texts: When cutting nails with dremel, can sparks be dangerous?

texts: I'm preparing the ceiling in my basement for painting, which means cutting off a ton of nails from the flooring above. I started cutting using my Dremel with the reinforced cutting wheel, but it would shower sparks against the floor joists and ceiling. Are these sparks hot enough to be a fire danger? What are some alternatives?


texts: Insulation options for narrow ceiling space

texts:
I've got a flat roof ( wooden, sealed with tar and then roofing iron on top of that ) with a 30 cm gap between the ceiling.  Not really enough for someone to crawl in unless skinny.

There's no insulation there at present.  The lowest the temperature gets is 0 Centigrade.

I've read on various sites that you need a gap between the roof and any insulation, about 30 cm. But that would mean I can't insulate.

Is the purpose of the gap to prevent condensation of the insulation material against the roof?  Is that a concern when I have a wooden roof?

Could I use blown wool?  That is said to both absorb and release moisture.

I don't have any down lighting ( which can be a hazard if covered with insulation ).  Recommended R value for this area for the ceiling is 2.9 metric ( US R of 16.5 )

video of roof space


texts:
I'm redoing my kitchen which adjoins the eating area.  Part of this was removing the soffits or fur downs, which has now left my ceiling without large strips of drywall on 3 sides.

The kitchen area is 10' deep and then another 10' of that is eating area, where the drywall is intact.  I'm trying to decide if I just patch this or replace the ceiling in the kitchen.  And how do I tie the new kitchen ceiling in with the eating area?  I do plan to remove all the popcorn and go over with orange peel.

But I would need to stagger sheets of drywall, right so I wouldn't have one long line across the room between the two areas?

---Edit---

Tonight I tore down the kitchen part & cut back to the nearest stud.  Here's a sketch of what I'm left to fill in (joists are dashed lines).  Any advice on staggering?  I plan to start on the left side and do 3 full sheets + 1 strip over the stove area.


texts: Refinishing slate tiles with worn-out portions

texts:
We recently moved into a home that has slate tiles in the bathroom, but the tiles don't seem to be well-maintained, and they have several areas where the lacquer finish has worn off, probably due to water buildup.

What would be the best way to fix these areas? Is there a product that I can apply that will effectively refinish the problem areas and restore the color to the tile?  I'd like to try to avoid having to strip and refinish the entire floor.

I actually did a spot test on one of the tiles where I etched off the problem portion and applied some sealer (TileLab sealer & finish), but it turned the color just ever-so-slightly darker, and nowhere close to the original dark green color of the rest of the tile. What could be going on?


texts: I am putting up a second story in a small building I want to create a framework to carry the load of the addition. I'm putting in piers and posts, which I have found correct info for. I have a stock of lumber, 4x6's and 6x8's, I would like to use the 6x8's. They would be supported by the piers and posts, one exact set on each under side of structure. The total load they would carry is 4500 lbs. so two sets of, two piers and posts with 6x8 beam spanning 8'. Hope this is not too confusing! Lol Thanks for the help


texts: What could cause a chainsaw chain to stop moving?

texts: I have a 40cc Craftsman 18" chainsaw, and was cutting and the chain stopped moving.  Earlier it would rotate freely when I started it, even without pulling the trigger.  Now it does not move at all.  I'm nervous to pull it too hard, and wonder if it's just some safety setting that I accidentally triggered.  Any advice?


texts: Creative way to fix this bi-fold closet door top pivot hardware?

texts:
I've got some circa 1975 bi-fold closet doors with an oblong top slider that pops into the track when the bi-folds are all the way open, and then holds the door in the track once they are opened a bit:

I'm missing 2 of these, and I've tried searching online for a replacement, but all the bi-fold hardware I see seems to have circular sliders.

Does anyone have an idea what brand this is, how to find a replacement, or a creative way to make something work?


texts:
The original problem was that running the garbage disposal would force water into the other sink.

I assumed that happened because there wasn't anything blocking water from flowing between the two (typical t-fittings for drains have a plastic piece to prevent this)  So, I tore that out and made it look like this.

That's all well and good, but I have the same problem.  I think it's because the drain in the wall is high compared to the bottom of the sink.  I had someone suggest using a double wye at the wall; his thinking was the angles would prevent water from flowing back.

Is this legal? Are there better ideas?


texts: 60A sub panel located 220' from source...in conduit..what guage al wire to meet ONT Elec code?

texts: I want to wire a 60A subpanel that is 220' from the main source. The wire will be AL and run through a buried conduit.... Must meet Ontario Electrical code


texts: How can I repair laminate floor boards with damaged edges?

texts:
I noticed that two panels of my laminate floor board have not joined well: there is a small gap between them. Now, it seems that constant wear is damaging the edges of the board.

Is there any way to repair this? Basically I would like to seal the gap to stop the chipboard edges from getting more damaged.

Potentially I was thinking of using some kind of glue/sealer/enamel that I could fill into the gap. (I thought to use a Stanley blade to cut a constant V into the edge, then fill.)


texts: Should I be concerned about this roof bubbling?

texts: I have zero experience or knowledge regarding roofs. I love this house and am on the brink of putting in an offer to buy it. The offer would be followed by an inspection (but I'm told these inspections are very basic.. I guess I could pay extra to get a roof inspection if needed). My question is that this house is about 8 years old, and currently the roof looks perfectly fine. However I just found this picture of the house on Google street view from 2012 (when it would have been maybe 2 years old). So as the roof no longer looks like that, I can assume they've fixed it - but my question is if I should be concerned about what they've fixed exactly...(just the shingles or the underlayment as well?), also wondering what may cause this and if it says anything about future concerns for the roof. Any thoughts or suggestions on this are appreciated!


texts: How do you figure out how deep the water table is somewhere?

texts: I'm looking at buying some land, and was wondering how to figure out how deep it is to the water table so I can know what I can put in a location in the yard.


texts: Schluter... Membrane over green drywall?

texts:
We're about to remodel our bathroom, having tile applied to about 17 linear feet of wall (8' high).   90% of the wall area to be tiled already has green drywall.  The remainder is open studs, where a bathtub used to sit.  The tile contractor suggests we rip off all the greenboard and they will put up 1/2" kerdiboard instead.
I was thinking to fill in the missing greenboard (about 16 ft2) and the installer would put membrane over the whole thing.
I understand that either way will work.
It seems like it would be cheaper to go greenboard/membrane. I'm doing the drywall work (ripping off or installing).
Which is preferable and which would you do??


texts: Is there any way to use a UPS properly when there's no ground wire in the outlet? (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

texts:
Is there any way to use a UPS properly when there's no ground wire in the outlet?
I have a GFCI setup and an outlet with a ground wire but it's not a real ground (apparently; I don't quite understand GFCI). My UPS's that have a 'wiring fault' light indicate a wiring fault (lit up).
My UPS's will sometimes give out (and my computer's reboot), even on low wattage load (like less than 50%), and I suspect it's due to not having proper ground. But they give out even when there's no apparent surge/brown out, no thunderstorm, etc. Should that be happening? Would this not happen if the outlet were properly grounded in a modern way?
Thanks


texts:
I have a cupboard that has glass items in it:

I'm thinking it would be really cool if these were glass shelves.
Is there a special type of glass for this?  I'm thinking it's got to have some kind of rounded edge on it so nobody gets cut, but then is there some kind of glass that is less likely to get scratched as items are slid on & off the shelves?


texts: Appropriate breaker types for kitchen circuits

texts: We are updating our kitchen and I was just wondering if someone could tell me the code appropriate type of circuit breakers to use for circuits in the kitchen.


texts: I have an old pendant light fixture with a ceramic bulb socket that needs new wiring (the old cloth covered wires are falling apart). There is a copper colored screw and a silver colored screw in the ceramic socket that the wires connected to. Can you help me to know which wires go to which in the junction box in the ceiling? Do I just attach new wires to the screws?


texts:
my dishwasher isn't draining.

I checked the drain hose and it's clear enough that I could blow air through it.

I removed the drain pump, model #W10158351B I measured the resistance
between the two connector pins: ~24ohms.
I connected the two leads to
a 120VAC supply. The impeller would turn maybe 2-3 degrees and stop,
with the motor making a hum. I did this with the polarity only one
way (randomly chosen).

I think this is pretty conclusive that the motor is dead but I'd like to be sure before I buy the replacement.

I'm also surprised to find water has been leaking out of the pump bit by bit. I presume that means water has made it past the impeller seal and is generally bad?

Is my drain pump bad? Are there other tests I should perform?

Thanks!


texts: Rain/irrigation run-off drain pipe opening constant dripping

texts:
Our house is at the bottom of a slope, and all rain water and irrigation runoff gets collected through a underground pipe which has an opening at street, a few yards away from storm drain.

We recently found a  small amount of water constantly yet slowly coming off the pipe and thus get collected on the street. There is water even when sprinkler is off for whole week and no rain. Where can this water come from? We do have a damaged sprinkler for the lawn (riser does not come up, nearby sprinkler heads lose water pressure ). there is no leak according to water leak gauge for the whole house. Can anyone please help diagnose the source for this water?


texts: How to prevent expansion on wood block wall/door

texts:
I'm about to make a sliding door using a plywood back and a wood block front like the one below.

Is expansion a problem in this case?

I would probably use construction adhesive to glue the blocks in. The door will be outside but protected from rain.

This panel will be attached to a metal frame making double sliding doors. I'm in southeast Brazil, so sub tropical climate warrants a bit of seasonal humidity change.


texts: What is the lifespan of a typical incandescent light bulb?

texts:
Does anyone know what the approximate normal lifespan of a regular incandescent (say 60 W, if necessary for an answer) lightbulb was back in the 1960s, 70s or 80s. Note - I am looking for the situation in former times, not what is currently specified for "now" lightbulbs.

Obviously, this would vary depending how often the lightbulb was turned on/off, and maybe other environmental conditions, but I am just looking for a very rough ballpark number, for a lightbulb that was, say, in a bedroom, or living area, somewhere where it would go on and off at least once a day usually, and often a couple or 3 times, and would be lit maybe 4 or so hours per day. Just a rough typical lifespan, like e.g.: "6 months", or "a year or so", or "5 years at least"...something like that, just from your memory of changing lightbulbs.


texts: Electrical sheathing removal for pool light?

texts: Can I remove the sheathing from the pool light junction box to the panel, to make it easier to pull through existing conduit?


texts:
I'm having trouble with the doorknob on the door that goes from inside my house to the attached garage.  I installed a new doorknob (Kwikset brand, exterior) a while ago.  It works perfectly if the door is closed gently.  But, the door has self-closing hinges, and it tends to slam shut.  When it closes too hard, the doorknob sticks and is very hard to turn.  My wife and kids sometimes can't open it.  I was able to help a bit by adjusting the striker plate, but it's still an issue.  (I'm using the striker plate that came with the doorknob.)  What should I try next?

Removing the self-closing hinges isn't a good option.  I asked a local builder and learned that they're required by code.

Update:  I neglected to mention that the house came with some weather stripping all around this door frame.  It gets compressed between the door and the frame.  I tried to find the right balance in the striker plate position so that I don't have to slam the door to get it to stay closed.


texts: Horrendous electric bill in new apartment - what are we doing wrong?

texts:
We moved from an apartment (approx 1000 sq ft) in NH to one in MA (approx 1200 sq ft) to be closer to work (Boston). Our old apartment electric bill used to hover between $70 and $110 monthly. Our provider is the same in NH and MA (Eversource). The new place is new-ish, the building having been constructed in 2006.

Today I received the electric bill for the new place and to my horror, it came up to $278.93. Here's the bill:

Important factors that I can think of:

The old apartment had individual room air conditioners while the new
place has central air. We keep the temp at 72 degrees all the time.
The old apartment had a common laundry room for the whole building
while the new one has a W/D within the unit but we don't do laundry more than once a week anyway
The new place has a lot
more lighting, but we're pretty good about keeping lights off when we
don't use them
Most (if not all) electric appliances in the new place are newer.
Flooring is hardwood throughout

Now, my questions:

Is it advisable to keep the central air off or at a higher temperature when we're at work for the day?
Is such a high delivery charge normal for the Boston area?
Are there any other tips to help bring this insane cost down?

EDIT: Adding more details based on comments...

Most (if not all) lights in the new place are fluorescent/LED
The older apartment was on the first floor, corner unit. The current one is on the second floor, corner unit
Air conditioning at the older place was used on an as-needed basis, so during the day the ACs would be off while we were at work and when we were home we would turn them on. But usually since both of us were always in the same room most of the time while we were home, only one AC was on at any given moment. Also, the ACs were ancient and had no temperature settings, only dials on a 1-10 scale for cooling. We always set them to 6-7.
I'm not able to access our prior bills to view the billing rates. I had signed up for e-billing and whenever I click on the 'view bill details' link in the email, it takes me to my new apartment's billing. Eversource has different sub-websites for different states and it looks like my account is now MA only, and the NH part has been deactivated.


texts: 240V power plug, only getting 120v, and 97v?

texts:
This is the plug/socket:

Between one line and neutral, I get 120v. Between the other line and neutral, I get nothing. However, when I go between the line and the line, I get 97 volts. (I'm testing this at the end of a wire hooked to my drier, the prongs on my multimeter won't go that deep.)

Also, this is my multimeter and I tried on the 200 and 600 range on the top left quadrant of the circle. I am also in the last 2 ports (left to right).

Edit: I did check continuity between the prongs and the ends of the wires, everything checks out.


texts: Non-Permanent Plastic Pipe Sealant or Join Improvement?

texts:
Brief: Looking for recommendations on a product to improve the seal of 2 joined plastic pipes (narrower pipe wedged into wider one) that is non-permanent + water and hot/cold resistant?

Details: I have two plastic pipes (similar to PVC pipe) which is part of an Enersol solar pool heating panel that fit together, one into the other with a locking pin to hold them together. The fit is too loose and they leak constantly (we have had endless problems with these).

As far as I can tell they are not damaged, just that the pipes don't fit snug enough. I want to make the seal better, but it can't be permenantly cemented together because if one panel needs to be replaced they have to come apart.

I was about to try a wrap of teflon-tape around the inner pipe and try that, but it occurred to me that there might be a product meant specifically for this. Needs to be waterproof, and fairly heat/cold resistant. It is on the roof.

Disclaimer: we are not handy at all.

Thank you kindly.


texts: Rig a 10W DC solar panel to feed back into house power?

texts:
I have one of these: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/retired/9759

Is it possible to rig it up so it is providing general power for my house albeit in very low capacity?

How would I do so?


texts: Why does the cold water pipe rattle when my washing machine is set to hot?

texts:
When my washing machine is set to wash a load on hot, the cold water pipe rattles. The pipe is firmly anchored to the wall. The pipe makes a noise like a hose that is half-kinked, like theres an air bubble in it. The noise is coming from the pipe on the wall and not the washing machine itself.

How can I diagnose this problem?
Why would a washing machine set to hot use any cold water at all?
What would cause my cold water pipe to make this noise?


texts: What is the plumbing diagram symbol for a water hammer arrestor?

texts:
Despite my best Google queries, I simply cannot find an image of a typical water hammer arrestor symbol for a top-down 2D plumbing drawing of a single floor. Can any provide an image of this symbol or tell me if one does not exist? I certainly could create my own symbol and explain it in the key (I plan to provide a key anyways), but I would like to use standard symbols wherever possible.

I am also planning to do a riser diagram separate from the top-down 2D drawing.


texts:
I'd like to add a subpanel to add a couple circuits (Extra inverter Mini Split ACs, well pump, etc.) but my main interior panel is full and recessed in concrete. I added a manual transfer switch from the main breaker next to the electric meter (utility - power generator).

Can I tap the main lines with a polaris style 3 way splice insulated connector into a new sub panel box?
If I splice this way, should I splice from the utility line or can I splice from the load line that goes into the interior service panel?
Would I need to get a 125 amp sub panel for the new circuits I need and want to have spare for future use?
Which would be better and cheaper? BR breakers are the most common here, but I keep hearing about Siemens.

Side note:
My home uses 125 amp and noticed that the wire used from the main 125 amp breaker next to electric meter that goes to the interior service panel is 2 AWG. I had purchased 1/0 AWG wire. I'm not sure whether to change to 2 AWG wire or keep the 1/0 AWG for the transfer switch and subpanel.


texts: thermostat wiring: pick terminals that have wires connected

texts:
in case of my home ac thermostat,  wires are directly connected to O, W, G, RH. There are jumper cables between RC and Rh, Y and W. I want to install the new thermostat. How should i select wires in step "install thermostat" step in video at minutes 1.15?

In the attached picture, the letter are in order O,B,Y,W,G,RH,RC


texts: What is this object on my exterior wall?

texts:
This object is attached to the exterior wall of my three-year-old, estate built house. It sits immediately above the patio doors and internally, on the same wall, there is a black cable protruding from the wall whose connectors look similar to, but not the same as, coaxial connectors.

Is this a mounting point for a satellite dish? It seems to be oriented such that any dish would be facing the opposite direction to others that I can see around the estate. Does this matter? I've never had a satellite service before.


texts: Can I use scaffold boards butted side by side instead of rafters for a flat roof?

texts:
The thickness of a scaffold board is 35mm and so laying the boards side by side (just like you would see on scaffolding) instead of using 4 by 2's will create an extra  60mm of much needed headroom under a section of my garage flat Roof. It would be a permanent installation. The boards would then be sheathed with 18mm ply and possibly edpm roofing material.

The area I wish to cover with said boards would be less than 4 square meters and the span lengths would range from 1.4m to 2.2m. All 4 sides to this area would be supported - ie. 3 walls and a beam. My thinking is that it might even be stronger than using 4 by 2's at 400 centres.

Is there any reason you can think of why using scaffolds wouldn't work?


texts: How can I tell where my inground sprinkler hoses are?

texts:
I'm going to be building a deck next week in my backyard! I'm very excited for the project, but I'm concerned about one thing: digging the foundation holes. I have an inground sprinkler system, and I'm concerned that I'm going to hit a buried hose when I'm digging.

How am I supposed to find where the hoses are? Also, what if I start digging and find a hose.. Can I move the hose, or do I have to move the hole?


texts: Does anyone know how I can remove this handle? There's no setscrew and it appears to be 1 piece. I tried to pry it off. The drain says it's a Kholer, not sure the drain matches the faucet.


texts: How do you secure wood framing to a concrete basement floor?

texts:
I'm using Pressure treated lumber for the bottom plate in a basement finishing project.

What should I use to seperate the wood from the concrete?
What are ways to secure the bottom plate to the floor?


texts: How to build retaing wall for pool past 2ft?

texts:
All of these retaining wall blocks I see at big box hardware stores all say max build height 2ft. I have an area that requires closer to 2.5ft, a little more for base layer.. what are my options? Can I do something to stabilize to add another two layers or so?

This is to surround the dirt, as this area was dug out from slope. I will be back filling with river rock and a few inches of soil behind wall.

I was looking at these as I don't need a really fancy looking brick, but I need one that can go a little more than 2ft without breaking the bank:

Brick


texts: Is there a way to remove the mildew smell from under tile without damaging the tile?

texts:
We live in a rental.  The toilet was leaking when we arrived.  Landlord paid for a plumber to do a simple repair, but before that, there was definitely water pooling underneath the tile (and seeping through the grout in some areas when you stepped on the tile.  The correct thing to do, I suspect, is to re-do the tile and clean up the mess.  However, our landlord will not agree to this and I don't have the time / funds to do the project right now.  I'm wondering if there is a temporary way to get rid of the mold / mildew under the tiles.  You can guess what I'm thinking: pour disinfectant all over the grout and tile and hope it seeps backwards and kills all the mold.  I have enough sense, at least, to ask if there's a chance this may work (with the right product) and also whether there's a better temporary fix.  Thank you!

2013-12-10 Edit: Thank you to those who provided advice. I thought I would update: I took no action and slowly (maybe a month or two), the smell went away.


texts: Does adding metal plate/foil behind radiators increases their heat distribution?

texts:
There is this theory that if you put a metallic foil behind radiators, will make them distribute heat better in the house rather than heating the wall next to them.

Is this true, are there any statistics on the issue?

If this is something that is done, what kind of materials can I use?


texts: How can I put a new connector on an RF cable?

texts:
I bought a house not long ago, and the coax cable from the antenna that comes through the wall looks like it's been chewed or mangled somehow. It's missing the connector too.

I'm thinking about how I'll want to use this to get TV into this room. So I'll need to put a new end on. How do I do that?


texts: No ground wire in any recepts in my home 2 wire only

texts: No ground wire for the 3 prong recept. Tester says open ground. I need to ground all the recepts in my house to pass inspection. What is the best and low cost fix? Thanks


texts: Can I remove parquet flooring adhesive by using a heat gun?

texts:
I have to remove a parquet floor with possible bitumen adhesive and am unsure how thick the adhesive was applied.  I need to remove the flooring to prep for laying ceramic tiling.

Could a heat gun be of use to remove the adhesive rather than costly solvents?
Is this an effective method for preparing the floor for new tile?
If not what course of action would you recommend?


texts: Leaky pvc ball valve handle cap and pvc joint

texts:
I spent a long time fixing a broken irrigation pipe but now have small leaks in a couple of places. In the picture water flows downwards and the ball valve controls the flow from the main line to the irrigation line.
1. Highlighted in red is a leak on the cap of the handle of the slip in mueller ball valve. The leak happens only when the valve is open completely or in certain position.
2. Highlighted in green the joint at the elbow coupling and the horizontal pvc pipe is leaking. It only leaks at the botton and I verified it by checking that the top and side of the joint are dry.
I would hate to redo the work again as there is no give on the surrounding pipes and the only option would be replace the whole manifold. It can be done but I am looking for a spot fix for both from the experts on this forum.


texts: New house concrete slab foundation cracks

texts:
I am building a new house in North Texas, it has been 17 days since the foundation was poured, I live close to the construction site, so I've been going 2-4 times a week. Today I finally was able to walk inside, since it now has a roof (no shingles yet). I noticed a crack in the foundation that goes almost side to side, maybe 1/16 wide, as well as a missing chunk in the top. The rest of it I noticed very few small hairline cracks and the sides and edges look good. I am wondering if this is something I should be concerned about it.

I will discuss this with my construction manager/builder but wanted to ask here as well. I already have a phased inspector but for the pre-pour foundation they poured a day earlier than they said and my private inspection wasn't done, only the city inspection. Is this something that I should be concerned about or perhaps hire a private structural engineer to look at it?


texts: Bled Hot Water Heat but pressure increased again

texts:
I have a oil (converted to natural gas) hot water boiler running three zones of baseboard heat. Lately I have been hearing water rushing through one of my zones (I don't hear it on the other zones). Additionally the boiler pressure is 20 psi. From research it should be about 12psi. I opened the spigot on the affected zone and drained about 4 gallons of water until it flowed freely without spitting. The pressure went down to 10-12psi. However as soon as I shut the spigot, the pressure climbed again back to 20psi. I can still hear washing rushing through the pipes but could that be just refilling?

What should my next step be? Should I drain more water on the zone or is there another valve that needs opening? Here are pictures of my system. You can see the hose on the spigot I opened.

UPDATE: Following the comments below, I reduced the pressure on the fill valve which reduced the boiler to 15 psi. I will wait to see if I hear the water rushing through the pipes.

UPDATE: Water still rushing through pipes.


texts: push in / snap in panel spring clip edge fastener? help finding product or name

texts:
I've seen them many times before but can't seem to find the an image, name or product.

You know the clip on your houses circuit breaker panel door that keeps the door closed.  It's a little metal clip M shaped clip that snaps into a metal edge or pin.  Well,  I've seen them on flat panels to secure them over openings in thin sheet metal walls. I have a 6 inch round opening in sheet metal I want to cover with a 7 inch 1/4 plywood and want it to snap in. To open it I would have to apply pressure out to compress the clips.

What is the name of those clips and where can I find them?

They look something like this..but orientation is wrong and seem too thick. the idea is that the clip is attached to the panel and just needs to snap into the substrate.


texts: Is there a more visually discreet alternative to a range hood?

texts: Is there a more visually discreet alternative to a range hood for ventilation? Maybe a system in the wall that sucks in odors, etc?


texts: Building code requiring rooms to have internal windows?

texts:
I am staying at the Radisson in Colorado Springs this evening and I notice that some of the rooms, in an extension built about 15-20 years ago, have large security windows facing into the hallway. The rooms also have normal outdoor facing windows. At first I thought they must be offices, but in fact they are otherwise normal bedrooms. The hotel management says that when the extension was built the local code at the time required them to install windows facing the hallway. I cannot see what possible purpose this could have. Why would a building code require a bedroom to have a window facing into the house?

I guess my fear is that if I built a house in Colorado Springs, maybe they would require my bedrooms to have windows facing the interior which seems crazy.


texts: Adding 'Smart' Capabilities to an outdoor Wisebox 4 Channel Receiver

texts:
I have a 4ch 10a Wisebox, which I use to control a bunch garden lights. The wisebox came with a wall switch and keyfob, which have a carrier frequency of 868.3 MHz. Now I'd love to be able to control each of these channels via both Wifi and the wall switch however, the Wise Wifi interface is £250, which seems massively overpriced. I was wondering if there was any suggestions to add this capability without having to fork out the full compliment. Ideally I'd like to hook this up to Alexa at some point as well but its not essential. I'm not sure if its best to try and get some wifi enabled RF transmitter or something 'inline' (sonoff maybe??) with the unit.

Links to the above equipment:

Wisebox details here

Switch Specs here

Wifi interface

Thanks


texts: What tools do I need to cut flexible metallic conduit?

texts:
I need to cut 3/8" flexible metallic conduit and am looking for suggestions on how to cut it (i.e. Conduit Tubing cutter, hacksaw). How do you smooth the edges that were just cut?

I have a 7 foot piece without wires and want to cut it to size to 4.5 feet. This is a first for me in cutting this. I need smooth ends for attachment to an outlet and an outside receptacle.


texts: Meter and service panel separate from house

texts: I am renovating a farmhouse that has been unlived in for 8-10 years and has had power disconnected for that amount of time as well.  The previous owner in order to test a well without changing/fixing the wiring inside the house had a meter and main service panel placed on a pole 20' from the house.  It has a single grounding rod at the pole.  There is currently no line running from this to the house.  When I reconnect the house to power will I need to move the main to the house?  Do I just have to reconnect to the old service panel (In the middle of the house) or will I have to replace/move the panel to where the power will be connected to the house.  Will I run a new set of grounding rods?


texts:
I’m installing a roof vent to exhaust a new kitchen cooktop. I put a 6” hole in my roof and fit this painted metal vent between the asphalt shingles. I have sealed around the roof penetration l, under the vent flashing along the top and sides, over the vent flashing on the sides under the shingles, and over the two nails I put through at the bottom. I used Henry Wet Patch because it’s already 44F outside and not likely to warm up any time soon.

I feel like I cut away more shingles than I should have on the sides. And on top, the flashing is below two layers of shingle. Is this correct?


texts: How to add colour to grout for wall tiles

texts:
I'm preparing to tile a bathroom wall with white 100x200mm tiles. For aesthetic reasons, I'd like to use contrasting grout in a bright vivid colour. All the pre-coloured grouts I can find for sale are shades of grey and beige. What would be the best way to add colour to white tile grout?

I'm leaning towards stirring paint into pre-mixed grout, or else mixing my own grout replacing some of the water with paint. But I'm not sure what type of paint to use, how intense a colour I could reasonably expect, and whether doing this might affect the grout's ability to do its job.


texts:
At the moment, I have a receptacle that has no ground but is using three prongs. I plan on fixing this by installing a ground screw in the electrical box and routing a copper wire from that to the receptacle. This would probably only be a few inches long. The box itself is grounded already as it's metal.

Do I need some kind of permit to legally do this? I know about a code that says something along the lines of needing a permit to create or extend a wire. Local code also says permit is needed to install/replace/repair electrical wiring with certain exceptions (such as replacing receptacles/switches)


texts: Does a fixture connected directly to the ground stack (vented) need to be vented separately?

texts:
I'm adding a shower in the basement (there was a half-bathroom already) and the new drain is literally right by the stack (probably few feet away, 3-4' max), so I would think the air coming from the stack itself (which is vented in the upper floors) would be more than enough to prevent any siphoning here, but I want to make sure that is the case and find out what code says about it. What are the conditions for a pipe to be acceptable as a wet-vent?

And, if I can't use that as a wet-vent, would an inline vent (like sure-vent) suffice in my case?

Thank you in advance for your insights.

========

Edit:

here is an actual image ( the Pex pipes are only there to get the copper pipes out of way! )

I also draw where the new shower drain will go and the possibility of a cheater vent in the wall.


texts: Running NM wire romex along rafters in vaulted ceilings

texts:
So my ceilings look like this:  /\

I want to replace / relocate my breaker panel.

The circuits run along the rafters into the attic space (small, cant stand up).

My questions:

Can I just fish romex along the rafters?
If I do that, it doesn't seem possible to staple them every 4' - so how do you secure romex in non accessible places where you are fishing wire?

Thank you


texts:
My Bosch fridge developed a strange chemical smell around the ice dispenser, and the ice was collecting above the ice flap. After disassembling the front panel, it seems like the smell is from the solenoid that opens the ice flap. The resistance across the terminals is infinite even at the highest rating on my multimeter, so I figure it's burnt out, thus leading to the smell and flap failure.

I can't seem to remove the solenoid though. I followed all of the steps, removed the screws, etc. but it's firmly stuck in there. I've given it a few good tugs, but it doesn't budge. It looks like the solenoid shaft should stay in place given the pictures, but given the way the plastic is warped around the shaft head it almost seems like the solenoid head punched through:

Am I just being too cautious, and I should tug this out hard, or is the solenoid perhaps jammed in some way and tugging harder will damage something?


texts: What is this name of this vent attachment next to my furnace?

texts:
What is the name of this silver vent attachment thing at the bottom of the picture?

It is attached to the side of our gas furnace.
The black part is an insulated air duct which goes to a vent outside.
The furnace is in the basement of our house. We have cold winter climate in Canada.
The vent seems to pour in cold air from outside though.


texts: Stud finding for window curtains -- what does it mean that the whole side of the window frame is magnetic?

texts:
I had originally hung up window curtains by putting plastic anchors into the plaster and screwing into those.  After a year, that fell out.

Searching online, it seems if I find the studs / wood framing and screw into that, it should be more secure.  I used a magnet I had to try to locate the studs; the magnet sticks to the wall anywhere within about an inch of the window frame.  I thought the screws in the wood were only supposed to be spaced apart 8" vertically so I would only expect the magnet to stick every 8", or am I misinterpreting that?

And as a renter can I screw into the wood?  If not, I guess I need a toggle of some sort?


texts: What is the purpose of these roof joists/braces in old house can they be removed

texts:
I am working with builder to replace the ceiling in the loft of my 200 year old house.
The old ceiling has been taken down and we are going to put joists between rafters for the new ceiling, attaching to the rafter just above the existing purlins.
In the loft room two purlins run down each side of the room each purlins runs from the gable wall to a central structure that supports the other end. But there also two additional braces that traverse the room and run under the two northern purlins and the builder says it is okay to remove since when we add the two new celing joists these will tie pairs of rafters together and provide further support, but Im not so sure. Each brace is notched out to run under the purlin  and bolted to the purlin from the bottom on one side and then attched to the rafter on the other side. So one brace is attached to the left purlin and one to the right purlin.
I know purlins mainly support the rafters (and it turn is supported by load bearing walls), but since each has a v notch under each purlin it seems it is intended to somehow support the purlin rather than tie the rafter to the purlin. Since the main central brace that supports the central structure  also has these vnotches and this is clearly intended to support the purlin.
Note I use the word brace and vnotch for the want of a better word.

All 3 braces (furthest two be removed)

brace 1 left side

brace 1 right side

brace 2 left side

brace 2 right side


texts: Heavier than poly transparent coat for vintage door

texts:
I got this door at a local vintage shop and stripped (for the most part) many coats of paint. I first used StripKleen, then Dumond SmartStrip, then sanded. There is a little more removal to do (another round of sanding maybe) but here is what it looks now:

The objective is to achieve a oil-based stained finish (light oak stain, so that original wood grain remains plenty visible) and some transparent finish that is preferably thicker/heavier than polyurethane. Like something half the way between poly and epoxy. I am trying to make it roughly looking like it would have 100 years ago.
My questions are:

Should I go with something like shellac or lacquer?
Since I used StripKlean and SmartStrip, is there a product I can use to clean/neutralize any chemical residue/conditioning of those products before I apply the stain?


texts: House Has Different Types of Siding - How to look seamless?

texts: Alright, I am looking to purchase my first house. One of which looks somewhat like the one below. As you can see, it has a brick sided portion and a vinyl sided portion. Obviously this house has been added onto, like the one I am looking at. Is there a way that this house can be made to look seamless so it all looks original? I wouldn't miss brick but do like stone. Also, being that it has been added onto, is there anything I should look for?


texts: How can I fix chipped paint from the wall?

texts: I've gone and accidentally scratched the paint off my wall. It annoys me. The scratch isn't big, but if I can see it I'm sure everyone can see it. Is there an easy way to fix this chip/scratch without having to sand and repainted the entire wall again. The scratch is tiny... but my OCD is getting the better of me and my eye twitch is getting larger the more I look at it.


texts:
I'm finishing our attic and I can't quite figure out the best approach. The house came with the attic already "framed" with a kneewall, but the studs are just just angled directly into the rafters like this.

As you can see, there's no top plate of any kind. My understanding is that you need a continuous surface to attach the drywall, so I need a top plate for the knee wall and a bottom plate for the ceiling wall. Or is that overdoing it? If so, what prevents the drywall from cracking at that seam?

We've already done one room by cutting a short top and bottom and toenailing them in between the knee wall studs. As you might imagine, this is very time-consuming and frankly doesn't look great. I don't want to rip them out a build a whole new wall because I'm not 100% confident that none of them are structural. I've  considered just building a new frame on top of the existing studs with a whole new top and bottom, but that also seems like overkill (and complicates insulation).

I tried researching this elsewhere, but all the discussion I found centered whether to bevel the top plate when you build it new. I never found any discussion one way or the other on a bottom plate for the ceiling wall. Do you generally not attach the bottom edge of the drywall to anything?

So what's the best way to approach preparing this wall for drywall?


texts: Lamp buzzing when off, only on two specific sockets

texts:
Last week my bedside lamp started to buzz when off, especially at night.
It makes noise even when the switch on the socket is turned off. If I touch the lamp the noise stops.

More strange, it does make noise only on two sockets.

I've searched the issue online but all posts seem to be related to old houses while mine is new.


texts:
I have a shed that was just built with the idea of being used as an entertainment shed.  Although we call it a shed, it was built more like a 10x12 house. I currently am getting the electric installed and am trying to figure out what I need to use for insulation. It will be climate controlled.  We live in southern Ohio so we have all 4 seasons and a fair bit of humidity with quickly changing temps from day to day.

The shed has vinyl siding with Tyvek wrap underneath and a metal roof.  The floor has a layer of rigid insulating board already.   My question is do I need to use faced or unfaced insulation?  My main concern is development of mold.   With the moisture barrier on the exterior and sealing up any openings with spray insulation, will having faced insulation create a problem with restricting air flow?  Also, the ceiling is open (like a cathredral ceiling), so do I just install the insulation then drywall directly over it like we are the walls?


texts:
I am trying to patch this drywall cutout.
I secured drywall piece with furring strips and applied first coat of joint compound. I am struggling with hiding these brown fibers from drywall paper.
It keeps coming up when I try to apply mud with my drywall knife.
Am I doing it wrong ?


texts: Furnace keeps trying to ignite but never does -- no codes

texts:
Our furnace is a Carrier Cobra GB1AAV042901ACJA made in the 39th week of 1994.  About a week ago, it died without producing any diagnostic codes.  The tech diagnosed the problem as the old control board and replaced it with an ICM282A he had on hand -- and it fired back up again.  It turns out the control board was bad, in that a contact terminal on the blower relay had blown out completely and was no longer making a connection.  We celebrate the return of heat and move on...

Only, to find two days later, that the furnace has stopped heating again.  Now, it simply does not produce a flame, going through an infinite loop of "run inducer motor, turn igniter (hot surface) on, turn on gas valve for a moment, turn off gas valve, turn off HSI, turn off inducer, start all over again".  The control board does not blink any codes while this is happening, and does not lock out.  I have run the self-test on the board and the blower motor, inducer, and HSI all pass with flying colors.  Our tech has conjectured it is a stuck gas valve, or a problem with the new control board.  My only theory left is to close the gas shutoff, then apply 24VAC to the gas valve via an ammeter to see if it's actually pulling current/operating normally or not operable/cutting out.  Is there anything else we can do to diagnose this?

Update: further diagnosis has yielded that the gas valve is audible and a faint smell of gas is present when the furnace is trying to cycle.  Applying 24VAC to the gas valve M terminal with the wire to the control board disconnected and the gas shutoff off yields 310mA or so, so clearly the gas valve is fine electrically (i.e. not open circuited).  Only thing left is a control board that's either incompatible or DOA, or a gas valve that opens slightly but doesn't open fully...

Update 2: yet more diagnosis (with another ICM282A installed, as well as a replacement White-Rodgers 36J24 gas valve), and we get 500mA going to the gas valve when jumping 24V to the gas valve manually (as well as ignition, as we did this with both the gas shutoff and igniter on).  However, putting the ammeter in line between the gas valve and the control wire from the board yields a mere 200-250mA.  WTF?  Could we have a board that's driving the gas valve too weakly?  (The install manual for the valve says it only draws 280mA though...)


texts: Why are certain radiators hot during the night when the thermostat is very low?

texts: We have a gas central heating system and we have set the thermostat to come on at different temperatures during the day. Generally between 7.00 and 22.00 it is set between 19 to 22 centigrade. From 22.00 it is set to be 10 degrees. During the day we can see that the settings work ok but we during the night it isn't clear. Most of the radiators have the same make valves as the thermostat. There are 2 older ones that do not (bathroom and hall). During the night these 2 radiators get hot and we dont know why. Surely if the thermostat is set to low 10 degrees then the boiler shouldn't be producing hot water anyway? Can someone shed some light on this?


texts: How do I achieve required torque when using an impact driver?

texts:
There's such tool called impact driver (like this one for example). The manual says it uses a special mechanism to produce a series of torque impulses to fasten/loosen nuts and screws.

The tool has only two adjustments - the forward/reverse switch and the On/Off switch. The deeper the On/Off switch is pressed the faster the tool motor rotates.

There's no clutch to adjust the torque value after which the clutch would disconnect the motor. How do I control the torque without a clutch?

Suppose I need to assemble a section of fence that will require say one thousand screw/nut connections with nuts of the same size (that's not an imaginary task - I did such job without an impact driver). Obviosly I need to tighten all nuts to more or less the same torque. If I overtighten a nut it can just break or cut the screw or bend the parts it connects - that's bad. If I undertighten a nut it will soon loosen and fall out - that;s bad as well.

So let's pretend I use nuts that need to be tightened to approximately 70 Newton-meters and the driver I use is said to produce torque up to 100 Newton-meters.

And of course I need to drive those nuts fast - otherwise why would I use a power tool instead of a screwdriver and a usual wrench? So obviously I can't time the periods of applying torque or count impacts or whatever else - I need some reliable way to achieve more or less the same right torque for all nuts.

Please note: I don't care of achieving exactly the right torque. I only care of achieving more or less the required torque - so that the nuts don't loosen on themselves and parts are not damaged while the nuts are being tightened. The primary concern is that the driver works very fast, so if I hold the switch pressed for just too long I can easily overtighten the nut and cause unintended damage.

How do I achieve roughly the same torque repeatedly for multiple nuts when using an impact driver?


texts: 237V seen across terminals of a dimmer switch when 'off'

texts:
I have a household, dual module dimmer switch. One module is working and dims a 3A sidelight loop, the downlight loop with 4 drivers doesn't work and I'm fault finding.

I noticed on the working module that the voltage across the terminals is 237V when off and then reduces when on - it's a push on/off and turn dim. The voltage changes when turned as expected.

But I was expecting to see 0V on my tester when off, what am I misunderstanding?

Is the tester and the way the dimmer work showing a potential difference even though no current is flowing?


texts:
I will give as much information as I can, but my knowledge is limited.

There is a staircase with a 2 way switch.
There are 10 LED lights throughout the stairs. They are using direct current.

The old LEDs were taken out and now I have 10 holes with 2 wires each. I GUESS one wire is positive (+) and the other is negative (-).

When I connect ALL of my new LEDs, each postivie to the positive wire in the wall and each negative to the negative wire in the wall, all of them light up extremely low.

After that, I tried to connect them one by one to see what happens.

To do so, I connected all the wires from the wall with each other (1st hole's 2 wires were connected together, 2nd hole's 2 wires were connected together, etc) and in one hole only, I connected my LED (tried the wires to see where it lit up, knowing this way, the positive and negative). The light that came out was bright and as it should be.

So next, I left everything as is, and connected one more LED to another hole. Once I did that, the light was again extremely low as it was when I connected all of them.

Any ideas of what is happening or what I am doing wrong?

The new LEDs are from an LED strip that was cut, and 2 wires were solder, one on the positive and one on the negative.

I am adding a schematic, have in mind I have nothing to do with electrical engineering. Just trying to make it easier to understand what I am talking about.

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

For further details, if you need something I can check that have not said above, please ask me.

Thank you!

New (transformer/adapter)

New LED

Old (transformer/adapter)

Old LED


texts: How can I prevent these LEDs from blinking when turned off?

texts: In a block of units we installed 240v EARTHED downlights. I believe the neutral maybe 2-3volts above earth causing the lights to flash when turned off. The fittings are provided with earth connection as they are metal and operating at 240. If I disconnect the earth the blink stops. In NSW may the unit board be MENed, would this stop the above earth condition. There is a Core balance breaker on the light circuit


texts: How do I estimate BTU usage to properly size new gas line?

texts:
I have an existing natural gas line that feeds my furnace, water heater, and an indoor fireplace.  That's all working fine.  I'm considering adding a second line that would feed a new gas range (my current range is electric), an outdoor grill, and an outdoor fireplace.  There is a guy coming next week to make a quote for the work, but I wanted to get a jump on understanding the situation.
I understand that the new line has to be sized large enough to support all the load I will place on it, and also the gas line into the house (and up to where the two lines split) has to be large enough to support everything I'm planning.
I can find the numbers for the existing indoor fireplace, water heater, and furnace, but I have not yet purchased the items on the second line (new gas range, outdoor grill, outdoor fireplace) so I'm looking at descriptions online to estimate BTU usages.
The grill seems straightforward, at least this one says 48,000 BTU.
But when I look at gas ranges, it gets complicated.  All of the ranges on homedepot.com (like this one) tell me the BTUs for each burner, but not the BTUs for the ovens.  And even if I find the BTU for the oven, do I size the gas line so I can run every burner at full power AND both ovens at full power, all at the same time?  I guess that's not a totally ridiculous scenario on Thanksgiving ...
What value do I use for BTUs for a gas range when sizing the gas line?


texts: How often would a chest freezer need to be defrosted in a very humid tropical area?

texts:
Approximately how often would a chest freezer need to be defrosted if I live in an area that has a very high relative humidity and dew point.

Relative Humidity: 73%
Dew Point: 70 degrees

I read on the web that most people need to defrost once a year, however this is with regular humidity levels, does anyone know approximately the frequency of defrosting with the mentioned humidity levels?

Regards


texts: How to clean a very textured patio with deep mud and rust stains?

texts:
I would like to clean a very textured patio that has deep mud and rust stains so I have tried using washing up liquid but that hasn't removed it.

Any suggestions on how to would be grateful.


texts:
I'm adding hardwired [edit: and interconnected] smoke detectors and replacing some knob-and-tube wiring. I'm using 14/3 wire on a 15a circuit, and 22 cu in boxes where new boxes are needed. The middle fan is a whole-house fan in the hallway; the others are ceiling fans in bedrooms. The lights are in the hallway and bathroom (I didn't show the bath fan, on the same switch).

The wiring seems overly complex, with the boxes close to full code capacity. Am I missing some more elegant way to route everything??


texts:
In several places in the ceiling of my 1986-built bungalow, there are long straight cracks running along the ceiling.

What's causing them?
Should I be concerned?
How can I stop it from increasing?
How can I repair the damage already done?

Thanks


texts: How do I calculate how long a furnace has to work to compensate a given temp drop?

texts:
I am trying to understand the dynamics of heating a home after the furnace size was calculated.
Say you have a 60000BTU furnace to heat a 2000 sqft home.
At the beginning of the heating season you brought the in house temperature near the point set on the thermostat and since then the temperature has been fluctuating around that value as the house lost heat and that was compensated by the furnace

At this point I have two questions:
-how do you set how much the temperature can drop before the thermostat calls for heat?
-How can I calculate equivalent temperature rise of let's say 1000BTU/h delivered in an 1000 cubic feet volume?

The point with my last question is this: if it is possible to configure the temperature drop before the thermostat calls for heat I would like to know how long the furnace will have to work to bring the temperature back to the set point


texts:
In my bathroom I have one of those spring-loaded shower curtain rods that you twist to get tight. When any real weight is on it, it moves, and if it moves enough, the whole thing comes crashing down.

Where do I find a non-spring loaded rod and fixtures to secure it to the walls? This seems like a silly question to me, but I've never seen anything but the spring loaded rods in the big box stores. Am I just missing them? Or is this somehow a specialty item?


texts: How can I puncture an eaves trough full of water and not get wet?

texts:
I bought my first house this past spring and I am fixing it up.

My property has a tear down type garage on it that I'm currently using as storage. (I'll get a new garage eventually at some point but not today) The foundation is cracked and I believe it shifted. It looks like one corner sunk and now the eave that drained out one way now mostly flows the other way and just makes a pool.

Well the heat of summer is on and there are mosquitoes everywhere and I figure the eave must be a fantastic breeding ground for the blood suckers so I need a way of making a hole big enough to drain the eave without making myself and my tools a mess in the process.

I don't really care where the water goes afterwards as the garage is detached and away from the house and I'm just going to level the garage in 5 years or so anyways.

How can I make a hole in my eaves trough?

Anything else I should consider?


texts: How should I attach crown molding to cabinets with limited space?

texts:
I am putting up some crown molding on top of some existing cabinets, but I only have about 12 inches of clearance.  In the past when I have done projects like this, I have used a finishing nailer or brad nailer, however with this space, the tool won't fit.

What options or tool can I use to attach crown molding in this limited space?


texts: Can I Take off from top and side of a trunk line under same bay?

texts:
Could you please help me.
There is an article about 2 foot rule of take off.
https://hvactoday.com/0719-two-foot-rule/
In my case, There is already an existing take off from the top , can i directly have another take off from the side of trunk in same bay ? I don't have other option.
The below picture is source from above site and I edited the picture to show my requirement ?
I can move the new take off to one bay left and right . but it doesn't fall under 2 foot rule. so I am not sure if directly across and my requirement are similar.

thanks!


texts: How do I handle ground wires in 2-gang box with circuits coming from separate breaker boxes

texts:
In my house, I have 2 breaker boxes. In the basement there is a 200-amp main box, with the ground and neutral bars bonded.  Feeding the main floor, there is a 100-amp sub-panel (branched off the main box) that has a separate ground and neutral bar.

I am currently finishing the basement, and am installing the lighting.  For the stairway going downstairs, I have an existing 3-way switch that controls the stairway lights.  This circuit is fed from the 100-amp sub-panel upstairs (area in dashed box in picture).  I now want to add a lighting circuit for the main room in the basement.  This involves switching out the 1-gang box at the bottom of the stairs for a 2-gang, adding power in from the existing 200-amp service in the basement, and running my wire off to the lights.

My question is: since I am mixing not only circuits, but one circuit from the main panel (the downstairs lights), with a circuit from the sub-panel (the stairway lighting), what do I do with the ground wires?  Do I tie them together, or isolate them?  Unfortunately, the box at the top of the stairs is part of a 2-gang box that feeds upstairs lighting as well, so even if I switch the stairway light circuit to be fed from the 200-amp panel at the bottom of the stairs, I have the same problem in the upstairs 2-gang box.  (For code purposes/passing my inspection, the state I am in has adopted the 2014 NEC)


texts: What size wire for a 100A sub-panel at 275 feet?

texts: I need to run power from my house out to my 35X70 workshop out back. What I have; a dedicated panel with 150 amp breaker on the side of my house that is currently only powering my well. My workshop is 275 ft. away. I intend on putting a 100 amp sub-panel in the shop. I have most of the 2” conduit ran in a trench from my house to the workshop. I intend on having a welder, compressor, wall unit a/c in a small office, lights and maybe an outside outlet to hook up for a travel trailer. I want to use copper wiring. What main wiring is recommended to run inside the conduit from the 150 amp/panel on the house to the 100 amp sub-panel in the workshop?


texts: Should I install the jumper on my new limit control?

texts:
I needed to replace fan and limit control (White-Rodgers, model 5D51-35),   because the fan switch was broken (fan would constantly run) and heat would not stay on.

I took a picture of the control, the way it was wired and labeled the wires.  The control had:

two wires running to the limit side
one wire running to the lower
fan side.
a jumper copper wire running from the upper limit side to
the upper fan side.

When I took the part into the supply store the sales person told me the jumper wire was not supposed to be connected.  I installed the new control without the jumper and the heat will come on, but the fan will not come on.  The instructions indicate if you have a low volt or millivolt do not use jumper. How do you know if it is a low volt or millivolt system.  (I'm using a 120v system.)

Do I install the jumper line because the fan will not come on. (jumper line was connected on old control)


texts: Where to attach the "C" wire to my furnace?

texts: I am upgrading to a new thermostat which requires a "c" wire to power it. I have an unused blue wire running from my thermostat to my furnace that I plan to use as the common wire. However, I am unsure where to attach the "c" wire at my furnace. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


texts:
I have a Samsung DV42H5000ew and the thermal fuse (DC96-00887A) on the heating element housing has blown twice, most recently one a day after it was replaced.
After it blew the first time, I replaced the high limit thermostat (DC47-00018A) as well as the heating element (DC47-00019A).
Since it has blown again, I have tested the thermistor (DC32-00007A) and got 9.16 ohms.  My understanding that 10-11 ohms is normal - is my reading too low to the point that the thermistor is not regulating heat properly?
I tested the thermal fuse (DC47-00016A) on the blower (next to the thermistor) and it has continuity.
The vent and blower are extremely clean, figured I'd find some lint but did not.  I have great air flow at the vent cap.
I did discover that the dryer cord was incorrectly wired so far as the ground jump wire from the dryer was wired to the ground of the cord instead of the neutral terminal.  I have corrected this mis-wire - is it possible that, after 5 years of normal operation, this wiring issue caused problems that led to the thermal fuse on the heating element housing blowing?
At this point, I can't think of anything else that could be causing the dryer to overheat and blow the fuse.  Any suggestions on what else to check?


texts: Can I use a portable AC Inside my outdoor enclosed cabana for my massage therapy work during summer? I was thinking putting the vent underneath one of the side panels. Probably need to duct tape the rest of the flappy walls to create a tight seal. I just need one side of the zipper to open for entrance.  Is this a stupid idea? I'm in san diego and humidity can be 60% so don't know if swamp cooler is good.


texts: New Door Handle wants larger main hole than is on there already

texts: The new door handle wants a larger hole, by 1/4 inch, than is on there.  What to do?   get a different door handle hoping for the right size hole, or , a new door???


texts: Need help tracking down why the tension pulley is red hot after putting on new riding mower belt

texts:
I have a John Deere LX188 and had a bit of a grass fire which destroyed the secondary deck belt.

I put a new belt on, and as soon as I engage the deck it starts burning rubber and smoking. When I shut it off the pulley that you see in the pic is blazing hot. That's where it's happening but I can't figure out why.

I took the belt off and it's rotating freely.

Any help is appreciated on what to do next.


texts: I am replacing an old balcony with these custom designed supports. When I drilled in with 1/2 masonry sleeves it would not grab. Looking at the brick, its hollow. Is there any way to safely secure these brackets without having to put supports on other side of the wall? The top header of the deck meets the floor header of house so I plan on bolting right to it, which will help, but the supports only go into the hollow brick. See pics. enter image description here. I have more pics, but cant find a way to upload more than one here.


texts:
After a new roof was installed, a different crew is coming over tomorrow to install new gutters and leaders.  Although they keep trying to sell me gutter guards, I said no, mostly after reading the answers in What are my gutter guard options? .

I will ask them to caulk the screw holes after they remove the old gutters and leaders.  I will also ask for swing-up elbows for to be installed where the downspouts touch the ground.  What else should I look out for?  Thanks in advance.


texts: Outdoor LED lights runnng dim/flickering

texts: These lights are Kichler hardscape step lights and mounted and installed professionally through a stone wall.  They are wired to a 300 watt multitap transformer and the other two lines work fine.  The first in the series won't light up (even when a new working fixture is installed), the other five run dim and flicker.  Tried replacing the first light.  No go, wired it directly to the feed and it worked great and bright.  Wired it into the second light station and it ran dim and flickered.  Kichler customer support had no advice.  Any takers?


texts: Latex paint smudged onto fake river stone fireplace and mortar

texts: We hired a painter and I’m regretting our choice because he has slopped paint everywhere. I believe I can get it off most of the surfaces but I’m particularly concerned about our fireplace. It is made of faux stone and the guy did not tape it off at all. There is now dark blue paint on the faux stone and mortar. It is latex. I’m hoping to find a way to remove the paint without damaging the finish. Any suggestions?


texts: What can I do to stop my fiberglass bathtub from squeaking?

texts:
I have a fiberglass bathtub in my mobile home that is roughly 5' x 4' in size. The mobile home is a 1978 doublewide, and the tub was in the home when we purchased it, 5 years ago, so I'm sure it's very old.

There is a creaking in the tub that has gotten much worse over time. When you walk around in the tub, you can feel more give in some areas and the creaking is horrible. We do not have the money to replace the tub.

I have a small access panel in the adjoining closet, and I took a picture (attached) that shows the underside of the tub. I liked the idea of spraying foam underneath the tub, but as you can see from the picture, it is very far off the ground and there are drain pipes that are under one part of the tub.

Click photo for full size


texts:
I'm thinking about putting up crown molding in my living room, but the apartment building I live in has steel studs. I've seen people online use the x method of nailing to secure the crown molding to the drywall itself. Do you think this would be enough support to hold the weight of the crown molding?

I've also read about using self-tapping screws but that would be much more difficult and more permanent, since the room is large and the ceilings are very high.

Any advice or recommendation is appreciated!


texts: Raise concrete floor with carpet to same height as adjoining floor

texts:
My living room has a concrete floor and adjoins my dining room. The dining room used to be a kitchen in a pre-extension life and has a screed floor. The screed floor is about 20mm higher than the concrete floor of the lounge.

I have some existing hard wood flooring (maybe 20mm or so deep) to go over the screed and will be laying carpet in the lounge.

My question is twofold.

How close in height does the concrete and screed need to be in order to get a smooth transition?
How would I go about raising the concrete floor? I was hoping to lay some ply.

Background:

The house is 1930s. The concrete floor was added at some point later to replace a cavity floor. There is a channel, 100mm wide, around two edges of the concrete floor (including the edge with the transistion) where old heating pipes are laid.


texts: Why would an old fridge trip a circuit breaker?

texts:
I recently got an old fridge from a friend for use as a fermentation fridge for my homebrewed beer. The reason they were getting rid of it was because it was working fine, however it wouldn't cool below 8C, and they were quoted a few hundred dollars to fix the problem. However despite not cooling particularly low, the form given to them by the repairman has a box which is ticked which indicates that it has been tested and is in compliance with some sort of Australian/New Zealand standard, indicating that there can't be terribly much wrong with it.

We took the fridge over to my house, and after leaving it for a day or two upright (since we had to put it on its side to transport it), I turned it on. It immediately tripped the circuit breakers. As soon as I tried to switch the breaker back on, it tripped again. However I persisted, and after a few attempts to turn the breaker back to the on position, it stayed there and the fridge began to cool.

The problem here is that I need to use an external temperature controller to switch the fridge on and off in order to maintain the temperature I need to ferment my beer (roughly 16-20C). This presents a problem, since turning the fridge on and off will trip the circuit breakers.

I've tried moving the fridge to a different circuit, but that didn't solve things. I'm reasonably sure that the circuit I moved it to (the one for my garage) has nothing else on it, or at least whatever else is on it was switched off when I tested it.

Does this issue sound like something that's easily fixed, and are there any common causes for this sort of issue? Could it be simply high inrush current due to the age of the fridge? Could it be solved using some sort of inrush current limiter? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.


texts: How can I frame around a service panel in the corner of the room and maintain clearance?

texts:
I'm refinishing my basement (1952 CMU masonry duplex) and need help figuring out how to frame around the electrical box that was replaced before the we put up the insulation. Unfortunately, the panel's location is in the corner of the living space. So far I've gotten my 2 layers of 1" XPS up and working on framing my walls by stick-building. Given how the panel was mounted by the electrician who replaced it (i.e. on plywood), we are planning to have it recessed behind an access door. I'm concerned about the best way to frame around it to maintain the required lateral working space. Once I frame the other wall and account for drywall, the panel would be on the far left side of the working space which would extend to about half-way between the two studs visible on right. One thing I'm not clear about is how to interpret the working space requirements.

My plan was to add a stud at the edge of the insulation and frame around the 2x4s, though not sure how to work around those wires.

Before people ask, the XPS is cut to the edges of the plywood the panel is mounted on and is taped along the edges.

Appreciate the suggestions in advance!


texts: How do I deal with a joist in the way of where I need to run a pipe?

texts:
I'm in the process of installing central vac lines (2" OD) in a finished house, and I am trying to run a line into the upstairs hallway. I have removed drywall in the garage below and drilled a hole down using an installer's bit, and found the hallway wall is sitting directly over top of a joist.

This is an ideal location as it is the only spot that allows me to reach every upstairs room. Any further and I have to open up walls on inside spaces, which I want to avoid.

There's a not-as-ideal alternative on a nearby adjacent wall (about 3' away) that would allow me to come down between joists, but the hose only reaches halfway into one of the bathrooms, so I'd prefer the original location if possible.

Is there a safe way to make this work? The challenge is that I will have to drill through a bit more of the joist to fit the 2" pipe in (as I already inadvertently did..).

Couple more images:

Full

Full

EDIT 2013-05-07:

I drilled a second pilot hole right at the edge of the bottom plate, and decided I had enough room to come in on an angle with a 2" hole saw. The "notch" on the 2x8 isn't any deeper than 1/4", you can actually still see the original pilot hole where I came through the joist (the groove nearest the camera). I'll need to use some flex pipe to hook this up because of the angle, but that is no big deal.

Do I still need to sister another 2x8 to this? How significantly is this really affecting the strength of the joist?

EDIT 2013-05-10

Got it done, using 2" ID flex pipe (typically used to hook up those under-cabinet vacuum sweep inlets). Thanks everyone.


texts: Feasibility of replacing cracked AC condenser fan blades

texts:
A few minutes ago the fan blade in my AC condenser split down the middle.

I'm assuming it's been cracked/split for a while now and it finally just gave up. It looks simple enough to replace... pull the top cover off, detach existing blade from motor, attach new blade to motor, reassemble, etc.

As far as I can tell everything else is otherwise still intact. The motor was working fine prior to this, and it was turned off within a minute or so of it starting to bang around inside.

My question is this: Is there a chance that it could have damaged something else, or is this somewhat common? It's pretty close to the coolant pipes and I have to think it did hit them as it was breaking apart. I don't see any damage aside from the blade, but I'm not sure I would know what to look for.

I don't mind calling someone in... I just need to know where to start.


texts: How can I get a straight line at the ceiling when painting a textured wall?

texts: I'm looking for advice as to how best obtain a straight line between the wall and ceiling which are both textured. I've seen some new homes where the painter masks about 1/8-1/4 inch down the wall parallel with the ceiling which looks quite nice. I've tried to mask in the corner, but it always looks terrible even using frog tape. Are there any techniques for getting a straight edge?


texts:
I am working on a Home Automation system that I inherited from someone who didn't really know what he was doing. There are dozens of light circuits, but only three of them can be controlled from the system (Leviton/HAI OmniPro 2).

Here is a picture of four of the switches:

The leftmost switch works, and the other three in the picture do not.

I know that the left switch is a Leviton model that speaks HLC, Leviton's proprietary extension on top of UPB.  However, I cannot figure out the model (and capabilities) of the other switches.

Can anyone tell me what they are (brand, model, etc) and/or what protocols they support?


texts: Newly installed 3/4 ball valve is slightly leaking between the stem and nut

texts:
A 3/4 ball valve just installed in the basement of a 2 storey house is leaking about 1 drop of water a min where the arrow in the picture is pointing. Is the seal going to swell, of will the valve have to be replaced?

The valve is Watts, from Home Depot. It was soldered with lead free solder. It shuts off water with no leaks.


texts: How do I stack a washer and dryer without a stacking kit?

texts:
I have a Samsung front-load washer and dryer that I want to stack.  The original stacking kit (SK-2A) is no longer available, but looks like this:

The replacement stacking kit (SK-3A or SK-5A) is basically just a couple of "S" brackets that go in the back.  This places the dryer further back than the washer.  Not only does it look strange, it also wastes precious space.

I assume the only purpose of a stacking kit is to prevent the dryer from accidentally sliding off.  Is there a safe way to do this without a kit?  I was thinking something as simple as a rubber mat would work, but I no experience with stacked units.


texts:
Can I glue D rings to the back of a frameless mirror? I don't want to use mounting clips nor glue it to the wall. I'd like to hang it from a stone wall using brick clips. I'm trying to do as little damage to the wall as possible.
Thank-you, Lucie


texts: What sort of tape adheres best to painted drywall?

texts: I have a painted drywall ceiling and want to stick some low-density stuff onto it (things like rope, plastic, maybe some strips of wood). The stuff I stick on would not have a footprint that goes beyond the tape surface, but it might extend a few centimeters down into the room. I want some tape that would stay stuck for a long time with minimal shifting. I'm thinking of an indoor heated room in the US Midwest. Not sure what kind of paint/drywall.


texts: Connecting 6 gauge aluminum wiring to 10 gauge copper with AlumiConn

texts:
I am replacing a 20 year old wall oven. When I opened the electrical box I noticed very large gauge aluminum wiring (6 gauge?). I purchased a box of AlumiConns (3 port style) to connect the aluminum wiring to the 10 gauge copper wire in my new oven.

Can I simply untwist a couple aluminum strands from the larger bundle? I plan to insert two aluminum strands into two ports on my AlumiConn and the 3rd port will go to the oven's copper wire.

Note in the 2nd photo below that there was no anti-corrosive paste inside the wire nuts. I was a little surprised how well this 20 year old connection stood the test of time, the wire nuts showed no sign of getting hot and the old copper and aluminum wire looked fresh. I'd still like to update the connection to current code and not have to worry about a future electrical fire decades from now.


texts: Why is my house wired with two coax in every room and an RJ11 splitter?

texts: My house was built around 2005, though I've only owned it a year.  Setting aside from the insane cluster of coax wiring we found in the attic, I'm trying to understand why every room in the house has at least one, and usually two outlets that look like the attached pictures - two coax connectors, and two RJ11 cables connected to a single splitter.  As I'm trying to figure out how best to get wired ethernet to various parts of the house, can anyone help me understand the purpose of this setup?  Is it as simple as wanting the ability to put a TV and phone on every wall in the house?  It doesn't seem like a pro did the work, especially considering the rats nest of coax in the attic.


texts: Why would power go off and on after replacing an electrical panel?

texts: I replaced an old 109 amp panel, with a new 100 amp main breaker EATON with 20 spaces. Now my wife says the electric goes off and comes on. Can anyone think what could be the problem?


texts: Water Heater Cold Intake Pipe always drips from drain valve

texts:
The cold intake pipe for my water heater has a drain valve with plastic tubing leading to my basement drain. This tubing always has a constant flow of dripping water; basically, my water heater's cold intake drain valve is ALWAYS dripping. I've NEVER seen it not drip.

Is this normal? I ask because my sump pump goes off like clockwork every 3 hours and I'm beginning to think its due to this dripping. I thought we had a water table underneath our house because unplugging the sump pump for days at a time doesn't cause it to overflow.


texts:
Ok, so I've been trying to wrap my head around this for quite some time, and I think I've got it. I just want to explain it here in order for an electrician to take a look at what I've got and let me know if I'm missing anything.

Conventional household wiring from the electric company has three wires; two of them carry 120VAC that are 180 degrees out of phase with each other, and the third normally has no voltage on it, with respect to ground.

The breaker panel is wired in parallel, so each branch circuit also has 120VAC available.

A 120V circuit consists of a 'hot' wire connected to one of the two 120V lines coming into the house and a 'neutral' wire that is connected to the 0V (nominal) line at the breaker.

Touching an exposed wire in a properly wired circuit creates a situation comparable to a voltage divider (potentiometer/dimmer switch/volume control). If you touch an exposed 'hot' wire, you will receive almost all of the voltage available from the power source, because the resistance in the circuit between you and the power source is considerably lower than the resistance between you and the ground.

If you touch an exposed 'neutral' wire and everything is wired correctly, you receive very little of the voltage available from the power source because most of the resistance in the circuit is between you and the power source.

However, if the neutral wire is not connected to the panel/ground, you aren't creating a voltage divider circuit, you're creating a series circuit, with your body effectively being the path to ground to close the circuit.

Do I have that right?


texts: How to remove bulb from ceiling fan fixture

texts: I can't figure out how to get into the light fixture on this fan. There don't appear to be any screws or tabs. I tried pulling it down gently. I also tried twisting it gently. It is possible that it twists or pulls down, but I don't want to damage the fan by applying too much pressure. How do I change the bulb on this fan?


texts: How can I connect multiple lights to a switch downstream?

texts:
I am installing multiple lamp holders for my garden bed to use par 38 flood light bulbs. I purchased all weatherproof materials that is rated for outdoors ( dug trench, purchased uf 12/3)
The power source is coming from the garage right to the lights, then after the last light will be the switch inside the bar. What would be the correct way to connect all of these lights to the one switch? Also want to put an outlet and another light inside bar. I’ve attached a diagram for better understanding
enter image description here


texts: Extractor fans not working with LED bulbs?

texts:
I have 2 bathrooms, each with both an extractor fan and a ceiling rose mounted light bulb.  The fans are Greenwood Airvacs.  They are 20 years old.  The fans have automatic run ons of about 15 minutes after the bulbs are switched off with their respective cord pulls.  It all works fine in both bathrooms.

I have now substituted the bulbs for LED bulbs.  The fans now just run on for ever after turning the bulbs off.  The only way to switch the fans off is via the isolator switches.

Putting the incandescent bulbs back restores proper fan operation.  Swapping the LED bulbs from bathroom to bathroom makes each fan run on for ever.  It's definitely something to do with the design of LED light bulbs.

EDIT:  Taking the bulbs out, pulling the switch starts the fans.  Then they run and stop.  They stop with no bulb in the socket.  So in summary, the fans operate correctly with incandescent bulbs, and no bulbs.  They never stop with LED bulbs(!?)

One LED bulb is from ASDA (own brand) and the other is from Homebase ( a Phillips).  They physically look different.  There is no connection between them that I can ascertain.

Why do my extractor fans never stop with an LED bulb in the ceiling fitting?


texts: Necessity/value of using cardboard or weed barrier under gravel shed foundation?

texts:
How important is it to use a weed barrier or some kind of geotextile between gravel and ground? In cases when crushed gravel is poured and tamped 6" deep as a shed foundation, on relatively flat ground with some trenching dug in the soil around it and top soil removed.
Site prep
I plan to dig out the top soil (root zone and a couple inches of soil) as the shed will go on a meadow with lots of herbaceous species and some trees. A few Japanese Honeysuckle are on site and very invasive, but I have uprooted (I think) all of them, or at least cut them down to stump/root.
Materials
I prefer to use minimal plastic or material that cannot be reused or safetly biodegrade (wood, metal and screws). On top of crushed gravel gravel 2" diameter and smaller, the 8'x14' shed will sit on 4"x6" of larch separated 16" on center, with larch joists and then a moisture barrier below hemlock planking. The field in front of it will be mowed and behind it is Japanese Honeysuckle thicket that will probably try to grow into the shed.
Ground barrier
Cardboard seems like a decent barrier for the weeds maybe lasting ~2-3 years, long enough to kill off what roots may try to grow back that are already under the shed. I figure I will tamp the soil that is dug 2" down all around, lay cardboard, then lay 6" of gravel (or I could lay more). How will cardboard rot under a shed? Is it likely to help or hurt its chances of settling, as it protects gravel from sinking into soil but maybe only for a short period?
I also saw this material as a ground barrier but I don't think it would help much with a shed. Maybe better than nothing, but not helping distribute the gravel weight to avoid settling:
http://www.dewittcompany.com/Garden_Weed_Barrier_.aspx?productid=66&categoryid=21


texts: Is a strain relief clamp necessary for dryer cord installation?

texts: Just got a new dryer yesterday, and the installation instructions say I need a strain relief for the power cord. Unfortunately, the delivery guys took my old dryer for recycling and only left the cord - no strain relief. Is the strain relief absolutely necessary? Seems they are only sold with new cords, and I'm trying to avoid spending money needlessly.


texts: Cover all walls of the bathroom with bathroom tiles?

texts:
I want to completely cover the bathroom walls with tiles, but a friend of mine told me that it's a bad idea because the walls "can't breath". He said to at least keep a portion of 20-30 centimeters on top uncovered, but he wasn't able to explain what would happen if I don't, he said he "just knows that's how it's done".

Are there any problems if I completely cover the bathroom walls with bathroom tiles?


texts: Do you know what this "connector piece" is called and where to buy it?

texts:
Does anyone know what the "connector piece" mentioned in this video at 6min 11s is called: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HIOiyPKUbQ&t=6m10s

And where to buy it?

I could not find it Lowe's, Home Depot, Alkaviva, or the place that sold the water filter unit.

I don't mind buying the entire kit if I have to, but I just can't find where I can buy it from.

Thank you and Happy Holidays :)

Update 1:
Sorry, but I should clarify that the Shark Bit quick connect did not work because the threaded end did not reach far enough in to the spout side.

I have a video too, but StackExchange won't allow videos.

Update 2:
I tried to contact the manufacturer but there was a language barrier so not much information was exchanged.  I also tried contacting the person who posted the video, but have not received a response.


texts: Why does my A/C "bump" and cycle super fast at night?

texts:
I've got an ancient Armstrong Concept 1000 air conditioner (it was old when we bought the house 11 years ago) hooked up to a Nest thermostat. The furnance and blower is much more modern; it's an Aire-Flow model from 2014.

The A/C cools the house fine during the day, but in the evening, the unit in the basement will suddenly start making "bump" sounds, and the house blower will stop working. It seems to start doing it reliably just after sundown; we joke that it's "bump o'clock" at about 9 PM. If I go downstairs, I can hear a relay repeatedly tripping while it bumps. The unit outside appears to be operating normally.

The house's blower motor works fine if I turn off the A/C and just run the fan.

If I turn the A/C off for a half hour or so and let it come back on, sometimes it'll start working again. Sometimes not.

We installed the Nest probably three years ago; the bump sound has been happening for the last year or so.

Any idea what might be happening? Is this a thing where the coils are freezing up? It seems like it's still pretty warm out for that to be what's going on...


texts:
I will be forever grateful if someone can help me out!

I installed a new bathroom faucet. Before I did this the sink never had an issue with draining. But I installed the new faucet and now my sink won't drain? I've attached a couple pics. The pipe going into the wall will not take in water? Does anyone know what I've done wrong or how to fix this?

Thank you


texts: Mounting an in home network cabinet without two studs, maybe use plywood?

texts:
first post, I need some help. I am attempting to hang a 12u network cabinet in my laundry room. The problem is I only have one stud to use, maybe an additional corner stud, but the other stud is already taken up with some cabinets. I am trying to figure out best how to hang this, it is going to be around 50-60 pounds.

I have thought about getting a plywood sheet, and cutting it so it would have arms to go around the cabinets and I can attach the arms to the stud I cannot otherwise reach, and also attach to the other studs. But then how best would I mount the cabinet on the 3/4" plywood? Drywall would be behind plywood, and I am working with wooden studs.

Please help, hoping to get this hung today. Thanks.


texts: How to clean dried wood stain from paint brush?

texts: I left my wood stain brush Uncleaned and now it is all dry. How do I clean that mess? Trying to paint for the first time, so any suggestions would be appreciated.


texts:
I have a Hunter ceiling fan and LED light kit that comes with the fan, I purchased the display model so I don't have any wiring diagrams. The fan has ground (green), white, black and black with a white strip on it. I have two switches to control the fan (fan and light). I have ground, white, black, and red. The builder used the white, red, and ground when they installed the basic light.

I also purchased a remote for the fan. There are 4 wires, two to the ceiling and two the fan. The two to the ceiling are black and white and the two to the fan are blue and yellow. The instructions for the remote say to wire black to black, white to white and include the white from the fan (3 wires in one cap). From the remote to fan it says wire blue to blue and yellow to black.

Is it safe to assume that the black with the white strip is considered the blue?


texts: What is the easiest way to run telephone cable between floors without fishing them through the walls?

texts:
We have a telephone system in a room downstairs with two jacks in it; one of them is connected to a phone in that room.

I am hoping to get a rotary phone installed in a room upstairs. I am in the process of ordering one as well as getting a pulse-to-tone converter. This is a two-story house; however, there is nothing actually on top of the room where the unit is downstairs (besides the roof).

We installed some new RJ45 wiring about a year ago (it was a little fun). However, this might only be temporary; maybe in use for two years at the most.

Is it legal to run wires along walls and tape them to ceilings? I can't find anything related to doing that in fire code, etc...
Are there any regulations when doing this?
Is there anything easier than just buying a 100 ft. telephone line and running it across the first floor, up the stairwell, and across the second floor?

There is already no budget for the process, so I am not looking for complex solutions that require anything more than tape and a screwdriver.


texts: What wall material should be used behind the Kerdi system in a tub/shower?

texts: I know from my previous question that in most cases a cement board of some kind needs to be used. However, when the Kerdi membrane system is being used behind the tile, is it still necessary to use a cement backer board?


texts:
I am mapping out a path to run Cat6 thru my house.  I know not to run Ethernet parallel to power and the Intartubes say to try to cross at right angles.

But how much interference will I get by crossing at right angles?  Does it totally negate the interference or is the interference just not as severe?

The easiest path from my patch panel to the two most important wall jack locations would cross Romex three times at/near 90 degree angles.  Once inside a wall cavity and twice in the attic.

Inside the wall cavity, the Romex runs "East/West" between wall studs.
The Cat6 (12-18 total drops) would run "North/South" in the same cavity.

Half of these drops would come up from a 1" hole to the crawl space.  The other half would be terminated in keystones on one side of the wall.

The Cat6 would then run up the cavity and out a 1.5" hole near the ceiling into a closet on the other side of the wall.

The cables would then be fed thru a hole in the ceiling into an unfinished attic.  In the unfinished attic they would run across some joists, along a joist, then back down into another closet where the patch panel is

Along the attic path they cross two more Romex runs at right angles.  The switches for the bathroom light and fan (2 Romex cables) and another Romex cable from a bedroom light switch.  The bathroom switches and bed switch are maybe 5 feet apart

How much interference/network slowdown would I encounter?


texts: Why do my ceiling fan lights come on bright then suddenly dim?

texts:
The home I bought has 3 bedrooms each with a ceiling fan and single switch. I think these are Hunters, they have a remote and require T4 bulbs. These are not on the same circuit.

All 3 of these do the same thing when you flip the switch on. The light comes on at full strength, then after maybe 1 second, they dim to less than 50%.

I originally purchased 100W bulbs but then noticed inside the fixture it says 75W max, so I've now tried 75W T4 bulbs with the same result.


texts:
I'm making a DIY wall mounted pull-up bar (I'm too tall for the normal kind, and can't fit a commercial wall bar due to a sloped ceiling) and I just mounted the heavy duty brackets I'm using, but I've run into a problem: My AC wire sensor and AC sensor pen go off when I check the left bracket which is mounted to the king stud of my door--along which the wires for my ceiling lights are mounted. And when screwing into the wall the lights did flicker just a small amount once with one screw--but light flickering isn't uncommon in my area being on the end of the line and my house is kinda old. However, the bracket is safe to touch as are the screws. And when I took it out of the wall screw by screw the effect did not disappear regardless of the screw being one that went in fine, or the one that might have caused the flickering. Also I did not hit any metal wire protectors in the stud.

I'm wondering if what my sensors are detecting is an induced current in the bracket and screws? I have a Tv mount and several other things mounted on different studs with wires running relatively near them that are definitely fine but still set off my detectors. Plus, my house is old with thick solid core wires (Could wires moving while drilling cause flickering?).

No breaker's have tripped, everything else on the circuit is fine. Nothing accept the one flicker. I'm just not sure what to do. Should I be worried or just call it a day? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.


texts:
After pulling too hard on this bar, the plastic fitting/washer-type thingy broke off. The right side still has it (picture #2). The bar is now very loose and will come all the way out.
Shower repair kits on Amazon seem to have nothing to offer in this area. And I don't even know how to locate a model number or brand on a shower.
I'd be fine if it looked crappy. I just want it not to leak water into that hole. Ideally I could fix it like new, but if I just had to plug up both sides that would be acceptable. I just don't know how to go about any of that.


texts: Is there any code for running Ethernet cable (through attics)?

texts:
We have an unfinished attic - the insulation-everywhere, step-in-the-wrong-place-and-fall-through-the-ceiling kind.

I'd like to run Ethernet cable through the attic.  I know for Romex, I'd have to staple the wire to the joists, drill holes when running perpendicular, etc.  However, I can't find anything stating I need to do the same with Ethernet.  In fact, much of what I've read online implies there are basically no rules for Ethernet!

So I want to make sure:

Do I need to need to staple the Ethernet to the side of the joists?  Drill holes when running perpendicular?  Can I simply set the cable down along the top of the joists?
If I decide to use conduit (for future-proofing), do the rules change?
If I were to run the cable through the dropped-ceiling of a finished basement instead, would the rules change?


texts: How do I add a C/ Common wire to my "Specific" HVAC system?

texts: I just bought a new WiFi thermostat that requires me to add a C-Wire at the furnace. I have read the questions related to my issue but would like a suggestion on my particular (incredibly OLD) furnace. I have run 18/5 wire down to the furnace and just need to know where the C wire would go in my particular case.


texts: Do I have to worry about condensation on plywood over rigid foam insulation in the attic?

texts:
I have a vented attic space with poor insulation in the attic floor and rafters, so I'm going to button it up.

My energy auditor suggested I insulate the floor as follows: cut blocks of rigid foam for the ends of the joist bays, and tack them in place with spray foam.  Then, fill the joist bays with loose cellulose, and top that with rigid foam (ISO) seam-sealed with spray foam.   This should create the air and vapor barrier between the conditioned and unconditioned spaces.  Finally, since I'd want to use it as storage space, I'd put plywood or OSB decking over the top.

The rafters will be fiberglass bats (there are some in place that were improperly installed, but in good shape, so I want to reuse them) with the foil side facing towards the roof about 1" off the sheathing.  I'll then staple FSK across the rafters with the foil facing in.

I think I'm on board with everything, but I'm wondering about the decking and the FSK.  Since the rigid will act as the vapor and air barrier between the conditioned and unconditioned space, do I have to worry about condensation forming on the decking?  Is it really worth spending money on the FSK if the attic space is vented?  I do have the ability to open and close the gable-end vents (the only active vents in the space).

This house is in Seattle, built in 1925.