Danny Lipford and Joe Truini are on the road in Las Vegas for the 67th annual National Hardware Show to check out all of the cool new tools and other great building and home improvement products for your home.
- Sheet Good Cart: Panel Express from Saw Trax is a wheeled cart that takes the hassle out of moving sheet goods, like plywood or drywall, around the job site.
- Multipurpose Tool: The Apex OddJob combines a hammer, nail puller, ratcheting screwdriver, and utility knife all in one.
- Measuring Tape: A new measuring tape from Lufkin allows you to easily control retraction with your finger.
- Pass Through Socket Wrench: The hole in the center of the GearWrench socket wrench from Apex Tools lets you tighten nuts on a long bolt without the socket bottoming out.
- Tile Drilling Guide: The water cooled drilling jig from Tivoly allows you to drill into ceramic tile without the drill bit wandering or overheating.
- Stud Finder: The ProSensor 710 Professional stud finder from Franklin Sensors shows the entire width of studs at once, making centering easy.
- Nail Puller: The Cordless Drill Nail Puller uses a drill to smoothly and effortlessly remove nails.
- Roof Support: The Bucket Buddy adjusts to different angles to holds buckets, tools, or other materials on a sloped roof safely.
- Saw Rip Guide: The Kreg Rip-Cut saw guide attaches to a circular saw to allow you to make straight rip cuts up to 24” wide in plywood and other sheet goods.
- Bamboo Paper Towels: Bambooee paper towels are made from sustainable bamboo, rather than trees, making them an eco-friendly approach to cleaning.
- Garden Gnomes: The Gnombre is a Hispanic garden gnome that’s also available in other ethnic versions.
- NFL Theme Duct Tape: Duck Brand duct tape is now available embossed with the logos and colors of different NFL football teams.
- Deck Staining Applicator: The DeckJet from Wagner allows you to stain up to 70 square feet of deck boards in one filling and can even stain the edges of deck boards.
- Safety Straight Edge: The Swanson Savage straight edge has a nonslip base and thumb guard to make cutting easier and safer.
- LED Flashlight: The Coast LED flashlight is made of aluminum with a recessed water resistant switch and adjustable beam.
- Textured Laminate Finish: Encore is a textured finish that can be applied to laminate countertops to give the look of stone or concrete.
- Synthetic Stone: DIYSTONE from Airostone is a peel and stick synthetic stone veneer that can be applied to walls or other surfaces.
- Easy Open Vise: The Seber bench vise has a quick release button that allows you to open and close the vise easily.
- Self Adjusting Wrench: The Turbo Driver is a self adjusting, ratcheting wrench that fits 14 different SAE and metric sizes.
- Utility Knife: The Turbopro utility knife allows you to change blades without having to disassemble the knife.
- Gutter Guard: GutterStuff is a permeable foam insert that fits into gutters and allows water to pass through while keeping leaves and other debris out.
- String Trimmer Support: The Big Balls Trimmer Support attaches to a string trimmer to give a uniform cut without scalping your grass.
- Easy Leaf Bagger: The Leaf Reaper makes it easy to gather and bag leaves in less time.
- Drainage Pipe: Flex-Drain is a plastic drainage pipe that can be easily expanded and bent to direct water from downspouts away from your house.
- Ladder Storage: The Racor Ladder Lift uses a pulley system to make it easy to store a ladder against the ceiling in a garage or shed so it’s out of the way.
- Bike Storage: Racor also makes a bike rack pulley system for easy bike storage.
Other Tips from This Episode
Simple Solutions with Joe Truini:
Easy Screw Cap Removal
Caps on finish and glue containers can be hard to unscrew, since the glue or finish can harden in the threads, locking the lid in place. To solve that problem, cut a small piece of wax paper and place it over the top of the container before screwing the lid on. (Watch Video)
Best New Products with Jodi Marks:
Dremel Saw-Max
The interchangeable, high-speed, 3” diameter blade on the Dremel Saw-Max allows the tool to cut a wide range of materials including wood, plastic, metal, tile, and masonry up to 3/4″ deep. Two different cutting positions allow for straight or plunge cuts. The Dremel Saw-Max is available at The Home Depot. (Watch Video)
Ask Danny Lipford:
Attic Insulation Facing
Attic insulation is available with or without a paper facing. When insulating an attic that doesn’t have any insulation, use faced insulation with the paper facing toward the heated living space. Use unfaced insulation when adding insulation on top of existing insulation. (Watch Video)
I saw your show today(Sat. June 9th) about the Gutter Guard. A question several of us had to ask. Does 100% of the rain water pass through, because if not during freezing temps. this could build up and add extra weight on the gutters, causing them to pull away from your house. This could be a severe problem. Have they tested this in freezing climates?
Hi Gary,
I put your question about freezing weather and foam gutter guards to the folks at GutterStuff. Here’s what Ted McNamara, the Founder and CEO of TJM Innovations, LLC, which makes GutterStuff, had to say:
Gutters will freeze for one of two reasons. First of all if water is not able to flow to the downspout because the gutter is full of leaves and debris, it will freeze and build up as a block of ice in the gutter. Secondly, if their is heat loss in the house through the ceiling and the heat is warming the bottom of the roof deck, the snow on the roof will melt during the day and become ice in the gutter during the night time hours. As this process continues over several days and nights you will end up with a frozen block of ice in the gutter, and many times this ice will continue onto the roof above the gutter and work its way under the shingles and find a way to come into your home. If you see water coming into your home from your ice dam it will be because it has come in where the nails used to hold the shingles in place are located. Their is a product called ice and water shield and many homeowners in northerly climates will apply ice and water shield a minimum of 3′ up from the gutter. I recommend at least 6′ of ice and water shield up from the gutter. That extra protection is good to have.
In the first case mentioned above, GutterStuff® may help the water to flow to the downspouts by keeping your gutters clean. In the second case where their will be a buildup of ice due to heat loss heating up the roof deck and melting the ice, GutterStuff® will become part of the frozen block of ice. When the temperatures warm up the water surrounding the foam filter will quickly melt. The GutterStuff® will be fine and continue to perform as it did prior to the winter season. It will stay in place year after year.
Your question about debris being inside the GutterStuff® and becoming frozen is a good question. There is a certain amount of water that can be retained by any sediment that collects in the filter. We have not had any complaints of the foam filter becoming too heavy for the gutter so I would like to say we are pleased with our results in cold weather applications. It is true that we have sold several million feet of product in cold weather Northerly climates and have not had one complaint of this nature. I do believe this says a lot about the compatibility of GutterStuff® in cold weather climates.
In comparison, let’s examine all of the guards and screens that can be placed over the gutter. We have heard from many customers that they have become discontent because these systems inevitably become dislodged over time. It will likely take less than 2 years for a replacement to become necessary. They may look nice for a few months but give it some time, particularly if you live in a Northern climate. Snow is the screen’s worst enemy. As the snow melts and shifts, it will take the screen with it, and remove it from its place. Ice build-up will also expand and push the covers and screens out of place. Because they are over the top of the gutter and are independent of the gutter, they will not maintain their position. Over time they are sure to become dislodged due to snow and ice movement. Other environmental extremes such as cold or heat will change the materials dimensions, making it undersized or over sized. As the original shape changes, the screen or cover no longer fits properly. When these products lose their position they no longer perform as intended and will need to be replaced. Finally, these systems are not easy to install, and you may become frustrated with your purchase, wondering whether or not you had installed them properly.
I hope I have answered your question well and provided you with some additional information to help you choose GutterStuff® for your gutter protection system. Overall the effectiveness and the low cost of GutterStuff® along with the ease of installation make GutterStuff® a simple decision for any homeowner.
How do I get information on the String Trimmer Support I really need a small weedeater on wheels I had one that was sold at Wal-mart about 4 years ago but can not find another one any help would be apperciated Thank You
Hi Tracy,
While we don’t provide links to the websites of the products we covered at the National Hardware Show, if you type in “Big Balls Trimmer Support” at a search engine like Google, their website comes up first in the search results.
Thank you for your interest!
I was watching a show on Sat. June 9 or Friday June 8 2012 and you showed a T-Shaped tool that fits 6 diffeant bolts and I wouldkike to gt one at Home Depot. If you would let me know the name of it I would be so thankful. Janice
Hi Janice,
The ratcheting wrench you saw on the show is called the Turbo Driver. You can find info on it under the heading “Self Adjusting Wrench” in the article above.
Thank you for your interest!
per reviews at amazon.com, leaves and twigs get stuck in the foam.
Where can I buy a Trivoly drill guide?
Hi Tom,
The Tivoly tile drilling guide is not yet available in the U.S., though it is overseas. Hopefully it will be soon.
Thank you for your interest,
I saw the show on Sunday July 22nd in Spokane Wash. You had a tool on your show that guided screws into the sides of deck boards at an angle so you wouldn’t see the screws. What is it called and where can I get one????
Warren,
You can find a link to the CAMO hidden fastener website in our episode article from the show on our website at https://todayshomeowner.com/television/2012/03/18/first-time-homeowner-6-landscaping-deck/
When you go to the CAMO website, click on the Get CAMO navigation tab, then click on Find a Dealer.
Thank you for your interest!
where can I purchase diystone by a ironstone in thr U.S. ?
Hi Thomas,
As far as I know, DIYStone isn’t available in the U.S. but you might want to contact Airostone, the company that makes it, to find out for sure.
Seen the airostone ON I Want That. Sent 4 E/mails to them trying to find out how to get there stone.Haven’t got any Information Yet!!