“I’m putting a fence in my backyard and need to find my property line. How do I do that?” - Rick from Alabama

It’s important to know exactly where your property lines are before starting a construction project in your yard. Licensed land surveyors can be found in the phonebook to survey your property and mark the corners of your land. It may also be possible to use a metal detector to locate the original metal pegs that mark the corners of your property.

Radiant flooring heating systems are an energy efficient way to gently warm a room by heating the floor. This system from Uponor uses hot water piped through a closed loop of flexible PEX plastic tubing.

First, the floor system—consisting of machined strips of plywood with a dovetailed groove to receive the plastic tubing—was screwed down to the subfloor. The curved returns at each end of the room allow one continuous piece of tubing to loop back and forth across the floor without any joints.

Once the track was in place, a bead of silicone caulking was applied to the bottom of the groove, and the plastic tubing hammered into it with a rubber mallet. A pump is used to circulate hot water through the tubing from a 2½ gallon hot water tank to warm the floor.

More information on this project can be found at (637) Today’s Addition (Part 1).

Finishing drywall has always been one of the messiest home improvement jobs around, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Sheetrock Plus 3 Lightweight Joint Compound with Dust Control is especially formulated so that the dust particles bind together during sanding. These heavier particles then fall to the floor where they can easily be swept up. Besides clearing the air, Sheetrock Plus 3 weighs over a third less than standard compounds, so it doesn’t shrink as much when it dries. It’s available at The Home Depot stores.

Before the drywall can be installed, all the plumbing and wiring in the walls must be run. Everything from electrical and phone lines to cable and speaker wires need to be roughed in and routed to the proper locations.

This project included wiring for a NuTone wall mounted video door answering system which allows the homeowner to see and converse remotely with visitors at the front door. Wire for the MP3 docking station speakers also was run.

More information on this project can be found at (637) Today’s Addition (Part 1).

You don’t have to dig a big hole in your yard to cut a piece of plastic PVC pipe that’s buried in the ground. Instead, dig around it just enough to slip a piece of thin nylon string under the pipe and attach each end of the string to a wooden handle. Holding a handle in each hand, pull the string tight and use a back and forth sawing motion to cut through the pipe.

To help you make sense of house plan blueprints, keep in mind that:

• House plans are usually drawn to ¼” scale, which means that a quarter inch on the blueprints represents one foot on the job site. A special ruler with a ¼” scale can be used to convert the blueprints to the actual measurements, or you can use a standard ruler and multiply each measurement times four.
• The number next to each window and door on the plans give the number of units followed by the width and height of each unit in feet and inches. So the designation 2-2640 would indicate that there are two window units together with each one 2’6” wide by 4’0” high.
• To understand what the various symbols on the plans represent, look them up on the symbol list found in the legend on the plans.

More information on this project can be found at (637) Today’s Addition (Part 1).

House plants in containers depend on us for food and water, so it’s important to recognize the warning signs indicating that they have received either too much or too little water.

Keeping natural stone and solid surface countertops looking their best is easy with this three-part Countertop Care Kit from Stone Care International. The kit includes bottles of cleaner, polisher, and sealer to keep your countertops looking like new.

From cutting edge ovens and cooktops to unique sinks and countertops, the innovative kitchen products on display at the 2006 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show might be just the thing to set your kitchen apart from the crowd.

To remove an existing tile, use a nail set to mark the surface then drill holes through the tile using carbide tipped masonry bit. Finally, chisel away the title with a cold chisel and remove any loose mortar.