Other stories by Figure 1.

• Supporting a Wide-Span Floor With Structural Steel

  Sculptural steel columns and beams turned a two-car garage into a two-story living space

• Tool Test: Door Planers for Door Hangers

  A good fence, versatile controls, and a long base for controlling snipe are key.

• Lessons From Florida's Hurricanes: Why Stucco Walls Got Wet

  Designs, methods, codes, and workmanship all played a role in Florida’s soggy storm experience.

• Replacing a Leaking Chimney Cap

  Built with concrete rather than mortar and detailed to shed water, this chimney cap should outlast the chimney beneath it.

• Tool Test: Paper-Collated Clipped-Head Nailers

  The best guns are compact, have built-in rafter hooks, and won't fire when empty.

• New Life for Old Kitchen Cabinets

  A kitchen remodeler tells how he determines if cabinet refacing is a viable option, and how to ensure professional results.

• Helical Pier Foundations for Problem Sites

  Where space is tight or soils are unstable, building on helical piers can save time and money. A Colorado remodeler who specializes in room additions explains.

• Rooftop Decks for Coastal Homes

  Building a deck over living space can be a tricky proposition. An architect and builder describes his method for suspending the deck framing from parapet walls, above an EPDM rubber membrane roof.

• Building Stone Arches

  A veteran masonry contractor describes how he built a series of stone arches below a wood-framed terrace.

• Practical Engineering: Load-Tested Deck Ledger Connections

  Virginia Tech researchers report the load test results of four ledger-board-to-band-joist connection details.