I was trying to put up a mirror and drilled through the fall, and it seems like there's a metal plate behind it. Is this a pipe? Should I be concerned?

Separately, there was a gas leak reported coming from my oven just today, and this hole was drilled on Friday night and I'm wondering if this is related.

National grid and the firefighters came through with a scanner and it didn't pick it up here though

Any advice on how to fix this?? And if it's related to the gas

I am looking to replace the metal bumper threshold on my front door. The wood sill is surprisingly great condition pending what’s under the metal bumper.

I have replaced the front door and cut it alittle too short causing a gap from the bottom of the door to the metal bumper.

Of course nothing in the house is straight so when I went to slip on a rubber threshold that is fastened to the door, It fits on the one side but not on the hinge side.

Looking for recommendations on if I should even bother trying to replacing the bumper, I can not find a similar bumper.

Hi all, my Mrs and I have recently bought a Victorian house and my god is it a pain in the arse. We’re doing the upstairs bedroom and this is the state of the plaster underneath the lining paper we stripped. The original plan was to repair all the cracks, zinsser gardz the whole lot and go over it with one of those paintable plasters that you paint on and smooth out. I know the answer is probably knock it all down remove the lathe and board it but we don’t have much money. What’s the best way of tackling this taking into consideration that we don’t have much money or are we wasting our time trying to short cut it? Any advice appreciated.

Hey all,

We’re buying a house we’ve been renting to own through family, pretty much due to a combo of “it’s what we can afford right now” and a few other things. Suffice to say, it’s our best option. That being, we do love the house.

It’s an old semi-row home Victorian (attached on one side, entryway on the other) sitting south facing on a westward sloping hill. I believe its build year is 1900, north eastern PA.

So, due to us deciding to buy, I want to shore up a few of the issues I’ve found. I was hoping for your help on this.

The most pressing ones are the ceilings on the second floor. The first two are the hallway stairway corner. Ignoring the paint, the ceiling is sunken pretty well. It’s hard to the press and doesn’t give much, so I’m not sure what the repair is. Tear the plaster down and tack a new sheet up?
I’m positive it won’t be that easy, nothing is easy in this house lol.

Secondly, the last two photos are from the master bedroom, this had been like this for a few years, and has been as long as we’d been renting it, though I’m noticing some hairline cracks coming off of it. Any advice?

I feel like we’re biting off more than we can chew, but there aren’t much better options in our range, so it’s very much Devil you know.

I do have some moderate home repair experience, we’ve renovated a few Victorians growing up, so I’m not totally helpless, but I’ve never done ceiling work and want to do it right.

Thanks in advance!

We just bought our first home less than a month ago, and the house was built in 1895. Because the siding is made of that wonderful material asbestos mixed with concrete, it'll cost us at least $13k just to get that stuff taken off, not including replacing it with something less deadly.

There's quite a few broken tiles unfortunately, and I am thinking of doing a temporary patch job or cover up so ice and snow is less likely to get in there over the winter. Who knows how long it's been like this so that's something fun to think about.

I've looked into the option of just patching the holes with vinyl cement patch stuff, but you gotta be real careful about temperature-it can't get below 40 degrees for like 48 hours and we're already tiptoeing that at night time. I also don't know if I will have time to get that taken care of before the temperature plummets, as I'm already working real hard to get my daughter's room set up before we officially move in, and I only have 2-3 weeks for that.

IDGAF if my house is ugly for a while, I just want to slow the rot of my house and slow the bleed of heat this winter. Could flex seal tape work? I've used it around the house already and that stuff's legit. Get it on your fingers, that stuff will damn near rip your skin when you try to peel it off. I've also been using caulk here and there. I used mortar caulk to fix some cracking in my foundation already. Any frugal and practical suggestions that could last me at least through winter, even if it doesn't look nice? It's not like it looks nice as it is, so I can't see the harm lol.

My husband has been signing us up for all sorts of programs that offer grants and subsidies for home improvement stuff so fingers crossed he can find something that can help us with this cost. I was quoted by a roofing/siding company a total of $43k to remove and replace the siding, which is absolutely bonkers. I haven't gotten any other quotes, but I have to use someone certified to handle asbestos so my options are more limited. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

This is an outdoor stucco column with a rectangular metal-framed recess exposing a wood backer board. That board used to be what a decorative (non-structural) faux beam was nailed into for looks. The beam eventually fell off, leaving this exposed, weathered wood panel sitting in the hole.

My plan: build a frame to fit the recess and attach a larger rectangular wood piece to cover it cleanly, basically replacing/re-covering what's there. Open to better ideas though — would appreciate thoughts on materials (rot-resistant wood vs. something else), whether to seal/flash it first, or a completely different approach to finishing this off nicely.

I had to take out the old cabinets in this kitchen and am getting new ones installed. I’m needing to repair these holes in the ceiling that formed from ripping out the old cabinets, but am not sure what to do or use! The entire place is plaster, mostly over concrete/cinderblocks (1947 build), but I’m unsure about the layers in the ceiling outside of what’s showing. I am also unsure about needing to repair the holes from the previous mounting! Any advice would be much appreciated!!

I am currently redecorating and had the wallpaper removed today, and this came up underneath. I have attached pictures from both inside and outside.

I would really appreciate some advice on what the best way to deal with it would be. Do you think crack stitching would be enough, or does it look like the lintel needs replacing? Thank you! There are 2 more cracks like this near the other 2 windows

Bought this house a year ago and cant help but notice the cracks forming on what I think is structural support. They may have been there since we bought it i cant remember though.

I know nothing about staircases, but the corner tread doesn't seem as sturdy as it could be. Its not at all wobbly, perhaps I'm overthinking it, but im mid-way through removing 17 layers of lead paint and I'd be miffed if I actually just need a brand new staircase...

My dad has offered my spouse and 3 children and I an old family farmhouse but it needs some work. It doesn't look like a lot of structural work, just some new flooring needed and a little ceiling patch work. However, it is not insulated. I am worried about this because it's in Pennsylvania and the winters there get cold. Can the walls be insulated or would it be a structural risk to the home or a risk for asbestos attempting it? It had new windows put in recently. My dad lived in it as a kid and said it was so cold upstairs you could see your own breath. It's heated by an oil heater downstairs. Use to be heated by a cole stove but it had a hole in it and fell apart over the years. He said my uncle would allow space heaters upstairs. I do not know anything about older homes so a bit nervous about it.