texts: How can I resolve drain issues in a home with no venting?

texts: The country house I live in was built 40+ years ago. Had septic tank replaced and a broken exit pipe repaired. Now air is trapped in the house pipes so upstairs drains into the downstairs tub and the downstairs toilet will not evacuate. Discovered there is no plumbing vent. Am thinking AAVs might help but that won't evacuate gases. Essentially I cannot use any showers, toilets or dishwasher until this is resolved. Need some suggestions.


texts: Can I add 240v 40A circuit to my breaker box to power an electric range?

texts:
This is my breaker box; I'm concerned about not having enough space to accommodate an electric range which requires 240v 40A. My box has tandem circuits, although I'm not sure if consolidating additional breakers will free up 2 slots, which is what I need.

Is it possible to extend the poles to create more slots? Panel door has cut-outs for additional breakers, but the concern is overloading the system.


texts: Water not circulating through baseboards

texts: 2 zone (1 radiant floor, 1 baseboards) hot water heating system. Radiant floor (t’d off main feed) seems to be working fine. None of the baseboard loops are hot, and the pipe was hot before the circulator pump but not. Plumber comes out today, says circulator is drawing close to double normal amperage, says the pump is shot (which seems reasonable, given that’s also where pipe gets cool). Plumber can’t get back here until Monday. I buy and install new circulator, pretty straight forward. Turn the system back on, hear the circulator running, but pipes stay super cold. Run the pump for a solid 30 minutes, at which point is start making some odd noises. Crack the seal to make sure there’s water flowing through, it’s definitely wet. However now the pipes are cold before the circulator as well, with the biggest drop in temperature now at the low water cut off probe halfway up the wall. I’m at a loss and don’t believe my plumber diagnosed this right. Help! Thanks in advance...


texts: What is this component wired into a bench grinder motor?

texts:
I'm refurbishing an old Black & Decker 6" bench grinder.  It's got a power cord, an On/Off switch, and an A/C motor. The motor doesn't energize, even with a manual start, and I'd like to check the circuit.

The motor has three wires, and there's a gizmo I don't recognize.  It could be a thermal overload protector, or it could be a starter circuit, or something else I haven't thought of.

I'm familiar with A/C motors having multiple windings for speed settings (common on fans) but this grinder doesn't have a speed control.

My questions are:

What is the black Bakelite item?
What circuit tests are appropriate to diagnose and repair?


texts: Dead outlet in basement for a cube freezer

texts:
About two months ago, I purchased an Igloo cube freezer for my basement. I plugged it into a standard 120V grounded outlet and it turned on and ran apparently normally for a three weeks before I found that the freezer had turned off and all of the food had spoiled.

I quickly realized that there was no power to the outlet. Upon inspecting my circuit breaker panel, there were no tripped breakers. I eventually got around to cutting power to the whole house - I wasn't sure what individual breaker the outlet was on - and I replaced the outlet. I noticed that the old outlet was a little beat up, with the plastic around the ground broken off. I figured that the outlet was old or had become defective over time.

Well, the freezer ran fine for about a week, and now the new outlet is dead. No response from anything else plugged into the outlet and again no individual circuit breakers are tripped. I'm at a loss as to why this has occurred. I will likely kill the power to the house again and pull the outlet, however I'm not sure what else I can do to troubleshoot. (I have a multimeter, and can try that tonight. When troubleshooting it before, I couldn't find it and plugged in an extension cord work light to test, with no result.)


texts: Bathroom Switch (Light/Fan) 3 Black Wires? GFCI?

texts:
I'm replacing my bathroom switches (2) with a timer (for the fan) and a motion sensing switch (for the light) (lutron brand, not sure if that matters) and I ran into a very weird configuration:

So the fan switch was on the left of the image and had a ground wire and 2 black wires.

1 came from the wall and 1 came from the OTHER switch. The other switch (the light switch) had 1 black wire going into the back, and then another black wire (the one with part of the middle rubber lining taken off) going into the other one (they were both on the top portion of the switch, not sure if that matters)

Both switches only had "1" side with screws (So I guess single pole)

What is going on here exactly? There IS a GCFI outlet to the left of the switchplate.....is that maybe what the other black wire is for? If so.....what do I do with them? (Also does it matter at what position they are on the switch? IE: Top or bottom) since the right side bathroom light switch had them both on the top (one screw terminal and one push back one in the top)


texts:
I live in a townhome which is a 2nd and 3rd floor unit. On the 3rd floor is a closet with a crawlspace entrance which is the attic. There are definitely mice running around in there.

I tried to setup mouse traps to catch them near the entrance, but none worked for a couple reasons. One, there is an attic vent in there, and the wind comes down into our attic pretty strong which sets off the classic mouse traps, and also flips over the flimsy glues traps. Two, I highly doubt they come close to the entrance of the crawlspace, which is the only place I can set the traps because 80% of the attic is insulation. I only ever hear them running, from the 2nd floor, in the ceiling, underneath the attic, in the back of the house. Third, it sounds like they are using my attic as a "highway," only scurrying from left to right. Never to the front of the attic.

We have 2 cats so I am not really worried about them getting into the house. I assume if they every do make it in plain view, then the cats should be ale to chase them out. But,  our cats are never hanging out in the cabinets, so I assume it is a matter of time before they find their way in. Also, I am still concerned that they could be nesting in my attic, which could mean there are hundreds up there. Gross!

I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. I can't set a trap all the way in the back of the attic. I cant set traps outside because they could be entering from someone else's house so it would be really tough for me to find the access point, nor do I think my neighbors would appreciate me setting traps with cats and kids running outside all day.

As a side note, my wife thinks I am nuts and isn't too concerned about it. She thinks they will not enter the house because of our cats.

Being the persistent man that I am, I still want them gone. What is the best way to get rid these critters? I really want them completely removed from the house, but I am not able to find a good solution. I am seriously debating buying some of that d-con poison, and chucking it all the way in the back of the crawlspace, or my last resort is to call a professional...


texts: How to insert bulb in this fluorescent socket?

texts:
I hope someone can advise me. I'm trying to insert an F40 bulb (1.5" diameter, 4' long) into the socket shown below. With every other fluorescent socket in my home, I simply orient the two bulb pins vertically, push the bulb up into the socket, and then rotate the bulb 90 degrees. But as the photo shows, I can't insert the bulb vertically, because that path is blocked. I must be missing something obvious... can anyone help me? Thank you!

David


texts:
I have 7 hardwired under cabinet puck lights which are 10 year old halogen type . All 7 or powered as 120 from one wall switch . Limited access to each light other than removing old puck and pulling down about 8" of the existing wire . Desire is to replace all with Similar in style, LED puck lights which are the 12 v . Question is can I go to the output from wall switch and simply install 120v to 12v transformer between there and the first puck light ?
If so how to you choose the right transformer ?


texts: How would I connect rigid pvc to a flexible hose for a drain

texts:
I've got two pvc drain pipes in our basement that I'd like to route to the drain. Right now they're pouring out on the floor which is not great.
The large pipe says it's a 2 inch pvc pipe (though I measured the outer diameter of the pipe and it's more like 2.5 inch) and the other pipe isn't labeled, but it's outer diameter is 1.5 inch.
I know that I should get some kind of a coupler and connect the PVC to hoses to run to the drain, and I've found some couplers and hoses, but I'm not sure what kind of coupler and hose to use for this case because there are a bunch to choose from.
Any suggestions?


texts: What is a good way to cut hard plastic so it will have a smooth finish?

texts: I want to cut a piece of plastic peg. The peg will be visible (it is on my laptop stand), so want it to have a smooth finish. I could just use a saw, but the finish will not be good. How should I go about it? I am not sure if a file will be enough to get a proper finish.


texts: How to splice new disposal power cord to old outlet wiring

texts: I just got a new disposal. It came with 2 foot 3 prong power cord. The old disposal was wired to an outlet I can't get to. The wires for the old disposal were spliced right under it. I figured I could just splice the new cord to the old one, but the old wires have black, white, and a ground whereas the new disposal has 1 green and no color for the other 2. I assume on the new cord, green is ground, but the other 2 don't have  any colored insulation. How do I know which wires from the disposal go to which wires that are connected to the switch? The 2 main  prongs are the same size and shape, does that mean hot/neutral are interchangable? Herebare the pictures:


texts: What does this device on my new furnace do?

texts: Can someone please tell me what this is? I had a 35-year old oil furnace replaced recently and the new furnace is obviously more complex and has many safety features the old one didn't. I've looked it over and understand what all the new devices do... except this one. The red plate suggests it's a fire safety device but I can't figure out why it would have an adjustable wheel.


texts: How to drill a grommet hole through a desk?

texts:
I have a wall desk that hides away 2 power outlet on the wall.

How do I drill a grommet hole that is wide enough to run cables through and cover it with plastic wire cover.

What sort of tool do I need? Can this be done with a hand held electric drill and the right drill bit?


texts: What does the latch position of a circuit breaker mean?

texts:
I bought a new home in December 2011. After some time the kitchen lights and the lights in the living room started to switch off randomly. Some days it would happen 3-4 times in a row. Other days it would only happen once.

We have had an electrician come out to our home several times to fix it. The first time he replaced the circuit breaker. I'm not sure what he did the second time, but that didn't help either. The 3rd time he cut some wires in each of the 6 kitchen ceiling light "cans". That didn't help either. Then he decided to put the kitchen lights on a different circuit than the lights in the living room. That helped. We haven't had problems with the lights going out since then - until now.

There were only 9 light bulbs on that circuit. That’s 900W at maximum. At a voltage of 125V, the load is approximately 7.2AMPS. The circuit breaker has a nominal value of 15AMPS. So it was definitely not a load issue. And it wasn't a faulty circuit breaker either. So then it must be a wiring/circuit problem. Solving such a problem requires either 1 re-wiring or 2 identifying the bad wire. The electrician did neither. He just moved the living room lights over on a different circuit. This is a quick-fix. It's not a solution to the problem. It's masking/hiding a problem. If the lights were moved back on the same circuit we would have the exact same problem.

Now the problem started happening again. This time with living room lights and the dining room lights. The living room lights were moved over on the same circuit as the dining room lights. So I guess it's the living room lights that's causing a problem?

Long story short: I have taken some pictures of the circuit breaker. As far as I know the latch position tells something about what the problem is, but I haven't been able to find information about what the different latch positions mean, so I'm hoping that somebody here can tell me.

Click on photos for full size


texts: Can't find correct size outdoor spigot handle

texts: I have ordered several faucet handles but every one has been too large, or the wrong shape (square). Home Depot and Lowe's have handles but all too large or the wrong shape. Universal Outdoor Faucet Handle - too large/wrong shape. House was built about 12 years ago. Is this faucet really that rare? I would appreciate your expert advice, this has become frustrating.


texts: I have a 14/2 (one circuit) and a 14/3 (two circuits), both Romex NM, coming into a regular steel handy box (2x4") and continuing on from there via outdoor cables (UF cable ?). Am I compliant with the NEC, considering it's three circuits and a total of 6 capped splices? It all fits in but you couldn't fit a smidge more.


texts: What could the cause of our well water coming and going.  We can use the water and it will work fine then the pressure will start to go until we have no water at all.  We wait a couple hours or so and it starts working again.  Then ocassionly the problem will continue this cycle other times it works fine after that.


texts: Can you place a support header in the ceiling?

texts:
I am opening up a pass-through in my home and, ideally, the pass-through would open up all the way to the ceiling.

It is a load bearing wall, so it will need a header. A contractor told me it is possible to put the header in the ceiling so the pass-through is open all the way to the ceiling.

This doesn't make sense to me. How would the header support the joists if it is in the ceiling? Is this actually possible?


texts: Check valve seeping around hinge nut - should I replace it?

texts:
As a part of my hot water recirculation system, I installed this brass swing check valve about a year ago on the supply side of my tankless water heater. It appears to be leaking just enough to cause corrosion around a nut on the side. One review of the valve called out removing the screw, putting thread sealant on the screw, then replacing it - I just noticed the issue and did not do this during installation.

Based on the image search I did I think the nut is for the hinge, but I'm really not sure.

The valve does slam shut rarely, particularly when my washing machine is running and quickly shuts off its hot tap.

I have two questions:

Is the corrosion bad enough that I replace the valve? Or would cleaning it up and attempting thread sealant on the screw be a better course of action?
Given its use case, and the fact it slams shut when the washing machine runs, is there a better valve for this application such as a spring-loaded check valve? Something else?


texts: How do I install a manufactured stone surround on a zero clearance fireplace?

texts: We just installed a new Napoleon NZ3000 fireplace and are prepping the area to install manufactured stone around it.  I am concerned about how to install the stone to the metal firebox.  I am not sure if I should screw cement board directly to the metal firebox or just the lath on top of it.  I would appreciate any information given.  If you need any pictures or any other information, please let me know.


texts: I have an apartment setup right now where one fuse has a fair amount of load on it.  (Fridge, Microwave, PC).  Rarely, when these are all used in conjunction, the fuse trips and I have to turn it back on (and I'm sure it's awful for these devices too!)  Would it be at all possible to put a UPS on the outlet, and then plug everything into the UPS instead?  That way when it's at a higher load, it falls back to the battery draining a little, instead of the fuse blowing?  Or is that not how a UPS works at all?  This is in the USA in case that matters for watts/voltage/whatever.


texts: What kind of conduit should I use with UF-B to reduce depth of burial?

texts:
I currently have a 50' length of 14/2 UF-B. I only need to dig a 40' trench, but I know it should be buried 24" deep. That seems like it will be a lot of work to bury it that deep. It seems like it would be a good idea to run it through some form of conduit so that I don't have to dig so deep. There's also the added benefit of being able to run a different size cable in the future. I'm not sure if there are different requirements with running UF-B through conduit, so I'd like some advice on which conduit I should use, or how I should dig this trench more easily.
I assume that the 14/2 UF-B is still the cheapest cable option. I looked into renting a trencher, but the cheapest I could find was $150 for 4 hours. since it's a 40' trench, it didn't seem worth the price if I could just use a shovel. PVC conduit is pretty cheap, but as far as I can tell, it still needs to be buried to a depth of 18". As far as I know, the only other option is IMC, which only requires a depth of 6". Looks like I can buy 10' lengths of IMC for $16 (so $64 for 40'). I don't know if there are any other options. I found 50' length of flexible PVC conduit for $35, which is cheaper, but I'm not sure how deep it needs to be buried.


texts: Where should this seal ring from a syphon go?

texts:
I'm from Europe and I do not know if you in the US have the same system concerning washing basin plumbing.
Today the water of our washing basin did not go away.
So I took my pipe wrench and opened the syphon in order to clean it.
Inside my syphon there is a plastic tube, I pulled it out and pulled all the mud out of the syphon with a tooth brush.
This was not the first time I did this. But this time I suddenly had a seal ring in my hand and I did not know where to put it.
Because I did not know (and still don't know) where to put the seal ring in the syphon I left it away and put all things together. But now the syphon leaks.
This is the only seal ring I recognized, it is a plastic, non-flat ring with a diameter of 4.5 centimeters.
Does anybody has an idea where to put this seal ring?


texts: What knots/hitches should I use to attach a log to a screw eye?

texts:
I have a log that I want to hang against the wall, creating a small shelf. I'm attaching the logs to two iron screw eyes using 1/4" hemp rope, for a rustic look. Here's a diagram:

The screw eyes don't have a closed loop; they're open-ended like a hook. The log itself is very lightweight, and I don't plan on storing anything heavy on the log itself. The two candidate logs have several flat edges, they're not perfectly circular (see pictures below).

What knots/hitches should I use to attach the rope to the log and screw eye? My main goals would be to have a secure hold on the log. Beyond that, having an aesthetically pleasing hitch would be nice, too.

Initial googling pointed to a timber hitch to attach the log to the rope, but I also read that it's only secure under load, and comes easily undone (it's designed for dragging timber along the ground, I think).

Here are images of the two candidate logs (I'll only use one, unless I do this project twice):


texts: Distributed expansion gaps in solid hardwood flooring

texts:
I am planning to install prefinished solid 3 1/4" wide by 3/4" thick ash hardwood in my home using 2" cleats. I live in Canada, so the average indoor humidity difference between winter and summer is quite high, maybe 50%. I don't use air-con in the summer. It is early December now, so I expect each board to expand in width by approximately .01" between now and summer.

Is there any reason why I should not put small gaps of .01" between each board (using a removable shim) as I nail them down? I still plan to leave a 1/2" gap around the entire room, just in case.

I ask this because I don't understand how a tightly-fitted floor is supposed to expand at all. What happens to the nails  around the periphery if the whole floor moves by a good fraction of an inch? Are they simply ripped or bent out of place? By 1/2 an inch?? Or does the 45 degree angle of the nails force each board (and progressively the whole floor) to rise up by the same amount as the expansion? And when they shrink back down what pulls them back into place? People walking on the floor?

In removing my old maple floors I saw no such evidence of major movement. So I ask, quite literally, what gives?


texts: Does this washing machine drum look good?

texts:
I'm trying to find the source of a bad leak on my washing machine. i have no experience with those.

I tuned it on it's side hopping that it would be a pump hose loose. as it leaks during rinsing, and letting water out by the 'bleeder hose'(?) causes less water to leak underneath... but by looking on the hoses going to the pump, nothing appears odd. all hoses appear new and clips are perfectly in place.

but i found two other things that may be the culprit. the seams on the drum, and a weird looking 'cement' on the front of the drum underside.

here is an overview picture.
(sorry can't attach the pictures here as they are too big and i can't edit right now. also i think bigger pics can help see the detail in this case)

overview from underneath

for this picture, imagine the machine laid down on it's left. so the back is on the left of the image, and the front is on the right.

and here is a zoom on the underside of the drum

Does that looks normal? is that just so that the seam is tight? or is the plastic giving away already?

the other thing that i found strange was the cement like rectangle on the right... underneath drum, front. you can see where it is on the overview pic on the right, where the yellow cable disappear.

this is under the recessed part where the front loading door seal goes in. it seems like there was a hole there, and it was sealed with epoxy or something.

does any of those things look bad?


texts: How to repair broken grout in shower tile?

texts:
Just moved into this house a few months ago, and noticed the stub wall in the shower that holds the controls has cracked grout.

I'm guessing that somehow water got in behind the tiles and started to swell the supporting studs, which blew out all of the grout in the area.

What should I do to fix this?

You can see the tile is separating perpendicular to its surface.

Here too.


texts: Properly grounding equipment with a ground screw

texts:
I have an NVR that has a power brick and a separate ground screw. What is the "Right way" (read: safest way) to connect this to ground? I've thought of a couple ways to do it.

My 4 options are:

Leave it unconnected. This seems like a bad idea, since several cameras are outside and I want to have at least some protection against ESD.
"Run a line" off the outlet. Either splice in an extra wire that sticks out of the outlet cover (Seems like a terrible idea), use the screw in the center of the outlet, or get some sort of special outlet with an extra screw.

Use an ESD plug

Use some sort of ground only plug.


texts: Installing Nest Thermostat. C Wire not hooked up inside furnace

texts:
Good morning. I am looking to hook up a Nest 3rd Gen thermostat that I purchased. I noticed I had a C wire upon pulling the old thermostat. Problem is it is not connected inside of the furnace. I have a Goodman 60k furnance. Model-gmpn060-3 . I originally connected without the C wire and had cycling issues and immediately removed it. Looking for help. Thanks

Here are a few photos i took. Just need to know where to hook the blue wire up inside of the furnace. Also as you can see the blue wire coming out of the brown sleeve is not hooked to anything inside of the furnace

Theres also some wires hooked up outside of my furnace on the side of it


texts: Can a standard outlet be protected by a GFCI outlet?

texts:
Kitchen sink:
on one side is a Gfi outlet, the other has a non gfi outlet. Both are wet areas, but through some kind of technical wiring, both outlets are protected by the single GFI unit and therefor meet code. Possible/true?

Guest bath and Master bath:
Guest bath has GFI outlet next to sink, Master bath has non gfi outlet next to its sink. Again,both outlets are protected by the single GFI unit and therefor meet code. Possible/true?


texts: Mould on the inside of a bitumen corrugated sheet

texts:
Attached to the end of our house is a small shed. It has four (newly built) brick walls and a bitumen corrugated sheet roof. The shed was finished about eight months ago and is fairly waterproof. However, in the last few months we've noticed, what I presume, is mould on the inside of the roof. Although it appears dry to touch, all our belongings are covered in drops of brown liquid (from the roof).

Could the mould be caused by a lack of ventilation or is there another plausible reason? BTW, I'm calling it mould for lack of a better term.

Response to the comments

I don't think it's tar (surely tar would be black?) Also, we've had this type of shed roof before (the old shed collapsed last year due to a burst water main), and this is just a replacement. Admittedly, the brick work is far superior in this shed.

Some pictures

The first picture is of the inside of the roof. All the roof is now like this. When new, it was black.
The second picture shows some of the brown drops of liquid on a box.


texts: Is it safe to use pressure-treated wood for a workbench in my shed?

texts:
I have some leftover PT wood from building a platform for my shed.  I'd like to use it to build a frame for a worktable that I can place inside that shed.

It will stay dry in the shed, but the shed has poor ventilation (it's basically a gigantic Rubbermaid container) and can get quite hot in the summer sun.

I plan to build the top of the table with some leftover resin/sawdust planking, so I am not worried about direct contact with the PT wood.  Should I be concerned about outgassing of noxious fumes in my stuffy shed?


texts:
My keys might have been compromised.
My options are :
1. Buy a Kwikset rekeying set and rekey all the locks (something I've never done before but there are enough Youtube videos that I can figure it out)
2. Replace all the locks with the Kwikset Smartkey locks and deadlocks so that in the future rekeying will be a 5 minute exercise.

Any thoughts on pros/cons of each approach?

Thanks
V


texts: Can I put a junction box in the ceiling accessible by removing a bath fan

texts: Can I put a junction box in the ceiling which is only accessible by removing the bathroom fan. My existing fan has conduit from the switch coming in on the top and then conduit on the side going to the shower light. I have not been able to find a replacement fan that has two knock outs so I can connect both pieces of conduit. My thought is to connect the two with a junction box and then connect the fan to the junction box with FMC. The junction box would be accessible by removing the fan which would be held in place with two screws. I have a feeling this is not allowed, if  so what other options do I have.


texts:
First off, this may or may not be legal, but seeing as this is in my own place of residence and it's bothering me a lot, I figured I'd ask.

I live in an apartment complex near my college. I have 2 smoke detectors in the living room/kitchen area and 1 in each of the 3 bedrooms.

In addition, there is a Simplex TrueAlert horn/strobe device on the living room wall. It is one of the loudest alarms I have ever heard, and it is completely unnecessary considering the smoke detectors are plenty loud on their own.

I have bad anxiety when it comes to anticipation of loud, unexpected noises and it's at the point where I'm not completely relaxed when I'm sitting in my own apartment living room anymore, because it could go off literally any time and the noise is god awful.

here's a picture of the alarm on the wall for reference:

Anyways I was wondering if there's anything I can put over the speaker grille to muffle the noise a little bit. My living room is pretty small so the noise has nowhere to go and is awfully loud.


texts: I have a leak close to the water shut off under the bathroom vanity. I am trying to replace the pipe leaking but there is still some water dripping out of the line and cannot stop it. Piece of bread didn't work, it will not hold enough time for me to make the repair. Would I have to actually drain the hot water tank. That would be a thought I had but is it necessary?


texts: How can I insulate a house that is brick outside with nothing between the brick and the inside wall without enough space to put insulation between the two walls.


texts: Is there an online way to check my appliance power usage?

texts: I'm considering replacing my old appliances (refrigerator, washer & dryer) with a more efficient model.  Is there a website or simple method to look up their measured power usage ?


texts: Unwanted grounding from metal screws in metal boxes

texts: In the winter I repeatedly get intense static discharge shocks from the faceplate screws in my basement light switch panels (which are grounded metal boxes, unlike the plastic ones used in non-basement locations). Is there any good reason not to replace the screws holding the faceplates on with non-conductive ones? Are matching (size and thread) plastic screws available? Or is there some other clever solution to the problem that's not ugly or dangerous?


texts: multi tester showing 10 volts on in active wire

texts:
I have a line into a junction box and 14-3 going out to switch. tester shows 0 volts between ground and neutral on line in, however when I connect hot only at junction box I show 10 volts on all other wires including the ground.

Unsure why this would be, I completed all the connection and put the switches and light on and everything works but I still show 10 volts on the inactive wire at the 3-way switch. As I said it all works but I'm still not comfortable  with this and unsure why 10 volts is showing up


texts: Need advise about fixing/replacing shed fuse box

texts:
I have an old house with a detached shed and a damaged fuse box I'm planning on replacing.  There are 3 wires going to the shed and a metal water line between the shed.  I'm planning on replacing the shed fuse box with a breaker panel as a couple of the fuse sockets are damaged.
Can I use the 3 wire feed just as the hot and neutral connections and the water pipe as the ground via grounding clamps connecting the pipe to the ground terminals in the breaker boxes? Will I also need to install ground rods at the shed?  The pipes are within 5ft of the panels in each location.
I picture something like this:

Update: Added images:
Image of the wire coming from underground to the main panel:

It goes to this junction box, where the it is connected to the wires going to the breaker:

The wire coming in is 6 AWG USE AL:

The wire from the junction box to the main breaker panel is NM 6-2 W/G CU:


texts: rewire ventilation fan to use pull chain instead of wall switch

texts: I'm converting part of an unfinished space to make a darkroom. I'm installing a bathroom ventilation fan over the sink but there is no convenient place to install a switch for the fan. I purchased a pull-chain switch and would like to install this in the ceiling next to the fan, as a pull-chain dangling above the sink would be a far more convenient way to turn the fan on and off. I'm just not sure if this will be safe electrically. Are there any issues I need to consider?


texts:
I am running cabling through my crawlspace roughly 40 feet.  I have the holes drilled, and am leaving about 25 feet extra looped off for contingency.  I am planning to attach the cabling to the joists to properly secure them, but not sure what the best option would be.  I know that a lot of the time, screw down clamps are used, however I feel that would be quite difficult in the tight space that I am in.

What other "safe" alternatives are there to properly secure the cabling to the floor joist in the crawl space?


texts:
We are wanting to put in sconce lighting in our bedroom. The junction box would be about 16 inches form our water shut off valves and bleed valves. Is there any issues about putting the lights in this proximity of the water valves?

The light will be install on the right side of the wall, which is over the bed.


texts:
I am trying to replace a toilet pull cord switch.

Wiring seems unusual in the sense that there are:

2x brown wires
1x brown wire that is live and by itself
1x yellow/green earth
no blue wires

Those are split over to separate cable sheathes.

Connected to the old pull cord switch was:
- mirror light
- roof light
- extraction fan

Not sure about the whole setup, this new build was sold like (this is in the UK bu the way) that so I'm guessing some cowboys run out of proper cables and just used whatever was around or I'm missing something important about how wiring is meant to be done, maybe especially in the toilet?

Mainly I do not know what to do about not marked neutral wire, right now I am thinking of joining live with live and neutral with those other two brown wires that are not live.


texts: Can a 120v pool timer be used on a two-wire 240v circuit?

texts:
I am replacing an Intermatic mechanical T104 single circuit timer with a new Intermatic P1353ME unit that can control 3 individual equipment items in addition to the timer clock.

Each of the three circuits can control either 120v or 240v equipment items independent of the timer power source. Can this timer be used with existing 240V, 20 amp, 2 wire plus ground power feed from the panel?

I plan to use this 20 amp circuit to power three equipment items at 240v.  Total load is below the 80% load for the 20 amp circuit.

With an existing 2 wire dedicated 240v circuit, what leg is considered "Line" and what leg is considered "Load"?


texts: bath faucet is hot but shower head always turns cold

texts: My shower has a single lever that turns from right (cold) to left (hot). When the lower bath faucet runs the water comes out hot. But the upper showerhead never heats up. If I run the lower faucet until the water is hot and then pull the tab so water comes through the showerhead, it comes out hot. But after a few minutes starts turning cold again! Im at my wits end! what could cause this and how do I fix it?


texts: Remove garbage disposal piece in bottom of sink

texts:
I am replacing a new sink in my kitchen and this piece is from the garbage disposal

Do I just break the glue / putty free and pull it out?


texts: Circuit troubleshooting. Need input on discovery

texts:
Using an extension cord (like new, great condition), I checked a disconnected circuit attached to the same service.

First, I checked the disconnected circuit:

Hot -> Ground ~0V
Hot -> Neutral ~0V
Neutral -> Ground ~0V

All is good...

Then, using an extension cord ran from an isolated (only box on circuit - identified hereafter by (1)), I checked again:

Hot(1) -> Ground(2) ~120V
Hot(1) -> Neutral(2) ~120V
Hot(1) -> Hot(2) ~120V (I don't think this is acceptable)

Can someone explain this to me?

Okay, so based on Johnny's answer, I went and checked a few circuits nearby.  Apparently, I have a lot more work to do on this.  There is a third circuit involved now.

To recap

Circuit 1: Extension cord from a single duplex immediately terminated at the panel.

Circuit 2: Remote circuit with an exterior load.  Supposedly on its own circuit (per the electrician that just upgraded service and load center).  This circuit did operate when engaging the breaker and disengaging the same breaker terminated the load.

Circuit 3: Adjacent to Circuit 2 (well, near proximity) with a small load on a timer (as suggested by Johnny).  Disengaging this circuit breaker did previously perform as expected.  Engaging the breaker did reconnect service to the load and timer(as expected), however, did not supply service to the load on Circuit 2.

After reading Johnny's answer, I went and disconnected this timer and load from Circuit 3.  Checking Circuit 2 again gave me the following:

Hot(1) -> Hot(2) ~0
Hot(1) -> Neutral(2) ~0
Hot(1) -> Ground(2) ~0

Neutral(1) -> Hot(2) ~0
Neutral(1) -> Neutral(2) ~0
Neutral(1) -> Ground(2) ~0

Still confused.

Also, not sure exactly how this was missed by the electrician, but I digress.


texts:
I have an older model Frigidaire stove infinite switch is unplugged, the infinite switch has 4 prongs 3 on one side 2 on the other I need to know where the power negative and ground wires go and where the stove element negative and positive plugs in on the infinite switch.

I have searched everywhere and  I cannot find out where the wires go to an infinite switch I can just find out how to test it.


texts: I need a new shingle roof, does the 12/2 minimum pitch still apply if I use peel-n-stick?

texts: Does the 12/2 minimum pitch rule for shingles still apply if peel-n-stick is first applied to the roof deck? Why would I have to put down a membrane on 12/1 pitch above the porch, instead of shingles, if there is peel-n-stick? And then can't I just install the shingles right over the peel-n-stick? I just want the whole roof to look the same. I live in FL.


texts: Hello i have a problem when it rains the dirt and rocks stay wet and the foundation of the house is starting to leak. Does anyone know how to properly fix this and what exactly do i need to do? Here are some photos of what is going on


texts: Can I install 6' 6x6 fence posts onto a cement driveway?

texts:
We would like to install a 6' privacy fence with 6x6 cedar posts, between our house and driveway, that would involve 3 posts on top of our cement driveway and 1 in the ground.  My intention was to hire someone with a core drill to dig 3' holes for footings, and pour cement into 10" tubes, but I am now wondering if it is "ok" to just install the footings directly on top of the driveway.

I have not checked the depth of the cement yet, so is there a recommended driveway depth for this sort of thing, if I can install directly into the existing cement?  Or should I go ahead and get 12" holes taken out with a core drill and create 3" deep footings?

Also, is this a proper post anchor to use? It is the only type they had at our store.

[self-removed image]


texts: Replace stacked 3-way switched on separate panel circuit

texts:
I have a stacked (dual) 3-way switch controlling lighting in my home.  The lights are on separate panel circuits, one for the foyer and one for the 2nd floor.  The switch that is in the box (2-gang, no room to expand) has completely separate control terminals (hot, traveler, common and ground) for each switch, so 2 sets of 4.

I'm replacing the controls in that box and the surrounding area with decora switches, but I can't find any stacked 3-way switches that don't share at least a portion of those terminals.  Obviously I'm ok with sharing the ground, but the common and hot have to be separate terminals or I'll be merging two circuits on the panel and that is capital-B Bad.

Does anyone have any advice for me on how to find what I'm looking for, or how to do what I want?

thanks


texts:
I'm kind of embarrassed to ask, but I'm looking for a good how-to guide for finishing pine furniture. (Could also apply to baseboards and trim, so I'm hoping for an on-topic pass here.) I watched my dad do this dozens of time when I was a kid, but I never really paid that close attention.

Specific questions I have are:

I'm planning on using a random orbital sander for prepping the unfinished wood. Do I need to worry about grain direction?
What's the best method for applying the stain? A rag, brush, or sponge?
What grit of sandpaper should I use between coats of polyurethane? Is 180 high enough?

I found this article which outlines a general how-to. Does anyone see mistakes or improvements on it? Any other hints/tips/tricks would be appreciated as well.

Update:

Here's the finished product! I finally got around to taking pictures of it. Thanks for all the advice guys - it turned out really well. I used a Minwax wood conditioner first, then a gel stain and then three coats of high-gloss poly, lightly sanding with 220 grit after the first and second coats.


texts: Single 14/3 wire for 2 independent switches

texts:
I have 2 switches in the same box and each switch controls a single light independently. I want to replace each switch with a dimmer. Each dimmer will control 4 LEDs. However, the only available wire set in the box is a 14/3.

If I use the exact same wiring, would it work with my dimmers?
I don't understand why I don't read 120V on my wires. On the left switch, I read 65V between the 2 wires and on the right switch I read 70V. I read 0V on both when the lights are turned on.

Circuit is 120V 60Hz on a 15A breaker.

Location: Québec, Canada

Edit following Scott's answer: here's a picture of the wiring:


texts: Is there an easy way to track where switches go/do?

texts:
My Aunt's house is a Frankenstein's Monster. Her late Husband made a number of unique wiring modifications.
previous post about the her house: Question on toilet mounting; No visible bolts?

1st, There are hidden switches all over the house. many of the switches we have no clue to what they do (over 20).

I suspect there is some sort of puzzle/code to the workings of the switches. Flip certain switches and things happen- Lighting in 3rd bathroom goes on after 3 years of no power/bypassing the light switch in the room, 4 Big 28" x 7' inwall Metal storage cabinets unlocking & open,then the locking mechanisms locked again unable to close, in the Mud/Wash room the metal mirror slipped down in to the wall to revealing new 2 switches, some switches in the master bedroom are now glowing green.

2nd, There is multiple cross-wired corruption, breakers that are off are getting juice from else where?

                  ~               ~               ~

What happened was her 4 Grand Kids went on a hunt for switches and I suspect pressed them all as they found them.


texts: 4-way switch - common wires are not normal

texts:
I am not an electrician and I have read all I can about 4-way switches/circuts. I am trying to replace a 4 way switch + 2 three way switches with zwave. I have done other 3-way installations (with only two switches) but this has me stumped. Once I can determine where is line and load, I can do the rest on my own.

As I understand, one of the 3-way should have a constant line from the breaker and the other 3-way should have the load going to the light. I have a Voltage Tester (not multimeter).

Here is the problem -

When the light is on, I cannot detect any voltage on any of the three
terminals of the 3-way switches. Two of the 4-way switch terminals
have voltage.
When the light is off, 1-2 terminals of the 3-way switches have voltage.
I haven't run all the permutations but it is very weird and not following anything I am reading online.

What the hell? :) The way I have been testing other 3-way circuits is that the terminal that always has the voltage whether the light is on or off is my line from the circuit breaker. The terminal that only has voltage when the light is on is my load to the light. The other two are travelers. I was hopping to apply this concept to my 4-way circuit (at least to the ends of the circuit, I know the middle has 2 pair of travelers) but it's not following the laws of physics :) All 3 switches work - I can open and close the light from any switch.

It is supposed to work like this

My 4-way switch

My first 3-way switch showing no voltage when the light is on

My second 3-way switch showing no voltage when the light is on

I would really appreciate any pointers in the right direction!!


texts: How to install floor baseboard on drywall frame with metal studs?

texts:
So, I can't use a nailer, and I would rather avoid screwing it and having to patch holes later (the baseboard comes prefinished).

Can I just apply a few strips of silicone on the back of the trim, and hold it against the wall for a few seconds until it sticks? I could use some double sided tape every 40cm (16 inches) or so to hold it firmly while the silicone sets.

If the silicone does work, does it have a risk of warpage? If so, what would happen? Would the board (18mm thick) be strong enough to damage the drywall?

Also, do I have to caulk between the baseboard and the wall and the baseboard and the floor? What should I use for that? Clear silicone works?


texts: Is it normal for coax cable to carry this much voltage?

texts:
I recently had a problem with my internet going out (cable). I went a few hours later to check if anything was loose on the box on top of the breaker panel. I opened it up and noticed cable coming from the street pole had melted at the point where it connects to the splitter, and it was really hot to the touch. I called my cable company and they were going to come out the next day so I disconnected the cable from the splitter and it seemed to cool down.

I decided to do some research online to see what was going on. I ended up finding problems with open neutral and decided to check the readings with a multi meter. I ended up seeing that from neutral to ground (used the metal fence pole next to circuit breaker) and it measured around 1.6 volts. Is that normal?

Also the ground on the splitter, which connects to the circuit breaker pole to the fence pole measured the same (1.6 volts). The cable tech came the next day and checked on the wire from the pole and said it had shocked him when he disconnected it and believed that it was probably hit from lightening a few days back during a storm. He changed out the splitter and fixed the melted part of the wire and it hasn't warmed up at all since, but it still measured the 1.6 volts.

I'm honestly just trying to make sure that 1.6 volts is nothing I should worry about.

UPDATE: So i went through the house checking all the receptacles and i found one that is hardly ever used that had 110 volts going from neutral to hot and around 8 volts from neutral to ground so i removed the receptacle and tested the volts afterwards and had 0.3 volts from neutral to ground and around 120 from neutral to hot so ended up putting wire nuts on the neutral and hot and put a blank plate i had laying around over it. the coax cable and neutrals at the breaker panel are now only showing 0.1 or 0.0 volts when tested i will check again tomorrow after i get home from work just to be safe :)


texts:
I've posted in a few places about this but there is a smell in just one of the rooms of an apartment I moved into that has not aired out in several months. I believe it's a kind of chalky, almost like there is powder in the air. I've had the fan blowing everyday and when I get home and I open the window when I get back from work as well to blow fresh air in. The smell dissipates but when I close the door for 30-60 minutes, the smell is back as strong as ever. I've also tried mopping (with fabuloso) every nook and cranny including the ceiling, closet, walls, everywhere but 2 days afterwards when the fabuloso scent is gone, the chalky smell is still there.

Here are pictures of the room http://imgur.com/a/5FQ8J

I've asked on reddit.

The super thought the smell might be shellac.

The super and landlord aren't sure what it could be. I'm not sure what to do now or where to go from here.


texts:
For a little while now we've been hearing at random a loud sucking noise coming from out kitchen sink. This sink is a 1.5 bowl with a washing machine attached.

The noise happens at random and appears to be when the downstairs neighbors are in and is nothing to do with our appliances or the sink itself. After some looking I could see the sink trap and the surrounding pipes had no air admittance valve, so I have fitted a p-trap with a air valve on it hoping this would prevent the vacuum which appears to be coming from the soil stack from reaching the water in the p-trap. The fitted trap can be seen below

Technical drawing here http://mcalpineplumbing.com/sites/default/files/uploads/drawings/SA10V.pdf

This appears to haven failed as last night during the nightly washing up the sink started making that noise. I was draining no water at the time. I use a spoon handle to press the air valve up and a lot of stinky air came rushing out.

We are in a 20 year old top floor apartment which is using Durgo/Air Admittance Valve on the soil stacks as these cannot be seen from the roof. To me it sounds like the AAV is failing on that soil stack and the pressure from the neighbors is causing the noise. It appears to be strong enough to skip the valve on the p-trap completely and suck the air through the p-trap water.

I wonder if this sounded right to anyone.


texts: Frost Free Silcock - At Grade - Problem in Winter?

texts:
I'm installing a frost free silcock which will be pretty much at grade (I might even have to dig a little under it for the hose attachment!). I pretty much expect this to be covered in snow all winter, but don't really think that will be an issue, but I'm looking for feedback. I live in Yukon, Canada FYI.

I will of course disconnect the hose and make sure the silcock is drained. I'm debating in if winter I will bother draining the pipes as the silcock is 18" and my pipes will likely have insulation/heat tape and I have a heater in my crawl-space (overkill, but it gets -40 where I live sometimes, but not usually for more then a few days!).


texts: How I can remove this Ingersoll window bolt?

texts: I have a small window with security bolts which have become rusted and unusable. However, I can't see how to remove them without forcing them off and damaging the wood. Anyone seen these types before and / or know how to remove properly? I scratched away some paint and can see the make 'Ingersoll security'.


texts: Wiring 100-amp sub-panel for 1hp pool pump and heater

texts:
The project is to wire a 125-amp sub-panel from the main, approx. 50 feet away to serve a 220v in-ground 1hp pool pump, heat pump, and 120v LED pool light.

Wondering if the following plan will suffice;

Exit the main panel with a 2 pole 220-volt, 125-amp breaker.
Run 50-feet of #2 aluminum triplex, and #8 insulated ground to the sub-panel location.
Install 125-amp main breaker in sub-panel.
Install 60-amp 2 pole, 220v GFI breaker serving pool pump; #6 wire.
Install 40-amp 2 pole, 220v GFI breaker serving heat pump; #8 wire.
Install 15-amp breaker serving GFI protected 120v for LED pool light; #12 wire.

Specific questions;

Can I direct bury the wire, and then enclose in PVC conduit where it goes above ground to enter the panels?
Will the #2 aluminum triplex, with a #8 insulated ground suffice?
Confirming that in the sub-panel, I DO NOT need to bond the neutral and equipment ground.
Is there likely a better way of going about this?

Update
The following is the proposed wiring:


texts:
We're in the process of purchasing a home that is missing GFCI outlets in the garage, and the inspector recommended replacing those.

My first question: if we don't intend on actually using the outlets in the garage, is there any reason to do this? Is there any power surge or whatever that could cause a fire when there's nothing plugged in, or is it only when they're actively being used?

My second question: it seems easy enough, from the DIY videos, to do it ourselves, but we have no electrical experience and, well, I'm really scared of house fires and such. Is it really as easy as it looks to not screw it up? Is it pretty safe?


texts: Can i use normal extension cord for a Surge Protector

texts:
As stated in the above pic, is this OK for a connection?

Now, i don't know much about electrical and stuff. I was worried that the normal extension cord in the middle might trip off, worse heats up and burn?

The surge protector is rated @ 2500w while the fan is about 65w.

Also i did the diagram above due to the actual (real) scenario i got where i was  constricted to use only 1 socket on from the wall and can't directly connect the fan to the surge protector due to the distance from the fan to the surge protector.

Also, i could directly connect the surge protector to the wall socket however, i can't use the fan while the surge protector is plugged (note: i can only use 1 socket from the wall)

Thanks for the inputs


texts:
As can be seen by the first image( switch wiring ) , 4 black wires are connected to 1 terminal, and 3 red wires are connected to the other terminal , there is also a unconnected copper wire ( I am assuming that this is the earth )

the light was working until recently and now even after changing to several working bulbs it does not work , i have checked at the bulb using a voltage probe that its not getting any voltage.

I have a couple of questions

the switch should switch the live line right ? , so there is no neutral at the switch ?
why would someone connect multiple live wires at the switch, this would mean that the switch connected more than one bulb/appliance ? , but it only used to switch one light in the room

given that there is a minor hole ( visible in the picture )in the black cable ( assuming its the live wire), is it possible that it shorted with the earth ? , i have checked the breakers but they seem fine but noticed that the breakers are really really old wire fuse type ones.
is it possible that the switch is fried ? , since there is power at the switch but not at the light ?

BTW i am located in Brisbane, Australia


texts: How to install a large mirror on drywall?

texts:
I need to reattach(*) a large, flat, frameless mirror (about 8'x6') to drywall, and a few long/thin beveled mirror pieces around it as a "frame".

Two questions:

What adhesive should I use? Epoxy glue? Liquid Nail?
How to hold the mirrors in place while the glue is setting? (If the glue sets in a short time, say 10 minutes, then I guess I can simply lean on it while playing Angry Birds.)

* If you're curious why I said "re"attach, it's because the mirrors were there originally, and I removed them to open a small doorway on the wall. I was able to simply ply the mirrors off.


texts: Can installers inside mount thick insulating cellular shades over our uneven, decorative trim?

texts:
We have a 1924 craftsman home with 8 original double hung windows still intact:

We want to preserve them, but they're crap when it comes to insulation so we're going to purchase double cell cellular blackout shades, which are pretty thick.

My question is, can they be fully inside mounted (flush with the exterior) over our decorative interior trim.  We don't want to pay installers to come measure and everything, only to find that they can't or won't install this way over our windows, but that perhaps other installers can or will install this way.

I've only been able to communicate with sales people, and their answers so far have been that we should mount them on the exterior or that they won't be flush.  But there must be a work around that installers have?  or at least something we can do to prepare the windows for the install so that it will work.


texts: Will this ceiling fan box replacement work in old work hole?

texts:
I have had a hanging light fixture in the middle of the living room which I now want to replace with a ceiling fan+light. Nothing huge and fancy... but a hunter nonetheless.

The old pan box was, old (complete with knob & tube which I will not be re-using):

It was stuck in this hole in the ceiling (screwed to an old oak board that is jambed tight between joists):

So my question is... will this box work:

Is it valid? If I bolt it to the old oak board using 4 hex screws (probably number 10s)?

With the oak board in the ceiling how it is, I don't really have room to use one of those hefty giant metal-bar contraptions.


texts: What could be eating or removing the insulation in my garage door?

texts: We have noticed that there are piles of the tiny particles of the insulation from one of our garage doors on each side of our door. At first we swept it up and didn't think anything of it. The next day there were piles again! It just keeps happening. Any idea what might be inside of the door eating the insulation or just moving around inside of it to have it pile up on the floor? So strange.


texts: White Mortar-like material oozing out of Chimney's brickwork (pictured)

texts:
We do have a masonry expert coming to evaluate the nature of the pictured problem, but I thought I'd pose the question here to get some information and possibly, a second opinion.

There is some white mortar-like material oozing out of the joints of our brick chimney. What is the cause of this?

Thanks for looking.


texts: Replacing the wiring to a socket in a home?

texts: In my home, in one bedroom circuit, there are several receptacles.  After first two receptacles, next socket has no power.  After significant effort, it has been determined that the sockets are fine, connections are okay, but one wire coming from attic via the wall is broken.  However, I do have a 100% confirmation.  Questions:  (1) How can I be 100% sure of this diagnosis. (2) Assuming that my diagnosis is correct, how to replace existing discontinuous (broken) wire with a new one through the wall.  Earlier answers did not answer either of these questions.  M.S.


texts: How do I fix a dishwasher leak and repair damage to surrounding cabinets?

texts: I have a Whirlpool dishwasher bought in 2005 that evidently leaks steam from the side and has caused mold to build up on the cabinet door that is next to it.  What could cause this to happen and how do we fix it?  This is a rental property so I am not sure how long this has been happening and do not have the manual that came with the dishwasher.  The tenants were not very clean people and have left a mess in the house, and took all the manuals.  Of course, they never let us know this happened.  The cabinets, also new in 2005 and bought at Lowes,  have the painted covers to start popping off.  If you have an idea how that can be fixed or if they can be painted, that would be helpful too.


texts: What are the differences between these two receptacles?

texts:
Residential duplex outlets come in a variety of styles.
The two most common seem to be:

 and

Does it matter? Is the difference purely aesthetics, or is there any technical difference?


texts: Two sided reinforced "clamp" for creating a hole in screen

texts:
I have a pool with a large screened in enclosure. What I want to do, is create a small hole in one of the screens (toward or even flush with the bottom of the screen) where I can pass a hose or something through. Does there exist a product where I can attach a large surface area "clamp" of sorts (maybe one screws into the other) that will keep the tension in the screen, and then I can cut my hole in the middle of the flat clamps to pass a hose through?
I can imagine what I'm trying to accomplish, but was hoping there was some product out there already. I would expect the flat "clamps" to be about 4 square inches or more, with a hole in the middle -- and I would  cut the hole after the clamps are fastened to each other.


texts: What do I need to replace 4 light switches on the same circuit?

texts:
So we have a single light in our living room that can be turned on/off from four different switches at various entrances to the living room.

We're currently replacing all the switches in our house as we update things and I'm wondering exactly what type of switches I need to buy.

4-way? 3-way? Do they make a 5-way? I've replaces dozens of 1 and 2-way switches in the house already, but want to make sure I buy the right switches here.


texts: Landscape Lighting Wiring: Looping vs Straight

texts:
Context

I'm looking to install some low voltage (12v) landscape lighting in front of my house. I had helped a friend in the past install some in their front yard using the straight method. However, I was reading through the manual that accompanied my transformer. It mentions two wiring methods: Straight and Looping. The manual isn't descriptive (with poorly drawn pictures). It seems that the difference between the two is that the looping method prevents voltage drop, but requires more wire.

Before stumbling upon the looping method, I was thinking that I would do the straight method in two directions from the transformer (denoted by T). I would take one cable to the left and one to the right to avoid daisy chaining them all together wasting additional cable. After reading the manual, I'm thinking of doing the looping method with 2 loops for each side respectively. I'm having my landscaping re-done professionally which gives me an optimal time to put the wiring in - so I would rather get this right while everything's tore up.

Question

Are there any other advantages, disadvantages, or gotchas between the running the wire as a loop vs straight? Should I be running two wires to the left and right respectively? Any recommendation on what I should be doing?

Reference

I'm using a 12v 120W Transformer all with 11 - 7W LED lights and 2 - 9W lights. I'm planning to use 12g wire landscaping wire. The image isn't drawn to scale, but I did put some labels of the approximate distances. The grey lines are my edgers. The yellow stars are the lights.

transformer manual for reference


texts:
I am faced with the possibility of replacing my well.  I'm hoping to not have to run a new buried power line from the house.  Can a buried cable be spliced?  If not, then a new well has to be located along the powerline to the house.  If so, how is it done?

(My thinking is that if the well is closer to the house, I only have to dig up from the old well enough cable to rebury it to route to the new well.  If I can't splice, then I have to put in a new power line from the new well all the way to the house, a distance of about 200 feet, plus weaving about a bunch of trees.)

A similar question was asked here: 120VAC buried splice
but received no answers.


texts: What kind of paint should be used on an outdoor concrete walkway?

texts:
I have an outdoor walkway that was freshly painted just before I bought my house two years ago. Two winters have worn down the paint and now it needs another coat or the exposed concrete will crumble.

I have two goals with re-painting the walkway.

Protect the concrete (this is a must)
Add a non-slip texture (this is not necessary, but would be nice to
have)

To these ends, what type of paint should I use that is not slippery in cold, wet winter weather?

For point 2, is it possible to mix in gritty sand without compromising the paint? Or should I paint the walkway with some 'concrete safe' paint, then add a non-slip layer on top?

The walkway will need to be shoveled, will adding a layer of non-slip grit make the paint more prone to chipping?


texts: How to extend a power outlet from an existing outdoor light

texts:
There is an outdoor light owned by HOA, located outside of the door of my apartment unit. And I'd like to install a security camera near the light. There is no outlet there, and How can I extend an outlet from the existing light?

Thanks for any suggestion!


texts: Are there any health concerns with using copper green wood preservative indoors?

texts:
So we had a roof leak and water was slowly dripping through the exterior wall and drywall. It had been going on for years, but until recently it became noticeably during a heavy rainfall when the water dripped through the drywall.

So my contractor came out and fixed the roof leak and replaced the drywall and insulation. However underneath the drywall my contractor used Copper Green Wood Preservative (contains 10% copper naphthalene), as he claimed would help maintain the wood since it had been getting wet for years.

When he sprayed the Wood Preservative there was a noticeable strong odor, which he said would go away. It has been a three days since he sprayed the internal wall with Wood Preservative.

I researched online that this product is supposed to be only used for exterior use only. Is there any way I can mitigate this issue.

I am thinking about calling my contractor back and having the dry wall removed and re-installing a new one with painting an odor remover primer behind the drywall and adding HVAC tape.

Let me know if it is worth the extra money I put into this? Also just curious if I leave it as it is, is there any concerns I should have like side effects on health issues for using this product indoors?


texts: Use metal studs to frame for drywall around brick fireplace

texts:
This is my fireplace stripped to bare minimum and I asked a question on how to cover with drywall in this Frame drywall around brick fireplace

However, after I bought a metal stud and tested to install horizontally, I felt it's a bit odd.

I mounted using two drywall screws on each side. It's about 73.5" long:

The guy at Home Improvement Store told me to just use drywall screw for this but look closely on how the metal is "bend"

Is this "wrong"? I tend to just ignore it as it's not load bearing and there will be drywall on top anyways. But is there a different screw or technique I should use?

Thanks


texts: How do I dry out a damp patch in my subfloor?

texts:
I bought my house over a year ago and had the hardwood oak floors refinished. One of the bedrooms had water damage from a leaking roof (previous owners fixed this before I purchased the house) so they did not put poly on that floor and told me I should let it dry out before finishing it.

Long story short, there was a puddle of water in the crawlspace beneath this area which is why the subfloor was damp. I remedied all of this... no more puddles, no more soaked under-floor insulation, no more leaks. A year later and after trying multiple methods to dry it out, the hardwood floor was still wet so I finally decided to rip out parts of the floor.

Just as I suspected, the subfloor beneath still has a significant amount of moisture. The tar paper between the subfloor and hardwood was also damp.

Here is a picture of the affected area. You can pretty clearly see the color difference between the damp and dry areas. For the record, the damp areas don't FEEL considerably wet or anything, and there is 0 rot or mold:

Now that I'm at the subfloor, what can I do to finish drying this out so I can finally finish this darned bedroom!?


texts: Installing a new faucet in the bathroom.  The new drain pipe does not reach the trap. It is very close however.


texts: How to prevent birds from entering a dryer vent?

texts:
Both of my neighbors have had issues with birds nesting in the vents in each of their houses. Securing the bathroom exhaust vents against birds seems straightforward to me: simply replace the vent hood with one that has a mesh around it (something like this).

However, this seems like the wrong thing to use with a dryer vent. I'm concerned about lint getting caught up in the mesh of the vent, ultimately causing the ventilation of said vent to be lowered dramatically.

Are there any clever means of securing a dryer vent against nesting birds, while keeping it relatively open to allow small bits of lint to escape? My dryer vent is unfortunately on the second floor of my house, making my job that much more difficult.


texts:
Purchased a mid 50's built house last year.  Knew that a switch in one of hallways had a switch that appeared to do nothing... Having done many simple wiring projects (lucky to have done renovation with a friend who was an electrician) that passed building inspection, I thought I'd check this out myself!  I checked receptacles, lights, even looked for possible pump or furnace connections, to no avail.  So I opened the switch box to see if it was maybe disconnected ... and found 5 wires in the box.

The drawing represents what I found.  The switches themselves had only two screws each, both on the same side, with a ground switch at the back. All of the white wires were maretted together.  Note that switch 1 and 2 (and switch two and three) have a jumper between them and that switch two has 4 black wires on a single screw (which is the safety concern I have.)  I am hoping someone here can tell me if:

three wires on a single switch screw is advisable
they have ever seen a set up like this before, and
what the function of switch three might be?

ADDENDUM:  I have been rummaging around in the attic (yes, low and cold) and determined that the feed from the panel enters the switch box as wire D.  The mystery switch goes to a wire that runs the length of the attic to another part of the house with a second attic (there was an addition in the 70's). I believe the solution to the terminal overload is a pigtail (everything in the green circle) that includes the power feed from wire(cable?) D.


texts: When installing hardwood floors, should I use rosin paper, roofing felt, or nothing underneath? Why?

texts:
I've installed hardwood floors, over top of OSB subfloor with a layer of roofing felt in between.  I copied this from the hardwood floor contractor who did a kitchen in my home once. He'd been in business for 20 years so I trusted him.  I think he said it was to prevent squeaks.

Is this true?

Does roofing felt used in this way also provide a vapor barrier, and if so, why is that important under hardwood?  I can understand why it would be useful on a roof.  I can understand why it would be useful for housewrap.  Under a floor?

I read elswhere that rosin paper was originally used to keep floors clean (protect from the dust from drywall finishing, for example), and make it easy to slide floorboards. That seems pretty minimally valuable. Do I care if my OSB gets dusty?  I usually shop-vac the OSB before laying down the floorboards, so is this really a benefit?  And using rosin paper to ease sliding boards during install?  Really?  I never noticed a problem sliding the boards. Is this because I'm really strong?  (not likely).  Maybe it's because I'm using OSB as a subfloor which is a pretty smooth surface? I can imagine using plywood as a subfloor, in the days before OSB, might/could cause hitches when sliding boards during installation.

Do either of these layers provide sound-deadening or anti-squeak qualities?  I figured the lack of squeaks was from using a sound, level subfloor, and installing the T&G tightly.

This question gets asked a lot in various DIY or even contrator forums.  The problem is, there doesn't seem to be a general convergence to a single answer.


texts: Can fiber-optic data cable be run overhead to a garage?

texts:
I want to run internet from my main house to garage located few meters away. I plan to use fiber instead of cat5 to avoid reported problems of blowing out network switches.

I could have made a trench and placed fiber inside a conduit, however any shortest path from my house to garage (from attached garage where I plan to keep all my network equipment) is filled with concrete. I would need to break concrete to dig a trench.

Instead of digging the trench, could I pass fiber from under the roof of my house? The same way the electrical cable is passed right now.


texts:
What is beneath the tiles of a bathroom?

I think that the tiles themselves are placed on some sort of tile glue that works like cement. What is this product called?
I also think that beneath that glue, there needs to be some sort of protection so that the water doesn't cause damage. What are these protection layers? Or  is that just on walls?
What comes after? More stuff, or just floor? What type of floor is it?
A bathroom floor often has a slope so that water goes into the drain. What part of the floor ensures this slope once the tiles are put on?

Just trying to figure out how walls and floors in a bathroom work.


texts: Best way to remove sani-tred paint from basement walls

texts: About ten years ago I used sani-tred to waterproof my basement walls they were new construction bare cinder block at the time. I have had some water filtration over the years not a lot but enough to leave a puddle in the corners after very heavy rain. I also have mold trapped between the layers of the paint. I tried to remove the paint which is a liquid polyurethane with power washer 35000 psi and chemical stripper with very poor results. Was thinking maybe sandblasting or dry ice would work? I would like to get the wall bare again and try to seal any leaks with hydraulic cement. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Hot water stops flowing after clunking noise

texts: When I turn the hot water on in the bathroom faucet, a clunking noise sounds, and the water stops flowing.  If I open the faucet quickly, it happens immediately.  If I open the faucet slowly, it takes 20-30 seconds before the noise sounds and the water stops.  What causes this and how can it be repaired?


texts: How can I find replacement parts for an unknown faucet?

texts:
In the house I bought one of the faucets is missing a hot water indicator. I have no idea on how to go about getting a replacement indicator. Anyone know where I should start?

Here's the missing piece:

And here is what it looks like on another:


texts: What happens if CT ratio entered wrong in 3phase meter

texts:
I have HT connection with PREMIER 300 - SECURE METER,
CT operated at 5:2.5. But in the meter, the ratio is showing 1 instead of 0.5.
My question is whether the ratio matters or not.


texts: Is my thermostat transformer voltage too low?

texts: I measured the voltage at the thermostat Rc to G and Rc to Y terminals, and they read 16.2V and 16.34V respectively.  Shouldn't I be measuring 24V+/-?  I purchased a Nest thermostat and it will not work properly at these unusual voltages.


texts: How do you secure electrical outlets in a concrete block wall?

texts: I have an old home that has several outlets in the exterior wall. These outlets are not secured to the block, they just dangle in the opening and are only secure (or appear to be firmly in place) due to the tightness of the cover plate. Are there fasteners or some type of bracing that can be used to correct the loose outlet? Is there another method of "mounting" these outlets? I can't seem to see any way to secure these outlets since the only available structure is the block itself, which is only an inch deep, so drilling tap cons right near the interior wall surface doesn't seem to be the right course of action. Any thoughts?


texts: Can I add a non-GFCI receptacle in the garage for a freezer?

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It seems that GFCI-protected receptacles are required in all areas of the garage (even on the ceiling, where the garage door opener plugs in). Can I install a non-protected (15A) receptacle specifically for a freezer? I've had the GFCI trip a few times, cutting power to the freezer (sometimes losing the contents, other times I noticed in time), and would like to avoid this problem in the future.

The freezer sits in front of the main GFCI receptacle for the garage / outside, so my plan would be to add a second receptacle next to the existing GFCI receptacle pigtailed into the line side of the GFCI. Is this allowed by the NEC? Not sure which version is in use here in Alexandria, VA, but let's assume the latest version of the NEC.


texts: Is it ok to crimp Romex to create a longer run

texts: I know that I can join Romex in a junction box with wire nuts but can I crimp wire together with say SpliceLine Wire Connectors or some other device.


texts: flush water/latex paint residue down sump pit

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I know that to clean you brush from latex paint, you just clean it with water.

I have a little complication in that I don't have a sink in my garage :((

I'm wondering, can I simply flush the residue after cleaning the brush with water down the sump pit? Will it (the paint somehow) damage the sump pump or something?

Thanks


texts: We have a 3 car garage. We had 3 new garage openers installed. Genie Machforce. They are on their own 20 amp breaker.  They periodically keep tripping breaker usually when you double hit the button or hit two openers at same time. The old ones worked fine just the motors were going bad. We have called genie but they have no solutions. They did trip breaker during programming as well. Which goes with hitting button twice. We have tried unplugging one but the others  still trips breaker if button is hit twice before letting first action complete cycle. Just need to know where to start looking whether programming error or electrical.  Also read about GFI compatibility issue but genie could not answer any questions about that so I’m not sure how to check it. Thanks for any help


texts: Do I need a new or a repositioned TV aerial for freeview?

texts: One of our tenants would like a TV in their room. The aerial in question hasn't been used for over 10 years, way before the switch over to digital. We don't even know if it still works. I was wondering would we need to have it repositioned in order to receive freeview channels? Or is it a case of sticking on a connector then connecting it to the TV. The actual antenna is just above the window of the room in question so the cable would be quite a short run; a few metres at the most.


texts: Do there exist smoke detectors with detached silencers?

texts:
I'm looking to replace a smoke detector for my kitchen, and I was wondering whether anyone had designed a smoke detector with a remote silence feature. The traditional method of keeping a stool or a broomstick around to silence the smoke detector whenever you're cooking bacon seems pretty terrible to me, and ideal would be to have some sort of wired switch that could be mounted at shoulder height that would allow a temporary silencing of the alarm.

So far I've seen that mounting it at least 10 feet away from appliances and using a photoelectric sensor instead of an ionization sensor helps, but it would still be very nice to have some way of dealing with false alarms that doesn't involve trying to press a button twelve feet above the ground.


texts: Is there an option to replace the vacuum seal in the main valve of a sprinkler system?

texts: I tried blowing out my sprinkler system and the pressure blew right though the top.  I unscrewed the top dome and found that the metal seal with a rubber seal had worn away, there was a thin piece of rubber on the seal.  Unfortunately, there is metal piece across the middle of the opening, which has a downward facing spring and a metal rod in the center to hold the valve in place.  I tried cutting a tennis ball in half, but, I had to cut the tennis ball to fit around the metal rod.  It did not work and my alternative is to disassemble the unit.  Any suggestions?


texts: How can I get plastic wall anchors to work with a tile wall?

texts:
I'm putting up hooks on the tile wall in my bathrooom. I have to use hollow wall anchors because the tile is over drywall or possibly cement board. But, I'm having a problem. I've used these types of anchors in drywall many, many times with no problem.
But with the tile, after I drill the hole the anchor won't fit into it. If i try to pound it in with a hammer the anchor just breaks. I'm using the drill bit size called for with the anchors. With drywall the anchors are able to bite into the wall some, but they can't do that with tile, hence they don't fit. There must be an obvious solution to this, but I can't figure it out. drilling a bigger hole would be an option, but I don't know how much bigger to go and it would seem that this should be something that would be mentioned on the anchor packaging.

Is there a particular type of anchor for tile walls that I don't know about?


texts: Sudden leak from toilet after years of no problems

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Large stains suddenly appeared on wall and ceiling below second story bath which is unused. No previous problems in 20 year old house, with upper bath being unused for approx last 7-8 years. Wife flushed toilet yesterday, as she does periodically, and says she thinks she did not see any water in bottom of bowl before flush filled bowl. Stains appeared less than 24 hours later.  Prior flushes (weeks or more ago) had no problems. Questions: can wax ring "dry out" and suddenly leak when new water hits it; can PVC pipe joints suddenly develop leaks after long disuse; will a leaking wax ring allow water to leak below the floor or out onto the floor??  Other thoughts on cause of leak stains?
Thanks, Ken


texts:
This past summer, my vacant home was vandalized. Thieves stole the copper plumbing. Once the re-plumbing was done, the city came to install the water meter.

The meter is female-threaded on either end. It suspends in the air by the threaded connections. One side threads on to a copper piece that runs about 6 inches before an elbow, and then 3 more inches until it reaches the wall. The other end threads on to a line that runs about 6 inches before it hits an elbow and the line runs vertically up to the ceiling about 5 feet. This line is suspended in the air; it is not tight against the wall (to give the meter room, I guess). There is no Teflon tape on either joint, to my memory.

Yesterday, I installed a water line heater (think it's also called a heat tape) and wrapped the pipes in insulation because the meter is in a part of the house that is unheated, and it is supposed to get darn cold in the next couple days. During installation, I noticed that the meter was loose. This caused a steady drip. Both joints were loose. I tightened it back down and have been worrying ever since.

What caused it to loosen? I don't think there's been much vibration. The only thing using any water at all right now is the furnace, and it shouldn't really be using much at all since I filled it and bled it 3 months ago. Everything else has been shut off. There was one or two nights a couple days ago where the outside temperature reached down to about 10 degrees F. Could this have caused the problem in the unheated room where the meter is? There was one morning years ago when I lived in the house that the water line actually froze on an extremely cold night and it prompted me to install a heater then, so this room can get very cold.


texts: Fixing a broken pipe underground without breaking the floor

texts:
Is there any way to fix a broken pipe that's located underground?
I was thinking of something like a camera and a liquid like the ones used with broken wheels...
And I'll try soon.

Has anyone successfully fixed one without destroying the floor?

(it's the drain pipe from the sink).


texts: What is this knob on this fluorescent light fitting?

texts:
Recently I tried replacing a fluorescent bulb in my garage after it failed, upon fitting the new light it wouldn't turn on and there is this knob on the side (I have been told it may be something to do with start-up or a choke or something) and I tried pushing that in / turning it but nothing happened - I now realise I perhaps should not have pushed it in but I was just wondering what it actually is? Below is an image of what I am talking about (not my actual light)

While this question is about what this knob is I would also greatly appreciate it if anyone could give any tips into how to get a fluorescent light to work again.
Could I have pushed the component out when I pushed the know and that is why it is no longer working? Or could it be something different all together. I briefly managed to get it back working again the other day but I honestly have no idea what it was that I did...

It is quite inconvenient this not working so I would really like to fix it but I am not an expert or even an amateur when it comes to this light. I am however an electronic engineer student so know my way around a circuit or two so am more than confident in taking it apart and replacing anything - I just don't know what I would need to replace!


texts: I'm building a Deck. Is it cheaper to buy wood from a mill rather than a box store like Home Depot? Are there any benefits to choosing one over the other? Should I expect to see better quality from a mill vs a box store.


texts: How does hot water get circulated into an indirect fired hot water heater?

texts:
For an indirect heated hot water tank, the hot water comes from a boiler.

Why are there two output ports on my tank?

I have appended below a diagram of an HTP/Superstor tank to use as a reference:

A - emergency relief
B - outlet 1
C - thermostat
D - input to boiler
E - output to boiler
F - outlet 2

So, from the diagram you can see that there are two outlets. Does the hot water make a circuit and one is an outlet and one is an inlet?


texts:
I was touring a property for sale and I saw this pipe sticking about 4 feet straight out of the ground. We asked the owner about it and she didn’t know.
Does anyone have any idea what it is?


texts: Do I need to leave space between insulation and the roof deck with a cathedral ceiling?

texts:
I'm finishing a 14x14 shed that has 2x6 rafters in Austin TX, and I want a cathedral ceiling. The shed builder says they usually recommend filling the cavity with R-19 fiberglass insulation, leaving no room for airflow.
But I've also read many suggestions like this for vaulted ceilings:

Remember that a two-inch breathing space between the insulation and the roof sheathing must be included to allow for ventilation.

If I leave room, it's hard to fit more than R-13 without going to rigid foam board.
Do I really need the space? I don't have any venting. And I don't envision having much excess moisture in the shed, as it's going to be an office. Does that apply more to cold climates, where moisture becomes an issue as the hot inside air meets cold outer air?
Edit: The roof appears to be OSB.


texts: Should plumber's putty be placed on the sink or on the flange during a flange install?

texts:
I have seen this done both ways.  I put my plumber's putty on the sink in a circle that meets the bottom of the sink or top of the ring.

I have seen others attach the putty to the underside of the flange.

What are the positives and negatives of each and which is right?

On the sink

On the Flange


texts: What is the proper wiring for a NEMA 14-30 240v receptacle?

texts:
We moved into a resale home, the previous owners had a Gas Dryer, we have an Electric.
The laundry room has a NEMA 14-30 receptacle installed.  I hooked up our brand new dryer and it didn't get power.

Went to the Panel and checked the breaker, 30AMP Double Pole, everything checked out.  Dig out my voltage meter and didn't get any reading from the receptacle.  Head down to the panel and test there, reads 120V.  Do some reading tells me I should have 2 hot wires both 120V to make 240V, head back to the receptacle and removed it from the wall to make sure I am getting good contact, still zero volts.  Head back to the panel, this time I realize that there is only one wire going to the breaker and it's not as thick as the 3 wires upstairs, I then see a red and black with marrets on them tucked in the back that look to be the same thickness as upstairs.

Hmmm odd, I flip the breaker off and head upstairs to see if I can find out what is connected to the breaker, but I can't see anything that doesn't have power.  Head back down to the panel and I removed the single red from the 30AMP Dual breaker and connected the thicker Red to the top and the Black to the lower.  Flip the breaker back on and test the voltage, both reading 120V, head back upstairs and test the receptacle, reading 240V.

Connect the dryer and viola we have power!

So two questions really:

Is the wiring of the NEMA 14-30 done correctly?  Red/Black went to the 30AMP Dual Pole Breaker, White went to Neutral, and Ground went to ground.
How do I find out where the other wire went, I mean it was a single connection to a 30AMP Dual which was marked on the panel as Dryer?


texts:
I have a 30 inch induction cooktop and a 15*20 inch electric grill on a peninsula. The peninsula separates the kitchen from the family room - no wall on that side.

We use the grill a lot for chicken, fish, and steak, so it's important to have a good vent system. We have a 48 inch downdraft with an 8 inch blower, and it is totally inadequate (the installation is correct with no turns, solid vent piping, and a short run to the outside). The vent/blower is rated for a max of 600 cfm's. Even with the help of a small room fan to direct the smoke, the downdraft can't suck out the smoky air when grilling steak. When we test the downdraft, it sucks air from only about 5 inches or so away (not good when the grill is 20 inches long).

Bottom line: the down draft simply can't do the job for the grill. After a lot  researching, looks like our best bet is to buy an island hood. Our primary purpose is to vent the grill - the cooktop really doesn't create much smoke. Island hoods come in many sizes, with varying CFM levels, and duct diameters.

Questions:

If two hoods have 900 CFMs, but one is 36 inches, and the other 30 inches, will we get better exhausting from the smaller hood? 30 inches will still be wider than the 15 inch grill. It's OK not to have much of the hood over the cooktop.
Does it make any difference if we have a flat glass or curved glass for the hood?
Is a 600 CFM 42 inch hood with an 8 inch duct better (meaning will exhaust more smoke/air) that a 500, 600, or 900 CFM smaller hood with a six inch duct?

We want an island hood with the best exhaust capabilities, and can't figure out what combination of hood size (30, 36, 42, or 48 inches), CFM, or duct diameter.

I hope someone can help us!


texts: Main outdoor breaker is ONLY 100 AMP but total of Breakers AMP on internal panel is 165 AMPs.  From what I have read so far this still ok.  I could have Subpanels/Feeder Panels down stream from the main breaker requesting more output but if the Main is unable to handle it then it should "flip off"  correct?


texts: Dormers with ridge vents lower than main ridgeline

texts:
My roof contractor placed ridge vents on all peaks on my home, including the dormers.  So, I have the main attic space, which is vented by a ridge vent running the entire length.  I have plenty of soffit vents as intake; while the dormer have none.  The dormers now have ridge vents on their peaks and they are just shy of the main house's peak, but about a foot or two.  The dormer attic spaces are open to the main space.

I know that it is okay to vent the dormers if they peaks are at the same height, and that if they are lower they could act as intakes.  Is a foot or two difference something to worry about?  Are the dormer ridge vents still going to exhaust air or are they going to now short circuit the system?


texts: Only 1 live wire instead of 2 for my light switch: is it normal? (Replacing Light Switch with Smart Switch: )

texts:
My current light switch are only wired with 2 cables: live (black) + ground (white). These is also a neutral in the box, not directly connected to the switch at the moment..

I want to replace my switch by a new one, which has 2 live wire connections. How am I supposed to handle these 2, since I apparently only have 1 live wire? Can I even do it?

I have 4 light switch in the box, hence the number of cables shown here. Each switch has only 2 cables. On the picture we see a black & white ones which are coming from one switch. The white cable goes to the red screw, the black goes into the box. Inside the box, there are also 4 white cables all tied together with a screw.

Thanks for your help!


texts: Inaccessible outdoor PEX piping lost its insulation - what to do?

texts:
We have an outdoor counter and sink, and a family of squirrels decided that it was a good place to live. Unfortunately they ripped off a good portion of the PEX piping insulation. (Pretty sure it's PEX...)

Now that temperatures are getting colder, I'm worried about freezing. Unfortunately the counter base is made of masonry, and the entry points to it are too small for me for me to get at the damaged area. I imagine a small adult might be able to squeeze in there.

Thoughts on the best course of action? I'd guess there are 20 feet of piping and about 6 feet are exposed. Is it worth fixing?

If so, what are my options? Hire a small plumber to reinsulate? Or rerun the damaged section. (There is access before and after the damage, and PEX is flexible, so this is doable.)

This is in central TX, where we get a couple freezes a year, and the lowest temp in the last ten years was 17 Fahrenheit, which was exceptional.


texts: Advice for installing click lock engineered bamboo floor over linoleum?

texts:
I am currently acclimating a bunch of Home Decorators Collection click lock engineered bamboo flooring. The installation area (entryway and kitchen) currently has very even/flat linoleum and I plan to install over the top of this using the 'floating' approach.

Based on the manufacturers instructions and my research I will be doing the following:

12 days acclimating near installation area
using high quality underlayment
leaving 1/2 inch expansion gap against walls

I realize these are pretty cheap floors and I'm hoping to get at least 5 years out of them and really don't want early seam buckling.

Any advice or potential traps I may run into from those who have worked with lower end engineered bamboo floors?

Some comments elsewhere I read people run a thin bead of glue in the click lock seam for better water resistance, thoughts? I do have two drippy mouthed dogs :)

Cheers and thanks for any advice.


texts: Adding a receptacle to a wall with an insulation blanket on the wall

texts:
I have a newly built home with blanket insulation on the basement walls.  There are no studs as the blanket insulation is attached directly to the cement wall.
Is it possible to add receptacles to the wall over or through the blanket insulation or is my only option to build a wall or partial wall in front of the blanket insulation.


texts: After 1 year, how much gap between members is acceptable in light framing?

texts:
Many of the connections between various members (rafters, collar ties, joists, studs) in the attic of a newly constructed small barn (~1 car garage) have grown over the past year.   In short, the nails are not keeping the members together.

How much separation is to be expected?  At what separation is fixing them advisable?  What method?

Context photos have been removed as they're detracting from the question I'm asking.


texts:
I just had "marble like" porcelain tile installed.  the plastic film over each tile is too had to get off. The installer gave up and left it on, said he never seen plastic film so hard to come off.  So far tried a glass scrapper, hot rag, and just manually picking it off by hand... it comes off but too time consuming.  What are some other efficient AND safe methods of removing it?
thank you


texts: Is it possible to restore teak furniture that has been stained dark to original finish?

texts: I have some teak furniture that was stained a dark finish years ago by mistake. I am wondering if its possible to sand the furniture back to the original finish or sand blast? Would it work and then it could be oiled to restore to original?


texts: How can I clean exterior pebble dashing?

texts:
The exterior walls of my house mainly consist of pebble dashing. I plan to clean the walls as currently there is a small amount of red dye appearing (I think this is coming from the brickwork underneath). Plus the walls are just starting to get grubby with a little moss and algae.

Is there any specific products or techniques I can use to clean up the pebble dashing?


texts: Removed front closet doors and hardwood below is a different color

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After removing the door rails on this closet, the hardwood underneath is quite different. Is there any way of "fixing" it or getting it close to the rest of the flooring?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: By the way, this is the semi finished product. We will eventually add a threshold, but right now just leaving it!


texts: Can the neutral for a spa circuit be tied to either the neutral on a return leg or ground?

texts:
I am in the process of adding a pool heater.  240V (60A breaker/40A max load/3 wire)
I also want to put this in a GFI.  I have a SquareD/homeline box, which does not offer 60A GFCI breakers.  So, I purchased a spa disconnect to place outside (in addition to the standard 60A breaker in the panel)
However, the run out there is pretty long - about 215'.  So, I don't want to pull an extra neutral wire just for the hell of it.  (I'm running 4ga wire to the heater due to the length of the run). From what I understand, 6GA wire would have been sufficient for the 40A max load and that length)
The GFCI that I got looks like it requires a connection to neutral.  So, I can do things one of two ways.

Spa disconnect in basement at panel, and wire up the heater direct.  I'd rather not do this - I'd rather have the disconnect outside if possible.  However, I know that I can fall back on this.  This would (at least) shorten the length of the wire needed between the panel and the GFCI.

Spa disconnect outside.   I do have some spare neutrals out there already (for accessory power, pump power, and chicken coop power... 2x20A AFCI/GFCI breakers running over 8ga wire..

Question A
Can I tie the neutral on the spa panel GFI to the neutral on one of the 20A return legs?  Would this cause issue with the GFCI/AFCI function of on the main panel?  I assume that the neutral wire is ONLY used as a reference - so I shouldn't be adding any real current to the return
Question B
Can I tie the neutral on the spa panel GFI to the return ground?  Technically, both are tied to the same bus bar in the main panel.   (my question remains the same with the neutral in the GFI outside being more of a reference, and not really responsible for any "real" current needs)


texts:
I want to install a 100 amp 230 volt single phase service from my house breaker panel to an external shop building. My house service is 200 amp 230 volt.

Is it permitted to use direct burial MC cable such as Service Wire Co. part no. AAP2/3 [see page 68] (3 conductors of 2 AWG and a 6 AWG bare ground) with aluminum or galvanized steel interlocked armor with a black PVC jacket?  Temperature rated at 90 degrees C wet or dry.  In the following installation.

I want to connect to the house breaker panel at the power entrance and run about 110 feet thru the house attic then down the outside of the rear house wall and go underground about 80 feet to a metal sided shop building and up and over about 20 feet to a breaker panel.  Total length of cable about 210-225 feet.

Reason I am thinking of using MC cable is because I am trying to go under several large tree roots and sprinkler pipes and think it will be easier than installing conduit.  However, I am open to suggestions.  I am in California.