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1 week ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
The wind provides welcome relief from summer heat, but in California and other states, high summer winds can be deadly. They can fan errant sparks into flames and then spread the resultant fires over large areas, resulting in widespread forest destruction, property damage, injuries and deaths.
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3 weeks ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
Passive solar design is nothing new - it has probably been around as long as people have been building houses - and it has nothing to do with solar panels. It's all about creating a comfortable space by optimizing the use of the sun's energy.
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3 weeks ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
Like it or not, traffic cameras are a fixture on North American roadways, and they aren't going away anytime soon. Before you get upset about living in a surveillance state, you should know not all of them are there to keep you in line. Some are there to monitor traffic flow for the purpose of timing traffic lights and planning road improvements. Some keep track of road conditions in bad weather so that authorities can issue traffic updates, and some charge tolls on bridges and toll roads.
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4 weeks ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
The Soviet Union kicked off the Space Age in 1957 when it launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik. Since then, governments and private companies worldwide have hoisted more than 15,000 satellites into orbit. Although the majority of these launches have been successful, some haven't been. Most recently, a pair of test launches by SpaceX experienced "rapid unscheduled disassembly" and showered debris over a wide area before even reaching space.
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4 weeks ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
Some years ago, I found out where to put my security camera the hard way when my laptop was stolen from my friend's car as we dined at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Burglars smashed a window to get in the car, and while that should have triggered the car's alarm, this particular car didn't have one. I never saw the laptop again, despite my efforts to locate it using the Find My iPhone app.
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1 month ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
Every gardener faces the same dilemma: How to remove weeds while expending the least amount of effort and avoiding damage to desirable plants. One possible solution is to kill weeds with bleach, and at first glance, that's an approach with promise. Bleach is a powerful disinfectant that can kill mold and disinfect pool water, so it should be able to make short work of weeds by poisoning their roots, right? The related question, however, is whether bleach is safe for the rest of the garden.
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1 month ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
Since it was released in May 2024, Google's AI Overview has developed into a fairly useful tool, but is it a one-stop shop for all your DIY needs? Not if you ask ChatGPT, which churned out this answer to the question in the title of this post:"AI results can be useful but should be taken with a grain of salt.
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1 month ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
A yard with many trees presents both blessings and problems, and a blessing in one location can be a problem in another. Consider, for instance, the shade that trees provide: That's a blessing in a hot area, where the trees absorb the sun's energy and help keep everything cooler, but it's a problem in a cool locale where every bit of sunlight is precious. On the blessing side, trees provide natural habitats for birds and wildlife.
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1 month ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
If you're like many people, you don't lift the hood of your car unless you really have to. If the car is working well, that means it could be years before you get a look at what's underneath. That includes the battery terminals, which can develop a coating of bluish-white corrosion during that time. A corroded battery will still start your car-at least until the corrosion gets bad enough to interfere with the electrical connection.
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1 month ago | 
familyhandyman.com | Chris Deziel
As a jack-of-all trades, I have a favorite brand when I need to add a tool to my collection, and I'm happy to tell you what that is and why I like it. Before I do, let me be clear that it isn't the one most contractors recommend, and I spoke to several as I researched this story. Unlike them, my top priority usually isn't precision or longevity but budget, and my favorite brand is definitely budget-friendly. Nevertheless, I've never had a problem with performance.
