Tales from the Renovation Track: Tricks of the Trade That Make Home Repairs/Renos Much Easier and Complete

Collage: tools, construction, wheelbarrows, women

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0382973

More tricks of the trade that help a homeowner to improve DYI renovations.

Part 11b - Tidbits of Wisdom

During my work day I often run across a whole plethora of renovations completed by homeowners - some of which are done well or adequately. At the same time there are certain tricks of the trades that can make some of the repairs/renos much easier and complete.

Here are some of these tips:

3. Wheelbarrows. I once worked on a large concrete pour, that, because of the site specifics all of the concrete had to be delivered via wheelbarrow to the formwork. The men and I (the sole woman) went over to where all the wheelbarrows were kept and one by one got our wheelbarrows. I noticed at the time that the men were in a bit of a haste to get their wheelbarrows which puzzled me. I was the last one to get mine and I noticed that all the guys had left this one particularly smaller wheelbarrow. I was amused thinking that they had left the smaller one for me as I was a woman.

However, this was simply not the case. They were in a rush to pick out a wheelbarrow because certain wheelbarrow configurations are more superior to use than others. The wheelbarrow I ended up with was by far the worst configuration. Look at the front of the bucket of the wheelbarrow, and compare it to the placement of the front wheel. The more of the bucket that goes over the wheel the better, because then the wheel itself is carrying more weight. The best ones have the bucket extending past the front of the front wheel. The one I ended up with, had the front curled lip of the bucket edge, over the back part of the wheel, behind the wheel's axle which meant that your arms carried more of the weight, rather than the wheel.

If your wheelbarrow regularly carries 300 pounds or more, your arms will tell you the difference. Having the bucket placed ahead of the front wheel, also lets you direct your contents better, without pouring them onto the wheel itself when you tip it up.

4. Cutting a plastic pipe. Have you ever had to cut a large plastic round pipe to length, and it turned out crooked because you couldn't draw a straight line around it to follow with your saw? I figured out a good way to do this.

I measure from the 90 degree factory edge with three different marks or more around the circumference of the pipe. I then take my tape measure and place it printed side down onto the pipe because in the printed side down position the tape can curl around the pipe to connect the first two points. Then I use the tape as an edge for my pencil to draw my line between the first two points, rotating the pipe, placing my tape measure tape down again and using the edge to draw another line connecting the next two points, etc. etc. This works very well.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles
Part 11b: Tricks of the Trade: Wheelbarrows / Cutting a plastic pipe

links:
lifestyle.yahoo.com: The right wheelbarrow
Easy2.com: Working with Plastic Piping Tutorial