This title offers expert advice on essential home decoration and maintenance, including painting, papering, tiling, laying floors, carpentry skills, insulation, and outdoor projects and repairs. Projects include painting and varnishing wood, tiling a work surface, laying foam-backed carpet, replacing window panes, fitting window locks, making a garage storage wall, insulating roofs, repairing roofs and guttering, laying decking, making pergolas, building rock gardens, installing water features, and many more. It features a guide to tools for a wide range of do-it-yourself jobs, including using chisels, saws, drills, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and sanders. Over 2400 photographs illustrate each step-by-step project, to provide instant reference. Looking after your home is economical and satisfying, and this book is filled with practical tips for do-it-yourself jobs. All areas of the home are covered, both indoors and out. There is clear step-by-step advice on internal and external maintenance, repairs, carpentry, flooring, brickwork, roofing, fences, walls and paths.The book includes instructions for painting and papering walls and ceilings, laying ceramic tiles, fitting floor coverings and carpets, making bookshelves, draught-proofing doors, repointing brickwork, laying patios and installing ponds and fountains. The book also contains a guide to tools, from saws and drills to spanners and paintbrushes. A reference for beginners and experienced do-it-yourselfers alike, this is an essential manual that you will refer to again and again.

Hanging drywall properly can be a difficult and tedious job, which is why it's so expensive to have a professional do it for you. "Drywall" has received rave reviews from readers for its thorough and clear instructions and this revised version gives readers information on new tools and materials and techniques that the author has field-tested since the last revision in 2008. For the first time the book also includes a bound-in DVD with tips and techniques for hassle-free drywall installation. "Drywall" offers the very latest information with the familiar easy-to-use format that made the first three editions such great successes.

Is it possible to create the perfect workbench? The answer is yes, with "Fine Woodworking Best Workbenches", a collection of the best articles on the subject from America's premier woodworking magazine. Filled with focused advice on how to choose and customise a workbench, this book will prove invaluable to woodworkers of all skill levels. Whether you're looking for a quick and easy workstation that will handle 90 per cent of what you need or a no-compromise workbench that will function flawlessly for decades, or you just want to soup up an existing or ready-made workbench, this indispensible reference book offers the best projects and designs, ranging from traditional to special-purpose workbenches and those sporting the latest innovations and hardware.

Creating the perfect loaf of bread--a challenge that has captivated bakers for centuries--is now the rage in the hippees places, from Waitsfield, Vermont, to Point Reyes Station, California. Like the new generation of beer drinkers who consciously seek out distinctive craft-brewed beers, many people find that their palates have been reawakened and re-educated by the taste of locally baked, whole-grain breads. Today's village bakers are finding an important new role--linking tradition with a sophisticated new understanding of natural levens, baking science and oven construction.Daniel Wing, a lover of all things artisinal, had long enjoyed baking his own sourdough bread. His quest for the perfect loaf began with serious study of the history and chemistry of bread baking, and eventually led to an apprenticeship with Alan Scott, the most influential builder of masonry ovens in America.Alan and Daniel have teamed up to write this thoughtful, entertaining, and authoritative book that shows you how to bake superb healthful bread and build your own masonry oven. The authors profile more than a dozen small-scale bakers around the U.S. whose practices embody the holistic principles of community-oriented baking based on whole grains and natural leavens."The Bread Builders" will appeal to a broad range of readers, including: Connoisseurs of good bread and good food.Home bakers interested in taking their bread and pizza to the next level of excellence.Passionate bakers who fantasize about making a living by starting their own small bakery.Do-it-yourselfers looking for the next small construction project.Small-scale commercial bakers seeking inspiration, the most up-to-date knowledge about the entire bread-baking process, and a marketing edge.

This book offers 8 small cabinet projects that provide inspiration, step-by-step instruction and skill-building opportunities for novice to intermediate woodworkers. The cabinets in this book can be built for a specific purpose (such as storing jewellery, china, and wine) or for more general uses. Designed by award-winning woodworker, teacher and bestselling author Doug Stowe, the cabinets in this book are thoughtfully designed, built of carefully selected materials and have a utilitarian purpose. The skills learned through building these pieces can subsequently be applied to a wide variety of cabinetmaking projects. Throughout the book, Stowe offers suggestions for design options, allowing readers to customise the projects as well as learning how to create their own designs.

Please pass the salt! And pepper! This first ever book dedicated to turning salt and pepper shakers and mills will guide turners in creating small projects that are practical and beautiful, perfect for yourself or to give as a handmade gift. The 30 step-by-step projects, rated by level of difficulty, are fairly easy to finish and use only small amounts of expensive materials. While turning wood is the focus, author Chris West also shows how the same design can be reconceived using different accessories--like glass, metals, or ceramics--and assembly methods. The designs include both traditional and CrushGrind mechanisms, which allow for more flexibility and grinding options (for coarse or fine grit). A gallery of work from internationally recognized turners rounds out this craft-pleasing book filled with beautiful pieces.

This is a highly visual book and DVD guide for intermediate to advanced hobbyists and professional woodworkers. It explains and demonstrates how the vacuum press works and how to maintain it for effective, long-term use. The author invented the first ever vacuum press for use in the woodworking industry. Using a vacuum press is the most efficient method of veneering flat and curved panels and making bent laminations, which add decorative options to fine woodwork that can't otherwise be made using hardwood. Even the smallest of shops can produce high-design wood pieces with the vacuum press because its components can be disassembled and stored in a small space. In this step-by-step book and DVD, Darryl Keil explains and demonstrates how the vacuum press works; how to use it for veneering, wood bending and clamping; how to troubleshoot problems with the press and how to maintain the equipment for effective, long-term use. With an expert like Keil walking woodworkers through these processes, they're guaranteed consistent results.

This essential reference for pros and passionate amateurs is back with a fresh design and updated content. Written by respected builders from all over America, this extensive revision collects all the latest roof framing articles from the pages of Fine Homebuilding magazine--from cutting rafters and framing roof valleys to building dormers and working with roof trusses. The contributors offer hard-earned, job-tested advice on an impressive variety of tools, techniques, and trade secrets. Framing Roofs shows how to work with speed and precision, and, since working on a roof is often a complicated and dangerous task, safety is always at the forefront.

Thoroughly analyzes, explains and illustrates the criteria and techniques used by the Shakers to design, construct and finish the furniture and crafts for which they have long been admired-in authoritative text, over 250 photographs and measured drawings for over 80 classic designs, ranging from a sugar scoop to a peg-leg footstool to a Harvard trestle table. 262 halftones. 140 black-and-white line illustrations. Index.

The experts at Fine Woodworking believe that good furniture design goes hand in hand with good furniture construction. "Practical Furniture Design" provides woodworkers with the advice they need to design their own projects by offering thoughtful insights on the design process, ideas for creating working drawings and information on how to solve construction problems. Each article in this collection, written by some of the best furniture designers and builders, is packed with practical and down-to-earth advice. The furniture types include tables, casework, cabinets, chairs and a selection of special-purpose furniture; illustrated with over 300 photographs and almost as many drawings!

Home-made toys stimulate children's imagination, and are often more educational and fulfilling than shop-bought versions. This step-by-step guide shows you how to make simple wooden games and toys with the help of little hands, as well as bigger projects like a garden swing or sandpit. The book contains thirty fun, child-friendly woodworking projects, for absolute beginners as well as those who want more of a challenge. You don't need to be an experienced carpenter to tackle any of them, and nor do you need expensive tools or materials. Try your hand at a brand new project and help your child discover the joy of saying 'I made this myself!'

A practical guide for advanced DIY enthusiasts, as well as professional and student builders, which shows properly how to install or repair and asphalt or shingle roof. Asphalt shingles are lightweight, fire resistant and relatively inexpensive which has made them a popular option in modern housebuilding. This book walks you through the techniques and procedures for laying down the shingles, working round obstacles and repairing small patches.

On a farmlike compound near New Hope, Pennsylvania, George Nakashima, his family, and fellow wood-workers create exquisite furniture from richly grained, rare timber. Tables, desks, chairs, and cabinets from this simple workshop grace the homes and mansions and executive boardrooms of people who prize such excellence. In this lavishly illustrated volume, George Nakashima allows us in intimate look at his artistry, his philosophy, his life. It is the portrait of an artisan who strives to find the ideal use for each plank in order to create an object of utility to man and, if nature smiles, an object of lasting beauty.
The author's search for the meaning of life took him as a young man to Paris, Tokyo, and Pondicherry, India. In India, he found the inner peace for which he had been searching and began to find ways to work with timber. He writes movingly about the grandeur of ancient trees and stunning figured woods and explains how he selects and prepares his materials. Above all, he impresses us with his devotion to discovering the inherent beauty of wood so that noble trees might have a second life as furniture. The Soul of a Tree looks at the world through the eyes of an artist and evokes the joy of living in harmony with nature.

"Trim Complete" covers those important finishing touches that give a house a one-of-a-kind personality: trim and modling. An expert carpenter, Greg Kossow presents a vibrantly visual guide that details every possible project, from the most basic baseboards, to the most complicated casings. He tackles real-world situations with authoritative advice, never failing to address how to solve problems when things do go wrong. The book's ingenious design makes it a snap to find the relevant information for each project and Kossow includes a crystal-clear table of contents. Plus, unlike most other books that only deal with basic carptnetry, "Trim Complete" includes hard-to-find advice on complex crown molding and making custom modling.

Stair building combines precision carpentry with tricky math, so even experienced builders can find it challenging. But as this extensively illustrated book demonstrates, any builder who can measure the distance between two floors can plan and build a stunning set of stairs. By clearly laying out the geometry, planning, and construction involved, author Andy Engel takes the reader from a simple structure of framing lumber to a set of stairs fit for a king. From building and installing railings to using off-the-shelf stair parts, Building Stairs lays out the process clearly and completely. All the reader needs to is a router, saw, drill, and level. This elevating book fills in all the rest -- step by step by step.

This book was previously published under the title Using Natural Finishes. With the increasing awareness of eco-building techniques alongside the desire to make our homes healthier, the historical benefits of using natural renders and paints are being rediscovered. Clay and Lime Renders, Plasters and Paints is an in-depth guide to the selection, mixing and application of lime and clay based plasters, renders, paints and washes. Step-by-step instructions for applying lime and clay based plasters, renders and paints. Information on the benefits of natural finishes for personal health, the environment, and for buildings. Drawing on traditional methods & materials for using lime & clay finishes on new and historic buildings. A comprehensive and up-to-date online resourceguide to suppliers, practitioners and courses. Easy to follow DIY projects guide the reader through all aspects of using these natural finishes, with beautiful photographs of techniques and examples from the UK and abroad.

All woodworkers worth their sawdust know that joinery - good, bad, or indifferent - tells the unvarnished truth of how well a piece is made and how skilled the maker is. As a result, joinery is always a hot, and sometimes controversial, topic because even the masters will agree that there is no one right way to do it. Over the decades, no one has proven better at teaching readers how to make beautiful, enduring joinery than Fine Woodworking. This comprehensive and practical book demystifies the all-important subject of choosing, designing, and cutting woodworking joints. It's packed with insightful information and tricks of the trade that will advance the work of novices and seasoned craftsmen alike. Because whatever your skill level, there's always room for improvement when it comes to joinery.

The author of Wiring a House and Inspecting a House covers waterfront in Plumbing, from the submersible pump in the bottom of the well to the utility sink in the laundry room, to step-by-step installation procedures for all plumbing fixtures, hardware, and appliances in the home. Along the way, the author makes carefully planned detours into the non-standard circumstances a builder or remodeler is likely to encounter in a remodel. Throughout the book, process and technique are linked through special color-coded "finding guides" to the related reference information in the back. This reference section includes a concise index of the plumbing code, photos and descriptions of every type of pipe, every form of fitting, and all the unique and special tools that apply to plumbing, as well as sizing charts, expansion tables and other relevant technical data.

A professional looking finish is the dream of most woodworkers. One way to achieve it is through modern spray finishing. Recent improvements in the equipment and widespread adoption have lowered costs making this technique widely available. But there is little information apart from magazine articles and our 1996 book. This book collects the best recent articles from "Fine Woodworking" on spray finishing and other modern finishing techniques.
Table of Contents
Section I: Choosing a Finish
Section 2: Surface Preparation
Section 3: Spray Equipment
Section 4: Spray Finishing Techniques
Section 5: Aerosol Finishes
Section 6: Special techniques

In this new book, the bestselling architectural design author Sarah Susanka expands her familiar and popular message once again: personalised well-crafted small spaces result in a home that comforts and nourishes those who live there. This book concentrates on the tangible and sometimes intangible details that bring an otherwise ordinary home to life: suspended ceilings; built-in shelves and cabinets; pocket doors; window seats; well-placed alcoves; and see-through lines and spaces.

In this valuable book Tubal Cain takes the reader beyond the superficial or the simply practical with explanations of the composition of steel, its additives, and the effects of different temperatures on its constituents. With a grasp of what changes are actually taking place in the metal the care needed in following the practical processes described becomes understandable and will lead to better and more consistent results. Flame, salt bath and furnace heating are detailed, with information on accurate measurement or recognition of temperature levels. For the average small workshop operative or model engineer the discourses on tool material, hardening and tempering will be of most use, and in this connection this book replaced the author's earlier Hardening and Tempering Engineers' Tools, providing a broader-based, more detailed and up to date examination of the subject.

With a handy flip-chart format, this easy-to-use spiral-bound handbook for the home lists more than 600 common house problems, with causes and solutions for each. 30 color photos. 36 illustrations.

These lesson plans were devised as a result of the author's experience of teaching carpentry toolmaking in East Africa, and include guidelines for lessons on theoretical aspects of toolmaking, as well as practical demonstrations. Students should already be familiar with basic woodworking techniques, including the preparation of timber, marking out and cutting joints, and the construction of simple items of furniture. There is also advice on simple blacksmithing techniques followed by demonstration plans for the metal parts of tools to aid the teaching of this aspect of toolmaking. The book is intended for students of woodworking and metal-working skills in developing countries, and their teachers and trainers.