Before beginning any project, you first need to take measurements, accurate measurements. I don’t mean just the length and width, but also the height and if you are working in a basement environment, Read More…

Need help designing your dream-house? Punch!  Software’s latest version of its Home Design Professional has the tools to get you started.  We have used various products from Punch! over the years for designing additions, renovating current living spaces and adding decks and Punch! Professional is our favorite Punch product as it incorporates all of these areas along with a nice suite of power tools. Read More…

Lawn and Garden Father’s Day Ideas

Husqvarna introduces its Extreme Mower for landowners and we just couldn’t resist putting Read More…

It is springtime in Alabama. Forsythia is already blooming, jonquils and crocus are beginning to drop their blooms, but the nights are still cool and the grass is still brown.  Spring is a time of rebirth for plants, animals and even careers.   How does one become an online media person? Well the road has many turns, not all of which were smooth pavement.  The how-to side was easy. My dad taught me beginning at a very early age,  6 years-old holding lights. handing him tools, toting lumber and bringing him drinks.  I learned by observation. I observed brake jobs, small and large motor rebuilds, house framing, wiring, plumbing, drywall and finish carpentry along with woodworking.

On weekends when we weren’t repairing cars, we were building a cabin on the lake.  Ours was a modified a-frame with an unfinished basement.  The exterior is cypress board and batten and is still beautiful.  I am still trying to finish the cabin some 40 years later.  Twenty years ago we bought the finished house next door to our cabin and we went from building to  more maintaining.  About this time, with my father’s help, I left my job as an executive with a fastener company to take over as president of a furniture factory.  I was 32 years old and dad and I insisted we secure our investment against the woodworking machinery we would buy to make the factory more efficient.  A short time later, my dad had one of the best outfitted wood shops in his barn.  We discovered the factory was too deep in debt and had a $250,000 balloon note coming due. We left and took our machinery with us.

After this I took a job with an insurance company. I was traveling three to four days a week. That got old.  I decided why not build a website and let the customers come to me. So I built a site.  For its day, the site was state of the art.  That was in 1993. While I was in college in the 1980s, our college president decided to make me a poster child for computers being used by non-computer science majors. So I learned computers.  Earlier I had been an electrical engineering major and taken computing classes like Fortran, WATFOR and WATFIV along with Basic.  This was during the time of paper tapes, cards and a 12″ disc was considered high tech.  During the next decade I built more sites, monetized them and learned more. Most of my learning was from mistakes I made.  I guess I made more mistakes than others, because I learned a lot. This is how I learned the internet.

Combine the two together and you end up with someone who understands building, and understands online media and websites.  I am not the best carpenter nor the best writer.  Not many tradesmen are good writers, and vice versa.  There are a few.  I enjoy reading what these tradesmen writers have to say.  The one thing I do understand is writing for the web, is very different from writing for any other media.  For the web, we must think of keyword concentrations, varying the descriptors and other devices to make the content discoverable by search engines. This part is a blend of technology and art.  I am still learning this.

But remember; “There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary, and those who don’t.”

I was talking with my good friend Doug Mahoney yesterday. Doug is editor of ToolSnob, and writes the tool columns for Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, but his real job is as a builder in Boston. One of the subjects we talked about was upcoming trends in tools and products.  We have seen the new cordless recharging technology where tools, cellphones, and laptops will charge without being attached to cords just by being placed next to charging mats or on tables with mats built into them.  This is very cool stuff, but what about other innovations?

I would like a jig that frames right angles for dimensional lumber. I am tired of dealing with deck corners of 85 degrees instead of 90 and ceiling corners that are off just enough to make my crown molding show gaps. Make it out of plastic if you want, but make it a true right angle. I have also been the victim of trying to hold a square and fasten at the same time and losing square at the moment of impact.  If you don’t start out square then every cut cut following will have to be mitered to some degree.  At the same time, create a jig for attaching a  joist square.  This would be a great time saver for workers who often work alone.

I like the Antex Soldering tool for copper pipe. No flames, so it is somewhat safer than the traditional torch. I would like to see a pouch I could slide the hot tool inside to prevent burns when working in tight spaces.  Mini torches are very cool. I have used them extensively in the outdoors on backpacking expeditions of several weeks, where the ability to light fires and stoves in very windy conditions is often times the difference between life and death.

Tapes are an area where more development needs to be done.  I want a tape that I can use on exhaust stacks without fear of the adhesive burning away. I want duct tape to perform. Too many companies are selling products as duct tape that don’t work and are giving one of our favorite repair items a bad rap.  I also want a heat shrink tape that I can seal electrical fittings without having to cut the wires and slide a tube over the joint.

Plumbing products. I want a PEX style pipe that can be used in the outdoors and won’t break down.  Pex style pipe that doesn’t require connections at each turn are a homeowners answer to solid worry free plumbing repairs. But a $150 for PEX connection crimpers will prevent most DIYs from using the product to its full potential. They will opt for the Shark and Gator Bite connectors, which seem to work fine, but it’s too early to tell how long those connections will last without problems. Manifold Distribution systems with individual service valves would make plumbers and homeowners much happier when repairs need to be made. Simply shut the valve to the specific device at the manifold and you can use the other water outlets without service interruption.

Measuring Devices Wants-  I want a laser measure that will take my measurements directly to my software, period-end! The fact that we are still waiting on this at the consumer level baffles me. I have even tried to set up meetings between the major players in these fields and everyone says they want it, but no one does anything. Guys it’s simple, Bluetooth the measurement device and let the software do the rest.

Cordless tool pet peeves- I am tired of toting innumerable chargers for my cordless tools. Let’s work  towards standardizing these. LED lights built into tools that don’t light the work area,omit them if you can’t aim them.  Lasers on saws, ditto, if they serve no function, omit them or make them functional.  Using non LED lights in tools is bad. LED lights last and are durable, feel free to use them.

HVLP paint systems are good.  No one has ever accused me of being a tree hugger, but HVLP is a better solution. The green people love the low over spray and not releasing paint into the atmosphere.  For me, I like my paint staying on the wall where God intended it to be. I also hate cleaning up and hate wasting paint. Does this qualify me as green? Nope, just pragmatic on my part. I was asked not to attend tree hugging functions because of my stance on using pneumatic nailers as a means of pest control.

What are your ideas on home improvement products and tools. We want to hear from you.