“Ideas from Ed” (September 2020) Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: Quit dribbling Last month’s article was on replacing a frost-free yard hydrant. Most folks will likely only have a more typical attached-to-the-house “hose bib” faucet for outside water. This month’s article covers the steps to repair a leaking, dribbling faucet. While this is an extremely basic repair, it’s still one that m

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: Hydrant woes I know you all think I must dream up “jobs to do” to write these monthly columns, but I assure you, they are just documentation of projects I’m routinely working on. Some are more suited to “restoration and preservation” while others may just be “how I did it” stories. This month is probably the latter since many readers won’t have a yard hydran

“Ideas from Ed” (June 2020) Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: A simple step In my part of the world (western PA), many houses have basements, and some even have direct access to the basement from one or more outside doors. This month, I’m showcasing my repairs to a seriously ugly old concrete step, crumbling from poor construction, wear, and exposure to the elements. (Actually, I repaired th

“Ideas from Ed” (March 2020) Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: Sometimes Paint Prevails Gee, I really hate painted furniture. A recent issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, on the cover, featured a small table with one side wood, and the other side all painted up with decorations. I thought, “Great! They’re going to show you how to strip that ugly paint off and return the wood appearance.”

“Ideas from Ed” (November 2019) Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: I’m FLOORED! Folks, if you’re working on a true historic house, then this article isn’t for you. However, if you need to install a quick, easy, and functional floor covering, this may interest you. In my particular situation, I was asked to get rid of the “peel-n-stick” 12” x 12” floor “tiles” in 2 small rooms. One is a kitch

“Ideas from Ed” (October 2019) This month: The hole in the wall Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. I remember, while growing up, fighting with my sister about which of us was to put away an ironing board. As we grappled over it, it fell and one foot went right through a wall. Mom and dad weren’t very happy. If I knew then what I know now, I could have fixed it as good as new! If you have real plaster-on

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Everyone understands that a shingled roof won’t last forever, and most folks know that often a 2nd roof can be installed over the first one. (You shouldn’t put more than 2 layers of shingles on, however, because the weight is tremendous, and most building codes won’t allow it!) I’m also talking about what most of us call “3-tab shingles” and not “dimensional shingles” wh

“Ideas from Ed” (July 2019) Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month: PBR (No! Not Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, but polybutylene repair) Hi, folks! This month is another “quirky” edition of my “ideas” column. It’s not a common issue for many of you, but I’m addressing a specific question posed to me by a reader: What do you do with polybutylene plumbing? Polybutylene (PB henceforth) was the “PEX” of its

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. No matter how your porch was built, or how old or new it is, it should shed water. Many of the old-timers, who seem way smarter than we are today, cared less about how a porch with a slope looked than how water ran off of it. All you need to do is look at some old, well-built porches, and you can see the disparity between the handrail/banister (level) and the porch walki

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This is another one of my sagas that’s not really a “restoration” project, but showcases one way to fix an ongoing issue and go a bit high-tech. The problem is that sooner or later, every hot water tank will need replacing. It might have a crusty anode rod and doesn’t work like it should, or the bottom is rusting and leaking, or need some replacement control that’s made

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Sometimes you just plain need an electrical outlet in the darndest place. Of course, it would be wonderful if every wall would lend itself to fishing wiring through it, that there would be a good source of power somewhere nearby so you don’t need to tear too much apart, etc. Other times, there might not be much you can do other than run wiring along a wall, disguising it

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Howdy, do-it-yourselfers. The title of this month’s article really should be COUNTERflashing, but that didn’t seem like quite as much fun. Counterflashing is the more-or-less permanent metal attached to a house wall or a chimney, and under which step-flashing is used when installing roofing material. (Perhaps I’ll write more on step flashing in another article, another

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Hello, fellow do-it-yourselfers. I thought I’d show you this month how I saved a sink that most would have thrown away, and you can do the same thing! Here’s the patient: Actually, I did 2 of these, and they were equally bad, so pardon me if I get the pictures mixed up. You’ll see later why it was so important to save these cute little guys. Here’s another (before) phot

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Gee, it’s kind of sad to admit, but sometimes function is just plain and simply more important than fashion!  A friend of mine asked me to address the issue in an old basement sink fixture, which was streaked with rust stains from leaking, rusting, galvanized pipes.  He wanted to do it in the easiest way that would make it function, without regards to anything fancy or pre

Hello, restorers!  This month, I thought I’d try something just a bit different, because I get a lot of questions about this topic — what should be done with old electric outlets?  Well, first of all, let me give the usual blah, blah, blah disclaimers.  I’m not a professional, licensed electrician, so what you do is up to you to decide.  Your level of comfort, your skills, and your knowledge of electricity should dictate whether you do anything on your own or hire an electric

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Along the underside of my sunroom roof, there is a series of shaped wooden protrusions that (I think) add class to an otherwise bland part of my house. You may never face this same issue, but I hope you at least enjoy reading about my work to repair things. Here’s what it looked like before doing anything: The one nearest the house is the issue. I knew something was amiss

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. Glazing in the glass (it’s a gas, baby, can you dig it?) While doing unrelated work in the attic, I saw that the glazing at the bottom of an attic window was coming off. Not an end-of-the-world situation, but this is a west window, and gets a lot of weather, so I wanted to take care of things quickly. It was a hot summer night. Actually, an August afternoon, but I knew tha

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. I thought this month I’d show you how I tackled the project of installing some tiles onto the hearth area of a fireplace.  I’m not a tiling expert, but it came out pretty well.  This area was stripped of the original tile work many years ago, and I had to use the few remaining pieces from the floor to replace damaged and missing ones on the vertical facade of the fireplace

New Castle City Council authorized the creation of the Historic Architecture Review Board, (HARB), in 2009.  HARB was formed as an advisory board whose purpose was to provide recommendations to City Council regarding the advisability of issuing any permit required to be issued in accordance with historic preservation guidelines. Given the North Hill Historic District’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as the district’s status as the third large

Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column. This month:  The quick cover-up! Sometimes there’s not much you can do with a damaged area other than to disguise it so that most people won’t notice it.  Then, you’ll have to “dummy up” and not brag about how you disguised it, unless you’re writing an article like this one to demonstrate things! Of course, just how you disguise things depends on what you’re trying to cove