This Old House Radio Hour

This week on This Old House Radio Hour, we’re talking about something you can’t see but definitely feel: the air inside your home. Kenneth Mendez, president of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, shares the smartest, science-backed ways to improve indoor air quality—from high-heat laundry to HEPA vacuums—and explains why your bedroom might be the most important place to start.

Then, The Splendid Table’s Fr...

From designing homes that support neurodivergent family members to building your cat the ultimate backyard enclosure, this episode is packed with practical advice for every kind of household. Plus, we tour author Sloane Crosley’s West Village apartment and share DIY fixes for leaky outlets, drafty attics, wood siding, and crumbly foundations.

• Inclusive Home Design (:55)

• Attic Insulation 101 (8:42)

• Re...

Want to block out noisy neighbors, fix roof leaks, or renovate a retro gem? This episode features YouTube’s Soundproof Guide Martin Poirier, comedian Paula Poundstone’s emotional home story, and expert answers to your biggest home questions—from radon and chimneys to indoor pool flooring and Lustron houses. 

• Soundproofing for Renters (0:55) 

• Radon Mitigation Simplified (8:34) 

• Tracking Down Roof Lea...

From renter-friendly kitchen hacks with Hedley and Bennett founder Ellen Marie Bennett to backyard beekeeping tips from TikTok’s Bowser Bee, this episode is packed with smart solutions and inspiring stories—including a 5,700 sq ft hand-carved cave home in Utah. Plus, we answer your top home repair questions about cracked ceilings, woodpecker damage, antique doors, and post-blast brickwork. 

• Smarter Kitchen Flow...

Expert babyproofing tips from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to keep your home safe from newborn to toddlerhood—plus clever fixes for shifting floors, cracked stucco, and prepping your home for hurricanes.  

• How to babyproof for every stage (1:03) 

• How to shift floating floorboards (8:13)  

• Repair cracks in stucco around windows (17:32)  

• Portable generator safely for hurricane-prone homes (26...

We explore the return of the American porch with architect Charlie Hailey, tour Nathaniel Rateliff’s mountain recording retreat, and answer your toughest DIY questions—from brick repair and deck fixes to bathroom ventilation and arc fault detectors. Plus, we dig into urban gardening tips with Detroit’s Kamaria Gray—whether you’ve got a backyard or just a windowsill, we’ve got the tools and tips to help you grow. 

Get these amazing cleaning tips from TikTok’s “Clean That Up” guy Brendan Pleshak. Plus, how to preserve vintage tile, test for lead paint, upgrade rake boards with PVC, fix lawn grubs, stop sewer backups, and hear “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” host Peter Sagal’s hilarious story of buying the wrong house. 

• DIY Vinegar Cleaner (0:55) 

• Vintage Tile Advice (9:48) 

• Flooding Solutions (17:27) 
• Lead Pa...

Make your home safer for seniors with these aging-in-place upgrades, fix fireplace switches and tile holes, and refinish butcher block the right way. Plus, we compare gas vs. induction, share a DIY weed killer that works, and hear from Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins about restoring his Victorian home. 

• How to make your home safer for seniors (0:55) 

• Wiring a wall switch for a gas fireplace (8:38) 

...

The Neat Method shows us how to declutter any space—no label maker needed—plus expert fixes for damaged brick, cedar beams, and peeling garage doors. We also share a simple trick to drill safely into walls and hear from Marketplace host David Brancaccio on rebuilding after a wildfire. 

• The best way to organize any space (1:08) 

• Fixing a floating floor (9:27) 

• Repairing bricks with damaged faces (17:...

Learn how to bring more balance and flow into your home with feng shui tips from architect Cliff Tan, plus expert guidance on porch restoration, wall insulation, brick painting, and propane retrofits. Plus, make your lawn look like Fenway Park with pro tips from former Boston Red Sox groundskeeper David Mellor. 

Keywords: #feng shui home tips #Cliff Tan feng shui #feng shui furniture placement #how to paint brick...

Expert tips to keep bugs and critters out of your home from the Bug Boys. Plus, William H. Macy gives us a tour of his hand-built Vermont cabin, and Cheap Old Houses spotlights affordable historic homes in Ohio and Michigan. 

Keywords: #spring pest prevention #how to get rid of bugs #pest control tips #William H. Macy  #cabin #woodworking #DIY cabin build #cheap old houses #historic homes for sale #Ohio homes #Mi...

This week on This Old House Radio Hour, we meet Bo Petterson—a 66-year-old dad, DIYer, and unexpected TikTok sensation. Known to millions as @DadAdviceFromBo, Bo began posting home repair videos with his daughter Emily as a way to help her recover from a traumatic brain injury. What started as a private act of love has grown into a viral force for good, offering step-by-step repair tips, emotional support, and the quiet re...

This week on This Old House Radio Hour—what does it mean to rebuild not just homes, but entire communities?

Sunset Magazine editor-in-chief Hugh Garvey joins us to discuss the magazine’s special issue devoted to the rebuilding of Altadena and Pacific Palisades in the wake of January’s devastating wildfires. Sunset, a voice in California architecture for over 125 years, has assembled an extraordinary coalition of ar...

This week, we meet writer Patrick Hutchinson who bought a $7,500 off-the grid, moss-covered Craigslist cabin—and taught himself to fix it with YouTube and trial and error. How he went from clueless to carpenter and changed his life.

Actor Alessandro Nivola shares how his Brooklyn row house became a living tribute to Brutalism, family, and art history.
Plus:
– Mold or mystery? Our experts explain why cutting d...

On this week’s This Old House Radio Hour, architects Jack Becker and Andrew Linn of BLDUS in Washington, D.C. explain how they’re turning the sustainable food movement into a sustainable building movement with their “Farm-to-Shelter” philosophy—drawing inspiration from Chef’s Table and using regional, regenerative materials to create homes that are beautiful, healthy, and good for the planet. Then, bestselling author Ariel...

Adam Savage—former MythBuster and maker movement icon—joins us to talk about the philosophy of tools, the joy of failure, and building a 200-hour replica of Hellboy’s revolver. Then we visit Charleston to uncover the truth behind those sideways-facing row houses (spoiler: it’s not about taxes). Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash invites us into her lovingly restored 1855 Manhattan brownstone, where music, memory, and steampunk...

On this episode of This Old House Radio Hour, we sit down with viral sensation Caleb Simpson, the TikTok star who’s made a name asking one simple question: “How much do you pay in rent?” Caleb shares what 500+ home tours have taught him about housing, design, and what our spaces say about who we are. Then, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin reflects on turning grief into meaning by recreating her 19th-ce...

On this week’s episode, we rethink the meaning of home—from the scale of a single room to the soul of a sprawling city.

First, visionary architect and best-selling author Sarah Susanka joins us to reflect on the enduring appeal of her groundbreaking book The Not So Big House. She unpacks power of designing for quality over quantity, how smarter, smaller spaces can transform our lives, and why her “Not So Big” philos...

Welcome to the Premiere of This Old House Radio Hour! Join us for an hour of expert-driven DIY and home improvement, where craftsmanship, history, and hands-on know-how come together. Master carpenter Callum Robinson reads from his bestselling memoir, Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman, and shares with host Jenn Largesse the deep joy of woodworking—and the stories locked inside every piece of wood.
Then, we head to Le...