Threaded Brass adapter leak A pair of adapters is bridging CPVC to PEX.  The pair is coupled through threaded brass: PTFE Teflon tape was applied.  There is a very slight leak in the brass threading.  Any suggestions remedy the threaded brass is appreciated.
I am tempted to find a single adapter to bridge the CPVC to PEX, however I am hoping that the threaded brass leak-fix is simpler.
Update: the threaded brass adapters were removed in favor of a Lowe's CPVC to PEX adapter.  Unfortunately the Home Depot Unicorn adapter was 60 miles.

My personal preference (currently, it used to favor tape more) is to use PTFE pipe dope (paste) rather than tape for threaded joint sealing. I generally have fewer problems that way.
It's also become needful to closely examine threaded fittings as many in the current era are poorly made and may be difficult or impossible to seal due to thread defects that should never have made it out of the factory.
These two things may not be unrelated. It's quite possible that better-quality thread machining meant that tape really did work better in the past. Or it may just be that when tape first came out, there was no PTFE dope, there was just dope, from the dark ages.
After that, crank it up more, but it's quite possible to ruin things by overtightening, too.


Affixing an angled shelf to a wall I want to build a 45 degree angled shelf (think along the lines of a magazine shelf) across a 4 metre plasterboard covered concrete wall. The target load is approx. 50kg distributed evenly.

I haven't bought any of the materials yet, but I'm considering getting some of these laminated chipboard panels. My initial plan was to purchase a set of 45 degree angled metal brackets and fix them at 1 metre intervals, to compensate for the front-heavy weight distribution.

So far I've had no luck sourcing shelf brackets that are anything other than 90 degrees. I did find some "adjustable" brackets that appeared to do what I want; but having looked at them close up in a Wickes store I've determined they don't tilt enough for my need and they look a bit too "industrial" for an in-home shelf.

My question is, how should I affix this shelf to the wall? Is there a better approach?

I'd go for a custom made wooden bracket (but then I'm a carpenter!) but you could try searching the 'shop fitting' or 'point-of-sale' industries as they have all kind of different display related stuff. I searched for "POS display shelf brackets" and saw a few different brackets.
Just a thought...


Electrical service upgrade In general, when upgrading electrical service for a single family home from 100 to 200A, does the feeder need to be upgraded, or is it just the service panel?

The service entrance conductors are sized to your main breaker in most cases. The drop or supply to the meter is any ones guess I have seen them large enough for a 200 amp service on an 65-75 amp panel but we did have to up size the service entrance conductors from the meter to the new panel. In some cases due to loading new transformers are needed depending on the utility they may pay for that upgrade or ask you to pay. The only way to know about the transformer and service drop to the meter is to ask the utility. You may be able to read the size on your existing service conductors (feeder) but I would bet that it will need to be upsized going from 100 to 200.


Murray mower with B&S 500e engine running strange I got a Murray mower with a Briggs and Stratton 500e 5 HP engine from a friend. Not sure how long it may have been sitting, but I can start it first or second pull. After it starts, it runs slow, unless I tilt it back until the handle is level with the ground. When it's tilted back it runs like normal, but then it cuts off because it stops getting fuel after a few seconds. I've already cleaned the carb, replaced the gas, checked the fuel filter, checked spring tension on the throttle/choke rod (no actual choke, just a spring attached to a rod to hold the door in the carb open) and that is fine, and I checked the air filter/cleaner "sponge" and that looks clean and the engine runs the same with or without it. Only thing I haven't checked was the spark plug, but I don't think that would be the issue because it runs fine while it's tilted. Does anyone have any idea? Or should I just rebuild the entire engine?

For those symptoms, I'd initially suggest that the fuel tank and fuel-line need a flushing and cleaning. The tilting back remedy typically means the fuel tank's screen filter is mostly clogged...assuming it has one or some type of filter.

I don't know the specific engine, but very related to the above is a fuel-bowl attached to the carburetor and most especially the Jet-Bolt that attaches them together.

The fuel-bowl needs to be clean and the Jet-bolt needs to be poked clean with a pin and then blown or flushed clear.


Divots in concrete from carpet tack I'm pulling up carpet tack from a concrete basement floor using the techniques in these videos: vid1, vid2... the technique isn't perfect and I'm still getting the small divots here and there.  How concerned should I be about those divots if I'm aiming to put vinyl flooring down eventually?  Do the divots definitely have to be filled before laying down flooring?

You cannot avoid a divot when pulling nails out of concrete small divots I use epoxy filler larger or a large number I use a self leveling compound or hydraulic cement. Vinyl flooring will show divots so they need to be filled.


NEMA 14-30 in 1-gang box I recently wired a new laundry room for a family member's renovation project. He already had the electrical materials on hand and all of his boxes attached to the studs, so I ended up installing the electric clothes dryer receptacle (NEMA 14-30 using 10/3 NM-B) in a "deep" 1-gang wall box (22 cu in).

I'm not used to seeing this type of setup done using anything smaller than a 2-gang box, but the receptacle's screw holes were configured for use with either 1-gang or 2-gang. This family member is also a flooring/walling contractor and insisted he'd seen them installed in 1-gangs in new construction on numerous occasions.

The box fill calculations I did show that a single termination of 10/3 + ground is more than fine in a 22 cu in. box, but the receptacle itself takes up an impressive amount of space in the box (not sure if this actually affects box fill requirements, though).

Are there any formal requirements for box size/type for the installation of these receptacles aside from normal box fill requirements?

It's fine in a single gang box if it meets fill reqs and the screws line up without modification.  Cover plates may be difficult to find, but they exist.

Use electrical tape over the terminal screws if it makes you feel good.  I do when the box is metal.


Properly installing a grounded subpanel for lightning protection I'm installing a large antenna on the side of my house opposite the electrical service entrance. The antenna must be grounded, by nature of its design. For lightning protection, it's important that the radios connected to the antenna have a single point ground.

Where the antenna feedline enters the house, it does so though a copper bulkhead, attached to a system of three ground rods by 2.5" copper strap.

If I naively plug the radio into the wall, I have this situation:

The problem here is with a nearby strike there will be a large voltage gradient between the two grounds. That voltage appears across the radio, and things go boom.

In professional installations the building is designed so the electrical service and the antenna feedline enter at the same point. Unfortunately that's not really an option for me: the electrical service enters at the opposite side of the house.

What I'd like to do is install an outdoor subpanel at that single point ground such that every wire going to the radio is grounded at just one point. This way there can exist no voltage across the radio.

I've ordered a QO2175SB Surgebreaker surge protective device along with an outdoor box for it to go in. The radio equipment isn't anything huge, and so doesn't require an additional circuit besides the wall outlet that's already there.

I'm a bit unclear how to install the subpanel in a way which both protects the radio and is safe and code compliant. I've read ground and neutral should not be connected at a subpanel. However, if neutral is not connected to ground at the subpanel, what's limiting the surge voltage on neutral relative to ground? Sure there's the wire bonding the two grounds, but with a fast current pulse like lightning the inductance of that connection renders it ineffective.

This gets rather complicated rather fast, because the requirements of the electrical code partially contradict the practical requirements of radio.  Worse, finding someone able to do it properly (or approve it) requires someone experienced in both fields at once - such people are few and far between.  Fortunately there's a way to do an end-run around the entire problem.

Use a separately derived service

Since you're already bought into installing a subpanel, you are most of the way there.

Install a supply transformer which has the side-effect of fully isolating the supply from your panel.  This causes the new panel to become a main panel rather than a sub-panel.  You will need to upgrade the antenna's grounding system to fully satisfy the Electrical code for mains power installations.  Since it is a main panel, neutral must be bonded to ground here.  You have accomplished what you want.

This arrangement greatly simplifies things.  Electrical people will understand what this is - separately derived service is unusual, but not that unusual - and a bit simpler than the complex isolated-ground rules.  A future electrician working on this system is not likely to botch it up.

The transformer

This is isolated from your house's regular power system.  This is accomplished by using a transformer whose primary is isolated from its secondary, which is most ordinary transformers.

Common sizes of transformer are 1.5 KVA and 5 KVA (a VA is similar to a watt, so 1.5KW or 5 KW - 12.5 amps or 41 amps at 120V.)

Most readily available transformers are configurable for 240V or 480V on the primary, and 120V, 240V or 120/240V on the secondary.  You would supply it with 240V from your main panel.

You can also obtain isolation transformers of various sizes, which may be 120V on each side.

The main issue is whether the voltage surge of the lightning strike break down the insulation in the isolation transformer.  In this case, there could be unpredictable results.  There's no requirement to connect the grounding systems to each other, but a heavy ground connection would help to reduce this voltage difference.  Realistically you cannot put enough copper ground wire down to carry the ampacity of a lightning strike.


How to supply 12 volt DC to all the windows in a new house build We are looking to provide 12v DC power to all the window headers in a new construction home for later use to power 12v DC blind motors. As all the walls are open for now we are just going to have wire running back to the central place in the mechanical room.
So I was wondering what the source of this power will be - some sort of transformer? Takes 120v AC and converts to 12v DC. But does something that will support 30+ outlets exist? They won't all be running at the sametime (in theory).
Also do we need a breaker box for DC. If there is an example article or something online that would be great too!
Cheers

You just answered your own question, “how do I splice 30 connections” / “breaker box for DC”.  However only one breaker box/service panel/load center on the market is capable of supporting DC, and that is Square D’s “QO” type (the one with the 3/4” breakers; NOT the cheapie Homeline!)
The trick is voltage drop.  The much lower voltage is also much more sensitive to resistance loss through the wires. That forces you into larger wires.  The good news is, economics of scale make #12 or #14 wire intended for AC mains barely more expensive than the #18 or #22 one normally associates with low voltage DC.  There’s no substitute for figuring out your current draws and doing the load calculations based on your distance. This must be done.
Note that 24-volt systems are 4 times better for voltage drop. Crunch the numbers and you’ll see.  If it’s feasible to go 24V, consider it.
A shame to only use it for blinds
12V or 24V DC systems can be an incredibly verstaile addition to a home, and can even allow it to weather long power outages with high functionality, much moreso if the house is smartly designed around that idea.
For instance, a variety of LED lighting is made for 12/24V, including the popular LED strips, which dim very effectively, and even permit RGB color.  Motion sensors are cheaper in 12/24V.
If you make this auxiliary lighting, you could have it during power outages by adding a battery to the system.  Many Internet modems/routers work on 12V, as do many TVs, and a typical Roku box or other smart-box attachment will also like 12V power.  So there you are watching Netflix in the power outage.
12/24V house-sized refrigerators aren’t worth buying, but you can run an inverter for the times the fridge needs to run.
The batteries need to be sized for the run-time you want to have, but them with some solar panels to top them up can be a lot cheaper than an installed generator system with changeover switch, yadayada.  Heck a modest battery system is cheaper than those hokey 10-circuit switches alone.
Or very small generator can be used simply to top up the batteries during period of low sun (or for that matter, your car’s alternator).
It could build out into quite a system if you wanted to.


Can I operate a 120v 60 hz sewing machine with a 220v 50hz power supply? I was going to buy a sewing machine from someone. It's rated 120v - 60 Hz (as written in the label), but the power system here is 220v - 50 Hz. Can I operate this machine with that power if I use step down transformer or stabilizer (220v to 110v) without changing 50 hz to 60 hz?

General rule of thumb is that transformers must be run at the proper frequency they were designed for. Professor CP Steinmetz worked out why AC transformers burned up and enabled Westinghouse and the world to enjoy the use of Teslas work on AC motors and power transmission because he determined that the alloy used in transformers and motor electromagnetic circuits was very critical in controlling hysteresis (the resistance to iron changing magnetic polarity) so they wouldn't overheat.

Motors are just another form of transformer so any inductive type motors must also be run at the proper frequency to prevent overheating and run at the proper speed.

That being said, in a sewing machine, you usually have a special case as it typically is powered by a brushed universal motor which is a whole lot less sensitive to the frequency issue due to the design. Its speed is dependent on voltage and current allowed through the device and the magnetic path alloys are specifically designed for this.

So to sum it up, don't run your refrigerator on the wrong frequency (uses an inductive motor), you probably can run your sewing machine on the lower frequency (uses universal brushed motor). You will need a 50Hz transformer to step the voltage down!

The heating affects from magnetic path hysteresis are worse when running 60Hz equipment on 50Hz.


Downlight density (spacing) Im in the process of rennovating my house, and Im at the point of re-doing lighting on the ground floor.

Im looking at putting downlights in, removing the existing clusters of bulbs.

The thing that I am not sure about is what kind of density or spacing I should have for downlights.

There are two spaces I would light to light independently, both part of an open floor plan. The first is the "living area" and has rough dimensions of 4.5m by 4m, and a dining area which is roughly 2.7m by 1.8m, laid out something like this:

   +--------+
   |  |||||||
+--+        |
|           +--------+
|                    |
|                    |
+--------------------+

I have seen suggestions (primarily from one website, as there seems to be little information coming up readily) that the downlights should be spaced roughly equivalent to half the height of the wall, and that you can determine how many you need by multiplying the square footage by 1.5 and dividing by the number of watts of your intended bulbs.

An electrician that I have been using for various jobs has given me a "per fixture" price, so I can basically figure out how many I want and budget the installation myself. But can anyone shed any more light on how to figure this out (excuse the pun)?

Thanks

I usually approach this (by throwing some light on the subject :)  ) by deciding the activity and necessary light level in the areas concerned.

See:

https://www.archdaily.com/897277/how-to-determine-how-many-led-lumens-youll-need-to-properly-light-your-space

(https://www.noao.edu/education/QLTkit/ACTIVITY_Documents/Safety/LightLevels_outdoor+indoor.pdf  - this is more for a professional situation roads, offices etc)

Then once you have that, you can take the output of the light(s) you intend to use and divide light level by lamp output. This gives you the number of lights.

If they don't fit nicely into the space available then find a light with a higher (or lower) output to get a neat number & spacing.

Of course, you can get away with some margin of error on the numbers but do remember that darker walls tend to need more light.

Also consider that if some need to do fine work (needlework etc) in their comfy chairs then the light level needs to be higher - but you can get that with extra lamps.


What happens to outdoor douglas fir if protected but untreated? I'm building a large outdoor living space in the pacific northwest (Vancouver, Canada) with rafters, purlins, beams, and posts all douglas fir. It will all be covered with transparent polycarbonate roofing (Suntuf). The roofing will block most UV light and all the rain except some occasional horizontal/windy rain.

I love the dark red color doug fir turns indoors when totally untreated. What will happen in 5-20 years if I leave my outdoor fir untreated (no paint/stain/oil/anything)? Is ambient humidity in a wet climate enough to rot the fir? Or make it go grey or black?

Thanks so much for your experience!

Since it will be covered it won’t rot away but it will turn gray. I also live in the Pacific Northwest south of you , condensation is the biggest issue I see and occasional condensation is not a problem.
My riding arena  120’ with poly the entire length for light it is 30 + years old with no issues but is 22’ up so the color is far enough away we don’t notice the gray. I did paint the back porch because I thought the bare grey wood looked bad after a few years. So since it will be covered it won’t rot away but will turn gray.


How can I verify that my ceiling fan is properly grounded Up front, my question is...how do I most easily and safely check to see if my ceiling fan is grounded?

Now for the explanation. I recently installed 2 identical ceiling fans about a day apart in my two spare bedrooms. Both had fans in them previously; I'm sure they are properly secured in the ceiling. The question arose from when I was installing the second fan. Barely looking at the directions, I came to the part where it was time to properly ground the fan.

As I was pigtailing the two green wires and the bare copper ground together, I had an "uh-oh" moment where I don't remember doing this for the first fan. I feel like I only pigtailed the two green-sheathed wires together and the bare copper is up there unattached somewhere. I may have done this, but I don't remember.

I've already tested them both to see if they work, no problem there. I know touching any metal part of the fan would give me the answer (wink-wink), but I of course don't want to risk being wrong. Is there any easy and SAFE way to determine if it is grounded, or alternately could someone tell me the most efficient way to disassemble the fan the least to accomplish this?

I really do feel like I probably did it right, following the directions religiously the first time. It was just a weird feeling during the installation of the second fan to have that uh-oh moment. I just want the easiest route to being assured.

I thank you for your responses.

Do you have a multi-meter and an extension cord? If you do plug the cord into any outlet then drag it over to the fan and measure between the fan case and a ground pin on the cord... It should read close to 0 resistance.


How do I get my dishwasher running after replacing my kitchen faucet? After replacing my kitchen faucet my dishwasher will not fill with water.  The lights come on but there is no water.

How can I fix it?

check to make sure the valve going to the dishwasher wasn't accidentally closed when you changed the faucet. Follow the flex pipe from the dishwasher to the valve and make sure the valve is open.


How can I tell if I have a C wire? Below is a photo of my current thermostat's wiring. I have a few questions:

Why is the RC and RH are bridged with a black wire?
I have an unused blue wire. Is there a way to find its function? Could it be the "C" wire?
This is used to control Rheem force heat / AC unit.

The jumper is installed between Rh and Rc, because your setup does not use two transformers.  Rh is powered from the heating system transformer, while Rc is powered from the cooling system transformer.  However, it's common to only have a single transformer for both systems. In which case, the jumper between the terminals may be required.

The only way to tell if and where the blue wire is connected, is to open up the furnace or air handler and have a look. Without knowing the exact model unit you have, it's not possible to tell you exactly what to look for.  Basically you'll want to follow the thermostat cable, and try to locate where the wires terminate inside the unit.


What kind of paint do I need to paint rubber? Is there any type of easy-to-apply paint (spray paint, ideally) that would work well for:

rubber surface
relatively rugged

(Context: I need to paint hockey pucks)

I know you can get Krylon and the like for plastics...would that be suitable for rubber as well?

It's actually an odd thing to google given the number of rubber coating spray products out there. I'm specifically looking for paint to coat rubber.

Instead of painting pucks why not just order colored ones?

http://www.ministicks.com/colored_hockey_pucks_and_colored_foam_hockey_pucks_s/14687.htm

This page has 4 different colors for regulation pucks, and 8 colors for regulation size foam pucks.

This was my first search and I'm sure you could find others if you needed something specific.


How could a hot-cold plumbing crossover spontaneously appear? OK, this is a weird one. Follow the bouncing ball:

I have a tankless water heater
I've had problems the last few weeks with the water running lukewarm instead of hot. Someone suggested power-cycling the water heater, and I did, and the problem went away for a couple weeks, then came back. Power-cycling didn't work a second time.
Following suggestions found in the trouble-shooting guide, and various YouTube videos, I decide to clean the water filter.
I turn off the power to the heater, the gas, and the cold water supply.
I turn on the kitchen hot water to relieve pressure, water flow stops, and I close it again.
I open the bathroom hot-water tap just for good measure. I close it again.
I remove the water filter from the heater. There's a brief spurt and then nothing.

So far, everything is as expected. Then …

I go inside, turn on the cold water in the kitchen, and clean the filter.
I go back to the water heater, and water is gushing out where I removed the filter.
I go back inside, double-check that all the taps are turned off. No help. I double-check the cold water valve to the heater; still off.
I turn off the main water feed to the house so I can put the filter back in.
I turn the main water feed back on.
Hot water taps in both kitchen and bathroom are now providing cold water when I turn them on.
Not knowing what else to do, I put everything back and come here.

This looks to me like somehow there's a cross-over between the hot water and the cold water in the house. That would certainly explain the lukewarm water problem as well.

For the record, the guy who originally installed the heater was a general contractor but not a plumber, and he did originally install a cross-over which we discovered and made him remove. But that was two years ago and there haven't been any problems since.

So how could a cross-over spontaneously appear? Could there be some sort of pressure-relief mechanism that failed? Is there such a thing? Why would it be installed?

Edit: If Chris H is right, and I suspect he is, the kitchen faucet is letting cold water into the hot water system.

When the water filter on the heater was somewhat clogged, there was a pressure drop coming out of it, and so the cold water from the kitchen faucet was able to dominate the hot water from the heater. Cleaning the filter shifted the balance enough that I can get water hot enough to shower, but the problem isn't really solved.

And the problem in the kitchen faucet is intermittent enough for the problem to come and go.

Power cycling a tank less gas water heater? Yours must have electronics that I haven't seen on the models I have installed. There are demand valves in the water heater that sense the flow. These valves can become sticky with lime & rust scale buildup. The reason to turn the water off then open a hot water faucet is to make a drastic change and hopefully the the scale will break loose.Most faucets don't have mixing valves these are usually found in shower / bathtubs that could cause part of this problem. I believe it is more likely the water heater is not turning on correctly or sensing the flow. Some units can be cleaned by disconnecting and pouring CLR (Calcium,Lime & Rust remover) into the inlet and flushing with fresh water. If the sensing valves directly regulate the Gas flow like on a Bosh aqua star you need to get it cleaned out before the seals fail because they are not repairable and the system will have to be replaced.


Best way to stop boiler steam from entering attic I have a cape cod.  The boiler is in the basement and vents to the outside about a foot above ground level.  I get a considerable amount of snow melt and ice buildup in the attic section directly above the vent.  I have recently been remodeling and I cut a hole to get into this section of the attic (about a 6'x12' area between 2 alcoves).  My initial intent in here was to investigate and patch up cold spots on the wall as we had a breeze coming through a corner that borders this.

I found 3 things that could be causing my snow melt and ice buildup.

Spots that are not well insulated, particularly switches, outlets, and a corner section.
2 Copper radiant heat pipes that go from one end of the attic to the junction box at the other end that were just sitting under the insulation, fully exposed every 16" over the studs.
Steam...coming from the boiler, into the eave vents and into the attic.  This is condensing on the roofing nails, then dripping onto the insulation.

I can solve the first 2 with various types of insulation.  I could block the eave vents, which is a quick solution.  I could extend the pipe out and up past the roof, which with the current ice issue, could just get knocked down, plus I'm not sure how it would look aesthetically.  I could also move the pipe from one basement wall to another (likely best permanent solution).

My question is, is it safe or acceptable to block off that section of the eave vents?  Is there a solution that allows water to drip out, but not allow steam to come in?  If I covered the vents with blown insulation, it should block the steam and allow water to drip through it.

My old physics teacher would give you an 'A' for simply creating this question.

It is important to remember that whatever solution you choose must fix the problem, and not just move the problem to a different place - AKA: the Wack-A-Mole paradox.

I think the first step is to get an infrared thermometer,I chose this one,but pick your own vendor and price point

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-Digital-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00DMI632G/

This will allow you to identify the source of the heat leaks, and locate the problem areas.

After you know what problem you are trying to fix, we can move forward from there.


How is this 3-way switch circuit wired? My house has two switches in a 3-way circuit that controls two light fixtures.  The lights are physically located in between the two switches.

Diagram

Here's a diagram of all the wires I see inside the two switch boxes and the two light fixture boxes:

This layout mirrors the physical layout of the four boxes.

Wavy symbol: a "bundle" of wires coming into the box
Small tan circle: plastic connector joining wires together
Rectangle: light switch
Bright yellow circle: light fixture

Switch 1:

A single bundle of wire containing black, white, red, and ground.  The ground is tied to the switch next to it (which is on a different breaker).

Light 1

There are 3 bundles of wire coming into here:

A: Black, white, ground
B: Black, white, red, ground
C: Black, white, ground

Things that are tied together:

All of the ground wires
All of the white wires
Two black wires
A red wire and the other black wire

Light 2

A single bundle with black, white, and ground

Switch 2

Two bundles of wire come into the box:

Black (not connected to anything), white (connected to switch via red wire), and ground
Black, white, and ground

The grounds are tied together.

More info

Unlike everything else in my house, these don't have the twisted-together neutral wires inside the box (sort of like this picture: https://i.stack.imgur.com/k5RZu.jpg)

Additionally, although this circuit is on the bottom floor, the same breaker also cuts power to lights on the second and third floors (towards the rear of the house, which is also where Switch 1 is located).  Not sure if that is relevant.

The black wires inside the switch boxes are definitely hot on both ends (when disconnected from the switches).

The red wire is not hot at switch 2.  My non-contact voltage detector could not give me a consistent reading on the red wire at switch 1.

My Question

Any thoughts on how this might be wired?  I ultimately need to know which wires at the switch boxes are:

Line (connected to breaker box)
Load (connected to fixture)
Neutral (if they exist)
Traveler(s)

Any other details or hints about this wiring would also be appreciated.

Figured out the wiring!

Huge thanks to @A.I.Breveleri and @Shalvenay for guiding me through this - I couldn't have done it without their help.


Removing baseboard heater and installing elec oven on that wall We are purchasing a home that has a baseboard heater on the wall that will be ideal for an elec oven can I just remove it and use that wiring for the oven socket?

Probably not.

There are 120V and 240V baseboard heaters. Your oven will almost certainly be 240V.
Baseboard heaters basically max out at 1500W. Ovens are more 2000W+.
The baseboard circuit probably had other things on it.

I'm ignoring the code issues, because I don't know the code, but I'd say the wiring is probably not good enough on a technical level. If this happened to be a 240V, 2500W heater on a dedicated circuit, it might be worthwhile to check the code, but anything less beefy than that isn't going to work.


Light won't turn off, is there a short? I messed up and wired the white wires to my single pole switch, joining the black.  Obviously the Black should be on the switch and the white joined

When I turn the breaker on the light stays on.  However, the circuit should be broken with the light switch to ground off.  Will an AC light still work with the hot direct wired, or does this mean it's grounding somewhere else?

The wire from the switch to the ceiling light is old wiring that goes through the ceiling.  I was hoping to just reuse the wire from the switch to the light, and ignore the other 3 that come into the ceiling box. Those other should be disconnected since we did a remodel upstairs, removed a bunch of wires, and I ran all new home runs for the rooms up there.

I've run a new wire from the breaker, to a junction box, and then to this switch. So that's pretty straight forward.  I'm just concerned about fixing the switch to be connected to black instead, but having the wire still short somewhere else.  I was under the impression the light would turn off when I flipped the switch, you could just shock yourself while changing the light bulb.

If the only paths in the circuit were those shown in your diagram, then your switch would turn off the light (but leave it in an unsafe condition where you could be shocked by touching the base of the bulb while changing it). Moving the switch to the hot side of the switch loop would make the wiring much safer.

BUT. This is not the only problem you have. The symptom you describe proves that there is another path from the light's neutral to the breaker-box's neutral. The principal danger to you, and to any future maintainer, is that you don't know where this path is. This means that you're remodeling your wiring without fully understanding it first.

I know it can be very difficult to analyze the wiring circuits in an old house.1 You have to open practically every j-box and even remove some wire nuts and separate the wires. You need to test voltage with the power on and check continuity with the power off, and get out of breath running back and forth to the breaker box.

You can't just give up and wire it the best way you can. You must trace everything until you know where it all goes, or in the case of the stuff you already ripped out, where it all went. You can't "ignore the other 3 that come into the ceiling box", because you don't know which of them should be left connected to each other and which should be capped off.

If you don't have the patience to trace all the old wiring, then you should hire a professional electrician to do it. Be aware, though, that this will be expensive -- unless you hire a guy who also doesn't have the patience to trace all the old wiring.

1. Believe me, I know. My house was built in 1891 and still contains some inaccessible knob-and-tube wiring that was originally installed for Edison direct current service.


Using Window AC as Wall AC I just moved into a new apartment and they have a 25"x 15" pre-built wall sleeve for a wall AC unit. Not knowing the difference, I purchased the extravagantly less expensive window AC unit that has exhausts on the side and on the back. Realizing this, I figured that (with some internet searching) the unit may heat up because it isn't exhausting properly. If I have 1" on each side of the AC in the wall sleeve, is it good enough for exhaustive purposes?

Also, what would you do for affordable cooling on a first floor apartment with a 750 ft^2, 2 BR, apartment?

Window AC Clearances

You should check the manual that came with the AC, it might tell you minimum clearances. My window AC unit only says:

  Side louvers and the rear of the air conditioner must have clear air space to allow enough airflow through the condenser, for heat removal.

I would say that 1" does not meet that requirement, particularly if the sides of the sleeve extend out past the end of the AC.

Sizing the AC

You didn't directly ask about the difference between the window units and the thru-wall models, but I agree with @Vitality that the price jump probably has a lot to do with the size of the unit. If you're trying to cool 750 ft^2 you're going to want to get a bigger unit than the $99 budget models they sell at Walmart. According to this Energy Star chart, you'll need a unit with around 18,000 BTUs/hr of cooling. If you get a unit that's too small it will just run and run but not cool or dehumidify the apartment, wasting you money. Plus it will probably burn out the compressor faster since it's not getting a break.

How To Cool An Apartment

Besides the AC, here are things that can help you keep the apartment cool:

Get curtains and close them during the day, especially if you're not home. Preferably blackout curtains. Lots of heat enters the house as solar radiation and you can prevent it if you keep the light out. If you're on a budget, Home Depot et al sell blackout roller blinds that are pretty reasonable.
Switch your light bulbs to LEDs (or CFL, if your budget requires... but spring for the LEDs if you can, they're better and will save you money). A 100 watt incandescent light bulb puts out almost 350 BTUs/hr in heat. If you have a bunch of those on, that's going to really going to add up.
If the temperature is cool at night, fans in the window can help exhaust hot air and bring in cool air from outside. I'm not a big fan of fans just circulating air inside, like ceiling fans and tower fans, since they don't actually cool the air. But some people like to feel the breeze. Definitely shut those fans off when you leave otherwise you're just wasting electricity and heating up the room.
Use the stovetop exhaust fan when you're cooking. It will remove the hot, humid air. Same thing for exhaust vents in the bathroom during/after a shower.
Basically anything else that reduces your electrical usage will also reduce heat in the apartment. E.g. I like to put my rice cooker on the porch even if I'm not eating outside.


how to test electric dryer without 240V outlet? I received an electric laundry dryer that I want to test before installing. The new dryer is outdoors on the back porch, and a working electric dryer is installed in my basement, quite a distance away.

Without moving the dryer, is there any way to verify that it works properly? I have a DMM / continuity tester, access to an outdoor 120V outlet and can disassemble the new dryer. It appears in good condition apart from some lint:

drum and motor spin freely when pushed manually
no obvious physical damage or scorches
buttons and dials work normally

The troubleshooting guides I found explain how to resolve specific problems (replace heating element, change thermostat, change belt) but require connection to a standard 240V outlet. Basically, I'm looking for a way to verify that the dryer works OK before moving it. I don't have a 240V extension cord, and the run would be too long even if I did.

Thanks in advance!

First, a person selling a dryer without providing a 240V connection to demonstrate its performance, will naturally take a significant hit on his resale value.

Any real effort in this regard is going to require the schematic of the dryer and some electrical chops.  This forum doesn't have the capacity to convey those chops. Know your skill limits and work within them.  With that in mind...

If it has mechanical controls, you could do some "dry" testing by putting an ohmmeter across the various 120V and 240V pins while looking for the expected resistance changes as you operate its controls through their paces. You need to be able scratchpad Ohm's Law a bit to get a sense of what those resistances should be.

If you're willing to open up the controls, you could probe more deeply component by component.

If you want to get "hot", look at the schematic and try to isolate sections that you can test by powering one leg of the 240v, if it makes use of neutral.  Be very careful doing that, and positively ground chassis to actual ground, because on many dryers, especially those using NEMA 10/30 connectors, neutral is bonded to chassis -really! - and if you reverse hot/neutral, you can energize the chassis at 120v.

Or by using a 120/240 power adapting transformer - the 40 lb. transformers sold to Euros so they can run their appliances here.  You must set the dryer to fluff-only and not operate any heat setting.  Transformers are dumb and don't have thermal protection unless it is added, so they would die trying to supply 23A@240V which would be 46A on the 120V side, on wires made for 15A tops.  I'm quite sure you'd get a fuse blow or wire fry before you could shut it off.

All this is as dangerous as it sounds and in any case, seems like a lot of work.  Depending on how you value your time, it may be "cheaper" to buy enough 10/3 for a temporary run to a workable testing location.


Insulating that attic hatch - the type with fold-out steps This attic hatch does have fold-out steps inside...

It would be great to put a layer of insulation at the level A:

unfortunately, once the steps triple-fold and you put the hatch up,

the folded steps come up an extra at least a foot .. the height of "B" or more.

(Notice I simply lay some insulation panels there - the white stuff with the bar code - when the steps fold up and you shut the hatch, those panels are pushed way up high: it's largely useless, of course air just flows in the sides.)

the literal hatch is 52x24,

the surrounds above are about 29x28.

Is there something for this?

Bonus question:

i thought of at least carefully fitting insulation inside the gaps in the ladder:

my guess is that would probably be useless - experts ??

I guess a follow up question is are solutions like this integrated cover rubbish cheap solutions, or ok ?

(I notice some are simply "boxes" that just "sit on" the attic floor - seems useless.  that one pins in at least.)

As a curiosity for anyone reading. Notice (image 2) I simply threw some (three layers) of insulating panel up there, resting above the ladder. This is totally useless because, when you fold up the ladder, it lifts them in the air many inches.  So TBC there is a huge air gap around the sides, it is not at all sealed.  Very bizarrely even this crappy measure drastically cut the heat reaching the outside of the hatch!!!!

I built an insulation scheme for just this situation in a Minnesota custom home years ago. It involved several things:

Framed, insulated walls immediately outside the hatch opening with an R-value appropriate for your climate zone, flush on top of the hatch opening (or as tall as needed to clear the folded stair set).
A second hinged trap door that swings upward. This was two layers of 3/8" plywood sandwiching 6" of rigid foam. Latex adhesive and sleeve bolts held it all together. This door was oversized to lap across the insulated walls. A hook and eye (into a board spanning the roof truss members above) were used to keep the upper door open during use.
Soft foam weatherstripping between the lapped door skin and the top of the walls to seal against airflow.

It's not simple, but it's the right way to keep your room comfortable and your heating bill reasonable. Plan carefully to be sure your hinge situation will work as you planned in the space available.


outdoor GFCI tripping at the breaker box and not the receptacle? Is it normal for a GFCI, under load, to break at the electrical box and not the receptacle that caused the overload? Typically, I have only seen the receptacle trip and not the entire breaker.

I am not sure if this is the issue or not, but a closet in my house was wired to the same circuit as the outside GFCI. I have no idea why that is and only noticed it since we had contractors working on a project outside.

GFCI receptacles and standard circuit breakers perform different functions.

A GFCI receptacle measures current going out and current coming back and if there is more than 5ma current difference between the two it trips. This is to prevent electrocution of people not overloads or short circuits.

Standard circuit breakers have two methods of tripping and are designed to trip on an overload, high current ground fault, or short circuit. The overload can be just slightly higher than it's rating. The ground fault or short circuit can be hundreds of amps in a residential panel.

So, if you are tripping the circuit breaker it is possible you are just overloading the circuit. In this case a GFCI receptacle will not trip.

Good luck!


Help with light fixture replacement; no ground wire (image) Replacing and old light fixture in the laundry room, and this what I see when I remove the cover. Old light fixture is still attached in the photo. I don't see a ground wire in the electrical box, but there are four wire nuts, two of which I don't know what they're connecting.

The new light fixture (flush), like almost all new light fixtures nowadays, have a ground wire along with the hot and neutral. The old light fixture doesn't have a ground wire.
I don't really know how to proceed since I don't see a ground wire in the electrical box.

I think I see a ground bundle behind the wire nutted connections with a metal crimp. For many areas the crimp was required in the past.
Move the wires out 1 wire may be longer allowing you to pigtail a new ground   I have cleaned the texture and paint off the ground in the past and crimped a pigtail on because the crimp is usually two close to the end to use a wire nut. But your grounds do look to be there. A metal fixture should have the ground connected a plastic one it doesn’t need the ground.


How to properly seal the drain in the refrigerator? And how to clean the condenser coil? Had a water leak from the fridge (GE GSL25JGDBLS, it's a self-defrosting side-by-side). It worked perfectly for 8 years. Here's what i found inside and in the back:

Pretty sure the culprit was that the drain tube (or plug?) inside was not fully in place (how??why??), so defrost water overspilled into the bottom until there was too much of it and it started leaking when the door is open for too long:

How do I fix the drain in our refrigerator describes a very similar case.

I pushed the plug(?) inside fully in, so that now defrost water should drain through the tube:

That leaves me with 2 questions:

How to seal that plug? There is some gummy "ring" around it but it is somewhat too large. Should i use anything else? Bonus: how/why did it pop out like that?
How to clean the condenser coil thoroughly? 4 years ago i used a vac and toothbrush (as far as i could reach), it looked a lot worse then. How can I clean the condenser coils on my Maytag freezer states the same question, but it is unanswered. Problem obviously is that the coil cannot be removed without breaking the refrigerant loop. And it is very hard to get to all the spots.

Who knows what caused the plug to pop up possibly ice forming and jacking it up multiple times. The condenser coil can be cleaned with soapy water, don’t use any type of acid cleaner as fridges have aluminum condensers almost always and  have for years. I use a foaming non acid coil cleaner but that would make a big mess , simple green and a squirt bottle again you may have a mess but spraying it down is how I clean most of the condensers I work on.


How to lightly dull the sheen of latex acrylic paint touchups Suggestions? Just a couple of small places that were touched-up slightly with the same paint have a bit more of a sheen. Any suggestions to dull it a bit? The touchup was just done today - should I wait a while? Thank you!

You can try adding matt finish powder.  It is not noticeable in color and reduces the shine of paint.  The tough part is the level of shine so start small in adding the matt powder,  then do a test paint and allow to dry.  You must paint this indoors on your tests so get some drywall pieces and if vertical walls, stand the test piece vertical.  Horizontal dries faster than vertical and will affect the test of how much matt powder to use.  Then add more or less for the shine with each test.


How can I remove mold that cannot be detected by human eye? We live in an apartment (we own it, but it is co-op) and believe there may be mold in bathroom.

Mold can be invisible to the human eye.

How to get rid of mold in bathroom? Can we do it ourselves? We don't want to include building co-op at this point (lot of red tape and low quality from past experiences).

Do you have a reason to suspect an unusual source of mold (e.g., water leak, poor ventilations, etc.)?  If so, you need to fix that problem or you will never stay ahead of it.

Otherwise, minimize the humidity in the room and just assume there is mold and disinfect.

Mold is pretty much everywhere as airborne spores unless you're in a special "clean room".  But you can avoid mold blooms by keeping the humidity in the room below 50%.

Run an exhaust fan during baths/showers, and for long enough afterwards to get rid of the humidity.
Leave the bathroom door closed while the fan is running so that you exhaust the humid air in the room rather than just sucking conditioned house air directly from the doorway into the fan.
Wipe down the shower or tub after use with a towel to get rid of water clinging to surfaces.
Leave the bathroom door open when not in use so the room air stays well mixed with conditioned house air.

Most of the disinfectants use either chlorine or benzalkonium chloride (a generic term for a collection of chemicals with names like alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride, often with several different related compounds in the disinfecting solution).  The latter type is what is commonly used as a general purpose disinfectant in healthcare settings and is in some household disinfecting cleaners.

Both types work.  Disinfectants need time to work so the most effective way to use them is to clean first, then spray them on and let them dry rather than wiping it off.  Chlorine type disinfectants may show faster visible results, but they work only until it dries.  The benzalkonium chloride disinfectants can continue to act as a mold retardant if you leave it in place (it also smells better).

You can also clean surfaces with certain common household chemicals, like borax solution, and leave a film of it rather than rinsing it clean.  It will retard mold growth.

Do a thorough cleaning and disinfecting at least once per week.  If you see mold growth anywhere, clean and disinfect that, then do the routine prophylactic treatment more often.


Identifying wires in junction box I have a fixture to change in my apartment. There is a black, a white and a red wire in the junction box.

The old fixture was connected to the white and red wires only. This led me to believe that something is not normal, because i expected it to be connected to the white and black wires at least and i though the red wire was the ground and could have been neglected by the person who installed the old fixture.

Anyways i tested with a voltmeter in order to find out witch wire is the hot one.

I get a reading on the voltmeter when i test the white and red wires together and when i test the white and black wires but not when i test the black and red wires. This tells me that the white wire is the hot one, when it should be the black wire.

But it gets really weird when i turn off the light switch, and this is where i really don't understand what's going on.  If the switch is off, i get a reading on the voltmeter when i test the black wire with the white only. I expected to see no reading at all when the switch is off. Additionally, i expect the hot wire to show a reading on the voltmeter when tested with the neutral wire and with the ground. In this case, only the black and white wires combination shows a reading and neither does when tested with the red wire. This is really inexplicable to me because either the black or the white wire has to be hot.

To recap, here are the results of my tests in a more simple form :

The switch is on:

Red + white : 120V
black + white : 120V
red + black : 0V

The switch is off :

black + white : 120V
red + black : 0V
red + white : 0V

I'm a complete noob when it comes to electricity, but this doesn't look normal to me according to what i have read online. A simple solution would be to connect the new fixture the same way as the old one, on the red and white wires while ignoring the ground, but i don't feel safe doing this.

Clearly some of my assumptions must be wrong or there is a problem with the junction box... What can i do about this?  Is there a safety hazard?

Thanks for your help

The wiring sounds perfectly normal to me, for US standards:

white wire = neutral
black wire = hot (unswitched)
red wire = hot (switched)

When the switch is on, the black and red wires are effectively connected together at the switch, so the voltage between them is zero. If you look inside the box where the switch is, you'll see that it is connected between the black and red wires.

When the switch is off, the red wire is not connected to anything at all, so it shows zero volts to any other wire (because of the finite impedance of the voltmeter).


Thermal cameras for AC issues, especially cell phone types I live in SW Florida so energy use is largely air conditioning. Our electric bill is much larger than I think correct based on comparisons to others, but I can find nothing specifically wrong - I tried checking the meter with an "The Energy Detective", and it seemed about right. Checking individual loads of devices turned up nothing, I think it is just how much the AC systems run.

I am trying to get my head around what really contributes to AC energy costs down here. I have heard that attic insulation is relatively less important than in cold climates, but that air leaks are more important. I do not know if either is true. I can see that I have quite a lot of air leaks (unsealed electrical holes, open wall interiors with no header into the attic poorly stuffed with insulation). Fixing ALL is a big job, so looking to find a way to tell what is most important, and having a real effect; if perhaps it is something else entirely like walls or windows.

So...

The cell camera thermal imagers are getting better and better. I ask this not become a "which one" but rather a general question (or two):

Are they worth the effort for trying to track down the worst offenders for correction?  Or am I better off with other types of tests (e.g. a pressure test with smoke to look for leaks)?  Are these inexpensive ones good enough to use, or should one punt and rent a professional quality one?

If they are worth the effort (either cell devices, or rentals), are there techniques specifically that may be best for looking for cooling inefficiencies, air leaks, etc.?  Or just look on the inside for red, and outside and attic for blue?

Something to try first: Contact you power company and find out if they will do an audit/evaluation of your home. Our power company called us and asked if we wanted an evaluation ; the contractor that did it even made some simple improvements .


How do I properly jack up one side of my house? As I write this, I have a slight lean as I walk on my floor in some parts of my house, and it's even worse on the upper floor. In some parts upstairs, it feels almost like you have to grab something. Visitors don't notice this, but I do. The lean was noticed by my dad as well when he stayed with us, got up, walked in the dark across the floor upstairs, and ended up in my bedroom when he was expecting it to be the bathroom. He said, "Yeah, you're right. The floor leans up here."

About ten years ago, I built my 4500sq ft house and the scammers who built my foundation flew the coop and are no longer found. All was fine for the first couple months, but then a long ridge appeared down the middle of the house floor, lifting that small section up about a little under a quarter inch. So, I called the builder out to remove the ridge. He brought his jacking equipment and was doing great in removing the ridge until we got to the kitchen, which was the remaining part. When we got there, it was pretty finicky and didn't want to go down. He called out his assistant and I heard a sledgehammering going on. Then, the whole house shook like an earthquake, an entire wall sunk down about 2 inches, and huge cracks appeared in several parts of the house. As well, the back of the house seemed to have gone down about 1.5 inches.

In this emergency, I fired the builder and told him never to come back. I then called out RamJack. They gave me an estimate on the entire thing for $17,000 USD and brought out stainless steel piers. They are stainless in that they rust on the outside patina -- so, the cheap stainless, they told me.

What they found when they inspected was that my foundation was done by fly-by-night scammers who basically only gave the impression of a foundation. It was pretty good in some parts, but in other parts they failed to use rebar, pour concrete, and only had the sunk-in part of the foundation going down about 2 feet, rather than 3 or more feet. A couple columns were only about 1.5 feet down into the earth!

Meanwhile, RamJack also discovered that my water table was high, and recommended that I get a drainage expert involved. They said they could dig down about 3 feet and hit water. (Later, a Charleston architect engineer visited my house and said that high water tables were common and that he had seen worse. He said that I should work towards improving drainage, but that for the most part the house will be okay because I had so many piers (about 36 of them) and several of the key ones were RamJack steel piers.)

Anyway, they managed to repair much of the house and I thought all was great. But then they got to the back of the house, and said they under-estimated and needed to request another $20,000 USD to finish! So, I fired them too. They only got $17,000 USD out of me.

So now all is well except that I need to bring up the entire back wall of my house, which is about 50ft long, up about 1.5 inches. I used a laser measure to figure this out from multiple locations, following the instructions on the box. More than 4 years has passed since the RamJack guys were here, and the house has stayed steady with no more sinking.

TL;DR: Therefore, what's the proper way that a contractor needs to raise the 50ft back wall of my 4500sq ft house about 1.5 inches, as affordable as possible? I mean, as I interview contractors, I want to see how close they will be to your assessment.

It looks like the most cost-effective way to level the floor is to do it with this self-leveling compound system, pumped in by a professional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2mVPjnVzVg

I mean, there appears to be nothing wrong with the walls, the house isn't moving, and it's only the back of the house and the upper floors that have the issue.

As for the upper floors, they are easier -- I can rip out the carpet and flooring, add shims to the joists and do other measures to avoid the squeaks, put the flooring back, and the upper floor should be good for go.


Spilled teak oil in sink, now it's dry I teak-oiled my table, and put the teak oil can in my sink. There's now a can-shaped ring of dried teak oil in my stainless steel sink. Also some on my granite counter top. Question: what should I do?

There are a number of solvents out there that will remove that with no more effort than applying it to the spot. I use lacquer thinner for many problem spots, Goof-off may work, Goo-be-gone, things of that nature that will not even begin to harm the stainless steel.

Do not use a steel wool pad!!!! Or anything of that nature, a solvent will do it.

To try it, put some on a clean rag and rub the spot a little on the thinnest place the oil is, if the removes the thinnest places, carry on with the rest, if not, try another.

Come to think of it, alcohol (denatured or isopropyl)is used to prep teak for gluing. It removes the oils on the surface of the wood so the glue bonds better.


I noticed this spacing on floor behind stove, seal it? I noticed this spacing behind the stove, on the floor between wall and floor.  Is this normal? Should I seal it with something?

Yes it is normal and no, you don't need to seal it.  There's always a space between the floor and wall, but in finished parts of your house, there is baseboard that will cover it.  If you want to spend money on baseboard behind your stove, go for it, but it serves no purpose other than aesthetics.


How to fix this crack in drywall? The picture shows the crack over a door. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the extra load/movement in that area. What's the best way to fix this crack that will prevent this from re-occurring in the future?

Put an expansion joint in the same location as the crack or remove the drywall and replace it but change the layout so there isn't a seam there. It's common to get cracks at doors like this, so when drywalling the professionals try not to put seams that close to either end of a door for that reason.

You can retape this as is with paper or mesh tape and joint compound, but the crack always comes back. If you go this route, trying not to slam this door will help the repair last longer.


How can I determine why my whirlpool refrigerator has stopped running water? We have a Whirlpool refrigerator that's 2 years old which suddenly stopped running water. What can I do?

Water inlet valve is probably fubar.  Part is probably here (YMMV):  http://bit.ly/1wkXC4G

How to video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNGe_VUDIBA

Good luck!


Can I stick a tarpaulin using a nylon Velcro(Hook and Loop) in my wooden roof? I have a wooden roof and I want to cover it with Vinyl Tarpaulin. I am further covering it with tiles to prevent damage from UV rays. Is it possible if I attach one part of Velcro with my tarpaulin(by stitching it with a vinyl piece and then welding the vinyl piece with tarpaulin) and its counterpart to my wooden roof(by nailing)? So when I lay my tarpaulin, they can be stuck together.
The velcro that I have is a nylon material I guess.

Will it last long in thermal cycling?
How much life can be expected from this?
Can it withstand the wind load?

Four questions, but the one that's most important is the last one. The rest of the questions do not matter if the answer to the last is negative.

Hook and loop fasteners have the greatest strength in shear, forces applied in a sliding-across manner. If you had need to hang the tarp vertically on a wall and all the other aspects were solved, the fasteners might work if sufficient numbers/length/area were used.

Hook and loop fasteners are removed by applying force in tension, the stretching-away action of peeling them apart. In the case of a tarp on a roof, any appreciable wind is likely to get under the edge of the tarp and peel the fastener free. When the peeling begins, additional area is exposed to the wind, accelerating the action, allowing more peeling at a faster rate.

Using stitching to attach the fasteners is mechanically sound, but the thread used to perform the stitching is to be considered when calculating exposure life. One can have fasteners that will last for a year in the sun, but the thread can fail if it is not sun-fast.

If you are able to secure the hook and loop fastener to the very edge of the tarp, it would likely mitigate much of the peeling, as there would be a smaller area on which the wind would be acting. It would require that the entire perimeter be "enclosed" in the fastener material, or some other means of sealing out wind forces be employed.


How do I remove a sliding door track that is fasten to the wood somehow? I am trying to do a minor alteration to my sliding closet door of a newly purchased condo. For whatever reason the track of the door has a placement that is recessed from the lip of the door and is not flush. I was thinking it would be simple to just slide the track forward so it looks nicer. I started on unscrewing stuff (see the holes) and I find out they do not support the track. I am not sure how the track is fastened to the wood.

My question is the community is how do i pull this down and reattach? Is it epoxied? I was going to try and hammer it off but I would like a non destructive method of removing it so I can put it back up in a new spot.

Thanks in advance.

Probably just stuck to the paint due to being installed too soon. Rock it gently and see if it cracks loose.


Where to find folding stands for painting? I'm looking for plastic folding stands for painting. The idea is to put e.g. plywood board at the top of those and paint furniture on it. Any idea where (e.g. web store) I can find these?

All home improvement stores carry plastic and metal folding sawhorses that would be perfect for your application. Prices can vary widely, but I have found cheap ones to do exactly what you are thinking about at Wal Mart hardware dept and on occassion at Big Lots.


How do I remove a ceiling speaker cover? I have speakers in my ceiling and I need to get the covers off to check the settings. I've tried pulling them with my fingernails and a plastic knife but no luck so far. Any ideas?

I don't know the speaker brand, but I'm 99.9% sure it's going to be magnetically held. Now that you know that you'll go peel it right off. Be careful you don't bend it, they can be very thin.

How do know the speaker has adjustments?

Continued:

Hum! I was involved in a commercial auditorium theater system installation and the ceiling and cabinet mounted speakers all had flat ribbon magnets on the entire front perimeter of the enclosures. And the very thin, light weight grills snapped to it as tight as could be. I see for the Polks that @Steven have, only the perforated inner grill is friction held for its entire perimeter to the permanently installed outer frame providing a similar firm and continuous attachment. But I would think you'd recall that from when you had the one off. I would also think that some sort of a clip or spring loaded mechanism would be the least desirable method possibly allowing the grill to vibrate and make sounds of its own, but maybe that's it. Try pushing on the grill on each edge and see if there's any movement. I guess the other possibility is that the painter just finished painting the ceiling and put the grills right back up on the wet paint.


Tiling when some old vinyl sheet flooring is impossible to remove When I remodel my basement bathroom and remove the old vinyl sheet flooring, I realized the current one was on top of another old one. And between the two sheet flooring layers, there is a thin layer of paper/glue that is 1/16" thick.

Starting from bottom up in the picture:

1 is concrete

2 is old vinyl

3 is some weird paper+glue layer

4 is the topmost vinyl

I was able to remove all 4 layer and some 3 layer but most left there on top of the concrete:

I took me an hour just to pry off the small portion you see on the right side in above photo.

My questions:

Should I just put thinset and then tile on top of what it is now? Basically forget about removing the current 2 and 3 layer? They stick very good and I would say it is adding 1/16" - 1/8" in some spot. This option saves the most time but I don't know if I get good result. I plan to sell the house in a year or two so I may not concern about 5-10 years later.
Should I install hardie backer board on the floor? I would think it may be unnecessary as it's already concrete.
Should I pour some self leveling cement? I saw this a lot on TV but never done.
Should I just spend 8 hours to scrape off the rest? Or is there a faster way, with probably some heat gun and large putty knife??

I am leaning toward Option 1 above right now.

Please advise.

I would rent a power chipper, these have a blade that vibrates back and forth that chips up tile or vinyl on concrete floors. Since a bathroom is small a hand held oscillating multi tool could also do the job and you would have a handy tool for other jobs. I do not like tile over vinyl and the places I have found it I was usually pulling the floor up because of problems with tile or grout cracking.


How can I seal 8 inch round holes in my siding? There is a nor'Easter coming today. What's a quick fix? My first home and just closed a few days ago! Help please.

The hole is 8 inches in diameter or so.

I would procure a sheet of aluminum or steel (available at home improvement and hardware stores), fold a suitable hem at the bottom, and slide it up behind both courses of siding (above and below the holes). Friction will probably keep it in place for the short term, but you could dab some silicone behind to lock it in.

|  |<-- upper siding course
|  |  __
|  |||  |
|__|||  |<-- lower siding course
    ||  |
    ||x |
    ||x | <-- hole location
    ||x |
    ||  |
    ||__||
    |____|<-- hemmed sheet

If you fit this well and paint it it could actually be a finished repair. Insulate behind first. Keep in mind that the top edge of the sheet will be exposed in the siding gap above, so you might seal that with caulk or lap another sheet all the way up to and behind the course above.


Refinishing floors - wood has blotches where filler was used - need advice on how to fix BACKGROUND

We had carpet over our hard wood floors.  Decided to remove carpet and go with the hard wood floors.    The floors were dated so we sanded them down to bare wood.  The bare wood looked very nice.

We made our own wood filler using elmers glue and shavings from sanding the floor.    We filled all holes and let that dry overnight.  We then sanded down the areas where wood filler was used.

We prepped the area and the floor, then applied the first coat of minwax semi-gloss polyurethane to the floor.

ISSUE

The areas where we filled holes doesn't accept the minwax.   The wood looks like it has blotches in it.   The glue has sunk into the wood, keeping the finish from embedding itself in the wood.

We are greatly saddened.    :(.  Because the floor looks great in most of the areas, but in the areas where we replaced the holes it looks pretty bad.

What can we do to remedy this situation?    We would rather not start all over.

Here are pictures of what i'm talking about....

You'll need to start over, sanding out the splotches of glue.  To deal with the divots of glue, they can be 'set' using a nail-set in the same manner that you'd set a nail ... or the divots of glue can be dug/scraped out ... or simply left as-is.

You'll likely have similar splotches with store bought wood filler, and blotches can arise from other contaminants as well.  One option is to re-sand, removing the existing splotches of glue, then apply a coat or two of the poly.  This will seal the wood, then set/refill the divots if/as desired. As an alternative treatment, the divots can be blended in with a faux-finish by using a small artist's brush and a few tubes of artist's paints.  Then apply your final coat(s).

Sorry for the bad news.  Glues and fillers are a bane to fine woodworking.  Take a week or two for a breather and regain your motivation to do a good job.


PF1102T Clock Motor replacement Can you buy just the clock motor instead of the whole PF1102MT mechanism?
I have this model (240v) on my pool that includes the freeze protection. The clock motor gear will not turn AND I do not know if the gear is even supposed to turn freely. It was working fine until the hard and long freeze here in Fort Worth. Lost power for a couple of days and things froze up. Had to replace some above ground plumbing. When we fired everything back up the clock wasn't working. I can still spin the timer with the on/off tabs and the manual knob all still work to turn the pump on. I see other clock motors that look very similar but do not have the same part number (WG1773 208/277v 60HZ). So my roughly $200 question is: can I buy just the clock motor by itself and save some $$$.
Can you buy just the clock motor instead of the whole PF1102MT mechanism?
Would appreciate any info on this.
Thanks

Yes, you can buy just the clock motor from Intermatic. Some good local hardware shops (typically those with heavy property management clientele) stock a variety of them. The number you posted (WG1773) is the clock-motor number you need.
And no, you typically would not be able to grab the toothed gear and turn it by hand...


When machining a hole, what is the order of operations? I need to drill a threaded, countersunk hole in a piece of material. After drilling, should I use the tap, or the countersink bit first? Does it make a difference? Does it depend on the material?

I would countersink and then tap for two reasons.

The first is the countersink bit could damage the first thread and make installing the bolt a problem.

The second is there is less metal to tap and therefore easier and less wear on the tap.

Happy Day!


Can I put crushed stone on top of sand base for brick patio? I have a brick patio that is not level and filled with weeds. There are areas where it slopes down and the back up. I live in Maryland so it can get really hot and cold but I have not seen other areas of the lawn buckle like this.
I have pulled up the bricks on my old patio and found a 5-6 inch layer of sand (no stones) on top of the soil. (brick , then sand, then soil)
Do I need to remove it, and then put down (crushed) stone before I do the rest of the work? It will be a lot of sand to remove!
Most of what I have read suggests small/crushed stone (4 inch layer) on the soil followed by a weed barrier, then a layer of sand (1 inch). I am not sure what to do about the sand.

Sand only is acceptable if it’s “contained”.
Sand is an excellent bearing material, but it tends to get washed away by rain.  Sand has small particles that can be washed away allowing the base to settle (often at different amounts).
If the upper part of base is too high and could get washed away, you could put 3/4” minus crushed rock on top, compact it, and then put the bricks on top.
Using a 1” layer of sand on the top allows you to easily install the bricks level. But if you make the crushed rock level and you install directly on top of the sand...and the sand will be contained low enough not to be washed away...the base will remain intact.


Ceramic tile on concrete with shrinkage cracks I am interested in the opinions of any experienced tile-setters here as to ceramic tile or stone laid on concrete regarding crack isolation.

I am building a new house with lightweight concrete poured on the main floor. The mix has fiber mesh and polymers added to limit cracking. I purposely added some plastic corner bead to the floor before the concrete was poured to create control cracks in specific locations. Mostly across the doorways. I have attached some pictures here.

I have filled most of the cracks with polyurethane caulk and will fill the other before setting tile.

This summer will be 2 years the concrete has been down and I believe it has cracked as much as it is going to. The house is heated with PEX tubing in the concrete slab and the slab will be brought up to room temperature and kept there for 72 hours before laying tile.

I am also planning to paint one coat of Red Guard 6 to 8 inches either side of these cracks before laying tile. I am thinking a membrane laid in just one spot will raise the tile too much. I am going to try to align grout joints with the cracks and fill those joints with sanded caulk instead of grout.

My question is this:

What would be the best practice for laying tile directly over these shrinkage cracks?

Thanks for your help and happy day!

your prep seems fine.  probably great.  i would do the following:

1)  fiberglass backer mesh on all surfaces.  since its concrete, probably a 2 oz is fine.  your fiber admixture makes the slab stronger, but a layer of sub-mortar mesh ensures that the tiles move together if the slab moves or cracks.  this way you have less chance of tile breakage.

2)  use a good quality polymer modifed mortar to ensure good adhesion.  flextile 50 or ceraflex 610 or even the 620

3)  on your joints, try to set your tiles up so that the grout doesn't land right at the expansion joint, but about an inch short of it.  that way your transition can actually span the joint instead of a tile or the tile grout.  if you aren't using transitions (ie the tile carries right through), then you can wax that little 1" strip of concrete before you lay the tile that laps the expansion joint.  this way if you do have movement in the slab, the tiles can slide on the lip and you wont get any breakage.


What's the cheapest consumer method for testing my rental home flooring for CH2O (formaldehyde) off-gassing? Trying to eliminate formaldehyde gas as a potential cause for some medical issues I've been experiencing.

I've been having acute idiopathic breathing difficulty and other strange symptoms for months since moving into a rental home while shopping for a home to purchase in neighboring areas.  My wife is now experiencing similar breathing difficulty and fatigue...  We've recently been consulting with several medical professionals and ENT/pulmonary specialists trying to pinpoint an environmental and/or dietary cause for the gradual onset of worsening symptoms we've been experiencing with little success (outside of possible adult onset anxiety disorders that have sprung up out of nowhere, which is a simple exclusionary hypothesis now being discussed at length with professionals).

Long story short, I have an engineering background and I'm uncomfortable throwing my hands up in the air and accepting the exclusionary diagnosis that both of our recent health conditions are contrived and mental when anyone who knows us would say we're both fundamentally averse to emotional drama of any kind.

With that said, this question is prompted by a breaking story my attending physician emailed to me yesterday as the following news broke:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=60+minutes+lumber+liquidators

I have located the recently installed laminate wood flooring that's installed in our rental home on the LL web site and I'd like to know if there's a clever way to test it for formaldehyde off-gassing.  The home kits available on Amazon have few reviews and are running for $100+ for each - there has to be a better way...  Thanks guys.

$100 for a test kit doesn't seem so bad. Sure it's not as cheap as a radon test kit, but it's a much more specialty item.

I would get one and see what it says, then go from there.

(Looking up that Lumber Liquidaters thing it's not clear to me whether the lumber in question is actually dangerous or just mislabeled. Also, off-gassing is generally worst in the first few months... was any of the flooring installed recently?)


I've determined this isn't bearing any weight, but what about as a lateral member? So I have these two ugly columns I would like to remove, plus the soffit above it.

I've been thinking for a while that I wanted to remove them and open up the room, but I wasn't sure if they were structural. Today I finally drilled a hole on top of the soffet and opened it up. The walls of the soffet appear to be 2x12s and the top and bottom are just drywall. Above the columns is a 2x8 straddling the 2x12s and below the columns is nothing.

I drilled into one of columns and determined they are plaster so those columns cant be structural.

As far as the 2x12s, I did my best to get a photo of the inside. The first photo where you can see the insulation is an exterior wall and the photo looking down the soffet to the other side is the left side of the column. Also, there is nothing on the exterior of the wall that the 2x12s would connect to.

So the big question, do you think can I safely remove this?

There's no obvious reason to think that those would be structural from where I'm sitting. Neither end connects to anything that would require lateral bracing under normal circumstances. Were it my house I'd feel comfortable removing them.

Those pillars are probably fiberglass, not "plaster". I'd try to salvage them and put them up for local sale. You might get a couple hundred bucks for them.


How do I handle the grounded neutral for a simple switch? I trying to move a switch, which is currently in a 2-gang box.  The 2-gang box will need to stay in place (and covered with a plate) as it is also the junction of some other stuff (currently power comes into the box, and feeds the switched light, and 2 branches of outlets).  With new codes, I need to have a grounded neutral in the relocated switch.  My plan is to do the following:

Note, I have excluded all the other stuff that is in the existing 2-gang box.  My question is- what do I do with the neutral in the 1-gang switch box?  My existing toggle switches do not have a connection for a neutral (they are not "smart" switches).  Do I just cap the neutral line in the single-gang box?  Are there new toggle switches that accept a neutral?

Simply cap it with a twist-on wire connector, or other approved method.


What is the maximum number of connections to pipes? Does anyone have a table of the maximum number of connections that drain/vent pipes can have for a given size?

It's not based on number of connections, but instead a computed value known as "drainage fixture units".

  2012 International Residential Code

  SECTION P3004 DETERMINING DRAINAGE FIXTURE UNITS

  P3004.1 DWV system load. The load on DWV-system piping shall be computed in terms of drainage fixture unit (d.f.u.) values in accordance with Table P3004.1.

  SECTION P3005 DRAINAGE SYSTEM

  P3005.4.1 Branch and stack sizing. Branches and stacks shall be sized in accordance with Table P3005.4.1. Below grade drain pipes shall be not less than 11/2 inches (38 mm) in diameter. Drain stacks shall be not smaller than the largest horizontal branch connected.

  Exceptions:
  1. A 4-inch by 3-inch (102 mm by 76 mm) closet bend or flange.
  2. A 4-inch (102 mm) closet bend connected to a 3-inch (76 mm) stack tee shall not be prohibited.

  P3005.4.2 Building drain and sewer size and slope. Pipe sizes and slope shall be determined from Table P3005.4.2 on the basis of drainage load in fixture units (d.f.u.) computed from Table P3004.1.

Notes:
It seems that you are doing quite a bit of plumbing, and that you may not have all the knowledge required to do the work yourself.  It might be a good idea to contact a local licensed Plumber, as they will be familiar with your local codes.


Use water heater water when input supply has been shut off The town has shut off water due to major water line break.  How can I use the water in my water heater to, for example, flush my toilet?

Step one, very important. Shut off the heat (electric supply or gas) to the water heater before draining it. An empty or partially empty water heater can be very quickly destroyed if heat is applied while it's not full of water.

Then drain into a bucket from the drain valve, opening the highest hot water tap in the house  to let air in if the heater is below the rest of the plumbing.

If the heater is above other plumbing, you can open the highest hot water fixture and then fill from a lower hot water fixture, or possibly hot or cold water fixture depending on possible check valves, etc.

When water supply is restored, run the hot water taps until all air is purged from the water heater BEFORE restoring power or turning on & re-lighting gas supply to it.


What size breaker and wire do I need for central air conditioning? I am getting ready to hang drywall in my basement but before I do that, I need to run wire from the main panel upstairs to the future location of the central AC furnace through the basement ceiling joists.  I do not know yet who will be installing my AC but I will probably outsource it.  At this point I just need to know what the electrical requirements for AC are so that I can bring the cable and hang the drywall.  The house has three bedrooms and two living rooms, 1800 sq ft, two floors.

What amperage/AWG am I looking at?  The wire distance from the panel to the furnace is only about 20' +/- and then I plan to sit the condenser on the roof (it is a low pitched mod bit roof so I can do this, many of my neighbors with similar homes do) directly above the furnace, two floors above (so another 16-20' total).  It also may be worth mentioning that I plan to use this for just AC and not heat -- I have already a radiator system in place and I love radiant heat.

It's going to completely depend on the unit that's being installed, but commonly it'll be 30-60 amp with 10-4 AWG wire. You're probably looking at a 3.5 ton unit, so you'll be in the 30-40A (10-8 AWG) range. It might be worth it to get a few quotes from local HVAC companies, and see what they want to install. The companies may have a preferred breaker and wire size, so they may want to redo any work you do anyway.

Don't forget you'll also need high and low pressure tubing, and control wires between the indoor and the outdoor units.


How to get proper support for a closet system from a firewall? I am installing a closet system which is supported from a single track. The wall I am attaching this track to isn't a standard wall but a firewall between my townhouse and the next.

The cinderblock has a 2" thick stud between it and the drywall.

Should I go through the studs and into the cinderblock?

Is 2" deep enough to support the closet system?

The exact closet system I am installing is:

(source: homedepot.com)

Martha Stewart Deluxe Starter

Product:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Martha-Stewart-Living-4-ft-8-ft-Classic-White-Deluxe-Starter-Closet-Kit-W1/202060751#.Um-4mvlUYz4

Instructions:

http://www.marthastewartclosets.com/instructions/680000-INS.pdf

Two inches is an odd size for framing material. It might be a 2x4 set flat, which is actually 1 1/5 inches thick.

It is highly likely that this framing member is attached to the cinderblock at several points. If this is so, there is no issue with just attaching to the framing.

If the framing is not attached to the cinderblock, it would be significantly less sturdy than a conventional wall in which the 2x4s are set on edge. In standard framing you are attaching to an edge that runs 3 1/2 inches deep. That means your setup would be more prone to bowing, especially in the middle, under the weight of a heavy load.

There are many factors that go into whether or not that would pose a practical problem.  How heavy a load will be on the wall units? How far from the wall do the units extend? How many studs can you attach to for each mounting device or unit? How close to the ceiling and floor (the strongest areas) are the principle attachment points?

If you cannot determine whether the studs are attached to the cinderblocks, I would probably try to anchor into the cinderblocks, at least at several points, but not necessarily every point of attachment.

SUPPLEMENT

There are two forces at work in a wall hanging - downward and outward. Assuming the fastener is in a solid medium like framing wood, the downward force, shear force, is controlled mostly by the the ability of the fastener to resist being broken across its circumference. In general, standard screws and bolts are plenty strong.

The outward force is largely controlled by two things - the strength of the fastener in the support material and the rigidity of the support material. Again, standard screws or bolts in wood are up to it (these systems are designed for that). The problem, if any is the ability of the framing to stay in place.

The main support mechanism is near the top of the unit (that horizontal hanging strip), and the framing near the ceiling is fairly secure because the vertical studs are attached (hopefully) to some sort of top plate, spreading the load.

You are probably safe going into the wood. But if it were me, I would not rely on probably, and I would anchor into the blocks in at least three places along that top hanger. If they are hollow blocks, I would try to hit a hollow and use a toggle type anchor. If solid, an expanding masonry anchor.


I had hot glue holding something up on my wall as I had seen that it wouldn’t take off paint I went to remove the object to clean it and it peeled off part of my paint
I have white dry wall showing now and I don’t know how to cover it or put the item back up because it is quite heavy and will fall of with tape or the clay like wall stick stuff and it has no holes in it.

So how should hang up the item or fix the paint.

I need help quick I have a party tomorrow at my home and I can’t have this there as it is in the main party of my house.

3M Command Strips. Make sure to leave the tabs accessible so that when it comes time to remove them, you can pull the tabs.


What kind of Shower fitting can I install in a stock tank to tub conversion? I have a 4ft stock tank (something like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/tarter-71-gallon-galvanized-steel-stock-tank/3159637) and an almost done tiny house.

I'm trying to convert it into a tub with a shower. Knowing nothing about plumbing I purchased this https://www.amazon.com/Oatey-42099-NO-CALK-Stainless-Strainer/dp/B000BO57AS only to realize it comes up very far off the flat floor of the stock tank. I only realized this after I drilled a 2.5 inch hole in the floor. eek!

What kind of drain can I use to get the flattest possible drain? It doesn't have to be totally flat, but close enough. Is there a name for what I need? Everything I've found so far on amazon and lowes seems to be geared for tile or fiberglass installs.

Thanks!

There are certainly bath tub drains that will work on thin metal tubs but often these have a stamped round depression around the drain hole that causes the drain top to be more level with the surrounding tub floor. This picture shows what this looks like from the side.

(Picture Source: https://edmondbathtubrefinishing.com/bathtub-plumbing-installation-drain-diagrams/)

Maybe this particular all metal type drain will be more suitable for your application. The top side flange of a metal drain will be thinner than a plastic one due to metal being stronger.

(Picture Source: https://www.amazon.com/KOHLER-K-9132-CP-Shower-Polished-Chrome/dp/B0014YLQE0)


Spreading silicone caulk thin? I'm using silicone as an impromptu paint/varnish (the object to be varnished can and will flex in ways typical varnish won't survive).

I've used a bit of cardboard as a spatula to mild results - not terrible, but not exceptionally smooth. Is there any better way to do it?

Two ideas: A plastic putty knife, or a shower squeegee.

Plastic disposable putty knifes are sold in most paint sections and are cheap and somewhat flexible.  I've seen them up to 6" wide.

Another common item would be a rubber-edged squeegee commonly sold to dry off glass showers to prevent water spotting.  The flexible rubber might make it hard to control the thickness of the silicone, but it seems like it would be worth a try.


Tile underlayment, Ditra vs wire mesh lath My previous kitchen tiles were laid on top on wire mesh and mortar. Except for a few smaller grout cracks they were relatively okay and flat. After removing the tiles, mortar, and mesh I have discovered that the plywood is sagging/flexing in some areas which I will try to fix by securing it with screws.

However, as per underlayment, I am not sure if I should go again with wire mesh or Ditra would be a better option when it comes to preventing possible cracks?

"Except for a few smaller grout cracks they were relatively okay and flat"; Ditra is primarily a water blocking membrane. If you believe that the "sagging/flexing plywood" was caused by water penetration, then an upgrade to the water resistance of your assembly is in order.

However, mortar and mesh provide a function unrelated to Ditra; it is to provide a strong and flat substrate to support the tile installation.

I recommend both! Ditra to waterproof the plywood, then cement tile-board or a mortar bed to provide a strong surface to place your tile on.


For Christmas Lights, is it safe to run extension cord under garage door? For Christmas Lights over the garage, the nearest outlet is inside my garage. Is it safe to run an extension cord under the garage door to the outlet? Is there anything I should bear in mind while doing so (like specific types of outdoor cords)?

The garage type is one that has wheels on the side, attached to a metal track. It has a rubber seal at the bottom, which looks kinda like this.

Yes to the last: you certainly need outdoor-rated extension cords for anything exiting the house.

Now, as to how to run the cord:  the comments cover your planned implementation.  I would strongly recommend, however that you or your friendly electrician run wire (properly inside conduit) from the existing internal outlet to a new external outlet box.  The hardware cost is trivial, and the work involved in attaching to the existing wiring, drilling a small hole in the wall next to the garage doors (or whatever is the preferred location) is easy.  Plus you now have an outdoor outlet for general use.


How do I fix these gaps where the socket plates don't cover? Recently had this room plastered, then painted, and stupidly I only took the front off of the sockets instead of removing the full front socket.

This has caused a bit of an issue as the facings now don’t fit right on to the socket, I’ve accepted I’m going to have to deal with that for now.

What I do need fixed is the holes I can see behind a switch & one of the sockets. What is the best course of action here?

The best approach is to fix the plaster and paint. Some other ideas:

Install oversize device plates. Since you have nice stainless-steel plates now, this will be more expensive, but it would be quick and easy.
You may be able to find or make backing plates that fit around the devices, behind the existing plates, and extend outward a small distance.
As a last resort, fill with spackle or painter's caulk, then touch up the paint.


Potential wall socket fault I'm remodeling a room and sorting up a rat's nest of questionable electrical practices... boxes hiding in the wall, wall fixtures being used to branch circuits, etc.

At this point, all of the hard stuff is done, and I'm puzzled by what I thought was the simplest part of the job -- replacing a cracked wall outlet. After testing everything and turning the power on, the surge suppressor attached to the outlet indicates a wiring fault.

Here's what I've done so far:

Triple-checked the connection to the socket and ground.
Verified that the circuit is properly grounded.
Checked other outlets terminating in the same place.
Tested the outlet with a testing device (checks clean)

Any ideas where to go with this? I'm thinking:

Bad surge suppressor?
Defective outlet?
Damage to cable in the wall?

get a cheep volt meter and see if ground to neutral is 0 ground to hot is 115-120 and if hot to neutral is 115-120 if ground does not match neutral or there is voltage between ground and neutral there is a problem. I have a outlet that gets 50v between neutral and ground but the other 2 are normal. the electrician who put that in there some how managed to also flip the hot and neutral in the walls so that both breaker side and wall side look like they are wired properly but are reversed.  a cheep volt meter is 15-40$.  the battery units are pretty decent at telling you there is some kind of problem but not what it is.  duno about surge bars though.


3 inch pvc in concrete I have a 3 inch pvc drain pipe i have to move 4 inches that is embedded in concrete.  I have hammered out the concrete and now im ready to cut into the line and put a T coupling in for a toilet.  My question is, how do you install the t coupling in the concrete?  I can easily glue it in on one side, but since the other end of the 3 inch pipe is in concrete as well, how do I draw the two pipes together to seal the the gap?

It is not ideal but you can bury it in concrete.  If you have enough room you can use what is called a repair coupling.  It is a coupling with no stop in the center.  Slide the repair coupling on the longest accessible side.  You would glue a 2" stub in the end of the Tee facing the repair coupling, mark the pipe in the floor with your Tee set up, and cut it on your mark.  Glue the Tee on the opposite side of the stub and slide and glue the repair coupling over where you cut the existing pipe up to the Tee.


How can I prevent an outside lock from freezing? I store a bunch of the "outside stuff" in the shed for the winter.  Mainly things that I only use when the weather is warmer.  It pretty much remains locked up for the winter.  Occasionally though, I have to run out there to get something in mid winter, and the lock is always frozen shut.  I can get in by warming the lock up, heating the key, or using that spray deicer stuff.  But is there any way to prevent this?  Are there locks that would not allow this to happen?

The lock is one that is built into the handle, where the handle is vertical with the key in the center.  When unlocked, it twists to a horizontal position.  It is not a separate lock.

The problem here of course is that snow/freezing rain gets into the lock and freezes.  With a house, this isn't normally a problem for a few reasons.  First, you use it often enough that it doesn't get that bad, and second the inside of the house is warm, which prevents water from freezing inside the lock (unless it gets really, really cold I suppose).

You might want to look for a lock that has a metal shield over the area where you insert the key to prevent water from getting inside.  Similar to what you have on a car door lock (and for the same reason).  Personally, I've never seen any home locks like that, but that's not to say they don't exist.

A simpler option, and the one I would suggest, would be to put a plastic baggie over the doorknob and secure it with a rubberband.  Then just take the baggie off when you need to unlock it and put it back on after you are done.  It's a bit inconvenient, but if you hardly ever use the shed in the winter anyways, it should keep the water out and is probably the most practical option.