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.

Air Leaks in Home

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: Now that Old Man Winter is here, he's constantly reminding me on windy nights that I've got window air leaks as well as other drafts. Can some of these be remedied now in cold weather, or do I have to wait until spring? Where should I start to look for air leaks? I know to start to see if my door leaks air. What mistakes could I make? What advice do you have in case I'm building a new home? How can you minimize air leaks in new construction? Dawn P., Asheville, NC

DEAR DAWN: I have distinct memories of my childhood home, its air leaks, and the condensation that poured down the single-pane metal casement windows. When one stops to think how many old homes there are in this great nation of ours and you add up the total energy loss, it's got to be astounding.

That funny ribbed foam between the wood and the poured concrete foundation is a gasket that prevents air leakage into a home. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

That funny ribbed foam between the wood and the poured concrete foundation is a gasket that prevents air leakage into a home. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

The good news is you can attend to many of the air leaks in your home, even on the coldest days of the year. You may be a little uncomfortable as you work, but you can have lots of success.

The first place to start looking you're already aware of: doors and windows. These two places can account for a significant amount of air leakage. Be sure the weatherstripping is in good shape and contacting the doors and windows. I have a high-quality exterior French door in my home, but it has a horrible air leak unless the door has the dead bolt lock turned.

If you have wood trim around doors and windows, air could be entering there. It's common for the builder or remodeler to do a poor job of installing insulation between the door/window and the rough opening. Believe it or not, I've seen many doors and windows with no insulation around them. It may pay to carefully remove the wood trim to check to see if the narrow cavity is insulated.

If it's not, you can insulate around windows and doors with expanding foam. If you use this product, be absolutely sure you use one that's made for doors and windows. If you use the wrong one, the foam can expand too much and cause the window or door not to open and close properly.

You can carefully stuff strands of fiberglass insulation around windows and doors. It should not be packed too tightly.

Electrical outlets on exterior walls can be sources of air leaks. In the winter, you can stop some of the air by removing the cover plate. Take a wet-dry vacuum and carefully clean any dust from sides of the box and the plaster and drywall around the box. Usually there is a gap between the electrical box and the wall covering material. Caulk this gap.

Air leaks can happen through electrical boxes, but these can't be sealed easily after a house is built. The entry hole where the electric cable enters the box can be sealed before the house is insulated and the drywall is up, but to do it afterwards is highly problematic.

If you have access up into your attic, go there with a good flashlight. If you're lucky enough to have fiberglass insulation up there, it can tell you where air leaks are. When you see black or dirty insulation, it's acting like an air filter in your furnace. Air is passing through the insulation and dirt is being captured by the fiberglass. Trace the source of the air leak and seal it.

Be sure to turn off any lights in the attic and look for light leaks through the insulation. These light leaks are almost always air leak locations. Be careful around recessed lighting. Older recessed lights are not allowed to be in direct contact with insulation. You have to construct special housings that create an air space around the entire fixture before you insulate around it. Check with your fire prevention officer if in doubt about how to do this.

The building code in most places requires an air gap between chimneys and any wood framing. This gap can be a huge source of air leakage. You can stuff this gap up in the attic with fiberglass batts to stop air from pouring down into your home.

Inspect your basement for air leaks where the wood framing is in contact with the foundation. Air leaks here can be sealed with caulk from the interior during winter months.

When building a new home, air infiltration can be minimized with a comprehensive system and different products. It's not a matter of just using a large air barrier on a roll and wrapping your home like a giant Christmas gift.

You need to think of your house as a boat. Imagine that the air around your house was water and how might it leak into your home. Every crack in the sheathing needs to be taped, the contact between the foundation and the sill plate needs a gasket, the flanges of doors and windows need to be taped to the sheathing or air barrier wrap, the contact points of wall plates and flooring need to be caulked, every hole in a top plate that leads to the attic needs to be sealed, etc.

Sealing a new house is all about attention to detail.

You can watch a several videos about sealing air leaks and air infiltration barriers. Just type: Air Leaks or Air Infiltration into the AsktheBuilder.com search engine.

Column 916

Channel Lock Pliers Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Channel Lock Pliers

Hi, I'm Tim Carter and today I want to show you some really neat adjustable pliers. But first, here is the first pair of adjustable pliers I owned when I started in the construction business some 35 years ago. This bad boy has seen a lot of use and was a good tool in its day.

Adjustable pliers have one jaw that can slide up and down and lock in different positions. This allows you do adjust the size of the jaw opening to match the size of the pipe or nut or whatever you are gripping. In the older pliers, there were only five settings for the jaw width. This somewhat limits the opening sizes.

Check out the new ones! Here is a brand-new adjustable pliers and this one is different. First, there are many more grooves for jaw adjustment. Maybe 14 to 16 different positions, compared to the five in the old pliers.

Second, the pliers has this button that allows you to slide the jaws up and down. A neat feature is if you slide the jaw all the way up to the smallest opening, it won't slide back down on its own. This makes it self-adjusting - a very nice feature.

There is a slightly different model that features smooth jaws. This is very important if you are working with plumbing fittings or valves with brass or chrome finishes. So when you grab the fitting, the smooth jaws won't leave marks in the soft metal.

The adjustable Channel Lock Pliers are available in various sizes to match your particular job.

One feature is a model with v-shaped jaws. This is beneficial when gripping the head of a bolt or a nut. It has more surface area, therefore more grip.

These pliers make a great addition of your toolbox.

Concrete Blanket Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Hi, I'm Tim Carter and it's a cold winter's day. Typically, you think about insulation on a day like this. On this new construction site in New Hampshire, I'm in the garage area. It appears that I am on a black tarp and wonder why the garage floor is covered with a tarp.

Actually, this is an insulated blanket and it is about an inch or so thick with a bubble type inside and it is double layered. The reason is the builder is trying to keep the fill material under the tarp from freezing. They are going to pour a concrete slab in the middle of winter and they don't want the ground frozen. In a few days when they are going to pour, they will take up the blanket and put down some rigid foam-insulation. Then they are going to install radiant heating tubing and pour the concrete on top of the tubes.

This will give them a heated garage that will be heated from the floor. But you use blankets like this before you pour to take and keep the frost out of the material. You don't want to pour concrete or anything on a frozen surface. If you do, when the material thaws, it will shrink and the concrete will crack.

These concrete blankets are also used after pouring the concrete to keep the heat inside the concrete as it dries. I will show that when they actually pour the garage floor.

Wood Roof Truss Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Hi, I'm Tim Carter and I'm at new residential construction site in New Hampshire. It's a cold winter day. I want to show you something that is neat about trusses and the things you can do with them.

I'm standing at the end of what will be the front porch of the home. Typically, carpenters would frame the roof of the garage (the wall behind the porch in this example) and after the fact, they would build the porch roof. But here, they made the garage roof trusses with extensions for the porch roof.

This shows that by planning ahead, you can get trusses that can incorporate more then one design. If you can dream it in your head, a truss manufacturer can make it. It's the simple.

Wood Truss Design Video

Posted on by Tim Carter

Hi, I'm Tim Carter and I'm at a new construction site in New Hampshire. It's a frosty morning. But I have an opportunity show you a very unique truss design. Look at this.

Here's a nice new truss that's actually for the garage of this home. Most trusses you see the rafter come down and meet the bottom chord, but look at this funny design. Here's the bottom chord but it takes a turn and runs down to the wall. You might ask why this design?

Looking across the bottom of the trusses, the garage door opening is on the other end. You can see a narrow rectangle formed by a piece of 2x4 above the garage door. Here in the Northeast, it is very common to have transom windows. This is a very neat architectural feature. These windows allow a lot of light to enter into the garage. Because they went with extra tall doors and there is a transom above it, you have to be able raise the bottom of the trusses up. This will allow the transom windows to be below the ceiling.

If you can dream it with the truss or its shape, normally the truss fabricator can create.