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Latest Happenings

Wow, time is flying. It’s already fall and the days are visibly getting shorter here in New Hampshire. The weather though has been very mild. We’ve only had a single morning this month where temperatures were cold enough to get a morning frost. Even while flying over the state in a small Cessna airplane last week I noticed that the leaves have only now started to slightly turn towards the north-central part of the state. Down in southern New Hampshire, they’re still all green.

September has been a very busy month for me. I spent several days in Toulouse, France for business reasons, closed up the pool, winterized our lake home, and spent the rest of the weekends and many evenings working on wrapping up getting my private pilot’s license. I still need to take my checkout ride, but I finally completed all of the compulsory flights, e.g. solo cross country flights and night flights, and passed the written aeronautical knowledge test for getting my pilots license.

With all those activities on my plate this month, I still had time to write my weekly home improvement column “Home Improvement 101” for the New Hampshire Weirs Times newspaper, write a number of additional diy home improvement articles and answer a few website visitor questions. I also wrote a piece titled “Flying Solo at Nearly Half a Century” that you might get a kick out of. It’s a piece describing my first solo flight this past May. The article was picked up by General Aviation News earlier this month and was published in their biweekly magazine.

Fall is the Perfect Season for Building a Garage Addition

One of the best times of the year to build a garage addition is in the fall. The weather is cooling off a bit, the insects have died off, and winter is just a few months around the corner. Also, contractors begin to get a little hungry again as their spring and summer projects begin to wrap up. Building a garage addition in the fall also enables you to protect your vehicles during the upcoming winter. [Read the Complete Article]

What is Back Cutting

Question: Mark, in your video on “How to Cope Inside Corners with a Coping Saw” you mention a term I am not familiar with, “back cutting”. Can you please clarify what back cutting accomplishes? [Read the Complete Article]

How to Install 1x6 Board as Baseboard Trim

Question: Mark, I watched your video on coping baseboard trim. Great video! I am about to install 1"x6" board as baseboard trim and I was wondering if there was a way to cope it as well? I have quite a bit of baseboard trim to install for a beginner, but HomeAdditionPlus.com has made it much, much easier for me to tackle. My diy project is to install wainscoting frames (no panels) on various walls using rails, stiles, and of course baseboard trim. [Read the Complete Article]

How to Close a Pool

For thirteen years and counting we have closed our pool in mid September. My wife and I pretty much have it down to a science. We always check the PH and alkalinity levels the night before the pool closing, and adjust the water as necessary to achieve a neutral PH. This assures the winterizing chemicals do their respective jobs well. We then shock the pool and add winterizer, and allow the chemicals to work over night while we leave the pool filter running. [Read the Complete Article]

Rain Barrel Water Collection Tanks

Your home’s roof sheds an incredible amount of water during a rain storm. For example, 2,000 square feet of roof surface can shed nearly 1,200 gallons of water with just an inch of rainfall. If you live in a dry climate the rainwater collected from a roof can be as precious as gold. Consequently in many parts of the world rain barrels, a.k.a. rainwater tanks, or cisterns are commonly used to collect roof run off. Rain barrel water collection tanks are commonly used for providing supplemental water for gardening, flushing toilets and for cleaning vehicles.
[Read the Complete Article]

Seal Your Own Driveway

Sealing your driveway is an important part in maintaining an asphalt driveway and extending the life if it. The fall season is the perfect time of the year to seal your own driveway. Sealing a driveway prevents water from working its way into surface cracks and underneath the asphalt. Once water gets underneath an asphalt driveway it can quickly begin to undermine the integrity of it. The water can cause erosion which eventually will lead to sink holes in the asphalt. In addition, during winter months melting snow and ice water can work its way into the asphalt driveway cracks during the day and then freeze underneath the driveway when the temperatures drop. [Read the Complete Article]

Flying Solo at Nearly Half a Century

As I celebrated my 49th birthday this weekend I couldn’t help but be a bit more reflective this year about my life to date. I’m quickly nearing the half century mark and still feel I’ve got a lot more to accomplish, but a lot less time to do it. By most accounts I’ve done a lot, went to college for 6 years, got married, had 3 kids, was involved with a successful high tech start up, traveled extensively around the world, and have been overall healthy. That said, I still feel like I’m missing the one thing that many a soul dreams of. [Read the Complete Article]

HomeAdditionPlus Facebook Fanpage

If you haven’t already signed up for the HomeAdditionPlus.com Facebook Fan Page you should. I update this page nearly every day with my latest home improvement tips that can give you some great ideas, and save you time and money.

Sign Up for HouseSight Today

Also, my new HouseSight service continues to grow. I’m amazed at the number of home remodeling contractors who have signed up. They’re posting some of their projects and providing contact information. If you’ve got home remodeling or home addition plans in mind check out some of the contractor postings. Maybe one of them is located in your local area and could tackle your project. Also, sign up for HouseSight and rate the contractor projects. Registration is fast and free, and who knows, you may become inspired to kick off your own home remodeling project.

As always, if you have any specific home improvement questions or would like to see specific new home improvement related content send your questions to me at mark@homeadditionplus.com.

Again, good luck with your DIY home improvement projects and enjoy the fall season!

Mark J. Donovan

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