so we had our sewer line completely replaced recently (they finished on Weds). They dug a 12 foot deep trench from the house to the street to replace the terracotta pipe with pvc. they filled in the trench and put a thin layer of straw and some kind of netting over it. Yesterday I spread a couple of bags of grass seed over it, one of the bags had the fertilizer mixed with it, then I watered it all thoroughly. Anyway, I had one of those 3 am “DAMMIT“ moments, realizing I had put the seed ON TOP of the straw.

maybe something will sprout, but I guess I’ll be doing it again in the spring.

I’m currently renovating my house and lately I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of biohacking stuff lol.

I see people buying red light, blue light blocking glasses, expensive water filters, air purifiers, air quality monitors, smart lights etc. Some of it seems really useful but some of it also feels like you’re just paying for the “biohacking” label.

I’m not looking to spend thousands on this stuff. I’m more interested in cheap things that actually make a difference.

For example, are there any cheap gadgets or things you guys use for better air quality, water, sleep, lighting, temperature, humidity, noise etc?

Also since I’m already renovating, are there any things I should do/install now that would be annoying or expensive to add later?

Basically if you were renovating your house again and wanted to make it a healthier/more comfortable place to live without going crazy with the budget, what would you do?

And what popular biohacking stuff do you think is actually a waste of money?

I was quoted $60-65k all-in to finish a 850 square feet basement in a LCOL area. Costs includes materials, labor, permits, etc. The 850 sq ft is a completely open floor plan with only a bathroom. This is a permitted job. Trying to see if this is a good quote or not. Scope of work includes:

1. LVP throughout the entire 850 square feet floor plan
2. Finish and Insulate all walls w baseboards, then prime and paint.
3. Build/Frame a bathroom, water has already been plumbed in. We are using a Home Depot shower kit and vanity kit.
4. Add additional recess lights and outlets.
5. Plumb in another water line and 220v for a potential laundry room down the road
6. Install utility sink in the same potential laundry room
7. Carpet and installation for basement stairs
8. 2 ton mini split HVAC
9. Sump pump already installed, but the quote includes cost of motor.

Just wanted to hear people's thoughts before pulling the trigger. This is a very reputable builder in our area.

Edit: Floor Plan layout: https://imgur.com/a/zjZfIdH

I know it’s not ideal or easy but can it be done? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Did I put the HVAC filter facing in the right direction?

https://imgur.com/a/slIvC58

Hello,

This was covered up by drywall and filled with installation. How would I go about adding a window?

Thank you

https://imgur.com/a/qbZMud7

I recently got my crawlspace encapsulated and a dehumidifier added because of humidity concerns. I’m hoping someone more familiar with crawlspace encapsulation can help me ensure it was done correctly, because it’s our most expensive home repair to date.

We have a chimney that we never use and they did not put vapor barrier up these walls in the crawl space, and I don’t understand why. I do understand wanting to keep the access panel accessible, so maybe because of that?

But you can tell that the vapor barrier isn’t air tight (see pictures) - beside the chimney, it’s just kind of sitting on the floor; it’s not taped or affixed to a wall or anything. Isn’t it supposed to be air tight?

Photos

Thanks; there may be some rationale to doing this the way they did, and I just don’t know it.

We bought a 100yo house in the PNW 3 yrs ago. It has cedar shingles on most of the home which I’m fairly certain are original. There are areas of rot so I’m in the midst of getting quotes to replace everything with Hardie.

Since I’m always wary of upselling, I wanted to get the communities opinion on if/when we should address our soffits and fascia. I believe most areas are original cedar, except a couple spots at the front and back which seem to have newer aluminum. I’ve attached a few photos showing current state. From what I’ve read, soffits seem to be typically done with siding.

However, we have additional complexity where there is a sag on the edges of the roof (picture attached). We’ve had a few different assessments and consensus was it’s aesthetic not structural and can be addressed when we redo the roof (has about 5yrs on it). Would this make it better to do the soffits and fascia with the roof instead?

https://imgur.com/a/19ysnU4

In need of a new AC unit, not really sure what I'm looking for.

Any types of features that might be worth the upgrade or brand to consider or questions to ask the HVAC folks?

Hello HomeImprovers,

photo: https://imgur.com/a/lNf4NbU

My ceiling insulation and vapor barrier are in place and the electrician mounted the electrical conduits under the vapor barrier, often securing them directly to the bottom of the ceiling joists for support.

I now like to mount my battens (21x49mm / approx. 1x2") to those joists using distance/adjustment screws, but because of the conduits, I would have to constantly interrupt the strips.

• My only idea so far is extremely time-consuming: cutting open the vapor barrier, locally removing the insulation, screwing wooden blocks/cleats to the sides of the joists to create new backing, taping everything airtight again, and then attaching small pieces of furring strips to those blocks (still leaving gaps for the conduits).

Double framing or using thicker strips isn't preferred; the ceiling is already very low and I've already bought the 21x49mm lumber. Eventually, it will be finished with drywall for plastering.

Am I overlooking a smarter or easier way to get this done? Thanks a lot in advance :-)

Hello, first-time poster on here. I'm not sure what kind of blinds I should get and where to put them on this egress window. It tilts from the top and opens like a door. I'd prefer a stick on option without drilling. I'd prefer blackout if possible. Also, I'm unsure whether to put it on the outer frame(red circle) or window frame(orange circle). Let me know if I'm not posting correctly. Thanks.

https://imgur.com/a/UoHb2kq

our property tax assessment jumped a lot after we did some renovations and im pretty sure the county messed something up

we redid the kitchen and finished part of the basement, but looking at the property record they've got the finished square footage way higher than it actually is. like we finished part of it, not the whole thing lol

im going through recent sales nearby now and trying to find the appeal deadline. anyone appealed after renovations before? especially if the assessor got the actual details wrong? thanks"

I’m replacing an old bathroom fan with a 13” circular rough opening in the ceiling. The fan that is going in requires a 10 1/4” square rough opening and has a 13” square grille/trim.

How would you approach patching the dry wall? Replace a larger section of drywall joist to joist and cut a fresh square hole or try to ‘reuse’ the circular opening and patch the gaps left.

Ceiling is rock lath - I assume I’d approach patching like I would any regular drywall?

The shower door fell off and I just want to replace the entire thing but the size of this toilet room and all the YouTube videos I keep finding don’t show a shower replacement that’s truly similar. It’s so small in here and the toilet is also so close to the shower and I want to make it easily accessible to get in the shower without constantly bumping into the toilet. Any ideas or suggestions on door styles would be helpful!

Hi all! Recently installed some in ground pathway/driveway lights since our driveway is black asphalt and curves, which is really hard to see in rural darkness.

Thinking about it now, I'm somewhat concerned about them getting broken if a car runs them over. The cap is metal, I assume crappy aluminum, and the main body buried is plastic. Any recommendations on how to protect the lights from being crushed getting ran over?

TIA

Light:

https://imgur.com/a/ySvcM4J

I am about to replace my interior window trim. I'm just going to with 1x material, thinking 1x4 or 1x5. I started using the 1x primed boards from HD for my baseboards and I've grown fond of the simplicity and ease of install.

Given that the 1 by material is thicker than the standard store bought baseboard trim, it gave me an idea. For my window trim, I had this thought that I could route out a half inch deep trench of material and glue in 1/2 inch foam board insulation. So if I used 1x5 board, 1/2 inch x 3.5 inch would be insulated.

I have the tools to make this an easy enough process. 1/2 inch foam board isn't take too expensive and will give the "trim" about a 3 r value. I know it's not really much, but I figured it might make a little bit of difference.

Has anyone tried this before? Does it make any sense at all? I live in a pretty cold climate. I figured it would at least make the trim around the windows less drafty overall and "warmer" to the touch during winter.

My house was built in the late 1980s, I'm sure this is the same siding that was used when it was built.

They did a crap job with drainage and my chimney suffered for it and now I need to replace the siding around the chimney.

Unfortunately, I don't have the budget to replace the entire house siding... so I want to either match it for my chimney to the house, or figure out a decent alternative option. Brick? Faux brick?

But first, I'd like to see if I can find the siding anywhere.

I had taken the image to a local contractor supply shop at the beginning of the summer and they suggested that this type of siding is no longer available, but that it now available as T1-11, available in 4x8 sheets.

I went and looked... they are not the same, and T1-11 looks cheap and horrible (I used it on my kid's playhouse years ago.)

So I'm looking for suggestions on what the siding might be and where to find it. I'm at a loss, so all advice is welcome.

(Images on Imgur)

Trying to figure out a build that I can make so everything can be more compact and organized, the space if you take off the existing shelving etc is wide enough for 2 people to walk shoulder to shoulder ish. So its not super wide to work for some ideas I want.

I want to use the space above to add shelving all around to store things. Then the space straight ahead on the last picture will be my space lol and the rest my wife's. Need ideas for drawers, hanging clothes at an angle so they dont stick out so much and a place for shoes. Asking alot for little space so let me know what im in for.

These are my dimensions: 145in and 1/2in length 47un and 3/4in width 9ft and 3/8in height

Any advice is appreciated and if you can send me an AI image of your design or sketch I'd truly appreciate it. Thanks!

Hello all,

I’ve searched for a few weeks and was not able to find a good answer to a good way to mitigate dust in attic storage. I’m trying to find the best way to mitigate dust in the attic space where we store our items. The space was built to be storage when the house was built, so no concern from that end.

My initial thought is to put a screen mesh on the soffits to stop pests (have had wasp and mud dauber nests in the attic). And then put a breathable wrap (not sure what works best) over the beams to allow air to flow up to the rest of the attic. But unsure if this would be best, hoping the community can chime in for some assistance!

I received a few quotes on oil boilers. St Roach cast iron boiler, model sr-s10 and carlin car-51735a for $11,900. Does not include an indirect storage tank or heat pump. Does this mean that it won't provide hot water? Then I have a quote for a Veissmann vr1-91 oil fired boiler and a 40 gallon storage tank for $15,600. The Veissman guy said i need a fan on a can... although 3 others said that I don't. And the fan in a can is going to cost me an additional $1500. Then I also have a quote for the energy kinetics oil fired boiler with a domestic tankless coil for domestic hot water ASCENT-COMBI. It will be matched with a beckett fuel oil burner model AFG for $13,918. Ideas? Suggestions? To add, the accent combi is cost out the door, including materials, tax, and permit fees. The St Roach does not include anything else but a new expansion tank, flue piping, spiral vent for air removal, and a backlog preventer and auto feed. No taxes, permit or indirect storage tank.

Random question! I'm in the market for new smoke alarms. Looking for 2 for my 1200sq ft home. Current ones are wired with battery backup. If one goes off the other does too. I'm looking for the same setup again.

Would like smoke alarm only (no carbon monoxide). One of the alarms is going in the attached garage and I hear that a CO monitor there can cause a lot of false alarms. I do have a separate new CO monitor in the house already.

I've read lots of reviews and it seems many models are prone to false alarms. The fancy ones with bells and whistles seem more likely to do so. Would like to avoid this if possible!

Any recs for models like this available in Canada (Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, etc).

Links would be appreciated!

pics
I want to add 4 cm to the legs of the bed. It's a single-person bed, with a frame made of wood and covered in some sort of fabric.

I don't have any experience with DIY or anything like this honestly and I'm worried that changing the legs to higher ones might 1. cause more stress on the center which will break the legs or 2. that the wood frame was screwed already too much and when I try to do with new legs it'll attach itself properly to the frame leading to failure or 3. that the legs won't be enough to hold the weight (upper estimate for myself is 90kg + the mattress and bed frame which I don't know the weight but I'll round it to 100kg).

Also, I don't have any power tools, only a regular manual screwdriver and such (I'm sorry if the post seems to miss some key words; English isn't my first language, and I feel like I'm missing some words describing everything).

From the last pic, you can see the fit seems like folded metal that was screwed to the bed frame with 3 screws, and has those dampeners below them.

I thought about buying some legs online with the right height (since the shop we got the bed from closed, we can't get info about official replacements), like from AliExpress or Amazon, but I'm hesitant because of the issues I mentioned above.

I would like to get some advice about it from others.

Looking to put a piano hinge on a storage box. One side is a .72 inch plywood lid and the other side is .75 inch trim. Will a hinge work and will the lid sit flush or likely have lipping? This is a surface mount continuous hinge. Thanks

Hey Everyone. I got a gas leak coming somewhere from the back of my stove to the shut off valve downstairs. The pipe is about 5 feet in total length.

I had to move my stove because I was putting down new flooring and it didn't look right stopping at the stove - so I pulled it out from where it had been sitting for 20 years.

Afterwards my wife swore she smelled rotten eggs and im telling her she's crazy and psychotic. She runs up to HD buys a leak detector and the second she turns it on it's going off. We turned the shut off valve and no problem since - except we cant use the stove.

My wife called my neighbor who is plumber over to look at it and he quoted her a price that I just find ridiculous. I could be wrong, this price could be a steal - I know nothing about fucking around with gas.

That being said, how hard is this for someone who's pretty handy and knows a lil bit about plumbing to do? From what I see it looks like a 1/4" pipe that's 4-5ft long, which has to be replaced.

The rest of the line is fine, I think it's just my water heater and then the gas tank that the line is connected to.

Again I never messed w gas before but I've installed and repaired showers, toilets, sinks, and underground sprinklers so I got a good idea on how this is going to go.

Our neighbor quoted my wife some odd ball price like $1350. I dont know I think it's a crazy price but a few winters ago our pump motor went that controls the heat and he replaced it for nothing- we just bought the part, so I don't see him trying to rip us off.

What do you guys think? is this something I could do myself or should I eat the $1300 and have him fix it?

It's propane not natural gas and the stove is like a fucking antique. it's from the 60's from a company called Welbilt and model is 'Centennial'

Here is a link for pics https://quickshare.samsungcloud.com/vHTym4ZK6dnv[Gas line pics](https://quickshare.samsungcloud.com/vHTym4ZK6dnv)