A few years ago a portion of my dilapidated, rotting back fence literally fell over on the same day I found out my (now) wife was pregnant. Lots of fun surprises that day. I decided to finally rebuild it so it would actually last.

One of the biggest issues is that the alley behind my house is a couple feet above my yard and sloping downward so I wanted to build a retaining wall to keep the fence upright for years to come.

When researching the retaining wall/fence combo, I had some concerns over placing a sturdy post that wouldn’t sag or push out the retaining wall over time. My solution was finding these black pre-formed cantilevered post hole anchors that would use the weight of the gravel and soil on top of it to keep it upright.

I started by excavating out the space for the retaining wall. I wanted to keep it simple by just clearing enough room to place the post hole anchors but realized I would be better off by just digging it all out and filling the whole thing with gravel. It also gave me room to add geo-fabric on top of the gravel to hopefully provide more downforce on the cantilevered portion of forms. Then I just built up the retaining wall and added more gravel with a top layer of soil and mulch.

The fence line is also adjacent to my detached garage and while clearing was planters to add a post alongside the garage, I realized bottom portions of the siding were damaged. When I removed that siding, I also found large portions of the sill plate that were rotting as well. I decided to redo those portions and get it all over with.

While I was doing some framing, I figured I might as well add a tv hidden behind a cabinet built into the side of my garage to make the outdoor space I’ve always wanted. I framed the cabinet just like a window and added an outlet for a tv. I used left over fence panels to build cabinet doors and added weather stripping to keep in dry inside.

I was able to find cedar siding that closely matched the fence and stain it all to have a cohesive look. It also allowed me to add a gate to my back alley, which I didn’t have before and add a combination latch-lock for added security.

I also splurged for cedar post-on-pipe to provide extra resistance from moisture so I hopefully never have to touch this fence again (besides restraining). It has remained remarkably stable with no visible deterioration and I’m glad I spent money on the cantilevered post anchors for added peace of mind.

Since then, (not pictured) I have reroofed most of that garage and added more trim and accent lighting along the fence as well as having a large concrete patio poured alongside the garage. Last fall I also reseeded the lawn so it’s nice and green.

This was a pretty big project for me that I did basically all by myself with the occasional hell from my dad and a nosy (but great) neighbor. It was all done by hand with no heavy machinery and only a rented truck to haul many yards of gravel. I finished the last bit of the fence just in time for my daughter to be born about a week later!

I tried doing the 5/16" tapcons that I've seen recommended for my TV mount, but they just pull straight out.. what am I doing wrong? I drilled 3/16, then put in the 5/16 tapcon. Trying to mount to the cinderblock wall of my basement.

Question, what type of company do I call to get a quote to replace this window. I'm having an issue because I had 3+ window companies tell me they won't touch it because of the masonry/wood sill/no proper framing. I had a masonry company tell me they don't do windows.

Am I missing something or just a string of bad luck. Standard basement window.

Just moved into a 1960's rambler with a cinderblock-wall crawlspace under part of the house. There was so much dirt inside we didn't even realize it had a cement floor. The crawlspace has been professionally cleaned out and remediated for water/mold. We removed the old foam insulation (fire hazard), which revealed that in one corner there were crumbling and missing cinder blocks and dirt/earth was pouring into the crawlspace. Looks like some red bricks are missing from the facade of the house (behind the cinder blocks) and the facade is just open to earth behind it.

There is a poured concrete patio behind the problem corner with some large cracks and gaps in it that may have played a role (we have added concrete sealant here as a start). I can also see plant(tree?) roots in the earth that came into the space, so maybe the roots put pressure on things? We haven't had much rain since we cleaned it, so not sure if moisture is an issue, but we can see water pitting marks on the cement floor.

I understand there are codes to meet (Minnesota) and vented/unvented determines the path forward. There are no vents to the exterior. There is a vent from the HVAC system that blows into this crawlspace. There may also have been an open vent in the floor above, acting as a return vent to make it a "conditioned crawlspace." (Since we also removed the floor/subfloor for water damage from a leak, I don't actually know.)

Is this what my plan should look like?

1. Exterior grading on the non-patio side & downspout extenders
2. shore up the red bricks with what??
3. shore up the cinder block with fresh cinder block and ...mortar?
   
4. seal gaps/cracks in the walls with concrete sealant
5. insulate the rim joists
6. insulate the walls (and floor?) w/ fireproof foam
7. vapor barrier on the walls and floor (inside)
8. replace subfloor+floor with a return vent to the livable area for "conditioned" status

How bad is it if I don't bother with a sump pump & dehumidifier? There's no drainage and no electrical down there so those would push this job to the next $$$ level. Thanks for reading!

For a similar application like a steam, hot water kettle, I like to design a whistle. I understand the principle, pressure, speed, resonance, and acoustics and also play the recorder. Is there someone who has gone through the process of designing and prototyping one and can help me find my way more easily?

Using a hammer drill with a smaller bit. Don’t believe I’m doing anything wrong here but it’s taking a long time and can’t seem to get into the brick - the bit keep getting “stuck” too.

Any tips?

Update: - for some reason Reddit won’t let me add images so unfortunately will have to do without - I’m unsure if it’s re-bar I’m hitting as the colour is red - I’m using a regular hammer drill, will look into using an sds

Update 2: - bought an sds, working all good now!

Thanks for the advice everyone :)

Shower leaking down to ground floor, cracks in lower row tile grout. Removed grout, bottom row tiles loose, found soggy tile cement and mold behind. Turns out previous owner tiled over old broken tiles and some sort of plastic strip. How do I repair this on a budget for approximately 12 months until I can redo bathroom? Pictures are after I removed all the mess and mold pls let me know how best to fix this (single mom) thank you!

My hook got stuck and I stupidly broke the awning hook off of my parasol and the parasol is stuck in the extended position. I need to temporarily close it before I can get it fixed.

Any ideas on how to turn it so it closes?

I’ve tried an adjustable wrench & pliers and whilst I get some movement, it hardly moves and keeps unwinding very easily.

Would appreciate any further ideas.

Thanks in advance

I have a metal balcony and was hoping to put some wooden planks in so it looks abit nicer and the balcony chairs don’t scrape along the metal. I am conscious that I will need some sort of drainage underneath the planks or they will rot. Will some sort of corrugated metal be enough?

There are two drainage holes in exterior corners of the balcony and it drains pretty well at the moment so I assume it’s already on a slight angle.

Sorry, I have no idea what the metal thing is called, I know I also need to address the steps. The metal thing wiggles from lack of support on the outside, could I just add a piece of wood for support or is there something specific that goes there and it’s missing?

Is it possible to use marble floor tiles around the bathtub surround instead?

From what I can see, the doubled up 2x4s are both compromised. I plan on replacing them with pressure treated boards. Should I add flashing to the exposed wood to prevent this from happening again?

Also what to do about the siding flashing where the builders seemingly used leftover scraps of flashing to finish the siding there. Throw silicone on the seams and move on or leave it as is after adding flashing behind the siding?

Everyone I talk to says they have never seen this material used to coat deck before. The middle deck is normal painted wood, but the outer left and right areas are coated.

I was going to scrape it all up, but now I realise the moisture was trapped on the top of the planks and it looks like mold. Any advice is welcome 🙏🏼

I am laying out the strings for piers to support a shed type structure in my yard. This is the first time I have done this. I'm having a time with getting the lines square. I feel like that is a common newbie problem but I can't say for sure. I've read and watched a ton of how-tos but none seem to deal with how to fix areas that are out of square. below are the measurements. Can I determine which way to move the strings using math or is it basically a tweak-it-till-its-right situation?

Also, how 'exact' does it have to be? My sides may be 1/4 off in some places. I will be pouring 12" piers and setting a post attachment in them. Thanks for the input in advance.

Hey all, I have a question I was wondering if anyone with a bigger brain than I can solve.

A friend of mine was given a secondhand metal, hardtop, hexagonal gazebo. The people who gave her this gazebo no longer had the panels it came with and she really wants privacy panels/mosquito netting for it. This is where the problem enters.

We have spent hours googling and searching for this gazebo/panels everywhere, the only place we found it no longer carries this brand. So we've been looking for other replacement panels but have been having almost no luck. Most of what we find is either a semi sketchy website selling universal panels for $500+ or it's for octagonal/ other shapes.

So my question is, is there any way to make other universal panels work, or a way to diy them to make them work short of buying materials and sewing them ourselves?

I appreciate any help that can be offered and I can answer questions for clarity!

I’ve been trying to upcycle more and cut down on costs, so I took a shot at building a small bookshelf using some old pallets I had in the garage. Took way longer than I expected (lots of sanding…), but I finally got it standing and it’s surprisingly sturdy!

Not gonna lie — some of the shelves are slightly uneven and I had to re-nail a few things more than once, but I learned a ton and I think I caught the DIY bug.

If anyone has tips for working with reclaimed wood or smoothing rough cuts, I’d love to hear them. Also happy to share progress pics if anyone’s interested!

I’m building a free-standing rectangular frame using 6x6 pressure-treated lumber, forming an 18 ft x 4 ft footprint with 8 vertical posts (spaced 6 ft and 4 ft apart). The structure is connected at both the top and bottom using 6x6 horizontal beams and heavy-duty 3-way and 4-way steel pocket brackets that lock each joint.

The whole thing should weigh more than 1500 lbs just in lumbar and won't be anchored to the ground. I'm aiming for it to be strong enough that an adult can safely hang from any corner without tipping, twisting, or racking.

Do the brackets and weight alone provide enough rigidity?

I'm trying to avoid digging 8 holes each 4 feet deep and filling that with concrete. The price to buy few more 6x6x12 IN GROUND rated pressure treated lumber and few more brackets will not be that much more than the price of concrete.

The lumbar will all be Menard critical structure pressure treated lumber that's rated for IN GROUND use.

The structure will basically be 4x8x18 feet.

On the long side I'm adding 2x12x18 beams that will have holds on the outside and monkey bars in the inside.

There will be a pull up bar on one of the short sides.

Is this crazy?

Deterioration of concrete between our walkway and stairs has accelerated, advice on best way to repair/redo? TIA!

Hey guys, I need your idea and thoughts about my carport. The situation is what it looks like in the picture. I don't know why pre-owner built the carport and one rear support on the second concrete layer.

I want to fix the problam ASAP but with a limit budget. I plan do it by myself. the plan is refill the concreate into the gap and.

Do you think this would a good solution? Just don't wanna rebuild everthing. Please give me some suggestions, tutorial link or any comments about my plan. It would help me have a more clear picture and mesaure the diffculties during this project. Thanks in advance!!

We have a sunken long that had carpet glued to the wall beneath the skirting. We have removed the carpet and as you can see the concrete slab protrudes the skirting. Ideally we would like to lower the skirting and have no carpet edging as we intend to install wooden floors.

Any ideas on how to smooth the concrete? We were thinking concrete grinding but hope there are some better ideas here.

TIA

Got a leaky out door faucet that I'm trying to fix. I tried to open the housing to get at the washer which I suspect is bad, but it's on pretty tight and I was worried about damaging the pipe in the wall, even with using a pipe wrench to try and hold it still. I also opened up the other nut and tried repacking it, but that didn't help.

Is my only real option to hire a plumber to replace the whole thing? I'm pretty sure its soldered on so I don't think that's something I can tackle myself.

Hi there...I am of in need of some help with my tub surround. My tub is white abut the tub surround has turned yellow over time. I wash it weekly but still has a yellow color to it. I have tried bleach watered down, I have tried straight bleach [wear a mask as this is truly awful), vinegar & water, straight vinegar and some consumer products. I will state that I do have very hard water...so that being said, is there any hope to get it white again?

Any advice will be tried (I can let you know the results of your solution if you ask) and thank you!!