texts:
I've been noticing termite wings around my front door and near the bathroom.  My girlfriend says she has seen them swarming sometimes at night (mostly 2-3 at a time no more than 10) although I haven't seen them yet.

I had two termite inspections that gave different advice.

The first one (Truly Nolan) said he thinks I have subterranean termites and for that he advised a non-tent solution.  They would come in and drill little holes near the baseboards every couple of feet and spray in the walls.  They would also crawl under the house in the crawlspace and apply poison to all the pedestals that the house sits on.  For that he wanted $1550.  He also gave the option of tenting for $1700 although he didn't recommend it.

I also had Terminix come out who thinks I have subterranean termites and drywood termites.  He advised a tent for $1200 and the application of bait stations for $900.

I'm not really sure what options I should choose.  Both of the inspectors were more salesman than anything so I'm skeptical of Terminix's claim of both kinds of termites.  Any input would bee helpful.

Edit:  I'm open to supplementing or replacing the above with stuff I can buy from home depot if that stuff is actually helpful.


texts: Should I insulate the ceiling of a room in an attic with an insulated roof?

texts:
My walk-up attic is insulated with spray foam along the roof line. The spray foam delivers an R value of about 20.

The attic is finished, and the rooms inside the attic have a drywall ceiling that is attached to 6-inch joists whose center sits about 6 feet below the peak of the roof, and 8 feet above the attic floor. The rooms have knee walls along the sides.

The ceiling above the finished attic has no insulation, and I was thinking of adding some fiberglass batts on top of the drywall. For about $500 worth of material and a day of work (if that), I could double the R value above the finished part of the attic.

But my question is whether this is worth it, given that the attic ceiling only covers the central part of the house. Heat that would rise up along the outer edges of the house would hit the exterior of the knee walls, where the attic that is insulated only with the spray foam. I can't add more insulation to that space (well, I think I could blow in cellulose behind the knee walls, but that would be a much more complicated operation because I'd have to cut up a bunch of walls).

A secondary question is whether I'd encounter issues if I mixed fiberglass batts with spray foam like this. I'm not sure if it would create condensation or other issues. The attic currently has no vents at all (the spray foam guy insisted they were not necessary with spray foam).

Here's an ASCII-art a diagram showing my house. The upper dotted line is the attic ceiling where I am thinking of adding insulation. The lower bottom line is the attic floor. The vertical lines between the two dotted lines show the interior walls of the finished part of the attic.

     ^
    / \
   /---\
  /|   |\
 / |   | \
------------
|           |
|           |
|           |
|           |
|           |


texts: Can I safely reduce the height of this tub stopper?

texts:
Re-doing a bathroom, original plumbing c. 1963.  That tall silver thing stops the tub.  You lift and turn it to stop water from flowing out.
As you can probably guess, the stopper is preventing us from putting our desired vanity in.

Questions!

What is the name of that thing, so I can research it further?
Does it have to be that high?  One solution is simply to reduce the height.  I can't think of why it would need to be that high, but I also don't totally understand the mechanism underneath.
Do we need to get a plumber involved to reduce the height, or is this something that our contractor should be able to tackle?


texts: Which laminate flooring is best with a largish dog?

texts:
I'm looking to install some laminate flooring in my kitchen/dining area.  I'm pretty set on >= 10mil flooring but am wondering if some brands hold up better than others to pet abuse.  I've got an 80 pound labrador who, while not hard on floors, is still an 80 pound dog.

I'm looking at these floors:

Pergo

Bruce

Dupont

Any thoughts on these particular floors or something else that I should be looking at to ensure my floors stay scratch/blemish free?


texts: Is it normal for frost to accumulate on nails in my attic?

texts:
I had a new roof installed this summer and I had trouble with my roofer (had several leaks).  Now it's winter and it's been abnormally cold the last few days.  When I put the Christmas decorations away, the pictures below greeted me.

There is a lot of frozen water on the bottom of all of the nails on one side of the house.  There is also frozen condensation on many of the boards.  The wood splintered in one area and you can see that there is a lot of frozen water on the roofing material.

I called my roofer and he tried to tell me this was a poor insulation problem.  After I told him I have 18 inches of extra insulation, he tried to tell me ventilation instead.  His argument (ventilation or insulation related) is all about condensation.  No way it could be his fault.

As reference, the side of the house with the water currently has very little snow resting on it.  The side with no water on the inside has a covering of about an inch of snow outside.  Both sides of the roof get approximately the same amount of sun.

I need help.  I have no idea if my roofer is lying to me.  I have had a lot of trouble with this guy in the past and I do not trust him at all.  So... is this normal?  If it is abnormal, how do I get my roofer to take action?  I talked to him on the phone and it's abundantly clear he thinks this is not his problem and has no plans to do anything about this.  When I had the earlier leaks I had to show him a picture of a steady drip before he would do anything.

Please help!


texts:
I'd love to get a borescope, but I've never used one. Should I try to find a place to rent one first (does such a place even exist?) or should I bite the bullet and buy one? What features should I be looking for?

Specifically, I want one to be able to examine inside walls in preparation for running wire, (i.e., Cat 6, coax, ROMEX).


texts: Should new septic system be filled with water?

texts:
I have a brand new septic system and a new 1000 gallon 2 stage cement tank.
This is for a cabin that is only used 4 weeks a year with 2 people. Only a toilet is going to the septic.

It will take me a many many years to get the septic tank just full with fluid at this rate.

Should I fill it with water or let it happen naturally over time? I’ve heard that parts of the cement tank not covered with water will deteriorate quicker from the gasses.  What is your opinion and why?


texts: Do I need a pump for my water heater discharge pipe?

texts: I was wondering do I need a special upflow pump for the hot water discharge on my water heater. I have a finished basement and want to set it up so if the heater blows off it will pump outside. My concern is, do I need a special upflow pump to handle the hot water. Thanks


texts: How important is Tyvek/house wrap for a house with metal siding?

texts:
I'm building a tiny house and it will have metal siding. My dad has worked a lot of construction and says he's never installed a house wrap for a metal building in his life. Most info I can find online says if it's climate controlled it needs wrapped. Just wondering how important it is when it comes to metal siding?

Also, I may cut it close when I get to the tops of the walls, I'm planning to use the rest of the #15 asphalt felt I used on the roof to finish the job if I run out so I don't have to buy another roll. Is this a good idea?


texts: Possible To Put an Epoxy Coating on Particle Board?

texts:
Is is possible/recommended to put an epoxy such as Rust-Oleum Epoxy Garage Floor Coating on particle board?  Any help would be appreciated!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-EpoxyShield-2-gal-2-Part-Epoxy-Garage-Floor-Coating-Gray-High-Gloss-Kit-2-Pack-251870/100671422


texts: Accidentally cut through joist above eave

texts:
On the far corner of our carport, I replaced an eave-mounted light a few days ago that had no junction box holding it.  In trying to be a responsible DIY-er, I decided to go ahead and install a junction box for the new light fixture before mounting it.

I stupidly chose to use a reciprocating saw to try to cut a round hole for the new box.  In doing so, I slashed through a joist above the eave, not once but twice.  The cut went all the way through horizontally but did not actually remove any chunks of wood material.  My concern is that the joist/rafter could be supporting weight that will cause the joist to bow downward, on the side of the cuts.

The two cuts appear to be about the equivalent of notching the joist ~30% of the way up.  The joists are, I believe, 2x8's.  House was built in the 70's.

Is this something I need to repair, and if so, what is the best way to go about repairing it?

Edit: pictures detailing the boo boo.  The cut is just to the right of the new light fixture.  I have already patched the eave where I cut the half circle (including the two cuts that went through to the joist) so I'm not going to undo that to take a picture, but at least you get an overview.

I'm honestly not certain that it wasn't a rafter I cut through but I can investigate more when I get time and daylight.


texts: Why can't I drill into studs more than 1 & 1/2 inches?

texts:
I am trying to mount a TV onto an "exterior" wall. I used the quotes because I guess technically it may not be exterior (I live in a townhouse with dividing walls between the houses).

Anyway, I've done this before at a different location with no problems. However, I am drilling guide holes and cannot seem to drill into the wall more than 1.5" (not sure the width of the sheetrock in that). I've tried drilling into multiple studs at multiple heights and get the same issue.

I do not want to saw the drywall just to look at the stud. Does anyone have any guesses as to what might be going on?

Additional info:

House was built in the 70s
Tip of drill bit is much hotter than I'd expect.
Didn't have this issue with the stud in-between the two studs in question.


texts: Why doesn't my Trane rooftop furnace ignite?

texts:
I’m having problems with my Trane model Yc0060C3H0AA rooftop unit. My inducer motor comes on, my igniter lights up and I can smell the gas valve opening up but my burners will not light.

Serial # g081422350


texts: Gas clothes dryer is venting into the crawl space

texts: I have been living in a house in Southern California for 18 months and while crawling around under the far end of the house I found that there is about 2 inch deep lint over a 200 sq ft area where my gas clothes dryer vents into this crawl space. I would like to find a way to put in a lint trap rather than change the whole layout of the garage.


texts: What is this type of sink drain/plug called?

texts:
We recently moved into a condo, and the sinks have screw-in drain cover. We are trying to find a replacement drain cover that is able to close, but I can't figure out what the type of drain is called to see if this exists!
The drain itself has a plus-shaped brace that sits about an inch in, with a threaded hole in the middle. It looks a lot like a bathtub drain, but the threading of the hole is slightly different.
The cover is a wide metal disc with a short bar coming from the bottom which is partially threaded. I feel like this is the type of drain + cover in a lot of hotels.

EDIT: 7/8
I thought it might be a 'pop up click' or 'click clack' drain (as two answers suggested), and ordered a pop up stopper and bolt, but the length of the bolt is way longer than our drains (even in 'compressed' position).
The length of the stem on our drain cover is ~33mm, with ~13mm thread, while the 'pop up' we got has a 66mm bolt, with much larger thread. See image below for comparison.


texts: Is it normal to have air under a pool cover when it hasn't been used for a while?

texts:
This will be the first year I have had a pool so I am really new at all this stuff.

I took a look under the winter cover of my pool and I noticed that my liner has gotten all wrinkled up like it moved or something. The water level is relatively low from the pool being closed. I was wondering if this is normal? Should it go back to normal when I put water back inside of it when I open the pool?


texts: is there a way prevent backflow from my sink?

texts:
I have a downstairs condo with plumbing issues.  I get re-occuring backflow out of my sink that looks to be my neighbors sewage from their kitchen sink (we share sink lines down to the main drain).  Worse of all once this starts occuring I get continual backflow of the neighbors sewage directly out into my sink which can flood my kitchen until the lines get cleared by a plumbing machine. Plumber says whatever the issue is its beyond the pipes in my unit.
So my question is, is there something I can reasonably do to atleast prevent massive backflow out of my kitchen sink when this occurs?


texts: Trying to wire my inverter output into my RV panel

texts: I really want to wire my inverter AC output into my RV distribution panel. I have all of the wires run where they need to be. My Idea is to be able to flip the main breaker for shore power to "Off" and then flip another breaker to "On" therefore switching from shore power to inverter power. I am running into a problem where I have a hot wire coming out of the male plug at my inverter. So, I tried to isolate both hot wires with a breaker switch.... only to find out the ground wire is providing the power. I've double checked everything! It has power even when every breaker on my panel is OFF. So confused. Do I have a faulty ground somewhere???? I don't show any voltage on the ground bar or continuity between wires. Is the 3 prong plug I used connected with the ground to the neutral?


texts: Why did a gate post rot after just 6 years?

texts: My friend put a 4 inch treated wood gate post in the ground and we filled the hole with concrete.  A neighbor built a fence around the same time, using similar-looking posts.  Six years later, the post rotted out but the fence is still going strong.  Did we do something wrong?


texts: What issues should I be aware of when buying a 60's house that hasn't had anything done to it since it was built?

texts:
The house was built in 1964.  Walking into it is like walking into a 60's film set;  nothing has been done to it since it was built.

It looks to be in good condition, but we're concerned about potential asbestos lined air ducts (it has warm air heating), and maybe it needs a whole rewire (it still has the massive 60's mains fuses).

What other things should I be wary of?


texts: How can I tell if my bathroom ceiling vent is working properly?

texts: Seems to take the vent forever to clear shower vapor from room. I purchased a vent that had a good rating. It is vented to the outside. How do I know if it is working properly and actually venting to the outside?


texts: Sink water won't get hot unless shower is on

texts:
The sink tap takes 20+ minutes to even get lukewarm, never hot. I have lived with this for a while until I made an interesting discovery the other day. When the shower (in the same bathroom) was running hot water, the sink water was warm! A miracle or wonky piping?

The offending faucet has separate hot/cold handles. The shower has separate hot/cold handles. The source is a tanked water heater (gas). No other shower or sink in the house has issues warming up quickly.

Thoughts?


texts: Drilled a shallow hole in concrete ceiling and some water came out. What now?

texts:
We are on a ground floor of a condo building and to put up the partitions I drilled a small hole and after about 1" depth the drill fell into a void (about 1" more) and about a quart or so of clear water came out and stopped.

What could this be?

The drain pipes in the building are cast iron and visibly enter into our unit so this doesn't seem to be plumbing. The concrete slab is 10".


texts: Can I put a 20Amp breaker on my existing 15AMP garage circuit?

texts:
I bought a dust collector and I am trying to find out if I can run it together with the table saw at the same time on the existing circuit. Not sure what the 2x15 circuits are for (house built during the 60s but the electrical is more recent. No per room AC devices.
The forth picture shows the inside wiring but it is made of collated pictures (the washer is partially blocking the electrical panel closed door and I can't take an one shot overall picture) I marked with red lines where I stitched the pictures
Here are pictures of my electrical panel

Here is a close up of the wires on the right side (from top to bottom, not fantastic pictures for the same reasons explained above) Maybe this can help you determine what wires I have and if I can install 20AMPS breakers at least for the garage (the circuit is on the left side but the wires seem to be the same)

Edit:
Table saw Ridgid 3650
Dust collector : Harbor Freight 2HP 70 gallons dust collector


texts: What size and type wire should be used for 100 ft away work shop

texts:
I built a shed a while back and. now I'm ready to get power to it.

I have a 50 amp GCFI breaker, that I plan to run the service line from to the shed. The shed is roughly 100ft away. I called a supplier and they recommended I go with 6 gauge copper or 4 gauge aluminum.

I'm curious which would be the better option?

To cavitate, I prefer the cheaper route as long as it is suitable for the application. The Aluminum 4 gauge is half the price of the 6 gauge copper, but both are reasonable.

Also, I plan on digging an 18-inch trench and running wire through PVC conduit.


texts: Craftsman 3/4 hp garage door won’t go down.

texts:
I have a craftsman 3/4 hp garage door that will not go down, sometimes it goes down about 2 inches then back up and flashes 10 times. It will go all the way down if I hold the wall button until it reaches the end of its travel.

I’ve checked all the tracks for any obstructions, I’ve unplugged the thing for 24 hours, cleaned the sensor lenses with alcohol, and that’s when I noticed that the receiver (green LED light) doesn’t appear to be working anymore, no matter how I position the two sensors the green light never turns on and there is absolutely nothing blocking the sensors.

So, can I just replace the sensor or is there an issue somewhere else in the system?


texts: The top A/C drain in my attic is leaking. Why?

texts: My dad told me that the top A/C drain (we have bottom and top A/C drains) was leaking, and he wanted me to find out why it is happening. Our A/C system is from Ruud. So what is causing the the top drain to leak?


texts: Can I use 8 AWG THHN in conduit for a 50A outlet in my garage?

texts:
The end goal is to add a 50A receptacle in the garage.

Whomever installed the subpanel ran 1 inch "smurf tube" stubbed out to the ceiling which currently has no conductors.  For the new outlet I plan to add a 50A GFCI breaker (the equipment involved holds a lot of liquid). I'll then pull THHN wire (this stuff), through the smurf conduit through the attic to the wall I need the outlet on, then transition to the gray PVC stuff, and run it down the wall to a surface mount box with a 50A receptacle.

The equipment will at times draw 45-47 amps, but for short periods (15-20m), most of the time it will draw less than 30A.  Total run should be around 20-25ft.

First, and main question, will 8 awg THHN get it done?  I've seen things about derating that indicate runs in the attic need to be lowered to 75*, which might require me to upgrade to 6 awg.

I also see reference to "terminations" which may derate it to the 60* capacities, but I don't understand what that is.  Is it what the outlet is rated at?

I plan to pull two black, and two white conductors.  Two black for the hot conductors, one white for neutral, and the other white I'll label green somehow (paint, tape, whatever) for the ground.  This is mainly to save on costs (a 50ft roll is only $4 more than 25 ft roll).

Is there anything grossly wrong about my approach?


texts: Open windows to help condensation problems in winter - good or bad advice?

texts:
I live in a Victorian gable end terrace which is classed as 'hard to heat' and sufferers from mould/ condensation . I have taken all the insulation measures I can afford & treated all obvious sources of damp and leaks. In winter I have no choice but to close off some rooms as I cannot afford to heat them  - not ideal I know but I check them daily for damp and mould & clean off if necessary .

My question is on a typical wet winter day in England ie currently 9 degrees centigrade with a Relative Humidity of 70 % , dew point 2degrees, and an internal room temperature in an unheated room typically a 3 -4 degrees higher , is following advice to open windows likely to help or create even more condensation? Also , same question but is it better to constantly leave windows opened just a crack  , bearing in mind temperature drop to 0 degrees and even higher relative humidity during the night - or just open once or twice during the day?

I have tried to research this myself but cannot find a straightforward answer ( least one that I can understand ). I do understand that this is good advice for kitchen and bathroom whilst cooking / showering etc.

Any advice appreciated


texts: How do I determine if a wall is load bearing?

texts:
I'm considering removing a wall in my master bathroom but I can't tell if it is a load bearing wall or not. I've done a fair amount of research. I don't have the house blueprints, and it's difficult to get above this area in the attic. The house was built in 2007. The joists are East and West, parallel with this wall. I felt pretty confident removing this wall until I cut a small hole for further examination and found several stacked two by fours at the top. Is it common to do this on non load bearing walls or am I right to be concerned? Here is a picture for reference:

EDIT:

I removed some more drywall and checked in the attic. Here you can see there is a brace resting on a 2x6(?). I've never moved something like that before. Are there DIY options to continue with this project, or should I abandon hope?


texts: My ceiling fan isn't getting the right voltage

texts: My ceiling fan + light has stopped working. It turns out that the voltage reading at the ceiling is only 30V. I think that means that the motor on my fan isn't the problem, but that there's some problem with the wiring between the light switches on the wall (one for the fan and one for the lights, both of which get 120V) and the ceiling. Does that sound right? What can I do next to troubleshoot this issue?


texts: My toilet seat has been loose for a few weeks now. I would like to fix it. I am unable to access the area where the screws are. I have attached some photos to show how I am unable to access the toilet.


texts: What kind of filter do I need if I want to reuse the shower water?

texts:
I am helping a friend with renewing a bathroom. He is looking at the possibility of storing and reusing the shower water for the garden.

What kind of filter do we need to install to make this possible? I suppose we need to remove the soap and any other particles.
Is it even feasible in a simple way?


texts: What level of electrical service should I order, for new construction?

texts:
Starting from scratch here. A transformer on the street, no buildings on the land yet.

I want to order temporary electrical service now, for use during construction. So we don't have to dig the street up twice, I want to have the wiring installed for the permanent service, too.

What should I ask for?

This is strictly residential.

EDIT I intend to use gas for domestic hot water, dryer, and range. Our summers are mild, so no air conditioning. I don't have any plans for any big loads, although I'd like to keep my options open.


texts:
I measured it and it would come out under the cement where I approximately marked in red in the next picture. The main house sits on the other side of that cement walkway.

My only guess is it has something to do with central vac that the house used to have but was ripped out for some reason (evidence in the basement). But why fill it in?


texts:
I have recently replaced the carpet in one room.  I intentionally left part of the room uncarpeted that is in front of small vanity.  I plan to tile it.  Off to the side of the section is a bathroom with a door that is tiled.  The bathroom tile is raised, I'm thinking that they previous owners tiled on top of tile.  So, when I put down the new tile, I need to try to match the height.

So, I have a few questions.

Should I put down backer board onto the slab?  How do I secure it to the slab?  Maybe some sort of glue?
How should I handle the seam between the carpet and tile?  Remember, the carpet is already down.


texts: Garage door weather seal replacement -- Wrap around bracket

texts: I would like to replace the weather seal at the bottom of my garage door. The issue is that the bottom bracket of the door is a "wrap" around bracket (see picture). In order to slide the old seal off, I have to remove the bracket. I have watched several tutorial videos online and none of the doors seems to have this type of bracket. I figured that if open the door all the way, there's less tension on the cable connected to the bracket and that it is probably okay to do so, however, on the packaging of the replacement seal it says "at no time should you remove bottom roller carrier". The roller carrier is part of the bracket. Is it safe to remove the bracket when the door is all the way open so I can slide off the old weather seal and slide in the new one?


texts: old 230 volt transformer style arc welder on an old square d 125 amp panel

texts:
I have a an old 230 volt S.D.LEE arc welder (that I can not find any info about) printed on the front is says "PRI volts 230 max OCV 78 arc volts 25 PRI amps 65.7 SEC amps 230 temp rise 115c 60 cycles single phase model 110-085"
I am not sure what that means but I think it means at the welders max setting I need 230 volts at 65.7 amps?

Click for larger View

I rent an old house that looks like its haunted it has an old square D panel 125 amp QO combination panel (also don't know what that means really) lots of empty slots but the combined amps not including the main shut off is 165 amps I think I need a 70 amp breaker for the welder (not sure).

Can I safely add one? If so, what conduit should I use with the 70 amp breaker to run my welder about 45 feet from the panel?

Click for larger View

I really don't want to burn the house down, my landlord probably wouldn't like that either.


texts: Need some assistance on replacing a light fixture

texts:
I am attempting to replace my light fixture. This is a basic question but am I mounting the crossbar correctly?  I always thought the little holes were for the fixture to attach to.  Is that wrong?

Or should I be utilizing the small holes for the larger screws?

With the setup pictured I am having issues attaching the light through the key hole slots (step 4 in the manual attached) The screws seem to be too short.

Should I get longer screws or am I doing something incorrectly?

Below is the manual if that helps.

http://pdf.lowes.com/installationguides/822985510455_install.pdf


texts: Upstream or downstream breakers for sub panel

texts:
I have "recently" created an addition to my house here in CA.  The original house had a 200 amp manual transfer switch for a backup generator, but this only feeds the old part of the house via a 100 amp subpanel, and I want to change things to feed the entire house.

The new part of the house also has a 100 amp subpanel.  Each sub panel is fed via 100 amp breakers in the service panel and CU THHN/THWN(-2) wires.

If I feed the 200 amp transfer switch via a 200 amp breaker, ie remove the individual 100 amp subpanel breakers/circuits, is it a code violation to have the 100 amp breakers ONLY at the subpanels, aka downstream of the service panel?

I am looking at a cost effective way to allow the generator to power the entire house and I can't upgrade the transfer switch with additional poles or add breakers to it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Please see diagram below:

Connections are made from the load side of the 100 amp breaker to lugs in the switch using using  CU THHN/THWN(-2) wires.

The same type of wire is used to connect the lugs in the switch to the orginal subpanel which is about 8 feet away inside the house.

Connections are also made from the load side of the other 100 amp breaker to the subpanel in the new extension to the house using CU THHN/THWN(-2) wires which is about 60' away.


texts: Why do I have hot water from every faucet including the outside hose

texts: A customer recently purchased a house and when they turn on any faucet, they get hot water. The copper pipes are warm (hot) on both sides from the point where the supply splits off to the water heater.


texts: My mom went out and bought a super old dryer to replace one that busted. I'm trying to hook it up with 4 prong cord hut there is no green nut for the ground. Where does the ground go?


texts: How many wires should be in a new thermostat cable?

texts:
When roughing in thermostat wire, how many pair wire would you use to cover most   thermostats?

I'm asking because keep seeing questions about C wire and wifi.


texts: Is it okay to connect a subwoofer to two devices with a Y cable?

texts: I have a soundbar for my TV and an amplifier for music. They are never used at the same time. I have one subwoofer that I want to use for both. Currently I manually switch the RCA cable. Would it be okay to plug them both in at the same time with a Y cable? Would something weird happen, like the signal would go back up toward the other device and run through the powered-off amp at some unknown impedance level?


texts: Switching 3-phase power between two appliances using a 3-phase switch

texts:
In my garage I have an electrical 3-phase dryer.  I want to add a new 3-phase  air-conditioner. I want to be able to switch between the two of them, by using a 3-phase switch. This way, only one of these two appliances, can work at any given time.  In the market, such switches, for residential use are already available for purchase.

I was told by two electricians that I am not allowed to install the switch, because such installation is a violation of the building code. My questions are:

Is my proposed installation of a 3-phase switch a violation of the building code?
If the answer is a 'YES', then why is it so?
If I cannot use this switch, what are my legitimate options to make the dryer and the air conditioner able to only work one at a time?


texts: What is this small hollow metal cylinder?

texts:
I've bought a flat-pack bed second hand, and it has one part missing. There are two boards I need to join, and according to the instructions I should hammer a short (about 4 cm) hollow metal cylinder into the hole in one, and then push it into the other, and then put a bolt through the cylinder (and fix it in place with a barrel nut). The cylinder is the missing part and I'd like to know what it's called so I can find a replacement. It's smooth both inside and out.

Here's a sketch of the situation in section, which is hopefully clearer: (I've omitted the barrel nut)


texts: Is corrosion on top to an otherwise working electric water heater dangerous?

texts:
I moved into a house with an electric hot water heater.  The heater is old (11 years) but works just fine. However, the top of the tank has extensive corrosion, especially around the connections for the pressure relief valve and water in/out connections. I just flushed the tank, and there didn't appear to be any sediment (the water was at least visibly clear the whole whole time). I can't figure out how to check the anode rod, as I can't find a nut on the top of the tank (but maybe it is obscured by all the corrosion).

Do I need to worry about this, since everything is working? Or could the corrosion weaken the tank and cause it to explode?  Obviously, if the tank fails, I will replace it. But, I'm wondering if its condition is a safety hazard and I need to pre-emptively take care of it.


texts: I had replaced the two T8 Philips fluorescent tubes with two Utilitech YGA05A32-T8-18W-840-T LED tubes quite some time back.  I did not change any of the ballast wiring and all worked fine.  A few days ago the circuit breaker tripped (bad switch I believe) and after resetting this fixture did not seem to work. I tried the tubes in another fixture and they worked fine, I also tried good T8 fluorescent tubes and they did not work either.  So my assumption is that the ballast went bad during the circuit interruption.  Most all of the online help seems to suggest that I do not need to replace the ballast and I have tried direct wiring as posted online in many places.  That didn't work in my case.  I've noticed these LED tube end pins look identical to a fluorescent tube pins.  Both ends look exactly the same and there is no markings to indicate L or N on either end....maybe I have an older style?  Can anyone tell me if there is something different about these LED tubes that requires a replacement ballast or is there a different wiring scheme needed with these tubes which are at least a year old and maybe an older model than that? TKS!


texts: Stopping wheelie bins blowing over in the wind

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do I keep my outdoor trash cans from blowing away in the wind?

I am looking for a simple and cheap way to stop our wheelie bins blowing over, we keep then next to a wall, so some type of fixing may be an option.

However any solution must be easy to attach and detect without requiring a high level of
fine motor skills as my wife has Cerebral Palsy and I don’t wish to give her a reason to always make me put the bins out!


texts: Furnace Tries 2 or 3 times before staying on until reaching set temperature

texts:
I have noticed my furnace will cut the exhaust fan before lighting or sometimes start heating for a few minutes then stop.  A few minutes later it tries again and will stay on until reaching the correct temperature.

Twice now I have woken up to 63 degrees in the house which I am guessing it tried enough to lock itself out.  Turning the power off then on it would tried 2 or 3 times then stay on for over an hour to reach the correct temperature.

I have tried replacing the filter, cleaning the flame sensor, securing the pressure switch tube, and checking the connections to the board.

I had taken the panel off a few times to see the error code and every time it has been 3 blinks followed by a pause then repeat.  That is for the case where it was on for a min then stops as well as were the exhaust fan starts for not even 5 seconds and it kicks off.

The manual says that would indicate the pressure switch is open.

Looking at the vent from the ground I don't see anything standing out which would be an issue .. not saying there isn't a problem in the vent somewhere but why would it work for hours at a time and only have the issue when starting up after being off for a few hours.

The furnace is only 3 years old and is a Lennox ml180df 80% eff because we have a metal exhaust vent.


texts: I have a water heater that is 20 years old. When we turn up the water temp the pressure release value opens and drains water into the overflow pipe. The issue is this then overflows from the top of the pipe onto the floor and is only fixed by turning the water temp down. The water temp setting doesnt even have to be too high for this to happen. Time for a new water heater??


texts: Do I need to replace my hot water tank's pressure release valve?

texts:
Recently we had an extended water outage.  When water came back, pressure in the lines was much higher.  The hot water heater started leaking from the pressure release valve and after flipping it a few times, it didn't stop, so I was prepared to go replace it, but then I accidentally pushed on the end of the pull bar that goes to the valve and the flow stopped.

Tried flipping it again, it leaked again, pushed the bar and it stopped.

Am I right in thinking the spring is shot, time to replace it?


texts:
I am contemplating the following design:

A house has a primary electric heat pump heating setup consisting of an outside heat pump, inside air blower and all the duct work that distributes warm air through the house.

Now I want to also be able to burn wood to heat my house. Would it be possible to leverage out the existing duct works from the primary heating setup described above and conduct air into it that's been heated by the wood stove in the basement of the house? I think I have seen people do it but with radiators using water and air is a different medium so I imagine it'd be different. Would the stove be heating air directly or heating coiled coolant, similar to the heat pump if I understand how it works correctly?

Essentially, every time the person living in the house felt like doing some physical exercise to chop some firewood, they could help their electric bill by generating BTUs by burning wood, which may be cheaper than electric in the area.


texts: Need help wiring a new double pole line voltage thermostat

texts:
[

Just bought my first home and this is my first time posting, so please forgive me if my terminology is incorrect.

I currently have bedrooms upstairs each with 1 baseboard heater and thermostat for each. The circuit breaker is off and I've undone most of the wiring to it.

The thermostat is an analog, single pole line voltage.

I'd like to upgrade to a digital double pole.

It looks like there is 3 wires (really groups of wires, I don't know the term for this), possibly 10-3 or 12-3 coming into the junction box. I didn't specifically look that the gauge. It might actually be 10-2 or 12-2.

Do I simply need to connect 2 hots and 2 neutrals to the thermostat and I am set?


texts: Can I plug a fridge freezer into a short extension lead?

texts:
I've done a lot of research and the general consensus is no, but this is for use cases drastically different to my own.

There is a double socket in my garage that has always been used for a fridge freezer and a tumble dryer. Recently I bought some LED christmas lights to use year round that draw a total of about 10 watts. I decided probably the best appliance to share a socket with would be the fridge freezer as the tumble dryer probably draws more power.

So my question is, on a short 1-2m extension lead would a fridge freezer and some LED lights be okay?


texts: Should the dowel used be the same size as the hole or a bit bigger? If bigger, by how much? The holes I have are 3/8" in some cheap wooden chairs.


texts:
The hot wire and traveler wire behave oddly in a three-way switch in a 1950s house. The metal box has three wires - red, white and yellow.

The red-color wire measured 116V, so I assumed it's the hot wire. The white and yellow wires measured 4-6V when not connected to anything, so I assumed they are the traveler wires. I connected the red wire to the black common screw, and connected the white and yellow to brass traveler screws.

The switch worked, except that the light turned ON when I flipped the switch OFF and turned OFF when I flipped the switch ON. I measured the voltage on traveler wires - the ON wire fluctuated between 25 and 30V, the OFF wire had 0V. I measured with a regular multimeter, with its black lead grounded to the metal circuit box.

Then I re-connected the white and yellow wires to the opposite brass screws. Now the light worked normally - turned on when I flipped on the switch and turned off when I flipped off the switch.

Can someone help with these three puzzles:

1) Why is the hot wire red instead of white or black?

2) Is white wire really a traveler wire?

2) Why does flipping white and yellow wires to the opposite brass traveler screws change the switch behavior?


texts:
We have an old house that has a mail slot on the side of the house. That leads straight into a mailbox is that is embedded in the wall. We can access that mailbox from a door on the inside wall in our dining room.

I want to essentially remove the 'feature' of the house. :) It is a place where water comes in when it rains (not too much in Los Angeles, but is still a concern). It is also where cold air leaks in and warm air leaks out.

We have plaster walls. Stucco on the outside.

What is the most non-intrusive way of doing this?  I don't want to open up the wall to remove the internal mailbox.

In the pics I basically used blue tape to seal it temporarily.


texts: Rigid foam board between flat roof rafters

texts:
I have a bedroom I am renovating with no insulation. So I took down the ceiling and towards the back of the house the roof rafters actually almost line up with the ceiling itself.  I thought that rules out any batting and blown in application to achieve the suggested R value in the Philadelphia area.  The space between the roof and ceiling is vented in front of the house by 2 small vents.

I was all set to cobble and cut 4 inches of polyiso in between the rafters bays right up against the underside of the roof sheathing.  But recently read that this could be a bad idea that moisture can rot the roof sheathing but isn’t that the job of the roof anyway or is it an overstated concern?  Again the space between the flat roof and ceiling is minuscule and I suppose vented by the 2 small vent holes 60 feet away in front of the house.


texts: Hang 3 flat-screen monitors from a tilted wooden beam

texts:
I have an attic with a part where the floor was removed to bring light to the living room. I'd like to have my desk adjacent to that emptyness, but there's no space on the desk to place screens so I'd like to have them hanging above the emptyness.

Now it's pretty easy to find a desktop mount for 3 monitors that is attached to the desk (such as the Duronic DM553 Spring Triple), but I haven't found anything that would let me hang screens from the ceiling.

Furthermore, the mount should be screwed into the tilted wooden beam already present since the ceiling isn't plan, it is tilted ~30°.

My google-fu has failed me, any ideas?

EDIT: picture of the beam


texts: Mounting 2'x3' Glass whiteboard, drywall over concrete

texts:
I am trying to mount a 2'x3' glass whiteboard that weighs ~14lbs to the wall in a new condo.  Best I can tell, there is a concrete barrier very close to the surface drywall, and it isn't giving me enough room to install drywall anchors.

I'm open to doing pretty much anything to get this thing mounted, but I don't know what my best bet would be here.  Should I look into drilling into the concrete?  Is there a better way?

I own the place and am completely OK with doing something irreversible to the wall.

Bonus points: I'm playing with the idea of adding a bike rack to the wall as well so any solution that would let me mount significantly more than 14lb (and I could use for the bike) would be awesome!


texts: How can I air-condition a garage without modifying it?

texts:
So my apartment has an attached garage and I love having it, but I also live in Las Vegas where, today, it was over 100F outside. I have been considering air conditioning the garage, or even just a corner of it for a workshop with a cool breeze, but I have a little problem - since it's an apartment I can't modify the garage in any way to vent hot air outside.

I've considered portable evaporative coolers, and while I've got one and it works, it only works for a little while - since the garage is so enclosed the evaporative cooler eventually humidifies the air to the point where it stops working. This also creates problems with condensation and since my hobby space in the garage is to be used for electronics, radio and various other electricity-friendly pursuits, condensing water droplets is a very bad thing.

What can I do? Is there any way to lower the temperature of the garage air without somehow venting hot air back to the outside world? Would combining an evaporative cooler and a dehumidifier work? If so, how should I arrange them for optimal cooling?


texts:
I've had a couple questions above the sizing of a pipe, but I'm still a little confused and can't find an easy answer.

I'll use this image to get a representation of what I'm looking to have answered.

Sizes shouldn't matter, but if they were; we'll assume the small pipes are both 1/2" and the big pipe is just 3/4". What effect does it have on the water flow to increase the pipe size (into the center larger pipe)? And then what effect does it have on the flow to decrease the size?

The shape doesn't have to be a U like this; I just figured it'd knock out two birds with one stone. It simply represents an increase and then a decrease. You can treat them separately in the answers or as a whole if it does matter.

My general thoughts, from what I have been able to read through online, is that the pressure might slightly increase when going into the larger pipe or decrease when going down. Simply because of friction though - smaller pipe has more friction towards the water than the larger pipe. If this were one piece of plumbing, would the pressure out at the right be relatively the same as the pressure in at the left?

The other thing I see if the speed of the water. Increasing the pipe size slows down the water flow and decreasing the pipe size speeds it up? Again though, if it were one piece, would this balance out and the speed out would be like the speed in?


texts: Can I use a "universal" flush valve (or different brand) in my Kohler toilet?

texts:
My toilet is leaking. I hear the leaking noise and sometimes I can even hear the filling valve being triggered when the level of water in the cistern becomes too low.

After investigating a little bit and cleaning the cistern and flapper valve I decided that probably I better replace the whole flush valve than just the flapper valve.

My toilet is a Kohler, and maybe an old model. I checked online to buy another flush valve, but what I see on the Internet does not like the flush valve I have right now. When I asked in the hardware store about buying new pieces to replace the old ones I was told that for this model (Kohler) I better use the house parts. Still, I can find online other products that say "fits Kohler".

Should I replace my toilet parts with the more expensive Kohler ones or can I try other brands?


texts: I am trying to hang window blinds, however when I drilled the hole to use wall anchors the whole space collapsed in and the space had obviously been repaired before. How can I repair this hole with enough strength to hold the blinds once they're hung. Thanks so much


texts: Do US electrical codes require ceiling electric boxes?

texts: I removed a chandelier that we didn't like.  The electric is disconnected already but I didn't remove the box yet.  I know the electric code requires outlets every so many feet on the walls.  Is there a similar requirement that ceilings have places to mount lights even if you don't want to use them or am I free to take the box out and patch up the drywall?


texts: How can I remove an electrical box that's screwed into a ceiling joist without attic access?

texts:
I want to replace a ceiling electrical box rated for light fixtures with one that is rated for fan support. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the existing plastic box out with the usual methods. There are no visible screws inside of the box, and putting a 2x4 in there and whacking it with a hammer didn't dislodge it either. I was able to see that it was held in via two screws directly into a ceiling joist from the side of the box.
I don't want to go into the attic to unscrew the box from the joists, so what options do I have to remove this thing? I saw a suggestion online to use pliers and cut out pieces of the box until it's all out, but I don't want to start doing that then find out I still can't remove the box... and be stuck with no light and no fan.
The ceiling box looks similar to this, but it is not held in by nails, it is screwed in.


texts: I have a 240v 1500w 6.5a electric baseboard heater with a wall mounted thermostat. What I found out is that the the thermostat and all the outlets in the room are on the same 20a breaker with this heater, it never gets really hot, only warm, I'm thinking someone wired it to 110 because of the outlets. How can I remedy this to get more heat? If I just hook the wires to a double pole 20a breaker for 240 it would make the proper heat but the outlets?? Humm, if I run a separate line for the heater for 220, I'll lose the thermostat, how would I control it? I'm not busting the wall apart to find where the thermostat wiring is. I did have the cover off the thermostat and its 12/2 wired. I can provide pictures of the info plates on both the heater and thermostat.


texts: I forgot to put the lid on my can of paint and left it open overnight. Looks like there is a little bit of skin on the top but it hasn't completely dried out. Can this paint be saved??


texts: Is it bad to leave batteries in my cordless tools?

texts:
I have a set of Dewalt cordless tools with both 18V NiCad and 20V LiIon batteries (I also have an adapter that lets me use the 20V batteries in the 18V tools). The tools are only a few years old, and the drill and impact driver both have LED lights to illuminate your work area. The LED lights when depressing the trigger slightly.

I used both the drill and impact driver one day and then left them overnight. Both tools are 18V; I used an 18V NiCad in one and the 20V LiIon (with adapter) in the other. I went to use them again the next day, but both batteries were dead. The direction / safety switch on both was set to "off" and the tools were not used, so I was surprised to find the batteries depleted. Aside from the inconvenience, is this bad for the battery or the tool? Does this indicate a problem with either?

The tools and batteries are normally stored / charged in my garage, so they've been exposed to some colder temperatures (nighttime lows of 40F typically, though some nights as low as 25F) recently, which can affect battery charging. Days have typically been relatively warm (at least 60F).


texts: Is it safe to have two circuits passing through one junction box?

texts:
So I found the following circuit diagram in my home. After receiving a fun little shock, I found that someone was using 14/3 cabling to carry 2 different circuits to this 1 gang box (line on left, load on right). Since the load for Circuit 2 doesn't have a matching neutral, it's connected to Circuit 1's neutral line.

And before you ask, Circuit 1 and 2 are not MWBC circuits. Each one can be turned on/off independently. I'm presuming that this only works because the hot wires are on different phases, but this level of electrical work is a little over my head.

This doesn't seem to be very safe, though it hasn't caused a fire for (presumably) a number of years.
How do I go about fixing this so that it is safe?

I realize this can be and maybe should be fixed using a double pole breaker, which is certainly possible given they are neighbors in the breaker box, however I would like to keep them separate so I don't need to shut off power to half the house to work on an outlet (e.g. the circuits in the house are already on the large side of what I'd like).


texts: Double gang three-way light fitting not working as it should

texts:
This light switch controls both down up and downstairs lights. Also, I have a second one upstairs that controls upstairs plus bathroom, and there is a single three-way switch downstairs.

There are 8 wires:

grey wire brown sleeve
black wire brown wire
brown wire
brown wire
grey wire brown sleeve with a brown wire
black wire brown sleeve with a brown wire

Six terminals on the switch. One side of the switch is working but the other side won’t control upstairs anymore. I’m in the UK.


texts: Is this substance drywall joint compound?

texts:
I need to get a sample of some drywall joint compound for asbestos testing in a house I'm renovating. I pulled away some of the base boards in the corner and found something that I believe to be joint compound, but I need someone to verify before I take a sample and send it in.

I'm looking at the tan colored substance by the nail in the corner (I highlighted it in the picture). Is this drywall joint compound?
FYI, we have already had some lab tests done and found asbestos (chrysotile) in the popcorn ceiling in one room and the linoleum flooring in the kitchen (currently covered up by laminate). The abatement company recommended checking the joint compound in the wall.


texts: Can I make my bulkhead stairs steeper and still be up to code?

texts:
The bottom few steps of my bulkhead stairs go beyond the wall of the basement.  The problem is I would like to put a door in my basement at the bottom of the stairs.  To do this I would either have to make the stairs steeper or build an enclosure around the bottom stairs.

The preferred solution would be to just make the stairs steeper and put the door flush with the existing wall, but can I do this and still be up to code?

I live in MA and found this document online: (MA Building Codes)

It says this is the 7th edition at the bottom of the document.  I couldn't find a more updated version but if there is one please let me know.

It looks like the bulkhead stairs are currently compliant with all regulations in section 5311.5

Here are a couple exerpts:

  5311.5.8.2 Bulkhead Enclosure Stairways.
  Stairways serving bulkhead enclosures, not part of the required building egress, providing access from the outside grade level to the basement shall be exempt from the requirements of 780 CMR 53 11.4.3 and 5311.5 where the maximum height from the basement finished floor level to grade adjacent to the stairway does not exceed eight feet (2438 mm), and the grade level opening to the stairway is covered by a bulkhead enclosure with hinged doors or other approved means.

The height of my stairs is a little over 7 feet.  It doesn't exceed 8 feet.

This is in section 5311.5:

  5311.5.3.2 Tread Depth.
  The minimum tread depth shall be nine inches (229 mm). The tread depth shall be measured horizontally between the vertical planes of the foremost projection of adjacent treads and at a right angle to the tread’s leading edge. The greatest tread depth within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the smallest by more than d inch (9.5 mm). Winder treads shall have a minimum tread depth equal to the tread depth of the straight run portion of the stairs measured as above at a point 12 inches (305) mm from the side where the treads are narrower. Winder treads shall have a minimum tread depth of three inches (76 mm) at any point. Within any flight of stairs, the greatest winder tread depth at the 12 inch (305 mm) walk line shall not exceed the smallest by more than d inch (9.5 mm).

The section defining the height of each stair is also in 5311.5.

Does this mean that I am exempt from that rule and can make the stairs steeper?


texts: Trouble Opening a Fluorescent Light Fixture

texts:
My house has an old fluorescent ceiling fixture in the kitchen that probably dates back to a remodel done in the 1980s.  The bulbs have gone out and I am having trouble figuring out how to open the fixture to replace the bulbs.
The frame is metal and the three individual light panels are plastic
Any suggestions would be appreciated.


texts: having to cycle switch to get fluorescent lights to come on

texts: In our kitchen are 2 two fixtures that hold 4 48in tubes. There are two switches for these lights. We have to cycle the switch several times to get them to fully light. It does it with both switches. This doesn't happen every time. Maybe 50% of the time. My Husband has checked the ballast temp. and it is always good. No buzzing or flickering when lights are on. They also stay on once they light up. He took all 8 tubes out and found they all have loose pins, really loose. They wobble around. They do not have starters. He thinks this is our problem. My question is how did all 8 tubes develope loose pins? Is he right? I don't want to waste money on something we don't need.


texts: Odd water pressure drop throughout house after running hose outside

texts:
We have a well pump with a pressure tank.  On two separate occasions, the wife and kids were running the water outside, connected to a slip n slide type of thing, going down the slope next to our house.
On both occasions, over the course of running the hose outside, the pressure throughout the house, as well as outside, drops to much below normal.  The well pump never turns on. If I wait about 15-20 minutes, the pump eventually turns on and restores the house to normal pressure.
The only theory I can come up with is this: as our water heater has no backflow preventer (sometimes we get warm water from the cold faucets in the house right after a high-flow event like flushing a toilet), I wonder if the hose outside is actually creating a siphon effect within the house plumbing, perhaps causing a vacuum somewhere downstream of the pressure switch, maybe in the water heater itself.  Since the pump doesn't come on, I have to assume the pressure on the switch side is high enough to keep the pump off.  I also have to assume that the pressure switch and well pump are working correctly since 99% of the time, the water pressure is correct, while doing dishes, showering, etc.
Now to the question: given all of this information, is it worth putting in some sort of one-way valve on the cold side of the water heater?  If not, what the heck is going on?


texts: Supply Elbow doesn't tighten against wall

texts:
The instructions for my Kohler Wall-Mount Supply Elbow say to leave the NPT nipple sticking out of the wall 9/16". I did that but now I can't tighten the elbow all the way to the wall as I'm supposed to. The more I tighten, the more I feel like I'm going to break something -- and I still have over 1/8" inch to go.

What do I do? I feel like I have two options

Keep tightening
Replace the NPT nipple with a shorter one if there is one available (current is 3 1/2")


texts: Building on top of 3/4'' plywood subfloor

texts:
I want to build this: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/12/21/how-to-make-a-relatively-sweet-shower-cheap/

and I'm building in my basement bathroom: on top of the foundation I have 2x4 (horizontal) making joists (space about 4-6" apart) and the 3/4 plywood to make the sub floor.

So my question: is 3/4'' sufficient?


texts: Recommended to have drain hole in PVC weatherproof electrical box?

texts:
Is it legal (NEC/Canada) to drill a drain hole in the bottom of a PVC weatherproof electrical box, when used in a wet location?
If so, what size is recommended to drain the water out and keep the wasps out (or avoid other issues)?
For the rest of the seal, is it common to silicone the entire seal between cover and box? Or do you typically seal the top and sides, but not the bottom? Is this a matter of code or good practice?
An instruction manual for a motion sensor reads "If not installed on a weatherproof box or if an adaptor plate was used, caulk the wall plate and mounting surface with silicone." I note, based on an answer below, that the silicone recommendation does not apply, and the opposite is recommended, when mounting on a PVC weatherproof box.


texts:
I live in an apartment on the 4th floor. My bedroom has the misfortune of being in the very corner of the building - it has two outer walls. On top of that, the corner between these two walls is facing north (where the sun don't shine) and there are no obstacles for the cold winds coming from that direction. The only insulation that the building has is about 30cm of concrete.

As a result, the corner tends to be substantially cooler than the rest of the walls and lots of condensation gathers on the wallpaper. Since I cannot do anything to the outside of the building, is there anything I can do on the inside? Some material that I can place beneath the wallpapers? (I have enough spare wallpaper to fix the corner, but not the entire wall)


texts: Can I screw a ceiling fan electrical box directly to the joist?

texts:
I am putting in a ceiling fan in a bedroom.  It is a smaller one approx. 18 lbs.

The remodeling-type expander brace failed, so can I just screw one side of the box to the joist? (I cannot access the area through the attic.)

Well I know I can, but how bad would it be, really?  Is there a type of box that is more suited for this purpose?


texts:
In the basement that I'm finishing I have an irregular, rough stone foundation wall, pretty dry. I'll use 1" XPS foam insulation, then drywall. Can I build the framing on the floor, attach the XPS to it directly, and then just raise the whole assembly snug against the foundation wall? Seems easier than attaching the XPS to the stone foundation.

Thanks for any insights here.

Jeff


texts:
A few years ago I got 2 dozens of these to secure roof base plate on top of concrete column.. but after we put in the lag shields.. we couldn't insert the main screws so we didn't add the extra screws and the structural engineer was not even sure how to use this.

Now I'll use these to attach a breaker panel to a concrete wall. I need to know. Are these only used on soft cement like hollow blocks so the lag shield can expand against the cement.. or can you really use this for pure concrete.. but how could the lag shield expand against the very hard concrete surrounding it?


texts: I recently removed the texture from my ceiling and managed to reach the plaster board.  Will I be able to prime and then paint the ceiling or if it needs to be skimmed by a professional?


texts:
So I was running Ethernet around the house, and there were a couple of places where the top plate holes were incorrect and I had to redrill (holes no bigger than a 3/4 an inch). I got everything drilled right and ran....however what should I plug the other couple of holes with? (Just to get them filled). I doubt it did much structural damage (since it's just a single hole), but I still feel like I should "fill" them with something?

Is there some sort of wood filler? Or something? I know I should use fire-retardant foam where the ethernet cables come through...but right now just concerned with the holes that are just open.


texts: What options exist for replacing or upgrading heater radiators?

texts:
I've got a hot water heating system in my home. Some rooms have baseboard radiators (recent ones), then other rooms have old radiator faces like this:

The heat isn't coming up so well in some of these older ones, so I got the face plates off to clean them out to see if it'll help. They're full of lint, hair, etc. After taking the faces off, I can see various parts of the copper piping have got the blue corrosion points on them to varying degrees. The house was built in the 50s, not sure if this is original piping.

I'm wondering what people would typically update these radiators to? Can you buy new ones that are the same size these days? If I were to replace these with baseboard radiators, then I'd have to build out the cut-out area in the wall where these much taller units are currently sitting. They are recessed into the wall.

Thanks


texts: Can I build a deck this low to the ground?

texts:
I want to build a deck off the back of my house. The door is near grade level, about 1' above. The grade doesn't have very large slope, so that means that the beam at the far end would be below grade:

Note: Forgive the crude pen-drawing i sketched out at work. Didn't really want to bother with plenty of workspace, pencils or rulers.

Am i allowed to use beams when they are this close to grade? i was thinking that metal bracket holding up the beam, and the lower part of the beam, can be filled with crushed stone:

My question is: is this allowed? Even if the beam is pressure treated, and even if it is surrounded in whatever is desired (from nothing, to earth, to crushed stone), is this allowed?

Tags: desk, beam, footing, crushed stone, below grade


texts: Can I install a 50amp sub panel to a detached garage if I only have 3 wires running? Just bought the house and wire is already there.


texts: How to make 1/4 inch beveled edge on unfinished walnut countertop

texts: I had 6ftx4ft black walnut counter top delivered unfinished (for cost savings reason). Please help me find out the best tool to use to make a 1/4 inch beveled edge for this rectangular piece of walnut. The thickness of this wood in 1-3/4 inch. I need to finish all 4 sides with beveled edge (30 deg beveled angle).


texts: New dryer got wet on ride home need advice

texts: My wife and I bought a Maytag dryer it rained all the way home.  I wiped it down, plugged it in and it smelled. So if I let it set for a few days will it be ok?


texts: Can I connect unused ceiling fan wire with neutral?

texts: I have a dual gang light switch box which was previously hooked up to a ceiling fan with light.  The two switches controlled the fan and light separately.  I recently replaced the ceiling fan with just a simple light fixture and capped off the extra hot wire.  Only one switch controls the light and the other switch does nothing.  I'm currently looking to replace the switch that does nothing with an led guide light.  The guide light requires a white neutral wire.  Can I take the wire that is currently capped off at the ceiling and attached it to the white neutral line?  On the dual gang box side, I attach the hot wire to the hot connector on the guide light and take the wire which goes to the ceiling (which will be attached to the white wire) and attached to the neutral connector.  Will this work?


texts: Portable air conditioner produces nasty smell in fan mode after running AC

texts:
My Haier HPN12XCM Portable Air Conditioner, 12000-BTU air conditioner produces a horrible smell whenever it is in fan mode after I run it in AC mode.

To reproduce the problem, I do the following:

Run the AC unit in AC mode for 20 minutes. No smell.
Turn off AC mode and turn on fan mode. Smell slowly fades in over about 2 minutes.
A horrible smell will occur for approximately 20 minutes and then go away. It appears for longer if the AC unit has been running for longer.

Interestingly, if I turn AC mode back on, the smell disappears within 1 minute.

I've attempted to disassemble the unit to find the problem. Some very minor damage was present to the coils on the lower half and those coils, when rubbed with a paper towel, produced the smell of rotten eggs on the paper towel.

The smell is not easily identifiable when it's in the air, but if anything, I would guess that it smells like a mixture of butt and that awful oil smell you sometimes find on railings outside.

What I've tried to fix the problem:

I've attempted to run the unit for 7 straight days in fan mode to no avail. When I ran the AC unit for 20 minutes after that, the problem reappeared.

Unfortunately, this makes my portable AC unit inoperable, since it needs to be in fan mode for 2-3 minutes before AC mode kicks in and the smell does not go away when the unit has been off for a while. The smell is so awful that it sticks in the room for hours afterwards even if it only runs for 2-3 minutes.

I've also tried unplugging both of the rubber plugs on the back. On a humid day, one produced a small amount of liquid. Today, despite the smell, no liquid. Also the lint filter on the outside of the unit has no lint on it.

This unit is a rental from my apartment complex. I've tried switching out the unit but they both had the exact same problem.

What could be causing this smell? Is there a way to fix it?


texts: What type of sand is under my flagstone pavers?

texts:
I also have this question:
Replacing pavers with grass, what do I do with the sand?

See attached photos, the brick like piece in the second photo near the shovel tip can be crumbled (with effort) in my hand.   Is it possible there is some concrete mixed with this sand, or is it just compacted so tightly that it takes on a brick like form?   Should I heed the previous advice and just mix the sand with the underlying topsoil and add some compost?


texts: External Double Pole Thermostat to 7500 Watt Forced Air Heater

texts:
I'm working on adding a 7500W electric heater to my garage, and am wondering how to hook up an external double pole thermostat.
What is giving me some concern is that on the double pole thermostats I see they have an amp rating which is below the amp of my electric heater at 220V.
So my guess is that the double pole amp rating is for users who have in-line / series connected power to their electrical heating devices, but still want a graphical display?
I bought the Dyna Glow 7500W heater link
Here is the wiring diagram:

Because the thermostat is double pole, do I not need to worry about the current running to the thermostat?
My interpretation of the wire diagram and system intent, is that my external 220V double pole thermostat is going to be powered from L1 & L2 at 220V with 100mA or whatever low power (ie. the powered front end with the display with buttons) and then I hook up the "load" from the thermostat to 1 & 2 which then switches on the heater thermostat and the turn dial is set to max temp on the unit?
My thought is that the 1 & 2 line would be like 14 awg, and just carries some small current to the switch to activate the furnace thermostat to turn on?
Am I wrong?  Will the ~31.5A be running through my double pole thermostat in someway and I need to find a heavier duty thermostat?  (I understand if you have simple baseboard heater and you put a thermostat in series you have the current running through your thermostat).
I actually expected to see four wires on the external thermostat section with L1, L2, 1, and 2. When I pop open the furnance backplate will I find four wires or will I need to splice in 14 awg to L1 & L2 somehow too?
Am I totally off here?  (Yep, I'd love to convert the 220V to 24V DC too and add the third Nest thermostat to the house, but first I want to make sure I understand the original intent of the wiring here!).
UPDATE:  Here are the terminations and the thermostat.


texts: How do I figure out what this 30amp 2 pole breaker is doing?

texts:
I have am looking for space in my circuit breaker panel to do an upgrade. There is a 30 amp dual pole breaker labeled "water heater". Our water heater was upgraded to a tankless about 6 years ago and has a standard 3 prong power cord that plugs into the wall. Does that mean that the 30amp breakers are free now, or does my water heater use both the plug (maybe for the controls; that would seem odd but my old water heater didn't have digital controls). On the other hand, I don't remember the old water heater having any electrical components. The old water heater had a tank, and was installed some time before we moved in 15 years ago, though I don't recall the age.

Is there a way to figure out if that 30 amp circuit is being used? We turned it off and nothing seemed affected; the water heater still seemed to work. But maybe there is some internal component that is directly wired?


texts:
I am in the process of building a roughly 12' x 16' shed/workshop. It is going to be a pier-and-beam design. There are 8 concrete piers, 4 on each side, that will support 2 4x12 beams. The span from the outside of one of the beams to the outside of the other is roughly 12'.

One possibility for joist/subfloor design:

2x10 doug fir joists, 16" oc
One blocking sequence down roughly the middle
3/4 inch plywood
Some form of construction adhesive between joists and plywood
Screwing and/or nailing plywood to joists.

I think it's a fairly sound design overall, but I'm not sure how much "give" there will be in the floor after completion. Do you think that would have a lot of bounce, or should that be plenty?

According to the IRC, both southern pine and doug-fir-larch should be able to span 12 ft for 40psf live load and 20 psf dead load at 16" oc. See: https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IRC2015/chapter-5-floors?site_type=public .

Will this be sufficient to have a floor without significant bounce?


texts:
I noticed that my porch lamp was broken (by someone).  I see a couple of small pieces of wood that is still attached to the base of the lamp.  The tip of the light bulb was broken, which I removed from the lamp before I took the photos.

Should I hire a handyman or an electrician?  Any advice is appreciated.


texts: What can I do about my odd sized heating vents?

texts:
Two related questions:

I have a problem section of heating vent that is 2.5" x 12". I thought I'd be able to find this size in Lowes or Home Depot, but nothing is even close (I see 3.5" x 10"). Note: This section handles the air into the furnace (from an upstairs register).

The question is: Where can I get 2.5" x 12" or does there exist some place I can order a converter?

The reason for question #1 is a tricky one. I would have to provide some screenshots and way too much info, but I have reason to believe that removing this section altogether might be my best option for now. If I do this, I am concerned that I might be putting too much strain on the furnace.

Here is how it is configured. First, there is a very large air intake register (sorry, I don't know the terminology) upstairs that leads right into the furnace (about 4 feet of 3.5" x 12" ducts). The "problem" duct described above is from another intake register in another room. This doesn't go directly into the furnace. Rather, it comes right in the middle of that 4-foot section of the other air intake. I would imagine that this really doesn't provide that much more air to the furnace, but I could be wrong.

So, to summarize: 1. What to do about odd-sized ducts? 2. Can I just block off that additional air intake, or will my furnace explode?
Thanks.


texts: I have replaced both my 3 way switches but only one works correctly. I was told by the local hardware store that you wire each switch the same. red and black on top on the brass screws. and the white one on the black screw only the 1st switch works correctly. if I try to turn the light on from the other switch it won't work without the other switch on. if I have both switches off, the 2nd switch won't work at all. also there doesn't seem to be a ground wire for these switches


texts: What pump for a pond where sediment keeps restricting flow?

texts:
We have a pond with a fountain fed by a closed centrifugal pump. The fountain looks great... for 30 minutes. When its turned on, the pump sucks up sediment suspended in the water, and deposits it inside the hose. Over time this reduces the flow rate of the fountain to a trickle. If I use a water supply with higher pressure, such as that of the house, I can clean out the fountain hose (by simply forcing the sediment through the hose) and it runs perfectly - until it clogs up again.

The fountain is partly concrete, so a replacing the hose with a larger bore is not an option, therefore I need a new pump.

I am concerned though that buying a more powerful centrifugal pump will only result in the same problem. I am aware that you get either pressure or throughput with these, but don't know enough about fluid dynamics to be able to tell if, if I get a big enough one it stop it getting clogged up.

Ideally we would have a pump that maintained a constant flow rate, and increased the pressure as the line was constricted, until I presume some sort of equilibrium is reached where the pressure in the hose is large enough to displace the sediment on the walls.

Do I need something like a displacement pump, or will a correctly sized centrifugal pump do what I want?


texts: How safe is it to just cram all the wires to a ceiling fan up in the canopy?

texts: This is just a very general question about whether or not I should worry about how tidy my wires are in the ceiling box when replacing a fan? When I finished the installation, I basically just let the canopy of the fan cover and push whatever wires it needed to until it fit properly so I could screw it in place. Is this wrong / dangerous?


texts: Gas dryer, spacing requirment between vent and valve?

texts:
I see a lot of Dryer Boxes for sale which have knock-outs for both the exhaust vent and the gas valve in the same plastic box.
Is this OK, code/safety-wise to have the gas valve so close to the out-vent?
Or, are these boxes meant to be used as either/or a gas valve rough-in box vs a dryer vent box?


texts: How do you replace missing vertical blind slats?

texts: I need some advice about vertical vinyl blinds for a screen door. Right now I'm missing 4 or 5 of the blinds. Should I buy replacements slats or a new set? When you buy them, will you they be cut to size by the store, or is this even an option? Looking for some general advice on how to proceed.


texts:
I have some hand me down wooden furniture. Unfortunately, with multiple moves and births in the last few years, it has gone a unloved.

The wood seems very weak, and is brittle when dry. One beam snapped when stood on by a small child.

My question is, can I save it? I will obviously have to replace the broken beam, but can I treat it so that it doesn't become firewood?


texts: Honeywell VR8300A3500 Single Stage Heat Gas Valve to Ecobee3 with C wire

texts: Hey everyone have a quick question regarding a honeywell VR8300A3500 Single Stage Heat Gas Valve and the introduction of a Ecobee3 wifi enabled thermostat with a "C" wire. just want to make sure i am understanding this correctly and have drawn out the right circuit. The TH/TR stand for TH- Thermostat and TR is the common correct? below is my drawn out circuit along with a picture of the valve and diagram of the valve. Thanks. Also i have a 24v hightemp switch in series as shown.


texts: Can I apply polymeric sand only on a x inches wide stretch where the patio joins the wall?

texts:
I am in the process of regrading my patio. I had a wet wall problem because the patio was sloped toward the house. I want to make sure that no water gets near the wall again, even with the correct slope applied.
For this I would like to apply polymeric sand on a strip of let's say 3 foot where the patio joins the wall.

Is this a good idea?


texts: How do I connect a 240v compressor with only black and white wires?

texts: I got a new air compressor that says 240 volt only but it only has a black and white wire please help.


texts: Circuit Breakers Tripping When Power Restored After Outage

texts:
We just finished construction of a new home in Washington State.  We've had several minor power outages in the couple of months that we've lived here - a few seconds to 10 or 20 minutes.  After a few of these outages I've found that a number of circuit breakers were tripped.  On one occasion I was able to check the box during the outage and found no tripped breakers, then checked it when power was restored and found multiple breakers tripped.  It's an Eaton panel, with apparently 3 different types of "special" breakers (i.e. breakers with added protection and test buttons).  The first photo shows the panel after one outage.  The second is a much clearer picture of the panel, with a yellow highlight beside each breaker that is tripped in the first photo.  A few observations I've made:

only the "special" breakers are tripping.
Nearly all the tripped breakers are on the same leg of the split phase supply - the lowest one looks to be on the other leg.
The tripped breakers flash a code when turned back on which shows 5 flashes meaning they tripped due to a ground fault.
It appears to be consistent that the same, or nearly the same, breakers trip each time - the "every other breaker" pattern is typical.
We have a whole house surge protector, which is wired to the top left breaker.

We also have a separate workshop fed by a 200 amp service which has one of these "special" breakers, and it also trips in the same circumstance.  I have no way of knowing if it's on the same power leg.

The picture below shows the cables entering the house from the garage on the right.  The cables run together the length of the house, splitting away to each destination.  Of course only a couple of cables reach the far end (jet tub and master bedroom/bathroom).

The following photo is the main panel in the workshop.  It is fed by its own 200 A supply.  There is only one "special" breaker in the workshop and it has tripped several times on power restoration, while none of the coventional breakers have ever tripped.

Any thoughts on why these breakers are tripping, and how this can be fixed?


texts:
I am trying to install my new washer & dryer combo. There are a few things that I am not sure since plumbing hardware and markings are a bit different in the US compared to once I used in Russia.

Please take a look at the photo and help me figuring out:

does the left (marked as red "1" on the picture) pipe provide hot water, while the right (blue "2") -- cold water? I saw that on many pictures in the Internet, but I am not sure whether the convention is reliable.
do I turn water on by turning down the handles marked with a green 3?


texts: How realistic is DIY sharpening of scissors on a stone?

texts:
I have scissors with moderately dull blades and a middle grain (looks like 120) sharpening stone.

Is it realistic to sharpen scissors on a stone or do I just get over the idea? How is sharpening scissors different from sharpening a knife or a chisel?


texts:
I live in an apartment complex where my water baseboard heating is 100% controlled by the complex staff. This year has been particularly tough, as it's been very warm since winter started and even with 18+ inches of snow outside there's little relief. Landlord says the boilers' thermostats are working, but I'm super uncomfortable.

I've been reading up on how to block air flow but am a bit confused. Previously, I've shoved towels into the top of the baseboard lining where the hot air comes out (horizontally), and whatever spilled over gets stuffed underneath where the cold air goes in (if I'm reading correctly).

Would it be more efficient to stuff towels under the baseboards to block air from flowing upwards? I've also read about tin-foil, but where would I stuff it into, or would I create some kind of shielding?

I hope I explained everything correctly -- it's 2AM and I have a sick fiancee from all the dry air coming from the windows, and I myself can't get to sleep because it's so damn warm. Thanks for any help.

Edit: Here's a picture of what I'm trying to do to block airflow from under the baseboard. Is this correct?


texts: Is tape applied to drywall right after mud is applied or after it has dried?

texts:
I patched some foot square holes in the wall and would like to know when paper tape is applied:

right after mud is applied
after it has dried and is sanded
with drywall patching.


texts: I'm building a gravel patio inside my U-shaped gravel driveway. I will be using two different kinds of gravel, so I need a separator at the border to prevent the mixing of the two types of gravel. If I use some kind of edging, wouldn't it become a trip hazard if it sticks above the surface? And if it's below the surface, wouldn't it be ineffective at preventing mixing? Any way out of this conundrum?


texts: IKEA outdoor table: recovering to the original color

texts:
A few years ago, I bought a wooden outdoor table from their ÄPPLARÖ line. At the time I thought it was real wood that had been treated for outdoor use. But after my wife took a brush and water (she swears) to it, it almost looks as if paint has been brushed off.

I've contacted IKEA, but they are not providing me with a clear answer, tell me they sell paint but do not sell any other wood treatments.

I am now wondering what to do. It's a great table and I'd like to continue using it. Does anybody know the series, can confirm if its been painted or not, etc. I'd like to restore the table to ideally the original colors but alternatively to a uniform color at least.

Your comments and help are appreciated!

New photo:


texts: Sump pump pit fill-in / Radon mitigation

texts:
I live in a partially below-ground finished basement of someone else's house. I have recently tested for radon and found the level to be elevated.

There is a 2-foot deep sump pump pit in the basement that the homeowner says has not been used for over decade and the pump is not even plugged in.

I have discussed radon mitigation with some professionals, who recommend sealing the pit with a cap and running a pipe through a hole in the exterior wall to an outdoor fan for venting out the air. However, the homeowner is wary of putting a new hole in their exterior wall and would prefer to just fill in the sump pump pit.

Would this be a reliable way of mitigating the radon and, if so, what fill-in technique would you recommend? Complete concrete, sand, foam, plastic capping, combination, etc?


texts: In a brick layout for tile, how do I handle exposed cut edges?

texts:
My second in the line of "redoing a bathroom" questions.  For our tub surround, my wife and I have picked out some very nice 16"x4" subway tiles, that we would like to arrange in a brick pattern.  To surround the tile, and finish exposed edges, we have ordered some 16x4 bullnose.  For example:

http://monty.princeton.edu/~mark/tile_layout.gif

However, in order to have a brick pattern, every other row will require a 16x4 tile to be cut in half, leaving an unfinished edge on the tile.  I have noticed that the tile we picked out has a very slight roundness to the edges of the tile.  Cutting the tile in half will cause a sharp corner where the cut tile butts up against the bullnose:

http://monty.princeton.edu/~mark/tile_layout_edge.gif

The top is a full 16x4 viewed from the edge (notice the rounded top edge where it butts against the bullnose) whereas the bottom is the cut tile (notice the sharp corner where it butts against the bullnose).  Now, in this image I have exaggerated the bevel on the top face of the tile, it is quite a bit more subtle than this.

How is this typically handled?  Is there a way to soften the sharp corner?  Or is it typically not noticed?


texts: Is it worth "piling in more insulation"?

texts:
In one area the laughable insulation in my attic looks like this:

purely as a stopgap measure: is it worth simply ...

get the keys to my kid's minivan and drive to Lowe's on the corner and get a sack or two of loose insulation
cut the sack open and pile more loose insulation on top of the photographed area

Is it even worth the ten minutes / ten bucks to do this?

Would it perhaps slightly cool the room underneath the problem area??

Or is it really pointless on such a poorly insulated setup?


texts: How can I prevent a humidifier from getting moldy?

texts:
I have a small cool mist humidifier. It has a water tank and ejects a mist and does not have a filter or anything. It is "TaoTronics" brand in case anyone wants to find it.

I've noticed pink streaks accumulating where the mist ejects, and also where the water collects. This seems to be mold, and a lot of it.

I cleaned it thoroughly with water and vinegar and thought perhaps running it continuously would prevent mold from accumulating, but I was wrong. After a week of continuously running it 24/7, the mold returned.

How can I prevent mold from accumulating in this humidifier? The only options I see at this time are:

Clean the humidifier weekly (huge hassle).
Always run the humidifier with a mold-killing substance in the water (vinegar? chlorine? Would  this be SAFE? Would it break humidifier?)
Use distilled water (expensive and hassle).

How can I prevent this humidifier from getting moldy?


texts: Does cellulose insulation require open windows for venting?

texts:
I just added a cellulose insulation into my attic.

Yes, I added the rafter vents but I also have two mini windows that are covered with siding window covers allowing the air flow. I normally closed these 2 windows during the winter time and open during summer. I just closed them with the board of the window size to block at least some cold getting in.

My question is do I still need to close them during winter now when I have the cellulose insulation? It's raining right now and quite of humidity is getting there. And since it is insulating properly, the warm air from the house is not getting there to push the humidity out. Hopefully, the wood won't start to degrade because not warm air escaping the house removing the humid air there.

before:


texts: How to work around spring support when installing a garage door opener?

texts:
I'm trying to help my brother with a garage door opener installation.  Normally this would be pretty straightforward, but his garage has a feature/obstacle I've never seen before.  The door installer used a piece of angle iron as a support for the door spring.  Unfortunately, it's in the same place where the opener's track is supposed to attach to the door header.

Why would the spring need a support like this?  And how should we work around it when installing the opener?


texts: Can I stain bleached bamboo back to natural color?

texts:
I picked up some outdoor bamboo shelving that's faded pale.  I'd like to stain it a creamy-yellow "natural" color and bring it inside.

After multiple attempts and vigorous sanding, I cannot get my test section to accept any stain.  Is there a trick to staining bamboo?


texts: How to find where is the broken in the house electric wire?

texts: I have a complex wiring problem. one of my outside house light is not working and I took out the light and found that the hot wire ( black) is not getting power. All other lights and appliances are working in the house except this light. I also check breaker box and it seems to all good and getting power so it is broken it between somewhere. I cannot see where are these wires coming from or connected? I tried hard I cannot locate any junction box near by. obviously the wire is broken but do not know how do I find where is broken because I do not know where is this connected to in other end? it is going through cement wall  so it is not east to break and look at the wire connection? Any help is appreciated?


texts: Running LV conduit through attic - what do I need to know?

texts:
I want to run 1" LV conduit (Carlon Resi-gard) through the attic. Basically, I am using the attic for the "horizontal" run from one room to another.

I will be sealing the hole with some caulking, but what else do I need to know?

Is it safe to just drill into the attic from the room below?
Does the conduit have to run above the insulation (stapled to something), or can it just lay on the floor of the attic?
I think it would be best to break the conduit with at least one "pull box" in the attic. Would that box need to be a closed gang box with a blank plate? Or can it be like any other LV backless gang box?


texts: GFCI circuit for hot tub tripping after move

texts:
Good day,
We had a fully functional hot tub in our garage (don't ask).

We moved it outside on to a patio of cement patio blocks.

I tapped off the sub panel in the garage that the tube used to be hooked to.
I ran 80' of #6-4 wire out to another GFCI sub panel outside the house within sight of the tub.

When I energize the breakers they both pop

I have confirmed that the common and ground are only bonded in the main panel.

If I separate them in the main panel everything works but you can get bit if you touch the water while your barefooted.

I'm attaching a diagram of what I have wired.

MyWiringDiagram

I'm stumped, I need some ideas please.!


texts:
I have a two zone HVAC system with two compressors (A and B). When I run the heat on Zone 1, it uses compressor A and when I run the heat on Zone 2, it also uses compressor A.  When I run the A/C, it uses compressor B.
Is this an installation mistake?
How much of a problem/concern is it to have both zones running on the single compressor simultaneously?
Or, is this something I should have corrected immediately?


texts: What is the primary function of the main breaker in a breaker box? How does it differ from other breakers?

texts:
Location: California | United States

I'd like to better understand the roles of main breakers and sub-breakers.  Why are there multiple levels of breakers? I suspect that sub-breakers are intended to regulate/control electricity for specific sections of the house while allowing other sections to still be powered?

-M

P.S. I'm SURE I'm misusing the term sub-breakers so I apologize to the electricians here. Hopefuly my question still makes sense. =)


texts: Drilling precise holes in concrete without bit wandering

texts:
I need to mount some 4" house numbers on a concrete wall (drilling 3/16" holes for studs extending from the numbers). Normally when I drill into concrete, it's hard to get a hole in an exact location (even using a center punch to force the bit to start in the right place). I assume it has to do with the hammer action of the drill and aggregate within the concrete making the bit want to go slightly off center, but usually the final hole is a tiny bit (a few mm?) off from where I originally marked.
This is usually fine since whatever I'm mounting doesn't need to be in an exact position, but with small house numbers, one of the holes being a little off will mean the studs won't fit in right or the numbers will be a little tilted or not aligned right. Is there any tool or technique to help accurately drill holes in precise locations in concrete?


texts: Can I add a pendant fixture to ceiling fan?

texts:
I've just moved into an old, historic apartment that has had some unfortunate ceiling fans & light kits installed. I'm renting of course, so I can't do much about the situation, but I'm wondering if I can add a pendant fixture? Something similar to this fixture is what I have in mind.

My question is more along the lines of "is this physically possible & safe?" than "is this legal?" Also, I'm asking specifically if this can be done along with/in addition to the fan, not instead of.


texts: This may sound simple to some but I bought a couple exterior light fixtures.  They say only use type A-19 light bulbs or lamps.  From what I guessed looking through the net I think this means no CFL energy saving bulbs.  What exactly is an A-19 type light bulb?  The light fixtures I bought have a sensor and dual-brite dimmable lighting capability which I don't even plan on using.  I want it on at 100% brightness at all times.


texts: Our garden arbor's underground legs are completely rotted and the arbor has fallen. I wonder what's the best way to fix it. I am thinking in extending the above-ground part of the legs (which are in good state) with new wood, attach it with steel plates, and bury it again. Any other idea? There is no concrete as in fence posts, just the bare wooden legs into the ground, so I am not sure fence post menders could help. The four legs are 3-1/4in x 1-1/2in each. It is a relatively light arbor. Can be lifted by one person.


texts: What do I do with the third set of wires in this switch box?

texts: I am wiring in a new light fitting however there are three live/neutral/earth combos, plus a live/white which will be the switch. What do I do with the third live/neutral/earth? (And more importantly, where does it go?) it is in my bathroom, I'm thinking it has to do with the ceiling fan? I am in Australia.


texts: I'm painting drywall. The paint I purchased was said (by the developer) to be the paint used on this wall. The paint however doesn't match as you can see in the picture. I'm just shaking the can, and then putting the paint on the wall with a brush. Is there a step I'm missing?


texts: Nest thermostat gen 2 won’t turn off furnace

texts: I’m struggling to find a solution for my furnace.  It’s an older Lennox furnace and runs fine. The problem I’m having is that it keeps burning up my thermostats and once it does it won’t let the termostat kick it off. I’ve tried basic 7 day programmable thermostats and nest 2n gen Smart thermostats. Nest has replaced the circuit board a couple of times for me but they end up burning up after a month or so. I’ll come home from work and my condo is 90 plus degrees because it won’t turn off. The wires I have in my furnace are  as follows Y1, W1, G, RH. I’ve had multiple HVAC companies come out and look at my furnace and they all say it’s a thermostat issue and then they try to sell me a new furnace. Any ideas on what could be going on here? Is my transformer tripping out the circuit boards in the thermostats.


texts: Why does my kitchen faucet stop and start at full pressure only for a split second, both cold and hot?

texts:
My kitchen faucet stops and starts at full pressure only for a split second, both cold and hot. This has been going on for about a month. I moved some plumbing over 4 feet in the basement 3 months back, with no issue at my sink until a month ago.

Why is this happening and how can I fix it?


texts: Should old knob and tube wiring be replaced?

texts: I have been doing some electrical work in my house and I noticed it has old knob and tube wiring that is still hot, should this be replaced as found or is it fine to just leave it?  It seems really old and brittle, so I'm a little concerned.


texts: Caulking a corner instead of taping with joint compound?

texts:
Is it considered acceptable in drywall / sheetrock work to use caulk to finish an interior corner instead of using tape with joint compound?

This is not my own DIY idea – this was suggested to me by a drywall contractor.

In this specific instance it was a wall-to-ceiling corner which is about 26' long.

My sense of things is that this would be a shortcut, and if caulking was a high quality substitute for taping then no one would ever use tape. I'm pretty sure caulk would be more prone to cracking over time, especially since caulk shrinks and the joint would have no reinforcement.

But there could certainly be methods and/or products I'm not familiar with!


texts: I bought a lamp that I see needs a 3-way bulb. I don't really know what that means, but I see that the switch turns three times. Is using a regular bulb in it dangerous?