Brenda Steele is getting ready to move into a new house in Bentonville, AR. But before the closing, there was a water leak in the kitchen. Here's her story: "We are under contract to buy a new home and are waiting for loan approval. We received a call saying someone left the kitchen sink on and […]
Mark has an ice buildup and ice leaking out of his soffit where his dryer vent exits his home. It's pretty severe. Here's his story: "I am getting icicles on the side of my house near the dryer vent. This happens in Nebraska sub-zero weather. This side of my house faces the northwest. I made sure […]
An older woman who lives in Greenville, SC emailed me about a problem with a kitchen contractor in Greenville, SC. We went back and forth as I tried to offer some advice. I asked her permission if I could reprint the emails and she said, "You can use my location, might get people to check […]
Connie Ruffennach lives in Arlington, Texas. As we all know, Texas can have some wild weather. Guess what happened to her attic ventilator turbine vent? Let her give you the details: "We had a sleet storm this morning. My attic ventilator is spinning crazily and is making a knocking sound. What could be causing this?" Connie, […]
Maggie Scofield is suffering from cold air that's coming down through her kitchen exhaust fan in Raleigh, NC. Allow her to give you a full report: "It's been frigid here in NC yesterday, and expected to get down to 0 degrees over the next few days. I never noticed before, but there is a very cold […]
Alice Happel might live in a high-rise condo on East Wacker Drive in Chicago, IL. I only say this because I've stayed in a wonderful one owned by a friend of mine, Dave Wiener, on that street next to the Chicago River. Wowza did it have a great view! Alice, though, has an undermount sink that […]
Tracie lives in Taft, TN. (How's that for alliteration?) She's wondering if she'll have problems with satin finish granite tops. Let her tell you the situation: "I have tried to find an answer to this question online, but cannot. We don't like the look of highly polished granite, but don't want honed because of care […]
Ritu Gandhi has a smelly problem in Madison, WI. Here it is: "We have a kitchen exhaust fan over our cooking range but every time we turn it on food smells seem to come into our bathrooms (upstairs) and in the basement. We do have an air to air exchanger. The kitchen exhaust does seem to […]
Kathy Parks sent in some photographs of an interesting project that she is undertaking. It is a paper bag floor. She's wallpapering her floor with paper bags to mask an ugly floor. The paper bags, once dry, get coated with clear urethane to make them somewhat durable. We will let Kathy fill us in on […]
DEAR TIM: We have a L-shaped basement storage area under our front porch. There's a metal ceiling in this space that supports the concrete porch slab above. There are no cracks in the concrete porch. This space has no ventilation and everything stored in this area becomes damp and then moldy. We installed a small […]
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