How can you distinguish between a standard lamp socket and a three-way? It’s simple! Standard sockets have only two electrical contacts. The hot contact, a small metal tab, sits at the bottom of the socket, while the negative contact is the threaded metal shell (the one the bulb screws into).

Is It a Three-Way Lamp Socket?

Does the water coming out of your faucet look a bit like the Mississippi River after a rainstorm? There are at least a few possible explanations of this common problem.

Why Is the Tap Water Brown?

Looking to add a sense of warmth and history to your home? For your next project, eschew stock lumber in favor of salvaged wood. Though it sometimes commands a higher price, you can still find weathered, character-rich old timber at an affordable cost in many parts of the country. 

Cleaning Reclaimed Wood

There may be no tool more basic than the humble hammer. But however straightforward it may be in design and utility, there are still some important safety considerations to bear in mind when using one.

The Right Way to Hammer

In a heavy downpour, all of that water pouring through your downspouts can overwhelm your local sewer system, leading to flooding. Even worse, storm runoff can carry pollutants, fertilizers, and other chemicals into local lakes and rivers. A rain garden is a clever—and beautiful—way of diverting this water before it enters the system.

Rain Gardens

Vintage rattan furniture is getting harder to come by, so if you happen to run across a nice piece at a garage sale, you might want to snap it up and take it home for restoration.

Restoring Rattan

Nails or screws? Sometimes it’s difficult to decide which to use for a given do-it-yourself project. The next time you need to choose between the two, bear in mind the following guidelines.

Nails Or Screws

You can get several years’ worth of grime off your deck and siding in minutes with a pressure washer. Whether you buy it or rent it, it’s a great tool to have.

Pressure Washing

There’s something so crisp and clean about a kitchen with a traditional, white porcelain enamel stove. But sometimes all it takes to chip that gleaming surface is a dropped pan or a clumsily replaced grate. Over time, the exposed metal can rust, not only worsening the look but also damaging the appliance. Fortunately, it’s not too hard to repair those scratches and dings, getting your stove to look as good as new. Here’s how.

Fixing Chipped Stove Enamel

With Zika and other mosquito-borne illnesses on the rise, it’s a good idea to take a close look at the mosquito control measures you use on your property.

Keep Backyard Mosquitoes at Bay

America's Handyman. And the original salt-and-pepper beard.

Bob Vila