Homyprovement

Editorial policy

How we source, how we correct, how often we update, and what role AI plays in producing what you read here.

This editorial policy covers how we source, correct and update everything published here.

Sourcing

We use primary sources, in this order of preference.

  1. The manufacturer's own specification sheet and installation manual. These are published documents and they are authoritative about the product.
  2. The governing standard or code where one applies — the National Electrical Code for circuit requirements, ASCE 7 for snow and wind loads, FMVSS for vehicle classification.
  3. Government and standards body publications — the Department of Energy on water heating, NHTSA on vehicle standards, the CPSC on equipment safety.
  4. Aggregated owner feedback, read for patterns rather than anecdotes. Twelve people reporting the same component failing is a finding; one angry review is not.

We do not cite other publications' reviews as a source for factual claims. If a specification appears here, it came from a document we could open.

Every article carries two to four outbound links to genuinely authoritative sources, and they are plain follow links. We earn nothing from them.

Corrections

We correct in public. When we get something wrong we fix the article and add a dated note explaining what changed and why. We do not silently edit an article to make an error disappear.

For a material error — a wrong specification, a wrong price, a wrong code requirement, a wrong safety statement — the correction note stays on the article permanently. For a typo, we just fix it.

If you find an error, get in touch is the fastest route. Corrections always get a reply, and they are the most useful thing anyone sends us.

Update cadence

Prices: re-checked quarterly, and the last-checked date is displayed everywhere a price appears. Prices in these categories move constantly — a gazebo can swing $500 across a season — so a price without a date is not information.

Specifications: re-checked whenever a manufacturer revises a listing, a model number changes, or a reader tells us something has moved. Retail listings in particular rotate between product variants more often than you would expect, and we note it when we find it.

Article dates: the updated date changes only when the content meaningfully changes. Bumping dates to look fresh to a crawler is a common tactic and we do not do it. If you see a recent date on an article, something was genuinely revised.

AI assistance, stated plainly

AI tooling is used in producing content on this site. Specifically: drafting and restructuring prose, checking consistency across a large body of specifications, and catching contradictions between sources.

What that does not mean:

  • Every article is directed by the named editor, who decides what is covered, what the conclusion is and what the score is.
  • Every number is verified against a primary source before publication. Specification figures are not taken from a model's output; they come from a document.
  • Every editorial judgement is human. Whether a two-year warranty is acceptable on a $5,400 structure is not a question a language model gets to answer here.
  • Nothing is published without being read end to end by the person whose name is on it.

We disclose this because a great many publications are doing something similar and not saying so, and because the alternative — implying a level of manual craft that does not match reality — is the kind of small dishonesty that undermines everything else on a trust page.

If that disclosure changes your view of the work, that is a reasonable response and we would rather you had the information.

What we will not do

We will not remove an accurate criticism because a manufacturer asked. We will correct a factual error at anyone's request, gratefully. We will not soften a conclusion, and if we are asked to, we will say so publicly.

We will not accept guest posts, sponsored content or link insertions. Every article is written under the named editor's byline. Requests to place a link in an existing article are declined without exception, and there is no price at which that changes.

We will not fabricate experience. We do not write "we tested this for six months" about a product we have not held. Where the editor has genuine first-hand experience with something, it is labelled as first-hand and distinguished from the specification work. The reasoning is on how we review.

We will not publish aggregate ratings we did not collect. No star averages, and our structured data deliberately omits aggregateRating — a single-editor publication has no aggregate, and inventing one is both dishonest and a structured-data violation.

Editorial independence and funding

The site is funded by affiliate commissions, disclosed above the first affiliate link on every page that carries one. The full mechanics, including how the codebase is arranged so that commission rates cannot influence editorial content, are on how we are funded.

Questions people actually ask

Do you use AI to write your articles?

AI assistance is used in the production process — drafting, restructuring and checking consistency across a large set of specifications. Every article is directed, edited and fact-checked by the named editor, every number is verified against a primary source, and the editorial judgements are human. We think stating that plainly is better than the alternative, which is a lot of publications quietly doing the same thing and not saying so.

How do you correct mistakes?

We fix the article and add a dated correction note explaining what changed. We do not silently edit. For a material error — a wrong specification, a wrong price, a wrong code requirement — the note stays on the article permanently.

How often do you update articles?

Prices quarterly. Specifications whenever a manufacturer revises a listing or a model changes. The date shown on an article reflects the last substantive change, and we do not bump dates to look fresh to a search engine.

What sources do you consider authoritative?

In order: the manufacturer's own specification sheet and installation manual; the governing standard or code where one applies; a government or standards body publication; and aggregated owner feedback for patterns rather than anecdotes. Other publications' reviews are not a source we cite for factual claims.

Will you remove a negative review if a manufacturer asks?

No. We will correct a factual error at anyone's request and thank them for it. We will not remove or soften an accurate criticism, and we will say publicly if we are asked to.

Do you take guest posts?

No. Every article is written under the named editor's byline, and we do not accept guest contributions, sponsored posts or link insertions.