Tool Box Buzz

How to give a gift for the audible-calling DIYer in your life

Recently I’ve been rebuilding a set of stairs from carpeted pine treads and risers to MDF painted skirts and risers and stained oak hardwood treads and handrails. It is the first step (ha, ha) in preparing our home for our first child. The old handrail was the original wrought iron from the 70s with gaps between 5 and 6 inches and it wasn’t very stable. There was no way it would support a 200 pound lateral load. So we decided to ditch the carpeted stairs at the same time.

First Stair Jitters

This was the first finished set of stairs I ever built so I was a little nervous. I’ve built stairs to receive carpet and exterior stairs but never stained hardwood. I didn’t want unsightly gaps and squeaks that would make people think they were installed by an amateur who watched a few YouTube videos. I was just planning on using finish nails to hold the treads while the construction adhesive dried but decided at the last minute that I didn’t want to see the nail holes in the treads even if they were filled with color-matched wood filler. I decided to use blind pocket holes instead.

How in the world am I going to do this?!

Anyone who’s ever done pocket holes knows you need a lot of room for the jig and the bits to get a joint together. I was trying to do it on stringers that I had no access to except from above and with very limited space. Then when it came time to screw into the bottom of the tread I would be having to reach around the above riser and under the tread to a hole I could barely reach let alone see.

Ryobi One+ Right Angle Drill to the rescue

I had used right angle drills in the past on various job sites for getting into places no other drill could. It is one of those specialty tools that isn’t used that often but when you need it there is absolutely no substitute. I had tested a bunch of the One+ Li-Ion stuff earlier this year with great results so I thought I would give the Ryobi a try. The $69 price point isn’t a bad perk either. It had with one of the new lighter, more powerful Li-Ion batteries so it had plenty of power and variable speed. As luck would have, it worked perfectly and now I have a set of stairs with glued and screwed treads with no visible hardware. Amateur hour averted.

Short depth and long reach was perfect for driving blind pocket hole screws

A lot of DIY projects go this way

My inexperience is this area of building caused me to call a last second audible and change up the plan thereby altering the schedule of when I thought the stairs would be completed. I didn’t do enough proper prior planning and arrange to have all the tools and supplies before I demolished the old stairs. Thankfully my pregnant wife was understanding about not going downstairs for a few days while I waited for the tool to arrive. This kind of thing happens to a lot of friends I know when they’re working on a project. They make a bunch of trips to Home Depot and waste a lot of project time because they didn’t plan ahead. That is just time wasted and the schedule gets pushed further back.

Know someone like this?

If you know someone like this you can help them this holiday season. Don’t buy them clothes or something else they will probably return. Instead buy them a new Li-Ion tool so they’re not running to the home improvement store to replace their broken tools. Don’t think they’ll return that sweater you bought them? Check out the graphic and then ask yourself if you’re feeling lucky.

Although, some people you may know are serial audible callers and always end up at the store, you can help those folks too this holiday season. Granted it’s almost impossible to predict what they could want but Home Depot is making it easy this year. They have a new kind of gift card that can be sent electronically. Grandma no longer has to fret about sending gift cards in the mail, email them instead!

There are a number of different designs similar to the traditional looking ones in store but then there are some funny ones made by Someecards like you see plastered all over Facebook and Pinterest. My favorite one says, “Sorry your beautifully decorated Christmas tree became a giant cat toy.”

Where to buy

The venerable Ryobi One+ Li-Ion tools with over 50 different tools available can be purchased exclusively at the Home Depot or online at HomeDepot.com.

Ryobi One+ System – 50 tools 1 battery

E-gift card seem like a safer option? Find those here.

Gift card for the Audible Caller in your life

Disclosure Statement

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me to help promote their Lithium Ion power tool collection. As part of this promotion, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

1 Comment

1. Christmas Giveaway by The Home Depot on Tool Box Buzz

   December 13, 2012 at 7:17 am

   […] I used this tool to rebuild the stairs in my home and it worked extremely well. I used it to drill and screw blind pocket hole screws to the bottom […]

   Reply

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