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How to Clean a Burnt Pot
Cleaning blackened, burned cookware doesn’t have to mean an arm-wearying afternoon of rigorous scouring. It doesn’t h...
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What to Do If a Bird Flies into Your House
Cracking the windows is an effective way to air out your house when the weather is nice—but an open window can also b...
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How to Kill a Tree Stump
Having a tree in your yard cut down can be a tricky and expensive process, but it’s especially frustrating when, afte...
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The Most Popular Paint Colors in America
See the shades that virtually everyone loves for their homes.
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9 Paint Color Trends You Might Regret
Few decorating tricks transform the feel of a room as easily, quickly, and inexpensively as a fresh coat of paint. Perhaps because painting is so easy—a bit incon...
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Genius! This Bed Lifts and Lowers at the Push of a Button
Downsizing from a sprawling abode to a tiny home requires sacrifices of space and comfort—especially when it comes to...
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Genius! This Mirror Hides a Whole Gun Collection
Gun cabinets have long been the storage option of choice for responsible firearm owners looking to securely stash wea...
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Genius! Cozy Up Without a Space Heater
With the cold season in full swing, many heat-starved homeowners crank up the thermostat, sending their energy bill s...
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Genius! An Invention to End Smashed Groceries
If you’re regularly tagged with grocery duty, you know that the most perilous part of a trip to the supermarket is th...
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Genius! This Door DIY Doubles as an Indoor Gate
Homeowners with furry friends know that you only have to take your eye off the pets for a minute before they wander o...
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Genius! How to Disguise an Ugly Thermostat
Megan Pflug's gallery wall was a near masterpiece except for one niggling imperfection. A glaring white programmable ...
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Genius! The DIY Dog Feeder that Doubles as Storage
Pet parents know that there isn't ever a great place to store bulky bags of dry kibble. Closets are typically already...
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Genius! Chop Down Heating Bills with This Fireplace Hack
As temperatures dip, nothing feels better than thick fleece socks and a seat next to the fire. But, between uses, an ...
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How To: Remove Paint from Plastic
Nothing spoils the satisfaction of a paint job like drips and splatters on plastic surfaces, such as light switch cov...
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Genius! Kill Off Fruit Flies with 3 Kitchen Basics
When you get back from the grocery store with bags full of juicy strawberries, peaches, and cherries, your kids won’t...
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DIY Lite: Double Bathroom Storage with Easy-Build Box Shelves
The bathroom can be a nightmare to organize, with all of its towels, soap bottles, grooming supplies, and other toile...
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Genius! The Backyard Movie Theater You Can Build in a Day
A night at the movies doesn’t come cheap. With the steep price of tickets, not to mention the popcorn and M&Ms, t...
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DIY Lite: A Modern Floor Lamp with a Most Unusual Shade
Any interior designer will recommend layering multiple light sources, from wall sconces to floor lamps, for both illu...
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Genius! The Easy Way to Add Privacy to a Chain-Link Fence
Chain-link fences have bordered American yards for more than a century, and with good reason—they're cheap, easy to i...
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Quick Tip: How to Remove a Broken Screw
A screwdriver, a screw, and a willing surface to drive it into are familiar features of many home projects. But over-...
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10 Shortcuts to a Not-So-Scary Basement
If you have an unfinished basement, you probably don’t want to spend a ton of time down there. The air is musty, the floors are damp, and it feels just a tiny bit...
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Quick Tip: The Easiest Way to Minimize Grout Stains
Often used as filler between tiles on the bathroom tub surround, kitchen backsplash, or foyer floor, grout can be a h...
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DIY Lite: Declutter Your Kitchen with a Coffee Mug Tree
In a groggy morning, you want that first cup of coffee to be as accessible as possible. That means mugs at the ready ...
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11 Problems You Can Solve with Paint
Every house has its problems, but you'd be amazed how many of them can be solved with a single afternoon and a common DIY staple: a can of paint. See how a few po...
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DIY Kids: Turn a Bookcase into a Dollhouse
Though they're growing up fast, my girls still love to play with a dollhouse—so much so that we needed to upgrade fro...
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DIY Lite: How to Build a Shadow Box Display
Most of us already have the makings of a collection sitting out on a shelf or dresser, right under our noses. Transfo...
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Genius! A Sunnier Alternative to Window Blinds
In old homes, it’s the details that draw us in. While the intricate trim and sculpted ceiling medallions certainly cr...
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DIY Lite: The Most Convenient Side Table Wood Can Build
Everyone has a favorite seat, a comfortable corner of the living room perfect for lounging, reading, working, snackin...
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All You Need to Know About Painting Appliances
Wishing for a way to refresh a kitchen or laundry room without sinking thousands of dollars into a renovation? If you...
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How to Build a Minimalist DIY Coat Rack for the Entryway
In with the chill, out with the coats—and hats, scarves, mittens . . . you name it. With so much winter gear and so l...
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Quick Tip: An Easy Refresh for Stinky Bath Towels
It's been a long day, but it's not you who needs a hot bath—it's your towels.  When wet towels dry in open air, they ...
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Genius! DIY a Roof Rake with Hardware Store Supplies
When the snow started to pile up on handyman Bill Bachand's roof, he did what any responsible homeowner would do: run...
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DIY Lite: The One Christmas Tree That's Not a Pain to Store
Every December—occasionally as soon as the day after Thanksgiving—holiday-loving home decorators divide into two grou...
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Quick Tip: Detect Air Leaks for Only $1
When you've moved your plans indoors to escape the seasonal chill, a draft to send you back under the blankets is the...
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Quick Tip: How to Clean Glass Bottles (and Vases) with Rice
Your holiday spirits may be high when the champagne and the conversation is overflowing, but after the guests leave, ...
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Quick Tip: The Best Way to Prevent Freezer Burn
For many Thanksgiving hosts, the holiday's fun, family, and food mark the culmination of a month-long process: dilige...
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How to Build a LEGO Table with Your Kids This Weekend
My kids love LEGO so much that it borders on obsession. We have a lot of these plastic bricks and, until recently, no...
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How Remove Wrinkles from Clothing—Without Using an Iron
This crisp fall forecast calls for bundling up—that means rummaging through your closet to unearth garments that have...
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DIY Lite: Craft a Homemade Cutting Board
Family and food go hand in hand this time of year, and the kitchen is generally bustling with all of the action. If y...
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Quick Tip: How to Snag Shipping Pallets for Your Next Project
The foundation of many furniture projects—like crafty wine racks, whimsical swing chairs, and elegant daybeds—relies ...
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Genius! Clean Your Gutters without a Ladder
We all start autumn bright-eyed and optimistic, eager to pick apples, gaze at the stars, or watch the leaves change c...
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Editors' Picks: The 9 Greatest Grays for Your Next Paint Job
Few colors in home design can be considered both fresh and traditional, but gray succeeds on both counts. It's been called the color of the season for more season...
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DIY Lite: Modern Bookends on a Modest Budget
Wholly malleable yet still a sturdy project material, concrete mix has proven its worth outside of just lawn and gard...
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Quick Tip: Deodorize Old Books with a Pantry Hero
No matter whether you prefer heart-warming classics or heart-pounding thrillers, your personal library of paperbacks ...
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Where to Get Free Moving Boxes
Once the excitement of closing on a new house or locking down a great apartment wears off, reality sets in: Time to p...
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DIY Cornhole: How to Build Your Own Regulation Set
Nothing says family fun like a little bit of friendly competition! When the weather’s nice, there are many choices fo...
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A Swedish Fire Torch Turns One Log Into a Complete Campfire
What better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a good old-fashioned campfire, surrounded by friends and fam...
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Quick Tip: This Simple Trick Helps Plants Water Themselves
There are lots of household chores to take care of before going on a vacation: board the dog, clean the fridge, empty...
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11 Insanely Easy 60-Minute Paint DIYs
Paint offers DIYers of any skill level an opportunity to make over drab dwellings at the mere lift of a brush, roller, or sprayer. But homeowners often paint them...
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DIY Lite: Upgrade Simple String Lights on a Shoestring Budget
Thoughtful lighting is key to evoking a desired ambience in nearly any space. (They don't call it "mood lighting" for...
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Quick Tip: Use Vinegar to Give Wood a Weathered Look
A weathered finish on a beloved table or chair chronicles the story of a bygone era. But while authentic antique piec...
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3 Quick and Clever Ways to Eliminate Dust
Dusting used to mean lazily moving about the house with an old T-shirt and furniture polish in hand, loathing the amo...
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Genius! Turn a Plastic Fork into a Tiny Screwdriver
Instructables user deluges, a self-described amateur tinkerer, has nothing against custom screws—just the added cost ...
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Quick Tip: Fix Wood Scratches with This Favorite Snack
An unsightly scratch in your new hardwood floors—or worse, the expensive mahogany table you splurged on in a recent d...
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Quick Tip: Keeping Ants Out of Your Sandbox
Ants are one of those annoying pests that seem to pop up everywhere they're unwanted during the summer—picnics, kitch...
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Buy or DIY: 10 Room Dividers to Remake Your Space
Practical, flexible, and customizable, the room divider is one of the unsung heroes of the home design toolkit. An attractive version can add textural interest to...
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Is Your Home Ready for Rain?
Can rain really damage your home? Well, that depends on the storm and on whether or not you're ready for it. One inch...
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DIY Lite: A Wooden Bench That Anyone Can Build
As summer approaches, the growing number of sunny hours each day means that we have more time to spend out in the yar...
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Genius! DIY a Custom, Collapsible Sunshade
Some days, hanging out under an awning is the closest we can get to enjoying the breeze underneath a shady beach umbr...
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Quick Tip: The Key to Preserving Paint Rollers
Painting a room can be quite the process: choosing your paint color, covering all of your furniture, prepping every s...
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INFOGRAPHIC: Your Everything Guide to Painting Prep
Few home improvement projects are as transformative as a fresh coat of paint. In fact, painting your own house—whethe...
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Quick Tip: Removing Coffee Stains from Carpet
It's not what you feared. Spilling coffee on the carpet doesn't have to mean living with an eyesore until you replace...
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How To: Mix Sand with Paint for Non-Slip Surfaces
Slippery when wet! Those words of caution may be most familiar in the context of hospital and airport floors, but the...
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Quick Tip: Clean Windows with Coffee Filters
Everyone dreads at least one household chore. Many people's least favorite is cleaning the windows. Too important to ...
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Quick Tip: Make Your Candles Last Longer
To coax a candle into burning more slowly so that you can enjoy it for a longer period of time, try out one or all of...
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How To: Remove Wallpaper Glue
Removing wallpaper is, in a word, laborious. The process takes a great deal of energy and time. And lo and behold, ev...
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7 House Sounds You Never Want to Ignore
Homes make strange noises on a regular basis, from groaning and creaking to popping and scratching. As a homeowner, you should be able to tell whether that noise ...
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9 DIY Ways to Redo Your Wall—Without Paint
The walls of our homes have the power to speak volumes about our lives. Filled walls produce a lived-in look packed with personality, while blank walls suggest th...
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The 13 Painting Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes
Paint is the easiest way to transform a room, yet it’s surprisingly easy to muck up your project with a few silly mistakes. The next time you pick up a paintbrush...
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10 Classic Ways to Brighten a Dark Room
Bringing light to a dark room will immediately make it more appealing. If making structural changes like adding windows, doors or skylights just isn’t in the card...
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How To: Paint a Deck (From Preparation to Restoration)
Q. First-time deck painter here. I have prepared my deck as well as possible, scraping away old paint and sanding the...
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Bob Vila Radio: Fixing Chipped Stove Enamel
There’s something so crisp and clean about a kitchen with a traditional, white porcelain enamel stove. But sometimes ...
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How To: Strip Paint from Antique Woodwork
 If you have an old house, some paint stripping projects require extra care. Antique woodwork can include applied det...
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How To: Install an Exposed Aggregate Concrete Finish
 Here's a way to create a decorative textured finish for a cement surface. Once your cement is poured and flowed out,...
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How To: Spackle Exterior Siding
 When you're repainting your house, here's how to restore that smooth, original finish. After you've removed all loos...
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How To: Cut Vinyl Flooring
It's easier to cut vinyl flooring to the exact shape and size of your room when you make a template first. Staple she...
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How To: Scribe Tile
 Here's how to scribe a floor tile to fit around an uneven edge. Set the closest full tile in place, then use another...
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How To: Paint Over Stain
 You can paint over existing interior wood finishes, if you take the proper steps first. Here's how. To paint over a ...
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Quick Tip: Drain Water Heat Recovery
 Here's a great device for keeping your home energy dollars from going down the drain. A drain water heat recovery de...
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How to Install a Vinyl Window
Learning how to install a vinyl window is something most DIYers can do, and it can save them a lot of money. For star...
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How to Shim a Door
Shimming a door frame is a skill anyone planning to install a new door into a rough opening should know. When carpent...
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How to Tile a Bathroom Wall
When it comes to durable bathroom materials, few surpass the utility and great looks of tile. While tiles are frequen...
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What Would Bob Do? Dealing with Bulging Drywall Seams
Q: Many of the drywall seams on my 40-year-old house are bulging. It doesn't appear as if the joint tape is pulling a...
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How To: Install a Toilet
 If you're updating the bathroom, you'll need to know how to install a toilet. Apply a new wax seal over the waste fl...
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How To: Use a Phillips-Head Screwdriver
 When you're using a Phillips-head screwdriver, make sure that you're not doing it the hard way. Here's how. Be sure ...
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How To: Remove Exterior Paint with a Pressure Washer
 Before you repaint your house, you have to remove all loose and peeling paint. A pressure washer makes the job go fa...
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How To: Stain Wood Shingle Siding
 Here is a helpful tip if you are thinking of staining some cedar shingles.  To protect new shingles, apply a penetra...
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How To: Measure Concrete
 If you're pouring a concrete foundation, how do you figure out how much concrete you'll need? There's a pretty simpl...
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How To: Build a Winding Staircase
 If space is a consideration in your remodeling project, you might want to consider building a winding staircase.  Yo...
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How To: Re-Glaze a Single-Pane Window
 Here's how to re-glaze those old, broken window panes. First, remove the old glazing compound with a propane torch a...
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Quick Tip: Installing Crown Molding
 You can dress up a room by installing crown molding along the ceiling. Here are some tips to keep in mind. Always pl...
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How To: Remove Crayon Stains
 If you have kids, you know that crayons can cause some serious damage to any paint job. Here's how to tackle tough c...
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Quick Tip: Sawdust Grout
 It can be easy to patch cracks in an old wood floor or grout a new wood block floor. Here's how. First, make a mixtu...
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How To: Install a Wood Block Floor
 For a very unusual floor finish, you might want to try wood blocks.  Lay out your floor the way you would any cerami...
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How To: Clean Gutters with a Wet/Dry Vac
 A wet-dry vac is a great tool to have—and not just for cleaning up the workshop. They come in handy for those tediou...
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How To: Work with Chemical Paint Stripper
 Where stripping paint is concerned, there's just no easy way out.  Here are some tips. Cover the floor under your wo...
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Quick Tip: Drywall vs. Blueboard
 When choosing wallboard, remember the difference between drywall and blueboard. Drywall panels are covered with pape...
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How to Build Scaffolding (and When It's a Better Idea Than Using a Ladder)
Painting a home’s exterior, installing new siding, and putting up new gutters are just a few of the projects that req...
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How to Install Shutters
While giving the exterior of your home a new paint job or fresh siding may not be in the budget, one affordable optio...
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How To: Replace Damaged Tile
 Here's a way to replace damaged ceramic tile.  Remove the grout with a grout saw. Crack the tile with a hammer and c...
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4 Ways to Identify a Load-Bearing Wall
Structural renovations can make a huge impact on the flow and feel of a space. However, they require removing walls, ...
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How To: Paint EVERYTHING
Make the most of your project, whether you're planning to paint wrought iron or wood flooring, concrete or curtains.
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Bob Vila Radio: Carpet Wrinkles
Wrinkles in wall-to-wall carpet don't just look bad, they can be a tripping hazard. They'll also wear out first, so t...
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Bob Vila Radio: Fixing a Slow Drain
Grace tweets, “The bathroom sink in my 1890s Victorian is draining really slowly. What’s the best way to get things f...
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Painting Tools and Materials
In addition to top-quality application equipment, you may need some of the painting tools and painting materials list...
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