Home improvement and renovation tips
If you have condensation on your toilet tank, you could be damaging your tiles or causing rot in your subfloor. This “sweating” occurs when moist air hits the cold sides of your toilet tank, so it stands to reason that warming up the sides of the tank will cure the problem. Of course, you could
Read more in Bathrooms
You probably know all about the kitchen triangle by now. But what about the secret numbers divined by higher powers — namely kitchen designers. Here are 10 of them. (Lightning won’t strike you if you don’t follow them.) 1. If you have a small kitchen (10′ x 15′ or less), you shall have no less
Read more in Kitchens
If you like the idea of a tile floor, nothing beats the real thing for warmth, beauty and texture. But here’s a low-budget alternative which gives the impression of a tile floor in a lot less time. If your basement concrete floor is sound, reasonably smooth and warm, you can simply paint on the tiles.
Read more in Painting/DecoratingEric Z, a long-time reader, experienced renovator/builder, and former owner of a large building supply store in Toronto, had some smart suggestions after reading our reno-demo checklist. “I lost an entire renovation,” he writes. “$40,000 in damage – due to a shut-off valve failing in the night the day before the new sink was to be installed.” As you can see from this photo, during the entirety of our long
A recent kitchen renovation reminded me, in some cases a little too late, about some key areas to cover up during a demolition or drywall mudding/sanding. Here you go. Mask doorways into other areas of the house Well, duh. Okay, I did remember this one. For a major old-house plaster demo or drywall sanding, 6 mil plastic and painter’s tape do the trick to seal the openings well. We stapled
Now that we’ve installed a toilet, we’ll review a few tips to help you do the job with finesse. 1. It’s a good idea to pick up an extra valve just in case your soldering attempt isn’t up to snuff… particularly with a ball valve. Or do the job while the store’s open. 2. Use a MAPP gas torch when soldering such a valve. 3. When tightening the supply hose