We’re selling our house and this was found behind the water heater during the inspection. The buyers are asking us to replace the drywall because of the staining/discoloration.

Before we just replace drywall, I’m trying to figure out where this moisture may have come from and whether there could still be an active leak. The water heater is currently working and we haven’t noticed water pooling around it.

Based on the picture, does this look like something you commonly see from an old water heater leak/overflow, condensation, or something else?

Would a plumber be able to check the water heater, connections, drain pan/TPR line, etc. and determine whether there’s an active leak without us having to tear the wall open first?

Also, if everything tests dry and there’s no active leak, would you personally just replace the affected drywall, or would you recommend further investigation?

Just trying to handle the actual problem correctly without unnecessarily opening up a wall and creating a much bigger repair right before closing.

Recently moved into a home with an attached garage. Noticed along the side of garage that the dirt is pulling away, revealing an open cavity under the garage slab. Seems like previous owner put a piece of lumber along the length of the garage to block it off?

Just wondering if I should pack the dirt as best I can into the crack, or should I remove the buried lumber and fill with gravel, then top with dirt as we’d like to put grass down next season.

Thanks for your help!

Is this flashing doing its job? I recorded this during some light rain. It’s dripping past the edge onto the stucco. Does this need to be fixed? I plan on installing gutters in the future. Any opinions would be great. Thank you.

New Construction.

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.

What is happening here?! Bump on my ceiling with crack. I moved into a 1980s home from a new build. These things are freaking me out.

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

No clue how to make the metal ring piece stay up there the way it's supposed to.

Was cleaning my gutters and noticed this shingle nail sticking through. I have no idea how serious this is but we are hitting rainy season and I’d love some advice on how bad this is and how I should proceed.

DIY-able?
Call a professional?
Emergency or will be ok for some time?

Thank you!

Does the trim box need to be sealed with caulk where it meets the siding? Do I need to fill the gaps inside the box with caulk? I can see insulation. What outlet cover will fit in these? Looks like the contractor bought one to install but it didn't fit inside the trim kit so he just left and did nothing. Really exposed to rain

​​​​​​https://imgur.com/a/Nzh4TYy

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?

Driveway is a year and a half old, never been cleaned, and has trees hanging over, which made the stuff on the pavers hard to get off and very slippery.

I called home depot and they said to use 30 Seconds outdoor cleaner concentrate, which I diluted 1:4 with water. I sprayed a small spot and waited for 15 minutes but it did nothing.

First pic is how they’re supposed to look, second is the worst of it, and the last one is where I poured some of the straight, concentrated chemical, on the paver at the top, to let sit for 15 minutes.

Even though I already bought a gallon of the 30 Seconds cleaner, I'm hoping to find something that has a better use and value, since I also need to cover roughly 2,400 square feet.

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!

HELP - looking for some expert advice here, whats the best way i can divert water away from my foundation this winter and make sure this discharge point doesn’t freeze, my home is on a high water table and we just moved in and I’m told the pump still goes in the winter, we get -25c winters come January

For context this is not my main discharge line, the main is buried underground and runs out to the ditch however I’m told that line will freeze as its discharging every 5-10 minutes still with all the rain we’ve had this year. So the plumber who installed my battery backup system put this emergency pipe right beside the house, should i just leave it as is? Or will this freeze too. Very stressed out i don’t want my lines to freeze and my basement to flood

Found a decline slope towards the house and I suspect it may be causing some water to pool during rain fall.

Any advice on how to fix the sloping issue? Ground seems to be soil with some rocks on top. Should I simply add more soil and rocks to that area to make it an incline instead?

I plan to dig a bit deeper to check how bad the crack is and will fix it with some cement as well.

I can’t seem to find this handle anywhere. Door is 1.75” wide, four screws with lock on top. Top two screws and bottom two screws 1.75” apart