Hello, I have an old house and the floors are a little bouncy and squeaky. Upon inspection, I noticed that the house doesn't even have plywood subfloors, but rather has 2x6 boards on top of the floors joists (which are 3 1/2 feet apart). Can you tell me how to make my floor stop being cricketty? I can feel the 2x6's bowing when I walk on them.
I want to use a energy efficient light bulb to replace a 100 watt bulb, what should I use?
I want to install some new floors in our kitchen , which currently has a linoleum on it. Can I leave the old linoleum in place and install the new flooring directly on top of it? (The linoleum goes under the kitchen cabinets) Ideally I would like to install some sort of engineered hardwood or some tile. Is this possible, or do I have to tear up the old linoleum? Thanks
We recently bought a new house and want to remodel the unfinished walkout basement. If we act as our own general contractor, which is a logical order to do the needed work. Also, what features are most desirable for resale (gym, home theater, office,etc)?
A structural engineer has indicated that I need to replace part of my basement wall due to water damage, bowing and cracking. The house was built in 1924 and the concrete used back then is full of sand. The basement floor is dry, but the basement support wall is buckling. We need to either shore it up or tear it apart from the outside, and repour concrete using rebar reinforcement. The section of wall is about 36-40 sq feet and is in a corner of the basement. My question is generally what does this cost for this size of a job? How long does it take? What are the inconveniences to the owner during the repair process?
My roofer quoted me x to do a roofing job along with a porch, we knew there would be rot, especially in the porch so we padded a few extra grand. Now he has finished the porch and says he miscalculated and the price is almost doubled for the remainder of the roof. What type of recourse do we have?
I would like to replace the wood columns with a different material like concrete (or something durable). My porch size is about 12x12 feet. I'm not sure about the column height, maybe about 15-20 feet. Do you have a ballpark on how much this will cost?
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?
We're doing our kitchen remodeling and I've ordered a farmhouse sink. It's not a custom sink. So I wonder if the manufacturer or retailer can provide a template to put against the kitchen wall to mark location for drilling holes and mounting. Is this customary, or do I have to make my own by tracing the sink?
One thing about having shingles in the Northwest is that you have to get out the bleach a lot to knock down mold. We paint every other summer, but now it seems a lot of boards and shingles are damaged. I've heard there are also mold problems and warping with siding. Which is more cost-effective?
