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Found 66 results for the keyword ‘Damage’

  • Air Spaces in Walls -- Myth and Science -- Overview

      Walls often have air spaces hidden somewhere between the siding on the outside and the drywall on the inside.  Some are accidental -- some on purpose, even code required -- some served a purpose at one time in history but because of the evolution of construction, are no longer useful -- some a...
  • The roof Drip Edge

    Barbara in Montreal had water damage in her bay window area as wind driven rain always found it's way in. Contractor repair bids ranged from $1,200 for a patch to $4,000 for a new roof. A study of the detail where the added-on bay window joined the very edge of the roof showed a flashing flaw tha...
  • Snow and Ice are ripping the rain gutter off of my metal roof.

    Every year the snow and ice slipping down from one of our viewers roofs does great damage to their rain gutters. How to stop it?   POSITION THE RAIN GUTTER RIGHT The rain gutter should be installed a bit lower down so it is not directly in the path of the sliding snow, and the metal roof shoul...
  • Improper power washing can damage the inside of your walls

      More and more people have domestic power washers, allowing them to quickly clean all kinds of things around the house. Of course one of the first things we want to use it for is to clean off the siding on the house. CAUTION -- you all know that you need to be careful not to damage wood or spra...
  • Removing climbing vines from walls.

    An ivy covered wall John from Mississauga, Ontario writes: "We recently bought a house that was half covered in ivy. We didn't like it and we were told to cut the roots and let the ivy die and then just tear it down from the walls. We cut the roots and let the ivy die but we noticed all these li...
  • OVERVIEW: Pyrite

      Pyrite and the damage it can cause to homes is a worrisome and expensive problem in certain areas of Quebec and is affecting property values. So just what is the problem? Pyrite is a mineral, also known as Iron Sulfide or more commonly as Fools Gold for it's looking similar to gold specs in r...
  • When is the best time to walk on a roof to not damage shingles?

    Johanne from Laval, Quebec writes: "Could it be damaging to my new shingle roof to climb up on it in the winter time to install a satellite antenna? If so, what would be the ideal temperature to do work without any damage?"   Aside from slipping on ice, winter is not a bad time to walk on th...
  • Identifying and Controlling Insects

    When faced with an invasion of insects, the first thing to do is to determine if this is a variety of insects that are easy to deal with yourself or do they require a professional. For instance it is important to distinguish between insects that migrate in and out of the house and hence can often...
  • Carpenter Ants & Identifying ants in general

    Carpenter Ants are probably one of the most home damaging insects in Canada and one of the most difficult to control. They don't eat the lumber in the walls of your house; they just dig tunnels through it to make a comfortable living space, but that tunnelling can destroy the structural integrity...
  • Protecting your house from termites.

    Termites and carpenter ants are the two most destructive insects for homes constructed with wood. Termites eat the wood in a home while carpenter ants simply burrow living quarters in the structure.   Both remain connected to colonies outside the house and it is this necessary traveling between y...