After returning from a 10-day trip to Pittsburgh over the 4th of July, I spent my last day of vacation at home doing laundry and preparing for the week ahead. On my fifth and final load, I heard water flowing, but didn’t think much of it. My mistake. A hose had burst off my second-story washing machine and water had seeped through the floor then poured through the kitchen ceiling, dumping what ended up being at least 1/2 inch of water on the kitchen floor. At least 1 inch of water saturated the laundry room floor. The space between the floor and ceiling was soaked and water damage was spreading fast. I watched drywall turn yellow and cracks spread by the inch. After a frantic call to my insurance company, emergency cleanup workers...

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a five-part series about mouldings, taken from a whitepaper by Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Kuiken Brothers Co. Inc. titled "Using Moulding to Enhance the Beauty and Elegance of a Space and Create New Revenue Streams." Mouldings are used in new home construction when homeowners are trying to create a specific look and feel. They may have a preference for a certain period in history and want to recreate that. Or, they might want to fit into a neighborhood that has a commonality of style. In renovation, mouldings are generally used to change the way a room works and feels. Encourage homeowners to consider mouldings early. Christine G.H. Franck, designer and co-author of Winterthur: Traditional American...

Editor's Note: This is the third in a five-part series about mouldings, taken from a whitepaper by Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Kuiken Brothers Co. Inc. titled "Using Moulding to Enhance the Beauty and Elegance of a Space and Create New Revenue Streams." Almost all mouldings are replicated from unique/original and custom designs from products craftsmen created more than 200+ years ago. Many of these original craftsmen studied and understood proper scale and proportion and the ancient orders of Greek and Roman architecture. Throughout time, the designs were subtly distorted. An easy way to reproduce these elegant design elements was to take a moulding off of a wall, trace it on a piece of paper, fax it to a mill, and ask the mill to...

Rob Heselbarth, Editorial Director Based on the unscientific method of guess-making, attendance at this year’s Remodeling Show and DeckExpo appeared better than when it was in Baltimore two years ago, but roughly the same as it was in Chicago last year. Regardless, manufacturers were pleased at attendance and the quality of the remodelers visiting their booths and inquiring about new products. Thankfully the event is co-located with the DeckExpo, which buzzed a little louder than the Remodeling Show side of the show floor. The DeckExpo included more attendees and more new products than the Remodeling Show event, and there’s no obvious explanation for this observation. One possible reason is the popular belief that homeowners are...