Home Repair & Maintenance

You finally completed the kitchen countertop project. You installed new laminate countertops, a backsplash and knobs on your kitchen cabinets. Everything is perfect except for the silicone caulk...

When performing maintenance in and around your home, you may find it extremely difficult to drill and insert screws into some areas of the house because there are obstacles blocking you from...

The circulation of air throughout a house also causes the circulation of other things. Dust, dirt and mold spores get pulled through the ventilation system when the heat or air conditioning is...

Removing window glazing is not difficult, but doing it incorrectly can cause some trouble. Both common removal techniques have some dangers---heating the old glaze could cause a fire while...

Installing a new laminate counter top can change the look of your kitchen. Most of the job is straightforward and easy to do. However, when you are faced with the task of cutting a large hole in...

Moisture buildup in a crawl space can be problematic. Crawl spaces are dark and often have poor ventilation, so moisture creates an ideal place for mold to grow. If you have a lot of standing...

Mold is a fungi that grows on just about anything, including stone. Mold thrives in areas that are damp, humid and sheltered from sunlight. Mold can particularly thrive on the underneath side of...

Wiring a garbage disposal is similar to wiring other appliances; once you have wired one appliance, others come easy. Today's garbage disposals are easier to install and include helpful manuals....

The ideal conditions for mold are moist environments and cool to warm temperatures. Certain places of the home, like the bathroom, make for a place where mold will easily grow. Luckily, there are...

If the glaze on your bathtub has worn off and needs to be repaired and reglazed, you would do well to study the steps before beginning this project. Though the work of bathtub reglazing can be an...

Mold may appear on the outside of your home's walls if they are consistently damp due to rain, excessive shade or high humidity. Green mold may be indicative of Cladosporium, Aspergillus or...

Standing water in a crawl space can cause all sorts of problems. If left for long periods of time, mold may start to grow, and wooden structures will begin to rot. It can also attract termites and...

If you're new to woodworking, using a table saw with one blade may be intimidating enough. The thought of stacking several blades side by side and flipping the switch could be terrifying. It...

A creaking floor can be a giant annoyance to many homeowners. Most of the time a creak does not indicate a major problem. A creak is typically caused by a loose nail rubbing against the wood or...

Copper develops a protective light green patina over time when it is left outside. This is why the Statue of Liberty, for example, is green rather than bright copper in color. The patina is...

If you have aluminum siding on your home, chances are you will have to remove and replace a section of siding at some point due to rust or wear and tear. Instead of replacing entire sections of a...

Depending on the structural requirements for an addition that you are attaching to an existing foundation, you may need to thicken the concrete wall before either continuing on to build your new...

Freeze-thaw cycles, tree roots and age can all eventually cause spalling or cracking to a concrete driveway. Such damage poses a risk of injury to anyone walking on the uneven surface and also...

Initially, installing wallboard can appear intimidating, but there are various techniques in the cutting and installation process that can alleviate your fears. The key to properly installing...

Whether you want to set up an in-house network for gaming or you intend to hook up all your home computers to a central Internet connection, you will need to start with wiring. The Ethernet cable...

Old, dried glue can be one of the most challenging substances to clean after. When it dries onto a surface, a bond is created that can be a difficult to remove. Glue residue is especially...

A manufactured house is a house that is built at a factory. Usually these types of homes are delivered in sections and set up on foundations at the delivery site. The manufactured home is not the...

Much of the heat in homes is lost through windows that are not well insulated or taken care of properly. There are many ways in which you can make sure your windows are ready for winter....

Although wood flooring is typically easier to clean and can add value to your home, there are a few drawbacks to the floor material. For one the wood can endure scratches and other damage, either...

The pop-up drain in a bathroom sink allows you to hold water in the sink basin by pulling up on a stopper lever to close off the drain. If your pop-up drain is no longer functioning properly and...

Termites are one of the most feared insects for a homeowner. They can burrow deep into the wood frame of your home without your knowledge and can cause serious structural damage. If you stay...

Stainless steel sinks are probably the sturdiest of all sinks and if cleaned properly, can look great for a long time. Scratches are inevitable in a stainless steel sink with prolonged use, but...

Whether you're looking for greener ways to clean your home or just don't want to be exposed to harsh chemicals, unclogging drains can be accomplished with a few household items. Combining vinegar,...

Power washers (or pressure washers) are excellent tools for maintaining the exterior of a home, boat, or car. A range of surfaces can be power-washed, from wood and vinyl, to aluminum, asphalt,...

Removing a dimmer switch may sound like it's a more difficult job than removing a standard single-pole switch, but the two jobs are in fact identical. Each switch has a hot feed, a traveler wire...

Well-maintained tile floors add value to a home. Tile is a versatile product that is available in a wide range of colors, textures, thicknesses, styles, patterns, finishes and materials, including...

If you're tired of stray animals nesting underneath your house, maybe it's time to seal up your crawl space. Cats and rats, possums, raccoons, and ringtails can all make a nuisance of themselves...

Laminate flooring is an increasingly popular choice of material to finish a room. Its variety of looks and options combined with the ease with which is can be installed by even amateur...

Tile floors are durable and often expensive. If you live in an older home, it is likely that at some point you will have a loose floor tile. If you purchased a newer home and it has loose tile,...

If you have made the decision to refinish your basement, the renovations probably include the installation of a new carpet. In order to prevent moisture and mildew from penetrating the carpeting,...

Floor drains are installed in basements to help prevent standing water and flooding. A floor drain will usually be a grate several inches in diameter. The main function of floor drains is to drain...

Basement leaks cause mold and mildew in a house and ruin valuable items stored there. They are caused by constant water pressure building up on the foundation of the house until it finds a way...

Installing a bathroom sink drain valve is great way to improve the look of an old sink. Bathroom sink drain valve installation kits include everything needed for simple installation. Once you...

If your commode or toilet is constantly running, it could be wasting water and costing you money. One possible cause of this is a faulty fill valve. If your fill valve is bad, you'll need to...

Every homeowner with a tile floor dreads the thought that at some point a tile in the middle of their floor may become damaged. But, things do get dropped and a tile will break---usually in a very...

The bathroom is a private place for many people, a spot where they can relax and unwind from the day. But part of that privacy comes from an exhaust fan, which not only helps to vent away any...

A full refinishing job on a hardwood floor is a huge, difficult project that will have your house caked in dust and fumes for a week. It's not something you want to undertake just for the sake of,...

Calling a professional to replace a few bricks in the exterior of your home can be an expensive endeavor, especially considering it is something the novice can perform on his own with some...

Bathrooms are one of the most common places for mold to form, because of the lack of air circulation and consistent moisture. This is especially true if you do not have any windows or a vent to...

Engineered hardwood flooring is made of real wood. Usually, the plank has 1/16 to 1/8 inch of finished wood on top of plywood. It is not as expensive as solid-wood flooring and can be used in...

Welding, brazing, and soldering are the three methods creating a sealed connection between copper pipes. The intense amount of heat needed to weld copper pipes makes it difficult to perform...

Repairing a tile floor by yourself is not only cost-friendly, but it takes less than a week to complete. Instead of paying for a repair crew, handle the task yourself. It really only requires...

Whether you have a new driveway or an older one, sealing it will make it last longer, look nicer and protect the surface for years to come. Sealing the blacktop should be done annually for the...

The light in a refrigerator is controlled by an interior switch. Sometimes, when the light is not working, the problem is not really with the light; it turns out that the cause may be the switch...

Some kitchens are designed with counters that do not run all the way to the wall. Whether this is part of a purposeful design, allowing for access to a garbage can or other items, or because the...