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

Hi,

I'm looking to add a whole-home scent diffuser to my 3-bedroom, 2-bath house (about 2,000 sq. ft.) with central A/C.

I'm trying to stay on the budget/value side and I'm looking for something that:

• Doesn't require a subscription
• Lets me use fragrance oils from different companies (not locked into one brand)
• Has a good app so I can schedule and control the diffuser

I'm currently considering these JCloud models:

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BYZG8NCM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?th=1
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H7BKC73M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?th=1
• https://www.amazon.com/JCLOUD-Hotel-Diffuser-Waterless-Essential/dp/B0GC3C8JHN?th=1

For those who have experience with whole-home scent systems:

• Which model would you recommend for a house this size?
• Is an HVAC diffuser worth it, or would you instead buy a few standalone/outlet diffusers and place them on different floors?
• Are there any other brands or models that offer better value while still meeting the criteria above?

Ty.

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.

help! I just had terminix come out for a monthly bug spray quote and they found “wood destroying fungus” under my crawl space.

I went under myself and the visible fungus seems fairly isolated to one area (maybe 5 ft diameter circle) under my water heater (that was likely leaking and was replaced with a new drainage pan a year ago).

My house is in Austin TX, 1300 sq ft, currently dirt floor vented, and they quoted me 11k to fully clean, encapsulate, and install a perminant dehumidifier. should I do it or is that a pretty extreme measure?

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?

Hello Everyone,

Added a 1x4 baseboard to our remodel in the basement, but the tile floor is kind of all over the places and there's a lot of gaps.

Am I better off just using a shoe molding or 1/4 round instead of caulking?

Redoing siding. Should I remove fiberboard (“buffalo/beaver board”) sheathing, and replace with zip system / OSB + house wrap, or leave and reside over? 2x4 exterior walls. Currently has aluminum siding over fiberboard.

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

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

Hello! I am a new home owner, so I am not very experienced with this and I really couldn't find a good answer for my specific issue when going through the sub. My house has this spot on the wall where its very obvious a TV is intended to be wall mounted, since there's an outlet way high on the wall. However, when drilling into it where my stud finder said there were studs, I hit metal. Is this metal here to mount the TV to, or is this an indication that I really should not drill through it? If this is there to mount the TV to do I need special wall anchors then?
Here's some pictures of the wall and the metal in the hole I already drilled. https://imgur.com/a/IyCUyKW

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

Does anyone have an advice or tips or any recommended brands for water softeners? I’m in Texas and I feel like the water is getting harder and harder.

Hello all. I’m not sure if this is the right place up post, but as the title says, im looking to see how you fix water damage on my floor. I moved something and saw that there was water underneath that made the flooring have some black, water damage stains. The floor is wooden parquet flooring. Here is a picture of it https://ibb.co/1fqnFpDj

Thank you

All of my AC ends up in the basement. It’s too cold down there, but if I turn down the AC the main floor gets warm. This seems like a waste of cooling, and I can’t use my rec room. It’s a 1300 sf 1973 bungalow. I think I should put a door at the top of my basement stairs. Would that make a difference?
There are also returns in the floors of course, but they go directly to the furnace I presume? Not sure how that works when the furnace is off and AC is on.
Thank you!

(The door would open away from the stairs, of course.)

Pretty much the title - my walkway was falling apart so I hired a guy to come and do some repairs.

The outer frame had a look of "columns" - in order to properly level the walkway, he cut off the bottom pieces of the columns. These things are basically white plastic and hollow.

So now while the walkway is good, I can essentially slide my finger right under the gap between the stone and the column. He is saying he could come back and either fill the gap with cement or white silicone. Not really sure which is the best solution or if we couldn't just get something that looks nice and could slide in (he cut them at a diagonal angle).

Wish I could post pics here so that you guys could see what it looks like. Anyway - ideas?

Hello, some there is some backstory here, but I feel it's necessary. Sorry if it's not.

We moved into a rent to own situation 3 years ago with the agreement that any repairs made to the property would be deducted from the selling price of the house. The house had been abandoned for 2 years prior to our move in. The utilities needed to do some move in inspections before turning on electric and gas. Gas company turned on the gas to the water heater, but not the furnace because of it sitting 2 years. Said we could have an inspection by and HVAC repairman and they can turn it on. Several came out but none would touch it since it was from the 1940's. All said it was old enough that it was too risky to turn on and repairs are going to quickly surpass a new unit. So we got a new unit, and got air conditioning installed as well.

While installing they pointed out the ductwork was wrapped in Asbestos. They said it was in good shape and not an immediate concern, but should be addressed before it became a concern. But they didn't do that kind of work and had no reason to touch the ducts so it didn't impact the furnace install.

Now we are moving to purchase the house, however we can't move the title until the asbestos is removed. Old owner has no insurance so we are financing it and taking it off the cost of the house. We called 3 abatement companies but only 1 showed for their quote and priced it at $4,000. That is removing the ductwork too because the ductwork is rusting and falling apart, so removing the asbestos from it isn't going to do much good.

Getting quotes now for HVAC replacement. I have called 20 companies. I have 3 quotes in hand, and am not happy with any of them. I have had several people come and just ghost us after telling us about other issues we have as well. I have 1 more appointment next week and I will have finished working with every HVAC person in a 50 mile radius.

Quote 1 comes from a large corporation. I figured they are going to run high but also be the easiest to get a quote from to set my expectations. They want $12,000. There is no breakdown of the price of materials vs labor. A key thing to note is this quote just wants to replace it exactly as is, not make alterations. But this is a sales representative, not a install tech.

Quote 2 comes from a guy who missed his appointment entirely. We called him and he had us in for the wrong day. Mistakes happen, so no big deal. So he tells us "How about I do it for half the cost of your highest quote since I messed up". He insists that if it costs more he'll hold to his quote. The concern is if he is biting off too much and has to eat a ton of cost, he's going to take shortcuts and be difficult to warranty his work if something goes wrong. n

Quote 3 isn't official yet. He was here this AM and doing measurements and looking at stuff. He said this scale is usually in the 9-10k ballpark and will give an official quote after he prices everything later tonight.

Some concerns that came up from a few people. First, my returns in the basement are in panned joists. There is no metal ductwork, just sheet metal going over the joists. These have no asbestos, so abatement isn't touching them. Some technicians have said they need removed because they are not up to code. Others have said to leave them alone because they would just be replacing the sheet metal and doing it the same way.

Second, I am being told I don't have enough returns by a couple contractors. It's a 4 ton furnace and an outdoor AC unit. I have 2 returns on the second floor (right beside each other) and 2 returns on the first floor (also right beside each other). I am being told I need to add 2, maybe 3 returns to the house. 1 upstairs away from the other 2, and 1 downstairs, maybe a second. Downstairs the house is split in 2 with a supporting wall. Half the house has no returns on it. They are pointing to condensation on the unit from the AC running to hard with no where to push the air and saying I will burn it up if I don't get more returns in. But most of the HVAC techs didn't mention this, just a few.

I want the job done right, but I don't want to spend a bunch on what I don't need. Any advice on figuring out what I need? I want to listen to the professionals, but they seem to be disagreeing.

While removing the cover on an electrical duplex box on my upstairs wall, I discovered a very small amount of water in the set screw hole. Is it possible that this is some type of condensation?

The room is a remodeled attic space, converted into a bedroom by the previous homeowner. The room has a mini split and dehumidifier (both run constantly in the summer)

My roof is less than 2 years old and
The wall showed no signed of a leak, and given the high amount of rain that recently has taken place, I’m inclined to believe that a roof leak would’ve resulted in much more water.
The upstairs is not part of the home hvac system, but the outlet is part of an exterior wall. The exterior is
siding > foam> asbestos>wood.

This wall is on the opposite end of the mini split, and has not water or drain lines running through it (at least to my knowledge)

The only remaining variable is a window that is about 3 ft to the left of this outlet.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

We want to remove the drop ceiling in our daylight basement and replace it with drywall or breadboards. Above the drop ceiling is a bunch of electrical, plumbing, hvac. I’ll need to frame the ceiling for electrical, plumbing, hvac. If I close off the ceiling, Should I be worried about moisture or other issues? This is my only access to hvac , the top floor is wood flooring, tile, carpet? Thanks!

I have a shower, Price Pfister, single handle with tub spout. It barely gives any hot water, and doesn't regulate temperature properly. An unauthorized change occurred where the face plate, spout, etc, were switched to a different finish by a tenant. I suspect the cartridge was also changed. Figuring it was a bad cartridge, I put in a new one and that made no difference. But here's the thing. I suspect the brass housing is the original from when the house was built in 1966, or at least from earlier than 1992 when we bought the place.

Is it likely there's another older style cartridge that will work correctly?

Hi everyone newbie here looking for some help.

I have an awkward corner of unused space in my kitchen. There's a cabinet mounted on the wall and about 20" or so of drywall between it and a corner that opens to a little service hallway thing.

I got some small spice racks to mount in that space. When trying to drill into the wall to add the anchors, it bounced off something solid. I have no idea what it is, if its a stud, plumbing, etc. I dont want to cut open the drywall to look inside, mainly because i dont want to worry about repairing that hole.

I tried command strips, but the strips arent staying together. They stay attached to the wall and spice rack just fine, but come apart from eaxh other.

So i have 2 questions:

1. what are some ways of identifying what's behind the wall?

2. What are some other ways to affix spice racks to the wall besides command strips or inserted drywall anchors?

Thank you kindly!

Hello!

My husband and I are finishing our 325 sqft 1943 garage (to be used as a sewing/office/gym room), and are wondering what the best option is for ventilating the soon-to-be-enclosed attic space.

Because right now it has no ceiling, the ventilation is all below the ceiling-line/wall plate. The difficulty is that we have a hip roof with no eaves, so there’s nowhere to put soffit vents, and there’s not enough space to do a fascia vent either.

We’re not new to home projects (drywall, basic plumbing, electrical, tiling etc) but this is our first time dealing with adding airflow. We live in the PNW so mold and humidity are our biggest concerns.

Thanks for your advice!

What's my best option to make sure humidity stays down for about a month or so? Crawlspace is encapsulated but needs repair can I use a standard house unit with a gravity drain or tank? I have a unit for the main level as well. Just finished mold remediation so I really don't want to risk any possible long term high humidity.

Hi r/HomeImprovement looking for some advice on shower replacement. We recently had a cartidge leak and cause damage to the wall behind our shower handle. In order to remediate, the contracor basically had to remove the entire tiled wall. Now this shower was built with lots of small tiles, like 2inch/4inch and was a huge pain in the ass to maintain. The remediator has indicated he has a tile guy to rebuild our shower, and asks we choose a 2x2 foot tile for him to work with. However we're considering an arcylic option istead since maintaince is much easier. I'm looking for advice on which is better option.