Repairs & How To

Problems with plaster, woodwork, pocket doors–find advice here for old-house inspection, repair, and maintenance.

Product of the Week

Products of the Week

Indow Window Inserts

Products of the Week

Preservation Products

Products of the Week

Pewabic Pottery

Repairs & How To

Carpentry Tools

Five handy, high-quality tools make carpentry jobs go smoothly.

Repairs & How To

Matching Interior Millwork

Learn about the role of trimwork, building up profiles, turning corners with mitered and coped joints, and what tools to use where for matching interior millwork.

Repairs & How To

On Weather Stripping

This simple upgrade for windows and exterior doors increases comfort and saves on fuel costs.

Repairs & How To

A Fix for an Unusual Basement Hazard

What to do when your mother-in-law hangs old clothes on Romex in the ceiling.

Repairs & How To

Heating Solutions for a Colonial Revival Addition

When adding on to their 1912 house, Don and Lana LeVine chose a mix of heating systems for ease and efficiency.

Repairs & How To

A Feather Vase

This odd, abused feather vase had sat for years in the seller’s garage.

Repairs & How To

How to Diagnose (and Fix) a Door

It’s a rare door in an old house that swings effortlessly and closes shut crisply.

Repairs & How To

For First-time Home Buyers

What do you need to know if you’re a first-time home buyer?

Repairs & How To

Sew Up a Fabric Lampshade

A fancy shade will dress up a thrift-store lamp.

Repairs & How To

Smart Upgrades for Old Houses

New products for keeping the house cleaner and tighter.

Repairs & How To

Life in a Victorian-era Brownstone

Lessons for living lightly in a historic Victorian-era brownstone restored.

Repairs & How To

DIY Phone Niche

A phone niche is useful today for keys, tablet—or telephone.

Repairs & How To

Smart Houses With Throwback Intelligence

Some of the “smartest” features for managing heating, cooling, hot-water, and other household technologies make room for the best features of the past.