I recently bought a house that we are renovating, and we discovered that the popcorn ceilings contain 5% Chrysotile asbestos. Unfortunately, before we were aware of this, a contractor began scraping the ceilings without taking proper precautions; they wet the material but did not lay down plastic, only sweeping and vacuuming afterward. Given that we are expecting a baby, I am particularly concerned about potential airborne asbestos fibers. There are no carpets, hardwood floors, or furniture in the house since it's fully gutted, which eliminates some risks. However, I am still worried about th ..read more

My husband is planning to set up a garden gym in the coming weeks. Already have a fair few pieces of equipment like barbells and plates, dumbbell rack and dumbbells, rows machine (dunno if that's the right word but not talking about a cardio rowing machine lol) and others. Problem is we live in a council property (UK) l and our garden is shared with a family downstairs and another tennant next door. The neighbours are all fine with us doing the gym set up - only thing is it will require digging up the grass a bit to level the floor for when we get a shed. At the moment we have a gazebo and th ..read more

Hi everyone . We’re having our bathroom done and we picked out small format herringbone tile and our contractor picked up large format herringbone and is telling me that the large is better for the floor because it’s far less likely to crack. Is this true from your experience ? Any help is much appreciated . Thank you. submitted by /u/Theprolific_1 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Hey all - first time homeowner. Need to buy a new dishwasher and am confused looking at cut out vs minimum height - what’s the difference? Wouldn’t the cut out required be the same as the minimum height? I’m looking at a few models where the minimum height is smaller than the cutout — the dishwasher would fit my space if I went by min height (33.3in), but would not fit if I went by the cutout height listed (35in). My space is just under 34 inches. Please help! submitted by /u/lotttiiieee [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Just over a month ago we moved into a new apartment and since the first couple of days, both of our shower heads have been making an ungodly high pitched squealing noise. We contacted maintenance and they tried replacing a couple parts but it didn’t help so they gave us a new shower head (the apartments only order one type so it was the same exact one but brand new) and that did nothing either. Then they had someone come and flush out the pipes and check everything to make sure it wasn’t air or debris or anything and there wasn’t so he got new DIFFERENT shower heads and replaced them this mor ..read more

Edit: cross posted to r/Home because I can attach photos. Wanting to color drench my kitchen, sort of. I live in a 100 y/o house and there’s a lot of white painted wooden trim and doors (three doors in the kitchen specifically, not counting the one that goes outside). The wood has been painting over with a specific latex(?) paint to seal any lead paint from its original build. I’m not really up for the entire project of stripping the wood paint and repainting, so (without knowing exactly what the layout is) do you think a partial color drench— walls + ceiling + floor molding would still look ..read more

So here's my question: If I call a company to test for mold, 9/10 they will say I have mold to earn my business and charge me, regardless if there's mold, no? Is there a way to be test it honestly or get a company who would who truthfully tell you if you don't have any mold? Would appreciate your thoughts submitted by /u/owen__wilsons__nose [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I just got a whiff of sewagey smell and I think it's coming from this blue stuff next to water heater. https://imgur.com/a/Al5OKPh Calling apartment complex about it but does anyone know the cause or what this stuff is? It's been here the whole time but now really smells. submitted by /u/mushashimonko [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I live in a rental in central Texas. The closet in my office is located between the furnace (on the right) and an exterior wall (on the left). The condensation drain runs through two large holes and is mounted on the back wall of my closet. On the other side of this back wall is the closet in my boyfriend‘s office, which also has large holes where the refrigerant lines run through. I’d like to plug these holes, preferably with this can of spray foam, since the holes are drafty and an open door for large hill country insects. I know spray foam is flammable, and the gases it emits when coming o ..read more

I just had a home inspection done yesterday on a house we are in escrow on who mentioned a small problem. The inspector said that there was a small piece of a foundation beam that has dry rot, but that it wouldn't be too hard to cut out and apply something to fill in the void created. I'm pretty handy, but I'm curious about, (if this recommendation is valid,) what I would use to try to add some of the structural integrity lost by the removal. He also said that the rest of the bones are good! Sorry for quality of pic, that's all I've got to work with... I'm in Portland, Oregon. Also, any thoug ..read more