Building Code Tips - Code Officials Should Consider Doing More to Help Homeowners I’m helping my son on the weekends finish the basement in his 3-year-old house. He’s adding 1,300 square feet of finished living space. We met with the local building inspector a few days ago. Dawn gave us the thumbs up on the […]
Best Exterior Nails and Screws are Double Hot-Dipped Galvanized or Stainless Steel I was blessed by God to learn my craft of building and remodeling in Cincinnati, Ohio. The first few years of my career had me working on houses that were close to 100 years old. I have no recollection of seeing rusty roofing […]
House Settlement Debunked - Lumber Shrinkage Often, the Culprit Roy subscribes to my free newsletter and reached out to me about a month ago for one of my phone consult calls. He needed help engineering a drainage system around his house to stop water from infiltrating his basement. I offer a house-drainage design service. I […]
Nail Guns Save Time & Money - Use Them Wisely Are you a serious DIYr? If so, you know that the quality and type of tools you use will not only determine when the project gets done, but they’ll also play a major part in quality level of the job. In my opinion, one of […]
Concrete Deck and House Piers - Think of Your Legs Mother Nature is so smart. She taught us to build strong buildings, decks, docks, etc. Just look at your own body, for goodness sake. Your legs and feet do the same thing that concrete piers do in the construction world. Your legs are vertical columns […]
How to Avoid Arguments With Contractors How many times have you hired contractors in your life? My guess is quite a few. If you had to rate each experience much like you might a meal how many 5-star ratings would you have doled out? While I’m not a betting man, I’d say fewer than five […]
How to Add a Bathroom You may or may not know this, but I’ve been a master plumber for nearly four decades. I used to do all the plumbing in all the houses I built and in the remodeling jobs that had a plumbing component. I want to let you know if you’re thinking of […]
How to Protect Exterior Wood A week ago, my lovely wife and our 2-year-old American Dirus dog were on Mt. Desert Island in Downeast Maine. We rented a tiny cottage just 12 feet from the shoreline of Bass Harbor. If you’re not familiar with this part of the USA, I can assure you it’s a […]
Old House Heating and Air Conditioning - Pure Comfort in Every Room My days have been getting busier and busier, and I'm doing troubleshooting and coaching calls with homeowners just like you. Are you suffering from the heat and humidity like the young man I talked with in Chicago last week? If so, you’ll enjoy […]
Crack Repair - Pinpoint the Cause Before Repairing Houses are just like you and me. As they age, they develop wrinkles or cracks. Some people don’t like wrinkled skin. Just as Ponce de León was searching for the fountain of youth, many people look for products to recreate their smooth teenage skin. Home centers sell […]
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