texts: Why does my blower fan sound like a yeti?

texts: My A/C inside my house is making some kind of strange grinding noise. The fan wants to start, it blows cold air, and attempts to come on but only until whatever is making it drag stops the wheel fan thing and shuts the button inside the closet off. We have removed the filter to check it out, it definitely sounds and looks to be coming directly from the blower fan. (I think that's what it's called) Although the filter was due for a change and there is some dirt that accumulated, we regularly keep ours clean so it's not from that. It spins well when we remove it out of the unit but sticks and grinds and drags when we place it back in. There is no visible damage. Please help!!


texts: I live in Ottawa in 15 year old house. The room above garage smells like wet wool or rubber. I removed the carpet and a foam padding to examine. The padding and plywood smell as described above (rubber and/or wet wool). All other rooms also have the same carpet and padding but do not smell. Room has no sink or toilet. Garage is not heated but isolated with painted drywall as a ceiling. Garage does not smell. Plywood is dry. What can cause this smell? Should i replace the plywood? Any suggestions please.


texts:
My house was built in 1928 (in Altadena, CA). My detached garage looks like the same vintage, but I don't know for sure. On at least 2 of the garage walls, there are shims between the sill/mud plate and most of the studs. Many of these shims are not actually supporting weight--they can be shifted by hand. A lot of the structure seems to be held up by stucco, or something.

Why would this be? Does it mean that the foundation (concrete block walls) was added as a retrofit?


texts: How can I remove tiny dust particles from the air?

texts:
As a basic prep step before I painted, I sanded some of my walls.

Later, I cleaned the area and swept up any visible dust particles.

Now however, a member of my family is having difficulty breathing when they spent any length of time in an adjoining room.

Two questions:

Can I clean the air to rid it of these seemingly invisible dust particles?
Can I buy a test kit or pay somebody to test the air for invisible dust particles that may make it difficult to breathe?


texts: Can a curved shed roof design use corrugated metal roof panels lengthwise horizontally?

texts:
I'm building an 8'x20' storage shed for the backyard.  I've done some woodworking, but I'm more comfortable with metalwork.  Instead of triangular roof trusses out of wood, I'm thinking about making smoothly curved arches with a tube roller.  The idea would be to lay corrugated metal roof panels lengthwise so that the "wavy" orientation bends around the curve and the stiff/"straight" orientation spans the length of the building.  Like a half cylinder, or a quonset hut.
Edit:  But it would not be entirely a quonset hut.  The shed will have traditional straight framed walls; my question/idea only concerns the roof i.e. top portion of the structure.
My question is whether it will be a problem that the corrugations on the apex of the arch will effectively form 20' long horizontal "channels" with no slope for rainwater?
(By the way, we rarely get snow where I live, and not much accumulation.  We do get ice storms every other year.  We have high winds, gusts 50+ mph, throughout every season, enough to scour anything laying on the roof off of it.)


texts: How to add more light and outlets in garage

texts:
I would like to be able to add a fluorescent light fixture (T8's) and outlet to my indoor garage. I plan on running 1/2 inch conduit with 12 gauge romex wires. I have an existing 60 Watt light fixture circuit (tied into a light switch) I want to use the power from. However, I need a little help with the wiring. I went ahead and made up a rough draft drawing of my plan to wire this.
EDIT
Or... there is an existing outlet I can also use power from as well. If this would be easier?
*Edit#2
Disregard my ground wires question. The only question I have is if this wire diagram that I have drawn is up to code and is safe to wire it like this?


texts: My shower faucet is leaking. So I removed the handle to see what kind of stems they use. I haven't seen this kind of stems anywhere. Does anyone know what they are and how to replace them?


texts: What recessed lighting technology is recommended for LED?

texts:
I'm remodeling my first floor and we will install recessed lighting in the existing ceiling. Right now is a tense time to make lighting choices as there are so many new technologies out there. My goal is to make sure that whichever technology I end up using will be directly compatible with LED lamps, once they become affordable. Based on my research this is the array of choices I'm facing:

Can size: I would like 4'' if possible.
Voltage: it appears that going low-voltage will allow the use of LED bulbs without added circuitry in the bulb?
AC or DC transformer?
Type of bulb mount?
Any additional elements to consider?


texts: Furace fuse blows when Aprilaire humdifier is turned on above 35%

texts:
I live in a pretty old house and have a Carrier furnace with an Aprilaire humidifier attached to it.  The device that controls the water flow, I guess it's a solenoid, is visible on the exterior of the contraption, yet it is very rusty.  It is so rusty it just looks like a block made of rust that happens to have wires going into it.  This is the 4th winter so finally I decided to see if it works anyway.  Turned out it worked for a few weeks at 25%.  Then it started getting "warmer", approaching 20 degrees outside, awesome.  So I followed the chart and increased the humidity to 35%.

Increasing the setting to 35%, I found it blows the 3 amp fuse inside the furnace.

Would replacing the solenoid fix this?  Or is there any other potential cause or incompatibility between the two systems?

If I replace the solenoid, I won't need it until next winter, assuming that it warms up between now and then.


texts: How do I quiet a noisy furnace condensate pump?

texts:
I have a mostly-finished basement, with the furnace in a utility room off the main room. I feel the condensate pump is noisy, but this is my first heater with one, so I'm not sure if its normal dB or not.

Normally, we're not down there much, so we don't mind the noise (you still can hear it, muffled, throughout the house). But with holidays coming up and guests over, we'd like to quiet it some.

Is there any way to either minimize its action, or quiet it, or both?


texts: I bought and moved into a house six weeks ago. There was some semi-built-in furniture which came with the house, but it was gross, so I had it removed recently... Which leads me to this. There's an iron door which opens to the interior of the cinder block wall. No obvious purpose, no visible pipes or valves or anything. What might this be?


texts: How do I use this type of semi-open wood burning fireplace? Is it any good for providing heat, or is it really just decorative?

texts:
So we have a fireplace, but have never had any real intention of using it. The previous owner managed to burn several holes in the carpet and surrounding mantle, which has further convinced us that compared to grid heat it's just not worth it. It should be noted, that when we moved in, the glass doors were not present (I guess maybe the previous owners broke the original ones?) and these are replacements we got from amazon to keep the heat/cool in.
That said, given the possibility of rolling blackouts, I'm realizing it might come to using it. Problem is, I have no idea of if I'm supposed to close the doors, the metal curtains, both, etc etc. about all I know is the little metal door at the top needs to open to allow heat to escape.


texts: Are cap staples eventually visible under asphalt roof shingles?

texts:
I am going to replace the roof on my barn using synthetic underlayment and asphalt shingles.

I plan to use 1" cap staples on the underlayment as the manufacturer suggests.

My question is: Once the sun has a chance to soften up the shingles will those caps cause any kind of visible bulge in the shingles?

thank you


texts: Why do my LED bulbs have such a short lifespan?

texts:
I love LED lighting. I have played with them for years soldering up my own fixtures and DC power supplies. But these LEDs were from Radio Shack, and cheap.

Now I am trying to light my abode with factory made, 120VAC bulbs and they don't last any longer then incandescent bulbs! They are not cheap, at these short lifespans! I know LEDs give off heat, so we need to give them breathing space, and some kind of material to transfer heat to. They also don't like reverse polarity or fluctuating voltages. Well, knowing all of this hasn't helped me get more life out of LEDs.

Where am I going wrong?


texts:
The sidewalk leading up to my front door developed what looked like a sink hole under it about a year ago.  Since then, an animal of some kind has made the hole even bigger and it now runs as a tunnel under my pathway.

QUESTION:
How to I fill this hole most effectively?  Obviously it would be great if I could do it cheaply and without busting up the sidewalk.

CONCERNS:
I like in Omaha, NE.  We have extreme winters and summers.  I thought about pouring concrete into the hole, but I'm concerned that it would expand under the sidewalk and cause buckling and cracking.  I also thought about filling it with just dirt and sand, but I'm concerned that I won't be able to get the hole filled directly under the middle of the sidewalk, thus not supporting the weight load put in the walkway.


texts:
We recently moved in to a 1934 home with steam radiators.
Our upstairs bedrooms are cold compared to the first floor. A room adjacent to our kitchen is generally warmer than the rest of the house.
Can I adjust the radiators to try and correct this imbalance? It is possible the prior owners were ok with the bedrooms being cool because they were empty nesters. We are home all day due to covid and would like the rooms to be the same temperature.
I have attached a picture of a standard radiator in our house. Most of them had Hoffman adjustable valves. On the first floor the valves are set to 2 or 3 and upstairs they are 6/open.
I am confused if 6 translates to "hotter" than 2, if it's an inverse relationship or direct relationship.
I don't want to start fiddling if it will upset the apple Kart. Would anybody know if I should open the valves on the first floor and close them on the 2nd floor? I am assuming that opening or closing the input valve is wrong to moderate the heat and that the proper adjustment is through the air valve.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.


texts: How can I repair staining on a parquetry floor?

texts:
My friend spilled water without noticing on my parquetry floor and it had some time (12h) to stain the wood. I wonder, how can I improve the look, remove those dark staining at the edges of each bar. A picture says more than a thousand words:

EDIT on January 2014:
The condition of the parquetry floor improved drastically over time.
Yet some marks are still visible. In our case we do not need to repair it.


texts: Does new panel needs to be up to new code?

texts:
I'm adding a 40A breaker to the existing panel in my condo to charge an EV (Electric vehicle). I called the city and they said that as long as I have space for the breaker that would be ok. I do have the space but I have to move a 15A breaker to the other side of the panel (Panel is challenger SL12(8-16)CGN) where the connection tab is is the opposite side. Then get the 40A and a 15A breaker. These old breakers are very expensive, $25 for the 15A and $50 for the 40A, maybe because they have the connection in the corners and not the center. The place was built in 1986 (Southern California). I can buy newer breakers and a new panel for about $100 (Square D homeline panel and breakers).

Would I need to use AFCI breaker (new NEC code) if I change the panel? That would change the price too much to do it.

Thanks


texts: How can I fasten 6" XPS tight against concrete slab?

texts:
I have an 8" concrete slab with XPS (rigid foam board) insulation - 6" wide, 16" tall - around the perimeter.  The operator who back-filled around the site compacted things a little too aggressively and cantilevered the top of the XPS out from the top of the slab.  There is a further 8" of EPS beneath the slab which may be what allowed the bottom of the XPS to move inward.  There is now a gap of up to 3" between the outer edge of the slab and the inner edge of the XPS.

This is going to make finishing over the XPS challenging and the gap will also need to be filled, probably with spray foam, to keep cold air away from the slab.

Is there some way I can bring the XPS tight against the concrete (short of digging everything up and trying again)?

One idea that's been suggested is to drive some concrete screws through the XPS with large washers and use these to cinch the XPS tight up to the concrete.  This seems like a great solution except that I'm unable to find nylon concrete screws long enough to do the job.  Longer metal screws are available but create a thermal bridge from outside (cold) to the slab which I'd prefer to avoid (having just put a ton of XPS around the slab to insulate it ...).


texts:
A house I'm looking at has A/C vents in the walls, rather than in the ceiling or floor. I've never lived in a house with air ducts in the walls. Can I expect to have problems?

The house was built in the 70's, is on a concrete slab, and had a new heat pump put in three years ago.


texts: How can I refresh the finish on my kitchen cabinets?

texts:
I am getting ready to put my house on the market and I would like to clean \ "restore" my kitchen cabinets.  They are an oak cabinet that aren't painted, they are stained.  I don't know exactly what finish is on them.  They are the original builder grade cabinets from the early 1980's.

They are really just full of grime and whatnot.  So I would like to clean them a little and then maybe just rub them down with something that can make them look a bit better.  Something like Old English or Pledge.  Maybe butcher block oil ?


texts: Is a combination of sheet EPS and closed cell foam between rafters feasible as a combination?

texts:
I am in Central Texas.  It gets hot, anywhere from 14-45 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in this area. And, it gets cold.  Last February 4th it actually snowed enough for me to cross country ski on the local golf course.

I have settled on insulating between the rafters (which are 24" on center 2 x 4's) as worthwhile, however I also have a thought:

What about starting with either 1.5" or 2" of EPS (Extruded Polystyrene) sheeting, adhering that between the rafters, and then laying a layer of closed-cell foam (perhaps 1" to 2") on top?  The sprayed foam could serve as the sealant against the rafters while the applied EPS sheeting could reduce required spray material.

I did search and haven't seen a post from anyone else who's considered or tried this.  Thanks.


texts: Changing Weathertron to Honeywell Thermostat

texts:
I have a GE Weathertron (model 3AAT80 1A1/2A1) that I want to switch over to a Honeywell (RTH6360).  Most of the wiring seems straight forward, but ...
R (Weathertron) to R (Honeywell)
O               to O/B
G               to G
Y               to Y
B               to ? (i believe C)
T               to ?
... and do I need to jump U and W on the Honeywell like the Weathertron does?
Any thoughts are super welcome.
Bolko


texts: Baseboard heater and thermostat trouble!

texts: My baseboard heater in a bedroom quit working. I tried to replace it and the thermostat at the same time (both are 120v). Neither would work, so I tested my wires and this is what I got: ground to neutral- 121.7v, ground to hot- 121.7v, neutral to hot- .2


texts: Economical jail for not allowing centipedes

texts:
We are facing a problem with centipedes in our home.

I'm killing at least one centipede daily. I'm guessing that centipedes are coming through our bathroom Jalis.

Which (economical) Jali is recommended to prevent centipede to come through it?


texts: How do I meet the 7 feet high ceiling requirement after finishing the basement?

texts:
My basement ceiling joists are exactly 7 feet above the concrete slab.  The requirement for finished living space is 7 ft from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.  Since I'll loose a couple of inches with the flooring (I'll have Delta-FL drainboard + laminate) and the ceiling (drywall), essentially I won't have enough height to meet the requirement.

I'm quoting from what I think is my local code (pdf):

R305.1 (Amended). Habitable space, hallways, corridors, bathrooms, toilet rooms, laundry rooms and portions of basements containing these spaces shall have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet. The required height shall be measured from the finished floor to the lowest projection of the ceiling. Not more than 50% of the floor area of a room or space is permitted to have a sloped ceiling less than 7 feet in height.

Question: what can I do about this?  One idea I had was to put the drywall between the joists rather than below them perhaps just a few inches above the lower end to compensate for this.  Would this fly?  Has anyone done anything like that?  I realize that this is going to be a lot more work but I may be willing to do it.  Any other ideas?


texts:
My intent is to wire two switches in a space that's split in half by a wall; I'll use a 2gang box on one side of that wall for some lights in that section. Then I'll use a single gang box on the other side offset by ~3inches or so as to not butt up against the other box BUT there's wires running down the stud I was planning on using. Can I run the wires over the outside of the junction box and let them continue downward to their receptacle?

Doesn't seem right but not sure how else to work around this??


texts: Vanity light installation using an old work box

texts: I have a vanity light that weighs 5.6 lbs. The old work box I have is rated for 6 lbs. This seems very close to me. Is there something else I should be using?


texts: Will insulating rim joist without sill plate lead to moister issues?

texts:
The house was built in 1930 and besides some bays stuffed with fiberglass the basement is uninsulated and unfinished. After two MN winters in the house I've managed to fill the larger holes but have found that a lot of air still comes in between the block and rim joist.

Will spraying the rim joist area, which contains no sill plate, with closed cell spray foam be likely to lead to moister issues since the wood rests directly** on the block? The basement does get humid in the spring/summer but a small dehumidifier easily takes care of it. The wood without fiberglass remains dry year round.

** "Directly" because there are areas that don't touch and other areas that seem to have a bit of tar paper underneath.

The house is stucco and from the inside out goes Wood Joist >> 1x8 Cladding >> Stucco.

Finally I did see these two posts but both refer to wood that is much more encased in concrete:

Insulate box sills in basement
Insulate without sill plate

Much of the rim joist area has sloped concrete sitting on top of tar paper, though it isn't really attached permanently.


texts: Why my new hot water heater performs worse than my old one?

texts:
I know a lot of posts have been made on this topic, but, I have tried everything. I wanted to move my hot water tank from the first floor of my house to the crawl space. My old unit was performing well, but, the plumber I hired recommended a new unit (mine was 12 years old). Prior to replacement, my hot water worked perfectly!! We could take three showers back to back with no issues at all. Now, with a new unit, I can't even make it through one shower before it gets cold. During the one shower, I constantly turn the hot know to increase the temp until it just gets cold on me. I have taken the following steps:

Replaced the new HW unit with the same size (38 gallons), number of elements (2), and wattage as the old unit
Checked the dip tube in the new unit
Replaced the elements (with genuine factory parts)
Adjusted the thermostat to 120
Replaced all the stems in faucets with a one handle (mixing stems).

I have already dropped 1500 dollars on the unit and stems including labor costs. Please advise.


texts: Replacing a washer in a 3 knob tub faucet

texts:
I have a leak from the hot handle of a 3 knob tub faucet when the water is running.  I am able to turn off the hot water because I have access to the hot water heater but I live in a condo that does not have a water shut off for just my unit.  I have to request the management company to shut off the water which affects several units.  There is also a charge for this request.

Can I replace the washer by just shutting off the hot water?


texts: Pre-Romex AC circuits to DC for offgrid Solar

texts:
We live in a rural 250 year old colonial that was wired for ceiling and wall sconce electric lights sometime in the mid-1940s. In the early 70's outlets were added, then updated to Romex when a central heating system was installed.

We are updating to solar thermal for heating and want to add some solar PV just to put the lights off-grid, in case of another hurricane or blizzard.

The original lights are on two isolated circuits on for second floor, one for third, and I think they are just in series.

I remember doing the potato battery experiment with an old fashioned ceramic ceiling fixture years ago, and I wondered ... is there a way to use the existing wiring to go directly to DC and simply switch to DC LED edison screw lightbulb? Instead of a whole inverter, just for lights?

The DC-AC inverter is the expensive part. If I can figure this out, we'll run another USB-PD circuit for all our other power brick devices.


texts: Replace light Switch with Zwave light switch

texts:
I have two light switches which control the same light (is this known as a 3way connection?).  I would like to replace one of the switches with a Z-wave light switch so I can incorporate the light in some home automation scenes.

Can I do this by just replacing one of the existing light switches with a Z-wave enabled one? Do I need to look for a special 3-way Z-Wave light switch? Do such things exist?

I am handy, but definitely not an electrician.

Here is a picture of how the switch is currently wired:


texts: Could using an orifice for the wrong gas type damage a water heater?

texts: Question...Over the past 18 months, after our home was built, we learned our two tankless water heaters have been running propane through a natural gas orifice.    We discovered the issue after hearing a loud noise coming from one of the water heaters.   Could this have damaged the water heaters?   Thanks in advance


texts: Will having reversed hot and cold damage my faucet?

texts: On our old kitchen tap handles, the cold is on the left side and hot on the right. The new taps are the exact opposite, cold being on the right and hot on the left side. Is it okay to just connect them as they are as long as we, obviously, remember what side the cold and hot are on? Can it ruin anything like the cold water hose/pipes, etc.?


texts: Should I use SER or URD cable for a 100 amp sub-panel?

texts:
I am running a new line from my main panel on the pole out to a sub panel in my shop. The sub panel will be 100amp. I have a 180' run and have buried 1-1/2" sch40 conduit. I'm planning on using 1/O alum wire, but can't figure out if I need to use "SER" cable ( looks like it comes with a ground) or "URD" and use a additional wire for the ground?
If I use the "URD"... what size & type of wire do I need to use for the ground?
Is THHN good enough or do I have to use XHHW ?


texts: How can I mount a security camera on the outside of the house?

texts:
I'm tasked with mounting a security camera on the outside of the house and I'm not sure what would be the right way to do this. There are two basic problems: how to mount the thing and how to run the power cable (the camera is using a low-voltage power adapter). The way I see it, my options are as follows:

Use outdoors power outlet. This might be the easiest option (there is an outlet nearby) but it's not ideal: not only the cable would be hanging outdoors, but it is also too short to reach the outlet, so I'll end up with an ugly contraption of a power adapter and an extension cord - all dangling outside open to the elements.
Drill the wall (the house is "typical" wooden frame with insulation and vinyl siding). I've never drilled the outside walls, so I'd appreciate some advice here. Obviously, I'd like to avoid messing up the wall interior and thermal insulation of the house by doing it wrong.
Run it through the soffit/under the roof - no idea if it's feasible at all.
Run it between the door and door frame - again the concerns are shorting the cable and messing with thermal insulation by leaving some gap.

The other question is specifically about mounting the camera to the outside wall. What would be the right way to attach it to the vinyl siding. Is it something that would require drilling through the wall or there is a way to do it in a less invasive manner?


texts: How to make a switched outlet, half switched, half hot

texts: In my garage I have an outlet in the ceiling that is fully controlled by a single switch due to a shop light being plugged into it. I would like to make half of that outlet always hot, so I can power the garage door opener.


texts: How can I repair this sagging gate door without replacing it completely?

texts: This gate is rubbing up against the wall of this house, and the locking mechanism is on the incorrect side of the post where the lock is and now the gate will not correctly open. I think the problem is just that the gate is sagging. How would you go about a cheap fix? I think I just need something on the bottom of the gate to slightly raise it. It looks like there is already something there that was supposed to serve this purpose, but it is not raising it enough. I have circled that piece in red. Perhaps I just need one that is longer, but i don't know what the name of that piece is. Can anyone help me?


texts: Lennox gas forced air furnace intermittently fails to light burners yet continues to run blowing cold air

texts:
Lennox ML196UH070XP25B-05 about 8 years old with an intermittent ignition problem. Furnace will start and run properly 98% of the time. Unfortunately every once in a while (2 known times in 3 months) the furnace will not light the burners, the entire furnace continues to run for hours blowing cold air. The problem, so far, has corrected itself but living in Minnesota this is not an option. Furnace board stores last 5 error codes, pulled them today (only time ever) and it had recorded 4 errors in the following order.
6 pressure switch cycle lockout.
3 pressure switch open with inducer on.
2 Pressure switch closed with inducer off.
3 pressure switch open with inducer on.
It seems to me if the burners do not light the furnace should shut down, not continue to run as normal but with no heat. I have an ecobee 3 thermostat which has bee working fine for the past 5 years, powering  down the HVAC system does not fix anything, filters are OK, I checked the drains and they are clear.
I would appreciate any insight anyone can provide. Thank you for your help.


texts:
I'm installing a wooden fence around my back yard using prebuilt cedar panels and 10 ft (3+ m) 4x4 pressure treated posts buried 3 1/2 to 4ft (1+ m) deep. The posts are packed in with pea gravel to allow for drainage.
Most of the post holes I've dug go through 2 ft (60 cm) or so of hard clay before hitting a softer sandy soil. On one corner of the lot however, the hard clay continues down the full 4 ft. I placed a few feet of water in a hole to try to loosen the soil for digging (which helped greatly), but after 48 hrs the water level had only gone down a few inches.
What can I do to get these post holes to drain properly?


texts: I am installing two toggle anchors in drywall to hold a heavy mirror. The first one went normally, but this second one will not cinch all the way. No human strength can push the plastic disk farther up the tongue. Do I take it out and try another one? Is there something wrong with my wall? Thanks!


texts: Should I clean (how?) old drywall before applying mud?

texts: I have screwed a new piece of drywall. Now I need to try to apply mud and finally paint. Should I clean, wash the old painted drywall first? If yes, how? It does not stand out in this picture but the old drywall is very dirty.


texts: Light to turn on for every second switching

texts:
I have a very modifiable simple fixture with two E14 sockets. I want to modify the wiring of one so that it only gets current when the switch is turned on an even number of times. I will put a strong LED bulb in this socket, and a weaker in the other.

Is there a simple, inexpensive and small way to achieve this?

Dimmable switches and dimmable LEDs are very expensive here.
I cannot replace the wiring between the switch and the fixture without serious masonry, this is a 50 years old concrete house. The fixture is not even grounded.


texts:
I have a wall that's 2" deep. I'm using 4" square boxes for the outlets, as normal x-gang boxes are too deep. I'm need a 4-gang switch bank in one place. Would it be acceptable/wise to cut the ends off of 2 4" boxes, then glue them together (likely with a couple extra scraps on the top/bottom to strengthen it? Alternatively, could I cut a 4 gang box to the right depth and glue on some cover plats to form the back of it?

And if that's absolutely not an option for some reason, anyone have a source for 4-gang boxes that are 2" deep? I've found 1-gang boxes at Allied Moulded, but their larger boxes are still too deep.

Thanks!


texts: Can the last few boards of hardwood near a wall be glued if there is not alot of space for nailing

texts:
So you get near the wall and cannot use the floor nailer or brad nailer to get a nail in through the tongue at an angle.  I have seen advice to glue a board like this down vs trying to drill a guide hole and hand nail.  For the glue types, some just fill the groove and attach the next board, some do this and glue to the floor.  It doesn't seem to make sense to have a board glued to the subfloor (wood) when the rest are nailed (to allow it to move/expand).  Did a quick check of other answers and it seems that nailing is the way to go, though it is more work.  Make sense?

Thanks!


texts: I currently have an outlet that is wired to a switch.  I want to turn it into only half hot so one is always powered on and the second is controlled by the switch.  I understand that to accomplish this i have to break off the tab by the brass screws.  Most postings talk about a white, red and black wire.  I only see a white one on the neutral side of the box and the red one feeding onto the brass side.  I do not see anywhere a black wire though.  Any ideas?  Thank you.


texts:
The sink disposal came unscrewed, leaked, and shorted the unit. It died. I replace the disposal and plug it in. Nothing happens.

The breaker is not tripped.
The new disposal turns on when an extension cord is used connected to a different outlet.
The outlet in question when tested indicated open ground.
We open it up and reconnect the ground.
Second outlet test shows open neutral.
We open it up, and the white wire is loose and falls off connection. We connect it firmly and test again. Hooray! Working outlet per the tester.
We plug the disposal in to the outlet and <<>>. The breaker again is not tripped. The outlet tester now has no lights on the outlet. Dead.
I plug the disposal with the cord into another outlet, it works.
It is clearly electrician time but this mystery is gnawing at my brain.
Something about the disposal the outlet doesn't like. Or, would it do that with anything I plug in after it says it is working.
Probably needs a new outlet. Anyone have a technical insight into the reason this happened?


texts: How do I make my gas oven produce less carbon monoxide?

texts:
I had someone perform a combustion safety test on my oven today and he discovered that it's producing an elevated level of carbon monoxide compared to average: 80 PPM. He said the best ovens he's seen produce about 10 PPM. He said that I could get somebody out here to "adjust" it to improve the combustion but wasn't too sure what this would entail.

What does this entail? Is there like a user-serviceable knob on the oven to adjust the air mixture or something that I can do myself? If not, or if it's not safe for me to do this myself, who do I need to hire and what do I need to ask them to do? Or is the oven itself simply totally defective and in need of replacement? It's not a fancy high-end unit but it's fairly new...


texts:
The humidistat was replaced. The wiring looks the same as it did before. However, the solenoid only opened when the blower was on. Now we hear the solenoid opening at all times of the night whether the blower is on or not. The tech did say it was going to run a lot for a few days because our humidity was so low. We have the dial on 5 and it clicks at about 4.5 but never has reached 5. It was 44 hours ago the humidistat was swapped out. Is this normal?
Update: The tech who installed the humidistat said the furnace installers (several years ago) had added a transformer for the humidistat which bypasses the blower. Please see picture.


texts: DeWalt Hammer Drill D25023 SDS Plus Rotary Hammer

texts: The Drill does not rotate but the hammer works. Is this something a DIY'er can take apart & fix? The drill is almost new so there is very little, if any, wear on the intermal parts. The front end is held on with four screws, I'm wondering if I split that if there are any repairable parts inside?


texts: Water Pump Will Not Pressurize Over 30 PSI

texts:
I’ve been having issues with the water pump at my house. When I turn it on using the breaker in the main breaker panel, it turns on and moves the pressure to 30 psi according to the pressure gauge, but the pump won’t turn off. It just keeps running and I'm forced to turn it off using the breaker feeding it. In the past, I recall it being at least close to 40 psi or more.

This is the troubleshooting I performed:

At one point, the pump was turned on, and the tank reached 30 psi and the pump kept running. The valve allowing water to go to the house was turned off, then the pump was turned off through the breaker. The pressure gauge still showed 30 psi. I was trying to determine if water was going back into the well. This may not even be a valid test to check that.

The 30/50 pressure switch’s setpoints were changed for the pump to turn off at 30 psi. The pump was able to turn off, but after using a small quantity of water (guessing 3 gallons) the pump turned on at approximately 3 psi, thus this configuration is not feasible.

The control box was opened and it was confirmed that the wires leading to the pump motor show 240 volts. There are three wires leading to the pump motor. There are two particular wires that if measured across show ~358 volts. There are also two capacitors in the control box. One is used for starting the motor and the other for running the motor. The one for starting the motor looks as if the bottom of the capacitor is corroded. The control box is located near the tank in the garage, so there could still be an issue between the control box and pump motor.

The breaker panel leading to the pump switch shows 240 across the 2 poles, and the pressure switch shows 240 volts as well.

After draining the tank by opening a nearby valve, the tank bladder showed ~29.5 psi. There were no signs of water coming out the bladder when a little air was let out the bladder.

Pump Specs: Franklin Electric Model 2823008110, 1.5 HP, 60 Hz, 3450 RPM

Any thoughts on the matter?


texts: Calculating time constant for storage-tank water heater

texts:
I was curious what the R-C time constant is, for a conventional storage-tank style electric water heater; I came up with an answer that seems very counter-intuitive.

("RC time constant" is the product of a resistance and capacitance, with the dimensions of time.  In that time, a given capacitance C is charged or discharged, through a given resistance R, about 63%.   For thermal systems, R can have the dimensions: degrees-F per btu per hour and C the dimensions: btu per degree-F).

For my 10 gal kitchen water heater, the surface area of the tank is about 8 sq-ft, and the insulation is about 8 sq-ft * degree-F per btu/hr (aka. R-8).   Thus the overall thermal resistance of the tank's envelope is about 1 degree-F per btu/hr.

The thermal "capacitance" is about 80 btu per degree-F (10 gals of water at 8 lbs per gallon, with a btu defined as the energy to raise one lb of water by a degree-F).

Thus the thermal R-C time constant is (1 degree-F per btu/hr) * (80 btu per degree-F), or 80 hours.  That means that in 3+ days, after losing power, the tank would still retain 37% of its heat (or cool only 63% of the way from its set temperature to ambient temperature).   Maybe that's right, but it seems pretty counterintuitive.   Am I calculating wrong somehow ?


texts:
I have this bathtub that had a trip lever drain that kept getting stuck so the water would not drain unless you have a foot on the trip lever while you're showering (not ideal). I decided to replace it with a push down stopper. It was easy to take out the lever but the bath drain is nearly impossible. I tried everything, turning pliers into levers and giving it some torque. I went out to buy a drain remover but it just would not turn. I was wondering if anyone have any other ingenious ideas? It's not a cross hatch drain but just a horizontal bar that runs down the middle.

I never replaced a bath drain before so maybe I'm doing it all wrong so any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

here's a picture of it:


texts: I am looking to re-glue the screw that connects a wood leg to a metal threaded bracket on a piece of furniture. The end that goes into the wood leg is stripped in the wood so the leg is loose, I tried liquid nails waited two days but they did not hold. Any ideas of what kind of glue to use?


texts: After Lamp Blew and Circuit Breaker Popped Light Won't Go Out

texts:
(USA 120v) There are two recessed ceiling lights in the bathroom.  The switch is a modern code one that senses if somebody is in bathroom but for years it seems to have been in a mode where it just works like an on/off switch.  The switch is in a three-way receptacle that as well as the sensor-type switch has a regular on/off for some wall lights in the bathroom and a timer switch for the bathroom exhaust fan.
Yesterday one of the two ceiling lights failed with a bang which blew the circuit breaker.  I replaced both lights.  Pushed circuit breaker back in.  Everything else on that breaker and the other two things in the receptacle work, but the ceiling lights won't turn off.  Suspecting that the power surge that popped the breaker damaged the sensor switch I replaced it with a new one, but still I cannot turn off the ceiling lights.  Pushing the switch causes the lights to toggle between bright and dim, but they never go out.  They're new LEDs.
I'm not sure what to do.


texts: Am I supposed to pull part of the whole cable inside the box?

texts:
When installing an electrical box, am I supposed to pull part of whole Romex cable inside the box or I can remove the white insulation outside the box and insert only 3 wires (hot, neutral and ground) inside the box?
Look at the picture. I have pulled part of the Romex cable inside the box, but those clamps are too tight. I am not sure if I was supposed to pull it this way or not.
One of the cables is 14/3 and other 14/2.


texts: Checking house wiring for high resistance connections

texts:
My 1970 house was wired with aluminum branch circuits which I pig-tailed 35 years ago. I want to test the circuits by pulling 13 A from each receptacle and observing the voltage drop. There are six 15-A circuits 12 AWG AL and four 20-A 10 AWG AL. I have added two more 20-A circuits 12 AWG CU.

How should I proceed? Should I first take the cover off the panel and test the voltage drop on the incoming legs or should I proceed to test the receptacles?

The electrical panel is a GE with four 2-pole 240 V breakers in the top (30 A, 40 A, 50 A, and 60 A, for clothes dryer, a/c, kitchen range, and branch feeder) and a lower section with slots for two columns of eight 1/2-inch breakers fed by a 60-A 'main' breaker. The panel is in the attached garage.

The panel is now full because I have two GFCI breakers (1 inch each) and I have one 2-pole 50 A breaker for the whole house surge protector (Eaton). The house has no AFCI breakers. If I want this, I would have to use AFCI receptacles.

Preliminary results with a 13-A current draw (1600 W hair dryer):

Garage: one 15-A circuit goes from 124 V to 120 V, and one 20-A CU circuit also goes from 124 to 120. Another 15-A receptacle goes from 121 V to 113 V.

Farthest bedroom from garage: 15-A receptacle 122.7 V to 112.4 V.


texts: How can I clean and smooth the finish on an old table?

texts:
I recently bought a second-hand coffee table and I'd would like to clean and smooth the existing finish. It's exactly same table as this, so I guess it's a copy of a common model.

Below you see details of the blemishes and also poor execution of the previous finish.

Unfortunately I can't tell what kind of finishing it is. Is it safe to use mineral spirits to clean it? What about wet sanding, does it require a specific type of finishing ?


texts: I have a heater/AC UNIT installed in my attic and in winter the heat from the unit melts the snow turning into ice and creates a nitemareso I want to put insulation in the rafter to insulate the roof from the heater. Will this work? Any tips on how far down to go? Is it ok for rafter insulation to be right down to ceiling insulation or should I leave a gap?


texts: Can I drill a hole in PVC conduit body to run a coax cable?

texts:
I need to install a new grounding rod at my house and will be running the grounding conductor through an LB body and PVC conduit down to the ground.
But I also need to run a new coax cable into the house nearby, so I'm wondering whether I can drill a hole in the conduit body, install a feed-through bushing, and run the coax into the house through the same conduit? (I'd loop the coax and weather-seal it on the outside, of course).


texts: Can I install storm door on the door frame?

texts:
I want to install a storm door. But my door looks a bit different: it doesn't have something called "brick module". I'm quite confused, since storm door's manual always suggests to install the storm door on the brick module.

So my question: can I install the storm door on the part that I'm pointing at in picture 2? Is that part strong enough to hold the storm door?

Thanks a lot!


texts: What failure modes are there for electric water heater elements?

texts:
What would be the cause of the elements to go out in my electric water heater?

My wife is convinced that it's because the water heater hasn't been drained/flushed in the past 3 years.

I was also told it was an issue with over use or possibly just old age (installed in 2004).

So for future reference so I can prevent this, what could cause them to go out?


texts: We paid to have our carpets stretched by professionals. When they were finished it all looked great to LOOK at.........then after they left I started noticing that there were LUMPS everywhere UNDERNEATH the carpet! Lumps that were NOT there before the carpet was re-stretched. Is this because they allowed the padding to bunch up underneath as the re-stretched the carpet? and I'm guessing this can't be fixed.


texts: How do I disable a main floor thermostat and add one in a basement suite?

texts: We are thinking of renting out the main floor of our home but don't want the tenant to have control of the only thermostat. Perhaps we could disable the one on the Main floor and add one to the basement suite.  What would this involve?


texts: Carpet company wants to charge me for the waste they will have left over. Is this normal?

texts: My floor measures out at 296 sq ft, but the carpet company wants to charge me for 330 sq ft.  Their reasoning is that they are not charging me for the actual square feet of total area, but for the carpet they are bringing with them to do the job which includes the remnants that will be left over.  Is this typical or are there shady happenings?


texts: What are the relative merits of stainless steel vs. granite composite sinks?

texts:
I am about to begin a project to install a bar sink. I am debating between granite composite, such as the Blanco, and a conventional stainless steel sink. In either case, the sink will be mounted under a counter made of granite.

Are there significant differences in durability, cleaning, scratches, etc.?

Addiitonally, are there differences in how these two types are mounted? What are the preferred techniques?

Finally, is mounting of either of these something a fairly skilled DIYer can do (the cutout will be done by the stone pros)?


texts:
We put an addition on a couple of years ago.  At that time we installed a second HVAC unit to service the upstairs.  Our original unit still services the basement and main level.  The original contractor only sealed off the vents in 2 of the bedrooms.

We are ready to install hardwood flooring in the bedrooms and just realized they didn't seal all the other rooms (instead the vent is covered tightly with aluminum foil to stop the airflow)!.

So my questions are.... 1. Can we just put sub-flooring over the vents and then the hardwoods?  2.  Is there a way to seal off the other vents closer to the heating unit so it isn't blowing air so far into the house that it isn't servicing?

Any ideas will be appreciated!
Karen


texts: Why do the screws on my fence snap after install?

texts: I have installed a wooden fence in my yard using outdoor use decking screws. I've noticed that some of the screws in the boards I've installed last year are starting to snap in half and I'm having to replace them. Is there a reason why this is happening? Or is this just to be expected routine maintenance?


texts: Who is the right type of person to create construction drawings for a home I've already designed?

texts:
As the ultimate DIY project, I want to owner-build a home. I've already "designed" the house, meaning I have a 1/2" scale floor plan, roofing ridge line, and elevations for all interior and exterior wall treatments. These are all done in CAD. I know exactly what it will look like inside and out.

In order to build it though, I need building plans, maybe stamped by an architect. The person who makes the plans would need to be qualified to make structural engineering decisions and calculations, like joist spacing, wall framing diagrams, and foundation calculations which I am not qualified to do.

So far, I've found four types of people, none of which will do what I want:

Architects want to design the house themselves, and seem offended that I would come to them with specifics about exactly how the house should look and be laid out.
"Residential Designers" seem to be draftsmen that also want to do the design elements themselves. I'm also not sure about their qualifications for engineering calculations.
Design and build firms want to do the design themselves and build the house too!
Most engineers only seem interested in commercial projects, and it seems like over kill to hire an engineer ($$$) to draft building drawings for a small residence.

So if I already have a complete "design" for the house (layout and artistically speaking) but need that design turned into structurally sound and code compliant construction drawings with the proper legal approvals, who is the right type of person or firm to do this work?


texts: How can I reduce flicker on an ELV chandelier?

texts:
I wired up a set of ELV lights in my dining room and used this particular dimmer switch (Lutron MRF2-6ELV-120-WH) at the switch box.

The wiring was rather straightforward. No more complicated than the attached image. At the switch box, I had everything I needed. Line, load and neutral. The light, though, has a noticable flicker--not too bad when it is turned on full, but when dimmed becomes quite noticeable, especially around 20%. The flicker
seems to be about 3-4Hz.

The common consenus seems to be that I didn't properly use the neutral wire, but I am quite sure I did.

Furthermore, I have contacted the manufacturer of the light directly, and asked them if it is known to have any issues with the switch I chose. They actually set up the exact configuration on their test bench and told me that the lights are 100% compatible with the switch and that they had no detectable flicker.

What might I be able to do, if anything, to reduce the flicker?

Is the issue in the integrity of the neutral wire? Is there anything I can do to test that it is properly wired to the breaker box and that there are no "leaks" to ground or elsewhere? Would that even cause the flicker?

Here is an example of a similar wiring situation:

Additional info:

These are the lights, there is no additional transformer. It is all built into the chandelier.


texts: What things to watch for when installing sewer line in the basement under 15" concrete slab

texts:
I am going through a major renovation in my house which involves excavating 7'6" basement and pouring seismically strong 15" slab as a floor.
The house is pretty high on the hill and something like 50' from the property line. I have a sewer line currently going under floor joists and in the middle of the space that will become a basement. So it will be above one's head after basement is done. In future, I want to consider getting a small powder room (toilet + sink) in that basement. So I decided that I want to reroute the sewer line under the slab using trenches excavated for drainage. Those trenches will be something like 6'-7' below the grade line.
Since we are on a small hill, per measurements, there should be enough slope for this sewer and lateral to be below the slab.
I will have plumber to do it but what are the things that I should look especially carefully considering that the entire house drain will go through this line and that fixing it may be ridiculously expensive?
Should I require specific access boxes installed at every join of the pipe? If so what is the recommended size and kind?
How should I evaluate the quality of all connections? I think pressure test is required anyway.


texts:
Problem: When dishwasher drains it dumps water to the sink through the air gap. Problem started accuring 6 month after kitchen/sink/dishwasher was installed and used.

What I tried:

Opened the cover of the air gap and checked it was clean
disconnected the 7/8 ID hose coming from the sink to the garbage disposal made sure it was clean.
made sure garbage disposal is clean

Next thing I ran a new dishwasher cycle and the issue is not fixed. I took the cover off the air gap and observed it while water was dumping. The part of the air gap connected to the the dishwasher is shooting water in the air 5-6 inches.

Question: is that how dishwasher should be dumping water? There's no way this air gap design can work this way. Is my air gap assembly incomplete? When I take the cap off I see one 3/8in pipe inside the other (wider one). There's no cover of any sort to restrain water flow, so when dishwasher dumps the water it just spills out.


texts: Adding ventilation and insulation with limited soffits

texts:
I’m hoping to add some insulation and ventilation to our attic. It’s a 1954 with a 1991 addition. The second floor is warmer in the summer, the original part much warmer than the addition.

Current situation:
Ventilation-one gable vent. New section has soffit venting. Old section has soffits just under 3 inches wide, with a couple of 2 inch round vents I previously installed. The rest has no venting, some rafter baffles though. There are limited soffits, there are 2 other gable ends.

Insulation-about 7 inches blown in on the ceiling and R13 batts on the kneewalls. The top of the stairs is the hottest, it had no insulation on the slant above the stairs or the backs of the walls that made the stair sides. I put an R30 there a few months ago.
So, I’m thinking I put 2 inch round vents every X inches where there are soffits. Also make sure there are rafter baffles inside the attic at these locations. Possibly add a gable vent on the other end and/or front?

Then buy some more blown in and get the free rental and increase the insulation in the old part significantly. (the new part has plywood down and tons of stuff stored, the old part will never have storage)

General advice appreciated as well as:

How do I decide if/how many gable end vents to add? We’re 5 blocks from a great lake, it can get pretty windy here if that’s an issue. It appears there was previously a second gable end that was sided over.

How close should my round soffit vents be? I would consider doing some long straight vent but I can probably only cut a hole/strip about 2.5 inches wide and can’t find something that would work.

Thank you!

(soffit shown is about half of what the whole old section has. There's an 8 foot section on the back of the house, opposite and a 3 foot section on the opposite end.


texts: Can a sub-panel have a larger main breaker than the feeder breaker in the main panel?

texts:
I have a weird setup that I'm trying to configure, but I'm only 90% certain of my logic (and with electrical items I want to be 100%).

I have a new 400A meter/main combo unit with 1 built-in (supplied) 200A breaker to provide power to a 200A subfeed panel.

The same main box has spaces for up to 8 additional circuits for either additional subfeed panels (high current) or regular circuits (15A-40A).
Here's the Siemens schematic.

The subfeed panel I'm using comes equipped from Siemens with a 225A main shutoff. Siemens schematic

My question is this: Can I leave the existing 225A main shutoff at the subfeed panel even though the max current for the upstream feed is 200A?

Basically, I bought the panel that has larger capacity and it came with a larger main (225A); however, the circuits in use are spec'd for 200A and that's why the upstream (from the meter/panel main) is 200A.

My thought is, just as with everything else, the smallest number will win, but the 225A physical shutoff (while not even strictly necessary because there's a physical upstream shutoff) provides an easier way to kill the power locally vs going outside.

Anything wrong with my logic/plan?

Thanks!


texts: How do I seal/paint pine casing for maximum lifetime?

texts:
I'm working to replace the exterior pine casing around my front door. I'm wondering if I should paint between where pieces of trim butt against each other, or to use sealant between them, or to butt them together with their unfinished wood touching each other? I'll be using galvanized finishing nails.

My trim needs to be 6.5 inches wide, and is formed with two pieces of wood that run next to each other. Should I put sealant where the two pieces meet, or just put paint at their interface?

I plan to put sealant between the trim and the aluminum siding.


texts: Can Armored Cable and Nonmetallic sheathed cable be used together?

texts: Can metal jacket wiring, that uses the metal jacket as a ground, be used with conventional Romex wiring?


texts:
I was wondering about the correct way to wire a 240V sauna heater/thermostat in a sauna I have built.

From the heater I have a black, white, and bare wire. The black and white connect to separate terminals on the thermostat switch, the bare goes to the ground nut.

Under the house is a 120V/240V GFCI. From that I have a Black(hot), Red(hot), White(neutral), and bare wire. I figured I will connect one of each hot wires to the heater's black/white wires via the thermostat switch. The bare wire will go to the ground nut. I was wondering what happens with the white wire in this case?

I've read it is bad practice to tie the neutral to the ground so what do I do with it?


texts: Is it a problem if the framing is 4" short of the edge of slab foundation?

texts: Addition to house, added slab to 7.5' x 21' porch surrounded on 3 sides.  Brick & siding exterior.  I think the framers thought there was going to be continuous brick, because the framing is set back about 3"-4" from edge of slab, but siding was put in there & so exterior of house is set back from edge of slab now.  Am concerned about water getting into house from exposed slab.  Thanks.


texts: How do I keep my Christmas tree from falling over?

texts:
It never fails: I bring home a 9-foot pine, cut the trunk flat, remove the lower branches, and place our Christmas tree in the stand only to have it fall over a little later in the evening.

How can I prevent this "Christmas tradition" from ever happening again?


texts: Can I install two thermostats on one furnace/act unit? I will be using one in living room, the other in a hallway

texts: The reason is that there is a gas fireplace(stove) in the living room that has the pilot on all year. Currently the thermostat is in the hall keeping the back of the house cool. The heat from the fireplace pilot keeps the living room too warm so I want to control the ac unit from the living room in the summer and the heat from the hall in the winter. I am using nest thermostats


texts: What is a reasonable expectation of decibel reduction when sound proofing?

texts:
Background

I'm currently renting an apartment in a very old building and have a lot of trouble sleeping because of the noise.  My apartment is underneath the main entry way; and people come in and out of the building at all hours of the night.  I also have neighbours directly above me and hear a lot of noise from them as well.

I've spent some time collecting data with a cheap analogue sound meter.

General noise from above - 60dB
Loudest bangs from above - 70dB
Foot traffic from hallway - 75dB
Loudest door slam from hallway - 80dB

I don't have any problems with subwoofers or loud music being played.  I do know that low frequencies are harder to block out, but I believe most of the banging noises I hear would be low frequency.

I've been doing research on sound-proofing options available to me.  Aside from the noise, the place is perfect and I'll be in this general area for at least another 4-5 years (so I'm willing to invest some time and effort).  My landlord does not care what I do, so long as I can 'undo' it when I leave.

I'm considering constructing a large 9-foot x 11 foot 'room-within-a-room' to become my bedroom; but I'm questioning what level of sound-reduction I can expect?

My budget is around ~1000USD / ~800EUR (for the construction; I'll worry about disposal later).

Apartment Details

Ground floor (carpet over concrete)
Three neighbours - above, left and right (I never hear anyone except the neighbours above)

Proposed Construction

I'm open to suggestion here - but this is what I had in mind.  I'll frame the room with 2x4s - using staggered stud construction (including the ceiling).  I was debating skipping the floor; but I'm not sure about that.  Then 5/8ths" drywall for the outside walls/inside walls and filled with insulation.  I'll include a door (a heavy external/outside door).

If that's not quiet enough - I figured I could apply an adhesive like Green Glue and another layer of drywall on the inside of the room.

I also have a lot of acoustic foam.  I don't think it will be very effective with this frequency range - but I intended to throw it on the roof of my 'box'.

I was hoping to avoid taping/sanding the drywall; so my plan was to fill the joints/corners with acoustic caulk.  I'm also worried about ventilation (since I intend to sleep in here).

This is a scale model of my apartment (where the green room is the to be the sound-proof room)

My Concern

I've been reading about soundproofing and things like STC level (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_transmission_class).  But I've also read the STC level does not indicate low-frequency performance well.  My room might achieve STC level 60; but I might might only get a 20dB reduction in low frequency banging.  I don't want to do all this work and spend all this money if I'm still going to have loud noises I can hear.  This chart illustrates what I'm talking about

I'm not sure if I understand how dbs work; so maybe my math here is wrong...but...I feel like I need a to get the loud 80db door slam down to 30-40db level for this to be worth doing for me.  Depending on the frequency of the sound; I think the chart would be able to tell me what I can expect - but I don't know what it would be.

TL;DR

With a $1000 budget - how effectively can I 'block' 80dBs of relatively low-frequency sounds? (IE would I perceive it to be 70db or 50db or 20db?)

And, given my situation what is the best way to do it?


texts: Can I drill holes in septic tank risers to off-gas hydrogen sulfide?

texts: How about drilling a few small vent holes in the riser (assuming it is open air and not buried)? The septic guy says that doing so would vent the HS gas and significantly extend the life of the second stage tank (the first tak is vented through the house plumbing).


texts: I live in a very old Victorian condo building. All units still have fuse boxes, not circuit breakers. My range died and I need to replace it. All modern ranges require a minimum of 40 amps, but the fuse box only has 30 amps (x 2) going to the range. So, I need to upgrade to a circuit breaker, right? HOWEVER, there are 15 units in this building, and everyone has an oven and everyone only has 30 amps maximum. How is this possible? Thank you.


texts: Connect Sonoff and physical switch with a lamp

texts:
I want to connect smart Sonoff switch to lamp with physical on-off switch

I want these all scenarios to work:

when physical switch is off, I can turn the lamp on/off via sonoff switch
when physical switch is on, I can turn the lamp on/off via sonoff switch
when sonoff switch is on, I can turn the lamp off by physical switch

Can anyone tell me how to connect it?


texts: Installation options for an electric dryer

texts:
I just bought a house with a gas hookup for the dryer, but did not realize that when purchasing an electric dryer.
The builder says the laundry room was built for a gas dryer after purchasing the electrical one.
At this point we may not be able to return it what can i do and how much would it cost?


texts: How to fix a slightly raised stair nosing board

texts:
(See photo below).

I have hardwood flooring that goes into stairs.  The horizontal wooden slat right before the stairs is very slightly raised, by maybe an 1/8 of an inch, maybe even 1/16th.  It's not a major problem, but I'm worried it's a tripping hazard which could end horribly wrong if you trip down the whole flight of stairs.

Is there a way I can make the two hardwood slats smooth with each other?


texts: super glue / adhesive for plastic that is resilient to extreme temperature variation

texts:
My car’s side window broke off. The contact surfaces are both plastic.

I managed to glue it back with “Loctite Super Glue Easy Squeeze Gel”. But the result is limited by season. If I glue it on in summer, then it comes off during winter (we regularly have 0 degrees F here). And vice versa.

I'm requesting your recommendations for "plastic on plastic" super glue / adhesive, that can withstand a temperature range of -10F to 110F, and can support a car side window that weighs about two pounds.


texts: How do I remove blown in attic insulation?

texts: I want to replace the drywall ceiling in my house. It's old and has been painted over a million times. Home was built in the 50s. How do I replace the ceiling without replacing the insulation? Or if I take out the insulation to replace it with new, is there a best way of doing it? Insulation is all blown in cellulose. Thought about just shoveling it into bags and into a dumpster. That would take a while. Home is one story. 950 sq ft. Seattle area.


texts: How can I diagnose disturbing voltage potentials?

texts:
Earlier today, I read Acceptable ground to neutral voltage?, and thought it'd be fun to stick my multimeter in the socket and have a voltage to report back. Neutral to ground read 60 volts. My head went into a bit of alarm. Yet, I can't find the answer just yet.

My apartment is old... as in it has a coal door and electricity wasn't an original feature. The basement has very old circuit breaker boxes and almost all of the structural wiring down there is old school fabric insulated wire on ceramic knob and tube wiring. It seems likely that most outlets don't have a real ground. All of them are GFCI branches.

The following measurements are all digital multimeter outputs.

Bedroom

Hot <-> Neutral:     118 volts
Hot <-> Ground:      60 volts
Neutral <-> Ground:  60 volts
GFCI: trips internally, does not trip externally

Shorting neutral to ground with a 1 amp fuse did not cause the fuse to blow. Inserting a plug tester resulted in the middle light being solid and the two outer lights flickering. Hot to neutral measures 60hz. Other combinations vary wildly into the khz region.

Bathroom

Hot <-> Neutral:     118 volts
Hot <-> Ground:      80 volts
Neutral <-> Ground:  15 volts
Sink <-> Ground:     15 volts
Sink <-> Hot:        113 volts
Sink <-> Neutral:    0 volts
GFCI: trips internally, does not trip externally

Kitchen

Works properly. Measured resistance between ground and sink is 450k ohms. Hot carries proper voltage to neutral, ground, and sink. No voltage neutral to ground or sink, or ground to sink.

The question

Can anyone make sense of these readings?!

Further testing

Ground <-> disconnected 50ft length of extension cord:  24 volts
Ground <-> disconnected 50ft length of extension cord:  17-21 volts

Bedroom ground <-> kitchen ground:                      60 volts
Bedroom ground <-> water pipe:                          60 volts
Bedroom hot <-> water pipe:                             0 volts
Bedroom neutral <-> water pipe:                         113 volts

Bedroom hot <-> water pipe:                             2.8 mega ohms
Bedroom neutral <-> water pipe:                         lower and wildly varying
Bedroom ground <-> water pipe:                          OL / unmeasurable ohms

Sooooo... I currently guess that I probably have hot & neutral reversed through most of the house and ground is unbonded. I still can't figure out the 60 (15, 80) volt readings though unless it's capacitive (re: voltage read across disconnected wires). I suppose I'll get my hands on an analog meter to test with next.


texts:
I just bought a house with some dirty (greasy, grimy, dusty, &c.) wooden kitchen cabinets.  What is the best way to clean them?  I've read that paint thinner works well, however, I am afraid that will damage the finish.  Can you recommend some good cleaning products?

Suggestions for regular maintenance cleaning would be appreciated, however, I am really looking for advice on a one-time, heavy duty cleaning.


texts: Is it OK to drill one or two 2 inch holes into a load bearing header in my basement?

texts:
tl;dr: Is it OK to drill one or two 2 inch holes into a load bearing header in my basement made of doubled-up 2x10s on top of 2x6s?  This area is in the center of my two-story house, and bridges over a 56 inch span that originally had no other support (but a couple of new 2x4s have recently been added).  No holes have been previously drilled in this area, but one has been drilled into a joist nearby.
Update: Since posting my question, I talked to the general contractor again.  He thinks it would be fine to drill even two 2 inch holes in the header.  His reasoning is that since he added the two 2x4s, which now bear some of the load (in yellow below), the header is now only spanning ~19 inches unsupported, when it was designed for much more.  He thinks a hole would have probably been fine even without the 2x4s, but it sounds like the 2x4s make the situation clearer.
Further questions:

Is my original plan OK?  To be more precise, It's a plan to drill a 2 1/8 inch hole and a 1 1/2 inch hole.

If two holes are too many, would just one 2 1/8 inch be fine in the area I have marked for "planned holes"?

Would it be better to try to drill a single hole in the joist with the "existing plumbing" hole between the joist and the header?  The difficulty here is that I may have to drill a larger hole big enough to fit a conduit fitting through, not just the narrowest part of the pipe (this is because of the access limitations, I'm not sure if I can wrestle a pipe with enough length after a 90° turn to cement it on the other side).

What if I asked the general contractor to beef up the new 2x4s under the header (like double them up or replace them with 2x6s)?  Would this area cease to be a "header" in that case?

Diagrams: my construction terminology is not good, so I've created some diagrams to show exactly what I mean and what my plans are.
Color code:

The darker pieces wood are fully pictured.  All are 2x6s except the header at the top, which is made of 2x10s.
The lighter pieces of wood are two newly-added 2x4s (to support a new finished wall).  The general contractor says they're bearing some of the load now.
The white pieces of wood are not fully pictured.

Front view:

Top view:

Side view:

Side view (with joists omitted):

Context: I'm having my basement remodeled, and I am planning to run conduit myself to one of the new bedrooms and the only interior-wall path to the attic (for any future needs in the rest of the house).  The routing is extremely difficult here, and going through this area is pretty much my only option.  It's also behind my furnace and only accessible from one side.  I've run my rough plan by my general contractor who's also personally handling the framing, and he thinks it's fine.  But I just realized today when making my final detailed plans that this area is much more heavily constructed than anywhere else, so I want to tread carefully.


texts: Are there any join charts similar to span charts?

texts:
Are there any charts indicating what type of joints are stronger than others?  For example, how would one determine which of the following joints is stronger?  Intuitively I'd say longer cuts increases surface area and torque resistance, therefore the peg is a trade-off of less surface area for more shear resistance, but mostly it just secures the beam while the glue dries.  Probably 4-8 screws would be better than the peg.  The block is a poor choice because it eliminates any lateral point of connection making the beam only as strong as the block..there is no opportunity to glue.

But suppose my intuition is wrong!  What table(s) is/are used to gain assurance?

Here are my use cases (post-and-beam screened porch):

EDIT: Thanks to @Michael-Karas I was able to understand that these splices aren't necessary thereby eliminating my concern altogether.  The question still applies for perpendicular splicing but I think those patterns are already well established.


texts:
A 30 year old concrete retaining wall is showing signs of age:

What can be done to:

halt the deformation of the blocks & wall?
restore the wall to a state closer to 'new'?


texts: How do I clean marks from masking tape glue on my windows?

texts: During the Hurricane Sandy, we placed tape on our windows in case the glass would break. The problem is, after removing the tape, it left a disgusting glue mark that it became impossible to remove. It has been a few years now. I hope somebody can help me here, see the pictures:


texts: Attaching a ground wire to a prong that plugs into an outlet adapter

texts:
The outlet shown in the image below doesn't have a ground wire connecting to its receptacle. A friend of mine is helping me setup a ups that requires ground wire, however what he did was run a ground wire from the basement and connect it to three way prong which plugs into a wall socket adapter. While this did turn off the warning light on the ups, it doesn't however keep the warning light off the if the ups is connected directly to the wall socket adapter. It only turns off the warning light when the ups is connected to surge protector 1, and being able to only connect it the surge protector causes other issues with the ups.
This really doesn't feel safe at all to me, which is why I haven't used this setup yet. So the question is, how unsafe is this, and how does this setup work/manage to turn off the warning light on the ups?


texts: Ecobee restarts when calling AC - old analog thermostat worked

texts:
I just installed an ecobee 4 and I have a C-wire so it seemed straightforward. The ecobee shows that it detected all the expected wires. However when it tries to call the AC it instantly restarts every time. The heat and the blower work, and the AC worked with the old Honeywell analog thermostat.

I read somewhere that newer equipment can be sensitive to shorts even when older equipment works fine. Could this be the case? How would I diagnose? I just moved into a condo and don't know how to access the control board yet.


texts: Anyone know a name for this measuring tool?

texts:
I've been looking at height gauges and they don't quite fit what I need.  I'm trying to measure a ceiling not an object.
I've seen some old fashioned height gauges that seem to do what I'm looking for but I'm hoping I just don't know the name or something.
I have one of those plastic gauges showing up but it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.  If you can point me in a direction I'm much obliged.


texts: To maximize heat in winter, should I remove my window quilt during the day?

texts:
Let's say it's -5 deg C outside and I'm inside a building with a moderately efficient window and a window quilt. Will I stay warmer if I take the window quilt down during the day and put it back up at night, or if I leave the window quilt up all day?
What factors affect this?
Does the answer change if I have a second window that is always "unquilted"?


texts: Checklist for installing proper electrical outlet outside the house

texts:
I plan to install electrical outlet in the following location:

It would be used mostly for:

USB camera that is always plugged in.
pressure washer.
car charging.

I plan to splice the wires from the electrical box behind the lamp which I pretty much always leave powered on because it has a built in motion detection sensor:

I watched few youtube videos on how similar projects are done and If I understand correctly, I have to:

Turn off electricity at breaker box.
Buy old-work electrical box (i.e. one that has those wings and can be attached to the wall opposed to stud). PVC material should be preferred as then I don't have to use metal-sheathed cable.
I need to drill a hole in the wall where the new electrical box will be installed and then use a sawzall (or something similar) to cut out rectangular shape that matches the electrical box.
Punch a hole in the bottom of electrical box behind the lamp. Punch a hole in the top of electrical box that I just bought. Guide the cable behind the wall to both boxes.
Buy a 15 Amp GFCI protected outlet because GFCI is mandatory for outdoor outlets. Connect all 3 wires to it and screw in to electrical box. Splice all 3 wires on the other end to the lamp wiring.
Buy a Plastic Weatherproof in use cover and attach it to electrical box. In-use is mandatory as I would leave camera plugged in at all times.

Am I missing something? Do I need wire clamps too that would lock wire in the electrical box? Do I need to apply silicone caulk somewhere? Is it ok to install outlet that high above the ground? Are parts that I plan to order compatible with each other? Do I need to check wiring going from light switch to the lamp if it can actually handle 15 Amps?

The fuse in electrical panel is rated for 15Amps. At the moment I don't know how likely it is that some other device behind the 15A fuse would ever cause consumption to go over 15Amps.


texts:
I just noticed that our outside faucet is very slowly dripping and I can't shut it completely off.

Video of drip

We have a hard freeze happening tomorrow. Should I be overly concerned?

Thanks!


texts: How to connect 2 hot wire to a 2 pole MCB?

texts: how can i connect 2 hot wires to a 2 pole MCB? What is the output of 2 pole MCB ? Will it be the same as 2 hot wire output or can connect to a LIVE and NEUTRAL terminal?


texts: How do I install a glass tile backsplash on 1/2" drywall?

texts:
I am currently building a house and am at the point where the builder has just finished the drywall and is ready for the kitchen cabinets and countertops to be installed.  There will be no backsplash but I did intend to put a glass mosaic tile between the counter tops and upper cabinets for use as a backsplash.

It slipped my mind at the time to ask for the builder to use cement board behind the cabinets where this tile will eventually go, and it is a little late for me to change my mind now that the drywall has been finished.

My question is, what is the most appropriate way to install a glass tile backsplash in a kitchen that is completely 1/2" drywall?  Is it not appropriate to place this tile over regular drywall?  If appropriate, should paint be removed first before placing thinset?


texts: if a gas grill's push-button battery-operated igniter is clicking, but grill doesn't light

texts:
My grill is: the Weber Q 1200

If an outdoor gas grill's push-button battery-operated igniter is making clicking sounds, but grill doesn't light, what clues does that give me?

I think it means that the module is mostly working, the battery is working, but somehow there's no flame produced. Is this correct?

Also: what's the first thing I should try to fix?

Update (how it was solved):

the accepted answer was very helpful to me because it broke down for me that the most likely culprit was probably food drippings in the area where the igniter spark operates.
So, I lifted the grating, scraped off any rust/drippings in that area, and my igniter started working again.
There wasn't anything wrong with the igniter. It was just that the gas wasn't coming out of the nearest hole in the gas pipe because that hole was rusted over and blocked by food drippings.


texts: We hear a constant bass subwoofer like thumping noise every night from about midnight to 7 am

texts:
We live in a relatively quiet area.  Since 2012, we
hear a low bass rhythmic sound (music?) with slight
vibrations in the front bedroom. We cannot hear it
outside, only in the room and especially while lying in
bed.

A sewer pipe runs underneath that bedroom. We've had it checked and rechecked, but it has revealed nothing. There is a
city water pump down the street, but the sounds
do not match.

Could a neighbor's Bose sound system
across the street travel via pipes to our front bedroom?

Nothing really is heard outside and the sound is mostly at night.

If it is a Bose-like system, and neighbor does not want to turn music off, what can we do?


texts: Range hood impeller slipping on rotor shaft

texts:
My range hood has a motor with an impeller on it. The impeller is attached to the rotor shaft by a nut that threads onto the impeller's... bushing I guess it's called, which is slotted, so that as the nut is tightened around it, the bushing is pressed into the shaft from all sides to prevent the impeller from freely slipping on the shaft.

The problem is, I guess the nut isn't pressing enough, and the impeller is in fact slipping on the shaft. I can tell because the bolt heats up so much from the friction that you can't even touch it. It also produces noise which is similar to the noise it makes when the nut is put on very loosely and there is a lot of visible slippage (I checked just to be sure).

I tried tightening the bolt, but so far was unable to tighten it enough to solve the problem. It loosens enough to allow slippage within minutes of first use. Is there any other way to increase friction? I was thinking maybe some kind of tape, but not sure which one would be effective and would be thin enough to fit. Or maybe just glue? Although I will eventually need to take the impellers off for cleaning.

For the record, the motor actually carries two impellers on the same shaft as shown on the diagram. The model is Kitchenaid KICU265HSS1.


texts: Opening a light fixture that has plastic clips

texts:
Hi, my bathroom light is out and I can't get this fixture open. It has three plastic clips that don't seem to want to let go of the glass. Also seem to be permanently attached to the fixture - I can't budge them sideways or away from the glass other than to bend them slightly but they seem very stiff. Any ideas?

Purchased in Home Depot in Mexico, but I see IKEA recalled a similarly clipped fixture because the clips may break and drop the glass.


texts: Presently i dont use any pump because 18psi water from water company is ok for basic and even shower. But i need more pressure for some rooms. My house GI pipes are rusty and I heard increasing the water pressure can make the rust come out of faucet even more. So I only plan to connect the main pump and pressure tank to half of the house only with new PPR plastic pipes put outside wall. So imagine before the main pump is a pipe divider where half of the water will go to house without passing through the pump. However my concern is when the main pump is sucking water, the pipes going direct to house without using pump would devoid of water temporarily. And people taking a bath in the direct pipes would suddenly have no water while pump is sucking to pressure tank. Any idea how to fix this?


texts: What could be the source of this moisture?

texts:
I'm a little baffled here with the problem at hand -- we're seeing spots on our engineered wood flooring that appears to be moisture coming up from beneath but cant figure out the source of that moisture. We already did the water meter test and there seem to be no indication of a slab leak. The only thing we can think of is that this started popping up only during rainy season since the last couple months  This wasn't there before, which could or could not be related.

I used a General Tools MM8 infrared water meter in 'hardwood' mode and it shows anywhere from 22% to 35% moisture, which I believe is excessive (it should be below 12%) but I'm skeptical of that reading since it gives that reading on the entire floor... and we have a pretty big floor. According to the same moisture meter all walls, baseboards, etc. are dry. I've attached pics of the spots. There's no warping/cupping of the planks, it looks pretty level. Could anyone take a look at the pics and suggest what may be going on? What could be the source of it and how to remedy the issue? I have extra planks and don't mind replacing them, but want to eliminate the root cause of the problem.


texts:
I have the Ryobi BP42 back pack blower and when I press the primer bulb it does not fill up with the gas/oil mix.  I have checked the air filter (and yes it does look dirty), ordered a new one and have removed the hoses from the gas tank.  If I press the primer bulb, the hose connected to it does suck in air.

The second hose that connects to the carburetor, I have also disconnected and cleaned and am able to blow through it so I know there is no blockage in that hose either.

I reconnected all parts, and when I press the primer button still the bulb does not fill with the mix.  I can press in the bulb and it sinks in, and then slowly pops back out just as it should, but there is no flow of gas/oil coming to the bulb.

What could be causing this issue?


texts: Is it viable to vent a range hood back into the kitchen?

texts:
I live in a 2 story townhome. I would like to replace the recirculating above the counter microwave with a more stylish and more effective range hood. There are cabinets above the microwave, standard under cabinet installation.
The kitchen backs up to the next door unit making that wall inaccessible and there appears to be no easy access point to work in the ceiling and and attempt to install ductwork to the unit's back wall.
There are some heat ducts and lights and recessed lights in the ceiling so probably space, just difficult to access for non-rodents. The thought of having to rip open the ceiling is unappealing.
Venting into that crawl space is probably fairly easy but from what I've read a bad idea. The next, least cost-prohibitive option, would be to do a bit of a hack and cut holes in those cabinets and install some ductwork and angle it out over the kitchen and then cut open a hole in the ceiling and fit it with a ceiling or heating vent and attach that to the ductwork. This would not be easily but probably doable.
The range is electric. Venting this way would not be ideal yet certainly no worse that the current microwave vent, and I've noticed that with the microwave lots of air blows past the front of the vent into the room anyhow. The range hoods that inspire me are all 3-6" deeper than the mic.
A second, less cumbersome might be to mount the unit on brackets a couple inches below the cabinets and have it vent into the room that way. Maybe sounds a little strange.
Opinions, feedback, suggestions welcome.
Edited with pictures - The first picture is with the old shelves. The new shelves /cabinets go all the way up to the ceiling. There are no shelves above the refrigerator. Also to note - budget is rather limited. It may be the best solution, but opening the ceiling and running vents to the backside wall is probably not viable at this time.

Edited by Bob M - added picture of new cabinets


texts: Best choice for sub-panel and circuits for basement

texts:
Can anyone help me spec a sub-panel for a basement renovation? The plan is to run a 6/3 AWG feed from a 60A breaker in the main panel to a sub-panel which will be flush mounted in an interior stud wall in a closet. Here are the circuits I need:

Two 20A outlet circuits for a small kitchen
One 20A for a garbage disposal
One 20A for a dishwasher (I'd prefer to share this with one of the two kitchen outlet circuits -- if that's allowed)
Two 15A circuits shared across bedroom/bathroom/living room outlets
One 15A circuit for lighting (3 rooms, all LED)
One 20A (Amperage TBC) circuit for bathroom under-floor heating
20A circuits get 12/3 wire and 15A circuits get 14/3
GFCI outlets in kitchen and bathroom, of course.
Furnace stays on it's existing circuit from the main panel
I will run all this by the city inspector after I pull permits

Questions:

Is this a reasonable plan?
Is 60A sub-panel enough or should I be going to 100A?
What kind of breaker do I need for the main panel? 60A single pole?
Can the sum of the sub-panel breakers be greater than the breaker in the main panel from which it's fed? (I think yes, as is the case in main panels)

A recommendation on reasonably-priced panel and breaker choice would be much appreciated. There are so many choices out there.


texts:
I live in France.
I have just received a replacement twin fluorescent fitting to replace a unit that failed after 3 months. I have tested the new fitting on a bench, connecting live neutral and earth via a wall socket and it works fine.
As soon as I connect it to the live, neutral and earth on the ceiling, i get a flicker from one tube then nothing.
If I connect a lamp holder the 60w bulb works fine. I have replaced both (two way) switches with the same outcome. Other lights on the lighting circuit work perfectly.
Does anyone have any suggestions where to look next. The 60w bulb is hopelessly inadequate for my workshop space.


texts: I’m looking to build a 2-car detached garage that’s 24ft wide with a loft above for storage. I’ve been searching and I can’t seem to find any lumber that spans 24ft. If I had 2x6 (or 2x8 or 2x12) that are 20ft long (longest I can find) can I stagger them and attach two together? There would be 20ft of overlap that’s attached and 2ft on either side that’s just a single board. Is this safe? Or do I have to do more of a truss system to support the beams?


texts: A/C Condensation from duct getting into drywall

texts:
My A/C unit has ducts that run to the second floor, into the attic, to feed some ceiling vents.

Today, after several days of brutal humidity, I noticed paint blistering, and in one spot bursting, around where the ductwork comes upstairs.

When we bought the house (also in the summertime), we noticed some blistering, and the inspector thought it might be from the roof. The seller replaced the roof, we had it re-inspected, and it was judged to be sound.

This water is in the same place. Since we hadn't had any rain today, I suspected it was the A/C, so I cut out the most-affected piece of drywall. Sure enough, there is an uninsulated metal pipe installed right up against the drywall, and the condensation is easily felt.

My question is: what can I do about this? For now, I've cut out the affected drywall and drilled a few other holes in affected areas, hoping to get some airflow through there at least.

But what should my near and long-term strategy be? Do I need to replace this metal section of pipe? (It looks like there's an elbow there; the space is not big enough for the plastic insulated flexible ductwork that we have downstairs). How can I prevent this issue from happening? Would a permanent vent into this space help?


texts: Why did the grout turn white on my slate patio?

texts: I had my patio grouted 3 days ago, allowed to dry 2 days, then power washed, allowed to dry. The grout was a medium gray unsanded on a lighter gray slate. Now the tile has a light haze and the grout grooves have lightened to almost white in some areas. What went wrong and what can I do before sealing?


texts: Removing Old Deck - how to patch missing aluminum siding

texts:
I want to tear off the deck and replace it with stairs down to a patio. What stops me is what to do about the "holes" it leaves in the aluminum siding. There will be small holes where the railing attaches to the wall, and a large panel missing where the floor of the deck attaches to the house.

Two questions:

1) What's the most aesthetically pleasing way to patch the holes (e.g. does someone make colored caulk or epoxy that would last a long time that I could just fill them in with?)

2) What to do about the big missing piece of aluminum where the deck attaches. I'm assuming that it's not a good idea to replace the missing aluminum with a piece of vinyl. If it's not a bad idea (to use vinyl), is there any hope of being able to find vinyl or paint vinyl to not stand out as being different from the aluminum? Obviously my goal is to not redo all the siding on the house.

Thanks!


texts: Replacing ceiling fan with regular light and new fixture won't shut off

texts: I'm replacing a ceiling fan with a regular light fixture.  The fan was connected with black to black, white to white, and a red wire to a blue wire in the ceiling fan.  When I connect the new fixture, just a plain two bulb light fixture, black to black white to white and cap the red the light will not shut off from the wall switch.  There was no ground from the fan fixture, but there is from the new one which I connected to the ground on the mounting bracket. So I expect the red wire runs to the switch, but how do I connect it to the light fixture - which wire connects to which wire? Red to black and cap off the black (there are two coming down) to each other in the ceiling? and white to white?


texts:
Please see attached diagram of my new plumbing setup plan.
Will there be any code issues or problems with this?

im referencing the 2014 Florida plumbing code (IPC)


texts: What is causing the clothes washer GFCI to trip?

texts:
I have a clothes washer which came with a gfci adapter.  The cord didn't quite reach the nearest outlet, so we had the washer plugged into a (grounded) 3-outlet interior extension cord, then to the GFCI adapter, then to a normal outlet.

I recently had an electrician come out to install an outlet nearer to the washer.  When we plug the washer directly into this new GFCI outlet, it trips sometime during the prewash cycle.  When we plug the washer into its GFCI adapter, and then into the new GFCI outlet, the new outlet trips.  When we plug the washer into the extension cord then directly into the new GFCI outlet, the outlet trips.  I tried replacing the extension cord with a different one.  I tried eliminating the extension cord (not a viable long term solution).

When I plug my heavy duty blender or vacuum cleaner into the new outlet and turn them on high, the outlet does not trip.

The result is always the same: old outlet + washer works, new outlet + washer trips, new outlet + something else works.

The electrician asserts there's nothing wrong with the outlet, that something must be wrong with the washer.  It's clear to me that it's some combination.  What could be causing this?


texts: Honeywell temperature attained but app says heating

texts: Recently set thermostat on iphone at 63, heat mode, but phone says 65 inside," heating".  Usually it would give me the temperature of the inside of the house and only tell me if it is cooling or heating if the HVAC was running. Not sure if the HVAC running since the desired temperature is attained but it says heating. We are out of town and use the app to monitor the HVAC


texts: What degree do I make bevel cut to form a 28ft ring with 2x4s

texts: I'm trying to make this circle for my pool to put 3" of sand in it


texts: Connecting TV to better external speakers: Type of connection

texts:
I have a Philips 32PFL4738 81 cm LED TV but the built-in speakers don't give great sound. I want to attach external speakers but am having a hard time figuring out what kind  would match.

The TV specs. say this:

I've Speaker Option#1 that says: Audio input cable: Stereo Audio
(3.5mm jack) x1
Speaker Option#2 says: Connector Type Stereo Jack (3.5 mm)

Would any of these fit the TV?

The only output listed on the TV specs seems "CVBS". But Wikipedia says that CVBS is " analog video transmission (without audio)".

So, is there any way of getting audio out of the TV (to external speakers) at all?

Edit (based on the excellent answer by RedGrittyBrick):

Would a converter cable of this type work to connect the L/R RCA type audio output of the TV to the 3.5 mm Audio In port on the speakers?

3.5mm Stereo to Dual RCA Audio Adapter Cable, 3.5mm Female to Dual RCA Male (Red/White), 6 inch


texts: Install soffit before or after new cabinet install?

texts: I just took down the drywall and existing soffit on my kitchen wall. I am going to install taller cabinets. What steps should I follow? Should I re-drywall now, install the cabinets, then build out a soffit above? Or should I frame out a soffit now, then drywall everything, then install the cabinets. In the soffit area, there are DMV pipes and stapled wiring.


texts: Why does a steel door frame for drywall have a double return/backend

texts:
Title pretty much says it all, but here is a picture just in case:

I think it has to do with the wall achors but I can't find a definitive answer.

Just to clarify: steel frames for masonry walls only have a single return/backend.


texts: Replace Broan 670 with new fan/light from bathroom

texts:
I have what I think is a Broan 670 exhaust fan installed in my bathroom. I would like a fan/light combo instead. I am unable to easily access it from the attic so I am hoping to replace it from the bathroom itself.

My first preference is to keep the housing and replace the fan with a fan/light combo. My second option is to replace both the housing and the fan but maintain the same dimensions (7.25" by 7.5"). My third option will be to just completely replace the fan and expand the opening if needed.

I found a Delta Breez ITG80LED which seems to be the same width and length.

Question: How do I know if it's possible to reuse my existing housing with this fan/light? Or is that only possible with a replacement Broan part (which I can't seem to find with a light) and should I plan on replacing the entire housing?

Photos of existing fan, for reference:


texts:
I want to install a 10yo Vermont Castings woodstove in a un-insulated barn so I can work on projects throughout the winter and allow friends and family to play ping pong.
I want to use single wall pipe to maximize heat exchange as well as it is much cheaper. The distance of the stove to the roof (10' off the peak) is about 25'.
I will mount the stove on a tile slab that I make from leftover tiles. I have 2 wood beams running horizontal that the exhaust pipe will pass by within 6 inches. I will either wrap the beams in fire retardant cloth or mount cement board in front of the beams.
What other considerations should I be making?
I had a sight unseen install quote of $3900 for this job and I feel confident that I can do it for much, much less.


texts: What alternate ways are there to get into a garage when you don't have the opener?

texts: I am locked out of the garage without a remote opener.  There are no windows and no doors to get in.  What are some ways to open the garage door without breaking down the door?


texts: Is it worth it to upgrade a solar system to get power from partially obstructed panels?

texts:
So I did a 7K solar system in 2009. A year or two later I was reading about a new converter that removed the penalty for partially obstructed panels. In other words, if one of the 4 panels in a row is in shade, you still get some power generated.

Has anyone done a retrofit on an existing system to add one of these or does it not make any sense? If you have to replace the inverter, probably is not worth it.


texts: When extending a wrench using a breaker bar, should I connect the two with a spline bit?

texts:
Can I use my wrench/spanner which has a box end / 12-point spline, and connect a breaker bar using a 12-point spline bit to it to get extra leverage.

Or is it more common to use extending bar/pipe over the wrench?

Is the first way possible, or would the line of torque be off-centre? Or would the spline bit / socket connection make this not practical?


texts: Can someone please explain this gas water heater thermostat marking

texts:
What I don't understand is the box with a slash through it located counter clockwise from the larger solid bar.

I'm sure it is less warm than the large box, but does it have a special meaning?

I don't get why they used a different marking for that specific one.

I did actually look for a manual online that might explain the settings, but I failed to find one that specifically mentioned this.

Make/model: white rodgers 37c73u-725