Using dielectric grease on oven broil element connector Our upper bake element on our oven wasn't working, so I took it apart last night and found that the spade connector had apparently arced and charred and it was totally disconnected.
I had considered cleaning off the charring and re-using the element since there was a decent bit of spade connector left and it measured fine, but for the price of a new element ($20-$40) I am going to replace the bake element just to be safe.
I will also crimp on a new spade connector, but I talked to someone I trust in electrical matters and they mentioned the possible use of dielectric grease to help ensure that the new connection didn't oxidize.
Now the connection itself gets pushed back into insulation outside of the actual baking area, but:
Is it safe to use dielectric grease on this type of connection?
Do I need to worry about the grease being food safe even if it's not in the oven area?

Make sure to get high tempature spade lugs. Standard tinned copper tend to get loose with heat, the ones I use are rated to 900 f.  As an example I use FR9C-250 terminals from elecdirect (without the name a bunch of gun parts came up).
I have repaired stoves that had some damage but the replacement lug needs full contact with the blade or even high temp connectors will overheat. I am not sure if dielectric grease in this application will do much good but I don't think it would hurt. It may smoke when the element is turned on for the first time or two.


Can i paint over this semi sanded gloss door? The door has been painted with white oil-based wood gloss paint over the past 15-20 years (See first image). In the past, I would just paint over it which worked fine the few times I did it.
Now I want to switch from gloss to satinwood paint, I've brought Dulux trade satinwood white. From my research, I understand it's not possible to just paint on top of the current gloss paint so I started to sand down the door. See before and after image:

Do I need to sand the door down 100% where the is no paint left?
Can I just sand down the first layer so the gloss paint is semi removed and then paint over it?

Can I just sand down the first layer so the gloss paint is semi removed and then paint over it?

YES - there is no need to sand all the way through the existing paint. You just need to de-gloss the paint and the new paint should stick fine.
Concern- the fact that you repainted previously, without sanding, may cause one or more layers of old paint to start to peel up. This is a problem that would require more thorough sanding. In fact, you would need to sand off all paint that appears to be peeling.


Is there a program or system which will tell me what length (8' or 10') 1x3 lumber to get for making storm windows? I am going to make some storm windows. 13 of them. The windows will be simple 1x3 frames with a 1x3 horizontal stretcher midway up. Mitered corners. I am including the measurements at the bottom of the question.

The question is - is there software or a trick that I can use to determine if I should get 8' or 10' or a combination of the two? Of course the system should also help determine which pieces to cut out of which board to maximize the wood use, aka minimize waste?

62.5" x 31.5"

62.5" x 31.5"

62.5" x 31.5"

62.5" x 33.5"

62.5" x 26"

62.5" x 26"

62.5" x 28"

62.5" x 24"

62.5" x 24"

62.5" x 24"

63" x 26.5"

63" x 26.5"

63" x 27.25"

You will need all 8' material. The amount of waste you will have would be minimal Any of the numbers do not add up to 96". The stretchers will also work with 8" stock too, with little waste. There you will in essence be using 24" and 32 " lengths.

Cut everything to a rough length, then set up jigs to make your repeat cuts.


How to setup an audio system for TV and other audio sources? I'm finally breaking out of the attic that served me as a room for many years at my parents for a fresh appartment I'm about to finish renovating.
First furniture I buy, well already bought actually, is a 55" LG OLED and a PS4 Pro, I know I know, that's vital. We'll see about fridges, laundry machines, and all the other stuff in a few months lol.
I'm planning on adding a record player, and some way to connect my PC from the room to stream media or games.
So my question, and I'm a real noob about it, is how do I manage all this from an Audio point of view ?
I don't know much about amplifiers, inputs / outputs, how to design an ergonomic system and what would be enough for a 25m² living room. Plus, I'm soon going to buy a QC35ii for work, because here people don't know respect, so as I'm a late owl, a system that could be used (automatically/easily) with those headphones would be a huge plus.
I'm mostly going to watch series/movies, a lot of youtube, games, music. I'm not radical, but quite an audiophile, all styles of music.

I hope I can find good advice here. Thank you !

I would go with a decent quality AV (audio video ) unit. These are essentially integrated amplifiers that handle/pass through video signals as well. You can spend as little as $200 or as much as much as many thousands of dollars. Assuming you are on a budget i would look for a mid to high level USED one ( unless you can pop for a new one ).

I scored a Denon AVR 3301ci on craigslist for $300 that was $1600 retail when new.

The lower end units may not offer you all the connect-ability you may want. the mid the upper end units will have lots of inputs for dvd, games, aux, pc, phono etc. Some of the newer units on the market have been built with streaming and Digital audio converter included.

Make sure you get one with a phono input unless you already have a phono stage ( pre amp ) for your turntable other wise you will not be able to run a turntable through it.

I would join an audio video forum such as AVSForum , and do lots of reading and research before you make and investment. Now there a lot of audiophiles on some these sites who extol the benefits of expensive this or that but there are a lot folks just like you who started out with little knowledge and or money and will love to help you get started.

Some good names in the AV unit arena are Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer.

Go the  Receivers, Amps, and Processors forum write a question and ask about recommendations for AV units with all of the needs you are looking for and you will get loads of recommendations.

You will need speakers and these units can run two in stereo or as many as 9 or 12 in surround. You can start with two and as you get more ad them.

I love my Denon and it rocks with movies or my LP's. I will say that the operation manuals from denon leave a lot to be desired but there is usually a forum dedicated to each specific unit with help and advise for those in need.


How can I control my furnace blower independently from the furnace itself? I have an outdoor wood burner with a water jacket. It has an electric blower that needs to run to get the fire going hot enough to be clean burning. I have a 200 gallon storage tank, and plan to enlarge it to 1000 gallons. I pump water out of the tank to the wood burner, then the hotter water goes to the house and through an exchanger in my furnace. Then the cooled water goes back to the tank.

Is there a thermostat that will kick just the furnace blower on at say 68 and turn it off at 71 but still let the furnace light and work normally at a lower temp like 50?

To accomplish this, you can use a 2-stage thermostat. You'd connect only the 2nd stage to your furnace. Both stages run the blower.

When the temperature drops to say 69, the first stage will start your blower. When the temperature drops to an even lower temperature, the furnace (stage 2) will be switched on just as you describe.

There are many thermostats which can accomplish this. Here's a great video I found
which demonstrates how a 2 stage thermostat works. You can see that the first stage is activated when the temperature is slightly lower than the set temperature and the second stage is activated when the room temperature is much lower than the set temperature. There are dials to set when the second stage is activated. He also shows the wiring for the stages. In your application, you'd leave w₁ unconnected and connect your furnace to w₂.


No hot water until another faucet is turned on I live in an apartment complex and each apartment has its own hot water heater. If I turn my kitchen sink on first, I get no hot water at all until another faucet in the bathroom is turned on.  Then when the bathroom runs hot the kitchen immediately goes to hot.  Vice Versa for the bathroom sink first and then the kitchen sink.

The property manager changed the mixing valve and still no results.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would guess that you have a tankless water heater with a minimum flow rate.

If your faucets also have low-flow nozzles (now required by law in California) it's possible that a single sink wouldn't trigger tankless water heater to turn on.


Is it okay to have AC/Furnace intake suck air from wall cavities? The house we bought almost 2 years ago has 2 intake air registers for the furnace and AC (not one for each, but both feed both the units). There is a big 20x20 intake downstairs and a smaller 12x20 intake upstairs. The 20x20 pokes out the bottom of the main trunk and looks pretty standard, but the smaller 12x20 upstairs is really weird.

The upstairs register doesn't directly go to the main trunk. Instead it feeds air into an interior wall cavity which is connected to the main trunk via 2-3' of horizontal ducting. If this cavity was sealed so that it made a sort-of sideways J to draw air into the trunk from upstairs I wouldn't have any problem. But it is not so. First off the square cavity was littered with construction debris and dust (which I just now vacuumed out). Second, it is not sealed, so it can draw unfiltered air from all the interior walls.

How normal is this setup? I'm guessing someone just made a mistake and something got left undone, but I'm having trouble figuring out how the previous owners changed this filter year after year without being bothered to at least clean out the cavity. I'm thinking I need to get my whole system cleaned and sealed since drawing all this unfiltered air could very well be making us sick.

Pictures

I found my camera so here are some pics:

Register from upstairs hallway:

Electrical runs penetrate cavity without seal:

Stud gaps are not sealed in upper portion of cavity:

Lower part of cavity appears to have been sealed:

The runs to the main trunk that I am on top of appear to be sealed as well:

All those clean marks on the ducting is where I stuck the vacuum cleaner.

I don't think it's illegal if done right. The problem is that it seems to have been done wrong. If you have construction debris in the intake that's lazy and sloppy at best. Eventually some of that junk is going to end up in your AC unit with predictably bad results. Let's hope your filter is a good one.

I have seen (shudder) old houses where the intake went along cavities but the builder or owner had neglected to ensure that every last hold along the joist run had been sealed. In the next cavity over was fiberglass insulation. You don't want to be breathing that stuff.


Home Air Conditioner Problem I have an air conditioning unit that was here when I bought the house.  It was in the 70's here today, but I have an old house and windows don't open so the house was hot.  I decided to turn on the ac and put it at about 65 degrees.  I left the house for about 1.5 hours and when I came home the house was hot.  I went outside and the lines that run from the ac to the house were white with snow/ice.

I turned off the ac and checked and changed the filter.  I have had the ac service people out twice this year.  First time was to replenish the refrigerant, which was low. Second time was because there was still water leaking from somewhere in the basement.  He put more putty around the hoses on the inside unit and the water stopped leaking out.  On the second trip he rechecked the refrigerant and it was still ok from the charge he did on the first trip.

I am wondering if that might have caused the freezing.  Also, wondering if running it in cooler weather...ie., the temp outside was cooler than the temp inside could create this situation.  Does this sound like there are additional problems?

I did what I thought was appropriate:  At the first of the year I did have a service person check it twice this year and he said all I needed was freon on the first trip, and that everything seemed ok on the second... I'm concerned as I have a fixed income and can't really afford a lot of additional charges and I hate to say it but I am afraid of being taken advantage of because I don't know that much about the subject.

Any tips on making sure the service man is not just trying to sell me a new ac if that is what it comes down to? Thanks.

The problem you describe is considered normal performance for many residential A/C units.  By design, these only function correctly if the outdoor temperature is warmer than mid 70s and the indoor temperature is above 68F.   Below these temperatures, the evaporator coil gets colder than freezing, becoming worse as the coil accumulates frost, eventually causing the system to become covered in ice and stop cooling until the unit is manually shut down and thawed.

In a situation such as yours where A/C needs to perform even during cool temperatures, it is necessary to install three accessories which will enable the unit to operate under these conditions:

(1)  A compressor crankcase heater (sized for your compressor)

(2)  A head pressure control (such as Totaline p251-0083h, approx $35 new, Ebay)

(3)  A evaporator control limit (ECL) switch or Freezestat (approx $20 new, Ebay)

Calibrating the head pressure control perfectly requires a set of gauges, but it usually works correctly if the temperature probe is placed anywhere near the discharge of the condenser coil.  Other than that, these are electrical items only, requiring no refrigerant expertise.  This setup is sometimes referred to as a "low ambient kit with freezestat."  An experienced tech should be able to install all these within a couple hours.


Are there any issues connecting Neutral and Live at once to the supply line? A normal plug point has the wiring structure of the normal cct diagram I've drawn below. I'm thinking about plugging a device into the outlet in a permanent way and keep the switch closed and control it using a switch at a separate place. My problem is will there be any electrical sparks or anything if I connect the live and neutral to the supply line at once?

Your circuit diagram looks perfectly safe.

A two pole isolator is often used where the need is to make a circuit safe to work on, not simply to turn off the power.

Earth should not be switched, your diagram looks correct.

Disclaimers  As always, check the law and codes in your country. You might need to have a professional certify it safe. There will be rules about the type of wire, termination, labelling etc. The body of the 2-pole switch should also be earthed, and the earth cable should run in the conduit between them, not taking a short cut. The power should run through the switch, not there-and-back. You are probably not allowed to fasten the cord of a portable device to the wall in any way, or run it under a carpet or floor.  You're probably not allowed to mount a hand tool in a permanent way. I can't tell you that your system is safe, but the electrical concept is not dangerous.


Decking - Shorter Sister Joists for Abutted Boards? I have an existing deck that I am refurbishing.  The deck is only 18" off the ground.  The existing joists are in good shape.  I would like to use shorter deck boards with abutted ends due to the length of the deck boards.  The existing joists are long as well with supports running underneath them.

Instead of adding a full length sister joist I am wondering if two half sister joists with blocking in between is a viable alternative?  The main reasons are that the longer sister joist would be a custom order at the lumber yard and more difficult to transport.

Below is a simplified drawing.  I'm actually considering adding two pair of the half sister joists and blocking so the deck boards can be in a staggered pattern.  That way there wouldn't be a seam down the middle.

As the sister joist is not to reinforce the structure of the deck, but only to support the ends of the floor planks then making if from multiple short pieces will not be a problem.

it doesn't even need to be the full size of the other joists, you can use 2x4 or whatever. is convenient.

It's also legal to rest two plank ends on a single joist (each end about half way across) but if your deck is too long for your planks to be used that way you can't do that.

I'd consider staggering the boards so that all the joins don't happen in a straight line.


Wiring disposal/dishwasher/outlets in island In addition to my 2 dedicated small appliance circuits on the main counter, my kitchen has an island with sink and dishwasher.  I have two dedicated circuits available for the island and need to wire the dishwasher, the disposal, and the outlets on either end of the island.

What is the approved way to wire all three of these with two dedicated circuits? My instinct tells me disposal and one outlet on one circuit.  Dishwasher and other outlet on remaining. Both are 20A and both will be gfci.  Location is Ca.

Thanks!

The first rule is that you can't have any receptacles on a circuit if the fixed load is more than 50% of circuit capacity.  So on a 20A circuit, that means 10A.   Your 10.6A dishwasher cannot be on the same circuit with any receptacles.

The second rule is that if an appliance is able/likely to run continuously for >3 hours, you must plan for 125% of its capacity on the circuit.  I'm not sure if a dishwasher qualifies, but if so, it counts as 125% of 10.6A or 13.25 amps.  The disposal is definitely not a continuous load, so it counts at 100%, or 6.3 amps.  Together, they count as 19.55 amps, which nicely fits a 20A circuit.

This design seems to "write itself": the dishwasher circuit can't have receptacles, leaving it with a bunch of spare capacity nothing can use except the disposal.

That would leave the other circuit wide-open for receptacles only.


Lost shower pressure when switching from double handle to single We are getting ready to redo our bathroom, and we were hoping to change our tub/shower from a double-handle control to a single dial control. One of our neighbors (same condo building, different unit) recently made the same change and said that her water pressure dropped significantly when she installed the dial control. What would cause this? Is there a way to install the single-handle control that would not lose so much water pressure?

Update:

Just a quick update. We just had the contractor install the rough-in, dial, and shower head with no specific instructions, and we haven't had any pressure or flow issues! Our neighbor must have just had a bad install.

Does this person have the professional competence to know the difference between water pressure and flow?

Because the new thing in showers is "low flow" showerheads (often by law).  Meanwhile, any 1-handle valve must have an anti-scald feature which throttles back the hot water.  It's hard to make that work over a wide range of flows. So of course they optimize for the low-flow heads common in new-construction.  With a "classic" head, it may come out limp-wristed.

You can do a bucket and stopwatch test on yours and (with her cooperation) hers.  I bet the difference is significant.

I prefer a nice deluge, but even more, I prefer a long shower. Low-flow showerheads are not some sad wimpy affair. They feel like normal showerheads.  If flow is too low, They can be a little jumpy when used with classic valves.

The dirty secret behind the dial valve is they are being forced down the throat of the American public by government agencies to reduce the statistical occurrence of scalding in showers, that itself is on the rise due to government recommendations to set water heaters to scalding temperatures to kill bacteria which can cause Legionaire's disease. (Thanks Jim Stewart, for the knowledge, not the disease).  Sigh.  Pull one string, and three other things unravel.  In all fairness, Legionaire's is a new disease only first seen in the 80's and has taken quite some time to figure out.

Or, do as many of us have done, and get an on-demand hot water heater set to a sane temperature... And keep your valves.

Oh, and here's another trick.   The notion of drywalling up the shower valve is most decidedly non-Victorian.  In most Victorians I've lived in, on the wall behind the mixing valve, there's either a tasteful cabinet door with a latch, a closet, or a built-in bookshelf with a false back.  That makes it ridiculously easy to gain access to the mixing valve and tub drain linkage, which makes a swap a very practical DIY.


Do we need a gable vent, and in either case, how to vent bathroom fan outside (can it be via the gable)? We need to put a hole from our attic to the outside, one way or the other. Before making any holes, I hope to hash out the details. Here's the goals:

Make sure attic is properly vented
Direct bathroom vent outside (it currently terminates into open air of the attic)

First objective:

I know we have a ridge vent, as I've seen the light and clearly heard the outdoors through it while working in the attic. The underside of the roofing deck is exposed, and while the roof is expected to need full replacement in 5-10yrs (there are a few layers of shingles as I understand it, so we'll need to strip them all and lay new roof), the roofing deck seems very old but in very good shape: solid wood boards tongue & grooved.

I recall being told we have sofit vents from an inspector or friend, but I need to double check. They'd be obviously visible where the roof overhang meets the exterior wall if we have them, right? Based on something on the internet, I have the idea that if I have sofit vents along the length of the attic sides and have a ridge vent, then attic ventilation is good to go and a gable might only make things worse. So, do I need to install a gable vent?

We don't have any gable vent yet. Only one gable is exposed to outdoors anyway, and on the other end the attic terminates at an interior wall of a living room that was redone to have a vaulted ceiling with exposed rafters.

Last detail is, how's the attic temperature? Well, it's hot in the summer but it's not too crazy, so there must be some ventilation. It's cool in autumn/spring and bitter cold in the winter, but warmer than outside. In the one winter we've had this house, we get some ice dams in parts of the roof, building up on the long roof overhangs, but nothing too bad yet. Maybe I should take measurements of attic temperatures before making a decision about this?

Second objective:

This is pretty straight forward: bathroom vent needs to vent outdoors. What's less certain is if that can be through ducts to a hole drilled in the gable with a louver vent covering, or if it needs to be up through the roof. I understand this depends on distance and whether we have a gable vent or not, which ties into objective 1. As for distance, the roof is within 5' of the bathroom vent's attic-side, whereas the gable is more like 15'-20' of duct work to get to (gotta go up and measure that more precisely). I suspect venting it out the gable is easier, but given it's the only outdoor-exposed gable and it's a bit far, maybe it's not the right way to do it, especially if we need a gable vent for attic ventilation on the same gable?

So: Do we need a gable vent, and if it's uncertain, how can be check to be sure? Depending on if we need a gable vent or not, how should the bathroom vent be routed outdoors?

Gable venting is not a good idea for your attic. Gable vents work well when there are adequately sized vents on opposite sides of the attic, so air can flow across the whole interior space. This design is impossible in your attic because you only have a gable opening at one end.

Ridge/soffit venting is a good solution for your attic (and more popular than gable venting in new construction for good reasons). The ridge vent allows warm air to rise out of the attic, and the soffit vents supply replacement air from the outdoors. These vents are likely visible from outdoors, but they can be subtle; often there's simply a perforated panel installed in the soffit rather than distinct vents.

Adding a gable vent to your system would make it worse. Replacement air could come in through the gable vent instead of the soffits, and airflow would suffer in the parts of your attic further away from the gable.

From your description of the roof decking, you probably don't have a severe ventilation problem. Signs of that would include mold formation and rot in the roof decking, but your roof decking sounds fine. If you do need to improve ventilation, check your soffit venting. Are there vents serving each rafter bay? Is the path from vent to attic unobstructed? Sometimes vents are blocked by over-eager insulation installers; depending on the situation, you might be able to address the issue by installing plastic/foam baffles designed to ensure a path for air, or simply by cutting away or moving insulation. Improvements to ventilation can definitely help with ice dams, but it's hard to suggest particular improvements for your situation without locations & pictures. In particular, as you mention having a vaulted ceiling, I'd suspect your ice dams have more to do with that roof and its connection to the vented roof. If your ice dam issues are sporadic, consider getting a roof rake and clearing snow buildup in the risk areas; and when you get your roof replaced ensure these areas are thoroughly covered with ice & water membrane under the shingles.

For the bathroom vent, either approach is fine as long as it's within the manufacturer's spec for what your fan can handle.


Adding a mechanical part to a lock insert After some cases of vandalism (objects inserted in the lock from outside) I would like to get rid of this single point of failure by adding, on the internal side of the lock, an electro-mechanical mechanism to turn the lock from the inside. It would be powered by an Arduino.

I know that there are electronic locks (the ones I saw had various issues) or anti-vandalism ones (no electronic parts) but I would like to try to roll out my own.

The problem I am having is that I could not find anywhere an insert which would be

normal on the outside part of the door (a classical hole for the key)
hackable on the inside part of the door,

probably something like this

where I could attach something (a motor for instance) instead of the knob.

Do such inserts (cylinders) exist?

The "knob" cylinder shown in your picture is probably as close to ideal as you are going to get. Just modify the knob so you can attach your motor, directly or via drive belt or whatever.

It sounds like a better solution would be to either install a guard over the keyway so the kids can't tamper with it, or to switch to a keyless system so the problem can't varied in the first place.

I presume the apartment does not have a second door so you can't just go around that way.


Hot water twin impeller pump wiring to my boiler I have installed a new Stuart Turner Monsoon twin impeller pump to increase the hot water pressure in my house.

The pluming side of things seems to have gone well, however, I am not receiving any hot water through my taps at all where as previously I would get hot water but at a slow dribble.

Is it possible that the wiring I have replaced between my hot water boiler and the new pump could be interfering with each other and preventing me getting any hot water?

I have attached some pictures below so you can understand the setup.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Ash

Take a look at figure 5 in the manual. (Or any of the other figures)

None of them show you connecting the pipes in parallel across the pump.

The cold comes in and out one side of the pump in series. The hot comes in and out the other side of pump.

Check your plumbing in the picture against figure 5.

They are not the same.

Do you have just the hot water coming in and you are trying to use bothe sides of the pump for hot instead of hot and cold?


Using strong magnets for hanging window blinds I have a wide window a touch less than 6' across and I want to install a blind with 2" deep horizontals. The blind that was within my price range comes with five support brackets, which can either attach to a vertical, or a horizontal surface. The kit comes with two screws per bracket, (although the end "cap" brackets appear to be more load bearing, with the center 3 for stability).

I don't know the exact weight, but likely between 30 and 50 lb. [Edit: actually 20 lb.] That's before I've stripped out the unneeded horizontals from the bottom of the blind.

I cannot drill into the vertical surface, because that's the plastic window frame, and doesn't really have enough "meat" on it for supporting something this heavy.

The horizontal surface above is a thin (1/4") cake of old plasterwork, over a steel joist; possibly an I-beam.

The walls are adobe brick.

I've considered building a minimal plywood support frame, with a piece of steel angle to match the window frame. That's not outside my skill, but it's still a lot of work.

I found some magnets about 2" long, pack of 10, which say the breakaway force is 60 lb each. They have two screwholes each. I'm looking at using two magnets per bracket, with a piece of 3/8" plywood in between the magnet and bracket for their respective screws to attach. I'd check how strong they are before hanging, and possibly clean away the old plasterwork to achieve a direct contact between the magnet and the steel beam.

Does this sound reasonable? Other suggestions?

You need to worry about not just the weight of the blinds, but also a weight slightly greater than the blinds focused at the string when the blinds are pulled up.  I'm going to make up some numbers, but if you had a blind that was 10lbs, you would see maybe 7lbs on the left bracket and probably upwards of 20lbs on the right bracket (assuming string on the right) when they are lifted.  The weight of the blinds plus friction is going to add up.

I have some 6' blinds and haven't measured it, but it takes a lot of force to raise them.   I normally lift them with my free hand as I pull the string, but my wife isn't that "nice".  There's also some lateral force if you're not pulling straight down and when you have to pull sideways to unlatch the mechanism.

Any pull force listed on the magnet is in a purely perpendicular force performed in a lab.  They are very, very strong, but I wouldn't trust a "working load" with that listed weight.  You're going to get a stronger hold from a mechanical fastener like a screw or bolt.


Recommendation for cutting corner of tile? I need to take out about a half inch from the top right of the tile in the bottom left of the opening for this outlet.

I’m upgrading it from an old outlet to a gfci outlet and it needs a bit more clearance.

Would the dremel tile cutting attachment be the best bet or should I use a type of grinder?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Score it to half depth with an angle grinder to make the corner.  Note that you do not need to score it so the two lines meet as this might bleed over.   Tap with hammer.

If no angle grinder you can use a sharp chisel and basically scratch through it with about the same method.   The cut does have to be perfect since you will have a plate over it, although you do not want too much coming out.


Can I vent a bathroom fan through an attic window? Would venting a bathroom exhaust fan into the attic and through the attic window cause any problems?  I was thinking this would prevent cutting a hole in the roof or the soffit.  My thought was to insert the vent through a pane of glass.    The window is old and that attic is large(it could actually be a room).  Also, should the windows in an attic be well air tight?

This could be an option, as long as a few conditions are met.
There should be a damper
A damper will prevent outside air from entering the exhaust pipe, traveling down the length and entering the conditioned space. Most exhaust vent covers are designed in such a way, so that even on windy days the exhaust can still be exhausted.  If you just have a pipe pointing to the outside, it's possible the outside air pressure can overcome the exhaust air pressure preventing the exhaust from exhausting.
There shouldn't be a way for the exhaust to reenter the building
If you simply close the window on a pipe that does not completely fill the opening, it's very likely that air pressure differences will force the exhausted air right back in the window.  You'll want to devise a way to prevent the exhausted air from reentering the building. This other answer illustrates a way to install the vent, while blocking the entire window opening.


Breaker Box Replacement/Upgrade I was planning to get our box upgraded from a old 100 amp Zinsco box to a newer possibly 200 amp box. I have been talking to a couple of companies and they have been wanting a arm and a leg, and also some other certified electricians (and some friends certified) that are independent and are more reasonable. We live in Houston Tx and our house was build back in 1964.
I have a couple of questions regarding that...
• Is a permit absolutely required for replacement and upgrade?
• Can you get inspected after replacement without a permit and without issues with insurance or what does insurance look at for compliance I guess?
• A couple of electricians (certified) said that they can upgrade to a 200 amp breaker without needing to upgrade the meter box and the service line since the house is “older and uses copper” and it’s supposedly sufficient enough?

Does that sound normal and sounds like something that wouldn’t work?

Main thing is I don’t want any issues with insurance or the city after the replacement, if a permit is not used. I keep reading mixed things and not sure what is right vs wrong. Of course a permit would be ideal but if I could save 500 if it’s not required and I can still get a inspection done properly, I don’t see why I need it.

More than likely, you'll need a permit. The power company will have to disconnect the power for the panel change out and in most cases won't reconnect when the job's done unless they get an OK from the local AHJ. I've known local electricians that have pulled the meters without power company notice and have done the work. The problem is with the smart meters, the power company knows the meter was pulled and will notify the AHJ. Then it gets inspected, the owner or electrician has to get the permit and penalties are added and the owner might now have to get the meter can and riser upgraded. Check with the local guys first... this can really get hairy if you try for the shortcut.


Amperage required for new sub panel I currently have a 200amp main panel that has no room for additional breakers.  However I want to add circuits for the following:
1) 50amp circuit for a hottub
2) 50amp circuit for my garage for intermittent use of a welder and air compressor
3) 15-20amp circuit for general use

I plan to add a sub-panel this weekend.  What I'm trying to determine, and I seem to get varying answers from the supply stores, is WHAT amperage do I need to supply the new sub-panel with?  My initial thought was 100amps just to make sure I had the required power, but appropriately, it was pointed out that not all of these items would run at the same time, so a 60amp breaker may be sufficient to run the sub-panel.

I'd like to get some sound advice on which I should run, and what gauge of wire should be run between the two panels.  My thought is to run a 4gauge regardless.

Any thoughts are sure appreciated.

If you're spending the money to add a panel anyway, you might as well reduce the changes of having to expand it later.    Unless you're installing the second panel really far from the main, you're likely not going to spend much more to put in the 100 amp panel over a 60 amp panel.  Oversizing the panel will not hurt anything but your wallet, so why not do it?

The installation will be exactly the same either way, the only differences will be the size of the breaker in the main panel, the main breaker in the new panel, and the size of the conductors between the panels.

You can read this answer for more detail, but likely you'll need four 3 AWG copper conductors to feed a 100 ampere panel.  Of course the size will change based on the length of the run, and other factors. So make sure you verify the size once you know exactly how long the wires will be, and how they'll be run.

Did a quick search for wire prices, and it looks like it's about $0.20 per foot difference between a 6 AWG stranded copper wire and a 4 AWG stranded copper wire. Then another $0.20 per foot difference between 4 AWG stranded copper wire and 3 AWG stranded copper wire.  So you'd be looking at an $0.80 per foot difference between 6 and 4 AWG feeders, and an $0.80 per foot difference between 4 and 3 AWG feeders.


Home automation depending on who entered the home I am looking for a way to automate some stuff in my household depending on who entered home. The only way I can think of implementing this is by checking which device connected to the WiFi.

For example when I come home I want the water heater to start while when my girlfriend comes home she wants the oven to start preheating.

Now I want a way to recognize which device connected to the WiFi (maybe get the MAC address which is unique?) and from there send different commands to different appliances.

Now I am aware that this will start as soon as I park my car given that my garage is in range of the router but this is ok.

My question is, how would I implement such a service?

This heavily depends on your HA supervisor, for example with OpenHAB this can be done with the NetworkHealth binding : https://github.com/openhab/openhab/wiki/Network-Health-Binding.

The key here is to know your devices IP Address and monitor it.

Item in Openhab format:

Switch Phone_WIFI   "Phone 1"   (Status, Network)   { nh="192.168.1.101" }
Switch Phone2_WIFI   "Phone 2"   (Status, Network)   { nh="192.168.1.102" }

More details for OpenHAB: the binding will check the connection status of a given device with it's IP Address, then you can use a rule such as :

rule "Wife back home - Lights On"
when
    Item Phone_WIFI received update ON
then
    // turn on all lights
    postUpdate(All_Lights, ON)

end


How can I repair nail and screw holes if I don't know if wall is drywall or blueboard? So first of, sorry if this is a basic newbie question.  I have only owned my home for less than a year and am trying to get handier as I go.  I know the basic difference between drywall and blueboard and how to handle each when it comes to big jobs from when I assisted (using the term loosely as I mostly observed and stayed out of the way for the most part) in redoing our basement.

In the upstairs of our home the walls are in good shape, just looking to paint them.  In this, we would like to repair some nail and screw holes.  These are all fairly small and would not require any mesh or additional drywall or sheetrock.  The issue is I dont know whats under the paint, mudded drywall, or plastered blueboard.  Does it matter since I am just filling small holes and not adding material?  I just want to make sure I'm not making any silly mistakes.  Should I be using plaster to fill the hole (this one I am the most sure is not what I should be using), or should I be using joint compound or Spackle.  Does it even matter?  Again, I realize this may be a silly question, but I'd rather be safe then sorry.

Asking the basic questions is what gets us started.... not silly at all.

If they are as simple as nail holes from picture hanging and the like, and there are only a few of them, use spackle. It comes in small quantities, pints for example, so much will not go to waste. It is intended for only small holes.

If there are a lot of repairs, you may want to go with joint compound, it is pretty much the same as spackle, it is easy to sand, water based for easy clean up, but you will get a bunch more for the about the same money. It is intended for larger repairs, or new drywall install, can be built up, but it does shrink a bit, not so that it will fall out. If the shrinkage is noticeable, add another coat, no biggie.

Plaster is way overkill for this type of repair, it requires a skill to use. I have tried to use it before years ago, and it set up as soon as it touched the wall, quite surprising. I now know were it is to be used nowadays, and nail repair is not one of them.


Do these pipes need to be winterized? How? I already winterized the sprinkler system itself and I am wondering if I need to winterize these copper pipes as well. Should I open up the bottom plug to drain the verticle pipes? I live in the Northeast of the USA. I don't have a bleeding valve inside the house that's close to these outside pipes.

Yes, you need to winterize them. That looks like a backflow-prevention device, which prevents water from the lawn from flowing back into the city pipes (in the event of a loss of pressure). Typically, when I lived in TX, my winterization procedure was to shut the inlet valve (the green-handled valve on the right side of the device in your picture) and turn the screws on the short stubby pieces 1/2 or 1/4 turn and drain the water from the backflow device itself. Turn the outlet valve (green-handled valve on the left of the device) partway closed. Wrap the piping in foam insulation, and possibly wrap the backflow prevention device itself in a towel or shirt for the few nights it dipped below freezing.

Given that you're in the Northeast US, though, you should have a shutoff valve / drain somewhere inside the house. Any piping prior to the inlet valve will still have water in it unless it's drained, and that portion of the pipe from the house to the inlet valve will freeze if it isn't drained. Once you find the shutoff, open its drain if it has one, and open the drain on the short vertical piece below the backflow device. Once all the water has drained you can close the drain on the short vertical piece. In the spring, close all the drains and open all the valves.

It may be a poor design, but the important thing is to make sure that any pipes exposed to the exterior are not full (or close to full) of water. The only way to do that is to drain the water in the system as part of the winterization.


How can I set up my somfy controlled blinds to go up and down at specific time periods? Our kitchen at work gets really hot when the sun sets, so I want the RF Somfy controlled blinds to automatically go down at some pre-programmed time (ideally I could automate this by date and season since the sunset and sunrise will change all year).

I found an INSTEON adaptor which will talk RF to the blinds, but I don't know anything about INSTEON or how it works.  My best bet seems to buy the INSTEON desktop software but there are 3 different kinds, so not sure which one to get.

I have a computer in my office I could install the software on, but how would it talk to the INSTEON adaptor in the kitchen? (Our offices are on a separate electrical circuit from the kitchen - not sure if that's how INSTEON works)

You need a way to send Infrared signals to the Adapter. So you will also need to buy a remote for another 50USD.

So to use it from another computer somewhere else in the office you first need to get this

USB Wireless adapter for your PC

Then you need to get an access point to bridge the wireless to a electric

This AP - i am not sure but you might need something more- read more here

But i think this temperature controller will be better- as you dont have to program any thing just set some temps and viola- but again- you might need to buy something extra to connect to your blinds.. read more


Have four-conductor feed at detached garage subpanel, how to verify the ground? I'm currently rewiring my new-to-me detached garage. Garage is from the 70's but has a newer Siemens panel (previous owners added a hot tub).  The feed from my service panel is a sheathed 4 conductor cable in buried conduit, but both ground and neutral are bonded on the neutral bar.  Hmm, ok well I lucked out and have the 4c feed, so I can just add ground bars and get the neutral and ground separated per code, right?

Here's where I'm a bit confused.  I went to the service panel to just lay eyes on the same four conductors, but I only have the two hots and neutral there.  The green ground wire is nowhere to be seen. Looks very much like the same cable, was looking to see if ground was snipped at the clamp but can't see any evidence of it.

I found this thread: Is my ground correct at my subpanel?

... which describes some techniques for checking out the ground on a subpanel.  As described there, I disconnected the feed neutral and ground conductors in my garage and put my meter across them- no resistance.  So the ground conductor in my garage has continuity back the neutral in the service panel, but I don't know how!

And now, my question: Beyond what I've done so far, how much should I do to verify this ground before separating neutrals and grounds in my subpanel?  I'd think I'd like to know it's something substantial and not accidental.  Is it possible it's tied to the conduit somewhere, and the conduit to the chassis of my main panel?  I suppose I could tear out some drywall above the main panel to see what I can see.

Odds and ends:

-There's one access on the conduit where it enters the house- nothing interesting in there, just same sheathed cable.

-The subpanel and garage does have two GEC spiked into the earth behind the garage away from the house.

-Conduit leaving the garage is PVC, metal entering the house.

Thanks for any advice.

Follow the conduit

I gather the conduit is metal leaving the main panel. And clearly at some point it transitions to PVC.

It's possible to do that at a coupler, but I rather suspect it's at an intermediate junction box.  I bet the cable from the garage lands in this intermediate junction box, and the ground wire is tied to the metal box at that point. Then, the metal conduit carries it back to the panel.

You would want to find that box, and put the mark 1 eyeball on that setup and confirm it is so.


Possible causes of a loss of TV signal after reorganising masthead amp and splitter I'm trying to diagnose an issue where my TV reports no terrestrial digital signal.

Some background. I've been doing a lot of home renovation and general improvement to my house over the last few years, as part of the changes I've been running new shielded coaxial cables from my loft to each room. I've not been terminating these cables and have left the original coax cables connected while I work through each room with the intent that once all be cables were run I'd be able to buy a new splitter for them all which could live in my loft to replace the multiple splitters mounted on the aerial mast. The idea being a single indoor splitter is better than many on the mast.

Well, the day finally came and I bought a labgear LDA2061LR 6way distribution amplifier, disconnected all the equipment mounted to the aerial mast and ran a single cable from the aerial receiver to the labgear and connected my lounge coax and voila, no signal.

So, there's the background. I'll try to be as detailed as possible about what set-ups and tests I've run already... Please be aware that I'm no more than an enthusiastic diy-er with some experience with cable termination and testing.

Original and attempted setups

Notes about diagram

A new cable was run from outside to inside the loft, this was tested during the new equipment test
I've also tested the original setup again, but with some of the dangling coax disconnected from the wolsey. Still didn't work
There will eventually be more outputs connected to the new labgear but for now just getting one working would be a good start

Things tested:

voltage tested coming out of both Labgears and at end of coax connected to Wolsey was 12v
multimeter testing of all parts of coax checking for cable breaks, there were none (after terminating some f-types)
adjusting the dB dial on the Wolsey slowly from 12 to 25dB

That's it, even with the above testing and all the combinations I've yet to see any digital signal on my TV. It's worth noting that combination 4 is the same as the original setup!

If anyone out there has any insight into what might be wrong or any other tests or combinations I can try please let me know. If I've inadvertantly blown something by connecting things together that shouldn't have been, I'd like to know that too. I totally get that I'm an amateur and one option is to get a professional in to sort out the problem but I'd really like to understand why even the original setup isn't working the way it was.

Thanks in advance.

So it turns out that this wasn't a signal or hardware issue, it was an air-gap issue. I'd incorrectly labelled one of the cables and ended up thinking both ends of the same cable were different cables (that's what you get running cables behind walls).

After discovering this and plugging the correct things into the right places, everything worked as expected - except I feel a lot sillier than I did before.


Should I Ground a Generator Powering an UPS? My inverter generator's manual states that "If this generator will be used only with cord and plug-connected equipment, National Electric Code does not require that the unit be grounded."

I am not sure if plugging an UPS (supplying power to a computer and other small electronics, including a Wireless router) falls into this category. The UPS in question is the APC NS1080G.

Generator-->UPS-->Electronic Devices. Generator doesn't touch the house wiring. As for the devices, connected to the outside there'd only be the coax for the internet cable modem (which is also filtered thru the UPS).

Am I OK to power this without grounding?

PS: If this makes any difference, total power draw at the UPS averages < 60W.

What they're referring to here is a ground rod

Generally speaking, AC mains electricity in the US needs to be earthed (grounded), with the neutral and protective earth (ground) wires bonded to each other and to a grounding electrode system at the main service entrance, to keep the mains from rattling off to some high voltage relative to other grounded things (such as pipes and metalwork, or you and me) and putting excessive stresses on insulation as a result.

However, if you are simply setting a generator out and firing it up to plug a few things in out in the boonies, driving 8' of ground rod whenever and wherever you want to use your generator is considered impractical, so the NEC offers us an "out" in the form of 250.34(A):

  (A) Portable Generators. The frame of a portable generator
  shall not be required to be connected to a grounding electrode
  as defined in 250.52 for a system supplied by the generator
  under the following conditions:

  (1) The generator supplies only equipment mounted on the
  generator, cord-and-plug-connected equipment through
  receptacles mounted on the generator, or both, and

  (2) The normally non–current-carrying metal parts of equipment and the equipment grounding conductor terminals
  of the receptacles are connected to the generator frame.

Given that the UPS is cord-and-plug connected to the generator, and you in turn have things plugged into the UPS, I would consider the UPS no different than a portable power tap (power strip) for the purposes of this section, and the equipment plugged into it supplied indirectly (via the UPS) from receptacles mounted on the generator.  (The reason why the section is written as it is is to distinguish this case from a case where the generator is supplying building wiring via an inlet.)

However, I would run a ground wire back to the intersystem bonding point anyway (which moots this debate)

The problem with the logic above starts when you add the cable modem to the picture.  Cable modems invariably are grounded; however, this grounding is not a connection to mains ground, but to the cable plant ground.  Normally, the ground block at the CATV entry point is connected via a wire to the grounding electrode conductor or intersystem bonding termination block, and this means that the two grounds are really one and the same.

However, with your generator isolated from the building wiring, electricity that gets onto the cable TV system from your generator can't get back to the generator to trip a breaker (or even a GFCI, under extreme conditions), and this is a serious problem due to the shock hazard it poses.  So, I would run a wire (6AWG bare copper will do) from the grounding terminal on the generator to the intersystem bonding termination block on your house, provided you have one that is.  If you don't, you can run it back to the grounding electrode conductor instead and use a lay-in tap lug to attach is bonding wire to the grounding electrode conductor.  This avoids violating the spirit of NEC 820.100(D)/830.100(D), as this bond wire provides a fault path back to the generator for faults from the generator onto the CATV plant.


washing machine trap How far can the trap be from the washing machine? The trap now is about five feet from the waste line and the machine is next to it. I want to move the machine 10 feet from the trap, but don't want to relocate the trap. Is that OK?

Typically washers discharge into a standpipe, which extends 18"-42" above the trap weir. The plumbing can then continue on 5'-8' before there's a vent (5' for 1¼" pipe, 6' for 1½" pipe, 8' for 2" pipe).

References:

IRC Table P3105.1
IRC P2706.2


Tankless water heater and shutting off main water supply I have a tankless water heater, love it! And it's not the issue.

I have a very leaky shower. I've been in my house for almost 20 years and for the first 10, I didn't mind the very slow drip since my cat loved to hop in and drink from the flow. She's gone now and the drip has become quite a significant leak, enough that I have watched my water bill climb over the last couple of months. I know the consumer amount hasn't increased as I live alone. And with working 60 hours a week, I am struggling to find the time to actually get a plumber in the house for the repair.

My question is, am I going to harm my tankless if I'm shutting the main off before I go to bed and before I leave for work. I hate the thought of wasting water when I can give it a temporary fix, and the utility bill as well. Thanks for any advice and answers.

Shutting off the water is only a problem if the water heater gets drained and it tries to heat air.

To avoid that you can turn off the water heater as well.

As an experiment you can turn off the intake to the water heater and see if the shower still leaks. If the leak stops then the leak is only on the hot side of the shower valve. Then you only have to shut off the hot water to mitigate the lost water until you can get it fixed. And the heater will be right there to turn off as well.


How, and how often should I clean a freezer? My fridge/freezer has been turned on and running since I last moved house several years ago.  I clean the shelves/bins in the fridge every couple of months, or when something is spilled, but the freezer hasn't been cleaned for ages.   It doesn't particularly smell bad and it's not iced up, but there is a bit of that 'freezer smell'.

Should I clean it?

Is there any worthwhile cleaning procedure other than removing all the food and letting it come up to room temperature?

I don't usually bother letting it warm up.  I just use a mixture of a mild kitchen cleaner and warm water on a paper towel.  If you're careful, and don't let any moisture pool up, it seems to evaporate before it freezes to the inside.

If you're just trying to combat a smell, try putting some baking soda in there.

As for how often to clean, I usually do a purge of the contents of the freeze 1-2 times a year, and do the cleaning then.


How to remove already installed laminate panel in cabinet? This is actually a kitchen cabinet. The company I ordered it from messed up, so the oven I am installing inside the opening won't fit.

However, if I remove the TOP and BOTTOM panels (highlighted yellow) from the opening, the oven will fit!

My problem is the cabinet installation is already done, meaning, unlike my drawing below, I don't have access to the dowel tensioners and can't disassemble it without too much work involved; it's actually a middle cabinet with other cabinets beside it, so I have to disassemble the ENTIRE kitchen cabinetry in order to remove just those 2 panels.

The panels are attached to the sides with wood dowels and metal dowels with tensioners. Standard/typical stuff.

What I plan to do is HAND SAW the panels in the middle (dotted line), then pull them off, destroying them from the dowel joints.

I just don't know how to do it properly. I have a circular saw. I can probably adjust the cut depth to match the panel's thickness. However, it is too risky (to damage the panel below it), and I obviously can't use the circular saw for the top panel (not foolish enough to use a circular saw upside down).

I do have a 26" fine teeth (12 tpi) hand saw. I am planning to just use that.

Any other ideas that may be more efficient? I have a jigsaw, recip saw, and circular saw.

Cut through particle board panels as far as you can with jig saw. Most likely they are not attached in the back.  The remaining 1-2 inches of the panel may be easy to break apart. If not finish cutting through with small hand saw. When 2 halves are separated pry each straight back from side panel to disengage the dowels .
On the top panel if you don't have space to run jig saw flip the saw over and cut through from bottom of shelf panel.


No center strut in door for opener Installed Genie Garage door (8' X 12') motor and chain rail with extension added. I am ready to attach it to the door but there is no center rail built into the door.  Are there parts for this or do I begin fabrication?

My door has flat sections with no panel design . I wanted something stronger than thin aluminum to attach the opener to , so I added a piece of 1/2 plywood about 48" X 16" to the aluminum using 21 screws ( I just went out and counted them ).  Then attached the door pull to the plywood . Possibly overkill but after white paint no one knows it is there.


Hallway Smart Switch help I’d like to change my hallway switches to Lutron Caseta Smart Dimmers but I’m not sure how to proceed. I’ll preface with I’ve done pretty basic electrical (swapping to GFCI outlets, changing junction boxes that were damaged, swapping to fan rated boxes, single pole/three way switch and basic outlets) but this one seems to be a bit more complicated than expected. The house was built in 1992 and I’m located in lower mainland Vancouver Canada.

The setup:

The hall consists of three switches and two ceiling lights, both ceiling light fixtures turn on and off together. If switch C is on, all three switches work. If switch C is turned off, switch A ceases to work.

Switch A - One 14/3 wire coming into the box (red, black, white all backstabbed on the same switch and ground just unattached in box) https://imgur.com/L2sXx5l

Switch B -  Two 14/3 wires coming into the box (two reds attached and two whites attached to switch, ground wire nutted in back, blacks wire nutted in back) https://imgur.com/X0qtHBC

Switch C - Two wires (one 14/3 and one 14/2 coming into the box (14/2's black into switch, white wire connects to 14/3's black.  14/3's Red and white into switch. All grounds together in the back)  https://imgur.com/0u5rp0j

I suppose I have two questions/issues here.

First, Is this setup by design (wtf is the point?) or is something janky going on? A lot of inconsistencies have been found by the previous owners so it wouldn't be shocking. It’s been like that since we bought the place and the previous owner, an old lady who bought the place new, just had Switch C taped so no one ever used it. We do the same, Switch C stays on and we control the hall with A and B. We’d really like to use all three if possible without having to worry about which one is on or off hence the Caseta (and the obvious wireless aspect)

Second, I know the Caseta only requires only one switch actually wired and the other two become mounted Pico remotes so how should I proceed?

Any and all help is appreciated

This is perfectly normal.

This is a switch loop coming into switch 3.

Ordinarily you would have a plain switch attached to the /2 cable's black and white (white should be marked with tape, since it is being used as either an always-hot or a switched-hot, you're supposed to use it for always-hot).

A 3-way or 3/4-way complex simply substitutes for a plain switch.  That is what is happening here.  Red and white in the /3 cables are travelers; I would remark them with yellow tape.  The black is presumably always-hot.

Now if you've been counting, here's what you have available in these boxes:

always-hot (/3 black and presumably /2 white)
switched-hot (presumably /2 black)
Travelers (all other conductors)

Notice something missing? Neutral.  It will be hard to hook up a smart switch unless it is one of the few made and  UL listed to use ground instead of neutral.


Can I paint over XPS insulation? I've a top floor apartment in India which gets almost like an oven during the summers which is like for 9 months out of 12. I've decided to apply under the deck XPS 50mm (nailed to the ceiling). I dont want to do a gypsum false ceiling after that, since I like to keep the height and cost low. The supplier (Supreme Petrochem) suggests to apply putty + acrylic paint over the XPS board, but I'm skeptical and dont know if that will crack. I'm thinking of just sticking wall paper over it. Any experience of such application & suggestions will be appreciated.

Dow, a manufacturer of XPS products, on their India web site, does not recommend using XPS under a roof deck.  This is due to the possibility of condensation occurring between the insulation and the structure.

As far as painting goes, US codes require a 15 minute thermal barrier over an interior foam, in the event of fire.  This could be satisfied by gypsum wallboard, obviating the need to paint.  For noninsulation interior uses, Dow permits latex paint.

Instead, they recommend using an "inverted roof" where the panels are placed OVER the waterproofing and covered with a ballast material that will weigh the panel down and protect it from sunlight.


Built-in shelves brackets I'm planning built-in shelves with a design similar to the pictures belwo.  Building the shelves is straightforward to me but I'm not sure how to do the installation and/or what kinds of "invisible" brackets could be used to secure it to the wall/floor.  Any thoughts on the best approach to achieve a similar look to the photos?

That's an odd set, really.
The ends have to be "floating" to hold any weight, at which point the usual approach is to dispense with the uprights and make the shelves fully "floating."
There are a few ways of floating shelves, all simple in concept but finicky in practice. One is long rods set into the studs (deeper than is safe if you don't know what's in the studs so you can miss wires and pipes) with matching holes in the back of the shelves. Conceptually simple, but if anything is the least bit at the wrong angle, very difficult in practice as the rods and holes won't line up and the shelves won't slide on.
Another approach uses a bracket that screws to the wall surface, and a shelf that's essentially a hollow box that slips over the bracket to hide it.


Truth about high quality HDMI cables My home theater setup specifically warrants a 25 feet HDMI cable. I have a Sony Bravia 55" LED TV 3D + 240Hz refresh rate, alongside a XBox One, Comcast digital cable and Blu Ray player. I went to BestBuy and they were trying to sell me an 8 meters (26.2 feet) AudioQuest HDMI cable that costs $299 and an 8 meters AudioQuest optical audio cable for $99. Their justification was that the quality deteriorates as the length of the HDMI cable increases and the AudioQuest cables have silver that provides excellent conductivity of audio and video signals. But when I took a look online (Amazon), I saw a rather large selection of HDMI cables that were significantly cheaper (under $25) and pretty good reviews. Technical specs-wise, they did not seem all that different or inferior to the AudioQuest cables. So I am very confused. Is there any particular criteria that I should use to form my decision? I want the best bang for the buck and at the same time, I want cables that provide the necessary quality and are reasonably future-proof, although the latter expectation is not crucial.

Save your money and buy the cheap cables. They're the same. The "premium cable" game is nothing more than a big scam.


How can I make my own fabric replacement slats for my blinds? I need to replace the fabric slats on the vertical blinds in my house. I do not want vinyl ones in my house. My windows look out on a golf course from most of the rooms in my house. I have lived with them for 30 years and have lost some to the dogs and a few to wear. They are 57 inches long. I sew so that part should not be a problem. I am not sure what to use to stiffen the fabric. Or where to get the replacements plastic pieces that go in the top of the slats to hook into the rail. Any suggestions anyone?

Something like Craft Plastic would probably do the trick.

You can generally find Craft Plastic at arts and craft stores - its used commonly in scrap-booking.

A bit of an unusual item for a DIY question but in this case, appropriate, I think.


How do I patch rusty spots in bathtub? One of the tubs in our new home has a few spots where the enamel is chipped away and the metal underneath has started rusting. I don't want to replace the tub yet, so how can I clean and patch the tub? Not so much concerned with aesthetics as with prolonging the life of the tub.

With one of these: Enamel Repair Kit

You simply sand out any rust in the chipped enamel, then paint on a new enamel coating. The finished repair should be permanent, and if well-done nearly undetectable.


Floor heating is not as warm as I was expected I've just moved in a one-room flat which has floor heating. I thought that floor heating would be enough but it turns out to be a disaster. The room is not heating as a normal room with a radiator. I can only feel the heat coming from the pipes which are located under on several places. Is this normal with floor heating or is there something wrong with my flat? The constructor of the house came and checked and told me that everything is as it is supposed to be.

What should I do to make the flat warmer?

Missing information:
You can control the temperature with a thermostat, which is maximum 30 celcius degrees. Outside is approx. 0 degrees. The floor is parquet. I have no knowledge about pipe layout though. The floor is not uniformly warm but only specific parts of the floor.

A little update: Today, they issued a mail to all of the occupants regarding the heating system is broken and they'll have to fix it. When I asked them to check if it is broken, they told me that it was working just the way it should be. Anyways, thanks for all the  help, it had already begun to get warmer when I started to keep it open all the time, let's see what will happen after they fix it.

Floor heating systems are very slow and normally meant to run 24/7 except for long-term absence (> 3 days), if the building hull is insulated to some extent or if it is a huge building with high volume-to-surface ratio.

Do the neighbours have the same problem? Which floor is it?
How many outside walls does this flat have? What is below the floor, what is above the ceiling?
Any valves besides thermostats in the flat?

The warm pads could be caused by domestic hot water (circulation) lines.

Reasons for underperforming:

In new buildings, much energy is needed to dry the walls, floors and ceilings.
In older systems, clogging could be the problem since the tube material (plastic) allowed for oxygen and other gases to diffuse into the system increasing corrosion at the metal parts. Also bypass valves can be blocked (not closing ⟶ more or less heating water is bypassing the room) by tiny rust parts.
There could be valves for each room (in this case for each apartment), near the heating system or somewhere hidden, which are meant to adjust the throughput which might be different e.g. due to unequal tube/hose loop lengths. These valves are different from thermostat valves and could be de-adjusted.
Incorrect settings or design of the heating system, or not enough maintenance, especially with heat pumps. Heating water temperature too low, pump power too low, incorrect location for outside temperature sensor (on sunny south side instead of north), restrictions by timers etc.


When using a VPA (Variable-Pitch Connector) to connect roof rafters to a top plate, how and where do you install hurricane ties? When a VPA to attach rafters to a top plate, it seems there isn't room left for your normal hurricane tie to be put in place:

The part of the VPA that nails on to the top plate obstructs the ability to put a hurricane tie in, at least the ties that I've seen:

So how do you install a hurricane tie? I can't find any information saying that a tie is not needed with a VPA, and I even had an informal conversation with a structural engineer saying that the tie is still needed with the VPA, but she didn't explain how to do it.

It depends. VPA’s have an uplift value and unless you live in an extreme high wind area, you probably don’t need an additional holddown.

As you can see from Simpson’s product load table, VPA’s have an uplift value of 255 lbs. for Douglas Fir / Southern Pine and 220 lbs. for Spruce and Hem-Fir. See here: https://www.strongtie.com/raftertowallconnectors_solidsawnlumberconnectors/vpa_connect/p/vpa

Likewise, a standard hurricane tie like H1 allows 480 for DF/SP and 420 for SPF, as seen here.

https://www.strongtie.com/hurricanetiesforplatedtruss_trusstiedowns/h-tsp_productgroup_wcc/p/h.tsp

If higher uplift loads are required, I’d use a “twist strap” with VPA’s.


Samsung Gas dryer power issues I have a Samsung DV410 Gas Dryer.  Towards the end of last year it started powering off mid cycle.  It then worked fine until a few days ago, when summer finally hit and it was really hot and humid in the house ~80F.  When I use the dryer, sometimes the control panel will start to dim, sometimes is shuts off completely.  The dryer does not have to be running for this to happen, just the control panel.  Sometimes it works perfectly fine.  I've contemplated exploratory surgery checking all the connections but I thought I would ask around before I attempt it.

Here is a video of the behavior when it happens right away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_mNOq8zez4

I ended up having to replace the control board on the dryer.


How do you calculate the safe working load of chains? Say for instance you have a chain that has a safe working load of 200 lbs.  If I wanted to hang an item from 4 corners, each with its own chain would I be able to hang 800 lbs?  Or is there some other variable to factor?

Another thing to consider is that the effective load on the chains is increased if the chains are not vertical, as would be the case if the chains are attached to the corners of the item, but are all attached to a single central attachment point above. Multiply the chain's working load limit by the cosine of the angle between the chain and vertical to get the adjusted limit. For example, if 1000 lb rated chains are at 45 degrees to the vertical their safe working load limit is reduced to 707 lbs.
For overhead lifting where human safety is involved you should use Grade 80 or above. You would probably have to go to a specialty dealer to find it. Proof Coil, Grade 43 (Hi-Test) and Grade 70 (Transport Grade) are not rated for overhead lifting.


Leveling a bathroom floor - toilet in the low spot We are upgrading the bathroom and the floor (ceramic tile over installed over plywood) is out of level and the low spot is around the toilet. I had thought of using floor leveler but I now don't think that will work.  It seems like floor leveler would just run down the opening for the toilet drain pipe. Open to any suggestions.

Depending on how large of an area is sunken, you could cut up the old plywood with a circular saw. Sister boards to the joists and add cross members to the cavities to raise the area to match the surrounding floor. Follow up with plywood and then cement board before tiling and you should have a solid, fairly level floor to work with. This can all be done  easily even though the basement is already finished. This seems preferential to any floor leveler, since you'd actually be addressing the problem, which is a sunken floor.

It would also be a good time to inspect the existing floor joists and see how damaged they may be. If the damage isn't extensive, doubling them up my suffice, or you may need to replace larger sections entirely.


Confirming the set-up and wiring of 60AMP subpanel I am installing a 60 AMP sub-panel (GE TLM2412CCUP) and want to confirm the wiring and set-up before I set everything up. The pictures show the main panel (currently 60AMP as well but will be updated next year 100AMP or 125AMP), the sub-panel and all the planed wires (hand drawn). The wires are THHN and go through 3/4’’ EMT and FMC over about 40'. A couple of questions:

Main panel: location of neutral and ground wires for sub-panel is correct, right? They go to the same neutral/ground bar because they are connected on the main.
Sub-panel: No bounding screw, I installed a separate ground bar (GE TGK32CP), converted to main breaker panel (with GE TQMH000). All looks good? I don't like that there is not a lot of space around the ground bar. I guess, an alternative might be to use the right and left neutral bar for neutral and ground by disconnecting them but that creates problems with pigtails of afci breakers.
Ground wire: Currently, I have 8 AWG but I am thinking using 10 AWG instead. Any reason to stick with 8 AWG? The ground wire will support the 60 AMP panel plus two separate 15AMP circuits in the same conduit (or one 20AMP circuit instead).

Thanks!

Your main panel

I gather your breaker in the upper left corner of the main panel, yes? Your breaker is back-fed, and is 60A.  Since your main is the same rating as your subpanel feeder, you don't actually need a feed breaker in the main panel.  You can just grab the subfeed lugs at the top of the panel.  That will free up 2 spaces.

You will need the 2 spaces if you upsize the main panel's main breaker to 125A, but then, you'll also need a 60A feed breaker at that point.  At that point you will hit stab limits on the stabs that the main breaker is clamped to; i.e. You won't be able to have any breakers across from the main breaker because the stabs can only carry 125A, and the main will absorb it all. However, those forbidden spaces can be used for a generator interlock, if you had any thoughts to that.

Three of your breakers look like Siemens, Murray or ITE.  Those are alien breakers in this panel, and they must go, presuming this is a GE panel.  They will not fit the bus properly.  The only non-GE breaker I am aware of that can fit that panel is Eaton CL. If you need shunt-trip or remote on/off capability, Eaton CL has that.

Grounds

They make smaller ground bars that may fit in the ample wire bending space at the top and bottom.  All neutrals should be brought to their breaker for AFCI/GFCI reasons.  All wires should be cut long enough to reach any location in the panel.

If you can run the conduit entirely in EMT, you don't need a ground wire.  However if you have one, think future and go #8.  You might upsize the wire in the future, and why buy the ground wire twice?

Your subpanel does not need a main breaker if it's in the same building.  If it is in an outbuilding, you need a disconnect switch, and the breaker will suffice but its size doen't matter.  So there is no earthly reason to change out that subpanel main breaker.

Getting the most out of conduit

Conduit fill: you can get more than 60A out of #6 in conduit.

You can run THHN at the 75C column (65A rounding up to 70A breaker) if terminations at both ends are rated for 75C, which breakers are.
However you are capped off at 80% of its 90C rating (75A)  giving 60A, because you have other circuits in the pipe.

If you can find a way to get those other two circuits out of that pipe, you can use a 70A breaker on the feed.

I would also consider larger than 3/4" sized conduit, to empower a switch to aluminum wire and future upsize. At 60A+ copper is a waste of money. Aluminum's bad reputation is inapplicable to these large sizes; and an AA-1350 feeder would be perfectly fine.  That's outlawed today; now you get AA-8000.


Tighting taps under kitchen sink doesn't cut off water supply I have a set of taps similar to these under the kitchen sink that lead to a single mixer tap.

My issue is when I try to turn off the water supply via these (trying both directions) it still flows strong, not a leak/drip but as if the taps don't actually have a full closed state.

  Can this be possible would the taps only be for adjusting pressure?

  (If not) Should I try to force the taps further, or is there a risk of doing more damage?

Or should I use the main water shut off (which is harder to get to in my appartment building)?

Those are supposed to be shutoff valves, but they are usually very cheap and I would not be surprised if the rubber washers are more like bricks.

If you need to do tap maintenance you will need to turn off the apartment's water. Unless you are in a condo this is really the building owner's job, not yours.

I stopped using this style of shutoff ages ago. You can get mini ball valves that are much better in every way for very small extra cost.


What kind of material can I use to cover a window to keep the cold out? I have a small window in my bathroom that is high up near the ceiling. It's pretty useless, but since the bathroom is always really cold I think it is letting cold air in. I'd like to prove this theory by covering it up with some sort of temperature proof material. What do you recommend? I rent, so it can't be anything too damaging. I'd also prefer something that is not really ugly like plywood. Any suggestions?

I'd first check for leaks.  Even a tiny crack can let a lot of cold air in over time.  Caulking would be the proper solution, but since you're renting, foam weatherstripping tape may be a quicker/cheaper solution.

Next, if the window is single-paned or otherwise just poor quality, the cold could be coming straight through the glass.  (This is probably more likely.)  If you don't need the window at all and don't mind blocking its lighting/venting, you can get insulation sheathing for around $10 and cut it to size.

If you do need the light from the window, there are various window insulation kits available on the market for $5-10.  Essentially it's shrink wrap taped around the window.  Then use a blow dryer to even out any wrinkles.


circuit breaker trips I have a breaker that keeps tripping even when no load is on it.  I have already replaced the breaker with a new one, replaced a ground fault outlet and a dimmer switch (all on that circuit), and the same thing happens.  There are two outlets I haven't checked and the light itself. Also I have checked for loose neutral wires at the panel. How do I find the problem?

I guess the first step is to find out everything that's on this circuit, is the breaker a ground fault breaker or a regular breaker with a ground fault recepticle. If it's a regular breaker and you changed it, then it's not like an older one getting weak. So there has to be something else on this circuit drawing excess power. Flip the breaker off and start testing everything to see what's not working, recepticles as well. In the event the breaker is a ground fault breaker, you need to remove the ground fault recepticle.


Should I run 240v for any supported appliances? I am having my main circuit breaker panel replaced (by a licensed electrician) and he told me I can run new circuits for him to hook up to the new panel. Is there any benefit to running 240v circuits for computers, network equipment, other devices that support it?

I would probably put a 120v outlet next to any 240v just for convenience (I was thinking on opposite sides of each stud.

There's no need to do this for computers/networking gear/...
While the switching power supplies used in IT equipment are slightly more efficient when running on 240V vs when they are running on 120V, this efficiency difference is generally small enough that it can be disregarded as a practical matter.  As a result, I would simply provision 120V/20A circuits for equipment closets, office spaces, and the likes.
HOWEVER: there are spaces where this is a good idea
The above, though, is not universal advice in the sense that it is specific to IT equipment.  Shop spaces where fixed power tools are used, such as woodshops or metalshops, benefit greatly from having both 120V (NEMA 5) and 240V (NEMA 6) receptacles present; this is also something that's not beyond reason for a well-appointed kitchen, although most of the kitchen appliances that can take advantage of this are commercial types.
In any case, you don't need to pull extra circuits to have both 120V and 240V together...
One benefit of the North American split-phase system over pure single-phase distribution is the ability to use multi-wire branch circuits to provide twice the current/power sourcing capability of a single branch circuit while using 3/4ths the copper and generating half the heat compared to having two independent branch circuits, something that is especially useful when mains wiring is done using individual wires in conduit (vs. prefabricated cables).
While these are normally only used with 120V receptacles and fixtures connected line-to-neutral, the use of a common-trip two-pole breaker (which is the normal way one wires these any more) allows a mixture of 120V and 240V loads/receptacles on the same branch circuit, as per NEC 240.4(C) Exception 2:

(C) Line-to-Neutral Loads. Multiwire branch circuits shall supply only line-to-neutral loads.
Exception No. 1: A multiwire branch circuit that supplies only one utilization equipment.
Exception No. 2: Where all ungrounded conductors of the multiwire branch circuit are opened simultaneously by the branch-circuit overcurrent device.

This also permits the use of NEMA 5/6 combination duplex receptacles, such as the Leviton 5844.  These provide access to both 120 and 240V on the same yoke when fed by a properly wired multi-wire branch circuit, without having to resort to a dodgy adapter.
...but this comes with some caveats
However, the requirement for a two-pole common-trip breaker does pose a few caveats when arc and/or ground-fault protection is required.  First and foremost, if you have a GE panel, you cannot use this strategy on any circuit where arc-fault protection is required, as the current (Mod 3) GE AFCI breakers are not available in a two-pole common-trip configuration, only single-pole units that can be handle-tied for 120V-only or 240V-only service.  (If you can obtain a Mod 2 GE CAFCI used, you can do it that way, but those are likely to be relatively thin on the ground.)
Furthermore, in spaces where both arc and ground fault protection is required (right  now, only kitchens, laundry rooms, and bathrooms), you're forced to have a 2-pole arc-fault breaker in series with a 2-pole ground-fault breaker to protect these circuits, as 2-pole dual function (AF/GF) breakers are not available at this point in time, and appear unlikely to become available any time soon.  For an individual circuit, this can be accomplished using an arc fault breaker in the panel and a "spa panel" in-line with the homerun to provide the GFCI protection; however, if you are wiring several circuits this way, it's better to use a split-bus (albeit not rule-of-six) panel (such as a Siemens generator panel) to provide this series configuration, with a GFCI breaker replacing the normal utility feed breaker to the "generator" section of the panel and AFCI breakers in the "generator" section feeding the individual branch circuits.


When is it appropriate to use a wood rule rather than a tape measure? Wood rules and tape measures are similar tools, and I've realized I almost always default to the tape measure. When should I be using a wood rule instead?

You should use the wood rules when:

you have a beard
prefer flannel
use only hand tools
prefer your lattes with artisan made, gluten free, non-dairy, coconut milk
live in Brooklyn, NY or Portland, OR


Why does my corner bead flange still show after multiple coats of drywall mud? I'm done with my 2nd coat and still seeing plenty of light between outside beads and the wall. I swear I have used mud but it sure doesn't look like it. Some of them are filled but most are not.
I used no coat beads and some of the corners were definitely not 90 but after 2 coats it sure seems like I'm getting nowhere.
I've used all different types of knives. Probably have as many options as an actual drywall worker. 4 inch all the way to 14 and multiple brands of each because I keep dropping and dinging them. Can't use a trowel to save my life and everything else flexes even with all the pressure on the outside.
Anyway. Some are really bad and I'm trying to focus on the voids and where my pressure is at but its not working. I see a 4th coat in my future. Never had this problem before.
I can still see edges of the corner bead. If you've seen no coat, the part I can see is the paper part that bonds to the undercoat. The edges are covered but I can still see the bead. Maybe the light between the wall and the bead was a ton more than it should've been in the beginning and I didn't notice it.

You appear to be approaching this in a scattershot manner and expecting too much, too soon.
Odds are also great, given the foregoing, that you are overworking the mud trying to get it perfect (yes, I'm guessing.)
General mudding procedure anywhere: grab your narrowest knife, put on mud, stop.
Scrape off any high points, grab your next widest knife, put on the second coat, stop.
Repeat until you are at your widest knife and/or it looks good enough. If you have so many knives that this seems absurd, set some aside to make a reasonable progression (4, 8, 12, etc..)
Realities - mud shrinks as it dries. So, if you spend a lot of time and effort getting a perfectly level surface - it won't be when it dries, until you reach the point that you are only putting on a very little bit to fill the shrinkage from the previous coat, and it wasn't much shrinkage. "Hot mud" shrinks somewhat less, but requires mixing only what you are going to use each time, as it sets up rather than just drying out.
So if you are getting bent out of shape by the state of things on your second coat, you are approaching it with a very unrealistic attitude, and you'll be frustrated. Just accept that it takes multiple coats, and you'll waste a lot less time putting coats on "perfectly" if you realize that you're going to scrape or sand off any high imperfections, and fill any low imperfections on the next coat. Then the job becomes mostly waiting for it to dry so you can get to the next coat (and don't skimp on the dry time - if you are in a huge hurry, use hot mud.)


Can I replace a section of copper pipe with flexiable PVC? The valve at the end of the supply line for my ice maker started leaking from that top.  In trying to remove the valve, I twisted the copper supply line.  The section of pipe is 6 inches, and the twist is right above a 90 degree elbow.  I have a replacement valve, but I'm wondering if it would be okay to cut the elbow off and run a piece of flexible PVC from the copper line to the new valve using a compression fitting to join them. Are there any issues with this I'm not seeing?

You can use the Sharkbite or Gatorbite connectors as a junction for copper and PVC. Sharkbite and Gatorbite connectors are "snap together" connectors available at Lowes or HomeDepot, you can put copper in one side and PVC in another.


Is a 20A switch needed for a bathroom fan/heat/light combo unit? I have a dedicated 20A circuit going to my bathroom that I plan to use to hook up a fan/heater/light/night light combo unit.  I would like to use the compact combo 2 or 3 decora rocker switches.  A quick search online only shows 15A switches.  Do I need a 20A rated switch (specifically for the heater part of this unit)?  If not, why not?

This unit does recommend a dedicated 20A circuit be used.  The heater is 1500W.

Yes, if you have a 20A circuit for a 20A load, then you need a 20A switch.  You can't put a 15A switch in there for the same reason you can't use 14 gauge wire - the conductor is to small, leading to a fire hazard.


How can I wire an Insteon switch in this situation? I've been installing Insteon switches around the house, and I've run into a bit of an issue. In our bedroom, we have a switch that controls the fan lights and recessed lights as well as single switches that control each separately.

After removing the switch and installing the switch like I thought it should go, and it not working, I started troubleshooting it. With the switch for the recessed lighting on the wires carrying the load changes. So I tried using both of those wires as the the ones carrying the load, I still couldn't get the lights to work. Below is a picture of the wires.

Is this a the 3 way switch? That is are there 2 switches in the house that control the same light? If so, you will have to replace both with insteon's for it to work since they will communicate wirelessly. Assuming it's a 3 way, make sure the switches to the light are turned off, since if they are on, some wires will appear hot when they really are not. Assuming the above photo is with the switches off, you have one wire labelled wire and you mention the line is always cold. You have that backwards. The line should be "hot".

The black wire on insteon is labelled line and that should attach to the two hot wires and the black cold wire (which is actually the traveller) should be capped off and cap off the red load wire coming from the insteon.

The other 3 way switch should have the hot wire attached to the line, and one of the wires should be capped (traveller) and the other should go to the red load of the insteon.

Page 11 of the Insteon instructions illustrates this as well. http://cache.insteon.com/documentation/2477D-en.pdf


Can I move my kitchen to the front of the house or any other ideas? I recently purchased this 3/4 bedroom house. I liked having the additional room space downstairs (converted garage) but do not like how it is separated from the rest of the house.

Also, the kitchen would need to be extended as it is quite small. The current layout is awkward, with you having to walk through the lounge from the kitchen to the existing dining area.!

My initial idea is shown below. This would increase the size of the kitchen whilst have the garage conversion tail off of the living room making it more entwined with the rest of the house (in my opinion).

How easy do you think it would be to move the kitchen to the lounge or does anyone have any better ideas?

Thanks in advance!

There are several factors to consider here.

1) If the inside wall on the right side of the kitchen is a load bearing wall it could not be simply ripped out. It would likely have to be replaced with a beam to properly support the upper level.

2) If this first floor layout is built on a concrete slab then it is likely that some of the utilities are through and under the concrete. For sure the drain would be like this. The point being that moving such utilities is a major rework of the slab.

3) Kitchens normally have multiple electrical circuits routed to them. These would have to be re-routed or additional circuits added to the new location.

4) The existing bump out window implies some extra exterior wall construction details that may include foundation and 2nd level interface details that may impact the exterior in a fairly major way if removed.

So those are just the first things that come to mind.

In the end I would say that the project is possible if money, time and patience are available in plentiful quantities. But you also need to weigh if the investment balances with the value of the property, how long you intend to stay in the property and how/where you would live whilst a major project like this is undertaken.


How should I go about removing these two walls? We just bought our first house, so go easy on me as I’m not an experienced DIY’er. I have read the documentation available on planningportal.gov.uk, but am still very confused.

We’re hoping to remove 2 walls to open up the space downstairs and maybe in a year or so put in a bigger kitchen. The problem is that I have no idea as to what process I should follow to achieve this. The first wall we’re hoping to remove is part of the old external wall (now an internal wall due to the extension), which has the first floor and the roof on top of it. The other wall is an internal wall, with only a flat roof above.

I guess I need a structural engineer to do some calculations and I guess I might have to apply for something with the council as well? Apart from that, I guess I need someone experienced to do the work.

Could anyone provide me with a preferably hierarchical list of tasks I should be doing/considering to get this done? Any tips to save money (without compromising on safety) are welcomed as well. I’m happy to do some of the work myself.

Not sure if it is relevant, but we live in a small end of terrace house in the South of England, near Portsmouth. We're not planning on touching the party wall.

Added a mock-up, hoping it will help.

Seeing as you're in the UK (lots of well-enforced building regulations) and you're wanting to remove at least one load-bearing wall (the old external wall), you absolutely need to bring in the pros and start dealing with all the hassles of permitted renovation. I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to do any of the work yourself, but if you are, it will undoubtedly be under the supervision of someone with very comprehensive liability insurance. :)


Why am I still getting icicles after blowing insulation? I just had insulation blown in last year hoping I would get rid of the icicles forming and dripping all over my front stairs, I also have gutter caps on. Of note, the roofer two years ago put a metal right angled guard if front of the opening of the house about a foot from the lip of the roof, I feel like this has contributed to issues. I guess my next step would to get better ventilation. Any suggestions as what else it could be?

I have a cape cod and the attic spaces formed by the knee walls gave me really bad ice dams and icicles.  I made sure that these spaces had route for warm air to rise and escape however they were missing soffit vents.  I added soffit vents and I haven't seen a single issue in three years.  Ventilation is definitely going to help.  You need to get that air under your roof sheathing closer to the outside temperature.


Why would my microwave continually rotate when connected to a voltage stabilizer which is also used for a refrigerator? When I connected my microwave oven to a voltage stabilizer which is being used for refrigerator,the microwave oven motor starts working without any functions provided.The motor keeps on rotating at lower rpm. What could be the reason behind this?

You should / MUST not connect stabilizer made for refrigerator to microwave oven.
Stabilizer for fridge will be of capacity around 0.5kw and that for microwave oven should be around 2kw or more.


One dead outlet in 3 way switched circuit Three stairway lights are controlled by two switches at the top and bottom of stairs. The outlet at the bottom of the stairs is dead.  Both switches are wired with two blacks and a red, with commons tied off.  The dead outlet does not seem to be at the end of the circuit; the box has a cable running elsewhere (two commons and two hots). No sign of power in or around the outlet box. I have checked all connections except those in the other outlets (high ceiling).  What could be going on?

There should be wires bertween the two outlets, check the connections to the working outlet are sound.


Dual flush toilet woes We've got an Ideal Standard Space corner toilet with a dual flush system. The flush button broke – it turns out as a result of the flush plate not being aligned with the button housing. In other words, the plastic screw had originally been forced into position and the bent rods eventually broke.

So, we're replacing the dual flush button.

We had to straighten up the cistern tank first as it wasn't level and the valve canister was just too out of whack. Now it's sitting much better.

We've also adjusted the valve canister height in order to properly fit the securing plastic screw. But the cistern now won't refill. The water is running but it seems to run straight out again. What is causing this?

However, when the flush button isn't screwed in place, all the mechanisms seem to be working fine (pushing down on the flush plate with a pencil – but we don't want to do that forever).

We are baffled as to why screwing in the flush button is messing up the whole system. Any ideas? We're a bit stuck and don't know what to do next. Thanks.

The push-rods between the buttons and the flush mechanism need to be adjusted because, as you've noticed, when you put everything together they're pushing on the flush mechanism and allowing water through - so they're a little too long.

You'll probably find that the end of the rods witch connect to the buttons is threaded, and there's some form of locking nut to hold them in place.
Loosen the nuts a few turns, screw the rods in a few turns to shorten them, re-tighten the nuts, and try again ...