I’m looking for the same answers but like in boise Idaho, any recommendations?

I do not see anything else, but there are limitations using photos. It would not hurt to have a handyman or other professional to look at the walls.

POR is overkill for the cost. Any rust paint should do

While I agree people can be taught to work on their home in a safe manner without calling a professional, it’s dangerous to say that getting shocked is essentially not dangerous (at worst they get a very minor shock). You don’t have to have a heart condition for this to seriously hurt or kill you. Of course, most people that get shocked don’t get seriously injured, otherwise I’d have a lot more electrical injuries in the ER, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat residential electrical as something that can kill you.

It uses less cable initially. We use loop at the switch now because often lighting switches have an led indicator which needs a neutral and also ease of adding other circuits off the switch.

Loop at the light is the old way here but it's still pretty common in Australia as it only requires two cables per switch group, the new way has S N E for each load. More cables.

Sadly no. Really hoping it's the most common type - whatever that works out to be.

True. A box of pollyfila and a few days patience is a fine option

What's the benefit of this "loop in" system? It seems quite complicated, possibly dangerous, and requires more hardware than a simpler system that we use in north america.

I think you are correct, it may just be the way the wall is. I understand that it may be due to the natural movement of the house from what I have read. Do you think there is another issue at play based on the photos?

Yeah we painted the whole inside of the house, the attic/loft included. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a more serious issue at hand like water damage or a leaky roof.

Wood screws are fine for this. Match the size to the hole in the metal plate, or a bit smaller. Since you're probably screwing in thin wood trimming (meranti wood?) You can never go wrong with drilling a pilot hole. Use a drill that's a bit bigger than the shank of the screw in this situation.

Appreciate it. I was concerned that there was a more serious issue at hand. I don’t see any signs of water leakage or anything, just the cracks

I want to covert/restore the counter top next to the stove into a butcher block but it's not in the best condition. There are many cutting grooves and 2 spaces to fill in, closeup of the surface. What would be my best options?

Hopefully someone smarter than me can verify this "tip" I saw on youtube about this same thing: To tell if a beam is load bearing, check to see if that beam continues through the attic to the roof and through the basement (if you have one) to the foundation. Seems logical to me, but I'm just a guy.

Everybody saying leak but I'm guessing the problem is that there was 2 layers of incompatible paint that are causing that blistering, or painted when too humid. Happens in my area during summer when people don't use AC in their home

Easiest way is to remove it and see what happens.

Best way is to have a structural engineer inspect it.

Electrician here from Australia. Different standards but the concept is the same.

I should preface this with, Electrical work can be dangerous especially if you don't have a residual current device to protect you. A circuit breaker protects the cables and a RCD protects us. Call a professional if you don't feel confident.

Be sure to isolate and turn off your mains or individual circuits. Use a volt stick and a meter and check for dead and also on a known power source and then recheck for dead.

Now to the wiring.

It sounds like you have something called 'loop at the light's'

Basically you have a permanent active, neutral and an earth that is ran around the house to each light fitting. Then you have two cables down to the switch, one connected to the permanent active and the other connected to the switch active of the light fitting. Typically in Australia this is white = switch wire and red = permanent active (but not always)

If your light fitting is in the centre of the house it will have an in and an out for each of the cables as it loops from the last room into the next room.

It looks like the fitting neutral on the left is the blue, the two blacks next to that are the incoming and outgoing neutrals, the two Red's next to that are 'probably' the permanent actives, the next two are probably red permanent and in this case black switch wire (maybe), then you've got the fitting switch active on the far right, which is linked internally in the fitting to the switch active down to the switch.

You'll need to test it (I can't stress this enough), as the picture isn't that clear but that is what makes sense to me that the neutrals and permanent actives (are each seperately) in a linked bar inside the fitting.

You're also relying on the fact that someone has wired it correctly beforehand. I find heaps of wiring that they use the black cable as permanent active or blacktive as we call it, which should never be done.

You've also got solid copper wiring N and L so be careful not to over tighten and crush the copper in the fitting as this is how the copper strands snaps. We usually double over and fit it off for this reason in case of breakages it has a redundancy.

Flex means flexible cable btw. N means Neutral and L means Line which is Permanent active. Switch can be SW or SA.

Goodluck and I hope I have explained it well enough to make some sort of sense.

Edit: I re read your problem. I'd check for single copper breakages in the fitting as I've listed above. Basically pull each cable out one by one and replace it and check each strand is not broken. (With the mains off).

Here's an image which may help you understand what's going on: https://images.app.goo.gl/77AgfRcw51yCUvmq6

Whoever filled that is a right joker. What a crappy job. First I would take a sharp edge and trim the inner edge where the doorframe and wall meet. Then get to sanding and it might come closer to being flat. You might even be able to get the outer corner to run almost in a straight line. Then get some external undercoat/primer, paint it on with a slight overlap of not the old paint, then white outer coat; do you know what kind of paint that is by any chance?

I'm the handyman of my family, wood, masonry, fencing, mechanic, electrician etc.

I have over 3000 screws in my shed, my "special screws" and the set I use for everything else.

Once you get the hang of it it will you'll find some interesting ways to fix things 😂

Okay, I have a brick exterior, but when we added an exterior door, there was house wrap on the sheathing.

Cracks are of no concern unless they’re wide or one half is lifting.

The main reason so I have a good spot to hang things like cabinets, tools, etc. I want to avoid drilling into foundation often if I can.

That description seems alright to me.

I’m in the process of getting it. Reason I’m asking is they require I have estimates/bids for every aspect before even allowing the framing to start.

Thanks, completely agree you have to fix the moisture issue. I’ve definitely had plaster repairs fail in this way when leaks persist. I guess my point was that it’s been preferable in my experience to go the plaster route and deal with this rather than the effects of mold growth in the walls. You always “think” you fixed the underlying cause of a leak in an old building, but sometimes it’s less apparent or there are multiple causes. I’m getting PTSD thinking about managing this leased 120 room 1909 San Francisco nightmare.