u/North-Respond3070

My old dentist (located in NW DC) is no longer taking my insurance and I’m looking for a new practice that is trustworthy and doesn’t upsell or rush to do procedures. I had a bad experience at one of those PE-owned places that told me I had several cavities that needed filling, only to get a second opinion and be told I had literally no cavities. Any recs?

I live in a new-to-me 90-year old home in the mid-Atlantic, where it's been a hot and humid summer. Since starting up the AC unit (5 years old) that covers my basement and first floor, there has been a strong musty odor coming out of the vents whenever the AC runs. We recently had our HVAC guy come out to take a look and thought we cracked it, but the smell never really got better. Here is what our HVAC guy found and did (and apologies, I'm not an expert so won't get the terminology right):

• He found a tear in the canvas connecting the return plenum to the filter unit (caused by mice), which was allowing foul-smelling basement air in. He covered wherever the canvas was exposed with aluminum tape.
• He found dead mice in the boot of the return duct (near the canvas tear) and in the bottom of the unit underneath the filter (we've had a mouse problem and a pest control guy came by recently). He removed and scrubbed with a cleaner.
• He found what he said was a little bit of growth (mold, he didn't call it that, but it's mold) in the air-handling unit. He installed an Aerus air scrubber - yes I know they're dubious but we wanted to do whatever we could to address odors. (And now I'm worried it might be harmful because of ozone, we have a baby).
• He did NOT check the part of the AC system outside but another maintenance guy came earlier in the year to do routine maintenance and indicated all looked in order.

It's been two days but the smell hasn't subsided. And now there is a slightly chemical odor--not sure if that's the ozone or the cleaning fluid used. I can't tell if the smell is on only when the AC is on, or if it comes on with just the fan running.

The basement is finished so the ducts are mostly behind drywall and we can't look for gaps in the ductwork that might be letting in smelly air. We haven't gotten our ducts cleaned.

I'm not really sure what else to do. I'm not the handiest and would rather call a pro but I don't even know who to call at this point.

I live in a new-to-me 90-year old home in the mid-Atlantic, where it's been a hot and humid summer. Since starting up the AC unit (5 years old) that covers my basement and first floor, there has been a strong musty odor coming out of the vents whenever the AC runs. We recently had our HVAC guy come out to take a look and thought we cracked it, but the smell never really got better. Here is what our HVAC guy found and did (and apologies, I'm not an expert so won't get the terminology right):

• He found a tear in the canvas connecting the return plenum to the filter unit (caused by mice), which was allowing foul-smelling basement air in. He covered wherever the canvas was exposed with aluminum tape.
• He found dead mice in the boot of the return duct (near the canvas tear) and in the bottom of the unit underneath the filter (we've had a mouse problem and a pest control guy came by recently). He removed and scrubbed with a cleaner.
• He found what he said was a little bit of growth (mold, he didn't call it that, but it's mold) in the air-handling unit. He installed an Aerus air scrubber - yes I know they're dubious but we wanted to do whatever we could to address odors. (And now I'm worried it might be harmful because of ozone, we have a baby).
• He did NOT check the part of the AC system outside but another maintenance guy came earlier in the year to do routine maintenance and indicated all looked in order.

The basement is finished so the ducts are mostly behind drywall and we can't look for gaps in the ductwork that might be letting in smelly air. We haven't gotten our ducts cleaned.

I'm not really sure what else to do. I'm not the handiest and would rather call a pro but I don't even know who to call at this point.

I have an old home and badly need to install some kind of insulated window treatment over three large panel windows. The problem is that I've got plaster walls, and the exterior walls are a thin layer of plaster directly on brick. I thought there was a gap between the plaster and brick, but I discovered that was not the case when I drilled less than an inch into the wall and hit a hard stop. I have no idea what tools I need. I'd really like to avoid paying someone to install curtains but it's getting to that point.