Installing ceramic or porcelain tile should not be an intimidating project and with the right tools you can get professional results. My first tile installations were many years ago and there was no internet and I didn’t have tile saws or lasers, but I was able to work around those issues. What I wasn’t able […]
Laying Out Ceramic Tiles/Tiling a Sunroom with Porcelain Tile Update Number Two
Several factors affect tile layout. My suggestion is before installing the tile permanently, do a dry run. Lay out the tiles, dry(using no mortar) to see what works best for you. In large areas I usually use a focal point as my center, but if the focal point method causes me to have a small perimeter tile, […]
Henry Ford, E.G. Kingsford or Ellsworth Zwoyer, Who is the Father of Charcoal Briquettes?
This was almost a trick question. Ford receives credit for inventing the charcoal briquette, but did he really invent it? Nope, the patent preceded the Ford plant by 20 years and the patent belonged to Zwoyer. Ford had Kingsford acquire the land for the plant, and the most famous charcoal still bears his name. So really, […]
Tiling a Sun Room, First Installment
Many years ago I converted a porch into a sun-room for my parents. The room gets more use than others and has become a family room where everyone gathers to watch TV, talk or to just enjoy the view afforded by the walls of windows. In recent years, mom’s small dogs have slept there. And […]
Tool and Tech Trivia Question of the Day
Who invented charcoal briquettes?
Painting the Dock’s Metal Roofing; Dock Update Number Two
What a beautiful weekend we had to begin the dock renovation. Several sections of metal roofing on the fish house had to be replaced following a fall storm. Upon further inspection many of the panels that were still in place had to have new roofing screws installed and old screws refastened. The windward panels had begun to […]
Bathroom Remodel Update
Well it has been a few weeks since I updated the progress on mom’s bathroom renovation. The tile layers had begun their part of the job and they did a nice job and are not quite finished. So we began to think that maybe things were getting better. Alas, the cabinets were going in and […]
Dock Renovation Update Number One
Just like you, I cringe when I have to pick up material for a big project. The current stage of dock renovation is painting everything, structural steel, wood on the fish house and gear closets. So for months prep work has been going on. All metal must have the loose rust removed. I have […]
Springtime Projects for the Home Improvement Enthusiast
Well this past weekend temperatures here in the Deep South hit the mid 80s. What happened to the mild 70s I wanted? The greening of the trees means it’s time for outside projects to move from planning to doing. Here are a few of the things we are working on. Matt is working diligently to […]
Stanley is making waves with its HID Flashlight
You have seen HID lights, the bright-bluish white car headlamps that were once only found on high end sports models but are more prevalent now. What if you could take that same intensity and put it into a package that could be placed in a flashlight body. Well Stanley did just that. With 4200 Lumens, […]