DIY: Building a Potting Bench with the Workbench Hardware Kit

Many of us have found ourselves spending more time at home this summer trying our hands at do-it-yourself projects or making long-overdue home improvements. Simpson Strong-Tie has a helpful DIY website filled with inspirational photos and free project plans. Many of those projects, like our free pergola and garage shelving plans, were produced in house by our engineers. Others came from the creative minds of brand ambassadors we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years, like the Rogue Engineer and Jen Woodhouse.

Simpson Strong-Tie Fasteners product marketing manager Robert Shirley turned to our website and the Simpson Strong-Tie WBSK Workbench and Shelving Hardware Kit when he was trying to find inspiration to build a new potting bench. He tells his story and shares photos of the finished project below.

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Extreme Environments and Shipping Traffic Batter Aging Marine Infrastructure, Necessitating Flexible Repair Solutions

Pounding waves. Ship collisions. Saltwater corrosion. Freeze and thaw cycles. Storm damage. From coast to coast, the nation’s wharves, sea walls, docks, and piers take an annual beating from sun, sand, wind, and surf, not to mention the wear and tear from supporting maritime and recreational boaters. Sure, they’re built tough, but extreme conditions put these structures in need of regular repair and restoration.  

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Builder Solutions Webinar Series: Anchors, Curved Framing, Coiled Straps, Fasteners and Prescriptive Framing

Do you want to learn how Simpson Strong-Tie is creating builder solutions to help get houses on the market faster?  

Since many of us are relying more on online solutions, we’ve developed a builder webinar series highlighting new innovative product solutions that reduce labor time and help decrease the opportunity for misinstallations, while meeting code requirements.  

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How to Prepare for Hurricane Season

The Simpson Strong-Tie Mission is to “provide solutions that help people design and build safer, stronger structures.” Safety is an important part of the work we do and the products we provide.

In addition to supplying products that help make structures, and therefore people, safer, we also collaborate with outside groups that focus on educating the public about how to stay safe in the face of natural hazards.

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What You Should Know About Mass Timber Construction

Over the last decade — in outlets reaching from construction industry journals to the Boston Globe and the Economist; from CNN and Fast Company to Popular Mechanics; to Nautilus and TED talks — we’ve been hearing increasingly about mass timber and related phenomena: “CLT,” big wood, tall wood, tall timber, timber towers, ply-rises, plyscrapers, ply in the sky, super-ply, Brobdingnagian boards, and all manner of engineered arboreal futures.

So what’s the huge deal about mass timber? What on earth’s so good about wood? Is CLT the new CBD (for builders, that is)? Can ply really get that high? Is this just a big buncha buzz, or is something more solid behind it?

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Outdoor Accents: A Peek Behind the Scenes with Jen Woodhouse

When we started planning a high-quality video for our new Outdoor Accents® Avant Collection™ of decorative hardware, we knew we wanted a well-known and talented social media Influencer to help us show off the versatility of this new line. Our marketing team’s first choice was DIYer and brand ambassador Jen Woodhouse.

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Dream Deck Designed: Elements of an Achievable Deck Plan

It’s hard to build during the cold, wet season of winter — which makes it the perfect time to start laying plans for that new deck you’ve been dreaming about. That’s why this winter we unveiled our new, easy–to–use Deck Planner Software™. Deck Planner Software enables contractors or homeowners to design a dream deck in just a few minutes. To help roll it out, we asked homeowners who might be considering building a deck in 2020 to try it out and send in their deck designs. 

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Outdoor Accents® Avant Collection™ — a New Look for Backyards

One of the ways many homeowners increase the enjoyment (and monetary) value of their property is by adding a well-designed deck, pergola or other outdoor structure to their backyard. Whether it’s for entertaining or just chilling with a good read and a bracing beverage, a beautiful outdoor living space makes any backyard activity more desirable. Perhaps that’s why, in a 2017 survey, 25% of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) remodelers reported adding a deck as one of their most common projects, and the figure was nearly identical for new home construction.

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DIY: Building Privacy Screens with The Awesome Orange

Your backyard might be the envy of all your neighbors, but sometimes a person needs a little extra privacy. The reasons for backyard privacy are endless. Maybe you don’t want your neighbors peeking in on your hot-tubbing, or maybe you’ve built a little koi pond for quiet meditation. Whatever your reason, we’ve got you covered. 

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How Earthquake Brace + Bolt Provides Financial Support to Help California Homeowners Retrofit

When you live in earthquake country, you know it’s not “if” there will be a big quake, it’s “when.” You may have an earthquake emergency kit ready, but there are also steps you can take now to strengthen your home to make it more resistant to earthquake damage. And if you live in California, there’s a program called the Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) that provides up to $3,000 for seismic retrofit grants to homeowners residing in more than 150 California zip codes. If you’ve checked it before and your zip code wasn’t listed, be sure to check it again because the list has been expanded and changes every year. Continue reading “How Earthquake Brace + Bolt Provides Financial Support to Help California Homeowners Retrofit”