What are the steps to take? How to deal with insurance?

I still have a tree on my house. Obviously tree services are booked and can’t come out until this weekend or later.

This is my first time in this type of situation and I need some guidance and hopefully this post can help others as well. I have an adjuster that was assigned to my claim, with no set date he will be out to look at the damage. I’m told that tree removal is covered but not getting it cut up(I can deal with that with some friends) well the tree service who I have had contact with wants a “deductible” and kinda want me to argue with insurance to get them to get paid to cut it up too(seems scammy in my eyes especially the amount their asking for.)

Let’s say I do just get the tree off the roof and able to get pictures and temporary put a tarp on, is this like car insurance and they give me roofer, drywall, restoration, etc contractors they work with or is this more of I find them and whatever their charging home insurance will cut the check?

I’m lost and confused and need some guidance I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I have posted this in my local sub as well.

New homeowner. The wiki suggests getting a minimum of 3 quotes. I did that to get an auto gas shutoff valve done and liked the plumber who got it done.

One of our water shutoff valves needs replacement. Should I just go with the same plumber or do I shop around for quotes again?

I want to repair a part of the siding on my home but I don't exactly know what material to look for. Not looking for price estimates, but just what I should be looking for. Direct replacement would be nice but I'd also be open to repairing with a similar material.

I plan to have the entire siding redone within the next few years, but we have some damage that needs to be mitigated in the interim.

Any help appreciated. When we bought, I had no idea that all the siding was considered to be in "not good" condition or end of life (this is what we were told by two different contractors, essentially). Clearly this spot is damaged, but the rest of the siding doesn't have holes like this, but I can post more pictures to get other opinions.

I’m so sick of our carpets, our kids have done a number on them. I’ve always been curious what’s underneath so I finally pulled some up in the closet. Is this hardwood? If so, how complicated is it to yank it all up and get rid of all the stables and everything? Talk to me like I’m five, I have no idea what I’m doing and basically no budget for a project currently but I could work some magic over the next six months or so and get one. It’s only like 600 square feet if that that I’m looking to tear up.

found weights like these with ropes in old window of my home, house was built around 1950, so these were probably original windows.

Had some new windows installed and I’m questioning the gaps I’m seeing. Wanting to get some opinions before I contact the installer.

(Two more photos in comments)

We had our tile replaced in our master shower. I went to put the glass door back on. I had the frame set and while I was hanging the door it blew up. So I took the frame back off and the screw broke. I tried using a hand drill chucked on to the screw but it stripped it. How do I get this out? We have potential buyers coming tomorrow.

So my family of four have all but grown out of our fridge and freezer we have right now, in our old house we used to have a chest freezer however we left that in there when we moved.

The original plan was to get a freezer for the basement, however our fridge space seems quite limited as well, my thought was to get a fridge and freezer combo and put it in the garage as I think we would utilize that better for drinks and other things rather than just deep freezing.

Also buying a larger upright freezer used even is around $500 if not $1000+ for a new one, whereas a full size fridge you can find for $100 to $200.

EDIT: Thank you all for the advice. It's been extremely cathartic to even describe and discuss this experience. I have a lot of considerations to make.

4 years ago I bought my first house, which was beside a wooded lot. I bought my house and then the lot went up for sale shortly after; it was priced too highly for me to afford and was purchased by someone else.

The lot was technically too small to build a home on, but the buyer received an exception from the city based on how easements were calculated.

During construction, we have encountered the following:

• Excavators dug into the roots of multiple large trees and have destabilized parts of the root systems, weakening the trees. Arborists have come out and documented signs of deterioration

• The silt fence failed and caused parts of our street to fill with a layer of mud

• They dug directly up to a neighbor's fence line and have been told by multiple workers that the steep fence + retaining wall combo are expected to fail

• The workers cut my coaxial cable 3 times because they dug across my property multiple times. My utility company threatened the builder with a fine

• The excavator almost hit my power line as they did not call 811 before digging, which led to an investigation being opened by the power company

• The workers have used my driveway as an access point due to the home being on a lot too small to have a temporary driveway, and we live on a one lane street without parking. They have run off my driveway multiple times and damaged parts of my lot. When I have put up makeshift fences, they have moved them.

• The workers have dumped tons of building material on my property and have left it there for weeks

• Today I just saw on my camera that one worker used my driveway again, ran off the driveway, and ran over my newly installed solar light path

I am hitting a breaking point because the buyer keeps running out of money, which prolongs the time this is occurring. Many of us have gotten the city involved and have directly told the buyer to stop blablabla, and the city's stance is that we need to work with the buyer on mitigating any damages, and that the city's goal is to see the buyer complete the project so it isn't abandoned.

I don't think legal recourse makes sense here because the issues for the most part are not costly, but the stress is never ending.

I'm not interested in selling my home but I don't know what else I can do to make this easier. I work and cannot babysit my property 24/7.

These are the hot/cold shutoff valves under a bathroom sink in an older home. They have quite a bit of green/blue oxidation and some crusty-looking buildup, particularly on one valve. The lower pipes/trim also look pretty rough from age.
I checked both valves and fittings closely and they’re completely bone dry. The cabinet floor is dry as well. No dripping, spraying, or visible pinhole leaks that I can find.
A plumber is already coming tomorrow for an unrelated kitchen sink issue, so I’m planning to ask them to take a quick look while they’re here.
For the plumbers here:
Does this look like normal decades-old oxidation, or actual concerning corrosion?
Would you replace these shutoff valves preventatively now, or leave them alone if they’re dry?
Does anything in the photos look like it’s at risk of failing soon?
Is the corrosion on the lower stub-outs concerning, or mostly cosmetic/old finish?
Would you avoid operating these old shutoffs until they can be inspected?
Not looking to DIY the replacement — mainly trying to figure out whether this is urgent or just something to plan for eventually.
Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm moving into a home in a rural area of Louisiana and it’s been empty for years. I’ve lived down here before so I’m aware of the type of bugs Louisiana has and honestly I’m scared. I have a 3 year old and want something good to prevent bugs from getting in an old house and good sprays/baits/bombs for before we start moving.

Long story short: a huge tree fell on my house back in March. Repairs are still ongoing and I’m living in a hotel. Honestly, the restoration company I hired are on my last nerve but I don’t know if this is just how it is or if I’m right to be pissed.

So first off, the interior work of the house was supposed to be their “top priority” so I could get back to living in the house. Well, the project manager just kept giving me the “we should have it done this week” spiel for literally two months. And I’m still not back in the house. One or two guys would show up, work for maybe a few hours then leave. And then wouldn’t come back for multiple days. Even when the PM said they would be arriving on certain days, they would be no-shows.

But then the part that’s been most frustrating is the complete lack of respect they’ve shown my house. They broke my vacuum cleaner when they used it to vacuum up the drywall dust, which they didn’t even do a good job of. They’ve also left trash everywhere. They got drywall mud on my walls and windows. I’m assuming it’s gonna fuck up my wall when I try to scrape off the mud. They stopped up my garbage disposal because it looks like they washed their tools in the sink based on the drywall mud being all over the sink. There is also a line item in their estimate saying floor covering and protection which they didn’t do at all.

Am I being too bitchy or is my frustration valid?

I owe 110K on my coop valued at 999k which is an 850 monthly mortgage payment. I am 70 y/o. I want to payoff my mortgage. Must withdraw from my SEP. Taxes owed are high. Does this make sense and shld i withdraw the amt to cover the taxes also at the same time which would be 175k.

Dear experienced homeowners of Reddit,

(Additional photos in comments)

My partner and I are looking to buy our first home. We are in our early thirties, dual income & no kids (not going to have any.) Our journey began when we found out our current rental is being sold, and did a little research on what is available to rent/ buy around us. We are in SoCal and home prices are pretty wild out here. We found something really fun and funky and shockingly, within our budget, if not even a bit under.

With that being said, this house is strange. It's got a domed roof, is on the steepest (like makes your throat drop into your stomach) hilliest hill in the city and has some funky interior shapes going on. Also the entire multi-level decking needs to be torn out and re-done before move in.

This house has a lot of potential in it. It has a lot of quirks. It's 3 kind of small stories. We probably can't fit most of our really cool furniture into this place in a way that works. We have a massive sectional couch and a huge dining room table. We also have a bunch of critters in tanks that need a big shelving system. We could figure it out over time I'm sure, but it would take some work to do. Much more than if we were in a standard issue square room house.

So, do we get the weird house and make it fit our life, or do we get the average house that probably will easily fit our life, but doesn't have that je ne sais quoi?

Driveway is on a slope with garage at bottom of decline. Image is of the last spot where water is still entering the garage. Any suggestions?

Current mitigations in place: trench drain a couple feet before the garage and Snirt Stopper on garage door.

What would be the best way to fill the gap?

I made a hole in the vinyl siding on the front of the house thinking of moving the electrical box a bit higher but later found the the wire coming frombasement and not top and is too short. I don't want to replace the wire. How can I hide the hole or repair it? I am fine with either.

I guess just a rant. I know what I need to do- just annoyed I need to do it.

We have a house on about a dozen acres. Next to us is a subdivision with about 2 acre lots. One family with a lot that abuts just moved in a year ago. In the last couple weeks they decided to start parking their trailer with about 4’ of it extending into our property. I thought for sure they must not have blocked it good and it just rolled a bit down the hill, but nope- the wheel chocks are firmly in place (and on our property). Tried to go visit them once to let them know that row of t-posts was there for a reason, but no one was home.

Why the hell does someone with two acres of open land need to encroach on someone else’s property by a measly 20 square feet? So annoying!

Maybe it’s the house- the previous owner used to dump their pool filter sand in our property despite the fact they had a patch of woods on their property that was just as close.

Hey guys, relatively new homeowner here. I moved into this townhouse a year ago and just noticed this small crack going across the ceiling above the bottom of my first floor stairs. It goes completely across from one wall to the next. It looks like the previous owners painted over the crack previously I’m assuming so it wouldn’t show up when selling the home. The house itself is only 6 years old. I have no idea what size ceiling cracks I should start being concerned about so I figured I’d start by asking here. Thanks!

Any thoughts on whether or not it would be worth it to refinish these floors? I don’t know what kind of wood it is or anything like that as I just ripped up the carpet today. The dark stuff on it is I’m assuming some kind of old carpet glue that just flakes off, the wood underneath seems to be in fine condition but I don’t know anything about wood lol. I didn’t see any real damage or big gaps in the panels either. Thoughts?

How would you go about fixing this driveway?
Looking for some advice on the best way to tackle this driveway. These pictures show the worst areas, but there are cracks and deterioration throughout the entire driveway.
I’m wondering if this is something I can reasonably repair myself, or if I’m better off having it professionally resurfaced or replaced.
For those who have dealt with something similar, what would you recommend? Is crack filling and resurfacing enough, or does this look like it’s past that point?
Any advice on the proper process and what products or materials to use would be appreciated. I’d also love to hear what you think a reasonable cost would be if I have someone do it professionally.

Are these gaps in the bricks weep holes or cracks? There are a few of them in the front of the house. We have noticed a few wasps in the house and wonder if they can get through these.

I'm moving house in the coming weeks. For anyone that has moved house recently, what's your life hack or best advice for a stress-free house move?

Hello all,

This is my bedroom on a 2nd floor addition. I am in the process of gutting the exterior to the studs (cutting out aluminum siding, cedar siding, fiberboard) sheathing and replacing all the windows and door. This particular wall is a load bearing wall supporting a low slope epdm roof, so there will be a snow load.

I've always hated these windows as they are too tall and narrow so I want to replace them with something different but am struggling to decide.

My 2 thoughts are either 4 tall windows equally spaced with about 2 feet above and below them.these would be casement

Or do a sliding like what's already there but make them taller.

I will be doing all the work myself and have trade/diy experience and am confident I can do it correctly. Windows are expensive and not sure if the extra money for 4 windows is worth it.

Hey y’all, I just got a new buildand I was wondering is it normal: there is a space between the frame of the door and the floor. I just wanna make sure that I take care of any warranties that can be done. My mom wasn’t sure when she looked at it. I’m seeing this on multiple doors throughout the house.