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Chris Ermides

Saturday-morning trips to the hardware store with his dad, an accountant who could solder copper pipe like a professional plumber, turned associate editor Chris Ermides onto remodeling and building. After a brief stint as an English teacher, Chris donned a tool belt to pay the bills, but is now glad to spend winters working in a warmer environment. He lives in Beacon, N.Y.

The Rotproof Porch

Water management is the key to keeping a porch standing for decades.
An important update on the EPA’s Lead Certification Rule

The opt-out clause is gone. Learn what you need to know about lead-safe (and EPA-compliant) remodeling, renovation, and repair on pre-1978 houses.
Answers About the EPA Lead Certification (RRP) Rule

Find out what the Renovation, Repair, and Paint Rule mean to you and learn about certification requirements for contractors.
Ask the EPA About the New Lead Paint Remodeling Law

Thanks to the kind folks at the EPA you can now get an answer to your questions regarding the new requirement directly from them (well, through me). So post your…
What a damp basement can do to brick

Some science-savy builders help an editor understand what's causing the base of an old chimney to deteriorate.
Tool-related injuries

An editor shares his own hard-earned lesson on tool safety.
Attention Contractors: Your Lead-Paint Certification Deadline is Approaching

Plan to repair or renovate a house that was built before 1978? If so, you’ll need to follow some new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here's what you…
Exploring the Benefits of Engineered Floor Joists

Choosing I-joists or floor trusses appropriately will increase the design potential and structural integrity of the homes you build.
Why Modular?

An affordable, custom home combines modular units with on-site construction, shedding light on the strengths and weaknesses of factory-built homes.
Fire Sprinklers: Coming to a Home Near You

With a smoking record for saving lives and protecting houses, it’s no surprise sprinklers were adopted into the International Residential Code.