Simple Solutions

Pro Painting Tips – Here are five tips for painting a room like a pro: 1) Use a paint roller with an extension handle. 2) Paint from a 5-gallon bucket with roller screen, not a paint tray. 3) Use canvas drop cloths, not plastic. 4) Tint the primer toward the final paint color. 5) Record the paint color on the back of a light switch plate in the room.

Fast Furniture Assembly – Assembling kit furniture often requires the use of a hex-key wrench, also known as an Allen wrench, which is painfully slow. Here’s how to speed up the process: Secure the hex-key wrench in a vise and cut off the shorter end of the wrench with a hacksaw or grinder. Then, chuck the long straight section into a cordless drill. Adjust the drill’s torque setting to the lowest number, and drive in the fasteners in mere seconds.

Straight from the Pro

Tune in to hour 1 when we chat with Gary Grabowski, owner of Greater Home Services in metro-Detroit. Gary is remodeling contractor and Universal Design Certified Professional and joins us to answer this listener question: We’re moving my elderly mother into our home and would like to widen the doorways to permit easier access to her bedroom and bathroom. And because space is tight we’d like to replace the old swinging hinged doors with sliding pocket doors. Is that a good idea and how difficult is it to install pocket doors?

Hour 1

Mark in MO
We have a high output gas range and the microwave range hood is not enough to keep up with the rigors of cooking on this range. I want to install a ducted range hood with adequate cfm but the wall to install it on is an interior wall. My garage is on the other side of it. Was curious how to vent this to the outside and if there were length restrictions on duct work. I would have to run about 25-30ft or so of ductwork to vent it to the outside. Any help is appreciated!

Louise in WI
My house was built in the 60’s and has the three sliding closet doors. They no longer slide properly. They rock on the floor guide and pop off the top rail. The doors have an adjusting tab on the inside of the door, near the rail. I have tried to adjust the tab, but obviously do not know what I am doing. HELP!

George in AL
We have a stilt house that is 13′ off ground across the street from Mobile Bay. I want to know if I should try and seal the underside to keep out moisture or should I use a house wrap to allow it to breath? The floor is insulated and has a plywood covering now but it is starting to delaminate. We had a water leak that has been repaired but have not patched that area yet. We plan to recover the entire underneath area of the house. Any suggestion on how we should handle the moisture control?

Don in OH
I have several cans of latex paint that I keep in my garage, and I’m concerned that the paint may have frozen during a recent cold spell. I brought the paint inside to thaw, but is there any way to tell if the paint is still good?

Hour 2

Shane in LA
On the disposal side of my split kitchen sink water pools up and doesn’t drain until you turn the disposal on. How can I fix this?

Kathy in GA
We had a insulated sunroom added to the back of our house. The exterior wall was completely removed and this room was added. Our house has been very cold since. The walls were insulated with blown in foam and I feel this was done very well (the kind that is sprayed in and then hardens). About a year later, we had a patio added outside this new sunroom and while busting up remnants of an old patio with drills, dust kept coming in at the base of the walls. I think no insulation or caulking were done before a 6 inch baseboard and floor molding were added. Air can be felt all along the baseboard area. This is a 20×20 room and it would be too expensive to remove/replace the baseboard and floor molding. The house is built on a slab as is the new addition. There is concrete siding on exterior walls. My question: Can we use the spray foam underneath the siding at the base of the sunroom to insulate it? We plan on adding decorative rock around the very bottom to cover where the concrete meets the ground as the former owner had done around the rest of the house. We thought this might help insulate that area before adding the decorative rock. Would this work or is there something else we could do to help insulate that area? No hopes of contractor returning, he took his money and ran!

Leonard in AR
Our bathroom cabinets are about 15 years old. They are a dark stain and show some wear and there are places where the stain has flaked off. What are your suggestions for renewing them? I’m open to trying to re-staining them or maybe painting them.

Cheryl in NH
My husband and I are considering taking up carpet on our staircases and converting to wood. The problem is there are 2 landings (second and third floor) that are also carpeted. The first floor has narrow light hardwood. Is this a doable project for people who have done small jobs for the past 30 years? Usually with help from my dad who recently passed away. We are very driven but a little nervous. Please offer your words of wisdom as well as tips. We need to do it ourselves due to cost of such a project.

Keith in FL
The drawers in my kitchen cabinets have wooden runners and they don’t slide very smoothly. Is there some way to attach metal slides to the drawers?

Pam in AL
My bedroom is sheetrocked and the paper tape in the corners and along the ceiling at the tops of the walls have noticeable wrinkles. Can I repair this myself, or must I call in a contractor?

Editorial Contributors
avatar for Danny Lipford

Danny Lipford

Founder

Danny Lipford is a home improvement expert and television personality who started his remodeling business, Lipford Construction, at the age of 21 in Mobile, Alabama. He gained national recognition as the host of the nationally syndicated television show, Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford, which started as a small cable show in Mobile. Danny's expertise in home improvement has also led him to be a contributor to popular magazines and websites and the go-to source for advice on everything related to the home. He has made over 200 national television appearances and served as the home improvement expert for CBS's The Early Show and The Weather Channel for over a decade. Danny is also the founder of 3 Echoes Content Studio, TodaysHomeowner.com, and Checking In With Chelsea, a décor and lifestyle blog.

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