Hey everyone my house has a large air leak after investigating under the lower soffit that’s under my 2nd floor dormer. My dormer sticks out past my house about 2 feet past the house so under the soffit I can see the floor joist and the 2nd floor subfloor.

My concern is every floor joist cavity I can clearly see into my house. I can see my 1st floor ceilings so I’m pretty sure that needs to be blocked off. I plan to block that and add some rockwool on the inside as I close it up.

My question is what do I do about the subfloor above? It’s bare wood too in every joist cavity and ideally I want to insulate that before closing up the siding again. The floors in that area on the 2nd floor get cold and now I know why .

So do I just cut foam insulation board to fit them close up the soffit again? What about flammability and maintaining a flame resistant barrier when using foam. Also at the bottom of the joist there’s no coverage so if I did a whole bottom sheet in 1/4 wouldn’t that create a stale air cavity now where humidity will build up inside that soffit area (because the 1/4 would go above the soffit area then the ceiling of the soffit would be foam board insulation and the floor joist at the house framing would be boarded up with 2x10.

I was thinking rock wool on the ceilings too but I’m afraid of mold and moisture especially from any unexpected drips from the siding above. The foam makes the most sense for outside but the correct way with regards to safety and moisture build up is where I’m stuck

Also what if I just did the cavity after I board it up with a spray foam insulation kit. I see kits that have fire resistant ratings , but how will that hold up with moisture and rot given it’s in a ventilated space due to the soffit below

"Question"

I am currently renovating and have decided to make my copper pipes a feature instead of boxing them in. A key task now is painting behind them as I cannot expand the space behind the wall to do this easily or making the wall behind visually pleasing. The rest of the wall will be freshly painted so this feels like the final peice.

Any suggestions or success stories?🫠🫠🫠

Currently the retaining wall on our property line is starting to fail and I’m 90% sure it’s because of this downspout. I’m wondering what would be the best way to solve this? My first thought is to bring the water to the front of the garage instead of the back. Should I fiddle with the direction that the gutter flows? Should I extend the gutter to bring the water to the front? Should I turn the gutter 90 degrees so it goes to the back instead of the side (not shown)?

I’m trying to build a corner closet shelf and really struggling. Each wall will have about 4’ long melamine particleboard shelves that are 16” deep. They meet in a corner, and will have a live edge on the other sides.
I bought L brackets that are 15” long. My problem is I can only put one near the corner, as they would overlap. But then I’m only supporting one side of the shelving. So as of right now I can support one shelf, and the other has like 15” to the corner with no support.
I don’t know how to support the corner. I’ve been researching for a while. Some suggested cleats and L brackets, but I’m not sure how I would do both at once, as then one won’t sit flush to the wall?

I just bought my house less than a year ago. The people before me had just added on a garage and then the owner passed away before they finished it. I’m wondering how to go about insulating and drywalling the garage by myself a 23 year-old female what the cost would be and how much materials and what tools I’ll need.

I had some SelectBlinds honeycomb pull shades break after only a few years. Looking for something more reliable and manual, not motorized. Prefer shades with a blackout option. Anyone with recommendation please help!

This tub came with some jets and has an access panel to the mechanicals. Originally, thick Velcro-like strips secured the panel. Over time, those strips lost their effectiveness, and the panel started falling off.

I removed the strips and cleaned the surfaces. Since the connecting surfaces are slightly recessed, I haven't been able to find new strips that will work.

Then I tried gluing small magnets, but in a few months some of them fell off as well. I used a superglue that is supposedly made for plastic, though the part that keeps coming off is the tub.

I'm not sure whether it's the bathroom humidity or something else.

Maybe something mechanical would work, like bolts, but I would have to drill holes. And they would be difficult to access once the panel is on.

Any other ideas? I am fresh out.

Mosquitos have been absolutely terrible this year. Just being out there for 5-10 minutes I killed at least 8 that were on my legs. I have a mosquito service, I have tried the dunks as well. I have eliminated anywhere that can store water and go out after every storm to make sure. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I bought the house for the nice yard and can't be out there.

Hey everyone! 👋

My brother is getting married in January, and I want to improve the look of our home before the wedding. I'm looking for some suggestions and ideas regarding home interior design, wall colours, lighting, and decoration.

I want our home to look modern, aesthetic, and beautiful without spending too much money.

I just moved into this new apartment. The room is all one bedroom, sink, and closet area connected. However, right next to the sink there is an opening.

Since the sink area is also open to the bedroom area, this means this opening makes the bedroom open to pretty much the entire common area of the house.

Does anyone have any ideas how I could somehow cover up or close up this hole in the wall? This way the bedroom isn't audibly connected to the rest of the house.

Another requirement is that this has to be non-invasive. Since I'm renting, its not like I can just break into the wall, put some drywall up, and plaster/paint it up or anything like that.

Thanks!

After removing the old tiles from my wall, the surface became quite uneven.
My first question is: can I install my new penny tiles directly over this surface, or does it need to be level first?
If I need to level it, what product should I use? Would tile grout be suitable, or do I need something else, like wall filler?
Any advice would be appreciated!

Hello all,

Would Primed White Pine Wood Shiplap be sustainable in my bathroom? I am wanting to redo the walls in my bathroom, and I love the look of shiplap to match our farmhouse. But, I was wondering if Primed shiplap would be okay to handle the moisture in the bathroom? I would not put it in the shower obviously, but I would put it on all other walls and the ceiling too.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this? I just don't want to cause any mold, or have to redo the bathroom again in a couple of years because of water damage. Any advice is helpful!

put about 15-20 hours into this fireplace so far. started with citristrip - which SUCKS, by the way!!!! and then switched over to klean strip and it’s been so helpful.

whoever covered this fireplace also sucks

best ways to get the rest off? just keep paint stripping? should i cover it and leave it for a few hours? i am so over ittttttttt it’ll be so worth it in the end but this BLOWS

House built in 1946. Cinder block foundation. I’ve attached pictures. We recently purchased a home and have been here for 4 months. The house was a flip, and they put in about a 5 inch wide cut around the back perimeter of the house only and installed a sump pump. It goes behind the main sewer line drain. I am aware that the sump pump isn’t deep enough or correctly put in, but it collects the water and hasn’t overflown All they did was cut around the edges, put in stone, and then a small square that is about 6 inches down and threw in a basic pump. I’ve never had any problem with water getting onto the floor or going over the stone they put in, but I was curious as to what the water looked like underneath before I painted the floors I decided to investigate a bit. The water in the little pit is from a decent amount of rain we recently got. It has never gone over that 6 inches and always pumps out. It is dry most of the time, but again this is front a decent little rain storm. The hydraulic cement patches are from me, not the previous people. Long story short. What should I do before paint the floors to ensure the water isn’t affecting the foundation and going into my floors. Is the cut they made going to hurt the foundation more than help? That is my true concern Put in a correct sump pump with a true plastic pit? Put stone back in like they had it? Vapor barrier fabric? This is not my side of construction I have much experience in, any advice would be appreciated. The foundation does not have any cracks or bowing and water doesn’t come in anywhere other than that area! Sorry for the book! Thanks in advance.

First pic is my goal/inspo. The others are what I’m working with spacewise.

The bottom shelf is tilting and is soon to fall, so I need to reinforce it, and while I’m at it I want to add another shelf under the two already there.

To the left of my furnace I want to add 3 corner shelves for storage.

My questions are… how can I reinforce/ add a third shelf?

How do I build the corner shelves so they can bear the weight of cans and lauundry detergent?

How do I hide the furnace?

Is this reasonable?

I'm trying to move into an apartment and it has this exposed brick wall. Is this mold? Should I be worried and is there a way to get rid of this?

There is this "trim" on the bottom of my cupboard doors that used to be the handle for the doors. The previous owners gave them the 'landlord special' and painted everything over with white (poorly) then added some different handles.

I'm trying to do a budget friendly upgrade to my kitchen and was hoping to contact-paper over the cabinets with a wood-grain paper and install some different handles. My issue is the bottom "trim" that's attached to it is such an odd shape, I don't think I can paper over it nicely and I feel like painting them will make them stand out even more. I can't pull them off because the cabinets are too short without them and will leave a gap. The previous paint job is lumpy and textured.

Any ideas on how I could handle this? I'm really stumped here.

We rent and have our kitchen facing west. Looking for an option given that drill free won’t work (too shallow), the aluminum frame is ugly and it opens side-to-side instead of from the bottom (we never open it). I like the look of a Roman shade but can you do one with an outside mount without it being weird? Measures 59” wide x 44” tall. Do I have to do custom?

Any experience using adhesive tracks ? In a rental, want curtains in my living room, would be sheer and not super heavy.
Any recommendations for brands?

Der Bossenhoffen wants the space between the backsplash and the bottom of the cupboards painted a different color than the wall. I'm not sure how or where to transition from one color to the other. Going straight down from the end of the cupboard feels awkward as does matching the angle of the backsplash transition strip. The second question is what to use as a transition strip? Thanks

My cat keeps opening this door from below. Any ideas that could strengthen the magnets?

We just moved into our first house a couple weeks ago and I'm already realizing the cat may be the biggest threat to the furniture lol.

She's started scratching the side of the sofa, jumping on the media console, chewing random cables and knocking little things off shelves just because she can.

The painful part is almost everything in this room is new. We just bought a West Elm fabric sofa and a 75" Hisense for the living room, so every time she launches herself across the room I get nervous.

I already have a scratching post but apparently the sofa is more exciting.

What actually worked for you guys? More scratching posts? Covers? Tape? Moving everything breakable 6 feet off the ground?

Culprit in the pic btw. Zero remorse.

So my basement is in rough shape. The walls were like this when my husband and I moved in. Is there any way to update this ourselves without spending an arm and a leg on materials/contractors, or at least make it look a little prettier so we can paint it something other than whatever bad decision is there currently? I'm at a loss. 🥲

We’re updating our home to have a more modern look throughout, and the staircase is one of the first projects we want to tackle. We have a handyman who will handle the installation, so we’re mainly looking for inspiration on materials, styles, and finishes.

I’ve included a photo of our current staircase, along with a photo of another room in our house that reflects the look we’re going for. We want to replace the entire railing system, including the handrail, balusters, and posts. We’re also planning to repaint the walls and replace the flooring throughout the kitchen level with a medium-brown tone, so we’d love ideas that would potentially complement those changes.

We aren’t interested in glass and would prefer clean, simple lines over the traditional turned wood look. We’re open to different combinations of wood and metal or even an all-metal railing.

We’d love to hear what materials you recommend and where you’ve found good supplies! If you’ve done something similar in your own home, photos would be super helpful, too. We’re hoping for something modern and timeless that won’t feel dated in a few years. Thanks!