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It seems that caulking your toilet to the floor has drawn quite a debate among clients, plumbers and DIYers of the like. Is it smart to caulk your toilet to the floor, or just leave it be? Turns out, caulking your toilet to the floor is actually smart. Does Caulking The Toilet Prevent Leaking? The debate has to do with leaking water. According to Structure Tech, some people believe that not caulking a toilet to the floor can help you identify a leak....

Whether you’re working from home or leaving the car in the driveway for an extra long vacation, you need to think about what infrequent usage will mean for your vehicle. Driving less means thinking more about keeping your car in good running order for those necessary trips to the supermarket, the drugstore or your favorite takeout place. Here are some tips learned during 30 years of maintaining and storing cars through northern winters....

actual_size/Getty Images Modern Furnaces Are Maintenance-Free This myth stems from modern furnaces requiring less maintenance than their predecessors. But “less” doesn’t mean “none.” Annual inspections by a licensed furnace technician are still essential for reliable heating performance and long furnace life. Even if you have a newer furnace, you need to change your furnace filters as often as the manufacturer recommends. eyecrave/Getty Images Paint Only at Room Temperature This used to be true, but today’s best latex paints can be applied in temperatures as low as a few degrees above freezing....

Whether you get your flooring advice by scouring the web or consulting with professionals in the trade, the virtually unanimous response to questions about installing solid wood flooring (instead of engineered wood) in the basement is: “Not a good idea.” I installed hardwood flooring for many years, and that would be my answer, too. Besides the fact that a basement installation would probably void the product warranty, I wouldn’t offer a workmanship warranty because of the potential for warping, curling and the other moisture problems inevitable in many basements....

V J Matthew/Shutterstock Is there a better feeling than stepping into a crisp, cold, air-conditioned room on a hot summer day? Having an air conditioner certainly is a summer must, especially if it means placing one in the window right next to your bed. Except, that window may not exactly be the best place for your new AC unit. That’s right, not every window is fit for an AC unit. When it comes to indoor and outdoor AC units, there are some places that you shouldn’t install it....

If you’re eco- and hygiene-conscious, or you’ve spent a fair amount of time in Europe, you’re probably familiar with the bidet. Designed to replace toilet paper, standard bidets clean your nether regions with a spray of water emitted from a basin that you squat over. They’re hygienic, economical and environmentally friendly. Trouble is, a regular bidet permanently fixed in your bathroom can’t come with you when you travel. So if you want to conserve toilet paper and stay clean wherever you are, a portable bidet is an excellent solution....

I’ve read two myths about bell peppers, neither of which has a hint of truth to it. A few years ago, I saw one on social media about how to tell boy and girl bell peppers apart — supposedly, by the number of lobes or bumps on the bottom of the peppers. Someone even asked me about this at the grocery store. One problem: There are no such things as boy and girl peppers!...

Sponsored by JELD-WEN Whether you’re building a new home or simply updating your present living space, upgrading to better doors always pays off. In fact, most cost-vs.-value surveys show that installing a new exterior door is one of the best improvements you can make before selling your home. But the value proposition doesn’t stop at the front door. Better-built and more stylish interior doors also increase resale because they provide more comfort, an up-to-date look and a high-quality “feel....

Comfort is of the utmost importance, especially when you’re engaged in a flooring, baseboard or plumbing project. For these tasks and others, including roofing and landscaping, a quality set of knee pads is essential to do the job well, comfortably and safe. With some baseboard to install and a roofing project pending, I picked up a set of the Kobalt Comfort Flex Stabilizer Knee Pads to try out, hoping to avoid hobbling around for days after each project....

How many plants are in your yard? If you have a lawn, the answer is: Too many to count. The average quarter-acre lawn contains millions of grass plants. Fortunately, these plants start easily from seed. As one of the most common plants on the planet, grass is easy to grow. Still, timing and technique are important. With fall is in the air, it’s a great time to start thinking about sowing some grass seed to have a lush green lawn in the spring....

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced in May a new strategy to use the LEED standard as a tool to improve living conditions in a post-pandemic world. LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the most widely used green building rating system in the world. The document, titled Healthy People in Healthy Places Equals a Healthy Economy, asserts that caring for the environment and caring for people’s health go hand-in-hand, and these two factors are the fastest, most effective way to boost global and local economies shaken by COVID-19-related lockdowns....

We live in an age where innovative air conditioning has become the norm. Since the mid 20th century, residential AC has gotten progressively more affordable and effective. The first centrifugal refrigeration compressor is now a museum piece, while high-efficiency systems and environmentally-friendly refrigerants now whir away in millions of homes worldwide. But what advances are leading the next wave of HVAC innovation? Ductless Split Systems Ductless split systems are a heating and cooling solution that uses separate wall-mounted units to regulate the temperature in various zones of the house....

Hummingbirds are migratory birds that spend the winter in a different location than where they breed. The most common hummingbird in eastern North America, the ruby-throated hummingbird, claims a breeding range from the Gulf Coast north well into Canada, and then fly to the region from southern Mexico through Panama for the winter. They fly up to five hundred miles non-stop to cross the Gulf of Mexico, from the Yucatan Peninsula to the areas of the coast between southern Texas to central Florida....

The check engine light (CEL) is the most misunderstood warning indicator on the dashboard. When their vehicle’s CEL comes on, many drivers don’t know what to do. Here’s what you need to know: When the CEL is on, it means the Engine Control Unit (ECU) “computer” senses a problem that could or is affecting your vehicles’ emission control system. Too many drivers ignore the CEL hoping it will magically turn off by itself....

SemenovIgor/Getty Images Getting their name from the side to side body movement and an old tale of crawling in people’s ears, the earwig is a common and distinguishable household pest causing angst to homeowners for many years. The ecological scavengers of the insect world, earwigs clean homes and gardens everywhere, feasting on dead and decaying plant life and insects. While an earwig’s presence provides order to their environment, an equal amount of chaos can also follow....

Depending on how big your outdoor entertainment area is, and whether or not you bought at the best time, you probably spent several hundred to several thousand dollars, maybe more, on patio furniture. And whether it’s been baked under a broiling sun, soaked with wet towels or jumped on by muddy dogs, patio furniture takes a beating unlike any other furniture. So knowing how to clean your outdoor furniture is a must....

If you’re someone who loves the vintage, rustic look of an older home, you might find the builder-grade doors and stainless steel everything in new homes cold and boring. Unless it’s a custom built-home, most new houses have straight lines and neutral colors — a look that screams NEW. And if you move your vintage furniture and decor pieces into a recently built home, they likely won’t fit or look right....

Smart lightbulbs give you greater control over your lighting than you ever had with traditional lightbulbs. They let you adjust their warmth, light, color and other qualities for the time of day, your activity and your mood. You can, for example, program them to gradually turn on when you want to wake up. You can also sync them with a smart assistant for voice commands. With more of these products hitting the market, I found they vary greatly in price and I wondered why....

My most memorable backyard cookouts as a kid always revolved around a grill, someone spunky enough to man it, a mismatched plastic patio set, and a patio umbrella throwing a swath of shade for the lucky few sitting under it. Backyard cooking has come a long way since then, with today’s setups featuring elaborate pellet grills and smokers and glorious patio sets from the likes of Pottery Barn. Even the humble patio umbrella has changed....

Tools used to cut down weeds and harvest crops date back to the oldest human civilizations. Basic scythes are even shown in Neolithic cave paintings. The good news is, we’re not stuck in the Stone Age! While tools for trimming back weeds and harvesting crops remained mostly unchanged for thousands of years, today we’ve developed technology to allow us to work far faster and with less effort. What Is a Weed Whacker?...