I bought a mostly livable fixer upper. The previous attempt to renovate the bathroom themselves and really made some mistakes I don't know how to fix. They replaced the vanity (already damaged cosmetically) and tiled one wall. There is dried grout everywhere. On the wall, the molding, the vanity (which is grouted in) on the tiles. Idk how to begin getting the grout off these surfaces.

I will probably just replace the molding but what about the wall and the vanity? What about the tile it's self?

My new (first) home needs some significant siding repair. Wenconsider ourselves handy but it's a lot for us to handle and we want to have the insulation redone as well.

Pros and cons of various types of siding?

Tips for working with contractors?

What is the difference between roofing companies, exterior companies and the general reno or contractors? It looks like in my area they will almost all do the same siding work. Is it just a difference in naming?

Back with a dozy. What is your favorite paint brands? Why?

I am a proud owner of a brand new home. I am in love with it. It's cute the yard is perfect. It is old and lived in hard. And we couldn't afford really nice. Pretty much everything we looked at had some serious issues so we chose the one we loved the most and the one we felt we could handle the issues. I have lots of questions so I will be here a lot.

I have a very basic knowledge of tools and carpentry but very little knowledge about how to apply that to a home ownership. So my first question is can you recommend books, websites, other lemmy communities that are also good resources?

And my second is how do you prioritize your home projects when under budget constraints and they are of equal importance or unimportance?

Last question (for now) how do you deal with the overwhelm/frustrations of previous owner issues or poor workmanship? (I still love it. It's ours and I love it but we are picking up on stuff that we didn't know about ex the neighbor told us there is a sinkhole under our driveway and it had already been repaired but poorly or the fact that we didn't see it empty until after close and it's obvious their pets handled the moving process poorly and have urinated in every room with carpet)

Update: I'm a tired frustrated ham fisted idiot. What was happening was I ever so slightly bent the metal when popping the old plastic lid lock out and thus the new one could not fully disengage. Some pliers and cussing and it works.

I am attaching the couple videos that helped me get the thing done in case anyone finds this in the future and is lost and confused as I was at first.

https://youtu.be/d7tXnwpL5Zo https://youtu.be/Z1i0rOQXEac

My door lock on my new to machine gave out. Ordered a replacement and installed. Neither the new striker nor the old striker work well with it. It will lock but won't unlock. Is there anything g wrong with putting the striker in the mechanism and leaving the door open?