If you are building your own home or if you are retrofitting your window openings for new windows it is important that you always follow the manufacture recommendations for door and window openings but in general all rough openings for windows and doors are made two inches wider and two inches taller than the size of the door or window that will fit the opening. Often this size is reduced to 1 inch on …
How To Increase Horsepower And Torque On Your Stock Engine
Engines
If you are like most people there are times when you wish your vehicle had a little more strength but upgrading your engine can seem pretty complex. In this How To we will look at the basic ways to increase your engine’s power and talk about the cost and how complex it can get for the average weekend mechanic.
The first thing you need to do is understand that there are only so many things …
How To Avoid The Worst Mistakes When Buying Land For Your Home
Home Buying Guides, Homesteading
When you are thinking about purchasing a property for a homestead there are a few big things that you need to look into before finalizing any deal. This list should not be thought of as the only things you need to consider and research but it should be used as a starting point.
Who Owns The Property
This is very important especially when buying property online. If a piece of land is advertised for sale you …
How To Find Water On Land Before You Buy It
Homesteading, Plumbing
If you are considering buying land to build a home on probably the most important thing you have to make sure you have access to is potable water. Without water you can’t grow crops or maintain animals but most important you can’t survive yourself. The alternative is to truck in water and that really isn’t an option for many people.
So how do you find water on your land? The easiest way is to …
How To Clear Your Field For Planting Crops
Homesteading, Vegetables
If you are lucky enough to have enough land to plant a large amount of crops or maybe if you have a field that has been mismanaged for a long time and you just want to start over you have a lot of options for clearing the area from tall grasses and preparing it for planting.
The first thing is we aren’t talking about converting a wooded lot or one with a large amount of …
How To Enter Into A Contract To Purchase Land For Your Homestead
Home Buying Guides, Homesteading
A friend of ours is considering buying about 6 acres of land from a friend of their family and they expect to work on the land slowly and build on it within the next 5 years or so. They are asking for advice on what they need to look for before they get into the deal.The price is extremely reasonable and under $20,000 total.
First I want to say I am not a lawyer and …
How To Door Lock And Hinge Maintenance For Squeaky Doors And Sticky Locks
Doors & Windows
Its that time of year when you are looking for things to do around the house that you might not have time to do when its nice out. One of the things that makes life a little nicer is taking care of your door locks and hinges. When you have a door that squeaks every time you open it or lock latches that stick it can be a bit of an annoyance. With a …
How To Get Rid Of Rust In Your Toilet Bowl
Bathrooms
Rust in your toilet bowl is one of the problems that everyone faces and the first thing you have to realize is its not due to not cleaning. Unfortunately many toilet manufacturers include steel parts in their tank equipment and over time even if they are chrome plated they will begin to rust. Once this happens there really is no going back. For this reason the best way to remove rust from your toilet …
How To Cure Moldy Grout Lines In Your Bathroom
Bathrooms, Kitchen, Tile
Most people will experience mold in their bathroom and thats because mold only needs a couple things to grow. Warmth, Moisture and some type of Food Source is all mold needs to grow anywhere in your home. Mold that gets into your grout will penetrate and get behind the tile and eventually into the drywall or other wall materials and could end even up eating away the studs or floor boards in your bathroom. …
How To Timber Frame Building And Cutting Your Own Lumber
Framing, Tool Guides, Your Workshop
One of the most expensive aspects of Timber Frame Building is the cost of the large dimension lumber that you need for construction. Not only is it expensive but the ability to purchase the materials will vary depending on where you are located. If you are considering building your own timber frame building and you have the resources in your area to cut your own or purchase raw logs for milling then you might …
How To Introduction To SIPs Structural Insulated Panels In Home Building
Framing
There are a variety of different methods for framing, insulating and finishing interior walls in homes. Normally in conventional stick frame construction these trades are separated and the work is accomplished by different trades at different times in the project. In SIP construction these functions are merged in one step where exterior sheathing and interior drywall sandwiches an internal insulation to speed construction in a variety of building types.
Initially SIPs were designed for timber …
How To Move HVAC Ducts To Their Proper Wall Height Location
Heating & Cooling
A friend of ours asks about their older single story ranch home without a basement that was retrofitted back in the 1970’s to change from Baseboard Hot Water from an Oil Heater to Forced Hot Air from a Gas Heater. In their case the install was done pretty poorly and they need to change the location of the register vents to increase the output and heating ability of the heater.
Although in this case the …