James Connelly works at Masterpieces Studio in Toronto where they do some impressive things with paint, putty and special plasters and cement coatings. But since they opened their finishing school, they've also been teaching some of the secrets to the public.We followed James through the convers...
Bill in Stratford, Ontario sent in this great tip.When you just need a touch up of paint or stain, rather than opening the lid and increasing the clean up problem, simply punch a hole in the top of the can.You can cover the hole with a finger to shake the can if you like, even use your finger to ...
Kelly wants to know if it is possible to paint over something that already has stain on it.The answer is YES, but only if the stain is ready! What do I mean by that?Most stain has water repellents built into it. Look at the first photo and you can see how the water is beading up, rather than so...
When driving screws into wood it is best to drill both a pilot hole and a clearance hole. The clearance hole allows the screw to turn freely without the threads biting into the first piece of wood. The pilot hole is sized to allow the threads to grab to a maximum without forcing the wood sidewi...
Although I have learned a great deal about paint and painting over the years, it is not my best subject, especially when formulations and even the tools are constantly changing. So I had my good friend and host of HGTV's One House Two Looks, Jane Lockhart, come on the show to answer some of our ...
Gary from Thunder Bay, Ontario, wants to dig a relatively small storage space under his cottage, through the crawl space, although he plans to make it about 8 feet deep, and wants to know just how to insulate it to keep the contents from freezing.Aside from putting about 4 inches of foam insulati...
If you use a solvent based adhesive and squeeze it between two surfaces that will not let the solvent out -- like between tiles and the vinyl -- then the solvent will eventually eat into the vinyl showing up as a ghost line of the glue. Put a trace of glue on the wall. Push the vinyl panel into...
When you tear the surface of drywall, those fuzzy little hairs just keep coming through coat after coat of paint. The reason is that each time you sand it, they simply lie down and stand back up when they get wet with more paint.The way to cure it from the start is to put a coat of shellac over ...
Perry in Cochrane, Alberta wants to know which way a ceiling fan should turn. Don't try to remember clockwise or counter-clockwise -- I always get that mixed up. Simply remember that in the summertime, moving air of any temperature feels cooler if it is blowing directly on our skin. The evap...
Spray paint is no longer just spray paint.Crystal Anderson from Sherman Williams Paints came on my TV show to demonstrate a wide variety of new spray paints.There are marking paints, even ones that are temporary so that the mark will weather away.There are sprays that look textured, speckled, str...
