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When you’ve been building houses for nearly 40 years, you know what excites the people who will someday live in them. Expansive gathering spaces. Luxurious personal spaces. Flexible spaces for work or for play. Jerry and Sandy Effren, the husband-and-wife team behind Greyrock Homes, brought this experience to the table as they planned TOH ’s second Idea House of 2020. The 3,700-square-foot farmhouse they built in Norwalk, Connecticut, would fuse their years of home-building know-how with the latest innovations in materials, features, and finishes—as well as a few items from their personal wish list....

The Best Plants for a Low-Maintenance Privacy Hedge Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is a good choice because it doesn’t need pruning to keep its full shape from top to bottom, and adapts to a wide range of growing conditions from Zones 2 to 7—including your Zone 6—as long as it has full sun. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time To get a sense of privacy right away, select specimens that are at least 6 feet tall, with green foliage and moist root balls....

Nathan Gilbert fixes a crack in a homeowner’s china cabinet. Nathan shows the homeowner how to skin the interior of the cabinet with MDF, hiding the crack while replacing it with a modern material that blends in with the original charm. After Nathan wraps up, he gives paint expert Mauro Henrique a call to help the homeowner finish the job. Mauro helps the homeowner fill holes, caulk prime, and paint the interior of the cabinet for a fresh new look....

It’s a houseguest’s nightmare: A clogged toilet with no plunger in sight. But never fear! You can conquer a stopped-up toilet without this bathroom tool. Here are a few ways you can unclog a toilet; with some simple household items you probably have at hand. Note: These techniques work with biodegradable material, not a flushed toy or something solid and nonorganic. The Simple Solution: Hot Water and Soap Items needed:...

This is part of This Old House: Live—daily programming and opportunities to connect with This Old House experts during these challenging times. Check the schedule for more content, tips, and upcoming virtual events with our experts. When “social distancing” became part of our national consciousness a few weeks ago, the first thing This Old House Landscape Contractor Jenn Nawada did was stock up on seeds. “My absolute favorite thing to grow is tomatoes, so I like to build my garden around that,” says Nawada, who chose a mix of basil, lettuce, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and zucchini seeds to accompany her San Marzano Tomato seeds....

Previous episode: S20 E8 | Next episode: S20 E10 In this episode: Carpenter Nathan Gilbert takes us to the Tool Lab to discuss power drill drivers. After discussing early drills and their shortcomings, Nathan explains that dozens of manufacturers have produced drill drivers loaded with batteries and options. He describes different types of drill drivers, including light, medium, and heavy-duty options. Nathan even breaks down the configurations that drill drivers come in, as well as their price ranges....

Previous episode: S41 E12 | Next episode: S41 E14 On this episode: On the morning of November 8, 2018, the 27,000 residents of Paradise, California woke to an orange glow in the Eastern sky, but it wasn’t the sun. The worst wildfire in a state known for wildfires was heading West. Kevin hears the stories of threes families who narrowly escaped Paradise and speaks with fire engineer Calin Moldovan who helped to lead people to safety....

Previous episode: S41 E13 | Next episode: S41 E15 In this episode: Avonlea and Joe’s house is one of the first rebuilds started in Paradise. They are starting to think about finishing touches. Instead of a fireplace, they’ve decided to go with a wood stove. Joe, who works with stone for a living, is fabricating a stone hearth in his shop. Kevin gets a tour of the house from Avonlea before visiting Joe’s shop where the work happens....

A nail gun is a convenient power tool that reduces the manual effort needed to perform tasks like framing a home, tacking on a new roof, or installing baseboards. Nail guns come in a variety of models specialized for a number of construction and DIY jobs. In this review, we take a look at some of the best nail guns on the market, dig into the many applications and benefits that nail guns offer, and answer some common questions....

Portable carpet cleaners act as both mops and vacuums with their suction for drawing in debris and their water tank for treating stains. Their small size and low weight also make them easy to carry with you as you travel around your home. To learn more about the models on the market, read our review below on the best handheld carpet cleaners. Top 5 Handheld Carpet Cleaners Best For Medium Jobs: Bissell Little Green Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner Best Cleaning Function: Hoover Spotless Carpet and Upholstery Spot Cleaner Most Lightweight: Hoover PowerDash GO Spot Cleaner Best Automatic Cleaner: Bissell SpotBot Pet Spot and Stain Cleaner Most Portable: Rug Doctor Pet Spot Cleaner Best For Medium Jobs: Bissell Little Green Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner This carpet cleaner has a clean water tank capacity of 48 ounces, allowing you to complete medium-sized jobs before needing to stop for a refill....

Top 5 Hygrometers Best Display: ThermoPro Jumbo Digital Touchscreen Hygrometer Easiest To Read: ThermoPro Digital Hygrometer Best Smart Features: Govee Digital Hygrometers Best Installation Options: AcuRite Digital Hygrometer Best Value: JEDEW Two-Pack Mini Hygrometers Best Display: ThermoPro Jumbo Digital Touchscreen Hygrometer This digital hygrometer has a large four-inch LCD with a backlight and touchscreen navigation, giving homeowners easy access to indoor temperature and humidity readings. This hygrometer refreshes its temperature and humidity readings every 10 seconds to provide users with accurate data....

Feature a focal point I want visitors to be wowed the moment they enter the house. And one of the most dramatic spaces is adjacent to the entryway where this staircase seems to float above the concrete floor, supported only by a center-steel beam and two posts. Thick oak treads match the flooring on the second story. Half-inch thick tempered glass railings add to the feeling of lightness and allow views through to the outdoors....

Outdoor fire pits are so hot right now. Seriously. These days people are going ultra-retro and getting their heat from stone-walled pits set into the earth. And, why not? On cool summer nights, you can melt marshmallows and nibble s’mores while you lounge in an Adirondack chair, feet propped up on the rock ledge. So if you really want to light up right, do it in style. Building a fire pit just takes a couple days....

Durable, low-maintenance, and inexpensive, there’s a reason concrete is a homeowner’s go-to material when it comes to basement floors, patios, and driveways. Of course, that doesn’t mean concrete is impervious to stains—it does require a good cleaning now and then. Whether you’re doing spring cleaning or have a problem stain, here’s how to clean concrete floors so they look their very best. General Maintenance of Concrete Floors Concrete floors should be cleaned at least once a year to keep them in tip-top shape....

Steps for Installing a Wall-Mounted Space Heater Determine a source of constant power nearby to the desired installation location of the heater. Before doing any electrical work, ensure power is turned off at the breaker panel for the active circuits and confirm it’s off with a tester. If using an existing outlet as a power source, remove the cover plate with a screwdriver, then remove the outlet from the box. It may also be necessary to remove the box from the wall....

As autumn gives way to the holiday season, yard work is usually the last thing on our minds. But trust us: Your lawn mower, string trimmer, and other lawn power tools will benefit from some upkeep before they hibernate for the long winter ahead. Take a little time to clean and prep them, then remember to thank us next spring, when your gear comes roaring back to life without a hitch....

Big and Bold The main stairwell at the front of the house accesses three stories of living space. We needed a substantial opening to allow light to illuminate from the top to the ground floor; this impressive 12-by-12-foot bank of skylights did the trick. Shown: Workers add copper flashing to the VELUX SkyMax Large-Span Skylight Sunny Studio Lit by the trio of large-span fixed skylights, an extension of the third-floor landing serves as a personal art gallery....

Worn Facade “Help us to love the outside of our house as much as we love the inside!” pleaded Emily Schultz when she asked for advice about her 1922 Birmingham, AL, home. So we turned to local home designer Chuck Frusterio for some ideas. Elegant Upgrades To begin, Frusterio would highlight the front entry with a bracket-supported portico and a swooping wainscot of painted brick. He would upgrade the series of French doors to the right of the main entry with a brick patio defined by a low sitting wall and sheltered by a cedar pergola....

The best heating system a house can have is the one you don’t realize is there. No radiators clanking in the night. No vents whooshing like a jet preparing for takeoff. No dust-spewing ductwork to run up your allergists’ bills. Just an even blanket of heat, right where you want it. This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey helps guide you through two types of heated floors in terms of cost, installation, and energy efficiency to select the right one for your house....

What is a random orbital sander used for? A random-orbit sander can sand the socks off your old vibrating sander when you’ve got to strip paint off furniture, prepare new molding, or clean up between finish coats. It can also smooth and clean metal and composite materials such as solid-surface countertops. “On the TV projects and at the New Yankee Workshop, we use random-orbits more than any other sander,” says This Old House master carpenter Norm Abram....