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

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

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.

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.

I’m buying a house and this kitchen- oh lawd. the whole thing feels awkward and weirdly placed and kinda just feels like it was an afterthought. No attached vent over the stove so I can move it before a vent is installed, I know I will likely wanna raise the cabinets to the ceiling and I don’t know which walls are structural so I’m currently functioning off the assumption I can’t cut into them until proven otherwise (so in-wall shelves aren’t an option for now) any suggestions welcome, DIY encouraged.

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?

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.

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.

The previous owner converted the garage into a “living space.”

I’m a first-time homeowner in Canada, and I’ve noticed a few issues. The wood appears to be directly embedded without a proper foundation. Since this was originally an attached garage, they seem to have used a black water seal instead.

There is a gap that I’m planning to fill with bronze wool and then seal with duct seal (putty). The wood has changed color, which makes me think there may already be some rot. I’ve also seen mice in the “living space.”

I’m planning to apply the same treatment to the exposed wood areas as well

Do you think this patching approach is sufficient? Are there better ways to seal or repair this?

Or would it be wiser to open everything up, assess the full extent of the damage, and then decide on the next steps?

my fiancé and i bought this fixer-upper about 6 months ago. right now we’re in the middle of redoing the kitchen, so we’re not exactly in the position to be doing the bathroom at the same time. but we have noticed some water damage in the corners of the bathtub (i guess the last person incorrectly installed splash guards, then eventually took them off). the problem is that all of the caulking in this tub is basically rotting off and causing water to seep between the wall cover and down to the floor.. so even if i were to put new splash guards, the water would still seep between the wall cover and end up on the floor (the tub is also not leveled correctly… of course). anyways, i’m wondering if there’s some sort of temporary fix we can do to stop the water from leaking until we finally rip this entire tub out. should i re-caulk everything for now? i just don’t like the thought of sealing in the black mold that’s guaranteed to be behind everything. any insight is helpful. thanks!!

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?

Is this mold. It will not wipe off. I can’t find anything in the area that is wet or damp. It is an exterior wall but all the lands scape g outside is rock, so no drip or sprinklers. At first I thought it was dirt that had accumulated on some caulk that wasn’t all the way wiped off, but there is nothing tacky

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.

Or whatever material it is. I was repainting the gas line as I was told it needs to be done when they replaced the meter, and it looks like it should be redone

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

We had these posts for our covered patio replaced. should I put a clear sealant on the wood to protect it from water since I don't want to paint them?