As with most trades, when a tradesperson lays a brick, it looks so easy, and when you (or I ) try it, it doesn't work so easily. So I went to the trades training section of George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario to pick up some of those little tricks that make it all so easy.First trick I l...
Here are two quick tips for moving heavy furniture by yourself without scratching the floor.You can tip a chair or sofa back and slide a rug under, tip it forward and finish unrolling the rug. That puts all four feet on the rug. Then you can simply pull it to where you want with ease and withou...
One of the most frustrating things is trying to make a long rope out of all sorts of short pieces, especially when they are different thickness. So here is the splicing knot for different sized ropes.Make a loop with the larger rope. Run the end of the smaller rope through the loop. Wrap it...
Sandpaper is expensive and there is a lot of it to choose from, so you want to get the paper that will do whatever sanding job you want to do most efficiently. Whether you are working by hand or with some kind of a power tool, the right sandpaper is more important than the tool itself.Look o...
If you have ever undertaken the task of applying tape and drywall compound on an inside corner, you know it is hard to work on one side without bothering the other side. You may not realize it, but there exist special spatulas for this job. The 'inside corner spatula' has two faces that are spr...
It almost sounds like an oxymoron to talk about removing stains from stainless steel, but the reality is that there are many grades of stainless steel and they are not all resistant to all stains. In fact, anything stuck to stainless steel for a long period of time will probably leave a mark...
Mat from Wellen, Ontario followed his buddy's instructions for wiring three lights together with a single switch on the other end of the room. They all came out dim.This is exactly why most provinces require you to get permits for electrical work, or even require licensed electricians for all...
True wood veneer consists of very thin sheets of real wood shaved off of logs. It can look like the grain of plywood if it is peeled off of a rolling log, or look like furniture lumber if it is sliced flat like boards right across the log. It was developed as a way to use sturdy but inexpen...
When you want to hide a screw in woodworking, you need to either use a series of drill bits to make first the plug hole, then the clearance hole for the screw to go easily through the first piece of wood, then the pilot hole for the threads to grip in the second piece of wood. Or you can use...
Although some people simply want a rough stucco look on their ceiling, the primary reason so many ceilings are stuccoed is to hide a poor drywall job. Yes, stucco will cover many faults. It is also very forgiving to work with.Whether you apply it with a compressor system or with special loop...
