Home-improvement projects can become a war zone, so protecting the surroundings is critical.  Protective Products Int’l Inc. has smart way to prevent unwanted scratches to home furnishings during a remodel. The company’s Scratch Protection product is a water-based liquid that easily brushes onto sinks, tubs and shower stalls. It dries to become a rubbery membrane, like a protective skin, to protect against scratches, dirt and grime. When the job is done, the protective membrane peels right off. Protective Products Read More…

One of my favorite tasks when renovating is the demolition process.  But for this project I took the role as observer and watched the contractors do their thing.  One thing I did envy was having several people to assist in carrying out the debris.  In my experience, I usually have to take my Milwaukee Sawzall out and cut cabinetry in smaller pieces that I can handle.   I know having a dumspster in front of the house makes the neighbors cringe, but frankly I see them as a necessity.  Trying to haul cabinets to the dump using a pick up truck or small trailer is a real time killer.

Instead of using the Hilti TE-905 like me to remove vinyl flooring, the young guys had several of the manual floor scrapers with teeth to remove the layers of vinyl that lay beneath the hardwood flooring.  The excessive glue made this part tough.  I wish I had brought the Hilti with the 8 inch scraper blade with me on this
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We begin our kitchen makeover with demolition today.  We scheduled a crew to come in and when I left this morning, there was still no crew. But that seems typical of my recent history with contractors, let’s hope it improves over the next few weeks.

The current kitchen cabinets and flooring were installed 10 or 12 years ago. At the Read More…