texts:
We have an HVAC system in our house where the duct work is all sheet metal with no insulation on the interior of the ducts as all of it is buried under inches of foam roofing insulation.

Works great.  Efficient air flow with great insulation performance.

The problem is that the pipes carry sound -- conversations, TV, etc.. -- from some vents to other vents.   Not very loud, but loud enough to be annoying.

Is there some way to deaden the sound transmission without grossly reducing airflow?

And, of course, do so keeping in mind that all of the duct work is completely inaccessible?


texts: Can I integrate a 4800W heater into my current garage electrical setup? I seem to need too many circuits

texts:
I have a garage subpanel with 6 spaces.  They are currently consumed by the following circuits:

One for lighting.
One for a few 120V outlets.
Two for a 20A 240V circuit for a well pump.
Two for a 20A 240V circuit for a saw.

Now I just acquired a 4800W shop heater with a 6-30P plug, so apparently I now need a 30A 240V circuit.
Am I practically able to avoid running another circuit?  The options I can imagine off the top of my head are:

Wire up a new single circuit outlet for the heater.  However, I'd like to avoid installing a new panel if at all practically possible.
Tear out the 20A circuit I ran (not a big deal) and run a new 30A circuit.  Install an identical plug on my saw so that I can use the outlet for either the saw or the heater.
Get ride of the heater and buy something that works with what I've currently got.  However, it appears to me that all heaters of this type use the same plug, so I'm not sure if this is possible.


texts: Propane fireplace lites then goes out after ten min

texts: My fire place is LP gas and the pilot will lite and the flames/main burner comes on nice but only runs for about ten mins, then main burner and pilot go out...Not supposed to do this...Thermocoupler was just replaced a yr ago and is showing 400mv when tested...any ideas...?


texts: Chattering contactor, what should voltage be when AC is on/off?

texts: I have a Nest thermostat that I believe is the culprit of this issue. I've already replaced the contactor once and now the new one is chattering and not kicking the AC on. When the AC is turned off, what should the voltage at the contactor be? I'm getting 27 volts (24 volt transformer), which seems reasonable with no load. However, if the AC is turned off shouldn't there be no voltage? And when the AC is turned on, it still remains 27 volts, but the contactor won't stay locked in.


texts: How to find a deck sealant that is compatible with some old sealant that I can't find anymore

texts:
I am cleaning and re-sealing a wood deck. I have an old half-can of sealant that I would like to use up.

I asked the manufacturer how to find the current product, and they told me this is the one:

Olympic Wood protector waterproofing sealant toner 79002 – Honey gold  https://www.olympic.com/products/exterior-stains/olympic-wood-protector-toner

However I am having trouble finding this exact product - Lowes doesn't sell it online anymore, and it's unclear whether they sell it in store.
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Olympic-Wood-Protector-Honey-Gold-Toner-Exterior-Stain-Actual-Net-Contents-128-fl-oz/3468547

If I can't find that exact product, how can I determine if something else is compatible with it? And would it be okay to mix the two sealants in a hand-pumped sprayer and then apply it that way?


texts: What kind of four wire connector is this?

texts:
Would someone be able to identify this four wire connector (red/black/green/white)? It's behind a blank panel on a wall adjacent to a light switch. I believe there's a second one in the wall cavity.

My guess would be that it's some proprietary connector for a 3-way switch where you attach all the wires to the connect then just plug it into the switch.

They could also be audio related - there are two speakers in the ceiling and when I bought the house the former owner said this is where the speaker wires were. There are also two wires on the outdoor wall between screws (that may have been for outdoor speaker mounts.)

In the wall cavity there are some Ethernet cables and other unidentified wires. If they're electrical wires I assume it's not to code given that there's no box containing everything.


texts:
Somebody told me about using blind rivets (5mm) to attach drywall steel tracks on concrete floor and ceiling. Do that really works?

How good is this compared with bushing and screw?


texts: Subpanel has neutral and ground bonded in detached structure - should I isolate?

texts:
I have a detached garage built in 1979 with a Cutler Hammer subpanel with a 3-wire 8AWG feeder (hot/hot/neutral) on 40A breaker from the main house panel.  Subpanel has a dedicated ground rod installed.

The neutral is tied to the ground.  Shouldn't this be separate for a subpanel?

I think I need to install a second block to isolate the feeder neutral and building neutral.  Does that sound right?


texts: Help Wiring Ceiling Fan With Dimmer Switch

texts:
trying to figure out how to wire a basic remote ceiling fan w light, I have. Coming out of the ceiling is 4 wires - Red (hot), Black (hot), White and Copper.

This is the switch on the wall:

Trying to wire a basic ceiling fan, with a receiver and a light kit. Coming out of the fan is only Black, White, Blue. This is the info from the manual -

Back of the receiver:

If I leave the red wire capped and just connect everything else, the fan semi works (changing speeds causes the rest of the ceiling lights to flicker?) but that seems wrong. Also the dimmer part doesn't do anything. Not sure if it should.

So basically just trying to figure out:
1) What is the red wire for? (dimming?)
2) Based on the configuration above, which wire goes where?

Thanks in advance for the help. Trying a bunch of combinations but a bit clueless.


texts: How realistic is lowering a concrete floor?

texts:
So first off, I love basements, its almost like a fetish. Ook.. so this guy is selling a basement in his building and its perfect(got good water, electricity, comms, location and cheap!) except for the fact that the ceiling is 2m from the floor, since I'm 2m tall that is a problem.

I asked him whether I could smash the floor and put a new one maybe 10cm lower, he said I can do whatever I want for all he cared and as far as he knew, there was nothing important underneath.

Ok so now I'm thinking big! Maybe go ahead and lower it by 40cm? or 300cm? Dig another floor underneath the building!

The floor is 40m2 and the concrete is ~8cm thick according to him. The brick walls should go down another 20cm underground. How realistic would it be for me to do that? Could I leave some space between the walls and the new floor shape to dig extra low? Obviously I'd get some help and I know a guy who knows a guy who has a jackhammer.


texts: What is the recommendation polyurethane application when refinishing hardwood floors?

texts:
There is currently no furniture in the first floor. So before filling up the first floor with furniture I am wondering if I should refinish the floors.
Floor History
Three of the four floors are 20+ years old. I believe they the wood is white oak. Below are some pictures for reference. There is no noticeable gouges The floor is yellowed a bit.
White Oak Hardwood

White Oak Hardwood floor close up

The fourth floor I believe is red oak. I am not too sure if the floor has been strained to match the kitchen cabinets. There is noticeable wear and tear. The floor is almost 10 years old.
Red Oak Hardwood

Red Oak Hardwood with some wear and tear

Questions:

How many coats of polyurethane should be used 2 or 3 coats?
Is oil base or water base polyurethane the best options?

Note: There is lot of infomation on the web, mostly to intend to sell products. Thus seeking a non commercial response.

References:

How can I transition between rooms when refinishing hardwood floors?
What is the recommended technique for refinishing hardwood floors?
Maintaining and Recoating Polyurethane Wood Floors
How many coats of polyurethane for hardwood floors
How many coats of oil poly?
Hardwood Flooring Colors - Species, Pictures & Properties
American Hardwoods
What is the difference between red oak and white oak hardwood?


texts:
I'm planning to build a step stool on casters than can be easily moved around the room. In the past I've seen store-bought step stools where the wheels automatically lock when weight is applied. I don't know if there's a specific name for this type of wheel, but I haven't been able to find them anywhere online.
(I need to build the step stool rather than buy one already made, because it needs to have handrails for the user to hold onto.)


texts:
I currently have a 3 gang box and a single gang box.

The single gang box operates the hall light(A)3 way.

The 3 gang box operates the hall light(A)3 way, the outside light(B)2 way, and the basement light(C)2 way.

We are having difficulty wiring new switches.
I think we have the single one ok, but when we put the new 3 way into the 3 gang box it doesn't work.  Please advise if possible with good diagrams.

Thank you

Peter


texts:
seeing if yall could advise at all.

I'm on the fence about building a fence vs paying a contractor. I've got quotes from $3600-$4600 or I could buy materials and do the labor myself for about $1500-$1800. I've never built a fence before.

Question 1:
Any advice about what to do around the power pole in the corner? angle? zigzag?
If I angle it, that long section will be about 12' long, so I'd need a post in the middle.

Question 2:
how to do the step down from 6' privacy fence to short 4' tall golf course fence? Just one big drop?

Question 3:
how do I do the corners when its not 90degrees? do I need to slightly miter the edge of the boards?

In the drawing, everything except the gate and the angled is 8'sections.
I've measured it all out.

an 11' gate section (haven't decided how to do this yet)
an 88' long section along neighbor's line.
an 48' long section along the golf course


texts: Can a neutral be shared beween the line and load side of a GFCI if it's on the same circuit?

texts:
All neutrals are crimped together on this circuit. Not daisy chained. So I have one hot and one neutral from panel (line) and one hot downstream (load). And additional no neutral wire for going downstream (load). A clump of neutrals are in the back of the box, all crimped together. Can't I just add a jumper between the line and load neutral screws of the GFCI? I am stumped; I've studied this for over a year. The circuit is in my kitchen, 20 amps. Feeds aquarium, gas stove, vent, and fridge. So, as of now, only the aquarium is protected. Nothing downstream.
I really would like to get the entire circuit protected without having to put in a new GFCI breaker.
Thanks,
Jim


texts: Two 20 amps GFCI outlets used for kitchen back splash

texts:
Is this properly connected or need to be changed?
Note: Bare ground wire connected to both A and B metal boxes and to green screws on outlets A and B

Wired used from main Panel to both A and B outlet is 12awg/3 with ground, Red, Black, white and bare ground.

From main panel to 1st Outlet A, cut the red wire in the box and connected the end side of the wire from main panel side to Brass screw on line side of outlet, the other end of the red wire capped and taped inside box, the remaining red wire between box A and box B is now (Dead wire.)
White wire cut in box A and connected one end on the silver screw line side of outlet and the other end connected in the hole behind outlet on same line side, (Instead of Pig Tail wire) Is this good not to use pig tail this wire section continues to outlet B and connected on silver screw on line side and now the Black wire connected on brass screw line side and the red end wire also capped and taped in Box B.
In Main Panel I used a Double 20A pole breaker.
On the outlets the LOAD side screws did not use them at all.
Thank you.


texts:
I have three wires coming to the existing, very old,  thermostat:

Black, but wired to the "R" terminal of the current thermostat.
White, but wired to the "W" terminal of the current thermostat.
Red, but not wired/connected to anything, just wrapped around the other two wires.

I have multi-meter, is there anyway I can make the Ecobee 3 work with this setup?
EDIT in response to ThreePhaseEel in particular.
Folks thanks for the interest in helping me with this.
The other end of the thermostat wire is complicated, and I didn't mention that the system has two zones (see Picture 1).
I thought all I had to do was find the other end of the existing thermostat wires, for the zone I care about.  That has not been so easy. See the boiler wiring (see Pictures 2, 3, 4).  I can't tell where the end of the thermostat wire for the zone that I'm interested in is. There's a brown wire that I think is typical thermostat wire, but it doesn't have the right wire colors, and originally, I thought it was for the other zone.
I expected that the junction box on the left in Picture 5 would have 120AC as well as two theromstat wires in it, one for each zone, and I would see the red wire there, and I'd just test for continuity. Instead, as seen Picture 6: it has a thermostat wire and a white and black wire.  The black and white wires look like power (120VAC) to me based on the gauge.
My goal was to simply to connect the unused red wire to either an obvious common (does that make sense), or buy a 24VAC transformer and attach that to the red wire. But I can't find the end of the red wire (or the other for that matter).
Any thoughts?  I thought I was starting to "suss it out", but instead, I'm back to square one. I can't even figure out where my existing thermostat wire is coming into the boiler picture.
EDIT in response to ThreePhaseEel in particular: I'm sorry, should have uploaded this already; see wiring diagram below.


texts: Where can I hide an AC to DC adapter for cove lighting?

texts:
I have a 12'x15' room to which I'd like to add cove lighting.  There's a second floor above, so I don't have access from above.  I do have an outlet along the wall where I can tap off for 120V power, and run any wiring up inside the wall to the top.

I will be building the cove, essentially a T-section. I anticipate about 2" of head room above the top edge of the cove.

My issue is, where can I hide the power adapter that converts the 120V AC house power to 12/24V DC for the LEDs?  I suppose worst case I can cut a hole near the outlet for an access panel (or blank wall plate) painted to match the wall, and stuff the power adapter in the wall.

Anyone got any other bright ideas?


texts: Replacing an electric range with a gas range

texts:
I want to replace an electric range with a new gas range and i am wondering about combustion air and venting requirements.
The location of the range is next to a utility room where furnace and hot water heater are located. There are two existing fresh air inlets, one near the floor, the other near the ceiling.
I am planning to tie into the existing gas line to add a short run of piping for the new gas range.
What do i need to do in order to comply with 2015 IRC?


texts: How do I install a vapor barrier and insulation in an existing floor?

texts:
I have a large room in my house that is built over a crawl space.  The floor of this room does not have any insulation installed in it.  I live in upstate New York so it is my understanding that I should install a vapor barrier on the interior side of the insulation (the warm side).
It seems like it would be very difficult to get the vapor barrier up against the floor from below.

Should I skip the vapor barrier?  Or is there some other method I could use for this kind of retrofit?


texts: Opening the cabinet on a Maytag Centennial Dryer

texts:
I need to replace the drum support rollers on a Maytag Centennial MGDC700VW0 dryer, but first I just need to get the cabinet open.  Anyone know how to do this?

This dryer has a toe panel, which may provide all the access I will need.  Is that simply held in place with clips?  I can see it has little hooks holding it in place at the bottom.  I tried pulling on it, but I was hesitant to really pull hard.


texts: How to get rid of a smell that has permeated the walls of a dishwasher

texts:
The other day, we ran a load of dishes in our dishwasher and one of the containers had been holding a particularly fragrant spice in it. After the load was done, we found that the dishwasher itself now smells strongly like the spice.

We've run numerous cycles with things like borax, vinegar, and baking soda to try to remove the smell and while it has diminished a bit, it still smells pretty strongly like the spice. It's like the smell has permeated the plastic walls itself.

Is there a way to remove the smell from the dishwasher? It's literally brand new (less than a month old) so we would really like to save it if at all possible.

Thanks!


texts: Is it Possible to Coat the Subfloor Around a Toilet Flange to Prevent Rot?

texts: I'm renovating a bathroom. Is there some kind of paint or chemical that I can apply to the subfloor around the toilet flange to keep it from rotting?


texts: Light switch with five wires controlled by two circuit breakers: What is this?

texts:
I have a living room light switch. It's a one-way switch that controls eight built-in LED lights. This was redone recently (in the last 3-4 years), but the house is new to me, so I don't know anything about how it was done.

There are two things I don't understand:

There are five wires going into this switch. One is obviously the ground, but why are there two wires going into each of the other terminals? (There's another terminal on the other side of the switchbox where you could hook up wire(s) to make it a three-way switch, but that's currently unused. It's not operating as a three-way switch.)
Turning off these lights requires simultaneously turning off two different circuits in the breaker box. If I leave either of the two breakers on, the lights stay on. (This was very confusing when I was trying to figure out which breaker controlled the lights, before I resorted to just flipping all the breakers labelled "lights" at once.)

Is there a sensible explanation for this?

(The context is that I was hoping to replace this switch with a Lutron Caseta smart switch, but the weirdness here has me unsure if that's even possible or sensible.)


texts: Powerline Networking - Outlet lost data throughput

texts: I have two outlets in my house that I use for powerline networking, and they both use to work fine, outputting 100% of my data speeds that service from my provider allow.  Now though those same outlets are only outputting 50% of the data speeds that they use to.  I have tried the powerline adapters in other outlets and they both return to 100% output.  They are plugged directly in the outlet and I have not changed what has been plugged in next to them or anything else with my electrical.  They only thing I can think of is there was a power outage that may have been around the time that I noticed the reduction in performance in these specific outlets.  Do you know of any reasons this would occur and how I could correct it?


texts: GE front load washing machine; emptying filter at least once a week

texts: I have a GE 4.5cu ft front load Energy Star washing machine. I am constantly draining and cleaning the filter/pump. I’ve had this one for a year. The one I had before I had for about 8 years and never had to drain the pump. It frustrating to go and change out clothes and they either aren’t washed or soaking wet still.


texts:
Have lived in our 1957 ranch for 14 years.  Sometime back, there was an errant step by someone working in the attic, and a bit of cracking occurred in the plaster ceiling in the master bedroom.

The crack was stable for years.... But recently we discovered it was worsening.  There has been major road work less than two blocks from our house (think once every forty years rebuilding of eight lane freeway) which I'm sure hasn't helped.   Tiny bubbling in the plaster has also been noticed in the last month.

We went up in to the attic and found a small leak on the air conditioning unit (boiler heat through baseboards with AC unit in attic). Placed a pan under it until the spring when it's warm enough to repair.

We want a fix for the plaster, but aren't sure how to go about it.
There's the crack.   Missing a teeny piece of plaster in the middle.  Can't appreciate any lath up under the plaster.  It's a grey substrate material directly above the cracked plaster?     Can we patch the plaster without making it a huge deal and pulling the entire ceiling down one piece at a time?


texts: How do i connect an air compressor's 5 wires to a 3 prong 220 dryer plug?

texts:
I have an air compressor that has a 110 plug with separate extra wires for optional 220 connection.

It has 5 wires showing for the 220 option:
black, white, brown, orange, and a purple wire.

-The purple wire is a larger gauge then the rest.-
-The brown and orange are capped together.-

I have a 3 pronged 220 plug w/ 10-3 wire. How do i connect the air compressor wiring(5 wires) to the 3 prong 220 dryer plug?


texts: What is this this square hole in bathroom rough in used for?

texts:
I have a plumbing rough in that is located below grade in my basement. The system consists of a 2" sewer pipe and a toilet rough in connected to an ejecter tank. In the middle there is what appears to be a french drain that is open to the ground. Not sure what it is for and if I can cover it up when I finish the bathroom?

Thanks


texts: What could cause the blower of a Coleman furnace to come on all by itself?

texts: I have a Coleman furnace in my mobile home.  It was really hot today and the  furnace blower came on all by itself.  It has ran for 7 hrs. and wont shut off.  How do I fix this and what is the problem?


texts: Wiring a ceiling fan with remote (5 wires) to 2 wall switches

texts:
I replaced my ceiling fan (pull chains for light and fan) to a  TroposAir Starfire ceiling fan.
My house has 4 wires coming from the box, white,red,black and green.  There is 2 switches on the wall that controlled the fan and light independently.  Now with this new fan that goes through the remote it leaves one switch as a dummy as there is just one master switch that controls the main power and everything goes through the remote, with young children this is not ideal.  How to I wire this so the light and fan have their own switch?  The remote has 5 wires going in, 3 for the motor and 2 for the light.


texts:
I have read that older houses may have aluminum wiring, and to splice copper to it there is a less than desirable method of purple wire nuts using corrosion inhibitor paste.

My house was built in 1977, I had a home inspection done when I purchased the house a year ago that concluded that the house is copper wiring, and I read the sheathing for all of the wiring heading into the main breaker box and nothing seems to identify as an AL conductor, all standard copper Romex and the like.

All this to said, I was replacing nearly all of the fixtures, switches, outlets in the house and there were two places I backed off the wire nuts and found a sticky black paste on the twisted wires (dining room chandelier and outdoor porch lights). There wasn't any sheathing exposed to investigate further (and i didn't have the presence of mind to clean the bare wire enough to see if it looked aluminum). Am I being paranoid about the aluminum wiring thing? Would some electrician's opt to use some kind of conductive paste (black?) on a typical copper to copper termination? Or is there a chance that most of the visible working runs in the house we're replaced but maybe some aluminum was left some walls?

Thanks for any pointers, insight.


texts:
I currently have a workstation area setup where I am using a ton of power sockets.  5 monitors (3 for main PC, 1 for server, 1 for CCTV cameras), 1 server, 1 laptop docking station, 1 CCTV DVR, 2 raspberries, 1 printer, 1 network switch, 1 light, 1 speaker, plus a few others, you get the idea...

I currently have this setup in a pretty horrible way, two wall sockets, and power strips plugged into power strips...

A couple questions:

What is the (maybe not-so-simple) proper way to add additional power?
What is the simplest way to add additional power?  If there is one... (I'm renting and would like to avoid redoing the electrical in the house)

Btw, based on what I've seen since living here over the last couple years, it seems the main power for the houses power plugs and lights are separated into two breakers.  One breaker controls about 90% of the house (including my fire-disaster-waiting-to-happen).  The other one controls an outdoor power plug and a couple plugs on that same wall (on the interior - prob added later).

Thanks!


texts:
How should the transition from tile to carpet be done?  What do we need to use?

We just had all our flooring replaced, but by three different crews, and now we have unfinished transitions.

We had the linoleum in our kitchen and baths replaced with tile first, but they left the edges of the areas rugged, and told us the carpet people would install a transition of some sort.  Also note, the tile was installed on top of plywood and 1/2 in backer board which caused the tile floor to be higher than the other flooring areas.  The carpet people came (HD) and told us they don't install the transitions, that the tile person should have done it and it requires a special tile glue.

So, what do we need to get exactly and who will we need to install it?  We have one wooden transition from kitchen to hall where we had hard wood installed.  But nothing anywhere else through out the house between medium types, and we know it's not right but don't know what to do.  It is especially bad because the hard surfaces are a bit higher than the carpeted areas and thus very noticeable to sight and touch.

Also, shouldn't all the transition areas match throughout the house?  We already have one strip of oak T-shape? Where the kitchen tile goes to hardwood in the hall/foyer, but it doesn't look like this type of stripping is made to go where tile and carpet meet (which are the other two sides of the kitchen).

enter image description here


texts: Two switchboxes, power through light - how is this wired?

texts:
I have a setup where I have two switchboxes, and three total lights.

Switchbox #1 has two switches in it. A dipole and a three way switch. One switch controls Light Number 1, One switch controls Light number 2.

Switchbox #2 is across the room, and also contains two switches, a dipole and a three-way. One switch controls Light Number 2 (same as the other box), and another controls a separate single-switched light number 3.

Light #1 has the power from the box coming into it, and is obviously connected to Switchbox #1. However, when I disconnect the power to it, but disconnecting the two black wires, all of the lights AND the swithboxes are all dead with no power on any wires.

Light #2 has 3 wrapped wires coming into it. One of these wires has a hot black wire all the time, when all switches area in the off position. Light #2 is controlled by both switchboxes.

Light #3 - Is only controlled by Switchbox #2.

The diagram below shows the hook up. Sorry for the crude drawing. Blue Wire represents the white wire, black the black wire, and green the ground wires. The Orange circles represent HOT wires when all switches are in the OFF position, and no lights are on.

All of these things are connected through the walls - can someone tell me how this should be set up? I would like to add additional lights to the set up - where the ones hooked up to the original light #1 come on when light #1 comes on, and ones hooked up to the Light #2 come on when light #2 comes on.

Switchbox 1

Switchbox 2

LightBox 1

Lightbox2


texts:
Want to ask about the best orientation for a portable dehumidifier to allow cloths to dry the quickest. Take this top down drawing of a portable dehumidifier as an example:

Air inlets are at the two sides of the back and warmed air blows out from the front at an angle.
Would it be quicker if the warmed air is blowing directly towards the cloth rack, so that the accelerated and warmed air draws the moist within the cloths directly. Or position the air inlets facing the cloth rack as close as possible so that humid air is easier to be sucked in?
The difference may be tiny if both the dehumidifier and the cloth rack are placed in a small room. So consider both are freely movable within a big room, what is the best positions and orientations of them both?


texts: Can I disassemble and re-nail a 2x4 wall with the same lumber?

texts:
I just built a 10' load-bearing wall section and realized I made a mistake. I knocked it apart and would like to re-do it, but I'm worried that end-nailing into the studs (where I can't be sure I'm avoiding existing nail holes) goes against code. But I can't find anything that says that's the case.

Can I re-build it using the same lumber?


texts: Well pump cycles, presure switch on and off ,contacts keep breaking in the pressure switch

texts: My pump is set on 40-60 lbs when the pressure gets to the shut-off pressure the contacts in the pressure switch keep breaking off and on. there are 25 lbs different between the line pressure at the bladder tank and the pressure at the gauge on, should pressure at the pump and the line pressure not be the same


texts:
The device was out for repair last year. When it got back, we simply stashed it in the garage for winter.
Trying to make use of it today, I find a loose hose, labeled "REWIN VAPOR LINE". One of its ends is connected to the water-pump, the other is open:

The service shop is closed, and I don't remember, how this was before... Searching for the part's model (3GXt27) reveals different image, where the same cap on the top a) is red; b) has no hoses attached to it at all.
Did the shop forget to remove something, they were using during maintenance? Is it safe for me to just disconnect the hose -- it is easily falling off on the side, where connected -- and just turn on the power washer?


texts: Is my main-panel's neutral currently bonded to ground?

texts:
Good Day,
I am installing a sub panel in a detached workshop. I have seen that in the main panel that my neutral should be bonded to the ground in the main panel and not in the sub panel. Looking at my main panel, I cannot tell if the neutral is bonded or not. If it is not, does this change the way I hook up the sub panel? Pic is attached, can anyone tell if they are bonded? Thank You!

Added image of entire panel and this is the only service panel.

From the look of this diagram it seems to me that it is not bonded. I am also looking into google.

On the lack of ground wires... it is the braided mess coming out of the hole at the bottom. This is a 40 year old home so all the ground wires are small and were originally braided together when they came out of the wall into the original fuse box.

Here are the grounds coming from the house as you request.

I have been out of town on work and not able to do any more with this. I do have a bonding the screw to use. Also, just found out the electrician that has not returned my call is in the hospital, so not a good time to talk to him. I can post more pics if I get the chance to work with it this week. Right above this box is the meter, is there a possibility of it being bonded there?

As far as the directory, I haven't gone through the switches to see what's what yet. I intended to do that right after the install, but got rained out. So I don't have a directory just yet.


texts: How to repair (and is it worth the trouble to) a rusty dishwasher rack?

texts:
I've seen a couple of solutions:

Dishwasher paint, like Uber Goop
Silicon
Vinyl paint

But some reviews of some of the "paint" products say it doesn't last long.
If this is only a temporary repair it might be best just to get another rack for $100 or so (rather than spending $10 and an hour to just have to repeat it in a month.

Also someone recommended running lemonade (unsweetened mix packets) through the dishwasher to initially remove the rust.


texts:
I have somehow broken the bathtub trip lever and it is detached from the inside.

How easy is it to fix it? I am worried that whatever (chain, rod) that is behind the bathtub might be falling down to the abyss. How easy is it to recover those?


texts: How can I remove paint stains from a bathtub?

texts:
I was cleaning my paint brush, bucket and roller in my bathtub.  Afterwards I noticed that I stained a couple spots of the bathtub. The stains are a light blue (the paint was a dark blue).  I am not sure of the material of the bathtub but it is the common material you see a lot of bathtubs in apartments (The closest thing I would relate it to is fiberglass with a white shiny glass but I don't know/think it is fiberglass). It isn't dried on paint (it feels completely smooth and looks like a stain).

How can I remove the stain? I have tried scrubbing, baking soda and water (paste), baking soda and hydrogen peroxide(paste), and bleach but I haven't got it off yet.  I could try scrubbing harder but I am afraid of harming the tub itself.


texts: Can I tell whether a LED driver/bulbs are dimmable without damaging them?

texts:
As mentioned in the answer to this question:

LED bulbs and LED dimmer

we can't trust a LED driver / LEDs to be dimmable if it doesn't say so explicitly. However, only some companies offer explicitly dimmable LED products, while for others it's not clear whether they only make non-dimmable LED-related products, or whether they just don't bother with it and hence don't certify anything as dimmable.

My question: Suppose I have a LED driver, driving an array of LED bulbs/units/whachamacallit which take DC. Is there a way to safely (or with-low-risk) experiment with dimming it?

If so - I'm willing to get relevant custom equipment provided it's not super-expensive.


texts: Is translucent fiberglass roof cooler or hotter than opaque roof

texts:
We are building a roof over garden table: sort of like a pergola with roofing. We are using OSB panels for insulation and fiberglass roofing sheets for weather protection. We already chose translucent roofing for availability and price, but we started to wonder whether a dark opaque roofing would offer a better heat protection from the sun.

Dark opaque roofing would become way hotter than a translucent one, but would also protect the underlying OSB panels from direct sunlight. Hot air between the roofing and OSB panels is free to circulate and convey the heat away, but some heat would nevertheless be transferred to OSB panels including with heat radiation from the roofing.

Translucent roofing enables most of the sunshine to be reflected from the bright OSB panels, but I guess a greenhouse effect comes into play and traps some heat, again heating the panels.

So more out of theoretical curiosity than out of need for actual advice I ask: Which roofing would offer cooler environment under the roof: translucent or opaque?


texts: 125amp feed from garage to house, required wire size, PLUS a separate 3-way light switch

texts:
I recently built a detached garage with its own 200amp service.  I made provisions to run a 125amp feeder from the garage to an addition we are now building on the house.

My questions are:

What size wire should I run from the garage to the new sub-panel in the addition?  This will be 3 wires (2 hot, 1 neutral) in buried 2" schedule 40 conduit, for 60 feet.  I believe the answer is #1 copper, or #3 aluminum. Is this correct?
Additionally, I wired a 3-way switch for the garage outside carriage lights, and intend to run the the 2nd light switch to the addition (so i can turn on the outside garage lights from the house).  I intend to run the four 12AWG THHN/THWN wires in buried 1" electrical PVC conduit.  Are there any issues with this approach?


texts: What foam is best for sealing radiator pipes in floor to prevent mice from getting in?

texts: Is there a specific foam recommended for radiator pipes coming up through the floor?


texts: I want to run a 100 amp sub panel about 60 feet away, do I have to run it through PVC? AND/OR what size wire should I use?

texts: I want to run a 100 amp sub panel from my garage about 60 feet away, do I have to run it through PVC? AND/OR what size wire should I use?


texts: One of two separate lights on a double switch has become "dominant" - bad switch?

texts:
Report of electrical/lighting anomaly at grandma's house. Obviously, it will be a while before I can check things in person. Would appreciate diagnosis of most likely problem. (A relevant search-result was not found using the particular terms tried.)

From memory (and forgive any misapplied terminology): 2-gang duplex wall plate (i.e. four cutouts). Duplex outlet on left. Double toggle switch on right. One switch controls a "chrome" circline fluorescent ceiling fixture (12 inch + 8 inch bulbs). The other a simple 24" T12 fluorescent over-sink vanity light. Outlets working fine.

Reported that one switch has become "dominant". If ceiling light is on by itself, toggling the vanity on closes the ceiling light off (vanity light comes on). If vanity light is on by itself, flipping the ceiling-light switch does nothing. Each fixture by itself is toggled on/off by its respective switch when used alone.

Is it almost certainly a bad switch, or could a fixture (bulb or ballast) or wire somehow have gone bad to produce this effect?

If it's relevant: all wiring would be 60-85 years old, and insulation could even be cloth-of-any-color. (And it probably wouldn't be impossible that a light switch somewhere in this house may have been wired to break neutral rather than hot, or not have a ground wire connected.)

Thank you.


texts: I have one bedroom upstairs 2nd level that virtually gets no air or heat. The other 2 bedrooms have medium force. For the one bedroom in question, checking with your hand, you feel very little and I mean very little air force coming from the baseboard vent. I have tried to balance the 2 basement furnace dampers to no  avail. Went from both wide open to partial setting on each damper to force the air up to the second floor. The basement family room is *****real cold***** even with the room vents closed and the first floor is OK cold with some room vents closed. The first floor has tube type vents running from the furnace and one goes to one bedroom to the second floor and the second floor has your large vents. Return vents are sucking air. Any ideas out there that I should be looking for? Thanks


texts:
My place currently has a small (1 cubic foot?) pit in the basement floor with a sump pump in it, sufficient to catch the occasional flow across the basement floor from the (not well sealed to the foundation) bulkhead space. This pit  is concrete lined, and there are no perimeter drains; it really is there just to drain water already on the floor.

Except for serious flood conditions, this is just handling an occasional trickle. At the worst (100 year flood), the pump was running at about a 50% duty cycle, maybe 8 gallons per minute.

I'd rather not have water above the floor at all, even when the water table is at its highest.

So my question: would simply turning this into a real sump (porous barrel below floor level, hopefully punch only one large hole in floor to drop it in) draw enough water out from under the foundation to prevent infiltration even in bad conditions, or would I need a full system of peripheral French drains to achieve that (much more cutting/repair of concrete)?

Added:

There are two infiltration points, both of which I have attempted to seal with spray foam to be followed when I have time by hydraulic cement. (Tried an injected epoxy filler but didn't have great success with it.) One is where the bulkhead stair enclosure -- cinder blocks -- meets the poured foundation; this seeps slightly even in a "normal" heavy rain, resulting in a puddle coming in under the door.

The other, which I've mentioned before, is between the structure reinforcing the back wall of the original brick-over-fieldstone foundation, and the new poured foundation of the extension. This too is a cinder block structure apparently not sealed to the poured wall. Leakage is alongside or under the cinder blocks -- from the corner, anyway.

I should note that I've never seen leakage through the brick-over-fieldstone foundation, probably because the extension's basement is a good foot deeper than the original.

Local soil is moderately sandy, I think. But this is New England; there may be glacial erratics or other Big Rocks anywhere under the concrete floor. (All our picturesque stone walls are really the result of many years of farmers dumping the annual crop of rocks at the edge of the field...)

Hope that helps. I agree that belt, suspenders, and skyhook is probably the right answer, but if it would make sense to try something simpler first... This is rarely an issue and almost never a problem, but I would like to reduce that "rarely" and "almost" on principle. A house is a tool, and tools should be kept sharp.


texts: Central air winterization and insulation

texts: Do I need to insulate the skinny copper line on the outside to keep it from freezing and bursting during the cold winter months?  Anything else I need to do winterize the a.c. unit?


texts: What size supply pipe must be used from a 5000 litre water tank to supply 4 bars of pressure to a house that is 20m below and 300m away from the tank?


texts: How do I access this external GFCI outlet? The cover doesn't seem easily removable

texts:
An electrician installed this outdoor outlet on my deck a couple of years ago.
When we went to use it, we couldn't figure out how to expose the outlet to plug anything in.  This stubborn cover seems to block everything except the GFCI buttons.
I tried pulling on various parts of the plastic without any success.
Any information is appreciated.


texts: Is 'bonding agent' the same as 'admixture adhesive'?

texts:
I see many tutorials regarding stucco and concrete talking about bonding agent that is applied like a primer, but there is no such thing in Brazil (I guess).

What we do have is something describe as "synthetic resin, high performance cement additive", composed of "vinyl copolymer" that is milky white and smells like PVA glue. The instructions tells me to mix 2 parts water 1 part additive and use this solution as the water for the cement/sand mix to make a slurry to use between concrete and mortar on top. Or to make "chapisco" (it is cement and coarse sand very runny that is rolled or thrown on a surface to work like a scratch coat). But nowhere it says to use it as primer like the bonding agent.

Now I'm not sure if they are the same product and Brazil just uses for "chapisco" because this is the only thing that every brickworker does here or if they are completely different products.


texts: Power Outlet -3 Wire Conductor on Tandem Breaker Wiring

texts:
I am finally getting around to replacing an old receptacle in my kitchen. The top half of the receptacle has never worked since I moved in.

Taking the receptacle apart, I think the outlet circuit is a 3 wire conductor going to a 15A tandem breaker. There is no voltage across the red and black wires. There is 120v on each wire to ground. Since the tandem is in a single slot on my breaker panel, I will assume the red and black are the same phase.

I am hesitant to reconnect it as I do not want to overload the neutral. Can anyone help? Should i just cap one hot wire and turn off one of the breakers? Can I connect the red and black wire together, will this prevent the overload of the neutral?


texts: Do outlets in damp locations require GFCI protection?

texts:
The title says it all. It appears wet locations require not only GFCI protection but also weatherproof boxes and appropriately rated everything, but I can't find much addressing damp locations. Most prototypically damp locations are called out directly (kitchens, garages, basements); I can't find any blanket statement applying to damp locations.

Part of the issue might depend on how one construes "outdoors". Is a screened patio that's fully under the same roof as the primary structure indoors or outdoors? The glossary at the start of the document unfortunately does not formally specify this term.


texts: Splicing or Extending 2.5mm2 Twin & Earth (UK)

texts:
I am trying to install a WiFi connected smart switch to control a ceiling light. The wall box is too shallow to accommodate this, so I need to install it inline.
To do this, I need to move the circuit so I can place the smart switch in an accessible location for maintenance

What approved methods could I use to splice and extend this wire?
Using a junction box seems the obvious choice, but I'm wondering what else I could use.


texts: what options do i have dealing with a chimney downdraft

texts:
I have a prefabed fireplace that can be either gas (current setup) or wood. I'd like to convert it to wood (gas assist), but am being told that I've got a severe downdraft, and would either need a chimney extension or a chimney fan.

Right now, the chimney extends ~4-5' above the roof, but is adjacent to a wall (I live in a converted factory, the fireplace is part of a one-story part of the house, adjacent to a 2-story part). Extending it to fit the 10' / 2' rule would mean something like a 10' vertical extension, which is probably expensive. Chimney fans are ridiculously expensive too (cheapest I've seen online is $1K, contractor quoted me $2.2K).

Are there other options?


texts: Why does cold water always mix in bathtub mixing valve, even on hottest setting?

texts:
I have a single-handle (rotates 270 degrees) faucet in my tub/shower. I've noticed that it is always mixing in cold water, even when turned all the way to hot. I can prove this by holding the cold water supply copper with my hand and feeling it get colder as the water runs on the hottest setting.

According to this article: http://www.selfhelpandmore.com/plumbing/how-to-adjust-a-single-lever-shower-faucet.php, the 270 degree position should be hot water only.

I have read the instructions for my valve and the hot water stop is set such that it is not restricting the rotation of the handle in any way. There is no documented way to get hotter water out of the valve.

Also worth noting is that this is a brand new Grohe valve, replacing an old valve which had the exact same behavior as this one. Seems odd two valves would have the same problem if it were indeed a problem. Maybe it's just how pressure balancing cartridges behave?

The reason this is bothering me is because if not for this issue, I would be able to set my water heater's temperature lower. To get adequate heat out of the bath faucet, my kitchen sink is unpleasantly hot (kitchen sink always temps 10 degrees hotter than the bath faucet - it must not mix cold water in).


texts: Is adding a GFCI outlet ahead of inverter as good as having one on the inverter?

texts:
I am shopping for a 48v DC to AC inverter. Ideally, I'd like the plugs on the inverter to be GFCI protected, but not all inverters have this feature.

This inverter is on a boat, mounted in a difficult to reach location.  Appliances will not be plugged in directly, but the inverter will feed a circuit that has all GFCI projected outlets.

I realize I won't get protection from the inverter to the outlet, but aside from that, is this the same as having GFCI on the inverter plugs?


texts: Is it unsafe to hide a power strip in a cardboard box?

texts:
In a attempt to find a solution to the multiple cables running wild in my room, I thought of hiding them into a box, but I am concerned about a possible fire hazard.

The power strip has five sockets, with the following use cases:

Most of the time: just the wifi router
Around two consecutive hours a day: wifi router, PC and screen
Sometimes or at night: wifi router and phone charger.

The dimensions of the box (as shown on the picture above) are 50×30×20 cm.
If that is of any relevance, I live in France.

Is there a chance this could catch fire if I stick to these use cases? Can I also safely close the lid, which is cardboard too?


texts:
I bought a house that contains water radiator units that were disconnected 10 years ago. I want to replace the hardwood floors and the radiator pipes are in the way.

I want to saw off the radiator pipes, drop them under the sub-floor, and leave the radiator in place (the cost/benefit of removing the radiator is too high).

I sawed off one of the pipes and to my surprise there was a bit of water left over in the pipe. I am worried that if dropping water-containing-pipes under the sub-floor will cause damage to any floor I place on top.

What is the best/safest way to remove the radiator pipes?
Is there any harm to leaving the pipes with water under the sub-floor?
Is it worth having a professional plumber take a look?


texts: Does this water pipe installation have problem?

texts:
I just bought a new home which is still under construction. Today I visited the home and noticed that the water pipe installation at one place seems awkward!

It's on the main floor and actually the connector is slightly above the OSB subfloor!

Is it OK? Does this installation possibly violate any kind of code ?


texts: Getting rid of black shadow/stain in toilet caused by interaction of iron sponge with anticalc + toilet gel with bleach

texts:
There was a lot of stains down in the puddle (?) of my toilet and toilet gel (that has bleach/javel in it, this product) and anticalc (the spray to wash lime scale off) and toilet brush didn't help. So I scrubbed it with an iron sponge. Now there is a shadow in the puddle on the porcelain which doesn't go off with anything.

I have dried the puddle (yes, taken the water out by hand) and washed with high consentrations of those liquids and the toilet brush but the shadow is still there. What can I do? And I have almost one day before returning the room.

(This is how it looks like)

Thanks in advance!!


texts:
I have found this electrical tape in several of my switch boxes.  It appears that -- instead of wire nuts or wall nuts -- the wires have been twisted, soldered a bit, and wrapped in this odd tape.  The under layers around the conductors are a sticky, rubber consistency, while the outer layer is a cloth-type (like hockey tape for those familiar).

My house was built in 1955, and I have already found some shoddy electrical work elsewhere so I have some trepidation about this stuff.  Can anyone identify it?  Is it still safe/up to code in the US?

EDIT: Found one reference to it in the EE SE.  One of the comments suggests that the stuff can be dangerous if it dries out.


texts: How can I avoid bubbles when applying an enormous sticker to plywood?

texts:
I'm working on a very important beer pong project.

The top of the table will consist of two pieces of plywood that have been sealed and decorated with a massive 4X5 custom vinyl sticker.

So, the plan is to to seal the wood, apply the sticker, which covers the entire piece, and then coat the whole thing in polyurethane (mostly to eliminate any dampened bounce from the sticker, but also to give it a nice glossy sheen).

Here's the key question:

How do I apply a 4X5 vinyl sticker to a flat piece of wood without getting bubbles?

It's possible this is easy or obvious, but based on my experience with iPhone-sized stickers, I'm guessing it's tricky, and only have one shot.


texts: How can I fix a leak in the pipe coming out of my water heater?

texts:
There's a water leak in the tube coming out of my heater. Yet the bolts look tightly put.

I'm not sure how to fix it. Any idea ?


texts:
My bathroom lock is broken and I am looking to buy a replacement, but I don't know what its called.

Here is a photo of the broken one and a working one from the toilet.

Would anyone know the search terms I would use to find a similar one to order?

Thank you.


texts: Should I be worried about these v-shaped cracks in my newly poured foundation?

texts:
The foundation company just took the forms off, and when I went to take a look, I noticed three sides had this v-shaded crack on them that's visible both inside and outside the foundation wall.

This is for a garage, the location is New England. If water gets in those cracks and freezes, isn't that going to be a problem?


texts: what are pros and cons of an air handler located in cooled space?

texts:
The air handler unit on my central air conditioning system in Florida is located in a closet that opens to the attic. The air handler is exposed to the attic temperatures (hot) which seems counter intuitive for maximum cooling capability. The cooling coils are bolted to a metal frame that's as hot as the attic.

Should I insulate the closet so the majority of the indoor unit is, truly in cooled indoor space?

What are the pros and cons of my current (typical) setup versus an indoor air handler that resides in the cooled space?


texts: Wall damage from insufficient attic ventilation

texts:
The wall in my master bedroom, which is facing outside, has exposed brick and, for several years now the bricks have been showing signs of moisture damage. The symptom is white, frost-like substance coming out of the brick.

For a long time, during which I had other priorities to work on, I suspected that the roof turret, which is right above the wall areas affected, was leaking, as there are a couple missing pieces of slate. Here you can see it and the window in the picture is the one from the second indoor picture above (notice even outside some paint is peeling as a result of moisture penetration):

Several days ago, it rained really hard so I decided to test my conjecture about the cause. I went into the attic under the turret to see if there is water penetrating after it had been raining continuously for some time. In fact, it was not correct. I inspected carefully and there was no water leaking anywhere. However, the wall under the turret in the attic, right above the window damage shown above, also showed similar signs of damage.

As it dawned at me at that moment is that moisture must be coming some other way,I looked around to realize that the front about 40% of the attic, including where the damage is, has no clear access to either of the two attic vents that are in the middle of the roof but with several baffling obstacles in between:

Large crossbeams that occupy much of the attic height
HVAC ducting I had installed several years ago
Ceiling insulation rising above the attic beams I installed several years ago when I renovated that room

The new insulation rising too much is pink under the crossbeam and closer to the front of the picture is the original insulation, which looks as old as the house (112 years). The vents are on the other side of the large crossbeam, you can see how it and the insulation are blocking the way.
Here is the roof plan. The square with X is the turret, the brown is the wall areas affected, the pink area is the room with ceiling insulation rising to block the vents, and the blue rectangles are the positions of the vents. The roof is mod-bit, gently graded with the front (where the turret is) higher and sloping down towards the back.

The vents, as can be seen, are pretty close together and are on the wall, not the roof. Here is what they look like:

My questions are:

Is this a plausible hypothesis that my remodeling (the ceiling insulation + the large HVAC ducts occupying much of the low area under the crossbeams) introduced a barrier between the front of the attic and the existing vents, which then baffles ventilation causing a moisture trap in the front, which then seeps down into the walls below in the bedroom?

Should I install a vent to the front of the attic? If yes, what kind? The easiest to install would be one that goes in the actual roof rather than the wall like the existing two. E.g. a turbine vent uses the outside air movement to create suction and move air from the attic.

Or should I install both one on the wall (for intake) and a turbine one on the roof, for exhaust? Understandably, due to the position, I am trying to avoid installing a wall one because the access would be really hard. Will a roof turbine (or another kind) be sufficient? Where should I locate it for optimal ventilation? I imagine the graded mod-bit parts of the roof (everything other than the turret) for the ease of installation although the top of the turret seems like it would be most effective. I checked other similar houses in the neighborhood and they don't have these additional vents but I think that may be because their attics are not cluttered with ventilation obstacles like mine.


texts: My Philips TV turns on only after I plug it out many times. How can I fix it?

texts:
I have a 42PFL3507H/12 Philips TV which I bought in 2012. It hasn't been working fine for a couple of months now. It won't turn on normally when I press the power button either on the remote or on the screen. I have to plug it out of power and back in five to ten times before I can turn it on.

I have searched through the internet but none of the solutions worked. I have tried plugging it out of power and leaving like that for a while. I have updated the software to the latest version. I have even taken it to the certified Philips TV service, but the repairman said that it worked perfectly fine when he tried to turn it on, although he did not show me that it works fine so I'm a bit sceptical because it still doesn't work at home.

What else can I do?


texts: foam roller vs brush for fiberglass door

texts:
painting a fiberglass door with semi-gloss latex.  Looking for that smooth glossy finish (yes I know spray would be optimum).  Would it be best to use a foam roller or a brush?
thanks


texts: What type of drywall do I use around a zero clearance fireplace?

texts: I have removed very old and very ugly ceramic tile from the wall around my zero clearance fireplace. What type of drywall should I use to repair what was torn down? It is a wood burning fireplace that we use a good bit throughout the winter.


texts: Is it safe to leave live wires in a fan assembly?

texts:
I had an electrician install a new bathroom ventilator fan in my wall. This is connected to the overhead lights in the bathroom and runs on a timer. Unfortunately the fan is faulty and can't be allowed to run.

I've removed the three wires leading into the fan and cut them straight across. Is this a safe enough way to leave things? Is there any risk of electrical problems/fire?


texts: How can I stain a faded area of my wood floor to match the rest?

texts: A small area in front of the patio door has lightened but the other 500 square feet of the room remains dark and beautiful. I sure don’t want to sand and refinish the entire room. Is there a way to blend a dark recoat of a compatible product on top of the aluminum oxide urethane?


texts: Can I move my sink drain connection to the parallel vent pipe?

texts:
I want to thank everyone in advance for their insights. Here is the situation. I would like to renovate the kitchen of my two family home built in the 1920s to include, among other things, a dishwasher. The kitchens are stacked on top of one another and the sinks are served by the same drain and vent system. (The main waste stack is not involved here and is located in another part of the house.)

Currently, I cannot install the dishwasher because of some clearance issues caused by the drain which is connected to the drain pipe on the right as depicted in the attached photo. I would like to move the sink drain to the left pipe because it is not located behind the area proposed for the new dishwasher. In short, both drain pipes will remain, I will just be tapping into a different one. Can this be done — is there any problem with having two sinks on top of one another?


texts: I am in the process of making a DC desk lamp out of all salvaged garbage materials. I am going to be using some christmas lights(AC bulbs, but running off DC, I know this works) for the main light but want to add some colored lights into the base. The base is an old bottle I plan on filling with water(Looks cool and counterweight). Is it safe to just submerge the bulbs in the water? Is there poetential risk? Any suggestions?


texts: What is this panel in basement wall of 1940s house?

texts: When I removed a cabinet from our basement wall today I discovered the panel in the photo below. The panel is metal, approximately 2 ft wide and 1 ft high. It has five   1.5 inch holes in it, each one covered in mesh (see close up). Behind the mesh I can see gravel. This plate is located in the basement wall directly below the front door. The plate is approximately 4 ft from the basement floor, and 2 ft below ground level (i.e 2 ft below the front door). The house has a cinder block foundation (but there is no cinder block behind the panel). The house was built in 1949. There are no utilities entering the house near the panel.  Any ideas what it could be for? Many thanks!


texts: What is this 1" growth cluster that formed over night

texts:
This grew overnight on ceiling. There are some brown stains on the ceiling near it. but only there.  No where else in home.  Have not touched them byt they look spongy.
 Live in central Florida in manufactured home. House is always clean and pet free. The air conditioning is on during the day and it has not been very humid.  Any one ever see this before?


texts: What could cause my water heater to pulsate during cold water usage?

texts: I have a well and a pressure tank. I lost water pressure last night and thought everything was frozen but it wasn't, however, the regulator was not engaged. I engaged the pressure regulator and the water was flowing through the pipes in the house. Now when the cold water is used in the house the water heater pulsates. What could be the cause of this?


texts:
Our kitchen wiring is getting updated because right now we are running everything off of two circuits. The electrician recommended we put a 4-wire system in versus a 3-wire since he will be pulling new wire anyways. How it was sold to us is that it would eliminate our need for GFCI outlets in the kitchen, which would save us money. Obviously the cost of a few outlets would't add up to the 4-wire system upgrade.

My questions is, is it worth the extra money to run a a 4-wire versus just leaving it as a 3-wire? What would be the benefits?


texts: Should I fill in gap between window frames?

texts:
We are getting new windows.  I decided to refinish the trim (from the 60's, but still in good shape other than the lacquer being gone).  I removed the trim and found a gap between the frames of adjacent windows (see pic and pardon the chicken scratch).  I was told this is normal.
I am concerned that when I nail the trim on the sides of the frame the frame will move (it wiggles a little already).  Should I fill the gap with thin strips of plywood, secure the frame some other way, or is it fine as is?


texts: Should I use transitions with laminate flooring to control the size of plank needed at each wall?

texts:
Im aware my questions sounds silly but the real issue is the basement im installing in has two bedrooms and a long family room. My understanding is that planks should be atleast 2 inches wide at the walls to maintain stength.

My worry is that i can measure the larger room and easilly cut the starting row so that the last row in that room is larger than 2 inches but if i continure into the bedrooms how do i adjust so that when i hit the wall in the bedrooms the last plank will be larger than 2 inches?

My initial thought is that i should use transitions in the doorways  to possibly adjust the size of my finishing row in each room, and i figure the room is large enough that i should have an expansion gap in the doorways anyway. I feel like this isnt the first complicated basment to ever have laminate used in it? Am i missing something obvious???

If you need any clarification let me know, i know it sounds kind of confusing. Any help is appreciated!


texts: Does electric wire to meter need to be in conduit?

texts:
Our electric meter is on the driveway side of the house, and was struck by a car yesterday. It's just barely hanging onto the house with the screws, the wires look ok.

I've talked to an electrician, the wires on in a sheathing but not a pvc or metal conduit. The electrician recommends putting them in a pvc (light gray) conduit or could do metal for slightly more, or just reattach the box securely with no conduit added for 1/3 the price.

What does code/best practice say? Thanks!

**Updated: I had an electrician replace with metal conduit, and a new meter socket. Thanks! **


texts:
Is a Neurio energy monitor compatible with a manufactured housing load center?
The load center, image below, doesn't seem to be officially supported however the approach seems sufficient. This kind of detail isn't readily available on the products knowledge base.


texts: How should I finish a basement with a pitched floor?

texts:
I am building a room in the basement where the slab has a pitch. I have already installed had a foam and magnesium board subfloor and my intention is to have a carpet installed on top of that. The room is about 17 x 10 and the pitch is on the 17 foot length. It is roughly 2 to 2.5 inches lower on one side that the other end.

I didn't "fix" the pitch on purpose because it is there to allow any water leaks to flow towards the drain.

So what are my options when I finish the walls and install a basement and a carpet in this room. Will I need to live with the slopping floor (which I guess will be most pronounced in the baseboard) or is there a trick to fix this where it is unnoticeable? Is there a "carpet padding shim"?


texts: How do I handle expansion joints in corners when tiling a shower?

texts:
I will soon be tiling our shower in our basement finish and I have a few questions. I have done some floor tile before, but this is my first opportunity with a shower. Installing a 30"x60" wide shower pan. I will be using 1/2" Hardibacker for the shower area, 97" ceilings. I will be leaving the recommended expansion gap between all boards covered with Alkali tape and thinset.

Is this expansion joint also needed between the Hardibacker and ceiling drywall?

If so, what is this area sealed with?

On the back wall, should I fill the expansion joint between the Hardibacker and drywall with Alkali tape and mortar there as well?

What's the best way to go about where the Hardibacker meets the lip of the shower pan? Another expansion joint? Does it go over the lip and sealed at the bottom with silicone?

I'll be waterproofing with Regard.


texts: This is in response to Matt S's question a few days back. I feel like most of the answers were a put down and I am experiencing the same problem he is. It is not the temperature of the house or where the system cools it to that is the problem. The actual air that blows out is the coldest in the "normal range", as tested by an A/C company, and its freezing to me. Many places in the house that I sit or stand are under a vent. I have owned several houses and additionally rental properties and have never experienced this before. Like the comments here, the overweight AC guy shrugged and said he doesn't hear people complain the AC is too cold. Well, for me it is to the point where I want to put the house up for sale it is so unbearable. If replacing the unit is the only way to solve it I will do it (it is 10 years old), otherwise if someone has a friendly suggestion that isn't "unrealistic expectations" please help. Thanks!


texts: Care and maintenance of wood fence that is rotting because of damp leaves on the other side

texts:
I have a wooden fence around my garden. I share parts of the fence with my neighbour, who has a shed close to the fence on his side. Between the fence and the shed on my neighbour's side, leaves accumulate in autumn and winter and cause moisture and decay. The same thing happens on the other side, where an acclivity prevents removal of the leaves and decaying material and presumably collects moisture as well. The fence has turned black where it is moist.
Questions: What can I do to prevent this, other than asking my neighbour to remove his shed and clean up the leaves? Is there any fortifying paint that can be applied? Will I need to replace the fence with more durable material than wood at some point? How long do I have until the fence rots away and holes are left there?
More Questions: More generally, what care instructions will I need to follow to keep the fence in good shape for longer? Any paint or anything else I should apply? I have no clue about these things and have never owned property before recently buying this one. Thanks.

Here is a close-up view of the fence where it is not rotting:


texts: Would triple pane give me better results than double pane in a key location (bathroom)?

texts:
I am ordering replacement windows.  I'm going to go with double-hung in the bedrooms and bathroom, and casement above the kitchen sink.  Double-hung vinyl with added foam insulation in the frames.

But in the bathroom I want the best protection from heat loss I can possibly get, because the toilet is inches away from the window and that's not a place one wants to feel chilly.

Would going up to triple pane in that location help?  Is there anything else that would help, in terms of either the order of the custom window, or the installation method, or anything else you can think of?  I am in upstate NY.


texts: line locator indicates voltage over the whole wall, I need to drill some holes

texts:
I am living in a 1950s apartment house in Germany, with a TN-C installation (that is, a combined earth / neutral in every socket).

Now I need to drill some holes. Usually it's quite obvious where the lines are, and I try to follow them using a line locator. Now in this apartment there are whole walls and ceilings that are indicated. I can't even clearly locate known  lines.

Any ideas?


texts:
So I need some help (again) with an electrical issue.

I wired the basement and due to some new building code all the breakers are AFCI (which I am suspecting is a part of the problem). In the bathroom there 3 light switches, labeled 1,2 & 3 on image, switch 1 directs to a pot light and an led light, switch 2 goes to a vanity light and 3 is a fan.

For months we haven’t been able to use switch 1 because it will trip the breaker, not always immediately, but usually within 30 seconds. I spent all week trying to solve it, I went into the device box and cleaned up the wires for the switches as best I could making sure nothing was exposed, I replaced the switch (from another one in the basement so I knew it worked). This all improved the issue slightly, in that it took a while longer to trip.

We kept thinking we had solved it and then short time later it would trip again, here is where it gets weird… we discovered an almost surefire way to make it trip was to have both light switches on (1 & 2) and then turn off switch 2 (ie the one that hasn’t been a problem); switch 2 being turned off would kill the breaker as long as switch 1 was on. I pulled out all the lights tested different combination of wiring, such as one light being bypassed or cut off and this more or less holds true. Except now I find it takes the light a few minutes to heat up or whatever before turning off 2, while 1 is on, will trip the breaker.

Anyways there is not a lot of load on the circuit, a tv and SMALL deepfreeze and two lights that are rarely on (pantry).

Also I could just swap out the afci break for a regular since the inspector has come and gone

LED Used
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/illume-4-inch-led-recessed-led-panel-light-with-integrated-3000k-4000k-or-5000k-options-in-satin-nickel-finish-energy-star-/1001063503


texts: What weather resistant, non aluminum quad cable can I use to run an overhead line to a 220V 20 amp subpanel?

texts:
This question was asked, but the answer is not practical as the subpanel is only for 20 amp 220 VAC So, quadruplex cable is overkill.   What about something like marine cable?  Or a 10-3 with ground (black-red-white & bare copper ground). or even a 10-4, in a weather & UV resistant jacket?

Like the temporary construction cables... Anything like that for low current (20A) overhead runs?    It's all about cable that will survive the weather for many years.  Perhaps they don't make something like that anymore?


texts:
While cleaning out the basement, I found a toolbox that I haven't opened in probably 30 years, and it contained some items that I know were originally my father's, so these things could be 75-100 years old.
Tool #1
This guy is about 2.5" long, we wondered if it was like a nail set but the head shows no hammer marks:

Tool #2
This one is about 4" long, the best part is how the crossbar is held on with what I suspect is a decades-old band-aid:

Tool #3
But then this is our favorite, it's also about 4" long.  The "top" bit looks like it would be a lid, but the inside isn't threaded at all:

Any ideas what these items are?


texts: How can I make wooden stairs slip-proof?

texts:
My wife loves the idea of removing our stair carpet and putting bold/bright wallpaper on the vertical faces (risers)...

...but we're concerned that the horizontal parts (treads) would be much more slippery as plain wood, compared to carpet. With a 4yr old in the house, and my wife being so accident-prone, I think we need some sort of anti-slip.

I am not sure if it is possible to cover every single tread with a seperate piece of carpet. It might be difficult to secure the outer edge under the lip.

Perhaps paint each step, and sprinkle on sand/sugar whilst still wet? This would leave a textured surface, quite rough.

Perhaps glue thin strips of rubber along each tread?


texts: Wall between House and garage is hanging over the concrete slab. Is this a major issue?

texts: We bought our house about six months ago, and we are first time home buyers, so please forgive my ignorance. This weekend I noticed that the bottom of the wall in the garage was about 1-2 inches over the concrete slab underneath. Is this a major concern? What could this be? I have a structural engineer coming, but he cannot make it until Friday. I'm just wondering what we might be in for.


texts: How well does masonry blocks used in European home construction insulate compared to a well insulated American (wood) wall?

texts:
Are there any equivalents to the Building Science insulation reports done for the US/Canada done in Europe?

I spent the last few weeks going over some properties that I will be rehabbing in France and was wondering if there was every any substantial reports done on masonry bricks.

One of the reasons that I ask is that a couple of the properties we were thinking of using more American techniques to add on square meterage but even though I have a good relationship with the inspectors they said they would want to see some substantial support that the methods I use exceed the "normal" methods.


texts: How to fix outdoor faucet drip when indoor shut off is off

texts: I just noticed that my outdoor faucet has a slow drip.  I checked the indoor shut off and it is closed tight.  What could be causing the problem and how would I fix it?  I don't know how long the drip has been happening -- I haven't used this particular faucet in years.


texts: Should I add a return air vent in a refinished basement?

texts:
We are refinishing our basement, and are nearing competition.  The walls are drywalled, and the ceiling is dropped.  There will be about 500 sq ft of finished space, including a full bathroom, and about 300 sq ft of unfinished space.  There are two existing vents from the supply heat / AC directly from the main duct supply, that I plan on extending down the few inches into the dropped ceiling tiles.  No problem.

My question is that there are no cold air return vents pre-cut and should I add one? I can easily add one, but dont know if this is necessary in the basement.  Someone told me that since all the duct is exposed (on the unfinished side and above the dropped ceiling) and the furnace is right in the middle of the basement, this would suffice in allow air circulation in the basement.  I dont know if I but that argument.

If I do add one, I think I should add it at the floor level, not in the ceiling like the supply vents.  This way the warm air (for heat) coming from the ceiling would be circulated to the floor for the return.  Should I place it at the floor level?


texts: Delineation between drywall and cementboard

texts:
This is the sink/dishwasher bay for my basement apartment. There will be a bottom and a top cabinet, corresponding approximately to below and above the green line. I want to put tile on the wall around, approximately where you can see the cement/backer board between the two green lines.

I understand that, in situations where drywall meets cement board, you typically want to overflow drywall onto where the tiles will be as the tiles can go on drywall but it's hard to emulate a smooth surface of a drywall wall on cement board.

However, this is a little different because there will be no visible delineation, i.e. everywhere where there are no cabinets, there will be tile. So my reasoning was that by reversing the rule from the previous paragraph, I can avoid having to tape join the two substrates. However that introduces the problem of uneven transition between the two (I think the backer board is 3/8" and drywall is 1/2").

In this particular case, is it okay if the cement board overflows the drywall (green line) or should the drywall overflow on the tile substrate (as though the cabinets went below and above the red line), as is normally done?


texts: Should I Buy Cordless Drill/Driver From USA And Use It In My Country?

texts:
I want to purchase DeWalt 18V Cordless Drill/Driver from USA where electricity standard is 120V - 60Hz and use it in my country with transformer where standard is 220V-230V - 50Hz but there will be 10Hz of electricity frequency difference. Although people say differently, i would still like to know if such option is worthwhile given i save a lot of money.

What specifications must be transformer to fit cordless drill/driver and remain stable? What other things besides voltage should i take into account?


texts: What's the best way to account for saw blade width (kerf) when cutting boards?

texts: In theory, to cut a 350mm piece out of a longer board, I would have to mark the line at 350mm + half of blade width. So if I have a 2mm hand saw, the line would be drawn at 351mm. How does that work in practice? Should blade wiggle be taken into account? Is it even reasonable to expect such precision in home conditions?


texts: Purchased 1980 home, exterior outlet not working

texts: Story: purchased a home built in 1980.  One of the exterior outlets was missing.  As in, just exposed wiring (ground, white, black).  I installed a new receptacle but it doesn't work.  Theres an interior outlet nearby but not exactly opposite of the problem exterior outlet.  I checked out the interior outlet and it has two sets of wiring thats daisy chained but It seems to be chained to an adjacent interior outlet.  (Tested by unhooking the black wire and an adjacent interior outlet stopped working).  Anybody have any idea what the problem could be?  I don’t know how exterior outlets are wired(straight to circuit breaker?).   If anybody has any insight, I would be grateful! Thank you for your time!


texts:
I was recently working on some wiring in my bathroom, and I noticed a 3rd load wire that I couldn't quite explain.

There were 4 Black Wires coming in (with 4 corresponding White Neutral wires). One of the Black wires was for the light, one was for the fan, one was the source (hot) wire, and there was a 4th one that I couldn't figure out.

What was really weird, is that the 4th wire seemed to be hooked directly to the source/hot wire. The entire setup was like this:

Switch 1 toggled fan
Switch 2 toggled light

Black/Hot/Middle -------> Top of switch 1 via Screw (middle of the wire was stripped, wrapped around screw and continued to switch 2)
Black/Mystery/End ------> Top of switch 1 via Insert
Black/Fan/End ----------> Bottom of switch 1 via Insert
Black/Hot/End ----------> Top of switch 2 via Insert
Black/Light/End --------> Bottom of switch 2 via Insert

If that list doesn't make sense, I can try and make a better diagram. Really I'm just trying to figure out what that last black wire was for, and why it was directly wired to the source line.

Thanks for any help/advice!


texts: Why are the lights and fans in my home flickering and varying in speed?

texts: I have very weird electrical behavior in my house. Fans will suddenly slow them speed up. Lights flicker randomly for for random times. 2-10 seconds. Everything in my home is wired with 12-3 wiring. Could different currents interfere across circuits?


texts: Can I put a switch in after a GFCI and still have proper protection?

texts: I am about to install a fan in the shower stall.  It is code to do so as long as the fan is GFCI protected.  However, I don't want the switch that controls the fan to turn the receptacles on and off.  So, this is the plan:  MAIN CIRCUIT to GFCI to REC #1 to REC #2 to SWITCH to FAN.  I know that everything after the GFCI is protected; but I want to make sure that putting a switch in the chain isn't going to mess anything up in terms of proper GFCI protection for the fan.


texts: How to fill void under bathroom vanity before installing laminate flooring and legged vanity

texts:
We are removing an old floor mounted vanity and wanting to install new laminate flooring throughout the bathroom.  We are planning to install a vanity with legs, not tight to the floor (one we can clean under).
We do not want to remove all of the old linoleum prior to installing the vinyl flooring. This leaves a void under the vanity of that depth. How do we fill the void where the old vanity was prior to installing the new laminate installation?


texts:
What is a 'murphy bar'?

Googling it, I found it mainly as a drinking bar; a liquor cabinet that folds down, like a Murphy bed.

Is it just a generic (dis-used?) term for prying under something to move it? I've heard tell of crow-bar like tools with wheels on them for this purpose and I'd swear I've seen them in catalogs. Am I using the wrong name?


texts: Installing Biobidet to toilet with plastic T-valve

texts: I'm attempting to install a USPA Biobidet 6800. I've removed hose from commode tank and went to install the t-valve on top of stop valve. However, my stop valve configuration is all plastic (vs iron) and I'm unable to unscrew the hose from the valve in order to install the t-valve on top of stop valve. it seems it's one piece.  Is there a way with the hose provided to connect the bidet's hose to the t-valve?


texts: Wet venting of added bathroom sketch -question is this layout OK?

texts: I am adding a master bathroom shower, toilet and double vanity to an abutting wall of a full bathroom, Is this wet venting good if I tie into existing 2" shower vent in the shared wall?


texts: Patching hole in cellar floor when water seeps up from ground

texts:
I had two holes in the poured concrete floor of my cellar.  I was planning to fill both holes.  So far I have only filled one because I ran into a problem with the other one.

How I filled the first hole: I removed any crumbled edge pieces.  I mixed the "rapid set mortar mix," using a liquid mixture that was half "concrete bonding adhesive" and half water.  I removed the standing water from the hole.  I painted pure "concrete bonding adhesive" to the edges of the concrete floor (which was surprisingly thin, by the way).  I was supposed to let that dry before continuing, but I couldn't because of the generally damp conditions.  I put the mixed mortar mix into the hole and pushed down on it with a piece of wood.  I smoothed the surface with a rubber gloved hand.

The problem I encountered with the second one: water wells up (slowly) from below one edge of the concrete floor.

Question: how can I fill the hole, given the slow but constant influx of water?

Size of filled hole: approximately 5 inches in diameter.

Size of other hole: approximately 12 inches in diameter (slightly oblong shape).

Notes: The water trickles towards the sump pit where it gets pumped out with a sump pump.  I am also working on figuring out how to eliminate the water entry in the first place, but in the meantime I would like to fill that remaining hole.

Update: I just got a call back from a friend who suggested that I go ahead with the same procedure, but on a very cold day, when hopefully the trickle will be much slowed.  Today it is 50 degreed Fahrenheit outside.  Feedback would be much appreciated.

Another update: yes, the ground froze, but not all the way down.  There is always some water seeping up from underneath.  My new idea is to put in the patch, stationing an assistant at the upper part of the hole with a turkey baster and a rag to remove water as it appears (while I'm making the patch).  Then poke a couple holes in the lower part with something like a knitting needle, to provide a way for the water to come up and then flow down toward the sump pail.  What do you think?


texts: How can I replace this water pressure reducing valve?

texts:
Some of my taps were dripping slightly and it was recommended that I test the water pressure. After a few tests the pressure is 140 PSI in the house, which I understand is extremely high and I have been advised that the water pressure reducing valve (WPRV) needs to be replaced. I am not a plumber, but have sweated a number of joins in the past and can fix most basic things. However, after looking at where the valve is positioned I'm a little nervous to attempt this kind of repair. It seems relatively straightforward, but the risk of failure could be great (and expensive) if things go wrong.

First of  all, would it be confirmed that the valve is toast? Are there any adjustments that can be made - perhaps it is just the settings? Or am I dreaming?
The valve is immediately below the water meter (see pic) and is threaded directly onto the pipe. The issue is that the valve is against a wall, so I can't (seemingly) turn the valve to unscrew it. Can the top of the valve (the bell shape) be removed and replaced, or should the entire valve be replaced?
Am I messing with something above my experience level and should I rather be spending $200 (excluding parts) to have this replaced by a plumber?


texts: Should I sand between coats of polyurethane when finishing a table?

texts: I am finishing an oak table. I lightly sanded the polyurethane after the first coat, as per the instructions. After the second coat of polyurethane dried, I see sanding/brush marks. If I don't sand again, will the third coat of polyurethane cover these sanding/brush marks?


texts: Bottom rail of wood panel door falling off

texts: I have a 20 year old, wood panel exterior door with a loose bottom rail.  It looks like it's sliding off on one side.  How can I fix it?  If the rail is attached with a tenon I know I can just nail or pin it in place, but do modern wood doors have tenons?  or are the just glued together?


texts: Dryer venting options on second floor with gambrel roof

texts:
In redoing our second floor laundry closet, we'd like to replace the flammable flexible plastic dryer duct with rigid duct and a better vent. I did extensive research, but couldn't find any discussions on dryer vents exiting the steep slope of a gambrel roof (sometimes called a mansard roof), which has brought me here.

The laundry closet is in the middle of the second floor. The shortest route to the side of the house is just above the floor, through the cavity of a fiberglass bath tub in the adjacent bathroom, with a total length of 10 feet.  The current vent is on the steep slope (48/12 pitch) of the gambrel roof, which is roofed with asphalt shingles.

Options

10 foot straight run to gambrel roof. Issues:

No vent is made for this. Roof vents have appropriate flashing, but dampers won't operate at this steep of a pitch. Wall vents have dampers that will most likely work, but don't have appropriate flashing to slip under adjacent shingles.
Vent would be above deck, however the previous vent was here and we didn't notice problems with lint getting on the deck.

10 foot straight run to edge of roof, 90 degree elbow down through holes in subfloor and soffit, with an eave vent. 15 foot effective length. Issues:

Warm moist air could condensate on the soffit in winter, or worse rise into the attic through the soffit attic vents contributing moisture to the attic.
Vent would be almost two feet closer to the deck, so lint and airflow might become more irritating.
Requires patching existing vent hole in roof.

10 foot straight run to edge of roof, 90 degree elbow, then 14 foot straight run through mini triangular attic to gable end with a standard wall vent. 29 foot effective length. Problems:

Longest duct run.
Vent not easily accessed for cleaning, though no lint screen so cleaning shouldn't be needed often.
More drywall removal and repair along knee wall.
Requires patching existing vent hole in roof.

90 degree in-the-wall transition and 12 or so feet up to the roof. 17 foot effective length. Problems:

Very difficult to access for cleaning, and generally the least preferred option according to everything I've read.

Question

Are there any problems I'm missing? Option 1 seems to me to be the best, being the shortest run and using the existing hole in the roof, but I'm concerned with the inadequate flashing (less than an inch). Is there a way to increase the size of the flashing safely?

Tub cavity

By tub cavity I mean the space between the outside-front and the inside-front of the tub. Through the tub cavity might seem like an odd option, but it is the most direct route and I see no problems other than that if the tub is replaced in the future the dryer and duct will have to be pulled out. The back cavity of the tub isn't suitable as there are pipes in the wall that would prevent the duct from going that way.


texts: How do I widen an existing asphalt driveway with crushed gravel?

texts:
I've got an existing asphalt driveway that's around 20 feet long.  It's in fair shape.  I want to widen it by about 5 feet.  The ground is level, I'm in the soggy Willamette Valley, Oregon so frost isn't a big concern.  And the plan is to have it used for occasional parking.

Is laying down 6" of 3/4 minus gravel sufficient?  Should I use larger gravel?

Is there anything special that needs to be done at the junction of the gravel and asphalt?


texts: Why is sewage backing up from this outdoor pipe?

texts:
I just recently moved into my first house this morning and when I went outside I noticed this:

What happened?  What should I do? I have no idea what that pipe even is. I don't believe there is a septic tank on my property because we use city utilities?


texts: My waterpik shower keeps running on pause

texts: On my waterpik hand held shower, when i try to turn off the spray, the spray just reduces a little bit. It is supposed to just trickle. Any solutions?


texts: How to protect sumbersible pump ‘pumpsaver’ device

texts: I have a 600 ft well and submersible pump in a mountain home at 9500 ft elevation prone to lightning storms.  I typically have to replace the ‘pump protector’ relay (i.e., protects pump from either high or low amps, e.g., dry well) at least annually.  I’m almost certain the failures are due to lightning strikes nearby.  But my home has lightning rods, whole-house surge protector, and most failures have occurred when pump is not running or even the incoming power disconnect has been turned off.   So I think the power surge which is frying the protective relay is backfeeding from the well.   I’m considering installing an isolation contactor inbetween the pumpprotector relay and wiring going to pump.  Does anyone have a better solution or know of a reason to not install the isolation contactor on all three wires?


texts: Boiler System heats one room more than all others

texts: I have a two zone older natural gas boiler system. All rooms in the house get heat. One room on the second floor gets hotter than all others. Almost like all the heat is going to that room I don’t know why ? I do get a lot of noise from the boiler as well, lots of gurgling noises and pipes clanging. I recently replaced my hot water tank. I am thinking there is air in the lines but am not sure how to release that.


texts: How to remove construction adhesive from concrete?

texts: We removed a wooden dance floor that was glued to concrete with liquid nails.  How do I remove the liquid nails that is all over the concrete floor?  Has anyone had success with heat, mineral spirits or any other remover product?


texts: How many screws do I need in my subfloor?

texts:
In my particular case, I'm building a tiny shed. I'm using ungrooved 3/4 inch treated plywood and no glue, if that makes a difference.

I'm not sure what the relevant units are either. Pounds per square foot? Screws per 4'x8' sheet?


texts: When is variable speed important in an angle grinder?

texts: I'm ready to buy an angle grinder. My first use will be to "dress" a blacksmith anvil by grinding the face flat and square with a flapper wheel and also rounding some sharp edges. But I want a versatile tool. (I foresee cutting pipe, trimming concrete edges, possibly sharpening mower blades, and lots more once I get more familiar with it.) I generally prefer to invest in good tools that last, rather than saving cash initially but replacing soon after.  So, when shopping for a decent quality corded angle-grinder with some versatility, how important is variable speed? For which uses?


texts: what should I use to cover a table made out of a broken bookcase?

texts:
I'm working with a friend who is trying to make a kitchen table (i.e to use for eating) from a bookcase which broke.
We're trying to do it as low-budget as possible (he's in a lot of debt right now).
The bookcase is made up of a type of WPC. Each piece is about 2cm thick. It has a very thin plastic or vinyl cover on the top, bottom and the exposed side of the shelf (the one you would see when looking at the shelves in the bookcase). The other three sides of the shelves- the parts that would be against the bookcase when the shelf was in place- have no cover at all.
For this project, we're basically planning on attaching 4 shelves to form a rectangle, via a couple of wooden slats underneath these shelves. Then we'll attach a couple of legs underneath it to prop it up. (The goal here is cheap and functional, not aesthetic!)
The question we have is what we should do to cover the top of the table to seal it.
As mentioned, there are 4 shelves next to each other which means there are cracks between each one. And some of the surfaces in the cracks don't even have a vinyl covering, so if anything spills it will get absorbed into the WPC. And frankly, we want to seal the cracks so nothing gets caught there anyway- it's a recipe for microbes.
We're debating getting a thin sheet of thick plastic to put down on top and attach. But if we drill the plastic in, we now have holes around the screws where things could seep in.
Someone recommended that we attach the thick plastic by first applying a layer of silicon to the table. Someone else said to skip the plastic and just apply silicon. A third person said to just apply shellac- not silicon- to the whole thing, but a fourth person said the shellac will drip through the cracks and won't be thick enough to seal the cracks.
We're getting quite confused by these possibilities. We don't have experience with any of these, nor do we have any of the above on hand to try out. We'll obviously buy what we need to use, but we're trying to keep this as low cost as possible.
What's the best (cheapest, easiest, effective) way to seal the table top to make it useable as a kitchen table, disregarding aesthetics?


texts:
I ordered this desk here but one of the sides' holes in one of the legs won't allow any of the screws to screw in.
What are my options? It's definitely the screw the directions are saying to use but I guess the hole itself isn't threaded or something?
Or could these holes be a different size? And I just need to go to Lowe's to look for smaller screws? I'm really lost here and returning the desk isn't an option sadly.


texts: Is the PY4G HVAC unit compatible with Nest Thermostat?

texts:
I recently bought a Nest Thermostat and I've had nothing but trouble with it. The main symptom is the fan and the AC compressor won't run at the same time. Power only comes through the green wire, not the yellow. So I have been running AC with no fan just to make it through the hot summer days.

I think I have narrowed down my problems to not having a common wire connected. Luckily, I have an 18/5 bundle running to the thermostat so I was able to connect  the common wire. However, the nest reported no power to common (E79). I started to look into the HVAC unit manual and I ran across the following sentence.

  Do not use any type of power-stealing thermostat. Unit control
  problems may result.

I know Nest thermostats can be power-stealing. Is this a show stopper for me? Do I need to revert back to a "dumb" thermostat?

For Reference...

3rd Gen Nest.
HVAC Unit Model Number: PY4G 30060 ATP
Link to the HVAC Install manual. Quote is on page 11, Control Voltage Connections: https://resource.carrierenterprise.com/is/content/Watscocom/payne_py4gnab24060--tp_article_1466843547903_en_ii


texts: Should I install a sub-panel or add a second service drop?

texts:
I am considering converting my barn into a woodshop. It would require me upgrading the current wiring to handle the tools that would end up in the shop.

I have a very old farm house and the main house (not including additions) would only be accessible by one side. The driveway side of the house would need to be tunneled under in order to get into the main house basement. Then, I would need to trench back about 50 or so feet to the barn.

My question is; would it just be better to have a new direct line from the pole to the barn, or tackling this tedious way previously listed? Also, if the direct line would be easier/more feasible, does national grid charge a separate delivery fee or is it comparable cost-wise?

Also, if I was to do the dig version, would I need to upgrade to a 400 amp ( I am guessing?!) to be able to handle two 200 amp service panels?? If this is the case, I am guessing that should be factored into the over all cost of the dig option