Picture Molding
When looking closely at the walls in certain older homes, libraries, or schools, you might notice a thin strip of wood running along the top part of the wall—just a few inches below the ceiling. It doesn’t look like much at first. It’s not a shelf. It’s not a decoration on its own. But it […]
What Is The Difference Between ‘Joint Compound’ & ‘Plaster’?
If you’ve ever helped with home repairs or watched someone fix a wall, you might have heard the words “joint compound” and “plaster.” While they may seem similar – and some folks do use them interchangeably – they are actually quite different. Both are used for building and repairing walls, but they have different materials, […]
What Is The ‘Cleanout’ On A Chimney Used For?
A chimney is an important part of a home that often has a fireplace or wood-burning stove associated with it. Chimneys help carry smoke and gases safely out of the house. Over time, ashes, soot, and debris can build up inside the chimney. That’s where the ‘cleanout’ comes in. The cleanout on a chimney is […]
Best Way To Paint A New Steel Door
If you have ever installed a new steel door, you may have noticed that the manufacturer tends to make quite clear that the warranty on the door is only good if the door is properly painted within ‘X’ time after being installed. This is great, except for the fact that they do not teach how […]
How To Get To Hard To Reach Spots
When I started LOPCO Contracting in the 1990s, I was your typical teenager with a “no fear” mentality in approaching things. One of the more famous examples of this is a picture of me standing on my tippy toes, on one of the last rungs of a 40’ ladder, fully extended off the roof of […]
The Dangers Of Improperly Done Metalwork
Across the trades there are various skillsets which not only are lacking in their overall availability, but are creating a bit of a crisis in many areas. For example, try to find someone to correctly replace a cracked stained glass windowpane. Or attempt to find someone with the skillset to not only properly cut, tuck, […]
Is Vinyl Planking REALLY Waterproof??
Perhaps one of the more interesting conversations I have with our floor install techs are those revolving around vinyl planking and its use in areas where there is a good chance that they will be exposed to a fair amount of moisture after installation. I make no secret of the fact that in these particular […]
Aluminum Rail Systems
If you are thinking about either adding or replacing a rail system on the outside of your home, there are quite a number of options to choose from. While you may think of wood, wrought iron, or composite rail systems when exploring this topic, one option that is not thought off as often but is […]
What Is A Barn Door?
Sometimes there are solutions that exist for our home improvement dilemmas which may not be quite thought of right away. One of these such solutions is the idea of a barn door setup. Barn doors are one of these types of products that are typically custom made and are a super cool option for interior […]
What Is The Best Way To Match The Exterior Color On Your Home?
There are a number of reasons why we match paint colors on the exterior of our homes. Sometimes when painting the entire exterior of our home we want to paint it the way that it was previously painted. Or maybe the whole home does not necessarily need to be painted, but a part of it […]
