Remedies for brick veneer movement This property is on a walk-out basement foundation in a heavy clay soil.

In several places, the brick veneer has moved, cracking and causing misalignment as pictured. The one pictured is by far the worst, it is bowing out as you see in the second picture.

As you can see, there have been repairs made to the veneer, and mostly it does not appear to have moved more since those repairs.

This is on the basement level, on the walkout side of the basement. The basement floor is severely damaged from heaving, but the concrete walls show no damage. There have been upgrades to the building to stop heaving - mostly outside drainage, but also a sump pump and filling of cracks.

Assuming the repairs have worked and the veneer in fact is no longer moving, what are my options for fixing the gap?

What might have caused this?

Wow, bowing is right. I see several issues: 1) Bowing / bulging / failed ties, 2) spalling, 3) settlement, 4) bad past repairs, 5) lack of weep holes, 6) no sealer.

1) Bowing is your biggest and most expensive repair issue. Bowing is an indication of wall failure. It’s probably from failed ties. (Ties rust away.) We repair historic brick veneer walls and it’s expensive. You need to secure the brick veneer to the STRUCTURAL portion of wall. (Brick veneer is not structural.) You need to re-secure the veneer by drilling through the veneer and installing bolts at about 24”” on center vertically and horizontally all over the wall. You can place a steel plate on the outside of the wall and then secure the other end of the bolt to the inside of the wall...OR, you can drill from the inside into the back of bricks and set a bolt into epoxy in the hole. This will preserve the face of the brick. (This is how historic restoration is accomplished.)

2) Are those face shells laying on the ground? If so, what has happened is water has penetrated into the face of the brick (bricks are porous) then frozen, then the water expands causing the face shells to pop off. Repair is impossible.

3) Those diagonal cracks are from foundation settlement. The bricks sit on a concrete shelf of the foundation and it appears the foundation has settled. You may not see cracks in the foundation, but the bricks could crack anyway. Masonry is EXTREMELY susceptible to cracking with the slightest of movement. (BTW, we design mortar to have less strength than bricks so the mortar cracks rather than the bricks. It’s easier to fix mortar joints than replace bricks, if and when there’s a problem.)

4) Obviously the previous owner knew about the settlement and tried to repair. They did the “patching” without fixing the problem. If you just “patch”, expect more settlement.

5) There should be weep holes along the bottom of the wall. They allow moisture to run out from behind the wall.

6) Bricks are porous and need a clear sealer re-applied regularly.


How do I diagnose weak water flow from tub faucet and shower? I have a shower that has very low flow from the hot and cold water and also from the shower when you turn the valve to switch it to the shower.  All of the other fixtures in the house have strong flow including the sink in the same bathroom.  Unfortunately there isn't an easy way to get access behind the shower (tile on both sides of the wall).  Does this sound like something that could be caused by bad cartridges?  What about some kind of corrosion built up in the pipes?  How can I go about diagnosing this without ripping open the walls?

Sometimes there is a screen in the shower head that can collect mineral deposits over time. They look kind of like white beads. Try removing the shower head and see if any more water comes out.


Tub Spout Stub-out Not Square to Wall Replacing a tub spout...took the old one off without issue or really looking at things.  Generally a no brainer.
When replacing with new Moen spout (typical 1/2" slip-fit CC connection) I noticed one side of spout was tight/flush to wall and one was not, no matter how much jiggling, twisting, pushing, etc. I did.  I put a square up against the wall and stub-out (1/2" copper tube) stub out to check and clearly it's not square:

Anything I should/could do to fix this before replacing/installing new spout?

There are a few things you can. Get a rod that fits into the pipe about three to four inches without a lot of play and try to bend the pipe ever so slightly just enough to square it with the tile. You could also file down the part of the spout that hits the wall first and do so until the entire spout seats against the wall. Last but not least, just install it as is and then caulk around it to fill in the gap.


Swimming pool filters clogging with a lot of organic matter I currently have a high capacity cartridge filter setup for an in-ground pool. Due to high organics (15 pine trees along the border of my property that are directly over the pool), I've found the cartridge filter filters really well but has to be cleaned every 2-4 days. Additionally, cartridges don't clean well. You can use a cleaner to clean them, but that requires 24 hours soaking during which time you aren't filtering. All in all, I find I have to order new cartridges every 1-2 months during the season, which gets expensive. I'm now thinking of switching to a sand filter, to reduce my overall maintenance and ongoing costs. Is this recommended?

Details:

Maine (short swim season)
1hp pump
16'x32' pool estimated 24,000 gallons
Hayward c9002 filter - est. 43,000 gallon turnover/8hrs

The main difference is that the sand filter traps larger particles by allowing them to settle to the bottom of the filter tank. This gets the bulk of your problematic stuff out of the water, but it doesn't necessarily take care of everything in the water either. Sand filters can allow the pool to become cloudy because the particles are too fine to settle.

Sand filters also require a periodic backwash. You change the mode of the sand filter to backwash and, when you engage the pump, the water turns a giant paddle at the bottom of the tank. This stirs the sand up and ejects it via the water moving from the pump into your waste line. You then have to follow this with a rinse, to push any remaining floating materials out of the tank, and settle (also a waste ejection).


How to fill in a small hole in the tub? There is a small hole in my tub, measuring about half a centimeter at its longest dimension. It is not deep - only the white glossy finish of the tub is chipped off. What material do I use to fill in this hole such that it be waterproof?

The pros used much to my surprise, bondo, at least the one I was watching. Then an air brush was used to "blend in" the color coat, an epoxy paint.

This was on Ebay for 18 bucks USD. quality looks questionable though. Just showing this one as an example


Roof Safety: how to clean gutters on high steep roof? I recently bought a house and now it's fall so I have to clean gutters. I bought a fiberglass ladder and cleaned gutters one time already, but I did not feel safe/stable at all, that was quite a scary and tiresome experience.

I understand that my other option would be to clean from roof and I need something like this: roofer kit. This seem an easier and safer option. Now, I have a couple of questions about securing the lifeline:

Anchor (that's mounted with screws or nails) - can I leave it on the roof and attach to it every time I need to go on the roof, same season or may be even next year?
I have two chimneys on both sides of the roof, kinda like this: ||roof|| If my lifeline is long enough (e.g. long rope ) can I wrap it around both chimneys, kinda like big oval that goes around one chimney on one side of the roof and another chimney on another side?
If answer to question 2 is yes - can I leave this lifeline oval on the roof for a season or longer so that I don't have to put it every time?

Thank you!

Do not tie off to a chimney. Ever. I've demolished chimneys by pushing on them. (And, parenthetically, the physics of what I think your proposing is exceptionally poor.)

Don't leave nylon baking in the sun under any circumstances.

I'm not a fan of permanent anchors either, though they can be done properly (i.e., safe and waterproof). The downside to them is that you have to get there unprotected to clip in.

I'd consider putting a rope over the entire roof. (Thin cord, tennis ball, tennis racket; tie thick cord to thin cord and pull; tie thick cord to something substantial on both sides of the house. If you choose to tie off to a vehicle, tie a bight around the steering wheel as a reminder.)

Among the benefits of the 'cord over the roof' approach is that you'll have protection as you climb the ladder. Just be sure you know when and how to switch the direction of the rope grab. (Hint: alpine butterfly knot at the ridge and a second tether for when you make the switch.)

Get training on how to self rescue if you slip off the edge and are left dangling. Or at least have a phone tethered to you.

I'm a big fan of protected ropework, but you need to understand the entire system.


Electric water heaters I just put in a trailer and was informed that they had just turned on the power. There isn't a water hookup yet. Will it hurt the heater to be on with out water going to it before I can get back?

Yes.  If you run the heater without water, the elements will burn out. Unless the heater has a safety limit, that prevents it from running empty.


Depth of Wood Post for Clothesline I want to build a post to post clothesline using pressure treated 4 x 4 posts.  I am planning on securing with concrete but I am not sure how deep I need to go below ground level.  I live in Michigan and the frost line is 42" but that seems overkill.  Anyone have any experience with this?

It depends, but 2-3 feet is likely ok

I have build many decks and fences and in doing so I have had to set a lot of posts. My standard response would be to a 4 foot hole with a 10 inch diameter construction tube but that would definitely be overkill.

You need to figure out if you want to be able to remove them at some point, if that is the case definitely use construction (Sono) tube. Or if you plan on doing something else with the posts, ie flag pole, net for volleyball or badminton ... Also length of line will be a consideration.

Depending on the width of your footing I would say that anything in the 2-3 foot range is likely a safe bet but again remember there are many variables in play and it is always easier and safer to over build and you can be sure it will last forever. It never hurts to check local building codes, while you may not find much specially about posts for clothes lines you many come across something that helps.


How can I wire a new outlet from a light switch, with light switch set-up I've never seen before? I'm trying to add a new electrical outlet in my basement, and the only good source looks to be a light switch. I found a decent (except for how he never turns off the breaker!) YouTube instructional for exactly what I want to do here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p79UHZb09Y.

I was all ready to go, but when I pulled out the outlet, the switch was wired completely unlike what I was expecting. Here's a picture: .

This light switch is wired very differently from any that I've encountered during my research for this project. For one, the switch itself does not have a ground screw. For another, what is that red wire?

My best guess is that I would tie in the white neutral from the new outlet with the other whites, tie the ground in with the other grounds, and then tie in the black with the other blacks on the bottom screw of the light switch. Does this make sense?

I was taught to feed the hot from the top. It could be the bottom or top. Get a noncontact voltage tester to see which one is hot with the switch in the off position. Trial and error will work here as you only have 2 choices and it will not hurt anything to use the wrong one your outlet just won’t work when the light switch is off. Other than that yes White to White, Grounds all tied together.
Make sure your new wire is sized right, 20A breaker 12 gauge wire, 15 A breaker 14 gauge wire. (you can use 12 gauge wire on a 15 amp breaker just not the other way around).


Does copper wire need to say it's copper? I just saw this picture of wire.

Pirelli Cable-X - 500 MCM Type THHN or THWN-2 600V Gasoline & Oil Resistant II AWM (UL)

Wait a minute.

It's routine common THHN, like you might use in a 250A service or something.  But despite all this detail it seems to have forgotten to state whether it is copper or aluminum.  And tell you the truth, I've never stopped to notice if any of my other THHN also fail to mention.

If no wire material is stated... is there a default?

The UL publishes a guide on wire and cable markings:

UL Marking and Application Guide
https://www.ul.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/WC_MG.pdf

  Conductor Material

  Compact stranded copper conductors are identified by “compact” or “cmpct,” otherwise wire and
  cable with bare or coated copper conductor material is not marked with stranding identification.

  If the conductor material is either aluminum or copper-clad aluminum, the product, tag or carton
  markings (depending on the product category) identify the conductor material. These markings
  will appear as “AL,” “ALUMINUM,” “AL (CUCLAD),” “ALUMINUM (COPPER-CLAD),” “CU-CLAD
  AL” or “COPPER-CLAD ALUMINUM.”
  For some wire and cable, other metals may be used as conductor material. The associated
  markings for that wire and cable are explained under the heading “OTHER.”

The "default" is indeed copper.

However, the AWM in the marking would lead me to believe this may be something other than building wire per NEC:

  This guide does not address wire and cable evaluated only for suitability as factory-installed
  component wiring in other Listed equipment. Those products are Recognized by UL under the
  Component-Appliance Wiring Material (AWM) and Component-Nonshielded cable categories and
  are not identified with an NEC® wire Type designation.


concrete floor self leveling I have concrete floor that has sunk about 1 1/2 IN from the center from  the sides walls some pare of it has vinyl on it . Do I have to remove the vinyl before ussing compound.How can I level this and what compound should I use . Thanks

Regards

Ali

I'd remove the vinyl. The leveling compound should go on top of the bare concrete.
But before you do anything: check if the foundations are okay. If the floor isn't properly supported, the added weight from the leveling compound will make the floor subside faster.


Measuring only 71 volts at light switch My wife asked me to replace a switch in her room because the ancient ceiling light was not working.  The house is over 90 years old.  The wiring for the switch had fabric insulation, which is easy to crumble.  I removed the switch plate and found the switch had been screwed into something, but it wasn't a box and there was plaster from the walls around it.  The wires were solid.  There were only two, no ground wire.  One had white fabric insulation and the other black.  I connected these to a new Lutron switch.  After securing the wires, when I turned on the switch the ceiling light did not work.  I brought a voltage meter to bear on the situation.  I was only reading 71 volts across the circuit.  What does this mean?  Is there a short in the circuit somewhere - possibly in the ancient ceiling light fixture?

Well as you said the light was not working in the first place. Replacing the switch apparently wasn't the problem. Your next step would be to investigate the light fixture itself.

What type of light fixture is it? Flourescent, compact flourescent, LED?

When you say "71 volts across the circuit", do you mean across the switch? When it is on or off?

We need more information to help you.

Happy Sunday!


How do I secure a one-armed toilet paper holder, which constantly slips off the mount? I have a toilet paper holder attached to a tile wall with a single finger bracket (per the manufacturer).  The holder constantly slips the finger bracket, goes loose, and leans to the side.  The finger bracket is quite secure to the wall and does not budge.

How can I secure it?

I'd rather not have to unscrew the bracket from the wall to repair this.

I would prefer to avoid having to mount it "permanently" via epoxy.

Click for full size image

This looks like a bad piece of engineering design to use a slip finger bracket to mount a cantilever paper holder. This type of bracket would work pretty good for a towel bar that was mounted on both ends or possibly for a soap dish that was mounted right on center.

I can suggest two possible courses of action that would solve the problem as long as the finger bracket on the wall was very nice and secure.

You could mix up some good quality epoxy (the kind that takes 24
hours to set up) and force it into the finger slots on the bracket
and on the fingers of the wall bracket. Then install the roll hanger
and let the epoxy set up. Note that this is a pretty permanent fix
and future removal would require cutting the hanger off with a dremel
tool or some such.
Alternatively you could clean up the wall and hanger assembly to
remove any oil and soap film and then re-install the hanger. Rubbing
alcohol can work great for this. Then run    a small bead of clear
silicon sealer all around the perimeter of the bracket. This
sealer will take the twisting load off the fingers and transfer it to
the tile which should stop your problem. For removal the silicon
sealer can be cut away with a razor blade.

If it is the finger bracket on the wall that comes loose then you'll have to investigate how it is currently mounted. If the two screws there are already go directly into a stud or wooden cross member then some longer screws may be in order. If the screws just go into some cheap plastic hollow wall anchors then you may want to investigate some more secure types of metal anchors such as toggle bolts or molly screws.


What should I lay under carpet to protect hardwood floor for a couple of years? Our dogs are getting old and need more secure footing.  So we're going to loose-lay room size pieces of new conventional carpet on top of a nicely finished wood floors. A couple of rooms. Some hardwood, some engineered.  Loose-lay. No padding. Not wall-to-wall with tack strips.  We're worried the coarseness of the underside of the carpet will scratch the wood floor finish, even though the carpet will not be sliding around like a rug since sofas, bookcases, beds etc... will, we hope, weight it in place.  We plan to take it once a year to clean it and to clean up any dirt/sand that has made its way underneath.

We've thought of kraft-paper (either the thin smooth kind, or heavier textured kind that is like tar paper with out the tar) or plastic.  Or something else? What would be best for protecting the wood finish for a couple of years?

I would consider the lace mesh rubber mats that are sold for use under area rugs. Almost anything else is going to result in a lot of movement, which will be unpleasant for the occupants as well as increases the risk of damage to the hardwood.


How should I go about refitting the seal under this interior door? The plastic draught/sealing strip underneath the front door of my UK flat (a non-external door to the common hallway) has become partly detached due to having mail pushed under it – photo below.

I'm not sure if this strip was originally glued or just tucked into a recess in the door (which, for what it's worth, was new in 2015), but I would like to know how I would go about reattaching it, and in particular whether it's possible to do so without removing the door from its hinges.

As you can surmise it is difficult to see under the door to evaluate what is going on with this plastic strip. Even if you had a good understanding of how the seal was originally secured in place it would be extremely difficult to get tools and possible supplies up under the door to work the seal back into place.

So it really comes down to taking the door off its hinges and setting it down on it's side so that you can inspect and take action to fix the problem. Once things are more fully understood you are in a lot better position to take the next steps actions.

Depending upon the situation be prepared that it may be necessary to re-hang and remove the door at least one additional time if it is necessary to procure supplies or delay the actual repair work.


Can I caulk a hose connection for a pool vacuum pump? A week ago, I managed to shut off the inflow valve to my Polaris vacuum pump but I forgot to turn off the pump itself. Pressure built and the the hose (flex hose rather than rigid PVC) permanently formed a balloon and water started leaking from the connection.

I sawed off the ballooned area of the hose and reconnected (there was just enough length) - but there was some minor leaking around the area where the hose meets the plastic connectors.

Can I caulk that and expect the caulking to hold up to the water pressure?

Caulking is designed to keep water out of cracks.  It remains relatively soft and pliable even after it sets up so that vibrations do not cause it to crack. One thing it does not have is great adhesion properties. If you've ever started peeling it you will know what I mean - it pulls off relatively easily.  Because of this, I doubt it will hold up to water pressure in a pipe.

The connection type will determine how you should connect this.  If it is a push-on barbed connection then you can use a pipe clamp around the connection to tighten it up.

If it is a threaded connection then you can use teflon tape or pipe dope.  If it is a glued connection then likely you did not glue it correctly and you will need to re-do it.


subpanel ground requirement - attached vs unattached structure - what difference does it make? Subpanel in the garage is currently fed by 10-2 w/ground romex and is grounded both at the main panel via the ground wire and to the plumbing next to the subpanel (underground iron pipe).  I want to relocate the subpanel (still in the garage) and upgrade the feed to 100 amps.  I would like to just run a 4-wire feed back to the main panel and bond/ground it there.  The original construction was a detached garage but now there is structure connecting the house and garage.  Electrically speaking, I don't understand what difference it makes to safety ground attached vs detached.  That is, if I consider this to be an attached garage am I missing something since the original design was detached?

There's no longer any difference, aside from the fact that a detached structure needs to be bonded to a separate grounding electrode. In both situations you're now required to run 4 wire cable, and keep the grounded and grounding conductors separate in the second panel.

A detached structure has to be bonded to a grounding electrode, to reduce voltage transients between the structures. This is because the ground "earth" can be at slightly different electrical potentials, even over small distances. Bonding the electrode to the grounding system of the main structure, insures the entire grounding system is at the same potential.


How do I replace a broken bathtub drain? I am trying to replace my bathtub drain however the cross bars have broken off so I am unable to unscrew it from the tub.

How can I unscrew it?

EDIT:

This is approximately the product I am trying to install: drain

On the packaging it says to use pliers to grab the cross bars of the old train in order to unscrew it.  The drain is supposed to look like this:

But the cross bars have broken off.

Get a drain key and a crescent wrench it will expand in the hole giving you friction to turn the drain out.


How to protect exposed bathroom fan wiring I‘m replacing a builder’s bathroom vent fan and housing. I have two problems.

The new housing’s knockout cover is missing. Manufacturer doesn’t have a replacement.
The (rigid metallic) conduit leaves wiring exposed.

How can I wire this without leaving anything exposed? I have no attic access.

If you cant find a replacement cover, you will have to make one. Easiest way is to get a 2x4 or a 4x4 metal cover (preferably with a 1/2" knockout in the middle). Bend it into an "L" shape, and then attach it with short self tapping sheet metal screws.

To attach power, you will need a couple of pieces (links below, you can probably find these at your favorite hardware store):
EMT (existing conduit) to FMC (flexible metal conduit).
A short piece of FMC (hopefully your wire is long enough)
FMC to 1/2" knockout (this will connect to your cover if it has a knockout otherwise you will have to drill a 1/2" hole

Please note that these links may not be the correct size of connector, but represent the type of connector. Please also read  ThreePhaseEel's note below about grounding

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKVUUE/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

https://www.amazon.com/Southwire-55082121-Aluminum-Flexible-Conduit/dp/B002LT0M4W/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/143-0060259-1607946?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002LT0M4W&pd_rd_r=8913bc2a-d3d9-4207-bd70-24f159c7959c&pd_rd_w=3Sk1R&pd_rd_wg=lkVjo&pf_rd_p=4e3f7fc3-00c8-46a6-a4db-8457e6319578&pf_rd_r=VNNJ09YK37FJZQ9VQCFV&psc=1&refRID=VNNJ09YK37FJZQ9VQCFV

https://www.amazon.com/Halex-20421-2-Inch-Squeeze-Connector/dp/B006X15ZWS/ref=pd_lpo_60_t_0/143-0060259-1607946?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B006X15ZWS&pd_rd_r=51ae619f-ed25-4856-a7c9-c5cdaee4fd3e&pd_rd_w=qsDiY&pd_rd_wg=Z6IJb&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=DTK6KWNNB17N7TBWBJ4D&psc=1&refRID=DTK6KWNNB17N7TBWBJ4D


What is a 'Yoke' in NEC / electrician parlance? NEC rules sometimes refer to "the yoke".

For example: 1999 NEC § 210-4(b):

  Dwelling Units. In dwelling units, a multiwire branch circuit
  supplying more than one device or equipment on the same yoke shall be
  provided with a means to disconnect simultaneously all ungrounded
  conductors at the panelboard where the branch circuit originated.

What is meant by the term 'Yoke' as used in the NEC?

The 'Yoke' is the structural frame of a receptacle or switch:

It is often metal, with holes for two captive mounting screws, and should almost certainly be grounded if a grounding conductor is present.

Examples:

A light switch in a single-gang junction box has a single yoke.
Receptacles (in North America) are often manufactured in a pair of two outlets on a single 'yoke', which can be installed into one single-gang junction box.


How can I wire this ceiling light correctly? I have a ceiling light that decided to not to work.
On inspection I found bare wires were sticking out under cover.
I immediately turned off the light circuits at the switch board.
What I found was the light circuit wiring intact but the wires had been twisted together to join to the light fixture.
The light fixture has three wires blue, brown and green/yellow.
The house wiring has red and black.
I need to know which wires should be joined in an approved joiner so the light works correctly. Can you please help?

Wiring colour conventions can vary worldwide, so as you don't state where you are located, it's not possible to give a definitive answer.

In the UK for example (for single phase wiring), convention would have the live wire as brown (new colour) or red (old colour) and the neutral wire as blue (new colour) or black (old colour). It was not uncommon to see appliances using the new colours while fixed wiring still used the old colours, until the new colour scheme was adopted for fixed wiring (around 2004).

If you are in any doubt at all, sound advice would be to contact a competent electrician to do the work for you.


Indoor or outdoor paint for wheelchair ramp inside garage? I built this wheelchair ramp in my mother's garage for her older friends and when she gets older. It's in NE Ohio and is inside an attached garage. Should only get water from wet or snowy shoes coming in from the car.
I'm trying to decide between a regular latex paint or something like a deck stain-solid color. I don't want to put a clear coat over latex and am unsure if it will wear after being walked on.
(the small vertical pieces are pressure treated and won't be painted until they absorb water, the rest of the wood is not pressure treated)
Suggestions appreciated, thanks!
EDIT: Thank you all. My mother wants it painted, will be a solid color either way, not a stain that shows grain through. I already bought a roll of thread/no slip tape like stuff to put down on the steps and every foot or two on the ramp after painting. The question is what kind of paint to use. Thanks!

It's pretty much a porch, despite being in the garage, so I'd use porch paint on it, at least for the floor/stair treads - with grit or traction aid of some sort. It will get water from foot traffic when it's wet out, to some extent.
I would not choose stain in part because you have a large expanse of plywood, and stained plywood is not a look I'm fond of. YMMV - and in this case the first M is Mother, not Milage.
If the paint wears, just as with a porch, easy to add another coat.


What is a 3-pole fan isolater and why would I need one? In this answer a part was identified as a "3-pole fan isolater". It appears to me that this is like a "regular" switch that disconnects 3 lines instead of just one.

Is my understanding correct?
What is the advantage of this over a single-pole switch?
Why would it be specifically a "fan isolater" and not a "{device} isolater"? i.e. are they used for fans only?

It allows you to disconnect (isolate) the fan from the rest of the circuit so you can service it and leave the lights and other power on at the same time if needed.
Here are a couple of resources:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/MK/3_Pole_Fan_Isolator.pdf
https://www.se.com/ww/en/faqs/FA166866/


Improve existing roof insulation from the inside We have a pitched roof (1971 house, The Netherlands) which consists of (outside to inside):

Tiles
2cm PUR insulation
2cm wood

We asked a few companies for quotations to improve the insulation (currently Rc=0.8).

Company 1 is suggesting to add rockwool to the inside, while company 2 says that any insulation on the inside will lead to condensation issues.

Are there any options for adding insulation on the inside of the roof in this case?

Edit: picture of the roof material:

We had insulated the heated attic area with rock wool. After the winter, mold had formed on the wood. The reason was ice crystals between the wood and the rock wool. When thawing, the moisture has accumulated more and more on this layer. However, I don't have 2 cm PUR insulation on the outside. This certainly reduces the problem of condensation on the wood layer. It may not be easy to assess whether this will help 100%.

In our case we had newly installed all insulation with an intermediate ventilation space (2 cm) between insulation and wood. There were no problems until now for over 10 years.


How to put up MDF wall without studs Good morning everyone!

Quick question. I want to build a room within an existing cellar in my basement. This cellar has a very low ceiling, of about 1.95m. I want to put up the walls with some relatively thick, water-resistant MDF I've found that is 3cm thick. Is there any way I can put these walls up without needing a studded framing? The walls and ceiling of the existing cellar are concrete. Would "L" type connectors be enough?

New information regarding some of the comments posted:
I am aware 3cm MDF is very heavy. That is actually one of the main reasons for using this material for the walls. The room in question that will be built is to be used as a music recording studio, and the denser the walls the better the sound attenuation properties of the room (generally).

Regarding the dimensions, the room is roughly 7 meters long by 2.5m wide, with the aforementioned 1.95m ceiling. The actual MDF boards will be around 190cm long x 66cm wide in order to fit them into the space (have to maneuver through a tight space to get to this room). The relationship to the existing walls is that there will be a separation between the MDF walls and the existing ones of about 10cm more or less.

Thanks!

There are many ways to build what you're proposing, but the one that jumped to mind first is akin to a panel/frame assembly.

Start with a post (~1.5"x3.5"/ ~38mm x 88mm, or larger), firmly attached to the floor and ceiling. This could be a bracket that wraps around the post, it could be a bolt at one end that mates with a hole, or it could be a couple of L brackets. At the doorway, make sure the posts are extra solid.

Butt a panel of mdf to the post and secure it as drawn. Caulking/sealant in the gaps will probably help reduce sound transmission. Set the next post plumb/ in line and repeat.

Depending on the gaps at the floor and ceiling, you'd probably want either a foam weatherstripping or caulking/sealant and possibly a strip of timber (~3/4"/18mm) on both sides to make it look finished.

Note, the fancy version of the post is a little harder to make airtight and more bothersome both in terms of milling and assembly. It is a little cleaner looking, though.


Low Sloped Asphalt Shingle Roof Remediation The operative word here is remediation. This isn't a new install, so I'm looking at how to strategically work with what I've got.

The previous owner put a new shingle roof on my garage about 4 years ago, but the problem is that the roof wasn't sloped enough for shingles. Most of the water runs off OK, but some does get through the shingles toward the back. I'm trying to find a good solution that ultimately just needs to prevent this leaking. I'm mostly concerned about cost and hassle. For right now I just have a tarp over the shingles. I'd like to avoid removing the shingles if possible. At this point I'm looking at the following options...

A.) Any solution that would allow me to "patch" or seal the problematic  area of shingles, making them less permeable where the pitch is so low that water gets through?

B.) A solution along the lines of removing existing shingles, adding improved waterproofing underpayment, and re-installing existing shingles.

C.) Any overlaying solution that would allow me to avoid ripping off the shingles. For instance, maybe metal or polycarbonate over shingles.

D.) If no good options between A, B, and C, then I'm looking at my material and method options for all out re-roofing. In particular, considering cost, difficulty, one-man-job or not, continuous or piecemeal install, rental equipment, etc.

I'm looking for a good DIY path forward, including any overlooked options and/or particular insights from someone fixing a similar problem.

Bonus: Any alternative uses for relatively new shingles if they're removed?

A) No. Nothing short of an unbroken membrane will resolve the issue. Even if you were to tar each row of shingles, you'd likely miss a few spots and have long-term damage. The right solution is a rolled roof or rubber membrane, possibly underneath shingles if aesthetics are a concern.

B) See A.

C) The question is too broad for the SE Q&A format. Ask for estimates from your local roofers, or price a flat roof solution at your lumber supplier.

D) Sure. If you carefully pop up each shingle nail, you could put them on Craigslist for sheds, hunting shacks, or whatever. Many folks would be glad to have a decent roof for half price (or less). This would take some time, obviously.


How to install cabinets on concrete floor I am installing base cabinets in my basement.  The flooring will be a floating laminate, so I can't set the cabinets directly on the flooring.  There was a similar question How do I install cabinets on a floating hardwood floor?, but it didn't answer how so install the cabinets on the concrete.

From what I've seen so far, it seems like there should be some sort of shim/spacer system, but I haven't really seen in more detail what this would be.  Would I use something like 5/4 PT boards and create a box and set the cabinets on this?

Its depends on your cabinets ultimately. Do they have an attached or built in toekick?

If not, you can build a continuous toekick frame out of PT, or plywood (treated or marine grade ideally).

Another option is to use Euro-style adjustable feet under each cabinet. With these, you actually could install the cabinets on top of your floating floor. Just screw the cabinets to the wall, and the floor can expand and contract under the feet without any obstruction.

This is how I did my recent kitchen renovation in my last house, and never had any issues with the floating bamboo floor through all of the seasons.


How should a plumbing system that contains underfloor heating and a back boiler be designed? How should a plumbing system that contains underfloor heating and a back boiler on a wood burning stove be designed? I read the an similar answer to the question on another site that said:

Back boilers must only be used with open vented systems
Underfloor heating should not be directly connected to open vented systems because of air bubbles
The way to combine the two is connecting the back boiler to a thermal store. The thermal store has a coil in it which can be used for a pressurised circuit for the underfloor heating

This seems to make sense but I trust the Stack Exhange community and wanted to confirm the three points above are correct and see if there are sensible alternatives to consider before progressing.

That's overkill.  All you need is a heat exchanger.
It's vital to separate the system that can boil from the system that can't boil.   PWR/VVER nuclear reactors have a similar heat exchanger separating the "must not boil" section from the "OK to boil" section.
A gas water heater avoids the problem of boiling by simply regulating the gas flow when the water gets too hot.  A wood stove can't do that, because wood isn't "throttleable". So it's possible for the heater/"boiler" to get more heat than it can use, and then, boiling is unavoidable.
The floor-heat temperature can be "throttled" by regulating the water flow coming from the wood stove.
A thermal store is a big tank of water kept hot.  In that setup, the wood stove's water loop interchanges into the thermal store, and then, the floor loop draws heat from the store.   This provides a large thermal buffer, which is nice but not strictly part of your requirement.


Router table: bit positioning and guard? I bought the Craftsman fixed-based router + table for DIY home projects. I am in the process of getting familiar with the router/table operation + safety rules. I have the following questions.

Generally, how high does the router bit need to be positioned with respect to the stock? For example, in the picture below I have a 3/4'' block and am using a 1/2'' cove bit. Where should I set the bit? Are there any rules/tips guide?

The user manual advises multi-pass routing with cut depth being 1/8'' max/pass. Does this mean that when I align the router fence it should only expose 1/8'' of the bit? The depth is in the X (lateral) instead of the Y (vertical) direction?
There is a guard on my router table. During operation, do I flip the guard up or leave it on (for safety) and slide the stock through it using push pad/stick? For example, in table saws the guard should always be present for safety. I have been looking at a bunch of Youtube videos, and all of the router tables don't seem to have a guard.

Number 1 and 2 are one in the same, adjust the fence to achieve the final product look. Example: total round over is 1/2" then move your fence to 1/2" from the bit. You start with the bit setup to cut 1/8" and pass your stock through. Raise it another 1/8" and repeat, continue until you achieve the desired end look. If you are doing a dado in a piece of stock, then you adjust your fence to accommodate the spacing for the dado slot, again adjusting the bit up 1/8" each pass and running the stock through until desired depth.

Number 3, well that is a safety guard, some people remove it if it interferes with the thickness of stock being routed. Others remove it just to have it out of the way. However, it is designed to pop up as you push your stock through the table and over the bit. This will keep most of the dust and debris in that part of the table instead of all over you, in your face, eyes, nose, etc....

Now that that is said. Most people don't bother with the 1/8" cut per pass, rather they set it to the depth of the final pass and just go for it, especially when you are doing multiple pieces of stock and want them to match. Imagine just being a 1/16" off from one to another, may not be noticeable at first glance, but up close...you will notice.


Why is my indoor A/C Blower randomly turning on and off only with Nest? I recently purchased a Nest Thermostat (3rd Generation). My old thermostat was working perfectly. I wired Nest the Same exact wiring as the old thermostat which is : Y1 W1 G RH RC. With Nest, the indoor fan blower randomly turns off for 3-10 seconds, then back on for few to several minutes. I replaced my indoor fan, thinking its a blower issue and still doing the same thing. I replaced my old thermostat, its working perfectly, but only when i use Nest, the Blower randomly shuts off then on..

The battery is likely depleted and it's pulling a small amount of power to charge the battery. This signal is causing the blower to turn on momentarily. The fix is probably to run a common wire, preferably to the A/C since that's where Nest expects it in a dual transformer configuration (which I assume you have since both Rh and Rc are connected).

Hopefully your A/C control board has a common terminal, and an unused wire. If not, you can use a Venstar Add-A-Wire.


My new drywall patch is thinner than the old one? Why? I purchased two large sheets of drywall for my garage ceiling and to patch some large holes on the wall. I installed wood strips to support the drywall patch. Everything went smoothly until I test fitted the new patch. For some unknown reason, the new patch is about 1/16 to slightly more than 1/8 thinner the the old patch, creating a noticeable inset. The edges are not flush anywhere around the patch.

I encountered this problem before when I used 1/2" instead of 5/8". I made sure to get 5/8" this time. I went to the trouble of measuring the thickness with a caliper and the new was 5/8" and the old was .647. I do understand that drywall is slightly tapered on the edges.  I also went to the trouble of screwing down the drywall edges of both to ensure they are seated correctly.  The finish on the old drywall cannot account for the discrepancies in thicknesses. What gives and how do I level it out without making a big huge mess?

EDIT:

Turns out the sheetrock is the same thickness, but the studs are not straight. I realized that the sheetrock screwed to the laths was on the same plane as the old drywall, but the ones screwed onto the studs were off, sometimes significantly. I really need to get out of the woodworker and machinist precision mentality and realize construction has a much higher error margin.

Pro installers  will install drywall over irregular framing, which can give the impression of thicker sheets.

Drywall can be skimcoated with setting joint compound.  This can be as thick as 1/4 inch, in some cases.  Originally, the skim was done with plaster

In any case, you  should fill with a setting compound mixed a bit stiffly and taper out 12 inches for a invisible joint.


I need to know if this is load bearing. Removing old tub and new tub is larger. Need to cut studs out to make room Ive purchased a new tub thats larger than the existing.  I tore out the wall to make room.  Im not sure if this is a load bearing wall or not.  Any help appreciated!

I doubt if it’s load bearing because: 1) spaced double stud, 2) no header across opening,

1) Load bearing POSTS tend to be solid posts or built up solid posts...not spaced apart studs.

2) Load bearing WALLS tend to be continuous and would require a header across the opening.

If you can remove some ceiling gypsum board and look above the wall, you can easily determine if it’s load bearing. Just make sure no studs or posts rest on top of the wall.

Also, if you can check under the wall and see if there is a wall, beam, post, etc. directly under the wall, then it probably is load bearing...if not, you’re good to go.


Mystery Plastic cap/pipe in front yard Can someone please identify the purpose of this covered plastic pipe in my front yard.  I can provide further details as necessary.  I thought it was a drain clean-out, but the plumber disagreed.  In the back yard, there is a clean-out for the combined sewer/storm line.  Photos attached with cap on/off.

The cap is called a "popup emitter" and is used to cap a drain line.  When there is water pressure the center part "pops" up and allows the water to flow.

Perhaps it's from a downspout or a sump pump.  It looks as though it may be clogged up.

Popup Emitter


Do I use bushings, or something elese with metal clad romex through drywall penetration, I'm trying to run a new AC circuit to a bedroom above my unfinished garage.  I'm using metal clad romex ( flexible conduit ) to save time and make it easier to accomplish.  Access to the breaker panel is on the wall outside of my garage.  So what I'm doing is running the MC romex, exposed, across the top of my garage and then penetrating near the base of the wall in the second floor bedroom.  I consulted an electrician who told me that it's not against code to run the MC romex through the garage in this manner, so that's not the issue I'm concerned with.
What I am concerned with is where the mc romex goes through the penetration through the drywall from the unfinished garage.  I'm using this little breakout box as strain relief, but it doesn't seem right.  My understand is that by code I need to use a bushing to secure the mc romex in the knockout hole, but what about at the drywall penetration.
Is there a bushing I should be using there?
Should I not be running mc romex through the inside of the wall in the first place?
(There's just something about this that looks off).

It does indeed "look off" because you don't simply run the MC or MC-lite cable through the box. You need appropriate clamps, and the clamps need the jacket cut on the armored cable, and then you have wire nuts in the junction box (because you also have to cut the wires to get the clamps in place.)
Armored cable is fine in drywall - indeed, it's superior to NM cable, and required in many/most commercial occupancies if not using conduit.


Why do my LED shop lights flicker when my compressor turns on? I converted my shop to led from fluorescent.These are direct wire no ballast. Ran all new wires in conduit. The compressor is  a 5hp single phase on a 60 amp breaker with 125amp main.

I replaced compressor motor in 09. Compressor I installed in 1977 and has never given me a problem with the lights. I can run the TIG on a/c high frequency with no flutter. Lathe, Milling machine, grinders nothing else has a effect on the lights. I went through every connection double checking neutrals and grounds in the whole shop with no faults.

My other led fixtures are pre assembled don’t have a problem and my standard non converted fluorescent fixtures are ok. I have read about harmonic balance in large compressors but have not found a cure. I have spent a couple of days just rechecking everything but I still have the problem. Can you help?

I don't believe motor starting flicker is the source of your problem. I have the same issue, and during my time working at a power company, there was actually one client who had this same issue after retrofitting to LED tubes.

The flicker that you notice is well below 60Hz(My assertion, not yours) and is continuous from your descriptions as the compressor runs. The discussion of the starting capacitor or a soft start is actually a totally different problem. What happens when your compressor begins its compression stroke, and proceeds to end it, is that the torque required to turn it increases steadily and then drops off sharply as the compression stroke is finished and the piston passes over top dead center.

This varying motor load results in the line current varying at a lower than 60Hz frequency (typically the compressor turns much slower than 60Hz). As the current varies up and down in phase with the compressor, the voltage drop across your wires also varies, meaning the voltage at the LED bulbs is also going down and then up every time there's a compression stroke.

For reference, my compressor is a behemoth I inherited from my father. It's rated at 5HP and draws 28 amps RMS on a 240V circuit, and still causes this problem. The fact that my pole barn is the furthest thing from the service entrance on the house (and thus the transformer) doesn't help, nor the fact that I have a 10kVA transformer. The compressor operates at about 3-4 Hz (estimated based on my hearing) and the lights flicker about that fast too.

The problem is due to poor light design (assuming your voltage flicker is in spec, and it very well may be, as my former company had done voltage studies on a customer with this problem to see if the flicker was caused due to out-of-spec flicker voltage and found nothing). I haven't torn apart any of the LED tubes I used to retrofit my house, but I suspect they forego active power factor correction circuits in order to make them cheaper, because that type of circuit should be able to compensate for this type of issue(Look up Active PFC).

Whether or not light-strip-in-fixture LED lights have better designed power supplies or not I cannot comment on because they are obnoxiously expensive($80 USD per fixture where I can retrofit a 4ft 4 light LED fixture to LEDs for 10 bucks a bulb at $40 USD!) and that has prevented me from purchasing them.


HE gas furnace replaced bad inducer but no ignition I have an approx 20-year old Tempstar (model # NUGK125DK08, manufactured by 'Inter-City Products') 90% eff gas-fired furnace. Yesterday morning we noticed it was blowing only cold air. I opened it up and noticed a faint burning smell and poked around and noticed the inducer motor was hot and was not running when the furnace was switched on. I got the part today and replaced the inducer unit, which is running fine now when the furnace is switched on, but there is no ignition. What to check next?

Edit: @Mazura was right - it was the pressure switch. Note- in my previous comments, I mistakenly thought the heat switch mounted right on the inducer assembly housing was a pressure switch.

Pressure switch on the inducer has to be satisfied before it will light the ignitor. If it can never verify that the inducer is blowing, it might run it forever and burn it out.


What profession/company is specialized in home air leaks? We have purchased a condo a couple of years ago. We had it inspected by a pre-purchase-home-inspetor company as it is the common thing done around here.

We live near Montreal in Canada, where it can get cold during the winter (-30°C), so the inspection included a thermal reading (thermal imaging) of the home to spot where heat could be lost. The inspection was done during the month of May, while the temperature outside was quite comfortable (15°C). So of course, it did not spot anything outstanding.

The following winter, we got faced with frozen pipes issues (no leakage, thank you!), and well, general "Geez, it's cold in here" while getting up in the morning.

I'm aware of a couple of places where we blatantly lose heat (stove hood, fireplace chimney, window cracks), and I feel we lose more heat from this kind of spot than a badly insulated wall.

I'm clueless about what I should Google to find a company that would help me find all of these issues. I can find a bunch of thermal imaging inspectors, but I don't feel that they will be of any help (the winter temperature is already fading way).

What are companies who specialize in that called?

What you need is called an Energy Audit. We had one done on our home several years ago. They go through your home looking for areas lacking in energy efficiency. One of the major parts of the audit is called a Blower Door Test.

During this test they put a large fan into the door of your home and put your house under a vacuum. The result of this test - how much air the fan is able to suck into your home from leaks - determines how "tight" your home is.

Our auditor went around the home with a smoke pen to identify areas where air was coming in - around switches, electrical receptacles, doors, windows, etc. Several days later a written report was provided to us which detailed specific areas to improve, ordered from most to least cost effective.

The Canadian Natural Resources website has more information about these types of programs.


How should I size an air conditioner for a room in the attic? My bedroom is upstairs in the attic and much of the interior walls/ceiling are the underside of the roof.

I believe there is a couple inches of hard foam between the drywall and the sheathing/roofing. The walls/ceiling of the room can get quite warm in the summer as the sun beats down on the dark asphalt tiles outside.

I'm trying to size an AC for the room, but see that most ACs suggest a square footage rule of thumb. I presume this square footage assumes a more typical mix of interior/exterior walls.

Is it worth considering my situation differently than just buying the AC that matches my room's square footage?

Do not go by square footage alone. When calculating heat gain/loss, exterior surface (walls, ceiling and foundation) are the main determining factors. In your case you need to consider all the extra heat gain from the roof and also that cool air falls. In an attic you'll get all that extra heat gain plus all the cool air from the air conditioner is going to drop down effectively pushing the warmer air up. You can offset that effect by keeping your door closed when using the A/C. Assuming the same amount of exposed ceiling square footage as wall square footage I would triple the "recommended" size based on floor square footage.

This answer is just a guideline based on limited information. It is by no means an accurate calculation.


Can you “re-use” Hardi Backer? I installed Hardi Backer under a ceramic tile floor several years back. We are planning a remodel soon. Can I remove the tile, clean up the backer board, and install new tile? That stuff has a million screws in it! I would really like not to have to remove it.

The tile, if installed correctly will not come off the backer board cleanly, it will leave behind thinset or rip up chunks of backer board when you demo it. Even if it was relatively easy, keeping the flatness spec of 1/8" within 10' and 1/16" within 6' will be hard to meet with reused board. Its best to get back down to the subfloor to inspect anyways and install new clean board or use an uncoupling membrane like Schluter Ditra in the future.


Measuring frequency of a fluorescent light source? I noticed that my eyes feel tired with certain fluorescent lights in my office. I read that low frequency fluorescent lights can make eyes tired. Is there a tool I can purchase to measure the frequency of a fluorescent light source?

I personally have done this with a Greenlee clamp meter, a volt-meter with a Hz setting. I connected the meter to the terminals at the non-shunted end. Only do this with a Cat II or higher rated meter and only after the light has lit. Otherwise the meter will be subjected to the ignition voltage of near 1kV.

I rather liked the high-frequency ballasts that I installed. Went from 60Hz to 48kHz. These were Philips high frequency electronic ballasts.

I got T12 because I didn't want to replace the bulbs. I really should have at the time got T8 ballasts and replaced the bulbs.

I would not have traded for LED tubes. Most the the LED tubes are poor replacements they tend to be far too blue and also lack diffusers so you end up with point light sources brighter than the sun. Which exceeds the recommended the luminous contrast ratio between light and dark areas in a office work space. The point light sources are so bright that they make the area effectively darker.


What is the name for the section of vertical tiling underneath a bay window? As per the highlighted section in this picture.

As odd as it may seem, it's a roof. A bay window roof. In the picture you provide, it's actually a roof for the lower bay window, as opposed to being part of the upper bay window.


Should I use screws or nails to hang 19/32" thick t1-11 panels indoors? I'm installing 19/32" thick T1-11 panels as interior walls against wood studs. I'm unsure whether it would be easier/better to use ring shank nails in a nail gun, or screws. Some of my concerns:

The panels are a bit wavy, so I figured screws would make it easier to ensure the panels are snug against the studs
Would like to avoid buying an air compressor and framing nail gun if I can help it. Renting those would end up running about the same cost since I have to spread out installation over many days due to time constraints.
A nail gun would surely be faster, but since the panels are wavy I'd have to ensure the panel is pressed against the stud before nailing

What sort of screw should I use? Is there risk that a screw might tear up the shiplap edge?

I would use neither. Since the panels are not used for a structural purpose and only need to be held in place, finish nails would be my choice. For a finish product, the screw heads or even the nail heads would be noticeable in the surface. Filler on this type of textured surface is not a good option.

But if those are the only choices you have, screws are the best choice, you can control the screw better than the nail for depth. Nail guns will overdrive the nail and create a deeper recess than needed.


How to open this paint can? I'm used to pait cans where the lid can be simply pried off using a screwdriver. However this one seems different:

How do I open it?

There are no instructions on the can itself.

I did some poking and was able to break and remove the silver ring with needle-nose pliers. The lid beneath can now be pried open with a screw driver.


Adding lights to a 3-way switched circuit I currently have a circuit that goes like this:

Panel -> 3-Way switch -> 3-Way switch -> light

I have the wiring run through 2 additional boxes between the switches and I'd like to add lights in there to be controlled by both switches so that it looks like this:

Panel -> 3-Way -> Light -> Light -> 3-Way -> Light

I've got 12/3 running between the switches and the existing light, but I'm not sure if it's possible to add the lights in the middle, and if so, how to wire them in.

I can, if necessary, add 14/2 from the 3-Way -> light end of the chain, but, of course, would prefer to use my brilliantly planned ahead wiring (from 25 years ago).

I can add in a drawing of the exact wiring connections if that will be necessary.

Smart switches

Use smart switches for this.  This makes the impossible easy.

Traditionally, you would need one cable with 4-5 active conductors plus ground. And all those must be in the same cable!! You cannot group two cables as a substitute for a cable with enough wires, ever. Nor  can you use any #14 wire on a 20A circuit.

Here, we re-task white to be neutral, black to be always-hot, red to be switched-hot, and obtain a matching pair of master and remote 3-way smart switches that communicate wirelessly or via power line signaling.

Given the ease of this approach, doing traditional 3-ways is a waste of effort.


What are the different gauges of electrical wire available? What are the different gauges of electrical wire available for homes and how do you determine which gauge you should be using? If it helps, I'm wondering specifically about recommendations as I finish my basement.

This article has a full list and gives examples: http://electrical.about.com/od/wiringcircuitry/a/electwiresizes.htm

For the most part though, 12 gauge wire is used for 20 AMP circuits and 14 gauge wire is used for 15 AMP circuits.  You probably can just use the 14 gauge wire in the basement (but it also depends on what you are doing in the basement as far as power requirements).  For example, these days a kitchen is always wired with 12 gauge/20 AMP circuits because of all the power demands.  The refrigerator will be on its own 20AMP circuit and so will the dishwasher.  Then depending on the number of outlets/counter space you may have one of more additional 20 AMP circuits.

The rest of the house is usually 14 gauge but the size of the house will determine the number of 15 AMP circuits for everything.

Also keep in mind that 14 gauge wire is much more flexible than 12 gauge.  So don't just go to 12 gauge just because... you will have a much harder time wiring everything if you do.


Is there really any difference between yellow and white PTFE tape? Yellow PTFE tape (aka Teflon) is supposed to be used for sealing gas pipe thread, and white PTFE tape, for water. But is there really any difference between them? I had always thought that yellow was specially formulated to resist methane and other natural gas additives, but an HVAC tech told me the different colors are just markers, so that anyone looking at a pipe can immediately tell if it's gas or water. Other than their colors, they're just the same. Was he correct?

The colors mean something, but the meaning has changed over the years so some info may be old. The CURRENT standard is:

White = single density tape and is ONLY good for small fittings up to 3/8 in. pipe. Most people are unaware of this. "Double Density" tape used to come in white as well, but because that could be used for larger pipes, it was impossible for inspectors to know if the white tape used on 1/2" and larger pipe was in fact double density, so they stopped making it.

Yellow = double density, required for natural gas (methane) piping 1/2" to 2" dia. pipe. In many jurisdictions you MUST use double density tape on gas piping, so inspectors will look for yellow.

Pink = triple density, required for NPT threads 1/2" to 2". Again, most people are unaware of this change and hardware stores rarely sell it for the DIY market, but if you are going to get an inspection, this is what you must use now. This is also good for gasoline and propane lines.

There is also green for medical gasses (oil free tape) and gray / silver for use with stainless steel and aluminum pipe (has anti-seizing compounds embedded in the tape).

Over 2" you must use sealing compounds.


How can I install this programmable switch? I just had our house re-wired (by a professional, not myself). I'm looking into replacing a light switch with a fancy programmable version (Honeywell Econoswitch RPLS740B).

The location for the switch has two switches next to each other in the same box. They both have two black wires and and one bare copper wire ground connected to them. There is a bundle of 2 white wires nutted together behind the switches not connected to anything.

When I look at the manual for the programmable switch, it has three connections: black, blue (load), and white (neutral).

So my questions:

For the black wires connected to the current switch, how do I know which is hot, and which is the heading off to the light (load)? Does it matter?
For the white, do I just un-nut one of the wires behind the switches and hook it up?
Why does the programmable switch require the white wire?

Turn off the breaker, undo both wires from the switch, then turn on the breaker. Get a NCVT (non contact voltage tester) and see which of the wires is hot. That will be the one back to the panel, the other one will be the load.
Yes, just connect the white to the other neutrals in the box, so they are all wire nutted together.
The programmable switch requires a neutral because it needs current itself all the time.  If you just had the 2 black wires, there would be no current flow through the switch when it was off, so no way to power the electronics.


How to hang a frame with a sawtooth hanger from a wall? This might be a 2 part question so I can break it out into two parts if needed.

How do I hang a frame with a sawtooth hanger onto a wall with a nail?
Can I use a screw and anchor on the wall to hang the frame?

We got a framed picture as a gift and the frame had a sawtooth hanger installed on it.  I bought a picture hanging kit but after hammering some picture hooks into the wall, it seems like hooks are not the way to hang frames with a sawtooth hanger.
After doing some research on google, one webpage said I'm supposed to use a flat head nail to hang the frame on.  However, I'm having some trouble visualizing how to do it because the instructions on the page said to hammer it in at a 45 degree angle.  If I do that, I can't see how the frame can sit on the nail head since the nail head is at an angle but the sawtooth hanger is flush with the frame.
I was thinking of putting a screw and drywall anchor into the wall for the hanger to sit on but from searching online, I haven't found anyone suggesting this so my idea might be a stupid one.
So back to my original questions, what is the proper way to hang a frame with a sawtooth hanger, do it with a nail in the wall or do it with a screw and anchor?

A nail with small or no head - like a finish nail - would have to be at a 45-degree angle in order to hold the picture without it sliding right off.
A nail with a relatively large head - like a common nail - can be hammered straight in.
Screws can also work well, and let you easily adjust as needed. Wood screws are technically "best" for this, but a drywall screw will work just fine in most cases.
Note that a small nail or a picture hook is designed to go just into the drywall and hold a few pounds. If you are hanging something heavy (e.g., a big mirror), then you should find the studs and use a longer nail or a screw through the drywall and into the studs so that the stud is supporting the item, not the drywall.


First time welding - how to connect this steel sheet and tube better? After researching for a few weeks, making sure I understand the safety, I bought a small MIG welder/Flux Core Arc Welder:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/mig-100e-flux-cored-wire-feed-welder/A-p8538886e

Here is my attempt at mounting a tube onto a sheet, both steel at 1/8" thickness:

http://imgur.com/a/102xe

My technique was basically to come down at a 45deg angle and slowly move across the sides, for about 60 - 90 seconds total. I kept the tip of the gun very close to the metals, kinda just dragged it along. I chose the wire feed speed as recommended for the metal thickness according to the manual.

It felt strong but then to test it I tried stepping on it sideways. After I applied enough force (less than my bodyweight though) the tube broke off =(

What techniques should I use to weld this connection better?

Any useful vids would be great as well. Thanks!

Because you're just piddling globs of molten welding rod on top of the steel.  That's not welding, that's metal deposition.  You need to read more on how to weld and get more practice, because the concept hasn't really (forgive the pun) penetrated.

Also, it helps to grind or media blast the mill scale and other contaminants off the area you're welding.


Should I seal a brick chimney breast on party wall I have exposed a brick chimney breast in a late Victorian (1885) terraced house in the north of England.

I've cleaned the bricks up and am really happy with how it looks. I've started looking into sealing the bricks to prevent dust, but I see a lot of conflicting information, with some saying that brick of that age shouldn't be sealed because it will cause moisture to move through the mortar instead of the brick, while others seem to think it's absolutely fine.

The chimney breast is in a party wall, so not external.

Should I seal this brick? I want a matt finish and I'm happy if the bricks darken slightly.

Usually the main purpose of a sealer is to protect against moisture. However, in your case the weather is not the issue, but rather appearance.

Silicones were developed to penetrate the brick and provide a coating to protect the brick. Those sealers were rated by how much silicon was in the sealer...2%, 3%, etc. The more, then the more expensive.

Clear sealers come in 3 types: 1) acrylic, 2) polyurethane, and 3) epoxy.

1) Acrylic is the cheapest and probably best for your use. It not too thick so it doesn’t look like a coating, but still gives the finish and protection against dust, etc.

2) Polyurethane will be too thick and give a thick appearance.

3)Epoxy is used primarily indoors because it does not have any UV protection AND you can select a finish: gloss, flat, etc., but is a heavy coating that does not allow the wall to “breathe”. If you use an epoxy sealer, make sure the wall is extremely dry.

Here’s an article that explains it better:

https://www.masonrymagazine.com/blog/2018/09/01/coatings-sealants-and-graffiti-protection/


Why would I have i lost one leg on 240 after maintenance guy changed 100 amp disconnect at the meter I was having trouble with my lights flickering, then the power went out totally. I checked the main breaker inside, and it was not tripped so I went out to the disconnect at the meter and found that it was tripped there.
I reset the breaker, and the power came back on.
The next day some circuits were dead but others still worked, so I checked the disconnect again and saw that one side of the the prong the breaker attaches to for hot was loose and not on the frame. When I tried to seat it, the breaker felt loose so I shut it off and called the maintenance guy.
They changed out the box and the 100 amp disconnect. While doing so they arced the hot wire to the box almost starting a fire, but they were able to get the box replaced and the power back on.
The problem is that now I only have one hot 120v leg in my mobile home. The outside disconnect has 240v across both legs, 120v between each hot and neutral. I noticed that it only has 3 wires, which go underground and come out under the house as 4 wires: red, black, white and green.
Inside, the panel has a 100 amp breaker. Red and black are hot, white and green go to neutral and ground which are joined together.
I show 120v from each leg to ground and 240v across both legs with the main on.
With the hot water heater breaker off and the main on I show 120v from one hot leg to ground, 0v from the other leg to ground, and 120v across both legs. Resetting all breakers has not helped.
I am concerned that the wires may have shorted between the point that the 3 wires leave the outside disconnect, and enter the house with the 4th (ground) wire.
The ground seems okay in the disconnect, and there is 240v across the hot legs. If there was a problem with the neutral or the ground, wouldn't I have problems with both legs?
Right now I have all the 240v breakers off and show no signs of trouble. The 120v circuits that are on the remaining leg shows 120v in all the plugs that are hot, and the lights seem fine. Is there something I am missing, or anything else that could have caused one leg to be dead?

To me it sounds like one of your hot leads to the mobile home was damaged. Turn every breaker off but leave the main on and you will probably see one leg is dead.
My guess is with the smaller breakers on there was enough pass through to provide a voltage, remove the opportunity for this to happen and the bad leg shows up.
How can this happen? I’m my experience it is usually the water heater turning on or trying to so there is voltage on both legs but no potential difference. Open or turn all breakers off and that will usually provide the dead leg.
Someone working with a live circuit like that should have the training and gear to do it safety it is obvious they don’t and should not have done this.


Which wall should I install a replacement thermostat on? I'm replacing an old thermostat that is behind a door to our dining room, that is usually kept open, hiding the thermostat.

Given that the wires come from above and I have some flexibility as to where the new Nest thermostat can be installed, where should I install it?

My choices are, in order of ease:

Right outside the door, in the hallway leading to the dining room and shared with the family room, (keep in mind that the hallway, family and dining rooms are controlled by the same thermostat and the air intake is in the dining room and the air vents are in the family room so air has to make it from the family room to the dining room past the thermostat)
Inside the entrance of the family room, facing a wall, but the Nest would see us entering the family room
Centrally in the family room, facing the room, where we spend most time

For a regular thermostat, you want to place it where it can accurately measure the temperature of the area you use the most. With the Nest, you have the additional functionality of the motion detector which allows Nest to reduce your heat when no one is home.

Thus, your last option, centrally in the family room, sounds best to me.

The second option is not clear with regard to the view of people using the family room. If that location only sees people entering the family room but not in the family room, that makes it hard for Nest to know there are people home if they go to the family room and stay there a long time.


Can I use a traditional router bit on a small concrete slab? And if no what can I use? Can I use a traditional router bit on a small concrete slab? And if no what can I use? I'm getting ready to make a coffee table. I know the trick where you put silicone in the corners to achieve a bevel but I want to add a few fossils or some petrified wood and Im going to need to sand the corners of that down because I want it in the corner of the table if possible just like this pic:

Image source

I'm mounting this top on a coffee table so it most likely will just be a slab that will lay flat on top of the table I built. I was thinking of clamping the top to the base so I can get in there and grind it to fit perfectly then unclamp. Then polish it. The weight should keep it from sliding around I would imagine

Quick answer.... NO.

You will need to get bits designed for concrete.  Concrete is very abrasive and will destroy a wood bit in microseconds and not do much of anything to the concrete.


Basement HVAC supply location I'm finishing my basement and I'm wondering how I should approach placement of the supply vents. I live in Minnesota so my primary consideration is to do what I can to make sure the space can be kept comfortably warm in the winter. From the research I've done, it sounds like ideally they should go near the windows and low. At the same time, I don't want to take a more difficult route if it's unlikely to have any noticeable benefit over an easier one. I figure I generally have 3 options in order of least to most effort:

Place the supply vents on the ceiling near the windows/exterior walls with returns on opposing   walls and placed low.
Place supply vents low on the walls adjacent to the exterior walls as close to the windows as possible.
Place the supply vents low on the exterior walls a couple of stud bays from the windows. I would have to cut the existing vapor barrier and remove some insulation to make room for the duct work.

My assumption is that 3 isn't a good route to take. But I'm unsure of whether placing the supply vents low on the walls will be enough of an improvement over having them in the ceilings to make it worth the extra effort.

The short answer is do the most effective of the available option for each room. You may not get them all set up exactly the same.
For most modern basements in Minnesota the supplies are in the ceiling near the windows and the returns are low on an opposing wall. That's the ideal, in my opinion. You get better flow over and around the window with this arrangement since the air can be directed downward, along the window. It's difficult to do that from a wall vent, so condensation and frost build up more readily, and the air near the windows feels colder (and therefore more drafty).
Obviously it's difficult to get a vent below a window on an exterior wall, and you wouldn't want to compromise your insulation and HVAC air temp by doing so anyway.


Non-working electrical outlets I have 2 bedrooms with all electrical outlets connected to the same circuit.  I started getting intermittent interruptions in all of the sockets in the bedroom farthest from the main breaker box. This went on a couple of months and then all the outlets stopped working. Additionally, all of the outlets in the bedroom closest to the main breaker stopped working.

Please note: The house was rebuilt from the ground up in 2004, so all wiring, circuit breakers, and main panel are new (14 years old).

I tested all of the outlets with a pen tester - all showed power. A friend who is an electrician tested the outlets and found them all to have power.  He couldn't figure out the issue.

I then checked all the connections to each outlet to make sure there were no loose or scorched connections. All were fine. I then replaced the circuit breaker itself in the main panel. I then found that all the outlets in the room closest to the main panel worked, but all the outlets in the bedroom furthest from the main panel still did not work.

I then tested each outlet in both bedrooms with a Micronta 3 prong tester.  All the outlets in the bedroom closest to the main panel showed correct connections and worked fine. All of the outlets in the bedroom furthest from the main panel all showed "open hot" with non of the lights lighting up.

Does anyone have any ideas?

It appears from your most recent fault status report that you have an open or intermittent hot lead somewhere from the last outlet in the close bedroom to the first outlet in the far bedroom. Here are some possibilities to check:

If any of the the electrical outlets in question are using poke-in-and-leave-it type wire connections then rewire those connections to use the side screws with the wire under the screw head. Some types of outlets also have a screw tightened clamp on the side that the wire will feed straight into from the back.
Contemplate of any remodeling in this area of the building has been done recently. A nail or a screw inserted in just the wrong place could have severed the hot lead in power feed cable in the wall or passing through a stud.
Consider temporarily disconnecting the wiring between the last working outlet and first on working outlet. Then run some temporary wire between those locations as a debug to see of a new wire works.
There is always a chance that part of the faulty wiring run can be traced and inspected. It may even route up into an attic or unto the crawl space where through the wall stud routing is blocked due to doorways. Wires in these areas may be more susceptible to damage due to human activity, pest access to wires or poor routing of a cable over a sharp metal edge.


Append Tee & Boot to Existing Branch ( flexible duct) to Split supply between floors I have a space in finish basement where I have to supply heat from ceiling. But in ceiling, in some places, main supply trunk is not reachable or some occupied by other vent for upstairs. Now I am ending up with reuse the existing branch of 7" flexible duct, which goes up stairs currently. I think I just have add a tee and then attach boot. I know cons of splitting the supply.
I need to know what register vent boot, do I have to use which is compatible with duct tee or How do i achieve this ?
The joists in ceiling running 16 inch center and 2 in. x 10 in. in size.
The floor space in basement is 180 sqft
Any help will be highly appreciated.

Splitting that 7" flex duct to two ducts will yield very little heat to either room. I would find another "tap-in" spot off the main trunk to get heat for the basement. Can you add a supply register to the bottom of the supply trunk.
A picture or two would help us understand what you want to accomplish, what problems you are encountering, and what options we see that would resolve this problem.


Why doesn't my ceiling fan's light kit work? I have a ceiling fan that has a remote. The fan speed control works on fan and the switch at wall works cutting fan on/off. The light on fan does not work either by remote or switch. I am using one switch to cut fan and light on/off. I believe wiring at fan is correct. In the switch box, I have all the whites wirenutted together and pigtailed to switch, a blue and black wirenutted together and pigtailed to switch, and two black wires wirenutted together. Hunter ceiling fan about 20 years old if that helps. It was moved from one room to another. What is causing light not to work?

12/14 update:
Problem has been resolved with fan. Changed to two switches at wall. There was some issues with wiring at fan that caused light not to work. Also changed wiring at wall switch to make work with two switches.

What are you talking about here:

  I believe wiring at fan is correct. In the switch box, I have all the
  whites wirenutted together and pigtailed to switch, a blue and black
  wirenutted together and pigtailed to switch, and two black wires
  wirenutted together.

Are you talking about the box in the wall which holds the switch? If so, why are the whites pigtailed to the switch? Is this switch just a regular one-way mechanical  switch? Or is it some new special switch that requires a neutral (white) connection?

Or when you say "switch box" do you mean the rectangular receiver which is under the cover where the fan attaches to the ceiling? If this is the case it sounds like you may have the whites wired wrong.

The receiver in my Hunter fan has two white stranded wires. One of these (labeled "neutral in") is wire-nutted  to the solid white in the house wiring. The other (labeled "common out") is wire nutted to the stranded white common neutral in the fan. So my fan has a neutral common to the fan and the light. If your fan has a separate neutral for the fan and the light, then I presume both of these would be wire nutted to the "common out" wire of the receiver (so 3 wires in that wire nut).

So all of the whites are not supposed to be wire nutted together and pig-tailed to the switch.

My receiver also has two black wires and one blue wire, all stranded wire. One black is labelled "live in" and is to be wire nutted to the solid black of the house wire. The other black is labeled "fan out" and is wire nutted to the stranded wire that powers the fan. The blue wire is labeled "light out" and is to be wire nutted to the stranded wire that leads to the light.


Reinforcing concrete parapet? One small section of our roof's parapet looks like this. We will be installing one 3/8" x 3" havy-duty concrete screw anchor in that area.

The ideal solution is to remove and replace with new concrete. But we can't do that at the moment, so we need to find another way.

That piece of concrete is not loose, but I think it's not strong enough to withstand drilling and screwing in one of these huge screws.

So my question is: is there a product that I can use/pour that will reinforce that piece of concrete to withstand drilling and installing a 3/8" x 3" anchor?

Thanks.

A lot depends upon the nature of the cracked part of the concrete. If that is just a thin piece cracked from the surface then that piece will almost certainly crack when trying to drill into it. But that said if the underlying bulk of the concrete is intact for a good thickness of four to five inches then it would likely be able to hold the anchor that you described.

On the other hand if the crack shown in your picture has cleaved the whole corner of that part of the concrete then you will not have a good result trying to drill into that area.

There is really no good solution to how to reinforce that area without outright replacement. Since this is part of a roof there are limited options.


Bathtub drain & overflow Decided to DIY a refinish kit on my tub (it’s a rental and I’m broke); unfortunately, I cannot get the rusty, corroded drain to budge. Tried special tools, tried inserting pliers into the X and using channel locks to turn (YouTube tip). Still nothing. The overflow had a bunch of caulk on it, turns out it was the only thing holding it in place. When I removed it, the whole overflow pipe fell behind the wall. No access panel. Aside from taking apart the wall (half of tub wall is shared with linen closet, the other half is shared with a coat closet), any options for dealing with either of these? I removed the plywood “wall” in the linen closet, but there’s framing and drywall (I think) behind it that I’d need to cut into for access. 1953 house with a few owners.
PS. I’m a total novice DIYer. Trying not to make anything worse!

As a total novice DIYer I would say that this job is beyond what you are prepared to do. The house is an old rental so the previous work is old and most likely shoddy. Even if you were able to change the components successfully, you may cause more trouble somewhere else from wiggling the pipes around.

But if you must:
The plywood you removed can cover the hole you make in the drywall so cut with a drywall saw, but don't go deep. Just one inch max. And if you feel something that doesn't feel like drywall stop cutting and make a small hole to investigate. There are pipes in there and though there shouldn't be wires, there may be. Once you have a hole large enough to take a picture, snap a few and post it here. If we can help, great, if not replace the plywood and call your landlord because the overflow "fell off" and your worried about a leak. Oh also, is this a basement washroom?


Why does my central heating unit continue to run after reaching its set temperature? Why will the central heating unit continue to run after reaching the set temperature?  It does not read that it is reaching a higher temperature, it just continues to run at the reached temperature set.

If this is a forced air system, the blower will continue to run for a specific amount of time after the unit stops producing heat. The unit will no longer be producing heat, but the blower will continue to run to spread the heat that was produced when the unit was full on.  If it didn't, a lot of the heat produced would be wasted.

Some units use a heat detection circuit to determine when the blower should turn off. Most however, simply keep the blower on for a predetermined amount of time.


Can I split a shared neutral between two GFCI breakers? I have two 15A circuits that share a neutral.  Currently, they go to two normal breakers, and I'd like to replace two those breakers (side-by-side in the breaker box) with plug-on neutral GFCI breakers.
I tried to install the GFCI breakers with the neutral attached to the neutral bus, but they stayed tripped.  I was able to install one GFCI with the hot and neutral going into the load, and the remaining hot left unconnected.  So, I'm wondering, should I split the neutral and attach it to each GFCI breaker's neutral load terminal?
I have breaker ties that I know I'm supposed to install.

Can't do that.
You need a 15A 240V GFCI breaker (takes two spaces, one handle, two hots, one neutral) to pull that off.
A shared neutral is only feasible if the GFCI can look at both hots and the neutral to detect differences. Two separate 120V GFCIs cannot do that. One 240V unit can.


Do I need return air ducting to a new upstairs furnace? I am ripping my entire house apart and will be making almost an entire wall out of windows and doors,(glass). I will be changing all of the floor plans, (walls), so at the moment I am adding HVAC to the upstairs. I want to install a furnace upstairs, along with an electrical sub-panel. I plan on making a separate "mechanical s" room for the furnace and electrical, which will be placed in the center of the existing chimney. I plan on installing exposed spiral ducting down the center of the upstairs vaulted ceiling.
Do I need to run  cold air return ducting back to this secondary furnace? Can I have a gap on the bottom of all doors, instead of running ducting?
Thank You

A Manual D load calculation will give you each room's airflow and return air path requirements. Those return air paths can be provided by dedicated return ducts, jump-ducts, or undercut doors. Undercut doors represent the least desirable approach because the amount of airflow that can pass under a door is about 50 CFM per inch, and a one inch undercut is pretty big but 50 CFM may not come close to the airflow going into the room. A one inch undercut also creates privacy concerns and may look just plain ugly.

By far the superior solution if you don't want to use dedicated return air ducting is to use jump ducts that allow air to pass through common walls and into the central hallway, and then you can have your simple central hallway return. The preferred approach is to do the ducts through the wall, not over the ceiling, which would put them in the unconditioned attic.

I am assuming you did a Manual J calculation to size the equipment correctly and determine whether or not a second furnace needed in the first place, right? And that you did the calculation with the assumption that all air sealing and insulation work were done first so when when you eventually do them later, this equipment won't be hugely oversized and create comfort problems, right? And that the results of this calculation convinced you that a second ducted furnace was actually required and cost-effective vs a single unit with zoning, a mini-ducted mini-split heat pump, or a series of ductless mini-split heat pumps? And that you were able to find a furnace with a small enough output that it won't short-cycle all season?

The reason why I ask is that if the answers to most or all these questions are all "No", then it's time to go back to the drawing board, because you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.


RG6 vs RG11 - conductor size and connections I depend on an OTA antenna for all my TV programming.  From the antenna, there is coax going to the outside part of a signal booster, then coax going down into the ground, through my foundation wall, into the crawlspace, where it connects to the inside part of the signal booster.  From there it goes about 40', through the crawlspace, up inside a wall, to a faceplate where it connects to a female coax connector.  On the other side, the cable goes to a splitter and into two HDHomeRun quad tuners.

Originally all the coax was RG6, but I changed it to RG11 last fall.  This spring, on hot days, I would lose the TV signals until in the evening when things cooled down and I could get a signal back.  I talked with a tech where I got my antenna and he said they've seen this before, with RG11.  The conductor is larger than the conductor in RG6 and stretches the connectors.  They sent me a new antenna (at no cost).

He said a big issue (that they've seen before) is that the RG11 conductor is notably thicker than the conductor in RG6, so it tends to expand the female connectors to the point where the connection is not as solid.  He said that if I have RG11 in place, it helps to use short RG6 cables to connect to my devices so the connectors in the devices aren't ruined.

I do have a few components with female connectors that have had RG11 cables in them.  If that's stretched out the connectors, what do I do if I need to connect some RG6 to them now?  Can I do something like insert some aluminum foil to fill the gap and provide a better connection?ler conductor where it connects to the booster.

I'm open to other ideas about whether to use RG11 or RG6, but with some of the weaker TV signals, I got better signal strength in the house when I upgraded to RG11, so I don't want to just replace all the RG11 with RG6, but I'm worried about this issue of the RG11 having stretched connectors on some of my components.

Are there other things I should be considering to deal with the issue of smaller RG6 conductors in stretched female connectors?

You could use better connectors - just had a quick look and found (there are probably others) Belden's (no affiliation) FS11 F-Conn for RG11, which uses a pin that connects to the central wire, so that the pin is the expected/standard size for F-connectors. No cramming the wrong size thing in...

Mind you, for 40 feet at typical Over The Air Broadcast Frequencies there should be minimal difference between RG11 & RG6 - The highest channels in UHF should be where the most difference is, and for 50 feet of cable there should only be about 0.4 dB difference between them, while at VHF frequencies 50 feet should be 0.25 - 0.3 dB - not clear from your question what the overall length is - if it's 100 feet rather than 40 feet, double those numbers, but still a small difference at broadcast frequencies (54-806 MHz) unless you are actually dealing in several hundred feet, or higher frequencies not seen in broadcast TV but common in satellite TV.


Does Inverter refrigerator need automatic voltage regulator? I just recently bought LG inverter refrigerator. I am just wondering if I still need to purchase AVR - automatic voltage regulator during brown outs to protect my newly bought appliance?

Thanks in advance.

An uninterruptible power supply or UPS will protect the electronics in your fridge, however a fridge has a fairly high peak current at times so the UPS needs to be quite large (one for a computer won’t have the wattage to support the fridge).
I would recommend getting a whole house surge protector and installing it at your service panel (breaker box). With a whole house surge protector everything in the home is protected from spikes. Brown outs are not as bad with most inverters as they are smart enough in most cases to be able to operate down to 90v with no problems, if they can not function at lower voltages they just shut down for low voltage on their internal (usually) dc buss.
So do you need a UPS, probably not, but I would suggest a whole house surge suppressor especially if you live in an area that regularly has lightning and or heavy industrial loads close to your location.


How do I fix slow water flow in my refrigerator door dispenser? It's an 11 year old Frigidaire FRS26ZPH side-by-side, and this year the water flow started slowing down. It has gotten slower and slower over time, to the point where it's taking over a minute to fill an 8oz cup. (The ice maker is working normally.)

Good pressure comes out of the copper pipe when disconnected from the back of the unit.
I have changed the water filter.
I have defrosted the reservoir tank.

What else can effect the flow? My assumption is that this works solely off the house water pressure, or is there an interal pump involved?

If the ice maker if refilling quickly after making a batch of ice, then the problem will likely be in the valve in the door dispenser or some kind of blockage in the line leading there.

The first easy fix that comes to mind is an ice buildup, since I've seen that wreck havoc on in door dispensers. You can try turning off the fridge and taking a hair dryer to the dispenser from each side to defrost any buildup, and then do your best to dry out anything that drips.

Beyond that, this will probably require taking the dispenser apart, possibly replacing the valve, or it may be as easy as cleaning the spout.


Added a new 5th wire for my wi-fi thermostat, now where to connect it? 4 wires at thermostat: R G B W (red green blue white)
5 screws at furnace: G C W Y R
Single-stage gas furnace with A/C unit

The home's previous owners kind of did everything in a very make-shift way.

I'm trying to replace an old, analog thermostat (4 conductor) with a new wi-fi thermostat (needs 5 conductors).
I added a new single wire between the thermostat and furnace.   I moved the existing 4 conductors from the old thermostat into
the new one.  (No problem.)

Here's a picture of the board at the furnace.   Where should I attach my newly added single wire?

I have a voltmeter.  Can I test for 24 volts?  How and where?

I've already watched countless videos on using various methods to solve the common "c-wire missing" problem.  But I do NOT
want to do any of these, since I (now) have the 5 wires I need:

Use the fan wire for the C-wire and just forget about ever using the
fan-only switch again.
Use more complexity with that add-a-wire circuit kludge.
Buy a different thermostat that eats batteries constantly.
Install a new 24-volt transformer.

Where's the simple "I've already added a new wire" video????

Also, how can I measure the total load on the 24 VAC transformer using my multimeter?

You simply have to connect the new wire you ran between the "C" terminal on your thermostat and the "C" terminal on the furnace board.

You can test with your multimeter, you'll get 24VAC between R and C terminals.

Judging from your photo you have an air conditioner (it will be connected to Y and C), and there is already something else on C -- perhaps a humdifier (likely two wires C+W?).

The only concern here is potentially the load on your transformer. You get maximum of 0.5A at 24VDC (written on the right side in your picture). You'll have to find the current draw of everything, and if the sum exceeds 0.5A, you could run into some troubles (voltage dropping, causing anything from random malfunctions, to everything not working, to burning out your transformer).


Tester reads "HOT / GRD. REVERSE" Everything was working as usual then NOT.  I used a 3 prong circuit tester in several outlets and got the same reading on all of them. HOT / GRD. REVERSE. how or why would this suddenly happen and how do I fix it?

For some reason those plug-in receptacle testers show this result when there is an open neutral.

This means the neutral conductor for the circuit is open or compromised somewhere. Most often it is a poor connection at a receptacle where the wires are back-stabbed, or stuck into the "quickwire" holes in the back.

A quick test to do is to plug the tester into each receptacle on the circuit, working or not, and wiggle it. Many times the faulty connection will show as the circuit flickers or comes back on.

The best course is to at the very least move the wires from the quickwire holes to the side screw terminals. The best bet is to replace the receptacle entirely using the side screws.