Home Improvement

Ants are a year-round nuisance in homes and buildings. Where do they come from? This article discusses the various locations where ants can build nests.

By Stefani Newman

Ants are pretty predictable, and you can keep them out of your cupboards and pantry if you adopt a few ant-busting habits.

By Sara Elliott

Most ants are opportunistic feeders; they'll eat just about anything. There are some ant species that do have preferences, though.

By Sara Elliott

If you live on planet Earth, it's pretty much guaranteed you've had a run-in with a cockroach. Here's how to prevent it from happening frequently.

By Emilie Sennebogen

In the battle of the bugs, which is worse for your home: termites or ants? The answer may surprise you.

By Sarah Winkler

Fire ants are aggressive insects that can inflict bites and venomous stings when they feel threatened. If you've been bitten, you know the experience is no laughing matter.

By Sara Elliott

Self-cleaning public toilets are already a common sight in European cities, but exactly how do they work?

By Beth Brindle

Termites can wreak havoc on a home, so you should always be on the lookout for an infestation. But what should you look for?

By Sara Elliott

It may seem like a no-brainer but there is actually a science to keeping your toilet bowl clean. We'll flush away the mystery.

By Kim Williamson

Cleaning the bathroom is a very dirty -- and sometimes -- gross job. But with the right tools, you can finish the job in the blink of an eye!

By Emilie Sennebogen

Planning to run your house completely on solar power? It will cost you up front, but it could also pay you back big in the long run.

By Cherise Threewitt

It's not uncommon for your bathroom to occasionally have bad odors. But when you smell sewage, that's usually not a good sign.

By Alia Hoyt & Beth Brindle

As concern grows over the use of natural resources, many people look to major corporations to set an example for energy efficiency. Which companies make an effort to work in green environments?

By Jane McGrath

The deck is the perfect outdoor entertaining space in any home. But what happens when furniture and house guests take up too much space? It's time to stretch that deck out a little.

By Jane McGrath

If you study a brick wall, it looks simple enough. It's just a stack of bricks and some mortar to hold everything together, right? The job takes a bit more experience than you'd think.

By Jane McGrath

Fifty years ago, people's concept of "homes of the future" was something like this, a far cry from how modern homes really turned out. So will future homes finally meet our wildest futuristic expectations? We make our own predictions in this article.

By Shanna Freeman

Cleaning house is a non-stop rockin' good time. No? So if it's not, how little can you get away with? What needs to be done every day and what can wait?

By Sarah Winkler

Sure, you can remove most walls, but if you try to remove a load-bearing wall, your entire house could come crashing down around you -- or will it?

By Allison Wachtel

Keeping your home clean can sap both your time and energy, so when's the best time to handle it?

By Marie Willsey

What does concrete have in common with cake? If you want to build a structure with concrete, you need a good mold -- and that tool is known as formwork.

By Jeff Harder

How do you slow down a fire? These six building materials are particularly resistant to fire and intense heat, reducing the possibility of fatalities.

By Jane McGrath & Talon Homer

After you've shelled out big bucks on a flat-screen TV, the last thing you want to do is damage the screen. Learn the best way to clean your TV to protect your investment and get the most out of the device.

By Bambi Turner

The sources of most bathroom odors are pretty obvious, considering the purpose of this often-windowless space. But every now and then, a mystery arises - what's that lingering smell? It could be the toilet tank.

By Julia Layton

Slap on your yellow rubber gloves and arm yourself with a toilet brush -- we have the know-how to help you tackle this unpopular chore once and for all.

By Natalie Kilgore

More than just a couple nails here and a few screws there, a construction project is a complex commercial enterprise that draws on a variety of workers, tools and materials. At the helm is a construction project manager.

By Chris Opfer