by Nigel Costolloe | Jan 16, 2026 | exterior corner boards, Exterior Painting, handyman services, IceDams, Water Damage, Winter
Winter doesn’t just disappear when the snow melts; it likes to linger and have a bit of fallout. Winter leaves behind moisture and small structural vulnerabilities that can quickly become major problems once spring rain arrives. The freeze–thaw-repeat cycle that...
by Nigel Costolloe | Dec 29, 2025 | handyman services, IceDams, Power Washing, Water Damage, Winter, Wood Restoration
Winter has a way of hiding problems. The snow piles up, and windows stay shut. Small issues quietly wait for warmer weather to show themselves. By the time spring arrives, those small problems often turn into bigger ones. That’s why the transition from winter to...
by Nigel Costolloe | Feb 10, 2018 | Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration, Home Improvement, Interior Painting, Residential Interior Painting, Water Damage
Here in New England the reason most paint peels is because the paint coating has become too thick and inflexible. Old homes wearing their original siding and trim can have over 15 coats over them – as the wood expands and contracts with temperature and humidity...
by Nigel Costolloe | Feb 13, 2015 | IceDams, Water Damage
I won’t indulge my desire to moan about how much I’ve had to shovel this past month, nor the shoveling expected this weekend with the arrival of our next blizzard. Instead, in the spirit of camaraderie and New England stoicism, I offer you this image from...
by Nigel Costolloe | Jun 22, 2012 | Cambridge, Water Damage
Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone would use the phrase “submitted for your approval..” and then go on to describe the latest nightmare scenario. I have my own example to submit, captured in the photograph below. A hardwood deck in Cambridge, built flush to...
by Nigel Costolloe | Feb 3, 2012 | Boston Painters, Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration, Water Damage
I had no idea either, until I moved to New England from San Francisco and encountered a multitude of paint failures that are unique to old wood houses and Old Man Winter. The above photo is of an elevation on the Fitch Inn in Bedford, the start of Paul Revere’s famous...
