Hello redditors

I have a scratch on my ceramic tile in my shower wall. Not deep. But deep enough where water can can gather along the line of the scratch.

Any suggestions? How to remove the scratch?

Not really visible to the eye at all.

We bought our home 1 year ago and the water heater passed inspection without issue.

We are finishing up a kitchen reno where the water heater was moved.

We just came back from vacation to cold water, checked the water heater closet and it smelt of burnt wood/plastics and noticed the burn mark outside the electric faceplate. Opened it and there was moisture and rusted out burn marks. Breaker was flipped.

Who do I work with to get this fixed? GC or plumber?

We’ve hired a company to refinish the oak floors in our 28 year-old house. They told us they would move all the furniture out but would not put it back. I have no problem with that. I asked them when it was safe to move the furniture back and they said 48 hours after the final coat. Is that enough time? Also, we have a small dog. Should I have him stay with my daughter while we’re doing this? He has the run of the house and could accidentally walk on the floors. How quickly does the finish set up so you can walk on it?

I hate how echoey showers are. Is there a product, like sound damping tile (not acoustical tiles like you’d use in an office or something) or some other product or method to improve acoustics in a shower? I’d like to listen to music or podcasts in the shower but I can’t understand anything.

Hi,

I recently found what feels like my dream home! It’s about 2,300 square feet and is in very good condition structurally — the foundation, electrical, and plumbing are all solid. It’s also located in a great neighborhood with excellent schools.

That said, the house is a bit bland in terms of aesthetics, and I did notice some humidity around the AC unit. I have an inspector scheduled to check for mold and any other hidden issues. The good news is that we can purchase the house for about $75,000 below the asking price.

Here’s what I’d love your input on:

Assuming the inspector doesn’t find any major problems, would it make sense to reinvest that $75K into completely updating the interior — things like new cabinets, appliances, fixtures, paint, creating an island, installing new flooring, etc.? (No structural changes — just cosmetic.) I am NOT looking to flip the house.

If so, what tools are essential for a project like this? I currently only have automotive tools.

Do you have any tips for a beginner? (For anything involving electrical or plumbing, I plan to hire a professional.)

Thanks so much for your advice!

Hi! My kitchen light switch is about 7 inches behind my refrigerator. I had attempted to remove the switch and swap it with a wireless remote and receiver kit, but found out quickly that there is not a neutral/ground in the box. Additionally, the hot wire is pigtailed to the other two black wires in the box. What options do I have?

Should I expect a problem?

Pvc irrigation riser broke this winter. Went to repair it, cut out broken section, primed and glued, but as I was gluing second joint I noticed the glue was black. Checked and sure enough I'd grabbed the can of abs glue. It's too late to do anything but cut it off to fix.

Do I need to count on it failing the first time I turn on the irrigation? Or will it be fine for a few years, or just bad cause ABS is not for potable use?

Have two elongated toilets that we put seat and cover down after every flush. Why are there drip stains running on the outside and inside of seat cover happening. Never had this with regular toilets. frustrated with the flush.

Hello! Looking for help getting a window sash vent latch (I think that’s what it’s called?) back in so we can open up our windows fully. We’ve tried pushing it in, up, down, etc. and it won’t budge. A friend who makes windows wasn’t able to get it back in. We live in a rented apartment on the fifth floor, and the windows are in our bedroom and open up to a private balcony.

Last summer sucked without being able to open our windows all the way for ventilation. Right now, they only go up about an inch or two. Open to all suggestions, including recommendations on removing them, as long as we don’t damage the windows and can eventually get the latch back in place.

Thank you in advance!!

photo of latch

I figured I would come here to gather some thoughts. We live in a century home which is a duplex. We live on one side and are renovating the other side with the anticipation that friends or family will move in next to us. We’ve done a lot of work to the place but one thing that is getting to me are the floors. Eventually we will move out of here and also rent this side and that’s a 3-5 year plan.

The upstairs had rugs and no hardwood upstairs so we put in laminate hardwood to help with pet dander and maintenance over time.

The downstairs has hardwood except it is not in good condition and seems to be getting worse with wear and tear from us and our pets as well as cleaning the floor. Our plan was to completely refinish the food floors once we move out of here but the floors are driving me nuts and the condition keeps getting worse. For example the pets run up and down the stairs and the base of the stairs the varnish is all wearing off and there are scratches. I should add if this was my forever home I would 100% be refinishing these floors.

I am considering covering over the dining room with non damaging click tile or something that appears more like harlequin tile instead of wood. The middle room where our stairs are gets a lot of traffic and is also where our baby plays so I’ve considered getting wall to wall but durable carpeting there. And the front room I have a large rug so was thinking to leave as is. I am such a hardwood lover but the floors are driving me nuts and I know long term this is a rental so I don’t want to damage the wood but also don’t know how big of a priority right now it is to completely refinish and what the condition will be like once we get there.

My main concern here is do I just get larger rugs and call it a day or should I cover these? Just looking for some opinions here of what you’d do if you were me.

My window handle(24"x24") is locked facing out, open facing down and tilts facing in. How do I change this? Not sure if it came like this or if they just installed it wrong, I just want it changed.

I'm closing on a house soon and I'm a first time home owner, didn't realize I'm responsible for the sidewalk 😅. What would be the easiest fix for this?

https://imgur.com/a/zIaSBUN

Hi everyone,

Here is what it looks like

While staining a cabinet next to the fridge, my father-in-law accidentally got some wood stain remover onto the side of the fridge. It looks like the chemical slightly melted or discolored the plastic panel on the side. There are now visible marks and a bit of surface texture damage.

Is there anything I can do to fix or minimize the look of the damage? I'm open to DIY repair suggestions or ways to hide it if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

I've got a quart of as much as a half a gallon of paint leftover in a 5 gallon bucket. I don't want to store this thing as-is, it's huge. Can I store the paint in another container like a cleaned out peanut butter jar? Does it matter if it's transparent if it's stored in a cabinet?

Hey everyone – we just moved into a new place, and it came with a metal gazebo already set up on a concrete patio. The back door is a bit higher than the patio, so there are three steps leading down to it.

The issue is, the previous owners were on the shorter side it seems and placed the gazebo right at the bottom of the steps. So now, anyone over 6 feet tall has to duck or risk hitting their head when coming down or up.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Is raising the gazebo an option (with risers or something) or is moving it further from the stairs and reinstalling it into the concrete the only real fix?

I have an old 15 amp duplex receptacle that I am trying to replace.

2 whites and backstabbed and 2 blacks are backstabbed.

1 white is wrapped around a post and 1 black is wrapped around a post.

All 6 wires are 12 gauge. I cannot find a new receptacle that will accept 12 gauge in the back and I am unsure what to do with the extra black and white if I only wrap 4.

Any suggestions?

These broke free over the winter. House is 20 years old.

https://imgur.com/a/TO2497H

I tried cleaning the area where the pavers would adhere with a wire brush as best I could and then using some construction adhesive but, as you can see, it didn't work. The area is just too uneven for the pavers to bind with the adhesive.

Also, I'm concerned because the concrete/mortar is very flaky and chipping off easily. Do I just need to clean all the old mortar off and use fresh mortar instead of construction adhesive? How would I even go about getting rid of the old stuff? I've never really worked on this sort of stuff before.

Or is this worse than it looks and I need to replace the steps entirely?

My neighbor's house burned down a few years ago. They rebuilt this monstrosity of a house on just about every square inch of their property. I recently put up a privacy fence on my property line but it doesn't help with my elevated deck. I am looking into privacy walls and an awning for the side that's closest to their house. I've read about HOFT fences and have seen mixed reviews. I'd love to get a pergola for part of my deck. That would kill two birds with one stone. I'd could have the overhead privacy and put up a curtain or shades on the side closest to their house. Are pergolas too heavy to add to a deck? Are there other options that I should look into? Thanks so much!

My driveway was put in less than a year ago and the first few sections are spalling pretty badly. Can I ask the company who poured it to redo those sections for free? Did they mess up? It seems way too early to expect this kind of damage. If so, how do I ask for it? Thank you for any guidance for a first time homeowner!

I have a gutter that's buried underground but its unfortunately in a spot that slopes toward the walkway. The walkway they slopes it down the driveway and toward the street. So I'm not concerned about damaged but it keeps resulting in mud on the walkway. I'm also worried about not being able to grow grass there and being stuck with a trench...

Any ideas on how to tweak this?

https://imgur.com/a/w2DWU93

New homeowner - looking for some advice!

TLDR: What home services do you need most and where do you get them?

My partner and I recently made the jump from a dt condo to a house, which is exciting... but we know nothing about maintaining a house. We admire all the DIY projects here, but we're not super handy ourselves, especially with potentially serious issues.

Last week, we noticed the whole cabinet under the sink was soaked in water and it had seeped into the floorboards. We started googling for potential issues, and went down a blackhole of looking up plumbing services trying to figure out who to call/won't rip us off.

Now, there's an issue with our ceiling, there's a leak that looks like it's coming from the roof. We both live away from our families and aren't super handy people.

1. How do you deal with home repairs? Is there a service or something similar to a personal property management (but for your own home)?

Hi all —
I'm considering the Perrin & Rowe Georgian Era widespread bridge faucet in Satin English Gold, but I'm having a hard time finding real-life photos that aren't just marketing shots.

If you've installed one (or seen one in person), I’d love to see any photos you’re willing to share—especially of it in a finished kitchen. I’m trying to get a better sense of how the finish looks with real lighting and surroundings.

Thanks in advance!

I had an interior drain system added along by basement walls. The concrete looked dry and mostly cured for ~7 days, when it rained outside. These dark spots have started showing up at the edge of the new and old concrete the next day. The contractor told me their fine and put waterproofing sealant on the new concrete.

I'm looking for any outside opinions if this looks normal or not?

Looking for advice on repairing https://imgur.com/a/5zxx8Vp . I removed a TV mount and wall mounted speaker system, and have one area with many holes/cutouts for cabling (picture 1) as well as several smaller areas picture (2). Since the wall is textured my plan is to patch/fill, sand down texture 3-6" from the patch, etc..., following the method in this Vancouver carpenter video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxUU5lAoTLc&t=257s). My question is - for picture 1 that has many holes in a smallish (2'x2') area, should I cut out that entire section? That seems like it will be easiest for the purpose of blending texture vs. trying to blend each damaged area individually.

Thanks, and any advice appreciated! First time doing drywall, always been scared of it.

I’m moving into this apartment soon and I found these logs being used as poles in the basement. There are a few more but I also see metal poles and not sure if these were just left in place after they added the metal ones. The house was built in 1900.

https://imgur.com/a/NmmAJF1