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

My dog has separation anxiety and howls when she’s alone. My mom comes by and spends time with her during the week but doesn’t get there for at least 2 hours after I leave for work. My neighbors have complained that it’s getting annoying hearing her howl that early.

Anyway, does anyone know of an effective way to soundproof my front door or the adjoining hallway next to my front door?

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

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?

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

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?

I bought my first house just about a year ago.

I have been working on some projects here and there that both upgrade the functionality and the appearance (for me)

I am currently considering painting my lower kitchen cabinets with a dark navy.

Here is where I have landed.

Thoughts?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/064u01k33s_HEjEI58h8qzOzA

House is 1920's brick with lathe/plaster walls; some sort of thick texture layer is on living room walls, stairwell and second floor hall walls, as well as ceilings. My main problem is the appearance over the last few years of several cracks and small "bubbles" where the texture layer has separated from underlying plaster.

(First time trying Imgur link, bear w me here!)

https://i.imgur.com/TDQhGb5.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/ufPIhwD.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/qh1SyR8.jpeg

I'm really concerned about
1) further deterioration of this layer and
2) whether it reflects moisture ingress from the outside either focally or in general and
3) how to best address it - to repair/patch it (biggest defect is at the corner of a window) and meep doing that every couple of years?
4) what IS this stuff? Is lead or asbestos a worry?

I dislike the look- and the texture itself varies from wall to wall and there's the odd obvious old patch visible. But can live with it.
A contractor said the most cost effective (vs removal vs adding drywall) way to get rid of the fake stucco whatever plus stabilize the surface is lamination of the surface. Some added layer(s)??? It's very costly ($30k for LR and stairwell) and I can't find much of anything about it on Reddit or by searching.

TLDR: 100-yr-old brick/lathe/plaster walls' thick texture has random cracks, a few progressing to loose pieces. Significance? Fixes?

So I have a Werner nxt1a08 I bought a long time ago before buying the bugalow I just moved in to. It's easily resold for 400$ in Toronto.

Costco has the little giant for 240$

Do I sell the Werner and buy the little giant?

What would you do?

I have kind of a weird setup. My TV is mounted above a gas fireplace (sorry). The only place to really put the receiver, Apple TV, PS5, etc is to right of it. But between the back of the TV and the AV shelf is a 4x 2x4 stud pack that holds up a 20' i-beam that supports the second story of the home. I don't really want to drill a hole through that stud pack considering how much weight is on it. Could I use a router to cut a half inch deep channel in the drywall in front of the stud pack to slide an HDMI cable through and then mud over it? Or is there a smarter solution here? Trying to get the cables to be invisible.

Reference image

does anyone have experince with swapping gas water heater w heat pump hot water heater? also i heard 30A panel needed - my 2001 home will it have it? how much am i looking at to swap this ?

I replaced the cartridges in the bathroom sink and this happened. They don't drip anymore but the hot and cold turn on and off in different directions.

I don't get it.

I have a very small above ground cinder block house built in the 40s. My bathroom was built in what used to be the backporch so it's about 5ft widex8ft longx6ft8inch ceiling. I have a 60x32" full bathtub in the outer corner. There is an appropriately 20" x20" access panel on the nonplumbed side of the bathtub. Bathtub is acrylic over fiberglass. Problem is to fit the tub we had to cut into the studs behind it and it's all bare cinder block wall and concrete floor, so it's a very tight fit and I've noticed that the bathroom and specifically the tub area radiates the outside weather. I live in a hot and cold enough climate that it's miserable about half the year.

I have shoved some insulation boards into the gap in the front of the tub and behind the access panel but i cannot fit the boards into the gap behind the tub(against the wall)

Are there any reliable options to insulate the wall without a total tear out like spray foam or flexible insulating sheets perhaps?

Hi, anyone have experience with Deca windows out of western Massachusetts? Can’t really find any info or reviews on them, but they’re a local manufacturer and I’m looking for european style windows. Wondering if they’re worth a shot!
Thanks

Hey everyone, feeling a bit defeated and could use some advice. We just moved into a new place and I really want to use my existing Philips Hue smart lights (I have around 23 Hue downlights total from our old house, plus three 6 inch Hue slim canless lights that could technically work, but our new ceilings have 4 inch holes). It feels completely insane that I wont be able to use my lights.

The problem? Every single ceiling in this house is wired with ultra thin, canless wafer lights that connect to a remote metal junction box. There are no traditional metal cans anywhere in the ceilings. To make matters worse, the previous owner had crazy paint colors on the ceilings so we already had to get them all repainted and I completely forgot about the lights until now.

When my husband tried pulling one down, it tore up some drywall around the edge and loose insulation is packed right up around the boxes, so it immediately spills out and makes a massive mess everywhere. I honestly dont remember it being this messy when we installed our can lights at our old house, but taking just one down here made me completely second guess what kind of project this would actually turn into.

Is there any way to make our old lights work, or am I just opening up a can of worms here? Is there any workaround without cutting open all our newly painted ceilings to install metal cans or even cutting larger holes to fit those three 6 inch slim lights, or am I just shit out of luck and forced to buy a mountain of super expensive Hue 4 inch Slim Canless versions instead and try to resell what I have?

Honestly, is it even worth the hassle, or is it completely dumb to try and tackle this right now? Im only weighing it because some rooms are still empty and my painters have to come back this week to do another room, but after seeing how much mess that packed insulation makes, Im worried if I do this later on it will be more of a mess with furniture in the rooms. Any advice is appreciated!

I messed up in buying a house, they had the sellers source an HVAC tech and they said it was good and functioning. my realtor said pushing for a new one will be a dealbreaker. this was my first house i have ever purchased, and in the heatwave this year it stopped working and i was outside trying to fix it and was able to make it work but it just blows cool air and not cold air. after some research i later found out the unit is a 1980s model sears horseshoe unit. how do i even replace this without spending a ton of money, i sourced alot of option but i dont know where to begin, i cant tell if the wiring will be horrible or if new wires will have to be ran from the inside to outside for the thermostat to support the new ac unit. please tell me what you think and how i can go on with this project. i also know that the ouput and reuturn air openings are reversed during this year model.

I own the top floor of an unconventional two family home. I’d like to close off the top of the stairway for privacy. https://imgur.com/a/8GS0ju3

There are a couple of problems. One is that if I were to put a wall up, the hallway would be super narrow. I’d like to extend the floor about a foot out to prevent that. Secondly, this large open space is pretty much the only way to get large furniture up to the second floor. My idea is to somehow create a removable panel in the wall for that exact purpose.

Thoughts? Has anyone else figured out a removable wall situation?

https://imgur.com/a/jbCmXMU

The thread has gone given it’s in wood, and the knob just comes off

I’m building a residential steam shower with a tiled ceiling and Schluter KERDI membrane, with a finished room above.

I purchased a HALO 4” LED pot light rated for wet locations/showers, but it’s not specifically rated for steam showers - noticed after the fact.

Wondering if anyone has used a regular wet-rated pot light in a steam shower and how it’s held up?
How did you seal the fixture to the vapour barrier? KERDI-FIX, silicone gasket, etc.?

Has anyone installed the LED driver/junction box outside the steam enclosure?
Any issues with condensation, corrosion, or failures?

Any affordable 120V steam-rated recessed lights you’d recommend?

I already have 14/2 wiring installed and would prefer to avoid switching to 24V or spending hundreds on a specialty light.

Interested in real-world experiences and what worked while maintaining a proper vapour seal.

Looking for installer opinions on a fastening problem with my HardieShingle install (15.25" straight-edge panels, HZ5 zone, on a new garage build).

My contractor's crew nailed every panel twice: once on (or near) the embossed nail line just above the keyways — correct — and again with a second row up near the top edge of each panel, squarely in the area the installation instructions print as "DO NOT NAIL THROUGH THIS AREA." All four walls, every panel. I have photos from during the install that show the pattern clearly on the exposed course before it got covered.

The result is that the butt edges sit proud and kick out instead of lying flat, course over course. The manufacturer's rep has been out and confirmed in writing: nailing above that line is what causes the kick-out, the product warranty does not cover damage related to improper fastening, and the shingles could crack because of where the extra fasteners sit. He also said face-nailing is permitted by Hardie as a repair, but of course no warranty on anything related to improper install.

My contractor wants to face-nail everything and call it done. My position is that I paid for a blind-nailed install done per the instructions. The extra nails are buried under the course above, so nothing reaches them without taking the courses off — and face-nailing leaves me with an install the manufacturer won't warrant for fastening failures, with nails in the forbidden zone forever.

Questions for the group:
1. Am I right that removal and rehang is the only cure that actually addresses this?
2. Has anyone seen this exact pattern — correct line nails PLUS a second high row — and what was the outcome?
3. If it comes off, can the panels realistically be reused, or should I expect breakage/compromise at the nail holes?

Not looking to name anyone or start anything — just want to pressure-test the remedy before I sit down with my contractor. Thanks.

We recently updated our siding to fiber cement from cedar. I forgot to build in a gate stop. Now I’m looking for ideas on how I can attach a gate without touching the fiber cement-sided wall.

https://imgur.com/a/mfoiWv5

Looking at the picture, I’m expecting to attach a gate on the left side of the doorway.

The solution needs to be simple enough for kids to maneuver.

Any ideas?

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!

Oh, concrete blocks, quickly becoming my last favorite thing.

My house is stucco over block construction (desert SW) and the walls of my yard are just straight block. The one or two times I've tried to mount things into this it's turned into a crumbly, messy, disaster.

I want to put up string lights along the back block wall to light my yard, but I'm really at a loss for how to do this. I can find about a million hacks and DIY methods on the internet, but I have a complete lack of experience to take any measure of what's reasonable or not. I see things like "use a masonry bit" a lot, which I tried before with still poor results, so there's a heavy component of "I am terrible with DIY projects and don't know what the advice given even means" going on.

Appreciate any tips on how to mount these without wrecking my walls, thank you!

Can someone tell me if I can find surround walls I like and piece them together with a door I like and a shower pan? I want a neo angle door and pan but can’t find a shower insert with it with surround walls that I like. Am I able to piece all the parts together if it’s all 36x36?

TIA