Popular DIYer Jen Woodhouse of The House of Wood is back again to build another amazing pergola, this time using Outdoor Accents Mission Collection decorative hardware. This collection gives a touch of southwestern flair to your outdoor structure with the arched mission-style profile of post bases, straps and angles. Learn more below about her build and her experience using our hardware.
Continue reading “Building a Pergola with Southwestern Flair”
We teamed up with Dena of Fletcher Creek Cottage to bring her dream of a combination chicken–coop shed to life. Below, she explains how she brought her plans to life with the help of Simpson Strong-Tie hardware.
Continue reading “Building a Dream DIY Chicken-Coop and Shed with Fletcher Creek Cottage”
As the weather warms up, a clothesline is a fantastic way to take advantage of the sunny days and be environmentally friendly when drying your clothes. Jenny Palo of Palo Woodcraft had a special request from her grandmother which inspired her latest build. See how she built her grandmother a clothesline with the help of our Simpson Strong-Tie hardware. Continue reading “Construct a DIY Clothesline with Palo Woodcraft”
It started with a simple question: How can we bring our commitment to building safe, strong structures to the our customers’ outdoor spaces? From that idea our Outdoor Accents® decorative hardware solution was born.
Outdoor Accents brings both elegance and structural strength to any project you might dream up for your backyard. We offer two distinct decorative hardware lines to fit the aesthetic of your outdoor living structure. Our Mission Collection® features connectors that add a hint of Southwestern flair, while our Avant Collection™ features connectors with straight edges and chamfered corners for a clean and timeless contemporary design. Continue reading “Expanding Our Outdoor Accents® Decorative Hardware”
At the Simpson Strong-Tie branch in McKinney, Texas, Inside Sales Supervisor Rebecca Heckel shares a longstanding tradition of an Ornament Decorating contest that takes place every year. This year was no exception.
We’re not sure how far back the McKinney Branch Ornament Decorating contest goes — definitely as far back as 2008. We have pictures from ’08 that document the ingenuity and creativity of our Simpson Strong-Tie employees. The year 2021 upheld the tradition. Continue reading “The Simpson Strong-Tie 12 Days of Ornaments “
If you’re looking for a showstopping wood creation that you can also use for serving guests, look no further. This rustic bar is a fantastic entertainment hub for any backyard . With its wide counters and built-in shelves, you can stay fully stocked for any occasion. Continue reading “DIY: How to Build a Rustic Bar”
Adorned by luscious vines, a garden arbor can add shade and style to any backyard garden. This latticed arbor helps nurture your climbing plants by giving them room to grow high where there’s plenty of sunlight and oxygen for the intake. Continue reading “DIY: How to Build an Outdoor Accents® Arbor”
One of the first things you notice when you visit our home office in Pleasanton, CA, is the art. Our late founder, Barclay Simpson, had a great appreciation for art. It’s one of the many legacies he left us. From the eight-foot metal sculpture of Michelangelo’s David — made completely from Simpson Strong-Tie products — that greets you at the main entrance, to the one-of-a-kind paintings, prints and sculptures scattered throughout the building, it’s quickly apparent that ours is not just another suburban office building.
Continue reading “Connecting Through Art: The Dinosaurs of Simpson Strong-Tie”
Parts, however solid and sturdy they are, won’t hold themselves up. They have to be fastened in place. That’s why we offer a complete line of fasteners that are designed and tested specifically for use with our connectors. However, not every fastener can be used with every connector. Here’s how to identify the right fastener-connector combination for your next project.
Continue reading “Simpson Strong-Tie Connectors and Fasteners Make the Strongest Partners”
Disaster strikes. It’s inevitable, given enough time. Regardless of where you live, there are natural disasters waiting to happen, be they earthquakes, floods, tornadoes or hurricanes. Meteorologists and emergency service providers can often provide advance notice of weather-related disasters like hurricanes, but seismic events, tornadoes and flash floods can often occur with little or no warning.
In the wake of recent catastrophic events such as Superstorm Sandy (233 deaths, $75 billion in damages), the 2011 Joplin tornado (158 deaths, $2.8 billion in damages), and Hurricane Katrina (1,245 deaths, $108 billion in damages), emergency management experts are increasingly evaluating the benefits of sheltering in place as opposed to evacuation. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), sheltering in place is generally advisable when it may be dangerous to leave your home or place of employment.
Continue reading “Staying Put, Riding Out the Storm and Surviving the Odds by Sheltering in Place”
