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Even the most careful of homeowners can find themselves with unsightly water stains on their wood tables. Unfortunately, it’s easy enough to create an unwanted water stain. If you forget to use coasters when drinking from sweating glasses or accidentally spill and don’t clean it all up, you might see a cloudy white stain or ring appear. You might think a quick wipe-down with a cloth and furniture polish could do the trick when it comes to cleanup, but there’s a genius hack that’ll remedy the water stain instead of just trying your luck....

Most homeowners close the overhead garage door and assume they’ve locked out any unwanted visitors. And they’re mostly correct; a garage door connected to an opener is pretty secure. But there are a few ways that crooks might still be able to get through your door. Here, we will show you how they do it—and how to stop them. Prevent Fishing By pushing the door inward to create a gap at the top, a crook can insert a wire hook and fish for the release cord....

If you’ve been in the market for a house the last couple of years, you’ve witnessed firsthand the skyrocketing prices and fierce competition for limited inventory. What’s going on, and when will things settle down? “Generally, the health of the economy informs the health of the residential real estate industry,” says Mark Biggins, a broker at Opendoor. The cyclical nature of the economy directly affects things like home price appreciation, Biggins says, which informs consumer demand and ultimately, housing inventory....

Like any device that connects to a WiFi network, security cameras are vulnerable to hacking. If you’re worried about hacking, you’re likely already on to the next logical question: Is there a security camera that works without WiFi? The answer is yes, but there are a few things to consider before you go shopping. Is There a Security Camera Without WiFi? Yes, there are security cameras without WiFi. Typically, security cameras use WiFi to send footage to the cloud so that you can view it on an app....

Do you know what’s impressive about leaf beetles? Their staggering numbers and variety. There are at least 35,000 species of leaf beetles, 2,000 of which are found in North America. They come in a range of colors, from shimmering green and gold to red striped or yellow striped. They vary from a familiar plump, rounded form to bizarre, alien-like structures that are as fascinating as they are strange. And left unchecked, leaf beetles can do a lot of damage to your ornamental and vegetable gardens....

You did it…you stripped out the Phillips screw that holds your taillight on, and now you’re kinda screwed. Here’s a simple solution on how to remove a stripped Phillips screw: Grab your favorite rotary tool and turn that Phillips head into a flat head. I use the standard grinding disc that most rotary tools come with. I suppose a cutoff tool with a thin profile would work as well. The existing hole in the screw acts as a guide....

For potential sellers, the current real estate market is sizzling. According to Realtor.com, inventory is low (down 52 percent since last year), prices are at all-time highs and listings are flying off the proverbial shelves. People are scrambling and even competing to buy homes that better accommodate a more-time-at-home lifestyle. Does this mean you can just put a for sale sign in the yard and call it good, without dealing with aging exterior paint or bedroom walls with dings, scuffs and outdated color schemes?...

SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images UPDATE (February 11th, 2021)— According to new research, a significant percentage of essential workers in the United States are apprehensive about receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Polls conducted by Morning Consult show that just 56 percent of employed adults in the United States said that they would receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 53 percent of construction workers surveyed said they would be vaccinated. “As states struggle to get COVID-19 vaccines to those most affected by the pandemic and debate rages over how to prioritize essential workers, the findings indicate employees in the service and industrial sectors were less likely to say they’d get a COVID-19 vaccine than those in financial services, technology, and other white-collar fields,” read the survey results....

House painting, in the broadest sense of the term, has been a practice for tens of thousands of years. The world’s oldest cave paintings date back more than 40,000 years to the Ice Age (Upper Paleolithic). Prehistoric humans weren’t choosing between satin or eggshell finish, but the practice of adorning their interiors surely involved aesthetic decisions. Etruscans, Romans, Egyptians and other cultures throughout ancient history decorated their homes, temples and tombs with paint....

Modern cisterns come in various shapes and sizes, but the basic idea of collecting and storing water in or near a home for later use goes back centuries. In some parts of Western Asia, archeologists discovered lime plaster cisterns in the floors of houses at least 5,000 years old. Ancient Romans also made use of cisterns beneath their houses to catch, filter and store rainwater. What Is a Cistern? A cistern is a container for collecting and storing water....

agrofruti/Shutterstock It’s okay, we get it. When your only free day to mow the lawn is on a Saturday but the lawn is wet, it’s extremely tempting to get the job done (especially when using these tips to efficiently mow the lawn). But warning: It can be dangerous to mow the lawn when the grass is wet! Before you rev up the lawnmower and throw on those water-proof boots, here are a few things to keep in mind....

A sharp blade that’s coated with gunk will cut like a dull blade. A quick cleaning is a lot cheaper than a new blade. Revive a “Dull” Blade Before you give up on that expensive blade, give it a good cleaning. It may still be sharp, but if it’s coated with wood pitch, it will cut like a dull blade. Some woodworkers use special blade cleaning potions; others just use oven cleaner....

studiovin/Shutterstock Gone are the days of horse hair, newspapers and straw in our walls to keep our homes comfortable. Now we have five viable types of insulation available at home centers. Here are the most common types of insulation and when you might use them. Fiberglass Fiberglass insulation is the most common type of insulation found in today’s homes. It comes in batts that fit between framing members such as studs or joists....

Building good relationships with your subcontractors Every construction manager and jobsite foreman knows that a subcontractor’s work performance can make or break a job. I have 25 years’ experience managing residential and light commercial construction projects and am currently managing several large facilities. It’s my professional recommendation that whether you are a one-man show or are in charge of million-dollar projects, a robust subcontractor recognition and admonishment program within your company is vitally important....

Vantage_DS/Shutterstock With multiple platforms, finding the Google Home Shopping list can become a little circuitous if you’re learning how to use it. Take a look at how to create a shopping list on Google Home, Google Assistant, Google Express and on a desktop platform. How to Create a Google Shopping List Using Google Home Open the Google Home Push the menu button on the app or use voice commands Select more settings Find shopping list Select the menu button and hit new list Name the list and decide if you want it to be your primary list....

Africa Studio/Shutterstock Depending on the age and condition of your house, you could be losing up to 30% of your heat through your windows. Some of this heat loss is through the glass itself in the form of convection or radiation. Shades or other tight-fitting window coverings will reduce this heat loss. But a lot of heat is also lost through cracks around the window or through gaps in the weatherstripping....

I potted up some lovely containers this summer filled with ornamental grasses, tomatoes, herbs and a variety of flowers. They’re absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, the squirrels in my neighborhood dig them too—literally. What the heck are squirrels looking for in my pots? Nuts they buried last year? Or are they already burying nuts for next year? Whatever they’re doing, they uproot the plants, knock soil everywhere and generally make a nuisance of themselves....

Adding a pergola kit to your backyard space is a simple way to create some shade, boost your home’s curb appeal and spruce up an existing deck or patio. What is the Purple Leaf Pergola Kit? Purple Leaf Pergola Kits feature dark gray powder coated aluminum. They’re available in 10- x 10-ft., 10 -x 12-ft. and 10- x 13-ft. footprints, all eight feet tall. They also come with a retractable UV-protectant fabric sunshade in a choice of four colors....

As a renter I used to celebrate when I found a unit with a gas-burning forced-air furnace, because it meant a cheaper fuel bill than electric baseboards. Now as a homeowner, I own one, but no longer covet it. In our race to cut our greenhouse gas emissions, it’s a dinosaur. Today’s more efficient technology means our future depends on going electric. “The only eco-friendly heating system is an electric heat pump system,” says Panama Bartholomy, executive director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition....

If you live in a built-up area, especially a large city, the desire to escape to the great outdoors may really pull at you. City noise, pollution, crowds and chaos make a simple little cabin in the woods sound tempting indeed. You may even long to buy your own getaway spot to escape to on weekends, where you can breathe fresh air, see the stars at night and appreciate solace with nature....