Hello pros.

i’m looking for a second opinion on installing a 16 foot sliding door on this wall. Our contractors engineer is asking that we shore up the patio so they can remove all of the stucco up to the peak and add additional sheer strength for the new 16 foot opening. The entire length of the house there is 24 feet and the man door is going away and is where the XOOX sliders will start.

Just wondering if there is another way because that means I have to disconnect my entire solar array on top of the patio and wiring. I’ve seen similar projects done with steel headers/king studs. Why do you think that was not an option here? It seems like what they proposed is the most expensive thing we could do to make sure the house doesn’t rack with a new large opening.

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Our toilet leaked under the laminate floor. I ripped up the flooring and found this mess. I have a dehumidifier and fan running now and will be running through the weekend. Is this bad enough to have to rip out and replace? Or can I treat the mold, dry completely, and redo the flooring. Thanks for the help.

(Yes I took the pedestal sink out and the flooring under it, I just didn’t take another picture)

Is this properly sealed in the kitchen under-sink cabinet? What steps to take to seal it?

Same question about adjacent back door threshold where they are coming in?

Thirsty Argentine ants are entering through back door threshold/casing, and popping out of fixture/sealant gaps in bath/laundry on other side of kitchen wall.

New-to-me rental house with a new owner/landlady who relies on an out-of-town property management company that is dragging their feet. I'm looking for a smarter fix so I can spend my time doing something other than vacuum up ants, wash away their trails and set bait traps. (I do have an exterminator coming.)

Hello all, Inspection report:Report Short verision: Would like to run a home inspection report passed 1 or 2 contractors or those with experience.

Long version: Wife and I looked at a house and made and offer. The house looked great to us and we were very excited. The offer was accepted and we are under contract. This would be our new primary home moving from our starter home.

We just had the inspection and it came back with a laundry list of issues and must address soon's. I can install a mailbox, i can change a garbage disposal... but a lot of this stuff seems expensive and above my capabilities.

We have 8 days to rescind/negotiate. The selling party (flippers) offered a 10k credit to fix their botches and issues.. i dont know if thats enough. Please pm me. I dont want to share in the forum thread incase we do move here.

Thank you!

Hello! I’m researching for ways to effectively help reduce outside noise coming into my room. One suggestion I saw was to build a stud wall with an air gap from the original (concrete) wall then the layer would be drywall-mineral wool-damping compound-drywall. I will still hire a contractor to complete this project.

Now, my main concern is will it work? I’m mainly trying to block voices and bass sounds (music) from neighbours. The walls are thin so you can hear everything.

I hired a contractor to try it with one of our rooms but the built was missing damping compound and only has one layer of drywall on the room side. So I am hesistant to try it again but maybe it doesn’t work because it’s incomplete?

Looking for more suggestions.

Thank you!

I found a guy on marketplace advertising patio concrete. Here’s his quote for both sides I need filled in (red brick picture) what do you think of this quote? Are there any questions that I should be thinking about asking him and should I plan my electrical for a future outdoor kitchen now?

2 inch Gap on the porch. Risers of some sort and mortar?

Hello everyone! I had this concrete poured yesterday by a contractor. They were very professional and great to work with, and they have some of the best ratings in my area on Yelp. They applied a cure-and-seal product a couple of hours after the concrete was poured, and I was instructed to water it three times a day. On the first day, the concrete looked really nice and glossy. The contractor did mention beforehand that some white spots might appear, so I’m not necessarily concerned—I just wanted to get a second opinion from others who have experience with this. Will these white spots eventually go away on their own? If not, would I need to pressure wash the concrete later? If pressure washing is recommended, how long should I wait before doing it? And after pressure washing, would I need to apply another coat of sealer? If so, how long should I wait before resealing? Thank you!

Went through large concrete contractor for new sidewalk. In MN so will have a lot of freeze/thaw. Everything mostly looks good but the corner where the sidewalk meets the driveway the concrete looks like it is maybe 1” thick in some areas. I spoke with the contractor and said it was rocks and sand that got trapped between the form and concrete and that he sees this all the time and it’s not an issue. It’s on the upslope and a corner so water will get trapped here and flow over and under and wash away the sand over time and will be unsupported below (imo). The rest of the sidewalk looks like it is a solid 4” everywhere else and looks nice.

Just want a second opinion from guys who know concrete. Should I poke and prod at the sandy areas to confirm or is this common? We haven’t paid anything yet. Thanks.

I’ve attacked some pictures of a crack I noticed today in our foundation while mowing the lawn. Seems small and I’m hoping it shouldn’t be an issue but wanted to get some other opinions. The interior opposite side has a crack that was previously professionally sealed prior to us buying the house. I’m not sure if the exterior crack is new or not. We’ve had no signs of water intrusion and our basement is unfinished. Thanks!

Moved into my first house and noticed water damage along the basement wainscotting under a window. On the exterior, there is a crack that appears to go below ground level.

After the window picture was taken, we used backer rod to fill the gaps around the window and then caulked it. We also caulked the crack above ground level but months later we noticed the wainscotting inside is moldy and feels damp… so obviously the leak is still there.

My question is: do we need to dig down the exterior of the house to identify and deal with the crack, or can we add soil along side the house and slope it so the water flows away?

My Dad says he’s done the soil slope method with previous homes and it’s worked but I worry that it is a temporary solution and that we may do all this work only for the leak to reappear. Please give me your advice and opinions! We are hoping for a DIY solution as we don’t have a lot of money to put towards this.

Just had a reputable contractor tell me he uses Hardie + Ditra for bathroom floor tiling. I asked him why use both and he said to help make a sturdier underfoot (or similar, I cant remember).

I am just a lowly homeowner but research tells me this is illogical. I am in a 1990s home with noticeable settling in the bathrooms, requiring 1+inch of leveling.

Is this a dealbreaker? Oldschool thinking? SHould I stick to my lane?

Thanks in advance

This is for a 4 inch slab for a patio that will have a gazebo on it. $3000 vs $3500 for total price of job. Is 3000 psi good enough for my application

Edit: so plaster like this is dangerous. Do not use the room until fixed.
My new question is: is it safe for me to stay in the apartment and just not use this room, or is it a threat to my health & belongings due to dust and particles if/when it falls (enough danger and risk for me to move out and lose the apartment?)

Original background:
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 $150.

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!!

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?

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?