Know What’s in It: How to Test Your Home’s Water Quality

Southern California’s water quality is constantly under threat from urban runoff and the downstream effects of climate change. Contaminants flow into water systems after heavy rains, sometimes making beaches unsafe and potentially affecting your home’s...

DIY Garage Door Repairs to Spoil Your Do-Nothing Saturday

Saturday at last! It has been a rough week, so you get up late, trudge to the kitchen, switch on the coffee maker, and savor the thought of a day doing nada. Yeah, good luck with that because at the top of your honey-do list is the nettlesome garage door, which has a...

DIY Pegboard Tool Storage to Keep Your Garage Organized

First, it was a screwdriver. Then, a hammer, crosscut saw, and drill. Now, in your third year of DIY, tools are taking over the garage. Hand tools have given way to power tools with all their attachments and accessories. When all that equipment disappears in a pile,...

What Color to Paint a Ceiling: Common Questions Answered 

Imagine you’re repainting the house. You picked neutral gray for the living room, deep green for the dining room, bright yellow for the kids’ bedroom, and so on. But have you considered the ceilings? A deep green ceiling in a deep green dining room might...

20 Different Types of Hand Saws & Their Uses

How does a hand saw stay in shape? Crossfit… crosscut, ripcut, repeat. (Drum crash, please: ba-dum-tss!) Bad jokes aside, woodworkers, carpenters, and DIY devotees take their saws seriously and always choose the right tool for the job. A panel saw works poorly...