Dylan, who hales from Southampton, England in the UK, has an issue with grout in his toilet. "I have a clump of grout in my toilet bend which a dumbhead tiler poured down my toilet last night and it's set. What is the best way to remove it? I have a grout remover and was thinking […]
A woman who wishes to remain anonymous for some reason who's name begins with D and ends in an a, lives in a house in Chicago, IL, where someone let a door fly into a wall. Let her tell you the rest: "Hi. We had a door handle type hole in our wall and we have […]
Belinda Morgan is building a new cabin somewhere near Saginaw, Texas and wants to reuse some glass block she installed a few years ago. Let her give you the details: "I have a glass block shower with 50 glass blocks that are held together with mortar that I built. I want to use again in […]
Barry Wines, who lives in Sandusky, OH, is trying to help out his son. "My son ran out of the plasterboard joint tape and used a mesh kind that he bought at Lowe's. After putting the joint compound, priming and painting over the mesh tape it has developed cracks. It has not cracked over the […]
Quick Column Summary: Prep work for pressure washing Chewing gum stain removal Pretreat with oxygen bleach Use pressure washer carefully Jolynn, who lives in paradise - Waianae, Hawaii - wants to clean a commercial building with a pressure washer. Here's what she wants to know: "When pressure washing a single-story commercial building what should I do […]
Quick Column Summary: Double pane windows with fogging between How to remove and clean it Have new insulated glass installed Video link Martin Gold, who's got a fogged window in Lakeport, NJ, has a great question: "I have a bow window double panes one pane has developed a film in between panes. Is there a […]
Quick Column Summary: How to clean teak Use an oxygen bleach Leslie Ann, who lives in the land of the Buckeyes in Columbus, OH, needs to clean a teak table that's had lots of stuff on it. She wants the BEST product, but doesn't want to shop online. Hmmmmmmm "What is the best way to […]
Quick Column Summary: Home improvement endorsements Are they credible Did the endorsers test the product Did endorser get paid for this I'm pretty much just like you. I'm not immune from receiving advertisements in the mail. Earlier this week, I received a postcard from GutterBrush that was promoting a 20-percent-off offer. Here it is: On […]
Quick Column Summary: Faux beam coming off ceiling How to push it back in order to secure it Place scrap piece on underside of beam Place temporary 2x4 under it to push it up Stan Pierce, who lives in Palm Coast, FL, emailed me on May 24, 2014, asking: "Tim, I have a faux wooden […]
Quick Column Summary: How to use wood filler Hard to match the look of wood Filler keeps stain uneven Wood conditioners can help DEAR TIM: I’ve never had great success filling cracks in stained wood surfaces. I’ve tried different wood fillers and the crack looks the same or worse after the repair. When I use […]
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.