Mason:

My husband and I have recently moved to an old townhome on Church Hill.  We have numerous windows in the house with cracked glass that we'd like to fix.  Problem is, the glass people we've talked-to cannot match our old, wavy glass.  It's either "perfect" new glass, or a fake-looking reproduction.  We'd love it to be the real thing - what should we do?

Liz S., Richmond, VA

Liz:

Actually, you have plenty of options, if you know where to look.  Local architectural salvage yard Caravati's (http://www.caravatis.com/) has a stock of authentic salvaged antique glass panes, which may be cut to

Mason:

Here's one for you ... how do you fix a leaking window - in a stucco / concrete block house ... that comes somewhere from the wall above (appears above the window), but only when raining from a certain direction ... which no one else can isolate??

In addition, if this is helpful info to know or not (?) ... we also had the entire front face of the house re-painted with 2 coats of a professionally recommended "rubberized" paint that was supposed to give and expand better with the severe high temps we sometimes have here ... the thought supposedly was that it would help fix it by

Mason:

A plumber was recently at my home to repair our malfunctioning water heater.  He replaced something (a rod?) and everything seems to be fine.  He did tell me that we should FLUSH our water heater more often.  WHAT?  I have never heard of such a thing.  Is this for real??

Rob M., Chesterfield

Rob:

Yes; this is one of those home maintenance routines often unknown or overlooked by most homeowners.  Although not quite as simple as flushing a toilet, you can, and should, flush your water heater regularly.  (What does that mean?)  Depends on the quality of your water supply and age / condition

  Dear Mason,

I am updating my kitchen, but want to avoid replacing the cabinets for cost reasons.  The present cabinets are in pretty good shape, but I don't like the appearance.  They're 1960's or 70's knotty pine.  I would like to paint them white.

One painter that we had look at the job told me that the paint might not stick to the old cabinets and that the knots will show through the paint job.  I have heard of painting old wood cabinets before; how should it be correctly done?

Debbie K.  Madison, WI

Debbie:

Cabinet refurbishment often includes partial replacement with factory-finished doors

Mason:

I have a pair of wood French Doors on the exterior of my 25-year-old house, that have rotted over a number of years.  The bottoms of the doors are deteriorating, as well as the wood frame and moldings around the door.

I see that these are pretty expensive to replace; is there any way to repair this mess?  They are not leaking, but it looks awful!

Bill S.  Richmond, VA

Dear Bill:

Take heart that your situation is not at all unusual.  I see this problem on a regular basis.  If the French are conspiring to destroy a piece of the American housing stock, at least they are supporting the