Installing a Wood Closet Shelf

By Mark J. Donovan

After seeing so many homes with wire closet shelving, I decided today to revolt. I needed to install a closet shelf in a basement closet. For years, I have procrastinated in doing this simple task, and for years I felt guilt. After installing my new closet shelf today, I am now actually feeling pretty good about the fact that I procrastinated for several years. Why? Because I broke ranks with the modern society and decided to install an old fashioned wood closet shelf.

The wood closet shelf consisted of one shelf and a coat rack. I used a couple of pieces of pre-primed 1x4 stock, trimmed down to 1x2, a closet dowel, and a 14.5 inch wide piece of high end ½” thick plywood. To dress up the front face of the plywood shelf, I married up to it a section of 1x2.5 inch material. This created effectively a skirt on the front side of the wood closet shelf.

I then painted the wood closet shelf and stained the closet dowel. With the paint and stain dry, I attached the closet dowel to the 1x2x14.5 inch end supports using two pieces of closet dowel hardware.

Stepping back and admiring my work, I just have to say that the end product looked much better than the modern day wire closet shelving. It was also much more securely fastened to the closet walls and it was significantly more functional. No more worries about items slipping through the wire spaces, or the blankets and pillows getting creases imprinted into them.
If you have a closet shelf project to do, I’d highly recommend taking a little extra time and building one the “old fashion” way, with wood. You’ll like the end product. Readmore »»

Luxury Home Sales are still on a Tear

By Mark J. Donovan

Everywhere you read the housing market has cooled. However there is one exception, the luxury home market. The wealthiest Americans are still buying up luxury homes and vacation homes. Some reports suggest that the wealthiest 10% of the nation’s households could account for nearly half the home sales this year.

So what are the reasons for this anomaly, and are the wealthy setting themselves up for a major correction in their own ball field?

First, wealthier households, with incomes greater than $250K per year and high net assets, are typically immune to higher mortgage interest rates, inflation, and other household cost increases such as gasoline and grocery products.

Second, wealthier households in general have bigger appetites than the average household. Historically their diet has included big-ticket items such as homes, automobiles, and boats.

Luxury homebuilders have been more than happy to help fuel the demand, and I might add, increase their prices. At some point, however, even the rich will begin to feel the pinch, or at least become smart enough to know when they are not getting good value. When that point comes, the luxury housing market will probably have at least a soft landing. Until that point comes, however, this last bastion in the residential home market will probably continue to flourish. Readmore »»

HomeAdditionPlus.com Joins Yedda’s Interactive Knowledge Community

HomeAdditionPlus.com enables Homeowners to Connect and Share Do-it-Yourself Home Improvement Knowledge and Information with Yedda’s Toolset

Tuesday, June 12, 2007: HomeAdditionPlus.com announced today its move to join the Yedda interactive knowledge community to provide its site visitors with fast access to a growing community of do-it-yourself home improvement individuals and resources. Yedda’s toolset enables HomeAdditionPlus.com site visitors to post questions to the HomeAdditionPlus.com and Yedda community, where other site visitors can help answer their specific questions.

“The Yedda toolset set enables our site visitors to proactively search for help on their specific home improvement and home building questions. Instead of just pouring through search engine results for non-specific answers to their home improvement questions, they can post their unique questions to the HomeAdditionPlus.com/Yedda community and get highly focused answers. At HomeAdditionPlus.com we believe the Yedda tools will be a valuable resource for our site visitors”, said Mark Donovan Editor and Publisher of HomeAdditionPlus.com.

In addition to the Ask-HomeAdditionPlus.com tool, HomeAdditionPlus.com has also added Yedda’s Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) porthole. The FAQ porthole provides a summary of the most frequently asked questions associated with home improvement, home remodeling, and home building topics. The FAQ porthole is constantly updated so there are always new and interesting home-related topics to view at HomeAdditionPlus.com.

There are no costs associated with becoming a member of the HomeAdditionPlus.com/Yedda do-it-yourself home improvement community, and membership sign-up is simple and fast. By becoming a member of this community you can personalize your account to not only ask questions, but also to provide answers on topics that you may already be an expert on. As a building contractor this is a great way to promote your professional experience and business, and as a homeowner it’s an ideal way to share your personal home improvement experiences. Visit HomeAdditionPlus.com and join our do-it-yourself home improvement community today.

About HomeAdditionPlus.com: HomeAdditionPlus.com is owned and operated by DIY HomeAdditionPlus.com, and is the home improvement resource for finding accurate and helpful information on home improvement, home remodeling, and home building topics.

Contact Information:

Mark Donovan
mark@homeadditionplus.com Readmore »»

Stop a Squeaky Floor before it Happens

By Mark J. Donovan

Nothing can be more annoying in a home then hearing the floor constantly squeak when you walk on it.

The best way to stop a floor from squeaking is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. When building a new home make sure the builder uses something like Liquid Nails, or some other type of construction adhesive, between the floor joists and the subfloor to help ensure a solid and permanent bond between the two surfaces.

The cost of adding a construction adhesive to the subfloor is extremely inexpensive and it takes only a minute to run a bead on each floor joist prior to laying down a section of subfloor. Don't let your builder cut this corner when building your custom home. Readmore »»

Opening the Pool

By Mark J. Donovan

Yesterday I spent much of the day opening our pool for the summer. As usual I was filled with in trepidation as I began pulling back the cover. Opening the pool never goes smoothly.

There is first the process of removing the cover. Inevitably it is filled with water with decaying leaves. No matter how much you skim the cover first, you still wind up dumping dirty water and other organic matter into your pristine pool water that sits below the cover.

Next comes the installation of the water filter and its associated chemical delivery contraptions. There are a myriad of hoses that connect to these pieces and to the pool itself. Without fail, there is always something on this hulk of plastic and hoses that either breaks when you tighten it or springs a leak when you turn the pump on. To lower the risk of leaks, I normally buy a new set of hoses annually. However something else usually breaks. I am convinced pool manufacturers use the lowest quality plastics possible. One season in the sun and they become brittle and crack. Its as if the pieces are human, and burn like our skin.

Once the filter and hoses are hooked up its then time to remove the rubber seal that is covering the drain trap. This can be a challenge. Sometimes you drop a screw into the pool or you wind up loosing 100 gallons of water in the process. I’ve learned over the years to remove just two or 3 screws at a time when removing this rubber seal. You minimize water loss and you have fewer screws to fumble around with in your hands.

After removing the rubber seal on the drain trap, all that’s left to enable you to turn on the motor is to remove the plug on the output vent. This usually takes a towel and a little praying and cajoling to get it off.

With all the hardware connected it’s now time to start the chemicals. Again, I like to plan ahead and get them well in advance. Unfortunately, I always still find myself short of some chemical or a PH tester, or in this year’s case water. Yes, there was water high enough in the pool that it flowed into the drain, however this year it was apparently insufficient, or so I initially thought. The jet pressure was low and I could not seem to build it up. After multiple tries I finally discovered that as usual, there was a crack/leak in the system. This year it was the 2-year-old chlorine delivery contraption. There were multiple pinhole leaks that sprayed out a fine mist of water when the motor was running.

So today I am off finding a new chlorine filter. With a little luck, by this evening my pool will be operational and I will be reflecting whether or not it’s all worth it. Right now my opinion is, its not. However when the hot, sultry days of August hit, I’ll probably be changing my tune once again. Readmore »»

When thinking a Green Home Consider an Earth Home

By Mark J. Donovan

When thinking about going green with your next home purchase or custom home building project, consider an Earth Home.

An Earth home is extremely energy efficient. It is typically covered by three sides, and its roof, with several feet of soil, rock and/or concrete. It typically has one open side that faces the south or southwest for maximum passive solar heating benefit.

One of the major reasons an earth home is extremely energy efficient is that it is encased in the earth which has typically has a constant temperature of around 55 degrees farenheight. In addition, when building an earth home, the home is typically encased with rigid insulation and waterproofing on the outside concrete walls before they are backfilled with soil/earth.

Another reason earth homes are so environmentally friendly is that they are typically small in square footage. In addition, they usually have few windows, except for the open side. Consequently their heating/air conditioning requirements are minimal.

Though the lack of square footage and windows could initially be considered a turn off by many, with proper architectural considerations, such as creating large open areas and using interior lighting intelligently, an earth home can be designed to feel large and bright. In addition, the open side, facing south can be designed as a wall of windows to maximize solar heat and sunlight.

Another major cost savings with earth homes is the low cost of home insurance. Earth homes are less susceptible to wind damage, hail damage, theft and fire.

So if you are thinking of building a green home, research the idea of an Earth Home. You may be surprised on how roomy and contemporary an earth home can be. Readmore »»

Key Electrical Tools when tackling minor Home Wiring Projects

Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus.com reviews the basic Home Wiring tools necessary for tackling a small wiring project around the home.

Tools mentioned in the video include a unique wire stripper, a multimeter, screwdrivers, pliers and a couple of other interesting tools.


Readmore »»