Fire blight disease slowly winning the battle

I receive hundreds of questions each year from readers, clients and those who visit my website. Here are two questions that keep popping up:Question: In the past few years, you have commented and described the symptoms and control of fire . . .

Posted: 2015-05-23

Mini-mansion

Grand-scale furnishings in tiny bachelor apartment win award

Ryan Townsend broke every rule about design and yet managed to win over judges in a national design contest. The 30-year-old's chic apartment in Esquimalt, B.C. won Best Small Space honours in an annual contest held by Canadian House & . . .

Posted: 2011-06-11

MIKE HOLMES: Ensure home is sealed against windy blasts

IT'S the middle of hurricane season: Earl has just made its way up along the East Coast of North America, and more storms are expected before the season ends in November. Hurricanes bring strong winds, heavy rain and the possibility of . . .

Posted: 2010-09-18

Bedevilled by bushes

Porch project got a tad prickly

A dilapidated front porch in need of a facelift nearly led to adventures in bushwhacking when I had to work my way through foliage that had overgrown in recent years. Although the homeowner prepared the porch by removing the old . . .

Posted: 2025-09-06

Sound advice

Safe, sturdy trees offer peace of mind

It is not uncommon for me to receive inquiries that begin with: how safe is my tree?" Assessing the health and potential problems with a tree is not an exact science.One can observe the health of the leaves (during the . . .

Posted: 2016-09-03

Maintenance matters

Keep on top of your home to avoid future problems

Throughout our lives, we spend significant time thinking about where we want to live, dreaming about what type of house we would like to own and imagining how we would furnish it. But many of us don’t focus on how . . .

Posted: 2016-07-23

Be careful when building tree house

Tree house not worth risking life and limb

The article on tree houses that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press on April 20, 2008, covers the technical aspects of building the structure reasonably well. What about the living tree? The advice about removing dead limbs and keeping the . . .

Posted: 2008-04-27

Solariums simply additions like any other

With summer winding down, some homeowners might be looking for ways to keep the sun shining in their homes through the winter. One option is building a solarium. But you have to be careful, because with so much glass you . . .

Posted: 2013-09-21

MIKE HOLMES: Making wrong situation right with contractor

You've hired a contractor for a three-month renovation. Two months later, your home still looks like a demo site. The contractor tells you the renovation is actually going to take six months to complete. And the kicker? He's going to . . .

Posted: 2012-03-24

These kitchen design choices will never go out of style

If any room in our homes got a workout last year, it was the kitchen. Cooking and baking were popular for both practical and relaxing reasons. All that time in the heart of the home got some of us wondering whether . . .

Posted: 2021-01-09