A little bit of context - me and my flatmate needed an apartment in Budapest for our studies. As I haven’t yet arrived in Budapest my flatmate said she will visit the viewings herself. Then we found a pretty decent flat within our budget range and signed the contract after my flatmate said it was okay. Then it turns out the bathroom has this horrendous mold, which she didn’t notice for some reason. Moreover, I specifically asked the agents whether there was any mold, they said no.

Now my main question is - what should I do and how hazardous is it? I will contact the owner shortly, but still, please suggest something 😭

Any advice is appreciated thanks!!

I am having counters measured this week. I have a induction cooktop that will be flush mounted. Does GC cut the hole in plywood before measurements by fabricator? Or does fabricator need to mark off where the hole should be during measurement? I'm a bit confused.

Not sure if I push my GC to cut hole before fabricator come to measure or

Fabricators will handle this and mark off where hole should go

I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions for addressing a doorway threshold in my apartment. There is about a 2-inch step up from my hallway into the bathroom—and I’m concerned that at some point a guest (my elderly mother, for example) might trip and have a bad fall into the bathroom. Especially if someone’s using the bathroom in the middle of the night!

The height difference seems a bit too high for most consumer threshold smoothing ramps. I consulted one floor guy who said that adding any type of ramp would be MORE of a tripping hazard bc it would stick out into the hallway too far. I wondered about at least putting some glow in the dark tape on the ledge—but concerned about ruining the wood finish.

I’d welcome any ideas/suggestions!!

So here is this old door. I guess it’s from the 60s, I imagine it could be a very beautiful door, I really like the glass etc but someone has decided at some point that it’s best to give it a whack paint job and paint it white without even covering the edges properly. So my question is do you think it’s worth trying to salvage it or should I just buy a new door?

Bonjour à tous,

Je rénove une maison de courée 1920, et la cuisine a été construite dans une extension qui dispose d'un toit PVC style véranda d'environ 4.5 x 3.5 mètres

La maison étant doublement mitoyenne, les seuls points d'entrée de lumière viennent des fenêtres en façade et de ce toit PVC, je compte donc le conserver d'autant qu'une réfection complète de ce toit serait hors budget pour ma réno.

La maison chauffe bien en hiver et mes consos sont étonnement raisonnables, par contre en été le toit PVC fait effet de serre, et j'obtiens des températures proches des 40 degrés notamment lors des canicules. La chaleur montant, ça réchauffe toute la maison.

Je ne souhaite pas poser de clim dans ce contexte car elle ne serait pas optimale. J'ai essayé de faire des devis pour la pose de volets roulants en extérieur (histoire de pouvoir refermer lors des grosses chaleurs) mais personne ne souhaite poser de volet sur une surface aussi grande.

Je cherche donc une autre solution. J'ai pensé à un système de rideaux thermiques en intérieur histoire de faire du bas budget, mais je ne sais pas ce que ça vaut, et je pense que pour couper l'effet de serre il serait préférable que ça soit couvert depuis l'extérieur et non l'intérieur.

Voilà, je ne suis pas à 100% au fait de ce qui existe, si vous avez des conseils ou des idées, je suis preneur !

We live in an older house, and I’ve been wanting to redo the bathroom for years. It’s a fairly small space, about 8×6 ft, with the vanity on the left, the toilet next to it, and the tub along the back wall. The layout is pretty basic, but everything is starting to look dated.

I’d like to do a proper renovation rather than just replace a few fixtures. The plan would be to remove the old vanity, flooring, toilet and tub surround, then install a new vanity, tile flooring, an updated tub/shower, better lighting and some additional storage. If possible, I’d also like to make a few small layout changes to make better use of the limited space.

The bathroom has some of the typical older-house issues too. The walls aren’t perfectly straight, the flooring has been patched over the years, and I have no idea what we’ll find behind the existing tub surround once everything comes out.

That seems to be the biggest problem. I’ve contacted several contractors, but I keep getting told that the house is too old, that there could be unexpected issues once the walls and flooring are opened up, or that they simply don’t want to take on a full demo and renovation in an older home.

I understand that older houses can come with surprises, especially once you start opening up walls, but I honestly didn’t expect it to be this difficult just to find someone willing to come out, look at the bathroom and give me an estimate.

At one point I was thinking, “Am I seriously trying to pay someone and they don’t want the job?”

For anyone who has renovated an older home, how did you screen contractors before hiring them? Are there specific questions you ask to make sure they’re actually experienced with older houses, and any red flags I should watch for when getting estimates?

I installed this sliding door and regrettably didn’t remove siding and use the nail flange. Now there is a sizable gap between new door and old j channel. Advice on next steps?

Peel back siding and install new j channel? Or some form or brick mould?

Considering purchasing a home built in 1912. Will need a lot of work to make it “ours” but it’s structurally sound. We have the skills and means to make it what we want, and want to keep a lot of the original character. The problem is that it clearly had a smoker living in it for years. The place currently reeks of cigarette smoke.

Has anyone successfully remediated cigarette smoke? I know we can clean it, use a sealer like Killz, ozone, replace wall coverings, flooring, and insulation, Clean ducts, etc. But is that enough? Would it ever truly go away?

Hi everyone,

My finished basement flooded back in June due to historic rainfall (entire neighborhood was hit). We got about 2–3 inches of standing water throughout.

To dry everything out properly, I pulled up the flooring and cut out the bottom 4 inches of drywall. Everything is fully dried out now, and I need to close up the exterior walls before winter to prevent moisture issues and condensation.

Behind the drywall, there was a thin foil-faced vapor barrier. My main question is: What’s the best way to seal the vapor barrier back up without tearing down more drywall?

• Should I just slide standard 6-mil poly vapor barrier up behind the existing drywall and tape/seal it, or is there a better/more effective method? (e.g., acoustical sealant, specific tape, etc.)
• My current plan is to patch the vapor barrier, install replacement drywall strips, do one coat of mud/tape, and cover the joint with a 5" baseboard.

Any advice on the cleanest and most code-compliant way to tackle this repair would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi All! My wife and I bought our house 2 years ago and wanted to replace the shower floor tile after some were cracked and the grout was chipping. After removing the tiles, we found out the mud bed under wasn’t able to be reused and I decided to go with a Schluter system which required going down to the subfloor. After ripping up the PVC liner I found all this. Water damage to some boards, a triangular section of subfloor missing, and rotting boards in the curb from being nailed into through the liner. How bad is all this and where do I go from here? Any help is appreciated!

1956 house in the US. House was built with hydraulic radiant heat, but that was abandoned at some point in the past and the owner installed a furnace. We just recently purchased the house and are putting in new flooring. This is in a closet. Anyone see a problem/issues with just cutting the pipes flush with the floor?

Thoughts on whether this 5' section of wall is supported enough to cut out the rotten rim joist and plate from underneath to replace? The whole front wall is around 40' but this section rotted from a roof leak. Going to replace rotted wood on one wall at a time until all three are done. Open to thoughts and suggestions thanks.

I’m mid remodel and we’re down to the studs in a few exterior walls.

House was built in early 1940s, has brick exterior with tar paper between brick and diagonal wood sheathing.

Didn’t see insulation in exterior walls during demo, not sure if there once was and it’s disintegrated.

Can I insulate stud bays with rockwool?

If so should I put tar paper or dimple mat between diagonal wood sheathing and rockwool?

Edit - Home is located in Houston, TX

Dont have much experience, always had somebody to help but now i decided to do something on my own…. Well tried to hang a shelf and here we are.

Do i have to cut it out and put wood behind and new drywall?

how would you do it? it comes out about 15in. There's studs on both sides, spaced out 29in and I'm unsure if there's a stud in the middle. stud finder says there is, but it sounds hollow so it might be deep.

1- Screw two horizontal 2x4s and mount the tv to those

2- Screw a piece of plywood to the studs on each side and then the mount to that.

We’re planning a fairly large renovation and the biggest thing I’m worried about isn’t picking finishes, it’s keeping the project on budget and on schedule once work actually starts. I keep hearing stories about homeowners getting hit with change orders, delays, material surprises, and weeks added to the timeline because different trades aren’t coordinated properly.

For people who’ve done a major renovation, what made the process go smoothly? Did you use one contractor for the whole project or manage the different trades yourself? I’m also curious how you handled permits, budgeting for unexpected issues, and deciding what needed to be done first.

Edit:

I’ve been looking more seriously at High Bridge Development and one thing that stood out is their approach to managing the project as a whole rather than just handling individual construction tasks. Having the planning, budgeting and different trades coordinated under one roof seems like it could eliminate a lot of the chaos I’m trying to avoid.

My wife and I are looking to expand a wall in our kitchen. Right now there is a 9 foot opening for this sliding glass door. We would like to shift the opening to the left and eliminate a full 3 feet. We are still undecided on what kind of door we would like to have in the opening. I would like to do this myself. I am an electrician by trade but have done many projects in our previous home.

I would like to try my hand at this. I would have to stud and sheath the exterior where I am eliminating 3 foot of the door. Are there any other issues I should know about when removing such a large door in an exterior wall ?

These are the floor joists in front of the main staircase in the living room of the home. I’m wondering if I should reinforce them while the basement ceiling is still unfinished and how I could go about doing that? Would it require a jack? The gaps are ~ 1/4” at the widest point.

I recently removed a built in gas fireplace insert from the basement, exposing the insulation that you see here. Is the darker spots mold or is that possibly just dirt from the fireplace itself? Should this insulation be replaced?

My wife and I bought this house a year and a half ago and wanted to renovate the laundry room since we moved in. We always need more storage space. I finished under $2500 budgeted by doing everything myself. I want to add under cabinet lights but will have to add an outlet so when I have time I’ll add that. Anything else to add to be more efficient?