Canadian Homes and Cottages Question of the Month

I don't know of any easy way to do this. No matter how careful you ar...

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

We have tile board on our plaster bathroom walls. How do you remove it without destroying the wall? Also, the people who lived in the house before us painted over the beautiful natural woodwork at least twice. We consulted someone, and they told us we'd be better off buying new framing. I would really love to keep the integrity of this 1920's home. Can we remove most of the paint with a heat gun?

When a structure is heaving, it probably has moisture in...

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST

The cold room in my 1955 house is located under the front concrete steps. The foundation is block; the exterior is parged, and the interior of the cold room appears to have been painted. I am noticing an inward heave in the cold room, and on the exterior steps, there is a vertical crack on the parging (where water must be getting in). What is the best way to repair this damage? Do you recommend removing the concrete steps and blocking off the cold room from the rest of the basement? Or is there another alternative?

Sounds to me like you have constructed a quality railing. You may want to c...

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

My husband recently added a rail to our cottage deck. It is constructed of eastern cedar, and we applied a generous coat of Thompson's water seal. My husband is concerned about the exposed tops of the upright 6x6 posts. He would like to cap them but does not like the look of most post caps. He is thinking of some sort of was coating. Do you have any good alternatives?

Some things are best left to professionals, and foaming the main walls in y...

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST

It would be beneficial for a lot of low budget do-it-yourselfers to find and work with foam insulators. I have not been able to find anything like that in Canada, although I have seen Mike Holmes talking about it. My idea is to drill holes into the drywall and inject foam between the studs.

ICF Block can be covered with a number of products such as traditional or a...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

I recently built a new home on the lake. The basement was built out of ICF blocks. The top half is vinyl, and I don't know what to put on the bottom part. I don't know what the Styrofoam can or can't handle.

The good news is that the flooring under the tiles is hardwood. If I were t...

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

I would like to restore the original hardwood floors throughout my home. There is one room where ceramic tile was placed directly on the wood floor without a sub-floor. Can you recommend a way to remove the tile/mortar without damaging the wood? I would love to keep the original wood floor in that room. Please help!

The question is an excellent one as this style of driveway is certainly goi...

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST

We were wondering about the pros and cons of a green driveway. Our asphalt one needs to be replaced and we understand there are different products available for growing a lawn or ground covered driveway. Besides having to mow and water them, could you use a snow blower in the winter, and are they expensive to install?

If your hydrangeas are perennial varieties, you should remove the dead bloo...

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

I have five hydrangeas in large planters from last year. They still have the old flowering heads. Do I cut them or pull them off? Also, I kept geraniums from last fall in a basement over the winter. Will they come back?

We are in a new house that is only four years old, and there is serious erosion from downspouts draining from houses on either side of use. How do we repair the erosion?

If your floor grout is dark, it isn't as necessary to seal it to resist lon...

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

Is it necessary to seal after grouting? I had my kitchen floors tiled, and some of my friends are telling me that I need to apply a seal.

I do think that dual flush toilets are a good thing. I have one in my own h...

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

My father is currently in the market for a new toilet in the main bathroom. The existing one is over 40 years old (13 litres). We are dumbfounded by the specifications, features, and products. Our main question is what are the main benefits of dual flush 250ml, 600ml, 1000ml flushes? Do they provide the savings the manufacturers claim? Is water saving the only true benefit? My father and I are the only ones living there.

Mid-efficiency furnaces are being phased out in Canada by law at the beginn...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

I'm thinking of upgrading my furnace to a mid-efficiency furnace and maybe central air. I asked my local supplier if it would be possible to keep my standard furnace and add ductwork or just blow it directly into the basement. I have two reasons for this. Firstly, my house has the master bedroom in the basement, and it gets very cold. We'd rather not overheat the upstairs to achieve an even temperature in the basement. Secondly, we were thinking that having the basement at a higher temperature during the day would enable the floors upstairs to be warmer. What do you think of this plan?

The discoloration you see is typically caused by various fungus or algae gr...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

I built our family home in 1995. There are eight planes that make up the roof. About 60 per cent of the roof is a slope of 6⁄12 and the remainder is 12⁄12. On two of the 12⁄12 sections there is dark streaking forming. There are a number of trees in our back yard. The roof is dual grey 25-year, three-tab shingles. I have noticed that dark streaks seem to be common on grey roofs. Will zinc strips under the ridge capping help? Any other ideas?

If you are referring to the ecoEnergy Retrofit for Homes program provided b...

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 EST

I was considering having an energy evaluation on my home but my house is not that old, is it worth having one done?

I don’t think you need to leave your fridge running all the time - yo...

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EST

I go to my cabin for three to four days at a time, then go home for a week, then come back again. I take my food in a cooler with ice packs, turn on the fridge when I arrive and turn it off again when I leave, taking the perishables home with me. Is it more efficient for the longevity of the fridge to keep it running during my absences?

A metal roof will provide you with great longevity, but it often comes at a...

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EST

I have a 50-year-old cottage in Halliburton County. The original roofline was not very steep, so the second owner put on a steeper second roof, placing fibreglass bat insulation directly over the original metal roof. Now the time has come to replace the shingles.

There is some indication of sagging so I may have to replace the roof sheathing and some of the roof joists. While I have it opened up, it seems like a good time to re-insulate. The space between the two roofs is the only attic space I have, as the ceiling of the cottage follows the roofline and is pine board - which I don’t want to lose. The space varies from a couple of feet at the peak to a few inches at the eaves. What kind of insulation would be best for this kind of a situation? Is it worth looking at steel shingles for the roof?

I’m getting bored of blinds and curtains as window treatments – what are the alternatives?

I really like the idea of green power, but how easy is it to have a small wind turbine installed on your property – or solar panels fitted? And which would make most sense for me (I live in London, Ontario).

Fans come with varying abilities to draw air out of your home, this vari...

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

I would like to install a fan in my second-floor bathroom. What’s the best way to do this?

You seem to be afraid of colour and making the wrong decision. Don’t ...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

I’m really clueless about what colours match – I bought some really nice light blue bedding a year ago, but I still haven’t opened it as I don’t know what colour to paint the walls! Can you help?!

Firstly, make sure the exterior of the cottage is in good shape. Fix any ho...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EST

We are first time owners of a summer cottage. We don’t know the first thing about closing it up for the winter. What should we do to protect it from winter damage?

Security Window Film is a tried and true deterrent against a ‘smash a...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

I want to secure my windows, but I don’t want unsightly bars. Do you have any suggestions?