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A sump pump uses a submersible float that rises and falls with the water table. When flooding causes the float to rise, a switch automatically turns on and the pump begins to extract water and drain it through a pipe to the outdoors. Sump pump installation generally requires a professional. These are the steps involved: Sump Pump Installation Process in 8 Steps Installing Crawl Space Sump Pumps and Exterior Sump Pits Not all sump pumps are built the same....

Resources: Jenn helped the homeowner set up and plant a Smart Garden 9 indoor garden, which is manufactured by Click and Grow. Shopping List: Indoor Garden Plant Pods

When preparing for natural disasters, you should focus on three goals: 1) Keeping you and your family safe 2) Keeping your home safe and 3) Evacuating if necessary. How to Prepare for Natural Disaster Emergencies Goal 1: Keep You and Your Family Safe In a disaster, nothing is more important than the preservation of human life. While natural disasters come in many forms—earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and more—preparing for human safety and comfort is the same in many cases....

Here we show you a few simple pruning techniques and how to apply them to small trees and shrubs on your property and the best time to do so. Pruning Small Flowering Trees Avoid pruning a young or newly planted tree — it needs as many leaves as possible to produce the food required for good root growth. Remove only dead, broken, or injured branches, as well as those that cross or rub each other....

Steps for Repairing a Brick Walkway: Tools:

5 Simple Tips for Using Caulk 1. Cracks and Gaps Happen There are many reasons why cracks and gaps happen: materials drying out and shrinking may cause it, as can the foundation settling, just to name a few. However, it’s important to know that they do happen, and caulking them can make them disappear. But simply squeezing gobs of caulking into a gap won’t do. 2. Don’t Over Caulk Most homeowners and DIYers cut their caulking tubes too far up the tube, creating a hole in the end of the caulking tube that’s too large....

Using Premixed Whitewash vs. Making it To achieve the look of whitewash, you can use a premixed option or make your own by mixing water and white paint. In this video and tutorial, I am going to be mixing one part water with one part of white water-based paint. Steps for Mixing Whitewash Tips for Applying Whitewash to Wood Once you know the basics, try these variations: Apply water to a board to raise or “pop” the grain....

The good news is that with a few tools, a weekend or two, and a little know-how, homeowners can take meaningful steps today to improve their home’s odds of surviving severe weather, whether it’s a hurricane in Florida or a twister in Texas. To help you get started, we canvassed engineers, contractors, architects, emergency managers, and, of course, our own experts, and compiled their best nuts-and-bolts advice. The bottom line: You don’t have to spend a bundle for protection....

Synthetic herbicides are the usual response to chronic weed problems. But used unwisely, these chemical weed killers can be dangerous to people, pets and turf. And unless you get at the underlying problems that weaken lawns and favor weeds, you might have to apply herbicides frequently. Read How to Get Rid of Weeds to see the most effective methods. The best way to control dandelions and other weeds in your yard is to grow a thick, vigorous lawn....

To get the most out of your mudroom—whether you’re adding a new one or reworking the one you already have—carefully consider how you’ll use it and how much square footage you can realistically allocate for it. If you just need to stow a few coats and a laptop bag, a tidy row of hooks behind the entry door will suffice. For families with kids, more spacious digs decked out with shelves for stashing school supplies and sports equipment off a side or back door may be in order....

Tamar: Thank you for having me. Jenn: So can you tell everyone a little about 3×3 Custom, and what they would see if they stopped by your site? Tamar: I build furniture— small little tables and beds and things like that. I also build small home items like cutting boards and little boxes. It really runs the gamut of woodworking projects for the home. Jenn: You’re very, very talented. Have you always done this kind of work?...

Excessively heavy and poorly balanced, with a horrible line of sight, the first generation brad nailer also regularly misfired in a way that left two holes per nail instead of one. Can you tell I wasn’t a fan? To their credit, Milwaukee went back and took a hard look at the feedback they were getting. They answered with a second-generation brad nailer and some new nailers (including a cordless framer and headless pinner)....

This carpenter-turned-celebrity was “discovered” by creator Russell Morash, who had commissioned him to build a barn on Russ’s suburban Boston property. Russ was so impressed with Norm’s work (he had the smallest scrap pile Russ had ever seen) that he invited the carpenter to help with the renovation of a rundown Victorian house in Boston’s historic Dorchester section—with a WGBH camera crew recording the process for a series. It was an instant success, and Norm has been master carpenter for This Old House ever since....

In this episode: Heath Eastman demonstrates how to install landscape lighting along a garden path. Adding landscape lighting to a walkway or path can improve the look and experience of the area. Once Heath figures out what kind of landscape lighting he wants, the location, and where the power source is located, he can then make the connections. Heath uses a low voltage wire and decides to replace the plastic connectors with brass connectors to make the connections last longer....

In this episode: In this episode of Ask This Old House, Jenn Nawada shows that not all landscape projects need to start from scratch. She starts with a visit to an 1860 Greek Revival, where the overgrown landscape doesn’t quite match the renovated home. Jenn is called in to take the landscape back in time by recreating a design made in 1914. The homeowner kept an over 100-year-old landscape design of the home and is hoping to use it for inspiration to clean up the current landscape and even mimic part of the design....

In this episode: Carpenter Nathan Gilbert takes us to the Tool Lab to discuss power drill drivers. After discussing early drills and their shortcomings, Nathan explains that dozens of manufacturers have produced drill drivers loaded with batteries and options. He describes different types of drill drivers, including light, medium, and heavy-duty options. Nathan even breaks down the configurations that drill drivers come in, as well as their price ranges. Finally, he goes over the anatomy of a drill driver, explaining the different parts that are standard on most modern models....