Installation of a Fiberon Composite Deck Railing System

Replacing My Deck’s old Pressure Treated Railing System with a new Composite Deck Railing System from Fiberon

By Mark J. Donovan

This weekend I visited a home improvement center looking for a new deck railing system for my home’s deck. After checking out several deck railing systems I’ve decided to use Fiberon’s composite deck railing system. The composite railing system pieces are constructed using a PVC core with a very hard PVC finish that resists scratching and fading. I plan to install the Fiberon deck railing system in the next few weeks, while the particular home improvement center is offering a 10% sale on all decking materials. This is the time of the year to get deck material discounts, so if you have a deck project in mind you may want to find out if you can get similar price saving deals at your local home improvement center for your deck project.

The composite deck railing kits from Fiberon come in a couple of different standard lengths, e.g. 6 and 8 feet. Each kit comes with top and bottom rails, balusters, and the hardware to assemble them. You can also trim the standard lengths to the required widths. They also have a special railing kit for stairs. In addition, I needed to buy post sleeves, cap, and skirts. For a 12x10 deck I calculated the total cost of the Fiberon deck rail system to be about $550.

I’ll be sure to write about the project when I complete it, as well as take plenty of pictures and a video or two during the deck construction. So check back to see how the project went and to see the finished look.

Daylight Savings Time Starts Tonight and Home Maintenance Checks

Use Switching to Daylight Savings Time as a Trigger for Doing Small Home Maintenance Checks

By Mark J. Donovan

At 2:00am Sunday morning you should officially move your clocks forward one hour as the country goes on Daylights Savings Time. Get ready for some darker mornings :(

As you move your clocks forward this evening or tomorrow morning you may also want to think about replacing smoke detector batteries. The shift to daylight savings time or standard time are always good points in the year to replace smoke detector batteries and to trigger other periodic home maintenance checks such as changing air filters, batteries in wall thermostats, and even water filters.

So don't let your shorter weekend be a total bust. Make the best out of it by doing some easy diy maintenance activities

Repairing Leaking Shower Pan

How to Fix a Leaking Shower Pan

By Mark J. Donovan

A leaking mortar shower pan can cost thousands of dollars of damage to your home and can be extremely expensive to repair. The best advice I can give you is to install a mortar shower pan properly the first time, versus having to think about repairing a leaking shower pan later. To prevent from having to repair a leaking shower pan I highly suggest you take a look at my “Shower Pan Membrane Liner Installation Ebook”. This Ebook provides detailed instructions, along with dozens of instructional pictures, on how to properly install a mortar shower pan. By following the instructions in this ebook you will build a leak free shower pan.

If you do find yourself in a position of repairing a leaking shower pan, the first step is to remove the shower floor tiles. You’ll also need to remove the wall tiles from the bottom 12 inches of the interior shower walls. After removing the shower floor and wall tiles, vacuum up all of the rubble and dust. Then, using a cold chisel and large hammer, break up the mortar shower pan. In the process remove the existing shower pan liner. If there was a pre-slope mortar layer below the mortar shower pan, which there should be, remove that as well, again using the cold chisel and hammer. Note: If you find that the pre-slope has a good pitch to the drain, using a spirit level, and it has a smooth surface then you can forgo having to remove the pre-slope mortar layer.

After cleaning up the shower floor area with a broom and vacuum, you can then begin the process of installing a leak free mortar shower pan. If there was no pre-slope mortar layer, or you had to remove the existing one, pour the pre-slope mortar layer making sure you have a proper pitch to the drain. Next install the flexible shower pan membrane liner. Finally, pour the final base mortar layer over the membrane liner. Again, I highly recommend buying my “Shower Pan Membrane Liner Installation Ebook” to learn all the specifics of how to install the mortar shower pan properly. After the base mortar layer has cured you can then retile the shower floor and surrounding shower walls to complete the shower pan leak repair.

Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" Reviewed

Atlas Shrugged - An Absolute Page Turner that I Could Not Put Down

By Mark J. Donovan

Today I finally finished reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” magnum opus. It was an incredible book, albeit at 1,069 pages and size 3 font it was a bit tough on the eyes. The book was written in 1957, however the similarities of the characters and the “people’s state” of the United States and world, with today’s present political environment, is frighteningly familiar and uncanny. The basic premise of “Atlas Shrugged” is based around Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Objectivism is a viewpoint in which the individual thinking man acting solely upon himself to produce products and services, and resulting in achieving personal gain, is better overall for a society than a society mentally coerced and effectively physically enslaved to the concept of self-sacrifice for others.

As I read the book and watched the “Head of State” and his political self-sacrificing thinking political cronies develop new federal programs and initiatives to unsuccessfully pull a country out of its economic death spiral, I began to jot down just a few of the similar federal programs, plans, and acts our current political leadership has recently initiated, all in the name of fairness and to help the U.S. out of its economic and moral decay. Again, the similarities are uncanny…..

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act


• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act


• American Jobs Act


• Mortgage Relief Plan


• Making Home Affordable Initiative


• Choice Neighborhoods Program


• Promise Neighborhoods Program


• Byrne Criminal Justice Initiative


• Buffet Rule (Tax Fairness Act)


• Shovel Ready Projects


• Unilateral Disarmament

If you really view yourself as a thinking and objective man or woman, I highly recommend reading this book. It’s a page turner both from a riveting story line and from an intellectual enlightenment perspective. After reading this book, I can’t imagine how anyone could not feel changed in some way. I know I’ve been and I hope you’ll read this book…. “Who is John Galt?”

Sheetrock Calculator Iphone App Available on Apple’s Itunes Store

HomeAdditionPlus.com’s new Drywall Cost Estimator / Calculator Iphone App is Fast and Easy to Use for Calculating Sheetrock Material Quantities and Costs for a Drywall Project

By Mark J. Donovan

For diy homeowners and contractors alike, HomeAdditionPlus.com’s new Sheetrock Calculator Iphone App is the perfect tool to have at your disposal on your Smartphone. The Sheetrock Calculator allows you to quickly and easily determine how many drywall panels and 5 gallon buckets of joint compound to buy. In addition, it calculates drywall costs for the entire project by the push of one button. Moreover, you can either use the default unit costs for the drywall panels and joint compound or you can enter in your own specific unit costs. It also allows you to select various standard sheetrock panel sizes.

To use the sheetrock calculator just enter in wall height and width dimensions, ceiling dimensions, the number and size of doors and windows, and hit the calculate button. In an instant you’ll know how many drywall panels to buy, how much joint compound is needed, and the total cost for the project. It’s that easy. The Sheetrock Calculator costs only $0.99 and is available on Itunes. Buy the Sheetrock Calculator Iphone App at Apple’s Itunes Store today.