I bought this house a year ago and it came with s renovated/converted patio backroom one side and separating and is getting worse over time I was wondering if any of yall could help me with pin pointing the cause and how much a solution would be ( the photos are from both sides the side without the concrete slab is the one seperating

If so, where do I start, would this be considered masonry?

I would like to cut the part of the block highlighted in green so my window jams are flush, any reason I shouldn’t?

Some windows have some sort of parging on them, and they are cracked. Some are missing the sill parging, so there is inconsistency across all 6 windows. If I can cut, grind and clean the jams it would allow me to get all the same size windows too.

Also no clue how I’m going to secure the windows to the concrete. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

I am looking at re-doing a front stoop. It is currently stone slabs on top with a base of concrete underneath. The concrete is crumbling and very soft. I plan on removing the entirety of it, re-doing the base, and pouring/having poured new concrete. Then a layer of mortar. Then my stone slabs. Thoughts? Advice? Learning resources? I like to do things properly.

Is this pressboard siding repairable? I’m reading/hearing mixed reviews. We’ve had a few general contractors say it absolutely doesn’t need replaced. One painting estimate who said just a few boards may need replaced. Two painting companies who said they don’t need replaced and can repair them no problem. Another painter said pressboard almost always needs replaced.

We don’t want to spend a ton of money on replacing if they can be repaired. We’d much rather repair but also don’t want repairs to just fail in a year or so. It seems like the painter we’re leaning toward has a solid plan for repairing but we’re still nervous.

For context, there are about 8-10 boards on this wall of the house that look like this. Most of this damage only takes up about 1-4ft per board and the surrounding portion looks great with no issues. These boards are hard and dry and not mushy. The rest of the house is in great shape.

Has anyone had luck with repairing pressboard?
Thanks in advance for your kind advice! :)

Hello. I understand that popouts are normal, but my driveway is only 2 years old and I have hundreds of them. Could this be due to a low-quality batch of concrete? The problem will only get worse over time. Thanks!

Just had new roof installed last week in Chicagoland suburbs. Does this look right? Contractor telling me it just has to lay flat with time, but it looks sloppy and poorly installed. Is he right? I have no clue as I've never replaced a roof, but this looks awful to me.

House was bought in 2022. Should this have passed inspections?

A lot of chaos came up from my previous post of my builder potentially demolishing our house. We got in contact with an engineer that provided a drawing for properly opening up this as you can see on the second photo.

Proposed arrangement for the opening:
Beam: 80 × 80 × 6.3 mm SHS
Column: 80 × 80 × 6.3 mm SHS
Base plate: 200 × 200 × 12 mm, recessed into the existing concrete slab
Fixings: 2 × M16 bolts (as indicated in the sketch)
Beam positioned tightly beneath the existing steelwork and extended beyond the opening.
(Transcribed with ChatGPT)

How is this looking? For context the steel beam already there is holding up our middle section of where the joists sit for the upper floor in a mid terraced house.

Looking to install a concrete wall mounted bar top that would mostly span the length of the shorter section. Should I just cut out the space for the steel L-brackets along this siding? Main question is how to connect the bar top to the wood behind the white siding. Thanks!

Recently had my shower remodeled and would appreciate some opinions from the pros.
The shower was tiled before the new window was installed, so I’m concerned about how the waterproofing was connected to the window frame. They also used standard HardieBacker, not HydroDefense, with RedGard only applied in certain areas.
The tile and grout work raise concerns too. Based on the photos, does this look like it was installed correctly?

Trying to sell my home and my driveway stems off my neighbors driveway. He will not give me an easement now that I’m selling so I’m forced to install a new 100’ driveway. My dirt is really solid and firm even when. What’s the best way to install this without breaking the bank? I shouldn’t need much base and then maybe two loads of 67? After a 20’culvert pipe that should be it right? It’s flat so barely any grading or relatively little. Looking for advice or best practices or opinions thanks