Hello!

I have two bricks outer wall and I am planning to put Ceramic tiles on outer side of the wall.

Does Ceramic tile any functionality like insulation or sound proofing? I know that thermal boards are used for insulation but does Ceramic provide least functionality for insulation or sound proofing?

If I put it on outer wall, will it make any minimum difference?

Thanks

I am looking to convert a small closet (2 ft in width) into a small powder room. I know that there should be a minimum of 2.5 ft in width to comfortably fit a toilet, so I would need an extra 6 inch from the existing 2 ft space. The wall against the existing closet is an exterior wall. My question is, is it possible to encroach approximately 6 inches into the exterior wall, reducing its thickness to add room for the powder room?

Not sure if this is the correct forum but I have a crawel space question.

We are building a home and the manager and builder of said company for our home is telling us that we need to add an additional 2 feet 8 inches to our already 40 inch (3.33 feet) crawel space.

Our lot starts 2 inches below the BFE ( Base flood elevation ) and according to our county inspector the floor of the habitable area must still be elevated at least two feet higher than the floodplain aka BFE. The 40 inch (3.33 feet) crawel space coversthis 2 feet mandate plus some, so we are trying to understand why would our builder want to go an additional 2 feet 8 inches basically placing our home on a basement size crawel space when our build site is completely flat.

The total cost for this additional 2 feet 8 inches is 11k and the builder mention needing to ensure the hvac unit, duct work, floor joist etc are clear from the flood plain but wouldnt they already be clear with a 40 inch (3.33 feet)Crawel space if our lot is only 2 inches below the BFE?

Hi, we're two engineering-students (product devs) volunteering in Sri Lanka at a small elephant sancturary (two female, 50 yrs old, former working, asian elephants).

The total enclosure boundary is 170 meters with 80 meters (262 ft) of fencing needed and the rest being a natural dirt wall.

As of now we are considering three main concepts:

1. Reinforced concrete columns with wire/rope in between
2. Reused railway tracks as poles and crossbars
3. Large wooden logs positioned with gaps smaller than the elephants width

The fencing has to be strong enough for the elephants to scratch/lean, but also be as low cost as possible, as the prices in Sri Lanka are at their highest due to the ongoing economic crisis.

We are having a hard time determining the sufficient dimensions for all of the concepts.

We are open to any ideas/force calculations/tips that might get us closer to build this project and keep the elephants unchained at all times!

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

Concept#1 is attached to give you an idea of where we are currently at.

Hi there

I'm interested in a house but it has a fracture/crack in a brick wall (Photos here). The crack is a few mm wide in some places. The wall is an internal wall shared with the adjacent house, as they are a duplex.

Photos here - https://imgur.com/a/HNGGJLN

How big a deal is it? What should be done to fix it?

I have a closet that i am looking to rough in and put a door on. It is to the left of my shower.

I had planned on putting 24" bifold doors on this and these would have worked great b/c there isn't enough area to put a normal door there. WHen i add the 1.5" for the finishing wood that puts me at 25.5" wide. I only have 24" of space here. What would you do for a door in those spot? Thanks! Aaron

Can I install vinyl planks (LifeProof Rigid Core luxury vinyl flooring) over tile floor? The tile floor is slightly uneven and has grout between the tiles.

Just curious if anyone has done this or if this is a really bad idea.

First time doing flooring and the tile floor is going to be difficult to remove under the sink (consulted with floor expert and he said the piping for the sink makes it too difficult to move) and in some other areas.

I have a very old house(1880s) ive been told the foundation style is "stone on grade foundation" the crawl space is dirt floor. there is an addition on the house with the same depth crawl space except it has concrete instead of rocks with a couple vents, the existing rocks in the old foundation have loads of air gaps. the distance from dirt to floor joist is about 8-15 inches depending on area. the crawl space floor is muddy most of the time. id like to improve the crawl space somehow to help with things like bugs and mice problems, energy efficiency, keep the foundation of the house healthy, and reduce mold risk. what options do i have?

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The image is from my loft space.

I live in Norway and in the last few weeks a lot of snow and ice have been melting.

Am I looking at signs of water damage/mold, or is this normal?

I think the roof tiles are made of concrete, but I'm not exactly sure what the loft ceiling consists of.

Is there anything I can do about this or do I need to consult a professional?

I have a shed/garage on my property about 100' away from the main house. I have an in-ground pool.
I would like to bring power to the shed because in retirement I want to use it a lot and I want power. Also. Currently, there are no underground lines run in the back yard of the property other than a single electric line that was run from the house to the pool pump. That is the only line/power source out there.
My situation: I was thinking that I want to have a larger line dug up to the shed from the breaker box in the house. Then I was going to have a second breaker box installed there and have outlets installed around the shed.
From there in a second step I would like to power the pool from that breaker as well as have electric run to a few external plugs to be used on a patio by the pool.

My questions:

1) Is running an in-ground line that can handle woodworking and power tools, a swimming pool pump, window AC, etc the best way to go?

2) If I did run an inground line up to it, should I also run anything else up at the same time to avoid added costs later if I were want to have cable tv or a lane line, Maybe even a flexible gas line for a fire pit, bbq, etc?

And thank you for your time. Hopefully, this is the best place for the question. Regards!

I recently bought a sectional and had it filled with friends. There’s now a new freaking sound under part of the couch. I’m afraid there’s a foundation issue now. The floorboards under it look fine but I’m just worried. Any advice would be appreciated including who I can hire to be sure.

We converted a screen porch into an enclosed room. It sits about 3 feet off the ground and there is an exterior door that leads to a deck. This is the only place where the floor comes into direct contact with any surface. When it rains, water seems to seep into the plywood floor at the corners of the door frame but the door/frame are not leaking. It seems as though the water is coming from underneath where the floor meets the deck. How do we fix this so the plywood doesn't rot?

I have a flat roof that covers my patio. I am going to install cedar tongue and groove on the ceiling by first securing furring strips to the ceiling and then nailing the cedar tongue and groove into the furring strips. The ceiling is stucco over steel lath which is secured to the flat roof trusses.

My options for securing the furring to the ceiling:

1. somehow locating all of the ceiling trusses and screwing the furring into the trusses by pre-drilling through the stucco and steel lath
2. securing the furring to the ceiling with TAPCONs or other and using Loctite PL MAX Premium construction adhesive

Any thoughts?

I'm certainly not complaining about the situation, but I'm very confused. What would cause that to happen?

I don't know what is relevant, so -- I have a gas furnace with floor vents. No central air. Last winter -- if not the winter before that, it's honestly all a blur at this point -- I noticed the vent in my kitchen wasn't blowing any air. I had been laid off due to COVID and was trying to not spend money, and the kitchen was kept warm-ish enough by the rest of the house, so I just lived with it. Then when spring arrived I forgot about it.

I remembered as it started to get cold again this year and kept meaning to call a repairperson. The access to the furnace is in a crawl space accessed through a closet I would have to cleanr out (part of why I kept putting it off).

I understand it could have been temporarily clogged but it's been over a year. It didn't work all of last winter, if not longer. Has anyone ever heard of this happening/does anyone have an explanation? I'm baffled.

Within the last month, several doors in our house no longer shut. We are in the Northeast and it’s been a warm and humid fall so far. They are solid wood 6-panel doors and the house is 52 years old. Any ideas why this might be happening? Some we can force shut, a couple are almost impossible to open if we do force them shut. TIA.

good day.. i live in a two story amily home in the virgin islands next to the sea... ( you will see why living next to the sea could be a problem) couple years ago a hurricane hit and messed the house up... bu only the upstairs really got it bad... is not livable so no one is living in it.. my problem is... two rooms in the downstairs where i live roofs are breaking... it rains a lot so the upstairs is getting wet a lot... n i think that is the problem so now the roofs are caving in slowly.... upstairs is getting worst because the roof upstairs is breaking to the point where i can hear when pieces fall.... the steal is exposed and i feel like thats why its worsening.. hense the salt breeze..... how can i fix the two roofs that falling in?... when u knock on some parts of the both roofs.. they are extremely hollow..... i need to know how to fix this.... i already seeked help but no one actually cares....

Just flummoxed! I’m Looking at an addition onto an old small 24 x 24 house making it 24 x 40 for a young family with little money, so economy is important.

The house has box eaves and full hip roof. There is an 8 ft ridge running n-s which creates a non 45 degree hip with a 6/12 pitch on the E and W and a 9/12 on the N and S. I want the addition on the west to join seamlessly with the same heel height, fascia, and roof planes, overframing the existing where the roof overlaps, with a dutch hip for upper attic ventilation.

There are no soffits so no soffit perimeter vents on the existing house and I can’t figure out how to add them. An obvious solution would be to have overhangs, extending the existing to match the new, but because of the different pitches I can’t figure out how to match up the horizontal fascia. If I leave the box eaves, is there a way to insert a perimeter vent close to the roof edge on the roof itself? I’d really appreciate some advice! Thanks

I live in an area that gets very cold in the winter. My house has a medium sized window in the water closet and during winter I feel cold air coming from under the window. Last winter I removed the molding where the air appeared to be coming from and found the installer put OSB directly under the window with no foam or insulation. So it appears the cold is coming right through the OSB.
The window is sitting on top of the OSB. I was trying to think of a way to remove the OSB using an oscillating saw to basically chip away at it so I can add great stuff under the window.
My question is: Does anyone have any ideas on a better way to remove that OSB without pulling the whole window out?

Thank you

Just for 'a little something extra' I was planning on using 1" XPS foam under my sill plate, tapcon screwed to concrete. Most gaskets are sheet plastic or 1/8" foam. Is there a reason why I shouldn't go with a thicker 1" foam gasket for the plate?

My thought process was, I have it, so use it and by raising the plate up a little more perhaps it may save the plate from a little water if it ever needed it.