Memorial Day means different things to different people. Some look at it as a somber day to celebrate patriots who paid the ultimate price. Others see it as a long weekend to get plants in the ground and DIY projects done. For still others, it’s the first of many warm-weather opportunities to hang out with friends and family over hot flames and backyard games. Most of us see Memorial Day as some combination of them all....
Cabinets and drawers are the go-to storage solution in kitchens, but many of them are so deep that they can leave your utensils cluttered and difficult to grab. Slim equipment like spoons, spatulas and oven mitts can quickly become a tangled mess at the bottom of deep drawers. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to maximize your drawer space without having to replace them altogether. One of our personal favorite hacks comes from Instagram cabinet expert Michelle Phillips, who shared her method for installing two low-profile IKEA drawers behind her existing high-profile IKEA drawer front....
Paint options for painting kitchen cabinets Painting kitchen cabinets brightens a shabby kitchen. Choose an oil-based paint or a water-borne acrylic enamel. Both create tough, durable surfaces. Family Handyman Prime Before Painting If you want to give new life to old wooden kitchen cabinets, painting is a great choice. You have several good paint options. Before painting, a careful sanding and good primer set the stage for a smooth, durable top coat for painting kitchen cabinets....
Modern vehicles are designed to drive smoothly, even on not-so-perfect road surfaces. Although some vibrations when driving can be normal, if your steering wheel is shaking, something is wrong. There are many possible sources of a shaking steering wheel. The key to diagnosing the problem is determining when the shaking takes place: during low, medium or high speed driving; when braking, turning or accelerating; or a combination of these actions. If the same vibration occurs under the same circumstances, or worsens, it’s time to get your vehicle to the pros....
Africa Studio/Shutterstock If your kids say they’re bored and have nothing to do, give them a DIY project! Not only will they learn important skills that will help them in years to come, but these tasks can take a load off your to-do list. Here are five DIY tasks your kids can do around the house. Help in the Yard and Garden If you have a vegetable garden or flower beds, your child can help with some regular garden upkeep....
Westend61/Getty Images Since its initial outbreak in late 2019, COVID-19 has upended the daily lives of millions of people across the world. In the new world of social distancing, surface disinfecting, and mask-wearing, it can be hard to know exactly what to expect on the rare occasions where social interaction becomes necessary. What happens, for example, if you need an emergency repair done in your home that’s beyond the expertise of an experienced DIYer?...
What to look for in a roofing contractor A new roof is not a cheap investment and shopping for a new one can be intimidating. The roof is the single most important element of your home for protecting you from the elements. When you’re putting the security of your roof in the hands of contractors, there are a few steps you should follow to ensure you’re making the right choice....
If you’re interested in woodworking but fear you lack the proper space, don’t let it deter you. Whether you’re an apartment dweller or homeowner with an overstuffed garage, you can still tackle many types of woodworking projects. While living in a small apartment in New York City, I started my carpentry career by joining a large co-working woodshop. It provided the space necessary to work with and store lumber while giving me access to all kinds of table saws, jointers and planers....
Whenever I visit a conservatory filled with tropical plants, I’m always surprised to see coleus growing alongside them. But I shouldn’t be that surprised because coleus is actually a tropical plant we all grow as an annual. Coleus originally came from tropical places like Indonesia and Sri Lanka. If you visited those countries today and looked for coleus in the wild, you’d discover the coleus varieties we grow today don’t look much like those wild plants....
Use Drought-Tolerant Plants Watering restrictions are a reality in many areas, and it makes sense to reduce watering chores whenever possible. Choose plants, trees and shrubs that require less water to thrive. There are many beautiful options that will work in a variety of soils and climates. On This Page The key is to carefully match the plant to its site and to water it carefully for the first year or two....
RuslanDashinsky/Getty Images Earlier this week Lowes launched a new service called “Lowes for Pros JobSIGHT” that lets contractors and construction professionals effectively communicate with their clients without setting foot in their homes. JobSIGHT is a video chat service that allows pros to video chat while interacting with the things on their screen. Users can sketch on their screens and use tools like an onscreen laser pointer to highlight certain things they see in real time....
If you own and regularly use an RV with its own water system, understanding RV water filtration is essential. Water piped from campgrounds directly into your RV’s taps and shower can be smelly and full of contaminants. While drinking and using this water may not make you sick, it will definitely lower the quality of your road trip experience and make using water in your RV something you dread. That’s where water filtration comes in....
Handyman Pro Many of the tools we use for fabricating sheet metal are manually operated. Cordless tools are now replacing some of those old-school hand tools. Here is the first of three new-school tools that will make the task of snipping and slicing through metal much easier and much more efficient. Check out more on this latest offering from Milwaukee below. Also, be sure to check out our reviews of more Milwaukee metal cutting tools....
This FH series introduces readers to just a few of the women who make up 11% of the construction workforce in the United States, spotlighting stories of their careers in the field. Know someone we should feature? Email us here. When Judaline Cassidy set her sights on a trade-school education in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago, the not-quite-five-foot-tall young woman first had to convince the instructor she could hack it as a plumber....
rodimov/Shutterstock Nothing makes a bad morning worse than a frosted windshield. Hopping into your car when you’re running late, only to be faced with an opaque window covered in ice, is a frustrating experience. Especially because scraping it clean is such a long and arduous process. Luckily, there’s a super easy trick for how to defrost your car window or windshield in mere seconds, decreasing your wait time and increasing your chances of getting where you need to go on time....
Elizabeth Heath For Family Handyman The 2020 pandemic made us all more aware of the air we breathe. Consequently, consumers are increasingly tuned in to issues of indoor air quality and portable air purifier purchases have soared. Because they know we all love products that multitask, several manufacturers have released cooling fans that also function as air purifiers — or are they air purifiers that also cool? Last summer, I tried the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde fan for two reasons....
What Causes Wood to Warp? Wood warps when the moisture content in the wood changes unevenly. This causes the wood to move. Think of it this way: You have a 2×4 that gets wet. As it dries, one part of the board dries faster than the other, causing the drier area to shrink faster. That causes stress on the wood and can cause it to warp or bend. On This Page...
A kitchen remodel is one of the biggest and most valuable home investments you’ll probably make. RE/MAX estimates the return on investment (ROI) for a kitchen overhaul runs between 75 and 100 percent. It also can be one of the most frustrating projects you’ll ever experience, especially when you asked your contractor for cottage chic and you got industrial modern, over budget and past its deadline. To get the kitchen of your dreams, here’s what you need to know about hiring a kitchen remolding contractor....
Lumber prices have had a volatile year. After steadily rising through the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, lumber prices skyrocketed up to an all-time high in May, driven by historic levels of demand and mounting supply chain issues. Relief came in the summer as the cost of wood gradually began to return to historically average levels. That seemed to signal the end of lumber’s roller coaster ride. But now lumber prices are starting to shoot up again, prompting renewed concern....
Did you know that some ants are farmers while others drink the blood of their victims like Dracula? And that ants have been raiding picnics since the Cretaceous period, 130 million years ago? Get the lowdown on ants, from how they communicate to what they eat to how they got their name. 11 Facts About Ants That May Surprise You What Is an Ant? An ant is classified as a terrestrial arthropod — an invertebrate insect with exoskeletons and jointed appendages belonging to the Formicidae family....
