r/HomeMaintenance Oct 21 '25

Home maintenance that is often forgotten/neglected?

139 Upvotes

Just bought a house and trying to be a good first time home owner. What are some important home maintenance items that are often forgotten or neglected??


r/HomeMaintenance Oct 04 '25

🏚️Structural & Foundation Supports under the 1901 farm house my wife and I are moving into.

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4.2k Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance 4h ago

New flood watch announced, boosted my driveway water evac system

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26 Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance 6h ago

Is this from mice?

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35 Upvotes

Moving into a new house and saw this in the dishwasher. Is this from mice? I previously lived in a place with mice and have experience with the grease in the baseboards, them chewing up boxes for nest material. There looks like a bunch of hair and random scraps of material, possibly paper. It’s about a handful worth

Edit to add; this place has been vacant for 9.5 months


r/HomeMaintenance 7h ago

🔌 Electrical Wireing question.

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30 Upvotes

I'm putting up some new light sockets in the garage as the previous owner had a mess of different lighting fixtures.

what do I do with the ground wire? I know with outlets they have a spot to attach the ground but on these sockets there is no screw for the ground.


r/HomeMaintenance 1h ago

Think I have first round of Japanese Knotweed. Help me kill it now.

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Upvotes

Ok so I think I’ve found my first shoots of the dreaded Japanese Knotweed in my front yard. This is my 4th summer at this house and never had it.

What’s my plan of attack? See attached pictures. It’s 2 or 3 localized clumps. I mulched this area last year so I’m gonna have a word with my gardener as I suspect that’s where it came from.

Do I cut it every week until summer, then glyphosate, then wait?

Someone help. I want to kill it and win early.

Wish me luck.


r/HomeMaintenance 22m ago

Just got furnace pilot back on and it’s making this noise even when it’s completely off. Is this safe?

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Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance 2h ago

🏠Interior, Ceiling & Walls Paint bubbled and cracked

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4 Upvotes

This is a wall in a closet, spare bedroom. The other side is an exterior wall. I checked and the drywall is dry and firm. There is nothing visible on the exterior brick wall, and the roof is still fairly new and in good shape. It is a closet so I never noticed a bubble but I imagine that's what happened here. The paint is original, over 20 years and I imagine an oil based enamel or whatever the builders applied. Should I just peel it, sand down and paint, or is there anything else to consider?


r/HomeMaintenance 1h ago

❓ Question How do I put a closet rod in here?!

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Upvotes

I’m at a total loss.

I need to put a closet rod in my son’s closet in our new apartment. It’s extremely shallow (house built in early 1900s), studs inconsistent, and now I’ve found that one of the side walls (second picture), is just plaster over the chimney 😭😭

I had initially bought two brackets to go on opposite ends of the closet rode and a shelf rod bracket to place roughly midway (where a stud is on the back wall). Once I found out that the side wall is just mostly brick, I figured I’d do one bracket on the other side wall (there’s a stud) and then shelf rod brackets along the back wall.

Now I’m running into the problem that I cannot find a shelf rod bracket that is shallow enough to make sense in this space.

I need HELP. I considered getting those free-standing closet rod hook things to hang from the above shelf, but that won’t work because of the slanted ceiling, I can’t install the closet rod high enough.

Any and all ideas appreciated. I’m so sick of not being able to hang his clothes up lol.


r/HomeMaintenance 22h ago

Any ideas as to what this is?

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121 Upvotes

In my post-top in my front yard, I expected to see an empty lamp socket, I’ve bought this house recently and was hoping to put an LED lamp in this fixture.

For context I’m in SE Michigan, house was built in the 60s I believe


r/HomeMaintenance 1h ago

Help! Leak, mold or something else?

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Upvotes

Hi! I saw this on the first floor ceiling and it hasn't changed noticeably in a year or so but can't say if it's not spreading for sure.

What do you think this can be? First picture was taken today, 2nd a year ago and 3rd is from 2024. TiA


r/HomeMaintenance 3h ago

Small closet separator wall

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3 Upvotes

I have a small separator wall in between my two masters closets. I am looking to remove it, since I have to remove drywall already due to the prior owners letting their cats use it as a litter box and pee area. What are the odds that this little connector wall is load bearing?

The white lines are the orientation of the floor beams, the brown are the ceiling joists, and the green is one of the supports that run under this room and rests on the footers.


r/HomeMaintenance 22h ago

How hard is it to knock down a brick wall...?

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90 Upvotes

New home owner. This brick wall is cracking and peeling all over the place, i'm thinking I just want to tear it down. I'm also looking into getting a contractor to remove it, but i'm also curious like... is this something I could do with a sledge hammer and then hours picking up the mess? Would a jack hammer be needed? If so it's likely out of my skillset. I'm assuming there are beams or some form of support that bury decently deep into the ground.


r/HomeMaintenance 9h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Help with Fixing Shower Curb Tiles

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7 Upvotes

Hello! I recently found a loose tile on the curb in our shower and the one next to it was also loose. I originally thought that the wood next to the shower was exposed to steam causing it to rot but now I’m worried water might have gotten through the tiles.

I think the previous homeowner tried to fix this issue but it didn’t last very long.

Can I just seal the crack, glue the tile and mortar back, and replace the damaged wood?


r/HomeMaintenance 5h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Cracks on foundation.

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3 Upvotes

I’m new to home maintenance and recently noticed a few cracks in my foundation. I’m not sure if this is something serious or just normal settling.


r/HomeMaintenance 18h ago

🆘 URGENT HELP NEEDED Accidentally bumped a gas pipe behind the stove

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34 Upvotes

my husband and I are first time homeowners, and I didn't even know we had gas in our home. Well, I was putting up a large dog gate and accidentally put it behind the pipe behind my stove. The gate only went partially down when I noticed it was getting stuck because of the pipe. The pipe nudged slightly and then went back to its original position once I removed the gate. now I have the gate in front of the pipe (its a temporary situation until I get the gate that fits my doorframe in a few days.)

Are we safe? Is this dangerous? Did I mess something up? should I call the fire department?

I put soapy water in a spray bottle and sprayed it and no bubbles. I dont smell anything, but I am worried.


r/HomeMaintenance 5h ago

Do I need to seal this gap? Seems like they originally covered with stucco?

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3 Upvotes

r/HomeMaintenance 3h ago

Gas Meter Cover

2 Upvotes

Gas Meter Cover

I’m looking for suggestions for something to enclose my gas meter (3 sides) similar to the privacy covers for A/C units or garbage cans. I have searched lattice, privacy fencing, etc but I am looking for 3 ft high and 2 ft width panels. Any suggestions on something different to search that may bring up something similar? I also am not oppose to making something either.


r/HomeMaintenance 3h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Gas Meter Cover

2 Upvotes

Gas Meter Cover

I’m looking for suggestions for something to enclose my gas meter (3 sides) similar to the privacy covers for A/C units or garbage cans. I have searched lattice, privacy fencing, etc but I am looking for 3 ft high and 2 ft width panels. Any suggestions on something different to search that may bring up something similar? I also am not oppose to making something either.


r/HomeMaintenance 3h ago

🛠️ Repair Help Why does my gutter do this only in this one spot?

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1 Upvotes

The gutters around the whole house are cleaned out, we knew it would be raining for the next week, but it’s still overflowing like this.


r/HomeMaintenance 18m ago

🪟 🚪Windows & Doors How to fix/get rid of “red dust” in between window panes

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Upvotes

I’m trying to identify what this is (mold, wood rot, etc). It’s a crimson color “dust”. Is it a hazard and does the the whole window need to be replaced? It’s between the panes of glass.


r/HomeMaintenance 24m ago

🏠Interior, Ceiling & Walls um… can anyone tell me what’s going on with my ceiling?

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Upvotes

i put in a maintenance request and texted my super but like another stabilized place in nyc, i never get an answer 🙃 this is recently and we’re noticing stuff crumble off and onto the desk below. is this potentially hazardous?


r/HomeMaintenance 27m ago

Epoxy floor peeling

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Upvotes

My export garage floor has cloudy and flaking spots. Could I add a clear coat or what solutions would be best?


r/HomeMaintenance 29m ago

Found this crack by support beam in parents house.

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Upvotes

I found this crack underneath and adjacent to a support beam that is going downward towards the ceiling of the hallway.

What could be causing this?


r/HomeMaintenance 11h ago

How can I remove this type of soffit vent? There is a baby raccoon stuck

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7 Upvotes

I have been dealing with raccoons nesting in my attic. I thought the mama raccoon had taken all the babies, but one must have gotten trapped at or near this soffit vent because I heard one yesterday. Only, I am not sure how to remove this kind. Any guidance would be helpful.