Wood heating appliances get hot -- that's why we use them -- but they also burn down houses. They are only safe if you install them safely.
-- Let's start with the fascinating process of how wood burns;
-- and now let's see how that process can happen inside your walls or floors near woo...
The world of tiles is changing rapidly.
Twenty years ago we generally had a range of tile sizes from 1 ft x 1 ft down to tiny mosaic tiles. This made tiling relatively simple because slight changes in the flatness of the surface could be adjusted for at the next grout line. In fact that is...
When you build that basement wall with economy lumber, and one stud is just not flat with the others, there is a way to fix that quickly to end up with a flat wall.
IDENTIFY THE BULGING OUT SIDE OF ANY STUD
Then in the middle of the bow, saw cut about 2/3rds of the way ...
Wendy wants to clean years of nicotine off of her walls and repaint.
GENERAL GRIME
First, the best cleaner for any paint preparation is TSP, Tri-Sodium-Phosphate. There are now some more environmentally friendly "TSP Substitutes" available on the market as well. If no stain is left, use any ...
Hi Jon,
I have a driveway retaining wall that continues to be pushed by the ground, even though it is backed by gravel and drained to "nothing under the driveway" except crushed gravel. I realize proper drainage affects this somewhat, however would prefer not to cut open my driveway, sidewalk a...
To see all of this on video visit the Drywall section of the Learning Curve.
When you need to install an electrical box in a specific location and there is no stud to attach it to, we call that ReWork -- getting a box in where it is impossible or difficult to attach to a stud. Most electrical b...
Jon in Winchester, Ontario has a free standing natural gas stove and wants to get that heat distributed to the rest of the house.
First, what not to do
Do not try to put a grill in a return air duct of a forced air heating system over the stove as you see in the photo, especially forbidden fo...
Michele in Hamilton, Ontario needs to repaint her cinder block walls on the outside of the basement. But a close look at a photo that she sent us showed a lot of deep holes or pock marks in the blocks.
Not only the paint was peeling off, but the block itself was breaking off.
This is a sign o...
One of the most reliable ways of both keeping our walls dry, and allowing them to dry out if they do get wet, is to construct the wall with an outer shell that we call a rain screen.
Rather than trying to make the siding on the house absolutely waterproof, which never works for a very long tim...
CUTTING FIBERGLASS STRAIGHT AND SQUARE
It is always easier to cut fiberglass batt insulation if you compress it down as flat as possible. That way you can get through in one pass. Using a piece of plywood gives you a straight edge at the same time.
There is a special devic...
