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Family Handyman Life-Saving Tips to Keep in Mind When Using Generators With bad weather in the forecast, the possibility of losing power looms large. Always inconvenient, it can be downright dangerous when it happens during a winter storm and the temperatures hit the deep freeze. You don’t want to be without power when you really need the heater working. On This Page Generators can be real lifesavers. But inexperience and improper usage can also make generators extremely dangerous....

What will TikTok come up with next? The newest trend sweeping #CleanTok, the cleaning corner of the social media site, is mopping your floors with laundry detergent. Don’t ask me. I don’t know why, either. Does it clean better? Save money? Let’s watch an example video first, then we’ll talk to some experts. So does cleaning your floors this way work? Have TikTokers stumbled upon a revolutionary mopping technique, destined to change the way we clean?...

A new dishwasher can save you both elbow grease and money, since today’s models use less energy and water than either older appliances or washing dishes by hand. You don’t want to waste savings on repair bills, so seeking out the most reliable dishwasher is a great place to start your search for a new appliance. Here are our picks for the most reliable dishwashers, based on brand reputation and stellar reviews....

Here’s a cool trick for cutting a bunch of identical notches without a dado stack. Carefully cut an accurate notch from the end of a board, exactly the same dimension as your desired notch. Attach a clamp board to the other end of the notched board and clamp the assembly to your saw’s fence. Mark the notch location on your workpiece and set the fence. The jig’s end registers the first cut....

Far from the hobby tools you may have thought them to be, rotary tools have several professional applications that can make your job easier by complementing, or even replacing, several other tools you probably already own. Rotary tools can cut, sand, drill, grind, carve and clean almost any building material, and they can do it with a degree of precision, and in tighter spaces, than most other tools. Discover how a rotary tool can give you a professional edge, and why it deserves a place in your toolbox....

Retaining walls add value to your home and property, but only if they’re properly built. Maximizing your wall’s drainage is one of the most important factors — and one of the most often overlooked, too. “Ever see a wall leaning forward, being pushed over from the top? That’s a sign of poor drainage behind the wall,” says Vince Christofora, professional engineer and owner of Woodstock Hardware in Woodstock, NY. There are ways to help walls showing these signs....

Family Handyman Option 1: Island Vent Plumbing an island sink is challenging. It can’t be vented the same way as a regular kitchen sink. Here’s how it works. On This Page Plumbing vents (a network of pipes that carry air and gas outdoors through a pipe exiting your roof) are essential to supply enough air to keep equal pressure in the plumbing system. They keep water and waste moving through the pipes at the right speed....

Composting your kitchen waste has always been a good idea. With some communities now mandating the separation of food scraps from trash, it’s also a way to stay on the right side of the law. But if you’re an apartment dweller, you might not have space for a composter or a compost pile. Electric composters — also called food recyclers — offer a way out of this dilemma. Electric composters reduce food waste to a dry, soil-like substance you can safely put in your garden....

Summer time is great for being outdoors and enjoying some sunshine. But that’s also when wasps, and other annoying pests, are out and about. Do Wasps Sting or Bite? Wasps, like almost any creature, can bite. But their tiny jaws aren’t what they are known for. It’s their sting that most people fear. On This Page Unlike bees, whose stingers remain embedded in the skin, wasps keep their stingers after an attack, so they can sting more than once....

There are dozens of reasons why your vehicle may be straining to accelerate. When stepping on the gas pedal, many systems, components and sensors need to work seamlessly to power your car forward. A failure in any of these can result in acceleration problems. Let’s see what it takes to deliver the power you need and expect. How Does a Car Accelerate? To develop the power to quickly accelerate, an internal combustion engine needs to breathe....

Volkova Vera/Shutterstock Is your microwave grunged-up with grime from everyday use? Is it spotted with stubborn stains? Besplattered with baked-on bits? Cleaning the microwave is a job most people approach with trepidation and an armful of cleaning products. But there is another way. If you’re wondering how to clean a microwave and restore it to pristine cleanliness, without damaging the environment, here’s how you can use common pantry items to do it....

Sponsored by JELD-WEN Don’t miss a larger opportunity when you’re choosing new windows and doors for your home. Sure, you want to save energy and improve the comfort of your home, but you can go beyond the norm to create options that not only look great from the curb but also enhance the feel and luxury of your interior living spaces. Often, with a bit of extra planning and remodeling, you can take advantage of the plethora of window and door options....

Whether you like your home landscape to look tidy or more like a park in Disney World, if you’ve got hedges and/or large shrubs, a hedge trimmer can be a wrist, hand and time saver. Choose a hedge trimmer with features that make sense for you and your yard and you’ll never regret the purchase. What is a Hedge Trimmer? A hedge trimmer is a machine that cuts and prunes hedges and shrubs....

Wayfair Black Friday 2022 Deals: What To Expect As Family Handyman’s Sales Editor, I strive to make sales like Black Friday easier to navigate. Wayfair Black Friday deals are here, with up to 70% markdowns on appliances, furniture and almost everything else! They feature hundreds of limited-time markdowns leading up to the holidays, so it’s extra important to find the top savings available to fit any budget. This list includes the best deals I found on Wayfair, featuring everything from appliances to home decor for all the DIYers out there—all you have to do is fill your cart and watch the savings roll in....

Family Handyman Identify Your Keys at a Glance “It seems the older I get, the more keys I carry around. Between the car, house, shed and garage, I have a whole pocket full of keys. To make it easier to quickly find my most used keys, I paint both sides of the key head with brightly colored nail polish. I use a different color for each key. The nail polish is extremely durable and you’ll be surprised how much longer it lasts than spray paint....

Arranging the Room You may need to rearrange some of the furniture to feature your Christmas tree. In most living rooms, the focal point is the television. Just for this little window of time, move that armchair or shelf full of plants to the other side of the room, shifting the focal point to the tree. You can still watch Elf, just make some room to experience the joy a well-placed Christmas tree can bring....

Channellock Pliers via amazon.com If you don’t have a pair of Channellock pliers in your toolbox, you’re missing out on one of the most universal, durable, made-in-America tools every DIYer needs. The Griplock tongue and groove plier is our favorite because of its unique design. The offset head provides you with plenty of leverage even in tight or awkward spaces, and the jaw is able to grip round objects such as pipes better than traditional pliers....

The peaceful woods that make your vacation cabin so appealing can also be its downfall. In 2021, there were more than 48,366 wildfires in the United States, which burned more than 6.5 million acres and caused billions of dollars of property damages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That same year, whole towns were lost to wildfire, like Greenville, California, and Lytton, British Columbia. Over the years, these wildfires have taught fire managers a lot about the science of how fires catch and spread, and therefore what are the most effective steps homeowners can take to prevent fires....

JOHN PIZNIUR Eastern bluebirds are particular about the homes they raise their young in. They like snug boxes with a 4-inch-square base and a 1¾-inch-diameter entry hole. True to their name, some mountain bluebirds spend the breeding season in high elevations, up to 12,500 feet above sea level. From mountain meadows and prairies, they move into juniper woods and deserts during winter. North America is home to three species: eastern bluebirds in the East, and both western and mountain bluebirds (shown above) in the West....

My immediate reaction to the question of whether you can add a basement to an existing home was “No way!” It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong, though. Not even the first time today. Turns out, adding a basement involves an incredible amount of work and would be extremely intrusive for people living in the house. In most cases, the home’s inhabitants will need to relocate while the work is in progress....