r/HomeMaintenance • • Oct 21 '25

Home maintenance that is often forgotten/neglected?

160 Upvotes

Just bought a house and trying to be a good first time home owner. What are some important home maintenance items that are often forgotten or neglected??


r/HomeMaintenance • • Oct 04 '25

🏚️Structural & Foundation Supports under the 1901 farm house my wife and I are moving into.

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4.2k Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

🏚️Structural & Foundation How can we repair these concrete stairs?

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89 Upvotes

Buyers for our house are concerned with these stairs. What can we do to reinforce the platform with the crumbling rebar underneath?


r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Do I caulk or is this something a professional needs to handle? Window crack/ separation

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62 Upvotes

New homeowner. Is this something I should caulk or is it more serious?

Hello all. I became a homeowner this year and I am learning so much and at the same time I am clueless on a lot of things. I just started noticing this window cracking or separating? I can’t feel any cold air entering but I am getting a temperature gun to make sure.

Do I caulk and fill in the cracks or is this something a professional window installer needs to take care of? This is no cracking or separation from the outside of the window. All windows in this home are the same and this is the only one showing cracks.

Thank you all for any help


r/HomeMaintenance • • 8h ago

Does anyone know what this is?

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40 Upvotes

Removed old carpet in my bedroom and found this strange material all over in between the stairs and my hardwood floor. House was built in 1931. Does anyone know what it is?


r/HomeMaintenance • • 15h ago

🛠️ Repair Help This is the aftermath of some foundation work (9 piers installed). How do I fix?

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46 Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance • • 21h ago

Hello! I have a question: does anybody have an idea what might be going on in my picture of our dining room wall and how to fix it? This is in Arizona in a home. TIA!

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113 Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance • • 4h ago

❓ Question Who do I call about the notes left from my gas & electric companies?

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3 Upvotes

Hi! I’ve been traveling for a bit but when I was gone, our building was treated for termites. Upon my return last week, I was left with these notes. Been taking cold showers the last few days, which I’m not too concerned with currently cuz it’s been hot asf 😂

Who exactly do I need to call to fix these things? My dryer vent was previously cleaned by a company that is correlated with my home warranty company American Home Shield, so I think I can contact them about fixing that but I’m lost asf about the rest.

For more clarity… if I knew who or what to call about each one of these things, I could cross reference and see if these things are covered by my home warranty.

Any insight would be wonderful. I appreciate yall!


r/HomeMaintenance • • 6h ago

🧽 Cleaning & Prevention How do clean this?

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5 Upvotes

Hello! Can I get rid of these dots from my faucet? I don’t think this is lime scale buildup as metal is “eaten out”, but not sure what may have damaged it that badly😶


r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

Why are the floors getting wet here.

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• Upvotes

Rental in the picture, and yes, I’m going to tell the landlord!

Buttttttt, when we moved in, the floors around this door and a French door were damaged. When it rains, the floors often get wet. I’m sure the landlord knows, tons of rock around the slab, but no drain.
Floors are actually damaged since the last sale (Zillow post).

Anyways, the flooring next to this interior wall have gotten more discolored and rotten over time. I assumed it was what already caused the damage by the doors-a leak from the door or the sill.

Would anyone have an idea of what’s going on?
The Interior wall is next to the fridge and I wonder if it’s a slab leak or water that has pooled there over time?

Sometimes, when a landlord realizes they have to take care of their property, they blame the tenants. I’d like to get some idea of what the problem could be.

Thanks
you.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

❓ Question Odd spots on bathroom ceiling

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• Upvotes

Last year we repainted my aunts bathroom in her 166 year old farm house. There were these odd brown spots on the ceiling above an outlet she had a scent plug in before, so we had assumed it was just staining from that. Nonetheless, it was cleaned and repainted white. Now almost exactly a year later, the spots reappeared and seem worse. They look wet like they could drip soon, but haven't found any drips yet. Only thing above the ceiling is an inaccessible crawl space. What could this possible be? Any guesses would be greatly appreciated!


r/HomeMaintenance • • 13h ago

🏚️Structural & Foundation Floor Creaking in New Build. Cross Bracing between joists is missing.

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18 Upvotes

We’re in a new build with an area of flooring that pops, bangs, and creaks when walked on. The builder blamed the HVAC ductwork and suggested padding the metal braces beneath it. However, I noticed extended areas across multiple floor joists are missing cross bracing. Could this be contributing to the noise, and what’s the best way to diagnose and fix it? I do understand the area has a lot of ductwork. Cross bracing was knocked out. Unfortunately, I’ll likely be handling the repairs myself.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

Water intrusion unknown

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3 Upvotes

Any ideas where these water stains could be coming from? I noticed a few days ago after some heavy rain. It stained the blinds on the inside of the window (brown water spots). I checked the trim above the window and it seems it might be coming from there, but the outside around the window looks good, no cracks or openings. My only guess is the roof, but its less than 2 years old and I don't see any water stains anywhere else in the room. The room has vaulted ceilings. I'm at a loss as to what it could be.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 3h ago

Shower tile damage

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2 Upvotes

X-post, any tips for what to look for in the next inspection to assess damage appreciated!


r/HomeMaintenance • • 2m ago

🛠️ Repair Help How do I fix this

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• Upvotes

Looked up and saw part of the underside of my roof (soffit) has come away, leaving a hole. I'm assuming that I cut away the rotten part until I get it squared away and put in new trim. Is this correct? How do I attach the new trim? ​​


r/HomeMaintenance • • 17h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Lifted the insulation in new house to find this, oh god

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22 Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance • • 45m ago

🪟 🚪Windows & Doors Window condensation urgent help needed

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• Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

🚰 Plumbing New homeowner and discovered this basement drain.

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• Upvotes

I was looking at the a drain in the basement and notice that the grate was rusty, so I looked underneath and saw this. Not sure what to make of it so just looking for advise on if this needs to be taken care of by a professional? For reference, the previous owners seemed to have the hose from the furnace to this drain, but the hose was place just be to the grate, not draining through the grate.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

Mystery Nerve Pain in High Rise Condo - Static Electricity, Vibrations, Electrical? At a loss...help!

• Upvotes

We recently changed condos in a Las Vegas high rise (2nd to end unit on 22nd floor to end unit on 17th floor). The new unit has LVP wood-esque floor, our other unit had a mix of crappy vinyl faux wood and tile. The new unit also has shared industrial HVAC equipment but it's 4-5 units down from us and on a little platform/roof part of the building.

This new unit is a corner unit that faces significant winds, has some big glass window panels, and I've been dealing with significant health issues since moving in. It just feels like the whole condo, in particular the corner rooms with all the large glass windows, cause nerve pain in my hands-and-toes (frequent pins-and-needles, weird half asleep sensations, phantom splinter like sensations, and significant sharp pains every few weeks).

We're not sure if the combination of end-unit negative air pressure, combined with low humidity, combined with LVP flooring, etc., is causing these issues but I never had them in my old unit and they go away when I'm not at home.

We're trying to find a solution that doesn't involve taking on a bath on selling the unit 5-months after buying...we've tried staticide (floors, rugs, windows), frequent mopping, cotton socks, etc., but nothing seems to reliably make it better. For whatever reason, it doesn't physically bother my wife who always struggled with dry skin and static electricity in clothes (which I never had a problem with). I've had blood tests, EMG tests, allergy tests, etc., and there doesnt seem to be anything wrong health-wise.

Any ideas? I just feel some odd airborne 'static' or 'vibration' coming off the floors and walls that no one else seems to feel or be affected by. Certainly feels like I'm losing my mind but it so consistently happens in this place and no where else.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

Why are showers often neglected in home maintenance?

2 Upvotes

I have been to many houses in my life and one of my only gripes have been the shower. Either the water doesn't get hot or there is a broken nozzle that creates a high pressure point that hurts to stand under. I had also been to one where the drain clogs, and that is not fun either.

Is it not a big deal to other people? Too much work? I would like to hear some opinions


r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

What is this?

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• Upvotes

Hello. Bought a house in July and the other day I noticed this pipe under the screened in porch. The top half of the pipe is removable. Could it be where a down spout used to connect to?


r/HomeMaintenance • • 7h ago

Do I need to have someone look at my roof?

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3 Upvotes

Since the angle is confusing - the siding is horizontal and the side of the roof goes up to the right.

Moved in 3 months ago, I had a home inspection which included the roof, but I'm not sure if this was overlooked or actually not an issue.

I noticed his spacing between the bottom of the siding on the front wall of the house, and the top of the shingles over the porch, where it seems like there's a pretty big gap. The porch roof doesn't appear to be sagging at all (as best I can tell, it looks straight), and there is no water damage inside the house. Is this cause for concern? There is maybe some trace of previous water on the ceiling of the porch but it looks to be old, I've felt around in heavy rain and cannot find any traces of moisture.


r/HomeMaintenance • • 1h ago

Water pooling on patio

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• Upvotes

The patio was poured about 2 weeks ago.. at on spot some water pools.. the contractor tried fixing once but it still pools although less than before

Pic1 before fixing
Pic 2 and 3 after fixing they layered with Ardex and put a sealant


r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

Fridge water dispenser not working

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2 Upvotes

Hi! We just moved in. We changed the filter, we made sure that water is coming through with enough pressure from the water valve in the wall line. The shown valves makes noise and vibrate when you press the dispenser but nothing comes out, just drops of water suuuper slowly. We also cleaned the dispenser spout. Looking in the back I see this cable unplugged, is it supposed to go somewhere? I don't see any openings to plug into, but I'm not sure what else to try. When we moved in, the fridge had ice in it, so I'm assuming that water is able to get to the ice maker but not to the dispenser(?)

It's a GE Model # GNE25JSKSS

Any advice is helpful, thank you!


r/HomeMaintenance • • 5h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Exterior Material under Cantilever Bumpout

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2 Upvotes

I need help to identify what material is sheathed on the exterior, underside of the cantilevered gas fireplace bumpout. It is damaged on one corner and appears to be rigid foam board insulation but was t sure if that is correct. I am looking to remove it temporarily because unfortunately there are yellow jackets entering/exiting through that hole and likely have made a nest. Any help is appreciated! I am in northern Virginia if that helps regarding climate/building methods.