When it comes to putting up drywall, consider some of the tools necessary to get this job done; screw guns, cords, a drywall saw and board knife, circle cutter and rasp, tape… and I haven’t even mentioned either scaffolding or ladders or the help of someone else because there’s no way this is a one-man job. Not to mention all the tools just mentioned are used simply to hang drywall, which many people consider the easy, grunt work part. But like so many other things, the devil is in the details.

And when it comes to installing drywall, the details involve finishing the scenes or joints, installing the corner bead and covering up the nail holes. Very (and I mean VERY) qualified drywall finishers are good enough at taping and mudding drywall that you need to add texture to the wall before painting it. More than likely though, texturing will be your friend as it hides many of the flaws that would stand out like a sore thumb without it. For you to learn how to tape in my drywall adequately would take more time and effort than it’s worth. Just plan on texturing the wall.

Now if you want to consider the additional tools necessary for finishing the drywall you’ll need to consider the following additional tools; 6 inch, 8 inch and 10 inch knife along with your mud pan. Either a mud stomper, or an attachment to your heavy duty half-inch drill known as a drill bit mixer. And of course you’re going to need to be able to spray the texture on the wall therefore don’t need an air compressor in the hopper along with masking materials such as plastic sheeting, paper and tape.

Once you’ve used all these items and have the drywall hung, finished with mud and tape and textured, you’ll be ready to paint it. Oh, but first you need to prime it. THEN you’ll be ready to paint the wall yourself. So obviously you’re going to need some brushes or rollers or power painter for this part of the job.

If you add it all up you could easily be looking at well over $1000 worth of tools and supplies NOT including the drywall itself. As far as how much does drywall cost per square foot, you’re probably looking at about $.30-$.90 per square foot for just the drywall sheet. For what it’s worth, professional installation will probably add about $1 – $1.75 per square foot to the cost of the drywall.

All things considered, between the equipment needed, drywall installation cost, drywall finishing cost, and the time and effort necessary not only to physically do the work, but to learn it as you do it… often times professional drywall installation is the way to go, especially for smaller, one-off jobs. If you’re tackling a monster job on your own and think that you will be able to more than make up the cost difference between the cost of the equipment against the labor cost, then learning how to mud and tape drywall, hang it, texture it etc., it may be worth your while.

Like so many aspects of woodworking, the skills necessary for routing are pretty basic. However, the skills necessary for routing WELL only come with patience, practice, repetition and time. We will go over a few basic points that can help the beginner woodworker to get familiar with routing, while at the same time perhaps reminding wood working veterans of a few basics that they should share with newcomers, if they have the opportunity to share their wood router skills with someone just getting started.

Before doing anything else, you’ll need to select the wood you’ll be working on. You should examine it to make sure it doesn’t have and nails in it, and make yourself aware of any warps or knots that exist in it as well. Also, never work with wood that is wet; make sure it is properly dried before starting any project.

Obviously you’ll want to make yourself well acquainted with the actual router you use by reading the instruction manual thoroughly and following all the proper, necessary safety precautions, both specifically for that piece of equipment as well as general safety guidelines you should always follow when woodworking such as wearing proper eye protection.

If you’re just getting started for the first time and have followed the recommendation above of using Trend router bits, you will be getting off to a good start with a high quality, sharp new router bit. But be aware that this is something you should always strive for; making sure the router bit you are using is nice and sharp.

When setting up the wood you’ll be working on (after it has passed the previous rules and inspections), make sure it is properly secured to your work bench. You should also secure another piece of wood of the exact same thickness to act as support for your router as you get near the edges, to make sure it always stays nice and level.

When you start in on your piece of wood, you should come straight down on the wood from above (called plunge cutting) rather than coming in from the edge of the wood. And when you move the router across the wood, move it from left to right so that the cutting edge of the router bit is the first to contact the wood.

Take your time and don’t “bite off more than you can chew”. In other words, don’t try to make extremely deep cuts all at once. Doing so can cause the bit to bind and twist the router in your hands, or it can leave burn marks in the wood. It is much better to make shallower cuts in the wood, and gradually lower the bit in successive passes. It may take a bit more patience, but you’ll get better end results. Also, don’t rush the router in its horizontal plain either. Pushing it too fast is more likely to create chips and splinters than if you just take your time with it.

Finally, until you get very comfortable and confident with your router, you should always use an edge guide. Over time as you get more familiar with your new router and wood routing skills, you’ll be able to experiment with more freehand cutting techniques.

Following these basic guidelines should help you get a good start into the world of woodworking, or more specifically, using a wood router in your woodworking. Remember, patience is a virtue, and practice, practice, practice! Read, experiment, work with more experienced woodworkers if you can, and always work with the best materials and equipment that you possibly can. One area we definitely recommend you not skimp on is that intersection of your vision and the actual wood; the router bit. And that is why we always recommend using Trend router bits.

You see by simply dragging the tile cutter wheel across the glazed finish surface of the ceramic tile will create a “plane of weakness”. Between that newly created plane of weakness and an evenly applied downward tension pressure, ceramic tile will snap cleanly along that line. Despite how strong and sturdy ceramic tile is in day-to-day use, it has only a fraction of that strength when it comes to tensile strength. And this is exactly what you are taking advantage of by your evenly distributed downward pressure combined with a predetermined line of weakness.

When considering their different tile cutter options, it is generally accepted that spending a little bit more money for a good handheld tile cutter is worth the money. You also want to make sure that whatever country you purchase, it has a rotating guide such that you can make angled cuts anywhere from 0 to 45°. A good quality tile cutter should last you a long time if properly maintained which simply means ensuring the tool remains well lubricated so that the wheel can rotate freely.

One situation where this type of tile cutter is not ideal is when you try to use it as a porcelain tile cutter. You see, porcelain is quite a bit thicker and harder than your typical ceramic tile. Because of this, the minor scoring that works so well to create a plain of weakness for other types of tile will not work as well on porcelain tiles. This doesn’t mean you cannot use it, it just means going to take a bit more work, effort and frustration as you’ll probably find yourself creating more waste material than with other tile materials.

Other tile varieties where you might be better off using a diamond wet saw include granite tiles, marble tiles, thicker slate tiles, or really anything that gets excessively thick. But for your normal every day wall tiles for your bathroom and kitchen tiles, including glass tiles, Your standard handhelds tile cutter should be more than adequate for your needs.

The basics of what we’re going to do if this; we’re going to use small, bright, inexpensive LED lights (kind of similar to Christmas tree lights, but one at a time and much brighter), coupled with small, inexpensive lithium coin batteries like you might find in a watch, and put them into completely portable containers for you to place as outside lighting anywhere that suits you. They containers will talk about here are your standard mason jars use for canning fruits, but really almost anything will do. In fact, we’ll get into some creative ideas later as fodder for you to get your own imagination running.

Also, before I go any farther I think it’s only fair to say that I was not a genius enough to come up with this idea on my own. Instead, while I was looking for ideas on how to the outside lighting fixtures in my new garden, I stumbled upon this idea at a website called EvilMadScientists.com. This idea got me so excited about the possibilities that I had to run to the store to get some supplies to give it a shot right away. However, I did have the chance to peruse the website little bit and found some other brilliant ideas that look both useful as well is just a lot of fun. I get to go back and examine it in depth, but I am looking forward to doing that sometime soon.

Okay, so on to the materials. We’re going to need some small LED lights, some lithium-ion coin battery cells, some mason jars (or other containers) and a bit of tape. Specifically, you’ll want to look for CR2032 Lithium coin cells (3V) and some 10mm (for example) ultrabright white LEDs with a diffused lens that you can find at EvilMadScience.com (this will allow for a better spread of light). More than likely you’ll be able to find these items at a store such as a RadioShack as well, but you may be paying a little bit more.

The process from here is really quite simple. You’re going to use the tape to attach the LED directly to the battery (the longer lead on the LED goes to the “+” side of the lithium coin battery). And just doing this, you have your light. Of course, because we’re talking about outside lighting, we need to do something to protect what you have. And this is where the mason jars come into play.

All you need to do is now tape the battery to the inside of the mason jar lid. If you want you can bend the leads of the LED at 90° so that the light is pointing down towards the bottom of the jar. Screw the lid on to the jar and VOILA! A perfectly waterproof, perfectly portable, relatively bright outside light fixture that you can place just about anywhere you want.

Do you want to see what it would be like to have lights coming up from beneath your flowers? Give it a try. How bout lining the sidewalk to your house? Easy enough to try that. Maybe you just feel like having fun for your next outdoor get-together so you tie a few of these charges so that they hang from the trees… you get the idea; you can do pretty much whatever you want with these. In fact, as mentioned above, some more creative ideas I’ve heard of include placing the lights inside of things such as Tupperware and then letting them float about in a pool. Someone else inserted these small little lights (obviously without the Mason jar) into a latex balloon filled with helium and created some bright floating colored lights for a birthday party.

Where the additional beauties of this setup, in addition to the ease and the value of putting it together (not to mention fun), is the fact that LED lights draws so little energy that even if not turned off, these little glow lights will stay lit for days on end. In fact, they be as long as 7 to 10 days. Obviously if you take the time to undertake the leads from the battery so that it turns off, you can have them ready for your next get-together much more quickly.

Another idea that I heard and I look forward to trying it involves using these little outside light fixtures to create beautiful, and safe, lumenarias for the holidays. For those of you who aren’t aware of what a luminaria is, they really can be quite beautiful. When I was a child we used brown paper lunch sacks with sand at the bottom and place small tea light candles inside of them to line a walk way or a wall during the holidays. Now having a burning candle inside the paper sack doesn’t sound all that safe to me (and it really didn’t even when I was a little kid…). But with this new approach, it’ll be quick, easy and SAFE to create dozens of these orange glowing paper sacks come holiday time. I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully this, or some other application of these portable outside lights will be of some use to you too.

Review after review of the various Makita circular saw models tells you the same thing… these puppies are powerful, easy-to-use, smooth and accurate. The saw blades that come standard work exceptionally well, though some people, depending on their specific needs, will change them out to something with a higher tooth count.

Of course nothing is perfect so if you want to find something to gripe about on occasion you’ll see that people aren’t thrilled with where the safety button is placed. Not to the point that it prevents them from operating in a safe manner, it was simply less than ideal. Knowing the Makita Corporation, they probably have heard this from their customers and will make appropriate changes to future models. Regardless, professional contractors, framers, do-it-yourselfers and more all find comfort in not only Makita circular saws, but the complete line of Makita power tools.

Recently my nephew decided to take a crack at working with a contractor in his hometown. Being the good uncle, I decided to arm him with a few quality tools to get started when he said he was in the market for a small circular saw. Certainly there was no question of the brand I was going to be purchasing, and he knew it. Nonetheless we got on the phone to do some cross-country Internet research together (we live on opposite sides of the country), on various circular saw makes and models. I’m proud to say that without any pressure my nephew decided on the Makita 5402na 16 5/16 inch circular saw.

Not at all to my surprise, when I asked him how things were going here was extremely enthusiastic. The funny thing is his dad told me that he now makes fun of the old Black and Decker circular saw He has had in his garage for years. It still works for him, which is great. He uses it or a little, very infrequently. Nonetheless, between his son and me, I can pretty much guarantee that when it comes time to replace it, a Makita circular saw will be at the top of his list.

One of the things that will make your life a lot easier is if you buy ready mixed mud. One thing to note here; do NOT use spackle. When you go to choose the greatest mud you should use the “all-purpose” variety as the base coat to cover the tape. Later you can use a light mud for a final coat including one that is known as topping mud. This Friday has a more plastic like texture and dries smoother with less of a likelihood bubble.

When using ready-made mud, you don’t want to stir it too much. Doing so can introduce air bubbles to the mixture and that’s only going to detract from the smooth finish that you’re going after.

Regarding the knives or trowels are you going to use; Recognize the fact that metal knives can rust giving you a less than smooth surface to work with. Likewise, plastic trowels can develop rough edges and burrs that will also make your life difficult. Whichever variety of mudding knife you know choose to use, make sure you have a good clean, smooth edge to work with.

When you go to place mud in the seams, pressed is hard enough to squeeze a bit of mud in there and leaving a bit of smooth (not clumpy) but on the wall. From here you’re going to use a wide blade loaded with mud on it. You want to bring the blade perpendicular to the wall at about a 45° angle and as you do draw the blade down, you’ll slowly flatten out the blade until it’s almost flat against the wall at the bottom. You should have left plenty of mud on the wall, roughly 3 inches on either side of the seam.

You’re now going to need a piece of paper drywall tape proper length, which is long enough to cover the scene plus a little extra on each end. Some people like to presoak the tape and water because they feel it makes it easier to work with. This might be true but can also make things a bit is here for you, so the choice is up to you. Either way, you now want to press the tape against the freshly mudded wall with your hands, centering it was the scene as best you can.

I take your knife that you have thoroughly cleaned (and I mean THOROUGHLY cleaned so there are no rough edges on it), and pull it down along the theme pressing as hard as is reasonably possible without risk of breaking the knife. The purpose and goal at this point is to get the mud into the tape, so don’t worry too much about a perfectly smooth finish. You come back later to finish the job in that respect. Once the tape is properly in place, want to come back and remove any excess mud as best you can.

The next step is easy… walk away. It’s best to let things dry really well at this stage (ideally, at least overnight). Of course you probably have many more seams to get to before you can really walk away, not to mention filling all the screw holes with mud to create a smooth, flat surface. To do so, just add a little dab to the screw head area and then slide over it to take it away with your palette knife. You definitely don’t need, or want to, use too much mud in this instance because leaving unnecessary lines behind will only mean more work for you later sanding them away. You should also realize that as mud dries, it shrinks. Therefore you may have to come back to these screw heads a few times to make sure they are completely filled.

NOTE – you will not be sanding yet; the tape would be in danger of getting ripped/broken. You’re going to be adding at least one additional code and maybe more before you start any sanding process.

When it comes time to apply the second coat remember that the purpose of this is to create a smooth finish not filling in any holes. If you see cracks and holes that need to be filled, you need to go back to repeating this stage we just did, and doing a bit more carefully and thoroughly this time.

Before applying the second coat you can use a large 8 to 12 inch blade to run over the previous work removing any major defects and bumps. When you feel you have a relatively clean, smooth surface to work with load up your blade with your mud and run it over the seam you taped yesterday. This time, as he lay the mud down your going to feather it out as smoothly as possible means taking it out to the width of probably 4 to 6 inches on either side. When you can no longer see the tape… you’re done. Let it dry. (By the way, is normal, and actually had good thing, to see a small hump in the middle of the seam. This will flatten out and go away as the mud dries and shrinks).

When this layer has thoroughly dried you take a close look at your work if you see any big pits and holes that are too big for paint to cover up, your going to have to come back and do a third coat. It looks like things are pretty well covered up, and you’re going to be ready for sanding. You always want to wait until you’ve completely accomplished what you wanted with the mud before sanding.

When it comes time to send your work, be sure to use a sanding block and sandpaper that is at least 150 grit or finer. Some people like to use power orbital sanders which can work as long as you have a steady hand and don’t allow it to sit in any one spot; in other words, keep it moving. Also, and this is very important, make sure you have proper breathing protection when sanding. Drywall is made of gypsum and when you sand it, the dust is extremely fine and can be quite unhealthy. Don’t take any chances, where the right protective breathing gear.

Hopefully this outline gives you an idea of what’s involved when it comes to taping and mudding drywall. To learn how to meditate drywall correctly, you’re going to have to practice practice practice. There are other things you can do in your efforts to learn how to tape and mud drywall in the meantime, such as watching various online resources. You can do a search for something like, “how to tape and mud drywall video”, and you should have hours of viewing to help you prepare for what you are going to experience.

And so far we’ve mostly just thought about cosmetic uses. Imagine the problems you could encounter by not properly framing a doorway. Good luck hanging that door and having it close cleanly.

Compared to the old-fashioned vial levels as where you had a glass tube filled with liquid into the small air bubbles that floated to either side of the center when you were off level, these new digital laser level systems are a total breeze to use. In fact, is almost nothing to learning how to use a laser level, especially in these smaller, simpler versions meant for do-it-yourselfers.

You see, most of these basic laser levels have hanging pins that allow you to have hands-free use of them. Simply hang them on the wall and let the beam of light self level and track across your surface. Some even have magnetic bases allowing for quick and easy attachment to any metal surface. Another option that’s available on some of the slightly higher-end models include the ability to project lines that particular angles relative to the level plain. This can be ideal for short distance surveying projects.

One thing to keep in mind when looking for laser levels is the strength of the beam of light in a project. You definitely want to have something that projects a solid, strong laser beam. Otherwise, if you work outside or in very well lit room you might have trouble distinguishing where the line is (or may not be able to see it at all). Also, some of the lower end models can have the line interrupted by small bumps on the surface, while the higher quality models will send out a beam strong enough that it will track over most reasonably flat surfaces.

Finally, one other option that’s very handy to have built-in to these tools is a combination laser level stud finder. Considering these tools are usually about the same size and weight, and are often used together on the same project, why not combine them into a single unit? It just makes sense.

Some of the better-known brands you might want to look at include the Stanley laser level as well as the Black & Decker laser level. Clearly both of these brands are well established and well respected within both professional construction as well as home improvement/DIY circles. In fact, some of the better features discussed above such as incorporating an auto leveling laser with stud Sensor, or the ability to project various angles can be found in the Black & Decker BullsEye models. Stanley on the other hand is known for their FatMax Laser Level. You really can’t go wrong with either one of these options. A few other, lesser-known, less costly options still worth investigating include the Ryobi airgrip laser level and the Ultronic laser level.

As far as the numbers of questions that arise regarding these projects… is there a number greater than infinite? Because that’s how many questions people will have on any single project, much less ALL of them. And while there are seemingly endless sources of information available today, both online and through home improvement stores like Ace Hardware and the mega-stores like Lowes and The Home Depot, knowing where to go can be more than a little overwhelming. And that’s where YourDIYOutlet.com comes in.

We’re here to answer questions as best as we can about topics we know something about and that, more importantly, we have found get asked a lot. Are we missing some? You better believe we are! In fact, we’re missing almost ALL the good questions! However, you have to start somewhere, right? Just like you and trying to learn how to get your project done, you have to start somewhere. Maybe you’re starting here (and we think this is as good a place as any for you to get started). Well, we’re getting started answering your questions today, and hope to continue to answer more and more of your questions as time goes on. If we haven’t addressed your specific question, then feel free to use our Contact Us page to reach out to us and make a suggestion as to what you would like to see addressed here next.

If we don’t know the answer to your question, we’ll do one of two things. Either we’ll find an expert who DOES know the answer and can explain it in a way that will make sense to us, so that we can pass that information along to you, or else we will tell you honestly that we don’t know how to do that and we’ll continue to research it. What we will NOT do is give you a bogus answer.

And who knows, as long as we’re working some around the house projects, we might get a little hungry and decide to fire up our gas grill and do a little cooking. If we do, maybe we’ll throw in a few of our BBQ recipes along the way. Or maybe we’ll look at plans to build a brick oven for making our own wood burning pizza oven. How about spending a bit of time out in the garden figuring out how to build a strawberry planter.

As you can see, we have a lot of possibilities ahead of us for this site. And if you’re taking the time to join us and read what we have to offer, it’s only fair to give you the opportunity to help steer the ship, so to speak. So again, don’t hesitate to use the Contact Us page to offer suggestions, ask questions or to give us any other kind of feedback you feel like sharing. This will be OUR project together!

Let’s take a look at the first situation.

Surprisingly, one possibility that you should check out first (though honestly, this probably will not be your issue, but it’s worth checking…), is the screws on the faucet handles themselves. Often times a simple tightening of these screws is enough to put an end to this squeaking. If this quick fix doesn’t do the trick, many people will reach for the WD-40. It’s understandable; it’s quick, convenient, and usually helps the problem at hand… for a while. The thing is, WD-40 does work for a little while, but eventually (in fact, usually sooner than later), it dries out. And when it does, you will be worse off than you were before. A much better bet is to make a quick trip to your local hardware store or Home Depot. There you can pick up a bit of silicone grease, which is what a plumber would use on internal parts like this.

If in the process of taking a closer look at your bathroom faucet you find that it is really very old and starting to corrode (especially if it is any kind of pewter metal), chances are you’re going to need to replace it. This is just a simple case of things wearing out with time. Once again, your friendly Home Depot, Lowe’s or local hardware store should have a good selection of faucets to choose from in a wide range of prices. But remember, you get what you pay for. If you’re not planning on getting the bargain basement variety, taking a look at Danze faucets would be well worth your while. A brand that is quickly establishing itself in the plumbing world for the value, quality, and aesthetic attractiveness.

Now let’s take a good look at the other “squeaky faucet” situation.

Here, I’m afraid, you might need a plumber’s intervention. However, there are a few things you can check before making that call and spending that money. One possible reason your sink might be shrieking is that you have air in the lines. You can pick up a thing called an ‘air arrestor’ in the plumbing section of your home improvement store. Installation is usually quite simple and any of the sales staff should be able to give you a quick explanation of how to do it.

The second possibility that you might be able to address is that the stem may be loose where it goes into the faucet body. If this is the case, the noise is coming from water rushing past it causing it to vibrate quickly. Simply tightening up the stem should eliminate the noise if this is the problem.

While it’s true that sometimes a professional plumber is absolutely needed in these situations, other times there are simple fixes that you can take care of yourself. This isn’t rocket science. If you’ve been pulling your hair out because your sink is squeaking or shrieking at you, hopefully now you can do something to put an end to it once and for all.