In recent years, the process of social change through improvement of residences in decaying neighborhoods--gentrification--has itself changed. Traditional families (married with children) and a broader spectrum of the social class spectrum are more likely to be involved. The present research takes an ethnographic perspective and considers the experiences and understandings of a set of families in one urban community as they attempt a variety of home improvement (do-it-yourself or DIY) projects. Although cultural and institutional representations of home improvement are found to be helpful, they frequently fail to capture the complexities of actual home improvement projects. The practical logic of home repair in this community involves leadership, responsiveness, continuing struggle, and compromise. To accomplish the work under circumstances in which ideals do not match reality, these families use humor, exchange, and trial and error. Their lives show that family, home, and community are inseparable in the everyday experience of home improvement. (Contains 1 note.)