DEAR TIM: I read your column each week in our paper and a few weeks ago you talked about building stairs for a deck. I can handle that but am worried about how to make all the complex cuts required for the deck stair railing. I realize you can’t provide step-by-step directions in the space […]
DEAR TIM: How can I match the stucco finish on my eighty-year-old front porch? I tried using white Portland cement and buff sand, but as you can see in my photo, the results are atrocious. I added some dry cement pigment to try to get a match and it just didn’t work. I noticed the […]
I'm getting ready to leave for church in about 30 minutes and wanted to give you some great information to SAVE YOU MONEY. I just finished writing a column that's going to appear in Newsday, the newspaper many on Long Island, NY get. But you get a SNEAK PEEK at it first. Why? Because I […]
I did two exciting things in the last few days. First, I did some Fall cleaning of the subscribers to this AsktheBuilder.com newsletter. If you're reading this and seeing it, that means you didn't get put into the rubbish bin (RB). To ensure you get the newsletter when it comes out, it's important for me […]
Tim Carter here, founder of AsktheBuilder.com. Can you please help me? I just need you to do two simple things. Step One: If you're reading this in a PREVIEW window of some email software, *PLEASE* open this email and read it normally. Don't read it in the Preview mode. Step Two: I need you to […]
Jackie wrote to me: "I have a dishwasher that is not secure in its spot. If I pull both trays out at the same time it almost tips over. While I had a plumber here for something else I had him look at it and he said it needed to be secured with screws into […]
DEAR TIM: I need to build some simple outdoor steps to replace ones that fell apart and rotted, even though they were made with treated lumber. I’m fairly handy and have a decent grasp of the math but would love some tips to get professional results. I’d also like to prevent the new steps from […]
Months ago, I decided that this was going to be the Summer of Fun. I had grandiose plans about working less, spending more time kayaking, doing outdoor amateur radio, etc. Instead, it's become the Summer of Deck. I've been working on rebuilding two huge decks at my house as well as completing a new deck […]
DEAR TIM: The brick in the front of my home have been flaking off. This is a southwest-facing wall. Can you tell me why this is happening? Is there a way to repair the brick? What can I do to stop any further flaking and damage? Was the wrong brick used to build my home? […]
Disaster Plan This column is a departure from my normal question and answer format. You can thank the editor of a large East Coast newspaper for the inspiration. She asked me to write a special column about preparing for storms, but she resisted doing a survey of her readers to see what information would best […]
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