Twin peaks (and dips)

Identical homes compare energy-saving measures

It looks like a scene from the movie Pleasantville dropped in the middle of Ottawa's National Research Council campus. There are two family homes, complete with lawns and driveways. But no one lives here -- these are labs. Built by Minto almost . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Trim adds touch of splendour

Panels an affordable way to transform tired rooms

I have wanted to give my kitchen cabinets a facelift for a long time now. I'm trying to decide whether to trim them out in a Shaker-style cabinet or whether to add decorative trim to the middle of each door . . .

Posted: 2009-01-24

Hiring a home inspector makes sense

Question: I’m actually in Edmonton, but I can’t find any other person to get advice from. I hope you can help me, or help me find another source. We took over a 26-year-old house this past winter and the sump pump . . .

Posted: 2016-05-21

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Stick to your guns about isolating teleposts

QUESTION: I am having a house custom-built with a piled foundation and supporting teleposts on piles as well. I have asked the contractor to place isolation or slip joints around the teleposts to ensure the floor can move independently from . . .

Posted: 2011-06-11

Home projects to get you ready for fall

There’s still plenty of time to cross projects off your summer to-do list. According to HomeAdvisor data, homeowners commonly start these projects around the beginning of September: Decks and porches: Between foot traffic and sun exposure, your deck can take a . . .

Posted: 2018-09-08

Window Replacement Essentials: Tips from the Pros

Due to harsh winter weather, high-quality windows have become a necessity for all residential applications in Winnipeg. Frosty Canadian winters require a lot of thought invested into the window replacement process, which involves a lot more than simple knowledge on . . .

Posted: 2018-11-27

Lots to attend to in winterizing your cottage

Question: We are in the process of getting our cottage ready for installation of a water cistern, in order to have year-round water. We have had the cottage raised and leveled professionally, and a pony wall installed around the entire . . .

Posted: 2017-11-10

No moisture issues with painting subfloor

Question: What are your thoughts on painting a structural plywood subfloor over the crawlspace in our new home, so that we can use the space for now and finish it properly in a couple of years? Any potential moisture-related harm . . .

Posted: 2017-05-20

Building a deck in a day

Ground-level job challenging, but quick

The ground-level deck is often thought of as the easiest of decks to build, however, it is the proximity to the ground that makes the engineering of the deck’s support system more challenging than that of a deck built with . . .

Posted: 2021-08-07

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Insulating chimney area an important task

 QUESTION: We live in a storey-and-a-half wartime house, which is not insulated behind the knee walls upstairs. Four years ago we completely gutted the upstairs and added one-inch spacing next to the roof for air movement, then added fibreglass insulation . . .

Posted: 2009-12-19