Jeff Somers is a freelancer who has been writing about writing, books, personal finance, and home maintenance since 2012. When not writing, Jeff spends his free time fixing up his old house. He has ...

When the mortar between bricks starts to fail, more significant problems will begin to emerge. Water will have an easier passage into the structure of your home, leading to unwanted damp issues.

Last week, I fielded no fewer than five phone calls from homeowner with the same grim news. They found it nearly impossible to get quotes from contractors to do fairly simple repairs. Each caller’s ...