House and Components

Learn how to do this DIY task and save hundreds of dollars with these easy-to-follow instructions.

Before you paint a wall you have to prepare the surface, which inevitably involves patching. It's one of the most...

Mount a removable metal ruler on the front edge of your workbench!

Remove rust the easy way.

Before hiring a home inspector, do this quick inspection yourself to see if this house is worth that next step.

Just when you thought you’d seen every possible use for your portable workbench (the Workmate bench is shown here), here’s...

Build some clever plywood clamp extenders to use when bar clamps are too short to do the job. It beats...

Here's a tip for making lithium tool batteries last twice as long. Most kits come with two batteries. Take one...

Don’t have a power sander to sand curvy rough-sawn edges? You do if you own a 3/8-in. drill. Taper the end...

Save a “used”sanding-belt to make specialized sanding tools. All you need is the belt, a pair of scissors and a little...

Years ago, my son asked for help on an arithmetic story problem: “A 16-ft. long board is sawn into four...

Build your dream shed with easy access, storage galore and a private porch for lounging. Here's how to do it:

Transform scrap pieces of PVC pipe into storage sites for dowels and fasteners, courtesy of “tipfull” reader Al Miller. 

Build this mobile tool chest and take all your tools to the job in just one trip!

Super-simple solutions for common household headaches.

Convert an existing two-way switch to a three-way switch and run new wire to the second switch location.

Here’s an outfeed roller that you can adjust in seconds to support boards coming off stationary power tools of every...

If your miter saw isn’t cutting square, the problem is easy to fix. Unplug the saw, loosen the fence bolts,...

Subway tiles are a great way to give a bathroom a brand new look. Here's our step-by-step guide to...

We finally got the hang of preserving partially used caulk tubes from resourceful reader Stephen Hoke.

Here’s a method that’ll give you great results and keep the lid aligned perfectly as you cut each side.

Bending sheet metal and flashing into crisp angles is easy with this two-board bending tool. To build one, you need...

Clean the dust, hair, lint, cat toys and trinkets out from under your refrigerator.

This simple miter saw table has some great advantages and takes less than an hour to make.

Saw tight corners with less binding by lightly rounding over the back edges of the blade.

When you’re shortening a bolt or threaded rod with a hacksaw, you always mangle the threads at the sawn end,...

Half the cost of a fiber cement board siding job is labor, so you can save thousands of dollars by...

Store just about every hand tool you need on a strip of vinyl-coated 1/2-in. wire mesh hardware cloth. Make a...

Learn how to fix your gapping doors!