Tool Chart

Unless something goes wrong with it, you likely have never given much thought to the horizontal piece of wood sitting over your door frame. Maybe … Read more

You know the look. When building your dream garage apartment requires a twenty-foot clear span in your room, you stare at your stack of lumber. … Read more

Calculator + Lumber = Framing Site, which is where things get complicated for your roof: What happens if those lumber boards has to go really … Read more

Then there’s the steel beams that has a W12x26 on them… you think it’s some kind of cryptic code from a bygone era. It isn’t … Read more

Steel is a material choice that’s really a geometry question. Why does an I-beam work? It’s not so much what type of steel are used … Read more

The chart is full of columns of abbreviations and numbers. It’s intimidating to most folks. Don’t worry about memorizing all those rows in the W-shape … Read more

The room has a low ceiling and a bare concrete floor. The architect assured you there would be open space here but the builder shows … Read more

If you’re looking for a ballpark figure for your material requirements without thinking like an engineer, here’s the beginning of a table I made (above). … Read more

You are building something like fixing a shelf or a cabinet. Out comes your trusty pocket hole jig. A clean hole is drilled. A screw … Read more

I know what you are thinking, I had a great plan, and walked in to big box store all confident that I could build my … Read more

Have you ever walked into the lumber aisle feeling as though you’re holding a list written in alphabet soup? It look like alphabet soup to … Read more

If you’ve been in lumber aisle looking at wood, I’m sure it’s because you aren’t trained and have no idea what you are looking at. … Read more

The Paint Finish Chart is your best friend. It happens all too often: You’re standing in the paint aisle clutching a can of paint that … Read more

While no one wants to think about making errors in woodworking, drilling holes incorrectly is actualy more likely to cause a bad joint to not … Read more