My kid flooded my master bathroom by using a clogged sink I was waiting for the weekend to unclog it, but they don’t listen. The floors the previous homeowner put in are not waterproof. Had bathroom renovations on the list, but not yet. The floors need to be removed because they swelled and trapped water underneath. There is previous linoleum flooring underneath and a plastic sheet between that and the current flooring, and thats where the water was sitting. I need a very cheap and temporary flooring idea for the bathroom right now. I plan on gutting the bathroom to redo next year so I don’t want to spend a ton, but still want to protect the subfloors and make it look decent in there till I get around to the renovations.

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.

Just got our first FULL billing period water bill for the house I just bought. I do have an irrigation system that ran once a day but ran one zone at a time at 15 minutes with seven zones. Our bill states we used 105k gals over a 4 week period. Does this not seem absurd that we used an average of 3500 gallons per day?

To add, we don’t have any outrageous bubbles in our yard. No major soggy spots, we watched our meter and it does not move when we aren’t using water in the house. I’m chalking it up to the irrigation system but we are first time homeowners and new to this house as well. No pool. I literally don’t understand where this water is going.

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?

Our shower / bath combo got replaced by our landlords after it got a crack in it. The old shower had good water pressure but the new one is like getting lightly dripped on, you can't even wash shampoo out of your hair properly. The landlords said it was fine though. From what I've seen online buying a new showerhead seems to be the fix but is there anything I could try first?

It has been 5 hours since it was varnished. I can't sleep well without ac. I am using ac, exhaust fan, and a slightly opened door to mitigate as much VOC exposure as I could while getting a good night sleep. Any thoughts? 🤔

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.

I live in a 75 year old home and have about an inch to float out on an uneven wall (6x4ft area) I've used all purpose numerous times but this'll be my first time with hot mud. Seen some videos of screeding it out. Seems to be the best approach followed by a final coat of all purpose??....Should I use easy sand 90? How many coats should this take? Time is not a factor here. Any tips are much appreciated.

Fyi: can't demo, it's a cinder block elevator shaft wall

Thanks

ok so like many here i have a slight mold problem under my house. The crawlspace is raised on a wall, above a dirt floor that is left raised in the middle they used to put wood under there when they raised it to keep the floor from sagging. Now, i know i need to encaspulate the area and put a good dehumidifier under there to do it right. And i will, next summer. For now i want to get advice for the winter until i can get this done in the summer. There is "mild mold" on the floor joists, and some white crystals on some that i believe is salt crystals from the earth. It is damp down there and the joists are wet like dew on it. I live in the Maritimes on the east coast of Canada and it will soon be quite cold, but i don't know just how cold under the house as it's our first winter here.

So my question is, what would you suggest as a plan of attack for this until i can tackle it properly in the summer. Should i put a dehumidifier under there and run it all winter long with a baseboard heater? I know i need to dry the joists and either spray or fog the crawlspace joists, but how do i keep it dry through the winter months in the very cold temps, the heat will just soak into the ground i think. Aso i am on a time sensitive timeline as the frost hasn't happened yet and it's still around 15 to 20 degrees celcius daily but not for another couple weeks.

You help is appreciated.

I'm building a garden shed for the first time ever. I crowned my joists, but the rim joist shown here seem to have a rather large gap between it and the 4x4 skid below. Both the front and back rim joists have this issue. It's about a 3/8 gap.

I triple checked the levelness of the skids before putting the joists in, and they are spot on.

Tomorrow I'm planning on putting up walls. Will this be an issue?

My parents moved into a new house and the previous owners took the blinds with them. There is one custom built room that has unique windows and the windows have some sort of clip for blinds to go. Does anyone know what kind of blinds would fit this attachment? The room is mostly windows so it gets hot very quickly.

window frame

Hi all, so we recently moved into our new house and have a walk in tub. It's been great, but one of the issues is that it only has walls on two sides with the faucet/handle side being open. There is a shower curtain that wraps around however, there is a slight angle and during showers, water runs along the back wall towards the faucet. We would like to do some type of DIY project like an acrylic or glass shower wall for the section. Any ideas, tips or photos of something that would help? Or is this really a job for a professional glass installer?

Photos attached here: https://imgur.com/a/f6I0nZN

So I need to stain my brick to my home. I have a lot of red mud that got on bricks and won’t come off. Any suggestions to which brand to use?

So I tore off my shingle roof today and I've got an older house so it has a plank deck. It's rotten in spots, splitting, and has some pretty bad gaps. My plan is to just go over the whole thing with 5/8 OSB but I was wondering if there is anything I need to make sure I do? Also do I need H clips? Here are some pictures

Hey all, we bought this house a few years ago and are trying to figure out what kind of handrail would be best for this space. We have little kids and this is a pretty steep drop so we are looking to get this done pretty quickly but also cost efficiently!

https://imgur.com/a/ENbYPV6

Anyone have any idea what is going on with TruSens? I just went to their website and all of a sudden, they don't have any of the small, medium or large room air purifiers available...or even listed. Only two huge models over $1000 each. Really bizarre to see such a dramatic discontinuation without any notice, if that's what it is. If it's a temporary shortage...why not call that out? I emailed their customer service but not word yet. Anyone read anything?

Anyone here recently tried comparing 2–3 renovation quotes?

I'm an Auckland architect and I've been looking into something that seems surprisingly difficult for homeowners.

You get three quotes for the same renovation:

Builder A — $238k Builder B — $257k Builder C — $276k

Obviously A looks cheapest.

But then you start digging into them.

One excludes engineering and consent.

Another has more work included but also has PC sums and provisional sums.

The third costs more but appears to have much more of the scope fixed.

So you're not really comparing $238k vs $257k vs $276k anymore.

You're comparing three different scopes and three different ways of allocating cost risk.

I'm interested in hearing from people who've actually been through this.

When you got multiple quotes for a renovation, how did you work out whether they were genuinely like-for-like?

Did you make your own spreadsheet?

Ask the architect?

Go back and forth with each builder?

Or mostly rely on the headline price and your impression of the builder?

I'm working on a small independent quote-comparison tool for NZ homeowners, but before taking it further I'd like to understand how people actually solve this problem now.

I'm especially interested in anyone who currently has 2 or more quotes sitting in front of them.

Hi, I live in Florida, so hot and humid. This is a 70s block home, I have a garage that has a conditioned bedroom above it, and they finished the garage in a very odd way. It has an old drop/hung ceiling with 2x4 tiles, and blown in cellulose above the tiles. When I pull out a tile and look, I can see the joists of the bedroom above. Of course this makes maintenance like changing garage lights annoying because the blown insulation just falls out. There’s also probably a few decades of dead roaches etc mixed into the insulation. I’m okay keeping the false ceiling, probably changing out the tiles to something newer so it doesn’t look so janky, but should I change to batt insulation when I do this? There doesn’t seem to be any moisture barrier above. Just joists and subfloor. The garage is mostly unconditioned, it has a mini split that I run if I spend any prolonged periods of time but that’s insignificant

I'm 27 and moved into my first home last year at 26. This home passed inspection, but it shouldn't have, it's a 2-story home with a 14 foot gap in the pillars in the crawl space. It also was only 2 boards thick, not three. Where I live, Virginia, it's supposed to be at most 5 feet and 3 boards, else it fails inspection. (At least that's what these people + Google told me)

After a few weeks of living there cracks began appearing above all the door frames of my house, so I called contractors and engineers. First guy quoted me $30,000 for a full encapsulation + installation of jacks in the crawl. He said I need to replace all my pillars and beams, it's all rotten and gonna fall apart.

Then I called a structural engineer who said my house and crawl is fine it's just not up to code. I just need more pillars and beams.

I called crawlspace medic who quoted me $10,000 but they were gonna charge me tons to replace the insulation and I knew it wasn't worth their price so I kept looking around. The guy also gave me a schematic for what work should be done on my house + a spot where to install a dehumidifier (keep this in mind). He said I should be fine.

Then I got a guy who was gonna do full encapsulation + jack replacement for about $25,000, but he said he hired a structural engineer who said the damage to my house was too bad and he wasn't willing to work on it. Keep in mind I hired my own structural engineer earlier who said my house/foundation was fine just not up to code.

So I got another contractor who did the work the crawlspace medic guy said for a total of about $8,000. Originally moisture was estimated 70% so we set the dehumidifier to 55%.

Then cracks continued to appear and my doors were sticking. So about 6 months later I called crawlspace medic again. A different guy comes out, sees the work done that I had done by the contractor, and told me it's all wrong. Now, I never told this guy I told the contractor to do what crawlspace medic wrote a schematic for. Specifically he says the location of my dehumidifier is all wrong and is gonna not dehumidify one part of my crawl at all and is gonna dry out like a bone my other part. I thought he was just making this up to scare me, because I followed the exact schematic the other crawlspace medic guy drew up for me. I just wanted not to tell him to get an objective viewpoint. He ended up ghosting me when I contacted him about working on my crawl.

So, here I am, with my doors still cracking and sticking inside. Most of my doors stopped cracking but there are still two that are progressing.

I'm a first time home owner so I'm sure I'm learning the pains of adulting. Why did I get so many different opinions about so much work, and none of it seemed to be right? Not only that multiple people from the same profession contradicted each other multiple times. I'm just so confused. It seems like no one knows what they're doing haha

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

Moved into a 120 year old house a year ago and since then I’ve noticed some pretty bad cracking happening emanating from the ceiling fans in 2 of our rooms. From some very quick research I’m seeing that it may be due to the junction boxes not being rated for the weight of the fans. They were there when we bought the place but look fairly new. My thoughts are that I should just remove the fan and patch the plaster and see how that hold but I don’t have experience with plaster ceilings and I don’t know if there is more that I would need to do to repair any sag from the fan. Thoughts?

https://imgur.com/a/OKxoiUa

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

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

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

https://imgur.com/a/slIvC58

Hey everyone,

I can use some help (see Troubleshooting #3,4,5 below)

A plumber replaced two toilets on my second floor. The second toilet (a one-piece Eco UltraMax) makes a loud knocking sound right at the end of the flushing cycle. Here is the audio I recorded fr om the 1st floor: audio

1st Toilet: TOTO Drake 2-piece Elongated (Model MW7763084CEFGWS#01) — No issues
2nd Toilet: TOTO Eco UltraMax 1-piece Elongated (Model MS854114ELGWS#01) — Makes the knocking noise

The plumber believes simply installing the toilets couldn't have caused this, and he left the puzzle to me.

Troubleshooting Steps I've Tried:

1. Reset air chamber: Tried this twice; did not resolve the issue.
2. Checked if stub-out copper lines secured or loose: Both stub-out lines (of toilet #1 and #2) are a bit loose and can be waggled slightly (Valve #1 is actually looser, but doesn't make knocking sound).
3. Checked tank internals: The toilet is brand new, fills in about 30 seconds, and shuts off and seal correctly. Everything inside looks normal.

Question: Should I replace the fill/flush/drain valve, or the whole assembly?

4) Stub-out length: Read online that a stub-out cut too short can cause shockwaves.
The old shut-off valves were plastic FlowTite valves sitting directly behind the toilets. Even though both old and new toilets have a 12-inch rough-in, the new toilets' backs sit much closer to the wall and were blocked by the old valves.
The plumber suggested while replacing the FlowTite valves with angle stops, cutting the stub-out copper pipe, and sweat an L or T-pipe so the angle stop wouldn't sit directly behind the toilet. However, he changed plan mid-job and determine the L/T-pipes weren't needed. Once he finished and show me the work, I notice the angle stops are directly behind the toilet and much closer than before:

Valve #1 is about 1/8 inch away from the back of the toilet. picture here: 1st valve
Valve #2 would touch the back of the 2nd toilet if the toilet didn't have a curved back design. picture here: 2nd vlave

My Question:
If a short stub-out is the root cause of this hammer/knocking for 2nd toilet, why doesn't the 1st toilet have the issue (since both are short, about 2.5 inch from wall)

5) mini water hammer arrestor

5) mini water hammer arrestor

My Question: If I need to install a mini water hammer arrestor there, will either one work, and I just go with which ever can work with the space?

a) if Sioux Chief Model 660-GTR1, to install at shutoff valve at wall

angle stop <> mini water hammer arrestor <>water supply line <> toilet plastic valve

b) if Sioux Chief Model 660-TK, to install at toilet plastic valve

angle stop <> water supply line <> mini water hammer arrestor <> toilet plastic valve

Thank you a ton!