To help with that, I built a cedar box with a reel inside that will let me deploy the hose when it’s needed and neatly wind it up—and hide it away—when it’s not. Plastic furniture feet raise the wood off the ground; stakes will keep the box from tipping or sliding. Now, thanks to our new reel, watering plants will be much less of a chore, and I won’t have to worry about my kids tripping on the hose while playing in our new backyard....
Best of all, the entire thing can be easily taken apart and stored flat—or, better yet, stashed in your trunk for tailgate parties this fall. What better project to celebrate the beginning of grilling season? This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers shows how to put it together using cedar and outdoor-grade materials. Overview for Building an Outdoor Bar Cart Project timeline Friday: Cut and prep the lumber for the trays, crosspieces, and handle....
Are you considering adding a smart doorbell to your home? Watch This Old House Home Technology Expert Ross Trethewey talk about what you should consider before purchasing a new smart doorbell. Smart Home Doorbell Features There are a lot of smart home doorbells available today, but most of them offer the same features: Video or photo recording Smartphone alerts Motion detection Two-way audio Nightvision 1080p resolution Some of the most advanced models feature facial recognition that learns to recognize faces over time....
Steps for choosing and maintaining a garbage disposer Tools How to Install a Garbage Disposal
The best lighting for your bathroom helps create a place to relax and recharge. And when it’s done right, the payoff is great. After all, this is the room where you start and end your day. What Type of Lighting is Best for the Bathroom? A good lighting plan is a series of layers — placing ample light where it is needed for showers, shaving, or putting on makeup, for instance, while other light sources enhance the overall mood of the room....
Steps for clearing a clogged bathtub drain Tools
Like with any tool or technique, you need to pick the right one for the right application. There are still places where Richard recommends opting for soldering, but these new connections are great solutions that are going to withstand the test of time. Alternative Pipe Fitting Methods Soldered Connections In most settings, soldered connections are still the plumber’s preferred method of fitting copper pipes. By applying pipe flux and heating the joint, solder flows between the fitting and the pipe to create a watertight seal....
—Richard Bowman, Waldorf, MD. Why Is My Toilet Gurgling? A: I’d bet that one of your plumbing vents is blocked. Most people think that those small pipes that stick out of a roof are there to exhaust sewage smells, and that’s true. But they also equalize the air pressure in the drain pipes so waste water can flow freely. You can see how the principle works by sticking one end of a straw into a glass of water and then covering the other end with your finger....
How to Fix a Fireplace Resources & Tips Working with masonry can be dusty, and the silica dust produced by working with it is hazardous to your health. To minimize the dust, Mark recommends hanging up plastic tarps around the entire work area to confine it to one space, and he also recommends using dust-collecting tools. The grinder and HEPA vacuum Mark used on this project are both manufactured by Bosch....
Steps: To install the dryer vent, use a small drill bit to drill through the side of the wall of the house. Pick a spot that’s near the base of the home and free from obstructions. With the small hole as a guide, use a 2½ inch hole saw to saw through the house siding and into the basement. Place a bead of caulk around the dryer vent where it connects to the building....
Steps for Installing a House Hydrant How to Fix a Leaky Hose Spigot
Steps for installing a new threshold Shopping list: New oak threshold Wood shims Tri-polymer caulk, for sealing joint between floor and threshold Expanding polyurethane sealant, used to adhere threshold Pressure-treated lumber, used to fill in subfloor and bolster toekick 100-grit sandpaper Exterior paint or stain and topcoat varnish 2-inch decking screws, used to fasten subfloor Tools:
Baseboards were often three-piece affairs consisting of a flat plank, a decorative cap molding, and a rounded shoe molding to cover gaps along the floor. “In old houses, you often see the fanciest baseboard in the front room downstairs,” says This Old House general contractor Tom Silva. In houses built after World War II, however, fancy gave way to cheap, and the vital floor-to-wall transition became the domain of thin, featureless one-piece trim....
A miter joint is where the ends of two pieces of molding are cut at equal angles—45 degrees for a square corner. A butt joint is where the square-cut ends of the legs meet the edge of the head at 90 degrees. The casing can be molded or flat, and whether the casing legs and head meet at the top of the door in miter joints or butt joints depends partly on which you choose....
The heater is located in what used to be a kitchen but is now a newly renovated family room. The placement used to make sense as it sat across from the cabinets, refrigerator, and sink. Where Should Baseboard Heaters be Installed? However, with everything removed, the heater is now placed opposite of the windows. Richard explains that baseboard heating is most effective when it is wrapped around the exterior walls of the house....
Steps for Replacing a Bathroom Faucet: Resources: Richard installed a Glacier Bay 4 in Centerset 2-Handle Low-Arc Bathroom Faucet, which can be found at The Home Depot. The plumber’s putty and wrench sets Richard used can be found at any home center. The specialty faucet wrench Richard used to break the connections underneath the sink is an EZ Change Faucet Tool, which is manufactured by Rigid. Material: Bathroom faucet Tool:
While oily rags do not pose the risk of spontaneous combustion as long as they are left uncovered by other objects and allowed to dry flat, Tom likes to soak them in water and then allow them to dry flat. In this video and the steps below, he shares how to safely accomplish this task. Steps to Dispose Oily Rags How to Dispose of Grease and Cooking Oil
In this episode: Dry-in is almost complete at the Cottage on the Cape. Matt explains the multi-layered roofing system that will be installed when the sheathing is completed. With the sheathing over the ADU finished, Chris joins Pete on the roof to see how the skylights will fit in with the layers and learn how the opening will be made water-tight. Back on the ground, a ScapeWell gets built along the side of the house for additional egress and provide natural light to the finished end of the basement, and Chris jumps in to help with the install....
