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There is no shortage of scam products on the internet. Ted's Woodworking has been offering 16000 woodworking plans for a ridiculously low price for the last decade. Inventors strike out on their own after creating innovative air conditioners, drones, vacuum attachments and their stories are all oddly similar. Plus the one sure way you can get an impressive endorsement for your own product.

You want your basement to feel like the rest of your house. It should be dry, and comfortable. However, the basement is NOT like the rest of the house. The basement is in a hole in the ground. The ideal solution for a warm dry basement is a subject of much debate. I talk about a few of the popular options and the one that was recommended by the insulation company we are hiring.

Figuring out which tasks need to be done first in our basement renovation. Energy audit to qualify for home efficiency rebates. And I completely rethink the layout of the basement at the suggestion of the HVAC installer.

Stuff is happening. Big stuff. In this episode of the podcast, I talk about our choice of furnace and air conditioner for the house, why I decided on a split ductless system for the garage-workshop, and our reasoning for ditching our hot water tank and going with a tankless water heater.

How do you react when someone tells you that something you did is "all wrong?" In this episode of the podcast, I respond to just such a criticism.

If getting stuck in the snow taught us anything, it's that we have to replace our furnace this year. Plus I do a little surgery in the basement.

Looking for a new home improvement or DIY podcast to listen to? Here are my personal favorites that you may enjoy, too.

I've come across news stories about people running afoul of their HOAs by painting their house the wrong color, or putting up Christmas decorations that were deemed too tacky. But I've never experienced what it's like living in an HOA community or talked to anyone who has. Until now. John from AZDIYguy joins me to talk about life in an HOA.

Paying down a mortgage isn't necessarily the end all be all. In fact, by increasing our mortgage, we could end up further ahead in the long run. And in the short term, well, we're finally getting relief from the financial pressure we've been feeling for the past few years.

We are always looking for ways to save a buck. But it's a fine line between cutting costs and cutting corners and often saving a buck now will cost you more in the long run.

So what do you get someone who already has everything?

As homeowners, we have more information and resources available to us than ever before. In this episode I complain about mostly complain about contractors who refuse to acknowledge that we do know what we're doing and know what we're talking about. Link to article on Stuff.co.nz website: "First-home owner nails DIY by watching 'how-to' videos." Visit our sponsor:  LL Flooring. These are the floors homes are built on. Visit the experts at your local store or go to LLFlooring.com/pro to learn more.

Someday. Eventually. In the future. Whether talking about debt repayment, retirement, or home renovations, it's all so abstract. In this episode, I talk about figuring out how realistic a goal is and creating the road map to achieve it. The post Ep 46: Defining Someday appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

John from AZDIYGuy.com returns to talk about kitchens, kitchen design and IKEA. And why it's a bad idea to step on the back of a farmhouse sink. John shares his experience from planning to design to execution, why IKEA was the right choice for him and why it pays to hire a designer. The post Ep 45: IKEA kitchen reno with John from AZDIYGuy appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

We have all seen those articles about the home improvements that give you the biggest return on your investment. But what about the ones that can actually decrease the value of your home? The post Ep 44: Home improvements that can hurt your property value appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

She's back! I am happy to welcome Vickianne, from MyCrappyHouse.com back to the podcast. We talk about how she has been making her crappy house less crappy and answer some very important questions. What has she been up to? What's the deal with Schmoopy? What's changed thanks to the pandemic? There are knots and bows to be tied and maybe, someday, a tome about her home to be written(?) and she talks about all of it on this episode. The post Ep 43: What’s new with Vickiann and her crappy house appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

Before Netflix and other streaming services, some of the only entertainment available in the wee hours of the morning was the infomercial. In this episode of the podcast, I share with you some of the purchases I made over the years either directly from, or inspired by these advertisements. The post Ep 42: As Seen on TV- Stuff infomercials sold me appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

In this episode of the podcast, I share a handful of tales of nature and the nature-adjacent, along with a bit of advice if you happen to live adjacent to nature (hopefully the title doesn't give too much away). The post Ep. 41: Don’t feed the animals appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

This first episode back after a long hiatus does not have a central theme. It is more of a mish-mash of assorted ideas that you may find interesting including a bit of plumbing, a new (to me) table saw and some real estate news. The post Ep. 40: Catching up with Thumb and Hammer appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.

The Thumb and Hammer Podcast will return in September. I had actually contemplated sun-downing the podcast and the website but after a lot of thought,… The post Ep 39.7: Announcement: Return of the podcast appeared first on Thumb and Hammer.