I lamented a while back that coffee cans were being replaced on the supermarket shelves with plastic “cans.”

Where, I wondered, would I get the empties that are so much a part of my painting/stripping/

staining/varnishing system?

My grandfather probably wondered the same thing when the coffee cans vanished from the market that you peeled open with those tiny keys soldered to their bottoms. The reusable plastic lids that replaced them simply don’t hold up the way the steel ones did.

(I know this because I still have a couple of those old steel-lidded Folger’s cans. Surely as old as I am but still going strong.)

Happily, I’ve discovered that empty stew cans work nearly as well — sometimes even better, because they’re shallower, and it’s easier to dip a brush into them.

My kitchen trash can and workshop are intimately connected.

I’m also gradually replacing my old nail-and-screw storage jars with peanut butter jars. Being plastic (there’s a theme here, I now realize), they’re not going to shatter when they roll off the bench. It only has to happen once for you to realize glass does not get along with concrete floors.

Of course, I only go through three or four peanut butter jars a year, so it’s going to be a while before the whole job’s done. I’ve been at it for four years, and I have a least that many to go.

I have a lot of nails and screws.

Even the office and bedroom have yielded shop storage.

I screwed a couple of file-sorting gadgets to the shop wall, and now I keep my sandpaper in them. They’re made of steel mesh, so errant bits of dust and debris can fall right through.

And I always keep a few old dry-cleaner hangers in the shop in case I need some soft iron wire for a jig or a temporary hook. It’s better than any of the stuff you can buy, and I seldom need more wire than a salvaged hanger can provide.

My rolls of duct, masking and drywall tape are skewered on some giant hooks that were designed for a small closet in lieu of a pole. I’ve seen the same gadgets used to hang bicycles on a garage wall.

In a pinch, I can also hang a sweatshirt there.

I don’t yet have a use for the throwaways from the living room, but those CD jewel cases intrigue me. Surely there must be some second life for such nifty gadgets.

Q: I have a 41-year-old split-level house that has been well maintained. After a very rainy summer, the floors are starting to squeak and drive my wife nuts.

A suspended ceiling gives us access to the main floor where the greatest problem is.

Please advise!

— Lester, La Crosse, Wis.

Dear Lester: Chances are what’s happened is the swelling and shrinking from dampness have loosened the nails holding your finished floor (likely oak, given the age of your house) to the subfloor (likely pine planks, given the age of your house).

The squeaks are the sound of wood scraping against the nails.

Because you mention the suspended ceiling, I’m guessing you already know my answer. You have to find the squeaks, probably by having your wife walk around overhead, and drive some screws up through the subfloor into the finished floor to pull the two together.

A 1¼-inch screw should be about the right length to avoid popping through.

If you have carpeted floors, you can buy special screws that are designed to be driven in from above. A kit will include a gadget that snaps off the screw just at the finished floor level under the carpeting.

If you still have the finished hardwood showing, a quick, albeit temporary, solution is to sweep talc or baby powder over the floor to “lubricate” it.

It won’t last long, but it might be enough to relieve your wife.

Send your home repair and remodeling questions to: HouseWorks, P.O. Box 81609, Lincoln, NE 68501, or e-mail: houseworks@journalstar.com.