Home improvement and renovation tips
Put that raincoat away! We’re talking about the sheet material (metal, vinyl, etc.) covering joints on the outside of your house to keep moisture from getting in. Here’s a quick rundown on what to use where. Vents: Wherever vents protrude from your roof, you need flashing to seal out water. The flashing is flat with
Read more in Exteriors
Choosing floors for your kitchen might take a little more attention than you’d spend on other rooms. This is because kitchen floors must do a number of things well. They should complement your cabinets and appliances. They need to be tough enough to handle a lot of traffic and the inevitable spills. And they must
Read more in Kitchens
Last time we looked at three of the more common screws you’re likely to use around the house. Here are a few more. Machine screws or appliance screws are in a way more akin to bolts. Their threads — which are finer than wood screws — are designed to thread into a nut or tapped
Read more in ToolsI don’t know why they’re here. It’s summer and it’s warm and there are lots of goodies outside. But I guess that’s why they call them house mice. The water under the sink appeared between one onslaught of guests and another dinner gathering that night. So I took my usual decisive approach to a problem such as this. I ignored it. Something must have spilled. It was a momentary leak
Eric 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