Deep in an undisclosed, carefully guarded third-world bunker, HomeFixated minions have been toiling away at a project so secret, only dozens of people knew it existed. Those that did know of this shadowy project were given only fragmented details, ensuring no single person could put together the intricate puzzle pieces. This top secret project had the potential to topple powerful governments and end human existence as we know it – but mostly it will just teach you cool stuff and make you laugh. So what is this ultra secret Home Fixated project? [Read more...]
HomeHacks.com and HomeFail.com Launch
3 Ways to Keep Your Plants Warm in Early Spring
Mea culpa, mea culpa. If you read and followed my recommendation on starting cole crops early, I apologize. This rather odd winter made for tough growing and possibly some bad timing, depending on what part of the country you’re in. I know that all my first round of starts died as did the seeds I directly seeded on a day that was over 50°F (average for time). Shortly after that beautiful day we had a hard freeze and the high wasn’t much more than 30°F. This was followed by a week of warm weather and then winter storm Virgil and two inches or more of snow. It has not been a good year for starting plants early. Given mother nature’s fickle nature this Spring, I thought it would be important to share with you three ways to keep you plants warm in what I hope will be the last of these tumultuous spring days. [Read more...]
Hit It! The Four Hammers Every DIYer and Home Remodeler Should Own
Many millennia ago, the first prehistoric DIY caveman got a flash of inspiration, picked up a rock, and brought it crashing down on something. In the process, he probably also crushed his thumb, which was likely responsible for the first prehistoric string of obscenities (“Son of a stinking pterodactyl-breath Neanderthal, that HURTS!!). Ever since then, striking tools, in the form of hammers, have played a major role in shaping our world. And not just by flattening our thumbs; although the hammer is generally thought of as “just a tool,” its inherent danger and destructive potential, as illustrated in the following video, shouldn’t be ignored… [Read more...]
Nine Products That Should Be On YOUR Bucket List – A Five Gallon Free-For-All!
In the movie “The Bucket List,” terminally ill Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman hit the road and attempt to do as much as possible from their “bucket list” before they kick the bucket. That’s all well and good, except for the part where you have to die at the end. Here’s a bucketful of products to help you get organized, give you a comfy work perch, and even help with that middle-of-nowhere call of nature. And best of all, you get to LIVE! [Read more...]
Meet The Rocklers! A Peek Inside MY Rockler Woodworking And Hardware Store
There’s a six-lane road north of where I live, outside of Pittsburgh, aptly nicknamed McNightmare Road by the locals. Its real name is McKnight Road, and with its abundance of malls, restaurants, car dealers, and the like, it’s the place to go if you love shopping, eating, or sitting in snarled traffic. Since eating is the only aforementioned activity I enjoy, I routinely avoid the area like the Pittsburgh Pirates avoid playing in the post-season. I only venture into the fray when there’s something there I can’t get elsewhere. [Read more...]
9 Tool-Centric Holiday Gift Guides You Can’t Afford to Miss
Let’s say you read the 2012 HomeFixated Holiday Gift Guide last week and decided 25 awesome tool-centric gift ideas just weren’t enough. We can relate. You never can have enough sweet tools and cool home products. That’s why we have put together links to nine other awesome gift guides in honor of Cyber Monday. While you might find a little cross-over with HomeFixated’s list, you’ll also find an amazing assortment of tools, accessories, and gear that just about any contractor, DIY’er or hobbyist would love to find under the tree this year. Plus, if you are already into HomeFixated, you’ll most definitely enjoy all these sites as well. [Read more...]
2012 Holiday Gift Guide – 25 Rockin’ Gifts for the Tool and Home Obsessed
It’s the time of year that one of my lesser-known nicknames comes into play; “The Grinch.” Some people just love the holidays. They can’t wait to jockey for position amidst throngs of stressed-out shoppers. To rack up their credit card balances higher than small-country-GDP-levels. To listen to lo-fi Muzak pumping out one sappy instrumental holiday track after another. Not me. I hate it. Are you starting to sense where the Grinch nickname comes into play? Thankfully, online shopping has made an otherwise intolerable chore much more tolerable. In the interest of alleviating some of the pain of sifting through thousands of tools and products for the home for that special someone in your life (or for your own selfish self), we’ve put together this enticing HomeFixated Holiday Gift Guide. From bottle openers to lust-worthy power tools, we have compiled 25 of our favorite recent products. Even if you’re shopping for someone that’s just not in the holiday mood, these gifts are sure to make even the grinchiest of Grinches crack a very wide grin. [Read more...]
Hiring a Contractor 101
Hiring a contractor is really pretty easy. Get out your Yellow Pages and go to the section called, “Crap.” On that page, find the “Don’t Give A” category and simply pick the first person. Once you call them ask, “Are you breathing?” If they answer in the affirmative, hire them on the spot. At that point, you probably should give them the name and address of your worst enemy. [Read more...]
Craigslist Free and Concrete – A Match Made in Al Gore’s Mind
As you may remember I spent part of the summer tearing down some old shed that were attached to the back of my house. It was dirty, sticky, nasty work that I cherished every moment of. Or, at least I would have if it wasn’t 100° every day and if I didn’t have my year-round fur coat leading me to sweat to the oldies. Well $1200 of waste removed later and I was left with a giant mud pit, a small concrete slab and a concrete block foundation. What to do with all that concrete? [Read more...]
Metal Working From Back to Shop Class – My Very Late Book Report
A lot of cool things show up on our radar here at HomeFixated. Sometimes we’re able to bring them to your attention lightning fast. Other times, we’re slower than even print media. Case in point: the book Metal Working from the “Back to Shop Class” series published by Fox Chapel Publishing. They sent us a copy in early 2011, and then sent us a few more related books last week, perhaps to give us a gentle nudge. It worked, and I’m sharing my long overdue book report on this metal working book described as providing “Real world know-how you wish you learned in high school.” [Read more...]
