Quick Column Summary: Painting tiles to hide grout lines Grout lines may not fill thick enough Easier to replace tile with drywall Stefania, who lives in the wonderful city of Johannesburg, Africa, has a fascinating question: "Hi there! I would like to paint over my bathroom tiles, however I don't want to see the lines Read More »
Quick Column Summary: How to remove adhesive/thinset from brick fireplace Try adhesive removers Thinset must be chiseled off Danielle Torkensen is a new homeowner in Bloomington, California. She inherited a mess where the previous homeowner, well let her tell you: "I am a recent new homeowner & the previous owners messed up our brick fireplace. Read More »
Quick Column Summary: OSB roof boards swelling Pull off or cover over OSB OSB can swell and still be good Question builder on delays Steve, who's having a house built in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has a questionable builder. I see big trouble brewing. "We are having a home built and OSB boards were used for Read More »
Quick Column Summary: Needs a snowblower that can handle ice See the Biggs and Stratton snowblower video Try an electric start Try self propelled Fee Dombrowski, who lives in somewhat mild Bethesda, MD near our nation's capital, needs a snowblower. "Given another El Nino year, I'm trying to beat the snow blower buying frenzy. Any Read More »
Quick Column Summary: Is dust in house coming from ductwork What is creating the dust Most dust gets in through air cracks near doors/windows Denis has a dusty house in California's Central Valley. He lives in Merced, CA. That's a clue by the way. Here's what Denis sent me: "Hey Tim, I have the dustiest Read More »
Quick Column Summary: Screwing cabinets to concrete wall Attach wood 2x4s to concrete Attach cabinets to 2x4s Video link James Toth, who has his hammer out in Bridgeport, CT, is itching to install wood cabinets on a poured concrete wall. Here's what he wrote after watching the video below. Be sure to read MY REPLY Read More »
Quick Column Summary: Need spray painting tips Start with a great sprayer Use top quality paint Practice using the sprayer first DEAR TIM: I've got quite a bit of painting to do both inside and outside my home. I watched a neighbor use an airless paint sprayer and he made a mess of things. It Read More »
Quick Column Summary: Cordless vs Corded tools Lithium ion batteries All batteries are not the same Get well built batteries DEAR TIM: It seems every month there's a new cordless tool. The power claims and run time seem unbelievable. Before I start investing heavily into cordless tools, I'm wondering if you can weigh in. Am Read More »
Last week I was having a rare phone conversation with my editor at the syndicate that distributes my Ask the Builder column. Dave's a great editor and a DIY enthusiast. Somehow the conversation drifted to how he looks for help online to do projects and to help guide him when he decides he needs to Read More »
Quick Column Summary: No one buys paint online Color needs to be seen in person Order from home I don't have a record of when the meeting happened, but my guess is it was 2004. I was in the offices of Miller Brothers Paint in Norwood, Ohio meeting with the owner of the company and Read More »
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