March 3, 2010 Newsletter and Tips
Copyright 2010 - Tim Carter
Remember, Do it Right, Not Over!
Welcome if you are a new subscriber. If you like this newsletter, feel free to forward it to as many of your friends as you wish.
I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.
If you wish to Unsubscribe, look all the way at the bottom for the Unsubscribe link. All you have to do is click it to stop getting this newsletter.
If you wish to Unsubscribe, look all the way at the bottom for the Unsubscribe link. All you have to do is click it to stop getting this newsletter.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
Friendly Question Reminder!
If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet.
Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your
problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of
every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if
you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them.
If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet.
Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your
problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of
every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if
you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them.
Latest News
I survived the mini-hurricane in New Hampshire late last week. It
was an epic Nor'easter. The wind really picked up after 10 p.m. on
Thursday night. Earlier in the evening the wind-driven rain found a
breech in the flashing around the top of a french door in the lower
level of the house. I didn't build the home I'm in, so I'll be
fixing that leak when the weather gets better.
I'm back in Cincinnati, OH now for the entire month of March. The
mission is to cross off all the tiny honey-do list items that have
persisted here just as in any house. These to-do tasks need to be
completed by March 28th, the day of the one-and-only open house.
I've made great headway the past two days completing jobs. You'll
hear more about this in the upcoming weeks. If you know of someone
who might want to purchase this great home I built with my bare
hands, let me know. It's a four bedroom Queen Anne Victorian that
looks 125 years old, but was built in 1986.
Storing Paint
One of the things I'm doing here is touching up small places on
both the walls and woodwork that have the traditional wear and tear
dings and scratches. Fortunately when I painted these surfaces over
the years, I saved the leftover paint.
I discovered many years ago it's a mistake to save the paint in the
cans from the paint store. Not only do you have to deal with lots
of air in the cans, but you also have an issue with rust at the lid
lip. The excess air in a paint usually causes a nasty skin to form
on top of the paint.
What I've discovered that works best for me, and you may have an
even better idea, is to use the inexpensive food-storage containers
you can buy in the grocery store. They come in different sizes and
the trick is to fill one nearly to the top with the leftover paint.
If the paint is water-based, I always add an ounce or two of water
at the top of the paint before sealing the lid. This prevents the
skinning effect. Using a permanent marker, and I do this before
filling the container, I write on the side of the container the
room the paint was used in, the mfr., paint type, paint name,
formula if available, etc.
Let me tell you how well this works. Yesterday I had to touch up
many spots in my living room. I painted this room about ten years
ago. If you were here with me today, I'd bet you $100 you couldn't
find one spot where I touched up the walls. The paint matched
perfectly and it's consistency was just like the day I opened the
original can. Suffice it to say I store this leftover paint indoors
at about 65 F.
Stain Solver News
If you're a new subscriber, and I have about 1,300 now per *week*,
you probably don't know about Stain Solver. It's a magical oxygen
bleach I've blended and sold since about 1996.
About a month ago I wrote a column for my newspaper clients talking
about using oxygen bleach to clean ceramic tile floor grout. Two
weeks ago The Washington Post newspaper ran this column. Talk about
a tsunami, the rush of orders from readers almost tilted my
shopping cart. In a little over 96 hours, we got over 500 orders
from just the readers of this column in the DC area. I had not
anticipated this kind of response.
I immediately had the idea that I should tape a video showing you
exactly how this magical powder really cleans floor tile grout. We
taped the video one afternoon two weeks ago and had it loaded the
next day at the Stain Solver site. It's right there as soon as you
land on the home page.
I urge you to watch the video to see how it works. You really need
to watch the last ten seconds of the video. What I said the entire
video was unscripted - especially the last few lines. If you're not
smiling at the end of that video, you must be in a really bad mood
today.
Finally, there are hundreds of uses of this product around your
home. One of the craziest uses is to dislodge that pesky brown
caramelized grease you often see on the outside of pots and pans. I
experimented one day soaking a pan in the Stain Solver solution for
about six hours. Lo and behold using a Dobie pad and some elbow
grease, 90% of the encrusted brown spots came off after the
soaking! The same happened on stainless-steel cookie sheets. I
could go on and on, but rest assured Stain Solver will blow you
away.
Cincinnati Home and Garden Show
If you're near Cincinnati, OH the second weekend of March, I'll be
speaking at the Cincinnati Home and Garden Show. I'll be talking
Friday, March 12th at 5 p.m., Saturday the 13th at 2 and 6 p.m.,
and on Sunday the 14th at 2 p.m. The best time to stop by would be
Saturday, as I'll be just hanging out with you between the two
talks. I'll be talking about the top five issues I see homeowners
struggle with each day, some exciting new products I've discovered
and answering your questions.
I'll also consult with you at no cost about any issue you have with
your own home. If you come, be sure to bring photos of the problem
if you feel it will make it easier to describe it. Be sure to come
up to me at the end of the talk and identify yourself as a
newsletter subscriber.
Installing Huge 18x18 Ceramic Tile
Michelle from Kearney, NE wrote to me with a very interesting
question:
Michele, you've got an issue no doubt. It's compounded because of
the giganzo tile you've decided to use. Ceramic tile loves to be
installed on a subfloor that's in the same plane. This doesn't mean
that the floor is level, just that there are no humps or dips in
the floor. These imperfections can cause tiny gaps under tile. If
you step on a tile with a gap under it, it creates tension in the
tile and it can crack.
Tiny tiles can be installed on a floor that's wavy because they lay
flat on the gentle undulations. But giant tile like the ones you're
going to use, well, they're problematic. You need to get that floor
as smooth as possible before installing that tile. Yes, you can
trowel on thinset and put backer board over that, but my guess is
that it will not guarantee that the floor will be in the same plane.
Open the windows and get a long straight edge to help you discover
high and low spots. Use a pourable self-leveling floor compound to
solve any issues.
Latest Columns
Thinking about building on bad soil? Look at this building collapse
in China!
Questions about Lumber Drying?
Vinyl Siding Replacement
Tim Carter's Fire Pit
If you're a new subscriber, I have a secondary website that might
be of interest to you. It has nothing to do with home improvement,
and everything to do with improving our great nation.
The best part is that it doesn't make any difference how you feel,
as you can voice your opinion on any of the topics discussed there.
Just leave a comment.
I hope you stop by my Fire Pit and share your point of view.
was an epic Nor'easter. The wind really picked up after 10 p.m. on
Thursday night. Earlier in the evening the wind-driven rain found a
breech in the flashing around the top of a french door in the lower
level of the house. I didn't build the home I'm in, so I'll be
fixing that leak when the weather gets better.
I'm back in Cincinnati, OH now for the entire month of March. The
mission is to cross off all the tiny honey-do list items that have
persisted here just as in any house. These to-do tasks need to be
completed by March 28th, the day of the one-and-only open house.
I've made great headway the past two days completing jobs. You'll
hear more about this in the upcoming weeks. If you know of someone
who might want to purchase this great home I built with my bare
hands, let me know. It's a four bedroom Queen Anne Victorian that
looks 125 years old, but was built in 1986.
Storing Paint
One of the things I'm doing here is touching up small places on
both the walls and woodwork that have the traditional wear and tear
dings and scratches. Fortunately when I painted these surfaces over
the years, I saved the leftover paint.
I discovered many years ago it's a mistake to save the paint in the
cans from the paint store. Not only do you have to deal with lots
of air in the cans, but you also have an issue with rust at the lid
lip. The excess air in a paint usually causes a nasty skin to form
on top of the paint.
What I've discovered that works best for me, and you may have an
even better idea, is to use the inexpensive food-storage containers
you can buy in the grocery store. They come in different sizes and
the trick is to fill one nearly to the top with the leftover paint.
If the paint is water-based, I always add an ounce or two of water
at the top of the paint before sealing the lid. This prevents the
skinning effect. Using a permanent marker, and I do this before
filling the container, I write on the side of the container the
room the paint was used in, the mfr., paint type, paint name,
formula if available, etc.
Let me tell you how well this works. Yesterday I had to touch up
many spots in my living room. I painted this room about ten years
ago. If you were here with me today, I'd bet you $100 you couldn't
find one spot where I touched up the walls. The paint matched
perfectly and it's consistency was just like the day I opened the
original can. Suffice it to say I store this leftover paint indoors
at about 65 F.
Stain Solver News
If you're a new subscriber, and I have about 1,300 now per *week*,
you probably don't know about Stain Solver. It's a magical oxygen
bleach I've blended and sold since about 1996.
About a month ago I wrote a column for my newspaper clients talking
about using oxygen bleach to clean ceramic tile floor grout. Two
weeks ago The Washington Post newspaper ran this column. Talk about
a tsunami, the rush of orders from readers almost tilted my
shopping cart. In a little over 96 hours, we got over 500 orders
from just the readers of this column in the DC area. I had not
anticipated this kind of response.
I immediately had the idea that I should tape a video showing you
exactly how this magical powder really cleans floor tile grout. We
taped the video one afternoon two weeks ago and had it loaded the
next day at the Stain Solver site. It's right there as soon as you
land on the home page.
I urge you to watch the video to see how it works. You really need
to watch the last ten seconds of the video. What I said the entire
video was unscripted - especially the last few lines. If you're not
smiling at the end of that video, you must be in a really bad mood
today.
Finally, there are hundreds of uses of this product around your
home. One of the craziest uses is to dislodge that pesky brown
caramelized grease you often see on the outside of pots and pans. I
experimented one day soaking a pan in the Stain Solver solution for
about six hours. Lo and behold using a Dobie pad and some elbow
grease, 90% of the encrusted brown spots came off after the
soaking! The same happened on stainless-steel cookie sheets. I
could go on and on, but rest assured Stain Solver will blow you
away.
Cincinnati Home and Garden Show
If you're near Cincinnati, OH the second weekend of March, I'll be
speaking at the Cincinnati Home and Garden Show. I'll be talking
Friday, March 12th at 5 p.m., Saturday the 13th at 2 and 6 p.m.,
and on Sunday the 14th at 2 p.m. The best time to stop by would be
Saturday, as I'll be just hanging out with you between the two
talks. I'll be talking about the top five issues I see homeowners
struggle with each day, some exciting new products I've discovered
and answering your questions.
I'll also consult with you at no cost about any issue you have with
your own home. If you come, be sure to bring photos of the problem
if you feel it will make it easier to describe it. Be sure to come
up to me at the end of the talk and identify yourself as a
newsletter subscriber.
Installing Huge 18x18 Ceramic Tile
Michelle from Kearney, NE wrote to me with a very interesting
question:
My husband and I are about to install 18x18 porcelain tiles in our kitchen. Problem is: when we ripped up the original flooring, we discovered large nasty patches of paper and glue from old linoleum. We're preparing to install cement backer board as a base, but we're afraid the tiniest bit of un-levelness on the plywood subfloor will cause tiles or grout to crack.
I've been told by a co-worker that a good bed of modified thinset to adhere the backer board to the subfloor should bypass this problem. Is he right? Or will we need to spend a weekend choking on adhesive remover to get rid of the old glue?
Michele, you've got an issue no doubt. It's compounded because of
the giganzo tile you've decided to use. Ceramic tile loves to be
installed on a subfloor that's in the same plane. This doesn't mean
that the floor is level, just that there are no humps or dips in
the floor. These imperfections can cause tiny gaps under tile. If
you step on a tile with a gap under it, it creates tension in the
tile and it can crack.
Tiny tiles can be installed on a floor that's wavy because they lay
flat on the gentle undulations. But giant tile like the ones you're
going to use, well, they're problematic. You need to get that floor
as smooth as possible before installing that tile. Yes, you can
trowel on thinset and put backer board over that, but my guess is
that it will not guarantee that the floor will be in the same plane.
Open the windows and get a long straight edge to help you discover
high and low spots. Use a pourable self-leveling floor compound to
solve any issues.
Latest Columns
Thinking about building on bad soil? Look at this building collapse
in China!
Questions about Lumber Drying?
Vinyl Siding Replacement
Tim Carter's Fire Pit
If you're a new subscriber, I have a secondary website that might
be of interest to you. It has nothing to do with home improvement,
and everything to do with improving our great nation.
The best part is that it doesn't make any difference how you feel,
as you can voice your opinion on any of the topics discussed there.
Just leave a comment.
I hope you stop by my Fire Pit and share your point of view.
AsktheBuilder.com
P.O. Box 887
Meredith, NH 03253-0887, USA
| To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit: http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TCxszCxstKwMnEwMDEwstEa0bCyMbIysTA== |
No comments:
Post a Comment