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Tips & Techniques

Tips & Techniques is a collection of methods, tools, and jigs that our readers have devised to get things done on their own construction projects.  Email photos and descriptions of your tips to us at [email protected]; post them with the #FineHomebuildingTips hashtag on Instagram; or upload them to FineHomebuilding.com/reader-tips for a chance to have them featured in an issue of Fine Homebuilding Magazine. Plus, we pay for any tips we publish.

Want to see a new Fine Homebuilding tip in your inbox every day? Then sign up for the Tip of the Day newsletter!

  • Recess your microwave oven

    Seeing a microwave oven sticking out of a cabinet brought to mind our simple solution to the problem. When we built our current house, we worked with the cabinetmaker and…

  • Tablesaw top extension

    Every now and then, I have to use my portable tablesaw to cut wide, lightweight sheet goods, such as rigid-foam insulation. Trouble is, the saw's top isn't wide enough to…

  • No-cost painting mitts

    For painting irregular, hard-to-reach items such as balusters, heating radiators, or Victorian gingerbread, a painting mitt can really save time. But rather than buy them, I make them out of…

  • Accurate Stapling for Drawer Assembly

    I had a stack of melamine drawer bottoms and sides that had to be stapled together, and I found that I didn't have much room for error. If the stapler's…

  • Touching Up Coped Joints

    The drawing shows a trick that I teach my students for making perfect coped joints. We use water-based contact cement to glue a sheet of 220-grit sandpaper to a piece…

  • Cleaning Drilled Holes in Concrete

    As California builders, my colleagues and I are often called on to retrofit anchor bolts for sill plates to reinforce a house against earthquakes. Whenever we drill a hole for…

  • New life for an old wire brush

    Because cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to sweating copper fittings, I had a powerful incentive to coax a little more usefulness out of my fading wire brush.…

  • Mortar-coving tool

    Here's a simple way to make a neat job of the coving at the joint between a block wall and its footing. As shown in the drawing, I use a…

  • Workmate tool holder

    I find my Black & Decker Workmate to be incredibly useful in the workshop and in projects around the house. But it has a shortcoming: It has little room for…

  • Shingles, dipped and clipped

    I recently hand-dipped preservative in the shingles for the gable ends of my house, and I came up with a method for drying them that was fast, easy and not too…

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Fine Homebuilding Magazine

  • Issue 332 - July 2025
    • Custom Built-ins With Job-Site Tools
    • Fight House Fires Through Design
    • Making the Move to Multifamily
  • Issue 331 - June 2025
    • A More Resilient Roof
    • Tool Test: You Need a Drywall Sander
    • Ducted vs. Ductless Heat Pumps
  • Issue 330 - April/May 2025
    • Deck Details for Durability
    • FAQs on HPWHs
    • 10 Tips for a Long-Lasting Paint Job
  • Issue 329 - Feb/Mar 2025
    • Smart Foundation for a Small Addition
    • A Kominka Comes West
    • Making Small Kitchens Work
  • Issue 328 - Dec/Jan 2024
    • How a Pro Replaces Columns
    • Passive House 3.0
    • Tool Test: Compact Line Lasers

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