Painting Tiles
I have some ceramic tiles on my bathroom walls. Most of them are beige, with a smaller number of different-colored...
Painting Stucco
I recently bought an old house that has a sprayed-on stucco ceiling, complete with small ridges and valleys. I know...
Painted Steps
My outside steps are made of painted wood. During the winter, the steps are considerably slippery. I want to strip...
Peeling Paint
I live in a wooden house that was built in 1815. In the six years I have lived there, I...
Bleeding Knots
I moved into a house that was renovated by the previous owners. I think that they did not prime the...
Cleaning Stains
I have had water leakage where the wall and the sliding door meet in my basement suite. My landlord sealed...
Exterior Walls
My cottage has pressed hardboard exterior walls that are beginning to flake, particularly on the edges. With the exception of...
Acrylic or Oil?
I have some wooden bookshelves on which I applied furniture oil. I want to paint the bookshelves, but I do...
Painting on Wallpaper
Can I paint directly over existing wallpaper or must it first be removed? If I have to remove it, what...
Safe Paint
I want to apply a paint that will brighten my son's bedroom. Since my son has a mild asthma condition...
Heating and Addition
I have a cantilevered addition to my house that extends out about 60 cm (2 ft). In the winter, those...
Window Condensation
I am having a problem with condensation on the windows in my living room. I have blinds over the windows...
Basement Heating
I bought a house about two years ago. Over the last two winters I have found the temperature in the...
Garage Heating-2
I have a detached garage that I use as a workshop. I use an electric heater to keep it warm...
Heating and Flooring
In the winter, when the heat is on high, the cushioned flooring in my kitchen rises in a small area...
Reducing Heat
I live in a semi-detached house where the first-floor bathroom is directly above the furnace in the basement. Both the...
Asbestos
I recently bought a very old house. I am concerned that some of the insulation wrapped around the pipes leading...
Garage Heating-1
I have a water heating system in my 10-year-old house. Can I heat the garage floor by installing hot-water pipes...
Vapor Barriers
I have a layer of insulation with a vapor barrier in my attic. I want to add another layer of...
Basement Insulation
The insulation in my basement runs only 75 cm (30 in.) down. I plan to finish the basement, which means...
Installing Insulation
I have an old brick house that has been stripped of all walls except the outside brick wall and the...
Old Insulation
The previous owners of our 80-year-old house had put insulation in the attic. Leaky shingles on the roof and a...
Rigid-Foam Insulation-2
A year ago I built a detached garage next to my house, with a cement floor and 2x6 construction walls....
Rigid-Foam Insulation-1
I installed an addition to my house this past summer using rigid foam panels. The end result is that where...
Fiberglass Insulation
How can I get rid of the dirty marks around my floor registers without getting carried away with fancy furnace...
Furnace Filters-2
My house was built in 1954 with brick exterior walls and plaster interior walls. The house is extremely cold in...
Furnace Filters-1
I clean the electronic air filter for my furnace regularly in the dishwasher, but it never seems to work as...
Fireplaces
I installed a new furnace in my town house last year. Since then I have noticed that cooking odors and...
Wood Stoves
I want to use a wood stove as a primary heat source. Which stove gets the most heat out of...