Henry e-mailed about the fact that he discovered that when they re-shingled his roof a couple of years ago (before he bought it), there were no flashings at all put on around the chimney. He wanted to know how to do a good job, with the least damage to existing shingles as possible.
Actually it ...
John in Mississauga, Ontario has paint flaking off of his crown molding, and it seems to be related to snow on his roof.
As we ran through the details, it turns out that the problem spot is right below a brick chimney that is poorly flashed where the roof meets it. He has put asphalt roof patch ...
Janice from Thornhill, Ontario writes: I'm having some wood/fiberglass windows installed and would like to know the product you recommend as the moisture barrier between the outside capping and inside insulation.
Your website recommends installing such a barrier but no specific product is mentio...
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...
We caught a consumer in the hardware store and he was asking about the leaking roof on his new addition in the Beaches area of Toronto. Often in that area, a back porch is converted into living space with what we call a "compact roof" -- a roof/ceiling assembly that is about one foot thick with i...
Barbara in Montreal had water damage in her bay window area as wind driven rain always found it's way in. Contractor repair bids ranged from $1,200 for a patch to $4,000 for a new roof. A study of the detail where the added-on bay window joined the very edge of the roof showed a flashing flaw tha...
A caller from Ontario has a leak that keep's coming in through the wall despite the efforts of two contractors.
It is often very difficult to find the place where water gets into the wall, when it is not something obvious like a crack in the caulking around a window. You need to make a careful i...
If you have a wobbly toilet because there is something uneven on the floor the ideal solution is to find a way to level the floor. If it is wood, you could shave it down to flat. If the problem is tiles, you could remove the tiles under the toilet. But often in real life, we don't want to do eith...
Here is one water proofing material that approaches the field of Science Fiction -- but it is for real and it does work.
Xypex High'n Dry is a not so commonly available brand name of what is generically referred to as Crystalline Growth waterproofing products. These are applied to a sound bare c...
This article is about stopping water outside the house, then if necessary, controlling the situation as your basement floods. For some very interesting water alarms, covering both plumbing and overland water,see Stopping Plumbing Floods.
SANDBAGGING
The first line of defense is sandbaggin...
