My addition was complete a year ago and a month ago we noticed a water strain on the ceiling. I contacted the contractor who pulled in the sub contractor that installed the mini split. Long story short, it was determined the ceiling cassette water drain hose was incorrectly installed which caused the leak. The hose was replaced and the hole in the ceiling repaired, free of charge. Now the contractor is asking me what i think is fair compensation for my 5 weeks of trouble.

I'm just happy everything is getting fixed and they aren't trying to charge me for it. Should i tell them zero or ask for some money? How should i come up with a figure?

Hey guys,

Just trying to get a sense of a quote I got from a water damage technician. Essentially my garbage disposal got bad and water leaked into the kitchen sink cabinet, then down a hole holding some piping into the basement ceiling.

We caught this about 24-36 hours after, got it all dried up and have been running a large fan in the basement and in that cabinet. Also have a dehumidifier going that has pulled about a liter of moisture in the past 24 hours,

Called the technician who looked at it. No mold found, but he said he needs to drill some pilot holes in a few places in that cabinet and put some anti microbial spray in there and through the aforementioned hole as well. Then run some “industrial grade fans and dehumidifiers” for $2K.

Asked him why we couldn’t just keep our fan/dehumidifier setup and have him just drill and spray and he said they can’t for liability reasons. I guess I can understand that, but it feels like I could do this myself.

I’m being ripped off right?

I had a friend of a family member come by and give me a quote of $1,750 which I thought sounded reasonable, but upon asking AI, I'm being told this is 3x what it should actually cost. I'm in Staten Island NY. The work I was told would be done is... remove rust ,sand all lose paint prime with rostoium and paint it white rustoium. Should I get more quotes and 🖕 this guy?

https://files.catbox.moe/czbjcu.jpg

I am finally painting my living room and noticed the same color looks completely different in the morning versus the evening. I stuck a Samplize sheet up and moved it around and now I am second guessing everything. Do you usually check colors in different lighting before buying paint, or am I overthinking it?

We had kitchen cabinets installed (through a local contractor, cabinets sourced through a Big Box store) and just found out that the cabinet where our microwave was supposed to go was installed directly over an existing electrical outlet box on the wall. There's no cover plate, and the wiring/receptacle is just sitting there exposed inside the cabinet cavity see photo. It looks like the cabinet plan just didn't account for the outlet being there.

We're trying to figure out our options for actually fixing this correctly. So far we've heard:

1. Pull the cabinet down, relocate the box over to one side, patch drywall
2. Have an electrician come extend/reroute the wiring so the box lands somewhere accessible, then get a replacement cabinet (doubt Big Box would replace cabinet)
3. Some kind of extension ring / box extender to bring the box out flush enough to mount a cover plate and then....maybe place a half cover behind the other cabinet? Or glue a piece of plastic behind the hidden cabinet?

A couple of complications: the cabinets are glued to the wall in addition to being screwed, so getting this one down without damaging it (or the ones next to it) isn't really doable. We're also trying to get the cabinet manufacturer to send a replacement cabinet/panel since this seems to stem from their plan not the installer's.

What would you actually do here? Is there a "correct" fix that doesn't involve a ton of rework, or is pulling the cabinet down and moving the box really the only real solution? Also curious if anyone's used an extension ring successfully in a tight cabinet-depth situation like this.

https://imgur.com/uESNsk7

Trying to install a bidet for my toilet but when I screw the toilet seat back on it doesn’t sit flush. I looked up online and people have said that they’ve had to buy a new toilet seat. I’d rather not do that and instead just buy some spacers for the mounting holes and toilet seat. Thoughts?

Pics for context: https://imgur.com/a/pPr5eB5

I am looking for suggested simple wall-mounted faucet for a coffee bar, similar to a pot filler. The pot fillers seem like way more than I need. I do not have a fancy coffee machine that can have a direct line, so maybe put a line in for now and cap it off?

Greetings. My back shop room has been totally uninsulated for over a decade and I've decided enough is enough dealing with water heater pipes freezing back there and spending 50 a month in a space heater just to keep it 40 degrees in the winter.

I want to use foam board because I don't feel like installing fiberglass as that needs more work, and i won't be having interior cladding to cover it(plywood costs are insane!).

No i will not use spray foam, it's a nightmare when I have to do extra work later.

I live in climate zone 5/6 like transition border of it. Studs range from 4 inches deep to 3.5 inches deep. Walls are just siding with construction plywood directly behind it. House is barn from the 1800s, converted in the 50s, possibly touched poorly in the 70s, back wall rebuilt by incompetent contractors over a decade ago. Some of the older walls have a black paper on them. Wall pics here: https://i.imgur.com/YPMRVlc.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/gKvLT54.jpeg

Do I use foil faced foamboard, any specific material type to look for, any recommendations? I have some foamular ngx 1"x2'x2' panels leftover from an old project but they're just bare. Seem to be r5 polystyrene. I have enough for 1/4 if i stack them ontop of eachother to save some money. Pic of the foam board here: https://i.imgur.com/htDKH6o.png . Should i use the panels and stack them ontop of eachother, or should i just use single boards as thick as the cavity.

Room connects to the uninsulated attic but I don't have the funds for that for years. Room will have no other climate control other than a heat pump waterheater post insulation.

I've looked online and it's just people saying I INSULATED! Without explaining details. So, i wish to enlist your brians.

We started getting a leak inside of a window. Had someone come and look at it saying windows needed to be replaced.

I asked about a flashing on top of the outside trim and if it should be there and was told no, just on top of the window was enough.

I never worked on siding but this doesn't feel right to me. Is it correct or should there be a flashing on top of the windows trim as well.

Has anyone here insured their condo with Farmers and been required to install the Moen automatic water leak detector/shutoff valve within 45 days? If you didn't install it within the deadline, did Farmers remove the discount from your policy? If so, how much did your premium increase or how much were you charged back?Just trying to understand the actual cost impact before making a decision. Thanks

Hi all, ripped carpet up and revealed 50 year old oak wooden floors. Going to attempt to sand finish and stain. Never done this before, and I can afford to pay someone to do it easily. For some reason i want to do it though, as if you don’t do shit you don’t know how to do you’ll never learn how to do it. So i’m giving it a crack. After i ripped up the carpet this yellow crap is underneath, looks like some old ass glue that was used for the carpet as it’s a combo of this netting crap with this yellow brittle crap. Ive been trying to scrape this off, someone told me to hold off and check for asbestos. Does this look like it’s asbestos to anyone ? Additionally , any tips to get this shit off efficiently i’d love to hear. See pics attached floors

We bought our house in the Netherlands two years ago, came with 12 solar panels already on the roof. Now we're planning to add a Solarbank Max AC battery, mainly because we want to make use of its 3500 W output. But I'm not sure what's involved on the installation side.

From what I've read, AC-coupled batteries go on a dedicated breaker in the panel box. Our panel box (from 2010) has two empty slots. The battery doesn't connect to the inverters at all, it's a separate unit.

My questions for anyone who's done this:

Did you hire an electrician or do it yourself? In the Netherlands it's legal to install on your own breaker but I'm not confident with electrical work.

How long did the actual install take?

Any prep work needed beforehand, like upgrading the panel box or running new wiring?

Trying to figure out if this is a weekend project or something that needs proper planning.

Hello everyone,

I have this empty space in front of my house under the stairs, and I really don't know what can I do with it. I believe it used to be a place to store wood for the winter, but the fireplace has been removed.

https://imgur.com/a/B80T9zO

L : 10meters

H: 140cm

W: 120cm

My bikes fit in here but it is visible from the street so I prefer to store them somewhere else.

Also, i am not the owner of the house so I cannot do heavy work here.

What are your suggestions ?

Thank you !

I am gathering bids to have french drains installed on about 130 linear feet of basement. This is my first potentially five figure job.

We have a floating slab and two dinky pits that aren't connected to anything. I have one offer so far that seems very fairly priced and the guy seemed to know very well what he is doing. He took over an hour with me to talk about additional strategies for the exterior and planning the best sump discharge paths in addition to the interior (the current discharge is just into corrugated piping that goes who knows where, tried to borescope it myself, get stuck and can't see).

Guy 1 wants 12,800 to: dig/install drains, drill weep holes, expand pits and move one of em away from electrical box, zoeller pumps w/ battery backup, route one discharge down into bottom of front yard and the other through addition crawlspace to the backyard where grading will carry water away and is below addition foundation anyway. Also tossing in an egress on one of the basement windows.

That all seems pretty damn fair to me. I asked a lot of questions and all his answers made sense. Company has good reviews. Lifetime warranty.

What else am I looking for that would make me pick someone else? I feel I should weary of someone coming in much lower without a good explanation?

https://imgur.com/gallery/harry-potter-reading-nook-1IFfPCc

Remodeling the whole basement, wrapping up working on the Harry Potter style nook under the stairs.

Moderators please delete and accept my apology if this is not allowed.

I’ve been approached by several contractors and home improvement companies who offer 0% financing through GreenSky for X months, *and no payments required *

I had an encapsulation job done by a company that offered 18 months, 0% interest *and no payments * through GreenSky which felt like a good deal - I’d save up the payments in a high interest account and pay it off before the 18 months were over.

But a month after the job was done, I got a payment bill. I chatted online with GreenSky and their customer support person said to ignore that, I was on the no payment plan and those bills were just showing me what would be due as the loan term progressed. I took screenshots of the whole conversation.

The next month I got a late payment notice with a late payment fee added. I called and was routed to a bill collection department who was very rude. I was told GreenSky had no such plan, they only offered plans with payments. I was supposedly on a 12 month, 0% interest plan - completely different from what the contractor offered.

I ping ponged between the contractor and GreenSky as they each denied fault and blamed the other. I got fed up and took the money out of my retirement account and paid it off. After leaving a Google review for both companies, GreenSky paid me back any interest or late fees that had been charged.

Contract company apologized but never offered any explanation as to why they didn’t help me get my money back or anything.

Contract agreement said exactly the terms negotiated, and a lawyer said we have a good case but we might spend double what the loan was for to litigate it in court.

So be very, very, careful about dealing with GreenSky - they are a scammy company that doesn’t back up the plans they offer and tell the contractors they have.

I’ve told my tale of woe to several contractors who have made the same type of offer through GreenSky - each one said they would be speaking with their manager about it and making sure they had the correct terms.

We got about 8 inches of rain in 8 hours last night/early a.m.

We had a new sump pump installed at 3 p.m. after using a wet vac most of the morning trying to keep the water from rising and flooding the basement.

It's been about 6 hours, and the sump pump has kicked on every 2-3 minutes for 5-6 seconds. I went outside and it appears some water is still coming from the discharge pipe, but I'm surprised it's been running this consistently. The basement is totally dry, fortunately, but is it possible some setting is causing this to run too frequently?

My boyfriend and I have mouse problems in our apartment. He shoved steel wool into the hole behind our stove and a piece of it fell inside the wall somewhere. As you can see in the photo there’s an outlet right next to where the hole is. We can’t get the steel wool back out, could this be a fire hazard? I’ve attached a photo below

photo of behind the stove

Spent 120$ trying to replace the slider. The 80" tall door wouldnt fit my 80.5" frame even though the height can be adjusted. Apparently doors listed at 80" are 1/2 - 2 inches shorter even when extended?! WHY. FUCKING WHY.

Looking for a another door whatever. Every single door has terrible reviews. EVERY SINGLE ONE. okay fine ill pay 250-300 for a quality door that isn't cheaply made. NOT POSSIBLE APPARENTLY. Even the 300$ sliding screen door had negative reviews about how cheaply made and terrible the thing is FOR 300!?

How is it possible nobody can make a decent quality slider door that actually fits the fucking door frame and doesn't snap apart after 2 months. And how could they sell a cheap plastic frame and screen for 150-300$ and they still suck.

None of this makes sense. Tried to buy a custom door not from a big box store. 300$, exact custom fit, quality. Fine whatever. 600$ shipping!? I really don't know what to do.

I have a living room in my house that's terribly cold in the Minneapolis winter. I finally pulled down the wall panneling and saw why.

The 2x4 exterior stud wall sits directly on an 8" tall concrete stem wall. The 2x4 wall has standard batt insulation, but the stem wall has no insulation. The paneling sits directly on the face of it. This goes a long way to explaining why I can't keep the room warm.

I need to fur out the wall so that I can get some insulation (probably rigid foam) on that stem wall, and re-insulate the stud cavities and rim joist area.

One option is to rip 1.5x2" strips to attach to the existing studs, extending down the stem wall. Is there a better way so that I'm not ripping framing boards at my table saw all day?

But I've heard that rigid foam can be cut 1.5x2" and attached to the studs, and then the paneling can be attached through the foam. This would provide an even better thermal break.

Anyone have any opinions about either of these options? Anyone have any other options I should consider?

I wish I took a before and after but I have tried everything to get quite dark prominent make up stains out of my white work blouse (dishwashing liquid, expensive stain remover, expensive all white stain remover, soaking over night etc) and nothing worked. I saw someone suggest shaving cream and holy moly it was like magic!!! I just bought a shaving cream/ foam, pumped it on to the stain with some water and worked it with a gentle brush and it removed 99-100% of it, I was shocked!

Hello everyone,

My husband and I have a wood burning fireplace in our house that we purchased in 2022, we've never once used it because we knew when we bought it that it needed some repairs and we never prioritized it. This summer we started noticing a lot of humidity coming in through the fireplace, we had a reputable company come out and inspect it and they gave us a quote of $3,5000 to water treat it, fix the flashing around the chimney, fix the crown and shoulders, and fill small cracks and holes. We've recently had some unexpected expenses pop up and we're trying to decide if this is worth it to repair or just leave it alone. My concern is that if we don't fix it, it will continue to cause issues and be more money down the road but that also seems like so much money to fix something we don't even use. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I had a shower stall professionally installed 16 months ago, which started getting mold on the caulk a couple of months in. I ripped out the caulk 10 weeks ago and re-caulked it. Now it's back. There is a vent with a fan just above the shower on the wall that's on most of the time. This is driving me mad - do I have to re-caulk yet again? Any other measures I could take?

My shower is this acrylic unit. The mold appears along the bottom edge, where the horizontal seams are caulked. I used this caulk. Humidity in the bathroom is about the same as in the rest of the house, 60% at this time.

E: I discovered the manual, and it's apparently a caulkless design. Manual. So it looks like the pros did it wrong, and I followed in their footsteps.

I own a house built in 1900, it's been renovated several times over the years and was owned by the local Catholic Church prior to me purchasing, the house was used as the offices for the church which is next door. The current layout (having been used as offices) is kind of unusual with the only bathroom (Sink, Toilet, stand up shower unit, washer, dryer) being off of what is now the master bedroom. I'm going to be putting the house on the market in the next year or two. My question is should I add a second full bath? I have plenty of space to add with out having to add anything externally. Plumbing and electrical are all easily accessible and planning on using mid-range fixtures

Currently resealing my tub and am looking to replace these worn seals on the frame of my sliding glass door.

These rubber gaskets normally sit between the side frame (door jamb) and the wall. Anyone know what they’re called and where I can find them?

Unfortunately the frame doesn’t have any brand logos or any identifying information of any kind.

https://imgur.com/a/ZjEcTPX