Are Sump pumps necessary? Are sump pumps necessary?I read that sump pumps are able to solve most basement leaking and flooding issues. Do we need a plumber to install a sump pump or can I do it myself?

Sump pumps are generally used to collect water that penetrates the walls or floor of your basement (concrete is porous). It either pumps the water out to the sewer (may not be code anymore) or simply outside where it can run away from your house, or is stored in a dry well to evaporate/soak. Whether or not you need one depends a lot on how your house was built, the local water table, and the ground surrounding your house. But let me give you one general principle to start with in our discussion here:
If you keep the water out, you probably don't need a sump pump
A properly built basement will have good weeping tiles and a waterproofing membrane on the outside of your basement walls. Sadly, in older houses, weeping tiles are literally tiles and they can break or clog over time. And too many builders install too little waterproofing (or none at all). The key here is you don't want to install a sump pump to handle a problem that is outside your house. If you keep the water out in the first place then you shouldn't have a problem. So I would bring in a waterproofing specialist first to make sure you have

Sufficient weeping tiles that are not clogged/broken. This means excavating the footers
Enough waterproofing on your outside basement walls (and proper basins for any basement windows)
Sufficient surface drainage. You should have gutters to catch rain water and send it to the ground where it is channeled away. Ground settles over time and can sometimes trap water by the foundation

What if the water still gets in?
Once you're sure the outside is doing its job, then you can look inside. It's even possible the outside may need to drain inside and use a sump pump to push the water out anyways. Most likely, however, if you still have water intruding, it's due to a water table issue. The water in the ground is seeping up into the foundation. If this is the case, the solution is usually to excavate the basement and install what basically amounts to internal weepers that can catch the water and give it a path to the basin where the sump pump can remove it.
Can I do this myself?
Probably not. Repairing or replacing a pump is one thing, but installing the parts to get the water to the pump is what will likely overwhelm a DIYer. You really want a reliable expert to make sure the outside is taken care of if you have a water intrusion issue. Only then can you turn to the inside. You also need experts to look at the water table and drainage.


nest 3rd generation compatibility with honeywell My home has a honeywell thermostat (THM5421C)! It has 3 wire: DATA,R and C. Humidifier is Aprilaire 700 Series and Furance is Armstrong A97USMV!

furnace side:

The wire connection as below:

Is it compatible with 3rd generation nest?

My guess wire connection as below:

But still not sure:

P1 - OB and P5 - * has been connected to the same wire! I marked it as blue line! How should I fix it?
P9 point (to humidifier) still not connected, where should I connect P9?

You'll need to pull a new thermostat cable from the thermostat location to where the interface module lives in order to use a Nest

Your existing thermostat uses a data-link interface + 24VAC to minimize wires; as a result of this, you have the interface module you see to convert from the data-link to standard HVAC control I/Os.  Since your existing cable only has the four wires, which is insufficient for your current system (and probably has something to do with why you have the thermostat you do), you will need to replace it with a fatter thermostat cable (18/8 minimum, 18/10 or even 18/12 recommended) in order to install a Nest.  When you install the Nest, by the way, the interface module will simply get replaced with wire nuts -- your system beyond the interface module is conventional, with 1 cooling stage (Y), two heating stages (W1 and W2), and a single fan stage (G), as well as a humidifier connection (HUM).  The other side of the humidifer should be connected to the C wire at the "grand junction", while O/B should be left disconnected entirely -- it's only used on heat pumps.


Led lights on sensors Have changed can lights to led, have some on motion sensors. The one on motion sensors stay very dim light after sensor turns them off is this a problem?

For the obsolete type of sensor you are using, you're doing better than many.

There are two ways a sensor can get power.   One is to bring a hot and neutral wire to the sensor location.  However, many sensors are retrofitted where a plain switch had been, and  plain switches do not require a neutral wire, so there isn't one.

So the other type was developed.  It gets power by leaking a small amount of power through the entire circuit, including the lamps.   Thats not enough to light up an old incandescent bulb.  But it is enough to light some LEDs since they are so efficient.

You are probably stuck with it unless you switch to the other motion-sensor type. Or make one of your bulbs incandescent.


Bathroom sink decorative cap removal Anyone know how to get a cap or handle like this off?  No screws, no place to pry cap off, it doesn’t turn.

It could be pressed into some plumber's putty. Use pieces of duct tape to make a full contact "wing nut" to grab the dome. Then drip some baby oil around the groove. Use the wing nut to try to wiggle and lift, and add some more drops of baby oil. Do not pry with anything or you might chip the porcelain dome.


TV and plug in issues Whenever i plug in my laptop or anything in my TV starts getting very glitchy and it stops the minute i unplug what was plugged in.
It only does this in the living room, i don't know why this is happening. It doesn't do it with the lamps, mainly only chargers like my laptop charger.
But once i plugged in a hairdryer and the TV started to glitch out really bad so i think it relies on how powerful the thing plugged in is.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) perhaps.
To test, try a few things.
Try running the offending appliances on an extension cord from a different circuit from the other end of the dwelling.
Try the hairdryer in residence nearby.
Try using charger further away in another room.


Deck beam recomendations for coastal climate In a coastal climate with rain can I use untreated beams for an exterior deck if the deck has a torch on membrane?
The deck sits on a retaining wall to provide a 4' crawl space.  The crawl space may just be a gravel floor with a vapor barrier.
Considering a 5.25"x11.78 PSL @ ~18'
I did some research and their is a PSL plus which is treated and carries a 30 year warranty for exterior use.  The lumber yard doesn't typically carry it and the manufacturer has all products to this yard on a 6 week backlog or something.
The lumber yard is telling me that they can send out a standard PSL or any structural member for pressure treating and for the beam as specified it would ~$100.  The standard PSL subjected to pressure treating isn't going to carry the 30 year warranty and I don't have a good way to determine how much better the Weyerhaeuser PSL plus is going to be over a Weyerhaeuser PSL treated in a chamber even if they use the same stuff - probably I'll give their tech line a call and see what they think.  $100 is nominal so if I can't get the PSL plus I'll go for the manually treated PSL as it seems like as long as I have adequate venting even a standard PSL would meet code.

Would it be legal, on the west coast it would be.
I would reconsider and at least get a paint on wood preservative and put a coat on it prior to building the deck. Moisture is not the only issue with wood outside.
I live in Oregon and have lived in California and Washington state. I have built many decks and replaced quite a few. Some of the issues with decking is the dampness.
your torch sealed coating will do a good job for the top deck wood if it has enough slope to drain. That should last a long time.
the framework not being protected from rot or wood loving fungi and wood chewing insects may end up shortening the life of the deck.
At a minimum coat the top of the joists and the bottom foot or more of the posts then you can keep an eye on the rest.
The top between the boards is usually where I find rot and the bottom few inches of the posts above the ground level on top of the pier blocks or if you pour pads. Concrete helps but the chemicals keeps the critters from attacking the wood.
The stuff with arsenic was the best but I don’t think it’s legal anywhere, a good preservative will help extend the life with a minimal amount and check it every now and then to see if it needs more.


What's this hammer drill accessory and what does it do? Can anyone tell me how is the accessory in the picture called and what's its purpose?

http://storage9.static.itmages.com/i/17/0228/h_1488307031_8180005_c15fb41395.png

Thanks

I'm fairly sure this is a bit holder made by a company called Wera: Rapidaptor Bit Holders

I think it's 897/4 R Rapidaptor BiTorsion universal bit holder on that page.


Possible source of dripping from bathroom exhaust fan? During the winter, I experienced "Chinese water torture".  The bathroom exhaust fan is located above the toilet.  While seated on the throne, drops of water would hit my head every so many seconds.

I traced it to the roof vent.  It is a metal cap that gets cold in the winter.  The mylar duct runs from the fan through the attic to the roof vent.  Looking at the roof vent, I found this:

That's an icicle on the right side, and little frozen rivers of water running from the base of the cap.  Another roof vent sits to the left of it.  A different view:

There is some water vapor frozen on the roof from the left one, but no icicles, and no interior dripping from that fan.

My working assumption was that humidity from the shower was condensing inside that hood.  Some of it ran back down the duct and dripped out (I actually saw the water inside the duct), and some dripped from the vent to form an icicle.

I thought I had solved it by waiting for a warm day and then running the fan to dry out the residual water in the duct, then ensuring that the fan ran for a long time after a shower.

It's now mid-October, the weather is still warm, and I just experienced the dripping again.  The attic is still hotter than the house, so I wouldn't expect humidity from the shower to be condensing in the duct at this time of year.

The only water source I can imagine is rain blowing into the vent.  Perhaps there's a dip in the duct to the left vent, so the water stays trapped in that one and eventually dries out.

The vent cap does appear to have a damper, although it likely isn't water tight.  So some amount of water might get by in heavy rain.  It wasn't raining at the time of the recent dripping, but there has been a lot of rain in recent weeks.  Small amounts getting past the damper over time could collect in the troughs in the accordion duct until there's enough to flow (but that wouldn't explain why it would wait for a day after the rain to start flowing).

There are four identical vent caps on the same section of roof, exposed to the same rain.  One farther to the right is for a fan that gets far more shower use.  Only the one in the picture gets icicles and water running from the cap, and drips from the bathroom exhaust fan.  I can't think of a water source that would affect only the one fan, and in both warm and cold weather.

If installing an insulated duct does not get rid of the leakage problem you might try changing the exhaust fan with one with a greater efficiency to push out the warm moist air out faster. The CFM rating should not be less than the square footage of your bathroom ceiling. To be sure your fan blower is adequate, I would use a fan with a rating 20% greater than the recommended CFM for your bathroom size. Also pay attention to the sone level. Get one with a rating of 2 or less if at all possible. Finally, if you don't want the fan to operate longer than necessary replace fan wall switch with a timer switch.


How do I replace rotten Subfloor under a supporting post Rotten Subfloor goes under support post of my lanai Roof.  Best recommendation so far is to cut 3/4 inch thick end off a 2x4 (post is a 4x4) hammer under one side, scrape/chisel out other side of rotten subfloor under post, add another 2/4 "shim".  then simply cut new subfloor around 4x4 post.

Can't figure out how to post pics, but I have em...

Im Not For sure I'm Understanding What your saying But any time I have to work on a Support, Here what i do !

For Instance I Just Replaced A 6x6 Post That Is under a roof Over Hang On A House!  I took A Car Jack And  Used A 4x4 I Put It Under The Beam That is sitting On the 6x6 Im Replacing. I Lifted The Jack Just enough To Take The weight Off The 6x6.

I then Pulled It Out and Put the new one in! You Could Probably Use That! If your support Is Holding More then Just One spot youll need to support what ever it is supporting! Just take take the weight off the post change the subfloor under it and put the weight back on!!!

Hope that was help full    Good Luck


Making piping easily accessible inside shower A plumber has just repaired a leak in my shower tap pipes. To do this he had to smash out tiles from the shower wall, and now I am left with a big hole to repair:

I could re-tile this hole but if I need to access the pipes again then its such a pain to go through this process again. So I was wondering if there are any watertight panel-type products which can cover the pipes and taps but can be easily removed for access?

I have seen access panels in drywalls on the other side of a shower wall, but my shower is up against the edge of the house (indoors) so I guess that is not an option. I thought about custom making a metal or plastic panel with quarter-turn latches to hold it tightly against the wall but I'm worried that it might not seal properly.

A tile guy I've been working with gave me a great pro tip recently: do all the plumbing in a shower in a vertical straight line, and use a single vertical line of accent tiles to cover them up, going floor-to-ceiling. This way, if you ever need to bust up tiles and access the pipes behind them, you only have to re-do that single line of tiles, not the whole shower.


Causes of Corroded or Burned Wires Beginning Disclaimer - I am not a Serious DIYer.  (I'm more of a Seriously Try to Avoid Paying Someone Else to Do Iter).

So anyways, I've been having trouble with lights flickering or not working in a room.  I checked the voltage, and found that 3 out of the 4 outlets had quite low voltage (around 40 instead of the rest of the house outlets at 120).

After some investigation, I took out several outlets and found that the first problematic one appeared to have a wire that was corroded or burned.  Didn't look really bad, but didn't look right.

I detached the outlet, cleaned up the wire with some steel wool, and installed a new outlet in there.  Surprisingly that worked.  This outlet and the 2 others in the room now have normal voltage and work fine.

So my question is - what would cause the wire to become corroded or burned like this?  Is there anything I need to look out for?

Thanks.

Loose connections can produce heat and cause this problem. The fix is to disconnect and reconnect properly. Spring-loaded "stab connections" are particularly likely to suffer this problem; screw terminals (or shove-in terminals that are clamped by tightening a screw) are more reliable. If in doubt, outlets are cheap and you might want to simply replace this one.


Do GFCI outlets require more than standard box volume? I purchased 2 Carlin 2-gang old work box with max cubic in fill limit of 25. These are being installed in a garage so each receptacle is gfci. I have wired them in parallel so there is a pigtail in each box for ground , neutral, and hot and a respective conductor for each receptacle. I wanted each gfci to be independent of the other since there is a fridge on one and didn’t want that to trip from the other outlets so ended up applying this logic to all of them. However having installing them I realize the gfci are HUGE and take up the majority of the box. In fact having two gfci in one box with the three pigtails using ideal protwist nuts, one in coming nm 14/2 Romex cable supplying the load results in me having to use the screw in force of the outlets to push it in.
So my question does the gfci require any addition volume for box fill (based on nec AND/OR some unofficial electrician rule of thumb adjustment). I ask this because I am worried with the fact I needed to rely on the force of screwing in to actually get the receptacles and wires to go in the outlet box correctly (might sound dumb but this is the first time I’ve encountered that issue)

A GFCI only requires the same fill as any other device. In your case with 14-2 one cable in one cable out and the device 4 current carrying conductors 1 ground ,x 2 device , clamp. 14 awg =2 so 2 x 8 or 16cu inch. 2 devices ? 20 cu inches?
There should be plenty of room, if you get excessive with your wire length that will quickly gobble up room, if your wire or pig tails are longer than 6” trim them back the next thing would be to make sure to make sure your wires are packed tightly in the box I have had people that try to put a foot long end and long pigtails in boxes and can’t get them in the box so length and arrangement in the box make a difference.
Although GFCI devises are bulkier than normal devices they require the same device fill as other devices unless marked by the oem and I have not seen that.


How to check how much water my dishwasher is using? My landlord is getting $700 water bills per month and nobody knows why. About 4 people use this water and it is about 55 thousand gallons per month.

I'd like to check how much water the dishwasher is using.  It sometimes sounds like a waterfall inside of it. I'm not sure it always sounded like this.

How can I examine a dishwasher for how much water it uses during its operation? What tool can I use and where can I apply it? Or is there a better plan to make?

This is NOT intended use

It's way too much water for any intended use.

To give you an idea, the last time I saw a $700 bill, it was from a toilet at a rarely-used facility, which had a stuck float. The valve was wide open 24x7 for 2 months.  That's the kind of flow we're talking about.

For a dishwasher to have that much flow, it would have to be waterfalling 24x7, running its little pump to death.   So that's not likely, due to the dishwasher's need to pump its wastewater up.

It is absolutely impossible for a dishwasher to overuse that much water during the hour or so a day it is in-use.

Outside of toilets, you'd know about any appliances leaking that much water, because their usage is obvious. You'd notice if a shower, tub or sink was running full-on.

The only things that remain are:

A pipe break somewhere unnoticed, like in lines under a slab, soaking into the dirt. Pay close attention to any blooms of vegetation, lush spots in the lawn, etc.
A tenant who has insanely or maliciously thrown water valves wide open, e.g. a vacating tenant on their way out the door.  Or a hardware failure in a vacant apartment.  So do a walkthrough on any vacant apartments.


What width of wire for 24V DC LED driver? I bought a 24V/25W LED driver from a local shop and the sales assistant sold me a short length of 20AWG control wire to go with it.

In order to buy more wire (elsewhere) I looked up the UK (mm2) equivalent and found it to be 0.5mm2, however I notice that the driver's output terminals have written on them Sec:24VDC 0.75. Is "0.75" a wire gauge recommendation? Should I be using 0.75 wire rather than 0.5?

20 AWG is rated for 5 amps, so it's good for taking any strip as far as you ought to.

I prefer 22 AWG or 0.25 mm2, and stranded wire.  The reason is, if the wires are any thicker, they will tend to "wag the dog", pulling the LED strip out of shape/position and potentially tearing off the solder pad.

The "0.75" on the output terminals is surely not a wire gauge recommendation, but read the data sheet to be sure.  Remember when installing mains equipment (and a driver is that), you must install in accordance with the instructions and labeling.  That indicates the conditions under which the item was certified as safe by UL, CSA, ETL, BSI, TUV -- whichever lab did the safety cert on it.  Note that CE is not a testing lab.


What can I do about circuit boards on a new range hood that stopped working in a week or more? I had my under cabinet wall hood replaced by a hood with chimney. Within a week, the circuit board died. The company sent a replacement hood. The rehab guy didn't replace the hood; just used the new circuit board - which died. A new board was send and the replacement hood was installed using that; lastly longer, about a month then died. The wiring going to the hood was checked, etc. My previous hood, a better one (Dacor) worked fine. The range hood vendor said they have exceeded their obligation and can do no more.

Any ideas?

Sounds like this is still under warranty. Contact the manufacturer; the info should be in the user's manual.


Remove kitchen sink plumbing I am currently in the process of rebuilding my kitchen. Removing cabinets was easy, but now I need to remove all the plumbing from the kitchen sink, and I haven't got the slightest clue where to begin. A lot of tutorials online show how to install some parts of the sink plumbing, but none show how to remove kitchen sink. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have a house built in 1992, if this if of any help.

I want there to only be three pipes (hot, cold and return), to be sticking out so that I can install the new cabinets.

Without pictures it will be hard to offer anything but very general advice.

Here are things to consider:

There should be shut off valves under the sink for the hot and cold water. You will want to keep those in place and turned OFF before you start removing anything. If it is necessary to replace these valves you will have to shut off the water to the whole property for the duration of when you take out the old valves and install the new ones.
The water lines will have fittings or compression nuts that can be unscrewed to remove the lines from the shut off valves to the sink faucet.
The sink faucet may come out directly with the sink or need to be removed separately. It will depend if the faucet mounted to the sink itself or to the counter top.
The drain line pipes and the p-trap are removed by unscrewing a series of large diameter fittings that will find at the various joints in the piping.
Once the drain is removed all the way up to the pipe that sticks out of the wall you will want to make sure to temporarily seal off that pipe to prevent sewer gas from coming into the room. One way this can be done is to stretch several layers of plastic bag over the end of the pipe and secure in place with a heavy rubber band looped a couple of times over the end of the pipe.
Sinks generally mount either by hanging through a hole from the top of the counter top or up from underneath. In most cases there will some type of clamping brackets under the counter top around the periphery of the sink that hold the sink in place. Remove these to allow the sink to come out. The type of clamps used (if any) varies greatly.
Some sinks will have been sealed to the counter top with some type of caulk or silicon sealer. This may have to be broken loose to remove the sink. In some cases it may be easier to just cut the counter top around the old sink to remove the thing - depending upon the material used for the counter top.


Fascia, drip edge, starter shingle, code, in Texas I may have to get a contractor to repair or redo my roof. I guess the previous one did not do it right as I see starter shingle flush with drip edge, and the drip edge attached to the fascia. Resulting in obvious rot damage to fascia.  From online videos it appears to me that the order is,  from home, something like: fascia board, then 1/2 inch gap, then drip edge, 1/2 inch gap, and finally edge of starter shingle.

The issue is the  Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) code. Presumably the hanging portion of roof shingle beyond its supporting wood frame can contribute to wind lifting the roof. So in essence if you try to protect your fascia and soffit from the damage of  rain then you risk loosing your roof!

What is a smart solution?

If the previous roofer made an error can I do a repair? For example, can I extend the drip edge beyond the starter shingle? Or do I have choose between the cost of re-roof or cost of fascia damage.

Exactly what is the code in layman's terms? I should be able to make sure my contractor knows what is involved. And does it right.

Laying down a roof starts from the bottom and goes toward the peak. Trying to repair something like the drip edge or lowest run of shingles is almost never going to give a good result without starting over.

If you need to replace the fascia board, you mentioned rotting, usually also involves stripping the roof, especially when there is an existing metal edging installed over it and maybe even nailed into it.

In my experience in working on roofs hanging the shingles a small amount over the drip edge does not significantly increase the ability of wind to rip the shingles off the roof. Of course it is best if the roof is laid down with the very first course using a starter roll instead of shingles. Good quality starter roll has a row of tar strips a short distance up from its lower edge to which the tabs of the first row of shingles are meant to bond.


How to physically disable the "large load" option on a washing machine? My old washing machine has 4 options (with the highest setting to be "large load"). How can I physically disable the dial in such a way that the large load will no longer be an option for the users?

somewhere in the back there is a pin which limits the rotation of the shaft. move the pin and the number of options will be reduced. (some unknown amount of dissasembly will be required)

or you could add a pin to the back of the knob and cut an arc in the panel to accomodate it.


Ungrounded Electrical Boxes? I recently purchased a house that was built in the 1950's and just about half the outlets in the house test with an open ground.  After quite a bit of reading and research I tried to ground 2 of the outlets to a screw in the box, but they still read open ground.  I then used a multimeter to test if the box was grounded, both show that they are not grounded properly as they read 0 volts when I test hot to the box.

I am wondering if there is anything I can do to fix this problem short of calling an electrician?  All of the ungrounded outlets in the house are ones that our important electronics plug into and I would feel better knowing they are grounded and I can use a surge

Tester showing open ground

Box with ground wire but not grounded

Multimeter showing ungrounded box

Retrofit grounds

In recent Code changes, they greatly liberalized the rules for retrofitting ground wires (alone).  You can do it pretty much any reasonable way.

Each ground wire must run back to the same panel as the conductors are served out of (this is relevant if you have a subpanel).
Circuits out of the same panel can share grounds, so your ground wire only needs to reach a point which is grounded.
while sharing and branching are OK, the entire ground path to the panel must be big enough for the circuit.  So a 14AWG circuit only needs to reach a 12AWG ground wire... But a 50A range circuit can only be grounded to a path the required ground size (10 AWG?) all the way back to the panel.

It makes sense to run the biggest grounds  (range, dryer, water heater) as a backbone, then branch the other grounds off of that.

This forking and splitting is allowed only because grounds normally do not flow current, and only momentarily while the breaker trips, and it's rather unlikely for 2 circuits to need to use their ground at the same time.  You can't do this with neutrals.


Is using CFL bulbs without a ceiling covering them bad? .

I have a ceiling with three recessed spotlights, and I just put these bulbs (11W 630 lumens) in because the others it had (2 halogen candle-type and 1 like this, 18W, don't know lumens) were 2700K, and I wanted daylight (6300K), because it's a room where the natural light is almost nonexistent.

However, now I'm feeling a little dazzled and I don't know whether the reason is because these bulbs might not be used without a ceiling covering them fully. More than half of the bulb is protruding from the spotlight.

The store employee told me that the spiral one may cause headaches, if it's not properly covered by the ceiling. He didn't say anything about the tubular one though, that's why I bought them. But now I'm feeling dazzled, and I don't know whether the reason is the above stated or other.

Is using this kind of bulbs without the ceiling covering them bad?

When you say "ceiling" I take it to mean a fixture lens or diffuser. All fluorescent lamps put out light at a high frequency that can be bothersome to some people. This frequency is determined by the ballast, which will vary by manufacturer and lamp type. The actual shape of the fluorescent tube makes little difference in the frequency unless the ballast is changed as well.

Diffusers and reflectors tend to mask the high speed off/on effect that is bothersome. Directly seeing the bare tube will more likely be bothersome than any other configuration. You've also dramatically changed the light dispersal pattern of the fixture by using CFLs in place of the intended halogens. This could also be why the new configuration is making you uncomfortable. Another factor could be the CFLs are putting out more light than the halogens did, amplifying the effects from other factors.

You might consider LED lamps that come in smaller packaging and may more closely replicate the dispersal pattern achieved by the original halogens. If you want to stick with CFLs, consider using those where the tube is encapsulated by an integral diffuser.


Does thermostat need to be grounded? If a thermostat is connected to an air handler, which is connected to the main panel and has a ground wire, should one of the thermostat wires be connected to the ground?

It's not necessary if you are dealing with the common 24v thermostats.  Those run on low voltage AC which does not present the same hazard (and thus reason for grounding) as line voltage.  Generally when there's an air handler, you're dealing with 24v controls.


Periscope dryer vent exper My dryer's vent tube is stuffed behind the dryer and preventing it from sitting closer to flush against the wall. I found this "Periscope" dryer vent kit and was wondering if anyone had experience with these?
Do they work well?  Is performance an issue at all?

They work well. I find that it is best once you have the length set correctly you trim off some of the extra, bend a tab to hold the shape, and use foil tape on the inside seams and outside seams to seal them. This helps prevent leakage lint from trapping as much on the corners.


Broken ground prong on a three-prong extension cord If the ground prong on my extension cord breaks off, can I still plug the extension cord into an outlet without danger?

The ground prong on an electric cord is there to protect you in case something goes wrong with the tool or appliance while you are handling or touching it. You will not die immediately without the ground prong, but you will no longer be protected from shock, burns, or electrocution by a faulty device.

There are several things that can happen to energize the casing of an electric device. The most likely is that the insulation on the hot wire could fail, causing the hot to touch the casing. This will cause the circuit breaker to pop open and protect you -- but only if the device is properly fault grounded. The ground prong is an essential part of this fault grounding.

I once heard my neighbor's kid complaining about the rules imposed by his mother. His exact words were "She's so dumb. I played in the street hundred of times and I never got hit by no bus." Operating without the ground prong is playing in the street and hoping there's no bus.


What is this cable hanging against the outer wall? We moved into our house within the past year. In the front of the house, underneath the staircase leading up to the front door, is a tied off cable that looks like this. Does anyone know what kind of cable it is or what purpose it might serve?

I attempted to point a non-contact voltage tester at the ends of the cable, but got nothing from it... but then again, it might be so shielded that nothing would happen.

Looks like Landscape wire.

It's low voltage cable (150 volts), so there's likely a transformer and/or control box at the other end. Though the previous owners may have taken all the landscape lighting (leaving the rolled up cable), and possibly the control module as well.  So you might just find where the control module used to be.


Which laminate flooring is best with a largish dog? I'm looking to install some laminate flooring in my kitchen/dining area.  I'm pretty set on >= 10mil flooring but am wondering if some brands hold up better than others to pet abuse.  I've got an 80 pound labrador who, while not hard on floors, is still an 80 pound dog.

I'm looking at these floors:

Pergo

Bruce

Dupont

Any thoughts on these particular floors or something else that I should be looking at to ensure my floors stay scratch/blemish free?

At the risk of sounding like an old school hold back, I gotta weigh in on laminate flooring. I have installed thousands of square feet of various wood and laminate flooring. Even though the new laminates tout the hard durable finishes and long warranties, the common weakness of laminate is that it is a picture of wood on some type of paper or synthetic base. When a sharp heavy object tears away the paper thin "wood" picture off the top, the warranty covers that one piece of flooring, not the entire floor or the labor to replace it, which is almost impossible for a single piece in the field of the floor.

The other major concern I have with most laminates is the reaction to water in areas like a kitchen or bathroom.  Admittedly, I have not checked out the particular items you linked to, but in general, almost all laminates will swell and bubble at the mere site of water, and the damage is irreversible. Be absolutely sure the product you select will perform as promised if accidentally covered with water from a leaking pipe or an overflowing sink. Ask for a small sample and leave it in a sink of water for half an hour and see it there is a reaction.

I will not supply or install laminates, especially when there are a lot of good real hardwood click lock engineered flooring alternatives out there at the same or lower cost.  A good engineered flooring material will have a 1/4" to 3/8" 3 ply plywood backer and a  3/16" real hardwood veneer top, that can be sanded and refinished if necessary. Engineered products are very temperature and humidity stable, feel and sound a lot more solid under foot and can be cared for as you would any real hardwood floor.  I recently installed 300 sq ft of a Shaw engineered product, 7 foot long X 7 1/2" wide snap/clink lock panels. Quality was excellent and went down extremely fast.  Price was under $4.00 a sq ft.! Not pushing Shaw products, but I was reasonably impressed and I am a tough sell.

The other piece of advise I'd give you is to check some of your local flooring liquidators that sell retail as well as wholesale. You may find a bargain on something of much better quality at a very reasonable price. Even though I drop apx $80,000 a year at Lowe's and maybe $10,000 at Home Depot, I never buy flooring there.  I always get better product, better advise and cheaper prices at my local flooring warehouse.


I have two water heaters - how can I tell if they are set in series, parallel, or are isolated? The question says it all - I have a 4,200 sqft house with two water heaters - one on the far side of the house in the garage and the other in a small closet by the master suite. The latter is at least a decade older.

I have no idea how they're set up. They could be in a sequence, series, or maybe even one does part of the house and the other does the rest. Is there a way to determine this as a layperson with virtually no home repair knowledge?

If either heater has a shutoff valve in the incoming cold water pipe, turn it off and see which hot water taps/washer/dishwasher work and which ones don't. If they all continue to work when one heater is off then the heaters are essentially parallel. But since they are in different areas I suspect you'll find a split - possibly one for all bathrooms near the bedrooms (eg to always have hot showers) and the other for kitchen and laundry.


Lighting fixture removed, only hot wired to switch The previous owner of my house removed  a light fixture and installed canned lights in my living room. The light fixture location was capped and I had a switch that seemed to do nothing so I assumed that switch used to work the light fixture and I was planning on installing a fan (once reinforcing it). If you look at the picture below the switch on the right is the one I referenced and it is in fact wired to that light fixture (I tested the continuity of the hot wire). But the switch only has the hot wire connected, and the neutral wire from the light fixture is pigtailed in with the neutrals of the canned lights. Any help on why it would be wired this way is greatly appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/qi529DK![enter image description here]

the switch only has the hot wire connected, and the neutral wire from the light fixture is pigtailed in with the neutrals of the canned lights. Any help on why it would be wired this way is greatly appreciated.

Because this is the way normal household switches work.

Normal household switches are single-pole, single-throw switches. That is, they only break one side of the circuit, like this:

------------\ ---------------+
                             B
-----------------------------+

Where the top line represents the hot, switched line, the B is the bulb and the bottom line represents the neutral.

If you have a switch wired like this:

------------\ ---------------+
                             B
------------\ ---------------+

That's a double-pole switch and is unnecessary in residential wiring.

It's common in a double-gang box to bring the power in and send two load lines out, one to each switched device.

One would tie all the neutrals under one wire nut.
Under a second wire nut, you would tie all the grounds, then have 2 pigtails out, one to each switch (to ground the switches)
Under a third wire nut, you would tie the incoming hot and 2 pigtails, one pigtail would go to a screw on each switch. Then, the leads out to the loads would each have one hot wire going to the other screw on the appropriate switch.

It sounds like this is exactly how your switches are wired.


GFCI outlet consistently trips in garage Half of my garage does not work due to the GFCI constantly tripping.

Could this be due to cement moving due to freezing weather? The cold weather has moved the ground about 2 inches and I believe the grounded wire came loose or some connection broke. I can reset the outlet and see a flash of light before it breaks again. There are two circuits in the garage and the other side still works.

A wiring failure due to slab movement is unlikely unless the wiring is in conduit in or under the slab. Is it?

Put in a new GFCI receptacle and see if it works. If a new one doesn't work, you'll have a replacement GFCI on hand for a future failure.

Or if want to go sleuthing, turn off the breaker to this GFCI receptacle, remove the cover, remove the two screws securing the receptacle and pull the receptacle out without disconnecting it. Turn the breaker back on and see if you can reset the receptacle.

If it will reset, then this indicates that the wires are folded in the box in a way that is allowing a ground to contact the hot or a hot to contact the box (if box is metal).

If you have a standard receptacle lying around, put it in place of the GFCI receptacle see if it works. Test it with a 3-prong circuit tester.

My guess is the GFCI receptacle is bad. To test it put it in place of a standard receptacle somewhere in your house that is not protected by a GFCI receptacle or breaker.


How should I fill the gap between window trim and walls? I recently moved to a home (new to me). One thing that is bothering me quite a bit is a gap between wall and window trim. You can see the picture below. How do I get rid of this? What are the basic steps involved?

Click photo for full size

You will want to clean the area first.  Scrape and moderately sand any peeling paint.  Afterwards use a latex caulking which you can find at any home improvement store.  This caulking is paintable which is the main reason I would use it and also shrinks and expands with temperature and moisture changes.  Once the caulk is completely cured according to the directions on the tube, you can paint over the area.  The better caulk products tend to have more flex giving them better longevity and decreases there chance of pulling away from the wood/molding.

Also, one more thing to add;  What is the cause for the cracking in the first place?  You may get more cracking if there is insufficient insulation between the rough opening and the window frame.  Usually this can be solved easily by spraying foam insulation in between the two.  This would be a more time consuming and difficult task, but may solve the root cause since this type of foam both insulates and seals the gap eliminating moisture and decreasing temperature change, both common causes of major expansion around windows and doors.  The process for this fix would start with removing your trim, insulating with the foam, re-installing your trim and then following the steps above.  This may not be worth the work depending on where you live, etc.... but it is a notable option.


Garage door opener will not close unless the wall button is held I do not know if this could cause the problem or not but it is hooked up to an extension cord (not sure what size). There are two garage doors plugged in with extension cords. One is working but it is closer to the outlet. Could this be the cause of the problem? Either way I am going to install outlets so she can plug them in correctly.

99% of the time, the issue is the door sensor. Usually an infrared beam, it runs across the bottom of the doorway to reverse the door if anything blocks it. You'll need to check them. There's typically a green light unit (transmitter) and a red light unit (receiver). The red light will flash if there's no beam from the transmitter.

Make sure they are aligned properly. If someone bumped it, it can fail easily
Make sure the sun is not hitting the transmitter or receiver. In the spring and fall, it sometimes hits mine and causes issues at certain times of the day.
Make sure nothing is covering any holes. My newer Genie unit has transmitters that have a nice hole for spiders to build a nest in. A can of compressed air can help with that


Deadbolt locks from outside with key, but not from inside I am able to lock the deadbolt to my door when I leave in the morning, using the key.  However, when I try to lock it from the inside by hand, the knob just turns and turns without anything happening.  Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Further information: it is an older lock, well over a decade old.  Any brand or model information has long since been worn down from use.  Here's a photo of the lock:

Edit #2: The brand of the lock is Segal

In a deadbolt, the key cylinder is often directly linked to the bolt.  But the hand turn-able knob only actuates on the cylinder.

So under normal operation, the knob turns the cylinder, causing the bolt to move.

The knob usual has a socket of some sort, and there's a shaft that comes from the key cylinder side, through the door.  During installation, the socket should be lined up with the shaft.

It's possible that the knob might not have gotten installed correctly, leading to the shaft missing the socket, and the knob indoors spinning freely with no affect.

Unscrew the deadbolt, and hold the key side in place while you slowly remove the knob side and look inside.  Either the shaft and socket are misaligned. Or the socket is broken.

ADDENDUM AFTER YOU ADDED THE PICTURE TO YOUR QUESTION:
The kind of lock you posted was entirely not the kind I had envisioned. Nonetheless, it would have he same failure.  And it's clearly been removed before and re-installed by someone clumsy enough to loose a screw.  So I'd expect it very likely to have been put back together wrong.

This could be extremely dangerous if any enemies got a hold of the keys or owned a set of lock picks.  You could burn alive if they locked you in and set the building on fire.  I'd fix this at once, and if unable, bring the lock parts from the door, to a hardware store, and get a replacement.


Add an outlet to this switch? I have an exposed conduit switch box on my front porch that controls a spotlight.  I would like to add a gfci outlet to the switch box (swapping the switch box for a double box thst is weatherproof)
The switch seems to be a 3 way switch but the wiring does not match what I have read for either a single pole or a three way shared switch circuit.  And as far as I can tell there is only one switch for this light (inconveniently located on the front porch).  I do not know if the power goes to the light or switch first.
Switch has one side with a dark screw and a gold screw, then the other side has a second gold screw opposite the first, and a blank space opposite the dark screw.  There is also a ground screw.
In the switch box is one run with black white and bare wires.   Black goes to the dark screw "top" of the switch, white goes to gold screw on the opposite side and bottom of the switch from black. Bare is attached to the ground screw.
In one position all the black, white and empty gold screw are not hot, in the other switch position the black and empty (same side as each other) are hot but the white is not (using a noncontact voltage sniffer).
In the light box there is also one lead (pigtailed to two spotlights)
Is it possible to add the gfci?

This is a 3-way switch being used in 1-way mode.  Note that nothing is attached to the second traveler (brass) screw.  That's a perfectly fine setup.  With only a single cable to the switch, it is not a "power to the switch first" setup.
There is only one cable going into this light.   That means it's not a "power to the light first" setup either.
Yes, that means it's something you're unfamiliar with.
There's clearly some sort of third junction.  I'm getting the impression you think the switch is inconvenient for where the light is.  Maybe our third junction is at a light which is appropriately located for that switch, and either you don't know about it (burned out before you moved in?) or it has been removed but the box left.  Or, the box is somewhere else entirely, or in the service panel.
Regardless, all this to say, you can have the light and switch, or you can have the GFCI, but you can't have both...
And separate from all that, you can't alter the premises without permission from the landlord...
And separate from all that, you can't do electrical work on a rental unit (even if you own it) unless you are a licensed electrician.


How to utilize the free water from my well drawn sprinkler pump My pump drawn sprinkler system has a spigot for a garden hose. Can I use it to water my plants or wash my car, pressure wash my driveway, top off my pool, hose off the boat?  I see this as a big money saving possibility.   If so, how do I do it? For instance, do I run my sprinkler system in a certain zone and simply turn the handle on the spigot?

We would need more information about this "well" if it is a true ground water well of course you can do anything with it , I have a well we drink from and water the lawn and water the horses, if it is just a in ground water storage of rain water still filling the pool watering the lawn and washing the cars is fine but I would not drink or water livestock without having it checked surface ground water has lots of nastys that are filtered out in most wells but not in ground water recovery systems.


What is the minimum thickness of foam board when insulating a basement What is the minimum thickness of the foamboard insulation that can be used when insulating a concrete basement wall when it comes to moisture control and temperature control?

Obviously thicker is better but it is also more cost prohibitive. Would a product like this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-1-4-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-R-1-Fanfold-Insulation-Sheathing-21UM/100320301 (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-1-4-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-R-1-Fanfold-Insulation-Sheathing-21UM/100320301) work as a basement wall insulator or is it too thin?

Additonally is there any concenrn with insulating a few moths prior to framing aside from aesthetics?

Building codes will tell you this information. First, find your climate zone on this map:

Then cross-reference that with the table here: http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/irc/2012/icod_irc_2012_11_sec002.htm

Look at the first number under "BASEMENT WALL R-VALUE". That's the minimum R-value you need to be safe. Divide that number by the per-inch R-value of the foam you want. For example, if you live in zone 4, it says you need a minimum of R-10 on the walls. If you're using low-density Home-Depot-sourced R-3.8 EPS foam (a sheet of white beads, like styrofoam), that means you need 2.7 inches of EPS  to be code-legal and safe. Round up to 3 inches. XPS (blue or purple and smooth) is R-5, so you could get away with only two inches of XPS. But XPS is more expensive per R-value, worse for the environment, and degrades to R-4.2 over time, so in general, EPS is preferred. Seal the edges of the boards with little bits of spray foam, caulk, and tape (as appropriate). Seal them to the floor too. You can use the same method to insulate the rim joists. Just make sure everything's sealed up tight so no inside air can reach the walls and rim joists.

The product you reference is 1/4" thick and only rated R-1 per board. So you would need ten sheets of this product to reach R-10. It would be much more cost-effective to buy a single 2 or 3" board. I believe Home Depot sells 1-3" sheets of both EPS and XPS so you should be able to find what you need there. You can use multiple layers, and in fact this is slightly preferred because you can stagger the boards' seams.

With continuous insulation like this, you don't even need to frame an interior wall, which will save you time and money. Just install drywall right over the insulation using Tapcon screws going into the concrete wall behind the insulation. I recommend using cementboard instead of drywall for the bottom few feet for flood resistance. If you insist on framing a wooden wall over the foam, use pressure-treated lumber.

There is no issue with leaving the insulation exposed for a while besides fire safety. Polystyrene foam (which is what both XPS and EPS are made of) will ignite and melt at relatively low temperatures. You are required to cover them with an ignition barrier like drywall. You can wait to do this as long as you're comfortable with, or as long as your inspector allows you to, if this is an inspected project.


How to secure switch box flush with wall surface Today I removed all the outlet covers in my home, and when I got to my bedroom light switch I noticed there was all this wood surrounding the switch itself. I tore that off as well, and after I did so I realized it was on there because the box that the outlet sits inside of is completely sinking into the wall.

When I try to screw the switch back into the wall it goes almost sideways. How can I fix this? I can almost completely pull the box out of the wall. Is this something simple like cutting the wall back and placing a strip behind it and then repairing the drywall, or is it something more complicated?

This is most likely easily fixed by swapping the box out with a different style (Old Work Box) or simply running some screws into the side of the existing box if it's against a stud, depending on the situation.

Pictures will help.

Either way, it's unlikely that you will have to cut into the wall.

a) Here is how to remove an broken electrical box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq4UkWsUWoo

b) And here is how to install an "old work box" in its place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8Fq8I_AQ-Q


Is this gas line not suitable for direct burial? One of the homeowners (who is also a gas fireplace installer) in my subdivision sent an alarming email to everyone stating that the gas line between the meter and the house is not of the correct type to be buried. He says that this arrangement will lead to leaks.

Nearly every house in the area has the same arrangement: the pipe exiting the gas meter goes down in to the ground, then comes back up about 4 feet away and enters the house through the wall.

And here's a close-up of the only writing I can find on any of this piping:

So, is this guy right? Should I be worried about a leak?

Looks like galvanised steel which correctly should not be buried! even with the Zinc coating it is still susceptible to oxidization and corrosion!


Should I bother to flip basement ceiling insulation that's on backwards? the rolled faced insulation on the ceiling of my unfinshed  unheated basement is on backwards(vapor barrier facing down instead of up towards the 1st floor),1st floor is uncovered hardwood. Insulation must be at least 25 years old and my basement gets very humid may-aug.( I run a dehumidifier) Is there any good reason for me to flip it over or even remove it altogether? I count twelve rows that are each 16 inches wide by 36 feet long.

The vapor barrier may have been done correctly; it depends on several factors like temperature, whether the basement is a living area, or if is a laundry area or has other sources of moisture build up. You need to ask your local inspector.


How can I get bulk riser cable back into the box? I recently ran a cat-6 cable from inside my house to the office, and I bought a bulk box of 500 feet. I pulled lots more out of the box than I ended up needing, and so now I have about 100 feet of cable outside the box.

Is there an electrician’s secret trick to getting the cable back into the box?

Don't

Just coil it up and tape it to the side of the box. Then put the box away, or sell it, depending if you have any future need for cable. The coiling interior to the box to make them work is more complex than it appears on casual inspection, and getting the box tangled so it won't "just pull out" is far worse than having some coiled cable on the outside. How do I know? 300 feet of miserably tangled cable in a box that I had to fight with until I used it up, got a new box, and NEVER tried that foolishness again. Network wiring is part of what I do for a living.


Unboxing Berkley Jensen Winter Ice Melt I bought Berkley Jensen Winter Ice Melt from BJs. But I do not know how to open its cap. I searched youtube and google and still did not get it. Here is the weblink of the product:
LINK

Anybody can help?

It’s dumb that the box has no instructions.
But here’s how to do it.

Look for a pull tab around the rim. You need to pull the tab so that the plastic pulls all the way off around the lid. I had to use a screwdriver as leverage to get the pull tab out and get started pulling.

When you are done, you will see 3 or 4 ridges the hang down over the rim which look like you can grab and pull them up. You can’t.

You have to use those to turn the lid counter clockwise about 2-3 inches. It’s not easy to turn because you have to hold this big can tight while doing it.

Finally, grab a hammer and use the claw pull up the lid. Stick the claw under those ridges that hang down, and use leverage to pop each of them up and open the lid.

For closing it, I just pushed the lid down hard and didn’t bother twisting it back.


Can my dishwasher lacking a 'high loop' cause it to fill with dirty water, even if it happens hours after I last ran it? My dishwasher runs and drains fine. But later (hours later), there will be standing water in it. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, enough to flow out onto the floor. I noticed we don't have a high loop in our line. But I feel like lacking the high loop would cause water backup immediately. Not hours later. Am I wrong in this assumption? Could my issue of the washer slowly filling up with dirty water be caused by not having this high loop?

Thanks

Not having a high loop in the drain line could be causing this issue. I'm guessing that your drain connects into your disposal. In that situation if you don't have a high loop when you run your disposal or empty water from the sink on the disposal side it could back up into the dishwasher.
It's easy enough to set up a high loop if there is enough slack in the drain line. Simply loop it up as high as possible. Be careful not to kink it. You can attach it to the inside of the cabinet wall or under the countertop with a clip or zip tie.
Some local codes require the installation of an air gap vent on dw drain lines for the above reason. You might want to check. If one is required it would be a good idea to have one installed. That will solve your problem.


What material can I put on my wood kitchen island to make the surface smooth and waterproof? We have this relatively low cost high top dining table that we've turned into our kitchen island. It's been working out great so far but the tables surface is ridged and has a lot of divots that don't all go in the same direction so it makes wiping it down a bit of a pain. Also, the constant wiping is starting to cause some of the finish to chip away.
I was wondering if there is an low cost clear epoxy type material that I can paint onto it that would make the surface smooth and water resistant?

Alaska Man's epoxy suggestion is what came to mind for me as well, but it might be difficult to get a nice edge without a lip of some sort. I admit that I've never worked with the stuff.
I think I'd be ordering a sheet of 1/4" glass with a pencil edge. It would probably look great and wouldn't cost much. Wouldn't have to be tempered if you're careful folks with dishes that aren't too heavy. I've used such on my desk since childhood without issue.
It might help to wipe the surface with a wood stain or color in the worn streaks with a colored marker before you set the glass down.


What type of beam should be used over a split arch doorway? I am building a building in Indonesia. It's using RC-frame construction. My builders don't have much expertise, nor do I.

The basis for my building is three reinforced concrete pillars, 30cm * 30cm, 3.5 metres tall, with 4.75m between the pillars.

There is some seismic activity in the area.

What I want, basically is an arched doorway somewhat similar to this:

but split into two by the central pillar, so that left and right of the pillar are mirror images.

I then want two windows of similar design (i.e. rectangular with an arch on top) further towards the corner of the building (so not bisected by the pillar).

So the shape of the beam could be a straight line above the top of the arcs, or it could follow the arcs, so it would then be basically - straight line, semi-circle, straight line, quadrant.

Which design for the beam makes more sense?

Beams rarely follow curves in cases like this. Put a standard beam at the height of the zenith and frame down to shape the arch, thereby creating the proper rough openings for the windows. Install the center post under the beam.


what is the most effective and cost efficient way to heat basement rooms via electricity? I am finishing my basement and will have 1 bedroom, laundry room, full bathroom and family room with bar.   I want the heating source in the basement to be electrical since the rest of the house is heated by oil and fireplace.  I want to be able to control heating individual rooms when necessary if it will save me on heating cost.  I have a electrical heating unit controlled by a thermostat in my sunroom that is like a big square air vent on the wall.  Are these units better than the individual baseboard units that have a power on and temperature control dial on the baseboard?
what are some of the best names out their for reliable electrical heating units?

Efficiency

Cheap to install, expensive to run:

All electric resistance heaters are basically 100% efficient, no more, no less.  *Mind you, that's at converting electricity to heat.  Back at the power plant, things are not so efficient**, and that's it's much cheaper to just use gas, rather than have them turn it into electricity first.*  An electric heater spends all its energy as heat, and since they don't have or need vents, it all winds up in the room.

Expensive to install, cheap to run:

If you want to exceed 100% efficiency by a wide margin, use a heat pump.  This actually does work.  It is taking heat from outside and concentrating it.  However this is a lot like an A/C system (in reverse) and so it's hard to have fine zone-control.   If you want zone control, there's a product called a "mini-split heat pump" with no ducting and a little unit in each room. There needs to be freon piping back to an outside evaporator.

Thermostats

On the unit:  Most heaters have a kit that lets you put a thermostat right on the heater.  The heater's heat causes the thermostat to misread, so not a great idea.   You also have to turn off a bunch of thermostats when you go home.

Line-power thermostat: They are cheap and can drive several heaters, so zone control is easy.  It switches the heavy electric power cables going to the unit.  Those big wires make some heat inside the thermostat which again can cause it to misread, which is why they're infamous for being sloppy.  It also requires the heavy power cables make a big detour to go to the location of the thermostat.  This adds length, cost and energy loss while in use.

Common 24V thermostats: Electric heaters can also be used with common 24V thermostats, including "smart" thermostats like the Nest or Ecobee. This involves running the heavy cables in a beeline to the heater, and putting a common 24V relay either in the heater or down at the service panel. The installation is more complex but the most flexible.  You can even integrate the electric heat with a gas or heat pump system, using it as a stage of auxiliary heat.

A heat pump absolutely requires a 24V thermostat, and a fairly sophisticated one at that!

Quality

Resistance heaters are very simple things.  It's possible for them to be both cheap and high quality.  Cadet heaters are notoriously cheap, but I can't honestly say I've ever seen one fail, including some that were horribly abused by bad placement. They just keep working.

** A thermal power plant (that burns gas or coal to spin turbines) is 37-40% efficient; 60+% of the heat value is lost in the machinery.  So is nuclear, but nobody cares about thermal efficiency of nukes.  Hydro is near 90% efficient at turning falling water into electricity.  Wind and solar use "found energy" so efficiency is not critical. Electric heat is a good "dump" for wind/solar systems that have topped up their batteries.


Why doesn't the main breaker shut off power for house? Location: California | United States

I'm certain I'll need a licensed electrician for this but wanted to get thoughts on what could be going on.

I recently noticed that power remains on in my house even when the main breaker is shut off.  The switch itself also doesn't "snap" to an off position -- it just slides from On to Off.

Any idea what could be going on here? Is it a faulty breaker? Or something more serious?

-M

For added clarification, here's a picture:

There should be a snap to it; the contacts are spring-loaded so that they make or break contact quickly, reducing any arcing that might occur as they approach or separate.  Arcing can still happen, but there's less opportunity for it than if the contacts were moving at the speed that you're moving the switch.

Like any mechanical device, they can wear out over time.  And this is something that I'd definitely have a licensed electrician look at; you may even need to have the electric utility involved too since they may want to disconnect your house completely before working on the switch.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about them.


Is it safe to fill in or insulate the space in my walls around my fireplace flum? Moved into a new home and I noticed something about my fireplace. I have a large brick enclosure that surrounds my wood burning fireplace and when I was up in the attic I noticed that the space surrounding the fireplace between the walls is wide open to my attic. I could fit down in the space. I was spraying cellulose insulation and was about to fill in the gaps but stopped. Should I seal these cavities in or is there a need for the gaps?

Usually, no combustible materials are to be placed within 2" of fireplace vent pipes or chimneys.  We usually use something called Rockwool in these instances.


How do I repair/reattach downspout and gutter after snow/ice damage? We've had a heavy dose of snow here in the Boston area it has taken a toll on our gutters and downspouts. The downspout at the rear of my house filled with ice and pulled away from the elbow that comes down from the gutter:

Also, ice did some damage to a gutter on a dormer. The dormer seems prone to icicle formation, as it has a thinner roof with no ventilation. During this storm, huge icicles formed and pushed/pulled the right end of the gutter down from the roof line by about 5 inches. Since then most of the ice has melted and the gutter is closer to its original position, but it still hanging down a bit on the right:

So how do I get these things back into place so they'll hold through the next storm? The downspout doesn't seem to be held by anything other than some aluminum straps fastened into the siding. I haven't gone up to look at the gutter, but I believe it is fastened directly into the exposed rafter tails of our roof, some of which may be in bad shape.

Well, fixing the damage won't prevent it from happening again, so to fix this and prevent further damages from ice in the future, you will need to install some hardware. First, you are going to need to get out the ladder and , with some assistance, push the down spout back up and re-attach it to the elbow. I'd use extra fasteners, and possibly a short rubber connection hose to ensure a good tight seal. It is likely ice formation caused the metal to flex, creating a weakness in the fastener, so the rubber hose will help.

The gutter issue really comes down to weight. Installing some "Heavy Load Gutter Brackets" would help. For the distance of gutter and weight on it I'd put in two brackets with each in the middle of the roof jousts near the middle that are shown in the picture.

With all of these fixes, be sure your nails or screws get "purchase" or else it is all for nothing.

EDIT:Use the same fasteners you are using, just use more. Not a ton more, maybe just one or two. Don't use sheet metal screws, use wood screws. Sheet metal screws have smaller thread, wood screws are made for, well, wood. That will handle the horizontal movement. For the vertical sliding, either rivet the joints together(this option costs less, but more permanent, and is more invisible) OR buy a  vinyl connector and put a fastener on the connector itself and on the downspout itself just above and just below the connector


What materials can be used to create cold air returns? To make a cold air return duct in my wall, can I simply use the studs and drywall to create the duct or do I have to use sheet metal also?

Panning seems to be allowed for return ducts only. I'm not sure if it is code compliant for all states, but it is allowed in the northeastern US. My house has one area that is "panned" in such a maner on the return duct. It is not lined inside, just normal 2x construction. The outside is panned with sheet metal.

This is an alternative to the sheet metal.


Thermostat C-wire replacement using a wall socket? I have a Filtrete 3M WiFi thermostat. As expected, it takes a C wire, which my apartment doesn't have and the apartment maintenance folks wont' let met wire either.

However, there's a wall socket right next to the thermostat mounting on the wall.

Can someone walk me through what I will need to potentially be able to use the wall socket to power my WiFI module?

The thermostat itself works fine, it is just the WiFi module that doesn't work without the C cable.

You can connect an external power adaptor that provides from 12 to 24 VAC to the C and RH termainals of your thermostat.    This forum has quite a few questions and answers related to that particular thermostat.


2 independent GFCI (or 2-pole GFCI) outlet in 1-gang box. Does that exist? I have a 1-gang duplex outlet under the sink in my kitchen. The two outlets are on separate phases of a single MWBC circuit. One of them powers the garbage disposal, and is controlled by a switch. The other powers the dishwasher.
I want to put them behind CAFCI/GFCI. But for whatever reason, 2-pole dual-function breakers do not seem to exist, even though both 2-pole CAFCI and 2-pole GFCI are available. (That sounds completely illogical to me, by the way.)
I suppose one way is to use a 2-pole CAFCI breaker with a GFCI outlet. But I couldn't find duplex GFCI receptacles where the GFCI mechanism can handle MWBC (either with two independent GFCI or with a 2-pole GFCI). Do they exist?

Generally speaking, unless you are making changes, you don't need to add AFCI or GFCI to existing circuits. That being said, GFCI is of potentially major benefit in the kitchen. As you have found, you generally won't find AFCI + GFCI in a double-pole breaker, and you also won't find a GFCI/dual-receptacle that supports MWBC.
Assuming you don't need AFCI, my recommendation is to add the GFCI at the panel - a double-pole GFCI breaker. That gives you the really important human-safety part.
The flip side is, you may not need the same GFCI protection for your dishwasher, particularly if it can be hard-wired. Actually, you may not need it for the disposal if hard-wired, but my gut feeling is that the disposal is (because you touch the sink and the switch when the disposal is in use) is far more of a real-world ground fault concern than the dishwasher. In which case the other realistic alternative if you really want AFCI is:

Double-pole AFCI breaker
Change the dishwasher from cord & plug to hard-wired (which is usually a standard installation option)
Install a GFCI/receptacle for the disposal.

If you do this, you will connect split the neutral before the GFCI. Assuming black/red/white:

Black hardwired to dishwasher hot
Red to GFCI Line/Hot
White pigtailed to dishwasher neutral and to GFCI Line/Neutral
Nothing connected to GFCI Load


Water pump not working as expected I have a problem with some raw water (it usually has sediment and gunk) that I need to pump from below ground level. I came up with something that looks like the image attached to get cleaner water out, but the pump is only sucking the water out of the filter (I filled the pipes with waters first), and not pumping any of the water that is underground. I know that the pipes would have looked cleaner if I had rotated the pump, but I had to workaround some constraints.

I am using a DAB KDF 30/16 pump (1/2hp), the filter is 10", the piping is 1", and there are a total of 7 90' elbows and 1 tee at the intake (there are some extra turns that I couldn't draw in 2D). I'm also using a strainer with a check valve submerged underwater.

I'm pretty sure my pump is working ok, but there most be something impeding it from pulling water. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Is that filter housing rated for vacuum?
One possibility is the vacuum is causing cavitation at the pump or a slight air leak at the housing that’s why I asked if the filter housing is rated for vacuum.
Having a restriction (filter) on the inlet will reduce the pumps ability to work correctly.  for example having to prime all that, just a little air and the pump cannot pull though the filter, if it’s having issues with a clean filter it will be impossible with a dirty one.

I would be locating the pump prior to the filter. Having a screen is fine but the sediment filter will make it much more problematic if you can ever get it to work.


Why would bulbs in this DIY lamp keep burning out? I built a light fixture out of a water pipe and some "vintage" fillament bulbs. I have a micro switch that is operated by a plumbing valve. Everything works, however, when I put 4 bulbs, 40w each, one randomly burns out after 20 sec. I checked the connections, they seem OK, the switch is rated at 240v( im in europe) and 16A. With 3 bulbs the fixtures works. What could be the issue?

I notice that the failing bulb is next to your switch... so i'm suspecting damage from shaking the bulbs while turning them on and off. Which is a pity since I like the switch design... maybe you could redesign it as a wall-mounted switch?

(I have an old gas key which I'm planning to adapt as the knob of a dimmer switch.)


Is there a way I can make an interior door a better sound insulator? I have an interior hollow bedroom door. The door seems to offer very little sound insulation, and I would like to add a bit more. I'm not expecting to get perfect silence or anything, but I would like to deaden down the sound some, so that way way I can listen to something in my bedroom at a reasonable level without my kids hearing it to the point that they can't sleep. I have in my mind that there might be something like an AB Foam type product that I could pour in to my door and make it a bit more sound resistant. Is there any such product? Any other suggestions to improving sound resistance in a room?

Reducing sound output from a typical bedroom can be extraordinarily difficult.  The core problem is that sound travels through the point of least resistance -- you can get a good sound block in one area, but find it makes no difference since the sound just escapes from somewhere else.

If you have a hollow core door, then that is one of your biggest sound holes as a typical hollow core door has an STC rating of only 20 or so.  That's not going to do a lot for any noise above a whisper.  But wait, even that is not a true representation of the actual sound transmission.  The problem is that rating assumes we are only talking about the door and not the air gaps around it.  If you have a hollow core door, then I'm going to assume that it's not properly gasketed.  If so, then the actual STC rating is substantially less.

Can you make that door more sound absorbent?  No, not really.  At least not in any efficient (money and time) manner.  Your best bet would be to upgrade to a solid core door.  If you have a standard door, then there is a good chance that the hinges will even line up and it'll be a straight swap for maybe $100.

Doing so will immediately jump your sound blocking to an STC rating of 25 or so.  Eh?  That doesn't sound much better than a hollow core door!  Well, that rating is taking the air gaps into account, so it's actually substantially better.

But STC 25 is still not going to be good enough to make a big enough difference in your sound transmission.  To do that, you're going to need to control the air gaps.  If you add some acoustic door gaskets, then you'll be looking at an STC rating of 35 or so.  That's actually quite good -- roughly on par with the STC rating of your wall.  People will still be able to hear what happens in the room, but it'll be notably muted.

An alternate to buying an interior solid core door and adding acoustic door gaskets is to buy an exterior door, which is already going to be solid core and will have its own seal.  That could be expensive, though, and the hinges will almost surely not line up.


How can NEMA electric plug be safe ? I'm quite scared every time I have to use NEMA plugs (I live in Japan).

Coming from europe, the bottom of the two connectors is insulated

This ensure that even if you touch them while plugging/unplugging, it will always be safe to touch.

Meanwhile with NEMA ones, there is no such insulation and I often see my appliance partially disconnected (but power still flowing) because of either the weight of the AC/DC or the cable has been pulled accidentally.

Am I right to be worried about accidentally touching the connectors, and what to do about it ?

How can NEMA [1-15, IEC Type A] electric plug [in Japan] be safe?

Nothing is safe. There are only degrees of safety.

European plugs incorporate more safety features, which makes them safer. But they also work with higher voltages, which are slightly more dangerous (230 instead of 120 in US or 100 in Japan).

UK Plugs and outlets have many more safety features than any other design, so are safer still.

None of these designs can always prevent a determined or negligent person from electrocuting themselves.

I think it is better to regard them as less safe rather than unsafe, Just take extra care.

Do not use cords, plugs or outlets that appear damaged, replace them.
Always ensure plugs are fully pushed in.
Only grasp plugs by the plug body.
Keep fingers away from the front edge near the pins.
Do not pull plugs out by the cords
Do not let cords trail where they may be tripped over (causing plugs to be pulled partly out)
If you can do so, replace ordinary breakers and outlets with GFCI equivalents.


Fixing Curling Vinyl Flooring I have vinyl flooring in the bathroom that has started to curl up a bit at the edge. It was suggested to me that I use contact cement to fix it. The problem is that there is not enough curl to allow space for me to get at the sub floor or the underside of the vinyl flooring in order to apply the cement. Do I need to rip up more of the floor to expose enough surface area? If so, how can I do that in a controlled manner?

One option would be to install quarter round next to the baseboards. If the edge has barely started curling up, this would hold it down.

Otherwise, yes you will have to peel the vinyl back to apply adhesive to it. One method to make the floor a bit more pliable is to use a hairdryer to heat it up. Just make sure you don't overheat it too much.

Before applying the new adhesive, you may have to scrape off some of the old adhesive, and clean off any resulting debris.

Here's a good article with more details: Link


Would running a band saw or cnc machine in my basement be safe? I'd like to get a band saw and drill press but I don't have room in my garage so I'd like to put it in my basement. The problem is I don't have any ventilation to remove sawdust so would having it in my basement be impractical / unhealthy?

My grandfather was a carpenter and when he retired he moved most of his tools into his basement. This included a drill press, bandsaw, and a very heavy full size table saw. It is definitely doable.

Drill presses and bandsaws don't generally create as much dust as sanders and routers. You can probably remove most of the dust they'd create with a well placed shop-vac. The bandsaw should have a dust collection outlet that you can hook the shop-vac up to. The drill press probably doesn't. You can also invest in a dust collection system to collect the dust and clean the air in the basement.

Depending on your particular basement, there are other things to watch out for.

Make sure you have a sufficient electric supply. You don't want to overload a circuit that was originally meant to power only a few light bulbs.

Make sure that you have room to move around tools, and to get out of the way if something goes wrong. Make sure there's room for your work too - raw materials and finished pieces. think about your ceiling height too, and imagine carrying and positioning an eight foot or longer board. You may have trouble getting full sheets of plywood down basement steps. You may have trouble getting finished furniture up those steps. I wouldn't recommend building a boat in a basement.

If your basement has moisture problems, that can lead to premature rust as well as moisture issues with wood working.


Difficulty/Cost to repair drywall from tv mount? So I have wall mounted a very large TV and my wall currently has a 1 foot x 1 foot hole that I used to install an outlet for power, there are like 8 holes in the wall, and then a 6" x 6" hole toward the bottom of the wall where my cables exit the wall.

I'm looking to sell my home within a couple of years and I would like the wall to look as new as possible.  What method is done to do this and will my wall look like it has undergone a repair or is it possible to have a nearly invisible repair done?

I still have the original pieces of drywall, but I have no experience in repairing anything like this.

If you have the willingness, then you can do it yourself. And, you'll get experience to use in the future.

Well I started describing what you need to do, but it was getting too long. And, I realized that you can find lots of video on this if you Google "drywall repair". So I think your best bet is to do that. Seeing it done is a lot more informative that reading about doing it.


Does Sewage Ejector system need a dedicated circuit? The sewage ejector system in our basement is on a GFCI outlet that is on the same circuit as the adjacent bathroom (fan, light and switch).

Someone told me it needs a dedicated circuit.  Does the NEC require this? I think it makes sense to share the bathroom circuit. If the pump's breaker trips then how would I know? If the lights are off I'm not going to flush the toilet.

It all depends on several things.

What size is the circuit?
What else is one it?
What do the manufacturer's instructions say?

Typically you'd only need a dedicated circuit for something like this if it is big enough to warrant it, or if the mfg requires it.

When I say big enough I mean 50% of the circuit size since you are combining a fixed in place appliance (the pump) with general use items.


How do I prepare my new bathtub alcove? I will be expanding my bathroom and moving the bathtub, meaning I need to prepare a new bathtub alcove.

I know how to frame and plumb - but preparing for tile is new to me.

I know that there are different products out there to use to prepare for tile, such as concrete backer-board which would apply direct to the studs and get sealed with thinset, vs. waterproof membranes which would be applied directly to greenboard without the backerboard.

What I don't know is - what are the advantages/disadvantages to each approach?  Is one better than the other?

The plan is to use ceramic and glass tiles - does that make a difference?

First of all, greenboard is no longer accepted as a suitable product for wet areas. It has been replaced with "purpleboard" or glass-backed products without paper for mold growth.

Consider doing to tub alcove in a cementicious board like Hardi500 or a fiber-glass backed gypsum like DensGuard.

Do not apply a vapor barrier behind these if you intend to seal them from the room side. This will promote the dreaded "moisture sandwich." where any moisture which does get through the first barrier cannot escape the second.

From recently doing a similar project I am a supporter of the Kerdi membrane. You set the wall boards and seam them as usual (any board will do, but I like mold-resistant and water-resistant board)... then you "shingle" on the kerdi membrane with thinset.

EDIT: I changed where I said "blueboard" to "purpleboard" as some googling showed I was using the wrong slang....


One of three blades on lawn mower very loose and spinning freely When I turned the blades on on my Snapper Pro, the whole mower shook and made a lot of noise.  Upon inspection, one of the blades appears to be free-spinning instead of connected to the belt.

As you can see in this video, the blade is wobbly and spins freely.  When I try to move the other blades, they don't move, but I can see the belt wiggle, showing that they're connected.

My first guess is that I need to somehow tighten that bolt under the blade, but upon inspection, it doesn't seem loose at all. I haven't taken a wrench to it yet, but I assumed if it was loose enough to allow that much play in the blade, that it would be loose to the touch too.

Thoughts on what I should do or try?

Here's another video of me fiddling around with it and showing that when I attempt to spin a different blade, it does wiggle the bolt and housing above and below the loose blade.

I was eventually able to get the right sized wrench 15/16th, and was able to back off the bold holding on the blade, then cleaned it up, and put it back on.  I had to put a block (2x4 chunk) to keep the other blades from spinning as I tightened it, but eventually got it tight enough that all seems to be back in working condition.

I'm still confused how it could get so loose so fast without hitting something, and also, if it was that loose, why was the bold so darn tight.  But alas, it was just the bolt that needed tightened.  Problem solved.


I need a wireless gadget that may not exist. Pic and description attached Between the laundry in the basement, the kitchen (sink and dishwasher) and a full bath on the first floor, and a full bath on the 2nd floor, sometimes taking a shower can be interrupted with the cold/hot game that gets played when someone elsewhere in the house starts using the water also.  Instead of running up and down the stairs to warn others that a shower will commence, we need a signaling device that the water is or soon will be in use.
The house is old and big.   Upstairs and kitchen can not hear when the water is already being used.  A point of use heater is on the list for later.  We don't live with our phones attached to us so a group text would be useless.
I think this would be cheap to make.
This is what I need.  It will be wireless
The oval on the left is an on off button
The oval on the right is a light.
I think it can be the size of an outlet cover.
Like a wireless doorbell there will be a receiver but instead of ringing it will pass the signal to the 3 other locations.
When someone is preparing for a shower or loading the dishwasher, they can see if the hot water is available.  If it is, they press the switch and the light lights up on all the panels.  If they see one of the lights is already on, they can wait.
So what do I need to make this?

I think I would just fix the problem.
 By this I mean add a point of use water heater usually at the shower.
Most of the time with on demand water heaters I have found most customers want more hot water for the exact same reason you have.

Adding a 30 amp 240v on demand water heater brings the tepid water temp to the nice warm water most home owners want, yes even when there are other demands that drop the water temp 15-25 degrees in the shower.

It is all based on flow but adding a small electric point of use electric water heater is a inexpensive way to have almost endless water at a comfortable water temps.

I can personally say this method works having a home with 3 full baths and 3 daughters , and up to 6 granddaughters at the same time, I started with a point of use electric in the master bath, the next year in the upstairs bath and before we bought a different home the 3rd bath. Now even with the entire family home the main water heater a gas on demand warms the water and the point of use electrics bring it up to temp even with all 3 showers being used at the same time.

I loved the gas tankless but it did not have the flow needed for even 2 showers at the same time, after adding the point of use electrics on each of the baths the power bill actually went down and everyone could shower back to back without running out of hot water and the space saved by removing the main 100 gallon water heater provided more room.

Having a point of use solves the same problems with a tanked or tankless hot water supply, I have added similar small heaters for other customers and most have really thought they did the job.

I would consider an electric point of use tankless on the shower. It may be the solution you need.


How can I remove old tile mortar from a concrete floor? I'm about to tile my bathroom floor but the floor is concrete and it is not flat. It still has the thinset trowel markings on certain areas and they are not in the same direction. How do I even out the floor?

Thinset mortar is usually fairly soft. For that small area you can probably knock down the lumps with a belt sander and coarse grit belt. You don't need to entirely remove the old mortar if it's well bonded. Just get a fairly flat top. Vacuum thoroughly before proceeding to remove all dust and debris.

Since you're presumably going to use a 1/4" notch trowel to set your tile, the mortar will accommodate the remaining roughness. It'll be a bit more difficult to apply the mortar than on fresh concrete, but no big deal.


How do I mount TV through 3 layers of drywall and into studs? I have a 65lb 46" LCD television and a Sanus "flush" style wall mount. The mount instructions suggest that it shouldn't be mounted anywhere where there is more than the thickness of a single sheet of drywall between the mount and the stud.

However, the wall I want to put my TV on has three sheets of drywall (don't ask). I'm wondering of the instructions for the mount are just overprotective and I'll be ok as long as I just get longer screws.

I read another answer where someone claimed they had a 50" TV mount just in drywall, no studs!

The other option I considered (although am loathe to attempt) is to cut away the extra drywall, attach some more wood onto the stud (enough to make up why width of the drywall I removed) and attach the mount to that.

What would you do?

the thickness of a single sheet of drywall

Did they happen to specify how thick that single sheet should be?  I bet that they didn't and are being over protective, because they sell drywall in varying thicknesses from 1/8" up to 5/8".

But I don't think they're being TOO over protective, because I think that's the exact same mount I used, and it mounts using lag bolts.  Lag bolts are very heavy duty bolts that are driven into the wood and bite into it to create a very strong anchor.

Their strength, however, is in the depth to which they sink in the underlying wood - the deeper they sink the more thread length is biting into the wood holding on tight.  So - if you get too shallow of an installation, you don't get the strength you might need.

  I read another answer where someone claimed they had a 50" TV mount just in drywall, no studs!

Not for long, I bet...

  The other option I considered (although am loathe to attempt) is to cut away the extra drywall, attach some more wood onto the stud (enough to make up why width of the drywall I removed) and attach the mount to that.

You could do that - I thought about doing the same thing - and the way I would do that is to use a multi-tool (below) to cut out the drywall in the same shape as the back plate of the mount, affix that to the studs very securely, mark the stud location on it and drill through the plate into the studs and mount the panel.

HOWEVER - I suspect there's an even simpler solution.

Get longer lags.

They come in a wide assortment of depths and diameters.  Just take the lag bolts they supplied with the mount, go to Lowes/Home Depot - and find one that's the same diameter as what they supplied and about 1" longer than what they gave you, and use those instead.


Furnace blowing cold air Furnace wont produce heat. Thermostat is brand new. It Will work fine for a minute then heat come on go right back off. Can't find where filter goes house is old and vents are dirty I thought it's the filter but filter is new. Tired of feeling cold air instead of heat.

You should call an experienced HVAC contractor.

It sounds like one of the safeties on your furnace has failed and it is not initiating or detecting the flame properly (I am guessing you have gas, propane, or oil). So it begins to work, cannot initiate or detect the flame so it fails and it may just leave the fan running when it fails.

A service call will be worth it when you are warm again.

Good luck!


How can I repair the degraded surface of a concrete slab and wall? I've never worked with concrete. Is there an easy way for a concrete newbie to repair this wall?

OR-

How do I fix it?

Here is another view, further back.

===================  Found these in a store ===============================

Will any of these products work for my issue?

Vinyl cement patch is what you're probably after. It's designed to bond well and handle impacts and movement in thin applications much better than concrete or mortar. It can be feathered to a thin edge.

Mix per the instructions on the package and apply with a wide putty knife or trowel.

Be aware that you won't have good results spanning from one concrete object to another. There's almost certainly seasonal movement between the two that will tear the patch apart. Use a control joint where necessary.


How to get up deck boards with rusted screws, want to plane and reuse the boards so the screws have to come out a slight spin on other questions.  I have a deck that is coming out with painted wood and rusted screws.  1 out of 10 comes out OK, the others break off.  Since I am going to be re-using the wood, and most likely planing the wood, have to get the metal out.
The only idea I have is to use a small hole bit to encircle the metal and then plug the hole with a dowel.  Thinking there might be a easier idea out there.

You could try heating some screws with a sodering iron until the wood smokes.  Maybe the burnt wood will be less grippy.  Let them cool back down before you try getting them out.  Not sure the cosmetic outcome from this will be better than your drill scheme, though.
Could try a blob of penetrating oil on top of screws and leave it sit overnight.  Maybe slippery wood will be less grippy.  That wood is probably thirsty after 25 years and the oil should soak in ok.


Adding an outlet to the dishwasher/disposer circuit I have switched garbage disposal, like many people do.  The switch is on a wall w/o any outlets.  I'd like to convert the switch to a switch/outlet combo.  I read that you shouldn't add an outlet to the dishwasher or disposal circuit so I figured I'd ask y'all.

Here are some facts:

The dishwasher is hardwired.
The garbage disposal is corded (not hardwired) and runs to an outlet under the sink.  Nothing else is plugged into that outlet.
I'm not sure if the dishwasher and disposal are on the same circuit.  Or what else is on either circuit.
I'm not sure what the amperage of either circuit is.

Here are my questions:

As a general question, can I add an outlet to the garbage disposal switch?
If yes, what considerations do I need to take into account?  What questions would I need to know the answers to before proceeded?  What would I need to change?
If no, why not?

Thank y'all so much!
Jason

This should be fine*

There is not a restriction that a disposal must be on a dedicated circuit unless the manufacturer states that it must be.  Unless you have a high-end beast of a commercial unit, it probably doesn't.

There are rules in the NEC on circuit sharing, and a "fixed" device like a disposal or dishwasher can't use any more than 50% of the circuit capacity if that circuit is to be shared with general purpose lighting/outlets.

What that means in your case is that if the dishwasher shares the circuit, it probably uses more than 50% because of the heater used for drying and water heating.  I think that means you really shouldn't share it with the disposal either and it should be dedicated (so I normally see a dedicated circuit for them).

If the disposal is on it's own or already shared with other kitchen outlets, you are fine to add an outlet.

GFCI required

As you stated, a GFCI outlet is required, and that means you will need a two gang box.  There are switch/outlet combos you could stuff into a single box, but not with GFCI (Link in comments, single gang switch/GFCI does exit), but you probably want more than a singe receptacle.  Upgrade to a two gang (or three!) box and use a GFCI outlet.


How tall can I go above ground with a concrete footing? I am building a 20' x 20' foot deck with a 10' x 12' Pavilion in one corner, away from the house.I need the concrete footings for the pavilion to be flush or just above the surface of the deck. There are four 8"x8"x8' posts for the pavilion, (it was a package deal), so each of the concrete footings will be a different height above grade due to yard slope. Three of the posts will have a footing of 20 inches or less above grade, but that fourth one will need to be 34 1/2 inches. Will a 12"x12" Footing at 3 feet deep and 34 1/2 inches above ground be sufficient? The wood, connectors, and roofing for the pavilion weigh in at 2300lbs. This is my wife's dream deck for sitting back and people watching but I want it to be safe. we are in the KC metro area in Missouri. Any help will be appreciated. Steve

If properly reinforced and if the actual footing (which the 12" column isn't, unless you have no flare or flat pad on the bottom, which you should reconsider unless you have stunning bearing) is of adequate size to support both the imposed load and the weight of the longer column, it should not be a problem.

But it's difficult to accurately assess such things from afar, or to be certain that it will be safe in your particular soils and configuration. A few hours of a civil engineer's time to establish exactly what would be safe is probably money well spent on peace of mind.

This article might be inormative even if it's not all that DIY oriented. The sidebar suggests that the minimum cover (concrete between surface and steel) should be 3" on the bottom (earth) side of the footing, and 1-1/2 inches on the sides of the column, assuming you are using #4 bar which is pretty typical for small projects. So you might use 6 #4 bars in a 8-9" circle, bent outward on the bottom and tied together every 8-12" vertically. If you really want to be the oddball overkill homeowner you'll figure out a way to bend a bar into a spiral to tie the vertical bars together, just like the big boys do. The rest of us normally compromise with wire, other than the ones that hope fibered concrete is all the reinforcing they need.