How do I wire in a bathroom light/fan to this box? This is a very old house. I wanted to add a light/fan to this bathroom while the ceiling was down for repair. When I opened the switch box this is what I found (second picture).  A GFI wired correctly, with the switch for the existing vanity light coming off the GFI load side, however I’m not sure what the red wire is for. Since I need to keep the vanity lights and add the switch for the light/fan, I bought this Legrand Combination switch (last 3 pics) hoping to be able to use it to accomplish the switching without having to start cutting into plaster to install a 3 gang box.

Can anyone draw out or explain well how I can wire this up with what I have to work with, or suggest a better combination switch and how to wire it all up?

Thanks.

This write-up assumes supply power is coming in from the bottom cable. It's a little hard to tell what the blacks are doing.

Typically when electricians install light/fan wiring, they use /3 cable so that black and red can be used to separately control 2 things. (white white as neutral return).

Why they ran a /3 cable to your vanity, I really do not know.  I have a feeling this /3 cable goes up to your ceiling box, then a /2 comes down to the vanity.  In that case, one wire (e.g. Black) feeds the vanity and the red is capped off waiting for use with a ceiling fan.

In your case, it was wired without separate control, as the red and black are connected to the same screw of the switch, using an illegal double-tap.  You are about to correct that.

Split it: the supply cable (from the GFCI) goes to a black "common" terminal on the dual switch, and then each of the red and black wires go to separate brass terminals.  That will give you separate control of red and black.

Up top, you'd need to connect red and black separately to different devices.  Both use white for neutral.

Don't pull the splitter in the back of the switch, and don't take the tape off the terminals.


How to properly insulate a garage? I'm considering insulating (and drywalling) my garage, which already has insulated garage doors.  My main goal is to keep it from getting much below freezing during the winter.

This garage is located in the North Cascades (2000' elevation) in Washington state, with a typical yearly temperature range of 0F - 105F.

I'm not too worried about insulating the walls, but wonder: Do I need a vapor barrier?

For the ceiling (rafters 24" oc) would it be easiest to place normal batting between the rafters and then hang the drywall, or hang the drywall first and then lay the insulation afterwards?  Or would blown-in insulation be better?  Which is typically cheaper?  And again, do I need a vapor barrier?

The space that will become the attic is vented via wall vents under the peak of the roof on both sides of the garage.

You can see a couple pictures of the garage and rafters here:

I prefer fiberglass batting over blown-in insulation because it's not as messy, you don't have to rent a machine to do it so you can do it at your own pace, and if you need to do any subsequent work in the attic, it's easier to move it out of the way then move it back  again later.  I'm not sure about the relative cost, but I frequently see special offers for fiberglass insulation in HD and Lowe's so shop around.

If you choose fiberglass, I would install the insulation before the drywall, just because you'll have more room to work in.

A lot of fiberglass batts come with a paper vapor retarder.  Since I started using this site, I've learned to put an extra sheet of plastic between the batts and the drywall, something I'll be doing in the future.

Whichever type of insulation you go with, be sure not to block the vents.  I've used baffles to allow air from my soffit vents into the main attic space after installing R-38 batts.


What are our options for carpeting the basement of a split-level house? The basement level of our house (1/2 below grade) is currently just vinyl tile on concrete slab.  It's cold during the winter, so we would like to carpet it.  We do not get water penetration through the floor, but during the humid days of summer, there is frequently condensation on the floor (especially under furniture) where the very humid air contacts the cool floor.

What are our options for carpeting?  Could we just lay down a carpet pad and carpet directly on the concrete / vinyl tile?  Is it necessary to put down a sub-floor?

We were originally going to just do the pad and carpet, but I'm concerned about moisture / mold issues.

From a comfort and water protection perspective, I think you'll find it beneficial to install a sub floor.  I'd recommend one which allows for ventilation beneath it such as these 2x2 panels you can buy at Home Depot/Lowes

Dricore

This will give you a nice, warm "softer" surface to put your carpet pad on, and help protect from any condensation issues with the cold floor beneath by allowing it a place to form, and then with the proper ventilation openings cut into the subfloor (standard floor vent in the carpet to allow airflow) it'll dry out on its own.


Aprilaire 500 humidifier wiring question - no "C" common on furnace Need help wiring humidifier into 24VAC heat circuit.

My furnace is an old single stage heat pump. There's no control board or "HUM" leads to connect to. All I got is what's on the panel in the photo. My furnace is a Trane TWV030B140A1 blower with aux heat element.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. My understanding is that typically it should be wired to "W" (heat) and "C" (common) so water flows to humidifier only on a heat call.

My issue: I don't have a "C" wire.

So what do I do in this case? Is the "B" wire the return instead of "C"?

Here's what I've determined so far if this helps:

"R" hot (measures ~28VAC. Should this be 24VAC?)
"G" fan (measures 25.5VAC when blower on)
"Y" compressor (measures 25.5VAC when compressor on)
"W1" and "W2" tied together. Assuming this is aux heat tied to emergency heat since only single stage heater. Measures 25.5VAC when heat on. Should this be 24VAC?
Manual says "O" is reversing valve
Don't know what "B" is

Any help is appreciated!

Find the other compressor wire, and that's your C

There will be three wires going to the outdoor unit in your setup -- one comes from the Y wire from the thermostat (call for compressor), another comes from the O wire from the thermostat (reversing valve), and the third and remaining wire is the return path for both those signals, so it must land on the C terminal, or whatever your system calls it (likely B, but can't tell for sure from your photo).


3 Handle Shower Cold Water Turns On Shower I have a 3 Handle Shower/Tub where the left is Hot, middle is shower, and right is cold.  The Hot knob works exactly as expected, the shower knob turns the shower on and off, BUT the cold knob will turn on cold water, and also turns the shower on!

What must I do to repair this issue? -- Seat or Stem issue?  I feel confident it's just the diverter the middle knob but am not 100% certain.

This is an image of what my set-up looks like(note this is a stock google image not my exact set-up)

EDIT
I thought I could remove the knob but I am having issues....

I removed the screw from the knob itself like this image

But I am unable to twist off the knob itself.  If I twist the ring behind it that is against the wall, that will loosen up until it is flush against the knob but then it will not move any further like this image.

EDIT 2
After a few mighty taps with a hammer this way and that way I got the knob off and used my valve stem socket set to get the valve stem out. Now, I have the replacement, but floating around in the packaging was an extra O-Ring washer and a "bolt" that was not attached to the valve stem.Where do I attach these two parts? Here is an image

EDIT 3
Last Question and I'm all set! The "pieces" were caulked into the wall, most of the work was spent removing the caulk so that I could actually remove the valve stem. As you scan see in the image below, I removed the caulking from the diverter but it remains on the hot/cold. Is this a necessary evil? Or will it be okay if I do not re-caulk the diverter?

I would say that the white seal looks like it fits to the flat sealing surface at the coarse threads. The coarse threads pull the flat sealing surface onto the valve body and the white "washer" makes the seal. If this is how it works you will not need any Teflon tape or pipe dope on those threads.

I suppose the brass ring is a "valve seat" that goes into the valve body, but it has been a long time since I messed with one of these diverters and I don't know the details. Look into the hole with a light and see if there is a replaceable seat inside. Examine the edge of the seat to see if there are grooves. If you don't have a seat wrench. perhaps you should leave the existing one in place and see if the diverter works with the old one.


How to replace a watch battery? I'm trying to replace the battery of my watch, but I can't work out how to take off the back cover, to get to the battery? (see photo)

I've Googled on how to remove the back cover of watches, but it seems to be the back covers vary quite significantly, and all the ones I've found tutorials for seem to have either screws or some notch on the back, yet mine has neither!

As you can see from the photo, my watch has a smooth metal plate on the back, with no obvious means of removing it.

Any help?

That back cover on your watch is a press fit into the main frame of the watch body.

The typical way these are removed is to place a sharp blade along the side groove where the cover meets the body. Most times the cover actually hangs over the body some toward the outside and placing pressure on the sharp blade will start to make the cover pull up from the body a small amount. Continued work around the perimeter will eventually get enough of a space between the cover and the body that you can get a small flat blade screw driver in the space to twist and get the cover fully free.

Reassembly is a process of just pressing the cover back in place. You want to make sure to squeeze it into place evenly all the way around so it goes in straight. If the cover is cocked off at an angle it could bind in the body and not seat all the way in.


why does my ceiling fan change direction 2or3times before it finally stays in one direction? When I turn my ceiling fan on it will reverse direction several times until it settles into the correct direction.

It's probably an optical illusion. The "wagon wheel effect"

You are probably viewing it in light produced by a fluorescent lamp rather than an incandescent lamp.

There do exist electric motors that can work in either direction but no motor will speed up then stop and start working in the reverse direction all by itself.


Inner Cupboard Drawer My partner and I have finally just bought our first house together and it is a 'period' house built in the 1930's. One drawback is there is no cupboard space in the kitchen and so at present the cutlery is just in a box.

I'm in the UK, anybody got any solutions? I was wondering if there is a way you can fit a draw to the 'roof' or inside the cupboard that you could just pull out when you have opened the cupboard door.

Bear in mind I don't want to 'bastardise' the kitchen and really a cupboard that has a 'push out' drawer would be ideal to keep with the feel.

Cheers!

Option two is installing a cabinet organizer, which come in all sorts of configuration and materials and may be free-standing or attached to the interior of the cabinet. A web search for "pull-out cabinet organizer" stands a good chance of giving you some shopping direction.

Option one is consulting a local cabinet shop for suggestions and a quote. A custom solution is probably going to be price competitive with a high-end organizer while being exactly what you want rather than the inevitable compromises with premade solutions. At the same time you'll be able to explore all of your options, including replicating your current look on a cabinet with a drawer.


Ceiling Fan Lights not burning brightly My Hampton Bay ceiling fan with light is about 8 years old.  The light recently burned out, so replaced with with a 100 E11 halogen 100 watt bulb, resulting in very little light - about 50 watts.  I have since tried 150 haologen watt bulb, same results - about 50 watts shinning.  I replaced the E11 socket, no change.  The three-speed fan works okay.  I have replaced the Hampton Bay remote control - no difference, so not the problem. What is the problem?  Can the problem be in the the remote modual.

The limiting circuit isn't just government nonsense.  The bigger problem is the fan's mechanism is not made for that much heat.  If you put a bulb whose watts-actual are larger than rating, you will slowly cook internal parts of the fan such as the wiring to the socket.  We've seen overheated scorched light fixtures, it's not pretty.

A high-wattage lamp also defeats the purpose of a fan by adding heat to the room.  Even if you want heat, it's the most expensive kind - electric.

I have been steadily increasing the light in my house by going LED.  I know there,s some resistance to "gub'mint" bulbs, but LEDs actually won on the merits despite the government's best efforts to promote the dreadful CFLs.  They have solved early color temperature and CRI problems, and now  cannot be distinguished from incandescent.  My favorite is a non-subsidized GE bulb that is 50/150/100W equivalent, and if used in a non-3way base, gives 150W (not 100W as a normal 3way bulb will). That is a wonderful bunch of light at around 20W actual, with no chance of scorching a fixture rated for 40-60W.

Sometimes, if the power limiting circuit is cheap (because the fan is cheap), it must be bypassed to play well with LEDs.


Lights in swimming pool not working I have a light switch feeding two lights in my swimming pool. The lights won't come work when the light switch is closed. When in the closed position I get 110v across the line and load terminals. What does this indicate?

If you get power across the 2 terminals when the switch is "on" (closed), it means your switch has failed and needs to be replaced. Of course be sure to turn off the power before replacing and if this is a switch outdoors, be sure to get a high quality replacement and appropriate coverings for the code in your area.
EDIT--additional info: To test, with the power off you could disconnect the switch, wire nut the 2 wires together, turn the power back on and see if your pool lights work then.  Have you checked to see if they are simply burned out?


Can a new water heater cause a Aquatherm heating system to fail? I am quite unfamiliar with central heating systems, let alone those that use hot water as the heat source, so please forgive my clumsy attempt to ask this question.

I have a First Co Aquatherm "Combo Heater" that is connected to my tank-type gas water heater.  As I understand it, hot water is piped in from the water heater to the Aquatherm where it passes through some sort of heat exchanger, producing hot air and cool water.

My water heater recently failed and I had it replaced.  The guys doing the install did not check the heating system after they installed the tank; the tech only told me that I might experience some air in our faucets the first time we used the heating system.

The last time I used the heating system (prior to the water heater replacement) everything was working fine - granted this was a few month back in spring.  With the new water heater, we get hot water from the tap, but our heating system blows only ambient air.  I suspect an issue with the water heater install, but my vendor has washed his hands of it and told me that it's probably a problem with something in my heating system.

I've traced the lines from the water heater up through the ceiling to the Aquatherm in the attic, and from what I can tell they have the connections right.  I don't have a way to check that the hot water conduit to the Aquatherm is actually full.  My understanding is that the cold water supply provides the pressure for the hot water outlet; this was sufficient before the tank install, so I would assume it's the same now.

Are there any other mechanisms by which a new water heater can cause a heating system like mine to fail?  Or should I just shell out for maintenance on my heating system?

You should have four lines hooked to the heater one coming in from the water supply one that goes out to the faucets there should be two other hookups one that sends the hot water to the heating system and one that returns it if you take the heater hose that returns to the heater and disconnect it first shut off the water to the heater and sometimes they'll put stops on the return line and the main line to heater line that you can open and close. If they have these shut offs on them shut the water off to both lines also turn off the cold water supply that fills the heater then disconnect the hose that Returns the water to the heater is a good idea to open the t&p which is the pressure release valve before you disconnect the hose then open the line that goes to your heater and open the water that fills the heater itself put a bucket under the line that I told you to disconnect open the valve to the water heater slowly until water comes out without any air in it this will usually release any air that's in the system once the air is out turn the line back off hook the hose back to the heater and then try and see if your heater works make sure you reopen the line that returns from the heater you do not need to open that line to drain the heater and get the air out just leave it closed if there are no valves to shut them off then just turn out the main line to the water heater open the t&p valve usually has a metal lift on it that lifts up to release the pressure then you can disconnect the hose that comes back from the heater and then open the valve from the heater and that will do the same thing to release the air


Clamp meter voltage for 15 amps When using my Clamp meter, i notice that it had a range in the upper 90's instead of 120 on a 14 ga - 15 amp circuit breaker. Is that low or is it because i have close to 20 duplex outlets (for now connected to it-planning to change that). Mostly tv and a computer and outlets and lights. Is that common? And if not why am i getting in the high 90's? Or should you always get between 110-120?
Second questions should there be any voltage in traveler wires in a 3 way 14 ga 15 amp circuit connecting two lights?

Larry from the online info on this meter

  Klein Tools CL600 is an automatically ranging true root mean square
  (TRMS) digital clamp-meter that measures AC current via the clamp, and
  measures AC/DC voltage, resistance, continuity, and tests diodes via
  test-leads.

Do you see that the clamp is for AC current measurement. The clamp cannot give a voltage reading. Voltage reading is by the probes.


Foul smell in living room For the past couple days I have noticed a foul smell in my living room and I can't seem to locate it. It smells more like dog poop and/or puke. I have a dog but she has never pooped in the house before though she has thrown up and at this point I won't rule anything out. The thing is, I can't find a stain on the rug or any evidence of an accident on the hardwood portion.

I mostly smell it when I am sitting at the computer and if I get on the floor to smell the carpet I can't detect it at all. I put down some deodorizer and vacuumed the rug and mopped the floor and that didn't help either.

I did just recently turn the heat on for the first time but the smell is really concentrated in one part of the house. Prior to the heat being on the AC was running so I don't think it was something in the vent necessarily.

Any ideas of what I could do to narrow this down? I am slightly losing my mind over this. Thanks.

Have you heard about dirty sock syndrome? Its the smell a heat pump can make if microbes start growing on the indoor coil. If you have gas heat, then never mind. I'm just going to throw out ideas to see if anything comes to mind by anyone:

a small animal like a mouse crawled in the wall and died.
There are an old drain under the slab that has a p trap that has dried out. Or possibly a sewer cleanout. Maybe a sewer pipe is cracked in the wall or in the slab.
No cat right? if a cat sprays, it stinks.
You say it not as bad by the floor. That's a good clue, keep trying to isolate it.
Could be mold caused by a water leak or water from the roof leaking into a wall. Or any of the walls exterior walls?
I have heard of bad smells from certain kinds of bad paint batches. Did you paint recently?
Does it change with the humidity? That might be a clue.


Should I replace this fixture box or get creative with the mounting? I recently took down a ceiling fan/light in order to replace it with track lighting. After disassembling the fan I was left with this fixture box:

As you can see there are two holes in which to affix the mounting bracket with two provided screws. However, either the screws are too small or the thread inside each hole is stripped as I can easily pull the screws back out after attempting to tighten them. So I a wondering if I am better of replacing the mount or attempting to get bigger screws or tighten with a nut?

Ceiling fans, when properly mounted, are put on specialized mounting/junction boxes that are especially strong, have a very secure mount for the fan and are hard screwed into a beam or stud.

What you have there looks like a pancake style fan box. See this example:

Every junction box has threaded holes for mounting fixtues such as your track lighting base. The studs in your picture appear to be the bolt holders for the fan.  If they are stripped, it is not safe to hang things from them and oversized bolts are a risky work-around.

It may be that other screw holes in the bottom are properly threaded for standard fixture mounting. Check them using the bolts that came with the fixture.  If they are not (and there are usually several unthreaded holes in junction boxes), you should probably replace the box with a new one with intact mounting tabs/holes.


Is spruce wood a good choice to make a bunk bed? I decided to make a bunk bed for my room as it is small and I need a desk. I'm a beginner at woodworking and I need some help.

I have made some "plans", I will put 7x2m stakes, 4x1.40m each around 10cm x 10cm wide. Each horizontal stake will have a angle bracket under. Each horizontal stake next to another will a a square between.

The bed dimensions are 140x200cm.

How can I calculate if it supports 2 people (about 70kg each)?

Material :

10 x Wood 3m x 17 x 36 mm
9 x Wood 3m x 100 x 180 mm
20 x Galvanised steel right-angle brackets: 100 mm long arms, 65mm wide x 2.5mm thick

My plans :

It seems like you are actually asking several questions here, so I'll break down my answer:

Is spruce appropriate?

short answer: yes. A softwood like spruce will be relatively inexpensive, and plenty strong enough if you use thick enough pieces. Be aware that it may dent more easily than a hardwood. For a project like this, almost any kind of wood will be fine (I would avoid balsa or basswood). Plywood would be another economical and appropriate choice for the slats.

How do I decide on appropriate dimensions?

Although you can do engineering calculations to come up with the answer, the easier way is to get used to material, follow some general guidelines, and err on the side of too-strong.

Handle the material. Try to bend it. Look at similar designs. Now you're ready to start guessing. I know this sounds silly, but that's how furniture has been designed for thousands of years. It is easy to build an intuition for the properties of wood once it is in your hand. You can do basic strenght/stiffness tests of the horizontal members by spanning them across some impromptu supports (like milk crates) and sitting in the middle. If two long beams have to support two people, test with one person on one to make sure it doesn't bend much. One person on half the slats (laid out side by side), should bend them a little (depending on preference), but not be in danger of breaking.
Horizontal beams gain the most stiffness from being tall, not wide. For example, if a beam (such as one of your slats) that's 1cm (tall) x 4cm (wide) isn't stiff enough, you can double the stiffness by making it 1.26cm x 4cm, or 1cm x 8cm. (1.26^3 ~= 2, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_stiffness for more)
You need solid joinery to prevent the whole thing from turning into a parallelogram and falling over. This could mean mortise-and-tenon, pocket screws, nails, glue, biscuits, dowel-joints, or brackets. I can't see your brackets, but if they look flimsy and there aren't a lot of other options you could double up with one on top and one on the bottom.

dowel joints may be an easy and strong alternative. You can do them without any difficult alignment if you don't mind them showing: put the boards in place and clamp them firmly so they don't move relative to eachother. Drill a hole through one board and into the end of another. The ideal size of the hole would be approximately 1/3 of the board you're drilling into. Put glue on a dowel of the same diameter and pound it into the hole with a mallet. Cut off the excess dowel with any kind of hand saw, and sand it flush. Repeat this so you have at least 2 dowels, depending on size. If you are joining multiple boards at the same point, such as where your horizontal pieces attach to the posts, be mindful that the dowels don't interfere. The beauty of this approach is that it approaches the strength of the mortise-and-tenon, but requires no measuring or alignment. The holes don't even have to be straight.

Is my design adequate?

Your design looks pretty plausible. I think the brackets and the slats seem to be the only potential weak points. If they prove problematic, try some of the stuff I mentioned above (double brackets, dowel joints, thicker slats).

disclaimers

Bad design choices could cause injury, so please don't take my answer as gospel truth. Use your own judgement and testing to make final decisions. You are responsible for your own safety.

Sorry for the wordy and possibly overly detailed answer. I have attempted to organize it and use words that will be easy to look up elsewhere, since there is a lot to convey.


Can I clean my under-the-floor dryer vent? Our laundry nook is smack in the middle of our house. The dryer vent goes into an interior wall, turns 90° downward, soon turns 90° back the way it came, and goes straight for four or five meters until exiting a tube near the ground on an exterior wall.

I'm a new homeowner and knew nothing about this stuff until just recently, when our dryer has started drying clothes very very very slowly. We unhooked the dryer and used a shop vac to get several big chunks of lint out of the vent. Then we got several big soaking wet chunks of lint out of the vent. And we weren't done getting lint out it when we ran into the maximum length of our shop vac hose.

Further reading and investigation has turned up several interesting pieces of information:

There hasn't been a vent cover on the outlet of the dryer vent the whole time we've lived here.
There's really supposed to be a vent cover on any dryer vent.
There's really, really not supposed to be any water infiltration in your dryer vent.
This has apparently been a really, really, really big fire hazard for who knows how long.

So given that we don't have the tools necessary to clean the thing properly, we're planning on calling a repairman tomorrow. Money's very very tight, though, so first I thought I'd ask:

Is there any way of satisfactorily cleaning our dryer vent ourselves? Or is it going to end up being cheaper to call in an expert to fix it for us?

They make Dryer Vent Cleaning Kits for this very purpose:

As to why there is water in there - hopefully it's just condensation.


How to remove silicone from brick I had my windows replaced earlier this week. The old windows had metal U brackets to guide the rolling shutters. The gap between them and the brick wall was closed using some kind of (grey) silicone.
Now with the new wooden windows in place (without those U brackets), I noticed there are still remnants of the old silicone on the brick and this bugs me a lot. I tried scraping it off (very carefully) using a knife. This works for the thick pieces, but it leaves behind a grey color on the brick.
Is there a way to remove the color left by the silicone on the brick completely?
The windows have an oil based coating. I don't want to risk damaging this coating (or the wood), so I hope this is somehow possible.

I'm not sure that complete removal is an option.  As a result, the way I would tackle this is as follows:

First, remove as much as possible with scraping.

Next, paint (matching the brick color).

If that still doesn't provide an acceptable asthetic, cover it up.  Contact the window manufacturer to find out what stain was used and make a trim piece of wood that will cover the gap and the residual caulk.


Which kind of board is easiest to work with? I am building a model for a school and need a material to build it out of. I was wondering which of these three boards are easiest to work with? MDF, Chipboard, Pine or Plywood?

The following are the most important in my choice

How easy is it to get a "natural wood" finish in the material? Be it a veneer or stain
Can It be Laser Cut?
How easily is it cut and drilled?
How well does it glue to other pieces of the same wood?
Will it easily be deformed?

P.S. Is this on the correct site? I colud not find another site on SE to put this question on.

Pine.

It is the the only one of the choices (other than plywood) that will give a natural wood finish easily. Also its edges do not need special treatment, unlike plywood. While veneer makes all of the other choices feasible for finish, that is a complex process on a multifaceted model. Every face and visible edge needs to be precisely laminated.

Pine is the softest, can be easily cut and drilled, and glues well. I cannot speak to laser cutting.

Pine is more easily deformed, but a model is not likely prone to much stress. Shrinkage and swelling might be a bit more of an issue, but less so if well sealed.

A slightly more forgiving wood is poplar. It is a bit more stable and tends to be clear (knot free). It is also a bit more expensive, but not prohibitive.


Repair storm door stripped by closer I had the closer for my storm door strip out and re-installed it a few inches away to bite into new material but it happened again (please see photo).  I'd love some advise on how to fix this so it doesn't happen again and because, at this point, I need to repair the existing holes to create a place for the holder to attach to the door (I don't have room with the closer to move further up or down the door away from the problem area)

Thanks!

I'd get some sleeve bolts and run them all the way through a set of the existing holes. I'd be very surprised if the problem recurs. Use the threaded side on the bracket.

Drill completely through the door at the size of the female bolt (around 3/8"). Insert the female bolt from the exterior of the door, and the male from the interior (through the bracket). Ideally the female bolt length is just less than the thickness of the door at that point to provide maximum stability, as shown here:

Alternatively, get yourself a length of 1/8" aluminum bar stock as wide as will fit there. Maybe you can find gold anodized to coordinate, or paint it white.

Fasten that to the door using six or eight screws, depending on how the layout works. They should be chunky, like the closer screws, to bite well. #12 or #14 should do. Pre-drill the aluminum to the outer diameter of the threads so that there's no grab on the way through, and pilot the door slightly smaller than the screw shank.

Once that's installed, remove it and drill and tap for #12-24 or 1/4"-20 screws. Remount the plate and mount the closer bracket with them.


How can I identify which neighboring houses are fed from the same distribution transformer? I (and some neighbors) want to use Ethernet-over-powerline extenders to join computer networks in adjacent houses.  This is never a 'supported' use case with this gear, and I doubt the power company will want to spend time looking things up for me.  I don't really want to entertain that conversation with them.

My neighborhood has all buried utility service.  There are large metal green boxes on cement pads between some houses with transformers in them, and smaller plastic boxes which are just junctions or conduit ends I think, between other houses.  Approximately three houses for each pad mounted transformer.

My first thought was to try using my old x-10 gear between houses, but x-10 is such junk it didn't work on the same power strip...

I have an HP communications cable toner/tracer, but it's meant for 20-28 gauge copper.  I imagine I could use a toner (relatively) safely on the neutral, but can I expect it to work at hundreds of feet distance on 2 ought aluminum worth a damn?

Is there a better trick to tell if we're on the same transformer before I buy the networking gear?  I don't really want to run extension cords across the street.

What other equipment communicates over powerline that I'm just not thinking of that I could use to test?

The only way to tell for sure it to shut off the transformer and see who lost power. I obviously can't recommend that "solution".

Another problem is that even if you can tell you're on same transformer, it still won't be a good indication if it will work EOP.

The only reliable way is to plug in the adapter and try. You probably can do it for (almost) free: in most jurisdictions law allows consumers to return undamaged goods purchased remotely (eg online) for no reason. Check out if you're eligible. If it won't work, all you risk is 2-way shipping fee. Just make sure you're making the purchase as a consumer and not as a business entity.


Tester shows Circuit wired correctly but GFCI Trips under smallest load We added an outdoor fireplace and trying to wire it up.  I am repurposing an old generator connection on the outside of the house.  Here is the current setup
10-3 wire from panel to the outside junction box.  From the junction box it's solid 12 awg to the actual plug (non-GFCI).  I removed the 30amp breaker in the panel and replaced with a 20amp GFCI.  White neutral is connected to the panel neutral bus (verified not ground).  The black wire from the 10-3 is connected to breaker. I pulled the 12 awg wire today through conduit that my landscaper left so I know it's good.
Inside the junction box I connected black/black, red/red, white/white, and green/green.
Outlet (non-GFCI) is wired black to bronze, white to silver, green to ground.  No other circuit or connections are inline or connected.
Turning on the breaker everything is fine, hit the test button on the breaker and it trips like it should.  Reset the breaker and walk outside and plug in my tester, 2 lights showing correct.  Press the test button and circuit does not trip but plugging in even a 60 watt lamp causes this circuit to trip.
I'm not an electrician but I have done plenty of electrical work.  Any help is appreciated.  Literally the only break between the panel and the outlet is where the 10awg to 12awg wire connection was made.
I did test Hot/Ground @ 123v, and hot neutral at 123v.  Neutral/ground tested 0.
FWIW the red hot leg on a completely separate GCFI breaker acts exactly the same way.

White neutral is connected to the panel neutral bus (verified not
ground). The black wire from the 10-3 is connected to breaker.

Last I checked, (I don't use GFCI breakers, normally, I just put a GFCI as the first thing in line) the neutral needs to connect to the GFCI breaker neutral connection (and depending on design, you may need to connect a pigtail from the breaker to the neutral buss) otherwise the GFCI cannot possibly work.
A GFCI compares the current on the hot and neutral, and trips the GFCI function on a difference between them (5 mA nominal) - if it's not seeing the neutral return current, it will see an imbalance from the hot it does see and the neutral which it will see as 0mA if the neutral wire is not connected to it correctly.


Electric Heat Thermostat Wiring I am trying to wire a new thermostat, unfortunately i neglected to take a picture of the old wiring. I believe I have an understanding of how it needs to be wires but i could use a second opinion. Can you please help?
I suspect this is what they are calling for but would like confirmation:
L1 to 4
T1 to 2
L2 to 3
T2 to 1
The thermostat is a CT410B Non Programmable Electric Thermostat.
The wires shown below with the wire nuts are the wires from the breaker. The ones without caps are to the heating source (baseboard heat).

Here is the wiring diagram.

And lastly the back of the thermostat:

That will work.
It actually does not matter "which of 3,4 connects to L1, L2" nor "which of 1,2 connects to T1, T2", but conventionally you would like to keep the same color on the same side.
i.e. L1 -> 3 and L2 -> 4 works no worse nor better than what you had - in 240V single phase the lines are interchangeable.
It's also polite to put red or black tape or paint on the white wires, but normally considered "obvious" in this application.


NEC, use more extension boxes or an access panel? What is the maximum number of extension boxes you can hang from a ceiling? This is ridiculous and I probably need one or two more to meet the new drywall ceiling. Are junction boxes permitted behind access panels in drywall?

OK, I took all of them out, turns out that part of the ceiling is to be exposed anyway. Still, does code neither expressively permit, nor expressively forbid J-boxes behind panels? I have more fun stuff going on behind me that I'm not even willing to photo.

Yes J boxes can be behind access panels as long as they meet the code's definition of accessible .I would not add to that mess if you can't re work the conduits and re pull the wire as all ready suggested make sure that your access panel meets fire code. If I was going to deal with that and didn't have the means or budget to re do the grc using an access panel. I'd take that apart down to one extension ring and mount a 4 and 11/16 box maybe on the beam to the right or to the left if there is something reasonable to fasten it to (left would make it easier to rework the emt) run flex or emt to your new box from the extension or if there is a Ko available in the original box. Connect the existing flex and emt to the new box. Then work from that box to the one you need in the ceiling. You may need a larger box than a 4 and 11 that will be dependent on how many wires need to be spliced or run through that box.


Cutting back a carpet edge. I have a tile entrance at my walk in basement door that I want to make larger. If I cut back the carpet a couple feet will I have to restretch the carpet?

Yes. You will need to remove the existing tack strip and put a new one at the new location of the edge of the carpet, and then stretch it down normally.


Need help with installing Ceiling light I'm trying to install a ceiling light. I found a convent place to put a on/off switch. There is a receptacle at the bottom of where I would like to add the on/off switch for the light.

So what I found is that the receptacle has source coming from the attic. There used to be an extra room there and previous own removed some walls due to which there is a junction box located in the attic which feeds the receptacle.

Red arrow is the wire coming from the attic. Wall on the Second picture is the wall I will also be installing the switch. I'm trying to understand how I should wire the switch and the ceiling light. Should I tap into the junction box? I want the receptacle to be live all the time and do not want to control it via the switch.

Second wire at the junction box is powering the attic light.

So let's consider just the junction box for a second

There's 3 wires intersecting here

The hot line from a prior outlet/circuit breaker
The line to your outlet
The line to your attic light

There's room for a fourth wire here so that's what I would suggest. But you'll need to make another store run to do it. Return your 25' 14/2. My local big box sells 15', so if you can buy some 15' 14/2 do it. Then get 25' of 14/3. Now, let's get your light in (be sure to turn the power off first!)

Cut the hole for your fixture and mount the box above it. If I were you, I'd go the extra mile here and mount a box attached to a bracket, just in case you ever want to hang anything significant off it.
Put your 14/2 into the junction box in the picture above (you have an open clamp on the left side). Just attach the wires to the existing nuts as they already are (white to white, etc). Run the other end into your new fixture junction box
Cut a hole for your old work box in the drywall for the switch. Don't mount the box in just yet, just make sure it fits for now and then leave it out
Near where the 14/2 for the outlet goes into the wall, drill another hole (needs to be at least 1/2" or greater). The tricky part is you need to make sure you're in the same cavity as the hole you just cut in step 3. Once you have the hole, fish your 14/3 down here. You'll want a helper down by the hole who can grab the wire and pull it through
Before you go down, put your 14/3 into the box for your fixture (can cut it now or fish and cut below)
Inside the fixture box you'll attach the wires. White to white and bare to bare, but attach the red wire to the black wire in your 14/2 (nut this one off but leave the rest un-nutted). Leave the black from the 14/3 by itself for now.
Put your 14/3 into your switch box and mount it. When you put the switch in, attach the red and black (doesn't matter the order) and your ground. Strip the white and just put a pigtail on it. Mount the switch.
Mount your fixture. White to white and black to the 14/3 black that's by itself. Put nuts on the rest of the wires now. Don't forget to ground it!

You can turn the power back on now and your fixture should work. Why the extra white wire in the switch box? Code now requires a neutral in the box. Some modern switches need one (like wi-fi switches). The cost here isn't that much more, but it will save you a lot of hassle if you do it right now.

There's one thing I did want to note here before closing. Your outlet is a 20A outlet, but your wire is 14/2, which is 15A max. That's not safe. I would buy a 15A outlet and replace it.


Bought a 230V air conditioner, but my apartment is 110V. What to do? Is it possible to somehow connect this air conditioner?
Would I have to simply change the outlet receptacle to the one it could connect to?
Can I buy some sort of an adapter?
Is it easier to return this air conditioner and get a 110V?

No, there is no magic doohickey to solve this problem.  Not least because it introduces a bunch of other satellite problems.

These aren't like "Windows vs Mac" 2 incompatible flavors of the same thing  240V is actually more powerful, so an A/C unit would not be made 240V unless that was necessary to power its functionality.    So a 240V A/C will probably overdraw a 15A circuit even if you used the (non-cheap) tech to convert.

The right thing is to take it back and get an appropriate A/C.   How did the salesman not have this conversation with you and make sure you had 240V power available?  Don't do business with them again, they stink at their job!


Using a 24 volt ac relay with a 16 volt ac doorbell circuit I have recently purchased a doorbell camera for the front door. It has the ability to ring my current doorbell but I use an intercom system with an electronic chime module. After watching many you tube videos and doing research I have determined that I must use a relay between the doorbell button and the chime module. The intercom system uses two (2) 16 volt AC transformers that are hidden behind the intercom which I would like to use to power the doorbell circuit and relay. However there are no 16 volt AC relays, only 12 V or 24 V. I could purchase a 24 Volt AC transformer, but there is no way to hide it inside the intercom master station and so it would look unsightly, and I prefer not to go that route.
Can I use the 16 V power supply with a 24 V relay, which would be 75% of the relay's rated voltage? This would not be a constantly energized relay, but only a momentary contact closure to trip the relay and complete the circuit to ring my intercom's doorbell chime. I feel this would work, but I'm checking with those who should know if there might be any problems or unforeseen consequences?

Use a multi-voltage relay
The good news is that you're not stuck with single-voltage relay coils; a RIBU1C's low-voltage coil is rated for anywhere from 10-30VAC, for instance.  That, a plastic "handy box" with ½" KOs on it, and some wirenuts and cableclamps, will get you what you need.


Can I use a single air gap for a reverse osmosis system and a dishwasher? Is it possible to do this? Currently we have a line from the dishwasher to the air gap and from the air gap to the garbage disposal. I want to install a reverse osmosis system but we only have the one air gap hole and I want to use that for the reverse osmosis faucet (which also has an air gap). Would it be safe to combine the reverse osmosis AND the dishwasher waste line to the air gap faucet and have it run down to the garbage disposal? I notice that the waste line to and from the reverse osmosis is pretty small while the one to and from the dishwasher is pretty wide.

You have two options which are equally acceptable.

Option one is a dual inlet air gap. It provides two inlets - one for dishwasher, and another for a water purification system. Installation is straight forward - you remove the existing air gap and put the new one in its place. You can find such a device here.

Your other option is to purchase a faucet for your water filter that includes a built-in air gap, such as this. Note that if you go this route, you will have two drain lines that both need to connect to the garbage disposal. You can accomplish this by using a wye fitting to join the two drain lines into one line, which you would then connect to the disposal. A barbed wye fitting should be available at your local home improvement store for a minimal cost. Don't forget the hose clamps.

The links I provided are not affiliate links so I do not get paid if you purchase after click through.


What Humidifier i need. I bought a new home couple of month ago and need to install humidifier. After reading some blogs i am confused that i need humidifier for winter only or for winter and summer ( for AC and heat). Attempted unsuccessful search on Google to find one for both AC and heat. Not sure if it exist. My house is 2500 sqft located in Washington DC(USA) area. I have two units one for ground and main level and second for top floor. Questions in my mind are, what humidifier( Honeywell/Aprilaire etc.) should i buy and of what capacity, Do i need to buy for both units, which one is best (by-pass duct/in duct), Do i even need it for summer.

Appreciate suggestions !!

In Washington, DC you want to remove as much water as possible from the dank soup that passes for summer air. Your AC does that. You definitely do NOT want to add any more humidity in the summer, there.

In a desert climate you might, but then you'd probably also be looking at a swamp cooler, which does both cooling and humidifying - in a DRY climate.


Why are some bricks crooked in my attic wall? I live in a victorian terraced house, and one of the chimney breasts has been removed at some point in the distant past. However they didn't remove the part in the roof, which was poorly supported. I'm selling the house and thus I want it removed.
Prior to doing this, I spoke to my neighbour, and went into their loft to photograph the other side of the party wall so I could check afterwards there was no obvious damage.
Roughly where the chimney is however, the bricks are all messed up. I would expect cracks in the mortar if there was any movement of the wall, but instead it sort of looks like someone has taken bricks out and then wedged/cemented them back in.
This could have occurred literally any time in the past 70 years, but I am wondering what people make of it.
It's not the greatest picture, because the loft space is very small and hard to squeeze through, but you can see something weird has happened on the left.

My question is - is this a warning sign that you should get it checked out, or is it simply a case of someone taking out the bricks (for any myriad reasons) and patching it back up afterwards?

There's a double layer brick wall between the two residences and the chimneys tied into this. It looks like when your neighbour's chimney was removed some of the bricks in the wall were disturbed and then replaced slightly crooked.
crooked bricks look untidy, but are not signifiantly weaker than perfectly aligned bricks. If there were cracks, that would be a warning sign, but crookedness by itself is not something to worry about.


Can some wet/dry vacs indeed continuously pump water? I understood recently that a wet/dry pump (a "shop vac", that is, though not necessarily from that brand) functions by creating a vacuum in an air-tight chamber. The vacuum sucks in anything near the hose, whether it's wet or dry.

I've also seen one manufacturer advertise that some of the wet/dry vacs in their product line can function as a wet pump (in addition to being a wet/dry pump).

I like the idea of using one tool for both functions (in terms of both storage space economy and pocket economy). I'd be using the wet/dry vac to clean the garage floor (maybe 4-6 times a year) and the wet pump function to empty the water on top of a pool cover (somewhere from 250 to 500 gallons, once or twice a year).

Is it indeed the case that a wet/dry vac that can double as a wet pump is capable of continuously pumping? Any wet/dry vac can be used as a 2-stage wet pump (fill, empty, repeat), but doing that 25-100 times in a row is not amusing. Did I understand correctly and some wet/dry pumps can indeed continuously pump water?

I would be perfectly fine with a device that sucks water from the hose, but then allows that water to drain via a syphon from a garden hose, just so long as this process does not need user intervention until it's done.

There are two solutions:

Wet/dry "Pump" Vac

Look for a wet/dry vac that is labeled "pump" (the manufacturer will likely draw a nice hose with fresh water prominently on the box).

Such wet/dry vacs have a built-in water pump. One model on the market looks like this:

Universal Pump for Wet/Dry Vacuums

These are add-ons to your wet/dry vacs. Your vac must have a downspout for this option to work. One model on the market looks like this:

Neither of these options will allow continuous pumping.

You cannot continuously pump out with the first option because the wet vac will be faster (more powerful motor, 1 1/2" to 2" hose) than the water pump (5/8" garden hose, pump handling just water rather than an air/water mixture).

You will need to pull the hose out of the body of water when the tank is full. Force the power button down to override the shut-off feature for 15 seconds. The water pump will then continue pumping out (at 350 gallons per minute) until the tank is empty. Repeat.

You cannot continuously pump with the second option. You will have to attend to the two pumps. Fill the tank with the wet vac. Turn off. Empty the tank with the water pump. Turn off. Repeat.


Terminology - rebar "tie wire" or "tire wire"? This is about tie wire that is used in rebars in construction (e.g.: RCC beam and slab).

Sometimes I hear people say "tire wire" instead of "tie wire". Is "tire wire" a valid alternative terminology to "tie wire"? If it is, could someone provide links to prove its usage?

Thanks!

It has always been "tie wire". Just do a search, that is all you will come up with.


Is a home with concrete walls more likely to propagate noise between floors? I have a house and it has three floors. All of these floors and walls are made of concrete. So my question is, whenever the third floor makes noises, e.g. noises from music, carpentry tools like drills, or noises that are loud enough to hear, would the people from second floor able to hear noises from third floor given that the thing between/separates them is concrete? Or maybe worse, people from first floor? Thank you all!

When thinking about sound there are three factors: absorption, reflection and transmission [1]. Reflection leads to reverberation and echos. Transmission means the sound gets through and it is like the wall is not there. Absorption is where the sound "magically" disappears. It doesn't get reflected back nor does it make it through. Concrete is a rigid and dense material meaning it reflects sound well and does not transmit or absorb sound. Painted and plastered concrete is even more reflective and less transmissive [2]. Depending on the sound level and frequency, painted concrete floors and walls will prevent someone in the next room from hearing the sound. If you had a perfectly sealed concrete room with someone yelling at 100 dB, outside the room it would sound like a quiet conversation of about 50 dB. The reverb in the concrete room would be awful, but you could try and treat this with some soft low density material.

To directly answer your question, you will likely be able to hear the music and tools downstairs. If you replace the concrete with a different less dense material (e.g., wood), the sounds will get louder.


Upgrading to LED Bulbs So I've been doing a lot of research recently regarding LED lighting, and attempting to do an overhaul of our entire house. But I've run into a few issues, and I really don't want to go back and forth testing out different LED bulbs to see what's going to work, and what's not going to work.

All of the Q & A i've found on this site is either OLD or not really related to my issues. So bare with me...

We have 2 Poll Lamps that are a 3-way switch of 50w/100w/150w. I know there are LEDs now that exist as 3-way bulbs, BUT i've only seen 30/60/100. Question: Is this type of bulb ok with my lamp? If not, what type of LED bulb would a person use? Do I have to find a 50/100/150 watt LED, if so, do they even exist?
People have been saying that using a Dimmer in this situation would work. Question: What kind of Dimmer would work for my the 50/100/150 watt scenario?
We have a TON of R40 Reflector type fixtures in the house, and most are setup as dimmer, and a few are not. I've only recently started taking care of the appliances and utilities of the house, and don't really know what wattage the lighting fixtures take. I checked one of the R40 Dimmer halogen bulbs, and it was set at 120v 65w. I checked a different one and it said 130v 65w. So i'm assuming i need 65w bulbs. Question: How do you check for the wattage on this type of lighting fixture? and whats the deal with the 2 different voltages?
We have a ton fluorescent lighting in the house, and it's old and was installed at least 30 years ago. I'm under the assumption that these take tons of power to operating, but I've never checked any statistics on this. I was thinking of removing the fixtures entirely and replacing them with something that's LED equivalent, Question: Does anyone have any suggestions that would replace this type of lighting?

It should be noted that money is not really an issue but I don't have a money tree in the garden.

First of all, when you read about a "50W LED", it is certainly saying that it outputs the equivalent light of a 50W incandescent light (although that is often a exaggeration). That "50W" LED actually draws less than 10 watts. This means that it draws much less current and emits much less heat, both of which are the factors that typically limit the allowable light in a fixture.

You'd be able to replace a 50/100/150W 3-way with a lower wattage, even if staying with incandescent.

Second, unless the LED light is marked "dimmable", don't try to use it on a dimmer. You may damage the dimmer, light, or both. Even if the light is dimmable, some dimmers will not work well with a low load: a dimmer that works on a 100W light bulb may not work on an equivalent-light-output 13W LED. They make LED/CFL specific dimmers that may work better.

As for the 130V R40, that is probably a "long life" bulb. Running an incandescent at lower than rated voltage extends its life. Therefore, they make 130V bulbs to run longer on 120V. Just use LEDs rated for 120V.

As for your existing florescent lighting, I assume you're talking about the straight tube type. For a fixture that old, it's probably less efficient that newer florescent fixtures or LEDs but still much more efficient than incandescent. This is harder to replace with LEDs, just due to the area covered. There are LED tubes made to replace florescent tubes but they are still expensive and generally require re-wiring the fixture. These are most often used in commercial applications.


What should I do about an exposed wire for landscape lighting? Found an exposed wire from an old landscape light in the yard that is tripping a breaker. Can I just cap it?

If it's no longer in use, you really should remove it, or at least disconnect it from the "input" (house electrical) side. Without a fixture present, some person (perhaps even you, if you forget about it) might dig in the yard with no thought of a (sounds like poorly buried if it's exposed, thus probably unmarked as well) wire, and cut into it with a shovel. In which case, it's far better if it's not energized.


Will a 2-stage heat pump cool my upstairs on low stage? I am currently upgrading my furnace from an oil furnace/AC combination to all heat pump. I am considering two stage vs single stage heat pumps.

I understand that two-stage will supposedly give me more 'comfort' (for running on low stage instead of one shorter single stage). However, one of the HVAC company representatives that came out to give me an estimate for a heat pump explained that he doesn't think a two stage is worth it for my house. Here is why;

I have a colonial style single family home (2 levels plus a finished basement, built in the 70s). The way the duct system is setup, the main level heats and cools fine, but the upstairs gets significantly less airflow (with bedroom doors open). Even with an oversized unit and blower, the air coming out of the vents is weak compared to the first floor. With the way my ducts are setup currently, he said that the second floor will not cool well in the summer if a two stage is running on the low stage. In essence, in order to get efficient cooling upstairs I'd need to be running at higher speeds. He was the only one that presented this opinion of several other people that came out.

Does this guy have a point, or will a two stage still give me better 'comfort' even with really low air flow on the second level?

The home is approximately 1600 square feet above ground, and then another 800 square feet for the finished basement. There is currently a 3.5 ton unit a several companies recommended a 3 ton unit.

Note: I am not asking for the ideal solution to my heating/cooling problems. I am asking of single stage and dual stage, which would do better cooling and heating the entire house more evenly in my situation.

The answer will depend on how much temperature drop/rise there is inside the ducts.  A two stage cooling system means that the heatpump will either drop the air return temp a little bit (stage 1 is running, half cooling) or it will drop the air temp a lot (stage two is running, full cooling). Either way the fan moves the same amount of air.  In stage 1 mode the net effect will be for it to spend more time with the fan on, since to hold say 70F it will have to spend a while pushing 65F air through, vs a single stage system that puts out 60F air which will get back to setpoint faster.  More air circulation (assuming its all a nice 65F) should actually be better for comfort in your restricted upstairs area vs spending a short time blowing 60F air until the downstairs is comfortable, leaving the upstairs without much time to get cooled air.

If the ducts are soaking a lot of the cooling up (i.e. the downstairs is getting 65F air but the upstairs is getting 68F air) then no, the first stage of a two stage unit will not give a lot of comfort and a system pushing colder overall air (i.e. single stage) all the time would be preferable.

In any case (if you get this system or not) most ducts, even in older homes, have some sort of internal damper to control flow to each run/room. These might not be accessible if you finished your basement and covered them all up, but that's for a different question about exposing louvers and patching sheetrock ;-). Further, your vents in each room should have a shutoff (not preferable vs in-duct damper, because it's noisy) which would allow you reduce the airflow to the downstairs rooms. This would be the solution if you find that running the system just doesn't get the upstairs rooms comfortable.  Start by reducing flow to the one or two ducts closes to the thermostat, and continue until your system runs long enough to cool the upstairs without leaving any of the first floor rooms too frigid.

edit: grammar and clarification


Should I Insulate Between Floors to Reduce Noise? We're in the process of turning our large unfinished attic into a bonus room and bathroom. Originally the attic floor contained the insulation that kept the house warm. Now we'll spray foam the underside of the roof and make sure the thermal barrier connects up the the exterior walls. Also, the new attic space has both a heating/cooling air supply and return. So I'm not worried about thermal issues.

I am concerned about noise issues. The bathroom and bonus room (which is where the TV, gaming systems, and rowdy teenagers will be) are directly above some bedrooms (including mine).

Will regular fiberglass insulation provide a good sound barrier? At what thickness? Or is this just a waste of money? Is there a better alternative?

Edit (More detailed info): The finished attic will have a padded, carpeted floor. 3/4" plywood subfloor on 2x8 joists. 1st floor ceilings are 1/2" drywall screwed to 3/4"(?) lathe-and-plaster.

I put Roxul Safe n Sound in our entire basement ceiling when I finished the basement, and it made an enormous difference. So much so that it's hard to remember what it used to be like. I would absolutely recommend it.


Alternative to backer rod and bond breaker tape for caulking I'm caulking a number of vertical fillet joints.  I haven't used foam backer rod because (since the joint is vertical) it won't stay while I caulk.  Bond breaker tape has been annoying to place evenly over both sides of the length of the joint.

Can anyone suggest an alternative?  I was thinking of using a stick of wax and just running it along the joint.

Backer rod should be compressed in a joint. If it doesn't stay in the joint on it's own, then you need to get a wider piece. They come in varying diameters and you should choose one slightly wider than your gap.


Why does the water out of every faucet in my house feel soapy? The water on new place looks very clean, but has a 'soapy' feel.

If I wet my left hand and hold a soap bar for a while, and my right hand I just wet,  the sensation if I rub my fingers on each hand is almost the same. What is it? I will call the water department to get a water analysis Monday.

What drives me crazy is that I get the same sensation with the water coming out of the faucet Brita filter (I know those are no good, but still).

You have "soft" water. It tends to feel slippery. I would not be surprised if you have a water softener, or if you just previously have very hard water in your old abode. – woodchips

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softening#Soap_scum


No power at outlets and lights, no bad breakers In the living dining room several outlets and two overhead lights are dead.

At the service panel I checked all the circuit breakers outputs for power, and all are live. I also checked every GFI circuit in the house I could find and tripped and reset them all. I still have no power on the aforementioned circuits.

I also loosened and tightened each breaker screw holding respective wires, both at the breaker switches and neutral wires.

Still no power.

Are all the outlets / lights on 1 circuit, If so find the last working device from the panel or the First non working device, I find back stabs are the cause for this type of problem in the high 90%. In this case the failed junction may be at a light switch where the outlet is also powered via a splice before the switch, the other possibility would be where a outlet feeds the switches. As I said at the start most times I find this problem it is from a failed back stabs in a 15 amp circuit. I have found both 15 & 20 amp circuits that have had a loose wire nut or a broken wire usually right at the point where the wire was stripped. These are the main failures I have found over many years with daisy chained circuits.


What wire gauge should I use with a 30 amp breaker for a 220V welder? I am installing an outlet in my garage for a 220v mig welder. The welder specs call for 30A breaker.

The outlet for the welder is only 2 feet from the garage sub panel. The wiring refernece charts I've seen say I can use 12 gauge copper wire for this short of a distance. Does this make sense? I would have expected it to say that 10 gauge copper wire was the smallest acceptable wire to use.

The reason I'm even asking is that I am also wiring the garage for an air compressor and an air conditioner. Both will be on their own 220V 20A breakers. They will be located about 30 wire feet (one way) from the sub panel. This will require enough wire that it makes financial sense to buy the smallest gauge that will work safely and meet code.

Accourding to this link http://www.elec-toolbox.com/calculators/voltdrop.htm I could even use 14 gauge copper wire.

Realistically, what wire gauge copper wire should I install in my garage for these tools?

The calculator you referenced is only appropriate for voltage drop and makes the disclaimer that the results of the calculation do not account for current specs or NEC. Any circuit fused for 30 amps must use a minimum of 10 ga copper or 8 ga alu. Longer runs may require an upgrade of wire size.  In your case, use at least 10 copper for your welder regardless how far it is from the breaker panel.
I'm sure one of my buddies here will have a NEC ref for ya.


Why did my electric bill climb suddenly? So we had a little mishap a couple of months ago involving some flooding.  We had some folks come in and "dehydrate" our house.  It involved lots of fans running for a couple of weeks.  We expected the electric bill to be very high that month.  But it has continued to be high ever since (at least double) and I don't know why.

An electrician installed an outlet of sorts that hangs out of our fuse box during that whole process that was meant to add another needed outlet to plug in the basement fans to do some drying.  I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

So I'm looking for some ideas on what I can do to try to track down the problem or, better yet, ideas of what the problem could be based on what little information I've given you (I know it's a long shot).  I can update this question with any additional information you might need.

You might ask your electric utility if they have been getting meter readings every month or if they have been estimating. I used to live in a house where they only collected "true meter readings" once a quarter, the other two bills were estimations based on past values. If that high month was the last one they read, that might explain the high values.


Vertical gap between wooden floor and baseboard trim: how do I fix that gap? There's a small vertical gap maybe 1/8" to 1/4" between our wooden floors and the bottom of the wall (which ends with baseboard trim).

What should I do to fill that gap and make it look nice?

The time consuming way is probably to drop the baseboard trim down right?
Can I fill it with something like caulk and match the color of the baseboard?

Baseboard molding is typically trimmed out against a wood or tile floor using a small molding called a base shoe. Example in the picture below. Due to minor variations in floor height or flooring material thickness over relatively short distances it is not usually feasible to get the wider baseboard molding to push nicely to the floor covering material. The base shoe, being a narrow molding, can flex over distances of a foot or two and fit down snug to the floor.

Note that when installing the base shoe molding it is nailed into the baseboard and not into the floor. This permits the natural expansion and contraction of the flooring to let it slide in and out from under the base board and base shoe moldings. You would not really want to try sealing the gap under the baseboard down to the flooring material due to the fact that flooring does this expansion and contraction thing.

If you already have the base shoe molding in place the then correct fix is to remove it and then re-install it against the floor. I have found such job much easier to simply replace with new base shoe molding. Base shoe can be pre-finished and then cut and installed. This eliminates the normally less than effective need to try to mask off on both edges if trying to finish in place on the wall. A pneumatic brad nailer is an ideal tool for fastening base shoe into place.

Base shoe installation requires a miter saw and a coping saw. The coping saw is used when making inside corner joins using a coped joint.

Note that base shoe is typically not used with carpet installation. The carpet tack strip is typically installed about 3/8" from the baseboard and then the carpet is trimmed to the wall and the edge tucked down behind the wall edge of the tack strip to make a nice clean edge up to the baseboard. Sometimes in older houses carpet is installed over wood floors and in such cases the base shoe is removed before carpeting. New owners sometimes come along and "discover" the older wood floors and decide to rip out the carpet and do a floor sanding and re-finishing. In these cases new base show is the final order of business in trimming out the room.


Delta Leland Kitchen Faucet Removal I am trying to remove a Delta Leland Kitchen Faucet.
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When I try to loosen the bolt from the bottom of the sink, the entire fixture spins.  I can't get any leverage to turn the bolt.  If I have someone while hole the faucet and I turn the bolt, it still spins.
Any way to got this off with out using a grinder?  There is a little bit of space at the base of the faucet, so would prying off the fixture be an option? Thanks!

That thing is so hopelessly corroded that the only hope I see is to use one of the following:

(Picture Source: https://www.dremeleurope.com/general/en/cut-offwheel32mm-184-ocs-p/)

(Picture Source: https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Hand-Tools-20-807-Mini-HackTM/dp/B00009OYGD)

Any type of hammering, prying, twisting or chiseling you try to do is liable to either bend/break your sink or damage the finish if it is a porcelain type sink.


What is this type of screw head? Head is similar to a round, slotted head, except where the arrows point is like it was cut out. It is on an old double cylinder deadbolt. Wondering if I’m going to have to drill it out.

Hard to tell from the picture, but based on the description, that sounds like a one-way screw. See this page for some more information. Basically, the design is to make it easy to install with a regular screwdriver, but hard to remove, which is what you want on a lock. To remove it, you may need to use a screw extractor - basically you drill a hole into the screw, grab it with an extractor, and then unscrew the combined extractor + screw.


How to get rid of cooking smell in small apartment? I live in a small studio apartment. It doesn't have Air conditioner, and apartment window have really small opening. I keep that open always. Recently I have starting cooking at home ( its been 2months ).  I must say every time I come home after work I can smell that.

How can I totally get rid of cooking smell?  I heard about diffuser and soy candles.  Does that work for you?  Some says diffuser is not good for health.

What do you use to keep your apartment smell good?

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation is the only safe way to keep any building smelling good plus dehumidification. You must be sure your range hood is not the recirculating type. ie; If it blows the air back into the space it does not vent outdoors. If it does vent outdoors and does not suck the cooking vapors to the level desired you may need to equalize the pressure by opening a window in another portion of the space to make up the lost air from the ventilation fan. When showering always use the bathroom fan and/or open a window. Fans on timers are always best. Set to 60 minutes after leaving a shower to dry the room out. Dehumidification may be a requirement if fans do not help. This will help maintain low odor thresholds in any home. High humidity above 50% rh (relative humidity) will increase indoor odors and mold growth. To dehumidify you can use window fans and in some cases mechanical dehumidification may be required. (Dehumifier)
You can review the ASHRAE 62.2 or 62.1 standards for the heating and ventilation industry. Never resort to scented candles or air fresheners as they may release toxins into your living space eventually making you ill.

https://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/bookstore/standards-62-1--62-2


Why has my ceiling fan's speed become slower? We have owned a Minka Aire ceiling fan for about 4 years and it has been great overall; running for 24hrs a day.

It has 3 settings and when we initially purchased the fan; the speed was noticeable and the air movement was as well. It now seems as though the highest setting is not much different then the middle setting.

What would cause this and how can I get it back to where it was in terms of performance?

It comes with a lifetime warranty on the motor; however I am not certain that the motor is failing here. In researching this it appears the cause could be the need to oil the motor; however I want to get verification from the community before I take on that effort.

UPDATE:

Manual rotation produces no shaking or wobbling, they move very smoothly. If you are not familiar with these fans they are fairly heavy duty, not in any way unstable as would a typical $49.99 fan be that was picked up from a local Home Depot.

On occasion there is a humming that occurs, it is not consistent by any means and is fairly rare. In addition it will sometimes make a noise as though it is off kilter slightly, hard to describe. If I move back down to the medium setting, the noise subsides. Sometimes I will wait 10 - 15 minutes, turn it back to the highest setting and it functions as expected again, minus the overall speed. This is rare and will happen maybe once or twice a month. Keep in mind the fan runs non-stop, 24hrs a day.

UPDATE 7/27/12:

This issue still exists. It now appears that the fan operates at roughly the same speed across all three settings. The instances where it sounded as though it was slightly of kilter have not happened in many months. Any ideas what could be causing this? There is a lifetime warranty on the motor however the motor sounds fine, it's the actual speed that appears to be the issue. Should I simply replace it and move on or is there something I could to to potentially fix this myself?

Late response, but posting this for people that happen to google the problem... was probably a bad fan motor capacitor.  You can find a replacement for a few bucks on amazon.


What should I do about putty that fell in the toilet opening? When I was lifting off the old toilet a large chunk of plumbers putty/clay fell in the opening. (There was a huge amount under the toilet, and no wax that I could see.)

I tried using a vacuum to get it out and that just pushed it in deeper. I tried a "claw" extension grabber thingy, but it couldn't hold it.

Now it's deep enough I can barely see it.

What should I do?

Try a bent wire coat hanger to pierce and hook the putty. If you can't, does water still seem to drain? I would pour some water down there slowly to see if it's draining properly. You could even try boiling water which might make the putty more malleable and help flush it down.

Ultimately, if it's draining I don't think you need to worry about it. Just think about all the other things that get flushed down the toilet.


Should rain gutters be installed behind metal drip edge? I am adding aluminum gutters to my new detached garage. I hadn't originally included them in the design, but want to add them to protect the doors and siding from splashing water, and to prevent soil runoff/erosion.
I've been observing gutters, watching YouTube, etc, but haven't found a satisfying answer to a few questions...

Should the gutter slide up under the drip edge?
If gutter is under drip edge, will it be low enough to prevent possible ice damage?
Should the gutter hangers penetrate the drip edge?
Do the penetrations for gutter hangers need to be sealed in any way?
If the gutter is not installed under the drip edge, do I need some other sort of flashing?
Should a spacer be installed behind the drip edge to allow air movement between gutter and fascia? (I know this is recommended for wood fascia, but is it necessary with aluminum?)

Here is the structure I have:

Roof pitch is 6/12
Aluminum drip edge overlaps fascia about 1.5"
Adhesive ice/water barrier installed over drip edge
Asphalt shingles overlap drip edge by 1/2", giving total of 1" overlap from fascia
2x6 subfascia board with aluminum fascia cover
Total gutter run will be 22'
Structure is in Wisconsin, USA (cold, snowy winters), and will be insulated and (moderately) heated.

If your drip edge (and the shingle protrusion) are working properly, water will fall from that outermost point. Obviously this means that the gutter shouldn't need to slip behind the drip edge flange. In fact, in cases where the run is long and the slope requires enough drop, this isn't possible anyway without additional flashing. That's not usually necessary, especially with newer construction and a 6:12 pitch.
Start at the high end of each run with the gutter just below the drip edge flange. Slope down from there. Nothing should penetrate or result in modification of the drip edge.


Condensation on bathroom vent MY bathroom vent goes directly into the attic space,no pipe. It is getting warmer outside and my attic is very hot. When the Air conditioning is turned on the vent fan drips.
How can I fix this?

The only way to fix this properly is to run an insulated pipe from the bathroom fan to the exterior of the house. The pipe should be insulated to avoid condensation buildup on the outside of the pipe. It's mostly an issue if you have cold winters, but either way, probably good practice. The best way would probably be to run it horizontally, with a slight slope away from the fan, to an outside wall (shortest route possible).

The second best option is to run it up through your roof, which would likely be more involved as you would need to install the vent flashing properly to avoid roof leaks.

The third option, if nothing else will work, would be to run it out your soffit. They make special soffit vent caps for this. This can cause the moisture to be sucked back into your attic, which is why I would go with one the first two options.

The issue with your current setup is that you are constantly blowing large amounts of moisture into your attic, where it probably just stays. This will eventually cause issues with mold, or rotting up there. If you have cellulose insulation, that will break down from the moisture as well.

You should also ensure that there is a flap at the end of the run. Some fans have one built in as well. This keeps air from going through the pipe when the fan isn't running, but gets pushed open by the fan when it is.


connecting three 8 gauge wires, wire nut or multi-port? I am connecting sets of three #8 wires for a 220 circuit, and have found large blue wire nuts from Ideal that are rated for this wire size.  But they are very difficult to twist to the point that the wires themselves begin to twist together, and upon removal the nuts don't seem to have made much of a grab on the wires, or to twist them.  The wires are a combination of 7 strand and 19 strand.  I see that multipart "Polaris" type connectors might be better, though much more expensive.  I also wonder whether the set screws on Polaris (or the Morris that seems to be the same but much less expensive) are subject to backing out unless locked in some fashion.  Help greatly appreciated!

If you mean these, they are not -- oh wait, if you dig into the data sheet, they are rated for three #8. Things the literature doesn't tell you that the data sheet does.

Now, you are pushing the limit of the wire nut's range, so it may be difficult to work with.  They work better in the middle of their range.   It also sounds like you are being timid with the wire nut, and you really need to show it who's boss.

You're worried about the wires twisting, they're supposed to twist. If even the insulated parts of the wires start to coil around each other, that's fine, that's an indicator that that you're tightening it enough.

Also, do not pre-twist the wires that will be going into the wire nut.  That is just dumb, the wire nuts themselves are about to do a fine job of that.  Make sure the wires are square/even going in, pretwisting makes that harder.  Also you have a chance of twisting in the wrong direction.

Never tape wire nuts, except for a single wire on a nut (otherwise, those don't hold). Instead, firmly pull on each wire.  They shouldn't even think about coming out of the nut.  If they do, that indicates a bad job of wire nutting.  They are also making bad contact, and will cause arcing and fire.  Unwind it, straighten them out a bit, line them up properly, and do it again.


Why does my fluorescent lighting only work when it's not hot outside? We have fluorescent lights in our kitchen and when it's over 75°F outside the lights turn on real dim like there might be a problem with the ballasts, but when the outside temperature drops the lights come on fine.

Does anyone have an idea at what might need to be replaced?

When florescent tubes get close to the end of their service life, they can behave unpredictably.  Double check for any darkening of the glass near the pins.  If you have a spare bulb that you know is good, try swapping the lamp and see if there is any improved performance.


Need Longer Dishwasher Drain Hose I have a drain hose that came with my new dishwasher but it's not long enough to reach the disposal. I've tried contacting Samsung themselves and they only have the 6' one that's too short. What are my options for getting a longer hose? My model number is DW80K7050US

If you cant find the specific hose, find a hose with the same diameter and use a radiator clamp to tighten it down.  Lowe's or your local hardware store should have something close to what you're needing.  Just have them cut it to the desired length.  Just an option,  hope it helps.


How can I estimate the percentage of electricity (bill) is due to heating and cooling? I want to estimate our heating/cooling needs to figure out what the potential value of increasing insulation would be.

Our insulation in the attic floor is the fluffy stuff (not fiberglass) and IIRC< it's about 2' thick.

We heat and cool with a heat pump, so it's all electricity costs.
We do a small amount of heating during the morning and evening with a gas fireplace.

We don't use the heat pump a lot. It has 2 programmable thermostats (upstairs and down) which we keep at 72 or lower in the winter and 77 or 78 in the summer. And we only condition the temp upstairs at night and downstairs during the day.

3600 Sq Foot home (3 stories) with decent insulation.
Here's what I've done so far:

Got my usage for the year, by month.
Found the lowest month $143 (month of May). assume that was no heating and minimal A/C. We are in the mountains of SW Virginia and the summers are fairly mild (certainly in May).

I then assume any additional electricity was heating and cooling.
So our avg was $232, so $1092 per year for heating and cooling.

Any I missing anything?

-

Your method works to a first approximation. One big assumption is that you had no (or little) costs to heat and cool during that smallest-bill month of May. The other big assumption is that all of your other loads during that month of May are representative of the loads the rest of the year. If both of those are true, then your method should be quite accurate.

One fairly obvious difference is in your water heater. As the temperature warms up, the temperature of your incoming water supply warms, too, meaning you need less energy to heat the water to the desired temperature. And, as the temperature drops, you need more energy to heat the water. It's kind of the opposite of your AC.

One other thing to consider is not cost, but actual energy usage. $143 in May be more energy usage than $143 in August, depending on your utility rates. It might even be that your rate differs during the day, or with usage. To be sure, check how much energy you actually used, in kWh, and compare those values from May to the rest of the year.

There are various estimates out there for what uses the most electricity, but HVAC always tops the list at 30-50%. Water heater is usually next, followed by laundry (dryers mostly). Unless you've done something specifically to reduce your usage, yours probably follows a similar profile and would be a good cross check of your estimate.

If you want a more accurate assessment, your local utility may be able to provide an energy audit. You can also look into installing a whole-home energy monitor, such as Sense (not a recommendation, just an example), though I'm not sure how accurate those are. If you have a smart electric meter, you may be able to glean higher-resolution usage data for your whole home (mine reports usage every 15 minutes), rather than the monthly usage reported on your bill. This might be easier to correlate with days you know the HVAC was not running. You could also install smart thermostats, some of which can report minute-by-minute usage.


What can cause foggy/misty/gray water when water heater is turned off? This may be expected behavior but I thought I'd ask anyway...

We recently had gas turned off at our house in preparation for a fumigation this weekend. We have a gas water heater (with a tank) so this means we don't have any hot water.  What's strange though is that when I turn on the hot water valve on our bathroom sink, the water that comes out looks foggy/gray... almost like there's a cream or white liquid in it.

Any ideas why this is? It's clear if we just turn on cold water.

Could be that your water has some minerals in it. I noticed some cloudy water and a funny taste when I first moved into my house. I searched online for a water analysis company and for about $150 they sent me a kit to collect water samples and analyzed it for several minerals.

Turns out I have a VERY high calcium content. According to their findings there is no upper limit to the amount of calcium you can have in your water but it will make it taste funny and cloud the water/give it a funny taste. Depending on how old your hot water tank is you may have some sediment built up in the bottom.

If you haven't ever done it I'd recommend looking up a company that does water analysis, they'll normally send you a kit with a number of bottles and instructions on how to collect samples. It's a few hundred dollars but it's generally worth the peace of mind to know what you're potentially drinking/showering with. Here is an example of a water testing company. The price looks to be about $120 (plus shipping the test sample back to them).

Depending on what's in your water, you may want to flush your hot water tank as well. Here is a set of instructions on how to do it. I do it about once a year. It uses alot of water but it helps extend the life of your hot water tank and provides a more efficient heating of the water.


Is a warm breaker normal? I have 2 15 Amp breakers both of them with a load of about 12Amps and they are warm. Is this normal that such a load should warm up the breaker?

A warm breaker can be normal, yes. Especially under a heavy load.

If you are running a continuous load (80% circuit max for several hours) then I would certainly check the connections to be sure that extra heat is not causing problems. A heavy load will find a poor connection or termination and point it out to you as a problem in short order.


Is it a concern that 120v cables hang down from the ceiling in my crawl space? Recently went in my crawlspace to fix some plumbing issues and noticed that all the electrical seems to be just hanging, with some on the ground. I'm fairly certain that this is nowhere close to code, but what I want to know is how dangerous this is?

Essentially, is this something I need to take care of immediately (and should have been caught by my inspector when I bought the house) or is this something that could be taken care of when I'm not quite so strapped for cash?

You can run NM cable (the official term for Romex, which is a brand name) in a crawl space either ALONG the SIDES of the floor joists, or THROUGH them (i.e. fed through drilled holes). But you cannot just staple it TO the bottom of the joists. Since that may not be an option here, the next choice is to nail small "runner" boards to the bottoms of the joists, then staple the cable to those. The cable must be protected from being grabbed or pulled. But if those cables are now too short to do that and you need to replace them anyway, I would opt to drill and pull.


My ceiling fan isn't getting the right voltage My ceiling fan + light has stopped working. It turns out that the voltage reading at the ceiling is only 30V. I think that means that the motor on my fan isn't the problem, but that there's some problem with the wiring between the light switches on the wall (one for the fan and one for the lights, both of which get 120V) and the ceiling. Does that sound right? What can I do next to troubleshoot this issue?

With the ceiling fan taken out of the equation, this will likely be a bad connection or a failing switch.  The first places to check are in the wiring above the fan, and the wiring at the switch.  Try this to track down the issue:

Shutoff the power at the breaker
Remove the plate covering the switch, pull out the switch itself, and inspect the wiring
If there are two sets of wires coming into the switch, one of these is the source, and the second goes to the fan.  Pull out the wiring so that you can easily access it without anything touching.  Remove the wire nut on the neutral (white) wire.  Turn the switch to the on position.  Turn the breaker back on temporarily and test the voltage from the neutral to the hot both before and after the switch.  Turn the breaker back off before doing any other work on the wiring.  Be sure to replace the wire nut when done at the switch.
If there is only one set of wires at the switch, then the power source is above the fan.  Turn the switch to the on position and expose the wires for the neutral, the hot from the source (that goes to the switch), and the hot returning from the switch (that goes to the fan).  Make sure the wires are not touching anything else, turn the breaker on temporarily and compare the neutral to the hot voltage before and after the switch.
If the voltage from the source is low, you'll need to track this down, on the circuit.  The next easiest place to test the voltage is in the breaker panel.  After that, you're left with identifying each switch, fixture, and outlet on the circuit and testing each one until you find where the voltage drop is occurring.
If the voltage from the switch is low, then just replace that and you should be up in no time.

Note: should you be uncomfortable with any of these steps, especially working with exposed wiring or inside of the breaker panel, then please call a professional.


How do steel studs compare to traditional lumber in holding strength? How can steel studs possibly compare to traditional lumber in holding strength? The fasteners will at best engage with a minuscule amount of metal of X wall thickness and then break through into empty air which offers no engagement with the threads.
This compared to a screw being embedded in, engaged with, and supported by a constant mass of wood along the majority of its threads as seen in classical 2 by X construction.
Where I'm especially concerned is that noise isolation is very important with this project, which leads to variations of stud and leaf arrangements that become weighty, quickly. Usually, this would mean several sheets of 5/8 Gypsum or the like, concrete board being even heavier!
I'm just not seeing how the entire thing won't become a bit wobbly, with the screw tip, in particular, free to dance around inside the cavity of the stud as it likes when under load.

Simple - using appropriate screws (intended for use in steel, not wood), the fact that steel is much stronger than wood means that the screw holds very nicely. The tip of the screw matters not a bit. The force is applied between the head of the screw and the stud it's screwed into.


How do I fix a hole in a hollow door? My son sometimes has a temper, and has been known to hit his door when sent to his room. He has actually done so enough to punch a bit of a hole in it. I'm trying to figure out what might be doable to fix the door. Here is a photo of it:

As can be seen, there is a crack on the left that is visible and slightly dented in, and the center/right hole is actually pressed in pretty good. The punched hole is approximately 6 inches in diameter.

I'm going to make my son pay for the repairs from his allowance, and as that is limited, I am hoping for a fairly quick/inexpensive solution.

Any ideas as to what can be done?

Most hollow core doors have solid wood frame that forms the top,bottom and sides of the door. Remove the molding on the field of the door so you have flat surface. Remove the doorknob. Cut A piece of luan or other smooth grained thin plywood the same size as the door. Cover the door in carpenters glue and apply the plywood. Drive a few nails around the perimeter to keep it in place until the glue can dry. With a hole saw drill out the doorknob hole using the old hole as a guide. Prime and paint to match the other side. reinstall the doorknob.


Ceramic glass cooktop testing? I'm in a new house, and the cook is getting frustrated with our new cooktop.  Water takes a long time to boil and when it finally does, there is no way to simmer as it is now too hot.  Is this normal behavior?  How can I test the stove for normal operation?

A reason for this may be your pots and pans. A glass cooktop works best with flat bottomed pans. This gives better heat transfer into the pan from the cooktop.

Take a straightedge, and place it against the bottom of your pans. If they are deeply dished or they are warped, then you may need a new set of pans.


How to seal up decay around bilco doors? I have a bilco door to my basement. It's pretty old, some of the cement around the base has started to decay, and there are some holes in the door itself (just the way it was made?).

I'm going to close the entrance completely within a few years for a home expansion project, but I'd like to try sealing this up temporarily as best as I can.

First picture are holes in the door construction - I was thinking of just getting some weather stripping to put in there. Then apply some kind of sealant from the outside - anyone have alternative ideas?:

Next picture is the cement at the base that is crumbling - anyone have a recommendation for a pre-mixed cement product I can use to close up the seal between the doors and the cement base?:

Thanks

I don't know how much time/money you want to invest in this project but two things are important, actually, three:

Water: Water is the enemy, so anything you can do to prevent introduction of water is key, it is the #1 solution and preventative measure
Rust: Unless you are going to sand (right down to the shiny metal), prime, and paint all and any areas exposed to the elements, rust will continue, even under a fresh coat of paint or any other sealant. So, weather stripping will NOT help, in fact, doing something like that on an already compromised surface will help it to retain water and rot faster
erosion: since the concrete has erosion, cracks, etc, mastic or any silicon sealant can delay continued degradation of the concrete, it will not stop it. Pay particular attention to my note in the first bullet, because any repair you make, you want to seal out water and tell the water where to go. Give it a path.

What you might do is replace the door, and get one that fits over the cement and just be sure to think like water & gravity, and make sure you send it somewhere ... else.


How to repair rust damage on my kitchen sink (pictures included) I'm looking for some advice on the best way to treat / repair some rusting on my kitchen sink . I've included some pictures below.  I'm not sure what material the sink is (is there a way to tell?).

It's an enamel coated steel (verify with a strong magnet).  There are DIY repair kits, but your rust looks pretty serious.  You'd need to start by taking the sink out, using a grinding wheel to get down to bare steel, then building up epoxy/enamel repair.

Yours may be a builder special of low quality: and the rust looks pretty bad.
I'd recommend a new sink.  Recycle the old one as steel scrap.  And caulk the new one well to avoid water pooling under the edges.