Archives: Interior Spaces

National Home Remodeling Month

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

May is National Home Remodeling Month so I thought it would be fitting to talk about easy home improvements and remodeling ideas that DIY folks can do themselves. Remodeling your home can add value, efficiency and peace of mind for years to come. One of the most popular remodeling ideas is painting a room in…

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Applying Water Based Urethane To Hardwood

By Todd Fratzel on Finish Carpentry, Painting and Finishing

I learned something new today that and I thought it was worth sharing. Because of today’s strict new VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) laws most Urethanes are now water based. Most wood fillers however are still an oil based product. So you ask what’s the big deal? If you apply a water based urethane over an…

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John Deere X300 Lawn Mower Maintenance

By Todd Fratzel on Landscaping, Maintanence

Last year I bought a John Deere X300 lawn mower with the mulching deck. Seeing that spring is just around the corner (late start here in snow country) I want to get the mower ready for the upcoming summer season. The following maintenance items are suggested annually: 1. Lubricate front axle pivot, axle spindles, mower…

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Cutting Dados with a Router

By Todd Fratzel on Cabinetry, Finish Carpentry

I’m getting ready to build some book shelves for the new basement storage room. To build the book shelves I’m going to need to cut dados in the side panels of the shelves. The easiest way to cut the dados is to use a router with a straight plunge cutting bit. I’m going to make…

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Basement Storage Room Is Finished

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Closets & Storage

Basement Storage Room with Shelving Today I finished our new storage room in the basement. This storage room was needed badly so we could organize all of our stuff that has been piling up in the basement. Two of the walls have these 24 inch deep shelves spaced approximately 30 inches apart. I still plan…

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Creating Storage Room with Attic Trusses

By Todd Fratzel on Closets & Storage, Design, Framing

Attic Trusses Create Attic Space An inexpensive way to create additional storage space in your new home is to use attic trusses instead of conventional “common trusses”. Most modern homes that are built today use a common truss that doesn’t really leave any usable space for storage. Older homes were framed using rafters and collar…

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Basement Storage Room

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Closets & Storage, Insulation

Building A Basement Storage Room The basement storage room project is coming along nicely. I recently wrote a couple of posts, Finished Basement – Step 1 Insulation and Basement Framing and Insulation Update, about how to properly insulate a concrete foundation wall in a basement. Now that the walls are insulated I’ve started finishing off…

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Finished Basements – Insulation Method

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Insulation

Finished Basement Insulation I’m preparing to “finish” one of the rooms in the basement. The room is actually going to be a storage room so I use the term “finish” with a grain of salt. I plan on building some shelves to store some of our “junk” that has accumulated in the portion of the…

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