WNY Handyman

Auction currently at $170. Ends at 7:30PM

I occasionally view listings at a local auction site (auctionsinternational.com) and came across an auction from CIL Asset Recovery. The location is nearby (Hamburg), so I decided to have a look at the items.

Turns out there is some great stuff including a Sjoberg workbench.  If you are a woodworker, you have probably seen the high end workbenches from Sjoberg, wanted one, and then looked at the price tag and walked away. They are pricey. A relatively simple looking bench can run over $1,000. However, they are precision pieces and are priced accordingly. The vise isn’t going to be out of alignment in a month like the $50 special that you might be using.

Sjobergs workbench auction

Click on the image to view the auction.  Hurry, this ends tonight at 7pm.

Here is the exact same bench at Amazon.com for $545. Even at $545, it is a good price, but for less than $200??!!

A number of people ask what the best method to use to track expenses during  a flip.  There are many methods, some good, some bad, and some downright ugly.

The following lists a few methods with the most complex at the top.

1. Quickbooks
   Utilize Quickbooks, categorize every expenditure, create sales accounts, link credit card and bank account for spending. Provide your Quickbooks file to your accountant at tax time.
   Relative Degree of Difficulty: 10
   Cost: 6
   There is a learning curve to Quickbooks and if you want to do things properly, there will be a number of hours put in for the initial company, vendor, account, and category setups.  I peg the cost at a 6 out of 10 due to the cost of the software.  Done properly, your accountant will thank you.
2. Hire a book keeper/accountant to do the work for you. 
   Schedule a regular meeting time during the renovation. At that time you can have receipts recorded properly by your bookkeeper while keeping your work on the project.
   Relative Degree of Difficulty: 1
   Cost: 9
   The level of difficulty on your end is minimal. Keep every receipt, provide it to your bookkeeper during your scheduled meetings, and provide fast answers when questions should arise.  You will certainly be paying a decent buck for this service, but you will probably sleep better at night knowing that you are prepared and up to date. Read more…

For many, the search for inexpensive kitchen cabinets draws them to the Internet. If you are like me, you LOVE a bargain (don’t we all). I had some idea of what I wanted when I started searching for my project. I was happy to hear that one of my favorite suppliers of RTA cabinets had the color and style that I was searching for. The RTA Cabinet Store was able to supply me with my cabinets.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of the RTA Cabinet Store. If you order from there (after clicking through from WNY Handyman) we will receive a commission on your order. Because of that, we are happy to answer any questions that you have regarding your RTA cabinet purchase. Obviously, the company has its own support system, but if you would like some advice from someone who has used a variety of suppliers I would be happy to answer any questions that you have. Please post in the comments so that others are able to benefit from your questions.

Step 1: Kitchen Cabinet Layout

Step 2: Confirm inventory

Step 3: Place order

Step 4: Receive order

Step 5: Assembly

Step 6: Installation

Enjoy.

Well, our Trafficmaster Allure floor installation is complete.  If you aren’t familiar with this plank vinyl flooring product you can find it at Home Depot.  The product is a fantastic alternative to a peel and stick vinyl tile.  At the end of the installation, the product acts as a sheet vinyl would rather than free floating pieces that will gap and slide over time. Any movement should be covered by your final molding piece.

We wrote our initial review of the product here: http://www.wnyhandyman.com/trafficmaster-allure-plank-vinyl-floor-review/

There are a number of videos regarding the installation of the TrafficMaster Allure product. Here are a couple that we found useful prior to installation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuez7u7Mvw (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khXeJ0E8-Do (part 2)

Installation of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl from HomeDepot.com (PDF file)
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/72/72845250-3948-4c77-824f-50f17da70f63.pdf

Summary of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl review:

Pros:

1. Price
   At less than $2 per square foot, this is a good value for the money.  In fact, you can run over to Ebay and pick up a Home Depot or Lowe’s coupon to save an extra 10%!
2. Ease of install
   No special tools are needed. Similar install to a peel and stick tile without the slippage and separation. Cuts with a razor knife and detailed cuts can be made with shears. Since this is a floating installation, you don’t adhere to the sub floor making it a much cleaner DIY floor.
3. Durability
   The product has a thickness to it that won’t allow it to show many imperfections through.  With many vinyl flooring products every crack and void in your subfloor will show through. The vinyl planks are about 2x the thickness of an inexpensive sheet vinyl product. This will help with durability and smoothness of surface

Cons:

1. Errors aren’t simple to correct
   If you make a mistake when applying this product, you are not going to be able to pull a single piece out with ease. The adhesion achieved when placing the pieces is nearly impossible to undue. If you make a mistake, you might have to backtrack quite a bit.
2. Instructions don’t fully cover the detailed steps
   As with other laminate installations undercuts should be made at door jambs and molding should cover your outer gap for the best result.  This isn’t covered in the basic instructions that come with the product.  To achieve a professional looking result, this should be done.  If you don’t have one, consider a Factory-Reconditioned Dremel Multi-Max.

I would absolutely use this product again or recommend it to any DIY’er.  Easy and a solid looking end result.

We decided to us a plank vinyl flooring product for the entry at a fixer project.  The product is TrafficMaster Allure and is available at Home Depot.  This is a floating vinyl installation where the vinyl planks adhere to one another.  In theory, this is a better method than your traditional 12×12 vinyl tile installation. With the plank vinyl floor, your product moves as a single unit (similar to a sheet) rather than experiencing the individual movement that an inexpensive self-stick tile will see.

For a wet area, the plank vinyl product from TrafficMaster seems ideally suited. The method that they use for the adhesion is a lapped tongue that is substantial enough (about 1″) so that the adhesion should provide a nice water barrier / seal.  Overall, we are very happy with the product.  It met our needs for this project and was a nice alternative to a sheet product.

As many of you probably know, making flooring choices is always a challenge.  There are a number of factors that will impact your decision.

• Cost
• Time
• Design

Put the factors in your own order, but they are almost always part of the equation.   Our small entry area (70 square feet) has a rather tight door swing.  Because of this, we are unable to do a traditional tile installation. We had to use a vinyl product due to the thickness (or lack of).  Due to a rather complex shape, we wanted to avoid a sheet product and we also wanted to achieve a wood look.  One other factor was that we wanted a fast install that virtually anyone could do.  A product that can be put down by a handyman and not just a skilled flooring contractor was the right choice for this job.

We selected the TrafficMaster Allure, Hickory 6 in. x 36 in. Resilient Vinyl-Plank Flooring.  The price was $1.79 per square foot which was a very fair price for the quality of the product.  Time will tell with regard to the durability and adhesion quality of the glue used for the lapped tongue, but our initial impression of the project makes it a terrific choice for many applications.

Trafficmaster Allure Plank Vinyl

When I have a design idea in my mind, I tend to get stuck on that as an only option. Especially if it is an economical one that will save me quite a bit of time.

I went to the Horizons Home Show and found a newel post that I really liked (pictured below).  I decided that I had to have those posts in my latest fixer, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble to fabricate them.  Lucky for me, I was able to locate the posts at Home Depot for about $65 each.  The time savings in fabrication were well worth spending the $65.  I could have purchased some 4×4 and then trimmed it out in poplar or MDF.  I would still probably have been into it for $40-$50 per post without accounting for labor.  To top it off the labor cost would have been higher and the quality of a site built post wouldn’t have matched the tight construction on a factory built post.

Box Newel Post

I did have an issue when trying to locate the posts at Home Depot. They were not listed as in stock ANYWHERE.  To top it off, similar posts from other manufacturers ran about $160 each.

As an avid web user, I am always surprised by a large company who hasn’t yet embraced what technology can bring.  When the post wasn’t in stock, I had to check the stock at each local store via the Home Depot web site.  This was an in-store item only.  None of the local stores turned up with a stock item for me.  Worse than that, it displayed as in stock “at my local store” until I logged into the homedepot.com site.  I called my local store and was essentially blown off. Called another and was basically told to come in and that they couldn’t check if an item was available elsewhere.  Not too helpful.

As the title mentions, this was a bit of a quest after I determined that I had to have the posts.  I then called the Home Depot customer service line. They put me on hold and called a couple of local stores.  The rep came back and told me that they pretty much blew her off as well and she couldn’t check inventory other than store by store.  WTH?  Can you believe that?  She did ask if I would like to be transfered to “customer care” (she was “customer service”).  ”Why not”.  The rep at Home Depot customer care was terrific.  He let me know that their systems don’t allow a wide search, but that he can search within my city/region with a SKU. The item didn’t have a SKU on the web site (that was actually the primary issue with checking stock online).  He went to the trouble to look up the SKU in their internal system and, with that, was able to search my region.  He located my 3 posts at a local store and had them moved from the shelf to the customer service desk.  My quest was over. I located my posts and picked up my posts at the Home Depot that happened to be the one closest to me.

The customer care rep that helped me was awesome.  I wish that more people at that company had the same attitude and willingness to help.  His name was Charlie and he was located in Atlanta.  Charlie’s direct number is 800-654-0688 x: 76503.  Charlie, if you ever read this, sorry about the additional calls you might receive.   Thanks for your help!

My precious newel post:

Box Newel Post