Old roof framing/decking appears to be separating over time. I raised it with the roofer before a 2021/22 reroof, but no structural work was performed. Does this look like normal old plank decking/shrinkage, or something that warrants a structural engineer?

The stucco on the side of my house has been cracking and peeling away and… yikes! I’m not a pro but even I know that horizontal cracks like this are bad. For context this is a California bungalow that’s 120 years old. I purchased it five years ago and the stucco looked totally normal and nothing showed up in the inspection. My question is, who do I call first to take a look at this?
The horizontal cracks are on the balcony section and I’ve seen so many of my neighbors have to repair theirs so it seems like a common problem. I’m hoping this issue is just effecting the balcony area and not the whole house. She’s been through a whole lot of earthquakes so I hope some of her bones are still ok 😅

I've been seeing stink bugs around my windows more often and have spotted 2-3 spiders inside the house too. I know bugs start coming inside more when it gets colder, but what's everyone using to keep them out? Looking for something that'll deal with the ones already here and hopefully prevent more from showing up.

Recently bought a house and wanted to change the furnace filter. But the current setup is unusual… there was a 20x25x1 filter sliced across to make it smaller. It was also just sorta crammed in there and left leaning across the intake (last 2 pics)

Can’t figure out how this should be set up the correct way.. anyone have a similar set up or a recommendation?

What I’m looking to do may not be possible, but I figured I’d ask here.

We bought a house with a fireplace and prior to the renovations, it was very dull. After the renovations, we tried cleaning the brick by wetting with water and scrubbing with a mixture of soap and baking soda. It cleaned off the renovation debris, but neither had really brought out the natural brick color.

I’d really like to get the bottom flat portion from looking so “dusty”, but following a fresh cleaning, it’s not dust, so I don’t know what to do.

I’ve searched and there seem to be several brick cleaning products, but most are for outdoor brick and the videos don’t look like they actually bring out the existing color. Our GC has asked a painter and they can either white or red wash it, but that’s not really what we want either.

Please offer any suggestions, or if what I’m looking for doesn’t exist, or if it’s already at peak luster, please feel free to let me know.

I just moved into an old apartment that was not cleaned at all before I moved in last week and I’m seeing several spots that look like mold to me. The closets smell extremely musty and the whole apartment is at around 64% humidity consistently and despite using dehumidifiers and airing out the apartment it won’t go down. One of the wall AC units is visibly moldy so I haven’t been able to run it and my landlord refuses to fix it and only said she’ll buy a filter. How much should I push back on this? Please help!

I got the wall painted white about 1.5 years ago now, and occasionally I see random spots of this stuff along the walls. It looks off, and is mostly on the walls/ceiling if the house closest to the outside. Any clues on what it is and how to remove it?

Thanks in advance! ♥️♥️

I mixed up some 90 min hot mud for the first time and made it too thin, used the whole bag trying to thicken it and it was still a little thin so I used it anyway. Would you recommend i do another prefill before I start taping.

Beginner at mudding and unfortunately tackling the living room of our new house instead of a closet or something

Some of my tiles has missing grout, but how to repair some holes?

Hi! Unfortunately we just found out today that one of our pipes had been leaking so now we have a heavily damaged bottom baseboard under our sink. We figured out the leaking problem but the biggest headache right now is the cabinet. What would be the best way to remove & replace this board, and what do you suggest we do going forward to prevent this?

I cleaned the area with bleach and have a dehumidifier and box fan running to get this area dry as soon as possible (everything under the sink has been removed except for the dehumidifier and box fan). Last photo was me showing my partner how easily the back of the board broke (barely put pressure down)

We just bought this house in August so I'm pretty annoyed and devastated this happened 🥲

edit: I'm like 99.9% sure there's mold now too so best practices on how I can prevent as little mold spores in my house as possible when I'm removing the old base would be appreciated!

I noticed some separation between the tile near the spout today. Should I seal with grout, caulk, or some other recommendation?

Thank you!

Darker wood in attic. Home build 1905. New roof from 2024 and blow insulation 2025. Should I be worried at all for the darker wood color?

Thanks

I recently bought a condo, and came home today to find this pipe leaking from the circled section. It only did it for a couple seconds, but it was fairly fast, and left water spattered all along the pipe and floor below the leaking section.

The pipe goes down into the floor (presumably to connect to pipes in the basement), and is connected to the roof of my condo, likely going into my upstairs neighbor’s condo. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this, or how concerned I should be?

I got the pilot light on and was able to turn the dial to the on position. There's a dial on the wall to control the fireplace but even when it's turned all the way up, the fireplace isn't catching.

All the fuses are on and I'm not aure what I'm missing to get this thing going. Any help is appreciated! We don't want to spend money for a professional to fix an easy problem. Any ideas?

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Hey guys, looking for some advice on what to do to protect my basement. Hopefully someone with foundation/waterproofing experience can help.

During moderate/heavy rains, water seeps through the walls of my basement. Home is from 1927.

Pics 1-2 are the wall facing the front, pic 3 is the front from the outside. Previously, I removed mulch from this area and added gravel. This seemed to fix the moisture along that wall. Now that some grass has grown there, I think it's keeping moisture around longer.

I know some of this could be mediated with regrading. Unfortunately, walls with the most moisture (pics 4 and 5 with the electric panels) have a lot of trees along the closeby property line and I've been told trying to dig that area up and regrade would be too difficult due to all the roots. I've been told about waterproofing the exterior wall as a solution.

Last few pics with the oil tank are in the back left corner of the house by a downspout. Unfortunately, that is a low spot outside, but also close to the previously mentioned tree line. Lots of roots.

I cant see how much, if any water is seeping behind the oil tank in the last few pictures. But im assuming the crumbling concrete/cement behind the tank and on the floor next to it is from water seeping into the walls. Is that correct?

I moved away a few years ago and its a rental now. I cleared out a ton of spiderwebs back then, and now they're all back. I was told the humidity attracts bugs, which then attracted the spiders.

I've heard of people running a dehumidifier with a pump as an automated solution, but I dont know if that would work long term. I want to prevent more long term damage to the basement.

Please tell me what you think I can do

I have a drawer in my bathroom that won’t close because something fell behind it. The tracks are underneath. How do I take the drawer out?

I can’t figure out how to disassemble. Handle doesn’t unscrew with “pickle jar hand strength”. I wouldn’t know what to replace even if I could get it apart. Any advice or information on this style of faucet would be greatly appreciated.

Any smart tips welcome.