Mason,

Help! I have planned to remove wallpaper in a small bathroom today while my husband takes our three children to a football game. I have done this before and generally know how to do it, but it isn't going well. I have scored the paper and am using the DIF wallpaper remover. I have covered it with plastic bags to allow the remover to soak into the paper prior to scraping. It isn't coming off and I fear that there is a coating on the paper. Do you have any suggestions?

Sara in Richmond

Sara,

A mother of three should not have to remove wallpaper. I take it that you are much less of a sports

I am quite certain that all of our readers have seen an article on this at some time or another.  Every source will have some different “take” on it.  So here it is from this contractor’s perspective.

 

First, let me say that my firm does NOT try to be everything to everybody.  Just because it’s a repair or remodeling job, we don’t necessarily think we should be your contractor.  We’re looking for a “good fit” between us, our prospective client, and the project and process they have in mind.  I think that the client should be looking for the same.  If everyone is honest with each other in that

Dear Mason,

Seriously ready and eager to put a large addition onto our late 1970’s rancher…. Should we build up or build out? Is a second story addition far more expensive to engineer and build than a first floor expansion? Does building up add more value in the long run or is every house different?

Tracy B, Ashland, VA

Tracy,

When it comes to the expected magnitude of investment for remodeling and additions, it most often holds true that simpler = less costly. In that regard, you should know that the conditions of an existing house, and how those might work with the requirements of a particular

I just received this inquiry from old friend and fellow remodeling professional Janver Holly in California:

Dear Mason,

I have an 1860’s house on a wood foundation. Over time the wood around the perimeter has rotted. I suppose this is because the outside of the building gets wet from weather and irrigation. The floor and floor supports are fine, just the lower part where it touches the dirt is gone. Underneath the house it is bone dry and the wood supports are perfectly preserved. The net effect is that over time the outside walls have drooped a couple of inches while the core of the house has

We live in an age of information overload – supported by expanding traditional and electronic / online media.  Direction and data on all things is available at our fingertips, or otherwise unavoidably thrown at us from all angles, typically in flashy “bites”.  Everyone that has cable or a computer with an internet account has the opportunity to become an “instant expert”.

 

I work in a traditional field – one that, since ancient times, has its product delivered by the toil of artisans and craftsmen.  Compositions of “sticks and bricks”, ultimately creating one of man’s most basic needs –