DIY Life

One of the worst kinds of home break-ins is the kind where the bad guy just kicks in the front or back door. It doesn't really matter that your deadbolt is engaged; it only extends a couple of inches at most and the door jamb doesn't take much to splinter.

But with a little effort you can greatly enhance the holding power of the deadbolt. When the wall is framed and the door rough opening is made, the opening is actually an inch or two wider than the door jamb requires. This allows for plumbing the jamb. Wooden shims are inserted between the framing studs and the jambs.

So this is what you do -

1. Remove the trim screwed to the jamb that receives the deadbolt.
2. Cut a piece of rigid metal electrical conduit about six inches long.
3. Use a paddle bit the same size as the O.D. of the conduit and drill through the jamb and framing studs.
4. Squirt a bit of glue inside the hole.
5. Insert the conduit into the hole until it's flush and re-install the trim.
   

Now, it's not just the jamb holding the deadbolt, you've got the strength of the stud working for you!

A few years ago I scored a contract to give a customer's home a face lift. The first basic thing I was doing was removing the old pine 1" X 4" trim and replacing it with Hardie plank trim. The second chore was repainting the siding, which was approximately three quarters of the home.

This particular house was a two story (plus a ground-level carport) so that meant a lot of ladder dragging. Because of that, I broke the work up into manageable chunks. Replace trim, caulk, paint, and then move on to the next section.Today I'll share some of the things I did to work efficiently and make the customer happy.

Last year, when I was shopping for a top-drawer roofing contractor, I took advantage of the time I had to do some repair work on my fascia boards and soffits. It made sense to take care of this before the new felt, shingles, and flashing went on.

The first thing I did was to walk around the house with a notebook, and do a close visual inspection to see what I was in for. For the most part it was all in reasonable shape, but a few spots were begging for attention. I even found one spot where a bird had made or enlarged a hole, and was homesteading in the soffit!