DIY How To – Page 3 – Kick Ass or Die

Joinery 101: Making Dowel Joints

March 29, 2011 23 Comments

As much as I love all things relating to sawdust, for a long time my experience in joining two pieces of wood together was limited

A DIY Photoset: Rustic Window Trim

March 14, 2011 4 Comments

If you consider that I only have one window out of fourteen trimmed, my prospects of ever not living in a garage begin to look

DIY Walk-In Shower: Step 3- Prep For Tile

January 28, 2011 38 Comments

As it turns out, the steps in building a shower go pretty quickly after all of that “framing and then waiting around for an inspector

Pretty Mud: Things You Need To Know About Decorative Concrete

January 25, 2011 24 Comments

It’s possible that I almost had a minor breakdown when we had to choose the colors and patterns for the concrete that surrounds almost half

DIY Walk-In Shower: Step 2- Lining

January 10, 2011 47 Comments

We’ve come to the second part of the DIY shower adventure, and it’s only taken me four months from when I framed in the walls

True Value DIY Rescue Mission: Replacing A Trick Faucet

November 23, 2010 3 Comments

When I was in college, we had a faucet. And not just your plain old run-of-the-mill two-handles-and-a-spigot, oh no, we had a trick faucet. If

How To Install A New Disposal

November 17, 2010 4 Comments

My poor mother hasn’t been able to use her master bathroom for a couple of months because I convinced her to take out the old,

DIY House Addition: How To Properly Flash & Trim Windows

September 21, 2010 17 Comments

There’s nothing like having a few gaping holes in the perfectly good exterior walls of your house during rainy season to make you fully appreciate

True Value DIY Road Trip: Fireplace Makeover (Day 1)

September 19, 2010 31 Comments

This weekend I packed up my tools and took my big yellow SUV up to Ann Arbor, MI– Home of the Wolverines. There was a

Advice From The DIY Crazy & The Not: Bathroom Carpet Removal

July 28, 2010 7 Comments

Okay, so there’s one problem with asking someone who compulsively buys powertools and starts projects about whether or not you should: Rip out carpet Tear

Tile 101: The Basics of DIY Tiling (Any Kind, Anywhere)

July 21, 2010 81 Comments

Once you learn the basic principles behind installing tile you can apply them to any number of projects– floors, walls, countertops, tabletops, and about anything

DIY Home Basics: Installing a new sink faucet & drain

June 30, 2010 27 Comments

Ah, the miracles of running water. You don’t fully appreciate it until you have to wash your dishes in a bucket with the garden hose

Tile 101: How to Build & Tile Counters

June 23, 2010 63 Comments

Granite sounds all well and good until you hear $30 per linear foot and your eyeballs pop out of your head. I’ve tiled almost every

Tile 101: How to Install Mosaic Wall Tile (Or any kind, really.)

June 4, 2010 78 Comments

Swear to god, I went three years of my life without ever picking up a grout float, and then bam bam bam…bam bam…bam… 1677 one-inch

DIY House Addition: Step 3 – Foundation

May 11, 2010 10 Comments

So the ink is barely dry on your building permit and you’re ready to break out the excavator and start digging? If you just read

I'm not interested in a mediocre life. I'm here to kick ass or die.

(formerly DIYdiva.net)

THE STORYTELLER

Back in 2004 I started writing about my adventures in fixing up houses on the internet. A lot of things have changed since then, with me, with my houses, and with the internet. These days I am basically a cranky old man trapped in a slightly less old woman’s body. The internet has changed and I am staunchly refusing to change with it. You won’t find any algorithms here, or feeds, or ads, or social media. Just good old-fashioned stories about a woman drinking beer and building shit, and living an unexpected life.

(While you won’t find updates on social media, you can sign up to receive new posts via email here.)