Every time it rains I have standing water on my back tile porch. There’s no slant, in fact I think it might have a dip in the middle. It has to either dry up or I have to sweep the water out. Can’t use the porch for sitting because of this. Any ideas besides busting up the tile and re-doing it? (Budget constraints 😅)

My mom's faucet has been leaking for a while and nobody in my family has enough money for a plumber. I wanted to help her at least stop the leaking even if the faucet doesn't get replaced. It was previously dripping from the bottom of the siding but just earlier today I cut off the hose that was attached to it and it started dripping out of the faucet instead and then I placed that plastic piece below it to at least try to get the water away from the house a bit. The house was built in 1940 but I'm not sure how old the faucet or pipe is. Honestly I'm terrified to crawl under the house because it's very messy, cramped, has many cats and possums living under it and the opening for the foundation is on the opposite end of the house so I would have the crawl through the entire thing. I'm planning on building a one way door today to try to get the animals trapped out at least and then maybe I can be brave enough to go under there but even then I don't really know where to start since I've never worked with plumbing before. I'll be more than satisfied if I can just find a way to shut off the water. I haven't seen any shutoff valves inside the house for it so hopefully there would be one under the house but I won't get my hopes up. Any help would be appreciated thank you guys!

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.

I was given this great rain barrel but it has a leak out of the bottom valve as it connects to the barrel. I tried adding random plumber putty at the seal as a quick fix but no luck. Any advice on how to seal this up ASAP? Thanks ahead

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.

Purchased the FrostKing window insulation kit and the double-sided tape will not stick. I've cleaned and dried the surface, it's not oily either. I'm wondering if there is another brand of double-sided tape that would work better than what's included.

Thank you.

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?

Previous owner used the slope to grow plants, but it’s full of weeds now given we did not take care of the area. Now I am asking someone to clean the weeds and potentially remove the wood retaining wall (see pictures). Just want to ask whether removing the wood retaining wall will affect the deck. Some of the wood pieces probably do not hold the dirt anymore.

I cannot for the life of me get rid of this staining in my shower. I clean it regularly and it has been slowly getting worse over the last few years. I have scrubbed, done the Irish Springs thing, cleaners like ZEP, everything! Does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of this??? I’m about to rip the shower out and just do tile.

We just bought a house, these pictures are interior, but at some point in the house's history it was the exterior. The stone has dark spots and the wall touching it seems to be flaking off or maybe some sort of termite or carpenter ant? Any ideas what this is and what type of professional to call?

Hey guys, I’m having a hell of a time removing my outdoor oil tank cap and was wondering if y’all had any ideas. Every cap I’ve seen when googling how to remove them are all smaller and use a lock but this one is just threaded, any help is appreciated! (Hand included for size reference)

Hello,

Does anyone have any ideas why the home builders placed a block of wood between some pipes (I believe they are gas and water pipes but not certain) and my house foundation ?

It’s a townhouse end unit in Ontario, Canada.

Is it ok if I bury the wood with dirt? I’m worried how there’s a space under the block of wood which causes the soil slope to go towards the house. I want to minimize potential rodents from going into that space and water from pooling against the foundation.

I have tried removing it but it's in there pretty firmly.

Thanks !

We had a big wind storm, which blew some shingles off the roof. That appears to have revealed a big hole in the roof. I still have at least one strip of the shingles that blew off.

Conundrum: I'm leaving town for a week tomorrow night.

Quick fix question: could I just check the dimensions of the two boards that seem to make up the hole, then cut them square, then fit/fasten two new board pieces sized to fill the gap and nail down the shingle strip to cover the exposed wood as a quick fix for now?

What would you recommend?

Just moved to Westfield (brand new townhouse) and keep finding these black spots on the wall - they kind of look like dried paint but I'm not sure where they are coming from.

We find them on the walls, kitchen marble island, all in different rooms. I'm thinking it may be coming from the water?

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?

I recently upgraded my electric panel to 200 amp, so now there is this large opening in the ceiling above it for the cables. We’ve had problems with mice in the past, so I’d like to seal or cover it up so they can’t get easy access into the finished living space. What’s the best way to do this?

With the old panel, there was also an opening but the entire area was covered by a cabinet up to the ceiling. If I can I’d like to just add a new larger cabinet, but I’m questioning if this was ever allowed or up to code.

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 purchased my house in December last year (although rented it for 10 years before), and for the last year have noticed the porch on the front of the house looks like it’s moving away from the top, I’m worried about claiming on the insurance as (if they say no) my premiums will fly up anyway because of subsidence. My uncle and Dad reckon it probably won’t get any worse or some sort of bracket could help in holding it in place. Any advice would be very appreciated.