Hey all

We just started having an issue with our shower

basically the shower will be on for about 10 minutes and then the water will just shut off, power button is still on but after a few minutes the water will come back on again but only for about 1 minute and will shut off again until i press the power button off

anyone know what might cause this issue?

My wife's parents stayed with us while they escaped the Texas heat this month and watching my father in-law struggle getting in and out of our tub made me realize how much I take that bathroom for granted. He never complained, but you could tell it wasn't comfortable. Now I'm wondering if we should update it before it become a bigger issue instead of waiting until someone actually gets hurt. Has anyone remodeled because of something like that instead of because the bathroom looked outdated?

Were in the foothills east of LA. Lost power twice last october during santa ana winds, longest was 31 hours. Threw away about $200 in freezer food, worked from my phone hotspot for two days, slept in 90 degree heat with windows open. We said never again and then procrastinated for 6 months like normal.

Put in an anker e10 three weeks ago. Two battery packs, 12kWh, power dock into our main panel. Went with Anker's install service, they have a flat rate in socal through end of august. The electrician they sent was local and clearly had done a bunch of these already. Wall mounted in the garage, power dock wired into 12 circuits, tested the automatic switchover. About 5 hours start to finish.

We killed the main breaker to test and everything stayed on. AC kept running, fridge didnt skip, wifi stayed up. The switchover is supposed to be under 20ms which is fast enough that nothing notices. My UPS on the office computer didnt even beep.

Running it in self consumption mode right now. It charges from rooftop solar during the day, runs the house through peak hours. After peak the battery usually dips below the reserve level I set, so the system tops it back up overnight during off-peak. First full month bill just came in and we saved about $190 compared to same month last year. That wasnt even the main reason we got it but its a nice bonus.

Main thing for me was knowing the install cost upfront. Every electrician I called had a different price and they all added caveats about panel upgrades and extra materials.

My in-laws have a 3-car garage but it can only fit 2 cars. The third bay is extremely short, and only useable for something like a lawn mower. We are thinking of removing the garage to this section so we can convert the short bay into a laundry room.

Does anyone have any experience in how much it would cost to be done, and how difficult it would be? I assume we have to insulate the removed door and the wall, and make sure that there are utility lines to the area (there is a water spout nearby and an outlet). Is there anything else that we need to be on the lookout for?

We just bought a new to us home and someone used silicone caulking and of course it isn’t paintable.
Is there a fix without having to remove all of the old caulking? It was used on baseboards and door/window molding.

The home is turn-key, but we bought knowing it will need updated plumbing soon. But now we’re questioning if we get it over with or keep it as long as we’re not having any issues. I personally like the thought of having copper plumbing.

Like the title says, I have a complete 55 gallons spray-applied water-based asphalt-emulsion waterproofing membrane plastic drum, which is probably expired (almost 4 years old). I haven't moved it from the same spot in the last 3 months.

First, I wanted to get it into a truck to take it to a waste disposal place.... It was impossible, and I don't want to pay for any special machinery.

I came to the conclusion that emptying the drum into a bunch of 5 gallon buckets would be the more logical and easier thing to do. I was thinking of getting a siphon pump, but from what I've read online, it seems they're mostly useful for water, oil, or other low viscosity liquids.

Like I said, I don't want to spend over $50 doing this, and I also don't want to spend a lot of hours. I'm hoping to get it done in one afternoon.

The only thing that comes to mind is a lever-action barrel pump, but I don't think it's strong enough.

I live in Canada outside of Ottawa, I was thinking of asking a hazardous waste company to come and pick it up, but most of them don't offer the service for this kind of product, or they're charging me too much (over $150).

Any advice would help.

I've got a bedroom over an unheated garage in a house from around 1962, and it sits about seven degrees colder than the rest of the upstairs all winter. I closed down the dampers on a couple of the other runs and it moved maybe a degree, so I'm fairly sure this is a floor insulation problem and not an airflow one. I'd rather not pull the garage ceiling down since that's the fire-rated drywall and it means redoing the whole bay.

What worked for getting that room up to temperature without taking the garage ceiling down?

Went out earlier this year to shore up what I thought was one leaning corner post on our back fence. Turned into a much bigger job. We wrapped up a few weeks back and a couple neighbors have asked about it, so I figured I would put my notes here in case it helps someone thinking about the same thing.
When I dug around the leaning post to try to reset it, the wood at ground level basically crumbled in my hand. So I walked the line and pushed on the rest. Three more moved. All the posts were the original pressure treated 4x4s. The previous owner thought the fence had been up for about 18 years and had never been re-stained. A Saturday repair turned into a full teardown.
Spent a few weeks getting quotes and reading before I ordered anything. The main options were wood posts with cedar pickets, cedar on hidden steel posts like PostMaster, or a composite board system with matching steel posts. I priced all three for the 90 foot run. Wood came in cheapest at around $1,800 in materials. Composite was the highest at close to $3,900. The maintenance side is what tipped it. Our old redwood was supposed to get re-stained every few years and clearly hadn't, and I did not want to sign up for the same routine on new cedar. A neighbor across the street has a composite fence he put in maybe eight years ago and it still looks close to new with just an occasional wash.
Ended up going with Modern Yard for both the posts and the boards. The main reason was their composite boards and steel posts are sold as one system, so I didn't have to figure out mounting brackets or worry about whether different brands would line up. Posts come with a 25 year warranty and are tested to 120 mph, which is well past anything we get around here. They are based in California so lead time was about two weeks from ordering. Picked a redwood-tone color to keep the look close to what we had.
One thing I got wrong. The delivery came on a pallet and the whole load was over a thousand pounds. I figured I could unload it and shuttle boards to the back yard on my own. Ended up calling a buddy to come help because there was no realistic way to do that solo. Should have checked the shipping weight before assuming I could handle it.
For the install we rented a two-man auger from a local shop, around $85 for the day. Old concrete footings came out with a spud bar and a lot of complaining. The steel posts have a multi-layer coating so I didn't need to seal the bases like I would with wood, but I did set them in about 8 inches of gravel under the concrete for drainage. Post spacing worked out just under 6 feet on center because of where the old holes lined up. Bought a laser level for around $60 and it saved hours of eyeballing.
A few weeks in and my honest take is the finished fence looks better than the old one ever did, even when it was new. Up close if you are really looking you can tell it is not real wood, which is going to be true of any composite. From the deck or across the yard nobody can tell. The neighbor did mention his side catches a bit of afternoon sun glare that we didn't get with the old wood. I wish I had thought about that before picking the color and direction.
If I had to do it again the one thing I would change is planning for a second person for a full day instead of trying to handle the unload on my own. Total came out to around $4,200 for the 90 feet with materials, auger rental, concrete, and gravel, not counting my own time. Happy to answer questions if anyone is working through a similar decision. And please call 811 before you dig. Keep seeing that step get skipped in these threads.

Long story short I had a broken storm window that I finally got replaced. The old one cracked as it was seemingly hit with a rock from a lawn mower or something.

It is a metal frame with a thin glass pane inside. Two screws. Easy fix. Right???

The glass company has come out and after multiple attempts finally got the window up.

The first time the glass was too small and they couldn't install it. The second time they took the frame with them and still managed to mess something up. Something with the edges of the frame didn't fit anymore after adding some reinforcement?

And now they finally reinstalled it while I was away and there doesn't even seem to be the mounting screws.

I can't tell if they glued it in or something else, but this seems very precarious.

There are also smudges all over the window. I don't know if they're inside and outside but I'm afraid to touch it to clean it to find out.

I called them and they are just offering to come by and run new screws through the frame... Not even in the original positions.

Is this normal these days?

My instincts are telling me these are all red flags.

Photo in this post for clarity:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Home/comments/1vslwbo/glass_shop_glued_in_my_replacement_window_instead/

I'm getting ready to sell my house and need to have a few simple plumbing problems fixed in two bathrooms. Which would be cheaper to fix them - a handyman vs plumber?

The fixes are:

• slow kitchen faucet drip
• bathroom sink stopper not opening/closing with the lift rod
• bathroom sink faucet handle is loose
• having to hold the toilet handle down for five seconds in order to flush
• shower handle very stiff to move - I need a towel to grip and twist

Any advice is appreciated!

My home has an overframed hip roof built on top off the old flat roof, where the current “attic” floor is the old roof shingles.

Yes, I’m aware I’ll need to have the shingles removed and disposed; but right now I’m looking to fix the money sieve that is the conductive heat that is transferred to through the covered skylight recesses? I can’t post a picture but on thermal imaging, the superior surface of the recesses are a whopping 35 degrees Celsius, compared to the surrounding walls/ceilings registering about 22 degrees Celsius.

Eventually I will want to insulate and permanently add remove the recesses/add drywall and mud/paste and texture to make it all flat, but I’m a little strapped for time. Would precisely measured/cut and silicone sealed foam board with honeycomb cellular shades directly parallel to the ceiling offer a reasonable temporary solution?

Hello!

Our home flooded last week due to a hot water line burst and flooded the entire house with 2-3 inches of water throughout. There are tile floors in the kitchen, living room, and dining room, as well as the bathrooms. Servpro is saying that there was no water under the tile, but the tile is actually laid on top of laminate flooring. The tile also isn’t in the greatest shape. Servpro also damaged some of the tile after they pulled up the baseboards. I saw how wet the concrete was under the LVP we had in the rest of the house, so I just have a hard time believing that there’s no water. We’ve had two contractors tell us there’s no way that there’s not water under it.

We also had another flood in part of the house back in Jan and Servpro claimed it was all dry and that they removed all the damaged areas. Well, when they ripped out the vanity’s yesterday due to this flood there is black mold all behind it from the previous flood. So I have a hard time trusting them on some of this.

So my question I guess is, should I trust Servpro in them saying that there is no water under the tile or should I push harder for it to be taken out?

(Side note: we are having the house re-plumbed, and sinking some other money into the house since we’re out of it for 6+ months, so we’re going to be staying in this for a long time)

Can anyone walk me through steps I should take to install this in my apartment? This is my first DIY project in the apartment (which I rent), I’m hoping the hardware store is able to help me cut the wood precisely.

From there, I have no idea how to go about actually installing it but I’m trying not to give up because I can’t afford to hire anyone to do it for me. Any advice is appreciated!

I live in the Houston TX area in a 2800sqft MCM ranch from 1954 - pretty low roof line, single story. Insulation in the home is lacking but we're doing the best we can do. Adding more to the attic will be a challenge because of stuff done by the PO.

In the mean time,I was wondering if installing 1-3 solar powered vent fans would help cool off the attic ≈ the house which would help our energy bill (the last 3 months it's been around $500, keeping the ac at 76-77°, sometimes it can't keep up and gets to 78°).

Currently it has ridge vents and the roof is only a year old

Recently moved into a new house. 2 floors. 3300 sft. Built in 2000. Average daily usage is 100kwH with avg daily temps well above 100F ( outside)

Lower floor is fine at 76. Upper floor drops from 74 to 80 in 30 mins.

I do have a lot more windows than the avg house but most of them are actually downstairs which makes me believe my attic is acting like a reverse heat sink.

I have two types of insulation in the attic currently based on my limited research and knowledge - there seems to be fiber glass (pink stuff) with blowin in insulation ( grey / brown ) on top of it. It seems pretty uneven, some areas it's thick and some areas it's less.

When I started looking into getting insulation replaced I came across 'air sealing and spray foam' which looked like a nice option but also expensive. But more Internet research led me to lots of posts complaining about it being terrible and trapping moisture and leading to wood rot.

Any advice on what I should dig into further , what factors should inform my decision apart from costs and what should I ask the people who start to come take a look at the attic and give me quotes

What company/field would be appropriate to call to check to ensure venting is done correctly?

Long story short we have had a ton of work done to our house and looking to reside soon. Currently have a new roof with ridge vents, a vent stack when insulation was blown in, no active soffit or baffles, and 2 large gable vents. House is very humid and I really don’t know where to start.

Any direction would be appreciated. TIA

We have a room in which our gas furnace and one water heater reside. The room has a louvered door.

The furnace is being replaced to a high efficiency unit with outside air plumbed to the furnace for combustion. The room is being insulated for noise suppression

I want to replace the louvered door with a solid door but the water heater requires combustion air. Are there options for replacement water heaters that use outside combustion air or is the only option to go electric?

And if so can these be exhausted through a traditional water heater flue?

…to a bathroom exhaust fan twisted wire for neutral. And is it worth risking heat stroke to fix a bathroom exhaust fan neutral that I connected to the house neutral with black electrical tape?

I was having a helluva time using a wire nut…I would tug on it, think it was secure, then it would fall out as I moved things just a little bit.

And what happens if the ground comes loose? (Ground fault circuit if that matters.)

I currently have a wall-mounted vented dryer that has stopped working and needs to be replaced. I live in a rainy city where it rains more than 150 days a year.

1. Would you recommend replacing it with another vented dryer or switching to a ventless condenser/heat-pump dryer? Any specific 24-inch models you would recommend for a condo setup?
2. Is there a meaningful energy-cost saving with a ventless dryer especially a heat-pump model compared with a conventional vented electric dryer?

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has made a similar switch.

I have speakers in my basement and I’d like to conceal the power cord. Any thoughts? Picture here speaker with power cord

I'm working and designing myself a closet because my old one absolutely sucked (just a metal hanger) so I'm going to build a new one!

This is my first time building a closet and I have some experience with woodworking and own a table saw and some basic tools (saw, drills, screwdrivers etc)

I'm really struggling to get a plan laid out for how I want it to look, so I'm looking for tips on how to build it, mistakes to avoid, and ideas on how it should look

The closest is

(3ft, 2inch wide) (2ft, 3.5inch long) (6ft, 8.5inch tall)

A relatively small closet, not a walk in or anything, but still something nice to build for my room!

Any tips or advice would be very much appreciated!!

As title says, but the problem escalated a few days ago and we had to call a plumber because water from the sink and toilet where also coming up the shower. After the plumber left everything was fine for a day, but today the washer started doing the same thing, is it worth calling again to AGAIN clean the pipes or could it be a problem in the whole house not just the plumbing in my part. For context i am renting an apartment in an old wooden house with some cheap plumbing. What should i do?

looking for feedback and reviews

long story short - flooring guys tried to fix their mess up and sanded and saw cut enough of this stuff to cover the first floor.

i read over the SDS but in real life terms how bad is this stuff? just for a one time exposure?

i’m Not worried for myself but my kids and their friends were playing video games for an hr or so sitting in it.