Trim Fix

On occasion, a carpeted floor or an old floor with several layers might be removed, leaving the door casings short of the new floor. A small gap might be tolerated if caulked, but anything much more than 1/4" can be a real problem. If you find yourself in this position, consider adding plinth blocks to the bottoms of your casings. These blocks were standard trim in many older houses and can be found in many home centers today. Just set the block on the floor next to casing and mark the casing at the top of the block. Cut the casing off at the mark and nail up the plinth.

- Stephen Corwin

New Trim For Old

Bead board was commonly used on many older homes as soffit material, wainscoting or around pantry walls. It looks great to me. While this material is still available, it is often not in the budget for many folks. Recently bead board plywood has been showing up at lumberyards and home centers. This product is more affordable, goes up faster, and when trimmed out, looks just like the real thing.

A Parts Holder

Sometimes half the battle in soldering is getting things to stay put, especially small electrical parts. Here's an idea: Find some clay and mold it around the parts that need to remain in position while soldering.

- Stephen Corwin

Spring Leaks

Depending on where you live, it might be snowing or raining, but spring is often a wet season and sometimes some of that wet ends up in the basement. While there are many solutions to this problem, it is best to cover the basics before resorting to more drastic (expensive) measures.

-Check to see that the grade around the building slopes away from the foundation.

-Make sure that downspouts direct roof water well away from the house.

-Keep your gutters clean. If your gutters are clogged, the water may never make it to the downspouts.

-Consider any changes around your vicinity, new construction nearby or major changes in ground level that may affect water runoff.

- Stephen Corwin

Winter Cracks

Wintertime is when a lot of painting gets done, at least the interior type! While many folks don't think there is ever a good time for this task, the heating season affords us one opportunity we don't get in the summer. As your skin and nose dry out, so does your woodwork and cracks show up when the house is at its lowest humidity levels. This is a great time to caulk cracks so they won't come back. Use a good interior latex caulk to fill all those cracks around the woodwork before you paint and you probably won't see them again.

- Stephen Corwin

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2002