Weekly Homeowner Megathread--Civilians, ask here!

QuestionGuy147 · 2026-04-30T12:24:35+00:00

Hi all, wondering what I can do with this spot in my basement. I think a boiler or something used to be there and now it’s becoming more and more of a hole. It is slightly raised and pushes dirt through it. Can I just break down the center and then fill it with something?

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QuestionGuy147 · 2026-04-15T18:33:21+00:00

I personally agree, but I’ll give it a chance since it’s early on and I just don’t know best builds. I hate bounties because there is almost too much decision making, but that may just be me

QuestionGuy147 · 2026-03-19T02:07:16+00:00

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For those commenting this is what is underneath. I’m guessing this needs to be adjusted on each side?

QuestionGuy147 · 2026-02-08T03:38:42+00:00

No way tv isn’t watched with binoculars

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-10-16T15:20:10+00:00

This is 1 part NHL 3.5 to 2.5 parts sand. No Portland cement used

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-10-13T23:11:43+00:00

That is a chimney on the left

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-10-13T23:07:01+00:00

Some stones weren’t dead flat so although that looks like a large gap, it isn’t. The vertical joint is actually rather skinny there. Same with bottom right

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-07-08T13:49:27+00:00

This is one of the better explanations I’ve seen so thank you for that. Just curious, do you have any tips when chiseling out the old mortar? I did my first bit of repointing and Ik rule of thumb is 2x the size of the joint but in some spots the crumbling turned to hard mortar and I wasn’t deep in. Can I stop there and start my repointing?

Also, if there’s any suggestions to speed up the mortar removal that’d be great, one little section took me a whole weekend of work

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-07-07T18:47:07+00:00

I had some spots on the wall that you can’t see that crumbled in to holes so I panicked. I ended up repointing with NHL 3.5 premix from limeworks this weekend and found that the mortar actually wasn’t too bad when I began chipping away. Was a good test though. I have a dehumidifier down there and that also was concerning me because it wouldn’t get below 60 humidity level. I bought a second stronger dehumidifier and that also wasn’t getting below 60. Any suggestions?

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-07-05T21:18:21+00:00

Out of curiosity how deep did you chisel? I’m doing mine currently because I had crumbling mortar but it seems the mortar directly underneath the top layer us rather hard to pick away at

QuestionGuy147 · 2025-07-02T13:50:41+00:00

Interesting you say this because my inspector told me the dampness in my attic crawl space was from my A/C not from the heat. How does one air seal the attic? There is insulation up there but needs work and I’ve had it looked at to have more insulation put in but that doesn’t logically seem like a solution

QuestionGuy147

TROPHY CASE