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January | February 2013

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HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CONTRACTOR

Ask homeowners and remodeling pros how to improve their working relationship, and you’ll get an earful—along with some useful tips on how to keep your next project on time and on (or even under!) budget

By DEBORAH BALDWIN10 min

upgrades

ALL ABOUT Pellet stoves

These high-efficiency heaters let you turn down the household thermostat while warming your rooms, providing ambience, and reducing your energy bills

By John Morell8 min

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UPDATING A COZY CRAFTSMAN

The once beaten-down bungalow, a former student rental, finally found its fixer in an avid DIYer who brought back its charm, building 52 kitchen cabinets, 38 dovetail drawers, and many walls of built-ins along the way

By Jill Connors7 min

TOH TV

Finding the right finish

Staining interior woodwork is a process of trial and error, even for the This Old House TV project pros. Here’s how they got the look they were after—and how you can get great results every time

By DEBORAH SNOONIAN7 min

ask this old house

Q I need to remove some bricks to get at a drainpipe. How can I make sure I’m able to reuse them? —MIKE ALLEN, SEGUIN, TEXAS A For this sort of small job, the best way to extricate bricks is to chip out the mortar around them with a cold chisel, like the antique ones below.

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low-cost custom details FROM DESIGN PROS’ OWN HOMES

They may point their deep-pocketed clients toward high-end fixtures and finishes, but most architects and designers face the same real-world budget constraints as the rest of us. How do they handle it? By putting their creativity to work with everyday, low-cost materials. These special touches may inspire some clever ideas for your own interior

By Laura Fisher Kaiser6 min

letter {from This Old House}

Wishing us all a safe haven

As I write this I’m thinking I’ve sort of told this story before. It was last year, about Hurricane Irene. But Irene’s roundhouse punch missed my neighborhood and did its damage elsewhere. This time, Hurricane Sandy swung from back on its heels and connected hard on the chin.

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January | February 2013

January | February 2013