We have a house that has a daylight basement. The basement walls are cement blocks and we're wondering if it is strong enough to hold a full second story or if we have to go through the hassle of raising the house and putting in a new foundation like I have been told I will have to do by two different contractors. They have never answered my questions about if I can test the strength of it.
In our Washington, D.C., neighborhood, the basements were originally treated for moisture with bituminous asphalt. I've read that polyurethane is the right product to use now. I'll need a few coats of painting to do the basement right. Do people still use asphalt?
We're remodeling our Oakland, California, kitchen and want to paint the floor. It's covered with really ugly and scuffed sheet vinyl. Painting is a cheaper alternative than laying a new surface. But there are a few sections that seem to have sunk down. Does it make more sense to take up the entire vinyl to level the floor for painting or just put in a new surface?
One of the four stacked cabinet drawers in the kitchen has either hopped the track or the track of the glide roller is busted. It won't pull all the way out no matter what I do. I've removed as many screws as I can from the track without any luck. I don't want to damage it further. Any suggestions?
I'm a little confused about the tier system for getting warranties on new kitchen cabinets. Some are for a year, then five years, then 10 years, and then lifetime. Any decent set of kitchen cabinets should last ten years. Right? Why would I choose a warranty under ten years?
When we installed the skylight in our Atlanta sunroom, we used a flashing unit that came with the kit. Now the skylight leaks onto the sunroom flooring. I checked for drips from condensation, but it seems more like a structural problem with the room. I don't want to check every shingle on the roof. Can you recommend an affordable fix?
I have a two story house with a ridge vent on top and gable vents on both sides of my house, the house was built in 1988. I am having a problem with the upstairs staying hot during the day so I started to investigate. I noticed that there are no soffit vents anywhere around the house. My question is with existing gable vents will it be ok to install soffit vents around the house to get better ventilation and take advantage of the ridge vent or will it affect it in a negative way?
I like the simplicity of a drop-in sink since it would be easier to install than the other models. We're remodeling the kitchen and my spouse wants an under-mount. She hates the idea of food getting trapped in the edge of the drop-sink we have in the kitchen now. Can you find under-mount sinks that are comparable in durability as a drop-in?
I live in Cleveland, Ohio, and would like build a two-car garage with a small apartment above it behind my house (there's already a driveway in place) for my mother to live in. I'm imagining a garage of about 22' x 20' with approximately 400 sq. feet of living space on top. My partner and I had a well-regarded garage contractor (Angie's List) give us a guesstimate of $80,000. Another contractor would not give us an estimate, but insisted we needed an architect in addition for the apartment design and suggested we ask him how much it would cost. Doing casual internet searches I've found that $80,000 is on the high end of normal. Without going too cheap or cutting corners, what is your estimate for the least we can spend to build?
The windows are embedded in the poured concrete foundation. I have removed one of the widows and the opening in the foundation is 31 1/4 in. wide by 21 in. high. The height is not a problem. My problem is that all of the windows that I have seen in stores are 32 in. wide. Will I have to order special or are there 28/29 in. wide windows out there?
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