DIY Life

The problem with big box hardware stores like Lowe's and The Home Depot is that (outside of their garden centers) they are still catering to tradesmen when half their customers are actually women. Tired and grumpy women.

Each time I shop at either one (and, no, I have no preference), I leave asking myself: why can't these hardware behemoths be more like Target, Walmart, or similar mega-stores, where shopping is fun ... or at least easier. How so, you ask? Read on! Here's my list of requests for Lowe's and Home Depot execs:

1. Bring in door greeters and maps so we customers don't waste time walking (and walking and walking) up and down the aisles searching for that certain essential dood-ad or trying to locate the bathrooms. Would it be so hard to install mall-style store directory kiosks, stocked with printed store layout leaflets?

Summer vacation keeps rolling along. How long until your kids go back to school? Are they spending too much time lounging on the couch? Here are a bunch of summer projects to trick your kids away from their air-conditioned sanctuary and out into the great outdoors of, er, your backyard.

Okay, okay. So the backyard is not the great outdoors. True. But the main thing is to get the kiddos out in the fresh air, learning about nature, and learning about the noble pursuit of maintaining a garden.

Getting their hands dirty
1. Ask them to help with the weeding. Pay them a small amount of pocket money for their time.

Don't you just hate it when a hinge on a door or cabinet just won't stay put because the screw hole is stripped out? Sure, you can use a bigger or longer screw, but then it won't match. Frankly, that just looks tacky. But don't lose hope; here's a trick I use.

The first thing to do is remove the offending hardware. Next, dig one of your golf tees out of your golf bag. Apply some epoxy glue or wood glue on the pointy end and sides of the tee. Tap it in with a mallet or hammer as far as it'll go. After the glue is completely dry, use your coping saw to cut off any excess tee and sand as needed. Presto! New wood!

Now you can replace the hardware and it's as good as new - maybe better. The hole is too small for a tee? Use as many toothpicks as will fit in the hole. The ones with flat sides work best. The great thing about this hack is that it really doesn't have to be pretty; the hinge covers up your handiwork.

Rust never sleeps, they say. The longer you leave exposed, rusting pipes untreated in your yard...well, you are ruining your pipes as they are eaten away by the elements. Rusty pipes, such as those leading to a gas meter, also make a house look a bit shabby and unloved. Let's take a look at how to deal with rusty pipes on your home's exterior. Spring is the perfect time to tackle this project!

Step 1. Select your paint
Go with a good brand like Rust-Oleum. By the way, Rust-Oleum has a fabulous website with lots of helpful advice for beginners. The company even has a special section on best products for really rusty surfaces. I recommend you check it out before heading to the paint store.

You will want to use an oil-based enamel paint. Oil-based paints are sticky and are not water-soluble. This makes application and cleanup a little tougher, but it's so worth it because oil-based paints are made to last. You have a choice between brush-on paint or spray paint. Personally, I prefer the traditional brush-on kind. On the other hand, spray paints mean no messy brushes to clean up when you're done!

Pegboard can be a lifesaver in a workshop, sewing room, or the garage. Sometimes, though, it can be difficult to retrieve a favorite tool because the hanger wants to come out of the pegboard along with the tool. While using pegboard can keep a workspace neat and tidy, sometimes reinforcement is needed to keep your tools from elongating the holes.

Popular Mechanics has a great article teaching us how to make our own custom pegboard tool hangers, using aluminum and steel from the hardware store, a hacksaw, a drill and a pair of pliers. Cut, bend, and shape the aluminum or steel, screw it to the wall, and hang up your tools.

With these custom pegboard tool hangers, we really have no more excuses to let our precious tools clutter up our workspace. Not only are the tool hangers perfect for a man's workshop, I think they are also perfect for a sewing/crafting room pegboard too.

via: Curbly

Walking into a candy store takes me back to the good ol' days of the corner dime store. Row after row of candy designed to make your teeth rot out of your head, and shelves with glass canisters filled with mouthwatering treats to make you bounce off the walls were abundant.

Those canisters were pretty boring though, with only a metal lid and a metal or plain wood knob. If you have these canisters at home, you can liven them up with a little fabric and new knobs, following the instructions provided by Kate over on Design*Sponge.

For this project you will need glass canisters, fabric, glue or Mod Podge, decorative knobs, a screwdriver, a foam brush, and scissors. Basically all you need to do is remove the old knob, trace the lid onto your fabric, cut and paste the fabric onto the lid, and then add a decorative knob.

If you can't find vintage canisters at the thrift store or at your neighborhood garage sales, try eBay. If all else fails, Kate says her canisters come from Target. You can find decorative knobs at your local hardware store, and the thrift store is a great place to find vintage fabric.

In my house, there's a small wooden cabinet, somewhat scratched-up, which was given to us by a relative a few years ago. It has strange knobs in the form of faceted acrylic balls; they looked good in my aunt's antique-loaded home, but aren't so great in mine. The plastic parts look cheap to me, and overall, they don't quite suit the style of the cabinet.

So, last night, I took on a fifteen-minute project that I'd prepared for a few weeks ago: I changed the knobs.

The last time I was at The Home Depot, I bought four replacement knobs on a whim. The knobs I found, by Liberty Hardware, cost less than a dollar each; they have a nice design, reminiscent of stylized Japanese cherry (sakura) or plum blossoms (ume). If you don't like my selection, Liberty makes a number of low-cost brass decorative knobs. Some of their designs have a vintage feel.

The photo above is a "before" (taken from a slightly odd angle; this cabinet faces the end of a sofa with about an 18" gap between the two); click through to the break for an "after" and some instructions!

If you're like me, everyone in the the house looks to you to make repairs. (How did Tim Allen do it in "Tool Time"? "Hoo, hoo!") Anyhow, the majority of these repairs can be made with duct tape, appropriate glue and clamps, nails, screws, and yes, you intuited it, galvanized or zinc-coated mending plates!

When I say mending plates, I mean that, and a combination of other more specialized building brackets and such. For example, basic mending plates have screw holes already drilled in them. They are usually shaped according to need – there's the rectangular plate, the corner angle, and the angle (either corner or "L" shaped). Then there are the other more specific application connectors: joist hangers, post caps, and beyond.

It behooves DIY'ers to keep a stock of many different shapes in the shop. You never know what you'll need for a particular job. But more than that, you'll need a pair of straight-cut tin snips (also called aviation snips). With a little creativity, you can modify a plate to mend almost anything. Recently, I've used them to repair a lawnmower, reinforce a picket fence, and brace the underside of a coffee table.

Winter is such a fun time, especially for the kids. Yeah, for us adults, it can be pretty frigid, but watching our little ones having fun making snow angels, snow men and snow balls makes it all better. Those little rosy cheeks and giggles can make you feel like a kid again.

You can keep the happiness going this winter season by building a backyard ice skating rink. Don't say it is too late in the season to do this project, because we have many months yet to go before Spring even thinks of popping up her lovely head. John walks you through the steps of what it takes to build a backyard ice rink. It is essential to choose the right location and make sure that you compensate for any areas in your yard that aren't level. Choose pressure treated lumber and be sure to buy a few extra boards. Even though they will cost more, it is best to purchase prime guard decking screws. If you purchase regular galvanized screws, the pressure treated wood will eat through them in no time. Buy some cheap liner, assemble the rink, fill with water, patiently wait, and then prep your rink for kid fun play time.

The ice rink takes some time and practice to make, but think of how happy your kids will be. You have just given them hours of fun, and in reality, this project does not cost much. You should be able to re-use the materials for a few years, and you will get better with practice. If you are in need of some tips and techniques if you are still unsure if you want to undertake the making of the ice rink, check out these backyard ice rink tips from John.

Need something cool that'll thrill the socks off the techie in your life? Stumped as to what that perfect item might be? Check out MAKE Magazine's open source hardware gift guide for ideas.

No, "open source hardware" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Nope, it's not a cool or sexy term. But the idea is cool and sexy, however. Open source hardware refers to hardware and software that anyone can make or modify. No rules or regulations included. The purpose is to encourage the free and healthy spread of ideas. Says MAKE Magazine: "Each of the kits, projects, and open source hardware gifts in our guide represents more than just a holiday gift: they're a chance to support this nascent hardware movement. If you know someone who likes to make things, or wants to learn, these are the gifts for them!" Now, that is pretty cool!

So, what do the writers at MAKE suggest? First up, it's the Daisy -- an open source make-your-own MP3 player. At $114 for the kit, you can build a player with sound as good as an iPod and access to 65,000 tracks! Or how about a make-your-own iPod charger. At only $19.99, the MintyBoost (so-named because it's housed in a mint tin) is small but powerful and runs on two AA batteries. Then there's the Chumby: a tiny computer with an even tinier Linux OS, housed in a beanbag. Final pick: the Firefly -- a wee DIY guitar amplifier...for only $19 (PCB only).

Air infiltration into your house is the number one enemy of your home heating and cooling efficiency. Wall switches and electrical outlets which are located on the exterior walls of your home can serve as ports of entry for outside air. Insulating these potential thermal leaks is simple and cheap to do.

You can get inexpensive foam outlet seals at any home or hardware store. They are simple die cut foam shields which go between your outlet plate and the wire box in the wall. These foam insulators can potentially shut off air leakage entering your home from behind switches and outlets.

The process is simple and goes like this:

Selecting the audio and video cards for your new computer can be a daunting task. Breaking down your computer needs and desires into terms of functionality, you can make sense of how the multitude of dedicated processing cards can be sorted out to serve your particular needs.

Dedicated processing cards are sort of like your computer's main processor, except they are designed to handle specific tasks and types of information. Video or graphics cards are responsible for how visual data is displayed on your viewing screen. Sound cards are responsible for handling the performance of your speakers and other music or sound-related working applications

Your dedicated processing cards are two of the biggest component decisions you'll encounter when making your new machine truly customized. To make good choices, you need to go back to the very beginning of your computer planning and review exactly what you want your new computer to accomplish for you. Once you are reaffirmed in your computer performance desires, then you can proceed in choosing your processing cards and make your machine truly personalized.

Does an arrangement like this make you flee, for fear of your wall crumbling around the multitudes of nails used to hang all of the pictures?

It used to make me run too, especially in our first house, an antique with the original plaster walls. It took us years to work up the courage to hang anything up, and even then, we did crumble some of the walls a bit.

Using this trick will save your walls and make it easy to hang pictures without mistakes and a bunch of nail holes.

It's easy:

1. Make a kraft paper template of each picture you wish to hang.
2. Use blue painter's tape to attach the kraft template and figure out where you want the picture to go.
3. Put picture hanging hardware on walls, directly through the paper.

The pictures will be exactly where you want them, the walls won't crumble and everyone will be happy.

This technique works much better than the ol' masking tape trick, so give it a try.

Welcome to day 2 of our Toolstravaganza. For 30 days we're giving away over $4,000 in tools and equipment. Of course, if you're going to have tools, you need a tool chest, right? Grizzly makes a nice little portable tool chest that'll house just what you need for quick fix-it work. Banish that cheap plastic thing or cardboard box!

As always, to enter, simply leave a comment on this post and be sure to check your email and "validate" your comment (it'll appear on the page once you have validated it). For the full rules, check out our Toolstravaganza page or keep reading after the jump.

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Today's prize: Grizzly 3-Drawer Aluminum Portable Tool Chest
Dimensions: 21"W x 8.7" D x 11.4" H



Official rules after the jump.