Posts

Shoe molding is that thin piece of molding you see in many homes during the transition between baseboard trim or cabinets and the floor. The most common type looks like a simple quarter round, but it can come in other profiles, too, including a rectangle with a curved edge or something with more detail resembling a tiny baseboard molding. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Installing shoe molding is one of the easiest trim projects, requiring only a few tools and some basic carpentry skills....

Tool bags come in multiple sizes and offer a variety of pockets to hold the tools necessary to complete a range of DIY projects. In addition to providing convenient storage, tool bags help homeowners stay organized by keeping different tools grouped in easy-to-reach compartments. Top 5 Tool Bags Best Value: DEWALT 33-Pocket Tool Bag Most Portable: Klein Tools 14-Tool Backpack Best Design: Carhartt Legacy Tool Bag Best Tool Carrier: Custom Leathercraft 43-Pocket Tool Carrier Best for In-Home Use: Milwaukee Heavy-Duty Canvas Contractor Bag Best Value: DEWALT 33-Pocket Tool Bag This affordable DEWALT tool bag features a large zipper and spacious interior that make it a great option for any handy homeowner....

An entryway is the focal point of a home’s facade. And the front door, its most prized asset. It’s easy to understand why many of us still like our doors to be made of wood. Nothing else matches the material’s warmth and satisfying heft. Or offers so many design options. Steel doors are stamped; fiberglass pops out of a mold. But a wood door can be custom crafted in virtually any shape or size and incorporate whatever molding profiles, panel configurations, glazing options, or carvings that you please....

Jenn: Hey guys, I’m Jenn and today I’m here with Jeremy from Jericho Home. Jeremy, thank you so much for being here. Jeremy: Thank you for having me. Jenn: I thought you could start by just telling everybody a little bit about Jericho Home and how you got started. Jeremy: A few years ago I started a company called Jericho Home Services. Jericho Home is the home decor side of it....

Top 5 Slippers Best Support: ULTRAIDEAS Women’s Memory Foam Slippers Most Stylish: Crazy Lady Women’s Fuzzy Flip-Flop Slippers Best For Kids: MERRIMAC Boys’ and Girls’ Moccasin Slippers Best Indoor/Outdoor For Men: NDB Men’s Memory Foam House Slippers Best For Traveling: shevalues Women’s Soft Indoor Slippers Best Support: ULTRAIDEAS Women’s Memory Foam Slippers With their high-density memory foam insoles and thick solid rubber outsoles, these slippers perfectly fit your feet while protecting them from food crumbs and other debris on the floor....

While bamboo flooring is not exactly new, having been around for two decades, it might as well be. In recent years, advances in manufacturing have enhanced its performance and diversified its appearance. The major change: the introduction of superdense “strand-woven” bamboo, which can be milled into boards that are two and a half times as hard as red oak. They also can be produced in an array of wood-look styles—from the familiar, like maple or walnut, to exotic species, like tigerwood and cumaru—that are quite different from what most people associate with the material....

Many communities, particularly coastal ones, promote the idea of enhancing storm water drainage by reducing the amount of non-permeable surface on residential properties. A driveway is a prime candidate, for it is typically a fairly long stretch of pavement. A permeable driveway allows storm water to drain more efficiently, reducing the storm water runoff that can affect the water quality of nearby rivers, lakes, homes, and reservoirs. At the 2018 Idea House, the design team chose a variation on a ribbon driveway—one where two parallel strips of paved surface flank a central strip of grass or rocks....

Even the most beautiful brickwork is just so much rubble without a bed of mortar to seal and hold it together. What Is Mortar Repointing? When mortar starts cracking, receding, and falling out of the joints, it’s time to chisel out the old stuff and trowel in the new, a process called repointing. This is a simple job, but it has to be done with care, using the right tools and the right materials to avoid damaging the brick and permanently compromising the integrity and appearance of the wall....

Greyrock Homes building team and husband-and-wife duo Sandy and Jerry Effren design every home as if they themselves would live there. And in the case of the TOH 2020 Farmhouse, with each decision it became increasingly clear that this would become their forever home. The vision of this house really began in the heart of it all—the kitchen. “In the open floor plan, the kitchen is central to a 44-by-22-foot great room....

There are lots of times when you just want a little peace and quiet. All you need to do is find a room and shut the door, right? But if you’re in a noisy household, chances are that some of the sound will follow you into the room. How did it get in? Probably the same way that you did, through the door. How can you stop, or at least reduce, the noise?...

Drive down any residential street, and we’d bet your eye is instantly drawn to the house with the inviting, well-lit front door. Done right, exterior entry lighting makes the most of what you’ve got, complementing your home’s architecture, increasing security, and helping guests navigate their way to the front landing. That said, it can be a real challenge to select the perfect fixture. Just stroll down the lighting aisle of any home store, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the countless styles, finishes, bells and whistles—and that’s before you look online....

In this video, Jenn Nawada, landscape designer for Ask This Old House, helps install a pondless waterfall in a backyard. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Steps for Building a Pondless Waterfall Dig a large area for the plastic blocks, and include a deeper area for the pump vault. Square up the sides of the basin and level off the bottom. Lay down landscape fabric as a first layer. Lay down waterproof rubber membrane....

Steps for Installing a Rain Chain: Decide where the rain chain will be hung and install a downspout outlet in the gutter in the desired location. Dig a hole slightly wider than the width of your pot and at least 6” deep directly underneath the downspout outlet. Fill the hole with the ¾” stone. Flip the pot upside down and drill a few drainage holes with a masonry drill. Put the pot in place on top of the hole filled with stone....

Although I am thankful to have a large collection of drills, drivers, saws, and more, they often end up piled in an open cubby somewhere as most of them lack dedicated homes. To resolve this issue, I’m building shelves with slotted dividers to hold each individual tool. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time In part one of this series, I showed you how to create the shell of a 4x8 mobile workbench....

Invented as a way to wash off fast, showers have evolved into a prized source of relaxation, often with spa-like amenities. Steam shower with colored lights and piped-in playlists, anyone? No wonder showers account for 17 percent of a typical household’s water bill. That’s led to a new generation of showerheads designed to put less water to better use. Thermostatic valves have done away with the shock of temperature swings, exposed shower risers have turned into design statements, and panels of frameless glass show off artfully tiled walls and invite in natural light....

If you feel a shiver each time you open your utility bill, your house may be too cold. More likely, however, you’re paying more than you should to heat it. In either case, you can make changes now that will give you a warm home and save you money. These aren’t big projects like adding attic insulation or replacing your windows—save those for later. They’re easy-to-do and inexpensive techniques. The most complicated will take a weekend afternoon, and many take little time and don’t even require the purchase of materials, only changing a habit or two....

Air conditioners. Mini-splits. Refrigerators. All are heat pumps, devices that operate using a principle of physics: heat will always transfer its energy to a cooler medium. The medium could be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. For instance, when warmer air inside a refrigerator is passed across tubing coils filled with a cold refrigerant, the refrigerant picks up the heat from the air. Pumped through a compressor, the refrigerant is compressed, then pumped to a second coil, where the heat is dispersed to the cooler air at the back of the refrigerator....

Steps for Building a DIY Leaning Ladder Bookcase A ladder bookcase is a great addition to any room. Best of all, you can easily build your own for a third of the price you’d pay at the store. Follow the directions below to learn how to build a DIY ladder bookcase. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time 1. Cut the 1 x 2 Parts to Size The sides are made up of a back 1x2 leg with two square cut ends, an angled front leg mitered at parallel 9-degree angles, and crosspieces that set horizontally at the height of each shelf with one square cut end and one mitered end meet the angle of the front leg....

Perhaps you’re looking to repurpose an old mirror, or you’re having a difficult time finding the perfect size or shape for a particular space in your home. Whatever your reason for needing a custom-sized mirror, it will be much less expensive to cut it yourself than to have it professionally done. All you need are the right materials. Materials for cutting a mirror The most important thing you’ll need, besides the mirror itself, is a glass-cutting tool....

When we think of a home’s basement, we often imagine dark, damp places with old holiday decorations and lots of spiders. And what else? Mold. What is Mold? Mold (sometimes called mildew), is a type of fungus. It’s made up of small organisms that send out tiny spores to reproduce when they find somewhere wet. These spores can attach themselves to clothing, hair, shoes, or just travel on the wind — and you encounter them throughout your day, mostly without noticing....