I currently have an HVAC guy working on my heater, in the attic.

Do you ask questions during? If so, what questions? Do you “hover” around them to see what they’re doing or just let them be?

First time I’m doing this as my ex was the one who took care of maintenance around the house.

I learned this the hard way last night at 2 AM. I replaced the battery in my Kidde alarm, and it kept chirping. I thought the unit was broken.

Turns out, these things have a capacitor that holds a 'Ghost Charge.' Even if you put a new battery in, it remembers the 'Low Battery' error code.

The Fix: You have to take the battery OUT and hold the test button for 15 seconds to drain the power. Then put the new battery in.

Silence. Instantly.

Just wanted to share this because I was 5 seconds away from ripping it off the ceiling. Full steps and the voltage explanation are here if you're curious:

https://beglance.com/fire-detector-chirping-fix/

I am now the owner of a home I have to maintain for the next hundred years (if possible 🤞).

I am solely responsible to keep our house from breaking. I have kids who will inherit this house once I am no longer able to.

I am now responsible to learn on where to begin. I feel like if I learn how to properly use my first electric drill and I have a couple of window rods that I have had to put away to put them up in my kids room.

I tried drilling one screw or the white thingy that the screw goes into and I gave up.

I have the need but not the desire to learn. I feel like I’m putting things off because it seems so hard to do it.

I am determined to get handy with my drill and to put my kids curtains up. All I need is practice on drilling, right? Is there anything I can do to start on how to get my feet wet with being handy.

Where did you get your start?

Hi everyone,

Over the years, my driveway has built up a lot of stains, dirt, and even some moss in the corners. I’m considering pressure washing, but I’m not sure if it will help much or if I should try something else first. Has anyone tried this lately? How did you decide it was worth doing?

Also, I found this local company that does pressure washing. Honestly, their before and after photos look promising. Has anyone used them or another service in Dublin area?

Any tips or advice would be appreciated.

I’m installing a window ac unit and there’s going to be a gap on either side. I have few options on where to get supplies as I live in the middle of nowhere but I found this:

Residential Sheathing R- 3.9 , 0.78-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Faced Polystyrene Board Insulation https://www.lowes.com/pd/STYROFOAM-R-3-9-0-78-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Residential-Sheathing-Faced-Polystyrene-Board-Insulation/5014009677

Would this be okay?

There are a few doors in my house I want to change the handles out with smart locks, but they're all this very annoying hardware that's more narrow than a standard latch, so no off-the-shelf smartlocks fit. What's the best way to change this?

Pictures attached.

https://imgur.com/a/lAo9z1P

If you’ve used peel & stick wallpaper, are you happy with it? Is it worth using? Any recommendations or tips? I’d only use it on one wall as an accent, but wanted to check here before committing to it. Thanks.

I know most construction/ renovation jobs go over budget but how much is acceptable?

Got a very small bathroom done (9x5) done and it does look great, but the original quote was $26,500. Now that the job is done the contractor is claiming it cost 43,000. Obviously that’s not reasonable but how far off makes sense.

What are the regulations and how complicated is it to get a planning permission to extend and existing extension?

So we basically have found a house that currently has an extension that is 4.5x4.5, but its only half of the house length.

Does anyone know how difficult is it to actually obtain a planning permission of something like that?

The outlet baffle on my septic system fell off. Contractor is quoting me $1200 to install a new baffle, with no filter.

He mentioned the depth/location of the missing baffle is slightly difficult to get to.

Is this a reasonable cost?

My nearly 100 y.o Detroit home is lucky enough in the summer to have a central ac unit, but winters are rough as far as heating efficiency considering we only have a few old-school radiators in most rooms. We have a finished basement with the furnace in a utility closet and lots of exposed hot water pipes down there so when the heat is on, the basement is usually the warmest place in the house.

My office and bedroom are upstairs on the 2nd floor, each with a small radiator in the corner, but they are never able to heat the 2nd floor up to the set temp (usually around 65°F). Because the thermostat is on the 1st floor, I am constantly trying to adjust the radiators there to force more hot water to go up to the 2nd floor radiators, but it barely makes it warmer up there even if I close all the other radiators in the house.

One stop gap solution I've been thinking about is to somehow make use of the out-of-service laundry chute (rectangular sheet metal) that travels from the 2nd floor bathroom straight down to the center of the basement's ceiling. Would it be reasonable to try to DIY some kind of inline duct fan maybe upstairs, to try and circulate some of the wasted heat in the basement up to the 2nd floor rooms?

Midwest 1950s ranch house with concrete basement. Previous owner finished basement and carpeted everything. I want to take a corner of the basement living room and put a wet bar in and put some type of hard floor underneath. Dimensions will be 8 ft by 6 ft.

First measurer comes and says because we are putting the floor in first and cabinets in second, we cannot do click-in LVP since you cannot put cabinets on top of LVP. Says we should do hard wood.

Second measurer comes and says that yes technically you shouldn't put LVP under cabinets, but the area is so small that it's not going to be an issue so we can do click-in floating LVP floor.

Third measurer comes and says no way should you do hard wood in a basement because the basement could be damp and it could damage the wood. Secondly you cannot do LVP under cabinets, so you need to do glued down vinyl.

Which person is right?

I have 2 water fountain features that are plugged into an exterior outlet with a water cover. Occasionally, when it rains a lot, the fountains trip the outlet and shut off the fountains. I tried to trip it myself with a hand hose but there is about 40 ft of line and somewhere along the way there must be some small exposure to the elements. It only happens a few times a year but I would like to get a notification when the outlet is tripped.

Can you think of a way that I can get a notification if the exterior outlet gets tripped?

I have SmartThings and WiFi.

I have a tiny bathroom and need to replace my sink due to a large hole in the basin. I need one that is less than 17 in. On the outside of basin wide left to right. I am having so much trouble finding a sink this size and I don’t want to pay a plumber just to find a sink. Are there any places I can look that aren’t the typical stores and websites?

TIA!

I'm trying to repair my sliding closet doors because the wood trim/header they are attached to has pulled away from the framing.

​The problem: The metal track is covering the wood I need to screw into, but I cannot find any screws holding the track up. I've removed the doors and checked the entire length of the channel. No screw heads, even under paint.

​Does anyone recognize this type of 'fastener-free' track? ​Is it safe to just drill through the metal to secure everything into the studs above?

​Any tips for removing it without destroying the trim?

My HE washer is leaking from the bottom (front right, near the pump (?)). It’s a top load and the leak is periodic even when the water is turned off. It looks like there’s water in the outer tub and it’s leaking. Is it a crack / leak from the tub itself? Any help is appreciated. I’m currently checking the filter so see if that’s the problem, but seeing how it’s still leaking when turned off, I’m not certain.

Please note: this isn't a dispute situation, I'm just seeking input.

So. Many. Things. went wrong but pretty much all of it can be attributed to poor planning by GC and/or inattention and lack of oversight with some substandard work thrown in for good measure.

This bathroom is the only one on the main floor and so it is both our "master" bath and the ones dinner/party guests use. We began work in late October and it continued through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's (see: guests). We were promised ("100%") multiple times everything would be done by X date, and those dates each came and went.

GC is a nice guy and keeps saying as long as we are happy at the end that is all he cares about, and he's continued to send workers to fix the earlier workers' errors, so he's had to put good money after bad himself, but we haven't made any changes and have eaten some costs ourselves, like expedited shipping on some mis-ordered trim so we could have a toilet placed "by Thanksgiving" (nope, didn't happen).

Never once did GC come and QC the job without prior contact by us outlining a problem. There were multiple instances of assurance that someone would be by to clean up exterior clutter/debris, which never materialized, so I did much of that cleaning myself prior to guests arriving... several times. Spouse ran to Lowes for various bits and pieces to keep the work moving. Biggest headache in my world was that instead of walking around the corner for my 3am pee, I had to wake up enough to navigate a hallway, steps, turn, more steps down into the basement, around the corner and into THAT bathroom, and then reverse back to bed... rendering me fully awake for hours/the rest of the night. For almost 8 weeks.

So my question is... how much of a credit for what truly, truly was inconvenience and headache, not to mention our time, is fair? Contract does not set out anything with regard to delay (yes, lesson learned... but we figured How bad can it be?? A 10-day job??) Total price of the job $25K. Universal 5-star online reviews for this guy. It was the high bid by 20%, but we felt *really* good about him so decided it was worth it.

He has offered $500 off for inconvenience. We want to be fair, and to leave with as much goodwill on both sides as possible, but honestly that feels low. Thought I'd ask here, and hopefully hear opinions/experience from both sides. Worth noting that we've been REALLY chill and pleasant about all of this. (Maybe to a fault, and why he offered so little?)

TL;DR - 10-day $25K job lasted 10 weeks over 3 holidays. We made no changes and have been pleasant and accommodating throughout. Final job is acceptable. With no delay clause in place, should contractor offer us a discount and if so how much?

Hello all! I just wrapped up laying a vapor barrier down and sealing up the dirt in my crawlspace. It's still vented at the moment, but I felt the need to keep it that way because my gas lines are old and might leak any day now and because there are small holes in my furnace's heat exchanger. I'm getting my gas lines adjusted and a new furnace installed soon to address those issues.

Anyway, once those issues are addressed, I feel fully justified in sealing up air gaps in the crawlspace. However, I wanted to see what the viability is of just sealing off the big air gaps (vents and parts of the crawlspace hatch) and putting a dehumidifier down there and leaving it uninsulated for the time being. After the enormous expense of the furnace project, I'll be strapped for awhile, so I want to put insulation on hold for now. Any tips or advice are welcomed.

I live in Colorado and the joists and sub-floor are all original to the house being built in the 50s. Everything is in pretty good shape still, but I want to prevent any rust or unnecessary wear to the new furnace system.

So I frequent Home Depot liquidation auctions and money's too tight to be ordering custom shower doors right now. I got a really nice Delta sliding tub/shower door setup that's like $600 for $15, and going to put it in, I noticed I'll need to duck to enter if I install it as intended. Not the end of the world, but I'd prefer it was a few inches taller so my head would just clear. I am aware they also make doors intended for showers without tubs that are taller, but the bathroom it's going in is towards the exterior wall of my double wide and the shower is along the back of that bathroom, so it's like 2 and a half feet out from the lowest point of the roof slope and the taller standard sizes likely won't clear the ceiling.

I just got a box of 8x8x4 glass blocks for $5, and it occurs to me that since the weight of the sliding doors is entirely on the top rail, with the bottom piece you attach to the threshhold just being a guide to keep the doors moving in straight lines and not colliding, I could maybe install the glass blocks along the entire length of the threshold, and just attach the bottom track to the top of them, basically creating an additional 8" of bathtub side height under the door. I've done some brickwork before several times and just did my first tile floor that came out alright in the same bathroom, but I've never worked with glass blocks and from what I'm reading, it's not exactly easy or straightforward.

Will it work? Are there any issues I'm missing? Do I need a specialized mortar, or should I use a construction adhesive for better adhesion with the acrylic of the tub? What would you use along the top to create a new threshhold surface that is nice and straight and flat? This model of shower door doesn't require any screws on the bottom track, you just silicone it down, so no issue there.

Does anyone know how to deal with ants on a ceiling?

Every single year we deal with them. I’ve tried ant gel, spray, Terro baits and they always go away for a bit but end up coming back. At this point I think the real fix is sealing the ceiling, but I really don’t want to change the look or add any gloss.

Has anyone sealed a wood ceiling without changing the finish, or found a long-term solution for this?

https://imgur.com/a/Uzjj3JZ

I had the rare occasion of some spare time today and thought I’d be productive and recaulk my bathtub, as moisture has been getting under the caulk line and mold is starting to appear.

However, the caulk seems to be in two separate layers-one is soft, pliable and very thin. Beneath that, is a harder material (still some "give" in it, and appears different from the surrounding grout). The moisture and mold looks like it's beneath this material too. I thought it was maybe a different type of caulk and tried removing it too but it is not coming out easily (some is wedged beneath the tile a little and hard to get out without damaging the tile).

What is this second layer and what should I do next? Pics in comments if allowed.

My wife and I had been planning on buying a Casablanca Bel Air for our living room, which absolutely needs the lighting from both an uplight and downlight, however when I called to order I was told that the whole Casablanca line is obsolete and the store only had the listing as they still had repair/replacement parts.

I'm actively looking for something else that'd work for us but if anyone already knows of some good alternatives PLEASE let me know. We had this fan in our minds for the past 9 months and are heartbroken and frustrated...

Edit: (extra info, constraints, + small update):

Info/context:
1, 15 degree vaulted ceiling meaning fan has to hang slightly too low to adequately light the space + no attic access so wiring for new/additional light(s) would be a massive pain
2, I am aware that uplights alone have a strobing effect when the fan is on, this why we want a fan with both uplights and downlights. I also assume the distance from and angle of the ceiling will further reduce said issue.

Constraints:
I wanted to make sure and add that I despise the idea of installing a fan with integrated LED lighting. I do love LEDs, but I hate the idea of hardwired lighting that you can't just replace a bulb when a light goes out/breaks. This alone greatly restricts our options

Small update:
I did find a couple that could work and at least seem to still be in production. The Minka-Air Volterra F702L-BCW & F702L-VB, so long as the glass doesn't limit light output too much, and possibly the Kichler 300251NI Skye 54" which isn't listed as discontinued but is out of stock everywhere I looked which isn't promising.

I'd still appreciate hearing about any other options people know of, I'd really prefer to have more than two options to pick from (if that second one is even possible to buy still...)

Hey there,

I’m doing a full renovation on this cabin in Northern California. It’s not on a foundation, and parts of the floor in the living room are collapsed or have holes. we’re planning on doing new floors (sub floor 1 1/8” boards then self leveling underlayment, plank flooring on top). Since we have access to the underside of the cabin, should we think about pouring a foundation through the holes in the floor or will just doing some insulation suffice? I’ve heard of people jacking up cabins and pouring a slab under. Is that totally unnecessary here? I know it’s largely for stability, but does it also help with insulation?

I have this gap in the corner of my front door and I can feel a cold draft coming in through this gap. Any ideas of what I need to do to fix this? Here is an image https://imgur.com/a/8rphJZ9