Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [water-damage]

242 questions
25
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3 answers

Does this downspout design make sense?

I've recently started smelling a musty smell in my upstairs bedroom. The bedroom closet just happens to be where the downspout from the main roof drains onto the roof for my garage and creates a kind of corner in the roof. As I have been looking…
philmonroe
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23
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2 answers

What is an air bleeder valve, and how does it winterize pipes?

I found this message attached to a pipe in the first house I bought Caution Winter Drain Instructions: Close valve in October before winter freeze Open air bleeder valve on side of main valve Open exterior hose bib Pull down pin in centre of…
asmgx
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15
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2 answers

Are pressure-treated posts that have been submerged for a few days ruined?

I dug holes for four 8' 4x4 posts, and had the posts positioned and plumbed vertically in the holes, but had to leave for a couple days before I could concrete them in. In the meantime, storms came and filled the holes. The ends of the posts have…
Kerry Thomas
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13
votes
4 answers

How do builders prevent water damage during construction?

There is a new house under construction near me. I pass it daily. The foundation is done and they are working on framing now. We had a big storm recently, and so all the framing and presumably the basement were exposed to the elements. How do…
nuggethead
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13
votes
2 answers

Contractor work caused a water leak in the house - UK

I’m renovating a kitchen, together with small hallway and a cloak room toilet. I hired a company to do all the work although I now realise I don’t have a formal contract with them, only with their sister company for supply and installation of…
kacpr
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13
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20 answers

Expedient repair for water damaged drywall behind tile

I set out to repair cracked grout at the top of a course of tiles on the wall immediately above my bathtub. After scraping out all the damaged grout I discovered that the only other thing holding the tiles in place was the caulking between them and…
zwol
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9
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5 answers

How do I prevent exterior water from seeping into interior moulding?

Heavy rains from Hurricane Henri happened overnight. In the morning, I noticed the bottom of the door moulding on the inside was wet. How do I prevent water coming in from the exterior of my front door? Some ideas: Replace weather stripping? Replace…
FrancisJohn
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8
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3 answers

How to bid a job repairing hidden damage in stages to avoid a "time and materials" job

My bathroom has some water damage from a poorly designed tile job. The window sill is low enough to get wet but is simply tiled rather than a solid shelf. It's also not properly sloped. This has allowed water to leak into the wall and has…
candied_orange
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8
votes
2 answers

What is this yellow gummy substance in our cabana walls?

Lower end of the inside walls of a redwood cabana - the black discoloration/mold has been there (where the wood gets wet from drips/spray from rain). We had rains a week ago and went to clean the area and found these yellow things. We do have many…
TRR
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7
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3 answers

What are some tools or methods I can purchase to trace a water leak?

A downpour of rain has caused one of the ceilings in my bedroom to leak. Now a small little hole in the ceiling is dripping water. I would like to get to the bottom of how I can prevent this from happening. The first thing I did was call roofers to…
RtxTrillihin
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7
votes
2 answers

Removing water from oak hardwood floors

I was out of town for 5 days and during that time my kitchen faucet spontaneously developed a slow leak. Upon returning home there was a 7 foot by 7 foot puddle of water in the kitchen -- probably sat there for at least a few days. Some of that…
Elliot B.
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6
votes
2 answers

Can I regrade this gravel section of yard myself?

My home is at lower elevation from the street. Water runs down the asphalt driveway and there is a french drain in front of the garage. On one side of the driveway there is a gravel patch that is not graded away from the house. The water catches…
Kyle Weller
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6
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2 answers

How can I protect hardwood floors from a deep freezer defrosting?

I want to get a small deep freezer for my kitchen upstairs. I have hardwood floors and I am concerned about potential water damage from a power outage and the freezer defrosting and getting water all over my floor. Is there any type of mat or…
Carrie Griffin
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6
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1 answer

What could cause the drywall behind the baseboard to crumble and allow interior of wall to fill with dirt?

I noticed a vertical crack in the wall from the baseboard up to the window above it, so I pulled off the baseboard to investigate. I saw that the drywall under the baseboard had cracked and crumbled away in a few spots. I pulled off a chunk of…
TRS-80
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6
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1 answer

Is this fungus? What should I do about it?

I've pulled up the masonite and tiled floor in my laundry and there's cleary water damage in the floorboards, I just pushed a chisel all the way through the worst part. The adjacent two floorboards are still soft and on top there are white to grey…
Spike
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