Jill Harness

Freelance Writer

Jill is a contributing writer with over a decade of experience writing on home projects. She specializes in DIY and gardening topics and has written for Hunker and Lifehack.

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Portrait of Jill Harness
Portrait of Jill Harness

About

Growing up with a father who owned his own construction company and multiple rental homes, Jill learned from a young age when to DIY a project and when to call a pro. This knowledge proved useful when she moved into a fixer upper in Santee, California, and soon found herself replacing vanities, hiring termite exterminators, repairing drywall, and more. 

While long interested in gardening, she wasn’t particularly gifted with caring for plants until the pandemic, when she found time to revitalize a strip of weed-filled dirt beside her driveway and establish a large succulent garden. Now she’s working to revitalize her entire dirt patch of a yard. 

Jill has a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University, and has written about home topics for over ten years on sites such as Hunker, Encyclopedia Britannica, Mental Floss, and Neatorama. 

Quick facts

Location
Santee, CA
Education
San Francisco State University (2005)
Expertise
Home Improvement, gardening, landscaping

Highlights

  • Written home improvement and lifestyle tips for Hunker and Lifehack 

  • Hands on experience repairing and improving her own home

  • Enjoys gardening and landscaping

Published work

Articles
When your grass keeps dying where a tree used to be, it’s likely because there is a nutrient deficit in the soil in that area. Here’s how to fix it.
Here’s how to get rid of armadillos humanely to keep your yard free from these burrowing insect lovers whether or not they’ve already moved in.
Building a flood wall around your house is a worthwhile investment. For superior protection in a flood zone, it’s best to hire a pro to do the work for you.
Carpet padding makes your carpet feel extra comfortable and protects your floors from damage, but how much does carpet padding cost? Let’s look at the numbers.
Whether you want to install a new door in your home or repair one that’s been damaged, you’ll need to know how to shim a door.
There are eight common shower pan sizes, which vary based on the shape of the shower. If you want a shower in a unique size, you can custom order a shower pan.
When you hire a painter, you need to understand what goes into painting contracts to ensure your project will go off without a hitch.
This troubleshooting guide can help you figure out what to do if the outlets in a room are not working but the lights are.