Hello,

Not sure this belongs here, let me know. Anyway, moved into a new house recently and have recieved typical Floorplans. I'd like to get them in some kind of program like sketchup (or like a free autodesk) that would allow me to measure distances that aren't explicitly stated or add notes/other drawings/etc.

Ive thought about just using sketchup, but I'd really like something that would take an upload of my pdf floorplans and auto generate my base layer. Any suggestions?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Construction/comments/1jrdg9g/should_i_replace_this_with_backer_rod_or_leave_it/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

We have this material between the old brick exterior and new addition. The addition was 20 years ago, so this has held up. Is it like a dense coco mat material? Behind it I can see plywood. I was wondering if we should remove it and put in backer rod and possibly caulk?

The nose cap piece to the top.of my stairs broke off revealing this. We have tried to cut and create a nose.cap.over this however with how thin thr floors are it creates a raises and a tripping hazard. Also the stairs look messed up :/ how do I go about fixing this ? Picture linked

https://imgur.com/a/6cxRaSS

Hi, moving into a commercial space in a few weeks, will be fairly low traffic space. Where can I get some cheap flooring to lay over tiling? I’ll need about 2000sqft. Looked at places like HD or Rona but they start at $2/sqft. Would try to avoid spending 4-5k if possible. Located in Toronto.

Hey everybody, looking to hear about some folks experiences and pricing doing house add on’s recently. Wife and I live in south east, 4 side brick, currently 3 bed 2 bath. Interested in adding 2 bedrooms (14x14) and small full bath. House sits on a crawl space, possible to stay under 100k? No crazy fixtures or high end mods, just looking for more space to raise a family without leaving our farm.

I just purchased a house that has a Jenn-Air range with integrated downdraft system. The metal vent is not aligned to the duct that is meant to send the air outside of the house. The misalignment is 8cm and the space between them is only 2.5cm. The diameter is 13cm for both. Is there any elbow or flexible metal duct that could pull off the connection?

First photo is taken from below and second photo is taken from the side.

https://imgur.com/a/iKwBrgO

Bought dusk to dawn bulbs only to realize the garage and porch lights in our new home are not regular bulbs. Does anyone know what kind of bulbs I need for these lights?

https://imgur.com/a/RFYLMig

I YouTubed some DIY videos but it seems like a lot of the videos I came across were for bullnosing on dry wall corners. Is it possible to add this effect on existing walls?

I’m not sure if this makes sense lol but the walls are already done and has paint. I happened to come across this style and was wondering if I could change the wall edges of my house bc the bull nose, to me, gave the house a softer appearance.

That, and I’m always running into walls. Figured it might lessen the blow.

We are repainting our front door. It is now 5:30pm. My husband finished painting it around noon. He didn’t leave the door open to let it dry, and now it’s sticking. How can we fix this?

Our house has an everdry foundation stormwater removal system with 2 sump pumps. After record rainfall this week, we’ve started noticing a sewer/dead animal smell. It seemed to be coming from one sump pump but not the other, we thought it was a venting issue but can’t figure out what vent would be causing it. The other sump pump didn’t seem to smell until we ran a hose with water through the pipe that connects the two (on adjacent corners of basement) and the smell seemed to flow to the second sump pump.

My theory is that something has died in the piping connecting the two sumps, and the continuous running of the pump has caused a vacuum pulling the smelly air out from the pipe and into the house. Who do I even call about this? Or is there something else that could be going on that I’m missing?

Hello, two of my window lock stopped working because the plastic tie bar guides broke. Is it me or are these things ridiculously expensive at $5 to $10 CDN each for a small piece of plastic that snaps over time? Also, does anyone know what changed between the old and new version shown below?

https://flic.kr/p/2qWeQ7a

Hello! We had to replace an appliance that had a short circuit and left a burnt smell all over. The landlord gave us an ozone machine to run for a day but told us to be out and away the entire time. I've never heard or used one but since we have to be away, I'm assuming it's serious business. Is there some kind of danger to using them? Will my other appliances and food be okay? Do I need to keep windows and doors shut? Or open? They didn't give us any further instructions and it's the weekend so no one is answering their offices. Any help would be appreciated.

Place is about 1200 sq. ft. BTW.

This is about 5 years old, electric water heater. Called a repair guy who says it’s done for. I’m inclined to believe him. He says I should do a heat pump for around $5500 to swap this out.

Like this but rusty:

How do I order one and can know for sure my water supply in the wall will allow the bidet to fit? I worry the water supply will be in the way. Tips? Measurements for each aren't that helpful because it's not listing how far out from the wall the backside hits.

Has anyone converted a patio or deck into a screened in porch recently? A contractor I know said PVC plastic kits are much better than aluminum. What was your experience? Looking to enclose about a 12 x 12 area on a concrete slab for not that much money.

Found myself in a rough spot…

Long story short I bought my first house back in December (2024) and seemed like a nice first home with a little DIY here and there. Nothing of major concern was disclosed by seller or inspector, come to find out my crawlspace is completely covered in rotting wood and black mold! A good 70% of it is compromised, and my crawlspace is roughly 1700sqft. Inspector’s insurance denied the claim for negligence so I’m stuck in a rock and a hard place. I have a 6 month old and a wife who have been living somewhere else once we found out how bad the mold is. I’ve been quoted by a couple companies; 45k for complete remodel from the top down (all the bells and whistles), 22k for complete mold treatment and encapsulation (sub sump, French drain, dehumidifier, etc), and 16k for the same as above minus the drain and sub pump. If I do this myself it would be a very long and grueling DIY project that I don’t have the energy for. I’m debating on doing the 22k option through payments ($232/month for 15 years!). Just curious if anybody had any advice or guidance. I’m 25 making “decent” money, but my monthly budget would squeezed if I go this route. Please help!

https://imgur.com/a/r9MsmrF

Hi,

I have been living in current home from past 7 years. I have never seen our sump pump ever. I have circuit monitoring that showed it never ran. We added radon mitigation. The pipe of mitigation system is hooked into sump pump put, and out sump pump runs every few mins when it rains now. Does radon mitigation pump caused it to start running since its creating kind of negative pressure when it sucks air out of pit causing it to run more? Wanted to see what other people have experienced in this situation?

I’m looking to add some lighting to closets. One is under my stairs. The other is a nursery closet. I’m 7 months pregnant so I need it to be easy to assemble but not flimsy (I’m not opposed to screwing it into the wall or ceiling but I’m not an electrician). Right now all the stuff I’m finding are for under cabinet lighting and I want something with more luminescence.

I’m not sure if i want motion activated because I’m not sure if it will disturb the newborn. It might be a nice feature if I can turn it off.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!!

My fiance and I have a few home improvement projects we’re compiling to complete this year. We really want to get new shutters or paint our current ones. Are you able to pop off vinyl shutters to paint and refasten them? Our shutters are pretty sun faded. I didn’t know if it was worth repainting (if it’s possible) or if the best course of action is to buy new ones? Thanks!

I am looking to close in my carport after getting the roof replaced. There are diagonal studs running from the ground to the roof. There are two boards, one at 80” from ground and then one at 90” from ground. I am wanting to cut the lower board so that I have 90” for framing and to install a prehung door. I am wondering if this would cause any structural issues both during reconstruction and when complete.

I have marked up some measurements and posted these below. The yellow marking is the board I would like to cut.

https://imgur.com/a/6MuOB7D

We are going to use just a sheet of stainless steel and am wondering if it should come down to just the end of the cabinets, or if it should be longer and go down behind the stove.

https://imgur.com/a/cBcL8il

We had this hole under sink since we got the house and now realized that some Mice are coming out it. How do I seal it??

The brown horizontal pipe is coming from dishwasher. Saw some other post talking about steel wool, copper mesh and foam. Would that work here??? Thank you in advance.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cgb309zgj0e2qfnwic9kq/IMG_0575.jpeg?rlkey=b7e9zp3957xc15kdo07yikm5e&st=p8ozmcwv&dl=0

I have 8in x 8in blue tiles from the 80s which were laid on top of antique black and white penny tiles. I’d like to remove the top lawyer of 80s tiles and put down new penny tiles. What is the best way to do this? How much time am I looking at with the right tools?

I have some water intrusion around a large window. I suspect water is coming in from above the lintel where the sealant has pulled away from the mortar.

https://imgur.com/a/Vdrogyu

Should I just remove the old sealant and apply a new bead? If so, do I need a backer rod? The gap looks large to me. Should I try to retrofit some kind of drip edge between the mortar and lintel?

I figure while I’m at it, I’ll reseal around the entire window. Is there anything else that looks suspect here that might contribute to water intrusion?