This Old House
Fifty years of home renovation broken into how-tos, with actual tradespeople explaining why the obvious shortcut fails.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
This Old House sits in DIY & Life Hacks under Learn, filed as coffee break.
- Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
- It works on a phone or a desktop, so open it on whatever is nearest.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- No account needed — you can start without signing up.
- Go in expecting something useful and cosy.
About this category: Build guides, repair databases and instruction sites for physical tasks. The internet at its most straightforwardly useful.
Good for
- Filling a coffee break properly
- Getting something practical done
- Somewhere low-key to settle into
- A quiet break at your desk
- Killing time on your phone
- Trying it with zero commitment
This Old House: quick answers
Is This Old House free?
Yes. This Old House is free to use and needs no account.
Do I need an account to use This Old House?
No. You can use This Old House without signing up for anything.
Does This Old House work on a phone?
Yes. This Old House works on phones as well as desktop browsers.
Is This Old House safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does This Old House take?
We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.
More in DIY & Life Hacks
All 14 in DIY & Life HacksInstructions for very nearly anything, illustrated in that unmistakable cartoon style. The artwork alone justifies the visit.
Thousands of free electronics tutorials with full wiring diagrams and working code. The gentlest on-ramp to microcontrollers there is.
- 10 min
Free woodworking plans with cut lists and costed materials, aimed squarely at people who own exactly one saw.
- 10 min
Every knot worth knowing, animated frame by frame so you can scrub back and forth until your hands finally get it.
Same mood: useful
All useful sitesWorld clocks, time-zone converters, sunrise and moon times, calendars and countdowns, all on one long-running and reliably accurate site.
Reverse image search that finds the oldest copy of a picture rather than visually similar ones. The tool for tracing where a photo began.
- <1 min
A collection of single-purpose online tools for web makers, from favicon makers to CSS generators, sorted by topic and searchable in one box.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Drag in PNGs and JPEGs and they come back far smaller with no visible difference. Nothing else to learn.
- <1 min
Keep exploring
Category
Time and mood
Have a site of your own? Suggest it for Detour or browse the AltFTool backlinks hub.