“Dear PoPville,

Can anyone recommend a contractor to replace an entryway door in the Capitol Hill Historic District? The wood door on our 1967 row house has seen better days. We’ve had a few contractors come out to give estimates–some are totally unaware of the historic preservation review part of the permit process and others are completely discouraged by it. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

This morning’s biblical event identified my gutters are overflowing in the back of my house, causing the torrent of rain to come down the middle of my rear wall and pool on the ground and seep into my basement floor (tile, thank goodness). I’m on the Hill if it matters. It’s not a huge job, but boy is it important to me. Any help would be appreciated!!”

photo by Rukasu1

“Dear PoPville,

I am wondering if you have a recommendation for bathroom renovation contractors in the DC area?”

Photo by Ted Eytan

“Dear PoPville,

The topic of sound mitigation in these old D.C. rowhomes has been much discussed in PoPville. Hearing actual conversations on the floor above, loud footfalls in the middle of the night and the roar of the hair dryer should not be ways of life in basement homes. It’ll never be perfect silence, yet we know people have found ways to make it more bearable for the subterranean residents.

Finding contractors these days isn’t easy. Most are so busy, and so many others don’t do this sort of job. One contractor we spoke with wanted to charge what was essentially the cost of a mid-range sedan to do sound mitigation work to our basement ceiling. So we wanted to ask those members of the PoPville nation who have been there and are now living in relative quiet who they hired, whether they are happy with the result and how much it cost.“

Photo by washingtonydc

“Dear PoPville,

I could use the collective architectural savvy of the commentariat. We have a fairly typical end-unit brick rowhouse, approximately 1,000 sqft above grade. We need to get the brick tuck-pointed/repaired on two sides (the rear was done shortly before we moved in). This seems straightforward, but we’ve been having a fair bit of trouble.

There are two main issues and associated questions for the hivemind: Read More

Photo by Caroline Angelo

“Dear PoPville,

We just bought a house in Cap Hill / H St Corridor area and are moving in in two months. Since this is our first home (always rented), we don’t have a lot of repairman connections. There are some minor repairs we need to make in the house–nothing major, but stuff I want fixed before we move in. For example, there are some gaps and deteriorated mortar on the exterior, we want to relocate the AC unit, the deck bannister is loose and needs to be fixed, etc.

Do you have any recommendations for a good, trustworthy handyman in the area?”

Photo by Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

Can we revisit the roll up door installer topic?

As far as I can tell, the only installer who is willing to file permits is Alan Pooner (I checked the active permits at DCRA), but he’s got a 59 week(!) backlog.

I’ve contacted at least a dozen other companies, and nobody else wants to touch permits…

Does anyone have guidance on how to find a roll up door installer who will file a permit, or any suggestions on how to get a permit yourself?”

Somehow when I searched “deck” this photo came up and how could I not post it. Photo by Mr.TinDC

“Dear PoPville,

With the weather turning nice again (finally!) I’m pumped to hit my deck again, but it’s gotten all sad and peel-y. Do readers have any suggestions for individuals who do deck refinishing?”

Photo by angela n.

“Dear PoPville,

The last post on mini splits was from 2014. I’m unsure if it’s too soon, but I wanted to request another post on recommendations for mini splits and local installers. I’d really like to find local dealers/installers and avoid big box stores, and I’m unsure how serious to take the few Yelp reviews I’ve found.”

Photo by Phil

“Dear PoPville,

I’m a Columbia Heights resident looking to do a relatively small upgrade to my condo in the form of a washer/dryer addition, however I’ve hit a wall finding a good DC-area mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineer who is willing to take on a small project. I’d even pay extra to make up for the limited size of the project – would you be willing to post and see if anyone has suggestions of MEP engineers they’ve worked with? Clearly this is a thing that someone, somewhere must have accomplished!”