My wife and I are considering buying a home, when looking at the house, we saw these cracks on the garage floor. Looking into it, I've already seen plenty of the "only two types of concrete" mantra. I didn't think these were cause for big concern, but don't know enough about concrete to be sure. They run the full length of the garage floor, it looks a little worse at the front (second and third picture). There's nothing else above the garage, or below it. Single family home in Wisconsin.

Should I be worried about these? Or are they nothing?

Got quoted $6k to fix two pads of my sidewalk. What is a more reasonable quote? I’m just gonna do it myself if it’s that expensive.

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!

I've tried using locking pliers to twist the back of the handle off but I can't remove it. Plus, the toilet is directly under a built-in shelf that extends out of the wall and somewhat limits my access/maneuverability in the tank area.

I've tried twisting and pulling the damn thing off but all that did was warp the rod that extends to the flapper. I don't care about it since I want to replace it anyway. What are my options here?

EDIT: Like everybody said, I just had to do righty-loosey. Thanks everyone! New handle is on!

Many of my light fixtures and now one of my outlets is producing condensation and therefore mold. My husband and I just moved into this home at the end of May. It has been issue after issue and this is the latest one. We are already having to pay an exorbitant amount to replace all the AC boots for new ones because none of them are sealed and producing condensation and I am guessing this is why it’s happening to other things as well. My question is - has anyone ever had this issue before? What on earth do we do? We are first time homeowners and I am feeling so overwhelmed.

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.

My shower floor is about 12.5 sq ft and about 1-2 sq ft of it has small chunks of missing grout. The rest of it is perfect. I've never done any sort of tike of grout work before but I feel fairly handy doing stuff around the house, especially if I watch a few YouTube videos beforehand. Is this something that I can easily tackle on my own? And should I only grout the missing sections or should I scrape out all the grout on the floor and redo the entire floor? Also should use a sanded or non sanded grout if I do this? Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

Basically the title. SFH in ON, CA. Want to reduce cold (and hot) air coming from outside.

Help! We’ve diverted water and dug the window wells down more but still get water like this when it rains very heavy. Should we caulk outside and inside? What can be done? We end up pumping the water out of the window wells but it’s not feasible all the time. What do we do??

Just moved into a condo. The AC was working fine. We ran the AC for 3 days straight during a heatwave and it suddenly stopped blowing cold air. We left the AC off for a week and when we turned it back on it was working again. We don't run the AC continuously anymore but it still will randomly stop blowing cold air and then start working again seemingly at random. Anyone know what could be causing this? Is there any other information you would need to know to diagnosis, repair, or troubleshoot?

I can't figure out how to change this light. I've tried pulling it, but it's not coming out. I've tried turning it, and it turns about 50% of the way, and I pulled gently as I was turning but nothing. The entire frame is the same except for one small space, shown in the second picture.

Help! Please and thank you.

The reason I’m unsure is the previous owner left it uncaulked. I assumed this was wrong and also there was a water stain in the garage under the shower to support my theory, so I caulked it. After doing more research it seems some showers should be uncaulked or have weep holes. How do I know if I need to have a weep hole or am causing more damage with caulk?

It seems the reason to leave it uncaulked is because water can eventually penetrate the grout. But again the water stain tells me they were wrong to leave it uncaulked.

Also yes I know my caulk job looks bad, I’m trying to get better.

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.

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.

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.

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if I could get some advice. I live in a heavy clay area in Texas. My foundation is an issue. I have a company that I have a warranty with, and they come to adjust whenever my crawlspace shrinks. The question I have, is should I use drip hoses around the perimeter of the house, a vapor barrier, or use both to help keep the ground moist, so the clay doesn't shrink or swell. My crawlspace is open, but I plan to close it with genstone siding and have only a couple of vents to keep the cold out. I have closed cell foam under the subfloor so I was told I wouldn't need a vapor barrier, but feel like I should install one so the crawlspace stays moist during our dry spells.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

My garbage disposal runs for a few seconds, then shuts off and the red reset button underneath pops out. The unit also feels a bit hot.

After waiting for it to cool down, I can press the reset button and it works again—but the same thing happens repeatedly. It seems to be jammed since the water is not really draining when it runs for few seconds.

Any ideas what’s most likely causing this, or what I should check first? Is this a DIY fix or time to call an expert?

Yesterday I pulled the fill valve out of my toilet tank (middle floor, hardwood bathroom) because it wasn't working, and left it disconnected overnight. Didn't realize water was still dripping from the supply line. Today I found water had leaked through into my basement and the drop ceiling below that bathroom was soaked. I have removed the soaked drop ceiling. The joists above are visibly wet. The basement carpet under that area also got soaked.

I've since shut off the water, removed the wet ceiling tiles, and I'm running fans on the exposed joists. Water exposure was probably under 24 hours total.

My Question:

Is running fans/dehumidifier on the open joists for a few days enough, or should I be more worried about rot/mold given it's only been ~1 day of exposure?Is this something I can DIY from here, or does it need a pro water mitigation company? If DIY is reasonable, what should my next steps be?

I have AHS (American Home Shield). Not sure they will cover the cost for the damage

Any input from people who've dealt with something similar would help. Photos in comments if useful.

Not sure if this is the proper term. Bought house 3 years ago. This has started to remove itself from wall. Noticed over time most of the updates to the now 60 year old house were done by 3 children in a trench coat disguised as an adult. Question is: how do I repair/replace this?

Hi anyone who possibly have this knowledge,

I plan to renovate my kitchen in an COOP apartment 3 months ago. My contractor told me I have to do architect drawing for this project in order to get the permits from the town of North Hempstead 2 months ago. Now the town send me msg that I should apply the permit for Commercial building instead of residential building which was done falsely by the architect.

My question is that anyone with similar experience can tell me if apply the permit for commercial building for my renovation, do I still need to do architect drawing?

Hope someone can answer my question. Every bit info is wholeheartedly appreciated!!

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!

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 🤷‍♂️