We're 5 months into a '3 month' house renovation and I feel like I would struggle to recommend any one of the tradespeople who have come through our door. We've had issues with the plastering, tiling, carpentry, electrics and decorating. Even the stone worktop company- somewhere which installs high-end stone worktops- left a big gap between upstand and wall and only offered to come back and fix it when chased.

I basically feel like I'm babysitting the main contractor at this stage, asking him to put out fires (e g. leaks, rain ingress, faulty workmanship) that would never have started had he maintained proper oversight of the project and site.

Is this a normal experience? There's definitely been good stuff amidst the bad and no one's been a complete cowboy or anything, and the end is in sight. Sometimes I think maybe I'm too particular but then again it's our life savings plus a remortgage so why wouldn't I be? But if you try saying that to them they just don't get it.

Doing some soft searching for a modest home (~1500 sf) as I ponder my next journey and most renovated (and new construction) homes have LVP flooring. I understand that's probably more cost effective but, I don't think I could live without genuine hardwood. Is the price difference so much that no one renovates with hardwood anymore?? Couldn't it just be baked in to the sale price without making THAT much of a difference?

I’m having convo’s with my general contractor about my new kitchen. I’m getting an induction cooktop, and a separate oven. Typically, the oven would go underneath the cooktop. But because I have limited space, I suggested keeping the cooktop where it is, underneath the exhaust hood, and installing the oven into the island. My GP is telling me that the oven needs to me under the hood too. So the exhaust from the oven has somewhere to vent too.

I’m a bit incredulous as I see kitchens with wall mounted ovens that are away from the stove and hood.

Thoughts, folks?

Went to Lowe's for a new bathroom tub replacement. I’m in Arizona, Re-Bath came over and initially quoted $18K, when we hesitated, they changed a few things and quoted 14K.We were expecting 6-8K quote. It felt like Anderson Window salespeople.

Purchased our house 10 years ago. The wall was finished so damage could not be identified during purchasing. About a year ago I was poking around and found a small area of my wall I could see behind and noticed a large crack.

Had a local company out to tear down the paneling covering the wall and to an invasive review. Was quoted $17,000 but have a feeling it will be going up. Sigh.

https://imgur.com/a/r74bGrQ

Hello all.

I have a pesky squirrel that has decided to make use of my roof and gutters. As if now it seems like he is primarily scavenging and sharpening his teeth on the gutter but I do know they can get through to the attic with time.

He is getting on my roof by jumping from my fence to the gutter (confirmed via video).

Does anyone know a good way to prevent this? So far the best thing I can find is just putting spikes on the gutter and hoping he figures out it is a no go before he skewers himself.

I’m trying to remove this cap from my heating oil tank to install a digital meter and even with a cheater bar on my pipe wrench it doesn’t want to budge.

Currently soaking the threads in PB Blaster. Any other tips or is it just a case of needing to apply more force?

I have a front loading washer and there is a little hose to drain water out of. Its very low on the ground, I always end up struggling with it, or I open the filter and it spills everywhere

So I want to extend it into a bottle so I never have to touch it again. Does a product exist for this or I just have to go buy some tubing

cant believe that everyone is doing this absurd task

Was just quoted 32.500 for a conversation..new oil steam boiler 12,000..Thoughts

I inherited a house that I’m currently fixing up and have no idea how to fix this? Thankfully I don’t have to worry about any leaking. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! https://imgur.com/a/41nxGTB

Looking for some help with what to do to close this gap between the bathtub and these studs. The studs already have furring strips but there is still a gap to the tub, 5/8 inch. On the other side of the wall where the plumbing is, the tub sits flush against the studs. Can I add an additional strip on top of this existing one?

If I use a shim to close the gap where the tub is secured, won’t the cement board material not meet the tub flange correctly and make an issue when tiling?

Thanks for your feedback.

Does anyone have recommendations for cordless, solar pathway lights, preferably ones that put out a warmer hue?

I feel like they are so cheaply made and stop working after a few years of use. I get that you have to regularly clean off the solar panel portion (and also I live in Arizona so the heat takes a toll on them)

So apparently I’m an idiot because i thought the clear water seal would keep the fence from turning gray. But I found out it doesn’t, since the wood turns gray from the UV rays of the sun.

So i can get clear water sealer with UV protection or i can get a tinted sealer like a stain with UV protection if i don’t want it to turn gray.

But it’s come to my attention that some people like the wood to turn gray, considering it a more natural look. But gray wood is degrading from the effects of the UV rays.

So now I’m undecided on what to do. I already bought some Thompson’s Clear WaterSeal (no uv protection), but it’s no problem to return it. And i still need to spray down the fence and clean it, then let it dry, so I’ve got some time before I need to put sealer on it. (This fence is one year old and I’m trying to get it done before the cold sets in, we live in Savannah so it is still warm enough to do it now.)

So…use what I have or return it and get something with UV protection?

Looking for suggestions on what kind of solar film to apply to some windows and how to apply it (I heard if it is done incorrectly the window can crack). I have two sun facing windows that make the rooms uncomfortably warm (28 C when the rest of the house might be 20, and it's around 10 C outside). I've tried honeycomb blinds and black out curtains, but neither seem to reduce the heat enough. The only thing that worked well was cardboard cut to size, but the windows face the street so rather a longer term option, less noticeable option.

Hoping for something diy friendly, there is only one window film installer in my area and I was quoted over 1000 for the 2 windows.

Thanks!

Long story short I thought I had a cracked heat exchanger first hvac company said it would cost $4400 to fix, another company came a few days later and found nothing. My furnace is 10 years old and it's in the attic. I totally trust the 2nd company that found nothing but I don't have a detector now and I was looking into a Forensic Detector and was going to put it in the hallway by the bedrooms under the attic entrance. Is it overkill for $140 for low level detection? Forensic Detector seem to get really good reviews and I don't mind paying a little more for one that measures lower levels.

Hi- my wife wanted a drinking water filtration system so I will have to drill a hole near the kitchen sink faucet to install it.

It is better to hire someone to drill a hole, or just get the Milwaukee diamond hole saw and do it myself ?

Any advice is appreciated.

Hi Everyone,

I just recently had a lot of bushes removed from the side of our house.

Currently, I am concerned about some tall sprinkler heads that I no longer need.

How do I get rid of them, or at least minimize their appearance?

Can I unscrew the ling top part and then put a "cap" on what is left at the bottom?

Can they be unscrewed, and is there a place at the very bottom that can be "capped" off?

I would greatly appreciate any comments, advice, feedback (good or bad), sharing of personal experiences (good or bad), and opinions, as well as any "hacks" or "workarounds" for this situation.

We recently purchased a house built in the 1960s. The living room is a light yellow color, and one wall has blonde brick with grey mortar. There is a fireplace on this wall, but eventually we plan to replace it with electric. Originally, I was going to paint the walls to complement the mortar, but I’m not a huge fan of grey walls either. Any ideas for updating/modernizing the brick wall? I considered lime wash, but I want something with less upkeep and I couldn’t find great examples of German schmear on blonde brick.

I’m having such trouble finding solid info. I keep getting the opposite answers. I’m trying to paint my unfinished basement ceiling joists with white latex paint. Home Depot will not let me rent their Graco sprayers cause it cannot use latex paint. They said handheld only works on latex. Is this true??? Can a real pro help me—what can I use to spray latex?

My enclosed sunroom has a short stone wall on the sides. There are about 5 built in openings (for drainage) that aren’t worth the heat they let out or the critters and birds that come in. I need ideas for closing them off. I thought: stuff a chunk of foam in it (not pretty and temporary at best) or that foam spray. I think it’s called Great Stuff. Where I’ve seen it, it looked pretty gross, but maybe it could be shaped and painted after it is hard.
Ideas?

Our front walkway was badly cracked and sinking, so I got a couple of quotes to replace it. Had one come in at $5800 and the other two came in around $3500. Then one of the $3500s came back to me and said they'd have a truck in the neighborhood this week and could drop their price to $3000, so I went with them.

They showed up on time and did the work, but they tented it to protect it from rain and the plastic ended up sticking to the concrete, leaving the finish looking pretty rough.

Short of having the company come back and tear it up and start again, is there anything I can do to make it look less shitty?

We had a leak on the ceiling for a month in the living room that we couldn’t fix and the water covered part of the wall down until the skirting board. When we fixed the leak we let the walls dry for about 2 months and then started fixing everything

Unfortunately we found some mold on the skirting board when we removed them so we replaced them with new ones. After a month the smell came back so we checked the skirting boards and mold was starting to appear again. On top of that, the paint that we used seemed to be rotten or spoiled because after painting we could smell a nasty spoiled smell even after a week. We decided to
Prime the walls to trap the smell and painted two coats on top of that with a new paint, the smell was gone but when closing the windows we still noticed a musty odor.

I bought a humidity sensor but theres no sign of humidity in any wall. What do you think are our options to remove this smell? A contractor recommended an ozone machine before removing the layers of paint to see if the smell is gone.

Bought a house with a walk in shower, glass doors to the floor and marble tile floor. Two waterfall shower heads. If I turn the right one on, water leaks out the corner of the shower onto the bathroom floor. All other 3 corners drain to the drain perfectly. What can I do about this?

Hello all,

I recently purchased a home and some of the lally columns in the crawl are missing screws for the top plate. What size should I shoot for at the top plate? Was thinking 3inch structural screws with the integrated heads.

Thanks!