thisoldhouse

Shown: Enlarged and finished with blue and white tile and a wall-hung sink, the space has more function and a new-meets-old look. Before the Renovation The bath was small and lined in dated, dingy pink. Alcove-Tub Detailing The tub enclosure is set off by a lowered arched ceiling lined with blue penny-rounds, which are repeated in an accent border around the walls. Homeowner Tip: “Base your palette on something you love....

Where: Tolland, Conn. What: Built a walk-through shed to store gardening tools. David Campbell’s honey-do list grew after his then-fiancée Janice saw a garden shed she liked in a magazine. She wanted one to keep gardening tools close by. No problem for David, who’s been doing remodeling projects since his shop-class days. He knew that with a few custom touches he could build a shed that would be really special....

We asked pros from all over to break out their best material and try to get a chuckle out of us. Okay, so there are a few groaners, but we’re hoping you think they’re mostly funny. Got a good jobsite-related joke? Post it in the comments below. (But please, keep it relatively clean!)

Rich O’Neil, painting contractor and owner, Masterwork Painting & Restoration, replies: Removing old wallpaper is an easy project for most homeowners and well worth the trouble. You just cannot get a decent-looking surface if you leave the paper in place and put paint or new wallpaper over it. If you’re lucky enough to have “strippable” wallpaper, all you have to do is grab a corner and peel off whole sheets....

Baby Wipes Eliminate dust and dirt from antique furniture without marring fine finishes by rubbing with gentle, fragrance-free wipes. Oven Cleaner Dissolve drain stains on a white enameled cast-iron tub with a coat of oven cleaner. Let sit for an hour or two, then wipe with a sponge or scrub stubborn stains with a plastic abrasive pad. Ketchup Polish away rusty or dull spots in a copper sink by wiping on this condiment, which acts as a mild acid, and sponging clean....

Shown: Brushed nickel hardware on new cabinets and refaced old ones, pendulum light fixtures, and bright finishing touches update the space. Before: Out-of-Date Dining Before the Langdeau’s got to work, the kitchen’s jarring red walls, dingy off-white cabinets, and rusted hardware were just not a proper welcoming committee for their 1948 Cape. Plus, the ceiling fan was too low for them and the laminate counter’s peeling edge snagged their clothes....

Here are our choices for towns and cities where you can easily live out your golden years in comfort and old-house style. South Historic District, Palatka, Florida Once known as the “Gem of the St. Johns River,” this north-state city of 11,000 people was Florida’s original tourist destination. After a devastating fire in 1884, the farm town was swiftly rebuilt into a travelers’ hot spot, with eight first-class resorts, including the still existing James Hotel....

Steve Butzer HomeSpec Inspection Services Scottsdale, Ariz. Hats Off to You “Why use a tin pie plate to cover the hole in the chimney when you can use a farmer’s highly flammable straw hat? E–I–E–I–Ohhhhh Noooo!!!” Skip Spencer Buyers Protection Group Wyoming, Mich. Canned Heat? “Here’s a photo of ductwork made from a gutter downspout and a food can.” John Handloser Pillar to Post Piedmont Palmyra, Va. Going a Little Too Green “This is a commercial building I drove past in East Cleveland....

1. Select It Whether you’re opting for a gourd straight from the patch, or choosing to carve a synthetic pumpkin, make sure you consider your design or pattern when making a selection. Pick one that’s large enough and shaped to accommodate the length and width of whatever design you’re going to carve. And before you leave the pumpkin patch, Ryan Wickstrand of Zombie Pumpkins recommends the following: “Make sure it can stand well on its own, and never carry a pumpkin by its stem....

Steps: Use a small sledgehammer and cold chisel to separate the old cast-iron closet flange from the toilet’s drainpipe, known as the closet bend. Pry free the loosened closet flange with a flat bar. Set the new compression flange over toilet’s drainpipe, and then trace around it with a marker. Use a hammer and cold chisel to chop out any tile that’s preventing the flange from sitting flat without wobbling....

Shown: Now the space has a period look that suits the Tudor-style house. Here, Tracy Wysockey with Beau, 6, and Livy, 4, two of her four kids. Pendants: Schoolhouse Electric Before: Cramped and Outdated With four young kids in the mix, navigating the room’s dysfunctional layout was making daily living a chore. There was minimal counter space; the fridge door blocked the entryway; and worse, an unheated pantry closet made the space uncomfortable in winter....

Sprayers aren’t always the best choice, though. Small jobs seldom justify the tedium of cleaning them (sometimes a simple can of spray paint will do), and a brush is better at giving you control where neatness counts. But when a sprayer makes sense, success depends on choosing the right one for the job and mastering a few techniques. Start by considering what you’ll be spraying and what finish you’ll use—sprayers vary a lot in the thickness of the finish they can handle, the amount of paint they deliver, and the overspray they produce, among other factors....

Shop the Dollar Store Shop the dollar store rather than your local home center to buy specialty tools you may use only once or twice for projects such as cable or phone wiring. Cost: $1 per item. Savings: $25 for curved long-nose pliers and $20 for a coaxial compression crimper at The Home Depot. Bonus: No worries if tools break. Extend the Lives of Filters Extend the lives of filters in some air purifiers, bathroom fans, window air conditioners, and even your furnace by vacuuming out dust and loose dirt....

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake How it kills: These diamondbacks aren’t known for being the most aggressive rattlers on the block, but at up to 7 feet long, they’re certainly the biggest—and the most venomous in the US, with bites that cause spontaneous bleeding, hypotension, and swelling that can lead to cardiac arrest. When threatened, they can strike a distance at least a third of their length and sink their fangs into your flesh repeatedly, often without rattling to give you fair warning to run....

Here are our picks for the neighborhoods where the prices are to good to pass up. Historic Garden District, Montgomery, Alabama Twelve short blocks from downtown Montgomery, the Garden District is home to 2,500 residents as diverse as its architecture. Young singles and 30-something professionals are drawn to a community that is ethnically varied, socially diverse, and still every bit as genteel as any small town in the old South....

Prepping for Basement Insulation The most important concern to address before insulating your basement is moisture. To ensure there’s no dampness seeping through the walls, conduct a simple test using plastic sheeting and duct tape. Tape a small piece of plastic sheeting to a bare concrete wall with an impermeable duct tape border and wait 48 hours. After sufficient time has passed, check the interior and exterior of the plastic sheet for condensation — this will determine if water is seeping through....

When it comes to getting a thick, healthy lawn, nothing beats sod for instant gratification. Sure, it costs a bit more: about $625 to cover a 1,000-square-foot backyard (double that installed). But lay it right and in a couple of weeks you’ve got a dense, well-established lawn that’s naturally resistant to weeds, diseases, and pest infestations. “You’re basically buying time,” says This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook. “You’re paying for turf that someone else has coddled for 14 to 18 months....

After the Photoshop Redo If the budget is limited, Langan suggests concentrating on improvements to the entry, such as a better door and hefty porch columns. The next priority would be incorporating facade elements, such as frieze boards and window casings, to give it more character. Noting the home’s modest size, he also proposed a two-story addition to give the family more gathering spaces and breathing room. The new gable adds to the house’s architectural appeal, and the bigger porch would connect to an existing patio behind the house....

Storage-Loaded Homework Alcove Build a space-smart little office right in your kid’s room. All you’ll need is some stock lumber, storage bins, and tracks for a sliding work surface. Creative Closet Space Take the doors off of a little-used closet and line the walls with a fun pattern to create a handy homework alcove. Your kid’s design ideas may not match your own, but applying their feedback will make the space—and studying—more appealing to them....

Here are our picks for the little hamlets where the homes are sweet and the neighbors even sweeter Hardwick, Vermont Don’t expect to find a food court or Filet-O-Fish in Hardwick anytime soon. “There’s no mall and no McDonald’s,” Andrew Meyer says of his hometown. A 19th-century granite-mining boomtown that went bust, then slogged through the 20th century, Hardwick is back because of food of the not-so-fast sort. Meyer, co-owner of Vermont Soy, grew up on a farm in this town of 3,000 in the state’s northern third....