I used to hate to install crown molding. The problem was in getting the corners mitered correctly. Too many angles all at once. It’s been made a little easier now with the introduction of plastic type materials. Check my article on installing polyurethane crown molding.

One of the benefits of using polyurethane or PVC is that the price is actually cheaper than wood. Of course, the way I see it, the drawback is that all you can do is paint it. I just like the look of wood. I’ve got oak crown molding in my living room.

Anyhow, the primary reason this new material has made installation easy is that the corners are pre-mitered. You can buy them as one-piece units or left and right-hand pieces. The separate versions are handy when your corners aren’t exactly 90 degrees.

I also notice that some companies are making crown molding out of styrofoam. Huh? What will they think of next?

You might also like to read:

• Balance a Room with Faux Windows
• How to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling
• Residential Baseboard Types

So you’ve got that fat tax refund coming soon and you’re wondering what to do with it? Tired of the way your home looks but moving to new digs isn’t exactly on the horizon in these troubled economic times? Why not satisfy both of those things by remodeling your kitchen?

Independent studies show that upgrading a kitchen or bath bring the largest ROI of any area of the home. Two of the most important things to consider are kitchen lighting and wiring. There are two reasons for this. First and foremost, electricity is potentially dangerous and you must protect yourself and your family.

Secondly, the electrical building code is getting more and more strict, and with good reason. I know that as DIYers, we’ve been known to, ahem, do projects without pulling permits (wink, wink, nod, nod), but it’s still important not to cut corners and obey the code.

If you’re one of those unlucky souls with a bad case of aluminum wiring, it’s time to replace all that junk. Danger, danger, Will Robinson! If you’re not old enough to understand that reference, don’t worry about it; it just means you’ve missed some high cultural cinematic material…

Lighting options have never been brighter, so to speak. Fluorescents have always been popular, but they are now available in more shapes and sizes. Halogen bulbs are great but they put out a lot of heat. LED bulbs, on the other hand, are beginning to kick butt. They haven’t fully evolved yet but are getting better all the time. I converted my little MagLite to the 3-bulb LED and couldn’t be happier.

How do they keep those flashlights so cheap? They’re the best on the market, and the cheapest. Go figure.

Speaking of kitchen remodeling, I spent part of yesterday afternoon replacing our garbage disposal. The last one I installed was a Badger 5, but this time I went with a Badger 1. I don’t work it too hard anyhow, so why pony up the extra bucks?

You might also want to read:

• Typical Electrical Building Codes
• The Benefits of LED Lighting
• Using GFCI Receptacles in the Bath and Kitchen

Recently I’ve gotten some email questions about grouting tile. The topic is really not as intimidating as it seems at first glance. And actually, it only takes a small bit of practice to get the technique down pat. To begin, you will need these tools and materials:

• Grout. It comes either sanded or non-sanded, powder or pre-mixed, in a wide variety of colors. I like to use pre-mixed grout for small jobs and mixable powder for larger ones. I do not recommend the fast-drying grout for anything other than the smallest jobs.
• A grout sponge. Any sponge will do, but a specially designed one makes the job easier.
• A bucket with water.
• Cheesecloth.
• High quality grout sealer.

The first thing to do after the mortar, thinset, or mastic has set is to plan your course of action. In other words, don’t paint yourself into the corner. Next, plan to do an area that you can reach while sitting or kneeling on the floor. You’ll remove the tile spacers as you go.

Wet the sponge and wring it out in the bucket. Scoop some grout onto the moist sponge and begin to sweep it across the floor, working the grout into the joints. Now, flush the sponge out again and wipe across the tiles just grouted.

The point here is to remove the grout from the tile surface and achieve a slight concave in the joints. The tile surfaces should be as clean as possible to reduce clean-up later.

When finished, let the grout dry and cure for the recommended time. Use the cheesecloth to remove grout film and polish the tile surface. Finish up by applying the grout sealer. I like to let the first coat dry and then add a second one. Done!

Don’t want to tackle the job yourself? Angie’s List - Ratings, reviews, and sometimes revenge. See what local homeowners say about the service companies they hire. Join now.

Related articles:

• Finish a Garage Floor with Epoxy
• Install Tile on Shower Walls
• Bathroom Remodeling: Be Your Own Contractor

I’m in the planning stages of my first woodworking project of the new year. It’ll be a custom floor transition between two ceramic tile floors. There will actually be 3 separate ones, but I’m going to tackle the longest one first.

Here’s the situation: my kitchen, entryway, and hallway were originally tile, but the living room was carpeting. I’ve since tiled the living room in a completely different kind of tile. So, the need for transitions. I’m planning to start with a poplar 1″ X 6″ and cut rabbets to shoulder over the tile edge.

Why make my own rather than buy off the shelf? For one thing, DIY! For another, some of the original tile have chipped edges and the wide shoulder will cover that.

Why poplar? I thought about using oak, but poplar is just less expensive and has some great colors, ranging from yellow to a mellow green. I love the “pin” grain of red oak, but poplar has its charm.

Now let me explain why I go to Home Depot rather than Lowes. It’s only partially because I own stock there. Last week when I went shopping, I stopped at Lowes just because it was convenient.

So I ambled up and down the aisles, looking for the hardwood area (guys only ask for directions as a last resort). OK, after 3 passes I found myself firmly entrenched in last resort territory.

“Where’s the hardwood?” I asked an associate.

She stared at me. “Huh?” She looked like the deer in the headlights that my friend Jay hit with his pickup truck a few years ago. I nicknamed his truck Deerslayer after that. Jay was not amused. Whatever.

“Hardwood,” I said. “You know, oak?”

“Don’t know. Go ask the guy at contractor sales desk.”

I asked him and he said, “If we have any, it would be at the end of that aisle.”

There wasn’t any. So I went to Home Depot and found a nice selection of both red oak and poplar. So my question is just this: why is Lowes, capital of ineptness, still in business? Hmm? Methinks their training program may be a bit lacking. Not to mention, when you hang a huge sign outside that says “Indoor Lumber Yard”, you should have some lumber for sale. Not just  studs and fence pickets. Just sayin’.

You might also want to read:

• How to Build a Recessed Medicine Cabinet
• Joinery with a Dovetail Joint
• Metal and Hardware for Woodworking Jigs

I know, a lot of folks are going to “quit smoking” or “lose weight” again. This time, why not give it a rest and plan some DIY New Year’s resolutions? I won’t have any problem making that list since I’ve always got home improvements on my plate. And then there’s the honey-do’s.

I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one. How about you? Hopefully, Santa will bring you some cool new Christmas present tools. I don’t think that’s on my horizon but who knows? Here’s a few DIY projects I’ve been brainstorming:

• Build a wood walkway to my front door. Something like a short boardwalk. See; there’s a concrete sidewalk next to my attached garage that leads to the front door, but it’s a bit low and catches standing water when it rains hard. It’s not so bad that I need to install a French drain, but it certainly is an irritation.
• Install a laminate floor in the entry way closet. That’s all that’s left of my whole home reflooring project and I’ve kind of put it on the back burner.
• Finish my walk-in pantry. There’s a door from the kitchen to the garage/woodworking shop and I stole a bit of space there last year and built a pantry for more storage space. It’s part of my perpetual remodeling syndrome. What’s left? Installing a prehung door and finishing the floor.

Plenty of time to do all that; I just have to expense it. That’s the joy and grief of being a freelance writer - I get to schedule my own time, but the cash flow is not as consistent to a 9 to 5 gig. Some days chicken; some days feathers.

So what’s on your list? Add your comment to this post and we’ll see what’s popular.

I recently installed a laminate floor in a small room; a closet, to be precise. It was much the same as floor installation in larger rooms except that it is a bit clumsier. Maybe that’s just me.

If you are considering a home remodeling project like this and don’t have time or the inclination to tackle it yourself, I recommend HomeEstimateDepot.com for free pre-screened quotes.

The first thing to do is remove the baseboards. Next, the prior flooring material. Usually, that’s wall to wall carpeting and carpet pad; it was in my case. Next, pry up the tack strips.

Level the Floor

Now a lot of installers will skimp on this step, but as I always say, “If you want to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, you have to start with a silk sow.” The last bit of prep work is to make sure the subfloor is flat. I don’t particularly care if it’s level but it has to be flat with no dips or humps. A self-leveling compound will work wonders on a concrete slab that has dips.

A plywood or OSB subfloor might need bracing from below.

Click the pictures for a larger view.

In my case, I had to also take a floor scraper to the slab to remove splatters of wall texturing compound that were left over from initial construction. They didn’t much matter with carpeting, but would have ruined the job with laminate, even with premium QuietWalk brand underlayment.

Undercut the Door Jambs or Trim

This is to allow enough room for the underlayment and planks. Again, some installers don’t run the underlayment to the wall, but the important thing to remember is that the planks form a floating floor, not the underlayment.

Now it’s just a question of measuring the space and installing the underlayment and the planks. Sadly for me, the closet was just 2″ longer then a plank, so I had to cut about a foot off the first one and make up the difference with another chunk. Then I just started the next run with the drop-off.

Finally, I installed the baseboards. Job well done! Now I just need to add some more closet shelving. Want to read more laminate floor installation tips?

Why not subscribe to my free home improvement newsletter?

We’re now running down the checklist of fall and winter holidays. Halloween? Check. Veteran’s Day? Check. Thanksgiving? Coming up! Christmas? Can’t wait!

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks to God for the Pilgrim’s survival and their friendship with the Indians who helped them out in the New World. Sadly, of late, liberal revisionist politically correct historians in the public school system have been pushing pioneer guilt down the throats of our children.

How pathetic. They teach how our forefathers were actually blood-thirsty barbarians bent on wresting this land from the native inhabitants by sword and blunderbuss. Guess what, Mr. Academic? It was a harsh world that called for harsh actions at times. The world then was not what it is now. Your lily-liver predecessors did not survive and we have been the better for it.

But let’s forget them; they’re rapidly making themselves irrelevant. What got us through those times was a sense of independence and self-reliability. Inventiveness and perseverance. So what does that have to do with this post?

Just this - this same spirit has stayed with us with the inventors, visionaries, and most of all, we DIY types. DIY skills rarely come simply from natural ability. Oh, that’s an element of it, but it goes much deeper. It’s a desire to discover, to rely on ourselves, and to say no to the nanny state. Let us not go in the direction of Europe; that same Europe that we abandoned to get out from under the heavy foot of tyranny.

So yes, Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks that we still celebrate that “Don’t tread on me” spirit. I can do it myself, or with the help of my neighbors and friends. So I say to the current administration, take your nanny state socialism, your ACORN crooks, and your arrogance back to Chicago.

We can take care of ourselves. We’re Pilgrims, OK?

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Just last week I installed a GFCI electrical outlet in one of my bathrooms. I guess the house is about 30 years old and it wasn’t part of the electrical building code way back then. Most home accidental deaths come from electrocution, I’ve read. That considered, $18.00 isn’t too much to pay, eh?

Monthly testing is an easy and quick task so there’s really no reason to avoid it. I mean, it isn’t like taking out the trash or washing the dishes.

There are two buttons on the GFCI receptacle. The first is labeled “test” and the other “reset”. Here’s the plan:

• Plug a light into the outlet.
• Press the test button. The light should go out.
• Press the reset button. As you might expect, the light should come back on. If not, it’s malfunctioned or the electrical wiring wasn’t connected properly when installing the GFCI.

That’s all there is to it. Do this monthly when you test your smoke detectors. Or wash those dishes. Whatever.

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In these tough economic times when the administration bails out businesses that are “too big to fail” and ignores small business, you might think entrepreneurs would just pack their bags and go. But no, as it turns out, that flame refuses to be extinguished.

One such example is the Magnogrip. Simple in concept; handy in practice. It’s basically just a Velcro-secured wrist band with magnets sewn in. The magnets are strong enough to hold nails, screws, nuts, bolts, etc until they’re needed. Then, they’re close at hand (pun intended).

While you might use your carpenter pouches for production work like hanging drywall, that would be overkill for going around the house hanging pictures, installing baseboard or door trim, or even working on the car.

And call me crazy, but I’m going to try it out for holding flies the next time I go kayak fishing.

One good thing is that the Magnogrip is available now at home improvement stores like Home Depot,  and Ace. Just in time for a Christmas stocking-stuffer gift? They say timing is everything…

Want to get timely but not annoyingly frequent home improvement news and tips? Brilliant! Sign up for my newsletter at subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com. Important: If you don’t get the confirmation email in a timely fashion, check your spam and/or junk folder and add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to your address book.

Why? Because some email clients filter out unknown domains. Ouch. Meanwhile, visit my main site by clicking on the banner below.

If you like to build your wood projects from plans you bought at Rockler.com–Woodworking plans, or some other source like a woodworking magazine, you know that to save space, the illustrations are scaled way down.

For example, the drawing of a curved chair arm has the right radius on paper (looks good on paper, as they say, eh?), but it’s sized for a doll house. There’s no way you’ll get your butt in the chair if you build it to the plan scale.

The perspective is kept honest by using grid paper for the plans, of course. But the problem for more complex components has always been figuring out an accurate method to morph that 1:10 scale to a 1:1 scale.

One common solution is to blow up the plan on a plotter copier at Kinko’s and then trace the project components onto your lumber. A plotter is an oversize printer, not a woodworking jig.

I’ve always hated tracing. In the first place, plotters don’t commonly use tracing paper; what they use is opaque. What a hassle.

But here’s great tip sent in by a reader (thanks, Walter!). If you use a laser toner-type plotter, you can make your own iron-on plan transfers. That’s cooler than temporary tattoos. Just turn the copy over onto your lumber and make a pass over it with a hot dry iron.

The toner will leave a perfect image that you can now cut out with your jig saw or scroll saw. Woo-hoo!

One situation where this technique comes in handy is when you’re making a yard decoration out of plywood. Just lay down the pieces, butt ‘em up, iron on the plan, and the project will mate up just right! Halloween is just around the corner; it’s time to put something spooky in the yard.

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