If you don't know the last time you cleaned the condenser coils on your fridge you probably should add that to your spring cleaning list. I was doing a repair on my Samsung (dont buy a Samsung fridge kids) and when I opened the back up to put in the new drain tubes I dont even think I could see the coils in the dust and dog hair, yick. Vacuumed it all out and now it at least looks like something that should function. Probably should be a once per year task at least.

What are the cheapest items you have purchased for your home that have had the most significant impact in your daily living experience?

I just had a metallic epoxy floor install done in the basement. The company installed flake epoxy in our garage a year ago that we absolutely love. We love the look of the new floor in the basement, but noticed several markings that we sent to the owner via text. She seemed to get pretty defensive. She's stating that all are normal and will dissipate in the next 30 days as the floor sets.

I wanted to ask this forum if this seems reasonable or if maybe she's trying to hand-wave some legit blemishes.

https://imgur.com/a/oL2hCo5

Never will I order appliances from a store that does not do their own delivery and installation.

Buy from local appliance store that does their delivery and installations.

SW Florida. Two Hurricanes (flooding and wind). Costly. We're all doing the best with what we have.

Ordered new appliances from Home Depot during Thanksgiving sale. Stressful time and frankly, many of us in an area are still going through a long haul claw back. But that is what it is. Between electric work, cabinet work, trying to salvage reasonably what able...

(Born and raised in this state and things happen. You deal. Before 2024, we'd been pretty fortunate).

But! When ready to finally receive appliances, between actually getting the appliances delivered from one company that will not give you a clear window (gives a day, then the night before might reach out and give you a four hour window that may or may not happen so it's the full day). Okay. When they do arrive, it's a subcontractor, tired worn out crews that you know are worked to death by their bosses and really don't gaf about you or Home Depot's reputation.

Home Depot will tell you that you have to let them know in 48 hours if something doesn't work right or you then have to go through the manufacturer.

The installers will not come out unless appliances are already delivered, and they too, will give a day, and that day, it will be whenever, IF ever.

Paid extra for installations of two of the appliances and here we sit on a Sunday doing it ourselves to make SURE it works. (Two have to be exchanged).

Keep in mind THEY TOO (the installers), work for subcontractors that apparently also install for other big box stores and they too, do not gaf about you or whatever company they "represent" for that particular order.

The end. Rant over. Not my frustration, just rant.

* The sad thing is, Home Depot is shooting themselves in the foot with hiring different subcontractors to deliver and install. My Home Depot store has terrific employees, their customer service online has been understanding and professional. But none of that is any good if it all goes to crap at the end.

UGH!!!!

Be careful when dealing with the Lowes flooring department and in particular, Shaw Carpeting. I contracted for carpeting to be installed in my basement game room, nothing fancy, jus the middle of the line carpet. The installation went smoothly except for a visible seam and some rough edge areas. The installation folks returned and repaired rough edge areas and the attempted to correct the seam (with no success).

Shortly after the installation, I noticed ‘sprouts’ of carpeting (loose threads) sticking out. I figured these were simply by products of new carpeting and would subside. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the ‘sprouts’ continued to appear throughout the basement.

I contacted the Lowes service center and was redirected to the installation department. They came and inspected the ‘sprout’ situation and told me that they thought the carpet was defective and would report it accordingly. After a few weeks I was told that the carpet manufacture (Shaw Carpet) denied any responsibility and the claim was closed. Meantime my basement carpet was becoming a jungle. I was considering mowing the carpet.

I contacted Lowes and explained my dilemma and was told that there was nothing they could do. I got the same response from the out-sourced installation group as well. There was no need calling Shaw Carpet, they didn’t care.  

I wasn’t sure where to turn to so I filed a complaint with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and that seemed to get a response from both Lowes and Shaw. This interest was superficial only. They both sent out techs to physically examine the carpet and both technicians told me that, in their opinion, the carpet was defective and should be replaced. They both also claimed that the protruding seam across the middle of the game room was due to both faulty product (carpet) and installation.

This whole process went on for close to nine months and required multiple phone calls, emails and meetings at my house. At one point, the folks from Shaw placed blame on my vacuum cleaner and eleven-year-old dog. If that was the case why wasn’t the carpeting throughout the house damaged?

Bottom line, Lowes does NOT stand behind the products they sell and Shaw Carpets is just as bad (and probably worse). Ive hire an attorney and plan on filing a formal complaint. It’s not the money anymore…

There’s no waterproofing down there, just a sump pump (not sealed, just a hole in the floor).

I sent them this picture and they said it was probably excess humidity if they had to guess. This stuff looks borderline toxic, not too sure if they’re being straight with me… kinda seems like the foundation leaks over there, idk

https://imgur.com/a/AHpQUq3

Moving to the new house next month and am going to have to replace the hot water heater, so we're thinking of going Tankless. Any recommendations (and conversely, any warmings as to ones to avoid?)

We are turning our garage into a separate apartment. Started the work in July. When he works he does a good job, however, he often doesn't show up for months. Right now it's about halfway done, the last time he did work was in February. And we have no clue when will he show up next.

Our plan was that once the work is done we move out of the country, and we are desperate to leave at this point. But there is no end in sight, and we invested too much to just give up. He did like 2-3 weeks worth of work in the last 10 months.

What would you do?

My wife backed into our partially open garage door. The steel in one of the panels is torn and some of the panel bracing is detached. The now door sags severely in the middle and will not operate easily. The track, opener, torsion spring, etc. are all fine.

I am handy and was thinking of installing a replacement myself. I've replaced the torsion spring and opener before without issue.

Has anyone else attempted this? Is it a difficult job?

https://imgur.com/a/ECVQNSc

Few days ago we lost power for 16 hours after a heavy storm. I have a sump pump, but the battery for the backup was really old and didn’t kick on. By the time I realized, I had water in my unfinished utility room. Fortunately, drain by hot water heater caught most of it.

However, I noticed that areas around the perimeter of the basement were wet. I’m wondering if this was due to the sump pump not working and therefore leaving water sitting around the foundation. House is 31 years old.

I’ve got several big fans drying right now. Will probably rent a dehumidifier and run it. What else? I plan to solve the source of the water before replacing flooring, but will probably go with waterproof laminate flooring rather than carpet.

Thanks

Hey everyone. Last night we had a mouse in our kitchen, so we’ve been scrambling to find ways to safeguard the house. I spent the morning putting everything in sealed containers and getting all food far off the ground, and now I’d like to be able to actually stop them (or at least deter them a little).

The mouse we saw ran to the kitchen sink, but on closer inspection it seems he went under the cabinet, not into it. The cabinet under the sink has no holes or anything, but we found that every cabinet in the kitchen has a small gap that goes under it - it seems they were just installed that way.

Should we go around and attach steel wool with caulk in all the gaps? I’m already planning to put steel wool and foam in the spots outside the house, but I’d like the extra deterrent if they get inside. Any advice you can give us super appreciated!

Post flood reno and want to give the ceiling a fresh coat (same color). Walls have new sheetrock and plaster 2' from the floor.

To make my life easier I'm thinking to prime the walls first, then paint ceiling, and finish by painting the walls. This way I'll only have to cut the corners once when painting the walls. Make sense?

We bought our house a year and a half ago and the main bath had a stick-on anti-slip covering on the bottom. It started to get gross and peel up so I pulled it up and this was underneath. How concerning is this? Should I recover it with something or some other fix?

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AB94jDW

Hey everyone,

2 summers ago my next door neighbor said I should use Thompson water seal on my rooftop deck. He set me up with his pressure washer and I used it to prep my deck before we both sealed it. He died. Some parts of my deck are green. First time in 10 years of living here. What would be the best way to clean it and re-seal it? I live in a very rainy area. The deck also being uncovered mostly and on the roof gets a lot of direct sun (and very hot) in our summer season.

Thank you

Hey folks—not sure the best place to post this but hoping to get a sanity check on what this type of job might cost in Toronto.

I’m planning to demo and rebuild a laneway-accessed garage in the Trinity Bellwoods area (east of the park, west of Bathurst, between Queen and Robinson). The current garage is about 20’ x 14’, detached from the house but attached on both sides to neighbouring garages. The structure needs to be fully demolished and replaced.

Key things I’m looking for in the new build: - Same footprint (20’ x 14’), possibly a bit taller than the existing 10' roof depending on roof design - Insulated, with a standard overhead sectional door (remote + exterior keypad) - One window and a reused entry door from the back patio - Basic electrical (reusing an existing line), no plumbing or heating - Gutters draining into the laneway - Basic interior setup for storage (tires, tools, bikes, etc.) - Would love to add an arborist service to remove and replace a tree in the back patio area at the same time

I’m not asking for quotes, just trying to get a sense from the community—what’s a reasonable range for this kind of work in Toronto in 2025? Would love to hear from anyone who’s done something similar, or who works in trades/design and can share ballpark numbers.

Thanks in advance!

I currently have a 36" GE cooktop with 5 burners, but I'm running into some issues. Only one of the burners is powerful enough to cook meals in decent time, while the other four are either too low from the top of the grill or just not powerful enough. See pic https://imgur.com/a/FF9Fqu3

I'm looking for a 36" cooktop that has at least 2 or 3 powerful burners and also has an opening on the top grill so I can accommodate a wok or rounded pots. Most burners I've seen have a flat grill design, which makes pots wobble, and that's just not working for me.

I was looking at the Wolf CG365P 5-burner cooktop, but it costs around $2400, which is pretty steep. Does anyone know of any alternatives that are more affordable but still offer similar performance? Appreciate any recommendations!

I recently bought a home. I’m trying to find a professional who can help identify the source of a persistent odor inside the house. But I have no idea where to start.

It’s not clear what’s causing it—it smells a bit like pine wood-based cat litter—but I’ve already ruled out common causes like obvious pet odors, HVAC filters, or mold in visible areas. Even had a mold inspector come in to check and found nothing so that’s unhelpful.

We did major remodeling in the two bathrooms, one is attached to master and that seems to get rid of the smell in those rooms.

The living room and kitchen are connected and the smell persists in those areas, stronger in the kitchen but upon checking and sniffing all surfaces I’m at a dead end.

At my friend’s house I smelled the same odor, and found it’s coming from this cat litter called Feline Pine (link below). I can only assume the scent is related to pine? The house is surrounded by pine trees but fresh pine tree smell from outside doesn’t smell the same. Thanks in advance!

https://images.app.goo.gl/UHoR4gAQwWvBv1pP9

Have 10 doors in this old house I’m looking to fix up or replace. They all have striker alignment issues and significant cosmetic damage, and so I don’t mind paying for new prehungs+install just to be done with it, especially the cosmetic issues. But I’m wondering if these old doors are significantly superior to what I could buy now and worth saving? Not sure material or if they’re original to the house (1940 construction), but definitely mid-century.

Based on the pics below, can you tell what the door construction is and if it’s worth saving? The last few pics in the imgur show some exposed wood. I don’t mind paying a chunk of change to replace, just worried I’d be replacing with something much worse.

https://imgur.com/a/PxF4B5t

How can I stop this area from flooding?

This area floods every hard rain and spills into the concrete pad. We rented a tiller and tilled the ground all around the pad to make a garden. Probably tilled down like 6" until the dirt was fluffy and could rake easily. There is another area along side the pad that has a small puddle area as well. Last night we had a storm and the area floods even worse now and the puddles are bigger. The area is North Alabama.

I have a walk-in closet with a pair of sliding doors that only connect to the frame at the top - they otherwise swing free. I also have cats who I would like to keep out of the closet. I got some of those plastic snap-locks intended to stop a small child from opening the door, and those stop the cats from getting the door open, but the little jerks have since figured out that they can push on the bottom of the door and then squeeze through the space between the doors.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can use to keep them out? Thanks in advance.

My first home and first significant rainfall since buying, my sump pump is kicking on for about 10 seconds every 2-6 minutes. Is this normal given the amount of rainfall in the short period of time?

Just as the title says, I just bought a new Bosch SHX78CC5UC dishwasher today from a scratch and dent store (it looked brand new) and I unfortunately didn't do enough research.

I have an oldddd Hotpoint dishwasher that probably was installed when the house was built in 1997. I have no idea what electrical or plumbing installations are needed.

When I was purchasing the dishwasher, the store owner didn't say anything about this to me. They are supposed to deliver, install, and haul away the old dishwasher this upcoming Tuesday. Should I call ahead of time to see if I need to have anything ready?

I'd imagine they also install these often in older homes too so not sure what to expect.

I'm a first time home owner so this is all very new to me. I am learning and would like to get some advice or not sure if I'm worrying too much.

I’m looking at opening up my kitchen walls so it’s not closed off, and I’ve cut open an exploratory hole in the Sheetrock.

I keep seeing videos of people in the US with the tilt and turn windows and people are raving about how great they are, however it’s almost impossible to find a store that has that brand of windows. Does anyone in NY state or near NYS have the tilt and turn windows? If so, where did you get them and how do they do in the winter?

We bought this house a few months back and had 5 inches of rain this week flooding our walk out basement and garage. We're on a sloped hill and this concrete / brick / whateverthefuckheused pad was certainly a DIY job by the previous homeowner, or neglected for 20+ years. Anyway, the water pools and seeps into the cracks causing it to go through my foundation along the backside of the house...literally a stream of water draining in.

Figured on the concrete portion we'd need to pour a new pad with some sort of trench drain in the concrete, then dig down to the footings around the rest of the house to connect a sloped french drain and waterproof the exterior foundation. Curious if anyone has been in a similar situation and how you dealt with it? Pretty handy but this seems like a bigger DIY job than I want to tackle.

Picture of the issues