Magazine Offers Fixes For Leaky Basements
More than one-half of American homes have leaky basements, according to the March/April issue of This Old House. The magazine offers a timely story, “Water Water Everywhere,” about damp, soggy and downright flooded basements and what homeowners can do to first find, and then solve the problem.
Writer Curtis Rist consults with “This Old House” master carpenter Norm Abram and contractor Tom Silva to come up with a number of quick fixes (rerouting downspouts, and building up the soil to slope away from the foundation).
But not every leaky basement is so easily cured. For the really tough jobs, Rist turns to Tom Maiorano, a professional waterproofer based in New York, who walks readers through the process involved in interior and exterior perimeter drainage systems. Both involve serious digging - and dollars.
On a more pleasant note, the magazine also kicks off a series on America’s greatest houses with a visit to George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. Writer Stephen Harrigan does an excellent job of telling the story of Washington the man, through his Palladian mansion.
Check out the April issue of Victoria for a pretty picture story on a couple of Connecticut artists who collect vintage, Japanese rice paper lanterns. The couple likes to throw summer garden parties at night, amid their night-blooming lilies and candle-lit lanterns. “For safety’s sake, we lined the bases inside (the lanterns) with tinfoil,” reveals one of the artists.
Say what you will about Martha Stewart and her compulsive tendencies, but she is right on the money in April’s Martha Stewart Living with an informative piece on how to choose the right paint scheme, not just for a single room, but for a whole house. The idea is that the palette should flow and harmonize. Getting it right involves some insight on balance, color value and saturation - all of which are explained.
Sure, you can get paranoid about the whole thing. But for those who have suffered major anxiety while staring at those tiny paint chips, this story is enormously helpful. And the pictures score even better.