How to Fix a Termite Damaged Hardwood Floor

September 18, 2017

Design

...ler which places the nails at an angle through the tongue and groove. This tools hides the nail holes and keeps the flooring snug. If I were installing a new floor I would highly recommend renting a pneumatic flooring nailer. Our small living room and hallway required 1,000 nails and my arm hurt for a week after using a manual nailer. And, at the risk of ascending the saddle of my very high horse, let me use this moment to express my disdain for l...

Read…

How to Size a Breakfast Nook Table

Mr. Homegrown

April 18, 2018

Design

2 Comments

...he table top was an excuse to learn how to use hand planes, the bicycle of tools in that they are simple, elegant and capable of saving the world (also like bicycles in that people seem to have weird hangups about them). Between the planing and the joinery, it was so much work that I wished that I had opened my wallet a bit more and chosen a more interesting wood at the lumberyard. Now with the ease of moving into the breakfast nook I can sit, loo...

Read…

I Organized My Drill Bits and You Won’t Believe What Happened Next

Mr. Homegrown

July 24, 2017

Design

5 Comments

...I was at it I also organized my paltry collection of router bits as well as my overabundant collection of screw bits. I attached my now organized bit collection to my wall of tools. Now, when I need a bit, it takes mere seconds to find one, thus freeing up more time to concoct click bait headlines....

Read…

Two apps for choosing bike routes: one good, one bad

Mr. Homegrown

April 18, 2016

Bikes, Transportation

6 Comments

...n, until they improve the bike routing portion of this app, it’s basically useless. A press release from Xerox alluded to improvements that will let you track fitness, but why do that when there are so many other apps that already track calories and effort? Giving cyclists the tools they need to find peaceful routes for useful trips will be much more valuable in the long run. In my search for apps I came across a number of cities around the world...

Read…

A Painful Beekeeping Lesson

Mr. Homegrown

July 20, 2015

Animals, Bees

20 Comments

...et angry. Wear a thick shirt and pants under your bee suit. Call for help. Bee boxes are heavy and sometimes two brains are better than one. Maintain your equipment (I knew that one of the boxes was leaning but I delayed fixing it). Have your tools at the ready so you can just grab them when you need them. Of course all of this is common sense. I guess the final lesson is that we humans have a special way of screwing things up. Bees? They plan ahe...

Read…