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When it comes to insulating the house, fiberglass tends to be the common form of insulation. However, after comparing fiberglass and spray foam insulation, it’s shocking how fiberglass tends to be the lesser of the two. Although it has deemed reliable over the years, there are way more benefits to insulating your home with spray foam. One of those benefits includes regulating the temperature of your house. If you’re not familiar, spray foam is a type of insulation that expands after you spray....

What’s the right height to hang a television? That’s a question debated every time there’s a TV to mount, and for good reason. A gorgeous, high-resolution picture is wasted if poor sight lines and neck pain ruins the experience. It’s long been known that excessive TV watching can be problematic. The term “television neck” dates back to 1952, when a Journal of the American Medical Association article described sufferers “who in watching television programs, maintain strained postures of the head and neck, often for prolonged periods....

Family Handyman Finding the shutoff valves Some things in life are worth learning before it’s too late—like the locations of your water and gas shutoff valves. Now granted, these shutoff valves are often hidden in some dark, creepy corner of the house. But if a water pipe springs a leak, knowing where the shutoff valve is could save you thousands in water damage repairs. What’s more, you can’t make those major plumbing repairs or improvements unless you first turn off the water....

Portable fire extinguishers successfully put out more than 80 percent of home fires before they get out of hand. But it’s vital to keep the right extinguisher in your home and know how to use it before there’s an emergency. “There is a saying, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ and I think this holds true for fires,” says Brian O’Connor, technical services engineer with the National Fire Prevention Association....

Understanding Electrical Overloads Every December, the neighbor across the street lights up the block with an elaborate holiday light display. Four-foot plastic angels stand in ranks, 3-ft. candles dot the landscape, elves pop out from behind plastic snow figures, and Santa in his loaded sleigh skims across the roof with a cluster of reindeer. On This Page But every year dozens of outdoor light displays like this unexpectedly go out. You might have plugged in a small electric heater and turned it on to warm your feet....

Sam72/Shutterstock What is a Ring Shank Nail? Ring shank nails are those with ridges or spirals around the shank; those little ridges can increase the holding power of the nail by 40 percent or more. The ridges on the ring shank nails act as little barbs or wedges that lock the nails firmly into the wood once it’s driven. Perhaps the most commonly-known ring shank nails are those used to secure drywall—you want those nails to stay put since any “pop” will create a pimple on the wall surface....

Streak-free glass has vexed amateur and pro cleaners for generations. Companies put out new product formulations constantly, promising to finally give us a flawless shine. According to TikTok’s cleaning corner #CleanTok, the answer has been in our bathrooms all along. It’s shaving cream! Does shaving cream clean glass? Have we been doing this wrong since shaving cream was invented in 1919? I tried it out and talked to cleaning expert Melissa Homer, chief cleaning officer at MaidPro, about this latest TikTok trend....

The benefits of closed cell spray foam Closed-cell polyurethane spray foam has some pretty awesome qualities. It has a high R-value. It’s resistant to water, mold and insects. It expands into hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. Heck, it can even add structural support to walls and roofs. But it is expensive, so read on if you want to find out if this product is right for your next project. What is closed cell spray foam?...

sipcrew/Shutterstock How many times have you attempted to turn on the vacuum, only to have your dog growl, snarl or even scamper away from the machine? If this happens to you, don’t worry, it’s actually an incredibly common behavior for dogs. Most dogs despise vacuum cleaners, and for a few specific reasons. They hate the noise Has your dog been exposed to a vacuum sound besides when you’re actually vacuuming? Probably not....

edwardolive/Shutterstock For detailing your car’s interior to buffing up its exterior, is there really one small, inexpensive household item that you could be using? Absolutely! DIYers will love that something as simple as a toothbrush (yes, a toothbrush!) has quite the cleaning power for your car. Skip the fancy tools and brush kits, grab a toothbrush and start cleaning! Plus, check out these unique uses for toothbrushes and floss around your home....

When your dashboard check engine light (CEL) or other warning lights illuminate, your vehicle’s engine control module (ECM) senses a problem. The ECM then generates and stores a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) in its memory. What do these codes mean and why should you care? Understanding how your vehicle works, especially the DTCs that alert you to a problem, can help lower repair costs, reduce expensive breakdowns and extend your vehicle’s life....

Car smells? Perhaps eliminating the odor is as simple as giving your ride a vigorous interior cleaning — putting the upholstery attachment on your vacuum and scouring the seats and floor mats to remove hair, dander, pollen and crumbs. If something spilled on the floor mats, it’s time to pull them out and scrub them. Or maybe it’s not that simple. There are plenty of smells that serve as your signal a repair is needed....

Rust, that powdery-to-flaky brownish-red substance familiar to all of us, is a byproduct of a chemical reaction (oxidation) between iron or steel, water or moisture and oxygen. Brad the Painter, a professional painter for more than 30 years, has seen his share of rust on the job. “Steel or any metal that has iron will rust unless it’s coated with the right stuff,” he says. “Galvanized metals and brass do not rust, which is why you find them in plumbing parts....

I’ve written extensively about cleaning your home and keeping it tidy. With bathrooms, I want the fastest path to clean. I asked my longtime friend Becky Rapinchuk, an author and owner of the Clean Mama website, for her advice on bathroom cleaning. Rapinchuk is a natural-cleaning expert, so I knew she would have the best knowledge and hacks. How Often Should You Clean Your Bathroom? In general, you should clean your bathroom at least weekly....

If you don’t have a bench grinder, you can sharpen chisels and other tools almost as well with a belt sander with a fine-grit belt. Tighten the belt sander (the kind with parallel sides) in a Black & Decker Workmate or similar device, and clamp a shop-made stand alongside it to hold cutting tools for sharpening. This works—as long as you’re careful about two things. First, clamp the sander lightly but firmly so its housing doesn’t press against the internal parts....

We all know that sawdust and fine dust particles floating in the air don’t just make your shop a mess; they’re also health hazards. Typically, we think of distant consequences like breathing problems in old age. But often there are immediate effects. It’s not just about dust. Oils and compounds in wood cause adverse reactions, and people can become sensitized to a particular species. It’s impossible to predict who will be susceptible to which woods....

JoSon/Getty Images According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lumber prices increased by 14.9 percent from July to August. Lumber prices have risen almost 50 percent since April 2020, marking the largest four-month gain in the history of lumber price data. These prices are putting a unique strain on homebuilders in a time where their businesses might otherwise be thriving. Demand for housing, and in particular single-family housing, is still high, with single-family housing starts increasing 4....

Family Handyman Simple Window Saftey Locks The latches on most double hung window locks are no match for a burglar with a pry bar. Pin locks are an easy solution. To install one, all you have to do is drill a hole. If you want to lock the window in a partially opened position, drill a second hole. Pin locks are sold at home centers and online. They work well on sliding patio doors too....

Be Prepared Find out the base flood elevation (BFE) for your property from the local authority that issues building permits. Use this figure as a guideline for preparing your home against high water. Have an adequate amount of basic supplies: plastic sheeting, sand and sandbags, plastic garbage bags, lumber, shovels and plywood. Prepare your own storm kit with this guide. Install a backflow-prevention device in the main waste line of your plumbing system....

Family Handyman Bleed a hot water radiator If you have a hot-water heat radiator that’s not heating the cause is usually trapped air, and getting rid of it is simple. If your radiator has a cover, remove it first. At the top of your radiator, look for a small valve like the one shown in Photo 1. Use a radiator key, 1/4-in. 12-point socket, or a flat screwdriver (depending on your valve type) and slowly turn the valve counterclockwise until water starts dripping out....