About the author

Todd Fratzel

I'm full time builder for a large construction company in New Hampshire. I run their design-build division that specializes in custom homes, commercial design-build projects and sub-divisions. I'm also a licensed civil and structural engineer with extensive experience in civil and structural design and home construction. My hope is that I can share my experience in the home construction, home improvement and home renovation profession with other builders and home owners. I'm also the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Tool Box Buzz. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or you'd like to inquire about advertising on this site.

Farmers Porch On Colonial Style House

By Todd Fratzel on Curb Appeal, Decks & Porches, House Plans

Farmers Porch When I designed our new house my wife only had a couple of must haves. The biggest wish on her list was a full length farmers porch. I was skeptical at first because I wasn’t exactly sure how our large colonial style home would look with such a large porch on it. As…

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Radiant Heat – Options and Alternatives for Remodeling

By Todd Fratzel on Heating

Radiant Heat – Not Just For New Construction I’ve written about Radiant Heat many times on this site. While most of my past focus has been on new construction I wanted to share some great examples of how Radiant Heat can also be incorporated into remodeling projects. Before I get into that topic I first…

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Outfeed Table for Delta Unisaw

By Todd Fratzel on Benches

Custom Outfeed Table Built To Match Unisaw Outfeed tables are one of the most useful companions of a table saw. They making cutting large sheet stock easier, safer, and more accurate. In addition, they often serve as an assembly table and storage cabinet. In this article I’d like to share a design that I created…

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Building Material Costs Outpacing Inflation

By Todd Fratzel on Construction Costs

Bad News for New Home Construction Market January 2013 – A recent article from the LA Times is painting a bad picture for builders this year. The cost of essential building materials are rising significantly and blowing past the cost of inflation. Combine this with the low appraisals that lenders are handing out and we’ve…

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Is Building To Code Enough?

By Todd Fratzel on Design & Planning

Building To Code = Building To Bare Minimum Specifications Somewhere along the line the general public has mistakenly been made to believe that building a home to meet code means that it’s built to some great standard. I hear it all the time; “this house was built to the latest code”, followed by a question…

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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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