When I renovated my home in 2018, I purchased a top-of-the-line Rinnai tankless heater for about $1300. Installed it mostly myself, except for the gas hookup. Since then its been great with zero issues. When multiple appliances/showers are running simultaneously, no problem. Wired remotes in the baths and kitchen allow me to dial in an ideal water temp which adds to the already obvious efficiency.

My question is this. Use of tankless heaters in Japan is almost universal. In Europe, it's in a sizeable majority of homes. The US is probably less than 25% at best. So, to plumbers and other installers, why the resistance to what seems like a common sense, good idea? Is it because of cost? Lack of awareness?

Hello all. We have an (old) HVAC and water heater in a "closet" in our master bath attached to our bedroom. It's loud when it runs because it's old and it moves a lot of air. The bathroom door is hollow core and is considerably louder than the walls, so I'm looking to replace it with a solid core door.

For those of you that have added solid core doors to block sound, how well did it work, and what kind of door did you use? Seeing lots of MDF "solid core" doors at the big box stores. Wondering if I'd have better luck with a solid wood door?

Also, what have you used to block sound at the base of the door? We have tile in the bathroom and if rather not add a raised threshold if I can avoid it.

TIA

I'm having a small job done of a few cabinets installed for $1500. I have all the cabinet materials and hardware. Contractor wants 50% down before work starts. Originally wanted 80%. I've heard of 50% down before, but this job is for install only. Is this common and/or fair?

I'm hoping to get some opinions from HVAC professionals because I'm trying to understand whether this sequence of events seems reasonable or whether something may have been missed during the original diagnosis.

My home has a bit over 10 yr old R-410A split system that stopped cooling.

Recently, the HVAC company diagnosed the system as being low on refrigerant. Here's what they did:

-Performed a pressure test with the system at 200 psi.

-Performed a high pressure nitrogen leak search.

-Concluded the Schrader valve cores were likely leaking.

-Replaced both Schrader valve cores.

-Pulled the system into a vacuum below 500 microns and documented that it held below 750 microns for over 30 minutes.

-Recharged the system with 7 pounds of virgin R-410A.

Stated the system was holding pressure well and operating properly.

The total bill was about 2k.

The AC worked normally for about a week and a half.

Then it completely stopped cooling again.

The company came back as a warranty callback. This time the technician documented that:

-The system contained no refrigerant.

-There was oily residue near the metering device.

-There was a "high chance" there was a leak in that area.

He did not document that the leak was confirmed, only that there was a high chance based on the oil residue. I declined further work because I wanted time to understand what happened.

My questions are:

1. If a nitrogen leak search was performed before adding 7 pounds of refrigerant, would you normally expect a leak large enough to lose the entire charge in a week and a half to have been found?

2. Is it common for Schrader valve cores to be the only apparent leak, only to discover a completely different leak near the metering device less than two weeks later?

3. Based only on these facts, would you suspect an incomplete diagnosis, multiple leaks, or does this seem like something that can legitimately happen?

Note: I'm NOT looking to bash the company or figure out whether I have legal claims. I'm simply trying to understand, from an HVAC perspective, whether this sequence of events would raise concerns for you or whether it falls within the realm of things that occasionally happen.

Thanks in advance for any professional insight.

Another repair that needs done on the house. I will hire this one out, but how serious does this seem what would cause this? Does not look like this on the basement or on the roof as best I can tell

Edit: sorry I guess I left out some info. This is the chimney. This portion in the chimney is in the attic, looks like it needs new mortor but just wondering the urgency of the repair and the cause? I’m guessing moisture.

https://imgur.com/a/X8uLRR9

can this be saved with a perfect 3rd color choice or should I just start over. was going for a bold looking ceiling but in foreign territory here.

https://imgur.com/a/WPN1o4a

What is everyone using for garage door seals, especially for the bottom? It seems like I can only get 2-3 years out of the in-track rubber ones from the hardware store before they crack and shrink. Any way to get more mileage out of them? Would the glue-in ones for the concrete floor be better?

Hi! I am trying to seal asbestos contaminated vermiculite in an electrical box that is going to be a baby room. Any advice?

I bought my house in May 2025. The inspection went well, and I was told it had good bones. Fast forward to this year, and I find out they did an overall bad job on a lot of things. The bathroom wasn’t painted with the right kind of paint. They installed a rainfall shower-head that got water everywhere. There are cracks in the paint. Today, I noticed a spot hidden behind the toilet that’s bubbling out. The caulk has already come loose and water got under it. I not have to call a mold inspector because it smells rank near it. They didn’t do a good job caulking the sink either. There’s no backsplash or anything against the wall and it’s a small, shallow sink so water gets everywhere. I’ve already had to redo the caulk and it’s lasted longer than the job they did. I was going to repaint the bathroom so I’d been ignoring the cracks in the paint since they weren’t bad and I got a shower head that doesn’t hit the wall anymore. But now I have to deal with that one bubble and who knows how bad that’s going to be.
Also, I found out they basically just put anew frame over rotted wood for my back door. My dad just told me to leave it alone because no house is perfect. But is it genuinely that hard to make sure you caulk well enough that water damage doesn’t happen? (Adding here that they didn’t caulk behind the kitchen counters either. And those are butcher block).

I do genuinely love my house, but the amount of fixed I’ve had to do because of flipper laziness is annoying. And now I get to find out how bad the water damage in my bathroom is. I’m hoping I saw it soon enough that it won’t be horrible. But who knows.

Foundation work is one of those categories where it's easy to get taken advantage of because most homeowners have zero frame of reference for what's normal. A few things I'd check before hiring anyone:

Ask if the inspection and estimate are free. Reputable companies in this trade don't charge just to come look and tell you what they see. If someone wants money upfront just to evaluate, that's a red flag.

Ask about the warranty terms specifically. Is it lifetime or limited years? Is it transferable if you sell the house? A real warranty should survive a change of ownership, since foundation issues matter a lot to future buyers.

Check their BBB rating and how long they've been accredited, not just the star rating on Google, since that can be gamed more easily.

Get more than one opinion if the recommended repair involves a lot of piers or a high price tag. Foundation diagnosis can vary between companies, and a second look costs nothing if the first inspection was free too.

Ask exactly what method they're proposing and why, not just a total price. A contractor who can explain their reasoning in plain language is usually more trustworthy than one who just hands you a number.

Happy to compare notes if anyone else has been through this process recently.

While renovating my house this summer, I got frustrated with the floor-planning tools I tried, so I decided to build the easiest and most practical space planner I could (which is also FREE).

Nothing fancy, just a floor planner that is completely free and requires no signup.
i posted a question about in reddit last month, and it blew up, now more than 500 daily users are using it, but i feel stuck! and would really like feedback from people actually renovating or improving their homes.

What would make it more useful for you?

Better dimensions? Easier wall drawing? Cleaner room layouts? More furniture? Better 3D? Fewer automatic corrections?

You can try it at SpacePlanner.co

Please be honest about what feels confusing, unnecessary, or missing.

I’d really appreciate honest feedback on what to add, remove, simplify, or fix!

I will be installing cabinets and bookshelves. The sides of the base cabinets will terminate onto a wall with an HVAC exhaust vent awkwardly right in the middle of the cabinet side (about 20” off the ground).

What is best practice for navigating this? I planned to open up the drywall beneath the vent and cut an opening in the vent so it now sits flush with the floor. from there, I plan to install a toe-ductor and vent out the face of the toe kick.

Is there anything that I’m overlooking? How would you tackle this?

I am considering a Bosch dual-fuel stove/range. Was wondering if the unit ships with electric plug already wired into the back of unit, or if it has to be purchased separately and connected by installer?

Has anyone done any kind of quirky renovation in their house that sounded good in their head but they found later was a terrible idea?

We have a secondary staircase in our family/playroom -- a spiral staircase. Owners put it in 20 years ago. We have a 1 year old and another on the way, so it's basically off-limits to everyone but me and the cat for the next 6-7 years (and even the cat has hurt himself on it).

We looked into replacing it with a normal staircase, but it's going to require expensive renovation that not only takes space from the playroom as well as the room above it (large bedroom), but the exit for the upstairs would effectively be in a back bathroom, requiring renovation/repurposing of that and an adjacent room as well. While that upstairs bathroom and laundry room are not major/nice pieces of the home, a renovation is still a renovation.

Just removing it and patching the floor not really a good option - it's a long house so it's a pretty good hike from certain rooms to others with just one staircase.

So we started toying with a few ideas on how to keep it blocked off from the kids, but not just a useless area. We had always talked about wanting a climbing wall in the playroom for the kids... and came up with an off the wall idea of possibly doing a cylindrical hidden staircase envelope (with spiral inside) that that doubles as a climbing wall on the outside (and in the future can be converted to just shelves or removed entirely when we deem the spiral safe for all).

I know something like this wouldn't be cheap, but does this fall under the category of "ridiculously bad idea you haven't thought through at all" or "would be a super cool showpiece and thing for the kids to have in the playroom, if you can afford it - do it!"?

Hey guys I’m 22 and gonna buy a house in the coming years and love to renovate it. I have so many ideas but never really had any experience in wood working and construction and such. Can I build safe renovation that are also quality from just YouTube videos and patience or should I genuinely get into constructions or general contracting to learn what is needed, I am willing to do it just didn’t know if it was needed. Thanks

Hey, all.

My family and I recently moved and our shower had some questionable silicon work done. so, I decided to replace it. in the process, I was rubbing quite hard and displaced one of the floating glass walls. is this normal? I’m also able to wiggle it more than normal, it seems.

what’s my best course of action to fixing this? I’m tempted to push it back into place.

also, the bottom of the glass wall is sitting on what looks like a broken piece of plastic. is this normal? shim maybe?

hopefully these pictures demonstrate the issue I ran into. https://imgur.com/a/TaWGqaf

Hi everyone, looking for some gut checks and opinions on a basement moisture issue and a recent contractor quote.
 
Some basic info:
• St. Louis area. 
• The house sits on a slope with terrain sloping to the south-southeast.
• Built in the 1960s.
• Finished basement with painted concrete masonry block walls, no drywall over this section.
• Exterior facade is unpainted with no visible exterior staining. 
• The nearest downspout is at the northeast corner and drains directly into a culvert in the lawn (not discharging near the problem wall).
Issue:
• We noticed a roughly 7 ft wide by 3 ft high area of bubbled, soft/crunchy paint near the floor on the northern basement wall (underneath the 2nd window, behind the exterior HVAC unit).
• The paint is flexible rather than flaky, and the spot is currently dry.
• The moisture mark is roughly within 3 feet of the floor and does not extend up to the exterior grade level.
• We moved in around March 2025 and don't recall seeing this bubbled paint when we bought the house.
• We are yet to observe if this is a recurring issue every time it rains and check the drainage condition outside when it does.

A few pertinent information:
• We’ve had fairly frequent rain lately.
• Our immediate neighbor directly to the north recently redid his driveway, which involved minor excavation (a few inches of regrading) and a gravel path.
We contacted a contractor to assess and recommended the following:
• Drill out a discharge line.
• Install a 3' x 5' sump pit and pump.
• Drill 30 ft of trenching and weep holes into the cinder blocks along that wall.
• Quoted $8,500 originally, discounted down to $7,000.

Now our questions are:
Is $7,000 excessive for this scope? Given that the spot is currently dry and localized, it feels like a heavy investment and a
messy interior excavation.
Is an interior sump system the right fix here, or is it overkill?
Could the neighbor's minor regrading/driveway work be pushing water toward this wall?

Photos:
Google Drive

I’m remodeling my kitchen in a 1960s ranch and want to relocate my attic scuttle hole. Right now it’s in my pantry, directly above the existing gas water heater. As part of the remodel, I’m replacing that with an exterior tankless water heater, so I’d like to reclaim that pantry space for shelving and storage.

The house doesn’t have a pull-down ladder, just a standard scuttle hole, and I don’t plan to use the attic for storage. I just need attic access for maintenance and to meet code.

I’m considering relocating the scuttle hole to the garage. The garage was originally a carport that was enclosed years ago before I bought the house. One thing that may complicate things is that there is no fire separation between the garage attic and the house attic—the attic runs continuously across the entire house.

A few questions:
• If I move the attic access into the garage, do I need a fire-rated attic access panel or scuttle door?
• Is there any issue with placing the scuttle hole above where a car is normally parked? It would only be used occasionally for access.
• Are there any code or practical considerations I should be thinking about before making this change?
• If you were in my situation, would you relocate it somewhere else instead?

Thanks for any advice. I’d rather do this now while everything is opened up than wish I’d moved it later.

Earlier this year, my area was hit by a pretty bad tornado and hail storm. Most of the damage though didn't take place in my neighborhood, but we did get some hail.

I'll preface this and say I've had two claims at my house in four year, one I never actually used since it ended up being the fault of the sewage company (but my understanding is a claim is a claim) and one for a toilet overflow. The latter seemed to raise my premiums quite a bit.

That said, my whole neighborhood is littered with signs for roofing contractors replacing roofs. I had two contractors come out earlier in the year already (images attached below):

• The out of town one (of course) suggested getting the whole roof replaced.

• The in town roofer said I have damage, but wouldn't necessary suggest a whole roof replacement and if I wanted to, maybe just replace the damaged shingles and other structures.

Yesterday, I again had an out of town contractor solicit to me, bothering me as I started a walk at 8PM, and I just brushed him away.

It got me thinking though, should I just get it done anyway? My state (Illinois) is getting pounded by tornadoes this year and the whole county seems under construction, aren't my rates going to go up again anyway? It sucks because I know frivolous claims like this are why rates are going up, but it feels like I'll be paying for it even though I didn't get anything out of it.

At the very least, can't I just file the claim and not get the work done immediately?

https://imgur.com/a/vL0afYk

Hi,

my neighbor is really dissatisfied with my progress in Expedition 33. What's the best way to stick these egg foam thingies to the wall? It's the wundervoll German "Raufasertapete", roughed up wallpaper.

I have two sections of standard lower kitchen cabinets that i would like to replace with three drawers each; 1 shallow drawer and 2 deep drawers. I assume I would need to replace the cabinet sections rather that modify the existing pieces. is that true? any idea of how much that might cost? Assuming wood can be matched with existing woodwork.

I’m replacing my current water heater with a natural-gas tankless unit in Pittsburgh. I plan to buy the unit myself and have a licensed plumber install it.

The home normally has two adults, occasionally three, with routine showers, laundry, and dishwasher use. No unusually high hot-water demand.

I’m mainly looking for:

- Reliable brands and models

- Brands or models to avoid

- Good parts and service availability

- A unit that will be viewed positively for resale

- Proper performance with Pittsburgh’s cold incoming water

I’m currently considering Rinnai, Navien, Noritz, Rheem, and Bosch.

What would you recommend, and does buying the unit myself create any warranty or installation issues?

I will be having a licensed plumber install this for me and they will do any repairs that I need in the future

I’m moving my washer to the kitchen. The kitchen drain is 1 /2 inch. Is that okay to use?

A towel ring broke off from the bracket. Now I need to remove the bracket so that I can install a new towel ring. I am unable to remove the bracket. I used a wrench and a plier to turn the square head of the fastener on the bracket, but nothing budged. I tried to turn it counterclockwise. What can I try next?

Bracket of broken towel ring

Oil rubbed finish on Delta Victorian faucet set is very worn/stripped from previous home owner. Wondering if I should just polish it the best I can and leave it or use a wire wheel to take it down to bare brass and then polish? If second option idk what I'd do about the plastic coated parts. Third option is to get a new faucet set, but then idk what to do with this tarnished old one.