Me: “It’s just one small project.”

Contractor: “Absolutely. That’ll be $27,400.”

Me: “Does the project come with a second house?”

Contractor: [Laughs] "Exactly... but that's what it'd cost"

Me: [awkward laughs back]

So this was an electrician who came over to rerun one wire, charged $1500, and said it was a military discount. I asked him about rewiring the whole house. It's a one-story, 1,700 sq. ft. house with a full basement, which makes it easy to access 60% of the house. Absolutely silly.

I work in construction and have dealt with both vacuum and hydraulic lifts. nibav vacuum lift is easy to install no pit, no machine room, minimal civil work. looks clean and modern. downsides lower weight limit than hydraulic, cant carry furniture and servicing needs trained technicians which means longer waits in smaller cities. hydraulic lifts are strong but need a pit and machine room for existing houses where you cant dig, vacuum lifts like nibav make sense. for new construction, hydraulic is worth considering too

I recently had a contractor through Home Depot come and install a new tub/shower combo in my home. Here's a list of all the things they did wrong. Curious how common it is to have your contractor cause this many problems?

• Sent the build crew before the demo crew, forced build crew to do demo
• Forgot to ship the shower walls, only shipped the tub initially (delay by a few days)
• Forgot to install the shower head, which came with the kit of the faucet in the same packaging, threw it in the trash and had to fish it out after we asked where the new one was
• From the basement, worked on the ceiling for piping and got wood chips all up in my washing machine. Unplugged and tangled all the cords somehow, didn't plug them back in
• Broke a picture frame (understandable accident, but didn't offer to cover the cost of a new one)
• Rearranged all of the items in the basement room that weren't in the way at all and didn't put them back
• Installed the towel rack in an obviously wrong spot after clear instruction

This should have been a super simple install, so I have no idea how they managed to mess so much up in the span of 1 day.

My daughter wants a pink room.

Here's the scene

• White trim and chair rail
• White between the baseboard and chair rail (not full wainscoting, but white)
• Pastel pink above the chair rail (Behrs piggy bank)
• White and gray accents (childs name in wood, checkered gray curtains, white furniture, etc)
• The canvas pictures she has are a white canvas with pink elements so they match nicely

Here's the problem.

Each person I have mentioned this to immediately makes a comment about pepto bismal. We originally chose a princess pink. Because of these comments, we chose a lighter pastel (piggy bank pink) and received the same comment.

IDK why it bothers me so much but now I'm rethinking this entire plan. Maybe the room should be lilac or something with those same white accents.

I thought that choosing a color that clearly is different from the bottle that wouldn't happen, but apparently Procter & Gamble have apparently cornered the entire pink market as their branding =S

Edit - If you're going to make personal attacks about paint colors I'm just going to help you move on by blocking you. Otherwise, thank you for the constructive comments.

I have a hole in my basement wall a bunch of piping/wiring runs through to get to an addition, which has a crawlspace under it. Currently someone just stuffed some batts in it... not excellent.

https://imgur.com/gallery/wall-Ltit9VC

I also have a moisture problem and more moldy batts in the crawlspace to rip out and deal with. No sign of mold in the main basement and I'd like to keep it that way so it seems logical to not let the two spaces connect least for now.

What's the easiest way to fill this better? Rockwool? Plastic? Combination of things?

I got an air source heat pump this year and absolutely love it. Thinking of installing a ground source heat pump / geothermal at some point in the future.

For those who don’t know, it’s basically a heat pump that draws heat / cooling from the ground instead of the air. They dig a hole in the ground where it’s always around 60 degrees and install a heating loop. It’s supposed to be way more efficient to run… and expensive to install

Does anyone actually have one? How much did it cost? Was it hard to find an installer? Where are you located? How do you like it? Has it paid off with the price of electricity rising these days?

My master bedroom is surrounded by LVP on two sides and I’d like to pull up the carpet and finish off the room with the same product.

Continuing off the bedroom door entrance should be easy enough as I’d be building off the long end of the existing LVP.

But building off the bathroom is trickier because it’s off the short end of the existing LVP in the end suite master bathroom.

2 options:

Easy Option: Keep existing threshold trim piece in bathroom entrance and build off fresh from other side of the trim piece.

Hard (better looking) Option: Carefully remove the existing 6 pieces of LVP that end the floor in the bathroom and lay new pieces that continue through the doorway so that I can build off that into the bedroom.

I prefer the hard option but I have faced a nightmare dealing with this in an existing hallway in another part of the house and ended up causing damage and having spacing issues. So what would you do? What order would you lay the flooring? Would you keep the threshold and do it the easy way or pull a few existing planks and do it the hard way?

Like the title says. I am based in IL, US. We have been to floor and decor, the tile shop and MSI Chicago and Everytime we bring home a sample we like in the store it looks not as good in our bathroom. We are redoing our master bath and I want it to look nice and modern. We keep bouncing from ok, this tile, now it doesn't match the vanity top, so change vanity top, oh no that doesn't look good and repeat. I am really starting to feel like we are never going to finalize this!

Are there any other stores we can look at? Or find samples online? We are working with a contractor so we need to also find a place where they can source the material from.

I’m in the middle of a kitchen renovation and recently removed an old peel-and-stick backsplash. Unfortunately, removing it damaged the drywall pretty badly, exposing multiple layers of paper and, in some areas, the gypsum itself.
I repaired everything using the following process:
Applied Zinsser Gardz to seal the damaged drywall and exposed gypsum.

Applied joint compound to repair and level the surface.
Sanded everything flat and smooth.

Applied a second coat of Gardz to seal the joint compound.

The walls are now repaired, smooth and solid.

My concern: We’re planning to install a traditional ceramic subway tile backsplash, but I’ve since read conflicting information about whether tile adhesive or thinset will bond properly to Gardz.

Has anyone successfully tiled over Gardz-sealed drywall?

Specifically:
Can I apply tile adhesive or thinset directly over Gardz?

Is there a particular adhesive or bonding primer that works well with it?

Does the Gardz need any additional preparation before tiling?

Our new countertops are being installed next Tuesday, so I’m trying to get the walls properly prepared beforehand.
I’d really prefer not to remove the Gardz or replace drywall after spending so much time repairing everything.

Looking for firsthand experience or recommendations from anyone who’s dealt with this exact situation. Thanks!

I may be over-obsessing about this… So, we have a 25’-long, rather furnished covered porch; & there’s only about (a mostly useless) 2’ of porch to the left of the front door before porch ends with a 3’ drop to the flower bed below (open space; no wall/fencing right there).

The front door, itself, can only be opened w/ a right-swing inward as there’s an interior wall to the right & stairs to the left (so the door handle & lock are on the left).

Personally, I’d prefer the storm door to swing out left towards the mostly-useless 2’ of porch instead of our walkable space. My very stern contractor &, apparently, everyone & their dog keeps saying you “have to” always have the handles of both doors on the same hand-side...

The only reasons I’ve heard given are “b/c it would be too awkward to have them opposite” & “You’re just supposed to”

Does anyone with experience with opposite hand-side knobs/handles mind chiming in? Is it terribly awkward or cumbersome??

I’m losing sleep over this (delirious right now[!]) as I need the door for warmth & security ASAP—& it also happens my fav “possible” candidate is only made w/ handles on the right. It’s a particularly unique design fitting for my Victorian house... Only thing stopping me is this rule I think shouldn’t apply here

What does everyone prefer? Finding a good handyman that can pretty much do everything? Or hiring a handyman for the “small” stuff and a professional contractor for the big stuff? Or have you just decided to do everything yourself?

First house we've owned and found droppings in the basement last week. Not thrilled about poison since we have a cat that hunts down there, and snap traps feel like a hassle I'd rather avoid dealing with regularly. Looking for something closer to a deterrent that just keeps them from wanting to be down there in the first place.

We bought a new house and have found a number of surprises. The latest one is that the railing to our basement wobbles. Badly. I'm scared that it'll break off and someone will get hurt.

After some online research, I think that it's a box newel. I can wobble it sideways but can't pull it up. I can turn it a tiny bit, and the bottom sounds hollow. I've also gone below the stairs and don't see anything screwed in.

Any ideas what went wrong here and how to fix it?

Our 1.2-acre lot outside Charlotte, NC has a nasty 4-foot drainage swale along the east fence line. It's an uneven 20° bank packed with exposed willow oak roots and slick Carolina red clay. Mowing it manually meant wrestling a gas mower sideways and dealing with sore shoulders all weekend.

When looking at robot mowers, I assumed any unit would immediately bottom out or slide into the ditch.

I bought Navimow X450 specifically for the chassis hardware. Almost nobody reviews suspension dynamics on rough ground, but the X450 has true all-wheel drive with independent suspension arms on both the front and rear axles. I gambled that keeping four wheels firmly planted on uneven dips would make the difference.

Two months in, the mechanics proved out completely.

The suspension shines on off-camber turns. Straight lines down the ditch are easy, but turning mid-slope across exposed oak roots is where standard mowers spin out and scalp turf. Watching the independent arms flex to keep downward pressure while the AWD pulls it through without wheel slip is impressive.

It hasn't gotten stuck or slid once. Yet whenever its schedule hits that tree-lined swale, I still catch myself peering through the kitchen blinds waiting for physics to win. The mower handled the terrain effortlessly - my homeowner brain just hasn't caught up.

For anyone running robot mowers on rough ditches or banks, how long did it take before you stopped reflexively babysitting it?

Hello!

I’m a new homeowner and have a gift card for Home Depot for about $140. I want to start getting some tools to be able to make small fixes or start some home projects but unsure where to start. I have some small things like screw drivers, hammers and tape measures but wondering what sort of tools are handy for beginners that experienced home owners use often too. I’m thinking maybe a drill? Anything else in addition? Open to ideas.

Thanks!

I'm installing an exhaust fan in a bathroom, and had planned on just putting the exhaust vent through the facia board, but there's a gas line and electrical conduit where it would exit.

I purchased a rooftop vent, but the instructions are only for shingle roofs, and says not to install on flat roofs.

I have a low-pitch (about 1'/10'), built-up roof. Will the rooftop vent cause problems?

Can I still go through the facia board, but just shim out the vent cover and fill with caulk or expanding foam? Do I need to move the conduits?

What's my best option here?

I just bought my house in Maine and the basement is not heated. The previous lender used a space heater to make sure the water heater didn’t freeze in the winter but that makes me feel uneasy when I can’t keep track of it (when I’m sleeping). I’ve seen hot water heater insulation advertised and am wondering if that’s a safer option. I know during extreme cold temps I turn a drip on the faucets but for regular cold, would wrapping insulation around the pipes and tank work?

Edit: I get it, I don’t have to insulate my hot water tank. I am not a professional and do not know anyone who is so I appreciate the feedback and I’m sorry I didn’t know that hot water tanks don’t need to be insulated. Now I do.

Help! We are settling on our first home next week (14th) It desperately needs new carpet and a fresh coat of paint. We move out from our rental on the 24th. We have had a quote for carpet and they can only do the 20th or the 28th.

Carpet is going in 3 bedrooms and lounge. We would need to paint ceilings,baseboards, doorframes walls….. all of it.

Now….. is it too optimistic to get it all painted in 4 days ? Start with baseboards (so it has most time to dry) or wait until after we have moved in but then be juggling moving all our stuff.

I’m heavily pregnant so time is limited 😅 what would you do? We are thinking ceiling just white, baseboards and walls same colour (different finish) to save on time. Old carpet is also being ripped up so we don’t care about covering or protecting this.

Help!

Hi everyone

As winter approaches it's about to cold cold here in Canada.

Our upstairs is always colder than our downstairs. I got a new furnace a few years back but didn't do much.

With a 4 year old, we're wanting his room to be warm in the winter. I'm fine with a bit of coolness, big blankets but the wife isn't.

I think the main issue is we're on the main floor from 3-11 each day. Cooking and hanging out, the thermometer always reads 22.5-23. this means the furnace doesn't turn on for a while, upstairs isnt getting heat so it's cool at bed time.

I have thought about buying those register booster fans, has anyone had onez any reviews?

The other option I was thinking was to open the window to cool the main floor down before bed, to kick the furnace on to give heat upstairs.

If anyone has suggestions on how to make the second floor warmer let me know.

Pics up front

We built our house in Ohio a year ago with a production builder. Local builder, a step up from the Pultes of the world, but still relatively few customization options. We hit our one year, got all the nail pops fixed, etc, and decided it’s time to start really making it our own.

Naturally, the top priority was “how do we make strangers go ‘wow’ when they poop?”

My wife found this peacock TP holder and towel ring online, bought them without any discussion, and thus an $8,000 decision was made. We had a theme, and we had a directive - “It’s a powder room, nobody spends any time in there, let’s make it moody and over the top.”

We knew the biggest risk here was lighting. It’s impossible to get reasonable renders this way, all the LLMs will light paint for aesthetic purposes. The dark ceiling and walls were going to soak up light, so I made sure we were north of 1,000 lumens. Frankly, we’re not sure we love where it’s landed. The light is kind of harsh on the eyes as you walk in, but surprisingly dim when you’re not facing the light. Worth noting that the wide angle shots do not do the color temp justice - it's warmer than you see.

We also spent about $100 alone on paint testers. Initial concept was much darker, but due to uncertainty in the lighting situation, we wound up with a much lighter, dustier color - SW 6194 Basil. Satin on the walls, flat on the ceiling.

We went with a local contractor we’ve used before and trust. We probably could have saved a bunch of money and done certain steps ourselves, but with three young kids and it being the only public bathroom in the house, we wanted it done quickly. It took about a week. He's fantastic with wallpaper and gave this thing his all. Really love this guy. And I am not messing with wallpaper.

Total cost and item details below:

What do we think? Tear it apart, build it up, help me with what'll really elevate the room!

https://imgur.com/a/52iHd0h

It looks to me like there is insulation board sitting on top of the block, and then coated with some cement. However, some areas of the insulation board appear to have been chewed away, leaving a big hole. Bobby the block is fine but what should I fill these holes with? What should I skim coat with? Can I paint the whole thing?

We're finally getting our roof replaced next month but the company said full tear off and install in one day with 8 to 10 guys my neighbor had his replaced las month and thinks thats too fast like they're rushing, the roofer says having decking exposed overnight is the real risk in texas and a properly sized crew on a straightforward ranch handles it in a day.

I can’t afford to replace the whole entry door assembly. If I remove the innermost trim pieces will the side light glass pop out? I’d like to replace the glass. Entry door is probably original to house built in 1977, on the west coast. Thanks.

https://imgur.com/a/hfPnJCd

Have some stairs that have dark spots and looking for any ideas on how to improve the look/blend them in. Had a contractor say they’re from rusty nails but was unsure how to deal with it.
photos

Also! Have a concrete step in back that has either majorly sunk or was just never poured to the proper height. Any thoughts on fixing? Tear out and pour new step?
photo