From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, February 3, 2023 ~ Don’t sign that contract for home improvements! Not yet anyway. It is good that you are being offered a written contract since it is…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 19, 2023 ~ Think of one kilowatt-hour, kWH, of electricity as the equivalent of operating 10 100-watt incandescent light bulbs for one hour. The average cost of…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 19, 2023 ~ I have never met a Midwesterner who enjoys cold floors in winter. Some cold floor issues are harder to solve than others, like that…

DETROIT, January 12, 2022 ~ What is the second leading cause of personal injury to people in the United States? Injuries from falls on stairways is right behind those sustained in automobile accidents. According to the American Journal of Emergency…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 5, 2023 ~ Not every home improvement project has to be a home run. Some tasks that improve quality of life in the home are small in…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 29, 2022 ~ You may not remember the 1980’s when the industry and governments were concerned about global cooling. Look it up. We knew worldwide reserves of…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 22, 2022 ~ This is a great time of the year. We all want to express our love and appreciation for those near and dear to us…

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 24, 2022 ~ Every building has one, but not every building has a good one. Foundations are intended to transfer the load of a building to the soils below and to…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 24, 2022 ~ You’ve heard “The Guys” for years saying that any building needs a great roof and a great foundation. But in that discussion, we have ignored a huge segment of…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 16, 2022 ~ It’s the last thing you ever expect to need, but life without one can be almost impossible. “It” is a ramp intended to help us navigate various height differentials…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 16, 2022 ~ Everyone is aware of the recent issues regarding water contamination by lead pipes, but few maintain an awareness of the ongoing issues with lead paint. It is estimated that…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 3, 2022 ~ Everyone who has ever lived in a home in the Midwest is aware of it. It might be the feel of cold air moving through an exterior wall receptacle…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 27, 2022 ~ You can hardly blame the guy. He and his wife had moved into their new home two years ago. All efforts to find a good contractor to build that…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 13, 2022 ~ You finally found that perfect remodeler for the project you’ve dreamed of for years. You, your spouse and company personnel went through it together from early design to specification,…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 7, 2022 ~ So, there I am watching some banal programming on the tube the other night. The show is constantly interrupted by advertisements talking about contaminated water at a military base…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 29, 2022 ~ You did everything right. You created a budget and saved your money for the dream kitchen you’ve always wanted. You sought out referrals for the best contractor, then researched…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 22, 2022 ~ It was just a few decades ago that the start of school in the fall also signaled that it was time to get that fuel oil tank topped off…

By: Ken Calverly and Chuck Breidenstein This past week we all celebrated Labor Day, more as a harbinger of the change of seasons than a celebration of the great workforce that built this nation and continues to keep it moving…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 25, 2022 ~ When you next get the chance to go outside, I want you to find a hole in the ground that is an entrance to some critters den. Make certain…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 18, 2022 ~ What would you guess the No. 1 cause of basement flooding is in the US? Hydrostatic groundwater pressure, snow melt, burst pipes, public utility backups or water runoff from heavy rains? If you guessed…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 11, 2022 ~ Talk about “out of sight, out of mind!” Who ever sticks their face in a chimney to conduct a visual inspection of the flue? “The Guys” usually save this…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 4, 2022 ~ If you are like 95% of current homeowners, you would like new countertops. Most of those people believe there are three or four choices as to the type of…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 28, 2022 ~ You woke up this morning to the sound of running water and discovered a cascade coming through the walls and running over the floors. The realization dawns quickly that…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein As Seen in The Detroit News Homestyle Section DETROIT, July 22, 2022 ~ Are you too hot or too cold in your own home? Given the choice, which do you prefer? Let’s be honest, when you are too cold…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 14, 2022 ~ What creepy, slimy creature eats decomposing grass, helps aerate our lawns and is generally killed en masse by our use of chemical fertilizers and herbicides? If you responded with…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 7, 2022 ~ Decades ago, a friend who was an avid outdoorsman met the girl of his dreams. That Fall, he skipped deer camp for the first time in his life to…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 23, 2022 ~ You just had that roof installed nine years ago and a bunch of shingles blew off in yesterday’s wind. You do the smart thing and email your installing contractor….

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 30, 2022 ~ Years ago, we spoke with a contractor who had undertaken some work on a small commercial space for a client. The work included replacing a 100-foot strip of sidewalk…

Photo by: Guido Mieth via Getty By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 17, 2022 Don’t think too hard on this one. What are typically the two most expensive rooms in your home? If you answered “kitchen” and “master…

Photo: David DelPoio / The Providence Journal / USA TODAY By Ken Calverley and Chuck BreidensteinDETROIT, June 2, 2022 ~ They are all the same, right? Framed glass that may or may not open. You can stand on either side…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, May 26, 2022 ~ They were not meant to be lived in. The modern evolution of what we call basements began as a convenient way to store and access canned goods, especially during…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, May 19, 2022 ~ It was going to be the siding product of the future for housing. The commercial side of the construction industry had discovered it years before and embraced the design…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, May 5, 2022 ~  What do the names Climatrone, Eden Project, Biosphere and Green dome have in common? They are names of facilities constructed to function as examples of “buildings of tomorrow.” In…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck BreidensteinDETROIT, May 12, 2022 ~ If you lived on the Gulf Coast in the early part of the last century, you were privy to the evolution of different versions of the Swamp Cooler, initially a…

Photo: LifestyleVisuals / Getty Images By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, April 28, 2022 ~ The American culture has seen the cycle repeat itself many times. Where the advent and affordability of new technology or systems led to the mantra, “Someday,…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, April 22, 2022 ~ We’ve all seen it at least once; that view of Dorothy’s house spinning in the air off its foundation as the home magically leaves Kansas and is deposited in the Land…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, April 14, 2022 ~ Finally! It is not only spring on the calendar, but the weather is cooperating, and we are seeing the yellow daffodils brave early morning frosts to poke their heads out of…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, April 7, 2022 ~ The Guys get a lot of questions this time of year regarding decks. Most either involve refinishing a wood deck, maintenance issues for older decks or decks people want to add a three-season room to….

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, March 31, 2022 ~ This question is just for the adults living in a home or apartment. In the past three years, have you had any difficulty finding skilled and trustworthy people to perform maintenance, repairs or…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, March 24, 2022 ~ Everyone in America uses them every day without thought. Kitchen cabinets are the midnight sentinel no one thinks about. They do their job without notice and are rarely acknowledged until they…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, March 17, 2022 ~ Fresh water. It seems to be everywhere. In fact, if you live in Michigan, you are never more than six miles from a lake or river and never more than 85 miles from one…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, March 10, 2022 ~ Every Midwesterner knows the issue. You invest thousands of dollars in finishing that lower-level space only to realize your feet are cold whenever you spend time enjoying it. We really shouldn’t be surprised. That floor…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, March 3, 2022 ~ You hear us say it all the time: The company you hire and the name on the product they install is second to the written warranty they provide. We are a couple of years…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, February 24, 2022 ~ The days are starting to get longer and cabin fever has reached its acme, but those cool breezes make it prohibitive to sit on the back deck or front porch to enjoy the…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, February 10, 2022 ~ Most of the systems in a home require the services of a professional at some point. But every homeowner experiences smaller issues that may just require a little know-how and resourcefulness, as evidenced…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, February 3, 2022 ~ You’ve seen weather patterns before where warm, moist air, rises, cools and turns to ice only to eventually melt and rain back down. But I’ll bet you never witnessed it…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 27, 2022 ~ From our email bag, here are a few questions we find to be on the minds of many listeners. Q. I love listening to WJR in my kitchen, but whenever I turn on the overhead lights…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 20, 2022 ~ It is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It is so “invisible,” in fact, that many claim it doesn’t even exist. But the facts are undeniable; at least 1 in 10 lung cancer deaths, totaling…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, February 17, 2022 ~ If you were looking for a builder during the week of Feb. 8-10, they were very likely in Orlando, Florida, where nearly 120,000 industry professionals converged for Design and Construction Week which included the National Kitchen…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, January 13, 2022 ~ In our last article, we performed our preliminary basement room and wall layout. We then determined where mechanical work needed to be done and where egress needed to be provided. We also got…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 30, 2021 ~ How will you invest in your home this coming year? So many people don’t even want to think about it until we get into the spring and summer months, but if the past…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 23, 2021 ~ You’ve heard it forever. Everybody knows it. Even radio “experts” will tell you. Heat goes up. So, every wise homeowner does the smart thing and jambs as much thermal insulation as they can…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 16, 2021 ~ Every week The Guys create an article directed to our listeners. For a little change of pace, we have chosen to direct this column to the contractors in our beloved industry. These are trying times…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 9, 2021 ~ Tis the season for ice and all the related potential damage that it can cause. The Guys get a lot of questions regarding ice on the roof; something every homeowner has to deal with…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, December 2, 2021 ~ When America began to settle into the suburban land around cities after WWII, a new series of issues began to arise that no country had previously dealt with. Our Levittown subdivisions consisted of individually owned parcels and buildings,…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 25, 2021 ~ OK.  I guess we can all finally admit summer is gone and it’s time to either shut down and abandon the lake house or even the main house and leave the state altogether…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 18, 2021 ~ In an old “Seinfeld” episode, Jerry makes a comment to the effect that the reason for his parents being in Florida is simple – when seniors retire, they are required to move there. In a similar vein,…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 11, 2021 ~ Who would have thought that the greatest danger of breathing contaminated air might come from the air supply ducts in our own homes? According to the EPA, the potential concentrations of indoor pollutants are…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, November 4, 2021 ~ As the country was settled over a few hundred years, we were primarily a rural and agrarian population. Houses located in the middle of a hundred acres of land had the same requirements…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 28, 2021 ~ The Guys receive several thousand emails each year from listeners with housing questions. Though we respond to each of them individually, they often follow seasonal themes that apply to many of us. Going into the…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 21, 2021 ~ What do the words dunny, loo, bog, and john have in common? They are used throughout the world to refer to the bathroom, which houses the throne. Forget iPhones, big-screen TVs, electric cars and…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 14, 2021 ~ How would you like to have the “windows” from 13th-century Rome in your home these last few rain-drenched months? They were simply a hole built into the roof to allow for natural…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, October 7, 2021 ~ In the time it takes most people to read this article, approximately five house fires will start in the US. Between now and this time tomorrow, nearly two people will have perished in a…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 23, 2021 ~ Fifty years ago, the process of getting a foundation built for a new home involved numerous sub-contractors. You paid a surveyor to locate the building on the property, then brought in an excavator…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 16, 2021 ~ A story was relayed to The Guys about a remodeler working in an “upper-end” jurisdiction. Part of the work involved replacing an existing concrete sidewalk that bordered the property…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 9, 2021 ~ Years ago, The Inside Guy purchased an old farm property on some acreage. The property included a barn and other out buildings. A month after the purchase, the neighbor to the west strolled…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, September 2, 2021 ~ Decades ago, the Inside Guy was called by a real estate broker to check on a home being prepped for a buyer. It seems there was a periodic leak that showed up as stains on…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 26, 2021 ~ Ask anyone to describe basement air and you will hear terms like “dank,” “musty,” “moldy” and other adjectives that generally apply to moist, stagnant and unhealthy air. The air we described can cause sinus conditions,…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 19, 2021 ~ Moving water from one location to another has been a primary concern for mankind since the dawn of time. Devices were developed to furnish water to the king’s fountains, remove water from mines so…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, August 12, 2021 ~Years ago, the Inside Guy received a call from a custom home builder seeking some advice. It seems a customer was having humidity related issues in a laundry room and master bathroom. The builder had done…

DETROIT, August 5, 2021 ~ What do disinfecting wipes, LCD screens, rayon and toothpaste have in common with homes? All use wood products. Highly sustainable, good for the earth, wood products. The Guys have claimed for many years the housing industry was…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 29, 2021 ~ Chances are good that by the time you read this today, you have already used a set of stairs. The odds are also very good that you did not know the second leading…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 22, 2021 ~ Construction mistakes are actually fairly common in housing, but most are small and rectified quickly and the property does not suffer from them. Some take a little more effort to correct than…

DETROIT, July 15, 2021 ~ The Guys have been associated with the noble industry of construction for all of our adult lives. We have seen many mistakes and made a few of our own. The unfortunate reality of some housing mistakes is a…

DETROIT, July 8, 2021 ~ There are only a few things for a homeowner that are worse than finding a basement flooded with storm water or, worse, sewage. Buildings that are serviced by public sewer systems typically have a single pipe…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, July 2, 2021 ~Decades ago, I was in the process of building a new home. Through a catalog I had gotten what appeared to be a great deal on solid brass faucets for the master bath….

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 25, 2021 ~ Homeownership has long been considered the foundation of the growth of individual wealth in the United States. A large percentage of most people’s net worth is tied to the equity in their home. Homeownership…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 17, 2021 ~ Go to your favorite room in the house and sit back in your favorite chair. Take a deep breath. A really deep breath. OMG! What did you just inhale? According to groups like…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 10, 2021 ~ There you are. Sitting in your living room and staring at the four walls, wondering. “Should we build that new sunroom, add that new deck, go ahead with the master bedroom conversion?” People…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, June 3, 2021 ~ There you are. Sitting in your living room and staring at the four walls, wondering. “Should we build that new sunroom, add that new deck, go ahead with the master bedroom conversion?” Today’s…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, May 27, 2021 ~ Spring is well upon us as trees, flowers and grasses have all awakened and begun to flourish. The Guys are still getting a lot of questions regarding grass lawns. Perhaps the answer…

By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein DETROIT, May 20, 2021 ~ What a marvel of discovery and engineering! It is a really hot and humid summer day inside your home. You walk over to the wall-mounted thermostat, dial a desired temperature, and “viola!”…