Appliance Repair Report

Good Thanksgiving kitchen prep starts weeks before the turkey goes in. Your oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, and garbage disposal are about to do more work in one day than they usually do in a week, so the time to find a weak spot is now, while there's still room to fix it. Here's how to check each appliance, plan around its limits, and keep your kitchen running from the first thaw to the last load of dishes.

For a long time, home warranties were thought of as something you only needed when something went wrong. A system failed. An appliance stopped working. Suddenly, the warranty became relevant.

October is the month to wrap up fall home maintenance before the first hard freeze. The four jobs that matter most: clean your gutters, get your heating system ready, prep outdoor faucets for winter, and test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Here's what to tackle this month.