Air Conditioner Iced We've been having air condoning problems where our unit would freeze up / leak water. We brought out a tech to have a look, the indoor and outdoor unit was completely forzen. Once thawed, he said the unit was low on refrigerant and he wanted to look for a leak. After 3-4 hours of searching and no leak found, his 'manager' came out to double check and found the 'leak' in 5 minutes and decided he wanted to replace a coil and a 'blower board' just incase to 'to not take any chances' (our blower works completely fine). A few things to note, the tech said there was little to no refrigerant in the system. He also said he put nitrogen in the system to find the leak.

In an effort to double check, I took a look at the outside unit, turned off the power to our unit, lifted the fan and I noticed one of the wires going to the compressor is disconnected (the wire connecting to the bottom circle-like opening in the picture below). Additionally, all but one of the screws holding down the fan to the outdoor unit are missing, so running the fan, causes strong vibrations.

The exact model/brand of our compressor (different than shown below) is a Copeland CR42K6-PFV.

What I am trying to do now before shelling out hundreds of dollars for a fix that may not be required, is check if the the issue is much more simple than what we're told (my gut tells me it is).

My question is, what are some things I can check/try in order to troubleshoot the icing of the unit? Would plugging in the wire described and adding screws to the unit and turning on the outdoor fan be a smart thing to try? are there any risks to doing so, other than the unit icing?

I appreciate any advice

The icing is most likely really due to low refrigerant. I had similar problems with a slow leak in my heat pump, and limped by for a few years by having it recharged once a year since it was a slow leak. The bill usually fell between $150-300, gradually increasing every year since the leak was slowly progressing. I finally replaced the whole unit last year for $4500, since the refill schedule was accelerating down to 7 months in between rather than 12. (It was a 14 year old system, so that contributed a great deal to replacing vs repairing in my particular situation.)

Nitrogen is a common method for detecting leaks, so your tech wasn't doing something crazy. The new coil they suggested installing is probably the one that's leaking. You could ask to see where it's leaking, since they should have pinpointed the location with the nitrogen test. As for the blower board, they could be taking a shotgun approach to the repair and replacing parts they think could be related, but I can't say for certain, since they've seen it firsthand and I haven't (I'm also not a certified HVAC technician!). The blower could be a contributor if it's not running, since reduced airflow can contribute to icing as well. Try setting your unit on "blower only" mode, and if you get good airflow, that's probably an unnecessary replacement part. Or it would at least warrant further questioning to the repair company if it's really necessary.

I'm not sure what the wire is for without seeing a wiring diagram unfortunately. The fan screws should have no effect on icing, but it's a good idea to replace them. Remove the last one and take it to the hardware store to find a match. (Make sure you flip the breaker off first, since you don't want the unit running without it's fan attached, or spinning up while you're working on it!)

If you really think they're trying to pull one over on you, you could always get a second opinion, but you'll probably be on the hook for another $100+ basic service call fee from the next company too.


GFCI breaker is tripping when it rains on completely internal circuit I have a three story house.  The first floor is an apartment that is completely covered by the second floor.  It has it's own panel which is inside the apartment and mostly uses GFCI breakers.  There is a circuit that just provides power to a row of ceiling lights on the first floor, and it often trips during heavy rains (and can be immediately reset).

I plan on replacing the GFCI breaker, I already had one that was getting flakey and was tripping whereas it's replacement (also GFCI) would not.

But I can't figure out where the connection to the rain comes in.  The first floor is recent construction and there's nothing on that circuit that leads outside or powers anything outside.  The two floors above are dry, so unless there is a stream of rain sneaking down two floors along the inside of the walls and getting into the ceiling circuit, all without causing any visible damage, I can't quite see how the rain is the cause.

Is it possible that the breaker is getting flakey and it's just the general humidity that's causing it to trip?

Any other possibilities that I am overlooking?

People who have GFCI trips are way too quick to blame the detector rather than consider it may be doing its job.

Rain is very consistent with a genuine ground fault.  Since NM cable jacket is at least modestly effective at excluding water, you should check each of your junction boxes on the circuit for water ingress. Not because of a two-bit electrical problem, but because the water is rotting out your house.

The "ground fault" part can be tested.

Regardless of load

Ground fault current will definitely be observable if you take the hot and neutral wires and tape them together (so the two wires are right next to each other) and put the clamp meter around that.  The amount of load on the circuit won't matter, since magnetic fields from normal current will cancel out (hot current and neutral current should be equal and opposite).

If the ground fault current is returning via a ground wire, you will see it with a clamp meter on the ground wire.  The amount of load on the circuit won't matter.

Another good ground-fault test is to plug in a device via a 2-prong "cheater" (takes 3-prong, has 2-prong and a grounding tab). The tab must not touch ground and the device must not touch anything or be wired/connected to anything.  If it stops tripping the GFCI in that mode,  that means the device has a ground fault.

If all normal loads are removed

If all intended loads are off, you could also clamp the hot or the neutral.

If it's a hot-ground fault, you can also spot it by putting a neon 2-wire voltage tester or other extremely small load  in series with the hot or neutral on a circuit with no loads attached. (I don't know if the fault is on hot or neutral). The current flow will make it light.

Dimmers are loads. Did they bootleg ground?

Keep in mind dimmers, motion sensors, lighted switches, non-hand-crank timers, smart switches etc. are loads themselves.  Most of them need neutral, and often, when a neutral wire is not present in the box, the installer will bootleg neutral off of ground. This is a ground fault and will trip a GFCI.  And such loads are typically so small that they are barely at the threshold of detection for GFCIs.  As such, they don't reliably and instantly trip.

Anyway, if you had any of these ground faults, then all you did by changing GFCI is get a duller GFCI (higher threshold of detection).  You should still check for, and fix, any ground faults.


bathroom aerator doesn't want to screw tightly into place We have 2 identical faucet. We change the aerator of 1 without trouble. The second one is not staying in place. We tried to put some silicone around the threaded faucet, but it is not working. We are thinking that when we unscrew the aerator, the internal threaded must have some deposit and today it is too loose. What can we do ?

Take a rag soaked in lemon juice, vinegar or CLR and shove it up into the faucet against the internal threads for a few hours. Keep re-soaking the rag. Then brush the threads with a toothbrush and reinstall the aerator. Remember to use the washer that came with the aerator. Oh, don't use the toothbrush on your teeth...


How to slightly enlarge a worktop hole for replacement kitchen sink The task

I am replacing my kitchen sink. The existing sink sits in a rectangular hole (with rounded corners) in the kitchen worktop. The worktop is about 1½" (40mm) thick and is made of some kind of particleboard (chipboard) with a laminate top surface.

The new sink is about ⅜" (10mm) wider and the same depth front to back. However it also has a smaller overhang.

Consequently I need to make the hole about ¾" (20mm) wider and about ⅜"(10mm) deeper. If I keep the sink centered that means cutting back ⅜"(10mm) and 3/16" (5mm) from each side.

This will have to be done with the worktop in place and from the top.

Tools?

I don't have a suitable power tool (I have drills, sander, angle grinder, Dremel) so I'm wondering what to buy or hire.

From what I've read, the usual tool for this job is a jigsaw but I'm concerned that it will be difficult to cut such a thin slice around the hole using a jigsaw.

Question

Should I buy a jigsaw or a router and what issues should I look out for?

If there is adequate room at the rear of the sink, or if you worry less about centering and just do the sides and the front, a router will do the job nicely. A laminate trimmer may be a better choice on the "fit's the back of the sink" part as they have a smaller base, but they also have more limited bit size/power - still you could do it in a few passes, and they cost less to buy.

The secret to nice edges with a router is to build a fence or template - a board supported the same distance away from the desired cut as the edge of the base is from the bit. Freehanding it will tend to wander quite a bit more than following a fence. Firm control of the machine is also needed, especially when working on a narrow strip of material as you will be in this case, at least at the front.


Primer cracks once it begins to dry over new Drydex spackling Good afternoon,

We are currently working on repainting a bedroom and removed all the items from the wall(pictures, vanity, mirror etc). We completed this and then proceeded to use DryDex 16 oz. Dry Time Indicator Spackling Paste to cover up the holes/issues on the drywall. We then sanded once it was completely dry (24 hours), and wiped down the walls with a wet rag really well so there was no extra dust. We then proceeded to apply Kilz Primer (latex based) to the wall. After a few hours we noticed that the entire area we had applied kilz to that was over the spackling, was peeling!

We then tried to sand off the peeling pieces, re-spackle the areas that needed it, re-sand/clean off dust, and re-prime to the same results.

Currently at a loss of why this is happening. Both the Drydex and Kilz are brand new from the store. Bedroom is a casual household temperature (68-72). House was built in 1968 if that helps at all. What are we doing wrong and what can we do to be able to lay down paint and have a decent looking wall again? Every site I have seen doesn't seem to have a solid answer or one that we haven't tried (listed below). Thank you.

We have tried to re-do our work thinking there was a layer of dust on it.
We have sanded off the peeling pieces, re-spackle the areas that needed it, re-sand/clean off dust, applied a wall texture component to it, then primer with the same peeling results

All,

We ended up sanding off the peeled pieces, , re-spackling (using same brand but slightly older container I had in the garage), re-sand/clean, SKIPPED priming, and painted directly on it. Paint held without issues and wall looks good now. We are guessing that it was the DAP spackling and we had a bad tub that didn't handle the primer. We used the primer later in the week on a separate area and it held without issues to a different brand of spackling.

I honestly believe the overall correct answer would be Jeff Cates comment:
"Out of curiousity, I went to DAPs website and looked at reviews. An overall rating of 2.2 for this product, with lots of complaints about paint peel and bubble. I would suspect the spackle to be the issue. I keep a small amount of joint compound for repair purposes, and suggest you return the spackle. Buy a small tub of joint compound, dig the spackle out of the repair, then repair your area with the joint compound, dry, sand, prime, paint"


How to remove stubborn adhesive residue from my windows? This sounds ridiculous but I was Googling forever to no avail.
We have been scrubbing like mad for four years with all purpose cleaner.
I’m not sure what kind of product to use to clean or clean off the adhesive that’s trimming all of our vinyl windows at the window-sill interface (we had these windows installed in 2016 and no amount of elbow grease has helped).

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Four years ? Your arm must be very tired and muscular. How did you find time to google forever?
Try DuckDuckGo.
You need a razor window/glass scraper.

Use the scraper and some denatured alcohol, apply a little denatured alcohol before hand to soften it up then scrape it and  wipe with the denatured alcohol, Repeat.
You may need to CAREFULLY clean the blade with some denatured alcohol between scrapings.


Why am I getting water scaling even with a softener installed? I have a problem with higher levels of scaling around sinks and toilets and I'm wondering if someone can help.

We recently purchased an older home (35 years old), which did not have a water softener in use, at least for some time (there was an old broken one on the premises). We had a good quality softener installed about 3 months ago, and I've tested the softened water, which rates at:

18 gpg hardness on municipal water source coming into the house (very hard)
0 gpg hardness after softener (it's soft)
0.3 ppm iron (a little high but not too bad)

Scaling in the sinks, toilets, etc. was excessive before installing the softener, and it has improved now, but I'm finding we continue to have to use vinegar about every 1-2 weeks to clean scale off of sink basins, toilet bowls (and these are toilets used daily), as well as counter tops, etc.

Is this to be expected? I'm curious as to why if water hardness is at 0 (or sometimes 1) gpg there is so much scale. My only thought it it's build-up on the plumbing between the softener and the taps, etc. that is going to take time to disappear and is perhaps being loosened by the softener.

It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the hot water tanks as the build-up is just as noticeable in the toilets (cold water) as the sinks (mix of cold source and hot tank).

I have considered flushing the hot water tanks but I don't believe it's the cause based on the above.

Any input would be really appreciated.

As a guess, the pipes got layered internally in scale, that will come out over some time (dissolving into the now softer water). Some large chunks may require filter screens, shower heads and valves to be soaked in your vinegar or CLR (containing lactic and gluconic acids).

I know boilers get descaling treatment, but I've not heard of the same with standard pipes. If they were quickly descaled, there might be a large amount of debris, which would necessitate disassembly (washer inlet filters, refrigerator water connections, shower valves, toilet valves). Perhaps all the hose hookup devices could be disconnected for the treatment


Should I be worried if grease leaks from inside the new electric drill? I've just received my newly ordered drilling kit (Skil 6513 550 watts 13 mm Impact Drill). I found  some sort of grease or oil around the chuck (on its surface) as soon as I opened the package and dust was around it which I cleaned it now.

Originally, I received another machine and I saw the same grease (in a different place, i.e, near the cord) so I requested for a replacement then and got this new one with a similar issue.

What made me worrying?

E-commerce websites like Amazon & Flipkart are sending refurbished products these days and I am extremely worried about tools which needed to use for a
long time.
Earlier, I received a refurbished one and it was proved
The original serial number on the drill machine was covered by
another (a sticker)
The cord has scratches on it and I'm worried whether it lasts long

Could anybody tell me in what circumstances grease leaks from inside the drill machine? Also, other tools like pliers were not fixed well in the case and I saw them shuffled. Will that damage the drill kit?

It's a tool, and they use grease during assembly. The jaws of the chuck should have grease on the outer surface where they meet the collar. Spots of grease elsewhere are incidental and shouldn't be cause for concern. Those aren't necessarily assembled in "white glove" conditions.

Further, once you use it, since it has moving/spinning parts, you might see excess grease weep out in places. Again, I wouldn't be concerned as long as it operates smoothly without harsh grinding or other noises.


Can a gas dryer be converted into an electric dryer? I am moving to an all electric apartment and have a gas dryer. It is 3 years old. Can it be converted to an electric dryer? How would I find someone to do this?

In general, no you can't do this.

I suppose it's possible that the manufacturer uses many of the same parts between their gas and electric models and you could buy enough parts to do a conversion, but this would likely cost more than just buying an electric dryer in the first place.

But I've never seen a supported conversion kit - my advice: sell the gas dryer  and buy an electric.


Do I need a vent fan in an interior laundry room? I am renovating a few rooms including an existing laundry room. It currently has one exterior window and another openable window onto an existing mudroom (which also has exterior windows).

After the renovation, the laundry will lose the exterior window as an existing bathroom is extended. The interior window into the mudroom will survive.

Does the Uniform Building Code require that a room with no exterior windows have an exhaust vent fan? Does the existence of the interior openable window into a room with exterior windows have a bearing on that? (I do realize that local regulations may vary from the Uniform Code, but my jurisdiction generally follows those regs.)

[I know there is a related question here, but I have no air conditioning and I am wondering about the additional interior window.]

No, this is not a code requirement for laundry rooms in dwelling units (at least in the 2012 IBC).

In fact, most dryers are essentially acting as exhaust fans when they run because they take air from the room and exhaust it outside.


Pre - Flared copper pipes for HVAC Unit? Advantages / Disadvantages? I bought several HVAC to be installed as heating / cooling in a house I own. The most difficult part seems to be the flaring connection of the copper pipe tubing. Now I discovered that you can buy "pre-flared" copper piping. Does anyone have experience using these? (For example available here: (https://www.saturnsales.co.uk/Flared-Copper-Pipes-1/4-1/2.html).
Advantages:
-No need to buy tools
-Save time
-The most difficult installation part can be ommited
-If retailer can be trusted - high quality
Disadvantages
-Higher price?
-Bad quality?

I always prefer to flare my own copper tubing (not pipe). By making my own flares I do not have to allow for a line that may be longer than what is actually needed. My preferred flare block is a Ridgid ratcheting flare block that I bought in about 1970 and still makes perfect flares.


How can I store PVC pipe in the sun and prevent UV degradation? I handle the PVC pipe storage system in the yard for my company. The yard  is a totally open area and pipe is directly exposed to sun light. In the summer the sun is high and due to this lots of pipe gets damaged due to sun burn/degradation and yellowish and brownish marks appear.
How can I save these pipes from becoming scrap without using any roof or shed?

PVC breaks down when exposed to sunlight as do all plastics.  Some PVC-based products have additives to slow down the degradation but there is ultimately no way of stopping it.  Left exposed long enough, it will break down.
Your question, I think, is really: "How long can I leave PVC exposed to sunlight before the degradation affects its marketability?"
The answer is: "It depends!"
It depends on the individual product and its material properties as well as things like the intensity and duration of sunlight.  (Think Seattle, WA vs. Tucson, AZ)  It's also going to depend on the opinion of your customers and how much exposure they will accept.
I can only see two options:

Reduce the amount of time the PVC sits in your yard.
Cover the PVC somehow so that it doesn't get exposed.

There are no "miracle" solutions that I am aware of.


Opening caulk tube with threaded nozzle I've just got a tube of XtraBond250 sealant with a threaded nozzle. It's not at all clear how to get started. Do I puncture the tube at the male threaded end? Or cut off the conical portion of the the threaded part? Or ...? And then how to seal it back up when I'm done in case I need more in the future?

Cut off the tip of the conical stub. Doesn't much matter how large the opening ends up being, but don't go past the tapered part. There's no reason to do so.

Then, start with the smallest opening on the nozzle that you think will do the job. Less caulk is better, and you can always open it further.

To seal it, I typically wrap tape around the end of the nozzle in a cylinder, pinch the end closed, and squeeze caulk into it. This creates a self-sealing plug that can be easily pulled off later.


Gas ranges and the need for electicity Does a gas range need any electicity to keep or start the pilot light going? or if there is a power failure will the gas range still work?

A gas range with a pilot light doesn't need electricity because it has a pilot light. A gas range with electric ignition needs electricity for the electric ignitors. If the power goes out, an electrically-ignited range will work just fine because you can simply light the gas yourself with a match.


Concrete vs suspended floor over vapor barrier Our house has a sizable crawl space large enough to use as storage. The space has no slab covering it, but due to radon issues, it does have a vapor barrier to maintain a suction for the radon mitigation unit and to keep radon from seeping into the basement.

In order to use the space for storage, we'll need to put down a floor in order to protect the vapor barrier. Would it be best to poor a concert slab to cover the barrier? Or could we attach brackets to the walls, run joists above the ground and barrier, and just build a wooden floor above that?

Is your current setup like one pictured on this site?

What do you mean by "best"? Building a subfloor will be more expensive, but you can probably use your current radon system. Pouring concrete will be a cheaper floor option, but it might not be compatible with your radon system, and refitting it would drive the cost up.

The wood floor would be the easiest to do yourself if you know enough about carpentry to build a deck.


Transfer switch connected to neutral and ground in sub-panel instead of main panel I am planning to add a Reliance 31406 CRK transfer switch using a bonded neutral generator. I can undo the generator bonding if needed. I have a main panel and a sub panel. One of the switches I want to transfer is on the sub panel and one of the switches is on the main panel. I am stuck on where to connect the neutral and ground wires coming out of the transfer switch. I have easy access to the sub panel and can connect there (as shown in the attacked drawing) but don't know if that is appropriate.

Nope.  This question comes up a lot on here, and you can't do it because it creates a paralleling problem with the neutrals.
These Reliance switches are designed for one thing: to provide a generator salesman a switch to offer to anyone without having to understand or investigate their panel.  But they aren't well made, and they have a lot of limitations -- GFCI/AFCI support is a serious problem.  And because of how they mishandle neutrals, supporting 2 separate panels is simply out of the question.
Your only Reliance-side option is to move the circuit in question so it's in the same panel with all the other circuits.
The better way to do it is to do what the generator salesman was trying to avoid: Evaluate your main panel for the feasibility of fitting a Generator Interlock.  That lets you feed the entire main service panel (and subpanel too!) from the generator; on the proviso that you limit appliance use (or turn some off) to keep current draw within the generator's range.   That will neatly moot your entire problem.


Is caulk sufficient to seal around my new bathtub? I installed a new tub which does not have a flange.

Before I put up Duraboard what product, if any, should be used to seal the space outside of the tub's edge (garden/jacuzzi type of bathtub edge). The tub is set on the floor and has 2X4's used for leveling under its edges (alcove type of install).

Once Duraboard is put up there will be open space past the tub's edge.

After tile is put up then only the line of caulk would be preventing water from getting inside the wall.
Is caulk enough, or what other sealant should I apply to close that gap?

No, that's not sufficient.

I would epoxy a flange to the tub.  And then for good measure use some roofing tape (which is flexible) to backstop the flange.  And maybe for really good measure install a pan under the tub, or a the very least some building paper leading to a visible spot below (so you quickly detect any leak).

Remember that most building materials can survive getting wet periodically.
No building material can survive staying wet.  Trapped water means mold, rust and worse.


Garage belly board needs fixing My garage was built quite a while ago, and the belly boards need some fixing. They are either seeping moisture into the garage or leaking from cracks. I'm wondering if people think I should replace the boards entirely or try to seal them up with more material over them?
Here are some shots for reference:

This side of the house the board is below the sidewalk a bit. The boards closer to the door (in the pictures above) have started to bulge, there are large gaps at the tongue and groove where they fit together. I sprayed some foam in the visible gaps to stop rats from getting in and prevent any leaks (the yellow foam can be seen in the shot, it's sort of faint). There is moisture seeping into the garage still though, when it rains hard, some new plywood siding I put up inside the garage is starting to look moist down towards the floor.
The other side of the house is worse I think. No visible gaps, but the boards are super worn. I recently cleared out a ton of brush on this side, there were two large butterfly bush trees wedged between the garage and fence that I took out. I think these boards are also seeping moisture into the garage (might start leaking more now that I took the trees out).

Should I for sure go to the trouble to replace the boards? Seems like it might be doable to seal them up with more material, and that the job would be easier.
Update 4/28/2020
I ended up purchasing some white aluminum siding and slid it up under the siding as recommended by Ed Beal, also sprayed a bleach solution as recommended by JACK beforehand. Thanks for the recommendations guys!

Seeping moisture or leaking from cracks, either one is not good. Yes, sealing and or patching will be much easier but it's something you'd have to do every year as the problem gets worse. If those boards have been exposed to moisture over the years, they are probably starting to rot from the insides.
Give them a good pressure cleaning and check them out more thoroughly. If  they appear to be in good condition, I'd think about covering them with one of the many roofing membranes that are out there. If they show signs of rotting, then starting to replace them will be your best bet.


Water line won't stay connected to aftermarket freezer port We have a Whirlpool model ET1MHKXMT01.  Apparently an aftermarket top freezer icemaker was installed in unit and had been working fine for years.

At some point moving the fridge appears to have caused the a line that runs into the back of the ice maker on the freezer to disconnect, possibly break.  We tried to reconnect it but the line keeps popping out now whenever the ice maker pulls water.  A repair guy told me there is some clip missing he can't find anywhere.

I called a parts for whirlpool but hey said the original does not show these parts.

I wondering if that port is part of the fridge or the icemaker?  Note a metal ring inside the water line.
wondering if these are factory or aftermarket and what fix i can make?  do most after market ice makers come with this hardware?

Below are images of after market ice makers.  Are we missing any of these parts. Is this a repair we can do from the back?

My water line end looks like this (NOT ACTUAL):

updated port pic. waiting on better line pic

It is very common in refrigerators to use push-to-connect fittings for joining polypropylene water lines. If that is the kind of connector in use previously, yours appears to be broken (some examples here and here) and the metal ring is likely part of the broken connector.

If the fridge was never sold with an ice maker, then it would have not had any need for a water intake port. Therefore, that part must have been part of the aftermarket kit used. What you may want to consider instead of looking at the model number of the fridge is looking for a model number/manufacturer for the ice maker. If you can find one (you might need to remove a panel or take the ice maker loose to find it) you may be able to use that to track down a replacement part instead.

If you can't find a replacement port, consider just drilling a slightly larger hole in the port and replacing the existing polypropylene line all the way up to the ice maker with a slightly longer water line and use a connector on the outside of the fridge such as this, this, or this. You can usually get replacement polypropylene hoses at home depot or lowes by the foot. You may also be able to find the push-to-connect fittings too - just make sure they are the right size and you don't break the one going into your ice maker too!


New Construction Home - Basement My family is building a new home and the weather hasn't been cooperating. We have two big concerns that we have brought to the builder. We are looking for some advice regarding these concerns.

Concern #1 - The basement was poured in early June, it has since been sitting open and has had several feet of water sitting in it. There is potential to have more water sitting, as they aren't planning on framing until Aug. 10th. Therefore, the basement will have sat open, with standing water for nearly 8 weeks. The basement has poured walls, that is the extent of our knowledge on the concrete. The concern is how the sitting water may affect the basement in the future.

Concern # 2 - At the beginning of July, the trusses were delivered. They are not protected from the weather. By the time they begin building, they will have sat exposed for 5 weeks. Again, what is the potential damage?

Facts to bring to the builder in reference to these concerns?

Thank you!
MI

As long as the concrete and some time after pouring to set up, water won't hurt anything (they make swimming pools out of concrete). Granted, you'll want it all pumped out and dried out before framing, though.

As for the wood, no real damage should come about after 5 week of being exposed to the weather.

You certainly don't want to leave your framing exposed all winter. And if you are using chip board for subfloors or sheathing, you want to avoid having that exposed at all (unless they are rated for exposure). But for the most part, most houses are exposed to the elements for a few weeks. It's fine as long as things are given a chance to fully dry out before they close it all up.


How to paint the wall with gradient patterns? I want to paint the wall of my bedroom like below. I have enough painting skills to paint the whole house, straight. So I believe I can pull this out. But I wanted check about the methods.

For the color tones, can I use those 2 edge colors(dark blue & beige), and white to tone them, and to give the gradient look for each layer?
What are those colors?
What kind of tools I need? A regular brush for all of it? Or brush for the
edges, and a roller for the insides?
What kind of paint I need? Wall paint? or should I use some kind of
oil paint?  Acrylic or watercolor?
Is this doable for an amateur?

A quart typically covers ~ 100 sqft.  A pint or 8oz per color ought to do it.  Pints at a big box store are less than $5, and one store seems to have a 50% sale on these sizes.

To find works by other people, Google image search for: mountain wall mural layered. In comparing them, try to identify particular aspects of the ones you like that make them work so well.  Also, relative to those murals, take into account your flooring color, furniture colors etc.  This will aid in assessing whether to 'tint with white' or get the store to mix each tint.

Print out a color image of mural of your choice (maybe take the URLs to Kinkos or Staples or a photo store and ask them to print it to 'match'), take the print to the paint store, find color swatches that match.

Here is a blog post that describes the tinting:

http://www.trailtosummit.com/create-a-mountain-mural/

Here are very detailed step instructions, including wine and including a photo showing all their paint chips with codes:

http://kristinatravels.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-to-paint-mountain-mural.html

Your person wrote a blog post about her process:

http://pamlostracco.blogspot.com/2014/05/mountain-mural.html

Here are time lapse videos showing a different people doing similar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQGZi75w5LY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPE5G2SR0Zs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVQ8mPmSZS8


Circuit Breaker installation Why is it so difficult to put a circuit breaker in?  I push the plastic part in but the steel contact does not go in. I broke a single 20 amp...any tricks?  My panel is a FPE.

You have a FPE panel, so why are you trying to put breakers in it? Just replace the entire panel, as the panel is telling you to...the fact you can't stick a breaker in easily should be a gigantic red flag that something is badly broken inside and you shouldn't bother trying to repair it!


Roof Rafter/Beam Joint pulling apart and sagging There is a joint in my attic where 4 beams or rafters meet. Someone used a 2x4 to support one of the beams, but it did not work because the beam was in two sections.As you can see in the pictures, there is a couple of inches in sag, and the rafters are beginning to pull apart. I was considering putting a 2x6 across the ceiling joists on top of a wall, then hammering in a 2x4 to "jack" up the joists. I am new to this forum and not a construction expert. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It looks as though this thing was built out of scraps pieced together.  There is just no way this is ever going to be sound the way it is.

I think your best course of action is to build some temporary supports to keep the roof from collapsing, pull out the substandard rafters and rebuild using correctly sized lumber, supported properly.

If you're in doubt about how to do this, you may want to hire a professional.  I wish there was some quick and east fix but unfortunately I just don't see that in this case.


Help Identifying toilet tank make and model I am trying to identify the make and model number of this toilet tank so I can replace the insides which is old and disintegrating and causing flushing and leaking issues.
Based on the fill valve inside the tank it might be a Mansfield but I am not sure about that since I can't find a matching image on https://www.plumbingsupply.com/mansfield-toilets.html or anywhere else online.
Can anyone definitively identify this toilet tank? any images or online sources would be greatly appreciated.

That looks like fairly typical old toilet guts. You should be able to replace with any "standard" kit - Fluidmaster, Danco, etc. The parts are actually (a bit surprisingly) very much standardized. I suggest making sure it is a kit that is adjustable to handle the old (water wasting) and new (low flow) toilets. 1993 was in the middle of the transition to low flow toilets, so it is hard to guess what type yours is. I would replace everything inside the tank at one time.


Which paint colors require gray primer? I was told that red and deep blue paints required gray (high hiding) primer. I used it before I painted my living room red. But how do I know which other paint colors do vs. just regular white primer?

E.g., I'm getting ready to paint some millwork coffee brown-ish. Should I use gray or is white fine?

I'd consider any color that's darker than the gray primer itself to be better suited to gray primer. It's not just about color hiding, but also edge exposure. If you prime with white and then paint a dark or bold color, it's possible that fringe white will show where you've masked, etc.


Whole house humidifier when furnace is in unconditioned space I have 2 furnaces, one in the garage and one in the attic. These are both spaces with unconditioned air, so they get very cold in the winter. The contractor who helped me configure my garage furnace told me that he rarely recommends condensing (high-efficiency) furnaces in unconditioned spaces as the water condensate they discharge can freeze, and then the furnace may not turn out until it's thawed. Another issue in unconditioned spaces is placing a humidifier. My original garage furnace was attached to a humidifier that froze and broke.

It's now autumn and my furnaces are heating the house significantly. As a result, they're sapping all the humidity from the air in the house and we're feeling very dry.

Is there a way to install a large or central humidifier that will not freeze? Does it need to be installed in the unconditioned spaces with the furnaces, or can it be installed elsewhere in the system?

It does not need to be installed in the unconditioned space near the furnace. It should be in the duct that feeds all the others. Look for a powered humidifier. It will need a 120V outlet, water supply, water drain and it will need low voltage wires connecting it to the humidistat and the furnace. If the duct that feeds all the branch ducts is in an unconditioned space then you may have an issue.


Does my toilet have a manufacturing defect? I purchased a Kohler toilet about 6 months ago for my bath remodel. I finally got the bath finished after a sequence of delays. The toilet is about 1/8" off level in the rear (see photo) and rocks significantly. BTW, this was not a cheap toilet so I'm a bit miffed. Before I try to exchanged it, I wanted to check if it's reasonable to do so. I know I can shim it but I feel like this is a manufacturing defect that shouldn't have left the factory. It's a Kohler Cimarron from HD.

I know this is an old thread but in case more people come across it I have added this post.
I have a brand new Kohler Ciimarron elongated bowl toilet that I installed and had the same issue with wobble. I pulled the toilet and used a straight edge just as you did in the photo. It has the same issue of the small support ribs are taller than the outside rim by  strong 1/8”. The casting is defective. Yes they are made in a mold but there is the opportunity for defects even then . poor quality control on Kohler’s end. I am returning it right now. I will try a different brand. My guess is that they are all manufactured overseas which adds to the issue.


Pilot Light keeps going out when thermostat is kicking on furnace So I have had furnace man come out 4 times, plus the Gas company.  Here is what has been done:
- New thermocoupler
- Two new gas valves
- New Orface and line blown out
- Gas company changed gas valve on outside of building.

Everytime I hear the "click" like the furnace is going to go on I listen for the burners to come on which is 99.9% of the time, never.  It seems the thermostat is sending its signal to the furnace to start but with that "click" the pilot light goes out.  Talked to two other furnace people and they have no clue either, other to say bad thermocoupler.  WTH is wrong with this thing. Been good for years and just started this crap last November 2017.

A good serviceman should be able to figure out what the problem is and how to correct it. Things to check; does the inlet gas pressure fall when the gas valve clicks, does the pilot go out instantly, is it blowing out or is the gas pressure to the pilot changing, did you keep the old gas valve for reference or throw it away? If you can, post a few pictures of the furnace and gas line connections at the furnace and state the furnace make and model and where you live.


Dresser/Chest with convex front I'm contemplating building a dresser and am looking at designs and such to get my creative juices flowing. Today I noticed that some dressers/chests have concave or outwardly curving drawers on the front face. Usually I can figure out how to do most woodworking feats, but I'm not sure about this one. Some ideas I have:

By hand with a planer/sander
Some sort of CNC planer that makes curves
Steam the wood and bend to shape

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Build up the piece in layers.  It's a lot easier to bend a thin sheet of wood, then bending say a 3/4" piece. The basic idea here is to create an arched piece of plywood.

Start with a thin sheet of wood 1/8" to 1/4" depending on the type of wood, and the finished pieces thickness.
soak the sheet in water until it is pliable.
Using clamps or a jig, bend the sheet past the desired arc (the board will lose some of the bend when the clamps are removed).
Let dry, or heat and let cool.
Repeat this procedure with as many sheets as it takes to get your final thickness, making sure each sheet fits perfectly over the previous one.
Using glue and some clamps glue all the pieces together to form a single piece.
Trim to size, sand, and finish.


Is rigid foam on rim board in basement worth doing if walls aren't insulated? We bought an older home that we use more as an office. The basement is totally uninsulated including the rim joists. Last winter, it got really cold down there to the point that the floors upstairs also were cold. So I know the rim joists need to be insulated cause they're exposed to the outside with only the siding and what looks like no insulation behind the siding (in the basement only).

If I only installed rigid foam on the rim board, would that make a substantial dent in reducing the cold or would that only be a drop in the bucket? I'm not interested in insulating the basement walls cause it's more an office than our home and it doesn't get down to zero every year but if it would make the basement just cool/cold instead of frigid, I'd be happy with that.

Nothing below grade needs to be insulated in most regions.  If you are in Canada or very north part of the world insulating the whole wall is advised but not for those below the border.

I have done a lot of basements.  I insulate walls a foot below grade - to create a pure stop of airflow down.

With no wall we stuff as much rockwool in the rim joists as it will hold and sometimes throw a strap or two in to help.  Two sheets of rockwool is the norm (depth-wise).  You will notice a dramatic difference within a day.  Spray foam will provide the same results (maybe slightly better) but if I need to move an electrical/plumbing/gas line it is very easy to move the rockwool comparatively.


Can a through-the-wall A/C unit be mounted in a window? I've seen many posts about how you can't install a window AC unit through the wall. However, I have the opposite question. Can you install a through-the-wall AC unit in a window? It seems like someone would have created the hardware to do so, but I can't find it.
Specifically, window AC units have a bracket on them that secure them when the window closes on them. Essentially, I would be looking for a sleeve like you have in the wall, but with the appropriate hardware to mount in a window.
I know it's not as efficient as a window AC unit, but we moved into an apartment without a wall sleeve, so we would rather not buy another unit.

Wow and here after all these years I thought they were the same thing.
Well they are the same, basically. The part that is critical is the external vents can not be blocked by the wall, and that’s where the problem comes in - because of the thickness of the wall. However, going from a wall mount to a window should be no problem at all, other than the mount and making sure to tilt it just enough that the condensate drains outside.
I state this with the understanding that the unit has the normal fully enclosed system except the coils and air vents (I have not seen one that was not enclosed, but wanted to cover all the bases).


How can can I get replacement wood siding to match the existing siding? I have some wood siding on my house that is rotting and crumbling away.  Here are some pictures of what I am talking about:

What kind of wood is this?  If I buy new boards likely it is not going to match whatever I don't replace.  What can I do to make everything match?

Best guess is that's cedar, which should be easy enough to find at a home center or cedar dealer. It won't be gray like that when you purchase it but you can leave it outside untreated for a summer or two and it should gray up nicely. There are chemical "graying" agents that you could buy if your in a hurry but I generally find letting nature take its course is better. Looks like in the second picture your substructure might need a bit of attention too. Don't cover up rot or moisture or you'll be doing this again much sooner than you'd like. Cheers


Is it safe to store a wheel/tire set in my garage loft area? I'm not sure how much they weigh. I assume around 50lbs a piece. Here is the area I will store them in:

Any specific way I should arrange the load or am I worrying too much?

I'm no expert, but I suspect that there won't be any harm in storing them there. I assume, they are just your seasonal tires? Someone had to be up there to install the shelving, which would have been more weight concentrated in a smaller area (a foot). So the distributed weight of the tires should have no effect. In my In-laws garage, they store all sorts of stuff up there, bins and boxes full of clothes and other things.


4-Way Switch Problem I purchased several hundred dollars worth of Legrand Radiant electrical outlets and switches in Graphite color for my home. All went well until I ran into a 4-way circuit (One light, two 3-way switches, and one 4-way switch). Problem is that Legrand doesn’t make a Graphite 4-way switch in their Radiant product line. Aside from installing a mis-matched color 4-way switch, are there any wiring alternatives to get around this problem? One option I considered and that I could easily agree to, is to eliminate the last 3-way switch and just install a color matched (but non-functioning) switch as we never use that switch for the light anyway. Is that possible? Are there any other working alternatives, possibly a dimmer in place of the 4-way?

Leviton offers a color change kit for their switches. Legrand may offer the same, or you may simply be able to take a Graphite 3-way and a White (or other color) 4-way and pop the Graphite plastic cover off the 3-way and put it on the 4-way. It gets back to the "too many SKUs" problem I keep encountering - they don't sell enough 4-ways to justify producing/stocking 4-way versions of every color, but the mechanical/electronic parts are the same for all colors, so just switch the colorful parts.


Can I remove this plastic elbow inside my kitchen tap? Context:

I want to replace the tap nozzle of my kitchen tap to use an water-saving aerator. I have bought one and tried to install it. However, it doesn't fit due to a plastic elbow inside my tap. I am wondering whether I could get rid of this elbow.

Problem:

The aerator I bought has a convex plastic part (picture A, blue arrow) that protects the ball joint. When I try to mount the aerator, this ball joint protection hits a plastic elbow inside the tap hollow (picture B, yellow). The elbow is itself connected to a soft pipe (picture B, green). So there is a pipe inside the tap.

A/
B/

As far as I've understood/tested it, the pipe carries hot water, while the rest of the tap hollow is where cold water runs. It's the first time I see such "mechanism" (and the first time I'm living in the UK, as it may be correlated). The original nose (picture C) has two specific areas: the inner circle fitting the end of the elbow (same diameters: see red arrows in pictures B and C), and the outside - for hot and cold water, respectively.

C/

Question:

Can I safely remove the black elbow (yellow arrow, in picture B) from the tap?

As it is the first time I see such "mechanism", I am not so sure about the do's and don't's of it and why it exists. I am notably think of health issues (hot water contaminating cold water?), as well as preventing future leaks.

There is no heath issue to be concerned about from mixing hot and cold water.   You can remove that black elbow.


How hot can/should an outlet get? While microwaving my dinner today, I measured the temperature of the outlet the microwave was plugged into.  At the end of the 12-minute cook cycle, the hottest part of the outlet measured 160F.  Is this a reasonable/safe temperature, or should I look into replacing the outlet?  If I should replace it, should I replace it with a 15-amp outlet or a 20-amp outlet?

The outlet is a 15-amp outlet attached to a 20-amp breaker, and is about 40 years old (as is the rest of the wiring).  The microwave draws, according to a Kill-A-Watt, exactly 15 amps.

Older receptacles tend to lose their "grip" on the prongs of a plug. Many times this higher resistance connection creates a lot of heat. This is a VERY common problem with dryer receptacles for some reason.

I would definitely change the receptacle. Keep in mind, a 15A duplex receptacle is TWO 15A receptacles on a single device yoke. It is a 20A feed-thru device. So it is perfectly fine, safe and legal to use on a 20A circuit. A microwave would never be considered a continuous load so the 15A actual load is also fine, especially considering the 15A cord plug it has.

It is no problem to use a 20A receptacle, but there is NO benefit other than the prong configuration, unless of course you have appliances that have a 20A plug. In a home this is highly unlikely.

In high draw areas I like to suggest better quality spec-grade receptacles. They are made with stronger materials and have a much better grip on plugs. In my business I like to use them everywhere in fact. The couple of dollars difference is negligible in the long run.

My personal suggestion would be to change all the receptacles in the kitchen while you're at it and use GFI's at the beginning of the circuits for the countertop areas.


Oil heater in a large room I'm about to by an oil heater. One of the properties of a heater is the area of the room that the heater can heat. Say 15 m^2 or 20 m^2.
The question is: what will be if I use the heater in a larger room? Will it just do it's best without heating the room to desired temperature or will it break somehow?

The ultimate effect will depend on the exact heater.

In general it will always be working flat out as it can't put out enough heat to raise the room temperature to the desired level. This could shorten it's operational life.

You'll also have a cold room.


Outlet causes breaker/fuse to trip but why Been living in my house for 9 years.  I've got a certain outlet in my master bedroom that just started doing something strange.

Let's say I have a light on in my master bedroom...and I try to plug in my phone charger into this outlet.  It causes everything in my bedroom to go out.  I went downstairs to the fuse panel and see master bedroom has been tripped.  I flip it off and back on and try again to plug something into this outlet.  Sure enough it goes out again...

What exactly is causing this to happen.  Is it a bad connection or bad outlet or bad break or....

I've used this outlet generally to plug in my phone or tablet for charging...nothing else.  Now it's tripping the fuse causing me to lose power in this room.  I called an electrician and he said he'd charge me 100 bucks just to look at it.  Can anyone give me some ideas of what this could be.

Additional note this is just a standard outlet, it doesn't have a reset button, it just has two outlets to plug things in.

Let's start with what it likely is NOT:

You plugged in multiple devices and they all trip the breaker. Therefore, it's very unlikely a bad device is shorting out the circuit. A phone charger, tablet etc. draws such tiny amps, it's very unlikely you're overloading the circuit. It's possible you have a bad breaker or other issue. But, also unlikely since other devices on that circuit work (lights etc.)

I'd bet with 90% certainty you have a bad receptacle. They are about $5 - $10 at Home Depot / Lowes. An electrician might charge you a minimum ($100 sounds reasonable) to replace it. It's pretty simple to do yourself. That said, I would not recommend someone who is totally void of any electrical understanding do this.

Here's a good answer on doing that yourself: How do I safely replace a worn out electrical outlet?


How does central vacuum suction compare to regular vacuum? We recently moved into a new home with central vac. The vacuum unit is in the garage, as is typically the case, and seems to be in good working condition. I cleaned the "bucket" underneath and made sure the grid inside is free of dirt/lint etc.

It seems to me the suction when actually using the central vac system is not quite as powerful when compared to a regular vacuum. I can understand that the system is much "bigger" i.e lots of air in the pipes and much longer distance for particles to travel.

Is it expected that the suction should not be as strong as regular vac or am I dealing with a blockage or perhaps under spec vac?

I'm answering my own question here - maybe and admin can move this as a comment to my original question:

I did some more research on how to detect and clear blockage in central vac system. I disconnected the vac bucket from the unit and then used a regular vacuum at each outlet. At one of them, a huge amount of debris came out, including a "fabric softener" sheet and some other bits of dirt. This must have clogged the system enough to drastically reduce suction.

The change in power is unbelievable.  Certainly more powerful suction now than my regular vacuum.


How to bury cable with the intention of adding lighting? So I am refurbishing a 50 metre long concrete path.

I am burying:

NYY cable run for water pump
NYY cable run for outbuilding
NYY cable run for lighting
2 * PVC water pipes for water to and from pump

The outbuilding is already connected to electricity, so it's just a case of burying the cable, and the water pump is already in place. However I don't have lighting in place for the path, and I haven't really thought about it yet.

So my question is this sensible? Do I need to install some kind of junction boxes so it's easy to connect the cable up to subsequent lighting posts? (I have a second outbuilding that's not connected to electricity currently, I guess this might need a connection subsequently).

In my opinion the best thing to do with "intention of future..." is empty conduit. Under NEC rules, 18" deep unless protected by various means (such as a concrete path on top) which alter the required burial depth. Your local rules may vary, since I also don't recognize "NYY" as a cable type I'm familiar with in North America.

Buried cable is making a bet that you guessed right. Conduit lets you guess right about where it goes, without concern about the actual wiring until you get to that point, and you can change it out later if need be, without having to dig the trench again.

I like to add at least one more conduit than I know what I'm using them for - conduit is cheap, trenches are expensive.


How to repair a basement ceiling's old school interlocking tiles? I'd like to repair this hole, but I am running into trouble as I've tried rotating the fallen tiles every which way, but nothing seems to work. Don't know if I have to start from or work back to the edge of the ceiling, and/or if I need new tiles (I only show one, but given the fact that they were loose and fell on their own, I don't want to rule that out) to replace the fallen ones.

I think you may need a whole bunch of new ones, or a completely different ceiling system (as you prefer). Those should be attached to the ceiling structure, and the backside of the fallen one looks like parts that should support it are ripped away.

It's been a long time since I have used any of these - I vaguely recall that they would latch into others on two sides, covering the fasteners (staples, usually) of the ones they locked into, get stapled on the exposed sides, and have the next tile cover up their staples. So your expectation of having to work to a wall sounds about right.

A grid-type suspended ceiling system is similar, but gives better access above it if needed as the panels just sit in the frame; though it takes up a bit more headroom (which you might not want in a basement.) You could drywall and have similar height (it may be "louder", though), or you can find this type of acoustic tiles (but you're probably going to have to replace them all, for color & pattern match if nothing else. 30-40 years of aging shows when you put a new one right next to it.)


Electrical: How do I connect copper ground wire to metal wire passing through switch box? I'm replacing a light switch with a smart home keypad (Insteon KeypadLinc).

The wall receptacle has three conduits coming into it, each of which has three wires coming out: one in a black plastic sheath (line/load), one in a white plastic sheath (neutral), and one that is bare metal (which I think is ground). Here's what that looks like:

The switch I'm installing has four wires that need to be hooked up: line, load, neutral and ground. For ground, it has a bare copper wire. (You can see it in the middle of the photo.)

I was able to hook up line, load and neutral just fine by using twist-on wire nuts to connect them to the right places, but I'm not sure what to do about the ground. The bare metal wires coming out of the conduits that feed into the receptacle exit through a hole in the top of the receptacle and continue their journey onwards to somewhere else, so they don't have an "end" that I can stick a twist-on wire nut on. How do I connect the end of my copper ground wire from the switch to one of those grounded metal wires?

As you can see, what I've done for now is I've made a little loop at the end of the copper wire and looped it around one of the metal wires. This "works", in the sense that my multimeter tells me that there's 120V between line and the copper ground wire, but obviously it's an awful connection and I need to do something better.

How do I connect these?

P.S. I don't think this is relevant, but here's what I've worked out all the wires coming into the box do:

Conduit #1: line from power source, neutral, ground
Conduit #2: load to ceiling fan, neutral, ground
Conduit #3: load to next thing in the circuit (maybe an outlet?), neutral, ground

Each of the 'conduits' as you say, have an uninsulated ground conductor.  If there are three such 'conduits' then there has to be a splice joining them.  Add your ground there.

I've installed many insteon devices before.  The first thing I do, and my best advise, is to spread out all the wiring after removing he old switch and before installing the new, to know absolutely what you have to work with.

If you absolutely have to connect to a ground without cutting and splicing the original, I would recommend a split bolt.

It's going to look weird as hell in an outlet box, but if you thoroughly clean/abrade the existing ground so it makes good contact, a split bolt should do the trick


What does "bonding" mean with respect to wiring in an outbuilding? In this statement, "You'll have to install an adequate grounding electrode system at the outbuilding, and bond the grounding conductor to it, "What is meant by bonding?"

Bonding in the context you have provided means to connect or otherwise attach one item to another. Your grounding electrode system can be and frequently is an eight-foot copper clad rod embedded in the ground. Depending on the composition of your earth, it may be necessary to increase the length and depth. Consult your local codes regarding earth ground requirements.

The other part of the bonding is the segment of copper wire attached to the aforementioned ground rod. That is frequently a simple clamp available at big-box hardware stores and is called a grounding clamp. Imagine that. The ground wire also should meet local codes regarding wire gauge, often number six gauge (or at least in my area it is) and is fastened to the ground rod at one end and secured to the enclosure/panel at the other. The ground at the panel shares the connection with the ground lug for the breakers as well.


Backed up toilet, I can't remove the water from the bowl My toilet is backed up and I have been plunging for hours now. As I was plunging it started overflowing with water. So, I used my shop vac to take some of the water out but as much as I was draining, it was filling back up.

I turned the water to the toilet off, but it is still filling right back up to the top of the bowl. It is only affecting this toilet and all the other drains are working fine.

Any clue why it is filling back up or any fixes to this problem?

Three things:

Either you didn't get the toilet valve shut off completely.
Or, the water from the tank is filling the bowl and it will stop once that is empty.
If this is a basement toilet, it is also possible the main line is clogged and all drain water is backing up into the toilet. But you said all the other drains are fine. It may be they are just draining into the basement toilet.

Go back and re-check the toilet valve to make sure it is shut off completely. If this fails to stop the water shut off the main valve for the whole house while you correct the problem.

Plungers don't work on serious clogs you may need to buy or rent a drain snake.

If all else fails, call a drain cleaning service. They have heavy duty equipment for these emergencies.

Good luck!


How can I secure windows which have been bypassed in my security system because they're open? I have noticed that I cannot activate my home security system when a window(s) is/are open without bypassing the window(s) which is/are open. If I keep the window open and bypass it, how can I better secure that or those window(s)?

If the existing sensor is a surface mounted magnet / reed type, it's very easy to add a magnet.  You want the sensor about halfway up the window, and two magnets on the window:  one down at the bottom corner, and one halfway up, same spot where the sensor is.  This way the magnet will operate the sensor in two positions.

I say half way up just because that's usually a spot where it will be hard to crawl through the window but you still get some air.  That may or may not work out for you depending on the position of the window etc.  You could set up the sensor and the magnets so you can open the window just a few inches or open wide, and still arm the system.  You get the idea.

Alarmed screens are more expensive but let you do whatever you want with the window - it no longer matters whether the windows are open or closed.  You can send the screen you have out to a shop that adds a wire trace to the screen.  The sensor has to be changed as well, which can be some work with a hardwired system, depending.


Should the plastic walls of a shower kit have air bubbles? We had a corner shower installed awhile ago in our basement.
The kit came with thin acrylic walls that were glued to the waterproof gyprock behind.  However, there are air spaces between the lines of glue which allows the walls to move in certain places.  We have been having a problem with this shower leaking and were wondering if this movement was perhaps breaking the seal that the caulking makes between the floor of the shower and these walls.  The shower sits on a raised wooden platform built for the base of the shower, but there is also a bit of movement in the floor as an adult is in the shower.

I had heard from someone that on these showers you did not need to caulk the place where the acrylic walls meet the base, but that just seems wrong as I would expect mould to grow with pooled water behind the walls.

We were thinking of replacing the walls with a one piece firm acrylic piece and keeping the existing floor and glass sides and door.  Any thoughts on the best way to fix this leaky problem?

Leak Location

Proper shower systems should have a lip behind the base. Better systems apparently also have a gasket. So, in theory, no you don't need to caulk them. Bad ascii diagram:

 ++  +
 ||  | <----+ bottom of wall panel
 |+--+
 +---+
     | <----+ shower pan
     |
     +--------------------------------+

The idea is that any water that gets behind would shed down the lip and into the shower pan.

The catch is a) I'm not sure all shower systems are this well engineered and b) showers are more than water...there is dirt, grime, soap, hair, dead skin, other nasty body and soap residue. So, yea, it will still get grimy and is why most people still caulk it.


Is it possible for a microwave to damage outlets and after a while cause a breaker to pop under load? I tried searching for an answer but couldn't come up with what I was looking for, so sorry if this has been asked before!

My wife and I recently moved into a new place which had been recently flipped.  We are in a mother-in-law suite so it has definitely had some wiring added and that could be the issue if my question is not possible.

Everything worked great when we first moved in, we were there for about 4 months when we woke up one morning and the fridge was off.  Reset the breaker and was off by the time we finished errands.  Tried a different plug right next to it and that kept the fridge on.

The microwave is plugged into the same plug so we switched where it was plugged into (now where the fridge is) and it eventually starts popping the breaker.  Whenever we needed to use the microwave I just ran an extension cord to the bathroom and left the fridge unplugged since we have an outside fridge (wanted to try and determine what the cause was, guessed the fridge was going bad at first).

Ever since I started using the bathroom plug for the microwave, my wife's hair dryer and sometimes straightener will pop the plug..

The breakers are all brand new Arc-Fault breakers, tried replacing it and that did not resolve anything.

The kitchen plugs all run on one 20 amp breaker, two plugs and one with GFCI.  Nothing else runs on those plugs

The bathroom is a single plug with GFCI and is also on a 20 amp arc fault breaker, the bathroom lights also run on that breaker.

I am guessing the microwave is toasting the outlets which is causing possible arc faults?  When the breaker is reset it shows the indicator for an arc fault.  Currently I am trying out running the fridge on the third plug in the kitchen to see if it will stay on since the microwave has never been plugged into that.  I did have the fridge plugged in to another plug in the house for an extended period and never had an issue which is why I am assuming microwave.

Is that even a possible situation?

Thanks in advanced!

EDIT#1:

Well, my experiment failed and the breaker popped..  Only after the fridge had gotten down to temp and was maintaining.  The compressor went to kick on again and pop!  Will be calling an electrician but advice would be helpful!

It’s funny, when a safety device like an AFCI trips, people are really reluctant to consider that it might be exactly what it says on the tin.
An AFCI breaker detects arc faults - that’s where a wire is either making poor contact and normal current is causing arcing across that poor contact; or; where a wire is partially shorting with another wire (but not flowing enough current to trip the breaker).
A wide variety of wire and device problems can cause arc faults, but top of the hit-list is Backstab connections. And since your house was done hit-and-miss, and very much NOT up to Code, I bet that’s exactly what is going on here.  The person used backstabs on the receptacles, and they are failing either because they are backstabs, or that + poor workmanship.
Since circuits are generally wired daisy-chain (breaker to point-of-use 1 to point-of-use 2 etc.), the core problem can be at any point in the daisy chain.  When the breaker in question trips, survey which sockets lose power - they all need to be checked.  Inspect where the wire attaches.  Obviously you can’t inspect where a backstab attaches (and you don’t want to use them anyway), so firmly twist and pull the wire out of the backstab and look for arcing marks/spots.  Then put them back on a side screw.
Lastly, if the work had been done by the seller of the house, and is substandard (and it certainly sounds substandard for reasons I’ll describe), then the seller owes you a pile of money.  Because the shoddy, obviously non-permitted non-inspected work definitely should have been on the disclosure statements, and was not.  I haven’t done enough real estate to know which of the various insurers covers this (title insurance???) but one of them should; they in turn will go after the seller.  If none do, then you go after the seller.  Shame on them!
Why it seems substandard:  Code requires a bunch of dedicated circuits your house doesn’t seem to have.

A dedicated 20A circuit for bathroom receptacles, that serves no other loads (except if it serves 1 bathroom it can serve other loads in that bathroom).
Two, count em two, circuits dedicated to kitchen countertops, which can power nothing else but a gas range, a clock, or other kitchen/dining area receps.
Dedicated circuits for dishwasher, disposal, built in microwave, and electric range obviously.
There is no requirement for a dedicated circuit for a fridge, but it’s a pretty good idea. Fridges should never be on GFCI/AFCI, for the same reason fire alarms shouldn’t.
Dedicated circuit for laundry room.


How to take apart this bed frame joint with hidden screws How can I take apart the pictured bed frame joint? It doesn't have visible screw heads on the outside of the footboard (image 1), and the recess in the runner that contains he screw is covered by some kind of lock (image 2).

I tried turning the hexagonal opening with an Allen key, but it doesn't move for more than half a turn.

With a hex key turn the fitting CW to a stop or or 90 deg and the cam lock should release.


How do I remove this marker mark on painted drywall? I have a 4-year-old boy, who loves to draw on the wall from time to time. He does it with his Washable Markers, which should be easy to clean with water. He left his marks for a while on the wall until we forgot about them.

Recently, we repainted our kitchen. The contractor painted the primer and paint over the mark. It looked OK at first. However, when the paint dried, the marks showed through. What should I do with minimal effort to remove these marks?

Updated: The paint that the contractor uses in this project is Valspar Signature Semi-Gloss Latex Interior Paint and Primer in One (Actual Net Contents: 124-fl oz)

Once it's been painted over, there's no way to remove a stain - you'd have to remove the paint to get at the stain, which is definitely not "minimal effort".

The simplest thing to do at this point would be to call back the contractor and have him actually paint the wall, rather than just slapping on some paint-like substance and calling it good. There is simply no way those marks would still be showing through if the contractor had done a proper job, with a stain-blocking primer and a good-quality paint.


Sudden black fly infestation!! HELP I woke up to over 20 black flies flying by the window in my kitchen and about 5 in my bedroom. I killed most of them and then cleaned quite a bit. I found about 7 dead maggot rolly pollie looking fetus(?) around the perimeter between the kitchen and the bedroom. At first I assumed the flies were breeding in the dead plant (i threw it away) but now I'm wondering why these maggots are along the perimeter. Im guessing they were dead bc of an extermination that happened about a month ago and they didn't survive? There is a vacuum cleaner and dust buster leaning between the window and bedroom as well as a heat vent. This leaves me too many options to wonder so Im asking. It has been 24 hours and I have killed 7 more flies. Some of them are flying in my bedroom. Where are they coming from and how do i get rid of them? Ive been hunting my apartment for any clues and thrown away anything that I can think of including the dust buster!

Time to look into every nook and cranny.  Pull the fridge out, check all cupboards, clean under all furniture.  Location can be anywhere were there is a food source, which can be just about anywhere food or organic material can fall/kicked under/forgotten about.

Start with the obvious locations first; in/around trashcans, pantries, fruit/vegetable storage, fridge and cooking areas.  If you have pets, check any area where they could possibly get and leave a mess (under/behind furniture).

Also they have a life cycle that is anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks.  If you kill the first wave, keep up looking/cleaning as the second wave can still be in the process of maturing.


How to fill old downspout drains My 1956 house had rainwater downspouts routed into below-surface drains. I assume these drains once lead to the house plumbing drain system. The drains are no longer used and the downspouts now empty to the ground surface.

How should I fill or cover the old drain pipe openings? Can they filled with gravel to stop vermin and garbage but allow water to still flow?

Second to this, sometimes mice and toads enter the sump pit in the basement. Are they getting in through the old downspout drains?

For the second question you might apply some septic dye into the old pipes. But often things get into the basement any old way, and then get trapped in the sump pit, rather than entering via the sump pit.

If you have a cleanout you can look into, septic dye might also address the assumption  that they connect to the sanitary sewer line at all. Perfectly common (but also not to be assumed without checking) that they just go out to drywells in the yard.

If they do connect to the sanitary sewer, you need to be careful not to plug the sanitary sewer if you are plugging the pipes. Inserting an expandable "test plug" to seal the pipe is a reversible means by itself, or can be a way to make sure that concrete does not go down the pipe too far and plug up what it should not. A balloon is a cheaper method for the latter, though one should put only a small quantity (2" or so) of concrete on it at first, and apply more concrete after the first section has hardened, so that excessive force is not applied to the balloon.


How can I tell if these pipes are gas lines or water lines? I recently moved into an in-law unit of a large old house.  In the kitchen, there are two pipes coming out of the wall (one protruding out a little more than the other).  I had assumed they were gas lines to connect my stove.  But since the stove only connects to one pipe, I'm now wondering if they're actually water lines. Can anyone explain how I can tell the difference? On the other side of the wall is a large closet with the air conditioning system, water heater, and what I think is the gas shutoff valve.

You should be able to tell by the color, and connections used.
Gas
"Black pipe" is commonly used for natural gas, and is dark grey/black.

All connections will be threaded.

Water
Water lines come in a variety of materials, some of the most common are.
Copper
This will be um... copper, in color.

While there are other ways to join copper pipes, the most common is solder.

Galvanized
Galvanized pipes will be a light grey.

And use threaded connections similar to black pipe.

Plastics
You might also find various types of plastic-ish water pipes. These can come in a variety of colors. Red, blue, white, black, etc.

These may use compression type connections, crimp connections, or various other type or connectors.

Still can't decide?
Try using your other senses.
Touch the pipe.
If it's warm to the touch, it's likely hot water (may not be warm unless hot water was recently used). Hold the pipe and have a helper turn a nearby tap on/off quickly, to see if you can feel vibrations. Try running the water for a bit, then touch the pipe to see if the temperature changes. If the pipe gets colder/hotter, it's likely a water line.
Listen to the pipe.
Put your ear to the pipe, and again have a helper turn on a nearby tap. If you hear the water clearly in the pipe, you found yourself a water line. (make sure the pipe is not in contact with any other pipes when you do this, since sound could be transferred to the other pipe). This is not the most accurate method, but it can sometimes work.
Taste the pipe.
This won't help you at all. I just pictured people licking pipes in my head, and thought it was funny. You could tell your helper to do it, and then laugh at them when they do it. But it's not going to help you figure out what the pipe is.


Should furnace blower run when the heat is off? Our furnace blower is set to auto....it runs when the furnace is and is not calling for heat but the humidifier is on. This is a problem because the forced hot air system is blowing cold air which creates a constant draft in the house.

If Your fan is connected To your humidistat in the the ducts (it should be for best humidification  control) when humidifying you need the fan to run or water will end up building up in the duct work.


How can I prevent decay in a deck post resting on the house footing? The porch I'm building is 20' x 15' with the 20' side running along the house and the 15' coming out. I have a ledger board connection with 6 footings around the perimeter of the porch. 5 of the footings will be filled with a concrete footing 10" thick with a 12" diameter pier on top to bring it above grade. The 6th footing is right along the side of a bump out and I have dug to the house footing and plan to place my post directly on the lip of the footing. The county inspector says this will work fine and I've seen it done this way at other homes in the neighborhood.

My concern is accelerated rot of the post since it will be below grade. I came up with two options but wanted to see other opinions out there.

Place the post on the house footing as planned and surround with compacted gravel with soil around the gravel. This may help any water that comes in the hole to flow down into the french drain directly beneath the post.
Pour concrete directly over the gravel surrounding the french drain and up along side the house foundation wall to bring the concrete pier above grade.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I like the concrete idea too. However, there are 3 issues to consider: 1) hold it up, 2) hold it down and 3) hold it from rotating.

To hold it up you'll need to pour the 5 footings on undisturbed soil or compacted gravel that will support the load of the roof plus snow load. Minimum snow load is 25 pounds per square foot (unless you live in the deep south it could be less or in the north it could be more). So, 20' x 15' x 25 psf = 7,500 lbs. load.  Half rests on house and half on 5 new posts....therefore 3,750 lbs. on posts or 750 lbs. on each post. Soil bearing is typically 1500 per square foot or more. So, a 12" x 12" (or so) footing is adequate.

To hold it down you'll need sufficient amount of concrete to hold it down. Wind uplift is about 20 lbs. per square foot (max.) unless in tornado area or on the coast. So, 20' x 15' x 30 lbs. per square foot = 6,000 lbs.  Again, half held down along edge of house and half by the 5 footings = 3,000 lbs. or 600 lbs. by each post/footing. The minimum size of each footing needs to be 2' x 2' x 12" deep, which equals 600 lbs. each.
Rotation is more difficult, but without walls, then the wind will not provide rotation...therefore it's ignored.

Likewise with seismic concerns. Too complicated for this discussion.
NOTE: Make sure each post connector is rated for 600 lbs. uplift and 750 lbs. bearing...at both top and bottom of each post.
The roof connection for bearing to the house should be 3,750 lbs. or 3,750 lbs. / 20' = 188 lbs. per foot. The roof connection for uplift to the house is 3,000 lbs. or 3,000 lbs. / 20' = 150 lbs. per foot. You can find clips at local hardware store for this (house side) connection.
Dryrot, decay and pests occur when posts are in a wet situation, (I.e.: below grade.) Keep all post supports a minimum of 6" above adjacent grade...code requirement. If you can't , and the post has to be below grade, then at least treat it like a fence post: use pressure treated wood.

Use a wood suitable for exterior use...ask the lumber yard salesman for recommendation for wood available in your area.

Good luck. It's not that complicated. I've made it complicated to give you the sizes of footings, clips, etc.


I shorted a circuit, reset a breaker, now much of the house electricity only works if I turn on a wall AC unit I'm wondering if any of you could guess what might have happened. I live in an older 60s ranch with an older electrical system. I was cutting some shrubs this morning and hit a 3 strand wire that was just hanging out in the shrub that I'm assuming powered a irrigation pump (that's no longer there). Huge pop, flash of light, loppers slightly melted where I clamped down on the wire.

I came inside and the one breaker had tripped (the one labeled "Irrigation Pump"). I capped off the wires, put them in a junction box and buried them so hopefully the next guy won't do what I did.

None of the other circuits in the house had been tripped, but now several sections of my house have no power. There is a GFI outlet in the garage that had tripped, which I reset, but I can't figure out why many sections of the house no longer have power.

Any ideas what might have happened?

Many thanks.

Edit- I should mention one other anomaly. The overhead lights/fans in the bedrooms all work, but the wall circuits do not. Not sure if that means anything but just wanted to include it in case it is meaningful.

Edit 2- One new very odd detail. Our sunroom has a wall Heat/AC unit. If I turn that on, all the circuits in the house begin working again (though the AC unit doesn't sound like it normally does. It's very quiet like it's barely working at all and very little air blows out). Very strange

Possibly the main breaker partially (only one pole) tripped in addition to the individual circuit.  Since it is presumably an older breaker, this is not out of the realm of possibility.  A newish breaker would have definitely completely tripped.

Start by switching off the main breaker and then turning it back on while carefully noticing if the spring action of both poles are resisting turn on.  (Don't worry if you cannot tell.)

If all circuits come on then you are good, though scheduling replacement of the main breaker should go on the todo list.

Otherwise, it is possible that the panel's bus bars need tightening or other maintenance.  Remove the panel cover and have a look for anything amiss:  wires dangling, soot, melted metal, melted plastic, discolored metal bus bars, discolored lug screws, etc.

Once I mis-wired a replacement electric stove top switch so that when a certain pair of switches were both on, it placed a complete short across the 240 supply.  It tripped both the range breaker and the main.  The range breaker was melted internally.


Z-Wave outlet wiring - plugging in multiple black/white wires? I'm replacing a regular 2 plug outlet with a Leviton Z-Wave Outlet [Instructions].

The old outlet had 2 screws for black, 2 screws for white wires going into it. This new outlet only has 1 screw for black and 1 for white.

Both of these seem like possibly correct wirings to me but I wanted to confirm and see if one was better:

Introduce a 3rd black pigtail wire, join the 3 blacks together with a wire nut, and only plug the 1 pigtail black wire into the outlet. Repeat for white (shown in picture).
Don't introduce a 3rd black wire, but rather insert the 2 black wires into the top/bottom slots of the same screw. Repeat for the 2 white wires on the other side.

It would be much easier to do (2) especially since space in the box is tight, however I was concerned since the instructions say "either hold may be used" (emphasis mine).

So my questions are: a) Are both of these valid options? b) Is one a "better" solution than the other?

I can't quite tell from the documentation above whether the receptacle is listed to take 2 wires via clamp.  When it says "either side" does it imply "both"?  If not, why have 2 slots?  If listed, that is a fine solution.

Pigtailing is an elegant way to do that.  However a pigtail requires more box fill.  Aside from having to fit as a practical matter, it counts as an additional wire for the statutory rules on box fill.

I'm a big fan of stranded wire for its flexibility (i.e. in pigtails), and I'm irked that this receptacle is listed only for solid wire.   That would have to be pigtailed to solid wire if you were working THHN in conduit with stranded wire.


Important features in electric screwdrivers for furniture dis/assembly I decided that it's a good time to give myself the luxury of (dis)assembling furniture with an electric screwdriver. For the odd table or chair it's not a big deal, but for painting a room and moving the furniture out then in, it is.
So far I figured that two features are essential in an electric screwdriver:

A clutch. Without a clutch I can too easily strip the wood when I am reassembling.
Gradual speed. Until I know that I've chosen the correct size of the tool, it's wise to first go slowly. Hence a trigger that starts slowly is important.

These two constraints basically eliminate the cheaper tools I see on the market.
But I also see some very serious models. Are there any features I'm missing besides the two just mentioned?
It would have been nice to get a tool that also helps with bike work ("use torque of 5 N.m"), but it seems one cannot rely on the precision of the torque on the electric models and a manual torque bike wrench will still be needed as a separate tool.
Note
Whoever closed the question has almost surely read it inattentively. I am well aware of the obsolescence issue, and I phrased the question very carefully to be sure it'd apply 20 years down the road. But anyhow, happy to delete.

You need tactile feedback to avoid stripping the threads.
In my experience, Ikea style knock-together furniture has a fairly narrow "acceptable torque" range. This is easily detected by hand feel.  However, any power driver will give  you dead nerves.  You will not be able to feel the correct torque, and the machine will be a "bull in the china shop" and blast right through the correct torque before you even know what's happening.
Is it OK for disassembly?  Sure if you remember to switch it to "loosen".  Is it OK for "rundown"? Sure, but the final few twists should be by hand.
The best power driver I ever had was cheapie. But it was shaped like a screwdriver, with the result that you could effortlessly switch between power and hand operation at any moment.
However I have found a much more satisfactory method: a "Speed wrench" with a bit holder.

Now this gives me the speed and power of a power driver but the control and tactile feedback of hand driving.
They cost a little bit of money but y'know what? 5 years hence they won't be in the junk bin waiting to go to the electronics recycler.


How to bypass this component to a Tetco Heat Pump I have Tetco Heat Pump system that came with my house when it was purchased.  About a year ago, I started hearing a water hammer in my pipes that I traced back to the solenoid(?) in the picture below.  It would continually "click" and cause a small hammer to travel back along my cold water pipes toward the main pressure tank. A small amount of water seeps out at the base of the "coils" when this is happening, as well.

The local firm that installed the Tetco unit is still in business and suggested that I try to bypass this component.  The instructions given to me over the phone was that I should be able to open up the top of device and manually lift up a pin.

After looking things over, there's not an obvious way to disassemble the device  and I'm hesitant to jump in without knowing more about the device and its function. I did contact a local plumper and he said he doesn't work on heat pumps and referred me back to original installers.

So, can anyone identify the component in the picture and its purpose? Is it safe to bypass and what is the proper way to go about it?

Edit: Video of “clicking” and knocking

https://youtu.be/7TYZdOBjJKM
https://youtu.be/KHxNaMSR9bo

As per @Lukus , that unit is a geothermal heat pump that is using well water to provide for an approximately 55 degree source water. Wow, what a waste of good water! If the device you are speaking of is the item on the left side  with the gray top and the spring it is temperature sensing control valve, probably made by "Johnson Controls", that maintains a given set point temperature, at the sensing bulbs location. (NO, it is not a solenoid valve) . If you bypass this device you will affect the heat-pumps operation, good or bad, I don't know, and you will probably use much more water. A similar model number of this control would be V47AA or AC. AS for a solenoid valve I do not see one in either picture, but there probably is one somewhere. Item last; the people you called that originally installed the unit are probably not the same people that run the company now. Their advice on how to proceed was not in your best interest and shows that they have little knowledge of your installation.


Opening tubes to unclog bathroom sink I need to drain my bathroom sink because it is clogged.
I checked a couple of videos and I am confused on the following:
1)I see that to "unscrew" the tube underneath they turn it to the right instead of the left. I mean as you open the cabinet underneath the sink and face the vertical tube that the water goes, they turn it to the right to remove it.
I thought that we should turn it to the left. Why is this?
2) Should the popup lever behind the vertical tube be removed before or after we removed the tube? Or it doesn't matter?

PVC screw fittings are unscrewed in the counter clockwise direction, but that's in reference to the pipe they are attached to. You may be upside down in some of those connections.
The popup drain connection is made to the sink drain tail piece. You don't need to remove this to gain access to the trap below, so it can remain untouched.

Note that most clogs can be easily cleared by running a plumbing snake down the drain. You'll want one sized for your pipes, which in your case will likely be a relatively small diameter snake that can get around the drain and not get jammed in the tight turns of the trap.


How to remove dark spots from wood kitchen countertop I found some dark spots in the wood of the kitchen countertop this morning.

I don't know what would have caused them to appear, and I don't know what the material, type of wood, the countertop is made of. ( See Picture )

I am seeking advice on how to remove them ?

Looks like oil or grease of some sort. When you have real wood counter tops like that (which I NEVER recommend for this very reason), it is HIGHLY imperative that they be thoroughly sealed and the sealing maintained so that cooking oils and food grease cannot get into the wood, especially at the plank ends, as it has here. The reason it is so imperative is that there is no way to remove it now. The best hope is to have the entire surface sanded down to the raw wood again, bleach it (wood bleach, not laundry bleach) then try to stain it all to match the shade of those stains.


What's the best way to cover my egress window (not soft plastic) where the window is above the window well? What's the best way to cover an egress window where the cement for the window sticks 11" above the metal window well cover (the window itself is above 10" above the metal window well)? I'm looking for something that will be supportive of people standing or crawling onto the cover itself.

I've seen covers like this:

...but I'm not really sure the best way to do that for windows like mine:

I would recommend against the flimsy dome covers bib recommends in his answer/comment based on safety concerns with children. However, he is on the right track with a domed window well cover, you just need to search for one designed specifically for an egress window that supports weight, covers the full well, and allows egress. Here is an example http://www.egresswindows.com/product/Dome-Cover-5600-Egress-Well/window-well-covers-grates (note this not an endorsement of the linked product).


How to use Wiremold 700 Series Metal Surface Raceway (grounding, wire vs. cable)? Planning to use Legrand Wiremold 700 Series Metal Surface Raceway.

Couple questions:

It is a metal box (raceway) but I don't see a green screw to ground it. Does it require grounding?
Is it allowed to use a cable or do I need to use individual THHN wires? If the former - is it realistic to pull it through?

It can take its ground either from the underlying box or from a pigtail
From the installation instructions Legrand provides on their website for the 500/700 series products, I don't see any reference to an explicit grounding screw being driven, so it appears that it picks up its grounding from the underlying box being grounded.  If that's not possible, the bump at the top-left that doesn't have a mounting hole in the cover corresponding to it should be tapped to accept a 10-32 grounding screw and corresponding pigtail.
...but always uses individual wires
Surface raceways are designed to be used with individual THHN wires, just like their conduit brethren.  Furthermore, you have to obey the fill chart provided by the raceway manufacturer; if what you plan to run isn't a combination that's on the fill chart, you can't run it, as the irregular shapes of surface raceways mean that normal conduit fill calcs can't be used and the provisions of NEC 386.21 and the first paragraph of 386.22 apply instead:

386.21 Size of Conductors. No conductor larger than that for
which the raceway is designed shall be installed in surface
metal raceway.
386.22 Number of Conductors or Cables. The number of
conductors or cables installed in surface metal raceway shall
not be greater than the number for which the raceway is
designed. Cables shall be permitted to be installed where such
use is not prohibited by the respective cable articles.


Solar charge controller wiring I have the proper polarities connected from the panel and battery to the controller.

Above is a photo of the HQRP charge controller wired to a 30watt 24v solar panel and this 24v battery:

I checked with a multimeter, but there is no voltage coming out of the light bulb connectors (the load) side of the charge controller.

Work mode says "17"

Is this a faulty charge controller or I am at fault?

Some charge controllers have ways of programming the "LOAD" terminal, e.g. to only provide voltage at night (i.e. when there is no voltage on the solar panel). If you have voltage across the controller's BATTERY terminals but not across the LOAD terminals, that's something to look into.

You haven't really provided sufficient details or photos of the wiring to confirm that it's hooked up correctly, but it's not that complicated. However, I would advise you to mark the polarity on the wiring itself, just for safety (e.g. use red electrical tape to mark the positive wires and leave the negative ones black).


detect nails under sheetrock I lost my stud finder. I read where you can detect nails using a magnet suspended from a piece of string. It does not work. It does detect the metal strips where the walls intersect. Is there another method?

Thanks

Start from a corner. Studs are usually placed 16" or 24" apart, so measure 16", look for a stud there, then try again at 24" if you fail.

Alternately, look for an outlet. These are generally attached directly to a stud, so there should be a line of nails directly to one side or the other. If you have an outlet near a corner, you can measure the distance to see what stud spacing you have.

Once you know exactly where to look, the magnet technique works better, though you really need a rare-earth magnet for that to work well. (If you have a good ear for sound, you can also try knocking on the wall. A stud will sound different than a wall cavity.)

EDIT: two more points:

1) I just tried this with a refrigerator magnet, and it doesn't work at all. You really need a real magnet.

2) There's usually a nail a bit over 4' off the ground, because that's a comfortable height for a standard-height adult to aim for.


Replacing a bathroom fan? I have a bathroom fan that doesn't turn anymore.  Flipping the switch doesn't do anything, but if I nudge it enough it might get going.  I used to spray WD-40 on the bottom where I could see it turn and that used to be enough to get it going for another few weeks, but now it's really dead.

Any tips on replacing this thing?  I've purchased a really simple replacement fan at Home Depot that seems to be about the same size.  What I'm not sure about is what I need to take out of the existing hole where the fan is - are there any ducts or the like that are tricky to take care of?

I'm assuming the steps are something like so:

Turn off all power to the bathroom
Remove fan cover and unscrew everything I see
(Detach ducts?)
Put new fan in place of the old one and screw in everything I can see
(Attach ducts?)
Turn on power, pray, flip on switch to fan
Success

Now, before I kill myself, is there anything else I need to be aware of?  Do I need to crawl into my attic to detach/attach anything?  I'm not even aware of what pipes lead where up there.

I'm pretty clueless with how this works, so apologies if I left out any critical information.  I'm guessing that it's pretty standard stuff, but I'm completely unfamiliar with the whole territory (I don't know what I don't know, and all that).

If you have an existing fan, you should be able to replace the motor only. Turn off power, remove faceplate, unplug motor. Remove motor. Install new motor, plug in new motor. Turn on power and test, replace faceplate.

A picture of the housing your fan is in would help a lot.