Kristie Pryor

I have spent the last three months installing, photographing, and rating modern house numbers on every house style I could get my hands on. From a white craftsman in Portland to a charcoal modern farmhouse outside Atlanta, my team put 28 different sets through real weather, real delivery drivers, and real curb-appeal tests. The eight … Read more

If you regularly break down 4×8 plywood sheets, a plunge track saw will change how you work. After testing more than a dozen models in our shop over the past year, I can tell you that no other tool handles full sheet goods with the speed, accuracy, and dust control of a proper track saw. … Read more

I spent six weeks pouring everything from IPAs to milk stouts through eight different Perlick faucets in my homebrew bar. After hundreds of pours, dozens of glass rinses, and one unfortunate incident with a leaking shank, I have a strong opinion on which Perlick faucets actually deserve a spot on your tap tower. Perlick faucets … Read more

I used to dread my morning espresso routine. I’d stumble to the kitchen half-awake, only to find the reservoir empty, the drip tray overflowing, and my machine flashing a descaling warning for the third week running. Then I installed a plumbed in automatic espresso machine, and everything changed. No refilling. No puddles. Just consistent, café-quality … Read more

I remember the first time I tried to build a Gundam kit with kitchen scissors. The plastic snapped, the parts flew across the room, and I gave up on the hobby for two years. Once I bought a real model building tool set, everything changed. Clean cuts, smooth sanding, and tweezers that actually grabbed tiny … Read more

If your home has coax wall outlets but no Ethernet runs, MoCA adapters are the fastest way to get a wired backhaul for mesh Wi-Fi, gaming, and 4K streaming. After three months of testing ten MoCA 2.5 and MoCA 2.0 kits across four homes, the best MoCA adapters for wired backhaul in are the ScreenBeam … Read more

If your Wi-Fi stutters every time someone in your house fires up a 4K stream or jumps into an online match, you’re not alone. I spent the last three months testing ethernet over coax adapters in a 2,400-square-foot home with three adults working, gaming, and streaming simultaneously, and the best MoCA adapters turned flaky 40 … Read more

After spending the last three months running ten miter saws through real workshop projects, I can tell you the difference between marketing claims and actual cutting performance. I cut hundreds of feet of crown molding, broke down framing lumber, and trimmed out entire rooms to find which models deliver where it counts. The best miter … Read more

Picking up a miter saw for the first time feels like opening a door to a whole new level of home improvement. I remember my first project – installing baseboards in my dining room with a hand saw and a miter box. The joints looked like a kindergartener did them. The day I bought my … Read more

I have spent the last three months running steel plate, copper tubing, and rebar through ten different oxy acetylene torch kits in my shop. Some were brilliant. A couple frustrated me within an hour. After burning through 14 cutting tips and approximately 47 tanks of gas, I have a real answer to the question: which … Read more