Judy has a pretty messy basement wall and has had several expensive estimates for fixing it.It almost looks like a mould or a fungus growing out of it, starting at a definite line quite high up on the wall.When I looked through the window I could see that the white stuff was starting about a foot...
JR in Nova Scotia has a crack between the slab of his garage floor and the foundation of the house, through which bugs are crawling in. How to seal it.The crack was probably caused by normal shrinkage of the slab after it was poured. The best way to seal the joint with the wall is with something ...
Pouring concrete and have a bit left over? Or do you have half a sack of concrete mix leftover that will probably go hard through humidity before you get around to using it?Getting rid of this stuff can be a problem, so turn it into part of your landscaping.Judy suggests simply taking a large bu...
-- Oil base, resin base and polyvinyl acetate caulking do not hold up. There are far too many better caulkings available to waste time and money with these old formulations.-- Latex based caulking is inexpensive, can be painted and has medium durability. It is acceptable for baseboards and caul...
Boris lives in a 45 year old bungalow that has no insulation at all. It has a brick outside, an air space, a concrete block wall for structure inside and then drywall. Is it possible to blow foam into the space between the brick and the block?NO. As long as the brick is the weather shield for ...
All washing machines vibrate when they go into the spin cycles. Top loading machines have the tubs suspended on springs that create a primary bad vibration as they build up to speed. If the load is too unbalanced, they bang around and the machine stops. If the load is only a bit unbalanced, th...
Tereasa and Dennis from Simcoe, Ontario asked about leveling a slightly uneven basement floor. Is it necessary to build a whole sub-floor?If a concrete floor is sturdy, just not flat enough and you want to put a rug or tile or vinyl directly over it, you can apply a topping that will smooth and l...
I don't often answer all the details of a long letter, especially not with the time constraints that we have on television. But Larry from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia wrote such a coherent detailed letter about the 80 years old very cold home that he just bought that I thought I would just wade in...
My renovating buddy Mike Holmes of Restovate in Toronto (before he went on TV) was into the creation of a new basement suite so I asked him to show us as he cut in for the rough plumbing for the toilet. So he jack hammered up the floor, then dug a bit more (as is common), then he discovered that...
Debbie from East York, Ontario has a problem with a basement leak that apparently is caused by a crack between the sidewalk and the wall. Her contractor patched it last year, but it leaked again.If there is any movement of the sidewalk, from frost or just swelling and or shrinking clay, then no ...
