Hot Home & Garden How-Tos

How To: Build an Outdoor Brick Fireplace

This is a how-to video on how to build an outdoor brick fireplace. It has 5 parts and is a total of about 45 minutes long. It covers laying brick, acid washing, installing firebrick, installing flue tubes, and installing a stainless steel grill. It also covers brick string guides and cutting bricks.

How To: Get past a mortice lock with a drill

This lock can certainly be picked, but what if you don't know how, or you don't have anything on hand that can serve as a good lock pick? That's what this video is here for! It will show you how you can drill out the stump of a mortice lock, allowing you to get past the lock entirely. It is not a difficult procedure, and all you really need is a power drill with the appropriate bits, and maybe a template showing you where to drill.

How To: Remove A Very Tight Lid

How to... Remove A Very Tight Lid? Use Items You Have Around The House! Step 1Want to remove a very tight lid? Do you have a weak grip or arthritic pain in your hands? Have you already tried tapping the lid with a spoon? Thumping the bottom of the jar with the palm of your hand, and it still won‘t come off? An easy, quick way to remove a very tight lid is to put on rubber gloves! Yes. Ordinary household rubber gloves. Hold the jar in one hand, then use the other hand to twist the lid off. Thi...

How To: Replace the brushes in a corded DeWalt power drill

Removing and replacing the brushes in your DeWalt power drill doesn't have to be a costly repair. You can do it yourself, and it doesn't require a lot of time or effort. Simply unscrew and take the casing off your corded DeWalt power drill to expose the brushes. The model in the video has spring-loaded brush holders. It's as simple as taking the old ones out, and dropping the new brushes in. Learn from a pro to efficiently and correctly restore the brushes in your corded drill.

How To: Fix a power drill grinding noise and chuck problem

Is your power drill making a funky high pitched noise when you try to use it? Or why your chuck on your drill doesn't spin? You first reaction may be to throw it on the ground in anger, but this could actually be simple fix. Sometimes, the gear switch can get stuck in-between gears, and can be fixed by simply moving the gear switch back and forth on your drill. Try that and see if it fixes your battery operated power drill.

How To: Care for hibiscus plants

In this video, we learn how to take care of hibiscus plants. These can grow anywhere from 3-10 feet tall, so make sure to take care of these! Some extra steps to help are to: plant these in a well drained area and water it, let it drain and water it again. During the winter, mulch the flowers and it will survive. Make sure you pinch the flowers that are dead to keep your plant looking gorgeous and make sure you trim any dead branches that make the tree look dead. Doing these small steps will ...

How To: Detect bed bugs with tape

Rick Steinow shows how to detect bedbugs using tape. Rick shows that obvious signs would be fecal matter and blood stains. If you're still unable to detect bed bugs, you can purchase a roll of double-sided carpet tape. You're also going to need a roll of painters tape. Apply a strip of the double-sided tape all the way around the mattress. Place another strip of tape around the head board. Make sure to add a strip of painters tape first when doing the headboard. You'll do this because the dou...

How To: Remove a threaded stud from a threaded hole

Ultimate Handyman demonstrates how to remove a threaded stud from a threaded hole. You will often find threaded studs when you are doing car repair. First, remove the nut from the stud. Then, spray it with lubricant. Next, screw the nut back on the stud. Screw another nut on top of the first nut. Grip the bottom nut with a wrench while tightening the top nut. Grip the bottom nut and turn it in a counter clockwise direction. The stud should then pull out of the threaded hole. It may be difficu...

How To: Wire a single pole light switch

Before working on any circuit in your house, make sure you turn the light off at the circuit breaker and then test it at the switch. Use 14-2 wire which has two insulated wires, a white and a black, and a bare copper wire which is used for grounding. First you run a 14-2 wire from the main circuit panel into the switch box. Then run a 14-2 wire from the switch to the light bulb. The black wire from the main circuit panel gets attached to one of the poles on the switch. The black from the 14-2...

How To: Read a Lowe's plant care tag

This quick video tutorial from Lowe's will show you how to properly read a plant's care tag. Every Lowe's plant has its own Care Tag, and by reading the tag you will earn how to care for your individual plants. Each tag also comes with a number which you can type in at lowes.com/plants. Here you will find more detailed information about your plants. The tags also come in different colors, and these also have a meaning, for example purple tags represent plants that are good in low light condit...

How To: Tie a slip knot in a plastic grocery bag

Have you ever wondered how to tie a slip knot on your grocery bags? When we go to the grocery store, the clerks always tie the bags in a carrying knot. With this easy to follow video, tying these knots is made easy. Knots always seem perplexing, but now they are easy to do. This is a must watch video for anyone who goes shopping.

How To: Cement stones around your pond

To cement the stones around your pond, start by mixing up half of an 80 pound bag of Quick Crete. Pour the 40 pounds of concrete into a metal container, add water and mix it together. Add just enough water so that it is not too runny. Put down a base of cement around the pond where you will lay the stones. Lay the stones in the cement, then put some cement in between the stones, and smooth it out.

How To: Use PTFE tape (Teflon tape) on threads

PTFE, which stands for polytetrafluoroethylene, is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, most commonly known as Teflon. Teflon tape is a very thin, white tape used to wrap around the threaded ends of pipes to improve the watertightness of a joint. Though PTFE tape is fairly common thing to use, not many people know how to actually use it properly, or where to use it. A lot use it on compression joints, but you really don't need to unless it leaks. You would use it on a radiator va...

How To: Remove a red wine stain from a dry clean only item

Did you spill red wine on a dry clean only item? Spilling red wine on a dry-clean-only item of clothing doesn't have to mean the end of your favorite dress or jacket. Here's how to get a head start on dissolving the stain, before dropping the item at the dry cleaner. Learn how to remove a red wine stain with the folks from Martha Stewart's REAL SIMPLE.

How To: Use Dryer Sheets to Clean Soap Scum Off Shower Doors

How often do you fight with your shower doors? Maybe not literally (although my elbow has smacked the hard glass many times), but when it's time to clean the bathroom, getting a few weeks' worth of soap scum and grime off the shiny, clear surface becomes an insurmountable task. Whether you use a special cleaner and squeegee or a carefully selected wipe, chances are you still battle the streaks and grit left behind. Although it might not make sense to steal cleaning supplies from the laundry r...

How To: Replace the Dryer's Idler Pulley

The dryer’s idler pulley provides tension to the dryer’s drum belt so the belt won’t slip when the drum is turning. It can become faulty over time due to increased friction. If your dryer is making a squeaking or squealing nose then the idler is probably faulty. Replacing this pulley is a simple project. Repair your noisy dryer with this step-by-step tutorial!