About 5 years ago I installed two posts under a porch and now one seems to be rising out of the ground. I set the bottoms 50 inches below the surface, in bell-shaped holes, to prevent heaving. I also put…
What kind of portable tablesaw should I buy for building a new house and outbuildings? I’m not a professional, so I don’t think I need a professional power tool, do I? I’m looking at a $300 model right now. It…
All my woodworking experience so far has been with home renovations, but I’ve just started to build furniture and I’m having trouble getting smooth results. When sanding two pieces of wood that meet at right angles, for instance, I find…
I want to buy a power nailer tool to drive small finishing nails, but don’t want to get a compressor. What are my options for this type of power tool? Power nailers of all kinds are becoming more common because…
How can I get rid of the smell of smoke on a century-old oak buffet? I recently bought the piece of furniture at an auction and didn’t notice that it reeks of tobacco. I’ve tried many applications of Orange Glo…
My kitchen will be renovated soon and I’d like to expose the bricks on one interior wall. The kitchen has a breakfast room adjoining it, with its own separate roof and lower walls — sort of like a shed tacked…
Can I salvage my leaky ceramic shower stall? Water’s coming through the floor and appearing on the ceiling below. Should I patch it or completely replace the bathroom shower floor with new concrete? It sounds to me like you need…
How can I ensure that a new ceramic tile job won’t crack again? I’m removing tiles installed poorly 15 years ago, and I plan to install a layer of cement board on top of the existing subfloor. Is there anything…
I’ve seen a few articles written about whole house fans, mostly in US magazines and on web sites. Why aren’t they more popular here in Canada? They seem like an economical way to cool a house each evening. Yes, whole…
Our kitchen renovation turned out well, except for the clear silicone caulking around the back splash. It’s already peeling. What can we do? It’s strange that your silicone caulking isn’t holding up well. Are you certain it’s silicone? The most…
We’ve moved into a brand new home and we’re having trouble with a section of the basement we requested be built into a storage area. Liquid water seeps into the room and fuzzy growths are appearing on stored items and…
The vent cover for the range hood duct in our new house has four louvres and is noisy and ineffective. Whenever there’s a strong wind outside I can hear flapping sounds and feel cold air back drafting through the appliance’s…