Tools in Gear

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Why Fences Lean, and How to Set Posts That Don't

A fence never fails at the pickets. It fails in the first eight inches of dirt below grade, and that part is decided on day one.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Changing your own oil without making a mess of it

The order to do it in, the two mistakes that dump five quarts on your driveway, and the parts nobody tells you to buy.

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

How to hang a door so it closes with one push

Most doors that stick were hung to a crooked frame. Set the hinge side plumb first and everything downstream gets easier.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

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Skills6 min read

The running toilet is a fifteen-minute fix, not a plumber call

Two parts cause almost every running toilet. You can tell which one in thirty seconds, and both cost under twenty dollars to replace.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20265 min

Read a tape measure right the first time

The marks, the sliding hook, the diamond at 19.2 and the one habit that stops you cutting a shelf a sixteenth short.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20265 min

How to stop a dripping tap in fifteen minutes

Water off, handle off, washer out, washer in. The job is small. The mistakes are the expensive part.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

The six multimeter checks that solve most problems

A multimeter does forty things. You'll use six of them, and they cover almost every dead battery, dead outlet and dead appliance you'll meet.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

How to wire a plug properly, and when to leave it alone

Brown right, blue left, earth on top, and a fuse that matches the appliance. The rest is knowing which jobs aren't yours.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Jumping a dead mower without frying the battery

A flat mower battery is a twenty-minute fix if you do it in the right order, and an expensive one if you don't.

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Patching Drywall So Nobody Can Tell Where the Hole Was

The patch is the easy part. What gives amateurs away is the feathering, the primer and the light coming down the wall.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

Sharpen a knife properly with what's already in your house

No fancy stones, no gadget clamps. A marker pen, something flat, and twenty minutes gets you a knife that slices paper.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

The wiring jobs worth doing yourself and the ones that aren't

Swapping a switch, a receptacle or a light fixture is within reach for most people. Knowing which jobs to hand off is the part that keeps you safe.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar22 Sept 20266 min

How to jump-start a car without wrecking the electronics

The order of the clamps matters, the ground point matters, and three minutes of patience saves a control module.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

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