Construction, Remodeling, Pro Tool Reviews, Best Practices, How-To Tips, Tool Buying Guides, Home and Garden, and Solutions to Remodeling Problems Targeted to the Professional and Do-It- Yourselfer
Trade Skills Gap – Help Wanted We’re Hiring! Everyone I speak to these days has the same story; “Good help is hard, no impossible, to find.” We’ve all heard of the “Skilled trade gap,” We were now two or three generations into a world where American high schools have shifted their focus to preparing students…
So you want to go out on your own? Many — may be most — tradesmen and women get the urge sooner or later to strike out on their own. To work for themselves. To be in control of their jobs and fate. To get “all the money”. But: is it right for you? Hanging…
Ideal Circuit Identifier 61-534 Review By Ralph Mroz We’ve all been there. We need to shut down the power to a circuit, but we don’t know which breaker controls it. If we have a partner maybe the panel will be close enough to the work area that we can yell to each other as one…
Solving A Cold Basement Floor With Electric Radiant Heat We were recently asked to install electric radiant warming in a basement bathroom, concrete floor. The problem with concrete floors is that the cold concrete absorbs heat energy, significantly increasing the time it takes for the tile floor to warm up. In some cases, floors may…
Hydronic Radiator Slant Fin Elements Facing Wrong Direction Over the years I’ve had folks reach out to me complaining that they have rooms that do not heat up well. The solutions all varied; including zone valves, circulator pumps, relays, and whether the thermostat is working properly. Sometimes as simple as a battery needs replacing. Slant Fin…
Denim, Duck, Twill – What’s the Difference? by Ralph Mroz For most of us, the work clothes we wear are tools just like the tools in the pick-up bed or our tool boxes. If they don’t provide good service our ability to perform our jobs probably suffers. By “good service” I mean they last a…
The 10 1/2 Project Commandments Witten by Ralph Mroz These are the ten and a half commandments that define all home improvement and construction projects. They’ve been learned – often the hard way – over the years by pros, who reflexively build their implications into the estimates and timetables that they give to clients. You could…
How-To Avoid Freezing Pipes This winter is predicted to be a COLD one, and that means frozen water pipes….. brrrrrrr! Before it gets cold take a moment to evaluate your water pipes and take the precautions now and save from costly repairs later. Preventing pipes from freezing should be done at the time of construction,…
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