Extension Cord Reel

Here is a quick tip if you hate dealing with a tangled extension cord any time you try to do yard work with an electric tool: make yourself a cord reel.

We had an old garden hose reel which was being unused so I fed the female end of a 100' long extension cord through the reel's axle and wound the rest of the cord up. When the time comes to use our electric weed eater, it is simply a matter of unwinding the amount of cord we need. And the best part? When the job is finished all you have to do is reel the extension cord back in. That's it! No more extension cord tangle.

Making a Simple Wood Ladder

Want a way to access the attic or space above the garage ceiling joists? Don't have the room or budget to add a stair case? Want something a little more sturdy than using a step stool while trying to access the storage space up there? Here is a way you can make a quick and easy ladder out of simple 2x4s that will be sturdy enough to inspire confidence while accessing the space above your garage.

Tools and Materials
You will only need a few tools to build your quick and easy wood ladder. First, you will need a saw. I recommend a circular saw but even a simple hand saw would even suffice. Next, you will need either a hammer and nails or a screw driver (power drill/driver recommended) and screws. You will want two clamps to aid in cutting the ladder rails, a pencil, and a tape measure. Finally, you will need at least three 2"x4"x8' boards (if your ladder is going to be taller than 7', get longer boards).

Planning
Before you make a single cut, you need to do a little planning. Where will the ladder be placed? How tall should the ladder be?
When figuring these things out, remember that the ladder will probably be at a slight angle when installed. If your garage does not have a ceiling and only exposed joists, consider making the ladder taller than the joists (not like in the photo above).
Also consider if you would like to add any features to your ladder. For example, if you have plenty of space above your head but do not want the ladder to constantly block the wall, consider putting the top of the ladder on hinges so that the ladder can be stored up against the ceiling and then pivoted down when you need to use it.

Making the Ladder
Select the two boards that will be the vertical rails of the ladder and clamp them together so that they are even.
Using a scrap 2x4 block, a pencil, and your tape measure, place the 2x4 block perpendicular to the clamped boards 16" from one end and mark both sides of the block. Move the block 16" farther down the clamped boards and make your two marks again. repeat the entire length.
It should look something like this where the red lines represent the pencil marks.
See those guides you made with the pencil and 2x4? Those will be grooves to hold the ladder rungs. Now it is time to make cut some wood!

Note: these instructions are for using a circular saw to make the cuts, but any saw could be used.

Set your circular saw's blade height to the same thickness of a 2x4 (about 1 1/2").
Cut along each of the pencil guides, then make repeated cuts between the pencil marks leaving little space between cuts.

The more cuts you make the easier the next step will be, because the next step is to take a hammer and knock the remaining bits of wood out of each groove. They should pop out easily and leave you with a nice square hole the same dimension as the width and height of a 2x4. Since both vertical rails of the ladder were clamped together, their rung grooves should line up perfectly too.

Don't unclamp the vertical rails yet! Now is the perfect time to adjust the feet and top of the rails. Decide which end is the top and bottom (mark them if you have to), then take the rails and lean them against the wall where you want your ladder to be. They should be leaning at about a 15 degree slope The feet of the ladder should be about 1/4 of the distance away from the wall as the height of the ladder. For example, if the wall the ladder is to be installed on is 8' high, the ladder's base should be about 2' away from the wall.

Find how much of an angle you need to trim off the feet in order for the rails to have maximum contact with the floor. One way to do this is to find the angle of the ladder leaning against the wall and then cut that angle out of the inside corner of the feet. Another way is to lean the ladder against the wall in its desired place, then use a small level to trace a line from the back corner of the feet and cut along that line.
You can do the same for the top of the ladder if you want but it is not as important, plus it largely depends on how you plan on utilizing your ladder.

Now it is time to cut the rungs. A good length is 16". This will allow over 12" of space between the rails which is sufficient to have both your feet side-by-side on the same rung.
With your rungs cut, place one in each pair of grooves you cut in the rails (now you can unclamp the rails). The fit should be snug, if it is too loose try adding shims.

With the rungs in place, nail or screw through the rung into the rail.

There you have it, a quick and simple wood ladder.

Quick and Easy Car Port

If you do not keep your vehicle garaged or under a car port it will be subjected to some very harsh conditions. You will need to keep it clean by washing and waxing it on a regular basis in order to combat the detrimental effects the climate will have on your car's exterior. That is a lot of work and, if you are like me, it will grow very old very quickly.

Here's one possible solution - a cheap, easy, and quick car port. In order to construct such a port you will only need a chain saw or a very large hand saw.

1. Start by cutting down the largest tree you can find.
2. Position the tree in the place you would like to park your car (this step is much easier if you down a tree next to your parking place).
3. Next, use your saw of choice to hollow out a parking spot for your vehicle. If the tree is long enough, you can even make a two or three car car port!
4. Get a lawn chair out, a beverage of your choice, and sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
5. Realize you forgot to move your car before cutting the tree down.

If you did it correctly, it just may look like this:

Base of Operations

For most DIYers, there is a central hub that acts as the command center for all projects. This is usually a shop, garage, or workroom. Often times the DIYer has to compete for valuable space in the garage with the family car, or figure out how to organize all the tools and workstations in a woefully undersized space.

In my case, we have an unattached single car garage that fills the multiple roles of woodworking shop, mechanic's shop, and storage.

Balancing the many roles the small space needs to accommodate can be a challenge in itself, and I plan on delving deeper into that in a later blog.

When we moved into the house, one of the very first things I wanted to do was to convert the garage from a dirty storage place into a workshop. It took over a week to accomplish that goal because there was a lot of cleaning to do.

The first task at hand was removing the cardboard that covered the walls and ceiling. Large cardboard sheets had been

nailed over the wall studs, but some of it had gotten wet and was facilitating wood rot underneath it. All the cardboard and other garbage left over in the garage took more than four truckloads to dispose of. After everything remaining had been swept up we started to paint the walls. I decided to leave the wall studs exposed so I could integrate storage solutions with them.

Before long the walls were painted and I could start making "stud shelves."

Here is a photo of some early progress I made:

What I love about building storage space between wall studs is that you're not using any floor space! Plus, there are many creative storage solutions you could come up with, like tables that fold out of the wall, shovel and rake stand, and of course, shelves!

I'll show you just some of the things I've done to maximize storage and space efficiency.

Here is a lumber rack built into the wall. It is made by simply sandwiching the rack limbs between a 2x4 and the wall stud. Use lengths of 2x4s as spacers between the rack limbs. It's very sturdy and simple, now that's my kind of project!

Organizing and laying out your work area seems to be a never ending task. I am constantly revising and improving things to make the most use of space and ergonomics. Just remember to take a little time out of working on your shop area to complete a project or two!