The old house I just moved into doesn’t have screens for most of its windows. The storm windows are separate — they aren’t integrated with the main window frames. I enjoy having windows open whenever possible, but prefer to have screens to keep out the flying bugs.

I’ve thought about trying to figure out how to make a wooden-framed screen to insert into the window frame. But, in all honesty, I am not very good at envisioning how to do this. A do-it-yourself book might show me how, but I think I’d be more successful if one of the home improvement stores offered a class on making wooden window frames. I’ll have to check out the classes from my local stores to see if anything along those lines is available. Knowing how to do wood joinery with mitered corners would be a useful skill.

Both Home Depot and Lowe's offer classes and clinics on common household DIY projects. Check their websites for ones scheduled in your area.

What’s the DIY project in your home that you most want to do, but haven’t yet? What’s holding you back? Time? Money? Knowledge? Share what you dream of remodeling or fixing by posting a comment below.

Right now a lot of people are worried about high home energy bills, including the costs of air conditioning, heating and electricity.

The good news is that there are a lot of easy, inexpensive projects you can do to bring your energy bills down immediately. But if you’re willing to invest a little more time and money, you can save even more, and one home improvement project that can make a big difference in your energy bills is adding insulation.

Yesterday, I was trying to find an answer to a specific question about insulation — how would you add insulation to a cement block wall? — when I ran across this extremely helpful fact sheet from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

I highly recommend checking it out. This fact sheet is a really good general introduction to the topic, but it also helps answer a lot of specific questions about when and how to add insulation. For example, it did include tips for installing insulation on masonry walls, which is what I was initially looking for. It also had a good suggestion about when to insulate your attic — wait until you’ve sealed other air leaks in your home, because once you’ve insulated the attic these drafts don’t go away, but they’re harder to find and fix.

For even more information on insulation, check out this Mother Earth News article All About Insulation. It’s got quite a bit of information about different types of insulation, including some interesting natural options.

The DIY network has 171 videos on topics ranging from flooring to tiling, electrical to plumbing. The Tutorials for Basic Home Improvements are neatly organized in 12 categories. Even if you have experience with similar projects, the videos offer a quick review prior to starting work.