Home Improvement

New products pop up on store shelves every day, but did you ever wonder what went into getting the latest and greatest invention slotted into place? Chances are there was a lengthy product evolution, most likely beginning with a prototype.

By Jessika Toothman

Here's the classic definition of boredom -- sitting around and watching paint dry. But if you knew exactly what happens during those minutes and hours when paint morphs from a sloshing liquid into a thin, glossy film, you'd be fascinated.

By Kathy Price-Robinson

Unlike the hammers and chisels collecting cobwebs in garages everywhere, these high-tech tools have worked on everything from revolving water slides to boxing robots.

By Jessika Toothman

Believe it or not, the walls of that cozy house pictured are made of the ground beneath your feet, albeit with a little modification. But does this alternative home design practical or comfortable?

By Molly Edmonds

What can you get with a huge mound of dirt, a bunch of bags and some barbed wire? An earthbag home. Building one of these eco-friendly, beehive-shaped dwellings isn't as hard as you think.

By Molly Edmonds

Discussing what goes on in the bathroom is considered taboo in many social circles, but you should be having frank discussions about your waste if you own a septic tank. What's the protocol for dealing with fecal matter?

By Josh Clark & Melanie Radzicki McManus

It's a dark and stormy night, and you hear mysterious creaking noises in your home. Perhaps you explain them away by reassuring yourself that your house is just settling. But is that a more plausible explanation than paranormal forces at work?

By Josh Clark

Letting a house slip into disrepair is a surefire way to decrease its value -- but what are some of the more subtle qualities that can lower a home's worth?

By Jessika Toothman

They're supposed to make your home smell like a spring day. But there's nothing fresh about low-grade pollutants. Do air fresheners lighten the scent in the air, or do their cancer-causing chemicals bog down people?

By Cristen Conger

You catch it out of the corner of your eye -- a dark creature crawling up the wall behind your couch. Then the unspeakable -- it dives at your hair. Good grief, it flies? And why is it here?

By Cristen Conger

If you're the type of twisted person who loves to scare the bejesus out of your friends and family, then we've got some houses for you.

By Molly Edmonds & Denise Harrison

The word "green" is so ubiquitous these days, it's almost irritating. Companies are vigorously marketing their new green products, but consumers aren't total suckers. Who's to say these products really are green?

By Cristen Conger

Imagine lifting up a secret door in the floor and sliding down to a concealed room below. Does this stuff only happen to Scooby-Doo and Harry Potter? Open the door and find out.

By Molly Edmonds

It's been preferred in Europe since the 1970s, but can radiant floor heating help with your allergies and get you a good night's sleep? Why would it make you toss your snow shovel?

By Charles W. Bryant

Experts have linked electromagnetic fields (EMF) to leukemia and other cancers in children. Could this happen from radiant floor heating, too?

By Charles W. Bryant

Formaldehyde, PCB, asbestos: You don't want these words associated with your living space. So open the windows and get a breath of fresh air before reading this article.

By Jennifer Horton

Before McMansions and developments, before condos and co-ops, yurts dotted the land. Why do campers and nomads think these simple circular dwellings are yurtastic?

By Molly Edmonds

Some people dismiss wall-to-wall carpeting as a dubious decorating choice, especially when it harbors dust mites, pet dander and mold spores. Does carpet also have ramifications for your health?

By Jennifer Horton

There's no place like home -- unless yours has been overrun by cockroaches, mice and ticks. When the exterminator is on vacation and you need an immediate fix for your pest problem, what can you do?

By Josh Clark

Their mission is covert and highly dangerous -- they've just got to heed their insatiable hunger for cellulose. But what happens when termites claim your house for dinner?

By Josh Clark

Frustrated by the inevitable onset of death? What if you could reverse that fate in the Bioscleave House? It's an innovative abode that could keep you alive -- and will keep you guessing.

By Molly Edmonds

Would you want to trade your familiar digs for a nursing home? If you answered "heck, no," you're like millions of baby boomers who plan to age in place.

By Molly Edmonds

You don't have to buy an alarm system to prevent burglaries. If your home looks lived-in and if your neighbors seem nosy, you're preventing crime.

By Cristen Conger

Think your home is a safe haven? Think again. With all the hazardous chemicals people use in their homes, it may be more polluted indoors than outdoors.

By Cristen Conger

There's a reason a natural gas leak has a rotten egg odor. That stink is meant to signal danger. Any spark — a match or even a light switch — could cause a serious explosion.

By Cristen Conger