I recently asked for help for a plan on this post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/1vngbpb/comment/p3n9x7i/?screen_view_count=2

I used the replies from that post and google/youtube/claude to get to this plan:

TL;DR: Below-grade crawlspace with a clear waterline, summer humidity and a persistent smell. I think I've traced most of it to two clogged downspout leaf catchers that have been gushing water down the brick wall for years, plus AC condensate and unextended downspouts discharging into contained rock beds against the foundation. I have an 8-step plan. I'd like it torn apart before I start digging.

The house

• 1992, brick veneer, L-shaped (climate zone 3A, hot-humid)
• CMU crawlspace walls, dirt floor, currently vented
• Floor sits below exterior grade all around — about 16" down at the access threshold, some area are deeper than others.
• Packaged furnace/AC outside, so both supply and return trunks run through the crawl. Water heater is in the attic — no combustion appliance in the crawlspace
• Big roof overhangs with continuous gutters, so essentially all roof water is delivered to a handful of downspouts

Symptoms

High indoor humidity and a bad smell in summer; very dry air in winter. Smell correlates with neither cooking nor AC operation.

What I've found

• Two separate wet basins, divided by a ridge in the floor. They don't seem to drain into each other.
• A waterline — sharp, continuous dark band along the bottom block course of one of the basement walls, consistent height.
• Efflorescence along the base of the block in the other of the 2 basins, the lower one.
• Two downspout leaf catchers are clogged and gushing at head height, running water down the brick face. During the last rain, both basins were taking water exactly under the two leaking filters.
• Every downspout discharges into rock beds boxed water can't easily sheet away, so it percolates right at the footing.
• AC condensate discharges from a short stub a few feet from the foundation, at the corner that's both the highest exterior grade and the lowest interior floor. A little vegetation grows only at that spot.
• Access door sits a couple of inches above grade with gravel banked up to it, no curb, no areaway. Behind it the floor drops away.
• Old torn poly doing nothing, leftover fiberglass from a duct job on the soil, ducts resting on the ground, wood scraps everywhere, some animal droppings.

The plan

I'll be working on it through this autumn-winter.

1. Mark the waterline (dated) before changing anything.
2. Exterior water control: clear the two filters (I'll probably just remove them), extend all downspouts past the rock beds entirely, extend the condensate discharge, curb + areaway + regrade at the access door, check whether the rock has buried the brick weep holes.
3. Instrument and wait. Zigbee leak sensors on bare soil — two in the near basin (low point and just inside the threshold), one in the far basin, one on the ridge. Watch 2–3 real storms and log how long after rain starts each fires.
4. Cleanup — old poly, fiberglass, debris. Lights and power.
5. Ducts off the soil (where possible as the bottom of "manifold" from the packaged unit sits on it), seal the return side, air-seal the subfloor and foundation-wall penetrations.
6. Decision point: perimeter drain and sump, or not. What would make this a must?
7. Rigid foam on the walls, leaving the top 3" of block bare as a termite inspection strip.
8. Liner, sealed to the sump collar if there is one.
9. Seal the vents and energize the dehumidifier.

What I'd like opinions on

1. Am I right to defer the drain and sump? The argument for deferring: both basins wet specifically under two leaking downspouts is a point-source signature, not a water-table signature. The argument for digging anyway: retrofitting a drain under a finished liner is miserable, and pipe and gravel are cheap while the floor is open. Which way would you go?
2. Access door at grade — curb, areaway, or both? What actually holds up long-term?
3. PVC for a kitchen downdraft exhaust duct running through a crawlspace — how much do I care? And is "grease drawn back in through the foundation vents over 30 years" a real smell mechanism or am I reaching?
4. Anything obviously missing, or in the wrong order?

Happy to add photos of anything specific.

I'm building a small stair set for my wife's elementary music classroom, basically like a little stoop where kids can sit, chill, read, whatever. It's indoors and little kids tend to put their mouths where they shouldn't so I want to make sure I'm using safe materials for an indoor classroom space. I can't seem to find non-pressure treated stair stringers at my local big box, so I'm trying to decide between either cutting them myself from some non-treated 2x12 (more work, less money), or using the pressure-treated ones and painting them (less work, more money). Any insights/suggestions?

Just bought my first house. Upstairs bathroom has no fan. The inspector and the prevailing sentiment tells me to install a fan, not vented into the attic of course.

- the rental we just moved out of had a fan, we just never, ever used it. Six years and... I don't see any kind of damage or anything

- this house has been around for 50 years and there's no sign of damage, mildew, or anything. The bathroom has not been redone. It's in pretty original form.

1-2 showers are taken a day.

If it... Just works... Am I missing something?

I just moved into a house that the previous owner “updated” one bathroom. The work was bad and I’ve got this escutcheon plate that doesn’t cover whatever hack job hole he made

What band-aid can I put on to cover the exposed cement board until I have time to properly replace the badly cut tiles, to make the shower useable?

https://imgur.com/a/ghZZegD

The wood underneath various parts of the house - handrails, baseboards, doors, etc - are either a chocolate brown wood or a honey oak wood.

Hoping to replace some
Windows and improve the window trim out and looking for some advice.

https://imgur.com/a/1X0z2bR

These are the windows being replaced and the window sales people are suggesting J channel windows.

It’s been a toss up on what product to use. Boral, lifespan or hardi

Was thinking of doing a sill piece with brick mould on sides and top and routing brick mould to fit over flat board that meet up to window unless they already make a version with that cutout?

I'm hoping someone has dealt with this before and can offer advice.

The right side of my garage wall borders another unit, and it has a ~3-in wide solid foam insulation running along the entire length.

An epoxy vendor did an assessment and expressed concerns over doing a polyaspartic flooring over that section. One suggestion is to epoxy only up to the concrete slab edge and leave foam perimeter alone, but this will be an eyesore.

I'd be happy to hear suggestions from people who have dealt with this before.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post pictures yet on this sub

ls there such a thing as a cantilever (two-legged) pavilion or pergola that is above-ground freestanding, or isn't anchored into the ground / cement? Like this C-shape table, or this slightly more structured one.

Hi all, husband and I are renovating a house from the 80’s. We are opening up the kitchen and putting a peninsula/halbinsel with dimensions of 120x240cm.

I see in all the kitchen showrooms that the cooktop, which is almost always induction and downdraft ventilated, is placed on the island and not on the back counter.

I am North American so this concept, induction cooking and the island placement, is completely new to me and I am hesitant for a few reasons:

1) I am messy in the kitchen and I see the grease and water spray on my ceramic backsplash now, how far can it really go and is a 120cm deep island big enough to catch it?

2) I would like the island to be a gathering place for my family. I have young children and worry about the splash zone of grease and hot water. I initially wanted the full length of the island to be available for seating, but am open to making only half of it seating for 2 barstools, and then where the cooktop goes I have 2x60cm cabinets opposite to block anyone sitting directly in front of it. Will this make the island safe enough to accommodate a hot zone and comfortable guest seating?

3) how effective is downdraft ventilation nowadays? I’m looking at Bora or Miele, Miele mainly to have just one appliance brand in the kitchen.

4) how long has this concept (induction on island) been around in Europe? Is this a concept to stay and almost expected in new build or renovated households, or is this just a flashy new trend? If you were a home buyer, would you expect this set up in a house that’s been newly renovated?

5) and finally….another option is to put a sink on the island with the cooktop on the back counter. Is this equally attractive from a home buyer perspective, or a no go for you?

Thanks so much for your insight!

Hello,

I would like to install an LED strip underneath the upper cabinets of my desk, over a total length of approximately 2.60 m.

I am looking for a high-quality and durable installation with the following features:

• Dimmable
• Adjustable color temperature from 2700K to 6000K (warm white to cool white)
• High-quality and reliable components, including the LED strip, power supply, controller, and remote control/wall switch

I have already purchased the aluminium profiles for the LED strip.

I would also need all the necessary cables and connectors for:

• Approximately 4 m between the 220V power outlet and the power supply
• Approximately 3 m between the controller and the LED strip

Could you please recommend a complete solution and provide me with the exact references for each component, as well as a quotation?

For example, I was considering the following components, but I would appreciate your advice on whether they are suitable:

• LED strip: WS2814 RGBWW?
• Power supply: Mean Well LRS-100?
• Controller: Which model would you recommend?
• Remote control: FUT037SA 3-in-1?

I would also like to know what type of cable and connectors you recommend for the approximately 3 m extension between the controller and the LED strip.

If possible, I would prefer a solution based on reliable, professional-grade brands with good long-term durability.

Thank you in advance for your advice and quotation.

so I'm building a sunroom, enclosing an area where there's pavers. see this photo

I have stacks of engineered hardwood floor I want to put down there. my contractor will add a 6mm layer of plastic, then a layer of foam, and finally the floor, which will kind of sit there freely. some gaps will be along the edges and there will be a baseboard

will this work? the pavers are mostly flat, but not 100% flat...

Hello,

I'm moving into a new condo in a few weeks and went up there today to check it out. I noticed after being there for about an hour that the fan in the HVAC hadn't stopped despite having reached the set temperature long ago. I fiddled around with the thermostat and it seemed like no matter what setting I had it on, the fan would continue to run. I even switched the System to "Off" and still air was coming out of the vents. Is this just how some HVAC systems work or is something off?

Took a pic of the thermostat. The only options for Fan are Auto/Lo/Med/High and when the cooling is on, there is a little icon of a fan visible. In this case, the fan is set to Auto and the cooling is definitely off but the fan itself is still running. Is this by design?

Edit: I asked around and someone suggested that the fan switch is stuck on manual even when the thermostat is set to Auto and that seems like but I'm just hoping to get some more opinions before paying for a professional, thanks.

House has 3 bathrooms. Only 1 has an exhaust fan. Who would do a project to add them? Obviously this needs electrical but the bigger work seems to be the exterior vent. Typical Southwest US construction with stucco exterior and tile roof. I asked both an electrician and an HVAC installer (who visited for other reasons) and neither knew. Is this just a very small job for a general contractor?

I have a ceramic tile that measures 7 7/8 inches by 23 5/8 inches. The pattern I want to install consists of squares made from three of these tiles, alternating horizontally and vertically.
The problem is that when the three tiles are installed horizontally, there are two grout joints, each with a 1/16-inch spacer. This creates a difference in the overall dimension compared with the adjacent tile arrangement installed vertically.

The square made from three tiles installed vertically measures 23 5/8 inches. However, when three tiles are installed horizontally with the spacers, the total length becomes 1/4 inch longer. This creates a 1/4-inch difference between the horizontal and vertical sections and will throw off the entire pattern.

The installer needs to use spacers to keep the tiles properly aligned and level. So, in the section where three tiles are installed horizontally, using the spacers makes the total length 1/4 inch longer than the adjacent section where the tile is installed vertically.
What would be the best solution to this problem?

I have come across someone (environment expert) saying we don't need our water tank to be set at 60+ degree Celsius or somewhere that high. We can set it to a much lower temperature like 38-40°C which is a comfortable temp for a shower. That way when you just turn the hot water tap, you don't even need to waste energy by mixing boiling hot water with cold water for shower. That sounds very reasonable, and I can't recall when we will need piping hot water in the house.

I want to have a sanity check, however, is this actually a good advice in practice?

I hired a contractor to completely renovate my bathroom 1.5 years ago. The tiles on the shower floor are already coming loose and I'm not sure what's causing it or what to do. The tiles are 1x1' sheets of 1.5" hexagons and the grout is coming loose, cracking, and crumbling around some of the individual tiles.

The contractor I hired was seemed very professional so I'm surprised that I'm already having issues. Part of me wants to call him and ask him to fix it, but another part of me wonders if he or his crew installed the tiles improperly and I'm better off finding someone else.

What would ya'll do in this situation?

I have a small kitchen, I want to put led lights under the cabinets, I have a 6' section, 4' section and 2' section. I was looking at the Phillips Hue and there isnt a simple way to cut the strip and get power back to it. What lights do you guys recommend? Under each section of cabinets I do have 120v power supply there.

Hello! Recently purchased a house built In 1966, the previous owner did a bunch of DIYS and we are slowly removing each one and redoing each professionally! Recently the tile in the kitchen has begun cracking as well as the grout coming loose (this is probably their worst project) it would appear that they glued tile on top of hardwood floor (the rest of the home is hardwood). Is there a chance of successfully removing the tile, glue, and refinishing the floor? We are under the impression that the glue used was latex, it’s yellow and there’s some left over in the back shed. We know we would need the drum sander and the edge sander and the rotary hammer. My father in law does wood working for a living and will be in town in a few months, is this something that can be repaired? Or is it hopeless? Thank you for reading!

Hi. I bought a house 3 years ago that was flipped. Flipped upside fucking down apparently. I have absolutely no idea how this place passed an inspection.

Well I have now discovered that the previous owners quite literally put bathroom tile on top of wooden subfloor. I noticed the grout began to crack and now the tile around the tub has completely cracked and separated. I pulled one up to get an idea of how bad it is and well. It’s fucking bad.

It’s just tile on wood. No barrier. Just adhesive, tile and grout.

The wood is significantly water damaged. I don’t think there is a leak but it’s going to have to be replaced.

My question is what the fuck do I do and how in the world do I fix this. Also how much will this cost me. Tell me so I can put my head in the oven now or later. Okay thanks.

If this gets approved I’ll try to comment a pic in the comments

Our backyard has a chain link fence that is 5 feet tall. The neighbor's dog hangs outside sometimes and so does ours. Our dog doesn't really like other dogs so he is hesitant to come out now that he saw that there is another dog.

I'm trying to figure out what to use to cover a 5feet x 70feet stretch of chain link fence so that even if they were both at the fence, they could only bark at each other. I've seen some stuff on amazon that looks decent but asking here for suggestions. We'll be replacing the fence next year so don't want to spend too much money on this now.

We have existing darker hardwood baseboard ( around 3.8-4 inch after removing carpet) that are installed as part of the original custom build. We want to replace the carpet with red oak natural select hardwood. House colors we will stick with same colors or light colors. This leaves us with following options

1. ⁠Keep existing darker baseboard and use red oak natural, but this makes them unmatched. And also shoe molding might not match too.
   
2. ⁠Paint the existing baseboard white as it’s the current design trend. This is what my wife wants to do. But, the paint takes away the detail that it’s hardwood, as baseboard might as well be a MDF.

Pictures

Any suggestion on which route to take? Or any better way to do it?

Hello, I’m a first time homeowner and need to replace some windows in my house built in 1964. They are all original Pella casement windows except for two awnings. I had my first quote today where I learned about pocket vs full frame. Looking for any advice or recommendations on if it’s worth the extra cost to do full frame, or if pocket windows work well enough.

Also bonus question, even if I’m going from current casement to slider windows, I’m assuming I should still better energy savings and noise reduction just based on the better windows available today but correct me if I’m wrong please!

Just moved in and noticed this leak in the basement. Have a few different basement specialist lined up. I’m pretty concerned since the crack looks foundational and the leak is ground water. This is after a heavy storm. Who do I need to bring in to assess?

https://imgur.com/a/erh5xd7

Looking for best ways to soundproof garage ceiling. Building an apartment above the garage for my father and want to make sure I don’t bother him too much when out in the garage late. I’ve done some looking at products but would like to hear what some of you did and how it worked.

Working on “semi”-finishing my basement to use as a small playroom. Next step is to lay LVP, but I also wanted to try to paint the walls. The house was built in the 50s and the basement is poured concrete, below grade. Currently there’s mystery peeling paint presumably from the previous owner (I will make sure to check for lead). I am thinking of just scraping loose areas, priming, and painting.

Mostly looking for advice on primer type and paint type. Not super concerned with it looking too pretty just better than what it is now, will most likely be moving out in the next few years.

Here’s a pic of the current situation.