Welcome to my Home Maintenance Tips and Techniques DIY blog.

Photo courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee, from freedigitalphotos.net

Photo courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee, from freedigitalphotos.net

I have been involved in some form of the construction business and DIY all my life.  From building over 100 custom homes in Nebraska with my father, building furniture and custom projects, to construction consulting and building inspection now in Colorado.  Over the years, I have seen a lot.  A lot of good, but unfortunately, the bad as well.  Much of it caused by the construction workers themselves, sometimes by a poor design, but also by the homeowner.  Many homeowners try to do the work or fix the problem themselves, or just ignore maintenance.

Those mistakes and lack of maintenance can be very costly and could be easily prevented by reading a DIY blog like this. With all of this experience and knowledge from my father, my grandfather, and consulting work, I have gained a lot of knowledge on how to, and how not to fix and maintain a home.  There is a lot of help on the web today on sites like YouTube that you can watch.   I have used those myself and will reference some of the good ones here.  What I have found is that they don’t give you the “watch out for’s” or the gotcha’s that can sneak up on you.  I hope to do that here.

I am a woodworker and a (DIY) do-it-yourselfer and I am always building, fiddling, or tweaking on something.  Always looking for a better way to make something work or look.  My sons have told me for years when I assist them with projects, “Dad, you need to write all this knowledge down.  It is too valuable to keep locked up in your head!”  Well here we go.  I will do my best to provide as much as possible over time.

With that said, my plan is to create posts on various topics.  Some will be based on the season.  For example, my first article was on the typical spring exterior maintenance of the home.  So thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more!

Posts will be under the Categories and Recent Posts on the left side of the page.  Enjoy, and I welcome your comments or suggestions for posts/articles.

Rex’s DIY tip – “Read and follow the instructions that come with the product you are working with”

Check out Neaternest for great Do It Yourself projects and home improvement ideas!

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Posts

  • Door Fixes

    Fixing those annoying door problems.

  • Great Web Sites

    I have listed some of my favorite web sites below. Neaternest – At Neater Nest we believe that homes are meant to be lived in and we’ve got the banged up baseboards to prove it.  Every family deserves a space in which to grow and thrive. It’s our mission to support and empower you to […]

  • Converting a Tub Drain to a Shower Drain

    Converting a Tub Drain to a Shower Drain

    We removed our bath tub in the main bath to replace it with a shower.  The tub had a 1 1/2″ drain line.  The code requires a 2″ drain for most shower drains, based on the gallons per minute of your shower head.  Not wanting to go through that issue, I decided to put in […]

  • Light Switch Replacement

    Light Switch Replacement

    Light Switches Single pole, three-way, and four-way switches.  With repeated use, light switches can become defective.   To replace any of these, you need to have the same type as what you are removing.  This also refers to the amp rating of the switch; 15 amp or 20 amp.  First step is to remove the […]

  • Exhaust Fan Installation

    Exhaust Fan Installation

    Our basement bathroom did not have an exhaust fan.  Since the ceiling was drywall and the basement completely finished, this made installation more of a challenge.  The primary decisions I had to make were where in the bathroom ceiling to install the fan and where to exhaust it outside.  Part of the ceiling in the […]