House Renovation Tips

To reduce indoor pollution from insulation, plywood glues, gas stoves and oil-fired furnaces in a highly insulated house, it’s a good idea to ventilate the home during the day or install a heat exchanger. A heat exchanger will transfer the heat from the warm indoor air you are exhausting to the cold fresh air you [...]

Tracking Basement Leaks
Traces of water on your basement floor could be caused by a leak or by condensation. To determine which, dry the area with a hair dryer and tape a 1-foot square piece of plastic wrap on the floor. Wait 24 hours. If moisture forms under the plastic wrap, then the source of your [...]

Perforated plastic drainage pipe, embedded in a gravel trench at the footing of a foundation wall, drains water away from the foundation before it can build up pressure. Before filling the trench, line it with filter fabric to keep fine soil particles from clogging the drain gravel over time.
Retrofitting foundation drains is a grueling job. [...]

These float-activated pumps push water out of your home. You place them in a small well, called a sump, usually at the lowest part of your basement floor. As water fills the sump, the float rises and causes the pump to work until the water level drops again. Submersible models can be placed in the [...]

Most domestic water in the U.S. and developed countries is safe to drink. Large water companies, both public and private, must frequently test the supply. They also must send the results to you each year, so you can learn about what you’re drinking. You’ll see data on mineral content, plus how the water measures up [...]

If you smell the garlic-like odor of leaking natural gas or suspect a gas leak, take the following steps immediately:
1. Get everybody outside and open the doors to ventilate the house.
2. Do not light any matches or lighters, or flip any electrical switches. The resultant sparks could ignite an explosion.
3. Turn off your home’s gas [...]

Follow these precautions from the Environmental Protection Agency when you work with pressure-treated lumber:
1. Dispose of treated wood by ordinary trash collection or burial. Treated wood should not be burned in open fires or in stoves, fireplaces, or residential boilers because toxic chemicals may be produced as part of the smoke and ashes. Treated wood [...]

Selecting good lumber for outdoor construction is a bit like buying meat. Beef comes from a steer but is sold as steak or hamburger. Lumber pieces are graded by quality and cut into different sizes, too. Just as you need to know what kind of meat to get for a recipe, you’ll need to determine [...]

Solid-core doors are quite heavy, and you can strain your back moving them around. Always try to have them resting on something other than your body.
Most door hinges have removable pins. That means you don’t have to remove the hinge screws just to get the door off. To remove a door, close it and [...]

Extension Cords
Keep your use of extension cords to a minimum. Match any extension cord to the cord you will be plugging into it: two-wire lamp cord for lamps and small appliances, heavier three-wire cord for large appliances and power tools.
Never plug a grounded cord into a two-wire extension cord, run any cord through a wall [...]