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In This Issue:

1) Newsletters, choices and promises… a message from the Natural Handyman

2) Back at ya’… in appreciation for media citations or web links!

3) Sweepstakes Central... Win great home repair stuff!!

4) News from the Basement Annex!!

5) Q&A with our readers

6) Linkmaster’s Corner

7) Pass the hammer, would ya?"... NH's readers speak out!

8) Featured in the Natural Handyman Bookshop...
“Concrete Countertops” by Fu-Tung Cheng

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Newsletters, choices and promises… a message from the Natural Handyman

Choices. Every day we make them. If we’re lucky, our choices bring us hope, pleasure, security or even joy. Despite our best efforts, without lady luck blowing in our ear our choices can portend disappointment, chaos and even disaster.

Promises. Every day we make them… and break them! Sometimes, we make foolish promises… “I’ll love you forever”, “I’ll never smoke again” or “I’m losing 25 pounds before summer” are a few vying for the #1 spot. They’re hardly foolish in their positive sentiments. It’s just that we shouldn’t promise anything lightly. The first broken promise makes breaking the second so much easier. NO promises should be made flippantly and without much consideration or all promises are cheapened.

Eight years ago, I made the choice to move my handyman expertise to the Internet and shortly thereafter began writing this newsletter. Over time, the tail has begun to wag the dog as this monthly (and, for a time bimonthly) exercise has become a stabilizing and motivating force for me to be true to a promise… to grow “Natural Handyman” into an important free home repair resource and to help as many people as possible find the “home repair help they need”.

This success has not been free, though, with many years of financially-unrewarded overtime (borderline workaholism) and significant expense while, somehow, maintaining a thriving full-time home repair business, keeping a marriage strong through stormy patches and raising three remarkable kids.

Yet I don’t feel a minute has been wasted. Sure, I’ve made some choices that were real stinkers, and promises were made in good faith that could not be kept. But over all, where we are now is right where we should be… as the old Avis rental ads used to claim, “We’re number two, but we try harder!” Or number three, or ten, or 10,362… whatever, you get the drift.

To the heart of today’s matter, I offer my appreciation for you who responded to our mid-month one-question poll, “Did you receive our February newsletter?” I don’t have much direct communication with most of you and I was heartened to receive so much unsolicited positive feedback about our newly-named “Handyman Letter”.

I also received insight into the spam problem from our reader’s point of view as well as hundreds of useful suggestions on how to improve our newsletter. I will be implementing many of them in the upcoming months. Some will be obvious and others will be subtle.

To be honest, I was at first a little disappointed by the rather low response rate to our poll, with less than a third of subscribers responding at all. Nevertheless, I’ve found this to be a valuable learning experience for me and for that I thank you! There are many possible reasons why such a large number of readers did not respond, affirming my belief that changes are necessary if our newsletter is to survive the “Spam Wars”.

NH

==== NEED A HANDYMAN? LOOK NO FURTHER!! ===

Our growing NATURAL HANDYMAN NETWORK now has nearly 700 handymen, reaching thousands of cities and towns from sea to shining sea. Yes, even Hawaii and Alaska! Get your own devoted and skilled handyman ready, willing and able to help you with those pesky home repair chores! Does it get any better than that?

THE NATURAL HANDYMAN NETWORK has NO FEES and we don’t ask for any personal information from you. Our only goal is to help you find the home repair assistance you need!

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/network 

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2) BACK AT YA’.. in appreciation for media citations or reciprocal links…

INTERNATIONAL TOOL specializes in woodworking and power tools from Dewalt, Bosch, Milwaukee Tools, Porter Cable, Makita, and Delta Power Tools. Be sure to check out their weekly specials and rebates.
http://www.internationaltool.com
 

KITCHEN ACCESSORIES UNLIMITED is one of the leading kitchen and bath online retailers on the web since 1996. They specialize in high quality products such as range hoods, pot racks, kitchen islands, trash cans and much more.
http://www.kitchensource.com/kau 

ENGINEER SUPPLY is a tool and supply resource for the engineering, architectural, surveying and construction community. Their quality product line includes measuring wheels, specialty calculators, drafting supplies and presentation products as well as a selection of how-to articles.
http://www.engineersupply.com
 

WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR LINKS to quality home repair websites offering interesting products or with helpful content for our readers. If you know a site that we have missed, let our Linkmeister know by visiting the page below!
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/linkmeister.html 

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3) SWEEPSTAKES CENTRAL

CONTESTS CLOSED…
We have winner lists for three contests that closed in the past few months.
(i) Our first monthly winner of a “Natural Handyman Logo Baseball Cap” is:
S. Johnson of Kingston, GA
Congratulations, and wear it proudly!

(ii) The winners of CUSTOM BUILT SPAS instructional CD-sets are:
D. Comeaux from Lake Charles, LA
T. Jackson from Pinson, AL
C. Free from Fort Wayne, IN
F. Stock from Surrey, BC, Canada
Want to build your own spa but don’t know how? Don’t be “spa-less”! Learn to do-it-yourself by purchasing your own copies at the CUSTOM BUILT SPAS website at http://www.custombuiltspas.com/t.asp?a=403149
 

(iii) The winner’s of Handyman Business CD-sets are:
R. Passarello from Wheeling, WV
W. Bergman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
B. Andersen from Yonkers, NY
B. Dickie from Watsonville, CA
I. Diaz from Staten Island, NY
And, of course, our appreciation to HANDYMAN BUSINESS for sponsoring it! If you’d like to learn how to run a successful handyman business of your own, visit their site at:
http://www.handyman-business.com
 

NEW CONTESTS…
No… it’s not déjà vu again! We really do have two popular contests restarting this month! You’ve another chance to win these quality instructional CD-sets

(i) We have 5 copies of the popular HANDYMAN BUSINESS CDSET.
(ii) We have 4 copies of the latest CUSTOM SPAS do-it-yourself spa and hot tub CDs!!

FEATURED “OFF-SITE” CONTESTS…
Win a PT CRUISER WOODY from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware
HURRY… this contest ends March 31, 2005
http://www.rockler.com/ptcruiser/index.cfm?sid=AF035
 

CURRENT CONTESTS…
(1) Win a case of LOCTITE POWER GRAB adhesive from Henkel Consumer Adhesives (ends 4/1/05)
(2) Win a Do-It-Yourself basement LEAK STOPPING SYSTEM from WEBAC (ends 5/1/2005)
(3) Win a $50.00 gift certificate from LAMPSLIGHTING.COM (ends 9/1/05)
(4) Win a copy of the 2-CD set HANDYMAN BUSINESS (ends 10/1/05)
(5) Win the 2-CD set “How To Build Your Own Custom Spa or Hot Tub” from “CUSTOM BUILT SPAS” (ends 11/1/05)
(6) Win a NATURAL HANDYMAN BASEBALL CAP! New winner each month!

TO ENTER OUR CONTESTS, follow this link:
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/contest 

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4) News from THE BASEMENT ANNEX

OUR APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE for any grammatical goofs or typos you might find in this newsletter! NH’s lovely and gracious editor Pat, who mans the bilge pumps in the “Basement Annex”, was away and unable to lend a hand this month! So you don’t need to send us a mercy-copy of the “Chicago Manual of Style”…

MOST CHILD POISONINGS result from common household products, warns the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Learn and protect…
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infsafety/infpoison.html
 

HEATED DRIVEWAYS and walkways are an effortless way to keep slippery ice and snow under control, even during difficult winters! And best of all, this can be a do-it-yourself job for the motivated home handyman!
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infhvac/infheateddriveway.html
 

SPLISH, SPLASH!
Rebecca Blain offers common sense pool safety advice for everyone! (My goodness… can you believe spring has almost sprung?)
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infpool/infpoolsafetyrules.html
 

INSTALLING TRANSLUCENT CORRUGATED PANELS over decks and in greenhouses gives lots of light with added protection from the elements. Read this informative brochure from the Kemlite Company on the basics of installing and caring for these useful and decorative panels.
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infcorroofpanels.html

TELL A FRIEND about our newsletter! They’ll appreciate it!
http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/rec.html?ez=handym

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5) Q&A WITH OUR READERS...

Dear NH,

What is the proper placement of a bifold door knob pull? I've most often seen them in the middle of the panel by the opening. People who are supposed to know seem to lean towards a placement close to the hinge. And I've seen them close to the opening edge, especially when there is a pair of bifold doors. It seems to come down to aesthetics, but functionally, does it really matter?

TH from Shoreview, MN

TH,

I've seen the pull on a bifold door located in four different places, but there is only one correct placement, aesthetics aside. The four places (all vertically centered in the center panel) are:

1) Near the outside edge of the leading door.
2) Near the hinge edge of the leading door.
3) Near the hinge on the inner (following) door.
4) In the center of the panel on the leading door.

And the correct answer is... number (4)! The reason lies in the mechanics of a bifold door. The pull must do two things... open the door and close the door. If you visualize opening a bifold door, the outer edge of the leading door moves inwards while the center hinges move outwards, folding the doors together. The position of the pull when closing the door is less critical, and any of my examples will close the door… though some better than others.

The "ideal" position is a compromise between smooth opening and smooth closing, keeping friction at a minimum to avoid too much pressure on the track guides. The unusual force on bifolds with pulls in the wrong location is a common cause of door breakage at the somewhat fragile top corner where the guide pins are inserted.

Placing the pull near the outside edge of the leading door makes it very easy to close the door, but gives you no leverage to open the door, since it is too far from the hinge to pull it outwards to fold the doors. Thus, you have to twist and pull on the knob to get the door to open.

Placing the pull near the hinge on the leading door is just the opposite. It works well for opening, but the door may bind at the upper track when closing unless it's very well adjusted, lubricated... and not completely open. When completely open, bifolds tend to bend as a unit inwards when the knob is on the leading door because the guide in the upper track gets behind the hinge, locking up the whole shebang!

Placing the pull on the hinge edge of the inner (following) door also makes opening the doors easy, but it is even more difficult to close them due to a worsening of the leverage issue in the previous example.

The ideal position is in the center of the middle panel on the leading door. It gives the best leverage compromise for both opening and closing the doors.

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Dear NH,

I am replacing my shower bottom. It is a pre-cast fiberglass unit. How do I detach it from the drain for removal?

HM from Denville, NJ

HM,

Some types can be disconnected from within the pan. They use a compression system to clamp a neoprene sleeve tightly onto the drain pipe. Look underneath the drain cover, if you have one. There might be a large nut that compresses against the pipe. The nut has "cutout" notches on the inside edge that are used to turn it (as opposed to a typical nut that you would put a pipe wrench on). You can improvise a tool by cutting a piece of metal and inserting it across the cutouts of the nut... then use a pipe wrench or other tool to twist the nut counterclockwise to loosen it.

If there is no way to loosen the pipe from above (and you don’t have easy access from below), you can use a reciprocating or jigsaw to cut around the drain through the plastic to allow removal of the base. Once the old pan is removed you have access to the pipes to do whatever magic you may need to!

NH

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Dear NH,

I have a problem with my Genie Intellicode garage door opener with chain glide. It will open with the transmitter but will not close with transmitter. It will close by holding wall button, but if I let go of the button the door stops moving

MV from Springfield, IL

MV,

It sounds like the infrared safety lights near the bottom of the garage door are either (1) blocked or (2) not facing directly at each other.

The purpose of the safety lights is to prevent the garage door from closing if there is a "perceived" obstruction blocking the clear path between the sensors, typically mounted within a foot of the floor on either side of the door. Automatic opener’s have a built-in override to allow you to close the door anyway. Holding the wall button in activates the override. This override feature doesn’t work with the transmitter, only the wall button.

Perhaps some day garage door openers will be “smart” enough to know the difference between the cat or a bag of groceries and bad aim!

NH

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6) LINKMEISTER’S Corner

These are the latest additions to our “Links Library”. Don’t have time to visit them now? Don’t worry… every link has been saved for future reference:
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/linkslibrary 

GC LANDSCAPES provides high quality online landscape design to homeowners and commercial property owners. They can also provide maintenance specifications for home associations and have a sample copy available.
http://www.gclandscapes.com
 

The E-Z LIFT CABINET JACK, the premier do-it-yourself cabinet installation tool, is newly designed and better than ever.
http://www.e-zspreadnlift.com
 

FIX A SLAT is a unique repair concept for vertical blind slats. Ever have the top slot that holds the slat into the track break or crack? There was no easy repair… till now! The “Fix A Slat” kit includes enough repair tabs for 5 slats. No tools or glue needed. Keep your blinds looking and working great!
http://www.fixaslat.com
 

THE BLUERIDGE COMPNAY is an excellent source for hydronic and radiant heating supplies, as well as tankless water heaters. They have installation manuals posted for a wide variety of the products they sell.
http://www.blueridgecompany.com 

DRYWALL INFO offers the novice drywaller guidance for that first drywall project. There are additional articles on repairing holes, types of drywall and common drywall "myths".
http://wwwdrywallinfo.com
 

HILL TOP AQUATIC GARDENS designs, installs, cleans, and offers full operational maintenance contracts on all types of water gardens (indoors or outdoors), fountains, container gardens, tabletop water features, and farm ponds. They offer a wide variety of quality pond and water garden products online.
http://www.hilltopwatergardens.com  

TOILET TANK LIDS.COM stocks hundreds of replacement lids for current and obsolete toilets including many by American Standard, Eljer, Gerber and Universal Rundle. Don't replace your old toilet just because you broke the lid!
http://www.toilettanklids.com  

PACIFICA TILE ART STUDIO reproduces fine art and photography onto ceramic, glass and marble tiles. Create custom murals and backsplashes. Choose from a large selection of artwork or send them your photos.
http://www.pacificatileart.com
 

FLUESYSTEMS.COM specializes in stove and chimney products. A family business, they have been online since 2001. Their product line includes chimney caps, liners, thermometers, booster fans and other interesting accessories. Located in the UK.
http://www.fluesystems.com
 

CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER WORKS has developed a unique way to remove condensation between double-pane glass windows as an alternative to expensive window replacement. Interesting concept with lots of potential, especially since so many of the original thermal pane windows are out of warranty and getting foggy! Their patented process offers a 30-year guarantee.
http://www.getthefogout.com
 

We REALLY appreciate links to our site. We also accept suggestions of quality websites we may have missed! Click below to suggest a link or for more information…
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/linkmeister.html 
 

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7) PASS THE HAMMER, WOULD YA? ... NH’S readers speak out!

Dear NH,

Hi - just took a look through the February newsletter, and I saw this blurb:

"IS THERE AN AQUARIUM IN YOUR FUTURE?" If so, you might be interested in this fun article by Jeanine Hughes on choosing a tank and its occupants for your own “fish tale”."

Following the link to the story I see that it's got quite a few problems...you might want to contact that author and have them update the article. Problems being anything from a Genus name being mis-spelled, to lack of correct information. Things like this always catch my eye - I spent seven and a half years working with animals, specializing in reptiles and amphibians, also fish. Both retail and wholesale, and habitat design. If people depend on that article, I'd expect some disappointing feedback. Besides, I like animals and would rather not have them go through something like that, if it's avoidable. Way too much mortality in the pet trade as it is anyway.

GT from Vista, CA

Dear GT,

Thanks for sharing your obvious expertise. There is a new type of virus going around, but it only affects websites so you probably haven’t heard of it. I have named it the "term paper virus". As you might imagine, I get requests to publish do-it-yourself articles every day. Within the last year, the number has skyrocketed to the point that I knew something was amiss. Most of the articles, you see, have nothing to do with home repair whatsoever. I get articles on travel, money, hair styling, keeping children safe, sports... so many that I pulled our newsletter from a couple of ezine libraries that I had indications were providing my address to these article mills.

Even the names of the authors seemed odd. Just today, for example, I received articles from Pendio Chussig, Liz Studebaker, Seena Fichen, Vol Brastoff, Gocchi Pionn and (my personal favorite) Mary Anaheime! I figured anyone who tries to get articles posted must have their name somewhere on the web. So the articles poured in, I did a web search for the authors. Not surprisingly, it turns out most of the names are totally made up!

Okay, we have websites trying to get traffic by burying webmasters with articles and praying to get published. But even with this knowledge, the nagging question was, “Who is writing all these darn articles?” This seemed like too much of a scam for these folks to be paying people for them. Oddly, there was a familiarity in the style that bothered me. It’s as if they were written by someone who didn’t know much about the subject… maybe didn’t even want to write it in the first place. Suddenly the little light in my head went on… they must be high school or college level creative writing! With three high school grads, I’ve seen enough non-motivated papers to last a lifetime! Perhaps they are even from one of those rent-a-report services where students can purchase articles on most any topic.

So it seems that the scam is to flood website and newsletter publishers with articles cheap or free articles on every conceivable topic. Like with viruses, it’s all in the numbers. Eventually an article of interest, such as the fish article, will meet the correct website and get published.

I attempted to contact the author numerous times but, not surprisingly, the email address is a “black hole” from which nothing exits. So I’ve pulled the article and, armed with this new knowledge, will not get “scammed” again!

NH

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8) Featured in the NATURAL HANDYMAN BOOKSHOP...

“CONCRETE COUNTERTOPS: Design, Forms, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath” by Fu-Tung Cheng
For some it's a "hard" concept to wrap their mind around, but concrete countertops are a most amazing invention! They are custom-made for each room, absolutely functional and beautiful. OH.... and cheap (except for the sweat-equity). Depending on your artistic talents and your patience, you can make them look most anyway you want.

See fine home repair books in our BOOKSHOP at:
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/bookshop

HELP US HELP YOU!! Purchase your Amazon.com holiday presents and goodies through us! You will pay exactly the same price, but a small part of your purchase will come back to us to make our website bigger and better!!
Click below for more information…
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/amazon

"The Handyman Letter", formerly the "Natural Handyman Newsletter", is a publication of The Natural Handyman website.  This newsletter is sent to subscribers only by request.  Our mailing address is:   Natural Handyman; 16 Hilltop Drive; Canton, CT 06019

The Natural Handyman is a project of G. George Ventures, Inc.   Please visit the The Natural Handyman for information concerning terms of use, copyrights, liability, and other such information.

This newsletter and its contents are for informational purposes only. Because we cannot control the conditions under which our advice or suggestions are implemented and we cannot anticipate any unusual or unique circumstances of your situation, we cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage that may occur because of their use.

Home repair can involve dangers from tools and situations that can cause severe bodily harm or death. Many chemicals used in home repair can be dangerous or deadly. Please use good judgment and caution in undertaking any home repair, read all product instructions and cautions, and do not attempt any repair or project that you are not mentally or physically capable of doing. Not even professionals are immune to injury!

All advertisements, sponsors, website links and their descriptions are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of the products, services or information offered at those sites. Each site is responsible for its own content, design, software and privacy policies.

To send comments or questions about this newsletter or our websites, click HERE. You may also mail positive comments, helpful suggestions, or donations to:
The Natural Handyman; 16 Hilltop Drive; Canton, CT 06019

To make address changes or to remove your e-mail address from our list, click on the "unsubscribe" link located at the bottom of this newsletter. We honor all requests we receive provided you give us the correct address.

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 COPYRIGHT 2005 G. George Ventures, Inc., All rights reserved.

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