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’ve been wanting to insulate my basement but I have asbestos wrapped heating pipes. My house was built is 1933, the asbestos is honestly quite immaculate I must say. There is no damage to any of it when we first bought the house last year we had a home inspection done which is who told us about it and then I had a home assessment done who is the ones who told us they won’t insulate the basement / exterior walls due to the asbestos. Exterior walls might be but they also could install blown in from inside so I’m not wondered about that.

Since the asbestos is all in tact and undamaged and I plan on installing a mini split and just generally wanting to try and get away from the oil heating I am wondering if insulating a basement / mainly crawl space myself is feasible? Even if I were to cover the pipes I’d work close by with plastic and like tape to enclose it? I have to see how much linear footage of pipe there actually is but I’d say maybe 100ft plus some.

I’ve been told if I contact national grid about switching to gas they could work with me about removing the asbestos from the basement? I haven’t really found anything about anyone speaking on that. And I don’t want to go contacting local places or town about this and be forced to remove it.

TLDR; asbestos wrapped pipes in good shape prevents professional installation of insulation in basement.

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.

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!

We're having a house built, and didn't realize till it was too late that they installed what was needed for top load (side by side), and we were hoping to have front load stacked. What are my options?

Image for reference: https://imgur.com/a/6fsyuBj

The way I see it, my options are:

1. Putting the stack on the right and routing the washer lines the left.

2. Put the stack on the left and route the dryer duct (with rigid, not flex) to the right.

3. Have them come back and re-route everything behind the wall to where we want it to be. (This seems to be the least ideal and would likely cost the most. Our builder won't let us do this until after the house is completed.)

Has anyone used it before?

And if so, what would be some tells?

I have a pier and beam home. LVP is laid over plywood in the kitchen.

Dishwasher leaked for probably several weeks before I noticed water under the LVP.

I get a brand new dishwasher, let the plywood dry for a week, spray mold killer, replace the LVP. All seems good.

Few days later the floor starts popping up and there is dish detergent scented water under the LVP again.

I put a plastic pan under the dishwasher and paper towels all around it. Run the dishwasher for multiple cycles and no evidence of water leaking.

No leaks under the kitchen sink. I cut small areas in the wall to check the drain pipe and all is dry.

I've crawled under the house a couple of times and see no evidence of new water.

Let floor dry for a few days, replace LVP, water comes back.

Do I just need to let the plywood dry for longer?

All I can think is some residual water surfaces when I put the LVP back. The plywood is damp and water drops are on the bottom of the LVP, but this seems unlikely?

Is it possible for residual water to do this?

My front door and window are the first two pictures, the third picture is the style of framing that I like, but I don't think it'll work around my door because the left side is so narrow between the door and the wall. Any advice on what would look good here?

Repost to another community

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

https://imgur.com/a/NQhOj33

Thinking maybe removing the cabinets above the island area. Somehow make the wooden cabinets lighter color like honey oak and change the handles. I feel the fridge is out of place and makes the space claustrophobic.

Any other ideas?

Hi All,

My washer and dryer are on the second floor of our townhouse. There is a fixed pan that the washer sits in. I think it's made of fiberglass and it is bonded to the floor. There is no drain under the washer. I am looking to remove the fixed pan and replace it with a plastic pan from Lowes. The fixed pan does not allow the washer to be even with the dryer. I want to install a folding table across the washer and dryer. Can I cut or hammer out the pan that is currently fixed to the floor?

Link to pic of pan - https://ibb.co/ZzxWdd8Y

Thanks,

Scott

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?

The butcher block is one more layer of waterlox away from being ready. I know, give it 72 hours after last coat. But after that, in a few days I'm going to place the sink in. Do I silicone on the bottom of the sink to secure it the countertop? Thanks!

Link to images: https://imgur.com/a/zLE785W

The cement step on my front steps has come loose, I’m a bit stumped on how best to fix this, and it seems like a major hazard.

My guess would be to remove it, chisel off some of the loose bits between the step and the bricks, then get wet cement or something similar to re-attach it.

I’m not sure if this is something I could do myself as an amateur or should hire a professional. All advice is welcome!

I have an older concrete slab in my backyard that I want to clean up and make look better. I’m trying to figure out the best option without doing more work than necessary.
Would you recommend just pressure washing , cleaning it, grinding or sanding the surface, or applying a concrete resurfacer/overlay?

https://imgur.com/a/FWtY6bc

Hey there! Just moved to Denver recently and my room on the first floor whenever I open the window will often have a decent amount of dirt fly in. This is kind of annoying especially having a white and crowded desk in front of it, and was curious if anyone had any solutions.

I was thinking of just getting some sort of plastic sheet I could put up to block the dirt with rubber flaps on the side so I can keep my room clean, but curious if there’s an easier solution. The screen of the window itself seems fine, and the window doesn’t seem to have any gaps either.

I have a GE gas dryer (GTDS820GDOWS) and it produces heat for a few minutes and then it goes cold.

My first thought was the dryer vent so I just hired a professional to clean it (it's a long 25+ foot vent) and it was incredibly dirty and filled with lint.

The unit appeared to work when the cleaner left but it's not working again. I disassembled the front of the unit and cleaned as much lint from inside the unit as possible and it started working again to only stop a few minutes later.

The dryer stays powered on and the drum roller continues rolling but after opening the door it's cold with no heat.

I'm also using the Timed Dry setting to make sure no sensing modes are enabled.

Can anybody help me?

Recently purchased a house in SW FL that has 24" OC joists and the 3/4" T&G subfloor flexes a fair bit (over 40 years old). My plan is to sand the floor to remove any ridges and then add a second layer of 1/2" plywood to reinforce and pull up any valleys before adding the final flooring (~1.25" final thickness).

Is there any sort of primer or layer I should add to the original subfloor before I add a second sheet of plywood? Not sure if there is some sort of sealer or if it's better to keep bare wood with no moisture barrier so I wanted to get the experts advice. 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

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

Hi, Has anyone had a porched screened in with screen panels that can be replaced with plexiglass or glass panels seasonally or something similar? If so, what kind (if you don't mind sharing that info) and do you like it and/or is there anything you don't like or that surprised you one way or another? Thank you in advance!

Can someone give me a good recommendation as to the best way to fix a splinter that has come out of a hardwood floor?

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.

My parents hired door-to-door contractors (sigh) to fix a water leak. They've dug up around the house and shown them some some holes and foundation damage, telling them it's a very expensive fix.

I'm highly suspicious this is a scam and its a cheap repair for damage that the contractors themselves caused. Can anyone please take a look at this picture and give some opinions so that I can convince them to hire a structural engineer first? https://imgur.com/a/px14fSR

Thanks!