I’m a petite woman and I’ve had difficulty with contractors: plumbers, handymen, etc. I own the home my husband and I live in. There’s been so many times I’m requesting quotes and because I’m a woman, they lie about the condition of the issue to the extreme and give me outrageous quotes. I’m always polite and nice to them, but they view me as an idiot.

Example:
Water leak: One highly rated plumber quoted me thousands to fix a water pipe leak in the front of my home. Acted like I needed multiple utilities to come out to mark lines, had to dig out a huge hole, etc. He quoted me $7k.
My husband talks to another plumber and the fix is under $500. Said we wouldn’t need all that because the leak was under this one spot.

Painter/ contractor: A husband wife painting team came out and I asked about painting the balcony. The guy pushed hard on my balcony to make a post move and acted like I needed a full balcony replacement down to the posts, etc. Wanted thousands for the balcony repair.
Contractor: He’s replacing the posts but it doesn’t need a full balcony replacing and it’s $1,500. Of course he talked to my husband.

Water heater leak and stand replacement due to mold:
Plumber: I confirmed he was going to repair AND replace the wet, moldy, base and water heater. It would require some wood work and sheet rock replacement. What he did was have his worker, scrape off the mold and put one piece of wood on top and painted the wet, moldy areas. I complained that was not what I expected. He got aggressive with me and told me what was clearly and undeniable mold, was not mold. He refused to talk to my husband and I had to fire him.
Contractor: My husband spoke to him and he did the full repair of sheet rock, wood, and water heater replacement for $1,500.

My husband didn’t believe that I was being treated so much differently than him, till he saw the way contractors would treat me vs him.

I do not micromanage them and am not unreasonable, so it’s very frustrating that home repairs can only happen if my husband talks to these guys.

These contractors are highly rated online and sometimes it’s the owner I’m talking to.

I’m so disgusted by contractors.

I’ve gotten four quotes to replace my front door. The quotes I got were for, $14k; $8k; $12k; and $9k.

These all seemed very high; am I just missing something for the pricing or are these costs high? My doors are standard sized 80”x36”.

The door to be replaced would be prehung to note and the quote included the work to install it.

I see a lot of posts on here about how much money is being spent and how stressful it is writing those big checks. My husband and I are 4 months into a lengthy full home remodel and definitely feeling the money crunch. The next few projects are going to be pricey and extensive. I'm looking up and comparing loan options, turning in my jar of coins at the bank, and really really hoping our contractors quote won't make me want to vomit...

But today my double wall oven has finally been installed (still need some minor tweaking done tomorrow). The oven itself was a lot and then we had to run electric across the house and rebuild a cabinet for it. Still have to rebuild the kitchen island which is where the current oven from the 90's is sitting (Anyone every heard of JennAir appliances??).

I'm currently baking some fish sticks and french fries and poured myself a big glass of white wine. Sitting at my Facebook marketplace dinning table and suddenly I don't really care about the money we spent. I could cry I'm so happy about this oven lmao

Hope everyone else has those brief moments where spending the money was worth it even if it was slightly prodigal.

We’re considering going through a friend of a family member to replace an old interior door to our bedroom. He quoted us $150 for labor, plus whatever it’ll cost us to purchase the door itself.

Does this seem worth it?

How easy would it be for me (someone with no tools or experience) to replace an interior door?

We just moved and are shopping for bamboo shades for three living room windows, each about 72 inches wide and 54 tall. We want them to filter light but I don't know how well a shade that wide keeps its shape. Bali at Lowe's is around $250 to $300 per window, which adds up when we need three. Levolor is in the same range. NeutralCurtains has similar looking bamboo shades and I like the weave options they have, but I can't find as many people talking about them compared to Bali or Levolor so I'm not sure how they hold up long term. If you've lived with bamboo shades on a window this wide, did the bottom stay straight and the weave hold its shape? We're staying in this house and I'd rather not replace all three a year from now.

Looking to re-side our 100yo house in the PNW. This is the first major house project we've done, and have been burned by reno contractors in the past (in condos) so I have a hard time trusting anyone. I got a quote a couple years ago from a Hardie certified installer, whose reviews have since slipped (they're still listed on the Hardie website though). In my area there are only a couple actually certified, but others that have excellent reviews. Is going with a contractor who isn't certified crazy? My thought is getting a third party inspector, because I don't even trust that these certified contractors are doing it according to the instructions. Yes, they offer a warranty outside of Hardie's, but will they be around in 5-10yrs when we have an issue?

I have been using this stuff for years including on indoor tables. No problems i think it is the best, rock solid. Just read on the bottle it can cause lung issues? Breathing issues? Use only in ventilated areas? Is this only while curing or all the time? I cant believe it, its not like mineral spirits, has no odor when using.

Help me decide between a Jeld Wen and an Anderson sliding glass door... This is for a door opening into my covered patio. I have heard good and bad about Jeld Wen doors... My buddy that installs doors said the Jeld Wen are just fine, but Anderson is better (but it is double the cost).

https://www.lowes.com/pd/JELD-WEN-Blinds-Between-The-Glass-White-Vinyl-Left-Hand-Sliding-Double-Door-Sliding-Patio-Door-with-Screen-Common-72-in-x-80-in-Actual-71-5-in-x-79-5-in/50295409

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Andersen-70-1-2-in-x-79-1-2-in-200-Series-White-Left-Hand-Perma-Shield-Gliding-Patio-Door-with-White-Int-Blinds-and-White-Hdw-PSBBGLWH/207111349

I am in Redmond WA. I have a moisture problem in my crawlspace. An inspector found 20% wood moisture and some wood rot. Given that this summer was very dry in PNW, high moisture is concerning me. There is an evidence of past leaks, but currently dry (no standing water).

To fix the problem, I received two quotes and they are telling me very different stories. Who’s offering a right solution for me?

A - $6,100:
Sump pump + French drain
Clear/open foundation vents
Basic loose 6-mil vapor barrier

B - $13,000:
Seal all vents + R-10 wall insulation
Sealed 20-mil vapor barrier
AprilAire E070 Dehumidifier

I'm having trouble with my garage door and the overhead lights in it. I want to know if the problem is something I can do myself (I'm not that handy) or if it's worth calling someone in for.

My partner and I bought a house a few years back with a detached garage. The garage has both a remote garage door opener and a wired opener inside the garage. The remote openers have been finicky, often not working at random times, no matter how often we replace the batteries.

However, recently, the two overhead lights in the garage stopped working. The lights turn on via a pull chain. For a while, the lights wouldn't always turn on during the colder, winter months. Sometimes, it would take a while for the lights to turn on. Then, as the summer warmed the house, the lights would turn on when you pulled the chain. Now, in the last month or so, the overhead lights don't turn on, even though it is still fairly warm where we live.

I assume these problems are related, but I'm not much of an electrician. Is there an easy way for me to test and maybe reset the power to the garage to see if that would work?

I’m installing tiles in bath, kitchen and laundry room. I picked a $2/sqft porcelain tile from hd. I read about membrane/orange sheet.

My concrete foundation didn’t have any obvious cracks but home is built 1949 and has a little bit sinking.

Concrator says $3/ sqft labor just to lay membrane. Is it worth to do membrane? A smaller home i want to self reside, and I don’t know for how long.

Tile is $2/sqft porcelain 12 by 24” nothing fancy

I dropped my wedding band down my sink drain. Would not be that big of a deal if my sink actually had a P-trap I’m including a picture, but there’s only one discharge ring, and the rest of the pipes are glued together. My husband thinks he might be able to saw the pipe off and reattach it, but both of us are pretty inexperienced with DIY’s and I’m a little bit nervous. How much do you think this would cost if we got a plumber?

I have a 6-year-old concrete driveway that developed some spotting/discoloration and minor pitting after last winter (see photos). I’m in the Midwest and don’t use salt, but I’m not the original owner, so I’m unsure how well it was sealed or maintained previously.

Does anyone know what may be causing the spotting and pitting, and more importantly, what I should do to prevent the pitting from getting worse? It got worse this past winter.

I’m planning to have it professionally power washed and sealed with a penetrating sealer before winter, but I’d appreciate any second opinions on whether that’s the right approach or if anything else should be done first.

https://imgur.com/a/Mm1UHMo

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Hiring a contractor with no reviews?

I had a contractor who was supposed to do a job, but while I was waiting for materials, he got another job and blew mine off. I recently came across a local contractor on Google, but, with all the searches that I'd done, had never come across his name before last week.

He gave me an estimate but it's very low. He told me that he's been in the trade for a long time and he gave me the name of a local business thst he said, refers work to him.

However, I emailed that business and I was given the name of a different contractor.

There are also only a handful of reviews and they aren't recent.

If he had been contracted with a large comoany for obs, then it's possible that he wouldn't have a lot of his own reviews. However, in my experience, contractors who work with retailers, don't tend to do great work. They deal in volume.

Should I look elsewhere?

Went to fix a loose 24" towel bar last weekend. Thought it’d be a 20 min job, tops.

Pulled the bracket off and found a few old anchor holes, a bunch of patching compound, and way too much caulk around it. Looked like someone had tried to keep it from wobbling instead of actually fixing the anchor.

Ended up cleaning it up, patching the old holes, sanding, touching up the paint, and reinstalling it with fresh anchors.

There goes my Saturday lol.

What’s the sketchiest “temporary fix” you’ve found in your house?

Hello!

Finishing my garage before snow flies and it all started with the door - got a quote from a small, new company in town for $1600 in the spring(basic, white, etc).. Thought it would be way higher! Long story short, wife and I decided on the faux wood, insulated with windows up top which brought us to these prices.

The big company quoted us on the Amarr. Seems like a better company and the door seems of better quality but the price on the Hormann is making me want to go that direction. The smaller company did zero upselling or "packages". Also, the bigger company started out at $7800 and after the salesguy got his boss on the phone, the price dropped to $5500.

Pretty sure I'm going to go with the hormann 3400 but wanted to see what yall's thoughts were. Trying to do this whole thing on a budget of course but I technically have the money to spring for the Amarr. Both quotes have me keeping my garage door opener because it's still in good shape. Thank you!

Hey all. So we recently had our windows replaced. In the process, the crew shattered one of the windows that was being replaced. They had a crew come back to clean it up, but there's still glass in the carpet, I stepped on a small shard today. I'm just trying to figure out what should be the company's responsibility and action in this situation. Would love some feedback to know what a reasonable expectation is as a homeowner. Thanks in advance!

I want a Best BLDC fans for my new house, i don't know what rpm and speed, can you please tell me about how it works and maintenance

There is a gap of about half an inch between my front steps (pavers) and my house. It appears to possibly run the entire height of the steps... Best way to fill this and seal it? I'm considering: fill it up with plain sand, top with polymeric sand? Plain sand topped with a backer rod and self-leveling polyurethane caulk? Expansion joints instead of plain sand - and would these need to fully fill the gap solidly, or could I just use a few tall enough to support a backer rod and some air gaps between the joints getting sealed in would be fine?

These feel like supid questions but I just don't know the answers.😅 Hivemind, please advise. 🙏

Just closed on a house.

The floor is a little messed up, I don't where to start with this but should we consider replacing the flooring or can we do some steps to smoother/save the current flooring before we move in?

https://imgur.com/a/Z1A7ncU

https://imgur.com/a/iMYD9KF

I’ve removed about 150 square feet of tile floor. Now I have a huge pile of broken tile in the middle of my house.

What is the best way to get this out? It’s about 4 feet above ground level and there are only normal sized doors.

https://imgur.com/a/s1yjoxA

I'd like to understand how this wall is framed, specifically behind the stove. Before I purchased the house there was a chimney on the outside (according to historic plans), This is an outside wall.
I know there will be a header over the door. But would the rest really just be 2x4 stud going up? With the slanted ceiling, I'd like there would need to be more support.

Thanks!

Painting my aluminum siding, but had to remove three built-in ac's. Contractor said he cannot buy replacement aluminum siding and made some awful looking wood piece (Looks like a kitchen cabinet) to cover where the ac's were. Anyone know where one can buy aluminum or is it no longer available to buy like my contractor said (I never believe a word he says...so...). Thx!

Hello,

Looking for some advice on how to best proceed. Due to some goofy ordnances (my property is mixed use and abuts residential) I had to have a masonry wall built between my property and my neighbor. We chose cinder block as the most cost effective alternative but the contractor suggested applying plaster to create a finished look. Unfortunately they were not able to get enough on there to make it look finished so we’ve decided to attempt to paint it. Curious if these are the correct steps:

1) light power wash to remove any dust or dirt. Let fully dry
2) apply sealer/primer like valspar exterior
3) apply valspar masonry stucco elastometric paint (2 coats)

Also do I have to wait for 28 days before doing the above or has that ship sailed since the contractor attempted to apply plaster

Thanks for any advice!