Ask anybody who's made money robbing houses, and they'll tell you straight up: you can get away with a lot of loot in the 10 minutes before the cops come.
But the crooks won't find their way out of the foyer if you hit 'em with the FogSHIELD—an add-on to your home security system that releases a blinding blanket of fog to stop thieves in their tracks. When an intruder triggers the alarm, water mixes in the FogSHIELD's glycol canister to generate enough dry, non-toxic fog to cover 2,000 square feet in less than 15 seconds. It dissipates 45 minutes later, leaving your furniture unsullied and your electronics intact.
But since the $4,200 system includes a cartridge that can fire off 15 times, you may want to break into your own house once in a while—to distinguish it against real smoke, this fog has what its makers call a "pleasant, minty aroma."
I had a great uncle who refused to "see" doctors. He'd never admit to the farsightedness that progressed with his age—he'd just read from the distance of outstretched arms.
One day, he happened upon someone’s lost spectacles in a telephone booth. Trying them on while searching a listing, a world of clarity opened before him. Those phone-booth-found glasses rested on his head from then on, ready whenever he inspected something minute or checked the latest sports scores. I was reminded of my uncle the other weekend when I finally broke down and tried Petzl's Tikka XP Hazloc headlamp—conceding a long battle of function over vanity.
I'd always felt much cooler with my Mini-Mag in my mouth whenever I needed a hands-free work light. In my mind, the headlamp's elastic webbing was a little too reminiscent of the dental headgear I wore to fix my overbite. It wasn't until I had to do some orthodontics on a mysterious shower faucet leak that I literally saw the light (and to stick with the dental riff, working that close to the shower wall with the flashlight in my mouth was bound to chip a tile, if not a tooth).
I don't get it. How does a little sliver of satiny fabric beat the bonding power of a glue that’s supposed to work on everything from wood to plastic to—yes, it said so on the label—fabric?
At midnight, three nights before I needed to have 80 little, perfectly made, flower-topped bows ready for my friend's surprise bridal shower (FYI: I was not warned about or prepared for this Maid of Honor duty), I just couldn’t understand why DAP’s new line of OneStik Permanent Adhesives weren’t keeping them together. They were coming undone before my very eyes as the binding material dried.
In my frustration, I started testing the glue’s effects on some random objects—cardboard, the little ceramic flowers, my mother’s plastic table cover…and the clear glue worked just fine on all of them.
In fact, I was quite pleased with how easy and mess-free the pen-like dispenser was. I was not so pleased, however, when my bows kept falling apart. So the next day, I finally bit the bullet and took out a glue gun filled with Stanley glue sticks. Thankfully, it worked—even if it did leave me with two blisters on one of my finger. My own fault: I was not practicing safe glue-gunning procedures in my haste to get the favor-toppers done.
I think the bonding malfunction may have happened because DAP’s glue does not contain the right silicone ingredient or whatever it takes to adhere to satin. But, I guess I’ll just have to wait 'til my next Maid of Honor gig to test that theory out.
If they worked, bathroom hand dryers would help save the million tons of paper towels Americans go through in a year. Not to mention countless pairs of khakis with wet pleats.
You know the drill: wash up, press the button, rub feverishly…and then just wipe your still-wet hands on your pants in frustration.
But then I used an Xlerator dryer, which sent out a torrent of air that moved the skin on the tops of my hands in waves. I was bone dry in about 8 seconds. I initially thought this must be the SUV of hand dryers, but it actually uses 80 percent less energy compared to other dryers, and at 50 cents per 1,000 uses, it's about a third as costly. Its green endorsements qualify it for LEED credits, and it's GreenSpec approved.
Although geared for commercial use, Xlerators have been used in residential applications. And why not? Points for powder room novelty, a little less towel-washing detergent in the water supply, and the gratitude of the 17 trees it takes to make every ton of paper.
There's a multitude of multi-tools on the hardware store shelves, but there's only one I've found that throws a personalized greeting into the mix of bits, blades, and bottle openers.
If you order the Immix from Loggerhead Tools' website, you can get in on a special Dad's Day promo the company is running this week. The Immix combines a knife, serrated blade, and several screwdriving bits with Loggerhead's popular Bionic Wrench—kind of a multi-tool in its own right, as it turns nuts and bolts of all sizes. The promotional packaging (left) opens like a greeting card to reveal a pop-up bouquet of garish ties (what you could have gotten him) followed by an inscription of your choice.
How about, "Love ya dad...now get the mower started."
Who’d have thought that 12-volt batteries could drive such a power-hungry machine as a chain saw? Makita, that's who. And in some situations, their $200 rechargeable battery-powered saw is just great.
The Makita sports a 4-1/2 inch bar. Ridiculously small, you might think. But I’ve found it perfect not only for the intended purpose—limbing trees—but also for demolishing old furniture.
The saw is very light, a real bonus when you’re working overhead. Since it's electric, you don’t have to wrestle with a cantankerous 2-cycle gas engine. It’s quiet, just a loud whir as the chain flows over the bar. And by being both short and light, it is also very safe, plus it has an electric chain brake that really does work. You want a real scare? Look up the emergency room statistics on chain saw accidents.
Here at TOH, we’re all about the green…the environmentally friendly green, that is.
That’s why I find it so cool that Home Depot has made it easier for people to pick from over 2,500 products that are energy efficient or otherwise eco-conscious with a new label. To be branded with the green Eco-Options stickers, items must meet government standards, such as those for Energy Star or FSC-certified status. If such guides aren’t available, the products pass third-party testing based on Home Depot’s own environmental performance criteria in one of five categories: sustainable forestry, energy efficiency, healthy home, clean air, and water conservation.
Personally, I’m hoping to find a portable air conditioner tagged with one of those nifty stickers before the heat waves start.
A 21-year-old Laroy Starrett invented the combination square in 1877, and that basic, iconic layout tool hasn't changed much since then. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Well, I think a minor tweak here and there might be okay. Kapro Tools agrees, and they were happy to show me their magnetic modification at the National Hardware Show, despite the fact that the Starrett booth was right next door. (It's all patented, they assured me.)
They've used magnets to simplify the way the ruler slides into the tool body. Traditionally, you re-insert the ruler by sliding it past a delicate catch mechanism (which takes two hands and some fiddling). Kapro's new magnet-filled channel allows the ruler to be inserted from any angle—you can slide it in from the side, or just drop it in from the top. The magnets also grip a little scribing tool housed in the zinc tool body (visible above). Call it the golf pencil of scratch awls.
The Speed square's prevalence on job sites proves that the layout game has changed a bit in the past 130 years. We always have love for the classics, but sometimes a little ingenuity can fix even the things that ain't quite broke.
Lee Valley makes a glazier’s hammer with a triangular head that rotates. Now why on Earth would you want a hammer like that? Read on…
When I lived in an old Victorian house, I used the World Series to help maintain and repair old double-hung windows. With the ball game on the radio, I’d set up on the front porch with a pair of sawhorses as a work table for this year’s ration of window sash.
The sequence included pulling moldings to remove the sash from the frame, knocking out the loose old putty with a glazier’s knife, softening the stubbornly hard putty with a propane torch, then carefully pulling the glazier’s points and releasing the glass. Some panes could be re-used and others had to be replaced—you can lose a lot of heat through cracked window glass. Then, I'd scrape the loose paint off the wooden frame, re-glue the loose corner joints, then prime the whole thing (especially the rabbet where the glass would sit).
Trench grates are not sexy. Yet for people like my parents, who actually have them covering the drainage gullies recessed in the patio around their swimming pool and at the end of their driveway, the grates do invoke a sort of passion. As in, "those metal strips are so UGLY."
Had I never seen the pretty little numbers from Iron Age Designs, I would have agreed. But instead of flimsy metal pierced with holes or uniform slats, these sturdy iron grates—which develop a nice rusty patina as they age—have a filigree of intersecting circles and diamonds, modern abstract swirls, or rippling waves.
Iron Age grates cost about $30 a linear foot, and are an easy retrofit with most existing drainage trenches. Best of all, they're green. Each grate is made from post-consumer recycled iron from old engine blocks and brake drums. That's something we can all appreciate—even Murphy the dog, seen smiling beside a locust leaf pattern at right.
