Hot Home & Garden How-Tos
How To: Fix a sticking bifold door
A sticking bifold door can really cramp your style, and access to your linen closet or pantry. To fix the problem, you'll have to take the door off the hinges, and take a sander to it. Phillips Woodworking shows you how to sand down the sticking part, and cover it up with some paint. Your door will be opening and closing like new!
How To: Make your own customized clock
Clocks are an essential part of your home, but you don't just have to settle for whatever clocks you can find at the store. Is this tutorial from Decor it Yourself, you'll learn how to make a funky timepiece that suits your style. Almost anything can be a clock, as long as you put a drill through it and stick it the wall!
How To: Create a tiki bar with ThreadBanger
Do you long for a Polynesian vacation? Do you wanna go back to your little grass shack in Hawaii? Well, if you can't afford that, you can at least have a stylish "staycation" at home with your own homemade tike bar. You'll learn to build one in this Decor It Yourself video tutorial.
How To: Make your own plexiglass drawer organizer
MAKE zine aims to bring the DIY aesthetic and mindset to all the technology in your life. They want you to break open things and put them back together in a better way. In this video, MAKE and KipKay show you how to build a plexiglass drawer organizer so you'll be able to find your stuff in a pinch. This isn't a project for novice crafters, but the steps here aren't hard to follow.
How To: Mix and use sanded floor grout
Before you grout a floor, take the time to be sure that you really know what you're doing. Mistakes you make now can come back to haunt you later. A lot of people try to use wall grout, for instance, which doesn't work well and eventually cracks. What you really want top use is sanded grout. In this 4-part tutorial series, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, demonstrates how to mix up and use sanded grout when you're putting down a tile floor.
How To: Keep your grout lines straight when laying tile
If you knock down a wall, planning to extend an existing tile floor, you'll face a real problem trying to keep the tiles straight. In this tutorial, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, demonstrates how you keep your lines straight when laying tile. It's not complicated or expensive. All you need is some chalk and a bit of string.
How To: Install ceramic tile on concrete using thinset mortar
In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, shows you how to install tile on a concrete floor. As Carter explains, you want to use thinnest to apply the tile. But before you do, be sure to clean the concrete first with a wet sponge. A lot of floor installers don't do this, and the floor is still dusty when they put the thinnest down. This can create problems later.
How To: Use thinset for ceramic tile floors
Many people use mastic when applying ceramic floor tiles, not realizing that mastic will never completely set and is thus vulnerable to cracks if you put a lot of weight on it. Thinset is actually a much better product for a job like this. In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, will show you how to use thinnest to apply floor tiles.
How To: Remove drywall without damaging connecting walls
In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, will show you a quick tip for how to remove drywall so you can demo a wall without damaging the walls around it. All you need is a razor knife. If you just take a minute to trim the seam along the wall, you can save yourself from having to repair a whole of expensive damage later.
How To: Determine if a wall is load-bearing before removal
Before you remove any wall in a home remodeling project, it's essential to determine if it's a load-bearing wall or not. If you rush ahead without making sure first, you just might bring the roof down on your head! In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, will show you how to determine of a wall is load-bearing or not before you remove it.
How To: Use a Craftsman snowblower
If you live in a cold climate, a snowblower can really be a lifesaver during the winter months. But a snowblower is actually a pretty powerful piece of equipment, and using them incorrectly can be very dangerous. In this video tutorial, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, shows you how to safely use a Craftsman snowblower.
How To: Use a John Deere snowblower
If you have to deal with piles of snow outside every year, you've probably dreamed about owning a snowblower. But how do they work, and how do you know which one to buy? In this video tutorial, Ask the Builder host Tim Carter will show you how to use a John Deere snowblower, and he'll walk you through what features to look for when you're buying your own blower.
How To: Repair blacktop driveway cracks
A cracked driveway blacktop isn't just an eyesore. If you leave little cracks in your blacktop driveway alone, they can become bigger problems later. In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, will teach you will teach you about blacktop repair.
How To: Use a manual log splitter
With a manual log splitter, splitting logs doesn't have to be such a chore. But a manual log splitter isn't ideal for every job. In this video, Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, will teach youu about the manual log splitter and what sort of jobs you can use it for.
How To: Repair stucco cracks
Stucco cracks aren't just unsightly. They can also create structural problems for your home. In this tutorial, you'll learn a few of the different ways to repair exterior stucco cracks. Doing a small repair now can save you a whole lot of trouble later.
How To: Do a knockdown repair
No, despite how it sounds, a knockdown repair doesn't involve repairing things that have been knocked down. A knockdown in this case refers to a knockdown wall texture. In this simple video tutorial, you'll learn how to repair a knockdown texture that's been damaged.
How To: Apply stucco
Using stucco, you can completely transform the look of your indoor or outdoor space. The process can look intimidating at first, but it' really pretty simple once you know what you're doing. In this short video from the DIY Network, Rock Solid hosts Dean Marsico and Derek Stearns explain how to apply stucco.
How To: Make a nail-through-wood trick decor item
In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to create a wooden object that seems to defy the rules of physics. You can put it together using simple tools, without spending a lot of time or money on it. The results will baffle visitors to your home!
How To: Make a step stool with free Craigslist wood
Did you know that right now people are giving away all sorts of stuff for free on Craigslist? Check out the "free" listings, and you'll be surprised by what you can find. In this video, we see how to make a folding stool using wood that was picked up for free off of Craigslist.
How To: Make a floating wand illusion using a wooden dowel
In this video tutorial, you'll see how to make a magic wand illusion. It's not a complicated process, and the tools and pieces are things you might already have around your workshop. With just a little work, you'll be able to baffle and amaze your audiences with this simple trick!
How To: Use a cold frame to extend the growing season
A cold frame is a great way to extend the growing season in your garden. When you set up a cold frame, you can keep your plants healthy and growing, even when it's cold outside. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to set up and use a cold frame.
How To: Ventilate a low tunnel in your garden
A low tunnel is a kind of mini-greenhouse for your garden. Growing vegetables in a low tunnel requires proper ventilation. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to provide the right ventilation for your low tunnel, keeping your plants happy and healthy.
How To: Plant garlic in your vegetable garden
Garlic is great for spicing up your meals (and keeping vampires away!) and fall is a great time to grow it. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to grow garlic in your garden. Get some garlic bulbs from a seed catalog, nursery or organic grower, and you'll soon have a garlic crop to be proud of.
How To: Grow vegetables late in the season
Come the fall, your garden is probably going to be looking pretty spare. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are vegetables that will thrive in the fall. In this Growing Wisdom gardening tutorial, you'll learn how to grow vegetables in the cooler months.
How To: Weed in hard-to-reach spots
One of the most challenging, arduous parts of gardening is weeding vegetables that are close to the ground. Cabbage, for instance, leafs out near the earth and can be fiendishly tricky to weed. In this Growing Wisdom gardening tutorial, you'll learn about some of the tools that can help you weed those hard-to-reach spots without breaking your back in the process.
How To: Spiff up your driveway with street print
Your driveway can make a big difference in the appearance of your house. As nice as it would be to have a brick, slate or cobblestone driveway, those are expensive options that not everybody can afford. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, you'll learn how to use a comparatively inexpensive process called street printing to really class up your driveway by creating the illusion of brick and other textures.
How To: Aerate your soil using a broadfork
Aerating your soil is an essential part of gardening, but it can be long and back-breaking work. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, Dave Epstein will teach you how to use a broadfork to aerate your soil. Using a broadfork, you can aerate the soil without damaging the soil's ecology.
How To: Plant seeds using a pinpoint seeder
It can be a real challenge to plant your seeds in evenly-spaced lines. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, Dave Epstein will show you how to use a four-row pinpoint seeder to plenty your seeds. Using devices like this, planting seeds in even lines will be a whole lot easier.
How To: Use a three-bin composting system
Every day, the average American throws away about four pounds of trash. But a lot of your daily trash could actually be very useful in the garden, as composting. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, Dave Epstein shows you how to use a three-bin composting system.
How To: Extract seeds from tomatoes
If you've grown tomatoes from seed, perhaps you've wondered how the seed company extracts those seeds. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, Dave Epstein walks you through a process known as sluicing. Using sluicing, you can extract vegetable seeds yourself.
How To: Choose a shade tree
When you head to your neighborhood gardening center to find a shade tree for your garden, the variety of choices can be pretty overwhelming. There are so many kinds of trees, and each of those trees has its own varieties. In this clip, Dave Epstein from Growing Wisdom will help find the best shade tree for you.
How To: Use soil block makers to start seeds
A soil block maker is a cool device for starting your seeds. All you do is fill a container with soil and use the block maker like a cookie cutter. Then you'll have little blocks of soil to plant your seeds in, and you can easily transfer the block to your garden. Now stand back and watch your plants grow!
How To: Use vinca (or periwinkle) flowers in your garden
The vinca, or periwinkle, is a hearty flower that adds a lot to any garden. It comes in a variety of colors, and grows in the sun as well as the shade. But they're so hearty that you have to watch them, or they'll start springing up where they're not supposed to. In this video, Dave Epstein from Growing Wisdom walks you through using periwinkles in your garden.
How To: Make hoops for your low garden tunnel
With low garden tunnels you can protect your plants from frost and insects, and you can overwinter your crops. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, host Dave Epstein will look at how to build a garden low tunnel. He'll focus on using the Quick Hoops Bender for the project.
How To: Sharpen a hatchet
Is your hatchet in need of a quick tuning? Doesn't quite get the job done anymore? It's time to sharpen it. This also applies to sharpening an axe.
How To: Build a target shooting bench
A lot of the available shooting benches on the market today are well-made, but it's really hard to find one that you're completely comfortable with. That's why it's best to make your own custom shooting bench, made especially for you, how you want it.
How To: Build collapsible tables & stools with Readymade
Box Seats! Put the art back in party furniture with collapsible tables and stools.
How To: Build a steamer trunk
The Wood Whisperer thinks you have what it takes to be a great woodworker. In this 4-part series, the Wood Whisperer is building a steamer trunk for a friend. He takes you through the process of building a steamer trunk, from beginning to end. Check out more tutorials on woodworking by searching for woodworking on WonderHowTo.
How To: Build a deck step by step with Lowe's
If you're not an everyday woodworker, then building a deck may be a challenge for you. But it's not as hard as it might seem. If you follow all of the required steps for deck building, you'll have one of the best ones on the block, and be pretty darn proud of it, too!
How To: Lay bricks with joint spacers
Using joints spacers to lay bricks makes things a lot easier and perfect. You'll get that perfect 3/8" mortar joint every time. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to lay bricks with joint spacers.