It’s that time of year again! The 2011 International Builders Show has come and gone, but not before I had a chance to walk the floors and take a look at all the amazing new products being offered to the building industry. As is always the case, let me preface my list by saying I’m fully aware that I have quite likely overlooked something truly amazing. Nonetheless, I’m confident that my Best of IBS is more than deserving. So, without further ado, my “Top 10 List +1” in no particular order:
The ODL Sliding Patio Door with Blinds Between the Glass
While having blinds between the glass in windows is nothing new, I haven’t seen the same feature in sliding glass doors. ODL made an attempt to offer glass inserts to retrofit existing doors, but they discovered that all the various glass door manufacturers had a tendency to have varied overall measurements in their door sizes, which made it next to impossible to offer a single product that would be successful. So, they created their own door! Here’s what I like about this door:
• With enclosed blinds, I’m never going to worry about dust. For me, that alone is worth the price of admission.
• Two easy slide controls operate the raising & lowering of the blinds and the opening & closing. By eliminating those dangling cords, you reduce safety risks.
• Since the blinds are enclosed, they move in-sync with the door. I love that!
• These doors come with an additional option of including a low-profile retractable screen door that I highly recommend.
CAMO Hidden Deck Fastening System
I became a fan of hidden deck fasteners long ago. But, typically, you had to use a system that was made for a specific brand of decking, and the boards usually had to have grooves cut in the sides for clips to fit into. The clips were then fastened to the joist. The CAMO system lets you attach practically ANY deck board (hardwood, cedar, composite, PVC) directly to the joist, and it does so with no pre-drilling and automatic spacing. The tool itself is called the Marksman. I got to try it out firsthand and it’s absolutely amazing how quickly it works. The model pictured above is the Pro version, but it’s the one I would purchase. However, for most homeowners who aren’t looking to build more than one deck in any given year, CAMO also is offering a DIY model in a kit that comes complete with the deck screws, specialty driver bit and the Marksman. Keep your eyes peeled for this one in the home centers. It’s a must-buy.
Therma-Tru Vented Sidelites
When the weather’s mild, I love opening up my doors & windows and letting in the fresh air. Unfortunately, not all doors have a visually appealing option of adding a screen. I’m thinking particularly of some double French doors and several styles of front entries. Therma-Tru really outdid themselves with this offering. Why didn’t anybody think of this before? Forget the screens and storm doors! The sidelites are hinged allowing you to welcome in the extra light and fresh air…the screens are easily removed for cleaning…and the sidelites feature multi-point locking gears. Therma-Tru’s real exclusivity, though, is the fact that they also offer decorative glass options, so you don’t have to settle for a one-size-fits-all industrial look to your doors!
Phantom Screens’ Distinction Series
As long as we’re on the subject of screens, I totally fell in love with the Distinction Screen at the Phantom Screens booth. Unlike many of their retractable models, the Distinction is a manual screen door. What makes it “distinct” is the fold-away pleated mesh that makes up the screen. It’s like an accordion, so it expands to cover the opening easily, but then folds away just as quickly and it takes up very little space. The bottom rail is almost non-existent, which is a true benefit when it comes to wheelchair access or eliminating a tripping hazard. And, unlike other retractables that have to be either all the way open or all the way closed, you can place the screen in any position. Add to that Phantom’s many custom color options and limited lifetime warranty, and I guarantee you’ll feel good about having this in your home.
To be perfectly honest, I saw this product before I went to IBS. Daltile’s PR agency sent me some samples to look over, and it seemed pretty interesting, but I really didn’t have the time to look further into the product. When I visited their booth at the Builders Show, though, I got the chance to really see the tile in practical applications and, even put some together myself. I love this stuff! Think floating laminate floor….but with porcelain. Real porcelain! Now, there was another company (which shall remain nameless) that came out with a similar product a few years ago and it got murdered by the public with consumer complaints. Cliks appears to have addressed all those concerns. It’s simple to install. No mortar. No grout. No mess. Realistically, you can tile a standard size kitchen in one afternoon and be done with it! The interlocking tiles make installation a snap (pun intended) and since the grout is already built into the tile pieces, there’s no three hours worth of mopping afterwards just to remove the grout film. At the moment, Cliks by Daltile is only available online at The Home Depot, but I’m hoping they’ll start carrying it on the shelves, too.
Spyder Products Bore-Blade and Grout-Out
Well, they did it again! Last year, Spyder Products introduced the Spyder-Scraper, an attachment for your reciprocating saw to turn it into a high speed floor scraper (or any other surface). It was an instant hit! This year, in addition to offering a larger size scraper, the Spyder team came up with two more attachments. Since I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, I’m putting them both on my list. Technically, that would make this my Top 10 plus 2….but who’s counting? The Bore-Blade is a recip blade with teeth on every side, which allows you to cut up, down, left and right without having to re-position your blade. With teeth on the very tip, it means no more drilling a pilot hole first and, thus, cutting down on your cutting time!
Speaking of cutting time, the Grout-Out attachment will shave tons of time off any tile removal, repair or re-grouting job. Covered in a carbide grit, snap this baby into your reciprocating saw and you’ll actually enjoy removing old grout. My bathroom is in good shape, but I’m re-grouting it just for the fun of it now! These are all durable, but inexpensive attachments, and they belong in your toolbox.
TurboShear Drill Attachment by Malco Products, Inc.
Fiber cement siding is rapidly growing in popularity as an exterior sheathing and it’s a great alternative to wood, especially with its high resistance to water damage. But, if you’ve ever tried cutting it, you know what a mess it is. I usually purchase the cheapest circular saw I can find, because the dust from cutting the fiber cement will ruin the saw. Ok, this might not be for everybody…but it should be! The TurboShear is an attachment for your cordless or electric drill, and you can easily cut through the standard 5/16” siding with the lightweight aluminum shear head. The lighter weight also means you can make the cut with just one hand leaving the other one free to steady your work. Other attachments are available for cutting ½” backerboard, asphalt shingles, metal and even rock! While this is a tool designed with the professional in mind, I’d love to see these available at tool rentals for the occasional DIY project.
The PlungeMAX No Mess Plunger
You know…there are some things you just don’t want to talk about. The unsavory mess that can be created by some plungers is one of those things. What caught my eye with the PlungeMAX is the fact that it won the Handy Innovation Award and the Handyman Club of America Seal of Approval. As one of the Handyman Club’s Charter Members, I know they only recognize products that stand out in design, features and performance. Here’s the theory: the bellows design rests on the rim of the toilet, so it never touches the foul water. The bellows action is created as the other end is forced downward by the toilet lid. This forces a blast of air 25 times the volume created by a standard plunger, releasing the clog. And, since the PlungeMAX never touches the water, it can be folded up and stored quickly & easily.
Ok, this next pick may be a little hard to explain. This is a concrete roof tile that can be installed on either commercial or residential buildings. But this tile has an added extra ingredient that helps mitigate airborne pollutants. That’s a fancy way of saying it eats smog! Actually, it’s more of a transformation process by means of the embedded surface additive that acts something similar to a catalytic converter. As smog particulates of nitrous oxide drift down and land on the roof, sunlight creates a photo catalyst that, essentially, nullifies the smog particles into a safer substance. Whenever it rains, the new material is washed safely away. But the technical reasons really aren’t all that important. What matters is that it’s been proven to work, and a standard roof size of 2000 square feet can mitigate the same amount of nitrogen oxide produced by one car driving up to 10,800 miles.
I really enjoyed stopping at this booth and chatting with the folks from Plug-N-Save Energy Products. Here’s an interior shutter custom made for your windows or doors that has solar panels embedded on one side to harvest the energy of the sun during the daytime and pump that solar energy right into your home’s electrical system. It’s a pretty simple concept, too. The more energy you pump into your home, the less you use from the grid. Let’s say you only cover a patio door. In an average week with nominal sunlight, you could produce about 21,000 watts of power, saving on average over $25 each month on your power bill. In addition to the solar savings, these interior shutters are good-looking, made from renewable bamboo and use no VOC stains or oils.
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And, just for fun is my Plus One Choice:
Panasonic EP-MS40GK Luxury Massage Chair
Every year I see the massage chairs, but I’m always too busy walking the floors checking out the building products to sit down and enjoy them. This year, I indulged. My initial reaction has always been, “How cheesy can you get?” After all, I’ve experienced the neck massage pillows from Wal-Mart, and it’s nothing even close to an actual massage. Needless to say, I didn’t expect much. The minute I hit the button, though, my whole world perspective changed! I think Panasonic sews a tiny little massage therapist into each of these chairs. Starting at the neck, traveling all the way down to your feet and back again, you’ll experience Nirvana. You have several levels to choose from (I went for the full 15-minute wash, wax & lube. I’m pretty sure it rotated my tires, too.) The leg & foot massager is discreetly built into a fold-away ottoman. The only complaint I have is the lime green color. But, to be honest, my eyes were closed the whole time, so I didn’t notice it. Is it worth $2500? I guess that’s part of the “luxury” of the chair. And, quite frankly, after a long day of walking the concrete floors of the Orange County Convention Center….it was worth it.
As long as we’re on the subject of screens, I totally fell in love with the Distinction Screen at the Phantom Screens booth. Unlike many of their retractable models, the Distinction is a manual screen door. What makes it “distinct” is the fold-away pleated mesh that makes up the screen. It’s like an accordion, so it expands to cover the opening easily, but then folds away just as quickly and it takes up very little space. The bottom rail is almost non-existent, which is a true benefit when it comes to wheelchair access or eliminating a tripping hazard. And, unlike other retractables that have to be either all the way open or all the way closed, you can place the screen in any position. Add to that Phantom’s many custom color options and limited lifetime warranty, and I guarantee you’ll feel good about having this in your home.
Well, they did it again! Last year, Spyder Products introduced the Spyder-Scraper, an attachment for your reciprocating saw to turn it into a high speed floor scraper (or any other surface). It was an instant hit! This year, in addition to offering a larger size scraper, the Spyder team came up with two more attachments. Since I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, I’m putting them both on my list. Technically, that would make this my Top 10 plus 2….but who’s counting? The Bore-Blade is a recip blade with teeth on every side, which allows you to cut up, down, left and right without having to re-position your blade. With teeth on the very tip, it means no more drilling a pilot hole first and, thus, cutting down on your cutting time!
You know…there are some things you just don’t want to talk about. The unsavory mess that can be created by some plungers is one of those things. What caught my eye with the PlungeMAX is the fact that it won the Handy Innovation Award and the Handyman Club of America Seal of Approval. As one of the Handyman Club’s Charter Members, I know they only recognize products that stand out in design, features and performance. Here’s the theory: the bellows design rests on the rim of the toilet, so it never touches the foul water. The bellows action is created as the other end is forced downward by the toilet lid. This forces a blast of air 25 times the volume created by a standard plunger, releasing the clog. And, since the PlungeMAX never touches the water, it can be folded up and stored quickly & easily.
Ok, this next pick may be a little hard to explain. This is a concrete roof tile that can be installed on either commercial or residential buildings. But this tile has an added extra ingredient that helps mitigate airborne pollutants. That’s a fancy way of saying it eats smog! Actually, it’s more of a transformation process by means of the embedded surface additive that acts something similar to a catalytic converter. As smog particulates of nitrous oxide drift down and land on the roof, sunlight creates a photo catalyst that, essentially, nullifies the smog particles into a safer substance. Whenever it rains, the new material is washed safely away. But the technical reasons really aren’t all that important. What matters is that it’s been proven to work, and a standard roof size of 2000 square feet can mitigate the same amount of nitrogen oxide produced by one car driving up to 10,800 miles. 
I really enjoyed stopping at this booth and chatting with the folks from Plug-N-Save Energy Products. Here’s an interior shutter custom made for your windows or doors that has solar panels embedded on one side to harvest the energy of the sun during the daytime and pump that solar energy right into your home’s electrical system. It’s a pretty simple concept, too. The more energy you pump into your home, the less you use from the grid. Let’s say you only cover a patio door. In an average week with nominal sunlight, you could produce about 21,000 watts of power, saving on average over $25 each month on your power bill. In addition to the solar savings, these interior shutters are good-looking, made from renewable bamboo and use no VOC stains or oils.
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