Riana from Huntsville Ontario is struggling with getting the miter cuts right for crown molding.
First rule, use a large miter box (purchased, rented or home made) that allows you to make simple 45 degree with the molding standing up in its regular position. Well, almost in its regular position....
No! Large-blade ceiling fans, even the simplest and least expensive models, will do no more than equalize the air temperature in a room (making it feel warmer for the same amount o furnace work) and slightly lower the temperature on the ceiling (which means less heat loss through the ceiling). ...
Perry in Cochrane, Alberta wants to know which way a ceiling fan should turn. Don't try to remember clockwise or counter-clockwise -- I always get that mixed up. Simply remember that in the summertime, moving air of any temperature feels cooler if it is blowing directly on our skin. The evap...
"I have a painting problem: All the walls and ceilings in my apartment have been painted using a sponge technique. The paint itself is a latex flat base to which powdered pigments were added along with a small amount of an abrasive material to give the walls an "adobe" look.I now wish to repaint...
Yvonne wrote: At the Kitchen & Bath Show in Ottawa you mentioned that vaulted ceilings are a problem in Canada's climate. We are currently designing a new home and wondered if you could tell us how to avoid problems later through proper construction, insulation, air space etc.. Or is it be...
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...
-- Take care of air barriers, ventilation and vapour barriers before insulating. Check out these three topics in the Search Tab above.-- Don't block the eave vents with insulation.-- Do cover the top of the outside wall.-- Don't put plastic foam on top of porous insulations (batts, loose fill) a...
Ventilation in a Canadian attic does very little to remove moisture when the temperature in the attic is below freezing. During that time, the moisture is in the form of Ice and the passing air simply won't remove it -- whether you have passive vents or power vents. When things warm up, if the ...
Radiant Heating and Convection Heating are the two primary types of ways we heat our houses. FORCED AIR HEATINGConvection heating means moving hot air -- what we usually call a forced air heating system simply heats air and moves it around the house through a system of fans and ducts. Forced air...
Joe in Edmonton and Pat in Vancouver both asked if they could change their stippled ceilings to smooth ceilings.This is a real tough job and my standard response is to scrape off the high points and simply put drywall over the stipple rather than trying to do a full wall plaster job. But it can ...
