About Hammer & Hearth
Why We Started This Site
Most home improvement advice online falls into one of two traps: it's written by someone who's never held a level, or it's so generic it could apply to any house built anywhere. We started Hammer & Hearth because we were tired of both.
We're a small team of homeowners, former contractors, and design-obsessed renters who got frustrated searching for straight answers to normal-person questions — "is this toilet noise a real problem," "can I paint over this myself," "what does this actually cost" — and kept landing on pages padded with fluff, outdated advice, or recommendations for tools nobody needed.
So we built the resource we wished existed: practical, honest, and written by people who've actually done the work.
What We Do Differently
- We give real cost and time ranges, not vague "it depends" answers.
- We tell you when to call a professional. Not every project is a DIY project, and pretending otherwise is how people get hurt or make expensive mistakes.
- We test what we publish. If we describe a method, someone on our team has done it, or we've verified it against manufacturer instructions and current safety codes.
- We don't chase pageviews with clickbait. No "12 Tricks Your Plumber Doesn't Want You to Know" nonsense. Just the steps.
Who We Are
Jake Morales — Founder & Lead Editor
Jake has spent over 15 years in residential contracting, home remodeling, and wood shop instruction. After retiring from active job-site management, he started Hammer & Hearth to share straightforward, field-tested guidance directly with homeowners who want to tackle repairs themselves. Jake writes the majority of our step-by-step how-to articles.
Sarah Chen — Technical Reviewer & General Contractor
Sarah is a licensed general contractor with over a decade of hands-on experience specializing in plumbing and electrical systems. She conducts a rigorous technical review of all safety-critical content on the site, ensuring that electrical, plumbing, structural, and safety steps comply with current codes and best practices. If a project is too risky for a typical DIYer, Sarah ensures we add the necessary "when to call a pro" guidelines.
See our Editorial Policy for the details on our review process, and our Affiliate Disclosure for how we handle product recommendations.
Get in Touch
Have a project question, a correction, or a topic you want us to cover? Visit our Contact page — we read every message.
Hammer & Hearth is an independent publisher. We are not affiliated with any tool manufacturer, retailer, or home improvement franchise.