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Power tools, battery platforms, flooring, paint and fixtures. How rules, material costs and new tools are changing the work people do on their own homes.
Home Improvement Explainer
The bags say concrete safe and pet safe. NRMCA calls calcium chloride acceptable for concrete; an Iowa State guide sponsored by Iowa DOT names it one of two salts that react with cement paste. Both favor plain rock salt.
Home Improvement Market Shift
Battery tools have taken the short driveway, the deck and the steps. What the makers publish on clearing width, throwing distance and charging temperature,…
Home Improvement Trend Report
Depth is the wrong input. The National Weather Service converts snow to roof load through water equivalent, at 5.2 pounds per square foot per…
Home Improvement Price Trail
Pipe heating cable is priced in watts per foot, billed in kilowatt-hours and judged against a loss it may never prevent. We put the…
Home Improvement Buyer’s Brief
A foam cover over the spigot is insulation and nothing else. The published engineering data says what that buys you — and the faucet…
Home Improvement Trend Report
The 30% credit that covered insulation and air sealing materials applied through December 31, 2025. Sealant prices rose 6.2% in a year, insulation prices…
Home Improvement Market Shift
Imported cabinets and vanities carry a 25% Section 232 duty through 2026 after a scheduled increase to 50% was delayed by a year. What…
Home Improvement Explainer
A federal rule repealed the regulatory definition of a showerhead in 2025. The 2.5 gallons-per-minute limit written into law stayed. Here is what that…
Home Improvement Buyer’s Brief
Home air filter producer prices have hardly moved since 2023. That makes the MERV rating, the filter depth and how snugly it fits the…
Home Improvement Explainer
A cushion on the sill sits where you feel the draft. The air is usually arriving somewhere else. Two tests EPA publishes will tell…
Home Improvement Buyer’s Brief
Most people put something on the floor. On a patio slider the biggest opening is usually the vertical joint where the two panels overlap,…
Home Improvement Buyer’s Brief
Under-door guards, adhesive sweeps and slide-on door bottoms close the same gap in different ways. What the makers publish, and what to measure first.
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