Found 180 results for the keyword(s) ‘Environmental’

• Article

  Asbestos on heating pipes

  Catherine in Toronto has asbestos insulation on the hot water pipes that run from her boiler to her radiators. She is changing the boiler and wonders if she has to remove all the old insulation.If the insulation is in good shape and will not be disturbed by the new work, then it can be left a...
• Article

  Blocking odours and gasses from basement floor drains.

  Typical of many older homes, two of our listners have large metal grates in the floor of the basement, covering a drain collection box. This box tends to stay wet, grow strange things and smell bad. That was acceptable when the basement was no more than a storage space, but when it is conve...
• Article

  Removing Stains on Concrete

  Oil stains are almost impossible to get out of concrete. Substances that tend to sit on the top surface of the concrete are much easier to get off. We did some testing with various stain and graffiti removal products. Nothing worked perfectly.Since this show I have been looking for somethin...
• Article

  Outdoor Electrical Outlets

  All outside electrical outlets must be protected with a gadget called a Ground Fault Interrupter or GFI. This can take the form of a special outlet (the one with the test button in the middle) or of a more expensive GFI circuit breaker at the breaker panel. A GFI in any electrical line then pro...
• Article

  Frozen Plumbing in a Cottage Crawl Space

  When pipes go from a cottage down through the crawl space and into the ground, they risk freezing. Simply wrapping them in insulation will not protect them, especially if the wind manages to blow though the fiberglass.Dig down about a foot where the pipes go into the ground. Remove the insulati...
• Article

  the potential damage of ice dams

  Ice Dams are created when heat from the house gets into the attic and manages to melt the bottom of the snow pack. This melt water flows down to the edge of the roof where it is now freezing cold and you get ice dams or ice cycles. Ice dams back water up behind them and this finds it way under ...
• Article

  Pest Control

  Pest control companies generally divide into two categories: insects and small pests that one wants to exterminate; rodents and larger animals that should be captured and released.When store bought remedies fail to work, you need the help of a professional. They will have different chemicals...
• Article

  Melting snow on the roof.

  George from Fort Frances, Ontario has a problem of snow melting off of his new addition. He is trying to pin down the problem because this causes ice formation on the edge of the roof.He had a ridge vent installed, but never checked to see if his soffit vents worked. A ridge vent, without goo...
• Article

  Decks and Stains

  Linda in Oakville has finished a deck and asks Jon about the correct stain to use.Stains are optional and only serve the purpose of changing the colour of the wood. Opaque stains are not made for walking surfaces, they are not durable enough.What is not optional is a water repellent and some f...
• Article

  Ni-Cad Battery Recycling program

  Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries are the most common of the rechargeable batteries.They can be regular looking batteries that you recharge in special charging blocks, or they can be the specialized batteries that you find in cell phones and power tools. Although rechargeable, they eventually ne...