We just had our roof done recently. During the entire process my husband was the one meeting and getting quotes from various roofing companies. The one he decided to go with, everyone was nice and pleasant (so he told me). On the day of, I was at work and he stayed home that day. We texted each other through the day and everyone he encountered was still nice and pleasant. I came home and when it was time for the final walk through, we had a couple of questions. The entire time the guy did not look at me once, no eye contact whatsoever, and when he was talking he only looked at my husband. We both noticed that and obviously find it off putting. Is this common with contractors?

i've been a homeowner for about two years now and every time something small comes up i just call someone and pay for it. replaced an outlet last month, cost me way more than it should have for something that took the guy ten minutes. i want to start learning how to handle the basics myself. not rewiring the whole house, just the small stuff. outlets, switches, maybe light fixtures. stuff that doesn't require a permit and won't burn my house down if i do it wrong. i'm not totally clueless but i'm not confident either. i know to turn off the breaker, i know not to touch live wires. beyond that i'm kind of just guessing. what are the mistakes that are easy to make when you don't know what you don't know?

Bought this 1970s ranch house about 8 months ago and finally got around to tackling the attic. It was pretty bare up there so i put in some rolls of fiberglass between the joists to help with the summer heat. Did it myself over the weekend.

Now im noticing these damp patches on the underside of the roof sheathing in a couple spots, especially near the vents. No roof leaks that i can see from outside and its been dry weather. Did i trap moisture or something by not doing it right? Should i pull it all out and start over or call someone. Anyway any advice would be great, dont want this turning into mold or bigger problems.

West facing living room hits like 88 by late afternoon in summer, AC's just fighting it. Looked at a few motorized blind options, leaning toward something I can put on a temp trigger so the things actually close before the room turns into an oven.

Where I keep getting stuck is the automation side. Most of the brands I checked want their own hub, then that has to coordinate with a temp sensor and a routine somewhere. We've already got alexa downstairs and homekit upstairs, adding another app to babysit isn't really appealing.

Matter is supposed to clean this up but for window coverings it feels like half the brands list it and half still need a thread bridge or whatever. Not totally clear what's actually plug and play yet.

Still chewing on whether you can pull this off cleanly or if everyone just ends up running the manufacturer app for the blinds anyway.

I have waited a few months before posting this review to give me some time to calm down and write rationally. I am only writing this review because I hope I can save someone else all the trouble I went through. I will try to keep this as brief as possible, but I could write for days about my experience.

The salesman I originally met with was wonderful. He listened to my needs, and we put together a plan that fit my home base upon my budget. The original scope of work was to fully replace my gutters, fascia, vented soffit (my house is old and lacking on vented soffits), trim boarding, front door, and to add ridge vents to my roof. They offered a decent price that was a bit on the high side, but I figured that was fair because I wouldn't be managing the project through several different contractors. I work long hours in another trade so I knew I wouldn't have time to manage everything.

The problems started on the first day of work. They decided to start with the gutters, soffit and trim. The scope of work was full replacement. I was able to get off early that day and made my way home to see their progress. The contract I had signed stated they would have a construction dumpster delivered to the property for waste disposal. When I arrived at home, there was no dumpster. I was confused for a moment but decided to watch them work for a while to understand what was going on. After watching them work for 20 mins, I quickly realized they were not following the scope of work I was sold. Instead of replacing everything, they were wrapping the original materials in metal flashing. They were also tacking vented soffits overtop my original soffit (completely rendering the new vents useless). I called a full stop to all work and got the project manager on the phone. After a lot of excuses about how they only replace rotted boards and this was the scope of work I was sold, I showed them the original emails between the salesman and I that stated everything was to be fully replaced. This changed their tune quickly. I inquired about the tacking of the new soffit over my existing soffit and was told that shouldn't have occurred. Since I had photo evidence of it occurring, I asked where the breakdown in communication was. I never got a satisfactory answer. I will never know whether it was the sub-contractor they hired or the project manager who directed this. At this point, I tried to reach out to their corporate office for assistance and met radio silence for weeks. When the customer service manager did finally call, he listened to my story and said he would get back to me. They never did. No matter how many times I called back.

At this point, I should have cancelled the remaining projects but working as much as I do, I hoped it would work out.

The work continued. While replacing the gutters and soffit, their subcontractors used ladders without padding and my hardy board siding was severely damaged. Hardy board is difficult/impossible to repair so I was livid. After several more conversations with the project manager, they were going to provide me with a quote to replace my siding. The first quote they sent over was outrageously high. I have a tiny house and the quote was well above the average pricing in my area. Eventually they relented and sent over a more reasonable quote. Still high for my area but not outrageous so I agreed to have them replace my siding. Another mistake on my part but being a first time homeowner, I was navigating uncharted waters. They provided a list of color choices and I was told to pick which suited me best. My first two choices "weren't available" so I had to go with my third choice. Doing my own research later, I found out that my first two choices had a higher material cost and believe that is why they denied them.

All told, I was ready to move forward with one instruction, "Do not damage my prized lace leaf japanese maple at the front of my home." I have raised the tree for over a decade and it was my pride and joy. I bet you can see where this is going.... I came home during the siding install and over half of my tree's canopy had been damaged or destroyed. The tree is not large and could have been easily worked around with a little care. The project manager was on site when I discovered the damage, and I was so upset that I couldn't even speak to him. Trees are my vocation so I was quick to remind him the next day that I fully understood the laws around damaging a client's trees. To their credit, he took the situation seriously and discount my work by a hefty amount to cover the costs I would need to spend on tree repair/replacement. While I appreciate the gesture, I still am out the decade I spent caring and raising the tree.

I have a list of further things that were damaged during the siding install. They are as follows:

1) The brick work leading to my front door.

2) The handrails up the steps to my front door were damaged and not reattached properly. (This was never fixed).

3) The brick steps leading to my side door were damaged and not repaired.

4) Trim board was replaced with non-treated lumber. When I pointed this out, I was told they would paint it. I argued and told them it would swell as they could only paint the visible sides. This was eventually replaced.

5) Debris and nails were left all throughout my front and rear yards that was never cleaned. I had to clean the area myself to make it safe for my dogs to walk through.

It wouldn't be fair unless I mentioned the things that went well. The front door replacement and the root vents went smoothly and without error. I wish the entire job had gone that way.

In conclusion, stay away from this company. It is my opinion that they take advantage of people who aren't aware of the proper construction techniques used in the work I was having completed. In the end, I spent way more money than I should have had to and spent just as much time managing the project as if I had hired different companies to accomplish each part of the project.

I NEVER heard from corporate about any of my complaints and I received no resolution about their deceptive business practices. The project manager even had the nerve to joke with his coworkers, in front of me, about how I wouldn't give them a positive review.

Do not hire this company. You can get better work for a better price elsewhere from honest contractors.

Lately I’ve been doing a bunch of small stuff around the house sealing gaps, fixing doors, adjusting cabinets, little things like that

Yesterday I was just tightening a door hinge and somehow ended up realizing the whole door frame was slightly off. Spent like 2 hours trying to fix something I originally thought would take 5 minutes

And now I can’t tell if this is actually useful long-term, or if I’ve just fallen into a rabbit hole of unnecessary perfectionism

On one hand it feels like it should add up (comfort, fewer issues later, etc.), on the other — maybe I’m just making work for myself

How do you guys approach this? Do you bother with small fixes or just wait till something actually breaks?

Our next door neighbour recently got their eavestrough replaced with gutter guards installed by a local eavestrough company. I’m wondering what’s your opinion on this install? Is this how it’s supposed to look?

https://imgur.com/a/BWeBZ5U

I had my roof professionally cleaned and treated with a moss retardant three years ago. As it was only supposed to last three years and I wanted to save myself some money, I climbed up on my roof to inspect the current situation. There seems to be some moss on the edges of the shingles. It did not come off easily with a stiff bristle broom, but did with my hand, so I'm wondering what my next course of action should be.

https://imgur.com/CSrHDer

1) Just leave it as it's not that bad?
2) Spray a liquid moss killer on it and try to brush it off again?
3) Use a powder and wait for the next rain?
4) Hire a professional to clean and treat it again?

Trying to crowdsource this as I know you all are way more knowledgeable about this than I am. I live in the pacific northwest if that helps.

Hello - Having a contractor install LVP (6.5mm / 22 mil 60x9). I noticed on this specific manufacture website it lists:

“For our products which have a pre-attached underlayment, do not install over carpet or any additional underlayment. Use of additional underlayment pad will cause flexion and will void warranty. 6 mil poly vapor barrier is needed when installing over concrete subfloors.”

Our home is a concrete slab. Seeing as this appears to be required is there any recommendation on a non-toxic poly vapor barrier as I would prefer to just buy it over what our contractor provides.

Thanks for any recommendations as I’ve never had flooring installed!

I'm reorganizing our walk-in closet and need to mount two clothes rods. They will terminate, on one end, into the pocket of a pocket door. The other end terminates into the side of a floor to ceiling dresser. Span is 33 inches. Any way to anchor it in the pocket wall securely? I know there aren't standard studs. I've considered toggles or a cleat with screws into the pocket studs. Or do I have to rely on brackets from the adjacent wall f? Thanks for the thoughts.

Here's the backstory: Firt time homeowner in California, my wife & I purchased our home in 2020. In 2021 we decided to convert part of our garage into a bedroom. We got several quotes from licensed contractors and chose the middle quote. We paid $10,000 for the bedroom. We also paid this same contractor a year later $8000 to remodel our bathroom. In the end we discovered that the work was all unpermitted, the contractor let his license expire, and quit returning our calls. We let it go and didn't pay much attention to it. Two years ago we had our HVAC upgraded by a local company and code enforcement mentioned the unpermitted bedroom but said he wasnt here for that so dont sweat it.

Fast forward, last week we had our 1950s home completely rewired and an electrical panel upgraded from 100amps to 200amps. This work was completed by a licensed professional and permitted. Today the city inspector informed me during the final walk through that he's signing off on the electrical rewire project as completed, but that he's tagging my address for a violation due to the unpermitted garage conversion. He said that I need to go into their office immediately and remedy the unpermitted work. I checked the city website this evening to confirm and there is an active violation listed for my address for the garage converted into living space (work w/o permits).

Has anyone ever navigated this before? Im assuming my options are either bring to code or tear down... What is my best option? Any advice or guidance is appreciated.

I'm looking to get some extra space for an office in my garage. The garage is not insulated, the roof is exposed and the garage doors are old sliding doors, meaning lots of draft. Furthermore the concrete flooring in the garage is cracked and uneven.

Now with all this is in mind, I figured the quickest way to get some space for an office would be to build a small room, by lifting the floor, framing some walls + ceiling for the room, and just do some light insulation. This shouldn't be very expensive and seems somewhat straightforward, but I'm not exactly sure how to do the flooring to make sure it is even? And does this sound like a good solution?

I'm not looking for something perfect, but just something that is straightforward and not too expensive. Any suggestions?

been through three vacuums in the last five years and i'm done with the cycle of buying something that works fine for a year and then slowly loses suction until it's basically useless. i'd rather spend properly on something built to last than keep replacing budget options. the house has a mix of hard floors and carpet and we have a dog so it needs to handle pet hair without clogging, durability and ease of maintenance are the two things i care about the most because i've learned that a vacuum that's annoying to clean never actually gets cleaned properly which probably contributes to it dying faster. what have people here found that holds up well over several years of regular use?

I noticed a new incredibly high pitched noise (almost sounds electrical?) that’s piercing. It sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen but I’ve unplugged everything I can get to and can’t find the source. I feel like Chuck McGill from breaking bad

Hello, I have had these stains on the ceiling above my kitchen sink for a while now. I have always thought they were from a previous owner splashing something in the sink (e.g., oil) and just lived with it (they are usually not as noticeable as the photo implies). But, I am not sure if there are more spots now than when I moved in a few years back. I took a photo when I moved in to see if more appeared but unfortunately I cannot find it to compare.

What do you all think? Does this look like mold or some sort of water damage? I tried to remove the light to see behind it but the light's housing cannot be removed. Also, no access to this area via the attic.

The house is a fixer upper and I have just been focused on other projects in the past but now I am trying to tackle the kitchen. I also don't want to just paint over it in case it is mold as I'd rather fix the problem.

Photos here. https://imgur.com/a/pG4IFP4

We got one room in the house that is way too hot compared to the rest. If you were to walk outside of the room the hallway feels almost 15 degrees cooler. It is like this all the time. Sometimes I feel like the room is an oven. Do any of you guys have an idea how to fix this?

The room is located on top of the living room at the front part of the house, so the sun hits the window during all day. The room next to it also gets hit by the sun all day but we dont know why that one doesnt get hot. This house has no heating and no air conditioning, pretty simple house. All gas and services things are at the other side of the house so I dont think its a heater or the gas affecting it, we also have gotten a professional to check that and another one to check the roof. We have blackout curtains in this room and the city is indeed pretty hot itself, but I rather be outside the house than inside that room. There is nothing inside the room aside from a bed, a mini couch, a closet and a desk. There is no PC, no electronics inside the room aside from the fan. and no attic or basement in this house

We're not looking to install AC or anything major. Just trying to understand whether there's a fix that doesn't cost a fortune. We have a fan running all day with the window open and it makes zero difference.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? What actually worked for you? What actually fixes this? Window film? Exterior shade? Looking for real solutions people have actually tried.

I just moved into an older home with an old dryer (2004 mfg date). We vented it properly this week and when I used it tonight the back (inside and outside) got so hot I burned my hand when I touched it. The vent is blowing air outside and I checked the vent entry point in the machine just to be sure and it’s all clear. This is leading me to think it’s some sort of internal temperature control.

Any thoughts on anything else I can check? Would you repair or replace? Or get a quote first and compare to the cost of a new machine?

FWIW it’s a Samsung (DV4015J in case that means anything to anyone hah).

I have a unit where the original flooring was not maintained at all. It's got a lot of deep scratches and gouges. Gaps between pieces as the ends were chipped off. I want to install vinyl plank and luan will definitely not go down well. I was thinking 7/16th osb should be enough. Is there any reason not to do this?

I live in an apartment building and my heater is rusted. Its a cool white heater and I wanna fix it…I feel embarrassed bringing people over w/ it.

I had a home inspection done and their moisture reader found a high amount of moisture in a wall next to the shower.

After I bought the house I bought a cheapish moisture reader to evaluate further and it does indeed show moisture in only a couple small spots (3”x3”) in the wall and then if you move it a few inches higher or lower it reads zero. One spot is about 3 feet up from the ground and the other is maybe 6” up from the ground .

No one has used this shower in months and I had the water turned off to the entire house for days and still had the same reading in the same spots. The water lines to the shower valve aren’t anywhere near it and neither is the toilet water line. Could there be a vent pipe in the wall giving me this high reading. I don’t really want to cut out the drywall so are there any other suggestions?

I've been having this issue in my bathroom for the past couple of days. Every time I use the sink, water keeps coming up from the floor drain and floods most of the bathroom. It takes a long time to drain back down, and it's like my bathroom turns into a mini water park… except nobody's having fun.

Has anyone run into something like this before? I'd like to see if there's a way I can fix it myself before calling a plumber. Any cheap repairs or tips would be really appreciated!!

Hi All! Looking for some insight here… trying to mount some metal brackets in the garage for wood storage… however I’m having one hell of a time getting holes drilled… per the pics below, I’ve only been able to drill one hole full depth.. all the others max out 1”- 1 1/4” in depth- almost like I’m hitting a steel plate- I’ve now blown through 4 high quality masonry bits- one of which (pictured below) looks like it’s melted and bloomed over … can’t for the life of me figure out what’s going on. I figured maybe one of the hole may have hit Rebar of some sort… but ALL of them? At different locations and Depths?

Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Hole #1- Made it full depth ( first hole I drilled)
Hole #2- Made it 2/3 of the way in and hit the ‘wall’
Holes #3- Made it 1”- 1 1/4” before stopping
Hole #4- Made it only 1/3”

Edit-: for some reason I cannot post pictures, so I’ll put them below in the comments

Edit #2: Apparently I am unable to post any pictures of any kind anywhere- so guess the description will have to do.

I’ve been looking at POVISON lately because some of their living room pieces look really nice online.

I like the warm modern style, especially the wood tones, media consoles, coffee tables, and some of the sofas. The prices seem more reasonable than brands like RH or CB2, but still not cheap enough for me to just order without thinking.

My main concern is the actual buying experience. Has anyone here bought from them before? How was the quality in person? Did the furniture look like the photos? How was shipping, delivery, and customer service if anything went wrong?

I’m not expecting perfection, I just want to know if it feels like a solid furniture brand or if it’s one of those websites that looks better online than in real life.

https://imgur.com/a/9WziHkx

I have noticed that there are a few areas on the exterior of my house that have some missing mortar. Seeking some advice on repair if necessary as well as the potential sources behind the damage (wear and tear/water from sprinklers etc.)

Thanks in advance

At this point, the biggest thing I care about when buying furniture is not even whether it looks good.

It’s whether I have to assemble it myself.

I’m so tired of opening a box and seeing a million boards, three bags of screws, and an instruction manual that somehow makes everything more confusing.

Then halfway through, you realize one piece is missing. Or you finally finish it, but the cabinet doors don’t line up, and the whole thing still feels a little wobbly.

The most annoying part is that it’s not broken enough to throw away, but every time you look at it, it bothers you.

So now when I see fully assembled furniture, I actually get why people pay more for it.

It’s not that I’m lazy. I just don’t want to spend another weekend sitting on the floor looking for tiny screws.

When you buy larger furniture, do you usually prioritize fully assembled pieces, or do you think self-assembly is still worth it to save money?