Barry from Calgary, Alberta writes: "I have a problem with cracking grout on an aboveground installation. I suspect the cause is excessive deflection of the floor joists. I'm wondering if there's any additive that can be added to the grout that will prevent this from happening again when I re-gro...
Floors spring or vibrate when they are not rigid enough for the distance they have to span between their supports.
You can always put another post in the basement under the center of the area giving you problems. That solves the problems easily on the top, but often creates an unwanted obstruc...
It is best not to cut holes in floor joists, but when you must there are some important rules to follow.
Never cut into the top of the bottom of the joist. If you do the entire joist is now no stronger than the wood that is left.
Always cut holes in the centre of the joist, closer to the suppor...
Often in constructing a house, the sequence of putting up walls, applying outside sheathing and installing insulation batts can leave the outside corner as a hollow spot with no insulation. The carpentry work was done and the hollow corner closed and hidden before the guys with the fiberglass eve...
Jill writes: HI, my mom lives in a house built in 57'.She has a big crack in the wall above the doorway. How do you adjust the telepost to accommodate the settling of the property. Which way do you turn the post to adjust it, how much etc,
-------Response
I assume that the cracks are right abov...
Certain parts of Canada, particularly in the Winnipeg region, have a traditional construction technique that presents serious challenges when you want to insulate a basement -- the ends of the joists are actually embedded in the concrete foundation wall. Chris, from Winnipeg, asked for some f...
Yes it is a problem Lorne, except for roofs in some desert areas where evaporating water is part of the air conditioning design, and the roof is specially designed like a swimming pool. For the rest of us, standing water will lead to a premature ageing of the roofing material, whatever material i...
For most houses, never -- let nature handle it. The reason for that is that most roofs are built to handle the snow that is piled up on it, removing snow is dangerous to you and often the process of snow removal causes more damage to the roof than the snow would. Those were the conclusions tha...
One viewer who caught my camera in a renovation store asked what to do about the 20 x 20 ceiling in his condo that was dipping down in the centre.
A serious visible dip must be caused by someone having removed a support wall from the original construction. Each floor is designed to remain flat a...
For extensive videos on working with steel studs, follow this link to the Learning Curve.
John from Barry, Ontario was asking about using steel studs for a basement renovation. As you might expect, there are pros and cons for any building material.
Steel studs are often less expensive than wood...
