"While you can do many things no matter how the bar will be oriented, I feel it's very important for you to consider who'll be the bartender." Wet Bar Ideas Checklist hot and cold water and a real drain what direction bartender faces the height of working bar and serving bar critical ample storage for […]
DEAR TIM: I'm renovating a basement bath during the winter while I'm slow at work. When I removed the old shower insert, I discovered a large area of crumbling and missing concrete. There's standing water in the ground because of the high ground water table this time of year. I've discovered conflicting information online as […]
Shower Noise Stephanie has a banging noise in her shower in Stockton, CA. Allow her to give you a full report: "When I turn on the hot water valve in my shower it makes a banging noise until I increase the water flow. If the flow of the hot water decreases, it will start the banging […]
Ken Williams has a very slippery shower floor in his Mooresville, NC home. Let him describe it: "The water in my house is very soft and so it is very slippery and the soap never seems to be rinsed off and as a result the shower floor which is 6X6 tiles is dangerously slippery. The […]
Sharon's bathroom floor tile grout is cracking in her Anchorage, AK home. You're not going to believe the photos. Here's her story: "My master bath floor has cracked and chipping grout in more than 50 percent of the tiled area. Some tiles sound hollow underneath. The sub-flooring is 3/4 in OSB with 3/8 inch interior plywood […]
The USA Federal Government has decided it needs to make residential water heaters more efficient and has put new water heater rules in force as of April 16, 2015. After you discover how it's going to impact your bank account, you may have to take an extra blood pressure pill. This message was so important, […]
Ada Wilhelm has a gorgeous rectangular tile floor in her house in Hernando, FL. She wrote to me with a very simple question: "How can we darken a grout that is too light?" Well Ada, I'm wondering why you want to lighten it after looking at the photo you sent below. The grout, to me, looks […]
Joseph Gulaskey has to wait and wait for hot water to show up in his faucets in the winter. He lives in North Huntingdon, PA where it can get quite cold. Here's what Joe sent me: "During the winter months and having an unheated cellar, I have my hot water lines covered with polyfoam insulation. With […]
Joanna Davis seems to have hired a contractor that has a suspect plumber who goofed up her pot filler faucet. This happened in Greenville, South Carolina. Let her tell you the facts: "Each time I turn on my pot filler, I have to empty the first two pots of water as they smell like oil and […]
Theresa Jordan lives up in a suburb of Chicago, Arlington Heights, IL. But she's got a very big problem with backflow valves in her sewer line that are now creating backups in her home. She can tell the story much better than I can. Here it is: "Where I live, we have combined storm and sanitary […]
Subscribe to the FREE Ask the Builder newsletter to receive professional advice for your home. Complete the form below and each week you'll get:
Unsubscribe at any time. We respect your email privacy.