-- Oil base, resin base and polyvinyl acetate caulking do not hold up. There are far too many better caulkings available to waste time and money with these old formulations.-- Latex based caulking is inexpensive, can be painted and has medium durability. It is acceptable for baseboards and caul...
Boris lives in a 45 year old bungalow that has no insulation at all. It has a brick outside, an air space, a concrete block wall for structure inside and then drywall. Is it possible to blow foam into the space between the brick and the block?NO. As long as the brick is the weather shield for ...
Ever wandered into the renovation centre looking for something to patch a hole in the wall? Complicated, isn't it with so many choices. Why so many? Some are made to fill large holes or cracks without shrinking, others are made to give you a fine smooth finish and some try to do a bit of both....
I don't often answer all the details of a long letter, especially not with the time constraints that we have on television. But Larry from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia wrote such a coherent detailed letter about the 80 years old very cold home that he just bought that I thought I would just wade in...
Carolyn in Montreal wants to insulate her garage so that she can heat it but it is so narrow that there is no room to do anything on the inside. Can she insulate on the outside?As you can see in the graphic, you can easily put foam insulation of just about any thickness right on the block wall. ...
When something like passing trains or heavy traffic keep cracking plaster, or wallpaper corners in a house, you will not succeed in stopping the movement, but you can hide it.Cut the wallpaper neatly in the stressed corner.Nail molding into the corner, but attached only to one side. The other si...
Rick from Grand Bend, Ontario writes: "I need advice on how to strap a block wall for board and batten. The wall is 10 ft. high, and I am wondering how many straps I will need?"Too few straps and the boards will warp, too many and you are wasting your energy and perhaps blocking ventilation behi...
There is probably no place in the world that gets tougher siding exposure than in Newfoundland and it may surprise you that wood clapboard siding is still the dominant siding on the Island. But it does require maintenance and occasional repair or replacement. Aiden Duff showed us how it is done...
One viewer installed drywall, taped the joints, painted and then discovered that there were lumps and uneven areas in the joint plaster. What to do?It is certainly easier to perfect the sanding before there is paint on the wall, so the moral is to really verify your sanding job before saying it ...
Tracey Paul from Provincial Wallcoverings Ltd. in Toronto dropped into the studio to give both me and you some tips on getting wallpaper on the wall looking good and staying put.Most important according to Tracey is to have the wall smooth with no bumps or holes before you start.Read the instruct...
