Right on, good advice. dimmers and USB outlets vs switches and standard receptacles are like 30-40x more expensive. You are talking thousand plus for whole house.

Don’t know anybody who said they paid more for a house based on this.

Agree, I had assumed the fill valve had been ruled out already.

First thing to consider if you want to remove this whether it was painted or not. It most likely was versus popcorn, which usually is not. Spray it with some water from a spray bottle and see if it softens and scrapes off easily. If yes, you are in luck, continue. If it was painted, scrape best you can, then skim coat.

Yep, lots of possibilities there.

Yep, just pry it out with your paper clip

Shut water off. Cut the tape with a utility knife. Use two wrenches to remove the valve, one to hold the valve, the other to loosen the nut on both ends of the valve. It will be tight. Two wrenches are required to keep from twisting the pipe. After you remove the valve, clean the pipe with a piece of Emory cloth, then inspect. There may be a little copper ring over the pipe, it is part of the compression fitting on the supply end. If damaged, it looks like there is room to cut about 3/4” of the pipe off with a tubing cutter. Install new valve with compression fitting. Tighten well and test by turning water back on, slowly. You can do this!

Box in the ductwork so it isn’t exposed. Build a frame around the ductwork with lumber, then screw the dry wall to the frame and finish with seam tape, exterior corner drywall bead, and spackling compound, primer and paint. Do it right, don’t hack away at a piece of drywall to fit it around the ductwork, will still look bad.

That looks like original hardwood to me. I am not certain, but typically old homes had sub-flooring run at a 45 degree angle, or no subfloor at all, like your basement due to thicker boards.

Try flexing a few prior to installing to weaken the joint and see if that helps. Also, should be hitting parallel to grout joint with mallet.

Used a similar product, which broke off below the grout line. If you bend one back and forth that hasn’t been used yet, where does it break?

I have the same valve in one of my toilets. There is a clip on the float where it attaches to the lever arm. Lower the float, and then make sure the float is not obstructed by the hose or the side of the tank as it raises. Flush the toilet after you adjust the float and see if it shuts the water off. BTW, mine seemed inconsistent with shutting off just today, so I plan to replace this valve, they do wear out or get built up with sediment. Usually only $20 +/- for replacement.