Faith James has a nice home in Dallas, Texas. But now there are some ugly dark stains coming down from the roof onto her stucco. Here's what she sent me: "Hi, Tim, After snow and rain I noticed black streaks down the front of my stucco home, coming from either the roof or the gutters. Please Read More »
DEAR TIM: I purchased a piece of property that has a 150-year-old garage in bad shape. It's got a dirt floor. The roof is shot. It leaked so badly that in some places the wood roof sheathing is completely missing. The rafters that support the sheathing seem undersized and are not rotted for some reason. Read More »
I was invited to visit the Briggs & Stratton world headquarters in Milwaukee, WI on April 17, 2015. This visit was shared with all my subscribers in the April 24, 2015 AsktheBuilder Friday eBlast. The day was filled with meetings, testing of their new products and a short tour of their amazing museum of original Read More »
Bruce Helm plans to build a deck at his home in Louisville, Kentucky, but he's got a problem or two. He needs a material list and he's never built a deck before. There's an old saying, "You don't know what you don't know." Here's Bruce's request: "I am building a deck on the front of my Read More »
Do you live where hurricanes come ashore? How about tornados or flooding? What happens if your house burns down? Do you have insurance to cover yourself in case your home is damaged? Are you SURE you have enough coverage and what exactly is covered? Do you think it's possible to be out of your home Read More »
Jane Theobald has a roof leak around her pot or turtle vents. She needs to repair them before it rains again in Omaha, NE. She also has some professional advice for me. Here it is: "I have water leaking in from the peak of my roof. The turtle or pot vents are installed really weird and Read More »
Peter Zawisha is getting ready to put in a new asphalt drive and he wants to prevent cracks on the sides of it at his home in Hardyston, NJ. Here's what he told me: "I'm having driveway redone. Should I install 4x4 or 6x6 pressure treated lumber to help keep the asphalt stay tight together? Or Read More »
Concrete is simply artificial rock. If it's mixed, placed, finished and cured correctly it can last 100 or more years. If your concrete steps, walkways, patios, etc. are crumbling, you may be able to repair them with traditional products and methods or you can choose from some modern materials. Often concrete deterioration is just a Read More »
Old Man Winter finally got up and went home. This past year, he reminded me of that family relative that still is sitting on my couch at 10 pm on Thanksgiving, not knowing it was time to leave a while ago. With warm temperatures and favorable weather here, it's time to get started on some Read More »
Ron wants to pour a concrete patio and wonders about proper support so it won't crack. He's doing this work in cold Fonthill, Ontario Canada. Here's what he told me: "We had our basement (block) waterproofed from the outside one year ago and have sandy soil. The area we are looking to do is 10 x Read More »
Subscribe to the FREE Ask the Builder newsletter to receive professional advice for your home. Complete the form below and each week you'll get:
Unsubscribe at any time. We respect your email privacy.