Q. I’m hoping to grow tomatoes in containers on my sunny balcony. What are my chances?A. Your chances are very good, says Alana Mezo, a senior horticulturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Although it’s too late in the season to start growing from seeds, tomato transplants can prosper on your balcony with regular watering and … Read more
Q. After years of abuse, the granite countertop in our kitchen is all scratched up and has a thin crack in one corner. Can it be repaired?A. First, determine whether you really need the crack fixed. Granite often has natural veining or spider cracks, but that doesn’t mean it’s broken, says Filippo Carlini, manager at … Read more
Q. With winter coming, what can we do to protect our patio furniture from the elements? A. If you don’t have a garage or basement to store it in, your furniture inevitably will suffer a bit in the winter. To minimize damage, give your table and chairs a good going-over before cold weather strikes. If … Read more
Q. There are blotches of black showing through the silver of my nice old mirror. Will I ever see my full reflection again? A. Black splotches appear when a mirror’s protective coating breaks down and air gets to the silver, causing it to tarnish. There’s no do-it-yourself solution here’silver paint won?t do the job. If … Read more
Q. We had our dining room painted a rich shade of blue. Now that it’s done, we wish the color wasn’t so intense. Is there anything we could do ourselves to tone it down? A. Sure, says Pam Olson, owner of Cover Girls (6674 N. Northwest Hwy., 773-775-9896). She suggests you buy a quart of … Read more
Q. I have an old but not wildly valuable porcelain figurine that recently met with an accident; several small pieces broke off, but I seem to have recovered all of them. Now what? A. The damage done to your figurine is probably fixable-just resist the urge to try to glue the pieces back together yourself. … Read more
Q. I have a 1950s-era Roper double-oven stove with six burners. The burners, ovens, and broilers work fine, but the stove needs some cosmetic restoration and cleaning. Do you know where I can get this done? A. “Age is in a stove’s favor-the older the better, as far as quality and reliability are concerned,” says … Read more
Q. We have lots of beautiful lake pebbles that we’ve collected over the years, and we would like to use them to decorate a wall or floor in a bathroom. How would we go about this? A. One of the pleasures of living near Lake Michigan is the abundance of lovely, smooth stones you can … Read more
Q. I have a hardwood floor that I would like to ebonize. Can this be done to any type of wood floor? A. If you want to create a sleek black look on your hardwood floors, you’re going to have an easier time getting there if you’re working with oak, rather than maple. The grain … Read more
A. Teco is art pottery that was made in Terra Cotta (now Crystal Lake), Illinois, from the late 1800s to the early 1920s. The name comes from the first syllables of "terra" and "cotta." The company that produced Teco pottery, Gates Potteries, was an offshoot of the American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company, owned by … Read more
