In the quiet neighborhood where I grew up, you could always count on three things: kids playing past dusk, the smell of ...

As spring settles in and summer draws near, many South Coast homeowners are stepping outside and discovering the same thing: their deck didn’t make it through the winter as gracefully as they hoped.

There’s something about a squeaky screen door that carries stories. The way it creaks open just a little too slowly, the way it slams shut with a kind of finality—it’s like a voice that’s been part of ...