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I've done a lot of remodeling, especially tiling. Not a pro, but decent. Problem is I'm old, tired and poor! :) My son and his wife have a small, very modest house they want to sell. Kitchen floor is currently a worn-out sheet of vinyl. Normally I'd pull it up, then backerboard and tile...

My daughter and son-in-law just bought a 1954 ranch, full basement with most of the ceiling drywalled. Older tub and fixtures. No pop-up stopper so I imagine it's a lift bucket set-up. The drain trip lever moves up and down very grudgingly. I managed to get the tub to hold water, then had a...

My house just went into contract, contingent on a home inspection. New addition, new kitchen and bathrooms, new breaker box, new 3-slot outlets in most of the house. In the older part of the house there is a total of 14 older 2-slot outlets. We’ve always just used 3-prong grounding adapters...

I’ve got an old 3-season porch, about 12’ x 12’, on a slab. Windows across the top part, 26” of the exterior bottom is half-rotten wood siding. I tore this siding off, decent 2” x 4” framing underneath. If I added some cripple studs to the existing framing, say every 12”, then stapled on some...

Well, not quite, but sometimes it seems that way. I posted about this last year. Carpenter bees have infiltrated my cedar shingles. They make small round holes: the woodpeckers who prey on them make baseball size holes! I ordered some powder online, I'm treating the holes, but it takes time...

A neighbor just gave me about 500 older concrete pavers, pretty generic, 2 3/8" x 6" x 6" originally from HD. They're putting in a pool. I'm going to throw down a little gravel and sand, make a little area in back of my place. Looking for a no cost/very low cost way to cut the suckers. I have...

I live in central Ohio. Last year my wife and I bought a small 1950's ranch-style house, exterior is painted cedar siding. At all the corners I started seeing small round holes drilled in the wood. At first I thought termites, but after some research I realized it was carpenter bees, and then...

Grrrrrr! Man-oh-man, I was never very good at this and I seem to be getting worse! Ceramic tile, quartz countertop. Blue-taped both sides of the joint. Using siliconized acrylic caulk because I thought it would be easier than pure silicon. OK up to the point where I pull up the tape. That...

New disposal in new sink. Got everything in OK up to here. Last couple of steps: "Hang disposer by aligning 3 mounting tabs with slide-up ramps on mounting ring. Turn mounting ring until all 3 mounting tabs lock over the ridges on the slide-up ramps." Just can't get the 3 tabs to engage! Very...

Countertop installation crew in our new kitchen yesterday, installed quartz countertops. Everything OK except for the undermount sink. Completely skewed, way different-size border on all four edges. My wife did not notice it until this morning. We are calling the company this morning. I know...

1. After the disposal is hung and all three mounting tabs are locked over the ridges on the slide-up ramps, can the disposal still be rotated into the proper position? Or does that have to be determined beforehand? 2. Can the dishwasher high drain loop be mounted on the back of the sink cabinet...

I’m replacing my old kitchen cabinet, the sink and faucet. The new sink is a single bowl with a garbage disposal. The drain is a floor drain through the cabinet bottom, at the very back of the cabinet, offset a few inches to the right. There is an existing vent coming in at the upper back...

My wife and I just got some new dark stained kitchen cabinets, we’re very disappointed in the “fragility” of the finish. I’m thinking of applying a clear protective coating to them. Planning to brush the cabinets, remove and spray can the doors, a few questions. 1. All we’ve used so far...

Remodeling our small kitchen in our little 1958 ranch house. Of course, nothing is plumb or level. Got the floor tiled, not perfect but pretty darn level. Got the wall cabinets up. Working on the floor cabinets: the countertop company is coming on Thursday to laser measure a template for...

Man I hope I haven't screwed up on this one! I'm having Sears deliver a new refrigerator tomorrow. They sent me an email reminder, also said to make sure I've checked the dimensions. Duh! I hadn't. The doorway--after removing the door, all weatherstripping, both side stops--from casing to...

Replacing a kitchen sink. Got a 1 1/2" Fenco flexible coupling to join the old copper drain pipe to some new PVC. It says to torque to 60 in. lbs. All I have is a little hand socket driver. In general, is 60" lbs. snug, tight, very tight, cranked to the max? :)

Tiling my kitchen floor, pretty basic 11’ x 20’ rectangle. Got the backerboard down. Still not perfectly flat, of course, would like to find the high point and start tiling there. Don’t need SLC or anything like that, just need to find that point . Can’t afford any expensive laser levels, etc...

1. Going to do a lot of tiling, will be mixing a lot of thinset: need plenty of torque at low speed. 2. Reasonably priced (around $100???). 3. I'm not a pro, won't be using it day in and day out for years, but would like it to last more than an hour!:) TIA

Installing a new Leviton 50A surface mount outlet for a range. Went to a local electrical supply place, got 8/3 W/G NM-B. Did not realize until today that except for the ground, the other 3 wires are stranded rather than solid. Is this the norm? Will it work? The outlet says "wire size range...

Considering this little unit from Vacmaster: https://www.vacmaster.com/model/vf408b Anyone familiar with it, have any input? TIA.