Home & Garden

Make a garden tarp, berry-protecting net and safe mason-bee home as gardening gifts.

Q. We have a house in North Carolina. The kitchen has the original Formica cabinet top, which has developed raised edges where two pieces of Formica join. Presumably it is from moisture getting under the Formica, but we do not have any idea of how to remedy the situation, which is getting worse with use because now that it is open, it gets more moisture each time the Formica is wiped. Any solution? I tried putting Silicone into the “line” but that did not work.

Thanksgiving cactus has long been a favorite plant for the holidays. The Thanksgiving cactus only blooms once during the season, the rest of the year it stores up energy for next year’s burst of blooms. This plant...

We have a good report on the Rhino Shield paint situation that one reader told us about a few weeks back. I wrote that the house itself had moisture issues t that caused the Rhino Shield to fail. Rhino Shield representative Bill Wightman tells me the company suspected poorly draining gutters and that it replaced damaged wood and refinished the side of the home. It is my hope the owner also make repairs to fix the water problem, which can be done by a pro and basically is easy to detect. The owner messaged me that Rhino Shield did everything nicely.

Q. The finished part of our basement needs updating -- the walls are dingy and the carpet is worn and smells faintly of cat urine in a couple spots (they had cats). We want to paint the walls/ceiling and replace the carpet.