for Cold Climate Housing and much more

Keyword Search

Search Again

Found 63 results for the keyword(s) ‘Caulking’

  • Article

    How do you stop mice from coming into the house?

      Susan from Calgary, Alberta has mice that just keep coming into her house. She knows where they get in and would like to block the entrance. She wonders if the foam in a can would stop them.               No. They will eat right through it. But if you mix the foam in a can, or caul...
  • Article

    OVERVIEW: Frozen pipes: Tracing, thawing, preventing.

    As weather patterns change we are getting longer colder periods than traditionally in many areas of the country -- and with that, more and more complaints of water pipes freezing. Finding the frozen point can be difficult, thawing it can be problematic but if you have done those two, go one step ...
  • Article

    Getting a wobbly toilet to sit flat on the floor

    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...
  • Article

    Removing silicone caulking

    Bill from British Columbia sent in an e-mail asking how to remove silicone caulking from his acrylic shower floor. For many years we had nothing that would remove silicone caulking from a bathtub. Then all the companies came out with silicone caulking removers. Then they all disappeared (or will ...
  • Article

    SHOULD I PUSH OR PULL MY CAULKING GUN?

    It's largely a matter of personal choice or habit while the video below will show you the WHY of good caulking technique.  Pushing forward forces the compound into small cracks and helps it to stick on smooth surfaces. Pulling is easier for filling large cracks, and leaves a bulge which allow...
  • Article

    How do you fill cracks or holes in a driveway?

    Angela from cyberspace (you really have to tell me where you are from when you write in, it helps me to know things about your climate, even about your soil) wants to seal her driveway but needs to fill up the cracks first. How to do it? If we are talking about interlocking bricks, start by fill...
  • Article

    How to find where leaks enter the wall.

    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...
  • Article

    Repairing old fashioned wooden framed windows

    Whether you still have some of those old storm windows, or have single glazed windows used as decorative dividers between rooms inside the house, you may need to know how to work with window putty.   REMIVING OLD WINDOW PUTTY In ancient history, the old putty was generally removed with a carpe...
  • Article

    Restoring Heritage Windows

    When Heritage Window Restoration becomes an energy efficient & cost effective alternative to new windows Most of us who have worked in older neighbourhoods have at one time or another thought about or dabbled in restoring old building components rather than ripping out and installing new...
  • Article

    Basement Perimeter Drainage and Leaking Foundations

    This article deals with walls below grade, foundation walls.  For insulating above grade cinder block walls see How do you Insulate a Brick and Block construction as well as Insulating an Above Grade Block Wall from the Inside. The best way to prevent water from leaking into the basement is not ...