In response to an e-mail, you were kind enough to explain how to best insulate our old house attic. We are now seriously considering finishing the attic. I'm guessing this would change how to insulate. Would we just put the insulation between the roof rafters, or am I missing something? If you have time, I would really appreciate some guidance. Finishing an attic seems straight forward and simple, but there are ...

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What would have been here? Is your sidewalk the same age as your house? If you own a home that pre-dates the Civil War, probably not. According to primary documents from the early nineteenth century, it looks like the most common material for sidewalks in America was mud. In other words, there's much more written in the form of complaints about unpaved walks than descriptions of hard surfaces. There's also very little ...

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I was searching for information about stone foundations, and came across your article. We have a very old bank barn with the lower level divided into stalls. The stone foundation doesn't have the mortar coating you describe, but some remaining white paint. It's the same paint that's on the beams and boards above. Can we just repaint, or do we need to apply a mortar coating?  What type of paint ...

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