Outdoor Firepit Planning Tips - Don't Get Too Close! Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the eye candy Mother Nature hands out here in the great Northeast USA. Add the fragrant aroma of a crackling outdoor fire feeding on seasoned oak and you have, in my opinion, the perfect outdoor setting. Breathing […]
Algae, Mold, and Mildew Removal and Prevention - Remove Water & Food Days ago Jerry stopped by my www.AsktheBuilder.com website. He reads my column each week in his local paper and was perplexed by algae growth on the exterior of his home. Jerry hales from Chesterton, Indiana, the gateway to the massive sand dunes at […]
Repair Front Porch - Mosaic Tile and Concrete Base In the past week, Don asked me for advice. He lives in the extreme northeast corner of North Carolina just 15 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. His front porch stoop is in very bad shape. Back in 1949 when the house was built, the tile setter […]
Three Season Room Problems - There Can Be Many Not too long ago Philip reached out to me. I’ve mentioned in past columns that each week I solve countless problems for homeowners just like you. For me, it’s similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle or playing the board game of Clue. You present me […]
How to Make Your Asphalt Shingles Last 50 Years Eight years ago I was in the middle of a roof replacement project on my own home. My thirty-year warranted asphalt shingles looked like they were fifty years old. They were curled, large patches of felt paper with no granules were showing, and each time it […]
Clay Paving Brick are the Best - Forget About Concrete Pavers If you read my column on a regular basis, then you know about two months ago I touched on the perils of using paving brick made from concrete. That column talked about how those bricks fade in color over time as the thin colored […]
Where is the Best Penetrating Deck Sealer? Do you have a wood deck? How much time do you invest in cleaning and sealing it? How many gallons, currently priced around $55.00 per gallon, of high-quality sealer do you use to make your deck look fantastic? I pretty much know all the answers because I’ve dealt […]
DIY Deck Building Tips - Prevent Deck Collapse! Are you about to build a deck yourself? Perhaps you’re going to hire a professional. My guess is you don’t know as much about the process as you should know. Add to the mix the cable TV shows that go on and on and on about how […]
Blacktop Patching and Sealing Tips - Patch Then Wait 90 Days Who’s not seen asphalt paving? I have to believe you’ve walked across it on your own driveway, crossed public streets, and/or traipsed across parking lots paved with this magic mix of liquid asphalt cement, sand, and small stone chips. The professionals call it asphaltic […]
Why Concrete Pavers Suck - There are So Many Reasons It’s really important for businesses to introduce new products. Tens of thousands are introduced each year in the home improvement vertical. Once you’ve had enough trips around the sun, you can spot ones that have lots of sizzle but most likely won’t stand the test […]
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