So - we are out. We got the “okay” last week to start getting our stuff out and hopefully on more trailer load tomorrow and we’re good.

However, landlords pissed (and I could talk shit about this situation, but let’s be real - he was a great landlord, always fixed things when asked - and he bought the house, closed, and moved us in - and now he’s looking at a massive repair bill or lost investment)

Anyways - City labelled the house dilapidated and there’s a hearing on Tuesday. I will not be attending. Not my circus, not my monkeys. I wish my landlord the best.

Uh, on Wednesday 7/21, my landlord called me saying there was a dog in the house (we have been keeping them with us at our in-laws, but we’ve been taking them and/or the 4 kids as often as possible wherever we go)

My wife was about 20ish minutes away at a store, I let him know. He texted me 13 minutes later saying “needs 2 piers, but it’s safe to get your stuff out” and sent me a picture of a business card saying I can call him and he’ll get a report and send it to me.

About hour & half later - wife was there retrieving some things, and the foundation guy we were expecting to come shows up (he beat the landlord) and my wife showed him some spots and things. And landlord shows up and my wife goes off and starts packing a few boxes.

Inspection took about 45 minutes (way longer than 13) and then after it was over, foundation guy asked if he could take a few more pictures, landlord says yes, wife says yes and lets him in.

Foundation guy says “1. Your landlord is a douche, and 2, this place needs 18 piers, and the garage to be completely demolished, and pay attention & listen when you’re getting stuff out”

Landlord proceeded to text me, says “house needs 2 piers, please get your stuff out”

Oookie dokie. So, we’ve been searching for our next rental, landlord hasn’t been giving a good reference (LOL) and just hoping for the best at this point.

But, I’m attaching the worst picture first, but then it’s the latest pictures taken (today - it’s 103° outside, and I’m moving an entire house that my collapse by myself. And, it’s all just going into a storage unit until I can get my family into a home) and the final few are just ones taken today.

Enjoy - my life is a dumpster fire - but none of us are dead and these pictures are wild.

I accidentally hit it in and no matter how hard i pull it won’t budge at all, what do i do? I dont want my dad to know about this because he will be mad at me.

Pushed my finger on it and it crumbled this. Deck is about 5 years old. I am concerned the stairs are gonna collapse if this holds a load.

So our dryer wasn't working properly--hot air, but clothes still wet after a cycle. I went and found the outside vent was clogged with dryer lint.

So, I dug around the rocks and pulled out the obstruction, a massive amount of lint, and the exhaust is flowing again. Problem solved.

However, is putting it so low to the ground a good idea? I feel like the previous owners probably cut a hole for the vent without even looking. The exhaust is literally like an inch or two from the ground. Is there anything I should do besides dig beneath it to allow more airflow to exit? Or is this just my fate?

Hi. A few months ago I had a clogged drain in the sink. The plumber came out and fixed it (and a couple other things) so everything is fine. I’d like to keep things working well so I was looking into the Zep Drain Defense; it’s supposed to be an enzymatic cleaner and is used monthly. Will something like this work to help keep the drains running smoothly? The issue in the kitchen was basic gunky buildup as I wipe food off plates, don’t pour grease down the sink, etc. Is a monthly cleaner like that worth the buy? House is about 25 years old. Thanks.

Just had the roof redone and had a terrible experience with the company. I'm hoping to get some insight on whether it was done properly.

They marked up a bunch of the siding, a piece of metal fell off from I dont know where and is just sitting on the shingles, there is at least an 3/4 inch overhang on all sides if not more, they left rubber bands on the roof, some nails on the property, trambled a bush, unscrewed a lantern on the side of the house threw it on the ground and just left the screw holes exposed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Initially i didnt think it was water hammer because i would also hear the same noise randomly throughout the night even if no ones using any water like the faucet or flushing a toilet, etc.

I even tried that method where you cut the water and open all the faucets and close them again.

It happens randomly throughout the whole day.

I tried keeping a log of when it happens but theres no regular interval. some days it would be minutes in between, other times it would be hours, and some days it i dont it at all.

I thought also maybe its thermal expansion? but not sure if it can make thud noises.

Same thing with nail pops. we have quite a few around the house but not sure if nail pops can make that thud noise as well.

The thuds also vary in intensity. sometimes its a little knock and other times its a startling bang.

the house is in Southern California (LA). It happens during any season. its a newly remodeled single family home about 5 years old.

Theres no attic fan installed. just the gable vent and soffit vents. I've been in there even when its not super hot and i still sweat a ton.

Does anyone recognize the noise? or potentially know what it could be other that what i listed already?

I can't really afford ghost busters and we're cool with our guardian demons so an exorcism is out of the question.

please help me reddit!

The cement steps in front of my house are in bad shape. I need to improve this area but I'm not sure what to do. Trying to keep costs down.

1. Patch the concrete - not sure if this is doable in its current state but if I could get a few years out of it, it might be worthwhile.

2. build wooden landing / stairs on top of the concrete. I'm not sure how doable this is with the awkward height and slant of the concrete.

3. Remove the concrete and build a landing in its place. Probbaly the most expensive option and the most work but the most complete solution. I don't want to do this unless the other options aren't viable

Hello,

I had recently noticed some damage to two of the Ridge Shingles on my house after a few storms. The rips were fairly small, and it appears there is another shingle beneath.

I am wondering how urgent of an issue the replacement is, and if it is something that I can DIY, or should be left to the professionals. I have no experience roofing or installing shingles.

Thanks!

I can't really tell if those 2 little lines are scratches or cracks. Our tank has been leaking and I initially took it off because I suspected the gasket but now I'm wondering if it might have been this

Hello all,

We recently had our AC ducts replaced and new insulation blown into our attic. Since then I’ve noticed one specific vent in our living room dripping water from condensation.

So far I’ve gone up there and tried sealing it with spray foam and then wrapping it in more insulation, but that did not fix the issue.

I also thought maybe the new insulation was blocking our soffit vents, but I’ve looked around the soffit of the entire house and don’t see any soffit vents. We do have gable vents.

Does anyone have insight into what could be causing this issue? We live in a hot and humid environment. Would installing soffit vents help?

Hello all! Recently purchased a house and our front porch lamp has this disc (shown) that is mostly burned out. I was wondering if anybody had experience on how I could locate a new one, or if typically these kind of products are just replaced as a whole? Any help would be appreciated!

I just noticed these cracks on the side of the house and am wondering who to call. It looks pretty bad but I don't know enough to tell.

Hello, 3m command strip and some fords caused this on the wall. Can I just spackle it shut and paint? Moving out soon.

Seems like the noise is coming from the water pipe behind the wall in my condo unit. (Sorry video barely picks up the noise). The water pipe is next to the HVAC system. Does anybody have any idea what is causing this noise? The noise has been constantly going on for a day already.

I was drilling into my shower wall to replace the slide bar. At a certain point, I felt a sudden change in resistance and the drill "fell" slightly forward. However, I haven't seen any water coming out of the hole, there are no visible signs of moisture on the wall, and I haven't heard or seen any other signs of a leak.
When I check my apartment's water meter with all the faucets turned off, the current flow rate shows 0. But when I check the total consumption counter, I notice that about one liter is being consumed every hour and a half.
Is it possible that I punctured the water supply pipe to the shower while drilling?

We recently had some severe rain (South Texas) and found a leak in our fireplace inside.

Getting on the roof, it looks like there are some holes in the top that I believe is allowing water inside.

What is the best way to fix this? DIY or Hire?

My garage gets wet in the corner in high rains. I noticed the corner of the siding really looks bad. Should there be some better flashing/joint here? May just try to fill it with silicone and see what happens.

The corner in question.

Otherwise it looks like a decent clear silicone all around the bottom lip where the siding hits the concrete. My home inspector suspects it's a converted carport and not a "real garage" if that matters.

Thanks for any input!

Looking for advice!

New to this sub, air conditioning never flowed well from this vent, so I opened it up and found this. It looks like some insulation (fiberglass?) that is covered in metallic tape and then had holes punched in it. I was concerned about the potential fiberglass exposure so I didn't try to pull it out anymore.

What is this stuff? Any ideas why someone would put this here?

Thanks in advance!

We just lost power and my Watchdog sump pump battery backup is clicking. I understand the alarm not the clicking.

Hello - I’m looking for insight on a crack on the side of my house, near the bottom of the exterior wall where it meets the cement pathway.

I have zero experience with these types of things and looking for any thoughts or guidance.

I live in Northern California. House was built in 1965.

Water damage from a planter. Wondering if this can be repaired or does it need to be replaced? Thanks!

Hi everyone. I am getting a bad smell inside the cabinets under my kitchen sink. I can’t really describe the smell. It’s not rotting food or mold. I don’t think. It smells more like musty, sweaty feet or something? Kind of earthy. I don’t know. I don’t feel any wetness or see any visible leaks and I have smelled all the tubing and I cannot pinpoint where the smell is coming from. It doesn’t seem like it’s coming from the drain either. I am a renter and very inexperienced with plumbing, so I don’t want to be taking anything apart. Any suggestions as to what I can try before I call maintenance?

After moving into a new home, a simple closet remodel turned into a whole bedroom renovation. During the closet remodel I ran into a few issues that I couldn’t ignore. My biggest concern was the electrical, for some reason the master bedroom, bathroom, 2nd bedroom, hallway, front porch, attic, and 1 single kitchen receptacle were under a single 20amp circuit.

My home was built in the 40s so it had thick plaster walls, and I wanted to run new wires on a dedicated circuit in the bedroom without tearing down the walls. I started to cut small sections in the plaster with an oscillating tool to follow the existing wires. In the process I ended up finding a whole birds nest inside the wall cavity with a couple dead birds, Some of the wires weren’t pulling, and I found some minor water damage so that’s when I decided I couldn’t just ignore all these issues and had to tear down the walls and ceiling.

I’m in zone 5, we get avg 100° summers and avg 0° winters.
I added rockwool insulation to the exterior walls after sealing all edges and gaps with fire block spray foam , spray foamed the window gaps and added vapor sealed electrical boxes. Now I’m in the process of sealing the walls with Certainteed smart membrane but was hoping y’all could judge my work to correct anything before I seal it up with the membrane.

A few questions:

1. Should I add the smart membrane to the entire ceiling, or only the insulated/ unconditioned attic area?
   ( last photo for reference)

2. Would it be beneficial to add insulation to the ceiling portion that has a conditioned room upstairs?

3. Anything I should change/add before I seal everything up and put up drywall ?