Guides
Plain-English guides to the decisions behind home repairs: which tool, which patch, whether you need a permit and when the job belongs to a licensed pro. Each one links to the step-by-step videos for the jobs it covers.
30 guides
Getting started
The first tools to own, how to read a how-to video, and how to tell a weekend job from one for a pro.
The Basic Tool Kit Every Homeowner Needs (and What Can Wait)
You don’t need a garage full of tools to fix most things in a house. A short kit covers measuring, fastening, cutting and patching, and the bigger power tools can wait until a real job calls for them.
How to Find a Stud in a Wall, With or Without a Stud Finder
Studs are usually spaced 16 or 24 in. apart, measured centre to centre, so once you find one you can usually find the next. Use a stud finder or a few no-tool clues to find the first, then confirm it with a small nail before you drill a big hole.
How to Paint a Room: Prep, Order of Work and Roller Technique
Good paint jobs are mostly prep and order. Patch and sand, tape, prime, cut in one wall at a time, roll in sections, and decide up front whether trim goes before or after the walls.
Installing Vinyl Plank Flooring: Subfloor, Layout and Last Row
Click-lock vinyl plank goes down quickly, but only on a floor that is clean, dry and flat. Check the subfloor, build three straight rows before you commit, keep the expansion gap, and stagger the seams.
Tiling Basics: Layout, Thinset, Grout and the Caulk Corners
Tile jobs are won on the prep and the layout, not the setting. Start from a clean flat surface, plan so you finish with full tiles where people look, grout in small areas, and caulk every inside corner.
Common fixes
The problems homeowners search for most, how to tell what is wrong, and which repair each one needs.
Why Your Toilet Keeps Running: 4 Causes and the Fix for Each
A toilet that keeps running, refills on its own or hisses is almost always one of four parts inside the tank, and all of them are cheap and replaceable without tools you don’t already own. A few drops of food colouring tell you where to start.
Drywall Repair: Which Patch to Use for Which Size of Hole
The size of the hole decides the patch. Nail and anchor holes need only spackle. Small holes take a tape patch, medium holes a California patch, and anything bigger needs a new piece of drywall with something solid behind it.
Garbage Disposal Humming or Not Working? How to Diagnose It
If your disposal hums but won’t spin, it’s almost always jammed, and the hex wrench that came with it frees it from underneath. If it’s silent, it has lost power or tripped its overload. Either way, the first step is the same: turn it off and never put your hand inside.
Plunger, Snake or Drain Cleaner: Which Clears Your Clog?
Most clogged drains clear with a plunger, a bucket and a cheap hand snake, in that order. Chemical drain cleaners are the riskiest option in the house, and the one most likely to leave you with a pipe full of caustic water.
Leaky Faucet? Identify Your Faucet Type Before You Buy Parts
A dripping faucet is almost always one worn part, but which part depends on how the faucet works inside. Spend five minutes identifying the type and you’ll leave the store with the right washer, O-ring or cartridge instead of a bag of guesses.
Flushing a Water Heater: The Safe Order of Steps, Gas or Electric
Flushing a tank water heater is a free maintenance job with a garden hose. The steps are simple, but their order matters: get it wrong and you can burn out an electric element, put out a gas pilot or scald yourself.
Tools and materials
Choosing, using and looking after tools, and buying the right lumber, fasteners, fittings and finishes.
Cordless Drill vs Impact Driver: Which Do You Need First?
A drill/driver makes holes and drives screws with control. An impact driver drives long screws hard and fast. For most homeowners the drill comes first, and the impact driver comes with the first deck, fence or shed.
Caulking and Sealing: Latex, Silicone or Butyl for Each Joint
The right caulk depends on the joint: does it get wet, does it move, will it be painted. Clean out any failed caulk completely, pick the product to match, and check the joint every year.
Built-In Bookshelves: Measure, Build, Secure to Studs and Finish
A built-in is a box that fits a space that is not square. Measure in three places, build to the smallest number, fix it to the studs, and hide the gaps with trim and caulk.
Baseboard and Crown Moulding: Measuring, Mitering and Nailing
Trim looks wrong when the corners are not 90 degrees. Check each corner first, adjust the miter angle to match, nail into wood and fill what is left.
Safety, codes and permits
Shutting off power, water and gas, when a permit is needed, and the jobs that belong to a licensed trade.
How to Shut Off Your Water, Power and Gas in an Emergency
Find your main water valve, your electrical panel and your gas meter today, while nothing is wrong. Water and power you can shut off yourself. With gas, if you smell it, the right move is to get out and call for help, not to hunt for a valve.
Do You Need a Permit? Common Home Projects in the US and Canada
Permits are set by your city or county, not by a national rule, so the only sure answer comes from your local building department. But the patterns are similar everywhere: structure, new plumbing, gas and most electrical work need one; finishes and like-for-like repairs usually don’t.
When to Call a Licensed Electrician, Plumber or Gas Fitter
Plenty of home repairs are safe to do yourself. Gas work, panel and service wiring, structural changes and anything involving asbestos are not. Here’s where the line usually falls, and how to check a pro’s licence before you hire.
Installing a Ceiling Fan: Is Your Ceiling Box Rated for It?
A ceiling fan is heavier than a light and it moves, so it has to hang from a box made to carry it. Most ceiling fan problems that matter, from wobble to a fan that comes down, start with the box, not the fan.
Replace a Switch or Outlet Safely: Testing, Wiring and Limits
Swapping a switch or outlet like for like is the most approachable electrical job in a house, but only after the breaker is off and two testers agree the circuit is dead. Here is the order, and where to stop.
GFCI Outlets: Where They’re Required and How to Test Them
A GFCI outlet cuts the power faster than a blink when current leaks somewhere it shouldn’t, such as through you. Knowing where they belong, and testing the ones you have, is one of the cheapest safety checks in the house.
Planning a project
Budgets, schedules and the order of work for renovations and bigger builds.
Winter Home Maintenance Checklist for Cold-Climate Homes
Most winter damage in cold climates comes from a short list: frozen pipes, a furnace that quits, drafts, and the fire and carbon monoxide risks of heating season. An afternoon in the fall covers almost all of it.
Planning a Bathroom Remodel: The Order of Work, Demo to Caulk
A bathroom remodel goes wrong when the steps go out of order. Decide the layout first, rough in the plumbing, waterproof before any tile, let each layer cure, and caulk last.
Deck Building Basics: Footings, Ledger, Joists and Permits
A deck is a structure people stand on above the ground, and the parts that hold it up, the footings and the ledger, are the parts that must be right. Here is the order of work, and where a permit and an inspector come in.
Finishing a Basement: Moisture First, Then Insulation and Framing
The basement walls you want to hide are the ones telling you whether it is ready. Test for moisture first, fix any water problem, then insulate, frame, wire and finish, with a permit.
Building a Small Shed: Foundation, Framing, Roof and Power
A shed is a small building, and it goes up in a fixed order: permit check, foundation, floor, walls, roof, then the finish. Power is the one step that belongs to a licensed electrician.
Kitchen Remodel Planning: Budget, Order of Work and Install Order
A kitchen goes together in a fixed order. Decide whether the plumbing and wiring move, pick cabinets first, finish walls and floors before the cabinets go in, and leave the sink, appliances and handles for last.
Insulation R-Values and Attic Insulation: What to Add and Where
Before you buy insulation, find out what you have and what your climate and local code call for. Seal the air leaks first, keep the attic vents open, and cover the tops of the joists.
Setting Up a Workshop in a Shed: Floor, Walls, Light and Power
A shed workshop is built from the floor up and the outside in. Fix what is leaning, level the slab, let light in, insulate without choking the roof, then finish the walls and floor, and leave the power to an electrician.
Building a Paver Walkway: Locates, Base, Sand, Pattern and Joints
A paver walkway is mostly what is under it. Find the buried lines first, build a compacted base, screed the sand, and lock the joints at the end.