Category Archives: Home Repair

Outdoor Wooden Shoe Mat

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I’ve always liked the way narrow teak decking looks on a sailboat. I do not own a sailboat, but on a recent project I decided to try to emulate that look.

My curious friend, often has her nose in a book or a magazine. As a result, she is always coming up with new project ideas.

One such new project was an outdoor shoe mat for cleaning and placing shoes on, prior to coming indoors. She showed me the piece from the magazine and the next thing I knew it was on my list of projects to make.

So, in my usual fashion, I had to figure out a way to make it with as many ‘on hand’ materials as possible. This always means a bit of redesign on my part. Of course, that is the ‘fun’ part.

I decided to utilize some ABS irrigation pipe and some 1″ redwood slats that I had as leftovers from previous projects.

I cut the ABS pipe into two 24.5″ pieces.

Next, I cut several of the redwood slats at 14.0″ and laid them out on the ABS runners to see how it was going to look.

I was content with the outcome, and secured a slat at each end with screws. I made sure that everything was square.

Now began the slow job of drilling and screwing down each slat. I used a paint stir stick between each slat (as a width guide) to ensure the spacing was identical.

Once all the slats were in place, it was time to add the brushes (for shoe cleaning).

I simply screwed them to the decking from the underside.

I brushed on a coat of Tung oil for weather protection, and to give it that ‘wet sailboat deck’ look.

Ahoy mate, your shoes look great!

Who Says You Shouldn’t Paint Hinges?

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I’ve heard many craftspeople say that you should not paint hinges. The paint will crack and chip off the hinge. Well, that is true if you do it the ‘wrong’ way.

In this post, I will show you how to do it the ‘right’ way.

New hinges are very expensive, especially if you have 50 or more that need replacement. Plus, the new hinges may require that new screw holes are drilled. You are going to take the cabinet doors off anyway, why not save some money!

Of course, the first thing to do is take a door off and remove the hinges. Many people, when painting a cabinet door, do not remove the door and paint over the hinges. This is the ‘wrong’ way and will result in chipped and cracked paint on hinges.

In my case, the hinges had not been previously painted over, so they only needed a minor cleaning to remove years of dust and kitchen grime.

To clean the hinges, I use a solution of warm water, baking soda, and a toothbrush. I just scrub the hinge up, rinse and let dry. I also cleaned the hinge screws in the same manner.

If the hinge has been previously painted over, search the web for advice and videos. I saw several good ones that ‘heated’ up the hinge on the stove to loosen up the paint.

While searching the web on how to clean hinges, I found a simple and great idea. Obtain a cardboard box and drill small holes in the top. Place the cleaned hinge screws in each hole. Insert about halfway down.

This method perfectly holds the screws for spray painting. What a wonderful idea and simple too!

Space out all the cleaned and dried hinges on paper in a row. This will make it easier when spray painting them.

Shake the spray paint can for a minute. Then begin spraying. The key is to spray in long, even strokes. Stay about 8″ from the hinges. You want to keep each spray coat very light. Let each coat dry prior to painting another coat. I applied about three light coats.

When dry, flip the hinge over, and perform the same process. Light coats prevent paint buildup, which means no cracking or chipping later on.

Here are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots.

The hinges blend in with the painted cabinet doors. They look new and fresh. Plus, they won’t crack or chip!