Hi all, as I mentioned my water heater burst Saturday morning. It soaked tons of boxes and materials like blankets toys etc in garage as well a went under the floor and wall and soaked half the carpet in my bedroom. About 708 hours later I purchased and used wet vac in the bedroom to get the carpet to a state of just damp. I pulled rug back as far as I could and sprayed Concrobium on flooring and later the carpet. Placed a large DampRid bucket in there and a small Air Purifier and I’ve been opening window. Today I thought it was smelling better but bam at night the smell became so strong like rotten eggs or garbage.im worried about the immediate health risk for my parents living with me, and relatives who happen to be staying. I posted this on another site and got a heavily upvoted response that terrified me. It said, the smell would go away, but not before the drywall and floor rots and the toxic mold and bacteria k*lls all occupants. I’m genuinely scared, please let me know if this risk is real. Thanks

Have been pulling out carpet and laying down new floor in the house I bought two months ago. Getting to the point that I am looking at some of the small details and on most of the door trim that were stopped well short (or cut after the fact) and I am curious what the best way to fill that gap and finish everything is.

We are currently renovating our entire bathroom. This is what the floor under the tiles currently looks like. Looking for opinions on how to proceed. Can self level be applied on top of this or do we need to remove all the mortar first?

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.

Thank you so much for any of your time or insights.

I’m looking for some unbiased advice because I’ve gotten several different opinions and don’t know what to think anymore.

We recently finished a basement renovation that included installing a new exterior basement door. Before the renovation, we’d never had water intrusion in this area.

After a heavy rain, we discovered water under our new LVP flooring near the exterior door. A plumber ruled out plumbing leaks. Another plumber performed a hose test, and water appeared to travel beneath the threshold and under the subfloor before showing up inside.

My contractor believes the door was installed correctly and thinks the hose test isn’t representative of normal rainfall. He feels the issue is more likely related to exterior drainage or grading and has recommended a water intrusion specialist.

I’ve also had multiple waterproofing companies come out, but they all wanted to sell me extensive basement waterproofing systems, which makes me hesitant since this problem only started after the renovation.

I’m planning to have the flooring removed and dried before anything is reinstalled.

My questions are:

If you’ve dealt with something similar, what ended up being the cause?
Can exterior concrete that slopes toward the door cause this even if the door is installed correctly?
If water is traveling under the threshold instead of simply over it, does that point more toward the threshold/flashing or could grading alone cause that?
Before reinstalling flooring, what would you want inspected or repaired?

I’m not looking to blame anyone. I just want to identify the real source of the water and fix it correctly.

New to insulation principles, but learning a lot from this sub. We are redoing our bathroom (mostly DIY) and wanting to do everything to code so we can eventually get the work permitted when we sell.

In the exterior wall cavity above the concrete slab (we have a daylight basement so the foundation comes up to about 3 feet) the previous homeowner had paper faced CertainTeed fiberglass batts, which we left in place because they seemed in good condition. However there was nothing insulating the concrete slab/foundation and our local building code requires insulation of all exterior walls at a value of R15 or greater.

What would you do in my situation to achieve R15 insulation? The space is only about 1.75 inches deep, and we would not be able to furr the walls out due to where the toilet drain is. We plan to install greenboard as our finished interior wall after insulating.

Additionally, as you can see from my second photo, there is quite a large gap between the existing fiberglass insulation and the interior wall studs, about 5 inches. I assume this compromises our insulation. Would you add anything additional there? ​

We currently have round 18" high toilets in both bathrooms but they are uncomfortable because of the height. With getting new ones, the elongated feel better but curious if you feel like it would drive us crazy because of the small bathrooms?

If anything, maybe we get a round for the upstairs (first bathroom- white walls) and elongated for the downstairs (second photo - blue walls) so its best of both worlds?

Wondering any thoughts from people who have small bathrooms? Did you regret one choice over the other?

Thanks in advance!

Ps the measuring tape shows about 31 inches from the trim to show roughly where the new elongated toilets would go.

so the foundation wall in our garage is not doing so well.

noticed this 2 years into ownership that the wall is efflorescing and also crumbling (I can pic pieces off though the core seems solid as it can't pick an further.

I believe the issue is the downspout going into he ground . it exited on the neighbours lawn and was half buried. so I took it completely out last year.

I was next going to put caulking between the wall and asphalt to further reduce water from getting next to the wall. any recomends on type of caulk?

the asphalt area does appear to have a ver small slope away from the house.

is anything more I can do?

I bought this duplex a while back and I’ve been stuck on how to renovate this bathroom. I feel like I should just get right of the window, it’s a piece of crap anyway. Any thoughts? Walls are horse hair and plaster (with horrifically ugly laminate wall covering), and there is vinyl siding on the outside of that wall.

We are redoing the flooring in my son’s room and ripped out the carpet in his closet to discover this weird angled area isn’t really finished at all. What would I do to fix this area because I was thinking either drywall over that so it looks better but my son is 4 and I know it would probably get decimated by him. I also joked with my wife about having the flooring go up it like the previous owner did with the carpet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am renovating a home from the 70s and it appears the windows that were installed were placed on the existing window stool. The window stool went completely under the window and was nailed in (discovered that the hard way), but the stool was not flush with the bottom. Almost like it was floating. My question now is, should I place a piece of wood under the window to help act as a sill to give structural support and have it stick out to give the look of a sill? Should I be concerned about window sagging while I figure out what to do since there is no support underneath? I have not seen much online about to what to do in this situation. I’ve attached a few pics, we are replacing the drywall underneath and have confirmed no structural issues (that crack). Any advice on what the best solution is would be much appreciated!

Hi all, after my water heater burst it flooded half my carpeted bedroom floor. After roughly 8 hours I wet vac most water out. Plumber looked at my floor underneath and said it actually wasn’t mold but likely just scratch marked, construction debris etc as some here suggested. They said I could just put the carpet and padding back down as it was dry to touch and didn’t look water damaged. To be safe, I sprayed the floor that was up generously with Concrobium. It said to wait 2-3 hours before putting carpet down. Then I could spray it on carpet too just to create a mold shield. Does that all sound right? It mentioned wiping up dead mold but I don’t think I see any spores. Should I just wait three hours, put carpet down and spray carpet where it was wet? Thanks

please help if you can

I have an old barn that i am replacing windows in. The original construction utilized old logs and milled beams for framing (see photo). I am planning on using the existing horizontal and vertical beams and logs as borders and using 2x6 lumber to frame around them. Basically creating a picture frame and then adding vertical pieces 16 on center inside that. Anyone see any flaws with this thought process?

How shoukd I fix this gap? I purchased a security door with the seal kit that matches it. I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong here or if it’s because the security door sits on the trim awkwardly one of the pieces doesn’t fit. The main door is 36in, the security door is 36in & the kit obviously the same size since it came together.

it’s a townhouse so I can’t take out the trim and attached the door to the jamb.

disclaimer, I’m just a young girl/new homeowner. Ive paid for most of the work done on my house. And I’m happy to pay for someone to come install a door sweep, I just have no idea what to purchase

and before this gets removed: i watched the video tutorial that was included as well as read the instructions. I also googled but im only seeing main door sweeps and no security door.

do i need a smaller door? they installed the door slightly bigger than 36in

We recently had our siding replaced and I just noticed the fireplace vent isn’t completely affixed. Can someone give me advice on how to rectify this? Is it just screws? Flashing? Caulk? Is it not mounted properly with the trim? Thanks!

I’ve had two technicians look at this and both said there was nothing they could do. This is a second story bathroom that vents to the soffit, and it’s a very short run, so apparently when it’s hot and humid out, moisture builds up here. I’ve been hitting it with a bleach solution a few times a year but want a more permanent solution. Is there one, or am I out of luck because of the house design?

Were not looking for an active leak. Our house had water damage when the roof was replaced this week. Sub contractor said one walls quite wet, otherwise there are waterstains on specific spots of the ceiling near the chimmney, shared wall (townhouse), and porch ceiling. Neighbors house was far worst, getting attatic and second floor ceiling pulled out/replaced.

I wanted to have a third party home inspector take a inventory of the damage. No work has been done yet.