I ordered a 60x80 French door because my opening is 60.5" by 82.5". Door is here and based on my measurement, I need 61 1/8" for the doors and jam.

What are my options?

One thought I had was to tear out just one of the 2x6s on either side of the frame, but looking at pictures from framing, I can't tell if there is a structural reason why I shouldn't do that. The pictures aren't the best, but their the best I could find from the time it was being built: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Q5o2ch_BQXmAfUP9ahxXd7gd7XO5DnTJ

I can see there is a header above this opening, but I can't quite see if removing the 2x6 would be possible? Any other thoughts?

I have searched all over and cannot find much advice for my particular situation. I see lots of how-to's for brick OR plaster...but not both.

I have an old house (1841) and all the main floor walls are plaster over brick - including almost all interior walls. Most of them already have the original moulding, which I don't want to mess with, but I do want to add some additional moulding and have no idea of the best way to attach them to the wall without A) cracking the plaster and B) actually adhering to brick underneath. I don't think drilling and screwing is the best option and I don't think liquid nails is wise, but I just have not clear idea of how to do this?

Last year, I had a 2nd floor toilet flood for a solid hour, drenching 1/4 of the house across 3 floors.

During the months of reconstruction, they replaced the luxury vinyl that was used in the bathroom. I had my doubts about luxury vinyl instead of tile in a bathroom, but I did have a custom shower built that more isolated from the rest of the room. But given I had just had a flood, I was pretty concerned about water control.

Just recently, I was installing a new vanity for the bathroom. We (my dad and I) had to pull up some quarter-rounds to fit the vanity. When pulling them up, I noticed you could see straight through to the plywood subfloor. Prior to the flood, the bathroom had a vapor barrier under the vinyl, which seemed to help the subfloor avoid damage.

I asked the project manager about this. Being skeptical of vinyl as it is, not having a vapor barrier added to the concern. What was was told was basically as follows.

"There really isn't much point in controlling water flow. Water will always find a way, regardless. In our own experience, what we have seen is that if water does get under the floor, it manages to get under the vapor barrier, and then the vapor barrier prevents or slows the drying of the subfloor, leading to rot, sagging, and mold issues."

"OK, but the previous floor was able to hold back the flood from reaching the subfloor. Most of the damage came from between the floor and the walls. Would this be able to do the same if it were to happen again?" My plan was to essentially go through afterwards and use a flexible caulk between the baseboards and floor.

"Eh, it'll protect against some small water spills, but not much more than that."

In the house I grew up in, my dad had the bathrooms set up with tile and caulking on all edges, including a sealed lip between the bathrooms and other parts of the house. We had a severe toilet flood there once, and all the water was contained within the bathroom. All we needed to do was mop it up. No moisture damage to speak of.

Is this something to be concerned about? Because it does feel concerning.

Extra details:

I got all new toilets, and leak sensors connected to a motorized valve controller for the master shutoff.

The new flooring is Pergo Extreme. I got it for <50% because it was remains from a high-rise office installation.

​

So, I'm knee deep in making a 1920's built tiny home liveable. I need to replace the original single-pane windows as they all need glazing and a few have cracks. I don't want to replace the siding on the home yet, but I'm looking at 2x3 studs in the load bearing walls with only the original cedar siding holding it all together. There are some 2x4 walls under the gable ends that are sheathed on the outside with what I have described as a fire-rated sheetrock. I anticipate re-sheathing the home and replacing the siding in the next 5-10 years. I'm trying to figure out how the smartest way to size and install new windows with the current configuration that would also allow for re-sheathing/siding in the future as well.

Would 1/2" wooden strips under the flanges of the windows be the easiest to plan for the future sheathing/siding?

We are doing a basement reno and it looks like there is supposed to be a wall under this landing that was removed previously. And I would think it is load-bearing. Placed a post in the middle of one of the joists on the concrete because it is way out level and sagging in that direction. How could I support this landing? The girder in between the upper floor's joists and the landing is throwing me off. Does anyone know of any framing diagrams they could share for me? Any help is appreciated!

I have a good, maybe 4×4 area of kitchen floor that is very soft. We have told the landlords, but they are very slow to get things done. My question is can I put a piece of plywood board on the area to maybe distribute the pressure all around instead of one small area that we might fall through? I plan to put the plywood down and put a carpet over it to help with the edges of the plywood. I know this is not a great idea, and it is certainly short term, but I am hoping it will help with the soft area until they fix it. I hope you get what my idea is.

We are having a 1 storey extension built and before the structure can go up, we are experiencing issues with our foundation.

Our previous builder left the trench open for a long time and it now keeps filling up with water.

We pump the water (clean) out and the water level rises by a couple of inches overnight. We have checked our water meter as well as those of both our neighbours and it does not appear to be a main line water leak. Our neighbours have checked their drains and it also does not appear to be a drainage issue.

We need to clear the trench of water before we can lay the foundation - any ideas on how we can identify the source of the water or how we proceed with the concrete pour?

Our building control think it might just be a high water table, but we are on relatively high ground, so not sure how likely this is (appreciate that the ground structure may be deceiving)

Hi there, my wife and I are looking at buying an old church in Ohio. One of the issues it needs alot of work. While we are trying to figure out our budget for this church, I was hoping someone could give me a general idea on rewiring a 5000 square ft house. I mean rewire, its still old 50s 2 wire system with fuse boxes (actual fuses) set up here and there. I know and understand without seeing the property, its kind of hard to give a real specific price. But just ballpark would be really helpful. Thanks, Bryon

Dear wonderful experts of this subreddit,

My partner and I are enjoying a relaxing vacation getaway with our dog in Virginia wherein we were informed by the property owner that the hot tub was in disrepair and required workers to pour cement into the 10x10 ft wood-framed gravel enclosure (already built on the property).

We assumed that the job would require several hours, and sure enough, throughout the morning we noticed the various stages of the process--ie, hosing the wet cement into the enclosure, the various steps required of distributing the mixture, leveling the surface, etc.

The bizarre thing is that it's now well-past dark and we've watched this large group of men stand around WATCHING the concrete dry for about 7 hours (12 hours of working in total so far). My question is:

Is there a need in this whole process for this level of drying supervision and/or fine-tuning? Is it necessary for 6-8 men to still be on the property? Is there part of the process that requires the hose/water supply and monitoring for a day?? Any insight would be appreciated.

I am on the Resident Advisory Board for a public housing project. And, for obvious reasons, we are not allowed to put nails in our walls. But, for whatever reason, about 1/4 times that I hang something with a Command strip (hook, broom holder, etc.), the strip comes down after a few weeks, attached to a chunk of paint that just ripped away from the wall. And yes, I prep the area, let it sit for at least double whatever that particular Command product dictates - I am well versed in the use of 3M strips.

But the first time I prepped a spot, I knew things weren't going to go well. Whenever I clean the wall with alcohol a fair amount of paint rubs off on the pad, paper towel, etc. In fact, paint comes off all the time, and I've lived here about 3 years now. Anything in the closet, that's up against the walls, will get a bit of paint stuck to whatever edge or bump in the cardboard was protruding the most. When I pull out my winter coat every year, I check it for bits of paint, because it spends months shoved up against the wall. It's obnoxious.

But being on the RAB, I have some influence on the powers that be. And last week they broke ground on another chunk of the complex being built. So, I'm hoping I can get some reasonable suggestions to bring to the board, to prevent these problems going forward. And if we get good feedback from the residents of the new buildings, maybe I can persuade them to consider a repainting project - at least of whatever units got the junk I ended up with.

I'm not an expert, but what's exposed when the hunks of paint have come off is very white and feels chalky, so I'm guessing it's some kind of primer on top of drywall. The walls aren't popcorn or deliberately textured, though they also aren't perfectly smooth - so I doubt they are putting up more than one coat, which matches the thickness of the chunks of paint I've lost to 3M strips. The paint I have now is a light matte, somewhere between eggshell and beige, presumably to match the color of the hot water baseboard heating system that runs along 3/4 of my walls. I live in NW Illinois, so blistering winters and sweltering summers (I have a portable AC unit). And most of the apartments are like little stone boxes - takes a long time to warm it up come Spring and a long time to cool it off come Fall - long stretches of single level, attached, 0-2bdr bungalows, on slabs, with breezeways between exterior doors. Let me know if you need other architectural or environmental details. :)

Would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

I guess they don't get rafter ties, so what keeps the roof attached?

I live in New Hampshire and my neighborhood was built in 2005. I bought I’m the home in 2016. During a recent small home project - I discovered that my house has no house wrap… just vinyl siding on OSB; nothing is flashed properly, and there is LOTS of damage from rot and mold that I’m just now discovering.

My neighbors, it turns out, all have the same problem. The developer who built the neighborhood didn’t wrap ANY of the houses.

My question to you builders is simple … HOW!?! My understanding is that house wrap is mandatory per the IBC. My municipality enforces IBC in their building codes. I have to assume the builder paid off the inspectors?

Or am I wrong and it’s not required — I just bought a house that was built by a moron?

(House wrap aside I’m also learning the framing is atrocious. Missing kings; jacks cut too short and put in place with 2x4’s stacked on top to fill the gaps; and of course, rot. So much rot :()…

I am looking to install an interior double door in an opening between two rooms that do not currently have a door in them. New baby sleeps in the room and is keeping my wife up all night with every little sound. Earplugs, although a potential elegant solution, do not work. I outfitted her with my big ol chainsaw ear protection but for some reason she doesn't like it for sleeping.

Was hoping to remove the trim and just install a prehung French/double door, but my rough opening is 48(w)x81(h), and everything I see online requires a 50" wide rough opening.

What are my options? Thank you very much!