A kitchen remodel is one of the most impactful upgrades you can make to a home — but it’s also one of the easiest projects to get wrong. Between layout decisions, material choices, timelines and budgets, many homeowners feel overwhelmed…
Brass is a great metal for hardware, but it does need to be polished to remain pretty. Factory-applied lacquer coatings keep brass looking good for longer, but the lacquer needs to be removed to allow polishing, as you’ll see from…
This Guide Helps You Avoid Expensive Regrets If you’ve worked on modern houses, you already know how much can be systematized.Materials are standardized. Methods are familiar. Surprises are limited. Older houses are different. Homes built before — and even shortly…
I’ve built houses from scratch from foundation to roof peak, and I’ve also managed and worked on a number of older home renovations and restorations. Because of that, I can say with confidence that these two types of projects are…
Hollow wall anchors like these are among the strongest options for securing heavy objects to drywall. Metal wings expand and tighten against the inside face of the drywall after installation. Question: How do I anchor something heavy to drywall? I’d…
Outdoor painting projects are common, but not all paint jobs last equally long or look equally good. This article explains three essential outdoor painting details that help your paint job endure weather and wear — from surface preparation to technique…
Video Watch Time = 11 minutes Inverters are a type of fuel-powered generator, and the new larger sizes and dual-voltage output make them suitable for whole-house backup. Learn more from the video above, including how a very well-priced option compares…
Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man, doesn’t accept excuses, and explains how simple it can be to work on DIY home improvement projects.
As gross as this looks, it’s not what you think it is. These cylinders of soybean paste are especially formed for testing toilets. And testing like this has done a lot to improve the performance of toilets around the world. Read on to see how . . .
If you rely on a sump pump to keep your basement dry, then you need a good system that keeps on working even when electric power goes out. I often hear from homeowners who’ve endured a catastrophic basement leak that…
Want to install wainscoting along the side of a staircase? This short video shows an overview of an actual installation I was part of on a century home. We used a kit for this job from an outfit called Elite…
Question: As the weather warms up in spring I sometimes hear a faint drip-drip sound coming from the attic of my 17 year old bungalow. Water stains and dripping also showed up on the ceiling. When I opened the attic hatch,…