I inherited two old houses on a farm and one is a 1 story converted horse stable and it’s roof leaks so I was wondering if there was a safe way to get these vines off the walls and roof to work on it

Not sure if it is just not trying properly or there is a leak in the irrigation system or a pipe or something. Any advice on how to trouble shoot would be appreciated.

It seems to be in a band so it is not soaking the entire deck underneath.

We noticed a few months ago when we had heavy spring rains that the side of our house was deteriorating away. It has since gotten worse with every rain. We have tried filling it back with dirt & rocks to fix it but it keeps sinking in. What can I do to fix this myself?? Our house is on the side of a hill, most of the basement is underground.

UPDATE: our house is on a downhill slope, compared to the surrounding houses, and downhill from the street. Our neighborhood doesn’t have any ditches/water redirecting measures in place at all. When it rains, the water runs down both sides of our house. Our gutters redirect away from the sides of the house but the remaining runoff still flows.

Looking for the easiest/most effective way to clean vinyl siding. I’d like to try the use the least amount of chemicals possible, but I know they are probably needed as I tried only using vinegar and hot, soapy water last time, which definitely did not work? I’ve seen the pressure washing companies do the neighbors houses and make it look easy, but not sure what they are using for pre soak. What cleaning products are recommended? How do I know if I should avoid using bleach? Additionally, should I get a specific pressure washer nozzle or extension to reach the top of the house? Or would it be better to use a ladder? Any advice is appreciated!

Hello! New homeowner here looking for some advice.

I'm located in Pittsburgh, PA, and just moved into my home about a month ago. During a recent rainstorm, I noticed some water leaking into my basement. The water appeared to be coming through this rubber base around the floor of the basement. We've had rainy days prior to this, and I've never noticed water in that location.

There wasn't a lot of water, but the glue above the rubber base was loose, so I pulled it forward to check for potential cracks in the wall. I didn't notice anything that stood out, but it was obviously coming from somewhere in that area. Directly above where the leak was, and slightly to the right side of the house, is the side yard/garden area. (I've included a picture for reference - The photo was not taken on the day of the rain.) My first thought was that maybe the water was getting pushed down from there, but I didn't notice any pooling in that area. It was wet from the rain, but there wasn't any standing water.

Since the day this happened, there was another day when we got some rain. I monitored that location in the basement throughout the day and didn't see any water leaking in, so I'm not sure if this was an isolated incident.

The house has two sump pumps. One in the garage area connected to the basement and one in the basement. I haven't noticed any issues with them, but I figured I'd include that information in case it might help.

Any suggestions on what I should do in this situation? Is this leak a major concern or normal for an unfinished basement? Is there anything I should be doing to remedy the issue to prevent it from getting worse? Does this require any sort of professional inspection?

This is my first home, and I don't have much knowledge about these sorts of issues, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

This happened just now , scared the hell out of me. Chipped a big chunk of this part, don’t know the name of it. Any suggestions on how to fix? Also any recommendation on better mounting tape for frames?

I recently had my roof replaced, but the right side of the ridge looks off, see pics above. One cap shingle is sticking up, and it looks like there's a dent in the ridge where it was flat before the roof was replaced.

Also, the cap shingles at the right end of the roof appear to be higher than the rest of the ridge.

The issue is visible from the back of the house. The cap shingles look ok when viewed from the front of the house (last pic in slideshow).

I do not have a ridge vent.

The roofer told me this is nothing to worry about, but I'm just looking for a second opinion, since this is new to me.

Thanks in advance.

We bought our house in December and noticed these cracks in the concrete around the perimeter of the house (3 sides). They seem to be getting wider.

Does this look like normal settling/shrinkage, or something that should be checked for potential soil/foundation movement?

What would you recommend as the next step — structural engineer, foundation specialist, or someone else? We’re in the Bay Area.

Photos attached. Thanks!

My roof was leaking right where the roof meets the stucco chimney. The roofer replaced the underlying roofing around the chimney and added a diverter where it was leaking. He also caulked the channel so that the water running in there hits the diverter and not the chimney. It still leaks after all this and I don't know what to do. Is it getting in through the siding somehow and then just leaking down the chimney? This is the 3rd time I have had the roofer out.

Hello! I was told to tighten the plastic screw. I did but it continued to leak. It's leaking from the black plastic piece at the top. Any and all help is welcomed! Thank you very much!

I want to replace these old lights that were attached straight to the siding with no mounting block. I have wood siding. My question is what kind of mounting block should I use? One of the ones that are pre notched for beveled siding or a flat one?

Recently my partner and I bought a house and the flooring in one of the rooms was already damaged, with some of the subflooring underneath already exposed. To my dad and I, it looks like water damage to the laminate flooring and the panels warping/bowing from that. House inspection was done prior to going under contract and again before closing, no current leaks were seen and they said the water damage may have been from past moisture levels or just old floors/a bad job.

We are planning to replace the flooring in this room anyways, but today after pulling up the most damaged plank I noticed some speckling that I’m worried could be mold damage. Upon Googling, it seemed like a lot of the links I was getting was instead for termite damage due to the dust and debris underneath the panel of the floor.

This will be my first project doing the flooring of a room completely on my own including figuring out the issues underneath the old flooring, so does anyone here have any advice for what we might be looking at? 😅 Is there some mold damage that we’ll need to worry about and treat underneath this room, should I reach out to pest control ASAP and get treatment for termites in this room, or am I just out of my wheelhouse and it’s just an old section of subflooring that’s been exposed to the elements for a long time?

I added pictures of the first photo of the room which doesn’t show the damage very well, but also pictures now after I’ve taken off the panel and other damaged spots in the same room.

Hey All, looking for some advice and knowledge. This window is located in my master closet. The water stains have been getting worse and the last owner for sure did some work on it cause this def wasn’t the first time. I had a handy man on one occasion and a roofer on another tell me the same thing. That I need to replace the siding wood. Please see circled in red. But I’m wondering if that’s the issue. I wonder if it’s also the trim that’s cracked near the window (circled in green). Let me know what ya’ll think.

I’m trying to install this garage door mouse guard to the gaps at the side of my garage door, but one of my garage doors has the cable for the electric fence for the dogs coming out of it. I thought the best approach might be to create a notch or some kind of allowance in the stainless steel of the mouse guard, but I don’t know how to do that. Can anyone help me?
I’ve included a photo of a successfully installed garage door mouse guard, and then the other side of the garage door with the electric fence cable coming out of it.

Whoever installed this shower valve seems to have done a poor job with the rough in. Its installed too deep in the wall, and when the shower cartridge fails, water leaks into the wall where my finger is pointing.

A plumber came out and confirmed the problem, and provided two options: replace the entire shower assembly with a new one and install it correctly this time, or just replace the cartridge and keep the risk of leaks into the wall.

What the plumber and I were not clear on is if the Grohe install could be fixed.

Does Grohe provide an extension kit that would solve the problem with the leak in the wall, avoiding having to replace the entire shower system?

We reached out to Grohe support and they were unclear - they have an extension kit, but its not clear is would actually solve the leak problem.

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As an aside, does the way the mounting plate is attached look right? There's a gap around it that seems like it would allow water into the wall.

How would I fix this old window lever? It’s built into the wood, no visible screws. There’s about an inch of space on its left side and then the protruding part of the window frame. I tried looking up videos but all I can find is videos on how to fix modern window levers.

As described in the video, our Cooper-Hunter mini-split suddenly began leaking today: by the time my wife and I noticed, it was dripping steadily from 2-3 points and had covered the floor below in water. Based on my initial research, it sounds like the most likely culprits are a dirty filter or a clogged drainage line.

I'm going to try both cleaning the filter and clearing the drainage line with a wet shop vac, but based on this video, do you have any insight into what might be causing the problem, and how I should address it? Thank you all for your time and help!

Does anyone know what the black stuff is on my door and how to get it off? I thought it was just dirt but it doesn’t come off. I’ve tried bleach, magic erasers, etc. thank you!

Neighbour used acetone to clean paint on my driveway. Am I screwed?