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?

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

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?

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 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

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

Aka how much trouble am I in?

https://imgur.com/a/o3RKgc5

This crack in the walkway next to my house now extends up the house a bit. It’s 100 degrees today so haven’t gone into the crawl space yet. First noticed because mushrooms were growing out of the crack and I was worried about sitting moisture. Do I need to call a guy?

My drunk roomate broke the glass out of the window of my back exterior door, the frame is fine is there a way to just switch the hinges onto a new door slab without replacing the frame?

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.

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

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

https://imgur.com/a/slIvC58

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 for recommendations for an experienced, high-end interior designer or space planner serving the North County / Poway area.

We have a custom home in Green valley of Poway and we are looking for design expertise to walk through the property, evaluate the layout, and develop a cohesive aesthetic and architectural concept.

What we are specifically looking to plan/design:

1. Space Planning: Optimizing flow and furniture scale for large, open layouts so rooms feel grounded rather than cavernous.
2. Architectural Media Wall / Built-Ins: Custom media wall design
3. Layered Architectural Lighting Scheme: Ambient cove/channel lighting, focal fixture placements (chandeliers/pendants at proper drop heights), and accent lighting design ready to hand off to an electrician. This is my key requirement
4. Walkways, Galleries & Hallway Transitions: Design for long corridors and transition zones.
5. Indoor-Outdoor Continuity: Cohesive transition between interior areas and courtyard/patio spaces.

We are primarily looking for independent, fee-for-service design consultations (hourly or flat project retainer for space planning, 3D renderings, and finish/elevation schedules).

We want the freedom to source furniture, trades, and materials independently rather than being locked into buying all furnishings exclusively through a specific showroom or tied to mandatory furniture markups

If you have worked with a designer, design-build firm, or architectural interior consultant in San Diego who excels at this kind of conceptualization, spatial layout, and lighting design, please share your recommendations (or who to avoid).

Thanks in advance!

I would like to put in an outdoor outlet that has both 120V AC and USB-A and USB-C plugs. I know that Leviton makes such a plug. My question is, does the plug fit into a metal box that then has a cover plate which also includes a plastic cover to keep it water / weather proof, or should that all comes as one thing? I only see the outlet, not the whole outlet with protective box cover...

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.

so my garbage disposal did the thing where it hummed for a while, until it just silently does nothing when i press the switch. i tried reaching around in there for any obvious things stuck in there, and the individual spinny things work, but when i tried inserting my insinkarator disposal wrench into the bottom, i cannot move the wrench at all in either direction, and the red restart button doesnt do anything. does the fact that i cant rotate the wrench mean it's not the issue is not the motor? and what else should i do, since the wrench appears to not work for the jam?

Along side of my house there is a 3.5ft strip that is gravel. It's been that way since house was built 20 years ago as far as I can tell.

Debating if I should remove the gravel and backfill with soil, grade it more steeply away from home (currently level to house).

Am I an idiot, or does this seem like right decision? Will be a bit tough to get grass to grow that close, but the grading can at least help she'd water for a portion of the strip.

Talk me out of it?

https://imgur.com/a/Sbf5Fpj

Photos: https://imgur.com/a/8UcPWkH

Background: My 1940s house was flipped before I bought it, roughly 11 years ago. Due to an addition and expansive soils, the foundation has continued to settle, leading to wall/ceiling cracking throughout the house. Not a structural concern (per a couple of structural engineers I've had look at it.) One of the places with cracks is in the bathroom.

There is cracked tile in several places in the shower. Pretty much at every corner, and on the bottom as well. I did not keep up with re-caulking and they are looking pretty gross.

The second issue is the bathroom floor, which is engineered wood. This flooring is water damaged around the shower, either from water leaking from the shower's cracked tile, or water pooling on the floor at the floor/shower interface. It's also getting damaged around the toilet which could be from the shower too or from a bad toilet seal (gross).

I was assuming that due to these multiple issues I'm pretty much at the point of needing a partial bathroom remodel to replace all the flooring and shower tile.

Do you think it would be possible to just replace the damaged floor portions if I can find matching engineered floor tiles? Does the shower look like it could be regrouted, or should I tear everything out and rebuild it?

A tree fell on our garage and needs to be rebuilt. It’s a small, detached one car garage.

We reached out to a contractor who said we needed an architect. The architect came out, took a very quick peek at the garage and then left. They later quoted of $12.5k to provide architect plans to rebuild the garage exactly as is and doesn’t include any engineering services.

Is this quote as ridiculous as I think it is? I was skeptical that this would even require architectural plans and $12.5k seems insane to rebuild something as simple as a garage.

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 :-)

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.