Repairs & How To

Repairs & How To

Repurposing Architectural Antiques

From transforming antique doors into a fireplace surround or building a shelf using salvaged corbels and fence boards, we show you six different ways to breathe new life into old items.

Repairs & How To

Prepping Plaster Walls for Paint & Wallpaper

Calcimine, old papers, peeling paint! Preparing the plaster substrate is the key to a good paint or wallpaper finish. In an old house, it’s not always an easy job: surprises likely lurk behind the recent latex and that floral vinyl upstairs.

Repairs & How To

Ask the Expert – Historic Hardware

We know you have questions on how hardware can bring out the unique character of your historic home. We’ve asked industry expert and Director of Product Development at Nostalgic Warehouse Bill Metzger to help with the answers.

Repairs & How To

Touching Up Old Floors

Floors may suffer indignities as they age, even as they develop patina. Refreshing a basically sound floor will keep it serviceable. Given care and respect, a wood, stone, tile, or resilient floor will last for many decades and beyond.

Repairs & How To

The Maintenance of Marble

A quick review of special care, cleaning and stain-removal tips.

Repairs & How To

How To Repair Stained Glass

Vintage stained glass windows often need repairs. Learn tips and tricks so you can restore your stained glass.

Repairs & How To

A Fix for Rusted Radiator Tops

The old radiators looked pristine, and anyway, they’re made of steel! What harm could my little houseplants do?

Repairs & How To

A Fix for Falling Cabinets

When all the upper kitchen cabinets come loose.

Repairs & How To

Salvage Style in a Soho Town House

Using salvaged materials, a vacant lot gets transformed into a SoHo townhome fully designed to look as if it were built in the late-19th century, just like its neighbors.

Repairs & How To

Restoration Evolved

Since the urban-pioneer days of the 1970s, the residential restoration movement has been fluid and ever-changing, adopting new techniques and modern materials along the way.

Repairs & How To

Copper Window Vanity

Repurposing a round, exterior copper window to be used as a mirror frame took some imagination.

Repairs & How To

A Fix For Half-stuck Slide-away Windows

In a sleeping porch, the original slide-away windows got yanked once too often.

Repairs & How To

Planning A New Addition

Adding on to an existing house can be tricky. These architects dealt with previous bad additions, cramped layouts, and setback requirements.

Repairs & How To

How Transom Windows Work

An OHJ reader gives a step-by-step account of replacing a transom operator for functioning over-door windows that open and close.

Repairs & How To

A Fix For Mismeasured Custom Drawers

When drawers in the custom cabinet open into the toilet.

Repairs & How To

Deleting A Poor Addition

With better space planning inside, we don’t miss the ugly add-on.