Workshop Wednesday: Two Brooms and a Crate Top!

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In this edition of Workshop Wednesday, we shared a new favorite tool, a closer look at a fancy battery powered sweeper and a FastDIY! Watch the video to see this episode or read on for the FastDIY tutorial. 

Products Used:

• 1 in. x 2 in. x 8 ft. Furring Strip Board (Home Depot)
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• Surebonder WS-12 All-Temp Wood Glue Sticks (Amazon)
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• Milwaukee M18 FUEL 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 10 in. Dual Bevel Sliding Miter Saw Kit (Home Depot)
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• DEWALT 20-Volt MAX Lithium-Ion Cordless Brushless 5 in. Random Orbit Sander (Home Depot)
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• DEWALT 20-Volt MAX XR Lithium-Ion Cordless 18-Gauge Brad Nailer (Home Depot)
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• The Handy Camel Renegade Broom, 18 inch (Amazon)
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• RYOBI Expand-It Sweeper Attachment (Home Depot)
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We didn't like the open look of our storage crates so we made very simple tops for them.

We discovered that you can actually buy lids for your crates! They only have five slates on the top though. Ours feature six.

The purchased ones are about $13 each. We were able to make six for the cost of one ready made one.

We are using inexpensive furring strips. They are rough so they needed a bit of sanding. I used 120 grit and just sanded enough to remove splinters and rough patches.

Steph set up a stop block so that all the slats were cut to the same length of 18" long. She used this method to avoid having to measure every piece of wood. Note: Steph is using a miter saw but this step could be done with a miter box and hand saw.

Each crate top is made up of six 18" long slats and two cross bars at 11 3/4".

Steph set up another stop block to cut the cross bars to 11 3/4" each.

We used a coat of Danish oil to darken the wood slightly to more closely match the existing crates.

To assemble, we laid the slats upside down on the top of the crates. We 'eyeballed' the spaces although you could measure the spacing. We laid the cross bars in place and marked around them with pencil. We are using a Surebonder glue gun with Wood Stik hot glue. Work as a team as hot glue sets up quickly. On the right is a vintage iron weighing down the cross bar as the wood glue cools.

We finished up with a couple of brad nails though you could use screws or nails.

Ahhhh, much better with the crates covered! Bonus, we can now store something on top of the crates!

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We shared this oddly shaped broom in the "Favorite Things" segment. It is by The Handy Camel company and is called the Renegade Broom. It is perfect for cleaning this bumpy garage flooring.

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Now a closer look at one of the Ryobi Expand-It system attachments. This sweeper attachment is designed to easily remove caked on dirt on sidewalks and more. Watch the video to see how the sweeper reveals the brick path in Steph's backyard! Amazing!

This little corner of my driveway is why I wanted this sweeper. Water and dirt drains out of my backyard into this area where the dirt becomes trapped. No amount of blowing will budge it. This sweeper works exactly how I thought it would!

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