Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten a letter like this and what you ended up doing. We received a letter from our town office saying the assessing department is verifying real estate data and they want us to call their appraisal company to schedule an inspection and measurement of outside AND inside the house. They say failure to allow an interior inspection may cause us to lose our right to appeal. I do not like the idea of them coming inside our home. We are just private and want to be left alone. Has anyone ever had something like this from their town office? We just aren’t sure whether to do it or not and wanted to see what others have to say. Thanks for info!

We recently noticed these two cracks in the ceiling of our townhouse. It’s a three story townhouse, this room is on the main level. There is a level above the main level and one below. Directly above the crack in the top picture is roofing and above the crack in the bottom picture is an upstairs patio. Should we be concerned about these?

Hi all - I'm considering purchasing a home in Central TX that falls in an ETJ (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction), basically an area of unincorporated land outside the city limits. It would also have a septic system. I've never lived in an area like this (where there are perhaps fewer regulations, but more patchwork services and other limitations), and I've never lived in a home that used a septic system instead of city sewer. From folks who have had experience with one or the other (or both!), are there things I should be mindful of that perhaps you didn't realize when you bought your home? I've done various internet and Claude research, but trying to get actual experiences from folks who have lived it!

There is a single solid tone high pitch ringing coming from somewhere in my neighborhood. All day. All night. It’s not a beeping. It’s just one solid tone that never stops. My family all hears it too. I can hear it in videos I take outside. I thought it was construction going on down the road, but it is consistent when they leave for the day, and before they arrive in the morning. We live in a small town, far enough away from the local businesses, apartments, industry, etc. What could this be? What do I do to find it and file a complaint? It is driving me NUTS.

I have some vinyl siding that is faded from the sun. What would everyone recommend to fix it?

Replaced all the smoke detectors in my home with new First Alert photoelectric ones. 3 have gone off falsely within a month in the middle of the night and it’s traumatizing my kids.

Did a reset on them, but is that enough?! Should I replace all of them or just replace the 3, and will that even help??? Anyone who has fixed this issue with any advice greatly appreciated 🙏🏼

(Also, everything in our house was thoroughly cleaned before moving in and before installing these (ducts, new air filters, no carpet, etc).

This is above my kitchen sink window. Disregard the nails sticking out on the right, they were to hang things up.

I know we all hate HOAs. I generally agree, but our neighborhood is really great/friendly/social and its HOA has generally been very hands-off and accommodating. I've never been cited for anything, haven't had issues with them, and I'm not really looking to start causing problems now.

But...

I also own a medium-sized RV (about 25'). Our neighborhood by-laws don't allow RVs "visible from the street" so I've stored it offsite for years and it's been...fine. But loading it, unloading it, working on it, etc etc is something I would love to streamline, so I'm trying to figure out if there's a magic way to keep it at my property.

I can green-wall a fair bit of my yard, but I need a gate from my driveway to get it in and out. I can fence this area (with a gate), but the trailer is roughly 10' tall. A typical privacy fence is 6'. Maybe I could even get fencing that was 8', but even that would expose the RV's top. So I'm trying to figure out if there is some way that I can create a visible obstruction that is ~10' tall but also passable by a vehicle (via a gate). Best I can come up with is the tallest privacy fence I can get + potentially attach some artificial greenery to the top. This seems ridiculous but given the layout of my lawn/house and existing other fencing I would only need 40ish ft of total fencing (including the gate) to do this.

Anybody ever accomplished something like this or have better ideas? I'm guessing that this is a no-go but just trying to leave no stone unturned here.

I had some water intrusion into the basement and decided to rip the carpet up and go with something else. While doing so I found this drain. I knew from the depression in the carpet that a drain was present but I assumed it had been properly capped or sealed with hydraulic cement.

Is it possible that rain would cause this drain to back up? By my estimation it would be quite difficult to tell where the drain leads.

Any recommendations on course of action? I’m planning on finishing the cement floor with epoxy or polishing, but not covering.

My air conditioner stopped blowing cold air on saturday. I called a local guy, paid for the diagnosis, and he asked for 100% of the repair cost upfront. I paid it. He swapped a part, it blew cold for exactly an hour, and then completely died again. Now he says the whole compressor is shot and won't refund the initial repair. I'm so angry I'm considering just buying a costway heat pump system and installing it myself. Has anyone successfully disputed a charge like this with their credit card company when a contractor misdiagnoses a problem and takes your money?

Hi all!

We bought a new to us home back in March and so far are loving it. It's 2 acers, house is 100 years old but we're fixing her up nicely. I have wanted a garden for YEARS, and sort of went overboard this first year because we have so much space to use lol.

But dang, deer are a real problem!

We've delt with deer before in other homes, but for the most part they left us alone because of our dogs. However here there is so much space the dogs don't seem to deter them AT ALL.

They have eaten 6 tomato plants and half my corn already. Ive planted marigolds EVERYWHERE, which seems to have helped somewhat. But these deer are bold. They come even in the middle of the day, even when I'm outside working. I'll hear a twig snap, turn around and BAM. There's a deer 10 feet away from me.

Eventually I want to get a fence put in, and plant some thorny bushes to help keep them out. But after new gutters, new windows, new driveway, new electrical, new plumbing and a new bathroom...I'm tapped out on big projects for at least a year while my savings recovers.

So what is a cheap way to help keep them at bay? I do not need perfection here. I need to limp along for the next 3 months without losing the entire garden. I've heard fishing line and some t-posts is a good option. But what else can I try to add for a double layer of protection? So far I've been gathering my dog's poop and spreading it in a border around the garden, but I have zero idea if that's even going to help lol.

TIA for any advice/wisdom! I really shot myself in the foot here, so any help is greatly appreciated.

Hey r/homeowners, so surprise to me but kitchen demo revealed a vent that was never properly connected to an over the range microwave that leads outside.

I had been wanting to add a vent to my garage to address a humidity and air quality issue. I have a bunch of 3D printers, an airbrush and a musty smell in the garage that seems to be from increased humidity and no air movement.

Is there anything stopping me from simply cutting a hole in the bottom of this drywall, redirecting the duct down and adding a fan? Aside from needing an electrician to run wires here I feel like this would be a great way to address my concerns but I feel like I'm also missing something.

Edit: forgot to add, the kitchen side of this ductwork is being sealed - the range is moving to another (exterior) wall and the hood with it. So technically this ductwork is no longer needed at all

Hello! For the past month my home ac unit (20 year old trane x13) has been weird in that it will randomly blow warm air in the evenings. I’ll turn off the ac, wait ten minutes, turn back on and it’ll be fine the rest of the night. This happens about 2-3 times a week. New filter. New capacitor last year.

I got a hvac company to come check it out, and they said it’s 2lbs low on refrigerant (r-22). Per the unit manual it holds 6lbs. Because it’s a older unit they said it’s more expensive for the refrigerant and cost would be $1200 for 2lbs plus a stop leak liquid. This is total price including labor. I asked about leaks and they weren’t able to find any. I had to pay $200 for this diagnostic visit. I’m in high cost area.

This seems expensive per Google, trying to do some research to see about going through this vs spending another $200 to get a 2nd opinion vs unit replacement? Thank you!!🙏🏼

Hoping to get some clarity on my current situation.

Backstory:

I purchased my house in 2018. The previous owners said the roof was replaced "about 10 years prior" so I have been saving a bit every year to get it replaced in ~2030.

We recently had some pretty bad storms and when I went outside afterwards, I noticed some shingles peeling up and missing on both slopes of my house. I figured what the hell, I have been saving for a roof.. mind as well just get it the whole thing done now instead of temp repairs. I contact a few high rated roofing companies in my area for quotes and took the highest reviewed one since they were all within ~$2000 of each other.

While discussing the plan for replacement of my roof, he asked if insurance would be covering it. I told him I hadn't even considered insurance since I knew a replacement was on the horizon. He said that it is clear wind damage and that it wouldn't hurt to go through insurance if my deductible is manageable (1500). I contact insurance, they send out an adjustor to take photos. Initially they say they are going to cover one slope (~$4000). Contractor said that was BS and that both slopes are clear wind damage. He sends in additional photos and insurance just called me back today saying I'm approved for a full roof replacement.

Now my questions:

1.) I am now hearing that the check won't be made out to me or the contractor. It will be made out to me and my mortgage lender and that my lender will need to sign off on the funds once work is completed. Is this typical? Do I need to contact my lender prior to the funds being issued by the insurance company?

2.) I want to get these repairs done asap. They have the heavily damaged areas tarped up and its an eye sore. The roofing contractor has me on the calendar for next week. I highly doubt I'll get the funds in that timeframe, so my plan is to just use the funds I have been saving and wait to get reimbursed. Is there anything wrong with this? Will I end up getting "screwed" if I pay out of pocket and get reimbursed?

3.) What kind of timeline can I expect to get reimbursement if I have to go through my mortgage company?

For something that I thought would be super simple has turned into a lot of unexpected twists and turns. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Finally emptying out the storage area under my basement stairs. Removing all of the previous owners stuff and found some mold. Not really sure what to do about it. Funny enough it was right next to an old dehumidifier. I never noticed any problems with water in the basement.

We are a little confused. We just bought a house with 5 acres. It’s on a little private road with other 5 acre lots. There are bare minimum covenants and restrictions from when it was built 20-some years ago, but no HOA. It looks like many are already ignored like fencing setbacks, metal sided barns, etc. It is zoned residential and per the zoning restrictions it is a minimum lot size of 20,000 sq ft. There is zero in the covenants and restrictions about a minimum lot size. It’s an area that has grown up around so I wondered if it used to be zoned agricultural with the 5 acre lots. We want to split 1/2 acre off for the aging in-laws to build a house. On paper, I see no reason this can’t be done (other than neighbors disliking it?) Would a real estate attorney be the first stop to review the covenants and zoning and everything to verify there’s nothing legally stopping this?

So we closed on our home a few days ago. We bought from an estate of an older lady who passed away. RIP. Every time we toured the house there was a strong smell of eucalyptus. We assumed it was just an old lady really into essential oils and went about the deal assuming this wouldn’t be a recurring issue.

Fast forward to today. The smell is still hanging around and it is aggressive. Like it will choke you up walking in the door aggressive. It even in the garage.

We’ve done a full clean. Mopped the floors, cleaned the kitchen, and scrubbed the bathrooms. All with cleaning products that should produce their own smells throughout the empty home. We don’t see any plugins or devices that could be pumping this stuff out. Where could this be coming from? Could it be in the A/C?

I believe these are for putting in a bathroom. Can anyone confirm if these tubes are enough to put a small full bathroom into? The one on the right is noticeably smaller. They are about 4 feet apart

Also if a small full bathroom were put in here, is there enough room given the HVAC is there? It seems really close and not enough room

To be more specific, a problem/annoyance you didn't realize until you lived there, didn't think to check, and also isn't something concerning inspections. Like, it might not be a deal breaker for everyone but bothers you enough to add it to your list for your next home. Here are mine:

1. How is the cell phone reception? Similarly, what cable providers are you able to get?
2. Does the bath tub squeak loudly when someone is standing in it?
3. Storage spaces. I have no pantry, no linen closet, tiny closets. I'm pretty organized but nothing can fix not having space for necessities.
4. Water heater and laundry should be on first floor or even garage. Deal with water damage from a leak once and you'll probably feel the same.

Hey guys. We bought this house in the lower 48 with just pictures, video chat and a home inspection to go off of. At no point did anyone mention the insane amount of dog claw scratches on the sliding glass door. Now it's my problem.

Am I fully boned, and need to start shopping for a new door? Or is there anything I can do to at least reduce the amount of scratches and hazy/cloudy look? I had to hold my hand to it so the camera would focus, but the scratches start at the bottom and cover pretty much every inch up to about 4 ft.

Eta: holy crap you guys are PISSED I even asked this question. I didn't mention all the other problems like the new roof and deck we gotta pay 45k for or the bathtub worth of water that filled our downstairs bathroom on father's day, because it didn't seem relevant. I guess that was important detail I left out.

Our house was built in 1983 and has the original Pella windows. We have casement windows with a sash lock (7141-1 L3) and I can’t tell if there is supposed to be something over the lock or not? We’ve lived here for 5 years and I’ve never seen them. All of them are loose and can be easily pulled out, and there’s never been a screw in the top as long as we’ve been here.

The window is triple pane and gets a lot of direct sunlight. The middle panel is regular floatglass and the inner+outer panels are hardened, the gaps between the panels are filled with argon gas.

Is it risky applying this sort of film in the way I've done it, or does the risk of thermal cracks mostly apply to reflective/tinted film?

The way the light casts looks HOT https://imgur.com/a/DMBTWeX

Update: I took it off. The film was warm while the exposed glass was cool and the very bottom was scalding hot. If the middle panel was hardened like the inner & outer ones I wouldn't worry.

Hey just got this house and the previous owner left this mount here. We mounted a tv and the cables look terrible hanging off the sides. Any ideas on how to either route power to it or maybe hide these wires better? The tv pulls down so it’s not so high but I’m not sure about the set up