Installed Chair Rail in High Ceiling Powder Room

Learn How to Break up Tall Walls by Installing Chair Rail

By Mark J. Donovan

This weekend I installed chair rail in a powder room. However I didn’t install it at chair rail height. Instead I installed the chair rail 18 inches from the powder room’s ceiling. The powder room is fairly small, only about 20 square feet, however the walls are over 9 feet tall. As a result the room seemed somewhat small, but giant at the same time, when you stood in the bathroom. So to add a little flair, and more specifically, to break up the tall walls I installed the chair rail.

Installing chair rail is easy to do and doesn’t cost that much, particularly in my case since the powder room was so small. After fastening the chair rail to the walls I caulked the nail holes and seams and then painted it a brilliant white. The chair rail stock already came primed.

I then painted the walls a light earth tone color, both above and below the chair rail. Between the earth tone wall color and the brilliant white, the chair rail really stood out nicely and really added some character to the room.

Lastly I installed a new bathroom mirror that came with a wood frame to complete the powder room make over. The wood framed contrasted nicely against the earth tone wall paint.

Installing an Aluminum Dock Soon

Looking Forward to a New Aluminum Dock Going in this Spring

By Mark J. Donovan

Last year we purchased a new lake home that had a large and ancient U-shaped wood dock associated with it. The neighbors have told us the dock was at least 30 years old. So this fall I took the old wooden dock out of the water for its very last time. I then carted it all off to the local town dump. Now we are in the process of having an aluminum framed dock being fabricated. The aluminum dock will be the same size as the original dock. As a matter of fact it will have the exact footprint as the old wooden dock so that there are no permitting issues with installing it. The new dock is constructed out of about a dozen 2x4 aluminum 4’x8’ frames. The aluminum dock frames will be attached to galvanized metal posts that will rest on foot pads on the floor of the lake. Cross bracing will be installed between the leg posts to prevent it from racking and keeping it rock stable in the water. For the deck paneling we have chosen to go with cedar wood deck panels. The deck panels are designed to simply drop into place and can be easily removed in the fall.

The newly installed aluminum dock should last us decades. It will also be much easier to install and remove from the lake every spring and fall due to the fact that it will be so much lighter than the old pressure treated wooden dock. If all goes as planned the new dock should be installed 2 weeks after ice out this spring. I anticipate we will be walking on our new dock by late April. I will upload pictures of the newly installed aluminum dock when it is in.

WORX SD Semiautomatic Driver Screw Gun Product Review

WORX SD Semiautomatic Driver - Perfect for the Home or Apartment

By Mark J. Donovan

Check out this cool new driver tool from WORX. It looks like a pistol but in reality it's a small screw driver gun. The SD Semiautomatic driver can carry up to 6 different hex-shanked driver bits at any one time. So not only does it allow you to drive various screw head types, it also provides an integrated carrying case for the driver bits.



It's an excellent screw gun for small projects around the home or apartment. Whether you need to hang up a picture, assemble a new piece of furniture, tighten up screws on a kitchen or bathroom cabinet, or do some light electrical/plumbing work, the WORX SD Semiautomatic driver is perfect for the job.

The WORX Semiautomatic driver is lightweight and easy to use. Simply pull back the magazine cover and rotate the cartridge to the desired driver bit, close the magazine cover and it's ready to drive screws.

It runs off a built-in rechargeable 4V Lithium-ion battery so there is no dangling wire to worry about when using it.

The WORX WX254L SD Semi-Automatic Power Screw Driver with 12 Driving Bits costs $49.99 and you can find it at www.worx.com and at www.amazon.com.

New Home Construction and Room Addition Bid Sheets on Sale at HomeAdditionPlus.com

New Home Construction and Home Remodeling Checklist Guides that Will Save You Time, Money and Hassles

By Mark J. Donovan

Before kicking off your new home construction or room addition project make sure to check out my home construction and remodeling checklist guides at HomeAdditionPlus.com. The “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” will help to ensure you hire the right general contractor for your home construction project. In addition, they’ll help you through the planning process of your new home construction project. Moreover they’ll help you accurately estimate your new home construction costs or room addition costs so that you’ll know how much your construction project will really cost you. Having accurate construction costs up front will help with your project planning and financing efforts.

One of the key components in the  “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” is an extensive questionnaire that you provide to prospective general contractors to fill out. Once completed, you can make easy apples-to-apples comparisons of contractor quotes so that you can make a more informed and better decision on which general contractor to hire.

The second major component in the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” is estimated home construction costs on a cost per square foot basis. It includes cost breakouts for all the various phases of the home construction or room addition project.

Lastly the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” each contain a detailed section for the homeowner on how to interpret the general contractor questionnaire responses and the reasons for asking the questions.

In addition to the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet”, separate construction cost estimate Excel spreadsheets are provided to allow you to track predicted versus actual new home construction costs or room addition costs.

So make sure to purchase the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” or “Room Addition Bid Sheet" for your particular home construction project. I guarantee you they’ll save you time, hassles, and a small fortune in money. Also check out many of the other types of home remodeling and construction bid sheets at HomeAdditionPlus.com.

Preparing your Home for Hurricane Sandy

7 Tips for Preparing and Protecting Your Family and Home from Hurricane Sandy


By Mark J. Donovan

With hurricane Sandy bearing down upon the eastern coast of the United States there are a number of things people can do to protect their homes and family from danger and disaster.

Stock the Cupboards with Food and Water

Make sure you have sufficient food and water to last up to 2 weeks. It may take that long to get electricity restored to your home if you lose power. Try to stock up on foods that don’t require cooking and are not perishable for at least a couple of weeks. Wash out your tubs and sinks and then fill them with fresh water. You may want to use a plastic liner in the tubs and sinks to hold the water.

Have Fresh Batteries, Flashlights, Candles, and AM/FM Radio Ready

Make sure you’ve stocked up on fresh batteries and that you’ve replaced the old batteries in your flashlights and AM/FM radios. Also keep candles and a lighter nearby.

Fuel Up

Make sure you have your grilles propane tank filled as you may have to resort to cooking on your gas grille. Also make sure to have your portable gas tanks full if you’re lucky enough to own a generator. Similarly, fill up your automobiles’ gas tanks.

Pick up Loose Items in the Yard

Pick up and store away in garages or sheds any children’s toys, patio furniture, and other yard items that could be blown away or destroyed by hurricane Sandy. You may also want to remove the grille cover and store it away as well.

Charge Up Cell Phones

Make sure your cell phones are fully charged prior to the onslaught of hurricane Sandy, as your cell phones maybe your only form of communication to the outside world if the land lines get taken down by hurricane Sandy’s high winds.

Check the Generator

If you own a generator check the oil and gasoline in it and start it up. If it doesn’t start or runs rough clean the spark plug and try again. Also have the generator wiring handy so that you can easily access it in the dark. Also, always make sure to operate the generator outside and at least 30 feet away from your home.

Have Cash on Hand

Often during natural disasters banks and ATM machines are not open or not operational. Consequently it’s a wise idea to have some cash on hand to make emergency purchases.