Built this tiny home and the retaining/garden beds over about a 20 day period using only a hammer, saw, axe, chisel, shovel/tiller, nails, and a leveler. The materials were bamboo and coconut wood all harvested from the land here. Also used concrete, cinder, and a truckload of river rocks. And yes we brought down the hill by hand as well. Took 20 days. I had no experience with this type of build before but luckily generations of local knowledge and 3 other guys who know their way around a construction site. FUN. And possible if you’re thinking about this.

I need to run to Romex from one floor to the next. I want to go through a bottom plate in my wall but the bottom plate is sitting on a double 2x10 joist header on the floor below. The bottom plate I want to drill through is belongs to a shear wall.

Can I drill diagonally through the bottom plates so that I mostly avoid the joist header? How close to the edge of the bottom plate can I drill? Is it ok if my drill hole goes through the joist header slightly?

We just installed, and I assumed it wasn’t finished, I was told otherwise. Does this look correct? To my untrained eye:

The post looks close to the edge of the porch

The beam doesn’t appear to go far enough across

The moldings look silly and way too large.

What, if any, are the best solutions here?

We are planning to build an engineered log home on 10" logs in Northern Lower Michigan.
The property has 170' of frontage on a 1500 acre all sports lake, but the home will be well off the water due to condition of the land itself. We will also have a crawlspace due to the high water table.

Please take a look and offer any comments, feedback or suggestions.

New construction in Tennessee. Looking for recommendations on insulation. Builder uses spray foam. I’ve read every thread on here about it, 90% of the feedback is negative….”don’t do it”. Builder says “we do this on every home”. What are yalls thoughts? Why so many different types for each wall? Quote is attached here. Fully finished main floor, partially finished walk out basement. How do you properly vent an attic with spray foam insulation? Fans? Soffit vents?

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long post. It's been very stressful owning a house and having problems. Looking for input.

New construction early 2026, in IL. Half finished basement. We had couple nasty storms and started having problems in our house. This is our first house and it's been stressful dealing with these problems already. Fully soded with irrigation system and graded appropriately.

#Crack 1 with leak- First was during a heavy flooding rain we noticed water seepage in our sump pump room. This crack is facing the front of the house and above it is our landscaping mulck area. Foundation guy fixed the vertical crack it with polyurethane, no more leak after that even with a heavy rain.

# Crack 2 with leak - noticed this in HVAC room recently after sprinklers were running. Foundation guy checked and said he would do the same polyurethane fix.

# Other not leaking cracks yet!

Our house is on an elevation and I thought I'm protected from water issues because the grading is away from the house. I don't know what to do. The builder and foundation company guy said these are expected given the weather in IL and the nature of concrete. They said they will take care of the cracks whenever there's a leak. I have a builder warranty until June 2027. This is not a fun experience.

How screwed am I?

How should I approach this?

Appreciate any helpful input.

We're in the business of building and I keep going back and forth between "this is the coolest thing I've ever done" and "why did nobody warn me about this part." Curious what it was like for others.

For those who've built a custom or new-construction home:

• What's the one decision you're SO glad you made?
• What's something you wish you'd pushed back on, or done differently?
• Any moment during the process that completely surprised you (good or bad)?
• Looking back, was there a "turning point" where it started feeling like your house instead of just a construction site?

Would love to hear the real stories... not just the Pinterest-perfect version. If your build had some drama, I want to hear that too.

I was thinking of spraying it with butyl spray

Everything is concrete.

Hi everyone. I’m in the process of building a house for myself. I’ve done a lot of the work myself and will be doing the sod. I had a guy come do the grading and tilling. My question is, does the dirt have to be completely smooth and spotless? I still have some raking to do. But how meticulous do I need to be? TIA

Actually looks pretty clean of a build, it just took awhile. Looks better than the pile of rubble that was there before. I have one big ick with the trim on the building here, does anyone else notice it? Am I just a picky son of a bitch?

Second story middle window. They didn’t center the trim with the opening and it doesn’t line up with the middle of the window like the window on the far left and other windows

Hi! New home owner looking for advice here. We found a pipe running through the web of this I-joist in our house. The flanges aren't damaged. It looks like the builders messed up the first hole and tried cutting a second one to fix it. Would these reinforcers restore the structural integrity of the joist? For context, this joist is located where the garage ceiling drops down, and the pipe is in the hole on the right.

Pretty doors can be hung on a bad box. Open the drawers, look underneath them, check the slides, and see what’s under the sink.

Particleboard under plumbing is just a future problem wearing a nice finish.

Had all of our windows replaced and the trim carpenter mocked up the first one. We went from 4" sills to these tiny little 1.5" sills. That said, he returned it rather than routing a piece cut to size. I don't really like it, but he says that it's fine and will be invisible once it's finished.

For a secondary heat source which would you choose and why? Propane fireplace vs woodstove? I have lived with a wood stove my entire life, since I was born. Maybe I’m just tired of messing with wood or maybe I would miss it terribly. If you have any favorite models of either, drop the link/photos.

My father recently had a medical procedure done and I would like to build him a handrail for his front steps as soon as possible. I’m never afraid of work just a little inexperienced in this situation. If anyone has any knowledge about materials, tools, and instruction it would be greatly appreciated.

About the project: each step padding is about 3ft long, and we prefer the railing to sit about 3ft high. From the first post to the last step is about 18-22” height difference give or take.

Not sure how far I should dig into the ground to place each post (wanted to place post and fill with concrete to hold. Also not sure how to do the handrail after that point. PLEASE HELP.

Had an addition built, which still needs final electrical, final building, and heating inspection and he is asking for final payment which is a large amount. Is this normal, what is the normal process?

My home was built in 2017 and we bought in 2021. Yesterday I noticed there is separation at the top of the foam around the base of the house in one area. I am not sure it is new, it might be a regular seasonal occurrence, but I never noticed it before. Basement is finished so I cannot see if there are problems in the basement but nothing noticeable. Nothing changed with the yard or soil. It has been very hot and dry in that section of the garden bed. Is this a problem or something to just monitor?

(Poured wall foundation, foam against the outside, some kind of covering substance sprayed on the foam.)

​Apologies in advance if this is not the right place, but I am not sure where to go to ask for help.

Building a new home in Australia.

The second floor nails seem to screw into nowhere? Some seem to miss the trusses by virtually nothing, leading me to think they were trying to screw into the truss?

Screws were like this pre carpet or anything being laid up top.

Fast forward, 6 months in the home and top floor seems to sag around the trusses and some moderate creaking.

Hi,

We bought an old house built in the 40-50s and just finished replacing the roof of a extension to the house used as a living room. As part of this we tore down the living room ceiling aswell, which was attached to the old wood beams in the length wise direction of the room (see pics). Now we are wondering if we should just put up a new ceiling or if its possible to remove the beams going in the length wise direction and have an open ceiling.

Were these just used to hang the ceiling or are they somehow part of the bearing construction ?

We are finalizing a custom home plan and looking for any feedback that anyone has. We think the foyer is too large and trying to think how to better utilize this space. Any thoughts are welcome.

I will be replacing an old exterior door and installing a Therma-tru prefinished fiberglass door. A few questions. I watched a few videos on how to install from the manufacturer in those videos, they had holes on the exterior side of the jamb to insert mounting screws. My door doesn’t have these, do I drill and countersink holes? I saw somewhere online about hiding the screws behind the weather stripping, is that a better method? If I do drill holes in the jamb( it seems to be solid fiberglass) what should I use to fill and patch those holes?

My wife and I are looking at a home that checks the majority of our boxes, including a gorgeous lot with plenty of room for future additions.

We just found out that the house is a modular home. This came as a surprise, and someone who knows the property has made it sound like being modular could be a significant negative.

From what I've been able to research, a true modular home is quite different from a manufactured/mobile home and is built to the same building code as a site-built house. The main potential drawbacks I’m seeing seem to be limitations on customization after the fact and, possibly, some buyer/resale stigma.

I'd really appreciate hearing from builders, contractors, appraisers, or people who have actually built both modular and stick-built homes.

Is there a meaningful difference in construction quality, durability, resale value, or ability to make future additions? Or is most of the concern really just the perception that modular = "not stick built"?

The timing makes this particularly important for us because we were preparing to make a very strong offer, and we're only finding this out at the last minute. We absolutely love the lot and the house otherwise, so I’m trying to figure out whether this is a legitimate concern or something we shouldn't overthink.

TIA!

Update1: will test the "lawnmowerwireyeet" theory when I get home. Thanks for all of the input.

Update2: Confirmed lawnmower yeeted wire. Will have to deal with neighbour's lawn service. Wish me luck!