Gates that swing out towards the street present a serious problem for latches. If you mount the latch on the gate itself, it will not work unless you install it on the street side. Out on that side it is simply not secure. If you mount it on the fence, then the shaft that catches the gate is a...
THE DEAL I made a deal with the singing nuns of St. Michaels convent in Spokane Washington :
If they would teach me how to sing, I would teach them how to repair their convent.
My only dissapointment in this large project with HGTV Canada was that they never promoted the show well and the...
Albert Bacci of the Noble House Coatings company in Toronto came to the TV studio to share his experience in applying outdoor stains.
First rule, if there is mill glaze (that washer board look caused by the planing blades in the lumber mill) on the boards, you must sand them off or no stain will...
There are interesting stories about most fasteners.
The standard galvanised nails should not be used with Cedar because the tannic acid in cedar will react with the galvanisation. Just as Aluminium nails should not be used with pressure treated wood.
Many new coatings exist that work even bette...
Have you ever tried to run a string up from the gate latch, through the post and then put a ring or something on the outside. Of course it gets stuck in the wood or breaks, requiring you to either go through the house with your muddy boots, or over the fence.
So finally (2014) one of those inven...
In this 2004 HGTV episode, we collected several different viewer questions about supporting outdoor structures so we could compare one to the other. At the bottom of this article I have added, in 2015, the Helix screw piles that may just have replaced all the rest.
Elephant Feet
The first vi...
Table Saw Basics