Ceiling Fan Direction for Summer? All called a local fan store in my area and the sales rep told me a ceiling fan should spin counter-clockwise for summer. I know what clockwise and counter clockwise is, but looking up at a fan for some reason it can appear different from looking at a clock on the wall. I guess depending upon which blade my eye picks up on first as it's spinning, sometimes causes me to see it differently. Anyways, I saw this article and video and author's idea of lying on the floor and looking up at the ceiling fan from underneath was great.

That said, if counter-clockwise blows air downward on a fan, wouldn't that just cause the warm air to come down from the ceiling, thus defeating the purpose? So, shouldn't a fan run the opposite, especially in a stairwell leading to 2nd level bedrooms, to pull cool air from my lower level to the upstairs? Just curious, because in my case, my upstairs fans seem to work better that way.

This is the typical explanation given, and the diagram is normally of a fan on the ceiling and a couch sitting under the fan to represent the furniture and people in the room...

In the summer, you want the fan to blow down and that blowing air will hit your skin and make you feel cool.  It's not about air temperature in the summer, it's about air movement and blowing air down at people and allowing the air to blow from the center towards the walls.

In the winter, you don't want that air blowing directly on you, but rather than just idle that fan for 6 months out of the year, they give you a new idea - use the fan (on a lower speed) to gently circulate the air to give an even temperature throughout the room.  The fan should pull air up from the center of the room and thus push air in a gentle curtain around the outside of the room to "get the warm air off the ceiling".

Now, some of that is pretty sound advice and in a lot of situations it works well.  That's really the definition of a "rule of thumb".  Seating arrangements, ceiling height, and fan position can change that generic diagram so the final rule is "do what makes you comfortable".  I've had great results running the fan on high in "winter mode" when the seating was on the edge of the room.  The air flow down the walls was very cooling.  Then of course, Dan comes over and says, "You know, that fan is in the winter direction and you should really..."

As for your stairwell - fans can blow a long way, but they can only suck air that is immediately behind them.  In reality, a fan in reverse (winter) probably wouldn't pull much air out of the first floor and move it to the second.  Think more about how the blown air will affect things (blowing up or down) and assume that the inward flow won't do a lot.


What type of damage can power surges do? I've lived in this apartment for a couple of years and electricity have always been bad (a demand in power from a device systematically causes others to fade off).

I know that a power surge can cause serious/fatal damage to appliances but I'm seeking about the nature and mechanism of those effects.

Specifically, I'd like to know if those events are correlated together and to the electrical variability of the apartment:

1) Micro-wave and fridge recently stopped working (same beaker) at about the same time (fridge compressor didn't die though).
2) Now the PSU of the desktop is making extreme noise and I'm getting pretty convinced that I should stop using it.

So is it possible for power surges to inflict partial damage on electrical devices and if yes, is it likely?

[I]s it possible for power surges to inflict partial damage on electrical devices?

What you refer to as a power surge will most likely be a voltage spike, i.e. short but significant increase in the line voltage. This increased voltage will in the most general case lead to increased electrical currents in your devices, and this may kill them.

Simplest example: a light bulb that is specified for 230V will generate more light at higher voltages (because higher voltage -> higher current -> higher temperature of the filament -> more light), but due to the higher temperature, the filament will break earlier (as early as "instantly" if enough voltage is applied). Other simple examples might be motors which might run faster at higher voltages but will also suffer from the increased currents.

Any devices involving semiconductor circuits (so, almost all nowadays, I guess) are also affected in the same way. Too much current -> too much heat -> broken device. It is quite possible that only a part of a device is affected and the consequences might vary from fancy noises to complete failures.

So yes, it is possible

  and if yes, is it likely?

That totally depends on the nature of the voltage spike and the device.

  I'd like to know if those events are correlated together and to the
  electrical variability of the apartment

There's no way of telling this for sure. It might be the case that the dying fridge was causing yet another voltage spike that further damaged the microwave oven, or the events might be completely unrelated.


Discharge back-up sump above ground? With a TON of rain in my area recently (Northern Ohio), my basement flooded (around 2" of water).

The sump pump came with the house, and I never gave it a second thought (I should have).

Now that I've flooded, I want to re-do my sump situation to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The reason for this flood (we think) is that the pump was just pumping water into an already flooded area, so although it was still pumping, it wasn't doing any good (not sure - just speculation from a few people who know better than me).  It could have just been that the sump couldn't keep up.

Question:

In looking into sump setups, I found the common setup is the 2nd diagram "Standard Setup".  But IF the problem was that it was pumping water into saturated ground/area, it doesn't seem like that would help.  That being said, is there any reason I couldn't do what I diagrammed in the 3rd image, and run the battery backup out above ground?

I could attach a retractable gutter to it, so it curls up when not needed or expands of being used.  Or I could run it into some kind of pex pipe and bury it down the slope away from my house, and have it come above ground 30+' from the house... I don't know.  Potential issue w/ freezing?  The current drain goes through the foundation at about 3' below grade.  My house isn't built no a "hill", but it does have very good angle fading away from the house for ~20 feet.

Any thoughts/expertise very welcome.

Pumping the water above ground, or below ground doesn't matter.  Moving the water far enough away (downhill) from the house is the key.

If your plumbing is underground, it has to go somewhere. The pipe can't just come to an end. You'll want to drain into a dry well, ditch, storm sewer, spillway, stream, etc.

If your pumping out onto the ground. You'll want to be as far away, and as far downhill as practicable.

In either case, you don't want to pump the water where it can just come back in or has nowhere to go.

A backup pump is always useful. Though if you're on municipal water, I'd recommend a water powered backup pump. Battery backup units are nice, but batteries tend to die at the most inopportune moments (Murphy's law).


Basement framing and insulation question In our basement we have two different framing setups that support our joists.  Please see photos to help explain, but 2 of the walls have plate on the concrete foundation and 2 have for lack of a better term a small wall then the plate with joists on it.  Any clue why this was done other that to save money?  Also the small wall is insulated with fiberglass batting and covered with plastic.  This seems to be leading to moisture and potentially mold issues.  Any ideas what the plastic is there for?  What is the best way to insulate this space, rigid foam board, spray insulation?

I'm no expert but sharing what I am doing. Using rigid foam r13 along studs exterior wall which is concrete. I used drylok extreme paint to water proof the porous concrete in my basement. It typically brings moisture in slowly but this should deter it. The 2" foam will act as my moisture and vapor barrier as well. The basement is typically controlled and should maintain fair temperatures. I am using drywall right on top with a 1.5" space between foam and drywall for breathing.


How can I change light bulbs in a fixture located 20ft above the ground? We made the unfortunate decision of having a ceiling fan with lights in our two story family room, so the ceiling fan is about 20 feet above our heads.  At the moment, all four light bulbs in the unit have burnt out and need replacing.

Safety wise, I think it's too high for even a long ladder.

What are some options for reaching and changing those light bulbs?

I'm not sure how much room you have to work in, but an option would be to rent a 16 foot step ladder at your local tool rental center.

If the bulbs are pointed down, maybe some type of bulb grabber on an extension pole.

Got a pic of the fixture?


Why did HVAC company add a heat outlet register venting into my attic? I recently had a brand new HVAC system installed in my attic. The furnace is natural gas. The furnace kept shutting down after 7 to 12 minutes, due to "too much air" blowing on heat sensor switches and overheating them. It would take over 2 hours to reset, then it would shut down again after 7 to 12 minutes.
After 3 service attempts to correct the problem, they finally (without telling me) cut a hole in the heater box, screwed on a vent register and simply drained the excess heat into the attic.
That stopped the shutting down problem, BUT they told me they fixed it by replacing the sensors switches and mentioned nothing about the new vent. I only discovered what they did when I opened the attic access door, and felt hot air blowing out. The attic was very hot.
My attic is full of blown-in insulation and mouse droppings - I don't like forced air blowing around up there.
Is this a standard, safe fix?

"Too much air" would not trigger overheat switches.  Too much heat would.  One possible cause is an oversized furnace with not enough registers or not enough return air or both.  This could cause overheating as you describe.  It's a guess.
[EDITED to add 3 additional, less drastic, steps] : There are some things you should try, that I hope you or the installers tried before installing the new attic register.  You could try them now by plugging up the new attic register with cardboard and duct tape.

Make sure the filter is clean.  If you have a high MERV filter (8 or higher) you need to change it frequently even if it doesn't look dirty. Try removing the filter entirely just for a day to see if that alone cures the problem.
Make sure all the registers are open.  Does that cure the problem?  If it does you may just have to live with it that way.
If not, leave all bedroom doors open.  Doors that are tight all around, eg that contact carpet at the bottom, prevent air flow from the registers to the return.  If leaving them open cures the problem, you need to shave gaps in the bottoms of the bedroom doors or install grilles to increase airflow.

If none of those things work the solution is to install a smaller furnace, or to add ducting and registers (in and/or out) to improve air flow through the furnace.   My guess is your installer did that ... the easy way.  They added a register, with no new ducting, that just dumps air into the attic to increase flow through the furnace.   Presumably there is no return air path in your attic so in addition to heating the attic and stirring up insulation and mouse droppings they also created air flow through the attic hatch and/or any other possible path from the attic to the return register that is probably in your upstairs hallway.
It's a guess, I hope I'm wrong.   Other than replacing the furnace with a smaller one, the best solution would be to add registers in the rooms being served by this unit, but that may in turn necessitate more or larger ducts both to and from the furnace.
Hopefully my guess is wrong and your problem is something else entirely. :(.


How can I create a radiant heat system for melting ice on wood steps? Our house has wood stairs to descend from the front porch.  On maybe 15 - 30 days out of the year a layer of ice forms on the stairs, posing a safety hazard.  Even with our familiarity with the issue and attempts to consistently use the handrail, every member of our family has taken at least one spill on the stairs due to ice.

I've used salt and other chemical de-icers with success in the past, but that requires foresight and manual intervention:  not a good solution for the first person out the door on a morning after a frosty night.

I would like to put in place a permanently installed thermostatically controlled retrofit radiant heat solution to melt the ice.  I do not want to replace or rebuild my stairs.  I am a cheap bastard so want to make this a DIY low cost solution, but reliability, longevity, and of course safety are important so I am not afraid of investing in quality materials.  I can see spending $500 on this.  $1000 absolute max.  Beyond that I toss in the towel and think about trashing the current wood stairs and replacing with cement stairs with an embedded radiant heat system at some point in the future (aka probably never).

I have reasonable access to underneath the stair treads.  There are eight steps.  I also have good access to 120V and 240V AC and cold water.

I'm OK with it not being highly energy efficient.  It won't be activated very often.

I am comfortable building my own control system with an Arduino if that proves to be a good solution for cobbling together a DIY system.

It seems my options are:

Hydronic heat -- water or glycol in Pex tubing.  Downside:  hydronic boilers are expensive and not sized for this small project.  The smallest I've seen is about $800.  I've read about some DIY projects where a small water heater was used or where a hot water recirculating system was just bolted onto the house's existing hot water heater.  This latter option sounds interesting and potentially economical.

Electric cable -- There are cable products for preventing ice dams on roofs and gutters.  And there are radiant electric cables intended to be embedded in a substrate.  I'm concerned about the ice dam cables being too feeble to radiate heat up through an inch of wooden stair tread.  The cables meant for in-floor radiant heat or snow melting all say they must be embedded in a couple inches of cement, sand, or asphalt.  It sounds like directly attaching them to the underside of a wood stair tread is not a good idea.  I'm also concerned about longevity with the ice dam cables:  I've read some sources say they should be replaced every 3 - 5 years which seems a little ridiculous.

Electric mats -- I bought one of these HeatTrak Snow Melt Matts http://www.amazon.com/HeatTrak-HR10-30-Residential-Snow-Melting-Stair/dp/B00421AHY2/ref=pd_sim_lg_1 to test it out and it seems to do a decent job radiating the heat up through the stair tread.  The stringers make it not a great fit for mounting under the stairs.

I like the hydronic option as it sounds bullet proof once installed, but it seems like it would be a very custom solution to keep the price down.  A small tankless water heater and a pump seems like it should be a frugal alternative to a full-on hydronic boiler.  Is it?

A heated cable would also be OK if I can mount it directly to the wood and get good results and longevity.  Will the ice dam heated cables be powerful enough and will they last?

Mounting the electric mats underneath the stairs feels like a square peg in a round hole.  They just don't fit between the stringers, and to get good direct contact with the stairs I should probably have something holding them up flush against the bottom of the stair tread, which is not a recommended installation.  As it is now with my one test mat they hang a bit loosely under the tread.  This is my least favorite fallback solution.

Am I overlooking some other ideal product or solution that fits my requirements, and if that is not the case, what are the gotchas or other considerations I need to account for in implementing a solution like this?

Electric cables can be fixed there very well. Let's say we use 2 mm thick cables with low wattage (10 W/m).

Firstly you cut 2 mm wide and 3 mm deep cuts to the bottom side of your steps (using a hand circular saw). They should be parallel going from side to side. Put silicone and cables into the cut doing S bends, they should just fit in there. Cover the cuts with silicone to close them against pollution & weather.
Cut one cut for thermal sensor 2 cm next to the cable cut. It should be in a "thermally representative" place. Put the thermal sensor in it and cover it with silicone.
Do the wiring: thermal sensor and cables to thermostat and thermostat to the power line (via curcuit break).

I have in-floor radiant cables installed in cuts in EPS mats under the laminate flooring. There is a thermostat with an in-floor thermal sensor which I set to about 20°C. It works well and feels even better. They say cables must be embedded in a couple inches of cement, sand, or asphalt because the flooring can be overheated. That's why the low wattage (combined with wood stair tread).

But - will it do the job? Sure, because if it's only below freezing, it's enough to raise the temperature a bit to unfreeze. If it's rather cold, it's probably not freezing rain in the air (I don't know your climate).

Main pros:

You can decide how dense the cuts are to each other to decide the total heating power. I'd say 80 W/m2 should do.
Silicone covering the cables (above and under) will protect them from any damage and they will easily exceed the expected lifetime. And the surface of the wood will be stay closed against weather.
You set the thermostat to the required temperature (+3°C maybe). You can even turn it off or buy a thermostat with a programmable clock to be used at night.
Much of the work can be done by yourself and the materials needed aren't expensive too. Even with 100 m of cable and a programmable thermostat you won't exceed the limit.

Some cons:

Cutting from side to side weakens your steps very little or not at all.
You'll have to fiddle with bending and fastening the cables at each turn, because they have some minimal circumference of bend (5 cm maybe). You can let them just bend freely off the cut, but cover them with silicone too. Or cut several short cuts of circular shape.
You might decide to use Thermal Silicone to get even better heat transfer. But I don't think it's needed.

One more thought: pipeline protection cables have a built-in thermostats at certain places. But they are rather thick (9 mm) and expensive.


How to reuse a keystone jack My house has some Cat 5e keystone jacks that are wired for telephone. But the cables in the walls are Cat 5e. (They, the phone company, only wired 2 of the 4 pairs into the jack). I want to 'convert' this arrangement so that I have an Ethernet data port using the Cat5e, by wiring all 4 pairs.

My question is: Can I reuse the keystone jack(s) that is/are currently being used. More specifically, how do I remove the wires from the connectors? (I assume I have to remove the existing wires before I can punch-down new wires into the jack.)

PS - I realize keystone jacks are plentiful and cheap on the Internet, but I ask this question because if I can reuse the jack(s), I might as well.

Yes, you can usually reuse the jacks and cabling
Most of these points have already been touched on in the comments, but here is my full answer:
1 - The jacks can be reused as long as they are in good condition. The main thing you want to watch out for are bent pins where the patch cable (aka the network wire from your computer) plugs in. There can be bent pins that don't affect the 2-wire phone cable but that will affect the 8-wire network cable.
2 - While you only need 4 wires connected for standard networking, if you ever use Power-over-Ethernet or some higher-speed connections (which admittedly may need higher quality wire) then you may need all 4 pairs. I normally (and for many years now) connect all 4 pairs routinely to future-proof things.
3 - You can basically just pull the wires off the jacks, cut off the existing end (just the last inch or 2) to have clean cable, strip more of the outer jacket if needed and then punch down.
4 - The key is to use a real punch tool such as Cable Matters 110 Punch Down Tool with 110 Blade . More $ will get you a better quality tool, but if you use it for just a few jacks then anything will work fine and will work a LOT better than trying to use a screwdriver.
5 - T568A or T568B doesn't matter. Just make sure you do the same on both ends.
6 - Your router or switch needs a separate home run to each device. Ideally you will put that where both cables terminate in one location and that way you can connect a computer at each "phone jack". Alternatively, you can put the router (and other devices connected directly to it) next to one jack and use a patch cable where the two cables are together to go from one jack to the other and put a computer at the other location. Quick ASCII art:
1 --------------------------------- 3
2 ----+
      |
      |
      4

So either router at 1/2 connecting to both 3 & 4 or router at 3, patch 1 to 2, computer at 4.


Adding 50amp box directly beside electrical panel My electrical panel is in the garage, which is drywalled. There are some available knock-outs in the side of the panel wall and this is mounted between the supporting studs. I want to pull the metal plug out, drill through the 2x6 and run 4, 6gauge wires to a 50 amp 4-prong plug that will be mounted in an external metal box directly beside the panel.
My questions are this:

Would this be standard practice, recognizing regional codes vary?

Are there issues with the wires running "wild" as they leave the knock-out hole which won't have a sleeve of any type?

The wires will go through the 2x6 bend towards the inside of the garage and enter the back of an external box that will house the 4-prong plug?

I won't have a stud to mount this box to so can I use molly-type drywall fixers to hold the box?

Can't do that, regional variations are not going to allow that much of a basic violation of standard practices in any region where NEC/CEC applies at all.
You need a chunk of conduit here. If it's steel conduit, you can have 3 wires instead of 4, since the conduit is the grounding conductor in that case.
That covers 1&2&3.
For 4:
You can use an "old work" box in drywall, but I would not advise doing that with a 50A receptacle/plug given the forces involved in plugging/unplugging those monsters. Surface mounting a box on the face of drywall is unusual to say the least, and would still be a problem from the plug-force point of view. You could screw a board into the studs and mount a box on the face of that, but it would be cleaner (given that your panel is flush-mount) to just remove a chunk of drywall, drill your hole, install blocking between studs to mount a box, install your conduit and box, replace and patch the drywall, and have a flush receptacle solidly mounted.
If you were planning to drill through the stud from inside the electrical panel, that's a Very Bad Idea and I suggest you think about why that might be and then not do that.


Can I use a drain auger on a toilet clog? A little too eager I bought a drain auger in order to clear out a constantly / randomly backing up toilet. After I got it home I thought I should then do research and I realized there is a completely different auger just for toilets.

So, can I use a drain auger on a toilet clog?

The toilet auger is designed to protect the visible finish at the bottom of your toilet where a drain auger could leave scratch marks. It's also possible for a drain auger to get twisted inside of the large diameter of the toilet drain. Given the issues with the drain auger, I'd recommend going back and getting one designed for the toilet.


Wet Vent distance for Toilet Drain When determining drain vents, 2" can have a vent 8' away and 3" can have the vent 12' away, how does that work in terms of wet venting?  I have a toilet flange connected to a line that has a Wye which picks up my sink approximately 4' down stream.

So technically, I have a vent connected to my toilet trap approximately 4' down stream, however it is a wet vent so does that mean I have to also add the length of drain line to the 12' maximum distance?

Updated Answer
Definition of a wet vent: a drain pipe that also serves as a vent pipe and extends from the most downstream wet-vented fixture connection to the most upstream fixture connection (the green item 4 in the below sketch).
Wet vents are typically used when plumbing a bathroom group. So yes the shower can also be vented by the wet vent along with the toilet. There is one major stipulation when wet venting multiple fixtures when a toilet is one of them: the toilet must be the last fixture connected to the wet vent. This means that in some situations you must use a symmetrical fitting (such as a double wye) in order to not break that rule. (Also, there can only be a max of two toilets connected to a wet vent).
Typical Bathroom Wet Vents:

The left sketch shows a typical arraignment when the toilet (WC) is located in-between the sink (LAV) and shower (SH). This arraignment relies on the use of a double wye fitting to avoid lines crossing while maintaining the toilet as the last fixture connected to the wet vent.
The right sketch shows how a bathroom wet vent might be arraigned without the use of the symmetrical fitting. There are many ways that a wet vent can be arranged, it all depends on the location of the fixtures and the direction the drain is coming from.
Components of a Typical Bathroom Wet Vent:

Branch: Distance is unlimited but must be graded as per the diameter of the pipe.
Trap Arm / Fixture Drain (shower): Distance is limited by the diameter of the pipe as the fall cannot exceed the pipe diameter. If 2" the distance would be 8' measured from the connection to the wet vent (where blue meets green).
Fixture Drain (toilet): Distance is limited by the diameter of the pipe as the fall cannot exceed the pipe diameter. If 3" the distance would be 12' measured from the connection to the wet vent (where violet meets green).
Wet Vent Branch: Distance is unlimited but must be graded as per the diameter of the pipe.
Trap Arm (sink): Distance is limited by the diameter of the pipe as the fall cannot exceed the pipe diameter. Measured from the connection to the vent.

Issues With Your Sketch
The shower is connected to the toilet's fixture drain meaning that the the toilet is no longer the last fixture connected to the wet vent. (The issue with the toilet not being the last fixture is that the rush of water when the toilet is flushed could choke the vent connection of the other fixture (in your case the shower) and could result in siphoning out the fixture's trap.)
If you were to run the vent for the shower as shown in grey, the toilet would now be wet vented by the shower. The pipe downstream of the vent connection to the shower's fixture drain and the connection to the toilet would be the wet vent. The grey vent would be a dry vent, however the issue here would be that in most locations, you are not allowed to run the dry vent horizontal until you are 6" above the flood level of the fixture is serves and at minimum 42" above the floor.
The solution in your case would be to use a double wye fitting to symmetrical connect all three fixtures, similar to the left sketch.
I assume that the other fixture shown in the bottom left of your sketch in separately vented.
Original Answer
No. The portion from the wet vent connection (wye) to the 90 elbow under the toilet has a max distance determined by the grade of the pipe (3" pipe, 12' distance). The wet vent portion, from the vent connection at the sink to the wye that connects the toilet has no distance limit (it actually goes vertical). The portion from the vent connection to the sink is limited by the grade of the pipe (distance will vary as the pipe could be 2", 1-1/2", or 1-1/4" for a bathroom sink).


Tool to wipe skylight? I've got a skylight straight up in the ceiling, about 3m off the ground. Pretty much exactly this:

When it's cold, water condenses on the inside and eventually starts to drip. In winter it needs to be wiped at least once a day.

Now, I've had absolutely no luck finding a suitable tool for wiping without climbing up a ladder and wiping with a towel. What I need is a very absorbent sponge at the end of a telescopic arm, which, importantly, fits the extreme curve of the window. Any typical flat floor wiping tool is absolutely useless.

Any advice on what I should be looking for exactly?

You'll likely have to cobble something together. Start with a telescoping painters extension pole (found at any hardware/home improvement store in various lengths), then add a mop head or whatever you think will work best.


Will old anchor holes in a concrete slab reduce its useful life? An impaired driver jumped my curb and ripped my square mail post out of the sidewalk concrete that it was anchored into. The bolts were all ripped out of the concrete. Bolts went through the metal plate into concrete, so when the post and anchor went, so did the bolts. I think a couple bolt grippers may still be in there.
I can get the same metal post anchor replacement so the holes will align and fit if I clean them out and work them a bit. All surrounding concrete damage is from the incident.
Is some repair going to hold long-term, like some concrete "caulk" and using the same holes? Or is it an eventual fatal wound, such as the holes will get bigger and start cracking around them?
Since water has gotten into them, will that cause any structural problems? Or will it eventually require the whole concrete sidewalk square (~3'x3') to be replaced, re-poured completely, to get it back to the condition it was in before?
Obviously cost is not a concern, but I need to know if a replacement is justified. Will a repair be good enough or a pad replacement is better/best?

Also want to clarify the sidewalk is slightly damaged. The surface streaks and has chips around it. If I drill new hole offset from old, will the old holes start to crack the concrete around them?
This isn't a legal forum but it is pertinent to know the driver had no insurance and he is in jail for the hit and run. He's being prosecuted by the city and I can get restitution from him. I won't have to sue in small claims. The point being, he'll be the one eventually reimbursing, but I have to justify a repour or if a repair is reasonable enough. My home insurance has a $500 deductible and will raise my rate so that's a no-go.

The concrete looks intact enough for re-use, I can't see if the anchor bolts are good or not, if they can't be reused  getting old anchors out of concrete can be tricky: you might have to move your letter box one inch to the side so that new anchors can be drilled into virgin concrete.
If you do move it don't leave the old anchors protruding they are a trip hazard, if the can't be pulled out use an angle grinder to cut them and grind them flush.


Thermal Energy Storage heat loss coefficient What I am looking for?

I am trying to find a source which is stating typical heat loss coefficient of a thermal energy storage or a buffer tank.

Problem

Most of the resources I've found so far, rather than stating the heat loss rate in the format of W/m^2k, they are stated in the form of normal standing loss values. This is not helpful in my case where I am using  heat loss equations to estimate the possible losses.

Aim & objective

Aim The aim of my research is develop an open-source user friendly interface to characterize the output of low emission carbon sources.

Objective To characterize the heat loss rate of the storage unit considering the temperature of the water inside the tank.

Note: Formerly, one of the readers replied to a question of mine, that this platform is meant for non-professional individuals having troubles with their home system. I can say that I am a non-professional when it comes to commercial heating systems and I will not have any commercial gain from my project (through your advice).

Specific Question

Can you direct me to a source which is stating the typical heat loss coefficient (in W/m^2.K) values for thermal energy storage(s) (a.k.a buffer tank) deployed for residential or small commercial sites within the size range of 500 to 5000 liters.

Regards,

The standby losses you see quoted should conform to a testing standard that would allow deriving the heat loss coefficient.

For hot water storage, I would expect typical tanks to have between 2 and 4 inches of foam insulation, so aged R-Values R10-R12 (hr*ft^2*F/btu)/RSI 1.76-2.11(K*m^2/W) on the low end and double that on the high end, with 2 inches being by far the most common.


What are the steps to laying pavers? I am fixing to get rid of the grass and lay them pavers in the picture below. Its an area of about 10 meters by 2 and a half meters

I haven't done it before. I have looked over the internet and the basic steps seem to be :

Dig out the grass and the soil upto 8 inches
Fill 4 inches of roadbase/gravel. Compact it.
Fill 1 inch of sand. Level it. Compact it.
Lay the pavers, keep some fall and slope it towards
where the water currently flows towards and fill in polymer sand
between the pavers.

Does this seem about right ? Also, I have no access to a compactor (machine) so I will get a hand compactor.
How do I calculate how much gravel, sand and polymer sand will I require ?

A hand compactor will not cut it I am afraid. Is there no one where you live renting out plate compactors by the day? The subbase and sand need to be really compacted, flat and laid to falls, for the concept of block paving to even work, plus you also need to run the compactor over the finished paving (using the supplied rubber mat) to settle in the paving and this is why the base levels also need to be compacted flat (otherwise I fear that the paving will undulate up and down like the sea!)

Also you need to figure out your edge restraints on the sides not butting up to the concrete or the paving will creep apart over time.

Here is some good info...

http://www.pavingexpert.com/blocks2.htm

http://www.aggregate.com/documents/bradstone-laying-guides/bradstone-laying-guide-block-paving.pdf


Hanging an outdoor chair swing If I am using two 4 x 4 post as a base will a 2 x 6 hold an outdoor chair swing for a person to 240 pounds?

I suggest following a set of plans.

https://www.construct101.com/porch-swing-stand-plan/


Painted walls showing darker when dry where painted with brush, than with roller I've recently painted a room using primarily a roller, and for the edges (corners, skirting boards, ceilings), I've used a brush.

Where the paint was applied with a brush, it is considerably darker than where it was panted with a roller.

As you can see, there are dark "areas" around the wall join, and the joint with the ceiling. I'm shining a very bright torch as it demonstrates the problem better, hence the odd looking shadow at the bottom of the image.

I've asked a handful of very experienced people I know who have painted many rooms (all DIYers, but still), and they all concluded that the paint wasn't applied thick enough on the wall itself, and that actually the problem is not the joints, but the main area of the wall which was applied with a roller. Upon hearing this, I was slightly shocked since the dark areas actually look like they are not well adhered, but I played along and re-applied the whole room using a roller with a third, then forth coat, and the same problem persisted.

At that point, I decided I was right, and that it is the areas around the corners. I've now been out and purchased a much smaller roller, which has allowed me to cover the corner areas with great success, and now they have been painted with that the problem has disappeared entirely, except for the very thin slithers around the edges where I have a 5-10mm gap which I daren't touch with a roller, even if I mask, since I'm going to make a really big mess, the roller won't roll properly, it will grind on the ceiling (even masked) and leave streaks... It's just not a good move, I can feel it going horribly wrong and being very frustrating already.

The question I'd like to ask is how can I achieve the same finish using a brush as I did using a roller. I would imagine the problem is something to do with the pattern a roller leaves reflecting light in a certain way, since that would fall in line with my experiments so far. Naturally I could just roller them very carefully and re-paint the ceiling and skirting, but that defeats the object. I want them looking good, and I've done this before without problems.

Can somebody explain the physical problem, and possibly suggest a solution to it? I'm 5 tins of paint deep at this point, and it should've been a 2 tin job at most if I hadn't been misguided so badly.

how can I achieve the same finish using a brush as I did using a roller

In my experience, you can't. I usually find that brushed paint doesn't cover as well as paint applied using a roller. I find it helpful to do the corners first, going slowly. Apply extra coats as necessary. Then use a roller for the main part of the wall and paint as close into the corner as possible. A damp cloth (if water-based emulsion/latex) and a paint-guard can help.

I don't know about you, but I find I am much more fussy about these things when I am doing the work, but after a week I never think about or notice small defects any more.


Doorbell low voltage converter sharing breaker Can a doorbell low voltage converter share another circuit's breaker by both wires plugging into it? Or should a single wire go into the breaker but split it inside the panel using a wire but? Or does it require its own whole breaker/circuit?

I disagree with connecting it direct to a bus... we don't use circuit breakers for normal conditions, we use them for problems, and even a small load can have a big problem.

Apologies if I'm stating the obvious, but don't put the transformer inside the service panel, low-voltage power in the same boxes, conduits, etc. as 120/240 is a code violation.  Look at the threads on the right side of your picture.  It's made to screw into a 1/2" knockout hole of any common steel electrical box at any convenient location, and sit outside of said box, with 24v connections made outside the box.  As such, it can simply access hot, neutral and ground from the wires passing to or through said box, and thus be attached to whatever circuit breaker supports that circuit.

If the most convenient place is at the service panel, consider a common tactic done by many electricians: putting a 120v duplex outlet right next to the service panel.   It would be easy to hang that transformer off the box which holds the outlet.  (I suggest a 4" x 4" 2-gang box so you have ample room to work).


Freestanding insulating panels I'm renting a bedroom in a house with very thin walls, and when I wake up every morning, it's freezing, and I imagine that will only get worse. I was thinking it would be nice to come up with some way to add insulation to the cold exterior walls. My problem is: I'm not allowed to drill the walls, and I don't want it to look terrible.

My initial plan was to get some kind of insulation, set it into a lightweight wooden frame, and then stretch some fabric over it to make free-standing insulating panels that look nice and (hopefully) provide some insulation. I do have a few concerns, though, and not enough DIY expertise to know the answers, so I was hoping you folks might help me out.

Would this even help? If I'm not completely covering the walls, floor-to-ceiling, am I going to see any benefit?
What material should I use in the frame? I was thinking the appropriate material would be rigid foam, but now after reading up, I'm worried about offgassing, toxic flame retardants, HBCD, CFCs… and many other things I don't really understand. Is there a rigid insulation material that would be safe to use in an interior room as part of a free-standing panel? Polysio? XPS? Mineral wool?

Also, if this is too newbie a question, or if I'm reinventing the wheel, please feel free to close the question or redirect me to a more appropriate resource.

I’ve never seen this done and I don’t think it’s a good idea. Cold air will get around the panels unless you construct them to be completely right everywhere. That would be a lot of work. Possible, but a tremendous amount of work, no matter the size of your living space.


Water leaking through exterior floor and wall base My Steel Frame house is built on top of a concrete foundation.
Since we do not have the funds to cover the cost of the whole house we needed to have the possibility to add more rooms later in time. GC and Architect were ok with this approach and designed the project considering that.

The foundation was built with that in mind, so apart from what the house currently needs, there are around 13 square meters more of foundation towards the front of the house

Thing is that once the siding was finish and the house should be water proof, we started to notice that water was leaking from some place.
We sealed every single place that could cause this started hosing water to the exterior walls were the water was.

The following 2 pictures illustrate the water filtering through the floor of the front wall

There are 2 inconvenients:
1- the foundation cement coat are leveled towards the house, so any water poured on that floor would go directly to the house instead of flowing away from it to the garden.
2- that part of the house has no "step" because of the foundation that was laid down for the future expansion of the house.

The contractor and the architect told us to put exterior flooring to act as a barrier and fix the level of the floor.

We actually did this but. it didn't work we also tried to put some roof membrane to the base of the exterior wall and put the flooring on top of it. with no results as it can be seen on the next picture.

Foundation before filling it with concrete

affected exterior wall and future expansion foundation surface

Front foundation and affected exterior wall and typical mate infusion from Argentina.

There's no way we can proceed to install any flooring with this issue not being resolved, and that's not allowing us to move in. Although its popularity is growing steady, Steel Framing experience is very little in Argentina.

I would really appreciate any insights or advice on this matter. Don't hesitate to ask for more information I would be glad to provide it.

edit: link to the imgur post

Edit 2:

After it dried, I did some water tests which illustrate how the water flows in**

affected front wall from the inside. Dry

main doorway corner

Well, as you can see, there is a reason for building the foundation up, or the whole slab up.  You can put some kind of water barrier to stop, what you are experiencing. You know that, sorry.  My thought of a solution would require you to cut a set of paralell slots, up against your house, close to the sill as you can.  You'll have to remove the siding, a couple pieces up, all the way around... anyway I would. Make the slot at least 6" wide. You will need a Tiling spade, it has a long handle, and a long narrow spade!  You are not in a frost area, water is your problem. I'd still make the hole 18" deep, and the top up 12". If you taper the space wide, from top to bottom,  that's even better!  This will be one pour.  on the back side (wall side) you will need a strong  waterproof membrane. Overlap and seal at the bottom of the pour, the same on the front of this "kick wall" but have it long enough to go back up under the siding from the in and out side. You may have to glue it on the top of the cill. A piece of copper flashing or allumium, coming down over the membrame, under the siding. I'd get 12" wide flashing, so a Z bend can go all the way over the cill. Do this but for your doorways, and you will no more seeps into your slab, metal frame house.  It is a fair amount of work, the head guys on your contractors crew, should be able to cut the deck.  Then the younger boys dig the footings, and the older guys measure the total width of the membrame. They need to put up a frame to pour into. Make sure the "boyz" taper the cill OUT from the house! It will require a few screw or fewer bolt holes in your deck. After the cill is dry, lap up the membrane, seal it on top, and add the Z flashing, put the siding back on.  It is not a terrible solution, but it will work! See what others say, not something we see here up NORTH! :)


Can I move an attic furnace downstairs I love the single unit HVACs. I hate the unit in the attic - it has leaked so many times. Now that I am ready to replace the attic unit, I was wondering if I could have the same setup as my 1st floor DualFuel Heat Pump (single unit)

Houses are so badly designed when the downstairs unit has more power than the upstairs one, which gets hotter.

I understand there will be hell with duct replacements, but isnt there an easy way, instead of replacing all ducts and registers to just have a duct going to the place where the upstairs duct starts ? I really want a single unit and one which I dont have to bother with in the stupid attic.

I came across the reverse in this post:
Should I move the furnace upstairs to help cool the 2nd story?

No, not really. The work you're describing doesn't sound remotely cost-effective, or effective at all for that matter. Running a huge duct from the basement to the attic will choke off the airflow. Not to mention that if you're going to to that, you're already doing half the work necessary to redo the ductwork properly to connect the two zones.

It sounds like the real solution would be to abandon the attic unit (possibly selling it for some quick cash if it still works), and then integrate the second floor ductwork with the first floor ductwork such that the basement-mounted unit can service the whole house adequately.

If your second floor gets really really hot, the first and probably most consequential step is to air-seal and super-insulate the attic floor, and possibly adding a radiant barrier under the roof rafters if you can perform the work yourself (don't hire that part out; the payback time will be on the order of a hundred years). Low-E storm windows can help too if your house's windows are old and crappy.


Does a 16"W x 13" deep counter space need an electrical outlet? I have a 15"W x 24" Deep base cabinet. The counter top overhang is 1" on the front and right side. There is no overhang on the left side as there is a gas range there. There is a 15" W x 12" deep cabinet that sits on top of the base cabinet and goes up to the ceiling.

This leaves a counter space that is 16" W x 13" Deep, and no wall space (due to the tall cabinet) to put an electrical outlet.

Would this be considered a peninsula and not require an outlet because the long side is under 24" or would it be considered a regular counter space (over 12" W)and require an outlet within 24" of any spot along the wall?

210.52(C)(3) Peninsular Counter Spaces. At least one receptacle outlet shall be
  installed at each peninsular counter space with a long dimension of 600 mm (24 in.) or greater and a short dimension of 300 mm (12in.) or greater.

So yes according to the NEC you do need an outlet.  But it is really really close to not meeting the specifications, meaning it might be easier calling your inspector than it is debating with us.


Water leaked from second floor to first (ground) floor. What should I do / be worried about? When I was trying to fix a leaky faucet in the bathroom (2nd floor), I made a series of mistakes that lead to having some water go underneath the un-tiled section of the bathroom and into the cutout section of the sub-floor where the water pipes come out.

A few hours later, I noticed a water dripping of the 1st floor ceiling.  I put a bin to catch the water and drilled a small hole in the ceiling to drain the water quickly.  The water stopped dripping in about 4 hours since I initially found the drip.

I would roughly estimate that there is a 1 meter distance between where the cutout section of the sub-floor is and the drip on the ceiling.

The amount of water in the bin was about a glass or two.

My ceiling is stucco / popcorn painted in oil based paint.

What should I do / fix / look out for to make sure there is no damage?

At this point, I would make sure all the leaks are fixed. I would put fans in the bath to circulate air and help dry things out, possibly 1 downstairs where you drilled the hole, if everything drys out without the floor swelling or the wall board coming down or warping in a couple weeks patch the drilled hole and repaint as needed or replace the wall board if it sags. Over the years I have made quite a few repairs like this, if the water was not dripping for a long time and drys quickly I would not be worried about mold.


How to track down a short circuit in attic with pressed metal ceiling? When switching on a light the circuit breaker tripped.

On the distribution board, I switched off the sub-circuit for the light. The rest of the house and the plugs in the room with the light still have electricity.

I removed the entire light fitting from the ceiling. Then there where 2 wires poking through the ceiling. One wire is red, the other wire was black. (I assume red is live and black is neutral.) I cut off the black wire because some of the insulation had come off. (I cut off the black wire from the point where it branched from another black wire which goes to another light.) Now only the red wire is poking through the ceiling.

The entire ceiling (not the roof), is made of thin pressed metal plates (yes metal, not fibreglass). One side of the ceiling is painted (i.e. the side inside the house). The side of ceiling in the attic is not painted. At the spot on the ceiling where the light fitting was, some of the paint has come off. When touching the exposed end of the red wire to the unpainted ceiling, the circuit breaker trips.

I assume somewhere in the attic a black wire (from another light fitting, or from the cables leading down to a plug) is touching the metal ceiling.

The attic is a mess. It is impossible to walk in the attic due to the struts, rafters, beams, braces (i.e. all the wood holding up the roof). I can only "crab-along" the horizontal beams that rest on the walls. Of course I cannot step onto the pressed ceiling; it is far too thin. Pink insulation wool is lying on the pressed ceiling. The black and red cables run above the insulation wool. The black and red cables run from the distribution box, in parallel, seperated by about 3cm, until they descend down into either a light fitting or down towards the plugs. I have also noticed what seems to be earth wires. These are uninsulated metal cables. These earth cables frequently run under the insulation wool. As far as I can tell, the earth wires touch the ceiling.

To narrow down the cause, I switched off all sub-circuits on the distribution board. Then, one-by-one I switched on each sub-circuit individually, and tried to cause the short circuit. Only 2 sub circuits cause the problem. These 2 circuits are for the plugs in various rooms in the house.

Questions

How do I track this short circuit down ? My plan was to lift the insulation wool and to

check that all red and black cables are still insulated
check for any exposed red or black cable touching the ceiling or the earth cables.

Is there any device that can help me track this problem down?
For safety, before going up into the attic, I will switch off the electricity to the house (at the entrance to the property). Or is it safe to only switch off the 2 sub circuits causing the short circuit and the sub circuit for the light (which will then allow me to take an electric light up into the attic - otherwise I will need to use a flashlight)?

(Other info: South Africa, 200V, 50Hz, very old house with very old wiring, I think from the 1960s)

I use the Greenlee 77M-G tone generator and the Fluke Network Pro 3000 Tone and Probe Kit.


Materials needed to weld stainless steel to galvanized steel? I have a welder that knows how to weld regular steel to regular steel. Now he's going to weld regular steel to stainless steel, but I'm sure he's never done this before.

Besides the welding machine, What specific materials does he need to do this correctly?

Thanks.

Well.. stainless steel pretty much welds just like regular steel (in so much as its a pretty simple welding procedure)

Galvanised steel, (which is regular steel coated in a Zinc like covering) is the monster when you are welding.

so, the answer is, that really its pretty easy to weld the two, you could use regular metal filler rods to weld the two, and it would bond pretty well.

the problem comes when you think about your application (why are you welding the components)  -- both stainless and galvanised are rust proof/resistant when they are not damaged (by welding)  -- when you weld galvanised metal, you need to prepare the weld area by grinding off the zinc surface and exposing the raw metal, only then can you weld...  -- now that area is not protected by the zinc and will rust  --so if you wanted a rust free application, you have messed up the surface at the area of the join.

Stainless steel, can be welded with a stainless steel rod/filler, which will not rust, however.. when it gets too hot, or blends at the weld surface to the regular metal, it too will start to rust at the weld site (very slightly).

You also mention welding machine... well, this also depends on thickness of material and frequency of task, you can use MIG, TIG, and ARC welding to do this task... and they will be proper welds (the mig and tig would handle thinner material welds)  and they will be proper welds..  As mentioned, the only thing that is not proper, its that the site will now rust.

NOTE:  the response is a DIY level response, if you are performing engineering grade welds for high stress scenarios.. you would not really use these two materials together in the first place... But when you have the metal or the need.. one makes a plan.


When should a waterproof membrane be installed for shower tiling? For what kinds of wall structure - tile type combinations a waterproof membrane should be used between walls and tiles?

Always.

It's a shower. It needs to be waterproof.

A product I've used and liked is RedGard:

You install your backer board, then 'paint' this on. It's basically an adhesive roll-on rubber membrane. You then tile right on top of it.

I like this better than the traditional plastic-behind-the-backer-board for two reasons 1) You can easily put holes in the plastic during construction (screw holes, for instance) and 2) the RedGard is closer to the 'wet side' of the wall, reducing the chances of water getting into the wall.


How do I address a bedbug infestation? This bug problem is really stressing me out. I doubt they are bedbugs though because there aren't a lot. I remove 3-8 from my bed a day, and I've read that bedbugs are present in much greater numbers.

They are very small, oval-shaped, and normally have red/brown spots. I'd like to fix the situation as soon as possible since I know they're there and are probably crawling on me while I try to sleep.

Sounds like bed bugs to me.  Have you, or anyone else, noticed bite marks?  Sleep with a flashlight near the bed and if you wake up at night, use that to look for them (too much light will scare them away).

My suggestion is to strip the bed of all linens and wash them (you need heat to kill them, hot water and/or hot air from the dryer).  Remove and check the mattress and box springs and then check the entire bed frame.  Eliminate any paths from the bed frame to the wall or floor (placing the feet of the bed in a bowl of water or some other boundary).  Put the mattress and box springs in a zippered cover.  And finally, use a bed bug spray to kill any that make it through all this.  Note that these things can last a long time, so don't let down your guard for at least a year since you saw the last sign of them.


Is there a commodity 3 or 4 way valve that can be electrically controlled? I live out here in the San Francisco bay area where it doesn't rain in the summer. So I want to make an automated plant watering device.

I already have a water pump intended for solar water heating that pumps from a 2 gallon jug to 3 pots on the railing. I also split the flow from 1 tube into 3, but this isn't working well because the flow becomes uneven between the 3.

I could build 2 more independent pumps, but that would get too complicated if I wanted to water > 3 plants.

So, is there a commodity valve that can switch the flow between 3 or more destinations and can be controlled electronically?

The seal doesn't have to withstand high pressures since the pump I use can barely push water up 3 feet.

I use a multi-port automatic sprinkler valve coupled to an 8-way drip irrigation manifold, and use city water pressure.


Seeking advice on how to rearrange existing breakers and add 2 circuits, including a 20A GFCI/AFCI breaker in a split-buss GE panel My panel is a GE TX1612RH split-bus 125A panel (photo below).  It is an outdoor panel, vintage 1980 when home was built.  I want to run two 20A circuits to a shed 60-ft away and would like to know if the following changes are advisable and in accordance with Code:  1) Move the 2-pole 30A (thin) breaker for A/C to the slot immediately above the 50A "Sub-Main" breaker, thereby consolidating all 240V loads in upper portion (I think the A/C contractor goofed on the electrical portion); 2) Install a 20A "thin" breaker in lower-left slot for a dedicated circuit for an in-wall 120V shed heater (blank-face GFCI will be upstream of in-wall heater); and 3) Install a "full-width" 20A GFCI/AFCI breaker for everything else in the shed, using the slots formerly used by the 2-pole 30A breaker.  Regarding #1: Is it OK to use "thin" breakers in the upper bus, or should I replace the 30A thin breakers with the full-width variety.  Many thanks!
Update #1:  Photo of panel interior has been added.  Unfortunately, there are no placards or labels on inside of panel door or on back side of cover, so I'm driving "blind."  Googling the "K849 *" reference (top of back of panel), I found nothing.
Update #2:  The A/C contractor (in 2008) used very MINIMAL wire to reach the 2-pole compact 30A breaker -- not enough wire to extend to the new and proper position of a full-width 2-pole 30A breaker above the existing 2-pole 50A breaker.  Any suggestions for a remedying this dilemma?  Rules for using red-head connectors wrapped in rubber and vinyl electrical tape?  Or must I pull a new run of #10 copper conductors?

This is a split bus aka rule-of-six panel.  They were originally developed because breakers over 60A were cost prohibitive (no longer true).  They are outlawed now, and are dangerous because nothing prevents you from overloading the service.
They were allowed when a load calculation was done that showed the house would not overload the service; however, when people add circuits they don't bother to do another load calculation, and that's the danger. Normally a large load like  the A/C would be put in the Rule of Six area; putting it in the Lighting area makes me wonder if they did a load calc and it went badly. Any idea what came out of that space?
GE and their double-stuff rejection system
GE has a funny way of doing double-stuff breakers.  All their bus stabs look like normal bus stabs, a flat horizontal blade maybe 3/8" to 1/2" wide.  However, on spaces enabled for double-stuff breakers, they have a vertical rod - I call it a "cruciform" for the way it crosses the bus stab.  The double-stuff (1/2" wide single and 1" wide 2-pole) clip onto this cruciform.
In 1966 NEC added "CTL" rules limiting the number of double-stuffs in a panel. They required mechanical keying to reject double-stuffs where not allowed, so most builders notched their bus-bars and came out with "CTL" breakers which would reject in a normal space. (as well as non-CTL breakers to support pre-1966 panels, haha, guess what everyone did).  GE simply omits the cruciform.  Which means, there's no way to trick a double-stuff where GE doesn't allow it.
In a split-bus aka "Rule of Six" panel, there can only be six breaker throws to de-energize the whole panel.  So there would be no earthly reason for GE to install the double-stuff-enabling cruciform in those spaces.
Now, this panel only supports four full-size 2-pole breakers in the "Rule of Six" section. You might think GE intends you to use three 1" wide 2-pole breakers per side.  Looking closely, it appears the cruciforms are in exactly the right place to support just that - note there is no cruciform on the top half of the top space, so you can't put a 1/2" wide 1-pole there. You'd have to leave that empty.
You can't run 2 120V circuits out to a shed, anyway
Rule 225.30 says you can only run one circuit to an outbuilding. The rule intends that be a feeder to a subpanel.  However, there are certain exceptions:

A different-voltage circuit is OK, and this is where I'll introduce you to the multi-wire branch circuit. This is a 120/240V circuit with 120V loads placed between one of the two hots and the shared neutral. You can also power 240V loads between the two hots (but the breaker must be 2-pole if you do that).
If one of the circuits is switched from the supply end, then it's OK.  So if you are hellbound and determined to have 2 independent circuits, find a believable pretense to put a switch on one. (e.g. so you don't have to put your shoes back on to switch off the forgotten shed lights).

Breaker strategies
One option is to get a full-size 2-pole 30A breaker, place it in the open position, and use it for the A/C.  This will require extending the A/C cables, but you can do that with normal (well, large red or tan) wire nuts.
That frees up the 2 double-stuff spaces for 2 thin breakers (or a 20A 2-pole for an MWBC).
Another option is just get two full-size 1-pole 20A breakers and put them in the Rule of Six area and use them for your new circuits. You still only have five throws to turn everything off, so that's legit. Nowhere is it written that circuits in the Rule of Six area must be 240V.

You could also get one 1/2" and one full-size breaker in that Rule of Six area, if that matches the current knockouts that are removed from the panel cover.

For that matter, you could put three 1/2" breakers in the Rule of Six area, because that will be only six throws.  Keep in mind for future, heh, expansion in this very full and obsolete/dangerous panel.

Any now-empty breaker knockouts need to be filled with a blanking plate - you can't have curious fingers finding bus bars.  I find those blanking plates to be expensive, hard to find and very flimsy - so I prefer to arrange panels so all holes are full of real breakers. Which are not flimsy.


3-way switch loop wired with two 14-2 and one 14-3 I'm replacing a single 2-way ceiling light with recessed lighting, and discovered what I think is a switch loop when I pulled the ceiling light out. The confusing part (to me) is that the ceiling light had two 14-2 romex going to it, and one 14-3. All the diagrams I've looked up online show that there should be two 14-3s. What's going on?

You have the power supply coming in from the ceiling (i.e. right side 14-2) and being sent down to the switch or switches (i.e. left side 14-2). What's then sent back to the light or ceiling box is coming through the 14-3 and would be or indicates there was a either ceiling fan here previously (using the wrong type of electrical box) or that it was wired for one (ceiling fan box would've or should've replaced the standard box).

In a ceiling fan setup, the 14-3's black would be powering the fan and the red would power the ceiling fan's light (based on picture below). I'm hesitant to include a picture, since I couldn't find your exact setup and add to the confusion. But, the picture below is similar to your situation, however they skipped the 2nd 14-2 and just used the white to feed power to the switches...I agree much more with your setup.

I would expect there to be a capped black at the switch box and would like to see that 1 black disconnected and capped also in the ceiling box, if not being used. Though, that 3rd black could be going off to power something else with the switch box also being used as a junction box. Sorry, I can't be definitive without more pictures.


Why is only one of seven wires in my light box live? Had to replace cellar porcelain light fixture when I open box up it was packed I now have 3 lines coming in, 2 with 2 wires, 1 with 3. With power on only 1 wire is showing hot with detector. So basically have 7 wires and only one is live???? Help

This house needs AFCI breakers.  Badly.

It has old cloth-wrapped AC or MC cable, which has perished badly. You already see horrendous arc damage on one of the bottom wires; that kind of thing burns houses down.  And AFCI breakers detect that type of arc-faulting, and trip the breaker to stop it.

That cable has to go.

Every single one of these cables has to be replaced.  Every one. All of it.  And then, you have to search the house for any other cables in comparable condition (or get the AFCI breakers and let them protect you).

Stay with the good quality of work: metal jacketed cable/conduit and metal boxes. Clearly this site has environmental challenges where unarmored cable doesn't stand a chance.  If the cloth/rubber insulated wire is in good condition, that's fine, but it sure doesn't work here!!!

I might attribute the damage to the cloth-jacketed left cable to rats -  but how would rats get inside a steel junction box with a cover?  In any case, I would not chance any unarmored cable in this house; I'd plan on continuing to use MC cable, AC cable, or metal conduit of one kind or another.

Red-Taped Grounds

The purpose of the red tape is to defeat grounding (make the armored cable so it cannot carry ground).  That's done for one of two reasons.

The good reason: If the supply cable back to the service panel is not grounded, you want to avoid connecting gronunds onward because that will create an island of grounds.  That means a ground-fault anywhere in the island won't trip the breaker (no way back to the panel) but will instead electrify all the grounds.
The bad reason: The grounds do go all the way back to the main panel. But there is a hot-ground fault somewhere (in this wiring? How can that be? ;-b) and fault current is going back to the panel and tripping the breaker.  The repairman ignored the ground fault and stopped the breaker tripping by disconnecting the ground (!!!) which causes the island problem!

The fix to the ground issue is assure grounds go back to the main panel (retrofit if necessary), restore grounds, and then deal with any ground faults (I think I know why that might be happening... :-)


Safety concern building a fire pit out of reclaimed bricks I have a bunch of reclaimed (broken) bricks left over from building a patio. The bricks are from an old home that was knocked over and buried for some time. I would like to use these to build a fire pit on the patio, but I've read there can be some safety concerns using bricks/blocks that aren't "fire  safe".

My question is, how concerned should I be about using these old bricks? It seems unlikely that they'd blow up to me but I like to keep things as safe as possible.

Are there are any other things I should be concerned about such as mortar type? Base? etc?

Here are the bricks (red ones):

You can build the basic structure with these bricks, then line the fire pit itself with fire bricks. That's how fireplaces are made.


Need to understand my home electrical meter to see why bill is so high and/or if neighbor is on same meter I would like to know how to understand my digital home electrical meter.

This picture shows what my home meter CURRENTLY reads. I intend to unplug everything in my tiny apartment in order to get another read.

My reason?

My apartment consists of 1 SINGLE room, a kitchen, and a TINY Bathroom. That's it. Nothing else. Yet my electric bill is upwards of 370.00 a month. I calculated it should be no more than 190 at its highest possible amount. I believe my downstairs neighbors might be using electric (unknowingly) from my electrical supply.

My entire apartment is so small it only has 6 TOTAL outlets..

My refrigerator & a bedside alarm clock for time of day viewing
Nothing
An unused toaster, I have used it 3 times in a year
A microwave that gets used 10 minutes a month if that, otherwise only displaying the time of day on the front
Nothing

Outlet 6 is the "big one":

A. A 32" LED smart TV
B. A PS4
C. Cell phone charger
D. Your regular every day home stand up lamp (100W bulb)

Extras:
A hot water heater which I believe is gas.

And depending on the season:
Winter: 1 single electric baseboard heater, JUST ONE, in the entire apartment 5 feet long.
Summer: 1 single 6000 BTU air conditioner

That's it. Even if everything is used to excess I calculated less than 190 a month yet my bill is nearly twice that. What I personally want to know is if something is going on that I don't know about. Currently all I want to do is unplug everything and check the meter while that is going on. It will take a whopping 10 minutes to do.

Can someone tell me what those numbers mean on the display? Should it read almost 0000 if I unplug everything? I even plan on unplugging my fridge, everything..

Please help. I need to find cause to get my landlord to act. I could lose my place to live over this.

They're kilowatt-hours. If you use 1000 watts for 1 hour, it'll add one to the current number displayed.

It's like an odometer on your car. It only counts up, and will never be at 0 except when it was brand new.

Where is your neighbor's meter? If you can't find a second one, chances are you're paying for their power too.

If your neighbor has their own meter, they will have their own circuit breaker panel too. If they're separate, then just turn off your breakers randomly and see if it affects your neighbor. If he complains that his heat or fridge keeps turning off then you know it's on your electrical service.

Best time to turn them off would be when they're home and trying to cook. That way they'll notice if their oven or fridge loses power.

If there is only one meter, then don't turn any breakers off. You're definitely paying for both homes if there is only one meter.


Are two smaller septic tanks equivalent to one large tank? Related: How often do septic tanks typically need to be pumped?

Our home has two 800 gallon tanks next to each other, from the previous plumbers drawing it looks like they are connected.

I was looking at http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/WW/publications/pipline/PL_FA95.pdf

And they say 1500 gallons for 2 people should be pumped every 9.1 years.  Should I use that guide for my combined tank size or should I follow whatever is closer to 800 gallons?

Check out this answer here: diy.stackexchange.com/a/1712/928

It sounds like you have a 800 gallon septic tank, and an 800 gallon black water tank. Which means you should pump for 800, not 1600.

Cautionary note:

In some rare circumstances, most notably the rocky lake district of Muskoka in Ontario, weeping beds are illegal (lake water contamination), and the second tank is actually a holding tank.  In this situation, you need to pump out the tank fairly often, or it will fill up and overflow.

If you have a nice lawn that stays green without watering in the dog days of summer, then you most likely have a weeping tile bed.


How Much Attic Insulation? (R-value vs Ceiling Bowing) I'm preparing to insulate my attic and need to know how much is necessary and how much weight the ceiling can support.
I live in San Diego (mild/warm climate).  The house was built in 1969.  Currently there's no insulation in the attic.  I've airsealed, insulated the ducts, put in rafter vents.
Joist spacing is 24".  Gypum board thickness is 5/8".  I assume the ceiling, like the walls, is nailed not screwed in.
My plan was to blow in 15" of cellulose to get me around R-49.  My concern is the weight of the insulation could cause the ceiling (original, as far as I can tell) to bow.  The table for the insulation shows the "Minimum Weight" for R-49 is 1.591 lbs/sqft:

R-13   0.34 lbs/sqft
R-19   0.519 lbs/sqft
R-22   0.613 lbs/sqft
R-25   0.710 lbs/sqft
R-30   0.878 lbs/sqft
R-38   1.164 lbs/sqft
R-49   1.591 lbs/sqft
R-60   2.059 lbs/sqft

For the weight gypsum can support I found this link which quotes weight limits:

1.3 lbs/sqft for 1/2" sheetrock w/ 24" framing
2.2 lbs/sqft for 5/8" sheetrock w/ 24" framing

How much insulation could my ceiling support w/o risk of bowing?
Is R-49 even warranted in this mild climate?

5/8" drywall on 24-inch centers is standard practice across the industry. Unless you have some weird early-version panels with poor sag resistance, 15" of cellulose will not cause a problem.

I'm with Daniel Griscom, however. R-49 is in the ballpark of what we install in new homes here in frigid Minnesota (regularly seeing -30F in the winter). It's almost comically excessive in your case. You should look for something in the R-20 to R-30 range as your sweet spot (bang for the buck, ideal payoff, whatever). If you're feeling chilly when it gets way down in the 60s like it does there, go nuts. Just don't expect to see the value in your "heating" bill. :)


How to fix a garbage disposal pipe leak? I have a slowly dripping joint where the disposal meets the drain pipe. I want to fix it myself and thought to just seal it with some sealant. What sealant should I use and/or should I not seal it, but use another technique?
Complete noob here.

There is probably a gasket under that hold down flange. Buy a replacement gasket. Then remove the flange, use sand paper to remove any corrosion until you have a smooth, bright metal surface, then install the new gasket, and screw the flange back in.


unscrew a rounded nut I tried to remove the supporting wheel of my son's bike the other day, it's quite easy to remove one but the other gave me quite a bit trouble - the nut is rounded thus can't be secured by a wrench. The bike, the nut, and the tools I used to try are shown below. I looked up online and found some links which look promising but not sure if they are fisible in reality, like this one on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5d0Bgvjmlk
Can anyone kindly help out? Also, on the left side of the bike, which direction is to loosen the nut? Counter-clockwise, right?

You need "locking pliers" - Vice Grips™ is a trade name that has become a common name for these types of pliers. They will lock on to any portion of that nut, embossing some grooves in it, and allow you to turn the nut. You'll have to squeeze the pliers quite hard to get them to lock, but once they're locked, they'll hold just fine. You then unscrew, applying whatever turning force is necessary without worrying about holding the pliers on to the nut. Depending on how tight the nut is, you may have to release & relock the pliers more than once as you run out of turning room.

With very few exceptions, all threads on a bike are standard right-hand threads (righty-tightey, lefty-loosey). The exceptions are the right-hand side pedal and crank arm. You won't have to worry about the crank arm on this bike, though, as it appears to have a 1-piece crank. There may be a couple of other left-hand threads, but they're on parts you won't ever encounter until you're deep into home bike maintenance - the kind of maintenance you'll never do on this bike because the kid will have outgrown it long before that maintenance is necessary.

As a side note, you're probably going to want to replace the nuts on the rear axle where the training wheels attach. This will help prevent the kid from scraping himself on the potentially sharp edge of the nut. You'll probably want an acorn nut (which will cover then end of the bolt with a smoothly rounded "lid"). You will not want to reuse whatever's left of the nut in your picture - it will have more sharp edges than the axle! When you get that nut off, take it to your local hardware store, and ask for a pair of acorn nuts - you'll need this bolt so you can be sure the threads match.


Should I repair, replace, or remove damaged foundation insulation? I live in upstate NY and my house was built in 1996 and it has the white thick foam insalation around the foundation.  It looks awful and now I have bugs chewing it and building homes.  Can I just take it off or do I need to replace it with something

I don't know for sure what "white thick foam" is, but any exposed foundation insulation should be covered with a finish material. It's generally the case that insulation below grade is fine, but that exposed to sun and weather degrades fairly rapidly.

You should not remove the insulation, as it was obviously installed for a purpose. What you should cover with depends on the situation, but some typical options are marine plywood, a parge coat of masonry, or vinyl sheets. Post more information about your home if you'd like a more specific suggestion.


Can I vent a dryer from the same mechanical closet as a water heater.? I'm currently looking at a condo to purchase and the existing "closet" that contains the plumbing and venting for a washer/dryer is a bit on the small side.  It's probably not that big of a renovation to expand that space given the layout, etc, but there's also a small room that holds units gas water heater.

I'm wondering if there's likely any SAFE way to house the washer/dryer in the same space as the gas water heater, being able to share the venting between them.  I'm not optimistic that it's doable, but figured it didn't hurt to see some opinions.

Very likely not.

The codes around heating and cooling are very specific about the sizing of vent pipes - if the pipe is too small, you'll get back pressure and carbon monoxide issues.  If the pipe is too large, you'll get condensation issues.

Adding another appliance to an existing vent pipe (whether a chimney or a PVC pipe) will almost certainly put it out of code compliance.


Replacing 39 year old wall switch Replacing 30 year old light switch with new light switch assembly need
help with the wiring identification (-; thought this would be similar to replacing outlets but all the wires are black so I am at a loss.  Thank you.  New switch ..basic from Home Depot —one green two brass one black screw

Does not matter what color the wires are. With switches we see far more problems from people applying what they think they know about wire colors and the odd things that are common practice in switch wiring before the requirement to supply neutral to the switch came about. They unscrew everything and then can't make it work because they lost track of what went where.
All black is fine - just be sure to keep track of which black wires go where, and put them the same place on the new switch.
The old switch may not have a grounding (green) screw.
The old switch appears to be a two-terminal switch with one wire on one terminal and two wires on the other terminal. Mark, tape, or just don't disconnect all the wires so you keep track of which two go together.
Connect one wire to the black screw. (or one of the brass screws, but for the sake of a narrative that will work... lets stick with this.)
Connect the two wires to one of the brass screws. Leave the other brass screw empty, since you are replacing a two-terminal switch with a 3-way.
If you need to, connect a short wire to the two black wires that go together using a wirenut or approved splice block and connect that short wire ("pigtail") to one of the brass screws. This is better than using those "push-in" or "backstab" connections that your old switch seems to be wired with.
The green grounding screw should have a green or bare-wire pigtail attached that connects to the bare or green ground wires in the box, assuming you have ground wires (mid 1970's or 80's there should be.) If the box is metal, those should already be connected to the box, as well.


Can I splice wires in an old ceiling light box and should I add a ground conductor? We have a beautiful house built in the 1920s.  I was changing over a light fixture when I found that the ceiling of the room is wired with rubber wrapped 12(?)gauge wire that goes into a metal pancake box attached to what I believe is a ceiling joist.  Based on current code I think it's overfilled as it has one pass through common wire (that goes in and out without any termination), the common line, and 2 load wires that are spliced together (I'm not sure why there are 2 loads).  The visible insulation appears to be in good condition.  If I'm just changing a fixture I know I'm not required to make this code compliant.

My understanding with the reason for the code is excess heat causing damage to the conductors leading to insulation failure --> fire.  The fixture is a chandelier that will be 3 feet lower with LED bulbs so heat and wattage should be much better than it ever was before.

My questions are:

Can I cut the pass through wire and wire-nut it? I figure yes but I wanted to make sure.
The box covering the ceiling has ample room to leave wires in it, to my mind that would be safer from a heat standpoint.  I don't know if that's code compliant or stupid for a reason I'm not aware of.
Replacing the pancake is possibly doable but I'd then have to cut into the wood rafter to make room.  I'd prefer not to do that out of concern for opening up a can of worms.  I'm wondering if I need to replace the box.
Current wiring does not have a ground line. If I attach a ground to the metal box does that provide any safety gain?

Thanks for your help.
Elmo

On this site there have been discussions from knowledgeable people about the importance of having every hot and its paired neutral conductor in the same cable or conduit. This is so the net time varying magnetic fields surrounding the wires are zero and so will not induce currents in surrounding metal. Induced currents cause heating of the metal.

I think you should find out what this pass through wire is being used for. This seems like a situation requiring a current clamp meter to find out the current (including the direction) in each wire under load. You may really need an expert electrician to look at this.


Utility Knife Blade Tool that is a "Block" Is there any kind of tool that is a "block" (imagine a sanding block) that accepts utility-knife blades?

Imagine cutting a piece of rigid foam.
And instead of using a straight pencil mark or (blue) snap line, and trying to follow the line with a utility knife.....

You could secure a straight edge (or a level with a bigger edge) 2" from the line, and the "block" would "ride" against the level/straight edge...and the blade being in the center of the block (but 2 inches from the edge) would cut a perfectly straight line.

Whenever I use a utility knife and the straight-edge/level, I still get a little wobbling.

They make a handy sliding block with a blade that protrudes from the bottom, just like you describe. They are great for scoring and cutting thin sheet material like laminate:


How can I adapt old thick wiring entering my 30 yr old furnace to fit into the clip on slot on modern day circuit breaker switch? My 30 year old furnace blew one of its breaker switches and shortly after blew the second breaker switch. I had a service technician look at the furnace and he confirmed this. He said he did not think he could find replacement switches and that I may need to replace the whole furnace. I found this a little strange and thought it was a cash grab so I opened the furnace back up and looked at the switches.

They are part of an assembled unit but I can open up the unit and replace them, piece of cake. Except for one little problem. The old circuit breaker switches are hard wired into the system. They have VERY thick wires (thicker than a pencil) where the power enters them. ALL modern day circuit breakers have a slot where they clip/mount onto a bracket where the power enters. The old breaker switches allowed wires to be screwed into place at both ends instead of just the end power exits them.

Is there an adapter I can attach to the wire that allows me to attach them to the modern day slot in the circuit breaker switch? They are 50A and 60A breaker switches. (double switches) (2 pole?).

EDIT: The two breaker switches I need to replace are both labeled "common trip".

This is what unit mount breakers are for

Most modern circuit breakers are designed to attach to a panelboard's busbars, hence the clip.  However, you don't want that since these breakers are providing subdivided protection per NEC 422.11(F)(1), with fat branch circuit wiring coming in and no busbars in sight within the enclosure:

  (F) Electric Heating Appliances Employing Resistance-Type Heating Elements Rated More Than 48 Amperes.

  (1) Electric Heating Appliances. Electric heating appliances employing resistance-type heating elements rated
  more than 48 amperes, other than household appliances
  with surface heating elements covered by 422.11 (B), and
  commercial-type heating appliances covered by 422.11 (D),
  shall have the heating elements subdivided. Each subdivided load shall not exceed 48 amperes and shall be protected at not more than 60 amperes.

  These supplementary overcurrent protective devices
  shall be (1) factory-installed within or on the heater enclosure or provided as a separate assembly by the heater
  manufacturer; (2) accessible; and (3) suitable for branch-
  circuit protection.

  The main conductors supplying these overcurrent protective devices shall be considered branch-circuit conductors.

What you need instead is a unit mount breaker, sometimes called a cable-in/cable-out breaker -- these circuit breakers are designed to mount directly into a box, usually through a mounting scheme such as the ubiquitous DIN rail or a set of panel mounting clips, instead of to a panelboard busbar, and have wire lug terminals on both sides of the breaker.  An example is depicted below.

However, you need a breaker listed to UL 489 for this application.  Look for something from the Square D QOU or Eaton QC lines, for instance, although several other UL 489 listed DIN rail breaker lines are available as well -- you'll need to order them in from an electrical supply house though, along with the appropriate mounting hardware if you are changing breaker types (a like-for-like replacement should fit the existing mounts though).


Sleeve for below grade pipe penetration I need to run a hot and cold water supply line to an outside structure 13' away through my basement block wall. This is in the Northeast US, where the frost line is 42" and the penetration will therefore be that much below grade.

I plan to use 3/4" PEX-A pipe wrapped in foam self-seal pipe insulation and running through FLEX-Drain corrugated pipe.

The whole assembly will penetrate the houses basement wall below the frost line on one end and will come up through a concrete slab foundation (to be poured) on the other. The flex-drain pipe would essentially act as the sleeve through both the house wall and the concrete slab foundation. I have a few questions that perhaps someone could comment on:

Is FLEX-Drain a good idea to use for this application? It seems a little flimsy and I'm a bit worried it may eventually crack while regular PVC pipe seems like overkill.
Would FLEX-Drain be a good sleeve or would I need to use a larger diameter PVC pipe as the sleeve and run the flex-drain through it?
Regardless of sleeve options - what is the best thing to use to seal/waterproof between the sleeve and block wall penetration? What about between the pex and the sleeve?

Thank you!

Uponor Ecoflex is your best bet here. https://www.uponor-usa.com/~/media/uponor/sidebar%20brochures/pips_pg_h460_0113a.ashx?version=012120130317. You will need, as others mentioned, a schedule 80 sweep to sleeve the concrete penetration. Use expanding spray foam to seal the open end of the pvc. Using the foam insulation below grade....will get saturated with water over time and no longer will have any insulating value. Your goal here is to protect the pex from getting torn by rock, etc, below grade. I'd skip the insulation and go deeper and sleeve it all in PVC, or use the Ecoflex, which at the end of the day, will cost you less then the extra time and materials with your original option. Make sure you pressure test before closing things up, and as long you pass that and aren't burying any fittings, you'll never need to replace it.


why is a cylinder lock key not symmetrical? If you look at a mortice lock key from the side (https://tradelocks.co.uk/cylinder-mortice-borg-locks/key-blanks/6-lever-mortice-key-blank.html), it is symmetrical from tip-to-base. This is because the same key can be inserted into the same lock from either side of the door.

however, on some doors with simple cylinder locks (like this) https://www.easykeys.com/381_Yale_Lock_1-1600_Lock_Keys.aspx the key can also be inserted from either side of the door, yet it is not symmetrical.

how does this work?

The mortise lock type for the key that you depict has a single locking mechanism that can be reached by the key inserted from either side of the door.

The cylinder lock you refer to is actually two separate cylinders that are keyed alike, that each have a simple rod at their back that activates the lock mechanism.


Old refrigerator risks I just acquired a double door Amana refrigerator. I'm not sure when it was manufactured but from the design and the dates on referenced patent numbers on the back, it seems to be from the late 70s/early 80s.
It seems to be working although it's giving off some cool air from the bottom.
Is it safe to use it?

Safe?  Yes.  Economically wise?  No.
Refrigerators older than let's say the mid to late 90s are woefully inefficient, and use quite a lot of electricity compared to ones made in the last 15 years or so.  Buying a newer fridge (even one 10 years old) will often pay for itself in just a few years in the amount of electricity saved.
So if you're planning on using the fridge for more than a few years, it's likely wise to not run it and find something newer.  Utilities in the US (and possibly even other countries) will often even give you a rebate on disposing of an old fridge like this.


Can a 100' string of led lights be powered from each end hooked to one power supply can both ends of a 100' strip of leds be hooked to the same power supply with out damaging the power supply of leds

120V or any mains voltage - no no no no no no no!

5 or 12 volt DC, yes, and at 100' you will need to feed it from many intermediate points as well.

24 volt DC, along 100 feet you will not only need to feed both ends but several intermediate points too.  Just not as many as 12V.


Puppies chewed through the cord on airconditioner in the window. I rewired color to color. It still is popping in wire fuse I have rewired things before. And this isn't new. I have never encountered this before!

Popping in wire fuse?  Is the unit actually connected to a fuse or some sort of breaker or tripping device. All AC units with cords that I know of come with a GFCI device at the cord cap. Is this tripping? If it is, pay attention to @EdBeals comment. GFCI's are very sensitive and you really don't have to have a short. You just have to have some sort of current leakage.

I would recommend you try and order a new cord from the manufacturer or an aftermarket cord and replace the whole thing.

Good luck.


How do I properly bring in coax from the pole to the interior of my house? As it is now, the coax comes off the pole and is anchored under the eave with a coax grounding block. From there, the local cable company stapled the coax down the siding, then horizontally around a corner for 30 or 40ft, and finally just drilled a hole through the side of the house and into a room.

This looks trashy and annoys me to no end.

I have a wall chosen for a structured media panel, and the house has a crawlspace that should allow me to bring RG-6 to the panel from the exterior wall to that point.

However, I have just realized that I have no clue how to connect the eave to some low point on the wall at all. It occurs to me that I might want or need a network interface device (NID) box (and it looks as if these are cheap enough on ebay), but still... do I just leave the grounding block screwed to the underside of the eave? Do I just have cable stapled to the siding all the way down to where I can get it into the crawl space?

Not the best picture in the world, but you can see it as the line that comes in low and attaches to the eave. There are no gutters yet (something I intend to fix this year, we just purchased the house). I've only just now realized that this will get in the way too, so there's even more to change. It can't just be bolted to the side of the eave.

We'll also remove the parabolic once I can figure out how to do that without causing the roof to leak.

Here it enters the side of the house. It seems that this is the only live coax in our home, though there are at least a half dozen ones coming up at the edge of the carpet in various rooms.

Cable companies should not be penetrating the building with cables like the way you describe.  Water can flow down this wire and into the building if it's not sealed properly.  And if it is sealed properly, if the wire is able to be moved in and out because it's not securely anchored then it will eventually be able to leak should water get around it.

Have they also put a bend in the wire below the entry point to prevent water flowing into the house?  Have they anchored the wire so it can't move in and out ?

Several easy ways I've found to put wire into the building without drilling unsightly holes and that won't cause leaks.

1) Go under a flashing.  On my house we have an old iron roof with lead flashing.  I've been able to put a wire up under the flashing.  I just lifted the edge of it slightly and pushed it in. Then I bent the lead flashing back down over the wire.  As the antenna was downhill of the flashing, water couldn't go up the wire in any way and enter the house.

2) Bring the wire down to the guttering, and poke the wire up under the edge of the roof.  Usually there is a gap to allow ventilation.  This allows you to get the wire into the attic space and you'll then be able to put it into any room you desire.

3) Bring the wire down one of the downpipes.  Then if you happen to have a raised foundation like my house, put it through one of the ventilation ducts at ground level.  I then bring it up into a wall cavity from below.

4) You could also bring the wire in through a hole in the sofit and then into the ceiling space where you could then bring it down into the house through an internal wall.  Not as tidy or as easy as just ducking in under the iron though.

Important: Water can flow down a bent wire through surface tension.  So wherever it enters, make sure it can't do that by putting a sharp bend in the wire just below the entry point.  That way any water will run off on the outside and not into your home!

Update: I see that they have anchored it and added the loop at the bottom. And there does appear to be some sealant around the entry point.  It should be OK, but it is really ugly and doesn't pass any tests for beauty.

Update2: Since you want to enter from below this is what I suggest.
Re-route the cable down the down pipe that I see running down the wall.
Clip the cable to it using appropriate UV rated cable ties.
It appears to me that your house is raised on some concrete or wood piles. It looks similar in construction to my house where there is a concrete foundation around the outside of the house and probably concrete or wooden piles within.  If that's the case then if there are vents in this (there really should be) you can poke your wire through one.  If not, drill a hole through that outer foundation.  It'll require a long bit and a powerful hammer drill  - take your time.  Then once you are through, poke your cable through and you can then bring it into whichever room you wish.


How to install a large mirror on drywall? I need to reattach(*) a large, flat, frameless mirror (about 8'x6') to drywall, and a few long/thin beveled mirror pieces around it as a "frame".

Two questions:

What adhesive should I use? Epoxy glue? Liquid Nail?
How to hold the mirrors in place while the glue is setting? (If the glue sets in a short time, say 10 minutes, then I guess I can simply lean on it while playing Angry Birds.)

* If you're curious why I said "re"attach, it's because the mirrors were there originally, and I removed them to open a small doorway on the wall. I was able to simply ply the mirrors off.

Mirror Adhesive ("mirror mastic") exists:

As for how to hold it up; rest it on something:

the top of the backsplash
rest it on a strip of wood fastened to the wall

and use mirror clips while it sets.


How can I remove construction adhesive from finished wood flooring? I was attaching some transition molding to a floor section yesterday using PL proline construction adhesive.  Apparently I did not do as a good a job of policing the edge as I thought, and I have several visible places where excess adhesive has come out.  It is not yet fully cured.  Am I better off scraping it up now or after it cures?

Cleanup

  Clean tools and uncured adhesive residue immediately with mineral spirits in a well-ventilated area to the outdoors. Remove cured adhesive by carefully scraping with a sharp-edged tool.

From http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/pl_ca_prem/directions/Loctite-PL-Premium-Polyurethane-Construction-Adhesive.htm