Low voltage in my light switch after relocating a ceiling box I am new to this site and hope all is well with everyone.  I consider myself a DIYer. I research and talk to people before I jump into a job around the house. The second I reach my limits, I call the professionals. At this point, I have installed ceiling fans, light fixtures. I have also changed light switches and sockets countless times. I also have relocated electrical ceiling box a few years ago with no issues.

In a different room recently, with access from the attic, I relocated another ceiling box and fan bracket about 2 feet from its existing location. It was removed and installed with no issues at all. I set up and installed a new fan with a remote. After a short start-up for the remote and a flip of the switch, there was no light or fan movement. All of the wires were double-checked and seemed to be installed correctly. I then noticed that my illuminated wall switch is barely lit. I tested the switch and I had a reading of about 50 volts. All of the outlets in the room work. I went back to the attic and double-checked all the wiring for the fan and they seemed ok. The fan that was replaced was in perfect working order.

So before I call the professionals, What can I be missing or do??   Thanks in advance...

Illuminated wall switch?

OK, so this is a powered switch.

It requires power to do its "lighting up" thing.

It could just be changed to a non-lighted switch, and some of these issues would "go away", but it would leave another dangling issue... plus, that's no fun :)

On classic devices like this, they do not have a separate neutral wire going to the switch.  They depend on being in series with an incandescent light.  Incandescents, which are off, are basically a dead short.

When you changed this to a fan (you used a fan-rated box, right?) you now have the lighted switch in series with a fan remote control module. When the module is quiescent, it draws very little power, and the lamp inside the switch doesn't light, and doesn't really bother the remote. That's why you were able to configure the remote even with the switch off.

This had led you to a misplaced assumption: that you can have dual control between both the switch and the remote.

No, you can't.  These two things will not play well with each other.

This is nothing an electrician can fix.  If you hire one, you'll end up paying for a lecture.  This lecture :)

But there must be a switch that works.

If this is the only light switch in the room, it introduces a problem.  Code requires that there be a light switch in the room in the usual location, and the light switch turns on a light.

So if this is the only switch, it's simply not an option to bypass it and use the remote exclusively for control of the light.

If power enters the fan box rather than the light switch, then most likely you can rearrange so the switch controls the light (bypassing the control module altogether), and the fan operates off the remote.  At this point the lighted switch might start glowing like it used to (if the fan's lights are incandescent or LEDs tolerant of obsolete lighted switches).  But if they are not, you can install one incandescent bulb, or you can wire a  Lutron LUT-MLC dummy load/incandescent simulator, in parallel with the lamp (i.e. between switched-hot and neutral). That should bring the lighted switch back.

If power enters the light switch, and the cable to the fan is /3 type (black white red), then you can also do what I just said, using white as actual neutral, black as always-hot to the remote, and red as switched-hot to the lamp.  If your light switch is a classic /2 "switch loop", and you want /3, that is something an electrician can easily do.


Diagnostic tools for oven and microwave? I was wondering what sort of diagnostic tool is used to detect a problem in a microwave (range) and in an oven. And would such a tool have a readout record?

I had a repairman come to fix:

My microwave (built-in range) that doesn't always heat to the same level.
My oven that sometimes pre-heats, sometimes doesn't. Sometimes it starts at 100 and displays incrementally what temperature it is, sometimes it starts at 105-350 (depending on what I set it to) or, if I set it to above 350 it stays at 350 and doesn't tell me when I'm at 400.

While it would be great if someone automatically knew the answer, what I would really like to know is what tool is used to diagnose this. That way I can argue that the tool wasn't used.

Thanks!

An appliance repairman will have many different diagnostic tools. Unfortunately, diagnostic tools only go so far. Some specifics in your case:

  My microwave (built-in range) that doesn't always heat to the same level.

There are a lot of things that can affect how effectively a microwave oven heats food, beyond any actual problems with the appliance:

Starting temperature of the food
Moisture content
Material (glass vs. ceramic vs. plastic) and shape of dish holding the food
Oven setting (high/medium/low/etc.) - which may seem obvious, but is actually quite different from a conventional oven.

In general, a consumer microwave oven only heats at one level. It varies the time of heating - e.g., medium might heat 2/3 of the time and low 1/3 of the time. While on a conventional electric oven you will typically have 2 (sometimes more) elements, so an intermittent failure of one element might leave the oven working better at some times than at others, I don't know of a similar failure mode for a microwave oven.

If you are heating based on time, the many different variables will result in different results. I would only suspect an actual appliance failure if it sometimes does not heat at all, which could happen if there is an intermittent problem that prevents the magnetron from working.

As far as diagnostic tools, a repairman may have (probably should have) a leak detector. But I don't know of a tool that tests "how well is the microwave oven heating".

  My oven that sometimes pre-heats, sometimes doesn't. Sometimes it starts at 100 and displays incrementally what temperature it is, sometimes it starts at 105-350 (depending on what I set it to) or, if I set it to above 350 it stays at 350 and doesn't tell me when I'm at 400.

Different models (or more generally, different manufacturers/product lines) handle temperature displays, preheating, etc. differently. Some show a temperature (Low->100...350) while preheating, some just show the set temperature (350) and beep or show an icon to indicate the temperature has been reached. There may be variations also based on the particular mode (regular, convection, timed). No real diagnostic tool for the functionality - more a matter of methodically working through the different modes to make sure everything works or to determine what is not working. The one tool would be a good thermometer to verify temperatures. Anything capable of oven-like temperatures will do, but the professional solution is an infrared thermometer like:


Can I build an electrical pole structure to hold a power wire into my property? The power pole to my house is at the back right corner of the property.  However, it's a little outside my property line.  I wanted to run a power line straight down along the pole and into the ground but then I would need an easement since it's actually in someone else's property.

So, can I run the line from the power pole to another pole that is within my property line, then run the line to the ground.  Then run it underground all the way to my house?  Basically, can I build a pole structure to hold the wire into my property?  Maybe even a little shed or something, if I have to.

I don't want to run the line straight from the pole to the house because I will plant some trees that will be directly under the line.

Option:  I also have a garage that is in the back left corner of the property.  I guess, I could also run the power line to the garage (50' run), have a main panel in the garage, then use the house as a sub panel?  The garage is currently powered by the house with an underground wire.  I don't know the gauge on the wire.

Back Right Corner of Property

Back Right Corner of Property

From Backyard to Front Right Corner View

Check with your utility to see if they have a program to bury your service line.  My company (FPL) has a program where they will give you the conduit to bury along with instructions.  Once everything is set up and meets their standards, they will bring the lines down the pole for you.  There is a fee, of course.  For FPL in my area, it would cost around $580 plus the cost of an electrician (and permits) you must hire to rearrange the meter.


Going to be away for 4 months, should we turn off the refrigerator or leave it on with water inside? I  have found people saying it's better to leave it on with water inside because then mould will not form. Is there any other downside except for electricity bill? It's a smallish refrigerator which will cost around 60$/year in electricity costs if left on.

Some more details
We are in India in an apartment. So problem with electricity turning off(breaker etc., is not an issue).
However, there can be rat problem. Will they damage an open fridge?

We have two babies at home, so turning it 24 hours before we leave is very difficult.

So I guess, we will put in 10-15 water bottles  in the fridge, and 1 open container of water in the freezer, and leave it on?

Is it possible that the fridge gets damaged if the door is not opened for 4-5 months?

If you're gone for a long time, it's good to turn off anything that doesn't really need to be on.  Not only does that not waste power, but it reduces the chance of something bad happening.

The issue with fridges is that they collect moisture inside and they seal well. That's a bad combination if moisture starts out in the box.  The way to deal with that is to address the two issues.  After the fridge has been off for a while, make sure there isn't a pool of water in a tray or someplace.  This includes the result of ice melting inside the freezer.  Once everything is dry, address the second issue by propping the doors open.  The fridge will be no different than any other box then.  There is no reason for new moisture to collect, and it's ventilated anyway.


Kitchen Outlets dead I have 5 outlets in my kitchen. 3 are out. I reset the main breaker. Still no luck for the 3. Do I need to call an electrician?

As stated by OP in a comment:

I feel kinda stupid. the breaker on the panel had turned red. reset and they all WORK!!! Thank you


Track Lighting Issue I recently installed track lighting, and upon turning on the power switch, none of the lights turned on. I went back, checked all of my connections, tested the power, checked each lightbulb, but that was to no avail. Each socket is getting electricity and all of the bulbs work, but the fixture won't turn on. Any ideas?

If there is power to the sockets and the bulbs are good, then it is a "bulb-to-socket" problem.

Are you sure the bulbs are inserted such that they are making proper contact? Sometimes fixture housings prevent some bulbs from inserting all the way. In fact, I have some fixtures that require special 'long neck" bulbs...


Who do I hire to design my home HVAC system? Preface

I need to buy a new HVAC system for my 1930s home. I currently have forced air duct system. My gas furnace was installed in 1985 and is rusting out, and I'm not sure about the air conditioner.

Experience

I had a local big name HVAC company come out to give me an estimate. His sizing calculation consisted of going through my home and counting the registers and returns (not every room in my home has returns). He didn't take any measurements of the rooms ... which seemed odd to me.

Question

Is there a certain kind of professional that I can hire to inspect my home and design a heating and cooling system ? I think I'd like this person to be different from the person that will be selling the system to me.

Questions I would like this person to answer:

What is the correct size system for my home?
What is appropriate type of system for my home: heat pump, gas furnace, etc ?
Are my existing ducts adequate ?
What should I consider when choosing one system over an other?

In theory this is what HVAC professionals are supposed to do. In practice, most of them rely on antiquated rules of thumb to size equipment and use existing ductwork, even if it has major problems. A certified energy rater is who you're looking for and who will be able to definitively tell you what you need to know, but you can learn a lot yourself to be a more informed consumer.

The correct size of equipment for your home is discovered by doing a Manual J load calculation. You can do an 85% as good approximation yourself in 15 minutes here: http://www.loadcalc.net

For a 1930s house, unless major air sealing, insulation, and window replacement work has taken place, the load may be as high as 1 ton of AC per 500 square feet and 30 heating BTUs per square foot. But those would be worst-case scenario numbers; run them yourself with that web tool and get a ballpark estimate of your house's loads.

The most appropriate type of equipment for your house depends on your climate, your budget, and the fuels available. If you live in a mostly-cold climate and have natural gas, then a gas furnace makes the most sense. If you live in a mixed hot-and-cold climate but it doesn't get too cold, then a conventional heat pump may be a good bet. If it gets both very hot and very cold, then AC + a gas furnace may make the most sense if you have gas; if you don't, then a Japanese ducted mini-split or conventional heat pump is a better choice.

As for your existing ducts, it's impossible to say whether they're adequate or not without knowing anything about them. But they may be inadequate if they are in the attic, or if they are in a vented crawlspace, or if any rooms get much hotter or colder and other ones, or if a lot of air leaks out of them.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you're not really hiring someone to design your home HVAC system; your home already has an HVAC system (well, the "H" and "AC" parts, at least). If every part of it is unsalvageably wrong, expect to pay mucho dinero to completely replace everything. New equipment and new ductwork and all the demolition and drywall repair entailed by such a job will probably cost you $15k or more... possibly much more if you live in a high-labor-cost area. Consider how much you actually need to replace and how much you can simply live with, especially considering that many comfort-related deficiencies in a house's heating and cooling infrastructure can be ameliorated by improving its insulation and air sealing. There are many such opportunities in an old house, including the extremely low-hanging fruit of air-sealing the basement, weatherstripping any old windows, and adding more attic floor insulation.

In general, it's a good idea to do all this work before replacing your equipment, since if you buy correctly-sized units now, they will be too big after you perform the work. You can mitigate this to a certain extent by purchasing "modulating," "variable speed," or "two-stage" units, as they are capable of reducing their output at low-load conditions. In theory you won't have to use your furnace for another 4+ months at least, so you have some time to tackle those sorts of projects before having to replace it, which will allow you to purchase a smaller one and save money, or a better one for the same price.


Table saw blade width I need to make a straight slot cut with my 10" table saw, the cut needs to be 3/16" wide. what saw blade width would come close to this size.

Use a standard 1/8" blade, but make two passes that overlap by 1/16".


To break or not break tabs when installing an electrical outlet One of the old electrical sockets needed to replaced.  It was a Slater brand, with only the option to push-in wires at the back with no screws for hot/neutrals and only one screw for ground.  Both the top and bottom plugs were switched off by the same circuit breaker.
I noticed there were two sets of wires coming into the outlet box (one set of black, white and ground; another set of black, white and ground, with the two grounds tied together).  Both sets were connected to the outlet (not pigtailed).  After disconnecting the wires, I used my multimeter to check across the two Hots on the old outlet, it read 0.0 Ohm and it also read 0.0 Ohm across the two Neutrals.
I installed a new outlet in which I used screws to connect the wires (as opposed to the push-in).  I left the connecting tab between the two plugs as is.  I switched on the circuit breaker and things appear to be working just fine.
I read through posts related to this on this forum and elsewhere but it isn't clear to me if there is any potential issue with this config.
I understand that leaving the tab in place is the same as what was before.  But, is this the right thing to do?  Could you please comment?
Thanks.

With an ordinary duplex receptacle (GFCI is a bit different), there are two ways it can be installed:

Combined = tabs in place

In this mode, the two hots are connected together and the two neutrals are connected together. Both receptacles are powered from the same source. If you want to power an additional receptacle (or lights or whatever) from the same power source, you can use the second set of screws (or backstab connections, but those are not recommended) as a way to daisy-chain to the next device. Alternatively, you can also chain to another device using pigtails with a single set of hot/neutral wires & screws.

Split = tabs removed

With the tabs removed, you have two totally separate receptacles. Each can be on a different circuit! Except not entirely - for safety reasons the circuits should be together, typically using a Multi-Wire Branch Circuit (MWBC). An MWBC uses two hots with one neutral - the hots each 120V compared to neutral but 240V compared to each other. In the case of an MWBC, the neutrals are actually shared, so you would not remove the neutral tab, just the hot tab (and there are other complications which mean that neutral would itself be on a pigtail even if only one other device is connected).
There is another use for removing the tabs - a half-switched receptacle. With this configuration, hot goes to one hot screw and switched hot goes to the other hot screw. Neutral still gets one wire and the tab is left in place. This lets you use a plug-in lamp with a switch while still having an always-on receptacle for other stuff. Personally, I prefer ceiling fixtures, but builders like to save every $ they can...
The end result is that the hot-side tab is removed in certain specific cases but the neutral-side tab is hardly ever removed - only realistic case I can think of is a top/bottom MWBC split on a double-breaker GFCI.
And since your original didn't have the tabs removed, the replacement doesn't either.


adhesive for gluing rubber to wood I am replacing rubber tread covers on an old wooden staircase. As far as I can tell, the old ones were simply glued on. They lasted about ten years before they started slipping and cracking where they were pushed over the edge of the actual tread by peoples' feet. I have two questions:

1- What kind of glue should I use for this project?
2- Do I need to strip off the old glue to get a good bond?

Quick answers would be greatly appreciated since I have a narrow window in which to finish this project. Thanks.

Sounds like you want to use contact cement.  Make sure both surfaces are clean, apply contact cement, let it set up, and then put the rubber onto the wood.


Chamberlain Internet Gateway connected to MyQ Garage Opener, but doesn't appear in app My Liftmaster Garage Door Motor has the MyQ logo on it. I wanted to control it from my iPhone and found that I needed to buy a Chamberlain or Liftmaster Internet Gateway to do that.

I bought the gateway (Chamberlain brand) and wired it to my router and power.

I created an account on their website, https://www.mychamberlain.com

I was able to add the Internet Gateway.

I clicked Add Device -> Garage Door -> non-WiFi. It said to press the Learn button. I did so. After ~5 seconds the lights on my motor flashed. Seemed promising except one problem - my iPhone said it was still waiting to hear from the device.

A few minutes later my iPhone had a popup saying that waiting for the device had timed out. As far as I can tell, the device isn't associated with my account at all. I looked through the help section and found this page on what the LED lights mean:
http://www.chamberlain.com/CatalogResourcesV3/en-us/ccv3/support/myq/2_2/en/mobile/advanced/Content/CIGBU/CIGBULEDs.htm

I currently have a solid green light and a solid blue light. The solid green means it has an internet connection and IP address and everything. The solid blue means it has been programmed with at least one device.

So that suggests to me that the Internet Gateway was completely set up properly... just for some reason the Garage isn't showing up either on the app, or online.

So... what do I do now? How do I go about actually getting the device to show up? Should I just repeat the steps for programming? Is there some way to undo whatever it is that I've already done?

If it's important, the Internet Gateway is sitting right next to my Router, which is located on the main floor directly above my garage. My iPhone's wifi signal is fine in the garage... although I suppose that might be irrelevant since the gateway probably communicated with the motor on some completely different frequency...

(I already tried calling tech support, but they're closed right now... they open in 13 hours... but maybe someone on this website knows the answer... and no matter what, in the future the answer can be online and people won't have to call tech support at all...)

I called up tech support this morning.

They told me that if the gateway said it was programmed (as indicated by a steady blue light), but the device wasn't appearing, it meant that I needed to reset the gateway.

Resetting the Gateway

The process for resetting the gateway is you disconnect it from power, then press the recessed button located on the long side above the logo sticker - I used a bent paperclip to do this. While still pressing the button, connect it to power.

Once you see the "yellow" (looked orange to me) light come on, you can release the button.

The device should now be reset. The green light will flash indicating that it's trying to get an internet connection. Eventually it should become solid (within ~20 seconds), indicating that it has its connection.

Adding the Device

Login to your account on your computer or phone again and tell it to add the device. Press the learn button on the motor and within ~5 seconds the main lightbulbs on the motor (not the smaller LEDs) should flash, indicating that the gateway has successfully been connected.

Check your account again and the device should now appear properly.

Hope this helps other people.


Do metal outlet boxes act as grounds? Here’s a photo of the inside of a switch I’m replacing. As you can see it has no ground wire, plus it’s got a blue wire instead of the normal black. All the new 3 prong outlets I installed in this room replacing old 2 prong outlets also had no grounding wire. However, all the outlet boxes and the switch box are metal.

Does this act as a ground and I need to do nothing? Do I need to connect a ground wire from the ground screws on the switch/outlet to the metal box? Or is it not possible for me to ground any of the outlets or switch because the house was built in 1960? If it makes any different, the switch I’m installing is a Kasa Smart Switch. Thanks!

UPDATE

I bought a tester, plugged it into all the outlets I installed into the metal boxes without attaching any ground wire and got this same result in all of them Does this mean they’re grounded and good to go?

https://postimg.cc/vgDcT1Xs

Switches (only) can ground through the mounting screws

No need to run a ground wire to the switch.  Presuming the switch has a metal yoke, it will ground via the grounding screws to the metal box (presuming it is grounded).

Is it grounded?

It's difficult to say whether the box is grounded. In 1960 all the boxes were metal, so that alone doesn't tell us anything.  Merely being a metal box doesn't ground it; there'd need to be a wire or metal pipe (conduit) back to the panel.

However, you probably know cables come in black, white and optional red (and you're forced to use those colors for everything, which is not fun).  I see no black and I do see blue.

Anytime you see nonstandard colors like that, you have to investigate whether this is an individual wires in conduit situation.  If you see pipes entering the boxes with different numbers and combinations of wires in every pipe, that's conduit.  Using different hot wire colors for different circuits, is also a common practice.

Conduit in 1960 was made of metal, such as EMT (Electrical Metal Tubing).  If it's not flexible (and maybe if it is), metal conduit is a valid ground path in North America.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating; if a test light shows 120V from hot to ground, it's probably grounded.

Grounding receptacles: Heed what NoSparksPlease says!

Pay close attention to what NoSparksPlease says!  Now, if the junction boxes are indeed grounded (e.g. via metal conduit as discussed above), here's how you can ground receps.  #1: Run a wire to a ground clip or screw (often there's a hole tapped for a #10-32 screw in the back of the steel box).  Or #2:  Remember how I said you can ground the switch through the mounting screws? You can't do that with receptacles UNLESS:

If the receptacle's yoke (what the screw goes through) has hard face-on-face contact with the steel box, that is an acceptable grounding path.  No rust. No paint. No little paper square that captures the screw. Of course now, you'll drop the screws, so buy spares (they're #6-32), but for another reason also:

With conduit, sometimes the screw will get hard to turn when it's 3/4 of the way down. This is the screw hitting the conduit pipe.  Stop; you'll strip the hole out. Either cut the screw using the screw shear on your multi-tool (that's what that's for). Or just buy 1/2" #6-32 screws at the hardware store.


how to carry 20ft lumbers to home I need to carry one 20 ft lumber from HomeDepot to my home. I don't have a truck but have a minivan (Odyssey). The minivan does not have a roof rack though. A friend of mine suggested that I could open the window of the front passenger seat and place the lumber diagonally, making it stick out the window. But, I am not sure about the method and haven't found anybody other than my friend who suggested this method. The HomeDepot is very close to my home (about 5 minutes local driving).

If anybody has an experience of carrying long lumbers with a minivan, can you please share the tip?

Thanks,

EDIT: I attached the photo below. The first two beams are connected to the roof structure to support it. They are 18-feet 2x4. The third beam (shown in the bottom right corner of the picture) does not provide any support even though it looks so.

Do NOT stick a board out your window!

The board will be angled outward, making your overall vehicle significantly wider than usual. Worse, you will not be able to judge how far it sticks out. Misjudge and someone gets killed.

Why not simply put it on your roof and tie it down to the front and back bumpers (or better, the tow points under the bumpers). Any extension past the rear bumper must be highlighted with a red warning flag attached to the rear end.

Also consider renting a truck from the big box store which charges a flat rate for a few hours.


How likely are polished concrete, decorative concrete overlay, or epoxy flooring to delaminate if our house floods? Our house recently flooded and my wife and I are looking at different flooring options. We are considering concrete flooring but I have some questions about how likely each are to stand up to a new flood.

Our house historically has never flooded and this is the first time, but I want to have a peace of mind that if it does happen again I will have the least amount of worry.

From what I've seen it seems like polished concrete has little to no risk of delamination, stained concrete overlay seems to have contradictory information, and epoxy seems to be similarly prone to flood damage like linoleum might be.

How likely are these to delaminate in flooding? I'm not talking about a toilet that overflows but rather natural disaster. Our house is slab concrete and had about 2 feet of water for between 36 and 48 hours.

If you already have a concrete floor, have that stripped, polished and stained. It will stay even if the house goes away.

An overlay that is well bonded to the existing floor will hang in there pretty tough too, but the floor will need to be stripped down to bare as well.


How do I add blocking to floor truss joists? I removed rotted subfloor plywood in powder room. I have engineered floor truss joists at irregular spacing. Question, I need to add blocking but the top of the joist is a 2x4 laying flat. Can I block with other 2x4s laying flat? Goal is to pour backer board and then tile.

Along the wall at the top of your photo, simply cut blocks that fit snugly between the trusses and toenail them in place.

In the field, float blocks under the edge of the remaining subfloor and screw them through the subfloor. Toenail them once that's done.

At the right wall, lay a flat 2x4 atop the stiffback and under the subfloor for at least 4-6". Screw and glue it to both.

At the left wall you have more of a challenge. In hindsight you might've left a fringe of subfloor along the wall to reconnect to. As it stands, you'll have to block up from the trusses somehow. I can't see what's behind the insulation and wall, so it's difficult to be specific.

The critical factor here is that the subfloor panels are connected at the seams. It's not as critical that the blocks are attached to the trusses where they're perpendicular, though that's not a bad thing. Along the wall it's more important that they be connected to the joists because you can't connect them to the adjacent sheet.

Install all sheets using construction adhesive and ring-shank nails or screws and you'll have a very solid subfloor.


Why doesn't my freshly painted door fit back in the frame? I took off a hollow core interior door to paint it. Very thin coats (this is only the second time it's been painted since contractors built house. I know they only sprayed 1 very thin coat). Now the door doesn't seem to fit as well. I did new hinges -same size just different color. I know I can plane it for better fit but I want to know why the door doesn't fit right back in. The new coats of paint are not too thick so it's not the paint job. Ideas?  I have more doors to redo so I want to avoid this problem again.

You say

  The new coats of paint are not too thick so it's not the paint job.

and this is a common misconception. Yes, it looks like the paint is negligibly thin but it actually adds up. When a door is constructed it has size that allow for painting it once, maybe twice, and then a new layer of paint will prevent it from closing.

You should have cleaned the previous paint off the door edges.


Fiber vs STP vs UTP for underground conduit run to backyard office? We're building a standalone structure in the backyard that will be used for a backyard office. There's already a trench with a conduit for electrical and a 3/4" conduit for some sort of networking. The trick is figuring out which type of networking cable to run through that conduit.
I was originally planning on pulling fiber out there due to concerns about the proximity of the electrical conduit (they're right on top of each other). I was also recently reading about various shielded forms of ethernet cable and thinking that might be a better/easier choice? The run from the networking cabinet is about 80-100' in total, with about 30' of that inside and about 50' outside via the conduit.
Is fiber the obvious right choice here? Should I bother pulling it myself? I had one local company come out and quote me for pulling the fiber and the price was way higher than I expected. Another local company told me they could run Cat8 through the conduit, but after reading about how to ground the shielding on STP cables I'm not at all sure that's a good idea.
For code purposes I'm in King County in western Washington State.

Fiber is the obvious choice, for multiple reasons. If you choose not to do fiber, point-to-point wireless is likely the next logical option, given a short distance.
The biggest one is that fiber does not need lightning/surge suppression, since it does not conduct electricity. You also don't have to replace lighting/surge suppressors that don't survive a surge.
Most networking companies do come in rather high on doing fiber, but if you get pre-terminated cable suitable for wet locations (probably "indoor/outdoor" is your best bet) somewhat longer than you need it's not too hard to pull it yourself, especially if you get "reduced bend radius" fiber.
However, getting pre-terminated fiber through a 3/4" conduit may be a bit iffy, even with LC (small) connectors, since the connectors need to be protected for the pull and that adds some bulk. Look for a cable with a pulling eye in place, and verify with the vendor that it will work in 3/4" conduit.
Myself, I learned to do "old school" hand-polish terminations rather than pay a company a great deal more for a project, but that was a bit larger scale than one cable in the back yard. I paid for the equipment and supplies many times over .vs. the quoted price.
There are also "mechanical splice" connectors out there, but the tools to use them would probably have to be rentals to make any sense unless your local company is the only option and very high priced.
If the trench is open, drop in some larger conduit.
"Somewhat longer than you need" - just coil the excess neatly, and enjoy not coming up short, or not worrying about having to cut some off and re-terminate if you have a problem. It's called a "Moves, Adds and Changes" loop, and when you don't have one, you tend to regret it, eventually.


pipe size to my shower We are re-doing our shower in the house - we are adding a multi-component system to the shower including a hand held sprayer and jet sprayers.  The bathroom is on the second floor.  The water pressure to the shower system is pretty poor and dinky right now and the contractor wants to change the pipes at the shower level to 3/4 inch from 1/2 inch.  Will that make a difference?  Does he not need to go all the way back to the main line rather than just behind the shower?  How else can I get better pressure to the shower?

You will need 3/4 as a supply for the 3/4 at the shower to do any good.  If you are talking pex, then the 3/4 would be mandatory because inner diameter of pex is smaller than copper.  I'm guessing you have 1/2 copper as your main?


I need to drill but have detected metal approx 3" x 3". Not pipes, not wires. Can I drill? I cannot vary the location of a hole I need to drill in a masonry wall, but I have detected metal - about 3 x 3".  This spot of metal is completely isolated ie does not track in a line to plugs, switches etc and is definitely not pipes.  i am in a basement so nothing comes up from underneath.  it is an internal wall and this 'patch' is also detectable from the other side of the wall where there is also no plug sockets etc.  what is it likely to be and can I drill safely?

The short answer is No, you can't drill.
Drilling into masonry and hitting something unexpected can be dangerous and expensive.  That's why you scanned first, which was wise.  (No idea what you used to scan...)  Your scan found something, but you don't have enough information to know what with any confidence.  It could be nothing more than a scrap of metal that fell in the mix when the concrete was poured, it could be buried treasure, it could be something else that shocks, floods, or explodes.  Drilling into it is not the way to find out what it is.
There are other difficulties drilling through metal embedded in masonry but that's another matter.


My rubber roof has developed a leak. Can it be fixed? Anyone out there who could give me some advice please? I've got a rubber roof and it has developed a leak. It is small, yet fairly centralised. Can it be repaired, or have I got to replace the whole thing?

I found that the best way (in my case) was to make a small incision to get a patch behind or underneath the sheet glued on with plenty of rubber cement, and then put a larger patch over the top with a generous amount of rubber cement, smoothing the edges with glue as well.


Is there mold in my apartment bathroom? What is causing the unpleasant smell there? I moved into my first apartment in August. The apartment is a 3rd floor 2 bedroom apartment and it’s great except one persistent issue that has gotten worse over the last few months.
The master bedroom’s bathroom hasn’t been used in weeks because of a strong smell whose origin seems to be very difficult to locate. The best I can describe it is as a urine smell but slightly different maybe like urine and mildew or something like that. It’s kind of a bitter smell, if that makes sense.
The smell is also present around the air conditioner closet and from outside the apartment on the wall that faces the bathroom. I also noticed a black grime on the vinyl panel on that wall. (Hence my mold fears)
I called maintenance but they essentially said: "This room doesn’t really smell any different than any other room in the house."
I’ve cleaned the bathroom and found the smell to go away for a brief couple of hours and then return harsher.
I’m posting here because the only thing I can think to do other than keep calling maintenance (which I plan to do) is to ask others if they’ve had a similar experience. I want my apartment to be complete.
My only guess as to what it is would be mildew or mold, but I cannot find anything in the bathroom itself. Could it be mold in the walls? How do I go about solving this issue?

There may be several possible sources of the smell.  First let's address the mold issue.  Generally mold thrives in moist environments.  What is the climate where you are at.  You may need to run a fan to air out that bathroom for a bit.
Second, sewer and toilet area issues can contribute odors as well.  For example, a shower which isn't used may have a trap which has become dry.  Sometimes one will hear water running, having higher frequency splashing noise than water in pipes.  That may happen with a trap, usually a kind of S curve which blocks gasses from entering the house, from the sewer.  That could be a shower or tub, but it could also be a sink.  Run some water down every drain, and see if the odor diminishes.
Third, there can be secondary effects.  For example, the bottom of the toilet usually has a wax ring.  If someone poured hot water down the toilet, it could soften that ring and cause a leak just large enough for sewer gasses. Also, if the toilet were loose in it's setting, that could also permit the development of a crack in the wax ring.
Like toilets, sink drains can also get small leaks, which will permit gas to flow but may not leak visible water.
For a path forward, I would first dry out the bathroom.  I would get rid of any visible mold, whether black or light tan.  Consider a bathroom cleaning product with a mildewcide  in it. The major brands have products like this and you can always call their consumer help line for recommendations.  Run the fan to get the room dry, and to reduce the odor.  Opening windows may help.
Then run some water into every trap (drain).  And then wait and sniff.  See if you can identify where and when the odors appear.
Also, is there an apartment above you?  If the wall which is on the outside has outlets, do you smell the odor near the outlets?
Lastly, there could be a defect in the plumbing in the wall, or even leaking from another apartment adjacent or above you.


Are there any things to consider when putting thick rubber underlayment down? I am finishing my attic and have just completed laying the OSB subfloor. I plan to use this space as a yoga studio for my wife / guest room for family / playroom for my child. It is directly over my bedroom so I want to make it as quiet as possible so I am planning to put a thick rubber underlayment before I put down a laminate floor. Are there any things to consider when putting the underlayment down? For example, a vapor barrier, an extra underlayment for the laminate flooring, whether it needs to be secured down?

UPDATE:
I ended up going with a much thinner underlayment which I installed first. I also purchased the laminate with an underlayment backing adhered to the underside of the laminate which seemed to be equal thickness of the extra underlayment I purchased. The result has been great. There is very very little sound transfer from the floor of the attic to rooms below. I have no practical experience to back this but I would be a little worried the thicker underlayment might make the floor too squishy.

Insulate the new subfloor in the joists below to thwart any condensation issues first, as much R-value as you can get in there. Other than that no, the "underlayment approved laminate" can just sit on the underlayment & you might be able to double or triple the planned underlayment, depending on the laminate manufacturer.

However, Carpet on top of carpet Padding would really be the overall best sound deadening solution & your underlayment doesn't care whether it's penetrated with fasteners.


How do you mount fluorescent strip lights on drywall? How do you correctly mount and wire fluorescent strip lights to drywall?

I've seen these on drywalled walls/ceilings before but never looked at how they get installed, other than there doesn't appear to be a junction box in the drywall.

I can imagine a lot of people just have their NM wire coming through a hole in the drywall, and then bring it into a knockout on the back and screw the fixture up, but does that meet code? Do you leave/make a hole big enough for a box connector to fit through?

What's the code-compliant way to install? What do you do prior to putting up drywall?

The fixture itself is typically used as the junction box.  Just make sure to use a bushing or grommet to protect the cable where it enters the fixture.  These Push in grommets are useful for this.


Why does the plaster crack beneath the window sill? Sorry if this is an obvious question.

Can anyone tell me why the dry lined plaster in our house so frequently cracks beneath the edge of the windows?

At first I thought it may be relating to the heat changes or something over time; however, we've recently had a room stripped down, new plasterboard put in and it's been re-skimmed, and three weeks later, it's cracked just beneath the edge of the window.

The cracks are barely visible, and don't seem to get any worse over time - they just crack and stay cracked.

I've seen this happen often at the corners of windows and doors.  My first question would be - is there a seam in the plasterboard where the crack is occurring?  If not, is the crack just through the skim coat or is the board underneath actually cracked?

If you just plaster over the crack, it will certainly crack again.  I would try either taping over the crack with mesh tape and plastering over the tape or if it's just a hairline crack, caulk it and paint it.  The caulk should be flexible enough not to crack again.


How to install hinges after cutting custom door past wooden edges and composite exposed? I had to cut a standard door (30x80) down to a custom size to fit into a custom opening for a renovation project.  On the hinge side, I had to remove enough material that I am now past the solid plywood (?) on that side and the particle board (?) interior is exposed.

Is it OK to simple notch out for my hinges directly into the particle board?  Should I be trying to replace the wood somehow?

I'm concerned because the door is not hollow and is very heavy, so I will be installing 3 hinges for sure and want the install to be solid.

The problem is that whatever composite material you're referring to probably doesn't hold screw threads well or is simply too soft to sustain the screw shank. That's the primary reason for the solid wood insert rail (along with aesthetics and possible surface durability).

You have two primary options:

Use long screws. 2-1/2" or 3" screws of adequate diameter (#12 or 14) should hold well enough. Mortise your hinges in accurately so that the screws don't carry all the shear load. Pilot the screws appropriately to avoid splitting.
Rabbet out some of the composite material and install a replacement wooden rail. You could do this on a table saw with the door on edge if you have a steady-handed friend available. Bond it in place with urethane or high quality wood glue, clamp for a sufficient period, and do your mortises. Pre-drill with the proper size for your screws to prevent splitting.


Can I add a light fixture (with a switch) to an existing switch/outlet circuit? I'd like to drywall/finish the 'closet' under my stairs, but I'd like to add a light fixture with a switch inside the closet first.  Inside this closet already, the back of an outlet box and the back of a light switch box (and wiring between them) are accessible.  That switch, which I'll call switch #1, toggles the outlet, which is for the room adjacent to this closet.  I want to add a 2nd switch, inside the closet, which toggles a light in the closet, independently of switch #1.  Is this possible?  (EDIT: Can someone explain and/or show me with a diagram how this might be possible?)

The wires in the circuit are 14/2 with ground.

Basic representation:

I have a very basic understanding of circuits and I know that black is generally hot and white is generally neutral, so here is what (I think?) is a more correct representation of how it's already wired:

You'll need to tap power at the receptacle box

Since power is coming in at the receptacle end of this circuit according to your diagram, you'll need to tap power to the new switch and light there, as that's the only place in this you'll find always-hot and neutral -- any point from the existing outlet to the existing switch won't have neutral, just always-hot and switched-hot.


Replace stacked 3-way switched on separate panel circuit I have a stacked (dual) 3-way switch controlling lighting in my home.  The lights are on separate panel circuits, one for the foyer and one for the 2nd floor.  The switch that is in the box (2-gang, no room to expand) has completely separate control terminals (hot, traveler, common and ground) for each switch, so 2 sets of 4.

I'm replacing the controls in that box and the surrounding area with decora switches, but I can't find any stacked 3-way switches that don't share at least a portion of those terminals.  Obviously I'm ok with sharing the ground, but the common and hot have to be separate terminals or I'll be merging two circuits on the panel and that is capital-B Bad.

Does anyone have any advice for me on how to find what I'm looking for, or how to do what I want?

thanks

All duplex devices, receptacles, switches, combos, etc, have a small tab between the hot (and neutral if present) terminals. You certainly can take a duplex/stack/dual 3-way switch and isolate the two switches on the device. Just break the small tab between the gold screws.

See the small tab with the slot between the screws?

A 3-way/3-way version of this switch will have four black screws on the opposite side.


How do I bend EMT conduit to a broader radius? I work a lot in EMT conduit.  I have a 1/2" conduit bender that bends to a 5" radius, and a 3/4" conduit bender that gives a 6" radius. I also find bent pieces of conduit around the lodge that have a somewhat larger radius than that.

Suppose I want a larger radius, say because a 12" or 18" radius will suffice in my application, and would make pulling easier.  Or in one case I need a larger radius (ceiling line to ceiling line in a corner) to avoid blocking a conduit body (wall corner to ceiling line) that will be effectively under the radius.  Is that possible and how can I do it?

Using the same hand-bending tools you already have, you can approximate a larger bend radius by leaving short sections of straight conduit in between multiple bends. Below is a picture showing the minimum radius bend you currently achieve with your hand tool (picture on top) and then using three segments of bending coupled with two straight lengths to approximate a larger radius (picture on bottom).

My example in the second picture only shows 5 segments since the picture was made relatively quickly in paint, but the more interspersed bent/straight segments you have, the closer you will get to approximating a true circular radius. However, maybe you don't truly need a semicircle in all cases and just a few segments would do the trick.

Other alternatives I can think of include:

Trying to create your own hand tool for achieving common bends (if you're bending the same larger radius often -- perhaps something like an 18" car rim would work)
Investing thousands in a pipe bender that can handle conduit and do very smooth arbitrary bends.


What is the weight limit on pergo flooring? We currently have pergo installed in our kitchen/dining room and have had it for a number of years - no complaints.  We are now faced with the issue of pulling up carpet in the living room/hall as it has met its life cycle. We live in a mobile home and the carpet apparently was not installed properly when we had it done as it buckled and looks terrible and we have had to live with it for too long.  I don't want carpeting again if this is going to happen again. We were thinking of pergo but have furniture that is very heavy and want to know what kind of weight pergo will withstand.  Any ideas?

It can basically take any amount of weight.  Well I am sure there might be a theoretical limit but nothing you are going to possibly have will effect it.  The key is to allow for some minor expansion gaps on your out walls and to never nail/screw/whatever anything into the flooring.

You have to make sure that no cabinets, shelves, or anything else that is anchored to the floor.  Other than that you are good to go in a mobile home.  The only issues I have seen with Pergo is when people screw down an island on top of it or very large rooms - 20 feet plus squared.


Why is my bathroom drain stinky even after being cleaned out? My bathroom drain stinks! The smell gets worse after you run the water. My husband cleaned the P-trap and I cleaned the drain itself. I used baking soda and vinegar about a month ago and it worked, but last week I noticed the smell coming back so I used Drano just in case. Now the smell is back full force :/ the drain looks great! I don't have an overflow so I know it's not that. What else could it be if the P-trap has been cleaned and the drain is clear as well?

Foul odors are usually due to the water seal in the P-trap failing for some reason. Sometimes the water simply evaporates in little used fixtures. Probably not the case here. The other cause for failure is the lack of proper venting. Without a proper vent, the water seal gets siphoned out of the P-trap after the fixture is used.

If you have an air admittance valve serving as a vent, it could be failing to open properly, or it could be stuck open, allowing sewer gases to enter the room via that path rather than the P-trap. These devices should be accessible. Simply manipulating the valve disc by hand can dislodge it from it's stuck position and allow it to work again. Or the device might have failed and needs replacement.

You quite possibly do not have an AAV, but the more common vent through the roof. This time of year in Northern climes, the vent could become obstructed by ice or snow. Simply clearing the blockage will solve the problem. It's also possible a bird decided the vent would make a nice warm nesting site. Other vent problems could be more endemic of the installation itself, being either undersized or even non-existent or otherwise ineffective, or an alternative, less effective, trap arrangement such as S-traps or drum traps. If you've lived there for a while and the odors just started happening, these endemic issues are probably unlikely.


Trying to patch areas of drywall texture Can someone please help me identify this type of drywall texture and maybe give me some tips for how to match it.  I’ve got a few areas where I’ve patched and I’m not finding anything online to help me figure out what style this is or how to try and match it. I’d roughly guess it’s just some sort of skip-trowel but don’t want to make it ugly or spend all day trying to match it.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/YiVSX.jpg

That looks somewhat like a "knock down" texture. The ceilings in my house look like this:

This type of texture can take on many variations of look which can depend on the consistency of the mud when it was spattered on, type of spray gun and nozzle used and how long the material has dried before you knock it down with a knock down tool or other wide drywall knife.

I had only moderate success trying to re-texture a bathroom where I had to open the ceiling to install some electrical wiring years back. I tried some of those spatter spray cans of texture that you can buy at the big box stores. My results after several practice sessions on scrap drywall were less than spectacular.

More recently I was trying to deal with matching a ceiling in a laundry room where about a third of the ceiling needed to be replaced with new drywall. Based upon my previous experience in that bathroom and the discussion on this question I decided to just skim coat the whole thing and leave texturing to the paint roller when installing the paint.


How long should thinset dry before gluing up tub surround? I replaced the walls in my bathroom and used concrete board around the shower. I plan on finishing the concrete board joints with the proper mesh tape and (premixed) thin-set as recommended but ...

I don't know how long I should let the joints dry before gluing up the tub surround.

in my experience, let it dry first - just as you would let joint comound dry...dry to the touch and firm.  I've pushed the envelope on a couple of occassions and what enbds up happening is the thinset shrinks as it dries, sucking the tile in, and causing a hairline crack.


Capped Water Heater Pressure Relief Extension Pipe The answer seems fairly obvious, but maybe I am wrong.  Many water heaters have extension pipes plumbed into the pressure relief valves.  I'm assuming that this is to keep hot water from spraying around if the valve opens:

On the water heater in my garage, the pipe runs to a little bit above the floor and then ends.  This seems like the normal correct way to do this.  At my uncle's house, however, I noticed that the plumber soldered a cap on the end of the extension pipe.  This seems not only wrong, but potentially dangerous as the valve will simply open into a closed pipe which has no way to actually relieve the pressure of the valve it was installed for in the first place.
Is this as wrong as it seems, or a completely normal installation?

The temperature and pressure relief valve, and any piping it is connected to (copper or CPVC only, at least 3/4" ID), should never be blocked, capped, or obstructed. You should remove that cap because, as you correctly surmised, it is a danger if the T&P valve were to open. A simple tubing cutter like the one shown below will work just fine to cut that cap off.

A note on your install, or at least the install depicted in the picture - the T&P discharge pipe should not terminate inside the drain pan. It should terminate no more than 6" above a properly-sized floor drain, or outside (unless freezing is a concern, then you should drain it inside).

Your water heater manual specifies all of these instructions as well.


Cutting and cleaning glass My neighbor has offered me two panes of glass. They're about 40 x 100cm and stained in places by what I assume is some sort of oil (I haven't examined them closely).

I'm interested in making them into an enclosure for some of my indoor plants. I live pretty far up north, so it would allow me to grow some more interesting southerly species.

This would require cutting the panes several times and cleaning them.

I've seen glass-smiths (not sure what you call these dudes) cutting panes to size. They have a tool that looks a bit like a t-square, and once measured carefully they just run it once across and then sharply bend the end to crack it off.

Is cutting and cleaning your own glass worth the trouble? or should I pass on this offer?

The T-square is just that - a T-square for making sure that the glass is cut square, unless it has an integral glass cutter of course.

The tool they use is a glass cutter. It will have a diamond wheel or tip and scores the glass where it needs to be cut. Then a sharp tap will (hopefully) produce a clean break.

They should be easy to pick up at any hardware store. You might have more difficulty getting hold of a large enough T-square, but for a cold-frame you don't necessarily have to be 100% accurate.

Glass can be quite expensive. It would be worth getting a quote for buying the glass you would need and then compare to the cost of the tools you need to buy and your time.

However if (as chris points out in his comment) the glass is tempered then you won't be able to cut it. It will simply shatter if you try.


How do I work out the CH boiler size we should have? How do I work out the boiler size we should have?

(I have been told we need a 18KW boiler for our large 3 detached bedroom bungalow in the north of the UK, is this really powerful enough?)

I'm not sure of it's accuracy, but there's a calculator at energysavingtrust.org, and here's a very similar calculator that's a little bit easier to read (imo). I'm guessing the location factor for both of them is based on average winter low temperatures for the region selected. I'd look up climate info on the areas and try to pick something similar to where you live.


How can I smooth out a poor drywall repair? I am a new 1st time home owner. The house I purchased is an older home, and has had some "renovations".

The people who were there before me 'remodeled' the kitchen by taking out a wall that had cabinets to open the kitchen up a bit more. They did a very poor job at fixing the drywall in the ceiling where the cabinets & wall were. Image below:

Is there anything I can do to easily smooth that out? It bumps out a bit, and is beginning to crack. Would I need to cut out that whole piece and re-do it to make it look half decent?

Also, in the stairwell in my home there is a very distinct line, where the 2 pieces of drywall on top of each other meet. Is there anything that can be done to minimize that line as well? (image below)

Click for full size image

You will need to smooth it out by applying increasingly wide applications of drywall mud; depending on how rough it is it might take 2-3 coats.  You would then sand it smooth, prime and repaint the entire surface.

Unless the drywall is water damaged or has significant physical damage (doesn't look like the case), you will not have to cut out anything.

On the ceiling you might be able to get away with just repainting the entire ceiling (prime first!) as people are unlikely to get close enough to it to really notice a few imperfections. I suspect it is more noticeable in your case because of the color difference due to the paint fading at different rates.


Fix circuit so power is constant, instead of controlled by wall switch? The previous owner of my newly-purchased house had someone wire garage. There is power running out to garage but the only way to use garage door openers, lights and plugs is to flip the regular light switch next to door.

There is a junction box where the power comes into garage and then one wire running to the switch that turns on the power.

How can I change the wiring so that there is constant power in garage without flipping the switch?

From the junction box where the power runs into garage....   you say you have one wire that runs to switch?  so hot or switch leg is on either white or black wire on that "wire" that runs to switch?

You simply need to open junction box and identify wire that has power incoming to garage, wire that goes to lights, and wire that goes to garage door openor...  From the hot wire...  connect white and blacks to outlet that garage door is hooked up to.  Then if you have a white or black being used as either power or switch leg to the lights from the switch....   identify which is constant hot and which is switched... either white or black and splice the the non constant hot (switch leg) to the light hot in the junction box.

Or provide more details....


Replaced Outlet and Switch, Now Light Won't Turn Off I had a switched duplex receptacle controlled by two 3-way switches.  An electrician installed a ceiling light using 14/3 wire running from the outlet.  Everything was working - the 3-way switches controlled the light and the outlet was fully powered.

Today I replaced one of the switches and the outlet (wife wanted different color after painting the room).  I'm 99% positive the ceiling light was working properly after replacing the switch, but after replacing the outlet it's on all the time.

I uninstalled the outlet and both switches.  Each has a single 14/3 wire running to the box.  The black wire is hot (live) in all cases.  I suspect the boxes might be tied to a junction box in the basement, because otherwise I can't figure out any sort of wiring diagram that makes sense.
I re-installed the unchanged switch as I found it.  Black wire to the common terminal, red and white wires to the other terminals.  I have no reason to believe that switch is wrong.
When I re-installed the changed switch, I discovered that all three wires appear to be hot.  Black and ground light up my tester.  Same for red/ground and white/ground(!).  I believe the new switch is wired the same as the previous switch, but something seems wrong.
When I re-installed the outlet, the red and black wires are hot.  The electrician had the incoming red wire tied to the red wire on the 14/3 wire he installed, so I believe it is involved in controlling the light.  With it always hot, I think that's why the light is always on.  Just not sure how to fix that.

I'm really not sure what I did wrong (no problems with the other switch and 9 outlets I replaced today).  I also can't figure out or find a wiring diagram that would make sense.  If I knew where power was coming from and the order it was going to the boxes, this would be easy to fix.

Edit:  Sorry, I don't have photos and everything is put back together for now.  It's just a 14/3 wire to both switches and two (one added by the electrician for the light) to the outlet.  I'd even be happy if I could figure out how the switches used to control the outlet, that was just be a 14/3 running to each box with the black wire to each box always hot.

Edit 2:  I can't find the junction box feeding the boxes, but I found the blueprints for the house.

Power is coming in from 21, but I don't understand where and what box that is since it's reference in a couple of places.  Hopefully I can ignore it for now.  Based on the blueprints, I believe 10 and 14 are the outlets.  The black wire would have fed the always-on part of the outlet and the red wire would have fed the switched part of the outlet, until that was changed with the ceiling light.  Then 15 and 11 are the switches.  The untouched switch looks like this:

The other wires you see in the picture are all tied to the other, unrelated switch.

Looking at the 3 way switch in the photo, the black is the hot (common terminal) on the switch and the white and red are the traveler wires between both switches. And on the diagram for the junction box,15 and 11 looks like the two 3 way switches controlling the outlets on the red wire (switched) and the black feeds the hot side (hot all the time).
These receptacle outlets look like their split controlled (one half hot BLACK and one half switched RED). The taps in the junction box (separate of course) has all the blacks HOTS and whites NEUTRALS and red SWITCHED wires feeding the rec outlets. Hope this helps.

regards,
lariet


How to improve the acoustics in my living room? I've just gotten a brand new TV and put it in my living room.  The room is, however, extremely echoey.  It has a linoleum floor and bare walls, a couch, two chairs, a glass coffee table, and a glass TV stand.  The TV itself is mounted on a swivel mount that comes up from the back of the TV stand.  It sits about 8 inches away from the wall, and the built-in speakers are on the edge of the television's bezel.  It sounds absolutely horrendous and tinny as a result of this room having such poor acoustics.

What can I do to this room to reduce the echo and give the room a warmer sound?  I want to avoid putting things on the walls, as the walls are old plaster and that can end up being a mess and would be difficult to negotiate with my landlord.  If that's the only choice though, I'll take it.

The quality of speakers in your TV are quite limited because flat-screen TV's don't have enough room for proper speaker cabinets. As other answers suggest, the already reduced-quality sound is bouncing off the wall, which further reduces the quality by creating an echo.

Definitely invest in some forward-facing speakers at a minimum. You may not have the room for a surround system, but strongly consider a center channel speaker because dialog will be more easily understood. Many companies sell kits that include an amplifier and speakers, up to and including surround systems. You can find very good quality in a relatively small size, so you shouldn't need to spend more than a couple hundred dollars at the most.

Next, the hard surface floor is going to reflect sound much more than a carpet or rug. Given that you're renting, you should probably get an area rug to cover the majority of the floor.

After solving these two problems, if you continue to dislike the sound quality, you should try to cancel echo from the walls. Since you don't want to hang anything directly on the wall, you might want to try the folding screens idea as suggested in a comment. Some fabric such as drapes can be a great help in softening the acoustic profile of the room, so you might want to additionally add drapes or fabric to decorate but also cancel some echo.

Finally, if your furniture has hard surfaces and is at right angles to the room, try turning things a bit so that there are fewer parallel surfaces. It could help to scatter the sound a bit and provide a slightly different acoustic profile.

But definitely fix the speakers first.


What kind of thinset should I use on porcelain? I found some porcelain tiles that look like the wood planks, they are 6x24 and I am having trouble figuring out what kind of thinset and trowel I should use.

If the tile maker does not have a suggestion (they often do - see if they have a website if there's nothing in or on the package) any thinset and a notched trowel somewhere between 1/8x1/8x1/8 and 1/4x1/4x1/4 (depending on floor flatness) should do. Concrete is an excellent tile substrate (does not tend to move or flex) so there's no need for special acrylic modified flexible thinset.


Caulking bathtub, is there supposed to be a hole? I am re-caulking the bath tub, and have a question. After I remove the caulk, is there supposed to be holes between the bathtub and the tile? My house is 9 yrs old, and I have never had the guest bathroom re-caulked. Or am I going too deep with trying to remove the caulk? Please see the images for more info. Thank you for your help!

This is a picture of the hole
Am I digging to deep? This is what I am getting below the caulk

What it looks like you are getting out of the gap is the old grout and the caulk holding onto the grout. The grout when it was applied was the finish on the surface, but then the house dried out since it was new construction and caused some of the grout to loosen, so it was caulked at a later time. You are simply removing something that needs to be removed anyway. Clean it out very well, getting the old soap scum out of the gap so the new material will seal to the tub and wall and not to the soap scum. Let it dry thoroughly and caulk.


How do I take off my top track sliding doors? How do I take these sliding doors off? There is a post in the middle of them that prevents me lifting them up off the track and angling them out from the bottom.
Thank you in advance
p.s. they are top track only

I can't tell from the fuzzy photo whether the hanging hardware has a release mechanism, but typically you'd just swing the door outward (away from the closet) about 20 degrees, so that the top of the wheel clears the upper track lip, then lift it off. Obviously you'd start with the front (outer) slab.

The post you mentioned shouldn't be an issue. If there's a slide retainer on the floor you'll need to detach it first.

If those rivets I see engage notches in a two-piece hanger, you may have other options. I suspect that they're permanently attached in this case, though. Some have lever releases.


Inch-long block-and-spring part came with drill - what is it? A drill came with these parts. I've tried searching for them but I don't know what keywords to use.

They are each a bit longer than an inch.

Those are replacement brushes for the electric motor in your drill. They are what make the electrical contact to the coil in the motor that spins, while also allowing it to spin. The rectangular part on the end will eventually wear out. It's nice of your drill manufacturer to give you a set of spares.

You can swap these out either by removing a couple of plugs somewhere on the drill body, or if there are no plugs, you'd have to remove the drill's case and get to them that way. The plugs are usually round and have a slot for a screwdriver, they simply unscrew to expose the brush.

If this is a new drill, this should be explained in the instruction manual.


Why is difficult to unplug things from this electrical receptacle? The electrical receptacle in my bathroom is difficult to use. It seems hard to unplug hair dryers etc. Do I need to replace it or can I fix it?

It's probably best to get the socket replaced rather than repaired - especially one that's in a bathroom as you might need to have a RCD socket to protect against shocks.

Sockets should have a certain degree of stiffness so that the plug doesn't just fall out or come partially out if you put even the slightest strain on the flex.


How do I get the insulation blower into the attic? I rented an insulation blower. Apparently it weights 150 lbs and I'm not sure if I can get it up into the attic.
Or, perhaps, are the hoses long enough to reach all edges of a 1000 sq ft attic without requiring the blower to be inside the attic?

The blower doesn't go in the attic. The hose and the control cable do. If you took the blower up there you'd also have to carry the insulation up after it.
If you don't have enough hose, request an extension. Leave the blower in your truck or on your trailer unless you can't park near the door or window nearest the attic access point.


Kitchenette vs. kitchen electrical circuits I am living in a mother-in-law suite in the lower level of a 2003 home.   I just had a 6ft. kitchenette installed.  I will use a small fridge, a toaster oven, and a coffee pot.   The electrician installed one circuit that covers 3 wall plugs, only one of which (on top of counter, not fridge) has test/reset buttons (not sure what those are called).   Is this single circuit installation up to code?  Kitchens require 2 circuits, but what about a small kitchenette?

It called a Gfi outlet as long as the gfi is in the first outlet in the line from breaker it will trip before it gets to breaker box even if the last outlet shorts out our gets wet that is code in most states you are good and safe with that type of install


How to find an ethernet cable? I have a length of two Ethernet cables running upwards from a socket.
I vaguely know where they are (+-10cm), and I want to fix a Vesa mount to the wall near their route, so i need to trace exactly where they are, so I won't drill through them.
What would be the best way to find them?
Cables are run under plaster, on a brick wall, and since it's freshly finished,I really want to avoid digging them up.
I thought of connecting 230V to them, and use normal wire detector, but there has to be a safer way to do this.

There are digital stud finders that you use with your phone and the hype from their advertising implies you can see anything through anything.  I can't vouch for them but it's worth a look.
There are wire tracers like the toneout boxes the phone company used to use.  There are cheap ones.  The receiver does not need electrical contact, it's meant to work through the wire insulation but I don't know how far through plaster it might work.   Maybe worth a try.
Many VESA mounts are horizontally adjustable on their mounting screws so perhaps you could just drill outside the 10cm band and still get the result you want.


Identifying a piece of cast iron hardware A friend has a very old house, and while exploring it found the following piece of cast iron hardware. It's about 2 1/2" across, has four holes with what seems to be set screws, and a fifth taller central hole. There are five mounting points that seem suited for flat head screws. The text "STANDARD" is written on it (split into "STAN" and "DARD"), along with the digit "7".

Any idea what it might be?

That is a ceiling light mounting plate, used with knob-and-tube wiring.

The flathead screws would fasten the plate to a ceiling joist, and the wires were fed through the larger holes. The center hole is intended to support the weight of the light, via another part that is missing from your example.

I think the setscrews held small insulators, probably ceramic or bakelite.

Two of the wire holes are opened, and the other two still have their knockout plugs in place. Four holes were needed only when continuing the wiring to another fixture.

Knob-and-tube wiring, and fixtures like these, are now obsolete and may not be legally installed in the U.S. Existing Knob-and-tube may be left in place, but not extended or modified. Any changes require complete replacement, which was probably done in your friend's house at some point.


which type vaccum cleaner is used for cleaning window grills? I generally use it to clean window grills, mosquito nets attached to the windows, cupboards (and items in them) and doors (which have designs - because the dust gets stuck within the carved doors, like in the below image - the dust gets stuck in those carved designs), , mattress, sofas, pillows.

I am looking for bagless versions because of their reusability.

It isn't necessarily the type of vacuum you need, it's the attachment(s) that it either comes with or are available for it. The attachment type most applicable for the scenario(s) you are asking about is generally called a "dust brush", of which there are multitudes of types and sizes.

As for the brand and model of vacuum unit, there are way too many choices to list; a product-review web site may be able to narrow your search to the most reliable.

I prefer the "shop vacuum" canister type unit, as my experience has been that they are the most powerful versus cost (but they are less versatile, they are not for vacuuming carpets).


Do you have to mount the main electric panel on a piece of plywood? Do main panels have to be mounted on a piece of plywood? Can it be mounted in between two studs then insulating fiberglass behind it?

If in the US, the language is more general; fundamentally, the panel must be solidly supported, and not prone to fall off the wall as time passes. I personally prefer to have 5/8" type X drywall over the actual support when using a wooden support, for additional fire resistance. It's not required, but as the comments imply, your local "Authority Having Jurisdiction" (AHJ) is what really matters. That is your local electrical or building inspector; however, you can exceed their requirements so long as you actually meet them. That is where I'd class my affectation for firecode drywall on top of wood .vs. exposed wood.

The wall can be insulated, but the service entrance wire should pass though as directly as possible, and preferably in conduit.

From 2011 NEC:

  110.13 Mounting and Cooling of Equipment.

  (A) Mounting. Electrical equipment shall be firmly secured  to the
  surface on which it is mounted. Wooden plugs driven  into holes in
  masonry, concrete, plaster, or similar materials  shall not be used.

Having met a few things mounted this way, I can attest that wooden plugs in masonry rot, shrink, or both and do come loose, thus the specific exclusion.

Incidently, many panels can be mounted in the wall cavity between studs, though that can complicate the actual wiring in some ways. Perhaps that was what you were asking in the second question - it seemed like you were asking if a plywood mount could be placed that way. If it is your question, the answer is "Yes, if the box is designed for it and the wiring can be run in the space then available." It will reduce your wall insulation at that spot considerably. Many boxes will still need a solid support behind them, between the studs, to accommodate their mounting screw hole placement.


Can I install a whole-house water filter in my garage? I live in Winchester TN, in a one level home. The water line comes into the garage from under the house. I want to put it in the garage (in case of a leak. My husband states it may freeze. I do not believe it gets cold enough to freeze. Neither do a lot of the neighbors. What do you suggest?

If the existing water line is exposed in your garage and has never frozen, it stands to reason that neither would any other water fixture in the same vicinity.


Connecting an exterior string of patio lights to an existing permanent exterior CFL fixture Context
I have a small covered patio illuminated by an unattractive wall-mounted CFL fixture. For an improved ambiance, I have hung a string of LED patio lights that are plugged into an exterior outlet.
I would like the convenience of being able to switch the light string on/off from the wall switch inside the patio door (currently wired to the CFL fixture), rather than reaching behind the patio furniture to get at the outlet. To that end, I would like to somehow power my LED light string from the circuit that powers the CFL fixture.
Below is a photo of the inside of the CFL enclosure for reference.

Constraints
I live in a condo building that has a by-law regarding alterations to the exterior of the building.

Obtain approval before altering a strata lot or common property. Before making an alteration to any of the following: the exterior of a building;

I'm looking into exactly what this means for my purposes, but I suspect a "temporary" solution is preferable to any permanent electrical changes.
Question
How can I safely wire up my LED light string to the existing CFL fixture, such that the light string (rather than the CFL) is controlled by the indoor switch?
Ideas
Some ideas I've considered, but am not sure how to evaluate:

An adapter of some sort to adapt the CFL socket to a three pronged outlet, similar to this Amazon adapter. I haven't been able to find one for CFL sockets, and I suspect they don't exist.
Splicing an outlet in parallel with the CFL fixture (on the 120VAC line, not the stepped up line into the CFL socket) and inside the CFL enclosure. Then just leaving the CFL unplugged.
Replacing the fixture entirely with an external outlet. This is less ideal from the strata perspective.

Of course, the "best" thing would be to get approval for a licensed electrician to add a switched outlet outside. Or use a remote-controlled outlet, some even have regular-looking-but-wireless wall switches you can stick next to the light fixture's switch with removable adhesive. Or maybe invest in some alexa/homekit/smarthings junk.
The socket cannot be adapted, the cfl gets high voltage from the transformer. I might consider ripping out the transformer and cfl socket, then putting a normal ceramic bulb socket on the bracket. Many sockets have the black and white wires pre-wired; just match them up with the leads show using wire nuts or wagos. Might need some epoxy or jbweld to attach the socket to the bracket, depending on how it attaches. It doesn't have to be very sturdy, but it needs to be able to take some heat, so no hotglue.
It would then be fully functional with CFL/LED bulbs and nobody would notice or complain. At that point, a simple "socket-to-plug" adapter would give you a plug for a DC adapter for your LED strip. Use an inline GFCI if possible. I don't know how you would hide the wires and keep the wall wart dry, but I think this idea at least solves your wiring issue within the confines of your HOA and pre-sale home inspectors.


Why does the main circuit breaker trip but not the smaller branch circuit breakers? We have one circuit breaker (40 A) where our electrical service enters our house, then it is divided into a 32A line for level one and a 25A for level two.The main circuit breaker (40A) trips every several hours, but the other two circuit breakers (the 32A and the 25A) don't trip.  I am thinking the problem is that the 32A breaker and the 25A breaker makes 57A, which is bigger than the 40A main breaker.

Am I right?  Should the total rating of the different circuit breakers in one system be less than the rating of the main circuit breaker?

The two branch circuit breakers will trip if the load on their protected circuit is greater than 32 amperes, and 25 amperes respectively. However, since the main breaker trips at 40 amperes. If both branch circuits are pulling a full load the branch circuit breakers will not trip, but the combination of the loads will trip the main breaker (32 + 25 = 57 > 40 as you have said).

It's a very common situation to have the branch circuit breakers total more than the main breaker, but this is almost never a problem since the circuits usually don't pull a full load. Remember, circuit breakers are there to protect the wires. They shut off the power if you are drawing enough power to damage the wire, so installing a larger main breaker is likely not an option (unless you contact your power company and have the service upgraded, which will include upgrading the feeder cable).

Contact your local power company, and speak to them about a service upgrade.  Other than plugging less stuff in, or cycling loads, there is not much you can do yourself in this situation.


NEC Microwave Dedicated Circuit Question about microwaves and dedicated circuits.  What's the difference in circuit requirements (amps? dedication? something else?) between microwaves in these locations:

mounted under a cabinet over the range
sitting on a countertop
mounted under a cabinet (but not OTR)
mounted under the countertop (drawer-style)
sitting on a shelf somewhere above the counter
sitting on a shelf somewhere below the counter?

The code doesn't address microwaves as a specific appliance, but NEC 210.23(A)(2) Utilization Equipment Fastened in Place limits equipment to 50% of a circuit when shared with lighting or other equipment not fastened in place.
So if it's fastened in place, which would likely place it on a designated kitchen circuit, a shared kitchen circuit would have to be 20A, so a microwave would not be able to exceed 1200W without requiring a dedicated circuit.


Rock light post repair I have a light post at the driveway. They are about 2 feet by 2 feet. The rock is separating how can i repair this quickly without taking it down? Help please

Well, the site may desire long complicated answers, but in this case "You can't" is the correct one. The only (if any) hope for that thing would be to tear it down, chip off the remains of the failed mortar, and build it again.

You could try all sorts of cockamamie things with polyurethane glue, etc. but they will ultimately fail, while wasting time and money.


I replaced the plug in the garage and arced. Now I some plug work and some do not? I changed a plug in the garage that the door opener is plugged into. While i arced the wires and now the light in the garage does not work, the attic does not work. The lights and fans in the master bedroom and the light in the utility room light are out as well.  Checked the breaker and the breaker seems fine and is actually good because the garage door still works. I am not sure what to do .  I changed out the breaker anyway and still nothing. I changed the light switches in the garage, utility room, and master bedroom?

I cannot comment as I am too new to the forum. When you say you arced the wires do you mean you caused them to arc flash? If this did happen your breaker should have tripped. Also are these lights on the same circuit? Were these lights switched on when this arc occurred? Was this arc between a live and earth wire?

I would try switching all the breakers off and back on as I've known breakers to stick, where they look like they are on but they have actually tripped. I would also suggest checking the bulbs of these lights, if they were on at the time you could have burnt the filaments out or blown the leds dependent on the type of bulbs because an arc causes a surge of current which can cause bulbs the 'pop'. This definitely should have caused the breaker to trip otherwise the breaker is not fit for purpose and should be assessed by an electrician.


Adding a plug to a direct wire vent hood I inadvertently bought a range vent hood that is a direct wire model instead of a plug in.  Is there any reason why I couldn't run a grounded replacement plug with a wire to the unit in lieu of the direct wiring?

As long as the plug and the corresponding outlet are sufficient for the hood's power requirements, there's no problem hard-wiring a plug to it. No different than hard-wiring a plug to a dishwasher or other appliance.


How do I remove paint from a wood floor? I have a coat of non-transparent paint (not sure what type, it was painted about 20 years ago) on my floor. I'd like to see the wood grain. So I am trying to figure out a simple DIY way to remove the paint without damaging the wood. I've looked into this, but I have never done anything like this, so I am confused. Maybe somebody can suggest something?

Removing painted to expose wood grain requires significant effort. How much effort depends on the type of wood, the type of paint, and how much paint has been applied.

The simplest approach is sanding.  If the wood is thick and you have access to a professional sanding machine, this can be done, but this process generates a great deal of dust that needs to be collected, and, if the paint is old, presents a lead hazard. Mask, vacuuming and heavy duty filters are required.

Chemical stripping avoids most of the airborn dust (and lead) and can remove the bulk of the finish.  A follow-up sanding is needed.  There are several new citrus based strippers that are fairly effective and avoid the more toxic chemicals of the solvent based strippers.

If the wood is open grained (like oak) it is likely that paint will remain in the grain, necessitating a deeper final sanding.

If the floor is very small, hand scraping is possible, but again, masks and vacuuming are essential and again, a final sanding is necessary to get it ready for finish coats.

Sanding of floors is almost always done with larger commercial type units, using ever finer grades of sandpaper.  If the area is small and you are patient, a hand-held belt sander, or even an orbital sander may work.


Tum toe tap drain removal I am trying to clear a clog in my bath drain with toe touch stop. I have removed the top portion by unscrewing it. I can’t turn the screw in the bottom portion at all. How can I get it out?  Thanks!

You’ll need a tub drain extractor. Menards, Lowe’s, Home Depot will have it.


Service upgrade / code compliance A buddy and I are planning up doing a complete electrical service upgrade as he currently has and outdated fuse panel. The plan is to update him to a 150 amp breaker panel. I am comfortable with the work but while I was out pricing materials I was bombarded by a store employee on tons of code changes and needing the breakers that cost $50 apiece, making me second guess the job as I don’t want to start and get slammed with code violations. I just want to know what I should be prepared for as we weren’t planning on pulling new unless it was needed as some is old KT wire and some Romex. Any on-site would be greatly appreciate.

Please, get a BIG panel.

The #1 panel issue we here is "my panel is full".  This is an absurd problem to have given how panels are priced. The incremental cost for more spaces is a buck or two per space.  So max this out.

Get a 42-space panel.  No compromises.

That is the minimum sensible size for a modern home.  This panel will assure you never have the "my panel is full" problem - which the next size down, a 30-space, can't promise.  Even if you're at 8 spaces now and 18 seems huge, trust us.  Get a 40/42.

We mean spaces, not circuits.  The "circuits" number is completely useless because it relies on "double-stuff" breakers, and those are not available in GFCI/AFCI (big problem!)

If physical dimensions are a factor, look at Square D "QO" or Eaton "CH" which have more compact breakers, and put 40 spaces where others put 30. This is not double-stuffing.

Better ways to get a 150A main breaker

150A/42-space panels are rare enough to not bother looking for them. You're better off with a breaker panel  "Value Pack" that tosses in some bonus breakers.

If you have a main breaker upstream (e.g. at the meter) then the new panel doesn't even need one.  If this will be the main breaker, you have two ways to get a 150A panel in many panels:

If it has a main breaker larger than 150A, you can swap it out.
If you buy a convertible main-lug panel (which has space for a main breaker) then obviously you can select 150A.

Store advice

Never talk to a Home Depot, Lowes, Menards etc. employee again. Their advice is worse than useless.  Electrical supply house managers tell me they visit those stores and hire away anyone good.

GFCI/AFCI breakers

If all you're doing is replacing the panel, there's no requirement to fit all AFCI/GFCI breakers.  This is because of the concept of grandfathering.  You would be required to do that if you remodeled or significantly altered the circuit, and that is irrelevant to whether you upgraded the panel.  Your ability to do this in the future is one reason you need a big panel.  They don't make double-stuff AFCI/GFCI, and they never will.


homax wall texture spray can won't work second time I'm on my third can of spray texture, this time from Homax.  Each works the first time, I clear the nozzle before I store.... then nothing.
Are these one time use products? Or can I use them again for wall repairs (i.e., nail hole in the wall, etc.)

How do I clear the can? Now I have three different brands, all used once, and none working now.

I've found that these are, generally speaking, one use products.

You can improve your odds by turning them in a way that blows propellant (usually down, but some products are tricky that way) and clears the airway, but even this is hit and miss. (Among other things, it gives you less propellant for the next time, so you'll end up with goo in the can that you can't shoot.)

So buy small cans if you have a small job.


location of pressure switch Is it really important where pressure switch is located. My entire system is in a very small crawl space with no electric nearby and switch is at well head about 65 feet away. I was told this will lead to problems over time with pressure regulation. Installing electric in crawlspace will be very expensive. So is location of switch that critical.

Not really that critical.
While it is generally preferable/best practice to put the pressure switch at/near the pressure tank, it will still work if it's not there.
The pressure at the tank may not match the pressure at the switch, but for the most part, that rarely matters to the extent that it's not the same, in a system with reasonable pipes (size and condition.) If the pressure at the switch is 30/50 and the pressure at the tank is 35/55 or 25/45, you still get water, under pressure.
The default 20PSI differential/hysteresis tends to protect against small effects that would be difficult if the differential was not that large.


Prepare shower for tiling I got guys doing some tiling and this is what it looks like before the tile.
How would you quality this work?

Prepare shower for tiling

This is not prepared for use in a shower. The seams of cement backer-board should be filled with mortar prior to application of the mesh tape. Also, it is not waterproof yet because it needs at least one more coat of waterproofing.

You had better take a good look at the pan; how it was constructed and prepared. A bad pan will make for a really bad day for you sometime in the (perhaps near) future...


I have a lot of plastic anchor bolts in the sheetrock walls. What is the best way to patch them? I am moving & after taking down many pictures, mirrors, etc., I have many plastic anchors left in the sheetrock.  What is the best way to patch them?

Depending on the design of them, if they're the type that can be removed ( pulled straight out with needle nose pliers) I would yank them then patch them.

If they are the type that don't want to come out easily, sometimes you can take a small ball peen hammer ( using the rounded end )and lightly tap them below surface level... This way, patching can be accomplished.

And finally, if you can't do anything with them  ( in rare cases ) you can drill them out gently, then of course patch.


Draining problems in dishwasher. Is this drain setup ok? I have issues with dirty water in filter area and dishes not coming clean. This is a new dishwasher. Old one had similar issues so I think it is the drain and not dishwasher. Is the drain setup ok? Would it be better going to disposal? There is no possibility of adding an air gap.

Update:  The upright pipe is what I think is an attempt at a loop..air gap thing.  The plastic drain hose from the dishwasher comes out of the dishwasher..across the bottom of the cabinet.  Up the side of that white pipe where it becomes clamped to a copper pipe.  That empties into the white pipe which goes back down to the bottom of the cabinet and out its own drain.
Thanks!

Put the dishwasher drain line into the disposal. But that is NOT your air gap. There is a difference between an air gap and a trap. The output of the disposal has a trap, which is important. But you also need to have an air gap. A trap prevents sewer gas from escaping through the drain. An air gap prevents sewer water from coming into the dishwasher if the drain pipe is clogged.

However, an air gap does not need to be the old style of funny looking metal/plastic thing on the corner of the sink. Instead, you can use a flexible hose from the dishwasher that loops up above the height of the sink drain, as far as possible to the underside of the counter and then loops down and into the disposal. This does not require anything visible above the counter or any cutting holes into the sink or counter.

Assuming the corrugated plastic tube is your dishwasher drain line, move the end to the disposal and attached the middle of it as high up under the counter as you can and you're all set.


Do I need to support a section of a load bearing wall? In the bathroom, I discovered the double sole plate of a short wall are rotted out. The wall length is 2 feet long and its the wall the door closes on.  The entire wall including the door is just over 5'.  The rotted plate is about 18" of the 2' section.

The studs on the plate are either rotted or starting so I plan to cut 6" past the affected area and add new studs and sisters.

The studs are perpendicular to the above ceiling joists. Naturally, I'm assuming they're load bearing, though I'm not positive. An adjacent double sole plate (parallel to the ceiling joists) is not load bearing.
My question is regardless if the wall is load bearing or not, do I need to support the wall/ceiling?  It's only 18" of a 5' wall. I'd rather "ask now" than "should've asked".

The house is 67 years old, cape cod style with crawl space eaves sitting above the wall in question.

It's always better to be safe than sorry.  Is that section of wall supporting the roof?  If it is only supporting a single joist a 2x4 under that joist should be enough to keep everything in place while you cut and replace everything.