Tips & Techniques

The best way to check or to adjust a level for plumb is to compare it with a plumb line. It can, however, be frustrating to position a level accurately…

Although roofing isn’t one of my favorite tasks, I appreciate a straight, well-installed job. But my eyes aren’t what they used to be. These days, it is harder and harder…

Every year, people who have battery-powered smoke detectors in their homes are put at risk because the batteries die and nobody bothers to replace them. I think it’s because the…

How to improvise without a store-bought paint shield.

We’ve been invaded by thousands of ladybugs this year, and the cracks between the logs of our 150-year-old cabin allowed them ample entry. While filling all those cracks with 35…

One side of our two-bowl kitchen sink clogged recently. I really didn’t want to take the trap apart to fix it, so I dug out the plunger. It didn’t make…

During a recent remodeling project, we had to put a new floor over an old ceiling. The cramped quarters made it impossible to swing a hammer from below to bring…

Many people in this part of Canada do not have pressure-balance shower valves (the kind that prevent scalding). So I often am called to replace single-handle shower valves with the…

Bruce Guertin’s tip Short-point measurement is great for odd-angled miters. But for the most common 45° miter, I simply hook my tape over the long point of the miter, then add…

If you are putting siding on a new building in an area where rain is frequent, you may find your newly sided lower walls spattered with mud after every shower.…