Add sub panel from transfer switch I'd like to add a subpanel to add a couple circuits (Extra inverter Mini Split ACs, well pump, etc.) but my main interior panel is full and recessed in concrete. I added a manual transfer switch from the main breaker next to the electric meter (utility - power generator).

Can I tap the main lines with a polaris style 3 way splice insulated connector into a new sub panel box?
If I splice this way, should I splice from the utility line or can I splice from the load line that goes into the interior service panel?
Would I need to get a 125 amp sub panel for the new circuits I need and want to have spare for future use?
Which would be better and cheaper? BR breakers are the most common here, but I keep hearing about Siemens.

Side note:
My home uses 125 amp and noticed that the wire used from the main 125 amp breaker next to electric meter that goes to the interior service panel is 2 AWG. I had purchased 1/0 AWG wire. I'm not sure whether to change to 2 AWG wire or keep the 1/0 AWG for the transfer switch and subpanel.

You can tap this

What you want to do here is replace the existing set of 3-way splice connectors that tap the feeder for the surge protector with 4-ways, and then use the newly opened connector-ports to run a feeder up to the transfer switch.

You're fine on size

The reason why the existing feeder is 2AWG is because it's copper most likely -- 2AWG copper is good for 115A at 75°C, which is fine for a dwelling unit feeder application due to the 83% rule.  Your 1/0 aluminum wire will be fine, though -- the ampacity rating's about the same, and CuxAl rated Polaris connectors work fine for copper-to-aluminum connections when torqued to spec (AlumiConns are essentially miniature versions of them, even).

You will need a 125A subpanel for the standby loads given the style of transfer switch (DPDT safety switch) you linked -- I would recommend getting a 30 space main lug unit.  (Siemens has the advantage that the PL line of loadcenters comes with some niceties that you don't get with BR, but it seems like most of the supply houses in your area are loyal to Eaton, so a BR loadcenter is fine and dandy here.)

One caveat here

Since you got a two-pole transfer switch (instead of a three-pole), you must consult your generator manual (or generator manufacturer) for the correct procedure for pulling the neutral-to-ground bond on your generator, as your transfer equipment is set up for a non-separately-derived generator source.  Otherwise, you'll have issues (such as false GFCI trips on the generator with some generators, and energized boxes due to errant neutral current flowing on grounds) due to the duplicate neutral-to-ground bond on the generator.


Connecting dryer to dryer vent In all the youtube videos I see, dryers are connected to dryer vents via flexible hose. One end is clamped to the dryer and the other is attached to a plug that fits into the vent

I bought a vent kit and actually installed it inline with the dryers vent hole.

So I have 100mm diameter metal pipe from the vent kit installed in the wall. Length of the pipe through the wall is probably 160mm

The outside has the supplied gravity louvre in place

Back to the inside:

I put a foam rubber ring (from the kit) over the hole as a spacer

Then I put in a small metal sleeve (from the kit) that fit inside the vent pipe, but then flares / flanges outwards so that there is a round face parallel with the wall

Then I put another ring of foam rubber on that flange

Then I pushed the dryer up tight to that. There's not a lot of room in our laundry so having it tight against the wall is just giving us a bit more room.

I turned it on and the louvres on the outside were definitely opening up as the warm air came through. I couldn't fell any heat coming up from the back

The connection between the vent and the dryer actually looks pretty tight. The distance from the dryer to the wall is about 20mm

I live in a timber home so I'm a bit concerned about fire hazards

Is it a problem having a dryer that close to the wall? (if it is being vented properly)
Is there a better way to "inline" a dryer vent with a vent in the wall? Maybe I could trim down the supplied flexible hose
With dryers, are fire hazards more from lint catching on fire or from dryers getting really hot in a confined space?

At this stage I'm going to inspect after every run to see how it goes

Your dryer venting properly is a good thing - as long as that is happening you should be fine.

  fire hazards more from lint catching on fire

TRUE.

Clean the LINT out of your dryer after every load - every so often clean out the lint system on your dryer to keep the dryer clean.. I have cleaned my lint system probably 4 maybe 5 times in 20 years.. a good working lint system and you should not need to do it very often. Your dryer will last longer and work better as well.


How can I control a 240v single phase with a separate 240v phase? I don't have much understanding of phases. Basically there are 2  different power lines named A and B. When A is on I want B on. When A is off B turns off.  A should be used to control use of electricity via B.

I don't know whether such a device already exists. Or can I use logic gates to build one? Any idea how it can be done safely without mixing the phases? Is there any sensor out there that can sense whether a is on an then in turn open a relay for b and same when off?

Relay is in your question, and Relay is the answer.

(Amazon link because I was there xmas shopping..)

A relay like this has a coil voltage of 220v and is also capable of switching a 220v load.  The coil would be connected to circuit A, and the load/circuit B would be connected to the switched side.

Now, you'll have to select a relay for the size load you have and the type of terminals you want to use, but I believe a relay will do just what you need.

I have a set of relays that control my Christmas lights.  I have the coil side (120v) wired into the light on my porch, and that controls the heavier 20A 120v load circuit that powers the lights.  The light duty programmable light switch for the porch light now controls the 20A of lights.


Garbage Disposal / Plumbing Dilemma I just purchased a new garbage disposal.
The current plumbing will not allow the new disposal to fit in place.
The main sewage line with a wye is in the way and I need to replace it.
This is a single sink single trap set up.
Questions:

what is the best way to do this (see picture)
Can I cut the wye pipe just before the base and then use a saw of some sort to cut the remaining flange around the bottom?
Or, should I just cut the whole wye pipe out and install a new one?

Anything could be possible. The benefit of the wye, the way it is setup, is for cleaning. If you don't forsee any future problems with cleaning, I would cut it out, and use a threaded set of pipes. This way you can still remove the pipes if you need to clean it out and if you need to make any adjustments to the drain, this will make it easier to do. Once you figure out the height needed for the disposal, you can re-plumb the drain. But make sure you still have room for your p-trap setup.

Also, is this a single sink or a double? Perhaps if a double sink, have you thought about reversing the drain and disposal setup?


Why won't my oven heat? I have a dual-oven Maytag range, model MGT8775X.  At the top, there is a short oven with a broiler burner on top, and at the bottom there is a full-sized oven.  A few days ago all three burners stopped lighting (bottom burner in both ovens and the top, broiler burner in the top).  The display indicates that the oven is heating.  The stove-top burners light without any problem so I have gas and power.

Some research suggests that a high-temperature igniter can fail, preventing the oven from lighting but it defies reason to me that all three igniters would fail at the same time.

Any thoughts what to try next to diagnose the problem?

Against all odds, all three ignitors failed at the same time.  I had someone come to diagnose and he only had one with him so I have one oven working and two more ignitors on order.

Moral of the story: never buy Maytag.  This is the third of three Maytag appliances we purchased a few years ago which has had quality issues.


Mold on Ceiling on Flat Paint Not sure what exactly the line of thought was here, but my bathroom walls were painted with flat paint. While there is a fan in the bathroom, I'm not exactly sure how well its working, as it seems that the moisture from taking showers is not able to escape properly. This has led to both mold and the paint cracking (surprise, surprise):

It's pretty rampant throughout the bathroom:

I'm not exactly sure what to do about it, since it seems to be a recurring problem. After we clean it, it just reappears a few months down the line.

Now that the paint's cracking, I'm debating what to do. I was thinking of just cleaning off the mold with bleach/anti-mold treatment, then just painting over the entire ceiling with high-gloss white paint, but now that the paint is cracking, I'm really not sure what to do. I don't want this to turn into a huge project, but I'd like to solve the problem once and for all if possible. What should I do?

Make sure everyone using the bathroom uses the fan.

The exhaust fan has some how moved. Inspect it to see why and check to see if there are any issues with the duct. Also make sure it is sized appropriately for your space. See this guide on bathroom exhaust fan sizing from the Home Ventilating Institute. You may want to consider a larger fan (or better fan) if it's not working.

They have a number of different options for fan switches that have timers that keep the fan running even after the lights have been turned off. I've even seen one with a humidity sensor that automatically turns the fan on and off. Consider getting one of those.

You're going to want to repaint. In a bathroom that means you have to thoroughly clean the walls whether you have mold or not. Too much stuff accumulates on walls in bathrooms to get good adhesion without cleaning. That might be why you're seeing peeling more so than from the steam. Scrape off any peeling paint and sand the edges to feather them and repair any large dips or gouges.

Paint with a high quality paint meant for bathrooms. Most good paint these days seem to have mold inhibitors in them. You don't need to go with a higher sheen paint. In the past I've used Zinsser Perma-White, which I believe was one of the first paints with mold inhibitors. It is available in eggshell. I recently used Benjamin Moore's Aura Bath & Spa paint which is in their Matte finish. It's somewhere between flat and eggshell, maybe leaning more towards eggshell. Happy with both but really thrilled with how well the Aura went on and has been holding up.


Can I add strips of lumber to studs in a framed wall to meet plumbing hole size limitations? If you want to fit a 2” PVC pipe with 2.375” OD in a non load bearing wall stud, it needs to be less than or equal to 60% of the width of the stud. i.e a stud which would need to be just over 3.95” in width. If you framed a wall 2x4 wall with thickness 3.5” you can’t fit the pipe by code.

Could you add a 1x2 to give yourself another 3/4” thickness and meet code ? Will this actually stabilize the wall?

Ask your inspection office whether stud shoes are acceptable. They're sometimes listed for code compliance. Quick and easy, if not terribly cheap.


Remove unused wires from circuit breaker panel My house was remodeled and a sub panel installed.
The electrician capped and left three unused 220V (3 wire) circuits in the panel.
That's probably standard practice.
However, I would like to replace a circuit breaker with an AFCI breaker and the unused wires really clutter up the box.  They also use up all of the neutral bar connections.  If I remove the wires (after confirming), can I secure them above the panel....or do I need to have them in a box?
What is he proper way to terminate the wires?

Wait, what? Why would 240V 3-wire need the neutral bar??

Oh, right, this is a main panel where neutral and ground bars are supposed to be bonded, so someone took the lazy but allowed approach of landing all neutrals and grounds in the neutral bar, and not having a ground bar.  So your neutral bar is stuffed.

The easiest way to free up space on the neutral bar is to get an accessory ground bar for that panel and move a bunch of grounds to it.

If the hots are all disconnected, why not disconnect the ground? Because some other circuit might be relying on that for ground.  In older homes where everything was not  grounded, it is common for grounds to be retrofit by running a ground from the previously ungrounded receptacle to a grounded site.  While dodgy in the past, this was made officially legal and recommended in the 2014 Code.

So go to the other end of the wire, and look at the termination of that ground wire and the equipment it is grounding.   If nothing else is using it as a ground, then feel free to detach and cap off both ends of the ground wire.   In the panel, wrap it with tape (preferably green) so it's not at risk for hitting anything hot inside the panel.

Then take all 3 wires and push them into a corner where they'll be out of the way.  I recommend not tearing them out, as they can be re-tasked for a 120V or 240V-only circuit for any future need.  "Leaving them alone" is way cheaper than fishing new cable.


Key stuck in Security Door My home door is a Security Door using this type of mechanism . The lock itself is about 20 years old and i now have a key stuck in it.
The key is on the inside and will rotate almost 90° in both directions.
I tried spraying some lubricant (don't have graphite handy) in the lock but the key won't budge.

This is the first time it happened, i've already tried pushing another key or screwdriver on the other side but no luck

If any of you has any tips i'll greatly appreciate it as it's 9PM and i'll have to sleep with an unlocked door :)

The actual mechanism brand is Mottura but it looks really similar to the one in the picture.

Also, the key seems to be in the default position. Turning counterclockwise will move the opening shaft slightly, but turning clockwise has no effect.

Even if you get the key out, you really can't trust the lock any more. Next time it jams, you could be locked in.

I think for tonight you should secure the door with a couple of wedges, and call a locksmith in the morning.


Is a tank less water heater a bad choice for a house with low water flow? We are thinking of replacing our current natural gas tank water heater by a high efficiency tank less heater.

However we have a water main issue, the house is from 1930 and the main is partially clogged. We had people from the town water service and a local contractor who does water main replacement come to our house and long story short we have no short term solution to solve the main clogging issue. Anyway, because of that we have good water pressure but low flow. Meaning as long as we only one faucet opened water pressure is great but it drops as soon as we open a second one.

I read several posts online about people complaining of pressure issues with tank less heaters but it seems to usually be because of undersized units for their house. In our case we have only one bathroom and are already use to not using 2 faucets at the same time so I don't think this would be an issue. We are looking at a 9 GPM rated unit.

Now my question (sorry for the long introduction): Not considering the sizing question, do people observe a water pressure drop when installing a tank-less unit compared to a similar flow rated tank unit? I'm not sure how a tank unit works. Does it refill at the same time as you are using the hot water or is the refilling process asynchronous? I'm afraid that the tank less unit would actually behave like if we had 2 faucets opened at the same time...sorry if the question is stupid or doesn't make sense.

I will obviously also ask his opinion to our plumber but I like to get different opinions.

Thanks!

In short a tankless doesent require a high flow if anything a lower flow, the problem most folks have is a lower flow of hot water due to the fact the tankless heater can only heat the water so many degrees at a specific rate. For instance if your tap water is 50 degrees and you want a 110 degree water the unit has to be able to heat the water 60 degrees most units restrict the flow to maintain the temp with a max temp of ~130. The nice thing about tankless you never run out of hot water, when changing the water in our hot tub I set the heater at 110 and connect a hose to the hot water line and fill the entire tub hundreds of gallons and it is hot and ready to use when full. Where the problem comes in if you are showering and someone turns the hot on in the kitchen most tankless systems can't heat that much so the shower gets cold if using both hot and cold water, if the heater is set to the temp you want your shower and you are only using hot when another hot tap is turned on the flow drops but the temp stays fairly constant.


How do I drill through a shaped tube with a handheld drill? I'm assembling a corrugated sheet metal fence and I have installed the posts and attached the pieces of shaped tube (rectangular cross section) horizontally and now I need to attach the metal sheets to the shaped tube. I'm now using a handheld drill with a regular drill bit for metal to drill the through holes in the tubes (I'll use screws with nuts later).

Drilling is a huge pain. First, the tube is only attached to the posts and so it bends when I press the drill onto it. Second, the drill bit will not dive into the metal unless I use a punch which is not a convenient option because I need to first put the sheet onto the tube and once I do that I'll have to punch through the sheet. Finally, even if I drill one wall of the tube the drill bit will then not dive into the other wall - it will be "running" for a while and the side surface of the drill bit will route the hole in the first wall. The result is really ugly and drilling takes a lot of time.

How do I drill through the shaped tube conveniently?

One option especially suitable for this scenario (outdoors, often drilling above your head, with the tube bending and vibrating, using handheld drill) is using special drill bits tailored for fast drilling into sheet metal. The market has numerous offers, including Irwin Turbo Max, DeWalt Extreme 2 and Ruko Fast Cut - the idea behind all those is that the drill bit looks similar to a drill bit for wood and the small tip of the drill bit helps the drill bit dive into thin metal.

One important thing is that you should not proceed to drilling the second wall until you retracted the bit from the hole and checked that there's no metal on the tip. Otherwise the following can happen: the drill bit will burst through the first wall and the metal which the tip was facing will remain on the tip and prevent the tip from contacting the second wall.

Beware of the following downsides:

these are next to impossible to sharpen in your workshop - prepare to either throw them out or grind them into "regular" shape bits once they get dull
the price is notably higher compared to "regular" bits
the "metal on the tip" problem described above
not that easy to find in an average store, so you should shop in advance


How do I stretch a replacement drain hose to fit over the existing pipe? The original drain hose needed to be replaced, but the new hose is the same size as the existing pipe.  What is the trick for "stretching" the hose over the pipe before reattaching the clamps?

Spit, determination and super human powers.  You might put a little soap and water (very little) on the inside to help but wait a day before using the washer.  Don't forget the clamps.  That would be bad. Very bad.


Bring HVAC Ducts to the Ground? I'm finishing my basement. Is there any benefit to bringing the vents from the basement ceiling to the ground after I finish framing?

Not really. Historically, registers and radiators have been by windows since in cold climates, they're the biggest sources of heat loss and discomfort. With the advent of Low-E double and triple pane windows, this concern is greatly diminished. That said, unless there's a problem with your ductwork, I don't see any advantage to moving the ducts.


Can I use a 30A backfeed breaker when I'm not using the generator? I have a panel in my garage with a "Generator" 30A breaker. I know I shouldn't be backfeeding the generator (I inherited this setup and am scheduling an electrician to put in a transfer switch). Having said that, can I turn that 30A breaker on and use the 220v outlet that it goes to?

That should be physically impossible, and the "outlet" should not be an outlet (it should be a boxed plug).

If it's physically possible and the outlet is an outlet, it's not a generator input unless you enjoy having your service terminated when the power company finds out about it. So remove any "generator" label, take apart the suicide cord, and use the outlet as an outlet.

It's quite possible to backfeed in a safe and correct manner with a listed manual interlock (the main OR the generator can be on, both can be off, but both cannot be on, by physical interlock preventing that) and a boxed-plug input to the backfeed breaker. You absolutely do not need a (generally overpriced) transfer switch.

This is a manual interlock for a Square-D QO panel - there are other styles for other panel types/brands.

Here's a typical correct generator input, fed from an extension cord with a receptacle on the end that won't (easily) electrocute you.


Multiple in-wall bathroom heaters on same circuit I am designing the electrical for a new-construction home. Targeting NEC 2017. I have two bathrooms, each of which will have an in-wall heater. The heaters run on 240V and draw 8 amps each. I would like to run one dedicated circuit (20 amp 240) to both of these heaters. Is that allowed by code?

These units will be hardwired, and that part of the code is confusing me because it appears each hardwired appliance must have its own dedicated circuit.

No, every hardwired appliance does not need to be on its own circuit. But...

Provision power for heaters with a 125% derate

You need to study the unit's specs carefully, and note the amps or VA drawn by it (note a resistive electric heating element will have VA identical to Watts, but a fan motor may knock that off a little).  Then, multiply that figure by 125% (8A -> 10A).  The +125% number is how much power you must provison (allocate) on that circuit.

So for instance if you have two heaters that are 8.1 amps each. Those derate to 10.125 amps.  Two of them would be 20.25 amps, which is too much for a 20A circuit.  Most heater manufacturers understand this intimately, and will size their heaters to be just under a threshold number, i.e. not 8.1A :)

Also beware of  heaters whose spec rating is at 125V instead of 120V.  Due to Ohm's Law, a reduction in voltage causes an equal reduction in amperage.  So if you have an 8A heater @125V, then you have to multiply by (120/125) to get the 120V amperage.

An interesting idea

Oftentimes, people speccing power for bathrooms and kitchens will be thinking only about the Code book (which is complicated enough), and forget that the main user of a bathroom is people who do a lot of "Beauty stuff" in the bathroom with heat appliances, often several.  For instance  Code allows one single 120V/20A circuit to serve all receptacles in all bathrooms, and you know the men who specced that didn't have a wife and teenage daughter!  That's because Code is written by the National Fire Prevention Association not by the National Hair Care Association.

Well, look at the rules.

First, it is legal to have 240V and 120V loads on the same (Multi-Wire Branch) circuit.
Second, it is legal to have receptacles on a circuit with hardwired things, if the hardwired things draw less than 50% of rated circuit amps.
Third, it's legal to put receps and non-recep loads on the same circuit if they're all in the same bathroom.

So, if the heater provisions out to <=10 amps, I would be inclined to run a 4-wire circuit for each heater.  Then, continue the circuit to a 2-gang box containing two GFCI receps, wired in multi-wire branch circuit fashion - sharing the neutral, and one hot per recep.  Now, you can plug a curler and hair dryer in at the same time!  (you'd be kissing 20A if the heater was on also, but the user could turn off the heater while using the appliances - they'll be making plenty of heat of their own.)   So for about $30 extra, you've made the beauty enthusiasts in the house very happy.


Water pad for humidifier-can I buy larger and cut it to the size of my humidifier? I have a Hunter CareFree Plus (quite old-the thermostat has a analog control -no digital dispaly) and I wanted to start reusing it. It has been in a storage for a while, the filter is quite clogged. We tried the vinegar solution but it did not do much. CLR can't be used with aluminium (I am assuming this filter is made of aluminium)

I am seeing that Lowes has tons of these but different sizes. Assuming that the thickness matches can I cut a bigger one (I still have to figure out how) so it can fit in my humidifier?

I am also seeing some plastic or paper like options for other brands. Since those will be easier to cut, can I use one of those?

Part #3142 sells for a prohibitive price--you can probably buy a brand new humidifier for the same amount.

I have the same Hunter model and I have look around for a replacement filter but no one carries them anymore. I ended up buying a filter from Home Depot that looked similar and cut it to size using a hacksaw. As long as you are gentle with the hacksaw blade it seems to work.

The new filter should be the same thickness.


LED bulbs will not turn on I am having an odd problem with a light fixture. The fixture has three sockets and is wired to a dimmer. I replaced the bulbs with Philips LED bulbs that were dimmable. However, when I turn the dimmer switch on, to any level, the bulbs remain off. The part that I don't understand is that if I replace one of the bulbs with the original incandescent bulb, all 3 will light up. I can then remove the incandescent and they will remain lit only to refuse to start back up if I let them sit for a bit.

Any idea what could be going on? I am sure the bulbs are compatible.

Your old dimmer has got to go.

Dimmers are powered switches which need power themselves to do their thing. Other examples are lighted switches, motion sensors, smart switches etc.  The correct way to power a "powered switch" is to bring always-hot and neutral to the switch, and it can draw power from that in all conditions.

However plain switches don't need neutral; they only need always-hot and switched-hot.  So a lot of switch junction boxes don't have neutral. Adding it would require pulling a new cable through the walls.  So dimmer manufacturers couldn't rely on neutral being present when dimmers are retrofitted.

As it happens, incandescent bulbs have very low resistance when they are off. So, dimmer manufacturers discovered a cheat - power the dimmer by leaking a small amount of current through the bulb. The incandescent happily lets the small current pass, and doesn't light up because it's too little current.

Enter LED. They have active electronic power supplies. Those power supplies Do Not Like the tiny amount of current. At some additional cost, the power supplies can be enhanced to allow that current to pass. Either your Philips LEDs do not do that, or the old dimmer is flowing too much current for the LEDs to deal with.

One incandescent solves the problem by providing the near-zero-resistance path the old dimmer requires. This can also be solved by a well-placed resistor of appropriate size, and several companies make UL-listed resistor packs for that purpose. (Anything used in mains wiring must be UL listed for that purpose as mains equipment; bare resistor components bought from Mouser or Digi-Key aren't legal even if UL listed as components.)

Start by reading the instructions and labeling on your Philips LEDs.  Code requires you obey (because the equipment is not tested/listed for any other use).  It may tell you only certain dimmers can be used, in which case do that.

Otherwise aim to replace the old dimmer with a modern one rated for LED, and ideally, if your switch location has a neutral wire, use a dimmer that uses a neutral wire.

Also make sure you're not dealing with Philips HUE or other "smart bulbs" where the dimming is actually supposed to be done by a smart-device network talking to a microcontroller inside the bulb.  Those bulbs aren't even meant to work with traditional dimmers: remove the old dimmer entirely and fit either a plain switch or a system-compatible smart dimmer.


Samsung model UN22F5000AF will not pik up any channels when I scan with antenna only... Do not have cable My 22" Samsung has an antenna hooked to it,  as my room has no cable outlet. However,  when I run Auto Scan,  it will not pick up a single channel. I was been looking online for an answer for hours and at this point am very frustrated. I did not have this problem in my previous apartment. I need help please!! Thank you

Based on our discussion amplifying the original question, the cut to the chase answer is: You are not getting any channels on your TV because there are no channels to receive.

Unfortunately, the above answer is the precise reason you are frustrated. You noted you did not have this problem where you lived before, that is most certainly because you lived in a better area for TV signal reception.

Using this map you can get a pretty good idea of what types of signals the FCC expects one would receive at any geographical location:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

using that, type in any major city, or where you lived previously, then type in where you live today. As you see the number of channels drop off to near none, it gives you a solid feel for what you could expect to receive.

If you see channels on the list that are within your reach & interest, you can install a TV antenna. But this TV antenna will not be rabbit ears. As you have already tried an internal antenna to no success, you have to try different antenna options. You can try an omni-directional antenna, mounted on a pole, or on the roof You can try one outside of your window, but basically, the bigger (and bigger does not mean size) the antenna you use (which will be directly proportionate to cost, and time to install it) - the better odds you will have of receiving more signals.

I realize you mentioned there is direct TV in the home. I suspect an installer will charge between $30-$100 to install a new outlet in your room. Since you would have to install an outdoor antenna in either case, your best chances are to add to this service and pay the additonal cost for an added tuner box from Direct TV. I suspect the cost will be less in the short term. In teh long run, the Direct TV route will be more expensive since you will pay service charges and taxes, until, termination.


Will mineral oil help prevent smelly basement traps during extended vacations? Will mineral oil in my basement traps keep them from smelling during a NY winter while we vacation elsewhere for three months?  Our remodeled basement has had a problem with the odor, which is fine if we keep running water periodically.  The drains are in a Kohler jetted tub and toilet, a kitchenette with small sink, and an unused sink in the storage area.

Yes. RV antifreeze (propylene glycol) is also said to work well. Anything that doesn't evaporate, doesn't rot, and isn't damaging to the plumbing or the environment will do. You could also stop them with rubber mats, test plugs, or rags, as appropriate.


Attaching small, nearly zero weight cable clips directly to drywall without anchors My project runs about 30ft of ethernet cable along garage (interior) walls. I have 5mm plastic R-Style clips and I need to put about 1 per foot (at least 30 clips).

I'm looking for something that I can attach these neatly without having to drive in anchors on every stop or comply with stud positions in the cable run. Maybe a product or fastener I've never heard of that you all may know about.

Alternatively, I'll just do my best to line them up with the studs or deal w/ anchors. Thanks for any ideas.

Keep in mind what you're dealing with here.  Drywall is chalk between 2 pieces of paper.  Here, take a piece of chalkboard chalk. Soak strips of newspaper in 50/50 elmers glue and water mix, and roll them around the chalk.  Let dry.  Congrats, you've made drywall.

However, fragile as it is, an ethernet cable is a trivial load.  It'll be fine.

Just so you know, the National Electrical Code does have a chapter on non-PoE Ethernet wiring, it's in chapter 8 (800 et.seq.) And better, as Section 90.3 says, “Chapter 8 is not subject to the requirements of Chapter 1 through 7 except where the requirements are specifically referenced in Chapter 8.” So there are several ordinary requirements you can ignore.

However, chapter 1-7 requirements which prohibit data cables still apply.  You cannot use mains wiring or conduit as a hanger to support data cabling.  You cannot run data cabling inside a box or conduit containing mains wiring.  Code requires mains wiring to be able to contain an arc-fire event where insulation melts; and if a mains wire melted into comms wires, obviously it would put mains voltage on equipment not rated for it, which would spread the hazard.

If you're doing PoE, depending on the load that may push you into Class 2 or Class 3 wiring methods, but that's beyond the scope of your question.


Removing and adding skirting boards when installing floors? I read for carpet it should be installed without removng skirting.  For laimnate, wood and tiles one should remove the skirting board, lay the floor, then re-add the skirting board. .  Why so?

What about for vinyl sheet, is it recommended to remove the skirting then re-add and why?  Can you get away with installing while skirting board is on?

Thanks.

Yes, carpet can be installed without removing the skirting because slightly uneven carpet edges can be stuffed down between the tack strips and the skirting. For wood and tile, straight edges are harder to come by and even a 1/16 of an inch looks bad. The same goes for vinyl, that straight edge will be hard to get. Your alternative to removing the skirting is to add a quarter round piece of molding all the way around the room after laying the vinyl.


Is it bad to have multiple grounding electrodes? I think this question gets close to answering my question, but I am not quite sure. I have a detached structure, powered by a feeder from the main panel where the ground and neutral are bonded. The ground there goes to a grounding electrode (and also to the water main).
On my detached structure, the ground busbar is connected to the main panel's ground busbar, but not to any other grounding source at the detached structure. If I have a copper water pipe coming in, would it be a bad idea to connect a jumper from it to the ground busbar in my detached structure's subpanel? I think that would be appropriate under NEC 250.52(A)(1) since it runs underground for more than 10'.
Also, if it is a good idea (or required) to bond it to my subpanel ground busbar, does it need to be a dedicated wire going from the bonding strap to the busbar, or can I connect it to the EGC on a nearby receptacle?
EDIT: I think I found that NEC 250.64(C) requires a continuous wire from the grounding strap on the electrode to the busbar in the subpanel, if I am reading it correctly.
Also, it looks like NEC 250.32(B)(1) should settle this question, but in one part it says

An equipment grounding conductor, as described in 250.188 shall be run with the supply conductors and be connected to the building or structure disconnecting means and to the grounding electrode(s).
...
Any installed neutral grounded conductor shall not be connected to the equipment grounding conductor or to the grounding electrode(s).

So this just makes it more confusing.

The grounded conductor is the white or gray Neutral. The Grounding conductor is the green or bare ground. The Grounded conductor is expected to carry current in normal service. The Grounding conductor only carries current in fault conditions.

For a (current/recent) detached structure they should be isolated all the way back to the single bond at the service entrance. That means removing any Neutral-Ground bond, and keeping all the neutral wires  on a neutral buss that is isolated from the case. Grounding conductors should all be connected to the case and the grounding conductor (which may be metallic conduit) leading back to the service entrance connection.

The detached structure should have one (or more) grounding electrodes. If it has a concrete slab or footing in direct contact with the soil, that should have a UFER ground installed when poured these days, but often that detail is forgotten.

My building has 5 ground rods and a 100 foot well casing as grounding electrodes. The more, the merrier. But when the next building goes up, the neutral and ground remain separated all the way back the first building. And the next one will actually have the (required, actually, in this state) Ufer Ground.


Regular outlet vs bootleg ground vs ungrounded GFCI vs grounded GFCI I have seen some explanations for each of these as to how each of them separately are different from the other. To understand them all better, I wanted a cohesive, specific answer on how and why they differ in safety for humans, as well as protection for equipment from power tools to computers, how surge protectors will work with them etc.

A properly grounded 3-prong outlet protects against these types of faults:

short to neutral or ground should trip the breaker.
open neutral will not cause a hazard.
a heavy load will raise neutral voltage (due to wire resistance) but ground will remain at 0V.
in addition, electronics will be properly grounded and surge protectors will work properly.

A bootleg ground will protect against a short but

open neutral may put full line voltage on the ground (through the device plugged in) producing a lethal threat.
a heavy load will raise ground above 0V, causing a hazard.

A grounded GFCI will provide the characteristics of a grounded standard outlet plus

current flow between hot and any ground (presumably through a person) will trip the GFCI and prevent electrocution.

An ungrounded GFCI simply removes the grounding for electronics: some sensative devices could malfunction and surge protectors will not work correctly.


Can oscillating multi-tools be used for fitting pattress boxes I have a bunch of pattress boxes to fit for light switches and plug sockets and was wondering if my oscillating multi-tool could be of any use.

I have a Bosch PMF 180 E Multi. Can this be used to cut the outside edges for a pattress box in a brick wall?

If it can then what attachment should I use... there are so many!

Bosch lists a segmented blade HM-RIFF that it says will cut grooves in porous cement, small cutouts in soft wall tile. I guess four grooves would make a cutout. A lot will depend on the thickness of the brick,.Are you looking to cut thru a brick veneer or the entire thickness of a conventional redbrick? I would try to get a similar material to practice or trial cut.  The width of the blade looks a little wide to cut the short sides. You may be able to make a series of long cuts then chip out the segments.


Retrofitting drip edges with a wooden spacer? I'm preparing to install gutters, but I've noticed that rain just flows down my fascia boards.  I anticipate having a problem with water going behind the gutters.  I saw this Q&A, but the solution I'm considering isn't mentioned there.

This site argues that there's supposed to be a wooden strip behind the metal drip edge, to force the water to fall from the corner instead of flowing down the fascia.  This makes perfect sense to me, but at the same time, I'm a little skeptical because this is the only mention of it I've found.  (The reason nobody does this, they say, is because roofers don't do carpentry.)

So my question is, would it be a good idea to try to retrofit my roof with these wooden drips?  If so, is there any reason I shouldn't reuse the existing metal drip edge?

You definitely do not want water running down the fascia board. The drip edge is suppose to run the water away from the fascia - wind can kick some water back onto the fascia but most water should be diverted away with the drip edge.
If the drip edge is installed correctly (over edge by about 0.5", under felt on the eaves and over felt on the rakes), you could try to get a thin piece of material between the drip edge and fascia to provide the spacing needed (you want about a fingers width). If you do that, be careful that the material you use does not wick water up behind the fascia (so make sure that the spacer isn't too close to the bottom of the drip edge).


Closing in Garage door while raising existing header on load bearing wall I am closing in an 8'x7' garage door with a wall and 32" exterior entry door to make more space in our family room. The floor will be raised to meet the existing floor which will elevate the new exterior entry door.  I need to cut and raise the garage header for the door jamb to have 81 1/2".  Width of new header is 37" long.

The wall was installed therefore supporting the existing headers with 2'x4' 16" o.c. leaving 34" unsupported for the door jamb.

Can I cut the remaining header without supporting the 2nd story above since it will only be 37"?  I plan to raise the header and reinstall with jack and king studs.  Thank you.

The new man-door opening will have to be framed as usual - jack studs / header / cripple studs so that part of the wall doesn't sag.
 (Of course the header for the door will not need to be nearly as big as the  original for the overhead door, it's span is so much shorter.)  That's simple enough.

The trick is figuring out a way to temporarily support the portion of the wall where you're cutting out the old header and framing the new opening.  There are a number of methods of temporary support, depending how much room you have to work, but you couldn't really suggest what's best without a clear picture of the existing wall framing.


How can this older-style irrigation tee be replaced? This reducer tee had a right-angle piece break off inside of it for a feeder line.

I tried cutting the black broken piece inside of the reducer section without success. I'm used to schedule-40 PVC, not the black line shown in the picture. Is it possible to replace only the right angle piece? These black lines are very stiff and I'd rather not have to dig further back along them to gain the flexibility to replace the reducer tee, not to mention I haven't seen a piece like this at the big-box store from which I've sourced all the parts for this project so far.

If I can't salvage the tee, what's the best way to get it out? I've already cut off the hose clamps, but haven't gone so far as to destructively remove anything from the hose or the tee itself. I can easily replace the clamps - I'm just not sure if I can replace the tee via standard retail channels, and if that replacement would be such a pain that it's worth it to try replacing just the elbow.

User Matthew is correct that a nipple extractor may help you salvage the tee.

You need to check the threads in the Tee for any damage, since if the threads are scratched you may get a leak.

If the tee is badly damaged

If the tee can’t be reused, you will need to replace it.  This part is readily available at any home-improvement store (but see below).

It’s good that you can remove the pipe clamps if needed, but the Tee fits into the end of the hose with a very tight pressed fit.   You may need a “vise-grip” style clamping wrench to get a good enough grip on the fitting.

You may have to cut the black polyethylene hose to get the tee out. In this case you may even need a straight coupler to repair the black hose.

Here is a cheap one for less than a dollar:

This is a relatively fancy one, but even this only costs $1.28:

A word to the wise

Based on personal experience, I have found that big box home improvement stores sell a grade of sprinkler PVC fittings that is not the same as what the professionals use.

For example, the replacement nipple sold at a big box store will cost about 69¢ and be made of a very lightweight grade of poly propylene (PP).

The types of tee, also, used by professionals are much heavier weight and durable. It’s well worth buying a $1.50 tee from a professional plumbing or professional landscaping supply house, rather than the $1.00 tee sold at the big “orange and blue” stores.

When you consider your time, and the damage from having to tear up your grass and dig the hole again when the cheap part inevitably breaks again, it’s no contest.

If you don’t know a local sprinkler store, you can mail order from specialty stores online. You’ll be glad you did.

Don’t use a nipple

These days, a professional sprinkler company/irrigation contractor would not use a “nipple” to replace this fitting, even though you currently have them in the ground in your system.

As you can imagine, any exposed sprinkler head that can get stepped on, run over by a lawnmower, or run over by a car tire if it is next to the driveway, can cause the head to break the nipple off.

Beware this piece of junk: it costs only 59¢ but when it breaks next year, it will cost you another afternoon of your time to replace it.

The correct replacement is to use a flexible riser pipe, or “swing joint”, known in the trade as a “funny pipe.”.  Funny pipe is flexible and will protect the fitting from future damage so you don’t have to replace it again.

Any new installation of sprinklers should typically use funny pipe.


How much continuous power can a 30 A 240 V outlet handle? My question is pretty simple. I've seen several forums suggest that you should have the max power on any outlet be 80% of what the circuit is rated for (so for example, if you have a 15 A 120 V outlet, then you shouldn't use more than 80% x 15 A x 120 V = 1440 watts).

Is this really the case? I ask because in my situation, I have a 240 volt outlet running on a 30 ampere dedicated circuit where I want to run some equipment continuously. I am certain that there will be no other equipment running on that circuit. Given this, should I expect to only run 80% x 30 A x 240 V = 5,760 watts on that circuit, or may I use the full 7,200 watts continuously?

Use the 80% rule for continuous loads (because the breaker will, even if you don't)

While 210.22 would seem to indicate that you have the full 30A available to you:

  210.22 Permissible Loads, Individual Branch Circuits.
  An individual branch circuit shall be permitted to supply
  any load for which it is rated, but in no case shall the load
  exceed the branch-circuit ampere rating.

you have to consider that the breaker may have other ideas, as stated in 210.20(A):

  (A) Continuous and Noncontinuous Loads. Where a
  branch circuit supplies continuous loads or any combination of continuous and noncontinuous loads, the rating of
  the overcurrent device shall not be less than the noncontinuous load plus 125 percent of the continuous load.

  Exception: Where the assembly, including the overcurrent
  devices protecting the branch circuit(s), is listed for operation at 100 percent of its rating, the ampere rating of the
  overcurrent device shall be permitted to be not less than
  the sum of the continuous load plus the noncontinuous load.

The reason why is because garden-variety breakers made to UL 489 (and their counterparts in fuse-land) will eventually trip (or blow) if you run 100% of their rated current through them for hours on end.  While there is such a thing as a 100%-rated breaker, they are typically only found in industrial work.

Furthermore, the branch circuit wiring needs an 80% derate for continuous loads as well, as per 210.19(A)(1):

  (1) General. Branch-circuit conductors shall have an ampacity not less than the maximum load to be served. Conductors shall be sized to carry not less than the larger of
  210.19(A)(1)(a) or (b).

  (a) Where a branch circuit supplies continuous loads
  or any combination of continuous and noncontinuous loads,
  the minimum branch-circuit conductor size shall have an
  allowable ampacity not less than the noncontinuous load
  plus 125 percent of the continuous load.

  (b) The minimum branch-circuit conductor size shall
  have an allowable ampacity not less than the maximum
  load to be served after the application of any adjustment or
  correction factors.

  Exception: If the assembly, including the overcurrent devices protecting the branch circuit(s), is listed for operation
  at 100 percent of its rating, the allowable ampacity of the
  branch-circuit conductors shall be permitted to be not less
  than the sum of the continuous load plus the noncontinuous
  load.

So, you're limited to 5760W for an on-all-the-time (or at least longer than a few hours at a time) load.  Non-continuous loads (say a large well pump motor), though, can pull the full 7200W from the circuit as the duty cycle of the load provides adequate time for things to cool off between runs.


Can ceiling light mount box be used to attach ceiling fan? As Montreal is going to welcome the humid summer, I am planning to install a ceiling fan by removing the ceiling light. I have selected the fan that I want from Amazon. Here are the photos of the ceiling light fixture and its mounting box. But I am not sure if it needs a fan mounting box ? or will this ceiling light mount box can be used for the fan too ?

This is the fan that I am planning to buy.

Here is how my mount looks:

Maybe.

If the box has a bracket that securely attaches it to a framing member, then the box can support a ceiling fan up to 35 lbs.  If the box is not securely attached to a framing member, it cannot support a ceiling fan. According to NEC, ceiling boxes are supposed to be installed so that they can support a 50 lbs fixture (that's a light fixture, not a ceiling fan). However, this is not always the case, especially where the boxes are installed by those unaware of the code requirements, or before it was a requirement.

If the box is designed for supporting a ceiling fan, it will be marked with the amount of weight it can support, up to 70 lbs.  A ceiling fan weighing more than 70 lbs., has to be supported by other means.


Would wrapping a wood fence post in plastic help protect it? I'm geting ready to install a couple new wooden privacy fence gates on the sides of our house.  One of my co-workers suggested to wrap the 4"x4" with plastic stretch wrap around the 2' part that will set in the concrete.  He had heard that the plastic wrap will keep the lime in the concrete from eating into the wood over time.

Has anyone heard of this or what do you think?

Most concrete and cement these days do not contain lime. When it contains lime its called Limecrete and generally it is used as a type of mortar for older buildings. Anyway If you wanted to protect the posts you are best soaking the post in creosote it's a type of oil that is used specifically to treat wood for this very reason its also used in tar distillation and is commonly available. You can also soak the wood in general motor oil for a week as it absorbs it well and repels water. The plastic would in fact trap moisture in the wood which in effect would increase the rot. Ideally you want to dig the hold deeper and put gravel under the post to allow water to drain easier and then fill the rest of the hole with concrete


buckling harwood floors Tongue & groove, solid hardwood flooring by Bruce. Glued down to concrete slab as suggested by Home Depot. One large area of floor now buckling, with several other hollow sounding areas. How can this be repaired?

In my experience, which is admittedly limited, you never want to glue hardwood to cement. Most hardwood manufacturers will tell you that you shouldn't put hardwood over a cement subfloor to begin with, but if you do you want to float it on a plywood subfloor or on plywood float strips. The problem is that the wood expands and contracts at a different rate from the cement, so when it does so through the season, you end up getting buckling and separation. Your best bet for a long-term fix is going to be to pull out the entire floor, salvaging as much as possible, and put in a plywood subfloor over the cement before nailing the hardwood to the plywood.

Having said all of that, I am not a contractor or professional floor installer, and I realize this could get very expensive very quickly. Unfortunately, IMHO, you're in a bad position thanks to faulty information from Home Depot, and your only good way out is the expensive way.


Why do my toilets flush slowly and often incompletely? I have three toilets that all flush slowly and incompletely. I've adjusted the chain to ensure the flap raises completely. I've raised the float to ensure the tank fills nice and high. Yet I have this nagging issue on all my toilets. It often takes multiple flushes to clear simple waste and toilet paper, never mind the "hard" stuff.

All the sinks and tubs drain well, no issues. I'm wondering if the age of a toilet can be a factor. All of my toilets are from the mid-eighties. I'm getting to the point where I just want to replace thm with some water-saving toilets but it would suck to have the problem persist.

I picked up some CLR and scrubbed all the jets under the rim. I even ran some through the tank - open flapper so as to minimize contact with the rubber and plastic. Using a mirror and a small piece of wire I was able to clean out a few stubborn holes.

All toilets were able to take a steady volume of water from a bucket without issue. This lead me to do a little more research. What I found was the hole at the bottom of the toilet that forces water down the drain is actually more susceptible to clogging and plays a larger role in the syphoning action. All three toilets had significant mineral build-up in this hole. A few minutes with my finger was able to clear out quite a lot. Some careful work with a small l-shaped alan wrench brought me the rest of the way home. Whammy!

The two younger toilets now flush like a champ. The oldest was so badly plugged I'll be needing a replacement. I'm gonna try a little soaking with CLR to see if it'll free up but I'm expecting a trip to the hardware store.


Can I extend sump pump outlet with elbow outside the house? My house has a sump pump that rarely turns on (maybe once a year).

The sketch below shows the current outlet setup (blue line). The outlet at the house is only about 8" above grade. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, the final exit point can be buried in snow and I am not confident the pump would work properly if that's when it needed to turn on.

To address this, I would like to raise the final outlet from current 2" to about 18" (red line on sketch). Can I safely achieve this by: 1) cutting the current outlet, 2) adding an elbow 3) running a short vertical?

I live in Toronto, where winters get well below freezing, so my primary concern is standing water that will freeze the pipe solid.

This thread seems to describe a similar situation, but I think the idea there was the put the vertical riser at the end of the outlet (in the ditch area). It mentions that freezing concerns can be addressed by drilling a small drain hole in the elbow. Is that right?

For my proposed setup, even though it's a small hole, I am not sure it's a great idea to drain anything at the foundation line. So maybe I'd put the elbow at the front of the porch instead? But then I'd have the 4' horizontal pipe effectively need to drain out of that small hole?

I guess I am asking for some advice on the best way to deal with this situation. Ideally without having to relocate the outlet hole in the house foundation.

Yes, your plan would work providing your sump pump can handle the extra head pressure, which it should.

Have you ever actually had a problem with this or is it the last thing to do on your "To do list"? I'm asking because I grew up in a house in the Midwest with the same layout as you have and we never worried about it. If the outlet was covered with snow and the sump pump actually needed to run, the water being ejected would be warm enough to melt any snow around the outlet pipe.

You could pick up a few inches by re sloping the horizontal pipe under the porch. You've got 6" of slope over a 4' distance, you could raise the utlet from 2" to 5".... Good luck


How to run conduit from external wall into basement cellar Context:
So I have recently had solar panels installed in a historic home and ran the electrical conduit from my roof down into the existing ingress into the ConEd and electrical panels in the front of the townhome.  This is just like all the other historical townhouses on my block and in my neighborhood.  Unfortunately, landmarks commission rejected the conduit saying it was in the front facade and that my neighbors were grandfathered into their existing conduits in the front and I would not be allowed to add a new one.  Thus, they want me to reroute to the back of the house facade.  My choice is to either do a community board appeal or figure out how to route it through the back of the building. It's been difficult to get the original solar installers along with construction work during the COVID stoppage so I'm trying to figure out the level of effort to run it through the back and get it inspected again by both the city and the landmarks commission vs going through the rigamarole of appeal.

My question are around my options for getting conduit into the basement from the exterior:

I have a chimney from the roof to the water heaters in the basement with dual "clay-lined tubes" which I recently renovated, relining one with steel and blocking the other off at the basement.  Can I re-purpose the unused clay lined chimney and run my metal conduit into the basement and have it be up to code?
I can just create an ingress through the thick brick wall in back, but would I have to pull up the stone flooring in the backyard to dig a trench to get to the basement level and drill a hole below grade to run conduit?  Would that cause possible moisture leaks into the basement - it's pretty dry currently and I don't want to introduce a new way for water to get in.
Would I punch through from the ground floor wall above grade and then punch down through the interior floor into the basement?  I have finished walls and a finished basement ceiling so that would require a lot of cutting and messing with walls and ceilings and paint and interior work.  I do see an existing framed and finished run on the wall for a dryer vent from the basement to the outside which would save me from cutting into the interior floor if I can just open that part of the interior wall.  Can I run a conduit alongside a rigid dryer vent in the same wall framed cavity?  Would the conduit need to be insulated?

Which of these options seems like the least effort and risk.

The "unused chimney flue as electrical chase" seems like an ideal solution to both "historical appearance issues" and roof to basement access.

I can't see a code issue with that, if done properly.


Is this an alternate vent connection for my clothes dryer or does it serve another purpose? I have gas clothes dryer in my new home. Behind the dryer you can see metal conduit for exhaust and gas intake and this seems to be where things are hooked up.

Above the dryer, on the wall is a 4" PVC pipe sticking out from the wall. It is covered loosely with a PVC cap and behind it is sealed with some type if paper/tape like material. When the dryer is running, this gets hot and you can see condensation.

My guess was that this was an alternate connection point in case you had a stacking washer/dryer instead of a side by side; however, I wanted to check if this was normal and it it should be sealed this way.

Here are some photos. Would love confirmation that everything is okay or suggestions on what steps I need to take?

Close up:

Behind the dryer:

If it looks like dryer vent (location location location & size)
& it smells like dryer vent (gets hot and wet when using the dryer)
& quacks like dryer vent (you hear it, and its hot and wet, and it vibrates)

..... It is a dryer vent.

There are many posts on this forum and threads online where contractors have improperly used PVC for dryer vent. Just because PVC is used on high efficiency furnaces or water heaters does not make it safe for dryer use. It may not be PVC and most likely isn't.

The problem here is that the gasses the dryer produces are supposed to go through the pipe and then OUTSIDE. It is not safe for there to be holes or exit points for the exhaust INSIDE. While no one can say what levels are produced by your dryer, what can say is it will fluctuate. If the duct gets clogged, WHICH IT WILL! THEY ALL DO! (and this is why it is imperative you have it cleaned every 6-12 months or so on average; your mileage will vary), then the burn quality of the gas will be reduced, in addition, the clogged vent will force air wherever it can... Inside your home?

Next, the flexible ductwork - its best to have a rigid metal duct system in place but people use the flexible because its fast and simple. For short runs, its generally fine. If your run is long, it is not. If this system has a "T" unit in its line (it looks like it does) it really shouldn't, and this will "catch" lint as it blows past it. An odd plus here, is this gives you easy access to clean it out. (but its still a point gas can escape).

The one picture shows the dryer gas inlet as a straight 180 out of the dryer and they put the flexible gas line right to it, it (the dryer) is now pushed against the wall (by everyone that touches it), and the line is in danger of being kinked. This needs a 90 degree elbow to prevent this.

The dryer appears to be installed right where a beam in the wall is, so they went to the side quite a ways so there is now two bends, and the flexible duct may be getting compressed/squished in its compromised tight quarters.

They hacked the drywall and left it that way. Thus compromising the wall void. Completely avoidable. You can buy metal or plastic boxes to make this pretty and accessible:

Example website with pictures, (not promoting this company over any other)

This install was done poorly, sloppy, and wrong. You stated this is a new build house, I would have a home inspector, or family friend or relative take a walk through the home and make sure everything else is "right". They wont see everything, but they may find other issues you can get addressed under warranty perhaps.

Good luck.


How can I lift a sunken paver in the middle of my driveway / patio / walkway / sidewalk? I have a couple pavers that have sunk in my driveway. If this was close to the edge, I’d take up a few, re-level and replace. But this is in the middle of a large expanse of pavers.

How can I pull up a few in the middle to fix this without having to pull apart 1/2 my driveway?

I've done it two ways. Take a coat hanger and bend a 1" 90 degree at the end of a straightened out hanger. Insert the bent edge down into the seem and twist the hanger so the 1" piece turns under the paver you want to pull up. work it back and forth with a screwdriver in the opposite edge while pulling the paver up.
My other trick was to drill a hole in the paver I wanted to remove and stick in a plastic anchor. Insert the screw, screw it in a bit  and lift up. Save the dust from drilling and when you reset the paver mix it with a little silicone, clear, caulk and stuff it into the hole.


Installing and connecting an outside generator power inlet box I want to install an outside power inlet receptacle for my portable generator, to be used in case of a power failure.
In my house I have two breaker boxes: one is the main breaker box. A second one is installed about twenty inches away from and beside the main box. The main breaker box is wired as it should be -- two separate hot bus bars, a neutral bus and a ground bus. It also has a ground conductor (heavy copper wire) going to an earth ground. I cannot see to tell how or if the ground bus and neutral bus are tied together; I know they should be.
The second breaker box was installed because the main 200 amp box would not support two heat pumps and all the other appliances. Box #2 has two hots and a neutral, I cannot see a ground for the box. I know if it is considered a sub-panel, the ground and neutral should not be connected together. The breakers in the #2 box are all two-pole.  The ground wires from the breakers are hooked up on the (ground - or neutral?) lug strips on both sides of the box, depending on what side the breaker is on.
Now, here is my question-concern: I want to power the blower fan only - from one of the heat pumps.  It just so happens that the breaker is located in the #2 box, the one with no ground. Therefore I cannot wire the outside receptacle for the generator into this box, so I have the main breaker box to wire it into. I know the #2 box is wyed off of or spliced into the leads that are going to the #1 box as there is only three wires coming into the house, and there are no wires leaving the #1 box to feed #2 box.
If I wire the receptacle to the main breaker box and connect neutral and the ground together to the ground lug strip, will this create a problem with the circuitry? Also I will be using an Interlock, for the lineman's or anyone else's safety.

I ignored the main power box as a typical portable can only produce a small fraction of the main supply. I put a receptical box inside near where the generator will be outside the house, conduit through the wall and out to the generator. The refrigerator is fortunately near . Then I use temporary extension cords as needed ; a bit of a hassle but but not bad for a couple days a year. I have used it a few times and it was satisfactory ( 2,000 watt portable). I supply a room AC, TV and some lights, phone and PC.


Fluorescent ceiling fan light single flash when switch turned on I have a Hampton Bay CVT-54 ceiling fan and I'm seeing a very strange issue with the fluorescent ring light. When I flip light switch the light will flash momentarily then go dark. Flipping the light switch after that does not cause a flash, nor does pressing the light button on the fan's remote control. The behavior is the same regardless if the switch is flipped while the remote has the light "on" or off.

The strange part is that I can make the light flash again if I lightly touch the fan housing or even the light bulb. When I touch the fan housing I get a slight static shock, though that might be because of how dry it is in my house this winter. This makes me think that there is a grounding problem going on but I can't find any issues with how the fan is wired up, it appears to be fine according to the manual.

ThreePhaseEel had it right in the comments on my original question, a new wireless receiver fixed the problem easily.


Must Electrical Adapters Be Inside Gang Boxes? I'm replacing a wall sconce light with a bluetooth speaker so I have AC wires coming into the spot where the speaker will be but I'll be removing the circular gang box that the sconce light connected to.  The bluetooth speaker has a DC adapter that I can wire to the existing AC wires.  But do I need to add a new covered gang box for the adapter to live in or can it just dangle behind the wall?

In general, AC 120 and 240 wiring may not be terminated in a wall except in approved boxes or fixtures. And those boxes must be accessible. You cannot splice wires in a wall without boxes (except for certain approved in-line splices), and you cannot bury a box in a wall without an accessible cover.

That means you need to attach the DC adapter (basically a transformer) to an approved electrical box. This is usually done with the transformer bolted to the outside of the box with the wires from AC side of the box feeding inside, where they are attached to the line in. And this box must remain accessible, with a cover that can be removed to get to the wiring.

If this is not aesthetically pleasing, you may be able to locate the DC adapter somewhere else (in a basement or an attic) with an appropriate box, and then run low voltage wires to your speaker.

If this is a plug in adapter, you need to attach it to a conventional outlet in a conventional box, not buried in a wall.


Wiring issues on ceiling light fixture I'm installing a simple light fixture in my office. The wall switch has one black and one white wire connected to the switch. The overhead ceiling box has the following 3 connections:

3 black wires connected
2 white wires connected
a single white wire.

I connected the black wire from the fixture to the 3 black wires. Then I connected the white wire from the fixture to the single white wire in the ceiling box but the light does not work.
Then I connected the white fixture wire to the two white wires in the ceiling box. The light works but you can't switch it off.
Then I connected the fixture white, to the 2 ceiling white and also connected the single ceiling white but this throws the switch. I don't know what to do next.
Any ideas? I'll try to attach two images.

You've got a switch loop. Forget about the three black wires. Take the white wire from your fixture and connect it to your two white wires that are already grouped together. Take your black wire from the fixture and connect it to the single white wire. Mark that wire with some black electrical tape to show it's a switched hot. Mark the white wire in the switch box with some black tape too.


Why doesn't my toilet flush completely outside summer months? So my toilet only flushes down during the summer months. Yet during winter fall and spring it wont go down all the way. Can't figure out why. Tried a snake and every other means to unclog but I doubt its clogged.

I'm in Michigan. summers are usually 80 or a little higher. 50 60s in fall and spring. and as low as-1 in winter.

This screams frozen vent stack.

To keep your drains flowing, you need to equalize the pressure. The problem is your sewer lines contain harmful gasses you don't want in your house. As such, you have a vent stack, a common drain pipe that allows gasses to vent out of the roof.

In deep winter (i.e. well below freezing, which is common in Michigan) what can happen is that the warm(er) water has some vapors that will head up the stack. Due to the extreme cold, the vapor condenses as it leaves the top of the stack. It then strikes the cold pipe, freezing to it. And now this makes for a nice perch for snow (image source)

There's a couple of things to do

Insulate the vent stack pipe inside your attic. This helps a bit in that the water vapor loses less heat as it ascends.
Install something designed to keep the vapor from freezing to the top of the pipe. There's a number of products that do that by either passively absorbing heat from inside your home and transferring it up, or by being made of material that absorbs solar heat to keep the surface above freezing. You can also install a traditional pipe heater materials at the top.


Outdoor motion sensor pendent light On my front porch I have one of those ugly builder standard porch lights.  I'd like to replace it with a pendent light, but I also want it to be controlled by motion sensor.  The primary purpose of the lighting is decorative and for comfort of my guests as opposed for security.

This is a flush mounted motion sensor light , but I would like a pendent light.

I figured I could get the pendent like I would like, and rig up my own motion sensor.  Any ideas for the parts that I should use for the motion sensor?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_182164-85538-SH-5316-WH-A_0__?productId=50029168

They sell just the sensor, which can then be mounted somewhere on the wall of your porch and wired back in to the lights controls with surface mounted conduit or above the ceiling.


Leaking Door Newly Installed By Pro We just got a new door installed by a professional and there seems to be a bunch of leaks in the door. I am not sure if this is normal or not on a new door install and if they are easy to fix myself or they are not a big deal.
Most of the air leaks seem to be coming from here

Leaks in corners and sides, I see it in 3 spots, but just posted on picture (I can see light come through)

Your second image is a pretty good indicator that this is not normal. You can see rubber insulation at the end of the door. This insulation serves no purpose if it is not compressed against another surface. Light shining through is only a symptom of the problem. The fact that the right (image angle) side of your wall has an extrusion is of course a bit complicated, but simply cutting it out of the door (with a very generous offset) is definitely not the right way to approach this, especially since it is part of the frame which is static and does not need to move.
Thus answering your question if this is normal: Other countries might have different standards, but in my country I would absolutely not accept this kind of work. When I order a door I expect it to be perfectly sealed unless I tell them otherwise.
For your other question if you are able to fix this. It is hard to tell from the image, but the door seems to be at least level, so the offset between the door and its frame on the closing side seems to be constant. The simplest solution would be to remove the rubber insulation and replace it with a larger diameter rubber insulation. Since the pretty large gap on the (image angle) right part of the door does not need to move at all any kind of fixed insulation method (i.e. spraying some foam and cutting it and then paint over it) should probably do the trick.
edit: based on your 5th image, why is the gap on the right side a leak issue? From the outside it seems that the frame is properly sealed against the rest of the house. It looks horrible from the inside but leakage should not happen there.
edit2: This is also not very reasurring (huge gap and not even remotely level)


Hanging clothes on a line between concrete pillars without drilling Question says it all: I'd like to hang a "light" load (say 30 t-shirts/pants) between two concrete pillars, without doing anything permanent to the pillars, like drilling (they are public property and this is for a temporary event).

The pillars look something like this, except are thicker and farther apart:

I have 4mm x 30 m braided rope and would tie it around the pillars, but am worried it will slip down. This is outdoors and should carry the load in wind at 2x head height for several days, but doesn't need to be more permanent than that.

Budget solutions are also preferred, thanks!

Wrap one end of the rope around a pillar 3-4 times, tie the loose end back to the standing portion of the rope (probably with a bowline), and then slide the wraps up to the top of the pillar so that the part furthest from the knot is highest, with the rope smoothly wrapping down from that point. Do the same for the other end, tightening the rope enough to get it as far off the ground as you like (use another bowline, or a taut-line hitch, whichever is more convenient).

The friction between the rope and the pillar will increase exponentially with the number of wraps of contact; 3-4 wraps and a relatively rough pillar will make it impossible to drag the rope down.


Why does one of my bathroom sinks drain slowly when the water is running, but drains quickly when filled and drained? One of my bathroom sinks drains slowly with the water running ( like when brushing your teeth ) but drains quite quickly if I plug the sink, fill it all the way, and release the drain plug.

When the water is running and the drain is open, the sink drains slower than it fills, but using a stopwatch, the sink drains from full, when the stopper is removed, much faster than filling it took.

I think the drainpipe is pretty simple. It goes out from the bottom of the sink, through the tap, into the wall, and straight down to the main drain line. It was snaked a few months ago, but aside from relieving the immediate clog, did nothing to improve the speed of the drain.

One thing to add, when I release the plug and allow a full sink to quickly drain, just before it finishes draining, the drain makes a somewhat loud "sucking" noise before the last 1/4 of the basin drains out. Not sure if that's relevant, but I don't hear it under normal operation, etc.

Is this some kind of venting issue or having to do with the pitch of the pipe from the trap to the wall ?

What might cause this ?

Warning, wild speculation ahead, but I have had this problem.

I've always thought that the aerated water causes some kind of "bubble dam" that plays with the way the water is able to go through the relatively thin space that the popup creates.  Blocking the bubbles with my hand and letting pure water start going down the drain seems to stop the bubble phenomenon and water will drain faster.

I think removing the bubbles and starting a good flow lets a siphon effect take over and suck the rest of the water down quickly.  The bubbly water never lets a large enough volume of water to drain to start a good siphon.

I have had luck with raising the pop-up drain to allow a bigger gap for water to drain.  Of course, I have also completely removed the pop-up as well because I never need to stop up the drain.


Basement rough-in. Converting plumbing from a tub to a fiberglass shower the basement rough-in was completed with a shower/tub rough-in.  I want to convert it to a shower.  I bought an alcove left drain fiberglass tub. The shower does have a p-trap and everything should be vented already. To install the shower drain, do I just need to cut the tub rough-in below the contract and add two 45 street elbows to where the permanent shower drain will be?

That pipe that is pictured above the floor may be the beginning of a vent pipe. Yes it does look like there is a trap below the floor, from what I can see, a little more dirt removed would have been good, but it looks like it is there. If the tubs bottom is high enough, you will not need to remove more concrete, the drain of the tub can set above the concrete floor, most tubs do not allow that. Most likely you will need to break out about 8-12" more under the tub to set the drain. Typically the trap is glued in last so the pipe from the overflow and tub drain is a straight shot down into the J bend of the trap. With the way it is assembled now, you will need to add a few otherwise unnecessary elbows to get it to connect. If you leave it that way add a clean out real close in case it clogs. More elbows equals easier clogs.


Verizon FIOS battery warning beep My Verizon FIOS system has a back-up battery to keep the phone running in the event of a power failure. This battery is approaching the end of its life and makes a "BEEP" every five minutes or so. I tried unplugging the battery's wiring harness from the case, but that didn't work - the beeping continues.

Any ideas on how to make it stop?

Replace the battery. Depending on who's responsibility maintaining the battery is, that's either you get a new battery or you call Verizon and have them replace it (which will be the easy way if it's their responsibility, and the expensive way if it's yours.)

If the system is looking for a good battery, neither a dying/dead one nor no battery at all is going to make it happy.


How can I remove this sliding door? I have a sliding glass door.  It sticks horribly.  The track is just filthy, so my assumption is the two sets of wheels on the bottom of the door are gunked up and need replaced.

I remove the top strip of trim that holds the door in place.  However, I can't get either wheel to raise or lower at all.  Neither screw will turn - completely locked up.  I've tried Liquid Wrench - no luck.

Even though the door is relatively low in the track, there is not enough clearance along the top jamb to tilt the door out.  It's effectively stuck!

Help!  Any idea on how I can get those wheels lowered even a bit to give me the clearance to remove the door?

Lift the door straight up and pull the bottom of the door out first.  They're designed not to allow the top of the door to fall out of the track.


What is the safe/proper way to run non-metallic conduit between floors? I need to run a CAT5 line and a 22/4 alarm wire from my 2 story attic to the first floor.  I have access to the interior of the walls (I will re-dryboard).  I'd like to run carlon ENT from the attic all the way down so I can run new wire if needed.  What is the connection I need to travel between floors to keep it up to fire code?

This depends on your locality, and you didn't mention where you are. In my locality, I think the only necessary plug between floors is to use some fire-stop expanding foam insulation on the outside of the ENT. (For those not in the know, ENT = Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing, aka interior flex conduit.)

Your local city/county building inspector / permit office will know more, and you should contact them.


Panel labeling conventions I'm in WA state. PoCo is Mason PUD #1. AHJ is WA L&I. I recently had my first inspection after replacing meter box, breaker panel, lots of house wiring. Only flunked for 7 things. One of them was "label panel circuits and mount cover with 2 screws for next inspection". I left the cover off so they could see inside. I didn't label the circuits in case they told me I needed to change any. Go figure.
I want the labels on the panel to be meaningful to me, to the inspector, and to the next poor person who has to figure out what they mean. I'm looking for any/all suggestions for what you all use. E.g., What abbreviations would be easily understood? What details are important to list? Most circuits are straightforward (e.g., just refrigerator, just microwave). A few are more complex (e.g., living room receptacles and lights, dining room ceiling fan). Once I get some suggestions, I'll use them to describe the complex ones - perhaps then I can get feedback on them (hopefully not feedback saying just don't do that, but if so, I'd rather know now than at the next inspection).
And to answer questions that may come up on the complex ones, this was a remodel. Some walls had drywall, some had T&G wood, some had tile. As much as possible, I didn't want to have to open walls. I straightened things out as much as I could without going to excessive lengths. So, somethings may be a bit strange, but if they are just plain wrong (i.e., not code compliant), I'd love to know.

Rooms without a clear, unlikely to change, definable purpose (i.e kitchen, bathrooms, etc) are better referred to by compass direction than current function (2nd Fl NW rather than christy's bedroom or guest room or office...) and likewise if there are multiple bathrooms per floor, say.
Or, go commercial, print out a floorplan, assign numbers to rooms, and use that. If doing that, convention is 3 digits and the first is the floor, even if there are not more than 9 rooms per floor.
(not that it helps with inspection, but it can help YOU or future owner if you also label each outlet/switch with a breaker number - under the faceplate if you don't want to see it normally.)


How to reattach door handle where wood behind has deteriorated? More door handle fun. So our apartment inside front door handle has fallen off as all 3 screws fell out. You can see the mess they were screwed into below:

I need to put this back on in the same place.

What would be the recommended course of action here?

wood filler? Seems like a lot of space to fill, and it could jam the spindle.

dowels? But there’s no clear screw holes to position in
rawl plugs? Same concern as above
mount a new piece of wood and pull the shingle through, attach with small screws?
regret ever attempting to fix - attach handle on a use by use basis

More pictures:

Traditional mortice door knobs were attached with grub screws to tapped holes in the spindles, so the force of pulling acted on the knob on the other side of the door, not the small screws holding the rose on. If you can replace with this sort of knob.


Rebuilding a septic drain field When rebuilding a drain field, is it imperative to dig individual trenches for each "tine" of the drain pipe "fork", or would it be possible to just dig one big hole to lay all the piping down. If I can just dig one big hole, I can just rent a skid steer. If I need to dig trenches, I'll have to rent a backhoe.

How deep below grade do the pipes need to be? I live in a place where frost typically reaches 6 feet or deeper before spring melt.

How much crushed rock needs to be beneath the pipes? Is there a limit to how deep the crushed rock can be? Is there a benefit of greater field capacity with deeper gravel?

Thanks.

Based on your rather telling but incomplete information, I have to caution you on your plans. This may have changed, I haven't had septic in 20-years. Not good & not legal, if the field hasn't been unused for 20-years. This must be fully designed, tested, approved & inspected to be proper, legal & last 25 or more years.

If a newer field has to be re-used, all soil needs to be entirely removed & replaced with a proper draining & absorption mixture. A complete & total deep excavation. The fork must be a fork & not a single long pipe & no fork tine can be any longer than 100' & each must end with an inspection vent pipe. Each tine must be separated by dirt to avoid pooling & enforce even distribution.


"Quick & dirty" finish for a concrete subfloor I am moving into a new home for 1-2 year period. It's an old office building and the landlord is flexible with how I decorate, as it will eventually be totally gutted and renovated.
My 3 rooms are covered in horrible blue carpet. Underneath is a concrete floor, the surface of which feels quite flakey and dusty and is 90% covered in old dried hard yellow carpet glue. I have tried scraping it off and it comes up very dusty and bitty. I have three rooms each the size of a medium double bedroom so scraping by hand would take too long!
I need to come up with an inexpensive flooring solution (up to £200 for 3 rooms) – something that will look cool and last for a couple of years.
I think painted concrete looks cool but in my experience and from what I have read, the surface underneath needs to be stable or the paint will be uneven and chip off.
Commercial concrete floor scrapers are about £170/day in my area which is out of my budget, especially as I'd probably need to hire both a round one and a pointed one for the corners.
I don't like the look of carpet or that plastic laminate. I like Wood laminate boards but they seem to be prohibitively expensive too at about £15/sq meter.
Can we come up with a "quick and dirty" solution to get this floor looking alright?
For example: Is there something I could pour over to smooth and seal the floor? And/or perhaps some kind of latex or paint that will work well enough for 1-2 years?
Remember; this isn't a house I own or will live in forever; it doesn't need to be perfect.

look cool and last for a couple of years

I'd also suggest concrete stain.

The catch with both staining and painting, of course, is that you need to find the stable surface.

We had a floor that was covered in tile mastic. To remove it, we used this soy based mastic remover. If you contact them, they can send a sample to see if it works for your particular glue. It smells funny, but isn't toxic.

You pour it on, let it sit, and it eventually liquifies the mastic. You then squeegee + wetvac it all up, then give it a quick wash with water to get ready for staining.

Acid staining is fairly easy. You add the stain to a sprayer (a manual-pump garden sprayer works well) and just spray it all over the place. Let it sit for a while. Then you pour a neutralizer on it and as before, squeegee/wetvac it all up.

As a final step you can apply a roll-on sealer of some sort.

I think it's a great look and relatively painless (it's a bit tedious, but not back-breaking work).

Barring all of that, I'd perhaps just opt for a cheap floating laminate floor. Theres so much variety now with laminates and they should last a couple of years.


Accessing Liftmaster controlled garage door from afar Is there an iPhone App that will allow me to access my HomeLink controlled Lift Master garage door opener when I am away from home?

Newer Liftmaster has "MyQ" technology built in.  MyQ is the technology that allows internet control. Chamberlain is a related brand and also uses MyQ technology.

If your liftmaster has a MyQ logo on the housing (myQ is made to be obvious and easy to spot), then buy Liftmasters internet gateway (Amazon has it) and download the app from your app store.  (iOS or Google-Play)

Most older Liftmasters can be upgraded to MyQ by replacing the wired in-garage wall controller (and purchasing the internet gateway), however I'd call Liftwaster customer service/support and give them your door operators model number and ask which in-garage MyQ controller works with your door operator. (This one works with most models since 1998, and there are options for older door operators too, even a generic interface that works with any brand can be added.)

(Liftmaster Support is amazing... I wish every company supported product the way they do. They will walk you through any code changes or limit programming over the phone for Any liftmaster opener no matter how old.)

By the way, "HomeLink" car support is something different and has nothing to do with MyQ and internet control. As such, I edited that word out of your questions title.

Screenshot from my phone:


Is it practical to glue stuff to tiles with hot glue? I need to hang several small things in the shower (like a soap holder). The shower cabin has tiles. To do this, I am thinking to use a hot glue gun.

I've seen it used before to glue small plastic things in the shower, though I am not sure of the practicality of it.

Is this the recommended way? Will this type of glue last? Or should I use some other type of glue?

Edit : thanks for the answers! If I could accept them both, I would - since joining both anwsers give me comprehensive information about what to do in both cases - when I want to glue  small and light plastic stuff, and when I want to attach something heavier like holder bar.

I would use a two part epoxy for a permanent install.  The only way you're getting it off is to chip away the underlying tile.

Construction adhesive such as PL400 would also work.  It's used to glue concrete pavers together when building a wall. However, it can become brittle over time and break off.

If your attachments are ceramic as well, then the proper way to do it is to chip out a tile, and install the attachment using the same tile adhesive used to install the tiles.  Usually you can buy things like a soap dish sized properly for such an installation.


Removing metal tabs on Lutron dimmer switch in ganged box We have a two device switch box with a light switch (large switch style) and a dimmer switch. The dimmer switch stopped working, and so I plan to install a new Lutron dimmer switch instead. I haven't taken off the front cover plate yet, but I have a general question.
It says in the instructions that in a two-gang setup to remove the metal tabs on the side of the dimmer switch that will be next to the other switch so that it will fit. But I know that some switches are narrower than others. If there is room for me to install the new dimmer switch without removing the metal tabs, should I remove the tabs anyway or keep them on?

If the dimmer will fit without touching any part of the other switch it's OK and advisable to leave the tabs in place since removing them will decrease the capacity of the dimmer @Harper thanks. Personally, I'd remove them if you're installing a few low wattage bulbs now just in case you add a larger switch in the future and maybe forget about the removable tabs on the dimmer. Then you'd have to come back here and ask how to make the switch fit in the box. :-)


Remove the smell of cigarette smoke from upholstery I purchased a upholstered chair from a garage sale for cheap, and cleaned all the dog fur and other debris from it, however there is now a lingering smell of smoke from the chair. It has been thoroughly vacuumed and cleaned with a foaming upholstery cleaner, even sprayed with Fabris but to no avail.

I've heard remedies such as baking soda, but is this a permanent solution? I don't want to pay for anything expensive, as the chair is not worth very much.

You could see if anyone you know has access to any upholstery cleaners, like "Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Compact Earth-Friendly Deep Cleaner" or you can try and find some place where you can rent a Rug Doctor with an upholstery attachment, you might be able to find one at hardware and some grocery stores depending on location.  You'll probably want to use some odor neutralizer in with the water while cleaning which I think rug doctor sells a specific one to use with their machines if you go that way, but baking soda might be just as effective, I've never tried that method.


Running cable through vapor barrier I have a manufactured home (2001 vintage) sitting on a crawlspace. (I.e. it has mortared cinderblocks around it rather than skirting.) The home has a vapor barrier attached to the underside between it and the crawlspace. I want to run some ethernet cabling through the crawlspace. I'm planning to use the direct burial stuff and either just let it sit or bury it in the dirt floor of the crawlspace. I'm still working on building a drain to keep the crawlspace dry (I just bought the home and the previous owner saw no need to drain the crawlspace) so I want the vapor barrier to stay intact. Is there any way to run cable through the barrier and seal around it so that it's not letting moisture or cold air through?

Daniel Griscom said (in a comment):

  I doubt the barrier is perfect enough so that you'd notice the effect
  of a couple of small holes in it. If so, then a good quality duct tape
  might do the job (depending on the vapor barrier material).

I agree with Daniel, but I would use RTV (room temperature Vulcanization) to seal the hole as tape usually fails with wires in my experience.


RCD wiring with heating cable Hi,

I want to use the heating tape (constant wattage) and I was told that I should use RCD for the safety. I am new to RCD so I wanted to double-check if this is a correct way to wire the RCD with the power supply and the heating cable.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Note: You haven't mentioned your jurisdiction, but it is quite likely that you might need qualified/authorized electrician to perform electrical installation changes according to the Code.

That being said, yes, in your picture you connected RCD correctly.

RCD (also called GFCI or FID elsewhere in the world) is residual current device, which means it will measure the difference in current coming in from Live side and going out to Neutral side. If that current is bigger than its sensitivity (30mA in your case), it will break the connection. Single phase RCDs (as your in the picture) do not have ground connection (just 4 connections: Live in, Live out, Neutral in, Neutral out). See failure modes below on why.

Also note that "63A" marking on RCD is not any measure of its protection, it is simply maximum current rating that is capable of operating on. If you go over that, you will destroy your RCD (which you do not want).

Please note that you also need appropriately sized overcurrent circuit breaker (MCB) in addition to RCD (or get combined RCD/MCB in one package, sometimes called RCBO). For example, if your heating cable is 1000W, you would install 6A MCB (as that is first MCB size above 1000/240). If it is 2000W you would get 10A etc. In your picture, you would preferably connect it on L input before RCD.

You also need to monthly check your RCD by pressing "Test" button (yellow in your example) and verify that is tripping the RCD.

For those interested in details, let's see failure modes of your heating cable:

there could be very damaged isolation between L and N wires in it, causing very high short circuit currents, in which case almost any MCB will trip immediately due to its electomagnetic component. RCD would not help here, as all current coming in from L is going out thorough N.
there could be slightly damaged isolation between L and N wires in it, causing higher (but not extremely high) currents, in which case your MCB (if appropriately sized) will trip after some time (seconds to even minutes!) due to its thermal bimetal component. There could also be arcing involved is such case, where additional device called AFCI might help. RCD would not help here, as all current coming in from L is going out thorough N.
there could be damaged isolation between L and protective Ground mesh. In this case, current will go to protective ground cable. In this case, RCD will trip on very small current (0.03A leakage) as not all current that entered via L exited via N. If you did not have RCD, MCB would trip only if the isolation is totally gone (not on partial damage), and then only if grounding in your object was low-impedance (which may or may not be the case). Otherwise the damaged area would overheat, leading to fire hazard or melting isolation (and thus leading to other error modes).
there could be damaged isolation on L  is such a way that is exposed but does not touch the protective Ground mesh (for example if mesh was stripped during bad installation). In that case, if you did not have RCD, and you touched the exposed L, you could die, as the current would flow from L, through your body, to ground on which you stand (especially if it was for example in bathroom, and you were wet), causing cardiac arrest. With RCD, the current also would start to flow through your body, but RCD would detect that not all current has returned via N and would trip in the matter of milliseconds, thus saving your life.