October 4, 2020 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Greetings! You very likely are a newbie subscriber. This place of honor is where I welcome you to your first issue. Thanks for subscribing!
On the other hand, this could be your second issue or your 500th one! Riddle me this. The person in charge at your house, yes, you know who she is, has requested you remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room to create a more open floor plan.
Is it a bearing wall? How do you determine this? CLICK or TAP HERE and watch a short video for some clues!
The Gerber Prybrid Utility
Please peer at this photo:
Did you really look CLOSELY at the photo?
Now, try to predict how I felt about this tool. Think about the name!!! Look above at the title once more and then look at the photo.
CLICK or TAP HERE and see if your mystic powers are strong! Did you guess wisely?
New Product - Building Drain Layout
I've seen a very significant increase in orders for the color plumbing isometric drawings I create. You almost always need one to obtain a plumbing permit.
Several DIYrs have asked me to also draw for them the non-required building drain layout. Think of the building drain as the set of horizontal pipes running under your slab or in the crawlspace. Typically you can't see these once the concrete is poured or the sub-floor is installed.
Here's a small cutaway shot of part of one of the new building drain layout drawings I've done recently.
The thick BLACK line is a 4-inch pipe. The purple lines represent 3-inch pipes, the gold lines are 2-inch pipes, and the blue lines are 1.5-inch pipes.
When you change directions with a horizontal pipe in a plumbing system, it's best to do it with a 45-degree bend. If you need to turn 90 degrees, then you put two 45s together and space them apart a foot or so if possible.
You want to avoid putting 90-degree-angle fittings in a building drain because a drain-cleaning snake has a tough time navigating them.
You can put 90-degree fittings under a slab at the base of vertical stacks, but be sure they're sweep 90s. A sweep fitting has a greater radius than a normal 90-degree fitting. The same is true for the 90 under the toilet. Be sure it's a sweep 90.
CLICK or TAP HERE if you want me to draw your building drain layout!
Tactica M250 - What is That?
I reviewed another small tool this past week. I wasn't impressed with the name, but then again it's got to be hard to come up with a name for this:
If you're a gun person, this tool might be your thing. That's a magazine containing common bits and the bit holder is in a barrel at the top of the magazine. The holster is the object on the bottom.
CLICK or TAP HERE to discover much more and tell me how fast it's going to take you to order one of these with the gold-plated bits!
It's VERY IMPORTANT You READ my SHORT review of this tool, EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT ONE!!!
Google Play Books SCAM?
I read each night before traveling to Sleepyville. I'm attracted to history books, and about four nights ago Google Play offered up a book about the Great Hurricane of 1938. I have a deep interest in that storm living here in New Hampshire. Not only was it a monster storm, but it raced up the Atlantic Ocean coastline like a cheetah chasing its lunch.
It was advertised for $2.99 and the author was not familiar to me. I thought, "Well, I'll try a free sample to see if it's any good or not, and then buy it if it is." Some books are so poorly written, they hurt my brain which is why I often opt for the free sample if I don't know the author.
This one wasn't bad. It was quite good. I must have worked my way through twenty, or more, pages before I got tired. I turned off the tablet and drifted off to sleep as if I was in the attic of a house that became a boat because the storm surge and 150 mph winds ripped it off the rest of the house. Yes, this happened to quite a few houses in GH38.
The next night I went to buy it and it was now $9.99.
Hmmmmm... Was it a one-day sale or does Google track how much you read of the sample and the MORE YOU READ the HIGHER the PRICE GOES?
Do you know the answer? Has this happened to you? Let me know.
Etched Glasses Follow Up
I shared a column with you last week about my clear etched drinking glasses.
One of the things I LOVE about this newsletter is you may be one who routinely responds with great additional information. That happened once again!
If you don't want to have etched glass of any kind when you use your dishwasher, then you MUST GO READ what Brad shared. CLICK or TAP HERE to do just that.
Installing Tile Over Cracked Concrete?
Is it a good idea to install ceramic tile over a crack like this:
Let's say you have to do it and you're on a limited budget.
Do you think there are methods and products to deal with installing tile over concrete and cracked concrete? CLICK or TAP HERE and tell me what you think of the idea I came up with to help Sarah.
That's quite enough for a Sunday! Next Saturday, I'll be in Maine all day with four other radio professionals. We're doing an 80 and 40-meter NVIS test. Want to know what that is and why? Would you like to see race cars go 100+ mph down curvy gravel roads? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: CLICK or TAP HERE.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
BEST DARN CLEANER - www.StainSolver.com
NVIS MAN! - www.W3ATB.com
Do It Right, Not Over!
P.S. Your honey has asked you to remove finish nails from trim lumber. She wants to salvage and reuse it. How can you remove the nails WITHOUT DAMAGING the good side of the trim lumber?
I thought you'd never ask! CLICK or TAP HERE to see me with dishwater blonde hair!