We followed Jerry Cloemenzi?s use of special tools during the professional installation of real plaster crown moldings.Of note: he used a framing hammer to punch holes in the drywall right where his plaster was going to glue the molding to the wall. That gave him great toothing into the wall....
Rob Cosman, out of New Brunswick and representing American Craftsman Publications, came in to share with us some of the tricks to making the strongest corner joint in woodworking, the dovetail -- and making them by hand.He had some nifty layout tips for making wide tails and narrow pins, but ...
Paul Kaye is a potter who makes fine terracotta pots, but we took the TV cameras to see not how he makes his pots, but how he makes his own clay. Making his own clay gives him total control over the quality of the product -- and he makes it from old scrap concrete construction blocks. He grinds...
Kevin from Toronto has passed on his tip for getting drywall corner bead on the wall straighter and easier -- use contact cement rather than screws or crimping. He says it cost a bit more money, but the tapers don't complain anymore.It certainly does work, and you will find it even easier to do ...
When you cut Plexiglass with a jig saw, the plastic that?s been cut away often melts and closes the cut line behind the saw. Richard from Guelph, Ontario saw me struggling with this and suggested adding motor oil to the surface to lubricate and cool the scrap -- it does work.Probably most importa...
Before you get serious about tackling a drywall job, you should practice using two spatulas together, usually one a bit larger than the other. Butter one or both of them up with drywall compound (often called "mud"). Now slide one over the other with the two spatulas at right angles to each oth...
A viewer sent in the simple idea of pushing finishing nails through a piece of corrugated cardboard to hold them steady while you come down with the hammer. That means that you don't come down with that hammer on your fingers. They you simply pull the cardboard up and finish driving the nail.Le...
This rather fancy bathroom renovation had the dumbest soap dish I ever saw -- no drain holes and it was installed in a bath/shower. So of course the soap would float and melt away. The renovation was new and we thought we would probably do some damage to the marble on the wall if we tried to re...
Mike is a professional renovator who doesn't have time to mess with slow methods of patching drywall holes. He sent in his quick way to patch a hole in drywall. Measure, draw and cut the damaged hole out to a simple square shape. Cut a piece of drywall two inches larger on all sides than the h...
As we so well know from the Walkerton experience, municipal and rural water supplies can become contaminated. Municipalities do have testing mechanisms in place. And although they were not applied in Walkerton, because of that experience we can probably feel even more confident that municip...
