DIY Deck Building Dangers - Death is Possible Is a deck in your future? You might want to build one to create a delightful outdoor living space. You may visit a friend’s home and step out onto their deck. You may be in a dancing throng of people on some other deck. I urge you […]
DIY Stair Stringer Kit - Build Your Stairs in One Hour You probably give little thought to the stairs you go up or down to reach different levels of your home, deck, or patio. I’ll wager that if I handed you a measuring tape, a framing square, a pencil, and a level, you’d scratch your […]
Deck Construction Guide - Life and Money-Saving Tips Flowers and vegetables pop up out of the ground in the spring. So, too, deck support posts. You may be a homeowner that desires to create a wonderful outdoor room, or expand that small deck cobbled together by the builder of your home. Allow me to share […]
Building Product Defects Happen All the Time Building product defects can sap money and energy from you. Building materials made in factories can contain latent defects. These are hidden time bombs that can explode causing mayhem in your life. It’s not easy to spot them, but there are some things you can do to prevent […]
Rusted Joist Hangers are Dangerous One of my newsletter subscribers, Robert, does handyman work on the weekends for friends and other homeowners. Eleven years ago, he wanted to learn how to frame a large shed including common roof framing. He volunteered to help me build my 16x24-foot two-story shed. We’ve been fast friends ever since […]
Concrete Deck and House Piers - Think of Your Legs Mother Nature is so smart. She taught us to build strong buildings, decks, docks, etc. Just look at your own body, for goodness sake. Your legs and feet do the same thing that concrete piers do in the construction world. Your legs are vertical columns […]
Bad Deck Flashing Causes Rot Ed, my golf league partner, asked me a few days ago if there was a product to fix some wood rot he had discovered at his home. You may be battling wood rot too. In your case it might be interior wall studs or floor joists that get wet from […]
DIY Deck Building Tips - Prevent Deck Collapse! Are you about to build a deck yourself? Perhaps you’re going to hire a professional. My guess is you don’t know as much about the process as you should know. Add to the mix the cable TV shows that go on and on and on about how […]
Deck Ledger Flashing - Fire Cut and Kick Out Deck collapses happen all the time across the world. The issue is many of them never make the news. Several years ago I attended an all-day training session put on by a top USA manufacturer. This company is a leader in making fantastic metal structural connectors […]