One Project Closer Review Policy
Everyday, millions of people turn to the web to purchase goods and services. Potential customers increasingly rely on the new media (independent blogs and web sites) for guidance on what product or service to choose among the myriad of options available. As a result, a positive review on a trusted, well-designed site like One Project Closer provides high value to product and service vendors.
For any questions related to reviews on this site, please feel free to e-mail oneprojectcloser@gmail.com.
How do Potential Customers Find Your Review?
Regular visitors will read the review as it runs in the chronology of articles on the site. More valuable, however, are search engine results pages that include our reviews. One Project Closer is a heavily search engine optimized site designed to encourage search engine users to visit our pages to find the information they seek. If they are searching for “[Your Product Name] Review” it is probable (although not guaranteed) that our review will be within the top 1-20 rankings.
Are Your Reviews Objective?
As a trusted source of information, One Project Closer provides independent, objective reviews of products and services. That said, we really enjoy and prefer to write positive reviews whenever possible. There’s no more enjoyable part of publishing than to let everyone know of a positive experience with a good or service. Please be sure your product lives up to your claims. If it doesn’t, either clearly disclose those limitations, or go back to the drawing board and fix them. Remember, people tell 3 friends when they have a good experience, and 10 when they don’t.
Is there a Fee for Reviews?
No, there are no fees. You should expect to pay shipping and handling.
What Other Ways Can I Promote My Product?
There are two other ways you can promote your product on this site:
- Product Giveaways: Provide us a product to give away (at random) to our readers. This often generates incoming links to your product review on our site, and usually results in a review of your product on the recipient’s site (assuming they also operate a site).
- Paid Advertising: Pay for ad placement on this site.
Contact Us
We promptly reply to inquiries. E-mail us at oneprojectcloser@gmail.com for initial discussions.
About Fred
Hi! That’s me over on the right. I’m a 29-year-old home improvement nut living in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. I’m very happily married to Kim, and we’ve twin sons, H & J. (initials only online to protect their identity). We live in a traditional, 2-story, rectangular colonial - the kind they built by the thousands in the 1980s. We love our house, and will probably stay here for at least 10 more years (or until the projects run out, whichever comes first).
I’m really into the construction and materials side of home improvement. I get jazzed up doing projects like framing up walls, pouring self leveling mortar, or power washing a deck. Fortunately, our house needs a lot of that, and it’s where my limited home improvement talent lies. I could look at a color fan all day and all I’d see is a disorganized rainbow. Do the blue and yellow go together? I’m not sure - that’s why we’ve got Kim and Jocie.
As far as hobbies - well, there’s blogging, and working on the house, and blogging, and technology, and blogging. You get the idea. I’m a programmer by trade, so I take care of all the programming on this site. My day job can be pretty demanding, and this is a nice way to get away from it all and do something that’s pure fun. (And, I’m learning PHP and Cascading Stylesheets - you can’t go wrong with that!)
I really enjoy the community aspect of blogging. It’s great that I can meet people like Andy at Build a Better Bungalow, who at the time of my writing is working on a basement in Chicago - 1000 miles away from us - and is facing the same challenges in refinishing his basement. Jennifer, Lisa Rae, modernemama, Amalie - all people I would have never met if it weren’t for the online community we’ve got here. I love stopping by your sites - please keep them up!
You’ll see me around the house-blogosphere - always posting as Fred or Fred@OPC or something like that. I’m glad you stopped by! Come back again soon.
Craftsman Lawn Mower Maintenance
At some point during the winter, my lawn mower quit working. I would yank on the pull cord but to no avail. And so I began my Saturday determined to try everything I could before taking it to a repair center. Todd has a great post on maintaining a John Deere X300 over at Home Construction Improvement. His post reminded me of all the things I should have been doing anyway.
Lawn Mower Maintenance
FYI: I have a Craftsman rotary lawn mower with a 6.75Hp Briggs & Stratton engine. Mower model number 917.370721.
1. Inspect the air filter. Some mower filters are little foam squares. I’ve heard you can simply wash these and pop them back in. My mower had a paper filter. It was really dirty and in need of replacement. The correct filter for my mower was Craftsman item #33644.
2. Check out the spark plug. The spark plug on my mower is in front and has a spark plug wire connected that simply unsnaps. Unscrew the plug and have a look. A burnt out spark plug is easily spotted by the scorch marks. My plug was recently replaced and looked like it was still in good shape. It was manufactured by Champion item #J19LM.
3. Remove the old gas. The gas in the tank was from last season. I had added stabilizer but wanted to eliminate all potential problems. Over time gas will degrade and lose combustion. Stabilizer works to slow the oxidation process and keep gas fresh. All it takes is adding a little stabilizer
4. Change the oil. It’s important to have an empty gas tank so you don’t flood the engine. All I had to do was tip my mower on its side and let the old oil pour out. Then, I added new oil till I reached the full level on the dip-stick. I used SAE30. Colder climates should use 10W-5. Also, my mower doesn’t have an oil filter to change.
5. Clean up the mower. I removed some grass and leaves from the underside and some more from the mower deck. I also removed the blade to sharpen it. I used a simple file but would recommend a grinder. Using a file is time consuming. Make sure you sharpen evenly to keep the blade balanced. Unbalanced blades become problematic down the road.
After all this I decided to give it a try. I was a little shocked when it started right up. Next, I happily mowed my front yard.
What do you think? What maintenance does your mower need?
Image courtesy of Sa’ d Khorsid.
Photography by Chris Paulis
I’m a firm believer in making your home a place that evokes feelings of warmth, comfort, and happiness. One of the simplest ways I have found to do this is by displaying photographs of friends and family. As I began doing this in my new home, my dad (Chris Paulis) was just starting to get involved in photography, and we all quickly learned that he was incredibly talented. He has always been artistically inclined - drawing, making wind chimes, stained glass decor (lamps, garden stands, kaleidoscopes, etc.), and most recently photography. In addition to taking beautiful family pictures, he also has amazing photos of flowers, birds, lighthouses, and much, much more. In the past few months I have ordered multiple prints and framed them for different areas of the house. The art is not only a beautiful and classy compliment to the decor, but it also reminds me of my loving father every time I see them.
Some framing and printing tips:
- You may have seen in my earlier post (Before/After Home Office) how I incorporated some of his photos into our home office. With these particular pictures, I did not want to crop them (even though they were not standard size). Since I could not find a frame to fit these pictures without cropping them, I bought Matte-less frames. The picture is placed in between two pieces of glass and the wall color shows through to appear like a matte.
- With good art work, you don’t have to spend too much on a simple frame, therefore letting the art stand-out.
- If you find a good, cheap frame but don’t like the color, lightly sand, prime, and paint the frame. Its takes a little extra time and love, but is well worth it.
- I use Shutterfly.com for smaller prints and larger quantities. I have had good luck with the quality of their prints and the speed of production. If you tend to order lots of prints, they also sell packages at discounted prices per print.
- I use Adorama.com for larger prints. I have also had great experience with the quality of their prints and the speed of production. They also run frequent deals for larger prints. For example, I recently spent $0.99 for an 8×10 Lustre print of excellent quality.
Feel free to check out more Chris Paulis Photography.
Here are a few photographs that are my favorites and a few that I display in my home. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Tree Trimming; the Right Way
Tree trimming is important to keep your tree healthy and strong. Making the appropriate cuts early on will ensure the tree grows in a safe and long lasting manner. Generally, trimming in the winter is easiest when you can see the shape of your tree without any new growth (flowers, fruit, etc.). I found these tips helpful while trimming my own tree.
Dead or Diseased Branches
Look for dead or diseased branches. Dead wood is often dark and brittle. Diseased wood is usually discolored. These should be removed to prevent the disease from spreading and to make way for new growth.
Crossing Branches
Tree branches should not rest on one another. Currently, the top branch does not add much weight. But as that branch grows, the bottom branch will end up supporting an enormous weight. The top branch should be trimmed away before they break causing damage to the tree and anything underneath.
Split Branches
Split branches pose a risk of splitting the tree trunk or major limbs. As the limbs grow larger and heavier the point at which they meet becomes more susceptible to breaking. Strong winds can cause the trunk to split starting at branches like these.
Cutting the branch
Cut the branches in a way to prevent tearing. An easy method is to make a partial cut on the underside. Then complete from above. Finish by removing the stub 
up to the collar. This will encourage healing. Removing fewer, larger branches is preferable (to many, smaller branches) and your tree will recover better.
Tree Paint Compound
Professionals are undecided about using tree compound. Some still feel it aids in healing and prevents disease. Others feel the natural process has better results. From what I have found, tree compound will at least protect from disease. That’s reason enough for me. Purchase some here
What do you think? Would you use tree compound? What tips do you want to pass along?
Welcome to One Project Closer
If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you’ve probably already figured out what OPC is all about. If this is your first or second time around, welcome! We love having new visitors! Either way, this post will get you caught up to speed on who we are and what we’re doing.
(By the way, OPC stands for One Project Closer, (not Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as one commenter suggested). Since the acronym is easier to say and type, we’ve basically adopted it for use throughout the site).
What’s With the Name?
Each of us has a home. Whether we rent, own, or live with other family members, we get up and go to bed in the same place (most of the time). Most of us are working to make our home and community better, either through remodeling, community involvement, or simply painting a room in the house a more cheerful color. Each of us envisions the perfect home and community for our family and our neighbors. And we work to get there - one project or cause at a time.
Anyone who’s owned a home for more than a few years knows that the list of house and community projects never ends. But that doesn’t stop us from tackling them, because every project moves us One Project Closer to the perfect home, or community, or life. So that’s what the site is about: tips, advice, experiences, products, reviews, giveaways, finances, how-tos, tools, and more that help us build better homes, communities, and lives. Whether we get to the perfect end, well, that’s not really that important, is it?
So Who’s Writing Here?
In short: Fred, Kim, Ethan, and Jocie. We’re four best friends living in the same community in the suburbs of Baltimore County, Maryland. We’re married (Fred to Kim, Ethan to Jocie), and have three homes between us. Fred & Kim live in a four bedroom traditional colonial in the back of a cul-de-sac. Ethan & Jocie live in an end unit townhome that backs to the woods on another court. Fred and Kim own another townhome in a nearby community that they rent out.
Our community has about 450 homes on 130 acres, and is governed by an active (but not too intrusive) Homeowners’ Association. We’ve a nearby community pool, and are blessed to have a number of other friends living close by.
Are You Professionals?
This question makes us laugh. The answer is no, we aren’t. All of us have day jobs that we love. We’re two families who work on our homes at night and on weekends. You should treat the information provided on this site just like a friend telling you about their own home and experiences. Sometimes we write instructions, reviews, or answers in an authoritative style because that’s what’s worked for us. That doesn’t necessarily mean we know what we’re doing (and doesn’t mean what we did was safe).
Please realize that some types of home improvement can be very dangerous. You should always consult a professional before undertaking a job you aren’t qualified to perform. Read our disclaimer for more information on this.
How Can I Contact You?
You can always e-mail us at oneprojectcloser@gmail.com. We check that address regularly. If you’ve a question/comment about a particular article on the site, you can just leave a comment on that article. We read all of the comments on the site (even if the article is old) and respond either with a follow-on comment or by replying directly via e-mail. If you have our personal e-mail addresses already, feel free to use them. We generally like people; we just don’t put our addresses out in the public.
Do You Do Product / Service Reviews?
OPC receives thousands of hits per month and is an excellent venue to get your product/service recognized. We’re happy to review any product, but realize that our reviews are always honest, objective, and fair (even if you give us the product for free). So before you ask for a review, make sure your product lives up to your claims.
Can We Send You Money?
Yes, you can. But you probably aren’t likely to, so how about doing the next best thing. If you see something on this site that’s helped you out, there are two ways to help us out in return:
- Cite the article on your own blog / website. This lets others know about OPC and it tells the search engines that people think our content is valuable, which in turn lets more people find our site. When possible, cite content with anchor text from the name of the article.
- Consider social bookmarking the page. Services like Technorati, Digg, Reddit, and others let you bookmark and share sites. You can find an Add This button at the bottom of every post that’ll let you bookmark the page.
Of course, we also enjoy when people comment on posts just to tell us they like the content. Everyone needs a little encouragement once in a while, and the conversation keeps us interested.
Do Your Readers Visit Every Day?
Our guess is no. Most regular readers subcribe to our feed with an RSS news reader. You can subscribe in a number of other ways as well, just follow this link to see your subscription options. The four of us each subscribe to blogs that we connect with the most. Sometimes those overlap. We apologize for writing too many comments on your sites 
If you’re unfamiliar with how to get started in an RSS reader, just send us an e-mail at oneprojectcloser@gmail.com. We’ll help you out.
Do You Recommend Any Other Sites?
We’re huge fans of the entire houseblogs.net community. In general, we visit sites of the folks who read and comment here frequently. You can check out the blogs we visit the most by heading to our main blog page and looking on the left side for our blogroll.
Wordpress Setup Complete
We finally finished the WordPress migration today, and I expect to resume posts sometime tomorrow. Just like every IT project, this took twice as long as I expected. And, just like every IT project, I’m sure there will be some bugs in the transition. Thanks to Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, I was able to redirect the Feedburner feed to source from www.oneprojectcloser.com instead of the blogspot location. For those who had previously subscribed, you should be all set to go.
If you’d like to subscribe, just click the RSS icon on the upper right of the site.
A number of folks have asked me why we switched to WordPress. The reasons are varied (and the subject of a more comprehensive post later), but here’s a few:
- Total control over the software. WordPress runs on PHP and MySQL. Since I am a developer by trade, WP offers incredible flexibility. I can get into the code.
- Scheduled posting. This allows you to “queue-up” posts for later release. Google is working on a similar improvement for Blogger (it is currently in draft), but I learned this after I decided to make the jump.
- WordPress can publish “pages” in addition to “posts.” Pages are like posts except they don’t run in the chronology. This is great for things like Profiles, Disclaimers, Policies, and other information that doesn’t really fit into the post loop.
- WordPress has an extensive plug-in developer base. Google is still building up a base of developers to write plugins for Blogger. WordPress has many existing plug-ins that offer great capabilities to publishers.
OK. That’s it for now. I hope to get back to home improvement blogging tomorrow.
Welcome to One Project Closer on WordPress!
Welcome to One Project Closer on WordPress!
Well, after about 5 days of playing with WordPress we’ve finally reached a point where we have to go live with the new software.
I wanted to hold out until we could figure out how to convert over the old blogger posts and get all of the links and profiles set up, but unfortunately that isn’t going to be possible. WordPress really likes to be at the “default” page on the domain. Prior to tonight, the default page was redirecting traffic to the blogspot location. In order to get the rest of the setup complete, I had to let WordPress take over the default page.
Since I haven’t been able to get everything moved over, the move isn’t going to be as seamless as I’d hoped. (The plan was to have this site “up and running” before cutting over at all). Well, as of tonight we don’t have the new RSS setup, and a number of other things are missing. But hey, you’re reading this on WordPress, and that’s exciting!
Please feel free to leave some comments on this post. It will help us get the site working better. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail us at oneprojectcloser@gmail.com and tell us! We’d love to hear from you. If you’re running WordPress and have ANY useful tips for us, please don’t be bashful, we need the help.
Thanks again for bearing with us through the move. We are truly excited to get onto a permanent platform.
Get Rid of That Squirrel!
It all began when Jocie and I realized that an animal was under our roof. I say under our roof because we have no attic. Our second floor has vaulted ceilings and no access of any kind (so we thought). But time and again we would hear scratching.
Enough people in our neighborhood have had squirrel problems that I actually met a squirrel catcher hired by a neighbor. He told me that squirrels typically find holes through siding, especially end caps right below eaves. He makes a living setting traps to capture the squirrels and then driving them at least 50 miles away before releasing them! Apparently, 49 miles away and they’ll find their way back.
But, I didn’t really want to pay a squirrel catcher. So, I began by soaking a rag in ammonium and placing it under my siding by the eaves (a suggestion I found online). The next day I found my rag–and numerous nest makings–thrown down on my deck!
This confirmed the access point, but didn’t solve the problem. Since we were already planing to have the roof replaced, I asked the roofers to seal the gap in the siding. I thought that was the end of it.
And then we heard the familiar scratching sounds above our second bedroom again. It was luck that Jocie and I saw the squirrel entering our house through another gap (on the other side of my house! — they are persistent!) between the siding and our roof. So I turned back to the net for more answers. Here’s what I learned:
How to Keep Squirrels Out
The only effective way to keep squirrels out is to block the entrance. Sounds like an easy task, but squirrels can wriggle and slip through some of the tiniest gaps. Don’t block the entrance with wood or plastic as they will chew right through it. Aluminum siding or a sturdy wire screen proves a good choice. Remember to be sure to block the entrance when they are not there. Otherwise, they will find another exit (and create another entrance), or worse, die in your attic or between two walls. Online resources will point you toward moth balls, ammonium and repellent
What do you think? Ever had an animal try to turn your home into theirs? What tools and tricks did you use to get them out?
Picture from www.wildlife-traps.com/squirrels.html
Thanks, Chuck!
This Saturday started out much like any other. I picked up my 16-year-old brother-in-law around 8:30am from his parents’ house and brought him back here to work on the basement finishing project. (It’s currently his only venue for earning money).
We had a few errands to run and we were waiting for Ethan to head over, so we didn’t end up walking downstairs until around noon. The plan was to get started on installing the second area of radiant heated floors.
Then, Disaster Struck…
We turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Saturday’s plans changed. About half of the basement was covered in 1/8″ of water (the basement isn’t completely level). The likely suspect turned out to be guilty: we discovered a pinhole leak in the bottom of the hot water heater. All things being equal, the damage wasn’t so bad. The leak was slow and apparently we caught it early. This was a blessing. My basement is completely water tight and has no sump pump; if a pipe ever springs a real leak, we’re going to have an indoor pool.
We quickly vacuumed up the excess water, turned off the breaker for the hot water heater, turned off the main water cut-off, and began draining the heater through a hose to the back yard.
And then I called Chuck.
Enter Chuck
Chuck’s the kind of friend every person needs.
He and I met at work about 6 years ago. He was one of my first project managers. He’s about 25 years older than me, and has wisdom and experience in many areas, particularly home improvement.
When we still hardly knew each other, I mentioned that I wanted to install hardwood floors in my living room but had no experience with that kind of work. He said he’d done it a few times and it was a relatively easy job; he’d walk me through it. He devoted four weekends to helping me get the project done (it wasn’t your typical hardwood flooring job). From that project on, Chuck and I built a friendship. Most of that friendship involves me asking him for advice. More recently, he’s borrowed a couple of tools. (I’m glad I can offer something back).
When I first moved into this house, Chuck and I replaced a non-working main water cut-off, a job most people wouldn’t even consider doing on their own. But, Chuck said we could do it. And we did. So, I figured a hot water heater replacement would be a piece of cake. I called Chuck right at noon. He dropped what he was doing and was here by 12:45. That’s an awesome friend.
Within a matter of 3 hours, Chuck, Ethan, and I had gone to the big box, bought a new hot water heater, removed the old one, and nearly finished the installation. Oh, and we got pictures and videos of the whole thing–expect a few articles in the next two weeks. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to build a how-to guide for replacing an electric hot water heater.
Going Above and Beyond
Note I said we nearly finished the installation in 3 hours. Around 3:30, Kim and I were already an hour late to a wedding we were supposed to be attending that evening. The only thing that remained was to install the pressure-release down pipe on the back of the heater. I told Chuck and Ethan that I really needed to go and was happy to finish the job later in the week. Neither would hear anything of it. After I left, Ethan and Chuck stayed another hour finishing the job without me.
That’s friendship.
Thanks, guys!
Some Final Thoughts
Chuck has made an enormous impact in my life. I hope you’ve got a Chuck in your life. Everyone needs someone who can provide a little wisdom and perspective. It’s even better when they can get the hot water flowing back to your shower.
What do you think? Do you have a Chuck in your life?
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