Ask This Old House

Cutting open a retired water heater and diagnosing why it failed; Jenn Nawada talks about her love of educating children about the outdoors; building a compost bin for a net-zero elementary school.

Heath explains the three levels of EV chargers; Mark weighs pros and cons of different brick patterns; Nathan helps a homeowner repair a cracked built-in china cabinet using MDF panels; Mauro repaints a china cabinet and shows how to paint on MDF.

Installing a doorbell with new wiring; bottle traps; replacing a brick driveway's edging with cobblestones.

Planting a native woodland garden; how to patch cracked or chipped porcelain; common chimney problems; repairing a chimney step by step.

Restoring wallpaper; the basics of GFCI outlets; repairing gutters over a back patio.

Repairing sandstone steps; how to avoid being scammed by a solar company; installing an awning for a back door.

Replacing an old 40-gallon hot water tank; safety tips for holiday light decoration; assessing woodpecker damage; painting over bathroom tile using epoxy acrylic paint.

Building, painting and installing a Little Free Library for an elementary school.

Installing kitchen cabinet hardware; types of wallpaper and tools to remove it; how different amped receptacles can cause breaker trips.

Installing an 1800s antique pocket door with reclaimed hardware; building a Shaker-style-inspired end table; the technological advancements in induction cooktops.

Babyproofing a house by replacing old receptacles and installing cabinet locks and baby gates; the basics of caring for houseplants; how a septic system works and how to maintain it.

The team partners with Rebuilding Together Boston to repair a deck, construct a patio and install landscape lighting and new plantings.

Repairing a deck; constructing a patio; installing landscape lighting and new plantings; installing a fire pit.

Repairing an antique window; interior paint finishes; developing a landscape design for a small backyard; installing a stone fire pit.

Organizing a shed; the importance of yearly service checks for furnaces; installing a pea stone walkway to match an existing walkway at the front of a house.

Exploring wetlands; indoor air quality testing; repainting an exterior concrete foundation.

Upgrading a fireplace; different landscape tools and how to maintain them for spring; building a bathtub tray out of zebrawood.

Replacing a leaking gas oven; creating a pollinator garden at home; applying wireless electricity technology to electric vehicle chargers in future homes.

Insulating an attic; irrigation repairs; adding an asphalt parking spot.

Planting a sun and shade garden; the importance of gutter downspouts; adding street visibility to a farm by remounting an original farm sign and engraving an 1800s granite post.

Creating a backyard entrance; how to safely clean hardscaping; patching holes in wood floors caused by previously removed radiators.

Installing a reserve tank to fill a bathtub with hot water; cleaning up after painting projects; building a set of cornhole boards; the cast comes together for a cornhole tournament.

Repairing a leaky shower; different wire gauge sizes and their electrical load capabilities; repairing loose flagstone steps in an entryway and basement.

Tom attempts to replicate the spiral-detailed spindles in the staircase of a homeowner's 1900s Queen Anne Row house; he turns straight grain fir balusters and troubleshoots a string technique to replicate the spiral detailing.