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I Need a What in my Crawlspace?
8 commentsAs he makes plans for an addition to his Connecticut house, RickGreg has been told by the local building department he must install a fan in the insulated, unvented crawlspace. Does this mysterious edict make any sense?
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How to Keep a Garage-Shop Toasty Warm
11 commentsStrawmyers knows all about the misery of working in an icy cold pole barn, and with a new attached garage on the horizon he has a chance for more comfortable working conditions. The question is how much to invest in insulation, and how to heat the space
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How to Fix a Sagging Beam
10 commentsAccording to an engineer's calculations, the built-up beam over pboneox1's kitchen will be strong enough to carry the intended structural loads. But there's no question it's sagging, and that has pboneox1 wondering what, if anything, he should do about it.
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How to Pour a Rock-Solid, Well-Insulated Garage Slab
1 commentCombining strength and thermal efficiency in a garage slab that will carry a lot of weight
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How to Repair a Butchered Floor Joist
13 commentsThere's no question the criticism is often undeserved, but plumbers nonetheless have a reputation for taking a recip saw to studs, joists, and rafters when they get in the way of supply and drain lines. The result, as Tackitybits has discovered, can be tough to fix.
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What's Better: Crawlspace or Slab-on-Grade?
13 commentsA 74-year-old planning a new home in North Carolina ponders the relative advantages of a crawl space and a slab.
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Using Housewrap for Insulation Baffles
3 commentsA bargain-hunting builder searches for an alternative to commercially available insulation baffles for use in a cathedral ceiling. Can he fashion something from a $30 roll of housewrap?
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Should Builders Provide Free Estimates?
10 commentsPotential customers seem to love them, and why not? But pros are divided, some insisting that providing estimates is part of running a business and others just as adamant that would-be customers should be charged.
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Searching for Clues to Wet Sheathing
10 commentsA 6-year-old house on the Washington coast looked like an enviable retirement home, but a closer inspection finds wet OSB sheathing and the homeowner wonders whether the underlayment is to blame.
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What's the Best Way to Install Cedar-Shingle Siding on an Old House?
4 commentsNew shingles are going over the old as part of a lead-abatement program, but the contractor who won the job is using techniques that make the homeowner nervous.
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How to Paint Fiber-Cement Siding
Painter Jim Lacey shares some tips for caulking and painting fiber-cement siding. read more
