just about every job site and in many garages and shops. They’re often bulky masses of wood that take up valuable space in your truck or shop. As indispensable as sawhorses are, most designs suffer from not only a lack of portability but also versatility. A while back, our friends over at The Handyman Club of America suggested we check out some sawhorses made by a company called Trojan Manufacturing, right here in the USA. [click to continue…]
Building Materials
Often times in life, good things are born from seemingly bad situations. And so it goes for homeownership too. We recently had some roofing repairs done to our Spanish tile roof. When the roofers began to tackle a leak around our chimney, I heard the dreaded words you never want to hear from your roofer, “Marc, I think you might want to come up here and take a look at this.” Up the ladder I went, and there to greet me were several gaping cracks in our vintage 1936 brick and stucco chimney. I’m no mason, but I knew it was bad. In fact, I had pretended not to notice them from ground level in the past, but now that I was up close, it looked like the top of our chimney was just about to split in two or three pieces before crumbling down. [click to continue…]
Zip System by Huber Engineered Woods takes construction to the next level. Wall and roof sheathing (panels) are resin coated for maximum air and water resistance and have a high R-value (thermal resistance value). That means low heat loss and a very energy efficient product. The panels install quickly and joints are sealed with Zip flashing tape — that's it. The system is designed to eliminate the need for house wraps or roofing felt. Take a look at the picture at the left – you can what it looks like up close. The sheathing is an OSB (oriented strand board), coated with a water resistant, threaded resin layer. The panels are pre-marked with a fastening guide for error-free installation. Roof sheathing is red and wall sheathing is green, just in case you've somehow overlooked the large, black lettered warnings "Wall Use Only" and "Roof Use Only" stamped all over each panel. [click to continue…]
Yearning for a high-end look in your home, but finding yourself a little short on funds? Marble, granite, tile, crown molding and other types of high-end building materials may be just a phone call away for a fraction of the retail cost. Contact local builders, cabinetmakers, tile and countertop installers, to see what treasures they might be sitting on. [click to continue…]
Bamboo, known for its hardness and durability, is also one of the greenest options around. Rapidly growing and highly sustainable, bamboo is an ideal material for countertops and other food preparation surfaces. Teragren is the manufacturer of these bamboo countertops, as well as other work surfaces, flooring and panels. All their products are made of Moso bamboo, which is harvested at maturity every 5-6 years. (They don’t do it any earlier because immature bamboo is still too pliable, or “green” if you will, and can warp.) [click to continue…]
