texts:
Let me start by saying I don't really know what I am talking about, so my vocabulary may be incorrect. This is all based upon my best interpretation of the problem.

I am replacing some old light switches throughout my house. Each of the three bathrooms have an exhaust fan and lights that are on separate switches in the same box. In two of the bathrooms, there is a separate ground and hot wire for each switch. In the third, which seems to always have the most issues, I opened to box and I only see one ground and I believe only one hot. There appear to be separate wires leaving the box for the light and exhaust fan. It also looks like there is a wire that is only connected between the two switches. My guess is that this is because there is no hot wire for the other switch, but I'm not really sure. All of the wires appear to be attached using the terminals, with the exception of the wire between the switches which uses the push ins in the back.

I would like to replace the switches, but have no idea how I should wire them. Also, is this wiring setup the reason this bathroom has issues with switches/lights? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Tub overflow drain upstairs with water damage on downstairs living room ceiling

texts:
A couple of weeks ago, I had a large amount of water drain via the overflow drain in my master bath upstairs (the water was too cold so I was draining water not only through the tub's main drain but water was also draining via the overflow drain while I was running additional water to warm the overall temperature).
Over the weekend, I noticed an obvious water damage patch on my living room ceiling directly under the tub. Now, I'm scared to use that bathtub and I'm looking for reassurance that it was likely the "cold water warm up" fiasco that caused the damage.
Hiring a plumber is not really a financially feasible option for me right now.  Thanks for any input.


texts: 3 way light switch on a ceiling fan light

texts:
Trying to switch over to smart rocker switches on a setup. Cannot figure out this 3-way switch. It seems to be complicated by the light being a part of the ceiling fan unit.

Switch A (by itself) controls the LIGHT on the fan.

Switch B (right side of pair) is also on the LIGHT on the fan.
Those two make up the 3 way.

Switch C (left side of pair) controls the fan by itself.

I feel like I've tried every combination of the black and red wires. The fan switch currently works. The 3-way light switches do not.

It is not the switches themselves as I've installed these in other parts of the house and even rotated this pair out with another working pair to make sure. This is the only place with a ceiling fan light 3 way though. Something in the wiring is not right.

Switch A

Switch B (right side in photo)

WHAT WORKS ON OLD NON-SMART SWITCHES
I initially tried just switching this over to the smart switches but it did not work. I'm going to try one more time having labeled the three black wires on Switch B and make sure I didn't accidentally switch them. However it seems like which traveler pin I use for the black wire matters on Switch A and B (since the neutral on the smart box comes out of the box and is capped) on the smart switches, so I'll have to try all combinations between the two switches.

SWITCH A (red common, black traveler, neutral traveler)

SWITCH B (red common, black #1 traveler, neutral traveler, black #2 and #3 capped)


texts: Should a vent cap be installed under all the layers of shingles, or just the top most layer?

texts: When installing a roof cap on a roof where there are three layers of shingles, do i trim away just the first layer of shingles or should i trim away all three layers to slide the cap underneath.


texts:
I'm going to install a new tube for my pilot light gas supply. Should I consider using a tubing bender, or is that just silly? I can bend it easily by hand, but I don't want to risk kinks.

I can get a bender for under $15, but I don't know if these are meant for such soft tube like these pilot supply tubes.

For reference, I'm using this kind of tube:

I'm considering one of these benders:

or


texts: Does turning the air conditioning on and skipping its "fan" setting damage the air conditioner?

texts:
Air conditioning units nowadays allow you to switch it from "off" to various levels of "cool" without requiring you to "fan" setting first.

Is there any reason to use "fan" setting (such as for example, to increase lifespan)? And why is it normally situated between "off" and "cool"? Is the purpose similar to idling a car, so to speak?


texts: Do range hood inserts with rear exhaust exist?

texts:
I may try to fabricate an under-cabinet range hood, and would use a range-hood insert with integrated baffles and lighting, so fabricating just the "shell".

All of the inserts I've found so far have a top-mounted circular exhaust vent, which wouldn't work in our case without major expensive cabinetry work. Are these inserts also made with a rear-mounted rectangular exhaust vent (approx 4x10)?


texts: Inset shelf construction for a network rack

texts:
I want to construct a hole in the wall type shelf.  On the other side of the wall is an attic space for the side of the house, it has plenty of room to do what I need.

I will be making the frame, and adding dry-wall to the sides and top, but then tile the bottom of it (i think).  Basically a shelf inset, but it is going to be a bit deeper than the average shelf, and taller.  I am putting a Network rack inside of it, I have the ventilation and electrical figured out.

What I want to know is, how can I ensure the bottom of the shelf is reinforced enough to withstand a heavy weight?  I suspect possibly 200 lbs max.


texts:
I'm new to woodworking and recently built a simple workbench.

The tabletop is made of 3x6 lengths glued & screwed together, and I made a frame from 2x2 with a shelf at the bottom. The legs are fairly tall at 90cm. Everything is fixed using screws, atleast 2 for each join, and steel brackets also.

When I assembled everything I noticed that there is a fair bit of movement if you grab the tabletop on either end and twist it, I'm looking for ways to minimise this movement and also find out what I could do better next time.

My suspicion is that I've used wood that's too small / weak for the frame, but it seems very sturdy otherwise. What could I do to salvage this frame?

Note - since these pics were taken, I've also added 2" steel corner brackets to the insides of the corners at the top. This didn't seem to help with the movement much. Also, that janky support at the bottom front for the shelf has been redone, looked awful.


texts: What are these toilet washers/retainers for?

texts:
Installing a new toilet, it came with these plastic washers, but I've never seen them with any other toilets I've installed, and I'm not really sure what they're for.

The center is slightly conical and is raised by about 1/4". They came in the bag with the other metal parts, and the white plastic covers came in a separate bag.

What are they, and where are they supposed to go?


texts: How to flatten (not level) a concrete slab by shimming a subfloor

texts:
I will be working remotely permanently and have a another baby on the way so my current home office is  going to be a nursery.

I would like to convert a section of my garage into an office, but keep it something relatively easy to remove. The concrete slab in the garage is smooth, but it slopes about an inch over 4 ft towards the driveway. The total length of the office is 12' so I'd need to correct for 3" over the length. I'd was thinking of laying sleepers down with insulation and shim the sleepers to create a flat surface for flooring (laminate or vinyl). I don't want to use self-leveling compound.

Some questions:

Is this feasible?

Should I lay the sleepers over the rigid insulation or in-between?

Given its able to create this flat surface, how would I fasten the sleepers to the concrete? Would I be able to shim using short sections of 2x4? Or would i need to rip longer sections? (I don't have a table saw so that might be tricky)


texts:
I live in a condo that has 13 units in two buildings and am the president of the board. A few months ago we had a new water pump installed in our boiler room. Shortly after that all three units in my tier of the building experienced hot water fluctuations in the shower. The water would go from being hot to cold and back. This would happen several times while using the shower.

We had the plumber out who replaced and installed the new pump to check and see if it was the cause of the issue but he couldn't find anything wrong. We replaced all the cartridges in the tub faucets and that didn't help. The plumber checked again for a possible cause in our boiler room but again couldn't find anything. So as a test he turned off the hot water return line which stopped the water from fluctuating. It wasn't an issue to do it because my tier is directly above the boiler room so we get hot water rather quickly.

Now owners in the adjacent building which is further away from the boiler room are having the same issue with the hot water fluctuating in the shower. A plumber was recently out again to check for the cause but couldn't find anything. His theory is that someone remodeled their bathroom around the time the new water pump was installed and crossed the lines there. He advised us to check any units that had major work done in their bathrooms recently.

The plumber says a large volume of cold water is getting in the hot water line. He showed me the hot water line in the boiler room and we both felt it get cold and go back to being hot a couple of times. Since I know very little about plumbing would this be the cause of the issue? Is there something else that may be causing this? Could a bad cartridge in someone's tub faucet be the cause (which seems unlikely to me)? If anyone could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.


texts: Can I use a remote (inline) blower with a range hood that has its own blower, if I remove the built-in blower?

texts:
I would like to install a remote blower (inline probably) and a new range hood, mostly for noise levels.

The thing is, I see two categories of hood:

-'Consumer' grade ones with internal blowers that are typically CA$300-$800 in price, eg. this one

-And 'Pro' level hoods with no blower and that area typically >$1000 eg. this one

So far as I can tell differences are; 'consumer' grade tend to be less deep than 'pro' and the filters in the 'pro' level tend to be better (eg dishwasher safe).

Is there any reason (eg performance) why I shouldn't get the 'consumer' grade hood, and pull out the blower and then use it with the inline blower?

*I do dislike the consumer and pro monikers since I doubt many professional cooks are working on 30" stoves but that's by the by.


texts: Repair torn insulation facing paper with tape?

texts:
Two problems with the image below. The paper is torn in spots. Can I just tape over that with shipping tape? Or what else?
Also, the paper doesn't reach the stud on the right side. Can I use tape there again? Should I staple the tape to the stud?
I know some will say to replace it but it's just the one spot and I don't want to buy a roll of insulation just for this.


texts: Tiling shower- filling gaps between tile and drywall

texts:
Hi all – I would love some creative ideas to fill a couple of small gaps left by a bad tile installation job. Tile goes most of the way up the wall in the shower stall, and then backer board. There are a couple of places where they left a gap between the tile, the backer board, and the drywall of the exterior walls.

Do I just pack these areas with grout? Mud? Tiny drywall patch?  Any great ideas of how to transition them more smoothly? If grout, do I have to worry about the size of the grout based on the size of the area to fill?

Thanks!


texts: Resource for ballparking current home construction costs?

texts:
We're about to move several states away and have begun the house hunting process. We're moving to a region that, like most in the US, has seen housing costs tank, though it is a small enclave of relatively higher costs homes due to location (compared to even 40 miles away).

However, it appears that construction costs are also tanking and that it might make sense for us to consider building a house as well.

Is there a resource out there that helps plot ballpark prices in a region for new construction? Something like Zillow but instead of recently sold costs, recently built? Being able to see some recent build costs would be a good way to peg it against home costs to see if its something we should pursue further (which I know involves tons of other variables...land, foundation, sewage, electrical, gas, permits, architect, etc, etc...)


texts: Why did my miter/table saw stop cutting?

texts:
I have a DeWalt 743 flipover saw, the blade stopped turning for some unknown reason.
It was working fine yesterday morning, but when I came back from a break, the blade refused to turn.
I can hear the noise, the motor was trying to spin, the blade vibrates but is not turning. I can make it go as normal by manually spin the blade a bit to start. Switch off, manually turn the blade, it moves freely.
I have cleaned saw, but the problem remains.
Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I have a bathroom fan, heater, light combo - the switch I got has three toggle rockers on it . There's one black common screw and three silver screws on the switch. Does the black power go to the common or does the single pigtailed white go to the common and the blacks to the silver screws?

Should clarify that I have three wires from the new combo unit... one for the light &a night light, one for the heater and one for the fan


texts: Can I install plywood over a concrete slab to raise the subfloor height?

texts:
We bought a house recently. The living room has a slab concrete and tile above it. The kitchen, dining and hallways are above the basement with plywood then hardwood (ugly) then vinyl at the top.

We want to replace the vinyl flooring with vinyl plank flooring all around. Can we remove the tile, put a vapor barrier, then put plywood to make it the same height as the hardwood so the new vinyl planks can go over it evenly?


texts: Insulating/preventing heat transfer on non-IC rated recessed lights

texts:
I recently bought a thermal leak detector and discovered that my recessed lights upstairs are leaking a lot of heat and causing the upstairs to be uncomfortable and hard to cool.

This is the brand and model of recessed lights I have.

They are non-ic rated but claim to be "air tight".  However, the cans are still a good 20 degrees hotter than the ceiling around them when the lights are off.  Is it possible to use one of these products to safely insulate them, or do I need to replace them with a more modern housing?

http://www.jrproductsinc.com/shop/pc/Tenmat-Covers-c209.htm

http://www.jrproductsinc.com/shop/pc/Can-Cover-It-c321.htm

Since these cans claim they cannot have insulation within 3 inches, would it be safe to use one the above products (or the like) to cover the cans?

If I do need to replace them with IC rated cans (which I'd rather not do, because of cost and my utter lack of experience), do you have recommendations on what to look for?


texts: 10cm brick wall carrying capacity for additional beams

texts:
I'm trying to get an approximate feel on how much can a 10cm brick wall be loaded with. Here is an image to describe the problem:

I am planning to make an elevated bed and the beam on the picture should be the main carrying construction. It should be able to withstand two people sleeping there, I plan to test it with 4 people directly hanging at the beam and swinging.

I don't have enough experience on how the brick wall would behave when exposed to such stress. The load will be solely vertical.

Does it makes sense to put another beam as a pillar as suggested in the picture below?

I know it would probably help, but I wouldn't want to go solving problems that don't need to be solved.

How would you approach this problem? What would be your biggest concern?


texts: Help decide course of action for rotting windows

texts:
I have a 30 year old house in Chicago.  We have original double pane wood windows.  The interior portions are in good condition.  No rotting and all the seals are good and there is NO fogging between the panes.

The issue I have is the sills and brick molding outside are rotting.  We also have original Storm windows in wood frames, single pane, and the frames of the storm windows are rotting.

I plan to sell the house in 5 years.  I was thinking to replace the entire windows, but that gets very costly.  Would it be better to just replace the sills and brick molding?  Will I be able to find replacements storm windows for the sizes I need?

I should mention that either course I would probably do the work myself.  I am a fairly handy guy.  I have built a shed, finished my basement, replaced a asphalt shingle roof, stuff like that.

Some advice here would be great, thank you


texts:
I was thinking of adding on to my playset and had older 4x4 that are in pretty good condition (no apparent structural issues but a lot of surface cracking).  I was going to reuse some of the wood but wanted to get others input on the new vs used wood discussion...

I know this is subjective, but to make it more quantitative: when would you recommend reuse vs just buying new wood for new home projects?


texts: Jigsaw cuts crooked when trying to rip enginered wood

texts: Cack handed DIY amateur here.. I need to cut engineered wood planks lengthwise - they're 4mm oak on a 10mm MDF base. I'm having trouble getting a jigsaw to cut straight. With a "clean wood" blade the jigsaw almost immediately starts bouncing up and down vertically, even with a tight hold on the saw it feels like it's about to fly off. With a standard wood blade the saw stays down, but the cut veers off to the right in a banana shape. I've tried clamping another piece of wood to the top to steer the runner against and clamping the whole thing to a table, but it doesn't seem to help. I'd be grateful for any advice. Am I using the wrong tool maybe?


texts: Two 3 Way Switches To Two One Way Switches

texts:
Background: In my mom’s kitchen she had 2 ceiling fans that were controlled by two three way switches at opposite ends of the room. One of the ceiling fans burnt out and she opted to go with a light fixture instead of another ceiling fan.

The Issue: The trouble is that she has to keep the light fixture on in order to run the ceiling fan in the kitchen. It would be ideal to install a switch that simply controls the light and another switch that controls the fan.

What I am looking to do: Convert both three way switches to single pole switches, with one controlling the fan and the other controlling the light.

Where I’m at: I took a look at the switches and I am certain that they are the original switches installed around 1982-83 when my folks renovated the house. As mentioned above, each switch is a 3 way, i.e. 2 wires on one side and single wire on the other side.

The house itself was built in 1927 and renovated in 1983, so as you can imagine the wiring isn’t exactly modern. I tested the wires at each switch with a multimeter and I know which one is “hot” or common. I am assuming that the other two wires are travelers.

Does anyone have any advice on how to accomplish this scenario?


texts: Will a fire pit damage my patio's ceiling?

texts:
I just got a portable fire pit and some new furniture for my back porch. The fire pit is 3' in diameter, and the porch is 10'×10', with a 9' ceiling.

It would be nice to be able to have a small fire with the fire pit sitting at the far edge of the patio without having to move it to the yard every time I'd like to use it. My only concern would be that the heat from it might cause damage to the paint on the ceiling of the patio. Certainly, after time, I might be able to see some residue from the smoke, but as long as it's not causing damage, I'm okay with that.

Would this cause damage to the paint, or should this setup be fine?

Additional details

The patio ceiling is painted with the same exterior paint as the rest of the house.
The house was built earlier this year.
The area I live in almost always has at least a slight breeze.
There are no obstructions near the patio that would block wind.
I'm not interested in creating any gigantic bonfires in this fire pit—just a few logs at a time.


texts:
I want to replace a tub with a shower, and the location where I'd like to put the drain has a 2" drain pipe (for the clothes washing machine) that runs very close to where I want to put the drain. So I would like to essentially have the shower drain P-trap come down so close it could almost touch the washer drain line, then just after the P-trap I would need to make essentially a 180-degree curve to turn the line around and go back to the washer drain line where I would have to tie in with a wye curve.  This is in a floor joist space, so I have limited room without cutting through more joists (which I would like to avoid if possible)

In this rough drawing (a top view looking down) the green is the existing 2" drain pipe for the washer that I want to connect the new shower drain into, and the purple is the rough pipe location for the new shower drain I am asking about.  The blue parts are floor joists.  It isn't to scale--the curvy part would likely use all of the available space between the joists, but I hope it gets the point across--it would immediately curve after the p-trap.

Am I allowed (code) to have so many immediate curves in the horizontal portion of the shower drain? Once the line comes back up from the P-trap, the nearly-horizontal line will essentially make a 225 degree curve (180 degree plus 45 degree wye) to get to into the washer drain line pipe. Thanks.


texts: Is mixing shellac from flakes generally considered more cost effective than buy commercial stuff?

texts: I know it depends on the market I am buying in and the cost of the various components. I've made a few items from mdf with shellac finish lately and I really like the way it works (clothes storage in a basement) and I want to make more. I figure I have enough projects to warrant two gallons of shellac and at $45 a gallon I want to explore mixing my own. But is diy mixing beneficial more because of the quality and customizability of the product rather than cost savings? Like, if I just want to save money should I just buy the premixed bc there's not really savings?


texts: How do I fix the shelf support holes in my cabinets?

texts: In my pantry cabinet, the holes for the plastic brackets has gotten too large and they do not hold. The cabinets are made out of particle board. Does anyone have any suggestions?


texts: What is this mysterious pipe in my back yard?

texts:
There's a plastic pipe with a vent cover in my back yard that runs to a green cap in the middle of the yard.  What is this for?  I don't have a septic tank.

Update: this picture shows the entire length of the pipe that I'm aware of.  The green cap from my second picture wasn't visible from this angle so I marked it with the piece of cardboard.

Update 2:

Based on everybody's comments, I felt comfortable digging it up.  Here's the entire thing:

Thanks for all the help everyone!  Your comments/answers let me dig up this unused nuisance I've had to mow and trim around for far too long.


texts: Small area of siding where adjacent pieces are not overlapping

texts:
So, in the posted photo, it seems Iike the double black arrow indicates last full row of siding,the blue arrow is a vinyl trim piece up against the wood frieze board, and the red arrow is where there is siding maybe cut to size and these siding pieces are not overlapping.
￼
Somebody tried to make it better and the Gap is smaller, but the siding is still not overlapping.
￼
I would like to have this fixed to where there is no gap between the adjacent pieces of siding.  What are some thoughts on how this could be fixed?


texts: GFI Breaker at Subpanel - Does it need a separate neutral to the main box

texts: I have a Subpanel in an outbuilding.  I've got two hots, a neutral, and a ground going back to the main.  I want to install a GFI breaker at the Subpanel and use one of the hots.  Do I need to run a separate neutral for the GFI breaker or am I okay using the one neutral for the GFI breaker and the the non-GFI breaker?  Please help.


texts: Can you run earth ground thru conduit into home?

texts:
I have a detached garage that I am running coax and cat6 to. Running pvc conduit underground from house to garage. My question is when the conduit comes up out of the ground and into a 1 gang pvc box before continuing upwards to penetrate into a/v enclosure.

Can i use 2nd open inlet on the bottom of the 1 gang box for earth ground to connect to coax ground block inside the 1 gang box. And then the ground continue up and into the garge a/v box to ground the box inside?


texts: Is it a good idea to blow hot air through drywall?

texts:
I have a small room with no windows and I want to cool it down. A friend of mine suggested me to get a portable AC, create a hole in the wall (drywall) and put the exhaust hose through the wall. This way, the hot air would exit the room and will be diffused in between the drywalls.
Seems like a good idea ?
What could go wrong ?


texts: How can you cut a solid bamboo wood plank?

texts: I want to buy SVALNÄS shelves from Ikea but the widths don't perfectly align with the space. It says these shelves are made of solid bamboo. I've never worked with this material before and was wondering if it's possible to cut with a circular saw or some other tool to fit in the space I want.


texts: Installed new bath faucet. No cold water comes out

texts: Hot water comes out fine, but not cold...none at all. It comes up to handle so I know there is water coming through cold line. But when I turn on cold water...nothing. Can the stem cartridge cause no water ?


texts: Do I need a ground rod in addition to a pipe? Subpanel in separate structure

texts:
The scenario: detached garage with a subpanel supplied by a 30a 240v feeder from the house, with two hots, neutral, and EGC.  There is also an Ethernet cable from the house to the garage, carrying a phone line, but technically this could be  "another metallic path" between the buildings.
The neutrals and EGC are not bonded at the subpanel.  EGC at the subpanel is connected to a 1" iron pipe, which goes into the ground and runs horizontally about 30 feet, 18" deep, terminating underground at nothing. (No idea what it was for.)
The questions: do I need a ground rod at the garage, in addition to this pipe?  Or is the pipe + EGC from the house sufficient? If I do need a rod, does it need to be 6+ feet away from the pipe?


texts: Garbage Disposal Rewiring and Switch to outlet transition

texts:
I'm a new guy here.

So I'm in process of upgrading my sink and would like to install an air switch for my garbage disposal (GB).

As of right now, I have a regular flip switch that operates the GB. The problem is that the GB switch is towards the end of the kitchen counter (little too far), that's why I'm installing an air switch right next to the sink while I'm getting my kitchen sink upgraded. It would have been a piece of cake to wire up the air switch if I had an outlet under the sink. The three wires that are coming out of the cabinet are going straight into the GB. I'd like to install a 1 gang outlet underneath the sink to give power to the air switch. If I install an outlet using the GB wires, my family has to make sure that the main switch is always on so the outlet underneath the sink is always hot and that's why I'd like to remove the switch that operates GB completely out of the equation.

And the flip switch that operates GB right now, I'd like to convert it into an outlet so it's useful. Is this hard to do? I'm not completely new to electrical wiring but never done something like this before. I understand the community members may be uncomfortable in answering this question so they won't be held liable in any way but any answer would really help me.

Thank you in advance!


texts:
The genius design of my 60 year old home includes a wooden Window frame in my shower.

I believe the prior owner took baths only to avoid problems with this. For me it's constantly growing mold and the wood is not looking good.

What's the easiest effective way to handle this? There's not enough room in the show for there to be a window curtain. Can I seal or cover the wood with something?


texts: Trying to hook up a coax port that the builders didn't finish. House built last year. They finished one coax port and left the other three with the wire ran but not capped. This box has the wire going straight through it. Foamed at the top and going out the bottom. This is on an exterior wall and there's nothing it would be going to inside or out. I've confirmed the other end is just open ended. I expected to be able to pull the wire out of the bottom of the box but it's not coming. Any ideas what is going on here? Should I just cut it so I can use it?


texts:
I'm running a long Ethernet cable between my garage and home (50m). How do you guys protect your long cable runs (and thus your equipment) from lightning surges?
House is separate from the garage. About a 15m 20mm PVC ducting section underground between garage and house, and then the rest up in the roof (a portion running on the outside of a wall). I was thinking of using APC Ethernet ProtectNet surge protector on both ends, however it requires a ground connection.

So 2 questions:

Can I connect this to my mains ground?
Will a large surge cause the mains to trip?


texts: Is there a way to 'remove' blackened water-stain from hardwood floor?

texts: We have several large (3' x 6') blackened areas on our hardwood floor where water damage occurred.  This discoloration goes deep. Our goal is to sand the floors and apply a clear coat, but we first want to know if there is a product that will remove the black stain.  Also, if this cannot be done will a dark stain hide the problem?


texts: Why is this apartment's area reported much bigger than sum of its rooms' areas?

texts:
My calculation is roughly that the total area is two times the sum of the area of living room and the area of the bigger bedroom:

(13*17+10.5*15)*2 = 757.0 (sq Ft).

However it shows the apartment is approximately 905 sq Ft, which is about 150 sq Ft larger than my calculation, i.e. almost the size of the bigger bedroom. So I wonder where there is such a big difference? Is this common for apartments and houses?


texts:
I have recently replaced a double socket that had a short circuit fault on the right hand socket with a new one from B&Q. After long periods of use the right hand switch refuses to stay off. If I turn it off it will just spring back on by itself. After a couple of days I replaced the socket with one of the same model and the new one is doing the same thing on the same side.

I'm no qualified electrician but I am competent and it was a straight swap of wires so pretty sure it hasn't gone wrong.

Any ideas as to what it could be? At first I thought a faulty socket hence the replacement but seems odd that the second unit is doing the same thing.
Thanks in advance

Edit: Here is a link to a video clip that shows the problem. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2coson85m3z7e2/Video%2011-04-2016%2019%2014%2051.mov?dl=0


texts: Why is my fridge not getting cold and is it fixable?

texts:
I noticed a fridge I use for home-brewing was running 24/7 to stay at only 10C, and a while later determined it was simply making the inside warmer not colder.
It sounds like it is running flat out, it just doesn't get cold.
It's a modern fridge about 5 years old, nothing fancy. What are likely causes and can I fix this or is it realistically a symptom of "dispose culture" and I need to replace it?


texts: Can I remove just the upper part of my 1 Piece Acrylic Tub (Walls) and leave the tub in place?

texts: I want to tile the walls in my bath but don't want to remove the one piece acrylic tub. Has anyone ever cut down the tub walls and tiled down to the  edge of the existing tub?  I anticipate placing a sill around the entire tub as well.


texts: In electrical terms, what is the definition of a "disconnect"?

texts:
Santa Cruz County, CA, USA

I'm working on a project that requires an electrician to install a "disconnect" at a building/shed separate from my house (as per NEC 225.31).  I'm unfamiliar with this term and would like a better understanding of what things could potentially be considered a "disconnect"?

Can someone elaborate on this? For example, can a simple wall switch be considered a "disconnect"? Or does it need to be something more robust such as a sub-panel?


texts:
I was hoping someone could tell me if the circled wall is load bearing?

Thank you


texts: How can I stop this water from entering my basement?

texts:
I have water issues in my basement - as you can see, it comes in via some cracks between my basement floor and the concrete pads that the washer/dryer sit on.

I am working on fixing the problem from the outside, planning to re-grade the land around my house and fix some gutter issues to keep more water away from my foundation.  Is there anything I can use on the inside here, to help keep any water that gets to this area from coming in?


texts: Should I lock the door between my garage and my house?

texts:
My house has a garage. The garage has a "garage opener" - so when I leave home, I press a button and the gate lowers. There's a door between the garage and house. What level of security do people usually give this door? What kind of lock do I need. Is the external garage door considered as secure as a dead bolted door? Is it unwise to simply leave the internal garage door unlocked just like any other internal door in my house?

I understand that I should err on the side of caution, but I just wanted to get an idea for what the "standards" are.


texts: Is the 2"x4" backing strong enough to hold the server rack

texts:
I just pickup some 2x4 from home depot, not exactly know what kind of lumber, and cut it about 35" , secured to the 3 studs with 1/4" X 3-1/2" lag screws with 2 on each stud (top-bottom).  The lag screws has only about 1" of bite into the stud through the 2x4.

The server rack I am going to mount on has a backing plate hook which is secured to the 2x4 only with four 1/4" x 3" lag screws, the bottom is not secured to anything, the total weight I going to put in is around 150 lbs.

Drilled pilot hole for all screws going into wood.

Would the 2x4 hold those weight?  I am thinking add 2 triangle shelf bracket on the bottom.


texts: What is this nut called and can it be removed and reused/replaced?

texts:
Can anyone tell me what this nut is called and how to remove it in a way I can return the mechanism to normal working order? Also, what kind of special tools will I need?
The first photo is of the outside end-cap of a set of vertical blinds. The gear on the other side, not shown in the first picture, connects into a long shaft used to rotate the row of blinds to vary the amount of light coming through a glass door.
I'm actually trying to replace a broken axle that held some pulleys for the draw strings purposed to slide all the blinds in one direction or another. However, the pulley axle was located in this end-cap assembly. In order to get to their area, I need to remove this end, it looks like, and the only thing barring removal seems to be this weird looking nut.
Second photo is a view from the other side which shows how the gear couples to the shaft. Maybe there is a different way to uncouple and remove the end cap?


texts: Why do clothes washed with my new Samsung top load washer have an odor?

texts: New top load washer that we purchased about 5 months ago is putting off a bad smell to washed clothing.  I wouldn’t think the washer is dirty already. Any help would be great.


texts: Water draining out of pipe when usage is high.

texts:
We moved into an old house and there is something happening in the basement that I need some help explaining.

Here is a image showing where the leak is happening. I've marked where the water is coming out of with red circle.

The water drips out of there when I flush a toilet multiple times and also turn on water in the kitchen. I believe the water is dripping because the water being drained is too much (just a guess). Because water does not drip when I flush rarely. It certainly has something to do with usage.

The top part of this pipe is shown in this image.

The top part is connected to a water filter (or softner). But here is the image of what it is being connected to

I called a plumber to come take a look and he is convinced that if that 2 inch pipe is made into a 3 inch pipe then that will solve the issue. But I think that might be just a temporary issue....If I use the water too much then it will again drip right?

Also, this problem started happening recently when I changed the toilet. The old toilet used more water and the new one uses less water but sends it down with more pressure. Could that be what triggered the issue?

What would be a long term solution for this?


texts: Does the humidified air get filtered in a bypass setup

texts:
In a whole-house bypass-humidifier setup, the humidified air still has to go through the furnace filter.

Doesn't that filter out some of the water vapor?  Especially with the expensive filters that filter a lot of things out.


texts: What's the most rational way to connect a Tesla Powerwall to a preexisting solar install?

texts:
Say a residence has an existing grid-connect solar install that (at a very high level) looks approximately like this:

If an AC Powerwall 2 is added to this setup, while simultaneously doubling the installed solar capacity, what is the most rational configuration?  Is it:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

...or perhaps none of those?  Is there a standard/optimal configuration that should be used in this scenario, or are there different possible setups with different pros and cons, and if so what do they look like?


texts: When wiring two circuits through the same conduit, what wire coloring is required?

texts:
Problem

I am wiring a septic control/alarm box to a subpanel. They are on the same post, so the wire run is through a short stretch of 3/4" flex conduit.

There are two circuits required: a 240V for the pump and 120V for the control/alarm system. I'm using 12 AWG wire, as follows:

hot to alarm
neutral to alarm
hot 1 to pump
hot 2 to pump
ground

What does code say about coloring and grouping of these wires? What about best practices, beyond code?

My Current approach

I'm currently using:

a 12/2 G cable.

Black is alarm hot;
white is alarm neutral.
Bare is ground (duh).

a black wire is pump hot 1
a white wire with red tape at both ends is hot 2

That seems confusing, and I'm not sure if it's quite to code. How can I improve it?

Since it's a short run, I really don't mind buying new colored wire by the foot and redoing all of this.

An alternative

I have a bit of 12/3 G cable that I considered using like this:

12/3 G cable

black is pump hot 1
red is pump hot 2
bare is ground (duh)
white is neutral to alarm (remember, pump has no neutral)

single black conductor to alarm

I rejected this because I didn't like the idea of the control box's neutral being in the cable with the pump's conductors - more confusion.

My neighbor's control/alarm box

For comparison, here's my neighbor's control alarm/box, although it uses a 120V pump, so the white wire really is a neutral. (Click for full-sized image).


texts: Effective ways to get rid of smell in basement from drain?

texts:
Background

So this weekend I got to have all the fun of unclogging a clogged drain. The drain was from a kitchen sink but I was able to go through a lower access point and run a motorized snake through to clear the clog. In the process of opening the access cap and not realizing that there was a bunch of water still inside.. well let's just say that it created a big mess of water shooting out!

The basement is unfinished so surfaces are cinder blocks / concrete floor.

Problem

So we got the clog taken care of and wiped everything down on our hands and knees with rags, soap, and water. We have the two only available windows open in the basement but there isn't a ton of airflow possible due to lack of basement windows. I am wondering if anybody has better suggestions to get rid of the stink left over?  Everything is capped off again so the source should be taken care of.


texts: I just installed a new valve for my ice maker/water dispenser for my Roper refrigerator that I bought used.  The water comes out of the water dispenser, but there is no water in the line to the ice maker and the ice maker is not making ice.  Am I wrong to think that there should be water going through that line constantly or does it only get triggered at times when it is needed to fill the trays?  Is there something else I need to do?


texts: What material is used to fill cracks in wood that looks black afterward?

texts:
When looking in the more stylish furniture shops, they often have very large tables (e.g. 10cm thick x 1m wide x 2-3m long, made from one piece of lumber.

Understandably, such pieces often have come cracks, etc. In all the shops I went to, I have seen these filled with some black epoxy-like substance, and I liked the way it looked - I would like to use the same to fill cracks in my projects.

What materials can you recommend as wood filler that would give this look?


texts:
I just installed a new GE electric double wall oven and seem to be having trouble with the breaker.

I bought a plug to hook up to the oven and an outlet to hook up to the wiring.  The instructions showed the unit being hard wired.... I thought that a plug and outlet would be easy and a little easier.

So I hooked up the plug to the unit.  Red, Black, White, and ground.  I hooked up the outlet to the wire in the wall and made sure that the wires on the plug match the slots on the outlet.  (red plug in red outlet slot, white in white, etc...)

I Had to splice the wires in a junction box in the basement.  The oven is in a new location and the current wiring would not reach.

The old oven had a 30amp breaker and the instructions for the new unit call for a 40amp breaker.  I replaced the breaker and when I flip it "On", it trips instantly.

My first thought is that I have to pull the oven out and eliminate the plug and outlet, but I thought I would ask for any other ideas first..

Thanks


texts:
Looking through the Houzz iPad app this weekend, I came across this

I want this. Got the wife's approval and I'm thinking about starting it this weekend (gutting the old fireplace / bookshelves and starting the electrical / structured cabling)

I was originally thinking about using 2x6's as they look like the size of the structural pieces, but now I'm thinking 1x2's to frame it out and drywall over.

Mine will be deeper as I want the components under the TV to be on the shelf and not on what looks like a separate insert.

Or do the masses think it was done with wood (real or engineered) and just painted white?


texts: We are purchasing a home with a shared well with the neighbor. The pressure tank is in the house we are purchasing. We are destroying the house therefore the tank will need to be relocated outside. Looking at 2 options a hut with insulation and a gas heater for the winter or underground below frost level.concerns with both options with freezing. Any ideas of the best route?


texts: LED strips: Red lights can't be controlled

texts:
A while ago I ordered these led strips. Yesterday they arrived and I immediately installed them in my room. Everything worked fine and it looked great. But since just an hour ago something seemed wrong: when I turned them off, the red lights stayed on. After trying different settings I noticed that the red lights are on all the time: I can't turn them off or even dim them. Every color (except red of course) looks different now and to turn them off I literally have to pull the plug.

I don't know what happened. They worked fine, I turned them off yesterday night and today it was broken. I'm guessing it is the poor quality since they were pretty cheap but I'm not sure.

Hopefully someone knows a way to fix this.

Cheers!


texts: 3 sets of wires in outlet box, lights won’t turn off

texts: I just bought a house built in 1977. I am updating outlets and switches in the house and ran across a fun challenge last night. My father-in-law finished one room and when we turned the breaker back on the lights in the room wouldn’t turn off. I believe the issue is in the outlet box below the switch. It has three sets of black and white wires. I found the set from the box and placed those in the top two positions (1 and 2) on the outlet (black/brass, white/silver) and I have power to that outlet only. When I hook up set B to the bottom two positions (3 and 4), everything turns on (switches and plugs) and the light switch won’t turn off the lights. Set C seems to have no affect on anything.  I connected the switch and continuing circuit wires to posts 3 & 4 and opened up the 2nd outlet in the series. It also had three sets of wires?!  When I wired it up as shown, everything works the way it is supposed to. However the black switch wire can’t touch anything if I clean up outlet 2 and cap the free black wire is everything okay? Any ideas?


texts: Thermopile reading very low in my gas fireplace

texts:
My gas fireplace failed to light this year, although the pilot was fine. I put my multimeter on the terminals and got about 150 mV. This was obviously too low, so I cleaned it and got maybe 160.

So I bought a new one and installed it. It give me 180 mV.

The pilot flame is right on the thermo, and by wiggling it and poking a bit I got a clearer flame and it went up to 200.

To make sure the thermo worked I put my BBQ lighter on it and it shot right up to 380. But it goes back down again as soon as I take it off.

Can anyone offer a suggestion on what I might do to get the values up?


texts: How to connect a 2 wire light fixture to a 3 wire ceiling box?

texts: How do I wire a light fixture with one white and one black wire to a ceiling box with one white, one black, and one red wire.


texts: Toilet - Fill Valve water level too high and really can't be adjusted

texts:
I have a float-cup fill valve, Fluidmaster 400 model series.  The classic solution to adjusting the water level is to turn the screw in a clockwise manner to make it go lower and counterclockwise to go higher (unless if I have reversed that).
Well, turning this screw in either direction seems to have little impact on the final water level which is above the water line.  Actually if I go all the way high there is a possibility that the toilet won't stop running but I can't get the water to be anywhere near the water line on the lower end, it is always going to be above it by a bit.
So if I manually hold the, and I hope I have this term right, cylindrical plastic float in the up position the water will cut off and that is a way I can get the water to stop before it hits the water line.  However, if I do not touch this cylindrical plastic float, it has trouble raising to the proper level and that is why it is late to shut off the water because the cylindrical plastic float on its own can not reach the proper height.  On top of that, it looks like the cylindrical plastic float might even slip down a little bit so it has trouble maintaining its current height.
What could be causing issues with the ascension of the cylindrical plastic float and making the screw of little use to adjust the final water level?


texts: How to unscrew screws that are barely accessible?

texts: I need to remove the face of a fake drawer that is screwed from behind. Unfortunately, a kitchen sink is preventing me from using a screwdriver. There is approximatively 4cm of space. The screw head is a PZ2. Is there a tool can could help me remove this screw ?


texts: I will be running power to detached studio that is about 50ft from my home. The studio will have 6 canned lights, 1 chandelier, 2 porch lights, and 6 receptacles. The studio will also have a 115v mini split AC that pulls 10.4 amps. My plan is to have a sub panel with two 20 amp breakers. One breaker would feed the circuit for lights and outlets and one would feed power to AC with disconnect outside. Can I use a 30 amp breaker to feed from my main panel with 10/3 wire or do I need a 40 amp breaker with 8/3?


texts: Can I add insulation to exterior home walls without redoing all the drywall?

texts:
I recently bought a house and Ive found out the insulation is not good enough in the exterior walls.  Is there a way that I can just cut a small hole and maybe blow in insulation into the walls instead of tearing down all the drywall?

Is this a diy project or should I hire someone?


texts: Rewiring a house, breaker panel and all, while living in the house

texts:
Our current home (mid-50s ranch in the Midwest US -- my AHJ has adopted the 2011 NEC save for the AFCI requirements, btw) is in good shape, save for the electrical wiring, which is a major bodge job.  Some of the previous owners (this house was an O/O that recently became a rental unit, we are the first tenants though) thought it was a good idea to replace all the outlets with grounded outlets without hooking up their grounds to anything, for starters.  The original 1950s fuse box is still present (no pennies that I know of, but there may be some overfusing going on as there are 30A fuses on 120V circuits in the box, and there's also a decrepit Edison-base thermal breaker roaming around there), and worse yet, the A/C installer decided it was OK to stick a 40A double pole breaker in a standard square junction box without a cover plate -- heaven only knows how he tapped it out of the main panel!

Given that the ideal way to fix this situation likely involves rewiring (the house is wired with NM save for the garage and basement which have conduit, and the  garbage disposal which is some type of AC or MC and also happens to be the one outlet that is properly earthed) the whole kit and kaboodle atop replacing the main panel (the location is too high up on the wall it's on to be Code compliant!), how can this job be staged so that we don't have to move out of the house while it's going on?

BTW: our W/H is gas and our furnace is gas with electric ignition, but the dryer and range are both electric.  The NM is cloth-covered (appears to be original to the house), btw.


texts: What wiring is needed for a propane unit heater in a garage?

texts:
Short version: I need to have a propane unit heater installed for a well-insulated 30'x50' x 14' ceiling garage in northern Minnesota. Should I run metallic cable to 20-amp outlet for a propane unit heater or just run the cable and leave slack for a future installation/installer?
I have a well insulated detached garage and the in-slab radiant boiler system is shot (boiler dead, plumbing bad, looking at >$4k to fix plus keep tabs on winter water lines to maintain it). I mothballed the slab lines with RV antifreeze for potential future use, but I'm planning for a forced-air propane unit heater instead as a replacement. (Won't get a ton of winter use and only needs to be kept about 45 degrees inside to keep water/equipment happy.)
I plan on having a suitable Sterling propane unit installed, and it's going to have to happen while I'm away. I want to get the electrical ready for potential installers. (Still trying to get bids submitted.) I'm told it just takes a 20-amp dedicated circuit, which I've already got thanks to the boiler circuit. I can easily re-route that power up into the corner where the forced air unit will go with some metal-shielded cable.
Do these units plug in with a 3-prong cord or should I leave the metallic cable with slack for the installers to patch it in directly?


texts: What wire size is needed to run 100 amp service 220 feet with no more than 3% voltage drop? Running a fused disconnect off of meter on house out to detached garage.


texts: Grounding my 4 gang metal electrical box

texts:
I have a 4 gang metal electrical box with a receptacle, a fan switch, a light switch and a timer for a towel warmer.

The honeywell timer does not require to be grounded.

For the receptacle i would loop the ground wire from the "cable from source" around the screw in the box and then connect it to the receptacle.

All other grounds would go to individual screws on the box. (no screw would have more than one ground wire bound to it)

There is not much space in the box and would like to forego using a wire nut(s) if possible.

note: There are 8 screws in total in the 4 gang box.

Can i wire all the grounds to the screws as in the picture below? Would that be code in Canada?

Thanks.


texts: My relative rents an apartment with an old gas stove.  Even when off, it radiates heat and is being told that the heat is caused by the pilot light.  This is making it difficult to cool the apartment during the summer.  Could this be true, and if not the cause, what do you think the issue is?  Could the pilot light need to be adjusted?


texts: Is this 15 amp w/2usb outlet on a 20 amp circuit against code? Does it present a fire hazard?

texts:
So the 15/20 amp circuits are confusing, from my reading you can have a 20 amp breaker with 12g wire and multiple 15 amp receptacles because the total draw of all receptacles combined might exceed 15 amps.

However, you can't have a single 15 amp outlet on a 20 amp circuit, because then the outlet might overheat if it draws more than 15 amps instead of the breaker tripping. For the purposes of this, a duplex receptacle is considered two separate receptacles.

I'm thinking about putting an outlet like this in for my garage. Does the addition of two USB outlets count a "Seperate receptacle" for the purposes of the above guidlines?

For the purpose of this question, I'm asking from Kansas.


texts: How to install acoustic panels on a door?

texts:
I want to add some foam acoustic panels to a wooden (interior, roughly 30x80 in) door - they are roughly 12x12x2 inch squares, and quite light, to the point where I think double-sided tape would be enough to hold them in place - however, I would like the option of being able to relocate them at some point (door is likely to be replaced at some point in the future) and would like to stay away from glues/sticky stuff because those seem fragile enough to be destroyed if they were to be pulled off from something like that - Any ideas as to how to proceed?

I was thinking perhaps a wooden grid "frame" to hold them, where they would just be "stuffed" into the frame, like this:

and then mounting the frame similarly to how a large mirror would be mounted.

Any issues with doing it like this? any better ways?


texts: What kind of wall material produces orange dust, and how should I work with it?

texts:
I live in a townhome that was constructed in 1890 in the US and remodeled sometime in the past 20 years. Most of the walls are drywall, but the walls that separate my home from the units on either side of it are a different material. It's harder than drywall, and does not produce the same "hollow" sound when you knock on it.
I assumed that it was plaster, and drilled four holes to mount coat hooks. The wall was definitely more difficult and slow to drill into than drywall, but I was able to drill about 1.5 inches through and noticed that the wall was solid material for that entire depth.
Two of the holes produced a beige dust, but the other two holes in the same wall produced a bright orange dust (pictured below). The only material I could think of that might be orange is brick.

Is the wall brick, plaster, or some other material?
Why did half the holes produce orange dust but not the other half?
Do I need to make any special considerations before drilling into these walls or using screws, nails, or other tools or hardware in them?


texts: What's the best way to ensure a wood fence is straight when the post stirrups are not level?

texts: I am building a hardwood fence with 100mm posts. A contractor set 90mm post stirrups (don't ask) in concrete on the fence line as part of a spoon drain. The stirrups were level when placed, but have set off level. If we placed the posts in the stirrups as is then the fence would lean forward. What's the best way to cut the 100mm posts down to fit the 90mm stirrups so that the fence will be straight?


texts: Why would a GFCI on my infloor heating circuit trip, when an exhaust fan on a different circuit turns on/off?

texts:
I have infloor electric heating installed in our bathroom.
The power is supplied by a dedicated 240V/1Ph. circuit that also feeds a couple of baseboard heaters in our bedroom.
The infloor heating is controlled by an electronic wall mount thermostat that incorporates GFCI protection.
The problem is that the thermostat (GFCI) trips off line whenever the bathroom exhaust fan is switched on or off. The fan is completely isolated from the heating power supply and runs on a separate 120V circuit.
What gives? Any ideas?


texts: Power Drill emits a bright spark and stops. Can fix?

texts:
I have one of these and I recently lent it to someone. Now when I tried it after a while, it runs for a second or two (if I press the trigger all the way), and then emits a bright spark or two from the motor area and dies. If I release and reengage the trigger, it runs again for about 1-2 seconds and repeats the above. The inside of it looks like below. I took it apart to see if there are any brushes I can easily replace (worn out brushes was a suggestion somewhere on the inter-webs). I don't see any way to access the brushes if this were a brushed motor but this is the first time I have done something like this.
My question is if there is any way to recover this drill? Or is it bound for the junk pile? I realize it is a cheap easily replaceable one but I don't like to throw what I can fix.


texts: Will my new adhesive-backed cork tiles adhere to my existing sheet vinyl?

texts:
I have a vinyl floor, not tiles one full piece, over concrete, in my bathroom.
The vinyl is solid and perfectly fitting to all the walls and runs beneath the bath, shower, toilet, sink and fitted wall cupboards. It is screwed to.  The vinyl floor was there in an empty room before the bathroom was created. The only way it could be completely removed would be to remove the complete bathroom, this is not an option :-).

I am looking to tile over the vinyl with cork tiles.
The questions is: will normal cork tile adhesive stick ok to the vinyl or should I treat the vinyl in some way?


texts: question about supplying gas via multiple lines to a water heater

texts:
We moved into a new construction home a few months ago. The house has what I believe are 1/2 inch flexible gas lines running from a basement manifold to various appliances (water heater, two different HVAC furnaces, fireplace, dryer, and cooking range).

The builder apparently should have used 3/4 inch line to run to the water heater, which is I believe a 200,000 BTU unit. However, they screwed up on our place and several others, running the same 1/2 inch lines throughout. This caused the water heater to be starved for gas, and it wasn't able to keep up with more than one hot water tap being open.

The distance between the gas manifold in the basement and the water heater is about as great as it could be (water heater lives in a closet on the 4th floor on the opposite side of the house). So obviously ripping out the existing line behind all that sheet rock across 5 stories would be no small feat.

What the builder has done as a solution is to install a t-junction at the 1/2 inch gas line feeding one of the two HVAC heaters (which is on the 3rd floor, directly beneath the water heater). They brought this new 1/2 inch branch up through the floor, and combined it with the existing 1/2 inch line already there. So, the water heater now has effectively a gas line of 1 inch (minus whatever gas might be lost to the in-line HVAC system).

We've tested this setup for the past week, and it does allow us to run multiple hot showers at the same time. I have noticed that if we really stress the system (3 showers running plus kitchen tap with furnaces on), the furnace seems starved for gas and blows room temperature air. However, this would be an extreme usage scenario. We don't run that upstairs furnace much and wouldn't normally have that many taps going.

The builder is wanting to know how this setup is working out. They're banking on our ignorance. What I'm most interested to know is whether there are any safety or regulations compliance issues with the way they have jerry-rigged this setup.

Thank you for reading!


texts: Why do I need a shower faucet cartridge?

texts:
What's it for?

Will the shower work without one?


texts: Is AFCI a requirement outside the United States?

texts:
I have been asked to come into a site (outside of United States; Central America to be specific) - but one of the personnel there asked about NEC compliance; specifically AFCI.  How can I educate myself on what is or isn't covered by NEC outside the United States.  Additionally, is there a way I can recommend (with some authority) so that the site adopt NEC compliance.

Thank you in advance for any and all assistance on this matter....


texts: Framing nails: ring shank .120 vs smooth shank .131?

texts:
Building code calls for 3" x .131 nails for wall framing. I wanted to use ring shank which have a better hold, but I can't seem to find RS in .131. Whenever we go to RS, the diameter drops to .120. You can get .131 diameter nails in smooth shank though.

So unless I'm mistaken, it looks like you can get RS .120 OR smooth .131, but not RS .131. (These are 21 degree gun nails).

I want to do a quality job, and the inspector doesn't care which kinds of mails I use.

Given the choice, am I better off with smooth shank .131 or ring-shank .120 nails? The rings would probably hold better, but will the reduced diameter cause other issues?

Clarification:
The issue that I'm running into is that I can't find the nails that code calls for locally (and I mean at the lumber yards that supply real framers, not box stores).

My code wants 3"x.131, and the lumber yards have RS .120. When I try to get what the IRC prescribes, I get: "that's what everyone uses here" and "they don't even check nails so don't worry about it".

So the problem is, should I be using what the code book specifies (which I would have to special order and is extremely hard to find) or use what all the supply houses in my area are selling to all of the framers for wall framing because that's what they actually use around here?

There are no high wind speed or seismic considerations.


texts: When I turn on my gas stove, the ignitor clicks and it takes a good 15 seconds and it explodes on.  What does it mean?


texts: Can the dryer's heating element be saved?

texts:
I just read why you shouldn't mend a dryer's heating element or coil.
What if the break just happens to be be two or three inches at the very end, or even just 1 inch from the end; can you stretch it out and complete the circuit?

It's for a Whirlpool Dryer.


texts: Refilling extra space between rail and posts for inserting screws?

texts:
I'm working on a wooden fence, similar to the picture below. It has a 2"x4" wood rail that will be the length of all four 4"x4" pressure-treated wood posts. This rail will be attached to the posts with screws.

Since the concrete where the posts are attached to is uneven, there will be "empty" space between rail and some posts in-between.

What can I use to fill that unwanted space that's strong enough to insert screws? I don't have the tools to cut the 4"x4" posts to the correct height, so that's out of the question.


texts:
I need to tile the floor in the porch and entry hall (total area about 3 sq m). The problem is that once the tiles are laid, it should stay undisturbed for at least 12 hours (better 24). This is where the issue is. While there is another entry door into the house (via garage), the entry hall is the place where the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor start. There is no option of moving out for a couple of days, so the work will need to be done with the family present. Only using one floor for 2 days is also not an option with the family of 5.

The only thing I can think of is to tile in the evening after the children have gone to bed - and hope that the adhesive will set enough to walk on the tiles in the morning.

The tiles are ceramic and going on 18 mm plywood.

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of it drying overnight? Maybe some special adhesive?


texts: Indoor blower fan turns on and off intermittently in 10-15 min increments when system is off

texts:
Bit of background: The furnace blower originally did not not turn off at all (or if it did, very rarely did so), even when set temps were reached or when the system was off (fan setting is set to auto, not on). The AC unit outside would shut off when the set temp was reached, but the fan inside continued to blow. I called a technician, who said the issue was probably a bad fan switch relay and it was replaced.

Now the fan does turn off, but it doesn't appear to remain off. Even when the system is set to off, the fan randomly turns back on and off every 10-15 minutes. The technician reinspected it but said there's no apparent reason it should be doing this. As the fan doesn't turn on for a while after the system is off, he wasn't really able to verify that the fan was doing this. He replaced the relay again with a more "heavy duty" one, and just told me that even if just the blower is running, it shouldn't draw much power/create a high bill (my HVAC is all electric).

Is there any other reason it could be doing this? Is the relay still the problem? Or is this how they're supposed to operate (furnace/house is approx. 3 years old)? I had a much older home/hvac system before this and recently moved into this one so I'm not really familiar with the newer systems.


texts: Stinky dishes and cups from the dishwasher - but only after it rained

texts:
The house I live in is 14 years old and is connected to the municipal water and sewage system in the Toronto, Canada, suburbs. I am on my second dishwasher. The first one was a cheapo Whirlpool, the current one is a mid-priced Miele. Nothing too fancy, but not cheap too. Both of them have the same issue: after it rains, or while it rains for a long time, the dishes and glasses/cups come out stinking of rancid fish.

None in the household was ever able to feel any odors from tap water. And we do not feel any odd smell from the sink drains or from the toilets. We never had sewage backup, knock on wood.

What was suggested to me:

That the drainage pipe out of the house and into the sewage could be
cracked, and rainwater may be pushing sewage gases up the drain. But
I would imagine the stench would be felt from the sink drains as
well. We do not feel any of that. And the issue started as soon as we
moved into the new house.
That rubber gaskets in the
dishwasher have deteriorated and let wastewater stagnate in the
joints. I am also having a hard time buying into this theory, as both
dishwashers had this issue since brand new.

I found a workaround with the new Miele dishwasher - if I stop the cycle right after the rinse is complete and before it begins to heat and circulate air out and into the drainage, the smell is either reduced to a minimum, or not there at all.

It also helped to add about 1 cup of white vinegar to the water once the cycle fills the pan. The smell was reduced, but not removed completely.

And finally, the smell was reduced significantly after installing the whole house filter from Vitasauls. The smell was horrible very often before that, and now it is noticeable only after it rained for a while.

I have a suspect, but that is inconclusive: the pleated drain hose of the dishwasher sounds like a perfect spot for breeding bacteria which arrives with the tap water, contaminated during the rain. But what can I do, if they all come with pleated plastic hoses?

I know that this is a very widespread problem with no one-size-fits-all resolution, but hoping for suggestion from anyone who experienced the same.

The picture below is very similar to my installation, both in the design of the sink drains, and the path of the drain hose to the stem on the drain pipe:


texts: Tips on keeping window screen in window sill

texts:
We like to open our windows when it is nice out. Unfortunately the bottom part of our window, where the screen fits into, is not very high. So what happens is our cat tends to push the screen out slightly so he can get out through the bottom by pushing the screen out. The screen does not come out per se but the entire frame is pushed out by our cat. I thought about using duct tape, but that is ugly. The lip is just too small to hold the screen in properly. Wedging a piece of wood in there did not work either.

Thoughts?


texts: I experienced a diverter problem. The diverter works fine when I the hot water flow out the tub spout, but switch it to the shower and hot water will become cold after couple minutes. I switch to the tub spout again, it will become hot after a while. I tried to change the cartridge, and adjust the cold water pressure. It is the same situation. Could anyone help me? Thanks!


texts:
We are going to regrout our shower tiles due to some cracks since the technical inspection said it was leaking into the wall which could cause water damage. We removed one soap holder and it seems that there has been leaking water behind it, it was a bit rusty and maybe even molded. Now there are two deep screw holes (see photo).
Can we just fill them with grout as well or should it be a different filler? The wall behind is concrete. Do you recommend using a professional for this job or can we just do it ourselves? Worrying a bit for insurance if there is water damage later.


texts: Operational Electrical Panel in an unfinished building -- safe? Sane? Legal?

texts:
Is it realistic to have an operational and functioning load center panel (with power supplied only to temporary outlets mounted near the panel), fed by an offgrid solar system, in a half-built residential building?

(The panel would be an outdoor-usable type and would be built and installed as soon as some wall framing was present, the building would then be completed, and the panel would be reworked to provide power to all of the building's circuits as the building was completed.)

Would this require questionable nonsense like having two separate electrical permits? Or is it simply a stupid idea rather than just using a generator or other external power source?

Jurisdiction is the USA, in a rural area where building inspection and permitting is fairly relaxed but still very much a force.


texts: Sink pivot rod stuck, seems to be screwed in?

texts:
I'm trying to clean my sink's pop-up stopper.

I was able to remove the pivot rod nut with no problem. I removed the spring clip and clevis strap from the pivot rod.

But the pivot rod won't budge. When I look at videos, the pivot rod should slide out easily, and mine won't move at all. It unscrews, but after a long time of trying to unscrew it, I gave up. I can still hear it unscrewing but don't know what it's doing and nothing seems to change.

I tried grabbing pliers and yanking on it but it's in there tight.

Any ideas?

Picture of ball joint:


texts:
There's a leak in the PVC to PVC connection shown below.  The pipe without red-lettering is not securely attached.  It rotates slightly and can be pushed in and out slightly as well.  I don't believe there's enough movement to pull it out completely as-is.

What's the best way to fix this?  Specifically, where should I cut, and what can be re-used?

I am open to using the PVC primer and cement if recommended.


texts:
I have been having issues with my apartment door not opening when I turn the knob. The knob is very loose and as a result, it is able to move left and right. Although functionally, turning to the right is the only way that latch bolt moves inward to the faceplate, allowing the door to open. Typically the door works, but is very finicky. Today it is simply not working. The latch bolt is stuck and is not moving inward to the faceplate.

If I am outside of the door, I can use the key (Mul-T-Lock 006C) and turn it to the right (as in the video) which allows the latch bolt to move inward. Once I do this, I can go back to the inside door knob and turn it, and the latch bolt works properly.

However, upon closing the door fully (from the inside), I now cannot get the door knob to trigger the latch bolt at all to open up the door, meaning I am locked in my apartment and cannot get out unless someone from the outside opens with the key (see video). You can also notice in the video that on the lock body, where the mounting spring on the knob inserts, it is quite loose. Not sure if this is an issue. I am not using the deadbolt at all, so this is only an issue with knob trigger latch bolt.

My question is, do I need to replace the whole door entry knob or is there a way to fix this?

Video: https://youtu.be/GRksbiEW5v0

I used certain terms above that seem to differ from diagrams, so I've attached the diagram I was looking at for clarity of parts I'm referencing.

Thank you in advance for any help!


texts: How is propane stove thermostat supposed to work? [Quadrafire Grand Bay DV40]

texts:
The home we bought came with a propane stove, with markings Quadrafire Grand Bay DV40.  The stove is connected with a simple two-wire (non-powered) bimetal thermostat switch.
How is the thermostat supposed to work on the stove.  By reading the manual (which by the looks of the illustrations seems to be a manual for my stove), it seems that the thermostat operates when the burner switch is in the "off" position.  If the burner switch is in the "on" position, the switch overrides the thermostat. At least, that's how I read the manual.
Now the issue is that I'd like the stove thermostat to actually work, since this stove is critical to maintaining the room temperature in the house.  We do also have a fireplace and a mini-split system, but (1) the fireplace can not be temperature regulated and (2) the mini split can only make the home lukewarm.
What I observe is something part-way.  When the stove is heating, the thermostat is set to its highest setting and the burner switch is "off", I can turn the burner flames off by lowering the thermostat temperature setting until a "click" is heard.  So far so good.
However, once I set the thermostat back to the highest setting, the stove flames do not turn on again. I am not sure how fast the flames should react to the thermostat, so I'm unsure if the thermostat is working as intended or not.  The manual doesn't say much about thermostat troubleshooting, and frankly I am not surprised: there hardly seems to be much there to go wrong.
Since I did my tests late in the evening, I only spared some 5 minutes to wait for the flames to turn back on, so I don't know if there is some sort of a holding period minimum.
So, this is a question for the knowledgeable: how fast is the stove supposed to react to the thermostat setting?  Is the stove behavior that I am observing at all normal and expected, or should I have it looked at?  Anything that I can do myself here?


texts: adding a ground wire to a 2-wire breaker panel

texts:
I am trying to run new ground wires from outlets in the house into my breaker panel that handles an old 2-wire system. There is only one panel after the meter that has the main cutoff, the various breakers and a neutral bar ( at the right in the photo ) with what look like bare copper grounding rods of varied thicknesses.  Looking in the panel it only has one neutral bar where the white colored wires and bare copper rods connect.  Is it proper to connect my new, green ground wires to that bar?  Do I assume that there is a grounding rod for the box?  If I do use that bar as my ground, is the position of my new green wire on the bar relevant?

btw, one of the smaller bare copper rods in the panel goes from the neutral bar down and into my crawl space, where it ends as if it has been cut sometime in the past.  Could I, as a matter of convenience, use that as my ground if I place another box down there with a "grounding" bar.  It could come in handy that way if I find a way to get ground wires to the outlets in other rooms on the lower floor.


texts: Are outdoor receptacles required to be GFCI receptacles in the US?

texts:
In the United States, are outdoor receptacles required to be GFCI receptacles? Or can they be non-GFCI receptacles but downstream from and protected by an indoor GFCI receptacle? This NEC draft says:

  All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed...
  [outdoors]... shall have ground-fault circuit interrupter protection for
  personnel.

Does the word "have" in this context mean the outdoor receptacle itself must contain/provide its own GFCI protection or that it may receive protection and/or provide its own protection?

I don't have a copy of the current official NEC spec. Does that excerpt still apply now?


texts: Should I use conduit for a less than 10' run of 6/3 THHN in my garage

texts: My electrical panel is in a cabinet attached to my garage but accessible from the outside so the utility has access. I'm installing a 14-50R receptacle using 6/3 THHN in my garage and it will be directly adjacent to my service panel but on the other side of the cabinet wall so it's in the garage for EV charging. We're talking less than 10' run, probably closer to 4 or 5 feet. I believe code states that conduit isn't required since the cable is protected by the wall of the utility cabinet but considering the cabinet has a dirt floor and is accessible outside I suppose rodents could be an issue? Do I need to worry about rodents chewing wire here? I've never seen evidence of them there, nor could I imagine why they'd want to be in that cabinet, but maybe it's better to be safe than sorry? Or is the additional heat that the conduit would create more of an issue?


texts:
My 1916 house has a brick chimney (no fireplace) that runs through the corner of my kitchen and I was considering removing paneling/plaster to expose the brick.
I chiseled away a small test square and found the following
At this point I'll probably just cut my losses and patch the hole (its hidden by the fridge anyway)  but still curious as to what I'm looking at here.
In the basement there is clearly brick that runs up through the ceiling and into the kitchen. Does it transition to block? was the brick cemented over possibly? -- thanks in advance


texts: Can improved window insulation prevent condensation on the interior of a window

texts:
We have a whole house humidifier which is great but one of our windows condenses much more than the others and doesn't dry out because it doesn't get much sun during the day like our other windows.  I talked to a window contractor about getting a new, well-insulated window installed.  I thought if the window is well-insulated, then the interior of the window will be warmer and so less condensation will form.  The contractor said that this wouldn't help, and that the primary problem is the air getting trapped between the blinds and the windows, and that we should instead try to leave the blinds open and of course turn down our humidifier a bit.

My question:

Will better window insulation (either by getting glass with a high R-value, or by some sort of window insulation kit) reduce condensation on our window interior?


texts: Should I cut control joints into a 10' by 12' shed slab?

texts:
I'm building a 10'x12' shed on a new concrete slab. The plans call for a 4" slab (thicker at the edge).

My question is about control joints. It seems that 10'x12' is right on the edge of what should be done as a single piece. What do you all think? Should I cut a few so that I have 4 5'x6' areas?

Thanks in advance!


texts: How do I wire this GFCI receptacle/switch combination device?

texts:
I am trying to replace a switch/receptacle combo in our bath room with a GFCI switch/receptacle combo. I am no electrician but understand wiring for the most part however this one has got me stumped.

There is a switch outside the bathroom door which, when flipped on provides power to the switch/receptacle combo. The switch on the combo in turn, provides power to a light fixture in the bathroom. I was expecting a 3-wire (black, white, ground) cable from the line in (switch outside the door) and a similar 3-wire cable connecting the combo switch to the light fixture.

Instead, when I removed the existing combo from the wall I noticed that it was connected by a single 4-wire (black, white red, ground) cable. The black, white and green were connected to the existing combo box's line in connections. Using the previous installation as an example along with the instructions I felt reconnected the black, white and ground wires connected to the LINE IN of the new GCFI combo box as expected. Following direction provided here I proceeded to connect one of the switch leads to the load terminal on the GFCI combo box and connected the other switch lead to the Red (hot) wire, assuming that the light is being provided power from the red wire.

When flipped the circuit back on to the bathroom the GFCI immediately tripped, indicating that the wiring was incorrect.

Of course I am thinking that there was no neutral (white) wire retuning to the light so I don't know if that means anything, however this was working before so I am at a bit of a loss for what to try now and hoping that someone here might be able to help me out.

Here is a link to a photo of the GFCI Combo wired up with the 3-wire line in connected and the two switch leads and the one remaining red wire disconnected.

My wife would love to turn the lights back on in the bathroom so any help would be appreciated!! :)


texts: What is causing this air-conditioning unit to cool on cold days?

texts:
This is a temperature log from a reverse cycle air conditioning system that has run fine for getting on for 30 years.  It has suddenly started to blast out cold air on days when it should be heating.

The temperature was measured at a point just inside a ceiling outlet vent - hence the wide fluctuations.

What would cause the cooling cycle to start in this manner?


texts: Is it possible to cut a threaded hole in wood?

texts:
Is it possible to create a threaded hole in wood? I'm making a kitchen island where the structure is 20mm threaded metal pipe (water pipe). I can either get flanges to connect it to the top or thread the ends of the pipe into wood. My question is around the latter option.

I see some kits online for fixing threads and rethreading however I can't find anything to drill a thread into wood of a particular size. Should be easy right?


texts: Installing privacy fence - hung panel 45 degree corner

texts:
I am planning a hung panel fence. My intent was to rip a 4x4 at a 45 and mate it to the interior face of each end post. This corner is to allow for easement clearance for an electrical pole that sits at the corner of the property line.
The 45 would save me the time and effort of an extra post were I to invert the corner and turn the full 90 degrees.

Is there a better solution that I’m not thinking of?


texts: Make a wide power connector fit in a narrow slot

texts:
This seems like a bad idea but I wanted to know for sure. I am trying to extend the reach of my Christmas lights this year into a garden that is about 6 feet from my fence. I don't want to have lights on the ground as my kids would try to play with them. Same logic if I tried to brace them in the air from the fence into the garden.

Light connectors, all of the ones I purchase anyway, have the two narrow power connectors. All the groundless extension cords I find have the narrow and wide connectors which means I cannot use it to extend the lights.

What I could do is use wire cutters or a dremel to trim the wide connector down to size. Again I could see that being a bad idea if I was to try and use that cable for anything else.

What are my options here assuming I cannot find the right extension cable?


texts: Bridging gap between sink and drain pipe

texts:
Context

After chipping the edge of the bathroom basin of the apartment I'm renting, I've attempted to install a replacement in order to save costs. This is my first plumbing project!

(The original basin)

I speculate that the plumbing here is quite old - the piping is metal and there is a separate cold and hot tap as opposed to a mixer. The apartment complex also appears to be built in the 1970s.

I've managed to turn off the water at the apartment's main, disconnect the supply lines, disconnect the drainage pipe, and pull the basin off. Luckily, the new basin fits in the wall brackets of the original basin!

(The new basin)

My Problem

The new basin sits approximately ~5cm (~2 inches) above the drainage pipe.

(Gap between sink and drain pipe)

What is the most practical solution for me to bridge this gap? Is it better for me to replace the entire drain pipe & sink trap, or is it possible for me to source a pvc adapter that fits perfectly into this gap?

(The drain pipe)

Additionally, the drain pipe looks pretty gangster - there is some string which I assume was acting as a substitute for irregular threading, or to prevent leaking?

(Manky old drain pipe)


texts: What are the consequences of building without a permit?

texts:
Suppose someone decided to build a house without getting the required permits. What are the possible consequences?

I'm not talking about slipshod workmanship, or ignoring safety of structure, fire, and sewage. I'm talking about doing good quality work that generally meets or exceeds code requirements, but without going through the "proper channels".

(I'm sure you'll want more context; ask and I'll edit later.)


texts: Do I really care about thick insulation if I am ventilating the house?

texts:
I notice that a lot of new construction standards have all kinds of very tight, thick insulation standards which is great for saving energy, but do I really care about this if I am ventilating the house?

For example, if the house is getting 4 air changes per hour, insulation doesn't really seem to matter because I am bringing in freezing cold air into the house constantly, so the amount of cold coming in through the ventilation system will be way higher the amount of cold coming through the walls/windows. So, why even worry about insulation?

I live in New England where temperatures easily get to -10 degrees F and below in the winter and up to 95-100 F in the summer.

In my current (old) house, I have forced hot water heating and no ventilation system at all, but the house is so leaky that I get air coming in through the cracks and crannies. So, lets say I am getting 2 ACH by leakage in my current house. Would that mean I am actually going to be spending twice as much heating a new house which has 4 ACH forced air ventilation?


texts:
Craftsman:wrenches as BLANK:power drills

What is the gold-standard power drill make? For general purposes/light carpentry.


texts:
This is the toilet tank in my apartment. A few days ago I started noticing brown residue in the water. Upon investigation, I encountered a toilet tank I'm not familiar with... there's an "outer" tank, which is the one that fills with water, and a smaller, inner tank, which gets its water supply from the outer tank and is where, from what I can gather, the toilet actually flushes.

However, as you see from the pictures, while the inner tank is clean, because it always empties upon flushing, the outer tank only empties about halfway through, and the algae keeps accumulating and never reaching the bottom.

I've poured some bleach and started using those pills, but I'm not really familiar with this kind of toilet. Is it normal for the outer tank to not flush all the way down? It seems like a very strange and counterproductive design to me... the little white tank has "patent pending" written on it.

update: Looks like this is the toilet model http://youtu.be/2SzVAwPAuJ0


texts: Why do all shower cubicles have open tops, and does it have to be this way?

texts:
I have a small bathroom with a traditional 2 sided shower cubicle in one corner. Like all shower cubicles it has an open top. The bathroom has both an opening window and a working extractor fan.

If the first person to use the bathroom in the morning takes a shower, then bathroom quickly fills with steam and condensation forms on the walls (even with window open and extractor on). Anyone else who then uses the bathroom in the next half hour or so has to put up with a rather damp and unpleasant environment. (situation is probably exacerbated by location, I'm in northern Europe, the showers are hot, and the bathroom is cool - ideal conditions for condensation)

The extractor fan is in the bathroom ceiling above the shower cubicle, I can't help but think that if the cubicle was sealed (i.e. the walls went all the way up to the ceiling) then steam from the shower wouldn't get into the bathroom and the extractor fan would suck it all out before it had the chance to spread into the rest of the bathroom and condense on the walls/windows/floor.

Or am I missing something? Is there a good reason the walls of shower cubicles never reach the ceiling?

UPDATE - thanks for the suggestions about alternative ways of reducing condensation, but that's not really the focus of the question. Is there a good reason for shower cubicles being open at the top? The only thing this seems to do is to allow steam to escape into the bathroom, and condense everywhere. With a working extractor immediately above the shower why can't the cubicle be sealed? Maybe I have missed something? maybe there's an obvious reason that showers have to be open?


texts:
Objective: Make a floating platform to grow avocado seeds.

Conceptually this is a floating egg carton with 1 inch holes in the bottom of each egg cup. This allows the lower half of each avocado seed to be consistently covered in water since the platform will rise and fall with the level of the water.

What I have tried:

Plastic 24-egg carton with styrofoam inserted.
Drilling holes in a piece of wood

These are reasonable solutions. They tend not to adapt to the extra weight when adding lots of seeds.

What DIY idea do you have to solve this problem? Note that it needs to float to keep the lower half of the seed wet with rising and falling water levels.


texts: How to fix overfilled 1-gang switch box?

texts:
I have a 1-gang electrical box for a lightswitch. Because of how the room was historically wired it has a lot of cables coming into it. It has the following romex wires coming into/out of it:

Home run (comes in from top of box)
wires to other outlets in the room (this goes out the top of the box)
wires to an outlet that used to be switched by the switch (goes out bottom)
wires to an overhead light that is now switched by the switch. (also goes out top)

Additionally, these wires are aluminum so, as my understanding goes, they require to be connected (following appropriate procedures, torque, etc.) using Alumiconn connectors and making connections to the switch using copper pigtails. Since there are 4 neutrals and 4 hots I actually require 2 alumicons each for neutrals and hot. This takes up a lot of volume
Right now this is stuffed into what I would call a "standard" size switch box which probably has about 18 cu in of volume or so (I haven't carefully determined it) which is way below the volume required as per overfill calculations for the wiring I mentioned above. The wiring above requires at least 25 cu in, I could calculate more carefully to get a definitive answer. There are also currently wire nuts where there need to be Alumiconns which really motivates me to want to upgrade the wiring.
In any case, I'm aware of concerns and how to remedy them for aluminum wiring, I'm also aware of the code for box fill and that I'm above the fill for my box. What I'm not sure about is the best strategy for fixing the problem but I do have a few ideas. The switch is in a shallow wall so there isn't really room for a deeper box.

Get some sort of old work 1-gang box that has extra storage volume behind the drywall. Something like the picture below, except the picture is new work box. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a part in my local hardware store or even online that satisfies what I'm looking for..
Use a 2-gang box and put a "blank" in one of the slots so that there is just a big box to work in.
The box has so many wires in it because it was historically used as a junction for the outlets and in a different way. Maybe the room could be a little re-wired to reflect this. One possibility would be to put a junction box with a blank faceplate a little distance above the switch. This junction box would have the home run come in and the wiring to the other outlets, and a new copper wire stretch going to the switch box. The switch box would then split power to the switched overhead light and the outlet which used to be switched.
Both the home run and the wiring to the "other outlets" enters the wall from the attic above through a hole that I have access to. Maybe I could install a junction box up in the attic instead of using a face plate in the wall? There is insulation over the area in the attic.

The other piece of relevant information is that this is a room on the main floor of a one-story house and I have pretty easy access to the some of the wires coming in from the attic above. Otherwise I'm trying to avoid having to do drywall repairs but I'm prepared to do them if need be. Also I'm pretty much not considering re-wiring anything with copper wires at this point.
Is there an easy natural approach I haven't put up here? Are there compelling reasons to choose one of the approaches above? I'm leaning towards using the 2-gang box since it seems like it would be the most straightforward but I'm worried that it would look strange in the room. Would this be a "standard" solution?


texts: Why does boiler flue have to be sealed on both sides?

texts:
My boiler flue isn't sealed on the inside. Only the outside.
I read it needs to be sealed on both sides.  But why does it need to be sealed on the inside?  Since its unsealed at the moment I can see from the hole whether the outside is sealed on the other end.
If it is in case a leak happens on the inner side, I guess that means you should not also seal any crack in the kitchen because the leak would travel in the wall and out through any crack so why not say that.
Or is it to be sealed for a different reason?
Thanks.


texts: I have an older home without GFCI outlets in the bathrooms. The electrical boxes are too small to fit a GFCI outlet. I was hoping to change the breaker in the electrical panel to a GFCI breaker but when I do it keeps tripping. My tester indicates that all of the outlets are properly grounded and the regular breaker never tripped. Could the surge protector on my computer be causing this problem or what else should I investigate without hiring an electrician to start tearing apart my wiring?


texts:
I am having trouble trying to understand new code.

It says (or so I understand) that a GD, DW and refrigerator now be on AFCI and GFCI RECEPTACLES. Is GFCI required if those appliances (GD - DW) are hard-wired?

Does refrigerator need to be GFCI if it has a dedicated 15A duplex receptacle (surge protection) that is not readily accessible?

Microwave- Does it require GFCI if on a dedicated 20A AFCI breaker with simplex receptacle enclosed in a kitchen cabinet?

GFCI and AFCI receptacles must have really improved in dependability in the last few years.

Sorry, I did not make myself clear.

Not AFCI/GFCI receptacles themselves, but if the GD (disposal) and DW (dishwasher) are not powered though an appliance cord and receptacle, is GFCI protection on those circuits required (I understand the AFCI need)? I will hard-wire both components (GD and DW) as I have doubts as to having plug-ins under the sink cabinet and their possibly being hit and loosened or pulled entirely.

Also, does the dedicated 20A MW (microwave) circuit require GFCI if the receptacle is mounted in an upper cabinet (over MW and range):

...and is GFCI needed on a dedicated refrigerator 15A circuit, the receptacle being behind the refrigerator and non-accessible?

I guess what I am asking in short is if GFCI is needed on a GD and DW separate circuits if they are hard-wired with no dedicated receptacle(s) for them @ or under the sink cabinet and is GFCI needed on hidden dedicated appliance receptacles, these being separate from the SABC(s)? Neither appliance will have an accessible receptacle above or below the sink.


texts: How should a sub panel be grounded if next to the main breaker?

texts:
How should a sub-panel be grounded if next to the main breaker? Do the ground and neutral need to be isolated (separated) from each other in the sub? Sub-panel will be about 6 - 8 feet away from the main and I will use 8/3 or 6/3 wire to give me additional breaker spots.

1.) Can I use the existing (main) wire to the grounding rod to ground the sub-panel?
Note: Keep in mind the ground and neutral wire are tied together in the main breaker box.

2.) Do I need to run a separate grounding rod for the sub-panel?
2a.) What size wire needs to go to the grounding rod from the sub?

Photos Below:


texts: What do you call this thick washer-type part?

texts:
I have been going through many parts that I have recently gotten ahold of. However, I don't know what many are or what they do. I ran into this steel part:

It is 0.565 in tall, with an inner diameter of 0.25 in and an outer diameter of 1.25 in.

I'm not sure if it is a thick spacer, a tall washer, or something entirely different.

Does anyone know exactly what it is or what it is for?


texts: Something like ICE inside of tank of gas water heater, what should I do?

texts: I saw the ice stuff inside of my tank when I try to change my Pressure relief valve, is this real ice or something else? this thing really scares me when I saw it, just like the alien's baby nest, lol. I took the photo through the PRV hole.


texts: Wax to finish and smooth out dining tabletop with deep gouges

texts:
I have an old wood dining table which I would like to sand down and refinish. Unfortunately it has many deep gouges in it. I am hoping that there is some sort of wax finish that I can use that can also fill in these gouges. I am imagining that I can heat the wax to liquify it and let it fill in the gaps and harden... Does such a wax exist?

Ideally I would like to go with a natural entirely non-toxic product...

Thank you!