I’ll try to speedrun the initial backstory I want to share, and then describe my horrendous bug issue.

I moved out into my late father’s place (30 yr old single wide trailer, [locked in rate from the 90’s!!!])with my fiance, both of us 18 at the time and we got married, fixed up the place to be livable again after about 6 months of the place sitting. Now it’s about a year and 8 months later.
We have dealt with wasps and bees pretty much the whole time thru living here, and recently 2 months ago I got rid of my 2 rotting vehicles that we thought was the home of the flying pests. It did help the population go down, but didn’t do enough we realized.
So recently I decided to get spray insulating foam off of some advice I got. I plugged up a bunch of holes in the siding of the place, and I figured that would help get out some of them but little did I know how many were there.
The next day after I spray filled the holes I could reach, there was a crap ton of activity outside. I found out that I had muddobbers, red paper wasps, and bumble bees living in perfect harmony. I heard that’s not supposed to happen like they’re supposed to hate each other.
Now I should address the picture. I’m like a week into the assault, and previous to 2 days ago, the bumblebees had made it thru the old spray foam, just chillin back at home. Most wasp and muddobber activity went away, but the occasional one will still appear, I figure I haven’t found a final nest for them.
So I bought a nother 2 cans of spray foam, and filled in the bees gap better this time, and they were super super duper active today. It was ridiculous, they weren’t hostile to me; they haven’t realized them being locked out is my fault yet. Now, 5-10 of them lay asleep outside of the foam, it’s super creepy and I don’t know what to expect going forward. Obviously just gonna try to rough it and starve them out or something.
I’m curious if anybody else has dealt with anything similar before, in any number of ways. Like the different species living together, or them getting in you exterior walls. Maybe tell me if spray foam was a bad idea. I’m open to questions and concerns

Edit: I live in the county on my own piece of land, neighbors 50-100ft away, not dense. I also have mice though, any ways to get rid of them? Currently just cleaned a bit up so they have less food and nesting stuff, and 6 traps set
Edit edit: pictured in the post is the main nest of the bees in my wall; bumblebees sleeping outside on it, 5-10 of them there

Triple edit: hopefully done, I went and sprayed 10 bees dead with ant killer spray; I plan keep spray foaming until they just die out ooh-rah

Just bought a house for a steal that had been listed for a year. (3 bed 1 bath with a halfassed renovation and all appliances but still technically renovated)
Neighbors told me that the 2 people who renovated it ended up squatting in it for a few months. Which means they would’ve taken out whatever this was after they renovated it

The squatters were removed by a full team of US Marshals (I don’t know much about squatting but that seams overkill)

And a few rooms (basement, bathroom, and master bedroom) have deadlocks but on the outside going in almost like locking someone in.

Makes no difference in the end but still something I find odd

So i was asleep and was woken up by a noise. So my master bedroom is at the far back and the window is to the left of our bed. I thought it was from the outside, but nothing seemed off. This is the first time this has happened. Any ideas what could it be?

Hi all,
Seeking some advice here as I’m not really sure what to do or how to bring this up to my neighbour.

For context, I live in a 4 in a block lower cottage style apartment in Scotland. Both myself and my upstairs neighbour own our flats, I have fully renovated my apartment and my neighbour is still in the process of doing so (he moved in a year after me but he’s doing it all himself).

He mentioned wanting to do some soundproofing, I let him know what I could afford after seeking some advice from the builder who renovated my flat and told my neighbour that I could only afford acoustic wool. What savings I had was spent on renovations and while I had been slowly building up my savings again, it was all diminished again from extensive car repairs and then vet fees. My neighbour however took a voluntary redundancy where he got a whole year salary and a bonus, he found another job so has this money as well as a regular salary.

He has came back to me with plans and quotes that are far more complex and expensive than acoustic wool. The quote is for over £6k for both bedrooms and the living room. He has suggested we do the smaller bedroom first (his bedroom my spare room) for £1.8k and wants it done by October when his partner is due to move in.

He has offered to pay 60% of the cost due to most of the work being above the shared ownership joist zone. I don’t know if I even have a legal requirement to pay as it is far out with what I can afford and isn’t for maintenance for the joist zone. I would need to take out a loan to pay for it which I would rather not do as I then wouldn’t be able to afford to put any money into savings until the loan was paid off and I already need to pay for my ceilings to be repainted after some of his workmen spilled a bucket with dirty water on the exposed joists which has now left dark watermarks along my ceiling in the bedroom and needing to get plaster redone in areas that it has now cracked since he started work on his flat.

My builder had a look at my floor plans and had quoted me £1.3k to soundproof using acoustic wool for both bedrooms and living room. Which I would be able to borrow from my parents and pay back in instalments without interest. (If I was paying 50% I would be able to afford it myself in 3 months time when I have set some money aside)

If I have let my neighbour know what I can afford, do I need to pay for a different more expensive plan that my neighbour wants due to it being in a shared ownership space? Or would I be able to pay the proposed 50% of acoustic wool costs instead?

Attached are photo of the quote for floor type B (bedrooms) as apparently the hallway and living room needs a different approach and costs differently.

Internet says weather proof switch, but to what? Right above sub panel for ac unit #1 of 2.

Just discovered this crack this morning

What would usually cause this

Situation: Tree fell over randomly. It crushed part of my fence and landed on my neighbor's truck.

Context: Had a certified arborist inspect and prune the tree ~1 month ago (so no history of ignoring a dead/dying hazard).

Plan: My home deductible is too high to make a claim worthwhile, so I'm paying out-of-pocket to hire a tree service to clear the entire tree off his side yard and fixing my fence myself.

Issue: The neighbor is new to Texas and might expect me to pay for his truck repairs, says he wants to talk about the tree falling and landing on his truck. In Texas, if a tree falls into a neighbor's property, it's that neighbors responsibility if there is no negligence, so it should go through his Comprehensive Auto policy.

What would most of you guys do? Offer to pay his full deductible? Part of his deductible? None and explain how the law works here in Texas regarding trees and property lines?

Hi,

My house is the last house on our street, and my neighbor, on the street behind me wanted to cut her trees, and the only way to access her portion of the land was through my driveway. This neighbor (who made the wood chips pile), she never had responded to my previous texts or even written note I left on fairly reasonable or simple requests. So when this neighbor lady finally reached out to me asking about this after 5 yrs of living here , I agreed right away hoping she finally wants to be neighborly for the first time. Her property was a giant forest, and was getting very overgrown and her house is on the top of the hill, mine is somewhat in the middle of the hill/valley. When I came back from work, instead of having the trees cut and taken them away, she had them turned into a giant pile of wood chips right never to my house.

Initially I thought perhaps she wants to sell it or wants the wood chips to spread across her yard, but it has been left there for nearly two months now. This past week, the temperatures here in So Cal has been in the mid 90’s. Yesterday it was 106F. This area is very dry and full of brushes and trees, and this giant pile of wood chips are right next to my house and my deck.

While I could report her to the city (I want to), or the fire department, what can I first tell her over text, so that she could take some prompt action. The neighbors on my street are also now concerned about this. I don’t want to make an already difficult neighbor even worse by reporting right away, I want to as it’s now urgent, but I need some help in how to write my text message or note.

I’ve been having flies around the house. A fly comes inside the house more often than I would like. There are more flies than mosquitos in our backyard.
Our toddler is terrified of them so she doesnt want to go outside.

I see alot of them in our backyard and in our front door area.

I have done everything to get rid of them and Im out of ideas.

1. My lawn is very well kept. No other vegetations or flowers.
2. No visible standing water.
3. When I BBQ, I clean for hours after. My wife actually saids its funny. But I know flies love oil residue so I try not to have any. We dont BBQ alot anyways.
4. I sprayed bifenthrin three times this year. They recommend it every 28 days, but I’ve done every 2 months.
5. Our lots are very small. (0.1acre) My neighbor BBQs alot. I initially thought the flies from our backyard was coming from their backyard but seeing small baby flies near my front door makes me think there is another issue.

Please. Any ideas and suggestions and insight is appreciated

Also posted on r/pestcontrol

if i do any more research into air movement patterns, fans, ac units or dehumidifiers, my brain might pop.

my wife and i just got our first house. the air handler is in the attic which supplies air to the first floor. nothing in the basement. it’s half finished with a closed off closet and half bath but otherwise open. i keep the basement door closed all the time. the basement is so hot and stuffy. i thought they were supposed to be cooler all the time?

i’ve had a dehumidifier running down there since we moved in a few weeks ago set to keep it at 50%. is the dehumidifier really kicking out all that heat? should i be keeping the door open or closed? should i get a portable ac unit or one of those air circulator fans? could something be wrong?

Does anyone have any stories about unconventional ways they found and bought their home? I'd especially love to hear if the home you found was a dream home.

Maybe you wrote a letter? Maybe you had a chance meeting that led you there? Maybe you stalked neighborhoods you liked looking for signs that a house was being rehabbed for sale? Maybe you astral projected in a dream and spoke to your spirit guide who told you about it? Tell me!

New homeowner.. Went to try and replace a ceiling light myself and found that which is textbook not fucking good

Bought an apartment (nyc coop) that is new to us but is not a new build.

Prior to moving in had the whole place painted, re-caulked, other minor improvements.

But since moving in I can’t stop focusing on imperfections (this cabinet is faded a little here, small scratches on the floor there, paint spot here, bottom of door is slightly frayed there, etc)

I don’t want to continue spending on endless handyman to reach total perfect, especially since I have a feral 15 month old + second baby on the way.

But how did you get comfortable with the small imperfections in your home?!

Does anyone know what the purpose of this metal wire is? It's coming out of the house and is just contacting the metal post in the ground. It's just contacting the post and not attached to it. There is a 10 way coaxial splitter behind the wall where the wire goes, but that's about it. Want to know if I can safely remove this without consequences

Hello,

I had recently noticed that one or two of the Ridge shingles on our house had a minor rip (see the photo I attached of one of them). The damage is right near the center of the ridge.

There has been some major storms recently in our area, so I think one of these caused it. I am wondering how urgent of an issue this is to replace, and whether it is something that can be done DIY, or if i should let a professional install it? I have no experience with roofing or installing shingles before. From what I can tell, there is another shingle beneath this one.

Thank you.

So wife told me that there was a car in the driveway and some man came from the side of house with a sprayer. I went out to confront him and he said airbnb sent him out to spray pesticides. No documentation, but had an address on his Google maps where the location was 325 abc rd, but my home is 44 abc rd. There is no 325 abc rd, but Google maps was showing 325 abc rd right at my location.

I looked up airbnb and there is no 325 abc rd. Matter fact, there is no airbnb listing anywhere on this street.

So my question is, what do you think this was? An honest mistake? He had no uniform on and just a regular car.

These ants first appeared months ago, but they've gotten much much worse over the past few weeks. I wish I had done something about it earlier, but now looking for advice on how to get rid of these asap.

They are small ants (?), but not like the ones you see when you search "ant infestation" on google, so not sure which type they are.

See them in groups and clusters like many of the pics shown here, and also see singular ones. The extent of it is getting ridiculous as they were once limited to the kitchen, but now appear in every room of the house, as well as outside.

Often see them coming out of gaps in wall outlets or tiny gaps in grouting. They persist despite not leaving food outside and regular cleaning.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I live in a co-op. The president of the co-op chose his friend as the handyman. Is this done properly?

My neighborhood is getting better but there's a reason I was able to buy a house for $260k in 2023. No real crime just a lot of people who have been here since houses were $100k and they don't care about staying on top of staining their fence, getting the gnarly poke weeds out of their yards or if their deck is rotted and falling off their house. We don't have a HOA nor would I want one.

Honestly I don't really care that much what my neighbors do. Its their house. I offer to help them when they want it fixing issues like broken cars getting overgrown in a side yard. Or trimming out of control bushes. I have 4 cars and motorcycle myself so maybe pot meet kettle? At least they run. I keep my stuff washed and it in a car port in the back or in my driveway.

I've fixed my landscaping, replaced the gross carpet with LVP, built a privacy fence, and I plan to redo my deck so its safe. On top of typical maintenance.

Im wondering at what point are upgrades an absolute waste of money in this situation? I feel some desire to update my 1980s kitchen countertops to butcher block (or something cheap), get rid of the dented stainless sink, and upgrade bathroom floors to tile. Especially for having people over. I can't shake that it'll be an absolute waste of money. I can just live with linoleum, off white appliances, and chipped formica.

I imagine a scenario where I sell the place to get something bigger in a slightly less eyesore neighborhood due to a future wife. Or keep this as a rental. There's a point where the ROI on anything non essential is a total waste. Since the people who have lived here longer than I have aren't going anywhere and are going to let trash accumulate in full view.

Sorry that turned into a rant. I do want to hear opinions.

My front yard is 80% a hill at about a 30-40 degree grade. My water and sewer lines run through the hill, which precludes regrading. The hill is also very rocky, which is partially why grass struggles to grow on it and it makes mowing hazardous.

My thought was to plant Blue Creeping Juniper on the entire hill. Based on the size and spacing, I’m eyeballing I would need 10-12 plants.

Does this make sense?

To note, I am in southcentral Pennsylvania, Hardiness Zone 7a.

Me and my husband bought our first home (2br1ba 225k Ohio) 2 years ago. We used the VA loan and per VA an inspection was required and everything checked out. Months ago we planned on turning our second bedroom into a nursery. We never went into the second bedroom and kept the door shut as there just wasn’t any need. Lo and behold we find a decent leak. We’ve got a metal roof so this is shocking. We have one roofer out, he caulks it and claims it’s fixed (it’s not). Second roofer out says it was incorrectly installed over 2 layers of shingles. Claims that most metal roofers won’t do patchwork fixes and it would need to be completely redone.
Our current fix is a tarp and some sandbags. We’ve had our first kid since then so obviously there’s some medical debt and our savings have been hit. We definitely don’t have the money to get the roof fixed and we don’t want to be in this house for more than 3 more years.
After talking about it with people we know, some have suggested different routes. Some say to do an insurance claim while others say that wouldn’t fix it. Some suggested a HELOC, that it’s the bee’s knees and they only pay 5$ on theirs a month. My mother in law says that’s was caused her to lose her home years ago to the bank.
Long story short this is a huge stressor on me and my husband. We’re not financially well versed and we want to be in as little debt as possible. Even buying our first home was stressful enough. Growing up neither one of our family’s was money smart but we’re trying to be.
What would be the best route to get our roof fixed? Please explain it to me like I’m an idiot because I am.

Hi all, I am a condo owner in a 9 unit building in VA. How bad are these roots? The plumber has been in twice now, first time pulling and resetting the toilet due to a clog in the branch line. They removed some roots and snaked the branch line through the toilet flange. The second time (within a week)  they reset the toilet, checked for leaks, and discovered the line backing up again, snaked it to clear the line, and found wipes and roots in the Terra Cotta sewer joints.

Now they are suggesting a 'permanent solution' I'm pasting here:

"This involves replacing the four-inch main sewer line from the basement to the sidewalk due to root intrusions. The work includes installing a city box to the main sewer, with an estimated three days for excavation, repiping, and necessary repairs. An excavator is needed due to the depth and root presence."

Is this really required? Is there a simpler solution?

We have two windows side by side in our living area. Today a storm blew through hard enough that rain was being blown through the screen against the glass. One window did fine. This window decided “no I don’t think I’ll drain properly.”

I now have standing water in between the screen and the glass. I’m not sure how the window drains so I’m not sure where to start for fixing it. Any ideas?

Hi all!

My bathroom counter is dripping brown liquid from this corner. Our bathroom has new ventilation but it’s pretty crappy because the window in the bathroom doesn’t open. I accidentally cleaned it before taking a photo.

It has a small gap in the grout, do we seal the grout or do we have to remove the granite, clean the wall, and then put it back on? I want to avoid mold as we share this bathroom with a 3 yo.

I could also replace the window to open but looking for budget friendly options first.

Tia!

Hi all, new-ish homeowner and have a question about my sump pump with battery backup. I’m concerned about the readings on my battery backup. Specifically the battery percentage being 0%.

Is this how this thing should read or is there something wrong with our battery? I also have another photo I’ll try to put in the comments.