If the mortar on your wall, chimney or patio is cracked and crumbling away, it is time to grab a trowel, mix up some mortar and re-point your way into a rewarding home repair project. Step 1: Use a ...

As a former realtor, general contractor and greenhouse operator, Kristi has touched nearly all aspects of homeownership, from the foundation up. Today, Kristi is a full-time investing and real estate ...

Where to start with chimneys? Probably here: A chimney is not just an elongated window, not just a portal from inside to outside with deep, brick sills. A chimney, in fact, is a machine for generating ...

Kelly has over 10 years of experience writing about home design and improvement for many prominent publications. She also spent several years working at a tech startup for an interior design game ...

Q:We searched for ways to brace our chimney and were referred to a chimney builder by an earthquake retrofitting company. I don't recall the specifics but the job involved steel rods inside all four ...

Q:After a hard rain, we found water in our basement near where our chimney attaches to the house. We noticed that the caulking between the chimney and the house is dry and cracking. We also noticed ...

So I spent most of yesterday in the sun repointing a disused chimney on my roof. It was in very bad shape, loose mortar and many of the bricks spalled. THe repointing is done, but it still looks like ...

Q. This week: The brick chimney on our 1930's era house looks like it needs repair. From the ground I can see cracks in the bricks, and some of the cement and pieces of the bricks have come off and ...