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Termite damage a nightmare to fix

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Q: I had a termite inspection done on my home. Now I must find a reputable contractor to do the work. The work to be done is extensive, and I feel it will be costly. The termites have damaged the rim joist, mudsill and subfloor in the subarea. Termite evidence was also noted in the subarea that appears to extend into inaccessible areas and should be treated.

I would appreciate any help that you can give me, as I have no idea where to start. more...

Toilets: the good, the bad, the ugly

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 23, 2008.

Praise to our readers, they've done it again. Last week we wrote about dual-flush, water-conserving toilets when, after returning from a trip to France, a reader questioned why she could not find a dual-flush model similar to the one she used in France to install in her Alameda, Calif., home. more...

Dual-flush toilet sure to wow

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 16, 2008.

Q: We recently returned from a vacation in France. Many toilets had two flush buttons -- one for a small flush and one for a full flush. I thought they were a great idea, as they save water and, when needed, actually clean the bowl; the lack of cleaning action is a common complaint with many water-conserving toilets.

I recently remodeled and could not find any similar toilets at Home Depot or Lowe's. I ended up with something that was satisfactory, but I was disappointed. Are there any dual-flush toilets being manufactured or sold in the United States? more...

Brick foundation prone to fail in major quake

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 9, 2008.

Q: My two-story, Berkeley, Calif., home, built in 1905, is very close to the Hayward Fault. It is lath and plaster with a stucco exterior. The house is U-shaped around a courtyard. There is only one area -- about 20 feet by 10 feet -- under the house that you could call a basement. The rest is crawlspace. more...

Earthquake retrofit begins in crawl space

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

Last week, a reader asked our opinion about insulating his crawl space and doing a little earthquake retrofitting under his home. We recommended that he install batt insulation between the floor joists, retrofit the cripple walls with plywood sheathing to make a shear wall, and put down a plastic vapor barrier over the dirt in the crawlspace. more...

Eliminate heat loss through floors

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

Q: We have a frame house with a stucco exterior. Part of it is over a crawl space about 3 feet high. The house is bolted to the foundation and the exterior stucco covers the walls down to the ground. On the inside of the crawl space, I can see the 1-by-8 redwood backing for the stucco and we have no problems with termites. more...

Best insulation for attic loft

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, August 19, 2008.

Q: I read your recent article on adding insulation to a bare-beamed ceiling and I have a question about insulating the ceiling between the beams.

From what I read, it seems that no ventilation is needed between the roof sheathing and the R-13 batt insulation. Is that correct and, if so, is it because it's a flat roof? more...

Failed drywall tape common on new homes

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, August 12, 2008.

Q: Although my house was built only five years ago, some of the tape has pulled away from the wall. It looks like it is just peeling at the seams. I had a contractor come in with a price and he wanted $950 to fix the problem. He said the original Sheetrock contractor did not put enough mud beneath the tape. He seemed to think it was easy to fix, but the job requires a good deal of prep work. That's the reason for the high price. more...

Window installation done right

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, August 5, 2008.

Q: Whenever I hear some contractor saying residential buildings are built better today than in bygone days, it infuriates me. Take my 10-year-old house (please). I recently found out that all the windows are leaking because the builder did not install whatever is needed to prevent rain from seeping in, and now I can expect dry rot in the framing near the windows. Maybe you could explain how a proper window should be installed so it does not leak? more...

Condo 'passes financing' but is it structurally sound?

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, July 29, 2008.

Often our response to a question posed by a reader triggers another question from another reader on a related but different topic.

A couple of weeks ago a reader wanted to know if it was necessary to have the interior of a condominium inspected before purchase. We encouraged him to do so. That column sparked this question from another reader: more...

Beamed ceilings needn't make life uncomfortable

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, July 22, 2008.

Q: I have exposed 8-inch beams throughout the house and no attic. Is there some kind of attractive insulation I can put between the beams, not more than 4 inches thick, that will give me the maximum amount of insulation with the least thickness?

A: We don't know of any insulation that you can just tack up between the beams and have it look like anything but what it is -- cobbled together. But with a few more steps, we do have a good solution to give you much-needed insulation and an attractive ceiling. more...

Kitchen cabinets make great French doors

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

Q: I removed my old kitchen cabinet doors and bought new ones -- natural maple, RTF -- via the Internet. I am happy with them, but I mistakenly bought two extra doors that are much too big and two doors that are barely too small. I can't return them. So here's what I want to do: more...

Do-it-yourself insulation, mildew repair

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, July 8, 2008.

Q: I have a stucco house built in 1959, and there is no sheathing under the stucco, only 15-pound felt over wire laced between the studs. The stucco is in great condition, but the house, built as a summer cottage, has no insulation. Not only is it cold in the winter, but mildew forms on the walls behind anything near the wall, including furniture and artwork. My questions are:

1. Can we get away with just blowing in insulation, or do we have to install a vapor barrier on the exterior to prevent the moisture from condensing on the interior walls? more...

Do 1980s ceilings contain asbestos?

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, July 1, 2008.

Q: Could you advise about "popcorn" ceilings and whether they have asbestos in them? How do you get rid of them and is it expensive? We are thinking of buying a 1987 house that has these ceilings throughout. Our doctor recommended getting the material tested before stepping into the house. Could you advise us about this matter? more...

Readers sound off on gutter, roofing advice

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.

Our weekly words almost always evoke reader response. Such is the case with our past two columns. Although we disagree with these readers' viewpoints, they contain insights that may be worth consideration.

Concerning last week's response to a reader's question about dealing with a clogged gutter, one reader writes:

I first saw this in Denmark and it is a marvel in its simplicity and functionality. more...

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