texts:
I'm looking to replace a light switch but the terminals are labeled differently to my existing one and i'm wondering if anyone can offer advice.

My current switch looks as follows with two wires going into a COM terminal and one into an L1 terminal:

and the switch i'm looking to install has the following terminals:

Thanks in advance!


texts: How can I reduce an 8" duct to 4" in a short distance?

texts: I currently have my kitchen cabinet that a Trades-Wind vent motor is being placed inside.  The opening is 8" for the vent.  My cabinet is not tall enough to allow for ducting to go from the 8" to a 6" to a 4" (the 4" is the diameter of the piping that is up in the ceiling and going outside) so that I don't see the piping coming out from my cabinet.  Is there some way to cut down on the total height of the piping so that the 8" vent can match to the 4" vent and not be seen when standing in the another room?  My cabinets do not come all the way to the ceilings.


texts:
What are your drywall/cement board/framing flatness tolerances for tile supporting walls?
I am rebuilding half of a frame and it is a challenge to bring all the studs in the same plane. I do know about the tricks used to straighten studs but I am thinking there must be some tolerances in this respect
Update:
this is related to this thread.
Can I use corner brackets to rebuild a wall frame that has the horizontal 2x4s extended in an adjacent room?
I build my second half of the frame and now I am trying to align it with the existing and it seems to be complex since the top and the bottom plate could be aligned using a long level as straight edge but then studs might not be in the same plan with the other half that is already there.
I am using a vertical laser and double checking with the 8' straight edge-level
Update2:
this guy is doing it using thinset. Is this normal? (you can call this floating the cement board I guess)
https://youtu.be/Fls1asNV9ug?t=1141
Update3: this guy is floating the tiles instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tZrczG_H_U&ab_channel=VancouverCarpenter


texts: How to fix two circuits in one junction box sharing the same neutral?

texts:
I recently purchased an older house and in doing renovations have run into a situation where two circuits (wired with 14/2) are present in one junction box and all neutrals are tied together.  I understand that this was an accepted practice at some point but no longer code compliant for obvious reasons.  My question is how do I rectify the situation without tearing the house apart.

My research suggests that I can replace the two existing 15 amp breakers with a new two pole 15 amp breaker.  However I'm unsure as to how this should be wired into the box.  The two pole breakers that I have been able to find all have just one connection for a neutral as they are produced assuming the use of 3 wire in a new application.  In my case, there are two neutrals needing to tie into the breaker.  Would it be correct and code compliant to tie the two neutrals together within the panel box and then pigtail to the new two pole breaker?


texts: Need help with electrical wiring for lights

texts:
I disconnected my basement light wire by accident. In my spare room upstairs I had no light. I had this wall switch which controlled the receptacle instead. I decided to install a ceiling light using the same switch. I removed the receptacle and cut the wire not realizing that the wire was attached to the basement wire as well. Source wire was coming down from the ceiling which was attached to the basement wire as well as the receptacle. I pulled the source wire back up from the ceiling and installed the light using the switch loop configuration down below. Spare room light works great.

Now I have the basement wire sticking out of the receptacle hole. Below are the pictures. My question is how do I attach the basement light wire back to the same source? Should I install a junction box in the ceiling and throw a wire from the ceiling to extend the current basement wire?


texts: How to Disconnect these Electrical Connectors?

texts: How do I disconnect the white electrical connectors? Is there a trick to it or do I simply pull firmly? I don't want to break it. Is there a tab that needs to be pressed? (The appliance is unplugged. It's safe to service.)


texts:
what is the best way to repair this?
the joist is about 24" apart here. what is the best way to add a piece of plank and support it from the joist?


texts: 2004 conventional water heater in garage

texts: Our water heater has large rusted area (2"x3") located a inch or two up from bottom. How can we tell if we should change it? This is a 2004 conventional water heater


texts: Clear wood finish with minimal color/sheen change?

texts:
I often use a poly to finish my wood projects. It helps the grain pop, adds a bit of depth and even with a satin finish, you get a bit of 'sparkle' which always looks great.

But I now have a project where I'm using some reclaimed, weathered, distressed wood and I'd actually like to preserve the flat, muted look, yet still protect it (as it will be a table).

I've read one option is to go ahead with the poly, and then buff it with 0000 steel wool to knock back the sheen. That's an option, but I worry that will still darken the colors more than I'd like.

What types of clear finishes should I consider that would minimally change the look of the wood as it is now unfinished?


texts: I want to match the existing radius on my stairs trim, but I'm unsure what size rounding over bit I need to get. I measured the arc of the radius the best I could with a flexible tape measure and it's about 9/16". I did the math and that equates to a 0.6" radius, which is close to 5/8". Perhaps I'm not measuring correctly. Is there a common radius for 3/4" board?


texts: Viessmann Vitodens 200w, LCD screen stuck on

texts:
We have a Viessmann Vitodens 200w boiler and the screen on the weather compensating control unit (Vitotronic 200 Weather Comp Kit HO1) is stuck with everything lit up.

I can’t find anything in the manual about why this is, no combinations of buttons have helped, and the old off and on again trick does not fix it. The manufacturers help line won’t deal with me because the boiler is out of warranty and I’m not a licensed plumber.

Update based on comments.
Pulling the fuse / circuit breaker, and indeed a local area power cut affecting 400 houses turned the boiler off, but when it came back on it was still the same. We can't be 100% sure why it wen like this, but my father in law thinks he pressed the briefcase and plus buttons at the same time and entered a test mode. But I can't find any mention of it.

Update 2
We've had various issues with the Boiler, with parts being replaced. Its had a new mainboard, new pump and new valve, but the control panel worked fine since those were installed. The Boiler is doing hot water fine, heating to radiators is underwhelming, but waiting on a pipe service, I think that is unrelated? Pressure in boiler seems fine.

How can I get it back to normal operation?


texts: How to cover old Red Dot outdoor outlet for constant use?

texts:
Here's the current outlet.
I need to leave a cable connected constantly.
Is there a snap-on cover for this type of thing?
(Can I gaff tape a quart baggie over it?)
tia...


texts: Ikea Maximera in other cabinet; exact dimensions?

texts:
I’d like to use IKEA Maximera drawers a cabinet in my current (non-IKEA) kitchen. Without just buying them and hoping for a fit, I’m wondering how precise my cabinet needs to be to match for it to hope to work.

To be more specific, IKEA has the following data:

Width: 36.4 cm
Frame, width: 40.0 cm
Depth: 54.2 cm
Height: 7.8 cm
Frame, depth: 60.0 cm

Whereas my cabinet is 39.5cm wide and 59cm deep. Am I out of luck or are the IKEA dimensions slightly conservative?


texts: Is a shop-vac adequate for discarding the greenish water on top of the pool cover?

texts:
My pool has the winter cover on. The water underneath, I am hoping, is clean. But the water on top of the cover is quite dirty.

What kind of pump should I use for discarding this water before opening the pool? I've seen some "wet/dry shop vac" type of pumps at local stores. Is any of these adequate? Will they fail if a few leaves enter along with the water?

It would be nice to have that pump double as garage sweeper (pour water, vacuum the water with the dirt from the garage floor), and so it would be nice if a shop-vac will fit the bill.

Another option is to use the winterizing pump, which I don't have. Though I may get it if I gather the courage to winterize myself. When winterizing the pool, a fairly strong pump is needed to clear water from the pipes, and I'm assuming that such a pump could also see double-use to vacuum the spring-time dirty water, but I'm not sure if using such a pump on the polluted water would make it contaminate the pool before winterizing.


texts: Why is my toilet bubbling when other fixtures drain?

texts:
After having septic pumped out, main line professionally augered  and installed a new efficient toilet, water in toilet still bubbles when other drains empty. When laundry water drained, some came up in bathtub. All drains have also been treated with CLR, draining etc. Roof vent has also been checked, and treated for clogs. Septic pump has also been checked, and is working fine.

What could it possibly be now. December has been a very expensive month trying to rectify These problems.


texts: Is it ok to feed a light from a partially-switched outlet?

texts:
I have a switched plug (Half hot duplex receptacle).
top plug is hot all the time and bottom plug is switched and is hot when switch is on.
is against the code is I wire a light from switched part of the duplex?
So I can use the switch to turn on and of the light.,


texts: Light switch with one red and two black wires. Dont think it's a three way

texts:
I've been steadily replacing switches in my house with zwave ones. The other day I opened this guy up and found a red wire wired to the top of the switch, a black wire at the bottom and another black wire wrapped around the bottom screw. I am pretty sure this is not a three way switch but it is sitting in a room with a ceiling fan and the fan does not have a switch of its own. Just a remote. So I suspect this red wire has something to do with the fan.

Now of course I could just wire the wave switch the same way with the addition of a neutral wire (the ge wave switch requires it) but I'd like to better understand what's going on here. I'm pretty new at switches so does anyone have any idea what's going on here?


texts: When I turn on my light switch, there is a delay before the light comes on

texts: We have a ceiling fan light.  One swith controls the fan, the other the light.  When I turn on the light switch, there is a noticable delay (like a full second) before the light comes on.  Is it a wiring issue?  I notice no blinking, no other problems, just the delay.


texts: Dishwasher drain line goes from the bottom of the counter and up to the airgap...will this get clogged easily?

texts:
I'm concerned that the typical drain hose installation of my dishwasher is susceptible to food particles getting stuck (due to gravity) in the bottom part of the drain line between the dishwasher and the air gap.

To conserve water, people suggest that you just scrape off as much food as possible from the dishes so that you don't have to rinse your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher.

However, I'm afraid that little food particles will get through and get stuck in the drain somehow.

I see that inside the dishwasher tub, on the bottom. there is actually a couple of filters.  But I'm still concerned that bits may get through and eventually sit at the bottom of the hose.

Should I be concerned?  If so, then I guess I'm relegated to rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher.


texts: Sound of water flowing through pipes at main but not flowing at taps

texts: I've been told by a plumber we have a frozen pipe that runs from our main water supply at the street to our main water valves inside our building. The pipes from the main supply outside to our valves inside are underground, below our main floor, in concrete. I hear strong flowing water in the pipes at the main valves inside.  We have two water mains.  We only have a trickle of cold water at a few faucets.  No hot water flow (meaning no water at all when the hot water faucet is turned on).  Toilets won't flush. There are no frozen pipes inside the building.  Any opinion if this is actually a frozen pipe leading from the main water supply outside to our main valves inside or if it's a different issue?  We had the main water supply checked by the water company at the street where our line make way into our building and it's fine. I'm wondering why I can hear water flowing through the pipes at the main valves inside but we don't have water.  Thank you for any advice! We've been closed for 8 days and we've been told to "wait it out" until the temperature increases above freezing which it has for the past 2 days.


texts: Will filling gaps with epoxy in a new hardwood floor look ok?

texts: I installed a floor made from locally produced, 3 1/4" hard maple. There are a few gaps under 1/16th of an inch that I don't like. I normally buy the best product for the application, but the stores will be closed tomorrow. What I do have access to is epoxy. Most wood fillers are a two part epoxy anyways. One video shows epoxy mixed with sawdust to fill knots and cracks. Gaps seem a little different, though. Will mixing up a thick sawdust-epoxy paste be a definite, long term, aesthetic improvement? The floor isn't sanded or finished yet.


texts: How do I clean reclaimed wood from construction?

texts:
I'm building a house (brick, cement and concrete) and I have a big pile of wood used for beam and pillar molds.

How can I properly clean cement off wood? I think it should be very damaging to blades in general (planer, table saw, etc), and sanding it out wouldn't be very effective.


texts: Looking for a part: I want to put a vertical hinge onto a standing pipe

texts:
I would like to attach some kind of pivoting hinge onto a 1/2" - 3/4" metal pipe (e.g. galvanized or cast-iron):

Something almost like this but instead of bolting onto a flat surface, it clamps onto a pipe.

Suggestions or helpful things to google are all welcome


texts:
I'm trying to figure out why my hallway was wired in such as strange fashion:

I have two hallway lights and three switches.  Switches 1 and 2 appear to be 3-way switches; if they are both ON or OFF, light 1 is on.

Switch 3 appears to control Light 2  if and only if Light 1 is ON, otherwise it has no effect.

The wires in the junction box for Switch 3 are illustrated below.

When Light 1 is on:
When Switch 3 is OFF,  Terminal 2 = 120V, T1=0v.
When Switch 3 is ON, T2= 120V, T2=120v

Things get confusing when light 1 is off:
When Switch 3 is off, the voltage at Terminal 2 is about 12 (not 120), and when Switch 3 is on, it is about 2.

My guess is that the bottom of Switch 3 leads to Light 2, and that the top left of the box for Switch 3 is the return, while top right goes to Light 2.

Is this plausible? Correct? Common?


texts: How to remove milk smell from hardwood floor?

texts:
I spilled a bowl of cereal on my hardwood floor.  Now the whole room smells like sour milk.  Tried mopping with H2Orange and water a couple hours ago, but it still smells.  There are a couple of forum posts online that recommend vinegar, peroxide (H2O2), and scrubbing with hot soapy water but there didn't seem to be any feedback to say what worked and what didn't.

Has anyone had this problem before and know the right way to get rid of the smell?

UPDATE: So far I've tried mopping with H2Orange, mopping with Pinesol, scrubbing with baking soda and wiping up afterward with cleaner, and scrubbing with vinegar and water. The vinegar was the worst, because then it just smelled like spoiled milk with vinegar in it. I'm currently trying Old English oil, it's similar to Murphy's Oil Soap. Any other suggestions are kindly welcomed, I'm about to give up hope.


texts:
I have an air vent in a wall in one of my downstairs rooms. Behind the vent is a Studor vent. On the other side of the wall is a small bathroom.

About a year ago this room started having a smell like the one that occurs if no one has been living in a house for sometime, but more acute. I've tracked it with my nose to this vent.

Any ideas what it might be? I don't think it smells musty... It's like someone ground up drywall.


texts: Is slate tile suitable for exterior flooring in a colder climate?

texts:
My brother-in-law lives in Northern Alberta, Canada, and is thinking about putting slate tiling down on the front deck.  However, he's getting conflicting opinions, one place is saying that it will expand/contract too much in the cold climate, another is saying that it should be fine.

I've done some Internet searches and really haven't found much, but did run across one person saying that most of the problems are likely due to water incursion, so sealing it well and re-checking it every year should do the trick.  There are also recommendations for "Ditra" or "Mapei" and then the thinset, and making sure there are no thinset voids behind the tiles.

Temperatures in the winter can get down to -20, so it is a bit chilly in the winter.  The base is 3/8" plywood over waferboard on top of joists.  There is a roof over it, but when it's snowy there will be some snow tracked onto it.


texts: How should I run CAT6 wiring from one side of my house to the other?

texts:
I want to run CAT6 wire through my house, from the wired west wall to the east end of the house, and I would like to do so as cheaply as possible.  I do have an inside storage space under the living room, but I have failed at fishing wire through this space.

I now wonder if I can get away with attic installation. We have fiberglass insulation in that space, so I am wondering if I should run the cable through piping. Can anyone recommend the size of piping I should use? Would I be better off using copper tubing than PVC (PVC is so much cheaper).


texts: Are there any issues with having a garage and a washer on the same circuit?

texts:
Background
My project this weekend is to get my garage repowered so my tenant
will be able to plug his car in during the winter months. When I
bought my house it was recently renovated by house flippers who made the
basement into a suite and I suspect they used the circuit that was
going to the garage to power the new bathroom's lights/fan.
The Problem
The circuit to the garage has no power and I have a few options to connect it up but I'm not sure if the easiest option is bad.

Proposed solution
It looks like the there used to be a light fixture immediately outside of what is now the basement bathroom's door. The only other thing on the circuit is the washing machine. (Not the dryer it has it's own circuit) I am thinking I simply connect this wire to my garage wire and presto my garage has power. As a bonus, my garage circuit has a switch in the laundry room so if there is an issue with having both on, one could easily switch off the garage and do their laundry.

Question
Is this a bad idea? Could putting both on the same circuit lead to damaging something or safety issues?
Solution
It turned out the "hard" solution wasn't that hard at all. I added a 15amp circuit breaker to the panel and ran a new 14/2 cable to the switch. Easy peasy.


texts: Is the wire gauge the same for solid and stranded wire? I need to check the wire gauge of some stranded wire. Can I use standard wire strippers to check the  gauge of stranded wire?


texts: Can a portable generator power multiple circuits in a house?

texts:
I'm considering getting a large portable generator to help power our house during rolling brown outs and local electric public shutoffs from our power company.
I'm curious though. Can a solution like this, connected to a transfer switch or interlock device be used to distribute power across multiple circuits? Or should I only plan for the portable generator to power one circuit?
The specific generator I'm looking at has the following outlets:

120V 20A GFCI Outlet (4X)
120V 30A Twist Lock (1X)
120/240V 30A Twist Lock (1X)
120/240V 50A Heavy Duty Outlet (1X)


texts: Why would my two-pole arc-fault breaker trip when motors are used on other circuits?

texts:
I have a two-pole arc fault breaker that is on its own. It’s used for a bedroom with one circuit used for a plug in wall heater. The other circuit is for the remaining outlets and lights in the room.

I get intermittent tripping of the arch fault breaker when the garbage disposal, which is on a completely different circuit, is on or an electric saw is plugged into an exterior outlet. Why would a separate circuit trip the arc fault?

My solution was to put both bedroom circuits under a single pole arch fault breaker. Did I not use the two pole arc fault breaker correctly?

Thanks.


texts: Run additional breaker to detached garage

texts: I have a detached garage about 40' from my house. There is already an electrical panel out there but I run my business out there and use a decent amount of electricity. There is only one 120 breaker in the house on the main panel for it and lately the breakers keep tripping. Is the best way to fix this to have someone run more power from the house? Any advice on how to go about this? Rough cost estimates? Any advice or information would be extremely appreciated.


texts: Overloaded circuit on ungrounded outlets

texts:
So I've stumped/annoyed most of the internet with this one.  I hope there might be someone who can point me in a different direction..

I have a house built in 55 with ungrounded outlets. A space heater overloaded one and now I have no power coming from the circuit that supplies them. It's a mwbc. I have two.. one supplies the lights and the other, the outlets.  I was told that the neutrals from the two separate mwbc's shouldn't be connected (but they are).  I know this because when I switch the "lights" breaker on, I get a little bit of electricity going thru all the outlets (enough to power an led bulb but nothing else). Or maybe whatever happened caused them to come into contact.

I should also mention that one leg of the "lights" circuit seems to be working fine (utility room and kitchen) but the other leg can only power led bulbs as well. Most have said this is an open neutral but I don't have erratic voltage like most cases I've read about.  It's as if there's just nothing going to the outlets at all (I tested 120 coming from all the breakers,btw)

The poco came out and checked their stuff and I checked all the wiring at the switches,fixtures,and receptacles, and the neutrals look fine at the panel. The space heater wasn't on the first outlet in the circuit either.

I'm the type of person that if I see it I can fix it but for all I know there could be a hidden junction box (nothing in the attic though).

The only other thing that sticks out is that when it first happened, there still seemed to be enough electricity running through the outlets to cycle everything that was plugged in at the time. Of course, the first thing I did was unplug everything (breaker wasn't tripped but I reset and eventually replaced it).  After that the outlets could only make a small fan groan a little.


texts: How to wire a new Honeywell RTF6580WF thermostat to replace a Chronotherm IV?

texts:
I have an old Honeywell Chronotherm IV thermostat that I am trying to replace with a Honeywell RTF6580WF wifi thermostat. I have a gas furnace and an air conditioner.

Wiring for Chronotherm IV (wires in all terminals but R):

D G B Y W RC R (with wire in RC and jumper from RC to R)

Note that the 'D' terminal above may actually be an 'O' -- it's not clearly marked.

RTF6580WF wiring:

K Y2 W2 G W C Y R Rc (with R-Rc jumper)

I'm not sure what to do with the old D wire (which might actually be a letter 'O' but its very hard to read) and the B wire, and I don't know which one is my C wire on the old thermostat. I know I need a C wire.


texts: Squealing faucet (water off, not necessarily running anywhere in house)

texts:
We have one faucet that emits a horrible, high pitched, squealing noise.  When it does this, the water at the faucet is off and there are no drips (sink is completely dry;  no drips in an hour+).

Tends to happen in late afternoon and throughout the night.

If the faucet is left to drip at the slowest possible rate, the squealing noise stops entirely.

My uneducated guess is that air is building up at the faucet and water pressure is driving the air out of the faucet, which happens to squeal when it does so.  Since it seems to happen when the air temperature -- and pipe temperature (over the roof piping that is insulated, but still gets cold overnight) -- drops, I'm not sure why that would cause it to be worse and not improve.

Unless it is sucking air in through the faucet?!


texts: Water based concrete paint peeling and cracking. What to do?

texts:
My indoor walls are concrete. I've painted one room with a water-based paint. Now 12 hours later it's cracking and peeling. I think it's because two thick layers were added without proper drying in-between.

For info, prior to painting only one layer of original paint was on the wall and a primer was applied first and properly dried, so the wall was pretty much clean before the real paint job started.

What do I do now? Do I have to scrape the entire wall prior to paining again, or is there some easier solution? I'm assuming painting it over again will only make it worse.


texts: GFCI - Open Neutral on newer one versus Open Ground on older one

texts:
Background: We are having extensive home renovations done.
The kitchen has been remodeled with new GFCI outlets installed.
A Prime Products Polarity Check device indicates there is correct polarity.  When the outlet is tested the Polarity Check indicates an Open Ground.  When I test the outlet with a voltmeter there is little  voltage (less than 1 volt) between the hot and neutral or the hot and ground, which I think is correct since I'm using a high impedance voltmeter.

Here's what I'm trying to understand: During the last couple of  weeks the outside  contractors had a couple of compressors running, one from the outlet in my garage and another from the back of the house.  They lost power on both but no circuit breakers were tripped.  The GFCI outlet in the bathroom that has not been remodeled (house was built in the mid-1980s) was tripped.  I have attached a picture of that one.   When I reset it, power was restored to the outlets I mentioned.  However when I tested it while the power was lost, the polarity check indicated and Open Ground (no lights).  I didn't think too much of it then.  I didn't test it with a voltmeter then.

I just went back to look further into  the bathroom GFCI outlet's behavior.  After I push the Test button I measure little or no voltage between the hot and neutral.  However there was 120 volts between hot and ground.
Does this make sense?

It seems to me that a GFCI outlet should disconnect power when a ground fault is sensed.
Please let me know what you think about this.
Thanks in advance.
Jim


texts:
anyone have an idea about this ?

My furnace fan is running 24/7 and make no special sound.

But when the heat turn on the fan start vibrating and making noise in the house. If I remove the panel (allowing lots of air in) the fan stop shaking.

Yes the air filter was changed :)

The furnace is a Notron by Broan 21B25M.

Help would be very nice :)

Thank you


texts: What metal conduit takes a 1-5/8" dia. knockout?

texts:
I have a junction box with a knockout that is 1-5/8" diameter.  (it was homebrewed, possibly in 1929).

Would this be suggestive of a particular type of conduit? It will definitely be metal conduit.

Related, I need to make a sharp turn out of that, turning 90 degrees in about 5". Is there a way to do that? I do have access to one side, but it's rather awkward so I'd like to avoid a conduit body.


texts:
I'm installing a light fixture in my dining room and there is an existing wall box just below where I want to put the light switch. I'm assuming this old box also contained a switch. I was going to run the lines from the existing box through my switch and to the light. However, when I opened it up and pulled everything out, I was surprised to see that both black wires had been capped but the whites and grounds are still tied together.

Does anyone know why the two hots would be capped and not tied together like the others?


texts:
I have a Nest 3G, I'm now considering to change my boiler due to age-related issues. Can someone tell me if I can connect the Heat-Link to both zone-valve (on/off contacts) and boiler (OpenTherm).
I ask this because my home has 3 zones: toilets, downstairs, upstairs. Downstairs is controlled by nest (now on/off only) upstairs has an old Theben thermostat and toilets has a simple 1-temp thermostat.

Now each thermostat controls both zone valve (directly) and boiler call-for-heat (trough a relay). Now I'd like to keep this configuration for upstairs and toilets but I'd like to connect the nest to my new boiler via open-therm, so if only downstairs is asking for heat it'll modulate and if some other zone is asking for heat the boiler will behave as standard on/off.

Is this possible? Do I need some add-on boards for my boiler?


texts: How do I secure a one-armed toilet paper holder, which constantly slips off the mount?

texts:
I have a toilet paper holder attached to a tile wall with a single finger bracket (per the manufacturer).  The holder constantly slips the finger bracket, goes loose, and leans to the side.  The finger bracket is quite secure to the wall and does not budge.

How can I secure it?

I'd rather not have to unscrew the bracket from the wall to repair this.

I would prefer to avoid having to mount it "permanently" via epoxy.

Click for full size image


texts: What happens to outdoor douglas fir if protected but untreated?

texts:
I'm building a large outdoor living space in the pacific northwest (Vancouver, Canada) with rafters, purlins, beams, and posts all douglas fir. It will all be covered with transparent polycarbonate roofing (Suntuf). The roofing will block most UV light and all the rain except some occasional horizontal/windy rain.

I love the dark red color doug fir turns indoors when totally untreated. What will happen in 5-20 years if I leave my outdoor fir untreated (no paint/stain/oil/anything)? Is ambient humidity in a wet climate enough to rot the fir? Or make it go grey or black?

Thanks so much for your experience!


texts: Can porcelain tiles be installed over ceramic tiles?

texts: We have a large portion of our house with ceramic flooring which is now looking very old fashioned.  It has large grout lines (3/8 inch) which are white and almost impossible to keep clean.  We do not want to have the entire floor taken up and replaced and were wondering if new modern porcelain with very minimal grout lines can be installed right over top of the existing ceramic floor successfully.


texts: Moved old switch, now a different switch is flipping breaker

texts:
We have three switches to our floodlights.
One switch is in a panel with three other switches. Those three In the were moved recently, including the floodlights switch.
Now, since the move, a different switch to the floodlights trips the breaker. The other two, including the one we moved, do not trip the breaker.


texts:
I am relocating the bathroom door and the toilet vent is right in the middle of the new opening. I want to put the vent in the wall behind the toilet which will be upstream of the toilet. Will this work? The vent is currently about 6 feet in front of the toilet. The shower drain will be connected into the 3" toilet pipe about 3 feet downstream of the toilet.

The image below is what I'm hoping to do, with two different ways to handle the vent connection.


texts:
I am replacing two sconces that are over my mantle in a 1930s house. The strange thing is that one sconce had two of each wire going to it. Can this cause a problem? Is there any reason to do this assuming that just two wires would be enough to support the sconce? If I should be using both wires I suspect a pigtail would be the proper way to do this these days (although not as easy with this old wiring as it’s not very malleable)?

Here is the box with just the two wires:

And the box with the four wires:

Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated!


texts: Problem with Screws/Hinges on laminate door

texts: Fitting a finished laminate door. Routered hinges and pre-drilled before screwing. Screws nearest the edge of the door caused a ripple as if screw was pushing it the laminate out. checked screws were straight. Any ideas?


texts: Remodeling an old mechanic's garage into a conference space

texts:
I am currently remodeling an old garage (Lube Center) into a conference space.

Right or wrong, this is what I'm doing.

I have already installed insulation with paper backing on the ceiling (Open Rafters) paper facing down. We ran furring strips along every 24 inches to support it, then our plan was to paint it black for the industrial look. The ceiling is about 18 feet high and I have no desire or ability to drywall the ceiling. Again, our plan was to just paint it.

AFTER I was done hanging it all, I noticed that the insulation said it had to be covered by something fire resistant. Someone said they've heard of a mesh material that would meet code, in fact our inspector said that would work, but no one knows where to get it. I know it's more expensive than drywall, but i need to find something I can put over it that is PAINTABLE.


texts: How do I wire a 4 prong plug into a an old receptacle with only red and black wires with metal conduit into metal box?

texts:
I am trying to wire for a 4 prong plug into a an old receptacle pre 1972 with only red and black wires with metal conduit into metal box.

It has been used since 1964 hard wired 220B with metal conduit all the way to the box.


texts: Junction box for different unit's circuit

texts: If my basement apartment and main unit have each their own electrical panels, can I have a junction box (located on the ceiling)  in one unit that belongs to the other unit? For example, can there be a JB in the basement for a circuit that belongs in the main unit? My main concern is that the basement tenant would not be able to switch that circuit off at the basement panel even though it's located in the basement.


texts:
I have a valiant boiler ecotec 824 that was service about 4 months ago but has suddenly had a problem where the hot water for either the shower or the taps will run hot but flick between being luke warm and hot.
The pressure is ok at 1.6bar. The temperature on the rads is low but water for taps is set to mid way up.
I have no error codes, either when not in use or during operation when it gets cold.
Any insight into what I can do to help diagnose it, or potentially improve it?
Thanks,
James


texts:
A reputed solar installer is telling me that I can install more than 20 A worth of solar on a 100 A Main Service Panel (MSP) which has 100 A busbar rating only. According to him it can be accomplished by installing a subpanel which is rated more than 100 A in its busbar rating but I am not clear - how can a sub-panel have more amperes for its busbar when its feeder is only 100 A?

So according to this scenario, I can have 140 A busbar linked to 100 A MSP (and 100 A busbar in MSP) and 40 A of this is for Solar and 100 A is for existing household needs/appliances/ac etc. Having 40 A reserved for solar allows a larger inverter to be installed therefore more panels and higher kW.

Is it possible/How does this work ? I am not an electrical engineer so I don't understand all nuisances.


texts: What is the right viscosity of silicone grease for ceramic-discs in mixer faucet?

texts:
Hi.

What is the right viscosity of a silicone grease to lubricate between the ceramic-discs of single lever mixer faucet?
NLGI-00,NLGI 1,NLGI 2 etc.

Thanks.


texts: How to repair garage interior back wall damage hit lightly by my car

texts: I accidentally ran my car into the interior back wall of my garage three years ago. Now that we are moving out, we would like to get it fixed. Please see the damage area attached. I am not even sure what material the wall is made of, but it looks like some kind of cardboard (about 0.5-1 inch thick) covering drywall. What's the best DIY option for me? Thanks a lot!


texts: My furnace room is small and has a new gas furnace and water heater. I usually leave the door open to the laundry room. My garage is adjacent to a wall in the furnace room. I'm thinking of putting a 4 inch fan on the wall adjacent to the garage.  Would this work or not?


texts:
I bought a direct replacement blower for my furnace but when it arrived I noticed two wires were crossed. the original motor has a red, white, and black wire in the connector. The new one has a fourth (blue) wire and it is in the slot where the black wire is on the old motor. Would it be safe to assume that this blue wire can be removed and the black wire moved into the same spot without causing problems? The old motor had a green wire connected from motor chassis to fan housing.

I managed to find a photo of the old motor and found an image of the replacement online. Hope this helps, thanks for all the help.


texts:
I am replacing some failed galvanized water pipe indoors. Two of the existing galvanized pipes poke straight through the exterior wall of the house, right above the foundation, and have hose bibs attached to the end. I am replacing the indoor pipe with PEX, but I'm stumped when it comes to how to get the PEX to connect to exterior plumbing. PEX, from what I've read, will degrade rapidly in the presence of UV light.

My goal is to attach a hose bib fitting to the straight across port of a tee at exterior, and connect some 3/4" LDPE poly pipe to the perpendicular port of the tee. The LDPE poly pipe will go out to a couple posts in the yard and have hose bib fittings on them.

I was planning on using PVC for the exterior plumbing, but I understand that plain white PVC cannot be used indoors for any supply plumbing, only DWV. Am I allowed some leeway to have a short (6-12") stub of PVC sticking through the exterior wall so the PEX can be connected to it?

I have a second question which is... as I have only a hole drilled through the siding of the house, how do I securely fasten the pipe coming through so that movement outside won't transfer inside?


texts: How can I completely remove all traces of mastic from old concrete?

texts: My original aim was to end up with a, possibly stained, clear-coated cement floor. After removing old floor tiles, I rented a floor grinder which took care of most of the old mastic. There were still thin spots that remained, so I bought some product at HD that softened the spots for removal, but as others have said, made a friggin' nightmarish mess of it! Will the residue prevent sealers or other coatings from absorbing into the concrete floor? If so, would thinset even stick to these areas? I don't want the expense of tile, but I've about had it trying to clean up this tar-like mastic to clean and clear-coat this floor! Any suggestions? Thanks, Bill


texts:
I have an interesting question for anyone willing to answer. Below my electric meter outside there is a breaker box housing the 200 amp main shut off breaker as well as two 20A outside appliance breakers.

There are 3 2AWG aluminum wires leading to a barn about a hundred feet from house through 1.25" underground conduit. These three aluminum wires were not previously hooked up to any breaker on either end of run, but terminate in both breaker boxes. I have since installed two 60A breakers in both breaker boxes, one in the panel below the meter as well as one in the new breaker box in the barn as a main shut off.

The problem is that only one of the two hot wires in barn has power, leaving only one side of breaker box having power, leaving me with only 30A and 110V service at the barn. Are breaker boxes below meters typically only 110V? Any ideas of what could be the problem?


texts: Added new light to circuit but it turns on when switch is off

texts:
I did 2 things. First I combined 2 existing light switches into 1 via a metal box twisting the black wires together into 1 group and then in another group twisting the white wires together. That worked fine.
Then I added a new light that I installed to the same groups of wires in the metal box, matching the colors up.  However, when the switch is on, the existing lights are on but the new light is off. When the switch is off, the existing lights turn off but the new light turns on.
I've tried several things including a different light switch and reconfiguring the wires a few ways, but same result every time.
I've added a picture showing the current configuration. The thick black wire in the top left is the source. The hot wire is directly from the power source. The neutral leads to 3 lights. The thick white wire on the right leads to the new light fixture but is not currently connected.
Why is this happening? What should I check?


texts: If paper tape surfaces after sanding, particularly in corners, is it better to score around the blister and tear it off, then fill the hole with mud OR apply another layer in the expanded area around the surfacing although that may add unwanted thickness?


texts: Laundry drain smells like sewer after washing clothes

texts:
I have an in-wall laundry drain - pictured below.
Since we moved in it had a significant clog which I unclogged with a combination of wet-vac sucking on the drain and snaking the vent pipe. Finally we got it to drain without flooding but now there's an awful sewer smell after doing laundry. Before unclogging, while it did flood fairly quickly, there was no sewer smell
So my questions are:

How can I determine if the sewer smell is from a lack of p-trap in the wall (ideally without removing drywall)?
Could the sewer smell come from another clog?
Whether or not there is a p-trap in the wall, could I just put a p-trap outside of the wall attached to the plate to solve the smell?


texts: How do I fix bare spots on my table after applying polyurethane?

texts:
I polyurethaned my table and when it dried, it had spots. That is the best way to explain it.  It looks like the eraser-sized spots are bare wood, almost like something made the polyurethane push away from the wood as it dried, leaving 100 spots on the table. I lightly sanded it and it just looks like the spots are lower than the smooth polyurethane. Almost like the wood just repelled the polyurethane. So I lightly sanded and then re-applied another coat and as it dried, what do you know... the spots came right back like the polyurethane did not want to stick to the wood in those eraser-sized spots.

So for those experienced wood workers out there, please help me with this baffling issue to try to get a smooth application.


texts: Fixing a poor measurement of drywall toggle anchors

texts: I recently installed two metal drywall toggle anchors (similar to this. My measurements for these anchors turned out to be about 1/8th of an inch off, so they do not line up with the d-rings on the mirror I planned to hang. What methods can be used to fix this? If I can manage to get the toggle anchors out of the wall, can they be moved such a short distance with existing holes spackled and still hold? The anchors are rated at 100lbs and the mirror I am hanging is somewhere between 40-60lbs.


texts: Sump Pump float above or below the French Drain level

texts: I recently bought a house that has a French drain that drains into my sump pump.  We have had a lot of water this year and my sump pump pumps out the water every 2 minutes.  My float is set below the French drain level so the pit never gets over half full.  Is it correct to have the float level be set below the French Drain?


texts: How to run electrical wires in an exterior wall with a low-pitched roof?

texts:
I am hoping to run electrical wires in my exterior walls, but I have a very low pitched roof which makes it tough to get to that part of the attic. To give some examples:

One of my switches does not have a neutral wire, I'd like to run a 14/3 wire from the light to the switch to bring the neutral to the switch.

I only have one exterior light by my garage door (on one side of the garage), and I'd like to install a matching set of exterior lights, one on each side of the garage door, to better illuminate the driveway at night.

One of my bathrooms is near an exterior wall, and I want to rewire the switches so that the lights operate in a way that makes more sense. An electrician installed an extra can light, by tying it into the fan, rather than the same switch as the over-vanity light, leaving me with a situation where one switch has a light; and the other switch has a light and a fan. I'd like to adjust this so the lights are on one switch circuit, and the fan is on the second switch circuit. This isn't actually in the exterior wall, but just off of it, so it's the same problem of getting physically into the space.

This may seem like multiple questions at once, but the problem is actually all the same: Of course, it's tough to run wire through the exterior wall if I can't get physical access to the part of the attic. There just isn't the space for a human body to get in there.
So what is the solution? Is there a way to run electrical wires to a location in an exterior wall when you have a low-pitched roof? Or am I stuck with what I've got?


texts: Water line to fridge had a saddle valve, saddle valve started leaking so took it out and repaired pipe. Now trying to figure out how to reconnect fridge line. I have 1/2 inch copper under the sink and the pex line at the fridge says 1/8 on it. I can't find any adapters that go from 1/2 to 1/8,or even 1/4 to 1/8. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!


texts: Why does my toilet make a high pitched whine when it refills?

texts: When my toilet is refilling with water,it makes a very high pitched whine.  Any suggestions on how to resolve?


texts: How do I hang up a tension curtain rod without it falling down?

texts:
I bought this MOYMO Room Divider Tension Curtain Rod, 122-150 inch. No tools or drilling required! I tried 2 Methods, but both failed.

On ground, I insert curtain into curtain rod.

Method 1

I pick a Spring Stop so that curtain rod matches length of soffit.

Then I go to window and lift it up. Because curtain rod matches length of soffit, I got to push it forcefully between soffit. Curtain rod hangs for an hour, but falls down!

I can't try Method 1 when it ruins my walls! When I push it forcefully between soffit, ends of curtain rod scrapes paint of walls.

Method 2

I pick Spring Stop so that curtain rod just shorter than length of soffit. Then I walk to window with curtain rod NOT extended.

I hold up curtain rod at correct height. Then I pick the correct Spring Stop that most extends curtain rod between soffit.

But  no screw hole matches length of soffit. Curtain rod won't touch soffit on both ends! End of curtain rod has space between right side of soffit wall! Now what?


texts: How can I keep a door closed without a damper?

texts:
Got a door which does not have the spring lock which locks the door when you close it. Leave the door closed, and it'll soon be wide open even with a little gust of wind.
Currently we're wedging a handful of paper between the door and the door frame, so that it'd stay closed when we close it. The more elegant option of course, is to use a damper which will slowly close the door once it's been opened.

But dampers are a bit expensive for such a trivial function, and then there are the installation charges too. Is there a better way to ensure the door remains closed (a simple, elegant, less expensive option. Installing a spring lock is expensive)?

EDIT: One more requirement from my Dad was that since with any of the below solutions the door will appear to be closed, the people inside the house would think it is locked, while any stranger who comes along and slightly pushes the door will be able to get in. It'd help if the door closing mechanism has a way to let the people indoors know that the door is just closed, and not locked. Safety. Problem is that an LED would require a small transformer for getting power from the AC mains (batteries aren't really a long-term option). Having a safety mechanism is a bit tricky.


texts: Can I use my 40 pound propane tank for my cooktop?

texts: I installed a propane cooktop, had the local propane company install a propane tank and outside.  turns out we do not use very much propane for cooking but they charge us a lot in rental and mandatory minimums.  I would like to have them take their tank back and hook it up to a 40 pound propane tank like what is used on my BBQ grill.  I can see the fittings are different and I can see the regulator is on the tank so I need a regulator. What sort of fittings, adapters, and regulators would I need to convert to a 40 pound propane tank?


texts: How can I wire this ceiling light correctly?

texts:
I have a ceiling light that decided to not to work.
On inspection I found bare wires were sticking out under cover.
I immediately turned off the light circuits at the switch board.
What I found was the light circuit wiring intact but the wires had been twisted together to join to the light fixture.
The light fixture has three wires blue, brown and green/yellow.
The house wiring has red and black.
I need to know which wires should be joined in an approved joiner so the light works correctly. Can you please help?


texts:
I have a sliding trash can drawer that would just fit under my sink, were it not for the angle of the plumbing coming out of the sink trap. I could fit the can if the drain pipe—rather than going diagonally from the trap to the exit in the back of the cabinet—went straight to the back of the cabinet, made a right angle turn along the back wall, and then another right angle turn back into the hole.
I know nothing about plumbing, though. What do I need to know before doing this project, and what parts will I need? (I have a hacksaw for cutting pipe.) Is there an issue with adding right angle turns, or anything like that?
This seems simple but I also know that there are some plumbing jobs that must be done by licensed technicians—is this one of them for some reason?


texts: Replacing old 3-switch with new one that has Line In

texts:
I'm replacing an old 3-switch switch in the bathroom with a new one. The old switch has a "Common" terminal (black wire) and 3 unlabeled terminals (one white and two black wires). I also have one unconnected copper wire coming out of the wall, which I presume is Ground, but not sure.

The problem is that the new switch has a "Line" terminal, in addition to a green "Ground" terminal, and three unlabeled terminals. So the old switch had 3 terminals, and new one has 4.

I've tried a few combinations but none cause the switch to work. Any ideas?

Note: Old switch is from a French company, Hubbell.


texts:
I am using a water-based paint (based on Eskaro Akrit 7) to paint interior walls. At this point I have masked the edges of my target area, and have cut in those edges once. The wall is otherwise unpainted — I meant to make multiple coats (two or three).

How do I proceed now? Should I remove the tape, start rolling, and just touch up the edges? Or should I keep the tape, cut in all the edges a second time, and then roll?

Perhaps more generally, what is the right sequence in which to paint edges vs. large areas in multiple coats?


texts: How do I fix a broken brass drawer pull?

texts:
This drawer pull comes from an antique dresser; it mates with a threaded screw that goes inside the drawer.

The collar on the drawer pull has gradually become thinner and cracked, and no longer grabs the screw with sufficient force to pull the drawer out.

How would I repair this drawer pull (there are actually 7 with this problem across 2 dressers)?


texts: Build workbench against wall or free standing

texts:
I am building a large workbench (10' x 3') and my original plan was to build it against the wall of the basement.

However, I have no width constraint, so I was thinking maybe it would be better to make it free standing so I could walk around it 360-degrees rather than build it against the wall. This would allow it to be bigger (10' x 4'), on the other hand it would no longer be anchored to wall, so it would be less sturdy.

Is the ability to walk around the bench something I will find very useful for general woodworking and machine work, or would it be better to put it against the wall?


texts: Problems with water based paint sticking to 2 k primer

texts: I am having many problems with the aliphatic waterborne urethane paint( Performix 979s w/pigment)being applied over a 2K primer (Shopline JP331 brand). The paint becomes greasy feeling and peels right off. A light coat of paint is applied to the primer, then allowed to dry to touch, and is applied again until desired coverage. It is hung to dry for a three day cure time, not until then is it tested for peeling. And it does. The substrate is polyurethane. The paint was opened nearly a year ago, if not longer, and has been opened a few times to fill a gallon jug( from a five gallon bucket). Could this peeling come from leaching from the substrate or bad paint from age, or the primer and paint is not compatible?


texts: 7500 Watt Manual Transfer Switch has #10 wires, but my well pump is wired with #8

texts: Problem!  I have a 1.5 hp 230 VAC deep well pump on a 30A circuit breaker wired with #8 copper that runs a couple hundred feet to the pump controller.  Pump specs say it draws 9.7 amps and allows 808 feet of #8 service panel to motor.  I now have a Firman H08051 Dual Fuel portable generator (10K/8K gas; 9050/7250 LPG) with the intent to run on propane.  The generator has a L14-30R Receptacle to connect to a Reliance 306CRK Manual Transfer Switch that came with a 10' cable of 4 conductor 10 AWG cable.  The generator inlet box has 3' of #10 wire to the transfer switch, and the transfer switch adds 3' of #10 wire to the service panel.  So the question is, can I power this 30 amp circuit with #10 wire when it's using #8 wire out to the load?  And if I can, what is the best connection going from #10 to #8?


texts: Alternatives to extension cord over the grass to light a Christmas tree

texts:
I have a nice little pine tree that sits about 30 feet from the corner of my house.  Ideally, I think it would look nice to throw some Christmas lights on it and spread some holiday cheer.

I hesitate to just lay an extension cord over the grass.  My main fear is someone cutting across the yard and tripping over it.

Any alternatives to safely light that tree?


texts: To which extent can outside walls make a room cold?

texts:
My kitchen is a small extension (5 or 6 square meters) of the house. No heater. Extremely cold in winter (down to 8 degrees celcius). For months I've wondered why it's so cold (1), now I suspect it's the outside walls: the kitchen walls are about 80% or 90% outside walls. Can this explain why the room is so cold, and if so are there things I can do about it?

(1) I already posted a question here about why my kitchen is cold. But since the reason I'm proposing now is so different and calls for a different kind of answers, I thought posting a new question was more appropriate than adding comments to my old question.


texts: How to interconnect Kidde smoke/co combo detectors Mod# KN-cope_IC with Edwards Heat detectors Mod# CR-135-2 using relay SM120X

texts: How do you wire the above units so the smoke/co detectors will all ring when heat detectors are activated. The heat detectors are a two wire hook-up. Existing wiring to heat detectors is existing and in wall. Hard to change to 3-wire.


texts: Sealing basement wall crack from outside

texts:
I have a hairline crack radiating from a corner of a window in the basement. This crack weeps water during very heavy rains. I have sealed the crack with urethane injection (Sika Crack Injection Kit), however there is an area of the crack that is covered by a stud of a wall running perpendicular to the basement wall. It seems that that part of the crack is still allowing a small amount of water to enter the basement.

Blue is the window, brown is the stud, black is the crack, green is the ground level outside the basement. The red outline is where the current crack seal was done. The top part of the crack is dry, and it looks like I have water coming in from just the part of the crack behind the stud.

The area of the crack is unfinished (the wall is there just to partition a workshop from the laundry/storage area), and I could remove the stud temporarily to gain access to the crack.

On the outside of the basement, there is a 2 feet wide strip without grass, so I have no problem digging there to reach the crack from the outside. The area that I did not seal is pretty shallow, so I'm wondering if it might be better to seal the crack from the outside (with the same urethane injection material)?


texts: How do I add a ceiling fan to a 3-way switch?

texts:
About three months ago, I hired an electrician to change some of the circuits in my house, and two of the circuits were supposed to be able to add a ceiling fan on a 3 way switch.  In one room, all of the receptacles were switched on the bottom, live on top (no switch needed), and on a 3 way switch.  In the other, none of the receptacles were switched, and there was a 3 way switch already in place.

After the work was done, none of the receptacles in the first room are switched, and both were supposed to be able to add a ceiling fan with light kit to the 3 way switch.

After installing both fans (didn’t it myself, as the contractor couldn’t), I can only get power to either the fan or the light at one time.  So, here is what I know to be true about this:

At the fan box, I have what looks like 14-3 as it is white, black, and red with a bare ground.
From the fan, I have a white, black and blue wire, with a green ground on the mounting bracket.
It looks like two single pole switches were used, but I’m not 100% sure.  One of the switches stil has the upc on it, which leads me to a pass and Seymour single pole switch.
I have connected ground to ground, and white to white.  When I connect black (box) to black (fan), and red (box) to blue (fan), the light kit works.  When I connect black (box) to blue (fan), and red (box) to black (fan), the fan motor works.

After that, I am lost.  I’ve never run into a 3 way circuit being run by two single pole switches, so that is throwing me a bit.

Am I making the proper connections, or am I missing something?  Any help or insight at this point is much appreciated.


texts: What nails should I use to attach Hardie plank lap siding to 3/4" furring strips in concrete wall?

texts:
I want to attach Hardie plank fiber-cement lap siding to my concrete garage walls. It's a very small surface which requires something like 3 boards altogether. I am only covering it for decorative purposes to hide old ugly concrete and stucco.

The garage door is trimmed with 2x6 boards and so I am attaching 3/4" (actual thickness) furring strips to hang siding. Hardie plank is 5/16" thick, so I will have 1-1/16".
Is there any usable nails that I can use in finish nailer for that? I can't find anything shorter than 1-1/4". Will regular finish nails work?

Am I stuck with hand nailing those boards?

Also, they recommend 1-1/4" nails. So how bad is it if I use 1" nails?


texts: What size breaker should I use in the main panel for a sub-panel with four 15A breakers?

texts:
I need to set up a sub-panel with four 15 amp breakers. What size breaker would I require in the main board to feed this?

110V in Canada.


texts: How do I remedy a ledger board that is pulling away from the house?

texts: The ledger board of our deck is attached with nails only. One side is beginning to pull away.  I put in more support posts so it is not separating further. What would be best to remedy the ledger situation?


texts: Can I substitute diesel for home heating oil?

texts: I ran out of oil in my home, and a plumber friend said that I could add diesel from the gas station  while I wait for my oil delivery. Is he right?


texts: What material should I use for a platform that holds 300-500 lbs?

texts:
I am making a flat platform with 4 leveling feet that can hold a 150 lb Corrosion-Resistant Heavy Duty Blower plus another 150-350 lb (so in total 300 - 500 lbs of mass). It is around 24" x 24". Do you guys have any suggestions on what material I should use and how thick?

Also if I wanted to reduce the vibration from the fan would it be a good ideal to put a layer of rubber on the platform?

This will be indoors and will be a raised platform, I was thinking of using Heavy Duty Vibration-Damping Leveling Mounts


texts: Rules to make a box stable, hard to tilt

texts:
I have already built a cube-shaped box out of some wood panels I had lying around. It is perfectly solid, I can push it from every side and it will not tilt.

The next box should be not cube-shaped but taller than deep, let's say 20 cm tall, 20 cm wide and Z cm deep. If I make it not deep enough, for example 5 cm deep, it will be easy to tilt it by pushing it from the front.

How small can I make the Z depth while still making the box stable enough? Are there numerical/engineering rules for that?

What if I add more weight to the base? And how much does the weight and thickness of the walls of the box contribute to the stability of the box?


texts: Hotpoint Washing machine slowly fills with water while not in use, what is wrong?

texts: Recently I noticed my washer will slowly fill with water when not in use. The machine was in storage for 6 years until we purchased our first home.  Any suggestions would help.


texts: Can I remove framing members forming a wall below a load bearing beam?

texts:
I am in the process of buying my first home and my head is already spinning with update ideas. The main idea, in particular, is renovating the kitchen/dining. There is a wall separating the two spaces and I believe the wall is load bearing, as there is a second floor and the wall is perpendicular to the floor joists with supports in the basement directly beneath. I haven't moved into the home yet but I want some input from others on this topic.

My assumption is that the load bearing wall has already been removed and replaced with a beam. If you notice on the attached pictures, the wall between the kitchen and dining already has an opening indicating to me that previous owners may have already installed a beam. And that wall is "lower" than the wall in the adjacent space. My thought is they want to cover the installed beam. My plan is to open that wall up entirely (between kitchen and dining) and add an island in between the spaces.

My question is this: IF there IS a load bearing beam in place, can I remove the 2x4s framing the current wall and add columns closer to the center of the beam to frame the island around? If there is NOT a beam in place, I intend to install a beam and build from there. Essentially, I'm asking if I can remove studs attached to a load bearing beam and add new ones in different places?

I hope I articulated my question well enough. I've added pictures and assumed/proposed drawings to illustrate what I'm asking. Once I move in I can better assess the situation and start remodeling from there. But the question still remains: could I remove studs and add new ones. These are just assumptions and I'm anxious to move in and find out for myself first hand! And I know I may be jumping the gun having not moved into the home yet, but this is driving me nuts and I just want to know if this idea is valid or foolish. Any input would help put my mind at ease. Even if my thought is entirely asinine and you feel the need to tell me so, HAHA! Thanks!


texts:
I am building a game room and want very good lighting in at least the portion that will include the table tennis table.  I would like 500 lux (46.5 foot candles) of light in this part of the room (at a 10' ceiling which is what I have).  That part of the room is approximately 1/3 of the total 500 +/- sqr ft.  So, if I understand this correctly, I need 46.5 * 500/3 = 7,750 lumens in that part of the room.

I am thinking of going with LED recessed cans or puck lights and if I went with 3 in a row (22' width room), I would need 2,580 lumens per light and if I went with 4 in a row, 1,900 lumens per light (approx). I have recessed cans in other parts of my house today at only 700 lumens each.  Is it the case that a "standard" can or puck housing can be installed, then just utilize a much higher lumen bulb?  Or is that not how it works?  Any advice would be appreciated.


texts: What do volts and amps imply for angle grinders?

texts:
I have several home improvement projects that would be made enormously easier if I had a decent angle grinder with both grinding and cutting wheels to attach to it. But I've never used or bought one before. Arbitrarily, going to Lowes (not that I am endorsing Lowes in any way shape or form here), and arbitrarily picking Dewalt as a brand:

  http://www.lowes.com/Search=angle+grinder?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=angle+grinder#!&N%5B%5D=0&N%5B%5D=1z136s7

Some models seem to focus on amps, and some seem to focus on voltage. This is confusing to me, as I would have expected the main rating on a grinder to be, say, torque or RPM. So I ask:

When does one care about the amp rating on an angle grinder, and why?
When does one care about the volt rating on an angle grinder, and why?
Are these the only two quality metrics that really matter for angle grinders?


texts: How to dismantle doorknob (separate baseplate and knob) to screw on door?

texts:
I live in an older tenement flat and the doors all have doorknobs like below:

I don’t think it can be screwed into position on the door / spindle without removing the backplate, as no screwdriver I own can drive straight with the knob in the way.

I’m sure I’m missing something obvious, but how can I detach these so I can screw the plate / assembly onto the door?


texts: Feit receptacle with USB ports trip GFCI

texts: I replaced a standard dual 120V outlet at the end of a kitchen counter GFCI circuit with the Feit dual 120V with 2 USB Ports.  I taped over the outlet screws as I'm pushing it into a metal box and a tight fit.  Works fine before I push it in.  It pops the GFCI when fully installed, and GFCI will not reset.  Help


texts: After a heavy rainstorm, I saw stains on the ceiling of one of my rooms.  What’s the proper way to repair stains on the ceiling caused by rainwater leak from the roof?


texts: What is an appropriate sealer for a Papercrete bench?

texts:
I've built a bench out of tires and papercrete two years ago. i've sealed it with lime plaster. in the past two years it held up against 500 m"m of rain in the winter and Mediterranean sun 7 month around.

the mixture of the plaster layer below the lime is 50% cement Portland, 35% mashed paper, and 15% sand.
Now the lime has started to peel

 and i want to take it all off and to apply a sealer that will have these characters:

i need to be able to find it in israel
it has to be environmentally approved
it needs to be fit for waterproofing concrete
it needs to last long (at least a 4-5 years)


texts: Diagnose cause of voltage fluctuation in house

texts:
Background

My house has 100 amp service with all copper wiring and all wiring contains a hot, neutral and ground wire.
The past three weeks the lights in the house go dim and bright.  The fridge makes a little noise when the voltage drops/spikes.  It happens sporadically and some days it won't happen at all, other days it happens frequently throughout the day (no pattern to the time between occurrences).
The load doesn't seem to affect when this happens.
When the problem first appeared I started checking the voltage on the panel.   When it happens one leg will drop down to around 118 volts for a few seconds,  when it typically stays around 122 volts.   One time one leg spiked to 169 volts.
As i'm writing this message the fluctuation in voltage has happened at least five times,  no load change in the house has occurred over that timeframe.

What I have done

I had an electrician come check the panel and verify I have no loose neutrals.  He said the power company is to blame.  He checked out the panel and didn't find any issues.  Unfortunately the spike / lowering of voltage didn't happen while he was here.   I called power company.

Here is how my visits w/ power company has gone:

Visit #1:  Technician comes out, checks voltage at meter.  Monitors voltage for a few minutes, no problems arise then leaves.   Declares no problems on their end.

I start watching the neighbors house to see if they are getting any power fluctuations.  I notice it is happening for them also.  I speak with the neighbor and they claim it has been happening for months to them.  They thought it was wiring in their house.  Unfortunately they are renters and they can't be counted on for any help.

Visit #2:  Technician comes out,  I'm home this time.  He monitors voltage and has me put load on the system.   Everything checks out,  nothing happening.  I tell him neighbors experiencing same issue.   He says not seeing anything, will do a 'line trace' in a few days.
Visit #3: Three technicians come out they check voltage at my meter, let it run for awhile.  they check neighbors meter, find neighbor has issue in the meter and they fix the issue.   They still don't see anything happening at my meter.

They say the transformer is relatively new and say it can't be the problem.   As they are walking around the poles and other houses,  I look at the volt meter they have installed at my meter and it drops down to 118 volts.  I mention this to technician and he says that shouldn't happen.

I ask one of the technicians if something was going out in my neighbor's house could that impact my voltage?   I said they have been running their AC all the time. He said it should have a thermal overload and not cause any issues w/ other neighbor's electricity, but he has seen where things fail and it can cause issues.

Technician's leave saying these things can take time and need to be patient.

What to do next?

I'm far from an expert on this,  so any help is appreciated.   I don't want voltage fluctuations harming things in the house.

Could something in my house be going bad which is causing the issue?  Should I start turning off circuits in the house and see if the problem occurs?  Would that be one way to troubleshoot the issue?

I'm afraid the burden of proof is on me now regarding the power company.


texts: What's the difference between "Framing Lumber" and "Framing Studs"?

texts:
The Home Depot website has these two as categories under Dimensional Lumber.

Why would one want to exclude items from one category during a search for wood to use in a project?

What is the difference?


texts:
I have a dog who has recently discovered that she can squeeze under a portion of the chain-link fence we installed in order to keep her on our property.

Is there any effective, but reasonably attractive way I can reinforce the bottom of the fence?  I attempted to tent-peg that section of fence down to the ground, but as I discovered this morning, she can just easily push the steel pegs I used out.

I can't really afford to mess around with any ineffective solutions; I live right next to an elementary school, and as I discovered this morning it takes less than 5 minutes to go from her going missing to me receiving a hefty fine, despite her being a very friendly/well tempered German Shepherd/Rottweiler cross.


texts: How to make small wheels with minimum equipment (No lathe)

texts:
I'm always looking for cheap wheels of various kinds, and rarely find anything for under £1 a piece.

How can I make a nicely round disc out of metal (aluminium) or wood with a central hole, if I don't have a lathe?

The best idea I've had is to use a scroll saw or similar to cut out a near-circle from a piece of plywood, then drill a hole in the near-centre with a pillar drill arrangement, and some how attach it to a power drill, using a block of sand paper or similar to make the outside more circle-like, around the axle hole.

Can anyone recommend any alternatives? E.g. for 4cm diameter wheel, 10mm thickness, 5mm axle hole?


texts: Are T12 fluorescent lamps still available?

texts:
My '70s house is chock full of fluorescent tubes.  the T12s look the best with the architecture.  those pansy T8s are way too small.  Anybody have a lead on where to get 48" 32W T12?

PS.  can we add 'fluorescent' to the tags list?  kthxbi


texts: What are these extra wires behind my thermostat?

texts: I an hoping to install a new thermostat that requires a C wire. I pulled off my old thermostat, an old round dial type, and it was of course only connected to four wires. The four wires are the only wires in their sheath, but there is another set of 3 wires that were just hanging loose in the wall. I'm guessing they won't help me connect my thermostat, but I'm curious what exactly they are?


texts: Can I run a second cable to add another hot conductor for a range?

texts: I have a range that needs 10/3 wiring w/ ground, and the wire in place is a 10/2 w/ground.  My question is can I just run an additional 10/2 wire and use the black in that 2nd run for the "red" wire, and just cut back the white and ground in the 2nd run.  Or do I need to run a new 10/3 wire.


texts: Is 11 - 12 inches of overhang on a shelf too much?

texts:
I've got a couple of shelves that were manufactured to 120cm in length, which is slightly less than 48" (47.25").  Unfortunately, I discovered that the desired location has stud spacing of 24" rather than 16".  This means that if I hang the shelf using two brackets placed on the studs, I'm going to have an overhang of around 11.625" on either side.
Is that too much overhang?  Would it be better to use drywall anchors to space one or both (or more?) of the brackets out farther?
The recommendations I've found online vary as to how much overhang is safe, most suggesting no more than 6" but I've also seen 12". My gut feeling is it would be ok as long as I didn't put heavy objects on the ends of the shelves, but as a DIY noob I don't trust my gut.
Edit:  The shelves are 1" particle board and weigh 10 pounds.  They will be used for a reasonably light load - display objects, small potted plants and a few books.


texts: I have 2 new GU10 lights in a circuit controlled by an electronic dimmer (they are dimmable LEDs). They come on at random times at irregular intervals. I've had other LEDs that have worked ok, it's only happened with these new ones. They are FEIT electric that I got from CostCo


texts: Can someone help me identify this fixture?

texts:
I am trying to find out what fixtures to purchase for this valve ?
I found some numbers on these, but even googling them the entire day did not result in anything fruitful. Hoping if someone knows which model /make is compatible with this ?
Lots of pics here:

If you think this is Moen, can I just put in any moen cartridge and we're good to go ? Can you point me to the one available on amazon that can be installed ?
More pictures of the cartridge here


texts: Fixing Whirlpool front loader washing machine. Error at start of 2nd rinse fill

texts:
Whirlpool Duet, front loader,
Model WFW9150ww00
Serial HLY4930303
Type 832-A

Manufactured around 28 January 2010

The washing machine shows the following symptoms:
Washes normally, will do the first rinse, then at the start of the second rinse will stop and sound 3 short beeps.  It will repeat this every few seconds until you power cycle it.

If you start it immediately (power on, then start) it will unlock door, then relock door, and go back to triple beep.

The manual for it talks about error codes.  But they are in the form of half second beeps separated by half second pauses.  I've had those before from clogged inlet filters.  This is much faster.  All three beeps take a total of about a second.

If I unplug it instead, and replug I get the  same thing.

If I unplug it and leave it for a while, or if I just power it off to shut it up, and leave it for a while, it starts normally.

This has happened twice before, and on the leave and restart it was then fine for weeks.  This afternoon it has gone through 3 resets, and we have yet to finish a load of wash.

I spent the afternoon between resets on the phone with Whirlpool.  At the end they said I needed a service call.  Alas we are out of the city, and there no service agent that will come out here.  Given the intermittent nature of the problem, I don't want to take it into town.

A:  Can anyone point me to documentation about the 3 short beeps.

B:  Other ideas to what possible causes of a problem starting at the second rinse might be?


texts: Confused by the circuitry in the switch box for my basement lights (installing 1st smart switch)

texts:
I've spent the last couple hours trying to install a smart switch in my new-construction home (finished last month in Chicago) and I'm a bit confused. Pictures here, going to focus on the top picture.

The yellows/purple are loads and travelers. The dark grey seems to be line and carries current, though for some reason it both enters and leaves the box and, if cut, all switches fail to work. It's the unconnected reds and whites that really confuse me. When I turn off the circuit breaker for "basement lights", the grey line loses power but the red remains hot.

I tried hooking up the smart switch grabbing a random white for neutral from that twistie, but the switch doesn't work. I'm kinda thinking that those twisted whites either are not neutral or that they're not all the same and one of the other white ones is the actual neutral.

Hopefully someone recognizes this setup and knows how I should be wiring the smart switch (use red instead of grey for line? use a different white as neutral?

Thanks for any help!

Optional additional info (may confuse more than help):
The reason I'm thinking maybe the whites aren't all the same is that is that there's a similar switch box on the other side of the basement which has a combo switch and outlet and the outlet uses the red/white while the switch uses dark grey and yellow. Again, the switch doesn't work there and I'm not sure if it's because I'm using the wrong white line (some are labeled south-wire, some north-wire) as neutral. Also on that side the whites seem to spark when I mess with them though my indicator says there's no current. And when I mess with them I can hear a small beep from elsewhere in the basement, maybe near the circuit breaker... there's a couple things plugged in under the circuit breaker that run straight into the wall. When my wife asked the builder what those do, he said "don't worry about it, it won't come up".


texts: How can I prevent water from pooling in the street in front of my house?

texts:
I have a problem with water pooling in front of my house. Between my Sprinklers and the rain there is always a puddle where my lawn meets the street.

What do you think is the best way to stop this puddle? I can't reslope the street or regrade my grass. Nor do I want to pay the money to have a professional put a drain in.

I was thinking of drilling some 1" holes and filling them with loose stone or sand. I have never drilled holes in asphalt and I am not sure if this is something I can do with my regular drill.


texts:
I wanted to buy a super efficient multi-stage or atleast 2 stage heat pump and got three quotes but then another contractor came in and refused to quote or install that, saying upstairs master would never get cool enough, and I needed single-stage (american standard silver 16 he recommended). It's a brick 1948 colonial with recent insulation but poor duct work.
Someone asked this or very similar 7 months ago-- the comments were useful but varied and I wonder if anyone one has any other thoughts - is there a test that can be done to see? Currently have a 35 yr old furnace and 25 year old air conditioner and upstairs master is marginal in summer- I try shutting vents off downstairs sometimes and that helps.


texts:
Is there a way to cover a hole for cables that does not require a wall box?

I expressly had a cable conduit installed in our TV nicho, but in the end, my equipment is up higher on the wall (above where the conduit starts). I want to run the cables through the wall, instead of having them hanging down. My plan was to drill a hole into the wall and run the cables down to the top of the cable conduit. I do not have the skills or equipment to install a wall box (and the wall is made entirely of 2x4's, to enable hanging a TV), and most of the wall cable covers I have found (the kinds with the pair of bristles) have tabs that stick into a wall box.

Are there any good options that simply screw into sheetrock, rather than install into a wall box?


texts: When bleeding radiator why does the same amount of water go out through the overflow?

texts:
I have a really old central heating system. It was working fine until a plumber bled the whole system to replace a radiator. Since then we have had to replace the pump and the system doesn't seem to be able to hold enough water.

When I bleed the radiators they fill up fine and you can hear new water pouring into the expansion tank but the same amount of water seems to go straight out the overflow at same time.

Any ideas what the problem might be?


texts: What is the best way to wire a Cooper E-Z Wire recptacle?

texts:
I'm looking at replacing a few outlets that are old and loosely hold in plugs now. They are 15a 125v as is the wiring and breakers. I bought several Cooper E-Z Wire outlets and I am now trying to figure out if there is a best practice for these. They have the exposed screws so you can bend the wires into a U and wrap it around the screws OR you can insert the wires behind the plate behind the screw and tighten the screw; tightening the screw causes a clamp to grip the wire.

Which is the better method for connecting the outlet?
Also, I've seen some people wrap the outlet in electrical tape and other people not. Is this code?


texts: Remove soffit / refrofit attic rafter baffle vent

texts:
Will I be able to pry down this soffit venting/siding to secure baffle/rafter vents (I understand you really want to secure down that leading edge so you don't have creeping underneath and hitting the insulation insulation?)

There are some flimsy vents up in the attic now but they are not the full width of the rafters and not snug, just sorta laying there. Was looking at a more rigid product like accuvent, dci smart baffle, etc.

Don't mind that gap on the corner, I know we have bats right now.


texts:
Furnace goes through the normal start up process but after 5 minutes the flames go out and I hear a click in the induction motor not the main fan.

What could I check.

I have taken out the flame sensor and cleaned it and disconnected the thermostat and twisted red and white wire at the thermostat together..


texts: On a side by side house that has two meters and two separate main panels. How many ground rods are required

texts: How many ground rods are required for a side by side house that has two meters and two separate main panels.


texts: Non-sanding solution to get old pen markings out of wood?

texts:
My wife and I have a toddler who is ready to graduate to a big boy bed, and her parent's handed us down a twin bed that they've had in storage for years (woo hoo).

The problem with it is that someone drew all over a section of it with pen (probably a Bic pen, or similar):

My wife says this stain has to go, and wants me to sand the entire bed so that, when re-finished, it all looks the same color/etc. Not my ideal weekend: I envision the sanding being a 10 - 12 hours job, minimum.

If it helps with a solution, this wood is maple.

Before I lose an entire weekend to sanding a 20-yr old bed, I have to ask: is there any solution under the sun (besides buying a new bed) to getting rid of this pen stain, that (ideally) doesn't involve any sanding, but at the very least only requires me to sand this one area? Requirements:

Minimum amount of work for me
Entire bed frame looks contiguous/the same (no eye sore patch where the stain used to be)
Safe/eco-friendly/non-toxic solution (my 2 year old son is sleeping on this thing and could be gnawing on the wooden frame for all I know)

Thanks for any ideas/solutions!


texts: Preventing silicon caulk from sticking to itself while creating tubes

texts:
Preventing silicon caulk from sticking to itself
Food Grade RTV Silicone Sealant Adhesive Clear 10.3oz when creating tubes.
Some videos show using hot water and some videos show using cold water and hydrogen peroxide Video link on using silicone to create tubes.  Anyone know of a more exact formula / ratios most people seem to just be guessing.
I'm not making a fuel line

I'm not making a fuel line but different size tubes which will be transporting water vapour / mist created using a ultrasonic transducer (used in pond foggers) to test with (testing a fogpoinc delivery system).
PS:  I know to use dark tubes to prevent algae growth in the tubes (this is just a delivery test setup).
I created / 3d printed different screw caps (extrusion molds) to create different size tubes to test with
Example extrusion mold below:

Question:
Anyone know of a more exact formula / ratios curing and preventing silicon caulk from sticking to itself while creating the tubes shown in the video.  The video shows using water and hydrogen peroxide but doesn't specify the ratios to use.


texts: Does code mandate outlets when windows are above the counter?

texts:
We are renovating our century home's kitchen and would like to install windows that go to the ceiling so that our marble backsplash does not have any seams in it. The thing we later realized is, if we have under cabinet outlets, there would be too much space between the outlet and the range (about 36 instead of the 24 stated in the code). Personally we are okay with this from a practical standpoint.
Since the window would make placing the outlet impossible, will this be okay from an inspection or will we be required to raise the window 3 inches to make room for the outlet (and by consequence introduce 4 new seams). It is my understanding that outlets placed facing up in the window sill would not be to code.


texts: How to simply turn heating on/off with VRT 340f thermostat?

texts:
I've just moved into a new house and it has a Valiant boiler with a VRT 340f thermostat and I have to say it is completely perplexing even after having read the manual several times!

It seems entirely geared around scheduling heating but all I want is to have the heating off by default and then turn it on/off on-demand!

How can I achieve this with this indecipherable thermostat?


texts: Correct sockets to be used with 277v light bulbs

texts: I am a project that requires 277v lighting. I have found medium based light bulbs that are rated to work on a 277v circuit but the not a medium base socket that is rated for usage above 250v. I have contacted bulb manufacturers and no one seems to know the answer. That brings me to believe that it would be fine to use these 277v light bulbs in a 250v socket. Am I right or what am I missing?


texts: Ensure that a closed door is a completely locked door?

texts:
I live with a person with lock anxiety, and I'm looking for a DIY solution. I already have an alarm system that beeps if a certain door is closed, but how can I also make sure it's completely locked?

The key word is "completely". The door already has a deadlatch and a dummy knob on the outside, so it already locks people out. However, there's a little knob that locks the inner handle in place and prevents jimmying. Since it doesn't automatically engage, it elicits frequent checking and rechecking.

I've considered some possible solutions:

Just remove the little knob to take away the uncertainty. That comes close, but I would prefer to be able to state that the door has been made more secure in case they ask for details.
Use an electronic deadbolt with timer functionality. This seems needlessly complex and expensive, and requires batteries.
Screw on a gate latch or similar. These are too flimsy and only meant for holding a gate closed, not to lock a door.

To clarify: making sure the door is closed is a non-problem due to the alarm. Door closers and spring hinges don't matter. The door also does not need to allow slamming it shut: it's fine if you have to push/press/hold/twist something to close it.

Is there such a thing as regular deadbolt but that engages automatically via a spring for example? So that you have to twist it back to close the door, but when the door is closed, it's 100% engaged?


texts: Electrical wiring to indoor light switch -- two black hot wires or one line/load wire?

texts:
I'm replacing a light switch that controls outdoor house lights with a hardwired timer switch.  I tried attaching one of the top black wires in the pictures below to the timer's line wire and I attached the other one to the load wire.  The lights outside remained on and wouldn't turn off.  I then switched the two wires around and now, 3 of the 8 lights permanently stay on whereas the others shut on and off properly, but all the lights are significantly less bright than they were before.  Not sure where I am going wrong here, unless both wires are "hot" wires and should be tied together to the timer's line wire? Of note, this is the only switch controlling the outdoor lights.  A pen volt meter arrives soon from Amazon.

Pics:

Thanks.


texts: How can I send a signal to a home server when the doorbell is pressed?

texts:
I want to attach a device that can send a signal over wireless to my server when the door bell is pressed. I'm assuming the device would tap into the wiring for the door bell, so that when pressed, the voltage triggers the relay on the wifi device to send the signal. Does anyone know of a device that can do this or lead me to a guide on how to create such a thing?

This is the start of my home automation project. I have looked at many "off-the-shelf" products and there has yet to be anything that can be a complete system with the devices I have or want to buy. A lot of it is "you need to buy this for that to work".


texts: Trying to work out existing light switch wiring with possible loop

texts:
Have a row of ceiling lights which used to work about 10 years ago. Want to get an understanding of the wiring at the switch before I go to the effort of removing the ceiling panels which holds the fittings (not an easy job).

There are 4 lights which are connected to 2 switches, one upstairs and one downstairs. The idea was that you could switch the lights on at either switch.

The upstairs switch is standard, one wire in and one going out. Downstairs is wired as per below:

This is the houses original wiring, so the colours won't make much sense.

The switch in question is the top one. In the left connection is hot coming in. The top connection is typically for switched going out. The bottom connection is typically for loop. You can see both the top and bottom are a yellow wire.

Going into each light fixture is modern/standard Australian wiring with one wire for hot, one for neutral and one for earth. The earth is not connected into the fitting, but the hot and neutral are. The next length of wiring (going to the next light fitting), the hot and neutral are twisted into the incoming wiring, so they are also screwed into the connection with the incoming wiring.

My guess is that the downstairs switch has a loop and the upstairs one doesn't? Maybe the downstairs one has a loop with the first light.


texts: Can screwdriver tester detect ghost voltage?

texts: While I was replacing a switch, I noticed that my screwdriver tester lit up (it can detect 100V to 240V) when I touched it to the earthing wire. Then by testing the supply with my multimeter I got this result: the ground and neutral wire have no potential difference nor do the live and ground and earth have any potential difference. I must specify here that I have a cheap multimeter that doesn't have LoZ mode hence I wasn't able to make any further diagnosis whether it is ghost voltage. By all this now Iknow that the earthing is not proper but I still want to know what was the reason that the tester detected voltage but multimeter did not?


texts: Can I add another cable to this 3-gang electrical box?

texts:
I have a 3-gang metal (ca. 1980, three boxes with removable sides) electrical box that currently has 4 NM cables entering it; at least 3 of them are 12/3, the 4th is either 12/3 or 14/3.  All four cables have grounds as well.
There are two 3-way switches in the box (a third has been removed and the two cables involved joined with wire nuts).

I'd like to feed a new nearby box with a 12/2 fed from the black and white wires of the two cables that are currently wire-nutted together (and then on to a new light fixture).   Would this violate the maximum fill of this box?   If so, I can pull that pair of cables from this box, and join them in a new box (this is in a garage, so an awkwardly placed box is not an issue).


texts: Increasing water temperature in water heater

texts: What advantages do you get by increasing water temp on dual thermostat water heater?


texts: I have 16 9w (144w total) LED on one switch.  Is it ok to change that switch to a 150w max LED dimmer or should I go to a higher 300w LED dimmer?


texts: How can I make a sturdy frame out of square, steel tubing?

texts:
Update 5/25/2013: I went with mike's idea of using corner braces, but with a twist.  Instead of 7/8" braces and epoxy, I went with 1" braces and metal framing screws.  The results are pretty good (see pic).  I initially tried to epoxy several 3/4"braces together as mike suggested, but I think I mixed the compounds together improperly as they would not cure after even 3 hours.

Original Question

I am trying to make a rectangle frame out of this 1" 14-gage steel tubing.  I am sorry to spam SE with more of my soundproof door questions, but, if you must know, that's what this is for.

Originally, I was going to route a dado out of some MDF and line the sides, top, and bottom of the inside of my door with these steel tubes.  This would keep the door from warping vertically and horizontally, but a user here by the name of mike (I hope you're reading this) informed me that it wouldn't keep the door from twisting.

So, in an effort to create my own elbow joints to connect these tubes, I took a 7/8" oak dowel, cut it into eight 4 1/2" pieces, pounded them into the ends of the tube, and mitered them.  I then shot two screws through either side thinking this would really keep it from twisting.  Well, unfortunately, the frame still twists, most likely because the screws are bending.

What I need are sturdy, one-piece elbows measuring 7/8"x7x8".  I thought of taking two 1/2" sheets of MDF, gluing them together with Liquid Nails, routing 1/8" off one side, cutting out an elbow, and then pounding that into the ends (I can't find any wood that's 7/8" or 1" thick).  Failing that, make the elbow joints out of QUIKRETE.

Does anyone have any other good idea about joining these tubes together in a super-sturdy fashion?

Edit:  I should probably state that I bought these lengths of tubing precut from discountsteel.com.  Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to cut (this includes mitering or kerfing), weld, or bend steel, so I have to do the best with what I've got.  I guess it doesn't have to be as sturdy as a rock, but sturdy enough to resist twisting brought on by warping of MDF.

Latest 1" braces w/ metal framing screws


texts:
I have the TB110 11A-A23O711 (Troy Bilt) lawnmower and purchased some Gumout Starter Spray to try to get the mower to start.

It says I am supposed to spray this into the carberautor in order to use it, but where is my carberautor?

This is what I purchased... https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gumout-11-oz-Starting-Fluid-5072866/204802514?cm_mmc=ecc-_-THD_THANKYOU__V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL


texts: Can SDS drill bits be used with keyed single sleeve drills? If yes, are there any precautions I have to take for ensuring the best result?


texts: Is there a problem with this toilet flange or flange installation?

texts:
We have had all sorts of problems with our toilet (the builder and plumber have been out five times). Leaking issues, toilet rocking back and forth, wax rings installed incorrectly.

My question is, does this toilet flange look ok? On the left and right sides, it bulges up...is this normal? Does anything else look defective with it (does it look installed at the proper level)?


texts: Finishing an attic, building codes, layout possibilities

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Our attic is entirely unfinished - exposed floor and wall studs. It has windows and is wired for a single light fixture. There is a fixed staircase up to the attic from the second floor where 19.5 is on the diagram below.

I've done some basic code research and as we only have 7.5 feet of height along the unfinished centerline, we clearly don't meet the "50% of the usable floor space should have a ceiling height of 7.5 ft or more" requirement.

Based on my approximations, we have about 400 square feet of area with 4 feet or more of height. I'd like to make use of it somehow other than just dry storage - even if it just means a carpeted play area for our children.

What are the implications of not meeting that height code? Would a contractor refuse to take the job? Would a DIY project be subject to fines? Why does the height even matter? I can understand not wanting someone to misrepresent it as a bedroom but any prospective buyer would immediately understand the reality of the situation upon climbing the stairs.

We're in Illinois if it matters. I'm having trouble finding anything other than "the code says" ...


texts: Ceiling light won't switch off after a new installation

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I've looked at similar questions and answers and they don't make too much sense, I guess because my wiring may be different to others.

#80208
and
#36266

So I thought I'd replaced like for like with the wiring from the previous light fitting to the new, but now I have a light which won't switch off.

Please can someone help with this wiring picture to solve the issue for me.

Thanks,

This is one side of a lounge/diner and the exact setup is in the dining room, dimmer, with a newly replaced light (from the same, to the same), here's a shot of the side that does work: