Tub Refinishing Bathroom remodeling often includes installing a new tub. The expense comes largely from the labor involved in removing the old tub and installing the new one. Refinishing your existing tub is an option that makes good financial sense in a lot of situations.

More info: -Walls are not impacted when you refinish a new tub (saving $). -You can choose a completely new color for the tub and surrounding tile. -There are a number of refinishing franchises, local mom & pop operations, and DIY kits. Professionals produce, well, professional results that probably can't be matched by the DIYer. -The materials used to refinish a tub generally fall into three categories: epoxies, enamels, and urethanes. Advances in technology have made epoxies somewhat obsolete but the most critical aspect of refinishing is the preparation prior to the finished material. Talk with some folks who have had a tub done and don't be afraid to ask a prospective refinisher the hard questions.

- Stephen Corwin

Socket To Me

Sooner or later, the time will come when the bathtub faucets need some attention. First you remove the handles and then you remove the chrome escutcheons and then you are down to the brass stems. Typically the part of the stem you need to get a wrench on is buried in the wall. Now what? Tearing out the wall might work but surely there is a better way. Plumber's sockets to the rescue! Plumber's sockets are long, thin-walled socket wrenches made specifically for this task. They typically come in sets, can be found at the usual places, and cost a lot less than one visit by a plumber.

- Stephen Corwin

Against The Grain

Sanding is one task that is almost universally disliked. With this in mind, it makes sense to do this job as efficiently as possible. Wood is almost always sanded with the grain or in the direction of the length of the board. Sanding across the grain tears the wood fibers and makes a smooth surface more difficult to achieve. There are situations that require sanding across the grain. If a cupped board is to be sanded flat, it must be sanded across the grain. A good example is floor sanding. Old floors are often less than flat and may need to be sanded diagonally to flatten before sanding to a smooth finish.

- Stephen Corwin

Brick Exteriors

The exterior of choice in many parts of the country is brick. Brick is long lasting and low maintenance. While there is little to worry about with a brick exterior, there comes a time when the mortar may need some attention (tuck-pointing). Routinely inspect areas where brick and other materials come together. The joint between brick and window/door should be checked for weather tightness and caulked if necessary. Make note of any cracks in bricks or joints as they may indicate structural problems.

- Stephen Corwin

Pipe Clamps

The ends of long bars and pipe clamps often stick out during a clamping job. To avoid bumping into them, mark them by placing a brightly colored cloth over the ends of each clamp that extends past the edge of the bench. This way you will not hurt yourself or tear your clothes.

Click here to visit Butch Rough's Web site! www.roughco.com/

- Butch Rough

Shut The Window!

If the curtains are blowing around like the window is open but it's not, then you've got a problem. If a real fix is just not in the cards, consider some temporary solutions.

-Caulk rope or removable caulk can be used to fill the gap and stop the wind, a great solution for renters. The cost of these materials will probably be saved on the next heating bill and they are easily removed without damaging the window or door.

-Interior plastic storms also work. In essence, they are a thin plastic film that can be stretched tightly over the inside of a window, sealing the entire area.

Working With Epoxy

To keep epoxy from setting up too quickly in warm weather or in a heated workshop, turn over an unopened cold can of a soft drink, then mix the ingredients in the recessed bottom of the can. The cold aluminum can slows the setting up process, and the recess in the bottom of the can makes a good miniature mixing bowl.

Appliance Shorts

-To keep seals and gaskets from drying out, run your dishwasher at least once a week -- a short rinse cycle will do. -Garbage disposers work hard and complain little but occasionally they jam. Make sure that the power is off and then look on the bottom of the unit in the cabinet. There is probably a hole for a hex wrench that can be used to manually un-jam the disposer. -If the flame on your gas range isn't what it used to be, the burner ports may be plugged up. Carefully clean out the holes around the burner with a toothpick to remove accumulated food and gunk.

Weatherizing: Not Just For Winter

Most folks think of weatherizing as something that has to do with winter. While it does, the bigger picture is energy conservation and that is important year round. Keeping heat where you want it is the name of the game and that usually means inside in the winter and outside in the summer. If you have an unconditioned space in your house (for example, an attic or crawl space access door), make sure that it is not robbing you of heat or AC. All access panels or doors to these spaces should be insulated and weather-stripped to stop any heat or air movement from the conditioned space.

Finish Carpentry: Box Beams

A box-beam ceiling adds a touch of elegance to any room. Box-beam ceilings are usually found in more formal areas, such as living rooms, dining rooms, studies, and family rooms. Because a box beam effectively lowers the height of the ceiling, it looks best in rooms with a ceiling height of at least nine feet or higher.

Humidifier Maintenance

Time to service your humidifier? Different units have different needs but in general there issues that need to be addressed. Scale and rust build-up and bacteria are constant concerns when it comes to humidifiers. The continual evaporation of water leaves calcium and scale behind. A reservoir full of water presents bacteria issues. Typically vinegar will dissolve the build-up and chlorine bleach will disinfect the reservoir. In all cases, check the owner's manual for the specifics on how to maintain your model.

ice Curves Installing a sidewalk? Concrete is typically placed in forms until it sets. Straight walks are easy to build and curves can be done as easily with the right materials. For a curve in the sidewalk, gradual turns can be made with regular plywood but tight turns require special plywood called bender board. One of the most common pitfalls when building forms is inadequate support. Forms should be staked about every four feet, at all form board ends, and every foot or so to hold the curves in place.

- Stephen Corwin

Japanese Saws: Dozuki The dozuki is a 9.5-inch backsaw designed for cutting joints, like western tenon and dovetail saws. The dovetail version with 23 PPI is capable of sawing an especially narrow kerf--a real advantage when cutting fine joints. The teeth are graded with smaller ones toward the heel of the saw for the starting cut.

Sharpening Saws

A saw needs to be sharpened as soon as it requires any real effort to drive it through the wood. Most woodworkers are happy to put the edge back on a saw, but might prefer to send it to a professional when it requires resetting. Resetting is necessary after four or five sharpenings or if you find the saw constantly runs off course due to uneven settings.

Click here to visit Butch Rough's Web site! www.roughco.com/

- Butch Rough

Masonry Cleaning

Most folks with brick houses consider brick to be maintenance free -- and they are mostly right. Over time, though, brick gets dirty and stained and paint spattered. If you go to the home center and ask for something to clean your brick, they will most likely recommend muriatic acid or some variation. But this is the wrong product for cleaning dirty or stained masonry. Muriatic dissolves mortar and etches concrete but it won't clean it. Check with a masonry supply house and ask for a heavy-duty detergent for masonry cleaning. As with all chemicals, read and follow all the directions on the label.

- Stephen Corwin

To cut a round aperture in a board, first drill a starter hole for the blade just inside the marked area. Then lower the blade into the hole, switch on the saw, and cut the aperture in one pass. To cut a square hole, follow the same procedure but cut into each corner and back off about one inch, then make a curved cut to bring the blade in line with the next side of the hole. Finally remove the triangular waste left in each corner by sawing back in the opposite direction.

Click here to visit Butch Rough's Web site! www.roughco.com/

- Butch Rough

You can use empty tin cans, frozen juice cans, or short lengths of two-inch PVC pipe to transform the deep, wide pockets of a nail pouch into a convenient tote for wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers. If you use cans, remove their tops and bottoms. Glue or tape the cylinders together to keep them from shifting around, and slip them into the pouches to create dividers.

Click here to visit Butch Rough's Web site!

- Butch Rough

HEPA This! When it comes to shop vacs, do you really need a HEPA (high efficiency particulate) air filter? A HEPA filter catches 99.97% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. (A micron is 1/1,000,000 of a meter. A human hair measures about a hundred microns.) Typical shop and construction dust probably doesn't warrant a HEPA filter but if allergens are an issue, then a HEPA filter probably makes sense.

Most HEPA replacement filters can be cleaned and reused, which helps justify the price difference. A word of caution: Adding a HEPA filter to a standard vacuum doesn't necessarily guarantee true HEPA performance.

- Stephen Corwin

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2002