What tool(s) are appropriate for cutting a door opening in shipping container? I'm thinking about buying a shipping container to use it for storage/bike shed/workshop. I can get one from a retailer with an extra door, but this would be rather expensive. So now I'm investigating ways to do this myself. The first question is how to get the hole into the container wall.
What are possible tools with their pros and cons and approximate cost that are able to cut through the wall of a shipping container, for long (~2m) straight cuts?

There are many tools for cutting steel.  In addition to what you have suggested you could use:

A "sawzall" type reciprocating saw.
An oxy-acetylene torch.
A plasma cutter.
A body grinder with a cutting disc.

If you are good at following a marked line freehand then you should be able to just cut away and get the result you want.  If your cuts tend to drift, you might put together some sort of guide to keep the cuts straight.
(Since you asked...)
If I had to choose one, for example if this was my project, I'd probably opt for the plasma cutter route.  Plasma cutters cut through sheet steel like a hot knife through butter and leave a very clean edge.  The biggest con with them is that it can be tricky to keep a straight line.  But a straightedge of some sort will fix that issue easily.


How to connect 1" PVC pipe to 1" push fitting How do you push 1" PVC pipe into a 1" brass push fitting? It won't go in. Is a special tool needed?

UPDATE

I made a mistake. Push fittings only work with CPVC, pex or copper, not PVC.

That's likely the wrong fitting for the job.  Shark bite style fittings typically are for pec, Cpvc and copper.  Below is the list for branded products.

Copper pipe hard drawn Type K, L and M and annealed Type M not to exceed 3/8 nominal, complying with ASTM B88
PEX pipe complying with ASTM F 876 or CSA B137.5
CPVC pipe complying with ASTM D 2846 or CSA B137.6
PE-RT pipe complying with ASTM F 276


infloor heating thermostat from sub panel question I am installing quiet warm in floor mats in a small room.We installed a four breaker sub panel.The thermostat for the floors heating pads has a built in gfci,but just shows neutral and hot connections and no ground connection.Do you think this means they are using the neutral wire from the thermostat as ground?Would this work, or would I have to wire the thermostat back to the main service panel? This is a dedicated circuit.I had trouble contacting theyre tech support.Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you, mike s.

GFCI does not require a ground connection to function. It checks for an imbalance between the HOT and NEUTRAL lead current, assuming that any difference is escaping to ground, possibly through a human body.

This is why it is legal to use a GFCI outlet without a ground connected, assuming you are installing it on an old non-grounded circuit.


Why is a white electrical wire connected to 2 black wires? I just opened my ceiling light to replace it with another mount. I see a white wire connected to 2 black wires, is that right?

The middle switch controls this ceiling light.

The cable with the white wire that's connected to the two black wires is a switch loop:

Normally wires with white insulation are used only for neutrals, but code makes an exception to allow for use of the white wire in a cable used as a switch loop as a hot rather than a neutral.

If you'll look closely in the drawing, the whites used as hots are wrapped with black tape to indicate they are being used as such.  The wiring in the picture in the question lack this, which is a code violation.  Of course the electricity can't see the tape so it's not intrinsically unsafe.  However, it can be a hazard if someone working on the wiring makes a mistake because it's not labelled as clearly as it should be.


GFCI tripping frequently Can a refrigerator be connected to one of the load receptacles from a GFCI. Of late, GFCI is tripping very frequently. What is the solution for this. Would replacing the GFCI with a new one resolve this issue. My GFCI is pretty old like 20 years.

If your refrigerator is on a dedicated circuit, then a GFCI is not required.

GFCI protection is also not required for receptacles that are not readily accessible [whatever that means].

When I wired my laundry room which included provisions for a refrigerator, I mounted the receptacle up high (so I could reach it above the refrig, which in located in a little alcove), and put it on it's own dedicated circuit.

Note, I was doing this work with a licensed master electrician, had all the necessary permits, and passed electrical & final inspections.


Exterior Window Casing in Brick Exterior So I was attempting to install new exterior window casing on my windows due to the existing casing/trim peeling and seemingly rotting. The exterior of the home is brick so I bought some 1 1/4" x 2" brick moulding as I thought the gap between the exterior of the house and the window would be pretty big. But they seem to be significantly larger than I thought!

There were two pieces of wood which formed the casing for the window is seems, the most exterior piece of moulding I had already pulled off in this picture

At the top of the window there is around a 2&1/2" gap from the frame and the window that revealed itself after both pieces of casing were off. The gap was filled with loose cement, I just cleaned it out hoping to fill it with insulating foam. Here you can see the gap after both pieces of wood had been pulled off

there also doesn't seem to be any flashing what so ever and no drip edge installed.

The sides are even more confusing to me though, as it seems a piece of casing was installed under the actual brick exterior. Don't really know if I should remove this or what?

Clearly a noobie here, who would greatly appreciate any insight into a next course of action.

I would go around it with 2-by lumber. Maybe PT 2x2 on the sides and 2x3 or 2x4 up top depending on the size of the gap.


Need advice on replacing 100amp main lighting breaker in a pushmatic- live panel involved in diy I have a push matic box, where over the years breakers will go bad. Luckily, they are after the main lighting breaker that shuts off the bottom of the buss bar.  I feel comfortable working on those and have replaced several over the years.
New item, the main lighting breaker is starting to fail. The problem is, of the four screws connecting it to the buss bar, 2 are connected to the upper part that cannot be switched off with out turning off the power at the meter; I am unable and unwilling if I could, to do that.
Question..
I have my class 0 insulating gloves, and my 1000v rated insulating drivers;  are experts here comfortable pulling that break without turning the main power off outside?  Is it completely irrational to do so?
I am selling the house in a year or so, and they are demoing these houses for bigger, so I’d rather not upgrade the panel.  The panel has been good to us the last 30 years.
All input is welcome.
Thank you.
Hahn

If doing this first turn the breaker off or all of the loads on the breaker (yes I understand it’s still live).
Using the proper gear electricians do this all the time. I would add a face shield just in case. I have to wear a green one that I think makes it more dangerous because it makes it harder to see (a few years I started using an auto darkening welding hood it covers the face and is clear until a flash).
If I remember the screws on the pushmatic are captured so you won’t drop the screws, if they are not this will be the dangerous part of the job removal and installing the screws. I carry a small jar of rubber cement, some times called contact adhesive. I dip the screwdriver tip (a proper screwdriver will be a snug fit without the glue) let the glue dry only takes a minute. Remove the screws. The contact adhesive is sticky and helps hang onto the screw if it is not captured.
Dropping the screws can cause a short that may end in a arc flash.  The protective equipment is there for this possibility on top of the live circuit.
Wear cotton clothing nothing that can melt.
Use caution, loads turned off, face shield, gloves, insulated tools and heavy cotton clothes and caution while doing the work.
Just to make clear the loads are turned off so when the screws are loosened there is no arcing while coming out if the breaker is stuck on. Make sure the new breaker going in is off so it doesn’t arc on contact.
It has been quite a few years since working on a pushmatic I think the screws are captured but may be wrong the rubber cement although can be messy can be a real aide on the tip of the screwdriver


Exposed Romex cable on garage ceiling without conduit protection I am working on an old house.  The garage ceiling (attic floor) has exposed beams (ie. it doesn't have sheetrock on the underside that provides for a finished ceiling).  The power to the garage door opener and to the outlets on the other side of the garage go through a romex that is stapled to one of the beams.  It goes into an outlet for the garage opener to connect to and then continues to the other side of the garage and hides inside the wall.  Do I need to insert that romex inside a conduit sleeve?  Or, is it okay being "exposed" like that?  The ceiling is about 8.5 ft height so it is not within reach for a typical person.  Also, the outlet box is nailed to the beam and has a typical cover but it is also "exposed".  It is a metal box  but it is grounded.

Stapled to the sides of joists, or through drilled holes, is fine in this installation.


How can I fill a gap between the exterior wall and trim? I have a stucco-sided house that I am repairing/repainting. In the course of repairs, some of the caulk/weatherstripping between the trim and the house came off. The gap between the wall and the trim is fairly large -- at least 1/2 inch.

What's the best way to fill that gap? It seems too wide for a bead of caulk. But the product I pulled out of there doesn't seem like weatherstripping.

I have added a picture below. The first gives a reference of what we're looking at. The second is a closeup. The third is for a reference as to how big the gap is. I am a normal-sized human.

Correctly sized backer rod, a bond breaker, and properly applied sealant is the appropriate way to handle the joint between dissimilar materials with different coefficients of expansion [both thermal and moisture] such as wood trim and cement plaster.


Do I really need a newel post at every change in direction in a banister? I'm constructing a banister for a loft. It's an area with three angled turns - labelled A, B, and C in this picture:

I know the conventional wisdom is that you need a newel post at every change in direction. But do I really need to do that? The banister we had previously had no posts of any kind at points B and C. It was just banister the whole way, and it looked like they used a nail gun to connect the banisters together at points B and C.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like I don't need newel posts at B or C. And once I convince myself of that, it seems like I don't need a newel post at A, either.

For the record, to left of point A where it starts to get black (at the edge of the photo), there's an extremely stable vertical floor-to-ceiling beam that I can anchor my banister to.

Edit: Someone asked what my banister looks like. Here's a picture of that:

The handrail is primarily a safety device, so make sure you don't sacrifice that goal to save a little bit of work now.

Based on your description it doesn't sound like the spindles will really contribute much to the lateral (sideways) strength of the railing. So if you omit the intermediate posts you need to make sure the top rail is constructed with enough strength that the C shape is strong enough to support kids running into it it, elderly people supporting their weight, people leaning against it, etc.

I believe the IRC requires railings to be able to support a 200 lbs load at any point in any direction. If you think you can build the top railing with enough strength that someone can push on it with 200 lbs of force, go for it. Personally it seems like it would be a lot easier to add the extra posts.


Mounting a Pull Up Bar Due to quarantine, I can no longer go out and exercise, so I am looking to drill a pull up bar in my room.
I can either drill the bar in the wall or the ceiling, both which is made of wood. This is my first DIY project ever, so I don't know if they can support my weight when I hang on a bar, and I am unsure where to drill the holes.
Do I drill it directly in the wood or are there metal studs?
I am also worried the screws might damage the structural integrity of the wood. Any suggestions for where to drill in either the wall or the ceiling?
Edit: People are asking for pictures so I will include pictures.
This is a wall that I can put the pull up bar, or on the ceiling.

I can also put the pull up bar on the wall here.

First of all, congrats on taking up your first ever DIY project! It will be a rewarding experience. The more you do, the more you will learn and enrich your life, as well as being able to help those around you.
For the wall option, you'd want to go into the studs, which you can find with a studfinder, or just watch a video on how to find them by knocking on the drywall. Knocking on drywall to find them is very easy.
The screws you use shouldn't compromise the structural integrity of the wood; whatever you're mounting, you shouldn't have to use anything more than a wood screw that's a couple inches long.
I wouldn't try to install on the ceiling; seems like you'd hit your head on the ceiling before you'd complete a full range of motion for a pull-up. Installing one in the wall, over a doorway is ideal. That way your body can swing forward slightly when performing the motion, and you should still have enough headroom.
My favorite training tool for rock climbing is called a "hangboard". They allow various different types of strength building compared to a pull-up bar, but you can still do pull-ups on them. They have a very easy-to-follow install guide on their site.
Here's a link to one online: https://www.metoliusclimbing.com/project-board.html
That being said, you could also just get a removable one: link
I used to have one of these when I lived in an apartment, and didn't want to have to resurface walls after moving out. Be warned though, if you get a removeable one, you can't pull as hard/move as fast, for it can bounce and come loose. Also, if the walls and ceiling are wood, I'd go with this option as defacing a nice looking wooden wall is a little sacrilege IMO.
Best of luck!


What is the ideal fitting to reduce gas line diameter from 3/4" to 3/8"? I purchased a gas dryer that accepts a 3/8" NPT gas fitting at the back (typical of most gas dryers, I assume). My main gas line in the wall is 3/4". Total distance from meter to gas dryer is about 15-20 feet.

Given the ideal gas line configuration, what is the ideal fitting to reduce from 3/4" to 3/8"? Or should this be accomplished with more than one fitting (i.e., one fitting from 3/4" to 1/2" and another fitting from 1/2" to 3/8")?

Here is an insert from the Owner's Manual for the LG DLGX9001V:

If the dryer takes a 3/8" NPT fitting for the gas supply, and the home has a 3/4" gas supply pipe in the wall, with what fitting should I accomplish the reduction in diameter?

I would run 3/4 black pipe close to the dryer location (within 4 feet).  Then assemble a Tee with fittings to make a sediment trap, a 3/4 to 1/2 inch reducer,

a cutoff valve, and then this appliance connector.

A step up in appliance connectors is this one

which automatically cuts the flow (to a tiny trickle) if there is grossly excess gas flow as when the hose is disconnected or the appliance fails in some dramatic way.

Some might omit the sediment trap.


How to tell if your locks are bump proof? I was reading about lock "bumping" where burglars buy 'bump' keys and can open locks very quickly. I was also reading that some locks are bump proof (double chamber perhaps?). My question is: how can I tell, by looking at the locks currently on my door, if they are bump proof or not?

I don't see any brand or manufacturer name on the locks but they were replaced 3 months ago when we bought the house.

If you are not familiar with bump keys or locks take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr23tpWX8lM

If your lock is a just a simple pin tumbler  then its vulnerable to bumping.

There are some pin tumbler locks that say they protect against bumping,  but in practice it might be a little more difficult,  but still very vulnerable.   In fact the only deadbolt lock that I know of that isn't vulnerable to bumping, rakeing or other simple attacks.    Is the Shalge Primus or another Hybrid key type.   The pin tumbler on the primus is 100% vulnerable to bumping,  however,  the "side-bit milling"  isn't vulnerable.   Defense in depth security in layers.


Direct Burial MC Cable I want to install a 100 amp 230 volt single phase service from my house breaker panel to an external shop building. My house service is 200 amp 230 volt.

Is it permitted to use direct burial MC cable such as Service Wire Co. part no. AAP2/3 [see page 68] (3 conductors of 2 AWG and a 6 AWG bare ground) with aluminum or galvanized steel interlocked armor with a black PVC jacket?  Temperature rated at 90 degrees C wet or dry.  In the following installation.

I want to connect to the house breaker panel at the power entrance and run about 110 feet thru the house attic then down the outside of the rear house wall and go underground about 80 feet to a metal sided shop building and up and over about 20 feet to a breaker panel.  Total length of cable about 210-225 feet.

Reason I am thinking of using MC cable is because I am trying to go under several large tree roots and sprinkler pipes and think it will be easier than installing conduit.  However, I am open to suggestions.  I am in California.

Can you use Direct burial MC cable? YES. Looking at that long of a run you are pushing the voltage drop limit of 3%. Here is a link to a calculator, 3% is the standard limit. 240V At 80 amps the voltage drop was 2.74% on #2 copper. With 100 amps it jumped the wire to #1 and it was 2.48%. So the real answer will be load dependent. If your expected load is going to be ~80 amps it will work with that size wire and a 80 amp breaker. If you really need 100A the wire size will need to be adjusted.


Is it economically reasonable to cool the roof by water evaporation I want to estimate the outcome before going into hassle of installing the sprinklers/mist emitters.

I have a place on the last floor, you can call it an attic, directly under a flat roof which is metal, insulated underneath with 15 cm of glass wool. 160 square meters of roof that is.

Most of the year temperatures in Kiev are below 28 °C, and I have decent ventilation, so the temperature inside is not more than 1 degree hotter than outside with full occupancy of 50 people.
But those few hours in few days when the temperature rises above 30 °C is a problem for me.

Online calculators tell me that the heat is coming in mostly from sun radiation through windows and roof, and I need 19kW of cooling power to compensate for it.

I want to avoid installing air conditioning both because of up-front cost of more than 1000$, and operating cost of electricity to tun it.

The numbers below are in hryvnas, exchange rate is roughly 20 hryvnas per 1 US dollar.
Ballpark calculation is very promising: with a cost of water supply at around 10 ₴/cubic meters, evaporation heat cost of water would be 0.02 ₴/kWh, which is 2 orders of magnitude less than cost of electricity which is around 2 ₴/kWh.
Estimated water usage would be 100 liters/hour, which is reasonable.

The question is -- how much of that cooling power would work for me cooling my space through 15 cm of glass wool between my ceiling and roof surface. That is versus cooling ambient air just above the roof.
 And how much water can I expect to evaporate on 160 sq.meters of roof at 30 °C, humidity rarely rises above 40% at such temperatures in Kiev.

Good answers to related questions:
Is a roof sprinker a good idea?
Would putting a sprinkler on my roof help cool my home?

Won't work.
The insulation is sufficient to reduce the heat loss from your apartment at 25c to the snow or ice at -15c to a reasonably low value.

Misters or evaporative coolers only reduce the temperature by a few degrees C, and most of the heat absorbed would come from the surrounding air, not your house.

I'd suggest awnings over the windows, drapes/shades, and an attic fan, and possibly an indoor mister.


Running UF-B along the outside wall of the house I want to run an outdoor cable to an outside outlet box without burying the cable. My location is upstate NY, USA.

Here is the circuit description:
120v/30a CB feeding #10/2 UF-B cable to an outdoor outlet (this is for an RV hookup on the side of the house.

I am interested in coming out of the wall with the UF-B, attaching it to the side of the house(about 2ft above the ground) to the outdoor box. The run along the side of the house is about 30ft.

Will code allow this run without conduit? If not what is code requirement.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Gene

Since your UF cable is marked "Sunlight Resistant", you can run it outdoors aboveground without protecting it from the sun's rays.  Go ahead and make the run -- just make sure the cable isn't in a position where it could get weedwhacked, run over, or otherwise physically damaged.

If it is, you'll need to protect the run with a length of conduit.


How to install DWV piping for new toilets added to current system I am wanting to install a toilet in a cabin that is about 150ft uphill from my home. So waste will run downhill, thank goodness. And about 60 ft from my home on that same run I want to install another toilet in a changing room for hot pool. Then waste line will run into crawl space of house and hook up with 4" sewer line and then into septic tank.

So my questions are what size waste lines and venting lines do I need? And do I just need venting where toilets are? Or do I need vent piping along the 150' run along the way?

And anything else I am leaving out?

You'll want to match your 4" house line with 4" to both locations. And yes, if you can toss in an in-line vent halfway along those runs, that would only be beneficial.

And yes again, you'll want to continue the 4" at each location as their own separate vent stacks. Through the roof or higher than all fixtures through the wall.

Additionally, in order to avoid having to vent other fixtures (if any) separately or by tying them into the location's vent stack, you'll need to keep those other drain inlets (if any) no further than 5' from the vent stack. Otherwise no, the vent stack would be just be for the toilet.


How To Trace A Dead Circuit I have a circuit that went dead a couple of weeks ago in a home that is 24 years old.  I have identified five outlets on the circuit, all are dead. One of the outlets is outside on a front porch with the proper weather-proofing cover.  Three outlets are in the garage and the fifth outlet is inside the home in a bathroom.  Using a small plug in outlet tester, it showed an open "hot".  What seems odd to me is that I am unable to locate any GFIC on this circuit and I thought that was required for both garage and bathroom outlets.  In the garage, I have a working outlet about three feet from one of the dead outlets.  I backfed the hot from that working outlet to the dead outlet and all outlets were live and showed correct wiring.  I removed the backfeed and removed the breaker box panel.  By the way, no breakers where tripped.  However, to be sure I reset all of "outlet" breakers.  The individual circuits were never identified in the main panel.  Next, using a digital meter, I tested the hot terminal on each breaker.  All showed 124 volts.  So, it appears that the breaker is not the issue.  I'm not sure where to go from here and would appreciate any advice.  At this point, it looks like I have a break in the wire between the first outlet, which I believe is the bathroom outlet, and the breaker.  I know this would be unusual, but I'm not sure what else it would be.  Thanks in advance.

With Daisy chained outlets not working it is usually the first non working outlet or the last working outlet on that circuit that has the bad connection. This problem is usually caused by the back stab terminals failing or a broken wire. The circuit needs to be identified and turned off for safety. Remove the working outlet from the box on this one you are looking for a loose, broken wire that feeds the other outlets. With back stabs sometimes pulling the outlet will temporally re connect the bad connection if this happens the outlet needs to be replaced. If the last working outlet is not the problem go to the first non working outlet looking for the same issue but on the feed to the outlet. if a wire pulls out of the stab that outlet really needs to be replaced, If the wire is broken strip the wire and repair the connection. This method has solved almost all the failed outlets similar to yours I have been called for.


How do I make the connection for 2 lights with a power source between them? I have 2 sensor activated lights with the power source in between the two lights. It is run with 14/3 romex wire from each light source to the power source. How do I make the connection?

I am assuming that BOTH sensor-lights are identical with each having their own sensor. And therefore will work independently

You won't need to mess with the third (red) wires. Use what's called a "parallel" connection: Wire-nut the blacks together going to each fixture, Then wire-nut the Whites together. Then the Grounds together. After that, connect the two Blacks to the black lead at the source, then the two Whites to the white lead at the source, lastly the Grounds to the grounds at the source.

If you don't mind me saying, this is a very basic-type of thing to do. Might I suggest you get a good DIY book at the home-store before you do anything fancy, so you and your home are really safe?

Good Luck!


How do I replace a garage door spring? One of the springs on my garage door has snapped. I'd like to replace it, but it seems like I'm going to have to get the door up before I can do so.  Of course, the door is extremely heavy with a broken spring, so that is tricky.  Do I just need to get a jack to get the door up, or is there another solution I'm not thinking of?

I've replaced my own garage door torsion springs twice, and I'm still alive to talk about it; it's absolutely doable. I learned how to do the replacement from Richard Kinch's exceedingly thorough page on the subject, so I'm going to quote heavily from it; all credit goes to him. I'm going to provide the highlights here, but read and re-read the information there, and make your own decision as to whether you want to do the job yourself.

  If you've researched this subject at all, you will no doubt have heard that you shouldn't be attempting torsion spring replacement as a do-it-yourselfer. That is generally good advice, so if you have any doubts about your abilities to do risky physical work on your own, hire the job out like everyone else. I found I was capable of doing this work with acceptable risk, because I intelligently understood the techniques, paid careful attention to methods and safety, knew how to use common tools in good condition, properly improvised the special tools I didn't have, and diligently attended to correctly performing a few moments of hazardous manipulation. I learned to do it purely on my own based mostly on bits of advice reluctantly given in Internet forums such as the Usenet newsgroup alt.home.repair. When I first wrote this page in 2002, there was no other do-it-yourself information available on the Web, and it was not until 2005 that reliable information disclosing the techniques started to appear elsewhere.

  I am also an engineer, and have always done a lot of mechanical repairs around the house. I also operate my own laboratory machine shop, and do some mechanical design work there. This background helped me figure things out, but nothing that involved is critical to repairing a standard garage door.

  This work is risky, but the risk is comparable to doing your own car repairs, or climbing on the roof of your house to clean your gutters. These are dangerous things that many people can do safely, but that safety depends on intelligent understanding and application of proper techniques. Professional door repair technicians, who are fully knowledgable, skilled, and experienced, report that they nevertheless are injured from time to time, despite their best efforts. Coldly evaluate your abilities and motivations, to judge whether you can manage the risks of this work for the benefit of the money and time you might save.

Determine the critical metrics of the old spring so that you can order a new one.

  Critical measurements: Torsion springs come a variety of standardized sizes, so you have to carefully measure the old springs to know what to order for proper replacements. Tables of standard sizes and designs are on the Web, such as at Industrial Spring. The four critical measurements (all in inches) are: (1) the wire thickness (which I'm measuring here with a dial caliper; you can also measure the length of a number of closely stacked turns with a ruler and divide by the number of turns in the stack, measuring 10 turns this way makes the math easy), (2) the inside diameter (not outside!) of the relaxed (not wound!) coil, (3) the overall length of the relaxed (not wound!) spring coils, not including the winding cones, and (4) the right- or left-hand winding of the spring. One must glibly quote those figures to the spring supplier, otherwise one's lack of expertise will be obvious, and one will not be worthy of buying the parts.

  Beware of improprer prior installations: Sometimes the existing door installation is not correct, and the old springs should not be used as a specification for replacements. For example, the old springs might have been replaced with incorrect sizes because the last repairman didn't have the right one on his truck. If your door has never worked quite right, something like this might be the cause. To correct this, you must use the weight of the door to specify the spring, either from a spring rate manual giving spring torque constants, or from the formulas below.

Obtain a replacement spring. Start by simply googling 'garage door supply'.

  You certainly won't find these at Home Depot or Lowe's (although last I checked Lowe's does carry the less daunting extension spring replacements). I also have a list of some suppliers at the end of this page.

  Cost was $88 for 2 pairs of springs, plus $21 shipping. (I had to order 2 pairs to meet the $50 minimum order.) They came with new cones inserted as shown at that price, so I didn't bother trying to remove and reuse the old cones to save a few dollars. The cones are quite difficult to remove from old springs and to insert in new ones, and the spring supplier will have the right tooling to do that easily. That was the best price I could find on the Web at the time, and didn't seem out of line with what parts like this might cost at at the building supply (if they only sold them). Contractors buy these much cheaper in quantities; they're just an ordinary high-carbon steel wire turned on a winding machine. I also found Web sites asking a lot more money, obviously trying to cash in on search-engine traffic from do-it-yourselfers. Others report that some local dealers sell springs at retail, but at a high price that eliminates any economy versus having them installed.

  Spring pairs should be replaced together, since the mate is likely to fail soon after the first, and any possible savings in parts isn't worth the extra effort to repeat the work later.

Gather and/or prepare your tools for installation.

  The two set-screws in the winding cones have a 3/8-inch square head, which fits a 3/8-inch open-end wrench or 8-point socket, or a 7/16-inch 12-point socket or 12-point closed-end wrench. I carried an extra wrench in my pocket while winding, since I didn't want to be holding a wound spring that I couldn't set because I had dropped the wrench (although one could rest the winding rod against the door in this case while picking up a dropped tool).

  I decided later to use an ordinary open-end wrench rather than this socket or a box-end wrench to turn this fastener. The extra play fits the crude square heads better, and if the cone were to accidentally let loose, an open-end wrench would be the least likely tool to stay on the head and turn into a flying hazard.

  The standard winding tools are simply a pair of 18-inch lengths of mild steel rod, 1/2-inch diameter. Winding cones can have different socket sizes (such as 5/8 inch instead of 1/2 inch), so it is important to measure the socket and select a matching rod diameter. Also beware that poor-quality cones may have a sloppy fit to the winding bars, and a loose fit presents a severe hazard of slipping at the worst moment; anything more than about an inch or two of play at the handle end is too loose for safety. I bought a 3-foot length of zinc-plated 1/2-inch diameter steel rod from Home Depot for about $3, which conveniently cuts into two halves of just the right length (the store might even cut it for you if you ask). A steel supplier selling at commodity prices might charge about 50 cents or so for such a piece that weighs about 2 lbs. Drill rod would work if used in the annealed condition in which it is originally sold, but the added expense provides no benefit and the brittleness (if it had been hardened and not annealed) would worry me a bit. Rebar, threaded rod, screwdrivers, etc., are absolutely foolish as they will not fit the socket snugly. Aluminum rod is definitely too weak, and will bend under the torque that must be applied. Longer rods would make for more leverage but unwieldly swing; shorter rods make for uncontrollable swing. As we'll calculate below, the 18-inch standard tool length is an appropriate compromise. Note that you do not need 18 inches of ceiling clearance above the torsion shaft to use an 18-inch rod, since you need not swing the rods above horizontal when winding.

Remove the broken and unbroken springs.

  To remove and disassemble the shaft and lift drums, the torsion on the unbroken spring must first be released. I used a ratcheting box-end wrench to loosen the set-screws while pushing the rod against the force I knew would be released when the screws let go. Later I switched to an open-end wrench for the set-screws, since some of the square screw heads were too rough to fit in the box-end wrench.

  It is prudent to be prepared for torque from either orientation when loosening the set-screws. This protects you from a miscalculation of the force orientation or from an attention lapse.

  If it isn't marked already, you should run a chalk line (as described below for the new springs) down the length of the old spring before unwinding, so you know how many turns it took to unwind. This will give you a starting value for the number of turns in the new springs.

  By each "turn" is meant a full revolution of the winding cone. Each full turn requires four quarter-turn manipulations of inserting and switching the winding rods. My door is a very common height of 7 feet, which with the 4-inch drums requires about 7-1/4 or 7-1/2 full turns on the springs.

  This is the moment of truth for the beginner, as you will be holding the full force of a fully-wound torsion spring for the first time. It is time to adopt a calm, quiet, deliberate, careful attitude of concentration. Make sure that the telephone, a bystander, or other distraction is not going to startle you or make you lose your concentration.

  Loosening or tightening the set-screws is the moment of most risk, since the end-wrench is a potential missile if you slip, and your hand is close to the cone. When the wrench is removed and only the rods are in place, it would seem that the worst that could happen is that the rod is flung out and the captive spring and cone rattle around, assuming you are keeping yourself clear of the rod's radial disk of rotation, and not leaning on the rod such as to fall into the apparatus were the rod to slip out of your grasp. The torsion shaft design has the virtue of capturing the mass of the spring and cones reliably on the shaft, preventing these parts from launching themselves as projectiles, even in an accident.

  The prior clamping of the set-screws tends to have pressed a dimple into the hollow shaft and to have distorted the shaft's roundness into an eccentric shape. While releasing the set-screws, I was careful to loosen them enough to let the cone swing around any such distortions. I was also careful to observe any binding of the old cones on the eccentricity or burring on the shaft. The fit of the cone on the shaft is supposed to be loose enough to avoid binding, but if it were to occur one would have to be careful not to assume the spring was unwound when in fact the cone was just stuck on the shaft. If I had a stuck cone that I could not unwind with a little extra force, then I would have called in a technician to deal with it. In the worst case, I suppose the spring must be deliberately broken with some hazard, thus releasing it for a forceful disassembly, and the shaft and some other parts replaced. But this is an unlikely situation and in this case was not necessary.

  The winding technique is simply to (un)wind as far as one rod will go, where it is pressed against the top of the door, or nearly so, by the unwinding torsion. You insert the other rod in the next socket, remove the first rod, and continue. At any point you can stop and rest by leaving the active rod pressed against the door, where it will be held by the unwinding force. I would make a quarter-turn increment that way, and let go for a moment to collect my attention for the next increment, almost in a quiet, meditative alertness. While you can go from one quarter-turn and rod-swap to the next continually without letting go, working fast against the steady tension seemed to invite a kind of shakiness in my arms that was a bit unsettling. It isn't that there is much physical exertion, it is more that the tension is unrelenting, like peering over a precipice.

  While winding or unwinding, one must be mindful of the possibility that the spring could break during winding process itself. If that should happen while the spring is significantly torqued, hazardous forces on the winding bar will suddenly become unbalanced, and the bar will take an unexpected jump, possibly injuring your hand or anything else in its path. At the same time, the spring remnants, although captured on the torsion bar, will create a frightening racket that would give the bravest soul a start. So your winding technique should be firmly in control of the rods, and you should not be so delicately perched on a ladder such that a startle will result in a fall.

  In my case, removing and replacing the relaxed springs required that I take down the assembly: torsion shaft, lift drums, and bearings. Doing that requires unbolting the center bearing plate from the wall, removing the drums from the shaft, and finally sliding the shaft back and forth out of the end bearings to remove the whole assembly off the wall.

  Once the springs are relaxed and loose on the torsion shaft, the lift drums lose their tension on the lift cable, and the cable comes loose. The end of the cable is terminated by a press sleeve, which locks into a ramp on the drum. Different drum styles have a bolt or other method to fix the cable end to the drum. These steel cables are springy and won't stay in place without tension. If my pre-inspection had showed that these cables were worn or frayed, then I would have ordered proper replacements ahead of time from the spring distributor, since this is the opportunity to replace them. Standard hardware-store cable and fittings are not appropriate.

Install the new springs.

  As noted above, set-screw clamping may have distorted the cross-section of the shaft and made it difficult to slide off all the hardware. With the shaft on the floor, it may be possible to restore enough roundness to proceed, using compensating clamping force to the distorted area via a machinist's vise, an arbor press, a hydraulic shop press, etc., on the shaft body. Burrs and other slight distortions on the shaft can be filed off with a hand file or touched with an abrasive wheel on an angle grinder. At some point, the condition of the shaft may just be degraded enough that it ought to be replaced.

  I was careful not to assume that the previous installation correctly oriented the right- and left-hand springs on the correct sides of the center bearing plate. They could have been installed backwards by an incompetent installer, resulting in them having been wound looser (larger diameter coil) instead of tighter (smaller diameter coil) than when in their relaxed state, and if so I would have corrected them on the new installation. The proper orientation of the springs applies their reaction torque from tighter winding such that it turns the drums to lift the door. Verifying this is a rather simple exercise in mechanical visualization, but does require some care to be certain of correctness. If you were to install the springs backwards, and then start to wind them in the wrong direction, then the torsion bar will start winding the drums backwards, and not holding against the vise pliers, which should be obvious to inspection. Winding a spring backwards also tends to screw the spring off the cones; this error cannot proceed too far before the spring slips off the cones.

  At this point I weighed the unlifted door to confirm and fine-tune my calculations. This is not strictly necessary, but it makes the adjustments easier to perform, if you happen to have a scale with the requisite capacity. With some helpers, we first lifted the door a few inches and rested it on blocks of wood to provide clearance underneath. Then I slid a 400-pound-capacity freight scale under the center of the door, we lifted again to remove the blocks, and lowered the door gently onto the scale. This door weighed in at 238 pounds, which is very heavy for a single-car door. Since the outside of the door carries the 3/4-inch plywood paneling to match the house, and that plywood weighs about 2 lbs/sq-ft, I estimate the door weight to be about 7 x 10 x 2 = 140 lbs of paneling with the rest 238 - 140 = 98 lbs the interior panels, hardware, and cobwebs. Knowing this total weight will help later in adjusting the torsion on the springs. After weighing, we removed the scale and blocks, leaving the door fully lowered again. Had I not had a high-capacity freight scale, I might have improvised a crude weighing device from levers and smaller weights of known mass, or a lever arm pressing a reduced proportion of the full weight onto a lower-capacity scale. Another factor to remember is that the weight of a wood door can vary with humidity.

  Next, the torsion shaft is reassembled with the new springs, the drums repositioned loosely on the shaft, this whole assembly slid back into the end bearings, and the drum set-screws tightened down. I tightened the set-screws about 1/2 or 3/4 of a turn after contact with the shaft, which provides a good grip, but does not distort the shaft. The drums can be set on their old positions, if they were correctly installed, which is snug up against the end bearings to remove any longitudinal play in the torsion shaft. Now the lift cable can be reattached to the drums, and a slight temporary torque applied to the shaft to keep the cable taut while the first spring is wound. This temporary torque is conveniently applied with a pair of locking pliers clamped on the shaft, positioned such that they hold the torque by pressing lightly against the wall above the door, before you start the spring winding, The locking pliers stay on the torsion shaft until you have finished the spring winding locked down the spring cone(s) with the setscrew(s), and removed the winding bars. Then you simply remove them with the release on the wrench handle.

  Checking if the lift drums need resetting: The old position of the lift drums on the shaft may have slipped or otherwise lost the the proper position, requiring a reset of the drum position on the torsion shaft. You will also reset the drums if you are replacing the lift cables, since the new cables will not exactly match the length of the old ones. Problems like uneven tension on the cables, or a tilted door, or a door that doesn't easily stay aligned with the tracks, can be due to an improper "set" of the drums on the shaft. So one shouldn't assume the old positions are correct. Setting the drums on a "fresh" part of the shaft will avoid the possibility of damaging the shaft from re-tightening in the same dimples.

There's a lot more info about adjusting the drums and lift cables, so visit Richard Kinch's page for details.
Wind the new springs.

  The last step before winding is to run a piece of chalk down the length of both relaxed springs. This lets you observe the number of turns as you wind. You don't want to be busy counting turns when you should be paying attention to the winding rods.

  The position of the bars in this photo was necessary to take the photo, and does not show a correct winding technique, You should not have to swing the bar up as high over the top as shown. The lower bar during winding should swing from pointing down to pointing a little past horizontal. Then you hold that bar horizontal while socketing the other bar pointing down, apply force to that (now) lower bar, then remove the (now) upper bar, wind one-quarter turn, and repeat.

  You can also see I am wearing eye protection. It would be foolish to go bare and risk an eye injury.

  Winding "up" starts out easy. It finishes at the proper number of turns, by which time you are pushing against the maximum torque. Count the turns of spring winding from when the springs are slack. To be sure you're winding the right direction, all you have to remember is that proper winding makes the spring smaller in diameter and longer in length as it twists "in". On the standard door (most common), this means you push the winding bars up to wind up the spring, which is an easily remembered rule. This is very apparent and should be verified during the first few easy turns. You can also think about the correct winding direction in mechanical terms, namely which way the reaction of the spring will torque the shaft and drums, which in turn will lift the cable. This should all make perfect sense before you attempt the manipulations.

  By watching the chalk mark while winding, you can count the number of turns applied, and confirm the number later. My standard-size door (7 foot height) with 4-inch drums has a nominal wind of 7-1/4 or 7-1/2 turns, which leaves 1/4 or 1/2 turn at the top-of-travel to keep the lift cables under tension. After 7 turns on the first spring, I clamped down the set-screws, weighed the door again, and found a lift of about 100 pounds in reduced weight. As expected, this wasn't quite half of the full 238 pounds, nor would it leave any torsion at the top-of-travel, so I added an 8th turn. The door now weighed 122 pounds on one spring, which was ideal. After winding the other spring, the door lifted easily, with only a few pounds apparent weight. This confirmed that the spring choice was properly matched to the door design. I engaged the electric opener trolley, and adjusted the opener forces down to a safer level suitable for the new, improved balance. The door was now ready for return to service.

  As with the drums, I tightened the winding cone set-screws about 1/2 or 3/4 of a turn after contact with the shaft, which provides a good grip, but does not distort the shaft.

  The usually recommended rule for a door being properly balanced is that it should lift "easily" through all its travel. The door may also remain stationary if let go somewhere around the middle of the travel, but a smoothly rolling door many not show this behavior (while a sticky track will!), so easy travel is the only reliable test for proper balance. A difficult door may be due to stiff bearings or rollers in the mechanism, tracks out of alignment, etc., not necessarily the torsion spring adjustment.

  Once the springs are torqued, the setscrews tightened, and the locking pliers and winding rods removed, do not play with turning the torsion bar using the winding rods. Doing so even momentarily can relieve the tension on the lift cables, which then easily slip off the drums. Replacing the cables on the drums can be difficult without repeating the entire spring unwinding-winding procedure again, and the cables can be damaged if tension is applied while they are off the drums.

  Total time for me to complete this work the first time was 3.5 hours, including cutting the winding tools and the photography. I've completed subsequent repairs in less than an hour. Hundreds of people have written me to say they did it safely in a few hours after studying this essay. I'd like to hear how it goes for you.

There's much, much more detail at Richard Kinch's page on the subject. I tried to include the most important information in case that page goes down, but it's been at that URL since 2002, so I hope it's still there when future DIY'ers need it.


Can I bore my own hinge holes? I'm scheming to reface my kitchen cabinets with sustainable lumber (looking for FSC certified or salvage) and trying to figure out what my options are. Our existing hinges aren't much different from these:

How can I replace a kitchen cabinet hinge with no visible screws?

Which means I really only need to bore the doors for hinges if I get plywood or doors that aren't yet bored.

So is it crazy for a relatively handy person with no woodshop to try to bore those holes at home? Is there a special drill bit for the project?

You can get specialized cutters for that sort of thing, but you can do it without, all you need is a drill, hammer, and chisel. You drill 4 holes in the corners of the hole you want, at the depth you want, then chisel out the material in between. A workbench would be handy for this but you could do it on floor if you like.

That is a load of work though, so a cutter would be a better choice. Alternatively buy something like a lay on sprung hinge that requires no inset hole:


How Do I Insulate My Bathroom Floor? I'm renovating my bathroom and I need to insulate the floor. It's a concrete slab with 2x4 joists set on one brick piers.

The home was built 50 yrs ago.

There was no insulation at all in the floor. And the bathroom is freezing in the winter and hot in the summer.

If I slide in pieces of rigid foam board will I have problems with condensation rotting out the 2x4s?

Your plan is what most people & contractors do. But, latest basement testing has revealed that even with foam board or spray-in foam you need 6-mil poly against the concrete & then also on top of it. Under-it stops moisture & air from wanting to come in & On-it stops moisture & air from wanting to penetrate it. Here's a really good video breakdown I recently ran across of what's been determined.


Is my AFCI outlet to blame for a trip when continuing a circuit outdoors due to moisture? I have an AFCI outlet in my foyer, and the circuit continues through that outlet and out to the porch for an overhead light above the front door, and then past that to the front of the house for an overhead lamp above the steps leading up to the porch. The two outside lights are on a switch inside the foyer, and the wiring runs through the porch roof. It's 'inside' in the sense that it's not exposed to the elements, but it's 'outdoors' in the sense that it's not inside the walls of my house, the construction is old, and there is some suspicion that the porch roof may have moisture in it.
When the circuit has load (i.e. one or both of the lights are installed), flipping the switch and supplying power will immediately trip the outlet. When there is no load (no lights are installed and the wires are not connected), flipping the switch does nothing.
It was suggested that the two possibilities are:

The AFCI outlet is not rated for this use, and a small amount of moisture may be causing the trip
The circuit has a short in it somewhere between the outlet and the first porch light.  I've attached an image of how the porch light is wired. As you can see, the neutral on one of the wires does have a tiny nick, but it doesn't seem to go through to the copper.

What are people's thoughts about the most likely explanation?

Is this an AFCI outlet or a GFCI outlet? GFCI is more common for outlets. AFCI is normally (but not exclusively) at the breaker. GFCI can be either at the breaker or at an outlet. Either way, the device protects all devices following it (if wired correctly).
My hunch here is that this is a GFCI outlet. While moisture, in theory, could lead to tripping an AFCI device, that is not the normal design. But that is the normal design for GFCI: a little moisture in the wrong place lets some current leak to ground and the GFCI detects that and trips to keep someone from getting zapped.
In most cases, GFCI isnot required for lighting, even if there are receptacles on the same circuit that require GFCI protection. That being said, when you know there is a problem, it makes sense to fix it rather than simply bypass the GFCI for the lighting part of the circuit. Since the boxes look pretty clean, that leaves three likely culprits:

Moisture getting into a light fixture. This can certainly happen - there are holes in the box in the picture. If you test with a basic fixture and the problem does not happen initially, but does happen after you put everything together and let it sit for a day (accumulating drips), then that sounds like a moisture problem. If you have a moisture problem, I would (a) see if you can replace (or properly close the holes in) the box so that moisture can't get in.
Faulty fixture. If you install the fixture on a dry day and the GFCI still trips as soon as you turn on the switch, you may have a bad fixture, the type of problem GFCI is actually designed to catch. That can be due to insulation breakdown in the fixture, a pinched wire or a number of other problems. Replacing the fixture is the solution.
Crossed Neutrals. This is a tougher problem to figure out. This should never happen, but it does. A typical case is if you have a bunch of switches in one box that includes multiple circuits (breakers). If the neutrals aren't kept matched to their hot & switched hot wires, things will likely work fine until you install GFCI. And then they won't work at all.


How do I connect a dryer to a dryer vent? I just moved my dryer (gas) a couple feet to a better location in the basement.  It is actually now closer to the existing dryer vent to the outside of the house.  The previous owner has it connected with about 15 feet of 4" flex tubing.  Now I don't need that much so I was going to remove some of the existing flex tube.

It was hooked up with 2 or 3 sections of flex tube. With the dryer in a new location I can run the vent pretty straight up and then over to the hole in the wall.  I bought some 4" rigid aluminum tube to come out of the dryer and then I connected that to a 4 foot long piece of the old flex tube.  I used the metal strap with a screw that tightens around the tube (not sure what it is called).

Is this the correct way to connect the flex to the rigid one and the actual vent in the wall?  Do I also need to tape over this connection, if so what type of tape?  I seem to recall that duct tape should not be used on ducts, though I am not sure if it is OK on a dryer vent.

Do I also need to tape around where the rigid tube meets a rigid "elbow" that comes out of the dryer?

What you've done sounds fine.

One thing to look for though is that your connections are the right direction. The female end of each tubing should be on the end closest to the dryer. This prevents lint from snagging on the sharp metal on the way through the vent system and creating a clog (a big fire hazard). With the female ends upstream, there won't be any sharp ends to catch on.


How do I design a shed to make optimal use of building materials? I read Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own, in which he builds a small building to use as a writing studio. The architect's design called for wall studs to be cut to 8ft 1in (out of 10ft sticks), resulting in a huge waste pile. Apparently the architect thought that if it was an inch lower Pollan would hit his head coming in; any higher it would have felt cavernous.

Whatever. That is not how I think. I want to use standard materials with minimal waste.

But it's not always obvious how to do this, at least to inexperienced builders. For example, an 8' x 12' shed can have a subfloor built of 3 sheets of 4' x 8' material (great!). However, the interior and exterior walls can't both be increments of 4' wide, if the wall has non-0 thickness. So, you pick one (presumably the exterior) to be at 4' increments, and cut to fit at the other face (presumably the interior).

Similarly, if a particular span is slightly too long for a 2x6, a 2x8 wouldn't be fully used. Either make the span shorter and use the 2x6, or longer and make full use of the strength of the 2x8.

It seems like there should be a list of such tips that experienced builders carry around in their noggins, and that I want to learn without spending 20 years in the field. :-)

I'm limiting the question to sheds because I assume the dynamics of larger buildings change what is worth optimizing for. Let's say we're building under 200 sq. ft.

Most builders never even consider this and just create a building large enough that some waste can be reused (e.g. small pieces of drywall in a closet or a bad piece of lumber as a cripple below a window) while most waste is just tossed.

For something you build yourself, start with the outside measurements and get those on an even measurement. Consider how the wood sheathing will overlap on the outside, so an 8' span of 1/2" material can actually cover 8' 1/2" since one corner will have the next piece overlapping the end. Don't worry about cutting an inch or so off the floor, since as you say, you're better off removing material than cutting a patch from a larger piece. Studs come in standard heights, so just use that height.

When it comes to picking the thickness of lumber, I'm a firm believer in overbuilding the floor of the shed. It costs a lot less to overbuild this today than to rip things apart because the joists have weathered poorly. For the rest of it, I suggest leaving it exposed as a shed. The ceiling joists make a great storage space, and it's nice to nail things on the walls, so interior finishing of a shed is a waste of material IMO.

For things like siding, doors, or other less generic materials, see if the local Habitat ReStore has anything useful in stock. Most of these are waste products from a contractor that bought too much or the wrong style, so you get to help a charity and keep things out of a landfill at the same time.


How do I hook up a water line to the ice-maker on my old Frigidaire fridge? I am trying to hook up the ice maker for an old Frigidaire fridge, but there is no line running out of the back. When I opened the access panel I found the water valve but unlike newer water valves there is a screw on port that is about an inch wide. Does anyone know what to do?

I would use a 90 FPT (female pipe thread) by compression fitting (or build an equivalent from an elbow and a compression adapter), since it looks kinda cramped right there:

Then some 3/8" or 1/4" flexible copper or poly tubing to hook it in (1/4" is most commonly used with fridges).

Don't use a saddle valve: they are terrible (eg: What can I do about a saddle valve that won't turn on?). Instead, hook it into the source water with a tee and another compression fitting. You'll also need a valve: there are valves that have a compression fitting on one side, and sweat, pex, FPT, MPT, etc on the other; or you can go for a compression x compression valve that can go anywhere inline on the flex tubing):

Which is best depends on the layout and accessibility. It can be pretty handy to have a shut-off valve behind the fridge, so in case something leaks/breaks you don't have to run to the basement to hunt for a valve somewhere, but at the same time, I wouldn't personally hook up a line using a compression fitting without a valve immediately upstream. Nothing is wrong with two valves of course (other than cost).


3 prong plug to 4 prong outlet adapter? (Welder outlet) It seems really easy to find the opposite (how to plug a 4 prong plug into a 3 hole outlet) but I actually need the reverse (I need to plug a 3 prong plug into a 4 hole outlet) and not sure if it even exists.
I have this welder: https://www.harborfreight.com/stick-225-inverter-welder-with-electrode-holder-64978.html
...which includes a 240, 3 prong plug. It's the kind that looks like your standard plug (two parallel prongs and a ground). It's not the kind dryers use where you have 3 angled prongs.
On the wall-side, I have a 40amp, 4-wire outlet (2 hot, neutral, ground).
Is there a way to use this welder with this outlet? If so, is there an off-the-shelf adapter for this? If not, could I wire up my own using a 4 prong plug wired into a box with a 3 prong outlet. If I can do the latter, what's the proper way to do that?

The simple solution (unless you drag it to other places with different receptacles) is to put the appropriate 4-prong plug on the cord, with the neutral prong of the plug not connected.
Another option is to add a box next to your box with the 4-prong receptacle and install the correct 3 prong receptacle in it. If you plug in and operate two things at once you may trip the breaker, but it spares you the "extra cord and plug" that your self-made adapter would have.
Edit to add: If you don't actually have something that uses the 4-prong receptacle, you could just replace the receptacle (capping the neutral wire in the box) and (if you are nice) write a note on the wall that there is a neutral available if someone wants to change the receptacle back to 4-prong later.


Has anyone here ever rented a trencher? What was your experience? I need to dig a 2 feet deep trench, about 100 feet long.

Has anyone used one of these trenchers?  The first one in particular?

http://rentalsunlimited.com/catalog/trenchers/trenchers.html

What was your experience?

Any alternatives?  Does Home Depot or any other US national chain offer something similar?

Edit: The trench is for a french drain system.  My soil is mostly clay underneath.  I should also mention that I may be going trough roots of a big old tree that was recently cut.

A power trencher, or Ditch Witch, is a fairly easy machine to use. Most are self propelled. You may check some local rental stores as well as HD, as you will probably need a trailer to transport the machine and most rental stores include it in the price.

Before you attempt to use one of these monsters, be absolutely sure to call DIG SAFE @ 1800-digsafe. You must have the utility companies come and certify that there are no buried lines, wires, gas etc.  It is the law, so don't forget to get it done. There is no charge for this service. If you don't and hit something, you can be liable for huge costs and fines.

A Ditch Witch usually only digs a narrow path for laying wire or pipe. The path width would be a bit shy for a good drainage system as you will not have enough width to add the proper crushed stone base and surrounding gravel bed etc.

Assuming you are installing wire or pipe, be sure to get some warning tape to install a few inches below the ground grade to warn future excavations that utilities are buried benieth.  Good Luck.


Concrete casting: acrylic sheets inside styrofoam box to reuse form I am looking into casting a few small concrete blocks to build some steps which I will reconfigure over time.

I've found a styrofoam box which gives me the shape I'm looking for, and I'd like to find a way to build a form which I can reuse in order to produce as many blocks as I would need.

Since styrofoam can be broken easily and all the examples I studied for casting concrete with styrofoam forms involve breaking the forms after casting only 1 object, I started thinking about using acrylic sheets to build a small box inside the stryrofoam, with the hope that I can slide out that acrylic form after casting, take it apart to retrieve the block, then put it together again inside the box.

I have 3 questions:

Is acrylic a good material to use for concrete casting?
What can I do to minimise the chances of the acrylic sheets sticking too much to the concrete object such that I might risk snapping them?
Might there be a better way to improve reusability of a styrofoam form?

Traditional wood forms intended to be reused are oiled so the concrete doesn't stick.  There are many ways to do what you want, breakdown wood forms, plastic, whatever. Not much will stick to concrete if the forms are removed when the concrete is cured just enough to stay together.  Make sure the insides of your forms have draft angles built in so they can be removed without tearing out some concrete and lube the forms well.  This can be done but you'll have to experiment a bit.

One thing absolutely to keep in mind is concrete is very heavy, a 4 ft x 4 ft sidewalk slab weighs about 700 lbs, so the biggest concern is making the forms strong enough to not collapse.  Foam foundation forms are extensively cross tied so they don't blow out and are made from strong foam. A thin acrylic sheet without good bracing will bow severely.  Based on one of my messy mistakes, marginal forms explode right when you have them just about full!


When flying squirrel proofing should I seal potential entry points or actual entry points? I have flying squirrels in my attic with 2 known entry points:

A couple small soffit guards

These got pushed up where they meet the roof on an eave. I was going to just going to push them back into place & glue them down. Would Gorilla Glue work for this?

2 Vinyl siding corners

I'm planning to buy this cap, which has some pretty good reviews. A wildlife specialist quoted me to use some sort of cement. Any idea what he was referring to?

Question

I was additionally quoted by a wildlife specialist for the following, which seemed extraneous and I'm planning on skipping:

12 other Vinyl siding corners including inside corners (see above photo next to cracked siding corner) or corners that do not travel to the roof & instead go up to the inner joint of a overhang. The inner corners don't have any space for a rodent to get into.
A gable vent that is purely decorative & doesn't vent into the attic.
The ends of a ridge vent on the roof which show no signs of entry

Would it be a mistake to skip sealing these?

Wildlife is persistent about looking for shelter, so if you seal some openings and leave others, animals will eventually find the other openings and use them.  So seal all the openings you can find.

As to the "cement", if the specialist was talking about those plastic caps in particular, then they just meant glue.  "Vinyl" siding is made out of poly-vinyl chloride, or "PVC", and the glue for it is called "PVC cement".  That will only work if the caps are also made from PVC.  If they aren't, then the glue won't stick.  But the reviews say they hold from friction, so you probably don't really need any glue.

Another approach is to fill it in with urethane spray-foam insulation, commonly sold under the "Great Stuff" brand name.  Use the "low expansion" type so it doesn't bulge the trim.


Cable With Same Plug And Slot (RJ11), What's The Purpose? I know most connectors that have the same type of plug and slot, or slot and slot, are generally used as extenders. However, I have a cable that's far too short to be useful as an extender. Yet, it's clearly RJ11 (6P2C) for both its plug and slot ends. What's the purpose of this connector, or any similar to it?

I have pics here (the first pic got some reflection and blur, but I can assure you that it's 6P2C):

That looks like a DSL filter. DSL "piggybacks" on a regular voice line. The DSL modem will automatically block out voice frequencies. DSL filters are used on all connections EXCEPT the DSL modem to block DSL frequencies from the voice devices (phone, fax, answering machine).


How can I restore the springs in my storm door hinges? I have a storm door that has springs in the hinges - in theory, they're supposed to close the door, and they worked OK for a couple of years.

Lately, however, they no longer close the door properly.  Is there any way to restore them, or do I need to replace them (or purchase a proper door closer)?

Door closing hinges I've used in the past have had a tightening mechanism. At one end there is a grub screw and a series of holes in a ring where the spring is joined to the base plate.

You loosen the grub screw and use an Allen key to increase the tension on the spring.

This should mean that the door closes (at least for a couple more years).

Be careful not to tighten it too much or you might have problems pushing the door open against the spring or it will snap back very quickly indeed.


HVAC Fan Set to Continuous By Landlord- Please help me rewire I live in an apartment in which the landlord has set the HVAC fan to be continuously blowing even with Auto Fan setting on.  Fan will also blow when Thermostat is turned off.   Please help me rewire this so that I can reduce my ever so large electricity bill!

WARNING: Tampering with equipment that does not belong to you, could lead to eviction and/or legal action against you.

If you have the property owner remove the jumper that's between the R terminal and the G terminal in the furnace,  that should solve your problem.  However, if they do that, they'll want to connect the green G wire to the G terminal instead. Otherwise the fan will not function properly.

Since you are NOT the property owner, you should not make any modifications without permission from the owner.


How do I clean up paint on cement? The painter used a sprayer to paint and it got on the cement floor around our house. What is the best way to remove the paint

You’ll see from the pictures that some of it is little droplets over large areas and some of it is concentrated paint in small areas.

The actual best way may be to hold your final payment to your painter until he cleans it up!

I'm not trying to be a wise guy. If you paid someone to do this it shouldn't be left like that.


What type of underlayment should be used when installing engineered wood over underfloor heating I have recently purchased an engineered wood floor and wish to install this over underfloor heating (A Nu-Heat water based solution which sits between the joists). The joists are currently covered with a thin layer of plywood and my plan is to install on top of this.
I have been advised not to float the floor but cannot find a suitable underlay alternative to use.

I have spotted the Elastilon Lock product as a double sided adhesive underlay allowing me to fully bond the floor to the plywood layer - but its website description suggests it only allows for minimal tolerances (presumably in expansion/contraction) and is aimed at parquet style floors.

Would this be suitable for a standard plank engineered wood flooring, or could you suggest an alternative?

For reference the floor I have purchased is

https://www.discountflooringdepot.co.uk/gold-series-engineered-flooring-walnut-18-4mm-x-150mm-uv-lacquered-1-65m2-p457

And Elastilon Lock website:

http://www.elastilon.com/en/elastilon/elastilon-lock

I don't know why you would've been advised to glue or lock a floating floor down. This a very bad idea & could make the floor cup or ridge if the floor can't move. Parquet is very different in being extremely small pieces with extremely small omnidirectional movement in a whole lot of very small areas.

Having no underlayment is the typical way & allows any moisture from condensation to escape, radiant floor's secondary activity. Foremost, is abiding by the Flooring Manufacturer's written instructions & approvals (over the phone means nothing) above & beyond whatever I or anyone else tells you. Do what the Warrantor says & even file pictures away to back up your by-the-book professional installation.


Is it possible (/advisable) to install foreign plug sockets in your home? When travelling in developing countries I've found a lot of hotels have plug sockets that allow for plugs from a variety of different countries to be used without adapters. Basically something like this:

In developed countries however I've never came across a place that uses this sort of thing. Its always left up to guests to use their own adapters.

I've been wondering, is there a particular reason for this?  Is it possible for me to install this sort of thing in my home or are there some dangers?

Of course using US or Japanese 120v appliances in a 240v country is generally inadvisable (and vice-versa) but between two different European countries is getting the plug to fit truly the only worry?

Its particularly appealing to me in my UK house as my partner comes from elsewhere in Europe so we regularly get guests from overseas. It seems it would be a nice convenience to put some of these in the guest room.

I do not recommend it. It would most likely be against the electrical code in your region. My experience with those types of receptacles is that they do not grip onto your plugs very well and they can pull out or even fall out from the weight of the cord.

Just get a couple sets of appropriate adapters and keep them in a drawer in the guest room.


Screw type for screwing MDF onto plaster/plasterboard I have been tasked with building wood paneling for one of the bedrooms in our place. I will be using MDF sheets, screwed directly onto the wall. The existing wall is plasterboard and plaster (fair condition at best). Should I use plasterboard screws to affix the MDF to the wall?

Given:

  The existing wall is plasterboard and plaster (fair condition at best)

I would lean heavily in the direction of stripping to the studs and then attaching the MDF to the studs, but that's making the assumption that the MDF is of some reasonable thickness (12mm / 1/2 inch or more.)

Fix anything that needs fixing in the wall cavities while you are at it (insulation, wiring, plumbing, etc.)

Sheeting over poor-quality plaster/drywall reveals in great detail exactly how non-flat the substrate is, and eats space in the room. Despite the brief mess, starting fresh may be faster overall (as you are not compensating for all those humps and hollows), and result in a better job.


How can I retrofit this existing wall-heater with an external thermostat? My house has several wall-mounted gas heaters.
All but one of them have external, easily accessible thermostats. However, the one that happens to be the most used has no remotely mounted thermostat, to change the temperature you have to open the cover at the base, and adjust a knob at the base of the heater.
Is there any way to retrofit this heater with a simple remote thermostat? Ideally, I'd like something really simple. All the other heaters I have just use contact-closure (e.g. 2 wire, I think) thermostats, not the programmable electronic kinds, and that's all I really want for this heater too.
The heater doesn't currently have any connections for electrical, so an Ideal solution would not require any electrical power. However, I'm not sure if this is possible. I can run power to the heater if I have to, but I'd sure like to avoid any drywall work.
Heater pictures:

Edit - More Information:
The whole burner assembly is completely separate from the actual heater. It looks like the whole burner, with valve assembly, can be separated from the heater with the removal of just two screws.
Anyways, the heater model is a Williams 35 GV-C-5T NAT (I think. See picture):

The burner assembly and valve is a RobertShaw Grayson 7000 SRLC:

Of note is that on the instruction plates in the heater, there are several diagrams that show a similar valve that supports a remote thermostat:

However, in both cases, the images are for a 7000 M VRLC or M VRCLC, while the heater I have is a S RLC.

I think what you have is a mechanical thermocouple sensor that is connected to the regulator. This is the same as one would have in an RV. They do not use any electricity, and the thermostat is part of the gas regulator. The only remote I am aware of would be a remote thermocouple. I'm not sure if your unit has a removable sensor. If it does, then you can place the sensor elsewhere, but you will still have to set the desired temp on the dial in the unit. There is no actual remote thermostat for this type of unit that I am aware of.


How can I widen a wall to match the width of the beam it supports? My steel beams are 4-1/4” wide. If I run my framing under the beam with 2x4 framing, I’ll end up with a 3/4 overhang on one side of the wall. How do I make up this gap? Just use furring strips or is there another method?

Simply use 3/4" furring strips. There is typically a wood plate above the beam which may need furring as well, that will allow the top edge to be nailed or screwed securely.


My Porter-Cable Air Compressor is drawing too many amps I recently was given a 6hp 25 gal Porter-Cable Air Compressor (CPF6025VP) that kicks out my 20 amp breaker at around 80psi and will not restart with even 20 psi in the tank.

I measured the amp draw on it and initial start was very high then leveled out around 7 amps and kept rising above 15 until the breaker tripped at around 80 psi. Amp rating for the motor is 15A (GE motor model is 5kcr49tn2403x). I read through other posts and was planning on replacing both run and start capacitors but I'm having trouble finding the right ones.

I cannot find original replacements and the ones with matching ratings have different terminals on them and I cannot find them that come with a wiring diagram. My run capacitor has 2 red and a brown and start has two black.
run capacitor model M40FY33
-40uF
-370VAC 50/60Hz
start capacitor 52A103967-1
-400-480MFD
-165VAC
-50/60Hz

Anyone that could point me in the right direction of some capacitors and how they should be wired would be greatly appreciated

Please Let me know if any other info would be helpful. Thank in advance!

-John

p.s.
-unloader and check valve are working

-motor spins free

At 15A, that is a 3HP motor (assuming 240V single phase here), the "6HP" is a marketing term that means WHEN the motor is slowed down by a change in the load to it's "Break Down Torque" speed, it will develop 220% of rated torque, VERY briefly, in attempting to get the motor back to speed, so 220% torque at a just slightly lower speed results in 200% HP for that brief moment, and they are allowed to present it that way (which I think is a shame). the operative issue however is that during that moment, which for a compressor will be when the pressure is highest, that motor can actually be pulling 33A, not 15A. Most likely your meter is averaging and/or too slow (not enough samples) to be giving you the correct current at the moment the breaker is tripping, but of course, the thermal element on the breaker is seeing and reacting to it. That would also explain why you can't reset it when the pressure drops, because at that point it has nothing to do with pressure any more, it's a thermal cool-down time frame and thoise are specifically designed around the time it will take the rest of the equipment to cool down too.

Changing the caps will not fix this. You need a bigger circuit. a 20A breaker can only be used at 16A continuously (80%). Upgrade to a 30A breaker and #10 wire.


Why does my hot cooktop indicator light stay on after the cooktop is cool? The indicator light now wont turn off My alamna Range electric smoothtop stove, on indicator light I just noticed tonight now stays on after everything has cooled down. Is this safe? Is it okay to just leave it, it still works fine.

To quote from Amana documentation:

  Many smoothtop models have indicator lights that may stay on after the
  burner has been turned off. The light will go off after the burner
  surface has cooled to a safe temperature. This is normal operation.


Wiring up a subpanel in attached workshop I need to wire up my attached workshop, which is about 50' from the main panel. I don't want to make a bunch of homeruns and would rather install a workshop-specific panel for this task. I will be running the following:

5HP Planer - 30A 240V
5HP Shaper - 30A 240V
1HP Power feeder - 15A 240V
2x 1.5HP Shapers - 15A 240V

Down the line I will also be adding an air compressor and a dust collection system. Obviously I will not be running all of the equipment at once, but it's very likely that I might run my 5HP shaper, 1HP power feeder, and my dust collection system at the same time in the very near future.

Having said that, I'm trying to figure out how to make my life easiest. My main panel is located outside on the opposite side of the house, so the plan is to run in conduit down to my crawl space and then once inside, run through the joists without protection. Here are my questions:

I will feed my subpanel with 4 wire cable. 2 hots, a neutral, and a ground. Right?
In my subpanel, I will NOT bond my neutral and grounding blocks. Ground and neutral will be independent. Right?
What size subpanel should I get for these needs? I was thinking a 60A. Right?
What size wire? For 60A at that distance, my calculations say 6 gauge copper. Is that correct?
I don't intend on placing a ground rod anywhere, as this subpanel is attached to my main structure (And the subpanel is inside, it'd be very difficult to drive a ground rod anywhere near it). Is this OK?
I don't quite understand why I need to separate the ground and neutral at the subpanel. My main panel has the two bonded, so my neutral at my subpanel will still be grounded since it's grounded at the main panel. Can someone explain why this is necessary, just to satisfy my curiosity?
How many different circuits should I be considering for these needs? I was thinking 1 for the 5HP planer, 1 for the 5HP shaper, 1 for the power feeder (And future power feeders), and 1 15A for the 2 1.5HP shapers, as they will never run at the same time.
Is there anything else I'm missing or overlooking?

I'd like to start working on this expansion by the weekend, so your advice is very much appreciated.

UPDATE: I purchased https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-40-Circuit-20-Space-100-Amp-Main-Breaker-Load-Center-Value-Pack/3027588 which comes with two neutral bars bonded together with a strap. Am I allowed to simply remove the strap and use one of the bus bars as a ground bar, or do I need to purchase a ground bar kit separately?  Additionally, the panel came with a small piece of bent metal that attaches one of the bars to the panel. Should this be connected so that the panel is grounded?

Right
Right. At the subpanel, the neutral and grounding blocks should remain separate.
Now is not the time to skimp. 60A looks OK for now, but if you add a 30A dust collector, you've run out of capacity. If you add any lights, 120V receptacles, etc to that subpanel, you're limiting yourself even more. 100A panels are not much more expensive than 60A. Related to this, get a physically bigger panel than you think you need, too. Your plan calls for 8 spaces, but I'd go with at least 16, maybe 20 or 21 or 22, depending on what's available from the manufacturer. Again, bigger panels are cheap now, and they give you a lot more flexibility in the future.
As this answer indicates, you'll want #1 Cu or #1/0 Al for 100A, unless everything is temperature rated for 75C in which case #3 Cu or #1 Al would work.
This is not only OK, this is the correct and safe way to do it. See this answer or this question and its answers or this one for an explanation of why. The gist is that, with the neutral and ground bonded together at both the main panel and subpanel, any ground fault would energize anything that is grounded.
Same as above.
Sounds reasonable.


Best method for rear venting a microwave on an interior wall? I am installing a new over-range microwave in my kitchen and would like to vent to the outside rather than recirculate.  It will be mounted to an interior wall, so I either have to go up or down.  There's a second floor above me and a basement below me, so I want to go down through the basement.

Do you see any problem with installing a rectangular stack duct pipe in the wall behind the range and venting through it?  I'm not sure how to make the initial connection from the microwave to the stack.  Does anyone have any suggestions or warnings?

From the clarification in the comments, you're lucky!

First, double check that your floor joists are lined up well enough that you can get a 10" duct through the floor where you need it. If a floor joist (or a beam) is massively in the way, you'll need some custom ducting or cancel the job entirely.

I'd cut a generous square at the bottom of the wall so you can cut out the plate in the stud bay. I'd cut slightly generously behind the range hood. (Give a few inches below the hood to allow a connection.)

Make sure you don't have fire blocking/ diagonal bracing/ wiring/ plumbing in the way.

Assemble the hood with a short-way 90 degree elbow. Hang the hood, then push a length of assembled duct up to that elbow from the basement.

If you're lucky again, your floor joists in the basement will let you run the ducting up in them. If the run can be straight out, you'll just need another short-way 90. Otherwise, if you have to zig-zag across the basement, you'll need a couple of long-way 45 degree elbows.

Typical ducting rules apply: use metal tape, screw where necessary, strap to support, and cut slices out of the corners of the duct to nest sections (don't waste your time crimping).

Having just done a very similar job, I can assure you that it's a pain. However, the result will be much better than recirculating.


Are there "uncommon" 3-way switch wirings? We have a 3-way switch in the garage that I would like to upgrade to a Lutron Maestro 3-way occupancy sensor. I have tried (and failed) to do so twice now... and I'm pretty handy. I'm starting to think I have some sort of "uncommon" 3-way wiring.

Is there such a thing? How would I account for it in the Maestro re-wire?

Configuration:

Switch 1: Standard 3-way... to become the Lutron Maestro
Switch 2: Standard 3-way
Load: Three overhead light fixtures (two of them are 4-foot florescent fixtures, one of them is a dual-bulb incandescent fixture).

Switch 1:

White traveler
(gold screw)
Black traveler
(gold screw)
Black hot wire (VERIFIED with non-contact voltage tester)
(black screw)
Bare copper ground

Switch 2:

Red traveler
(gold screw)
White traveler
(gold screw)
Black
(black screw)
Bare copper ground

Here's what I have done so far...

Tagged the "black screw" wire on both sides
Removed the old switches
S1: Lutron with common-->black, white traveler-->blue, black traveler-->black, ground-->ground
S2: Standard with red traveler-->pole 1, (common + white traveler + yellow jumper)-->pole 2, ground-->ground
Turned the power one... S1 (Maestro) was dead but S2 was working the lights correctly
Per instructions, tried switching the travelers on S1 (Maestro) but that resulted in a dead S1 and a dead S2 with the lights stuck off
For giggles, then tried switching the travelers on S2, but that resulted in dead S1 and a dead S2 with the lights stuck on

I've tried this twice now, thinking maybe I had a bum switch the first time. At this point, I'm convinced there is some funny business going on with the overhead lights that results in a non-standard 3 way... if such a thing even exists.

I may have missed something in your question, but aren't you going to need a neutral for the Maestro switch?  Check out Wiring Diagram 8 here:

http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/369666.pdf


Basement apartment layout I would like to turn my basement into an apartment. It has a kitchen and a bathroom and some unfinished space, but there is no bedroom and the windows are laid out in a way that makes it hard for me to imagine where the bedroom would go (needs to have a window).

Here's the general layout:

The scale might be a little off (I very recently bought the house and I'm not there right now) but the problem, to me, is having a bedroom with a window far from the kitchen. There is the front window, but I'm not sure a bedroom should face the front of the house like that (it's a raised bungalow so the window is at ground level). The house will be pretty much gutted, but moving the kitchen/bathroom might be problematic since they are now positioned below their main level equivalents.

Thanks!

You should be able to partition off a portion, either with permanent walls or even with furniture and hanging drapes. I closed off the "bedroom" area of a studio I lived in years ago, using the bed headboard, the dresser, and rock & roll banners hung from the ceiling.


What is the best way to fix laminate flooring to tiles underneath? A very "professional" builder installed laminated on top of tiles in a commercial setting. Don't ask...

The trouble is, laminate is not really fixed on the tiles and especially around the steps (only two steps), they are flexing and moving up/down slightly, which is really annoying.

My question is, what would be the best way to fix few of these laminates onto the tiles underneath? I was thinking screwing them down but I don't know if this is a good idea, what type of screws to use, whether or not I should drill it first etc..

Any ideas? If you are able to recommend some solutions please try to be specific (e.g. what type of screw I should use)..

Good luck to me!

Modern laminate flooring is "floating", meaning you typically have an underlayment (often doubles as a vapor barrier) and then the laminate click-locks together. Finally, you add edging (base board and/or quarter round or toe nail) to lock the edges down.

Screws are NOT how you fix this. You can potentially damage the flooring doing that. Instead, it sounds like you simply have unlevel parts of your floor. What I would do is pull up sections near the unlevel parts and then use a floor leveler concrete to level the underlying tile. Then you put everything back after it's cured up solid. Should remove the "bounce"


Is it possible to use LED lamps in ceiling r80 eyeball fittings I have a pair of eyeball style R80 100w fittings in my kitchen. These are horribly inefficient, so I recently tried replacing one of the bulbs with an 18w LED lamp (a LEDLite branded one from TLC direct) The light output was great, but the lamp lasted 4 days before it spluttered and died.

Inspection of the failed lamp revealed it was very hot, I therefore assume it overheated and that is what killed it.

Is it just not possible for an LED lamp to work in this kind of fitting, or is there something else I can try?

18 Watts is a lot for LED, so not surprising for it to be warm.

Sometimes LEDs have a slightly larger diameter and this may not allow them to screw in 100%, but this doesn't seem to be the case for you.

One suggestion is to take a flash light and examine the socket of the fixture for any evidence of arching.  Look for black or burnt streaks. The slightest damage to the socket could cause new bulbs to fail unexpectedly.


Does a water heater have to be completely full for the water to heat? We installed a new water heater and it is not hot. We think it is full. Does a water heater have to be completely full for the water to heat? We think we may possibly have a leak in the hot water pipes going to the faucets. Could that stop a water heater from heating the water?

Any leak large enough to stop the water from filling the heater tank would have to be so large as to basically be an open ended line. It would be impossible not to notice the flooding caused by a leak this large. A smaller leak would not stop the heater from filling and operating and you would have some hot/warm water delivery. I am not saying you don't have a leak, but I strongly suspect an electrical issue. It could be related to power supply, or it could be related to damage caused by improper heater installation or operation. Call a reputable professional plumber please.


Solar panel: Current-related question I found a solar panel rated 9v, 70mA. I want to use it to create a power backup for a 9v, 1A router. Is this possible?

It depends on how much you plan on using the solar backup.  If your battery can handle the router for a few hours, and it will only have to power it once every 2 or 3 months for an hour or two, yes, it should be fine.  If your electricity goes out for long periods of time, or if it goes out often, I'd say no... however, you can always string them up in parallel, increasing the amperage output.


What is the best method for strong timber wall inside tin shed I have a tin shed in the yard approximately 3m x 4m. It has a concrete base.

The walls are tin and the verticals/studs are very far between and not super solid.

I want to build a french cleat system against one wall, however the tin is not suitable to mount to.

Would the best solution be to build a new timber stud wall against one of the tin walls, dynabolted onto the concrete?

How far out would I need to brace perpendicular to the wall to allow it to carry the load of french cleat system, and all the things I want to eventually hang off it? ie. Power tools, clamps, shelves, storage boxes.

Your sketch is more or less what I pictured. I'd make a few adjustments:

The primary stress will be at the points where the diagonals connect to the end studs. The entire horizontal load vector of the wall's contents is supported there. I'd double the end studs.
Bring those connections up to at least half the wall height. I'd even go to 2/3 to reduce the bending load on the end studs.
The top plate has to carry the horizontal load of the center portion of the wall's contents outward to the end studs. I'd double that, too. Maybe consider a 2x6 or 2x8 up there for stiffness.

That's really it. As long as the bottom ends of the diagonals are slightly further from the wall than the center of gravity of the wall's contents, you should be dandy. Don't go crazy mounting it all to the floor. Friction will do most of the work.


How to remove a sheet metal screw from the threaded end I'm trying to remove the metal box that holds a bathroom exhaust fan into the ceiling.  I've got all the wood screws out but there are 2 sheet metal screws that appear to connect the box to the duct to the outside.  The problem is the screw heads are inside the duct and I can't access them.  All I can see are the threads.  Is there a way to remove the screws from the threaded end?  I've tried cutting them off with a hacksaw and a cold chisel.  I also tried pounding them out with a hammer.

If there's enough sticking out that you can grab on to, a pair of locking pliers would likely help turn it but it will be hard to fully unthread since there will come a point where the pliers don't have enough to grip on to.  If you're lucky, you might get enough clearance to cut it or turn it from another part of the screw.

Another option is to simply drill it out and then tap new, slightly larger threads to use with a larger screw when re-installing.


Painting on old lime plaster I have recently stripped the wallpaper off the hall internal walls. The house is old (Edwardian) so has lime plaster underneath which is in good condition. I would like to paint directly on to the walls - do I need to do any wall preparation and what paint should I use?

Many thanks

Firm plaster should be reattached with plaster washers and drywall screws. Fix damage areas with patching for use on plaster and apply an oil-based or shellac primer to seal out moisture. Follow with a top-quality latex paint to give your old plaster a new look.


120vac outdoor wifi camera? Is there a wifi camera out there that has a built in power supply and can be directly wired to 120vac? I've looked and looked and all I can come up with is one with a separate power supply. I want to wire it in to my motion sensor light.
Thanks in advance,
Greg

The Ring Floodlight is designed to replace a traditional floodlight, and has the motion sensor built in. But it's expensive and requires a base station.


How does the drywall meet a direct-to-tub surround edge? Does the drywall get placed over the lip or meet at the lip?

It goes over the lip, but you need to add some shims (vertically along each stud),  to transition the drywall out, so it doesn't break when screwed down.

A bit of J-channel (over the lower edge of the drywall) makes a nice clean edge.

Leave the drywall 1/4 - 5/16 above the surround edge and fill with a waterproof caulk.


Miter saw tripping GFCI outlets Recently I installed some 15A GFCI outlets in my basement to make using power tools more convenient, but quickly had problems with them tripping on my miter saw. This seemed extra odd since my miter saw doesn't even have a ground wire.

I found lots of help online about how to test these and table saws with ohm meters to look for shorts, but none of those explained my problem, especially once I realized I had been using it for years on an outlet that was also GFCI protected. I figured I should post my solution now that I figured it out.

I tested my miter saw on a 20A GFCI outlet, it worked fine. I tested my neighbors miter saw on a second 20A GFCI outlet on a second circuit in my house, it also worked fine. But after plugging my miter saw into the 2 indoor 15A GFCI outlets, it would trip the GFCI the moment I started the saw. My neighbor reported a similar problem when he plugged his miter saw into my outdoor 15A GFCI outlet.

So, while it could have been a short, and tripping a GFCI is often evidence that there is something (dangerously) wrong with your power tool, for me the solution was to replace the 15A GFCI outlets with 20A GFCI outlets (on a 20A circuit). Both saws are working fine now.