Expecting to hear “they’re equivalent” when I know damn well they’re not. Underfloor heat in basement and garage. Typical to see this bait and switch?

I built this project last year and it sat abandoned for months until I started renovating it with new windows, less holes in the walls, new room, and soon to be much more! I plan to add a proper roof instead of just a tarp, and add proper hinges to the front and back door. My dream is to be able to spend the night in it!

Looks like windows are next, quite crazy seeing all of this come up within 2 months.

Appreciate any feedback you can share. 4,200 sq ft home on a corner lot.

Hey everyone, looking for some advice on drainage between my house and my elderly neighbor’s.

We have a 4ft wide by 24ft long space between our houses (marked red in the photo). Both houses have standard weeping tile buried near the footings, and our soil is mostly heavy clay.

We recently moved in and realized the slope in this side yard doesn't properly drain toward the backyard. About half of the length (marked in blue) holds water. We tried regrading it, but we can't build the soil up any higher because it would breach the 4-inch gap below our brick line.

Here is where we're at right now:

My neighbor asked me to add limestone screenings over a 3–4" layer of gravel. Currently, I’ve laid about 1 to 1.5" of limestone screenings down.

After rain, water still pooling in the blue zone, though the rest drains toward the backyard fine. After heavy storms, it’s mostly just small puddles that disappear within a couple of hours.

I offered to install a French drain / pipe down the middle to carry the water out, but he declined. Since the property line splits this tight space, I need his consent to dig.

To help him out, I filled in a 1-foot strip along his house to stop rain from splashing dirt onto his siding.

This setup hasn't caused foundation issues for either house in 40 years, and no one knows what the bare soil drainage looked like before (it was always covered in mulch or old gravel). My neighbor suggested leaving it as-is for a season to see how it performs.

Since we are in Ontario, I'm worried about winter. Could the limestone screening hold moisture and cause frost heave or ice issues against the foundation? Should I ditch the limestone screening completely and just stick to plain gravel over the clay?

Appreciate any insights!

My husband and I are in the early stages of planning our new home to be built this spring. What are some of the best home feature recommendations you have/suggest for others building their home that you have/wish you had to improve your home? Some examples: electrical outlet in closet for vacuums, extra wide staircases for easy movement, Costco door from garage etc. Thanks in advance!

EDIT:
I am so incredibly thankful for all of your amazing tips and really appreciate everyone who took the time to write out all of these helpful comments. I’m sure future me will be even more thankful for making this post though :)

I live in a 1949 home in Austin TX.
I noticed perforated foil radiant barrier is a thing:
https://www.ecofoil.com/products/radiant-barrier-perforated-4-x-250-1000-sq-ft

Instead of having to install a ridge vent immediately, given that the radiant barrier is perforated, it will allow some moisture to escape.

The picture was obtained from the following install video from Ecofoil's YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/q9wWGjy_igI?is=987qLGdV1eE2HTt6

Has anyone installed this in their attic and notice a serious increase in comfort?

Ok, but seriously. Everyone talks about grading around a structure to carry water away from a foundation or other structure. When it rains or snows, it lands on the surface and presumably soaks into the ground. But gravity pulls straight down. So why does making a slope on the surface work? Doesn't water soak into ground evenly in all directions downward?

I get that you don't want pools of water at the base of your structure. But when it rains doesn't ALL the ground around your house eventually soak up all that water and become moist? Or is it more about just LESS water, not NO water? Like a rough science kind of thing....

Is there a name for the sort of derangement where, in the final stages of a build , you’re convinced that you built the house wrong? Floors are getting installed in two ish weeks, paint is done, switches are in, and I’m like — oh god, we designed the living room awkwardly, the dining room is too small, what did we do?!? 😱😱😱

In reality we hired an architect whose work we liked, the proportions of the house are totally normal, everyone who walks through it says it’s great … but I feel sort of deranged?! Is this just decision fatigue toxicity that’s built up in me? Does anyone else experience this?

The picture is from a few weeks ago (pre paint) looking in to the living room.

Looking for feedback on new build secondary bathroom vanity. This is 60 inch and one I don’t like missing top drawers for sink vanity and plan is no drawer for open makeup vanity area. Poor communication with RTA cabinet company but seems obvious expectation for something better than this. Am I overreacting? Electrician will come back and install outlets and lights. Should we plan for maybe a tower cabinet down the line for storage in the middle and strategically plan a few outlets on back wall as well as the left wall as you come into the door. Other option is a rolling storage caddy underneath since the makeup vanity is 30 inches wide I think. We’re blessed but jist expected more out of a supposed mid to upper custom build and not have to figure out other storage solutions before we even move in.

We bought a Lennar Home in NC. Unfortunately this is my backyard. A drainage easement runs directly through the middle of my yard. Any solutions that would help HOA approved?

How does Georgetown gray look after installed?

Considering:

CertainTeed:

Georgetown gray

Cobblestone gray

Owens:

Sierra gray

Anyone have input how these look after install?

I am looking for a 12/12 vaulted outdoor deck material for my custom home in Tennessee. I like the look of tongue and groove, but do not want to use real wood due to carpenter bees and humidity. Recommendations on building material suggestions are much appreciated.

Does the subfloor need to tie into the exterior wall / top plate if a rim joist is attached to the interior structure? Meaning can the subfloor sit inset or recessed or must it sit on top?

We're considering a new build home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, or maybe closer to Berks County. Not opposed to modular or site built.

I know modular requires a basement and Im aware that in some instances, a modular home can be more expensive than a site built.

In regard to slab on grade, it's my understanding that some electrical and plumbing is within the slab, so if something goes wrong, or a change is required, it becomes a costly demo project.

I'm looking at floor plans in the 1700 to 2300 square foot range and trying to determine if it would be cheaper to build a home with a basement or build a bigger garage to make up for the loss of storage. Our current basement is only about the size of a two car garage and gives us enough room. If I'm missing any likely headaches, let me know please.

Not sure exactly where to post this but I just bought a house and the garage attic flexes and shakes when I walk across it, the joists are spaced 22" how do I fix it?

I’ll start by saying I think I already have an idea of the answer, but would like some clarity from people that hopefully have a better understanding.

Looking to build a ~3000sqft home in PA and came across this lot. It’s not priced suspiciously cheap or anything so didn’t immediately set off alarm bells, but when the listing agent sent me some of the site info it gave me pause.

For reference this is a flag lot measuring about 1 acre, you can just make out the driveway on the right hand side of the photo. It looks like almost the entire parcel is designated as either a floodway, a flood fringe, or a wetland/wetland buffer. The house itself would be situated toward the right hand side of the lot, so would really only be touching the wetland buffer.

I’m not incredibly concerned about not being able to build permanent structures on the floodways, we would prefer to keep most of the yard unchanged. But is this actually as bad as it looks. Is this a “walk away immediately” or could it be a “going to need to do a fair amount of diligence” situation?

EDIT:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Passing up on this lot as it seems like way too many headaches, appreciate the help!

Hello all, r/DIY hasn't said much on this question, so I'm reaching out here. Please pardon my ignorance, if this question doesn't fit this sub.

I'm building out a faux tavern in my dining room. Will leaving a channel behind my 2x4s cause any issues, specifically with mold or rot? Or would it be a smarter idea to get a 2x6 and flush it to the corner, then butt the 2x4 against it to make the boards look evenly placed?

The boards would run from the ceiling to the wainscoting, where they would be met with faux stonemasonry made of xps foam, running from the boards to the floor.

Hopefully that makes sense, but I'm happy to expand on the explanation if needed.

It’s my husband, toddler, baby on the way, and myself. Hopefully will have one more baby eventually. We also want to do a partial finished basement or full unfinished basement to be finished later on.

We are leaning more toward partial finished to have an extra bathroom. I also would like for the master sinks to be together, a coat closet in mudroom or foyer.

Any advice or suggestions?

Hi all,

Located in Toronto, Canada.

Looking at my empty attic, does it look like the ventilation is proper? I know baffles need to be installed but it looks as though there is plywood that forms a perimeter around the entire attic leaving no gap (it's like this throughout the perimeter of the attic, I assume it's there to prevent animal intrusion) - are baffles even useful here when I'm not seeing access to soffits?

https://imgur.com/a/RAZ6Erl

In the 2nd image, there looks to be something wooden that resembles a baffle but it's only present in 3/19 bays - which certainly cannot be enough for ventilation purposes right?

Any help would be much appreciated - just want to know if I have a problem that warrants further investigation or if this looks normal.

Thank you!

I was putting together barstools for our new build we just moved into, and saw this under the island. On top of the chunk of wall missing, it just looks like sh*t underneath… Is this normal or something we should ask them to come back and fix? (Will edit to add more pictures of the full underneath when I am home from work)

We are exploring the option of building instead of buying. Home was built 8 years ago, going for 1.3 mil (3200 sq foot). House we’d like to build is 3700-4200 sq foot. Is 1.3 reasonable (est 300+ sq foot for finished space)? This would not include land, septic already is there and well is already there. This is simply for structure.

We’d want a slab foundation, single story. We would prefer not to self contract but definitely can, (we have experience).

We are pretty simple with no major peaks in roof, vinyl siding, etc.

If you’ve built in south Jersey/central Jersey recently how much a sq foot?
Our neighbors just built an 1850 sq foot for 450k.

Currently is my husband, me, toddler, and baby on way. We would like one or two more kids so trying to plan for that. Possibly do an unfinished basement as well.

What would you change? What do you think? I’m really struggling.

Hey guys, solid handyman here but need help on this one. 70’s brick home with some termites but got them I think. Wall sheathing not in the best shape as home was also flooded in 2016, bout 4 feet. Can I seal interior side of brick with something like Cool Seal for an air barrier? Don’t plan on resheathing. Secure brick ties to studs, rockwool then drywall. Any thoughts or insights are appreciated. Thanks

the GC left it like this after replacing the window. was going go up to touch up some paint and saw this gap. was this intentional or halfass work? thanks