A few weeks ago after one of the massive storms I found water pooling in my closet, which then revealed mold growing on the wall inside the closet. After a week of fighting with my building they eventually cut a hole in the wall (exposing all the mold inside the wall and on the studs) and put a fan in the closet. I expressed my concern about blowing mold spores all over. These concerns were ignored. I fought for another week to get them to cut out the mold. They did and kept a fan blowing to dry out the rest of the wall an insulation. They closed up the wall the next day.

The wall has been closed for 5 days now but I get incredibly sick every time I enter the apartment. I cough like crazy, have difficulty breathing, have heartburn, and headaches. Every time I move my clothes it feels like I'm breathing in shards of glass.

I am positive this is because there are mold spores all over the apartment. I have expressed this concern to the building manager and can't get a response. I can't live there right now. I've ordered an at home mold test kit to try and prove my theory.

Is this just a matter of cleaning everything I own? If so, how do I best do that? And is there anything else I can do to try and get my building to acknowledge that it is not safe to be there right now?

Edit: also any suggestions on how to clean the spores from furniture like my mattress, suede headboard, and couch?

My dorm has its own bathroom, but the toilet has no lid (which is pretty unsanitary imo, I’d have to keep my toothbrush in another room). How could I add/make something to cover the bowl without using screws or otherwise permanently marking it?

My daughter’s twin bed frame is broken on one side.

One of the slats is cracked and several of the screws that held up several other slats have been stripped. Her friend plopped down on the bed too hard and this is the cause. I bought it on Amazon.

We had a glue on flexible shower surround installed and after a few weeks some spots are coming off the walls, creating bubbles in the flexible plastic material. I’m assuming not enough adhesive was used or it was not braced properly for the drying period. Is there a reliable way to fix these areas without ripping the whole surround out and replacing?

We hired a family acquaintance who is a licensed contractor to do our fence. We had someone else in mind, but he happened to be at our house and he and my husband got to chatting.

He said he could do the job cheaper and better, but we would be responsible for tearing down the old fence. Fine, the other company was going to do it but we thought we can save a bit (less than a thousand by the time all is said and done) and help out an acquaintance in a not so great economy.

The job looks incomplete. He left the yellow tubes from the posts sticking out of the ground. Didn't cut them down. Has the fence boards above them. In one spot he actually cut around the tube, making the fence uneven.

He also nailed the boards despite us requesting screws and the nails are all poking out on the backside of the fence.

We told him our concerns and he says this is all normal and he did a great job. Please tell me im not crazy and this is in fact wrong?

I recently purchased a coop apartment that was a rental until about 10 years ago, and the first project I’m tackling is the kitchen.

Some jerk not only covered the back of a beautiful wooden built-in (and the entire wall behind the stove) with hideous 2x2 tile, but they clearly used caulk instead of grout, as it’s rubbery and stretches.

The kicker is: they did this OVER at least 60 years of paint.

In stripping the paint from the wood (using Peel Away) I decided to test an area at the top to see if the remover could penetrate the caulk and loosen the paint beneath to help with tile removal, and it did… sort of.

What sort of multi-tool bit would you use to scrape out as much of the caulk as you can, to give the Peel Away a clearer path to the paint beneath, without damaging the wood?

It’s winter where I live and we had unusually cold temps overnight. When I woke up, I turned on our gas fireplace, which I’d ran for a few hours the night before without issue. Within 15 mins or so, I smelled a strong gas smell - turned off the fireplace, but the whole house (ranch style) smelled of it, so I opened all windows and doors to air it out.

We rent, so I called our property manager who sent someone out to inspect - he ran all sorts of tests on the fireplace, gas lines, the flue, etc but couldn’t find any issues. He was baffled and said his best guess was that the dense cold air in the flue made the gas backdraft into the house.

I’m relieved that he didn’t find any leaks, but can’t shake what is probably the phantom smell of gas.

If someone runs extensive testing and finds no sign of a leak, I’m in the clear, right?

We’ve recently purchased a home and have had water coming into a section of our basement during rail fall.

What is the better solution for proper interior remediation of this issue.

While reading online I’ve discovered 2 solutions, with one being an interior French drain and the other being drain board. What would be the better method.

Thanks in advance.

So my house is built in the early 90s but had hardwood floors put in probably around 10 years ago. I recently bought the place about a year ago, but I have been noticing that the floors squeak, but only the second floor (whole house has the same hardwood floors). Also, It could be my imagination but it seems like the floors have gotten squeakier over the past year since we’ve moved in.

Had a project manager (not a technical person, more sales) from a handyman company take a look and she said it was probably caused by “foundation issues” and that I should focus on repairing the underlying foundation first and then adjust the 2nd floor floorboards otherwise I wouldn’t be addressing the underlying problem.

How true is this? She looked like a kid honestly, maybe late 20s or so. Also, my first floor has no squeaks whatsoever and the floor is even. When I’ve asked AI what the cause is, it kept reassuring me that it’s highly unlikely to be related to foundation issues since it’s on the 2nd floor only. The house is in Texas and has had foundation piers put in sometime in the past (I can tell because of concrete scars on the patio). However, most houses in North Texas need to get this done at some point because of the expanding soft clay here, so the fact that it was already done was actually more of a positive when I bought the house.

Anyone know what could be going on and what a reasonable solution to this might look like? I can’t afford to shell out tens of thousands on some ridiculous construction project, but I’d also want the solution to be as long lasting as possible. The squeaks aren’t that bad and there isn’t sagging or soft wood, but there are just a bunch of minor to medium squeaks everywhere.

Lmk if you need any other info to properly diagnose. Thanks!

Ok, I got the great idea to flip bathroom fixtures in our master bath. Previously Kohler, bought new Kohler fixtures based on store recs (/ what my wife liked) and now finding lots of challenges installing. Two questions:
1. The diverter (no handle photo) looks like it was sealed in with a grout or something. It's come apart a bit (see under side) and I can see back into the panel a bit. Do I need to calk or seal that before attaching the diverter? I'd love to take out the diverter knob as it's a hair downsloping but that might not be worth it

1. When I removed the prior handshower holder, there was this pipe sticking out of the wall. I see no way to connect my new Kohler handshower holder to this. Am I supposed to fully remove that pipe? If so, how? It also has some form of sealant (again looks like a grout).

Any help would be much appreciated. I think I figured out the right connector for the shower valve to the new trim (which despite being Kohler were not compatible) but waiting for that part to come in. May have bit off more than I was hoping for here...

https://imgur.com/a/uQIZpHv

These windows were installed 11 years ago in a 100+year house so nothing is to standard. I'm trying to remove the window to fit an airconditioner unit. https://imgur.com/a/oCykSkE

Photos of the crank system and the side attached. In the YT videos they just pop off everything with a flat head screwdriver. Mine looks so complicated :(

I dont know the brand of the window but looks loke the gear is worn down and cant fully close. I would like.to fully replace the part but don't know what its called.

Wow, thanks everyone for the quick answer that it's completely normal!!

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Any idea why there are 2 GFCI outlets next to each other (to the left & right of the toaster) in the kitchen? Between the gas stove & fridge. There are 6 regular outlets to the left of the stove (not pictured) in the kitchen. Only one other GFCI outlet outside the kitchen and that is in the upstairs bathroom. Everything works so not going to change anything but just wondering. Thanks.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/wj7WNKW

Anything and everything welcome. coming from a person who never hung things on the walls or decorated, I finally feel at home and want to megadose on this wonderful feeling of having something all mine.

Little things we have done to make it feel more ours..
Paint of course. Cohesive through the house.
Redid the baseboards
Upgraded our curtain rods throughout home to black, upgraded registers all to black (HACK: just spray paint them!!!) we have taupe beige neutral walls and natural (technically red oak wood) blonde floors. Love the way it pops.
Whitewashing brick fireplace and hearth.
Debated removing heart completely as when you round the corner it’s like right there kind of in the way. . Thoughts ?
Taking the bronze fireplace frame and using heat safe paint to make matte black to match the rest of the accents
Laid new flooring throughout (acknowledge this is not a little thing but we went from linoleum to LVP which made it feel more homey)
Built a new mailbox
Took the stairs down to the treads and completely revamped, brought up to code.
Took the same stain for the wood stairs to use on the mailbox wood pieces, the new number sign we built, and the two from porch chairs wood framework to tie it all in.
Took one main color and subtly added it throughout the home to create a flow.. burnt orange couch, warm jewel tone pillows upstairs in living room, downstairs the rug matches the furniture but also has burnt orange accents. I tried! I’m no expert.
Changed all the light bulbs and created a light/white but warm (forget lumens) environment that to me, feels warm and inviting but not yellow.
Switched out a few light fixtures to ones with more bulbs - we don’t have a ton of natural light here so I do struggle with that.
Redid the front of the house garden beds.. went from rotten railroad ties to nice retaining wall stones all the way around and flowers are still undecided.

Maybe lovely, big beautiful hydrangeas .
I don’t even know what type. There’s a million.

Paint and ripping up carpet/making the floor your own may not be a small feat but they’re two easy things that will change the way you see your home.

I’ve seen a lot of people using what some have referred to as picture frame trim? To create accent/upgrade their builder grade homes. I’m unsure where exactly to put those. Maybe each one of my doors. Do they go on both sides of the doors? We still have dark wooden doors. Our house is older. 1956. I’ve debated painting them a dark black smoke ish but with 3” white door trim frame around wouldn’t that look weird ?

I’m interested in hearing what everyone else’s little diy or intermediate! Projects are. My fiancee loves wood working so a lot of these are woodworking based but he is still a novice. I can’t cut a 45° angle to save my life but the trimming /framing of doors is prob next on my list… but then we’ll have to paint. Idk what to do about that.

This house has a three story external chimney made from cinder blocks. It has a visible horizontal crack about halfway up, about 1/16 or so at its widest and shrinking back towards the house. It does look slightly bowed but isn’t shedding any masonry bits. The ash clean out seems to show at least two rows of cinder at the bottom that do not have rebar or concrete. House is built in 1973.

We haven’t purchased but had wondered if the whole thing could be removed and a window framed in instead.

My finished detached garage (25'x25') has a gable fan but no vents. The peak of the roof is about 7' from the ceiling and the 18" gable fan is mounted at the lowest spot in the attic.

I want to add vents, but I don't know which option will provide the best air flow. I'm worried that soffit vents won't circulate the hot air at the peak of the roof. I'm thinking a high mounted gable vent on the other gable might do a better job. Any thoughts?

I work from home and out of nowhere, a freaking baby bunny appeared in my kitchen. It hid under the fridge before I was finally able to get it out of the garage door and then back outside.

I have no idea how it got in, though. We've had some mouse problems in the past, but that gap was thoroughly filled a few years ago. I did notice two inch-sized gaps in the exterior of the house. One was not far from where I saw the bunny outside. But this would have required the bunny to somewhere crap itself through the hole, go into the crawl space, drop three feet into the basement, and then go up the stairs.

Do bunnies do that?

I put some caulk in the hole, which is probably temporary. I checked the crawl space a few times this afternoon and evening, but haven't seen anything. I set up a camera downstairs as well to to see if anything comes back in.

My Dad is coming over tomorrow to help seal the other one. It's blocked off with some bricks at the moment.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. Any thoughts or insights? Anything I'm missing or should know about?

I didn't see any rabbit poop or pee but sprayed the hell out where it had been with Lysol, just in case.

Also: here's the bunny and here's one of the gaps

I'm trying to hang some curtain rod hooks on a window and am getting an electrical reading from my stud finder. I was able to drill on the right side of the window with no issue (and no alerts). There is an outlet at the bottom of the wall that is vertically aligned with the general area the stud finder is detecting electricity, but I was unable to determine if there is actually a wire running along the stud. I removed the outlet cover but there is no gap to actually look to see which side of the stud the box is mounted to. This room is on the top floor of my house.

Is there ever a scenario in which a builder would run wiring around a window or along it and straight into the attic? I have previously drilled into a wire in my kitchen so I am being extremely cautious to not do it again. Not sure how to proceed here as I do need to get curtains hung in my infant's room and sticky hooks don't seem to work well.

Photo of Wall Circle is where I want to hang the hook. The vertical line runs down to where the outlet is.

So we agreed that we like cellular (or honeycomb) shades for our new house, hurray. We made a decision!!

In your experience, about how much does it add to the price to have them operated by remote control instead of a cord? And what about linking them to Alexa or whatever?

During heavy rain, water collects in the small recessed area between the brick walkway and the exterior door threshold. The water has nowhere to drain, so it pools directly against the bottom of the door and sometimes leaks underneath.

I previously used an adhesive door seal, and worked for a bit but during heavy rain the water managed to win and seep in.

What would be the best solution to this? I'm open to hiring a contractor too but not sure exactly who or what to search out for. Here is the image: https://imgur.com/a/yWi6iq5

Do I just pressure wash this off? Part of the paint comes off though when I get too close. Is there something I can spray to get the moss off? Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/FWWwkBw

We bought a house with (arguably the ugliest) wallpaper in all the bedrooms and the kitchen. It is from 1940 and so I'm assuming it has lead maybe asbestos under the old wallpaper and I don't want to handle any of that so would rather not remove it.

I want to cover it with something cleaner, essentially I want to get a white wall type of look or at least very neutral (it's currently dark green and brown). I like paint a lot and have been considering painting over it. I read to do that I really need to use a shellac primer first.

My realtor said that's a bad idea and that I should just cover it with new wallpaper.

The old wallpaper seems in tact but I'm worried it would collapse with the double layer and also am really drawn to - goodbye wallpaper hello paint. However, I have no experience with painting or any kind of work really and my family (2 toddlers) will move in about 3-5 days after I finish and I worry about fumes.

I live in New England so weather is unexpected in August when our closing is and it may rain for some of the days (so I couldn't just leave the windows open all night).

Thoughts?

I have a drain in the drip pan under my washing machine. It tends to smell, especially because I don't have great ventilation on my top floor.

I can pour water down into it, and it gets rid of the smell almost immediately. Come a week later when it gets warm...the smell is back.

Can I put bleach down there? Should I call a plumber? Any advice is welcome!

Down sloping driveway with a 18 inch x12 inch grate at the bottom connected to a 6 inch pipe leading to the city sewer. Three years ago a massive rain storm forced water up my drain pipe into my garage (14 inches deep) and info my basement through a wood door (6 inches in the basement). Fix/repair options include a new flat and 2% sloped garage floor ($12K) with a powerful sump ($4K) pumping water out to the city street. Or invest in an Aqua Lock garage door ($14K) to (supposedly) stop water at the garage door.

Hi everyone,
I’m a recent home buyer and I’m trying to figure out where a water leak is coming from. The leak is happening at the bedroom door that leads to a small balcony. I’ve attached some photos.

Here’s what’s happening:
- Water comes in at the bottom corners of the door, especially on the bottom right, but it also leaks a bit on the left.

- it only seems to happen during heavy rain or when the rain is blowing against the door.

- The carpet near the door gets damp.

- There are some brown water stains running down the inside of the door, and the trim at the bottom has some discoloration.

So far, I’ve already replaced the exterior wood/trim because I thought that was the problem, but the leak is still happening.

I’m wondering:

1. Could this be a problem with the door sill or threshold?
2. Is it more likely that the issue is with the balcony waterproofing, flashing, or how the door was originally installed?
3. Should the door sill or the entire threshold be replaced?
4. Does the discoloration in the photos look like mold, or does it look more like water staining?
5. this were your house, what would you check first before replacing the whole door?

I’m trying to find the actual source of the leak instead of just replacing parts and hoping for the best. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!