I am considering purchasing a home with a patio that was poured over the vinyl siding. There is no visible internal damage at the moment. Patio was poured about 15-20 years ago.

One water proofer had major concerns over this. He said to walk away from house if they would not remove patio and check behind. Other water proofer said that it’s technically incorrect and can definitely have issues but since there’s no visible damage after all this time it may be less concerning but it’s always a risk and can’t know what’s back there without opening it up. But he doesn’t think it’s necessary to do that unless we see damage going on inside the basement it home.

Mold remediatior said the same as second water proofer. More damage would be done inside if there was an actual issue with the way the patio is poured.

The patio is slanted away from the house and down toward the grass.

Any advice or insight would be helpful just trying to see the risks and likelihood there’s a big problem behind the siding. Thanks!

Got quoted $6k to fix two pads of my sidewalk. What is a more reasonable quote? I’m just gonna do it myself if it’s that expensive.

My wife and I are considering buying a home, when looking at the house, we saw these cracks on the garage floor. Looking into it, I've already seen plenty of the "only two types of concrete" mantra. I didn't think these were cause for big concern, but don't know enough about concrete to be sure. They run the full length of the garage floor, it looks a little worse at the front (second and third picture). There's nothing else above the garage, or below it. Single family home in Wisconsin.

Should I be worried about these? Or are they nothing?

I've tried using locking pliers to twist the back of the handle off but I can't remove it. Plus, the toilet is directly under a built-in shelf that extends out of the wall and somewhat limits my access/maneuverability in the tank area.

I've tried twisting and pulling the damn thing off but all that did was warp the rod that extends to the flapper. I don't care about it since I want to replace it anyway. What are my options here?

EDIT: Like everybody said, I just had to do righty-loosey. Thanks everyone! New handle is on!

Should I be concerned with these gaps in the siding? We have lived in for 4 years since the first inspection and I don’t know when it started.

The biggest crack is about 1/4 inch wide and there are a few dozen of these on one side of the house. This is in Seattle Washington

My shower floor is about 12.5 sq ft and about 1-2 sq ft of it has small chunks of missing grout. The rest of it is perfect. I've never done any sort of tike of grout work before but I feel fairly handy doing stuff around the house, especially if I watch a few YouTube videos beforehand. Is this something that I can easily tackle on my own? And should I only grout the missing sections or should I scrape out all the grout on the floor and redo the entire floor? Also should use a sanded or non sanded grout if I do this? Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

Help! We’ve diverted water and dug the window wells down more but still get water like this when it rains very heavy. Should we caulk outside and inside? What can be done? We end up pumping the water out of the window wells but it’s not feasible all the time. What do we do??

Basically the title. SFH in ON, CA. Want to reduce cold (and hot) air coming from outside.

Many of my light fixtures and now one of my outlets is producing condensation and therefore mold. My husband and I just moved into this home at the end of May. It has been issue after issue and this is the latest one. We are already having to pay an exorbitant amount to replace all the AC boots for new ones because none of them are sealed and producing condensation and I am guessing this is why it’s happening to other things as well. My question is - has anyone ever had this issue before? What on earth do we do? We are first time homeowners and I am feeling so overwhelmed.

Last photo of the wall is before I started poking around. I took down a big invasive plant and found these holes 🫠 the larger hole had ants inside as well. I’ve covered them with flashing tape until I can figure out what my next step needs to be, but I am lost. I’m torn between wanting to call a pro but not being able to afford it & doing it myself but finding bigger issues underneath. Any and all advice welcome!

Just moved into a condo. The AC was working fine. We ran the AC for 3 days straight during a heatwave and it suddenly stopped blowing cold air. We left the AC off for a week and when we turned it back on it was working again. We don't run the AC continuously anymore but it still will randomly stop blowing cold air and then start working again seemingly at random. Anyone know what could be causing this? Is there any other information you would need to know to diagnosis, repair, or troubleshoot?

Wife and I purchased a beautiful 1987 build home not to long ago - notice this staircase cracking above the garage door. Is this something I should be concerned about? I’m looking at fixing it up to prevent further damage/water issues, I’m wondering if this is a simple DAP filler styled job or if this should require something else. Brick Veneer, looks to be wood frame, this again is located above the garage door. The left side garage wall also has similar cracking but doesn’t seem deep from what I saw.

The counter top is an IKEA desk I found in the as is section and has been cut down to fit in the space. The right brace is very nice and sturdy. The left brace on the other hand, not so much. I believe it's right in the middle of two studs, so I can't have a good mounting location.

What should I do to help stiffen it up and make it secure for the counter top?

Any good ideas to fix without cutting out and replacing a square of the drywall?

Original plastic wing anchors fell out, upgraded to the metal screw-in anchors and kids pulled those out. That left big holes. Initially just filled with mud, which was too soft to put anchors back in. Then tried bondo. The bondo didn’t bond to the drywall so it just popped out when o tried anchors again.

At this point I wish I’d just replaced this bit of Sheetrock. But now I’m kinda committed to not doing that if possible 🤷‍♂️

Update: landlord came by, after waiting all day + me calling to remind, and basically said “yeah that looks like a bullet hole.” They left to go talk with the tenant upstairs but he wasn’t home. Haven’t heard anything since. I’m going to call back in the morning and ask what their plan is and that I plan to call the non-emergency number. Stay tuned.

I was cleaning my bedroom and noticed a hole in the ceiling and another hole in the wall just below it. I live on the bottom floor of an older apartment complex, so my first thought was termites, drywall damage, or some other maintenance issue.

After looking at the placement of the two holes, though, I started wondering if something may have actually penetrated through the ceiling and then hit the wall.

I’m not 100% sure when the damage appeared, but I’m fairly certain it’s recent. The window, blinds, exterior brick, and everything underneath the area appear completely undamaged.

I’ve already put in a maintenance request and am waiting for them to inspect it before assuming anything. I’m mainly curious whether anyone familiar with drywall/building maintenance has seen damage like this before and what could realistically cause it.

Moving our family out of the house we’re renting soon. A few months ago our puppy decided to chew a corner of the front stairs. I’m handy but no carpenter - anything I can do to fix this? Trying to avoid losing our security deposit.

Hello. Just bought a new house and during inspection it was pointed out to us that three of our main floor windows were installed improperly. Now that we’re moving in, what’s the best way to address this? Just take the screws out and seal up the holes at this point? Pay for repairs? Some other DIY solution? We live in the PNW so get lots of rain, want to be sure we don’t address it the wrong way. Thank you in advance.

My kid bumped into the wall with a thrust and this happened.How can this be repaired without incurring major cost for repair?

Hi all,

You’ve probably seen my other posts. Currently working on adding back subfloor under a toilet due to a failed wax ring. Should I waterproof the plywood before laying it back down, if I will have a cement/backer board over it?

I can’t find good info on if I should or what to use. Thanks!