So here’s one from the “Couldn’t make it up if I tried” Department—and yet another reason why a tool pouch without a Hyde multi-tool in it is an invitation to work harder than necessary. While on set at Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s Knoxville, TN project working with the show’s project management team I had to [...]
Extreme Makeover Joplin: Tooling Up
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Tooling Up in Joplin’s Cunningham Park with Extreme Makeover. It took 10,000 volunteers and multiple builders to make Extreme Makeover: Home Edition‘s 200th—and final—episode a reality. Seven houses in seven days plus our playground and memorial wall in the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin, MO is no small feat. And like any endeavor where many are [...]
FixitUp FreshStart: Our New Front Door
January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Old house remodeling is often half challenge, half opportunity–and always a whole lotta work. And when opportunity knocks in an old house renovation, knock often first refers to knocking something down. Unlike modern homes which are built with conventional framing and interior drywall all neatly organized into a 4 foot matrix (FYI, framing with studs, [...]
Organization at the Gym
December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I spend a lot of my time on a home improvement project trying to be efficient, trying to save steps so I can do my best work in the time we have allotted. It’s sometimes boring to clean up a small mess than to keep walking over it and kicking it around, but at the [...]
Tool Review: Stanley PowerLock 25 Foot Tape Measure
December 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
You’re going to love this. Here is a tool review of a brand new tool that I’ve had in my pouch for XX years…I mean xx years…since high school, how’s that? I bought my first tape along with my first tool apron and hammer at Town Paint and Supply—a place that was old then. (And [...]
MyFixitUpLife tree: For my mom, 1945-2011
December 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I still have sap on my hands from making the MyFixitUpLife “tree.” I borrowed an idea from timberframers who nail a tree branch to the frame as they build it, in honor of the trees that supplied the wood for the home. In some ways it is emblematic of those who won’t be with us [...]
Holiday Hot Water
December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Question: Here come the holidays and at my house that means lots of overnight family and guests, meals — and lots dishwasher loads and showers. Last year, I tried timing the dishwasher runs when I knew no one was showering or about to shower. But then one day I opened the dishwasher in mid cycle [...]
Snow Removal
November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After a big snowstorm I have to admit, I kind of like to get out there and get after it. There’s more than a little joy in using the snow-thrower and maybe a little primeval need that gets met from digging out. However, there’s only so much throwing and digging I’m interested in doing, so [...]
FixitUpFind: The Snow Wovel
November 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Snow Wovel—or walking snow shovel—is a contraption of sorts. It looks like a combination between an old fashioned bicycle with the huge front wheel, a giant shovel scoop, and a trebuchet. Odd though it may be, however, it appears to work for removing copious amounts of snow—then ejecting it a few feet beyond the [...]
Winter Weather Tips
November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I like winter. I like snow. I like the opportunity to use my snow thrower. However, I could live without some of the damage winter weather can cause, notably to my vehicle. I drive a 4-wheel drive and my wife drives an all-wheel drive, so when it snows, we can leave the house. But, so [...]
