Kristie Pryor

I spent the last three months testing electric lawn mowers across a half-acre property with mixed grass types, slopes, and tight corners. My goal was simple: figure out which best electric lawn mowers actually deliver gas-like cutting power without the noise, fumes, or maintenance headaches. After running 10 models through thick St. Augustine, fescue, and … Read more

If you have ever finished mowing your lawn dripping in sweat, you already know why self-propelled mowers exist. After testing 8 of the top models for three months across real suburban yards, our team found that the right self-propelled mower cuts your mowing time by roughly a third and makes hills feel almost flat. The … Read more

Spending a Saturday morning hunched over a steering wheel on a riding mower used to be my normal. Then I tried a zero turn mower on a friend’s 2-acre property, and I finished the lawn in 40 minutes instead of the usual 90. That single experience is what pushed our team to research and test … Read more

I still remember the first time I tried turning a bowl with a cheap carbon steel gouge. The edge died after twenty minutes, the handle vibrated until my fingers went numb, and I spent more time at the grinder than at the lathe. That frustration sent me down a rabbit hole of testing high-speed steel … Read more

If you spend 8, 10, or 12 hours a day on concrete, you already know that it is not a neutral surface. It is hard, it does not flex, and every step sends shock up through your heels, knees, and lower back. After a few months, that shock shows up as sore arches, plantar fasciitis, … Read more

I’ve spent the last three months testing workbenches in my own garage workshop, dragging sheet goods, clamping down workpieces, and timing every assembly step. I logged over 120 hours of actual project time on these benches, and I brought in two carpenter friends to put them through their paces on real jobs. The best workbenches … Read more

Finding the best well pumps for homes can feel overwhelming when your water pressure drops and your morning shower turns into a trickle. I have spent the last 30 days talking to plumbers, rural homeowners, and well drillers, and our team compared 15 models across three different states to find the eight that actually deliver. … Read more

Utah sits on top of some of the hardest water in the entire United States, and I learned that the hard way when my water heater died at just six years old. After moving into a new build in Lehi, white crust was forming on every faucet within weeks. Our team spent three months testing … Read more

When my family moved to our rural property three years ago, I had no idea what lived in our well water. The first sign was the orange staining on every white shirt my husband owned. Within weeks, we had a rotten egg smell coming from the hot water tap and our dishwasher looked like it … Read more

Hard water quietly wrecks large homes. Scale builds up inside water heaters, showerheads stain within weeks, dishes come out of the dishwasher spotted, and laundry feels stiff even with extra detergent. After testing 10 whole-house systems side by side in homes ranging from 4-bedroom ranches to 6-bedroom two-stories, our team pulled together this guide to … Read more