Ask the Experts

Get the answers you need to get the job done right. Home-building and remodeling pros and industry experts answer your questions about construction details, materials, tools, building codes, and more. Email Fine Homebuilding at [email protected] to have a question considered for publishing in the magazine.

Finish Fix for a Varnished Door
Expert wood-finisher Peter Gedrys offers advice for maintaining and refreshing aging spar varnish on an exterior wood door.
How to Insulate a Floor over a Crawlspace
Use a combination of batts, continuous rigid foam, and a vapor barrier to safely insulate this tricky space.
Seal an Unused Fireplace
How to keep a rarely-used flue from wasting energy and making your home drafty and uncomfortable.
Why Are There Dry Joints in My Brick Walls?
A historic-preservation expert suggests possible purposes for an intentional gap between interior courses of brick.
Re-side Over Lead-tainted Siding
Covering old siding may be the simplest way to deal with toxic paint–plus it could be an opportunity to add exterior insulation.
Use Spray Foam to Stop Register Grilles From Sweating
Our resident energy nerd suggests that a lack of air-sealing and insulation may be the cause of condensation around air ducts in a cathedral ceiling.
Reroofing Over Zip System Sheathing
You'll need to install an appropriate roofing underlayment over the sheathing.
Is the Paper on Drywall Different by Region?
A homeowner wonders why local contractors say he needs to skim coat the entire wall, instead of just taping and sanding the joints, to get his wall smooth.
Purging Air in Hydronic Heating Lines
After adding new sections of baseboard to a heating system, how to you bleed air from the boiler?
What is Causing Mold on My Cathedral-Ceiling Boards?
I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest, and I recently noticed what looks like mold on the cedar boards of my cathedral ceiling. It appears to be between a couple…

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