texts:
To waterproof the front of our house, we have removed the existing porch and we're debating how to build the new one. The cold room that the old porch was on top of is about 4.5 feet wide, 3.5 feet deep. The cold room is the full height of our basement, about 7.5 feet.

We have received a proposal to build a new porch.

The idea is to tear out the floor, footing and walls removing the cold room entirely. Then we would back fill it, tamp it down, and build a new porch on top.

The design for the this porch calls for 22 in. wide by 9 in. deep footings. We've heard differing opinions that recommend a three foot deep footing.

Is 22 in. x 9 in. sufficient?

The frost line in our area is about three or four feet.


texts: Is joist sag at connection with header a problem?

texts:
I am having the ceiling in the finished part of my basement redone, and have it fully open now.  I can see the connection of the joists to the headers have given somewhat, as the house is 85 years old and the joists are not in hangers.  The separation laterally varies from 1/8" to 3/8" from joist to joist and vertically some are fine while others are displaced 1/8" to 1/4".  There is no visible deflection along the length of the joists, and from the floor above there is one minor but noticeable (when standing on it) low spot in the floor.

Picture attached, should I be concerned or is this normal in a house of this age and not likely to worsen?  Would it be advisable to retrofit hangers?


texts: Identify the make / manufacturer of this chandelier

texts:
I was taking down a 20-year-old (est.) chandelier to paint the ceiling, and I broke one of the five glass cones.  I want to replace the cone, but have not located a suitable match, or a viable replacement for all five cones.  I took the mount off the ceiling, but due to some rust from precious water damage (a now fixed leaking roof), the manufacturer label has disintegrated and is obscured.  This item is located in the United States.

There are three labels on the mount:

a number which reads "400366" (probably the serial number)
a yellow standard Incandescent Fixture label, Issue No. A-40,093
the important white label which may read "H........BURG & CO.  Bellv.... LL.....". The initial 'H' might be a 'K' or 'M', the 'v' might be a 'w', the 'LL'  might be 'II' or '11' or even a 'U', but I'm fairly confident of the rest; The extra dots in my overall quote do not represent actual character spaces.

Two photos follow:

a shot of the chandelier (missing two cone s; I need was removed to bring to local lighting places to identify replacements)
a shot of the interior of the mount, showing the destroyed label.

I would like to know the manufacturer and, if possible, model name.


texts: Light fixture has 3 white wires together, 2 black together, and one by itself, how do I connect a new fixture?

texts: The light fixture I removed has 3 white wires basically melted together.  One black wire by itself, and the other two blacks are connected.  How would I go about wiring a new fixture with one white and one black?


texts: Should I solder stranded wires when connecting them to a plug?

texts:
I'm about to perform a few electrical changes in my house in order to be able to control lighting fixtures (230V, 30 to 200 mA) from a PC. I have some doubts about the way stranded wires should be connected to the plugs.

For instance, I suppose the way of connecting the wires shown on the next photo is dangerous, because the connection can easily become loose, is it? It seems that pulling the plug a few times by the wire instead of the plug itself would have disastrous effects on the connection.

If yes, should I solder stranded wire to make it solid? If so, what should I take care of, aside using a rosin-core solder? Once I solder it, how am I supposed to connect it to the metallic parts of the plug?


texts: Two unrelated circuits drop at the same time

texts:
I'm writing a new post for a couple of reason, 1) the post I found that was similar was more than 5 years old and 2) I was not able to comment because I don't have "50 reputation points"
So here's what I have. 2 circuits in my house drop at the same time. This used to happen once in a while, tonight it has happened about 5 times.
As I have UPSs on one of the circuits I'm able to log that the power drops for 4 seconds each time, then comes back. No flicker at any time, just off and back on
The confusing thing to me is they are on opposite legs of the 200 amp service and the best I can tell at the moment is nothing else on either side seems to be affected, just these 2 circuits.
What the heck could / should I be looking at here. It makes no sense.
In my UPS logs I see, utility failure 3 seconds and Invert 3 seconds. I presume the Invert means it was inverted to battery for that time.
All other monitoring looks good meaning I don't see any voltage sags or spikes. No under or Over voltage incidents and no Boost or Buck incidents.


texts: Wand or 2 foot long stick between my master bath fan and outdoor flood lights connecting to share wiring for power?

texts: I'm divorced. My ex husband had a guy install a junction box on corner of house to spotlight the swing set years ago. Recently I was in the attic and discoved a 2 ft "stick' or "wand' that was quite heavy or hard to move as it was bending the slanted cardboard ----that keeps the dust and rain from entering the attic -----flat down and not as it is supposed to be. It is linking the wiring from the fan (master bath shower is in back corner of house so it's the closet electrical connectionto share power with spotlight junction box? I assume- altho it's labeled to b on it's own gfi) to the spotlight with wiring exiting the attic under the roof overhang openings that access outside....and to spotlight addition. So in short u have the exaust fan for master bath shower --viewing  in and from attic.....wiring extended to some 2 foot stick or wand' attactched at one end and with snake looking fangs curling downward at other end....same wiring picking back up there and going out screen holes under roof overhang to junction box housing two- 60 w large outdoor bulbs with an pipe covering wires...running down house to the switch. Ends. Nothing past the light switch. What is this wand!? They are not variable speed or to give lighting options..... one speed fan only and one option light brightness so not dimmer or switcher. Data stick? He loves all things smart home or remotely controllable by plane train or automobile while he travels  in states or internationally. Also can't get him off our phones altho we have no wifi cable or otherwise anymore and no modems to speak of.  We do have  garage door genie, pool intelleclor capable and smart thermostats that have minds of their own and programmable scheduls we can't gain control if. Maybe not related but FYI. That's all i got. Help anyone. Sorry so long but desperatly seeking knowledge and control of home. He won't help or answer. Also no motion control. Plain on off outdoor light.


texts:
I am buying a basin and it isnt clear if the waste will fit it?
How do you ensure the slot for the overflow is at the right location? (or are they all the same? )

Basin

Waste


texts: What is the proper way to connect 10awg wire to connectors rated for 14awg wire?

texts: I'm installing 120v to 12v transformers for low voltage lighting. Inside the transformer are output connectors for the low voltage wire, and those output connectors are rated for 14 awg wire. I'm using 10 awg wire. What is the proper, and code compliant way, to connect the 10 awg wire to the 14 awg output connectors?


texts:
What happens to load in electrical installation which is switched by 2-State Wall AC Switch, when switch is not fully in ON or OFF state, but in middle state?

Can that middle state damage load or electrical installation?


texts:
I have a 3 way configuration between 2 switches in my house.
Switch 1 has:
Neutral, Ground, one red [traveler], one black
Switch 2 has:
Neutral, Ground, one red [traveler], one black
Neither of these switches is a 3 way switch with 2 traveler wires. I am trying to replace both these switches with GE Z-wave smart switch and add-on switch.
I am very confused on how this is working. I am trying to read online to get myself familiar with this design. Apparently, I cannot find anything related on the internet [very possible I am not looking for the right keywords].
Can you please help me with below questions or redirect to me a web link that explains similar setup?

how is this working.
Is this considered a 3 way switch?
What do I need to do to make it wire properly? [if needed]

Thanks!
Edit on 10/26:
Thank you so much for all the tips and suggestions. The boxes have two more switches which makes it really harder to get clear picture of what is all going on in there. But, probably may makes more sense if you are used to these boxes more.
I also ran into something interesting on the switch which is connected to the lights. There is a bundle of black wires back in the box with a wire nut. When I tied my load wire into that nut, my lights turned on. So, those wires must be a bundle of line wires. I am wondering if I can completely ditch my 3 way setup for these lights and simply go with a regular smart switch? so, line + load + neutral + ground connect to the one smart switch. I can put wire nuts on the wires on other switch and just put them back into the box.
I am just afraid if I am doing anything dumb this way. Is there any reason I should avoid that?


texts: 180º/gooseneck/u-shaped cold air return?

texts:
I am in the planning stages of moving a cold air return from an inconvenient spot in the floor to a nearby wall. The basic plan is to open up the wall on both sides (cutting one stud and framing in a filter grille box) and cut a smaller hole in the floor on the opposite side of the wall from the filter – the "back" of the wall.

To make this work, the incoming air will need to make a 180º turn from where it passes through the filter to where it enters the main return flex duct in the basement (16", if that matters). We don't have a lot of room on the back side of the wall, so need a compact solution – <14" outside the back side of the wall – that won't create excessive noise. The system specifies 850 cfm.

What parts/products should I use to route the air like that? I know there are companies that create custom returns, which I'm open to if the price is reasonable, but is there an off-the-shelf solution? Is this just a bad idea to start with?

-- Edit --

Here's a sketch:


texts: Installing wall mount light fixture - what to do with ground wire

texts:
I am installing a wall mounted light fixture.  The fixture can either be plugged into a wall outlet or hardwired into an outlet. I am choosing to plug the fixture into a wall outlet.  In addition to the cord/plug, there is a ground wire on the fixture.

I get what to do with the ground wire if the fixture was going to be hardwired, but this is not what I'm planning to do.   So what do I do with the ground wire.  The installation instructions only address the ground wire in the context of hardwiring.  Can I leave the ground wire as it is, can I cut it off?


texts:
I'm framing in a 40" x 16" shower bench and I plan on using 3/4" plywood.

I plan on using granite to sit on top of the seat.

I would like to know what kind of plywood I should use for the seat?

Should I use pressure treated? I've heard that pressure treated wood is not recommended to use inside the home.

What about sheathing plywood?


texts: Gutters above Garage Door on slanted driveway - is it necessary?

texts: The concrete driveway attached to my garage which is attached to my home is on a slant.  The water runs away from the home to the alley. I'm getting gutters installed for the first time. Do I need to have gutters above the garage door?  Thank you.


texts: Pine vs Cedar for patio furniture on screen porch

texts:
I am building a patio furniture couch following this design, along with some patio furniture coushions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKXtv3v8tg

I intend to put this on my screen porch which is mostly dry but gets some rain blowing in every now and then. I have a gallon of this stain which is already on other cedar furniture that I want this piece to match somewhat:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Olympic-Maximum-1-gal-Redwood-Semi-Transparent-Exterior-Stain-and-Sealant-in-One-79552A-01/305230164

I am having trouble finding good cedar lumber in my area though. Would this be an ok situation to use non pressure treated pine instead with the stain mentioned above since the area is mostly dry? Or will I be risking rot?


texts: Is it time to replace my 20 year old water heater?

texts:
My water heater (gas) shows a date of 1991 on it, although the house was built in 1993. There is nothing wrong with it. It is a little slow to heat the water up, sometimes taking almost 5 minutes to provide hot water (early morning, colder nights) but other than that there is no problem.

I hear that one should be replacing the water heaters every 20 years. Is this true? if it breaks, its going to flood the surrounding area.  I dont want to replace it unless I have to. How can I check on this?

UPDATE: Based on the inputs, I have decided to replace the water heater. It may be a $250 for the check/clean/replace the rod/valve/sediments that I can add to the purchase of a new one and not worry about it for the next few years.


texts:
I have a 4 season room with some lights but the switch is in the kitchen. I installed a 2-gang box in the room and ran a 3-wire romex wire from the new box to the existing box (they are on the opposite sides of the same wall), and am trying to connect it in a 3 way configuration so I can turn the light on or off from either switch.

Below is a photo of the existing box in the kitchen. A1 and A2 were connected in a single pole configuration. B1, B2, and B3 are from the new wire going between the boxes. When I turn the power on and test the wires with my non-contact tester, the white wire A1 is live and the black wire A2 is not, which I was not expecting. I can't seem to get the wire configuration right so I'm hoping someone can tell me how to wire these up properly. I'm using Legrand Adorne paddle switches (instructions here). Thanks in advance.


texts: Why won't my natural gas fireplace light when it's cold?

texts: I installed a Heatilator Caliber, natural gas fireplace, model CNXT4236 a couple of years ago in my basement.  When the outside temperature  gets below 32°F or so I have to heat the area where all of the electrical and piping is below the firebox to get it to light.  The pilot comes on and the sensor glows red but the burner won't come on.  If I blow an electric heater in the area for a few minutes it lights fine and continues to work fine until it's been off for several hours.


texts: How to reinforce and straighten a fence post

texts:
I have just put up a fence but one of the posts has warped quite a bit in just a couple of weeks. It is concreted into the ground and is straight up until half way up the post (about 3 foot) and then bends about an inch into my garden.

I was thinking about getting a steel flat bar and attaching it to the opposite side of the post, the idea being that if the bar is rigid enough it will pull the bend back in. Just wanted to know if this is worth pursuing because a thick enough flat bar (maybe 5mm?) would cost at least twice the price of the post itself and I'm not sure it will even work.

Alternatively I wondered if using 2 steel angle bars on the corners of the post would achieve the same but I could get thinner (and therefore cheaper) ones as I'm assuming they will be more rigid due to the angle.


texts: How to get rid of rats in wall coming from old washer drain pipe?

texts:
We moved our washer dryer from kitchen to garage couple of years ago. Now we have been hearing lots of scampering & squeaking from wall behind our new fridge location & inside adjoining bedroom wall.

We believe they are coming in thru the old washer drainage.

Any ideas on how to rid the rat & fix future entry


texts: Is it important to use special fasteners in treated wood for non-structural applications?

texts:
I'm getting ready to install under-floor insulation in my yurt platform. These are 2" x 4' x 8' foam panels under a 1 1/8" plywood floor, between 4" x 6" 0.40 ACQ pressure treated joists. The foam panels will be held in place with lathe strips screwed in to the joists.

I have been using hot-dipped galvanized fasteners for the structure of the yurt platform until now, but is that still necessary when attaching the lathe strips that hold these insulation panels? The load on these fasteners will be minimal.


texts: How do I figure out the size of nuts and bolt in this picture?

texts:
I can't see any markings on the nut(?).
I just need to find the diameter and thread pitch so I can replace my fire place log set.


texts:
I was removing wood paneling in the basement to fix some seepage cracks and I noticed a huge space that was un-insulated. This spot had some pipes running through it and it runs right underneath the fireplace. I wanted to insulate with that spray foam insulation however I'm a bit apprehensive because of that fireplace. Is it okay or is there a danger that a fire could get started? Is there another material I can consider for insulation near a fireplace?

The fireplace is wood-burning. No gas.

mj


texts: How to deal with the mess when working with Tuff-R

texts:
Recently we bought a piece of Tuff-R -- I guess you would call it a styrofoam insulation board -- and cut it to fit a small window exactly.  It is a temporary measure, to get through the winter.  The small window is a jalousie type of window that loses a lot of heat.  I would call the project a success, but it was messy work because the little styrofoam crumbs stick to your clothes, blow around unpredictably, and are hard to clean up.

I would like to do this again for another window.  What is a good way to minimize the mess when working with this material?


texts: White stain on grout between tiles. How to clean?

texts:
I have black matte finish shower tiles with black grout. I have scrubbed the tiles and grout with a 1:2:1 peroxide:baking soda:dish soap ratio.
Tile and grout cleaned up and all soap scum removed but white residue is left behind on some of the grout areas. All tiles and grout were scrubbed and rinsed twice before drying.
This shower sat unused for multiple years and had been temporarily caulked in places prior to this cleaning. I have noticed there is water under the tiles that seeps up when stepped on as well.
Any ideas what this could be?


texts: How can I remove self stick backsplash. Some of them have been falling off, but some are stubborn and won't come off easily without pulling the top layer of drywall off.


texts: How can I prove my kitchen exhaust vent egress

texts:
The 2-storey ten year old house that I bought last year has a non-venting range hood over the gas stove.  I want to replace this with a venting range hood.  In in the cabinet directly above where the range hood is mounted there seems to be a properly installed vent that goes straight up (and yes, the range hood end of the 90 degree elbow is taped off!)

My problem is proving that there is a genuine egress of this vent on the roof.  There are two vents on the roof and one is definitely the vent from the natural gas heated water and house heating.  I assume that the other vent is for the kitchen range hood, but I am struggling to prove this and don't want to start venting cooking fumes into a closed off duct.
In this pic of the roof, the heating duct is the one on the right and what I am assuming is the kitchen duct is on the left.  Note that from measurements, the kitchen vent needs to take a 5 foot dogleg in order to get to that close to the heating vent.

So far I have tried:

Feeling for a breeze through the kitchen duct with an external door both open and closed.  Did not feel any breeze.
Sticking camera up the kitchen duct s far as I could, but couldn't see any light coming down.
Set my phone to play loud music in the kitchen duct and listen for sounds on the roof, and couldn't hear anything.

Things I am considering are:

Setting a fan at the entrance to the kitchen duct and blowing some smoke like substance into the duct and hoping to see it form the roof - but I don't know what sort of smoke would be suitable.
Paying someone to "clean" the kitchen duct and tell me where it actually goes!

So what are my best options to prove the egress of the kitchen vent duct on the roof?

I now know where the vent leaves the house!
I finally proved the vent using the method suggested by @jasen.  However I am still shaking my head about where the vent exits the house.
I rigged up my electric leaf blower and sealed off the ducting with a cardboard baffle:

I was up on the roof when my assistant started the blower, and nothing was coming out of any vents on the roof.  But I heard the sound of the blower coming from somewhere!  And eventually I located the egress on the side wall furthest away from the kitchen, and not on the roof!

It seems that the duct work for the range hood goes up until it meets the ceiling and turns 90 degrees horizontal and then travels between the ceiling and floor above, over the top of the garage until it hits the exterior wall:

The only explanation I can have for this layout is that it places the egress on the leeward side of the house as far away as possible from the prevailing winds.  I assume that if the vent had been on the roof then a difference in wind speed between the roof and the ground could have forced fumes back into the house.  But if that was the case, why isn't an issue for the other vents?

Now my only problem is that I have no idea what the other vent on my roof actually is for!


texts: Can i use plywood to build shelves for my stereo speakers?

texts:
I recently bought a Creative SBS A120 2.1 for my home computer.

Now while the subwoofer would be on the table, I want the tweeters or/and two satellite speakers to be little higher as in two shelves attached to the wall on plywood. I have heard that plywood doesn't resonate or vibrate much which is important as the wall is oldish. Is this true ?

I am looking for ideas as to how to accomplish this ?


texts: Combination 20 amp dbl breaker tripping when oven is in heating cycle

texts: We renovated a kitchen and installed a GE Profile single wall oven rated at 20 amps, I fed this with a 45 foot run of 10-3 nm cable to allow for oven substitution down the road and also I already had it. The circuit is protected by an Eaton double pole 20 amp combination breaker.  While setting up and testing the oven the breaker trips when the oven is just beginning the heating cycle.  Any thoughts on this?


texts: deck railings: alternatives to 4x4 posts?

texts:
I'm working on a deck with a lot of level changes. Using 4x4 posts for the railing is undesirable because it'll look rather clunky.

I am wondering if there are any examples someone can point me to where a different, thinner post size is used. I can't seem to find any (possibly because it isn't possible to do it without it being too flimsy). Would a possible alternative be to use multiple, thinner posts? I doubt it as the real problem is people pushing on the railing... Hopefully this question is specific enough to warrant an answer.

Thanks.


texts: Which order to paint ceiling and replace downlights?

texts:
Which order should I do these two tasks:

repaint ceiling
replace downlights (licenced electrician will do this)

The downlights are recessed and the whole thing will be replaced (not just the bulb).


texts:
We have no power to our downstairs bedroom. We had the lights on, and a heater plugged in to the outlet. A family member turned off the heater, and unplugged it from the outlet. When she unplugged it, the lights went out in the room, and we can’t get power back. The hallway is on the same circuit, and the lights and power in the hallway are fine. It’s only  the back half of the house that has lost power. In the bedroom with no power, there are two switches, each controlling separate light fixtures (both are dark), and one outlet, which was what got unplugged to start this mess. Here’s what I have tried so far:

Reset the breakers.
Swapped out the outlet with a new outlet.
Checked all outlets and switches with a pen-style volt tester. They all indicate that they have power, and the switches seem to be functioning (tester confirms on-off). The only thing I haven’t tested are the light fixtures.

I opened the switch box which contains the switches for both the bathroom (operating) and the bedroom (dark), and the switch arrangement looks really suspect to me. Picture attached.


texts:
The surge from a nearby lightning strike has resulted in multiple fried electronic devices at our house. Damaged items include a cable modem, 2 cable set top boxes, a cable amplifier, a WiFi router, 2 garage door opener circuit boards, a hot tub control panel circuit board, an irrigation power cord transformer, Ethernet ports on 3 desktop computers and a power strip in the kitchen.

The main electrical panel has a Siemens QSA2020 Type QP circuit breaker & secondary surge arrester with a current interrupting rating of 10,000 amps. This breaker did not trip. The irrigation power cord transformer was plugged into a 400 volt surge protector with was fried as well as the transformer.

Questions:

Why did the Siemens device not trip?
What should be done now to help prevent a similar future outcome?


texts: Is there a quick way to clean up walnuts from a yard?

texts: I'm renting a house and it has a walnut tree in the yard which has started dropping hundreds of walnuts all over the place.  Picking them up by hand seems like it'd be messy and very slow.  Is there a quick way to clean these things up?  A scoop shovel doesn't seem to work too well with the grass.


texts:
Have a wood burning fireplace and the chimney has an air intake vent.  The vent has seen better days but not sure what to ask for at the local stores. See photo

[ update ]
After getting up in the attic to see where this vent connects to, it does in fact seem to be a fresh air intake for the woodburning fireplace.


texts: How can I clean behind the electric grill element in my electric oven?

texts: I can clean the whole of the inside of my oven but how can I clean the roof of my oven behind the electric grill element (which won't move)?


texts: Can I connect a normal 12 Volt 150AH C10 battery with a solar 12 volt 150AH C20 battery in series for my 24Volt solar system

texts:
I have an Exide invamaster 1500imst short tubeler normal battery of 12 volt, 150AH, C10. Now I want to connect this battery with a solar battery of 12 volt, 150AH, C20.
Can I connect this normal 12 Volt 150AH C10 battery with a solar 12 volt 150AH C20 battery in series for my 24Volt solar system. Will it damage the battery or what will be happened if I use them in series for a solar inverter of 24 volt battery system with 1200 watt solar pannel.


texts: What temperature can tempered glass withstand?

texts:
I have an induction cooktop, and sometimes I want to cook over another glass so the pots are not on the hob itself.

For that I thought to use a piece of tempered glass cut in the desired sizes.

What heat is tempered glass capable of withstanding?


texts: What's a good entry-level text/video on residential plumbing?

texts: Anything for the near-absolute beginner? I've removed the 180-degree angle dirt trap under my sink and cleaned a pipe with a motorized snake, but that's about it. Any book recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Any YouTube videos or usernames would be awesome too.


texts: How can I hide an HVAC line on the blank face of house with a chimney?

texts:
We have an exterior HVAC line running up the center of an exterior wall to a second floor unit. The face in question is the side of a colonial style, and has a two story chimney with a taper at the top of the first story. Currently the line is only protected by an ugly galvanized steel cover. These are the only two features on this face of the house, with the chimney about one third of the way from the rear of the house, and the HVAC line approximately dead center. There is no eave overhang on the side, and the line only runs to the top of the second floor, not all the way to the roof.

We are re-siding the house with Hardie Board (cement board), a slightly expensive job. The contractor recommends (and I agree) that putting the HVAC line back inside the walls is a bad idea, since any HVAC repairs would require tearing off siding (brand new, and expensive), or putting on an exterior cover (ugly).

The current plan is to frame out an exterior chase (there is no interior chase from crawlspace to attic), and run the lines in there. While it's the best plan I've heard of yet, I'm not a fan of some random column of siding running up the outside off the house. We discussed running the chase along the chimney, but the jog at the top of the first floor will make that weird, plus require HVAC line relocation.

Are there any ways to "hide" the exterior HVAC line, or to camouflage the exterior chase so that it doesn't look likely an out-of-place mistake that will lower appeal? I'm open to literally any ideas, but can say that we've already ruled out building an internal chase (too complicated/expensive). For reference, this is a nice-ish house built in the 70's/80's, in a decent part of town - there are no historical or aesthetic restrictions, just an upper-middle-class house that were trying to take good care of.


texts:
A year or so ago when I got my security system installed, they drilled a whole in my wall under an outlet and mounted a permanent plug there.  I would like to reclaim this plug for both convenience and aesthetics.

I was thinking that I could just wire these into the wiring directly, but then I realized that this is a transformer, so that would not like work.  My next thought was to install an outlet on the opposite side of the wall in the garage.  Is there an easier/better/other option?


texts:
I am about to do a shower and I have the bathroom gutted out to studs
I am watching youtube vidoes by The TileCoach who shows how to float walls in order to have plumb and swquare surfaces for your tiles.
Why can't you set your backboards plumb and square using shimming or something else instead of floating walls when installing tiles?


texts: How can I ground a fluorescent light that I'm attaching a wall outlet plug/cord to? The light  fixture has a ground cord already attached.


texts: Normal to see staples in hardwood floor? If not, how best to handle/fill?

texts:
When new hardwood floors are installed, is it normal to see visible metal staples? In a couple of places in my new hardwood floors I see staples. They are flush and not a safety risk or comfort issue. But they do catch the light and don't look great. I don't see them everywhere, but especially near ends and scattered above - this leads me to believe they were missed in a few places.

If this isn't normal, what do you do to "hide" them? Should I go back to the floor installer to remedy or is this something that if you don't like you do on your own.

See some examples:

=====

Edit:

Adding photos of the starburst pop I described in the comments below. They told me they will sand and fill this.

There are also several places where it looks like dust got trapped underneath or paint that seems to be bellow finish I can't scrape away. They told me in these spots they will sand and fill. Is this the best path, anything specific I should be asking for or on the watch for when they do this? I don't like seeing white dots, but  is there a risk they could do something to make it worse?

Is there some underlying issue I should be investigating here?

Edit 2:

This is a photo of a board in the dining room - the dinning room open flows into the living room. Is this a big problem/warning sign if they had to use so many staples in the middle of the floor between rooms?


texts:
The side without the bead chain on my roller shade looks like this:

How do I remove it? Google says to stick a flathead screwdriver into the tab between the bracket and to pull down on the bar, but it doesn't budge and I don't want to break anything;

Here is the picture of the other side with the bead string - the reason I want to take it down is so that I can reattach the bead string


texts: How can I test which mains wire belongs to neutral and which to ground?

texts:
I currently live in Spain, in an old building, where apparently electrical codes don't strictly apply... because not all outlets have ground or, indeed, not all connections are grounded. To make matters worse, the colours on the wires used are, well, haphazard, to say the least...

So if I want to install my own grounded outlets to avoid "exploding" my electrical stuff (because there're constant surges that have already fried 2 computer transformers) and in the wall I see mains wires of lovely rainbow colours that don't really tell me which is which, how can I test which wire belongs to neutral and which wire belongs to ground?


texts: How to insulate under hot water radiant flooring over a crawlspace?

texts:
I just built a small extension on my wood frame house.  We are in the northeast (winters down to the low teens).  We added three small rooms (mudroom, laundry, bath). They all now have hot water radiant heat in the floors:

Separate thermostats/pumps for each room
Two of the rooms have plywood/concrete/tile, with the tubing in the concrete.
One has plywood/plywood channels/solid wood, with the tubing in the channels
All are sitting on 6” deep joists on 16” centers
All are over a 2+’ crawlspace that is connected to a full basement
Crawlspace is not directly heated, but gets some residual heat from the basement which is uninsulated

My question is what to put in or on the joists to keep the radiant heat in the rooms above, not the crawlspace.

My choices seem to be either:

6” dense fiberglass insulation between the joists; or
reflective barrier across the bottom face of the joists; or
reflective insulation across the face of the joists.

Is there a compelling reason to use one over the other?


texts: Best shoes for walking on a standing seam metal roof?

texts:
I went up on my roof this weekend to do some work on an antenna and clean chimneys.  It's the first time I've been up there since I replaced the hail damaged asphalt shingles with standing seam steel.

I wore some basic cross-trainers, roof was dry, but cold - probably 35F.

The lower roof (4/12) was ok, but I didn't feel all that secure.  On the upper roof (5/12) I didn't feel very secure at all with regard to slipping and doubt I'll go up there again unless I can find a better solution.

I did some roofing and construction as a kid - working on roofs doesn't spook me in general and these aren't particularly steep.  But I've never worked on a steel roof before.

Will warmer weather or better shoes make a big difference?  I don't recall the crew putting the roof on having much trouble, though they got off in a hurry at the first hint of rain.


texts: How do I know if a firewall and mortar contain asbestos?

texts:
I want to remove a rock wall behind my pellet stove that was put in in 1980.

I have already removed some of the rock and cement that holds the rocks together where the pellet stove is sitting.  Then I wet swiffered it all and put everything in bags outside and put all clothes in washer and took a shower.  But I did not put on a mask or anything.

I do remember when my mother and I put this wall and pedestal up in 1980, my dad first installed some kind of backerboard?? that was a grey color that we attached the rock and cement to.  This is what I am wondering if it might have asbestos in.  I have pictures somewhere of us putting up the rocks and we did wear the simple white masks that people will wear when they paint or something because it was a dirty job (we added a black powder coloring to the cement mortar).

I think the backerboard could be removed in two entire pieces once the rocks and mortar are pulled down and hopefully the board wouldn't have to be sawed or anything. Everything that I have read says that the asbestos "stuff" was still being used in the "early 80's".  This doesn't help me much.  It is an easy enough job that someone would not have to be hired and this is why I am questioning the asbestos issue.  Also, is there a chance of asbestos being in the mortar in 1980?  Because I could even have someone pull down the rocks and mortar if there would be no asbestos in the mortar, and then hire someone to come in and pull down the backerboard if there was a possibility of asbestos in it.  Right? Or am I looking at this incorrectly?

If I am instructed to have the mortar and backerboard tested, how do I go about doing this?  Where do I go and does this mean I have to saw a chunk out of the 5X8 piece of backerboard or take one entire piece in to be tested? If I have to take the entire piece in to be tested, do I need to have someone take it who is an asbestos expert?


texts: Is it safe to put a microwave in a walk-in closet?

texts:
My spouse and I like to sleep with rice bags in the winter, which we microwave to heat up. To avoid having to go back down to the kitchen, we’re considering adding an outlet in our closet and plugging in a microwave on top of some wiring shelving.

Is there any reason this is not a good idea / dangerous?


texts: How do you find helpers for larger DIY projects?

texts:
Question: In cases where you have the time and skills to do a project yourself, but physically cannot without a second skilled person to help, how do you go about finding and hiring someone that is willing to work with you?

Example: I'm planning to build a detached garage as an owner-builder. I know the applicable codes, drew the plans myself and have AHJ approval for them. I also have the carpentry skills and tools to do the framing. Unfortunately, I am physically incapable of doing certain tasks without additional hands, such as standing up walls and installing windows and doors.

I'm trying to find someone that I can pay hourly to assist me for a week or two. I've gotten a list of framers from the local building supply store, but they want to do it all themselves with their own crew, not work with someone they don't know.

I'm sure I could find "warm bodies" to hire, but I really need someone that has at least some relevant experience.

What strategies do you use to find skilled assistance for larger DIY projects?


texts: Open Riser Stairs / Removing carpeting and converting to hardwood

texts:
We have a staircase from the first floor to the second floor.  The stairs are open riser, with the treads wrapped in carpet.  The reach a landing and then transition to closed risers.

Some treads are a bit loose.  So, we're already working to remove and repair a single tread.

I noticed the treads appear to be solid wood.  Is this an opportunity to replace the treads with solid hardwood or use plywood with a hardwood veneer + bullnose around the existing treads?
Is the process for refurbishing open stairs similar to closed risers:

Remove carpet
Cover treads with thin hardwood or plywood with hardwood veneer
Add bullnose to the front of the tread

A few basic questions:

Is this a conventional project?  I don't see many examples on the web.  This suggest that it is not common.  Why?  Are there important reasons not to replace the carpet on open riser stairs with wood?
What is the conventional method of covering the underside of the tread (see image below)?  The portion of the tread that faces away from those that are traveling up/down the stairs (e.g. the underside of the tread)?
Is adding 1/2 inch to the top of the tread going to make the first step noticeably rise too high?  Will it make the last step before the landing rise too little?


texts:
My plumber told me that this tank booster won't work with my hot water heater.

[edited: somehow the rest of my question got stripped off on first post]

His reason is that the cold water inlet and the hot water outlet are too far apart. It appears a longer hose could be used with the booster, but he said that it can't. I suspect he's wrong and just want to confirm. I read the manual for the tank booster and it doesn't say anything about not extending the cold water hose. I read the tank manual too and it recommends using a mixer valve (for safety... doesn't mention boosting).

Do you think I can go ahead and install this booster and simply get a longer hose for the cold water?


texts: Only getting 15-16 volts from Furnace R and C

texts:
I recently purchased a smart thermostat. Because it needed a common wire and I only had a 3 wire setup, I ran a new thermostat wire to my furnace. However, I now get only 15 volts (inconsistently, sometimes I'm getting 0 volts) between the R and C wires where I was going to connect to my new thermostat.

I then went to the furnace and tested the R and C contact and again only get 15 volts (again, at certain times I'll get nothing). The status code is blinking a code 24 for this Bryant unit which supposedly corresponds to "Secondary voltage fuse is Open - check for short circuit in secondary voltage (24vac) wiring". However, if it was a blown 3amp fuse, wouldn't I get no voltage on the contacts and not the reduced voltage that I am getting? Any thoughts on what this could be? Could it be the transformer?


texts: Basement has crack over a drain run no water leaking

texts: I'm trying to figure out how concerned to be. Most of the basement has slate tile, but I tore out a kitchen, and discovered this crack running from the nearest wall, to the sink drain, and on across the floor in the direction of the sewage pump, and near a support post. I pulled a tile up closer to the post and the crack seems to be turning away from it, so I don't think it's related to the post.  Do I need to pull up the rest of the tile to fix it? Should I avoid tiling over it? Whoever built the kitchen had filled the crack with some sort of rubber cement. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of water from it.


texts: Circuit breaker door shocked me. Static?

texts: I was switching through breakers to isolate outlets. I had the panel door open, stepped away, and when I walked back to touch the panel's DOOR, I got a static-like shock on my finger. I was wearing socks & rubbed across carpet before I touched it, so I'm wondering if this was a harmless static shock, or something faulty going on? It came straight from the door-- didn't even have a chance to touch a breaker. Left my hand a bit prickly, so I've been worried.


texts: I'm looking to patch a couple areas in my basement with type S mortar. I don't need much. Is there a method for mixing small batches of mortar? Either by measurement or feel? I thought I saw somewhere that you want a peanut butter like consistency.


texts: What should I keep in mind when altering the drainage around my basement?

texts:
My back yard has some wet spots near the corner of my house. Because of property lines, fences, and window wells for my basement, it's hard to dramatically change the surface drainage of the area. I'm considering putting in a plastic drain box and perforated pipe that will tie into the storm sewer system.

What things should I be careful of when doing this? Should I consider just doing a French drain which does not tie into the storm sewer? Should I dig a trench, line with small rock, then lay in the corrugated, perforated pipe?

I'd really hate to do all the work of burying the pipe only to discover I didn't do it right.


texts: Replacement for Jacuzzi tub faucet with both handles on one side

texts:
Our Jacuzzi tub faucet has both hot & cold controls on the same side. I am looking to replace it, but cannot seem to find anything like it on the net. Everything I see has the controls on either sides of the faucet & the plumber says that would not work. Does this type of faucet assembly have a special name? Where should I look?

Pipes underneath the spout & hot/cold knobs:


texts: Can an 8" rigid duct be split into two 6“ flex ducts

texts:
I'm trying to finish an en-suite bed/bath that currently has a capped 8" rigid duct coming off the main trunk. What is the proper method to supply air to both the bedroom and bathroom?

The bedroom is about 135 sq-ft and the bathroom is about 35 sq-ft. Can I just split the 8" rigid into two 6" flex? Or do I need to come off the trunk line with two 6" lines, one for the bedroom and one for the bath?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Securing metal actuator inside metal leg

texts:
I'm trying to build an electrically height adjustable desk from an old coffee table and some linear actuators. I need a way of fixing the metal actuators inside the metal legs. I can't use the pivot on them, nor can I drill any holes into the actuator.
Anyone have any ideas? I was looking at epoxy resin but don't know if it'll hold the ~10kg on each leg and still be sturdy (never used epoxy before). I can only afford about 7.5cm of epoxy from the top (see pics), because rest of the space is taken up by a telescoping interior leg.


texts: Is there any advantage to using larger stones in a free-standing dry stack wall?

texts:
I'm building a free-standing dry stack wall using ashlar scrap from a quarry (pieces of uniform thickness with completely flat top and bottom faces, but irregular sides):

Within each course of the wall, I will use stones of the same thickness. The final structure will be approximately 4 feet tall (6-8 courses total).

The stone is available in many shapes and sizes from small fragments of < 40 lb, up to the largest blocks that we can move without specialized equipment, ~300 lb. We have already used these largest pieces for our foundation and first course, but is there any advantage to using large pieces in the upper courses as well?

Disadvantages:

Larger stones are more difficult and take longer to move and place
Larger stones are more difficult to fit tightly with other pieces (without further shaping)
Although the courses are of approximately uniform height, there are some slight variations that can cause stones in the next course to wobble and rock. Larger stones create more leverage and thus can wobble more easily, requiring careful shimming. Smaller pieces can more easily be placed to avoid wobble.

Advantages:

Frictional force is proportional to mass. Larger stones are more resistant to lateral shifting.
Showing off that I can move such heavy stones
???

The frictional advantage gained by using larger stones makes sense in a retaining wall, where there is the lateral pressure of the retained soil, but is there any reason to use larger stones in a free-standing wall? Other than unplanned loads like a tornado or a bus, I don't expect significant lateral loads on this wall.


texts: Why would the light be on when the switch is off?

texts:
I've found a lot of answers to this question after replacing a light switch but this has happened without any work done to the light.
I have a living room light that is connected to a standard light switch on the wall.  No dimmers or anything fancy.  Seems like a standard two-wire scenario in the box.  Last night when my wife flicked the switch on one of the two bulbs went out.  Not terribly unusual for a bulb to go out.  When it came time to go to bed though, she found that the switch didn't turn the light off.
I flipped the breaker off and the light went off but as soon as I flipped the breaker back on, the light turned back on as well.  I can replace the switch since it looks like it is very old.  My only thought is maybe the switching mechanism is no longer stopping the flow of electricity but the fact that the bulb also burned out at the same time has me concerned that somehow we have a short in the walls or something.
Is this as simple as hooking up a new light switch or does it sound like there's more going on?


texts: What can I use to clean the walls in my bathroom before repainting?

texts: The paint in our bathroom is starting to peal and there are strange "brown spots" guessing from a shampoo or something (definitely not mold). What can I use to clean that up before repainting everything?


texts: How can I configure my wireless power switches to default to on after power outage?

texts:
I currently have ETEKCITY remote power switches.
I need to use two of these for ceiling LED lights that needs to be default on after power cycle.

This video shows someone being able to configure it to be normally on, which is what I want. However he doesnt say how he did it. I(t is seemingly not a hardware mod.
Anyone know how to do this ? I cannot figure it out.
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiCb1L5YXno"

Alternatively, If anyone has wireless power switches that can be configured as "default on" after powercycle, then please post the model.


texts: Does this look alright??? Does this meet code??? Electrical surrounded by water pipes

texts: I'm under contract for a house that needs some updating. A previous owner framed a full bath w/ shower around the electrical panel in the basement. The seller agreed to moving the panel & upgrading to a 100 amp panel. If the seller did not use our contractor we wanted to visit w/ the hired contractor & discuss paying the difference for the 200 amp panel we had originally discussed w/ our electrician. When we inquired about the process, we were told that the permit was already pulled for a 100 amp installation & the work already completed would have to be redone. When I stopped by the property today, they weren't completed, none of the wires were in the panel & they had moved it to the right side of the bathroom instead of the left. Now it is under & next to the old corroded leaking copper pipes for the washing machine & essentially in what will be our laundry room & right where I wanted to build shelving for my wife... Why would you move it out of a bathroom and into a laundry area??? Besides being mad that I didn't get the larger amperage I wanted & I didn't get the location I wanted... rant over... Is this up to code & okay the way they are installing this??? Seller is definitely saving money here.


texts: Should Honeywell W8150A1001 switch be set to “On” or “Override”?

texts:
I live in metropolitan Houston, Texas (note: high humidity), and this concerns a home I recently purchased. I have a heater (furnace) and blower unit installed in the attic, which is typical for many homes in Texas.

When I bought the home, I noticed the blower in the attic would always run even if I set the thermostat to off on the wall. I assumed there was something wrong with the compressor or thermostat, but something told me to look in the attic, and then I found this on top of the furnace/blower (I guess it is a combo unit).

Here is a close-up:

The Honeywell switch (I believe it is part of this system, and model number W8150A1001) was previously set to “On,” but then I set to “Override,” and I assume this enabled the wall-mounted thermostat to override that switch, because now the blower will not run if I set the wall-mounted thermostat to “Off.” Problem solved, or so I thought. While I am savings bundles on my electric bill, I am wondering if there was indeed a reason the previous owner had it set to “On” so that it ran all the time. After all, the switch says “On” offers “Optimized Ventilation.” As the switch is currently set to “Override,” do you think this might enable mold growth due to inadequate (i.e., not optimized) ventilation? Should I switch it back to “On”?


texts: How much to grout around receptacle box?

texts: At the tiled wall, when we grout the tiles, should we leave it out around the receptacle box?


texts: Why in the UK would a garden room have a canopy?

texts:
I'm putting a gym and art / craft rooms in the garden for the kids to mess around without making a mess in the house.  Typical garden rooms seen on architecture sites have patio doors, French doors or bifold doors in order to connect with the garden, and have a canopy over like these, then a patio outside.

Why would a garden room in the UK have a canopy?  And when would it be better to build one with, or without a canopy?


texts:
Some of the lower boards of my 10-year old Hardie siding have become brownish. I am planning to repaint. What is the best approach?
Prime it again and then paint. Or just paint?
I suspect rain water splashing from ground. Even from grassy areas.
When I scrub it it becomes bright yellow. I wonder why. Even brighter than a fresh board.
I ended up  priming it first. It looks fine now.
Realized painter's blue strip works 90% on Hardie as the texture is rough and some paint does get through. But still better than not putting the strip.


texts: Help finding a saw blade to cut clay bricks

texts:
I need a saw blade (either for my circular saw or miter saw) that can cut clay bricks but am confused by the terminology surrounding them.

I know I can buy a diamond blade, but those are expensive, so I'm trying to buy one of the black discs that can cut masonry.

I'm confused because most of those discs seem to be called "cutoff wheels," and many say they are for cutting metal. So, questions:

Is a "cutoff wheel" compatible with my saws as long as it is the right diameter? Or do I need to buy something that is labeled a "blade"?
Can I use a cutoff wheel for cutting bricks even if it says it is for metal?
Some of the cutoff wheels I'm seeing have different RPMs associated with them. Does that information matter for my purposes?

If there is something other than a cutoff wheel that I should be searching for, please advise.


texts: Combine evaporative cooling with ventilation to increase efficiency of temperature equalization?

texts:
We live in San Francisco, which is not known for high temperatures. But our apartment is on the third floor and we get a ton of direct sunlight through our 5'x8' windows. We open the windows enough to ventilate the apartment with fans, and otherwise keep them covered with heavy, reflective-backed curtains, but somehow the place still turns into a greenhouse. It can get above 85F inside, even when it's considerably cooler than that outside.

I've started thinking about evaporative cooling. I don't want to use an evaporative cooler in a closed room because of the risk of growing mold, but what if we were to combine evaporative cooling with ventilation? Normally when you're changing the air temperature you want to prevent air exchange, but we actually want to bring the inside temperature closer to the outside temperature. So, could we run an evaporative cooler to suck room heat into water vapor, and then vent the moistened air to the outside to keep the humidity from getting too high? Or am I failing to understand something about the physics here?


texts: What is a good finish for a table made from a solid door?

texts: I'm using it for a dining table. I really like the size, it's perfect as a large dining table.  What finish should I choose?  What is a food safe finish?  If I drop food on the table I want to be able to pick it up and still eat it. :)


texts: Repairing finish on basement block foundation wall

texts:
I have a room in a partially finished basement which was done by the previous homeowner which is needing repair to the walls. The house is old (1925), and the foundation is concrete block. The room in question is mostly below grade, and they have finished over the concrete block with some type of plaster, and painted it. I am now running into issues with the material falling off, and paint bubbling, so there is some obvious moisture coming through the wall. My issue is that I am not sure what material was used to finish the wall, it looks almost like drywall compound, but that seems insane to use on an exterior block wall. Here are some pictures of the issue:

More: https://imgur.com/a/rRV5aK9

Any advice on what the material I'm working with here would likely be, and my best approach to fixing the issues I'm having would be greatly appreciated. I'm assuming patching with joint compound isn't the correct solution here.


texts: Trouble getting bathroom fan/light working

texts: I know this is wired correctly, the outlet has power but yet the light won't turn on nor will the fan... Any thoughts?


texts:
I have low water flow from my kitchen faucet. However, both bathroom faucets have very high water flow.

I have verified all the shut off valves are fully open (bathrooms don't have shut off valves that I see) and all the aerators have been cleaned and put in vinegar overnight.

Also, I recently bought this house. I noticed very high water pressure from the outside hose. I bought a water pressure gauge and it was at 120psi. After reading about normal household pressures, I found the pressure reducing valve and turned it counterclockwise until the outdoor bib showed 60psi. This video I took is with the pressure at 60psi.

What would cause this large difference in water pressure?

Video: https://youtu.be/DpJPebfXhaI

The piece I took out from the back of the pull-out faucet. Went from 1 gpm to 1.5 gpm.


texts: Tying a switched line into a switched line

texts: Built a bathroom onto our office and need to run a switched line for bathroom ceiling light and exhaust fan. For simplicity's sake, looking to pull power source off the end of a line already on a switch. The already established line powers two ceiling lights in the office and I understand that this line needs to be switched on for power to go to bathroom. This is fine, nobody will be using the bathroom unless the office is in use anyway. Just want to know if this is okay. Thank you!


texts: How can I tell if something is ruptured inside my lawnmower?

texts:
My lawnmower got thrown into a rolloff container by mistake. When I went to dig it out, it was upside down and when I tipped it right-side up, all sorts of black liquid (I assume oil?) came spilling out:

Is it toasted? Any way to salvage or tell if something got broken or ruptured?


texts:
We have wooden porch chairs that were supposed to be painted with outdoor paint but they have succumbed to some sort of mold.  To repaint these would I have to sand/strip all of the existing paint & mold off?  Is there a way to just prime the chairs and then paint over it all without fear of bleeding?

Images of chairs:  http://imgur.com/a/puRnz

Note: I've tried removing the mold with every means I could think of (cleaners, bleaches, etc). It only comes off with severe abrasion to the point where the paint is coming off with it


texts: How should I apply brick to an interior wall?

texts:
I don't want to use veneer, I want to use real brick. Is it as easy as using tie-ins to the studs and setting the brick as one would normally?

The existing wall is drywall, So I was thinking of leaving this in place, screwing in the tie-ins and laying up the brick to my desired height.


texts: What is this hollow box made of steel hanging on the ceiling?

texts: This guy is talking about resilient channel while he is playing with another thing, a hollow box pointed out by red arrow. What is that?


texts:
I have a mystery regarding trip switches. The 2 switches that I isolate  when the problem occurs the 2 breakers does not trip individually, The main breaker trips all the time which is on a different circuit. Look at the attached picture. Arrows on the top shows the 2 breakers that I isolate and on the bottom shows the main breaker that trips all the time. By me isolating the 2 top breakers the rest work ok and no more tripping during the night.
During the day where I have most of the electrical appliances working  and don't experience any circuits tripping.

At nighttime when going to bed the 2 circuits keep tripping. These are the outside outlets and the perimeter fence lights although these 2 circuits are not in use

During the day I can use these 2 circuits and don't experience any tripping. I purposely used the perimeter lights and outside outlets during the day and they don't trip . They only trip at night even when not in use.

I have rattled my head to try and carry out fault findings with no results. Could it be that the breakers have weakened but then again why not during the day


texts: How to properly clean a rough concrete floor?

texts: I have an old house with an uneven concrete floor that occasionally needs to be cleaned. The basement floods during a hard rain due to some landscaping issues that I'm working on. I've cleaned it with a scrub brush and mop, but that can take quite a while and many passes before it's fully cleaned. I could also use a pressure washer but the spray from it might get other parts of my basement wet. I've looked at some concrete floor cleaning machines but they all seem designed for flat, smooth floors. What's the best way to easily clean the floor?


texts: How do I remove stickers and residue from a wooden door?

texts:
When I was a kid I put a ton of stickers all over my wooden door. In addition, I also taped on posters and pictures.

I tried removing the stickers and with some of them having been there for more than ten years they leave behind some paper backing and some sticky white residue. The tape also seems to leave behind some residue.

So basically, I am wondering, what is the best way to remove all of the stickers and tape from my wooden door so that my door can look as best as it possibly can? In addition, are there things I can do to my door after residue removal to make it look better?

Thank you very much in advance for your time.


texts: Why aren't siding nail holes a concern with tyvek housewrap?

texts:
So when you install wood siding over a tyvek house wrap, you take care to flash and seal all penetrations from plumbing, HVAC and electrical connections to make sure no water can get in... then you riddle it with nail holes when you nail the siding in place!

Why isn't there any concern about water penetration into the house through the nail holes? Does Tyvek seal itself around the nail holes? Or does nobody worry about it?


texts:
We're renovating a hundred-year-old house that's been through several owners and has hodge-podge wiring. I've redone all the wiring from scratch in the rooms we've re-walled. Everything has gone well until I messed with some old wiring in the kitchen..

Quick version: I replaced an outlet on the outside of the house that was part of the kitchen circuit because it killed part of the circuit and I have no idea why. Now I've killed the whole circuit by pressing reset on one of the GFCI's and now I'm really lost.

Long version: I have already replaced all the counter outlets with GFCI, and everything's been working fine for months (plug-in tester lit up correctly on all of them), so I know they're wired correctly. Yesterday I went to replace an exterior outlet (outside the kitchen wall) with a GFCI, but when I turned the circuit back on, half of it didn't work. It's an old house so each circuit has A LOT on it. This one has 13 outlets and 4 ceiling lights. From what I've been able to work out from looking under the house is that the circuit appears to start in the middle of the kitchen, go along one wall then up to the ceiling for the lights, then (I believe) it comes back down into the wall on the other side, splits in two somewhere, forms two legs, and dead-ends in two places. What's strange is that the outlets I killed are all upstream of the one I was working on, or they're on the other "leg" of the circuit.
I worked my way backwards to the first outlet that was working, replacing all with brand new outlets, wiring exactly as I found them. No change. Tonight, trying to think of everything I could have possibly not tried yet, I pressed the reset button of one of the dead kitchen GCFI outlets and the rest of the circuit blew. Tried to reset the breaker and it made a sparking sound and stayed off. Now the whole kitchen circuit is dead, and I don't know where the problem is.

What is happening?? I was meticulous with matching the old wiring once things went awry but I was on autopilot replacing the first exterior outlet. It's possible that I didn't notice some funky wiring and messed it up by installing it "correctly." I have come across some non-switched wires that had the white and black reversed in other parts of the house. Could a hot and neutral be reversed here, would that cause this kind of problem?

I'm pretty sure I need to replace the breaker now, but if I don't fix what's wrong I'll just blow the new one too..


texts:
My  back patio roof is a flat roof with 2x6 rafters which look to be connected to the house using joist hangers.  The far end of the rafters sit on a 4x12 beam.
With the weight of the swing and people, call it 500-600 lbs, is it ok to hang from 2 rafters?
Or is there concern the joist hangers would fail?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do I run ethernet, speaker wire, and coax through a wall into a crawlspace?

When my family moved into our house, there were holes in the floors where the coax cables meet the TV's. We've kept with this for a few years and have even pulled a few ethernet cables through the holes for our computers.

Next week we are having new flooring installed through the entire house. I don't want to be drilling any holes through our new floors. I would much rather have a wall plate with RJ45 & coax keystone jacks or something like this:

I would have no problem installing these jacks in the wall, except for the fact that I really don't want to have to tear the wall away.  We have a crawlspace where all of our wiring is ran to the holes in the floors. I believe I would have to tear the wall away, drill a hole through the sill plate between the wall studs for the cables to pass through from the crawl space. Does that all sound right? I've never replaced/repaired drywall before and I'm pretty sure it would look awful.

I couldn't find any articles or videos of someone rewiring their house with the purpose of not running data/a/v wires through the floor. I guess my question is how should I go about doing this?


texts: What size wire and subpanel for a pergola with an outdoor kitchen?

texts: I am putting an outdoor kitchen in and would like to have a subpanel to run the electrical needs. Their would be a mini fridge, grill rotisserie, 5 receptacles, 3 ceiling fans and some lights. I plan on having the receptacles on 2 different circuits so if we have crock pots or blenders going we don't overload. The main panel on the side of the house is 200 amp and it would take 90-95 feet of wire to reach the location the subpanel would be. The wire would go through conduit that has already been installed. What size wire would I need? What size subpanel? Thanks in advance


texts: Honeywell WiFi thermostat jumper loop separate ac and gas furnace

texts:
I need to validate my understanding for the installation of a WiFi thermostat that requires 24volt continuous power to operate in a constant state. I am DIYer who is computer literate.

Like a number of homeowners in the Northeast, we have a natural gas furnace for heat and hot water that operates 12 months a year. Our AC system is separate and is electrical,and operates only during the warmer months, The location of the furnace is the basement while the AC is in the attic. We have three heat zones; basement, first floor and floor. Two AC units one for the first floor and one for the second floor.

The current thermostats are located on each floor and are programmable. They are Honeywell 7 day schedule with batteries, consequently no c wire was present.

We purchased a Honeywell WIFI thermostat that requires a c wire for a constant 24 volt.

The gas heating system located in the basement is easily accessible and we able to run a cable to create the c wire. The AC system is located in the attic and although accessible is shut down during the cooler months, about 6-7 months a year. Since the AC is shut down 24 volt power would not be available from the AC systems to owe the thermostat. The more practical approach is to use heating system 24 volt transformer common for the c wire.

I shut off power to the furnace and AC while connecting or disconnecting the wires to the thermostat.

With this approach I connected the R and RC to the respective terminals on the new thermostat. The instructions in the Honeywell setup manual states that if you connect the R and RC you should remove the jumper cable. I believe that this is Honeywell assuming the heating and AC are combined units that share a 24volt power source. I removed the jumper loop on the thermostat

I introduced the C common wire by connecting it to the common terminal on the control board of the gas furnace. I powered up both the furnace and AC. The Thermostat powered up.

I followed the prompts for set up and was able to connect to my WiFi. The internet connection was made. The heat commands functioned perfectly. The AC however would not respond. I checked to insure the AC was on a the junction panel.

I thought that installing the jumper loop would allow the two system, heat and AC, to rely on the the c wire as common wire from the furnace. This would be more practical since the first furnace is on 12 months a year.  I turned off both heat and AC, Installed the jumper loop and turned the power on to both systems. Everything appears, heat and AC, to function without it issue. Even the fan function was operative.

I called Honeywell to verify my approach, but the person on the phone was unable to answer my inquiry.  He had to the speak with another CSR  after each question. I then wrote to Honeywell providing a schematic and narrative but no response.

If anyone can validate this approach we would be grateful. We. have disconnected the the thermostat until we can validate our approach. We would like to purchase a second WiFi thermostat but will not until we can validate or installation.


texts: 1 nest to control all vales on UFH manifold?

texts:
We are having an extension done and intend on having all underfloor heating in the new area. Currently we have a valiant combi boiler supplying the main house which has been T'd off with a valve for the underfloor heating when we are ready to install its manifold. I wanted to install a Nest thermostat for the main house and a second Nest to control the underfloor heating. Given the size of the room (50 square metres) I've been told it splitting it into 3 zones would be best. I'm not quite sure how that will work with the Nest, as their support desk mentioned that 1 nest can only control 1 zone. Is what I want achievable ? And if so, how would it be hooked up? I.e what do I need to do at this stage.

Thanks


texts: Searching for NEC Code reference for service disconnect location

texts: I'm looking for the NEC code reference that allows a main panel within a home to contain a main breaker because the meter is directly on the other side of the outside wall, versus installing a meter-main outside.  I remember hearing something to the effect of no more than 5 feet of service cable between the two boxes.


texts:
I replaced my old AC only thermostat with Honeywell RTH6580WF smart Thermostat. Also replaced existing 3 terminal wire with 4 for C wire hookup.

TSTAT specs h t t p yourhome.honeywell.com/en/products/thermostat/wi-fi-7-day-programmable-thermostat-rth6580wf

Current TSTAT wiring.

RED - R (jumper R and Rc)
YELLOW - Y (color has faded on it as you can see in image, I think its brown color, which is connected to white terminal from green pig tailed brown wire coming from outside fan unit)
GREEN - G

Below is old picture of TSTAT wire (brown wire non pig tailed) connected to furnace wiring before I snaked 4 terminal wire.

On furnace side there are 2 brown wires, 1 has green wire pig tailed and other don't. The one which is pig tailed is coming from outside FAN unit while other brown wire is coming from TSTAT.
Any idea where should I connect the blue wire from TSTAT to furnace side C Wire? (you don't see in attached picture as its the old TSTAT wire with 3 terminal)

I am thinking it should be connected to Brown and Red wire (FIG-2) using wire nut. I do get 28v between original Red and Brown wire making me think that brown is C wire. Is that right?

Thanks!


texts: How can I add an ammeter and/or voltmeter to my home breaker panel?

texts:
In my professional life, I work in datacenters and all of our PDUs have ammeter displays on them.

Of course they do: we always want to know how many amps a PDU is using.

But in my house, nobody has any idea. As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as a breaker panel, distribution panel, or anything else that has any metrics whatsoever.

This is weird, since I am constantly interested in how many amps either a particular circuit or subpanel is using—or even my entire house, for that matter. I am always looking for this data and have no way to get it.

I don't want to hang a clamp off the wires, and I don't want to take manual readings of circuits or wires. I want a proper ammeter with a real-time measurement.

How can I do this?


texts: Should the outlet that my space heater uses be getting warm?

texts: I have purchased two different types of home heaters - both worked well for many years.  Last year I wanted to plug in a clock radio and noticed that the wall where the heater was plugged in was slightly warm.  I checked all the outlets in the room and found them to be a bit warm.  I turned the heater off and the warmth went away.  Now I'm a bit concerned.  Do I need an adapter, stop using small portable home heaters, what?


texts:
The door seems to tilt backwards which makes door closing hard and I'm thinking it's because of this old top hinge with the screw sort of exposed.

I'd heard that tightening the hinge could help but I have no idea how would I do this with this kind of hinge.

I also have no idea how would I replace the hinge.

Is it even possible ?


texts: Im trying to install a tub in a new 60 x 30 inch alcove. The tub is fitting in and is flush with the existing wall but now I'm not sure how to make the transition between the wall which would be painted, the side of the tub and the tile surround. Second issue is that the new tub is not square, It is flush at the top but out and proud of the wall by 3/4 of an inch at the bottom. I sent an email to American standard to see if that's normal but have not heard back.


texts: I am trying to find out what the brand of this drive-in locking door latch is. It is circa 1975. I am planning to replace four of them.


texts: Why doesn't my solar water heater provide enough hot water for a few showers?

texts:
I bought a Helioakmi compact 200 solar heater. It’s properly installed but even with the electric element on it’s still not heating enough water for a few showers. In the evening the water is cold.
I am thinking of putting a circulation pump with two set of hot water pipes to keep the hot water circulation constant.
Will it work?


texts: exterior pe gas line - shutoff valve type

texts:
Running a PE gas line in a trench to a fire pit. Straightforward, permitted and will be inspected. (I understand the concerns many express about gas line work, but i'll have a licensed plumber to verify the work.)

Question:
I would like to install a shutoff valve at the meter connection to allow me to isolate it from the existing under-house gas system. There are many valve choices and I'm trying to understand the differences between them.

When I started this project, I just assumed I would use a full port lever handled ball valve, similar to what I've used on my water supply. They are often specified as 600 wog. I understand that the wog designation is for liquids and that there are other standards for natural gas. So I'm trying to find an appropriate valve for an exterior application.

Grainger carries these apollo gas cocks. These seem to be the traditional valves used on gas lines.

Why would one use choose this over a ball valve?
Thanks.


texts: What type of glue should I use to paste a vinyl sheet to a wall?

texts:
I have a vinyl banner(width: 6'; height: 8'), which needs to be pasted on the wall. I want to know if there's any glue which can act as adhesive between a vinyl sheet and a painted wall.

Please help. Thanks.


texts: What size wire gauge for 1000ft service run?

texts: Want to run wire 1000 feet under ground from pole to house. Will be using 100 amp service single phase. Would like to know what size gauge of wire should I use.


texts:
I hired a local roofer to redo my roof. One of the items in the contract is to "INSTALL 7/16” OSB SHEATHING OVER EXISTING ROOF BOARDS." The roof boards are rough sawn 3/4 inch thick pine, with a 1/2 - 3/4 inch gap between them.
Yesterday I found out they installed the roof without sheathing. The roofer claims that they decided it wasn't necessary. He says installing architectural shingles over wood planks is a widespread practice, and has offered me a 10% discount.
Apart from the fact that I think he shouldn't have made this decision without consulting me, I'm trying to find out to what extent the lack of sheathing will compromise the quality or lifespan of the roof. If there's a problem, the discount won't take me far. Would appreciate any advice or suggestions!


texts: What should I look for in a roof dryer vent?

texts:
I'm in the process of installing an upstairs laundry room, and I'm looking to vent the dryer to the roof.  The route to an outside wall is almost 25 feet, with a few turns, whereas the route to the roof is roughly 8 feet from the dryer - so I think the roof is the best option.

My question is, what should I look for in a roof vent? I'm in an area that gets a fair amount of snow in the winter (a few snowfalls over 1ft each year). I'm planning on using all solid pipe, and insulating the pipe in the attic all the way to the vent, and keeping the vent higher up on the roof to prevent ice damming.

What should I look for in the roof vent itself?

No mesh that would collect lint
Low back pressure
Metal or plastic?
High or low profile?
Anything else I'm missing?


texts: Can I use an existing range circuit for a new sub-panel?

texts:
Lots of good information out there but wanted to confirm that what I'm learning is accurate and also ask a little about aluminum wiring.
Context/Background
I'm finishing my basement (one bedroom, an office, a bathroom, a utility room and a large family room area). Home built in 2014, outside of Denver, CO. My main breaker is in my garage. A while back I added some circuits to my garage and anticipating finishing the basement. I ran an additional three 20A lines to the basement. Like all the other lines, they run up the wall in the garage across the attic and then down through walls and into the basement.
Problem/Situation
As I'm now doing the rough electrical installation in the basement I'm seeing a few unanticipated needs. I see that the sump pump is running off of the same circuit as the lights (not sure if that's allowed). I also would now like electric heated floors in the bathroom and would also put a chest freezer and fridge in the basement. There are no remaining open slots in my main circuit breaker panel (150amp). Lastly, I converted my electric range to gas recently so I have a spare 40amp 240V line only a few feet above the basement. It is 3 wire + ground. See the 2 pictures for the connection.

Can I utilize this 40amp 240v line to make a subpanel in the basement?**

If so, it seems that once at a subpanel I should have plenty of power for 3-5 new 120v 15-20amp lines to be used in the basement. Is this accurate?**

As it terminates near the back of my range, I would have to splice another appropriate line to it, in a junction box, then run that line to the subpanel. Am I allowed to splice such large conductors in a junction box and run it to the new subpanel? Any special requirements? I assume still accessible to space behind range? (aka can't drywall over it)**

I've only worked with copper before. Is it best to splice it immediately to a new copper line (6ga?) or keep it aluminum back to the new subpanel? I understand I will need correct connectors for this (Polaris?)** Can anyone tell me what gauge this aluminum wire is? Hard to tell with so little showing.

Finally, do I need to protect said new conductors back to the subpanel?** It would run for about 30 feet in the floor joist spaces/unfinished spaces above ceiling line into an unfinished utility room then drop down. PVC? EMT? FMC? Seems like 1-1/8" if PVC based on 6ga conductors. And where does the conduit stop? All the way to the new subpanel box or just until ceiling line? I would prefer to flush mount it in the stud wall but open to either way. Same question for the NM 12-2 or 14-2 coming out of the new subpanel to other circuits in the basement - does it have to be protected until within the stud spaces? I've noticed some pre-existing NM cabling within FMC as they transition from stud space into the ceiling...

Thanks so much everyone, you assistance is most appreciated!


texts: Three hots and a neutral in a recessed light

texts:
I was wiring a Lightolier recessed light (model 1000AICM) and I noticed that the junction box has three black wires and one neutral. I've never encountered this before. I conjecture the following: the three black wires are actually connected and are there only to facilitate daisy chaining of lights. So if I'm wiring a single light, I should connect hot to any one of the black wires and simply connect the other two together with a small wire nut.

Am I right? If so, why aren't there three neutrals, too?


texts: Mounting TV on Thick Drywall + 1" Stud + Concrete blocks

texts:
I am trying to mount my 55" TV to the wall in our basement. It is an old (~1930) semi-detached house and I am a mounting it to the shared wall. As best as I can figure out, we have 1.5" drywall mounted to 1x2" wood studs (1" thick, 16" apart) on top of the concrete block wall. This means I have to drill through 1.5" of drywall and 1" of stud just to get to the concrete. I can't tell if the studs are fixed to the concrete.

What is the best way to mount this TV? It's a tilting mount.

Thanks


texts:
I currently have a 200amp service feeding house including a 20amp 2 pole pool pump and a 60amp 2 pole pool heater/cooler, these circuits are not GFCI protected. I would like to replace the pool circuits with GFCI breakers as well as add a 50amp RV plug.
All single pole circuits have already been changed to tandems and I am out of space in panel. I think a sub panel is best, is there another option? If I do a sub panel is this circuit correct?

100amp breaker in main panel

#4/4 AWG 5 feet to sub panel, sub panel neutral and ground not bonded

20 & 60amp GFCI breakers in sub panel feeding existing pool circuits moved to sub panel

#4/4 AWG 12 feet to RV 50amp plug with one leg also feeding a 120v receptacle

All circuits have no neutral or grounds connected to any other circuit except the sub panel bus bars. am I correct, and is there anything I'm missing to make this up to code and safe? Thank you!


texts:
My existing well pump (at 550 ft deep) is a nearly brand new (installed last July) 3 wire pump and I do not want to replace it. However, I now have a 1500 gallon underground cistern in which to store water. I can use the existing pump just fine, but filling the cistern rapidly depletes the well, which doesn't produce water as fast as the pump can drain it.

Is there a way to take my existing pump and reduce its operating speed so that it pumps slower than the recovery rate of the well?


texts: How can I reduce the noise of a street in front of the house?

texts:
Situation: A rented flat with a busy street right in front of it.
The bed room faces towards the street with a window front.
As the flat is rented I can not build something permanently like new windows or a wall. I already thougt about styrofoam plates, other foam or heavy curtains but don't know what is usable.

According to a municpial computer model the noise is between 55-75 dbA in 4m height from the ground. The flat is like 10-15m from the ground.

How could I reduce the noise from the street?

Edit: As it was suggested that this question is a duplicate of this one and this one: I don't have a garden and can not set up a wall. My question is only about inhouse insulation.

Edit 2: The noise is mostly a problem during bedtime as it disturbs the sleep. Foam earplugs are not a solution for everyone due to medical reasons.


texts: Do I need a stairway for egress from a balcony that's off a second floor bedroom?

texts: I have a rental cottage.  It has two stories with a bedroom and bath on the second floor that are accessed by spiral staircase. The bedroom opens onto a 4'x13' balcony which is 16 feet above a courtyard.  Does Massachusetts building code require a stairway from the balcony to the ground?


texts: How can I test my drill and batteries for faults?

texts:
Apologies if this is off-topic.

I was given a used standard cordless 12v drill and 2 batteries, without the battery charger. The drill didn't work at all with one battery, and just turned slowly for about 2 seconds with the other, so I assumed the batteries were flat and so ordered a new charger.

However, this didn't seem to work. Having got a replacement charger to eliminate that, I found it still doesn't work. I assume it's the drill that's the issue, but it could conceivably be the batteries.

What do I need to do to test the batteries and drill with a multimeter?


texts:
I noticed the AC installation by my house's previous owner left an unpatched hole in the siding, close to the ground. We have a lot of rain in the fall/winter. I don't know how long it's been like that.
Is this a concern of damage inside the exterior wall? Concern of mold? Would simply patching the hole be enough?


texts: Circuit breaker kicks off when one switch is on

texts: I have a ceiling fixture with three wires coming in to it one is hot, one goes to the wall switch one goes to the next room to a light switch. I need to know why would one black wire went straight to the light from the wall switch and the white wire from the wall switch went to the black hot in coming wire.


texts: Why do only some DSL ports work for internet in my house?

texts:
I recently tried moving my modem from the ground level to the second floor, where I just put in a PC in my office. I have 3 phone jacks upstairs (2 in the guest room and 1 in my bedroom), but it would be much more convenient to run an ethernet cable to the PC if the modem were in the guest room.

Unfortunately, neither of the phone jacks in the guest room work. One blinks green on the DSL light, but the internet light never comes on. The other jack gives the DSL light a solid red.

For whatever reason, the phone jack in my room works just fine (DSL light turns solid green, internet light comes on). I've done some preliminary Googling but haven't been able to come up with a solution, even though I've seen similar posts. I have no phone filters (no landline to hook up), and no splitters.

Any insight would be much appreciated!


texts: Torque screwdriver hex bit for main panel breaker, etc

texts:
I finally used the 10-50 in-lbs Torque screwdriver I received yesterday to all the breakers in the main panel and subpanel. The Siemens load center MBK100A breaker is the hardest to torque because of the 55 in-lb torque rating. I only have 50 in-lbs maximum.

So far all breakers were under tightened, except for some 20 in-lb breakers that were tight already. Some were under tightened by 50% like the Siemens main breaker and the din rail MCB with recommended torque of 55 in-lbs and 30 in-lbs respectively.

In the Siemens main panel, I was able to torque the right lugs well to reach the 50 in-lbs limit (when the torque setting was reached, the screwdriver slips instead of click sound, it is great design), but when tightening the left lugs. I couldn't reach 50 in-lb before the screws got so deformed the tool can no longer fit tight. So my three questions:

How can you know whether the hex bit is the right size for the lugs or any screws?
What is the biggest flat screw driver that can fit the Siemens MBK100A load center main panel perfectly?


texts: Are there markings on studs or drywall that indicate when it was made?

texts:
I am trying to figure out when a wall was installed. I am certain it was not original to the house since the wood color does not match many of the other studs and there are left overs of an older wall behind this one.

Are there markings on studs or drywall that could indicate when it was made?


texts: Which components need replacing in my Frigidaire oven?

texts:
I've been having gradually worsening trouble with my electric double wall oven (Frigidaire model GLEB27T8ABA) for some time.  The problems have become intolerable, and I intend to attempt a repair.  Inasmuch as I think one or more of the oven's control boards are to blame, and these are expensive and probably non-returnable, I hope someone will evaluate the symptoms and my diagnosis.

Symptoms, roughly in order of appearance:

The two oven lights normally do not work, but occasionally one or both briefly do.
We have occasionally had alarms and oven codes in the past, but we are not currently seeing any.  A repairman that we had look at the problem cleared the code by power-cycling the unit, and we have done the same a couple of times since.  I have poor records on the specific code, but I think it was an F0.
We have observed the top oven failing to heat to the set temperature, yet reporting that it was at temperature.  We subsequently had the top oven heat perfectly normally, as judged by an oven thermometer.
The oven door latches, one or both, sometimes engage by themselves.
The exhaust fan sometimes turns on and off by itself.
The top oven now no longer turns on at all.

Overall, new / recurring symptoms seem to have been associated with running one or both ovens, and perhaps more so with running them longer and / or at higher temperature.

The oven has three control boards -- one main "timer" board that seems to house all the control circuitry, and a separate relay board for each oven.  I am pretty confident that the timer board is faulty (but any contrary opinion on that is welcome).  The main concerns that I hope an answer will address are

whether one or both of the other boards may also be faulty,
whether the symptoms suggest a fault in any of the other wiring or components as a possibility, and
whether I risk damaging a new timer board if I install it into the system alongside faulty components (else I can tackle the problems incrementally).


texts: What could be causing water pressure drop with sprinklers?

texts:
My first issue is that when the sprinklers come on, there is a significant drop in water pressure in the sink, shower, etc.  I checked the sprinkler lines and there are no obvious leaks (i.e. holes in the ground).

Part II of my problems is varying pressure in different sprinkler zones. There is no pressure in sprinkler zone 1 (sprinkler heads do not come up but dribble water), 1/2 pressure in sprinkler zone 2 (sprinkler heads come up but are at 1/2 flow), while sprinkler zone 3 has full pressure.

The sprinkler repair company wants to add a pressure regular to the line to the sprinklers (runs at over 100 psi when it should be 75 psi) and split sprinkler zone 1 into two zones due to the # of sprinkler heads on this zone. However this does not answer why sprinkler zone 2 is at 1/2 pressure.

Ironically, the house was built in 2009 and for the past 5 years, including last year, the sprinklers ran fine with no water pressure drop problems.

Any suggestions?


texts: Smoke detectors (wired/wireless) - how much is enough

texts:
Our house is fairly new (2013 build year). We moved in 2016. On the second floor we have 3 wireless smoke detectors and 1 wired and on the first floor we have 1 wired smoke detector and 2 wireless. They are all positioned in about the same area. I am curious why do we have so many and can we get rid off wireless (it is time to replace them anyway)

I am trying to research everything. And so far I only found something about ADT alarm. We do have ADT installed.

Update on position. On the second floor all smoke detectors are located in the hallway (not in bedrooms). They all positioned on the area of roughly 1 m^2.
On the first floor all smoke detectors are in the hallway next to bathroom, laundry room, living room, bedroom and fairly far from kitchen. They are all positioned on the area of roughly 1 m^2.

More update I just carefully inspected the second floor and found out that there is smoke detector in each bedroom (total of 3), they are all wired. There is also extra wired smoke detector in hall way next to two bedrooms. Also one bedroom on the first floor has wired smoke detector. It seems like all other wireless smoke detectors are excessive.


texts: Under what circumstances is 5/8" drywall required?

texts:
From what I understand the code usually discusses things like fire rating (not specific thickness) as they relate to required material, and also the fastener pattern and what thickness to use versus stud spacing.

However, I've also heard that 5/8" is specifically mentioned by dimension for use as attached-garage separation from living space.

Yet another person has told me that 5/8" is specifically required for residential ceilings.

I've been unable to confirm the specific thickness requirements in the IBC.


texts: I have a 10 breaker transfer switch (reliance), and I want to pair up two more breakers from my breaker panel to the one breaker on the transfer switch. The two breakers just are for lights from the panel to lights on the transfer switch and all are 20 amps.  This won't all be used at the same time. Is this against code? The amp draw will be minimal.


texts: Wiring a four wire gfci with a ground wire

texts: My gfci tripped last night. My line side wires up but the load side trips the gfci. My voltage tester says theres current in the black load line but to the touch there's nothing, What gives?


texts: Why is my control panel for AC/Furnace not working when the fuse is ok?

texts:
So a few weeks ago I replaced my thermostat with an ecobee3 smart thermostat. In the process of wiring the thermostat I blew the 3A fuse up in the attic and had to replace the fuse. The thermostat then worked fine for about a week. I do have a C wire.

Then suddenly there was no power to the thermostat. I went back up in the attic and even though the fuse looked ok, I replaced it again anyway and the ecobee lit up right away and worked for another week. At the time I suspected I might not have fully locked the cover panel in place and the kill switch might have just popped open.

Today the thermostat was dead again. I went up in the attic and the fuse was ok but I replaced it anyway. No dice. I tested the fuses from this week and last week with a multimeter and they test just fine. Still, I replaced the fuse yet again but still no power. So I don't think it's a fuse problem.

I verified there is 110v to the power outlet up in the attic where the furnace is plugged in. I used a multimeter to test the thermostat wiring for the ecobee and it appears that no power is making down to the thermostat.

I tried pushing on the kill switch while the unit is plugged in and while doing that no lights go on inside the furnace (I read online a light should go on showing the transformer is working) and the thermostat wiring gets no power on the multimeter. There's only one little red light on the control board but it stays dark no matter what I try.

Does this sound like the transformer would be bad? I can't figure out why the ecobee3 would work for a week and then die, only to work again for another week when all I did was open and close the panels in the furnace (and replace fuses that didn't need replacing).

See pics attached -- is it time to call a professional? I don't feel comfortable replacing a transformer on my own.


texts: Help with a Nest E install on a old HVAC system

texts:
Hello I am trying to replace this thermostat with a Nest E but this has proven more complicated than I thought:

I plugged all the cables to the nest adapter and figured that the blue wire which wasn't used on the old setup is the common wire so I plugged that in the C position for the plate and on the furnace side I added it to a pigtail that had the R wire on it. After charging it, it turns out that it cannot detect any power from the R wire but 24V is detected on the C wire. Since I wasn't making any headway I rewired the old thermostat and that works fine so I do not think I've burnt out anything. I am not sure where to go from there so any help is appreciated. Here are the pictures from the furnace side:


texts: 30 y.o. air pump troubleshooting. Where do I start?

texts:
500 sq.ft. apartment, 2nd floor, 32 y.o. through the wall, ducted air heat pump. The pump is installed in a closet next to the apartment (separate entry), and the air ducts spread from there along the front of the condo unit to 5 openings. It heats well, cools not so well: when the inside of the apartment heats to 79 during the day, it can bring it down to about 70; but the outside temperature is about 70 as well, so just a window fan would have helped as much.

I found that:

Some of the ducts have leaks
Air leaks out of the unit
Some of the duct insulation is off, exposing ducts to the temperature in the HVAC closet.
Coils seem to be relatively cold to touch after 15 mins of operation

R12 is used as a refrigerant.

I appreciate starting points as to how to troubleshoot the problem.


texts: Whirlpool dishwasher having issues, what would cause these symptoms?

texts:
I have a Whirlpool dishwasher (type 575-0). Over the weekend, the dishwasher control buttons simply stopped working. No LEDs came on when the button was pushed, dishwasher didn't start, nothing.

Yesterday I disassembled the dishwasher, reset all the connections, and clean up the door switch. After reassembling the dishwasher and turning power back on, exactly one light came on (the sani-rinse). Thinking it was just the lights, I pushed start and when I closed the door, there was a mechanical grinding sound. I don't think it was the integrated disposal, it sounded more like a pump or valve. It definitely didn't sound good. After that happened, the board was once more dead. After resetting the power, again the single light. I tried putting it into diagnostic mode, but nothing happened.

Does this seem like a control board issue? With the odd sound, I'm wondering if one of the pumps/values is causing a problem that breaks the controls. The control board costs 1/3 of the amount of a new dishwasher, so I'm not going to replace it unless I know that is the problem.

Does anyone have any ideas on what the issue could be?