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When it comes to imagining their ideal shower size, most people would probably say “the bigger, the better.” But depending on the size of the bathroom and the space you have to work with, designing the biggest possible shower might not be a feasible goal. Understanding standard shower sizes will give you a better idea of what’s actually doable in your plans for a bathroom renovation, and set your sights on a remodeling plan that’s reasonable and achievable....

If you’ve ever had your yard or garden ravaged by Japanese beetles, you know just how much destruction they leave behind. “Japanese beetles are one of the most invasive species that can cause damage to plants and turf,” says John Bell, a board-certified entomologist with Ehrlich Pest Control. This guide to Japanese beetles will help you avoid the impact these pests can have on your yard and garden. What Are Japanese Beetles?...

There are plenty of products on the market made to chew through the nastiest stuff that’s clogging drains. But those products typically contain nasty chemicals that can be bad for your health and harmful to your plumbing. So why go that route when safer and equally effective options exist? Here are some of the best ways to unclog your drains without using chemicals. Dish Soap Grease can easily congeal in pipes and clog a sink drain, causing a whole host of issues....

The grow light industry is, well, growing like a weed. From Arctic greenhouses and urban gardens to legalized marijuana farms, the lights we use for growing plants indoors have sprouted into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Closer to home, on our windowsills and coffee tables, we’re becoming evermore fascinated with our leafy ficus, stoic cacti and aromatic oregano friends. “We know from research that keeping indoor plants has many benefits, such as reduced anxiety and stress, improved productivity and focus, and even improved healing,” says Leslie F....

I’m an inveterate scrounger, so when I saw two used file cabinets put out for recycling; I decided to recycle them myself. I needed a larger tool cabinet for my garage shop, and I thought I could make them work. Step 1: Remove all the file hardware from the drawers, and take the drawers out. Step 2: Bolt the cabinets together. My cabinets had holes for just this purpose, but it would be easy to drill them, too....

What’s better than the coziness of gathering around a campfire? Nothing! But building a campfire isn’t always possible. You have to gather wood, set up a safe fire ring, and of course get the fire started. To avoid all that, check out this portable campfire from Radiate. This Shark Tank product has everything you need to enjoy a roaring fire without all the work. With up to five hours of burn time and an easy-to-extinguish design, this is one of the easiest portable fire pits you’ll find....

Vinyl is one of the least expensive siding options, and it looks great when it’s new. But nothing looks great forever. You can repaint vinyl siding with “vinyl-safe” paint to give it extra life. But at some point, you’re bound to decide that it’s time for new siding. If you live in an older home, you could be in for a pleasant surprise when you remove that vinyl. It’s common to find vintage, completely restorable siding under the vinyl....

family handyman The Crucial Phase of a Home Build A house that’s level, square and plumb will properly and securely hold cabinets, windows and flooring. Yes, framing can be expensive. But planning with a focus on quality and affordability will leave you saving to invest in other parts of your home build while still getting the basic bones of a quality home. On This Page Family Handyman Have A Plan Framing details are often left to the framing carpenters to figure out....

The Google Home App is an all-encompassing app that takes the place of every other app in your smart home arsenal. For instance, if you have different lights, cameras and music, you don’t need to search through three different applications to control them, Google will do it for you. You can ask your Google assistant a question, turn off the lights in your kid’s room and browse Spotify’s suggestions right from the Google Home App....

GoneWithTheWind/Shutterstock What is Pickled Finish? Most finishes make natural wood darker. A “pickled finish”—sometimes referred to as bleaching or whitewashing—makes natural wood lighter. Where did it all begin? In days of yore, lime was often applied to furniture and other wood objects to prevent bug infestations. Today pine, ash, oak and other open-pore woods are the species most commonly “pickled.” There are a variety of ways to create a pickled finish....

Do hostas attract hummingbirds? To answer that question, all you have to do is examine the flowers (yes, this beautiful foliage plant has flowers!). They’re tubular in shape and filled with sweet nectar. That means one thing: hummingbird magnet. Avoid This Common Mistake People often plant hostas for the lush mounds of foliage, which are a great way to add interest to shady areas, especially when the plants are variegated or have a chartreuse or blue-gray hue....

The allure of walls filled with plants dates back at least to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, circa 600 B.C. Flash forward a couple of millennia to the 1980s, and the modern-day concept rerooted itself into our culture thanks to French botanist Patrick Blanc. Since then, living walls have grown in popularity and especially blossomed in the last decade. What Is a Living Wall? A living wall — or vertical garden, green wall, plant wall, edible wall or ecowall — is a collection of plants hanging vertically on a wall, indoors or outside....

Icicles hanging from your gutters during a snowy winter can be scary. If you’re having this problem, the reason might seem counterintuitive: You probably don’t have enough attic insulation. As we learned in science, warm air rises. Insulating the attic floor traps most of that heated air in our living spaces. Otherwise, it wafts into the attic, warming the roof and melting the snow, which then drips down to the roof edge to form icicles....

Mosquitoes are a constant, irritating companion in warm weather. I have one buzzing around me right this minute, mocking my ineffective screen door. Adding injury to insult, she’s bitten me three times (male mosquitoes don’t bite). Here in Texas, we can get mosquitoes year round, but anywhere it gets above 50 degrees F is fair game for these pesky disease vectors. Sometimes it feels like all the screens, sprays and gadgets deployed against them are half-measures at best....

Those Pesky Flies The United States is home to many different species of flies, from drain flies and blowflies to houseflies and the gnat. Regardless of the type, they’re all annoying when they make it inside your home. Flies are not only troublesome, they can also carry disease and are a health hazard if left untreated. So if you experience regular, annoying flies, it’s time to take care of them. Here’s how to do it:...

Portable pressure washers are fantastic tools, as anyone who owns one will tell you. Used properly, a good pressure washer can drastically reduce the work and time involved in washing decks, cars, siding, farm equipment and more. Gas-powered washers accomplish this with an internal combustion engine that powers a pump, creating highly pressurized water that shoots out of a handheld wand attached to the tool by a hose. Like all machines, pressure washers sometimes break down....

If you have to discreetly dry your hand before shaking someone else’s hand, keep your arms down for fear of displaying an obvious pit stain and/or avoid purchasing clothes prone to causing you to sweat, then you, my friend, are a sweater. There are many of us out there and we all have a similar household laundry challenge—removing sweat stains from our clothing. To prevent further damage and evidence that you’ve sweat through a dress shirt, blouse, or white tee, follow these three foolproof and lesser-known tips on how to get sweat stains out of anything....

Ice dams occur after a heavy snowfall when warm air in the attic heats up the roof and melts the snow. Water running down the roof refreezes when it reaches the colder roof edge, forming a mound of ice. What Damage Can Ice Dams Cause? Ice dams begin as continuous chunks of ice that form along the margins of your roof. While frozen, they’re no more trouble than the icicles that hang down from them....

srisakorn wonglakorn/Shutterstock Most cities offer curbside pickup for recycling but finding a place to bring recyclable material in rural areas prove tougher. To fill the gap, subscription-based recycling companies have started to pop up. What is Subscription-based Recycling? Subscription-based recycling is a business model where customers pay a monthly fee to have someone come pick up their recycling. It’s gaining traction in rural locales where recycling centers have started to turn away certain plastics because it’s no longer cost effective for them to accept them....

It’s easy to think that because the calendar has turned over to Fall, that you’re done with lawn care for the year. Surely you don’t need to fertilize this time of year, right? Wrong. Your final fertilizer application of the year is the most important one. Let’s explain. Why Fertilize the Lawn in Fall? Like the rest of us, your lawn gets tired by the time summer ends. On This Page...