Reader Beacham Hoyle says he was able to clean soot from fireplace bricks with hydrogen peroxide. Hoyle says he sprayed the peroxide on dirty bricks and “the black stuff just rolled down. It also ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Do you know what “repointing” bricks means? By definition, it consists of “removing a portion of the deteriorated mortar and redoing the joints with new mortar.” Doing that basically ...

DEAR TIM: My 10-year-old house developed some cosmetic cracks in the mortar. I got some bids to have tuck-pointing work done and nearly gagged when I looked at the cost. I’m wondering about using a ...

Q: My house is 16 years old, and I noticed that 1 1/2 to 2 feet below the top of the chimney, there is a crack that appears to go all around the chimney but in some areas, going up the side of a brick ...

Q I want to caulk and weatherstrip the exterior of my house to keep out mice and bugs and, hopefully, improve the energy efficiency. I know very little about caulking and weatherstripping. Can you ...