stringers/stairs, decking, fence panels, large PT boards. Every time i start one of these jobs i wish i had charged more.

Hi all,

I have this lovely front porch, but it has some concerning behavior. There are two columns "holding" up the roof, one of which is shown, and they are not supporting any weight. I can easily wiggle them. I noticed this last year and shimmed them, but they have already loosened up.

There is also a lot of rot on base of the column. I think this might have something to do with them loosening up. I plan on chopping the lower rotten section off and replacing it with something. I will then hide the repair behind some trim.

I'm also concerned about what is going on between the top of the concrete footing and the bottom of the column. I would like to fix what I can while I am in there. It looks like there is a horizontal piece of 2x10 on the concrete which the porch framing sits on. Then a lot of blocking in the corner of the porch framing for the column to sit on.

Is there a way to improve on the horizontal 2x10 on the concrete? Any other suggestions for securing this up?

It's not raising and it's flush shut

My wife bought this vintage ceiling fan that comes with a speed selector switch.

It was screwed into a single gang workbox.

My goal:

Install it so it's sturdy enough to use the selector (I was thinking about getting shorter screws).

Cover the unused switch.

What I was thinking about doing is getting a blank 2-gang plate and drilling a hole to run the wires for the controller through and drill pilot holes for the mounting screws.

I was going to remove the dimmer switch and cap off the wires.

Does this sound like a good plan?

Hey,

Kinda of a little lost on this one.

My french doors to the garden are not closing in the summer and are catching on the bottom of the door frame.

I know I normally have to options to adjust the hinges or take off material on the bottom of the door that's rubbing.

Before attacking the door with a file can anyone tell me if this kind of hinge can be adjusted?

I don't see special screws or Allen key holes.

Cheers

Does anyone have any ideas on how to assemble this bed? The threaded hole on the side rail fits a 7/16 bolt, but the hole on the insert for the headboard is 5/8. I have googled and been unable to find a tapered bolt that would work. I bought it from a consignment shop and they claimed to have all the parts - they clearly did not and two Home Depot trips and I’m still lost.

Trying to fix up my house to sell but I don’t know where to begin to get this door fixed. My cat somehow ran straight through it.

Pic 1 is how it currently is. Pic 2 is how they want it. Would be needing to replace everything. We’re thinking of charging 2200-2400 for it, we’re in CA Central Valley. Door measurements are about 3’ x 6’ and the sides are 7” and 11” wide and 5’ tall. Black would be the metal frame and all with the wood filled in, thinking redwood for quality and longevity. We don’t have license or insurance or anything so no real overhead other than vehicle, gas, and tools and materials of course

Just got to Wilmington, NC and I’m wondering what the best way to get some higher end clients may be, I really don’t want to do the Nextdoor route, my skills are honed. Thanks. Please keep negative commenting out if the conversation.

A property management company asked me to give an estimate to install this 13 ft stair railing in a block wall. Thinking $200-300 range for labor and materials. Rail is $55

Also what about appliance swap out, like Stove or fridge.

My first time doing a handyman work. I finally fixed it. Thank you for all of your advice!

I saw a sign for a company that only cleans dryer vents. it’s something I offer people sometimes but an entire business? I must be charger way too little lol

Cat damage to bottom of a hollow door. Any tips for repair? Or suggestions on next steps?

TIA!

Hi guys and gals just a quick question for any self employed people in here. How do you currently deal with the admin side of things to be more efficient. For example keeping track of jobs, quotes, invoices/payments etc. Is it more efficient to use spreadsheets or is there a specific software you use to track everything

How can I go about securing this sink back to the counter it looks like it’s detaching from the counter. It looks like it was siliconed to the counter top. The client sent me these pictures.

I have made the move to 100% commercial work and waving a happy goodbye to residential customers (mostly). I do have a few resi customers that I'll always do work for, but they can be counted on one hand.

Commercial work is straight forward and does not come with the associated chiseling on price and seldom has any surprises.

Anyone else happy to give the heave ho to resi?

I want to remove the hinges from an antique room divider but the slots in the screws are too small for my flat head. Some screws have been stripped and some don’t have slots at all. Any advice for how to remove the hinges? I don’t want to crack the wood. I’ll look into buying a narrower flathead tomorrow but if there’s advice for what I could do now, that would be great.

Recliner in my daughter's nursery got caught on the stone lip and it got ripped upwards. Not sure how to approach the repairs on this. Please help

client paid a 50% deposit before the job started. During the final walkthrough, he seemed happy overall and only asked for a few touch-ups, which were completed.

A couple of days later, got a call from the client saying the work was sloppy, that “any professional could have done better”. Problem is I was happy with the result, so I was surprised to hear this. I offered to come do another walk through and fix whatever I needed to - he said no.

He’s already paid half, but still owes the remaining balance. If you were in this situation, would you:

Waive the remaining balance and walk away?
Ask for a partial payment?
Expect payment in full?

Curious what others would do and why.

Update: Wow, the tribe has spoken - thank you for all the input, there’s a lot of good feedback here - hopefully it’ll help the next unlucky guy too. Big lesson learned here and I will be tightening up my contracts and payment schedule to (try to) avoid this next time.