Big box stores like IKEA are great places to find reliable furniture that won’t break your budget. Unfortunately, the ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture sold there often comes with limited customization options Finding the perfect new piece for your living space, only to discover the color isn’t perfect, can be frustrating. Luckily, there can be a simple solution: Just paint it. Yes, you can paint RTA furniture from IKEA or any other store....
Mothballs are, obviously, a good way to rid your home of moths. But what about other pests? Are mothballs as effective against other unwanted creepy crawlers as they are against moth infestations? To answer that question, we first need to look at how mothballs work and how they’re intended to be used in a home. How Mothballs Work When you open a package of mothballs, you should see a handful of nuggets that look something like after-dinner mints....
Is your car smelling a little … funky? It happens. Kids’ sports equipment, spilled drinks, forgotten food — there are any number of things that could be stinking up your car. Sometimes even after a thorough cleaning, the stench lingers. This simple TikTok hack (just one ingredient!) will help you get rid of it for good. How It Works Here’s what you’ll need: On This Page Small bowl. Distilled white vinegar....
Do you have the kitchen reno itch? Maybe it’s a result of the pandemic — you’ve spent so much time in that space these last couple of years staring at those aging appliances and weary cabinets. Or perhaps it’s more practical: You’ve hit the wall with how poorly your kitchen functions. Whatever the reason, you’re not alone. Among people considering a renovation project, the kitchen was the most favorite room to remodel, according to the 2021 U....
In the U.S., the odds that you’ll be struck by lightning in your lifetime, if you live to be 80, are fairly low — 1 in 15,300. In fact, in 2020, there were only 17 verified, direct lightning strikes in the U.S. But the odds that lightning strikes your house are much higher, about one in every 200 houses in the U.S. per year. Last year, there were more than 70,000 lightning damage claims from homeowners in the U....
Cordless tool technology has come a long way in a short time. Five years ago, I tried a first generation cordless router and hated it, thinking some tools just weren’t meant to be cordless. But I’ve been proven wrong. Today’s cordless routers can handle 90 percent of my routing tasks. The Case for Compact Cordless If you own a router and are considering a second, I recommend a cordless. Light edge profiles make up most of my routing, so a compact is perfect for me, and cordless is even more appealing....
Nervous to paint your house in humid weather? You would think paint would have a hard time drying in high humidity, but it honestly depends on the type of paint you use. If you’re planning on painting the exterior of your house, the type of paint (along with the humidity and temperature) will determine how successful the paint drying will be. Why Does Temperature Matter When painting the house, the temperature is a huge factor in your house having a smooth and proper finish....
4 PM production/Shutterstock It would seem that everyone has their own trick on how to get the best deal on a new car but usually the car salesman comes out ahead. These are the tricks you can you use to outsmart a car salesman. But if you come in with a plan and know the tricks car salesmen like to use, you can get yourself a pretty good deal. One of the areas you should focus is the trade-in value of your vehicle....
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images If you have an animal in your chimney, it has likely built (or will build) a nest filled with food, feces and maybe even babies. Chuck Roydhouse, retired owner of Clean Sweep of Anne Arundel County and former president of the Chimney Safety Institute of America, says if your chimney is uncapped, “You’re opening your home up to risks like rabies, fleas, ticks, round worm and bites. Also, histoplasmosis, which is a fungal infection of the lungs caused by bird fecal matter....
You may not have given awnings much thought until you stood in the pouring rain trying to unlock your door, or baked in the sun on your new deck. For those times, an awning would be ideal. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering awnings for your home. What Is an Awning? An awning is a roof-like cover that extends over a space to offer shade and shelter from rain, wind or snow....
Turf grass is practically everywhere. It’s in the park, at the stadium, on the golf course and almost assuredly in your yard (that is, unless you live in a dry climate and have a more appropriate landscape of rocks, cactus and other desert denizens). Although homeowners may occasionally bemoan the need to mow and rake their lawns, they generally have a special bond with turf grass. And why not? An emerald carpet feels good beneath their feet, provides plenty of play space for pets and kids and complements an ornamental garden well....
Water Inlet Valve The inlet valve allows water to flow from your home’s main water supply to the refrigerator. A couple of issues could cause problems with your water inlet valve. Make sure to turn off the water to the fridge before doing any detective work. The line supplying the fridge often contains a small screen where it connects. Debris can collect in that screen and limit the flow of water....
The thought of obtaining a building permit for your home project may seem like a bureaucratic hassle, which it is. But according to the National Association of Realtors, failing to obtain the proper permits could stop or stall the renovations you have planned. Determining when you need a permit and applying for one is much less annoying than dealing with a lawsuit from neighbors, discovering you can’t sell your house, or other roadblocks down the line....
Clean is one thing. Disinfected is something more. While a quick glance usually is good enough to assess whether something is clean, it’s harder to tell if your counters, clothes or anything else have been properly disinfected. Disinfecting is especially important when dealing with viruses, which may remain viable for hours or days on some surfaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends cleaning visibly dirty surfaces, then disinfecting to kill germs and viruses....
Refinishing your deck doesn’t have to take several days if you use a product like Behr Premium® Transparent Quick Dry Oil Base Wood Finish. In fact, if your deck is untreated or treated with an oil base stain, you can clean the deck and rails, apply the stain and entertain that same evening. Behr Quick Dry is perfect for new or fairly new decks (less than 5-yrs. old) in good condition....
Did you know that on December 23 each year, they celebrate the Night of the Radish, La Noche de Rábanos, in Oaxaca, Mexico? Local artists create sculptures out of radish roots as part of the festivities. They grow huge radishes to carve, bigger than you are likely to grow in your garden. You’re more likely top grow smaller spring radishes, but if you want, you can also grow fall or winter radishes, too!...
There’s nothing like a toasty fire on a cold winter’s night. But before you light up your wood-burning fireplace this season, make sure your fireplace is properly prepped. Otherwise, you could risk severe damage to your chimney and home. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), failure to properly clean chimneys was one of the leading factors contributing to house fires caused by home heating equipment. Chimney fires are mainly caused by creosote, a highly flammable residue that builds up in the flue that lines the chimney....
This FH series introduces readers to a few of the women who make up 11 percent of the construction workforce in the U. S., spotlighting stories of their careers in the field. Know someone we should feature? Email us here. Melinde Madsen loves to make things. In college she studied woodworking, bronze casting and metalwork, creating sculptures aplenty. But while she excelled at those crafts, she didn’t truly consider herself a fine artist....
I’ve never had great luck growing herbs in pots. My basil would grow a bit and then the leaves would start to curl and my rosemary just sat there and did nothing all summer! Undeterred, I tried again, this time on an apartment balcony. For my balcony herb garden, I started with a large (24 inch diameter) resin pot filled with mostly standard potting mix and a little succulent garden potting mix that I had leftover from another project....
It’s easy to think about site prep as simply the orientation of your home or cabin on your picturesque plot of land. Sunrise through the kitchen windows. A view of the lake or river from the main living space. And the main bedroom on the quietest side near the woods. But preparing your site involves much more than that. Clearing The Site You begin your site preparation by clearing the property of trees, roots and rocks....
