By Scott Sidler • September 16, 2019
Everyone wants to find greener, lower VOC products for their home, but is water-based polyurethane something you should use on your wood floors or other projects? I get this question a lot. Water based polyurethane, or polycrylic as it is […]
By Scott Sidler • September 9, 2019
No one likes to strip paint. Sure we love the end result, but it’s grueling, exhausting work that can be dangerous (lead paint anyone?) or messier than all get out (chemical strippers). As a restorer of historic windows I’m well […]
By Scott Sidler • September 2, 2019
It really doesn’t matter how old your house is it can likely benefit from more energy efficient lighting. There are piles of energy savings just waiting to be realized that require nothing more than a trip to the big box […]
By Scott Sidler • August 26, 2019
The weather’s been beautiful all summer and that’s probably got you in a sense of denial that fall and winter will be on us before you know it. But the reality is that those warm summer days will quickly give […]
By Scott Sidler • August 19, 2019
Back when I first started this blog in 2011 one of the very first series I wrote was called The 5 Worst Mistakes of Historic Homeowners. I went back and read those posts recently and realized that my conclusions close […]
By Scott Sidler • August 12, 2019
So you’ve got old windows? Double-hung windows, casement windows, steel windows, any kind of old windows and they all have window parts that are not sitting on the shelf at your local hardware store. Some of them are hard to […]
By Scott Sidler • August 5, 2019
In the 1950s a new style home came on the scene as the house of choice in America. Born in California the one-story Ranch Style house was a dramatic departure from previous styles and was unabashedly modern in its design […]
By Scott Sidler • July 29, 2019
Double hung windows are pretty simple and that’s why I love them and love restoring them, but there are a lot of questions as to the many pieces that make up the anatomy of a double hung window. There are […]