I’m in Cary, NC, in a single-family home. We had a leak that put a decent amount of water onto the floor in one room. I shut off the water, cleaned up what I could with towels and a wet/dry vac, and have had fans running since then.

The floor looks much better now, but I’m wondering how people normally tell whether the area underneath is actually dry. The flooring is over a wood subfloor, so I’m mainly concerned about moisture being trapped underneath where I can’t see it.

For anyone who has dealt with this before:

• How long did it take for the subfloor to dry?
• Is running fans enough, or is a dehumidifier important too?
• Is there an easy way to check moisture in the subfloor without tearing up the flooring?
• At what point would you consider it worth having someone inspect it?

There’s no standing water anymore and I don’t see any obvious damage beyond the flooring. Just trying to make sure I’m not overlooking a problem that could show up later.

I don’t know how this happened I just noticed it in my bedroom 😩 renting this room out from someone so panicking

House has older wood frame Anderson windows. Kitchen has developed some water staining/mold primarily on sill, bath on the window.

Sand, vinegar, killz and paint? Then they end up being the only 2 painted windows. Sand vinegar and re stain?

Some other type of cleaner

Need to take care/ possibly prepping for sale

I hired a plumber to pick up and install a new water heater covered under warranty. Apparently the supplier gave them a higher end model than the warranty replacement model and completed the install. I paid the plumber already and now the supplier is saying the serial numbers don’t match for the warranty. Do I tell them to kick rocks? It’s clearly the supplier’s mistake for giving the wrong model to my plumber.

Hello. Just bought a new house and during inspection it was pointed out to us that three of our main floor windows were installed improperly. Now that we’re moving in, what’s the best way to address this? Just take the screws out and seal up the holes at this point? Pay for repairs? Some other DIY solution? We live in the PNW so get lots of rain, want to be sure we don’t address it the wrong way. Thank you in advance.

Should I be concerned with these gaps in the siding? We have lived in for 4 years since the first inspection and I don’t know when it started.

The biggest crack is about 1/4 inch wide and there are a few dozen of these on one side of the house. This is in Seattle Washington

Edit: I found the inspection report which describes this as LP siding. I poked in between the gaps with a key and there is a tarp-like membrane of some kind, which did not feel like metal. It was too difficult to get any pictures in such a tight gap. The siding itself is 1/2 inch thick so it was pretty deep to get anything in there.

I live in a ranch with an attic that’s essentially a crawl space. I recently began converting my garage into a bedroom which includes putting drywall up as a ceiling where previously there was none.

Access to the attic was always tight but the garage ceiling was open so anyone doing maintenance could climb up towards the front or center of the house.

With the drywall, there will be one access which is tight but accessible. It goes right along the peak of the roof so it also provides the most space to climb up and move around. The problem is, once you climb up there is HVAC duct work on both sides so it’s essentially a long hallway between the ductwork. I didn’t crawl all the way down, so I’m not sure if it’s possible to get around it, but going over without crushing it seems impossible.

Im curious if this is normal in these types of houses and if there’s something I can do to make access easier. I’m trying to avoid adding an access elsewhere in the house since the renovation is focused solely on lithe garage. I also don’t think I really have another great place to put one.

My main concern is when I need an electrician or HVAC tech to access the attic for some reason and they can’t address the issue.

BACKGROUND: We noticed drywall water damage at the base of a 1958 bedroom window about 6 weeks ago. Initial moisture readings from when we first found it are attached as picture 1; a large swath of this wall read as either elevated or slightly elevated. After having several moisture remediation and window companies out, we suspect the cause is some combination of failed exterior caulk/flashing, the sill nosing sloping toward the window instead of away, and clogged weep holes along the window tracks. We've had a plastic tarp covering the exterior window opening since this was first noticed.

I cut into the drywall myself after getting a negative asbestos test on the material. I found staining on the back of the drywall and on the wood behind it (which is possibly structural sheathing given the home's brick veneer construction, but that's my best guess, not confirmed).

DATA POINTS:

• Current moisture reading on the exposed wood (likely sheathing): ~10% (dry)
• Current moisture reading on the surrounding intact drywall: notably higher
• Three restoration companies gave mixed reads from photos of the opening. One said proceed carefully if under 10 sq ft, one said stop entirely, one confirmed it's mold but didn't weigh in on DIY-ability.
• Professional remediation quotes ranged roughly $1,400–$3,500 depending on scope.

CURRENT PLAN:

1. Treat as DIY if the affected area stays under 10 sq ft (per EPA guidance) and the exposed wood passes a basic structural test (firm when poked with a screwdriver/awl = clean and treat; soft/crumbly = stop and call a pro)
2. Full containment (plastic sheeting, sealed room, exhaust fan pointing out a second window in the room), proper PPE (P100 respirator, HEPA vacuum)
3. Clean/treat with Concrobium if the wood is structurally sound; don't remove the sheathing itself
4. Let it fully dry, then reinstall drywall

HONEST CONTEXT: We just paid for a full roof replacement and still need to replace several windows, so I'm trying to save where I can by doing this myself, but I want to be careful not to talk myself into the cheaper option just because money's tight right now.

QUESTIONS:

1. Based on the photos, does this look DIY-manageable, or should I just hire a professional? Or is it genuinely hard to tell without opening the wall up further?
2. The wood shows surface staining but tests dry at 10% -- does that track as "past moisture, now under control," or am I being too optimistic?
3. Anything else specific you'd check before deciding to proceed vs. call a pro?

I recently remediated some water intrusion in my crawlspace myself and it went well, so I have a reasonable degree of confidence tackling this too, but feel free to give me a reality check if I'm missing something. Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

BACKGROUND: I noticed white, chalky buildup where the wall tile meets the floor tile, right at the grout line where it transitions into the caulk. It's showing up in two spots along that seam. I re-caulked this entire shower about 6 months ago and feel like I did a good job (cleaned all joints, wiped with rubbing alcohol, let dry, taped, applied caulk, smoothed, let cure), but I'm not sure if this is related or coincidental. The rest of the shower looks fine; no other soft spots or discoloration anywhere else.

DATA POINTS:

• Buildup is white and chalky/crusty, not black, pink, or fuzzy
• Located in two spots along the same wall/floor seam, not spread across the tile
• Visible crack in the caulk near one of the spots
• No soft spots, discoloration, or issues anywhere else in the shower

CURRENT PLANT:

1. Confirm whether this is efflorescence rather than mold or an active leak
2. If efflorescence: clean the area, dig out the caulk at the affected spots, and redo just those sections rather than the full shower
3. Make sure the new caulk properly bonds where it meets the existing caulk, since silicone doesn't stick to old silicone
4. Check whether there's any need to look behind the wall for moisture before resealing

HONEST CONTEXT: I just redid this caulk 6 months ago, so if the fix here is "redo the whole shower again," that's annoying but I'll do it if that's actually what's needed. I just don't want to jump straight to that if a spot fix is legitimate.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this efflorescence, or could it be something else I should be more worried about (mold, active leak)?
2. Any way to tell if this is linked to the recaulk job, or if it's a separate issue?
3. What's the right fix: (1) recaulk the full shower, or (2) just dig out and redo the caulk at these specific spots?
   • If (2), how do I properly transition new caulk onto the old caulk?
4. Do I need to check behind the wall for moisture? If so, what's the easiest, least intrusive way to do that?

Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I am considering purchasing a home with a patio that was poured over the vinyl siding. There is no visible internal damage at the moment. Patio was poured about 15-20 years ago.

One water proofer had major concerns over this. He said to walk away from house if they would not remove patio and check behind. Other water proofer said that it’s technically incorrect and can definitely have issues but since there’s no visible damage after all this time it may be less concerning but it’s always a risk and can’t know what’s back there without opening it up. But he doesn’t think it’s necessary to do that unless we see damage going on inside the basement it home.

Mold remediatior said the same as second water proofer. More damage would be done inside if there was an actual issue with the way the patio is poured.

The patio is slanted away from the house and down toward the grass.

Any advice or insight would be helpful just trying to see the risks and likelihood there’s a big problem behind the siding. Thanks!

Any good ideas to fix without cutting out and replacing a square of the drywall?

Original plastic wing anchors fell out, upgraded to the metal screw-in anchors and kids pulled those out. That left big holes. Initially just filled with mud, which was too soft to put anchors back in. Then tried bondo. The bondo didn’t bond to the drywall so it just popped out when o tried anchors again.

At this point I wish I’d just replaced this bit of Sheetrock. But now I’m kinda committed to not doing that if possible 🤷‍♂️

The slab on my door was damaged, so I replaced it with a new one. In hindsight, I probably should have installed a prehung door instead. I carefully lined up the hinges, marked all the holes, and reinstalled the new slab, but now the door isn’t plumb. There’s a gap at the top, and the bottom is rubbing against the middle piece of the frame. Is there any way to fix this? I was thinking of using a multi-tool to notch out the middle piece at the bottom. But wanted to check to see if there's an easier way.

These appeared over the past few months and I'm worried

So in my front and back door I can see light leaking through the side of the door handle side I already put new weather strip on my front door but it’s still leaking and when pushing the door in a little the light goes away

My kid bumped into the wall with a thrust and this happened.How can this be repaired without incurring major cost for repair?

Just moved into my rental flat and the ‘stem’ part of my table is wiggly, as shown in the video. There are 3 screws in the bottom which were a tiny bit loose but even after I tightened them it’s still wiggly. The table is unusable because it’s so wiggly god forbid you eat on it, the leasing agency won’t do anything about it smh. The glass top popped off but that’s a separate issue I’m just gonna stick it back on with gorilla glue or some other glass adhesive. I tried to glue the bottom part so it wouldn’t wiggle but that didn’t work 😔

Please help!

Wife and I purchased a beautiful 1987 build home not to long ago - notice this staircase cracking above the garage door. Is this something I should be concerned about? I’m looking at fixing it up to prevent further damage/water issues, I’m wondering if this is a simple DAP filler styled job or if this should require something else. Brick Veneer, looks to be wood frame, this again is located above the garage door. The left side garage wall also has similar cracking but doesn’t seem deep from what I saw.

I noticed about 5-6 of these in the ground of the east side of my front yard. About 2-3 inches wide. There are no other spots that have these