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Emergency Building Tools and Supplies - Be Prepared After the Storm, Fire, or Earthquake "...the fire department will protect and defend the most-valuable assets first..." Quick Column Summary: Emergency tools and supplies Without help for days during an emergency Short lists of tools and supplies Keep them close California Here I Come - Earthquakes and […]

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Quick Column Summary: Rotten egg smell in plumbing Is it in all the faucets Is it the municipal water supply An anonymous person named Free who lives in Lancaster, CA moved into a new mobile home park. He or she's got a problem with water odor: "My toilet smells like rotten eggs. The shower water […]

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Quick Column Summary: Need to fix a planter Can it be ground down and leveled Easier to start over Link to video series Barbara Mandese, who lives not to awful far from the San Andreas fault in Monterey, CA, reached out for a life preserver after throwing out her back mixing concrete. Read what her […]

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Here are two pipe wrenches representing Ridgid's 75 years. One's a 10-inch and the other is a 14-inch wrench. They're in mint condition and have NEVER been out of the foam casing. They've never kissed a pipe. The plumber in your life will love these. Or maybe you're simply a tool collector. I have no […]

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I received this as a gift at one of the last Sears Editors Conferences that were held. I should probably keep it, but you'll enjoy it  more than me. The sockets are 22-carat gold plated. They're 3/8-inch drive. Each socket has a different logo that matches what was used in that year or time period. […]

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In May of 2012, I started an extensive outdoor test in real conditions of quite a few name brand deck sealers.  The test was conducted here in central New Hampshire. The sealers were tested on treated lumber and cedar decking. Both are very popular wood species used for outdoor wood decks and structures. Here's the […]

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Quick Column Summary: Can you vault roof rafters Standard trusses won't modify easily Common framed house can create vaulted ceiling Work with structural engineer Roof rafters, unless the roof is flat, by their very nature are vaulted. Vaulted means installed at a slope. If your house is built with standard trusses, you can't modify the […]

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Quick Column Summary: Thin a solid stain Yes, it is just paint See what manufacturer recommends on label Solid stain, for the most part, is just paint. The paint manufacturers won't tell you this on the label, but they're just a coating like paint. Most people consider stains to be a thin product that penetrates […]

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