My friend and subscriber, Terry B., asked this question about the fireplace mantel he was building. That’s it above when completed: QUESTION: How can I get rid of residue left behind by wood filler? I’ve built a fireplace mantle out…
In the final analysis, do-it-yourself success comes down in part to tools, and chopsaws (also called miter saws) make building projects more fun and more productive than most others. If you’re thinking of tooling up to build your DIY skills,…
For people living in the country, getting water usually involves electricity, a pump, tank and a bunch of fittings. Lose electricity and there goes your water, too. Boosting the reliability of my homestead water supply is why I installed a Bison…
There’s nothing quite like fresh eggs from your own hens, and this backyard chicken coop lets you make that happen in your own life. I created this modular design to be comfortable, cozy, easy to clean and suitable for regions…
Planning a new asphalt shingle roof? The question I answered from a subscriber may help you get a better roof in the end. QUESTION: Two of the three roofing contractors quoting on my reroofing job strongly recommend fibreglass shingles. The…
Radon gas occurs naturally in soil and rock from certainly areas, and even though it’s “natural” it still causes cancer at rates similar to smoking when the gas exists in sufficient concentrations inside houses. This is not unusual in high-risk…
Anyone who has priced a kitchen has had this experience. Same room, same layout, three companies, and the numbers come back at eighteen, twenty six and thirty nine thousand. The instinct is to assume somebody is overcharging. Occasionally somebody is….
Walking down the pest control aisle at any home improvement store reveals dozens of products, sprays, baits, granules, foggers, each promising to solve a slightly different problem. That variety often leads homeowners to treat these products as interchangeable, grabbing whatever…
Utility spaces rarely get a second thought until something goes wrong. The area behind the water heater, the gap where a pipe enters through the foundation, the narrow space around the HVAC unit, these spots sit quietly in the background…
Every fall, Grand Rapids homeowners notice the same seasonal visitor working its way indoors: the brown marmorated stink bug. These insects show up on window screens, cluster near doorframes, and occasionally drop from ceiling fixtures at the most inconvenient moments….
Most homeowners think of exterior repairs as a matter of curb appeal or general upkeep. Replacing a section of siding or recaulking a window frame feels like routine maintenance, not pest prevention. Yet many of the small defects that go…
Walk into almost any newly renovated kitchen in Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary and run your hand along the counter. Odds are good it’s quartz. Not the speckled, slightly plasticky quartz of fifteen years ago, but something that looks remarkably like…