Renovating Your Home for Resale. Selling your home? HGTV's Shane Tallant discusses how to make your home stand out from others on the market.

A Five-Point Plan for Just About Any Home. It's easier than you think to make your house more environmentally friendly.

In a Quandary Over a Specialized Tool. Q: DEAR TIM: A compound miter saw has bubbled to the top of my power-tool wish list. I think I need one to put up some crown molding and wonder if it's necessary. Would it be better to get a sliding compound miter saw?.

Showpiece House Harnesses Wisdom of the Ancients. Does the classical architectural style of ancient Greece and Rome have any relevance for today's homeowners? Did the builders of preindustrial-era houses develop climate-control techniques that could be adapted to today's houses?.

Rake, Prune, Clean And Cultivate Before Spring Growth. Until now, fallen leaves and other winter debris have been protecting your plants. Now it's time to clean up before new growth begins.

In the Lawn Debate, Plenty of Common Ground. Healthy turf offers more than a pretty green carpet and playing field. Lawn can protect against erosion, provide oxygen, trap pollution and even slow fire.

As the Market Turns: Real Estate TV Still Has Stories to Sell. The real estate market may have cooled considerably, but not real estate television.

Toward a Peaceful, Healthy Coexistence of Plants and Dogs. Those who love both their dogs and their gardens often seek ways to protect their plants from the stress of daily dog traffic.

For a Secure Steam Room, Sweat the Small Stuff. Q: DEAR TIM: I have wanted a steam room in my house for a long time. Are there certain things you must do to ensure that a home steam room will work well? How do you build a steam room that doesn't have any water or water-vapor issues?.

Sellers Turn to Pros to Dress Up Their Homes. For sellers, it's a stressful real estate market: Lots of houses are available; buyers look and look, leaving them panicked and their agents frantic.

Giving Ceramic Tile Color That Will Last. Q: DEAR TIM: Can you instruct me on how to paint ceramic tile? Money is tight now, and painting the tile is the only thing I can afford. Can you paint old ceramic tile so it won't peel? Is there a special ceramic tile paint?.

Help for Your Hands, Feet and Plants. Good footwear, gloves, tools, irrigation and plant-enhancing materials can make gardening safer and more enjoyable. Here are some new products that my associates and I have tested recently.

Seeking Shelter in Your Garden. Gardens existed before gardeners, but gardeners can claim credit for the idea of shelters and trellises, structures that allow us to come closer to and enjoy our plants more in their natural setting.

Failed Concrete Can Often Be Fixed. Q DEAR TIM: Some of the concrete walkways in our association's 100-acre island development are disintegrating. The surface is crumbling. Other adjacent concrete, poured at the same time, is in great shape. What is the problem, and can a thin concrete overlay be added?.

Real Estate Calendar. Here are some events that builders and developers have scheduled for would-be home buyers in the coming weeks. All are free and open to the public.

A New Way to Tackle Foreclosures. Over the past several weeks, I have discussed a proposal for a new type of mortgage insurance called mortgage payment insurance.

Resting on a Peninsula, With Little Pretense. Cabell P. Bragg seems oblivious to what many would consider his million-dollar view of the Patuxent River.

Never Pay In Advance To Fix Your Credit. Picture this: You're eager to take advantage of today's troubled real estate market and buy a foreclosed house at a fire-sale price. But you don't have much money for a down payment. And your credit files are scuffed up with late payments.

A Chance to Make a Real City Out of Tysons. Tysons Corner presents an extraordinary challenge and opportunity. No longer suburban, Tysons begs to be properly urbanized through visionary planning. Such planning could radically yet constructively transform one of the nation's most unattractive and dysfunctional environments.

For Modern Whimsy, A Reach Back to Towers and Turrets. In the collection of magazine clips and photographs that Faye Guercio gave her architect for her home renovation, she began to notice an inadvertent recurrence of turrets and towers. It wasn't long before she realized she wanted one, too.