One of the cardinal rules of painting or staining in order to avoid lap marks is to apply material wet-on-wet. On an interior wall that is done by rolling small enough sections that allow you to overlap the edge with the next section before the first one manages to dry. Painting wet-on-wet does...
Most of our ordinary fiberglass insulation is a skin and breathing irritant. That is why we wear gloves, long sleeves, a cotton mask and glasses. For a bit more money you can now buy itchless rock wool (Roxal) and even itchless fiberglass. If you are all itchy, pour milk over the affected area...
So just how do you get caulking to work outdoors when you have put the job off so long that the cold weather has caught up with you?First, read the caulking tubes to see under what conditions any particular caulking can be used. Polyurethane and most Thermoplastic caulking should be used at temp...
Carpet or tile adhesive can seem almost impossible to remove from a concrete or wooden floor, especially when it has been there for a long time. If you try sanding, it will heat up and clog up the sandpaper. If you wire brush it with a wire wheel on your drill, again if you let it heat up, it w...
One of our viewers caught our cameras in a home improvement centre and asked how best to finish off his long slow job of stripping a staircase of paint.If you sand too soon, you will waste a lot of sandpaper because it will simply clog up with melted paint.If you do the whole job with paint strip...
Here is a great tip from one of our viewers. To remove that light bulb from the tight halogen fixtures where there is no room for your fingers, simply wad up a piece of duct tape with the sticky side out. That will grip the bulb for unscrewing.You could even tape that wad to the end of a broom ...
Sam from Regina has a great tip for managing to paint both sides of a door while working alone.He puts two long screws or lag bolts into the top of the door and one into the bottom of the door. Then he positions his saw horses so that the door is suspended by these three screws. When he wants t...
The nozzle on your can of spray paint is clogged up? Don't throw it away yet.Soak it overnight in solvent. Then use a needle or thin wire, like that inside the tie-wraps, to poke through the holes. Then spray some oil through it by using a spray can like WD-40, if the tips are compatible.If yo...
Andy caught our camera in a store and asked about the proper preparation for a flagstone walkway.I always joke that patios and walkways are for the Southern US and decks are for the Northern US and Canada, simply because dealing with water and ice always complicates anything we try to do down on ...
Dan caught our camera in a store and asked just what is "scribing a counter top"?When you have a wall that is not flat, like you see our exaggerated wall in the first photo, the kitchen counter will not fit tightly up against this wall. If you look at the second photo you will see that all forme...
