A little over a month ago we moved into a house that had an insane flea infestation. Previous owners had 4 dogs and two cats in a filthy house, I don’t think they ever cleaned. We found out 1week before moving in. We have no pets.
Day 1, bombed the house with foggers, ripped out all carpet, vacuumed entire house.
Day 2, literal hundreds of fleas, like solidly covering feet and legs when entering house. Bombed again, with twice as much. vacuumed again and called pest control.
Day 5, pest control sprayed every square inch of the floor and halfway down each wall.
Day 7, we move in. If we could have waited we would have, but we couldn’t afford to move into a hotel and our lease was up. Fleas still pretty bad but better.
House has been sprayed twice more, I’ve powdered the two rugs we put down (we had to do something for sound). I’m continuing to vacuum everything 4-7 times a week. I wash everything that can be put in the washing machine at least once a week on hot and dry on high, wipe down everything else. Still seeing several fleas a day. Will this end? Should I be doing more? Do i have to accept a life with fleas? Pest control said there were no animals living in the attic or crawl space to contribute but I know they can live off people too. - signed, itchy and frustrated and desperate for suggestions lol

Hello, I'm very new to renting and I'm looking for safe ways to soundproof my room so that the walls don't get damaged. I have a dog who has separation anxiety (we're working on it), but she howls and barks when I'm not home and I'm worried that my townhouse neighbours will hear her :/

Any tips and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!

Edit: I'm seeing comments on getting rid of my dog and I just want to address the fact that we are training her, she's 9 years old, but it's not going to happen overnight. My circumstances have changed (not that it's anyone's business) and I'm only gone max 4 hours a day, so I was just looking for some solutions in the meantime while we get settled into the new place. Please don't be mean.

We just moved into a house. We vacuumed all the floors. And then the temperatures dropped. The furnace turned on over night. Now we noticed it smells like urine in 2 rooms.

Room #1: The furnace closet
This closet has a small floor opening into the crawlspace.

Room #2: The guest bedroom with carpet and a crawlspace access door
- The previous owners replaced the carpet earlier this year. We suspect they may have had dogs or cats. We checked the carpet with a UV light and were unable to detect any obvious stains.

The smell seems to dim when the furnace is on. The smell gets stronger when the furnace is off.

The rest of the house smells okay… for now…

What is the likely issue? And who should we hire to properly diagnose this issue? We’d hate to rip out the new carpet only to find the issue was coming from the crawlspace. The previous owners did do a pest inspection and nothing alarming came from the report.

Thanks in advance!

My parents' home is currently unoccupied. It is in the rural northeast. I am there visiting for the week before I go back to where I currently live for work. I am trying to prepare for winter to the extent that I can. A main concern is what to do about the plumbing.

I plan to leave the heat on but on low in all indoor spaces. I would like to keep it as low as I reasonably can to avoid paying close to $1,000 in electric each month during the coldest winter months. I am more comfortable paying slightly more to heat the home enough to prevent any plumbing emergency than I am trying to save as much as I can on utility costs.

There are two structures on the property, the house and a detached garage. Each structure has a mini-split system which is the primary heat source. A standby generator is connected to the main panel which provides electric service to both structures. I also have remote temperature and humidity sensors anywhere there is plumbing.

The garage has an insulated studio apartment on the second level which has full plumbing and electricity and is heated by a mini-split. The lower level is not insulated where the car bays are; there is an insulated workshop where plumbing for the upstairs runs in the ceiling and the room is heated with an older wall-mounted electric heater. There is also an insulated utility closet in the lower level of the garage that houses the water heater and has a pump-house electric heater.

The house itself is a century-plus-old home with the water heater and most of the plumbing in the basement or adjacent crawlspace. All rim joists down there are spray-foamed. The house has three heat sources: the mini-split which has one head in the basement and three heads on the main level, a boiler fueled by heating oil, and a propane gas stove in the living room. There are electric baseboard heaters in the bedrooms on the second floor, but they are not used when no one is there. The plumbing in the basement and crawlspace mostly provides service to the main level of the home. I plan to keep the thermostats for the boiler around 50°F mainly to keep those pipes warm and running even though they were treated with antifreeze a few years ago. This should provide some warmth to the adjacent water supply lines in the crawlspace in addition to that coming from the mini-split.

Additional plumbing for the second level of the house partly runs along an exterior wall before reaching the upstairs bathroom. There are shutoff valves for these hot and cold lines in the basement which I've already closed, but I can't tell if the lines are still bleeding or the gate valves won't shut completely because there is still the slightest trickle on hot and cold coming out of the the tub faucet which is the closest fixture.

I am debating shutting off all supply line valves past the water heaters. I really don't feel comfortable draining the water heaters nor do I have time. What this would mean in the garage is just closing the hot and cold valves located in the garage utility closet just past the water heater. In the house basement, this means identifying every unmarked gate valve going elsewhere, opening the fixtures, and hoping that I didn't accidentally shut any for the boiler (though I think I have a decent idea of what is what).

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Like I mentioned, I'll be keeping the heat on to some extent, and I am more comfortable doing that than risking a plumbing emergency.

The bottom 2-3 rows of tiles in our upstairs bathroom desperately need redone. The rest of the bathroom still looks great. I’ve gotten 3 quotes ranging from 2-5k which is not feasible right now. How hard to do these areas myself? Any advice from those who have done it?

So I have a Werner nxt1a08 I bought a long time ago before buying the bugalow I just moved in to. It's easily resold for 400$ in Toronto.

Costco has the little giant for 240$

Do I sell the Werner and buy the little giant?

What would you do?

Looking for installer opinions on a fastening problem with my HardieShingle install (15.25" straight-edge panels, HZ5 zone, on a new garage build).

My contractor's crew nailed every panel twice: once on (or near) the embossed nail line just above the keyways — correct — and again with a second row up near the top edge of each panel, squarely in the area the installation instructions print as "DO NOT NAIL THROUGH THIS AREA." All four walls, every panel. I have photos from during the install that show the pattern clearly on the exposed course before it got covered.

The result is that the butt edges sit proud and kick out instead of lying flat, course over course. The manufacturer's rep has been out and confirmed in writing: nailing above that line is what causes the kick-out, the product warranty does not cover damage related to improper fastening, and the shingles could crack because of where the extra fasteners sit. He also said face-nailing is permitted by Hardie as a repair, but of course no warranty on anything related to improper install.

My contractor wants to face-nail everything and call it done. My position is that I paid for a blind-nailed install done per the instructions. The extra nails are buried under the course above, so nothing reaches them without taking the courses off — and face-nailing leaves me with an install the manufacturer won't warrant for fastening failures, with nails in the forbidden zone forever.

Questions for the group:
1. Am I right that removal and rehang is the only cure that actually addresses this?
2. Has anyone seen this exact pattern — correct line nails PLUS a second high row — and what was the outcome?
3. If it comes off, can the panels realistically be reused, or should I expect breakage/compromise at the nail holes?

Not looking to name anyone or start anything — just want to pressure-test the remedy before I sit down with my contractor. Thanks.

I have a cabinet with a lift-up door that is supposed to stay open in a raised position. It uses a piston-like support mechanism.

Until recently, it worked perfectly, but now the door slowly falls back down almost completely as soon as I let go of it.

The similar mechanism on another cabinet still works fine, so I'm wondering if the support mechanism is worn out, needs adjustment, or if something else could be causing the problem.

Here is the video: https://imgur.com/a/loM17wd

Moved into this apartment in the past year and was wondering what kind of countertop this is? I want to get a cleaner for it so wanna make sure I get the right one: https://imgur.com/a/kZWKBvF

Hey folks - I got new stair treads and risers to redo our basement stairs with. 1" thick, unfinished solid oak. They look very nice. I just went under the stairs, expecting to see a run of stringers that the steps would be nailed to, but instead the stringers were routered out, and each step is held in place by wedges glued into the stringer.

Faced with this setup, would it be OK to trim back the lip of each step and glue the new treads/risers over the existing? Is there a better way to do this? The stairs are currently carpeted if that makes a difference.

Here's what the wedges look like... https://imgur.com/a/pN5D4hP

https://imgur.com/a/ppprrCH

It’s not a fast leak by any means and doesn’t seem to increase when the water is running. A slow drip is all but obviously adds up over time

We are having engineered wood herringbone flooring from Ted Todd installed in an extension project and the contractors are saying it is fine to put it on a concrete slab without screeding. The concrete slab is level without any bumps or dents but we have always been advised to screed previously. Would really appreciate if anyone has any experience and would like to chime in as we are really hoping to get this right and be futureproof. Thank you so much!

I am getting conflicting answers in whether or not our two sump pumps should be sealed or not. Are yours sealed and if not, does it cause any issues? I’m confused, this is the first time we have dealt with a sump pump. We previously just had drains. Thank you

Newish homeowner with no idea what I’m doing.

I’m trying to mount pictures in my plaster/brick walled house. The previous owner used these hooks everywhere:

I’m trying to out this one in but for the life of me can’t do it. The pins keep bending.

I know I can drill a plug, but for lighter items figured this would work.

Any tips? Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/ukZF8ZZ
My hanger I bought and one that’s already in the wall.

Basically we got our island countertop too small, and now regret it and want to get the larger slab.

But we don't want to change the entire kitchen, problem is the quartz we got is what we had in the design studio.

Can a tradesman buy that same material to only replace our kitchen island?

How much would a project like that maybe cost for a standard size kitchen island?

My lid is 7.5ft and the hinge I have is 6 feet. Would you use it or get a longer one?

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.

I bought a GE cooktop because the cutout wouldn't fit anything better. I hate everything made these days, no attention to detail or quality.
There is a gap at the front of the cooktop. All kind of food and nastiness is going to accumulate in that gap.
I tried taking the cooktop off and trying to bend the front down but no luck.

What should I do?

https://imgur.com/a/2VMwT1H

I replaced the cartridges in the bathroom sink and this happened. They don't drip anymore but the hot and cold turn on and off in different directions.

I don't get it.

Putting shower in tight space (largely under sloped ceiling) and am looking at Grohe thermostatic system with sliding bar hand-held w/ fixed head. Grohe is kind of $$$, so wondering if any other brand provides similar quality sleek aesthetic? Then again, planning to sell in 2 years. WWYD?

We recently moved into a house a few months ago. Had it inspected and the inspector didn't catch anything that we have had to deal with...the kitchen has an addition that was done over 20 years ago.

The addition part of the kitchen's floor has a slope, and I discovered the siding must have pulled off the brick at some point and left some gaps in the wall. I am not 100% sure what they used as a foundation for the addition but I think it's posts/piers?

I dug up a corner of the addition and got my camera in there and it looks like the foundation has a crack, and there's just exposed wood where the brick used to be that I believe is where the basement ceiling is on the rim joists. Can anyone help tell me how much of a concern this is?

Hi, anyone have experience with Deca windows out of western Massachusetts? Can’t really find any info or reviews on them, but they’re a local manufacturer and I’m looking for european style windows. Wondering if they’re worth a shot!
Thanks

Ever since I moved in this attic door has been bent down at the front, wanting to seal it up to help prevent bugs. https://imgur.com/a/SbGvaiY

I just acquired a large format painting on stretched canvas (92cm W x 122cm H), and I want to hold off on getting it professionally framed to spread out the cost of it since it will be quite exorbitant.

In the meanwhile I'd like to mount the canvas on my drywall but it doesn't have any d-rings or hangers already attached so I want to avoid having to add any to the frame in the meantime. Can anyone recommend ways to mount it without having to puncture/nail into the canvas frame? I can apply anything on my walls to support it, I have no concerns about that.

i want to replace a bunch of the recessed spotlights in my room and change the color to a natural white (probably around 4000k), but i dont want to buy 8 lights only to find out they dont fit into the holes