QUESTION: We are remodeling the kitchen in our 1893 house. We would like to have the space our hot-water radiator is taking up. It is 50 inches long by 25 inches high by 8 inches deep. What would be our alternatives?Also, have you heard any more about the tankless water heater? I've been thinking about replacing our 25-year-old, oil-burning furnace, which also supplies our hot water, with an efficient gas furnace and tankless heater, but my plumber insists that water doesn't get hot and they don't work well.ANSWER: First question first. There is no need to live with the cast-iron monster inhabiting your kitchen. It predates modern technology by more than 100 years. Most people live with them because we — they — think they fit an old house.Well, these are modern times, and there are alternatives. The Internet is full of very stylish ones that would fill the bill, although the pipes might need some retrofitting — nothing is ever easy and every situation is slightly different.My plumber always said that radiator replacement is something best left to professionals, so talk with yours about what it might take to change it.You might consider radiant-floor heating, but it would be expensive, unless you were taking the kitchen down to the studs and joists, which would make it slightly less expensive. I think replacing the radiator would be good enough.Tankless or on-demand hot water?The people who have it swear by it, although a few swear at it, and I hear regularly from both.A neighbor has it, making it a part of a major addition and renovation, and he still has no complaints after two years.Plumbers generally don't like on-demand.Whenever a consumer contacts me about tankless, four out of five times he or she starts "my plumber doesn't think on-demand hot water works ..."Frankly, pro and con are evenly split. The final decision, I guess, is up to you and the plumber.———

QUESTION: We live in a large house that is 100 years old with a foundation of stone and mortar.Despite replacing the gutters, and replacing the cracked terra cotta pipe that is part of the storm drain system, we are still getting water in the basement in heavy rains.What type of contractor can give us an honest diagnosis of the problem and the need for regrading, instead of trying to sell us a dry basement package?ANSWER: Readers who have successfully licked this common problem recommend landscaping contractors, since the problem has to be solved outside, not inside.E-mail Alan Heavens at aheavensphillynews.com or write him at The Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101. Volume prohibits individual replies.