texts:
My toilet is making strange sounds when it's flushed. I suspect something in the fill valve is vibrating. Here is a video of it. It's pretty intermittent and sometimes it's longer and louder than that.

Do I just need to replace the fill valve?

Update

It's definitely something in/on/around the fill valve. While inspecting the flapper today I drained the toilet and upon refilling it I discovered that I can reliably recreate the sound by filling the tank up when empty. Here is a video of it.

I tried it several times and the sound is definitely coming from the left where the fill valve is.


texts: I am doing a project where I bought old building and converting in to apartment unit. The building has brick wall and was thinking of putting PTAC like they have in hotel. Initially I was thinking of putting mini split but that seems to be more expensive. I need advice if someone has put PTAC through brick wall. Thanks in advance.


texts: Gas dryer connection adapter brass to steel nut

texts: I recently got a dryer and the installer did not have the right adapter to connect my gas line to the dryer. The yellow gas line installed in the previous dryer is still there and has a steel nut at the dryer end(the nut that is used to make the connection). The installer said I should be able to get the adapter at a hardware store as the one he had was small. I however cannot find a galvanized steel 1/2 inch flare and 3/8 FIP adapter. I did get this which is brass. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2-in-Flare-x-3-8-in-FIP-Brass-Adapter-Fitting-801379/207176728#product-overview . I think this should work but not sure of any issues given the adapter is brass while the nut to which the flare end connects to is steel. Should both of these be the same material? That is steel adapter to steel female nut?


texts: Can a flat and level roof be waterproof?

texts:
I would like to build a 6 x 8 ft playhouse with a deck covering the top.  Is there a kind of roofing material that can (1) withstand a floating deck, (2) is DIY friendly (no blowtorches, hot asphalt, or custom pouring), (3) is reasonably cheap, and (4) will keep the water out even with a completely flat roof, or with a very minimal slope?

Modified bitumen is said to be great for building deck on top of.  The GAP SBS Liberty system is DIY-friendly, but the instructions call for a slope of at least 1/2" per ft.  If using only the cap sheet, it's about $1/ft².

Building a deck on top of the roof is much easier if the roof is completely flat.  Is that asking for trouble, or will it be OK for my application?

Are there other roofing materials I should consider?


texts:
I have existing wiring for my doorbell that goes from the front door to a closet. No actual doorbell or chime is hooked up, just wiring. When I connect a 24v transformer to the closet end, I'm detecting very low to non existent voltage at the front door.

Just a note, the existing wire is a, i think, cat 3 wire. It has 6 total wires, pair solid and stripped blue, green and orange wires which i believe are 24 awg. The construction contract probably went cheap and saved a few pennies with these wires since the distance is no more than 50 feet.

I did do some googling and tried a few things listed below with no luck. Any help recommendations is appreciated.

Installed 24 Volt transformer (multimeter detected ~28), connected 1 wire each to the 2 screws on the transformer, doorbell detected ~0 volts
Installed 24 Volt transformer (multimeter detected ~28), connected 3 wires (twisted together) each to the 2 screws on the transformer, doorbell detected ~2 volts
Tested continuity. Twisted 2 wires together where the doorbell is and tested near the transformer with no luck. Multimeter got no beeping noise.
Tested resistance with the same setup as above. I get 0.5 M ohms.
Tested with a wire tracer/tracker to make sure the wire is correct. I do get noise from both ends. Not sure why this is working with the super high resistance, but it is working...

FYI: I'm using Wire Tracker Tacklife CT01 and Klein Tools Auto Ranging MM400.

I'm stumped on this. Not sure what else to do besides calling an electrician and having him re-wire with a proper bell wire (20awg) which i'm guessing is the main issue.


texts: How can I determine what's behind a wall?

texts:
I live in a two story house build in the 60s.  The lower floor(half buried) is only under half of the ground floor so I think there is a possibility that there is an extra room beside a wall in the lower floor.  When I knock on the wall it emits a hollow sound.

Any ideas on how I could find out if there is a room behind the wall without drilling through it or knocking it down?


texts: Wall stud spacing too tight for replacement medicine cabinet

texts:
Replacing old medicine cabinet with a new one. Space is just shy of 14-1/4 inches wide between two wall studs. Medicine cabinet could use another 1/8" to fit inside.
I am contemplating sanding down the inside wall stud surfaces to get a bit more space. I am also interested in knowing if one stud can be cut out and "sistered" back in place? The wall is parallel to the ceiling joists. The hole is framed in on 3 sides, except the bottom because of an outlet.
Is there a framing solution to this quandary? Or should I just sand the studs?


texts: I have enough slate chalkboard from an old school to make a shower surround.  Support is not a problem, heavily reinforced concrete floors, cast iron tub with tile lip.  Need advice on adhesive and what to grout to use.  The pieces are 3 x 5 so will have seams.


texts: How to add indicator on a light switch to indicate the outdoor 3-way light is on?

texts:
Have some carriage lights outside my garage that can be turned on from inside the house. It's common that the switch will get flipped and the lights will stay on when they're not wanted.

Is there some way I can add an indicator to the light switch so I can know if the light is on?

Note: the carriage lights are on a 3 way switch.


texts:
I think I know the answer to this already but its worth a punt.

I laid a 4mx3m shed floor (clearly badly), with about 10 cm of hardcore and 7.5cm of cement, that whilst in the middle appears fine, on the outside has some very crumbly sections.

The floor doesn't need to last decades, it has a summerhouse(office) on it, so a few years use would be nice rather than it just collapsing when the winter arrives. Is there anything I can do to it to make it a bit more hardy in the short term other than knock it down and start again.?


texts: What are the current and voltage limits when determining low vs. high voltage wiring?

texts:
I'm trying to figure out what is considered a power line( for outlets) and data communication line.
What are the qualifying factors here.
I know
outlets have 120V AC at 60Hz
and data lines have anything around 0 to 12V, but I don't know how much current that allows.

so

What is the current limit for the Data line?
What is the voltage limit for the Data line?

I would expect that results can vary based on where to you live.
I live in Utah, USA


texts: Pressure tank rusts, leak, and draw down questions

texts:
I have this water pressure tank system:

my questions:

I am not sure whether it is a G.I. or stainless steel pressure water tank. How do I test what kind of material it is made of?
There are so many rusty water coming from faucets.. Can stainless steel or G.I. rust inside it? I'm not sure if the rusts originate there or elsewhere.
Recently when the water pump put enough water to register 30 psi (Is there a list pressure to set for corresponding tank volume?). It stopped runing and goes down slowly even if the output gate valve was closed. Which do you think is leaking? There is no leak at the water tank or water pump. It has no input check valve but for past 10 years there was no defect or pressure going down without use after it stopped pumping at 30 psi.
The water inside is only 20% when water pump stopped pumping. I'm thinking of getting the Aquaflo pressure tank. Is it true it can hold 99% of water? It means the remaining volume of 1% will be compressed air, what do you think of the following?

"Aquaflo pressure tanks are 99% efficient. Conventional pressure tanks use only 25% of the water inside them. While a 42 gallon tank might look impressive, in reality, only approximately 12 gallons are used (“draw down”). With Aquaflo pressure tanks, 99% of the water is used. Thus, you can get rid of the excess size needed by conventional pressure tanks. This allows Aquaflo tanks to deliver the same performance while reducing it’s size."


texts:
House is approximately 40 years old. On a wall on a balcony the brick work appears to be crumbling. What is causing this to happen and what can be done to fix this?

We can see both sides of the wall since it is the edge of the balcony and the other side is similar to this as well. We had a couple of tradesmen comment on this and suggested rendering it to make it watertight, but this would obviously be out of place with the rest of the brick work of the house (which is fine)


texts: Will coaxial cable installed in the 1970s be fast enough for internet speeds 400 Mb/s+?

texts:
We are just about finished wiring CAT6 cable all over our house. We also plan to upgrade to 400 Mb/s internet speed from our ISP. We currently get 200 Mb/s from our ISP, and I have seen as much as 230 Mb/s from an internet speed test using our old CAT5e cable (so its proven our coax cable can handle at least that much).
Will we even be able to take advantage of these faster speeds (400 Mb now, maybe even 1 Gb in the future) with coaxial cable that is 50 years old?
Other info: I have read that the length of coaxial cable can affect the speeds... I estimate there is about 50 ft of this 50 year old coax cable. I could not find any print on this old cable saying what type it is. It leads into about another 45 ft of RG-6 coaxial cable (I'm assuming the RG-6 would not create any bottlenecks).


texts: Connect 1 power source to 2 sets of 2-light switch

texts:
Based on the diagram in this thread

Link:
How do I wire two lights with a switch?
or ascii:

    Power source       First Light   Second Light   Switch
   |  |               |   |         |   |        |  |
   |  |               |   |         |   |        |  |
   |  + white/neutral ----+---------+   |        |  |
   |                  |                 |        |  |
   |                  +-- red/switched -+--------+  |
   |                                                |
   +------- black/hot-------------------------------+

How should I wire to a 1 power source if I have 2 sets of a 2-light switch setup? Should I just simply tap on the power source? What if I have 6 sets to 1 power source?


texts: I have this wire some of the inner part of which is exposed.  My friend claims that this is highly dangerous, but I don't think that touching it would be lethal, and in the worst case scenario there might be a short circuit, though the plug is grounded (3-prongs).  I don't understand enough to know this myself...


texts: What name could be used in building code for "interior drain tiles"?

texts: I'm searching Chicago building codes for anything about drain tiles to be installed inside a home. http://dev.chicagocode.org/ is the site I'm using. They have a ton of material about the sump pumps, however I can't find anything about the drain tiles themselves, how deep, how far from the wall, etc. Something has to exist for this, I just can't find it. Does "drain tile" go by another name?


texts: Why would unplugging an A/C unit restore power to a circuit?

texts:
Last night, we got a brownout. Everything came back except the master bedroom circuit. I checked the circuit breaker and it wasn't tripped (reset it anyway, for good measure).

After a hot night (window A/C was on the same circuit), I thought I'd see if maybe the A/C was the problem. I unplugged the A/C, and immediately the rest of the circuit came back on. I plugged it back in, and it went off. After a little more playing with the plug, I managed to get it so both the A/C and the room had power.

Any idea what can cause this? I'm nervous about what will happen with the next brownout, and if this is indicative of some more serious problem.


texts: What would be a good way to run a ground from the existing grounded circuit to the new power outlet from another circuit?

texts:
So after asking around here I was told that it is OK to run a ground wire from an existing near by power outlet (on a different circuit) to a new power outlet. The layout is below. The garage circuit(to the left) is something that I extended to that end of the garage using PVC conduit.

What is a recommended way to run that wire, given the below layout?

Update: here are is the type of wire that was used by the previous owner AND a close up of the point where the cable enters the wall to feed the first light and then it exits to go up and head over to the second light.
I rotated the image so you can read the wire specs, in fact the right side is the bottom of the image

My intention is to install a power outlet just below that hole
I might want to add a switch to shut off the lights when the in house switch is on so I can work with the table saw without having the lights on during the day time.

Update:
Here is a picture of the box behind the first light (the one to the left). The black (hot) wire seems to have a cracked insulation just where it exits the wall, I had to put some tape there


texts:
I am adding a light/fan inside a shower. I would like to add GFCI protection. I have a standard circuit and thought I could simply take the line to a GFCI outlet, then take the load to the switch, switch to light. But when I do the GFCI won't work. I get no power to light or outlet. when I press the reset it immediately trips.
Switch is a standard switch where the hot load from GFCI is going to bottom on the switch and the top black is going to the light. White wires from light and load from GFI are twisted and capped. Ground wires from GFCI  and light are twisted.


texts: Drying solid oak flooring after water damage

texts:
The builder didn't tighten the fresh water connection on the dishwasher in my newly purchased house. It dripped for days while I was out of town, and now an area of 2 feet by 15 feet has the TIG solid oak cupping. It's installed over plywood (crawl space).

Is there a way to manage the situation to minimize unevenness of the flooring?  I realize that this will require resanding and refinishing, but wondered if there is anything to minimize the amount of sanding.


texts: What are we doing wrong? Just trying to hang a picture ☹

texts:
My husband and I have some serious issues with the walls in our house. It was built in 1996; we live in CT. This is the 2nd time we’ve tried to hang something on a wall, and it has turned disastrous. We bought the self drilling drywall anchors recommended to us at Home Depot (TOGGLER SnapSkru). We used a philips screwdriver and once it gets to the threaded section of the anchor, it just chews up the Sheetrock. We are now left with a hole that we need to patch and try again but I’m afraid.
We made sure there was no stud behind the Sheetrock. This is the second spot in this house that this has happened. Ace Hardware and Home Depot were no help. They recommended the same anchors again. I don’t know what to do and we’re having a screaming match over this. This should be easy, shouldn’t it?!


texts: Will drywall mud adhere to semi-gloss paint?

texts: We want to texture several walls that have semi-gloss paint on them.  Will drywall mud adhere to the paint or do we need to use a particular primer first?


texts: Adding blocking between joist to support column?

texts:
I have this drawing for open up the living room wall. The architect is proposing a 5-1/4x16"x16' lvl beam with 5-1/4"x7-1/4" column on each side and adding 2x8" blocking btw. joists to support column but would not explain anything.

what is 2x8 blocking referring to?
structure that prevents the joists from twisting, a solid piece of wood, often the same material as the joists themselves, is installed perpendicular to the joists without any gaps (e.g. I joists would use a piece of I joist for blocking)
or additional vertical members (2x4's) to carry the load from the beam up to another load bearing object above the floor (e.g. a new column)
if it's the later, what's benefit using the block to support the column? wouldn't be better for the column to go straight down through the subfloor and rest directly on the existing beam?
thanks


texts:
We recently had to have our island cabinets replaced. To do this the contractor had to remove and reset the quartz countertop. It’s a decent sized chunk, about 9’ x 4’. During the installation of the countertop again the braided nylon supply lines for the faucet got pinched between the top of the cabinet and the quartz for about 30 seconds until they could tilt it up again to get the lines into the cabinet.

I’m mostly concerned with any effects this had on the durability of the lines; I felt them and couldn’t find any indentations or crimps and they currently hold water pressure with no issues. I’m wondering though if this crushing could cause a failure long before the normal service life end. They are integral to the faucet unfortunately so I can’t just swap them out. I just don’t know how tough these lines are or are meant to be.

Any insight would be appreciated!


texts: How to remove Paint buildup where I removed chair rail on an orange peel wall

texts: 22 years ago we wallpapered the lower 3rd of the wall and installed a chair rail.  I'm removing the wallpaper and the chair rail. When the chair rail is removed, there is an old line where paint built up when repainting the upper part of the wall.  I tried a putty knife to knock it down but without gouging the wall, it does not remove the paint.  Because of the slight orange peel finish to the walls, what do I do?  Same thing happened when I had a cabinet removed in the kitchen and the contractor left a line and you can see where the entire cabinet was on the ceiling.  Help.


texts: Why is there increased dryer motor hum while powered by a generator?

texts: We have an off grid home, solar powered 120v. While running the home on the backup generator (also charging batteries), the drum motor on the propane dryer has an increasing noise, then gets to a point where it trips the breaker on the generator, but the breaker on the manual transfer box (30 amps) and the 20amp breaker in the main panel are unaffected. I have check voltage and frequency at the dryer outlet with the generator running (dryer not plugged in the outlet), 119-121 volts and 59-61 hz which should be very acceptable. Also in a possible related sense, we have 4 ceiling fans 2 of which also get the hum situation but no issue with breakers.


texts: Is there a term for making an addition to a Bill of Quantities?

texts:
I am looking for a term that describes an item that was not part of the Bill of Quantities in the original Construction Contract, but is being added at a later stage.

Is it considered a regualr Bill of Quantities item, or does it have a unique name?


texts: How are electrical circuits routed in a kitchen island or peninsula without a knee wall?

texts:
I am trying to refine and finalize the cabinet layout for my kitchen remodel project. One new run of cabinets will form an L-shaped peninsula, as shown here:

In similar layouts I've seen a knee wall built behind the cabinets, usually to support a countertop overhang for a seating area but also useful as a space in which to run plumbing and wiring. However, in this layout I have no overhang/seating area and no plumbing, so I decided to omit the knee wall and add 12" deep cabinets along the back side of the peninsula.
I'm planning to install a slide-in electric oven/range that requires a 40 A dedicated circuit. I'll also need a 20 A circuit for outlets. I definitely don't want conduit or cables running through the visible and/or usable areas of the finished cabinets, where they could be a nuisance or a safety hazard; I also don't want to make my electrician's life miserable, or their invoice any higher than it needs to be. For those reasons, I'd like to understand:
What's the right way to route these circuits? And what are the implications when I'm putting together my cabinet order?
Additional Info

The foundation in this area is raised.
Both circuits will be a new run to the service panel.
The stove can be wired either via conduit OR via power cord and receptacle.
Here's a diagram showing the manufacturer's recommended location for supply outlet, when a power cord is installed:

Here's a diagram showing the rear of the appliance:

I'm planning to have a recessed toe kick area on the two "inside" faces of the peninsula, and flush toe kick/base trim everywhere else.
No cabinets open into the extreme left or right side of the layout, only the top edge and the "inside" faces.
My local permitting agency requires compliance with the 2019 version of the California Electrical Code.
There are no wall cabinets in this run of cabinets. There will be an oversized (36") externally vented hood above the range.
The countertop will be custom and can accommodate alterations to the layout.


texts: Can I cut out a 12" section of a footing to run new plumbing in a basement?

texts: I am finishing my basement and need to run plumbing to the planned bathroom. To do so, I need to cut out a 12" section of a footing (can't go under it). The section in question is under a door opening. Can this type of footing be cut into and removed?


texts: Please help cold water frozen not the hot in the kitchen

texts: My kitchen sink cold water has frozen 2 times in the past 2 weeks. The hot water did not this time but did the first time. I also have a dishwasher; could that have something to do with it? I can do the work, I just need to know what I can do to stop this.


texts:
I have a fan powered radon mitigation system installed in my house.  It was installed in 2016 and I have not had any issues with it until this winter.   I live in northern Iowa where we have been getting some unusually extreme temperature variations this winter (10F - 55F on some days).

I believe the system is exhausting warm moist air which is then freezing within the 4" exhaust pipe.  As the pipe heats above freezing, this ice releases and falls into the exhaust fan.  This causes some extreme noises (Much like marbles in a blender) until the ice has been chopped to small enough pieces by the fan to fall further under the slab.

The installer claims that the fan is designed for this, but I have to think that this happening on a daily basis will shorten the life of the fan (Not to mention the whole house panic when this happens in the middle of the night (Due to loud noise)).

What are my options to prevent this ice from making noise and destroying my radon fan?

Note: Basement has no water issues, and radon manometer shows normal readings.


texts: Should I be concerned about the size of a hole and notch in my joist?

texts:
We've just had the house re-wired (UK), and were wondering whether a hole and notch the electricians have made will significantly weaken the joist?

It is the end joist in the room.

Joist dimentions are 175mm height, 45mm width/thickness and 3350mm length (assuming it is length of room).

Hole has an 80mm diameter.
Notch is 70mm in height (some wood still together in middle).

What would be our best course of action to ensure nothing happens (if it will)?

Thanks


texts:
Unfortunately I can only drill in the late afternoon or during weekends, but my area is very quiet and I would really like to avoid driving my neighbours mad...

So is there anything I can do to make drilling (masonry) less noisy?


texts: installing sliding shower door when width is larger than tub

texts: I'm looking into sliding shower doors and all the doors I see assume that you are installing to space which is the width of the tub. In my case, the end of my tub has a little shelf extending beyond the tub, around 4 inches length and 1 inch higher than the tub. Has anyone seen examples of installs with this?


texts: Help with oversized furnace causing short cycle

texts:
I have just moved into a new home that had a pretty terrible HVAC system installed brand new by a flipper which has been causing me a ton of headaches.

My house is 2000 sq feet, and the furnace is in the attic. They have currently installed a 130k Payne furnace, and matching air conditioning unit.

There are 4 registers in the upstairs (3 bedrooms / bathroom) right below the attic.

Originally there were 5 registers downstairs, and the return is at the top of the stairs along with the only thermostat.

When I first moved into the house I immediately noticed something was wrong since it the thermostat was reading 68 but it felt incredibly cold downstairs. I had someone come in and they basically told me the whole job was a mess and clearly it was severely broken.

I then had the following work done to try and correct the issue:

Install ecobee thermostat so that I could have it pretend the thermostat is downstairs. This makes it warmer downstairs BUT makes it inferno like upstairs since airflow going downstairs was bad and upstairs was very strong.
Install 3 additional ducts going downstairs and adjust the main trunk into 2 trunks so that one day I could zone (no zone dampers installed yet)
Install a duct going down into the basement to get more air away from the furnace / upstairs
Install 5" media filter in the attic so that I don't die trying to replace a filter on the ceiling of a staircase

After the work was done there was a significant improvement. Now it only takes about 15 min to go up the 1.5 degrees downstairs when the thermostat clicks on. However, the system still has problems and I'm not sure where to go next. Current problems are as follows:

Any day it is around 50 degrees or more the furnace will short cycle. Highly annoying because it will be off for 3 hours when this happens
It is still way to hot upstairs under most circumstances. I was advised to close the dampers at least half way or more upstairs to force more air downstairs, BUT this unfortunately also causes short cycling.

I REALLY want to get this fixed, it's hard to trust anyone after the last bit of money I spent didn't resolve the problem all the way.

I've received 3 recommendations

The 5" media filter installed by the guy I had do the work is potentially restricting airflow into the furnace too much in an already somewhat unstable system and a big part of the short cycling problem.
I should spend a bunch of money to rearchitect the main trunk into a long T shape to help make a more consistent amount of airflow and the ability to force more air downstairs since he believes the now 9 ducts going downstairs should provide enough airflow to not have short cycling.
Spend a ton of money and just essentially redo everything, obviously this is not optimal

EDIT: to be clear when I say short cycle this means hitting the high temp limit which is what causes the cycle to be short

Any advice would be great. I live in Northern NJ


texts: Why does my oil-furnace's on-demand water heater go tepid and then return to full heat?

texts:
We have an issue with the hot water from a 2004 Peerless oil furnace with on-demand hot water. The shower starts at full temp, but quickly goes tepid (too cool for a bath/shower, but not ice-cold) and returns to full heat after 5-10 minutes. This is most apparent during the first two showers of the day or bath in the evening - subsequent showers or baths don't seem to have the problem to the same extent. This makes troubleshooting difficult, as we can't tell until a few hours after running all that hot water to see if the problem returns.

It only seems to affect the shower or tub.
It's not the mixer valve in the bathroom, as the hot water tap on the bathroom sink also produces tepid water once it starts happening in the shower.
Furnace technician diagnosed it as lime scale in the heater core. He recommended we replace it completely, along with a few pressure release valves and a hot/cold mixing valve. This didn't help.
The technician then came back and replaced the aquastat with a new, state of the art unit. This didn't help.
The technician then came back and throttled down the intake valve to the heater core. This didn't help, made things worse the next day, and had weird side effects - the heat was constantly on as water started running through the home heating circuit for whatever reason. Opening the valve up again all the way fixed the heating issue.

We're going to be using a new servicing company (obviously), but I'd like an idea of what they can or should be doing to diagnose this. We've sunk a lot of money into useless repairs.


texts: How do I prevent an interior door from latching?

texts:
I have an interior door (with doorknobs, not handles) that auto-closes. I would like, most of the time, to be able to just push the door open and not have to turn the knob.
However, I don’t want a permanent solution, because sometimes I do want the door to latch, in order to keep the dog corralled on occasion.
Any ideas on how to ensure that the door doesn’t latch unless I want it to?


texts: How to keep a block wall from blowing out at the bottom

texts: I am hiring block masons to build me a 24' x 44' block building, and I want to know how to keep the lower courses of blocks from bowing under pressure of 3 feet of dirt backfill or weight from the roof. I had to get another block mason since the first one I hired was no good; the second mason did not take down the five courses completed by the first mason, but rather continued to build from there. Now, I am concerned that the wall could blow out. How can I prevent that?


texts:
My garage door bracket is starting to pull out from the top panel of the door.  Some friends of mine have pointed me to a opener reinforcement like the one linked below but others have suggested mounting a steel plate to the door and using the existing bracket.  I am concerned that the Home Depot reinforcement wouldn't stand the test of time.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these methods?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Clopay-21-in-Opener-Reinforcement-Bracket-Kit-4125479/100069364


texts: Microwave oven is not working but display works well

texts:
I recently moved to a new place. Since moving my Bosch microwave oven (model number: HLK4555EU/01 1) stopped working.
The user interface seems to be functional but it just doesn't start. While moving  it's door came out and my friends helped to put it back. Thereafter the problem remains.


texts: I used a patch kit to fix a 1/4" hole in drywall and the patch is too raised and visible. Is there a way I can undo the patch and try a different solution? There are 2 separate holes, both are patched and sanded, one also has primer over it.


texts: Is 12-gauge wire adequate to run into between a 7000 watt generator and circuit box?

texts: I have a Briggs and Stratton model 040301A stand-alone generator I bought used I'm trying to figure out what gauge wire I use to feed my circuit box. When I took it apart it had a black and a red wire plugged into its terminal and they were 12 gauge wire it also had a white pig tail looks like gauge 8 wire twistid to the generators red and black lead. And it has a negative ground block that you would put the ground wire in and tighten it down. This generator has a 30 amp breaker on it but it is rated for 50 amps. Is the 12 gauge wire big enough to run into my circuit box? This unit is only powering a garage that I do not have any power to I am using this generator as my power source. Please help


texts: turning switch off to ceiling fan/light does not immediately kill the light

texts:
This issue just started occurring in the last week or two. The fixture has been installed for ~18 mo with no issue.
The light gets brighter momentarily--maybe a 1/4 of a second then goes off very briefly, then lights again for a 1/2 sec, before finally going and stay off.
The bulbs are incandescent. The switch is a plain SPST--no dimmer, or 'smarts'
Ideas on cause?


texts: The element in my oven died. I bought a new one and removed the old one only to find out I received the wrong element. When I went to put the old element back in the wires dislodged some on the insulation. Now I'm afraid that the insulation my catch fire when I install the new element. Is there anything I can do to make sure that where the element connection goes in the oven, it won't touch the insulation and cause a fire?


texts: Is it useful to paint outdoor conduit white to reduce the temperature?

texts:
The typical color of most types of electrical conduit is dark gray.

I plan to run some kind of conduit along the edge of a flat roof to install security cameras, and I'm already worried about the heat radiating from the black roof not being good for the cables.

Will painting the conduit white help it absorb less heat from the sunlight directly in the conduit itself? Even if it is less heat, will it be enough to make a difference? Or am I worrying about nothing and it will be fine?


texts:
I've been researching electrical stuffs in the internet with unimpressive results. I'm a complete noob in electrical stuffs so please be patient with me.

What is an End Plate and what is a terminal block stopper and what are the differences?

Where do I learn stuffs like these are there sort of books about these? I'm a bit confused with different terminologies such as angle connectors, din rails, T, LR, LL conduit, etc.


texts: Ok, so we broke down and called a plumber: vent stack had a major block and when that didn't stop the gurgling in our toilet, plumber installed secondary vent under bathroom sink. The gurgling stopped when water is running and we thought issue was resolved. Tonight however, I ran water to do dishes and when I let it out, gurgling. Two of the three times I refilled the sink it made the toilet gurgle when I let water out. What in the heck is the problem now?? Drainline is clean, vent is clean, septic line is clean and tank isn't full. I'm beyond frustrated at this point.


texts: Fixing up a 1920 Rowhouse - second floor ceiling insulation

texts:
So - I thinking of pulling the whole plaster and lath ceiling down in a second floor bedroom and putting up drywall and thought might be a good opportunity to insulate between the roof and the ceiling.  I think I only have ~24 inches between the two (~30" including the joists)  What would be the best insulating method here?

Or should I just throw up some sheet rock over the lath, avoid the mess and call it a day.


texts: How can I repair a cinder block wall around a sewer line?

texts:
After having replaced ~30' of 4" cast iron w PVC, I'm left with two holes in the cinderblock foundation. The holes are the height of 1 block and about 1/2 the width of a block. These leaves a pretty significant hole around the pipe.

I'm inclined to think I'll need to build a crazy custom form to go around the pipes and be able to access the hole as I work.

But I'm also thinking there has to be a better way.

Both holes have already been backfilled inside from the top. So all work needs to be done on the exterior.

Also note the rubber boot between the PVC and the cast Iron? I've found mixed opinions on the need to surround that with poured concrete. In truth this work (the butt joins not the wall repair) will likely be revisited several years in the future.

Here are pics of both sewer lines.
Also note - both lines now have clean-outs and boots.
The pic on the second one was taken before that was completed.


texts: What's the best way to remove dead weeds from cracks in concrete?

texts:
I just sprayed 'natural' weed killer and now I'm left with dead weeds. How do I go about removing them?

Do I used a gardening knife or something? It's hard to get into the cracks.


texts: How can I cut/route a small, straight slot through a piece of wood?

texts:
While I'd like to keep this question as generic as possible, I specifically want to cut a slot that's 1/2" long x 3/16" wide all the way through a piece of 3/8"-thick oak.  My primary options are probably a router or Dremel.  However, I need the slot to be perfectly straight like this:

(If anyone's in the market for a Photoshop expert, please contact me.)

Is a router with a guide my best bet?  Is there some other way I could go about doing this?


texts:
I had carpet installed just under year ago but have started to notice it's squeaking in certain places and was wondering what could be the cause.

The original floor is tiled rather than wooden planks and the carpet was installed with underlay.

I've started noticing it in more and more places and it's getting to a point I need to consider taking it up with the installer if this is something caused my a bad installation.


texts: Mount TV on Slate Tile accent wall without studs?

texts:
How could I mount a tv on a slate tile accent wall. I don't think there are studs behind the tile, it is a hollow space. Another problem is my wall mount only has 2 holes to bolt to the wall.

Wall in question: 1


texts: I own a Viber bathroom mirror that houses some halogen lights at the top.  Does anyone know how I might replace the bulbs on such a unit?  They don't appear to twist, push or pull, and I can't see any obvious releases.


texts: Do solid core doors reduce sound more than hollow-core doors?

texts:
I need to replace a bedroom door.  I would like to find the option that is best at dampening noise. I'm trying to decide between an MDF door like Jeld-Wen Molded Composite MDF Interior Door Slab  or a solid core door like Masonite solid core door.  Being that I'm mostly concerned with noise, which would be the best option.  Is there anything else I should consider when choosing, and am I overlooking a better option?
Thanks


texts:
Recently purchased a new home, and after removing the builder insulation blanket we discovered that one of the support posts has become (or always has been) misaligned and isn't resting on the beam.

My thoughts to remedy the gap is to hammer in a few "squish" plates. But I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to brace the misalignment.


texts:
My water heater stopped working a few days ago and I've been trouble shooting it ever since.

I found water in the connection receptacle.  the leak from the the Air Conditioning unit above it has been addressed and fixed.  I disconnected the power, dried the receptacle, cleaned everything up, trimmed the wires, and made new connections to the water heater.

No results.

I purchased an electrical meter and after checking the wires connecting to the water heater, I'm only getting 106 - 107 volts.

I thought it was supposed to get 240v...is that not correct?

If so, what could be the culprit here?

Update 1:

I got the original readings from the wires coming into the water heater from the wall.  I'm including a photograph of this (this time it was reading 110v).

Update 2:

I'm not sure what a "double pole" breaker is, so I'm attaching a photo of my breaker panel

Update 3:

This is the beaker for the water heater

Update 4:

Not sure if this helps, but when I connect the wires from the wall to the water heater and I check with the meter, I get a reading of "~ooo"  [I've wired the same way as before...I marked with tape which was connected to the
black wire with tape since both wires from the wall are RED]

Update 5 (Jan. 4th):

I tested the power at the breaker panel (photo attached).

I tested the top half by touching the BLACK Test Lead from the meter to the screw and the RED Test Lead to the ground wire.  Meter read 124V
I tested the top half by touching the RED Test Lead from the meter to the screw and the BLACK Test Lead to the ground wire.  Meter read 124
I tested the bottom half by touching the BLACK Test Lead from the meter to the screw and the RED Test Lead to the ground wire.  Meter read 124V
I tested the bottom half by touching the RED Test Lead from the meter to the screw and the BLACK Test Lead to the ground wire.  Meter read 124
I then tested the top half and the bottom half together (touching the RED Test Lead to the top and the BLACK Test Lead to the bottom) and the meter read 000. - I reversed the Test Leads (just in case) and also got 000.

I promptly replaced the cover to the breaker panel and escaped unscathed from this

UPDATE 6 (Jan. 6th):

Welp,

Not sure what is going on, but the water heater is working again.  I didn't do anything to it after the last test that I did on the breaker panel.

I guess my home realized I was fully committed to tearing it apart to solve this problem and decided to get it together to avoid further damage.

Not sure what to do, if there's anything to do.  I'm just glad I have hot water again.

Thank you to all who contributed and guided me through this interesting challenge.


texts: Can you glue vinyl cove base directly to drywall?

texts:
I'm installing this vinyl cove base in my garage.
Garage walls currently do not have any kind of baseboards just drywall to the concrete.
Can I glue the cove base direct to the drywall or should I first install baseboards for more support?


texts: Can we install an aeration unit in an older septic system?

texts:
Our home was built in 1957.  We have had problems for years with having a wet drain field and keep having our septic pumped.  Today (of course my husband is away), I have done a couple of loads of laundry and the water has now pushed into the shower in the laundry room.  It looks like it is from the sewer because there is toilet paper with it.  We just had our septic pumped last year and 2 years before that.  Having a new drain field put in is going to be very expensive and I have been looking online for what to do that we can afford, and have come across septic aerator systems.

Can we put this in with our older septic system?

Another question I have is that people are saying they have two tanks; I think we only have one tank.  Is this what was done years ago?


texts: Are there efficient ways to provide combustion air to heating appliances?

texts:
In a previous question we established that there probably should be a vent between my utility room (which opens into the kitchen and living space in general) and the outdoors (in my case the attic, which is a separate issue)

This seems hopelessly inefficient. Is there a better way to provide combustion air to the furnace and water heater, without having a direct vent between my living space and the outside air?


texts: Why is my bathtub handle difficult to turn?

texts:
I moved into a new place, and the bathtub handle in the upstairs bath is very difficult to turn. The bathtub in the other bath downstairs does not have this issue. Handle looks to be a Moen, and there's nothing obviously different about it from the other bathtub in the house or in other houses I've seen.

What could be causing this issue and how can I make the handle easier to turn?


texts: Name for Clerestory roof with windows at ridgeline?

texts: I know the term "clerestory" can be applied to a variety of rooflines which permit windows above the normal top of the interior walls, but was wondering if there's a specific name for the version where the roof comprises two "normal" sloped sections with a vertical offset at the ridgeline. This pic shows an example, albeit without the windows.


texts: What order do I do projects on my kitchen remodel

texts: I am refinishing cabinets, replacing counters, replacing back splash, floors and appliances.  What order should I do the jobs in?


texts: Fuse box coming off of fuse at meter socket

texts:
House built in the 50’s has an old fuse box that is being used to power lights and outlets in one of the barns on the property. The fuse box in this barn is fed from a 60 amp breaker at the meter. The meter socket was installed 2 years ago. The breaker box at the meter has a 100amp breaker for my house, and a 60amp breaker to the barn.
My question(s) is can I replace the fuse box with a load center? And is this even considered a subpanel since it does not come off of the main panel in the house?
Thanks in advance.


texts: How were these copper pipes attached to the T&P discharge valve likely connected?

texts:
In the rental house I'm in now, the T&P release valve on the water heater is connected with copper discharge tubing which exits the garage. See this picture .

The right-side of the pipe seems to be simply threaded into the T&P discharge valve with some plumber's tape, but the left side is connected to an (otherwise soldered) series of copper pipes by this nut looking thing. I'm curious how this arrangement was likely created, given the fact that these pipes are obviously not flexible connectors. Was it likely that the left side was connected first, and then the water heater was positioned into place exactly so the threading on the right worked? Or was this horizontal copper pipe screwed into the T&P release valve first (allowing the water heater to be positioned semi-independently) and then that nut-like thing somehow helping the copper piping to be connected to the elbow in a way which helped the fact that otherwise the piping would have to have been seemingly cut to the exact perfect length to work. Perhaps the nut allows for some fitting to be placed there and then the horizontal tube was soldered into place while connected to the water heater?

I don't need to re-engineer this or do something similar, but I'm curious how this connection would have likely been made with rigid piping. What is this nut? How would the left-hand side likely been connected?


texts: Temperature Increase of Sealed Enclosure

texts:
I have a sealed metal enclosure of size 20inches x 13 inches x12 inches.

A 500W isolated transformer with about half the load producing constant 51 Celsius will be put inside.

How do you compute for the temperature increase inside the enclosure? Ambient temperature outside is 36 Celsius.

Can the transformer survive it?


texts: Electrical code and/or common sense requirements for thermostat wire

texts:
I want to install a Wi-Fi thermostat, but the existing thermostat wiring didn't have a common wire. The house was originally wired with two-conductor cable since it was a heat-only system, and then retrofitted with a 2-wire to 4-wire adapter system when the previous owner wanted A/C. Rather than messing with additional adapters, I'm just pulling new thermostat wire and removing the previous add-a-wire adapters.

The thermostat wire that was original with the house runs up from the hallway into the attic going up through the top plate of the wall, then goes through the attic to the garage where the furnace is. It's plenty easy to drop new wire down the wall where the old wire is and fish it through the hole where the thermostat is. My question: is there anything special one should be doing with thermostat wire when it's behind a wall in terms of routing or protection? The previous wire was wrapped around nails hammered into one of the studs, and I'm not sure if that was to simply prevent the cable from being "lost" behind the drywall if it got disconnected from the thermostat or if it was done for a safety reason. I'm aware of the prohibitions around running low voltage wire and 120V AC through the same boxes or right next to each other, but there's no 120V AC anywhere nearby this so that's absolutely not a concern here.

Anything I should be doing to do this "right"?


texts:
I'm considering mounting my TV in a location where there is ~30" between studs (because there's a window there).
Would it be okay to use a VESA mount such as
this one
across such a gap?
Or is it important to have screws in the studs near the point where the TV rests on the mount beam?


texts:
I'm looking to add central A/C to my 1970s era home. The electric panel is a GE Load Center, 125 Amp max. It's basically "full" with no space for additional breakers.

The bids for the electric panel "upgrade" range from $600 to $3600. Crazy span. "Upgrade" is in quotes, because I think what it boils down to is 2 choices, hence the span in price. I don't believe the service needs to be upgraded:

Replace the whole panel= $3600
Install a "main breaker conversion kit" at the top of the box and "make space"=$600.
Currently the power comes into the box and connects to the two lugs. There are 3 double-pole switches that must be thrown to truly power off to the whole house (oven, "main", and the sub panel). My understanding is this new main breaker kit would then kill power to the whole house, oven and sub panel included, but how does this free up space?

I haven't found much discussion or videos for what installing this main breaker kit actually does, can anyone dumb it down for me?

Update: We’ve scheduled the work and will be doing a whole new panel. Again, this was part of a larger project (heating/AC), so the information I was after was “what would adding a main breaker “do””. I think the answer is “not much” or at least “not much good”. I still don’t have a clear picture of how the $600 bid guy was going to accomplish what he wanted to do and be able to pull a permit.
All worked out in the end, as several commenters have said, the new panel makes a lot of sense from a resale point and we had a bid that included a new panel for just a bit more $$.

Also, I learned a ton! So I’ll definitely be posting in these forums again. Thanks all!


texts:
Can anyone suggest the best home security alarm? Most famous one is ADT in the uk which is monitored alarm system. Is it non-monitored alarm system much secure than monitored one?
Can some one please suggest me for the best alarm system for the home security.

My home is like end terraced which has front door, back door and back garden. I am really interested to put security alarm system in the outer part of the home like doors and windows.
Thank you


texts: I have a simple two bulb fluorescent shop light, and it will shut off out of nowhere. If I unplug it and plug it back in it will come back on. But it doesn't do this all the time, sometimes it qil stay on for days without shutting off. Is it possibly a exposed wire grounding out? I feel if the ballast was out it would be more consistent. Just seems to always go out at just the not so perfect moment. There's nothing else on that circuit. Im confident I could take it apart but im just need to know what im looking for. Ty for your time.


texts: Whole house fan - unexpected voltage at high/low switch

texts:
I have this fan installed. Here's the wiring diagram...

The fan has been running fine for about a month and all of a sudden it started acting like it has no power. I checked the voltage at the power source (a receptacle box for the other attic fan), at the switches on the wall and on the fan itself. I see 120v everywhere except at the fan. I only see 71 (low) to 92 (high) there.
I noticed one other really odd thing. When on low, the voltage is correct. When on high, the voltage at the 3-way high/low switch shows as 210V. I'm not sure how that's even possible on a 120V circuit? To get this reading, I'm checking from the neutral to the switch's "high" terminal.
I've checked and re-checked to ensure the wiring matches the diagram. Everything is 14AWG which is what the install instructions called for. And again, this has been working fine until a few days ago.
At this point I'm thinking the romex cable between the high/low switch and the fan might be fried. Never heard of that happening though.
Any ideas what's going on?
UPDATE 1: Adding pics

Note the extra red is not used on either end.
UDPATE 2:
I checked the voltage at the fan again, only this time I disconnected the fan first. Now I'm showing 120V as expected on both high/low wires when the switch is set to them.
Barring any other ideas, I'm thinking the motor is partially burnt out. This would also explain why it worked for a while and then stopped working.
UPDATE 3: Adding fan pics

Also, it's wicked hot up there, but I read somewhere that this motor is supposed to have some kind of heat protection? Not sure if that's sales mumbo jumbo or not.
I also learned that there is suppose to be a 10 year warrantee on the fan. We'll see how Home Depot handles that because I'm not about to rip the entire thing out of my attic.
UPDATE 4 (PROBLEM RESOLVED):
The 3-way (high/low) switch was definitely bad. Replacing it resolve all power issues but the fan still acted like it had low power. The blades were barely spinning.
Ventamatic was willing to honor their 10-year warranty - but after pulling the motor down, I discovered that the hex screw on the belt wheel was loose (see added pic below). This screw was impossible to see or adjust without pulling the motor out into the open. The wheel was tight enough that it didn't fall off when the motor was removed, but it was loose enough that it was slipping on and off when under pressure. Thus the blades were barely moving.

SUMMARY:
The fan worked great for a while. At some point, the belt wheel became loose and around the same time the 3-way (High/Low) switch started failing. Because both things went wrong at the same time it was difficult  to nail down the source of the problem. Hopefully, this update will be helpful to someone else who gets the joy of trouble-shooting one of these fans!


texts: What's the amperage on a circuit breaker that's "linked" together?

texts: On our circuit breaker, we have several circuits that are linked together by a metal handle. For instance, there are several cases of three 20A circuits all linked together, meaning you can only flip all three at once. Does that mean those three 20A circuits equal 60A? If not, what is the purpose of having multiple circuits linked together?


texts:
I've been living on the same rented house for some years and on the last year's the mold on the house is intensifying.
For example the bathroom is the worst case by far

This is an old house and the walls don't have any kind of insuation.
The bathroom doesn't have an exhaust.

I don't want to spend much money on it; it's not my house and I will leave when I can.

I know I can put fresh paint and it will help for a while.

On your opinion what is the cheapest way to deal with this? Just cleaning?


texts: Pull insulated flex duct over rigid duct

texts:
The problem

My vented attic in Virginia has rigid 6" ducts with insulation that is quite low around R-4, and also has many tears and rips. I would like to replace the insulation with R-8.

After reinsulating all ducts to R8, I plan to bury them in blown cellulose insulation, based on the report Compact Buried Ducts in a
Hot-Humid Climate House.

Some options

A company makes JPL Thermal Sleeves that pull right over hard pipe like this, but it is not sold anywhere nearby.

Duct wrap such as Owens Corning SOFTR Duct Wrap FRK could be cut to fit, but that is a lot of cutting and taping, and it can only be purchased from HVAC supply houses that usually don't sell direct to homeowners.

The proposed solution

What I'm hoping I can do is to purchase R-8 insulate flex duct that is readily available at big box stores, and simply pull the flex duct over the existing rigid duct that has been air sealed with mastic. This assumes the inner diameter of the flex duct is very near the outer diameter of the rigid duct. I prefer to reinsulate the rigid duct rather than replace it with the flex duct because of the lower friction loss of rigid.

The questions

Since the flex duct has an inner plastic liner, are there any issues with two vapor permeable surfaces being sandwiched together, with a variable air gap? I tend to think there shouldn't be any problems, as I don't think condensation can form in the gap as the rigid duct will be sealed and the flex duct is sealed, so no moisture can enter this space.

Are there any problems with my proposed solution?


texts: Seeking name of a small natural gas generator that will run in all weather

texts:
I want to run a small emergency generator on natural gas (NG).

In the past few years, 3 fuel portable generators have become available.  But the manuals say not to run them in the rain.

"Whole house" NG generators are built to run in all weather.

So, my question is:.  Are there portable NG generators built to run in all weather?  If not, what model whole house generator can I run without hooking it up to my electrical panel and,instead, starting it manually when needed.  (I would run an extension cord to the few appliances I want to power. That is what I do now with a gasoline generator.)

Thanks.


texts: How can I fix a broken face on a kitchen drawer?

texts: I have a silverware drawer that the face broke off when it was slammed shut.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to re-attach it.  I've tried using gorilla glue but that didn't work to well because the surfaces aren't flat (some of the fiberwood is broken).  Anyone have any suggestions?


texts: Order of operations for getting electrical service turned on in Philadelphia

texts:
Let me start by saying I appreciate any information.  Hopefully, Philly is not all that different from anywhere else, but Ideally Philadelphia specific info would be preferred.
I'm remodeling a Philadelphia row home, and by remodeling, I mean the only thing original is the brick.  All permits are in place and I have a licensed contractor, but I am doing all the electrical I've done a lot of electrical work but I've never had to deal with getting power restored.
At this point all the wiring is done; receptacles are installed; the panel will be wired tomorrow.  The panel is connected to an empty meter socket which has a 4/0 service line running out to the service head.  There is no physical connection to the house.  The previous 100A lines were cut at the service drop before I owned the home.  The socket and panel are new and there was no meter on the premises.
Here is where I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do next.  What does the inspector expect to see completed before signing off on the electrical? Should the service drop already be connected? Should there be a meter on-site?


texts: How do I determine if a small engine cylinder needs to be replacing?

texts:
I use a chainsaw used for cutting firewood for home heating and recently bought a broken saw with hopes of repairing it as a backup.  The saw had very low compression and upon starting would race at dangerously high RPM.  I've diagnosed an air leak at one of the crank seals and have ordered parts, including a replacement piston.  But I'm questioning whether I should also get a replacement cylinder head.

What is practical advice for determining if a cylinder head can be used or needs replacing?  So far I haven't pulled the head for a close inspection, but what I can see through the spark plug hole and exhaust port is that the piston and ring are scored, but the scoring isn't as bad as many examples in photos I've seen (the ring moves and the scoring is visible but doesn't appear deep).  Is there a simple test (such as running a fingernail across the cylinder head) to tell if I should replace it?


texts: How can I tell what kind of baseboard heater I have installed?

texts:
I assumed the baseboard heaters in my rented apartment were electric since there is an electricity breaker that effectively turns off the heating. However, after looking at my utility bill, I think it may actually use gas as well.

How can I tell what kind of heater it is? Here is a photo of it.


texts: I had some insulation put on half my basement wall.  Since then I have been having a problem with mold.I know my basement walls leak. Could wet insulation cause mold? If so is it bad mold. Alls I know is I have white stuff growing everywhere in basement., and there are no visible leaks.


texts: Can I tie grounded/white and ground/bare from a subpanel to any grounding bar in in the main panel?

texts:
Suppose I'm wiring a 100 A subpanel, which receives my two phase wires (black, red/black), my grounded/neutral wire (white), and my ground wire (bare) from the main panel. Since this is a subpanel, the green bonding bolt isn't installed, and so the subpanel neutral and ground terminals are not bonded in the subpanel.
My question is, back at the main panel, are there any constraints on where can I tie the grounded/neutral and ground/bare wires from the subpanel? The main panel has a grounding bar along one side and the usual neutral/ground bars on either side of the breaker rows. Can I connect my grounded and ground wires to any ground/neutral bar in the main panel, since they're bonded in this panel, or must I land the wires from the subpanel on specific bars? Seems like it makes no difference in terms of safety, since neutral and ground are bonded in the main panel and at the same potential, but maybe there's a 'gotcha'. Any advice?


texts:
I have a room with west facing windows (I dont think the direction bears any importance to this question), but for some reason this room seems to accumulate dust on surfaces a lot faster than other rooms in the house. We try and spring clean the house every year, but within about 6 months, the surfaces (my desk, computer monitors/keyboard, wardrobe, en-suite bathroom worktop, wardrobe shelves, drawer surface and pretty much every other surface on that side of the house) seems to accumulate a large amount of dust. After just a few weeks, you can see the dust build up on some surfaces and write on the surfaces with your fingers. To keep the place neat requires a wipedown with a wet wipe, every weekend at the very least.

This is the kind of grey fabric texture dust that seems to spread with time in homes and offices (not sand dust or atmospheric dust - that you would find in building sites or while plastering a wall). This one room in particular seems to be more susceptible to dust than all the others in the house. Even though we have our doors and windows open an equal amount in other places. The whole house is carpeted - the fibres of which, I believe is a major source of the dust.

We do have a working fan in the en-suite bathroom, which reduces steam buildup after a hot shower, but I do not think this is a source of the dust. But perhaps helps to blow the dust around a bit.

In any case, what are some of the better solutions for reducing/removing dust from the air, and thus stopping it from settling on surfaces.


texts: How can I cover grout lines and gaps against cabinetry and base trim?

texts:
In the picture below I have an area of my floor that is finished.
However on different parts of the floor, the last owner never finished portions of the floor.

It looks like they just extended the grout(i think its grout) to parameters of the tile.
My original idea was just to get caulk and to fill in the areas needed, but wasn't sure how close the color match would be. To give a little back story I'm on a concrete slab, and bugs like to crawl in the unfinished portions of the floor, so I'd like to seal off the cracks not only for looks.

My question is what route would you take in order to get the most consistent looking finish to complete the rest of my floor? Not sure what route to go, and how to get the colors to align. They don't need to be perfect, but hopefully something close.


texts: Any reason not to use Tyvek to cover exposed insulation?

texts:
I have exposed insulation in my garage and the water heater room that is fiberglass and I don't want my kids touching the stuff and playing with it.  I am planning on covering it with Tyvek.  Is there any reason not to do this?

I am not planning on drywalling this since there is wiring behind that I might need access to and the alternative is to rip out the fiberglass and
replace it with something that is safer.


texts:
I have a garage that has had quite a weed problem around the side and back of it. I decided to go for it and lay some gravel down, following this "This Old House" how to:
Seems pretty straightforward for the most part, I'm going to dig down a depth of 4 inches and lay down weed membrane, pack down stone, and follow the other steps in the article.
My question is, are there any special considerations I need to take when digging and laying the gravel right up against my garage? I'm attaching some pictures for reference:

This side and the back of the garage in particular are what I'm wondering about, you can see the belly board (which I have another post about here: Garage belly board needs fixing) and how you can dig right underneath it from this image:

I get the impression that I should just dig straight down into the earth 4 inches right next to the belly board, and not dig under it to lay the gravel? I'm not sure what the considerations are for drainage and erosion, or the integrity of the cement foundation under the garage   or if I'm overthinking things and it's not that complicated.
Also attaching some images of the back of the garage as well, where I also plan to dig and put gravel in. There are some strange boards that the previous owner nailed onto the back of the garage... not sure why, but I do plan to eventually remove them and fix whatever is underneath.

Thanks for the help and advice!


texts: How can I mount a mailbox on a stucco wall?

texts:
Been searching around and I have more questions than answers.  I'm not sure what kind of stucco it is, but it is very smooth.  The mailbox is a little heavier than you might expect (maybe 10-15 lbs).

Before doing any research I figured I would drill with a masonry bit and use some sort of anchor intended for stucco, and that would be it.  Unfortunately I am finding lots of contradictory information:

some things say to use a plastic anchor, some say never to
some say that the following photo is a stucco anchor, while some say it's a drywall anchor:
some say that I have to have a particular type of stucco
searching for stucco anchors at Home Depot, for example, just brings up different types of screws meant for concrete (some of which actually say "anchor" right on the package even though they are screws and not anchors - so maybe anchor doesn't mean what I think it does?)
some things say to use some kind of silicon sealant in the hole I drill, others make no mention of this

I did experiment a bit in an inconspicuous location and using a cement screw didn't work well at all (I drilled a hole with the bit size the instructions said to use, and the screw was completely loose).  Using the drywall (?) anchor above seemed to be very secure but it really chewed up the stucco as I was screwing it in (I drilled a hole first but just guessed at the size).

What's the best approach here and why is there so much contradictory information out there?


texts:
I recently bought a house with two sump pumps in the basement. They do their job well despite running every hour or two due to the high clay table in the area. The property also has a septic system, but we will soon (within a week or so) be connecting to the new public sewer.

Last night, I noticed my sump pumps were kicking on very frequently - about every 5 minutes. When I went down to investigate, I was hit with a wall of sewer-gas smell emanating from both sumps. The smell is now taking over the house at night, so I've had to shut off the AC and open the windows. Now, my first assumption is an issue with the septic system. Would it be wise to wait until we connect to public sewer (and the septic is pumped) to verify my theory, or is there something else I should try in the meantime? Thanks for your time!


texts: Which subcontractor installs 2" foam board at footings and on poured walls?

texts:
Please, which sub installs the 2" foam board (northern climate) on footings and the poured concrete basement walls?  excavator, or cement contractor, insulation contractor or ?

Hubby and I are going to build a new house and want to know who to ask to do that part.


texts:
I am building a small patio using clay brick pavers. The pavers are being installed over an existing concrete slab. I laid an inch of concrete sand over the slab, and will install the bricks on top of the sand after I compact it.

For compacting the sand, am I likely to get dramatically better results if I use a plate compactor instead of a hand compactor? I've already started doing it with the latter and it looks decent. The only big issue is that I am finding it tricky to get the sand completely level across all parts of the patio, but it's unclear to me whether the plate contractor would address that more easily.

Either way, I am going to use a plate contractor on the brick pavers once they are in place. My question here is about whether there is a clear advantage in terms of project quality to using a plate contractor on the base sand, as opposed to compacting it by hand.


texts: My hardwood floors used to have carpet, so there are gaps beneath the "ranch"-style baseboards. Most of these gaps are covered with quarter-round molding, which probably draws more attention to the gap than the gap itself would. I'd like to remove the quarter-round molding and keep the "ranch" base molding. Is there another way to fill/cover that gap? What about filling it with caulk or drywall mud?


texts: Is there any advantage to waxing vinyl siding?

texts: My 20+ year old siding can get pretty moldy and grimy in one year. I wondering if waxing it, after I clean it, would help reduce the mold and dirt accumulation and give it new life. I see car waxes that say they can be used for waxing vinyl siding.


texts: Can a dryer receptacle be wired without a neutral?

texts: In my apartment, I have a 4 wire 240V receptacle for a dryer where the neutral is not connected, only the 2 hots and ground. Is this configuration permitted for a dryer circuit? An electrician and maintenance person have both said the circuit is fine, but the electrician did point out that there is no box for the receptacle. How can the dryer get the necessary 120V to operate the panel and the other small parts in the dryer?


texts: Need neutral wire on "smart z-wave" wall switch - don't have one

texts:
To preface this, I'm experienced with wiring up AC outlets/switches/etc - but when it comes to looking at work someone else has done - this is what's throwing me for a loop. And maybe someone else more experienced will recognize it.
When we moved into our home - and this is all from my memory so may not be 100% accurate - but in this room I believe there was no light switch. We wanted to install one, and add a fan to center of the ceiling. Contractor did this for us, by putting in one of those drywall blue boxes for the switch. We want to upgrade this to a "smart" z-wave style switch - that has two terminals for the load on one side, and then a "traveler" (for 3-way, which we don't need) - and then a neutral terminal.
Here's what I found inside the box:

I see a black and white wire, and a ground coming from the left side of the box. The white and black are twisted together and capped off. Another piece of Romex comes in from the right, has it's white capped off, ground tied to the other ground, and the black and red wires go to a light switch.
If I use my Klein voltage tester, the black wire going to the switch appears to always be "hot". The black and white twisted pair also shows "hot". The shorter white wire from right Romex shows nothing as far as I can tell.
I haven't climbed up to rip open the wiring harness for the fan, but I guess I can if I need to.
I tried to connect a lead from the black/white twisted pair into "neutral" on the new switch - and it worked to turn on the light but then would immediately shut off.
Am I stuck here/unable to put a smart switch in this location without some additional work? I would hope my contractor had done something "typical" in this scenario, but maybe he didn't.
Thanks for any guidance/direction. And yes, I asked the contractor but he does not recall how he did it (he's getting kinda old).
Here’s an enhanced picture of back. Left side is black and white and ground wire. Right side is Romex with black, red, white and ground wires.


texts: Is a permit necessary to avoid any issues with future insurance claims?

texts:
Short story. I have an old brick building that is in poor condition and I have been working with a structural engineer to develop plans to make it structurally sound again. I want perform this work under the radar, and then involve the city later on for electrical, plumbing,roof, etc.

My concern is that the building is in very poor condition and has no setbacks on the property line. I think the chance of this is minimal, but I can't risk them coming in and telling me it should be torn down. Even if I could fight them and win, I don't want to bother. I want to get the structure bullet proof, and then say it was always like that when they come to inspect the electrical, etc.

My question is this: Do you think I could run into issue with any future issues (insurance claimes, etc) if the work isn't permitted, but was completed according to stamped engineering drawings from a licensed engineer?

Tags


texts: I thought all I had to do to make an outlet switched was to break off the tab between the hot wires.  Needless to say when I did that, the fan previously controlled by the switch quit working all together, as did other lights/outlets on the same circuit in another room.  Is there something wrong with my wiring (or me)?  Is this enough information?


texts:
I am about to close on the purchase of a small (1000sqft) cottage which, although it is habitable, is in desperate need of some tender love & care.
I am an avid DIY nut and have have already done some significant renovations to my previous house - in many cases fixing previous sub-standard work.

This time, although I am reasonably confident that I am capable of recognizing & performing good work which is safe & does the job, I want to to things 'by the book'.

So my question comes down to: do I really need to read & familiarize myself with all of the official 'code' documentation like the NFPA 70 Electrical Code and the ICC Building codes (with local/state amendments), or is there a more user-friendly, but still comprehensive source of information.
To be clear, I'm not so much looking for 'how-to-do' info as I am looking for 'what are the required standards' info.

My location is Georgia, USA.


texts:
I have an issue with my cable box (with DVR).  Every morning it displays the word "Boot".  I have to reboot it in order to restore cable service.  I called the cable company (Comcast) and they came out and replace the DVR box as well as it's companion box. Comcast stated they reboot X1 boxes every night and mine is getting hung during the reboot.

The new boxes didn't help. I called again and they sent out another tech. This tech did some testing and stated there is AV voltage on all four of my cable line.

I have much more detail but when I included it and tried to send this question, I got a response stating this question looks like spam.

Has anyone experienced this issue with AC voltage on cable lines?

Here is more detail . . . . .
The cable comes in to my house (which is grounded with a grounding hub) and goes into an signal amplifier.  I have four home run cable lines going to 4 different TV's from the amplifier.  If I disconnect any one of these home run lines and using a volt meter measure from either the center conductor or the connector itself, I get anywhere from 42 VAC to 54 VAC (depending on which line I measure).  With the cable still disconnected from the amp, I then measured at the cable box.  I disconnected the cable from the wall (cable still connected to the cable box) I get the same AC voltage. (Measuring from the cable to the ground prong on a standard 120v wall outlet).  The cable box also as an HDMI cable going from the cable box to the TV.  I disconnect the HDMI cable from the TV and measured the outer shield on the HDMI cable to ground and again, AC voltage (????).

I then measured from the back on one of my TV's from the male coax connector to ground and AGAIN AV voltage?  No other cables were connected to the TV other than the 120V power line.  I attempted to isolate which circuit might be causing this very strange issue.  By the way, all four TV's are on different circuits coming out of my breaker panel.  If I turned off the circuit that I was measuring, obviously the AV voltage would go away.  However I was unable to isolate any single circuit.  I ended up calling an electrician.

He came out and was puzzled from the start.  He disconnect every ground wire AND neutral wire from the panel one by one but we could not isolate a bad circuit.  He checked all grounds and outlets the TV's and cable boxes are plugged in to and all were good.  I forgot to mention above that if we connect the cable back to the cable amp (which is grounded), I get no AV voltage back at the cable boxes.  To try and narrow this down, I got my generator out and connected one TV with it's cable box to it.  The TV and cable box was totally disconnected from anything in my house.  It was only connected with an extension cord to my outside generator and I was able to measure AV voltage on the coax coming out of the cable box.  The electrician gave up.  But now I am out $200 and I still have the issue every morning having to reboot my cable box.


texts: Where's the C terminal on my boiler control?

texts: The new thermostat I purchased doesn't run on batteries, and needs 24 volt power. I have only a red and a white wire connected between the boiler and the thermostat, but there is also a third, unused wire. The instructions from the thermostat say to hook that third wire to the C terminal on thermostat and to the furnace's C, but I have a boiler with no C. Where do I put it on here? Please help I'm desperate.


texts:
A bolt that holds the kitchen sink drain "basket" to the sink basin has broken and caused water to leak between the sink and the drain. What is this part called?

Also, any ideas on where I can find it in Canada? So far what I've seen for sale are only entire "sink strainer" assemblies, when I just need that bolt.


texts:
I have changed the cartridge on a tap and in the process have ruined the washer that sits between the very base of the tap and the sink, I am referring to the ring at the base in this image which is now split:

As a consequence water can now run below the tap and to the cupboard below. I don’t know what the name of the washer is below the tap, nor whether or not I’m likely to be able to source a replacement (I am aware that plumbers seem to suggest simply to replace the tap in situations such as this).

I don’t know the brand or model of the tap as it was installed in my house since new.


texts: How can I make my flame detector more reliable?

texts:
I have a new 4-ring gas hob (GHG612BL by SIA) and one of the features it has is flame-failure detectors (FFD) which shut off the gas to any ring if the flame goes out.  I thought that would be a prudent thing to have.
Most of these are reliable, but the largest ring often requires holding down the igniter for several seconds after it is alight (and if released too early and the flame goes out, then it may require constant ignition for up to half a minute before it is stable).  The ambient temperature doesn't seem to make a difference (it was about 15°C when installed in autumn; now it's around 3°C, but no discernable change in this behaviour).
What principle does a FFD operate on?  I'm guessing it's either thermal or triggered by either fuel or combustion gases.  Is there anything I can do to make the detector more reliable?
If it makes a difference, my fuel is bottled butane.


texts: What are the pros and cons of rolled-on wall/ceiling texture paint?

texts:
I just recently learned that some wall/ceiling textures can be applied with a paint-roller and special texture "paint".

Here are a couple examples from Home Depot:

I was hoping to get more information on this technique.  I'd specifically like to know:

What types of texture patterns are available using this method? Some types look like they could be done by either rolled-on or spray (e.g. Perlite).
How do the finished results compare to other texturing methods? Is there a noticeable difference in quality?
Is there a cost benefit for rolled-on textures?
Is a rolled-on texture easier for beginners to apply?

-M


texts: Which cable straps / staples for 12/2 BX/AC90

texts:
I am currently in lock down and can only do curbside  so I can not browse the packaging of the staples and cable straps in store. I'm having a hard time finding out what I should be using to secure my armored cable.
I am running 12/2 BX/AC90 cable, and I would like to run it along both wood, and concrete. I am looking for recommendations for wood staples and cable straps to   secure to concrete.
Located in Ontario, Canada


texts: I have a leaking tap, but I’m unsure how to get these taps off. I’m conscious of not using too much force in case I’m doing it wrong and just damage the tap


texts: Appropriate copper pipe length for shutoff valves

texts: We recently renovated our home and paid to have the plumbing roughed in.  I am planning to try and tackle the kitchen sink installation.  I have 1/4 turn angle stops for the hot/cold water for the kitchen sink.  Is there a recommended amount of length to leave on the copper pipes coming from the wall that I will install the angle stop on?  The stub outs are about 3 inches right now.


texts: How do I replace a single pole light switch with a programmable timer switch?

texts:
We have a light switch box containing three single pole switches (no ground terminal) in the foyer near the front door.  I would like to replace the light switch controlling the porch lights with the Honeywell Programmable Timer Switch RPLS740B.  Given the following conditions, I could not determine any wiring combination such that all related electrical components worked.

Here is a picture of the actual timer followed by its simple wiring diagram:

The light switch box consists of a switch that controls nothing, a switch that controls the chandelier in the foyer, and a switch that controls the front porch lights (in that order). Note that the first switch affects no known electrical appliance without a doubt.  Whether this is due to improper or faulty wiring I'm not sure.  Also, this is all the original wiring (as built).

The light switch box also consists of 1 "three-wire" cable (red, black, white, copper) and 5 "two-wire" (black, white, copper) cables. Note that these are also termed "four-wire" and "three-wire" respectively.

The original wiring setup seems rather simple in that all ground wires are tied together, all black wires are tied together, and all white wires are tied together.  Each of the switches is connected to the single black wire belonging to the "two-wire" cable at the bottom of the box, which I assume to be the "line".  However, since all the black wires are tied together, this appears to be inconsequential.

Simply replacing the porch light switch with the timer as expected does not work at all. Freeing particular white "neutral" wires does cause the timer to function but would also cause various fans/lights in the adjacent study to stop functioning.  Is it common for a light switch box to have so many incoming cables? Why does the first switch even need a red wire if its a single pole switch?

[Resolution Edit]

I mistakenly assumed that the line was located at the bottom of the switch box when in fact it was the first cable at the top.  With this knowledge I was able to determine the unknown loads as seen below (for future reference).

et voilà


texts: Why isn't there hot water in the shower, when there is hot water in the rest of the condo?

texts: I moved into a condo two days ago, and found that while the rest of the plumbing in the house has hot water, the shower when turned to hot just has a cool trickle emanating from the tap. The cold water there works just fine (in fact very well, it's downright freezing). As I'm told that it's a condo unit issue (and hence the building won't fix it) and my landlord hasn't answered his phone in the last two days, is there anything that I can attempt to rectify this issue and not freeze myself every morning having a shower?


texts: I'm having a concrete deck installed, and I'm keeping a sprinkler pipe in the concrete for use in a drip system.  Is it ok if the pipe is PVC or should I replace it with a galvanized pipe?


texts: So I want to add a switch/outlet combo to an existing outlet line, I want the new switch to control the outlet in the fixture with it while keeping the existing outlet I had already always active. There are two conductors/one ground to the existing outlet. Do I take the neutral from the existing outlet and tie that to the hot screw of the new switch then run from the neutral of the new outlet to the neutral of the feed line?


texts:
I've got to fit a ceiling rose. I'd assumed that the centre would be clear so that I could fit a ceiling rose hook for the chandelier. However, it's decorative all the way to the centre like this :

Any advice on how to attach the chandelier chain?


texts: Faced or Unfaced Fiberglass in a basement stud cavity that has IPS Foil Board?

texts:
Insulating in Zone 5. Basement is 90% below grade, maybe 8" to 12" exposed foundation around the top of the basement wall.
Applying R-6 Foil Faced Poly Iso to the poured concrete wall, then standing 2x4 stud walls tight against the foamboard so they help hold it in place while the glue on the concrete side dries.  Then going to run wire and such thru the stud cavities and want to insulate that space as well.  Since Foil Faced Poly-Iso is considered a vapor barrier with very low perm rating, I am thinking better to use unfaced fiberglass, but on the same note it takes more work to install unfaced fiberglass, and cutting around boxes is now messy and doesn't lay as nice.
I'm thinking that really there should be no moisture between the foamboard foil edge and the kraft faced insulation, but worried that if something happened, say a leak or whatever, that moisture may get trapped in the stud cavity.
Any input, or experience from others who have done this?  I believe the foil faced insulation will be great and preventing any moisture from outside migrating or condensating inside the walls.


texts:
I live in Chicago where the night-temperature averages in low 20-degrees-fahrenheit and last year’s (2019) record low went to 23-degrees below zero. To prepare for another (possible) year of low temperature, I replaced the engine oil in my generator and snow-blower with synthetic 5w-30 (API SN).

Questions:

Is synthetic 5w-30 good enough or should I use synthetic 0w-30 instead?
What is the lowest (reasonable low) temperature that synthetic 5w-30 can handle?
Can I leave synthetic 5w-30 over summer since (theoretical) specifications say that it can be used for temperatures as high as 90-degrees-Fahrenheit
What is the downside of synthetic 5w-30 compared to synthetic 10w-30

(BTW, my carburetor is perfectly clean and I have no problem starting at around 30-degrees-Fahrenheit)

Thanks.


texts: How do you determine the slope of a floor?

texts:
What are some methods for figuring out the slope of a floor?

I've always heard the slope referenced as, eg: "1/2inch over 6ft." - is this the normal way, and/or are there other common ways to say it?


texts: Toilet leaking out of handle hole; pump spits water out of top

texts:
I recently noticed some water coming out of the hole where the handle is on my toilet. Curious, I decided to take a peek. When I took the lid off of the back of the toilet and flushed, water started spraying out of the top of the float valve. I put the lid back on, flushed again, and I could see a small stream of water coming out of the handle. I see two ways of approaching this, but I would like to get your recommendations.

I suspect that this has been happening for a while, perhaps even before the previous tenants (this is in an apartment complex).

Buy some sort of gasket or plug to put in the hole where the handle goes in to prevent water from coming out
Buy a new float valve, and see if it still occurs.

Because this is an apartment complex, I'm a bit weary about buying a new float valve. I am also a fairly new into living on my own, and perhaps don't know the proper terminology. Is option 1 feasible, and if it is, do I have the proper terminology, or is there a more appropriate alternative?

Here is an image of the float valve

Here is an image of it spraying

And the trail of water on the tank


texts: Does a door have to be hung on the edge of the jamb

texts: My door jamb is around 140mm, does the door have to be hung on the edge of the jamb like all the other doors in the house, or can i hang it toward the center of the jamb by 70mm so it can clear a wash basin when opened.


texts: I have an old barn with a up stairs and down stairs. Im looking to replace the floor joists that are broke. The joists are actual trees that are trimed to fit. They are probably 10" diameter with no post support between the span. The span is 25 feet.. The joist between eachother is about 3 feet. What would be the best replacement and what would carry 1 to 2 ton. Thanks.


texts: Can I use 6" hook and loop disks with a 5" sander?

texts: A friend just gave me over a hundred 6" flat hook and loop disks. The only problem is, I've got a 5" orbital sander with dust collection which uses perforated sanding disks. Can I use these together with a little sticking off the edge? My only concern is that the sander somehow uses airflow for cooling its motor and bearings. Will this affect my sander's performance?


texts: How can I fix low water pressure from loft storage tank?

texts:
Since removing all pipes from our loft storage tank in order to replace the deck it was on and had soaked, I've successfully reconnected everything and fixed the leak in the tank. But now the water pressure from cold water taps upstairs is much less than it used to be.

Could there be a bubble in the pipes now? Do I need to flush that out somehow?

I should add, for the troubleshooters, that the tank is in exactly the same place as before, with the same pipes (unmodified) and as high as it was before. I replaced the boards that made the "deck" and reconnected the same pipes. The tank is as full as it was before (a lot of water in there).


texts: Is there any way I can repair this PVC/conduit that carries sprinkler system wire from the ground into my garage?

texts:
On the summer sun side of my house there is a small section of PVC that routes sprinkler wire from the yard into my garage where the rain bird controller is. After a decade or so of summer sun and one or two errant whacks with a weed eater it's broken.
I'd like to seal it back up with something more attractive and more durable than duct tape. I can't replace the pipe without pulling all the wire back through the wall then re-routing it (not ideal). I've thought about getting one of those fake rocks to cover it, but that still doesn't seal it, and tape (the other idea) doesn't really do much to prevent the weed eater from getting those wire-bundles and destroying them.


texts: What is the cause of and how can I prevent mold on an interior wall close to my bed?

texts:
Our main bed is pushed against the corner in our room. There's a very small amount of space between the mattress and the two walls. We removed the frame and the headboard so that the box spring sits on the floor.  We did this so that it is easy and safe for our kids...so they can climb in an out easily.

My wife and I both sleep so that our head is on the wall side. We've noticed that black mold would eventually appear on the wall on the side of the mattress where our head is.
(I clean it up with bleach and alternate with vinegar)

However, the other side of the bed that is against the wall, does not have this mold problem.

(Note: both walls that our mattress is touching are exterior facing walls and they do not have insulation, we live in Southern California, we live a block from the beach)

What could be the cause?  What is the best way to prevent this?


texts: What effect does the type of decking used have on the stiffness of the structure?

texts:
This is an extension to a previous question.  I would like to know what effect the type of decking used will have on the answers provided.  This question comes from the fact that although the best option from the previous question seemed to be moving up to 2x12, I don't think I have the clearance for it.  Therefore, I have to stay with 2x10 framing and need to consider the other ways to provide extra stiffness.
I am leaning toward using a composite decking.  For the sake of the question, let's work with the assumption that we're using the typical sort of composite, like a Trex or a TimberTech just to name two.  Those seem to come in 1" (0.94") thicknesses, at least as a standard.
Ultimately the question just boils down to whether I gain or lose stiffness just by choosing composite deck boards.  Then I can consider what else I have to do in the framing beyond that in regard to the overall stiffness problem.


texts: How do I add weatherproof exterior soffit lights?

texts:
I want to add exterior soffit lights to my house and use Philips Hue br30 bulbs in them.

I would like a suggestions a weatherproof can and trim that might work for my scenario.


texts: I am looking at this product, and wondering if I can install wheels on them.


texts: Recovering R-22 refrigerant from a system with locked compressor

texts:
Compressor locked on my 29 year old R-22 system. Will be getting a full new system: 4 ton R-410A, NG furnace and air handler.
My HVAC service doesn't have the right coil in stock and while waiting for a coil to arrive from the factory I began to wonder about recovery of the full charge of R-22. They cannot pump all the R-22 into the condensing unit. My refrigerant lines are about 30 ft long.
I gather the service valve can be shut off on both the high and low sides so that all the R-22 in the condensing unit is sealed in and taken away with the condensing unit. But what about the R-22 in the lines and evaporator coil? Will that just be lost to the atmosphere?
I wonder if nearly full recovery of the charge of about 12 to 14 lb could be accomplished by connecting an empty, evacuated R-22 cylinder to the service valve with the cylinder immersed in a large bucket of ice water? Would ice water  be cold enough to liquefy the R-22 in the cylinder. Of course, if this is not SOP then my service wouldn't do it so I suppose this is just dreaming.
EDIT
I posed this question to get opinions on what to request of the HVAC service (used them for 30 years). I will not be installing this unit myself. My current system is 3.5 tons, which worked OK for our 2050 sq ft house in the very hot climate of Dallas TX, but was marginal, ran continuously for hours in the middle of hot days. I believe that a 4 ton unit would not require larger lines. When I suggested to my proposed contractor that I needed new lines he disagreed saying he would employ a cleaning "kit". The lines are maybe 40 ft long and are not in the attic but in a chase of ca. 4 inch plastic pipe under the slab.
We are still without a/c because the air handler, furnace and evap coil are in a tight closet in our 1970 tract house. The contractor has not been able to source the 21 inch coil needed for the cramped space. He only has a 29 inch coil and this will not fit. Our current unit has an 18 inch coil, but the air handler is taller than the new one.


texts: How do I install GFCI on multi wire branch cicuit?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do I install a GFCI receptacle with two hot wires and common neutral?

I am planning on changing the old large gauge/3 wire that fed my electric dryer into a multi wire branch circuit with shared neutral for the washer and new gas dryer to operate from a new receptacle, with the hot tab broken off, but a shared neutral.  Since this is going to be in the laundry area, I want it to be GFI, but I think the shared neutral will cause it to have issues.  What's the best way to do this?


texts: Mid project finishing basement: should I rip out new framing?

texts:
I am learning that the wood framing that has just been installed (glued) in my basement really should have come after putting in continuous foam board insulation against the wall, separating the wood from the exterior (DryLock painted) cinder block. Instead, our plan had been to install 2.5"(R 12.5) unfaced XPS insulation between the new studs. There is an intentional gap between the bottom of the framing and the cement floor. Our goal is to have finished living space at the end of this project.

My question:
Is having the wood framing against the painted cinder block wall going to create moisture buildup in the basement wall through condensation, or is it sufficient at this point to leave the framing as is, glued directly to the painted cinder block, and insulate between the studs?

I don't want to gloss over a problem now and regret it later, if the studs against cinder block is going to create a condensation problem over time.

Still, I don't want to hammer out all of that brand new framing, if the disadvantage of our arrangement is negligible.


texts: How can I use the existing structured wiring panel to get internet throughout my house?

texts:
My apartment is currently wired with five Cat5e cables that all meet in a closet, where there is also an outlet and the cable entry. The ethernet is currently wired into the board in the picture below.

I want to move the modem and router from my living room into this closet and distribute the internet from there to other rooms using the Cat5e cabling. Can I use this existing wiring setup or is it best to remove the board, manually add jacks to each cable, and connect those to my router?


texts: A crack in my foundation wall is leaking

texts: I have a thin crack in my basement wall that is starting to leak. Can I put a water sealant on while concrete us still wet?


texts: Are these sloppy cuts and gaps normal around roof vents?

texts:
Got a new roof last fall in southeastern Idaho. I didn't notice until this week that the shingles are cut sloppily around most of the vents (see pictures).

Should I coat the bad seams with a can of roof repair/black pitch, or are they normal and I don't need to do anything?