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In March, Lowe’s announced the launch of a line of power tools powered by a new and exclusive 24V lithium-ion battery platform called Flex. Lowe’s claims Flex will provide up to 20 percent more power and 50 percent faster charging than its competition, adding the platform was designed with trade professionals in mind. “As the New Home for Pros, Lowe’s is committed to offering the very best quality, durability and product innovation for today’s most discerning builders, contractors and trade professionals,” said Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising at Lowe’s....

There were an estimated 379,600 residential fires in 2018, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, and every year about 2,000 people die in residential fires. Early warning of a fire is key to saving lives. Smoke detectors are a major part of early warning, but they can sometimes be annoying and troublesome, which makes some homeowners disable them. Smart smoke detectors solve the annoyance problems and other challenges as well. Here’s what you need to know about life-saving smart smoke detectors....

When the coronavirus forced workplaces to abruptly close indefinitely, employees had to quickly pivot to working from home. The shift brought built-in perks like a comfier dress code and four-legged coworkers. But don’t count on additional tax deductions for out-of-pocket work expenses, too, unless you’re self-employed. Longtime rules changed under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, which clarified distinctions between employees and self-employed individuals. “Employees are not self-employed and therefore can no longer deduct expenses related to work duties while working from home,” says Ines Zemelman, president and founder of Taxes for Expats....

It’s certainly not the highlight of cat ownership, but it comes with the territory: Dealing with cat urine stains and smells on clothing and other fabrics. It’s not easy to get them out, but it can be done. Try these expert methods to get cat pee out of clothes — and eliminate that cat pee smell, too. How To Get Cat Pee Out of Clothes Don’t throw the soiled clothing into the washing machine with other clothes!...

Have a problem with mosquitoes in your yard? Mosquitos are an issue for many of us each year. To keep these winged pests at bay, try a DIY homemade mosquito repellent for your yard. Many mosquito repellent recipes can be made with simple ingredients you likely already have at home. Making a Homemade Mosquito Repellent Just like you, mosquitoes find certain scents repulsive, according to Mosquito Magnet, a company that helps consumers fight the pests....

Winter Storm Preparedness Starts with Your Home It’s that time of year again, and frigid, snowy winter storms—with winter storm names of all kinds—are descending upon wide swaths of the country. Even if you’re not in the path of the polar vortex this time around, you’ll almost certainly experience severe weather at some point this winter. You need to be prepared. On This Page The first step of winter storm preparedness is preparing for winter in general....

Anyone who’s torn down a fence knows that the biggest headache by far is pulling up the old posts. The problem with fence post demolition is that when installed properly, those posts are meant to withstand exactly the kind of side-to-side force you put on them to loosen them up. Add to that any code requirements to accommodate the frost line, and you may have three feet of post and concrete below ground....

At some point, every weekend warrior faces the same dilemma: Trying to find room for everyone’s gear in a vehicle with tight storage. If you love to play outdoors, a versatile roof rack is almost essential. Think of your car’s roof rack as a mobile storage shed, where you can transport all manner of gear that wouldn’t otherwise fit inside your vehicle. Roof racks can be the best way to haul outdoor gear and large DIY materials, too, particularly if you don’t have a trailer hitch....

c12/Shutterstock After weighing the benefits of spray foam over fiberglass, it’s pretty clear that spray foam is a powerful method of insulation for your home. Spray foam can help regulate your house temperature, keeping the indoors cool during the summer and warm during the winter. However, when going out to buy spray foams, there’s one small obstacle that people face: Do I buy open-cell or closed-cell? Yes, there are two different types of spray foam, and they have two very different purposes....

FamVeld/Shutterstock It might not shock anyone that you should seek out off-peak hours to purchase a Christmas tree, but based on data from previous years it might surprise you when the best time is to buy a Christmas tree. Buy a Christmas Tree During the Week While everyone is out buying presents or trees on the weekend, be a lone wolf and go during the week. But don’t wait too long....

Imagine the dusty red dirt of the Utah desert, the dark spongy soils of the Cascades’ old-growth forests, or a gray sandy path through some lanky Florida pines. A glance at any of these soils can help you figure out what might grow there. In your garden, the color of your soil can also be a clue to what you can grow successfully, or what you’ll need to add to make your soil more viable....

New Use for Old Backyard Game Pieces We spend a ton of time planting, fertilizing and watering our flowers. Once, while dragging the hose across the yard, I inadvertently raked it across the garden and destroyed a bunch of flowers. My solution was to make a path for the hose using the wickets from my croquet set. As I’m watering, I feed the hose through the wickets, keeping my flowers safe....

What Is Rhizopus Stolonifer (Black Bread) Mold? This thread-like organism is one of the most common types of Rhizopus mold around the world. The genus was first identified in 1818 by German scientist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. To date, 10 species of Rhizopus have been identified, including the most commonly seen, Rhizopus Stolonifer. The common name of this particular organism, black bread mold, comes from its tendency to grow on bread. The spores of this mold change shape depending on the food source....

Family Handyman Having a sparkling home doesn’t mean you have to spend money on the most expensive cleaning products. In fact, sometimes the cheapest option is the most effective. Check out our favorite homemade recipes, nifty tools and highly-reviewed cleaning products—all under five bucks. Unclog a Drain with Vinegar Don’t call the plumber just yet! Unclog any drain with this affordable and simple trick. Pour one cup baking soda down the drain, followed by one cup of vinegar....

Birdiegal/Shutterstock Looking for some new foliage that could attract some pretty tiny-winged friends to your backyard? Turns out, hummingbirds certainly have an eye for bright colored plants—30 plants, to be exact. According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, hummingbirds look for specific plants, trees, shrubs and vines during the spring, summer and fall months. Between late-March and mid-November are the times to attract hummingbirds to your backyard, and there are certain plants that can do it for you!...

A brand new year means it’s time to reorganize and reprioritize the spaces around your house. The good news is, there are simple ways to gain more storage in the most important rooms in your house without remodeling. Here are seven ways to welcome the new year with less clutter and chaos. Family Handyman Maximize Closet Space For economy and quick installation, you can’t beat wire shelving systems; you can outfit a typical closet in an afternoon....

Although similar in appearance and purpose, garden spades and shovels are not the same. Shovels, with their rounded blades, are ideal for digging, scooping, and moving heavy materials such as sand or gravel. They’re great for gardening and non-gardening tasks. Garden spades, on the other hand, are almost exclusively used for plants and soil. What Is a Garden Spade? A garden spade is usually shorter than a shovel with a straighter, flatter, sharper blade....

Succulents have a reputation for being easy to grow and hard to kill. Even if you do screw up, the latest video making the rounds on #PlantTok, the gardening wing of TikTok, says you can clone a new batch of succulents in no time. Can you really start a succulent garden with a few leaves and a water bottle? Let’s check out the video first: How It Works Because succulents reproduce by vegetative propagation, aka cloning, they’re easy to grow....

Family Handyman Easily Make Plugs for Pocket Screw Holes Pocket screws are a great way to make strong, tight joints in woodworking projects. But to create a polished and finished look with a pocket screw, you have to plug the hole that the pocket screw went in to. The good news is that creating plugs to fill pocket holes is fairly simple, and it becomes even simpler with this easy-to-make jig....

Family Handyman How to Remember your Grits Hook-and-loop sanding discs work great for sanding jobs, and you can reuse them several times before they’re worn out. But it’s almost impossible to read the grit labels on the discs after you’ve used them once because the markings get scrubbed off by the loops. Below is the incredibly simple way to remember sandpaper grits without needing to squint to see a faded number....