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I'm hearing a buzzing from a VR8204c3007 gas valve on my Burnham hot water boiler. (Boiler was installed in early 1990s, I think 1993). I've been in the house for four years so I don't know if the gas valve is original. This valve buzzed intermittently last winter, and this morning was the first...

I have a bathroom sink stop valve that leaks when closed. It looks like a compression valve and the compression nut is soldered to the copper. I was recommended to replace it with a sharkbite valve, and the YouTube videos make it look easy. For someone like Me with limited plumbing skills, is...

I recently had an annual boiler inspection (starting to get cold in Minnesota) and the tech didn't see any issues but recommended a deep cleaning of ash from inside the boiler as a "once in ten years" maintenance activity. He used a mirror to show the insides of the boiler, and there looked...

Our natural gas boiler is about 30-40 years old (manufactured 1987, first service sticker was 1994, so I assume about 35 years old). It's in our unfinished basement. A few months ago we had the entire basement (walls, floors, ceilings, exposed piping) painted and there is still a mild paint...

So I was reading this local home inspector's blog about combusion air ducts and soon discovered mine connects to a damper, not a vent. http://structuretech1.com/2013/03/combustion-air-ducts-part-ii-problems-and-solutions/ He recommends either replacing a damper with a vent or taking off...

During the wash cycle, I think my dishwasher is spitting a few drops of water out through the vent (to the left of the handle in this photo). It's not leaking out the door - no water on the floor immediately outside - but a few drops of water maybe a foot away on the tile. What the heck is...

My entryway is ~5" ceramic tiles within a hardwood floor. The tile transitions to the hardwood and the grout between the tile and hardwood is falling out. (My wife and I were tipped off to it when we saw moisture on the floor below it, in the basement). A good portion of the grout along this...

I found spongy wood in the end ~5" of a part of my exterior trim. It's the board that the arrow points to here (the end is hidden behind the trees), connecting to the edge of the roof. https://1drv.ms/i/s!AldBRbQJj45ZjTx0DhS97r1btR3p First off: 1) What is this piece called? 2) What can...

I did a fall roof inspection this past weekend, after we had a significant hailstorm last week (but no leaking through our upstairs ceilings that I've seen). Aside from a lot of algae and moss growing (which I plan to spray this upcoming weekend with bleach and water), I saw probably 20-30...

I have a Larson storm door and there is a hard plastic seal around the door frame that is coming off. I looked on Larson's parts site but didn't see anything like this. What is this part called so I can buy and replace it? Circled in red in this photo...

Hello - I have an older Craftsman home and in the main entry there is a seam between the wood trim and the brick knee wall. I assume that at one point there was a paint seal between the trim and the brick, but no longer. I did a terrible caulk job last fall ( you can see it in these photos)...

My tub had cracking grout around where it meets the tile so I figured I'd dig the grout out and replace with silicone caulk, as well as replace the cracking caulk that was securing the sliding glass door frame to the tub. I've removed the grout from the wall side of the tub as well as the...

I have a ground floor bathroom with block windows and the wood trim is starting to peel away from the frame on the left end: https://1drv.ms/i/s!AldBRbQJj45ZhhKxVYHMD93s5rcz https://1drv.ms/i/s!AldBRbQJj45ZhhM4ovHs3_uU-6Y2 1) What could be the cause of this besides just age (I have no idea...

My house (1924 Craftsman) has three plumbing vents, all metal, and a PVC radon fan vent. As best I can tell, one of the plumbing vents (about 2.5-3" diameter) is the soil stack since it's right above all three bathrooms; the other two are about 1.5-2" diameter and about in the right place to be...

Hi - I know this sounds kinda nuts, but does it look like my chimney cap is installed correctly? Also which one is for my wood-burning fireplace and which one is for my natural-gas boiler? I hear random clicks and thumps in my house (1924 Craftsman) and I don't know if it's pests (I've looked...

We bought a 1924 house about a year ago, with cement block foundation. During the inspection (during spring rains) we could tell the basement has had flooding before. Next week we are having our basement draintiled and the interior of the block covered with a vapor seal wrapping. In...