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.

Ready Wrench Review

By Todd Fratzel on Hand Tools, Product Reviews

Ready Wrench by Black & Decker Black & Decker continues to role out innovative tools for home owners and DIY’ers. The Ready Wrench is another example of their innovative tools. The Ready Wrench is a single hand tool that combines 16 popular standard and metric socket sizes in one handy easy to use tool. This…

Continue reading »

DEWALT Impact Ready Review | Impact Driver Accessories

By Todd Fratzel on Power Tools, Product Reviews

DEWALT Impact Ready Accessories Every job that I’m on these days has every trade using some type of impact driver. They have become popular with the electricians, plumbers, HVAC guys and our carpenters can’t survive without them. We use them for driving screws, lags and truss locks into the engineered lumber. Impact drivers are capable…

Continue reading »

Insulating A Finished Basement

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Insulation

Insulating Basement Walls Insulating basement walls properly is extremely important if you want to enjoy your finished basement investment. Every year thousands of basements are finished with poor insulation details that lead to mold, mildew and moisture problems that render the newly finished space un-usable. One of the most popular topics on this site has…

Continue reading »

Cabinet Trim Makes All The Difference

By Todd Fratzel on Cabinetry

Cabinet Accessory Trim Anyone can install cabinets in their home and save money. But ultimately the difference between a professional looking kitchen and an amature looking kitchen are the trim details. Our new kitchen includes matching wood soffit that completes the top of cabinetry up to the finished ceiling. The original cabinet design used a…

Continue reading »

Loam Driveway Shoulders Extend Pavement Life

By Todd Fratzel on Driveways

Driveway Tip – Maintain Your Shoulders This summer we had a new layer of asphalt pavement installed on our asphalt driveway which raised the height just over an inch. Leaving the pavement higher than the surrounding landscaping (our lawn) or shoulder means our driveway is susceptible to premature failure from wheel loads. Driveway Shoulders Driveway…

Continue reading »

Top 50 Construction Blogs

By Todd Fratzel on Design

Today I was pleasantly surprised to see that our site was listed in the Top 50 Construction Blogs. The list is broken into five categories including: construction businesses, consumers, green construction, architecture and design and landscape design and construction. I hope you’ll find the list of Top 50 Construction Blogs useful. I found several sites…

Continue reading »

Is Your House Ready For Winter?

By Todd Fratzel on Energy Conservation, Home Improvement Cost Savings, Mechanical

Pre-Winter Checklist The weather here in New England is extremely harsh in the winter so I thought it a good time to talk about a pre-winter checklist for your home. Taking some time in the Fall to prepare your home for winter weather is likely to save you money and extend the life of your…

Continue reading »

DIY Cabinet Hardware

By Todd Fratzel on Cabinetry

Installing Cabinet Hardware Installing new cabinet hardware is an easy DIY project that anyone can do and it adds some great detail to ordinary cabinets. Today cabinet hardware is available in every possible finish and style you can dream up. Whether you’re updating older cabinets or installing all new cabinets the finishing touch certainly involves…

Continue reading »

Copyright © 2009-2023 Front Steps Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Home Construction & Improvement™ is a Trademark of Front Steps Media, LLC.