Talk to any contractor or carpenter — or most people who are reasonably familiar with home construction and repair — and they’ll tell you that a “4×4” piece of lumber is not actually four inches by four inches, and that it hasn’t been that way in any of our lifetimes. Yet some Home Depot and Menards customers are — literally — making a federal case out of this discrepancy, accusing the retailers of false advertising. [More]
diy
Home Depot, Menards Customers Cry False Advertising When They Learn “4x4s” Aren’t Actually 4×4
By 6.22.17
One IKEA Offers Instructions On How To Turn Those Blue Bags Into Pet Raincoats & Picnic Blankets
By 5.26.17
While you might be an expert at reusing that blue plastic shopping bag from IKEA by filling it with junk and hiding it in your closet/under your bed, there’s a lot more you can do with it — like turning it into a doggy raincoat or a handy picnic blanket. [More]
5 Home Repairs To Make Now To Avoid Problems Later
By 2.17.17
If you put off fixing a wobbly fence post or squeaky door hinge, it’s probably not going to end in a homeowners insurance claim. Other home repairs, if left unchecked, can quickly domino into major disasters. Water is a factor—if not the primary cause—in the majority of high-risk situations. Here’s how to identify priority home repairs and handle them at their source: [More]
SodaStream Wants You To Make Your Own Beer At Home
By 5.31.16
Though you probably know at least one at-home brewer who has gone to some lengths to buy all the equipment and materials necessary to whip up a batch of beer in their own kitchen, there are others who perhaps aren’t willing to go those lengths, but still like to be a bit DIY. For those folks, SodaStream has a new “homemade” beer system that brews beer much in the same way it makes soda — no knowledge of wort or hops required.
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Will DIY Air Conditioners Really Keep You Cool This Summer?
By 5.25.16
Don’t feel like plunking down upwards of a few hundred bucks for a window unit air conditioner? No, of course you don’t; that was a silly question. At the same time, you probably don’t want to spend the next few months baking in the summer heat. You could McGyver one using ice and some stuff that’s sitting in your garage gathering dust, but will it make your life any more tolerable? [More]
3 DIY Teeth-Whitening Solutions You May Want To Avoid
By 5.6.16
Have you ever smiled into the mirror and noticed your teeth were a little too reminiscent of that cup of coffee you enjoy each morning? Teeth-whitening solutions range from expensive high-tech treatments, to commercially available strips and gels, to a vast number of cheap DIY suggestions posted on social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest. While some of these low-cost whitening methods may work, others may be ineffective or actually do more harm than good. [More]
Home Depot Explains Why It Offers “Do-It-Herself” Workshops
By 1.7.16
Interested in learning how to do a few handy things around your home? Home Depot, like some other retailers, offers free workshops to customers. In fact, it offers three types of workshops: The generic “Do-It-Yourself” classes, kid-friendly tutorials, and then “Do-It-Herself,” a category that has some wondering what a customer’s gender has to do with DIY home repair. [More]
Nike Exec Sees A Future Where Shoppers Could 3D Print Their Own Sneakers At Home
By 10.7.15
Making your own footwear at home won’t have to include cardboard, duct tape and those slippers you refused to throw out soon enough: A top executive at Nike says he thinks customers will someday be able to 3D print their own customized sneakers at home (or in Nike stores, for those without 3D printers at home). [More]
Guy Spends 6 Months, $1,500 To Make A Sandwich Entirely From Scratch
By 9.16.15
How much does it cost to make a sandwich at home? Depending on your ingredients, probably only a few dollars, unless you’re shaving truffles on top or using cheese edged in gold. It also likely takes you just a few minutes to assemble your desired snack. That is, unless you’re the guy who made all his ingredients from scratch, costing him $1,500 and taking six months of his time. [More]
Perhaps You Need A Monotasking Twinkie-Maker
By 4.28.15
Why would you use your oven when you could have an entire pantry full of baking devices that are devoted to one extremely specific food item, and often don’t make that food item all that well? That’s why we’re fascinated with these appliances, which can make anything from ice cream sandwiches to pretzels, but cannot create more storage space in your house. [More]
There Are Still Car Maintenance Tasks You Can Perform At Home
By 4.13.15
The best way to keep your car rolling for as long as possible is to keep it well maintained. While changes in how automobiles are made and repaired mean that it’s hard to do as much maintenance in your front yard than a few decades ago, there are some tasks that can save you money and time later on and that you can perform at home yourself without extensive auto repair training. [More]
5 Things We Learned Today About What It’s Like To Gather And Eat Roadkill
By 3.10.15
Though the idea of eating something that’s been run over by a car and left on the side of the road might turn even some of the strongest of stomaches, the fact remains that there’s a lot of meat at stake, and there are those out there who are more than willing to pick up what others might not want and turn it into a tasty stew. But while you might be imagining a clumsy shovel and buzzing fly situation, in reality, says one avid roadkill aficionado, it’s a lot different. [More]
British DIY Store Chain Sends Memo To Prepare Workers For Onslaught Of Demanding ‘Fifty Shades’ Fans
By 2.11.15
So let’s say you work at a hardware store, or other Do-It-Yourself home improvement spot. Sure, you get a bunch of customers on a day-to-day basis, but then one day… One day it’s different. There are suddenly hordes of demanding customers tearing apart the shelves and buying up all the ropes and cable ties. To prepare its workers for this possibility upon this weekend’s release of S&M fiction turned movie Fifty Shades of Grey, a British chain has issued a memo to its workers with a convenient plot outline, warning them to expect a rush of customers. [More]
Someone Made A Table Out Of The Pages Of An IKEA Catalog
By 11.20.14
Have you ever flipped through the IKEA catalog and wished you could order everything you see? (Probably not, but for the sake of this story, let’s just say “maybe.”) Well, that would be impractical and expensive, but there is a way to turn every single page of an IKEA catalog into a working piece of furniture. [More]
iFixit Declares iPhone 6 Most Repairable iPhone Ever, Which Isn’t Saying Much
By 10.1.14
You can save money and extend the useful life of your out-of-warranty gadgets by repairing them yourself, but should you? iFixit, provider of free repair guides and seller of parts and tools, buys the latest devices and tears them apart, assigning them a “repairability score.” They report that some design changes make the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the most repairable iPhones ever. [More]
Guy Ruins It For Everyone Else By Panning For Gold For 18 Months To Make Fiancee’s Wedding Ring
By 9.30.14
Hear that sound? It’s the clink of the bar being set incredibly high for the rest of us folks, after a very dedicated fellow spent 18 months panning for gold in the Scottish mountains, all so he could make his fiancée a wedding ring.
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DiGiorno Thinks We Want To Design Our Own Frozen Pizzas
By 4.16.14
I always thought that the point of frozen pizzas was that you could shove them in the oven and chomp on pizza with a minimum of effort and spending, without having to leave the house. Yet DiGiorno thinks that Americans are up for expending more effort in our frozen pizza consumption, not less. Their new product has modular toppings. [More]
How To Not Suck… At Home Inspections
By 11.19.13
You’ve finally found that perfect home. A white picket fence. A pretty flower garden. That’s what it looks like to the untrained eye. But that perfect home could be filled with all kinds of trouble — poorly installed insulation, foundation problems, sub-par electrical work, infestations of termites and mice. Even a savvy home-shopper can miss hidden problems in homes. Put away your macho. No matter how handy you may be, a home inspection isn’t something that fits in the DIY category. Spending a few hundred bucks now on a qualified home inspector can save you tens of thousands later. [More]
