When you move into a new home, you should change the locks on your house. You have no idea how many copies of the house keys are floating around out there from the previous homeowners, so changing the locks will keep your new house more secure. Tom recommends changing the locks whenever a new home is purchased. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time How Much Does It Cost to Change the Locks on a House?...
In this video, This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey explains how to get air conditioning where window units aren’t practical. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Steps for Installing a Portable Air Conditioner If there’s no existing wall vent, use a jigsaw to cut a 4-inch-diameter hole through an exterior wall. Apply silicone caulk to the rear flange on wall vent. From outside, slide wall vent through hole in wall; secure with stainless steel screws....
At a job site, mason Mark McCullough talks about chimney repairs. Mark shows Kevin O’Connor what to look for when planning out a repair before the pair roll up their sleeves and get to work. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Chimneys have tough lives. They live outdoors, and they’re always exposed to the elements. After a while, their joints and bricks can begin to fail, allowing them to take on water in inclement weather....
Steps: Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Tools & Materials Post hole digger socket wrench Cordless drill/driver Shovel Wheelbarrow Before doing any digging, dial 811 to call your local utility locating service to mark underground pipes and wires. Use post hole diggers to dig a hole 2 feet deep. Cut the 4x4 post to 4 feet long. Insert two feet into the mailbox post and leave two feet exposed. Attach the mailbox post to the pressure-treated post using the supplied lag screws and the socket wrench....
The products featured in this article have been independently reviewed by the Mattress Advisor and This Old House team. When you buy something through the retail links on this page, we may earn commission at no cost to you, the reader. The deceptively-named Labor Day holiday is a time to relax from work and shop some sales. And where better to relax than atop a new mattress? That’s especially true for those whose fluffy new mattress is the feather in their cap of a successful bedroom renovation....
Q: My mom has a forced-air heating and cooling system, and her home always seems very dusty. Yet the filters never seem to get dirty. The air returns are working fine, pulling in enough air to hold a piece of paper in place. What’s going on? A: Richard Trethewey replies: I can’t tell you exactly, but I know which suspects to round up: The filter and ducts. I’ll bet you’re using those cheap, disposable spun-fiberglass filters, which trap only the biggest chunks of dust and do almost nothing to improve indoor air quality....
If you’re heading out to buy a sheet of plywood for the first time, you may find yourself standing in the aisle, overwhelmed by the range of options you see. That’s because the types of plywood manufactured are as varied as the applications for which it’s used. What is Plywood? Plywood is a remarkably strong composite typically made of thin veneers of wood peeled from logs (plies), that are sandwiched together with binders, pressed, and heated....
The Los Angeles area is known to have many common pest problems similar to any city that large. A pest management company helps make sure that homes and businesses do not experience any potentially dangerous or annoying pest infestations. There are so many options for pest control in Los Angeles though that it can get overwhelming trying to figure out which company is best for your home and family. That is why the This Old House Reviews Team has worked to research and rank the best pest control companies in the country....
Here are our top recommendations. Top 9 Snow Removal Equipment Snow Joe Telescoping Snow Broom and Ice Scraper The Snowcaster Bi-Directional Wheeled Snow Pusher Bully Tools Heavy-Duty Ice Scraper Harris Pet-Friendly Snow and Ice Melt PowerSmart Two-Stage Snow Blower Greenworks 12-Inch Corded Snow Shovel Goplus Sleigh Shovel SNOWPEELER Roof Rake Spot Spreader Hand Ice Spreader Snow Joe Telescoping Snow Broom and Ice Scraper The Snowcaster Bi-Directional Wheeled Snow Pusher Bully Tools Heavy-Duty Ice Scraper Harris Pet-Friendly Snow and Ice Melt PowerSmart Two-Stage Snow Blower Greenworks 12-Inch Corded Snow Shovel Goplus Sleigh Shovel SNOWPEELER Roof Rake Spot Spreader Hand Ice Spreader Types of Snow Removal Equipment While all snow removal equipment is designed to clear snow, not all tools work the same way....
This lamp may be small, but boy is it ever mighty. The GoSun SolarLamp 50, on sale right now for $24.99, is a small, but powerful solar-powered light that will be your new go-to for on-the-spot illumination. At only 4.3-inches by 4.6-inches, it’s the perfect size for stashing on your patio or porch to use at night for reading, to brighten up your family picnic in the yard, or to bring some extra light to that refinishing project so you don’t miss a detail....
We all want homes that are comfortable and energy efficient. But all our efforts to replace drafty windows, seal up air leaks, and blanket wall cavities with insulation have had an unfortunate consequence: They’ve made the air in our houses less healthy to breathe. More of the airborne pollutants that once might have found their way outside—household chemicals, smoke, pet dander, and cooking gases, to name a few—are building up inside....
Home Office + Guest Room The key to this quick-change space? Fitting in the bed. To preserve the period look of this 1770s house, homeowners Kim Kimble and Tom McEntee had an authentic period “bed box” custom-built, with raised-panel cabinet doors that match original bookcases now located in the home office. Here’s how such a space stylishly lives a double life: Shown: Bookcase cabinets can hide office supplies; tucking the printer into built-in shelves helps it blend in....
This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows how to install a whole house fan. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Steps for Installing a Whole House Fan From inside the attic, take up any plywood floor covering the desired fan location. Lift out the insulation from between the ceiling joists. Cut two pieces of 2x10 to fit snugly between the ceiling joists. Set the blocks slightly farther apart than the length of the whole-house fan....
In general, houses that are destroyed by wildfires catch on fire because embers reach combustible materials that are too close to the house. Once the combustible materials ignite, they can catch the rest of the house on fire. To prevent the house from catching on fire, it’s important to keep combustible materials as far away from the house as possible. How to Make Your Home Safe from Wildfires One way to do that is by building a house with noncombustible materials....
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn a commission. Affiliate Disclosure If you’ve been toying with the idea of redoing your bedroom and getting yourself a new bed, you need to check out the best Presidents Day mattress sales, as you might just find your dream mattress for a seriously reduced price....
This article appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of This Old House Magazine. Click here to learn how to subscribe. When Evan and Whitney Williamson’s house in Saratoga Springs, New York, was built, Abraham Lincoln was in the White House, and Ulysses S. Grant was slugging it out with Robert E. Lee in a struggle to shape the nation’s destiny. There were no telephones, automobiles, or refrigerators. Electric lighting was rare....
A large flat-screen television is a must for the big game, but a large black blank space on your wall isn’t quite so captivating during dinner parties. You could, of course, hide your mammoth monitor in the den or basement. Or you could install it front and center, and cleverly conceal it behind a handsome cabinet fitted with bifold doors, as we did here. With a simple frame and doors cut down from a single bifold closet door, this cabinet is easy to assemble and costs far less than its store-bought counterparts....
Flared Detail Climb the front steps, past the stone-clad porch piers, and the Craftsman-style architectural elements all around give the house a familiar, homey feel. But once inside, it’s clear this is no standard bungalow home. A glass-framed entry ushers light into a cozy foyer with a herringbone oak floor. Just beyond, a hall accented with handcrafted cherry ceiling insets opens onto a living space that soars to double height....
Ask This Old House launched as a sister show to This Old House in October of 2002 to make house calls answering homeowners’ questions. The show aimed to help real homeowners feel more confident to do work in their own homes. Now, 20 years later, Ask This Old House is an Emmy-award-winning show with its experts continuing to help homeowners tackle their most challenging home improvement projects. Take a look below for a trip down memory lane with the team through the last two decades....
Previous episode: S20 E15 | Next episode: S20 E17 In this episode: Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada tells us how she got started in her trade. Knowing that she wanted to make the natural world her office, she went back to school and achieved a master’s degree in landscape design. After getting her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, she began teaching outdoor education at a farm in Vermont. After starting at the bottom at a nursery, Jenn worked her way up to working on construction sites with design teams....
