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Mechanical Advantages

Lifting material into the air requires enormous power from tools such as wall jacks, telehandlers, and giant cranes—but these machines come with limitations and safety restrictions.
Why Hand Tools?

The increasing number of power tools on the market make building easier, but learning how to work without them can make you a better builder.
Working With Wood Gutters

Builder Scott McBride recounts his time cleaning and rebuilding wood gutters, including the advantages to wood gutters and the key to wood-gutter longevity.
The Boomers and Their Kitchens

Carpenter and longtime Fine Homebuilding contributor Scott McBride takes a look at the evolution of the American kitchen through the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Trading in Your Hammer for a Clipboard

When tradespeople transition into project-management roles, mastering record-keeping and communication skills is essential to success.
Confessions of an Energy Dinosaur

Builder Scott McBride reflects on the reasons most carpenters get into the business and the disconnect between the act of building a house and making it energy efficient.
Avoiding Numbers When Building or Remodeling a Home

"Mark your work in place whenever possible" is just one of several tips seasoned carpenter Scott McBride offers in this guide to measuring more efficiently and accurately on the job site.
Engineering Lessons

The uneasy relationship between tradespeople and architects is well known, but a bigger challenge many builders face is figuring out how to get along with a structural engineer.
A Trip to the Cedar Shed

A seasoned carpenter reminisces about the days before fiber-cement siding, but acknowledges that wood clapboards come with plenty of complications.
In Love with Longleaf

Builder Scott McBride reminisces about discovering the wonderful qualities of longleaf pine while salvaging lumber from barns on an old estate.