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General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library
Your plan is a good one. I would also recommend turning off the water heater, but don’t drain it. Even if there is a power outage it would take a very long time for it to freeze (longer than most outages) It would also be a good idea to pour a little bit of RV...
Home Improvement Library, Painting, Siding
You can paint anything, but should you? Yes, vinyl siding can be effectively coated with a paint formulated to stick to it, but I do not recommend painting vinyl siding due to the substantial expansion and contraction movement caused by the extreme changes of...
Home Improvement Library, Water & Moisture, Windows
Water Leaks in Atrium Windows The truth is you will need to remove all of those windows, have each opening properly flashed and re-install the windows. New home builders have been incorrectly installing these atrium windows for the past 20 years, and the lack of...
General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library, Remodeling
Here is the Mosby Team’s thoughts on bathtub liners. We prefer resurfacing an existing tub because re-glazing gives the best appearance and looks less like a retrofitted item. Durability is the main concern with this process. It chips much more easily than the...
Home Improvement Library, Painting
You are correct that the discoloration is from the nicotine bleeding through. I suggest you prime all the surfaces with a product called KILZ. It is an oil-based primer that is designed to keep previous layers (be it nicotine, darker paint, or pen and marker doodling)...
Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
Here’s an informative, illustrated overview of tankless water heaters. For any other questions or recommendations about switching over to tankless, please call our office at 314.909.1800 or contact us here.
Cleaning, Concrete, Home Improvement Library, Painting
Yes, the paint can be stripped from the concrete, but it is usually a messy, tedious task with no real guarantee that the concrete will return 100% to its original appearance. The removal process entails application of chemical strippers to the surface and then...
General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library, Remodeling, Windows
Contractor vs. window installer depends on the level of replacement you are searching for. If you are looking to have the windows 100% removed and new full unit windows installed I would recommend a contractor. If you are looking for the more basic window insert...
Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
We love the tankless units. When sized and installed properly they are everything they are supposed to be. However they can be somewhat problematic to size properly and have a high initial installation cost. PRO 1. Only uses energy to heat the water when the water is...
Home Improvement Library, Siding
We do offer installation of all kinds of siding, but our preference is Certainteed Fiber Cement siding. It is similar to Hardie Board but is has a few subtle differences that make us like it a little better than James Hardie. Aluminum and steel siding are good...
Cleaning, General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library
Good for you switching over to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They use 75% less energy, produce 75% less heat and last 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. You’ll save about $30 (or more) in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime. Burned...
Home Improvement Library, Roofing
Applying a new roof over an old roof is considered acceptable practice, but not one that Mosby Building Arts believes in. We are firm believers in removing the original layer, especially if the old roof has issues like you describe. There are 4 reasons why we advocate...
Cleaning, General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library
Liquid Nails and other construction adhesives are very hard to remove, so much so that cutting them off is the effective method. To remove two wood pieces or other construction materials, I suggest you use Windshield Cut-Out Wire (also called music wire), available at...
Cleaning, Home Improvement Library
If the smoke has actually coated the surface with a yellow residue you need to scrub the walls down with TSP “tri sodium phosphate” to clean the walls so paint will go on properly. Also, use a good quality oil based primer on the walls to help hide the outlines of...
Cleaning, Home Improvement Library, Painting
Mold and mildew grows in the water of old latex paint, so I recommend disposing of old paint after 2-3 years even if it seems good. The only reason to keep old paint is for touch up painting. Dispose of the old paint by pouring it over rubbish or trash and let the...