Forty Percent of Americans Admit They Are Too Embarrassed to Say When They Last Cleaned Their Toilet, and 56 Percent Feel the Same About the Fridge

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a toilet in a bathroom

Forty percent of Americans can’t say when they last cleaned their toilet without feeling a flash of shame. Fifty-six percent feel the same dread about their refrigerator. And nearly a third would rather change the subject than admit when they last washed their sheets, according to a new national survey from the American Cleaning Institute. … Read more

10,400 Reclining Sofas and Loveseats Sold at Raymour and Flanigan Are Being Recalled After Their Power Switch Overheated and Sparked Two Separate House Fires

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Large gray leather sofa placed in living room with carpet and windows with white curtains

About 10,400 reclining sofas, loveseats, and recliners sold at Raymour & Flanigan are being recalled after the power switch that controls their reclining mechanism was found to overheat and, in at least two cases, catch fire. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall, announced May 28, 2026, covers Joy Furniture’s Talan and Royce collections and … Read more

Empty Vegetable Beds Sitting Bare All Winter Are a Wasted Opportunity, University Horticulturists Say, and a Packet of Cover Crop Seed Fixes It for Free

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green plants on the side of the road

Right now, in yards across the country, vegetable beds that produced tomatoes and peppers all summer are sitting empty, exposed to rain, wind, and months of nothing. That bare soil isn’t resting. It’s eroding, compacting, and losing the nutrients your plants spent all season pulling out of it. Horticulturists at Iowa State University Extension and … Read more

Skipping Gutter Cleaning This Fall Can Cost Homeowners Far More Than the 168 Dollar Average Price Tag, Professionals Warn as Ice Dam Season Nears

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a group of leaves on a tree

Most homeowners pay $168 on average to have their gutters cleaned, according to 2026 cost data from Angi, with typical jobs falling between $119 and $234. That number sounds almost trivial next to what professionals say happens when homeowners skip it: water pooling against the foundation, ice dams forming under the eaves, and roof damage … Read more

New Houses Keep Getting Smaller, With the Median New Single Family Home Now Measuring Just 2,176 Square Feet as Builders Chase Affordability

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Modern suburban house with a green lawn and trees

The median new single-family home in America now measures 2,176 square feet, according to NAHB’s analysis of Census Bureau construction data — smaller than the homes builders were putting up back in 2010, and nearly 550 square feet below the all-time peak. Builders aren’t shrinking floor plans because Americans suddenly want less space. They’re shrinking … Read more

Ninety Two Percent of Homeowners Who Hired a Contractor This Year Ended Up Paying More Than They Planned, With a Third Blowing Past Budget by 30%

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Two workers examining blueprints inside a building under construction, showcasing teamwork.

Ninety-two percent of homeowners who hired a professional for a home project this year finished at or above their original budget, according to Angi’s 2026 State of Home Spending Pulse survey. Dig into that number and it gets more uncomfortable: of the homeowners who went over their estimate, 43% blew past what they were originally … Read more

Federal Forecasters Just Lowered the Odds of an Active Hurricane Season to Just 5 Percent, but Homeowners Along the Coast Are Told Not to Relax

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A powerful storm looms over a deserted beach, creating a dramatic skyscape.

  NOAA has lowered the odds of an active 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, putting the chance of an above-normal season at just 5% in its updated outlook released August 6, 2026. Forecasters still expect 7 to 13 named storms and 2 to 6 hurricanes before the season ends, and they’re telling homeowners along the coast … Read more

Millions of Shield Shaped Stink Bugs Are Squeezing Through Cracks Around Windows, Siding and Chimneys Right as Fall Home Invasion Season Begins

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A close up of a bug on the ground

Stink bugs can squeeze through gaps you’d swear were too small for anything with legs. Researchers cited by University of Kentucky entomologists found that roughly half of adult brown marmorated stink bugs made it through standard quarter-inch window screening, and only mesh finer than a sixth of an inch kept them out reliably. That detail … Read more

Builder Confidence in the Housing Market Has Now Stayed Below Neutral for Sixteen Straight Months, With More Than a Third of Builders Still Cutting Prices to Sell

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gray wooden house

Builder confidence in the U.S. housing market posted a reading of just 35 out of 100 in August, barely moved from July, marking the sixteenth straight month the index has stayed below the neutral 50-point mark, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. More than a third of builders, 35%, cut prices in August … Read more

Buying a Home Just Got a Little Less Painful for the First Time in Over a Year as a Widely Tracked Affordability Score Jumped Five Full Points

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a house with a tree in front of it

Home buying got measurably less brutal in July. The National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index climbed to 103.3, up five full points from 98.3 a year earlier, even as the average 30-year mortgage rate held above 6.5%. It’s the kind of year-over-year gain the index hasn’t produced in more than a year. Key Points … Read more