I can't seem to find a hose that I like and that lasts.

I'm watching Home Improvement and noticed Dave Chappell and Jim Brewer are in this episode. I go to check the episode, s4e20 - 420...was this thought out or pure coincidence?

We are prepping for major work in Monterey Bay CA, and I'm looking for a gut check on some of these prices from a GC.

- 150k for a new detached garage, 26x24ft, unfinished. 175k ish if we include existing driveway/carport demo, tree removal, and new driveway. He opened the conversation by basically saying "I'm aware of your home value, what you got it for, etc" (it was basically a steal in our area) "and I'm going off about 250 per sqft"
- 50k per bathroom (two), estimating 30k for labor and 20k for finishes. One is entirely new, 50ish sqft, one is a full gut and moving some plumbing fixtures, maybe 90 sqft
- 100k or more for existing attached, unfinished garage to JADU conversion, including new plumbing for a kitchenette and entirely new bathroom in a slab foundation
- 40k to fully gut the kitchen, tear the roof off, and replace the roof entirely
- 70k for remodeling the kitchen

Between the above and some other things that fit into the remodeling plans, it's coming out to almost $600k. Some of his estimates seem extremely reasonable (kitchen roof), but some of them don't seem to add up - 150k for an unfinished garage VS 100k+ for the JADU conversion? 100k JADU including new bathroom and kitchenette and all kinds of other gutting, leveling, finishing VS 50k new bathroom?

I'm getting more estimates but I'd appreciate any perspective on these prices so far!

We have a 60ft run of soil alongside a concrete pad, closer to the front is our gas and electric hookups, and farther past behind is an above ground pool.

I've often said we can never get a heater installed because we couldnt run a pipe through the landscaping.

But we are about to rip up the whole run and install some arborvitae the whole way.

Can't afford the gas run right now, and we wouldn't want to tear up the landscaping again later...

I'm thinking of burying a 2 or 3 inch PVC against the concrete pad the whole length. Would this allow for a future gas line to be pushed through?

Alternatively, I might want to just run extension cords through it, or maybe even a more appropriate conduit, but we already have electric service on the other side of the pad. it's just in the way sometimes, not a priority.

Any thoughts on burying a preemptive access pipe?

US resident (East Coast). I purchased my home just over 20 years ago. A few weeks ago when randomly checking the local County's tax assessment site I noticed that my partially finished basement and 1/2 bath (in the basement) weren't included with my home. Both of these were inherited from the previous buyer and I have no memory of them or my agent disclosing this information to me at the time. I was young and naive and was really leaning on the guidance of the agent when I bought the home. Also, the market was incredibly hot and my agent really pushed hard for me to waive the home inspection at the time to make my offer more competitive. I did do a walk through with a friend of the family who was a contractor and they didn't spot anything obvious.

A few days after this came to my attention I called the local county's permitting department and asked some general questions. They provided a link to where one could look up permits online. After my online search produced no results (not even for the original permits) I called back and they informed me that they only maintain permits (e-copies and hard copies) dating back to 2006ish. So as things stands I have no way of "technically" knowing whether it was or wasn't permitted, although if it was I'm fairly certain it would be reflected on tax assessment site, unless it's a user error on their end.

Since I've lived in the home I've replaced a window in the basement, replaced the sink and toilet in the basement, and added new carpet in the basement (i.e., haven't done anything that would require a permit). My question is how should I handle the potentially unpermitted basement and 1/2 bath given the context I've provided? This isn't my forever home and I envision selling within the next 10 years. Will I still be able to list and sell my home? For context, if I end up having to redo the basement/bathroom it would put me in a huge hole financially. Is this an issue that I just worry about when I'm ready to sell or is there something proactive that I need to start potentially planning/saving for? Thanks in advance for your insight.

My basement smells like crap right now. Yesterday I thought it was a gas leak, but our detector never went off. Bought a combustible gas detector anyway and it also confirmed that there was no gas leak.

But the smell is still there (though better than yesterday). It seems to be coming from our furnace room. Could it be sewage gases coming through...somehow? I know nothing about home improvement so I'm not even sure if this makes sense. I'm sort of wondering if it's safe for me to stay in the house with this smell, whatever it is, though I do feel a little better that it's not a gas leak.

Just purchased our first house. Sellers had an entertainment wall with surround sound and removed the shelving that hid all of the wires leaving us with giant holes in the sheetrock. Hoping to get recommendations for the best way to fix this wall. I've seen enough videos and have some friends who can help us patch these holes, however with so many holes (and being a first timer) I could see it being simpler to just redo the whole wall. Also open to suggestions for what to do with it after we patch up the holes. Thanks in advance!

https://imgur.com/a/1HoSzoa

time for new washing machine and dryer. my samsung is dying, sounds like a 747 taking off during spin cycle.

i was thinking of getting a washer and a dryer that has the new heat pump technology in. ventless.

anyone here make the switch and are happy or hate the new heat pump technology? whether heat pump dryer or a combo washer/dryer?

Was ready to drop some $$$ on a speed queen but the efficiency of these dryers is very attractive

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

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

I'm currently working for an elderly couple (I'm a window cleaner), and I offered to ask the hive mind here for a bit of help.

They have a Wescraft sliding glass door, installed 50 years ago, with a worn-out inner wheel on the bottom—it's no longer turning. They've contacted a few local contractors, but the standard response seems to be "just replace the whole slider." That feels pretty wasteful considering it's just one small broken part.

Details:

• Door brand: Wescraft
• Wheel diameter: ~1.5 inches

Has anyone dealt with this before or know of a good fix or replacement part? Would love to help them out without having to replace the entire door.

Thanks in advance.

The doors are unfinished red oak and need either some stain, or just sealer.

Pic of the bedroom with red oak doors that need stain/sealer - you can see the dark brown (douglas fur?) ceiling beams https://imgur.com/a/eGcwJTl

Any experience with complete shower kits? We are looking at the Castico brand specifically. We are going away from tile showers. We have tile in our current house and the upkeep is difficult with our well water. I like the affordability and ease of having an entire kit that can be installed within a few days. Let me know your experience and thoughts/suggestions. Pictures would be great as well! Thanks!

We just bought 7 windows from Apex and I wanted to share my experience as I see some older threads on this brand.

This company builds windows to order in the US. It takes a few months to receive them due to the custom build. They are triple pane and have a lot of extra functionality, like being able to open from the top and lever out.

We ordered them to be black outside, which is a paint job they applied at the factory. Overall, the quality seems very high compared to other brands we looked at. Even on a sunny day, very little heat transfer comes in, and the house is noticeably quieter.

Installation: the company made a huge deal about how skilled their installers are, so we were surprised when we found out a subcontractor installs the windows. They are licensed separately from apex and during installation an inspector came by and told us they were not properly licensed.

Other issues: there is quite a bit of overspray on the inside of the window, and the paint used was apparently not completely dry, as we now have black paint marks on our cabinets. Also I had asked the salesperson if they could replace the rotted sills at installation time. Only one sill was replaced, using pressure treated wood that doesn’t match the other windows. I wanted to paint the wood before installation but they did not allow us to coordinate that.

Anyway, hope this helps someone with a decision on window buying.

Hi All,

I reapplied silica sand to our patio pavers as years have passed and they required some maintenance I followed all the instructions, applied carefully, used a blower before water rinse, etc. Etc. Problem is, this fine dust is still all over the patio - we can feel it on our shoes and feet. Sweeping no helps. I don't want to power-wash it because that will bow out all this hard work I did. What the secret of getting rid of these fine particulates? I want to enjoy the weather.

Thanks ofr any tips and tricks.

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

Hey, We’d like to have a sun sail in our back yard. Can 4 posts be attached to the patio to be used as anchors?

I’m a little hesitant to attach it to my house, but looking for advice on the best way to attach a 4 corner sail.

Here are a couple photos.

https://imgur.com/a/BhvgOW4

We have a well and a pressure tank for the well. The pressure tank is roughly 17 years old. Although probably only has 12 years of use (house was a foreclosure). Suddenly a few months ago the water pressure dropped

I was going to just use an air compressor to add the appropriate amount of air - but my FiL said that you should never do that, and because of the age (and color, it’s blue and I guess should be white?) it’s old and needs to be replaced.

I’m comfortable following the instructions to add air as YouTubers have outlined but just curious what he might’ve been referring to

I've been reaching out to check how much this wooden gate replacement would be. It's just old and worn and sitting horribly. Has been wrecked a good bit by heavy winds and rain. Checked with a couple handymen and a couple places including Home Depot. I've gotten varying offers in the range of $2500-$3800 for the gate to be replaced and for a lock installation, as well as an overall paint job for the gate and the surrounding fence (some offers started at $2500+ before the paint)

The gate is about 72x116. So lets say 6 by 10 feet. The surrounding fence I have not exactly measured but possibly another 60+ feet in width with the same height.

My best deal so far was $2500 including the gate replacement and all included reinforcements, touchups to the fence and a full paint. Does this sound about right in the current market? Pre-tariff estimate if that matters lol. Had some guys concerned stuff they work with and purchase will shoot up.

Image: https://imgur.com/a/ROwdWaO

Bought this 6 months ago and this happened after a heavy rain storm. What are some options I have to prevent this from happening again?

https://imgur.com/a/N5vjgGq

There was a shed in the yard when my daughter bought her house. It's in rough shape, but I think I can save it. The door is made of the same T-111 pressboard used in for the walls and is the biggest issue. I looked into a roll up door but they need a fair amount of overhead space. The shed at my house I built I used a 36" steel entry door and I'm thinking of doing that here. I plan on removing all the 1x4 particle board trype trim and repairing the walls with new nails or screws to the 2x4 then a lot of caulk and primer and then paint. Then new white trim, maybe pvc or primed pine.

For the door I need a piece of the T-111 and 2x4s to reframe the rough opening for the single door. They only put a push mower, spreader, yard tools, chairs, etc in there. I think the single door would be ok.

Any thoughts or advice?https://imgur.com/a/EXmYMvz

Just installed the Braun-NuTone 41000 ductless under cabinet range hood, the fan works fine in both high and low but when I install the filter it struggles to move, which is telling me the filter is blocking it.

Not what do I do? Thanks

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Broan-NuTone-41000-Series-30-in-Ductless-Under-Cabinet-Range-Hood-with-Light-in-Black-413023/202805559

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.

Does this install look right?

https://imgur.com/a/OpXWfpY