u/Accurate-Farmer-3261

We have hot-water based heating and when heating runs longer than 1-2 hours, one the pipe connected to boiler leaks from pressure valve. We just bought the house last month, so don't know much background. It seems that Pressure Relief Valve of the dual-unit is leaking. To my naive eyes, it looks like some large bolt at the bottom of the Pressure Relief Valve is missing. zoomed in photo here: https://imgur.com/a/zC1vjFK

Any idea how to fix this leak? Is there supposed to be a large bolt/screw on the bottom side of the Pressure Relief Valve? Or is it actually reliving pressure by leaking?

Hi all! First-time homeowner here with very limited home improvement experience! Our 1950s house has a large 10-feet wide bow window with two upward-opening casement windows in the corners. These two windows are stuck in slightly open position. We want these windows to close/seal properly to stop wind draft in winter (located in upstate NY, US). We had Lowes people came and they quoted ~3K to replace these two windows. That seemed high, so asking here. See photos here.

We do not care about ability to open/close these windows. Even a fixed glass is okay for us. These are ~18x20 inches windows. I was thinking to just remove the whole cranking mechanism and glue the window panel back (as long as it does not look awful). But the mechanism is embedded in the aluminium frame that makes up the sides of the window. so removing it will remove side frames. All the other wooden frame looks like in great shape.

So, what are our options here? Should we get a carpenter to fix it? Won't that be expensive? Any other suggestions to seal the windows?

Photos: https://imgur.com/a/nEoXlhs

We are FTHB, and shitting bricks right now due to unexpected roof leak. We closed on a 1956 ranch house last week in Albany NY area. It has a cupola vent in attic and we noticed leak from 2-3 spots inside cupola after ~2 days of near continuous rain (& still going). Two leaking spots are in the part that attaches weather vane post to the cupola's roof (see 2nd and 3rd photo). There is at least one more leak spot, somewhere right above the area where arrows are pointing in the first photo. The wood above is wet to touch. When I was checking that area, a drop of water fell on back of my hand. Its roughly leaking at rate of one drop per 30-40 seconds or so, dependent on rain intensity.

We had three inspections done before closing and one of them was just after a rain. No roof leaks were identified (its a walk-in attic with a sub-floor; we all did walk up and checked specifically for roof leaks). Roof age is unknown but inspectors guessed between 15-20 yrs old. No one has been living in this house since last ~5-6 years, so most likely roof has not been maintained over these years.

What should be our course of action now? Is this fixable? What are typical causes of leak in cupola vent? I am thinking to call a few roofing contractors tomorrow.

PS: I do not know if matters, but this rain event (28-29th July) turned out to be the 2nd heaviest daily total on record for Albany, NY.

We are FTHB, and just closed on a 1956 house. The basement has highly textured raised-grain wood panel (photos: https://imgur.com/a/NIpIryk ). We were thinking to paint them with lighter color. We have seen lots of painted wood panels but never seen such deep grains.

Can these panels be painted well, without paint peeling later? We are worried that we wont be able to prepare the surface well for paint as dirt and grim will keep hiding in the deep grains and won't come out no matter what. What steps should we follow with this? Any experiences or suggestions to share with such panels?

We (FTHB in late 30s) just closed on a 1950s ranch and we are bit clueless about what type of curtains / blinds should we put in a few rooms (see photos). We want to keep the wooden walls / panels and want to keep things low maintenance, affordable, while still making the rooms look good and welcoming. Location upstate NY.

What are your suggestions for colors and types of curtains or blinds in these rooms:

• Room with wooden wall, right next to garage [first 4 photos]. The main window overlooking street faces west and gets direct sunshine in afternoon. The side with door + windows opens to screened porch, facing east.
• Living room with bow windows, faces west. We were thinking of three panels of Roller Shades, but were not sure how easy it will be to clean or maintain. Or should we use cellular shades. What should be the color?
• Two rooms on 2nd floor, with wooden panels (last 3 photos). They have large windows (75 inch or so) and face east. One of the rooms will be used as office. One room also has windows facing north.

Not sure if matters, but other (bed)rooms have same hard wood floor with white dry walls and we will most like go with cellular shades in those rooms.

First time buyer (& complete noob) here & have questions about attic insulation + ventilation. We are under contract on a 1950s ranch in upstate NY (climate zone 5) that has a ~35-feet long walk-able attic in addition to two rooms on 2nd floor. Attic has insulation between rafters, and during inspection mold has been found in one location between rafters behind insulation. Please see photos. Not all rafters could be checked due to insulation (at least 6-7 were checked), so possibly more mold behind these insulation. Attic also has the AC air handler and all the duct work. Roof is roughly 80 feet in length.

Inspector wrote: "attic ventilation of the sloped ceiling was questionable. Proper ventilation of cathedral roofs is rarely achieved. Ice damming on the roof and condensation within the roof space are common problems. These areas should be monitored." We got a mold remediator, and he suggested to (a) remove all insulation from the roof deck, (b) apply mold prevention / remediation Coating, (c) add attic exhaust fan, and (d) install baffles at existing soffit vents (total $10k).

To my naive eye I could see that the attic has following features:

• Gable vents on north and south sides (house faces west).
• Under Eave Soffit Vent, every 10 feet or so
• Ridge vent; at least in half of the roof. Not sure but looks like mesh roll type and may be not in a great shape.
• A small attic fan on north side; on some sort of circuit (temperature/humidity)
• A box vent?
• A window facing south (closed)

Questions:

• May be silly question, but Does this house really have cathedral roof / ceilings? I read so many bad things about cathedral ceiling that I am bit worried...
• Is the mold remediator's suggestion reasonable? Does this attic need two exhaust fans? Is the estimate reasonable for the work?
• What is the purpose of removing & discarding all the insulation from roof deck? I think there is insulation under the attic floor (1st floor ceiling), but won't removing insulation basically make the attic freeze in winter?
• What is your suggestion for proper ventilation of this attic / roof, especially with all the AC duct work in the attic? I read somewhere that different ventilation types should not be combined together, which seems to be case here. Is this okay?

Location: Albany-Schenectady, NY, USA. We are first time home buyers (bit clueless) and we noticed water pipes running over breaker panel in the house we are under contract. See images. These pipes go to kitchen, which is right above this area. Our realtor said no big deal. Even inspector did not mention anything about water pipe, although the right dark brown panel was flagged and recommended to be replaced. We got one electrician to get the quote for panel replacement and he was not entirely sure if water-pipe-above-panel fails the town code or not; in his words, town electrical inspector may or may-not ask to move panel. So two questions:

• Is this okay to have water pipe right above panel?
• If not what is a good remediation? Move electrical panels, move pipes, or install outdoor weatherproof panels in-place of these panels (electrician mentioned these options). or anything else?

We are in home buying process and under contract (Upstate NY). We got sewer scope done and inspector suggest to re-scope after cleaning, as he was not confident to make any decisions (see text below). We are willing to pay for cleaning & re-scope; but our agent is saying that we are over-reacting. She also mentioned that any damage found after cleaning might become our liability, as seller might say that we damaged it while cleaning. Has anyone from the field heard of this type of liability issue?

We like this house & it has 72 feet line from house to city lateral. House has been vacant since last ~6yrs and seller has no idea when pipes were installed (it could be original). We are worried that if the pipe is damaged we will run into large repair bill (10-20K or more) fairly quickly. Are we overreacting?

Inspector wrote: "The main sewer line from the foundation to the city lateral contained excessive grease build up/debris. Portions of the sewer line appeared potentially compromised, delaminating with possible cracking and/or displacement observed in isolated sections. Visibility was limited during the inspection due to the buildup within the line. Recommend cleaning the sewer line and performing a follow-up sewer scope inspection to further evaluate the overall condition of the piping."

PS: We are pretty certain that inspector was not financially motivated, as he literally told me that he is too expensive for this type of re-scoping. He told me to find a good plumber who can do both: clean and tell us if condition is good.