Lightning-fast repairs you can get done before the first holiday party guest rings the doorbell. (Yep, we’ll tell you how to fix that, too)
By Josh Garskof11 min
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features
BUILT - IN BENEFITS
Store more, get organized, and add style to your interiors with these space-saving ideas
By JOSEPH D’AGNESE,MARK POWERS10 min
8081
HOMEOWNER'S HANDBOOK
Painting a Room
COLOR CHANGES EVERYTHING. Or lack of color, if that’s your thing. Point is, everyone knows you can give your drab, washed-out walls a burst of brilliant depth (or wash away your decorating sins with virgin white) just by picking up a paint can and having at them.
By HARRY SAWYERS10 min
5455
LOFT DESIGN
Less Gritty in the City
Drafts and dust didn’t faze this couple-until they had kids. Now, with help from This Old House, they’re refining their former industrial loft into a more comfortable home
By KELLY BEAMON9 min
100101
TRANSFORMATIONS
BABY ON BOARD
To accommodate his expanding family, a Seattle homeowner used salvaged wood, eco-friendly building techniques, and— oh, yeah—scuba gear to remodel his 100-year-old houseboat
By TODD BIERNACKI,HOMEOWNER8 min
114115
WORKSHOP
Ask This Old House
Norm Abram replies: Black walnut is a beautiful wood, one of the few native hardwoods with a deep color. Most any woodworker would be happy to get his hands on some. Not long ago, arborist Matt Foti gave me some black walnut he had taken down for a customer.
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MATERIALS
Tougher Timber
Taking trees apart and gluing them back together into engineered lumber makes for stronger, stiffer, and straighter framing than solid wood
By SAL VAGLICA6 min
124125
workshop
Directory
Are You Sure You’re Insured?: Sandy Praeger, NAIC president-elect and Kansas insurance commissioner: naic.org. Thanks to Insurance Information Institute; iii.org. KITCHEN DESIGN (pp. 25-28) kitchen designer: Dana Jones, The Kitchen Consultant, Long Beach, CA; 562-431-1911; kitchenadvice.com.
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Skill Building
When you really want to put paint on a wall quickly, nothing beats a roller. To improve on that efficiency even further, lose the tray and get a 5-gallon bucket equipped with a roller screen (right). The bucket holds plenty of paint, you won't step in it by accident, and the handle makes it easier to carry than a tray so you can keep it close by.
By NATALIE RODRIGUEZ6 min
6263
TOOLBOX
Paintbrushes
Plucked from a hog or synthesized in a lab, the right bristles are the key to a perfect paint job