Restore Your Plastic Laminate Countertop

Restore Your Plastic Laminate Countertop After twenty years of soft drinks, coffee and wear and tear, a plastic laminate kitchen countertop can become discolored and worn. Small scratches dull the finish. There may be areas where the laminate is coming loose from the substrate. There are a few different ways to repair a laminate countertop: 1. Repair Laminate […]

Candles, Yes…Soot, No

Candles, Yes…Soot, No If you’ve noticed ghostly smudges and stains on your walls and ceilings, the culprit may be something you’d never suspect: candles you burn indoors. Most candles produce soot, which can create stains on walls and ceilings. Just a few candles burned in a brand new home can leave soot deposits on surfaces. […]

Squeaking Floor? Try This Fix Down Under

Do You Have Squeaking Floorboards? There it is again – a loud squeak every time someone walks down the hall. This may be a good sound for parents hearing their kids coming home before curfew, but it’s really annoying at 3 a.m. when someone’s just making a trip to the kitchen. Floor squeaks are caused […]

How to Paint Over Dark Paneling

How To Paint Over Dark Paneling It may be time for your home to step into some light — literally. Brightening up a dark room or hallway is a great way to enhance the look and feel of your home, as well as save money on utility bills. As you consider painting a dark room, […]

Soot on the Walls

Soot On The Walls What’s with those ghostly gray stains on the outside corners of the ceiling and walls? The stains outline the stud framing, and they even seem darker where there are nails in the drywall. Most ghostly outlines like this are caused by soot in the air. Soot collects at framing, under doors, […]

Squeak, Squeak in the Hardwood Floor

Flooring of all types has the potential for squeaks. Floor framing dries and shrinks, and squeaks occur as fasteners become loose, allowing movement in the subfloor and framing. Hardwood floors are known for this quality as they dry during the winter. Hardwood squeaks have actually been a common problem for five decades — the solution, […]

Paint Over That Water Stain

Let’s say there was a leak in the drain for an upstairs bathroom that left a brown stain on the drywall below. No problem – you painted it with latex paint left over from painting the ceiling, and at first, it looked great. But a week later the stain started to bleed through the paint, […]

Patch the Hole Behind the Door

So the kids had a little shoving match, knocking against the bedroom door, and the doorknob smashed a hole in the drywall. They had done this before but never entirely punctured through the drywall. Those previous dents could be ignored, but the new hole needs to be fixed. Your experience with patching drywall has taught […]

Fix That Sticking Bifold Door

Those lousy folding doors on the closet. You can’t get them open, you can’t get them closed. A bifold door is one that is hinged in the middle and folds to open and close. In most cases, a simple adjustment will correct a sticking bifold door. Sometimes the bracket is just loose and needs to […]

Take a Close Look at Your Chimney

Brick and stone chimneys are certainly attractive and add value to your home, but they aren’t maintenance-free. You need to visually check your chimney and also have a professional check it from time to time. Water, weather, and freezing conditions eventually take a toll, even on stone and brick. From the ground, you can do […]