DIY Life

I recently wrote a piece on keeping some of the summer sun's heat at bay with English ivy on the side of my garage. I got a lot of feedback on that post; a lot of readers e-mailed me about ivy's insidious nature. I should have pointed out that I sealed the grout first. I'll still keep an eye on it.

This week's PRS article is also about keeping the house cooler -- with a product called radiant barrier paint.

I've heard that you can buy it pre-mixed, but they had it in powder form at the paint store I deal with. The salesman told me it was cheaper in powder form, and you know how I like to squeeze those pennies... I want to hear Abe squeal.

I got it at a good discount because I have an account with them. At the time, I was operating a small remodeling company, so I enjoyed the savings. But here's a tip: when you go to the paint store, open an account, and you'll probably save money. I have a DBA, but in my neck of the woods you don't have to have one to get a commercial account. You can be "Joe's Painting Company".

After the jump: how to mix and apply radiant barrier paint, as well as details on why it works.

I have a drawer full of cool stencils of every shape and size. Stencils are just so versatile, and you can use them for any craft project you can imagine. I love to use them on my scrapbook pages, and stenciling gives everything a new and unique look.

Using stencils is a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of using them, why not try stenciling items with spray paint? You can turn everyday items into cool works of art, and the best part is, you won't spend too much money to do it. All you need is some spray paint and an item to transform, such as an Altoids tin.

Make sure to use the spray paint in a well-ventilated room. Make a cardboard backdrop so you don't get paint on anything else, and be sure to use a face mask so you don't breathe in the nasty paint fumes. If you need a quick Valentine's Day gift, try using pink and red spray paint, and you'll have a one-of-a-kind gift she'll treasure forever.

If you'd like to experiment with faux paint finishes, consider starting out with something relatively small, like a lamp or hanging light fixture. Unlike applying faux finishes to larger surfaces -- say, a wall or a piece of furniture -- you're not committing yourself so much in terms of time or money. The picture above demonstrates how a faux finish can utterly transform a light fixture by giving it a seemingly aged patina. Switching out the glass lamp shades with paper lanterns also helped. These lanterns were hand-painted black on the outside and gold on the inside.

First step: find something to work on. You may already have the perfect lamp at home, meaning one that didn't cost much to begin with and is now a little out of date. I'm pictured one of those lamps made with that ubiquitous shiny "builders' brass."

Oh, this is too cool! Make your lawnmower as fearsome as a NASCAR speedster with a racing car-style paint job. We're talkin' flames!

Find out how by visiting this Instructables post by Sam. There's a truly excellent slideshow at the site, demonstrating each step of the project. Basically, it involves the following:
1. Remove the lawnmower's engine cover
2. Sand and prime it
3. Apply a base coat. Ideally, in a color that creates a suitable contrast with the red, orange and yellow flames. In this case, the chosen color is bright blue
4. Apply a layer of painter's tape all over the area where the flames are to go
5. Draw out the flames with a pencil, then score their outline with a blade and peel those pieces off
6. Spray on the flames in red, orange and yellow. I think these guys airbrushed the flames to create a smooth, naturalistic look.
As you can see from the photo here, it looks totally professional.

Common sense tip: with all that spray painting and closeup work (drawing and scoring), good ventilation is a must for this project.

Sam: what can I say? This idea bears the mark of genius.

I suppose some people don't really care what their computer keyboard looks like, but I find mine to be especially boring. Black with white letters. Yeah, that is sure to wake me up in the morning. Not!! I came across an interesting article on 88bytes.com about a guy who painted his computer keyboard. I think this idea totally rocks and it is sure to wake up my brain when my 2 year old gets me up before I am even ready to think about dragging my butt out of bed.

Step 1. Remove the keys with a flat screwdriver or a butter knife,
being extra careful with the longer keys, especially if they
have a metal hook on the back that attaches to the
keyboard. I would grab a container to put the keys
in, just in case you have a cat or kid that thinks they are now toys.

Step 2. Take the screws out of the back of the keyboard and put them in another small container so that you
don't lose them. Remove any remaining keys from the front plate and clean that dirty nasty keyboard.


Step 3. Spray the keyboard with plastic spray paint. You might have to do this 2 or 3 times to get the desired
effect that you want. Spray very lightly the first time and then heavier the second time. Let dry thoroughly,
probably overnight.

Step 4. Put the keyboard together in the exact opposite way that you took it apart.

I think that taking a picture of the keyboard is helpful in case you might not remember exactly where the keys go. If I had to tell you right now, this instant, where all the keys go, I am most certain that I couldn't do it. I don't think either, that I could sand all the letters and numbers off the keys as mentioned in the article and remember what symbol was what. I am good, but certainly not that good. I like to see what I am typing.

The Sherwin-Williams Co. and the The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have announced the recall of Thermo-Tec Hi-Heat Coating aerosol cans. They have even gone so far as to request that consumers not even handle the cans.

These cans can over pressurize and explode causing serious injury. There have been reports of serious injury, including a broken jaw and a shattered eye socket.

Thermo-Tec Hi-Heat aerosol coating is used to color and protect Thermo-Tec automotive exhaust wrap. These cans were sold at automotive supply stores from August 2005 to June 2007.

If you have one of the recalled aerosol cans please contact Sherwin-Williams at 888-304-3769 between 7:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. CT Saturday, or visit the Sherwin-Williams Web site.

The cans are so hazardous that a representative will be sent to your home to retrieve the can from you. They do not want these cans handled by consumers at all. You will then be sent a $15 check after the can is retrieved.

According to Sherwin-Williams the contact number in the CSPC press release is incorrect. They have the corrected number on their site and I have that number here as well (above). There is a picture of the recalled product in the press release.

Here's an easy to build passive solar pool heater that really gets the job done. My father built one of these and installed it all in one day. You can make it as large as you want but remember that it will be installed next to your pool so you don't want to get too carried away. You can install it laying flat or upright and you can design your own configurations. All you need for it to work is full day exposure to the sun.

You'll want to have the passive collector placed on a hard surface which is painted flat black to get maximum value from the sun. A simple wood platform about 12 inches off the ground works great, or a concrete pad can make the project look especially professional. In areas where there is a high concentration of swimming pools an industrious person can even keep pretty busy building and installing these passive heaters for client pool owners. Additionally, similar solar collectors are being used to preheat water for in home use but that requires special engineering and a consultation with local building inspectors.

Have you ever had the experience of washing and waxing your vehicle for a special function such as a parade or family reunion only to be left feeling like your vehicle lacked that little extra "flash" you were looking for? Even though you took the extra steps of cleaning between the grille slats, using dressing on the tires and silicone on the window seals, did it still lack that extra snap? There's a special little trick that I learned which will give your vehicle a subtle appearance boost. It's easy to do but you must take a cautious approach. This trick works especially nice on SUV's and pickup trucks.

After all your exterior cleaning is done, get yourself a can of flat black spray paint. Being very careful not to get any over-spray on the finish of your vehicle, lightly spray the insides of the wheel wells in behind the tires. It doesn't take much, you're just adding a nice uniform blackening in behind those tires. The flat black will quickly mask all the stains and road wear that occur behind your tires.