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Removing Old Vinyl Flooring
Remove baseboard and trim using a pry bar and scrap wood. Use locking pliers
to pull out the nails from the back.
Removing Ceramic Tile
Remove ceramic tile with a cold chisel, prying tiles off one by one.
Removing an old Water Heater
Drain the old tank by shutting off the water supply and draining the tank
with a garden hose.
CREATING A CLEANING
CENTER
You will be more likely to start your cleaning chores and to finish the task
if you have everything you need on hand and in one place. A cleaning center
that saves you time and steps is the efficient beginning to quick and easy
cleaning methods.
FRAMING WITH STEEL
STUDS
Steel studs, joists, and rafters are old hat to most high-volume carpentry
contractors. Using them may have started on the west coast, but now steel
framing is used throughout the country.
Safety first
Although the methods in this site
have been reviewed for safety, it is not possible to overstate the
importance of using the safest methods you can. What follows are
reminders--some do’s and don’ts of work safety--to use along with your
common sense.
Panting and
papering tools
Painting is a job
do-it-yourselfers tackle more than any other, and the one where, for a
modest investment, they can use the same high-quality tools
professionals use: a basic roller and a good-quality brush. If you have
a lot of wall area to cover, consider using a 5-gallon paint bucket with
roller screen instead of a pan. You won’t need to keep refilling the
pan, and and bucket allows you to douse the roller (covering it with
paint quickly) and flick off the extra against the screen.
Demolition tools
When a home improvement project begins with demolition work, some
do-it-yourselfers begin to salivate Finally, a chance to vent
frustrations over every leak, squeak, and repair that didn’t pan out and
to pound part of the house into oblivion.
Hand tools
Many do-it-yourselfers already
own the basic hand tools required for building and remodeling walls and
ceilings. Unless you plan a special application, such as installing ceramic
wall tiles, you won’t need any specialty tools.
Learn About Layout tools
A basic collection of rulers,
squares, and levels should serve on most home improvement projects. But
it always helps to follow the adage “Measure twice and cut once,”
particularly when it can save an extra trip to the lumber yard for more
wood.
Building codes &
permits
Building permits are required
for any remodeling project that involves a change or addition to your
home’s structure or mechanical systems. Building permits are issued to
ensure your remodeling project meets local building codes, which
establish material standards, structural requirements, and installation
guidelines for your project. In short, they ensure that your (or your
contractor’s) work is done properly.
Building a
glass-block wall
Glass-block walls and windows not only add a distinctive design element
to this room, they also allow filtered light in without sacrificing
privacy. These blocks aren’t difficult to install, but the framing in
the room may need to be beefed up to support the additional weight.
Check with an engineer or architect for what’s required.
Building a
soundproof wall
There’s a lot of noise around these days, both inside and outside the
house, and most of us would like to turn down the volume a bit.
Fortunately, the truck rumbling by doesn’t sound as bad as it could
because some of the so is blocked by the insulation in the exterior
walls. Unfortunately, interior walls aren’t insulated. In fact, these
walls sometimes seem like amplifiers, especially when the kids are
watching TV in the next room.
Dealing with home
emergencies
Be Prepared - Not every emergency can be prepared for, but if you live in an area prone to
hurricanes, floods, earth quakes, or tornadoes, you should have basic
emergency supplies on hand, and your family should be aware of what steps to
take when disaster strikes.
Bathroom
demolition
Bathroom demo can get messy. The
reason? Even when you shut off waterlines, there is still water in traps, in
toilet tanks, and in the water lines themselves. When you undo a pipe
connection, some water will inevitably get on the floor, where it will mix
with the dirt on the bottom of your shoes. Place old towels or scraps of
carpet at the doorway for when you have to run out for tools. And have
buckets and towels ready, no matter how dry your project looks initially.
Lace door cabinet
Add a pretty, lace screen door to
a shelf unit to hide the bathroom clutter inside.
Demolition of a
wall
It’s remarkable how flimsy an interior wall can seem when you first cut
into it using a reciprocating saw or poke a hole in it with a hammer,
especially if it is made of drywall rather than plaster. It comes apart
with remarkable ease--unless you forget to probe ahead for wires,
plumbing, vents, or ducts.
Installing new
window sash
You can replace worn sash without
replacing the entire window. The first steps are to measure the window
openings carefully and order your new sash. Then remove the old ores, and
fill the window cavities with insulation. Cut the liners to size, and
install them. Then slide the sash into the liners. Finish up by installing
window stops to hold the sash in place.
Kitchen demolition
Even a modest kitchen remodeling
can cost thousands of dollars. But you can save some money by doing the
demolition work yourself. Some basic rules: shut off the water when removing
plumbing fixtures; turn off the electrical power if removing light fixtures;
and take note of your deconstructed room. It will provide you with an
invaluable peek at how various building system work together. This process
may help you avoid future problems with your new kitchen.
Level tools
Levels: A—2-ft spirit level,
B—4-ft. spirit level, C—6-in. spirit level, D—water level with electronic
level sensor, E—plumb bob and string, F—laser level, which can be attached
to a standard level.
How to make an
opening in an exterior wall
From inside the
house, drill through the wall at the corners of the framed opening. Push
casing nails through the holes to mark their location. For round-top
windows, drill holes around the curved outline.
Making basic scarf
joints
The joint that is most often
associated with interior trim work is the miter. This 45-degree joint is
designed to bring together two boards that meet at a right (90-degree)
angle. But the most common joint is actually the scarf joint. This is
used wherever you want to join two boards in a straight line- When done
properly, it can be almost invisible, especially if the boards end up
being primed and painted. Because this joint is used so frequently, it’s
a good idea to master it, following the steps shown here, before you
tackle any bigger trim jobs.
Making
construction plans
The best way to prepare for a
remodel project is to create a construction plan. Having a complete
construction plan enables you to view your entire project at a glance. It
helps you identify potential problems, provides sense of the time involved,
and establishes a logical order of steps. Without a construction plan, its
easy to make costly mistakes, such as closing up a wall with wallboard
before the rough-ins ha been inspected.
Removing an old
partition
Although removing a partition
is not difficult, it certainly makes a mess. The drywall (or plaster)
dust gets everywhere, and you end up spending almost as much time
cleaning up as doing the work. Making the cleanup easier just takes a
couple minutes. First, open at least two windows, and put a floor fan
next to one to get the air moving out of the house. Then cover the entry
door with a piece of plastic sheet and tape it to the door trim. Also,
make sure to cover the furnace duct grilles with plastic and tape.
Building a
temporary support wall
While removing partitions is
messy work, it doesn’t have much impact on the structure of your house.
These walls just divide up space and usually don’t need to support
anything more substantial than five or six sheets of drywall. But if you
need to make alterations to walls that support structural weight, such
as outside walls or interior bearing walls, then you have to temporarily
support this weight with a support wall. These are easy to build, and
once you’re done with them you can remove them.
Structural changes
- Building partitions
There are two ways to build
partition walls: in place (shown below) or preassembled. When you build
a wall in place, you nail the wall plates to the floor and ceiling and
then fill in the studs between, toe nailing each to both plates. The
great advantage of this approach is that it makes for a tight wall in
rooms where the floor and ceiling aren’t parallel, which is often the
case in older houses. Preassembling a wall, on the other hand, is easier
because you cut all the studs to the same size and nail the plates to
the ends of the studs before the wall is tipped up.
Nailing techniques
Face-nailing through the
top or bottom plate into a stud makes the strongest connection. Its
also easier and faster than toenailing, where the angled nail
sometimes can cause splits or miss most of the stud altogether.
Either way, lay out stud locations on both the bottom and top plates
at the same time. |
