Question: I am trying to get a lead on how to repair the steps that go from my kitchen sliding-glass door to my fenced-in patio. The steps have a big crack at the bottom. As a result, the steps are almost suspended from the house. Ive tried to get someone to come to my house for an estimate, but the places I called said my repair is too small for them. Where can I go?

Alexandria

Answer: Clayton Perry, business development manager for Concrete Jack, a concrete-leveling company based in Williamsburg (855-603-6321; http://www.concretejack.com), took a look at the picture you sent. The view isnt wide enough for him to see the whole picture, but the steps appear to be level. So his hunch is that the steps are stable. That means the patio must be sinking, a situation he finds frequently. Nine times out of 10, the underlying soil wasnt compacted right, he said. Another possibility is that you have a drainage problem that is washing away the base of the patio.

You could plug the gap by stuffing soil or a concrete mix under the steps. But if the patio has sunk, that would leave the drop between the bottom step and the patio greater than between the other steps. Even a relatively small difference in these distances creates a trip hazard, which is why the 2012 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code allows only a three-eighths-inch difference in tread height. So the best solution is to raise the height of the patio.

The picture shows that your patio is brick. If the bricks rest on a concrete slab, Concrete Jack or another concrete-leveling company could inject something under the slab, raising it to the original height.

Concrete Jack, which uses high-density polyurethane foam or a sand-cement grout, has a minimum charge of $750 in Northern Virginia. A-1 Concrete Leveling Northern Virginia, based in Herndon (703-481-6868; http://www.a1concretelevelingnorthernvirginia.com), also does small jobs. It injects a crushed-stone slurry, typically for around $800 to $1,500, depending on the size of the job.

If the bricks rest on sand, the best solution is to pull them up and redo the base, making sure to compact it well before the bricks are reinstalled. Many landscapers are set up to do this.

Question: We put in a concrete driveway a dozen years ago that soon started chipping off. The contractor returned our money, but we are left with a driveway that is part crumbling concrete. Short of jackhammering it all up and starting over, what can we do to make this smooth and presentable?

Herndon

Answer: Unfortunately, there is no way to fix your driveway. Something clearly was wrong with the concrete mixture, such as too much water or too little cement. Surface spalling, which can be caused by ice damage, improper timing of troweling during construction or use of de-icers afterward, can be repaired by topping the concrete with an overlay that consists of cement, fine sand and a polymer, similar to white glue. But there is no cure when the damage goes deeper.

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How to repair cracked concrete steps

Masked thugs armed with a baseball bat and shovel terrorised a student house.

The two men smashed their way through patio doors at the home on Bandy Fields Place in Higher Broughton, Salford.

They then stormed the property and cornered two of the residents, a man and woman both aged 19.

The man was jabbed twice in the head with a shovel as he stood trapped with his housemate. He was later treated for minor injuries.

The other students barricaded themselves into the living room and the intruders gave up and left.

They did not take any money and no demands were made during the attack, at around midnight on Monday, October 27.

After they ran up the road, they paused to smash the windscreen of a nearby car.

The offenders are described as white men in their 20s and wearing dark clothing. Both had their hoods up and had their faces covered during the incident.

Det Con Sue West, of Swinton CID, said: At this stage, we are exploring a number of ideas as to why this particular address was targeted. No property was stolen, and no demands were made.

We have spoken to several witnesses who were there at the time, but we need more people to come forward if they believe they saw two men matching the above description in the area at the time. If you saw anything, or can offer any information to assist, no matter how insignificant it might have seemed at the time, please get in touch. Your call could help us take these men off the streets.

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Thugs armed with baseball bat and shovel terrorise student house

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UPVC Patio Doors, Sliding Patio Doors - Just Doors UK

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Aluminium patio doors, aluminium sliding doors, aluminium ...

Meet Lojjik, a college student and wikiHow Admin and Booster, who has been active in the community for over 7 years. He has started 30 articles, patrolled over 47,000 edits, and contributed to wikiHow code as an engineering intern. He also enjoys helping with administrative backlogs, writing, and working on content to improve readability, particularly in articles introductions. Hes most proud of his work on How to Reduce Glare when Driving at Night, which has been featured and translated into 5 different languages. He says that, in the wikiHow community, the fusion of friendly people with an ideology of knowledge philanthropy gives him a sense of belonging, a desire to stay connected and keep growing the project. To new editors, he says: Don't worry about making mistakes. Everything is fixable. If you think you can leave an article better than the way you found it, I'd encourage you to do just that. A little bit goes a long way toward achieving our mission!

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How to Install a Patio Sliding Door (with Pictures) - wikiHow

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Blacksburg welcomed a popular name in pizza to the downtown scene on Saturday evening.

Mellow Mushroom, a well-known, eclectic pizzeria franchise, opened its doors on Oct. 25 for their Friends and Family VIP event. Around 350 Shroomers were invited to attend the event, including Mayor Ron Rordam, who assisted Mellow Mushroom owners Leslie and Jeff Knapp in a ceremonial ribbon cutting signifying the official opening of the restaurant.

The money received from the event on Saturday was donated by Mellow Mushroom to the Giving Tree Food Pantry in Christiansburg.

Knapp, owner of the new Mellow Mushroom in downtown Blacksburg, introduced the famous pizzeria to Hickory, North Carolina four years ago after visiting the original location in Atlanta, Georgia.With the opening of her second Mellow Mushroom restaurant, Knappexpects to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth to manage the two locations.

We fell in love with the food and the concept. It became a family favorite of ours," Knapp said.

For times when Knapp is not in Blacksburg, a general manager will be hired to run day-to-day operations. Its unclear how many jobs the new location will create, but Knapp says that corporate, for opening, because it can get a little hectic, (will) look at anywhere between 100 to 125 (new employees).

Mellow Mushroom features pizza, hoagies and calzones and offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Prices range from $6.95 for lunch specials and up to$26.99 for a large specialty pizza.

In addition to the variety of pizza options, the restaurant will offer 60 different types of beer on tap, with an additional 40 types in bottles, with a fair amount in rotation, said Jeff Knapp, Leslies husband. They are also expecting to sell growlers of their craft beers.

Knapp, a Virginia Tech alumni, sought to plant a Mellow Mushroom in Blacksburg nearly three years ago, finally breaking ground for the location of the project last May.

We wanted (to introduce) a place that could serve students as well as young professionals, families and alumni returning to this area, Knapp said. (Blacksburg) is like our second home.

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Mellow Mushroom opens its doors in Blacksburg

Original hardwood flooring, whitewashed brick and a kitchen with a 1950s OKeefe & Merritt oven add to the vintage appeal of this updated bungalow abode found in the heart of Abbot Kinney. Through French doors, interiors flow freely onto a patio setting that receives shade from a great avocado tree. A detached garage moonlights as an alternate living space and home office.

Location: 1744 Washington Way, Venice, 90291

Asking price: $1.565 million

Year built: 1925

House size: 952 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom

Lot size: 4,204 square feet

Features: Original hardwood floors, French doors, custom built-ins, updated kitchen with OKeefe and Merritt oven, dining area, formal living room with stack fireplace, patio, avocado tree, garage

About the area: There were 50 homes sold in the 90291 ZIP Code over the last 90 days at a median sale price of $1.52 million, according to Redfin. The median list price for that area is $1.75 million.

Agent: Tami Pardee, (310) 907-6517, Pardee Properties

To submit a candidate for Home of the Day, send high-resolution color photos via Dropbox.com, permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to neal.leitereg@latimes.com.

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Home of the Day: Venice Beach bungalow with vintage appeal

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B rothers Anthony and Richard Wheat have breathed new life into this magnificent 200-plus year old building and made a quite fabulous family home.

They bought the building at The Terrace, Cheadle, several years ago after it had been used as a solicitor's office, but took it back to the original design and split it into two houses. The other side has already been renovated and sold and now it has been the turn of this one.

It is a hugely impressive building and testament to the amount of time, effort and money the brothers have put into it. The restoration has been of the total, back-to-brick variety, but the result is worth it. Anthony said: "We have done everything, absolutely everything to it. It has been rewired, replastered, we have put back the skirting and coving as it would have been all those years ago and left in some period features, but also added some modern touches and it is just right for a family in the market today.

"You can drive around this town and I don't think you will find another property quite like this one. It has so much character, you see."

Set up slightly from the road, the house makes a strong impression from the moment you open the oak panelled front door and walk inside.

To the right is a big lounge with an open fireplace flanked by a pair of period-correct alcoves, lovely sash windows, and it has a boarded floor. Whether a future owner wants to carpet it or not is a matter for them, but it does look fantastic.

There is a cellar accessed from the hallway, and then at the back of the house you come to one of the most surprising rooms, the breakfast kitchen.

In contrast to the traditional feel of the lounge, this has a much more modern look and the overwhelming sense is one of daylight because, thanks to an atrium roof and a half glazed back wall with patio doors out to the garden beyond, this room glows in the sunlight.

Cream-fronted base and wall units and a pale ceramic tiled floor only emphasise the light in this room.

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Superbly restored Grade II town centre four bedroom home: Stoke-on-Trent homes

DEAR JOAN: We've experienced something new this summer in my small patio.

Every year I plant a cherry tomato and have always had success in getting a bumper crop. This year, for the first time, squirrels have been stealing lots of tomatoes as soon as they ripen.

We're wondering if the drought is causing them to seek out moisture in fruits and vegetables when they can't find sufficient water.

Our neighbor two doors down has had the same problem for the first time this year. Have you ever heard of this before?

Patricia Motta

Bay Area

Squirrels are notorious tomato-nappers. (Courtesy of Rich Cordes)

DEAR PATRICIA: I think the drought is affecting squirrels, but probably not in the way you think. If you've never had tomato-thieving squirrels before, count yourself lucky. A good friend of mine has to grow all of her tomatoes in webs of chicken wire.

Squirrels love tomatoes, especially the ripe ones that you were just about to pick. Squirrels can be a nuisance in the garden, but they are no more likely to eat them in drought years than in nondrought years.

The squirrels, however, may have come into your neighborhood because of the drought. There are fewer food and water resources for all wildlife, so squirrels living on the edge of suburbia may have picked up their bags and moved in closer to irrigated lawns and backyard gardens.

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Tomato-eating squirrels