Many Canadians buy land in small rural areas for a cottage or a retirement home. Generally these are friendly areas where you feel comfortable. But there are rules and regulations, costs and personal politics out there. Are you ready to deal with small town City Hall?Click the first audio butt...
BP and IKO have had problems with some organic base (felt) asphalt impregnated shingles. There are class action suits against them in both the US and Canada.
The advice from my roofing specialist:
"Whoever claims they have a legitimate complaint against BP or IKO should go at it alone and not j...
Note: There is one important exception to all the pollution control described below. The Montreal by-law states: "Authorizing the use of all solid fuel-burning devices during electricity outages that last more than three hours." (but you must keep your fireplace and chimney clean and in good ...
Underground tanks are banned
Many years ago we buried oil tanks in the ground. Think a minute about how bad an idea that was. When a very old tank developed a leak, we never knew about it and it just leaked oil into the ground for years, creating quite an environmental problem. That is why it is...
Ultra Soft -- the Montreal store that still solves LAPTOP problems
I keep finding myself going back to the first laptop store in Montreal, now a tiny basement workshop at 16 Westminster Ave in Montreal West called UltraSoft. After all the big stores and websites have stolen away the market f...
Copper is a trusted and proven piping for residential water systems. For years people have been interested in one form or another of more flexible plastic or mixed metal/plastic pipes that could be snaked through a house with fewer joints and easier installation. Unfortunately there have bee...
For the first time in history most Canadian National Codes are free.
As of April 2019, the NRC is offering free access to the downloadable and electronic formats of the National Building Code, the National Fire Code, the National Plumbing Code, and the National Energy Code for Buildings, as w...
