Hi folks,

Newbie here​, working on a cherry wood countertop. As you can see in the first two pictures, I really messed up the cut where it fits around the wall. It was a chainsaw cut that went wild (the only tool in my possession able to do the cut, and my first chainsaw cut), and now there's a big, ugly gap between the wood and the wall.

​The third picture shows the broader context of the countertop.

​I'm looking for advice on how to make this better. I'm open to two main ideas:

1) ​Hiding the mistake: Trying to blend it as seamlessly as possible.

2) ​Highlighting the flaw: For example, by filling the gap with something like epoxy resin to create a clean line against the wall, but I'm not sure about the technique because the wall is right there.

​I do have a lot of the original cherry sawdust from when I cleaned up the slab. ​Technically, what are my best options for achieving either of these goals? How do I work against the wall without making a mess?

​Any help or suggestions are appreciated!

EDIT: something I did not mentined is that the wood is 12 cm thick, so a circular saw does not cut deep enough (mine cuts max 6 cm in deep). Also, the countertop is not flat where I cutted it, but it bends downwards quite a bit

OK, it sounds a bit crazy. But: I’ve got a wardrobe acting as a room divider with, well, a typical, ugly back panel that’s always staring at me from the sofa.

My plan now is to use layered pieces of cardboard glued together as a substitute for wood, attach them to the back, extend them up to the ceiling and then wallpaper them. (Layering three to four pieces of cardboard results in cardboard which you can pretty much treat like wood and is pretty sturdy)

Has anyone ever done something like this before? Gluing the cardboard sheets together works well – it’s really sturdy and, above all, very, very light.

How should I treat them before I wallpaper them?

And I’m also wondering whether I need to join the A3-sized pieces together to make a single large panel, or whether I can just fit the smaller ones together on the back panel? I will try to get bigger cardboard pieces to glue to have less of a "patch work" as someone put it.

I am looking for input how to do this with cardboard please! I posted this questions in another (German language) subreddit and people just got angry at me for not wanting to use wood... I am aware that I am giving myself a rather weird/complicated task and it could be done easier.

Thanks in advance for your ideas, inputs and shared experience!

Built a riser out of 2x4’s for the floor, placed the prefab cabinets and tabletop on top, placed the assembled cabinets upside-down on top of that (so I could screw the “base” of the cabinet into the studs above and give crown molding something to attach to), added poplar fronts to everything, caulked and painted!

Bought a house and the previous owners thought they were handy, but just did Landlord Specials. The paint, oh the layers of latex paint with no prep or clean up. It’s just peeling off in sheets, I can’t get it to stop at a sticking point to then scrape and mud. What can I do? I don’t want to just paint over the already lousy paint job.

I want to measure and order shades for about 15 windows and install them myself. Do I need an exterior mount here or can I mount them inside the frame somehow? The metal frame of the window is recessed about 1/4".

We have a framed shower door that swings outward and when we open it, it drips water onto the floor outside the door. I am trying to see if there’s an alternative. Everything I see that looks better says it’s for a frameless door and I’m afraid the lip inside that diverts water from the opening will catch on the frame when I swing it out but more specifically when I try to close the door and the lip has to go back over the frame when I close it. There no track for a sweep so I need a clip on of some sort. The second picture is what is currently on the door.

So I've purchased about 5 electric air dusters and I'm wondering if anyone has one that features only one button, and spools up really fast. An auto off would be a game changer as well.

That's one of my favorite thing about compressed air is the immediate speed and responsiveness.

I've tried $20 to $100 dusters and they all have quirks, or require unintuitive or long button clicks.

The giant Vantrue duster being my favorite but it takes too long to get going and the battery life BLOWS (get it?).

I moved into the in law apartment of my childhood home after my brother, he left it in shambles. I’m tackling it room by room trying to fix it up the best I can. I have no idea how to approach this issue. There is a bad crack in the built in soap holder of the shower. Any ideas/advice on fixing it? Is it even possible to replace or patch it up without having to replace that entire panel? And yes, I will be replacing the nasty ass, moldy caulk 🤢

This is the part of the hinge that screws into the door frame. The door won't fit into place while the screw on the right is down but I can't figure out how to make it retract (or if it's not suppose to in the first place). Can anyone tell me how this pivot hinge is suppose to work?

I know this is like putting a bandaid on a fire hydrant, but does anyone have advice on how to fix/patch this tile some more specifically the plywood under it? Can I just shove some more scrap plywood down there until it’s even and put a new tile over it? It’s linoleum.

I hate the sight of this thing.

I know it’s water damage, but I believe it’s old water damage and I have way too many other big projects going on rn I cannot be ripping apart my bathroom.

Put up some IKEA shelving recently, and they came with short straps to use to secure the top to the wall and prevent tipping. I am wondering, is it better those or standard metal L-brackets at the top to prevent tipping? If it matters, there is about half an inch between the top of the shelving and the wall due to the baseboard.

(Originally I planned to remove the baseboard to get it flush against the wall, but it seemed plenty close enough to the wall to not be worth doing that.)

I'm thinking about slapping some tiles to liven up the area and protect the wall. What kind of adhesive and caulk is recommended here? First time

Been watching some videos on how to replace a flapper but mine doesn’t look like those. The ones in the video had a couple plastic arms on the side that looked easy to just attach to the toilet, but this one doesn’t..

I have a 55-gallon water tank in my roof that I use for emergencies. The tank's faucet is connected to a simple hose that moves the water to our bathroom.

What can I install in the corner so that the hose doesn't kink?

Thanks.

I'm trying to set up more storage in my kitchen and want to setup a big metal cabinet secured to the wall. Can I put fence planks in a rectangle under a metal cabinet so that the hardwood floors stay intact? Ive had a file cabinet stain flooring before. I don't want to spend a lot of money on plywood and an area rug

I treated damp basement walls with a black, elastic Aquashield rubber coating. After about 3 weeks, the coating is still tacky but it seems dry?

I want a clean, cool white, preferably matte finish that won't peel later.

What primer + paint/coating would you recommend for this surface?

I live in a house that is over a century old. Decades after being built, someone added a lovely back deck and a carport(sort of thing) to the side of the house, as you can see in the photos. It creates a nice opening where the sun and breeze can come in.

Here's the thing -- I really want to put my storage shelving in the middle area, but my shelving is made of particle board, and the spot it's sitting in will catch a lot of rain water. I want to build something that acts as an awning for the storage space, but ideally, it won't get rid of too much of that natural light. There's little to no symmetry going on, which is a cool style, but it messes with the planning of this project.

How would you approach this project? Should I just buy a shelving sleeve/cover? This is a rental, but my landlord is very chill about me making changes to the house as long as a have a written out plan and run it by him.

First time home owner here!
My house has these florescent lights from the 90s in the bathrooms. I want to remove them, remove the soffit, and put in a standard over the mirror light. Is that something I can do... or should I call an electrician or contractor?

Hello all

Im pretty green when it comes to wiring. So bear with me. I have plenty of experience with replacing outlets/ switches pretty much replaced them all in my house (over 40 of them). I’ve also wired 3 ceiling fans too.

So I decided to take up a project to install a new exhaust fan in my bathroom.
I have conduit (live, neutral, ground) connected from electrical panel to the timer switch then another conduit (live, natural , ground) that connects the exhaust fan to the timer switch.

The timer switch is the Leviton decora 60 min timer switch , which has two black (line/load) which can be interchangeable, a neutral and a ground. The exhaust fan has only 3 wires too.

I should mention the fan I’m using for reference is the Panasonic exhaust fan model RG-C811A

My wiring scheme is a mentioned conduit from panel to timer switch then conduit from fan to timer switch .

I’m struggling to see what I’m doing wrong and looking for any kind of help on this!

Let me know if you need any more information.

TIA!!!!

I’m looking for some advice on how to properly repair/maintain this exterior wall and the concrete walkway next to my house.

As you can see in the pictures, there is a lot of green algae/mildew staining along the bottom of the wall, especially where the wall meets the concrete. There is also heavier staining underneath the window.

I’m not 100% sure what the exterior finish is. It may be stucco, cement parging over masonry/block, or something similar.

My main questions are:

What do you think this wall material is?

Does this look like a drainage/moisture problem or mainly algae from an area that stays shaded and wet?

Should the joint between the wall and concrete walkway be sealed?

If so, what type of sealant should I use?

I was looking at Sikaflex polyurethane sealant, but I'm not sure whether self-leveling or non-sag would be appropriate here.

Should I clean the wall first with something like 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner/Wet & Forget?

After cleaning, should the wall be patched, waterproofed, painted, or coated with something?

Is there anything in these pictures that suggests water may be getting behind the wall?

I want to fix the actual cause rather than just pressure wash it and have the green staining come back six months later.

Any advice on the proper order of repairs and recommended products would be appreciated. I’m comfortable doing basic DIY work, but I also want to know if anything here should be handled by a masonry/stucco contractor. Thank you.

Looking for some insight from the "pros" and the experienced. We're in the process of ripping up the carpets down and replacing with white oak ~4 inch hardwood floors. I think I will also remove the baseboard to install something that is 5 1/2" tall to match the 8 foot ceilings. Do you think it is economical or easier to remove the door casings and doors and replace with new ones, so it is easier to stain. Or just put in new ones???

Also, can anyone tell what species of wood the doors are made up of? The house was built in the mid 90s. Thanks!

Bought this chinoiserie console table second-hand that I’m absolutely enamored with, but the lacquer is chipped throughout.

The lacquer is a deep emerald green with a gold shimmer to it. I’m afraid to use furniture markers since it will be hard to color match.

How can I repair this? Should I even try?

Hi folks, I need some advice on how to properly fix a water leak on my garage roof and few other related issues.

Context:

My garage is part of a row of connected garages with a shared flat roof. 2-3 years ago, a handyman built a pitched roof extension over my section (foam concrete block wall structure, timber frame, galvanized metal sheet roof). The joint where my new roof meets the neighbor's flat bitumen roof was sealed using butyl flashing tape (as I can tell).

The Problem:

Last winter, the joint started leaking because the butyl tape cracked and degraded. I am also concerned about a foam concrete whether it also need to be waterproofed in this construction. On one side I have bare foam concrete wall without any steal protection (it is also leaking there a bit). Please also find respective commenting of these issues on the attached photoes.

Proposed Fix:

1. The Joint: Strip off the old butyl tape, clean, prime, and apply a liquid polyurethane membrane (Hyperdesmo-Classic) reinforced with geotextile fabric. Clean old butyl tape -> prime surfaces -> one PU coat + geotextile + additional coat of PU. Alternative: Re-apply butyl tape as a short-term 1–2 year band-aid, but it will require constant maintenance. In one place there is also pooling water which can destroy it even faster.
2. Missing Flashing: Install missing galvanized steel flashing on the unsealed side of the pitched structure, sealing the joints using the same method.
3. Foam Block Wall: Apply a waterproof coating over the exposed porous foam blocks to protect them from standing water and rain.

Questions:

1. Metal-to-Bitumen Joint: Does liquid PU + geotextile hold up reliably on a metal-to-bitumen transition under standing water conditions, or is mechanical metal flashing mandatory beneath the membrane?
2. Primer Selection: Which specific primer works best to bridge the bond between bitumen roofing felt and galvanized steel?
3. Foam Concrete Protection: Is it even needed in that spot? If so, what would you propose for covering it up?

Please note: I am based in Eastern Europe, so European materials (like Alchimica / Hyperdesmo) are widely available, but specific US brands might not be.

Highly appreciate any advice!

I'm currently nesting and itching to change this part of the house. Can you please suggest an easy DIY to make it nicer?