The bed project I am currently working uses alot of tenon and mortise joinery. I have to admit I do get mytenons and mortises wrong sometimes.

When the piece is an 8ft long section of wide oak, it's hard tostart over. The tenon needs to be fixed. This post should get youstarted on how to fix your mistakes.

1) The tenon won't fit into the mortise

Wood needs to be removed. The best tool for the job is ashoulder plane. It was practically made for the task. If you don'thave one sand paper will do.

I recently learned the hard way that aScotch-Brite pad can scratch glass. My car, and particularly mywindshield, were covered in tree sap. The Scotch-Brite pad got thesap off the car, but it left behind several shallow scratches. Thewindshield had turned foggy in the spot the sap used to be.

Sand with Cerium Powder

Glass, like metal and wood can be sanded and buffed. The shallowscratches in my windshield needed optical grade sanding.

This is a fancy way of saying that there were no deep scratchesa

To most home owners it's a surprise that guttersneed to be cleaned. They accumulate all sorts of debris. Most firstfalls on the roof and makes its way from there into the gutters.The downspout clogs, and before you know it the gutter isoverflowing.

Clogged gutters trap water near the foundation

Overflowing gutters a the number one cause for wet basements.Your roof funnels water that would normally fall on the whole areayour roof covers to a limited number of drains. If one of thoseoverflows, the water finds it way int

So you have a clog. Water is backing up intoyour toilet or sink. It's Thanksgiving day. You can't get a hold ofa plumber. The prices the plumber charges are exorbitant. We haveall been there. This post provides step by step instructions forunclogging the drain yourself; or at least do the simple stuffyourself before you call in the heavy guns.

The following steps should be done in order. They start with thesimplest steps. The further you progress the more work you have todo and the messier the process gets.

1) Cle

I had to work on my roof this spring. Theweather here in the Northwest makes moss grow everywhere. Ineglected my roof for a couple of years. The moss was growingthick.

Removal begins with getting rid the big growths of moss. I havea tar shingle roof like so many homes in America have. This type ofroof cannot be pressure washed. Doing so would blow off thegranules embedded in the tar. This will ruin your roof right thenand there. You can pressure wash a metal roof, but moss does notgrow on metal roofs. Wood shingles can also be pr

A water heater is an appliance you do not knowyou have until it breaks. You probably found this site searchingfor help how to get a warm shower tonight. Your kids are probablycomplaining already. Because of this time pressure people oftentimes overpay companies to install sub standard units at a veryhigh cost. A water heater is an appliance like your dishwasher. Whywould you allow a contractor to install a "name brand" unit youhave never seen before?

Take a step back and breath. Having only cold water for a fewdays is not the end

Replacing receptacles is a straight forwardoperation. You will be dealing with the electrical system of yourhome. While this can be dangerous, a competent homeowner can takecare of this task. Over time the contacts in a receptacle can wearout. The plug may come out easily or even fall out.

There are different kinds of receptacles in use today. The mostcommon will be the 15A kind. Each type has it's own pin pattern.You must replace each receptacle with a receptacle of the same. Inmost cases it is not possible to upgrade a receptacle si

Replacing a doorknob takes only a few minutes.You need a screwdriver and, in some cases, a chisel. Residentialdoors use a standard hole pattern. Most doorknobs you can buy athome centers will fit your door at home. Doorknobs with locks anddeadbolts are installed exactly the same way.

Be careful when selecting your door knobs. Some are specificallymade for right swing or left swing doors. Others let you reversethe handles making them useful for both types of doors. Make sureyou buy the right kind for your application.