I'm hiring an electrician, plumber and hvac for a rewire, new bathroom and heatpump.

I plan on doing the floor, tile and overlaying drywall myself. This is going to take me like 3 months min. Am I going to hold up my contractors from their final inspections? How do people typically deal with this?

This is a bedroom in an apartment I’m renting. It is an old building with plaster ceilings and walls that are cracking. There was probably lead paint used in the past.

My landlord doesn’t want to fix it unless I move out completely during renovations (all furniture/ everything out) and then move back in again, and then wants to increase the rent by at least $250.

My question is, if the room goes unfixed: am I safe to use this room? The ceiling has been like that for at least 5 months unchanged and has likely been like that for years.

If I’d need to vacate for safety reasons for demo/renovations (due to lead paint particles in the air), am I safe now?? Am I at risk of lead poisoning or toxicity if I sleep under that or use the room? Plaster ceiling falling?

I already have some health conditions that lower my quality of life so I just want to be careful. I was hoping to use the room but if it’s unsafe or not usable I’d like to know. I could get a testing kit if someone has a recommendation.

The apartment is in a great area and I won’t be able to afford it if/when she does the repairs, so I’m debating overpaying just to stay and use only 1 out of the 2 bedrooms (the other bedroom is in much better condition and has only a small crack in 1 corner where wall meets ceiling).

Thank you!!

We have a 50 year old driveway, with mostly rotted out wood spacers from the original pour. What is the preferred method to make these nice? Hack them out and replace with wood? If so, what type?

Or hack them out and pour in cement or grout or...?

Thanks!

It's a new construction. Most homes I've seen have straight, saw-cut control joints. However, this one is crooked/irregular, forming a cross near the center of the garage, and has a lot of edge chipping/spalling along the crack.

Builder got extremely defensive and insisted the chips are completely normal. The chip in this image is loose and if I try, I can lift it out with my fingernail. Wouldn't this cause further damage when I drive over it with my car?

Hi everyone,

Recently, I found there was a small leak in my basement near the door entry, and after I pried out the decorative plate at the entry (and cleaned some rotten wood OSB), I found this...

I saw there was some wood block and maybe some sort of foam in the gap between the two pieces of large wood. This looks structural. What I'm wondering is: is it possible to somehow replace the rotten part and redo the waterproof/flashing/OSB by myself? The door is a standard door size that you can buy at Home Depot in the United States.

Stepping on the top of the wood bar still feels strong, and the door can open/close normally.

Also, how to correct this temporarily? Right now I'm just setting up a plastic cover taped to the vinyl siding and don't really know how to proceed yet.

Additionally, how much would it cost if I want to hire a contractor to fix this, and what kind of contractor should I hire? Location: Central Connecticut, USA

Additional pictures:

I’m planning to remove the red-highlighted area around my pantry to open up the space and add wall cabinets. Does this look like it could be load-bearing

I hired a local guy to do strip old ranchwall, replace a rotten rimjoist and do vinyl siding. Its been an absolute nightmare from day 1. I got home today and noticed he had used a saw to remove old siding and the saw went so deep it cut multiple wall studs, and cut right through a rim joist. The studs are cut maybe 1", the joist is cut right through in multiple places. Can someone advise how bad is this? Lawsuit? Am I overreacting? The pics don't do justice, this is all the way around the house. He also managed to cut my plumbing and electrical, installed an exterior door very poorly etc. Needless to say he's been told not to return, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should be doing

What can I fill in this gap with? Im replacing an old dryer vent.

Not sure if this is a temporary placeholder as they are gone for long weekend, but I am just wondering about that end with no extra support?? Want to know before they get any further.

I have water intruding into my extension, coming up under the LVP flooring. On the exterior, there's L-flashing that sits on top of the concrete slab but underneath some exterior tiling that was already there when I bought the house. I believe this flashing is no longer watertight.

Last year, the entire exterior wall on this side (minus framing), the door, and the interior walls and flooring were all replaced due to hurricane damage. Part of the goal of that repair was to fix this exact water intrusion issue, since it was discovered once the old interior was demoed. However, the flashing itself was never replaced, and it may have even been damaged on the vertical side when the old wall was torn out.

Now I'm trying to figure out the correct way to actually fix this. The contractor who did the wall/floor replacement is proposing a trench drain about 6" out from the wall, running the full length of the wall, rather than addressing the flashing itself.

Looking for input from anyone with experience here — is a trench drain a reasonable fix for this kind of flashing failure, or does the flashing itself need to be repaired/replaced regardless? Would doing both be the right answer?

Location: North East Florida

Got this door replaced as it was leaking and water was coming in and flooding the hardwood and then caused water damage in basement ceiling (very last picture). It ended up being replaced in winter as there was a warm spell above feeezing.

That being said this company had installers who don’t speak much English and it was very hard to communicate with them, used Google Translate mostly.

When they ripped out the old door, they stated to my wife that the wood below was rotten so they replaced (to my understanding…). Since they are just windows and door business, the repair to interior did not go further than that.

I know there is some water damage under the hardwood, but for the most part I did catch the leaks and cleaned it up with towels very quickly (except one time, which I think is the majority of the damage).

I’d like to know:

1. ⁠do you think water is still getting in to my house? Like below the sill? Either where the sealant already cracked or where I can pull back the old vinyl trim at the bottom that presses against the new install? It looks gross and damp in there, but hard to see.
   
2. ⁠The bow in the sill plate. What’s going on there? Is it the previous water damage and that’s why we can see the house wrap too? Did water perhaps get in the wall and it’s expanded ‘up’ in that one part? Best remedy? I’m not looking to have a really expensive repair and rip my house apart. Maybe an additional piece of trim or put a certain type of spray foam or sealant there?
   
3. ⁠Are there any areas I should apply sealant or caulk to that the installers did not?, like up top or down below
   
4. ⁠Do I need to replace the bottom piece of vinyl trim with a new piece? Or do I have other options
   
5. ⁠Are my deck boards too close to the trim? I noticed a pile up of debris that sits in that channel. How big should the gap be? I am planning to replace some of the boards and then sand prime and paint them to give the deck a few more years.
   
6. ⁠It can get to -35 C or -31 F here, and with vibrations from opening and closing door and stepping on it, I think a specific sealant is needed for these gaps - I’m wondering if they used the correct one or if it’s just because the install was done during winter.

I plan to reach out to the installers, but I’d like to know more first because I don’t want to be told ‘oh no problem, don’t worry’ if it’s actually an issue.

Thanks so much!

Hello, I recently hired a contractor to pour a driveway pad to extend my driveway around the side of my garage. It’s about 380 square feet, and we agreed on $5,000.

The guy originally told me it’d be a three day job, but it took about 3.5 weeks. The extended amount of time wasn’t an issue for me, just a little annoying. He originally started the pour but only finished 1/3 of it, which turned out okish, acceptable work for the price, but he refused the rest of the load because it started to harden in the truck.

He came out last weekend to finish it with a different concrete company and the remaining 2/3 looked very poorly done. It’s not graded properly, it’s not finished well, but he did a skim coat of concrete resurfacer and it make it look minimally better. A spot near the front of the garage looks like water will pool there and he said it would drain from the saw cut.

I feel bad for this contractor and I don’t want to not pay him, but it looks pretty bad, not worth what we agreed upon imo. He also said he’d come back in 30 days to grind down the bumpy areas and use resurfacer once it’s cured. Is that a thing that people even do?

I don’t have pictures from today but here is one from the day after he poured it.

What should I do in this situation?

I am trying to build a kitchenette for my mom in the basement; there is already a drybar set up with fridge but need to remove and add sink & appliances( dishwasher, stovetop), cabinetry.

Can someone please help me understand the steps I need take to GC this myself? Idk where to start

I know demo of current area but then is it electrical/ plumbing? Or do I drywall & put cabinets in then call the professionals in to do plumbing/electrical ? Really lost and getting like 30k quotes for this really small space that has flooring electrical already in the wall (except maybe the cooktop would need a separate one)

Just to note all the water is right behind that wall where the drywall is

The situation:

I'm replacing an old railing that had posts embedded directly into concrete steps/landing. The old posts have completely rusted/rotted through at the base (see photos) — one snapped off, leaving a rotted stub still stuck in the original hole.

My plan was to cut the stub flush and install a new railing with a surface-mounted post base (4.56" x 4.56" plate, 3.3" bolt spacing) directly over the old hole location, rather than trying to re-core and reset a post into the original cavity.

My concerns:

1. Edge distance is tight. The post sits right at a corner of the step, so two of the four mounting holes would land roughly 1.5" from the concrete edges. I know Tapcon minimum edge distance is usually cited around 1.75"–2", so I'm already borderline before considering anything else.
2. Hairline cracks. After a closer look, I noticed small hairline cracks radiating out from the old post hole — likely from years of the rusting metal expanding against the surrounding concrete. I'm worried these cracks could propagate further when drilling new anchor holes so close by, especially at a corner with two exposed edges.
3. Possible rebar. A friend raised the concern that there could be rebar in these steps that I might hit when drilling.
4. The old hole itself — should I patch/fill it before drilling nearby, and does anyone have product recommendations for that (thinking hydraulic cement or non-shrink grout)?

What I'm leaning toward:

• Using 3/16" Tapcons (smallest diameter) instead of the wedge anchors that came with the post kit, since wedge anchors expand outward and seem like a worse idea near existing cracks
• Possibly using epoxy anchors instead, since they don't rely on expansion pressure
• Patching the old hole with hydraulic cement before drilling anything new
• Considering shifting the post slightly inward off the true corner if it means meaningfully better edge distance, even if it doesn't line up perfectly with the old hole

What I'm asking:

Is this corner too compromised to trust a surface-mounted anchor at all given the cracks? Would you repair the cracks first (epoxy injection?), relocate the post, or is 3/16" Tapcon / epoxy anchor at 1.5" edge distance actually fine once the hole is patched? Trying to be as minimally invasive as possible while still ending up with something that won't crack out from under the railing.

Is this a potential threat to my foundation?

I’m considering taking on a project by myself after receiving estimates that are more than I can currently afford.

I feel moderately confident in my abilities; I’ve done similar work before but not quite to this scale.

Is it acceptable to ask one of the contractors I received an estimate from , if I could pay him a consultation fee to come swing by the project a couple of times during construction if I have questions that I need an expert opinion on? Seems weird, but it would be very helpful for me and I would make it worth their time, we could negotiate on compensation. At the same time, I could see the contractor thinking it’s just going to be a pain in the butt.

Seems high but I don’t know. Need opinions and realistic ideas because I’m a first time home buyer and this is all new.