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Almost overnight, it seemed the moist green ground of spring turned into the brown-hardened throes of late summer. That’s especially true for those of us in the Western U.S., where drought has firmly sunk in its claws. Keeping a lawn green out here is not only difficult, it might not even be an option in coming years. Increasingly, some homeowners are replacing bluegrass and fescue with native grasses and plants, which can survive with little to no supplemental water....

JGI/Daniel Grill/Getty Images According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new single-family homes in the United States dropped 11 percent from October to November 2020, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000 units. Home sales gradually slowed in the last few months of the year after hitting a historic 13-year high in July 2020 but remain much higher they were the year before....

Inflation and rampant supply-chain issues are driving up the cost of construction projects everywhere, but that’s not stopping people from upgrading their homes. According to a recent study by Nationwide, 77 percent of homeowners currently working on home improvement projects aren’t planning to abandon future plans despite high material prices and supply-chain complications. “Nationwide’s study found most homeowners who completed major remodels in 2021 faced significant obstacles brought on by supply chain and inflation issues, such as higher material and labor costs, delayed timelines and limited material availability,” said Cathy Allocco, vice president of small commercial sales and distribution at Nationwide....

Boats are fun, but they come with a reputation. “Boats are holes in the water into which you throw money” is a common adage. Or, as a boat-owning member of my family likes to say, “Don’t buy a boat, make a friend who has a boat.” If you’re the friend who owns the boat, it’s tough to disagree, especially when it comes time to store it for the winter. Boat storage ideas range from dry dock to keeping it in a slip all winter....

Auto detailing enhances your car’s appearance and resilience against the elements, and part of that process involves applying different substances to the paint. Two of the most common aspects of auto detailing are polishing and waxing, and both are important to giving your car’s paint the best appearance and protection possible. If you’re new to auto detailing and want to learn, the first step is understanding what car wax and polish are, the differences between them and when to apply each....

Doing the dishes is a familiar chore for any homeowner. Whether you love to neatly load your reliable dishwasher just so, or never forget to add a bit of vinegar to your load so your dishes sparkle post-wash, dishwashing preferences vary from person to person. Not only that, but dishwasher detergent is also a personal preference between using tablets, liquid or gel pods. While all three will get your dishes clean, one is really the most efficient to use: dishwasher tablets....

Dr Morley Read/Shutterstock There are a lot of creatures you don’t want in your home—termites, snakes, rats and bats, for example. While some can do more damage than others, some also do a lot of good! Bats, kept at a proper distance, can be very beneficial neighbors. In fact, according to Bat Conservation International, bats consume about 1,200 mosquito-sized insects an hour, and some species disperse seeds, pollinate plants and feed on beetles that destroy crops....

via Who is Danny/Shutterstock Back in 2016, former FBI director James Comey revealed some disturbing news. When asked if he covered his laptop’s webcam with tape, he responded: “Heck yeah, heck yeah. Also, I get mocked for a lot of things, and I am much mocked for that, but I hope people lock their cars … lock your doors at night. I have an alarm system, if you have an alarm system you should use it, I use mine....

Whether you’re an experienced home chef or your cooking expertise tops out at making popcorn, a microwave is an essential kitchen appliance. When it’s time to shop for a new one, consider the type and features that best suit your situation. How Does a Microwave Work? When you turn on your microwave, tiny electromagnetic waves invisible to the human eye move around within the chamber and excite the water molecules in your food....

By Karyn Cooper Photo: Courtesy of Soda Pop Design With an overwhelming number of options on the market, shopping for appliances can be something of a headache — unless, of course, you go in with a plan. During the appliance scouting process, you’ll likely realize that brand new items are often outrageously priced, and begin to ask yourself, “Should I buy a refurbished appliance instead?” The short answer is: It depends....

The Dyson V11 Torque Drive vacuum cleaner is the Cadillac of Dysons — or rather the Dyson of Dysons. The upmarket cordless vac is the top-of-the line Dyson cordless. It eclipses older cordless models with great features like longer battery life, a stronger motor, and a “smart” cleaner head that detects different surfaces and switches cleaning modes accordingly. Like other Dyson models, it’s also certified asthma and allergy friendly, making it a reassuring option for homeowners with allergies....

The Home Depot is your one-stop-shop for tools, home furnishings, holiday decor and more. And thanks to its early Black Friday sale, there’s no better time to buy. Check everyone off your holiday list (and grab a couple of on-sale tools yourself) and you’ll be done shopping before Thanksgiving. How Is The Home Depot Black Friday Shopping Different in 2021? On This Page The big discounts have already started, and you have until December 1 to take advantage of low prices on tools, appliances, furniture and holiday décor....

Via Getty Images/ Joachim Gast / EyeEm The last thing you want to see when you turn on the light in the bathroom late at night is a spider in the middle of the floor. Also, it can make your skin crawl to watch one scurry across the bedroom floor and hide under a dresser before you can get to it. If there’s one spider, that means there are likely plenty more....

PlazacCameraman/Getty Images If you’ve got a septic system at your house, then you’ve probably picked up some advice about managing that system that simply isn’t true. Here are the five top septic system myths dispelled. Septic Myth #1: Pump-Outs Are Unnecessary The truth is, having a septic tank pumped every two or three years is the best and most economical way to keep your system working. On This Page The no-pump myth comes from companies selling septic additives....

Every time I hit a bump in my Honda van, I heard clattering metal parts in the front. The problem was easy to diagnose by simply looking behind the wheels. Both sway bar linkage ends were completely separated and dangling. After rounding up the new sway bar linkage parts, I jacked up the van and tried to remove the nuts holding the linkage arms. But it was clear that no amount of penetrating oil was going to loosen those 13-year-old nuts....

Family Handyman Get the Size Right When sized correctly for your home, your furnace and water heater will provide a long life of efficient service. When building our Getaway home project, we estimated our British Thermal Unit (BTU) requirements for our furnace by multiplying our square footage by the heating factor for our zone (40 to 50 BTUs per square foot). Working with a technician from American Standard Air, we made sure the furnace we chose was perfectly sized for the structure....

Recreational vehicle (RV) camping offers a host of benefits not afforded by conventional tent camping. For starters, it allows you to explore the great outdoors without sacrificing the comfort and amenities of home. It’s also affordable; a family of four can save 27 to 62 percent on vacation costs, even when fuel and other expenses are factored in. And it’s more environmentally friendly than other types of vacations. No wonder RV ownership has increased 62 percent in the last 20 years, and rentals increased 650 percent during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020....

Family Vacations Have Changed Most of us love our road trips. Seeking adventure while bonding with our families on the open road is at once exhilarating and refreshing, where the journey itself is as important as the destination. The ongoing pandemic has thrown a wrench into those journeys — except for those who have an RV. On This Page The RV industry appears to be weathering the COVID-19 storm better than most; June 2020 was the industry’s best for sales in more than 18 months....

Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock We all love shortcuts—we jaywalk because the crosswalk is too far away, we prefer fingerprint and facial recognition because entering a password is too slow—painting is no different, for professionals and DIYers alike. Paint and Primer in One Self-priming paint represents a way to save a step, a shortcut, an efficiency, as well as, perhaps, a cost-saver. For the DIYer, this means getting that bedroom painted faster with more time left over to watch the game, play with the kids or binge watch the next true-crime series....

It’s a conundrum every homeowner faces at some point: Tackle a large home renovation project or pack up and move to a home with space that better suits your family’s needs. Either decision is daunting, time-consuming and expensive enough to be the subject of an HGTV series. (Think Love It or List It and Stay or Sell.) So how do you know when to refinish, replace, add on, reconfigure or just move?...