Q. After reading the Sunday comics, I have been reading your home repair consulting column for years. It has always been interesting and helpful. I hope you can help me with some suggestions for ...

Covering an old ceiling with new drywall is a big job—it requires basic drywall skills, heavy lifting, a serious time commitment and a major mess. But in some cases, it’s the smartest way to go. We ...

Q: My home has "popcorn" ceilings, the kind with asbestos. The cost of asbestos removal is so high, I've decided to overlay the ceilings with drywall. The person I've hired to do the work suggested ...

Janine asks: I’m putting up a ceramic tile backsplash in my kitchen. Can I put the tile directly on the drywall, or do I have to tear it out and use a cement board? Danny Lipford: If you’re talking ...

We asked professional tilers how to avoid a bodged tiling job, from substrate prepataion to laying your patttern.

Q: My husband and I live in a high-rise condo on Russian Hill in San Francisco, which we bought in 1975 and have updated over the years. However we have not tackled the popcorn ceiling problem. The ...