Q: I have an old house with a concrete porch with major cracks. Should I try to fill the cracks, tear it down and replace
Q: I need to seal around a bathtub. I have a couple of unused caulk tubes I bought for window a few months ago. Will
Q: What is the best way to do a complete lawn installation for a residential property? A: Well, many pro builders use a tractor
Q: I just built an 8-by-10-foot shed and sheathed it with 1/2-inch CD. I’m going to side it with vinyl. Do I need to put
Q: We recently installed a new roof, with new fiberglass insulation and two new wind turbines. Would I save money during the winter if I
Q: There is a white powder-like substance on the brick of our new backyard patio. How can I remove this? A: That white substance is
Q: Is there a way to fix a loose metal handrail without replacing the whole thing? A: A wobbly metal rail is a common problem
Q: I moved into a house with old aluminum siding. Can I paint it? A: As with any painting project, begin by prepping the surface.
Q: Help! I have loose siding panels (vinyl) from hurricane damage. How can I repair this? A: Vinyl siding panels interlock at their top and
Q: I have some ugly oil stains on the driveway from the car. Can you give me some tips on how to remove them? A:
Q: Our rear deck is a little too bouncy. Is there any way to stabilize this without a complete rebuild? A: A “bouncy” deck is
Q: Several years ago I had vinyl siding installed on my house and under the eaves. No eave vents were installed and I’d like to
Q: My wife wants an in-ground water fountain in the front yard, and I have no experience installing one. Is this even a DIY project
Q: I’m about to pour a new sidewalk. How long should I let the new concrete cure before walking on it? A: Generally speaking, concrete
Q: I have a crack in the drywall of the living room ceiling. When it gets cold, the crack widens. When it’s warm, the crack
Q: Two doors in my house have lousy hinges. The screws have stripped out of the casing and now the doors swing crooked. I have
Q: I tiled the kids’ bathroom and mixed my grout in the tub. The tub itself is made of fiberglass. I now have small dark
Q: I have a heat pump question. How much water should be coming out of my A/C unit? It is an 8-year-old system, and it
Q: One of the burners on my oven range died. Should I replace it, or can it be fixed? A: If the burner is scorched
Q: I need to cut a piece of cement board into a 30-inch circle. What’s the best way to cut this material? A: You
Q: Can you tell me how to re-glue a seam in a vinyl floor? I’d hate to call a handyman if it’s something simple that I
Q: I have an old house that has lath and plaster walls. When taking off some wallpaper, a lot of plaster came off. Can I
Q: I’d like to install a glass block window in a bathroom. Is this a DIY project? A: Glass blocks can be used in
Q: The finish is worn on our bathtub and instead of ripping up the bathroom and replacing it, I was wondering if there are products
Q: I want new flooring in the dining room and I’m trying to decide between carpet and wood. I’m on a concrete slab and it’s
Q: Our upstairs hardwood floor squeaks in a few places. I can’t access the joists because of the finished ceiling of the first floor. Can
Q: Our shower won’t spray water the way it used to. Can I repair this or do I have to replace the head? A: For
Q: I’m considering replacing my old water heater with a tankless version. Are these things all they’re cracked up to be? A: Tankless water heaters
Q: I’m having a terrible time trying to remove melted candle wax from the carpet. Any advice? A: First, carefully scrape any loose wax
Q: Is there a quick fix for a squeaky door hinge? A: Here’s one method that sometimes works: petroleum jelly. Start by loosening the
Q: I’m about to wallpaper a bedroom but dread the mess of soaking the pre-pasted paper. Is there any way around this? A: The soaking
Q: Help! When I had my back turned, my three-year-old grandson found a loose loop of carpet and gave it a yank. Now I have
Q: I’d like to add an arched entryway between the living room and kitchen. Can you tell me how to bend drywall for the arch?
Q: My neighbor has a faux finish in her family room that she calls “stippling.” It gives the walls a nice textured look. Her walls
Q: When you’re laying sheathing on the roof, which way does it need to go, vertical or horizontal? We have it going horizontal and have
Q: I’m planning to do my own roofing job. Is it possible to do one side of the roof at a time, finish one part
Q: When I turn on my air conditioner I smell a very bad odor, like sulfur or rotten eggs. The smell only lasts about 10
Q: I’m interested in buying a framing nail gun and wondered what the pros and cons were for Clipped-Head vs. Round-Head. I’ll be framing a
Q: I always hear about the importance of insulating the attic, but rarely hear much talk about insulation between the floor joists of crawlspaces? Is
Q: How to Build a Header for a Door? A: A header is doubled 2-by material above the door to distribute the weight of the
Q: I had a mahogany deck installed last year and the boards were put too close together, resulting in puddling when it rains or snows.
Q: Hi, I’m 12 years old and I need to get a stripped screw out of my electric guitar. The needle-nose pliers won’t grip it
Q: A few months ago, I hired a contractor to install laminate tongue-and-groove flooring over concrete. It was installed with glue. Now I hear pops
Q: I would like to cover a block wall of my home to look like an old adobe. Do I need to cover the brick
Q: Help! My three-year-old son flushed a bar of soap down the toilet. I’ve tried using a plunger plus a lot of Drano, and it
Q: I recently finished adding a deck to my house. I’ve noticed part of my handrail is warping. I used treated wood, 2-by-4 and spindles
Q: Is it possible to paint vinyl siding? Or do I have to replace the siding if I want a new color? A: Fortunately, several
Q: We just had our fireplace cleaned and the cracks sealed, but still sometimes have a backdraft problem where the smoke doesn’t go up. There’s
Q: I can do a decent job at taping and mudding the flat seams of drywall, but still have a little trouble at the inside
Q: My home has about 6 inches of fiberglass insulation in the attic, and I’m planning to add more. Should I use faced insulation? A:
Q: When hanging drywall, do you place the bottom of the sheets on the subfloor or are they raised up to allow for expansion? A:
Q: For a countertop, what are the advantages/disadvantages of 2-centimeter granite versus 3-centimeter granite? The 2-centimeter is cheaper, but I know you usually get what
Q: Is textured paint easier to use than creating texture with joint compound? A: Using pre-textured paint can be easier because it saves you the
Q: A thunderstorm blew a few shingles off my roof. The roof is about 12 years old. I would like to replace the missing shingles
Q: I was interested in becoming a residential contractor, and I thought Extreme How-To may have some information on pointing me in the right direction.
IN A FIX, the new home-improvement show on the TLC Network, follows a team of remodelers who rescue homeowners from botched renovation projects.
Changing a vehicle’s engine oil and filter is sure to save motorists time and money from trips to the service station.
Q: Can you lay new tiles (saltillo) on top of old ceramic tiles? A: Yes, but only if the existing tile surface is in
Q: Do you foresee any problems with using ceramic tiles to re-surface the interior of a bathtub? A: If the tub is fiberglass or acrylic,
Ask any seasoned contractor where a deck is most likely to fail, and odds are they’ll point to the ledger board. If it’s not properly installed and protected from moisture, this critical connection point can quickly become the weak link in an otherwise solid structure. That’s where Trex® Seal™ Ledger Tape comes in—a moisture-blocking MVP […]
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