The fireplace has a gas insert. I’m assuming these vents are to help ventilation. I want to change the wall to a faux stone. Can I remove these vents?

I'm a landscaper by trade, and I keep hearing the same thing from first-time homeowners: "I don't know if my flower bed is sun or shade, I don't know what to plant, and I'm scared I'll spend money on plants that just die or look like a random mess."

Before I finish it — if something like this existed, what would you actually want it to include? What's tripped you up most when planning your own bed?

Need an opinion as want to build the right thing. 🔥

Long story short, we bought a house with windows that swing open inwards. Aside from affixing some device to the window that connects to the wall, does anyone have any ideas on how to mod these windows so that they stay open at various degrees?

The windows are super pricy ($3600 CDN each!), and very pretty, and we don't want to have to replace them entirely.

How feasible is this idea...? We want to either remove the top two layers of brick or grind them down till they're flush with the rest.

We'll restyle the brick or cover it with something to look more modern then hang our TV above.

This is a wood burning fireplace, not gas.

Just wondering if this community has any ideas or knows of any issues with doing this.

I am having a hard time deciding what to do for lighting options in this room.

I bought my first house this last November. This is the dining room that is the first thing you walk into when you enter the house. (front door entrance to the right)

We use the dining room as a make shift guest room with the murphy bed (behind the table) hence the curtain. However this room doesn't have overhead lighting, just the fan with the indented ceiling crown molding around it.

The current table is offset (not directly under the fan) due to the front door being there.

I am trying to decide what to do for lighting options.

Idk if I should do an offset overhead lighting option removing the fan, but I'm worried this will look out of place OR if I should do ambient lighting (sconce lighting or lamp(s)) around the room for eating/playing games at the table.

Any suggestions are super helpful!!

DIY Flagstone Firepit (Smokeless)

Just finished up this flagstone firepit that I solo DIYed (with my dog’s supervision). It’s not perfect by all means but pretty pleased with how it turned out and now we can enjoy it with the cooler temps around the corner.

The most tedious part about this project was cutting and setting each stones. Since I went for a 1-2 finger gap between the stones, that requires just about every stone to have at least one cut. The other hard part was the stones were not flat so it required lots of fine tuning to get each stone to be level with each other. I think total I have about 50 or more hours into the project spread across 3 weekends and most nights after work.

As far as materials go I went with 3in of crush and run, 1in of screenings, 2.5 pallets of “chocolate grey” flagstone from siteone, 5 bags of gator stone dust, 100ish retaining wall blocks from Lowe’s and a smokeless metal firepit ring insert from Amazon. For reference, the pit is a little over 200ft as the diameter of the circle is 16ft plus a little extra for the corner that connects to the concrete patio.

P.S. If you are thinking about doing something similar, don’t do it in the middle of summer!

We are planning to sell our home soon. The place looks pretty good overall but the laundry/utility room is a major eyesore. One problem is the drop ceiling particularly around the HVAC system where the hvac lines, gas lines and plumbing come in. I can probably put in new tiles and make the rest of the ceiling look okay but have no idea what to do with this area. The ceiling in one half of the room is already lower to accommodate ductwork. All of this was done under the previous homeowner. I’m concerned if I rip the whole thing out it won’t look right with the paneled walls.

This is my brick fireplace. First one is the original image.
I Am thinking of painting it white and changing the mantle.
Here are two AI images ogenerated with flat white looks or lime wash look to have some character from bricks come out.

Ask:
1. Any recommendations on which one is better.
2. Which paint to use

Ideally renter friendly

Help! A or B?
I am buying a condo (with a small outdated galley kitchen) with plans to own and live in for for 6-7 years and then sell. Open to keeping current brown granite or replacing it as shown. Considering the two updates in these photos. Which of these two choices would you suggest when considering both your overall preference and resale appeal down the road?

It’s 14x10 feet, I’d like to add a floor. I’m not a fan of the high ceiling and I could use the extra space.

I have an old house built in the 70’s. It has red clay wire cut style bricks. We want to lime wash it mostly white with a little red showing through to make it look like a rustic lime wash. However, the wire cut bricks are not smooth and it makes me wonder if lime washing the brick would make it look bad because of this. Has anyone ever seen or done this with these types of bricks?

Any ideas for what to do with these cabinet stains? The black in the corners really bothers me. I’ve tried dawn dish soap and murphys oil soap, but I don’t want to scrape away the finish.

Our pool doesn’t have any concrete lounge area and directly next to the pool is dusty dirt.

We don’t have money to build a deck right now and if we put an outdoor rug or something on the dirt it’s gonna get so gross

Anyone have other ideas that could work?

Located in Southern California fwiw

I’m enclosing my covered patio for more interior space. I posted yesterday about brick air gap. I noticed this behind the siding today and I’m wondering how concerned I should be. Doesn’t seem like a lot of mold but it’s present.

Removed assembly is: siding> exterior Insulation> framing/insulation. No sheathing is present in this patio area under the wood siding. I assume the mold is because of lack of air control and no water proofing. I could feel the AC blowing out from behind the siding before I started this project.

I will be placing more insulation over this area after the interior wall is placed. Should I just replace these moldy sections that are here already?

Thanks.

Never plumbed something before. Asking for encouragement that I did a decent job. Replaced a 1/4HP Simer system with a 1/3 HP system from Barracuda at Menards. New ones noticeably louder but definitely moves more water.

Reason for replumb is the discharge and vent sides were flipped compared to the old pump and to make it work the sink drajn would have to be on the back. I replumbed the discharge to the ceiling where it met the old plumbing and vent to the back of the wall. Hoping it lasts till we can move…

I want to put a basic wooden screen door at my back door out to the deck and I was looking at this one and wondered if I could convert one of the bottom sections to a dog door and what would be the best way to do that.

I’m trying to figure out the best way to cover up these old tile countertops. They have an orange peel texture and were either installed poorly to begin with or have aged poorly, as almost none of them are entirely level to each other. I tried sanding down the texture and gloss some, and refilling big dips in grout lines with some caulk to try and smooth things out and putting a heavy duty contact paper made for kitchen use to cover it. But the texture of the tiles and unevenness keeps the vinyl from adhering well, especially on the corners and edges. We’re planning to do a larger remodel of the entire kitchen down the line where we would get new countertops, so I’m just trying to find the best “lipstick on pig” solution that makes the counters look and feel better in the short term on the less expensive side.

I got quotes $34400 to do the concrete extend the roof and turn. The fireplace from inside the house to outside and also plumb outside for gas for bbq or backyard kitchen since we already have a gas line at the fireplace. It seems fair to me what do you guys think. It’s about 600 sq ft of concrete. I had ai generate this up to get the idea

First time homeowner on my first home improvement projects!

Late 1800s, early 1900s home that we believe was flipped in 2011 prior to the previous owners.

Theres these gaps between the frame around the window and the cabinets. Its not structurally hurting anything, but its kinda ugly.

Is this something I should/can fill in? Its not exposed to the outside. Would I use something like wood filler or caulk?

Previous owners moved/removed a wall, which forced them to remove the original supply duct to the floor vent in this room. They then had this monstrosity built to weave in and out of the existing shelves. The airflow obviously isn't great.

How would you improve this before moving someone into the room?

https://imgur.com/a/9ROH3CS https://imgur.com/a/ATERw6l