The Best of Ask This Old House: 44 Common Household Projects

1. Kitchens - Installing a Tile Backsplash

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Tile expert Joe Ferrante helps a homeowner who wants to install tile on a kitchen backsplash. The homeowner has selected a type of tile made up of 2x2 glass squares attached to a 12x12 mesh backing to make installation easier.

2. Kitchens - Installing Kitchen Cabinets

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Tom helps a homeowner install a set of new kitchen cabinets. Before installing them, Tom takes all of the cabinets out of the boxes to inspect them. He finds a cracked panel in one cabinet, and also finds that the microwave cabinet is the wrong size.

3. Kitchens - Fixing a Jammed Garbage Disposer

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Richard helps a pair of homeowners with a garbage disposer that has been jammed for more than a year.

4. Kitchens - Replacing a Kitchen Faucet

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Richard helps a homeowner replace her old, leaky kitchen faucet with a newer model that included a builtin sprayer.

5. Kitchens - Installing Pendant Lighting

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Kevin and an electrician help a homeowner add lighting over their kitchen’s peninsula counter.

6. Kitchens - Painiting Kitchen Cabinets

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Kevin and painting expert Rich O’Neil shows a homeowner the proper way to paint her kitchen cabinets.

7. Kitchens - Building Laminate Countertops

Air Date: 2011-04-04

Tom and Kevin remove and replace an old laminate kitchen countertop.

1. Replacing a Toilet Flange

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Richard helps a homeowner with a wobbly toilet. With the toilet removed, he determines that it rocked back and forth because the cast-iron toilet fl nge sat up too high.

2. Fixing a Bathtub Stopper

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Richard helps a homeowner with a bathtub that wouldn’t hold water.

3. Installing a Single-handle Shower Valve

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Richard helps a homeowner replace an existing three valve shower control with a single-handled mixing valve. In a three-valve control, one handle controls hot water, one handle controls cold, and the third handle diverts water from the spout up to the showerhead. The new single-handle valve prevents scalding, should there be a sudden drop in cold water pressure.

4. Installing a Water-saving Toilet

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Richard replaces an old 3.5 gallons per flush (GPF) toilet with a new, state-of-the-art dual-flushing unit that uses 0.9 GPF for liquids and 1.6 GPF for solids.

5. Regrouting Bathroom Tile

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Tom helps a homeowner re-grout a small tile floor in her master bathroom. The white-colored grout had become dirty and discolored and some of it had broken loose.

6. Installing a Bathroom Fan

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Kevin and electrician Brian Bergeron help a homeowner install a new fan in her bathroom. The fan exhausts the humid air created by the shower to the outside of the house.

7. Replacing a Bathroom Vanity and Sink

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Richard helps a homeowner replace an old, outdated looking vanity in her master bathroom.

1. Fixing Banging Pipes

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2. Replacing Corroded Valves

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3. Installing Wood Crown Molding

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4. Installing Foam Crown Molding

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5. Securing Loose Pipes

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6. Installing a Tankless Water Heater

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7. Adding a Utility Sink

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8. Fireplace Makeover

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9. Fixing a Shaky Stair Banister

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1. Fixing a Door that Swings Open and Closed by Itself

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2. Fixing Squeaky Floors

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3. Installing Interior Door Trim

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4. Installing Replacement Windows

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5. Refinishing Hardwood Floors

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6. Replacing a Skylight

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7. Installing a Front Door

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8. Installing Prefinished Wood Flooring

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1. Planting Flower Bulbs

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2. Patching a Lawn with Sod

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3. Installing a Brick Paver Patio

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4. Reseeding a Lawn

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5. Installing Landscape Lighting

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6. Improving Backyard Drainage

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7. Building a Brick Walkway

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8. Installing a Sprinkler System

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9. Building a Backyard Firepit

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1. Building a Small Deck

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2. Fixing a Dangerous Deck

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3. Cleaning and Staining a Deck

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4. Installing Aluminum Gutters

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