Type of firm/place to contact to have house features pre-finished? I installed a new pre-hung interior door along with new trim. The door was maybe $50 and trim maybe another $100. Very affordable, and all pre-primed.

Still, I spent hours and hours (and hours) painting all the trim and the door. And even then I'm left with brush marks and the door likely needs one more coat.

Given I have several more rooms and 7 more doors, I'm realizing I just don't have the time to devote to all this painting anymore.

Option 1 was to invest in an airless professional spray system...I think they run about $500. I'm all for new toys, but that'd still take a chunk of time to set everything up and mask off the garage or where ever I am spraying.

So I was thinking of an option 2: buy materials, buy paint, then take to a place that is already set up for this type of work and just pay someone to do it fast for me.

But I'm not even sure if this type of business/service exists. Would a cabinetry firm handle/want this type of work? Is there a different type of business I could contact that would do this type of work? (Is this maybe a business idea I should look into!?)

Sounds reasonable to out-source it, but you will still need to do a final coat on the casing after you install (door should be fine if you are careful).

To "do it right", you need to fill the nail holes and corner joints and sand, and then run a bead of painters caulk around the casing to make the cracks disappear, then paint again.

I just did the caulk on the inside (casing-to-jamb) not the outside (casing-to-wall), and didn't paint very far onto the side of the casing where it hits the wall. This way, you get a nice sharp line at the wall without a lot of hassle.


What could be causing my solid stained doors to make cracking noises? I have new solid interior stained doors and they all keep making cracking sounds when they are closed and left open, even though no one is touching them.  Can you please tell me what it is? I am sound asleep and get woken up by these sounds.

One possibility is a slight cracking of the stain or finish coat on as sections of the doors as they expand and contract based on changes in temperature and/or humidity.

Many doors have inset panels that are not rigidly glued in, but sit in channels in the rails (cross members) and stiles (upright members). When these doors are finished, the stain and finish coat may create a weak bond where these panels are joined. As the doors shirink and swell, the panels shift, breaking these seals.  There also may be a slight edge of finish that remains, and as the doors continue to shift, that edge may make noises even after the seal is broken.

One way to reduce dimensional changes is to make sure all six (6) faces of a door are sealed or painted. Often neglected are the top and bottom edges, and moisture can be absorbed through those raw faces increasing dimensional shift.


Do you remove an AC Capacitor from the circuit before or after you short it out for safety? Is it safe to short (discharge) an AC capacitor before you remove it from the circuit. Or do you have to wait until after you remove it from the unit?

Always short the capacitor as early into the disassembly process as you can.  You may accidentally discharge it when handling it or removing it from the unit, and these components have enough energy to kill you.

I make sure to wear jeans and leather boots with a rubber sole when discharging capacitors, and always when it's relatively dry out.  I keep my left hand behind my back and short the capacitor leads with a screwdriver that has an insulated handle.  After about ten seconds of shorting, I double-check that the voltage across the leads is zero before considering it safe.


click lock floor install with hot water baseboard heat I am installing a floating bamboo floor on concrete,with appropriate underlayment.The house has hot water baseboard heat.There is a small baseboard molding under the heater now,should that be removed and do I need to put the molding back cut smaller to take into consideration the thickness of the new floor or can it be left without a molding under the baseboard heat.

Molding is mostly for aesthetic purposes, so you can do whatever you think looks acceptable. With a floating floor, the baseboard hides the edge since generally there's a gap. Presumably you'll have to reattach all your baseboard molding after putting the new floor down.

I'd say if you can see underneath the radiator when you are standing in the room, you should probably install baseboard.

If the issue is the molding no longer fits, then trim the top edge off (assuming you can't see that unless you put your head down level with the radiator), or install a different type of molding there (such as just quarter-round).

If you can't really see underneath the radiator from any standing/sitting positions in the room, then you can get away without installing it, but I'd at least put some quarter-round up to keep dirt and dust from collecting in the expansion gap.


How much power/electricity should my central air's blower fan use? Main Question

I've already  visited this similar, but different question and saw a commenter mention that about 500W seems appropriate for blower fan of an HVAC system.  The past few months we've had high electricity bills compared to the same period last year (lived here 2.5 years), but it's also been a hot summer.  I've plotted the kWh that have appeared on my statements (for science!); the increase begins in March.

To try and investigate, I purchased "The Energy Detective" (TED) and have it connected to my condo's main power and also have a "Spyder" monitoring several individual circuits.  Ever since, I have seen a constant draw of 1.7kW coming from my furnace.

Since it's summer and our system's fan is set to ON to improve circulation, I have to assume this is the blower fan's motor.  When we're away at work or vacation and even I've made a point to power down everything that can be powered down, I still have the 1.7 - 1.8kW draw.  Someone please check my math, but over 30 days, that 1.7kW load comes out to 1,224kWh.  This amounts to about 1/2 of my monthly electricity bill, which was 2,550kWh last billing cycle (the previous year at the same time it was 1,290kWh).

This is way too much for a blower motor (or even the whole furnace, considering it's summer) to be drawing, right?

I realize this is a complex problem, so I've tried to include some relevant information below.  Thanks for reading!

Other Info

I have contacted the utility company and they have verified my meter is accurate; they are also billing me for the correct meter (rather that one of my neighbors).  My TED data is exactly proportional to their measurements (I must apply 1.5 factor to TED data to make it match utility's) due to the fact I've never bothered to calibrate it.  I'm just realizing this means that blower fan may actually be drawing 1.7 * 1.5 = 2.5kW (or 1,830kWh per 30-day month).

My utility does provide the ability to view daily usage, and I've done this to verify my TED is accurate once the calibration is taken care of.

I live in a multi-unit building that was remodeled in mid-2000s; the HVAC is original to that remodel (so 10+ years old).  I know some of the other units have had their heat pumps replaced.  I have a service contract with a heating/cooling company to make semiannual maintenance visits.  In February of this year they replaced the blower capacitor and charged $200 for it.  March's bill is the first that begins to show significantly increased usage.

Not much has changed to my condo in the past year (same number of people, no remodeling, etc.)  I did replace the water heater but that circuit is monitored separately by the Spyder and I can see it cycle on/off during the day.  We have also purchased a portable AC unit (Honeywell MN10CES) for our 3rd floor, which gets very hot in the summer.  The unit has a stated cooling wattage of 1,050W (verified accurate with Kill-a-watt).

The unit is only turned on when we are at home, and so wouldn't be a factor in that 1.7 (or 2.5?) kW load I see when we're away. It also doesn't run the compressor at night because the temperature naturally gets below the 78F setpoint.  Even if that portable AC unit was actively cooling 24/7, it should only be about 750kWh.

It is very unusual but not unheard of to have a furnace hooked up to a heat pump. Usually you would have an air handler and air handlers usually have backup electric heating strips. These heat strips Combined with the 300-400 watts from the blower could easily suck 1700 Watts. The strip heat should not be on when the fan is set to on and the temperature is turned down but it is not hard to miswire the unit. You should also verify the heat pump is not coming on too as this is not too hard to miswire either.


How to verify paint job I have gotten my walls prepared by "professional" painters. They have put putty on the drywall and sanded them down. Finally they have painted.

When I stand in front of the wall and look at them straight, they look pretty OK. But if I look at them with an angle, especially right across where the light is coming, I can see different patterns.

Please look at the pictures and tell me if this is as good as it can get.

Plainly, not 'as good as it gets', but the question to ask is, "did I get the quality of job I paid for?" If you paid a mega premium with a contractual understanding that you'd get a level 5 job, that's bad. (Something to consider is that painters aren't exactly drywall tapers.)

If you paid a normal price, then perhaps you can think about ignoring it. (Once wall coverings/curtains/furniture come in, everything will be much less noticeable. Especially curtains.) If the sheen of the paint is eggshell or glossier, you could consider going to a flat.


Safe to remove entry stairwall? We have a split entry that is minuscule with stairs heading either up or down and a tiny landing. I would like to remove the wall separating the up from the downstairs (it may be the only wall that the stairs are attached to as one side of the stairway is a brick wall) and make the entry look a fraction bigger. How can I know if this is safe to do?

If not, can I remove the upper drywall and add molding to the studs to create a visually more open space? Would the studs be too large to be appealing? We have been remodeling our home for the last couple of years but the entry has me stumped. Don't want to weaken the house structure but it looks bad.

The house was built in 1968 so it is 48 years old.

This is a very difficult question to answer without pictures or plans to look at. If I am understanding your scenario right, as you enter the house you have an immediate landing and then stairs either going up or down into different levels of the house. While these walls may not have a lot of bearing on the structural integrity of the stairwell they may have bearing on the rooms above and below the stairwell. Depending on how the architect drew the plans there could even be a beam involved for support of the upper level. Removing sheetrock to determine how the structure is built, in general, isn't hazardous to the structural integrity assuming the the structural engineer didn't factor in the sheetrock as part of a shear rating of that wall.

My best recommendation would be to have a licensed framing carpenter come in and have a look at this wall before you proceed further. It is always better to pay a little extra for a professional opinion.


How to clean pigment stains from vinyl siding? Our seven-year-old drew on our house with sidewalk chalk.  The chalk residue itself washed off readily with soap and water, but the more vibrant colors like purple and red left behind actual colored stains on the siding.

We've tried scrubbing with soap and water and also oxy-clean.  Any other suggestions?

First take away chalk. If the siding is old and drying out. Stain is sucked in. May be in time will fade. Mild soap and water is best bet. Without damage to siding .Mine was white,red chalk stayed for weeks.


Light fixture measuring 120V for both hot and neutral Hello I’m replacing a lighting fixture and I’m finding that both white wires are reading 120V. To be clear - it doesn’t matter where I place the red and black leads of my multimeter - I get 120V either way. The wires are both neutral wires. There are two hot wires that are directly connected together. This is not something I’ve come across before and was hoping someone might have an idea of what’s going on here? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

That's not neutral

Normally, wires cannot be re-tasked.  But there is an exception in Code which allows white wires to be used as hot.  The white wire must be marked with tape or paint.  Prior to that, marking wasn't required "if the usage is obvious".

This is most often seen in switch loops, which is the usage here.

On both sides, black is always hot.  One side's white is neutral back to supply. The other side's white is switched hot returning from the switch.  We don't know which is which, but also, don't really need to. If in doubt, connect the lamp to one black/white pair. If the lamp lights, that pair is supply and that white is true neutral.

Lamps connect to switched hot, and neutral.


Can you hang a heavy punching bag where a ceiling fan mount is? My apartment is newly refurbished with multiple pre-installed spots for lighting fixtures, including ceiling fans.

It would seem to me that a metal beam that can handle a ceiling fan can handle a punching bag. Am I missing something and, if not, any tips on how to pull it off?

Ceiling fan boxes only have to support 35 lbs. ceiling fans (according to NEC), unless they are designed to support more. In which case they will be marked with the amount they can support, up to the maximum of 70 lbs.

So no, I would not recommend hanging a punching bag (assuming a heavy bag) from a ceiling fan bracket.


How do I install a pre-hung door in a thick exterior wall? I live in an old DC rowhouse; it was built in 1908.  I'd like to replace the house's two slab-hung exterior doors with newer pre-hung models with full-length lites to increase the natural light and to get rid of the gaps around the doors.

The problem is that I don't know how to go about installing a pre-hung door in walls as thick as ours.  Instead of 2x4-framed walls, which would be a cake walk, we've got 13-inch thick walls, and that's before you get to the siding.  On top of that, the front door has a transom window with only about a 1-inch plank between the top of the door and the bottom of the transom's glass.

How should I go about getting a pre-hung door installed here?  Any tips?

This is not an easy question.  I would have to know the actual dimensions of the existing opening and a better look at the whole door frame.  In most cases, I'd be tempted to gut the opening and reframe it to accept a new pre-hung. In your case you need a pre-hung without trim as you will need to install extension jams and finish it out. The door should be mounted fairly close to the interior and have the excess outdoors. This is not a real difficult job, but definitely not for an inexperienced DIYer. There is going to be framing, water/weather proofing, squaring/installing the door, and finish work. You will definately need a circular saw, table saw, 4 or 6 foot level and some air guns would be nice to have to make it a lot easier.


What can I do about a window well that is filling up with water from below the surface? I have 2 covered basement window wells on the side of my house. When it rains heavily, they fill up with water from beneath the surface.

There are 4 downspouts from the gutters on our roof. They run into underground pipes (the black corrugated kind) that lead to a large drywell. When it rains heavily, the pipes take quite a lot of water.

One of the pipes ran very close to the window wells and had some leaky elbows. We thought that was the cause of the seepage, so we ripped out that portion of pipe (about 10 feet in all) and re-routed it about 5 feet from the window wells using a much higher quality PVC pipe.

It's still happening!

We recently ran a camera down the pipes and it appears there are a few places where the pipes are crimped or broken by tree roots. This is about 25 feet from the window wells.

Roto Rooter said that the crimped/broken pipes are what is causing the problem still and that I should replace ALL of our underground pipes with more solid quality pipes.

Question: could this REALLY be the cause? I would figure that any backflow due to the crimps in the pipe would cause the water to overflow from where the downspouts connect into the ground pipe, not come up from underground inside the window wells.

Note: there are no drains inside the window wells, just rocks. Not sure drains would help since the water is coming up from below.

If the water is coming up from below into the window wells you have a big problem. That issue means your basement is becoming a reverse swimming pool. Imagine taking a big concrete box and putting in in a lake right up to the edge of the box. Eventually many many problems will crop up that your window well issue is just the first warning of.

You are going need to take that water away from the house.

A sump pump will do it quickest and easiest, as long as the power doesn't go out during a storm (gee, somehow that seems like it might happen, plan on having it happen and take what ever measures you think necessary, like back up power for the sump pump).

Redirecting the gutter downspouts will do even better if the power does go out.

Grading the slope of the land around your house to drain away from your house in every direction will also help without power - possibly with buried plastic under the soil sloping away from the house as well as a sort of 'earth sheltered umbrella'.

Adding new better french drains around the building while performing the grading and redirecting the downspouts and adding a sump pump or two would be best of all.

But in the end, if none of the above work, I would recommend abandoning the basement entirely, filling it in with gravel and a sump pump as the water level in your soil will never allow you to have a safely dry basement.

I know one family who had to do this very thing, and was much happier knowing that their foundation wouldn't become a molding swimming pool slowly being crushed by the outside soil/water pressure. It required moving some of the HVAC and other utilities that were down there, and using the space under the floor only as a crawl space.


Basement cinder block looks damp after rain storms We built a new house last year and it was completed in June. Ever since we’ve lived here I notice the basement block walls seem to look damp in areas, especially after a rain storm. I’m certain there is a tar barrier on the outside and footer drains as well as french drains tied to a sump crock. The sump pump runs maybe 2-3 times per hour for about 15 seconds on a regular day. We’ve never had any standing water even after days of the worse rain storms I’ve ever seen earlier this year.

My question is if his is normal or if I need to be contacting the builder about this issue? The block isn’t sealed inside and I plan to paint/seal it soon to begin finishing the basement but I want to make sure everything is correct before I proceed.

You can see from the second picture that the water originates at ground level.  It permeates into the hollow cores and then follows the cores down.

It could be a grading problem, where the soil doesn't slope enough away from the house (initial settlement of the backfill), and/or downspouts that discharge too close to the house.

Make sure the rain gutter system isn't clogged and use downspout extensions to discharge the water 10' away from the foundation.

The backfill settles, so you may have to improve the grade for the first 6 to 10 feet around the foundation.  Put heavy plastic sheeting against the foundation up to the height that additional fill will be added, and extending over the current soil going out 6-8 feet.  Then put new soil on top of it to create a good grade away from the house.


Should I use 1/4" drywall to cover ceiling texture or imperfections? My laundry room ceiling had to have a large section of its 1/2" drywall ceiling removed and replaced a few years back after a copper water pipe had a leak. The replacement was fully taped but was never fully finished to match the rest of the ceiling which has a painted knock-down texture on it.

Now in the current lock down situation it has become a project to complete the restoration of the ceiling and do some other upgrades in this room. I would like to install a full layer of 1/4" drywall on the ceiling to provide a nice consistent surface to paint. Having never used this thin material before I am wondering how well it works to use drywall screws to attach the 1/4" material on top of the existing 1/2" material.

Does it take special care to prevent the screws from going right through?

Does 1/4" drywall on a ceiling stay flat or do I have to worry about it sagging?

Have you ever tried to install the terrible interior doors Menards sells with the MDF casing?   (yea we ordered 3 on sale not understanding the casing was made out of a thick cooked noodle - if the doors were a circle this would be a great idea)

I am asking because if you use the 1/4" drywall to go over a ceiling the MDF door is the only way you can easily up your installation frustration.

I have done two rooms in my life using 1/4" over existing drywall.   One was after removal of popcorn ceiling the other was a bedroom that had severe water staining but existing drywall still in good condition.   Will never do it again.

About 1/4":

1/4" will sag even with screwing on 16" OC.   You will have to use a normal screwing schedule but you will go through about a tube of adhesive per board.   The glue will keep it from sagging given flat surface.
As for screwing you have to get really good at evening up your screws to edge and then you go back in later to pop them all in slightly on low speed.
If inspected some cities will not pass 1/4" over existing.
It really is the equivalent of the MDF casing.  You will be installing wet noodles on your ceiling.   You MUST have a good helper to hold the other side of the noodle while popping the first few screws.   I can put a 4x10 5/8" sheet myself easily (not fast but easy).   I am pretty sure I would break a 1/4" sheet by myself.
Due to the flexible properties of the drywall it may not flatten out when going from smooth to texture.

I think you understand the other parts - the longer screws, you aren't floating your edges here, and stuff like that.

My recommendation (unless you just want a way to spend this house time) would be to skim coat the whole ceiling.   Scrape off as much texture as you can and just skim everything.   It sure seems like a PITA but it is 1/4th the work you are looking at.

If you aren't good with skim coating a little secret is you just do the best you can - get it at 90%.   Put a coat of primer on it.   This will seal things up.   Then you fill in the imperfections and it is really easy to fill/sand these because the primer provides a harder surface to lay against.


How to fix sagging plaster under window We bought a 1928 house, the plaster is sagging here to the point it is flush with the trim. How should I go about repairing this? Is it worth fixing? Thanks

There is a strong chance that what you see is drywall overlaid a plaster wall. Plaster, does not sag or bow out as it is shown in your picture, not without severe cracking. Plaster is very brittle and does not take well to any movement at all.

Based only on what the picture shows, the plaster did move, or cracked or fell off or something like that. The remedy that somebody thought of, which is done a lot, is overlay the wall with drywall, whether it be 1/4" thick or thicker.

Flat window trim in homes the age your is typically very thick, 3/4"-7/8" thick, unless it was redone with newer stock. Regardless, the trim's edge is covered to a degree by the wall material, suggesting an overlay of drywall over the plaster.

To answer your question, since the base is already off, so it appears, cut the offending section out to the original wall surface, remove whatever is creating the waves in the wall and re-shim if needed and reinstall the same thickness of new drywall that was removed. It will still cover the trim to a degree, but it will be uniform.


How to cut 45 angles in quarter round shoe molding with circular saw? I do not own a mitre saw, which seems like the best tool for cutting skinny quarter round shoe moulding at 45 degree angles.  While I can manipulate the angle on my circular saw, which worked very well for my baseboard 45s, the quarter round's small size seems to make it difficult.

Is there a carpentry trick/hack that would allow me to cut quarter round with a regular circular saw?  Perhaps some kind of a channel embedded in some kind of metal guide that the quarter round would go into and a flat top surface that the saw runs over.

Really too dangerous cutting small base shoe molding with a circular saw.

It is so easy to cut that you should just buy one of those cheap wooden miter boxes that you use with a fine toothed back saw.

Sometimes these even come with the saw as a kit.


Tiling over latex paint that has water proofing membrane So I am wanting to turn my tub only area into a tub and shower and because of this I am wanting to tile the entire surrounding area with tile.

The big question I have is if the wall has latex paint, slightly glossy, and I put water-proof membrane over it, is that strong enough to hold in the wet area? I have coated a small area and the hold it strong, it takes a sharp edge to break the membrane, can't just pick at it with my nails, and it doesn't peel off the entire area after breaking it.

The water proofing Mapei Mapelastic™ AquaDefense.

The wall underneath is solid, I can't say it is a CBU but it is some mix of hard materals, very corase, as it ruined my metal saw blades fast when I have to move and outlet over.

I have applied thinset over paint many many times.  I mean they have waterproofing paint (redgard) now and you thinset over that.   Now the question is did the paint cure and does it have a good bond to the surface?  If you don't know that then mix a little thinset, put up one tile (where you will eventually want it), and test it out.  If it is solid the next day then you are good to go.


Replacing an exterior screen door footer threshold to close gap So I'm repairing issues on a home that was damaged in a flood about 8 years ago.  A contractor had done all the repairs after the flood but I've found lots of corners cut and shotty work.
The door to the basement is in a stairwell below grade, and consists of a wood door and a glass screen door, with an approx 11in gap between them.  Below the screen door is a large gap (seen in the first photo), with no footer below the screen door.  I'm almost positive before the flood, there was a wood footer here that was mounted to the concrete below the door frame, that closed the gap under the screen door. So I think this footer was damaged in the flood, was removed and never replaced, leaving this large gap for bugs and other critters to enter the basement freely.

Looking at the concrete below the door frame, I can see there are holes where the previous footer was mounted to, that have been filled with foam, and covered with white paint.  Also the area below the door frame isn't completely vertical, the bottom slants inwards toward the house.

So I'm asking what would be the best way to close this gap so the screen door rubber seal can close against it?  I have a pressure treated 2x4 that fits almost perfectly below the door and seals against the screen door rubber seal.  Would installing a pressure treated 2x4 across the door frame solve this problem?  Or is that a short term solution as it would rot out from the water/moisture that gathers in the stairwell?
Any guidance would be very appreciated, I'm not sure if the terms I'm using are correct as well, I've had a hard time finding similar issues when searching online.

Would installing a pressure treated 2x4 across the door frame solve
this problem? Or is that a short term solution as it would rot out
from the water/moisture that gathers in the stairwell?

Yes it would, you may have to do some creative cutting to get it fit well. It is treated so although water may gather there it will not be a short term solution and will last for quite some time.
If you install it with removable fasteners then in X years, however long it takes to no longer be sufficient,  you can just replace it with another piece of treated.
I would coat the wood with truck bed liner to make it last much much longer. Truck bed liner is available in a quart can, it can be brushed or rolled on or a spray can, it  will be tough and hold up to foot traffic.


Can rotary tool bits be used with a drill? Can I use accessories like this Dremel 110 Piece Super Accessory Kit  with a regular drill or impact driver?
Are there any advantages of rotary tools over impact drivers?

I would guess they might be more convenient to use because of the shape of the tool, but other then that is there something precluding me from using the bits with drill/driver?

Impact driver? I wouldn't. Those bits are so small you'll just shatter them.

Regular drill? Maybe. Most drills max out around 1000-1500 RPM, although some specialty drill models max out around 4000 RPM. On the other hand, a Dremel usually starts at 5000 RPM and can max out around 30,000 RPM. So depending on the bit, you might get adequate performance. But most bits will probably be completely unusable.


How to run a flex duct branch through a unreachable trunk? Have a trouble to cut a 5" inch of hole in the trunk.  I don't have space to make hole through the side of trunk. the only space is let between joists and, from where its hard to cut a hole of 5" <img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rV7wu.jpg" alt="enter
is it feasible ?
image description here" />

Thanks!

Some options that come to mind are using a low profile drill to start a hole and then awkwardly cutting it with tin snips or a nibbler if you have enough space.  With a little more space you may even be able to fit a hole saw with a low profile drill.  Some "Adjustable" hole saws have shorter length than common arbor and cups.
If you really can't fit anything in there, from your picture it looks like you have access to the opposite side, so you can get a 5" holesaw and a 18-24" hole saw extension bit and drill through both sides of the duct.  Once you're done, seal the hole you don't want with a metal plate, self tapping screws and that grey duct basher goo.  That gets you a hole and just leaves you with needing to screw your flange on, which could still be a huge pain, but again a low profile drill should do the job with only 5-6" clearance.  If you don't have 5-6" clearance, you don't have room for your duct anyway, so I assume you have at least that to work with.  There may be some adhesive that is considered acceptable, but I've never seen a professional HVAC guy forego screws.
Hex head duct screws are particularly easy to work with with a magnetic bit, but an option for really hard cases is to drill a pilot hole and then put the screw in by hand with a stubby screwdriver.


Add a GFCI Outlet to Existing Electrical Wire I have an existing conduit coming from the ground and goes into the side my garage.  Just before it goes into the wall, there is a rectangle shaped box with screws that hold a small cover on.  If I remove the cover, I see 4 wires:  Black, White, Red, and Green. These wires power several 2 and 3-way circuts inside the garage.

I want to "splice" into these wires (from outside) so that I can have a GFCI outlet outside the garage.

My question is, what is the best way to do this?  There isn't really enough slack on the wires inside the little rectangle box to do anything.  I suppose I could snip the wires, remove the little rectangle box and replace it with a large junction box, and that way I would have room to extend the wires, and route them to another outlet box which would be my GFCI outlet.  Does this sound like the right way to do this?

If this is correct, how would the wiring diagram for this look?

This must be a 15A or 20A circuit.  If it is 25A or larger, you are not allowed to put the usual receptacles on it.

That funny thing is a conduit body.  It's made to ease pulling.  You cannot splice there.

First, pull the wires out of there. Find the ends of the wires (i.e. at the service panel or at the next junction box where they splice) whichever is closer.  Unsplice them and pull them back, all the way to the conduit body and a little past.  That way you don't have to cut the wires.

Then replace the conduit body with something else.  You can change it to a "Tee" conduit body, or to a junction box.  A junction box is a great deal more useful.  You'll need to work in the same kind of system you're already in, e.g. if PVC conduit, then either use PVC boxes, or use PVC threaded ends to go into any other kind of box.

Next, extend the conduit pipe system to your new receptacle.

Now put the original wires back and you're back up.  Now figure out how to add the additional wires.  Now let's review the rules:

You cannot make any splice in a conduit body, only junction boxes.
Each wire must have 6" from where it enters the box, and also stick out of the front of the box at least 3".  At both ends.

So if you added a conduit body "tee" you'll need to run wires from the new receptacle, through the "tee" to a junction box where you can splice. Watch out that you don't overstuff your conduit, the legal max is 9-12 wires depending on several factors.

If you added a new junction box and want to make the splice there, you'll have to see if they left you enough slack for the required lengths in all locations.  If not, you'll have to sacrifice one side or the other, and replace them with longer wires.  Take them into the electrical supply and ask for wires 2 feet longer.  They can help you match up the size and type.  Also get the new wires (same size and type) you'll need for your new branch, if you're branching.
If you know you'll have to sacrifice wire, you can save time at step 1 by doing that first.

You drew it with "wire nuts" or some other kind of splice tying all the wires, and a short pigtail to the receptacle.  That is correct.  You must pigtail the ground, always.  You must pigtail the neutral because this is a multi-wire branch circuit (which have many complicated rules).  You aren't required to pigtail the hot, but it can help especially if it's in a cramped location.  (you can attach the pigtails to the receptacle at your desk.)


Should I cap off my clogged kitchen pipe at the wall or after the p-trap? A member of my household thought our garbage disposal was a magic ray gun that obliterated anything poured down its black hole. The plumber cleared a glue-like substance from the pipes underneath the sink with a screwdriver but his auger barely penetrated 5 inches into the main wall pipe that leads to the sewer. I cannot afford to have my pipes cut out and new ones installed so I was just going to use the sink in the basement to clean dishes.

So which is the better option so sewage fumes do not overrun my house:

Easy option: Cap off the sink hole & garbage disposal.
Remove all the pipes under sink & garbage disposal and cap off main pipe at wall.
Leave the P-Trap and cap the pipe off after that.

Any of those options will work, let me reorder them to:

Easy option: Cap off the sink hole & garbage disposal.
Leave the P-Trap and cap the pipe off after that.
Remove all the pipes under sink & garbage disposal and cap off main pipe at wall.

Now they're in order of ease and how temporary you want. If you want to simply stop the sewage fumes, the P-Trap (filled with water) will do just that so #1 & #2 will do that. #2 & #3 are good but might be a bit overkill especially if you leave the sink in place, even with the sink faucet off you'll have the occasional pot drained/strained in the sink and glass dumped in there. So if you have any drainage left, I'd just leave it and probably just turn off the faucets. If not, personally I'd removed the P-Trap back and cap it, then put a 5-gallon bucket under there.


"Click-Lock", "Engineered", "Engineered Click", and "Solid" hardwood... Is there a difference between "Engineered" and "Engineered-Click"? I've researched this a bunch already and I'm pretty far down the decision timeline, but I was looking at samples again tonight and I've realized that I need a more definitive answer before I can make this very expensive purchase.

I understand the differences between click-lock, engineered, and solid hardwood. For my situation (and understanding of these types) I decided to find an engineered solution so save money, but still have quality wood.

However, at Home Depot I'm seeing drastically different pricing for "Engineered Click", "Click-Lock", and "Engineered". I'm sure the quality is different, but the wording is enough to make me take a step back and try to better understand what I'm buying.

Here are some pictures I took earlier tonight.

They are from two different displays so I understand there will be some difference in pricing there. But is "Engineered Click" equivalent to "Click-Lock"? If so, am I thinking about this wrong if I want a nice engineered hardwood by considering the "Engineered Click" option?

I'm just a little apprehensive that the "Engineered" option is more than 3x the material cost on my existing quote.

None of the articles I can find online explain in enough detail to make me confident about these.

Can you share the SKU on the "Engineered Click" option you're seeing? At that price it's likely HDF plus a wood veneer or thin layer on top. You should also be able to tell if you can look at a cross-section of a plank. HDF is likely better than MDF/plywood/softwood for the layers and may or may not be better than hardwood depending on who you ask, but it is definitely cheaper since it's a recycled product.

I was able to find the more expensive products you shared on the HD website, and they're real wood throughout (no HDF). Both are engineered in that they are in layers rather than one solid plank, even the click-lock.

The price difference between the two is just based on what thickness and installation style you want. The more expensive one per square foot is thicker (1/2" vs 3/8").


What does it mean when a property listing says that the county denied for a "conventional" septic system I'm interested in buying a plot of land and building something on it. I'll need plumbing and electricity on this plot of land and I think I found a perfect lot for sale, but one of the bits of information on the listing is:

County denied for a "conventional" septic system 12/15/15

I must admit I'm not really that familiar yet with this sort of thing, so if the county denies a "conventional" septic system does that mean that plumbing won't be allowed on this property? or that I have to pay for the system myself? Would I be able to hook up a shower, bathroom and kitchen?

As I said, I'm not familiar so some advice would be great! Thank you.

This is likely off topic on the site. You'd be better off talking to a real estate agent, or the local government.

My guess is that they did a Percolation test (perc test), and the results came back as a fail.  This means that installing a septic system on the property is going to be a challenge, though they may have accepted alternative solutions in the area. If the lot has access to city/town sewers, you should be able to get hooked up to that.

Alternatively, the system may have been denied due to lack of space, too many other systems in the area, the system would be too close to ground or surface water, or some other local requirements were not met.

Depending on your area, you may be able to handle grey water without a septic system.  This would mean that you could have a shower, sink, washing machine, etc. You just wouldn't be able to have a toilet. Well, you wouldn't be able to have a toilet connected to a "conventional" septic system (whatever they consider "conventional"). There are alternatives ways of disposing of human waste, and the county may allow an "unconventional" septic system. You'd have to check with the county, to determine what would be allowed.

At any rate... If you're buying unimproved land, you're going to have to pay for whatever is built/installed on the property (septic system or otherwise).


Should I move the furnace upstairs to help cool the 2nd story? My wife and I live in a two story, 1400 sqft home. Recently, our 24 year old HVAC system died on us and we've been recommended by three different independent repair guys to replace the system rather than fix it since the brand that was installed is not that great to begin with. Since this is what we have come to terms with we want to install the right system for our house. One of the issues we always had before which I know most two story homeowners have is the inability to effectively cool down the 2nd story. Currently, the attic has no attic fans. We've had three A/C installers come out to quote us a new system and as to be expected, all came up with a different solution.

The first one (local contractor) was the cheapest and most basic which was to simply replace our current condenser unit, and forced air unit with new Trane models, 13 seer, 3 ton. This was going to be $6300 out the door.

The second contractor (EconoAir through Costco) offered a package that includes replacing the forced air and condenser, but also moving the furnace to the upstairs in our attic, replacing all the ducting with brand new ones, running new gas and electrical, replacing all the registers in the house, installing an attic ladder and relocating the opening to the attic. The brand they use is Lennox and the installer seemed to think moving the furnace to the attic would definitely solve our 2nd story heat issue because the return would be up there and it would be easier for the cool air to move about upstairs. They want about $13K for this system. The package details include, "High performance coil system, oversized suction and liquid drier to clean up a/c system, honeywell prestige flat screen thermostat, complete accoustical sound with oversized returns, Merv 16 air purifier system, complete new plenum system, new free flow high velocity bar type or curve blade registers, all metal wrapped in a commercial fsk wrap, oversized feeders hardwired at the furnace w/ new breakers, new high voltage disconnect w/ new breaker and oversized main feeder, accoustical sound technology for compressor, voltage booster, new stainless steel gas lines installed w new shut off valve, new b-vent cap with collar, install new bacteriostatic, oversized, energy efficient mylar duct system with air balance."

The third contractor offered a package that would replace the condenser with a 15 seer condenser, 3 ton unit (Trane) and would keep it downstairs (though they were willing to move up stairs for $3500), put in an "air accelerator" in the ducts in the attic that would basically help to pull up the cool air from downstairs, as well as an attic fan. Their system would cost out the door about $8600. They also offer lifetime warranty on labor for their system.

--
Basically what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best option for our home to get a new system installed that will sufficiently cool the 2nd story. We plan on being in the house at least another 5 years or so.

I would only place the unit in the attic if it was a second unit and it avoided ducts running up and down walls. With an attic unit, you have to worry about a clog in the condensate line causing a leak in your ceiling. Access is frequently more difficult and requires a trip through your entire home. As tabun mentioned, it's noisier. You'd also need to run power and refrigerant lines up there, which won't be cheap. You also need to worry about insulating the unit and all ducts since the HVAC will likely be in uninsulated space.

Replacing duct work will be a huge job without a lot of reward unless the ducts are easy to access. They will have to pull out drywall all over the place to access the lines.

The best solution would be a couple dampers that you can adjust each season to direct air either upstairs or downstairs. You'll need one installed on each outflow from the HVAC, but the line to the attic is frequently a single trunk going up the wall. You also need to make sure your return upstairs is working well. My personal solution has been to replace my return grilles with the hinged style that supports a filter, and then to leave the filter out of the return that needs more heating or cooling.

The air accelerator would help (make sure it only activates during the AC mode) and be a decent option if you can't use dampers on the vents to the first floor, but otherwise, it's one more thing that can break and I'm a fan of keeping things simple. You may also want to see if they have a system that supports two thermostats and electronically controlled dampers which would cut down on some of the extreme temperature swings you likely have upstairs.


Two black wires connected into a single black wire in light switch box I pulled out a one-way dimmer light switch in a bedroom in order to replace with another dimmer switch.  Within the switch box, there were two black wires connected together, with another single black wire exiting out of the connector (see the red connector and the yellow arrow).  The single black wire exiting the connector was then connected to the switch.  Can someone explain why these two wires were connected within the box?  Was it to convert a three-pole into a single-pole switch, or for some other reason?  Is this something I should be worried about?

The additional black wire is probably continuing the hot to another outlet or light switch. If you were to disconnect the black wires that are connected together from the wall, you'd find that only one has power. If you were to leave the other wire disconnected, you'd find that other outlets and/or switches would stop working.
Just go ahead and connect the new dimmer the same way.


Can I hook up two baseboard heaters on a 30 amp double pole breaker with #12 wire? I want to run 2 baseboard heaters on a double pole 30 amp breaker with 12/2 wire. Is that ok?

No!  12/2 wire is NOT suitable for a 30 A circuit.

While there are other considerations, you will need to use a MINIMUM of 10 AWG Cu wire for a 30A circuit.

Beyond that, whether 30A is enough for your two heaters cannot be answered because that depends on the current requirements for the heaters.


Battening an uneven wall for plasterboard I want to place plasterboard against some interior walls (garage conversion)

I want to batten out the walls with timber and back the timber with Damp Proof Course (DPC).

I already have this timber, this DPC, and plan to purchase this plasterboard (50mm)

The wall I'm battening against is not level. It's not out by much though, at most 8mm.

So far I've researched into using these shims behind the timber but I'm not entirely confident in the method which I'm going to use to get the entire wall straight.

What's the suggestion? A long piece of string at 3 points which spans the wall? Use a 1M spirit level?

What about trying something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuCE8xaxg2s - this seems like a waste of timber though? (planing the timber down)

You simply need to establish lines on opposite sides of your wall, then pull lines between those lines to create the plane for the rest of the boards. Use a level where desired to compare the two initial lines to check for twist in your plane.

Find the high point on one side (or top/bottom, depending on your strategy) and set lines on nails at each corner on that side. Do the same for the opposite side.
Check for twist in the overall plane by checking plumb between the top and bottom corners with a bubble level (and straightedge, if needed).
Install boards to those lines. Fasten the board at the high point and shim out as needed at the other mounting points.
Work across the plane established by these two boards, moving a perpendicular line to each mounting line as you go.

For example, if you're installing vertical furring strips, the first two lines would also go vertically, at the same locations as those strips. Then you'd check plumb on those lines. Then you'd set the first two strips. Now you move your lines to horizontal, against the first two strips, setting the rest of the strips to those horizontal lines. The first two strips act as your reference for all the other strips.


Need Help Wiring Replacement Ceiling Fan I hadn't run into any trouble with replacing the ceiling fans in my older home (~21 years old) until today when I attempted to swap out the ceiling fan in our bonus room. Thinking this would be a relatively simple swap, I haphazardly inspected the previous wiring while disassembling the old ceiling fan, and now, of course, I'm regretting that decision after multiple failed attempts to get the new ceiling fan wired up the same way.

After trying to do some research on my own to figure out the wiring confusion, I mostly came to the conclusion that my wiring setup is pretty atypical for the sort of connections I'm trying to achieve since there is no red wire available. Previously, the old ceiling fan and light kit was connected to two wall switches (one controlling the fan and one for the light) with two 2-wire (black, white, ground) cable runs  feeding in to the switch and one 2-wire cable going out to a nearby receptacle. I've left all of this intact as it was working just fine before I tore out the old fixture.

Needless to say, the source of confusion is at the ceiling's junction box. There's two 2-wire (black, white, ground) cables feeding into the box, where the first cable appears to run out to the wall switches and only works for the ceiling fan's switch when I make the right connections. The issue I'm having is with getting the light switch working using the other cable: It seems to be a power supply rather than a run out to the light switch because I'm only ever able to get the light to work with the pull chain. Both the old and new ceiling fan's wiring are standard - white, blue, and black.

Long story short, after trying multiple combinations of wire connections for hours, I just can't seem to get the light switch working at all with the new ceiling fan whereas both switches had been working before with the old ceiling fan. The best result that I've gotten thus far is that the ceiling fan's wall switch is working as expected, but the light is only working via pull chain. I'm stumped to say the least and could use any help there is to be offered (wiring diagrams greatly appreciated).

EDIT: I'm also adding a makeshift wiring diagram below of what I assume should be the correct connections. However, as diagrammed, these connections only work for the fan switch and do not work for the light switch (but pull chain for light does work) as I previously stated.

Thanks to the comments from JACK and Ray, I was able to use an electrical tester to try the circuits. After ruling on any problems there, I went ahead and swapped the switches for the ceiling fan and light (keeping the wiring as is), and lo and behold, the fan was running constant (only working with the pull chain) and the light switch was now working as expected, so ultimately the issue I was having was indeed with a faulty switch. I swapped it out with a new one, and everything is back up and running. Thanks all!


How to best repair poorly fitted rubber ring around overflow of bathtub? I flooded my downstairs neighbor and after doing some troubleshooting, I figured out why.  The overflow outlet on my tub was poorly fitted by the previous person touching it (I bought the condo like this.)  It's there, but is not a close fit at all.  The question that I have is how to best fix it?  Should I use a silicone caulk around the edges?

I wouls prefer to not have to rip out my tub.

I have a picture if anyone is interested.

For common bathtubs the correct overflow gasket should be wedge shaped with a flat side and an angled side. The flat side mates with the overflow horn (the piece directly behind the hole) and the angled side mates with the backside of the tub, fat part down to match the slope of the tub wall.

I have seen them made of both solid rubber and foam rubber. I prefer the foam rubber because you can get a decent squish on them and they will conform to irregularities on the back side of cast iron tubs (sometimes the porcelain glaze is slopped a bit back there, sometimes the casting is rough).

Do not attempt to smear caulk around it, it won't work. They can be replaced without ripping out the tub. Remove the overflow plate and take a look, you should be able to pull out the old gasket with a combination of long tools and needle-nose pliers (I use a hemostat- see picture).

There is always a bit of "give" on the overflow pipe, which helps, but try not to move it too much or you risk compromising the connection to the waste tee below (if it is the type with a slip-joint connection, many are glued plastic).

Get a piece of slim stiff wire about 8" long and bent in a "j" shape on one end and keep it handy. Get a helper too, unless you have 3 arms and hands. My technique for this is to install a plate screw into the horn so you have something to grab to apply pressure to the new gasket as you slide it into place (the screw will also prevent the new gasket from falling behind the tub if you drop it). Manipulate the gasket with your free hand, using tools if you have to, until it is positioned properly (you may have to jam it in a bit). When the gasket is in the right position pull back on the screw to hold the gasket in position between the horn and tub wall. Now use the wire to grip the bottom edge of the shoe to maintain pressure, have your helper hold it. Remove the screw and install the overflow plate (the wire should lay where the overflow ports on the bottom of the plate are).

Unhook the wire from below and remove, and you are done. Be aware that the seal provided by the gasket is not really meant to be totally watertight like the drain is, it's not meant to be submerged, it's there for incidental overfill protection.


240V circuit connection I currently have a 30Amp CB connected to 10 Gauge wire (Red, Black & White - no bare ground wire).  I am about to connect a window AC unit that is compatible with a 20 Amp plug.  My first question is this: can I replace the 30 Amp receptacle with a 20 Amp receptacle.  Second question, since this system requires a ground would I need to connect the white wire to the ground bus in my panel instead of the Neutral bus?

thanks in advance for your assistance

Yes, you can replace the 30A breaker with a 20A breaker so long as you change the receptacles to 15-20A.  The breaker must match the receptacles.  The only exceptions are 15A receptacles are allowed on 20A breakers (and 50A receptacles on 40A breakers, not relevant here).

It's OK to use oversized wire.  It's not OK to undersize wire.  If it doesn't fit on the receptacles, use a short pigtail of a smaller but still appropriate wire size.

It is illegal to re-designate a neutral (white or gray) wire to be a ground,  say, by taping it with green tape or painting it green.  NFPA's logic is that a future repairman might get confused, and wire is cheap so why not use the right colors in the first place.  A wire which is bare its entire length can only be a ground.  I'm just gonna leave that there.

NEMA 10 receptacles are obsolete and dangerous.  The correct receptacle for "240V, ground, no neutral" is NEMA 6.


PVC Exterior Window Sill on a Brick Veneer Home I have a brick veneer home with a rectangular hole in the wall that currently holds an unneeded window air conditioner. I bought a window I would like to install there. The hole does not have a brick sill - the hole was built specifically for the AC (long before me) so there is no ledge. Lucky for me that means I won't have to cut any bricks to prepare the opening. Would a PVC exterior window sill would be the easiest way to go? Do I have to put a sill at all? I live in a VERY humid, hot area. Do you have any tips or recommendations for my project?

I guess the Water was previously redirected by the AC which was your sill. Therefore I would install a sill to redirect the water away from the house.


What is break down of amps on household usages plugin,lights ect Looking for information on how much amps are used for plug ins,light switches,ect

Switches do not use any power at all. The things they switch use power. Lights use whatever the wattage of the lamps (bulbs) are in the fixtures. Things that are plugged in use basically what's on the rating plate.

You can find many many web sites listing estimates of what household appliances, etc draw while in use. A quick Google search will bring lots of info. Also, most utility web sites have good information about using generators. Typically this includes average appliance power consumption charts.


What size prehung door to buy I have to replace two, interior doors in my old house, which was built in 1973.  The existing doors are 29-1/2 inches wide and their door frames are soft MDF that falls apart when I drive a screw through it.  The screws for the hinges are pulling out and I tried to replace them with 3-1/2 inch screws but they found no studs to bite into.  So I want to replace them with prehung doors.
I looked online at Lowe's and their doors are 30 inches wide.  Are my doors an odd size or is 29-1/2 inches the actual width of a 30-inch door?

I think my 29-1/2-inch doors are an unusual size.  From my research, it appears that 30-inch doors are an actual, 30 inches wide.  So that answers my question.  I think I will just buy 30-inch doors and widen the opening a bit, if needed, by moving the studs.


What glue should I use for glue-down engineered flooring installation? I bought a roll of FloorMuffler UltraSeal underlayment (essentially, sealed high-density foam) at Home Depot for this project. The instructions are very specific about which adhesive to use: "To be used with FloorMuffler HPA adhesive only".

This is problematic for at least two reasons:

It is not clear whether the installation will fail with any other type of adhesive, or they simply prefer that I buy their product. It has become fashionable, of late, to put statements in the manuals such as "this product will only function with OEM parts", some of which are outright ridiculous, e.g. use only XYZ-brand memory sticks with your XYZ digital camera, etc. Unfortunately, in this case I cannot tell whether I can ignore it or need to take it seriously.
Home Depot does not sell required adhesive. Worse still, I could not find it anywhere on the internet. They also have two different products, one to glue the foam to concrete, another to glue flooring to the foam. Seriously? To aggravate the problem, the manufacturer does not specify the type of glue they require, so I cannot even attempt to guess if it can be substituted or not. And by the way, the company's customer support is not returning phone calls, so no help there.

I bought some generic brand acrylic urethane glue for engineered hardwood flooring. Should I just go ahead and use that?

Update:
I glued underlayment to concrete using Roberts Engineered Wood Flooring Adhesive. The instructions say "open time up to 20 minutes" and "install hardwood while the glue is still fresh, do not allow it to skin-over". I probably gave it 10 minutes of open time before I rolled underlayment on top of freshly applied glue. There was a lot of trapped air that caused bubbles. I pierced them and pressed the air out. Next morning I was ready to install the floor, but I noticed the glue under the underlayment is still fresh. It cured around the edges, but it is completely fresh otherwise. What did I do wrong? What are my options now? I also posted this as a separate question.

There is no reason to glue down engineered hardwood floor to an underlayment.  This is just for initial aesthetics.  The glue will NEVER last (in a residential setting).  The only thing the glue will do is give you fits and make your install seem tighter.  Within weeks or months the glue will come loose and you will have a floating floor.

Nothing wrong with a floating floor.  But the fact is you should be gluing the pieces together, not under them.  The big boxes sell the generic engineered wood flooring glue.  Buy that and glue your pieces together, not under them.  The only time I have seen gluing to the floor to be an option is thin flooring onto concrete for commercial purposes.  The only thing I would glue down in someone home is vinyl sheets/squares.


My lennox furnace has no filter I searched for 30 minutes, and I could not find the furnace filter, is it possible to install/build a filter slot? my whole family got allergy after turning on heater this winter.  Thank you!

Lennox 80mgf4-75a
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50982191/IMG_1425.JPG

I have a Lennox too and I hate the filter situation with a fury of 1000 suns:

It's just sitting in the furnace against the return duct - previous owner left a VERY dirty one taped with aluminum tape that took me a long time to peel. I've been using masking tape. One of these days I'll find time to fabricate a filter box to sit between the return duct and the furnace.

So, I'm guessing from your pictures that you'd be in the same situation - inside the furnace, against the mastic'ed duct.


How important is it to use 4x12 vs 4x8 sheets of drywall? We are going to be starting drywall hanging in 2 weeks, which is the final part of my GC's contract. We are separately hiring another contractor for mudding and painting. My GC has informed me that he intends to use all 4x8 drywall panels to save cost and reduce the weight of the boards. Since he's not doing the mudding, the creation of extra butt joints isn't his problem. He's telling me the cost of a change order to "upgrade" to 4x12 sheets of drywall is $5K.

My mudding contractor is saying he won't charge extra for the extra butt joints introduced by using 4x8s, but he is saying that the final product simply won't be as smooth.

Do you think it's worth it to pay the extra $5K (or maybe we can negotiate down) to get the 4x12s? How noticeable will the extra seams be? Should we be worried about cracks or other major issues caused by using 4x8s?

Our drywall is primarily 1/2", with some areas 5/8" for fireproofing or sound proofing.

Its really not important for the end result.  What matters is the workmanship and quality of the installation.  Poorly finished drywall of any size sheet is still poorly finished.  Instead of negotiating a price to install 4x12s, try and find out if they offer a warranty.  My drywaller gives a 1 year guarantee against cracks or sags.  I just get out of his way and let him work, then pay him once I approve the job.  He can use green board, 4x12, 4x8 or 2x2 squares for all I care as long as the finished product looks good and he backs up his work with a guarantee.


What type and length of wiring for home security system? I'm slowly remodeling my house one room at a time.  I'm to the point where I need to wire a window for the future alarm system.  This post talks about how to wire a home during new construction for a security system and partially answers my question saying to use 22/4 wire.

What about 18/4?  24/4? Solid or stranded?

Also, since I won't be able to connect the alarm system for some time yet, and I'm not sure where the main board will be yet, I need to have leeway on the cable length.

How long can a particular gauge of wire run without signal degradation or interference issues?

Most security system have a minimum of 9v DC, but I've seen up to 60v AC or DC, running to the sensors. The concern here is voltage drop as these are extremely low current devices. If you are using magnetic/reed switches, which it sounds like you are, they are unpowered digital switches (either on or off). Digital logic circuit typically require >50% of the feed voltage to trigger as high (on) and anything else is low (off); however, you always want more than the minimum so any interference and such doesn't affect you.

VD = Voltage drop (conductor temp of 75°C) in volts

L = One-way length of the circuit's feeder (in feet)

R = Resistance factor in ohm/kft

I = Load current (in amperes)

28ga copper = 64.898 ohm/kft
24ga copper = 25.669 ohm/kft
18ga copper = 6.3851 ohm/kft

Let's assume the wire is going to a back-lit keypad and draws .5A (trying for worst case scenario)

VD(100ft, 28ga) ~= 6.5V. 9v source means 2.5v at the end which won't work

VD(100ft, 24ga) ~= 2.5V. 9V source means 6.5v, a reed switch should work fine, a keypad or motion sensor may not.

VD(100ft, 18ga) ~= .64. 9v source means 8.36v, almost anything will work.

Now that is the worst case scenario (within reason). Most modern security systems are 24v so 28ga is pushing it for keypads/motion sensor (depending on what they actually need) but 24ga should be fine for everything. It really depends on what your trying to hookup for each stretch of wire, the length, and the input voltage.

If this breaks any Low-Voltage NEC, someone please add details.

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_drop, http://amasci.com/tesla/wire1.html


Please help me choose: single phase vs 3 phase HVAC compressor My residence is supplied with single phase power. The previous owner installed a single phase to 3 phase converter to run a 12 ton compressor (Phase Perfect PT355).  I am getting rid of the 12 ton compressor and replacing it with 3 5-ton compressors.  I can buy these in single phase or 3 phase.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if I'm taking single phase power, converting it to 3 phase power, and then running compressor, I'm not gaining any efficiency.  Any increased efficiency of 3 phase compressor is going to be offset by the losses in converting from single to 3 phase.

The sticker on the converter reads: Input 240VAC, 50/60Hz, 1 phase 98A; Output 240VAC, 50/60Hz, 3 phase 55A. Also, the single phase compressors have a 10 year warranty, while the 3 phase units have a 5 year warranty.

That's a crazy-large unit for a house.  That's why he was stuck with 3-phase.

Stand-by power consumption on that inverter is 240 watts.  That will cost you between $240 and $500 per year in electricity simply to have it idle depending on your local electricity prices.

Generally there's no earthly reason to go from single-phase to 3-phase (variable frequency drive for tools notwithstanding).

Single phase motors aren't significantly less efficient; if they were, they'd need enormous cooling fins. Because inefficiency turns into heat.

I think you're better off with 3 units instead of one. Not least, if one fails, it's not such a big deal.


What tool can I use to cut wall studs straight? Is there a hand tool (not power) that can be used to facilitate straight (or angled) cutting of wall studs?

Something similar to this Miter Box, but for larger/heavier woods, such as 2x4 or 2x6 wall studs.

A handsaw, a square, and practice. While it seems common for folks starting out to reject this option, (practice seems to be out of style) it works. But you need to accept the idea that you'll actually have to make some practice cuts and get in the habit of noticing how the saw is cutting and learn to keep it on track.

A mitre box. You can make one from wood of whatever size you need.


Tips to find where sump pump is discharging While investigating another question, I began to suspect that my sump pump is not discharging far enough away. There are four pipes coming to the sump pit. After a heavy rain stopped, the one from the same side as the discharge would continue to drain for a day or so into the sump pit while other pipes pretty much dried.
Is there a way I can try first before digging (which would likely require removing brick pavers)? I read about dyed water for troubleshooting septic systems. Would that be a suitable approach? Anything in particular to use?
[UPDATE] I tried pouring 10+ gallon of water with tracer dyes into the sump pit, but I cannot see anywhere outside getting wet...

Standard septic tracing dyes are non-toxic (important becasue you are dumping them into wherever your sump discharges) and typically fluorescent and fairly concentrated. Green and red are common. Blue seems to be less common, but available. In your case it likely does not matter, just pick a color, put it in, and go hunting - also see if it "comes back" with the late-draining pipe inflow.


I have a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan and lights. I can't find bulbs that work I have a 52 inch/132 cm edenton, Model#L2AP, Item #0154637.

It says use 4 40 Watt A candelabra base bulbs. I could only find A15 and lights are not working. Can anyone please help me? Do l need specific bulbs? I never had issues like this with anything in my life? Thanks SO much! Georgia

Candelabra is a type of lamp base (the screwey thing at the bottom).  It is the second most common after Edison E27. They are widely supported and are readily available in LED at prices comparable to E27 (unlike less common sizes, where they come at a premium).

You shouldn't have any trouble finding such bulbs at places that sell Harbor Breeze fans.  If that fails, try Ikea.


How can I paint over mold to prevent it from coming back again? The source of the leak has been fixed, however the old mold keeps showing though the new paint.

Don't try painting over mold.  Use bleach to get rid of it first.  Make sure the entire area is completely dry.  Then use a special anti mold paint.


Installing a sub panel Installing a sub panel solely for outdoor Christmas lights/decorations. I will need approximately 120 amps now, with more to be added later. My current main panel does not have enough open slots for this since each circuit will be limited to 20 amps because of the outlet and switch ratings. Running a sub panel off of a 100 amp double pole breaker will not give me enough amps at the sub panel. Would it be better to connect two sub panels with lower amps to each, or does any one make a double pole breaker that will allow 150 amps through it? Already looking at #2 wire run inside conduit from the main to the sub. The circuits will all be on at the same time, for a few hours every night if that matters. Main service is 200 amps. Distance from main to sub will be approximately 50 feet. Thanks. Will be converting to LED lights in the future.

It's obvious you take your lighting seriously. You would be better off applying for and setting temporary power rather than trying to upgrade you existing service. It really doesn't matter how long you lighting stays on if it runs over two hours unless you are planning not to run anything else while the lights are on. Something like this could put a lot of strain on your service.

So what I would do is set a temporary service in an unobtrusive area and have the utility company activate it and deactivate it every year.

Good luck with your project and your neighbors complaints.


Pros and Cons of sealing a flat roof with liquid rubber product We have an extension on our 1950s house which looks like it was put in very early on, and it extends a single bedroom out into a master bedroom size room.

This extension has a pretty flat (it has a slight slant on it away from the house) roof, which connects to the main house underneath the current eave.

The structure of this roof is solid - I (a fairly substantial 40 year old man with too many pizzas under his belt) can walk on it without difficulty.  The top surface is metal (type unknown).

This roof has developed a leak in heavy rain, which I have tracked down to one seal between two metal sheets - I have sealed it with spray sealant and this seems to have resolved the leak during our southern hemisphere winter rains.  There is no obvious issue with the seal, ie no obvious hole or deficiency, but spraying this one particular area has prevented water ingress during several nasty and sustained rain storms over the past few months (the leak originally came to light during a fairly heavy storm overnight in the middle of last summer).

One of the two options for permanently resolving this issue (other than replacing the roof) is to use a liquid rubber product to coat the entire roof in a waterproof seal - it looks fairly easy to apply, is supposed to last a decade, and looks like it can be worked into small nooks and crannies to form a good seal and coat.

What are the downsides to using this sort of product?

A few I can think of include:

Its pretty permanent, replacing it later on probably means a more significant amount of work on the entire roof
It may cover up other issues
It may not work
Its another one of those "cheap options" (probably $100 for our roof) which makes me think I'm about to do something very very wrong

What am I missing?

Adding a sealer to the surface does not sound like a permanent repair - may last a few seasons...

Covering the whole roof again does not sound like a reliable solution. Will this treatment do the 70years the original surface did?

I would look at opening that joint by removing the rivets / screws whatever the fixing is, then re-doing that seal and refixing the metal back down securely.


Is there a tool I can use to cut out the templates for door hardware? I just bought some new hardware (knobs and latches) for the interior doors of my house. Currently the latches look something like this:

(source: homedepot.com)
And the new latches look something like this (at least the square shape, though I realize this particular latch looks like its for an exterior door):

(source: cavlon.com)
The problem is the second latch (the one that i bought) does not fit INTO the door frame. In otherwords, I can put the latch on but then its wont be flush with the door because apparently that square metal plate on the end is supposed to go INTO the door, so that the face of it is flush with the side of the door. I want a tool that can cut into the door so that the hardware will be flush with the door. I dont want to use a chisel because Im not a carpenter and Im not experienced with carpentry so I just want to make it as simple as possible. I've heard you can do such a thing with a router if you have the right bit and some templates but I dont have a router so I wonder if there is some other way?
So ultimately Id like to know if theres some tool I can use to do what Im trying to do and what that tool is called (or what my options are)?
edit ---
Just found out about the Ryobi door latch installation kit from home depot. Thoughts on that?

A router (along with a special guide) can be used to cut part of the inset you need, but is not the easiest tool to use if you are not experienced, and it does not cut square corners, which still require a chisel to finish.

Using a chisel does take care and practice, but it is not beyond the reach of even an amateur if you are willing to do a test piece first and then go very slowly.

You need to draw the opening with a sharp pencil (or and awl).  Many people use a utility knife to cut the outline to slightly deeper than needed, then use a small, sharp chisel, following the grain of the wood (in this case toward the top and bottom, not across the door) taking very thin layers out until you are deep enough.

It does not need to be perfectly flat at the bottom of the channel, just the right depth at the ends with no high spots in between.

If you practice on a scrap of wood first, you may be surprised that you can do it.


How to repair a door with patches of stripped-off finish? I was trying to replace the door knob on the bathroom door and for some reason the existing hole was too small so I enlarged the hole by clamping a piece of wood to the door and drilling though.  I drilled through the board and then continued through the door and it almost worked perfect.

To prevent damage to the other side of the door, I taped the area near the hole but when I peeled off the tape it peeled off the finish of the door!

Can anybody please help me out?

Here is a picture of the door....

Remove the door knob and latch mechanism.
Sand the damaged area, focusing on feathering down the edge between the old finish and the now unfinished areas. Start with an 80 grit and work in steps up to 120G or even 150G depending on how much you love this door. Be careful not to get too aggressive, this looks like a veneered hollow-core door and you want to leave some wood on there.
Clean the dust off the area. You can use a dry lint-free rag or tack cloth but don't get the unfinished part wet.
Get ready to refinish. I'd choose a water-borne polyurethane in a sheen that matched the existing finish, probably satin. Lay on a light coat with a good brush. Let it dry/cure. Lightly sand with a very fine grit sandpaper, clean and apply a second coat. Let it dry.
Re-install your latch and knob. Don't tell anyone about it and they'll never know.

PS: If you used regular masking (cream colored) or some other tape, try using blue masking next time. Also in hindsight you could have clamped wood on both sides and drilled a pilot hole through both so you could come at each side of the big hole from the finish side.


How can I remove or cover a screw stuck in my drywall? The Phillips head screw was used to hold a floating shelf on bedroom wall. The head of the screw became stripped, so my child decided to try to fix the problem themselves by digging out the drywall around the screw and trying to twist it with vice grip pliers. Didn't work and now we are stuck with a screw that is stuck in what seems to be wood or another hard material behind the drywall- basically they hit something hard and decided to ask for help when there was no more drywall to dig.
We tried to remove the stripped screw by adding a rubber band for friction, that didn't work. And there is absolutely no give or rotation with vice grip pliers- the pliers keep spinning around the edge of the screw head and nothing is working.
And will it be okay to patch up the damage to the drywall with spackle and repaint? the damage is about nickel-quarter sized.

Turn the adjusting knob on the locking pliers so that it takes both hands to clamp them shut on the screw head and squashes some small flats into the screw head when shut.
Hold your locking pliers flat against the wall
Clamp them shut
Unscrew

You want the pliers so tight that you can barely get them clamped. That will get you the maximum grip on the screw so you can get it backed out.
You want the pliers flat against the wall (not sticking straight out from the wall) because it gives you maximum leverage to get the screw turned.
Once the screw is out, a little spackle will fix up the hole with no problem.
If the screw head snaps off, run a flat edge across the surface of the drywall to see if the screw is below the surface. If so, pretend it's not there and spackle right over it. If the screw is still sticking out from the surface, a small grinding wheel on a hand-held rotary tool (like a Dremel tool) will quickly grind it down to below the surface after which proceed like it's not there.


Replacing 3-way dimmer switch with 3-way switch I've recently installed smart (ZigBee) LED bulbs in my kitchen. These lights are on a dimmer switch, and even when I have the dimmer all the way up, the bulbs flicker when their internal dimming is set to anything other than 100% brightness. I was told I need to replace the dimmer switch with a standard one. If this is already bad information, please stop me. If not...

I have a non-dimming 3-way switch in another room. I was just going to swap these switches since I'm not using LED bulbs in the other room, so the dimmer won't be a problem there. The wiring of these switches doesn't look similar to me, though, so I'm unsure how to wire it up. I have pictures of both switches which I hope someone can help me decipher.

3-way dimmer switch

3-way switch

What is confusing me is that one switch has a white wire, and the other doesn't. Also, the second black wire on the dimmer switch is looping around the screw rather than terminating at it. If swapping these switches is a bad idea, I can just go buy a second non-dimming 3-way and leave the other one alone. I was just trying to make use of what I already have, and being able to dim in the bedroom would be kinda nice. Thanks for any assistance.

Three way switches (dimming or not) have a common terminal and two traveler terminals. The common terminal of one switch in the pair is connected to the hot source and on the other switch, the common is connected to the fixture.

On your dimmer switch, the common is the reddish colored screw on the bottom of the first picture. It has a loop because it is the source of the hot, and the other wire is feeding another part of the circuit.

The other two wires on that switch, black and red, are the travelers.

On the non-dimmer, the common terminal is plainly marked. It has a black wire. The white and red wires are travelers. The white wire should be marked as black (marker or tape) because it is a hot line. It is acceptable to use a white wire for hot if it is marked.

You can easily swap out the switches. Just make sure that the wires that are now common are on the common terminals of the switches when they are swapped. And mark the white as black.


Finishing Attic Floor (Joists Blocking / Insulation) I moved into a house built in the 1920's several months ago that has  a finished attic where the former owner's two teenage boys were living. I want to go from the old ratty carpeting to nice floor laminate for a yoga studio for my wife.

I assumed the subfloor beneath the carpet was the original old floor paneling that exists in the remaining unfinished part of the attic because walking around produces a lot of squeaking and noises. Upon removing the carpet I found my suspicions confirmed, so I will be removing the old ancient floor boards and replacing with 4' x 4' tongue and groove OSB boards. Upon starting to remove the original subfloor I saw that it sat on top of 2x6 ceiling joists without any blocking or cross bridging so I plan to add blocking for extra structural support.

There is also loose fill insulation under the current subfloor that looks like it's been partially removed over time and or was just never blown in to fill the joist space.

Can I screw the blocking instead of nailing it as I'm a little worried the nailing might cause cracking in the plaster ceiling (with wood lath) below?
Is it okay to sister a 2x6 board to the current 2x6 board along the front and back perimeter of the finished area to support the ends of the new subfloor since I'll be cutting the current subfloor back to the edge of the current 2x6's? Can I use screws instead of nails?
Should I replace the loose fill insulation with unfaced batts and fill in any small areas with the old loose fill?
Does all of this sound kosher / is there anything else I should be considering?

Here is a picture of the current space and a simple diagram of what I want to do.

Can I screw the blocking instead of nailing it as I'm a little worried the nailing might cause cracking in the plaster ceiling (with wood lath) below?

Absolutely.

  Is it okay to sister a 2x6 board to the current 2x6 board along the front and back perimeter of the finished area to support the ends of the new subfloor since I'll be cutting the current subfloor back to the edge of the current 2x6's? Can I use screws instead of nails?

Again, absolutely.  Definitely makes things easier.

  Should I replace the loose fill insulation with unfaced batts and fill in any small areas with the old loose fill?

Not necessary if over conditioned space, but would not be a problem.

  Does all of this sound kosher / is there anything else I should be considering?

The joist are braced by the lath and plaster below on the bottom , and the subfloor on the top so no bridging will be needed.


Can I split an electrical load across smaller wires for a bridged connection? I have 4 terminals on my appliance, L1 L1 and L2 L2.  I have 2 incoming wires on a 220v circuit, 8AWG, 40 amps. Can I use a wire nut and connect each 8 AWG wire to 2 12 AWG wires and connect each 12 AWG wire to one of the terminals?  In this case, each 12AWG wire would be carrying 20amps, correct?

I'm asking because these terminals are too small for 8AWG.

Edit: L1 is supposed to be bridged with L1, and L2 with L2.
Also, the only place I am getting measuring any resistance between the terminals is the 2nd L1 and L2 (15MΩ and slowly climbing):  https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/164011/59766

That would depend on the design of the appliance. If the appliance is designed to be wired that way - e.g., if each pair of L1/L2 is the connection for a 3,800 W heating element - then that should be OK, and possibly even desirable.

On the other hand, if the L1s are wired together (and the L2s wired together) - like the paired screws on a typical (not GFCI) duplex receptacle, then you can't do this because all current could flow on either wire - e.g., if one of the L1s came off of its screw then all the current would flow through the remaining wire, which would overheat.

Can't say more definitively without either instructions or schematics of the appliance.


Do new Air conditioning units require new pads? Is a new pad required when an entire new central AC unit (inside, outside, ductwork, everything) is installed?  Does the outside unit require anything around it when it’s in the backyard?

If the existing pad is large enough and in good shape it should be fine. The only time I put something around the condenser (outside unit) is if there are dogs, dogs love to pee on these and the urine destroys the fins fairly quickly reducing the efficiency and causing leaks in extreme cases.


How do I avoid stripping paint off of my walls with painters tape? I put that painters tape on the edges by the ceiling and cut in next to it (overlapping the tape with the paint somewhat).

A couple of hours later, I pull the tape, and small sections of paint come off with it. How do I avoid this?

Is it sufficient to just take a small brush afterward and touch up the area? It always seems to look crappier.

Remove the masking tape immediately after painting so that there's no time for the skin to form over the join between the tape and the painted surface.

If the paint has already dried, use a craft knife and a straight edge or ruler to cut it along the edge of the tape.


Turn off hot water without hot water valve I have a leaky pipe on the hot water side that I'd like to fix. Following the pipes back to the water heater, I don't think there's a shutoff valve installed anywhere in the line, not even at the water heater outlet. At least, not one that is obvious for me to identify. How inconvenient!

I definitely have a shutoff valve on the cold supply inlet. What is the correct way to "turn off" the hot water so I'm not swimming when I disconnect the leaky pipe? The water heater is in the basement and the pipes in question are a few feet higher than the water heater.

My approach would be to turn off the water heater and the cold supply.

Then open a hot tap below, or as close to the area of the leak, to drain the hot pipe.

Then be prepared to catch the remaining water when you cut the pipe around the leak.

Supplement:
One can get “ice clamps” that can be used to isolate either side of the leak but can be fun if the water pressure pushes the ice plug out...


faucet handle broke off faucet handle broke off the black thing that connects the faucet handle and faucet broke

how could I fix this?

You will need to buy parts that fit that exact faucet brand and model. You might be able to get them through the store where the faucet was originally purchased, or from the original installer.

OR you can try to contact the manufacturer yourself, they are a european (Italian, I believe) company:
Ponsi
Phone: +39 030 6818511
Fax: +39 030 6818535
E-mail: info@ponsi.it


Do old fluorescent light bulbs use less electricity? I've read that old fluorescent light bulbs produce less light over time.

Do they also use less electricity, or do they use the same amount, but produce more heat?

All lamp manufactures have the lamp curves, as the lamps are started it damages them a little and when running they are degraded but slowly. The industry standard is the lamp is at end of life when the light output is below 50%.  Lamp life curve
The ballast controls the wattage consumed this stays the same for the life of the lamp until the contacts are eroded and cannot strike. another lamp life example


Adding an eaves drip edge to an existing roof installation There is some water dripping behind the gutter, and I am thinking of installing a drip edge. From what I read a drip edge is installed under the ice water shield at the eaves. The ice water shield sticks to the surface. Should I be attempting to lift up the ice water shield to install the drip edge underneath? Is the ice water shield likely to rip when pulling it up? Or is it unlikely to stick back after? Any other issue with what I am proposing?

It is possible that your ice & water shield will peel up cleanly depending on age, climate, current temperature, sun exposure, etc. Try that first, otherwise...

Installing drip edge under the two layers of shingle that should be present will take care of 99% of the water flow. The small amount that may come down during ice dam conditions may run under the edge. You'll need to decide whether that's a concern in your case.

You could also install your edge, then seal it with a narrow strip of ice & water shield. It'll bond with the existing layer over time and seal against nearly all leaks.

The bottom line is that anything is likely to improve your current situation.


What are those metal discs at the base of some walls? Here's an example from a shower stall at work.

I've seen them in other types of walls, including exterior ones.

Plumbing pipe cleanout cover. You can remove the silver coverplate and you’ll have access to the sanitary drain pipe.


Installing Basement bathroom exhaust fan in a side wall rather than a ceiling Can you vent an exhaust fan in a basement bathroom out the sidewall rather than the ceiling? If I vent it through the ceiling I would have to cut through 3 joists to vent my exhaust fan outside and tie it into an existing clothes dryer vent.

Yes you can mount the fan on the wall. if the wall exhausts to the outside it would be no different than a wall mount exhaust vent in the main floor bathroom. You cannot mount it on an internal wall and just dump the air into a stud bay (I have seen this tried and failed).


why is a lamp socket labeled "FOR TEMPORARY USE ONLY"? i am hanging a ceiling lamp which came with an cord set only rated 60W -- insufficient for my purposes. poking around in my parts bins, i found a rubberized E26 socket rated something like 660W, but labeled "FOR TEMPORARY USE ONLY". what does this rule mean, and can i use the socket anyway?

It likely means that it is NOT designed or constructed for CONTINUOUS use and/or to be built INTO some kind of fixture.  It can handle the heat dissipation only when out in the free air, and with intermittent use. Perhaps no more than 2 or 4 hours at a stretch, etc.


How can I open the latch mechanism on a Schlage keyed entry lock without the doorknob? I have a problem almost exactly similar to How to open a door that has the insides of a door handle inside without a door knob but I have a more complicated mechanism.
Basically while installing the lock and checking for alignment, I inadvertently shut (I won't say "locked" because the mechanism isn't locked) myself out of a room. Inside the room is the rest of the hardware and most of my tools.
How can I unlock this from the outside, without the doorknob?
Also, since this is a keyed entry system, how can I visually confirm whether it is locked or unlocked, and how would I unlock it from this situation?
Depicted below is someone else's photo of the exact lock/latch mechanism I'm dealing with.

Turning the latch mechanism can work, but you need a shaft that closely fits the circular shape around the opening.
Instead, just slide one of the little ears with tools or fingers to retract the bolt:


What to look for in wood selection when building a coffee table frame with glass top I'm looking to build a coffee table with a design similar to that in the picture. A simple frame, with a glass top. The other photo I've included is one of my floor, which might be teak (I rent, in the picture some untreated and treated, as we've had some water damage).

The table will be quite long, perhaps 160cm (63") in length, and maybe 50cm (20"). In order to support such a long stretch, I'll need to mind the wood selection.

It will have to be a hardwood. Perhaps teak or ironwood? What would be able to support such a long stretch?
Color-wise, I'm looking for something slightly lighter than the finished floor but lighter than what is used in the example photo.

I'd appreciate recommendations on what to look for in selecting the right kind of wood, and perhaps specific hardwood recommendations.

In addition, any comments on what to watch out for in building such a stretched coffee table.

Knowing if the wood is appropriate depends on a lot of factors, but if you're building something close to what's in the photo you might want to consider Beech (good indoor furniture wood). White Ash has more grain and color to it. Poplar can also work (and may be more readily available in local DIY/big box stores). It will depend somewhat on your locale to build something from what's readily available and suitable for the climate.

There's nothing overly complex with the coffee table as pictured. You will want to think about the joinery methods for the various pieces of the frame to be stable and rigid.


How can I level and secure retaining wall steps? We have some retaining wall steps that are in dire need of repair. We would like to re-level some of them and re-adhere all of the cap stones so they no longer rock.

Is it possible to create a spacer between the cap stone and the retaining wall block to level the stairs instead of having to dig out the entire step? If so, what would be the best way to create the spacer?

It looks like a previous owner has already done this with some sort of mortar on some stairs. I was thinking after using mortar or a plastic shim as a spacer, then using some polymeric sand to level the step. But then how would I adhere the capstone?

Trying to quick fix masonry in the pictured condition is most likely not the way to go. Remove the treads and rebuild the the footing under the riser with pea stone, backfill with sand or pea stone and replace the treads. Slanting them downward is not a good idea if you live in a place where water freezes in the winter. If you want to add adhesive between the riser and tread use liquid nails for masonry. I’ve done tons of block stairways, to last they need to be relaid.


Handheld showerhead backflow preventer Every year my rental house is inspected by the city.  Last time the inspector told me to add a backflow preventer (one-way check valve) to the handheld showerhead in the bathroom.  The showerhead is on a long enough hose that it could be submerged underwater in the bathtub, and this would prevent drawing tubwater back into the water supply.  (That bit seems a little hypothetical to me, but no matter.)

My problem is I can't figure out where to get one.  The home centers only have garden hose backflow preventers, and nobody there has heard of one for a showerhead.  I suppose I could call a plumber, but that would cost me a housecall, and I'd rather just install it myself.

They're also known as vacuum breakers, such as this one.  Some searching shows that they're available from Lowe's and HD (assuming you're in the US), but you should be able to find one in a store near you or online if not.


What type of material is flexible but not too much, water proof, and can tolerate 80°C temperatures? The idea is to build an electric pad with an non-coated heating wire (~1.3 Ohm/metter): the pad must be flexible under the bed sheet (like this one) but not too much (to prevent it being crumpled which would damage the heating wire and might create shortcuts that could dangerously increase the heat).

This tuto recommends using a PVC+fiberglass mosquito net, which is a good idea since it is flexible but can't be crumpled and on the same time does support relatively high temperature. But he used a coated wire (these wires are, for mysterious reason, not sold anymore). So it might be dangerous with on non-coated wired since mosquito net are not really waterproof and sweat/moisture might create interesting shortcuts...

Any idea of material(s)/fabric that would meet those criteria:

flexible but not too much.
non conductive (for electricity)
tolerate 80 or 100°C (~180F) heat
doesn't emit toxic particle in contact with heat. (It would be use under bed sheet...)
relatively cheap

ps: I was thinking to use the mosquito net buy insulating those wire using heat-schrink tubing but I'm not sure they could stand the 80°C heat from the wire, and about toxic emissions.

ps2: notice that it's not a safety related question, but a technical one (I'm looking for specific material).

The project you linked is for a small heating pad on a chair, and uses insulated wire to prevent electrical shorts.  This is relatively safe (though not as safe as just buying one) mostly because the person using it is awake and alert - if it starts arcing or overheating they will notice.

Building your own to heat the whole bed is a much riskier proposition.  You (and potentially loved ones) will be asleep and may not notice such problems quickly enough.  Using uninsulated wires just makes it that much more dangerous.  If you start a fire, you will probably find your insurance won't pay out after the fire inspector determines the cause to be your jerry rigged heating blanket.

I am all for DIY, especially building my own electronics, but sometimes it is best to leave it to companies that can afford to do a lot of safety testing.

Heating blankets are easily available at many stores, and probably won't cost much more than the parts and material you need to build your own. They are tested for safety and usually include cutoffs to prevent overheating and shut off if more than the expected current is drawn (if a wire shorts inside).

The linked project says it is more durable than a heated blanket because it doesnt have to be cleaned.  But I have had one for years, washed regularly, with no issues.  If that is a big concern put it under a plastic sheet so it never gets dirty.

So just buy one, and use your heating wire for more interesting projects, like foam sculpting or building an awesome fog machine.