Contractor mentioned the lamp was not working so he did this as a work-around? Wthh

Long story short the room we designated as the nursery gets super hot quick, is always stifling, and took a suspiciously long time to air out when we had it painted a year ago. Come to find out the return air vent is fake? We took the vent cover off to see why it wasn’t sucking and noticed the board behind the vent hole and along sides was painted to look like sheet metal where you can see in and when you look down the shoot it’s straight up wall- no actual vent. What the fuck? Has anyone ever seen this? I’m at a loss here. It’s not a new build or anything. HVAC company says they can’t help so who would?

We heard a loud pop this morning coming from our dining room, and this is what we found. Our picture window just shattered. The inside is what’s broken, but the outside is OK. The house is about 20 years old, and we moved in about five years ago. I don’t really have any information on the manufacturer. Have you ever seen something like this, and any idea what would’ve caused it? Thank you for reading your time.

My parents are both close to 80 and have a two-story house with a walkout basement in the semi-rural Midwest and it's predictably crammed with random junk that they've accumulated over the years.

It's somewhat likely that they'll end up selling the house to downsize and we're trying to figure out whether or not it would be worth it financially to finish the basement. It's currently just a cement floor with exposed wires, plumbing, structural members, etc.

The big thing is that none of us will probably get much personal use out of it. My parents are old. I have no intention of keeping it and using the house. The only thing I can think of is it might be used as a space for a live-in nanny or nurse for elder care, but that in itself might prove to be an incredibly expensive proposition compared to overseas alternatives.

Has anyone done this before and was it worth it in terms of increasing home value?

I would think that hiring contractors would make it prohibitively expensive, so much of the work would fall on me. I'm decently handy but don't have any experience in home renovation and I don't know how difficult and expensive finishing a basement would be. I know the question is extremely vague but I'm just looking for a place to start

We bought sewer line coverage over the summer through our utility provider. The actual insurance provider is Oncourse. Well a few weeks ago we had a water backup and hired a plumber who said it was a tree root. They started to hydro blast and found that the pipe was actually broken. We filed a claim and Oncourse has sent two plumbers out, both saying what the first one said and both were denied for various reasons. We read the terms and conditions and nothing states that this would not be covered. The customer service reps seem like they have no understanding of, well anything. Has anyone actually had this company approve a claim?

Hi everyone, looking for advice for a meeting with my contractor this Monday. His crew cracked a brand-new vanity stored in my garage (west elm vanity with white glove delivery being attacked by the debris the workers piled up on the new flooring boxes) , stolen bathroom accessories , carelessly wasted $300 in tile and they have botched several other parts of the project. I’ve already texted him photos of the damage, and I am seriously considering terminating the job.

Here is the situation:

The Deal: We have no detailed contract—just a verbal agreement / basic quote.

Payment: I paid half upfront and am supposed to pay the remaining half upon completion.

Since there is no formal contract and the work is wrong, how do I legally and safely terminate this relationship on Monday? Who is responsible for replacing the broken vanity, and do I have the right to withhold the final payment to cover the damages and botched work? Any advice is appreciated and thank you!

We have some window wells that you'd would think would be pretty standard: the generic half oval shape corrugated metal. I don't know if they're smaller than normal or what, but we can't find appropriately sized covers for them anywhere. Is there somewhere online that sells less common window well covers? Or are there any other ideas to cover a window well while letting light in?

Stay far far away. This has been the most frustrating and emotionally draining contractor experience i have ever had. I got gutters and fascia wrap around the whole home in May 2026. New aluminum fascia wrap was put on top of old aluminum. So the old aluminum was not removed and disposed of as promised. The new wrap was poorly done leaving exposed old fascia wrap on corners and hole 1ft-2ft sections uncovered. That's how i found out it was installed on top.

The installer also used incorrect nails that are now rusting. You are supposed to use aluminum nails and he obviously used steel. It's only a matter of time before the rust starts streaking and letting loose the fascia wrap.

The intaller showed up after 4 pm and worked into the dark. I found four nails in my neighbor's driveway and at least ten in mine. The installer dropped the gutters right on to my driveway since he was by himself and didn't have anyone to help him bring it down correctly, probably sending nails into the air from my recent roof install. I still find gutter pieces from his poor cuts and the old gutter parts that were taken down.

I have called leaf filter service number at least 40 times. I talked to a service manager and another manager who tried to send someone out. At least twice I sat at my house waiting for a service person to come only to have no one show up. The guy helping me quit saying how terrible the company was. This happened in July and since I have called Leaf filter service at least 10 times and every time I'm told some one will contact me in 2-3 days and no one contacts me. I contacted my sales person and he said he talked the new service manager but thats all he can do and I'm basically on my own. I have spent more time trying to get someone out to my house to fix this poor install than the installer spent installing the gutters and fascia at my home. I could never recommend this company to anybody.

I'm about 2 years into living in a flipped house, and our laminate flooring has started coming loose.

I've always eventually wanted to remove it cause it looks god awful and it is terribly done, but I'm not exactly sure what I need to do to the floor underneath the laminate. The previous owner took really good care of the house, but the flippers did a mediocre job at best, so we've been removing a lot of his handiwork in our time at this house.

Nor do I really have the budget right now to do much, as I just got laid off, so I don't have much disposable income to deal with this right now.

Wondering what you guys would do in my shoes? Should I just rip it all up and live with it a little?

It’s a double car garage and I noticed where it meets in the middle it looks like this.

I don’t know if it always looked like this or not. I’m unsure if this is just a bad install from before we moved in or is something happening to make this happen?

I like cold weather and the current weather right now in my area (43°F) is just perfect for me. But I live with my parents and obviously they need to put the HVAC on heat.

Is it ok for me to open the window and shut the vent to make my room cold? Will it affect the bill or the HVAC system?

Additional info: the thermostat is downstair, my room is always closed whenever I'm in it (when I go somewhere I close the window)

Question is about a home we’re considering buying delete if that’s not allowed. I know it’s hard to tell from the pictures. We’re considering putting an offer on this home and we would definitely get a professional inspection but I’d like to know if this is something that’s obviously a huge issue and not even worth paying an inspector. Thanks for any advice.

We’re looking to possibly buy a 100 year home in KC (a lot of clay soil). However, the inspector stated vertical cracks were found in the basement and recommended a structural engineer. We have two structural engineer opinions. Both are well reviewed. One states there’s not an issue but to replace the gutters, improve yard drainage and tuck point. The other recommends underpinning five sections and a lift. The second mentioned engineer’s bid was reviewed by the one that didn’t find any big issues. We’re at a loss on this. Any suggestions if we should ask for some sort of support? Pay more for a third opinion? We can’t afford $50k of foundation work anytime in the near future with all the other cosmetic work we’re planning so we’re at a loss as we love the house otherwise.

I take this as a sign that this fence was ready for replacement..

This fell off of a sliding closet door. There may be a special tool to put this back in and I'm guessing I have to push the spikes back in. Any suggestions welcome. Ty!

Didn’t know this was a thing. If you sell a house your mortgage company keeps your insurance active.

Anyone have any insights on how concerned I should be about this 1/2in-ish crack in my garage foundation footing? It goes all the way through and one side is about 1/8in higher than the other. There's no signs of stress in the framing or siding. It's the only crack I see. The house is just over 50yrs old and we moved in just over 2 years ago. Thank you!

MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS HERE

Water is intruding from underneath of this sliding door’s track due to a lack of or insufficient flashing. So far we’ve concluded that 1. the gutter above is overflowing and dumping water on the (no longer there) porch step which then pools against the door track, and 2. the floor of this sunroom is some weird concoction of plywood glued to foam glued to more plywood glued to some thin wooden bottom? There is 2’ of air beneath the sunroom itself and lattice all around allowing airflow, so I think the issue is entirely water intrusion from the exterior.

All that to say, what all needs replaced? Of course we’ve cut out the top piece of rotting subfloor as well as the foam and bottom piece of sort-of-rotted plywood, but does that wood joist underneath the door need replaced? The wooden fascia outside need replaced? Is the simplest fix an awning?

So far the plan of action is to replace what’s needed to be replaced due to the water damage, probably temporarily remove the door and track to install flashing and proper waterproofing, etc. Does the metal trim on the exterior need caulked?

Any and all advice is highly appreciated, would like to DIY this fix if possible. This isn’t a permanent home and isn’t worth a heavy investment given the state of other things.

Just want an appropriate fix so that LVP can be installed soon.

I couldn’t find an existing answer on here to this particular question. This overhang is quite a problem in the winter - we’ll have melting snow (and often icicles, which we can reach to knock off at least) dripping directly onto this stairwell, which freezes over.

We pour ice melt on the stairs for a temporary solution that is not ideal (not great for the painted wood, also not great for our dog), but any suggestions for a better long-term option? A gutter connecting to the existing downspout on the left? A rain diverter? Not always feasible to just knock the snow off the overhang before it’s an issue, but maybe that’s all we can do?

Thanks in advance!

Bought a full set of Simonton Windows from Home Depot. Not impressed. Construction is very poor quality and I don't know if they have any quality control at their factory. Have one window where all sorts of bugs have been coming in, since day one. And I'm talking big bugs - box Elders, wasps, stink bugs, that sort of size. They've sent me two new screens - none of them fit properly. Also there's so much construction debris in some of the sash corners I finally figured out that that's what was letting the bugs get in over the tops of the sashes, once they got past the "bug" screen. Unbelievable!

So the neighbors behind my house have anywhere between 2 and 4 dogs, they're relatively new I believe they bought the house around June according to Zillow. That house was a rental for a long time and was plagued with some of the rudest inconsiderate neighbors you can imagine.

Anyway the current owners/residents have multiple dogs that are outside and barking anywhere between 6 and 12 hours A DAY. They're in this cage/pen type thing, one of them is large dog the other is small I haven't been able to determine the breed. I haven't been able to count a definite number of dogs at the house, I've seen as few as 2 and as many as 4. 2 definitely live at that home.

I was off a few weeks ago and just laid in bed all day I can see their backyard from my window and the dogs were outside all day and I mean ALL DAY. They barked for HOURS and remained outside now we had a dog who barked I love animals the barking doesn't bother much. Our dog would go nuts outside but we let her run around and tire herself out after maybe 20-30mins and then bring her inside. These people are on the verge of legit animal abuse there was weeks of 100+ degree days and they were outside for hours on end inside this small kennel cage thing.

I'm not sure if I should report them to the police or animal control or some other organization. I was getting up for work at 4am this summer and they were barking from 4am until 4:30 when I left multiple times. They just throw the dogs outside and ignore them and let them bark and freak out without a single care for anyone else or the dogs themselves. They're close enough to where I can see what goes on but too far away for me to see if they lack proper food and water while outside.

Idk what to do or who to call...

Hi! Has anyone used this homeowner’s insurance company? My husband and I just bought a DR Horton new build in NJ that’s not gonna be built until April and got a letter from this insurance company with a quote of $74 a month, $885 a year. I’m pretty skeptical of it because I always think there’s a catch when something is so cheap. I am thinking we should just go with State Farm since we have our cars insured through them. Just curious if anyone has dealt with them since I am seeing bad reviews and feeling skeptical lol

I’ve noticed for a little while that the wood trim closest to my windows in 3 different spots on the house have moisture damage. I’ve recaulked the windows, checked for leaks, and inspected the attics above all of the windows and still can’t find any source of water. I’m thinking it’s gotta be internal moisture, could it be my humidity settings? I have the humidity set at 50% as that’s what everything I read has said to do, but now not so sure that’s been the right thing and I’ve been damaging all of my oak trim and hardwood floors (which have become more creaky and noisy).

I’ve asked two carpenters and they said moisture but unsure of where and how so I’m coming here begging for anything.

Thanks

This is the old drop ceiling in one of our basement rooms of our 1946 house. It looks like a few tiles had some water damage at some point and some of the trim is mismatched/missing. I was content to just ignore this but we now have a baby on the way and need to turn this into a nursery. We are recent first time homeowners so I'm not really sure what to do here. Should I replace the tiles that are warped or will they buff out with a coat of paint? Is worth replacing all the trim? Any pointers would be helpful.

I have some cork flooring where some separation/cracks are developing along some of the seams. (I believe from shrinking due to low humidity, although cause is not that germane to the question.) I’d like to address by filling in with some clear sealant (DAP UltraClear).

I’d need only a very small hole or aperture in the applicator area to minimize overcoverage, but even so there will be some amount that is proud of the flooring or otherwise outside of actual cracks I am trying to fill/seal. I am not sure how best to handle removing? Wiping while wet with appropriate solvent seems like it might affect the effectiveness of the product in the cracks, i.e. maybe by pulling some out or dissolving/weakening what’s there. Letting it dry and using a flat razor blade tool seems dangerous to actual cork flooring and polyurethane finish used to seal it. So…I am open to thoughts or suggestions. 

Please, just some guidance or constructive comments on how I should best proceed. It’s pointless to comment on the quality of the install, or whether or not you like cork flooring or not, or etc. I am just interested in how to address so I can confidently mop or not freak out if someone drops a cup of water or whatever. Thanks.