One of our sales associates get this question all the time, “Which TiteBond wood glue should I use?”
Franklin manufactures three different TiteBond wood glues - Original, Premium and Ultimate.
- Original, not surprisingly, was the first. It was the first aliphatic resin glue, developed in 1955.
- Premium came on the scene in 1991. It was the first one-part Type II water-resistant glue.
- Ultimate is the latest addition to the TiteBond line. It’s Franklin’s first truly waterproof wood glue.
So, which TiteBond wood glue should you use? The answer is the same as it often is for home improvement projects: It depends what you’re doing. Our sales associate, Kimberly, likes the ultimate though. She thinks, why not go for the best?
A customer of ours described his electric gate opener problem and solution for us. I thought it might help some of you out. Here’s Paul’s story:
We have this dog. She is a two-year-old Springer Spaniel. When we first got her she would stay in our yard, but eventually she figured out she could crawl under our fence. So I fixed that problem. It took about a week for her to figure out that if she couldn’t crawl under the fence she could jump over the fence. What to do?
To solve this problem, I set about building a kennel for her. I found a nice spot on the back of our property, poured a 6’ x 10’ slab, built a roof over the area to provide shade, and installed a 6’ wide x 10’ long X 6’ high chain link kennel. The place has water, a heated water bowl, a new dog dish, a nice new dog house and a great view of the mountains. It’s out of the wind and sun and it’s dry. It’s like going on vacation. Well, we decided to go out of town for the afternoon so I put our precious little thing in her new digs with plenty of food, fresh water and a new bone. We returned home four hours later to find the kennel empty. Did someone pirate our dog? Not quite! I opened the gate to the yard and there she was sitting there wagging her tail. So all the time, energy and money (did I mention I bought a new bone for her) I invested to build her this safe place to stay resulted in her climbing out over the top of the chain link fence and then jumping over our yard fence to get back into our yard. What to do now?
Well, a friend of mine told me I should try an electric fence on my property. Was he kidding? I mean I wasn’t raising cattle. No, he meant a fence that I would bury under the ground and would trigger a shock collar when the dog crossed the electronic barrier that was set up by the wire buried under ground. Hmm, a possible solution. When the dog crossed the barrier a shock would be administered to the dog through a shock collar she would be wearing. I went home and did a quick survey of my yard. I soon realized that the trees I have in my yard (and especially their shallow roots) and a number of concrete sidewalks might make installation of this product a bit difficult.
The next thing I found was an actual electric fence meant for pets and small animals. This product installs above ground on little green posts. I simply pounded the posts into the ground, strung the wire according to the directions and plugged it into an outlet. I placed it about a foot or so from the fence, the dog touched it once, and once was enough. We can leave her in the yard anytime we want and I don’t think she will ever jump the fence again. I can highly recommend the “FI-SHOCK” Garden Electric Fence Kit or the “FI-SHOCK” Solar Electric Fence Charger. Both are manufactured by the Woodstream Corporation. Oh, by the way, I have little signs on the fence to warn people that it is “hot.” I also tell everyone that the fences are electrified. When small children come over, I just unplug the thing and everyone is safe. It’s been a great solution for a pesky little pet problem. Everyone’s happy, including the dog.
Our paint department has been mixing colors galore! It is definitely a popular home maintenance project this year.
I’ve seen gallons and gallons of red go to a camp. And people are lined up to get colors mixed.
I love painting because it’s easy, inexpensive, gives new life to your space, and makes your house look good. Sign me up.
My folks are coming in a few weeks, and Mom’s on paint duty. She’s going to repaint my bedroom. I got a new rug with greens and pinks (dusty roses). She’s bringing new, mint green curtains. So, my big question is: which color for the walls?
I think I’ll head down to the busy paint department and pick up some color charts. I’m thinking in the mint green family….maybe two colors. But how to apply them?
* One color on the walls and one on the ceiling?
* Two walls one color? If so, connecting walls or opposite?
* A design on the walls?
My living room has a mustardy yellow paint (matte) on the walls with a few wide stripes of maroon (glossy). The ceiling is a lighter yellow.
My bathroom has two tan walls and two light blue walls. Those colors meet in the middle of the ceiling in a squiggly pattern. There’s a stripe of dark blue along the squiggle.
As you can imagine from those descriptions, the bedroom will turn out a little funky.
As a bit of a green freak, I love reading green tips of the day. Some I can’t use. Some I can. Some I’ve heard over and over. Some are brand new. A few sites I like:
GreenDaily.com Not the same old boring stuff.
TheDailyGreen.com Good for the beginner with some advanced tips thrown in.
My favorite green tip? Use less. It doesn’t matter what it is, just use a little less of it.
@blackfonzie asked me on Twitter: “We have awful color of laminate countertop. Possible to take the laminate layer off & replace?”
Our resident kitchen designer and installer said you can actually put a new layer of laminate on top of the old one. This process will work if the edges of the counter are square.
Simply rough up the old laminate with a belt sander and apply the new.
Now I have yet another project for my house. Of course, the backsplash on my pink (yes, pink) countertop is curved. So, I think I’ll cut the backsplash off and add a new one.
My Fourth of July trip is a short one, but I’m still going to check some vital fluids before heading out. You know the ones:
1) Oil
2) Anti-freeze
3) Transmission Fluid
I’ll also be checking the air pressure in my tires.
Most of us now have little reminded bells (well, lights) that tell us when things are low, but it doesn’t take but a minute when you’re gassing up. Oh yeah. Don’t forget gas.
Our country’s birthday is a big celebration! There are b-b-q’s, fireworks, parties, parades. Who has time to do home maintenance during the Fourth of July weekend?
I know my weekend’s pretty packed. I’m heading about an hour away, both days, for an alpaca farm open house. I may not have time for my project, but I’ve picked a quick one….applying teak oil to my front door. It’s a perfect early morning project this time of year.
I’ll be wiping my door down, then brushing on the teak oil and wiping it off. Easy breezy. Done in a flash.
And my door, which is simply but beautiful, will be protected for another long year of weather abuse.
Happy Fourth of July!
Is there a home improvement project that gets any better than weather stripping your doors? Do I sound a little crazy? Maybe, but I’m serious. And it saves energy. This is one of the projects the greenies promote.
Weather stripping is fast, inexpensive, saves you money on your energy bill, and makes your home more comfortable. I’ll take that kind of project any day. In fact, I’ve already bought my weather stripping. Maybe it’ll go up this week. Hmmm. Maybe next.
Many exterior doors have drafts around them. Either the door didn’t fit properly to begin with or maybe things have just settled and created a gap. But now, with self-adhesive weather stripping, there’s an easy fix.
Choose the right size weatherstripping to fill the draft (but not something that will make it hard or impossible to close the door). Open the door, peel the strip off the adhesive, and stick the weather stripping on the door frame.
Weather stripping should be applied in temperatures over 40 degrees F, so now’s a great time to install it. Plus, even though it’s usually thought of a way to keep cold air out, it also keeps hot air out. An easy way to keep your home comfortable.
I had hoped to share great bits of wisdom about engine maintenance this week. However, it is not to be.
Although there may be some differences in the suggested maintenance routines of different engines, there are a lot of similarities. And they all remind me of maintenance on my car (no surprise there).
Our fix-it guy, Jack, gave me the maintenance manuals to two different small engines…the Briggs & Stratton 210000, 280000 and 310000 and the Honda GX120, GX160 and GX200. The maintenance info is VERY similar. So, rather than repeat last Friday’s post….
Watch the oil, air filter, spark plug and fuel filter. And, check your engine’s manual.
I’ll dig into better stuff next week. Watch out, Jack, here I come. I need info!
Narrow, wide, angled, straight, $14, .49. There are so many choices when it comes to paintbrushes. The hardware store can have bunches. But which one is right?
If you’re about to paint the exterior of your house, you’re bound to need at least one paintbrush. Even if you’re going to use a sprayer for the majority of the painting. Certainly a paintbrush is needed for some trim work. But which one?
BuyAceHardware.com’s resident paint expert, John, says the benefit of buying a higher end paintbrush is two-fold:
1) Higher end paintbrushes are easier to clean.
2) They will last longer.
“If you spend $14 on a paintbrush and take care of it well, it will last the rest of your life,” he said.
Taking care of it includes cleaning it well. If you use a latex paint, clean your brush with soap and water and let it air dry. For oil based paint, use Mineral Spirits (a.k.a. paint thinner) for cleaning.
Are you just starting to plan an exterior paint job? HGTV has some ideas.
