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Holiday decorating can go from fun to frustrating in no time flat. And putting it all away can really be the pits. To help you get it done, we’ve gathered a few clever storage solutions and some pro organizational tips from Lea Schneider, author of Growing Up Organized and a member of The National Association of Professional Organizers. “If you take the time to stow decorations properly after the busy holiday season passes, next year will be easier,” Schneider says....

Paying an outside company to come to your home to test for asbestos can be a burden. Thankfully, there are several high-quality DIY asbestos test kits on the market to help homeowners ensure their house is safe from asbestos. Top 6 Asbestos Test Kits Most Convenient: Schneider Labs Asbestos Home Test Kit Best Starter Option: Seeml Labs Asbestos Inspector in Box Fastest Turnaround: Nirtue Labs Asbestos Test Kit Best For Multiple Samples: ProLab Asbestos Test Kit Best All-Inclusive Kit: LABPRO Asbestos Test Kit Best Protection: Asbestos-Sampling....

Sometimes, having a tall fence and locking your front door isn’t enough to make you feel like your home is safe and secure. That’s where home security systems come in. A home security system from a trusted provider can give you peace of mind with sophisticated equipment, professional 24/7 monitoring, mobile app integration, home automation, and more. There are a wide range of home security systems that serve San Jose, but they can differ in their available packages, installation method, cost, and more....

Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada meets a plant expert at a local greenhouse to talk about different houseplants and tropical plants. The two discuss the importance of the direction windows face, as it determines how much sunlight the room will get. Matching this sunlight to the right type of plants will allow them to thrive. How to Choose Houseplants for Your Home 1. Room and Window Layout Come First Before deciding on which plants you’d like for a particular room, it’s important to consider the room and window layout....

Steps: Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Unlike traditional Western hand saws, the Japanese pull saw’s teeth are angled in the opposite direction, meaning that the cutting action happens when you pull the saw toward you instead of pushing away from you. Japanese pull saws are also usually more flexible than traditional saws, so they’re great for flush cuts, like cutting trim along a floor or a bung on a flat surface....

Come summer, Tony DiGangi of Wellesley, Mass., can invariably be found out on the deck, barbecuing steak and burgers for a crowd. “We entertain a lot, and our grill is the social hub,” he says. So when This Old House asked readers to design their own Home Center Project, Tony let his inner grill master do the thinking. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time He came up with a great idea for a place to store his cooking tools and set his platters of food—a cart assembled from wood planters and metal-wrapped plywood—and won the right to build his creation with TOH general contractor Tom Silva....

In this video, Mark McCullough and Jenn Nawada dress up a drab concrete wall with a stylish thin stone veneer. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Since the wall is in good condition, veneer is a great choice to make it look much nicer at a smaller price than just replacing the whole wall. Mark and Jenn work together to prep the wall, apply the stone veneer, and lay a stone cap....

When the ceiling fan was first invented in the late 19th century, it was mainly used in city meat markets to keep away airborne pests. Today, most ceiling fans are installed with a considerably different purpose—to help homeowners cool themselves down at a fraction of the cost of air conditioning, or simply to add an accent to their home decor. Whatever your motivation for bringing a ceiling fan into your home, it’s important to choose a model that’s the right size for your space and install it correctly....

Previous episode: S20 E1 | Next episode: S20 E3 In this episode: Richard Tretheway teaches Kevin O’Connor all about water heaters. Since 90% of water heater purchases are emergencies, Richard thought a bit of homework on the topic would help avoid purchasing what’s available over the best water heater for the scenario. It’s not just discussion, either; Richard shows Kevin the gruesome interior of the shop’s water heater, comparing it to the other models available....

It all started with a call to the painter, says Derek Rubinoff, of his initial plan to simply scrape and repaint the worn, peeling siding on his family’s 1894 house in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. But the contractor took one look and saw that it wasn’t just the paint that was failing: The decades-old cedar clapboards had started to rot, allowing water to deteriorate the rosin paper underneath. It would all have to go....

Master electrician Heath Eastman tells us how he became an electrician. Heath explains that he hadn’t considered the trade until he and his wife started renovating their first home. After hiring an electrician to handle some of the projects they had on their plate, the electrician mentioned knowing someone looking for help. Heath’s journey to becoming a master electrician and a member of the TOH crew is something of a mix between hard work and good luck....

Garage door expert Russell Madden, Jr., along with his crew and Kevin O’Connor of This Old House, is installing a steel garage door that is 16’ wide by 7.6’ high with a black, carriage-style overlay, a design that matches the architecture of the house. This extra-wide door features an added bonus—it is insulated which will help keep the garage temperate during colder months. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Given the width of the garage door, it’s large enough for two cars to enter and exit side-by-side, but because it’s made of steel, it is extraordinarily heavy compared to other common garage door materials like aluminum, wood composite, or fiberglass....

In this video, Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva trims a coat closet by installing a clothes rod and shelf. Project details Skill Cost Estimated Time Trimming a coat closet Use a stud finder to locate studs in the closet walls. Cut three pieces of 1x5 pine to measured length using the miter saw. Nail pine pieces together using a nail gun or hammer to assemble the shelf cleat....

General contractor Tom Silva takes us back through time and tells us how he became a general contractor. Growing up in a house full of people who worked with their hands, his role as chief on a construction site seems pre-determined. From being a little kid breaking things with his dad’s hammer to how he got his start on This Old House, Tom tells the whole story. As with many folks in the trades, Tom Silva’s future as a general contractor almost seemed inevitable....

Kevin O’Connor was joined by both Roger Cook and Tom Silva for a Live Q&A in late November from the Brookline project, giving a tour of the progress to date while fielding questions from Insiders. Roger and Kevin were asked how to get rid of crabgrass and wild violets on a Massachusetts lawn (treat them with weed-suppressing products and reseed with grass or micro clover) and what can be done about the little bits of fungus known as fairy circles on a lawn in Ohio (adjust the soil’s pH)....

Many devices in your home rely on a thermostat to tell them when to run and when to go into standby mode. And while these thermostats do provide ultimate control over the devices’ temperatures, knowing the best thermostat settings for each is important. After all, if you program them to be too cold or too hot, you’ll be pouring money down the drain. Recommended Thermostat Settings for HVAC in the Home Your home relies on a thermostat to control the temperature within its four walls, and it’s this thermostat with which homeowners are most familiar....

Previous episode: S19 E21 | Next episode: S19 E23 In this episode: Master Electrician Heath Eastman talks all about electrical work and what you should for when prepping for a home inspection. When you’re looking to buy a new house, it’s a good idea to go through the process to see what you’re getting yourself into. Inspecting the electrical work is an opportunity to get a sense of what you’ll have to work with and what things you need to be mindful of when making improvements down the line....

Previous episode: S19 E27 | Next episode: S19 E29 In this episode: In this episode of Ask This Old House, Jenn Nawada shows that not all landscape projects need to start from scratch. She starts with a visit to an 1860 Greek Revival, where the overgrown landscape doesn’t quite match the renovated home. Jenn is called in to take the landscape back in time by recreating a design made in 1914....

The Coker Family Homeplace Price: $75,000 Location: Society Hill, SC Contact: Amy Fluette, Preservation South Carolina The History: The Coker family arguably put the “society” in the town of Society Hill. The first Cokers came to South Carolina from Virginia in 1740, and when Caleb Coker built this Georgian house around 1832, he was well established as a prosperous businessman and farmer. It’s in no small part due to his own efforts that this antebellum structure still stands....

When it comes to updating the look of wood floors, homeowners are embracing ash blondes, driftwood grays, and transparent, whitewashed tones. These popular pale hues have a practical side, too: They’re better than dark wood finishes at hiding dirt and crumbs. If you aren’t in the market for new flooring, you can get the look by refinishing—and any species of solid-wood flooring is a candidate. Sanding off the old finish is the starting point; then you’ve got two choices....