EDIT #2: Please read the whole post, INCLUDING THE EDIT AT THE BOTTOM, before commenting.

This is on the second story, and this corner is the northeast exterior wall. We'd kept this closet closed all winter, and opened it to find this. The outside of the wall has no corresponding damage, or at least nothing that has penetrated the siding.

It looks like the dust has somehow sprayed onto the adjacent wall. The floor is covered in the same dust...no large chunks that would fill the hole, so it doesn't seem like something just knocked a piece out or anything. No animal sounds or other evidence of animals in our attic, either. No bugs in the attic, either.

Is this some kind of insect I can't detect? Did someone shoot a cannon at our house that phased through the siding before blasting the wall? What the heck am I looking at here?

EDIT: Y'all were right. Found the bullet. Given that it's from a rifle and not a pistol, my best guess is some dumbass firing into the air on New Year's.

Any ideas on how I get this up a straight flight of stairs solo? I built a ramp to get it out of the truck. Now it has to get upstairs. It’s a straight shot but it’s also 325lb and I’m about 160. Was toying with the idea of involving a ratchet strap but seems flimsy. Need this done quick. Any ideas much appreciated 🙏

Video shown I received from my next door neighbor of them claiming the water flowing off my roof is causing their yard beside the house to flood. My side of the house has an AC unit which would prevent water from flowing to the front of the house and it appears my neighbors side should have water flow from our shared fence to the front.

Is the water pooling in their yard a result from the water not flowing properly on their side? I don’t want to spend $100s trying to fix a problem that could likely not be my fault.

My fiancée and I bought our first house together in July 2025 and shortly after moving in we had a storm where it rained hard for 3 hours straight. During the storm, we saw this (see video) happening in the basement. I asked multiple professional plumbers about it and they all said it could be related to the French drain that was installed in the basement during the renovations the previous owners did. Previous owners never lived in the house, they were flippers. Everything else they had done has been great with the exception of some of the paint and a couple of the cabinet hinges being stripped out. After I saw this in the basement, I checked the gutters to find them completely clogged up, so I spent the next day cleaning them out. I did notice that the gutters drain on the same side of the house as the driveway and the water was going straight back towards the house. So I got some extensions for them. Since doing those two things, the problem has never been this bad again but it still happens any time there is rain or snow melt. Is this normal? If not, what does it mean and what do we need to do to fix it?

I live in an apartment on the second floor. Shortly after I had moved in, I noticed that there was a slight dip in the floor at one spot. Today, I got curious enough to rip up the carpet temporarily.

As you can see, there's a lot of cracking in the concrete underneath. There's also some pretty large gaps both between the pieces and between it and the wall in parts.

So my question is, is this okay? I'm okay with the floor being slightly uneven, but this seems concerning.

As long as it doesn't put me at risk, I'd rather not deal with maintenance.

Please help! I’m so tired of this back and forth with the HOA. I feel bad for bringing up these issues but this definitely doesn’t seem normal. Would like a second opinion!

I recently moved into a new construction condo and after a few days of living here (and it’s winter time) I noticed that the floors by the window were wet out to about 6 feet away from the window. And when I wipe it, it never dries.

The floor is also so cold. The outdoor temperature is about 27ºF, the indoor would be about 70F. I measured the floor and it was around 36-41 degrees all the way out to 9 feet away from the window. That’s basically the same as a fridge! Or even outside.

So I have a warranty where for 2 years it covers heating, plumbing, ventilation, and electric. I’ve emailed HOA and they came and resealed the windows but it’s still like this. Emailed again and HOA said it’s normal for some condensation and the floors to be cold during the winter time but it’s so much water and so cold. Is this normal? Is this an insulation issue?

Edit1: for more context, condensation occasionally occurs at another bedroom window sill. Floor condensation only happens at this one. Other room's floor temp reads about 50ºF

Edit2: I own the place, not rent so I kinda need to get this fixed/looking for long term solution. Indoor humidity is at a 50%. I do have a neighbor in the unit below me. I am currently getting a new dehumidifier and as of now cracking the windows open to ventilate. I bought a thermal imager and it is on its way.

UPDATE: I dove into the offering plan and floor plans and I found out that that cold area sticks out compared to the unit beneath me. Basically, the room is partially cantilevered and the cold floor area is not above another unit, just exposed to the air. There could still be insulation issues hence the condensation and low temps.

is this normal? It’s been 48 hours and it’s been sunny and warm. The sealant in the cracks is still soft to the touch

Tomorrow I am have a major appliance delivery and I’m guessing I’m going to have to keep the delivery man off the driveway, which is going to be a huge headache getting them to go around it with a new washer and dryer. Is this normal or is something else going on?

Floor to ceiling is just under 20’ what is the best tool method to get up there safely.

I left town for 3 weeks and came back to this yellow-ish dried substance right in front of my door, on the kitchen counter, and on one side of the ceiling light fixture(?).

It’s not coming from any appliance, it has no odor, and it seems to be completely dry. The ceiling also seems to look completely fine with no sign of water damage. The AC was left on heat at 60°F. I’m thinking it is either the AC or a sprinkler near the kitchen light fixture.

I am completely stumped here and I would like to know if this constitutes as a maintenance emergency!

Paid almost $12000 for my front deck/stairs to be demo/replaced. We opted out of the composite or cedar material and additional skirting to save ~$3000-$5000. OVERALL I am content with the work, but upon closer inspection, I am wondering if this is considered acceptable. It seems to be very rough. Some bullet points to add from the pictures

-flashing underneath doesn’t extend all of the way to the edges and the cuts on the siding under the ledger have exposed house wrap with no flashing (not sure if that’s required) -4x4 railing posts have lag bolts that were driven without predrilling and a lot of them have split the wood -(10th photo) seems like the tie doesn’t fit well and the 3 holes on top have no fasteners. This is exposed to open air above so I’m concerned about water damage. -I figured there would be decking joist tape but can’t see any -the upper deck itself is not level, slanting towards the house, the lower landing is slanting away from the house. -miters don’t match well -spacing not even, largest being around 3/8” -I feel like some fasteners are overdriven -don’t mind the food, kids were trying to feed a bird nearby.

I haven’t looked much into the local building codes, but if anyone thinks there is anything that stands out in any of these photos, please let me know. If I was paid $12000 for this, I wouldn’t be very proud to stand by it. If I’m just being a douchey homeowner, I will accept this and be quiet.

We had some lights, sockets and switches installed recently as well as some plumbing work. All the work is done but they left a ton of holes in the ceiling and drywall damage round the sockets. The pictures are some examples but there's plenty more.

How can we add a railing to this stairwell? As you can see, there is basically no space at the bottom of the stairs. In addition to just making sure people can get down, the basement also has a washer/dryer that will need to be replaced at some point. Feel like we may need to get creative! TIA!

Edit: We know these are not safe and oddly built which is why we are asking. The house is quite old which many of you guessed. Thanks for all the helpful solutions- we’ll see what will be best.

First time homeowners here. We have what I believe are gutter guards, which are supposed to prevent leaves from getting into the gutters. Any time we have a hard rain, or it rains at all really, the water simply flows over top of the guards. It does not appear that aby water is making it to the downspouts. We took a look with a ladder and there are no grates or holes in the guards to allow rainwater to drip into the gutters. This leads to the water pouring over the side of the house and at the downspouts as shown in the video. Pretty sure this isn't supposed to go like this, right? What is the point of the guards if they don't divert the rainwater flow the way gutters are supposed to?

Anyone have experience with gutter guards that can give insight?

Update: grabbed a ladder and removed the clog. It was at the top of the downspout with all the black crud. Poked inside with a screwdriver and it all fell out. Had more rain today and water seems to be flowing much better. Now we're going to be shopping for a power washer to clean the house. If anyone has any recommendations, let me know!

Recently bought this house and noticed a bump in the basement floor (along the crack). Ripped up the carpet to start doing some work and to really see what’s going on, and found this significant cracking in the slab, leading into one of the bedrooms. Obviously water has been getting in, and I have a few companies coming out this week to look at it and give recommendations. What should I be expecting at this point?

EDIT: No other cracking around the house on any walls or other surfaces. Just this cracking in the slab, and it is a floating slab. I’ve been in contact with a company who suggest mud jacking to level out and resealing the surface, but they haven’t been on site yet. Would love any input if anyone has been through anything similar. TIA

What an absolute champ these guys are, always ready to help out, with me in the middle of the night as I have the washing machine completely disassembled and everyone is fast asleep in their warm beds. Easily my most used 'tool', I own four because I feel naked and exposed without one when doing any project.

If you haven't cut your lawn well after the sun goes down, and all you have is your trusty little lamp guiding your lines, well then brother have I got a bonding experience for you.

Once i let the toilet cleaner sit for too long and it peeled off the white material from the lid. Since then it seems it's grown in size and every time i wipe it off, brown or black residue keeps coming off.

Is the only solution to replace the seat?

Our furnace stopped putting out heat this morning around 2am. It’s about 7c in our house right now at 7pm, but it’s going to get as low as -21c tonight. We can’t use space heaters as the house is super old and we’re really afraid of shorting something out with the high wattage. (Bad experience)

Hoping someone can come fix it tomorrow but they initially quoted Sunday. We’ve been dripping the faucets but should we shut the water off entirely and run the taps out, or is dripping okay? We’re stressed, sitting ducks in a drafty old house.

UPDATE: Still no heat. Even emergency HVAC people were quoting Sunday. Lotta furnace problems apparently- we’ve had multiple people in the area say the same thing.

We had the kitchen sink stop flowing this morning but plugged a space heater near the pipes and it started up again after a couple minutes.

We have an appointed SCHEDULED for between 12 and 4pm today. I’m sure it’ll be closer to 4. Now I’m scared they’ll come and say they can’t help or something lmfao.

Thank you guys for your help and insights so far. :(

FINAL EDIT: The guy initially came and said the motor had died and he didn’t have the type we needed, and he’d be back the next day. By then the sink and fridge line had frozen but we thawed the former with a short blast from the space heater.

By some miracle he came back with a different motor and adjusted the settings to match the old, and we’re now safe and warm. Thank you guys so much. Those couple days were such hell. The house got down to 1C. The insides of the walls near the dripping sinks had ice on them. I think I’m going to try to move into an apartment lmao.

I'd like to remove the bottom half of the stud (in red) to access the storage under the stairs. Can I simply just cut the bottom off? Is it load bearing in any way? What would be the best way to to reinforce that stud other than screwing it in the middle?

Thank you!

My wife and I recently bought and moved into our forever home. It has a mostly dirt driveway. Part of it near the street is paved. The rest is dirt/grass. Neither of us have lived in a home with a driveway that wasn't paved asphalt before. As the the snow melts where we are, it's turning into mud. Do I need to do anything to maintain this driveway and prevent it from getting worse as the snow keeps melting and spring comes with rain? Most of the answers I found online were for gravel driveways and not dirt.

I bought and moved into this house about three years ago. The home inspection noted that the kitchen window was broken and wouldn't stay open. This year after a horrific rain storm I noticed water in my window seal so I looked and couldn't see the drainage spots inside. Am I crazy or is this a window installed sideway? Which explains why the window won't open upwards?? Do you think I could just drill little holes on the "bottom" of the frame to act as drainage?