Woodworking How To & DIY
Improve the value of your home by discovering our woodworking step-by-step tips & ideas.
How to Patch Strip Flooring
In this how-to video, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows how to repair a hardwood-strip floor
How to Cut Miters
In this how-to video, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows various tools and techniques for cutting precise miter joints.
How to Buy Reclaimed Lumber
Our Cambridge, Massachusetts, project house used wood from old, redwood olive-oil barrels. Here's how to get wood that has a history that's longer, even, than yours.
French Doors With Vintage Flair
Use old windowed doors to bring the outside in and create breezy transitions between interior rooms
Cutting Wood Columns
How to make a straight cut around a curved surface
Wainscoting Panels and Design Ideas
Ideas and inspiration to help you select, plan, and install wainscoting.
Saving Old Trim
How to pry it off the wall in one piece
Cutting Mortises With a Drill
Save door-chiseling time with a Forstner bit
How to Hang an Interior Door
Open and shut your weekend with these step-by-step instructions
Files & Rasps
Both are meant to be used between the rough cut of a saw and the smoothing of sandpaper — we'll tell you what types to use for what jobs
How to Detect and Deter Termites
From trained dogs to high-tech listening devices, how to sniff out termites
Drilling Pilot Holes
This extra step will prevent wood splitting if you do it before nailing
Easy End-Grain Planing
A no-splinter solution
An American Craftsman
Everything Sam Maloof touches — every chair, every table, every cabinet, every rafter, every molding, every window, every door, every latch — reveals his genius
Choosing and Using a Random-Orbit Sander
The tool that takes the hassle out of sanding wood
Choosing and Using Hand Planes
Plane tools are the best tool for smoothing and shaping wood. Here is why you would use one and the types available.
How to Install Beadboard Wainscoting
Follow step-by-step as This Old House's Tom Silva installs a Victorian-era enhancement
How to Frame a Partition Wall
This Old House general contractor Tom Silva's technique for erecting an interior dividing wall.
Removing Staples
Get these temporary tackers down quickly and easily
How to Make a Half-Lap Joint
Mill your own half-lap joint quickly and easily using nothing more than a portable circular saw and a chisel.
Hauling Long Lumber
A safe way to carry boards in a pickup truck
Finishing Plywood Edges
Iron-on veneer tape does the trick
S2 E3: Butler's Table
Norm demonstrates the technique of biscuit joinery to build this mahogany butler's table with four leaves that fold down on solid brass hinges