Stack Outdoor Style with The Awesome Orange’s Low-Profile DIY Firewood Rack

Sadie Mae John, aka The Awesome Orange, put together a DIY firewood rack built with Simpson Strong-Tie APRT connectors. Add basic tools and materials, and you can make a sturdy rack to keep your firewood organized and easily accessible. 

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Making a DIY Covered Firewood Rack Holder

Need a place to put your firewood? Simpson Strong-Tie software engineer Owen Shelton decided to build his own covered firewood rack holder with the help of our Strong-Drive® SDWS fasteners. This new shelter keeps his logs safe from the elements and was easy to make.  Continue reading “Making a DIY Covered Firewood Rack Holder”

A Standing Innovation: Fastening Wood to Steel Just Got Easier

If you’ve ever spent a few hours working on your hands and knees to drill holes and drive screws, you know how time consuming and tedious it can be. Now, imagine spending consecutive weeks, months or even years fastening wood planks to steel on a manufacturing production line. For technicians who operate hand tools several hours each day, labor-intensive work often can be strenuous, inefficient and subject to ongoing concerns about quality and safety.

We’re all ready for a smarter way to get the job done.

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Create Your DIY Dream Walk-In Closet with Palo Woodcraft

Jenny Palo of Palo Woodcraft built her very own walk-in dream closet with the help of our Simpson Strong-Tie Finish Trim screws and Wafer-Head Construction screws 

A few years ago, my husband got us an online woodworking course for beginners. I picked up the power tools and never looked back! We bought a new house and I’ve been slowly working my way through, building new furniture and giving all the rooms more character. I did some built-ins in my daughter’s room, but I used store-bought shelves, so for this closet project I wanted to challenge myself to build it all from scratch! And it was fun to do a project for a room that I knew could just be 100% for me.   Continue reading “Create Your DIY Dream Walk-In Closet with Palo Woodcraft”

DIY: How to Build a Picnic Table Using Screws

Looking to enhance your outdoor space? Make the most of meals and get-togethers in your yard by adding a picnic bench — a great, low-cost project that will give you extra seating and table space for barbecues, dinners and parties.   Continue reading “DIY: How to Build a Picnic Table Using Screws”

Keep Corrosion in Check

Just as knowing the load capacities of your metal hardware is crucial to safeguarding the structural integrity and longevity of your building project, so is understanding the metal’s susceptibility to corrosion. The likelihood of rust and rot increases when you are building outdoors in wet environments or other corrosive conditions. Having a solid awareness of the corrosive threatsposed by the environment and your building materials will help you to choose the fasteners, connectors and anchors that will best mitigate the risk of corrosion and keep your project structurally sound for the long haul.

Start by evaluating the exposure levels in your environment. Is it an interior dry- or exterior wet-service job, for example? Generally, outdoor environments are more corrosive of steel because of the greater moisture levels they present. Projects near the ocean or waterfront are at increased risk for corrosion due to airborne chlorides and salt splash prevalent in marine locales. Salt is also a danger if building materials will be exposed to de-icing salts.
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