In this tutorial, Mat Weber teaches us how to install a basement floor. Start with an insulated subfloor system, top it with cork panels, and then top it with easy to install carpet squares. First, you will install OSB subfloor panels, these will protect against moisture extreme and can be applied directly over concrete. When you have finished installing these, apply cork panels to the top of the subfloor and press down so these don't come up and are packed down hard. When finished with this,...
This video tutorial explains how to strip insulated wire the right way. You'll learn how to adjust your wire strippers to make the process easier. Some people don't even use wire strippers, they use a knife or maybe even their teeth, but this causes nicks in the copper. To get the insulation off with ease and without gouges in the copper wire, use the proper sized wire strippers and adjust them right to fit the gauge of your wire. It's as simple as that. You don't need to go to vocational sch...
Save some money on your energy bills by making an attic stairway box. For less than twenty five dollars, all you need is caulk, UL181 masking tape, insulated sheathing, and rubber foam sticky tape. Measure the width, the length, and the depth of the attic stairway opening. Lay the insulated sheathing down on the floor and get a straight edge. Take those measurements and create a rectangular box. Mark out six pieces to create the parts of the box – two large top pieces, and four shorter side p...
This video from the magazine Extreme How-To shows you how to install a new insulated basement floor. You'll be using insulated subfloor, tongue-and-groove natural cork panels, and modular carpet tiles. Make sure that you take all necessary precautions. Just follow along with the video, and make sure you make the correct measurements and installation. You'll have a beautiful finished floor in no time!
It's that time a year when winter storms begin causing havoc across the United States, and when "rotating outages" are common to help sustain the electrical grid during intense cold periods. That means pretty much anybody with snow and ice in their backyard can succumb to power outages. And no electricity means no electric heat.
When it comes to winter weather, the garage should not be neglected, especially if you have a room directly above it. Neglecting to properly insulate and seal your garage doors will create a constant rush of cold air inside, making the garage really cold, in turn making the floor upstairs really cold. This will drive up your gas or electric bill in no time during the winter months. But you can fight higher heating costs with some DIY ingenuity, and Dave Mars will show you how!
Okay, seriously girls, how cute is this?! Winter's right at our front door and you're sure to be laying on the thick, insulated winter clothing soon, so why not add some cuteness to your wardrobe with this teddy bear trapper hat?
This video shows the viewer how to make an electromagnet using common items. This is done using a broken microwave, a spool, a cordless drill, a battery and a coat hanger. The microwave transformer is dismantled and the enamel insulated wire is removed. Using the cordless drill the wire is then coiled around the spool. The iron coat hanger should then be cut into small pieces and placed in the middle of the spool. It should be secured tightly. The battery was then connected to the wired coile...
Need to keep people out of your precious room? Tired of all of those "do not disturb" signs not working? Locks just aren't cutting it these days? Safeguard your privacy with your very own electric fence. Remember Jurassic Park, when the kid got zapped by the electric fence? Think that, but in the doorway of your room.
Tired of eating ho-hum, overpriced takeout for lunch? Try some of these inspired homemade options. You Will Need:
Tim Carter demonstrates how to remove insulated glass panels from either side of a front door. Replacing the sidelights on the front door is possible. Just follow these steps for glass replacement.
Ideal garage doors have four things in common. They're beautiful, durable, easy to maintain and well insulated. To discover how to find your ideal garage door host Meghan Carter visited Clopay to get the insiders tips for selecting the best type of garage door for your home.
This video shows you step-by-step, how to make barbed wire for a Warhammer mini-gaming system. All you need is electrical wire (insulated or not, it doesn't matter), some paper clips, and your applicable tools for cutting.
Before working on any circuit in your house, make sure you turn the light off at the circuit breaker and then test it at the switch. Use 14-2 wire which has two insulated wires, a white and a black, and a bare copper wire which is used for grounding. First you run a 14-2 wire from the main circuit panel into the switch box. Then run a 14-2 wire from the switch to the light bulb. The black wire from the main circuit panel gets attached to one of the poles on the switch. The black from the 14-2...
There's nothing more maddening than opening the office fridge and discovering your lunch is gone. Put an end to the stealing with some of these strategies. This video will show you how to deter coworkers from stealing your lunch.
Want to make a simple electric motor at home? Andy and Mike show you how in just a few easy steps, using a block of wood, two paperclips, a AA battery, some insulated copper wire, and a magnet. This is a fun and simple science experiment that anyone can do at home. Wrap the wire seven times into a circular coil, with the enamel stripped off at both ends. Place the battery between the two paperclips, which serve as conductors and also hold the coil in place. Place the magnet below and between ...
Ron Hazelton shows you how to fix a hole in a hollow core door in less than an hour. 1) Make a bevel around the hole.
Does your child always come home with a full lunch box? Most likely they don't like what you've been packing. Give your children’s brown bag lunch a healthy punch – one they won’t trade away!
Many ways to help the environment are costly, but using less electricity is one measure that will save you money. Learn how to lower your electric bill with this how to video.
Looking for a hearty and healthy weekend breakfast idea? Look no further, we have a great egg recipe for you. This wonderful Indian recipe for masala egg paratha is perfect. Watch this how to video and learn how make this egg paratha for your breakfast.
Have you ever had just a little bit of daal leftover and you didn’t know what to do with it? Maybe it wasn’t even enough for one person, let alone your whole family. If this is you, then try this delicious recipe for missi roti (also known as daal roti) which is Indian unleavened bread made with flour and daal, or lentils. It has the goodness of carbs and protein all in one shot! Watch this how to video to learn how to make Indian style flat bread called missi roti.
If you have a window that is not insulated properly or is a bit drafty you might want to consider replacing your windows. In this how to video, home improvement expert Danny Lipford discusses window replacement.
Exterior door insulation is essential to keep out the elements. Tim Carter of AsktheBuilder.com walks you through the steps to ensure that your exterior door is insulated properly. Your exterior door will be sealed tight if you follow Tim's insulation tips about fiberglass insulation, spray foam insulation and flashing tape.
Meet the Wonderbag. The "first non-electric slow cooker" uses an insulated bag made of poly-cotton fabric, polyester, and repurposed foam chips. You bring your one-pot meal to the desired cooking temperature, usually via the stovetop. Then you turn off the heat, pop the pot into the Wonderbag, and it will continue to cook thanks to the retained heat in the bag.
With the microwave oven transformer (M.O.T.) salvaged in a previous project, a simple electrical circuit can be rigged to get high voltage arcs to fly outward and upward along a "V" shaped spark gap.
In this tutorial, we learn how to make your home safe and secure with tips from Lowe's. You should do a safety check on your house at least once a year. Start with the entryway, making sure you have an insulated wood door in the doorway. Make sure there is a lock and a deadbolt lock on the door as well. Once inside, make sure you have timers to control your lighting, so it can come on even when you're not at home to detract any robbers. In the garage, make sure you have an electronic door ope...
Unless you're a pretty avid home cook, you probably don't know a lot about sous vide. Sous vide is a low-temperature cooking method where food is cooked in vacuum-sealed plastic bags in a water bath for a prolonged period of time.
Tandoori roti is another type of Indian unleavened bread which is usually made in a clay oven called a tandoor and commonly enjoyed with chicken, lamb, mutton or other non-vegetarian dishes. Vegetarians out there, don’t worry. It tastes just as fabulous with vegetarian curry dishes as well! Watch this how-to video to and try this easy to make at home recipe and method. You won’t need to run out and buy a tandoor!
Electronic devices seem to have an uncanny ability to make noise at the worst possible times. It's always during an important meeting, a quiet study session at the library, or a biology final that your laptop or smartphone decides to play some obnoxious or embarrassing sound.
A lot of my hacks use salvaged parts from an old microwave, with the microwave oven transformer (MOT) being the most useful component.
A typical resistance spot welder can range in price from about $200-$800, but with a little resourcefulness and a bit of free time, you can make one like this for about $10 or less.
When temperatures drop and hit new lows during the cold, winter months, it's hard not to crank the heat up. That means increased energy bills each month, no matter if you rely on gas, electric, or another fuel for heating.
Bringing lunch to work or school is a win-win situation. You save money, you eat better, and you create less waste. But while the virtues of brown-bagging it are undeniable, it also gets kind of boring after a while. How many times can you shove a container of salad or noodles into an insulated sack before you say screw it and buy a $12 burrito for lunch instead?
There's a lot that goes into making a nice crystal radio set, so this is going to have to be broken down into two parts. The first part is the actual making of a functional radio, and the second part is making the whole arrangement look nice. In this part, I'm actually going to tell you more than just how to make a crystal radio, but I'm also going to explain how and why they work. Crystal radios are pretty Steampunk in and of themselves, since they were first developed in the late 19th centu...
In this project, you'll learn step by step how to modify a microwave oven transformer into a high-current device that can pump out 800 amps of electrical current, which is enough amperage to melt metal. If you liked the Metal Melter you saw in my previous project, here's how you can make your own!
It's a small but very real frustration: you want a chilled drink, but you open the freezer only to see nothing but empty ice trays. Fortunately, there's a simple way to make ice cubes quickly—use hot water. Yup, you read that correctly. Hot water freezes more rapidly than cold.
You don't need an obsessive ex stalking you to benefit from the ability to record calls on your iPhone in a pinch. Besides protecting yourself from nefarious intent, recording important conversations like verbal contracts and agreements can help you cover all your bases and ensure you're insulated from any potential liabilities that may appear down the road.
Oh no... your precious iPhone is in shambles. Maybe you shattered your screen after a crazy night of celebrating, or maybe your two-year-old jabbed a toy into your iPhone's charging port, completely destroying it in the process. Now what? Do you take it to a repair shop, or go to an Apple Store to have it fixed? This brief article will help you weigh your options.
Watching an ice cream pro build you a custom frozen treat mixed with your favorite fruit, candy, and/or toppings makes buying a cone even more exciting. But why go out for ice cream when you can create your favorite combinations in your own kitchen? While you might not have an expensive frozen slab for ice cream topping your kitchen counters, you can mimic the creamy consistency and customizable options from Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab any time you're craving it. Best of all, you don'...
People tend to skip toasting nuts in recipes or before adding them to salads because it seems time-consuming and the margin for error is high. However, skipping this step is a big mistake. Why? Because when you skip toasting your nuts (go ahead, you can laugh, we're all doing it), you sacrifice flavor and texture. And not just a little flavor, but a lot. Alton Brown recommends wok-frying peanuts before making your own nut butter for this very reason.
