How to Get The Most From Your Day

By Robert Robillard

Time Management and Being Productive It always seems that there is never enough time in the day or days in the week to get things done. Time management for me its balancing a full time career, a part time job, estimates, carpentry billing, family, driving to sporting events, and home maintenance. So what gives? What…

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Using Foam Insulation To Seal Windows

By Robert Robillard

Best Practice: Foam Insulation For Windows For years builders and remodeling contractors have been stuffing fiberglass insulation between the door and window jambs and the house framing as a way of “insulating” or sealing air leaks.  Using Foam Insulation To Seal Windows is a better alternative and will seal out air leaks. The problem with…

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How To Patch Cedar Shingles

By Robert Robillard

Weaving Cedar Shingles The picture above shows cedar shingles properly woven into an existing wall of older shingles. The photo below shows how not to do it. In the picture below the shingles were installed into an old window opening and not woven properly.     This results in two,  large vertical seam lines that…

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How To Replace Door Sill Rot

By Robert Robillard

Poor Flashing, Water Damage And Carpenter Ants Defeat Entry Door A quick look at this entry door did not show anything unusual but a closer inspection revealed that the bottom of the door and sidelights had been spliced “quickly and poorly” prior to us.  This article is about how to replace door sill rot. Two…

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Re-using Plastic Water Bottles Can Be Dangerous

By Robert Robillard

What’s So Dangerous With Water Bottles? A 1999 Natural Resources Defense Council study found that, with required quarterly testing, tap water may even be of a higher quality than bottled, which is only tested annually. Water aside, re-using plastic water bottles can be dangerous and pose more of a contamination threat than the water.  …

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Eco-Garage Design

By Robert Robillard

Eco-Garage Sponsored By Dwell Magazine And Lexus Image: first-prize winner -Chunsheh Teo of Ratio Architects This post shows a recent Eco-Garage design submission that architect and friend, Dan Broggi, submitted for an eco-garage sponsored contest by dwell magazine and Lexus. Click on the photos to enlarge. The design is called the “Jewelry Case Garage.” Residential…

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Self-Charging Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

By Robert Robillard

Low-Profile, Self-charging Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms A new slender, low profile smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarms are now available from KIDDE. This is a nice option for people who want the protection of smoke detection but always hated the look of the large bulky sensor on the ceiling. The new alarm line, called…

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Got Carpenter Ants?

By Robert Robillard

  Damage From Carpenter Ants I must admit, I have made a lot of money from carpenter ants and have even been accused of harboring a carpenter ant farm at home,  just kidding! As Carpenter ant colonies grow they expand outward, producing what are called satellite colonies.   Satellite colonies eventually mature into hundreds of ant…

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