Construction

The answer to that question can vary widely, but there are some basic things to keep in mind.

By Dave Roos

Soapstone countertops can be stunning in the right kitchen. But they do come with certain disadvantages. Are they the perfect fit for your dream kitchen?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Many homes in rural parts of the U.S. rely on well water rather than city water. But well water has pros and cons that city people may never have considered.

By Nathan Chandler

You may not even know what soffits are, but there's a good chance your house has them. So how can you tell, and more importantly, how can you be sure they stay in good shape?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Could we be headed for a concrete jungle with less CO2 emissions?

By Christopher Hassiotis

Painting roofs white is an easy way to reflect heat and save costs in the summer. But even better is planting gardens on rooftops, bringing the green back to the urban jungle.

Building a green hospital helps keep the trees, the birds, the squirrels, the patients, the employees and even the hospital's bottom line healthy, too. So how do they do it?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

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

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

During a major remodel, there are few things that matter more than your sanity. Such a drastic shift in daily life can be stressful -- how do you deal with it?

By Laurie L. Dove

Choosing the right person to make major changes to you home can be daunting. How do you know where to start when you're looking for a remodeler?

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

As steel framing becomes more common in modern homes, DIY homeowners are facing new decorating challenges. We'll dish on everything from drilling through metal to drywall anchors in this article.

By Gerlinda Grimes

Salvaging construction materials is great for many reasons, including saving money, preserving history, using cool, old stuff and keeping waste out of landfills.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

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

There are many factors to weigh when considering green construction, such as cost, personal health and environmental health. Is it worth the effort to go green?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

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

To be your own GC or not to be? That is the question. We'll explore why some people decide to oversee their own home renovation projects -- and why others choose to leave it to the professionals.

By Kate Kershner

Windows are a big part of a home's appeal, so it's always good to know how to replace them when they're getting run-down. We'll walk you through the ins and outs of window selection and installation in this article.

By Kate Kershner

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

The real estate market has been shaky for a while now, and homeowners are doing everything they can to get their homes on more solid financial ground. Is a remodeling project the way to do it?

By Ed Grabianowski

Cleaning gutters is certainly no fun, but it's a job that has to be done. Unless you have gutter guards, and then it's a job that you have to do a lot less. We'll show you how to install them.

By Mark Boyer

The simplest ingredients -- stone, gravity, ingenuity -- still create, for some of us, the most perfect solution for building. Get ready to assemble your own long-lasting stone masterpiece.

By Jacob Clifton