Easily Install a New Lamp Post

Want to add some light to your yard and character as well? How about a lamp post?

Some clients of mine in Inglewood wanted me to install a lamp post that they had purchased to illuminate some stairs leading to a parking area at the side of their home. The light will help them not fall down the stairs, and look great in the daytime as well.

Installing a lamp post is actually fairly simple. The most complicated part is probably the wiring. It's much like wiring any other light fixture. If that's above your head, of course, call an electrician.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Find the perfect location for your new lamp post and dig a hole. Follow the recommended depth in the pole's instructions, but mine was around 18".

2. Put the post in the hole and fasten it to something so it will remain plumb while you do the concrete.

3. Figure out where you want the wire to go. In our case, we could go nearby into the home's basement. I dug a small ditch and buried a 14-2 waterproof wire. (It's the grey stuff). (If you're lost, call an electrician...) Think before you dig so you don't bust a water pipe or something.

4. Connect the wiring. In this case, the lamp actually has a sensor that will turn it on when it gets dark. I guess you wouldn't have to even have a switch for this. Even still, I installed a switch near the front door so the homeowners could turn it off if they wanted to.

5. With the electrical done, let's add some cement to that hole. Go get a bag or two of fast setting concrete that you can use to set posts without mixing. It's great. You just pour the bag into into the hole, then slowly pour around a gallon of water on top and let it seep into the mix. Within approximately 40 minutes, the concrete will set up and you can remove the supports.

That's about it. Expect to pay $100-150 for the post and fixture, and maybe another $25 if you don't have a post-hole-digger.. :)

-Peter

Waterproof the Tile Shower With Schluter Kerdi

What the heck is Schluter Kerdi???

It's a fairly new system for waterproofing showers that involves installing a membrane (the Kerdi) throughout the shower and over their special Kerdi drain. When finished you'll have a completely waterproof, sealed shower. In fact, it's so waterproof that you can install the Kerdi right over regular old drywall. That says a lot.

Let's look at how I installed the Schluter Kerdi shower system when I was repairing and old leaky shower pan liner that was decades old. In my last post (this link), I tore out the old tile down to the framing. Next, I replaced the subfloor with new plywood and added 1/2" Hardibacker on the walls. (Yes, I could have used 1/2" drywall, but I had the Hardibacker on hand...)

INSTALL THE PRE-SLOPED SHOWER TRAY
The older method to doing a shower floor included making a sloped bed of mortar that would direct water toward the drain. This needed more time, labor and expertise. For this shower, I used a Schluter pre-sloped shower tray. It's made out of some kind of foam and is easily cut to fit your particular shower.


After cutting the tray to size, I dry-laid it in place to mark the spot for the drain. Once the drain hole was cut out, I covered the floor with unmodified thinset mortar using a 3/16" v-notch trowel. The shower tray sets in this. You can walk around on it to make sure it's well embedded in the mortar. Just be careful not to crush it with your knees as you are working- it is foam after all.

INSTALL THE KERDI MEMBRANE
I'm not going to go through every detail of installing the membrane. If you are interested make sure to get the Schluter installation DVD and check out www.Schluter.com. The DVD comes with the shower kit and is great at showing every step along the way.

Basically, the membrane is installed over a thin layer of mortar and then flattened out and embedded using the straight edge of your trowel. The edges must all overlap by a minimum of 2". I started by using something they call Kerdi-Band in all the bottom corners. (It's just a thin pre-cut strip of the Kerdi material.)

It helped to have two trowels or a putty knife so you can hold the membrane in the corner with one trowel while you smooth out the other side with the other one. It's important to have tight square corners so that your tile will fit together correctly.

Once all the corners are done I installed larger pieces of Kerdi on the walls that overlap the corner pieces. Smooth them out to make sure there aren't any air bubbles underneath. Schluter also makes special corner pieces that a pre-formed to fit into corners and over the curb corners.

INSTALL THE KERDI DRAIN

The walls are done- let's do the floor. I covered the floor with a layer of mortar and then pressed the Kerdi Drain into place. The flange has openings that will help it firmly integrate into the mortar. I spread a little more mortar around the flange and installed the Kerdi membrane, making sure to fully embed it, especially around the drain.

That's it! Let it set overnight and we'll be ready to install the tile.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

How To Install PreFinished Oak Flooring

It's time to install the hardwood flooring in the hallway outside the new bathroom that I added to this home in Donelson. The homeowner wanted to match the hardwood in the rest of the home as much as possible so he picked out some pre-finished 3/4" red oak flooring for me to install.

The process for installation is very similar to installing unfinished hardwood. Here are the basics:


PREPARE
Before you begin, get the hardwood ahead of time and let it acclimate to the humidity inside the home. It's important to have a flat and solid subfloor to install the hardwood over. Over the subfloor I installed 15 lb felt paper underlayment across the floor, making sure to overlap the courses by several inches. Staple it down in a few places and make sure there's not anything trapped underneath that will make a 'hump'.

LAYING THE FLOOR


It's time to install the first piece of hardwood. Measure out from the starting wall and make a chalk line. It's good to use the straightest or longest wall as your guide. In my case, I wanted to make sure the line was parallel to the bathroom wall where I would end up. Select the longest pieces that you have and face-nail the first run in place all the way along your chalk line. It's important that your first piece is straight because it will be the guide for the rest of the flooring.

What's FACE-NAIL? Face-nail means that you nail through the 'face' of the board or the top where it will be seen as opposed to most of the flooring that will be nailed through the tongue so the nails are hidden.

Before I start laying the rest of the flooring I like to sort a batch of it by length. Usually, I would sort a couple cases at a time. You can see in the picture how I would divide it up. This just makes it easier to grab the pieces that I need without sorting through a stack of lumber each time.


With the flooring organized, grab one of the longest pieces and then a series of pieces that are each 6-8" shorter. When you lay them out like the picture above, it will stagger the seams as they are installed. By the way, if you are working with a helper, one of you can organize the stacks and pull the right wood while the other person nails it down.

Here's a trick to measuring the pieces that need to be cut: Take a piece that's approximately the right size (from the well-organized stack, right? :), and flip it around so the tongue is on the wrong end against the wall. Then you can just mark the length on the piece where it needs to be cut. This method will save you having to use a measuring tape for this cut and it will go a little quicker.

For each piece of hardwood, I started at the end where the tongue is and used a small block to make sure the pieces are super-tight. The block is a small piece of flooring with tongues and grooves. Using this prevents damage to the pieces I'm installing. Nailing through the tongue with my angled finish nailer, I work my way toward the other end, using the block as I go to make sure everything is tight.

NOTE: When installing a larger area of flooring, you'll want to use a special flooring nailer. It's better in two main ways: 1) It uses special flooring nails that have 'teeth' on them that makes a very strong bond and 2) It shoots the nails when you hit it with a rubber mallet. The force of the mallet ensures a tight fit while you're nailing.

As you get closer to the wall, you won't have space to use your nailer so that last three courses or so will need to be face-nailed. To get a tight fit, I like to use a couple blocks and then use a small flat bar to pry against the wall and squeeze the pieces together. Make sure you don't pry directly on the pieces you are installing!

The last pieces will likely need to be ripped on the table saw. Consider how wide the baseboard trim will be so you don't have a gap left later.

One of the noticeable differences between prefinished flooring and unfinished flooring is that there will be slightly more imperfections. Before an unfinished floor is sanded and sealed, the small gaps will be filled with woodfiller to hide them. There's also a difference in the quality of some of the brands of hardwoods. The differences are in how well they are milled to fit tightly together. The low-quality (cheap) brands will probably have more gaps because the milling wasn't as good.

I'm not one to tackle installing a whole house of hardwoods by myself, but this hallway was a lot of fun. Mainly, it's just cool to work with finished wood and see the amazing colors and designs in the grain. It looks great and it will last for many decades and more...

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Make a Plastic Wall to Control Dust

There is one thing that all of my clients are concerned about when I come into their home- THE MESS! Frankly, I don't like a mess either and I do my best to maintain an organized jobsite and put highest importance on protecting their home from the side effects of remodeling, including dust.

The most effective way that I've found to control dust inside a client's home is to basically build a wall out of thin plastic. If sensitive electronic items cannot be moved (like large TVs) I cover them first with a clean sheet of plastic in addition to building a plastic wall across the room. I use blue painter's tape to seal it all the way across the ceiling and down the walls.

Often, the jobsite can be contained in one room or portion of the home, so I can just put the plastic across the door way. The point is, that I try to build a contained work area so that the dust does not spread throughout the home.

TIP: When you're making the most dust, like during demolition or sanding drywall, turn off the HVAC system. This helps the dust to not circulate throughout the home as well as clogging up the ductwork.

In addition to plastic walls, I use a variety of floor coverings to protect floor surfaces. I'm a big fan of large canvas drop cloths in areas where I'll be working. I cover any carpet that is in my path with adhesive plastic that is meant for temporary carpet protection. Finally, a roll of brown construction paper comes in handy for covering hardwood floors or other smooth surfaces.

It can be a lot of work to prep a jobsite beforehand, but I'm a lot more comfortable working there if I know that I've taken the adequate steps to minimize my mess and the possibility of damage to the area.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

One Fix For A Leaky Outdoor Faucet

One of the most annoying things is a leaky faucet. I find it especially annoying to turn on an outdoor faucet and have water dripping everywhere. The most common problem, if you're using a garden hose, is that the small gasket is missing that goes between the hose connector and the valve.

But what if the water is dripping out of the valve instead of the hose?

Let's look at this example... The other day I was using a client's outdoor hose to mix mortar to lay tile. It was a townhome and the water valve was actually located in the garage. It dripped badly. Soon it was running through the garage and pooling just outside the garage door.

For a while, I didn't bother with it. After all, I was there to tile, not to fix the plumbing, right?

Then, I couldn't take it anymore.

The fix for a leaky valve is usually so easy it seems silly. Get out a wrench and tighten the nut holding the handle on. You can see how I did it in the picture below. If that nut gets just a little bit too loose, the valve will not operate correctly and water will drip (or spray) out of the handle.

Don't overdo it, but just a little pressure with a wrench and the dripping should stop. If it doesn't, it's probably too worn out and needs replacement. Usually, they are just loose and need to be tightened up.

At least you can give this a try before you call the plumber and spend the big bucks.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Repair a Broken Toilet Flange

Toilets are not especially fun to deal with. This week I've been tiling a couple bathroom floors for one of my favorite clients and was ready to reinstall the toilet. Everything was moving smoothly until I noticed that the PVC toilet flange was cracked and broken.

Not cool.

This is a problem because the flange holds the bolts that, in turn, hold the toilet down. If I were to ignore the crack in the flange the bolt would not tighten down enough resulting in a toilet that will likely rock back-and-forth and possibly leak wastewater...

So, how to fix it?!

You don't have to replace the entire flange. Instead, head to the home store and get a repair flange. You'll probably find it next to where the normal toilet flanges are sold, somewhere on a top shelf where it's hard to locate. It's a fairly simple metal disc that is the size of the flange. It slips right over the old broken flange. You screw it down to the subfloor and it's ready to go.

By the way, make sure you use some kind of moisture resistant screws that won't rust and eventually break. (No drywall screws allowed here. :)

It's not a difficult fix, but can be frustrating if you're unsure what to do about it. So, be frustrated no longer...

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Install a Roof Vent for Your Bath Exhaust Fan

Unless they've been remodeled along the way, most older homes don't have a nifty exhaust fan in the bathroom. Sometimes it can be a chore to add one, but they come in handy when you want to clear the air... :)

Adding a bath fan takes two major steps. First, is installing the fan and a switch to control it. The next step is venting it outside. You don't want it to vent into an attic space because the moisture in the air can cause mold or rot or numerous other problems. Don't worry, it's a fairly basic process, assuming you don't mind getting on the roof!

1. First, I like to go into the attic above the roof vent and locate a good spot for the roof vent from the inside. Steer clear of rafters and other items that would interfere. Usually, I can find a spot directly above the fan. I like to drill a hole through the roof at the center of the spot I've picked out.

2. Drilling a hole through the roof helps me locate the exact spot from the top side. I head outside, taking all the safety precautions so I live to write about it... I can find the hole I drilled and the use a jig saw to cut out a 5" hole centered on the spot.

3. Test fit the vent and cut the shingles so that the upper courses will over lap the flange and surround the vent like the picture. Once it will fit, you can put in in place and put a few galvanized roofing nails around the edges. Remember the upper nails will be under the shingles, while the bottom corners are nailed from the top.

4. Seal the vent with roofing cement around the edges, under the overlapping shingles, and on any exposed nail heads. Grab your tools and head back to the attic.

5. Now it's just a matter of hooking up both ends of the hose that came with the roof vent kit. I secured both ends with the included plastic straps and then covered each with aluminum foil tape to prevent any leakage. (sort of like duct tape, except it's really meant for sealing ducts and it seals much better)

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

How To Level the Floor Before You Tile

Before you tile a floor you want to consider the structure below and make sure it's suitable for tile- strength, deflection, etc. It's also important to make sure the floor is pretty much level or at least flat.

Many times the back part of an older home presents a problem because it's often a porch that was enclosed, or in the case of my Inglewood renovation, likely an old breezeway. The floors are often a problem because the structure just wasn't constructed as well in the beginning.

The floor at my project mainly had a large dip around the doorway leading to the old garage that is now a den. It felt very solid and has likely been like this from the beginning. I don't think it has sunk over time. Here's how I took care of the problem using a nifty product called self-leveling cement.

1. First we need to define what level is and how bad your situation is. Often, you're dealing with an isolated part of the room. If it's a widespread problem, you will likely have framing issues to deal with. In my case, I could place a level on the floor and see that there was around a 5/8" dip from the edge of the kitchen to the den doorway. The bottom of the dip was actually very flat, it was just low.

2. Since the bottom of my low spot was 5/8" below level, I nailed a piece of 5/8" thick plywood there. This serves a couple purposes. A) It gives me a guide so that I know where level is. B) It makes a barrier so the self-leveling cement is contained in the kitchen and doesn't spill into the den. C) It saves me some extra cement, which means money. It runs around $33 for a 50 lb bag.

3. I'm now ready to fill the area between the plywood (the low spot) and the kitchen (identified as level). This project took at least an entire bag of self-leveling cement, if not a little more. I applied it in 2 batches, leaving the first one overnight before finishing with the second.

4. Basically, you just add water and pour it on the ground. Read all the installation instructions on the bag to get a good mix. You've got about 10 minutes to work with it, although there isn't much you need to do. I used a small piece of scrap wood as a screed board (like used to smooth concrete). This is mainly to push the cement around to the right spots and make sure it's evenly distributed. It will level itself all on it's own.

5. In small amounts, it will dry really quickly and you can even tile over it the same day. I'll give mine a day or two before I lay Hardibacker over it and then tile.

It's a little extra work, but in the end you'll be glad to have a level floor, especially if you're planning to sell to a discriminating home buyer someday.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Drywall for an Arched Doorway

The Tudor inspired home that I'm currently renovating (see these posts) has several arched doorways with curved corners. I recently widened the doorway between the dining room and kitchen in this smaller home to open up the space and improve the traffic flow through the kitchen.

Check out this post to see how I did the framing for the curved corners. Now it's time to drywall those curves.

There are a few ways to approach hanging drywall on a curve like this. You could use very thin 1/4" drywall that is somewhat flexible if your curve isn't too sharp. I've even heard of wetting the drywall and letting it hang between a couple sawhorses to bend into a nice curve. I'm going to use a different approach.

First, I cut the piece to the right width and then marked on the back where the curve would be. Then, I made a series of cuts to score the back every inch or so. This allows the drywall to curve (and I didn't have to get it wet.. :).

After the drywall is in place, it's time to add a product called flexible corner bead. Normal corners have a rigid corner bead, but this one is meant to be bent around a corner. It works great, but you'll likely have to add a lot of screws around the flexible edge that's made up of a lot of small tabs. You want to make sure they are laying down flush with the wall and not sticking up where they'll become a problem when you mud the corners.

In the background of this photo you can see the arched doorway into the living room that I was trying to match. Hopefully, future homeowners will just think it was always like this!

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Build a Basic Cabinet

After removing some kitchen cabinets next to the sink to make room for the new dishwasher, (see this post), I had a 36" space to work with. The dishwasher is only 24" wide, so what should we do with the extra 12"?

Let's build a cabinet.

The homeowners wanted something simple so I thought I could make a 12" cabinet to match the originals in the kitchen, except it would have two open shelves rather than any doors or drawers. Here's the basic process:

CABINET FACE

1. The hardest part is to make the face of the cabinet. Before you start, consider the exact width and height and exactly where you want the shelves and toe kick. For this project, I could easily measure the existing cabinets and design mine to match.

2. Once I had the dimensions in mind, I ripped some old boards that came from the house that were the same thickness as the original 7/8" thick cabinet faces.

3. Make the joints. The original cabinets were assembled using something called a half-lap joint. It's made by removing half of each piece so that when they are joined the surfaces are flush. It's sort of like working with Lincoln Logs... :)

I cut the joints on my table saw by setting the fence to the maximum depth of the joint, in my case, 1 1/2". I set the saw depth so that it would cut exactly half-way through the piece. After the first cut, make successive cuts from that point all the way to the end of the piece or as wide as the notch needs to be. (By the way, use all the appropriate safety precautions so you keep your fingers.) It's a great idea to test fit a couple pieces and adjust the height and fence until you're sure that the pieces will fit snugly and flush with each other.



4. I dry-fit the face of the cabinet to make sure it was right and then assembled it with glue and clamped it in place until it was dry.

CABINET BODY
5. Next, I needed to make the body of the cabinet which would consist of plywood sides and back. I cut the sides first out of cabinet-grade 3/4" plywood which is sanded smooth and free of knots, etc. The quality for this is not all that important because it will be hidden. Mainly, for this cabinet, I'm trying to match the quality of the original cabinets that were 70 years old...

6. The last piece would be the plywood for the back. This adds strength and holds it all together. Usually, some 1/4" plywood is fine for this.

7. With a smaller cabinet, this is a good time to think about shelf supports because it's easier to install them before the cabinet is assembled. Usually, a simple piece 3/4" plywood along the side is enough to hold the shelves. Make sure that you adjust the height of the supports so that the shelf height is flush with the face frame. This allows the face piece to hide the edge of the shelf and makes it look much better.

LET'S ASSEMBLE
8. This cabinet would be painted, so It wasn't as important to hide all the fasteners and get too fancy. Remember, I'm trying to keep it simple and not spend to much time (and money) to get this cabinet done. So, instead of assembling with biscuits or even pocket screws, I stood the pieces up, made sure everything was square, glued and nailed them in place with my finish nailer. With a little putty those nail holes will disappear after it's painted.

9. All that's left is to cut a couple shelves to the right size and add the toe kick. I suppose you wouldn't have to nail the shelves in place, but I like to secure them unless they are adjustable.

10. Lastly, add a corner brace or two in the places where the countertop will be secured. You'll be happy you did when you go to screw down the countertop.

Paint it and you're done! For mine, the paint will come later. It was still fun to create a functional piece like this that will get a lot of use and match the original cabinets.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Add a Dishwasher and Save the Cabinet!

Of course, our Inglewood project house from the 1940's wasn't designed with a space for a dishwasher. However, it's almost a requirement for today's lifestyle, especially if you want your home to be more appealing to home buyers.

This kitchen had one bank of cabinets along the exterior wall while the stove sat on the interior wall. There weren't many cabinets to begin with and even less counter space. We knew we wanted to replace the counter and add a new tile backsplash, but how would we fit a dishwasher into this space? Could we also add more counterspace while we're at it?

Yes!

At first we tossed around the idea of building a separate cabinet that would contain the dishwasher next to the stove. This may have worked, but presented problems making the plumbing connections because the dishwasher would be on the opposite wall from the sink.

The better option would be to remove some cabinets and add the dishwasher next to the sink, saving and repairing the cabinets to be placed on the interior wall next to the stove. This plan would solve the plumbing issues and give the homeowners nearly 36" more counterspace next to the stove. That's a win-win!

(I also widened the doorway in the kitchen picture above to help the traffic flow and better connect the kitchen to the cozy dining area. See this post)

After removing the old tile and countertop, I carefully thought about how to cut out the cabinet that was in the way of the forthcoming dishwasher. If I did it right, it could be easily repaired.

I started at the edge of the sink cabinet and made a vertical cut using mostly my jig saw, but also the reciprocal saw in the places (like along the back) where the jig saw wouldn't fit. The most important part would be the faces of the cabinets. In our case, this would all be painted, however, I still needed to make straight cuts.

These cabinets were originally built as one large unit, rather than individual cabinets. This meant that once I made the cuts, I was left with a cabinet that was open on the end. I wanted to repair this so that the cabinet could be reused.

I started by making a new end piece for the face. Thankfully, I had some scrap of the original stock that was around 7/8" thick. (Typical stock nowadays is 3/4"). If possible, it's best to match the original materials as exactly as you can to make it look like it's always been there.

I ripped the board to the same width as the rest of the cabinet face pieces and attached it using wood glue and small finish nails. The big thing here is to make sure the pieces are attached squarely so that the door and drawers will fit and not rub. If you need to, you can sand or plane the door as needed.

Once the face was fully assembled I just needed to cut out an end piece from a sheet of cabinet-grade plywood that I had picked up. Higher grade plywood is nicer because it often has more plys (making it stronger) and less defects on the sanded surface. Mine had zero knots and would paint very well.

With a couple coats of paint, this cabinet will be ready to go.

If you'll remember, we removed 36" of cabinets to install a 24" dishwasher. What about those extra 12 inches?? For that, I built a small two-shelf cabinet from scratch. I'll cover that in my next post.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Solder a Simple Copper Connection

The cottage renovation is in full swing. We're starting at the bottom and working our way up. That means that we needed to replace a few pipes in the basement that were old galvanized steel and deteriorated to the point that it was reducing the water pressure.

Mostly, I was using PEX with copper crimp rings and barb fittings, however, there were a couple copper connections needed near the water heater. (You're not supposed to use any plastic pipe, such as PEX or CPVC within 18" of the water heater.) Anyway, I thought I'd share the simple process for a solder joint when working with copper.

To get started you might pick up a basic soldering pack at the hardware store. It might contain a small propane torch, solder, flux, and flux brush.

1. Cleanly cut the copper pipe. It's best to use a pipe cutter meant for this purpose because you'll get a square cut. It's much more difficult with a hacksaw.

2. Clean the pipe. I've got a helpful little tool with steel brushes for both 1/2" and 3/4" pipe. A small piece of sandpaper can also do the job. You want to scrub the pipe until the copper is shiny. Family Handyman, in this article about soldering copper, calls cleaning the pipe "the A-1 key to copper soldering success". Don't skip this step. (By the way, you can even reuse old copper pipes if you clean it properly to make a good connection.)

3. Brush some flux on the areas to be soldered, both the end of the pipe and the inside of the fitting. Flux is a chemical composition that helps clean the copper to prepare it for solder and it also helps in the heat transfer.

4. Heat the fitting with a propane torch. Notice I said to heat the fitting. This is important. Specifically, you want to apply the heat to the female end of the fitting that's receiving the pipe. The flux helps the heat to also heat up the pipe inside. Move the flame back-and-forth across the fitting to heat it evenly.

5. Hold the solder on the joint in a spot opposite the flame. This is the coldest part and you want it to be hot enough to accept the solder. When the fitting is hot enough it will just 'suck' the solder in and you're done. Enough solder should be taken in that it drips out the bottom of the fitting, but there's no need to overdo it. The heat will do the work.

6. Let the pipe cool. It will stay hot for a while. In my case, I later attached some 1/2" PEX to the barb on this fitting using copper rings with a PEX crimp tool... but, that's a lesson for another day...

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

How To Fix A Wobbly Half Wall on A Slab

In opening up the wall between the dining room and kitchen at my current project, I've found that the remaining half wall is very wobbly and tends to lean back and forth. This is a problem because we'll be putting a bar top on this wall and it's likely that someone will lean on it from time to time.

This particular wall is resting on a cement slab. Here's how I successfully stiffened up the wall...

1. Remove enough drywall to access the floor plate (the flat 2x4 that runs along the bottom of the wall.)

2. I'm using something called a "hex sleeve anchor" to secure the bottom plate to the floor. The idea is to drill a hole in the cement then drive these down. As you tighten the nut it draws the bolt upward and spreads the anchor out which makes a very tight fit in the concrete. I'm using 3/8" diameter bolts that are 3" long.

3. Drill a 3/8" hole through the floor plate with a standard wood bit, then, switch to a hammer drill with a 3/8" masonry bit to drill at least a couple inches into the concrete. You want the hole to be deeper than the bolt by at least 1/2" or more. This gives some space for the debris that accumulates at the bottom.

4. Carefully tap the anchor into the hole you just drilled. Make sure you strike it squarely so you don't bend the bolt and make it impossible to tighten the nut. (Trust me on this one... :) Drive it down until the washer is resting on the 2x4.

5. Use a socket wrench to tightened the nut until the floor plate is snug against the floor.

I used this process to insert four bolts and it did the trick. I found this to hold better than other methods such as using Tapcon screws.

The anchors hold the bottom plate very securely and greatly reduced the movement of the wall, but I also needed some extra bracing to keep the studs from moving back and forth on the bottom plate. For this I used a couple scrap 2x6's with 45 degree angles on each end. I nailed it in place and even drove some heavy duty Spax screws into it as well.

In the end the half-wall felt much more solid and is ready for the countertop which will also strengthen it up even more.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

How To Add Valves Under The Sink

When it comes to plumbing repairs, valves are your friend. If you have a valve under the toilet, for instance, you don't have to find the main shut-off, which is often in the deep recesses of a crawlspace. Instead, you can turn off the water supply to the toilet, swap out the fixture, and turn it back on.

If you don't have a valve, by all means, add one when you're working on it!!

I'm working on a short kitchen project right now where I'll be adding a dishwasher and garbage disposal to an older kitchen. There are no valves in the kitchen, so adding some was the first step of my project. It's fairly basic, but that doesn't make it easy.

Often older homes have galvanized lines that corrode enough to make it hard to work with, but not quite enough to replace all of it. Here are some hints:

1. Turn off the water somewhere, usually the home's main water shut-off valve. If it's in the back of a crawlspace, it may be easier to shut if off at the street if it's easily accessible. Once the water is off, turn on a fixture in the lowest part of the home to drain as much of the water out of the system as possible. No use making any more mess than needed, right?

2. Disconnect the current supply lines- under the sink, in my case. If they are stuck, you might try using a little WD-40 to loosen them up.

3. Connect your valve. That's sometimes easier said than done. The valve section at Home Depot must have at least two dozen different types of valves. Which one do you need? Here's a starting point for you- most of the time, the hot/cold supply lines under the sink are 1/2" galvanized. The means you want a valve with one end labeled 1/2" FIP. This stands for "Female Iron Pipe because the valve will be threaded inside to receive the male end of the pipe that's under the sink.

The faucet connector after the valve can be tricky. If it's newer, it's most likely a 3/8" compression fitting. These are, by far, the most common for new fixtures. However if you're adding a valve you've probably got the original supply lines which could be any number of things. If you're unsure what it is, just take all the parts to the home store with you and get whatever fittings are needed to put it back together.

The iron pipe side is usually connected with Teflon tape or pipe dope, which is a gooey form of pipe thread sealant that you can 'paint' on the threads. Compression fittings don't need Teflon sealant.

4. Test and fix any drips. Drips happen. Usually it's a matter of tightening up your connections or redoing it with more sealant.

NOTE ABOUT DISHWASHER CONNECTIONS

You'll see that I chose a dual outlet valve for this project. That allows me to connect the water line as well as the dishwasher to this one valve. Quite handy, eh? I've put a cap on it for now because I haven't got the dishwasher installed quite yet.

When in doubt, call a plumber... :)

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Drywall Technique for Finishing Those Pesky Corners

I'm in the drywall phase at my garage conversion project. I'll admit that finishing drywall isn't one of my favorite parts of the job, however, it is satisfying to see the finished product and knowing that the quality of my work will be enjoyed for years to come.

I've covered my process for 'mudding' drywall in this post. I covered the basics of how to mud three times and then sand just once. Let's get a little more specific on how to mud the inside corners to get a sharp line without lots of sanding.

On the first layer of mud, the idea is just to embed the tape. It doesn't take a lot of mud. As I've mentioned before, one important thing to remember is to "make the edges disappear" by keeping it thin on the edges.

The second layer of mud I call the "build-up" layer because you'll use the most mud and it's when the joints get a thicker layer on them. Here's how I handle the corners:

1. Using a larger 10" knife, apply a liberal amount of mud down both sides of the corner.

2. Use a corner knife to run down the corner and get a sharp line. You might need to go over it a couple times so that the mud isn't too thick. This knife will leave lines of mud along the edges, don't worry about this yet.

3. Next, take the 10" flat knife again and smooth out the mud to nothing from the line left by the corner knife outward. It's tricky to describe this in words so hopefully the pictures will help. It's also hard to take good pictures of drywall mud!

4. When you've done it right, you'll have a slight ridge where the edge of the corner knife was. By "slight" I mean barely noticable. On the third coat of mud, you'll fill on both sides of the ridge to end up with a nice corner.

5. Let it dry well before applying the third coat, which I call the "thin coat" because it's just a thin layer of mud over everything to fill any small holes or lines that remain.

It often takes more than 24 hours for the second coat to dry. Make sure you wait on it or you'll mess up your beautiful corners and be a frustrated drywall finisher...

-Peter

Remember to check out this post, for even more detail on how I finish drywall.

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Layout for the Kitchen Tile

After getting all the Hardibacker down (this post), I spent some time laying out a plan. The tile that I was using was 13 1/8" square and we would use 1/4" grout lines. This means that each tile plus one grout line takes up 13 3/8" or 13.375".

Using this dimension I measured the walls of the room to see how best to lay the tile. I was hoping to start with a full piece at the doorway and end up with around a half a piece at the opposite wall. This plan worked well and I could tell by dividing the length or width of the room by 13.375.

I wanted to end with a full piece at the doorway, however, these would be the last pieces that I install so I don't tile myself into a corner. I would have to start somewhere in the kitchen and work my way into the dining room.

To figure out a good starting point I considered how many full pieces it would take to reach the kitchen. I did the math and 8 full pieces would end at 107" from the doorway that I wanted to end at (8 x 13.375"). I made my horizontal guideline a 107" and parallel to the dining room wall. (Thankfully, the walls in this home were nearly perfectly parallel and square which helps my layout a lot!)

I found the position of my vertical guideline in much the same way, figuring out where the tiles would line up if I wanted the edge pieces under the kitchen cabinets to be large and the ones along the walls to be at least half a piece of tile. I used a framing square to get started and then snapped a chalk-line. I like to go over the chalk-lines with a Sharpie marker so they're a little more permanent. Otherwise the lines might fade from me walking on them, etc.

With all of that work done, it was time to start with the real work! As you can see in the picture above I started tiling in the kitchen doorway and did the entire kitchen first. Then I worked down one side of the dining room and then the other.

No matter how much planning I do, I'm always amazed when it comes out perfectly. When I got to my last pieces at the door, they were in the perfect spot and I didn't even have to cut them! (I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but... :)

BTW, the owner had bought the tile for me ahead of time and I ended up with only ONE extra piece! Talk about feeling the pressure to not crack a piece or cut one incorrectly!

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Easy Faucet Repair

Drippy faucets can feel like they are just part of life, right? Actually, the repair for them is often quite simple, if you know how to take one apart. Let's look at a simple single-stem faucet that would no longer shut off all the way.

Here are the steps I took to repair this common fixture from Delta Faucet:

1. Turn of the water. Hopefully, there are valves underneath the sink. If not, you may need to find the main shut-off. Either way, don't forget to turn it off.

2. Use a flat-head screwdriver to carefully pop the cover off the center of the handle. A screw will be revealed that is holding the handle onto the stem. Remove the screw and the handle.

3. Now get some wide mouth pliers and unscrew the casing around the stem. You may want to use a cloth of some kind to prevent scratches from your pliers. Once it's loose you can remove it with your fingers.

4. Inside you'll find a ball that is attached to the stem as well as a gasket. In my case today, the gasket was worn enough that it no longer applied enough pressure to make the valve close all the way. Take these out and look for problems.

5. Replace the parts. There's an entire department at most home stores dedicated to faucet repair. To be safe, take the parts from your faucet to the store with you to make sure you get the correct replacement parts.

6. Put it all back together in reverse order.

7. Turn the water back on and test.

This process works with many different types of plumbing fixtures. Just make a note of how they come apart so you can get them back together.

-Peter

;">www.CarpentryGuy.com

Add Some Simple Steps

After leveling the floor with a new cement slab (this post) and framing the wall to enclose the laundry area (this post), it's time to build some stairs to get into the room. Long before we can start building, we have quite a few things to consider to get our stairs right.

I won't cover every single aspect of stair building. Frankly, I still have a lot to learn myself. Let's go through some of my thinking for this particular project:

Have a Landing or Not?

Building codes require a landing at the top and bottom of each stairway. It has to be underneath the side that the door opens. In our case, if the door opened into the room, we would need a 36" deep landing, making our steps reach nearly 6 feet into our room. Instead, we planned to install a new door that would swing into the kitchen. In this way, the kitchen floor acts our 'landing', so we wouldn't need another one inside the new room.

The next thing to figure out is height of the risers and the depth of each step.

Risers

For this I measured the total rise of the stairs, or the distance from the cement floor at the bottom to the finished floor at the top. In my case that was 27 1/2". Codes say that the maximum rise for a step can be 7 3/4" This means that we'll need four steps of 6.875" each or 6 7/8". (27.5" total rise divided by 4 steps)

Treads

There are lots of opinions out there on how to figure out tread size. One rule of thumb that I've read says that two risers + one tread = 24 or 25 inches. Another formula I saw says that the tread + riser should equal 17 to 18" and a tread x riser should equal 70 to 75". Digesting all of this, I decided to make my treads 10 1/2" deep.

So, if you're hanging with me, it's time to layout our stringers on a 2x12 using these two dimensions. You can see in the picture how mine looked before I cut it. Use a framing square to make the marks and double check to make sure you are as exact as possible in your measurements.

Cut out the stringers. Then, cut the thickness of one tread off of the bottom of the stringers. This way, once you add the treads, the height will be the right distance from the floor.

Check the stringers in place with a level and make sure everything looks right before you nail them in place. For my project, I first attached a plate to the floor that would go across the bottom of the stringers to secure them to the floor. I made a notch at the bottom where the plate goes.

After securing the stringers, I had to frame around a valve on a gas pipe that would need to have an access hatch added as I finish the stairs out.

We're almost there now...

My stairs are a little wider than the typical 36" so I added some extra cross pieces to support the treads that would be 3/4" plywood. Starting at the bottom, I added 3/4" boards as risers, ripped to 6 7/8" wide. Then I added the treads cut 11 1/4" wide, overlapping the riser on the step below. After adding the next riser, the tread will be 10 1/2" just as planned.

These are just the basics. For a better understanding of stair building, I'd recommend a great book on framing called Ultimate Guide To House Framing by John D. Wagner. The book has an entire chapter devoted to stair building and goes into quite a bit of detail that may be helpful if you'd like more info.

Schools over. Time for recess... :)

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com