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Steps: Richard recommends labeling the main water shutoff valve to make it easy to locate in an emergency. Water pump pliers are a good multipurpose plumbing tool. Richard recommends selecting a pair that opens wide enough. An adjustable open-end wrench allows for tightening and loosening without leaving behind marks. A basin wrench allows facuet nuts that are hard to access to be loosened and tightened. A screwdriver with multiple tips allows one tool to be used for many applications....

At the TOH TV Westerly Project House, the kitchen hadn’t been updated in nearly 70 years. On the bright side, a complete gut renovation gave the homeowners the chance to carefully research and select products that would update the look—and increase the value—of their “new” old house. For the kitchen, the homeowners wanted a modern space with the function and durability needed for a young family. At the top of their must-have list: countertops with the organic look of richly veined Calacatta marble that would be built to last, easy to care for, and safe for their family....

Previous episode: S21 E3 | Next episode: S21 E5 In this episode: Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada takes us on a house call to solve a homeowner’s front yard problem. Despite living in a wooded neighborhood, their street is noisy, and they’d prefer to create some separation for the front yard for their children. Jenn surveys the surrounding plants and setting and comes up with a plan to create a woodland garden....

Previous episode: S43 E18 | Next episode: S43 E20 In this episode: Kevin O’Connor returns to the 1890s Victorian to see that the siding is gone, the house wrap is on, and the new windows are going in. The rickety porch is removed in the back, the entryway is changed, and some rotted house sills are replaced. He finds builder Deliandro and Tom Silva starting on the window casings using a PVC product that won’t rot....

Best For Island Cooktops: COSMO Island-Mount Range Hood Pros and Cons ✔ Has a decorative look✔ Uses dishwasher-safe filters✔ Includes a digital display with power, fan, light, and time buttons Best Range Hood Comparison COSMO Island-Mount Range Hood $385 Prices taken at time of publishing. This range hood makes a beautiful addition to a cooktop on an island. The curvature of the tempered glass visor extends well beyond the range hood to trap cooking fumes and direct them into the exhaust fan....

In This Guide: Save on Security: Blink and Ring Deals | Save on Wellness: Halo Deals | Save on Home: Echo and Fire TV Deals | Save on Tablets: Fire Tablets | Save on Bundles: Fire TV and Luna Save on Security: Blink and Ring Deals You can help protect your home this holiday season with these doorbells and indoor cameras from Blink and Ring. The outdoor security cameras are great for those who want to keep a better eye on what’s going on on their front porch to monitor package delivery and potential home invaders....

In this video, Nathan Gilbert helps a homeowner install a custom fence gate. The house is home to two young children, and the parents are worried they might run into the street. While the homeowners could buy a gate from a home center, the backyard has a wood fence with horizontal paneling, so Nathan creates a custom wood gate with horizontal paneling to match the rest of the fence. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time To secure the post he uses a special two-component, expanding foam, and Nathan joins Kevin in the workshop to talk more about the special post mix....

In this video, Ask This Old House carpenter Nathan Gilbert enlists the help of his father to install sliding barn doors on Mark McCullough’s chicken barn. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time How to Build an Exterior Sliding Barn Door Using a tape measure, mark the location of the sliding door brackets on the door. Be sure to space them evenly to distribute the load for smooth operation. Generally speaking, roughly 8 inches from each side will do, but adjust as necessary....

Q: What causes the mold on my roof? How can I get rid of it? How can I keep it from coming back? — Trudy, Muskegon, Michigan What is Roof Algae? The black mold-like stains and streaks that appear on roofs, particularly light-colored asphalt shingles, is actually a blue-green algae (Gloeocapsa magma). Commonly found in climates with warm, humid summers, it does no damage to the roofing, but it certainly does looks bad....

Five-inch K-style gutters or 6-inch half-rounds, the most common residential sizes, are able to handle the rainfall on most houses in most parts of the country. But houses with big, steep roofs or those located in climates prone to heavy downpours may need wider gutters and extra downspouts to keep rainwater from overflowing. What Size Gutters Do I Need? To figure out what size gutters you need, first you’ll need to calculate the square footage of the gutter’s drainage area....

“Sponging additional color on a painted wall is a classic technique, with an effect that depends on the colors you choose,” says decorative painter Ingrid Leess. “Here, I wanted to mimic a steel wall that had started to rust.” Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time To start, she put down a medium-gray base coat. Then she mixed equal parts rust-color satin latex with clear glaze, which lightens the color. Leess wrung out a wet natural sea sponge, dipped it in the colored glaze mixture, squeezed out the excess, and patted this way and that....

Countertops are a major element in any kitchen renovation. Claiming horizontal real estate atop lower cabinets and across kitchen islands and peninsulas, countertops have to handle a hefty assignment load, and look good doing it—whether it’s food prep, homework, or providing space for serving trays and small appliances. While serving a multitude of functions, we also expect countertops to make a style statement that can complement cabinetry and surrounding décor....

Lights, Camera, Action! A video camera crew captures Amy and architect Colin Oglesbay discussing their vision for the Modern Barnhouse. Hear what they have to say, here. SIP Construction Instead of traditional stick framing, the building envelope of our Modern Barnhouse is made of structural insulated panels, or SIPs. Like a sandwich made with a core of insulating foam and skins of structural oriented strand board, SIPs have the strength of traditional stick framing but offer much better energy performance because the insulation is uninterrupted by heat-conducting wood studs or rafters....

Top 5 Tower Fans Best Touchscreen: Dreo Wide-Oscillating Fan With Remote Best For Crowded Rooms: Lasko Portable Electric Oscillating Tower Fan Smallest Footprint: Lasko Tower Fan Longest Timer: PELONIS Quiet Stand-Up Oscillating Fan Best Speed Options: Honeywell QuietSet Whole-Room Tower Fan Best Touchscreen: Dreo Wide-Oscillating Fan With Remote This 90-degree oscillating tower fan offers six speed and three mode options, including normal, natural, and sleep. These settings can be selected from the fan’s touchscreen, which is easy to read and navigate....

This innovative home by Union Studio Architects won the Cape Cod Young Professionals House Design Contest—a challenge for architects to produce plans to help year-round families and young professionals gain a foothold in an expensive real estate market. Winning features include two income-generating spaces—a rental apartment and a maker’s workspace—and a super-tight building envelope that will keep utility bills down. Our builder, Cape Associates, Inc., has been making great progress since breaking ground in December; check out these scenes from the job site....

Got an old AC system? As of January 2020, the refrigerant Freon (also called HCFC-22 or R-22) is no longer being made in or imported into the U.S. Impact on Homeowners with Older AC Units But don’t sweat it. AC units less than 10 years old don’t contain Freon, and as long as your old compressor is working fine, you can keep using it. (Though rising prices on existing Freon stock means recharging the system will cost more....

Our Rating Methodology The This Old House Reviews Team is committed to providing comprehensive and unbiased reviews to our readers. This means earning your trust through transparent reviews and having the data to back up our ratings and recommendations. Our rating system for solar panel companies and installers is on a 100-point scale based on five factors: Payment options (40 points): Options include purchase, loan, lease, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)....

This article appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of This Old House Magazine. Click here to learn how to subscribe. The next time you find yourself in an older part of a city such as Boston, Philadelphia, London, or Rome, take a moment to look down at the sidewalks and streets. Most likely, they’re paved with clay bricks that have been in place for more than a century, withstanding foot and vehicle traffic, sun, rain, revolutions, and parades....

Picking the right siding for your house is a delicate balancing act between good looks, durability, maintenance, and affordability. With wood, vinyl, stone, brick, or stucco, you might get only two or three of these. But with fiber cement siding, a resilient mix of wood pulp and portland cement, you get all four. Why Use Fiber Cement Siding? It’s the only type of siding that combines the performance of masonry—minimal upkeep; rot-, fire-, and termite-proof; unaffected by wind or cold—with the look of painted wood clapboards, shingles, even stone or brick....

In this video, Heath Eastman explains how earlier in the pandemic, he installed a new USB receptacle in his kitchen but he never got around to installing AFCI protection. Whenever a receptacle is replaced, its corresponding breaker in the panel needs to be upgraded to an AFCI breaker. Heath demonstrates how this is done. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Steps for Installing an AFCI Circuit Breaker Note: Only a licensed professional should touch an electrical panel....