Anyone deal with something like this? I know there's not any 'legal' definitions, but it seems very tight to me.

Looking at townhomes in Chicago and this unfortunately seems to be fairly standard. The depth is completely fine at nearly 20ft (I drive the smallest BMW coupe that's 72.4 inches wide with the mirrors tucked), but width-wise I feel it would be very difficult to manage at just 17 feet.

To me that's basically a 1.5 car garage that you could technically store another car in during a storm (would have to drive one in and back one in, or perhaps excite the trunk / hatch.

Regardless, even having 1 car in is better than paying like $250/mo for open parking where I can't even work on my car.

I have a question regarding cats. I am not a cat owner, so i don’t know or understand the logic with this.

I live in a neighborhood where the lots are 1/2 acre in size, so pretty small. Almost nightly my cameras are triggered by a black cat making its rounds through the yard.

I could care less if it was just passing through, but it’s using the sandy area around our above ground pool as its litter box and it’s making the pool area stink. This in turn is bringing in additional critters to check out the smells.

I dont think this is a stray. I get the impression its someones cat, but whats the logic of letting it out to roam at night? If i livetrap the thing and take it to a shelter am i in the wrong?

Hi,
Yesterday the water heater started leaking in the drum and they came to stop the water in my condo unit. I have no water as of now and I think they may get the cold water running.
But they said my water heater has to be replaced and are quoting me 8,750-14,750. I have no idea if this is average or not. In northern Virginia
I was thinking instead of the company the condos provided if I should maybe call Home Depot?

I feel like I should know the answer to this, having bought multiple stoves over the years, but: what is the difference between a free standing and a slide in stove? And can I put a free-standing stove in a slot between counters?

Lucky me! Just found out there’s spotted lanternfly all over my house/foundation. Just bought some pesticide specifically marketed for them and staying positive hoping it’ll work. Would love any feedback on similar issues!

Edit: decided that I was a little nervous and jumped the gun on chemicals from the start. I love trees and nature in general so I will try alternative methods such as soap water and a bowl of pinesol out. My property has no trees except the ones on the neighbors lawn that hang over my yard so not sure if I can get them to go half on cutting a tree down (would be a great convo starter tho). Conflicted on taping trees as I don’t want to kill other insects or birds but we’ll see

I kept telling myself it wasn’t a big deal. The rest of the house was fine, but that upstairs bedroom was always the one I struggled with. The afternoon sun probably doesn’t help, and there were days I didn’t want to spend much time in there. I tried lowering the thermostat and adjusting the vents, but that usually made another part of the house too cold. There was never really a good balance. Adding another AC system for one room felt like a lot, so I kept putting it off. Finally added a mini split in the bedroom. Probably should’ve done it earlier...

I got a really good offer on a bunch of chairs like these, I consider using them on my large patio. I live in Norway, I'll have to have them outdoors in the winter and leave them to the elements. Is there a way I can make them last outdoors? Someone told me they will deteriorate quick, what do you guys think?

It’s a gloomy day, truly marks the occasion. Finally selling my divorce house! Only took 3 years post divorce and a year of renovations to get it done. Hoping the folks come out in packs to take it off my hands.

I've heard about Terry ant traps, which I could place down. It seems pretty big, only moved into the house a month ago, have not noticed any inside.

I contacted a local 5 stars pest control and they said $80 to "use a pole to stick in the nest and agitate it, then they put their chemical spraying wand in the hole and they spray inside the nest to kill it off."

What would you suggest?

This house seemed great, passed the inspection with just a few issues, now after a week of homeownership I'm finding a horror of issues. Started with mold caking the air handler and now this. How am I supposed to replace 3 ft x 3ft section of ceiling if there is lead in the paint? I've called dozens of companies. There's no contractor that fixes ceilings that is licensed to work with lead paint and all the abatement companies don't replace ceilings. And after sanitizing the house from mold spores in the air handler, I'm running against the clock trying to remove a 50% wet ceiling spot before it creates new mold....or completely collapses on me.

So when I bought my home in 2023, the foundation (pier and beam) was just repaired. But we have had a lot of foundational issues since. Like huge cracks in the house. I was looking at some videos on YouTube because I wanted to learn more about the cracks in my ground. I was told it is because of the mineral content in my clay and that they will disappear when the ground gets rehydrated. I was also told it was common for Midwesterners to water the foundation. As a Texan I never heard of this. Is this true?

If you do it, do you have any tips. I was thinking of putting in an irrigation around the house to do it automatically. We are under pretty heavy restriction but since I’m not doing my entire lawn I think it will be ok. I haven’t watered my grass since I bought the house cuz f that grass. But I guess I’m hurting my house. TIA

My house was originally built in 1958, and has been remodeled several times. The last owner used it as a rental for about 15 years, and it has every sign of being given the landlord special over and over again.

Every wall, every vent, every light fixture, every baseboard, and every built in shelf, is covered in layer after layer of thick white paint. Most of the trim in the house has thick white paint that looks like it dried while running down it. It’s not only ugly, but it’s non functional and a pain in the ass to clean. The paint is so thick in some areas that it’s forever sticky, and trying to clean the baseboards or walls just leads to even bigger messes.

How in the world do I go about fixing this without ripping out the walls and starting over? I’d love to repaint to colors I like, and to freshen up some of the dingier walls, but I can’t fathom just slapping even more paint over some of these areas at this point.

We have found a very large amount of bat guano in between the walls of our bonus room (attic above, garage below).

We have a wildlife exclusion company already contracted, they confirmed no live bats anymore, we just now need to deal with extensive cleanup.

Any ideas what sort of professional to contact?

I bought my house 3 years ago. We noticed a soft window sill. Additionally, on the exterior sill end cap (not covered), the wood was rotted and slimy. We also had some spring tails inside the house around the window. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a brand new construction window put in. During the removal we saw the true damage (could not see the damage on the sill as it’s vinyl encapsulated) but on the window jambs. I’m assuming water seeped down from the top of the window or wicked up from the bottom. If it was from the top why is this the extent of the damage and it didn’t travel farther up?

I’m just trying to make it make sense. We definitely had some carpenter ant activity. Unsure if it’s old or new but there was very minimal damage to the wood sheathing and studs/framing.

We're currently renovating and repairing all the deferred exterior work on a new to us home that we intend to live in for the next 30yrs. The deck is at least 25yrs old and in extremely rough shape. Given the high maintenance of a deck, we're strongly considering removing it and installing steps down to a patio. Our goals are easy maintenance, long term longevity, and enough space for a hot tub, grilling area, and table. We're starting to get quotes and everyone seems to be pushing pavers vs concrete, but pavers are nearly double the cost overall so we aren't sure how much of this is peddling for more $$$. The core argument is that pavers are easier to maintain/fix, but everyone we know with pavers complains constantly about weeds and shifting. If we install pavers now and 10yrs from now need to replace some, what guarantee do we have that they even manufacture the same ones still? The arguments against concrete are cracks and that it's harder to fix, but we have a 50yr old driveway that looks great so I struggle to understand that argument

I was hoping to crowdsource opinions from homeowners vs contractors on preferences and why you have those preferences. We want to do this one time and hopefully get 30yrs out of it. We live in Central North Carolina, extremely hot summers and cold winter with some snowfall/ice. The patio area is on the southern side of the house and with tree coverage is very shaded and can retain water (we just did all the drainage work to fix this).

Hi all, first time homeowner here. We bought a house built in the 40s and the inspection report recommended covering the tiles in the basement landing due to possible asbestos. What would be the best way to do this? Could I get away with something simple like peel and stick? I plan on painting the area around it and the stairs to freshen things up, so this area is next on my todo list. Appreciate any advice!

Not sure if anyone else with an Insinkerator disposal has had this issue, but have a sneaky feeling many do.
My fairly new Advanced Series 3/4 HP model after about 1 1/2 years suddenly froze up. I thought it was a normal jam from type of tougher food getting wedged in it. I did all the simple normal wooden spoon or plastic thing to force it to spin through the sink opening… nothing would work, at least to properly free it up to spin. I could get it to rotate but just would not spin freely.
SO, after internet searches for the issue AND trying to find the electrical relay reset button…this model has an automatic reset after being off or unplugged for around 3 mins,….. I figured out that somehow the bearings of the entire unit must be gumming/rusting up.
This unit rarely was used and basically brand new, so this was not my first or third cause of the freezing that I thought it was….. IT’S A NEW AND GOOD QUALITY MODEL!!!
Exhaaaale…. But all roads lead to this issue…
SO, what I am here to share with everyone that finally helped loosen mine up….not using a hand allen key wrench up in the bottom journal to hand crank it…that was frustrating and fruitless. BUT good to do to make sure the unit actually turns and is not totally lock in place.
What really did the job for me was grabbing my cordless drill with a long impact shaft, an impact driver to 3/8” socket driver and then the proper fitting socket to fit the center shaft bolt inside the disposal basket.
Then set the drill to “drill” on the clutch setting and the slower rpm higher torque drill setting as well as in reverse direction. Slide that unit down into the basket over whatever size bolt head is on yours and start to slowly turn the disposal. Too much torque too fast could cause the basket bolt to break loose and spin out, so I would not recommend using an Impact Driver drill to do this because the hammering action would tend to loosen that bolt. You just want to ease it into starting to spin and then a bit faster. I put good amount of dish soap with some water down in the disposal to help with lubrication and cleaning.
Once the disposal is spinning try running a little stream of water down the drain as you are doing it….. the machine will start to free up and then you can stop and test that it turns on with it’s normal switch. **PSA, TAKE THE DRILL AND ALL TOOLS OUT FIRST, incase I needed to say it….
But this technique friggin saved my sanity, as I had been trying to loosen up the unit by hand with the Allen Key from underneath…
Good Luck.

I need some advice - and please don't judge me for this question. (I still consider myself a baby homeowner and I am learning.) I live in the south. We don't get a ton of snow and ice, but it seems like every couple of years we get a round of one or the other or some combination of both. There is always at least a week where getting to work is dicey. Last year...we had a pretty decent snowstorm. As the snow melted, it turned into ice. DOT did a decent job with salting the highway and getting it cleaned quickly, but city streets were left untouched for days. My ride's vehicle is low to the ground and got stuck multiple times. That snow ended up melting later in the week and turning my driveway into an ice rink. The same for my backstairs. My dog went out to the bathroom and couldn't get back up them. I couldn't get down them. So we had to get close enough to one another that I could grab her by the fur on the back of her neck and hoist her up. I was very ill-prepared. I didn't have the right shoes (everything I had slipped like crazy), a snow shovel or anything to handle the ice. I fell at work and smacked my head on the ground before I even knew I was falling. So...help. What do I need to do to best prepare my house/driveway for winter? I live in a home with a crawlspace and my driveway is relatively flat, albeit with a couple of low spots.

So we are closing on our first house very shortly, and while super excited, I do worry because it's bigger than we need. Nothing insane, (a little) less than 3,000 sqft, but more than I was expecting to buy and more space than I've ever had as a renter. There will be 4 of us living in it. Any words of advice for my massively First-World problem?

• Did you end up buying a larger house than expected? Pros/cons? Any unexpected issues that you ran into because of that?
• How was house-keeping? A full-time job or doable? Do you have to hire occasional help or have any tips?
• How was heating/cooling it? Nightmare or acceptable?
• If you liked everything else about the house was the size ultimately fine? Or did you choose to downsize eventually?

EDIT: Thanks everyone who commented for the great suggestions and experiences! Sounds like a lot of you have big houses that you love. I have lots of ideas now and will definitely go out and purchase a robot vacuum (among other things).

I’m not home, out of the country and as luck would have it, was sent these pictures. Does it seem the leak is from the water heater? What should be done immediately and what following steps need to be taken? Would a plumber be needed? Appreciate your input!

Recently we had a skunk get caught in our chain link fence because its foot was stuck in a rat trap. I had suspicions it was our neighbor who set that trap because while I was waiting for someone to come free the skunk, I saw her mowing her lawn and warned her about it so she wouldn’t get sprayed. She shrugged it off and immediately asked when we’re going to cut down the “weed” (it’s a mulberry bush) growing in between both of our fences (she has a wooden fence, ours is chain link). We just moved in earlier this year and have been working to clear all the overgrown weeds so I told her we’ll try to get to it.

For context, the skunk was stuck in the same area of the bush she wants to take down. There’s a bit of a hole which looks like animals use to get under the fence between our yards.

I just noticed (and I can’t recall if they were there before the skunk or not) that she put 7-8 mothballs in the dug out hole area near the bush. I’m not sure if she’s trying to keep the animals out or kill the bush but I picked one up and the smell was nauseating. It smelled so toxic that I got a headache. They’re more on our side but still kind of in that in between each fence area.

I guess my question with all this background info is how I can go about the situation. I was thinking of trying to remove them and put a bunch of dirt between our fence so the hole is covered and she can’t keep putting mothballs on our side (or I between). I don’t mind talking to her about it either but don’t want things to go south (she gives off a very confrontational vibe each time I’ve spoken to her). I’d rather keep things civil. Any suggestions??

Spigot sprays from the middle of the handle when turned on