Guinea Pig Hutch / Hamster Cage DIY

I just finished building a cage for my 7 year old daughter who is getting a new Guinea Pig as a pet. I have never seen the type of cage that was necessary so I had to go by a drawing that my daughter did for me. I couldn't find much information on the web for a DIY cage, but there is plenty on cages that you can buy.

A cage like this being built with a timber frame, plywood walls and galvanised mesh ends up being quite heavy, so I incorporated 2 wheels (old training wheels from an old bike) on one end and a handle on the other so it will be easy to move around the yard as necessary.

My daughter isn't home from school, so I don't know the verdict yet, but here are some pictures of the finished product.

Handyman Website make $120,000 from Google

Here is an interesting story about Jerry Alonzy, an independent handyman who started a website, and added Google adsense onto his site. He now makes $120,000 per year from the ad revenue.

Read the full story here.

Go to Jerry's site: www.naturalhandyman.com

Roof Ventilation and Skylight - In One

Here is a new take on the classic wind powered roof ventilator. The "TurboBeam" incorporates a clear acrylic turbine head that allows light into your attic space. Why use just a standard ventilator when "TurboBeam" does 2 jobs at the same time. This product has been developed by Edmonds. Click here for more info on this product.

Free Solar Hot Water System

Here is an interesting offer by an Australian company called "Earth Utility". Earth Utility will install a Solar Hot Water system, and all you pay is a quarterly Service Fee. Here is an excerpt from the site:

With Earth Utility, switching to solar hot water doesn't cost the Earth!'

Switch to solar and save up to 30% on your energy bills1 and carbon emissions each year.

We offer no upfront purchase or installation costs - an instant savings of $6,000 - $8,000. We supply the entire system (tank, collector and pump) and arrange installation by licensed plumbers.

We own and service the system over the contract term with no future maintenance hassles for you.

All you pay is a flat fee of Less than $1 a day incl. GST

Click here to go to their site.

Building a Staircase

I came across this fantastic article on building a staircase, on the Home Construction Improvement blog by Todd Fratzel. Doing something like this can be quite daunting for the DIY handyman, but Todd breaks it down into a few simple, understandable steps.

Click here for the article. Here are a couple of Todd's images.

Handyman and DIY Videos

Here's a link to a post on the Charles and Hudson site pointing to a few interesting videos.

This is their post:

"As the quality of online video continues to grow, many more DIY experts are getting behind the camera to share their tips, techniques, and opinions on home improvement and decorating. Along with Ask the Builder here are a few video channels that have some great content coupled with amateurish but entertaining hosts."