Our tank (Rheem Performance Plus, 40 gallons) finally died and we're set to just buy another Rheem for replacement. I just don't know if I should do the installation myself or call a plumber. I know my way around flooring, drywall, and basic electrical swaps but never did any work with gas lines or water heater venting before. Anyone who's ever tried this? I'm always up for a challenge but don't want to be overconfident.

Every piece of trim/ every door in my “new” house is covered in layers of lead paint and on top of that covered in layers of nicotine. I’d love to strip it down to its original wood but I fear that would take forever. What can I do? Strip it or seal it and cover it? I’m going insane.

I have really been wanting to replace my bathroom exhaust fan as the bathroom is pretty humid even when it is turned on. The cover said emerson electric, and the measurements for the housing was 9” by 8”. The motor itself said Gould FC-1 on it. I have not been able to find a replacement fan with this size for the motor housing after looking, but was wondering if anyone knows of one?? Another issue is that this is an old house, and for a larger unit, we would have to cut through plaster and lath. It currently is a 60 cfu motor but it can barely hold a piece of paper even after vacuuming and wiping out the housing and what I could reach inside of the vent. My guess would be that the fan is from the 1970s, as that’s the age of the flooring and vanity for the bathroom. Any advice or help with this upgrade would be appreciated!!

House is a single floor built on a concrete slab (no basement) in Massachusetts in 1949. We’re doing an addition to expand the kitchen and add a second bathroom. This trench we made is for the new bathroom drain line. We cut through some of these metal rods that look almost like rebar/supports for the slab. Is this a problem and how should we go about repairing everything once we dig down and install the new plumbing? Thanks in advance for any help!

Getting house ready to sell and Ive been replacing all the light switches which has been straightforward and easy until this son of a gun....

They never set the ground wire!

How do I fix it?

Its kinda still just wrapped around in there with the shortest nub.

Strange issue. My wife bought a shelf from Shein. Pieces are too wide to go horizontally from stud to stud. I tried using the supplied drywall anchors but they didn't catch so the screw wasn't secure.

I was able to find a stud and drill a screw into it. I went directly down to secure the bottom hole and it's straight drywall??? I hung up 3 TVs within the last couple weeks. I know it's right because I had to use an impact wrench for it and those bolts were tough to drive.

The shower drain and the new base are not in perfect alignment. Off by maybe 1/2 an inch. I used a fernco coupling to give it a little movement but not sure it will work with the slight angle. Any ideas besides a mortar bed, dig up the drain pipe, or ?

I need to add insulation to a metal garage (30’w X 30’l x 10’h). I’d like to use close cell foam, 1” thick over a factory 2” fiberglass (R-6.8) insulation. I see ads for DIY kits that use a lot of cans or larger cylinders. I’m not sure which brands/systems are best to purchase. I am confident I have the technical ability to do this, but am I saving money vs. I hiring a company that specializes in this?

Edit: I tried adding a picture to the post but it would not upload correctly. Here is a link for the picture of the garage door opener: https://imgur.com/a/hho85v8

Hello,

I just moved into a home a few weeks ago and we have experienced an issue with accidentally turning the garage door opener off and getting stuck outside. This seems to be because someone wired a receptacle outlet to the former light fixture in the ceiling to provide the garage door opener with a plug to get power (as seen in the picture). As inconvenient as making sure the light switch stays on, I know this isn't the biggest issue to have to deal with. However, I do suspect this setup must be violating some safety residential or electrical code, so that is why I'm here wanting to verify.

I did a little research by asking Gemini AI (I know AI isn't a professional but I needed somewhere to start) and it confirmed this is an "improper DIY setup". It also mentioned that this setup can be bad for the circuit board of the garage door opener, thus killing it. It apparently can also cause it to possibly lose its memory and stop working with the currently programmed remotes.

Gemini AI also mentioned this "-powering a primary electrical appliance through a switched lighting loop violates standard electrical safety practices and national standards (NEC 210.11 / 210.8)".

I'm no electrician, but I researched the codes a bit and this part stood out to me

*"*No Other Outlets: This specific circuit is reserved exclusively for the garage's receptacle outlets. It cannot feed interior lights, nor can it run to any other room in the house - These mandated outlets must be installed-- no higher than 5.5 feet off the ground".

To me it seems this part of the code is violated because as in the picture, the receptacle is clearly above 5.5ft and is feeding power to a light fixture that was installed in the ceiling of the garage.

My last concern is the electrical box popping out the ceiling for the receptacle power for the garage door opener and light fixture. As ugly as it is, is this another hazard?

I have already reached out to the property manager about this and they basically told me that it was done by a previous tenant and to tape the light switch to the ON position if its an issue...

I was hoping someone on here can confirm for me if there is an real concern with:

1. Having the garage door opener wired to the light switch instead of constant power.
2. Having the receptacle on the ceiling.
3. With the light fixture getting power from the receptacle in the ceiling.
4. With the electrical box coming out of the ceiling.

If any of this really is a hazard, can an electrical or safety code can be provided for me so I can have something ready for my response to the property manager about this? If there is no real issue, then please also let me know so I can drop this issue and move on to the next thing.

Thank you all for your time seeing this, as well to those who take the time to reply.

I’m making a playroom for my kids and have a couple of loose ends to tie up. The one that I can’t figure out is this rope ladder. Right now, if even a 30lb kiddo steps on the bottom, the entire rope ladder loses integrity and sucks in(picture an upside down teardrop). I need to fasten the edges and bottom to the wall, but 1) I want the rope ladder to remain a few inches off the wall for usability, and 2) I don’t really want ugly/hazardous eye bolts/S-screws down low in I can avoid it.

Right now, the best I can figure is to slad another 8’ 2x4 on the right side and maybe use rope clamps in the 2x4s, but that seems pretty painful on a project that I’m super ready to be done with.. Any creative suggestions would be appreciated!

I’ve tried rotating counter clockwise and it won’t budge - I’m afraid to break something. I don’t see any screws underneath. How to remove?

My shower handle feels loose, and it's causing uneven pressure (water not fully going through the faucet or the shower) and unable to properly set temperature. for example if I turn the faucet to full-hot then I barely get any pressure from the shower head. I only get decent pressure at a finicky mid-point that's somewhat cold water.

I'm trying to loosen the handle so I can see if there's any silicone ring that needs to be fixed / replaced - I have a feeling just loosening it, adjusting it and tightening it back up will fix the problem. But I'm unable to loosen it. I have a long 3/32 hex wrench that feels like the right fit - one size up 7/64 doesn't fit. but even the 3/32 wrench feels like it fits but as I turn it just slips, so I'm a little afraid the head is already ruined or it'll get ruined if I keep trying.

I don't know the brand, Google lens tells me its CFG (Cleveland Faucet Group), a brand owned by Moen. So pretty generic. Anybody have any advice? I don't think I want to remove the whole plate (with the two Philips I screws underneath) - or should I?

I'm looking to replace the the transition strip. The original was just glued and the glue eventually dried up so I cleaned the glue residue on the floor. I purchased the top strip (Aluminum Square Cap LVT Floor Transition Strip) but its not going to work out since there is an obvious gap and this is a DIY for AFTER a carpet was installed. Any tips/recommendations appreciated...

Hello! I have a pantry that seems to have the countertop be covered in stick on tile sections. It’s stained dirty and I was hoping to remove it to see if I could paint underneath it. However when I started to pull it up (started with the edge of a hammer, then switched to the tool in the image), I started to see that the surface had this incredibly dark color under what I thought was the base.

Is this something I can sand and paint over? Or have I gone too far and will now need just a new countertop?

Added a photo of slightly above that area for perspective on how the counter looks. Any advice is appreciated!!

I’m looking to replace this Z channel above the garage. Can I buy this as is or should I plan to bend as needed?

Hi there! My fiancée and I just moved into our new home which was finished by my father in law. He’s kind of a do things cheap kinda guy, so everything he put in is either framed in or completely knotty pine. I’ve heard it can be difficult to deal with and this would be my project, so does anyone happen to have any tips or tricks on how to get this kind of trim fixed up?

Edit: thanks for all the advice! Quick thing, it’s not just the doors, it’s every piece of trim in the home and it’s a very overwhelming aesthetic I don’t like lol. Seems consensus is stain the doors and I will do that!

We bought a cabin last year and a couple of the rooms do not have ceiling fans or overhead lights. Instead, we're entirely reliant on lamps which give frustratingly little light making it difficult to see in either of these rooms.

I have a plan for getting the power to the fixture, I'm going to fish a wire through the interior wall from the basement to the ceiling and then pull it through a piece of conduit.

My questions are around the fan mounting itself:

1. Do you know if any fans that are designed to mount directly to a beam and have a conduit terminate into them?

2. If not, do you guys think it'd generally be okay to mount a box directly to the beam or would it be a better approach to use an electrical box brace that mounts between the beams?

Any other considerations you'd take into account for a project like this?

In all my infinite wisdom, I somehow did this today. Did not even blink at the detailed part being inward facing, or the window section being on the outside.

So now I'm faced with the problem of, can I manage to cover these holes up and make it look decent? Or am I going to have to buy a replacement door?

Latch has to swap sides, so I'll have three ¼" holes to cover.

The (wrong) holes for the arm mounting will be exposed to the outside if I flip the door. Maybe some aftermarket decorative trim I could cover it with?​

I have a very mad woman, mad at me. Send help.

Just moved homes and our HVAC vents are in the ceiling . Unless you have the vent fully closed they are insanely loud. What can I do so I don’t have such loud vents but still able to open and close them?

I need to know how to fill this gap. The guy who did our flooring did a shit job and now we can’t get ahold of him, but we also can’t afford a very expensive job to cover this up. I want this covered ASAP. I’m terrified of spiders and having it covered and sealed would just give me a lot of peace of mind.

Can I add a flag pole bracket to this stone? If so, what kind of anchors and where should I put them (stone or mortar)?

I need new counters but what I want is out of my budget right now. I was researching DIY options for short term since I'm pretty handy.

Am I crazy for thinking I could DIY a porcelain countertop using very large format tile (24" x 48") over a plywood base? I know I'd have some seams, and I'd need trim pieces to finish the front edge and increase the depth to standard counter 25", but that seems do-able. For a total price of approximately 10% of the cost of quartz, this seems worth the elbow grease. It could also potentially be done in 2 days vs waiting up to 2 months for quartz.

I have plenty of tiling experience, but not counters and not this large a size. What should I consider?

I’ve recently purchased a commercial space and I’m in the process of fitting it out into a collective of individual rooms/suites for hair, beauty and skin professionals.

The fit-out is around 100m² and involves new internal walls, plumbing to multiple rooms, electrical, air-conditioning, flooring, ceilings, painting etc. We’ll obviously still be using licensed trades where required and have the appropriate plans/certification/approvals in place.

I previously worked in construction as an Office Manager, so I’m fairly comfortable dealing with trades, quotes, scheduling, variations, purchase orders, invoices and keeping things moving. I’m also already getting individual quotes directly from plumbers, electricians, air-con contractors etc.

I’ve now got a builder looking at pricing the entire job and project managing/subcontracting everything, but I’m questioning whether I actually need to pay the builder’s margin to manage the whole fit-out or whether I should manage the trades myself and engage a builder/carpenter only for the building component.

I understand there’s value in having one person responsible for coordinating everything, but this is also a business investment and every additional $10–20k spent on the fit-out has to make commercial sense.

For anyone who has done commercial fit-outs or works in construction:
Would you self-manage something of this size if you had some construction/admin experience?
Where does owner-project-managing usually go wrong?
Are there particular parts you would absolutely leave under a builder’s control?
And roughly how much value do you think a good builder/project manager adds versus the additional margin?

I’m not trying to cut corners — I’m trying to work out the smartest way to structure the job without paying for management I could realistically do myself. Plus the more money I have left over I can use for finishes making it luxe.

Let me know :)

Hi all, looking for assistance with stopping water from seeping through this old shower door frame. Every time someone showers a steady bead of water drips down from where I have my finger in the first pic and pools on the floor.

So far I have attempted to fix this by sealing the frame edge from the inside of the shower with silicone caulk, and water is still somehow dripping through.

Any suggestions, advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

How would I go about repairing this wall? Peel off the damaged sections, fill with putty, sand and paint?

Thanks for any advice