How can I replace a tilt up garage door, with near zero clearance, low overhead? I have a 'tilt up' garage door with an past-end-of-life track.  I'm told by several local garage door companies that tilt up hardware is not made any more.

Yet even the low clearance roll-up overhead doors can't match the headroom of the old tilt up.  The garage ceiling is just 82", and the present door gives a 75 1/2" clearance above.  Modern low overhead tracks give us an entry low spot of 72" or less: "duck when entering".

What might be a suitable replacement?
Note we want automatic opening, so we can slide right in with bikes (we do all shopping and much travel by bike).

Note: There's a hole in the floor that implies the original 1938 door swung out, but now the driveway slope appears to preclude swing out, at least without grinding away some material.  There's a small triangular space above the ceiling, but only a few inches at the front.  The current door appears 1950's.

See also What are Automatic Garage Door Options for a Garage with a Low Ceiling Clearance?

Update: the ceiling is lathe and plaster directly on the joists, which run parallel to the door opening.  You could hide a spiral spring up there, but not much else.

If the problem is only the track/hardware (and it looks like your door is in pretty good shape from the photos) and you could stand to wait for a little while, I have an alternate suggestion. Get friendly with a local door company, not a chain company, and see if they could come up with some used track or hardware (whatever is causing you problems) from a door they take out. Chances are they could come up with it within a month (I took a 7' one piece out today. I'd offer you parts, but I'm in Arkansas and I don't see you making the trip for it). It's a bit of a trick to put an opener on a tilt-up door but it can be done in most cases.

Torsion to the rear should be able to work if you do replace you current door. Tell them to bring the cables over the top of the drums so they are up higher.


Fluorescent light turns off randomly? I have a simple two bulb fluorescent shop light, and it will shut off out of nowhere. If I unplug it and plug it back in it will come back on. But it doesn't do this all the time, sometimes it qil stay on for days without shutting off. Is it possibly a exposed wire grounding out? I feel if the ballast was out it would be more consistent. Just seems to always go out at just the not so perfect moment. There's nothing else on that circuit. Im confident I could take it apart but im just need to know what im looking for. Ty for your time.

The internals are pretty straightforward.  You're just looking for loose wires in connections, loose wires at a tombstone, etc.

While you're in there, size up the wiring.  If there are 2 wires to every end of every lamp, that takes a different ballast than if there is only one.  Ballast swaps aren't too bad and they are also an opportunity to upgrade to T8 lighting.

You could also think about going LED if the fix does not prove to be easy.  Get direct-wire aka ballast-bypass LEDs, don't get plug-n-play/needs-ballast LEDs.


Ethernet routing, through-wall conduits I'm looking to install a PoE camera system. The system comes with 8 cameras and the Ethernet cables will mostly be routed on ceilings and walls (not within them). I have some questions about making neat exits through walls.
I'll install the system in a utility room and I'd like a batch of 8 cables to exit directly from that room and into the adjacent garage, where they'll be mostly routed across the ceiling on raceways.

Is there a product to serve as a tidy through-wall conduit for a collection of cables. For example: PVC pipe, but with some sort of flange that screws to each side of the drywall? Would such a wall penetration be a fire-code concern (as it may allow some airflow)?

At the camera-end, I'd like to pass cables through a wall and directly into the back of the camera on the other side. How can I make a neat through-wall connection here? I've seen bushings for coax (which would work for Ethernet), however, in some cases, there may be a 10" drop from the ceiling to the penetration, which I think will mean the cable will have to 'dangle' in the air to avoid sharp turns (which are not recommended for Ethernet, particularly for long-runs).

Is there a better (tidier) solution? (I prefer PoE over WiFi because there is no power for the WiFi cameras).

At the camera end at a bow and an outlet cover with an ethernet socket (e.g.
That will look neat and be great if you need to change the camera's at some point in the future.
Jonathan


How to wire a ceiling rose that has 7 wires I'm trying to rewire a ceiling rose, and I made the very silly mistake of not photographing or checking the initial wiring before I took the previous fitting down.

I seem to have 7 wires coming in through 2 cables. I can't seem to find any information about what to do in this situation - every diagram I find is for more or less wires!

The light point is on its own circuit, though I think the original installer may have thought there were multiple lights on the circuit. What should I be wiring to the Live & Neutral of the light (I know where Earth goes!)? Should any of the wires be looping (I think so?)?

Photos attached of ceiling wires and switch wires (it's the switch with the grey & brown pair of wires I believe - second one down).

I found the answer to this, so posting here for anyone else in future:

cable A blue to light fitting N
cable A brown to loop

cable B brown to loop
cable B grey with brown tape to light fitting L
cable B black to light fitting N (along with blue from cable A).


Replacing old 100 amp electric panel Is there any reason I can't install a 200 amp main breaker panel on a 100 amp service if I remove the main breaker and install a 100 amp breaker on the bus? I need to replace my old panel but I'm not upgrading to 200 amp at this time. Nothing else will be changed, just installing a new panel.  Upgrade comes later.

Yes, that's fine - heck, it's practically mandatory.

Manufacturers vary, but looking in the big box stores, you almost can't get a 100A panel larger than 20 space - and that's just too darned small for a house.

We see plenty of 20 space panels totally filled with double-stuffs, a tactic no longer practical now that so many circuits need to be AFCI  or GFCI. It's plain from the panels we see that even 30 spaces are not enough and are likey to totally fill, with the person coming back here going "How can I add to this panel?"  Really I wouldn't consider less than a 42 space unless the situation was very special. Maybe even dual 30‘s depending on layout (mich cheaper than a 60-space).

The problem is all of those large-enough panels will tend to come with 150, 200 or 225 amp breakers. You have to swap in a 100A to get a useful panel.

Or alternately, get a 100A breaker in the upper left spaces, and backfeed it and just don't use the main..... but you'd want very good coverup and labeling to steer your panicked girlfriend or fireman working by flashlight to the correct main.


thermal cutoff switch keeps tripping kenmore he2 My electric Kenmore HE2 thermal cutoff switch keeps tripping.  Replaced the switch and heating element and still trips.  Seem to have good airflow and cleaned the vent pipe.  Thermal cutoff keeps tripping.

The model is a Kenmore HE2 11087561603.  I just replaced the thermal cutoff and the high limit thermostat, which I hadn't replaced yet.  The machine is working fine now with no problems.  My mistake was not replacing the high limit thermostat and the thermal cutoff at the same time.  Based on the results, the high limit thermostat was the original problem.


Indicator Lamp (LED) on 3-Way Switch So I bought this home a few months ago and I removed all the outlets and switches to replace room by room. In the breakfast room just inside from the garage, there was a switch plate with a small indicator bulb that would stay lit whenever the garage light was on. The garage light is controlled on a 3-way switch, a light switch on each side of the garage.

I bought a new LED light to replace the old incandescent bulb but now can't seem to get it wired correctly. I've got a hot, neutral and switch (black, white and red) to work with. I thought the original light was wired with the switch (red) on one side and the hot (black) on the other, neutral left alone but as these things go, the removal went quick and the replacements have come slowly and now I don't remember.

I've tried hot on one terminal and switched on the other and no dice. Throw the garage switch (tried both) and oddly I get a faint flicker of the LED during the throw but thats it. What's odd to me too is that all 3 wires (black, white and red) are live when the garage light is thrown (from either switch) and all cold when the light is off. The screw terminal passages are a little small so it can't fit a standard screwdriver and so I can't get great torque on the terminal but it's making good contact.

Here is the new LED indicator I'm using that is rated 120v so should be fine - Ledandon 120V panel mount indicator

Any ideas? I feel like I've tried damn near every combination but can't get anything going. Thanks in advance!

EDIT 11/26/17

In an effort to clean this up and make clearer -

Here is the box where I am trying to put the indicator LED:

Here is the switch in the garage closest to the interior of the home and subsequently the indictor box above:

Here is the switch on far side of garage and subsequently closer to the breaker box:

So interestingly enough Ken, I had already made a pigtail and tried to use those neutrals tucked back in the indicator box already.  But when you suggested this again, I tried again, to no avail, but noticed something interesting.  When I hook up the black from the 3-wire and the neutrals from the back of the box and flick the switch on....none of the 3-wire wires are hot.  With just the black hooked up to the LED, all 3 wires remain hot when the light is on.  But when I connect up that neutral from the back of the box to the LED, with the black from the 3-wire the all of a sudden go limp.

And FWIW, the set of black wires in that same box that are wirenutted are always hot no matter what.

I've been doing all these with just your basic non-contact voltage tester so I need to go grab a multimeter to do the other items you mentioned.

1: You are replacing switches and outlets room by room .

2: Since you said 3 way and two switches there - did you replace those switches with 3-ways and do you know how to correctly wire up a 3 - way switch  ?

EDIT 11/14/2017
 The light I assume was already in the circuit and had two wires to it. Your hot and neutral that go out to the light in the garage is what the LED would connect to just like the diagram above (parallel); try hot on one lead neutral on the other swap the wires around if it does not work. The previous owner might have wired it in series with your garage light- this approach may not work properly with an LED which is a Diode (that emits light) and passes DC only, thereby reducing the voltage to the garage lamp because you only have half the wave of the AC.

Given your description states Red, Black and White and that the led flickers  - sounds like he ran the light in Series with the LED You are half waving - half the time the LED lights (positive cycles / negative cycles) - half time on half time off 30 times a second it is flashing.

EDIT 11/18/2017

To verify - turn off your Circuit Breaker - verify the circuit is dead - use a volt meter and also a circuit on/off test.

Step 1:
Disconnect your black on the left side of the switch and the red from the right side of switch. Now being careful not to touch those wires to anything - hands included - turn the CB on and test for voltage at the black wire to the switch. If Voltage is present - flip your other switch - just to verify and check for power. You should have power - this means you have switch #1 per the diagram (should be) - your neutrals - the white wires are tied together in this box (hopefully they truly are neutrals).

If step 1 is correct:
Step 2
Check measure voltage on your black and red wires that you disconnected - DON'T touch the metal of your meter probes or any metal with your fingers/hands - measure the voltage from black to white (or copper) and also from the red to white (or copper )- this black and red share the same wire jacket. If voltage is present something is not correct. Your travelers are powered somehow on the other side - this should not be the case given step 1 and your picture.

If no voltage on Black and Red - they should be the wires going to your other switch (the traveler) - given your lights work with the LED removed - your second switch most likely has two sets of wires (red, black , white and copper) - OR there is something tied together that we are not seeing in your indicator wiring box.
So at this point we need to have a picture of the indicator wiring box and the second switch.

Step 3:
If all is well so far - in your second switch you should have one set of wires - the traveler and the indicator wires.
With your CB off verify what wires are which with an ohm meter. Measure continuity of black and red to your indicator .. if need be as long as the cb is off and you have no power - you can tie the black and red in your indicator wires together and measure at the second switch between black and red and verify continuity - this tells you what jacket goes where. (you could tie the black and red together - the ones that you disconnected from switch 1 earlier - and do the same thing to determine which set of wires is from where.

Now when you know which one is the lamp - you should have black and red as hot in any on position - so in your wiring that goes to the indicator - just leave the red wire nutted off on both ends. Connect your indicator jackets black lead (going to the indicator) to the common of switch 2 (per diagram below I have updated) and the white lead connect it to the neutral (at this point it should work) - so reconnect switch #1 according to your picture you sent the way it was originally (black on left and red on right). I usually take pictures for projects - because interruptions - I will forget how it was and I am too lazy to draw or write it down.

Turn your CB back on and test it.

EDIT 11/19/2017

As I am looking at the three pictures I find the one that is bothering me the most is the indicator connection. I see a R,B,W,C wire set (which means it has to come from either outside of this circuit (switch 1 and switch 2) or it is 'spliced' / wire nutted in somewhere along the path of the traveler wire set (R,B,W,C) from switch 1 and switch 2. and you said when switches on that white was hot too (wrong thing by code).

TO MAKE IT WORK

So if all are hot when switches are on - to make it work you can pick that wire nutted white wire (with the pretty red wire nut) back of box on the right hand side where the 2 two line sets are nutted together (verify that it is a neutral measure between it and the Red or Black of the (R,B,W,C) wire set; If you read 120V use that for one lead to your LED and then use the Black from the (R,B,W,C) wire set for the other - it should work.

That said I would not say the wiring is correct as the (R,B,W,C) set in the indicator box - where does it come from and how is it connected ?


Using PEX for baseboard run I had a copper (baseboard heat) pipe freeze and burst, and need to replace a run of pipe that's exposed to that kind of cold when it gets below 0F outside. The pipe is below the floor on an exterior wall, and is just a horizontal run between baseboard radiators.

I have a temporary fix in place, but two of my solder joints apparently were bad and have a few little leaks, which I have hose clamps and rubber gaskets over temporarily.

So my question is, would there be a problem replacing this section of pipe with PEX?  I like the idea of using PEX since I wouldn't have to solder, and it would theoretically stand up better against the cold (though I am also going to try to address the cold air getting to the pipe).

Yes. In fact, I had to do this exact same thing in a house in MN that had baseboard copper freeze and burst in an attic. I ended up replacing the cooper between the boiler and the baseboards with PEX.

I'd suggest using SharkBite connectors to transition between the copper and PEX. They're designed for that and it's super-easy to install.

As Ecnerwal points out, be sure to use PEX with an Oxygen Barrier.

While doing this, be sure to fully insulate the PEX. PEX can withstand freezing, but it's best to avoid freezing in the first place. If you can move it into conditioned space, that'd be best. If not, wrap it in quality pipe insulation (not the cheap stuff but the ones that self-seal).

The biggest challenge might be finding just the small amount of PEX needed as they are often sold in large rolls. You may want to check with a plumbing supply warehouse to see if they'll sell you a remnant piece.


Bringing power to a newly constructed detach garage We are in the planning stages for a 40x40 detached garage / shop I am building and need to know what will be required in Everett, WA 98204 to bring power to the building.

First off, I will need to run a high powered arc welder that currently is running off a 40A dual-pole breaker so that if I need to crank it up to its highest setting, I wouldn't have issues with the breaker popping when making long welds.
The new shop will also have a dual stack oven that you normally find in a kitchen that we use for powder coating parts.
Plus I want extra power available so if the oven is on, someone is welding, and someone else turns on the shop vac and all the lights, I am not popping breakers.
I also plan to add even larger machine shop type equipment with time, like CNC machine, lathe, and mill (that's hopefully not going to require 3 phase).

I read other articles that say tie into the house breaker, which is only a 200A panel. I added up all the existing breakers as-is, which come to more than 200 amps.  But I do not really know how much power would actually be drawn on each circuit if everything in the house was to be turned on, appliance and heat wise (all lights are already LED to conserve power, and heaters are all 220v in each bedroom).

For example, the kitchen lights are only a handful of LED bulbs and outlets with no real power being drawn, but has a 20A breaker. Same goes for nearly every circuit off that panel. So I am probably sure I could run a sub panel off it.

But let's say there are 4 roommates in the house running every appliance, plus 3 people in the shop doing the same.  I don't know if that would equal more than 200 amps.  But the last thing I want to do is risk it.

So my questions are:

Can I run conduit off my meter on the outside of the house, instead of the existing house panel, and install another 150-200A panel 60' away in my shop?
I would like the ability, over time, to add a bunch of machine shop equipment like CNC machine, lathe, mill, and etc without having to do all new electrical service to the shop again 2-3 years later. What should I do to not have future issues?
Will conduit off the meter work instead of the house panel? If so what size conduit and cable to the new shop panel?

First.  Next time you're welding and a breaker trips, put the tool down, walk away, and don't use the tool again until you have corrected the wiring defect (i.e. too-small wire for the tool and a breaker that is correct to protect that wire).

Talk to your power company about uploading that meter

Normally I would say "no way" because the meter itself and the service lateral (the pole line/underground from the transformer) would also need to have the capacity, and it usually doesn't.

However yours sounds like an all-electric house.  I've seen all-electric houses provisioned for 400A.  So it's possible the power company has already dropped a service lateral fit for 400A. In which case yeah, you could feed a second 200A main breaker right next to the meter pan and have that feed the garage.

Otherwise you will need to upgrade service, and depending on costs you may be better off getting a separate drop/meter.

This is completely determined by the power company and their peculiar situation on your block, we cannot possibly advise you other than to talk to them.

Given a project of this scope and safety impact, it goes without saying that you must communicate with the power company and must also pull permits with your local AHJ and do the inspection rigmarole.  Generally AHJs are ok with people doing their own work, provided  they are not a landlord (in which case no) or working commercially (in which case maybe).  Doing this "gypsy" is out of the question.

You need to know more about exactly what your loads are

It sounds like you have only a coarse grasp of the electrical loads in your house.  It is time for you to do a proper survey.

You are looking for watts or VA and need to eventually turn that into  amps by dividing by volts.  For instance a 2000W heater which runs on 240V is -- anyone, anyone, Bueller?  8.3333 amps at 240V.

For a resistive heater, Watts and VA are identical.  For most others, VA is more important - Watts is what you pay for, VA is what trips the breaker. (to be more precise, VA is the power you must provision.)  When different, use VA.

Get the numbers off the machines' nameplates.  If no nameplate and they plug in, just get a $30 Kill-a-Watt and measure the machine underway.  You'd be surprised what is almost nothing (coffee grinders) and what is a lot (coffee makers).  Kill-a-Watt is not as helpful as nameplate, because nameplate is professionally tested.

Motors are special; get their running amps and horsepower.  Locked rotor amps (a rather large number compared to the others) is not that important, nor is RPM.

Make a spreadsheet of the whole kit-n-kaboodle, you can do 240V and 120V loads separately.   Then think about what is likely to be on at the same time (NOT heat and A/C hopefully) but even moreso, in the shop.  Do you expect to use the lathe and planer at the same time?

Once you have done this survey, a bunch of really educational numbers will fall out the bottom and you'll know what to do next.

Think more about conservation

LED bulbs are nice, but it is "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" if you have resistive electric heat.  I would go one of two ways on that.  One is convert your resistive heaters to heaters that mine Bitcoin - you're still using a lot of electricity but at least you're getting paid.  The other is go heat pump, which is ideal in a place freezes are rare; this will greatly lower your energy consumption and give you more headroom to run the shop.


Microwave on 220 volt branch A friend has a microwave on the same circuit as electric stove. Independently they work fine but if an element on the stove is on and the microwave is turned on the breaker goes off. An electrician was called and he said that the microwave should be on it's own circuit, best just to not use both at the same time.
From my reading this does not seem to be a wrong way to wire a kitchen though perhaps not common. So why does the breaker shut off?

The electrician is right.  The circuit is improperly sized for these loads.

It's very likely that the microwave was added as an afterthought without a moment of consideration for circuit loads. This is typical of work done by homeowners or appliance installers.

The reason is simple enough: installing a new circuit is way beyond the license of the installer.  So he's confronted with the reality that he must violate Code...  or cancel the sale and return with the brand new microwave in his truck, and the boss will fire him and get an installer who will install stuff.

Anyway, by his logic, it's the homeowners' job to assure the necessary electrical service is provisioned for this appliance they know they are buying.  It's not his job to pull service out of thin air.  So really, the code violation is the homeowner's.  He may have mentioned to the homeowner that this is temporary and the homeowner needed to have a circuit added.  This news did not reach your ears.

So yeah.  It was installed improperly and that is the mess you inherited.  You need to run a separate circuit for this microwave. Besides, the circuit breaker that protects the range is not sized properly to protect the microwave.  The microwave could pretty much catch on fire and the large range breaker would not care.


Double rim joists on deck I'm replacing a deck. Its goes out 12' from the house and 24' along it. Should the outside joists be doubled? (2 boards side by side) I'm using 2x10's for the joists. 2x8's are right on the edge for a 12 foot span. Doubling the joists will make the railing posts sturdier, although I plan on adding some blocking or Simspon brackets to make the posts stronger anyway.

Another question: should I use 2x10's or would 2x8's suffice for the joists?

My old deck had them doubled, my new one does not. Some people double all around (sides and front) to make the deck stiffer but I think it's an overkill.


Is 10/2 wire ok for a 125 foot run? Previous owner of house ran 10/2 to his outbuildings which are 125 feet. He has lights and would run power tools like a mitre or smaller air compressor. At the breaker is a 20 amp for each run.

Is this ok? I won't be running anything other than what he had and I don't plan on doing anything more intense like awelder or IR heating. Just smaller power tools and lighting.

Or should I re run with larger guage?

Voltage drop is caused by the current you are actually pulling, not breaker trip rating.  Many people compute voltage drop based on trip, but that's silly - if you're actually pulling breaker trip current, you've got other problems.   And many people consider 3% a hard limit (a bit silly since the only number Code speaks of is 8%, but I think they are worried about installations where there might be three such drops consecutively).

Anyway, if one were being silly like that, you are just within limits on that cable.

Otherwise, you have loads of headroom and shouldn't give it any further thoght.

You cannot up-breaker to 30A because you have 15A or 20A outlets on that cable, and those need 20A breaker protection.  However, if you fit a subpanel in this location with 15-20A breakers for the outlets,  you can then re-breaker the supply to 30A.  Assuming 24A draw (the sensible max), you would have 0-5.25% voltage drop, which is concerning, but not serious.

If you are willing to fit a 10KVA transformer at the outbuilding, the circuit can deliver 7200W of 120/240V split-phase at 0-3.25% drop. That is 60A@120V or 30A@240V.  Nobody's gonna worry about 3.25%.

If you fit two commonly available 15KVA transformers, you could deliver 14,400 watts, or double the above, at 0-1.64% drop  With two less-commonly-available 20KVA transformers, you could deliver 18,000 watts at 0-1.31% drop. This is most of a standard 100A (24KW) house service.


What can I do about my leaking washing machine faucet? I recently hooked up a new washing machine to the faucets in my sink. They mostly work well, but both of the faucets drip slowly when there's water flowing through them.

What can I do? I've tried tightening the washer hose, but to no avail. Do I need to replace the faucet? Are there things I should look at before bringing in a plumber?

Right now, I just turn the faucets off after doing a load of laundry, but that's really not ideal.

Sounds like the packing inside of the faucet needs to be replaced, assuming this is similar to an outdoor hose faucet.  After you shutoff the water (probably for the whole house if you don't have a separate shutoff for that line) you can open the valve up by unscrewing the nut that the valve stem goes through.  You can find new packing material at most home improvement stores that looks like a black string like material, typically right next to all the washers.  I'd also suggest replacing the washer at the same time.  And clean all the threads and apply fresh plumbers dope before screwing things back together.

If the installing plumber was nice, you can also unscrew the entire faucet from the pipe.  Then clean up the threads, put on some fresh pipe dope, and screw on a new faucet.  It will cost a few bucks more, but the process is much easier and the result is also nicer.  Unfortunately for me, my plumber decided to solder the threads making this task nearly impossible without opening up the wall to cut the pipes.

If you're not comfortable with soldering pipes should things go wrong, and you have to shutoff the water to the entire house, then consider having an appointment with a plumber already scheduled, that you can cancel without incurring any fees, before starting.


Fasteners for securing cabinets together I'm planning on using GRK Cabinet screws to fasten cabinets to the walls, but plan on using GRK trim screws to secure the cabinets to each other, like these.

Are these appropriate? The heads seem a little small, but I figured drawing force wasn't so critical on securing cabinets together, and these heads will hide nicely when countersunk into the cabinet frame.

In most cases those will work nicely. At times, though, drawing force is substantial. The world isn't flat and level and hardwoods can be stubborn.

Feel free to use those screws, properly piloted and countersunk, but be prepared to use conventional flute-head screws (gold construction screws) behind hinges or in other hidden locations to do some heavy lifting.

For clarity, I'm assuming a faceframe configuration:

   ______________________________    ______________________________
  | _____________________________|  |______________________________|
  | |                          | |  | |                          | |
   \                            \    \                            \
  | |                          | |  | |                          | |
  | |                          | |  | |                          | |
 |___|                        |___||___|<-- screws here         |___|

If you're dealing with frameless cabinets I'd consider sleeve bolts as suggested in other answers, but only if you have a tough situation. 1-1/4" drywall or gold screws behind the hinges are usually adequate.


Can I hammer nails in this type of brick? I want to hang some pictures on the wall. The wall is made of porotherm bricks similar to this one:

I have two options:

drill some holes with a masonry drill bit, insert some plastic dowels and a screw;
simply hammer a nail in.

I used the second approach on AAC walls. It was faster, easier, and cleaner. I would prefer the second approach now also, but I don't know how this kind of brick behaves.

Will the brick shatter? Will I have a hard time hammering the nail? Will the nail even stay in place? Anyone have experience with hammering a nail in this kind of material?

You will not want to try hammering a nail into that type of brick. The brick material will simply chip away and make a depression and eventually a larger hole.

I have my doubts that you would have any good result from trying to drill into this type of brick using a masonry bit in an electric drill. The thin walls and many open spaces indicate that there would be poor engagement for most expansion type wall anchors.

If it was me I would attach a wooden hanger rail horizontally across the wall using a construction adhesive to attach it to the bricks. This could be placed at the height if the pictures or could be installed near the ceiling. You then attach your picture hangers to this wooden rail. In the latter case with the rail near the ceiling you can hang the pictures using two vertical drop down wires from the rail to the picture.


Replacing light switches and outlets without electrical boxes I have a '96 manufactured home I'm getting ready to sell and most of the outlets and switches are a tan color that doesn't work with the color scheme I'm changing it too, plus they just look dirty. I just pulled the first switch out to find they used a switch that has little plastic feet to hold it to the wall and no electrical box. I'm wondering if there is feet like this that I can buy and use with a standard switch, or if I am going to have to put electrical boxes behind every single outlet and switch to be able to replace them?

I hear where you're coming from; those blue plastic boxes are awfully deep, and are designed to use all the depth of a 2x4, which is not there in a manufactured home because it would make the walls too thick.

Use metal boxes

A standard 4”x4” steel box is 1-1/2” deep and gives 22 cubic inches (room for four /2 cables plus a receptacle or switch).

A deep 4x4 box is 2-1/8” deep.  You can put a 1-gang mud ring or plate on either one.

They also make true 1-gang metal handy-boxes, but they are awfully small on cubic inches - they only have room for a receptacle/switch and 1 cable, typically.

If feasible, insert a spacer block so you can screw the spacer to a joist and the box to the spacer.

Grounding things

Metal boxes have a ground screws site intended for a #10-32 screw. They sell adorable little green screws with or without pigtail.  Grounds coming into the box must be pigtailed to this.  If the box is grounded this way, switches do not need a pigtail and can ground through the mounting screws. Receptacles need a pigtail, though, unless the have a hard-flush, bolt-down connection between their yoke and the metal box, unless they are a "self-grounding" type.


Underfloor heating and how R values affect it I am moving into a new house that has underfloor heating (wet system) throughout the ground floor.

I am trying to decide what flooring material to use. (tile or wood)

I know that tile will be a better material, as it will allow heat to pass through more easily. My understanding of this is based on the materials R value

But I am wondering how can I calculate, or even roughly know, how a materials R value will affect the heating costs?

For example, given these values, (both 7mm thick)

0.02 -> Ceramic Tile
0.25 -> Engineered Wood

Does this mean tile is ten times faster to "feel" hot?
i.e. if it takes 10mins to heat tile surface to 12C, will it take 100mins for the wooden floor?

Or is R value simply not important or not a good indicator of heating times or potential heating costs?

You're correct to assume that tile will transfer heat more quickly. However, since it's much more dense than wood, it also requires more heat energy to reach a certain temperature. For that reason, heating time is normalized somewhat.

When discussing energy efficiency we have to look at where the heat can go other than through the flooring. The R-value of the flooring is irrelevant in a scenario where there's perfect insulation below and alongside the heat source. All heat must transfer through the flooring in that case. Therefore, the insulation that was installed below the heat source is the critical factor. If you have a good layer of foam below the heat source, either flooring is probably fine.


Furnace sometimes fails to ignite, despite extensive replacement of parts I posted a questions months ago, that it randomly decides to not start. Random as in work for a few hours, a few days, a few weeks....whenever it feels like not working, random. I went and replaced the control board, the inducer motor, the inducer control, the pressure switch, the igniter, the pilot assembly, the gas valve and the 24v transformer. I still have issues. I checked and cleaned the intake and exhaust vents, the air tubing, the collector box, the condensate drain, everything is clean or new. I hear the gas valve open and closing, the pilot open and close, even the pressure switch open and close. The system seems to operate as it shoud, but just sometimes it fails after 15 seconds to ignite, never get to ignition spark.

Whats next? 25yo Carrier 58dxa gas

I have found there is nothing more important than a good ground on units doing this and I mean "A GOOD GROUND". Run a second one if necessary to your burner manifold and ground it to the frame somewhere that will give you a positive ground.

Then do the same with your control board. Make sure the transformer is feeding the control system correctly too. Not trying to doubt you, but sometimes people wire the output and common wrong. I have seen it. If the igniter is still erratic, sometimes the diaphragm in the draft switch doesn't make the switch because of trash floating around in the thing and the nipple getting partially plugged. These are just things I have found on jobs.


What is the best place to install an Air-conditioner in a room? I'm trying to decide where to install my ductless split Air-Conditioner.
For the indoor unit, is it okay to install it above a window? Will placing the indoor unit at the corner of the wall reduce the efficiency of the cooling (instead of installing it at the center).
For the outdoor unit, I want to place it in a place where I can get the minimum level of noise as possible. So I have two options, either install it on the front house wall, or just put it on the roof. So which option is better?
Finally, is putting the outdoor unit above/below the indoor unit has any affect?

In order of questions asked:

It is best to install the indoor unit near the area of maximum heat loss and gain.  Above a window is a fine place, provided you have space to run the refrigerant piping and condensate line.
Near a corner is okay, but a less central location means there will be a longer time required to circulate air around the room.
As a licensed refrigeration person I can say that outdoor installations near the ground are usually more pleasant to service than those that are on a roof.  Most modern mini splits are very quiet.  As long as the outdoor unit is not directly next to a window, you probably will not be bothered by the noise.
Outdoor unit installed above or below the indoor unit does not matter as long as the total lift and length of piping is within the manufacturer specifications.


Looking for quick attach and release options for a table top attached to a metal frame Below is what I have. There are small pre drilled holes but I can add more or make the existing one larger. What is not shown in the picture is the fact that the legs are foldable.
My plan is to build a table for which I should be able to quickly replace the top. The tops will be multipurpose: router table, a table with t-tracks and holes for bench dogs and a table for jigsaw like in the second picture

Update: here is a bottom view of the frame and the top attached

I would construct the table tops with an extra layer of 3/4" plywood or MDF on the bottom that is designed to just fit inside of the inner rectangular shape of the frame. This will align the top with the frame and keep it from sliding around on in a horizontal direction. With that in place the amount of hold down force that you need will be minimized.

One method to provide the hold down force would be to make some swivel blocks that are mounted on the bottom of the table. These would rotate on a single screw/lag bolt including a washer. The idea is that one end of these would be able to rotate to be under the edge of the table frame. You could cut the surface of the block that engages with the table frame at a slight taper so that the block tightens up as it is rotated.


How to switch a single pole light to I have 8 recessed can lights in the ceiling of my finished basement.  The lights are operated by one pole switch w/dimmer.  Is there any way to separate the can light in order to turn on one row at a time.  We found that it is not necessary to have all 8 can lights on at the same time.  Is this possible?

The system was designed with a different philosophy: rather than turn 4 lights off, dim all to 50%.  Now you want to reinvent that.  OK.

There are two ways I can think of.  One is to rewire the ceiling, which involves a lot of fishing, luck, and/or demolition and reconstruction of the finished ceiling.  You may need a bigger switch box to accommodate 2 switches, because I have not seen duplex dimmer switches meant to fit in a 1-gang box.

The other way is to use home-automation technology to make each lamp individually addressible.  Then use a smart switch for coarse control, or an "app" on a compatible smart device (iPod/iPhone/android) for very precise control (e.g. Lights 2, 7 and 8 on 40%, light 6 on 100%).  They don't like us to recommend particular brands or peoducts here since questions tend to be archived for a long time, but you'll find plenty on the market.

If you're swinging toward replacing with smart fixtures, think about also making the leap to LED.  They are finally market-ready with a good selection in color temp and CRI at a sane price, considering they will outlast the house.


Fusible plug blew on mini-split A/C, how to fix? I have a 2005 Mitsubishi mini-split that has been working OK but blew the fusible plug (on the low side just before compressor) this winter while it was in heating mode. Now I'm wondering what to do.

I discovered the problem by blowing nitrogen into the service port (all the R-22 is long gone) and feel it come out straight the fusible plug. The service manual says zip.

I gather this can be due to a blockage or to a refrigerant over-charge. I will see whether I can access the strainer. I'm not sure what else to do (or where to get a replacement plug given the unit's age).

The last time the unit was serviced is in 2008 where a service tech tightened the flare nuts due to leakage and added refrigerant eyeballing it, so it could well have been overcharged. It was used more heavily this winter in heating mode than previous years, but it's still suspect to me that it would fail after this much time.

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated!

NB: I know that getting a new R-22 charge is going to cost "a lot" but I also know that it's less than a new unit.

Update: photo of blown fusible plug laying on top of the piece of tubing into which it was screwed, which is covered by the black plastic tape to avoid too much more contamination. (Oops, looks like SX is having trouble with images?)

Ok now with the photo that cleared things up, the fusable plug is a inexpensive overpresure protection. I haven't seen that in the past I was thinking you had an electrical plug that failed but since I hard wire I figured it was something I had not seen. Once you have the replacement installed. It would be a good idea to replace the filter dryer. pump the system with a little r22 to be used as a leak check gas then nitrogen up to 100 psi and check for leaks. If no leaks check for acid in the oil since the system has been open to atmosphere. No acid pump the system down below 500 microns. Failure to do this you will be trashing the compressor due to atmospheric moisture that will cause acid and that acid eats the varnish off the motor windings then the compressor is toast. Verify the system will hold at 500 microns or less. If the system holds a vacuum you are ready to recharge If it is not holding keep the vacuum on the system under vacuum as it may be the water boiling out of the oil. Once a stable vacuum. Recharge by weighing in the charge and it should be good to go.
If the acid test shows positive the system needs to be tested with a megger in fact this could be done at the very first step to verify the compressor is good. Low value from motor lead to ground the windings are already toast, I use 10 mega ohms to ground as a minimum anything over 50 mega ohms at 500v is good. Added to answer question to long for comment.I use quick shot acid test if the paper turns red it has acid you can use the pressure of the n2. If the windings test good to ground you can flush quick shot makes a product that works well, I would be berry surprised if there is not a filter dryer some are not much larger than a 10$ cigar , sorry that's the only comparison I can think of. With acid in the system I don't think I would recharge until the system is flushed as acid in a running system can eat the varnish in less than 72 hours and to recover you would need to recover with a filter dryer prior to your recovery machine to protect the recovery machine then flush the machine.


Can I bury a bare ground connecting rod? We just ripped out an old rotting deck at our house, this exposed the wire that connects the electrical panel to the grounding rods.  There is a PVC pipe encasing the wire from the panel to ground level.  Can I just dig a trench and burry this wire?  If so does it need to be a particular depth?

Yes, bury it, the depth is not critical, so long as the wire is protected from physical damage.  But why isn't the ground rod next to where the pvc pipe comes down?  That would be preferable to having this long roving wire.


Our backsplash tile has raised oval design a how do we work around electrical outlets? The tile we chose for our kitchen redesign is long and narrow (3" x 9") with a raised oval design.  This image isn't the same brand as ours (We purchased Portfolio) but this is almost identical.

Electrical is currently roughed in and the boxes protrude slightly.  I have a couple of questions.  I need to schedule the electricians to come back and finish the work.  I assume this would normally be done after the tile work, correct?

It's already been 8 weeks and we want electric in to hook up our appliances and get back to some degree of normalcy.  If we had electric finished before the tile are we making a poor choice?  I'm not certain how the tile will work with switch plates?  Do we cut the tile to the edge of the plates and use spacers to get them close to flush or do we cut to the box and let the switch plate sit on the raised surface?

Any directional information/opinions appreciated.

Generally finish material runs just short of the edge of the box. There are box extenders to bring the box level with the surface of the finish material.

Cut tile edges are almost always a bit rough. To have them as a visible edge is problematic. Plates overlapping tile edges is almost always better.


what should i use to wire this bathroom? I'm in the process of finishing my basement. So far, framing's done, HVAC ductwork's done, and I'm now working on the electricals.

So I've got a 60amp subpanel bringing in power, and off of this, I have a few circuits. This question is about the bathroom circuit.

I need to wire the bathroom with a GFCI outlet, (and downstream from it) a couple of lights and an exhaust fan. In addition, the GFCI will also supply 6 other receptacles, one of which will probably serve a refrigerator. I've already bought a 20amp AFCI breaker (and also have a couple of spare 15amp AFCIs, so can use either).

Here are my questions:

Can I use a 15amp AFCI to supply this bathroom and the additional outlets, with 14 gauge wire?
If I must use the 20amp, can I use 12/2 only up until the GFCI and then 14/2 from that point onwards? Of course, the light and fan will use a 14/3 for convenience.
Is it acceptable to chain a refrigerator off of a bath circuit? No dishwashers, garbage disposals, etc.
In the future, will this (either 15amp or 20amp) breaker support a portable microwave oven? Say, 1000W?

You'll need at least one 20 ampere circuit to supply the bathroom receptacles, which cannot serve any other rooms.

You cannot use 14 AWG conductors anywhere on a 20 ampere circuit, all the conductors must be 12 AWG or larger.

The likely course is to have one GFCI protected 20 ampere circuit to serve the bathroom receptacles.  One 15 or 20 ampere circuit to supply the lighting in the bathroom (this will include the exhaust fan).  And one 15 or 20 ampere circuit to supply the refrigerator.  Later when you want to add the microwave, you can install another 15 ampere circuit to supply it.


What is the proper way to insulate box sill joists in the basement? The floor joists of the first floor are sitting directly in breaks in the concrete/cinderblock walls, and there's large gaps all around the edges.  I've done some looking around and it appears that these are a large source of air loss, so I need to insulate them.  Can I just spray some expanding foam in that area, or is it better to get some rigid foam, cut it, and then just use foam to seal the edges where it meets the joists/wall?  What about a vapor barrier?

The Family Handyman recommends using rigid foam, caulk, and spray foam to insulate the rim joist, in this article Insulate Basement Rim Joists.

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking to do, but the idea should work in your situation I think.
Summary of steps:

Cut rigid foam to fit between joists.

Insert foam into gaps (against rim joist).

Caulk around the edge of the foam.

Fill any gaps in the rigid foam where pipes or vents pass through, with spray foam.


Is this hinged collapsible clothesline design stable enough? I need help validating my clothesline design. It'll be on our deck for convenience (I don't want to lug a heavy basket of wet laundry down to the backyard). I want it to be collapsible so we can hide it if we ever have guests again. And, if we have to sell the house to someone who doesn't appreciate clotheslines, we'll just unscrew the hinges and take the whole thing down with minimal damage to the railings.
The idea is, the clothesline posts will be attached to the top of the deck railings with hinges. When in use, the bottom ends of the posts will simply sit on the deck railings. When we need to hide them, we'll simply fold them back so they hang upside down behind the railings.

My questions are specifically about the stability of this design. I'm only expecting less than 15 lbs of load, consisting of 2 king-size sheets and up to 2 bath towels, so maybe I'm overthinking this, but better safe than sorry. By which I mean, better to ask now and look like the beginner that I am, than spend 5 hours putting it together and have it sag or bend or fall apart
In my mind, these are the Bad Things™ that can happen:

The hinges may be pulled out by heavy wet laundry pulling on the top of the posts. I read that screws can withstand shear forces of 600 lbs so I don't think this is likely.

The hinge itself may pull itself out of shape, or even come apart, from bearing the weight of the posts when the posts are stowed. That would actually be dangerous, since the posts can then fall on someone under the deck. And obviously hinges are not meant to be used like this - not as part of a set, and bearing forces that pull them apart. But then I think the posts will only weigh 40 lbs or less, and in any case, I think I can work around this by simply nailing some blocks of wood to the railings under the posts when they're stowed, to bear the weight of the posts instead of the hinges.

The posts may lean inward when there's laundry on the lines, since they're just sitting on the railings with no fasteners. Is this a risk with the center post being a 4x4 (so there's a decent amount of surface for it to sit on)? I can also add shims underneath to counter any leaning.

So, what do you think? Are there other glaring design flaws I'm not thinking of?
Thanks all in advance!
EDIT Aug 2, 2020: Some people have suggested some intriguing ideas, including a prop in the middle of the line and a telescoping post. I am interested in all those ideas, but could you please include some details on the materials and hardware I need to implement them? I am a DIY beginner, and this project is apparently far more demanding, engineering-wise, than I'd estimated. Who knew hanging 13 lbs of sheets to dry would be this complicated?
Also, the 13 lbs estimate is from Googling the weights of the sheets and towels, cotton absorbency and washer spin cycle water extraction rates. I am aware that wet laundry weighs more than dry laundry.

Suggested construction:

This spreads the torsional load over the entire banister railing instead of stressing only the cap or top rail.
If there's any bending at the hinge, or other distortion, it will be confined to the added pieces and will leave your existing railing unaffected.


why does my heat pump wiring diagram show 7 wires going to the thermostat but the thermostat only says it needs 5? Here is a link to the wiring diagram for my heat pump.  The thermostat that I am planning on buying has the following terminals C, G, Y, O/B, RC, R, Aux, E, and L.  The instructions say to jump the RC and R together after you connect the R wire.  On the wiring diagram I can see where the the R, Y, G, and O wires match up on the Heat pump(HP) and the thermostat(TS).  It looks like to me the W2 on the HP connects to the W on the TS and the C from the HP connects with the B on the TS.  It also looks like the W1 on the HP does not connect to the TS but to another place in the HP.  I thought there would be wires going from  W1 and W2 on the HP to the same terminals on the TS(if I understand correctly that W1 and W2 are 2 different heat settings)?  On the wiring diagram on the HP it looks like it wants 7 wires connected from the HP to the TS, however on the Thermostat instructions it only shows 5 wires being connected...any help/insight would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

The below are all you have to worry about, Yellow need not be wired to Y at the air handler
as it is a dummy trminal for convenience, many simply run Y from the stat to the AC unit outside bypassing the Y terminal on the air handler.


Troubleshooting 3-way switch I'm having trouble with a three-way switch.  (It may be 4-way, there are switches in my house I can't figure out).  I don't recall if they ever worked properly.  The light stays on regardless of the switch position.  I've disconnected both switches and tested the wires.  Here's what I've got:

Downstairs:  2 black (one hot), one red (hot)
Upstairs:  1 black, 1 white (hot), one red (hot), 1 ground

I thought there was only supposed to be 1 hot wire in each box?

It sounds like you have power entering the junction box at the light fixture, then running to one of the switches. If you actually have power entering both switch boxes independently, this will never work and you need to look at the connections at the light fixture.

EDIT Here's a 3-way switch:

Here's what should be happening in your case in order for the switches to work:

One wire, entering one switch box, should be hot from the power source (if the circuit breaker is on, this wire is hot).
That hot wire should be connected to the common screw on the 3-way switch.
The travelers (the other two screws on the switch) should run straight from one switch to the other, with no other connections along the way, through the light fixture's j-box. (the travelers from each side will be connected to each other with wire nuts in the j-box, of course).
The wire that is attached to the common terminal on the other 3-way switch should be connected to the black wire on the light fixture. This is the power coming out of the switches.
The white wire on the light fixture should be connected (wire nut) directly to the neutral wire in the j-box under the light fixture. If you're using Romex, this is going to be the white wire in the 14-2 or 12-2 cable that supplies power into that j-box.

Here's another StackExchange answer that shows very simply how 3-way switches function.

And another very long, detailed answer (holy smoke, I thought my answer was too long).

This diagram shows 3-way switches with power entering the light fixture box, and seems less confusing than many. It's surprising how many mislabeled diagrams of 3-way switches there are out there:

http://cindyjerrell.com/artwork/2012554_3_Way_Switch_Wiring_Diagram.html

A little more explanation

There are different ways to physically wire up 3 way switches, depending on whether power enters one of the switch boxes or enters the switched fixture. But they all add up to exactly the same thing.

You have 3 terminals on each switch. The different-colored one (usually darker) is the common, and the other two are "travelers."

So you have 2 travelers. This is usually the red and white, if your wiring is NM/Romex 3-rope, and you would use a black permanent marker or wrap black tape around the end of the white wire to indicate it is a hot conductor (not a neutral) in the switch circuit.

It sounds like you have something other than NM 3-rope going on in the wall between the light fixture and one of the switches (not the end of the world--electricity doesn't care about the color of the insulation on the wire).

The travelers always run straight between the same-colored terminals on both 3-way switches, no other connections

Depending on the positions of the switches, one of the travelers is always hot.

If the switches are positioned so that the common on both ends is connected to the hot traveler (which could be either traveler), then the circuit is complete and the light comes on.

The purpose of the travelers is to complete or break an electrical connection between the common terminals on the 3-way switches.

Now that the travelers are out of the way (connect them to the two same-colored terminals on the switches, forget about them), consider the common terminals...

Regardless of where the power enters the circuit, you run your hot wire to the common terminal on one switch, and wire the hot lead on your fixture to the common terminal on the other switch.

The entire set of 3-way switches, as a whole, just switches the juice on the common terminal of the 3-way switch at the opposite end.


Freezer evaporator keep frosting My Whirlpool (bottom) freezer's evaporator keeps frosting, thus rendering the (top) refrigerator warm.

Actions already taken:

Replaced Defrost heater (U-shaped, stove coil-like heating element)
Replaced Defrost thermostat (small "eye" looking thing, with 2 wires, and clips on the start of the cooling coil)
cleaned the coils at the bottom (outside).
Magnetic door strips looks fine to me.

The freezer frosts completely after around 9-days. The temperature will get extremely cold (-16C) and humidity will be around 70%, with the evaporator completely frosted.

What other things should I check?

Partial frosting is a common sign of loss of refrigerant pressure, i.e. a leak in your evaporative cooling system. You've already addressed the other likely causes of frosting (great!) but that leaves you with the likelihood that it's a leak (doh!).

Refrigerant chemicals are environmentally toxic and potentially hazardous, so at this point you should either have it professionally serviced or replace it (disposing of the old unit properly).


Understanding my main box for Knob and Tube wiring I'm trying to map all my circuits and prepare for replacing my knob and tube wiring. I have three boxes and when testing voltage I notice my central white wire isn't hot. I expect this to be the ground, but it has associated circuits that have no load. Is this box a two phase with red and black and the white is connected to ground?

My only confusion comes when I measure that every other fuse not have load. What fuses connect to the red wire? Everything on the left?

Wow, nice fuse panel.  It's well preserved and probably still fully effective.
You can only hope the modern panel you replace it with holds up so well!

Although we use it all the time, the term "hot" can be a little ambiguous.

Keep in mind that voltage is only meaningful between two things.  Sometimes when referring to voltage to ground / earth, we'll just assume that's the other thing.  So if we say "the red wire is at 120V," or "the black wire is at 120V," we really mean there's 120V between those wires and ground.

(There are ungrounded systems where there is voltage present between parts of the system, but no voltage to any of the conductors and ground, but those are seen in big industrial systems, not your home.)

I suspect you're testing with a non-contact voltage tester.  Remember that these testers generally measure voltage to ground.

In the US, most single family homes are supplied by a Edison three wire service.  In this system, there are two lines (red and black in your fuse panel) and a neutral originating on the same transformer winding.  The lines originate at the end of the winding, the neutral, which is grounded, originates at the middle.  There's 240V from line to line, and 120V from either line to neutral.

So with a non-contact voltage detector, you'll only detect voltage on line1 and line2, not on the neutral;  it's grounded.  But if you put one lead of a voltage meter on white, and the other on red or black, you'd read 120V.


Stain on bathroom tiles It seems a bit of excess cement or grout have mixed with water and stained my bathroom tiles. Tried soaking it / rubbing it with cleaning vinegar but to no avail.

Ideas?

Use a commercial grout cleaning product or a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water.  Spray the solution and let it sit for a few minutes then scrub with a sponge or brush.  Repeat until the stains are removed.  It may take multiple tries.


Is there a smoke alarm which can be hushed in DENSE smoke? Every smoke alarm I've ever owned has a "hush" feature allowing you to push a button and stop a false alarm, for instance one caused by cooking. However, they all state a caveat in the owner's manual to the effect that dense smoke will override the hush feature, and continue sounding the alarm. Well, maybe I'm just an especially bad cook, but I don't think I have ever once in my life seen this hush feature actually work. I suppose I'm just always dealing with smoke that is dense enough to override the hush button. The only real solution is to take the smoke detector down and remove its batteries, which obviously is not safe, and I usually forget to put them back up in a timely manner.
So is there a smoke detector on the market which has a hush button that cannot be overridden by dense smoke, and just stops the alarm.

Don’t use a smoke alarm, but do use a temperature alarm known as “rate of rise”, these detect the change in temperature caused by a fire and are used in those possibly smoky areas such as kitchens.
Do check with fire and insurance.


Ceiling light won't switch off after a new installation I've looked at similar questions and answers and they don't make too much sense, I guess because my wiring may be different to others.

#80208
and
#36266

So I thought I'd replaced like for like with the wiring from the previous light fitting to the new, but now I have a light which won't switch off.

Please can someone help with this wiring picture to solve the issue for me.

Thanks,

This is one side of a lounge/diner and the exact setup is in the dining room, dimmer, with a newly replaced light (from the same, to the same), here's a shot of the side that does work:

From the color of the wires I assume you are in either Australia, New Zealand or the UK if the home was built prior to 2004 which it certainly looks to be.

The red and black wires are your hot and neutral lines respectively. Since there is a big junction of three sets, I am guessing they are feeders and are always live. Your light is connected across them which is why it remains on. That being said, what is that blue wire doing by itself?

It looks like the lonely blue wire is paired with the brown wire. They look like they form whats called a switch loop. The brown wire is the feed to the switch from the red hot wires. The power is then fed back via the blue wire.

If you have a voltage tester, turn the switch on and test from the single blue wire to the black leads. If it shows power, turn the switch off and repeat the test. If you don't have power, you found the switch leg which is the blue wire. You then move the brown wire of the cable going to the lamp to that lonely blue wire on the terminal strip.

If you don't have a voltage tester, don't worry. Just move the brown lamp wire to that blue wire and turn your switch on and off. Even if its the wrong wire, nothing should blow up.

Edit: added a picture for clarity


Do brass ball valves have to be oriented with the flow of water? I bought this brass ball valve from Home Depot and installed it in the orientation of what I would consider "backwards". I'm not sure if it actually matters and before I close up the wall I would like to make sure orientation isn't an issue with these.

My use of the term "backwards" in this case is when the handle points against the flow of water in the open state.

Model: NSF61-8?

If a valve has directionality, it will almost universally be cast as an arrow in of the body, as seen in this globe (aka stop) valve:

I've never seen a ball valve that is directional. If you look inside, you'll see the guts of it are symmetrical.

I would say the general rules of thumb for this are:

If you can even change the handle direction, be sure that off is perpendicular to the pipe.
If clearance or safety is an issue, then install it in the way that works or is safest.

For example, if it's sticking out when it's off and likely for someone to accidentally bump into or get caught on it, then install it the other way so that doesn't happen.

If clearance and safety are non-issues, and there are other valves present, then follow the convention of existing valves.

If you have pipes that flow in opposite directions it's very handy to ensure the valves indicate this.

If there's no existing valves, and no clearance issue, then the most common convention is to have the handle point in the direction of flow.

There are probably regional and/or industry-specific variations to this, but as far as North American potable water goes, this is it.


How do I rewire a switched receptacle and make it permanently hot I have a light switch that controls the top half and bottom half of a nearby receptacle.  How do I disconnect this switch and make both halves of the receptacle permanently hot?  There are other receptacles on the same circuit located to the left and right of my switched receptacle.  The light switch and receptacle are wired as shown:

I am installing recessed lights and want to run that circuit to this switch location and replace the switch with a dimmer to control the recessed lights.

The 2 black wires are piggy-backed, indicating that one is the incoming hot and the other is the hot to other device(s). The red appears to be the switched hot supplying the receptacle in question, so...

Turn off the power at the circuit breaker/fuse panel first! Then disconnect all the wires from the switch and connect them together with an appropriately sized twist-on wire connector, except for the ground, which simply terminates at the box. The red wire supplying current to the receptacle will now be an un-switched hot.


How to identify this shower faucet or cartridge brand to stop tub spout leak and remove screw-less escutcheon plate? I’m working on a bathroom and trying to fix a slow leak coming out of the tub spout.  Since it’s from the spout I’m assuming the leak is generating from the cartridge or the associated o-rings/seats & Springs.  I

Does anyone recognize the brand of crystal faucet handle in the picture?

It’s a simple handle that you twist to turn the water on/off - does not go up/down.  I was able to take off the handle (picture 2) and expose the top of the shower cartridge but for some reason was not able to pry off the escutcheon even after loosening the caulk. There are no screws on the plate and it seems like it was fastened onto something behind the wall and I didn’t want to force it. Could the escutcheon screwed/fastened in a different way for disassembly?

Was able to finally get the water shutoff a couple days back (apt. complex) and turned out to be a Price Pfister!


What are some fireproof alternatives to wood framing? I plan to extend my bedrooms above the garage.  since I will be doing it, I want it done right.  All the construction I see uses wood framing which I don't like due to fire susceptibility.  I am considering metal studs and beams but would like to know if there are other materials that are resistant to fire but strong and durable.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

I agree with Jimmy Fix-it (in a comment on the question): residential sprinklers will protect best, if you have a good (dependable) water source. They are relatively inexpensive, because the sprinkler lines can be run from the nearest water line in the house provided the domestic system can supply the flows needed (13gpm to all design sprinklers and 18gpm to any single sprinkler operating). You don't need a separate waterline, riser, fire department connections, etc.  However, be aware that when your insurance salesman says you'll save money in house insurance, you should ask him how much to add "water damage" if they accidentally go off.

But, to answer your question, the Code divides construction into 5 categories:

Type I and Type II: These types are "non combustible ", which primarily refers to concrete and steel construction. The main difference between I and II is whether the exterior and interior bearing walls need to be protected longer… it's 3 hours for Type I and 1 hour for Type II.

Type III is masonry construction using combustible inner structural members, or "ordinary construction".

Type IV is "Heavy Timber" construction. This is wood (fire treated and untreated) that is primarily thick (8" diameter!) timbers for structural members with masonry for load-bearing walls.  Partitions (non-load bearing) walls can still be 2x framing.

Type V is anything or everything else… including wood framing, straw-bales, etc.

However, all these materials are divided into sub-categories of with and without fire sprinklers. There are many many requirements with each category… like everything, it's in the details. (I.e.: non-bearing wall construction, enclosed shafts, attic construction, etc.)

In addition to what you called "fire susceptibility" construction, the code identifies "flammability " of materials. All materials fall into 3 classes: Class A: 0-25 flame rating, Class B: 26-75 flame rating and Class C: 76-200 flame rating. Most often this is what kills occupants of burned buildings. Usually, victims are dead long before the building burns up and falls down on them. Fire sprinklers will protect against this too.

I'd also invest in the best fire alarm system (with battery backup)… and some come with additional horns and carbon monoxide detectors too.


laminating hardwood to plywood can I laminate hardwood boards to plywood to make a thicker looking board.  I am making a table top and the only boards I have available are 5/8".  I would like to make it 1 1/4" if possible.

Yes you can laminate hard wood to plywood. I have done this many times using a quality wood glue and clamps. In some cases with thinner hard wood I will use a 2nd sheet of plywood to help apply pressure to the veneer after it drys sand and finish like any other wood surface.


Is grout required when installing luxury vinyl tile flooring? My wife and I are redoing two bathrooms.  My wife hates ceramic tile due to mold issues here in the South Eastern US and generally not liking the grout which requires frequent cleaning and resealing.

My questions are on the use of Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)flooring - my wife would prefer to go with either the LVT, or a high end single sheet product that is tough and will hold up to water. Her preference is to use the LVT without grout. However, I'm skeptical on how well the LVT will hold up to moisture without the grout and cleaning will be an issue.  And am I right about the need for waterproofing or would the flooring work well any way?  Is there a way to waterproof the joints on LVT without grouting? Also, do the vinyl flooring grouts have the same issues as the ceramic tile grout?

I installed LVT a couple years ago in a rehab center. 2 bedrooms and a 2000 sq foot dining room. The product interlocks very tightly. It's pretty easy to install because it cuts with a utility knife. I think if I were to put it in a bathroom I would just clear-caulk it along the baseboard.  The interlocking joints are tight if installed correctly. I would only not use it if the manufacturer advised against using it in such an environment.


Will using a paint or sealer on a concrete floor damage it? I live in a 1st floor flat (relatively new build) that has concrete underneath the carpet. I'd like to remove the carpet and treat the concrete and have concrete floor.

The floor seems pretty solid and has channels for pipework that are covered with wood. Excuse the dirt but this picture underneath the bath gives an idea.

My questions are:
Is there a way to tell what kind of concrete floor I have?

Is there any risk to just putting down a sealant in terms of damaging the floor structurally or is it a pretty safe thing to do. I don't want what is a relatively cheap floor treatment turning into some kind of expensive major damage.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Once concrete is fully cured, you're not going to damage it with paint or other sealer.  On the first floor of a building chances are good that it is a solid concrete floor rather than a thin coat of something.  As far as the "type of concrete", that shouldn't matter much when you choose a coating.

What does matter is the prep work that you do.  When you decide on a coating, read what the manufacturer recommends.  In most cases it will call for a strong cleaner/degreaser and some type of concrete "etching".  Etching might sound like it could damage the floor, but we are talking a very mild etching that happens on an almost microscopic level.  Don't let the term scare you.

The amount of prep you do is directly related to how long the coating will last.  Skimp on the prep, and it will start to peel and flake off prematurely.  It's not going to hurt the concrete, but it could make the floor look very ugly.


How do I wire a double stack switch? I have double stack switch with intention of 2 independent light areas ( undermount cabinet lighting and overhead pot light. When I connect black hot wire to black screw ( both feeds simultaneously connected via pre existing setup with double stacked switch) and black wiring independently connected out to pot light and undermount lighting through separate stacks via brass screws, pot light switches off and on independently- undermount cabinet lighting only switches on when pot light is on. Any suggestions to correct this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Not knowing which brand you are using, I just googled double stacked switches, saw the Leviton 5224-2W and noticed the black screws are for the switch legs going to each light while the brass screws are for the hot common, which are typically bridged together with a removable fin (or "tab" as Brad Gilbert mentioned). If the fin has been removed, you will have to create a bridge with wire to feed both switches. When connecting, use the brass screw(s) for the constant hot and the black screws for the independent switch legs. If the connections are mis-arranged on the switch you would have the issue as you describe.

In pictorial form, if you have this:

You'll need to do this instead:

The Black and White coming in from the bottom would represent your hot/neutral feed at the switch. This is assuming some things, as your feed could just as well come in at one of the lights. A few pictures from your end would help if this does not look like what you have.


Wallpaper on the ceiling, damage to the drywall, what now? About a month ago, I embarked on a mission to paint my half bathroom. Before I could paint, I had to remove the floor-to-ceiling wallpaper AND wallpaper on the ceiling. I successfully removed the wallpaper from the four walls but ran into a bit of trouble with the paper on the ceiling. I scored the ceiling wallpaper with a Paper Tiger and sprayed Zinsser Wallpaper Stripper, but, as you can imagine, the solution didn't absorb upward into the paper. After two weekends of scraping, I've removed half of the wallpaper and scraped several areas of drywall paper off too.
I'm now considering a different approach. Should I put a piece of drywall over the existing drywall? Or should I rip the ceiling drywall off and replace it?
Do you have any recommendations on this approach? Should I consider something else?

Stubborn wallpaper is almost always easier fixed by either rip and replace drywall (allows you to fix anything else while you have access) or drywall over (have to extend or move any penetrations of the ceiling.
8-10 hours already spent for a 25 foot square patch - could have been done already if you ripped and replaced, IME.


How can I improve my ventilation throughout my house? I just bought my house and it stays rather cool.  However I've found while painting that the flow of air through the house is limited.  My vents are all on the base board/wall if you can imagine.  Not sure if it matters, however some of these vents have no ventilation in them at all.  In particular the bedrooms.  Don't get me wrong it's cool temperature wise throughout the house naturally.  I am generally concerned when it comes to winter.  I would like to improve this, how can I?

I also noticed that in some spots the vents were actually blocked, could this be to improve the flow?

For heating, the supply vents should be low on the walls, so that's a point in favor of winter performance.

You might be well served to have the system checked, possibly cleaned, and flow-balanced by a HVAC professional.

Note that a common misconception/error is that "opening up all vents to the maximum" is a good thing and reduces the workload of the fan - more air does move, but in point of fact, because more air is being moved, the fan is doing more work, and that takes more power - it is possible to overload the motor by "opening up" too many things fully (though this is usually controlled by less-accessible balancing dampers on the ducts, rather than louvers on the grilles in the rooms.)

The other major thing you can do before winter is to caulk, seal and insulate (or at least check the state of those things, and correct any deficiencies.)


low water pressure in house caused by hot water tank coming off main before cold? We bought our house a couple of years ago and it is old and was previously divided into 4 apartments. It had two water tanks installed and we had one of them removed and we also had a plumber do a couple of other small things. I'm sure our pressure was very good when we moved in and now it's terrible. It appears to be all copper plumbing throughout. I'm wondering if whatever the plumber did has screwed things up.

I see that the main water line comes in and goes directly to the remaining hot water heater before it cuts off to service the rest of the house with cold. I'm thinking this is the problem and that it should cut off for the cold water before it goes to the hot water tank. Would this cause the low pressure problem? I'd be interested to know why if that is the case. We'll be calling in a plumber to fix things but I want to know what's going on.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Unless the size of the pipe was reduced at the tee The pressure/flow should not matter where the water goes into the heater. With that said I have had gate valves fail and not open all the way after being closed for maintenance I would suspect the main cutoff valve to be the issue since copper dosent corrode and shrink down like galvanized pipe will over time. The last possibility is when the work was done some debris may have broken loose and partially plugged your valves if washerless or faucet ariators. I would be checking these items before paying for another call to the plumber.


Is it acceptable to splice a circuit in two opposite directions for outdoor recepts/lighting? Per the 2011 NEC, is it acceptable to...

Splice a circuit (using a junction box indoors) as long as I leave it exposed, use the correct wire connectors, and have it covered?
Use this run one side of the spliced wire to a pair of GFCI outlets at the base of my house(outside), and the other to a switch (inside) and then to a flood light (outside)?

So can I splice and can I have outdoor receptacles on same circuit as outdoor light?

Also, If anyone knows what section either of these are covered in the 2011 NEC and could tell me that would be great too!

We can't post what is not there. There is nothing prohibiting this and as Tester states, quite a bit of chapters 1 thru 3 apply in general, with spots in 4.
The NEC is NOT written in a way that you can simply look up a specific job you are doing. It can be very general and very broad, yet also specific on certain things.

I realize this question is 3 months old and the project likely done by now, but what is being proposed in the original post is fine.


Why is my steam radiator rattling like this, and what can I do about it? I have one-pipe steam radiators in a home built in 1905 (condoized in 1998). Only one of the radiators, the largest, makes this awful rattling sound when the system heats up:

https://youtu.be/IHJjEDvBcLc

I’ve read about the typical sounds to expect from a steam radiator: hissing from the air vents, potential banging or clanging from trapped condensed steam (which can often be remedied by tilting the radiator toward the valve using shims). But this rattling seems unusual, and only one of my five radiators does it.

The disc or the cage inside the valve (depends on the mfg of the valve), is loose or has become unconnected from the valve stem. 1st, try to turn the valve all the way open (CCW). Remember, on a 1 pipe steam system the radiator valves can only be fully open or fully closed., no half open. If this does not quiet the valve you will have to remove the top of the valve and remove the disc or cage assembly that opens/closes the valve. I would have someone qualified in plumbing do this. Yes, with this old piping, you can break fittings and the piping, so I would wait till summer and contact the owner of the property if it is not you, and the building manager.

If the plumber knows what he is doing the fix should go OK. Anytime I fixed a valve like this, I used a back-up pipe wrench on the pipe to lessen the torque on the pipe. You hold the pipe wrench any way you can and tap the wrench on the top of the valve with a 3-4# hammer to snap the bonnet loose. Worked every time. One more thing, if you want some temperature control on rooms that overheat, you can add 1 pipe steam zone control valves to that radiator. They work by controlling the venting of the radiator. If you do this, the thermostat controlling the boiler should be moved to the coldest room and that room does not get a radiator control. Do a search at Supplyhouse.com or Danfoss.com. I like supplyhouse the best for their information. Let me know if you desire more info. There may be newer products but I have been retired for 11+ years. hope this helps.

answe


Is 2/0 wire required for a 200A panel with a 150A nominal load? Had a fire in one room (NZ Lockwood home) and renovated the entire interior due to smoke damage. Changed my main panel (150 amp) to a 200 amp and balanced the load to all breakers. No addition to load (@ 150).

Had a 1/0 feed to 150 amp main. The master electrician whom I've hired to sign off on the work says the NEC Code calls for a 2/0 for 200 amp main, but the load remains the same, so I disagree. The local power authority agrees with me do I hire another ME?

According to 2017 NEC Article 310.15 (B)(7). The sizing of the conductors can permitted to be sized in accordance with 301.15(B)(7) (1)through (7). Meaning it must meet the requirements of (1)-(7). If it does meet those requirements. Then a 200A service feeders taken from Table 310.15(B)(16) column 2 could be a 2/0.

The calculation would be 200A (which is normally a 3/0)*.83 (310.15(B)(7)(1))= 166A. Using Table 310.15 column 2 the next largest conductor would be a 2/0 (175A).

I really can't be more specific but you would have to detail all of the requirements of 310.15 (B)(7) (1)-(7). I am not sure what you mean with "local power authority" but if it is your authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) aka the electrical inspector. Then they have the final say about what is to be installed. I suggest you have your contractor and AHJ and reach a conclusion.

Hope this helps.


When replacing a supply line to a house in Houston, TX, what is the best material to use? A house in Houston, TX (southern "sun belt" climate, no frost, but flexible clay soils) has a Polybutalyne supply line running from the meter to the house. It's already burst once and been repaired, but the homeowner is considering replacing it entirely before it fails given that the repaired portion showed signs of the well-known flaking and fracturing problems that Polybutalyne has become known for.

What is the best material, given the climate and shallow depth, to replace the pipe with? It's not a long run, so copper is possible, but are PEX and CPVC candidates? What are the expected lifetimes of the different types of pipes and what are drawbacks?

Copper (Copper)

At about $20.00 per 10' 3/4" ($2.00/ft), may be the most expensive option.  Depending on soil conditions, drainage, and bedding material used around the pipe, copper can corrode.

Copper info.

CPVC (Chlorinated Poly Vinyl Chloride)

3/4" schedule 80 CPVC will cost about $15.00 per 10' ($1.50/ft), slightly cheaper than copper and can be easier to work with than copper.  CPVC is a hardy material, and should have no problems in any soil type.

Plastic Pipe and Fitting Association FAQ (CPVC).

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

3/4" HDPE will cost about $45.00 for 100' ($0.45/ft), so depending on the amount required can be much cheaper than the previous options.  HDPE is used by many municipalities as water supply lines, so it has been tried and tested in underground applications.

Plastic Pipe and Fitting Association FAQ (HDPE).

PEX (Cross-linked Polyethylene)

3/4" PEX runs about $40 for 100' roll ($0.40/ft), so again depending on the amount needed it can save some money.  There are mixed reports about using PEX underground. Some people suggest installing the PEX in a conduit (PVC/CPVC) to protect it (which raises the cost), while others report it can be directly buried without a problem.

Plastic Pipe and Fitting Association FAQ (PEX).

In all cases you'll want to make sure the pipe is buried below the frost line, and follow proper procedures for burying the specific material (depth, bedding, etc).

Both Copper and CPVC will require more fittings (depending on run length) than HDPE or PEX, but for short runs they may actually be cheaper to use.  PEX and HDPE both come in rolls and are flexible, so they can be easier to work with than a rigid material.  Depending on the run length HDPE seems to be a cheap, easily installed, reliable choice.

Make sure you check with your local government for rules and regulations before making the final decision, and always Call before you dig.

Estimated prices provided by Google Product Search, at the time of posting. Prices may vary over time, and by location.


How do I replace 4 GFCI receptacles on the same circuit? The first GFCI has not worked in years. Today a hair dryer quit, and the remaining 3 GFCIs are not working. Replaced the first one and it seemed to be working properly. Went to the last in the series; it had power as did the one in front of it. Everything seemed OK. When plugged in, the hair dryer just quit. The old GFCI did not pop, but power was lost to all the GFCIs. We can't get power to the units even though we have power to the first unit.

All but the last have 5 wires, including ground. The last has 3 wires. All wires are attached to the Line side only, nothing on the load side. The outlets are 22 years old, except the new one installed today. Hope to replace them all.

The wiring of the GFCIs is puzzling. I don't know how the first one was wired, as I replaced it in a hurry and failed to note what went where, but they were on the Line side. After the first unit, the next one has the incoming line in going to the holes closer to the center. The wires out are furthest from the center. In the third unit the incoming wires cross. One goes to a hole closer to the center of the outlet, and the other wire goes to the hole furthest from center. Obviously, the wires leaving are in what is left over. In the third outlet, the incoming wires are in the holes closest to center. In the last unit, the two wires are going to the holes closets to center.

Power is present and the first unit has voltage on both incoming and exiting wires. The GFCI is popped. Measuring the other units, there is power until we reset the first unit; then, power is lost to all but the first unit. We can't get past this point.
What are we doing wrong?

This configuration is a bit odd.  The reason why a GFCI outlet has a line and load side is that a single GFCI outlet can offer GFCI protection to any downstream outlets (load).

If I were in your situation, I would install a new GFCI outlet in the first location, and then new standard outlets (your region might require tamper-resistant outlets) in all the downstream locations.  This should make troubleshooting simpler, plus you only have 1 GFCI to deal with.

Alternatively, if you do wish to install a GFCI in each location, they should not be wired to the previous outlets load side, rather they should be wired in parallel like standard outlets (either a pig-tail or using the second screw on the same side of the outlet).

If after correcting the installation it is still tripping, then you have a current leak somewhere.  A GFCI compares the current on hot and the current on neutral, and if the two are different by a certain threshold, the breaker trips.  It could be a device plugged in somewhere else on the circuit, a nicked wire, etc.  Start by unplugging everything on the breaker.  Plug something into the GFCI outlet - it shouldn't trip, if it does, it's a wiring problem or the outlet itself is bad (if you just replaced it, this shouldn't be the case).  One-by-one, start plugging in other devices upstream and downstream of the outlet. When/if it trips, you have found your problematic device or outlet.


What is a suitable mold material for a concrete bar top? I would like to make an L-shaped concrete bar top (single piece). However, I want to make the corner have a large curve (12-15" radius?). How can I create a mold to accomplish this? What materials should I be using? Will concrete stick to foam?

NOTE: I have woodworking tools at my disposal. No metal fabrication please.

1/4" birch underlayment plywood (Tecply) should take that bend even without kerfs, moisture or heat. I'd probably double or triple it (without fastening together) for stiffness.

Build your form out of lumber, then either rabbet the lumber for the plywood to achieve a flush joint, or lay plywood all the way down the 2 sides adjacent to the bend.


What can I do about this painted concrete? The previous owners of my home decided to paint the sidewalk and porch surfaces.  Not only are they painted but they are this horrible color.  Do you have any suggestions on what to repaint them with or any other cost efficient coating options for them?

On the plus side, its a (seemingly) well adhered horrible color.  That means recoating it another color, will be a fruitful effort.

Buy the best coating you can afford. Horizontal, exterior surfaces receive the harshest  conditions.  An anti-slip additive will be money well spent.


Where should I dispose watered down, VOC latex paint? I have an airless paint sprayer (Wagner Procoat) which I clean by running water through it, until all the paint is gone. The paint I used was Valspar Ultra Zero VOC.

I collect the water+paint in a bucket. I know the proper way of disposing latex paint is to let it dry and harden and take it to the disposal centre. In this case, it will take years to dry since it's mostly water. What's the best way to dispose it?

I know the proper way of disposing latex paint is to let it dry and harden and take it to the disposal centre. In this case, it will take years to dry since it's mostly water.

That's your answer. Why do you think it would take years for water to evaporate? How much are you talking about?


I drilled a hole in the fireplace flue I was trying to hang a shelf on the wall in my living room and was drilling holes to plug fishers in it.
Accidentally I found myself drilling into part of the flue of the fireplace
(people living in the apartment below me have one).
The hole dapth is less than one inch and I immediatly changed the position of the shelf.

The drill didn't actually pierce all the way through the flue wall as I can clearly see the bottom of it.

Is this condition dangerous? Should I warn the people living below me?
I want to fill that hole, what material should I use? I don't think I actually went all through the flue fall, but would this cause the part around the hole to overheat?

Thanks for the help.

First of all, yes the condition is dangerous.  You have compromised the integrity of a part designed to protect you from smoke and toxic gasses that are released by combustion.  Released into a relatively confined spaces these bad gasses can accumulate and pose health hazards.  Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are your primary concerns here.

But you haven't put the people below you in any danger.  You've put yourself in danger.  The gasses will be releasing into your unit, not theirs.

Since this is an apartment you should first notify your landlord of the issue.  You will be responsible for the repairs, so you can offer to fix it yourself, but your landlord has the right to know of the damage and risk and you have a legal and ethical obligation to inform him.

For repairs, you'll need to open up the wall to get access to the flue.  Then you can patch the small hole with metal (MUST BE METAL) tape - this is available at most box stores and is specifically designed for sealing metal ductwork.


How can I reduce the sound of rain on a range hood vent? We recently had our kitchen remodeled and that included adding a microwave over the stove. The contractor vented the microwave/range fan above the unit through a cabinet up through the attic to the outside. The problem is that every time it rains the sound of the rain hitting the vent tube is so loud it sounds like it is right in the cabinet above the microwave/stove. I checked for leaks but did not see anything (so far!) The contractor put some insulation around the vent tube in the cabinet and also in the attic however the problem still exists. Is there a certain type of vent (such as galvanized steel) that should have been used or is there something else you can suggest so that the sound of the rain doesn't echo into the kitchen. Thanks for your help.

First, the vent exit should have a weather flap on it that should mitigate sound somewhat. Be sure that it's present and functioning properly.

The sound is echoing through the duct, so insulation outside the duct won't do much. You'd need insulation inside the duct to do that, which isn't a good idea here.

Instead, protect the vent cap from direct impact by rain. Install a secondary cover of some material other than metal so it doesn't ping as loudly.  You might get away with just wrapping the existing vent with self-adhesive rubberized roofing membrane to make it heavier and softer.


Could condensation happen on unused heating pipe? So I used a furnace in the old days and now I switched to heating AC. But the old pipes and radiators are still in place. I just discovered that in the corner of the room the lower pipe is very cold and there is water on it and directly under it, in little pools... Could it be condensate or is the pipe leaking? Anyway, while the heating AC is good, the air obviously won't heat the floor that much, so it's around 18C, while the air in top layers is 24C. The room on the other side of the wall (where the pipe comes from) is not heated by any means as we don't use it. What can I do to the pipe to prevent it accumulating the condensation? Wrap it in a towel? :] Discharge all the water from the pipes?

Condensation happens when warm, moist air comes into contact with a cold object.  To stop the condensation you can try:

Removing moisture from the air
Wrapping the pipe in insulation
Removing the pipe


Are tin roofs "permanent"? My house has a tin roof over a porch. The house is about one hundred years old, and the tin porch roof is original, as far as I know.

My question is whether the tin roof (which is currently in good shape -- no rusting or leaks) will last indefinitely provided that I periodically apply layers of roofing tar to maintain it, or if tin roofs only last so long.

Another way of asking this is: "Is roofing tar a temporary fix for tin roofs that need to be replaced, or will it keep the roof in serviceable shape indefinitely when applied properly?"

When I say "roofing tar," I mean a coating like this, not the "wet patch" temporary fix stuff:

I ask because a contractor is trying to convince me to hire him to replace the tin roof, but it's currently fine and has apparently been there for a long time, so it's not clear why I'd need to rip it out and install a new one.

I guess you mean a galvanized or otherwise coated steel. Life depends on weather, specifically rain. In a desert it will last forever. If the current coating is repaired at any damage spots, it will last almost forever. "Repair" could be anything from dabbing on roofing tar to sandblasting and coating with a zinc-rich epoxy (typically used to protect industrial steel surfaces). Even conventional paints could be used - paint on cars and houses lasts pretty well. It depends on how you want it to look and how often you are willing to "touch it up". For industrial steel tank coatings (aka oil tank farms), touch-up is part of the maintenance program. The contractor is just trying to make money. Addition : There are also "aluminum" coatings commonly sold for mobile home roofs. These may sort of match your galvanized in appearance.


single handle shower faucet sticking - can I fix without turning water off? New homeowner of a condo and have a problem with single handle shower faucet sticking. It's really hard to pull out. Can I fix without turning water off? Problem is that water shutoff is a single one to the whole building -- have to give 48 hours notice and inconvenience my new neighbors.

That is a Moen brand shower valve. It has a cartridge (plastic or brass) that inserts into the valve body, retained by a "U" shaped clip. The cartridges get sticky over time which can be remedied with waterproof plumber's grease but I would probably replace the whole cartridge.

The water needs to be turned off but you may be able to do it right at the unit. Smart builders/plumbers frequently install shower valves with built-in shut off valves, for apartments and condos. These are called "integral stop" valves.

Remove the knob and trim plate to see if there are integral stops on the hot and cold water supplies, they will be a part of the shower valve and will look something like this:

The small stems with the slots are the stop valves, which can be operated with a screwdriver. If you do not see the integral stops, the main water supply needs to be shut off prior to servicing the cartridge.