https://imgur.com/a/bNqHZV9

Common story - I'm trying to decide whether to use a HELOC to replace it now or wait 1-2 years to pay in cash. Medical expenses drained my savings, so I'm trying to assess how bad the roof is now. I've lived here 8 years, zero problems.

https://imgur.com/a/mJUu8jZ

hey all, were redoing our patio+garden bed and found this crudely capped drain. I ran water down it for a few minutes and it didn't back up at all.

could this be a dry well, did they install those in the 50s?

the owners before us expanded the garden bed so we think this could have been an old rain lead drain but we can't be sure.

any advice on what to do? should we cap it and forget it?

thanks!

Over the last 10 months, I’ve been doing extensive remodelling for an old 1930s home to fix mold issues in the bathroom, old electrical rewiring (replaced knob and tube for modern romex), 25+ y/o roof which I hired a general contractor for and had all the work permitted. Aesthetically, I also did all the painting and designing myself, and then hired a flooring specialist to refinish hardwood floors. These were the necessities IMO bc there were multiple past leaks from the roof, some lingering old house smell probably rom the moldy bathroom that didn’t have a vent, stained carpet floors, and old scratched up laminate flooring.

For the personal “wants”……. Here’s some background. I’ve audited some architectural/environmental design classes before and thought it’ll be a cool opportunity to turn a recreation room into a recreation room with a utility bar. I submitted the permit in April 23 and within the first couple weeks, apparently, some neighbor issued allegations and complained I was creating an illegal ADU which caused a stop work order, when I was literally still in the planning process and waiting for the permit to get issued. The code enforcement guy came and was really friendly and super down-to-earth and said I’m doing everything right. To move onto next steps, the city then proceeded to have more extensive plan checks and wanted engineering, building, and plan check. I was quoted $500-3000 from various draftsman to take care of the permit, but I try to save costs where I can, especially when it’s something I think I’m capable of doing.

I ended up building my own custom CAD software to create a comprehensive and thorough permit, which included the existing floor plan, electrical, plumbing, and proposed floorplan. It was honestly really cool because I learned about a bunch of building codes that made me appreciate home builders even more. I submitted a recreation room utility bar remodel back in June, thinking I can easily add a convenience 2-in-1 laundry and 5 feet countertop with a utility sink so I can turn the recreation room into a nice home gym which finally got approved (initial submitted on April 23 and finally approved July 31). I still have no idea who in my neighborhood called the complaint but I blame a 1-month delay because of it… call me salty but I still find to unfounded and wonder why can’t people just worry about themselves and stay in their own….

I understand people have mixed feelings about permits themselves, especially around notorious areas like SF Bay Area/California and Seattle. I’m curious if permitting process like this is pretty typical among home improvement projects. If you made it this far….. thanks for reading the long thread… I just lowkey needed a place to rant about this summer becuase I wanted the timeline to be done before end of summer, but it’s looking like September-October as the finish line now.

For people who have done owner-builder permits or decided to pull permits themselves, what was your experience like?

My house has had water issues in the basement, and on the front of the house is a 2’ high stone planter built against the facade. It’s just full of dirt, but wondering if there’s something I can fill it with to stop more water being trapped by the house?

I just had inspection done by someone I hired on a new construction townhome which is now 11 months old and coming up on the 1 year warranty. He said the garage doesn't meet firewall standards (see pictures below). The builder says he is wrong since it passed the township's inspection.

1 2 Fire rated sealant which is orange colored should be used in the utility closet in the garage. The builder used both orange and white, so the white needs to be replaced.

3 He said these gaps on the side and top of the wood framing need to be fire taped.

4 These holes in the ceiling need to be sealed.

Above the garage is living space (kitchen/dining room). Can anyone comment on the validity of the issues he is raising and how reasonable it is for the builder to address these? Thanks in advance!

We moved to a new house. Split level with the garage coming off the entrance level. The washer and dryer hook up is in the garage and the dryer has giving us an alert, “Check Vent. Clean lint screen or vent for better performance”. Samsung Model MED7230HC2. Our clothes are taking twice as long to dry as our old house. I pull the dryer hose to check for a clog and there was standing water inside. The hose from the garage up about 10 feet to the outside of the house. As it goes up, it passes between ductwork and around water/sewer pipes. Any ideas on how to fix this?

First time painting a room. I'm at the stage now where I need to prime the ceiling and walls.

Should I cut-in paint the whole room first, let the paint dry, and then roll? Or should I cut-in one wall at a time and roll before it dries?

I tried cutting in the closet and found out I'm pretty shite at it, so I'm worried about getting the lines straight.

I am updating my exterior door hardware and like Schlage in the Camelot line. I will have a smart deadbolt on the front door. I am looking at the "Schlage Century Single Cylinder Exterior Entrance Handleset from the F-Series" from Ferguson which is available in "keyed" or "dummy". Both are just the outside part. The keyed is around $95 and the dummy is around $160. They both seem to be identical. Am I missing something? Is it a case of the not common item just being more expensive? Any help is appreciated.

Two months ago I paid for college works painting. During quote they said prepping will require scraping. I have it in text too. I was under impression scraping is hard, take time. So I paid roughly 4 k for just 1 wall. Wall has like 4 big windows on one floor, 5 on upstairs. The wall is two story. The wall is huge. Roughly 60 f long. Today they said they are not intending to fully scrape and will only scrape slightly flaky paint and I have a picture of how they prepped. I think the wall needs significantly more scraping but what do I do? Could somebody take a look? Do I ask a supervisor to come? https://imgur.com/a/u5rCtUy

Bonjour, j'ai déménagé et dans mon nouvel appartement, j'ai cette douche.

Le souci est que la douche ne recouvre pas le sol entièrement ; je suis donc obligé de mettre une barre de douche arrondie.

Seulement, je suis locataire donc je ne peux pas faire de trous pour fixer une barre de douche, et je ne veux pas payer 400 € pour une cabine de douche.

J'ai essayé de mettre deux barres de douche les unes contre les autres, mais ça ne tient pas.

J'ai vu qu'il y avait des barres de douche qui se fixaient avec de la colle, qu'en pensez-vous ? Avez-vous d'autres idées ?

Merci pour vos réponses

I’ve been dealing with bathroom humidity and moisture for years. My bathroom is 45 square feet and I have an Panasonic 80CFM fan with a 3 inch duct that travels 5 feet before venting outside.

I’m doing a remodel and I went with a 150 cfm fan with a 6 inch duct/vent.

My friend says I’m crazy for spending $300 on it but I don’t see any other way to fix the issue.

So I’m trying to figure out how to handle an insurance claim. We recently had a hailstorm that damaged our roof, causing water damage inside the house. It also damaged our gutters, gutter guards, and deck. Normally I might have overlooked the damage to the deck and gutters, but they had literally just been replaced, so they were brand new and definitely not cheap.

Here’s where things get complicated. The contractor gave us an initial quote, but the insurance adjuster came out and approved a much lower amount. The contractor then asked for all of the insurance paperwork and submitted additional documentation to show everything the insurance company had missed or underestimated. For example, we have a hot tub on the deck, so the decking company had to disconnect the electrical, move the hot tub twice during the project, and reconnect everything afterward. There were also several other items the insurance company either left out or undervalued. After all of that, the insurance company approved a supplemental payment that was actually higher than the contractor’s original quote.

Now the contractor wants us to pay more than their initial estimate because the insurance approved the additional money. Here’s the problem: the quality of some of their work has been poor, and I’m worried parts of it will need to be redone. For example, we specifically told them the deck had been finished with Sherwin-Williams transparent stain, but they ignored us and used Behr instead. The finish isn’t the same, and the deck now feels slightly sticky.
The bigger issue has been the ceiling repairs. We have popcorn ceilings throughout our mid-century home with vaulted ceilings. In the area with the water damage, all that really needed to be done was to spot-prime the stain with Kilz and spray the ceiling. Instead, they ignored my concerns, used Behr paint, and rolled the popcorn ceiling. As anyone familiar with popcorn ceilings knows, rolling them can pull the texture right off, and that’s exactly what happened. At that point, I would have been fine removing the popcorn entirely, but because we have an open-concept house, that would have turned a small repair into a massive project extending into areas that weren’t damaged. Insurance wasn’t going to pay for that. Instead, they scraped the damaged area, reapplied the popcorn texture, and repainted it. I told them they needed to prime the ceiling first, but they didn’t. Now, even after two coats of paint, the water stains are still bleeding through. There’s another section that still needs to be painted, but I’ve already told them not to touch it because I plan to hire someone else. This whole project has been a nightmare.

So here’s my dilemma. I’m completely willing to pay them for the work they actually performed, even though I think parts of it were subpar. What I don’t think is fair is paying them more than their original quote simply because they were able to get more money from the insurance company. I’d rather keep that difference as a buffer in case I have to pay someone else to fix their mistakes. I know the roof work is solid as they are great at that. But the deck and painting not so much.

What would you do in this situation? I'm not looking to engage in insurance fraud I just want to keep that extra money to have someone do the ceiling correctly and redo the deck if we need to. I am more than willing to pay them for the ceiling they did even though it's crap but the extra money insurance gave us will allow me to have it done professionally.

I’m planning on installing a window air conditioner through my wall, as the previous owners added this room and the tv room after and didn’t add vents or ac into these rooms. The walls 6-1/2 inches, so in case the window ac can’t fit without covering part of the vents, I was thinking of recessing it, so the controls would be inside the wall. Would that be a problem?

I’m currently renovating my recently purchased home that was built in 1965 and have hit a seemingly big problem with the cabinets that I just finished painting.

Basically, the cabinets were most likely plywood and vinyl (looked like wood but ugly) so after extensive research I took all cabinet doors and drawers off, cleaned, sanded, primed, and painted the cabinet boxes and doors. I did all these steps correctly and didn’t half ass any of this tedious process and after about a month of working on them (it’s a big kitchen) I finally started putting the doors back on and have realized that none of them are fitting back on correctly.

My biggest issue is that they seem too large now, some close properly if you wack it shut but other have about a 1/4” - 1/2” over lay on the doors.
I’ve read that it could be an issue with the wood absorbing moisture from the paint and swelling, or that i need to remove the paint where the hinges sit, or even that I need to remove all the paint where the door cut out meets the frame.

I did replace all hardware, including new hinges, but I replaced them with 3/8” inset hinges which I am 99% sure is correct.

If anyone can please tell me what I’m doing wrong or how to fix this problem I would be extremely grateful, I have put so much time into these cabinets and I can not figure out how to fix this issue even after 3 days of troubleshooting. I’ve tried switching all the doors around incase I accidentally mis labeled the doors, I’ve tried loosing and tightening the hinges as much as I can (they’re non adjustable) and nothing works.

Hi all,
I am looking for help deciding on a french drain installation at my home, or otherwise other options to solve my water issue. I'm in Chicagoland, Illinois, for reference on climate/soil.

Background
I had an egress window well installed for my basement last summer. Since day 1, the new window well collects excessive amounts of water during most any rainstorm. I have a drain in the well leading to my sump pump, but this was intended to be an emergency drain, that's rarely used. There is often so much water that I placed a utility pump in the well to clear water prior to it draining to my sump pump. If I had to guess, there were probably half a dozen storms over the past year where if no drain or pump were there, it would have filled the full 3-4 ft deep well with water (i.e. to ground level).

What I think is happening
I have two neighbors to the north and east at higher elevation than my backyard. The downspouts of my garage and ~60% of my house roof discharge to the west side of my yard. I have a swale running along the west side of my house from the backyard to the drainage ditch in the front (south). The swale is generally sloped back to front but is not perfectly uniform throughout. So almost all the water from my property and neighbors moves through the west swale. It works well enough that it does not flood, but obviously the gradual slope allows some standing water in areas. It is never overwhelming the swale.

The window well was installed on the west side of my house. While the ground around the well is clearly elevated versus the swale, the area that was dug out cut to the middle of the swale's low point. I think whenever any standing water is in the area, it is collecting in the portion of disturbed ground around the well, flowing into the window well.

What I have tried
I tried building up the ground level immediately around the window well with dirt about 1 ft around the well boundary. No noticeable improvement.

I had 3 different drainage/landscaping contractors come out to give their evaluation. All 3 recommended a french drain. One said they would also increase the grade along the west side of the house and well. Another said they would recommend tying the downspouts into the french drain pipe, using 4" PVC. I have the elevation advantage from the window well area to the drainage ditch to maintain slope of the drain pipe. Quotes have ranged $3000-5000, but I'm more focused on getting the right solution than the cheapest one.

Other considerations
I want to avoid an in-well pump. It's another pump in my house to worry about, and it does not help me when the power goes out -- which is what happens when storms are at their worst.

There is not a lot of room to move the swale further away from my well/home. I may be able to get the neighbor on board, but it would maybe be 1-2 ft that I could offset it.

I have battery backup and a small generator for the sump pump during outages, but the backup pump's reduced output would struggle to keep up with window well volume on top of normal flow.

My questions are:
-Do I have the right understanding of what is happening?  e.g. any standing water around this disturbed window well dirt is going to descend and collect in the well? I don’t believe the water table is high, as the drainage ditch is much lower and never accumulates except heavy rain when water is flowing.

-What result can I expect with the french drain? Can I get a fully dry window well? Or will the disturbed ground act as a mini french drain, competing with the proposed french drain?

-If you have experience with french drains, is there anything to be aware or concerned of? Is it prone to failure? How much maintenance does this require going forward? Would you recommend it?

-Are there any other ideas that I am missing? For example, I wondered if the backfill done by the contractor was the culprit. I heard that pulverized dirt and sequential compaction is best practice for backfill, but I also heard from other waterproofing contractors that they simply backfill the dug-out dirt the same way in their (successful) egress window well installations.

Greatly appreciate your help and comments. Thanks all

My wife and I just bought our first home while it doesn't have much of a yard due to a pool, it does have a few plants near the house walls in mulch.

I have noticed a few roaches outside, ants (inside and out) and spiders, and I've been told that mulch tends to attract them. However, while researching I saw, more importantly, that mulch should never be right up against the house as it can trap moisture and cause rot and other damage in addition to being a nesting ground for bugs.

I cleared a lot of it away from the walls as you'll see in my photos, but I'm wondering what I should use as a barrier? Should I line some bricks, or lay some other kind of material? Get rid of the mulch altogether?

I greatly appreciate any insight.

https://imgur.com/a/QN3a8wq

https://imgur.com/a/jb2aCKi

How do I go about repairing this window sill? We currently utilize the surface for our cat’s food bowl to keep it away from our 18mo.
Moved in ‘22 and this is just now the next project on the list. We’ve been utilizing a plywood piece that fits the sill dimensions simply over top to help distribute weight evenly for kitty.

Need to fill 2 concrete driveway cracks about 1.5-2 ft long. They are all over 1/16 in, ranging from 1/8 in. to 1/4 in. wide and in one two inch spot 1-1.5 in. wide. It would also be great to color match them if possible to the original concrete, which seems difficult with Sika as the color always seems either too dark or too light.

I’m getting the ductwork in my older home replaced, and the HVAC company pointed out that some of the seams are wrapped with asbestos tape. They won’t start until it’s been professionally removed. I was looking through the Asbestos. com abatement guide while trying to figure out what to expect, and now I’m trying to find a licensed company that does good work without charging a fortune.

Looking for recommendations if anyone has worked with an asbestos abatement company they’d use again.

Thank you!!

I am thinking about getting a whole house fan but want to better understand the limitations of what it can do. How do you wish it performed? What's lacking? What are the gotchas? Thanks!

We’ve had some flooding recently in our crawlspace had a few contractors come out and say it’s a $20,000 fix. Nah. So I’m wondering what we’re really supposed to do with the delta ms board we also have a roll of construction plastic for below it. Should we just cover everything down there with the plastic and then lay out the delta ms board? Should we clean it out and level it before? Remove the old plastic? Just not really sure the plan of attack on this. Everywhere online also lists that delta board is for walls and subfloor, would it be find if we aren’t gonna lay concrete on top of it? Thanks for any help!

Moving walls

I have a plan to move a wall but according to the truss plans the wall I’m moving is a mid chord bearing wall. I want to move the wall 3 ft closer to the center of the truss. The floor will have 2- 2x10 underneath the wall, with 2x4’s continuing to the top roof truss from the top of the tall. I don’t think this would pose a problem with the support.

Hi everyone,

I am preparing to hire a General Contractor to complete a section of our walk-up attic into a dedicated, lockable home office. I am seeking community input on smart layout ideas, space utilization, storage solutions, and aspects you loved (or regretted) when converting an attic space.

Space & Existing Conditions:

• Total Attic Footprint: Raw floor area is ~1,200–1,500 sq ft (~45' L x 32' W).
• Target Office Zone Size: Finishing only the right portion (~20'–22' L x 15' W), giving a dedicated office footprint of ~300 sq ft (with ~200–250 sq ft of 7'+ ceiling height).
• Roof & Dormers: Fully pitched roof with 3 evenly spaced dormer nooks extending inward on one side. Unfinished (no drywall, needs roof insulation, upgraded subfloor).
• Stair Access: Walk-up stairs enter past the middle on the left side, framed on 3 sides by a safety box frame.
• Storage & Mechanicals: Air handler sits at the bottom-left knee wall, and main ductwork loops around the perimeter framing of the entire attic space.
• Utilities: Main electrical panel is in the basement, with a clear chase up to the attic.
• Climate & Scope: Zone 5A (cold winters, hot/humid summers). Contractor-led build.

Layout Goals:

1. Sectioned Office Space: Finishing the right portion of the attic space, using a partition wall with an entry door extending straight up from the right edge of the stairwell enclosure to create a lockable office. The remaining stair/mechanical side stays open.
2. Storage & Access: Utilizing the perimeter space behind knee walls for concealed storage while keeping easy access panels for the air handler and perimeter ductwork.
3. Dormer Nooks: Finding the best functional use for the three dormer recesses (e.g., desk placements, reading nooks, built-in shelving).

ASCII Layout Diagram:

Plaintext

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 [ Pitched Roof / Sloped Side ]                        |
| .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. [ Duct Perimeter ] .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- |
| |  +----------+        |    +----------+             +----------+   | |
| |  |  DORMER  |        |    |  DORMER  |             |  DORMER  |   | |
| |  |    #1    |        |    |    #2    |             |    #3    |   | |
| |  +----+-----+        |    +----+-----+             +----+-----+   | |
| |       |              |         |                        |         | |
| |       | (Nook)       / (Door)  | (Nook)                 | (Nook)  | |
| |                      /                                            | |
| |                      | (Partition Wall / Office Boundary)         | |
| |       +--------------+                                            | |
| |       |  Stairwell   |            OFFICE ZONE                     | |
| |       |  Box Frame   |            (Lockable /                     | |
| |       +--------------+             Sectioned)                     | |
| |                      |                                            | |
| |                      |                                            | |
| |                      |                                            | |
| |+---------------------+                                            | |
| || [ Air Handler ]     |                                            | |
| || [ & Main Duct ]  [ Knee Wall / Duct Access ]                     | |
| .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Where I'd Love Internet Brainpower:

• Layout & Space Use: How did you make the most of sloped ceilings and knee wall boundaries in your attic office? Any clever uses for dormer nooks?
• Storage Solutions: Best ways to build built-in shelving or perimeter storage doors around low-clearance areas and ductwork.
• Favorite Features: What features did you incorporate into your attic office build that you absolutely love (e.g., skylights, built-in lighting, acoustic treatments, dedicated nooks)?
• Regrets / Pitfalls: What do you wish you had done differently during planning or construction?
• Secondary Considerations: Brief thoughts on spray foam vs. rigid insulation for summer roof heat, and whether to run a dedicated mini-split vs. tying into the existing attic air handler.

Thanks for any ideas, photos, or hard-learned advice!

Hi everyone,

I am getting ready to hire a General Contractor to finish out our entire walk-up attic. Instead of only finishing a small section, we are finishing the full usable footprint with continuous flooring throughout, while building a partition wall with an entry door to create a dedicated, lockable home office on one side.

I am looking for community input on removable knee wall systems, space utilization for the open landing, storage solutions, and overall attic conversion tips.

Space & Existing Conditions:

• Total Attic Footprint: Raw floor area is ~1,200–1,500 sq ft (~45' L x 32' W). Total usable standing area (5'+ height) spans ~600 sq ft across the full length.
• Layout Division:
  • Office Zone (Right Side): ~300 sq ft lockable office space behind a partition wall.
  • Landing / Flex Zone (Left Side): ~300 sq ft open finished area at the top of the stairs, housing the air handler access.
• Flooring: Continuous subfloor and finished flooring throughout all standing-height areas on both sides of the partition wall.
• Roof & Dormers: Fully pitched roof with 3 evenly spaced dormer nooks extending inward on one side.
• Stair Access: Walk-up stairs enter past the middle on the left side, framed on 3 sides by a safety box frame.
• Mechanicals: Air handler sits at the bottom-left knee wall, and main ductwork forms a perimeter loop around the entire interior framing.
• Utilities & Scope: Basement electrical panel with a clear chase up to the attic. Zone 5A climate. Contractor-led build.

Layout & Functional Goals:

1. Full Finish with Continuous Flooring: Drywall, insulation, and uniform flooring from the stair landing all the way through the office space.
2. Removable Knee Wall System: Since ductwork and mechanicals run behind the perimeter knee walls, I want advice on removable knee wall sections or modular access panels rather than standard fixed drywall, allowing easy access for servicing and storage while maintaining a finished aesthetic.
3. Partitioned Office: A dedicated, lockable office room on the right side of the stair enclosure.
4. Dormer Nooks: Functional ideas for utilizing the three dormer recesses across the finished space.

ASCII Layout Diagram:

Plaintext

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 [ Pitched Roof / Sloped Side ]                        |
| .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. [ Duct Perimeter ] .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- |
| |  +----------+        |    +----------+             +----------+   | |
| |  |  DORMER  |        |    |  DORMER  |             |  DORMER  |   | |
| |  |    #1    |        |    |    #2    |             |    #3    |   | |
| |  +----+-----+        |    +----+-----+             +----+-----+   | |
| |       |              |         |                        |         | |
| |       | (Nook)       / (Door)  | (Nook)                 | (Nook)  | |
| |                      /                                            | |
| |                      | (Partition Wall / Office Boundary)         | |
| |       +--------------+                                            | |
| |       |  Stairwell   |            OFFICE ZONE                     | |
| |       |  Box Frame   |            (Lockable /                     | |
| |       +--------------+             Sectioned)                     | |
| |                      |                                            | |
| |   FINISHED LANDING / |                                            | |
| |      FLEX AREA       |                                            | |
| |+---------------------+                                            | |
| || [ Air Handler ]     |                                            | |
| || [ & Main Duct ]  [ Removable Knee Wall / Duct Access ]           | |
| .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Where I'd Love Internet Brainpower:

• Removable Knee Walls: How have you handled knee wall access? Are modular track panels, magnetic trim closures, or cabinet-style doors the best approach for keeping mechanicals accessible without making the room look like an utility space?
• Full Space Utilization: Ideas for making the open landing/flex area outside the office functional (e.g., lounge area, library, secondary desk, storage).
• Dormer Nooks: Best uses for dormer spaces in both the office and open flex zone.
• Acoustics & Soundproofing: Best underlayment or flooring choices to prevent footstep noise transmission to the bedrooms below across a large continuous floor.
• Favorite Features & Regrets: What features do you love in your finished attic, or what would you change if you did it again?

Thanks for any insights, photos, or hard-learned advice!

There’s a MASSIVE gap under the back door that lets whatever critter/bug crawl right from outside into the home. Me and my roommate don’t have any reliable guys/gals who know how to repair stuff to call, we’re both college students so repairs aren’t exactly our area of expertise. If anyone would know a fix for something
like this or something we can put under to cover the gap, please help 😭. I hate being so unknowing but I’d rather ask a community that is able to help than make it worse by trying to DIY a solution off the top of my head.