How To Fix Your Home from Winter's Wreckage

Mold on the lawn. Shrubs broken from storms. Roofs ravaged by ice. After a season or record snowfalls and lengthy cold spells, homeowners are finding their houses and landscapes brutally battered.

In this WSJ story, you'll find a cheat sheet for spring cleanup - and a list of new tools out to make the job less taxing. (Make sure to click on the Tools graphic!)

Dear About the House, Whatever Happened to ...

Did the compost worms escape in the house over winter? What about the deck garden - did those potatoes ever grow? And the wood stove, how much money did it really save?

This week is readers week for the About the House column. I went back and updated reporting on several stories from the past year, from no-fuss composting and EZ gardening tools to gas-less mowers and other outdoor power tools.

What went right, what went wrong - read more here today and watch the video above.

Who Are the New "Ruralpolitans?"

While urban and suburban real estate is still generally under pressure, the rural market is holding up better in many areas, thanks in part to "ruralpolitans," as I report in WSJ. These city and town dwellers are looking at land as their new safe investment, one they hope could prove more stable than their jobs and 401(k)s—and provide a better lifestyle.

Typically there are three groups: young people buying land as an asset or investment, with vague hopes to live on it someday; exurban commuters who have jobs in big towns or cities but want to escape the sprawl; and back-to-the-land types who want to dabble in hobby farming.

They're also driving sales in the outdoor equipment market -- small compact tractors and utility vehicles being among the biggest sellers. I tested the new eco-friendly Polaris Ranger EV (all battery-powered) in this video. And P.S., I'm a relatively new ruralpolitan myself. You can read about my conversion in "From Versace to Chainsaws."

Lawn Mowers that Don't Use Gas

Recently I've been testing a spate of "gasless" outdoor power tools: trimmers that run off lithium-ion batteries or propane, chainsaws that work on nickle-cadmium batteries and mowers, including a $3299 riding one from Ariens, propelled by electric motors and lead acid batteries.

In this Wall Street Journal story and video, you can see many of the tools in action and get a glimpse of where they perform well and where they fall short. The goal of the new breed of outdoor equipment is less maintenance, fewer emissions.

Channeling Your Inner Lumberjack...

For the last month, I've been playing Paul Bunyan and learning to split wood. Good for the muscles, not so good for the fingernails.

But as I wrote in today's WSJ story, learning to split logs is a road to a bit of economic independence if you have a steady source of wood and a high-efficiency wood stove or fireplace insert. To get through the eight large trees that needed splitting, I tested a raft of tools from a 4lb maul to a gas splitter that cuts with 26 tons of force.

Judging from what retailers and manufacturers tell me, I'm part of a growing number of homeowners trying to ride out the economic storm by becoming more self-sufficient and tackling more complex home improvement projects. As Larry Kudlow points out on CNBC, even Ronald Reagan split his own logs sometimes.

Wear goggles and sturdy boots!