Q&A / 

Beware Egotistical and Closed-Minded Contractors -Nothing But Bad Happens Just three weeks ago, I shared a true story with you about my failed asphalt shingle roof. If you remember, it had a thirty-year warranty and after just twelve years, it began to experience catastrophic failure. Looking back now, I shared the wrong photograph with you. […]

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Asphalt Shingles Curling and Crumbling - How to Prevent This is a true story about asphalt shingles curling. I live in central New Hampshire, and my house was built in 2001. I didn’t build it. The plan was for me to live in this home for just two years while I built our dream home […]

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Davinci Roofscapes Color Fade - Looks More Like Slate I installed Davinci Roofscapes Single-Width Slate shingles on my home during the summer of 2015. I did this just before I wrote my exposé book Roofing Ripoff. I created this post at the bequest of one of my newsletter subscribers who is considering purchasing DaVinci Roofscapes […]

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Your Chimney Might Be Your Roof Leak Location Roof leaks plague countless homeowners each year. Talk to experienced roofers and they’ll be the first to tell you the vast majority of leaks happen at flashings. A roof flashing is a transitional material. It connects your roof to something that’s not your roof. Plumbing vent pipes, […]

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Outdoor Firepit Planning Tips - Don't Get Too Close! Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the eye candy Mother Nature hands out here in the great Northeast USA. Add the fragrant aroma of a crackling outdoor fire feeding on seasoned oak and you have, in my opinion, the perfect outdoor setting. Breathing […]

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Algae, Mold, and Mildew Removal and Prevention - Remove Water & Food Days ago Jerry stopped by my www.AsktheBuilder.com website. He reads my column each week in his local paper and was perplexed by algae growth on the exterior of his home. Jerry hales from Chesterton, Indiana, the gateway to the massive sand dunes at […]

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Repair Front Porch - Mosaic Tile and Concrete Base In the past week, Don asked me for advice. He lives in the extreme northeast corner of North Carolina just 15 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. His front porch stoop is in very bad shape. Back in 1949 when the house was built, the tile setter […]

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Three Season Room Problems - There Can Be Many Not too long ago Philip reached out to me. I’ve mentioned in past columns that each week I solve countless problems for homeowners just like you. For me, it’s similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle or playing the board game of Clue. You present me […]

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How to Make Your Asphalt Shingles Last 50 Years Eight years ago I was in the middle of a roof replacement project on my own home. My thirty-year warranted asphalt shingles looked like they were fifty years old. They were curled, large patches of felt paper with no granules were showing, and each time it […]

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Clay Paving Brick are the Best - Forget About Concrete Pavers If you read my column on a regular basis, then you know about two months ago I touched on the perils of using paving brick made from concrete. That column talked about how those bricks fade in color over time as the thin colored […]

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