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Found 80 results for the keyword(s) ‘Renovation’

  • Article

    Moisture problems with a new roof over an old roof.

    Dan from Winnipeg, Manitoba writes: "We have an older manufactured home with a basement. Years ago a new roof was put on top of the existing one. It is post & beam with trusses, sheeted in with shiplap and a metal roof put on. The problem is the original metal roof now seems to sweat in th...
  • Article

    Discovering a power chisel

    Some tools go un-noticed on the hardware store shelves, like the rotary hammer chisels. At first glance this appears simply to be a heavy duty hammer drill. It has a special quick change chuck called an SDS system and will only work with drills and other accessories with the special SDS shanks....
  • Article

    What should be done with walls full of wood chip insulation?

    Tim from Timmins, Ontario has a 2x4 constructed home with wood chips for insulation in the walls. He wants to know if he can leave it there and insulate over the wall on the inside or should he tear it all out?Wood chips do insulate but only at about R-1.4 per inch. Fibreglass is 3.5 per inch a...
  • Article

    Is there a calculator that can calculate board feet? - Yes

    Several times I have been asked this question, so I hunted around and found a wonderful little calculator which can do this and much more.It is called Project Calc. It is a regular calculator. Then it is a special calculator that will add, subtract, multiply and divide inches, feet and fraction...
  • Article

    Can you stain existing tile grout?

    Good questions, since we are usually trying to take stains out of grout.First you should be aware that you can purchase coloured grout. The renovation stores will have three or four base tones to choose from, not too exciting. Go to a speciality tile store and you will discover a wide variety o...
  • Article

    What happens when laminated floorings get wet?

    Any wood product will expand when it gets wet, some worse than others. Today we have a wide variety of wood or wood like flooring products.Massive HardwoodFirst you should understand that even massive hardwood, if allowed to stay wet or overly humid for too long will swell up and potentially buc...
  • Article

    A look at a bad roofing job and how to hire a roofing contractor.

    Annie has three roofs on her house, a shingled roof in the front part followed by an asphalt and gravel flat roof and then an elastomeric membrane flat roof over her back porch. They all seem to leak. The asphalt roof is only six years old, installed by someone who advertised in the local paper...
  • Article

    Re-surfacing Melamine Furniture

    Before looking at resurfacing laminate furniture, I gave a small suggestion that a face lifting could be as simple as changing the door and drawer handles. If you haven't visited that isle at the renovation centre lately, you should stop by for a look-see.You can paint the plastic surface. Firs...
  • Article

    Ceiling Fans and ceiling moldings

    John in Scarborough wanted to put a ceiling fan above his stairwell, but the existing electrical outlet was not in the middle. He tore the whole ceiling up (attic insulation and all) to manage to move the box over to the middle.We talked about his project and then I showed him the new light weigh...
  • Learning Curve

    Oscillating Tools

    <-- video list on the left Oscillating tools were developed in Germany by the FEIN tool company as an auto body tool designed to cut, shape and sand sheet metal and plastic.   By the time it got to North America they had begun to add some wood cutting blades and in the last couple of years it...