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beeboys/Shutterstock Who doesn’t like a good mystery? Every house has a history and it can be fun to explore the secrets behind yours. Of course, the older your home is, the more intriguing the history of your house may be. Oh, the tales those walls could tell! Here’s how you can start the detective work yourself. • If you’re dealing with a very old house, consult the National Register of Historic Houses or your state or local preservation society....

Stucco is known for its durability, but does that make it maintenance-free? Not quite. With wear and tear over time, the surface can develop cracks, and there may be holes that need filling. Don’t ignore them. To make your stucco exterior last as long as it should, it’s imperative to seal any areas where moisture might come in. Follow these instructions for making repairs and preserving the outside of your home....

Scientifically, a fruit comes from the seed-bearing part of a plant that grows from a fertilized female flower, and fruits have seeds inside. Vegetables come from any other part of the plant. That makes for some interesting contradictions in common food culture! We tend to classify plants as vegetables based on culinary uses or how we cook with them. If they’re used in savory dishes, they are called a vegetable. But, the botanical truth is a little more complicated....

You can grow more than cacti in the sand! With a little intervention, you can have the garden of your dreams even if your soil looks more like a beach than a welcoming place for plants to flourish. How Do You Know if You Have Sandy Soil? If you’ve ever sat on a beach and felt the soft, warm, grainy sand beneath you, you’ll know sandy soil when you see it in your garden....

It can be challenging to be productive when you work from home, especially when a sink full of dirty dishes or your favorite TV show beckons. But there are ways to structure your home office to help you make the most of the time you spend there, whether you’re converting a small nook or closet or you have a dedicated room. Here are some design-minded tips that can increase your productivity when you’re working from home....

Mount the Door Sensor Attach the door sensor to the top panel using screws or double-face tape. The sensor tells the controller whether the door is open or closed. Mount the Controller Locate the controller near the AC outlet and screw it to the ceiling. The controller receives commands from your phone or tablet and relays them to your garage door opener. Installation is easy You can install the system yourself in about 30 minutes....

merlok13/Imgur It looks misplaced, even comical, but a random toilet in the basement of an old house once served a purpose. Usually found in pre-World War II era homes, this lone toilet looks odd not just because it’s in the basement, but because there is nothing around it to make it feel like a proper, private bathroom. Often there are no walls around it, and some are accompanied by a crude basement shower apparatus and a large sink (or no sink at all)....

Shampoo bottles, body wash pumps and shaving cream cans: these personal hygiene products usually live conveniently in our showers. But unfortunately, they can leave unsightly residue on the porcelain, posing yet another frustrating bathroom cleaning challenge. In particular, shaving cream cans often leave rust rings, since their aluminum or steel casings oxidize when in prolonged contact with water. Luckily, Instagrammer @byjillee shared a simple and quick hack to prevent these rust rings from forming....

Credit: John Coletti/Getty images You don’t have to live in Tornado Alley or on a coast to experience the devastation of a hurricane, tornado or other severe windstorm. With hurricane season officially in full effect, it is important to be prepared in case of a natural disaster. How to Stay Safe During a Hurricane Invest in hurricane windows: Windows are the most vulnerable part of your house, so invest in hurricane windows that will withstand windstorm damage, survive longer than ordinary ones and save you a bundle....

An indoor wood-burning fireplace offers ambiance, warmth and relaxation. But even with all those benefits, it’s worth keeping in mind that heating equipment is a leading cause of fires in US homes according to the National Fire Protection Association. Approximately two out of every five home fires involve solid-burning fuel. We spoke with Leroy Hite, CEO and founder of Cutting Edge Firewood in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, to get his top tips for indoor wood-burning fireplace safety....

The holiday season is here, and setting up a Christmas tree might be one of your favorite (though most frustrating) traditions. If getting the tree upright isn’t hard enough, the next step (stringing lights around your tree) can be a real headache. Setting up Christmas tree lights takes patience. Often, you have to untangle them when you take them out of storage from last year. Then, when they’re finally untangled, you may spend quite a while circling the tree in several rotations to make sure it’s sufficiently bright....

Sponsored by DRYLOK My house is a split-entry design with the lower level one-half below grade. So the lower-level walls are concrete block from the foundation up to the stud walls. I’ve always had a slight moisture problem on the below-grade walls in my workshop. Stopping the moisture is especially important in that room because the moisture rusts my tools. In the spring, the moisture shows up as damp spots on the block wall and occasional wet spots on the floor where it meets the block wall....

Modern vehicles rely on engine oil to run, and filtering this oil is nearly as important to the health of your vehicle as the oil itself. The first cars on the road didn’t have oil filters as we know them today, making do instead with simple mesh sieves installed over their oil pump intakes. These weren’t particularly effective, leading to more frequent oil changes than we’re used to today. If you’re serious about keeping your vehicle running well for as long as possible, it’s vital to understand what oil filters do, how they work, and when and why to change them....

Saxony carpet adds elegance and class to any room. Learn more about this popular carpet style to see if it’s the right choice for your home. What is Saxony Carpet? Saxony carpet features upright, cut-pile fibers that are evenly cut for a uniform look. Saxony carpet pile usually measures less than 1/2 in. and is made from nylon, wool, polyester or triexta. This is a traditional and common style you’ve undoubtedly seen in many homes....

Cherry is one of the most popular domestic woods for fine woodworkers. Widely available in the U.S. and considered a premium domestic hardwood, it is highly desirable for its workability and warm tones. Cherry is generally a delight to work with both hand tools and machines, but beware that some highly figured boards can lead to frustrations with tear-out. Here I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about cherry to give you the confidence to use it in your next woodworking project....

Seeing shelves emptied of toilet paper and sanitizer quickly shows where people’s first thoughts turn when it comes to a containment. Most households think to stock up on groceries, too, but here are some other goods to think about having on hand during the extra time at home. Outdoor Cooking Necessities Firing up the grill is a good way to seize some outdoor time and shake up your cooking routine. Make sure you have propane, charcoal, lighter fluid and any other favorite grilling goods stocked and ready....

The Best Fall Flowers Q: Besides mums, what should I plant to get more flowers and color in autumn? — reader Judy Roberts, Graytown, Ohio. A: Mums definitely signal the end of the growing season, but native asters (pictured below), turtleheads and goldenrods are also excellent options. Try sunny Ohio goldenrod or the cultivar Fireworks. They provide nectar for pollinators preparing for winter or migrating to their southern homes. Courtesy of Heather Labuda/Birds & Blooms...

Mosquitoes are no fun. They swarm you, they bite you and they leave you incredibly itchy. There are plenty of unbelievable hacks to keep mosquitoes away. But sometimes despite your best efforts, an itchy bump from the pesky bug surfaces. So what’s a victim to do? Getting Rid of Bug Bites Make some baking soda paste If a bite happens, itching is soon to follow. This is when you scratch off your skin in a fury of discomfort, right?...

sturti/Getty Images Every year, Houzz surveys U.S. homeowners who recently completed or are planning a kitchen renovation project. The survey highlights trends in home building and kitchen design that can provide revealing insights into what modern homeowners are looking for in their new kitchen space. Here’s a breakdown of the 2021 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Survey, including a look at how things changed in 2020 and some of the year’s most influential design trends....

If you’re serious about a structure for all-weather growing, you’ll probably want something more sophisticated than the greenhouse I cobbled together (with help from friends) from old lumber and recycled sliding door panels. It works, but it’s rickety and develops a few more unintended ventilation openings with every passing year. It’s fine for the California Coast, but even though it’s covered with insulated glass, it wouldn’t offer much protection during a harsh Midwestern winter....