texts: How do I eliminate the cold drafts coming from my air conditioning vents during winter?

texts:
I have a forced hot water (baseboard) heating system in my home and added central air conditioning about 10 years ago. The cooling system's air handler is in my attic, and duct work was added for the 1st and second floors for cooling.  There are 3 returns on the 2nd floor, and about 10 supply vents throughout both floors.

My question/issue is that two of the returns and 3 of the supplies have pretty bad (cold) drafts throughout the winter.  I measure the temperature at around 50 degrees F on them.  All the others are at/near room temperature.

I'm considering blocking them for the winter months by purchasing covers, or likely a DIY project like http://www.instructables.com/id/Winter-HVAC-Hack.

My main question is that should there be any drafts at all. Are the drafts a sign of duct leaks that should be found and repaired by the HVAC company?


texts: Does all wood glue need to be removed from a cement floor to use thinset to seat ceramic tile? We've chiseled it smooth with an air tool. If the old wood cement was water-based will thinset set?


texts: When drywalling, do the pros cover electrical boxes, or work around them?

texts:
This may be a bit of a subjective question, but I was just thinking about it. I've seen many electrical boxes that are full of drywall compound, often to the point of having to dig the wires out of it so you can use it.

To prevent this, should the boxes be taped up (with tape and/or plastic cover) prior to drywall going up, or is this just caused by lazy/sloppy mudding? Is this the responsibility of the electrician or drywaller?


texts: Techniques for mitigating pavement ants during gut reno in bathroom on slab foundation?

texts:
planning a bathroom renovation in a 1950s ranch on slab. Ants appear in several areas where walls meet the floors.
Is there a specific practice for sealing the passageways, that expands/contracts with the seasons, that I can mention to a contractor?
Does the circumstance suggest replacing sill plates, too? Perhaps the ants get in through gaps that form over time around the fasteners into the concrete?
BTW not interested in chemical treatments. Looking for long lasting physical barrier.


texts: We are having an issue with one of our toilets "spitting" water out of the toilet when it is flushed.  The toilet bowl itself also doesn't seem to have much water at all sitting in it.  When we look in back of toilet, the tank is full of water - so not sure why there isn't more water in the bowl itself.  Could this be an easy fix/adjustment?


texts: I have a Tri-State home with a center beam extending from one gable end of the house to the other at the peak.  The beam is completely exposed in the living room.  I installed a ceiling fan with light twenty years ago and now the unit has failed.  I need to install a new one.  I have surface mount wall switch and conduit going up to the beam where the old fan was.  I have no electrical box, the wires were enclosed in the canopy of the fan unit.  Is this okay to do.  I installed this myself twenty years ago and the guy from the building center where I purchased everything said that was okay.  I am now having my doubts.  What should I do?


texts: How should I connect a new light fixture to three black wires and one red?

texts: I'm changing my light fitting and I have 3 black wires, 1 white. I have tried combinations and cant get the upstairs light to come back on. Can someone help?


texts: Electrical Outlets not working after pressure washing my house

texts: I just had my house pressure washed and painted and after the power washing the power to half of my garage isn't working. We had an electrician come look and everything looked fine. He told us to "wait a few days" for things to dry out. It's been a week and still nothing. Help.


texts: Best way to temporarily relocate a radiator?

texts:
I need to move a radiator a few feet along a wall for about a year or two to avoid some furniture, and then move it back to its original location. I'd therefore like to avoid having to lift all the flooring up and laying new pipes, but just put some extension piping in which can easily be removed later.
My current thinking is that I have 2 options:

Remove the valves, extend the pipework along the wall, and install radiator + valves in new location
Extend the pipework after the valves, so the extension effectively is part of the radiator.

I think option 2 sounds easier, I can even do it without draining the system, but (other than the weirdness of the valves not being next to the radiator) are there issues with that approach?
Or, are both these ideas stupid and I should do something else?
One extra detail, just to make life interesting ... the radiator feeds are 10mm piping, but I would probably just use 15mm for the extension. Or is that a bad idea too?


texts: How can I determine if a mirror is tempered glass or not?

texts:
I have a full wall vanity mirror (70" x 42") in my bathroom wall. I need to drill some holes through it in order to install a vanity light. I realized that if the mirror is made from tempered glass it might shatter completely if I try to drill on it. The mirror probably is construction grade installed originally when the house was built in 1988.

Is there any way to tell if a mirror is made from tempered glass or not, without breaking it, and assuming that there are no "tempered glass" labels anywhere?


texts: The living room in my basement is 12' 6" wide and roughly 25' long. The contractor I've talked to wants to seam on a 6" strip of carpet to make the carpet fit. Is this recommended? Or should I have them roll the carpet out and end up with a 1' piece at the end of the room? I don't feel like either option is a great option, but I don't know enough about carpet to make this decision.


texts: Disposal operation forces drain water into second sink

texts:
I have a double kitchen sink that the contractors installed several years back.  See picture.  The main sink is on right side and smaller sink is to left.  They installed the disposal to the main sink because space was tight and we have pull out trash drawer in space under shallower left hand sink.  Our galley kitchen is small and we were trying to get the most use from the space.

Now when I run the disposal, nasty water shoots back up in to the left hand sink.  At first I thought there might be a clog in the wall after the small drain but if there is a blockage, it is short lived because once I run the disposal for less than 30 seconds, the water goes back down in small sink and all is fine with no slow water draining in either small or large sink drains.  I just want to eliminate that initial burst of nasty water in the small sink.   I think the problem may have to do with air pressure due the design of the connections.  There are separate connections to the wall for the sinks as you can see from the attached.  And the main stack and vent are located about 4ft to left of double sink.

I am wondering if it would work better to connect the small sink to the same drain as the large sink if I could get fit together in the tight space....  I appreciate suggestions.

PS there is no sewer gas smell coming from the small sink as long as I remember to run a little water to fill that P trap before I run the disposal.  But if I don't run water in the Left sink P Trap, I still get the nasty water shooting, but it just comes with the lovely aroma of sewer gas.


texts: What is the proper way to install a junction box above a dropped ceiling?

texts:
I'm doing some remodeling in my basement and part of that work involves moving a switch.  When I was tracing the wires for the switch I found this above my dropped ceiling:

Now, I'm no electrician, but this does not look up to code to me.  Further investigation revealed this in another area of the ceiling:

I'm unsure if these junction boxes are installed to code, the one with all the wires hanging out of it looked particularly suspicious to me.

Now, for the first picture, my idea was to install a junction box in between the joists just to the right of the picture (hot wire is coming in in under the joist to the right, the switch & an outlet are toward the camera, and the load the switch controls is off to the left).  I'll probably end up re-running a couple runs of wire, but that's not a problem as everything is accessible right now.

My primary question is, does NEC allow for junction boxes installed above a dropped ceiling?

Are the boxes in the second image installed correctly, and if not what is the correct way to install a junction box in this space?


texts: 30 amp dryer plug is hooked to a 40 amp double breaker, is this ok?

texts: I just bought a home and needed to buy a new washer and dryer. The new dryers need a 30 amp plug, currently has 50 amp plug. I replaced the plug but noticed it was ran to a double pull 40 breaker, is this ok or do I need to replace breaker?


texts: Adding custom secondary glazing to existing frames

texts:
I have deep windows frames like this:

Rather that adding a whole secondary glazing frame on the inside. Could I add a spacer/battening to the inside of the existing frame and second pane of glass? I could hold the glass in place with either more battening or glaziers putty. So if the window has 3 seperate panes, I would do this for each.
Sounds like it would work to me. What are your concerns? Poor insulation, condensation? The spacer will be visible from the outside and make the window slightly smaller but I think I can live with that.


texts: Can I use a socket conversion unit to split a washing machine socket in order to add a dishwasher?

texts:
Is it ok to use a socket conversion unit to split a washing machine socket into 2, so that we can use it for a dishwasher?

The socket conversion unit is 13Amp and the switch above the kitchen worktop does look like the cooker one (i.e. doesn't have a big red switch).

As you might be able to tell, I'm pretty new to this.

EDIT:

This is the socket converter I've got:

I've also found the instructions for the washing machine, which does say not to connect it to an extension lead nor multi-socket. However I'm unsure whether a conversion kit is considered as a multi-socket.


texts: Cannot figure out how to remove shower handle

texts: I have been having problems with the hot water knob of my shower, whereby the water pressure gets very low, especially after the knob is turned off tight. I am then able to restore the pressure by turning the knob all the way out (open), but am afraid that eventually this "fix" will stop working. Therefore, I am trying to disassemble the knob so that I can hopefully find and correct the problem. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove it. There is absolutely no screw or removable cap anywhere to be found (see photos). I believe it may be a Kohler, but am not 100% sure. It was already there when I bought the house in 1994.


texts:
I have a concrete slab which can fit a hot tub approximately at a distance of 8 feet from the main breaker panel (located outside on my porch).  I assume that I will still need a separate disconnect for the hot tub (minimum of 5 ft from the tub).  Can I just pop the disconnect box (with GFCI breaker and 120V outlet) directly next to the main breaker box and then run my #6 cables from there to the hot tub (~20 ft total)? Or does the disconnect need to be separated from the main for some reason?  Thanks!

-Phil


texts: 1/4" Reverse Osmosis Filter inlet line to undersink cold water line

texts:
I am trying to connect an under counter Reverse Osmosis ( R.O. ) filter inlet line (red 1/4" tubing) to the cold water supply line (3/8" black tubing in picture) under my kitchen sink.

Can anyone help me figure out what sort of Tee/adapter fitting I need to get this done?

Obviously I still need the black cold water supply line to feed the sink faucet as well as this red R.O. Filter inlet line.

I also want the shut-off valve to be in the line to the R.O. filter.

Thanks!

enter image description here

Additional pictures here showing sizes of connections:
https://i.imgur.com/WViRYcs.jpg
https://imgur.com/1W8dRrq.jpg
https://imgur.com/M18gamH.jpg


texts: Is oil-based house paint a health concern?

texts:
Some use enamel to paint doors and windows. Some use enamel paint for few rooms. Some use enamel for entire house.

Reason: we can wash the doors/windows/walls if kids are scribbling on the walls or dusted

Using enamel paint for house is good or bad for health? Any idea.

Thanks.


texts: My Garage door has two torsion springs for a 7'X 16' door.  The springs are two different sizes.  How do I know which size to replace it with?


texts:
I'm using an IKEA Linmon plywood table 150x75 as a desk and the monitor stand I've been using did this at some point over the weekend.
Looking for a cheap fix to help keep the structure of the table. As it is just my desk doesn't need to be pretty, especially if I could move the stand back over it.


texts: What is a durable and affordable flooring covering for a shed?

texts: The shed is a lifted a few inches and over gravel. It currently has plywood flooring. It is a very nice shed so I thought it would be a good idea to invest in a durable flooring to protect against wear and tear (push lawn mower, liquid spills, muddy boots).


texts:
I moved into a house I’m renting a few months back. I’m allowed to drill holes in the walls so long as I cover them before I move out...

So I’ve marked the studs, I drill, and there’s nothing behind the drywall. I’m no expert, but I’m a little confused as to how I’ve found a stud and there’s no stud. Could the drywall be extended?

In case you’re thinking I’m stupid (though I’m not saying I’m not! Haha), here’s a little more explaination of what I’ve done:

Found stud with Franklin Sensors Prosensor 710
Confirmed by sound (knocking on wall) after drilling and not finding a stud
Confirmed with magnetic stud finder
Still confused, used a piece of wire to check depth - there’s something in the way of the wire 4 and 1/4 inch deep, nothing in the way left or right of where the stud apparently is.

I don’t want to go cutting huge holes in the wall to figure out what’s behind them unless I have to. Could the drywall be extended out for some reason? These are the walls around the foundation of the basement.

Thanks!


texts: Can I run NM wire and put an electrical box in the same wall stud cavity as a metal HVAC supply duct

texts: I want to run an in-wall HVAC supply duct up a wall and I would also like to put a electrical box for a light switch in the same wall stud cavity. Assuming the stud cavity is wide enough for both, can I put them both in there together as long as each one is anchored to the studs independently? Is it ok for them to touch or do they have to be physically separated somehow? (United States-Ohio if that matters). I am wiring it up using NM wire which would be stapled/anchored to the stud within 8 inches of exiting the switch box and every 4 feet from there up to the ceiling joist cavity.


texts: What is the minimum temperature for house heating system to keep pipes from freezing

texts: Roughly what is the minimum temperature to set a house heating thermostat controller to in order to keep pipes from freezing? Assume no other considerations, e.g. assume no one is living inside.


texts: What is 'normal' phantom drain for a US household?

texts:
I live in a 3,500 sq. ft. house in Minneapolis, MN, my power bills have been extremely high, and I'm trying to track down any sources of phantom drain as I think the draw is inappropriate.
With most everything  than can be powered down, both HVAC systems off, well pump not running, computers shut down, all lights and ceiling fans in the house off (except for the utility room lights), I'm having about a 1,000W constant draw. With a current clamp, I'm reading 2.06A on one phase and 6.36A on the other.
From what I've traced down so far out of the 1kW draw:

50W: Cable Modem, 2x Routers, a few monitors on Standby
40W: Outdoor bug trap
10W: Security Panel
100W: Utility room lights while I was measuring at the panel (motion activated)

This leaves about 800W with no obvious source of where it is going. I will be tracing down each circuit next, the highest current branches being 2x ~1.5A, 2x ~1A, 3 ~0.5A, and 2x ~0.3A.
Is this anywhere in the realm of a normal phantom draw for a house of that size?
Since I'm operating under the assumption that it is not normal, what would be good items to check if I have unplugged everything that can be unplugged and the draw still remains?
Other than TVs in standby and my two refrigerators, what would be good candidates to plug into my kill-a-watt and measure their draws?
Edit
I have measured the standby/resting stable current of everything I have plugged in to an outlet, and came to 340W.
The only remaining things plugged in are permanently wired:

Three light fixtures that turn on when I'm in the utility room measuring current
light fixtures while off
dishwasher while off
furnace/AC 1 while not running
furnace/AC 2 while not running

These probably have some draw while off, but let's be more than generous until I measure them and say 500W total.
This means I have a solid 500W going somewhere, in my house, completely unaccounted for. Nothing I can think of can plausibly be dissipating this much power without a trace.


texts: Why is the conductor size 4mm2 and 10mm2 listed twice in this table of conductor sizes?

texts:
Looking at the following table where the y-axis list the conductor sizes and the x-axis (A1, A2, B1, B2 ...) list the method of installation why is the conductor size 4 and 10 listed twice? Table gives ampere rating for installation method and conductor size. (Anzahl belasteter Adern = number of phases conducting current)
DIN VDE 0298-4


texts: Connecting whole house surge protector to breakers

texts:
I've ordered a Siemens FS140 Whole House Surge Protector that I will install myself.

The instructions say to keep the leads as short as possible and straight as possible.  I have an open square d slot farther away from where I want the FS140, but have a couple of 20 amp breakers already installed near where I'd want it. They feed the kitchen counters.

Is there a disadvantage to connecting the FS140 to the existing breakers (with pigtails) or does it really need its own breakers?

Update:

Response to moving it -- my two free slots are at the very top of the panel.  At the bottom are 2 x 30amp solar disconnects and then 2 x 20amp tied kitchen breakers.  I'm realizing now my bigger problem is the conduit underneath and beside which won't let me fasten the device to the wall.  Maybe I should just put it the top, which makes it harder to see, but you can't win all the time!

Update:

Thank you for the advice.  I ended up shifting breakers up to make room for the SPD breaker near the middle (where the power comes in).  I couldn't get it quite next to the middle because the bonding bar was in the way, so I ended up a slot or two higher, but this allowed the wires to be straight.

I was also worried about the 1.25" OD conduit on the right being in the way, but had forgotten there is already a 1" offset built into the SPD.


texts: Difference Between Flashing Drain and On-Grade Drain?

texts:
What is the difference between an "on-grade" drain and a "flashing" drain? What situations call for which? If installing a basement floor drain, which should I use?

In case it's not clear, here are the items I'm researching:

On-Grade Drains

Flashing Drains


texts:
I recently moved into an apartment with a 3-prong, NEMA 10-30 outlet. It looks like this:

I bought an old dryer that I confirmed was working before purchasing it and hooked it up and unfortunately the dryer never heated up. I suspected something was up with the outlet, so I busted out the multimeter and measured each connection. I used an Etekcity MSR-R500 and had it set to the AC 500 setting and measured the following:

Y to X: 0 V
Y to W: 120 V
X to W: 120 V

Based on my research it would seem that Y to X should have read 240 V, not 0. However, the other two connections are both reading 120 V correctly. I'm wondering what this would typically indicate - bad wiring? If so, what would be a good next step to either fix the issue or confirm the problem? Or at this point is it time to call an electrician?


texts: I'm building a new addition and I have a 1 piece shower, I think maybe 80 inches tall.  I'm about to start putting up drywall in the bathroom.  If I want to put tile around the top and edges of the shower, do I just mount it on the purple drywall board, or should I put up concrete booard?


texts: I am remodeling a bathroom and I am wondering whether or not I am to cut the backerboard so that it runs behind the tub or just up to the edge of the tub. Whichever is the answer I'd appreciate a description on why.  Thanks.


texts: Water Leak Detector Recommendations - Adjustable Volume and Easy to Silence

texts:
To make a long story short I have an HVAC unit in a small rental property that leaks condensate and in order to apply a fix, we first must catch the leak in the act to better understand root cause.
My objective is to alert our tenants when water is detected in a drip overflow pan so they can turn off the AC and contact us.
To most effectively do this, we're trying to find a leak detector that can easily be disabled and for which the alarm volume is adjustable or has a reasonably quiet but audible setting (e.g. no louder than a microwave beeping). It is highly undesirable to have an alarm that wakes up everyone in the building.
I have done quite a bit of research into what's out there and have seen few if any with an alarm less than 110dB except for units requiring a WiFi or network connection for which it would be difficult to configure or maintain since the network is maintained by tenants.
Was wondering if anyone has any experience finding or using a leak detector that fits this challenge (namely quiet, with a seperate probe lead and easily disabled)?


texts: Is a timed electrical switch causing vent fan to run slower / with less power?

texts: I bought this timed electrical switch and used it to replace a standard switch that turned on my bathroom vent fan (I'm always forgetting to turn it off and it often will run all day.)  after the install, everything seems to work fine, but I could swear the fan is not running as loud / with as much power after the replacement.  What could be causing this?


texts: I need to glue a metal corner bead to a plaster corner. Normally, I would nail the bead but it's masonry so nails won't go in. Should I use Liquid Nails or more like something like contact cement?


texts: Can I put a work box next to a recessed light fixture that you would access by removing the fixture

texts:
I have a 3 wire coming from a 3 way switch behind a plaster wall ( which I don't want to touch ) going to new LED fixtures.

The box on the fixtures is limited to 4 12 gauge wires, So 2 in 2 out. In order to make the 3 way work, I need to make a connection in the ceiling, not in the fixture box.

Since the box for the LED is remote, and accessed by removing the light, could I just put a second work box next to it for the extra fill?

Again accessing both boxes by removing the light fixture.

I live in MD and under NEC 2017
Picture of remote LED added for clarity


texts: Thermostat settings two hvac units older house

texts:
I purchased a historic house built in 1920. The house has two HVAC units, one for the upper floor, one for the lower. Total sq ft 3300.
I had been setting the upstairs thermostat at about 83 degrees during the day lowering to 76 after sunset as it is not often used during daytime hours.  I was told by my HVAC technician that this was a bad idea due to everything absorbing the heat.. carpeting walls furniture insulation etc.
I have to agree as the unit ran nonstop when attempting to get to a comfortable 76 degree sleeping temperature at night.  The house has bedrooms on both floors and the downstairs is generally kept at around 78 during the day reduced for sleeping to 74.
I live in a hot and humid climate where overnight lows can be mid 80s with upwards of 80 percent humidity. Day time highs easily reach 98 to 100.
The downstairs area has a high ceiling . Can someone recommend a good temperature setting for both thermostats that will 1. Not have the AC running non stop 2. Not break the bank to maintain a comfortable temperature.  I’ve read many conflicting articles on the temperature spread between the two floors and have come away more confused than ever.


texts:
We are remodeling our kitchen, and we are going to put the microwave inside of our new island, Below the counter top, Built-in with the cabinets.  Our old microwave is an "over the range" microwave which hangs down from the cabinets above the stove.

Our problem is that we're not sure if a traditional countertop microwave can just be put into a space that we're building into the island?

Do we need to account for a certain amount of airflow around the microwave when we try to build in a countertop microwave?

Is there a standard amount of space to leave around the microwave?

Are there specific microwaves that are built for this?  (I understand there are under-the-counter drawer microwaves, but we're trying to stay away from that due to cost)

Are there any specific microwaves that we should definitely avoid while trying to do this?

Some manuals talk about "trim kits", how do these work?  Do they solve my issue?

Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!!


texts: How can I open the latch mechanism on a Schlage keyed entry lock without the doorknob?

texts:
I have a problem almost exactly similar to How to open a door that has the insides of a door handle inside without a door knob but I have a more complicated mechanism.
Basically while installing the lock and checking for alignment, I inadvertently shut (I won't say "locked" because the mechanism isn't locked) myself out of a room. Inside the room is the rest of the hardware and most of my tools.
How can I unlock this from the outside, without the doorknob?
Also, since this is a keyed entry system, how can I visually confirm whether it is locked or unlocked, and how would I unlock it from this situation?
Depicted below is someone else's photo of the exact lock/latch mechanism I'm dealing with.


texts: I need help in wiring a new ceiling fan, no electrical feed. We wired it to our light switch which apparently controls our bottom outlet. When we did this the fan did not work when we flip the switch, unless we plug something into the bottom outlet and turned it on. How can we fix this problem?


texts: Is there a required spacing between waste vent line and chimney?

texts:
This question seeks answers with one of the following as supporting evidence: International standards, other standards widely recognized in multiple areas of the United States, or sound building and engineering principles.

Note: If there is a preferred material for the vent line in this application, I would also greatly appreciate a recommendation. As a theoretical example: "Use PVC instead of galvanized steel because PVC will help to insulate against the heat of the chimney."

Why I ask this question:

As part of a basement remodel, I need to upgrade an existing plumbing line and add venting through the roof for the fixtures it serves.

There is a roughly 4" gap between a brick chimney (which provides the exhaust for my furnace and hot water tank) and one of the walls all the way to the attic.

This leaves enough room for a 2" waste vent line and a roughly 2" air gap if I were to run the vent line by the wall next to the chimney. Then, I do not have to drill any new holes in floors or ceilings to add the vent line. However, I realize that the methane gas from waste is combustible and running something combustible that close to a hot chimney could make it a bad idea.


texts: Acceptable to add knockout to PVC conduit body?

texts:
I have a 1" PVC LB Conduit Body passing through a wall into the electrical panel (the conduit body ultimately leads to a SPA pack). I'd like to add a 20amp receptacle on the opposite site of wall the panel is in but due to other equipment on the back of that wall, none of the other knockouts on the panel are accessible.
Is it acceptable to drill a 1/2" knockout in the conduit body to mount a weatherproof box right next to it (and feed 12ga THWN into that box for the receptacle)?
It's one of these kind of fittings: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CARLON-1-in-Pull-Connector-Schedule-40-PVC-Compatible-Schedule-80-PVC-Compatible-Conduit-Fitting/1000999146


texts: Identifying wires in an Intermatic pool pump timer

texts:
I’m trying to positively identify what is on each of the four terminals in a pool pump’s timer box (before replacing it with a z-wave smart switch):

The trick is that both line- and load-side wires are black, and I’m not sure if this is 240V (if it is, it would be my first foray with AC beyond regular 120V’s hot/neutral/ground).

This pre-existing setup’s wiring has worked perfectly for the decade we’ve been in the house. Over the weekend, the timer’s switching mechanism failed mechanically.

In addition to identification, what is the surest, most expedient method to verify each wire’s identified function using a multimeter? (I hope that’s not too much to think possible, given the rest of what I described!)

Also, though the focus of the question isn’t on the z-wave timer/switch I’d be replacing this Intermatic with, here are the wiring instructions, assuming everything checks out OK as 240V:

From the instructions, I’m able to note that one wire I can’t identify in the pre-existing installation is a ground. And for what it’s worth, the instructions call for adding a jumper (not included) across 3 and 5 when configured for 240V. I’ll be checking the NEC myself or posting a separate question for what color to make that.


texts:
I'm planning on installing heat tape on the CPVC pipe that feeds to my garden hose.

It occurred to me that I or future owners may choose to turn off the water and bleed the pipe.

I realize I could just unplug the heat tape but my question is is there a risk to just leaving it.


texts: Can you put a small breaker panel after a 30 amp breaker from main panel in the house?

texts:
Looking to run lights in my garage.  If I put a 30 amp breaker in my main panel on a 10 wire to a small breaker panel in my garage, can I put 2-4 15 amp breakers out there for the lights?

Likewise, can I do it for 20 amp breakers for outlets on another 10 wire to my panel with a 30 amp breaker?


texts: Changing light switch, help with wiring needed

texts:
I changed my old lightbulbs to dimmable LEDs, now I need to change the switch accordingly.

Before: (stacked switches from top to bottom) small light switch 1, small light switch 2, small switch for fan.

After, what I need: (large switches side by side) dimmable switch 1, dimmable switch 2, switch for fan.

What I managed to do so far: re-wired the small light switch 1 to dimmable switch 1, it works perfectly. This is what is shown in picture #1: left side shows the stacked switches, the top one is re-wired to the dimmable switch on the right.

I need help with re-wiring the second dimmable switch, plus the fan switch (not on the picture).

I'm not sure about the exact function of the two power cords (each white and black cable)
EDIT: white is grounded, black is not grounded.
Can someone explain the meaning of 0, 1 and 3 on the back side of the switches?
Is this some sort of universal standard or specific to Japanese?

Any advice or hint is appreciated!

EDIT: the red wire with the dimmable switch is it's out of the box state.


texts: How can I level concrete pavement for an above-ground pool?

texts:
I want to set up an above-ground pool (14' round) on my back yard. There is a relatively good place for it, where there are concrete slabs, however, there are two problems:

The slabs are not level. It's about 2 inch per 10 feet decline.
Between the slabs, there are about 10 inch gaps, filled with cedar blocks held together by concrete, with the surface about 1/2 inches below the surface of the slabs, and the edges of the slabs are just a bit risen. I consider this a problem as it may damage the pool's liner.

I don't feel like redoing the whole area, unless there are no other options all together. Any other location would require new outlets, I'd like to avoid that either.

What can I use to level the area and cover the gaps, and whatever other artifacts of the area?

I know I can use concrete, but the minimal application is 2" deep, it would be too tall a rise for this.

Any grout, or stucco coat I can use that will hold?


texts:
Installed a new sliding glass door recently, and the flashing tape I used: Nashua Tape adhered at first but completely failed within a day or so and is now flapping in the breeze.

How should I go about fixing this?  Should I leave the tape there and attempt to adhere it with something else?  Should I cut the tape back and put another, more rugged tape product over the top?


texts: How far can I move my bath tub trap from the vent?

texts: I am remodeling the master bath and I need to relocate the bath tub. I will be extending the trap about 3-4' from where it is now. I'm wondering if I need to relocate the vent pipe as well. How far can it be from the vent?


texts: Transition from KERDI membrane backed, to not backed

texts:
I intend to use KERDI membrane behind some new bathroom wall tiling backed by drywall.

How feasible is it to transition from using the membrane to not using the membrane on a neighboring section of the same wall (i.e. only one section of the wall needs waterproofing, but the transition shouldn't be noticeable once tiled).

The specs say the membrane is 8mm thick, but I'm not sure if that'll be too large a transition for a good tile finish.


texts: Whirlpool washing machine won't start, need help replacing fuse

texts:
My Whirlpool washing machine died today. The control panel lights are unresponsive, so it looks like there's a problem with its electricals. The socket works, and the troubleshooting manual mentions the fuse.

I've removed the top panel of the machine. Is there an electrical fuse here somewhere?

The washer is a Whirlpool AA600 AWO/R5040

I've had great difficulty finding technical manuals for this washer so I'm sorry for posting a trivial question.


texts: Can I put a thermostat on my wood burning furnace?

texts: I have a wood burning furnace with its own blower. I would like to control the blower with a thermostat. Is it possible? The unit has a limit switch.


texts:
I'm having a geothermal heating system installed in my home, and the contractor recommended heating my water using a buffer tank and desuperheater, which is a device that cools the refrigerant lines of the heat pump (when the heat pump is in heating mode) and uses the heat it captures for heating the drinking water in the buffer tank.

However, when the heat pump is in heating mode, the exiting refrigerant line is actually colder, not hotter, than when it enters. As a result, you cannot heat water during the winter.

I recently became aware of water-sourced heat pump water heaters, which basically act just like the heat pump for the home, except their only job is to heat a water tank. This seems to make a lot of sense for a house, however, because you could use the same geothermal water loop in the summer or winter to heat water; I would lose the "free" water during the summer and would have to pay for running the heat pump, but during the winter the price of hot water would remain the same low amount, instead of rising due to the need for full-time use of an electric or gas hot water heater.

Am I missing something important, or is there some reason why the internet and contractors seem to only suggest the desuperheater approach?


texts: Ground wires absent from circuits exiting apartment panel

texts:
I'm taking a look at the (only) panel in my apartment (7 apartments in building, NYC) and I'm noticing that out of all the circuits leaving the panel, not a single one of them contains a ground wire. Only hot(s) and neutral. On closer inspection I can see the ground wire coming in through the top, it connects to the ground bar, but there are no other wires attached to the ground bar.
The 120v circuits leave the panel with just a hot and a neutral and the 240v circuits exit in bunches of 2 hot and 1 neutral.
Are all these circuits ungrounded? Is it likely or possible that these circuits get their ground from somewhere else that is not the panel in my apartment? Are these circuits meeting up with ground each on their own somewhere on the way to the outlets or is it another common point?


texts: Why would the pressure in my kitchen faucet drop overnight?

texts:
The kitchen faucet has just noticeably decreased in pressure. No leaks anywhere. It did get a lot colder overnight, but that's the only thing that changed.

Any ideas?


texts: Adding exhaust fan to semi-rigid dryer duct

texts:
I recently moved into a new house purchased by my friend/roommate/landlord. I plan on setting up my electronics workshop in the basement laundry area this weekend. Although there is plenty of space, the windows are sealed-up glass blocks so there is no ventilation other than the exhaust for the gas dryer. Because I'll be doing a lot soldering, I'd really like to come up with a way to vent those fumes to the outside.
My first thought was to tap into the semi-rigid duct running from the gas dryer to the outside. I could add a new duct with an exhaust fan and even rig it up so that opening/closing the vent also acts as power on/off for the fan.
My second thought was that this could be a really bad idea. As far as I know, dryer exhaust leaking into basement could be much worse than solder fumes, and this seems like the sort of thing I should not be DIY'ing, especially in someone else's house.

My question: Is there a way to do this safely? Or should I see about creating a dedicated exhaust?


texts: Light fixture opening is too wide for baseplate

texts:
I'm trying to Install a new light fixture and it comes with a circular base plate. However the junction box does not line up flush with ceiling. So when I attach the base plate it ends up being recessed and then the base of the light is unable to be attached.
What solutions do I have for this??


texts: Measuring AC Voltage Behind Light Switch

texts:
This is more of a theoretical question and not something I'm needing to do.
I understand the following, please correct me if I'm wrong;

Multimeter only measures the potential difference so
To measure the AC voltage passing through a light switch we need a neutral wire along with the live wire or
A ground can be used instead as neutral will be earthed somewhere and therefore be connected to ground anyway

So, from my understanding, are we basically treating ground as neutral then in this case?
Can a floating ground be used or must the ground be in the circuit of where the neutral is? I guess this is more a question of how the meter works.
What if no ground or neutral is present, am I out of luck?
TIA.


texts:
I'm first time homeowner and bought a house (built in 1999) in fall of 2015 (Philadelphia suburb). During inspection of the house I noticed squeaky floors and inspector said its due to nails rubbing against the joist making the noise and its minor issue.

The other day I was in the basement (unfinished) to check floor sections which squeaked the most. Just out of curiosity I put 4 feet level at the bottom of the joists (across joists) and to my surprise there were gap between joists and the level (for the most joists I checked) - it range from 1/8 to 1/2. I don't see any sag on length of the joists but level is off across the joists. Joists are resting on sill plate and its in good condition (no rotting or anything). Joists are 2X10 (not engineered joist) and they do not span more than 16 feet. To me it seems like joists are of different height/depth. When you look at the cross section of the joist - it appears they have bend slightly (like forming letter C if you see the end of joist - but very slight). I don't see any signs of house settling, basement is poured concrete and no cracks or anything like that. Basement is currently dry but I'm not sure if previous owner had any moisture issue in the basement in past or not (although quite elaborate battery backup sump pump for unfinished basement may be due to some water issues in past, will find out in spring). Floor sheathing is 3/4" (i think plywood and osb). Most of load bearing walls (like second floor wall) tend to line up against perimeter of the foundation or the metal beam that passes through middle of the basement.

We started notice that some section of the main floor is uneven and we are observing similar issues on second floor as well (first floor and second floor unevenness do not match). I'm guessing its due to joists of having different height. In general house is leveled - inspector checked with level at few spots. I checked with 4 feet level and found some high and low spots on the floor (may 1/8 to 1/4 hi/low spots) and those spot run across the joist.

Is there any way to fix this? Is this a very serious issue - like house is falling apart - this is my first house so I don't know what's normal and what's very serious issue. I know foundation settling is a big issue and I ask inspector to check on it during house purchase process and he thought house foundation and framing is pretty sound (what ever his opinion worth...).
Most of the house is carpeted - so I was thinking about using those  squeak end kit (where you drive the screw in joist and take off the top part). But with uneven joist - would it make the floor even more uneven? Is there any other way to stop squeak?
Carpet in some area is really bad and I thought I would install laminated floor in near future. But with uneven floor I don't think it will work well. what would be best flooring option for uneven floors (other than carpet and vynal)?
I'm not in finical situation to hire a contractor or a structural inspector to access the situation in near term, if this is a serious issue what time frame I should consider to address it?

Thanks in advance.


texts: AC "Dirty Sock Syndrome" smell went away, is it actually fine?

texts:
My AC has started to turn on with the warm weather and with that I've been smelling a gross musty sour smell coming from the vents (only when it cools and not when heater is on). I last changed the air filter in January and had gotten all my AC ducts cleaned last fall. However, I had an AC Duct Cleaning company come today to inspect and the AC didn't smell anymore! That's so weird because it had been smelling bad the last 3 times it ran!
He said that if there is no smell anymore, then it isn't mold and was likely the smell of the condensation dripping from the piping so I don't need to do anything. He didn't even inspect anything because he said there'd be no point with no smell. He told me to not run the heater tonight and run the AC again tomorrow to see if there's a smell. If no smell, it's fine and if there is a smell, then they'd go in to clean it.
I wanted to get a second opinion on whether it's fine to just leave it if the smell magically disappeared or if I NEED to get the coils cleaned? I've called several AC companies and I get such different answers from each of them it's hard to know what is the "right" thing to do. One said to install an iWay filter into my unit, another said that I'd need my whole AC unit replaced.
Has anyone else encountered the musty smell going away on its own?


texts: Must I replace drywall after very small fire?

texts:
Do I need to replace drywall when there was a very small fire and drywall not burned. It has stains from smoke. Some part reached 140 degrees F according to Fire dept but it was a pretty contained dryer fire and smoke stayed in small laundry room.
If I patch it (after getting all the wiring tested) it would be temporary until I pay for the 1000 other things that just happened in my house this week (30 yr old furnace replaced. same with water heater, and obviously the washer and dryer)

oh, patch needed where FD cut wall to check for spread, where there was none.


texts: What's the best way to install a pet door in an exterior wall?

texts:
I want to install a pet door to allow my dog to let herself out. The door would run out onto a deck attached to the back of the house. On the wall connected to the deck, I have a sliding glass door and enough wall space that the pet door could be located in a bunch of different situations. So the question is, what would be the preferred location/installing method?

In the sliding glass door itself? (Seems difficult if not impossible)
In the wall next to the door, between studs? (Cutting through drywall, insulation, and the exterior wall/siding)
In the wall centered on a stud? (Not sure how much this would differ from option 2)

Once the hole is made, would you frame around it? Do they sell pet door designed for exactly this (vs placing in an existing metal or wood door)?


texts: What kind of tools are used in today's era to carve stones or large rocks in masonry?

texts:
I've always been curious as to how builders are able to shape things like granite or other stone slabs into the desired round-over or other type of support.
I've had some experience with clay as in ceramics, and those substances are malleable before they are air-dried and or fired.

For example, I went to tour a newly built church. In the middle of the vestibule there was a large baptismal font with the outside very rugged and the inside neatly made and smooth.


texts:
Guys I am living in a 500 sq ft apartment built in the 1950's and it has a south facing wall. I run the 10000 BTU AC almost 24/7  and in the afternoons the wall is very warm if not hot to the touch on the inside. and appears from the windows to be around 9 inches thick with stucco on the outside.

Because of the age and the make of the wall, I believe there is either no or little insulation. Would it be worth the cost to place rigid R type insulation over this sheet rock (drywall) on the inside and drop the temperatures?


texts: Is it safe to remove OSB board and wood support from cold room

texts: I have a cold room under the front porch. It has OSB boards on the ceiling that are supported by a number of 2x4s. I want to seal the hole to outside and covered the ceiling and walls with 2inch XPS boards. My understanding is that the OSB boards and 2x4s are only used when building the porch and not needed after. The room is about 8x12.


texts: Can I use a USA GFCI Intex Pool pump in New Zealand

texts:
I have imported an Intex salt system for use on a locally purchased intex pool. when I received it , the plug is a GFCI plug with a test and reset button on it.  the pump is a 230w pump. I purchased a 1000w step down transformer that appears to have a 3 wire configuration.

Still no power. Do I need a specific GFCI outlet or something?  Excuse my ignorance.

Thanks
Martin


texts: Combining Air Conditioner with Air Purifier

texts:
I have a small 5th floor flat, with high ceilings. The sash windows, which are tall, face south. There is a very busy road underneath the windows. Two rooms have these windows.

It's noticeable that I start coughing as soon as I get into the flat. And my girlfriend starts sneezing and getting a blocked-up nose. Obviously from the traffic pollution from outside.

Spring is about to start and soon it's also going to get pretty hot and uncomfortable, since the windows make it like a greenhouse.

What would be the best solution to tackle both the pollution and heat, bearing in mind that it's a small flat, and I don't think I'm allowed to mount any kind of unit on the outside of the flat.

Is there a joint aircon & purifier that I can connect with a hose, which is reasonably quiet? I'm willing to spend a bit to get a nice air environment.

Room 1: 365 X 365 X 365cm, 12 X 12 X 12 feet

Room 2: 365 X 190 X 365cm, 12 X 6 X 12 feet

                     Pollution and Heat

              │          │          │          │
              ▼          ▼          ▼          ▼

 ┌───□──────────□──□──────────□──┐┌───□──────────□───┐
 │     Window 1      Window 2    ││     Window 3     │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │              Room 1           ││      Room 2      │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 │                               ││                  │
 └───────────────────────────────┘└──────────────────┘


texts: Are there differences to drywall joint compound and plaster?

texts:
The drywall store near me told me the they don't have (or use) joint compound for drywall seams, they use something called "slow plaster" (free translation) for over the drywall tape with the same or better results.

Any truth to that? Why would I choose one over the other?


texts: How far to go with spring bronze weatherstripping on wood double-hung windows

texts:
I've been restoring windows in my small 1925 colonial over the past year. Most of the windows haven't seen any maintenance in decades, but on the flip side, nothing horrible has been done to completely ruin them. The top sashes have been fixed into place. Not ideal, but to safe myself some extra work as I'm working on a ton of other projects, I'm leaving that way as I restore the lower sash and jambs. Effectively, they're single-hung. When restoring, I'm scraping all paint, sanding, priming, and painting the jambs, sill, and lower sash and replacing the sash cords. In some cases, I'm re-glazing.

My question relates to the weatherstripping as I am reinstalling the lower sash after restoration. I've been putting spring bronze in the jambs of the lower sash, and on the meeting rail of the upper sash. However, I'm not getting a great seal between the lower sash and the sill, partially because the bottoms of many of the sashes were damaged and the angles are no longer as precise as they once were.

I've seen a lot of different configurations of how people install spring bronze in double-hung (or single-hung) windows. What do you recommend for weatherstripping between the sill and the lower sash? I thought I'd add more spring bronze, but thought again that might look silly. Is the spring bronze I've put on the meeting rail excessive?


texts: Extending sink drain rough in. Legal? Correct?

texts:
My Wife bought a new Vanity (and her husband forgot to look at all the details.. :) ) and the specific dimensions require that the drain / water lines be roughed in around 22 IN. Our current setup is 16 1/2.

My question is could I just put a 90 degree elbow on the current drain, then add an extension pipe to get me to 22 inches in height? (Not sure if this is legal, or would actually work appropriately with a p trap)


texts: Can I support a granite countertop overhang with embedded steel bars?

texts:
I have read that you can support a granite overhang (such as a bar) using 1/4" steel bars below or embedded in the rough top.

The purpose of this is to support the 16" overhang without using corbels or posts which get in the way of barstools.

However, given the 3/4" MDF rough top, I find that the 1/4" steel bars are more flexible than the MDF.

My intention was to use a power planer to cut channels into the rough top, then to epoxy the steel as bracing into the MDF, as shown in this example photo (not of my actual install):

But will this actually give me any more support? Am I just gaining tensile strength for the MDF?


texts: Finding the "C" Wire on old Honeywell L8048G Controller/Relay

texts:
Need to add a "C" Wire for an older Honeywell L8048G Controller with built-in 24V transformer in order to connect an Ecobee3 thermostat.  Attached is a copy of my current wiring diagram (pre-Ecobee3 install).  Would I connect my common wire up to the thermostat to the "blue" wire connected to terminal "T"?

Or, do I need to solder a lead to the back of the board; purchase an external 24V transformer; or, purchase a Fast-Stat Common Maker?  The Ecobee seems to power up sometimes with the blue wire connected to it, and other times it appears "dead".

Please review current wiring and let me know if this is correct to the Taco valves and thermostat, and what my best solution is for getting a common wire to the Ecobee replacement thermostat.  Thank you.


texts: Is it safe to leave exposed black wire from doorbell transformer?

texts:
Is it safe for the time being to leave a loose black electrical wire from my doorbell transformer? (I think this is the transformer based on what I have read)

I tried to push the box into the wall and it didn't quite stay and a wire I think came loose. I think this is a hot wire but I am unsure and do not want to touch it. Is there any issue with leaving this exposed until I can get someone to check it out? The doorbell no longer works so I'm guessing this is the power to it.

I believe it came out of the red cover which has the other black wires.


texts: gravel under concrete slab? is it absolutely required?

texts:
so, I have a post-frame shed, 12x16. there are posts at 6' on the short sides and every 4' on the long side. posts are set ~18" below grade, on a 2" cap of cement over a few inches of well compacted gravel, holes were all about 27" or so, 2x6 girder runs level at the top (very level all the way around) around base,
ok, so, basically I have ~5.5" to grade from bottom of 2x6 girder to top of board, and the Ive got posts set in concrete, at 24" from the top of that board
so I want to fill that in with concrete, I could put gravel in, say 2" and 3.5" of concrete over that.

Its about 3.75 cu yards of crete, or like $400
It will cost $100 for gravel to fill in 2", but my crete is still only a little cheaper, and it will be a thinner slab.

I could put gravel in, say 2" and 3.5" of concrete over that
or just full 5.5" of crete
or I could do lot of gravel and a 2" top coat over that with a bunch of steel and fibers,

Its just a shed, so Im not too worried about it, I'll put steel mesh in and probably fiberglass to control cracks and run a groover down the center.

Point is, can I get away without using gravel and just lay plastic down and pour a slab, or is the clay soil going to destroy it if I dont have a couple inches of gravel. I am not, going to dig this down deeper, or pour higher that the girder.

Its 5.5" of space, with a few low spots I can rake out. It much faster to do a one day pour so I can put my books back in and my tools to keep them dry, so full 5.5" concrete is good and fast, but a couple inches of gravel would be nice, but is a total extra set of work for little gain

thoughts?
(yes, I should have done this in a different order, it was not an option at the time)


texts: How do I join pieces of wood tiles, 12" by 12" pieces, to make a larger slab?

texts: I have a project to work on that requires me using larger pieces of planks than what I currently have. I have square planks all over the porch that would suffice if only I had a good way of fitting pieces together.How can I join these individual pieces 12" by 12" tiles to make longer or larger planks for my project please?


texts: How can I drill a grommet hole in my Ikea desktop?

texts:
I have a computer setup that I would like to improve. My plan is to drill a hole through pretty much the MIDDLE of the desk in order to pass wires and make my overall setup look cleaner.

What I'd like to know is if I can drill a proper hole without damaging the desk when the table top is made of: particleboard, Ash veneer, Stain, Clear acrylic lacquer, Foil, Clear acrylic lacquer, and ABS plastic. To be specific, this is the IKEA Bekant corner desk.


texts: Replacing existing 9" dome fixtures with new 13" ones

texts: I purchased three 13" LED dome fixtures for my kitchen over the sink and the two bathrooms.  I removed the original fixture and the existing brackets screws are only 4" apart.  The new fixtures do not include brackets.  The old bracket would have to accommodate screws 6" apart which it does not.  Can anyone explain to me, how do I mount these?  Do they make longer brackets or do I have to change the boxes out?  Any help would be gladly appreciated!


texts:
I used some 1/2" pipe (I got it at Lowe's; I think it's typically used for gas?) to build a simple frame for a heavy bag, essentially an inverted U (about 6.5' high, 5' wide), attached to wooden feet, which are weighted by sand bags. It was fine for a day, but I have two problems; The first is fairly simple - the vibration caused the fittings to separate. The second and more serious problem is the pipe is bending just slightly - enough that I expect it wont last more than a month or two.
While I know now I should have used stronger materials, I don't want to replace the entire thing. I'd like to know the absolute cheapest way to secure the fittings (Liquid weld?) and to reinforce the pipe itself. I was thinking I could probably fill it with something, but I don't know what - Would cement work?


texts: What type of lumber should I use for narrowing a recessed hole in my bathroom wall, to be used for a new cabinet?

texts:
I'm putting in a new bathroom cabinet, and the hole is 1 3/8" too large on both top and bottom, and 1/2" too large on both left and right.  What type of lumber or cut would I use to shim this?
The existing hole is surrounded by 2x4's on all sides (studs and whatever the horizontal version of studs are).  My plan was to just cut pieces of the right size and nail them to those.


texts: Replacing steel expansion tank with diaphragm expansion tank. Is location critical?

texts:
This morning I noticed a very old, closed, steel expansion tank in the boiler loop is leaking. Looks like the leak is coming from the side of the tank and not from the plumbing. Not sure if that can be repaired or replaced easily so was wondering if a more easily found diaphragm expansion tank could be used instead.

I have a Weil McLain CG series gas hot water boiler system. The manual shows two different setups for when using a closed tank or a diaphragm tank.

My system isn't set up with the expansion tank in either of those configurations. What I have looks like this.

There's no pressure regulator on the main incoming water line and therefor the hot water heater doesn't have an expansion tank on it but at some point I'd like to add both.
I do have an automatic air vent in place on top of the boiler.

Can I just replace the steel expansion tank with a diaphragm expansion where it is? How important is the placement of the tank in the heating loop? Getting it connected under the circulator as shown in the diagram would be a real pain. I was planning on shortening the piping run to the old tank and placing it along that run.


texts: GE OTR Microwave Model: JVM1850SMC02 - Doesn't power on, not even display lights

texts:
Other day my GE microwave just stopped working. Then I have unplugged and plugged back in but still no luck. So I have used an extension chord to try on a separate outlet and it powered on but ran just 10 secs or so. Checked main switch board and found Microwave fuse got tripped. So turned it back on and tried with original power outlet and with extension chord, no luck. Then I confirmed both power outlet using a small portable fan and it worked. So outlets are good but Microwave is not powering on. In the mean time I have changed two fuses inside microwave to see if that helps or not but no luck either.

From above description of the problem, does it sound like capacitor problem? Is it worth fixing it? BTW, its just 5 years old and was taken from builder.

Would appreciate any honest opinion. Thanks,

Moh.


texts: Any issues wiring bathroom exhaust fan to low-voltage heated mirror?

texts:
I'm in Maryland, US.
I was hoping to wire from the switch:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CXXZV96/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
to this:
https://www.clearmirror.com/product-page/shower-clearmirror
I would like my shower heated mirror to come on when I turn on the exhaust fan. Some other models of the exhaust fan recommend not wiring up other devices. But I'm hoping it's possible because A) the same recommendation is not mentioned in this model and B) the heated mirror is low voltage.
Is there any problems with this?
EDIT: now it seems like the main issue will be pluging in the mirror transformer to code. Is it against code to put an access panel to access an outlet either in the ceiling or in a wall?  This is how they seem to be doing it in their video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdqB57r1Y0k
Planned steps:

wire existing 12/2 romex to exhaust fan (original leg to old exhaust fan) via pig tails and secure in recessed junction box secured to ceiling joist
connect 12/2 romex from this junction box to outlet which will be b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶r̶y̶w̶a̶l̶l̶  (see edit above)
secure plug-in power supply from heated mirror into this outlet

If there are any issues, NEC considerations, or any other relevant information, any information would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!


texts: Is it OK to have multiple different rooms on one breaker?

texts:
My dining room, kitchen, two bathrooms, living room and den are on 1 breaker.

Should I be concerned?


texts: How to replace old ceiling fan-light with just a light fixture

texts:
I would like to replace and old ugly ceiling fan-light in my dining room with a pendant type light. The original ceiling fan light was controlled by a dimmer switch on the wall and to operate the fan it was a pull chain. After taking down the fan and wiring the new light with what I thought were the correct wires, it still doesn't turn on. Does anyone know how to go about this?
I've attached pics of the wiring after I've pulled the fan down. Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Contractor vented bathroom vents in attic, now I have mold. Is he accountable?

texts:
A few years ago I bought a home. The inspector found mold in the attic and pointed out that the upstairs bathrooms did not have vents. I remediated the mold and had an electrician install vents that would vent to the outside.

Now it's 3 years later and I am selling my house. The inspector comes over and there is mold in the attic, and he does some digging in the insulation of the attic and sees that the vents don't actually go anywhere....they vent right into the attic!

I now need to have this mold remidiated AGAIN. Is the contractor in the wrong? Should I pursue having him pay me for the remediation as well as have him fix the fans so that they vent to the outside?

What other steps could I take?

-Edit-
This is Southern New Hampshire, USA.

-Further Edit-
I found this link which explains it's a code violation. Does that strengthen my case?
In what year did venting bathroom exhaust out of the house become a code requirement?


texts: Adding a light...  Power source 12-2 wire comes in to light at the top of stairs then 12-2 down to first switch then 12-3 down to second light then 12-3 to second switch. Can not get the second light to work.!


texts:
I just moved into an apartment and would like to do some work such as upgrade the wires to allow a greater amperage to flow through to prevent my appliances from tripping the circuit breakers when too many appliances are connected.

I have a circuit breaker upstairs. Originally there were also two circuit breakers downstairs, one servicing my own flat and another servicing my neighbor's flat.

However, some work was done and now there is a second circuit breaker attached to the former one servicing my apartment downstairs, so now I have two downstairs circuit breakers servicing my apartment in addition to the circuit breaker upstairs.

Can someone please explain to me what the point of a second circuit breaker downstairs might be? How is this second circuit breaker likely to modify the circuit?

(my circuit breaker is the white one on the left, and the second one downstairs is attached to my circuit breaker alone is the one to its left, in the shade, and you can see its on off button if you enlarge the image):

Thanks.


texts: How many circuits do I need and can I bundle wires in the wall?

texts:
I'm looking into running new electrical circuits to my attic and second floor. The attic is two bedrooms + a small bathroom, the second floor is four bedrooms + another bathroom. I'd like some advice on how many circuits to run. My thought is one lighting and one outlet circuit for each bathroom. Then one lighting and one outlet circuit for each floor. So a total of eight circuits. Probably all 20amp.

I can access the second floor by fishing down from the crawl space next to the attic rooms. The house was built in 1911 so the walls are nice big open cavities, which seems to make fishing wires a bit easier, but I'm still going to need to open the walls and I want to avoid that as much as possible. Is there any limitations on how close I can run wires. A little googling suggested I could only "bundle" two or three 12/2 cables together, but I could not find any NEC reference for this. If I do bundle three cables together, how far apart must the next bundle be?

I may be limited into only bringing up two bundles (easily) through my walls. If I can only bring six circuits up to the attic how should I break up those circuits? i.e. should I put the bathroom lights on the same circuit as the rest of the floor? or break it up some other way?


texts: Any recommendations for smoke detectors with wireless remote alarms?

texts:
I would like to put a smoke detector in my attached garage and barn, with a wireless/remote signal with a a receiver inside the house.

So far I have found this one

I am assuming that with that one, you buy some number of them (maybe 2 or 3 in my case) and they all broadcast to each other?

Are there any other similar products that you have experience using?


texts: The circuit breaker keeps tripping when I turn my washer on, nothing happens when its turned off

texts:
When the washing machine is turned on the circuit braker keeps tripping and the washer does not come on.

I tried plugging in the vacuum and it did not trip so what is wrong?


texts: Why is my two month old dishwasher exuding a terrible smell?

texts:
In July I purchased a new Whirlpool Gold Series dishwasher model WDF750SAYW1. The machine has done a great job cleaning dishes, but it recently has begun to emit a terrible smell. The odor is not that of plates waiting to be washed. The smell is more akin to that of rotting garbage. I have cleaned out the upper and lower filter assembly though neither had any trapped food. As expected there was a small amount of standing water underneath the filters.

After running the dishwasher the smell is gone. We run the dishwasher a minimum of four times a week. For seven years we never had a problem with the previous dishwasher (its control panel died necessitating the need for the replacement).

Here are some pictures of the hookup:

What should I be doing to fix this terrible odor? Is this a plumbing issue or something wrong with the machine?


texts: What is this thing on my wall? Some sort of alarm?

texts:
On the wall in the hallway of my new house is this thing:

It's about 6 inches to a side and mounted right at the top of the wall.
I assumed it was a wireless chime for a (since removed) doorbell, so I opened up the case to find the mounting screws.
What I actually found, was this:

I'm guessing the warning sticker indicates that it's mains powered. It also looks too complicated to be a doorbell chime.
Finally, there are a couple of little buttons next to the black cylinders (capacitors?). One of them is labelled self-test, which makes me think it might be an alarm of some kind. We do have a burglar alarm, but this doesn't appear to be related. I guess it could be a smoke alarm, but there's one quite close by. Or perhaps it's a carbon monoxide alarm, but there aren't any things close by that burn anything.
I could try to dismantle it more, but am reluctant to do so until I know how to isolate it and discharge those capacitors.
So... I'm kinda stumped. Anyone got any ideas?

Edited to add some pictures.
Having been reassured by the comments, I pulled the black things free. They are indeed Li batteries:

There are no real labels to speak of on the inside of the front cover:

But there are these marks, which I presume are just about the batch and type of plastic:

Edited a second time to add the smoking gun...
As suggested by NoSparksPlease in the comments, I disconnected the batteries. The burglar alarm control panel immediately started complaining about a tamper alarm on the indoor siren:


texts: I recently have been hearing thumping noises. They are 4 or 5 in a row. I believe that they are coming from my pipes. Could it be my water pump or sump pump going


texts:
Some troglodytes egg my house anywhere from every 1-6 months, and have been doing so for the last four years. They just did it again tonight, so I have a fresh supply of drying egg to now remove.

My question is:

What is the best way to remove dried egg from a house?

My house is a bungalow with vinyl siding and a lot of glass windows (now all covered in layers of egg in varying states of dryness from previous attacks -- it's so frequent I can't keep up with cleaning it...).

EDIT: While I'm grateful for all the advice, I think this question would ultimately be more useful to everyone if future answers could deal with specific ways to remove egg -- not whether I should clean up the egg or not, or how to catch the miscreants, etc.


texts: What size wire should I use to add an outlet to a light circuit?

texts:
When my house was wired there was a wire left in the attic for a light, which was not installed.  I want to install an outlet, which will remain hot, then a switch and a light.

Can this be done and do what size wire do I need to use?


texts:
My Verizon FIOS system has a back-up battery to keep the phone running in the event of a power failure. This battery is approaching the end of its life and makes a "BEEP" every five minutes or so. I tried unplugging the battery's wiring harness from the case, but that didn't work - the beeping continues.

Any ideas on how to make it stop?


texts: How do I troubleshoot a ceiling fan that suddenly stopped working?

texts:
I've got a ceiling fan in my kitchen that all of a sudden stopped working one day.  No lights, no fan.  Power is still up in the rest of the kitchen, and no breakers tripped.

Is it common for a ceiling fan to stop working? It's less than a few years old. It does run a fair bit, but I'd expect the lights to still work if for instance the motor went out.

I'm not sure if that means something is wrong with the electrical inside the fan, or if it's at the connection, or perhaps even the switch.

What can I do to test that it's not kaput?


texts: How should I go about connecting a switch's ground wire to this apparent grouping of ground wires?

texts:
We have an old dimmer switch in a two-switch box (next to a regular light bulb) (in California). The old dimmer switch's button no longer works right, so we wanted to replace it with a new one. We got a Lutron switch to replace it, and I looked over the instructions, but when I saw the wiring of the old switch it made me hesitate. The main thing I'm concerned about is the ground wire.
From the old dimmer switch, there is a capped off (unused) black wire and it has a red wire and a black wire connected to white wires in the box. This is a little different from the new dimmer switch which just has two black wires (besides the ground wire), but as far as I know I would connect the two black wires to those two white wires. Feel free to comment if that is right or wrong.
But for the ground wire, what I expected was that the box would have a green or copper wire coming out of the box with the old dimmer switch's ground wire connected to it. Rather, the old dimmer switch's green ground wire looks to be almost grabbed onto by a group of wires like fingers.
So what should I do? Is this normal wiring? Is it safe? Should I mimic it with the new switch? Should I leave it to an electrician? Are there particular instructions that I should follow, or would I need any special tools to open/close the fingers around the ground wire if I were to do the same thing for the new dimmer switch?
As it is, I pushed everything back in the box and screwed it back in (I hadn't disconnected any of the wires). Thank you.


texts:
Heads up, I’m one of those dreaded DIY-ers :)
I am currently replacing drywall, no tiling, in my full bathroom as previous owners did not have any type of ventilation and very soon after purchase we noticed beginning indications of mold.
I’m noticing on the back wall of the shower enclosure that is installed, the studs are causing the drywall to overhang the enclosure as opposed to being flush with the flange.
The picture shows what I’m looking at. The initial build looks like the installers cut out a section of the studs halfway up but that is only causing more confusion.
Any ideas how I’m supposed to install this back wall?
Thanks in advance!
Hello all,


texts: OK to disconnect ice maker/water dispenser in new refrigerator?

texts: We have to replace our current refrigerator because there's mold in the insulation in the door where the water dispenser is. When we shopped for a new refrigerator, we tried to find one without a water dispenser/ice maker, but they're hard to come by. I'm wondering if it would be OK to never connect the dispenser/ice maker in the new refrigerator to a water supply. We would just never use them. Would that do any damage or affect the way the refrigerator/freezer works? Thank you.


texts: Combine two independent switches into 3-way?

texts:
Currently  I have two independently powered switches powering two lights. The dining room is a single pole switch controlling the light. The kitchen used to have two 3-way switches controlling the light prior to removing a wall. After removing the wall, I just capped the old 3 wire in the basement so the remaining 3-way switch is the only control of the light. What I'd like to do is have both existing switches turn on both lights simultaneously but I'm not sure how to (or if I can) accomplish this.

Here's a rough text diagram of the current set up

Dining room:
Feed ----- single pole switch ----- light

Kitchen:
Feed into light --3wire ---3 way switch --- 3 wire -- terminated in junction

One thing that seems odd to me is that there's a 3 wire from the light to the first (and now only) 3way switch. Let me know if this makes sense.

Thanks Dan

The black coming into the hall switch is what provides power here. I think it I tap into the red wire coming off the top of the 3way switch and a neutral, I can pass that power to the dining room light.


texts: Should I add a grease trap to a long drain run from the kitchen?

texts:
My 1955 house has a 25 foot drain run from my kitchen to my main stack (~7 feet of bends, then ~18 feet straight along a back wall).
It has clogged several times in various places, and I have had it professionally snaked as well as doing it myself.
The clogs are mainly grease - the only solids are the food bits that make it through the sink strainer.  I don't have a garbage disposal, and I've been told I shouldn't install one in this kitchen due to the drain.
The drain tech said that we could just expect to have it snaked once a year or so - his best recommendation was an enzyme product to digest the sludge in the pipes.

I'm hoping I can do better than drain cleaner products by installing a grease trap to intercept most of it before it settles in my pipes.
From what I've read, grease traps are common in the commercial/industrial/restaurant sector, but they seem to be rarely used in homes.

Is this a good idea for my kitchen?  What are the criteria for installing a grease trap?
Besides the under-sink space and periodic cleaning, what are the drawbacks?


texts:
My new rental home has a small kitchen. It also only has one outlet that is inconveniently placed half way up the wall above open air.
I have a kitchen sink that has a little bit of counter space on each side and that's the only counter space available.
The outlet resides about 1.5-2 feet from the counter space.
I currently have an extension cord running from one room over so I can plus my.microwave in. But I have an 8-month old who is on the go and it's not exactly baby proof.
I'm curious if there is any battery powered devices I can use to plug in my toaster, Keurig, microwave etc.
Any ideas??


texts: Can I replace my oil-based water heater with several electric ones?

texts:
I was looking at this question, which is somewhat related to mine but didn't give me a good answer: How to evaluate the suitability of an electric tankless water-heater

Basically, my mom's water heater tank broke this morning. It was a 40 gal oil-furnace driven tank, and the plumber says to replace it will be $2500 or something (they want to replace it with a 40gal stainless steel tank, as they say there is nothing smaller than that available). My mom lives alone (it was lucky I just happened to be here this weekend) and generally doesn't use that much water.

I was looking into alternative options and came across these things on amazon: 6gal electric water heater & 20 gal electric water heater

However, I don't really know much about these sorts of things. The house has two bathroom sinks, two showers, and one kitchen sink, although one of the showers is never used. There is also a dishwasher and a washing machine, although I don't believe she does much warm or hot washing. Generally only one source will ever be used at once. (The max would probably be a shower and the dishwasher running at the same time.)

I was sort of thinking it would be possible to put a 6gal heater at every sink/shower (5 total for $1k) and then a 20 gal in the basement hooked to the main line as a "reserve" or something. Does this make any sense? It would leave the house with 50gal of hot water (up from a 40gal tank) and cost $1000 less than a new tank. However, I don't even know if this is possible to do. Additionally, I kind of guess that it might cost more to operate than the old system. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea (or even possible) in my situation?


texts: Dimming (pulsing) lights in house can not find cause

texts:
For several years my lights have been dimming ,pulsing...not blinking but where you have to stare to see if its really doing it. Its in all rooms at times, like there is a huge draw somewhere in the service line. I have had Master electricians check it, couldn’t find it, wouldn’t charge me..and suspected the electric company Transformer on the service pole.

The Elec. Co. have found no leakage, and a few bare spots on wire to my Entrance meter box. They repaired but in 4 visits could not locate a problem that would cause this. We thought we found it several times, like a loose neutral, grounding or ground wire. Fixed or repaired with no difference. The main breaker on the service entrance pole was 50 years old and rusted. Mice and ground was not attached to anything anymore! Thought that was it for sure! Nope. Replaced the box and meter all circuits do it at times you can see it in lights.

Am I right in concluding its before the house panel? Most guess that when the transformer blows and NYSEG replaces it my problem will stop, NYSEG says it won’t replace what isn’t obviously bad even though its over 40 years old.


texts: Why do single electrical receptacles exist?

texts:
Given that the following are true.

They are the same size.
They take the same amount of work to install.
Doubles are twice as useful.
Double adapters are a thing.

Why do single electrical receptacles even exist? I was looking at the plans for a house and some of the power points were specified to be singles. Is it a code/standards compliance issue? It can't be to make a house $2 cheaper, they wouldn't be worth manufacturing if that were the case.

Someone edited this to say "Receptacles". I assume that's an Americanism?
Sounds very odd to me.

Standard Australian power points. They're the same size, fit in the same hole, and have the socket in almost the same point. I've seen singles mostly in older houses. I thought maybe doubles used to be more expensive, or maybe they just ran out and put a single in. But then I saw the building's wiring overlay and somebody decided - in the planning stage - that for some reason that point needed to be a single. I know it's of no real importance, but this has been bugging me for years. This is just an average room in an average suburban house. No basement pump. (Cultural note: Australian houses don't have basements. Until recently, we tended to spread out horizontally, not vertically.) There's nothing that would be damaged if the power failed. Except the fridge, and I've never seen a fridge with it's own circuit.

We live in a world where these exist. So if single power points are supposed to be the solution to stop people plugging in two devices, someone should rethink that.


texts: Is sparking in the motor of my drill a concern?

texts: There is a slight sparkling in my drill. What could be the reason? I received a product and checked for first time by plugging it into the socket. I wonder whether it is common or a serious problem.


texts: Wiring for smart ceiling fan with AC adapter

texts:
I have a Carro smart ceiling fan with a light and remote with two wall switches. The wiring from the ceiling is red, black, white and ground; there is an AC adapter pack plug in from the fan as well as a black and white wire only.
Where does the red wire from the ceiling go on the wires to the fan?
Can I put the red, and black from the celing together on the black from the fan? Or red from the celing on the black from the fan and cap the black from the celing?


texts: How can I make the radiator heat my room more efficiently?

texts:
In my room at Uni my radiator gets really, really hot, yet the room stays pretty cold.

Is there anything I can do to make it more efficient without losing my deposit?


texts: How to permanently get rid of light fixture?

texts:
I'm renovating a bathroom, and there is one light fixture that I'd like to permanently remove. I know that I can't leave the junction box in the wall once the fixture is gone, but I have two related questions:

1) What is the best way to make it safe to drywall over the hole once the junction box is out?

2) How do I deal with the wires that are no longer needed for that fixture? Unfortunately, there is another light fixture that turns on with the same switch.

I'd really like to avoid having a cover since this is right at eye level.

Edit to include photos of what's currently in the wall.


texts: why does my garage door sensor only work when i stand near it?

texts:
Here is a video showing this phenomena.

The sensor quits blinking as i get close to it.

Why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEvaifuUys0


texts: How to reinstall iron stair railing in concrete that rusted out at the base?

texts:
So one day some time ago our iron stair railing going from the sidewalk to the stoop rusted through at the base of the posts and fell right over. I had a welder friend cut off the rusted portion and add a new section of 1" stock to both posts.

Now I need to figure out how to reinstall the railing. The existing holes are 1-1/2" to 1-3/4"  wide at the top, but taper down. One hole is cleaned out to about 2", and the other to 1", the rest of the hole being filled with concrete and iron. From some research it seems a 2" wide and 4" deep hole should be secure enough, which I can then install the railing in, and fill with anchoring cement.

So my question is how do I enlarge and deepen the holes? Research seems to indicate a 2" core drill would be the best solution, but how would I keep the bit from jumping all over the place, especially considering I'm overlapping an existing hole? The bottom hole is only 2" from one edge and 3" from the other, so if possible I'd want to shift the center of the hole so I don't get any close to the edge.


texts:
When I was pulling my kindle from wall outlet the metal plate hit metal on the connector to the kindle. Metal on metal and their was a spark. I had an Electrician come over and he noticed 3 outlets that were mostly likely on the same grid that were not working. He changed out the outlet and put a ceramic rather than metal cover.  Then he turned the tripped breaker from off to on.  I don't know why I did not check to see if the 3 outlets worked.

I plugged my phone to charge into the newly fixed outlet and by morning my battery was dead and I checked all 3 outlets by plugging a lamp and no light. So what next?

I would appreciate any information.


texts: Is it ok to use cable with a distorted sheath?

texts:
I’ve been doing wiring with nmd90 14/2. At one point I noticed a small section of the wire (more specific, then outer sheath) is somewhat distorted. At first I thought it might have been just how I pulled. No as I continue to string more wire I’m seeing it more often.
I went to the spool to check wire that I had not yet pulled, and see that the sheath is like this right from the spool. I’m half way through a 250’ spool and as I work, I start questioning if there are safety concern.
Attached is a picture, although somewhat hard to see. It’s like the outer sheath isn’t formed around the wires. Other than that, the sheath is normal. It looks like this distortion is about every 10 to 15 feet.
Should this be something to worry about?


texts: How can I protect my hardwood floors without sanding and refinishing?

texts:
At some point, I do plan to sand down my hardwood floors and refinish them in my 100 year old home.

However, It's a 100 year old home. There is no subfloor, the hardwood is installed right on the floor joists. The finish has chipped off in places, has been gouged (not just a little bit) in other places, it's worn through the existing finish, and needs some repairs throughout the first floor. Additionally, there is a big sagging section where some floor joists have cracked (which I intend to repair before attempting to fully sand and refinish the floor).

Until I have time to fully address the repairs to floor joists to eliminate the worst sag in the floor and move all my furniture out, is there a temporary solution to covering up the damaged bits and protect the bare wood sections from water damage and high traffic?

Can I simply apply a topcoat of varnish that matches the color of the existing flooring or a shade darker?


texts: What is this open pipe below the basement floor?

texts:
We are doing our basement floor, and when we removed the old carpet I found the box depicted in the picture. The main pipe is clearly the main drain going to the sewer, so no worries there. But there is this other opened vertical pipe at the bottom of the pit (upper left on the picture), which I cannot imagine what it is good for; any hints?

(there is also this other pipe that seems to drain into the box, but as far as I can tell it is not connected to any actual drain in the house)


texts: What is the service wire sizing based off of on a temporay power pole?

texts:
I know how to use the wire sizing tables, but I'm unclear on how to size wire before a breaker, and when the panel has no main breaker.

For example, If I have a temp power service panel that is rated for 125 amps, and does not have a master breaker, and has 6 breaker slots, and I plan to install one 20 amp and one 30 amp breaker, do I size the service entrance wire (from weather head to meter to panel) based on:

a. 50 Amps, the sum of the intended number of breakers
b. 125 Amps, because that is what the panel is rated for
c. Some other calculation?

I've been reading through the NEC on service entrances, and the sizing recommendations are for things like schools, hospitals, houses, farms, etc, but doesn't (at least that I can find) clearly state the service wire sizing rules for a temp pole. Normally you would base this off of the main breaker size, but since temp poles don't have main breakers is it the sum of all breakers, or the max rating of the bus?

Does anyone know what code section covers this?


texts: What could be considered, stain or paint, to put on top of a varnished surface? I'm not sure if simply painting over varnish would keep the paint well, I don't want it peeled off. Basically I have a small piece of veneered furniture, previously it was sanded and varnished, however the result does not look that good, and I simply would like to re-paint/re-stain in order to cover some defects.


texts: Can I upgrade my garage to 20amp service without a headache?

texts:
I have an unfinished garage which I am looking to upgrade the service to.

Currently it is 15amps running through some difficult to access sub-ground conduit, but if I run the band saw plus the vacuum and lights, the breaker trips. I'm not very familiar with Canadian electrical code, but I am guessing that the main wire picture below is probably 14/3, and I can't imagine you would run more than 15 amps on that?

Snaking/Fishing a new wire might prove to be very difficult as there are several 90 degree bends, and the entire line is behind drywall up to the box. Is there any hope here or am I doomed to shell out some serious cash to get the work done?

Here a photo of where the main wire runs in (the largest of the 3)


texts: Gas fireplace shuts off after a few minutes

texts:
Background: Heat & Glo Escape 42DV natural gas fireplace shuts off after 2-3 minutes.  Will not relight immediately following shut down.  After an hour or so, it will relight and then extinguish again after the same 2-3 minutes.  The pilot light works fine, sparking and then lighting with each attempt.  Symptoms are exactly the same whether the glass is installed or removed.  Over the course of a month+ of troubleshooting, the fireplace has lit and stayed lit for a few hours (until I turned it off) just twice.  The other ~30 times, it behaves as described above.  We've owned the home for a year and the issue has been persistent the entire time.

Troubleshooting already completed:

Gas line from valve to main burners cleared out with air compressor
IPI (ignition/thermocouple/pilot light) assembly replaced
Control module replaced
Gas valve replaced.  The replacement valve came with a manual rheostat for high-low which can be removed and replaced with the electronic rheostat that presumably gets it's signal from the wall-mounted control panel switch for high or low.  I attempted using the manual rheostat first before replacing it with the electronic one, but the symptoms remained exactly the same.

I'm running out of ideas.  My next guess would be the gas line itself has low pressure (we're at 7,000 foot altitude, so it's supposed to be higher). I have another fireplace in the basement and it has no issues starting or remaining lit....though the flames don't look particularly big and bright orange.  There are no other 'low pressure' indications in the home (furnaces, water heaters and kitchen burners work great).  I have not measured the pressure at the valve as I don't currently own the proper equipment.

Anybody got any idea of where I should look next?

Thanks in advance.


texts: How can I muffle a speaker on a small TV?

texts:
I need background noise when I work and I often use a small TV in my study, either playing DVDs of old TV shows or tuned to a nostalgia channel.  I don't want sound to be too loud, though.
I recently bought a 7" TV that I can easily tuck out of the way, so I can still see the images once in a while, like I prefer, but it doesn't take up much space anywhere.  The only problem is that, for some videos and some channels, the minimum volume is still rather loud.  There's one channel I can have on that, with the volume set to 1, I can hear in surrounding rooms with the doors closed.
The speaker is on the back of the TV and is about 2" tall by 1" to 1.5" wide.  I used duct tape to tape some heavy cardboard over the speaker.  That helped, but not by much.  I can touch a spot, over the speaker, where I can press on the duct tape and cardboard just a little and it significantly muffles the sound.  I broke off about 2" off the end of two pencils and taped them down over the duct tape and cardboard covering, in hopes the stiffer pencils might hold down vibration, but it doesn't help much.
I've thought of trying to tape over something padded or a quilted fabric, but I don't have anything I can cut up.
What could I easily put together or use to tape over the speaker grill on the back of this small TV that would do a good job of muffling the speaker sound without fuzzing or distorting the sound?


texts: How to improve insulation in a single room

texts:
I would like to stabilize the temperature in our nursery.  Currently we need to overheat/cool the rest of the house (using central forced-air heating and cooling) to maintain our desired temperature in a single room.  The room is on a southwest-facing corner on the top floor and has two large windows on the exterior walls.  We are located in a very temporate region, where the highs in the summer are rarely above 85f and the overnight lows in the winter almost never get below 40, and we do not have much humidity in the summer (Zone 3, near the coast).
Currently the windows are aluminum double pane, but the seals on the panes have "blown out" and air can move between them.  Otherwise they are in good shape and there are no obvious cracks or drafts.  There is no insulation in the walls, and there is 4" of paper-backed fiberglass batt with some gaps in the attic above.  The building is modern construction (1994) but has very little insulation due to our locally moderate climate.
My first step will be to rearrange the attic insulation to eliminate the gaps and caulk/foam any gaps around the ceiling fixture box.
My question is, after that, where will I get the most bang for my buck?  Should I install new windows, blow cellulose insulation into the exterior walls, or add another layer of batting in the attic?  Will any one of these help without doing the others?  Am I wasting time trying to improve one room without looking at the rest of the house?
I also have access to a thermal imaging camera if that will help make this decision.
I found a few related questions, but none of them directly address my situation (single room, willing to do moderate improvement projects.)
Most efficient way to improve my house's heating
Most bang for buck approach to insulating home
Insulating my Room for the Winter?


texts: Retaining wall back fill/base rock and pool base rock

texts:
I am installing bevelled retaining wall blocks, 17 inched long, 6 inches high and 12 inches deep.

Trying ti understand material to order.. can i use the same base rock that I use for the back fill? What type of rock shoukd be used. I have a lot of river rock from french drain i wanted to back fill wall with.

I am also looking to put rock tamped as a 4 inch base for pool with foam pad (24ft by 52inches intex) Was hoping to use all the same rock, to get one order... or at least same rock to use for pool base, but not sure of the types to use for each.

This is a dug out on slope for pool, and retaining wall is going around inside wall for pool.

https://imageshack.com/i/pnOhoQpRj


texts:
I have a GFCI in the garage. There are several outlets downstream of it, most of which are outside, with covers on. Despite the covers, sometimes the rain can get in and trip the GFCI. Strangely enough, this pattern only happens in the summer. It rains in the winter too, so why is my GFCI not tripping when it rains heavily in the winter?
The circuit normally has two fridges connected directly to the GFCI, and a computer downstream, and nothing else. In the summer, once it trips for whatever reason, even removing everything else from the circuit, it will still trip afterwards. This is how I found that moisture could get into the outlets outside. Yes, fridges work hard in the summer, but the GFCI still trips with nothing on the circuit.
Note: The coil on the fridge (hot part) is facing the GFCI about a foot away.
I get that fridge compressors can trip the GFCI. I get the moisture tripping the GFCI with nothing else on the circuit. But why is the summer season a factor?
Edit Aug16 2020: I found the source of the tripping. I found a mystery box on a wall with a blank plate and a vertical PVC pipe running into the ground. The pipe had broken, allowing rainwater to get in. Although the wiring is insulated, there might be a knick in the romex further down, or some underground junction. It is possible that the heat difference between outside/underground caused some condensation to form somewhere bad. I prevented large droplets from being able to get in the gap, and the tripping has largely stopped.
I was also confused by the color of the visible wiring, as the sun caused the yellow wiring jacket, used elsewhere on the garage circuit, had faded and appeared white, making me think it was an unrelated circuit.


texts:
I currently have a toe touch drain stopper installed (see first photo), and would like to replace it with a twist stopper (see second photo).

The screw on the bottom of the toe touch stopper is stuck in the drain, and I'm assuming it's supposed to come out with the stopper.

Any idea how to remove the screw and install the new twist stopper?


texts: How should I secure stops against clear acrylic sheet in a half wall?

texts:
I just built a half wall (sort of) with acrylic sheet in my basement to partition my server equipment from my woodworking area to keep my electronics more sawdust free. The top half of the wall is a piece of acrylic that sits in a groove in the top and right studs. I have some leftover pine board that I want to use to frame around the inside edges of the acrylic.

How would I go about securing the pine board to each other on either side of the acrylic? I want to do this so it takes the bow out of the acrylic. I was thinking a screw with a wingnut on the opposite side of the acrylic. Also, any other ideas for finishing this wall?


texts:
Struggling to identify the make and model of my shower which needs a new cartridge.

Distinctive feature is that pipes extend out of the wall and have a blanking plate at the front, with pipes then coming off these into the mixer. This is unlike most others I have seen.

This was in the house when we moved in, going back about 10 years now. Judging by the rest of the bathroom, it won't be a premium brand.