Home Fixated

Matt

About Matt

Matt is a Registered Architect in New York and Pennsylvania. He didn’t think he was busy enough managing the Architecture and Structural Engineering Department of a full-service design firm or operating his own residential architecture business on the side, so he figured, why not write for Home Fixated too? Matt’s interest in Architecture and Construction comes from a lifetime growing up around the many projects his father, HF Senior Writer Phil, always had in the works. From work on his childhood home to various projects and renovations of speculative real estate, home renovations, working for a design-build contractor to his current work, he’s spent a lot of time in and around commercial and residential construction of all types. He and his wife recently purchased a new home (only 17 years old this time, not 100 like their last one) but there’s already a laundry list of new projects and deferred maintenance to take care of. In his excessive amounts of downtime, he enjoys sitting on the deck watching the sunset, hanging with his wife and dog, figuring how he can add to his ever growing collection of smart lighting around the house, and yelling at Alexa when said smart lights aren’t working right.

True Position Tools – Cabinet Hardware Jig

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I’m hardly a pro when it comes to installing cabinetry, but I have done several kitchens and built-in casework installations over the years. Not being a professional cabinet maker, and not knowing any better, I went to Home Depot and grabbed a very inexpensive set of plastic cabinet hardware templates for my first couple jobs. While they were inexpensive, that’s about the only good thing I could say about them. I had to use a finish nail to mark the locations, and I was limited to a number of pre-set hardware sizes, so forget it if I wanted to use anything oversized for the handles. I struggled through a kitchen, coffee bar and built-in dining buffet with that same cheap set of templates. While I made it work, it was anything but easy, and I can definitely say for certain, if I had the Cabinet Hardware Jig PRO by True Position Tools (recently sent to us for review), those drawer and door handles would have got installed a lot sooner, and probably would have been a bit more accurately placed as well. Read More

Ryobi Expand-It Trimmer and Edger – An Edgy New 40v System

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Before the Ryobi Expand-It system entered my life, I bought my first home. That was 2008. With that transaction came the necessity to purchase a number of power tools and yard maintenance items to maintain said home, and the small yard that accompanied it. Being relatively poor from having just spent a good chunk of change on the down payment – but mostly on the other fees and taxes you may neglect to consider before buying a home, my budget was relatively limited. As much as I liked them, I wouldn’t soon be purchasing a huge 5hp gas powered brush cutter to tame my relatively compact lawn (as much fun as those could be). What was in my budget though was a nice compact little 18V string Trimmer from Ryobi. Read More