Stonehaven Life

Can Portable Generators Damage Home Appliances?

We recently decided it’s time to install a backup power generator for our rural home/office. Choosing a portable generator should be pretty easy shouldn’t it? Determine what you need emergency power for – and choose a generator powerful enough to do the job, right? Uh…no actually. Many of today’s home HVAC systems and appliances have [...]

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Handy Shop Tips for Plywood

I’ve built several projects over the past 12 years but I really haven’t had much experience working with plywood and other sheet material. With a bathroom reno looming which calls for a new vanity – that’s about to change. Since I’m also on a mission to make jigs and other shop-related items as I go, [...]

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Heavy Lifting – the Easy Way

You’ve got a 250lb vintage table saw in your basement shop and you want to get it out – what do you do? Let your imagination do the heavy lifting for you. A visit from a friend with a bandaged hand after a serious table saw accident was the final sign that prompted me to [...]

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Fix Loose Plaster with Plaster Washers

The much anticipated visit of our infant grand-niece recently inspired us to clear out a spare bedroom in our old farmhouse and turn it into a nursery. Top priority was replacing the stained 1950′s era wallpaper with a fresh coat of paint. Having done this several years ago in the living room and hall I [...]

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Make Concrete Look Like “Granite”

The bare concrete foundation wall of our renovated mudroom made a stark contrast to the beautiful natural granite blocks that have solidly supported our farmhouse for 115 years. I had thought about parging it just to spruce it up a bit and then my partner suggested we try resurfacing the concrete with the Beauti-Tone (Tech [...]

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Installing a T & G Ceiling by Yourself

Veranda Ceiling Do-over (Part 2) I have to say installing this ceiling the second time was much easier than the first – even by myself. Since all the pieces were precut and numbered – it was kind of a “paint by numbers” job – uh…once I worked out the logistics. The main issues I had [...]

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Veranda Ceiling Do-over

No, sadly, I don’t mean “makeover” – which usually means new & improved. I mean “do-over” as in doing it all over again…as in twice.

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Frost-Free Hose Bibs Can Freeze!

Last year’s renovations included adding a much-needed outdoor hose bib to replace the hose snaking through the cellar and out through a hole drilled in the old wooden entry doors. Our plumber installed one of the “frost-free” bibs that are about 14 inches long which effectively shut the water off “inside” the house thus preventing [...]

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Build a Roadside Honey Stand

Beekeepers! Looking for a way to sell your surplus honey? Why not let it “sell itself” in your own self-serve Roadside Honey Stand. The Stonehaven Roadside Honey Stand operates on the honor system – enabling your customers to serve themselves – even when you’re not home. Your customers will love the novelty and the good [...]

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Cut Ceramic Tiles With Inexpensive Tools

Situation: I needed to lay ceramic tile in a small (8′ x 12′) mudroom. No fancy cuts were required but I did need to cut tiles for the perimeter walls. Options: 1. Buy a tile cutter or wet saw ($50 – $300.00) – I have no intention of doing this again in the forseeable future [...]