r/homeimprovementideas • • 16h ago

Advice on attaching this access panel

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13 Upvotes

This tub came with some jets and has an access panel to the mechanicals. Originally, thick Velcro-like strips secured the panel. Over time, those strips lost their effectiveness, and the panel started falling off.

I removed the strips and cleaned the surfaces. Since the connecting surfaces are slightly recessed, I haven't been able to find new strips that will work.

Then I tried gluing small magnets, but in a few months some of them fell off as well. I used a superglue that is supposedly made for plastic, though the part that keeps coming off is the tub.

I'm not sure whether it's the bathroom humidity or something else.

Maybe something mechanical would work, like bolts, but I would have to drill holes. And they would be difficult to access once the panel is on.

Any other ideas? I am fresh out.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 15h ago

Mosquitos have made my yard uninhabitable

10 Upvotes

Mosquitos have been absolutely terrible this year. Just being out there for 5-10 minutes I killed at least 8 that were on my legs. I have a mosquito service, I have tried the dunks as well. I have eliminated anywhere that can store water and go out after every storm to make sure. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I bought the house for the nice yard and can't be out there.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Any idea how to cover up this intentional opening in the wall non-invasively?

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52 Upvotes

I just moved into this new apartment. The room is all one bedroom, sink, and closet area connected. However, right next to the sink there is an opening.

Since the sink area is also open to the bedroom area, this means this opening makes the bedroom open to pretty much the entire common area of the house.

Does anyone have any ideas how I could somehow cover up or close up this hole in the wall? This way the bedroom isn't audibly connected to the rest of the house.

Another requirement is that this has to be non-invasive. Since I'm renting, its not like I can just break into the wall, put some drywall up, and plaster/paint it up or anything like that.

Thanks!


r/homeimprovementideas • • 22h ago

Can I install penny tiles on an uneven wall, or do I need to level it first?

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7 Upvotes

After removing the old tiles from my wall, the surface became quite uneven.
My first question is: can I install my new penny tiles directly over this surface, or does it need to be level first?
If I need to level it, what product should I use? Would tile grout be suitable, or do I need something else, like wall filler?
Any advice would be appreciated!


r/homeimprovementideas • • 16h ago

Garage conversion questions.

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2 Upvotes

Im thinking of drywalling my detached garage with moisture resistant 1/2” drywall. Its uninsulated and i dont have heat or ac. I dont plan on upgrading that.
What should i be looking for? Do i need a vapor barrier on the walls before i cover them up? So need to drywall the ceiling? Ive covered the floor with raised rubber mats because its a slab on grade with no vapor barrier, so air has to move under the mats.
I spend a couple of hours a day in here on various wood projects and id like the place to look nicer and more inviting.
Thanks for the insight.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 20h ago

Primed Shiplap for bathroom?

3 Upvotes

Hello all,

Would Primed White Pine Wood Shiplap be sustainable in my bathroom? I am wanting to redo the walls in my bathroom, and I love the look of shiplap to match our farmhouse. But, I was wondering if Primed shiplap would be okay to handle the moisture in the bathroom? I would not put it in the shower obviously, but I would put it on all other walls and the ceiling too.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this? I just don't want to cause any mold, or have to redo the bathroom again in a couple of years because of water damage. Any advice is helpful!


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Work In Progress paint stripping

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22 Upvotes

put about 15-20 hours into this fireplace so far. started with citristrip - which SUCKS, by the way!!!! and then switched over to klean strip and it’s been so helpful.

whoever covered this fireplace also sucks

best ways to get the rest off? just keep paint stripping? should i cover it and leave it for a few hours? i am so over ittttttttt it’ll be so worth it in the end but this BLOWS


r/homeimprovementideas • • 19h ago

Advice on basement “French Drain”

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1 Upvotes

House built in 1946. Cinder block foundation. I’ve attached pictures. We recently purchased a home and have been here for 4 months. The house was a flip, and they put in about a 5 inch wide cut around the back perimeter of the house only and installed a sump pump. It goes behind the main sewer line drain. I am aware that the sump pump isn’t deep enough or correctly put in, but it collects the water and hasn’t overflown All they did was cut around the edges, put in stone, and then a small square that is about 6 inches down and threw in a basic pump. I’ve never had any problem with water getting onto the floor or going over the stone they put in, but I was curious as to what the water looked like underneath before I painted the floors I decided to investigate a bit. The water in the little pit is from a decent amount of rain we recently got. It has never gone over that 6 inches and always pumps out. It is dry most of the time, but again this is front a decent little rain storm. The hydraulic cement patches are from me, not the previous people. Long story short. What should I do before paint the floors to ensure the water isn’t affecting the foundation and going into my floors. Is the cut they made going to hurt the foundation more than help? That is my true concern Put in a correct sump pump with a true plastic pit? Put stone back in like they had it? Vapor barrier fabric? This is not my side of construction I have much experience in, any advice would be appreciated. The foundation does not have any cracks or bowing and water doesn’t come in anywhere other than that area! Sorry for the book! Thanks in advance.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Kitchen Question Need to reinforce my pantry shelves and add more

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10 Upvotes

First pic is my goal/inspo. The others are what I’m working with spacewise.

The bottom shelf is tilting and is soon to fall, so I need to reinforce it, and while I’m at it I want to add another shelf under the two already there.

To the left of my furnace I want to add 3 corner shelves for storage.

My questions are… how can I reinforce/ add a third shelf?

How do I build the corner shelves so they can bear the weight of cans and lauundry detergent?

How do I hide the furnace?

Is this reasonable?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Is this mold?

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1 Upvotes

I'm trying to move into an apartment and it has this exposed brick wall. Is this mold? Should I be worried and is there a way to get rid of this?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Kitchen Question Cupboard door glow-up help: what to do with ugly bottom edge?

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0 Upvotes

There is this "trim" on the bottom of my cupboard doors that used to be the handle for the doors. The previous owners gave them the 'landlord special' and painted everything over with white (poorly) then added some different handles.

I'm trying to do a budget friendly upgrade to my kitchen and was hoping to contact-paper over the cabinets with a wood-grain paper and install some different handles. My issue is the bottom "trim" that's attached to it is such an odd shape, I don't think I can paper over it nicely and I feel like painting them will make them stand out even more. I can't pull them off because the cabinets are too short without them and will leave a gap. The previous paint job is lumpy and textured.

Any ideas on how I could handle this? I'm really stumped here.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Kitchen Question Help choose window covering

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1 Upvotes

We rent and have our kitchen facing west. Looking for an option given that drill free won’t work (too shallow), the aluminum frame is ugly and it opens side-to-side instead of from the bottom (we never open it). I like the look of a Roman shade but can you do one with an outside mount without it being weird? Measures 59” wide x 44” tall. Do I have to do custom?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 1d ago

Adhesive ceiling curtain track?

1 Upvotes

Any experience using adhesive tracks ? In a rental, want curtains in my living room, would be sheer and not super heavy.
Any recommendations for brands?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Kitchen Question How to break the colors?

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9 Upvotes

Der Bossenhoffen wants the space between the backsplash and the bottom of the cupboards painted a different color than the wall. I'm not sure how or where to transition from one color to the other. Going straight down from the end of the cupboard feels awkward as does matching the angle of the backsplash transition strip. The second question is what to use as a transition strip? Thanks


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Strengthen magnetized door latch

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7 Upvotes

My cat keeps opening this door from below. Any ideas that could strengthen the magnets?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

How do you cat proof your living room?

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0 Upvotes

We just moved into our first house a couple weeks ago and I'm already realizing the cat may be the biggest threat to the furniture lol.

She's started scratching the side of the sofa, jumping on the media console, chewing random cables and knocking little things off shelves just because she can.

The painful part is almost everything in this room is new. We just bought a West Elm fabric sofa and a 75" Hisense for the living room, so every time she launches herself across the room I get nervous.

I already have a scratching post but apparently the sofa is more exciting.

What actually worked for you guys? More scratching posts? Covers? Tape? Moving everything breakable 6 feet off the ground?

Culprit in the pic btw. Zero remorse.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

How can I fix my basement walls?

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4 Upvotes

So my basement is in rough shape. The walls were like this when my husband and I moved in. Is there any way to update this ourselves without spending an arm and a leg on materials/contractors, or at least make it look a little prettier so we can paint it something other than whatever bad decision is there currently? I'm at a loss. 🥲


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Banister updating

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2 Upvotes

We’re updating our home to have a more modern look throughout, and the staircase is one of the first projects we want to tackle. We have a handyman who will handle the installation, so we’re mainly looking for inspiration on materials, styles, and finishes.

I’ve included a photo of our current staircase, along with a photo of another room in our house that reflects the look we’re going for. We want to replace the entire railing system, including the handrail, balusters, and posts. We’re also planning to repaint the walls and replace the flooring throughout the kitchen level with a medium-brown tone, so we’d love ideas that would potentially complement those changes.

We aren’t interested in glass and would prefer clean, simple lines over the traditional turned wood look. We’re open to different combinations of wood and metal or even an all-metal railing.

We’d love to hear what materials you recommend and where you’ve found good supplies! If you’ve done something similar in your own home, photos would be super helpful, too. We’re hoping for something modern and timeless that won’t feel dated in a few years. Thanks!


r/homeimprovementideas • • 3d ago

Which is better for small bathroom

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63 Upvotes

r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Paint Question How do I paint the exterior of an outdoor water cistern?

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2 Upvotes

I was tasked with painting the exterior of an outdoor water cistern with some kids (11 & 12) in preparation for an AIA homes tour. It’s moderately sized (maybe 4x~7) coming from the ground. What is the best way to go about this project? I’ve done window splash painting before but nothing like this.

Initial questions:

1). What sort of paint is needed? I thought spray paint but I didn’t know how the kids would do with it.

2). What sort of prep needs to be done? Do I need to sand it down? Primer?

3). What type of sealer is needed?

I’ll include inspiration pictures for reference on designs and finished products I’m picturing in my head. Any tips or general direction would be greatly appreciated.


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Help with identifying this part!

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2 Upvotes

Perhaps a long shot but does anyone recognize this door threshold cover or sill cover (or is that even what it's called)? This sit on the ground right under the front door. I've been trying to find a replacement but haven't been able to. Checked online and other home improvement stores...


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Flooring Question What material is this flooring and how to fix it?

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0 Upvotes

Can someone explain to me what kind of material this is and how to fix this I ripped up the carpet and the padding underneath and this is what I found. I’m trying to lay down click and lock flooring but I’m pretty sure this needs to be fixed first I’m a renter and doing this work myself so the cheapest possible way would be the best


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Kitchen Question Help

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3 Upvotes

I purchased the Cosmo recirculating range hood with the installation package from Lowe’s. The installer came and said I needed a few more things (grate for filters) and possibly a hose. I clearly didn’t think this through on where it would recirculate. Online it suggests either coming out through the upper cabinet door or soffit. I’m not even sure if the install installation package I chose would even cover all of this. And if we did end up drilling through the soffit, I’d rather have this vented to the outdoors at that point. The outside facing wall it less than 4 feet from range. The range hood I purchased can be both vented outside and recirculating and is too late to return. Advise?


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Are these floors sealed properly?

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0 Upvotes

We had a house fire April 2025, the reconstruction contractor said that our floors were refinished with stain and sealer on top of them. However we have only been moved back in our home for the past 6 months. Should our floors have THIS MANY scuffs and indents??? This is just from normal living we are not dragging furniture all over the floors.
We feel they did not properly seal our hardwood floors… or maybe they suffered too much water damage to be properly fixed?
Any help would be appreciated!


r/homeimprovementideas • • 2d ago

Help me fit a fridge in that space

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3 Upvotes

Hello please help. I have that corner where a fridge supposed to fit.

The width is 31.4 inches.

The space between the back wall to the door is 38.9 inches.

What fridge would fit exactly in that space with door open freely simce I cant get rid of my kitchen door.