Yard Videos
These This Old House videos showcase all of our yard projects, how-tos, and designs.
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Building a Fire Pit from a Kit
Ask This Old House mason Mark McCullough installs a fire pit kit in this DIY Smarts project.
How Do Dry Wells Work?
Dry wells are subsurface, engineered water displacement systems that collect and disperse unwanted water from rainstorms and runoff.
Build It | Fire Pit Cover
Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva works with host Kevin O’Connor to build a cover that can turn a store bought fire pit into a table when not in use
How to Install a Natural Gas Grill
Ask This Old House heating and plumbing expert Richard Trethewey helps a homeowner install a natural gas line to fire up his backyard barbecue grill
How to Get a Great-Looking Lawn
Ask This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook heads to Kentucky to help a homeowner revive his lawn
How to Grow Grasses on the Prairie
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada partners with an ecologist in Cheyenne, Wyoming to learn about different types of prairie grasses and how to care for them
How to Install a Fence Gate
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner install a new gate to fence in her pet dog
How to Choose and Use Lawn Sprinklers
Watering smartly with This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook.
Build It | How to Build a Chicken Coop
Use pressure-treated lumber and PVC trim to create a shelter designed by Tom Silva to keep predators at bay—and provide a source of fresh eggs right out your back door. You'll find the full, written step-by-step instructions (with diagrams and photos) under the video below
How to Install a Solar-Powered Fountain
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to harness the sun's energy to power a backyard water feature.
How to Build a DIY Treehouse
Use specialty hardware designed to preserve the tree and a mix of lumber and branches to create a platform sturdy enough to support your kids’ wildest imaginations.
How to Fix a Patchy, Weedy Lawn
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook resuscitates a dying lawn
How to Shovel and Salt Snow and Ice
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shares tips for clearing a concrete walkway after a snowstorm
How to Run Electricity to a Shed
Electrician Scott Caron shows us how he powers an outbuilding—which takes wiring knowledge as well as lots of digging.
How to Build an Outdoor Bar Cart
Offer guests cocktails and brews by wheeling out this dedicated serving station.
How to Build a Cedar Ice Chest
Make a handsome cedar ice chest cooler to update a backyard essential.
How to Build a Garden Arbor Bench
Use sturdy, all-weather cedar to build a DIY arbor with bench for a cozy seating spot in your yard.
How to Build a Picnic Table and Benches
We asked TOH fans about picnic tables, and they asked us for an update to the park-variety A-frame. Here's our answer.
How to Build a Bird Feeder
For a fun family project, make a DIY bird feeder out of cedar wood and materials you can find at a home center and grocery store.
Sprinkler Valve Leaking? Here’s How to Repair It
In this how-to video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to replace a worn-out valve diaphragm on an automatic lawn sprinkler system.
Best Tools to Pick Up Leaves
From power vacuums to leaf blowers, we share different tools you can use to get rid of fallen leaves in your yard.
How to Cut Down a Tree Safely
Dropping and bucking a dead tree with This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook and chainsaw safety expert Tim Ard.
How to Build a Wood Retaining Wall
This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook shows how to construct a wood-timber retaining wall to create a play area.
How to Install a Sump Pump Dry Well
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to collect discharge water from a basement sump pump.
How to Build a Garage Door Pergola
Use milled brackets and pressure-treated lumber to create an elegant canopy over your garage door.
How to Make a Cornhole Game Set
TOH's Team Saturday shows you how to plan out the right dimensions, size and spacing for this popular bean bag toss game.
How to Build a Simple Sandbox
Spend an afternoon assembling this simple backyard play area for kids of all ages.
How to Design an Outdoor Kitchen
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada discusses the common elements she includes in outdoor kitchen designs.
How to Make a Lily Pond
Use treated lumber and a pond liner to create a soothing water feature in your backyard
How to Build a Rain Barrel
Enclose a plastic bin with stock lumber to make a water-wise garden feature
How to Build a Classic Picnic Table
Use cedar boards to make a table and benches fit to host family and friends for years to come.
How to Plant Hardier Foundation Plantings
Ask This Old House landscape designer Jenn Nawada helps a homeowner replace and improve foundation plantings that have been crushed by snow piles
How to Upgrade to a Smart Irrigation System
Ask This Old House landscape contractor Jenn Nawada shares DIY Smarts tips when she travels to Orlando to upgrade an irrigation system.