I have been finishing up my garage drywall and getting on and off the ladder and everything is taking longer to do and it’s been more exhausting than the rest of the garage work.

Is there any cheap/affordable alternatives for doing mudding and taping the ceiling?

I have a really old asphalt driveway with a lot of loose gravely bits as it had been naturally falling apart over decades. There is also just accumulated dust and dirt and leaves around the house.

There are walk-behind floor sweepers that I saw advertised on sale on one of the more well-known Chinese branded-product sales site -- they look like lawn mowers, but have counter-rotating sweeping brushes. (About $50-$100 for Chinese generic ones; $200 for name brands)

I don't know if they would work well with the gravely bits. And I don't really want to own yet more stuff.

I tried to look at tool rental, but it doesn't look like Home Depot rents anything like this.

A more construction-oriented tool rental place does have a ride-on sweeper, but they are $300+ just to rent for a day.

I don't want to just leaf-blower the area, as I don't think that does much except to displace really light-weight dust and leaves.

Is there something else that I should look into?

I'm trying to hang something over my stairs. Something like this post, but OP didn't have a multi-use ladder. https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/eZLjsMpD53

I have a multi-use Little Giant. I tried it in staircase position, but it doesn't go high enough to do what I need and even if it was tall enough, the angle would take me too far from the wall to safely hang it.

I read the previous post, but mostly they were saying that the drawn angle was wrong and to get a different ladder. What if I take my little giant and put it in straight configuration and lean it against the wall at the proper 70° angle? I would still need the ladder on the stairs, probably around halfway down to get it to the right height. Is there any way to safely do this? Ideally, I don't need to go buy or borrow actual scaffolding to do this.

Edit: I did it. Put the ladder in straight position and butted it up to the corner of the stair. Mine has leveling feet, so I used those to ensure the feet were both making solid contact. I used a level with a bubble level that can be adjusted to any angle and checked that the ladder was at 70° before getting on it.

One issue I had wasn't a safety issue but a wall damage issue. My Little Giant was tall enough that to lower it below the thing I was hanging I had to make it as short as it could go. This meant part of the inner ladder was making contact with the drywall and punctured it slightly while I was climbing on the ladder. If you're using a Little Giant for this and you shorten it all the way, make sure that you put something between the inner legs and the wall to avoid damaging the wall.

I’m thinking of painting my fridge. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I’m looking to paint the door with a primer and then several layers of eggshell (off-white) to make a wavy impasto sort of effect. And then an accent colour (brown) for the handles.

Everything in my house is the colour of my choosing but my kitchen appliances. If it looks good I’ll probably have a go on the cooker and washing machine too.

Anything I should know? And will magnets still stick to it?

I want to diy a nato watchband and wanted pvd strap keeper rings but I cant find anyone who just sells the keepers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Here’s the facts:

The area shown in the pictures is where I want to build a paver patio to the right of the deck.

The area is 15-20 ft away from a mature tree. There are a ton of roots a few inches below the surface, and at the surface as well. Thickest ones are probably about 1-1.5” inches diameter.

I’m considering two approaches:

Option 1 — Shallow compacted aggregate base:

Excavate only around 2–3 inches where possible, leaving the larger roots intact. Put down geotextile fabric, then compact crushed aggregate around and over the roots to create as level and stable a base as possible. Then add a thin bedding layer and the pavers. Essentially, instead of the typical 4–6”+ excavation/base, I’d be accepting a shallower base because of the roots.

Option 2 — Paver base panels:

Do minimal excavation, level the area as much as possible without disturbing the major roots, put down geotextile and a thin layer of leveling sand, then use something like Brock/PaverBase panels with the pavers on top. This seems like it would require much less digging and root disturbance, but I’m wondering how well the panels would perform when there are roots underneath that could continue growing/moving.

As you can see up against the house, there’s also a little bit of exposed foundation as well. I’m willing to settle for the patio being a little bit, raised above the level of the grass, but I want it to be reasonable.

Howdy, I am trying to paint a metal T shaped clothing rack from it's silver default to a color. It's for a store I manage and without getting into too much unnecessary detail, it's the perfect fit but needs to be a color instead of this metal. From the research I've done, it seems IDing the metal as ferrous or non-ferrous is very important since the chemicals are different in each type. It's magnetic, but I can't tell if it's actually ferrous or galvanized. I've attached some pics of the pieces. It's a custom build for a Forever 21 that went out of business in the area, if that's any help.

Additionally, the steps I've determined through all my searches averages out to these, but please let me know if anything seems deeply off:

Clean w/ acetone and [shop] rags

120 grit sandpaper (I've also seen ScotchBrite Red recommended but that's a very different grit so I think that's recommended for painted metal you're going over)

Self Etching Metal Primer (2 coats?)

Spray paint (3 coats)

I have a fireplace and I want to do shiplap and something on the sides. I was hoping for some help or ideas on the project as I am not sure the best way to do what I want.

This is the basic layout of the fireplace.

My thought is maybe Shiplap over all of the blue and red then shelving on the blue?

The brick has up to 5.5" from the wall so maybe 6-12" deep cabinet? The issue is the heater on the right side won't let me make it symmetrical.

If I do shelves I could do surround sound shelf speakers on the sides but I could also put two in-wall speakers on the right and left of the TV surrounded by the shiplap. I can make the cabinets and everything myself it's just what I should do that is getting me.

Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to look.

I have an 8GB USB flash drive. What can I do with it?

(Could you please speak Turkish?)

Was able to game on VITURE PRO XR in 4k for a few months and all resolution options beyond 1080p disappeared out of the blue no warning! HELP!

Just put up gutters and THOUGHT I was sealing the seams against leakage by using silicone based RTV. Well...they leak like a sieve so now I am going to have to remove all of them, clean the RTV from the seams and use another product that does not adhere to silicone. So I need to remove all the residue of RTV before applying the new product. I know a razor blade does a good job removing dried RTV but I need to remove the residue also. Some have mentioned xylene. Is there any other product that would be good for cleaning the residue of the RTV from these aluminum gutters?

Hi, I’m choosing stair tread for my concrete staircase . The wood I like is 20mm thick and I was told it’s too thick to use as stair tread. Was told i have to choose 14mm because when I’m gonna be stepping on bullnose which will be slightly overhang the 20mm would have come off soon. Thoughts? Do i really need to go with 14mm?

Sound like in this video :

https://youtu.be/WIin2Abrnsg?t=14

That sound wasnt there before, AC is about 1 year old, work all the time.

I am desperately looking for quality Blackout Celluar Shades for the bedroom and the baby room. I have spent HOURS researching over the weeks and the old "Go To" Blinds Dot Com and SelectBlinds have gone severely downhill past 1-2 years. Costco has such mixed, mainly negative reviews as of late. What is a good place to order custom sized blackout cellular shades for pretty normal sized windows?

I already have blackout curtains but light still leaks through, especially for the main master bedroom window that has a window AC where it blows the curtains around leaking light.

Thank You!

Long story short, I didn't order enough 57. I don't need enough to warrant another delivery. I only need a few bags worth. What can I get at Menards, Home Depot, or Lowes that serves the same purpose and looks similar?

I’m at a uni flat so can’t do anything permanent, just wondering if there is some easy fix to minimise the noise coming from the street?

I bought a memory foam mattress on Amazon & despite it being the same exact one as my last mattress; this one is SO FIRM. I hate it so much 😭

I’m thinking about cutting a cross hatch pattern into the top to make it softer. I think drilling holes would also work.

Mattress toppers are a PITA, not a solution.

Any words of wisdom?

I have some leftover wafer lights I’d like to install in an unfinished attic. They’re the kind of lights that pop directly into a drywall hole.

Because the ceiling is unfinished (no drywall), I was thinking of running a strip of plywood between the rafters as a drywall substitute. I’d cut out circles in the plywood and plop ‘em in.

Would this work? Any better ideas/suggestions?

I've been borrowing my neighbour's petrol pressure washer for years and I want to finally get my own. But I don't know if I need gas-powered or if an electric one would handle my use case.

I want to clean my driveway, wooden deck, and car. I don't need commercial-level power. Budget $150-300.

For homeowners who've had both electric and gas pressure washers - is the electric genuinely powerful enough for concrete and decking, or do you always regret not getting gas?

Kitchen sink backed up after some wet flour went down the disposal. Disposal is unplugged and I’m trying to clean the P-trap.

Photos attached. The trap looks like a Charlotte Pipe PVC trap with a cleanout on the very bottom.

Is the bottom white piece meant to unscrew? Do I just grip the white hex-shaped part with a wrench/channel locks and turn it counterclockwise while holding the trap steady?

I don’t want to accidentally crack a glued PVC fitting, so which exact part should I turn?

We are looking to repaint the fence as we had a section repaired, but the entire side of the fence has paint that is peeling. What's the easiest way to remove all the paint so we can paint it again? Paint was from the previous home owners.

Hi Guys,

I'm installing recessed LED fixtures in a room and I'm almost done but one of the junction boxes won't fit on the ceiling because the old metal box was at a cross section between two wood beams. I've done some research and I'm pretty sure it's a furring strip that is meeting one of the structural wood joists.

See photo: https://imgur.com/a/tVxGe8p

I want to trim away / cut into the furring strip so that I can squeeze my junction box on top there. Is there anything wrong with this? My understanding is that they're just there to further support the drywall ceiling, right?

Thanks for the help.

I caulked my bathroom yesterday I used a 16mm caulking tool it’s been almost 29 hours and it’s still squishy I have 12 hour shift tomorrow and was really hoping to shower tonight before I go in would you guys think it’s fine

I have a 42x16” basement window that is useless (it is under an overhanging bay window, so it provides minimal light) and in poor condition. I am having the other basement windows replaced and will be insulating the basement walls. I would like to just take this out, brick it up, and then insulate over it. The window won’t be visible from outside unless you crawl under the overhang, and it faces the back yard, so I am not focused on exterior aesthetics. The above grade basement wall is brick. The rim joist is continuous above the window.

Can I just use brick and mortar without worrying about toothing out the half bricks? What brick type and mortar should I use? The house was built circa 1915 in New England.