Archives
How to Install a Picket Fence
An expert's step-by-step guide to digging postholes and assembling panels for a picket fence
Closing Your Vacation Home for the Season
It was a blast relaxing in your home away from home but now it's time to winterize it. Here are the steps you need to take.
How to Design Small Baths So They Feel Roomier
Our tips range from the practical—use a pocket door to the psychological—choose one large mirror
Clear Choices for Windows
A buyer's guide to materials, styles and money-saving options.
How to Install a Lockset
A step-by-step guide from This Old House master carpenter Norm Abram
Colonial Revival Architecture
Recalling the Good Old Days
Tight-Fitting Floor Boards
A tip for laying tongue-and-groove flooring
How to Build a Great Gazebo
Whether custom designed or built from a kit, a backyard pavilion provides a perfect place to unwind.
Perfect Paneling Seams
If you can't get a perfectly tight fit between the sheets, you can at least hide the evidence
For the Love of Vinyl Siding
Look beyond the never-to-be-settled debate over siding's merits/sins. It's an affordable, energy-conscious update. It can even look good.
How to Hang a Porch Swing
Precisely measuring the enjoyment porch swings provide is difficult, but a good place to start is monitoring how long your smile lasts.
The Art of Graining
For his next trick: master refinisher John Dee transforms MDF into wood.
How to Build a Simple Deck
This Old House general contractor Tom Silva's method for constructing a handsome on-grade deck.
The Winchester House
Healthy but tired, the 1920's Colonial Revival in Winchester got an improved kitchen and master suite, an updated heating plant, and a cosmetic freshening inside and out.
How to Make Sense of Zoning
Local codes can be complicated, and running afoul of them costly. Here are ways homeowners can protect themselves from zoning hassles.
How to Install a Toilet
This Old House plumbing expert Richard Trethewey's method for putting in a new toilet—or replacing an old one.
How GFCI Receptacles Keep You Safe
Two-thirds of all electrocutions in U.S. homes could be prevented if people installed the receptacles.
The Right Brush
For the perfect paint job, invest in the best.
Landscaping a Sloped Lot
Retaining walls, decks, and native plants give the finishing touch to a timeless home.
What to Know About Repointing Brick
Touching up like a pro means using the right mortar. Lime-based putties take longer to set but they won't break bricks.
Renovating a '60s Split Level Without Divorcing It From Its Roots
The update of a '60s-era kitchen increases the room's efficiency while retaining its period flavor
Pros and Cons of a Whole House Vacuum System
Wondering if installing a central vacuum system is worth it? Here’s one homeowner’s experience.
Advances in Clear-Coats Make Them More Practical
See-through exterior finishes more closely match their makers' marketing hype
The Silent Treatment
Taking the squeak out of wood floors
How to Silence Your Squeaky Stairs
Tired of squeaky steps? Identify the source of sound and learn how to fix it to get quiet stairs.