How To Replace Start Capacitor On Dust Collector Motor

By Todd Fratzel on Dust Collection

Defective Motor Start Capacitor Prevents Motor from Starting Recently my dust collector quit working and it was quickly apparent how instrumental the dust collector is in the woodshop. After getting over the shock of the breakdown I started trouble-shooting the problem. It didn’t take long to have several different people tell me it sounded like…

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Ice Dams

By Todd Fratzel on Roofing

Ice Dams Each year Ice Dams cause damage to thousands of homes across the Country. Understanding the causes of ice dams is the first step in preventing them. Ice damns happen when melting roof snow pools behind dams of ice at the roof’s edge and then leaks under the roofing material into the house. Typically…

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How To Build Shaker Style Cabinet Doors

By Todd Fratzel on Cabinetry

Building Shaker Style Cabinet Doors with Beadboard Panels Building custom cabinetry can seem very daunting especially when you consider the doors and drawer fronts. However, with some basic instruction, building cabinet doors and drawers isn’t that difficult. In this article I want to show you how to build Shaker Style Cabinet Doors. Shaker style doors…

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Give The Gift of Doing – The Home Depot & Ryobi

By Todd Fratzel on Home Improvement

Last Minute Gift Ideas for the DIY’er In Your Family We’re in the home stretch folks with less than two weeks until Christmas. It seems every year we wait until the last minute to get gifts for those really hard to shop for people. If one of those people on the list is a DIY’er,…

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Top Five Money Savings Tips for New Home Construction

By Todd Fratzel on Framing, Home Improvement Cost Savings

Save Big The Next Time You Build Considering how fragile the economy is right now and how timid banks are to loan money for new homes I thought I’d share my experience with saving money on new home construction. It wasn’t that long ago when getting loans was really easy and building large homes was…

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How To Stain Pine To Look Like Mahogany or Brazilian Cherry

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

Staining Softwoods Dark Colors Like Mahogany Recently I started building a custom built-in entertainment center that consists of white painted wood cabinets and a wood countertop that needed to match some existing Brazilian Cherry in the house. In an effort to save time and money I wanted to build the 10′ long countertop from plywood…

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Cyber Monday – Buy Tools Recommended By The Pro’s

By Todd Fratzel on Home Improvement

Tool Gift Guides – By Pro’s Who Know Today is one of the biggest shopping days of the year and it’s the perfect time to buy a gift for someone that’s a contractor, carpenter, DIY’er or professional tradesman. Every year I create a great holiday Gift Guide to help you pick the best tools and…

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How To Insulate Basement Walls

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Foundations, Insulation

How To Insulate Basement Walls Insulating a basement properly is rather challenging in cold climates. In this article I’d like to discuss how to insulate basement walls in cold climates. Insulating basement walls in cold climates is a great way to keep your home warmer and drier. However, special care should be used when insulating…

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