Hi! Little by little we are bringing life and visual/functional sanity back to our recently purchased (2023), 1900 built single family home, with more than a few decades of bold and creative budget friendly repairs/renovations. It was broken into apartments at least as far back as the 1940s and made back into a single family home in the 2010s. It’s quite a Frankenstein house. I have no documentation discussing additions, renovations, or otherwise— but it’s clear they have happened. I believe the random molding going from floor to ceiling that you can see cross through the lamp on the left side is because most of the drywall in this house is SO far apart.

I need help figuring out what to do with whatever this odd tapered strip is! Also maybe some thoughts on why it would’ve been done like this.

Im taking out some architectural plastered moulding currently and using a grinder due to the metal behind it. Some spots have 3 sheets of it and the dust is insane. Anyone ever found a better way of dealing with this stuff?

What safe way do you suggest for me to paint the exterior of the house? should I do it? or should I hire professionals?

I’m replacing a wall-mounted light fixture. I’m no stranger to wall anchors, but this issue has me questioning my life choices. Two anchors (metal,toggle style), 10 inches apart. Insulation/batting directly behind wall. Right anchor and screw went in exactly the way they should. Left anchor went in fine, but as soon as the left screw caught thread, the anchor started free spinning, so the screw won’t go in any further (and won’t reverse out). The anchor’s design means if I remove the anchor, it will leave a huge hole as l pull it out.

Can I stop the free spinning? Why is it happening in one hole and not the other? I could surrender and start over with new anchors in new holes, but that presents a new problem - existing wiring might allow for me to move the fixture plate an inch higher, but I’m not convinced it will work any better. And, obviously, I don’t want to put a bunch of holes in the wall, trying to figure it out.

I don't know if this is the right sub, but I'm going to give it a try because I'm desperate.

First, some background: My dad died about 5 years ago and left me his estate. He lived in another state and had properties, 2 houses besides our family home.

When he died, I added my cousin to all of the properties as I felt my dad would have wanted this. He was close to my cousin as I am, too. My cousin moved in to the family home, but we still have 2 vacant properties.

One of the homes my dad turned into 2 apartments before he died. Don't ask me why, but he did. The other home is literally down to the studs and has been ready for a remodel for quite some time. Both properties are paid for, no mortgages, and I have been taking care of the taxes.

My cousin lives in the state where my dad passed and has been trying to do small things to get houses ready for tenants as we've decided to keep the properties in our family. He has so far fixed the foundation on house 2 and worked on the electrical. House 1 (the apartments) has 1 apartment that is move-in ready, but the upstairs studio still needs a little bit of TLC.

House 2 is older, but is a 3br 1ba and can be a decent domicile. I am now to the point where I want to just get things done and I don't know where to start. I've created an LLC for my cousin and I and plan to move the titles of the 2 homes into the LLC.

Questions I have:

Do I go to the bank and get a loan for the rehab of the home? I have no idea what that looks like.

Do I just hire a contractor and tell them what I want? How do I create a comfortable budget for that?

I'm just slightly overwhelmed and needing some advice/guidance.

We live in semi detached & My neighbours are currently building an extension on back of their home, but rather than building their own supporting side wall, they have drilled it into our extension wall. They have brought the fence down and are using our extension wall as their extension wall, and are not even putting their own wall there. (Using our extension wall and building a corner around it)

While they were drilling they have drilled through our electric and we are now without power in our extension. We have been round to have civil conversation with them, they have shown us that they have used 6inch nails to drill into 4 inch brick, the steal beam is only bolted in by 2 inches, so the nails are right in our bricks. They also said in order to put electric in their new extension they have drilled square holes through our bricks and are sparing off our sockets, so essentially we will be paying for their electric. They are using builders “who aren’t UK trained or UK legal”

They have no planning permission. Spoke to my house insurance they have advised our home insurance does not allow for it and this will void our insurance. Needing to wait to spend to council on Monday…. But am I right in thinking what they are doing is totally wrong?

We are thinking to make an offer for a house but we suspect we cannot make the kitchen any bigger. Can someone help us to understand if it is possible to knock down walls between the kitchen, dinning room and conservatory based on the floor plan?

What could be causing this? Cold outside and blowing snow. Middle of the window is warm enough to melt the sticking snow.

I don’t think it’s broken seal, this isn’t new and happens every winter. There is no condensation in the window.

I just visited a local bathtub store and found that a freestanding bathtub costs $6,000, while the same model is available for $5,000 on Build.com. Both options include a warranty and a good refund policy. Since my general contractor will be handling the installation, is there any reason to pay $1,000 more to buy from the store?

Hey guys im doing a bathroom renovation that is going to take a lot of time and im looking for some advice. I want to do something better than just a rag or cup to plug my toilet drain while we tear up this floor. I’m looking for suggestions on what I can protect this opening that is a little more resilient than a royal farms coffee cup or dish rag.

I'm currently working on remodeling the tile around my fireplace. The plan is to install ledger stone on the fireplace wall and ceramic tile on the floor.

However, I've encountered a challenge. The previous installer placed 12x12 tiles partially on drywall and partially on the front face of the fireplace. As a result, the fireplace is offset about 3/4 of an inch from the surrounding studs.

I see two potential solutions for my design:

1. Add a 1/4 inch plywood to the front of the studs, then add a 1/2 inch cement backer on top, making it flush with the front of the fireplace. This would allow me to tile partially on the cement backer and partially on the fireplace, similar to the previous design.
2. Add a 3/4 inch plywood shim to the front of the studs (creating a flush plane between the studs and front of the fireplace), then place the cement backer overlapping part of the front of the fireplace where the tile used to be. This way, all the stone would be directly on the cement backer.

I think option 1 might have a better final look because the stone will protrude less. However, I'm unsure if it's possible to tile stone directly onto the fireplace metal.

I would greatly appreciate any insights or advice.

We are planning an expansion onto our home and we are wondering if anyone has had success with reusing windows?

The exterior wall will be pushed out and all of the windows on the wall will go to waste if we aren’t able to reuse them in the next exterior wall.

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone! I bought a house that was recently renovated. In the bathroom shower, I saw that the grout is separating from the wall probably from the shrinking of the house in the winter. Should I silicone this?

Built a new kitchen with cabinets from ikea, stones counter tops and island I made out of a dresser with a large Mari live edge top and a ceramic marble splash back.

Electrical work done by neighbour (electrician) and had plumbing done by a professional, otherwise everything else was diy, I still have the floor to do but am floating the idea of epoxy floor

I was quoted with plain cabinet doors no island and a glass splash back 37k

We are having home renovations done by a contractor. Part of the renovations include refinishing the staircase and hand rail that goes from the main floor up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs there is a landing that looks down to the first floor.

Our contractor has just told us that for the refinishing of the stairs, there will be no railing on the stairs or upper landing for a week. Is this normal procedure or is it required to put a temporary solution in?

This is more of a concern because there is a 2 year old and seniors in the house. Being able to take a step out of a bedroom and have no railing between you and the drop to the first floor is concerning. We are making plans for alternative sleeping arrangements to make it safer if this is normal.

Any insight is appreciated! If it matters, we are in Ontario Canada.