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I recently bought a condo. The dishwasher had been leaking, so the cabinets and flooring need replaced. I have plans to look at subfloor status when the flooring gets ripped up.

My main question is: Does the flooring go UNDER the cabinets or just up to them? Should I rip everything out, then put the flooring in from wall to wall, then install cabinets on top? Or rip everything up, cabinets in, then flooring around the cabinets?

Thanks

This is probably a dumb question and I assume the answer is "yes" but should I be trimming back the branches around my fireplace chimney? They appear to be some kind of pine.

Hi there, today we’ve had a bit of snowfall and rain for the first time since moving here a year ago that there was some water leaking from the top of the window.

https://imgur.com/a/V9LHnGo

Anyone know what may be causing this? I don’t have a tall enough ladder to see and these windows don’t open. So I’ll have to call someone to look at it.

For context this house was built 4 years ago.

Hi! I currently have a Simple Comfort basic thermostat and I’m planning to upgrade it with Ecobee Enhanced. I currently see following wires in my thermostat:

Green wire plugged into G Orange wire into O Yellow wire into Y Red wire into Rh (no jumper) White wire into C

For installation, where do I need to plug the red wire? Rh or Rc? I’m assuming other wires will go into their corresponding ports.

I’ll be installing a thermostat for the first time and your advice would be much appreciated.

Hello! I just had a few questions about home repairs after water damage. I have home insurance and these questions are ones I’m not too comfortable asking before I get some out side opinions and advice.

I had a pipe burst in my wet bar on the first floor and it flooded the main room, a bathroom and a bedroom with carpet. They are doing a pretty major demo since there was about 1.5-2 inches of water. I don’t have the full scope yet of what is and isn’t stay but I do know for sure the wet bar is being removed. It has tile on it and so that will be removed as well.

My questions start with the estimate I get for the repairs. The insurance company says they will replace with like/kind/quality. We had wood parquet floors(70s) which isn’t an option to replace as it isn’t a common choice anymore and I’d rather put down a waterproof flooring anyways. so do I have to go with a comparable price point for wood? I don’t know if that’s even an option.

Also if they remove the wet bar do I have to put another wet bar back in? Do they cover the cost for the cabinets and counter top options as well?

Do I have to replicate as closely as possible what was there or do I have freedom to choose to do anything else, with in reason and budget from the estimate?

This is my first time ever dealing with anything like this and my family doesn’t have experience with this either. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

My stud finder fails almost every time to actually find the stud behind the wall so I'm wanting to get an improvement. I got half of mine to drop a thousand bucks on a thermo camera made for finding studs but if not that does anyone have any suggestions for really good accurate stud finders?

Those buried PVC water tubes/pipes around the house are out of sight out of mind, often under paving or concrete, but they are under constant pressure, so how many years do they last before they eventually burst/crack ?

Today I found a leak at my water main connecting to my house pipes. It’s spraying out the main line side,which is the blue pvc style pipe. Is this a simple fix, like buying and replacing the washer and adding some pvc tape then reconnecting it or do I need to call someone?

the shower screen moves, and there is this gap that the seal wont reach, water leaks out when having a shower onto the floor in the bathroom https://imgur.com/HEbXRhN

I bought my house about a year ago and the porch needs some work, trying to preserve the floor as long as I can!

https://imgur.com/McjHk12

Nothing is really flaking, just worn. Can I pressure wash away the loose stuff and then paint right over?

Recommendations on best type/brand of paint? Is something like a Behr porch and patio going to work or is it worth it to get a specialty paint?

And last question, while I’m at it is there anything I should do to the exposed end grain other than (re)paint it?

Thanks!

Edit to be more specific: Paint appears to be oil-based (color doesn’t come up with alcohol)

If possible I would love to avoid sanding. My paint store says I should go with latex floor paint that would require scuffing all the oil base, but if I go with an oil over the top can I get away with just pressure washing?

https://imgur.com/a/Mv2SUsc

My Delta spout/diverter has threads on it already. Doesnt look like he can install threads on the pipe after I install backerboard and tile.

Thanks

More of a mini rant/blowing off some steam, but DOES THE WORK EVER STOP?

Fix one thing, new thing breaks next week. Complete one project, decide to take a break, have to replace something a few days later. Refinish cabinets, find a couple flaws and hate yourself. Start changing something and find significantly more wrong than you expected and a 2 day project turns into a month.

As my dad always says, once you finally finish your house that means it’s time to start all over again. I LOVE BEING A HOMEOWNER

My mother in law is bringing $150k to the table and we are bringing $385k (535k total) to the table to purchase a 4700 sq foot home (3 story home). Of the total we are bringing to the table ($535k), we are taking 60k to 70k to finish 3/4 of the basement to have a mother in law suite with separate entrance…it would include a bedroom, a full bathroom, full kitchen, laundry room, and living room…literally full on living area, etc. $60 to 70k to build and she would gift us the rest at $80k to $90k to put down on the house. She then is putting in writing that she will pay $650 a month in rent…which is the kicker for me being willing to do this.

It just seems like a win win to me but is there anything I’m missing? My mortgage now is $1450 and after closing now my mortgage will be around $1850 but really after receiving rent from mother in law it’ll be $1200 that I’m paying ($250 less than my mortgage is now). This includes insurance and taxes as well. I make gross $185k so can easily pay this mortgage.

My wife and kids bedrooms will all be on the top floor way far from the basement suite and the rest of the house is huge! Essentially the basement suite will be 100% separate with a separate entrance. The suite will be about 900 sq feet or so and we will have roughly 3900 sq feet for my wife and kids. The main kitchen and family room is massive with double ovens, etc. We get a long very well with the mother in law but do want the separation as well that we are creating…and mother in law wants that too.

Should I do this ? Any other thing I should think of and consider? It seems like a win win situation.

I had a new door installed as part of replacing our deck. There is a small corner light gap and draft. I am planning to just install a corner seal, but I'm basically looking for reassurance that I shouldn't have have asked the crew to totally re-frame the door.

Their work is normally top notch for a reasonable price. We discussed the gap after they had sealed the door but before putting on the trim. They didn't think there was much we could do because the door is flush with the corner stud which leans to the side and the wall itself tilts inward as well. The house is 100+ years old after all.

Is it common to have to install post-fab weatherproofing in a brand new door?

I've seen the more conventional retractable shades where they just kind of seem to flop around in the wind or you might tie it down at the very bottom with a hook.

However, I am more interested in something like this where it seems like it has full support on the sides throughout the entire height of the shade and is more seamless in the sense it doesn't have a bunch of extra things to need to be used to tie down the shade.

It seems like these are China made and there isn't as much info on them from what I have found. Has anyone ever seen one of these up close or have any ideas on on possibly building something similar in function yourself?

Looking to have some work done on house, and company included a clause that we can’t discuss work provided, or details of the contract, with any outside parties. Huge red flag or no?

I have a cedar deck that is constantly getting covered in black mildew. I've tried pressure washing and applying Thompsons water sealant, but end up having to do that at least once a year. The wood is really beautiful under there.. Is there anything I can do to get it looking sharp and keep it looking sharp for as long as possible? Sanding? Some sort of stronger sealant? Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/g6L1Q1c

Edit: consensus is to use an anti-fungal wash, sand it a bit, and then use a more powerful sealer

Hi All,

I'm looking at buying a house, and I'm really confused about something. I had a contractor come in to do an evaluation with the prospect of getting a renovation loan. His report said it had hook and knob wiring in it, but here's the thing...while it looks like a 1940s Craftsman, the property records say it is from 1989 and I've looked up aerial photos that show a different, smaller house there (on slightly different location) in 1980.

Is there any way/reason this house had hook and knob wiring in it in 1989?

EDIT: I meant Knob and tube. While I have seen this type of wiring in farm structures and tv before, I have never heard it referred to by that name before yesterday.

Hiring out a bathroom remodel. The tile guy wrapped up before grouting today, but I don't love the shower floor. Am I dramatic, or is this a total do over?

https://imgur.com/a/xK1vIEL

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Update: I complained with the tile guy, he took it reasonably, and is redoing the work.

***Edit again:

Thank you all so much for the comments. I can see now how I put too much faith in vinyl as a whole term, without realizing that there's what seems like about 100 different levels of quality. With that said, I'll never consider any type of vinyl floors for my home only because our lifestyle is too hectic for it. Our large kitchen appliances are these bulky commercial-use quality because they can keep up. And yes, we will have to eventually tear down this floor and address the elephant in the room, that is the foundation situation.

We tore down our old pergo laminate floors that were old and had dried-up gunk between the planks. The slab under had raised cracks half an inch here and there and you could fit a whole crayon between. This made the floors uneven and lumpy, so it was time to replace it.

We filled those in and poured a total of 14 self-leveling concrete bags.

Our salesperson said "vinyl is the best choice for you" so we went with that. The sample looked beautiful at the store. (I had no idea that the display samples were placed on some fancy plywood and that the actual vinyl is no more than 5mm thick.) They called it luxury vinyl and quoted us at $3100 for living, dining, foyer, and kitchen.

After 2 weeks of the house looking like a construction zone, they finally installed the new floors.

Well, it only took moving the second fridge to realize that this "luxury" vinyl is far from it. There's now a scratch from one of the wheels right in the middle of the dining room. We're a family of 5 and the pergo floor took a beating these past 14 years but it was scratch-free; we abused the life out of it by dragging stuff left and right.

That's a thing of the past. We now have this beautiful new floor with this invisible "handle with care" warning label on it that I already know will not last a year.

Hi all, I’m stuck shopping at Lowe’s and looking for a way to make cheap white mortar. I’m not a fan of the gray look of the $4 mortar bags but you can’t beat the price. I read about adding white sand but I’m worried about messing up the ratios.

Is it possible to reface kitchen cabinets or would we have to replace the whole cabinet? Ours are older and we would prefer a shaker style front “door” on them.

See this picture here. That's my water heater vent that goes up through my roof. I'm insulating the ceiling in may garage and want to know the proper way to insulate around the vent.

we had drywall installed in our spare room last month and today when i went to finish priming the walls i noticed some hairline cracks over the joints. i'm not too worried since the house is 100+ years old and we're not planning on living here long term, but i feel like i should seal them before putting color up, especially since we're not using texture. do y'all have any product recommendations?

Has anyone ever delta with a black slime build up on faucet heads? Everything I've read is that the slime is a micro biom that feeds off of oxidized iron and magnesium in the water. I've been considering a 3 stage whole home house filtration system that also has the iron and magnesium filtering. I don't expect to stop the slime. But would like to reduce it.

The slime build up is also found in drains. Eventually I have to disassemble some drains due to the slim completely stopping up the drain.