Family Handyman, Getty Images When gardeners from different parts of the United States meet up, one common question we ask each other is, “What’s your Plant Hardiness Zone?” That leads to some inevitable scratching of heads when someone from Indiana learns some areas of New Mexico share the same Hardiness Zone as their garden. But can they grow the same plants? Maybe … but also maybe not. What Is a Plant Hardiness Zone?...
Laura Gangi Pond/Shutterstock You’ve listed your house on the market, and now you wait for a buyer to come along. But, how long should you wait and what should you do if no one seems interested? Be Patient According to Debra Wurtzel, Remax, you should wait at least 30 days, depending on the season or location, before getting too antsy. “You can’t expect to get an offer on a lake cottage in a resort area in the middle of winter,” she notes....
While we often associate bees with the danger of an unpleasant sting, there’s so much more to bees than their sting. In fact, bees are among the most important creatures on the planet when it comes to their impact on humans and the planet’s natural ecosystems. Maciej Olszewski /Shutterstock Bee Stings Can Cure Disease Let’s get what we fear the most about them out of the way. The first thing you should know about bee stings is that they can actually have some benefits!...
Wallpaper is part of a long tradition of considering walls as works of art. “Psychologically we have a thing about putting our views, our thoughts, our feelings on the walls,” says Carol Miller of York Wallcoverings. “From the time of cave paintings forward, we have used our walls to express ourselves.” But while beautiful patterns draw people to wallpaper, the makeup of the wallpaper keeps that art on the wall, lasting as long as a cave painting....
If you live where there are four distinct seasons, you can feel it in your bones when the growing season nears its end and it’s time to wind things down in your landscape. Even if you garden where winter isn’t severe, you’ll notice some of your shrubs and flowers growing slower and losing some color in the fall. That’s because decreasing daylight and cooler nighttime temperatures let your plants know winter is on the horizon....
Everything about outdoor cooking is scorching hot right now, pun intended. There are best-selling grilling and smoking cookbooks, competitions in nearly every state, and of course multiple television shows. All this generates a constant flow of new products and gadgets hitting the grilling market. As the only one in my immediate family with a weakness for grilled and smoked meats, I’ve been keeping my eye on the smaller, portable pellet grill category....
sima/Shutterstock There’s no denying that your toilets are a vital part of the house. We need toilets to properly, well, you know. So having a functional toilet is absolutely imperative. However, toilets don’t actually last forever. There’s a lot that can go wrong with a toilet, and if you miss one of these signs, you may find yourself with a non-functioning toilet after all. First, check for any cracks. Puddles of water don’t miraculously happen....
Akos Nagy/Shutterstock The first thing to understand about bed bugs is that their only food source is blood. The common household bed bug needs to feed on human blood both to live and to breed. So what causes bed bugs is essentially… us. Bed bugs don’t have the ability to leap or fly, so to get close to their food source they hitch a ride on us and our belongings. Once they’ve arrived at their destination, they seek out places where we humans nap or sleep, they hide out, and they wait....
In many parts of the world, home heating is a big deal. Sometimes built-in heat sources alone don’t cut it, and that’s why many homeowners turn to portable space heaters. If you’ve done any browsing for the best space heaters, you’ve probably noticed the massive selection available. If you’re in the market for a good space heater but aren’t sure what type makes sense for your situation, we’re here to help....
Angela Brogato/Shutterstock Everyone can remember the first time they saw a vessel sink. You walked into the bathroom of a friend, neighbor, or fancy new restaurant and saw that beautiful bowl atop the vanity. Maybe it made you feel like you were attending a gala at a modern art museum and the bathrooms matched the eccentricity of the art on the walls. Ok…maybe your reaction wasn’t that extreme but it did leave an impression....
Family Handyman What is vermiculite? Vermiculite is a mineral that was used for insulation. If your home was built before 1990, you might have vermiculite insulation in your walls or attic. Up to 85 percent of all vermiculite insulation in the U.S. came from a mine in Libby, Montana, sold under the name Zonolite. Why is vermiculite bad? Nearly all vermiculite contains asbestos, which can cause lung cancer when inhaled. While it’s true that undisturbed, encapsulated asbestos doesn’t pose a health risk, the asbestos in vermiculite insulation isn’t encapsulated and can easily become airborne during cleaning, maintenance or remodeling....
inkastudio/Getty Images If you come across an earwig in the home or around the yard, you might wonder if this is an insect you should be worried about. Is it harmful? Should you keep your children or pets away from them? Do you need to quickly find ways to get rid of them? Here is what you need to know if you encounter an earwig. Are Earwigs Dangerous Earwigs are not a dangerous insect to people....
via amazon.com On the basketball court, pivoting—keeping one foot solidly in place on the floor while turning your body in either direction—is a critical skill of the game. That same concept is important in the world of hinges, too. And there’s a special piece of hardware for it. Here’s everything you need to know about the pivot hinge. What Is a Pivot Hinge? A pivot hinge allows a door to pivot from a single point at the top and bottom of the door....
Now that you’re done building your second home, there are some big decisions to make about how you want the interior and your outdoor space to look. That includes a list of some staples you’ll want to consider no matter what kind of design you end up settling on. Another consideration to make for a second home is storage, everything from food to recreation gear, for the times when you’re not going to be there....
These days, carpenters and cabinetmakers often use power tools for the joinery, shaping, and cutting tasks they used to do with chisels. But that doesn’t mean chisels have become obsolete! Far from it, in fact. Woodworkers typically maintain a whole collection of wood chisels and use them often. Even jack-of-all-trade DIYers keep at least one chisel in their toolbox, and often a whole set. I’m speaking from experience. I’ve used my yellow-handled wood chisel — which I call Old Yeller — for tasks as diverse as separating plastic pipes, wedging floorboards together and cutting mortises for door hinges....
With air quality concerns on the rise, air purifiers are soaring in popularity. Smog, smoke, allergens and even viruses have homeowners wondering about indoor air quality and what they can do to improve it, especially as they spend more time at home. And with my own recent move to the Denver metro area, I understand the need for a solution to poor air quality days. That’s why I was excited to try the Honeywell HPA300 HEPA Air Purifier....
Illumination by Design Our lighting priorities for the Getaway were as clear as LEDs. We wanted ample light for the deck and the entry doors. We also wanted to control interior lighting zones to illuminate everything from a big get-together to a quiet evening for two. For a project of this size, we needed guidance. Monique Spearing of Kichler Lighting helped us meet our needs and budget. Family Handyman For the exterior, she suggested sconces for ambient deck lighting, individual floodlights for the entryway and low-voltage path lights to illuminate the steps to the deck....
Family Handyman has launched a new streaming channel called At Home with Family Handyman, which offers hands-on inspiration for making your house a home. At Home with Family Handyman launched in late August and can be streamed now on XUMO, The Roku Channel, LG Channels, Plex, fuboTV, and Sling Free. The channel is also available through the Family Handyman app on iOS, Apple TV, Android, AndroidTV, FireTV and Roku devices....
Welding Basics All of these welding systems work essentially the same: An electric arc generates enough heat between the electrode (stick or wire) and the metal being joined to melt both together and create the bond. To ensure a strong bond, the super-hot area around the weld is surrounded by a cloud of inert gas to prevent oxygen and contaminants in the air from weakening the weld. That gas is provided either by the flux inside or around the electrode, or by a bottle of gas that feeds the joint as you weld....
My wife recently told me to quit complaining about our dirty, unorganized chest freezer, and do something about it, so I did. Before: My chest freezer was impossible to keep organized. I emptied the whole thing out, defrosted it and gave it a good cleaning inside and out. But instead of just throwing everything back in helter-skelter, I decided to get organized. The inherent problem with chest freezers is that everything gets piled on everything else....
