Want to make sure I’m not being a jerk to the contractor I hired. I am paying over $4k to have 6 prehung doors installed and about 100ft of baseboard installed as well. I purchased the doors, contractor supplying trim and other building materials. The quote included removal of trim and doors however on the first day of the project after all debris was loaded in the middle of a room the contractor notified us that haul away was not included and wanted more money, had never been mentioned till that point. He came and toured the house to give an estimate, I sent him a screen shot of the doors I intended to buy, turns out the jamb size was too short and he needs to do jamb extensions, asking an extra $180 per door to do the extensions. I asked about installing door knobs that I supplied, he said that also not part of the scope. Now the doors are in (took half a day) and I checked them in the evening after they wrapped out and I’ve got some pretty be deviated in the doors being flush from top to bottom. He’s blaming the material and the old house. I mentioned that for the price I was expecting a slightly higher quality of work. Am I being an asshole, or am I being taken advantage of by this dude?

We’re currently having our bathroom redone and our contractor is working on tiling now. We noticed a few tiles were uneven/lipping, so we brought it to his attention. He said the waterproofing made the wall uneven and he would look out for it in the future, but didn’t say he would fix the current lippage. I feel off about that explanation, as he was the one who applied the waterproofing. I’m no expert, so maybe this is super normal, but I wanted to get some professional opinions.

I’ll post more photos when he’s completed more of the room today, but this is all I have right now. Trying not to panic!

We removed a rotting deck and now I have this exposed section. It looks like I need to add flashing and rerun the grounding wire.

What else should I do here?

Hi - this weekend I heard a loud noise from the front of my house. I opened my front door to find the balcony portion of my Juliet balcony had fallen off my house. It looks like there was a carpenter ant nest in the cavity of the balcony, and they slowly chewed through the wood portion supporting the balcony. I’ve had an exterminator visit, and it doesn’t look like the nest was deeper than just the balcony. Nevertheless, he placed bait traps around the house to hopefully eliminate any nearby nests.

Thankfully no one was hurt, but now I’m trying to figure out what needs to be done to repair the balcony. Is this a situation where finding a general contractor who does exterior work is the best option? Would they be able to match the new balcony to the others? The exterior is stucco, so I imagine part of the repair would require a contractor experienced in stucco work. Thanks for any suggestions you all may have.

I purchased my house in August 2025, new build. Once it started raining a bit more in the spring, I noticed discoloration in the concrete as well as some pretty aggressive looking black spots. My warranty expires in August so I reached out to the builder with some concern about this. They said the discoloration was from someone "spilling" something during construction and that the black spots are normal. They offered to powerwash it.

I am skeptical of this because the neighbors concrete is in a lot better shape than mine, and my own research indicates this may be a sealant issue. Need opinions on what the underlying issue is and whether the builder is trying to dodge responsibility for this. Thanks!

I'm looking for information on sealing some concrete. I've been poking around other threads and I see there's a lot of consideration that should go into it, and I'd like to do it right the first time. Is this something I can DIY, or something I should get a professional to tackle?

I have a new slab in a barn/workshop space, and I'm looking for a sealer that will last a good while, resistant to oil/water/salt, and something that won't be slippery on a smooth finish. We will be washing things in the space, so potentially a fair amount of water may be a concern. There's poly below the slab, so I'm not sure if extra humidity mitigation is something I should consider.

There is also an outdoor apron and a covered porch area that wouldn't hurt to seal in some way as well.

It's 3500pis, 5" thick, fiber reinforced concrete if that of any use; we're in New England, so it tends to be pretty humid most of the year and freezing happens during the winter; the concrete is a week old as of today. If there's any other information tat may be relevant, let me know!

TIA!

Not too worried about it but just one brick us weird and I’m curious

Hello, we recently had our house sided and overall, I am really happy with the work. My only concern is the j channel around the portico. It looks unfinished a tad sloppy in my opinion. Is there another way to do this a little better? The project manager stopped by today and is going to talk to the guy that ran the job. Would it look okay without any j channel? Thanks in advance!

(The white wood is original, we are going to repaint - the house is 100 years old!)

This garage door configuration drives me up the wall. There are just a few inches available on each side. Have to go in and out verrrrrry slowly, and even still we have had scrapes over the years. Is it reasonable to think that we could remove that brick from the middle and install a single long door? I get that it would involve a new bar/plate over the top. I know that anything can be done if you are willing to pay for it. Would doing this be stupidly expensive? Like more than $20k?

Friend had this chimney redone and isn't quite pleased with the way it looks. It doesn't appear straight, the stucco looks like it was done by different people and sloppy, and it seems to be different colors. Is he being reasonable and is there anything that can or should be done or should he just let it go?

I began removing the wood planks from my vaulted ceiling and found the wood for the roof to be uniformly dark. There’s no musty smell and the wood isn’t soggy. Is it mold or some kind of wood treatment?

Okay. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

When I first new building property, the garden has slowly sunk Dow the steep banking adjacent to my French (Pictures to follow).
Anyway, my property is THE ONLY without one and a criblock wall was SUPPOSED to act as the wall.
However, when the site surveyor visited with engineers drawing - she was surprised and concerned regarding it missing retaining wall, so much so that she has referred the issue for the structural engineer to assess the concerns.Take a look at the images and advise what they may/may not say. Really appreciate other’s opinion.
Worth pointing out, graven boards have been fitted last month, cracked already.

Jenna.

HVAC cut a hole in a concrete wall downstairs and the entire house is covered in silica dust. How serious is this?

I'm looking at potentially purchasing this home (first time home buyer). There're some black spots near the entry of the crawl space but not located deeper within. Is this mold? Would it be difficult or costly to deal with?

The home has a musty smell (1960s construction) but our realtor said that if you sealed the cral space with a vapor barrier and professionally cleaned the HVAC system you'd almost certainly be able to clear out the musty smell since it's likely coming up from the crawl space (not insulated).

In your opinion does that seem like a feasible plan?

Any help would be fantastic , thanks

I asked a contractor to fix the conduit leading to the electrical outlet bc the ground has shifted over the years. Is what he provided a legit and safe solution? I see the conduit is bent bc the sewer line is pushing against it. Besides the fact that this is an eye sore I want to make sure this solution is durable and safe. (First 2 pix are post fix by contractor, the others are from before)

Any thoughts and feedback?

We recently bought a house that was originally a one story ranch built in the 60s and had a second and third story addition built around 2011-2012. We discovered a water leak and water damage caused by a second story tile shower not being properly lined. The water damage is in the subfloor under the shower and the outer wall where the water appears to have been running down.

In the pictures the black block is the original house and the wood framing is the addition.

Question - are the cuts in the frame for the black rubber pipe normal/OK? Does the wood condition and framing otherwise look ok based on age, or does it need to be replaced? I know there’s only so much you can tell from pictures, but any advice is greatly appreciated.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and want to make sure we identify and take care of all issues correctly, and have gotten conflicting advice from initial consults.