r/Renovations

So my mom hired workers to renovate the bathroom and the small toilet room. It was supposed to take 2 weeks and it’s been now 1 month and they still need a lot of work… on top of that they also have to change the electric cables but I mean.. 1 month ??! How long should this take according to know ? I am NOT seeking any legal advice just a time estimation cuz I feel like their manager is fooling me, I know he also works on a separate home at the same time and I feel like he decided to mainly work over there and not at my place

I will be painting fresh drywall in a high visibility area that has a slight dip in the center.

also repainting a wall that was poorly patched.

what tools should I use for best result? I only have a sanding block and drywall patch compound so far.

So I bought these doors and had a local contractor come "Install" them and all the hardware. (The door came as slabs basically) Well he pretty much butched the whole thing is there any way to redeem this or am I just out 2 doors and 1k... ?

My fiance and I purchased our home a year ago. We’ve been doing a lot of projects but putting this off. Painting… The trim has been painted a million times and sloppily. How can I get a clean look?? Sand everything? Replace it? Any advice would be appreciated!

What are y'alls opinions on these wood grain tiles in a house. We have two small children with plans for a couple more, along with a medium size dog. The site says it's great for pets and small children but I'm worried about chipping them. I'm not concerned about tile being louder than wood or carpet, it's a small house it'll be noisy regardless. I like the easy cleaning aspect, spill won't be a hassle and I can take out a mop and really go to town on it without worrying about warping wood or the snap click flooring.

For starters, everything I know about shower installation and remodeling I learned in the last 2 days. I started this thinking I was just finally going to replace an ugly river rock shower floor and bench tile that my wife and I have hated since we bought the house almost 10 years ago. Now I feel like I’ve opened pandora's box and have no idea where to begin.

The bathroom/shower has always felt a little humid and musty, but we never saw any obvious reasons or drainage problems. I decided to try removing the river rock and mud bed myself and worked really hard to preserve the liner because I thought I could just retile it.

As I removed the floor, I found black mold in several areas, especially around the drain. Some sections of the mud bed had already basically disintegrated/sloughed off on their own near the drain from chronic moisture, while other areas farther away were much harder to remove. I achieved my original goal by removing almost all of the floor without damaging the liner, listening to youtube tutorials as I worked, when I started noticing some things that seemed at odds with what I was learning:

Apparently there is supposed to be a pre-sloped mud bed beneath the liner.

Apparently the drain is supposed to have weep holes.

Apparently I knew absolutely nothing but now I'm wondering if the people who installed the shower knew as much as I do. (Maybe they did it right, but everything I'm reading says water shouldn't pool on the liner.)

The liner appears to sit directly on the slab completely flat. When I tested it, water from the faucet literally sat pooled near the curb area (blue circle in the pic) instead of draining, and it took 3 full days to dry. So unless I’m misunderstanding something, it seems like for years water was penetrating through the tile/mud bed, reaching the liner, and then just sitting there trapped with nowhere to go or dry out properly.

To make things worse:

I can’t identify any visible weep holes in this drain.

The drain appears glued directly into the slab pipe.

There’s no access from beneath the drain because it’s a single story slab foundation.

So now I'm weighing my options and not excited about any of them, least of all the one that involves hiring a professional because if we could afford it I wouldn't be bothering any of you fine people taking the time to read this.

Plan A) I remove the remaining wall tile without damaging the liner, leave the drain/pipe connection alone, fold up the liner enough to create a pre-sloped mud bed underneath it, lay it back down, then put down another sloped mudbed and tile.

Or

Plan 2) I try a Kerdi system thing but that seems to require replacing the drain entirely which I'm dreading due to the aforementioned reasons.

Or

No clue. Please help.

One last thing, not sure if I'm overthinking it. The guy who replaced the window a year ago installed it directly on top of the tile, which now seems like another problem waiting for me.

At this point I honestly don’t know the smartest path forward:

Try to preserve/rework the existing liner?

Full pan rebuild?

Kerdi conversion?

Convert the whole area to a closet and use the shower in the guest bathroom indefinitely?

How difficult is replacing a glued slab shower drain realistically for a fairly confident DIYer who's never tackled shower drains before?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. I’m handy in general, but shower systems are obviously way more technical than I realized.

Im thinking of buying wood filler and coating it around the window frames and sanding it until its all uniform. Is wood filler the right thing? (Whole thing will eventually be torn down so I just want a fix to make it look good for a year or 2)

Did a few fixture changes when we got the house, so this round toilet, vanity, mirror, towels holders stayed the same. Was looking forward to the project being more straightforward until I found out the old owners fit a plastic tub over a metal one and a plastic surround over porcelain tile. Total cost ~2.5k, took about 9 days.

swipe to see the before pic... when we started this covered patio was just a sad empty concrete slab. it got incredibly hot in the summer, to the point where it was basically a useless space.

my whole goal was to transform it into a real outdoor living room, you know a place we could actually hang out and cook.

the first thing we tackled was the cooking setup. we’re huge into backyard cooking, so we brought in our two workhorses: the blackstone griddle for smash burgers and pancakes, and our trusty traeger smoker for briskets.

but once we started using it more, the downside became obvious. heat and smoke would hang around under the roof and make the whole area feel stuffy. it was clear we needed some serious air circulation.

that led to the biggest upgrade, we installed a huge parrot uncle outdoor ceiling fan. honestly, it was a total lifesaver. not only does it keep us cool but its does a fantastic job of ventilating the smoke, making it comfortable to cook and hang out even when its hot.

after that, we just started adding the things that made it feel more finished. a comfy adirondack chair for lounging, an outdoor rug to make it feel cozier, and some plants to bring in some green.

im pretty satisfied with the renovation for now but i still feel like i could add something. if it were you, what would you add to the lawn.

I have swelling in the striker door jamb. Picture 1 shows how far up it is. The other pic, that spot was soft enough that I scraped it out with my finger. What’s a fairly easy and inexpensive fix for this? I’m handy but not exactly replace the door frame handy. Thank you.

just moved into this house. this is above my bed. any ideas why the plaster is coming down in that specific line?
if it falls down will that specific part only come down or most of the ceiling? how long do you think i have until it does?
*****is there anything i can do to prevent it from falling or do i need to have someone come do the whole ceiling?*****

What would be the best option for insulating this ceiling? It is just beams and 2x6 T&G with shingles on top. Structural engineer doesn't want us to redo the roof to add Zip R-3 on top of the existing 2x6 T&G because of the increased dead load. (The beams are of unknown specifications.) Any other options for roofing solutions? We like the look of the 2x6 T&G from below so I'd prefer to redo the roof somehow...

Thanks ya'll! I really appreciate all the advice!

I about to get my house painted. Before I moved in, some wood was replaced. Can I cover the flashing at the top or conceal is some way before paint?

we just bought a townhouse in South Florida with a pantry...we are super pumped as we are coming from an apartment with minimal kitchen storage....its a pretty large closet that loses a bunch of space due the door swinging inward...the previous owners put very cheap/narrow cabinets that we tore out and will get some nicer ones made

it is clear why the builder chose to do this...swinging into the kitchen is a bit awkward as you are restricted how much you can open it, but it doesnt look too crazy to me. I believe the pro's outweigh the cons but I would like to get some other eyes on it

I think a pocket door would be great, but I am guessing it would be a pretty large expense

dont get me wrong, keeping it inward still gives us a bunch of storage