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Q. Does composite trim have to be prepped and primed like wood, or can it simply be painted? And what kind of paint should I use?
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Q. I'm rehabbing an old brick house in Charleston, W.V. I want to insulate the exterior walls, which are balloon-framed with 2x4s, unsheathed, and finished with brick. There's a 1- to 2-inch air space between the 11/2-story-high frame wall and the brick siding, and a weep system at the base of the...
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Q: Can the roots of a tree actually dry out the soil beneath a foundation enough to cause the concrete to crack?
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Q: The federal stimulus plan's energy tax credits for insulation are based on the 2009 IECC, which raises the wall insulation requirement for climate zones 5 and 6 from R-19 to R-20. To meet this requirement, the R-value of the cavity insulation must be at least 3.63 per inch. Does this mean that...
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Q: After replacing both a condensate pan and a pump, the plumber fixing my client's leaky air-conditioning coil finally determined that the problem was actually in the condensate drain. The drain's small trap was clogged with a mucuslike substance; unclogging it was a simple repair that took just a...
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Q: When I-joists are cantilevered over the foundation wall rather than directly supported at the sill plate, can a deck ledger be safely attached to the engineered rim joist?
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Q: The manufacturer of the glass tile my client chose for her shower recommends that it be installed with modified thinset mortar. But Schluter, maker of the Kerdi waterproofing membrane I typically use, specifies unmodified thinset mortar for both installing its membrane and setting tile. Does...
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Q: Recently we contracted to do a house with precast foundation walls that were set out of level - up to 3/4 inch over 30 feet, in some places. What's the best way to shim and air-seal the mudsill?
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Q: The stucco siding on my client's recently remodeled home has developed some small cracks. My stucco sub wants to patch them with plastic stucco cement and then prime the walls with latex mortar primer, but I'm afraid the problem will resurface. Is there a better way to fix hairline cracks?
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Q: We installed untreated cedar shingles on the exterior walls of a vacation home in central Maryland. Now the owners are complaining that squirrels are eating the new siding. And the squirrels really are eating it - they're not just trying to get inside the house. Is there anything we can apply to...