The Historic District

The plant tags that Phil was referring to are manufactured by a couple in VA and are part of a database they maintain called PlantsMap. You can enter your plants and gardens in PlantsMap and have people all across the country see them. I've done two public gardens for the Master Gardeners (a communi...

I had an extremely damp crawlspace, since the water table was less than a foot below the surface of the yard and I was 3 blocks from the river. I also had a French drain and 2 sump pumps to remove water, but the rising damp was really affecting the old joists. When I had the crawlspace sealed, they ...

Wow, Gothic, your hostas are gorgeous! I'd love to grow some but I don't have enough shade. I can't believe I once again found a house that has almost all sun in the yard. I tore out the few shrubs that were here when I moved in (euonymous and privet) and have planted four new garden beds so far wit...

I'm going to start off with a fairly non-toxic remover like the Krud Kutter or Goo Gone, since I have animals in the area, and see how that works. Since it's definitely latex paint it might come up a little easier. I know it's sure not great paint as it comes off the next layer of paint it's over wi...

I've got a similar problem, but my exterior walls are plaster over plasterboard and some of my interior walls are plaster over brick and others are, apparently, just plaster (bathroom, for one). The other interior walls I have no idea what the plaster is applied on except, hopefully, also plasterboa...

Hi! I haven't been here in a long time, having had a massive heart attack last year and moving from my beloved 1927 craftsman bungalow to a 1959 Cape Cod in historic Fredericksburg, VA. Anyway, the seller painted everything on the first floor gray, including the original linoleum wall tile in the vi...

Since your shed doesn't "match" the style of your house I don't think it's as necessary to color-match the house as it would be otherwise. My shed/garage was built at the same time as my house (1927) and looks exactly like it, gable and all, so I re-roofed it in the same forest green shing...

I have a restored 1953 Wedgwood gas stove with a continuous pilot light for both the stovetop and the oven. The stovetop pilot lights are covered up really well and aren't visible at all - you have to take the covers underneath the burners off to even see them. Periodically I feel the stovetop just ...

If you're looking for a true linoleum "rug" rather than sheet linoleum (which would mostly be available from the above-mentioned manufacturers), you might try m. They have authentic linoleum rugs in a huge variety of styles and patterns, but they are very pricey too. I have true linoleum i...

Conditioning (climate controlling) the crawlspace is a proven technique for reducing the humidity to an acceptable level for your flooring as well as the house substructure. I had my crawlspace done in 2004 and have added more improvements since then, such as the interior French drain and 2 sump pum...