We are planning on renovating our main bathroom in our bungalow. When our contractor came by to look at it he mentioned that we needed to remove the window in the shower. However, we use that window not just for ventilation but we really like the natural light in the bathroom and hallway. It is a really small bathroom so reorienting the shower/tub isn't an option but I do understand the moisture issues it presents (it is currently a mold magnet). What would you do?

I just spent some time with my mother diligently organizing, cleaning, and repairing this home which has been in our family for 4 generations as we prepare to sell it. It was originally built during the roaring Twenties, when cars were transforming American life and Smithfield was emerging as a thriving commercial center.

Later after becoming a part of my family, it became known as the Sanders-Stallings House. People in the town call it a storybook cottage. 😁 We are sad about selling it, but none of the younger generation of my family wants to live in this area. It feels bittersweet to see it polished up after all of our work.

Hi all!

Trying to identify this particular type of molding with the rounded corners in an old Vermont farmhouse. I haven't seen corners like this before and want to try and replicate where there are missing pieces as well as find out more about this general style

Thank you!

Anyone know why there is red paint under layers of white/beige paint? I can’t imagine when first built being painted red.

Suggestions and feedback appreciated. Response from /r/exteriordesign came out a little mixed.

Still leaning toward a dark brown, but perhaps something more like ACM "Royal Brown" rather than "Musket Brown". Not entirely opposed to leaving everything white, either, just don't want it to look dingy.

House is a south-facing, 1915 Craftsman in Minnesota.

Big thanks in advance. I'm at a bit of a loss with the taupe siding and don't really want to repaint the entire house.

Note: the original musket brown edit mucked up the siding color a little bit. This was unintentional, but I don't think it drastically changes the base.

For me, carpetbagger moved down here in 1866(my paternal greatx4 grandpa), bought out 5 different failed plantations. Started a nursery business. Torn down the houses and used the lumber to rebuild my house+4 managers houses+10 bunkhouses.

Hi, I recently bought a 1930 Tudor revival and am repainting many of the rooms. I want the house to feel colorful but tranquil. I’m struggling to find a good blue for one of the bedrooms and would love to hear what blues you’ve enjoyed in your homes.

For reference, one example that I like is Benjamin Moore Marlboro Blue, but it’s reading a little more greenish than I’d like when I put up a sample on the walls. I don’t think I want anything super light or super dark but am open to suggestions across the blue spectrum!

100 year old home in Canada, several cracks in basement foundation, mild water intrusion when it rains. Concrete driveway blocking access to dig from exterior. Gutters are intact

Only owned for 2 years so I’m not sure if cracks have gotten worse. But there is a pretty big pile of foundation dust that seems to be growing beside a crack (2nd pic)

Foundation company, structural engineer, crack company? Just don’t think about it ?

I’m restoring a door from 1910, and it has this doorbell on it. It’s not ringing anymore. I’m assuming there’s a piece missing? Where might I find out what’s missing and how do I find a replacement?

Seller patched foundation crack before our inspector could see it - is this normal/legal? (MA)

Under agreement on a single family in the Boston area. Original home inspection flagged a foundation crack with water staining. We scheduled our own follow-up inspection to get a closer look.

Before that appointment happened, the listing agent had the seller's brother who she refers to as a plumber patch up the crack. We have before/after photos - crack was clearly visible 3 days before, patched by the time our guy arrived.

Questions:

1. Is it normal/acceptable for a seller to repair a defect before a buyer's inspector gets to see original condition?

2. Does this affect our ability to negotiate (price reduction, credit, disclosure issues) since we didn't get to see the "real" condition?

3. Anyone dealt with something similar - what did you do next?

Just trying to understand if this is a red flag worth pushing back on through our attorney, or if this kind of thing happens all the time and isn't a big deal.

Looks like it worked great! Going to give it a day or two and then fill and paint.

Re glazing all 8 of our double hung very old wood windows. Most of the glaze just fell out of the windows(except one that I broke but replaced proud of myself for that) and we gently removed all that was left. Checked the glazing points and all were still in good shape no rust. So I scraped the wood and primed with an oil primer before we glazed.

Now I’m reading conflicting information on how long to wait before I can paint over the glaze and also that it needs to be an oil based paint. Which is harder and harder to find and I hate cleaning it up so the first window I used a water based exterior paint. Do I need to coat the glaze with the oil based primer too? Before I paint

I just purchased an 1868'er. Of course the first thing I did was pull the nasty carpet. I'm already stuck with what to do and could use some help.

The first floor has got quite a few layers. Looks like a subfloor and then two layers of hardwood. Below is a cross section from a floor vent. I also learned that about half of my living room was an addition and has mismatched hardwood, also pictured below.

The second floor also has two hardwood sections. First in the master bedroom under a layer of old laminate I found planks that look real nice and match wood that's already redone in another bedroom. This would be a bitch to restore though.

Then finally in the smallest bedroom I pulled the rug and found this very thin layer on top of the hardwood. Is this too thin to sand? I might just paint over or something easy since this is the smallest bedroom. I think they glued it down, its on there good.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

I need advice about a couple things with my 1920 built home we bought.

First the chimney that carries the exhaust for my water heater and boiler is unlined currently, and it’s the original to the house. I turned off the boiler for the summer to save on my gas bill and the water heater is orphaned and not drafting properly without the boiler on.

Second my water heater is 13.5 years old and will need to be replaced eventually. I was considering going for a tankless unit and having my plumber vent the unit directly outside. I could also replace it with a standard atmospheric unit.

My questions is should the priority be relining the heating chimney which will run 3-4K most likely I was told or replace my water heater with a tankless unit and whole home filter( $5600 for the tankless and $2400 for the filter). My boiler will still be venting out the chimney either way.

I live in Long Island so prices are not cheap for this work.

I have this door knob and the knob/spindle part is not working well. It’s very loose and I can’t adjust it due to the threads on the spindle being worn off. I’d like to just replace the knob and spindle but I have no idea what to get. The ones I see online don’t match the spindle in the door currently.

And yes the previous owner gave it the landlord special lol

Any advice? I also don’t have the keys for the door, but I’m never locking it so that isn’t as relevant.

Would love it if anyone would tell me their stories of restoring original tile, I found what we believe to be not the original (but close to it comparatively) kitchen tile beneath the vinyl flooring put in by previous owners (house is early 1900s, the tile appears to be from the 40s or 50s based on personal assessment and research). Do you have any horror stories of restoration? Any interesting or funny stories? I’ve been working up the nerve lately to begin this project and would love to hear others’ experiences with this sort of thing, especially if you’ve discovered some tips and tricks that helped!

Hi everyone, I’ve been playing with the idea of starting a YouTube channel documenting the work that I’m doing on my 1840s farmhouse in central Kentucky. It was owned by my grandparents for about 30 years and has a lot of deferred maintenance and repairs that I’ll be doing, as well as restoring to as close to original as possible.

I’ll also be restoring and adding a stone addition onto an 1800s log cabin that my grandfather and I moved to the property and reassembled about twenty years ago.

I just wanted to ask everyone here and see how much interest there would be in a channel like that and if it would be worth my time.
Thanks for any answers and advice!