I am wanting to remove my bathroom cabinet with lavatory and replace with a dresser. My question is: what is the best way to remove the existing cabinet that has tile on the floor that runs to the bottom of the cabinet and on the walls to the back splash sides and top of counter. I don't want to mess up the tile if at all possible. I can send you a picture of the cabinet if you accept pictures...

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD PROJECTS AROUND THE HOUSE. MY HUSBAND DIED LAST YEAR SO I'M NOW MAKING DECISIONS WITHOUT BRAIN STORMING WITH MY HUSBAND. I AM 68. SO I AM LOOKING FOR A PRODUCT THAT TAKES LITTLE CARE. I LIVE ON THE WEST COAST SO MY WINTERS ARE NOT HARSH BUT WE DO HAVE SOME RAIN. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY COMMENTS FROM JANES THAT HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THIS PRODUCT THANK YOU

I think it's Trex that my neighbor has for a deck. It has turned an odd whitish color after only a few years.

I researched all the products out there as I wanted something that would hide the screws or nails...finally chose Cross-Timbers product by Elk Corp. sold at Home Depot. It hides the screw underneath and has a slight wood grain look, but looks nicer than Trex. I also am a widow living in the Northwest, so am having a carpenter build the deck. I can tell you that after a couple of years you can get mold or mildew on the composite decking and I had to clean (another)porch I have with a soap solution and brush to remove green mold. It came right off.

I am sure you must have fixed this by now, but being new to JANE I thought I would send this anyway. When my husband died a few years ago, I suddenly found myself not know WHO to ask for advice on things like this (my father died one year later, so I was REALLY stuck). I have ALWAYS been a DIY queen.........and can do pretty much ANYTHING! So, I found a GREAT resource at my local Do It Center (in Canada, it's Home Hardware). These smaller hardware stroes are staffed with 'older' gentlemen who have worked in the fields for years, and they LOVE to help. I took a digital photo of my leaky faucet to the Do IT Center.........(partially dismantled of course), and spoke with the gentleman in plumbling..........it was a simple rubber 'O' ring that needed to be replaced............think it cost 49 cents!

If you haven't done anything to your bathroom walls yet, I will tell you what I did to mine. My walls were pitted with nail holes and poor spackling attempts over the years and other blemishes. Using joint compound (available at Home Depot or Lowe's), I applied it to my walls with a plastic 'squeegie' in a criss-cross fashion. The first coat was thin and applied sparingly. After I was certain the 'mud' was completely dry, I applied a second coat, this time covering all the spaces I missed the first time. I covered all the walls including the ceiling to give the room a finished look. After everything dried, I primed the walls with a tinted primer then painted. When the paint was completely dry, I dry-brushed the walls with antique white latex paint, hitting just the 'peaks' of the joint compound. The color of the room is a deep rose and is decorated in a Victorian style. Joint compound is a great material to use on walls because of it's ability to hide blemishes and it can be thinned a little and actually rolled on your walls with a paint roller. I did that to my kitchen using a 'whizz' roller. If you want to hide something, joint compound is the way to go!! If you still want to do a faux finish instead of a texture, I can help you with that. Just let me know.

hello, you can make the changes easy enough if your ceiling has been painted with flat paint. if it is coated with satin or semi gloss things are a bit more difficult and expensive, if you have not had the work done already feel free to e-mail me @ bigrig864@yahoo.com and I will help you any way I can

I would like a tutorial on laying ceramic floor tile. I am having trouble finding on your website. Is there a reason? Oh, and if I can't even find it on your website is the project too diffuclt for a do it yourself project? Thanks for your help. Theresa Rivera

Have no fear! laying floor tile is much easier than it looks. I have and older home and the first project I did was laying the tile in a 580 sq ft living room! Do take the classes at home depo, and do get some good knee pads, and then design your pattern and GO! Most important part Have Fun. Kelly

I have a small decorating business and I always have great vision for my client's homes as well as my own. With the business I do alot of redesign and used to have an assistant who could assist with alot of the construction type work while I would work my decorating magic elsewhere. She has since moved on to start another type of business and the thought of tackling any of those jobs that she handled prior,in another person's home ,is not something that I am comfortable with. In addition, I fell recently and now have back and arm issues that may prevent me from swinging that clumbsy couch from one room to another. So my thought is that I may consider hiring a retired "Man" who can do some of the heavier work for me as well as hang pics, change curtains hardware, etc. In my own home, I am married to someone who has no desire, talent or need to tackle any of the many, many projects that lie before us as we live in a very old large home. (My Dream of Course.....the big old house thing I mean!!) So at home I would love to start and complete a project that I know will never get done unless we pay someone else to do. Again, my vision is great, my capabilites are probably okay, my frustration is tremendous because I can see it but can't get it. Any advice on what basic tools I should purchase in order to complete a simple project to get started would be greatly appreciated. Thanks:) Kathy

I have just stripped my popcorn ceiling and want a different type of ceiling. Something easy and inexpensive. Can you give me a suggestion Thank you, bobbi

There is a plain white, embossed wall paper that comes in all kinds of patterns that is meant to be painted over. They have the old tin ceiling look and lots of other designs. I put it in one house and just love the look. Inexpensive, but very different!

When you clean them are you making sure they're 100% dry? Also, it's possible that the silverware you have may not be of the best quality, or the silver is actually an alloy that is more prone to rust.

I was under the impression that real "silverware" should not be put in the dishwasher and left to dry. Even my older cookie sheets get rust when left in the dishwasher to dry. I would use a silver cleaner on them and then wash them as directed on the silver cleaner. As with any rust loving object, it needs to be thoroughly dried. Remember how our moms (and some of us) used to wash our cast iron skillets and put them on the oven (on) to dry instead of air drying? Same principle. Good luck. Maureen

I just bought a condo that had popcorn ceilings and crown molding. It looked okay, but if you think you might ever be removing the popcorn ceilings, it's harder to do with crown molding up, so I would recommend doing that first.

I would remove the popcorm ceiling. There is a popcorn fixuture that helps clean thing up. All you need is a wide angle scraper and a larger trash can.

Did you see that one "Trading Spaces" episode in which they laid down a protective cover over the floor, brought in the garden hose, mist-sprayed the ceiling and used a wide scraper to scrape off the popcorn? Of course this was TV, and I have great fear about trying myself, but my carpets are TOAST and I'm thinking of trying it before I replace the carpet.

Many years ago, after I had removed the old popcorn ceilings from most of my house, my neighbor walked in, as I stood in the middle of the dry, dusty mess and said, "why are you doing it this way?" Then she went home and brought me back a plastic, pesticide sprayer (never used for pesticides, of course), filled it with HOT water from the tap. . . and sprayed a section of the ceiling. After a few minutes, she used a wide scraper and the popcorn slid of the ceiling like butter!!! I was amazed. Now, I'm an old pro at removing popcorn. I just tape off the walls with rolls of plastic, spread plastic on the floor, spray, scrape and then roll the whole mess into the plastic. Of course, if they have been painted over, it won't work. A word of CAUTION: most (if not all) of the old popcorn ceilings contained asbestos. You should be fully suited up (disposable painters coverups are what I use)hair covered, goggles and have a good respirator. Some areas require the waste to go to a hazardous waste dump and many areas require a special permit or require specialist to remove these ceilings.

Is there a tiny place where you can remove a small piece of paper and see what you have underneath? I am really clueless about this, but I have heard that you can put wallpaper over questionable surfaces by putting some sort of liner paper on the surface first; it is designed for old houses with lots of cracks in the plaster, etc. Or, there is very thin wallboard that could be put over the old wall, but I would check first to make sure these would stand up to the dampness and heat of a kitchen.

I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but I'm a HUGE fan of texture paint. You can get it at HD or Lowe's. YOu can roll it on or use a drywall spatula for a stucco look. You can paint it, or have it colored and then color wash it. Not a huge investment, and it is magic on bad walls! I've used the sanded kind. Good luck!

Ditto. I bought my fixer-upper condo last year. The flooring hasn't been replaced in 15 years or so. I have the same dilema. Everyone says it's easy, so I was thinking of attending a free class at the local HomeDepot or local flooring store first. The keys for success are to have the proper measurements and tools. Lots of Luck! JB

Do you want real, "hardwood" or do you want the look of hardwood? REal hardwood floors do, in my opinion, require some level of expertise, but the new laminated floorings are really easy to install. A few years ago I lead a team of volunteers who replaced the flooring in a whole house with the interlocking, "floating" type of laminated flooring and it was really easy. Two years later, the floor still looks like new and it's held up to 4 active kids, two big dogs, cats, a wheelchair and lot's of foot traffic! (Remember, these were unskilled volunteers.) Another bonus is that these new floorings are considerable less expensive that hardwoods.

This might not be the right website to ask, but does anyone know how to fix a small tear (or three) in the couch fabric? I called the manufacturer and they were no help at all, plus the couch is probably at least 10 years old but still in great condition, and since the dogs get up there, it'll stay for awhile. Is there some sort of way to bind the tear back together? I put clear nail polish on it in the hopes it wouldn't tear any further. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi cwood, I'm a kitchen designer and project coordinator by trade and first of all, I want to tell you that you CAN do this, but it's important to get everything organized BEFORE you start tearing things out. Especially if you are living in the space and have kids in the middle of everything. Before you take out the old cabinets, make sure the new cabinets are built (if custom) or if ready made, on the property (like in the garage) or nearby. This should include your new sink, faucets, garbage disposal, plumbing, lights, appliances, ect. Remodeling can be fraught with "delays" from people who promised things would be on time. For your own sanity and least amount of down time, get everything ready first. You could tear out your old floor now, if you want, but be prepared to live on the subfloor, whatever that may be. It could be plywood and have a lot of splinters, or concrete with black, tarry adhesive or it could come up clean without much problem. If you want, you can test a corner that is out of the way and see what you have. Also, be sure to have your countertops lined up and ready to go. They can't be fully fabricated until the new cabinets are installed, but you can make sure the materials are in and the fabricator is ready to go on schedule. If you're doing the countertops yourself, again, gather up all your materials first. In the meantime, start emptying your cabinets. This is the time to toss old stuff you don't use, clean and organize the rest. Keep only the necessities that you will have to use and put the rest in boxes (labeled) and take them to the garage. (A mistake many people make is keeping the stuff nearby and trying to work around boxes.) Get plenty of paper plates, cups,plastic utensils and easy to fix foods that you can set up in another area with a microwave and maybe a hotplate. Keep it simple. (If your family has to live on cereal, PB&J sandwiches or pizza for a week, they'll survive!) Once you have all your materials on site, THEN you can safely tear out the old cabinets. (This is the FUN part!) You can tear out an old kitchen in just a few hours, it's really easy. The next step is any wall repairs, elec. or plumbing changes. Then the new cabinets, appliances,countertops and finally the new flooring. Organization is the key. If you are organized, you can reasonably expect to do an average kitchen in a week. If you are unorganized and don't have all your materials first, it can take as much as 4-6 weeks! Good luck with your project.

We bought this beautiful yellow (egg custard) paint for our kitchen and put it on over top of a primer. The paint says washable on the can, so imagine my surprise when I went to wash a couple of stains when the white primer came back. Why did this happen. I still have another whole can of the paint to paint again, should I take it back or would more than one coat solve this problem. I have this paint everywhere in my kitchen and downstairs bathroom. I can't imagine having to clean up stains behind the oven or sink. What should I do?