Are there any reasons not to upgrade to 200A service? A sub-panel is already installed on a second floor. It draws power from a 100 amp main panel downstairs. The sub-panel is feed by a 60 amp double pole breaker. The panel was installed for or by AC techs who were installing mini-split AC units. The sub-panel contains four breakers for the AC units and then one 15 amp and two 20 amp circuits were added to service general receptacles and lights on the second floor.

The house was recently bought and the new homeowners found very bad wiring such as no electrical boxes behind ceiling lights and fans, wiring duct taped together, a mixing of 12 and 14 AWG wire on the same circuit, and incidences like no neutral wire where outlets were installed.

In light of the many problems which we are knowledgeable enough to catch and understand, we would like to ask a question about the sub-panel to make sure the above description sounds on the surface like an okay set up. If so I take it that more circuits can be run from the sub-panel to add extra light and outlet receptacles in the living areas as needed. I take it that this is a proper use of the sub-panel to add circuits in addition to the AC it was put in to accommodate as long as there are slots on the panel. The homeowners are intending on upgrading the main panel to a 200 amp service soon. I take 200 amp to be the standard upgrade for homes. Are there any reasons that such an upgrade would be prohibited for local code reasons and concerns? They definitely need an upgrade since they are trying to properly wire the house to all new code requirements after the hurricane forced a gut of the whole first floor.

Cost
Service upgrades tend to be expensive, since it usually involves installing a new service panel.  Depending on your situation, you may find that the cost far outweighs the reward. If you already have 100 Amp service, and you haven't added on to the home, you may find the upgrade unnecessary.
Availability
The upgrade has to be supported by the existing infrastructure, otherwise the provider may charge you to upgrade their system.  Just like the wires in your home have to be sized properly to carry the load, the distribution wires also have to be capable of providing the extra power.  If the distribution system is at, or near its limit, the provider will have to make upgrades to the system before it can offer an upgrade to you.  In this case the provider will either tell you it can't offer you the service, or they'll offer the service but only if you pay extra to help offset their costs.  This is not a common scenario in most large US cities, though can still be encountered in less populated rural areas.


How should I store leftover latex paint? Finishing a full repaint and I have extra paint I'll store in case I need touch ups later on.

What is the best way to store it for a few years? I don't mind buying new containers for it if that's appropriate.

Your best bet is to transfer it to containers you can 100% fill and seal absolutely.

It needs to be stored near room temperature, don't leave it out in the garage to freeze.

The #1 threat on modern latex paint is mold and fungus growing in the paint. That will result in very stinky paint that is very hard to deal with (it often defies sealcoating, and will ultimately need to be removed along with all the sealcoats that didn't work). The stink is obvious after the fact, but when you're starting to paint, it can be hard to tell from the stink you expect from paint. That is why I get new latex paint for every job.

Mold and fungus now thrive in paint; they didn't before, because the allowable VOC content was high enough to make sure nothing would live in the paint can. VOCs have been pushed down to near zero to improve air quality in cities, particularly Los Angeles.


Can you pull air from an unfinished attic into a closet with a clothes dryer? I have a closet with a electric modern clothes dryer in it. It has nice cabinet doors and I think it is pretty air tight when the doors are shut. I don't really want to get louvered doors so as not to ruin the look of the space, but I worry about there being a lack of air for the dryer in the space.
I am fairly sure I don't want to pull air in from outside, but what about pulling air in from the attic perhaps through an air filter like a furnace might from the interior space?

If not, I am open to other solution - my only other thought is to install something like this on the wall framing in the laundry area.

I'm in California if that matters.

If you're in the coastal area, the attic air during the summer will be hot and humid, so it won't be nearly as effective at picking up moisture in the drier.  Outside air won't be much better.

The drier doesn't operate many hours per week, so in the long run, you aren't wasting much conditioned interior air; plus the conditioned air will dry the clothes faster.

I wouldn't mess with trying to feed outside or attic air to the drier.  Unless you add vents that seal when air is not being drawn, you will introduce additional load on your heating and AC that will affect your energy use year around.

If you live in a desert area, the outside air could be better than conditioned air for drying.  However, that would be worse of an HVAC load without keeping it sealed out when the drier is not in use.  I suspect that the cost of trying to use desert air for drying would far exceed the value of shorter drying time, or at best, would be such a small benefit that it wouldn't be worth the cost and effort.

A couple of solutions that don't require major work or piping in external air:

Just run the drier with the closet door open, and close the door when it is not in use.  That doesn't require any changes.
If you want to be able to completely close the closet door when the drier is running, it doesn't take much gap around the perimeter of a door to provide adequate air.  There is typically a decent gap at floor level.  Look at your other interior room doors.  If there isn't a similar gap on the closet, you may be able to raise the doors a hair, or trim the bottom edge.  If the gap is similar, it will be adequate and not noticeable.


How to fix metal bulkhead holes caused by rust At the top of my bulkhead in the center of the seam where the water drains, there are some holes caused by rust.  Each about 1/2 inch in length, 1/4 in height.  Since the rest of the structure is ok, I would like to identify a way to remove the rust, and patch the holes.

What sort of products are there that I can apply to fill the holes?
I plan to just sand off the rust.  Then apply some rustoleum primer/paint.

Maybe I am over thinking this and I just need to buy some bondo and get to work?
but wondering if there are some better products for small areas that need to be "shaped" or "molded".  The radius of the metal bend is a bit wider then a pencil.

Bondo is good for filling dents or depressions, and will probably do fine for completely filling small holes of this size.

Epoxy putty is also a choice, often found in the US with either plumbing or car repair supplies.  JB Weld is one common brand name; it has metal powder mixed in it so it dries very hard and durable.


How to fully close a door I have a problem. My door, when it closes doesn't completely close. The lower part of the door manages to rest next to the door frame. But the upper part of the door leaves a lot of space between the door frame and the door. In other words, it isn't properly closed.

This is the door to my room and it has a latch bolt and strike plate on the outside. I would like to fix this but I don't want to damage the door. I'm sure there's something that could be done, but I ask for your help.

The door or frame could be warped, which means replacing or rebuilding one of them.

It's also possible that the door is simply poorly installed, in which case moving the hinges around would solve it.

When you close the door, if TWO corners (out of four) of the door and frame meet, then you can probably get by with moving the hinges. If THREE corners meet, then you've got a warped door or frame.


Furnace can’t keep up when set to ON but keeps up fine on AUTO. Is this normal? I’m in a pretty cold state. It’s been below zero F quite often this winter. My furnace has not been keeping up and my house has gotten pretty cold. I got some space heaters to supplement.

Furnace is about eight years old.

But I started to think that I’ve never had this problem in past winters. Maybe furnace needs a tune up? I always keep a clean filter and air volume from vents was fine. All gas jet thingies were fired up and looked fine.

So I started thinking that this past summer I switched my system to always ON because I thought maybe constantly circulating the AC on the house would keep the temp low with less energy. Plus I didn’t like the system turning on and off when I was trying to fall asleep.

This is a 100 year old house with no insulation. I retrofit the central AC and heat in 8 years ago.

So I’m trying to figure out why the heat won’t keep up and I decide to switch the system to Auto. We had a really cold night and it kept up just fine. The house is hot now!

Is this normal? If not is it indicative of a problem?

Running the fan reduces stratification, meeting that it makes the temperatures in the house even. The thermostat being centrally located in a house is often satisfied before the remainder of the house is able to warm up especially in an old house where the heating registers usually are centrally located what's return air located at outside walls. In a house with no insulation the exterior walls lose heat much faster than the heat can be replaced from the ambient air within the house. Basically it's an indication that you have a poor duct system which is not uncommon in an old house.
If you let me know the state, square footage not including the basement if it's below ground, the furnace model number or the size in btu I can tell you a little more about your system.
Edit
Although the above statements are very accurate I did interpret your question in reverse. I read it as, you were having a problem maintaining the temperature with the fan set to auto.
Having your issue with the fan set on would normally be a real head-scratcher. But in this case I would say you need to have a look at your Ecobee. It's a fantastic thermostat, I have one too and there are a lot of features available to tweak your system. If you have multiple sensors and and they are satisfied before the main thermostat the system may shut off prematurely.
This is a  screenshot of my ecobee

If the sensor upstairs reaches the temperature set point well ahead of the main thermostat I think ecobee uses some kind of average to determine when to shut it off.
To determine if this is the issue I would suggest turning off all the sensors except for the main thermostat run the fan set to on and see if anything changes.


how do I remove copper stain coming from plumbing? I have that blue stain in my bathtub

The stain comes from my plumbing, which probably contains copper that rusted
and creates that stain.

I tried to remove it with bleacher but to no avail.

Do you have any ideas on how I can remove copper stains like this one, please?

Thanks

There are products sold for your specific issue. Check your local hardware store or home improvement center for CLR (Calcium-Lime-Rust) cleaner. CLR is a specific brand name but there are many formulations of similar products available.


Installing a fiberglass shower in basement I have an acrylic preformed shower to install in my basement. There is a rough in drain in a 10x10 cutout. I have two questions.

The shower hole for the drain is in the center of the shower so it will be about 10 inches from the rough in pipe.

The shower has a skirt that is almost 4 inches high.
I found a shower drain that has a side outlet that will fit between the concrete floor and the shower pan.
Basically it would cause the drain to have a quick 90 degree turn and then I can add another 90 down the stub a few inches away. (All 2 inch PVC).
Does that seem reasonable as opposed to tearing up concrete?
I worry because I only found a couple brands of side outlet drains. It seems that there would be a lot more out there if this was an acceptable solution to an offset drain.

The shower needs concrete underneath.

Do I also fill in the 10x10 cut-out with concrete?
It seems obvious that I would, but I just want to make sure.

Are you sure there's that much clearance under the shower?  I realize you have a 4" skirt but the floor usually drops back down to finished floor level.

I would be concerned with those two 90's so close together. you'd never get a snake down there if you had a clog. If you're going through all this work for a shower, take the time to do the drain right and bust up a little concrete. You would fill in the cutout with concrete. The floor of the shower will flex if not supported correctly. Supporting the floor will be easier with a straight down drain.


Tips needed on concreting swing posts into to lawn We bought our kids a swing and need a little advice on how best to proceed (as we're not big diyers.

Our gardens sloping so we need to dig each posts hole at different depths to level it out. This means that we'll need to first poor concrete to stand the post on and then fill the rest of the hole with soil.

My question is.. how best should we protect the post from the soil that will surround it?

we'll need to first poor concrete to stand the post on and then fill the rest of the hole with soil.

The best solution is to dig the holes, fill the bottom with a foot of gravel for the post to stand on,  put the posts in place and then concrete around the post. Water running down the post can drain into the gravel.

If you stand a wooden post on concrete it will rot quickly.

I would use pressure-treated timber (or a species that is rot-resistant).
I would check it annually for rot and expect to replace it in 10 years.


How to cut out a rotted portion of exterior corner vertical trim? I have a rotted hole in one of my exterior house vertical corner trim boards. The rot is about 3 feet up from the bottom of board. Rather than replace the whole 16' board, i just want to cut out a piece and replace it.

How do i cut off a straight section without damaging the siding next to it or the other side's corner board? I can't obviously use a circular saw. I cannot figure out a way.

This is a great project for an oscilating multitool.

The front blade (and there are several to choose from) oscilates from side to side in small strokes, allowing a precise cut in both depth and width.

There are corded and cordless models availble in a wide price range. Almost all would suit for your type of project. I think you will also find many other uses for the tool, making it a pretty good DIY investment, even for a beginner.

 Images and links are for illustration only and not an endorsement of any product or source


Prevent future holes in PVC vent pipe in walls Is there any practice or products out there to help protect a PVC pipe where someone might drill into the wall in the future for hanging stuff or something. I'm considering just using metal piping for my vertical vent pipe runs through the walls.

I believe that code requires it to be located at least 1-1/2 inches from the wall (or framing?) face or to be covered by at least 1/16" steel plates (similar to wiring, and for the same reason.) This is why (as implied in @John Gaughan's comment) wet walls are typically framed with 2x6 or even 2x8 rather than 2x4 lumber (that would be a "practice" in the spirit of your question.) Another method is to use 2 separated rows of 2x3 or 2x4 framing, which saves on a lot of hole drilling and lumber cost. Does not prevent the determined idiot from finding a pipe and drilling something longer than code expects into it, but nothing does, really.

On the whole, I prefer PVC - having dealt with corroded metal pipes (those can be drilled through as well.) Providing an actual pipe chase (boxed in, rather than trying to "bury it all in the wall") provides more protection (you can give them more space) and should help keep anyone with the slightest clue from drilling there by accident (because it's obviously a pipe chase.) Plus, you don't need to make the rest of the wall excessively thick.


How can I enlarge a doorknob bore with common tools? Okay, so I need to replace an old door knob for my mom.

I guess she had tried to do it and wound up losing all packaging and the installation instructions, so I have no template for how much larger the hole needs to be.

I have a drill attachment set and a cordless drill, but that's all (see pics). I've read about a bunch of fancy tools that are made specifically to do what I need done, but I can't afford to buy anything.

As for a template, I used fingernail polish on the part of the new knob that doesn't fit into the existing hole. I couldn't think of another way to get a somewhat accurate outline of the hole.

Also, I can't take the door off of the frame, it has to stay on the hinges.

I'm usually pretty good about figuring this sort of thing out, but I'm stumped. I can technically install the knob & it'll lock & work okay, but it ends up scraping against the wood and it comes loose very quickly.

About the only thing I can come up with is using the sander bits & going at it that way..

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Here's a pic of the tools I've got available and the makeshift 'template' for the size I need

With the paddle bits or the hole saw bits that you have drill a hole in a scrap piece of wood that is the correct size for the knob you are trying to install. It would be good if this scrap was at least 3/4" thick.

If you have clamps - clamp this scrap with the hole in it over the hole in the door and use it as a guide to then drill the correct size hole in the door.

You didn't hear this from me - If you don't have clamps you might be able to just hold the guide tight and drill carefully. Maybe a helper would be good.

You could also try the sanding drums - it doesn't have to be pretty since the knob will cover things up, but they look cheap and might wear out before you get to where you need to be.

You can do it. Go for it. Persist. Don't forget your safety glasses.


Why do I have a cold draft from a return air vent? I have a draft occurring in my 2 story home, usually on windy days. The main floor is fine, but in the master bedroom on the second floor, there is cold air entering the room from the air return vent. It's not much, but noticeable. In the basement (which is finished), cold air is coming from the heat registers, quite noticeably, and when the furnace isn't running.

I've made sure that all the obvious sources for drafts are sealed (doors, windows, etc). The house is ~15 years old and the heating system is forced air.

Can anyone suggest where this air might be coming from?

This could also be caused by bad/torn/loose ductwork in the attic area. I would check the return ductwork in the attic for tears and/or breaks.


Circuit Breaker Finder - Finding TWO Breakers for one outlet I have a 1948 house that has mid-century conduit throughout. All old two-prong outlets in the old house; only the 1980s extension has your typical 14/2-G.

Anyway, in the old house (as the title says) my finder is locating two circuit breakers associated with a single outlet.

I haven’t looked closely at this yet but strongly suspect that the last homeowner replaced a two-circuit outlet (where one was controlled by a nearby switch) with a single circuit outlet. There is an extra switch in my living room - doesn’t appear to do anything - so this seems about right. If its load is also on the outlet then its return will be affected too.

So could the outlet be going back to the panel across two different circuits? Not sure there’s a way to test this without taking out the outlet and testing everything in there w/ a multimeter in tandem w/ the light and breakers.

Any thoughts? Could it be something else?

The Klein circuit breaker finder is just a re-branded High-Tech, the Harbor Freight brand for about triple the price.

https://toolguyd.com/klein-breaker-finder-and-hi-tech-circuit-detective-identical/

So don't expect much.  But even with a good one, a breaker finder should never be treated as more than a guess to narrow down further testing and verification.

If the breaker finder indicates two circuits, it's possible the wiring is crossed up somewhere and both breakers energize this receptacle.  That's not uncommon if someone makes a mistake connecting blacks to blacks somewhere.  However it's even more common for the breaker finder to make a mistake.

If you turn off the breaker and test the receptacle for voltage, and find no voltage present, then you have demonstrated that that breaker and only that breaker provides power to that receptacle.  However:  In a case like this where you're concerned something's wrong, I'd not trust a non-contact voltage tester or a plug in receptacle tester to verify there's no voltage present;  I'd want to test with a good voltage tester or meter.


How do I repair a garage door with a rusty bottom? Was looking at my garage door as I pulled into home yesterday and noticed that the bottom panel is starting to rust slightly at the bottom. The rust looks like a small mountain range from one side to the other.

My question is: What is the best way to go about repairing this? I'm going to guess I'm looking at 3 steps

Remove the rust (how do I go about doing this?)
Prime/rustproof the metal
Repaint the door

Has anyone done rust removal/repainting on metal before and is it even worth it? I'm basing this on the assumption that the door isn't completely rusted through. If that's the case then I'll just replace the panel and be done with it.

Is the garage door made out of steel?  Here is a good article on repainting rusty steel:

I think the key is to prep by washing the area and then removing as much rust as possible by scraping and then using a wire brush (or even sanding).  Prime the area with Rustoleum. The topcoat should be high quality latex exterior paint.


what options do i have dealing with a chimney downdraft I have a prefabed fireplace that can be either gas (current setup) or wood. I'd like to convert it to wood (gas assist), but am being told that I've got a severe downdraft, and would either need a chimney extension or a chimney fan.

Right now, the chimney extends ~4-5' above the roof, but is adjacent to a wall (I live in a converted factory, the fireplace is part of a one-story part of the house, adjacent to a 2-story part). Extending it to fit the 10' / 2' rule would mean something like a 10' vertical extension, which is probably expensive. Chimney fans are ridiculously expensive too (cheapest I've seen online is $1K, contractor quoted me $2.2K).

Are there other options?

The first thing to check is. Do you have a backflow preventing Cowl on the Chimney. These are quite effective in preventing backflow into your chimney.

But the real problem is that you are getting a high pressure against your second story wall which is butting against your chimney pipe. Its a natural progression that the wind buffeting the wall will want to flow down the chimney.  Besides the chimney extension to a point outside of the high pressure zones created by the building structure. you could possibly put an elbow on the current chimney to move as far away from the wall as possible.


What type of faucet is this? I cannot for the life of me figure out what kind of faucet this is. I need to replace the stems as they are leaking but without knowing the brand I am stumped!

It's an installed faucet as far as I can make out.  To replace the stems it is not necessary to know the mfr and model (though might be helpful), instead just bring them in to a plumbing store (ideally) or Home Depot.

I once brought my broken version of this part:

in to a plumbing store.  Without out my saying a word, the counterhelp simply looked at it, said 'ok', walked back into the stock shelves and came back with the replacement kit.


load bearing stair components I've just opened up the under stair area with a plan to convert into storage.
Can anyone tell me what parts A and E are doing in the following images? They don't appear to be load bearing to me.
I want to remove A so I can fit a door between B and C.

Doesn't look to be doing much... maybe stop the stringers from splaying in/out?

I can't see how this is doing much either...

None of those components appear to be load bearing.
I think that the following are the possible reasons for their existence.
BCD are for attaching drywall.
E is the same (with few additional 2x4).
A is for attaching drywall with a possibility of a door or access panel.


Can I put 42W CFL bulbs into a fixture marked as "R20 Halogen bulbs up to 50W max"? Both the fixture and the bulbs are E26 standard medium socket; so they definitely fit.

And I'm pretty sure the wattage is fine (42w < 50w).

I'm just worried about causing a safety hazard... Would combining these non-"R20 Halogen bulbs" into this "R20 Halogen bulb only" fixture create an unsafe lighting installation?

I should mention that the fit is rather tight, and that although 100% of the bulb and 50% of the base of the bulb are uncovered, the bottom half of the bulb's base is tight against the edge of the fixture.

Please let me know if additional information is needed.

One consideration is current draw.  CFLs have a power factor of about 0.5, meaning they draw twice as much current as a similarly sized halogen or incandescent bulb, which have power factor of 1.0.

So if your fixture is rated for a 50W halogen bulb, that means: 50 = 120*current*1.0 (Power = voltagecurrentpower factor), so the fixture is rated for 0.42 amps.

A 42W CFL would demand: 42 = 120*current*0.5, current = 0.7 amps.

The rating of the lamp takes many different things in to account, not just current draw, but also cooling of the bulb and the fixture itself, but this is just one consideration.

Another consideration is that CFLs, although they run at a much lower temperature, will also fail prematurely at a much lower temperature, so if the fixture is not properly ventilated and the base isn't allowed to cool, it could fail long before its time.


How can I build a porch enclosure? I'm looking to take on this project myself, I want to enclose my porch.  It's roughly 2x5 metres, and 8 feet high and is part of a semi detached where the porch continues on the other side to my neighbour.  I'm having trouble finding info on how hard a diy project this is?  Ideally I'd like to do mostly brick up to about waist level and then lots of window.

Has anyone here tried anything like this, that could possibly relate any tips to me?

You will need to dig a footing or be on an existing concrete slab. In the north (assuming your in the USA) the footing needs to extend below the frost line, which I'm told is 3 feet.
Cinder block is required for the first few feet (2 or 3 courses) of wall height to prevent water damage from rain or snow.
Anything that will change the outside appearance of the home will most certainly need a builders permit.
If this is your first project, you're going to need some help. There's a lot of skill sets required to do this.

Are you going to drywall the interior or leave the studs exposed? What about the exterior? Vinal siding? Stucco? etc... Any electrical in these walls? Windows?

There are kits available that'll make it easier, but at that rate, you may as well just have them install it.

SunPorch

I've wanted to do this to my house since I've moved in. Our porch is covered and on a concrete slab. I haven't decided yet if I want to use the space as a office or a first floor bathroom / laundry room. I put the expense around 7k to raise the floor to the same height as the house, drywall inside, playwood and vinal siding for the outside, and I'll reuse some of the windows and doors from the part of the house its attached to.

Nothing you can't do by yourself with another hand. Score some books from the local home store and plan it out. If you get stuck, make sure you know who to call.


Extending an outlet in the middle of a run I would like to add an outlet to my back yard. In my basement there is a 20 amp circuit that runs from the breaker panel to my garage. Can I tap into the circuit in the middle of the run essentially forming a Y. The bottom part of the Y being at the breaker panel and one branch of the Y runs to the garage and the other branch runs to the backyard. I want to put a GFCI on the outside outlet and there is already one in the garage.

The main problem with this approach is that if you simply cut the cable in half, there won't be enough slack in the wires to get sufficient length-in-the-box (6" per NEC) for wiring the intermediate splice.  Oops!  I would extend from the garage outlet instead -- you can simply tap off its LOAD terminals and have GFCI protection for the outdoor outlet without putting another GFCI in.


Painting Pressure Treated Wood | Outdoor Steps Application I am needing to rebuild some stairs (3 steps), and the previous owner has a great colour scheme going on the house, and I want to maintain that. Now, my wife and I like to do builds/projects that are quality so we have been looking at ways to build these steps that will help them have a little more longetivity. The conclusion we have come to is that we would like to use a pressure treated wood (e.g. here) and then paint it. However, the internet is full of contradictions...even on our site. I have seen things saying we should wait upwards of a year to paint, while other sources say to just paint and prime, and some are even more intensive asking you to clean, sand, dry, paint, prime and sell your first born.

We live in Alberta, Canada - it is quite dry here in the summer and we have long winters. I am hoping to get this all done this year so I can take advantage of next summer, for next year's projects. Can we finally but this issue to bed? What works, what doesn't...

In short - how can I paint the steps to ensure they will last?

The preservation process uses lots of water, that water and the preservative will leach back out over time. If the wood is painted, this leaching process will push the paint off the surface of the wood, let alone not allow it to grip the surface the way it needs to, to begin with since it is so wet and the preservative is on the surface as well. Weathering will remove the surface contaminates, and allow the wood to dry to the degree it needs to keep paint.

6 months was the rule I read about. A year works too.


open neutral caused from changing water tank? I had my water tank changed and since then my dish washer does not work. There is no power to it from the existing wire. Ihave since turned off the breaker to it changed it and nothing. There are no other outlets in the house that dont work with power off so i assume its the only appliance on this circuit. I have a 3 prong tester and I noticed that all my outlets show (open neutral) what the hay? its a 10 year old house. do i need an electrician?

In short and to answer your immediate question-- yes, you most likely need an electrician to come perform troubleshooting. However, there seems to be some ambiguity here.

I'm going to make the assumption that "water tank" means 240V electric water
heater? Did you install the new tank or was it installed by a professional? If all of this happened immediately after the installation, I suggest having your installer come back to verify the installation before hiring anyone else.

It sounds like your receptacle tester is not telling you the full truth. You said your receptacles work, but they physically cannot with an open neutral-- you would have an open circuit and be in the dark. However, you can have an open neutral and still have a live "hot" wire, so don't take anything for granted.

If the neutral is indeed open on all of your receptacles, that would most likely indicate a problem at your breaker panel. This would bring us back around full circle to calling an electrician.


Using new lumber in an old wall with larger lumber dimensions I am trying to widen the doorway to a room in a house that was build in 1905. the framing is 16 on center, however the lumber is wider than a standard 2x4. by about a 1/2 inch. (the actual dimensions of the wood are 2x4).

I can position the jackstuds so that they are flush with the wall of the room, but that would leave a gap on the other side.

How should I handle this? Should I rip a 2x6 to fit?

EDIT: the wall is load bearing

You may have to rip a larger board, but you might be able to find "rough cut" lumber at some yards. I had a house built in 1910, I had the same problem. I was able to find rough cut lumber for interior framing work, but for anything exposed, I had to mill down larger boards.


Cedar fence posts - advantages over pressure treated? Looking to have a 6' privacy fence built around my yard in central Ohio.  Yard drains reasonably well but can get pretty mushy in spots, especially when we get a bunch of rain and the ground is still frozen (like right now.)

I have had a few contractors out to quote me a privacy fence.  Most of them won't use cedar posts because they say they rot quickly, and pressure treated is better.  One contractor is using 5" x 5" center cut cedar posts, as he only works in cedar.  I like the look of the cedar posts, but the price is significantly higher than using PT posts and cedar planks.  I'd hate to spend the extra and then have the posts rot out at / under ground level.

I'm not sure how the cedar posts would be set (concrete, gravel, or a collar) but I'll ask.

Does anyone have any knowledge (or strong opinions) either way on life expectancy of cedar vs PT?

Thanks in advance!  If anyone has been through this and has any "Make sure you ask about..." advice please let me know!

Personal opinion/experience agrees with the advice you are getting. Cedar is a good choice above ground; it's less toxic and as long as it can dry out it resists bugs and weathering pretty well. If the posts will be above ground resting on concrete anchors, cedar is fine. If you are going to bury one end of the posts, though, I would recommend PT. Realistically, the difference in appearance is minimal, especially after staining or weathering. I'd save the cedar for the fence panels.

Of course if you want a natural product that is extremely bug and weather resistant, some of the tropical hardwoods like Ipe are now available for decking and it might be possible to get 5x5 posts. Not cheap, though.


How can I attach two pieces of wood in an invisible way? I would like to attach a thin tree trunk to a flat smooth piece of wood, in order to create support for a very heavy shelf. Any suggestions on how to do it, while leaving a minimal outside marks?

Basically my question is how to attach the tubular part in perpendicular to the flat part, with no outside accessories...

I would suggest a tenon cutter.

It will mount in a drill. You put a tenon on the end of your wood of a specific diameter, then drill a hole (a round mortise) in the wood it will be attached to. The tenon slips right in. Use a little glue, and it will stay firmly there.

As well, this will yield a very strong joint. For example, look at how the legs on Windsor style chairs fit into the seat from underneath. Such tenons are also used on the braces between the legs in such chairs, where one member is tenoned into another.


Will a new vent resolve pressure evacuation of my drain traps? We've recently moved into an old house. We changed part of the soil pipe in the basement, which actually makes the flow more straight-forward/unobstructed. I've marked this in the attached diagram.

Since when, we've noticed when someone flushes toilet on first floor, it sucks the water out of the traps/u-bends on the top floor. And then the top floor smells like a sewer. Presumably the gases have been released.
I figured we need to add a plumbing vent. Basically attach a pipe to the top of the soil pipe, on top floor, and run it through the roof. I've marked proposal in attached diagram.
I just wanted to check if i'm on the right track?
I haven't opened up the wall to get at the soil pipe yet, so i'm not sure what's waiting for me. Plus, I'm a little worried about the roof work. I suppose there's no way to do the work entirely from the inside?
I don't have any scaffolding, and i'm certainly not confident enough to go out on the roof without it. Even then, I think i'll have to hire someone to do this.
Thanks for any advice.
James

Did you replace your pipe and keep the 2% slope?  I think your fix will work.  Assume your main stack is 4" and your toilets are on 3?  You might be over the critical trap arm length for the basement toilet but that would just siphon that toilet.
Even if this wasn't a problem you need a vent for your main stack and it needs to go through the roof.  You don't want the potential for sewer gasses to build up and vent into your house.
Good explanation of the critical trap length.
https://www.jlconline.com/how-to/plumbing/maximum-length-for-fixture-drains_o


How to remove faucet on American standard with no screw or cap I can’t for the life of me find any screw or cap on this thing. It has been leaking like crazy and  I need to check and/or replace cartridge.
It is an American Standard, that’s all I know. Probably about ten years old. Can’t figure out the model or find the literature from purchase.
Any help? Please?

Modern American Standard 4" center-set lav faucets with lever style handle typically have a set-screw at the base of each lever in the back. It may be difficult to see the small screw hole as there is usually a little cover plug that needs to be pried out with a small screwdriver or similar tool. You will need a hex wrench:

Another style (less common in my experience) simply requires a firm pull upwards for handle removal:

If this works, here is a link to the complete installation manual.


Should in increase wire size for a well sub-panel? A friend wants me to help add a electrical socket in his well house.  The house is OLD, and was not wired to code (rural, multiple additions over many decades).  The well is about 100yds from his house, and the power to the well is supplied with #12/2 w/ground, protected by a 30AMP 2-pole breaker. (Not what I'd run, for sure. I have no idea as to the motor size/draw, but he's not had any problems with the breaker flipping, over many years. Surprise!)

He wants to have an outlet he can plug a 100W bulb into, to keep the well from freezing. I suggested running his supply line into a small box, and putting a new breaker in the box for the well, and another, 15AMP, for a GFCI outlet.  I know this is not code acceptable, but he wants it done, and can't afford to pay to have it done right.

Is there any reason to go up in wire size from the box to the well/outlet?  I can't see any point, but....

12/2 may require a 20A breaker

Note ThreePhaseEel's comment, where he notes certain motors require a 25A or 30A breaker (NEC 430.52) yet are permitted to use 12AWG wire (430.22 notably 430.22E), if so, this may have been legal after all.  I would, at least, upgrade to 10AWG until it leaves the house.  I care if it burns down your house. I don't care if it burns down your yard.

If the amp draw is well under 20A, then go ahead and fit a 20A breaker and now you're code legal in any case.  And due to a happy coincidence of the numbers,  your wiring run is almost exactly 1 ohm of resistance.  That means the voltage drop equals the amps.  It's a lot easier to measure voltage drop than amps: measure the voltage at the panel, measure the voltage at the pump, subtract.  The pump must be running while you're measuring.

Yes, you can run 20A on 12AWG for unlimited length.   Your load might not like the voltage drop, though.  That's why I suspect the actual amperage is well under 20A.

Don't use a lightbulb for a heater.  Use a heater.

Light bulbs burn out and you won't know when they do. Just go to McMaster-Carr, Grainger, or other industrial supply and buy a heater module. For instance they have a strip heater, 240V, 3 inch wide, 120 watt for $19. Any common strip heater will do fine.

Or even better, they also sell pipe wrap heating, which you can then wrap with insulation. Could take well under 100W!

There's no way to string 120V out there

The pump has 240V hot-hot-ground 3-wire electrical service out there.  Neutral is not ground so there is no way to obtain a neutral to get 120V service.   No big deal since you can get 240V heaters.

If you must do this thing with incandescent light bulbs, get 3 bulb bases and wire them in series to 240V.   Then put 3 identical bulbs in there.  Each bulb will see 80 volts (1/3 of 240v).   Since that's 2/3 of its normal voltage, it'll run 4/9 (2/3x2/3) of its normal power.  The bulbs will last a great deal longer, but when one fails, they all go dark.


Diagnosing low faucet flow: Single faucet I just purchased my first house. The lady I purchased it from was afraid of a few things, two of them being hot water and fast flowing water. The water heater was easy to adjust, but I'm scratching my head over the kitchen faucet.

It has very poor flow. The rest of the house is just fine. When I disconnect the supply lines from the faucet and turn on the valves, it flows just fine. I looked at the cartridges in the handles, they are just fine.

The lady told me that when she had the plumber install the faucet, she asked them to set it up to have very little flow. So I'm thinking, "restriction orifice? Adjusted cartridge for low flow?" I can't find anything that looks like it's adjustable or intentionally blocked.

Do you have a screen, in the tap (faucet) at the end where water comes out into the sink?  (or the line that collects hard lime, water deposits?) This can be a problem anytime the water is hard, THUS quite mineralized. Those bits- often the size of sand grains -- can collect and wreak havoc. Clogging of water lines if galvanized via mineral build up before getting to the faucet in the supply lines can be an issue also. I have seen this in laundry lines where mixed water is a problem when washers do not rinse well - their lines are messed up with sand, pet hair and other clothing debris that does not rinse out of the filter properly and collects to clog everything up, one must check the washers as well as the mesh screens at ends of supply lines so all water goes where it should without a hitch - or leave linty residue on clothing because of the clogs involved.


How can I fix a Ikea Kallax shelf door I have an Ikea Kallax bookshelf which has these insert doors. I bumped the door and ripped it off.

What would be a good way to fix it?

It looks like this happened before
From the other side

Is there some kind of putty I should try to stuff in the holes. Basically once busted out the cheap Ikea particle board is stripped and the screws have nothing to grab on. Should I take the door off and then use glue with some kind of clamp until it dries? Is the some other solution I should consider?

I would first remove the door from its support panel.
Then screw and glue the panel to the side, locating it correctly and clamp it into place. Either use G-clamps or even make some wedges.
Once properly dry refit the door.


What should I use to frame walls inside a concrete structure? I recently bought a house and it has an unfinished suspended garage (big concrete room with 12’ ceilings in the basement under the garage).

The walls, floor, and ceiling are all concrete and there are steel I beams in place for extra support.

I’d like to finish it and turn it into a theater room, but it isn’t framed. Given that the framing would not need to be load bearing, can I get away with something cheaper than 2x4’s? Or am I going to regret cutting this corner.

There aren't many options for framing cheaper than basic 2x4 lumber.  You could go down to 2x3 which is sometimes cheaper but you'll find that interior doors and insulation are generally sized for 2x4 walls with 1/2" drywall.

You could also consider metal studs.  These are available down to 1.5 inches in thickness (fine if all you want to do is hide the concrete.)  The cost is often slightly higher than wood, but you won't get mold if the space is still a little damp.  They are also usually available in longer lengths (owing to their primary use in commercial spaces) and they are always dimensionally straight.  Installing metal studs goes really fast once you get a hang of it, but again doors can be difficult.


Removing the handle from this type of faucet/tap I have this type of washing machine faucet/tap in my apartment. Any idea how to remove the handle? There isnt any screw on top(after removal of the sticker), by the side, or back of the handle.

Is there special tool to unlock the valve handle?

Photo updated

Check to see if there is a nut just below the handle which the stem comes out of. If this is a laundry faucet or the type that projects from a wall there may be a connecting nut that allows the faucet to swivel into alignment with the supply pipe. Either way use a crescent (adjustable jaw) wrench or as @bib mentioned tape or a rag to protect the faucet from being marred.


How can I install heat tape on a hard to reach PVC drain pipe? I need to install heat tape on the INSIDE of a 6" PVC drain pipe. The challenge is that it must be inserted from the bottom and pushed up about 4'. I'll also need a thermostat. How should I go about this?

This is actually similar to another answer I just gave.

It's generally referred to as "heat line" when it goes inside a pipe, which may help you find some products.

You don't give many details about your application, but in general, I'd recommend self-regulating heat line instead of using a thermostat. This line basically turns on as it needs to in response to temperature, and this actually happens just on the particular spot that's cold (eg, the whole line doesn't have to be on or off).

The insert adapter that lets you connect the line can be installed anywhere.


Removing drywall from concrete ceiling, do I need to worry about something? My basement is built from concrete, and I am thinking about removing the (gypsum) drop ceiling (like this) that is attached to the concrete ceiling. This should be fairly easy, since the drywall parts are just simply screwed to some metal bars, which in turn are attached to the ceiling (not sure I want to remove the metal bars as well).

I know structurally this should not be a problem, but I'm wondering if I am missing something: would this largely effect soundproofing (e.g., the noise will be much more obvious from the basement); will the basement become more damp, possibly colder?

Another question: should I paint over the concrete ceiling or should I apply something on it?

Or any advice or hints, ideas are very much welcome!

The picture you linked, having 40cm of clearance, and being typical of offices sounds like you are describing a 'drop ceiling' (aka 'suspended ceiling') -- this is different than drywall.

A drop ceiling is composed of 2x4' or 2x2' removable panels sitting in a metal grid system, and the panels are usually mineral fiber or fiberglass but can also be wood or plastic.

You absolutely can remove this, but there are of course drawbacks

Acoustics/Soundproofing

It will definitely heavily affect acoustics in the basement. In fact these are also sometimes called 'acoustic tiles' because they do absorb sound. By contrast a concrete ceiling is going to make the room very echoey.

As far as separating noise to the upstairs, I suspect it will not have a huge effect, though it'll definitely be non-zero. Concrete does transmit low frequency sounds, and a soundproofing layer can help to minimize this.

Design

The best way is to lift a tile and inspect the concrete. Does it look decent enough for your tastes? Is it full of holes drilled to hang the ceiling, or does it have wiring or other utilities running across it? If there is any wiring, plumbing, HVAC or gas lines installed by people after (or knowing about) the drop ceiling, they may not have done as neat a job as if it would be exposed.

Replacing with drywall

An actual drywall ceiling can look pretty nice. For reference/comparison, that would be something like this (picture is before painting):

One of the benefits of a drop ceiling is after it's installed, you can still easily run wiring above it -- for example if you want to install a home theater, or upgrade to the next generation video cables, or go to a 7.1 or 9.1 or 24 channel surround system.

Drywall requires cutting holes, patching and repainting -- or having strategically run conduit behind it to exactly the places you need.

Other drop ceiling tiles

There are ways to install low-clearance drop ceilings. The minimal you can get down to is around 2 to 3" (5 to 8cm) -- it just depends on being able to get the tiles in.

You can also replace tiles. There's some neat tiles that definitely don't look like your typical office -- just be aware some may lose some of the acoustic benefits. You can compensate for this by insulating above, but then you need more space.

Painting tiles

Finally, you can just paint the tiles, which is easy and cheap and can vary the look quite a bit.


Installing Router inside Electrical Closet and Hacking the Telephone Socket I live in the Netherlands and I have a router which I would like to hide away in my closet. Currently, it gets internet from the telephone socket seen in the image below.

I would like to place this router in my closet, near the electrical service panel, seen in the image below.

The closet includes an electrical socket, however, it does not have a socket for the internet/telephone connection. I assume that my internet/telephone cables do pass through the closet as it's the main entrance for outside connections (electricity, gas, water etc.). How can I find out which cables these are? What is a good way to hack these cables and make my own internet-socket there?

I understand that the information I have provided may not be enough to describe a detailed plan of what I should do. My question here aims to get information which can guide me in connecting the internet plug seen in the first image to whichever wires are the telephone connection in the last image.

For connecting the router to your phone line, you need to find the 'ISRA punt' (this is specific to the Netherlands). This is where the phone company line from outside connects to the phone wiring in your house. The cable up to the ISRA punt is owned by the phone company and you're not allowed to modify it. You are allowed to modify the wiring that comes out of the ISRA punt at the consumer end.

There have been several standard shapes for this over the years. In older houses the ISRA punt may not even be in the metering closet.

This KPN page helps you identify the ISRA punt:

Does your metering closet contain an ISRA punt?


Bleeding a Cast Iron Radiator with No Bleeder Valve I am having an issue with a single cast iron radiator where it is not heating up at all. All other radiators are working fine in the apartment. A lot of people suggest bleeding the radiator, however, I can't seem to find any bleeder valve on this kind of cast iron radiator. I have attached a few pictures. Is there any other way I can bleed this radiator of the air that is inside it? I have already replaced the air vent valve but that didn't seem to help with anything. Thank you!

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NfI7FtvAEQY/WkJg3CxVrvI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/nOsuT1hfrzQceuvjgOK51ZBVbCEGjDS2QCLcBGAs/s1600/20171217_1629441.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Mw-OPVvGTk/WkJg3SlDglI/AAAAAAAAA2g/iG4usuAwFeoW9THBssLzQq1ylnns-nW5ACLcBGAs/s1600/20171217_1630041.jpg

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h5LE1kPsoLY/WkJg3Powp6I/AAAAAAAAA2c/J_tOn8oxyDAKQvkTGkn39khAYYyQ5fnNgCLcBGAs/s320/20171217_1654431.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AELLpXEKI38/WkJg3jzqo8I/AAAAAAAAA2k/xOcrUjKNj-IqGe3sccYILdEWy3Bx90qjACLcBGAs/s320/20171217_1706331.jpg

The heating system is what is called a "1" pipe heating system. It is not a hot water system therefore the radiator does not require bleeding. I can not see  the make or model number of the vent on the radiator so I can't comment on whether it the correct type. Also make sure that the inlet valve on the left side is fully open and not partially closed. Be careful when replacing the vent on that radiator  or any of the radiators when the boiler is firing, steam can come out a cause very bad burns. Is this a single family home or an apartment? If it is an apartment call the building manager and have them replace the vent. If it a single family home make sure that you turn the boiler off before working on any part of the system.


7-8 Volts at Porch Light Switch My wife changed three incandescent porch light bulbs with LED bulbs and it kicked the circuit breaker.  I replaced the LED bulbs with incandescent bulbs.  When I turn on the light switch for the exterior light it now reads 7-8 volts at the switch.  There are two lights on the same breaker.  The interior light reads 120 volts at the switch.  The wiring from the circuit breaker goes to the indoor light and from there to the outdoor light.  The indoor light reads 120 volts at the light switch and as I mentioned the outdoor light reads 7-8 volts at the light switch.
I’m not sure whether the problem is the wiring connection from the good indoor light, the connection where the home wiring connects to the outdoor lamp or the lamp wiring is bad.  Any ideas?

With only 7-8 volts your hot has opened some place unless using a low z meter. When the neutral opens with a normal meter many times you will read 120-50v but just a few is a sign that a connection at a wire nut probably failed unless using spring tension blocks wago is a popular brand and they normally work well unless there is a catastrophic failure (something that causes the breaker to trip) then they get loose like a back stab.
Since your indoor light works check the junction there. Then in the non working fixture closest to the working fixture it is probably a push in or bad wire nut connection.


New timer switch has a blue wire instead of red wire I just replaced a mechanical timer switch (noisy) with a digital switch. The old switch had red, white, and black wires and the new switch has red, white, blue wires. I simply connected the new blue wire as if it were a black wire. Now I have a bathroom fan (in a different room than the switch) that responds to the timer. This fan was not controlled by the old switch, so I wonder if the old switch was faulty (we’ve only owned the house for a year). Or, did I do something bad by wiring the blue wire?
Note that I actually do not know what the old switch controlled. We were told it was important for ventilation but we never actually heard any fans running until now.

With the exception of white == neutral and green == ground, wire colors mean basically nothing in the US/Canada electrical system. Typically black = hot and red = switched hot, but it can vary. Blue? Could be hot or switched hot.
Generally speaking, the best way to do things if it is not a clear, exact replacement, is to figure out what you have. Sometimes you can figure that out from the old connections, and if you can't understand it from the old connections, if you can upload a picture before disconnecting wires, we can often figure it out for you.
In addition, with wires disconnected but safely capped, it is generally safe to turn the breaker back on and use a non-contact tester to determine which wire(s) is hot. Note that sometimes white will be hot rather than neutral in a switch loop, so that is not necessarily an error but actually a clue - because then black is switched hot.
The instructions on the new device should detail which wires are which - e.g., in this case what red and blue mean. In a simple switch (not 3-way, 4-way, smart, dimmer, motion detector, etc.) there is no difference between "hot" and "switched hot". But with anything more complex, you need to know what wires are hot, switched hot, traveler, etc. If the manual doesn't make it clear, that is not a good sign.


Can I block a skylight during summer without condensation? I have a small fixed skylight and figure that during winter it's no problem to block the tunnel at ceiling level as suggested by an answer to a similar diy.stackechange question. (The only difference is that I like the light the skylight provides, so rather than rigid foam I am thinking of using clear multiwall polycarbonate panels that provide an R factor of 2 or more.)

The skylight is over a stairwell and difficult to get to so I'm thinking about leaving it in place year round.  What would happen if I were to leave this in place during the warm months?  It's dry and hot here in central CA in the summer, but would I still be at risk for condensation or mold on the drywall tunnel?

If you do find condensation then you have a more significant problem that you would want to repair.  Here's why:  The drywall tunnel, being exposed to sunlight should always be hotter than your house, which means that relative humidity will be lower than in your house even if infiltrated with air from your house.  That also means that any condensation would only be against the insulation barrier at the bottom.  Unless you have other moisture infiltration into the tunnel that shouldn't happen.  If it does then you need to insulate the tunnel from inside the attic or else find the leak that's letting moisture into the tunnel.


Is it acceptable to use multiple PVC couplings when routing a drain through joists? I'm deciding whether to repair or replace my ancient cast iron DWV plumbing while the walls and ceilings are open.

The 1.5" steel shower/tub drain is currently notched through joists for a run of about five feet, incorporating a long trap, through three joists.  I neither want to drill more holes in the joists nor use a drop ceiling, nor remove the beautiful marble floor above.  The replacement will be in place.

My question concerns threading 1.5" PVC through the existing holes: I'm assuming I'll have to assemble from sections.  Is it terrible to introduce couplings to a PVC drain, or is this very common and I shouldn't worry?

Would there be any benefit to using copper?  Or some other material?

I might prefer to keep the steel if rodding would get it all the way clean--it's close to solid crud inside--any relevant experiences helpful here.

Coupling a drain through the joists are even done in new work, sometimes it is the only way.

Cast iron and especially any galvanized pipe connected to it will sure rust through over the ages. If you have any galvanized pipe in place and you yank on it a bit, you may find it readily cracks loose or separates at the joints. If the cast iron is in good shape, many times the shaking of the pipes during renovation will cause the leaded joints to leak.


Well pump runs, but bladder tank is empty, and we have no water My water just all of a sudden stopped working the other day but when we went to check the well pump it was still running, but now he went to check the bladder tank and it is empty. HELP!

Shallow Well

A centrifugal pump doesn't work when it's full of air.  Some of them can self prime with very small differences between the pump and the water level (trash pumps, typically) Normally they are 'wet' all the time.  The foot valve keeps the pipe to the pump full of water between cycles.

If the foot valve fails, then all the water in the your water system drains back into your well.  (Normally you would have a check valve on the out put of the pump too, which would at least slow this down.)

A failed foot valve is a cheap fix, although a nuisance to do.

However the foot valve may just have stuck.  You can try repriming the pump.  There is usually a bolt on the top of the pump casing you can open and fill with water.  You need to do some arithmetic to figure out how much water it will take. 1"pipe runs about 30 feet per gallon. 1.5" pipe runs about 15.  So dump 5 gallons of water (go to a neighbour) and see if the problem goes away.

If the pump is still full of water, then you have another problem.

Break the output connection, and BRIEFLY run the pump.  If you now have a gallon of water on the floor, then you know the pump works.  If it doesn't then fix the pump.  This could be simple:  The impeller is no longer attached to the shaft, or it could be that the impeller has died of old age.

Note:  If you have a pressure gage on the pump, then if it says you have pressure, you can skip the 'break the connection and make a mess' paragraph above.

If you have water at the pump, but not at the house, then verify that every valve between the pump and the pressure tank is actually open.  YOU may not have closed them.  But I can just see some 12 yr old turning off the water while a sibling is in the shower...  (I know.  I did this to my sister.  Except I turned off the hot water.)  If everything is open, then inspect the ground carefully between house and well head.  If you have a wet spot, you know where to start digging.

Water at the pump may also be true with a broken impeller.  Water is present, but no energy is being transferred to it by the impeller.  This will show as no mess/no pressure.

Deep well with jet pump.

You've got two lines now, and enough depth that there may multiple sections of pipe.

Foot valve may have failed.
One of the connections (usually hose clamps) has failed.

Pull the pipe string.

Submersible pump. (not shown on illustration)

These are usually trouble free.  Good thing.  Pain to replace.  A failed foot valve doesn't affect the supply of water, except that it can put a slug of air into the system, and,in a deep well, give you some awesome water hammer.  (Air pressure only will support a 30 odd column of water.  So without a foot valve, the water in the pipe up to the check valve will fall back into the well, leaving a pretty good vacuum behind.  When the pump next starts, you have a rapidly moving slug of water that travels  up the pipe, slaming into each corner it hits.)

Pulling the pipe.

In both of these, you need to pull up the pipe string, and see what's wrong.  Note that a deep pipe string is not light.  This is something that you can do with a helper, but...

Learn how to tie a pipe hitch.  Once you get some pipe showing, throw a pipe hitch around the pipe, and tie the other end to something solid.  Slide the hitch down the pipe, as you pull it out.  This way you aren't standing there with quivering muscles trying to keep a grip on slimy pipe.  Note that synthetic rope on slimy black poly pipe doesn't grip too well.  Your pipe hitch may need a few extra turns.
A submersible pump adds 80 pounds or so to the load for a small 1/2 HP one.
It can go a lot easier if you have a front end loader and 3 people.  You tie two hitches to the pipe, one to a stationary object, one to the bucket of the loader.  Raise the bucket, sliding the stationary hitch down.  Lower the bucket.  Load is picked up by stationary hitch.  Slide the bucket's hitch down.  Repeat.  Third person moves the pipe away from the well head.  I've done this with a 400 foot submersible.

Failed pump.

If you determine that the problem is the pump, then in the interest of family harmony, you may want to just go buy an new pump. THEN fix the old one.  This will get water and the resulting clean dishes, food, clean kids, flushed toilets etc in play.  If the old one is fixable, great.  If not, then watch the sales and buy a spare.

(I'm paranoid:  I replaced a sump pump because it was making weird noises.  I thought the bearing was going.  Kept it though.  It sits beside the sump, with a hose clamp ready to be swapped.  I also have a non-float switch pump on 60 feet of 1" line in the garage, which may buy me time to replace the sump pump.  I also have a 12v pump mounted on a separate line in the sump that can keep up with the flow in all but the worst conditions when the power is out.  It has a battery with a smart charger on it.)


How can I extend a shower curtain to close a gap at the floor? My shower curtains fall a little bit too short (like 4cm / couple of inches) and in consequence there is a lot of splash on the floor on the other side of the curtains. Sometimes, it's really wet.

I have to mention that I'm talking about a Finnish shower —I'm living in Finland — so there is not shower tray. It's just the bathroom floor leaning a little bit so the water goes to the sink on the floor.

The curtains are held in place with a rod and of course the obvious solution would be lower the rod. However, we are renting and we've talked with the company owning the building and told us that there is no posible. I guess they don't want to make more holes in the wall.

On the below image you can see the kind of hooks the curtains have.

Wondering if anyone around here has a great solution for this problem or there is nothing I can do.

Thanks!

PS/ The ideal situation is to have the curtains at 1cm or 0.5cm so they are close enough, but they don't touch the floor. If the curtain is touching the floor, mold in the curtains it's going to develop sooner or later.

I would buy a second set of those white plastic loops and drop the curtain down easily that way.


How can I safely remove one baseboard heater out of a set of two? I have two baseboard heaters on either side of my living room. They are both on the same breaker and connected to the same thermostat. The breaker looks like it takes up two spots and has a 20 on the handle (I'm in the USA.)

I'm sick of being unable to push my couch against the wall and would like to remove one of them. Can I simply shut off the breaker, cut the wires, cap them, and use the remaining heater? Will this cause any electrical stress on the 2nd heater that needs to be accounted for?

If you remove one, the other may not be able to handle the heating demand. This could lead to a cold room, and/or a shortened life of the heater.

If you still want to proceed. Shut off the breaker, and disconnect the second heater as close to the breaker as you can. Don't just cut the wires, disconnect them at a splice point inside a junction box. Cap all the wires with twist on connectors, and label them so future owners know what they are.

If you have another source of heat, and would like to remove both heaters. Simply shut off the breaker, and remove the circuit wires from the panel. Coil the extra wire up and wrap it with tape, then label it so future owners know what it is. Remove the breaker from the panel, and fill the hole in the cover with a proper filler plate.

As usual, if you are not comfortable with electrical work. Please contact a licensed Electrician.


Light sconces tripping circuit breaker I recently installed two sconces in our kitchen to replace some old halogen lights with LED bulbs. The boxes had three (?!) White wires twisted together, two black wires twisted, and one red. I surmised that the red was ground and attached the others in normal white-white black-black fashion.

Both of the lights (one of which has a gcfi outlet integrated into the switch box) trip the circuit breaker every time the switch gets flipped off.

Did I wire it wrong? Is there something I've missed?

UPDATE:

In accordance with Edwin's suggestion, I rewired the lights to cap the red wire by itself and connect the bare wire to the grounding screw in the back.

Good news: It no longer trips the breaker!

Bad news: It also no longer turns off!

I'm guessing that the bare wire I saw attached at the back isn't actually a grounding wire, and that there ISN'T one for the box...

The fixture's wire is already attached to the grounding screw on the mounting bracket. Is this sufficient, and can I just snip the rest of the bare wire after the grounding screw (rather than unscrewing everything for a third time...)?

Yes, you wired it wrong. :)

The red wire is another hot leg. This is a common installation when the electrician is providing wires for a ceiling fan with lights (to be independently switched).  The red wire shares a common neutral with the black wire, hence the three white wires.  You should keep the white wires connected.  Disconnect the red wire and cap it off. There should also be a bare copper or green wire in there (maybe screwed to the back of the box if the box is metal).  This wire is your ground.

Update:

As @Isaac Kotlicky pointed out, the red wire could be the switched wire.  But your switch could also be miswired.  Take a look at the switch to see what colored wires are going into and out of the switch.  A picture would not hurt.

As far as your safety ground is concerned, you really should have a bare copper or green wire in the box.  If not, it's possible that the gfci switch is making up for the weakness of having no ground wire.  Make sure you test the GFCI device once you get this together and working.  Another possibility is that you have metal conduit leading to the box, and it is grounded.  In either case, you could simply attach the fixture ground to the metal box.


Adding Recessed Lighting to bathroom circuit I currently have a dedicated 15A breaker connected to 2 outlets (with GFCI) in a bathroom using 14/2.  These 2 outlets are all that is connected to the breaker.

I plan to add some recessed lighting which would total about 2.2A if all lights are on (20 x 13W). It seems to be a general rule to put bathroom outlets (or outlets in general) on a dedicated circuit.  However, it would be very convenient for me if I was able to tap into this circuit to add the lights.

It would be very unusual for all the lights to be on at the same time and even more unusual for them to all be on while using a high draw appliance such as a hairdryer.  I would use 14 AWG.

Any thoughts on whether this would present me a problem?

If a circuit has bathroom receptacles on it, you have two choices and the circuit must fit one of them:

The circuit powers only receptacles, in any number of bathrooms. Nowhere else.
The circuit powers receptacles in ONE bathroom, and any ther hardwired loads in that same bathroom only.

Now if the circuit predates those rules, you are grandfathered insofar as you don't change anything, but if you do, you can't make the situation worse.  So for instance if a circuit powers 1 bathroom receptacle and 2 bedroom receptacles, you can't add a hall light.

So if the downlights are going in the bathroom, that is fine.  However, you don't want a situation where someone trips the breaker running both a hairdryer and a curling iron simultaneously, trips the breaker and plunges themselves into darkness.  Then they're in the pitch black holding a hair dryer, which they accidentally set down in the sink full of water. Then when they reset the breaker, the GFCI trips and the hair dryer is ruined.  At best.


How can I make the corner tile transition less conspicuous with an out-of-plumb wall? I am tiling my shower and the back wall is not plumb. It has an approximate 1.5” lean over 8 feet.  Obviously it’s too late to change anything now but is there anything I could have done to prevent having to cut the small tiles to fill in the gaps on the left?  The longer tiles I can cut to size without concern. The right edge is level by the way.

When you build stairs that land on an out-of-level surface, you plan from the lowest point. The bottom step tapers as the slope rises. The same concept applies here. Ideally you'd have laid out your grid from the widest point of the wall.

I'm not sure if you're asking about the task of cutting tiles or the end result, but ideally you'd have set the tile for the top row in the same horizontal position that you've set the bottom row. This would've resulted in tiles growing larger as you worked upward, but you'd never encounter the end of a tile. Thus, you avoid skinny tiles and have a less obvious taper.

Carry on as you are. Skinny tiles are still tiles, and even though they're difficult to cut and set on plane, your project will look fine. From inside the shower with the curtain closed and shampoo bottles everywhere, not many people will notice the taper.

If it's really going to bother you, consider cutting in a cove or bead accent strip, or simply a vertical run (soldier course) of the same tile at each side of the corner. A diamond wheel in an angle grinder would work to create the channel.


How can I replace the circuit breaker for my dryer in an old panel? I was told to replace the circuit breaker for the dryer I have because it is not giving out enough power. Only problem is, I don't know what to replace it with. It looks very worn from age and I have no idea what to replace it with.  Do I need a 30A double pole breaker?

Update the panel, it needs it.... An electrician needs to do this.

The breaker simply cannot be changed out to a higher rated breaker, the wiring has to support  it too. This is what a qualified electrician can do.

The electrician can tell you if it is possible for it to be done with your existing wiring.


How to check if light is "Power Through Fixture"? This is related to my other question here.

I just learned of the "power through fixture" concept and it seems that WeMo dimmer switch isn't compatible with it.

I want to believe that what I have in my apartment is NOT power through fixture. But is there any way for me to check if it is?

Actually, the thing  you're referring to is called a switch loop.

You can find out if you have a switch loop by opening up the switch, pop off hte cover plate and pull the switch out a bit.

If you see one cable coming into the box with two wires (white and black), and both go to the switch itself (as well as ground if present), that is a switch loop.

If you see one cable, but it has black, white and red wires -- and black and red go to the switch and white is capped off and connected to nothing -- that is also a switch loop, however it complies with current code, and that white wire is the neutral wire the smart switch is looking for.

If you see one cable with black-white-red, and all three go to the switch, see "3-way switches" below.

If you see two cables coming into the box, and the whites from each cable are wire-nutted or spliced to each other in the back of the box... and one wire from each cable goes to the switch (aside from grounds)... that is power at the switch.  That configuration is friendly to the use of smart switches.  The white wires bundled together are the neutral, and they are not "spare", they are in-use as part of the circuit. The smart switch's neutral can be added to these.

If you see three wires (other than ground) going to 3-4 different terminals on the switch, and 1-2 of those terminal screws are black...  that's a different thing, that's a 3-way switch. That is more complicated.  But as far as smart switches, you have more options if you have that nice 3-way cable with its red wire.


Wire Gauge of Stranded Wire Is the wire gauge the same for solid and stranded wire? I need to check the wire gauge of some stranded wire. Can I use standard wire strippers to check the  gauge of stranded wire?

I found the size difference is ~5% larger with stranded than solid depending on the strand count. The sizes are far enough apart that the strippers if in good shape are a great tool for measuring.


Should I add GFCI outlets in my bathrooms if those circuits already have a GFCI remote on them? I just purchased my first house and when the inspector was taking us through it he showed us that there are two or three remote GFCI outlets that control a number of outlets across the house. Example: There is a GFCI outlet in the kitchen with a gigantic button in the middle that is the remote for the master bedroom.

I have a friend that loves to talk like he knows everything, but I have known him long enough to know to take anything he says with a grain of salt. Anyway, his paranoid ass told me that I should replace all of the outlets in my bathrooms with GFCI outlets. I explained to him that they already have GFCI remote outlets that will trip pretty easily as demonstrated by the inspector.

My friend, of course, said that the remotes are not enough. That sometimes they don't trip when they should and that all of the outlets in the bathroom should be GFCI. I rolled my eyes at him, but figured I should at least look into it.

So which is it? Will having multiple GFCI outlets on the same circuit cause problems? Or are the remotes perfectly fine for protecting the bathrooms?

Thanks!

Your friend is out of his league here

A GFCI outlet has two sets of terminals on it -- LINE terminals for the power IN as well as LOAD terminals that connect to the GFCI's protected hot and neutral in addition to that protected hot and neutral being provided to the GFCI's face receptacles.  Hardwired applications can use what's called a "faceless" GFCI which just has the LOAD terminals instead of having both LOAD terminals and receptacles on the front; there are also GFCI circuit breakers that integrate ground-fault, short-circuit, and overcurrent protection into a standard circuit breaker package.

However, series GFCIs won't break anything

However, it is possible and permissible to connect two ground-fault trips in series -- nothing is harmed by that configuration, and it's more common than most people think.  The only problem you cause by that is confusion as it is indeterminate (i.e. not defined) which GFCI will trip in response to a ground fault.


Would a vernal pond (as either a retention basin or a infiltration basin) be a viable solution for this drainage issue? So my backyard is showing some heavy pooling issues. I am in Southern Maine, USA

The lowest point (picture 1) is, unfortunately pretty close to the garage pier foundation, and when the water pools it includes two of the pillars.

My thought is to dig out an area where Picture 3 shows the center of the swale and digging out to the left to move the water away from the building and provide an additional feature to the landscape. This would also involve backfilling some of the area nearest the building to ensure the water is moving away.

  1) Would a solution be to dig out an area to be a pond (either a retention basin or a infiltration basin - Link: Nomenclature reference ), and put in a small channel system to move all the water from the other pictures spot into it?

  2) The lowest point is also near an out-of-use dug well. Would this cause any additional obstacle? Can you incorporate a dug well into a pond?

Some comments asked about the well. The dug well is the brick structure in picture 1 and is out of use. My neighbors and I all used deep drilled wells to pull from the lower
aquifer for our water supply. We also all have personal septic tanks and leach fields.

The land behind the house is a four acre field, but due to the mound for the septic leaching, the slop declines towards the yard, causing the natural swales to form.

I hope to refine the question, perhaps with a little feed back because I am out of my milieu.

I don't think that digging a pond will help

The water is where it's at and the soil is saturated like a wet sponge, removing dirt for clear open water, aka a pond, is just removing the dirt in the pond, it won't change the water level.

These days the construction of houses take lot drainage into consideration but that was not the case for your older house. It looks like the surrounding area tends to slope right to your house and the low spot is at the deepest water.

Other Ways to Deal With The Water

In the picture it looks like your yard slopes down hill to a forest. You need to get water to a place lower than where it is currently, and the forest, if lower than your lowest spot near the house, is a great place for it. You would need to slope downhill to it at least 1/4" per foot of length

Dig a channel and leave it open, maybe gently slope the sides to make it look good like a old small valley or depression
Dig a ditch and put in a drainage pipe and cover it up. Place a catch basin attached to the pipe low spot near the house
To deal with it one-off style each season, rent or buy a pump and collapsible hose and pump the water over to the forest


Can I connect multiple outputs into a single output? For example, connecting 4 outlets into a single outlet.
         |}-----------|}--
         |  |       ^ |
         |   ^--||--|  |
          ^---- || ----^
4 electrical outputs connecting into 1.

The answer is NO:
It may be possible in theory but it may also create a direct short. In either case it would violate code (NEC).
If you have 4 receptacles on 1 120v circuit the maximum that could be used would be 20 amps,,, if wired with #12 wire and a 20 amp breaker.
As stated above this would be a code violation.
installing a 20 amp receptacle would allow for 20 amps and this would be the maximum current allowed by code.
If there are 2 circuits they are usually a Multiwire branch circuit and 1set is on L1 breaker the other on L2 combining them is a direct short.
There is no legal way to combine multiple standard 120v receptacles to provide more current than 20 amps.
Edit — added for further clarification:
Not just for code reason but electrical short circuits.
You cannot combine a receptacle that is part of a multiwire branch circuit OR receptacles that are fed from odd & even breakers. Yes they are 120v
But combining ether of these 2 independently fed and legal circuits creates a dead short on the service.
They should be protected at no more than 20 amps but still may trip a main breaker and the branch circuits. independently wired they are code compliant but combining them as the OP wants to do can create this hazard.
See NEC 210.4 and for pictures exhibits 210.1 & 210.2
Last if you had 2 different breakers on L1 let’s say breaker number 1 & 3 these would be on the same leg and in theory you could get 40 amps.
However this would be another code violation as the smallest wires that can be paralleled is #1
So again the answer is NO.


Bathroom Light / Fan Switches - Changing Switch Controls I have two switches in my bathroom. The first controls two lights, the second controls a fan.

I would like to change it so that the first switch controls one light, and the second switch controls a light and a fan.

I opened the switchbox and am confused by the way it is wired. Here is a drawing (I did not draw ground wires, each switch has one):

My explanation of the picture (possibly bad terminology) is we have two neutral wires coming out of the box that are wire-nutted and pigtail connected to the top "traveler" of the switch that controls both lights.

Another pig tail comes out the bottom "traveler" and is wire-nutted into two neutral wires coming out of the box, and another pig tail connecting all four wires into the bottom "traveler" of the switch controlling the fan. A red "hot wire" comes off the top traveler and goes back into the box.

This wiring situation is not intuitive to me (I know nothing). I thought maybe the two wires at left were because there are two lights, but why are there two wires on the right for just the fan? And why are these switches wired together via the pig tail across the bottom? I expected to see two hot wires going to each switch, and no connections between them. How does the switch that controls the lights work without a hot wire going to the switch?

If it is the case the the two wires on left are for each light, can I move one of them to the cable nut on the right to have it be controlled by the other switch?

So the short answer is you can take one of the wires out of the nut and swap it with the red wire of the fan, and that will do what you want.

The medium answer is you could do what Harper suggested and replace the single switch with a double switch and control all three independently. You would take the bottom wire from the switch and place it in the brass terminal, and one each of the 2 wires going out to the lights in the 2 silver terminals.

The long answer is, your drawing only shows "hot wires". They should all be black or red. My guess is that nut of 4 wires is a hot coming in, a hot going out to the next outlet or switch, and the 2 pigtails that "energize" the switches. The neutrals are either at the fixtures themselves and were never routed in your switch box, or what you think are the ground wires are your neutral (are they bare wires or white?). The ground being the metal clad sheathing of the wire that is common in older homes.


How can I fix a toilet flapper that isn't sealing due to mildew buildup? I believe I have pink slime on toilet flapper and "base" of toiler fill valve. The toilet is running. I believe it is not sealing because of the pink slime. Any ideas?

Clean off the pink slime from the flapper and where it seals to the tank, or you could just replace the flapper. They are readily available   at your home store.


How should I connect a replacement dimmer switch? I'm just trying to replace a broken dimmer switch, but can't make heads or tails out of the directions. Please see the photo of the partially attached NEW dimmer. Only the ground is connected so far.

The old switch was simply a vertical slider that turned the light off when it was slid down all the way... and made the light brighter by sliding it up.

The new dimmer is a combo rocker and little separate slider. I'm just not sure how to connect the rest. As you can see, sticking out from the wall are 2 blacks and 1 red. Remaining wires coming off the new dimmer are 2 reds and 1 black.

Could you please shed some light on this? (Note the bad electrical joke. :-)

Thank you!

[Video][2]

[2]: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PCAGXynuxuJYnVmPA

There are 2 things I see from your photo and video.

First I believe the two black wires in the box are a source wire (120V) and a continuation of the source to another box. This means with both of them apart, something else in your dwelling is not working. So check that out. The red wire is probably the switch leg to your light or lighting fixtures.

Second it looks like the replacement dimmer you have is for a 3-way dimming set up. The 2 red wires are the carriers and the black goes to the light fixture.

If what I said is correct then you can connect the two black conductors in the box with a one red conductor on the dimmer and wire nut off the second red wire. Then you can connect the red conductor from the box to the black wire at the dimmer and that should work. You might just take it back and get the proper dimmer switch.

WARNING I can't be sure. Since I am not on site and cannot test the conductors in the box and cannot read the information on the dimmer. You might check the box the dimmer came in there is usually schematics on connecting the dimmer on the inside of the box. Also take a meter and identify the wires inside the wall junction box.

Good luck and be safe. Make sure your conductors are all turned of at the panel before trying any connections.


Why does my toilet intermittently run continually? I've pretty much fixed up my bathroom since moving in. The last bit of annoyance now is this:

Not every time, but every 10 or so flushes, my toilet will run continually. It'll sound like it's water is filling up for about two minutes, then stop for five minutes, then sound like it's filling up again... on repeat. To stop it, I have to go back in and jiggle the handle.

One time I took the lid off the top of the toilet and it looked like it was slowly losing water from the top (or whatever it's called).

Any idea on how to fix this?

I would first try to replace the flapper, it may be old and worn and not creating a proper seal.  If that does not work try replacing the ballcock (float valve), as these too can become old and worn and not function properly.


Why do I have two parallel gas pipes? I've got a water heater and a hot water radiator furnace sitting next to each other, both on gas.  The strange thing is that there are two parallel gas lines feeding each one of these which come from across the basement but branch off from the same gas line.  Why was there a need for two lines?  Cant they "tee" at the last moment right before the appliances?

I've seen a lot of strange, stupid and crazy things in my house so it wouldn't surprise me if this is one of them.  But before I combine the lines I'd like to get some feedback from people.  What does the code say about this?

Edit: I should have added this detail in my original questions but all my pipes are 3/4" including the shared pipe before the "T".  Basically there's one 3/4 pipe that goes out of the meter (I have the gas meter in the basement) and there are 4 branches (each is 3/4 as well) out of that.  But two of those run in parallel across the whole basement.  I think it's insane.

The concern that I know of is about the size of the pipe and all appliances that can be running at the other end.  So if they ran out of a larger dimension pipe (or just had a lot of the smaller dimension) this would almost make sense.  But I'd think any normal installer would try to minimize the parts cost and split it closer to the appliances.

However, if the second appliance was added later, the existing line may have been too small, and then it would be cheaper to run a separate small line rather than replace the existing one with a new large line.


Dishwasher plug blocking disposal outlet I'm a beginner, so keep that in mind...
My house has the dishwasher and disposal plugged in under the sink, where the bottom outlet is hooked to the disposal switch. I've heard it isn't generally ideal to have both on the same outlet, but that's how the builders did it.
I just replaced the dishwasher, and the installation kit included a power cable with a right angle connection. Since the bottom outlet is on a switch, I have to use the top outlet, which blocks the bottom.
I realized this of course after I completed all the hookups and I really don't feel like taking the whole thing apart again.
The solutions I can think of are:

Re-wire the outlet so the top one is on the switch instead of the bottom one. Is this even possible, and if so, considering I've never done it before and it's under the kitchen sink without much room, how hard would this be?

Put the dishwasher in the switch outlet, and tape the switch permanently on. Put a smart plug between the disposal plug and the wall, so I can control the disposal with my cell phone.

Put the dishwasher on an extension cord. I've read this is a really bad idea, but are there particular extension cords that would make this safe?

Cut the cord and put a new end on it. I've never done this, so is this difficult or dangerous?

What are the ups and downs of these?

Re-wire the outlet so the top one is on the switch instead of the bottom one. Is this even possible, and if so, considering I've never done it before and it's under the kitchen sink without much room, how hard would this be?

This should be very straightforward. There are actually two different configurations possible. Find the one or two breakers and turn them off. The catch is that it could be one (hot split, 1/2 to switch and top receptacle, 1/2 to bottom receptacle) or it could be two (most likely as an MWBC, one hot to each 1/2). We can't guess which one it is. If there are two breakers then they should be a pair (technically, common shut-off, in reality almost always an actual "double breaker").
After turning off the breaker(s), use a non-contact tester to make sure there is no power. Just in case. Then take off the cover plate and remove the receptacle from the wall but don't remove any wires yet. You should see two colored hot wires on the brass screws (or backstabs near the brass screws) and one or two white neutral wires on the silver screws.
If you have only one breaker involved then you should only have one neutral wire. If you have two breakers then you may have one neutral (MWBC) or two neutrals (two independent circuits - unlikely).
The actual work:

Swap the two hot wires. If they are in backstab connections, move to the brass screws (and flip top vs. bottom). If they are on the brass screws, just flip top vs. bottom.
If there are two neutral wires, swap them as well.

Put it all back together, turn on power and you should find the switch now operates the bottom receptacle instead of the top receptacle.

Put the dishwasher in the switch outlet, and tape the switch permanently on. Put a smart plug between the disposal plug and the wall, so I can control the disposal with my cell phone.

DO NOT DO THIS! EVER!
This is not only not "normal", it is exceedingly dangerous. The reason the disposal switch is normally above the sink is so that you can see exactly what is going on when you turn on the disposal and so that you can immediately turn it off if there is a problem. If you control by phone, numerous scenarios could happen, including "someone else borrows your phone to make a call and accidentally starts the App while you are working in the sink" and "phone crashes right after you turned on the disposal or the phone rings while the disposal is on, will the App stay focused?" etc. DO NOT DO THIS! EVER!

Put the dishwasher on an extension cord. I've read this is a really bad idea, but are there particular extension cords that would make this safe?

This is OK as a temporary solution, until you rewire the receptacles.

Cut the cord and put a new end on it. I've never done this, so is this difficult or dangerous?

Not cut the cord, REPLACE the cord. This actually is not too hard on a properly designed appliance. But the work involved is comparable to "swap wires in the receptacles" and doing that doesn't actually cost you anything, where this will cost you a new cord.


Simple under-sink plumbing redirect I have a sliding trash can drawer that would just fit under my sink, were it not for the angle of the plumbing coming out of the sink trap. I could fit the can if the drain pipe—rather than going diagonally from the trap to the exit in the back of the cabinet—went straight to the back of the cabinet, made a right angle turn along the back wall, and then another right angle turn back into the hole.
I know nothing about plumbing, though. What do I need to know before doing this project, and what parts will I need? (I have a hacksaw for cutting pipe.) Is there an issue with adding right angle turns, or anything like that?
This seems simple but I also know that there are some plumbing jobs that must be done by licensed technicians—is this one of them for some reason?

It appears you have 2" pipe that is glued. I would suspect that the 2" pipe could handle the two 90 degree elbows but the problem is you have fitting glued right up against the wall.
It would likely require opening the drywall so you could work on/remove/replace that fitting. It appears the the plumbing in the wall is NOT straight forward as you have supply lines and an electrical box in close proximity to your drain line. (Where you drain line should be going down.)
All of that is to say that it is not simple. (Doable, but not simple.)
Is a plumber required, not necessarily.
Can you do it? If you  have any mechanical aptitude you can.
Would it be quicker and less time consuming to hire a plumber?  Probably.
How badly do you want a trash can in that space?


How do you stop the floor from squeaking? I have a home built in the 1940's. The main floor creaks a lot and more squeaking and creaks seem to spring up in new places all the time.

Is there an easy way to stop the squeaking and creaking? I don't necessarily need to prevent future annoyances, but I would like to stop the loudest creaking now.

The basement ceiling (bottom of main floor) is mostly exposed (if that helps).

The main cause of wood floors squeaking is wood shrinkage around the nails. If you can localize the areas that are the worst, a common way to minimize squeaks is to drive screws up from the bottom through the subfloor into the hardwood. Be absolutely sure to use screws that are long enough to grab the hardwood, but short enough not to stick through.

If you do not have hardwood floors then you'll have to decide among a few different techniques appropriate for specific floor coverings, ie. carpet, tile, vinyl etc.

With carpet, for instance, there are special breakaway screws (such as these made by McFeely's) that can be installed from above. With tile or vinyl, the screw from under method is often the way to go.


Electrical subpanel losing voltage I have an main circuit breaker panel with a 200 amp breaker and a 60 amp breaker.  the main feed comes into top of 200 amp breaker and then 2 wires come out of the bottom of it and into a 60 amp breaker.  They then run out of the bottom of the 60 amp breaker and into a subpanel with a 50 amp breaker, 30 amp breaker and 15 amp breaker.  I tested the voltage between hot and neutral at the main panel, after the 60amp breaker, and both hots read 120v.  But when I test the voltage before the 50amp breaker in the subpanel one hot wire and neutral read 120v while the other hot wire and same neutral read only 25 volts.  What could the issue be?  I'm pretty sure there is nothing in between, just the wire running between the breakers.  Does anyone have an idea about what the issue could be?

The wire is run underground. Direct bury I believe. No conduit. Been there about 20 years.

You most likely have a bad connection of the breaker to the sub-panel bus bar or a loose terminal somewhere. It could POSSIBLY be a bad pole on the 50A breaker, but that's fairly rare in comparison. You MUST address this immediately by the way, because it's a fire waiting to happen.


Protections from CO/CO2 Poisoning in Rooms? I'm aware that there is little risk of CO/CO2 poisoning in typical house rooms in the US, even after long periods (A few hours, maybe a day) in a particular room. How is this accomplished, and what safeguards, if any ensure that there isn't a buildup of CO/CO2 in a room just due to typical human breathing?

If there is no oil/gas/wood burning/ heating system in the near, the natural air change through house hulls is enough to prevent a dangerous concentration. If the house is built with a very air tight hull (e.g. passive houses) , a ventilation system provides the air exchange. Air exchange via fully opened window every few hours helps also to avoid high CO2/CO levels. In general, not high Carbon(di)oxide levels , but fine dust from candles/smoke or aerosols from cleaning agents/moebels etc. or asbestos from building materials used in the past (radiator wall coatings, cement flooring, pipe insulation, PVC floor or tile glue, Eternit Wall covers etc. if sawed/grinded/broken/drilled) are the biggest threat for the health.