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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.

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  • Quick clamp support

    One problem I have had in working on site is not having a workbench to hold stock for edge-planing and similar operations. I solved this by using a handscrew clamp…

  • Forming Curved Trim

    Trimming arched windows can be a problem, especially with complex molding patterns. This method requires two pieces of molding to form one finished piece of curved, paint-grade trim. First, determine…

  • Trimming pocket doors

    If you have to trim more than 1 in. from a pocket door (to clear a carpet for example), do it in place. First, mark your cut with a knife…

  • Plaster patch

    The lath and plaster ceiling in our living room had been the victim of a leak in the roof for many years and was beginning to sag ominously. The previous…

  • Dressing up a door

    The house I own came with pre-hung doors with rotary-cut skins. The doors were hung in plain mahogany frames. They weren't much to look at, and suitable only for painting.…

  • Grout gun

    We bought a house with a nicely remodeled bathroom. All it lacked to make it look really finished was a tile baseboard. With the sink, toilet and other fixtures still…

  • Removing window glass

    Extracting the glass from discarded windows for re-use is a sensible idea; many times the glass can be cut to fill a gap somewhere around the house. The only real…

  • Blocked-up chimney

    Prefabricated metal chimneys (whether insulated or not) have become almost universal for use with woodburning appliances. When we installed one, we thought, like most people, that our $20-a-foot expenditure was…

  • Starting a nail

    Ever find yourself perched at the end of a scaffold or ladder when you needed to start a nail in a piece of framing or siding? If you're like me,…

  • Power miter-box jig

    On a construction site, a convenient setup for a power miter box saw is essential if the tool is to earn its keep. A good setup must combine easy removal…

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