Isn't it infuriating when a screw just won't budge? Whatever you do, don't lose your cool and resort to brute force. Yes, I know it's tempting, but you could easily make matters worse by stripping the head of your screw. That little mishap will leave your screwdriver bit spinning uselessly in the now-hollow end of the (still stuck) screw. Now that's infuriating!

So how did your screw get stuck in the first place? Odds are, it got wedged firmly in position over time, or it was overly tightened. Whatever the cause, here's a clever trick worth trying: heat the screw up. The sudden expansion of the hot metal screw can loosen things up enough to get that stubborn metal moving. Here's how to do it safely:

When the corner of my favorite wooden picture frame broke apart during a move, I pondered the ways I could fix it elegantly, preferably with a thin and quick-setting adhesive.

Wood glue would be sloppy on the finely crafted joint and slow to set. In typical carpentry, a joint can be held together to dry with a bracket or brace. Obviously I didn't want to drill holes into my frame. I imagined using clamps to hold it together, but worried the glue would squeeze out and mar the finish, and I didn't have clamps that big.

Garden variety super glue would work, but still it takes time to set and cure.

Gorilla Glue is a product I've used before. It's very strong and effective, but it foams up and is also slow to cure -- not a good fit for this project.

Finally I asked some carpenter friends of mine for suggestions and they all recommended 2P-10 from FastCap. Bingo! For my treasured frame, which was a gift from an old friend, I needed an adhesive just like this.

Have you been neglecting your laundry appliances? It's time to clean up your act. Regular maintenance of your clothes dryer can extend its life considerably, saving energy, time, hassle -- and plenty of dough in the long haul (repairs can be pricey).

You're probably familiar with the usual dryer tips and tricks when it comes to your actual laundry (like tossing in a tennis ball for wrinkle-free clothing), but when was the last time you brushed up on your dryer maintenance knowledge?

If it's been a while since you read your dryer's manual -- or if you're not even sure where you put that darn thing -- here's some need-to-know tips for ensuring your dryer's best performance::

Growing up in my parents' house, I learned an important rule: your drinking glass and your table should never directly meet. Otherwise, you'll mark the table forever with a dreaded water ring.

Thankfully, coasters have come a long way (so many design options now!), but that doesn't mean all the guests at your party -- or the members of your family -- will actually use them. So what do you do when your lovely wood table gets branded with a water ring? Don't worry - it's not really ruined forever. In fact, the fix is pretty painless. Read on...

As someone who's practically obsessed with my home, here's my wish: that every dollar I spend fixing it up will be returned to me when I sell it.

Wouldn't that be a great argument to have when my husband and I engage in remodeling wars? He would say: "That's too much to spend." And I would say: "So what? We'll get it all back when we sell the house."

Of course, that scenario is far from reality. Rarely will you get back 100% of a project's initial cost when you resell your house.

Case in point: If I spend $39,000 to add a new bathroom, I can expect it to increase the appraised value of my home by $23,000, which means I will recoup only 60% the cost when I sell my home.

How do I know this? I read Remodeling Magazine's 22nd annual Cost vs. Value Report. Relying on input from real estate agents and other building professionals, the report rates the 33 most popular major home improvement projects based on cost vs. resale value -- basically, how much they'll each add to the dollar value of your house.

So why invest in these major improvements? In our current buyer's market, says the National Association of Realtors, houses with well-done improvements tend to sell quicker than their shabbier neighbors.

Lately, when Louisiana residents like myself see New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton on TV, it's usually not in reference to the Saints' first-ever trip to the Super Bowl February 7.

Rather, in numerous ad spots, Payton can be seen discussing tainted drywall from China that was used in his home in Mandeville, just north of New Orleans. In the ads, he urges homeowners to take notice and perhaps seek legal help.

Payton is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court against Knauf Plasterboard Tainjin Co. Ltd, a Chinese drywall manufacturer. According to Payton and and his attorneys, ingredients in the drywall smell like rotten eggs, and corroded certain metal components in the house -- such as plumbing and electrical equipment -- and caused his family to become sick. Payton now considers his house uninhabitable and moved his family out.

Payton's plight may be public, but he's certainly not alone. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says it's received more than 2,800 reports from residents in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who suspect "their health symptoms or the corrosion of certain metal components in their homes" are related to Chinese drywall.

Could your home contain tainted Chinese drywall too? Find out after the jump.

No, it's not the beginning of an old prank-call routine. It's a common homeowner dilemma that's annoying, but easily remedied.

I found this out the hard way, when I neglected that loud noise coming from the basement toilet, and was shocked to see that my water bill was about 15 times the usual price -- almost $700! Oops.

Turns out it was a very simple and common problem: the flush valve wasn't closing completely due to a misaligned flapper (that black or red rubber stopper thingy, attached to the arm chain, that opens to let water from the tank into the bowl). I fixed it in a few seconds by realigning the flapper with my hand.

Running toilets can waste 2 to 6 gallons of water per minute (an average new toilet uses just 1.6 gallons per flush). That can add up to thousands of gallons of natural, and financial, resources down the drain.

So if you suspect your toilet is running -- and if you hear a persistent sound of running water coming from the tank, it probably is -- here's what to do:

Parents like myself who cloth diaper their babies are already in on a little secret: prefold cloth diapers are the best household helpers around! Absorbent and indestructible, they're great for cleanup tasks, and -- at only $1 to $2 each -- they're much cheaper than specialty cleaning cloths or paper towels.

Here are some of my favorite ideas for using prefold diapers around the home:

Dusting
Prefolds make ideal dusting cloths, being grippy and lint-free. Tuck one onto your wet or dry Swiffer mop and save money on those expensive refill pads. Use them to soak up all kinds of household spills, too.

Flooring Protectors
Need to protect your hardwood floors? Prefolds can help. Tuck them underneath legs of heavy furniture or heavy houseplants and rearrange a room without scraping up the floor.