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More stories about FEATURE

  • Hanging Drywall with a Crew of One

    With a few specialized tools and techniques, you can cost-effectively hang drywall by yourself.

  • Fixing a Botched Stucco Job

    Late last year, a couple called me about some leaking windows on the back of their 5-year-old stucco house. My company hadn't built the home; it was part of a tract development in Southeastern Pennsylvania thrown up during the recent housing boom.

  • Stain-Grade Finishing On Site

    Use premium materials and a methodical approach to achieve a cabinet-grade finish.

  • Builder's Guide to Windows

    There are more than 100 million homes and approximately 20 billion square feet of clear-glass residential windows in the U.S. Most of those homes are more than 30 years old, and as a result, the market is growing for replacement windows with energy-efficient insulating glass.

  • Hanging Heavy Doors

    As the punch-list guy for a high-end builder in Osterville, Mass., I end up installing plenty of top-quality solid-core doors. These doors are at least 1 3/4 inches thick and weigh 100 pounds or more, so I have to work smart.

  • Reroofing With EPDM Rubber

    Roll roofing was the wrong material for the flat roof under this second-story deck.

  • Engineer's Assessment of Tornado-Damaged Homes

    As a structural engineer with the APA/Engineered Wood Association, I perform forensic assessments of single- family homes after hurricanes and tornados.

  • Tightening a House When Replacing the Siding

    I don't think my client was planning on an energy retrofit when he first talked to me about repairing and repainting the shingle siding on his 120-year-old Massachusetts home.

  • Open-Joint Siding

    In the Seattle area, where I work, we get a lot of rain. From the mid-90s to the mid-2000s, there were many high-profile cases of water damage caused by improperly detailed siding, mostly on condos and other multifamily housing.

  • Remodeling for Accessibility

    Recently my Chicago-based construction company renovated a second-floor apartment in a 19-story building to make it more user-friendly for disabled and elderly residents.