Always a popular feature of the Housing Fair, our “Ask an Expert” area features staff from the City of Minneapolis, MN Dept. of Energy Resources and Master Gardeners to answer your individual questions.

Visit our Ask an Expert page to learn more!

If you are feeling the winter blues, wake up your home through the addition of color. Learn how color can add drama, alter the overall feeling and minimize the problems of a room. Study color principles and how color schemes are created. For over 14 years she has worked extensively with builders, remodelers, architects, other designers and end users to customize interior spaces.

Presented by: Lori “Frankie” Cameron, NCIDQ.

Improve the beauty and security of your home by adding glass block windows in the basement, bathroom or kitchen. Installation can be difficult and challenging. John Neiss will share the history of glass blocks, techniques of installation and the tools you’ll need to do the job.

Presented by: John Neiss, Owner, John Neiss Glass and Block Window Company.

Am I Ready to DIY My Landscape? You know something needs to be done in the yard, and landscaping isn't that hard - right?  Well, let's go over a few things before you start so you know if you have what it takes to DIY your landscape. Diana Grundeen is a MNLA certified landscape designer for over 13 years and has been featured on HGTV's Curb Appeal.

Presented by: Diana Grundeen, MNLA certified landscape designer.

Bathrooms - Green Makeovers: Easy Makeover Ideas for Sprucing Up and Going Green. Attend this workshop and learn the top 5 must do makeover areas in your bathroom. You’ll learn the 3 things to absolutely avoid and how to make environmental and child friendly choices. Workshop is designed for the beginner to intermediate do it yourselfers.

Presented by: Michael Anschel with Otogawa-Anschel, Design and Build.

Neighborhood Insulation and the Power of Community. Understanding how energy works in your home is the foundation of comfortable, healthy, money-saving, and environmentally friendly house. Learn the basic steps needed to go from an energy-wasting home to an energy smart home, the barriers you'll face to taking action, and ways Southside residents are working together to overcome these barriers. During the session, you will get an introduction to the highest priorities when taking action to reduce energy costs, a brief outline of various existing programs to help you save energy, and invitations to join neighborhood teams working to insulate and upgrade their homes together. Through the session, we'll focus on how to make the biggest impact, how to navigate the confusing array of incentives, energy assessors, and contractors, and how to work with other households to make saving energy cheaper, more effective, and fun!

Presented by: Timothy DenHerder-Thomas with Cooperative Energy Futures.

Plumbing: How to Prevent and Handle a Plumbing Emergency. Plumbing tools, concepts and terminology every homeowner should know.

Presented by: Paul Jursik, City of Minneapolis Master Plumber with Athena Care.

Learn the basics of your home electrical wiring. We will look at the power distribution or control panel box and different types of circuits. See how to test and check electrical switches; fuses and wires for continuity and wire an actual “live” circuit.  Additional topics covered will be: different types of tools and test equipment, including formulas for calculating voltage, amperage and resistance.

Presented by Paul Schwartz, instructor for Adult Community Education classes Minneapolis and St. Paul Schools.

Are you wondering if your home could benefit from solar energy? This workshop covers the different types of solar power including solar electric, solar hot water, and solar air heat. Other topics covered are the systems and components used to harvest this power, solar resource and what you need to have a good solar system, including estimated costs. A majority of the solar system can be paid for by rebates and tax credits.

Presented by: Dustin Denison with Applied Energy Innovations.

Avoiding Dubious Energy Investments. As energy costs rise along with global temperatures, many people are interested in doing their part to reduce energy consumption. Unfortunately, the opportunities for questionable energy-saving claims have risen, as well. This presentation by Terry Webster from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources will help you separate out the “World of Reality” from the “Universe of Hypes & Hopes.” From insulation to windows to space heaters to renewable energy, you will learn when some types of products might work, when they are unlikely to work, and when they will require changes in the laws of physics to work. Now, more than ever, we should all try to avoid dubious energy investments.

A complete walk through of how to install floor and wall tiles will be presented by the Richfield Home Depot. Topics cover will include floor/wall preparation, cutting tiles, working with grout and the tools you will need.

What are the top 6 must do makeover areas to make your kitchen stand out? Learn about the 4 things to absolutely avoid at all cost. Make your kitchen environmental and child friendly. Workshop is designed for the beginner to intermediate do it yourselfers.

Presented by: Michael Anschel with Otogawa-Anschel, Design and Build.

A rain garden is more than just a hole in the ground. The well-designed rain garden is a landscape feature, offering opportunities for unique rock work, bridges and a huge variety of interesting plant material. See  examples of how to design and implement beautiful rain gardens and  pictures of installed rain gardens for inspiration.

Presented by: Jason Rathe, Field Outdoor Spaces.