Electrical

Replacing Deck Boards to Minimize Warping Problems and Refinishing Your Wood ...

Enjoying your deck in summer is part of our American suburban culture. But if If you're building or replacing a deck board this summer, then you'll be faced with one of the oldest questions in deck construction.

Should the boards be placed bark side up or bark side down? This is important because wood deck boards will cup and then you wind up with tripping or splintering problems.

Understanding why wood warps and cups and how grain of the wood affects this behavior is helpful. There are lots of opinions are out there about which way to orient wood decking but I'll try and shed some light on how to place your deck boards so you end up with a great looking deck!

And don't forget that refinishing a wood deck is a great summer project that will improve your outdoor living space and extend the life of your deck. And your deck is a significant investment in your home.

Deck refinishing includes several steps such as:

There are several tricks and tips I outline for you in How to Refinish a Wood Deck to make short work of this project and get you professional looking results. I'll give you specific product recommendations and lead you through a very detailed and photo packed tutorial of each step in the refinishing process.

So this Labor Day, fix those warped or splintered deck boards and celebrate the holiday on your new refinished wood deck and enjoy the rest of the summer!

Replacing Deck Boards to Minimize Warping Problems and Refinishing Your Wood Deck originally appeared on About.com Home Repair on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 09:46:03.

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Gardening Question of the Week: Do Row Covers Protect Plants from Frost Damage?

Frost happens, even when you least expect it. Sometimes it's a relief, to finally be able to put your garden to bed. Sometimes it's a freak occurrence and you'd like to keep your plants going a little longer, or you're panicking because you just put them out and wish you hadn't.

Row covers are a quick and easy way to extend your growing season by a couple of weeks. Row Covers, sometimes referred to as Floating Row Covers, are lightweight spun bonded synthetic fabrics that are laid over plants for protection against pests and temperatures. They are light enough to rest on the plants and allow light, water and even fertilizer to get through. In general, they add about 2-4 degrees F. protection. Depending of the weight of the fabric, you could keep your plants growing even when nighttime temps dip down into the mid-20s.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti

Gardening Question of the Week: Do Row Covers Protect Plants from Frost Damage? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 01:02:38.

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Plants for Your Cottage Garden

Do you associate certain plants with your childhood, perhaps cottage garden plants that you witnessed at your grandparents' or great grandparents' house? There's a reason we still grow these plants: They offer benefits that repay us handsomely for keeping them around.

In some cases, cottage garden plants are striking, long-lived flowers that require minimal upkeep (e.g., peonies). In others, they're plants that figure into our cuisine, such as sage. Still others offer medicinal benefits, besides flavoring people's food or serving as striking specimens that require little care.

It should come as no surprise that specimens so beautiful and so beneficial were already long-time cottage garden plants before our grandparents were even born! Read my article to find out how to start your own cottage garden.

Read article: Cottage Garden Plants

Plants for Your Cottage Garden originally appeared on About.com Landscaping on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 06:41:13.

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RIDGID 6 Gallon Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum Review

This shop vacuum does not make me happy.  Just sayin' here.

I tend to be a soft reviewer.  If the product generally falls within the boundaries of what it's supposed to do--well, God bless.

But this RIDGID 6 gallon wet/dry shop vacuum barely hits the outside boundary.  The caster wheels insist on falling off.  The hoses and electrical cord have no place to go.

It has barely enough suction to pick up the sand and sawdust that the carpenter ants tracked into my furnace room.  It's light-weight and chintzy.  After only 3 months, it's already falling apart.  Three months.

Do yourself a favor and spend a few extra bucks for a decent shop vac.  You get what you pay for, huh?

ConsumerSearch has a few shop vac reviews.  While I'm not sure I'd buy another RIDGID vac, they do list a hugely expensive ($500+) Bosch AirSweep that looks like it would do the job just fine.

RIDGID 6 Gallon Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum Review originally appeared on About.com Home Renovations on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 10:00:42.

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