texts: Can I connect an outdoor wood stove to my current HVAC system?

texts:
How do I install a wood stove as an auxiliary heat source?

I've read this question, it doesn't really answer what I need to know.  What I would like to do is install a wood stove (the old pot belly iron kind that you can get used for $300-$500) outside.  I currently have a heat pump as my main HVAC system, with a LP fireplace that heats one room upstairs.  I am working on finishing my basement and would like to know if it is feasible to have the wood stove outdoors and connect it to ductwork for the current HVAC system.  Would this work?  Would it be better to make a place for it in the basement?

I've seen outdoor wood furnaces by Central Boiler, but they are more than I'd like to pay, and a bit overkill for what I'm planning to use it for.


texts: Should I use wood or metal for an 8" gate post?

texts: I am replacing the wooden gate post of my farm's entrance. I have a solar-powered electric opener and am using a 16 foot tubular gate. I want two 8" posts, 12' tall, either metal or wood. Which would be the best route to take?


texts: Circuit Fails when wires capped but not when light is inline

texts:
curious to hear your thoughts. It's on old 1960's house and I can't trace all the wiring. In the diagram: when the porcelain single bulb light is hooked-up the Black and dotted white wire, the light works and break is Not tripped. Also works fine whether switched off/on. When I cap those two wires together, the break trips to off position.
Any ideas?

The picture has the black & white wires in question, with red on them.
I wired in the light to the left and the run works fine...grr


texts: How to pour concrete over existing slab?

texts: How to pour concrete over existing concrete slab if existing wood framed wall structure is there? And where to place the new vapor barrier?(I have an existing garage that I would like to convert into an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). The slab is on the ground, so I would like to pour over new concrete to provide the appropriate height difference between ground and top of slab.)


texts: What are the dangers of operating a mini excavator?

texts:
I plan to rent an excavator like this:

I am aware that it is quite dangerous if someone walks by and is hit by the bucket, but assuming I can clear the area of passers-by, what are some common dangers to be aware of that could cause harm to the driver? Can a mis-move of the levers cause the bucket to break through the cage?


texts: Greenhouse subfloor (greenhouse on top of concrete) -- best material?

texts:
I'm putting together a greenhouse, 10x13-feet base. Unfortunately it will be on a concrete-paved section of my backyard, and I know it will lose a lot of heat to the ground via conduction in wintertime. My goal is a 4-season greenhouse.
I would like to insulate the subfloor of the greenhouse to prevent heat loss via the concrete floor.
What is the best way to achieve this? "Best" meaning bang for the buck, and durable, and won't degrade over time due to direct sunlight, or being in contact with a frozen concrete floor?
Appreciate the help!


texts:
I got a PVC pipe cutter a year or two ago, and used it once.  Now I need to use it again and I am finding it extremely difficult to get it to cut the pipe.  This cutter is of the style where there is a sharp disc on the outer edge and two black rollers on the inner edge with a screw-like mechanism to move the inner edge towards the outer one; one rotates the cutter around the pipe (or vice versa) while gradually tightening the screw.

The first problem that I had (when I first used the device) was that I seemed to have to turn the screw an insane amount to get the pipe completely cut, to the point where the pipe itself is showing visible deformation (bowing).  If the cut in the middle of the pipe this doesn't seem to be a problem (I'm using 3/4" schedule 40 PVC), but if I need to cut a short length of pipe (under 2-4 inches) this can damage the pipe.

The second problem I only encountered now after not using the cutter for a year or so.  The problem that I am having now is that, before I have tightened the cutter enough to cut all the way through the pipe, I am seeing some kind of black mark being made on the pipe itself.  Since the rollers are black I can only suspect that the force between the pipe and the roller is causing part of the roller surface to come off.  Obviously I don't want a black film compromising the integrity of the bond; I have tried sanding it but it doesn't completely come off.  I wound up using a pocket knife to finish cutting the pipe but that is rather sloppy and the edges requires a lot of sanding.

Is this just a crappy tool (my searches for "PVC pipe cutter" yield hardly any images similar to the type I am using, but it's what the hardware store had) or did I just get unlucky? I haven't really used it that much so I wouldn't think the problem would be the disc blade getting dull.   I assume I probably need to throw away this cutter and get a new one, or is there some trick like applying oil to the roller or something?


texts: What is the best tool for cutting large lumber lengthwise?

texts:
I have 6 of 2.4m x 250mm x 125mm railroad sleepers (ties) and I want to cut them in half so they will be 2.4m x 250mm x 62.5mm

I'm looking for suggestions on the best tool to achieve this, I accurate cuts.


texts: Does spray mount adhesive damage the paint on walls after the object attached to it is removed?

texts: I would like to place posters on walls using a spray mount adhesive, such as link to 3M product on amazon. It is said that the use of the adhesive will create a delicate transparent gel on the object that is to be placed on a wall, but I am unsure if it will create damage or alter the paint/plaster on the wall itself. Will the gel be able to be removed from the wall as well without damaging the wall?


texts: How should I add lighting to a low ceiling basement?

texts:
I have a basement ceiling that's around 6'6" high and currently the lights are standard bulb outlets that are attached to the beams so they sit down at eye level in the room. This means when you're walking around you tend to accidentally back up into exposed lightbulbs often.

I'd like to put some sort of recessed lighting between the beams out of the headroom. I can't seem to find a recessed lighting can that fits within a 6inch beam depth and looks appealing (most are supposed to be burred in the ceiling with trim put on after). I'd like to avoid using long florescent bulbs and stick with standard outlets or some sort of LED bulb. I will be using CFL's or LED bulbs so heat isn't going to be an issue next to the wood.

*Updated with a picture
-As you can see the current light sockets are placed below the beams. My original thought was to just move them higher up, add more, and put in smaller CFL bulbs. I'm trying to find a more aesthetic looking idea for the basement.


texts: How can you tell if your sink is compatible with a portable washer?

texts: I'm looking to get a portable washer, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to attach the washer to the sink facet. Is there a standard that portable washers adhere to? If so, how do you tell you have a facet that is that standard?


texts: A/C freezing damaged air handler blower?

texts:
While I was moving, I left my front door open for at least two hours. As a result, my coils froze up outside and inside the return and the inside handler. The vents were not putting out any air and it was getting warm in the house; that's when I knew something was wrong. I immediately turned everything off.

It took 2 1/2 days to totally defrost then I turned my unit back on. Everything is running fine now although my filter was a little dirty.

My a/c man thinks I need a new blower that cost $750. If it's working again why would I need a new one?


texts: Using Flexbond with 12 x 24 porcelain tile

texts:
I originally planned to use 12 x 12 tile and purchased Custom Building Products FlexBond.  However, a change of plans...now using 12 x 24 tile.  Can I get away with using what I have, or should I use FlexBond LFT? Used 1/4" Wonderboard over 3/4 AdvanTech.
Thanks


texts:
I know I can buy a smart mirror already finished for around $80, but I think building one myself will be an interesting project.

That being said, I read somewhere (this may not have been a dependable source) that a two-way mirror should be used for this because it is transparent UNLESS an opaque black material is behind it, then it just looks like an actual mirror.  Would a two-way mirror behave the way I explained above or should I use a different material for a smart mirror?


texts:
A lot of guidance I have read on attic venting seems to assume people have crawlspace attics that are not living space. Here is a typical illustration:

My attic is living space and I do not have (nor will I add) insulation on the floor of the attic, because it is heated space and receives that heat from the floor below. My attic has stairs leading up to it and a window. I definitely do not want to prevent it from being heated.

So, in that case should it still be ventilated? I do not have a vent at the peak of the roof. If I did have a peak, it would lead to significant heat loss in the non-summer months. I live in New England.


texts: I have a drain coming out of a cement slab which does not align with the shower drain. It is about 3/4 inch out of alignment and won't flex enough to align them.  How can I attached the shower to the drain?


texts: How far out off the wall framing do gypsum panels for the ceiling need to be?

texts: How many inches does fire drywall need to be from wall out on ceiling?


texts: Tiling shower walls how and where to start

texts: I'm about to start tiling my shower walls I just don't know where to start or how, I've never tiled before my shower is 5ft in length 32 inches wide and 80 inches high I have chosen a 12 by 24 inch tile but got 10 by 16 inch tiles I got everything I need for the job just need advice for starting and laying the tiles


texts: Couple of days ago my ac stopped blowing cold air. vents had warm air coming out of it. I went to check the condenser unit outside and found that the fan and the compressor were not turning on. When the thermostat sends the signal, I can hear the contactor click but no buzzing noise. I thought it might be the Capacitor so I replaced it but it didn't fix the problem. I'm now thinking its the contactor. I noticed the middle of the contactor looks burnt out? How can I tell for sure? Can I test it somehow after turning off the power?


texts: Will live power plug dropped into swimming pool kill the swimmer?

texts:
Dropping a live power plug on extension cord into a swimming pool is certainly not a great idea. However I wonder if doing so would kill the swimmer in the pool? I've been searching the internet for some sound explanation, not only yes / no without reasoning.

I'm asking because I was doing some work with power tools around the pool over the weekend and the extension lead cable dropped into the pool. Not the plug, just the cable, so nothing happened. And there were no people in the pool anyway. But it got me thinking what would happened if I immersed the plug?

If it's RCD protected (known as GFCI in the US I think) I assume it would immediately trip because from Live roughly 1/2 of the current would go to Ground and 1/2 to Neutral and RCD would kick in. That should protect the swimmers, right?

However what if there was no RCD / GFCI?

I think the electrical current would again go mostly from Live to Ground + Neutral as these are only millimeters away. Some of it may ground through the concrete and plaster pool floor and walls. Also there may be some water grounding through the pump, filter, salinator, etc.

And what about the swimmer? Would he get electrocuted while swimming? He may be more conductive than the water around (blood being more salty than the pool water), that indeed plays against him. On the other hand he's not grounded as long as he keeps floating.

Does it matter if he touches the walls?
Does it matter how far from the submerged power plug he swims?

I'm not looking for an advice saying that I shouldn't immerse power plug into the pool, I know that :) This is a what if and why that question.


texts: I am looking for advice on insulating a stand-alone studio... I want to keep the "exposed" studs look (similar to board & batten). I plan on installing rigid insulation between the studs, offset by 3/4 inch strips. Will I have any issues with condensation with this plan?


texts: How practical is it is use a 6 Terminals junction box to extend a ring main?

texts:
Logically I can use 2, 3 terminal junction boxes, or a single 6 terminal junction box to extend a ring main (inserting a loop to the new socket(s) I am installing).  However are there any practical issues with a 6 terminal junction box – e.g. space for the cables?

What would anyone inspecting the wiring expect to see?

(Note ring mains are not normal outside of the UK)


texts: Bistro lights for wedding structurally sound?

texts:
Hey guys and gals, 1st question here. I’m having my wedding in my backyard and my fiancé insisted on having a light canopy of bistro lights in my back yard. Of course I obliged, but the quotes I got for temporary lights were 4 -5k, so I decided to set up permanent ones myself.
I've only cemented in the posts, which are the blues dots, and the green and red lines were my plan until my neighbor said that it won’t work. I believe my design is sufficient, but your input would be appreciated.
Design:

Blue dots: 13 ft 4" galvanized steel square posts, 3ft deep and 18 inches wide concreted in
Green lines: guy wires for lights
Red lines: lights with guy wire

The photo has the measurements of the yard, the light run is over 55', probably around 65' since it’s running at a diagonal.
I'm considering putting posts in the middle of the green line if necessary, but I'd prefer not.
Thoughts?
Update: I do have two extra posts, I didn’t want to add them, but would be a more feasible set up?  The yellow dots are the additional posts.


texts: Installing a yard hydrant from home water line, do I need a backflow preventer or vacuum breaker?

texts:
I'm installing a yard hydrant off my house water line (well water). The hydrant will sometimes be used for garden drip irrigation and so will be open for days or weeks at a time. The drip system itself has a plastic vacuum breaker that runs inline before the fertilizer injection tank.
Do I need an additional backflow prevention device just to be safe? If so, what kind? There seem to be multiple options, the cheapest being an extra AVB that installs on the hose, the most expensive being a pressure vacuum breaker - the type that is used for sprinkler systems. Do I need anything like this? If so, what and where? I was imaging something installed underground on the water line itself, but that doesn't seem to be common.


texts:
I had an electrician over yesterday and they ran BX and a flex conduit for a TV I want to hang over my fireplace. I was examining the notch they made in a stud immediately next to the chimney masonry and I'm concerned that it is too deep. The member is a single 2x4 and the notch depth is slightly over 2", so I would consider this stud compromised. Complicating this further is that there is pretty much no way to adequately install a stud shoe on this thing because it is directly next to the masonry of the chimney.

Directly behind this stud is what I believe is the sheathing, it's hard to tell because it's full of old insulation, but there is some kind of lumber there.

Should I be concerned? I've already contacted the electrician and am waiting to hear back. I don't know if being near masonry helps or hurts and whether my house being brick on frame matters (I suspect it doesn't).


texts: Where could the air in the water system be coming from?

texts:
We live on the top two floors of a small brownstone walkup. To get the heating to work upstairs I need to bleed the baseboard heater almost every other day. All faucets in the house sputter, and the water pressure is generally low.

I suspect the water pump is sucking in air somehow. Any ideas? Any way to check this?


texts:
Hi DIY Stack Exchange!

I had a fun wintertime question about moisture and mold. My bedroom has been getting dry lately and with that comes dry hands, and small furniture cracks. Fun! So I went to go buy a humidifier and set the gauge to 45rh.

A few hours later, when I walk into my room, it has a very peculiar sour cheese like smell. I've smelt this before on and off during the summer but it's stronger today than normal. And before I had the humidifier running, it wasn't an issue at all. The problem is that I live in a very new building, and that I'm the only tenant to have ever lived in this unit. And it's my bedroom.

I am a fairly clean person, so this has come as a pretty strong shock to me. I don't really leave anything laying on the floor, especially anything damp, and I'm not really sure where the mold could have came from. Are there mold spores in my walls that the humidifier is bringing to life? Are they in my carpet? Is this even mold? What can I do?


texts: Is 4in pipe OK for range hood with 7in vent?

texts: We bought a 350 CFM range hood with a 7in vent. Our installer ran a 4in diameter flexible aluminum foil air duct horizontally through the floor joists to outside. We are now told the 4in pipe is too small. The duct diameter should be at least 6in. Is this correct?


texts: How does an external tower style bathtub drain work?

texts:
I have this style tub drain and can't figure out how it works. Does it simply block the flow of water when lowered? Or is there something more complicated happening?

My tub has stopped draining and when I removed the cylinder from the drain tower it came right out, but this did not affect the stoppage. I wonder if it should be attached to something, but can not see into the tube well enough.

I should add that I had been trying to unblock the drain and used a plunger on it. So there is a possibility that I plunged the clog(s) into a more blocking state, but I suspect that the pressure of the plunger interfered with something mechanical, because the water isn't receding at all, even after some hours.


texts: No power to switch box and overhead fans/lights in master bed/bath. No tripped GFCI, no tripped breakers

texts:
Just moved into a 2-story home built in 2002.
Upon move in, all lights and switches worked except for a pantry light downstairs and one of the outlets in an outlet box in a small bedroom upstairs.
Things I did:

Opened up the switch box for the broken pantry light to find that it had cracked in half. Went to HomeDepot, got a replacement switch, and replaced it. Only involved moving the ground, incoming hot, and outgoing hot lines from one switch to the new one. Now the light works.
Opened up the outlet in the small bedroom to find that everything looked okay. Didn't move any wires, just reinstalled back into wall after inspection. Then I opened up the switch box in this room that controlled the outlet that wasn't working, to find it also was cracked in half. Same procedure as above: got a replacement switch, moved the ground, incoming hot, outgoing hot wires, and reinstalled. Now the outlet works.

At this time, a comcast installer came and spent some time playing with stuff to get the internet coax working. I did not see everything he did.
Later, I realized the overhead lights/fans in the master bed and bath no longer work. They did previously work before the 2 switches were replaced and the comcast install occurred. All of the outlets in the master bed+bath still work. Checked all breakers, none were tripped but I reset them anyway. I could find only 4 GFCI outlets (all located downstairs), and none were tripped but I reset them all anyway. Opened the switch box in the master bed to find no power for any wires coming into the box.
It seems like there's only one breaker for the outlets and overhead lights/fans in the master bed/bath. How is it the outlets can still work but the overhead lights/fans do not?


texts:
I'm trying to find studs along my wall and have been successful except for the wall corners which have me confused. I am using a magnet to find the studs which is working well. However, along the wall corners in my house the magnet attaches to the wall along the entire vertical length. It seems like there is a metal plate in these areas. I am not knowledgeable with construction and am wondering - is it safe to use the wall corners as studs? If so, do I need a particular type of drill bit to get through this? Do people generally stay away from these "wall plates"?

Thanks in advance for the help.


texts:
I find these bugs crawling from under the bed :

I don't know what they are. I haven't seen them on top of the bed just on the floor. But I've been getting rashes all over my body even though I didn't see anything on me.


texts: Does a refrigerator compressor need settling time after being laid on its back or side?

texts:
A friend of mine mentioned that after laying my fridge on its side or back, that I need to let it sit for several hours before plugging it in.

In the discussion, he said that it was to allow the lubricants and refrigerants settle back toward the compressor so that it doesn't dry-pump, causing potential damage.

Now this does make a degree of sense, but is this actually necessary or standard practice? I've moved many times in my life and I can't think of a single time that we've ever done that... so is it actually needed?

I doubt it makes any large difference, but I have a Frigidaire that is about 5 years old.


texts: Turning off oven breaker cuts power to AC, and vice versa. Why?


texts: Building a free-standing wall on top of a retaining wall

texts:
My house is well below street level. The slope from the sidewalk down towards the house is visibly eroding, to the point where I can see the entire side of many of the sidewalk slabs. The yard looks like this:

From the house, facing the sidewalk:

I'm looking to add a wall to my front yard that will serve two purposes:

Retain the slope from the street. I plan to build a retaining wall a few feet back from the sidewalk (roughly where the stone block in the lower right of the picture is located) and then backfill it to bring the grade in front of the wall up to street level (approximately 2.5-3 feet in height). This will prevent further erosion and provide a nice place to do some light plantings along the sidewalk.
Provide privacy and dampen noise from the road. Our code allows for walls up to 4 feet high in the front yard. I believe this is measured from the street level. So, the idea would be to build an additional 3-4 foot wall on top of the retaining wall and compacted backfill.

The finished product would end up looking something like this:

I'm planning to use dry stacking for both the retaining wall and the above-grade extension. We live in a temperate area (6a), so the ground and wall will be subject to frequent freeze-thaw cycles. My thought is that a dry-stack wall will be more flexible and less likely to crack than a wet-masonry wall. It will also be easier to remove portions in the event that the city needs to access the water supply line to the house.

Of course as discussed in other questions, we'll use appropriate techniques for a dry-stack retaining wall such as sloping it backwards, adding a gravel footer and backing, using geogrid to provide structure to the backfill, and installing adequate drainage.

The question is, is it reasonable to expect a 2.5-3 foot dry stack retaining wall to support the weight of an additional 3-4 foot free-standing wall without the whole thing toppling over? Can we expect the backfill to support part of the weight of the free-standing portion?


texts: Can you help me out. I am planning to install this (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-70-in-White-Twin-Track-Upright-for-Wood-or-Wire-Shelving-FG4B8900WHT/100047070) in my cabinet to add organizer inside my closet. I am not sure though what should be the lenght of the wood screw that I will be using if I will install it in the stud. Note that depth of that material is around 1 inches. Thank you


texts:
Which type of termite control is the most efficient in term of price in my case?

All the wood flooring and pillar had termite colony in my case...


texts: Laying bricks over old concrete sidewalks

texts:
I just moved into an old house. The previous homeowner had concrete slabs as the sidewalks that are in touch with the house wall. From what I know, the concrete slabs not only provide a flat solid place to walk on, a nice look but also prevent water coming towards the house foundation.

But now two or three of the slabs have sunk for about half inch at some corners of the slab. I was suggested to cover the old concrete slabs with brick pavement, for a better rainwater protection and a nicer look.

I don't really know much about renovation in general, so before the project starts I would like to have a better understanding. My questions are,

If I leave the old concrete slabs as it is (no bricks overlay), what kind of damage can it cause overtime? I think the slabs are pretty heavy, if they are left to continue sinking, then I imagine it might be bad for the house walls since as it sinks under, it may put a horizontal force onto the wall.
If I decide to put bricks, should I completely remove the concrete slabs first for example by a jackhammer?
i) If so, would the jackhammer action cause any damage to the house structure as the slabs are right at the edge of the house walls? ii) If breaking down the slabs are not needed, and I can just overlay the bricks. Is there any special method preferred, e.g. do I just slab on mortar between the concrete and the bricks, or still first put down gravel, then concrete sand and bricks?

Sorry if some of the questions sound silly, as mentioned I'm pretty new. Thanks.


texts: Will splitting a duct to extend HVAC to an addition cause problems?

texts:
I'm building a 15 x 26 addition off of current family room to use as a music room. The family room has 2 vents(registers) where the family room meets the new room, and because of convenience they extended the 2 into the new room.  That's fine cause they were lined up perfect.

The issue is they were told to replace what they stole from one room, and now want to split that duct run from the one register to two. Basically they want go up to feed original duct, then keep going and feed new room.

My concern is the family room will not be getting all the conditioned air that it originally did, and will be too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter because of the reduced flow. they robbed Peter to pay Paul so to speak. Am I crazy for asking for replacement runs with registers to original family room?


texts: Fill heat tank with glycol in off-grid system?

texts:
EDIT: I'm settling for a simpler system: no solar thermal panels; just a small 50 liter water heater, AC powered, run through the inverter. (So, practically no hot water in the winter time.)

I'm planning to build an off-grid summer house in southern Finland.

The plan includes:

electricity: PV panels + inverters + batteries, enough for a 2000 W induction stove (single burner).
water: a well for drinking/kitchen/shower water, an electric pump
heating: a body of water (or a non-toxic propylene glycol mixture) is heated in the heat tank. The water from the well would be heated in a coil of the tank, thus the water we use will never stay in the heater. The tank would be heated by solar thermal panels and/or a water heating fireplace. A small pump is needed for the thermal panels and another one the fireplace.

The cabin would mostly be used during the summertime (June to August), when the building doesn't need to be heated. For May and September-October, some heating will be required, and for the winter months, a lot of heating. The cabin is 70 m² (750 sq ft).

Since there is no external electricity and the outside temperature gets below 0°C (32°F) for several months, some measures must be taken. The lowest temperatures are -30°C (-22°F), which would mean 50 % glycol.

Batteries will survive only if they are fully charged for the winter.

The tank (and all pipes) must either be emptied for the winter, or it must contain non-freezing glycol mixture.

I think I now need to decide between these two options:

1) Fill the tank with water, and empty it for the wintertime. Heat it with solar heating panels.

Pros:

simple system
cheaper
the fireplace is not connected to the tank, so it’s easier to use it for heating the cabin in the winter (without the risk of overheating the tank)

Cons:

no possibility for water in the wintertime
obligatory autumn maintenance

2) Fill the tank with propylene glycol. Heat it with a water heating fireplace, and possibly solar thermal panels.

Pros:

less maintenance?
Possibility for occasional hot water even in the wintertime? (Must empty the water pipes every time, though)

Cons:

more expensive
have to add radiators (using the same glycol) to be able to heat the cabin in the wintertime, distributing the heat from the fireplace

The second option raises some important questions:

Is 50/50 glycol too thick for the pumps? Can 50/50 transfer enough heat?
How often must the glycol be changed? I need 500 litres (130 gallons), so the expense is non-trivial.
Most important: is this feasible? Does anyone have this kind of setup? I found very little information on the subject.


texts: How can I verify how much refrigerant was put in my home AC unit?

texts: I had a routine AC system check. the system was cooling just fine. The reps were here 15 minutes total. They said they had to put in 4 lbs of recycled r-22  refrigerant. they charged me $125 per pound or $500. How do I know it need that much refrigerant? It was cooling fine before they came.


texts: how to strongly secure a wire over a couch frame to stretch seat spring webbing

texts:
I have a wire piping that used to be secure around the frame perimeter of my couch base so that a flexolator webbing with springs would be stretched taut and clip onto it.  However, this piping has come loose and the wire that used to secure the piping frame has broke so now the webbing sags.  I'd like to clip/secure the piping so that it can be strong enough again to clip on the springs to it.  I tried heavy duty staples but that was too weak against the pull.  What is the best way to secure the piping back onto the frame to withstand the force of the springs and stretching when it clips back on.

Similar to this photo, the springs clip into a cable/wire/piping that goes around the frame.


texts:
I need to span a beam 11' between two 6x6 posts to support the rafters for a covered pergola. I was thinking of fastening 3 pieces of 2x6 together to create a stronger piece. Is it possible?

Is there a calculator somewhere for this? I was looking at some tables, but most of them are for decks, which require higher loads than this - 10psf dead load, 5psf live load.


texts: Refrigerator door seal is developing a gap towards the bottom. Not sure it is letting air through

texts:
Nobody has been leaning on the door but there is now a 1/4 inch gap towards the bottom (beginning about halfway down) unless it is pushed closed tightly.

I think this is just the outer part of the seal - it is about an inch wide - and maybe it is not allowing air exchange with the room.

I have no idea how they are attached nor where I would buy a new one.

Is there a home remedy for this minor annoyance?


texts: Repair water leak around gas line in foundation

texts:
I've noticed during heavy rains that I get water leaking through the wall of my foundation, about 2 feet below grade, where an old capped off gas line enters the basement.

Looking around online I've seen these kits: http://www.appliedtechnologies.com/home/waterline_and_pipe_penetration_leak_kit.html

It seems reasonable but in the video there is actually a void surrounding the pipe to fill with the poly compound.  In my case, the foundation surrounding the pipe is intact and painted over, with the painted sort of bubbled off and some crumbing right around the pipe.

I guess my question is, are these kits a good way to repair this, and what kind of prep do I need to do beforehand?  I was thinking of using a wire brush attachment on my angle grinder and trying to clean off the paint and loose concrete / efflorescence.  How do I actually clean around the pipe?  Should I try and remove more material around it with a dril and masonry bit?  I'd like to have some confidence in what I'm doing so I don't just end up with a bigger leak!


texts:
Hello I am changing out your standard electrical receptical

with a USB one

However, the issue I am running into is that the USB receptacle has a body that is larger than the junction box in the wall that the wires feed into.

What options do I have to use my USB receptacle, but have it mount flush with the wall?

And if it matters, I am East Coast USA


texts: Neutral wire going into panel has ~120 volts on it

texts: I know there are threads about open neutrals, but wasn't sure if this is a different case with it being in my panel rather than outlet or switch.  Can I assume there is an open neutral somewhere or could it be something else?  Where should I start looking?  Would the break or loose connection be between the panel and first outlet or could it be anywhere in the circuit?  We noticed this when swapping a breaker in the panel.


texts:
I have an outlet box with a 1957 two pronged outlet with three wires connected. I want to switch it to a GFCI outlet.

When I connect the black 120v lead wire and the white load wire I get power to the GFCI. When I connect the third wire which is miscolored white (it’s actually also a lead 120v the GFCI trips (of course). When I test voltage between the black (lead) and white (load) wires I get 120v. When I test the black and the mismarked white I get 220v.

If I just connect the black and the white (load) wires I get power to the outlet, but not to my bathroom and bedroom outlets. Any ideas how I can wire this GFCI?


texts: Shower manifold diverter stem removal question

texts: How the heck does this Stem come out of the threaded tube that the escutcheon goes over? The Hot and cold stems have bonnet nuts bet not the diverter.


texts: How to abandon one 3way switch and convert the other end of the line switch to put in a smart dimmer?

texts:
I am a fairly savvy DIY and am perplexed on how to proceed. I want to remove one 3 way switch with a red, white, black and ground. I am assuming the white is a neutral, but does not appear to be part of my bundled neutrals in the back of the box. When I tie my red and black together and cap off my neutral, then install my new switch at the end of the line box, my new switch does not work. How do I remedy this? In the box I want to keep, I do have a red, black, white as well along with a ground.

First photo, the switch I want to remove, bundled neutrals in back right of box.(https://i.stack.imgur.com/KGDVY.jpg)

Second pic, box I want to retain, currently connected to a Lutron Diva Dimmer, no bundled neutrals.
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/nrZuM.jpg)

First switch with better lighting.(https://i.stack.imgur.com/ulEnr.jpg)

First box again with incoming Romex(https://i.stack.imgur.com/A6IIJ.jpg)

Wiring of switch I want to nix (https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYZAR.jpg)

Other side of switch wiring (https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZhCO9.jpg)


texts: How can I stop the dripping from a concrete ceiling?

texts: My uncle built a concrete bunker in the side of a hill over 50 years ago.  The shelter seemed to be free of any leaks until just recently in which there is a steady drip in a few spots in the ceiling.  With no rain for several months, the water must be coming from a spring in the hillside.  Is there a sealer that could be applied to the concrete to eliminate the water from seeping through the concrete?  If so, would the entire ceiling need to sealed or just in the area of the water stains?


texts: Tester showing ground, but I am not seeing a ground

texts: In the original portion of my 1940's house, I have three outlets that have wires being ran using conduit. When I test them using a three prong tester, it shows that they are grounded, but when I open them up there is no ground running from the outlet to the metal box. Why or how does the tester show the outlet grounded?


texts: how to extend washing machine drainage hose such that it doesn't leak

texts:
I have a portable washing machine that I want to keep in one of our bedrooms and thus need to extend the stock drainage hose. My current solution is:

buy the necessary length of clear plastic tubing
wrap the existing hose with electrical tape until it barely fits inside the plastic tubing
use a hose clamp to cinch down the tubing so that there are no leaks

Unfortunately, my solution does not prevent all leaks; a small bit of water still leaks out.

What are your suggestions?


texts: 4 ton air handler with 3.5 ton air conditioner

texts:
What effect will having a 3.5 ton air conditioner used with a 4 ton air handler have on the energy efficiency of the hvac system?

Right now we seem to be using a lot of energy per month. The question is it coming from the above mis match if it is, to how much magnitude?


texts: The old fan was wired so it had a switch on wall for fan and switch for light. So I have 2 white wires, 2 black wire and ground from ceiling. This light works with remote. So 2 switches not needed. The fan only has a white, black and ground. How do I wire this with this set up?????


texts: LED lamp keeps glowing when dimmer is turned off

texts:
(I know this question has been asked before (here), but I followed the advice recommended by the users in that thread to help remedy the problem, but the lights still glow.)

I recently bought dimmable LEDs for my house, and I've noticed that the lights glow a little bit even while the dimmer is turned off (I have illuminated light switches to DO NOT use the neutral wire). I suspect this is due to the wall switches using the light bulb itself as neutral. When the wall switch is on, the bulb gets full line voltage. When the wall switch is off, the bulb is the neutral for the light of the wall switch, causing a tiny current to flow through the bulb.

I replaced the dimmer with the Luron MACL-153M, a digital dimmer that is specifically made for LEDs/CFLs, but that problem still persists (note: this dimmer also DOES NOT use the neutral wire, and is illuminated with a small light).

I then replaced one room's dimmer with a smart WiFi switch that DOES use the neutral wire, and walla, no glow. Also, if I use a non-illuminated switch, the LEDs do no glow while the switch is turned off.

So I tried a solution that seems to work for the rest of the rooms where I don't want smart light switches. I added a 10k ohm resistor in between the load and the neutral (so in parallel), and it seems to "drain" that small electricity leak from the dimmer. When I did this, the LEDs did not glow when turned off.

Now, my question to the community is: Is there a safer way to do this? Of course I covered all exposed wires with electrical tape, and my resistor is rated at 200 volts (I live in the US). And theoretically, this resistor is acting just like another bulb on the circuit, but that does not emit light.

I looked around for a non-wifi/Bluetooth/etc. dimmer that uses the neutral wire, and the only one seems to be a Leviton one that costs $60--way too pricey. Adding a resistor in parallel makes sense and is much more cost-effective. Please let me know if this is ok/safe long term.


texts: Can I fix damaged AC line insulation with tape?

texts: The foam insulation around the suction line on my ac has deteriorated, so I covered it completely with tape. Was this an OK thing to do. Am I harming anything? I have not run my AC since I did this.


texts:
So, I am new to the drywalling thing and I went to tape/mud a few butt joints, but my process was to put mud on the joint, then put the tape over, but then instead of letting that first mud undercoat dry, I put another coat of mud over top and then let that all dry for 24 hours.  I am using the pre-mixed mud, btw.

Am I going to run into major / minor problems on the joints that I have done this way?  I didn't get an bubbles so far.  I just don't know if I need to rip out all the work that I have done on these.


texts: How to solve Hot Upstairs but cold basement

texts: I have central air in my house(20 year old house). In my basement it gets cool, and cold air is coming from a vent in the ceiling. My upstairs gets really warm and humid even though central air is on. What should I do to resolve this? I was suggested to replace windows, fill attic/crawl space. I heard there could be a tool to help even out the air but the technician wouldn't share the secret.


texts: 3 wire service to older building doesnt look correct

texts:
Basically there's 3 wires running from a 125 amp breaker on the main service. A red(125v) A black(125v) and a white wire(neutral on ground/neutral bar) in main, all running to an older building with a 125 amp subpanel.

At the subpanel the bar that connects the neutral and ground has been removed. All the grounds are on one bar, all the neutrals are on another. The 2 hots are hooked correctly with awg #2. The neutral bar is connected to the neutral wire also #2 running back to the main.

The ground bar is connected to a AWG #2 wire to a grounding rod. So in this particular case wouldn't the bar that runs from neutral to ground in the subpanel need to be connected or something else?

The 3 wires are all #2 and are buried in pvc. not an electrician. but I do understand the basics. Don't need code talk, just regular speak please. Thanks in advance for your help. p.s. There's no water, gas or anything else metal underground near the shop.


texts:
I have an expandable (by twisting) shower rail, that was secured with some kind of glue or silicone putty between the tiles in my shower.

I brought this down by hanging a soaked towel on it. The ends seem to be rubber.

How can I firmly and perhaps more securely re-affix this to my tiles?


texts: I want to install a 120V outlet for my deck, and I'm not sure if I can run this from the same load center that my hot tub uses. It's a 240V load center that is fed from a double pole breaker in the main panel inside. If I can, I would much rather run the outlet from this panel instead of running it from the one in my garage and digging a trench to the deck from there.


texts:
Hey anyone help left side of the pik is one generator
Geting uneven voltages without switching the contactor on
Think its the avr card

But what really gets me is L1_E geting 2 v ?  Thats with the load on

But I switched generators over in a ats and the other generator on the right side of the picture all is healthy
Anyone help out ? . Maybe the alternator windings  ?


texts: Hot water heater T&P discharge going into furnace condensate pump?

texts:
I recently had some electrical work done at my house, and as part of that, the power was shut off. After a few minutes, we noticed water coming from the closet containing the hot water heater and furnace. There was a slow and steady trickle of water coming out of the condensate pump, and we could feel the heat in the discharge line connecting the pump to the t&p valve.

The next day, I talked to two different plumbers about this. One said that line should be going to a drain, but there's no drain in my basement. The other said it was ok for that line to be connected to the pump, but there should be a shut-off valve on the hot water side of the heater.

Who (if any) is right? I'm most interested in what would be considered up to code in Pennsylvania. Since that's a vague question, I'll also ask a specific one: what's the best thing for me to do to ensure the next time I lose power, my basement doesn't slowly flood?

Edit: because a picture is worth a thousand words.


texts: Why does only the hot water have low Water Pressure from my 2 handle kitchen faucet?

texts: My kitchen faucet is a two handle style with a single delivery spout.  The water pressure for the cold water and for ALL the other water sources in the home work fine.  The water pressure for the hot water in the kitchen has steadily been getting slower and slower. Today it is a VERY small stream.


texts: What would a bracket for holding 1 5/8" square post be called?

texts:
For stabilizing a handrail post, using 1 5/8" square posts, I'm seeking a bracket shaped like so:

Where the U shaped bracket would tightly press the post against a surface.  First what might this be called, and is it a standard part?  I've tried lots of Google image searches, but so far nothing suitable has come up.


texts: Can I add receptacles on the same circuit as the garage door opener in my garage?

texts: I am wanting to add two new outlets on a unfinished wall in my garage. This wall currently has no outlets at all and is a exterior facing wall. I was wondering if i can tie into the outlet in the ceiling that is used for my garage door opener. I believe this outlet is on the same circuit as all other outlets in my garage. I don't plan on running a lot of devices at the same time, just need the extra outlets for ease of use on that side of the garage. I have never had a breaker trip in the garage either. I am wondering if this is allowed? It is the nearest outlet that i can tie into and it would be very easy to do as well. These would be two 15 amp outlets and would be used for light use.


texts:
So I went to look at my father in law’s panel, and as far as I can see, they look like they’re trying to draw too much amperage from the panel.

Does anything look amiss here?


texts: How can I indicate when a shower is in use?

texts:
Just bought my first home which has two bathrooms. We have guests stay over fairly often (family, friends etc) and on more than one occasion someone's shower has been ruined because either someone downstairs runs the hot tap (washing dishes etc) or someone else switches on the other shower, which makes both run cold.

Is there some cheap way of rigging up a switch (RF, I guess) which someone could press when about to get into the shower, which would light up a corresponding switch/light in the other bathroom (and/or in the kitchen to warn us not to run the taps)?

Or indeed, any better solutions to this problem (other than asking our guests to tell us/each other when they're using the water, which hasn't worked so far...)?


texts: Can I use an LED bulb in a 3-Way fixture?

texts: Is it possible to use an LED bulb in a 3-way light fixture?  Will all three work?


texts:
I just changed my heater and it caused the whole wall outlet to go wrong.
The heater was connected to the wall using strip connectors such as this one:

After turning the power off from my main panel, I unplugged these and plugged the new instead but it didn't work when I turned the power on again. So I plugged the old one back and it didn't work anymore either!
I plugged a simple outlet with a lamp and the lamp did not turn on, so I assume there is a problem with my wires. I tried to use Wago instead of the strip connectors with the same result.
Visually, the wires seem precisely the same as when I opened the outlet at first: 4 wires (neutral, live, ground, and pilot) with a section of 2.5mm². My apartment is 15 years old and in good condition, so I don't think there could be a problem inside the wall.
Here is a picture of my main panel (30mA differentials): https://i.stack.imgur.com/rbfdw.jpg. One switch is turned off because I don't know what it is controlling and the other is the switch of my heater so it is turned off while the outlet is left open. When I turn this latte on, nothing happens to the above-mentioned lamp.
I changed a lot of outlets with absolutely no problem before, in this apartment and elsewhere. This problem is absolutely beyond me.
Is there a way I could diagnose this problem without much material?
Disclaimer: I am not an electrician but quite tech-savvy and very cautious. I understand pretty well how electricity works even if I have no official formation. Doing small things like changing an outlet or a heater myself is totally legal here in France, although I would never even touch my main panel.
EDIT: pilot wire.
I just realize that other countries might not have this "pilot" wire in their walls. The pilot wire ("fil pilote") is an additional wire that pertains only to heater outlets. Depending on the frequency of the current in this wire, the heater, if positioned in "pilot" mode, will enter one of the 4 heating modes (off, no-freezing, eco, or comfort). They are usually connected to the main electrical panel so it can connect to a domotic server. In my case, the pilot wire is unplugged, although I plan to install a custom solution on it later.


texts: I am adding a bathroom in my basement on an exterior wall. After cutting out the floor, I can see that the footing extends about 8" in to the space I had planned on putting my vents. Is it OK to remove small parts of the footing to facilitate my vent pipes, or should I change my wall size accordingly so I can still run my vents without disturbing the original footing?


texts: Need help identifying this old style fuse box

texts: I’m in the middle of replacing this 30 amp fuse box, but I’m not sure if this is that safest way to just replace with the same fuse box or if they even make it to this day.to be honest it looks over loaded. I'm not sure what kind of breakers these are due to one having a connecting plate on the outside of it. Any insight is appreciated this look before my time. Thank you for your time... aloha.


texts: How can I ensure precise alignment of wooden parts assembled with bolts?

texts:
I am building a CNC machine (don't need to know what that is), and I have chosen wood to be what I make the frame out of. One problem that I am facing is joining the pieces together. It may seem like a simple solution (a few nails or screws) but for this project it might have to be completely disassembled for modifications/expanding it/maintenance/cleaning/storage/etc.

I don't want to ruin the wood in the process with plain screws, since it will be a normal storage procedure to disassemble parts of it when not in use. (I have a very small apartment and space is limited for storage.) I've decided to use bolts to fix this problem. However, bolts you have to drill a hole, and I would think that it would be rare that there is zero wiggle room for the bolt to move around in the hole. When assembling/disassembling often, this can be a problem with alignment, especially since a CNC machine should have the greatest accuracy possible within your budget.

Is there some sort of thing where I can put like a "long nut" all the way through the board so it will easily be removed, yet won't wiggle (noticeably)? What methods do I have?


texts:
I bought a rehab house and currently trying to identify what everything is in there.
There is this panel in the garage. Does anyone know what it is?

http://imgur.com/a/icRHd


texts:
Where can I find how to design a cold room storage building?

I have a 12x12 shed that I use as cold storage for tree seedlings for about a month each spring.  The present construction is 2x4 walls with fiberglass insulation.  The building is wrapped with strawbales, and has 16" of cellulose insultion in the attic.

I have 12 barrels along the walls filled with water, supported on pallets, and with 4" of styrofoam scraps floating on top.  The barrels freeze solid in winter.

During the winter, the door is left open and the ceiling fan left on. This chills the ground under the slab.

All 4 sides of the shed have 4 layers of nominal R2 insulated tarps to reduce ground conduction.

This system works, but I've outgrown it.  I want to scale up to a 20x20 building, giving me about 3 times the area.

I'd like to get away from the barrels, and instead put a pit in the room that I would flood with water 2 inches at a time to freeze.  Build with a permanent set of concrete pillars space to accept pallet sized 'floor' units. Or put in floor supports that span the pit. These would also stop the ice from floating up when the next layer of water was added.

But now I get into the limits of my knowledge:

What is the right slope for the pit?  I don't want to cast a swimming pool, I'd rather a dirt pit lined with an impermeable liner if necessary.  Too steep, and the sides slump.
What is the right way to make the walls?  The desired environment for the use period is 1 degree C and 95+% humidity.  Vapour barrier is normally put on the warm side of the wall, but leaving the inside unprotected with such a humid environment seems like a bad idea too.
My thought is to have a fan in the space between the movable floor and the room space, controlled by a thermostat near the ceiling.  I'm not sure if the fan blowing over the surface of the ice will move sufficient coolth from the ice to the room.  How do I figure heat exchange between moving air and wet ice?
What is the proper design for foundations for such a building?  Frost depth here is about 5 feet.  But that is based on a building that is heated for at least part of the year.  Do I need a different foundation for a building that much of the year is at or below freezing.
Should the foundation be insulated from the surrounding ground?  Here best practice is to angle a slab of styrofoam 4 feet out and down from the gradeline/foundation line.  The notion is that the increase in path length for conduction outweighs the shallower depth of the bottom edge.  But for a room designed to be cold, would it have the same design.


texts: Would insurance cover water damage due to an improperly installed deck?

texts:
My house is an 80 year-old 3-story with a partially finished cinder block basement.  I've owned it for about 10 years, and it came with a pair of french doors that opened from the dining room onto a large backyard deck, neither of which was original to the house (there used to be just a window in the dining room).  Because they were old and sagging a little, I hired a contractor to replace the french doors with a glass slider.  When he removed the doors, what he found was nothing short of a nightmare.
Long story short, whoever installed this deck did not put any flashing material between the deck and the house, so water has been getting trapped in between and slowly rotting the foundation framing along the back wall for at least 20 years he said.  It was so bad that he had to remove about 4 feet of subfloor and replace 3 of the joists.
On the contractor's advice I demolished that deck, and sure enough, the water damage can clearly be seen all along the back wall of the house. There is a crack in the cinder block foundation that runs all the way down to the ground.  There's no way water hasn't been getting in there.
The amount of damage is clearly much older than my residence here, and was not picked up by the inspector when we bought the place. Shockingly, there have been no indicators that this was happening. The dining room floor was not spongy at all. He verified that the top floor has not shifted or sagged, and there are no mysterious cracks upstairs  As far as he could tell, the drywall in the basement looks and feels fine (although I shudder to think what I'll find if I remove it).  I haven't noticed any musty smells when it rains.  He said that if it were not for the sheer 1940's military grade over-engineering of this house, it would have collapsed.  He might have been exaggerating, but it was really bad.
The contractor advised me against notifying my insurance company to even explore the feasibility of a claim.  He says that they will likely deny it because it's an improper maintenance issue. They'll say the damage should have been noticed long ago and I failed to mitigate it.  He also said that foundation damage is a huge red flag that will be a permanent part of this house's record and would cause my rates to significantly increase and might possibly make it harder to sell in the future.  I tend to believe him, since he's done good work for me in the past and has always been straight with me.  And the amount of damage is probably beyond his scope of work anyway.
Is the contractor correct? Is this something insurance would cover?


texts: Installing a Tension Chin Up Bar - Can I Use Shims to Minimize the Pressure on the Drywall?

texts: I bought a tension chin up bar and went to use it on drywall and it punctured the drywall and I came crashing down. Would shims minimize the pressure or spread it to prevent this from happening. Plus could I build brackets for further reinforcement?product link follows


texts: Choosing THHN colors when running 2 circuits together

texts:
Consider a situation where you need to run two circuits through an emt conduit using a common ground wire. The THHNs will originate in an external breaker panel (using dual afgf breakers) and terminate in a junction box inside the house where they will be spliced with romex to make run to equipment.
Following colors appear to be commonly available: black, red, blue, green, white.
How do you choose five colors that are NEC compliant. Remember that all wires travel together in the conduit.
Let it flow...


texts: How do I determine the origin of a window's leak?

texts:
The drywall is water stained directly under the two lower corners of my window. So, I need to figure out where the leak is coming from. What steps should I take?

-The home was built in 1967. The window is on the second story and gets a lot of wind and weather as it is on a gable end.

-I removed the interior trim from the window. I'd like to spray foam the window. Should I wait to determine the cause of the leak or can I go ahead as the leak's origin is invariably on the exterior?

-When I removed the trim at the top of the window I noticed that there were a lot of small bits of pine needles and detritus that had somehow worked their way in. The material appeared to be dry.

-After removing the lower window trim, I noticed that there were a speckles of mold on the drywall-- very few, only a handful. But, obviously water had penetrated.

-The lower storm window sash was open for almost a year. (I just noticed that it was open). The regular lower window sash was closed. Could this be the source of the leak?


texts: Plugging a kitchen sprayer that has a quick-connect fastener?

texts:
TL;DR: Is there an easy way to properly plug a kitchen faucet sprayer when the sprayer uses a quick-connect instead of a threaded connection? Simply cutting the hose and plugging it isn't an option.

Full story: My wife and I currently rent our house, and we only have a sink with a sprayer in the kitchen, no dishwasher or in-sink garbage disposal. She managed to find a great deal on a portable dishwasher ($50 for a barely-used one that would have retailed for around $300), and snapped it up. We stashed it in the garage until I could get the time to hook it up.

Upon further research (hindsight is always 20/20), I found that hooking up a portable to a faucet with a sprayer can potentially cause the sprayer to blow. The obvious solution was to remove the sprayer and cap the feed to the sprayer hose. I figured it would be no big deal, as the guides I found online basically showed unscrewing the hose and capping it with a 3/8" brass cap, and we could just stash the sprayer under the sink & put it back when we move out. Easy-peasy, right? I popped over to the hardware store and got a cap, tape, and a plug for the sprayer hole in the sink, figuring that the faucet would have standard fittings.

Wrong again. Upon getting under the sink, I found that the faucet uses a quick-connect sprayer hose, rather than a standard threaded connection. The thing uses a Peerless/Delta RP54807 sprayer kit. This obviously torpedoed my plan to just cap the thing and be done with it, because there were no threads to screw anything on to.

This brings me to my question: Is there an easy, non-permanent way to remove the sprayer and cap that quick-connect barb, so we can hook up the dishwasher? If not, I'll happily just swap the faucet for one with standard connections, but I'd really rather not do that if I don't have to.


texts: Trying to use two 3 way switches and a 4 way switch to operate 2 - 54187 Bennett Collections using one remote

texts:
Can I make the two fan/lights work by switching them at 3 different places [2 3ways and 1- 4 way switch]  and also use the remote to operate both fan/lights? ....
 ..... Or will I have to wire two more 3 ways and one more 4 way to operate the lights separate from the fans? ....
YIPES! HELP!


texts: What kind of blow torch to use for a stuck bolt

texts:
I'm trying to remove a tire from a lawn tractor and the bolt is stuck.  I've tried all kinds of penetrating oils and an impact driver with no luck.  A lot of websites recommend heating the bolt.  What kind of heat source should I use?

Addition:  Thanks for the tips.  The problem with a breaker bar in this case is that, due to the shape of the tire rim, I need to use an extension to get a socket wrench on the bolt and the bolt head is thin so everything falls off easily.


texts: Insulating that attic hatch - the type with fold-out steps

texts:
This attic hatch does have fold-out steps inside...

It would be great to put a layer of insulation at the level A:

unfortunately, once the steps triple-fold and you put the hatch up,

the folded steps come up an extra at least a foot .. the height of "B" or more.

(Notice I simply lay some insulation panels there - the white stuff with the bar code - when the steps fold up and you shut the hatch, those panels are pushed way up high: it's largely useless, of course air just flows in the sides.)

the literal hatch is 52x24,

the surrounds above are about 29x28.

Is there something for this?

Bonus question:

i thought of at least carefully fitting insulation inside the gaps in the ladder:

my guess is that would probably be useless - experts ??

I guess a follow up question is are solutions like this integrated cover rubbish cheap solutions, or ok ?

(I notice some are simply "boxes" that just "sit on" the attic floor - seems useless.  that one pins in at least.)

As a curiosity for anyone reading. Notice (image 2) I simply threw some (three layers) of insulating panel up there, resting above the ladder. This is totally useless because, when you fold up the ladder, it lifts them in the air many inches.  So TBC there is a huge air gap around the sides, it is not at all sealed.  Very bizarrely even this crappy measure drastically cut the heat reaching the outside of the hatch!!!!


texts:
I'm palm sanding (quarter sheet) flaking/chipped paint from exterior hardwood siding I want to preserve.  I read some hints here, but I'm seeking any other labor-saving hints - this job is tedious.  Here's the best of my knowledge so far:

First scrape loose material with a good 5-in-1 tool - avoids gummed paint in paper.
Separate sanding/painting teams - paint teams need clean air & surface.
Pre-drill a big stack of sheets with vent holes - avoid manually punching holes with each paper change.
Change paper often - gummed paper works much worse than new, and new paper is probably cheaper than your time.  Is paint stripping sandpaper definitely an advantage over general purpose sandpaper?  They don't sell it at my local big box stores.
Use good breather, snug gloves, safety glasses, and ear protection - have good knee pads handy for low work - throw in some earphones & music, this is a long job.
Spot prime after rough sand - use finer grit for resanding before later coats.
Use the best quality paint you can afford - you don't want to do this job again soon.  Modern oil based primers will accept latex paint.

Other suggestions?


texts: Trying to figure out how this service panel is getting electricity

texts:
A friend's service panel is getting power from somewhere, but their power is shut off. They're in the process of getting a voltage detector and trying to use that to figure it out but they're super new at this.

In the meantime, if anyone has thoughts on where to look or how to tell where the power could be coming from, we'd love some suggestions.

All I was able to tell them so far is figure out if the mains are hot or not.

UPDATE:
To answer the question below, yes it is single family. I don't think anyone else uses it? I hope? I tried having him turn them off one by one. That seemed to show that all the power was coming from the one left main, but then we ended up going round and round still seeming to find contraindications to that answer.

Eventually he just took the whole thing apart and put it back together without the water heater, just treating it as if it's only getting 110V service. That seems to be working for now. Occam's razor, probably power is coming from that one left main. Assuming maybe the electric company person only turned off one of the mains instead of both on accident?

Wondering if there's anything else that we could be missing? Things still seem to defy sense. He says that the hot breakers are not alternating, they're consecutive. So the left main seems to be serving the entire right side of the panel instead of every other one. Could there be damage to the panel itself? Also seems like the 200A main breaker might not be stopping power to the hot bus, so that's concerning. Just another thing that seems super weird.

So the above part was just a miscommunication -- they do alternate like normal and the 200A breaker does turn off the whole thing. My bad-- one more mystery solved.


texts: Can I Remove a Brick Chimney and Replace With Something Else?

texts:
I am buying an old home (~130 years). I had the home inspection yesterday and the chimney is essentially a death trap. It is the victim of both poor maintenance and bad DIY work.

The chimney on the roof needs to be removed and rebuilt.
The water heater and boiler in the basement vent into the chimney entirely incorrectly, exhausting in the the home.

To maintain it, I need to pay an expert to rebuild the chimney, and a plumber to fix the hot water situation.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, I am wondering if I can or should just remove the chimney outright.

First, I'd move the water heater and boiler away from the chimney in the center of the house and power vent them straight outside. This has the added advantage of opening up the center of the basement a bit, where they are currently located.

Then we'd simply remove the chimney. That would also leave us with a shaft through the center of the home to run central air in the future.

The only complication is that my wife likes the current fireplace in the living room. Can we attach some form of smaller, non-brick chimney to the existing fire box? We'd be willing to change it to a gas fire place in the process.

As a follow on, the bricks for the chimney extends all the way to the basement currently. If I want to leave the first floor fireplace in place, do I need to leave the bricks under it in place, or can I support them some other way?


texts: Adding a manual transfer switch to handle a portable generator for my house

texts: My panel is in my garage just outside the kitchen door. The ideal place for the new transfer switch. I want to put the plug for the generator outdoors where the generator will be running. Can the plug be located that far from the transfer switch itself if properly wired? That way I don't need to run a really long cable from the generator through the garage, up the stairs and into the switch itself. Is this possible and okay to do?


texts:
Paint started flaking off a small portion of a recently painted wall (replastered entirely), I assume this is because we failed to apply the mist coat properly.

We did apply a mist coat, but might have missed this area a bit...

What is the best approach for this? Remove flaky paint with scraper, sand down, clean and reapply mist coat + extra layer of paint to affected area? Trying to avoid this happening again!


texts: Dehumidifier produces 100 g of water every day. No effect on relative humidity

texts:
First, my calculations. Let's assume a sealed 5x3x2 meters room and ambient temperature of 20 C. Volume is 30 cubic meters. According to this table, at 100% relative humidity there would be 17 g of water vapor per cubic meter or 510 g in the whole room. Henceforth a 10% drop in relative humidity should require about 50 g of water to be removed from the air.
The problem is that I'm getting about 100 g of water from my dehumidifier every day and (according to the psychrometer I have) the room is still at 70-80% relative humidity like it was before I installed the dehumidifier. Psychrometer works well outdoors and there's no reason to suspect it. The room has no sources of water vapor, save for myself and a cup of cold water. The door is closed most of the time.
Am I wrong at math? Missing some other important aspect? Any ideas how to help the situation in general?


texts: Using Different Screw in Drywall Anchors

texts:
I have custom mounting hardware for a floating shelf I'm looking to install. This hardware came with its own special screws, which are meant to be screwed into wooden studs and support the mounting hardware with their protruding heads, which are designed uniquely for this purpose.

My studs are metal however, not wooden. So I thought to use drywall anchors as the solution.

The only problem is that drywall anchors all seem to come with their own specifically designed screws. But I need to use the special screws that came with my shelf mounting hardware.

Can I use my own screws in drywall anchors? Has anyone done this before? Or, is there another solution entirely you'd recommend me?

Here's what the special shelf mounting screws look like if that's helpful:


texts: Why is my water softener hammering during recharge?

texts:
My water softener is water hammering during recharge.

Any thoughts on what might need to be fixed?


texts:
Have a new construction house, and lived here about 2.5 yrs. Turned on my furnace last night worked fine. This morning, it kept turning on then kicking off with no burners coming on.

I noticed the red light was flashing 3 times. Looked up some info and pulled the hose off and noticed the part it plugs into on the fan was all corroded.

What causes this? Is this from the A/C? Everything was fine last year. I do have a whole house humidifier, but no problems last season.


texts: Clarifying the in-between rafters insulation

texts:
My house is in an area which often gets -30c winter days and 30c summer days.

It's shaped like this (note that ventilation holes are also the same on the other side of the house):

Note that the roof is totally straight, not curved.  On the 2nd floor which is shaped like an A, in winter the house easily gets cold and in summer, it easily gets hot which, IMO, probably signifies a lack of insulation or some kind of ventilation problem maybe.

The main issue is that almost every winter, water is leaking from the roof, especially in the beginning of the spring, where an ice dam is already formed at the end of the roof, near the gutters.

(Always refer to above picture for colored items mentioned below)

In March, I went in the soffit area (the last 3 feet below green line, sorry, there's probably a term for this area) and the water leaking is indeed aligned with the ice dam, which is in center of the roof.  Many 2x6 rafters were soaking wet, actually DRIPPING water.  Most of this is going inside my house through the plywood and sheet rock :(

INSULATION-WISE:

There is insulation wool everywhere between the 2x6 rafters from the green line to what seems all the way to the attic and this is all across the entire roof.  I've been told by somebody recently that this should not have been built like this as it prevents hot air from escaping through the roof ventilators as the air can never leave below the green line, causing ice dams in the winter and when spring comes, it's hot enough to quickly melt and drip inside of the house.  NEED EXPERTISE ON THIS PLEASE.

VENT-WISE:

All the vents on both sides of the house are OPEN and wind is going through, I've verified this by entering the last 3 feet, which is outside of the house.  I have access to both the front and back soffit areas.  I've been told that when roof ventilators are installed, all the side vents of the house should be shut/closed to prevent disrupting the normal ventilation process of hot air going up and escaping through the roof ventilators.  NEED EXPERTISE ON THIS PLEASE.


texts: How to find tinted covers for ceiling light fixture

texts:
I have a light on my ceiling, rather than being a socket with a bulb it is a ring of small LEDs with a plastic diffusing cover over top. I would love to play with the lighting, making it warner, or possibly deep blue, but I am not sure where to start - I'm wondering whether this is a generic light cover that I can replace with a tinted one or if such things are not standardized.
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/iVqdV.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/klmgL6c.jpg)


texts: Make a built-in desk level with uneven floor, or true level

texts:
I'm making a 13 ft-long (4 m) built-in desk along one wall of a room.  Adopting the engineer's creed that anything worth thinking is worth over-thinking, I used my neighbor's tripod-mounted optical level to make level marks on the wall.  It turns out the floor slopes about 1/2" (13 mm) over the 13 ft.
Should I make the desk true level, or level with the floor?


texts: Can I dim LED lights when there are two different switches for the same fixture?

texts: I would like to place dimmers in two different rooms that are sometimes a bit over lit. Is that possible when both areas have two switches for the recessed lighting? Do I need to replace both switches with LED dimmer switches?


texts: Why is there no water after replacing the filter in a Samsung refrigerator?

texts: I just replaced my refrigerator (RFG297HDBP) water filter with a genuine Samsung replacement filter. However, with the new filter in, I get a short burst of water, then no more water. I can pull out the filter and reinstall it and the same thing happens ( I have pulled it out and screwed it back in about 20 times so far). I put the old filter back in and now it is has the same problem. My guess from the sound of it is that the filter is filling up with water during the turning process, but once it gets to the lock, no more water is able to pass into the filter. Has anyone else experienced this? How should I fix it?


texts:
Would it make sense to use wool batting like this as a window quilt? Why or why not? What factors would affect its suitability?
For context, I propose using this on the inside of one of those shrink film kits in the US midwest.


texts: How do I wrap the pre-filter around the HEPA filter in this air purifier?

texts:
I bought this air purifier and was installing the pre-filter that came with it. The instructions go "Carefully wrap the pre-filter around the HEPA filter so that the ends meet. Fasten the ends together with the fastener provided."

The pre-filter is longer than the HEPA is wide so does this mean
1)Wrap the pre-filter around the HEPA so the pre-filter's ends are touching and the pre-filter sits loosly over the HEPA
or
2)Wrap the pre-filter snugly around the HEPA so that the pre-filter's ends overlap

Here is pictures of how I have it now with slightly overlapping ends


texts: How would I install hydronic floor heat on top of a rigid foam insulated basement floor?

texts:
I intend to finish a part of my basement following this guideline from Fine Homebuilding and Building Science. There are two options I could come up with for installing hydronic radiant heat extrusions, and I can't decide which of the two is most ideal.

Option 1 - Route out a pathway into the insulation that would fit the aluminum channel, then cover with the two layers of 1/2" plywood, then cover with flooring

Option 2 - Start with 2" foam, put down 1/2 ply screwed into the concrete, put down aluminum channel on top of 1/2" plywood, cut strips of 3/4 plywood to go between channel, install flooring over 3/4

Option 1 is much easier to build. The foam will have some "give" when fastening the plywood against the aluminum plate, which will ensure contact and allow flatter flooring layers above. I just fear the aluminum on insulation contact, movement and directly heating the insulation. There are adhesives to secure the aluminum to the foam if that's appropriate.

Option 2 provides more "structural" support to the channel to prevent noise, as well as providing more thermal mass and more isolation from the insulation. I'm not sure if the layers of plywood will have enough "give" to encapsulate the aluminum track without causing the surface to bow.


texts: Controlling 110v swamp cooler(Mastercool) using Nest thermostat

texts:
Afer hearing many great things about Nest Thermostat, I decided to buy the 3rd Generation Nest thermostat. But after doing much research, I came to know that my MasterCool Swamp Cooler will not work with Nest, but there is some hope.

I came to know that there is a way to convert my MasterCool to work with Nest.

I read the post Controlling 110v swamp cooler using Nest thermostat

but I am confused as what model works the best and at its optimal level.

Any help is much appreciated.
Thank you,


texts: How can I protect laminated floor from casters on office chairs?

texts:
How can I protect laminated floor from office chairs?
An acrylic mat looks ugly.  Can a rug end up damaging the floor too?


texts: I am replacing switches in my 1950s house and want to put a new switch timer for my porch light. There was a old one already in place. I am confused because I installed the switch next to it using the black and red wire and the only wire left are 2 black ones?? The new timer has a red, blue and black wire. I am new to the home improvement world so am i missing something??


texts: Washer Does Not Drain Water Before First Spin Cycle Begins

texts: My Maytag Atlantis 2005 washer begins the first spin cycle as soon as the first wash cycle ends. So, the spinning starts with a full load of soapy water. Isn't it supposed to drain all the way down before the first spin cycle starts?


texts: Intake blockage on hot water heater - shuts off

texts:
I have a similar problem to a question I’ve seen posted here before.

I have a high efficiency water heater...and the sensor keeps shutting it off as the intake pipe outside gets full of frost.

I’ve monitored it and noticed it gets the most frost from when the furnace vents out the return air, blowing warm moist air outside, and with a gust of wind, the warm air gets directed into the intake thus condensing and causing it to block up with ice and frost.

Wondering if there is a clever way to modify either my exhaust or intake to prevent the re-circulation.

And yes I know the black poly is wrong, should’ve been white ABS.


texts: What is best way to make up difference between concrete and drywall in garage

texts: The bottom part of wall in the carport was never covered with drywall. The distance from floor to bottom is around 9-10 inches. The bottom area is concrete blocks. The issue is distance from outer face of wall to outer edge of drywall is 7/8. The thickest drywall is 5/8. I need to make up the additional 1/4 inch. I was going to use 1/4 foam insulation but it is much more expensive than the other foam insulation(1/4-$40+). I had thought of cutting wood pieces to that thickness but was concerned it holding up drywall because it is so thin. Any suggestions? I’ll try to post pic within the hour.


texts: Types of dangerous sparks inside drilling machine that require to stop work immediately

texts:
This question mention that it is common to see sparks inside a drilling machine.

It is not uncommon to see sparks at the interface point between the carbon brush and the commutator as the motor operates.

So, is there a particular kind of spark inside the drilling machine that is dangerous and requires stopping work immediately and getting it fix? and also, do old drilling machine have fewer sparks than new drilling machines (the question mentions that old drilling machines produce more sparks, while the answer mentions that new drilling machines produce more sparks, both statement are contradictory to each other)?

I went through a few forum threads where people said sparks inside brushed drill machines are common, but all of them mentioned old drill machines

The amount of sparking will often reduce as the brushes wear in during use of the tool.


texts: heating zone stays hot even when the thermostat isn't calling

texts:
we're trying to solve a very strange hot water heating problem (drawing below).

We just separated the the 2nd and 3rd floors in my house into two separate heating zones, and the 3rd floor is now staying at 75 even though its thermostat is set for 65 and isn't calling for heat.

There is a horizontal copper pipe loop in the basement, with all 2nd floor radiators using monoflow T's to take the hot water from the loop and return it back to the loop right after using regular T's.

the way how we did the separation is the following:
we added a Y and placed two zone valves to control the flow for the 2nd floor and flow to the 3rd floor manifold. The returns are shared.

We also placed zone valves to 2nd floor radiator supply sides to prevent the 3rd floor return flow from going into the 2nd floor radiators via 2nd fl loop.

the circulator pump is sitting at the return side so it's "pulling" the water.

there are separate thermostats on each floor, and they connect to the 6 zone Taco controller.

when the 2nd floor is calling for heat, 3 things happen:
1) main 2nd floor main zone valve opens
2) zone valves open in front of all supply side of the 2nd floor radiators
3) circulator pump turns on

when the 3rd floor calls for heat
1) 3rd zone main valve opens
2) circulator pump comes on

It is an odd setup, but we had certain limitations (did not want to open plaster walls in the historic house) so we reused the 2nd floor returns.

So right now, 3rd floor is 75 and we can't get the temp down.

any ideas? we're all out...Thanks!!!

Original design before changes were made:


texts: Where can you find out how repetitive the patterns of a particular laminate floor are?

texts:
We are interested in installing laminate floors from the Quick-Step brand.  Of course, for a laminate floor to feel "natural", there needs to be enough "variation" between sheets/planks so that the eye does not detect patterns that break the illusion.

There is a particular model we are interested in (UE1491), and would like to know how many variations it contains so we can consider how "repetitive" it will be once installed.

How/where can we find that out online (other than contacting the manufacturer and waiting to hear back which takes ages)?  It doesn't seem to be published anywhere on any of the Quick-step sites.


texts:
I am a DIYer with electrical wiring experience.  I would like to add an existing secondary light to the 3-way circuit.  The current box has two switches.  The one on the left controls the main light and is part of the 3-way circuit.  The one on the right controls a secondary light.  I would like to remove the switch for the secondary light and have it controlled with the 3-way switch.  The existing wiring is a little confusing.  I have diagrammed it below as best as I can figure it out.  (Ground wires are ignored.)

I would appreciate any advice you could provide.  Thanks!


texts: Replacing old mechanical line voltage thermostat with Caleo from Casa Connect

texts:
------ Update ------

I followed the instructions from Casa: I made A1 go into the new thermostat and then out into the blacks of B1 and C1 (see my diagram of the old setup below). Then I connected A2 directly to the whites of B2 and C2. This DOES work—the thermostat did power on but the heaters were turning on and off every 3 seconds. I have since learned that CASA DOES NOT support fan-forced heaters :(

For anyone interested, I did find a smart line-voltage thermostat that does support fan-forced heater: https://getmysa.com/.

------------------

My old thermostat provides electricity to two wall heaters with fans (I believe the heat and fans always run at the same time). I'd like to replace the thermostat with the Wifi thermostat from Casa, which only has two wires, a line and load.

As you can see, the black and white wires coming into the old thermostat are both hot. Then they go out to two lines, B and C.

I don't understand what is going on after that. One wire coming out of the thermostat (D1) connects to the black wires of B and C and the other (D2) connects to the white wires of B and C.

How do I wire the new wifi thermostat?

Here is what the old thermostat looks like when I opened the back:

And here are some instructions from Casa, but I'm not sure they apply to my situation.


texts: Brass fitting seized on a nickel-coated pipe

texts:
I have an interesting winter problem. The Orbit sprinkler controller, which has a brass screw-on fitting, has seized on its faucet (a zinc or nickel coated recessed stopcock — a winterized outdoor faucet if you will).
The two appear to have bonded chemically - I tried to remove with a wrench and I almost sheared the faucet off the wall. I tried seeping in some WD-40 for starters, but it does not seem to have done any good.
Any suggestions? Am I the only doofus with a sprinkler controller seized atop its faucet? It needs to come off for the winter, there can be no water beyond the stopcock's valve in the system, or the winter will freeze it.


texts: I'd like to put a 125 gallon aquarium in my entry area with a 55 or 75 sump tank underneath it. All told, I'm looking at likely 2250 to 2500 pounds over a base that's no more than 5 feet long by 20 inches deep. The floor joists are 2x10's, 16" OC. I'm looking at a spot up against a load-bearing foundation wall to put the aquarium. Is my floor strong enough to hold this weight, or should I reinforce it with additional support posts?


texts:
I am planning to build a swing set for my kids and was going to use PT lumber. I was not too much concerned with the chemical issues because my kids were now old enough. Also, the PT lumbers are cheaper than the other lumbers. Then, a friend of mine told me that PT lumber tended to get warped and twisted, especially outside when it it exposed to the sun. For this reason, he was saying that the PT lumbers would be a unsafe choice for an outdoor playset.

Is it true that the PT lumbers get warped? That was the first time I've heard. Would it be a serious issue?


texts: Can an electrical panel be behind a locked door in North Carolina

texts: Like the title says.  Is there any Code in North Carolina that states an electrical panel can Not be mounted in a locked room?


texts: No power at outlets but breaker isn't tripped. What do I troubleshoot next?

texts:
My "Family Room Receptacles" have lost power.  6 total that I believe are all on the same breaker.  I can not locate a GFCI anywhere.  I have reset the breaker which also did not restore power.  What should my next steps be in troubleshooting?  Is it possible the breaker has gone bad? The house was built in 2001.

1/9/17 - Update: I've found two more receptacles on the exterior of my house that have also lost power.  One of them is a GFCI and I am not able to reset it.  Given the location of this socket, it appears that it may be the 1st in the chain of receptacles going through my living room that have lost power.  What are the chances that 2 exterior outlets are wired in with 6 interior outlets?  I can not locate a breaker in the box for the exterior outlets so I can only assume they are wired in with one of the interior lines.  I only have a glow stick but can get the one suggested and begin checking for power from there.


texts: how to drill through two different materials

texts:
I installed blinds in my kitchen.

I put the screws into the wall. The wall was plaster and inside it was a thin metal sheet.

The screws were 1/8 inches. So I drilled two holes of 1/8 inches through the plaster and metal and screwed both screws in.

I noticed that one of the screws didnt become tight as I screwed it in.
So I drilled a 3/16 inches hole through the plaster and metal (through the metal I didnt have a 3/16 inches metal drill bit, I made do...) put a screw plastic cap in - with a lot of trouble, beraly fit - and screwed the screw into the plastic screw cap.

So just to reiterate, one screw is holding to the metal material (I sincerely hope) through a 1/8 inches hole. The other screw, is holding to the plaster and metal though a 3/16 inches hole (and a plastic cap).

Is this arragement, is it something that makes sense?

Thanks.


texts: What explains a sudden voltage drop to laundry room?

texts:
We have a 20 amp circuit running from the service panel to our laundry room, where we have a gas washer and dryer on 120v.

We've not had any problems with the electrical system in our house since we bought it (7 years ago), at which point we upgraded the service panel and had some new circuits runs.

Today, when using the washing machine, it suddenly turned off, and would not turn back on. I went to the service panel - none of breakers had tripped. I manually turned the garage breaker off, then back on, but the washer still would not turn on. Back in the garage I used a multi-meter and found the voltage to be at ~60v (whereas other receptacle in the house correctly report 120v). If I plug in a lamp in that receptacle and turn it on, the light shines, but dimly.

What's going on here? What would explain the sudden voltage drop? It's been years since we've had any electrical work done and it's worked flawlessly until just today. Does this indicate a short somewhere in the wiring? An issue at the service panel?

Thanks


texts: Does the neutral wire float or go to the neutral bus on a sub panel?


texts: Adding overhead lighting and getting rid of half switched outlets

texts: Our ranch house was built in 77 and perhaps it is a sign of those times but none of the bed rooms (or the family and front rooms) have overhead lights. Instead all the bedrooms (and the front room) have half switched outlets. We would like to do do two things: 1. convert the outlets to non-switched and 2. Add overhead lighting and/or ceiling fans. We would like to use the same switches that now connect to the outlets to control the new lights. We would also like to add another switch controlling a chandelier on the opposite side of our front room (which we now use as a dining room). Are we crazy to attempt this ourselves? (I will add that we are avid DYI-ers).


texts: How to increase height of existing concrete slab?

texts:
An existing patio has flag stones set over a concrete slab. If you were to remove the flag stones and thinset, what would be the best way to raise the level of the existing slab to make up for the lost height once the flagstones are removed? Height difference is about 1".

Is there a recommended mix for this? Are there any additives, bonding agents, mesh or anything along those lines that would be recommended?


texts: Where should I (not) place POE ethernet outlets?

texts:
I am planning to wire my house for Ethernet, with wall sockets in various rooms.  At the moment it will be plain 1Gbit/s ethernet, but in future I want the potential to upgrade to 10Gbit/s and power-over-ethernet (POE).  I am aware that there are wiring code restrictions on where power outlets may be placed.  Are there any similar code requirements that would apply to POE sockets, or other practical considerations that would apply to their location (e.g. wiring constraints)?
Background
I live in the UK, in a 1930s house.  This means: power voltage is nominal 240V, walls are constructed of solid brick with plaster facing (making it non-trivial to install or relocate outlets), wiring can run in the attic, under floorboards, or in the crawl-space beneath the house.  There is no air conditioning; these spaces are ventilated but not used for air circulation.
I haven't bought any supplies yet, but I'm planning to use Cat 6, unshielded, Low Smoke Zero Halogen cable (assuming runs will be short enough for 10Gbit/s over Cat 6).  I'm hoping to install standard metal back-boxes in the walls to mount 8P8C faceplates, probably with PVC conduit to take the cables down under the floor.
So far, I'm aware that data cables should not run parallel to power cables (to avoid interference), and definitely not next to each other or in the same conduit (for safety).  However, for reasons of aesthetics and convenience, I'm inclined to put the Ethernet outlets close to power outlets.  Many of these are currently mounted in the skirting board (which I'm aware is lower than modern wiring regulations suggest).


texts:
so we were taking down the plaster in our downstairs bathroom to put a sink as there was some previous damage and we got a bit doubtful about if it’s normal plaster or asbestos cement plaster or some sort.
we aren’t experienced at all with what’s asbestos and what’s not but we found some random website and sent them some pictures over text.
they said this is 99% asbestos (cement based) and said it’s £700 to come out and take samples then if it is they’ll have to do a full cleanup.
is this typical?
I don’t know if people can actually tell what’s asbestos and what isn’t but here are the pictures... any advice would be appreciated.
the house was built in the late 1950s.

We are based in the UK


texts:
My electrical panel is mounted on bare studs of an exterior wall in my attached garage (living space above).   The garage is not insulated and it does not need to be (except for the ceiling which will happen someday soon).   I would like to mount my electrical panel on 3/4" fire-treated plywood, and I was planning to keep the stud cavities empty.  Location is moderate SF Bay Area.

Do I need to be concerned with adding a vapor barrier?


texts:
I have 2 a/c units. One for upstairs and other for downstairs. I have 4 outside pipes for both a/c s. 2 pipes, one upper and one lower are on each side of house. My upstairs a/c unit isn’t cooling and noted water dripping out of one of the lower pipes outside. No visible water leakage noted inside of home. What could this mean?
Thanks!


texts: Should I open my AC register in the basement to help with condensation?

texts:
Really hot in NJ this week, excessive heat warnings, and the like.

Daytime Temp: 96 degrees
Daytime Humidity: 55%
Feels Like: 105 degrees

Nighttime Temp: 79 degrees
Nighttime Humidity: 87%
Feels Like: 87 degrees

We live in a two-story colonial with a basement. We have a single unit two-zone system (with dampers to separate the 2nd floor from the 1st/basement). We keep the upstairs temperature set at around 75-76, and the downstairs temperature around 78-80.

Humidity sensor in the basement reads between 50-55%. I know above 55 is a mold threat. The unit is in an unfinished storage area.

We just bought the house this past December, it's our first summer in the house. There are decent amounts of condensation forming on some of the vents and the main unit (mostly above the inside unit and ducts to the 2nd floor. Obviously, it's working really hard to keep up with the high temps outside.

I moved some stuff out of the way and put some buckets down to catch the drips. There is a register on one of the main branches of ductwork.

Here is a video of my AC unit, the condensation, and the register.

................................................

Should I open up a register in the unfinished basement storage area where the AC/Furnace is kept to help with the condensation problem?

(And should I leave the door to the unfinished room open or closed too?)

Edit: I already have one dehumidifier running, added a second one last night.

Update: I opened the vent, increased the temp on the thermostat and ran a second dehumidifier. There was still some condensation, but nowhere near as much as the previous day.


texts: House was built in the 1920's and has a brick fireplace that has been converted to ventless propane gas logs.  The logs work great but I haven't been able to use them because it gets so hot inside the "box" that the brick inner walls are black and outside, the heat goes straight up.  The exterior of the fireplace is wood and you can see that the heat is causing peeling and soot, almost a burned look on the outside.  Any ideas on how to fix this problem without having to put in a new insert?


texts: Supporting sliding ladder rail from sides of small closet?

texts:
I'd like to build a rolling ladder for my tall office closet using a kit.  However, the shelving is metal ClosetMaid/Elfa-style and can't support a rod for the ladder to slide along.

My thought is to instead use a closet rod with supports on the left and right walls.  Can this be feasible and safe?  What other options might I have?


texts:
I have a bathroom that has two lights, both had dimmer switches.  Next to the bathroom is a bedroom which is on the same circuit.  So, for the sake of simplicity, let's say there are three lights:

Vanity
Shower
Bedroom

Recently I noticed that the Vanity light was throwing out a lot of heat, and the face plate for the bathroom light switches was hot to the touch.  So I replaced the Vanity light and thought that I would replace the dimmer switches (which I don't like anyway) with regular light switches.  I flipped the circuit (which I do every time I work with electrical), removed the plate, and was greeted with a rather confusing setup.  There are four separate wire bundles going into the box.

Here's a picture of the box:

Being the smart sorta guy that I am, I did not keep track of which wire went where on the old dimmer switches, but they struck me as odd in that they had two wires coming out of the back that were wire nutted onto various black/brown wires in the box, and all of the white wires are tied off in a single wire nut.

I started with regular old single pole light switches and have attempted various combinations of wiring, leaving the white/neutral wires bundled in the box, unconnected to the switches.  Each combination has yielded one of the following results:

Vanity light works, Shower does not, Bedroom does not.
Shower works, Vanity does not, Bedroom does not.
Bedroom works only when one of the bathroom switches is on, Vanity and Shower do not.

So my questions are: do I need 3-way switches here?  And how in the world do I wire these things?


texts: I have a Milwalkee 7 1/4" circular saw. When I tighten the nut to secure the blade it continues to turn never completely stopping. Then when I run the saw it comes loose again every time. I've taken nut and washer out, cleaned and shop vac'ed it and it still won't tighten.  Can hear it turn mototr inside.  Suggestions? Thanks Jim