Wipe-on finishes are forgiving, easy to use and leave beautiful results, perfect for craftsmen old and new. Wipe-on finishes come in lots of varieties: oils, waxes and urethanes, as well as products that combine them with other waxes, stains or dryers.
Knowing the strengths, weaknesses and ideal applications of each wipe-on product is crucial for achieving the perfect look and feel to your project. These are the six wipe-on wood finishes I rely on the most.
Also called drywall screw anchors, these tapered plastic plugs are extremely useful for hanging something heavy from drywall without relying on an underlying wooden stud. Trouble is, they’re often difficult to remove when you decide to move that framed picture, shelf or other heavy object.
That likely motivated the creator of this TikTok video to use a corkscrew to try and remove a wall anchor. But does this really work?
How It Works
The theory is, if you thread the corkscrew into the hole deeply enough to grip the center of the anchor, you can pull the anchor free of the drywall slowly and carefully to minimize drywall damage. So we gave it a try.
When and When Not To Use This Hack
Before you start driving a corkscrew into your wall, you need to understand this hack won’t work in every situation.
There are two types of wall anchors: threaded and non-threaded. Threaded anchors are wider and stronger, with course plastic threads that bite into drywall as you screw them in.
If you’re trying to remove this kind of anchor, don’t bother with a corkscrew. It won’t work. Corkscrews and threaded wall anchors are inserted clockwise, so the corkscrew will only drive the anchor deeper into the wall. Luckily, all threaded anchors have a head that takes a driver bit, so a screwdriver makes removal fast and easy.
Non-threaded anchors are a different story. They’re tapped rather than threaded into the wall, with no threads to hold them in place. This makes them much harder to remove than the threaded variety. That’s why a corkscrew is a great idea.
Before you begin, make sure the wall anchor you need to remove is non-threaded. If the visible end of the anchor has a round hole, it’s non-threaded. If the head can take a driver bit, it’s threaded.
The Process
Once you’ve determined the wall anchor is non-threaded, slowly insert the tip of the corkscrew into the center of the anchor with light pressure. Stop threading the corkscrew after you’ve embedded about one inch in the anchor.
Give the corkscrew a few light tugs to be sure it’s gripping the anchor strongly, then slowly and steadily pull it out of the wall. If your corkscrew has handles for leverage, this will be easier.
I found the hack successfully removed a large, non-threaded wall anchor. The whole process took less than 30 seconds.
A Better Solution for Small Wall Anchors
Wall anchors come in various sizes. This hack works best for larger ones. If you’re trying to remove an anchor with a diameter smaller than the spirals of your corkscrew, the hack probably won’t work. For small anchors, try pulling them free with needlenose pliers instead.
Each tool features an ergonomic handle that cuts down on arm fatigue and a non-slip grip for easy handling. And now, the set is 42 percent off.
Finnhomy Five-Piece Garden Tools Set
Why it’s a deal we love: With gardening tools, it often seems like there are only two options: a sturdy (and splurge-y) set, or a wallet-friendly one where one or more pieces start failing after the first few uses. But with the Finnhomy garden tools set, you’ll get quality, comfort and durability, all at an affordable price.
The set — which includes a cultivator, trowel, transplanter, scissors and gloves — is made to last. The polished cast aluminum heads are rust-resistant and lightweight for easy handling, and the ergonomic, contoured hand grips provide stability while reducing fatigue. When you’ve finished gardening for the day, hang the tools up by the hole at the end and you’ll know exactly where to find them next time.
As a bonus, the transplanting tool is embossed with measurements down the length, so you can dig and plant with precision. It’s just one of the thoughtful design choices that make this garden tool set a standout. Shoppers are impressed with the set, too; Amazon customers give it 4.7 stars with more than 1,200 reviews.
Verified Amazon purchaser Clyde writes: “My wife and I are master gardener volunteers, and we enjoy gardening with good tools. We were very happy with this purchase, as the quality of these tools was a very pleasant surprise. We have purchased many gardening tools in the past from the big box stores, only to see them fail under use.
“I know you will enjoy these tools for many years to come. These are really good tools at a great price and that makes this purchase very special.”
The Finnhomy set usually costs $30.99, but it’s currently on sale for $17.99. At that price, you’re paying less than four dollars per tool. That’s smart gardening!
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Having fresh ingredients within reach of your outdoor kitchen makes your al fresco dining more delicious and enjoyable! That’s why this built-in herb garden by @mommodesign is so ingenious. The chalkboard paint on this wood planter unit keeps the herbs labeled and easily switched out as needed.
Even if you’ve never heard the term, you’ve probably seen a gabion wall. The word gabion comes from the Italian gabbione, or “big cage,” and gabion walls are just that — wire mesh cages filled with loose stone (also called riprap), gravel, or other masonry material.
We know — you’re now saying to yourself, “So that’s what they’re called!” Read on to learn more.
What Is a Gabion Wall?
Gabion walls are most frequently used as retaining walls or as tall, vertical walls in industrial settings, such as bridges, embankments and seawalls. Gabion walls are often stepped or built at a slant to better retain the soil behind them.
Retired construction worker Alcide Trincia used to build gabion walls with his father, often after a flood or landslide. Today, you’ll still see gabion walls in coastal or riverine areas to control erosion, or even to divert the flow of a body of water.
“Gabion walls are made of inexpensive materials and can be built quickly with the right equipment,” says Paolo Marchetti, who runs a construction company in central Italy. “That’s part of the reason you see them used so often in industrial settings, like roads and areas prone to flooding.”
According to Marchetti, these are the biggest advantages to gabion walls:
They’re inexpensive. Materials usually consist of wire mesh and fill matter, which may be rock, crushed concrete or leftover construction materials like brick and tile. “To make a gabion wall look nicer but still save money,” says Marchetti, “you can use cast-off construction material in the middle of the wall, and better quality material, like tumbled stones, on the outside.”
They’re good for drainage. Because they’re porous, gabion walls are well-suited to retaining soil or terrain that requires drainage. Marchetti installed a gabion wall to stop erosion of land routinely waterlogged in rainy season. “Because water can flow right through the wall,” he says, “the gabion system was the best solution.”
They don’t crack. Erosion from wind and water, seismic activity and the sheer weight of the earth behind it will eventually take their toll on the sturdiest of retaining walls. Because they have no solid surface and are built with flexible but resistant wire mesh, gabion walls don’t crack, and won’t collapse unless their wire cage breaks.
The gabion walls Trincio built with his father lasted up to 30 years. But today, he explains, with galvanized wire and mesh, he says a gabion wall can last “40, 50 or 60 years.”
They’re a greener solution. We like this best of all. Because they don’t require cement or timber and often use otherwise discarded materials, gabion walls have a lot smaller carbon footprint than other retaining wall solutions.
Gabion Wall Cons
Before you rush out and order rolls of wire and a truckload of rocks with plans to redesign your backyard, keep in mind that gabion walls aren’t for everyone. “Gabion walls aren’t complicated to build from a technical standpoint,” says Marchetti, “but they’re also just a lot of work physically.” Here are the downsides of gabion walls:
They’re highly labor-intensive. Building the wire cages (or buying ready-made cages) is relatively easy. Filling them with stones, gravel or busted-up cement is back-breaking labor, especially if you’re working with hand tools like a shovel, buckets and wheelbarrows. “The higher the wall gets,” says Marchetti, “the harder it is to do the job with just manual labor.”
They may require heavy equipment. If your gabion wall project involves a large, long wall or one with multiple steps and elevation change, you might need to call in the heavy machinery. “It’s a lot easier to dump the fill material into the wall with a backhoe than it is with a shovel,” says Marchetti.
Trincia recalls building a sizable gabion wall by hand with his father and advises against it. “You’d never build a large gabion wall without a backhoe,” he says.
They’re not always that attractive. Let’s be honest. Gabion walls are functional and inexpensive, but they’re not always the prettiest solution. Their industrial look may not blend well with the rest of your yard or garden. With some creativity, however, you may come up with gabion wall ideas that suit your style and even become a focal point.
How To Build a Gabion Wall
Gabion walls can go up fast because unlike other types of retaining walls, they usually don’t need a poured cement footer.
“If you’re building on flat ground that’s not composed of clay, which will settle under the weight of the wall, you can get by without a foundation,” Marchetti says. If the ground is soft or mostly clay, dig down until you reach more compact earth, and fill the excavated space with a layer of gravel.
Building a simple gabion wall involves clearing the area and marking where the wall will go. The cage features sheets of heavy-duty wire mesh or PVC-coated steel wire tied together with galvanized wire to form a rectangle. (For smaller projects, you can buy ready-made gabion cages.) Once the cage is set in place, the fill material is inserted and the top of the cage wired into place.
More complicated tall or stepped walls require more planning, plus a buddy with a backhoe. “Stepped walls usually mean a lot of excavation beforehand to carve out the area the wall will occupy,” Marchetti says.
Tall walls, he says, feature cages stacked on top of one another. Along with long walls, they might require supporting rebar rods set in a concrete base, as well as wire cross-braces to help the wall hold its shape.
How Much Do Gabion Walls Cost?
Depending on the type of fill material, gabion walls are one of the cheapest retaining walls you can build, ranging from $5 to $40 per square foot installed. While they’re doable as a DIY project, Marchetti recommends that if you’re building on your own, stick to less-ambitious projects, like lower walls and those with fewer running feet.
“It’s not so much a question of skill as it is labor,” he says. “It takes a long time to fill a gabion wall by hand and it’s exhausting work.” And your energy and enthusiasm for the project might run out well before that wall is filled.
The LDD (Lymantria dispar dispar), or spongy moth, is an insect to be taken seriously. You may know it by its former name of “gypsy” moth, which was abandoned in 2021 because of its offensive connotation. The Entomological Society of America’s Better Common Names Project, which works to address problematic insect names, recommended the change.
If you’re a homeowner with trees, here’s what you should know.
What Is an LDD Moth?
The LDD or spongy moth is a non-native, invasive forest pest first reported in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. In the caterpillar stage, its larvae feed voraciously on the leaves of more than 300 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs.
Each year, from late April to early May, a new generation of LDD moths hatch from clusters of eggs laid the summer before. The emerging hungry and destructive caterpillars infamously chow down on the developing leaves of plants and trees, stripping them of their foliage at an alarming rate.
What Do LDD Moths Look Like?
The flightless female moth is white, sometimes with small black markings, with an average wingspan of about 1-1/2- to two inches. She deposits fuzzy, teardrop-shaped egg masses in tree bark, as well as along fence posts, brick walls, outdoor furniture and wood piles.
The flying, but much smaller male spongy moth, is brown and measures about 1-1/2-inches long.
Larvae, when fully developed, are brownish with five pair of blue dots, followed by six pair of red dots lining the back. Yellow and brown hairs stick out from their sides. The caterpillars grow to be about a quarter of an inch long.
What Do LDD Moths Eat?
The spongy moth caterpillars (larvae) eat young and tender foliage on various shrubs and trees. Although they prefer munching on oak and aspen trees, it’s not uncommon to find them in apple, birch, poplar and willow trees. They’ve also been known to dine on evergreen species including pine, spruce and hemlock.
Stafford says the LDD moth’s larval stage run about 40 days. While LDD caterpillars often seek shady spots during the day, if there’s an outbreak and populations are dense, they can feed continuously day and night.
“The caterpillars complete their feeding sometime during late June to early July and often seek a protected place to pupate and transform into a moth in about 10 to 14 days,” Stafford says.
Then the generational moth cycle begins again.
Where Do LDD Moths Live?
From its original North American position in Massachusetts, the spongy moth migrated south to Virginia and north to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Its current invasion front now stretches from North Carolina to the eastern part of Minnesota.
What Damage Do LDD Moths Cause?
These moths and their larvae are small, but the damage they cause is considerable.
Direct tree damage
The LDD moth does the most harm to trees by defoliation (the removal of leaves). Most healthy trees, particularly those that lose their leaves, can withstand this sort of attack for one season. However, if outbreaks occur in successive years, it could leave all trees weakened and susceptible to stresses like diseases, drought and injury from other pests.
Economic impact
The Invasive Species Centre estimates hundreds of millions of dollars in damage occur from the LDD moth in the U.S. annually.
The indirect economic impact, in the form of expense to homeowners, is hard to measure. It could include increased timber value, pest control treatments, removal and replacement of weak or dead trees, and yard cleanup costs.
“The spongy moth caterpillars can also be a problem because they drop leaf fragments and frass (droppings) while feeding, onto decks, patios, outdoor furniture, cars and driveways, leaving a mess,” Stafford says.
How To Get Rid of LDD Moths
According to the CAES, here’s what homeowners can do to get rid of spongy moths in infected trees:
Scrape off egg masses and destroy them in soapy water.
Wrap burlap or sticky barrier bands around tree trunks to block caterpillars from climbing up into trees to feed at night.
Hire a licensed arborist to spray larger trees in early to mid-May with Bacillus thuringiensisvar. kurstaki (Btk), a biopesticide (AKA native microbe) that specifically targets caterpillars/larvae when ingested. It does not work against the pupa and adult spongy moth, nor is it toxic to other non-targeted insects.
How To Prevent LDD Moths From Invading Trees
There’s not much homeowners can do to prevent the moth from attacking trees. However, during an outbreak in 1989, CAES scientists discovered an entomopathogenic fungus called Entomophaga maimaiga was killing caterpillars. Since then, the fungus has been the most important agent suppressing spongy moth activity.
“The fungus occurs naturally and requires rains at the appropriate time in late spring and early summer for germination and infection of the caterpillars,” says Stafford. However, this method is not 100 percent effective. “The fungus cannot prevent all outbreaks, mainly during drought, and hot spots in some areas continue to be reported,” he says.
Production of stainless steel fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn’t kept up with post-pandemic demand. Harry Moser and C.J. Nord, writing for the blog MetalMiner in November 2021, explain it this way: “Our nation is still under-informed about the shortage of this type of steel … This is a long-term, painful shortage.”
The shortage has serious ramifications for the aerospace industry, food production and medical equipment. For the DIYer, it means stainless steel kitchen appliances, plumbing fixtures, HVAC equipment and construction supplies will be hard to get for the foreseeable future.
Why Is Stainless Steel in Short Supply?
The stainless steel shortage results from several macroeconomic issues:
Supply chain problems: Shortages of shipping containers, pallets and workers created bottlenecks at ports. The sharp increase in demand for shipping containers came on the heels of extremely weak demand during the pandemic. Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd described it as a “black swan event.”
Supply and demand: As the pandemic eased, demand for stainless steel products skyrocketed, creating a market bubble that drove steel prices as much as 300 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
Reduced factory production: ATI Metals stopped producing 304 stainless steel (a highly sterile, widely used alloy) in January 2021. This resulted in a 30 percent reduction in domestic supply of stainless steel. If any U.S. mill decided to increase 304 production to cover the shortage, it would take a year for supplies to reach distributors. In addition, North American Stainless, Inc., which supplies 40 percent of the U.S. stainless steel market, had to reduce production because of a shortage of industrial gases needed to manufacture it.
What Stainless Steel Products Are in Short Supply?
The automotive and appliance industries have been particularly hard hit. Automotive manufacturers use stainless steel for hose clamps, seat springs and sundry small parts that account for 30 to 44 pounds of material in every automobile. Appliance manufacturers use it for some types of washing machines and other large home appliances, as well as for small appliances and microwaves.
Stainless steel also is the preferred material for cookware and utensils, and many kitchens feature stainless steel sinks, countertops and backsplashes. Because of its sterility and corrosion resistance, it’s also widely used for residential plumbing fittings and construction fasteners such as screws, bolts and other connectors.
It’s fair to assume all these products will become expensive or unavailable as the shortage continues.
What Are Some Alternatives?
Homeowners must trust manufacturers to make appropriate substitutions for stainless steel parts. Here are alternatives for standalone stainless steel items DIYers might need:
Sinks: There are many alternatives, but if you prefer a lightweight metal sink, copper might fill the bill. Depending on the level of craftsmanship, a copper sink can cost three or four times as much as a stainless steel sink. If you choose a basic model, the purchase and installation costs are about the same.
Backsplashes: You can find stamped and smooth backsplash tiles made from tin that cost less than stainless steel. You can also make a hypoallergenic and reflective backsplash from glass, vinyl laminate or white ceramic subway tile.
Countertops: There are plenty of options for countertop materials. If you insist on metal, go with copper, zinc, bronze, brass or even pewter. You’ll pay premium prices, however, since all are considerably more expensive than stainless steel was pre-pandemic.
Cookware: Alternatives include cast iron, copper, enameled cast iron, non-stick ceramic and carbon steel. Ceramic cookware, made from aluminum with a non-stick ceramic coating, is one of the more affordable options, with an entire set costing about $100.
Cutlery: Carbon steel, which is harder than stainless steel, is easier to sharpen and costs about the same. Ceramic cutlery is another high-quality alternative.
Plumbing fittings: If you need to replace a stainless steel plumbing fitting, use PVC or CPVC. It won’t corrode and can be seamlessly worked into any pipe network.
Construction fasteners: Alternatives to stainless steel screws include galvanized and enamel-coated. They won’t last as long, but they’ll come close. Similarly, zinc-galvanized steel connectors are almost as good as stainless steel.
