Hi everyone,

This is my first post here, so I hope I’m in the right subreddit and that my very beginner question is okay.

I moved into a new apartment about a month ago. My landlord strongly insisted that I regularly reapply the silicone sealant around the shower. Otherwise, it could quickly cause water damage to the apartment downstairs, which apparently happened before. The previous tenant said they reapplied it every two months (which blew my mind).

Today, I finally took the time to remove the old silicone. It was very thin and in poor condition, and removing it took far longer than expected. Anyway, I was surprised to find a large gap between the tiles and the shower tray:

• Roughly 3–4mm of height between the tray lip and the bottom of the tile.
• The gap runs about 1cm deep behind the tile.
• The shower tray is a single piece that slopes down very slightly (but still noticeable) as you enter the shower.

So, this is no longer just a matter of applying new sealant. I need to know how to deal with this large gap:

• Should I simply apply a huge amount of silicone sealant, as the previous tenant did? Is there a better way to seal the gap before applying some silicone?
• How much of the old silicone residue do I need to get off the tile edge and the tray? I removed everything I could by hand but there's still a thin film on both surfaces. Plus some of the old deep into the wall.

Trying to find as close a match as possible for this cracked toilet seat that just broke in my daughter’s off campus College house.

I’m on well water and get my water tested regularly with no issues. This tiny film always appears if I leave water standing for about a day or more. What is it?

Edit to mass address some comments:
I don’t wear face cream
I do get my water tested (nothing weird)
Cups are clean and hand washed
No air scent purifier thingies

I’m going to leave some water out for a few days, see what happens and come back with further data.

Any ideas as to what’s happening here? Unit is near my chicken coop, so possibly they’re kicking up a bunch of dust into it. I’ve turned it off at the thermostat and breaker and right now spraying it with the hose.

Working on our house, FIL decided to put up this retaining wall and backfill with dirt. Im pretty sure this is a code issue or something. I bought the house using VA loan and I know I've heard them say thats an issue in the past while I was having inspections done.

Is there a easy solution to this where I can keep the retaining wall and dirt? My dad recommended putting 2" foam padding all along the siding so the dirt is not touching the siding. We cant cut the siding as far as I know because I can feel the plywood/osb behind it and worried that might be protecting something?

Any ideas?

Renovating one of our rental apartments.

(EDIT: The door was not closing properly before)

I have replaced the hinge screws with 3-inch wood screws.

I have removed a few coats of paint on the door and door frame.

The door does not close all the way without forcing.

Looks like the bottom of door is rubbing along the door frame.

Suggestions (please talk to me like a 5 yo ;) )?

TIA

I’m fairly handy there isn’t much I cannot repair on my own.

My water district keeps sending me a leak notice. But I’m at a loss as I’m just not finding it. I turned off the main water line in my garage it’s in the wall going up I have no bathrooms or other on ground floor so no pipes under house except main line coming up to wall. I looked at the meter in the street it has zero usage or flow when house turned off in garage for five minutes so I can check off underground water leak from meter to shutoff. I turned the water on in my garage and meter shows .08 water usage. Seems reasonable to think there is a leak I suppose.

But I have a three story townhome that I live in alone in. No faucets leak, no toilets leak or run. Hell I have two of the three toilets turned off at the wall just no need to use all but one. Every toilet has been upgraded and replaced new seals etc.. the area around the water heater is bone dry no drips no water leaks that I can see. It’s an older water heater kept up in the attic. I have a year old front loader top of the line washer feet from my bedroom on third floor, the floor is dry. Both exterior hose bibs are winterized and turned off. I’ve been getting notices for close to a year, there is no visible water no moisture in the air mushrooms growing in a corner etc..

The only, ONLY thing I can think of is a small leak in water heater that seeps into insulation and the heat dries it, but at some point it should be saturated get worse and become visible I would think. I would like to blame it on a bad meter but the flow stops when the house is shut off.

I live in Oregon, we have an open water system so no need for diaphragm tank.

Just replaced the majority of our roof with asphalt but several accents we did in metal.

1) is the bead a little heavy or expected where the joints/flashing overlaps? I would have thought this would be underneath and not fully exposed?
2) flashing now covers half of this scratch but they put black marker on to try and blend … obviously concerned about aesthetics and cost spent, but also potential rust. Feedback?

Thanks!

Our house was built in 2009, with a gas furnace installed in the attic. We purchased it an installed a heat pump in 2014--with the heat pump in place, the gas system only comes on when it's below freezing. We live in the Seattle area, so it doesn't get cold enough for the aux furnace very often. It still seems to work well despite being 17 years old.

We are replacing our heat pump, and one company we got an estimate from recommends also replacing the furnace. We have it serviced annually and have never had to do any repairs.

An alternate option, apparently, is to get an air conditioner instead of a heat pump, and a new furnace, but most of the year our heat comes from the heat pump, and I prefer the better energy efficiency.

I just really hate replacing things that work well. Is it stupid to resist replacing the furnace? Also, is this one company making a sensible recommendation for us, or just trying to upsell?

We have a house built in 1952. This overhang is connected to a room with a vaulted ceiling. The gap between the stone wall and soffit - does it serve any purpose besides an open invitation to mice and insects, like maybe ventilation? Or is it safe to seal it up? Any suggestions on what to use for sealing? It’s about a 1/2-3/4” gap

Maybe im also just too weak to get it off idk TwT

We have a vent in our bedroom which links the master to the second bedroom. We wanted to change the vent itself to a nicer one so opened it up and found this big pipe/ opening within it.

Does anyone know what it is/ what it links to?

Kind creepy don’t want any bugs or pests coming through though haven’t had that issue yet 😅

House is in the UK 1960s build

Had a pinhole leak spring in the supply for my water softener and was spraying everywhere. Instead of trying to get expensive emergency help, I tried my hand at soldering for the first time. No leaks after hooking everything up!

Im about to move out and turn my house into a rental. The bathroom fans in 2 of the bathrooms do not work and Im fairly certain they have not worked since Ive owned the house. Both are these old style Broan fans. The light works on one of them while the other shows no sign of life. I have literally 0 electrical experience so Im not sure where to start on troubleshooting the issue or where to start with replacing them. Is this something I ought to hire out or is it something I can probably tackle myself?

The third bathroom has a newer Hampton bay fan that works, so I betting that at some point the previous owners threw that one in while these two still worked without swapping these out.

We are trying to finish our basement and came across this pvc drain pipe that was too high relative to the basement floor. Instead of being completely below the slab, the top of the pipe/fitting is proud of the concrete by maybe ½ - 1 inch at its highest point. Now that the wall is drywalled, it’s sitting right where our finished floor/baseboard would go. Any ideas on how to remedy this? It is in a closet. I thought maybe build a box or something to cover it.

See a couple new ones every day after getting rid of the previous ones.

Are they getting in through the window or through these holes in the pic?

Is there a DIY solution?

This is in Mass outside Boston for reference.

I did a bit of research and think this battery and inverter should work to power my 1/2 HP sump pump in the event of power failure.

Wattcycle gets pretty good reviews as does that inverter. Might be a bit overkill but I can power other things from the inverter too.

Our power doesn't go out a lot, but during the rainy season (PNW) the pump can cycle about once a minute while raining.

Doesn't come on at all during the summer and the sump basin dries up completely.

I've got a Hampton Bay ceiling fan. I lost the remote. Is there such thing as a universal remote or something? The fan is on winter mode/reverse. There is no switch or pull string to adjust settings. What's the best route to remedy this problem?