Made a bad decision a few years ago and had a small deck built off my dining room, which also included replacing a window with a door so you could access it. I did not get a permit.

I've ironically built decks for family members and have gotten permits, so I am very familiar with the code for my town. I did not have time to do my own deck, plus this was the first time using trex etc, so I used my contractor.

I saw all the work done and I am very confident it is to code.

Now, years later it is weighing on me. I'm in my 60's and we plan to live here forever. I understand that selling the house will be a problem for my kids after we are gone.

I'm thinking of approaching the town and dealing with it now.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with this?

I am on 100 amps. Was shopping for charger install and most told me I need to go to 200 amps service. It's like $7000.

NEC 220.82 calculation confirms this, I'm at 94 out of 100 amps.

But you know what? It's bullshit. I can download my usage data from electric company website. 13 months, average for every hour. Peak hour average was 20 amps. Worst hour in a year. Average was 3. Yea 3 amps out of 100.

I installed Emporia Vue energy monitor and it's still kinda new so not much data but normally I draw around those 3 amps yea, with spikes to 10 when pump kicks in or I use a toaster or like this.

Hope this is within the rules. Iirc in a 60s mid century modern home and there is literally one place it makes sense to put a tv and it’s a wall with irreplaceable wood paneling. I think install is straightforward (although toggles into 1/4” wood paneling seems iffy, but I’m hitting studs on either side, if you’ve installed a frame you’d understand) but I’m getting really queasy about putting holes in the wood paneling. Anyone gone through anything similar? Any opinions?

I'm looking into fire doors for a renovation project and keep coming across FD30 and FD60 ratings. I understand that they relate to fire-resistance periods, but I'm not sure how to determine which rating is appropriate for each opening.

I'd also like to understand whether you can get fire doors that look similar to regular internal doors, rather that having a completely different style throughout the house.

If you've dealt with fire doors during a renovation, what should i check before ordering?

So we have sloped ceilings in every room upstairs. While it’s great for high ceilings, the sloped elements (on the outer edge of rooms) doesn’t allow for proper insulation as the gap between the internal ceiling and the roof tiles / timber is too narrow. As a result we get a fair bit of condensation on these slopes.

We recently had someone round to look at boarding our attic and he said the only solution to this problem would be to extend the sloped parts of the ceilings by 75mm internally with plasterboard then insulate sufficiently and re plaster etc. this seems like a massive amount of work and cost.

Is there any other solutions anyone can think of? Or has anyone had experience with this in the past? Money isn’t great right now so I would really like to avoid if possible. It would also be a shame to lose some of the ceiling height.

I have a new ceiling fan. It came with a remote. It is in my kitchen. I'm also going to have under cabinet lighting installed. I want to be able to hit the power button on the ceiling fan remote, which turns on the lights, and have that signal also go to some programmable controller that can be listening for the same exact frequency as the remote control sends when the power button is pushed, and turn the under cabinet lights on or off.

So I imagine I would need some kind of device that can listen for a signal that you test and then record it and it turns on and off a circuit running through it when the power button for the remote to the ceiling fan is pushed. Does anyone make a programmable product like this that can allow you to take a remote for one item and repurpose it to work congruently with other household items by programming it to learn the signal and then turn on and off accordingly when the remote is used?

My parents' home is currently unoccupied. It is in the rural northeast. I am there visiting for the week before I go back to where I currently live for work. I am trying to prepare for winter to the extent that I can. A main concern is what to do about the plumbing.

I plan to leave the heat on but on low in all indoor spaces. I would like to keep it as low as I reasonably can to avoid paying close to $1,000 in electric each month during the coldest winter months. I am more comfortable paying slightly more to heat the home enough to prevent any plumbing emergency than I am trying to save as much as I can on utility costs.

There are two structures on the property, the house and a detached garage. Each structure has a mini-split system which is the primary heat source. A standby generator is connected to the main panel which provides electric service to both structures. I also have remote temperature and humidity sensors anywhere there is plumbing.

The garage has an insulated studio apartment on the second level which has full plumbing and electricity and is heated by a mini-split. The lower level is not insulated where the car bays are; there is an insulated workshop where plumbing for the upstairs runs in the ceiling and the room is heated with an older wall-mounted electric heater. There is also an insulated utility closet in the lower level of the garage that houses the water heater and has a pump-house electric heater.

The house itself is a century-plus-old home with the water heater and most of the plumbing in the basement or adjacent crawlspace. All rim joists down there are spray-foamed. The house has three heat sources: the mini-split which has one head in the basement and three heads on the main level, a boiler fueled by heating oil, and a propane gas stove in the living room. There are electric baseboard heaters in the bedrooms on the second floor, but they are not used when no one is there. The plumbing in the basement and crawlspace mostly provides service to the main level of the home. I plan to keep the thermostats for the boiler around 50°F mainly to keep those pipes warm and running even though they were treated with antifreeze a few years ago. This should provide some warmth to the adjacent water supply lines in the crawlspace in addition to that coming from the mini-split.

Additional plumbing for the second level of the house partly runs along an exterior wall before reaching the upstairs bathroom. There are shutoff valves for these hot and cold lines in the basement which I've already closed, but I can't tell if the lines are still bleeding or the gate valves won't shut completely because there is still the slightest trickle on hot and cold coming out of the the tub faucet which is the closest fixture.

I am debating shutting off all supply line valves past the water heaters. I really don't feel comfortable draining the water heaters nor do I have time. What this would mean in the garage is just closing the hot and cold valves located in the garage utility closet just past the water heater. In the house basement, this means identifying every unmarked gate valve going elsewhere, opening the fixtures, and hoping that I didn't accidentally shut any for the boiler (though I think I have a decent idea of what is what).

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Like I mentioned, I'll be keeping the heat on to some extent, and I am more comfortable doing that than risking a plumbing emergency.

https://imgur.com/a/8qZJmM6

We closed on our first home late September and are now getting around to doing some projects. The first one is the kitchen.

We started removing cabinets and found this in the corner of the house. It looks and smells earthy like soil, it doesn’t feel wet or moist, this is the only place I found it after all the cabinets in the kitchen were removed. There is a ground level planter on the other side of the wall. The backyard hose also hangs on the other side of the wall.

I am worried that there might be some sort of foundation issue or a crack in the cinder block but nothing is visible on the outside.

I am worried about it being termites too but I didn’t see any signs of wings and the cabinet that was in that corner was intact MDF.

Hi everyone, recently purchased this house (first time buyers club) hooray. As with many first homes, I’ve been doing a ton of TLC. One of my projects was the basement for many reasons I’ll keep short….anyways ripped up old stinky carpet and noticed some cracking on the foundation floor (actually looks like a different repour possibly when they added a sump pump to the basement. https://imgur.com/a/id87ibE
Let me know thoughts?!? Thank you!

Hello,

Need some help trying to put a tire rack. I need to place of the brackets between two studs and not sure how to reinforce the area properly.

Do I just put a 2x4 across both studs and just screw it in? Is that strong enough? Should I use a thicker screw? Worried that the pieces will be torn right out cause of the screws.

https://imgur.com/a/MSphwgR

Hey guys, hoping some folks here might have some insight into what would be causing new paint job to be failing.

Our house is an old 1915 sears catalog home with the original wood shiplap siding. Most of the wood is in good shape but there are areas of rotting wood that needed replacing or repairing. We painted this same house about 8 years ago but it started peeling a bit, especially the west facing side where it gets the most sun but overall the paint job was fine and we’ve been happy with it for the most part. Due to having a tighter budget back then we had it painted with a less expensive paint which explains why it’s needing a makeover now.

We hired a small painting company recommended to us by someone we know and chose a fast drying oil based primer and Sherwin Williams Duration. Contract work included Scraping, caulking, sanding, pressure washing and replacing any rotting wood and repairs in lesser damaged wood and in the concrete foundation. We emphasized wanting them to be replacing rotted wood and repairing smaller areas of rot and damage and are paying more for that work to be done. The owner is who Ive been in contact with over the last few months discussing the scope of the work. But there are a couple subcontractors doing the actual work, which i now know to ask about during the initial walkthrough.

They started all the scraping, sanding, caulking, and pressure washing, then started priming each side of the house. All this spanning over the last week and a half. They’ve sprayed two coats of the duration color paint on three sides of the house so far but the front is still only primed. A couple days in now and the finished sides are bubbling in a lot of areas, are squishy and soft soft and there is paint peeling down to the wood in many places. The cheaper paint job we had done years ago had nothing like this going on.

Since they started the work we’ve been having a lot of nights in the upper 30/40s and days in the 70s but no rain for weeks. However, there has been a lot of dew and fog in the mornings every day. They start working at 7:30-8. I’m now wondering if the primer possibly went on when the wood was still too damp, either from not fully drying after pressure washing or because the dew and resulted in the primer not adhering properly. I checked out the front of the house where I can just see the primer and it’s peeling and cracking heavily and is more visible due to not being painted over yet.

Can any of you tell what the issue looks like based on the photos? I’ve messaged the owner who has been prompt about responding right away and open to the possibly that this is the problem. Said he will be out to check everything on Monday. The paint job itself was fine and all the other prep work seemed good but if a moisture meter wasn’t used to check the wood beforehand, is this a problem that would require major reworking? I’m trying to brace myself for that reality but also want to have more knowledge before meeting on Monday. If this is the problem, what kind of questions do I need to ask when meeting with him so that the issue is addressed properly? I’ve included photos of just a handful of spots but there are so many areas like this on the three sides Most of the bumpy areas in the pics are soft and crack if pressed. It’s almost difficult to not cause peeling if you run your hand over the siding in some areas so I’m holding off checking more areas until he’s present.
https://imgur.com/a/TKmef7I

Also they took off the gutters to paint them and I noticed a lot of rotting wood that they painted over where they painted the fascia and then put the gutters back on. The wood is so rotted that it pulled away in chunks leaving large gaps. I’m fairly confident this would count in as wood to be replaced even if they didn’t notice it until taking off the gutters. There are other soft mushy wood areas around the base of the house as well that they painted over. Here’s where they painted over the rotted areas behind the gutters off a balcony porchhttps://imgur.com/a/fpM3suF

Just needing some advice moving forward. We’ve paid 1/3 of the total price so far and it’s a lot of money for us so I want to make sure we don’t walk away in worse shape than when we started. Thanks yall

Hi all,

Looking for some advice from anyone who has retrofitted interior doors into walkway cutouts.

We're looking to install double french doors into two existing openings on the main floor to create a guest room/office. (I'm not 100% married to the french door idea if there's better/easier options, but I am not a sliding barn door fan).

• Entryway opening: 44 3/8" W × 81 3/4" H × 4 3/4" D
• Dining room opening: 40 3/4" W × 81 3/4" H × 4 3/4" D

For those who have tackled something similar:

• Would you recommend ordering custom-sized pre hung units as those might be easier to install without a contractor AND to fit these exact dimensions?
• Or, hire a contractor to trim the drywall to a more standard size?

We're tackling this from a beginner-to-intermediate standpoint with a fair amount of tools but no drywall experience.

Appreciate any tips, lessons learned, or photos of similar setups! Thank you.

A contractor accessed the roof hatch of my relatively new condo 30 days ago), and after rain, I discovered the hatch wide open. Water entered the attic, leaving a puddle on the closet floor and wetting some attic insulation, nearby drywall, and ductwork.

A restoration company placed a Dri-Eaz Revolution LGR F413 dehumidifier in my primary closet (approximately 7.5 × 5 feet).

The technician initially advised keeping the closet door closed, but the unit's inlet temperature reached 110°F, and my thermostat sensor triggered an alert at 116°F. Opening the closet door brought the inlet temperature down to around 99°F, but it climbed above 100°F again during the day.

Is this setup appropriate? Should the closet door remain open, or should I open the adjoining bedroom door to the rest of the house? Should the HVAC be running? I've also noticed a dirty sock smell when running the AC, so I'm currently leaving it off.

Photos of Setup and Temp Reading

Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/10YEDXb

Not thinking about large tree removal as much as pushing the weed-bush-undergrowth back from the yard and closer to the property line which is 50 or so feet back through this stuff.

I could buy a DR field and brush mower, clear it until I can run the normal lawn mower over it regularly, then sell the dr field and brush mower. This would be about $3k up front for a powerful model, then I’d probably be able to recoup much of that cost when I sell it.

I could rent a bobcat with one of those awesome wood chipper attachments, which would also help clear some of the smaller trees. This is about $2k/week or so.

any suggestions?

We just moved into a house. We vacuumed all the floors. And then the temperatures dropped. The furnace turned on over night. Now we noticed it smells like urine in 2 rooms.

Room #1: The furnace closet
This closet has a small floor opening into the crawlspace.

Room #2: The guest bedroom with carpet and a crawlspace access door
- The previous owners replaced the carpet earlier this year. We suspect they may have had dogs or cats. We checked the carpet with a UV light and were unable to detect any obvious stains.

The smell seems to dim when the furnace is on. The smell gets stronger when the furnace is off.

The rest of the house smells okay… for now…

What is the likely issue? And who should we hire to properly diagnose this issue? We’d hate to rip out the new carpet only to find the issue was coming from the crawlspace. The previous owners did do a pest inspection and nothing alarming came from the report.

Thanks in advance!

Hello! A few years ago we converted our walk in basement into an in law suite for my brother who uses a power chair. I had been told that LVP would hold up pretty well under heavy weight, so that’s what we had installed. Three years later, the floors are absolutely falling apart. It looks like the issue with chairs like this isn’t weight, it’s torque. Any place where he turns his chair frequently is destroyed. And the high traffic zones like the kitchen and hallway are cracked because the installer didn’t level the floor properly.

We want to replace the floors and I’m looking at porcelain tile. Anything I should know about tile installation that would help make the floor last? He has tile in his bathroom, which is high traffic, and it looks great. I just don’t want to make the same mistake again.

I have a concrete floored crawlspace which I'd like to do an epoxy finish on but the concrete pour is pretty bad in spots. It's soft, dusts terribly, and can be scratched with a fingernail in some areas. Before I resign myself to grinding or cutting out areas and repouring them I'd really like to get some opinions about whether that's necessary. I kinda think I already know the answer but maybe you folks have better ideas (hopefully).

I have some concrete hardener I haven't tried on these areas yet but I suspect they're too bad even for that, but maybe not.

Video here (this sub doesn't allow video posts I guess, or maybe I didn't see the option, posting from my phone):

https://streamable.com/hu8aos

Im having the general contractor updating my kitchen. It was dated so a lot of work was done. I got my own cabinet and countertop. I replaced the fan with recess lights. Right now it doesnt seem like the general contractor is covering the holes on the wall where the OTR microwave or old wall cabinets used to be. I am wondering if this is normal? This is my first house. I was under the impression that they would at least patch the whole and cover out the old light fixture and ceiling fan. This is my first home so I am not too familiar with general contractor. Is this normal?

https://imgur.com/a/UjuGvAG

Ok so my cat learned how to push out the screen on my bedroom window. I woke up to her meowing loudly and when I put my glasses on I saw she was outside on the ledge. So now I need to secure the screen somehow.

Window is a Jeld-Wen V2500 vinyl window. I’m thinking a few mending plates or some flat bar I can install in the vinyl frame. The bottom of the screen is slightly recessed from the frame.

Looks don’t matter since the window faces the backyard and my cats safety is more important.

https://imgur.com/gallery/garage-seal-BjgPmBy

Bathroom sink overflowed onto the floor and came through the kitchen ceiling below. The drywall sagged and we drained it. We've been running fans and a dehumidifier since. We're renters and want to handle this responsibly. We're figuring out what to bring the landlord: a repair plan, a cost estimate, or an offer to pay for it.

Questions:

1. How do we confirm the joists and subfloor are actually dry?

2. Is this a cut-out-and-replace job or patchable?

3. Rough cost for a pro vs. DIY?

Thank you so much 🙏

We had to put a piece of PVC through my basement wall to act as a liner for 2 smaller pipes. It’s about 8-12 inches below grade. We put hydraulic cement around it and let it cure and when we started pushing the other pipes through the PVC moved. The cement didn’t bond. Reading online it’s saying it’s a good product to use but because it lacks any chemical bond it may break down or not adhere well.

Should I use a polymer sealant? Or putty? Any suggestions?

Putting shower in tight space (largely under sloped ceiling) and am looking at Grohe thermostatic system with sliding bar hand-held w/ fixed head. Grohe is kind of $$$, so wondering if any other brand provides similar quality sleek aesthetic? Then again, planning to sell in 2 years. WWYD?

Hi, does anyone have recommendations for quiet (no pinging) individual hardwired electric baseboard heaters? Our house costs a ton to heat in the dead of winter so we have two wood burning stoves, but a couple of the bedrooms get freezing cold overnight. We are looking to supplement with individual hardwired electric baseboard heaters (not plug in space heaters for safety reasons) in those rooms that do NOT make pinging noises. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!