Are Metal Roofs the Answer to Climate Resilience?
It is well documented that the number one insurance claim resulting from a major wind, hail or wildfire is the roof of a home.
Where Are All Those Shut-Offs?!
A question from a reader who has been following my recent group of columns on insurance made a comment about a home preparation list she found for emergencies.
How Building Technology and Regulation
We offer an hour-long presentation for service groups, municipal organizations and trade associations on housing and the climate crisis.
Hiring a Contractor?
When I started writing this column nearly a year ago I anticipated a lot of basic home project questions, I was wrong.
Window Shades That Help Buildings Stay Cool Naturally
It is no secret that we are going to see another El Nino this year with temperatures projected to reach previously unheard of record highs. Most predictions say it will
Residential Plumbing Explained
I chuckled a few weeks ago when I got this question “Why do plumbers always look stressed out?” I had a plumber I know quite well at our home recently helping me
Foundations & Flood Safety
For the past two weeks I have been answering a three-part question from Tammy, a reader in Western Canada. We have covered renovating and restoring
Planning a Basement Renovation?
9 Steps to Consider When Renovating Your Basement. If there is one sentence I heard during my contractor days it was “Damn, I wished I had planned for that!” and
Basements!!!
I have often been asked, why do we even have basements? The largest single reason: frost. If our homes are not based upon a solid frost-resistant foundation they will shift, crack, settle and move in wondrous ways, demanding repairs at often great expense. The other benefit from earlier times, the cold cellar was necessary for preserves and other food storage to get through the winter.
Haze-Free Haven
It’s no secret that summer and wildfires have become two words that are connected in conversations today. An area as big as New Brunswick has burned so far this year in Canada,