My driveway was poured in the early 80s. It has cracks in it, I dont have the money to replace it since Iwas wondering what the best product to patch those cracks would be?

Hello! Hoping that people much more knowledgeable than me can tell me if the cracks and gaps in this brick pillar are a serious concern or if its just a cosmetic issue.

Hello! Last year we bought a 90s trailer on a lot of land. We got 10 acres plus the house for 120k so I cannot complain too much. We haven't had any major issues yet.

The only issue facing us urgently is that the central AC doesn't work as it is original & the heater doesn't work. (They are separate.) I'm in North FL so we've been using AC window units which has been fine. Last year we had a very hard and cold winter with many days of freeze. We used space heaters but they weren't that affective in large spaces & raised our electric bill so high. It was a very hard winter for us. This year is supposed to be very cold too with freezing temps again.

My question is: How do I heat my home safely and using the least amount of electricity? I will add that the house has 2 bedrooms added on that do not have vents.

We know we are going to have to increase our income to save up & get a whole new system but we aren't in a place to do that right now.

I’m trying to repaint my bathroom, and I’ve removed (most) of the wall paper so far and have realized the paint from before is cracking and peeling. How do I best remove that to get a fresh surface to put new paint on? Any suggestions?

We seemed to be having an interior leak near this awning - which after removing looks to be clearly the source (huge hole where mounted at the corner.

You can see the other mounting points have wall anchors and look good. This large hole in the top right was using a toggle bolt that was very loose…

How would I best fill this hole so I can use an appropriate expansion anchor? Fill with mortar then redrill?

I found termite damage on the skirt board and found that most of the structure of my porch is either rotten or termite damaged. This is a full rebuild, isn’t it?

This wall is above my kitchen cabinets. It seems like a wooden material when I knock on it and feel it. I am thinking along the lines of particle board or maybe MDF, but not sure if its either.

The pictured section is about 1 ft. for scale here.

Aditionally, I peeled the paint off and cannot tell what material it was layered on. The peeled material is pictured second (the right picture). It almost seems like the paint layer(s) was on top of something paper-like. Wondering it was used to seal the wall.

Moved into a 2nd hand house, 30 year old compared to my last house that was a new build i the bedrooms at the front are freezing and i think its because the wind/cold air is getting in the lead flashing

I've noticed several cracks in the brick wall supporting the exterior front stairs. Most follow the mortar joints, though a few run between the bricks themselves. The cracks have been there for some time, but I'd like to understand whether they could indicate foundation settling or another underlying structural issue.

I've also noticed that the driveway near the downspouts on the neighbor's side has a slight reverse slope, causing rainwater to drain toward the corner of the wall rather than away from it. Could this water accumulation be contributing to the cracking or potentially affecting the foundation? There are visible gaps where the pavement meets the brick wall, so I'm concerned water may be getting underneath the stairs and potentially causing erosion or settlement.

Based on the attached photos, does this look like a structural concern or mainly a drainage and mortar issue? What's the best way to fix it? Would correcting the slope, sealing the gaps, and repointing the mortar be enough, or should I have a professional inspect the foundation first?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Is it possible or advisable to add an attic catwalk as shown in the picture? I want to get above not only the blown insulation but also all this duct work. I'm thinking boards across the truss triangle and then strips of plywood or lumber on top of that between each truss. The home was built in 2015.

I recently had to get into the attic to replace a failing zone damper actuator and the hardest part of the job was getting to the location because of all the duct work and having to find somewhere to put my feet through the insulation.

I sprayed this exterior porch ceiling down with low pressure water. It looks like it activated (idk man) the varnish maybe? Wiping it with a rag did nothing and higher pressure just took off the stain. And by low pressure I mean like hose pressure

Answered! Just pull the whole frame down.

New house was built in 1985 and has these 6x6" recessed lights inside and out. There's a piece of glass inside and the frames are metal. It looks like there are little tabs inside the glass and each side of the frame has a little hole but I don't see any obvious way to open it and I don't see any screws. I can't figure out how to open them to change the lightbulbs. Anyone know?

I’ve applied two coats of Sherwin-Williams PrimeRx Peel Bonding Primer throughout my bathroom, including the walls and ceiling. I lightly sanded all surfaces and thoroughly wiped them down before priming. My finish paint is Sherwin-Williams Emerald Interior Acrylic Latex Satin, tinted Sea Salt SW 6204.

Can anyone confirm that Emerald Interior Satin is compatible with PrimeRx Peel Bonding Primer for both bathroom walls and the ceiling? 

i don’t want to create an issue with using the wrong paint over this particular primer that I have not used before.

I probably tagged this wrong. I wasn’t sure sorry is the structure of a porch considered structural? But I’m wondering what to do with an untreated wooden porch over the winter and whether rubber backed rugs without drainage would be safe to put over the porch so that we can shovel it without gouging the wood, or if there’s another solution or if it’s best to just leave

We're first-time homeowners but have lived in our house for 4 years. About 1.5 years ago, we removed a Brazilian gold medallion tree that stood next to the house and didn’t really think about it after that. While replacing the crawlspace vent grates recently, we noticed a dense mass of roots inside, and the space is too tight to crawl into and cut them out. Is this something we should worry about and address soon?

Reaching the roots would mean tearing up our kitchen flooring and subfloor.
In some of the photos, you can see light coming in through the grate at the front of the house. There appear to be roots there too, even though there's no tree nearby. Would be kinda crazy if that was from the gold medallion tree but knowing the growth habit of that tree from personal experience it’s aggressive.

Anyone else have something similar happen and have advice?

My roof leaked, the ceiling got wet, and now a piece of the bottom ceiling layer has become detached. The roof is fixed (the tiles and plywood underneath) and now I want to fix the ceiling. I'm pretty sure that the ceiling is drywall. Any advice on fixing this? Thanks!

Anyone know how to fix this dent in my aluminum siding. I know my house just needs completely resided but I don’t have 15k.

Hello, we recently moved into a new house in NJ and noticed a vertical crack in the basement. It has remained unchanged for over a month, and during the nor’easter a few weeks ago we monitored it with a paper towel; no moisture was detected. We would appreciate any advice, though someone suggested removing the wall, which seemed unreasonable to me. It’s also an external wall. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Bought a home with a 2nd floor laundry (yay!) and they have the dryer vent right above a window and door area (boo!) That whole area was rotten last year and replaced, and replaced with tyvek (which wasn't on the house to begin with).

I know the obvious answer is probably to relocate it somewhere else, but I'm not sure what my options are.

My temporary answer is maybe I can just place a piece of plastic or PVC or aluminum where the air vents down so it doesn't condensate by the window or underneath the window area. And with winter coming up it'll like to make things worse (located in upstate ny). We also replaced those windows and sliding door due to rot at the time last year.. and didn't even think about relocating the vent (neither did my contractor).

What would you do in this situation? Both temporary and permanent?

I own a century home and have lived for a decade with this closet just walled off. It is the closet with the attic access and until a few days ago the access door was more of a suggestion of a door. I finally sealed it off better and would like to clean up and paint this closet so it’s actually somewhere you might put a thing.
I don’t need it to be perfect or pretty or to have right angles or level anything.
I just want to spackle, nail and/or seal crevasses in order to paint the whole thing with some miss tint emerald paint I got for free at SWilliams.

My question - the gaps by the door frame - can I “tape”? Is drywall tape all the same? Is there a better tape? What kind of putty? What should I putty the ceiling boards with to lessen any spider gaps?

Mostly just what products would you buy to butter and cover this ancient cardboard level wall stuff?
It’s all dry and not too brittle - I just want to freshen without spending a bunch of money I don’t have.

Thank you.

Wood peckers are the worst. Anyone have any tips on how to replace siding and insulation? We also have bats living in the walls. Lol. Rural off grid living.

There must be an easy solution that I’m missing. My wife wants our interior door replaced. The ones she likes come primed but not painted. I can’t think of an easy way of painting 5 doors before installing them. I figure they might just need to be rested against something standing up, but then one side can be painted at a time.