January 18, 2012 AsktheBuilder Newsletter And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Newsletter?

Latest News
New AsktheBuilder.com Design
Near-Zero Videos
Reuse-Recycle Guide
Super Stain Solver Sale
New Hampshire Meet Up
A New Product


I have no idea what it's like to be addicted to a controlled substance, but I can tell you if it's like the desire I have lately for kettle popcorn, oh my.Ice on the LakeThe big lake here at my house finally iced over three nights ago. Several days ago, the wind finally calmed, and it was 3 F when I awoke.

Looking out, I saw the lake had flash frozen once the wind stopped agitating the water. All I saw was a giant piece of glass (ice) on the lake. It's windy here today, and the ice is so thin that lots of the ice could disappear. You can see some open water in the center of the photo.

Thanks to you if you voted for Veronica in the YouTube competition. She's going to be featured on the home page of YouTube on January 27th! Congratulations Veronica!

 

New AsktheBuilder.com Design

We're in the final process of a radical new website design at AsktheBuilder.com. Here's a very tiny sneak peek for you. You're going to be amazed - I hope!

Tim New Navigation Bar

 

Near-Zero Videos

This past Sunday, I taped about six new video in 3 F weather. It was COLD. I'm editing those videos tomorrow and will have them to you next week. You're going to discover something about cupolas that will blow your mind. Just wait and see!

 

The Reuse-Recycle Guide

Oh, I'm already getting submissions for the next cool guide I'm doing with your help! Remember Bob who started the wet-dry vac guide? Well, he sent in a photo of a mayo jar. Wait till you see what he did!

Mayo JarHere's the plan. Think of things you buy, use and rather than throw away, you reuse it for some other purpose. It can be a container, it can be a tire, a tool, anything. That's the point, it can be anything you repurpose at your home.

I want to facilitate sharing your ideas to help others.

It will really help if you to take a photo of the thing being reused and send that in with a brief story about any tips on reusing it.

Once the guide is finished, because you're a subscriber to my newsletter, you get it for FREE!

Submit your tip and photo at this page of my website to send in your tip and photo.

 

 

The SUPER Stain Solver Sale

It's time for a Super Sale. I can't use the word Bowl in the phrase because the NFL trademarked it.

Can you believe for all these years I've never taped a video with me showing you how it works? Well, I did a few years ago showing how to use it on floor tile grout, but not a video with me using it on TOUGH stains.

Stain Solver 2-pounderSo two days ago, we taped a pretty funny video. Please, please watch the video.

Anyway, the sale ends on Monday at midnight - that's just days away. You can get 15% off the smaller sizes, 20% off the two larger sizes and Free Shipping on all sizes.

If you're a new subscriber, you'll be getting some reminder emails from me over the next few days. We all tend to procrastinate, and I'm here to tell you that many subscribers THANK ME for reminding them the sale is about to end.

But it gets better. I'm giving away to five people a year's supply of Stain Solver (50 pounds). To win, you must send in great Before and After photos. If you upload a video to the Stain Solver Facebook page, that gets you extra points in the judging.

If your video shows before and after results, you get even MORE points in the judging. If you can't do a video, send in great photos. Why? Maybe no one will send in a video! That means you could win!

This photo/video contest ends on January 29th, so you have time to ORDER Stain Solver now, get it, use it and send in your videos/photos.

I'll have more details next Tuesday about where to upload the photos and videos. You just need to order so you can enter.

One of the five winners will then be selected for the Grand Prize. That's a free half-hour phone consult with me. We can talk about anything you want.

These Stain Solver sales don't happen often. Order NOW!

 

New Hampshire Meet Up

I'm having lunch with some fellow Granite Staters this Friday, January 20th at Noon. If you want to join us, come to the Route 104 Diner on Route 104 at exit 23 off I-93. The diner is about 3 miles east of I-93. It will be a great time. I'll take photos this time and possibly a video if the guests will permit it.

 

A New Product - I Need Your Help

I need your help on developing a new product. I roughed this out with a good buddy of mine.

Tentatively, we're calling it the New House Coaching Program. It's for you if you're thinking of building a new home and are terrified of making a mistake that could cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. Believe me, it happens every week. People can lose lots of money by making one or two mistakes.

The preliminary idea is a six-week course with one 90-minute phone call per week. Only 20 people would be in each class. We'd have a specific topic for the first hour each week, and the last 30 minutes are random topics.

If you could not make a call, no problems. The call would be recorded and I would send you a link to it.

The magic is the other 19 people in the class might ask hundreds of questions that you'd NEVER think to ask. It becomes a wisdom of the crowd sort of thing.

You would send in your questions to me via email BEFORE the call so I can sort through them.

Here's my question to you: If you had a magic wand, what would you do? What kind of personal coaching would you want? What would be the perfect product to help you navigate the treacherous waters of new home construction? What would put you at ease?

Please respond back to me with your ideas on how to best develop this new product. Thanks!

Don't forget - Do it Right, not Over,

Tim Carter
Founder - AsktheBuilder.com

Reuse and Recycle Tips Guide – Volume I

Posted on by Tim Carter

Reusing plastic jug for soup storageHi, do you have a clever way to recycle something at your house? My dad used to use baby food jars to hold nails and screws.

I just used a 32 oz. plastic container that held cashews to store leftover soup.

Does that help you visualize what I want to do?

I want to put together a FREE guide with your help to share tips like this with others.

It would be great if you could take a photo of the thing being reused.

Be sure you're signed up for my FREE Newsletter. Once the guide is completed, I announce it there.

Thanks!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

 



Name:
 
Email Address:
 
Tell the quick story about your Recycle and Reuse Tip. It's supposed to be ANYTHING around your house that you reuse or repurpose. Here's my example: The clear plastic container with the large screw-off lid that cashews come in, well after the cashews are gone, it makes a GREAT leftover food container.
 
YOUR TIP:
 

UPLOAD a nice color photo of your *thing* being used. In my case, it was a photo of bean soup in the cashew container. Make Sense? A photo is NOT REQUIRED, but it will sure make the guide look better.
 
UPLOAD PHOTO:
 

My attorney, whose nickname is Honey Badger, says you MUST agree to my Terms and Conditions to share a tip. I'm not kidding. She's fierce.
 
YOUR AGREEMENT: I agree
I agree and you can tell your attorney to take a flying leap.
I agree and tell your attorney to get a real job.
I agree and feel sorry for your attorney.
I agree - I'm an attorney and wish everyone would stop hatin on us.
 

If you have a short comment about attorneys and want to blow off steam, enter it here.
 
ATTORNEY COMMENTS:

Before and After Photos

Posted on by Tim Carter

CLICK on this column to submit the before and after photos of your project.

I'd love to share your skills and magic. If you have a story to tell and some great before and after photos, this is the place to upload them.

Note that you have to agree to my Terms and Conditions for all this to work.

Thanks!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

 



Name:

 
Email Address:

 
Please tell your story about your Before and After Project. PLEASE try to use paragraphs to separate your ideas. Just hit your Return key twice to make a paragraph. Try to check for spelling and grammar too. Thanks!

 
Your Project:

 
Click here to upload your Before photo.

 
Click here to upload your After photo.

 
Click here to upload a During Photo if you have one. NOT REQUIRED

 
To have your Before and After photos on AsktheBuilder.com, my nutty attorney insists that you agree to my Terms and Conditions. Crazy but true.

 
Your Agreement: I agree

I agree and tell your attorney to jump in a lake

I agree and tell your attorney to pound salt

I agree and your attorney must think you're the crazy one
 

 

Building a House in Bad Weather

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: I want to start construction on a home, but just about everyone wants me to wait for months because bad weather is just around the corner. Can you build a home in the rainy season or in the middle of winter without causing problems to the structure? What are some tricks one can employ to make headway each week so that the house can get done sooner rather than later? Does rainwater hurt all the lumber as the house is being constructed? Jason S., Cutbank, MT

DEAR JASON: All of your questions are great. You're going to love the answers too. The bottom line is that you can build a home in almost any weather. The only thing that can really inhibit you is frozen ground, but even with that, if there is a will, there's a way.

This house is being built in the middle of a harsh winter and they're making progress each day. The roof was covered with tarps so ice and snow will not cake on the sheathing. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

This house is being built in the middle of a harsh winter and they're making progress each day. The roof was covered with tarps so ice and snow will not cake on the sheathing. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

Many years ago, I used to subscribe to a building magazine. In one issue they had a photograph of a large home being constructed in the middle of winter inside an enormous circus-like tent. It was ingenious, and I remember the photo caption saying how even on cold days the inside of the tent was normally over 50F because of the solar heat gain.

The key to building a home in bad weather is getting the foundation installed and the house up out of the ground as rapidly as possible before the onset of extended rainy or bitter cold weather. You can pour concrete in cold weather and bitter cold, but it takes an experienced crew and one with the proper equipment to protect the concrete so it can cure enough to resist freeze damage.

If the ground is frozen, believe it or not, you can actually thaw the soil using a portable ground heater. This portable heater is usually in a trailer and circulates a hot solution of glycol in heavy rubber tubing that lays on the ground. It's important to cover the tubing and soil with insulated blankets that hold the heat in the soil. It's expensive to run the heater, but it can be done if you have to pour in cold weather.

You can connect this same heater to radiant floor heating tubing so that you can pour a concrete slab in cold weather. The concrete thinks it's a late spring day as the warm fluid courses through the tubing causing the concrete to harden even as it's snowing!

There are modern building methods that allow you to build a home totally indoors in a factory. It's quite possible you can build a modular home in your area and have the sections trucked to the job site and lifted onto the foundation in just a day or two.

If you can't do that, you can at least significantly compress the construction time by using walls that are prefabricated in a factory and trucked to the site. This can save weeks of time. Stick building walls at the site in bad weather is slow, dangerous and hard on the carpenters. Prefabricated walls are set with a small crane and a seasoned crew can have a normal house under roof in a week or less.

If you want to roof a house in bad weather, it's a good idea to cover the roof sheathing with tarps to prevent snow and ice from holding up progress. Once the storm passes, you can remove the tarps and the roofers can quickly get to work on a nice dry surface.

If you use the latest building materials, the roof sheathing will not be harmed by rain as some new sheathings have a waterproof coating. The seams between the pieces of coated oriented strand board (OSB) are sealed with a special tape that keeps out just about all water from the wood substrate.

Normal rainwater will not harm the wood that's used to build homes. Many homeowners fear that wood will immediately rot if allowed to get wet. That's simply not the case. The only thing that doesn't fair well if it gets wet is low-grade OSB. This flooring and wall sheathing material is still available and if it gets wet, it can swell and not shrink back to its original size.

There are new OSB floor sheathing materials that are specially made to resist standing water. They will not swell. You can also get OSB wall sheathing that's just like the roof sheathing. It has a special waterproof coating on the exterior side that repels water.

The real key to building in bad weather is to use a builder that's got the equipment and experience to handle extreme conditions. This all has to be talked about before you sign the contract.

It's up to you to vet the builder to ensure he has all the needed skills and moxie to go up against Mother Nature and come out a winner. The key is to get started on the job and make rapid progress, working long days if necessary, until the shell of the building is up and weather tight. It's not as hard as you might think.

You can discover videos of the new flooring, wall and roof. Just type "sheathing" into the AsktheBuilder.com search engine.

Column 918

January 15, 2012 AsktheBuilder Newsletter And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Newsletter?

Latest News
Cold Weather Tips
Another Free Guide
Veronica California Travel Tips Update

 

Winter has really arrived here in New Hampshire this weekend. From what I see in the news, that's pretty much the case in many parts of the nation.

Yes, I know you may live in sunny Florida, or balmy Southern California. I have something in this quick weekend edition for you too! Hang in there.

Hundreds of thousands of homes got snow on their roofs and the temperature is dropping like a rock. That's the perfect storm for ice damming.

I thought it being a weekend and you might have some spare time, I'd share some very quick tips with you to save you  money, heartache and stress.

I also have a very important update about Veronica below. Please be sure to read it.

Cold Weather Tips

Preventing Ice Dams and Their Leaks

I could write an entire book about ice dams. There are great products to put under your shingles to prevent the leaks caused by ice dams. Or you can have an expert roofer install traditional metal roofing on the lower 4 or 5 feet of your roof.

But what if you don't have these? The absolute best prevention to stop ice dams and their loathsome leaks is to just starve them of their fuel. I raked my roof yesterday. Here's a photo of it.

Tim's Raked RoofGet outside right now and use a snow rake to rake as much snow as possible from your roof.

What happens next is magical. Even on an overcast day often enough infrared radiation gets through to melt the light covering of snow.

Once the roof shingles are clear of snow, they act like giant evaporators for any melt water that tries to make it down the roof  from the snow pack you couldn't reach. The water never makes it to  the edge where it normally dams.

This is not a perfect method, but it absolutely works here at my house in New Hampshire.

Drafts Around Windows and Doors

Often cold air enters homes around door and window frames. The installers could have done a horrible job of installing insulation between the window/door frames and the rough opening. You can't go outside and caulk cracks. It's too cold. It's not practical to tear apart the interior trim and inspect for insulation.

But if you have painted wood trim around windows and doors, you can get matching colored caulk - or use clear water-based caulk, to seal gaps between the trim, the walls and the door/window frames. You'd be shocked at how the collective length of a tiny crack allows many cubic feet of cold air into your home each day.

Wall and Switch Outlets

Electrical outlets on exterior walls can leak massive amounts of air. Simple foam gaskets can stop much air leakage. You  can also remove the cover plate, vacuum any dust between the edge of the box and wall, and caulk this air entry point.

Sand

Tim's Sanded DriveIf you have to deal with ice outdoors, don't overlook the amazing properties of sand.

It's literally dirt cheap. In some places, like my town, it's FREE. At our Waste Transfer Station, they have sand available all year for free. Just  bring your own buckets.

Sand will provide great grip on ice and it accelerates melting when the sun comes out. The dark tiny rock particles absorb heat from the sun.

You can recycle the sand from your drive or walk when spring comes. Just sweep it up and reuse it next winter.

Water

If you live in the city and are on city water, winter means water main breaks as the frost starts to drive deep into the soil and the expanding ice lenses put downward pressure on the soil above water mains.

My mom used to save the white one-gallon bleach bottles and have water in them in case of an emergency.

I used to make fun of her. Guess what? She was smart. On more than one occasion, that water came in really handy.

Store some water at your home. Start saving soda bottles, milk bottles, etc. Be sure to clean them out well before putting water in them. This is true of the plastic milk jugs.

You MUST rinse them out well, especially the small loop area of the milk bottle handles. Milk up in that area that doesn't get rinsed out will sour and the water in the jug will taste horrible or it will smell really bad.

Another FREE Guide

I had fun creating the Wet-Dry Vac Uses Guide. It was all you! You provided the content.

Two days ago we ran out of plastic containers to store leftover food. Kathy had just made a large pot of great tasty bean soup with a tomato base, if that's what it's called. The broth part was reddish.
Soup Container

Anyway, I always do the dishes and put the food away. I thought,  "What am I going to put all that soup in?"

Ta Da! I remembered I had been saving these large 32 oz plastic containers that cashews come in. Oh my, with the large screw on lid, they were PERFECT.

So, what things do you reuse around your house? I would REALLY like  or you to send me a great photo of the thing being reused.

This  new guide will look so much better with color photos. Are you up for  it? If so, don't reply now. WAIT till Tuesday. I'll have a special page  on my site where you can enter a little story and Upload the photo you take. Thanks!

 

Veronica CaliforniaTravelTips UPDATE

If you've just subscribed in the past three days, this will probably not make too much sense.

On Thursday, I sent out a very RARE mid-week newsletter. It was actually a plea to help a close friend.

I explained to you the situation by asking you to watch a quirky video I taped about two hours before I sent the newsletter. It's about a YouTube competition a close friend of mine is in.

Many of you responded positively and voted for Veronica. She's most grateful as am I. But there were about five subscribers who hated on me. I can live with that. They want the newsletter on their terms, even when it's free.

As I'm typing this, Veronica just lost the lead. She REALLY needs our help now if you've not yet voted.

I feel the back story will convince you why I'm devoting energy and space to this. It's important to my psyche.

I met Veronica and her great husband, Jason, probably seventeen years ago. She was a budding newspaper Features editor. Veronica was in charge of my column that ran each week in The Daily Press in Victorville, CA.

She got burned out about five years ago. I started to mentor Veronica and Jason encouraging them to start to tape videos.

Veronica started the California Travel Tips channel at YouTube and Jason started the Chef Tips channel. He's a professional chef.

It's just the two of them and their two darling daughters. They are competing against at least one other website and channel in this YouTube competition that has multiple employees, probably a very large six-figure annual production budget and a video production company that has hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment.

Veronica and Jason have one camera, a tripod and they edit the videos on a PC in their living room. It's a classic David vs. Goliath story.

But look at Veronica's videos. The quality is fantastic. I would expect her competition to be miles above her. In my opinion, they're not. That's why I believe Veronica deserves your vote.

I'll close with this. The haters on Thursday who gritched at me for putting this in my newsletter don't know me well.

I'm a recent convert to Karma. I'm a believer in Abundance Juice. I'm convinced that Givers Get.

I decided to give to Veronica. I decided to risk losing subscribers and money to help a close friend who I've been mentoring. It's that simple.

Please go vote for Veronica now if you feel she deserves it. Watch all the videos at this page and you be the judge. The contest is OVER on Monday January 16th at 5 pm PT. VOTE NOW.

Thanks so very much.
BIG Stain Solver news and New Home Construction NEWS on Tuesday!!

January 12, 2012 AsktheBuilder Newsletter And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Newsletter?

Latest News
Veronica California Travel Tips
The snow has arrived here in NH!

Woo Hoo! If you're a new subscriber in the past 72 hours, this is NOT a normal newsletter.

You'll see one next Tuesday.

Veronica Hill - CaliforniaTravelTips

Veronica HillA close friend of mine is Veronica Hill. I've known her for probably 17 years. She used to be my editor when my column ran in The Daily Press in Victorville, CA. About five years ago, Veronica decided to leave the declining newspaper industry and start her own business online.

She started doing videos about great places to visit in California.

Veronica is up for a huge award on YouTube, but is up against some very unfair competition. At least one of the other channels on the ballot has huge money and resources behind them. That's just not fair in my opinion.

That's where you come in. You can help Veronica because she can't get the word out like the other channel can.

To make a long story short, you just need to watch this video I taped this morning. It's less than two minutes long.

Veronica just needs you to vote for her. It could make ALL the difference in her career.

If you don't have time to watch the video, I understand. All I ask is that you just go here, look in the upper right corner of the page and CLICK to vote for CaliforniaTravelTips. It's that easy.

Thank you very much, and I know Veronica will deeply appreciate it. She deserves it.

Stain Solver News

Next week there is going to be a huge Stain Solver promotion and a contest.

Get your video camera ready and watch for next Tuesday's newsletter!

Stain Solver

Woo Hoo!

January 10, 2012 AsktheBuilder Newsletter And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Newsletter?

Latest News
Rusty Tools - Quick Tip
IRWIN Pliers Video
New Hampshire Meet Up
Before & After Photos
Floating Shelves Update
Weekly Question - Frost Heaves

This has been a crazy winter so far here in New Hampshire. The ground is bare! There's simply no snow. It's that way all over the Northeast, except for those places that suffer the lake-effect snow from Lakes Erie and Ontario.Tim's RockLast winter was the exact opposite. It started to snow late, December 27th to be exact, but oh my. It seemed to dump on us ever 5 days until March. It got cold and the snow didn't melt. It was brutal.

The lake here at the house hasn't frozen yet! Now don't start talking about global warming and climate change. Why? Because if you come to New Hampshire, I'll lead you on a glacial geology field trip.

It'll blow your mind what the continental glaciers did up here just 15,000 years ago when there were no cars, trucks or factories.

I LOVE geology - it was my college major. The granite around my house has these huge white feldspar crystals in it. Simply fascinating. Here's a close up photo of a rock next to my garage. My buddy Phil will be grinning about the ruler I put in the photo for scale. You can also see mica in the rock when the sun hits it.

 

Quick Tip - Rusty Tools

Oiled ShovelIt's not too late to protect your yard tools from rust. Exposed steel on garden tools can rust with little effort when they get cold and then water vapor condenses on the metal.

If you live in the South, the high levels of humidity provide ample water to create rust.

It's easy to stop or slow down rust. Save the used motor oil from your lawn mower or any other small engine. Take a paper towel and spread some oil on the metal applying just a thin coat.

Do this each time you store the tools, and they will look like new forever. Burn the paper towels afterwards. They could ignite from spontaneous combustion days later in your garbage.

 

 

Last Week's IRWIN Pliers Video

Tim & PliersI shared last week with you a video of me demonstrating new Vise-Grip IRWIN pliers. It was a monster hit, based on many of the comments left at the YouTube site.

I really could use your help. I'm trying to prove to both IRWIN and other tool manufacturers that my videos help you make buying decisions.

Would you be kind enough to do two things for me? Watch the video again, or for the first time, and then tell IRWIN - using their Contact Form - if my video positively influenced you to buy their tools.

Is it possible for you to then reply to this newsletter with a short testimonial telling me how my videos help you buy tools and other products you see me feature? Thanks very much!

Click here to see my review on the Irwin 117 piece Tap & Die Set.

 

New Hampshire Meet Up

Do you live near Meredith, NH? That's in the center of the state. Do you want to get together for lunch next week? Be sure you reply with where you live so I can see what's the most central location for everyone.

Reply to this email and let me know if you're interested, what works best for you, etc. I'll try to satisfy as many as possible, but realize it will probably be impossible to accommodate everyone's schedule.

 

Before and After Photos

I desperately need your help on a new project at the website. Would you please consider taking Before and After photos of projects you do?

It doesn't matter if you're a homeowner or a contractor. I want to start a new section at the website that offers inspiration to everyone.

If you're a contractor, I'll gladly create a link to your website. The same offer goes to you if you've got a blog or other website where you share your talents.

This is your chance to show off your skills and magic to many who visit AsktheBuilder.com!

Here's an example.
Sarah's Loft BedSarah, with the help of her parents and husband built a magnificent loft bed using my plans. Now, I don't have a before photo, but you get the idea.

Click here to read Sarah's note to me.

Sarah could have easily taken a photo of the bare corner of the room before they started to assemble the loft bed.

Your project can be anything. Sarah happened to use my plans, but you can send in any project. It's just important that you take Before and After photos.

Let's have some fun with this Before and After project!

 

Floating Shelves Update

Last week I mentioned that I could tape a series of videos to demonstrate how to build Floating Shelves.

The response was off the charts! I'm going to attempt to complete that project this week. It will be my first in a series of videos that you pay a small fee to watch.

Why would you have to pay? The reason is simple.

Last February Google significantly altered the landscape of the Free Internet. They caused a major *earthquake* called the Panda Update.

They changed their search algorithm and it caused me, as well as tens of thousands of other great websites, to lose over 50 percent of our traffic.

That loss of traffic caused my revenue to drop by 65 percent because a certain amount of my visitors, like you, buy my own products instead of clicking an ad at the website.

Realize that before the Panda update, I was able to make a living off the small amount of people that would click an ad or two each day at my website.

Ads should ONLY be clicked if you're truly interested in the product or service being advertised. Do NOT go to my website and start clicking ads thinking that will help me. It will HURT me. It's called Click Fraud.

The traffic to AsktheBuilder.com is not going to come back. Of that I'm quite certain. I need to explore other ways to meet payroll and pay bills.

I'm wide open to your suggestions on how best to solve this problem. My gut tells me the best solution is to create more videos that help you through a vexing problem and charge a small fee for it. What do you think?

 

Weekly Question - Frost Heaves

DEAR TIM: I live in a warm part of the nation that rarely gets freezing weather, but I own a second home where it does get cold. In the spring I'm going to build a room addition and a deck. Living where it's warm I never knew there were things called frost heaves. Is it true frost in the ground can cause problems with foundations, cracked concrete, and interior cracks in houses and structures? What causes frost heaves? What soil is most susceptible? What can be done to prevent frost heave damage? Jodie G., Miami, FL

DEAR JODIE: Mother Nature often puts on a display of her many powers. Some are terrifying to witness, and I submit to you hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. Frost heaves are a show of force that happens quietly, covertly and with little warning if you've never been harmed by them. The weather turns, leaves fall, snow flutt ......

CLICK HERE to read the rest of my answer and to see a photo of special frost blankets.

Loft Bed by Sarah F. Using AsktheBuilder Plans

Posted on by Tim Carter

Sarah, with the help of her husband and parents, decided to take one of my past columns (Build a Loft Bed) and crude plans to build a gorgeous loft bed for her daughter. It only took a few hours to complete.

Look at how she dressed up the tops and bottoms of the posts. That's a wonderful finishing touch.

Sarah, congratulations on this magnificent project. I wish you would have been available a few years ago to be on my team. I'd have hired you in a New York minute!

"Hi Tim,

Yes, please feel free to use my loft picture in your newsletter! We're very proud of it and your directions were great. I can try taking a better picture tonight if the resolution is too low on this one. All the of the photos I have right now are from my iPhone.

We followed your plans and modeled ours after the pictures from Tom K. The base and the top of the 4x4's are decking toppers and bases. We also added a piece of pine trim along the front to cover the seams from the platform and the 1x6 pine board used to stop the mattress from falling out. We also added a 1x4 pine board to stop my daughter from falling out. 🙂

We used dowels for the ladder, and painted it to match her room.

For the desk, we cut MDF using the top of a sandbox (turtle) and an outdoor cushion to get the curves. It's held up with the table leg, brackets in each 4x4 upright, and two going into studs on the wall.

My dad and I built the platform and drilled the pilot holes to secure it to the 4x4's on Saturday (12/31) morning. Then my mom and I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day painting all the pieces. Assembly took approx four hours on Monday afternoon with four people (my parents, my husband and myself)."

Sarah

Frost Heaves

Posted on by Tim Carter
special outdoor blankets

These look like tarps, but they're really special outdoor blankets that help hold heat into the ground. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: I live in a warm part of the nation that rarely gets freezing weather, but I own a second home where it does get cold. In the spring I'm going to build a room addition and a deck. Living where it's warm I never knew there were things called frost heaves.

Is it true frost in the ground can cause problems with foundations, cracked concrete, and interior cracks in houses and structures? What causes frost heaves? What soil is most susceptible? What can be done to prevent frost heave damage? Jodie G., Miami, FL

DEAR JODIE: Mother Nature often puts on a display of her many powers. Some are terrifying to witness, and I submit to you hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. Frost heaves are a show of force that happens quietly, covertly and with little warning if you've never been harmed by them. The weather turns, leaves fall, snow flutters from the sky and the next thing you know, you can't open or close a door because frost has heaved the soil causing part of a slab or foundation to lift upwards.

Frost heaving can wreak havoc with houses, barns, sheds, roadways, concrete slabs, basically anything that's connected to the Earth in a place where the ground freezes. Just as the phrase implies, the frost heaves, or lifts, things up. The problem is, the lifting may not be equal around the structure.

I'll never forget a house I purchased about thirty years ago. It was vacant and I purchased it to restore and resell. Up on a hill behind the house was a detached garage. One winter day I went up to work on the garage and was stunned to see the garage floor raised up about 4 inches from where it had been just weeks before. That was my baptism to the power of frozen ground.

Water in soil combined with below-freezing temperatures is what causes frost heaves. Different soil types are more susceptible to frost heaving. Obviously, those soils that can hold more water will react more vigorously to frost. This means sandy, loamy soils can lift higher, on average, than dense clay soils. Where I now live in New Hampshire, the soil is very sandy and loamy. Believe me, it really lifts up in the winter.

There are lots of things that can be done to prevent damage caused by frost heaving. Foundations for any structure need to be placed below the historic frost level in that region. But be aware the historic frost line can be exceeded if the weather is extraordinary.

For example, right now here in New Hampshire it's the second week of January. There's been virtually no snow this season, yet it's been cold. If these conditions persist, the frost can be driven deeply into the soil. Snow cover actually acts as an insulator. If it had snowed early and heavily in the season, the frost might be fairly shallow in the soil now.

The frost can drive deeply into soil that's adjacent to a natural spring. Subsurface water that continues to flow through the winter under the soil feeds the ice lenses under the surface that jack up the soil like a ratcheting auto jack that lifts a car when you have a flat tire.

For these reasons, you may want to put the bottom of a foundation footer a foot or more below the historic frost line of the area where you intend to build. It's vital that the foundations, piers, etc. are shaped properly to prevent frost heave damage. This means that the foundations should be wider at the bottom than at the top.

If you dig a vertical shaft in the soil for a deck pier that's not as wide at the bottom than it is at the top, it will have the appearance of an ice cream cone. Frost can easily push that concrete pier out of the ground just like you squeezing the cone out of your hand.

But if the pier is wider at the bottom than the top, you can see the frost will have a very hard time lifting it up as the pier acts like a wedge anchor.

You can surround your structure with a linear french drain to capture and divert subsurface water that tries to saturate the soil around and under your structures. If you keep the soil pretty dry as you head into winter, there is little fuel to feed the ice lenses that create the frost heaves.

Concrete slabs that are prone to lifting from frost should contain plenty of reinforcing steel. A typical patio or sidewalk slab should have #4 bars (one-half-inch in diameter) placed on a minimum of 2-foot centers both directions. These bars should be in the middle of the concrete slab. They help lift the concrete slab all at once keeping it in the same plane. This prevents cracking and if cracks do happen, the steel rods keep the cracks from opening up.

You can temporarily slow the creation of frost in soil by covering it with special outdoor insulated blankets. These blankets are waterproof and help slow the heat loss of the soil into the atmosphere. They're good if you need to protect the soil from overnight freezing assuming you're going to pour concrete in cold weather.

You can discover several past columns with great illustrations about Linear French Drains here on my AsktheBuilder website. Just type Linear French Drain into the AsktheBuilder search engine.

Matthew, from Creston, British Columbia, Canada wrote to me. It gets COLD in Creston, as it's just across the US border from Idaho. Click here to read his question on frost in the May 24, 2013 Newsletter.

Column 917

January 3, 2012 AsktheBuilder Newsletter And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Newsletter?

Latest News
Channel Lock Pliers
Subscribe / Like / Follow AsktheBuilder
Floating Shelves
Selling Ads Directly Online

Happy New Year!

I'm pretty excited about all that 2012 has to offer. It's going to be a breakout year if I have anything to say about it.

You're going to see a brand-new radical website design at AsktheBuilder.com in just weeks.

You're going to see many new videos, some of them pay-to-play series where I demonstrate exactly how I tackle a project.

All in all, I feel invigorated by what lies ahead. I'm trying to take AsktheBuilder.com to the next level and would love your help in doing just that.

I'd also LOVE to know what new products you want me to develop. It could be a checklist, or maybe you want a tutorial series, what can I make for you that would help you around your home?

Just reply and change the Subject Line to: Tim, I Want . . .

 

Channel Lock - Vise-Grip Pliers

Irwin Vise Grip PliersOn New Years Eve, my son Tristan helped me tape a new video. It was fun working with him, and we did it on the fly.

What I enjoyed doing was showing my original pair of adjustable channel-lock pliers up against the latest ones on the market.

I believe you'll like this video about channel lock pliers. I know the video could have been better. We didn't do closeups of the tools so you could see certain things. We were in a rush just to get the video up before the end of the year.

If you want me to do MORE hand and power tool videos, please reply to me. Tell me what you want to see and why.

With your input, perhaps I can get the manufacturers of the tools to support the effort.

 

Subscribe / Like / Follow AsktheBuilder

It all started with my website back in November of 1995. That's when AsktheBuilder.com launched and to the best of my knowledge, I'm the longest-lasting home improvement site online.

But the Web has grown. To grow and flourish in this day and age, one has to have MORE than a website.

Just like large shopping malls in your city and town where a national brand probably has a store, an online business needs a presence at all the big online malls where people congregate.

YouTube Logo This is why I was one of the first YouTube Partners. Do you have a YouTube account? If so, I'd sure appreciate it if you would Subscribe to my AsktheBuilder Channel.
Facebook Logo Are you one of the hundreds of millions who use Facebook? I never cease to be amazed at who's on Facebook. Consider Liking my AsktheBuilder Page. Just yesterday I helped Ruth ensure she got the right underlayment.
Twitter4 How about Twitter? You may love its short and sweet messages. If you need quick bursts of home improvement knowledge, this may be the place for you. Please follow me on Twitter and I'll try to drop sweet tips on you each week!

Floating Shelves - Making Them Strong

Alonzo Martinez of San Diego, CA emailed me yesterday:

"Tim, do you have tips on reinforcing floating shelves? The bracket that comes with mine don't do a good job once anything is placed on them."

Alonzo, yes, I've seen some very flimsy bracket systems in my time.

The sleek shelves almost always make use of steel rods that are bolted to the sides of the framing lumber in the wall. These require great skill when installing and can't be done after the walls done.

For floating shelves installed after the drywall is up, I always use my French cleat method. It works.

Question: Would you like to see a series of videos done showing how these French cleat floating shelves are made? Please reply and put Floating Shelves in the Subject Line. Thanks!

 

Selling Ads Directly Online

Do you own a website (more than 250K unique visitors per month) that generates revenue by selling advertising space? Are you a media buyer that purchases offline or online ad space for a client?

If you meet either of these two criteria and want to be considered for an invitation to attend a very private and exclusive one-day meeting near Boston, MA on January 20, 2012 reply to this email.

Using my best Jedi Mastermind Trick voice, "If you work for an ad network, this is not the event you're looking for."

To be considered, reply to me giving me the Executive Summary of who you are, describe exactly what you do and why this private summit might be of interest to you.

Other experienced and successful website owners will be in attendance. There are only 10 spaces left and it's by invitation only. Time is of the essence.