Family Handyman March 2023

Whether you’ve been a subscriber for two decades like my dad or you picked up this issue from the newsstand because it caught your eye, I have no doubt you’ll find something useful here. Our team takes great pride in putting together projects, tips and information pieces that not only entertain and inspire but also improve a home. Our projects are a big source of that pride. They’re fun to dream up and build, and they are our way of presenting a mix of basic and advanced skills. I’ve had the pleasure of growing up with this magazine and watching the projects evolve over 20 years. Some of my recent favorites are the Getaway—the not-so-tiny modern cabin (Sept. ‘21), the over-the-top Destination Garage (July/Aug. ‘21), Brad’s Danish Modern Chairs (March ‘22)…

facebook.com/thefamilyhandyman pinterest.com/family_handyman youtube.com/thefamilyhandyman instagram.com/familyhandyman tiktok.com/@familyhandyman Our streaming channel, At Home with Family Handyman, continues to expand its programming with new original series, including the upcoming premiere of Mr. Build It. Mr. Build It, aka Alex Mazhukhin, has over 700,000 followers on his YouTube channel. He started in the DIY space in 2015 when he and his wife, Irina, an interior designer, bought a house in Boise, Idaho. “The house was a fixer-upper in need of a lot of work, and the budget to do it was nonexistent.” Following other social media accounts for project inspiration, Mazhukhin says he began watching other people and then practicing on his and Irina’s house. In the new series, Mazhukhin says we can expect to see projects such as building a giant open kitchen, replacing a brown stone fireplace and building a real…

PINT-SIZE TRIMMING SAW The Stihl GTA 26 is a compact, hand-held battery-operated pruner weighing 2.7 lbs. The ¼-in. PM3 chain makes smooth cuts with next to no vibration. The pruner also features an LED display and a comfortable rubber grip. The Stihl GTA 26 ships with a battery, a charger, lubricating oil and a carrying case. With the battery fully charged, I started cutting a downed maple limb in my yard. The limb was nearly 17 ft. long and close to 5 in. in diameter at its fattest. The GTA 26 pruner cut up the branch in no time, although it required multiple passes and one rotation on the thick final cut. It is better on branches less than 2½ in. thick, but it handled thicknesses up to 3½ in. in a single…

FLOOR RULER No need to scramble for a ruler every time you need to measure something big. Draw a ruler on your shop floor with a permanent marker. It won’t be accurate enough for precise measurements, but for rough cutting it will save you time and effort. When the markings start to wear off, just redo them. CHRISTINE SMITH SHARE YOUR HANDY HINTS WITH US submissions@familyhandyman.com MORE FOR YOUR MONEY Next time you need to estimate a measurement and don’t have a tape measure with you, use a dollar bill or a credit card. Each bill is slightly over 6 in. long, 3 in. folded in half and 2 in. folded in thirds. And they’re slightly over 2½ in. wide. A credit card is about 3⅜ in. x 2⅛ in. BRUCE KOPACEK FENCE-POST HOLDER As a novice sinker of…

One of the best investments you can make in your home is to add finished square footage, and for many homes, the basement is the best place to do that. What many people don’t know is that the new habitable space in your basement requires an egress window to provide an exit in case of an emergency. Installing one is a big job, but the larger window will flood your basement with natural light and make it code compliant. WHAT IT TAKES TIME 5 to 7 days COST $5,000+ SKILL LEVEL Advanced TOOLS Mini excavator (rental), shovels, rakes, hand tamper, concrete saw, 8-lb. maul, drill, impact driver, circular saw/miter saw, table saw, oscillating multi-tool, hand seamer, basic carpentry tools BEFORE YOU START Adding an egress window is a big job, and it’s important to plan your project to meet the building…

WHAT IT TAKES TIME 2 days COST $150 per window SKILL LEVEL Beginner TOOLS Table saw, pocket hole jig, drill/driver, miter saw, random orbital sander, drywall saw Want to bring daylight into a finished basement, but don’t want the labor and cost of adding an egress window? If you don’t need an egress window to meet code, here’s a way to gain the light along with the illusion of a beautiful new window. You won’t get an outdoor view, but a basement window rarely gives much of a view anyway. We used thin LED panels with adjustable color temperature, set in easy-to-build window frames. Getting power to the panels takes a little electrical work, but the lights are operated by remote control or a battery-powered switch that fits in a junction box, so you don’t have to hard-wire a switch. 1…