cloudpants

https://imgur.com/a/yzCJKrM

Bought this house a few months ago and the garage has this pit on one side. It is 6ft deep, 3ft wide, and about 18ft long. The back wall of it is the shared wall of a small building we're using as a gym that is below the grade of the garage.

Any ideas to make this thing usable? Do I need to get some sort of steel grate to go over the top? I don't want to park a car on there as it's just covered by 2x6's. I have thought about bolting a ladder to the wall of it and using it as a mechanic pit or something but it seems pretty deep for that.

I have two of these old wooden double hung windows in our house. The old owners painted over them several times and they are completely seized. I've managed to get the bottom sashes unstuck but for the life of me I can't get the top ones to come down.

I tried putting some citrus stripper around the edge of the window and I have gotten a putty knife around every edge but it still won't budge. And there's no way for me to grab the window (I tried a suction cup and pulling down but it didn't work). Any ideas how I can get this damn window unstuck? These have storm windows which I can't change out without being able to move the top sashes.

https://imgur.com/a/s2p9oX7

https://imgur.com/a/kGMLgDA

There is a retaining wall at the back of our yard that is bowing out. A friend suggested adding some sort of drainage to help--whats the best way to do that? Should I dig down and put a French drain near the base then drill a few holes in the base of the wall? Are there any better options?

Today we put in an offer on a property that has been on the market since May 2024. The asking price was reduced by 5k on Thursday 1/2 and our offer today was 10k under asking price, with 10k in seller concessions.

This evening our realtor calls me and tells me that the listing agent has informed her there is a competing offer for 8k above us with no seller concessions. And the listing agent is the one negotiating the competing offer. The property is selling for relatively cheap to our area because it is in an undesirable location (but it is perfect for our needs).

This seems a little too convenient to me. The listing agent is in a city 75 miles away from us. Our realtor talked to someone

I have a 2004 Toyota Prius with ~285k miles on it that I use to commute 80 miles per day for work. The hybrid battery was replaced about 2 years ago with a rebuilt one, and now it has gone bad again (master warning light).

I found a shop that will replace the battery with a new genuine Toyota one for $2800 and the guy said it should last 10-15 years. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should go for it or save that money to invest in a new vehicle. I recently purchased new tires and the car has an almost new catalytic converter + shield from when the old one was cut off and stolen.

Any advice if this repair is worth the money?

https://i.imgur.com/3GmO5hc.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kbGqd0N.jpg

This dog came wandering into our yard today. She has no collar but seems to be pretty well behaved. Not sure what breed, maybe a pit mix? If she's yours please message me, trying to get her back to her owner.

I have an section of my yard that I'm not sure what to do with. This box was overgrown with weeds and grass which I have since dug out. I am looking for advice on what to do with the spot; I'm not very experienced so I'm unsure what i need to do to prevent weeds from growing back.

I'd like to put something there that doesn't require a lot of maintenance. I am in zone 5b, the box is in the front yard and faces south, it is unshaded and gets a lot of direct sun. I thought it would be cool to plant a tree there but I don't know how much work that would be. Should I put some sort of liner down with rocks or wood chips over the top to prevent weed growth? I'm j