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Found 144 results for the keyword ‘Walls’

  • What is a "drainage layer" for a window installation?

    Janice from Thornhill, Ontario writes: I'm having some wood/fiberglass windows installed and would like to know the product you recommend as the moisture barrier between the outside capping and inside insulation. Your website recommends installing such a barrier but no specific product is mentio...
  • Insulating problems with historical buildings

    Hello Jon I am the chairman of a church committee with the task of raising money, and doing the admin. for the restoration at St Andrew United. My concern now is the proper procedure to fully insulate the Church. I am alright with the Attic as well as the crawl space, however I am pondering the...
  • Fire Safety & Installing Wood Burning Appliances

    Wood heating appliances get hot -- that's why we use them -- but they also burn down houses.  They are only safe if you install them safely.   -- Let's start with the fascinating process of how wood burns; -- and now let's see how that process can happen inside your walls or floors near woo...
  • Important precautions for installing large tiles

    The world of tiles is changing rapidly.  Twenty years ago we generally had a range of tile sizes from 1 ft x 1 ft down to tiny mosaic tiles.  This made tiling relatively simple because slight changes in the flatness of the surface could be adjusted for at the next grout line.  In fact that is...
  • Straightening 2x4's in a stud wall

      When you build that basement wall with economy lumber, and one stud is just not flat with the others, there is a way to fix that quickly to end up with a flat wall.             IDENTIFY THE BULGING OUT SIDE OF ANY STUD Then in the middle of the bow, saw cut about 2/3rds of the way ...
  • How do you keep stains from showing through paint?

    Wendy wants to clean years of nicotine off of her walls and repaint.   GENERAL GRIME First, the best cleaner for any paint preparation is TSP, Tri-Sodium-Phosphate. There are now some more environmentally friendly "TSP Substitutes" available on the market as well. If no stain is left, use any ...
  • Retaining Walls and Frost

    Hi Jon,  I have a driveway retaining wall that continues to be pushed by the ground, even though it is backed by gravel and drained to "nothing under the driveway" except crushed gravel. I realize proper drainage affects this somewhat, however would prefer not to cut open my driveway, sidewalk a...
  • How to install an electrical box where there is no stud.

    To see all of this on video visit the Drywall section of the Learning Curve. When you need to install an electrical box in a specific location and there is no stud to attach it to, we call that ReWork -- getting a box in where it is impossible or difficult to attach to a stud.  Most electrical b...
  • How to move heat from a stove to other rooms.

    Jon in Winchester, Ontario has a free standing natural gas stove and wants to get that heat distributed to the rest of the house.  First, what not to do Do not try to put a grill in a return air duct of a forced air heating system over the stove as you see in the photo, especially forbidden fo...
  • Peeling paint on a foundation wall.

    Michele in Hamilton, Ontario needs to repaint her cinder block walls on the outside of the basement. But a close look at a photo that she sent us showed a lot of deep holes or pock marks in the blocks. Not only the paint was peeling off, but the block itself was breaking off.  This is a sign o...