Bathroom Pocket Door and Decorative Glass Window in Walpole: What’s Really Involved

A Walpole bathroom rebuild: walk-in shower on a mortar base with full waterproofing, a pocket door, a window reframed with decorative glass, a linen closet relocated from the hallway into the bathroom, plus new tile, vanity, shower valve, toilet, exhaust fan, and lighting. Here is what the real scope of work looked like.

Can You Build a Deck in Boston During Winter?

Can You Build a Deck in Boston During Winter? Ask a Boston homeowner in late October whether a deck can go up in winter, and you will usually get two confident answers: yes, builders work all year, and no, the ground is frozen. Both answers miss the useful part. In Greater Boston, winter deck work […]

Winter Deck & Porch Guide

This guide collects our six articles for planning and caring for a deck and porch through a Boston winter, in reading order: planning and building a deck, fall prep and snow-season care, and the porch piece. Each section below is a summary of the full article it links to. Before you build: permits, materials, and […]

Old Shower to Walk-In Shower in Quincy: What’s Really Involved

Quincy shower-to-walk-in remodel: demo, framing, cement board, waterproofing, and tile — what the job really involved.

Using a Three-Season Porch in Winter: Heating, Condensation and What Massachusetts Code Requires

Every October, the same question starts coming up in Greater Boston: now that the screens are coming down and the porch furniture is going into storage, can the three-season porch earn its keep through winter? The honest answer depends on which winter you mean. October and April? Absolutely — that’s what the room was built […]

Bath Liner or Full Remodel? How to Tell Which One Your Bathroom Needs

A tub or shower liner and a full bathroom remodel solve different problems. Here is a plain checklist for Boston-area homeowners on when a liner can be enough and when it is time to open the walls.

Replacing a Bathtub in Lexington, MA: What We Did While the Tub Was Out

A Lexington homeowner replaced the bathtub — and used the opportunity to take care of the work around it: a new shower valve and drain, full waterproofing with cement board above the tub, new wall and floor tile, a shortened baseboard heater, a scraped popcorn ceiling, and new vanity, mirror, toilet, fan, and finishes. Here is what was done and why each piece happened while the tub was out.

Should You Clear Snow Off Your Deck? Safe De-Icing for Boston Winters

Every Boston winter brings the same question from homeowners: with the driveway to shovel and the sidewalk to clear, does the deck really need clearing too — and when it ices over, what’s actually safe to put down on it? The short answers: yes, clearing is worth it, and de-icing is where a lot of […]

Shower Waterproofing Code Requirements in Massachusetts: What the Code Says

What does the code require behind your shower tile? In Massachusetts: a nonabsorbent wall finish running at least 6 feet up (IRC R307.2), approved backers only — no regular drywall (IRC R702.4.2/R702.3.7.1), and a watertight shower pan turned up 3 inches under site-built bases (248 CMR 10.10). Here's what each requirement says.

Adding a Half Bath to an Older Boston-Area Home: Where to Find the Space

Adding a half bath to an older Boston home? Five places the space hides, plus what Boston and Newton require for plumbing permits.

Deck Ledger Connection vs. Flashing: What 780 CMR Requires in Massachusetts

The ledger — the board that ties your deck to the house — is the joint where decks most often fail. Sometimes the failure is structural: the connection pulls away from the wall. Sometimes it’s water: the joint was never flashed properly, and the house’s rim joist rots from the inside out. Here’s what many […]

Fall Maintenance for Wood Decks: What Boston Homeowners Should Do Before Winter

A wood deck in Greater Boston doesn’t just sit through winter — it gets worked over by it. The freeze-thaw cycling we get from December into March is what ages a deck fastest: water soaks in, freezes, expands, and pries at boards, fasteners, and joints a little more with every cycle. The best time to […]

Best Deck Materials for Harsh New England Winters

A deck in New England lives two lives: the summer one you picture when you sign the contract, and the winter one that actually decides how long it lasts. Between November and April, deck boards in Greater Boston go through repeated freeze-thaw cycles, sit under snow that melts and refreezes, and get scraped, salted, and […]

Building a Deck in Newton: When the City Requires a Permit and Where to Apply

Newton runs deck permits through its Inspectional Services Department, all online. When the city requires a permit, where to apply, and what to have ready.

Walk-In Shower Remodel in Lincoln, MA: What the Full Scope of Work Looks Like

A Lincoln master bathroom got a new walk-in shower built from the ground up — mud base, cement board, full waterproofing, hexagon mosaic floor — plus fresh tile above the jacuzzi tub, new floor tile, a new vanity with built-in cabinets, and finishing. Here is what the real scope of work looked like.