This Old House

AMONG THE MOST FREQUENT house-call requests for the Ask This Old House team are those involving yard work, with homeowners submitting questions about everything from leaf removal to lawn care to landscape tools like mowers, blowers, and string trimme

Where others might have seen only rotted sills, sagging floorboards, and windows so drafty the kitchen cabinets blew open in a gale, Bill von Oehsen and Helen Moore von Oehsen saw beauty, history, and potential. They fell in love with the 1720 house

Having family mealtime is a must, but sometimes parents need their own space, too. That’s one reason Wyncote, PA, homeowners Molly Eigen and Sarah Elder—parents of three, all under age 11—wanted to preserve the formal dining room in their 1950s cente

While open-plan layouts often work well, having a primary bath share space with the bedroom’s closets isn’t necessarily a home run. But that was the setup in Stamford, CT, homeowners Claudia and Chuck Jepsen’s 1887 Queen Anne. “We never showered in t

I’m not sure what this house was used for, but it wasn’t for anything legitimate,” Scott Evans confided to his wife, Donna, the first time the couple toured their new Atlanta home. With enough locks on the front door to secure Fort Knox and a second

Painting a chair rail and the wall below it to suggest wainscoting is nothing new, but this stripe treatment is next-level smart and stylish. It was devised by Leslie and Woody Pirtle for a room in their 1779 home in New York’s Hudson Valley. “This b

Good things are worth waiting for, and for Kerri Hoyt-Pack of Portland, Oregon, her home is a very good thing indeed. She has spent nearly two decades renovating the 1909 Craftsman, working in stages as funds (and fortitude) allowed. And with each im

A“blacktop” driveway can last for decades, driven over tens of thousands of times, with car wheels following the same paths without issue. It can endure weather extremes that raise the temperature of its pitchblack surface as high as 150 degrees F on

For most families, finding a new place to live is a whirlwind of decisions in which size, location, cost, and gut feelings guide the choice. But for Michelle Werner, Billy Lester, and their three children—Wix, Caffrey, and Marlowe—there was an additi

Fall is the time when most ornamental grasses shine, blooming on upright or arching stems that catch the breeze and bringing a new textural element to the whole landscape. While they can be used as accents to punctuate mixed perennial plantings, they

While there are signs that the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike streak may be coming to an end, it will likely take some time for mortgage rates to settle back down from recent highs. Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages in early July were above 6.8 percent,

For years, losing power because of a storm or stressed infrastructure has usually meant keeping a gas generator on standby to get essentials up and running. While those gas-guzzling power plants deliver reliable energy, they come with several trade-o

Who knew that trays for holding bath-time accessories were so popular? Certainly not Tom or Kevin, at least not until Tom’s daughter and daughter-in-law suggested that he come up with a better alternative to the ones they used at home. In addition to

When I light a wood fire, it seems to make the house feel colder. What can I do to keep the heat? —MATT SHAFTEL, ATHENS, OH TOH plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey: You’ve discovered the downside to traditional wood-burning fireplaces: Most

With cooler temperatures but ample amounts of sunlight, autumn is when your lawn can recuperate from the dog days of summer. Here are some ways you can help: Keep watering. In fall, turf grass grows down more than up. To foster root growth, aim to gi