Drafty windows can cause your electric bill to jump dramatically during the winter. If you have an older heater it is likely to cost you even more. Older heaters sometimes are just run on heater coils with a forced air fan (now called emergency heat). A strong draft in the house can [...]

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Ever try to put a screw in hardwood only to tear up the screw head with your screw driver or drill/driver. Try lubricating your wood screws with a little Gulf(paraffin) wax or beeswax before you put them in the wood. Of course this should be used in conjunction with pre-drilling. Just take [...]

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Do you have a toaster that trips its breaker every time you use it. Here is some simple math to help you out with this problem.
** Electrical law for finding Amps from Wattage and Voltage is: >>
Watts/Volts = Amps
Household voltage is usually 120V for plugs and lights and 240 for the dryer ,AC/Heat, Oven. [...]

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One thing you are guaranteed to find in an old house in Charleston is rotted wood. The damp/humid environment is the cause of many undesirable effects on building materials. The problem with rot in an old house is that the rotted area is likely on a piece of wood work that is either [...]

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Tack Cloth is a sticky cloth you can buy at the hardware store or on the internet for finishing paint and varnish projects. This cloth is used to remove dust between sanding stages when finishing a project. Ok….good information but how does this effect me? – If you ever get the hankering to [...]

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Do you need to square a large project like a deck or flooring layout? The Greek math guru Pythagoras came up with a simple rule to make a 90 degree angle. Its the 3-4-5 triangle. This is applied to a project by measuring 3 feet on one leg, 4 feet on the next [...]

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If you do not have a trim nail gun crown molding can be a daunting task. Its never easy to work over head with small nails and a hammer with both of your hands already holding up a piece of trim. I use this trick whenever I am unlucky enough to get stuck [...]

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Leaking Roof, bathtub, cracks in your trim?  This is probably because the wrong caulking was used in your house.  It is very common to see a latex painters caulk used in one’s bathtub or tile job.   Latex painters caulk is certainly not the right caulk for this job.   I will list a some [...]

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Have you ever been in a bathroom or any room for that matter and noticed a crack filled with what looks like hand smeared roasted marshmallow? It is common for people to apply caulk with the gun and just let it set without smoothing, or put too much on. It is also common to use [...]

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Carpet tack strips are very easy to install if you are putting them on a wood floor.  Not so on old concrete! There are tack strips made for concrete, they work very nicely on concrete that has not aged for 20+ years.  Concrete is constantly curing during its lifetime, becoming harder and more brittle as [...]

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