Here are a dozen quiet little places where people still know how to live and love the small town American life. Union Springs, Alabama On Friday evenings about 35 people meet up at Union Pizza in the small southeastern Alabama town of Union Springs to discuss important matters, such as how to properly reglaze a banged-up window, which stain to use on heart-pine floors, or whether or not to restore plaster walls....

From quaint New England villages to bustling urban enclaves, here are a dozen places where you can find a perfect old house of your own along the northern Atlantic coast. Historic Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Home to America’s second-largest steel producer until Bethlehem Steel closed, in 2003, this city of 72,000 is about 70 miles north of Philadelphia and 81 miles west of New York City. Many retired millworkers still live here, these days next door to 30- and 40-something professionals who’ve chosen Bethlehem for its almost-sane metropolis commute....

Some of the most charming homes in the country fall below the Mason-Dixon Line. For a look at 13 great towns and city neighborhoods with classic old houses, read on. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico It’s said that you need to be either a poet or loco to live in Old San Juan, where Old World charm meets decidedly New World eclecticism. Packed into the winding streets of this fortified Caribbean peninsula are artists, students from three universities, shop owners, café culture knockabouts, lawyers, musicians, millionaires, government employees, and the gobierno himself, who lives in La Fortaleza; built in 1540, it’s the longest-occupied governor’s mansion in the Western Hemisphere....

Steps for Building a Laminate Countertop: Set the ⅝-inch plywood countertop substrate into place on top of the cabinets. Cut the plywood backsplash pieces down to size using a circular saw and straightedge guide. Slip the backsplashes between the rear edge of the counter and the wall. Press the backsplashes tight against the wall, then scribe a cut line along the top of the plywood counter. Use a circular saw and straightedge guide to cut the counter down to size; be sure to allow for a 1-inch overhang along the front of the counter, and ¼ inch at the ends....

Help! My House is Haunted! In my line of work, I often deal with people who have (or claim to have) ghosts in their houses. Inevitably, most of them ask me what they should do about it. Should they move out? Should they talk to the specters, or just ignore them? But the most common question I get is whether or not they should contact a ghost hunter to come to their houses and investigate....

First, be sure it’s a job you can handle. A small ornamental tree 12 to 25 feet tall—such as a flowering cherry, magnolia, crab apple, or Japanese maple—is one you can tackle yourself. (Bigger trees that require chain-saw and ladder work are best left to a pro.) Then be sure you understand a few key principles. “Pruning stimulates growth,” says Bill Pollock, co-owner of Arbor Services of Connecticut. “The goal is to encourage the tree to grow strong, healthy branches headed in the right direction....

Steps for Repairing Plaster Walls How to Fix Small Cracks in Plaster You can handle some small cracks with a two-coat process using a flexible patching compound, and there isn’t any sanding required. Adhesives Can Also Do the Job Well Rory Brennan, a Vermont-based plaster restoration expert, developed Big Wally’s Plaster Magic, a two-part adhesive, to reattach plaster without plaster washers. A kit that includes everything you need to repair loose plaster costs a lot less than how much it would cost to remove that much plaster, haul it away, then hang and tape the wall or ceiling....

Steps for Using a Chainsaw Tools Why to Wear Chainsaw Safety Gear

After: Eco-Kitchen Remodel Grafted onto the house circa 1900, the kitchen was no fun in winter (“You could feel cold air blowing through one of the cabinets,” recalls Bronwyn), and its ancient wiring and lack of counter space inspired odd daily routines—like setting the coffee grinder down on the radiator to plug it in to one of only two outlets. The space was short on counter space, bereft of charm. Shown: Patterned cement floor tiles from Avente create a colorful, hard-wearing backsplash....

After zeroing in on a neighborhood with a good school for their kids—Foster, now 9, and Rivers, 12—they found their ideal subject: a circa 1910 shingled house in sore need of an update, sitting on a rare double lot within walking distance of historic Grant Park. The property had a nice vibe, inviting Christine to imagine family meals prepared with the help of a big garden. Curt, a green-building consultant, noted the width of the lot and pictured inching off the grid with the help of solar power....

1. Hang Heavy Stuff Studs never seem to be where you want them when putting up an oversize mirror or installing a wall-mount cabinet. And your usual hangers, like nail-in picture hooks or large-thread drywall anchors, tend to rip out under loads greater than 25 pounds. No worries. If the wall hanging is wide enough to span two studs, you can support it with a French cleat, even if it’s off-center....

WHERE> Seattle WHAT> Created a hard-wearing space with an eclectic vintage look We fell in love with our 1920s house, which was built to last. Not so much the kitchen, which was late ’60s. We wanted to give it more character and function. We also wanted space for a family-size table, so we hired a framer to knock out a dividing wall and enclose a small back porch. Then we hired a pro to make our cabinets....

Here are 12 places where homeowners can live out their golden years in smaller homes surrounded by friendly villages and stimulating college activities. Harwinton, Connecticut Nestled in the rolling hills of northwestern Connecticut, Harwinton was an agricultural town when it was incorporated in 1737. The community has maintained its rural character through open-space ordinances, the preservation of original stone walls, and support for the protection of a scenic dirt road....

Most house numbers come in all-weather finishes sealed with lacquer or glaze, but when it comes to choosing a style, the options are almost endless. Materials run the gamut from shiny brass and satin stainless to white clay and terra-cotta tile, with numbers (and, often, letters) rendered in a wide range of typefaces, both traditional and modern. Here we’ve zeroed in on 21 options that span three general time periods, so whatever era your home dates to, we’re sure to have your number....

Steps: Use circular saw and clamped-in-place straightedge guide to cut window-box parts to size from medium-density overlay. Use drill/driver to drill counterbore and screw-pilot holes, then assemble the box parts with polyurethane glue and 2-inch-long ceramic-coated deck screws. Attach two galvanized-steel right-angle brackets to the house wall directly below a window. On vinyl siding, be sure to insert two small wood blocks behind each bracket to avoid crushing the siding....

TIP 1: Instead of cleaning a roller each day, cover it in plastic wrap and tuck it in the refrigerator overnight. Let it return to room temperature before using it the next day. TIP 2: Clean a roller by running the curved blade of a 5-in-1 tool down the roller to remove all the excess paint. For latex paint, pull the cover half way off the frame and run it under hot water, using your hand to push the paint out of the fibers....

Where> Fairhill, Md. What> Reworked a double-hung to display vintage shapshots. You, my fellow salvage junkies, never cease to amaze me with your creativity. Take Leslie Geesaman, whose window-turned-picture-frame is shown above. Pained at the thought of a charming wood double-hung ending up in a landfill, Leslie’s contractor husband lugged the window home from a job site. And in true TOH fashion, Leslie put it to good reuse. Her idea: Mount photos behind the wavy-glass divided lights and hang the sashes side by side on the wall....

Martin D’Arcy, owner, DNF Construction, replies: A stone walkway with cracked mortar is an eyesore and can become a tripping hazard if water gets underneath and loosens the stones. The best way to repair these joints is with a sand-topping mortar mix, which is stronger than regular mortar and can handle wider joints. I mix it with an acrylic fortifier so that the joints will be less susceptible to water penetration....

Keep reading to see how the homeowners intermingled original and new elements to create a timeless feel for their family’s home. Shown: The gabled addition at the back of the house fits right in, thanks to careful stucco work and red clay barrel tiles that were salvaged during demolition and installed on the new roof’s visible perimeter. Keeping It Classic Of course, some houses’ features are easier to re-create than others....

Roger Cook, Landscape Contractor Roger relies primarily on top-notch hand tools. His go-to landscaping shovel has a spade head and a flexible fiberglass handle. “Wood handles can snap when you’re prying up rocks and stumps,” he explains. Mattock A must-have for flower beds is a dual-action grub hoe and pick (also known as a mattock). “A grub hoe has a heavier steel blade than a garden hoe, which helps break up hardened soil,” he says....