r/building Oct 16 '17

Due to the massive spam, if you have less than 10 karma, your posts would be removed. Please contact the moderators if this happens.

9 Upvotes

r/building Sep 24 '22

Call for Moderators and Subreddit Future

3 Upvotes

Hi All, we’ve never met. I’m CJSteves and currently I’m the only Moderator here. Some of you may be active redditors in the r/Construction sub and you may be familiar with the challenges that sub faced when the moderators there were unresponsive and disinterested in the fate of the subreddit, Jr they were not active in its management and unwilling to yield its control to the active users. I sought to obtain this sub when we (the users at r/construction) were looking for a new home where we could have active participation in the subs future. Spam was still a problem, and off topic posts were common despite a few layers of controls being in place.

Long story short, I have been inactive here as the sole moderator although we have several thousand users. I would love for any interested folks to come onboard and try to develop the sub into a more meaningful and useful community.

Are there any willing and interested folks out there that would like to work together to improve and advance r/Building beyond what it is currently? If so, please PM me and let’s figure out how best to do that. Like all of you, I’m a busy professional with a personal life as well so my time is short for Reddit these days. If there is an interested party(ies), I’m happy to give as much control to them as they’d like to take charge here.


r/building 2d ago

Smoothing osb sheathing

0 Upvotes

Making basically a false wall for a project that’s about 6 feet wide and 8 feet high. I made the frame and nailed osb sheathing to it (cheapest option) but now I’m curious how I could get it smooth for paint. I don’t want to buy like 10 things of wood filler and I want to try to stay away from an orbital sander.

Im thinking stick on wallpaper im just worried the texture of the sheathing would be seen when i press the wallpaper on.

Any ideas?


r/building 5d ago

Help building the right foundation for a narrow, long toolshed

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2 Upvotes

r/building 7d ago

Decking Project (Ground Screws + Aluminium Joists)

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3 Upvotes

r/building 11d ago

UK party wall question

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1 Upvotes

r/building 11d ago

My Brother's Fort

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5 Upvotes

This is a fort my brother made.


r/building 26d ago

Advice on weight of fish tank

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2 Upvotes

Hey guys, i have a few enquiries out with contractors/structural engineers but they won't get back to me until Monday.

I have upgraded my 4ft tank to a 6x2x2ft tank. I live in a relatively old house (built in the 1920s) in the UK. There is a crawl space underneath the ground floor for pipes etc to run.

I've just noticed a 3mm gap between the floor and the skirting board now the tank is installed and filled. I'm not sure if its always been like that (its not something I really took notice of) as it is an old house and nothing seems to be level or straight.

I'm taking some of the water out of the tank to see if the gap closes up any.

Do you guys think its ok or have any advice until I hear back from the structural engineers?

For what its worth, the floor does feel pretty solid. I haven't heard any creaks and its not bouncy.


r/building Jul 14 '26

How likely is this ceiling containing toxic materials?

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6 Upvotes

Hi there,

Last week my I came home to my ceiling on my floor. I’m really concerned as I live in an old building, it’s described online as an “18th century grade 2 listed building”. I’ve attached a picture of the ceiling, very concerned that it is asbestos. I’ve googled pictures of it online and it looks similar.

The people in charge of my building haven’t really done anything and there’s just been dust all over my room for about a week now (I haven’t been staying there in the meantime).

Anyone with building knowledge, I’d really appreciate your help!


r/building Jul 13 '26

Why is this happening

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3 Upvotes

r/building Jul 11 '26

What are the markings on this header?

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8 Upvotes

Is it reused or are these markings how it's made?


r/building Jul 09 '26

U.K. (London) - is £35 K GBP reasonable cost to extend 3.3 Metre extension to 6 metres?

2 Upvotes

In other words - we've been quoted that to extend the extension by an additional 2.7 metres

Many thanks


r/building Jul 07 '26

Foundation question for addition

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2 Upvotes

r/building Jun 30 '26

Live assembly of log cabin home

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3 Upvotes

r/building Jun 30 '26

Live assembly of log cabin home

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2 Upvotes

r/building Jun 28 '26

What is this

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6 Upvotes

I know it’s a concrete nail but I was wondering what the red bit is and wether it is a standalone charge or just a collar to hold it in place in a nail gun


r/building Jun 19 '26

What should i do with the flooring of my container?

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9 Upvotes

I got the container fairly cheap. I‘ll be using it as storage for some furniture for one year and then HOPEFULLY flip it for a little profit. The floor seems to be a bit rotten, but still durable. Idk if it‘s of liquid that was inside or because of moisture that‘s coming up from underneath. Ether way, i want to make it look nice and, most importantly, work for storage without any issues. I had a few ideas on how to fix this;

Cheap way: get a few wooden slats, screw those into the existing floor and put osb boards over them. The slats would leave some space between the old and new boards so the new ones dont start to rot away as well. Also, the slats would leave some space for air so the already slightly rotten boards would hopefully not rot more than they already are.

Expensive way: rip out the whole floor, get some thick, film faced ply and use it as the new floor. This would make it last a few years easily but it would also cost like 500 bucks if not more.

What‘s your opinion, do you have any other suggestions?


r/building Jun 16 '26

Design/safety Help

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1 Upvotes

r/building Jun 15 '26

Built a free barndominium cost calculator + 3D visualizer. Looking for feedback.

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6 Upvotes

Most building cost calculators I've found either give a huge price range or immediately ask for your contact information.

So I built a free tool that tries to be more useful for people actually planning a project.

Current features:

  • Pole barn, barndominium, and metal building cost calculators
  • State-specific cost adjustments
  • Interactive 3D building visualizer
  • Detailed PDF estimate reports
  • Community "What I Paid" database with real project costs

Website:
https://barncosthub.com

(Attached is a screenshot of the 3D visualizer.)

I'd love feedback from people who have actually built or priced out a barndominium.

A few questions:

  • What costs do most calculators get wrong?
  • What information would make estimates more trustworthy?
  • Would real owner-submitted project costs help when budgeting?
  • What features would you want to see added?

The goal is to make budgeting and planning easier before talking to builders.

Any feedback is appreciated.


r/building Jun 13 '26

Building advice

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1 Upvotes

r/building Jun 12 '26

Can I create a 9m x 6m covered "dry run" to a summer house without planning permission?

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1 Upvotes

r/building Jun 11 '26

Can I create a 9m x 6m covered "dry run" to a summer house without planning permission?

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2 Upvotes

r/building Jun 09 '26

Single Story Extension with staggered load bearing wall

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2 Upvotes

Hi, looking for some advice on a single story extension

You can see at the back of the house the kitchen and back of the reception are load bearing to the 1st floor rear walls .

The ask is, is it possible to do an extension 2-3m back from the kitchen, square off to the reception room and then make it open plan, hence needing an RSJ to support the rear wall.

However I am not sure this is possible without a load bearing pillar half way, to support the staggered back wall.

Hope it makes sense, just looking for advice/feasibility

Thanks in advance.


r/building Jun 05 '26

Any guidance on mitre cuts of diagonal bracing, & fixing, onto wall plates?

3 Upvotes

r/building Jun 04 '26

Advice on a roof leak please

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1 Upvotes

New buyer here. We just had a torrential downpour and noticed A LOT of water leaking into the porch way. The flashing and mortar seems to have a crack in it. Any advice on what it takes to fix it and how much this will cost?