One way to preserve your sanity when that dripping faucet keeps you awake at night and you don't have time to fix or replace it just yet -- simply tie a string around the faucet so that drip will flow quietly into the sink. If the drip makes noise from the sink down to the bottom of the trap, lo...
Gordon from Montreal writes: I want to seal a crack in my foundation myself using an injection system. I hear there are two types of injection materials and can I do it myself?-------- ReplyYou are right Gordon, the two primary materials used for injection into concrete wall cracks are epoxy and ...
Paint like coatings have been around for a long time claiming to extend the life of your roof for years. Until the late 90's they actually didn't do much more than camouflage a dying leaking roof -- the problem being that things move up there from full sunlight to cold nights, from hot summers t...
Getting something to stick to asphalt or asphalt coated materials is a unique problem. Asphalt driveways have their own specific crack sealers and roofing materials generally use what we call "Plastic Cement". (One exception to this is a specially formulated polyurethane adhesive that will work...
Most flat top roofs are made up of layers of asphalt, roofing paper, asphalt, roofing paper, asphalt, roofing paper, and then gravel. Although most leaks are caused by damaged or poor flashings, the built up membrane itself can get old and worn.The gravel serves to keep the UV rays of the sun aw...
Sheila writes from Ottawa : Hi there. I will try to make this as easy as I can however, it may not be.I purchased a brand new home from a very reputable builder in 1999 and took possession in December of that same year. December led into January and towards the end of January I began to experienc...
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia is home to a peculiar house with a concrete roof. The roof is now leaking and Ron would like to know how to seal it.Many good coatings are available, but all of them will eventually need maintaining and may even develop leaks from weathering -- as has happened with the pre...
There is a lot of debate about whether to put a vapour retarder (vapour barrier) on an insulated wall behind shower tiles. The code has not historically been specifically clear on this so we get lots of different interpretations. What the code does say clearly is that we should not have two vap...
Shower faucets often have large holes cut through the tiles to allow the plumbing through. These are then covered up by escutcheon plates, those decorative plates behind the handles. But these plates are not water proof and often water rolls down the tiles, behind the cover plates and into the ...
Letter: I have a ceramic shower, that is leaking, I do not know how it was built or what is underneath.In the last week +- have noticed about an ounce or 2 of water in the garage,I have a small openeing in the ceiling directly under due to the drain pipe, the drain pipe and feed lines are dry. Bu...
