u/ChanceCookie3428

We moved into a new house two months ago and have been noticing what looks like hopefully minor water damage slowly developing in the ceiling of the top floor of our house. The attic is not accessible in that portion of the house. I’ve been on the roof and it feels maybe a tad soft in one spot but nothing extreme (totally uneducated opinion). The inspector was on the roof two months ago and didn’t flag any soft spots. How should I go about investigating this? Is it nothing? Do I need to cut out the drywall and check it out before it becomes a bigger issue?

Could half a bushel of crabs done this pot damage to get out or is someone stealing my crabs? A week or two ago the corner was bent up and I lost about a dozen crabs. After that I added the second bungee and have been making sure they are super tight as well as hooked near the corners and then onto the middle ish area to cover the whole door. I tested pulling on the middle and it was very tight and took a lot of effort to even pull up an inch. I’m convinced I have a thief but others say no. Anybody with experience know if crabs themselves could mangle a live pot this bad?

The dirt against the front of my house is about 6 inches over the top of the stone foundation and touching siding over sill plate/rim joist. I tried to dig a large swale to bring the dirt down but had to go way deeper than planned to maintain slope away from the house as there is a hill coming toward the house here. The water collected in this trench is too much to just French drain away. Apart from a huge retaining wall or massive professional project I don’t have money for right now, (just bought the house) I think my only option is to fill in the trench. The water risk is too much otherwise.

If I fill in the trench can I create a layer of rock around the foundation as shown in the pic above? I will connect it to a French drain as shown. This’ll be a lot of work, will the rock make a big enough difference that this is worth it and will work? This section of house had moisture/termite issues that I’m hoping to fix by getting the dirt off the house.

The dirt/mulch in the front of my house is way too high up against the house and caused termite issues in the past. I’m going to dig a swale/trench in the left side a few feet from the house so I can knock down the dirt near the house but maintain a slope away from it. I don’t really have that option on the right side due to the sidewalk right there. What are my best options? I don’t want to make the ground uneven next to the sidewalk but it may be the only option.