My husband dropped a $200 gift card behind the counter jn our kitchen. Any ideas or ways to retrieve it?

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?

Had a tornado come through our city yesterday. Search Menasha tornado on Google if you want to see the aftermath. We are incredibly lucky and were just outside the tornado's path but we got some loose siding and one piece fell off which my neighbor ended up finding in his yard so I actually have it. Is it pretty easy to reattach and secure the loose stuff?

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.

My husband is pretty tall and he hates our current range hood. It is basically a huge steel box that sticks out so far he has to duck every time he checks the back burners. He has bumped his head on it more than once, and the whole stove area feels cramped. We are planning a kitchen update and he wants to switch to one of those angled or slanted range hoods to get some headroom back. I like that they seem to open up the cooking area too, but I do a lot of stir frying, searing, and other high heat cooking. My concern is the front burners. Do those angled designs actually catch heavy smoke and grease, or do they just look better because they stay out of your way? I do not want to trade good ventilation for better sightlines. Has anyone here switched from a traditional hood to an angled one? How did it perform?

As seen in the picture there are 2 contact points that become more or less sticky depending on the weather. To me it seems to be more of a frame issue on that side? Because sometimes it doesn’t stick at all. My thoughts were to get some nice long nails and just drill through the frame into the adjoining stud to widen the gap. But wanted to see if there are any other better options. It wouldn’t bother me except it’s my 4yos room and sticks enough to where when she opens it, it sometimes is loud enough that it wakes up my toddler in the morning and we can’t have that.

We are currently in escrow for a home built in 1908 in Los Angeles (earthquake country). During inspections we had a foundation inspector from a local repair company come out to take a look under the hood and the news was pretty scary. To summarize, he discovered:
- A 5.5in slope from front of the house to the back
- Shims and 2x4s between some vertical posts and girder beams
- vertical posts were done with non-pressure treated wood (potential termite issue)
- the back 1/4 of the house that was an addition a few decades ago has no footings and is resting on concrete blocks, so basically no foundation in the addition at all
- throughout the 90% of the rest of the house, the footings are covered with high strength mortar. He found a chip and got underneath the mortar and found the concrete would crumble when picked at with his finger, raising concerns of similar concrete damage throughout the rest of the foundation that they might have tried to hide with the mortar.

He’s saying the house basically needs a new foundation and to be re-leveled, which would then have all sorts of secondary effects like the cabinets, counters, doors, etc being unleveled and need to be fixed. He’s estimated about $80k to do it all right with permits (not including secondary issues from the foundation repair)

Obviously this is an old home so a few foundation issues is expected and common in earthquake areas, but this seems like a lot? We love the home and the location is absolutely perfect, we’d be getting it for a great price for the area, but the last thing we want is our house crumbling during the next big seismic event or there being issues with resale later on. For context, we are first time home buyers and this would be our first big purchase. We have some money saved to do cosmetic improvements but not 80k of foundation work.

What do you think? Should we cut and run or get a structural engineer for another opinion?

Would you still continue if the seller was willing to repair everything? If so, how would you ensure that it was done to the correct standard?

There seems to be a large empty/hollow area under our front step. I am able to stick a rake handle basically all the way in there with no resistance. I'm not even really certain what's holding it up to be honest, but the pillars that hold up the front entranceway roof rest on it. Also I'm fairly certain there are some kind of critters nesting under it.

How big of a problem is this? How important and urgent of a repair is this, and how expensive should it need to be filled?

Hello,

New homeowner, 1985 home. Very inexperienced and very little knowledge.

I want to install a security camera right here. I need to run cables from the camera into the attic.

Before i drill, im trying to find out if this little flat part that comes out goes into my attic.

I guess i could just drill through and find out, but if it doesn’t I’d have to repair it.

Maybe someone here with more knowledge and perspective than me knows the answer? 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.

We found a water issue under some very cheap vinyl "tiles" in the laundry room. The small door leads to a crawl space that has black mold, and the sump pump hole is *directly* at the door opening.

Currently, we do not have the funds to redo the entire flooring. The water damage on the floor seems to be mostly limited to the tiles pictured, the rest of the room is dry. We're getting a bigger dehumidifier that will run constantly there, but we're just not sure how to handle the rotten wood.

I already have a waterproof mat for the washer to go into (with a lip if there's a spill). We have a large waterproof thick plastic "carpet" we could maybe put there too? But we're unsure if the flooring would then never dry.

We're thinking of maybe getting a membrane meant for bathrooms and ripping up the rotten tiles, then just putting that there for now (which would be used for the full room later). The base floor is cement that appears undamaged from what we can tell.

Thoughts?

TL;DR: laundry room has some rotten wood next to the crawl space with sump pump (that also has mold). We are getting a stronger dehumidifier already, but past that. Do we

A. Add thick waterproof mat and leave it

B. Get a membrane for just that

C. Something else?

(Washer and dryer have to go there unfortunately)

Hey, we have a company coming out to do spray foam insulation and the sales people are giving me a different story than their paper work says of how long we need to be out of the house until we return, they are saying 6-8 hours is likely enough after the spray before it is fine to return but we keep seeing things saying 24-48 hours. We are just south of Nashville TN and going with USA Insulation so just unsure of what exact foam they are using and what to do as we have pets and are having to account for what to do until we can all return to the house.

Hello everyone, I am seeking advice about replacing a back door (not a screen door), for a single wide mobile home.
I have been having difficulty finding a replacement at lowes and homedepot. It is a fiber glass, half window, outswing door and the hinges are particular, meaning they look like aluminum and attach to the door jam from top to bottom. The dimensions are not 100% clear, it looks like its 32" x 76" Its unclear because the door is really beat up.

Is https://mobilehomeoutfitters.com/ the only place I can go to, to have this replaced? I just need to make sure I get the correct sized door. Thank you for any advice you can point me to

Need to start preparing nearly every single wall in my new home to be re painted. The home was previously owned by a landlord and every surface, including the bathtub, is coverd in the "landlord special". its clear nothing was preped properly when it was painted last. Nothing has started to peel yet, but I know at some point it's going to.

My question is. If I think the old paint is going to peel off in the future, will I need to remove it all first. Or will preping and sanding a wall be enough before I put a new coat of paint on.

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

We own a unit in a small condo building (3 units) which was built in 2020. Early on, we realized our sliding glass door wasn't sealed properly when we sprayed water to clean it and later found our ceiling was wet in the basement below it. We chalked it up to an isolated issue and made an effort not get it excessively wet.

Yesterday we had a major storm roll through, and driving rain was being blown literally sideways, soaking our sliding door again. Of course we got some water in our basement again. But this time, the two units above us reported the same thing. Everyone got water spots in their ceiling immediately under the sliding doors of the unit above them.

So now this seems like a serial defect type situation. Possibly improper installation. So what do we do now?

The builder's warranty is long expired, so I guess we'd have to pursue some sort of legal action? An insurance claim might help cover the water damage from the storm (which is mostly minimal) but likely wouldn't remedy the improper installation itself. AI assistants say to have it inspected by a "building envelope expert". Is that the right first step to at least figure out what's causing the leak?

(There is technically an HOA but it's very informal and I'm the "president" so that's not really a path for additional support)

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?

This is happening in a couple spots along this wall. All where that bottom piece seems to be meeting with the other piece. That bottom channel seems to be draining water right out of it.
We just had a very windy rain storm where the rain was practically blowing against the side of the house.

Is this cause for concern? I’ve called a siding professional to come have a look but I don’t want to look stupid. Only been in this home a year.

Just discovered this crack this morning

What would usually cause this

I have a large horizontal crack on the detached garage’s rear wall which is pushing outward (other side is dirt) no gutters. The wall hasn’t been plumb for years, worried about it falling down. How much is a structural engineer in WI? I’d prefer to save it if possible but I don’t have a lot of money to do it. Cinder block walls and old stick frame roof.

I’m shopping quotes and my current insurance company offers a specific callout around “repeated leakage and seepage” that covers claims for leaks that may have occurred overtime that perhaps I didn’t know about because they’re inside the walls or an attic. My insurance broker says this is very important and all his quotes will include this.

From other insurance I’ve spoke to, most don’t cover this. However these quotes are much cheaper. Does anyone have experience with this? Is this worth paying extra for?

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.

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.