texts: Slight shock touching metal with wet hands

texts:
In my house we get a low voltage shock when you touch metal with wet hands. We had a electrician in who told us it was a problem outside our house. He said it had to do with the transformer that fed power to our house. We called our electric company who told us that we need to do some thing inside the house. We did the back and forth a few times with the problem not solved. So we stopped. When the electrician was at our house he turned off the main that supplies power the house and went around the house with a voltage meter.  He found and recorded voltage still coming though in the metal. This tells me that it is a grounding problem. Any ideas?

Thanks for all the info. I found notes that my husband had when he was doing the back and forth with the electrician and power company. This is what the electrician told us, 'the transformer ( on the pole outside of the house ) needed to be checked because voltage was coming through the ground'. The power company told us ' the lighting rods attached to the neutral needed to be moved'. That did NOTHING. What I would really like to know is this true? I am tired of the very high electric bills and this NEEDS to be fixed.


texts: I have recently inherited a 100 year old piano that has not had any love in a long time.  I have tried to clean it with vinegar and water but it persists in being VERY sticky.  I don't want to harm it but I want it clean. Any suggestions?


texts: ELCB tripping is multiple circuits at same time

texts:
A neutral a earth fault on a 1 floor of the house is causing ELCB of the other floor to trip. These two RCDs are fed by the two different cables outgoing from the main distribution board .

Trying to find the reasons the fault is not contained within the faulty distribution board. Have checked main earthing as well.


texts: After accidental contact with ground wire, hot wire is dead

texts:
Was trying to install a new light switch and the ground wire came in contact with the hot wire.  There was a spark, and I believe shortly after that the hot wire is no longer hot.

Circuit breaker in the panel did not trip, and other loads on the circuit AFAIK are still working!  It is just the hot wire for the light that is now dead.

Any tips on troubleshooting this?

Thanks!


texts: What is the minimum height for garbage disposal drain above the drain stub

texts:
Apparently the garbage disposal drain must be above the drain stub, but I can't find a clear answer for how much height difference is actually required.

Let's use this drawing:

The question is how much higher does the disposal drain (#1) have to be relative to the drain stub (#5)?  I've seen answers ranging from "just above it", to 1 inch, to 4 inches, so what's the actual minimum I can get away with?

Also, how do you measure it?  Is the important measurement going from the bottom of #1 to the bottom of #5?  Or from the bottom of #1 to the top of #5?


texts: How to determine if my heating & cooling system is adequate for my home?

texts:
Is there some kind of calculation I can follow to determine if the heating and cooling system in my home is rated (adequate) for the size of the house?

I assume there is some way to say something like “for X square feet per floor you need Y kind of system” for heating and cooling.

I recently bought a house (basement + 2 floors - ~1020 square feet per floor excluding garage) and I have the following system:

Rheem heat-pump (Model - RPLB-030JAZ) which is rated as 30,000 BTU/HR (8.79 kW)
Amana 15 kW Electric Furnace (Model – MBR1600AA-1AA)

So, trying to determine if this system is sufficient (or not)…

Thanks,


texts: Can a standard 15A receptacle outlet handle a 15A draw on each outlet simultaneously?

texts: For more color, I have 2x UPSes that are each rated at 15A (each has their own built in 15A fuse).  The current plan is to install a dedicated 30A circuit breaker and use 10/2 NM to a regular double outlet 15A receptacle.  I'm assuming that since the receptacle can be run with 2 hot wires by breaking the tab that it is designed to handle 15A at each outlet and not as a whole.  Just wanted to run this by someone else.  I searched around and didn't see any answers for this question posted.


texts: How to drill to insert rebar into a large rock (5mx5mx5m)

texts:
I am pouring a reinforced concrete beam. It contains rebar. I would like to insert the rebar (horizontally) into this rock:

What kind of drill and drill bit and to what depth should I drill to insert the rebar? My beam is using 10* 16mm steel bars, although I could use a lower size for the anchor.


texts: Can I cut the protruding conduit to the floor level and cover it with junction box?

texts:
I've removed the old island which had the electric range, with the conduit coming from the crawlspace:

The junction box was attached to the back of the cabinet holding the range. But the new island needs to be moved a foot forward, and this would make the conduit stuck right in the middle of the range cabinet.

What I'm thinking of is to cut this conduit to approx 1" above the floor and cover the protruding piece with the junction box placed horizontally on a floor. From the junction box I'd run a flexible conduit inside the cabinet, where another junction box would be installed which would serve as a connection point for the range.

My two concerns are:

Since this is kitchen, a minor flooding is a possibility. To counter this I could use a watertight plastic junction box, but unsure whether it could be connected to metallic conduit.
Is this kind of approach allowed by code? I don't need to pass inspection, but codes are generally written by those - or their descendants - who tried a different approach and failed, so I'd rather be code compliant.


texts:
I am in the process of replacing the controller for a jenn-air oven. Ever curious as I am, I was poking around the wiring for all the sensors and elements, tracing them out, and learning their function. Then I came to this, and I have no idea what to make of it:

It is a 1/4" phone jack. INSIDE the oven. I am puzzled.
Is there an option that uses this method to connect? Is some engineer at Jenn-Air trolling me? The connection on the controller PCB for this device is labeled "MT"... and the jack was (of course) empty. What is it for? Why is it there?


texts: I been seeing a lot of flies in my apartment this week. I been trying to figure out how they get in and if they have layed eggs somewhere. I only been having one window open and it have a screen but today I noticed that there a hole in the wood of that window. I'mean wounded if they come in through it and maybe laid eggs in it. What can I do about the flies?


texts: Metal roof decking is rotting along edges

texts:
I'll try to keep the backstory short: My family has an old WWII era camp that was reroofed a couple years back. At the time, money was tight so the hired help was maybe not the best.

We're currently working on renovating the camp and I've noticed that the plywood beneath the roof metal is turning black at some edges and corners. Drip edge is installed, but it appears perhaps the water is either a) running up under the edge of the metal roofing due to the low slope angle or b) causing moss on the painted fascia board which is causing water to wick up the lumber.

I'm trying to be reasonable about fixing some of these things, and am able to install some fascia myself. I'm going to kill the moss and likely install zinc strips.

What is the root cause of this problem, and how can I fix it?

I'm in West Virginia if location is very relevant.

Overhang, dripedge, and moss

Pic of blackened subroof from porch side


texts:
I am planning to fit some binders to support sagging ceiling joists and want to know the best way to join the joists to binders.

The joists are C16 4x2 and span over 4 meters! The house was built in the 60ies and the sagging has caused the ceiling to crack right down the middle. Its a small crack but it is developing.

There is a binder that runs half way over the existing joists but it does not look like it was fitted properly as some joists are not attached to it (I can see gaps) and one end of it does not rest on the load bearing wall.

I am planning to run 2 additional 4x2 binders and just want your opinion on the best way to attach them to the joists.

I am thinking about using these (in order of preference)

Stainless Steel Banding 20mm - Run under the joist and then twist and wrap around and over the top of the binder and screw.
Angle brackets
Truss clips
Skew screwing from the joists to the binder.

Loft is used for light storage and is boarded.

Thanks!


texts: I am trying to tighten harp on lamp. Set screw is stuck

texts: I am trying to tighten harp on lamp and set screw is stuck.  I can’t go from bottom of lamp because it connects at the neck and pliers won’t fit up in there


texts: Separate circuit, but why is the disposal causing lights to flicker?

texts:
My garbage disposal was on the same overloaded circuit with many other items in my 1949 home. Lights would flicker when the disposal would come on. These were all on the same circuit.

I recently ran a new circuit for my disposal (had electrician do the panel work). Strange thing is that the lights on the old circuit, that the disposal was on, will still flicker when the disposal comes on.

The age old question, any guesses on what could be causing this flicker when the disposal is on its own circuit? Could it be that a wire is loose on the light's circuit in the panel?

Clarification: They do not flicker but instead dim briefly when the disposal first starts up. Sorry, I used the wrong words.


texts: How do i get a wet bicarbonate of soda stain out of my carpet?

texts: I had a stain on my carpet, the professional came round tried to remove it and later it turned pink, he told me to add bicarbonate of soda watered down 1/5, the pink faded but not completely he said to put more bicarb on which i did and it worked on the stain (not completely but enough to live with)however, the surrounding edge where the bicarb had flooded onto it turned a darker shade of my carpet and now i have a massive stain of bicarb on the carpet.It looks worse than the original stain. How do I get rid of the bicarb stain now?


texts: How is a toilet flange attached to new flooring?

texts: Doing a complete remodel on upstairs bathroom.  New tub is set, putting down Hardi backer on the floor.  Do you cut the hole in the backer board around the sewer pipe to fit right up to it, or do you leave some slight space away from the pipe, but yet under the flange?  I'm tiling over the backer board.  I've read already that the flange should sit on top of your finished flooring.  My questions is, do you screw through the flange holes and into the backer board?  Or does the toilet merely sit over the flange (wax ring also) and just the 2 screws for the toilet go into the flange ring?  Given that the flooring will be level, and the flange is already solid into the sewer pipe, is it necessary to screw through the holes in the flange itself to secure it to the subfloor?


texts:
Hot water last long time everywhere but in my shower?

Hot water only lasts about 10 minutes in shower but lasts forever in kitchen and bathroom sinks!

How can I fix this?


texts: Is a plywood backer required for all breaker panels?

texts: I read online that a plywood backer may or may not be required behind a breaker panel, and that it must be painted black. What are the rules for this? And why must it be painted black? I'm in MI, USA for reference.


texts: Handy homeowner here. Electricians ran wire and put in 5 new breakers on my panel as part of an addition to my house. One is hooked up and feeds an outlet, the other 4 are dead. Flipping the switches does nothing. They left something unhooked, but I don't know what it is. I'd like to take over and do the easy trim work (outlets, switches, fixtures) myself. I opened up the panel, but don't see anything obvious. Thoughts on how to liven up these breakers?


texts: Should the cement floor adheres to the concrete slab?

texts:
If I want to use a cement floor (with broadcast color hardener) over a concrete slab (laid over compact soil), should it adheres to it, or be separated?

The concrete slab is rough, the cement layer over it will be about 40-50 mm thick (just cement and fine sand) and will be formed in squares of about 2x2m.

If I make an adherence bridge (using cement paste and adhesive additive) the cement layer will be an integral part of the concrete slab and moves with it. I see three problems: 1) the cement layer will lose a lot of water the concrete slab during curing; 2) any movement on the concrete slab will show on the surface of the cement; 3) moisture from soil might travel upwards to the floor.

On the other hand, if I use a separating layer (like a plastic film) between the slab and the cement floor I believe (not sure) the curing of the cement will be better, movements on the slab wont show directly to the floor, it might act as a moisture barrier. Is there any downside to it? Will it affect the strenght of the floor in any way?

Below in blue is the cement floor, in gray the concrete slab and in red the separating layer/adherence bridge:


texts: How do I determine/control which heat source is used (heat pump, oil)

texts:
I have a heat pump and an oil furnace for backup.

How does the HVAC system know when to use the heat pump and when to use the oil furnace?

Specifics: I have a Honeywell TH8320U1008 thermostat which handles 2-heat systems, and when I pull it off the wall and look at the wires one column of wires is labeled "Heat Pump" and the other is "Conventional". The manual makes no mention of setting a temperature where it switches from one to the other. Is there any way to control this?


texts: Drilling thru cement floor with radiant heat flow below

texts:
I want to drill screws through a 4 inch cement floor to install a cement plate or some form of metal bracket to hold a 6"X 6" vertical support beam that will help to support a horizontal beam. My problem is radiant heat (copper piping) below the cement slab.
How precise are those thermal electronic devices to pinpoint the copper tubing to avoid penetrating the copper piping ?? Or is there another way to stabilize the vertical beam to the cement floor ?


texts: Why do my Christmas lights have a white polyester filament inside the thin rubber wire?

texts:
I have a pre-lit incandescent Christmas tree that was attacked by my cat. I'm trying to splice the wires back together.

My string of lights has a "thick" rubber wire (16 gauge) and a "thin" rubber wire (18 gauge) twined together. The 16 gauge wire has standard stranded copper inside. The 18 gauge wire contains what looks like cotton or polyester thread.

What in the world am I looking at? I can't imagine it's electrically conducting, so what is its purpose, and how do I splice it?


texts: Replaced a Heat/Light/Vent with a vent only. There does not seem to be a hot wire:

texts: The three gang box previously had a HLV combined switch plus a switch that operated a separate light.  Stupidly, I removed and discarded the switches and units (light and HLV) without studying the connections.  The gang box now has 2) 12/2 and 1) 12/3 romex.  I want to connect two independent lights and a vent.   When testing I am not finding a hot connection.   In the ceiling one 12/2 is connected to the Broan vent with a black/white and ground.   The other 12/2 goes to one light and the 12/3 is connected to the other light with the red wire capped off.  What am I missing?


texts: Trimming hollow doors without circular saw?

texts:
I am currently looking to replace the old doors in my house. The doors themselves are probably 50+ years old and therefore have very noticeable signs of wear and tear. Just to make sure I can do it, I purchased one of the very cheap hollow interior slab doors (link here) and some other small tools that look like they'll make the job a tad easier without breaking the bank (jig for mortises, etc). The closest sized door I could find had the dimensions of 32"x80". The old doors (probably due to multiple layers of flooring) share the same width, but the height is slightly smaller (79 1/4"). So my dilemma becomes trimming the doors 3/4"so they'll be a perfect fit.

Throughout the years I have received various tools from family and friends that they no longer needed but unfortunately I do not own a circular saw. However, I do have access to an electric planer. From my understanding of these hollow doors, the bottom is blocked off by a small piece of wood. My fear is that I plane the bottom portion of the door (take 3/4" off) and end up have the bottom of the door entirely hollow (because I would be shaving off the bottom insert that blocks it).

Here is a picture of the piece I am talking about (Reference: YouTube):

I suppose it is almost entirely dependent on the door, but is there a typical size for this bottom wood piece? Are there any better solutions to get around this (buying the equivalent sized wood and nailing it in, just buying a circular saw, hiring a professional, etc)

Thank you!


texts: Ok so we have a shingle roof that needs to be replaced. We are having some lumber logged off to pay for the repairs. We need to make it for about another 3 months. I was planning on using half inch pressure treated plywood and screwing it down with the roofing screws for metal roofing, caulking around the edges with henry wet patch caulking, and putting the caulk around each of the screws. So my question is will it be ok to screw plywood over the top of worst leaks and caulk the edges till we get the roof replaced? Or rather will this repair last for the three months we need?


texts: How do I mount a ceiling box in 4" thick ceiling?

texts:
I'm trying to install a ceiling light in two rooms that didn't previously have hard-wired lighting. After cutting a 4" hole for a circular ceiling box (using a hole saw attached to my drill) I'm finding that the ceiling box I've got might not fit:

The problem is that the ceiling is too thick. There is the original plaster & lath ceiling, and below that another layer of strapping and a fiberboard ceiling. All together, the thickness is 3 or 4". If I set the ceiling box in the hole from the attic, it sits very far from the ceiling surface you'd see from the room below. Because of the distance, I don't think it would be possible to mount a light fixture there.

So, how do I mount a ceiling box in this deep/thick ceiling? Is there a special box (or extension?) for situations like this? Do I need to somehow remove some of the upper layer of old ceiling in order to reduce the depth? Any special concerns for supporting the box?


texts: Tv will be off center if mounting to studs

texts:
I’m trying to mount my Samsung Frame above our fireplace. The placement of the studs makes it so the tv would be about 1 1/4 inch off center if I hang it with the included mount anchored into a stud on each end. If I went directly centered no studs would line up with any of the mounting holes. The tv is 55 lbs.
My main question is 1 1/4 inch off center going to be noticeable for 65” tv, over a 71” mantel, viewed normally from a couch 10-11ft away?
I’ve thought through some of these alternatives:
The Frame comes with a very specific no-gap mount that makes the tv tight to the wall and look like a painting.  We’d like to use the no-gap mount, so that rules out 3rd party mounts. The included mount doesn’t allow for any lateral movement. It does have various mounting holes, but unfortunately but their placement doesn’t span long enough to allow for any studs to be hit while centered. Also wanting to keep the tv tight to the wall rules out mounting plywood across multiple studs and attaching the mount to that.
Update: I was browsing a store and happened to find that a third party makes the exact same no-gap mount. I was hesitant to drill holes in the OEM mount since that'd void the warranty. No qualms drilling the aftermarket mount.
This first picture is the mount lined up with the center of the studs(yellow lines) using the existing holes. You can see the center line is off center.
This next picture is the mount and where the center of the studs(green lines) line up.
If I drill a new hole on the top left side there'll be .56 inches of margin on the left side of the hole. I think that should be ok since the existing holes are only .4 inches from the top. Also since there's a taper, I'll need to move the bottom left hole in a bit and maybe hit slightly off center on the stud. Does that all sound alright?
If I'm trying to follow the manufacturers instructions I should add two sheetrock anchors in addition to the 4 stud holes. If I use anchors in the two center holes(my thumb is covering one) is there enough width between everything? I think it should be alright?
Thanks for your input!!


texts: Finding an oval sink that fits under my granite bathroom counter top

texts: My oval white under counter bathroom sink is cracked and I am trying to find a replacement. The oval cutout in the granite top is 17 7/8" by 12 7/8" while the basin size of the current sink is 19" by 14". It's hard to measure full length and width of the sink without taking it out. I have looked around online and I can't seem to find anything that fits. But I guess I do not need the exact basin size and long as it's not less that the cutout. Does anyone know about something that could fit and where I could get it?


texts: What can I do about radiant hot water tubing above an electrical panel?

texts: My wife and I have a new construction with radiant heat installed on the underside of the floors between joists, which was in place before the electrical was installed. Electrical inspector burst a blood vessel on rough electrical inspection, saying the heat tubing violates the 3' clearance rule around the panel and demands it be moved (or removed) before final electrical inspection. Seems we can't be the only people on the planet with this issue. Is there any way to resolve the issue without ripping out and moving the radiant heat tubing and in doing so causing a huge cold spot in a main room on an outside wall? Wouldn't a layer (or two) of 5/8" Sheetrock qualify as a suitable barrier in the off chance one of the radiant tubes were to miraculously burst or leak right above the electrical panel?


texts: Should I remove the drywall before building new walls against existing walls?

texts:
I'm closing off a walk through to the kitchen from hallway creating a pantry in its place. Is this overkill to open up wall to access studs for secure mounting of new framing? I'm building custom shelves in pantry that will carry significant weight.

I use to do HVAC years ago and have always done this type of work when installing duct work through small closets in hallways or bedrooms. We would open up the walls and frame to the existing studs instead of applying framing to the drywall or plaster.

I'm being told by two "handymen" general contractors that I should have just nailed 2x4s to plaster for the drywall. I still have to frame out the front and add a door. Is there another approved way of framing out the front of the pantry without opening up walls that I'm not aware of?

(This is a load bearing wall in picture.)


texts: What are framing dimensions like in the metric world?

texts:
I was always curious about this.  In the states we have:

Lumber - Comes most commonly in 2 inch (2x4,6,8,10,12,16) and 4 inch (4x4,4x6) varieties.
Plywood - Almost always 4x8 feet
Drywall/Plasterboard - Various 4 foot varieties (4x8,10,12) and sometimes 5 foot.

Walls are typically framed with studs 16 inches on center, rafters and joists usually the same, but sometimes 24 inches on center.  Ceilings are usually 8 feet high, or 10 feet in lots of newer construction.

How does this work in the metric world?


texts: What is the sheathing underneath my brick exterior walls?

texts:
I am trying to figure out what is inside of my exterior plaster wall that the brick is attached to. The house was built in 1946, has no insulation in the walls, and (oddly enough to me), has drywall with plaster on top of the drywall. I was actually expecting wood lathing of some kind. I'm assuming the sheathing is some kind of gypsum or fiberboard sheathing but wasn't sure if that was even around in 1946.

The first shot shows the sheathing through the hole in the plaster. The second shot has the sheathing on the left (with water damage). When you push on it with your finger, it is a little "squishy" and not firm like regular drywall.

Click photo for full size


texts: Bathtub drain schedule: to keep or to replace?

texts:
We're remodeling our first bathroom and learning a lot. I'm planning on having the existing cast iron tub refinished after tiling everything. But before I tile, I need to figure out what to do with the tub drain schedule.
I don't know if I should keep it or replace with PVC. It looks like it's brass and might last for a long time, but then again maybe it won't? In the pictures, you can see the overflow part looks a bit icky (corroded?).
What's the best practice here? To keep it or switch it out? When I tile everything I won't have access anymore. The schedule isn't PVC but the rest of the drain is.
Beautiful photos of gross drain:


texts: Can this 35lb mirror mount on this wall?

texts:
To mount a 35lb wood framed antique mirror, I got 4" long concrete screws on recommendation from someone. They're 200lb load screws. The wall is above a fireplace and has half an inch of plaster followed underneath by concrete or possibly brick (we're not sure). Looked more like concrete, not really red.

So that's about 3" that are in the concrete, 5/8" of that is only in plaster and there's about a 1/4" sticking out and kind of hovering in a slightly oversized drill hole. I've included photos.

Should I fill in those gaps in the drill hole with spackle? Something else? Or just leave it because those screws are secure enough to hold the mirror?


texts: how to stop a barn door from twisting a 2x8 header

texts:
I have two barn doors covering an 18' foot opening. The opening has wooden 4x4 at each end, and one in the middle. There are two spans of 2x8, 9' long as a header at the top of the 4x4s.

After hanging the ~9ft barn doors which weight about 100lbs each, the middle of each 2x8 is starting to bow out in the middle, at the top of the header where the barn door hardware / railing is attached.

It seems the weight of the door on the railing is causing too much torsion on the 2x8 header causing the bowing.

To rectify this I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the best / cheapest course of action. Some ideas we were considering:

Add a 2x4 bracing on the inside of the header to the next parallel member approximately 3ft away. The logic is this will pull the header inwards to counter the force of the barn door pulling the header outward. The problem is putting a screw through the header to the end of the 2x4. The 3.5inch #10 screws did not grab enough into the 2x4, and simply drilled out a hole. I was hoping there was some metal bracketing we could attach instead between the 2x4 and header, though haven't found a suitable piece yet.
A stronger header. I thought about doubling (or tripling) the 2x8 header boards. this is guess work though, I looked around and could not easily figure out the torsional strength of a 2x8 to figure out what was needed. Over time it seems an uncountered load (e.g. from 1) will eventually warp it.  Perhaps there is a metal beam which could work, though this is pricey and heavy.
reinforce the header with a metal L beam. I was looking into a long strip of 1.5" x 1.5" L beam and screwing it to the top of the beam. However, the bowing is slight, and I'm not sure the L beam is going to remain rigid enough to counter the load.

Other ideas, or thoughts on what we could do?  It's for an old bike shed, so we would like to minimize the costs if possible.

Thanks for your thoughts and insights!


texts: What Type of PVC pipe is required for a septic tank inlet?

texts:
I am trying to understand what type of PVC pipe is required for the main septic drain line from the house to septic tank.
The IRC says this:

International Private Sewage Disposal Code 2012
Chapter 5 - Materials
Section 505 - Pipe , Joints and Connections
505.1 Pipe. Pipe for private sewage disposal systems shall have a smooth wall and conform to one of the standards listed in Table 505.1.

I see SCH 40 PVC is acceptable, but what about the thin wall sewer/drain pipes?
I am wanting to know specifically how thick the pipe wall must be, or is this simply a consideration based on the location of the pipe - i.e. traffic areas vs no traffic, tree roots, etc)
Examples:
This is a thin wall pipe
This is a Sch 40 thick wall pipe
Specifically, this item in the IRC has me confused:

Coextruded composite PVC sewer and drain DR-PS in PS35, PS50, PS100, PS140 and PS200

Does that include the thin-wall sewer pipe listed above?


texts: water coming out of bathroom faucet when I turn on my kitchen faucet

texts: When I turn on my kitchen faucet water starts coming out of my bathroom faucet. Not sure whats going. Would like to know incase of serious problem.


texts: Fix intermittent connection problem in a monorail low voltage light fixture

texts:
I have a WAC low-voltage monorail (probably a SOLORAIL model) that is about 7 years old. The rail is about 12 ft long and has four fixtures attached.

For the past 2 years, one of the fixtures has shown an intermittent connection. It will turn on full brightness and work fine for 10 mins then "flicker" and go out. Sometimes it doesn't even turn on. If I wiggle the fixture, it will stay on for a while then turn off.

The fixture is a Quick Connect QF-195x2 with platinum finish. It attaches to the monorail using a Quick Connect Adapter (LM-QADP).

I've disassembled the connector and fixture as much as possible, tried to clean a spot that looked corroded, and tried to make sure no shorts are happening (e.g. there is a plastic washer in one spot to prevent a short contact).  After I've rebuilt the connector, it will usually work well for a few weeks then start acting flaky again.

Is there a definitive way to repair this fixture or should I spend approximately $70 to buy a replacement?


texts:
My room is in the basement and for some reason my nose gets really stuffy when I stay in my room for long periods of time.

I have a dehumidifier:  what would be a good humidity level to keep the room? Some days it is really hot down here and some days it's nice and cool depending on the weather.


texts: Type of sealant for nails under asphalt shingles

texts:
I am installing a zinc strip on my garage roof to reduce moss growth. I will be sliding the metal between two rows of asphalt shingles and nailing it down, so that the nail heads are underneath the upper row.
What type of sealant should I use on the nail heads? Asphault, silicone, polyurethane, tripolymer?
None of the sealants at my home store specifically mention nails on the label. I live in a climate with cold winters.


texts: I recently moved into a house where the previous owner built an extra room on the back of the house, and expanded the basement underneath that.  The addition room is noticeably colder than the rest of the house.  Using an infrared thermometer I discovered the floor of that room is about 4-5 degrees colder than the rest of the room, as well as the floor of other rooms.  Should I insulate the ceiling of the basement below this room?


texts: I lowered the fan speed on my ac unit from high to medium. I want to try the lowest speed, but when I attach the red wire the fan won't start. I switch back to the blue middle speed and it starts. Is my capacitor weak or is it something else. Thanks.


texts: removing bacteria from bathroom and toilet

texts:
A tenanted place which I live in has a bathroom that looks nice and clean. However if I spend some time in it my nose will start watering, and I believe the place only looks clean but is flooded with bacteria and hasn't been properly cleaned for decades.

What are some good methods to clean a bathroom completely?

(I'll probably focus on the walls, ceiling, floor, sink, and toilet bowl.)


texts: Separating recessed lighting and Ceiling Fan

texts:
I have Recessed Lights and a Ceiling Fan with light (remote controlled no pull chains) on one single light switch. Usually, just unscrew the lighting so I can just control the fan. I wanted to split the devices. In same box my fireplace fan goes to a single switch as well. I planned to put lights on a signal and the fireplace fan and ceiling fan on a single pole double switch.

All grounds already together, all whites already together...Fan Black i ran to top of double pole switch, fireplace fan to lower part and ran one single hot to the double pole switch and did not break the tab.....fireplace fan worked but ceiling fan did not. I switched them, again, the fireplace fan worked and the ceiling fan did not.

I can't decide if i'm doing something wrong or if the Ceiling fan black needs cut back since it is old and was soldered with the hot in the original setup or if I blew the receiver in the fan possibly.

Thoughts on trouble shooting?


texts: Corner brace with countersink on opposite sides?

texts: Is there a special name for a corner brace which has the countersink on opposite sides? That being that on one leg of the "L" the countersink is on the side pointing out of the angle, where on the other leg it's pointing in? While searching I've only been able to find corner braces with the countersink on the inside of the "L", and I have a feeling it may just not be called a corner brace in other situations (as you probably wouldn't place it in a corner with such a countersink).


texts: Questions on GE electric 5 coil burner element

texts:
I have an older GE electric stove: there are 6" & 8" burners.
If you set the heat to max the elements each and every one glow cherry red and you have to watch food to make sure it does not burn.
But below the one or two highest settings the burners not only don't glow; they don't seem to produce much heat. So they produce what I consider accurate heat, but only at the very highest settings.
I think the burners are old; should be replaced.
Is there an acceptable resistance value, that if I were to test the burners with a DM I could determine if they are defective/failing?
Thanks for reading


texts:
I have two Harbor Breeze 52in. Builders Series Ceiling Fans.   Under normal operation these fans are smooth and quiet.  However, during power outages like we've had recently, I use a Devilbiss 6000 watt emergency generator that is wired into my house circuitry.  When using the generator these same two fans hum extremely loud.  They are so noisy that we don't use them and use a tower floor fan instead.

Why are these fans so noisy when using the generator?  Everything else in the house works normally when powered by the generator and I have it wired and connected according to manufacturers and local code specs.


texts: I bought some suction cup handles for my tub/shower walls. One wall is made of smooth tiles, the other less smooth tiles.  The stick-on mirrored circle is supposed to be attached and stay on the wall; the hold-on bar has 2 suction-cups that are flattened by using a lever on each cup, supposedly securing the whole handle to the suction cups on each side. I want the handle to be more securely glued to the tiles AND to the cups. What kind of glue is most likely to work with tile and plastic?


texts: Best/Quickest way to drain hot water lines from tank?

texts:
Due to serious lack of appropriately placed shut-off valves in my house plumbing (not my fault, it came that way), I need to shut off the cold water supply to my gas hot water heater so I can replace a bathroom faucet.

Long story short, there are no shut off valves to the faucet in question, nor are there shut off valves further back along the hot or cold water supply. So I think my best option is to shut off the whole house supply, then run both hot and cold lines until they are empty, perform the faucet change, and be on my way.

My concern is the hot water heater. I'm reading conflicting things on the Internet, and can't find a direct answer to this question: Is it OK to drain the hot water tank for a short time via the house lines (hopefully less than an hour, and not a true, full-on draining of the tank) without risking serious damage to the heater and its components? And if it is, do I fully shut the hot water heater off, or can I just put it in pilot mode? My thinking with the pilot mode approach is that I'm not truly draining the tank, just running the faucet to drain the outgoing line.


texts: Can I have a 20 amp breaker, 12 gauge wire, and a 15 amp switch?

texts: Can I have a 20 amp breaker with 12 gauge wire run to a switch that is a 15 amp and use 14 gauge wire from the switch to the ceiling fan only?


texts: OHM reading for dryer element? Bad thermal cutoff fuse indication of element overheating?

texts:
So I've read that I should get about 10-50 ohm reading on my dryer element.  I do get a reading of around 10(jumps around alot) on my element, but this is with the multimeter set to 200(the lowest setting), so the reading is around 2,000 ohms.  The guide I read just said set the meter on the lowest setting, but that could make a big difference depending on what one reader's lowest setting is versus another, so I wondered if "10" is the readout, or if they really mean 10 ohms.

So if I'm getting a reading of around 2,000 ohms (readout of 10 on a 200 scale) on my heating element, does that mean the element is bad?

I have confirmed the thermal cutoff fuse is bad, and shorted it to verify the the dryer works(don't worry, I did this only for a few seconds, I plan to replace it).

What I am wondering, is why did the thermal fuse blow.  Is the heating element going bad, and the higher resistance causing it to overheat?

I don't want to only replace the thermal fuse and have it blow again because I didn't find the cause of the problem.


texts: I have a pull chain light in my shed. Power comes in to the light. I want to add a switch to the light so I don't have to use the pull chain. Is it possible to run electricity down to a 2 gang box and have a switch that controls the light and a receptacle that has constant power?


texts: Stabilize metal legs attached to wood table top

texts: I have a table top constructed of pine planks on plywood.  It is about 1" thick, 3'x5' dimensions.  I then have two X-frame table legs constructed from 2"x2" square steel tubing with a 4" flat plate on top to attach to the table top. Any ideas for added stability to prevent movement side to side?  I would like to avoid solutions that require additional welding.  Thanks!


texts: trying to install an outlet in the HVAC closet next to an existing switch. The switch has 2 black wires, 2 red wires and a ground wire connected to it. There is also a lose white wire in the back, which i would assume is neutral, but when measuring voltage between Neutral and Ground there is none. Any ideas if and how i could power an outlet from this?


texts: I have installed a Fireplace Xtrordinair with glass door, blowers, and heat dispersion accessory. With glass door on and blowers off fireplace lights and self-extinguishes in minutes. With glass door off, and blowers off it will continue running. Vent up is clear and recommended cap is installed. I saw that there are small removable panels over each blower that go up into fire box and I think that is the problem but installation instructions said they should be reinstalled after blower installation. I am thinking that removing the covering opanels will be the answer...there was no information in manual for troubleshooting.


texts: Sliding bathroom barn door covering cadet heater

texts:
This was a design decision I made a month ago and now after things putting together, I have a "duh" moment.

This is my bathroom door which will have a barn door sliding to the left:

Note that there is a cadet heater which has the cover 1" thick.

The barn door assembly will cover it if the bathroom door opens. I am able to make the sliding assembly to "stick out" 1" to prevent the door hitting the cadet cover.

However, is this configuration OK? Meaning, in order to get heat, the bathroom door has to be closed. If opened, the door will be 1/2" in front of the cadet heater. Is that bad?

Alternatively I can move the cadet heater to the left a bit and have a junction box where it is now. What do you think?


texts: How to achieve R-21 insulation in 3.5 inch exterior wall

texts:
I'd like to insulate an exterior 2x4 wall to R-21.  It looks like I'll need to use Rigid Foam of some sort.  I'm not finding any products at my local store which are 3.5 inches thick.  At the moment, I'm finding:

Rmax Thermasheath-3 Polyisocyanurate at 2 inches which provides R-13.1
Owens-corning Foamular XPS at 1.5 inches which provides R-7.5

(that adds up to 20.6, which after considering the exterior wood and siding and the interior sheer wall, I should technically be at > R-21)
Is this my best bet?  Simply put these two foams one on top of the other?  Is there a better system or single product I can buy in 3.5 inch thickness?  Should one or the other be on the outside?
Thanks for any advice, I'm new to insulation work.


texts: What could cause the battery in a smoke detector to heat up?

texts:
One of my smoke detectors was chirping and when I removed the 9V battery, I found it was hot.  In fact, it was making a 'cooking' sound.

Was it the smoke detector causing the battery to cook itself or was it a defective battery?


texts: How do I remove the carbon brush holders from my HD 77 Skil saw?

texts: How do I remove  carbon brush holders from a Skil Saw model HD-77 ?  I have removed the set screws from the casing that retain the brush holders.  The The motor casing is split to view the holders better, but I am unable to remove the holders. What is the best way to remove the holders without damaging anything?


texts: Bench Vise Restoration: Removing Spindle

texts:
I'm in the process of restoring an old Bench Vise and first I'm disassembling it, so I can check parts for excessive wear, remove rust and repaint. I'm not sure what is the brand, but here's a picture of it:

I could remove a plate that holds the dynamic jaw to the main frame, letting it slide and not allowing it to move up. Below the dynamic jaw already without the guiding plate:

But the spindle is somehow fixed inside the dynamic jaw. I could notice two small holes, after removing some grease, on the bottom (picture above), and two small holes that I had to scrap rust off on the top in the same axis.

I suspect there are some pins inside there holding the spindle, not sure how though. Before I started hammering a small nail inside it I thought someone could answer if they've ever seem this kind of spindle fixing before, how it works and how to remove it/replace it.

Any ideas? Thanks!


texts: Convert a Hunter Fan (with light) from a wireless remote control to two wall switches

texts:
I have a Hunter 21621 that I got for free.
Based on the documentation it came with a wireless remote control and a receiver/switch (which is connected between the house wiring and the fan), but the remote is missing. My idea is to bypass the receiver and hard wire it.
The issue is that Hunter does not provide details about what the wires do exactly and how to hook them up.
I have two wall switches (one for the fan and one for the light) (nondimmable)
I tried the standard way (black2black/white2white/ground2ground/red2red but it's not working and I have a few wires to spare. (Gray/Pink/Yellow)
I would like the fan to turn on at its lowest speed on the switch flip.
Any help would be appreciated on how to wire this


texts: What translucent material can I use to cover the bulbs at the top of a medicine cabinet?

texts: I am restoring a medicine cabinet that has light bulbs on the top but no covering.  Should I try to cover that area with glass (I'd like something frosted or opaque) or is there some type of plastic or other material that can be used?


texts: Voltage not detected on either switch terminal when switch is turned on

texts:
I am in the process of replacing switches in my 1920's home which was renovated in 1970. While doing so I am creating notes of what wires exist and do not exist in each box. I found a light switch where the line in connection is hot, per my Klein non-contact detector. But, when I turn the light switch on neither the load or the line wire connections are showing up as hot, but the light is on. On the light switches I looked at so far, when I turn the switch on it results in both the line and load connection as hot.

Is there something wrong with the wiring?


texts: We bought our house 6 months ago, found out our well is 305 ft deep, our neighbords (200 yards away) don't have water issues so I know it can't be dry and their well is shallower than ours. If we run our water for 45 min we will have no water in the house at all. (Like wash clothes and water veg garden) then we have to wait an hour or so for the system to fullback up and we will have water again. we have replaced the pressure set on our pressure tank and checked to make sure we had water in the well and had a plumber come out and make sure we had no leaks (he couldn't tell us what was wrong because he doesn't do wells ). Any idea why we could be running out of water?


texts: Protect electrical wiring between drywall and brick fireplace

texts:
Following the question at Frame drywall around brick fireplace I would like to figure out how to protect the electrical wiring and other wirings (HDMI) from the top down in middle of the fireplace as outlet for my TV:

Do I need heat protection wiring conduit / shield? Which type do people usually use?


texts: AC not blowing cool air, Contractor said HVAC unit is perfectly fine and that it has to do with my smart thermostat (Ecobee 3)

texts:
So basically I changed out the filter on my HVAC unit (National Comfort Products, Model CPG41238-U23) and after I did that the AC stopped blowing out cold air. It was working completely fine until I changed the filter on the HVAC unit. The HVAC is relatively new and was installed August 2019. Had a contractor come and take a look and he checked every component of the HVAC unit and said that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the HVAC unit. He said that there is something wrong with my smart thermostat (Ecobee 3). He said that sometimes smart thermostats randomly turn off the system and that likely it will randomly come back on. He said to wait until Monday morning and see if it starts to work. Until then he is letting the HVAC unit run without a filter. He said if it starts to work then I can go ahead and put the filter back in. Does it make sense that my Ecobee 3 randomly is stopping my HVAC from blowing cool air? If so, is there anything I can do to troubleshoot the thermostat to get it to blow cool air again before monday morning? Thanks in advance for any help. I've attached a couple pictures of what the thermostat is saying and pictures of the wiring.
https://imgur.com/a/lVEbL2I


texts: How do I tell which drill kit will be useful and suit best for DIY requirements?

texts:
I believe Skil's drill kit works best for electrical and masonry requirements and a smart hand tool kit from Skil for almost all plumbing related issues.

These two products make a good combination to do things yourself without relying on professionals for many issues. But an average middle-class guy may hesitate to spend extra on the Hand Tool Kit and worth purchasing as it is very expensive.

One can buy Bosch's 13 mm drill kit (www.amzn.to/1UhdWRE) which has everything, but its drill capacity is lower than Skil's (I don't know why although the chuck size is the same) and almost double the rate of Skil's.

Could anybody help preparing a toolset that covers everything for DYI needs?


texts: Why does my furnace have a yellow termainal?

texts: I don't have the manual for my furnace, and the terminals are labeled C W R G and Y. The internet generally refers to Y as Cooling or Compressor. So what does Y do on my furnace?


texts: My timber retaining wall is tipping over

texts:
My timber retaining wall is falling over, I'm just wondering what my options are? Is there a way to fix what I've got, or will I need to dig this whole area out and rebuild? You can't tell from the pictures but it's about 3-4 feet tall.

Photo:


texts: Furnace blower cutting in and out during A/C use

texts:
Backstory:

I fired up my air condition for the first time this season (single family house) and felt lukewarm air coming out of my ducts. When i went outside i saw that the condenser was not turning on so I went to the furnace and saw that there were two wires just dangling there inside of it, red and white colored (my furnace was replaced at the start of this past winter so i think the installer was negligent). After some googling, i learned that i needed to insert the red wire in to Y and the white wire in to C, so i did and now it turns on.

Now when i turn my A/C on i feel cold air and everything will run fine for about 10-15 mins, sometimes less, but then the blower turns on and off repeatedly. I also hear loud clicking noises associated with it turning off and on.

Any ideas?

here is a picture of my wiring, the red and white wires coming out of the brown sleeving is what i hooked up to Y and C:

and in this picture, the T in the red box is my current set up to drain the water out. I still have to get PVC and run it to the sump pump, but thought id show it in case anybody thinks it could be the reason.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tfvjsvricftc3gs/IMG_1627.mov?dl=0
^^ link to a video of what im experiencing. may have to get close to your speaker or use headphones

thanks


texts: Furnace Water Drainage from inducer motor

texts:
My furnace(an amana) seems to be stopping due to too much water in the inducer motor.  If I pull the yellow plug from the motor housing, a good amount of water comes out and then the unit will work again.

After a lot of troubleshooting I noticed something.  There are two drains.  One is up top left near the exhaust exit and the other is at the bottom right.  They drain into a reservoir.  I made it so I could see each drain emptying when it was running.  The one on the bottom right does not drain until the unit is turned off/stopped! This is telling me that it is not clogged(which is what I thought was my problem for some time).

Which seems like a problem.  If the until has to run for too long, then the water fills up and then the inducer motor stops.

Does this seem like it is working right?  Or should it drain the entire time?

Thanks,
Anthony


texts: Should I scrape the paper backing from vinyl flooring off a concrete floor to prep for tiling?

texts:
Once the flooring is pulled up is it necessary to remove the dense paper layer which ultimately glued the linoleum to concrete.  If it is not necessary to remove do I rough up the surface to make a more adhesive surface?

Or will thinset adhere to the dense paper layer?  This paper layer has been exposed on my kitchen floor for over 3 years with spills.  It does absorb but no deterioration.  Help! thank you for the expert advice.


texts: What type of mortar would I use to seal cracks in our chimney?

texts:
We've got a brick chimney that's ~25 years old and it's got a quite a few cracks in the mortar (some hairline, some as thick is a quarter).

What's the best way to seal all those cracks? I assume mortar, but is there a specific type?

I'm not concerned so much with how it looks (can't really see it from the street), but we've had a slew of leaks coming in from all these cracks, so just need something that does a good job of sealing it long term.


texts: Threading cable through existing pex-like tubing

texts:
My apartment (top floor) has runs of 3/4" (-ish) pex-like tubing (photo attached, Switzerland if it's relevant) running from a central point. One such tube carries an existing coaxial cable (landlord provided, I do not want to detach) from a satellite splitter in my apartment to the roof, where, together with a large number of other such cables it emerges through a (non-removable) metal pipe about 4" in diameter with a 180 degree turn on.

My corona-virus challenge is:

to somehow thread a cat-6 cable up the same pex-like tubing so as to get internet access on my roof terrace (where the pipe is).
preferably to do the above with either no new tools or no tools I can't get by mail order.

EDIT: The pex-like tubing is not split (it's solid all the way around).

EDIT: I think I've now gained access to where the pex-like tubes end in the roof void. If I'm correct the cables emerge from many tubes, and are then cable-tied together to a cable frame in the open and go through what looks like some plastered gauze into a roof void, presumably into a pipe the opening of which must be about 15" above the gauze. So there are now two separate tasks: getting the cable up the pex tube (or down it having identified it), and getting it through the gauze and up the pipe (or the other way).

How would you approach the above?


texts:
As detailed in this question, I had a loose electrical box in my ceiling.

I acquired a Saf-T-Brace, ripped the old box from the ceiling... and then discovered my beam spacing was too narrow for it.

Now I have a hole in the ceiling and I'm not sure how to proceed.


texts: How do I trouble shoot powerline issues to my home?

texts:
We moved into a new home about one year ago. Since then we have had several weird instances where several light bulbs within our home burn out at the same time. My wife has also had 2 high-end salon grade hair dryers burn out during this time as well. Thankfully nothing really expensive has blown out yet but I became concerned that we may have a problem so I started doing some research online.

I eventually called the power company to request a line check. The line check revealed a voltage imbalance on the 2 hot lines into our home so the power company tech informed me that he had to shut down my power as a precaution until a repair crew could come identify/repair the problem. The repair personnel showed up a few hours later and it was dark and getting late. Unlike the earlier technician who arrived in a power company truck the repair crew appeared to be driving non power company vehicles so I believe they were subcontractors. They claimed they ran some current tests on the lines and found no problems. They told me they couldn't fix a problem they couldn't find so they were going to turn our power back on.

This didn't make sense to me so I asked a lot of questions about why things were burning up and what would cause the imbalance and I didn't get any clear answers. It also didn't make sense to me that the power company thought it serious enough to shut down our power as a precaution only to have the repair crew tell me there was no problem. My gut was telling me the repair guys were short cutting something but I don't know enough to be sure. Any advice on what I should do would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Replace faucet handles in existing bathtub

texts: I'd like to update the handles for the faucet in an existing soaking tub to something more modern than these knobs. Is it possible without taking out the tub?


texts:
While I was showering this morning, the water refused to drain. After hours of it being in the same state, I found out the toilet would not drain as well. The sink, however, does. If the toilet is flushed, it is sent to the bath tub.

Plunging doesn't do anything (I blocked the spillage pipe in the tub as well as the toilet and plunged from the shower, as my toilet has a very unusual hole that the plunger doesn't cover). Using Liquid-Plumr (chemical drain opener) allowed the shower to drain and the toilet to flush until the shower is turned on again. When the shower is turned on, it'll drain but the toilet will start to bubble and fill.

I used a snake and found no blockage from the toilet or the tub.

I found a product called the Drain King, but I wouldn't know how to use it. Could I use it from the sink drain? Will this even fix my issue?

Any help would be very appreciated. I only have this one bathroom; you can guess how inconvenient this situation is.

Edit:

It seems the sink does back up to the shower. I'm having no issues in the sink area itself, though.


texts: Running Wire in Updated Kitchen and Living Room

texts: I'm trying to plan out how to run the wire for my electrical outlets.  I thought I could save wire by branching my hot wire in two different directions.  Is this code?  Is there a drawback?  I would make sure there was enough room in the box.


texts: How to spray paint parking lot stripes by hand and avoid overspray

texts:
Our home owners association's community parking lot lines are wearing off, about 5 lines, and I'm interested in respraying it instead of calling a professional.

I bought a Rust-Oleum Professional White Paint Spray, and I'm not sure how to avoid over spraying, all I can think of to get the job done is to use General Purpose Masking Tape (ones they use for painting) but that'd likely require at least 3 lines of tapes for each side of the parking line.

Update

Ended up going with the top solution here, and managed to create a stencil after buying grill (its box size was perfect), worked great, and it was a real fast job with this approach.


texts: How to glue HDPE plastic to concrete blocks?

texts: I am using PL 500 to glue concrete bricks to each other. I need to line the back of the brick wall with some high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic tarps for water-proofing. The PL 500 says it will not work on plastic. Is there a glue suitable for gluing the HDPE plastic to the concrete? This is used outdoors, so must be waterproof glue, or at least once it is finished drying, able to survive winter, rain, and storms.


texts: How do I replace a storm door when I have a cracked door jamb?

texts:
So my storm door is in rough shape, and needs to be replaced.  It is a Larson storm with two closers (one at the top and one at the bottom).  The replacement door I have picked out is a Pella Select with the same double-closer arrangement (haven't bought it yet).

The door jamb around the upper closer is cracked.  Here is a picture (with a ruler for scale).

So, I need to repair the cracks.  Also, when I replace the door, I would like to use some bigger/tougher brackets so the new screws don't align with the old cracks, and to prevent a similar problem in the future.

For repairing the cracks, my plan was to remove the old door/closers/brackets and fill in the cracks with wood epoxy, let it cure, sand, and repaint the jamb.  In the past, I had good luck with this Elmer's product to fill in some rotted wood trim.  It cured harder than the original wood, and was easy to sand and paint.  (I never tried putting screws through it though.)  So, I was planning on using the same thing again.

Installing bigger/tougher brackets seems to be a challenge.  As you can see in the picture, the closer is very close to the edge of the door jamb (<1 inch), leaving me very little room to work with.  On the new Pella door, the closers appear to be closer to the edge than the old door, so it will be an even tighter fit.

Option #1: The two local home improvement stores sell the same brand of over-sized bracket (this one).  However, I have measured this bracket, and I don't think it will fit.  It is too tall, would hit the top of the jamb.  (Maybe I could file off the edge of the bracket.)

Option #2: I found this product called the Ultra Jamb Reinforcer.  Basically a big metal plate that goes under the bracket.  It supports being mounted in a top, middle, or bottom arrangement.  Using the top & bottom arrangement, I should be able to mount a pair of Ultra Jambs with room to spare.  I also like the Ultra Jamb because the screw holes are spread out, which would (hopefully) take stress off the cracked/epoxied wood.

Option #3: I could probably build my own reinforcing bracket with some strips of metal from the local hardware store.  Just hacksaw, file, and then drill some screw holes.  However, anything I make myself will probably not look as good as an off-the-shelf product.

So, my questions are:

Has anyone done a similar repair, and if so do you have any advice to offer?
Is the Elmer's wood epoxy a good way to repair the cracks?  Is there a better solution? (besides tearing apart the jamb)
Is the Ultra Jamb a good choice to reinforce the brackets?  Is there another product out there that will work better?


texts: Minimum distance from a water pipe to a junction box

texts: Is there any minimum distance required between a junction box and copper water pipes?  This is in an exposed basement ceiling and the box is near a couple of 1/2" water lines.  There is currently about 5" spacing.


texts: How do I work around a tree in my fence line?

texts:
I have a fence that was built about 4 years ago.  There was a large oak tree that I wish to keep on the fence line.  The fence was built around the tree; it not only removed the tree from my yard, but I didn't like the look of it: (not to scale, obviously)

fence--> -------[]-----------[]---[]  00
                                  |  0000  <--Tree
                                  |  0000
                                  |   00
                                  []-------------------[]--------[]
                                                                  |
                                                                  |
                                                                  |
                                                                  |

So I had someone come out and redo it to be like so:

fence--> -------[]-----------[]-----  00  ---[]-----------[]-----[]
                                     0000  <--Tree                |
                                     0000                         |
                                      00                          |

Notice the chunk of fence that is connected to the posts [] and just floating next to the tree.  Those are starting to come apart...

I'm looking for a good solution to maintain this design better.  The floating pieces are actually connected with a crazy contraption of 2x4's behind the tree where you can't see it, but it's not very solid.  I'm hoping to find a solution that will last more than a year or two.


texts: What kind of glue can be used to join flat drive belt and v-belt?

texts:
For my special project I need to join flat drive belt with a v-belt (the wider part of it's profile to be precise). Due to the nature of their application such combined part will be rotating with most of the power transfered via the v-belt (it is supposed to be a diy tank track). The joint must be able to bend as the whole contraption will be stretched between two 20cm diameter wheels. I plan to reinforce it with screws or rivets.

Could you please advise what kind of glue can do the job?


texts: Best way to make a hole in concrete wall

texts: So my house has concrete walls and ceilings. There a few places i would need to remove some large holes like for vents or light fixtures. I was looking at a concrete hole saw which seems to be a good idea but im not sure it would last or what kind of drill to attach it too. Any ideas.


texts: Mounting a Starglo SG6 NG fired ceramic infrared heater under my porch roof -- using cement board attached to rafters

texts:
I've been using a succession of pedestal NG heaters for years (they wear out).  I'd like to mount a Sunstar ceramic radiant heater (twin burner - 65,000 btu) beneath the roof (12 pitch, 20' floor to peak).
The manufacturer specifies a minimum distance to combustibles of 49" from top and sides of the fixture.
Question, would I meet fire code by affixing 1/4" cement board to the rafters?  If so, what would the minimum distance become?
https://sunstarheaters.com/product/sg-series/


texts: I know that it's just the garage but I'd like to repair this approximately 5 inch hole in an interior OSB partition wall. How should I proceed?


texts: How best can I seal up an old coal door?

texts:
Alongside my house is an old coal door that was never properly sealed.  Some caulk was added around the metal exterior door, and a piece of plywood nailed over the interior opening (more to keep out critters than water, I believe).

As you can see from this exterior view, there's not much I can do about removing the door itself:

But on the inside there is a cavity that could be filled in somehow:

The framing inside here was metal -- it's mostly rusted out now -- and there is a little bit of daylight making its way through.  This is very obviously not watertight.

The house has a brick and mortar foundation.  What's the right way to seal this up to keep water and critters out?


texts: Should I pursue building my own wind turbine?

texts: The area where I live suffers heavy power outages (in fact the whole country does!!) so I am considering building one of those wind turbines (with PVC pipes) but am not sure whether it's windy enough here for it to run (A Google result says its just 1.8m/s). So, is this project worth pursuing?


texts:
We're in the process of stripping the old wallpaper from our walls. Once all the paper is off we're down to the plaster. This house was built in the late 1940's so the plaster is probably about that old.

We've read online about how to prime new plaster walls but we're wondering what the best thing to do here is. We intend to paint directly on to the plaster (after priming).

Do we use a pvc / water mix? Some people suggest avoiding this due to getting drips of hard PVC...does the wall need priming at all?

Here's a photo of what we're dealing with (high resolution here):

Suggestions welcome!


texts: Dremel rotary tool: Grinding holes in hardened plastic

texts: I want to cut/drill/grind a small drainage hole (maybe more than one) in through the base of a plastic terrarium. I don't have a drill on hand but I have a Dremel Micro rotary tool. Is it alright to use one of these bits to do this kind of thing? Which one would be best?


texts: What are reasonable expectations about grout width accuracy in a professional tile installation?

texts:
We are currently redoing our master bathroom and our contractor just got half way through laying the tile on the floor. The grout was supposed to be 1/8" wide, but there are quite a few places (mid-field) where the gaps between the tiles are much wider or smaller. The tile we chose is a dark gray limestone-look porcelain and we want to combine it with light (platinum) grout, so the grout will stand out quite a bit relative to the tile.

Clearly, it's not going to be possible for anyone to get all tile gaps to be exactly 1/8". What would be an accuracy (minimum to maximum gap size, for example, or standard deviation), that I should be able to expect from a professional contractor? 10% off from 1/8"? 25% off? 50% off (i.e. 1/16 to 3/16, or: the widest gap is 3 times as wide as the smallest gap)? More?

Here's an example of what the floor looks like:

It's a bit hard to tell since the grout isn't in yet and the floor is dusty, but for reference, I placed two of the alignment spacers into the picture: In one case, it easily fits sideways into the grout and in the other case, it barely fits the correct way. So, one grout-line will be almost twice as wide as it's "direct" neighbor:


texts: Is there any acceptable way to cover a junction box?

texts:
The outlet for my range hood was misplaced. It needs to be 4 inches to the side. I can make the junction and move the wiring to the new location but I really don't want to have the empty plate exposed.

The wire is not long enough to reach the required location, so I will make a junction in the existing box, and add a new box at the correct location.

Is there any acceptable circumstance where I could tile over the "old" in-wall junction box?

I'm guessing not, but I figured I'd ask.

EDIT: I should clarify, based on the answers below... I know for a fact that this outlet is the only line on this entire circuit, all the way back to the panel. I am asking explicitly if there is any way to acceptably splice the wiring without exposing a junction box.


texts:
I cannot seem to locate a wifi extender that will be connected to the router/modem via Ethernet cable?

My situation: I am moving into a 2-floor condo. ISP is coming to install the modem in the office on the first floor. I know the wifi coverage to the above floor is going to be total crap. I want to run ethernet up from the office to the second floor (exact location tbd) to connect to an extender/repeater. I don't want a high gain extender trying to pick up a weak wifi signal and then using a 2nd band to to transmit data over.

But I cannot seem to find a product that does what I want. I do find extenders that have ethernet ports, but that is not how it connects to the router/modem, rather its another option for devices to connect to that endpoint which would then be transmitted over wifi (ugh).

Anyone have any experience with this?


texts: 30V on 120 circuit - swapped dishwashers and circuit dropped to 30V

texts: Situation: replaced dishwasher. Turned off the breaker first. The original DW is 100% fine, just doing an upgrade. I did not measure the voltage on the wires. New one - connect to existing wires, dedicated line, and nothing. I hot wired the new DW and it works connected to a different circuit. The dedicated run measures 30V on one meter, and 3V on another, and both meters read ~120V when plugged into an outlet. I stripped the wire back and did not get different result. Tomorrow I will pull open the panel and check for neutral, corroded buss, maybe a loose wire. Why would I get 30V when all i did was swap DWs' and wire is 20 year old ROMEX, 14 or 12 G. I am guessing I am at the breaker or in the panel issue? Thoughts? Bad luck? Thank you master experts!


texts: Should baseboard trim be in contact with the flooring?

texts:
In some of my rooms the baseboard touches the tile (you can see a slight gap at times).  Even the door casing is on top of tile.
In this bathroom (after removing the tile) it looks like they put the sub-floor down, then 1/4" underlayment then the baseboard and then the tile.
My photo is of sub-floor & under lament with removed tile and exposed baseboard.
Which method is "best practice"?

EDIT 1:
Here is a wider view


texts:
Problem: there is a big gap between the side of the door where the lock is and the frame of the recess, so that the lock latch doesn't reach the strike plate to keep the door shut. It takes a slight pull to open it.

What can I do to fix it?


texts: Brand New 2 Stories House vibrates when it's windy

texts:
I had a house built a year ago and ever since I've moved in, when it's really windy outside the second floor of the house vibrates. At night I can feel the bed move. It's making me very nervous and I'm not sure what should I do. Just to mention that on the back side of the house there is an open field so when the wind is strong it really hits the house hard.

Please let me know your recommendations.

Thank you


texts:
Like many, we have an exterior spigot with "garden hose" threads on it. Like many, we find a single spigot not enough and attach a manifold to it.

Unfortunately, those manifolds -- be they made of brass or plastic -- are flimsy and last no more than two seasons. Simpler dual ones are more reliable than quads, but aren't good either. And I don't mean just that the seals start leaking (though that's annoying too), water begins to drip from the inside too. Amazon's ratings for these implements rarely rise over 4...

Which leads me to the thought of replacing the very spigot with something having a built-in manifold. I cannot find such a thing readily-made online -- maybe, I can create one myself and replace my current with it?

How would I do it -- to survive winters -- and why hasn't anyone thought of offering such a thing commercially (or, at least, marketing it widely enough for Google to find it)?


texts: Condensor went, HVAC guy is blaming electrician, is this possible?

texts:
My brand new HVAC unit, the condensor died.  The unit has a sticker that says the following:

  Minimum Circuit Ampacity 32 amps
  Max Fuse / Breaker 50

The electrician ran a 8 gauge wire with a 40 amp breaker to the ac.  The HVAC guy is telling me it should have been a 50 amp circuit with a 6 gauge wire.

The HVAC guy has replaced the condensor, the electrician has replaced the 40 amp breaker with a 50 amp, but did not run a 6 gauge line.

The HVAC guy wants $750 for his work on replacing the condensor on the brand new unit he installed.

So I guess my questions are:

Is this even possible for the condensor to burn out due to the lack of electric to it?
Was the electrician clearly at fault, or should the unit have worked on a 40AMP breaker?
Is the HVAC guy at any fault for not checking the electrical runs before installing the unit?
Is the run of 50amp breaker on a 8 gauge wire safe/sufficient/proper?

I'm in the middle of a finger pointing game and I am the one get stuck with the bills here. Thanks for any help!


texts: How standard is American Standard Mounting for mortise locks?

texts: If I have a door whick has been prepared for one ASM mortise lock, can I directly substitute another? For example, if the door had a Yale mechanical lock, would moving to a Kaba electronic lock just require a few new mounting holes for the keypad?


texts: Replacing exterior hose valve, interior connection

texts:
I want to make sure I'm going about replacing the my exterior hose connection properly:

The exterior hose connection on our ~1930s era brick house started leaking badly out of the handle.  Naturally, I thought to remove the handle to take a look inside.  All of the hardware looks old, though not 1930s old.  However, as I removed the handle, the screw holding the handle on to the interior valve promptly broke in half.  Thus I'm now faced with replacing the entire exterior/interior hose connection.

The exterior hose connection goes straight back into the basement.  It goes exterior hose connection -> cutoff valve -> cold water supply.  I can rotate the exterior hose connection, which rotates the interior connection, including the valve!.

I want to back out the hose connection from the valve while keeping the valve in place; and hopefully replace the whole thing with a new frost proof hose connection (assuming this is a standard length).  Is the right way to go about this having someone hold the interior valve to cold water connection with a wrench, while I turn the exterior hose connection?  Then just put the new hose connection through the hold hole in the brick and screw it into the valve?

Thanks!


texts: Wire Melts at Connector to Broil Element on Electric Oven

texts:
I have a Hotpoint RK38T electric oven with a 3410 W broil element and 16 awg 125 C wire connection to one side of the element.

The wire to the broil element melted at the connector. See image of connector and wire.

The wire melted at the same point in March 2018, after 36 years of use. See image of connector.  I could not find a duplicate of the original connector.   I replaced the connector with a high-temperature ring connector.

What caused the wire to get hot enough to melt?  How do I prevent this from happening again?

The oven is the one in:

Electric oven: Bake and Broil not Working

electric oven bake element gets warm but does not get hot


texts: GFCI installation in bathroom switch box doesn't work as expected

texts:
My bathroom wall switch controls the old light above the old medicine cabinet but it only has 1 cable with a black and a white wire. I took off the old switch and put the black wire on the hot side of the GFCI and the white wire on the other side both in the "line" position. This new GFCI has both a switch and a outlet.

Turned the power back on and the swich does nothing but the outlet works and when I plug something in to it the light comes on. Turn the hair dryer off and the light goes off. What's the problem?


texts:
I have built a light that I am going to screw to the wall. The light's cord was originally a male plug at the end that I cut off. See below.

I have wiring access from a junction box in the wall. The wires are 12 gauge wires and I'm wondering if it's safe and proper to pigtail the cord's black and white to the wall's 12 gauge black and white, cap, and attach the light to the wall.

UPDATE:

Here is the light I ended up hard wiring. The piping is all metal and the light bulb receptacle is plastic.


texts: How do I convert a 3-way circuit with two lights into two 3-way circuits that control each light separately?

texts: I have two switches in my kitchen, one on each side, that each turn on two lights at the same time. What I want to do is change it around so each light is turned on separately but still from both sides of the kitchen. I am assuming I have to add in a switch at both ends. Just unsure of the wiring part.


texts: Trenching requirements for utilities in a outdoors kitchen

texts:
I would like to build a small outdoors kitchen, with gas (for the grill), electricity, water and drain - sewage (for a sink).

I spoke this morning with a person in the building department of my city and he said I do not need any permit for a structure lower than 4ft and not enclosed on more than three sides.

For this, I was left on my own on the area I need more guidance, that is the trenching requirements and best practices. I will try to get more info from the city but is there a list of known good ways to run the above utilities? What are the most modern ways to deliver the above utilities?

PEX for water instead of copper; also low-pressure gas can run in designated flexible conduits; should I run electricity in a conduit (flexible or rigid?)


texts: Install door handles on opposite sides of a pocket door

texts:
I am new to DIY and bought some custom door handles; I'd like to install them on both sides of a pocket door, but I'm not sure how. I asked the manufacturer for an installation guide, but they haven't gotten back to me.
The handle has two holes, one for a 1/8" screw and one for a very small metal dowel, about 1/32" wide and 3/8" long.
The 1/8" screw is 1 7/8" long and goes in 1/4" deep into the handle. It has a cap nut that covers 1/4" of the other end, and a washer that is 1/32" wide.
The 1/32" dowel is 3/8" long and goes in 1/8" into the handle.
My door is 1 3/4" thick.
I'd like to install handles at the same height and mirrored orientation on both sides of the door; it seems like I could do that by drilling a single hole through the door and using a dowel screw 1/4" + 1 3/4" + 1/4" = 2 1/4" long, but I'm not sure that would work. On the other hand, I don't want to have the fastener for the screw showing on the opposite side of the door, which would also prevent installation in a mirrored conformation.
Pictures of the assembly below:


texts: What's wrong with the polyurethane on this hardwood floor refinishing job?

texts:
This is basically what I've done so far:

I sanded the floor down to 120 grit with a drum sander (did a pretty good, time consuming job)
Put 1 coat of polyurethane down - these problem-spots soaked it up completely
Put a second coat of poly down and this is the result

these problems start/stop at the edges of the boards - it seems specific to the wood

Elsewhere the floor looks really good.  I can certainly sand & put a third coat down, but the fact that the finish looks like it is either cracking or not adhering to the floor has me concerned.

What could the trouble be, and what options do I have?

Update: A friend who does contracting work suspects the wood for this floor is odd-pieces and left overs; definitely possible from what I know of previous owners.  The current thought is that some pieces were pre-finished with something that didn't accept my poly.


texts: Is there a standard wiring scheme for AC/heater thermostats?

texts:
I have a project idea where I would really like to be able to make my own thermostat to control my home's AC and heater. I have just two questions

Is there any standard wiring/color code?
Are any of the wires supplying a high voltage or current? (ie, possibly dangerous)

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but I figured I'd give it a shot


texts: New pre hung interior door is 28" and the old area was 29 11/26 is this too big of an area to use this door?

texts:
My old door was 29. 11/16" and the new pre hung interior door is 28". Is this gap too big if an area to use this door. The other threads all have smaller gaps. Also should I butt up to one side or split on each side?  The trim is 2. 1/2" so the gap can be hidden.
Thanks.


texts: We lost power to a branch circuit that supplies power to a bar fridge and some lighting. There is a gfci on it as well. No breaker was tripped further I tested all breakers as good. How can this be?


texts: Does installing electric heated floors require dedicated electrical?

texts:
I would like to install electric heated floors throughout a home built in 2008 (In BC, Canada) to replace a forced air furnace system. I am wondering if this project will require running a new set of electrical lines to each of the rooms or whether it'd be possible to sacrifice one of the electric outlets in each area to feed the electric heaters.

Is electric heating a reasonably good long term solution? Most homes I've seen have hot water radiant heat systems instead of electric ones, but that's not an option for an already built home I assume.


texts: Should I insulate under my cold water tank?

texts:
The house is 25 years old, located in South Wales, UK. Previous owners made a total mess of the attic space, taking up rolled insulation all over the place to cut holes for suspect plumbing but that's another story. I'm replacing the rolled insulation but I'm unclear whether to insulate under the cold water tanks?
I cannot tell if the house originally had insulation under the tank, there are bits stuffed under there which could be the remains of the original insulation or just where previous owners put stuff out the way. The tank is elevated slightly, about 450mm above the ceiling below and has it's own insulation on the top and sides.
There are two uninsulated pipes running under the tank which I believe arent original and are part of the suspect plumbing (surely all pipes in loft should be insulated?). As part of the project I am also attaching insulation to these pipes but may struggle to reach the full length under the tank, potentially leaving some small parts exposed.


texts:
As you can see:

Phones aren't meant to be cameras
The plaster in one of my room's corners is peeling off in one large chunk.

As far as I know, our house doesn't have a proper foundation and is sitting on limestone.
Mom says that the walls are sucking in groundwater, causing the plaster to loosen and that there is nothing we can do about it (keep in mind, we're in Hungary and have a limited budget). Is that really the case?


texts: Electrical consumption measurement and data gathering at the wall outlet level?

texts:
I have a TED (The Energy Detective) to measure energy levels in my home. I was initially excited with the data that I was getting, but quickly found that it was not sufficient to give a clear enough picture.

Is there a known method for measuring electrical consumption at the outlet level for devices that also reports the data back to a central local server that can show everything in a comprehensive graph?  (Essentially a Kill A Watt with networking.)

I'm considering building one (well many of these) myself if necessary and would appreciate any thoughts or input in this regard if you have any. I have about 30 outlets that I need to monitor.


texts:
meant to change a lightbulb and the whole light
fixture came down. was confused and didnt pay attention when i took out a wire. any help really appreciated. from the ceiling i see 1 black and 1 white wire connected and 2 brown wires. on the fixture one black and one white, which were connected to the brown ones im guessing. i wasnt thinking and jumped the gun. whats the easiest way to figure this out? thanks in advance


texts:
There was a recent flood in my neighborhood that caused several wet basements (directly from the river, or indirectly through rising water levels). My house didn't suffer water damage but a week or two after the river receded, I noticed dark wet spots on the concrete floor of the basement. There are also some efflorescence visible.

A few contractors who have come to fix some foundation cracks (this was noticed before the flood) have said the dark patches is due to hydrostatic pressure but they don't recommend putting in a sump pump. One said he would do it but also said it won't solve the hydrostatic pressure problem.

My question is why won't a sump pump help? If water is trying to get into the basement wouldn't pumping it out alleviate the problem? or will installing a sump pump cause the water to overflow the hole and flood the basement anyway?


texts:
We'd like to put in a doggie door (22" high) into or back patio door so our dog can go out to the fenced in patio when she wants to. The door is a French door like this one, the door on the right opens, the door on the left is fixed in place:

Is there any way to put a doggie door in this style of door? We'd be ok with putting in a platform or step up to the level of the glass in the door, but is it possible (and cost effective) to have a door shop remove the bottom portion of the glass and to install some kind of bracing to support the door?

This is a Condo, and we'd rather not put the door through the wall since that requires HOA approval (and is more permanent than a french door that we could replace upon moving out). We'd also rather not replace the left door with a solid wood door since we like the light from the window.

Any other options? Depending on how costly it is to put a door into that glass french door, we've thought about putting in a sliding door and using a sliding door style pet door.


texts: I went to turn on my air compressor which is 240v & the draw of it dimmed everything & the waterwell pulled power from everything in garage on startup

texts: My compressor is on its own 240 breaker by itself. While testing all wiring to the garage we noticed that one of the feed wires to the breaker box from the meter approximately 100 ft from from each other was putting out 123 volts & the other side read 0.03 so only half the box is hot. About 5 yrs ago we switched from overhead wiring to under ground for both house & garage & are separate from each other & all has new wiring breakers & boxes. In the garage I currently have all breakers removed except 1 breaker that operates the led lights & outlet boxes, 1 breaker that is connected to a motor home, & 1 that runs the pump for our water well Which the pump is above ground. The compressor breaker is pulled because I feel the motor is fried it had power to all the wires in the back of motor but doesn't work. Now back to the well, every time the well kicks on it draws enough power to dim the lights in garage almost totally out. The pump on well is 120 volt. I'm thinking I have a bad underground main wire from the meter to the breaker box or could it be something else. The power on both each of the  lead wires at the meter show 123 volts each. I appreciate any answer you can give. Thank you


texts:
I'm trying to wire a new Legrand Adorne Softap dimmer without any luck. It's replacing a Legrand Adorne paddle dimmer which uses the HOT and 1-POLE connections on the back of the dimmer. The new dimmer requires an additional neutral wire to be connected to WHITE on the dimmer.

This is in a 5-gang box with a few other switches. From the feed coming into the box from the light, there is a black, white and ground. On the old dimmer, black from the feed was going to 1-POLE, while another black wire was connected to HOT which is pigtailed to a red wire from another feed. The white wire from the feed is connected to 3 other white wires in the box and capped off.

I attempted to move the wiring as it was to the new dimmer, and take the white wire from the feed and connect it to WHITE on the dimmer. After snapping it into the frame, I can't get it to come on at all. Does it sounds like this dimmer won't work because I don't have 3 wires from the feed itself? Thanks.

Switches from left to right:

3 way switch for kitchen light
3 way switch for another kitchen light
New dimmer for living room light
Existing dimmer for living room light
Fan switch


texts: Subfloor and Batten Construction of 1950s Hardwood Floor

texts:
Recently purchased a 1950s cape cod style home with hardwood floors throughout. They squeak terribly everywhere in the home. As I got ready to tackle this problem with glue and screws through the subfloor from the basement I noticed that the floor is actually is made up of these layers:

Hardwood floor boards
3/4" Battens that appear to lay inline with the joists
Brown Paper (presumably to cut down on dust)
3/4" Plank Subfloor
Joists

Given that extra 3/4" space between the subfloor and the hardwoord finish floor, no glueing or screwing will help my squeaks, but I was more stunned by the construction. Is this a common method in the 50s or any other time? My understanding is that battens would typically be used to aid in installing hardwood floor over a concrete slab, where you have no joists to work with, rather than over joists and a subfloor.
(Another oddity is that there are few runs of conduit in the 3/4" space between the subfloor and the finish floor. Why the heck would you do this when you have a full basement below???)


texts: What to do if paint peeling on bathroom walls?

texts:
Paint has peeled from the walls (not ceiling) of my bathroom.
Any chance I will know what is causing it? (This has happened after  at least 5 years of use, we are not the original owner/painter). What should I look for to find the cause?
Do I need to apply any anti-bacterial compound before painting again (it has been like that for 5 months)?
Do I need to apply any special primer?
What type of paint should I use?


texts: What causes water pipes to shake violently with no known catalyst?

texts:
I woke up this morning to the sound of my water pipes shaking violently.  So violently that I could feel the walls moving.  The house was built around 10 years ago, and has water hammers.

Normally I would assume this is a water hammer problem, but it didn't happen when water was turned off, or anything else.  No water in the house was running, and the shaking went on for at least an hour.  The only way I could stop it, was by turning on the cold water to the room where the shaking occurred.  I've now turned the water off to the house.

Things I've tried

I tried turning off the water to the house, draining all the pipes, and after turning the water back on, slowly turning the ports closed starting from the end of the line to the front (slowly)
Screaming at my wall.

Things I thought could be the problem

Maybe the water hammer, but I thought that only happened if you turned off water quickly or didn't have water hammers in the house.  I have those water hammer valves in several places in the house.
Just a loose pipe.  This is a real possibility since my builder of my house was terrible and I can hear that pipe shaking around like crazy.  But can just a loose pipe cause this?  I would think that it shouldn't try to shake that violently whether it was loose or not, and why now?
I've googled the water pressure could be too high, but that's definitely not it.  Our water pressure in our neighborhood is always low.

Once again, this isn't a knocking that happens for a few seconds after I turn off the water.  This is a violent vibrating that happens all the time unless the cold water is turned on in the room where the vibrating is the loudest.

UPDATE

After leaving the water off for a long time, and re-draining all the pipes, it looks like now it's acting more like a water hammer issue and only shakes right after I cut water off.

More Update

Now it appears to have stopped and I can't reproduce it.  Maybe air in the line or something crazy?  Ghosts?


texts:
I am thinking of replacing my asphalt driveway with granite paving. The problem is that if I build a mortar bed for the granite blocks it will be level, so that water will sit on top of the driveway and not drain off.

In professional road building the road surface is crowned to provide for water shedding.

How can build the driveway so that water sheds off?


texts: The waste hose on washing machine sits on floor/low

texts:
We have a smell that I'm sure comes through from the standpipe when washing machine is in use. The standpipe doesn't seem to smell after use though(like this evening, last wash was earlier in day). The waste hose is loose on floor and then loosely hung into the standpipe about 6" . The hose is not clipped to the back of the machine (which would make the pipe vertical, then horizontal to the standpipe , would this cause some form of backflow having it loose? The reason I haven't used the mounting clip on back of machine as it then stops the machine being pulled forward and looks to put pressure on the hose going into the standpipe.
Hose is bottom right of rear (if standing in front of door) and clip vertically above it. Standpipe is on left side wall . If I removed the bend thing then it may be mountable.


texts: What to use to flatten and prep wall before installing Schluter Kerdi membrane for tiling?

texts:
I am remodeling a bathroom that was originally done with 1/2 inch drywall.  I opened-up the walls to move plumbing and electrical as required and then covered-up  those sections with new 1/2 inch drywall.

The shower and tub areas are going to have tile on the walls as well as the entire bathroom floor.  I've already done Ditra + tile in other rooms so no questions there.

Here's my problem:  Whoever built this room put on a skim coat that is, by the looks of it, about 1/8 of an inch thick in some areas.  So my new drywall is 1/8 thinner than the existing wall in some sections and a perfect match in others.

Now I have the problem of matching all of this up before installing the Kerdi membrane.

What type of mud do I use for this?  Is a general purpose compound good?  Remember that I will have to apply unmodified thinset over it in certain areas in order to adhere the Kerdi membrane.

I don't think I can skim coat with thinset.  I'm not good enough to achieve a smooth finish and it can't be sanded.  My best guess is that the solution is to skim coat the entire room, tape corners as needed and then thinset where the Kerdi membrane is applied.

Is a 1/8 skim coat strong enough to support the tiles?  I have no clue how well these layers will bond to each other.

Can I use a premixed mud compound or do I have to use a setting-type material?

Just to make sure I have the process straight:  First you skim coat the entire bathroom and then you go back and tape conventionally.  Correct?  Or is it the other way around?

I've done a bunch of tape-and-mud-ing and even fixing very large (2 foot) holes in other rooms.  I am generally comfortable with that aspect.  I just haven't skim-coated an entire room and much less applied tile on top of it.


texts: Keep losing power and after some time it comes back on?

texts: Keep losing power to 1 living room and all kitchen outlets, light above sink, clothes dryer and porch light.  The circuit breakers are not tripped, and after a random amount of time the power comes back on...and equally random times go out again. Why is this happening???


texts: Can I use a separate 24V transformer with an Ecobee 3 and an Aube relay?

texts:
I've purchased an Ecobee 3 Lite smart thermostat which requires 3.5 VA to operate but I'm using an Aube RC840T-240 electric heating relay with 24 V transformer which only provides 1.2 VA.

Can I purchase a separate 120V (to connect to a different circuit or outlet) to 24 V transformer and use that to provide enough power for the thermostat?  If so, how would I wire my thermostat?  (The Aube relay/transformer provides R, W, and C wires so what would I connect from the Aube and from the external transformer?)


texts: Can I paint and polyurethane my plyfloor or does it have to be covered?

texts: On a new build, our subfloor is going to be 18mm plyfloor.  I like the idea of painting it with a whitewash and then coating it with polyurethane to keep it as our main floor, rather than covering it with vinyl or laminate planks.  Is that a possibility?  What are the pros and cons if so?  Thanks in advance.


texts: What's the efficiency of extruded polystyrene foam for roof insulation?

texts:
I'm renovating a house and I'm looking to insulate it well. My question is about the roof.
It's today insulated with 80mm Extruded Polystyrene Foam (EPF) panels, Styrodur. I don't know the product reference for now. Under those panels are wood planks between rafters.
I would like to have advices from experts of this solution but I'm finding controversal speech on internet.
This roof is on top of living places and, most important, there will be a biomass heating system. I'm heading for a stove with granulated wood.
Some say it's really efficient and others indicates warm issues during summers. I'm living in the southern France, temperatures are around 0 °C (32 °F) during winter and 35°C (95 °F) in summer. Does it melt under high temperatures?
Is it suffisant to insulate the house?


texts: Apartment security system service light is on

texts:
I live in an apartment that came with a security system.  I've never used the system, but the system has been acting up lately.  The system seems to be activating for no apparent reason (producing a high pitch tone), and the service light is on.  The tone goes away when I press Cancel.

I called management, but they said that they don't actually maintain the security systems in my unit.  My unit came with this security system, but I never got any information about it, and the management changed hands while I've lived here.

All the advice I've found so far involves knowing the model of the system, but all I can tell is the GE logo.  There is a screw in the bottom, but I don't really want to open the magic box.  I also haven't figured out what the plastic slide-out on the left is for.

I want to fix the problem or call someone to get it fixed.  How can I figure out what system this is?  Alternatively, who should I call to get service for this system?  A local home security provider?