Remodeler: Jim Blahut
Company: Perennial Homes, Beach Haven, N.J.
Product: Azek Trimboards, www.azek.com.
All the Trimmings
When working on trim projects for Victorian-style homes, Jim Blahut prefers to create his own details rather than having to conform to profiles available in molding and trim catalogs. "I had been looking for a trim product that is impervious to moisture and insects and that can also be painted and worked with -- cut, routed, sanded, et cetera -- similar to traditional wood trim," Blahut says.
For the past three years, he has been using Azek Trimboards to create his own profiles for both exterior and interior trim details. The cellular PVC trim can be thermoformed for curved applications and can be fastened with nails, screws, staples, or glues. The boards resist water, splitting, rotting, and cupping, says the maker.
"Due to the chemical properties of Azek, I can build up trim using several layers that are chemically welded together using PVC adhesives," Blahut says. "In the end, I have a homogeneous piece of trim complete with a wall flange that keeps out water and thus will hold up for many generations."
Remodeler: Guy Semmes
Company: Hopkins amp; Porter, Potomac, Md.
Product: Bri-Mar Low-Profile Series DT 610-10 LP dump trailer, www.bri-mar.com.
Haul Away
The Bri-Mar DT 610-10 LP hydraulic dump trailer was on Hopkins amp; Porter's wish list for a long time before the company made the purchase. Since then, says Guy Semmes, "we have used the daylights out of it."
With a 6-by-10-foot bed and a hauling capacity of up to 10,000 pounds, the Low-Profile Series dump trailers are designed for hauling small equipment. While Semmes and his colleagues use their dump trailer for transporting equipment, they also use it for disposing of jobsite waste, especially in the gated communities the company often works in. "We can park these trailers in assigned parking spaces and leave them there, like a mobile Dumpster," says Semmes. "It's clean, and it carries our colors, logo, and signage. Unlike a Dumpster, it's an attractive way to handle our trash." Hopkins amp; Porter also uses the dump trailer for delivering supplies and materials to a jobsite and for jobsite storage.
The trailer is available with a variety of options, such as storage boxes, a swing jack, and expanded metal side extensions.
Remodeler: David Haines
Company: Haines Contracting, Doylestown, Pa.
Product: DeWalt 18-volt cordless reciprocating saw, www.dewalt.com.
Cut It Out
Every day that David Haines uses his DeWalt 18-volt cordless reciprocating saw, he finds new uses for it, he says, "From pruning trees or shrubs that are in the way or cutting some scrap lumber shorter to fit in the Dumpster to cutting a quick hole in a roof."
The model DW938K saw weighs 6 1/2 pounds and features a keyless blade clamp that allows the blade to be changed quickly without the user having to touch the blade or the reciprocating shaft. The blade can be reversed for flush or plunge cutting. To prevent blades from breaking when exiting plunge cuts, the saw has an electric brake.
Haines says he mainly uses the saw during demolition at a jobsite. "It saves me time in demo work. The first week I had it, I was working on gutting and remodeling two bathrooms. I shut off the main water supply, grabbed my trusty cordless reciprocating saw with a metal blade, and quickly cut all the supply lines under the sink and toilet," he says.
