Category: Home Improvement

How to Build a Strong, Attractive Good-Neighbor Fence

Goals:

  • No gaps between boards
  • Strong, sturdy
  • Inexpensive
  • Looks good on both sides
  • Simple to build
  • Long-lasting

Materials

Wood Post or Steel Post:

Many people use pressure-treated wood posts but though they are cheaper, they do have downsides includng:

  • they can rot and decay
  • they can warp and bend, especially if you leave them out in the sun and don’t finish the fence right away
  • attaching 2x4s to them require toenailing or toescewing nails and screws at an angle or using metal brackets for 2x4s
  • if you attach 2x4s to the post and later decide you want to move them up or down, it’s a hassle

Steel posts have holes all along the length on both sides so screwing 2x4s into them are very easy. This saves a lot of time and money from not having to buy a bunch of brackets. Furthermore, there’s no worry about it warping due to the elements.

Continue reading How to Build a Strong, Attractive Good-Neighbor Fence

Creating House Floor Plans in 2D and 3D

If you need to only create 2d house floor plans, I personally have found Lucidchart to be easy to learn and intuitive to use.

If you need to create 3d house floor plans, I have found Live Home 3D to offer the best features for the price. At $10 (on sale), you can easily create 2d and 3d home plans. You download and install the program which allows for faster 3d rendering. My typical workflow to design a house is as follows:

1. Create a room by clicking the Room button

2. Draw a room (2d) by dragging the shape of a rectangle

3. Pick a door style

Continue reading Creating House Floor Plans in 2D and 3D

Easily Tighten a Rope Without a Knot

When you need to tighten a rope to hold something in place, e.g. a tent, cargo in a pickup truck, a leaning tree, bed sheets, etc, you might think you’ll need to tie a knot. Not only is it difficult to tie a knot without losing tension in the rope, it’s a hassle and often difficult untying the knot. Ratchet straps are easier to use but are overkill for non-heavy duty situations. A simpler solution is to use a figure 9.

Here, I used a figure 9 to hold a leaning tree in place.

You can purchase Figure 9s at REI. One brand is Nite-ize but there’s also generic ones on Amazon for less.

This are two ways to tighten a rope using a Figure 9.

How to Finish Wood With a Protective Coat

I recently worked on a project to replace my stair’s handrails. I bought the unfinished handrails at Home Depot and then stained them easily as follows.

Applying Wood Stain

  1. Using a brush, applied one coat of Minwax Pre-stain Conditioner
  2. Using a brush, applied one coat Minwax Stain (Gunstock color). While the stain was wet, I wiped it with a paper towel to prevent some areas to be thicker or darker than others. Though wiping with a towel lightens the stain, it is an important step. To achieve darker stains, just repeat the staining and wiping process.

Note: Applying anything wet, e.g. stain, to wood will cause the grain to rise resulting in bumps. If, after the first coat of stain, you notice bumpiness, then sand it down with 220 grit sandpaper until the bumps are gone and then restain the wood. This first coat following by the sanding process serves as a sort of “primer” to prepare the surface.

The tricky part was getting the protective finish coat on. I wanted a shiny, smooth, glossy handrail. After trying different products and processes, here’s my advice.

Lacquer vs Polyurethane

Lacquer is sticky and seemingly more toxic. My eyes felt weird even though none of it gone in them. A bit of lacquer got on my hands and cleaning my hands were a hassle and temporarily messed up my skin. The fumes were so strong I could smell some of it in other rooms of my house. Cleaning the brush used to apply the lacquer was impossible so it had to be thrown away.

Polyurethane is also toxic but the water based kind is easy to clean by simply rinsing with water and it doesn’t smell as much. I was able to easily rinse my brush so I could reuse it for additional coats.

Conclusion: Don’t even bother with lacquer. Just stick with polyurethane.

Continue reading How to Finish Wood With a Protective Coat

How to Enlarge a Hole in a Wall

The other day I was drilling a hole in a wall to run a 3-prong extension cord through. I thought a 1 inch spade bit would do to create 1 inch diameter hole. Unfortunately, the plug end of the cord was still too big to fit through the hole. I couldn’t enlarge the hole using a hole saw bit

because that requires some material for the center shaft to bite in to. 

Continue reading How to Enlarge a Hole in a Wall

Battery Charger / Power Supply (Voltage, Amperage) Requirements for Phones, Laptops, Etc

When looking to buy a battery charger or power adapter for a device such as a phone or laptop, you may be unsure whether the one you buy will be sufficient or even blow up your device. Here are basic guidelines to keep in mind.

  • INPUT VOLTAGE TO CHARGER
    The input voltage from the outlet to the charger should match or be very close. In the US, this is 110 volts. Unless you are buying a charger in a foreign country where the voltage is different, e.g. 220 V, this should not be a problem.
  • OUTPUT VOLTAGE FROM CHARGER
    Like the input voltage, the output voltage of your charger should match or be very close to that of the device you are plugging it in to. The input voltage requirements of a device can usually be found on the device itself. At the bottom of my Lenovo Yoga 910 laptop, it says “Input 20 V, 2.25 A”. Therefore, this particular device needs a charger that outputs 20 V.
  • OUTPUT AMPERAGE FROM CHARGER
    The output amps from the charger should be equal to or greater than the input amp requirements of the device you plug it in to. My Lenovo Yoga laptop has an amp input requirement of 2.25 A.

    • A charger with lower amps may charge a device but slower. Or, it may not charge it at all and the power supply may just turn off as it would not be able to adequately supply the load (laptop).
    • A charger with higher amps may charge a device faster than it would with a charger with amps equal to the value specified for the device. A device will not blow up if the chargers amp output exceeds the amp value specified for the device. The device will just accept however many amps it can handle.
  • POWER
    Power (wattage) is calculated as V (Voltage) x I (amperage). P = V*I. Therefore, for my Lenovo laptop, the minimum power requirements to power it is 20 V * 2.25 A = 45 W (watts). Therefore, it can take any charger that puts out 45 W or more as long as the output voltage is 20 V.
Conclusion:
  • Input and output voltages should always match
  • Power supply amperage should be equal to or greater than the amps required by the load

Kitchen Remodel Project

  1. Preparation and Dust Management
    Covered floors with plastic. Put up plastic walls.
  2. Demolition
    Removed existing kitchen cabinets, wall, popcorn ceiling
  3. Wall Removal
    Removed a load-bearing wall by building two temporary walls, and installing a 10’ long 6”x12” special engineered wood beam and two 4”x6” posts. This opens the kitchen up to the dining room.
  4. Custom-Built Pony (Short) Wall
    Created two short walls by a post where a kitchen island was to be located.
  5. Plumbing
    Moved a copper sink drain and a cast iron toilet drain. Replaced outdated parts (copper and cast iron) with ABS. Small soffits were created as necessary. A hole was dug in the cement foundation to cut a cast iron drain pipe. The pipe was cut and capped off and the hole was refilled with cement.
  6. Electrical
    Since I removed a wall, I moved all wiring, outlets and switches to the short pony wall and rerouted some wiring between ceiling joists.
  7. Lighting
    The old light box with fluorescent tubes were replaced with 4 recessed lights.
  8. Popcorn Ceiling Removal
    The outdated popcorn ceiling was removed and retextured with an orange peel finish.
  9. Painting
    Walls and ceiling were repainted.
  10. Kitchen Floor
    The old vinyl sheet floor was removed and replaced with durable ceramic tile.
  11. New Cabinets
    I installed new kitchen cabinets
  12. New Countertops
    I installed quartz countertops
  13. Backsplash
    I installed a backsplash
  14. Debris Disposal
    I hauled all construction debris away for dumping at the San Leandro / Davis St. Transfer (Dump) Station.
Continue reading Kitchen Remodel Project
▲