Ada Wilhelm has a gorgeous rectangular tile floor in her house in Hernando, FL. She wrote to me with a very simple question: "How can we darken a grout that is too light?" Well Ada, I'm wondering why you want to lighten it after looking at the photo you sent below. The grout, to me, looks […]
Joseph Gulaskey has to wait and wait for hot water to show up in his faucets in the winter. He lives in North Huntingdon, PA where it can get quite cold. Here's what Joe sent me: "During the winter months and having an unheated cellar, I have my hot water lines covered with polyfoam insulation. With […]
Joanna Davis seems to have hired a contractor that has a suspect plumber who goofed up her pot filler faucet. This happened in Greenville, South Carolina. Let her tell you the facts: "Each time I turn on my pot filler, I have to empty the first two pots of water as they smell like oil and […]
Theresa Jordan lives up in a suburb of Chicago, Arlington Heights, IL. But she's got a very big problem with backflow valves in her sewer line that are now creating backups in her home. She can tell the story much better than I can. Here it is: "Where I live, we have combined storm and sanitary […]
Alice Happel might live in a high-rise condo on East Wacker Drive in Chicago, IL. I only say this because I've stayed in a wonderful one owned by a friend of mine, Dave Wiener, on that street next to the Chicago River. Wowza did it have a great view! Alice, though, has an undermount sink that […]
DEAR TIM: My husband and I are doing a bathroom remodel. The biggest change is the bathtub. The builder put in a smallish tub and I’m now going with a luxurious soaking tub. Our house is on a slab. Are the tub drain holes, the one at the bottom and the one higher up the […]
DEAR TIM: I embarked on a simple caulking repair around my bathtub that's now turned into a quest. While pulling out old caulk I discovered loose tile. After removing four rows of tile up from the top of the tub, I then was met by a crumbling wall surface behind the tile. I took out […]
Christie is remodeling her bathroom in Monroe, CT. She's conflicted about how to attach the toe strip on top of her laminate flooring. "I recently painted my ceramic wall tile with a tub and tile paint by Rustoleum, and installed vinyl plank flooring in my bathroom. I have quarter round to match the flooring for the […]
Ade lives in cold and snowy Chicago, IL. All of a sudden his plumbing fixtures stopped working correctly. Here's his story: "I had a leak around my plumbing vent repaired last year and the roofer put a cap (see picture) on the vent. I started having problems with my 2nd floor toilet and later with both […]
Dylan, who hales from Southampton, England in the UK, has an issue with grout in his toilet. "I have a clump of grout in my toilet bend which a dumbhead tiler poured down my toilet last night and it's set. What is the best way to remove it? I have a grout remover and was thinking […]
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