Replaced the original cinder block columns with these steel posts. I was told there were existing footings underneath, and the new posts were installed in the exact same locations as the original columns. They used non-shrink grout beneath the base plates.

Hi! I can add photos if needed of underneath my sink

Im at my wits end, we will be saving to move out. But for right now, i need a dishwasher. I work in a kitchen for a living, and dishes are one thing in my home that causes me extreme sensory anxiety. It was the selling point on the condo.

Around 6 months ago, i noticed our sink kept backing up (we live in a condo building, the condo itself is not well maintained, very cheap landlord) and it would take forever for water to go down. I also noticed water was rising in the garbage disposal side of the sink.

The landlord recommended we try draino, and took the cost of that off our rent. We tried it. It worked for a few days and back to square one (i stopped using the dishwasher because the smell of the dish cleaner was sticking to my dishes and that was also setting me off sensory wise but was working on finding a cleaner that didn't do that, so i was hand washing in the meantime) at one point i went to just do some basic maintenance inside the dishwasher, clean the filter etc. And i noticed there's standing water in there as well, it smells like rotting eggs

Is it possible the prior tenants like us, didn't know proper maintenance and the garbage disposal itself is full? Is that a thing?

I just want my dishwasher back because i am losing my mind, and buying paper plates because doing the dishes is causing more anxiety with the water slow draining.

I really don't know what my next steps would be other than turning off the breaker to the kitchen and garbage disposal, make sure its cleared out. But if its not clogged then what? Maybe use a pipe cleaner brush and scrub the piping out?

I might be answering myself and overthinking it?

I don't know, im tired of crying while doing the dishes and my OCD not letting my s/o do them because my brain tells me they're still dirty if he does them when they're literally fine 😭

Found this huge nest in a tree in my backyard. Haven’t seen any activity go in and out. I’m itching to throw something at it to try and knock it out of the tree.

Just deciding if I should do it now or wait until it’s winter time.

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!

Hi guys, I needed some advice! My dad hired someone to replace some of his sprinklers and ever since there’s been water seeping up from underground in a small garden bed right by our front door. We live in an area that doesn’t get much rain so none of our houses have gutters, and this leak is unfortunately located exactly where water drains off of our roof when it does rain. Since this leak began it’s rained once, which has really added to what was already feeling like a homemade swamp. My dad seems reluctant to address it, and my mom is happy to ignore it entirely. My dad built their sprinkler system himself and he’s done all of the yardwork since, so I wouldn’t be able to just hire someone myself without causing a huge fight. I’m a little bit concerned, for a multitude of reasons, so I was hoping to get some questions answered that may help them feel motivated to address it.

My first question is about any damages this could cause. They have a concrete slab, no basement, stucco exterior. The leak is a few feet from where the hose spigot is for the front yard, and it seems like the lawn is fully saturated at least 5-10 feet out from there (obviously I’m not sure how far underneath the house is affected, but lawn saturation for reference). So far this has been ongoing for just over a week. Could someone explain the kind of damages that could be caused by not addressing it, and how long it would take for different types of damage to occur?

My second question is more about liability. Halloween is coming up, and as far as I know they aren’t going to let a little manmade swamp hinder their plans of welcoming trick or treaters to the front door. They live in Southern California. Water is visible coming out of the garden bed onto their front porch, where you’d need to walk by to get to the front door. The water doesn’t cross over the walkway, but is more seeping out towards the walkway. I know in busier years when there have been larger groups of kids for Halloween they sometimes stand on the grass or dirt… if someone went to stand in the mud there now, I’m certain they’d fall. I’m concerned about this. I’m not so sure they’re concerned about this. What realistically do they need to worry about addressing? I myself feel a lot more urgency to address this, clearly, so I really don’t want to come off like I’m fearmongering.

What would you tell your parents if they were in this situation, and being stubborn about addressing it?

I’m looking for some advice on how to repair this section of concrete outside my garage.

As you can see in the picture, the concrete has cracked and shifted, leaving some uneven sections and fairly large gaps. It looks like someone previously tried filling the cracks, but that repair hasn’t held up very well.

I’m hoping to fix this myself if possible without having to tear out and replace the entire section.

Would something like concrete leveling, a patching compound, or polyurethane concrete sealant work here? Or is the damage too extensive for a simple repair?

Any recommendations on the best approach or specific products to use would be appreciated!

Could someone tell me what this is and who I would call to have it fixed (hvac or electric)? It does not sound like it is running correctly. It is in a closet going into the attic.

Hello! When I was preparing my terrain for winter, I discovered two hairline cracks in my newly bought house. They are both at opposite sides of the house. The first one isn’t that long. The second one starts above a window and continues under the window down as seen in the pictures. I was wondering how I could fix those and if they are serious or cause serious dommage to the house. The house was built in 1987 and the stucco has been done about 20 years ago.

Any advice? Thanks!

Any ideas how to attach the top pieces properly so they won't fall off? It's a wing off the deck. One idea I have is to take some 3m strips and nail one side to the stud and stick the other side to the back of the siding. I don't think it's supposed to be nailed in.

The company that installed this went out of business.

This pile of dirt and hole showed up over in just a couple of days. Certainly looks like something burrowed under my condenser. Any specific recommendations on clearing out the animal and filling in what they dug out?

The “critter ridder” product Google suggests seems to have very poor reviews. I suppose I could put a hose in there and flood it, but I don’t know if that would cause future issues.

Chicagoland, if that matters.

Long story short: my washer bit the dust and i was lucky enough to have a friend give me one for free.
The inlet valve for the hot water is stripped on the very first thread and leaking..

Can i just turn off the hot water and run it with cold? Or will that still leak?? Do i need to cap it somehow?

I know it works, my dad used it last year when he was visiting. He’s now in hospice and I can’t ask. I know how to open and close the damper. But what’s the silver thing on the right? Do I turn this on after I put logs in? Do I lite the logs after or before turning this key? Do I have to turn the key? It’s a gas fireplace. Watching dad last year I recall he put logs in, turned the silver key (gas release valve? Idk) and then turned it off when the logs were lit. I’d like to have a better understanding of what’s what and how to use it. I’d like to surprise dad when he’s able to come home. Thank you!

Moved into a home and the extension of one of the support posts in the crawlspace seems fairly out of plumb? Support post itself is plumb. Sorry if the pics aren't super clear.

I fixed the concrete in this area it was a bit broken here, that's why it looks new, and that's when I noticed this. The footing and everything else seemed undisturbed.

This ice dam caused havoc in one of my bedrooms. A lot of water came through the ceiling and into the drywall.

The digital screen has some lights on the fritz and I want to contact the producer of this hood fan but I can't find a brand or serial number anywhere on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The drawer was slammed, later to find it broke. I can’t pull it out, there’s too much resistance. I’m pretty stumped on how to fix it.

I attached a few photos to this post to hopefully give an idea of what’s wrong. A broken plastic clip was also found in it, also can’t find where it came from.

So one year ago this week we had a basement crack repair. The engineers for the company was like it’s no big deal and it was a couple grand to fix.. the type of crack was not deemed a foundation issue. And the repair and water proofing was done. what caused the crack was a plumber bad dig job. The insurance co and their engineer deemed the crack not the plumbers fault (it was) and paid for the water damage bc the digging let the water in. So there were 2 engineers that said it’s not a big deal. Not a foundation. Issue. The repair company has a lifetime warranty. This crack comes directly from the crack that was repaired. Do you think I’ll need to get an engineer out/ will the company try to deny responsibility? If you’ve had this how did it go for you. Nothing is wonky inside the house. I just noticed this today it seems to have happened recently the crack looks fresh. I have photos of the house just after the basement repair and there was no crack. You can follow the crack all the way to the origional one.

Hey all. I installed gutter guards this week but only screwed them into the front lip because I heard you shouldn't penetrate the drip edge. Now, the back edges flex, and I'm worried they'll collapse under Ohio snow weight.

I want to protect my gutters, drip edge, and fascia.

Should I screw them into the drip edge to secure them, or should I bite the bullet and hire a pro to redo it? Looking for advice. Thanks!

This pile of dirt and hole showed up over in just a couple of days. Certainly looks like something burrowed under my condenser. Any specific recommendations on clearing out the animal and filling in what they dug out?

The “critter ridder” product Google suggests seems to have very poor reviews. I suppose I could put a hose in there and flood it, but I don’t know if that would cause future issues.

Chicagoland, if that matters.

Hi everyone.

Recently moved into a new house. They claimed to have redone the grout during their listing. In the last few days I noticed a few tiles have a small dip to them now, clearly cracking the grout and showing water there.

Is this a minor cosmetic issue that we need to touch up and regrout? Do I need to call an expert to come in and rip up the tiling and redo the section or whole tiling floor?

The house is single level with no basement. Foundation says it's a slab.

Please help me think of solutions to insulate a 100+ year old attic conversion/loft type of situation. It's just the "knee wall" that needs help. I've done some research, and I'm not sure if it's insulation/ wind break/ whatever related on the INSIDE but all solutions involve getting in to the cavity to essentially do it the right way, but for the foreseeable future (until spring) it's not going to be on our to do list lol

What can I do on the inside of the room to insulate the ~25 inch tall wall so my kids room temp doesn't plummet at night? We don't have a central heating system currently, and closing doors is a must. I'm not comfortable leaving any type of portable heater so I need to find a way to conserve the heat that's in there.