Marc Lyman

Marc grew up under a brave single mom who "encouraged" home improvement on the family home. Early toddler gifts included a tool set, and even a cordless Bosch drill when cordless drills first came out. In grade school (give or take a few years), Marc's mom said, "We need to cut down some trees. . . . here's a chainsaw." A father figure also involved Marc in many home improvement projects, including a summer of home remodeling in Palo Alto, CA. Toss in some Obsessive Compulsive personality traits researching everything home improvement related. The end result: a genetically pre-disposed, socially sculpted home improvement machine! For his complete profile, please visit our About page. Really, it's worth it.

Tools

Don’t Sneeze at the Zipwall

Apparently I could have used a handy Zipwall last weekend. I was doing a little plaster patching that at one point involved a circular saw and a massive dust cloud. I was wearing a respirator, …

Written by: Marc Lyman

September 12, 2005

Fire up the Hot Tub

Why is there a nearly naked gnome on this post? All because the Snorkel Stove Company loves gnomes. They specialize in providing hot tubs that are not only made of wood, they also burn wood! …

Written by: Marc Lyman

September 9, 2005

1 Comment

Tools, Woodworking

Taking the Sand out of Sandpaper

Power palm sanders and random orbit sanders are true genius. I am unable to even begin to calculate how many hours of hand sanding my random orbit sander has saved me. If I could point …

Written by: Marc Lyman

September 7, 2005

3 Comments

Bath, Building Materials

This Tile Seems Fishy

Although there are a lot of different types of tile out there, sadly many of them are just plain boring. Thankfully the team over at Green River Stone Company is here to save us from …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 30, 2005

1 Comment

Gear, Tools

All Hail the Petzl TacTikka Plus Headlamp

For the last two years a couple of my geekier friends have been bugging me to get a headlamp. After feeling wrong about holding my flashlight in my mouth on a some electrical projects around …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 25, 2005

1 Comment

Building Materials

No Welder? No problem!

A friend of mine living in Australia tipped me off to J-B Weld and he swears by the stuff. Touted as the “world’s finest cold-weld compound”, J-B Weld is a clever liquid steel/epoxy resin that …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 24, 2005

Anti-bird Balloons

I knew when a nature loving, home improvement guru and friend was tempted to shoot some nasty woodpeckers after they poked holes into his custom log home, trouble was brewing. Thankfully a solution of black …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 22, 2005

1 Comment

Building Materials, Green

Timbersil – Green Wood is Good

Have you ever looked into the toxic metals and material that go into some pressure treated lumber? If so, you have reason to be concerned, and so is a company called TimberSIL that was created …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 19, 2005

1 Comment

Decor, Painting

Magnetize your Walls

Technically I should title this post Metalize your Walls. The crafty team over at Kling Magnetics in Chatham, New York, have devised a paint that enables magnets to adhere to it. Magic Wall Magnetic Paint …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 17, 2005

Robomow Your Lawn

Oh sweet robotics. If I had an extra $1000-$2000 (depending on the model), I would be all over this. I used to think lawn mowing was cool. However after the novelty wore off, lawn mowing …

Written by: Marc Lyman

August 12, 2005

1 Comment