Installing a Heavy Sliding Barn Door into Metal Studs I'm looking to install a single, sliding barn door in the 2nd bedroom of my condo. The door is solid MDF and weighs 200 lbs, including the metal rail and sliding wheels. And being in a condo, I'm unfortunately plagued with metal studs.

To date, I've installed a 1x4x80 wood backing board across 5 metal studs, with strap toggles going through the studs. The rail is 78.75" and the door is 96x36". I'm also planning on driving two additional screws per stud, on top of and below each strap toggle, for additional support. My plan is to install the rail onto the wood backing, with the provided 4" lag bolts going through the wood/drywall.

Two questions:

Will my planned installation support 200lbs? Or should I consider cutting out some drywall and adding horizontal wood blocking in-between the metal studs?
At least one (maybe two) of the pre-drilled rail holes align with metal studs. Will I have a problem getting those to go through the metal studs behind the wood? Any best techniques for doing so?

I'm less worried about the board pulling out of the wall, and more worried about the rail pulling out of the wood. In considering how much of the 4" lag bolt will be exposed behind the drywall, here's the thicknesses of everything in-between...

1/4" Rail --> 1.5" Spacer --> 3/4" Wood --> 1/2" Drywall

So, add that all up and there will be 1" of the 4" lag bolt exposed behind the drywall. Will it really make that much of a difference if that 1" were to go into wood blocking?

I'd very much appreciate any advice! Pictures below:

1x4x80 Wood Backing Installation:

4" Lag bolt with spacer (and also a lag bolt with a lag anchor, presumably for drywall only installation)

I think it'll hold, but I'd have done a couple things differently.

A taller board would've reduced the tension on your fasteners and the rotational torque on the board. I'd have gone with a 2x6 or a 5/4x6 board, or even a 1x6 if thickness is an issue. As it is you might see some gapping along the top as things flex.
Fasteners nearer the top would do the same. When you install your additional screws, put them 3/4" down. That's where most of the pullout force occurs. Picture a hinge running along the bottom of your board. If there's room, put both additional screws above the toggle bolts.

Regarding your questions...

Again, it'll hold. Worst case you get some bulging from the stud flange flexing. If you see that, make improvements.
Your lag screws will penetrate the studs fine. I assume that you'll pilot the wood and steel appropriately, which you certainly should. For 1/4" lags I'd pilot 5/32". For 5/16" lags, 3/16".


Leveling subfloor joists – plane joists or remove support from below I’m leveling joists in a bathroom floor in preparation for a new subfloor and tile. The bathroom is on the 1st floor with a full height basement below. Two of the joists have a 1/4 inch high spot and I see that they are resting on a door frame header in the basement below where the high spot is. I attached a diagram and a couple of pictures.
Is the right approach to trim the header on the door below which is pushing these joists up or to just plane the high spots on the joists.
If I trim the door header below, do I need to gradually lower the temporary support I would add to do the trimming over time or can I do it in one shot? Also, how much time would it take for the now less supported joists to settle to its final shape/location? Thanks.
-Mark

Since the floor is needing to be replaced with plywood to get a good base, I would remove the rest of the existing subfloor and plane down the high spot, if it is truly high.
Over time. joists will develop a sag in the middle, so where though it may be truly high in the area you suggest, it may actually be level with the rest of the floor at bearing walls. You could plane down the high spot in the immediate area, but the floor sweeps up at the perimeter. This is VERY typical of any wood framing.
One suggestion would be if you find that other places are level with the high spot, you could add carefully tapered shims on top of the existing joists, or perhaps an easier way would be to "sister" 2X4s to the sides of the existing to flatten and level the surface the new plywood will rest. This tactic depends of if the plumbing will allow this, since it changes the dimensions that the new plumbing will reside. If this idea will work, use construction adhesive and screws to hold the new 2X in place. This will allow adjustments if needed if and when problems are detected.
I just noticed in your sketch that you have reference points of level. a 1/4" over a long run isn't terrible, perhaps just planing down the high spot you reference is the only thing needed, but it is worth checking the spans mid run.


Why does my basement floor paint come off when it's wet? I painted my basement floor and now just 3 weeks later my washer leaks and the paint is peeling off. I also put some water down on a spot and when I wiped it up you can scratch the paint off. It is durable when dry but as soon as it gets wet it comes off. Why and what can I possibly do now?

First it sounds like you used a latex paint which for a basement floor is not a good solution.  You need to use the messier, oil based paint.  This will soak into the concrete a bit and are a lot more durable.  This paint will continue to have problems when wet - especially with hot water or when scraped by something sharp or heavy.

Also at the 3 week period I doubt your paint has fully cured in a basement environment.  Once it cures it will hold better but probably not up to your expectations.


Can I trim the plastic sticking up from edges of my basement wall? Original question:

Before we bought our house, a moisture control system was installed on one side of our basement.  The channel runs along the foundation and ends at a sump pump.  This channel was filled in with concrete so the floor is unbroken.  There is a black corrugated plastic sheeting that is embedded in the concrete right up against the wall, it runs the whole length of the channel to the sump pump. It sticks up about 4 inches out of the floor.  Can I trim this off?  I believe it allows air down into the channel so the water can run?  That's a guess. It just catches everything and is hard to keep clean.

Update 4-23-16 - I was finally able to cover the plastic, I wanted to post a pic.  Peeling away the plastic I could see the dampness behind it, trimming it flush with the floor would have been a mistake.  I used a pre-painted 1x4 from my local big box home center, that is screwed directly into the concrete with concrete screws and finishing washers.  The plastic trim acted as the spacer, so the 1x4 sits pretty straight.  I then nailed a trim piece to the top to cover the plastic and seal it over.  I plan on running a dehumidifier to keep the dampness down, so I wont be caulking the seams, which should allow the plastic to breath and hopefully dry out.

You're mostly right. The plastic is actually to catch wall water. But, if the wall is solid & tight to the floor, you'd be fine in trimming it, not removing it. If there are any weep holes behind the plastic, you need to keep those trimmed to their height & double their width so any weeping doesn't find it's way onto the floor.

If the wall's not tight to the floor & especially looks like a fairly even gap, then that needs to stay plastic covered as well. Use scissors though instead of a utility knife so you can't accidentally remove it. Since, you still need to leave about 1/4" above the tight floor to wall seam & above any openings.


Different light fixture in basement on pull switch I have more than six light fixtures in the basement each has its own pull switch each fixture is getting it's power from some where from each room upstairs and I like to know how can I add a switch so I can turn all lights at once.

The short answer is yes you can, the easiest way is first to see if all the lights are on 1 breaker (normal wiring) It is possible they could be on 2 or 3 different circuits but again you could still do it with 1 switch (3 phase and some wires).
Most basements or all I have worked on are fed from 1 or 2 circuits. Identifying the circuits is the first step. After that it can be as simple as turning all the pull chain fixtures on and interrupting the feed with a simple switch a box on the feed or even at  the panel , 2 wires (Romex to a new box) where you install a simple switch). This may be quite easy but we need to know if it is a single circuit and if it is for lighting only.


Very low water pressure in the 2nd floor shower but good pressure every where else Here are the facts:

I have a 2 or 2.5 inch water pipe from the street and supposedly very high water pressure.
This is the master shower and is located on the second floor.
It was remodeled 11 years ago, we do not know how the pressure was before.
The water pressure for the kind of shower-head I had purchased was disappointing even at the time the work was just finished but acceptable.  The plumber said something about the restrictor in the shower head, I removed-it did not improve.  I let it be since the water pressure was acceptable.

-Over the years the water pressure got less and less, similarly the water temp was reduced noticeably.

However, the tub in the same bathroom has an incredible pressure and gets very hot.  Sink faucets work well.
Other showers in the house work well.
Brought in one plumber who took out the sensor valve and cleaned it.  It did not improve anything.
The second plumber took out the same valve and found some debris in the pipe leading into it.  And using the screws next to the sensor it increased the pressure of hot water.  What we noticed is that the hot water pressure coming out of the pipe (without any sensor involved) is considerably low compared to cold water pressure.
Although both pressure and temp are now better, both are below optimal.  My quesion is why, is it that the hot water going into the shower somehow is clogged up or is it that the plumber used the wrong diameter tubing in the rough work behind the shower wall?

You stated that the home was remodeled 11 years ago and you don't know how the pressure was before. It could be that the previous owner installed some type of scald protection device for young children and it has been going out. These range in design and price. Here is more information about Anti-Scald Devices


50 volts on hot to neutral but 120 volts with wall switch I was checking a "dead" outlet for friend. Bottom reads 120volts on hot to ground but top receptacle reads 50 volts hot to ground until the wall switch is flipped then it reads 120volts. Whiskey tango??

Shouldn't that be Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? But I digress.

Anyway, I believe you are reading a static induced voltage that your very sensitive digital multi-meter is picking up.

If you were to test that with a solenoid voltage tester or maybe even a lamp tester I believe it will drop to zero. In other words, you meter does not put enough of a load on the test points to drag it down to zero.

Good luck!


How to achieve a sun-bleached effect with wood stain I have a new wood shelf that I am trying to stain to a sun-bleached colour.  I believe the wood is pine.  Before staining, I sanded thoroughly with grit 60, 100, 150, 220.  I also used a conditioner before the staining.

My finished stained shelf has significant portions in which the stain is not absorbing.  So far, I have put two coats on.  Are more coats needed?

I have read on a couple of web sites lately that said to add a sealer before staining instead of after.  Has anyone tried that?  If I seal it now and then add a coat of stain, would that fix the problem?

Any tips are appreciated.

Sealers are important for pine because the stain will tend to seep in otherwise, making it look blotchy.

Sealing after the fact is not optimal but probably better than not sealing at all. I would recommend re-sanding it before applying the sealer.


What size sub-panel and wire do I need for my three-season room? I have a 15x22 room that is roughly 50' from the main panel, that I am converting from a 3 season room, into a conditioned space (heating and cooling, enclosed with windows and doors, etc.).

Currently there is a single 110 outlet in this room. This will not be sufficient as I want this to be a fully functional room that I can use most of the year. That said, I want to put in one of those split wall heating/ac units, maybe a ceiling fan, lights and enough outlets to fill the room while still meeting code.

I live in upstate New York. I plan to put a back-up fridge (which I know is supposed to be on its own circuit for starting amps), maybe a plug in lamp, tv, and a few other small items that won't necessarily all be on at the same time.

I looked at Home Depot and found a 6awg 3 wire cable with ground that says the max amperes are 55. So my question is, basically, on the proper amperes for this room, a proper sized sub panel and the correct breakers, so that I don't overload the sub panel and catch the wire on fire from overheating.

As I looked around HD's website, I began feeling like I would need a 100 amp sub panel at a minimum as the available slots for what I need don't seem to come on a panel that is rated for the 6awg wire specs. Do I need a larger (4awg) wire and a minimum of a 4 slot panel? I figured I could put lights one 1 slot, outlets one 1 and a double pole breaker for the heating/ac unit on one. Any help mapping this out would be pretty great.

Thanks, Bob

p.s: The main panel is pretty full, but I had installed an electric tankless water heater that took 6 spots for 3 double pole breakers for each heating element that I can steal the space from since the wife doesn't like that the 27,000kW makes the lights in the house flicker, so we went back to a standard tank water heater.

Panel is a Square-D Homeline HOMC30UC Series S01.

You don't need that big of a feeder, but if you're going to put in a subpanel, you might as well take the chance to free up space in your main panel

Doing an Article 220 calculation for your feeder alone, with 990VA for the lighting, a 1500VA extra allowance for receptacle loads, and 2875VA for a 10A@230V mini-split (12kBTU/20SEER) at 125% (as the largest motor on the feeder), gives us a 22A feeder, far short of even the 60A that 6/3 NM is limited to.  However, I would run either a 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 Al SER cable (good for a 125A feeder) or a 1.5" EMT (with stud shoes, but also good for 125A tops with 1/0 Al XHHW-2s in it) between the main panel and the subpanel.

This allows us to put in a 125A, 24 or 30 space, main lug panel for the subpanel (a HOM2448L125PGC provides a nice, easy package solution if you wish to stick with Homeline), with a HOM2125 for the feeder breaker. Even with two 15A AFCIs (HOM115CAFI in Homeline) for receptacles, and a 15A double pole breaker (HOM215) for the air conditioner, this still leaves ample room for future expansion, which is a good thing considering that your main panel is basically full: you can get 2 spare spots by pulling out the other 40A breaker from the tankless experiment, but that's it, and you'll need those spaces to retrofit AFCI protection as there are no double-stuff AFCIs.

The HOM2125 replaces one of the unused 40A breakers that originally went to the tankless heater, by the way.  Also note that you will need to torque all lugs to specification with an inch-pound torque wrench or torque screwdriver; this requirement was enshrined in Code in 2017 with 110.14(D), in addition to being a good idea lest your electrical system pull a Greg Biffle on you.


What's this top part of this faucet used for? This is a faucet coming out of a wall in my backyard. What is that top white round part used for? What tool is used to screw/unscrew it?

That is a backflow preventer, which makes sure that if the water pressure in the house plumbing drops, it doesn't suck water from the hose or whatever the hose might be sitting in.

You can also find information on similar devices by searching for "vacuum breaker".


Ceiling fan lightbulb replacement I have tried unscrewing the top four screws and the bottoms four. I have no ideas left on how to take the glass off eithlut basically completely disassembling the fan.

You are correct in that no sane manufacturer would build something that would require disassembly of the fan to change the light bulbs.

This looks like a split glass assembly, you might have a locking ring above the fan blades, if it is a locking ring type unscrew the locking ring and it would drop down and allow you to slide one glass side out in order to change the bulbs. You might have to remove the blades to do this - but I can not be sure.

Since you do not list the make and model it is difficult to give more specifics.


Type of floor to use for a three season porch I am installing a three season porch.  It will be well insulated and have energy efficient windows. The floors will not get wet.  I wanted to put pergo floors down, but Home Depot tells me they can warp because of the change in temperature.  What should I use that would be most like wood?

Vinyl plank flooring is very durable, attractive, and moves less than wood-based products. It comes in many styles, some of which very convincingly emulate natural wood through color and texture.

Just this past weekend I helped my brother install some in his home. It had built-in flexible underlayment, was very easy to cut (simple crosscuts are score-and-snap), and looked absolutely beautiful. Seams were dead tight and the product claims complete water resistance. Judging by the fit and feel of the material, I can't say I don't believe them.

Quality varies with brand, of course. Do your research and read objective reviews.


How can I ensure portable generator success during a long natural disaster? I live in the SF Bay Area. My house is blocks from the Hayward Fault, where a large earthquake is likely during my lifetime. Along with the usual disaster-prep things (water, food, etc.) I'm considering buying a portable generator to power critical equipment (fridge, microwave, phone/laptop/iPad chargers, etc.) to make it easier on the family in case we have to be "off the grid" for an extended period (e.g. 1-2 weeks), either in the house if minimal structural damage, or in the back yard if not so lucky.

I've read the excellent answer on choosing an emergency generator from @Jay Bazuzi, but that answer led me to think about all the things that could go wrong with a generator: mechanical failure, out of gas, leaving it in a part of the house that collapsed in an earthquake, not having long-enough extension cords, etc.  I'm sure there are others.

What are typical portable generator problems in a post-disaster emergency situation, and what should I do ahead of time to try to prevent those problems?  Questions include (but not limited to):

assuming I don't want to store my generator in the basement of a 3-story house that might fall over, what is a good storage strategy to prevent corrosion but still allow easy access for testing/maintenance?
what kind(s) of generators are more reliable and require less maintenance than others?
what is a typical maintenance/testing regimen for a generator?
what tools and supplies should I have on hand in case a generator won't start?
how much fuel should I stockpile, and what is a reliable and safe way to store it?  Obviously this depends on usage, but assume a refrigerator 24x7 for 1 weeks plus occasional use of other low-wattage devices.
what other questions should I be asking?  any good web resources for temporarily living  off the grid in an urban/suburban area?

I live in southern New England, where we can usually see our natural disasters coming a few days in advance (snowstorms, hurricanes, etc.), so your considerations will be different, but I'll share what I do and what I've learned in three 5+ day outages over the past two years; it may give you some reference points.

Fuel reserves

I have a gasoline-powered generator, rated for 7000 watts, enough to run our well pump, two furnaces, refrigeration and some convenience items (not all at once, we have to manage around the well load if the furnaces are being run).  I test-run the generator about once a month, running it for about ten minutes.   I keep the tank nearly empty so that when I add fresh gas there won't be a lot of old gas mixed with it.  I add preservative to all my gas when I buy it.

I adjust my fuel reserves by season -- more in the winter when an outage could turn from an inconvenience and spoiled food to property damage from frozen pipes.   When an event is predicted, I max out my portable containers (about 12 gallons) and top off my truck (23 gallon tank).  I have a siphon hose that can reach the bottom of the truck's tank, and have tested using it.   Depending on the season, we can burn 3-6 gallons a day, so this sets us up for 4-5 days (assuming that I can get half the fuel from the truck tank).  If the event doesn't materialize, I burn the gas off in the truck before it sits too long.

I built a rain cover for our generator so that it can be run in rain or snow.   It takes a few minutes to install, I sometimes do this pre-event so we can roll it out and fire it up on short notice.  I also test run right before a possible event.

Spare parts

I keep oil, a spark plug, and some fuel line handy, the plug is clearly marked "Generator".   I had a leaky fuel line once when I needed the generator, thus the spare fuel line on hand.

Other

Make sure you know how to start the generator manually; electric start systems may or may not be there when you need them.  I use a battery maintainer (a trickle charger with intelligence to prevent overcharging) and I make sure the battery is fully charged after each test run.

Use

Plan for what you will want to use, and make sure you have a way to get power from the generator to the loads you want to power.   We have a transfer panel that supplies the well, furnaces, fridge, freezer, convenience outlets in the kitchen, and lights in the powder room and central stairway (this turned out to be genius, as the stairway lights cover a large part of our open floor plan house).   I relocated the power supply for our alarm system to the same circuit as the freezer after killing off the system's battery during our first extended outage.  I also put put a table lamp on the freezer circuit so there's light in the garage (no windows) when the generator is running.

We've run extension cords for the TV & Satellite dish from the nearby kitchen, to the basement for the DSL modem and router (amazingly, we had internet through most of our outages).   We charge phones, laptops, etc., in the kitchen when the generator is running.

We have a pond with fish in it; I put a 15-watt aerator in with an extension cord in warm weather instead of running the 600 watt pump that normally power its waterfall.

We have a rechargeable lantern that we use for bedtime, trips outside, etc. and recharge it during the day; a gas grill and coleman stove cover our cooking (we can relocate our microwave near a generator outlet if needed, but haven't done that yet).   The coleman stove is great for heating water (we have electric hot water and range) as well as general cooking.

We do not run the generator full time; typically run it about 1/3 time (typically running it until the refrigerator compressor cycles off), but it varies based on our expectation for length of outage/fuel reserves, desire to have the TV, etc.

Our generator doesn't automatically charge its own battery; rather than using the unregulated (I think) battery charging cable provided with it, I use the battery maintainer plugged into one of the outlets on the generator.

After the last long outage, I bought a 150 watt inverter with the idea that it could be used to power some LED lights and a radio when we have the generator off, using a battery borrowed from a golf bag cart; this hasn't been tried yet, though.


Is it possible to use the same key when replacing a door knob? The lock mechanism broke in my exterior door knob. I am probably going to have to buy a new one. Can i buy a new door knob and program it to use my existing key so I don't have to get new keys?

Most brands of locks can be re-keyed, but it usually requires specialized techniques and sometimes tools. Many retailers will do it in-house free or for a small fee. Otherwise, any locksmith* should be able to help you out.
Be aware that keys have brand-specific cross-sectional shapes, so be sure to buy a new lockset of the same brand (or compatible with) the old one.
* I'll concede that locksmiths may have a slightly higher than average rate of crookery among them, but it goes without saying that any company performing service on or involving your home should be vetted properly. Any implies any reputable locksmith.


Cover black gas pipe in basement ceiling I am remodeling my basement and have a concern about the black steel gas pipe that runs along the ceiling (below the joists). I plan to strap the ceiling, so I could potentially cover the pipe up with drywall, but is this legal? The only thing I can find in the code book is potentially allowing access to the weird "T" intersection in the photos below. We also might just drywall directly up to the pipe but not cover it and leave it exposed and painted white (for a slightly mechanical look).
This is in Maryland (Montgomery County). Any thoughts?

(ps: ignore the badly installed window; this was discovered when we tore down the existing walls)

Also in Montgomery County, MD, though that probably doesn't matter much. My similar pipe had a leak once at a joint between two sections, and if it had been covered with drywall that would have been a bit of a repair job (which I have had to do for water leaks).
A drop ceiling or other easily removable (i.e., no tools needed) covering may be a good solution. You could also have a hinged "door" made out of plywood, painted to match the drywall of the rest of the ceiling.


Is it ok to use vinyl sheet as a temp cover for a boiler flue hole? I have an unsealed boiler flue hole like the picture:
I was going to acquire and use some vinyl sheet however I have just realized I have some cushion vinyl lying around.
As a temporary fix, will it be ok to use that?  Or can the heat from the boiler cause the vinyl to heat up and be dangerous?
Thanks.

The vinyl would be OK to seal this but don't fit your vinyl so tight that it comes in contact with the flue. Leave a gap between the flue and vinyl, the pipe collar will over the gap.


Why is my AC suddenly *heating* my house? I have a 13 SEER heat pump about one year old. Everything's been working fine, but the AC suddenly started heating my house spontaneously (no changes to thermostat, etc).

The outside ambient temperature is 80°F but the incoming air measures 116° at the vent. The odd part is that the outside condensing unit is blowing 68°F (cold?).

What might be causing this?

Your heat pump switches between heating and cooling mode through a reversing valve. It sounds like that is where your problem is; it could be that your thermostat has gone bad, or it could be something else.

The outside condensing unit is blowing 68 degrees because the system is pulling heat out of the outside air, and pumping it into the house.


Is there a permanent fix for my hardwood floor buckling? I have a hardwood floor that was built on a slab; I fixed the buckle nicely once already, now the buckle is back.  What do I have to do to permanently fix this problem?

Most of the time there are only two causes for a buckling floor:

Moisture
No Expansion

To elaborate, if the flooring material is real hardwood vs laminate and you are cleaning it with a mop, then you are using too much water. A Swiffer wet jet is plenty. Another reason for excess water would be from below, such as cracks in the concrete, or a plumbing leak.

As for the expansion, whether engineered or solid Hardwood, there should be about 1/2" expansion around the entire edge of the floor. Usually Quarter Round (wood trims) covers this gap between the wood and the wall. Sometimes the baseboard can cover this gap as well. If the expansion is not there, when the wood expands and contracts due to weather it will press up against the wall and buckle at its weakest point. This could be in the middle of the floor.

Most of the time expansion is the culprit. The fix would be to pull up the trim around the edge and see if there is adequate expansion.

This applies even with floating floors.


Adding ground to an existing conduit Continuing my basement shop brainstorming...

As I said in another question, the good news is that I've got a 30-amp 240V circuit more or less in the right place and available, and easily accessible for its entire length.

The questionable news is that it's a 3-wire circuit -- no safety ground. It's in conduit, but I never like trusting the continuity thereof.

So: How insane would it be to run a new safety ground outside the existing conduit?

... Or should I just scrap the old run and redo it as NMC/Romex?

... Or should I put a GFCI in the new secondary box on principle (probably!), in which case safety ground is mostly moot? I've used that solution for several outlets that had the same problem..

Pull out the wire that's in conduit, (look it over, but it's probably just fine) pull in that wire and a ground.

It's darn near impossible to pull in another wire without pulling the whole bundle out and back in. It's fairly straightforward to pull the whole bundle out, add a wire and pull back in, unless the conduit is too small.

Code-wise, (250.118) properly installed metallic conduit (RMC, IMC or EMT) is a ground, whether or not you personally like it. It's not copper, but it's got a large cross-sectional area and the fittings are designed to maintain contact if properly installed.

I would not consider Romex an upgrade. I've seen too much rodent/Romex interaction to love it much, and with the possible exception of wire old enough to use cloth-based insulation as primary there's little benefit to "new wire" over "old wire."


Home Repair of Refrigerator Waterline I have an 10 year old LG refrigerator (model LRFD25850ST). The white polyethylene waterline running from the refrigerator water pump up the back of the refrigerator is leaking about half-way up. It feeds both the ice maker and in-door water dispenser, but it runs through the foam insulation first, so a complete replacement is not practical at this time.

I would like to see if I can repair or splice it.

That writing on the tube reads:

  DMT PE TUBE 0.D5/16"XI.DO.216" 70F 170P= NSF-51 & NSF-61 04EH10 05-1

What is the best way to repair this waterline?

You need a plastic quick coupling.  Go to a professional plumbing supplier and buy a 5/16 x 5/16 Parker fitting. These are similar to Sharkbite fittings, but plastic and about half the size of the smallest Sharkbite. They come in 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and 7/16.  A number of companies such as Celcon and John Guest make them, but Parker invented them so like Hoover for a vacuum, they are called 'Parkers'.
Simply cut your pipe right at the leak with a very sharp craft knife then fit each end into the straight fitting.


How do I disconnect (and reconnect) the tubing from this fitting? The plastic tubing supplying filtered water to our refrigerator currently runs below a suspended ceiling. I want to reroute it above. How do I disconnect it without damage from either the union or tee, so I can reconnect once moved? The tee is labeled NSF-51 Parker Parflex size 4. The union has no discernible markings. I believe I would rather disconnect the union rather than the tee. I didn't want to just start tugging. I have found similar fittings for sale online, but no instructions for use.

Here is the union:

And here is the tee:

Just to add some visuals to the others' explanations using your photo, you need to (1) push on the collar trying to move it parallel to the tube, and (2) pull the tube.

To reconnect, push the tube into the collar until it stops (should be about 1 inch). Make sure the tube end is square (perpendicular to the tube axis, with no damage); cut a bit of the tube if necessary.


Is there anything in the NEC that would prevent me from attaching MC cable with ground to EMT with a compression coupling? Is there anything in the NEC that would prevent me from attaching MC cable with ground to EMT with a compression coupling?  I will be skinning the MC cable roughly about 10 to 15 feet where it enters a 1900 box to feed an outlet.

Edit:  the compression coupling would not be accessible.

The only thing I could think of that might be wrong with that is the wires in the MC may not be listed / marked as THHN or THWN, even though that's what it is.

Could you use greenfield (FMC) and pull in your wire?

Regarding the coupling - I think you'll have to use a MC/AC box connector and EMT box connector joined together by a female-female threaded coupler.

edit:  Actually it looks like there are EMT to FMC couplers:

http://www.bptfittings.com/Home/ProductDetail?s=582-DC(Catalog%20Num)


What's the best way to shore up a ceiling register that is loose? I have a few ceiling registers which are not flush with the ceiling since the duct has loosened over time.  What's the best way to get them flush with the ceiling?  I thought about driving several sheet metal screws into them but they would go into drywall which has only so much holding strength. Is there a better method?  Thanks

Drill a hole on either side of the register.  Mark the holes on the ceiling with a pencil, drill and install a drywall anchor in each location.  Secure the register with screws into the anchor.

Some people paint the ceiling and the register so it blends in better (and covers the screw heads).


How can I cut a cinder block wall to run large round duct through it? When an addition was put onto the house that I own, the previous owner just ran the duct work into the crawl space through an old basement window.  I want to re-route the duct work by actually cutting a hole through the neighboring cinder block wall.  There are 2 flex-ducts being routed through the window.  I want to combine these into a larger, rigid duct (maybe 8" to 10")  and cut just a single hole.   What tool do I need to cut through the cinder block wall and should I be concerned with any pit falls.  I'm not positive what size I should use for the rigid duct, but I can ask that in another question.

Chalk a circle the size that you want. Drill holes every quarter of an inch or so. Drill bit only need be thick enough to not break as it passes through. Do this all the way around till you can gently hammer out the hole.


Why does my GFCI trip randomly? I have a GFCI in the kitchen has started tripping all of a sudden.  It may trip several times a day. I have the same things plugged in that I have had for months. Nothing has changed with the usage so not sure what the problem might be.  Any suggestions?

Most likely as simple as a bad/weak GFI receptacle, especially if it is older.

Have you tried leaving it with nothing plugged in?
Are there other receptacles on the LOAD side of this GFI?


Why do I not always get hot water out of the faucet? When I turn the kitchen faucet on for hot water - sometime hot water comes out sometimes just warm water. The same problem exists in our guest bathroom. Just never know if hot water will flow. The problem is random however most of the time it not hot water that flows. Our master bath faucets seems to work ok even when the kitchen faucets do not.

I would suggest that you check the hot and cold water valves or cartridges. Could be an o-ring or seat that is not sealing properly and allowing cold water to mix with the hot.


The mortar between my patio bricks is crumbling away The bricks on my front porch have some sort of mortar that crumbles away more and more every time I pull a weed from it. You could pick this stuff away with an awl but it is not  just sand that you might put between yard pavers. The depth from the top of the bricks to this "mortar" is about half an inch and growing. I believe this patio is about 12 years old.
My questions are:

What is this stuff?
Can I add more over the top of existing?
How can I stop it from crumbling?

sounds like mortar
if it's mortar, you can re tuck-point it all. Scrape/grind out the loose stuff, put new stuff back.
not much you can do if it's exposed to the elements. How is your porch constructed? Are these bricks on a patio or some form of foundation?


How do I connect this hot plate This is in Germany, brand new flat.

The wall socket is:

The device has the following sticker:

But the blue and grey wires are linked:

Should I:

separate the blue and grey and connect them with their respective colors in the socket
connect them both in the blue
connect them both in the grey

I am thinking they should both go in blue (neutral) as there are only 2 phases. Is that correct?

The panel has a 400V 63A breaker for this:

Your kitchen has a three-phase supply.
Your hob can run on a single-phase to neutral (1N AC 32 A) or on two phases of a three-phase supply (2N AC 16 A).

Note that the current is split into two 16 A circuits for the three-phase supply. This is the one you want.

Figure 1. Probable internal wiring. R1 and R2 each represent one or more hobs.


What thickness of closed cell spray foam should I use on my basement walls? I'm finishing my basement in southeastern Wisconsin. This is a poured full basement below grade. We are ready to insulate the walls and are going to use closed cell spray foam.

I've had two different contractors come out and recommend different thicknesses for the foam. One said I only need 1" against the walls, and 3" in the sills. The other said 2" against the walls and 3" in the sills.

What kind of performance gain would I be looking at between 1" and 2" sprayfoam?

Closed cell foam typically has an R6 value (that's R6 per inch)

http://www.fomo.com/resources/technical-bulletins/opencellvsclosed.aspx

So 1" of foam would be R6.
2" of foam would be R12

I've lived near you - Wisconsin gets cold and stays cold - and in a basement the longer the ground stays cold the more thermal break you want. so frankly in your climate, I'd be looking for foam to completely fill between the joists with foam - 3.5" if you're using typical 2x4's - giving you closer to an R20.


What is a good way to humidify a (temporarily) vacant desert home? We are snowbirds spending winters in our home in Phoenix.  When we close it up for the summer we place several 5 gallon pails of water around to keep the humidity at about 35%.  Is there a reason why we couldn't install a whole house humidifier on the furnace and leave the fan on constant to humidify the house during the summer? Could we use the air conditioner drain line to draw off the excess water that the humidfier doesn't use?

I suppose if you want to pay for the electricity to run your furnace, A/C and humidifier all summer while you are not there, that is certainly an option. But if you consider that all these parts have a service life, do you really want to spend 50% of that service life running them when you are not home?  There's also the problem of if it breaks or otherwise stops running, how will you know?  And of course, your A/C will be working to dehumidify the environment which might be the opposite of what you are looking to accomplish.

My in-laws have a place in the desert with lots of wood furniture and they always just leave buckets of water out and so far have not had any issues with cracked wood.  It sounds like this is a cheap and reliable method.  Perhaps you could find someone who can check in on your house after a few months and fill up the bucketes if needed.


Consulting expert for remodelling plans while doing the work myself? I'm planning a kitchen renovation that involves removing a floor to ceiling pantry that separates the kitchen and dining areas, new cabinets, new flooring, and new appliances.  I'm unsure of how to get started with this without getting some initial expertise and guidance from a designer to help plan and determine what the course of action should be.  I can do most, if not all, of the work myself, so I'm wondering what type of expert I should consult first to determine things like appliance location, walls (whether load bearing or non-load bearing), etc, while getting to use the plans to do the work myself.

I've read about Home Depot and Ikea consultations, I'm just wondering if it's an actual kitchen designer or engineer or someone else whom I should actually be looking for.

I'd look for a sympathetic licensed general contractor. Preferably a 1-3 man show, preferably an older guy/girl, as a larger firm will probably have no time/interest in this kind of job. If there are things you want to (or have to by law) sub out, the general might be willing to share info on appropriate subs.

The only thing Ikea/HD types would be useful for is the actual kitchen layout (cabinets, appliances, etc). They are unlikely to be helpful with anything structural.

Try to make friends with your local 'authority having jurisdiction', aka the permits office. If you show a willingness to learn how to do things to code, they're apt to be helpful. YMMV.


Does my house need structural enhancement? I live in an area with clay soils, so the homes here move quite a bit leading to typical cracking in drywall around door and window frames. My home seems particularly bad, ex this large crack in my living room:

A structural engineer said the foundation looks fine. Two contractors suggested two very different things, one wants to add helical piers under the entire home (which would be super expensive) the other suggested adding adjustable posts under the home.

I'm more wondering if there is any degree of confidence in any contractor/solution or if everyone is just guessing?

I see this question was asked 4 months ago (oh, and a comment added 1 month ago) so this may not matter, but the topic intrigues me. So...

Yes, there is a way to determine exactly what to do and how to determine if it will crack again. There are geotechnical engineers out there that analyze soil and sub-soil conditions. They can tell you exactly what "your" soil bearing value is and what "kind" of footing to install, (I.e.: standard spread footing, piling, etc.).  However, they can't tell you how big the footings need to be...that is done by an architect or structural engineer.

They will add up all the loads in your house and decide where the loads come down on your footings and then decide if the existing footings are big enough based on the "soil conditions " provided by the Geotech Report. If they are not the right size, they can provide a design on how to fix it.

As you can imagine, this is quite expensive. An alternative to all that is to work with a REPUTABLE builder in the area and repair your walls, "fix" your footings and see how it goes. This trial and error method seems silly to me, but it probably depends on how long you're going to stay in the home.

Also, you could ask your neighbors if this occurs every year, or just once in awhile. Maybe you just repair the cracks and paint ever couple of years.

By the way, if you get the geotechnical report done, but don't follow through with the repairs, then where I live you need to disclose that when you go to sell your house. Attorneys love it when the seller does not disclose EVERYTHING.


Lubricating a manual hoist I was given an old, rusty and very dirty manual hoist similar to the following

which was "stuck" (would only go up). After taking it apart and rigorously cleaning the pieces, the issue is solved.

Now that I have to put it back together, which part(s) in addition to the bearing should I lubricate? In particular, should I use lubricant on the gears? What about the chain? What kind of lubricant should I use?

I am afraid that lubricant is going to keep dirt in the mechanism which I would prefer to avoid if not necessary.


UK - low voltage from mains cable? I've lived in this house for a couple of years now and I'm in the process of mounting a pair of Sonos One speakers in the corners of my kitchen.

I was working on the premise that I would need to run some cables down the wall to a wall socket, but when I got up to look on top of the cupboard there were two power cables coming from the wall (each cable with L/N/E) going into a inline connector box (similar to https://www.screwfix.com/p/debox-in-line-connector-box/8692h) - Result I thought ...

I bought a new dual socket outlet, and prepared to wire it up. After doing so and plugging in the Sonos ... no dice.

Hooking up a multimeter to the cables I'm getting 180V Live to Neutral, and 180V Live to Earth. I believe I should be getting 240V from a UK mains connection unless I'm mistaken?

I did some more testing, and removed the cables from the socket to rule that out, and it looks like only one of the cables is actually live - the other 'live' cable doesn't give me any voltage at all.

Do I need both to get to 240V or is there something else at play here?

There are many applications in home wiring where part of a circuit requires 2 wires travel somewhere.  However, as it works out, they are not hot and neutral - they are whatever and whatever - switched-hot and travelers, hot and switched-hot for a switch loop, you name it.  You as an electrician are expected to know of the existence of such arrangements.  They don't make special cables for these.  You use the exact same commodity off-the-shelf brown/blue T&E that you use for everything else.  And you, as an electrician, are expected to recognize one of these odd arrangements when  you stumble upon it.

If you really want to iterate on this question, you can keep following wires and testing, and you will eventually discover what this box is associated with and what it does.  However that is orthogonal to your goal, and I strongly recommend against trying to learn electrical by tinkering; this results in a very "holey" education (as does searching Google).  Books provide a far more complete education far more efficiently.


Is it OK to plug a computer into a shared GFCI outlet? Is it OK to have a computer on the same line as a bathroom GFCI outlet?

It is OK to have the computer plugged into a GFCI, although it may not be preferable. Hard shutdowns, as would be the case if the GFCI tripped (and the computer's receptacle is actually protected as @keshlam's comment suggests), are not the greatest for computers. You may never trip the GFCI, or may only trip it rarely, and this doesn't become an issue. Or, you may have a very sensitive or failing GFCI which trips regularly, putting unnecessary stress on the computer. If you can plug it in elsewhere, that'd be best, but if not it's not a big deal unless your GFCI trips a lot.


My copper pipe has a leak right at the basement slab surface Leak in pipe is barely above the concrete floor. If try to cut and solder will be too low. Any suggestions? Too close to concrete for SharkBite connections.

You can solder a copper repair coupler over the hole. It's basically just like a sleeve. You don't have to cut the pipe near the concrete.

Sand and flux the bottom inch of the copper pipe above the concrete. Cut off the copper pipe maybe 1 foot higher than the concrete, and drop a copper repair coupler that doesn't have an internal stop onto the pipe and slide it down to the top of the concrete.

Next shorten the copper pipe enough to add a second copper coupler that does have internal stops. Sand and flux the pipe. Add the coupler, solder both couplers at the same time.

The first coupler seals the leak, and the second coupler is needed to repair the pipe after cutting it.

Make sure to sand and flux the inside of the couplers too.


Does mold in a loggia means that the loggia must be replaced? My apartment has a loggia which used to be a balcony (it is now an extension of the living room without any separation between them - the door that was there was removed). This was done by the previous owner.
In the architectural drawing below :) the parts in blue are aluminium frames and double windows that were attached to the lower and upper edge of the balcony (so mine, and the one above) and the security rail (the black vertical bars). You can see such a balcony on the last picture in this post on the facing building.

The apartment is well heated and aerated but I see mold on the loggia - specifically near the edges. As you can see on the pictures below, there is heavy condensation and the water is going down, but also on the ceiling, next to the aluminium frames of the loggia.

One other thing is that the apartment is heated from the floor, but obviously not the ex-balcony - this is a slab of concrete sticking out and cooling the living room (which is another problem). Both the upper and lower floors have similar loggias.
I would like to fix that and have it fixed by specialized companies. I would like however to get your advice in advance so not to be completely dumb when discussing with them. Specifically:

are such cases common where there is significant condensation of water on frames?
is this something that can be fixed with such aluminium loggia?
or should I consider changing it → in which case what to pay attention to so that I do not end up with the same issue?

With the amount of condensation I see you may need to take multiple paths forward to reduce the condensation that is creating the mold growth.
The first and least expensive thing I’d to add a dehumidifier to reduce the moisture
.
The second thing would be to upgrade the framing and insulation.
One of the window pics looks like double Pane the others look single upgrading to fully insulated windows and frames can reduce the amount of condensation further than dehumidification alone.
To eliminate the mold I would use a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide and water sprayed onto the ceiling and wood surfaces to kill the mold.
The great thing about hydrogen peroxide is it doesn’t stink and when done it leaves no chemical residue it breaks down into water and oxygen.


Multiple weak light bulbs vs one strong light bulb I currently have a small room with a single CFL bulb at the center of its ceiling. The bulb lights up the whole room well enough. I encounter the problem though that when standing in front of the mirror mounted on the wall of the room, I block the light, keeping it from reflecting light onto myself.

Because of this, I plan on installing multiple light bulbs in the room so that theoretically, there's at least one or so light sources directly lighting any point of the room where ever I stand. Of course, to conserve energy and to keep the room from getting too bright and hot, I intend on installing weaker light bulbs.

I also plan on buying LED bulbs so my solution above should solve the "non-omni-directional"nature of the bulbs.

Do you see any problem that might arise with my solution? The problems I see are the cost of the LED bulbs and the effort to install more sockets in the room for the bulbs. These are trivial in my case though since I'm willing to spend the time and money to install them.

PS: My current CFL bulb is rated with 820 lumens. Would buying multiple bulbs whose lumens ratings sum up to 820 light up the room just as well? I plan on installing them on the edges or corners of the ceiling, each pointing to the center, so I'm guessing that the lumens WILL add up based on what I've read after googling.  Correct me if I'm wrong though.

You have a number of issues affecting the poor lighting in the mirror. When light hits you when facing the mirror it's reflected light coming off the ceilings, walls and other items in the room.

The intensity of light falls off exponentially following the inverse square rule. When you double the distance the intensity of light is 1/4th. Triple the distance it's 1/9th as strong.

The closer you are to the light source the more intense the light will be. Reflected light not only loses intensity because your walls aren't mirrors but because it also has a greater distance until it reaches you.

More lights provide more even illumination and you can theoretically get away with much lower total lumens than if you used a single bulb.

Edit: Here are some more details to illustrate the point. Assume you have a 10'x10' room currently illuminated with 1 light source in the center of the room. You want to replace that single fixture with 4 lights instead. Each at 1/4 the power of the first light.

We start with 1 light with a power of 1 unit that is 60" away from the mirror and delivers a light intensity of 1 at the mirror.

We replace it with 4 lights that are each 1/4 the power of the first unit. Two lights are about 42.426407" away from the mirror and two lights are 94.875" away.

The intensity of the closer lights are:
(60/42.426407)^2 * 0.25 (for reduced wattage) = ~0.5
Half of the original intensity

The intensity of the 2 lights furthest away is
(60/94.875)^2 * 0.25 = ~0.1 of the original intensity.

Add up the 4 lights:
0.5 + 0.5 + 0.01 + 0.01 = 1.2

So you're getting roughtly 20% more direct light than you were with the one bulb. With the given placement you're also not blocking the light by standing between the light and the mirror.


When repairing a split table top, should I use dowels, biscuits, or something else? We bought a 5' diameter table many years ago from a Macy's warehouse sale.

It's a 1" thick wood table top screwed to a cast iron leg/ base.

When we bought it, it had a slight warp about 2/3s from one edge that went all the way through. The wood was weak there (hence being on sale).

Well, after 10 year of MN humid summers and dry winters and a cross-country move in a truck, it finally split.

It's a nice enough table that I'd like to repair it, though. What would be the proper way to do this?

The table needs to be sanded and refinished anyways (10 years of kids abusing it) so I don't mind getting a bit rough with the thing.

My thoughts:

cut about 1/2" off from each side of the split.
find a 1" x 1" strip of some nice hardwood (perhaps a nice contrasting color--since I can't likely match it exactly, I might as well make it a design 'feature')
join the two halves of the table to this strip via a connection method (glue + mechanical).

So far so good? If that sounds good, my main question is what would the best connection method be? Biscuits? Dowels? Pocket Screws? Other ideas?

I'd then sand the whole thing down, refinish, and re-attach to the table legs.

Thoughts? Any better ideas?

Dowels are probably your best bet for this fix because the tool cost is much lower for the case that you need to purchase tools to do this repair. The cost of a doweling jig is much lower than a biscuit cutter. Drilling the dowel holes is easily accomplished with an electric drill.

If you end up with just a one inch wide repair strip added in then I would just drill the dowel holes right through the strip and into the original material on each side. Do check your table top pieces for overall flatness after you separate the two sides from the split. Warped lumber often develops a curvature that spans a greater distance than just one inch. You'll need to take this into account when you decide to start trimming away the split edges.

With properly jointed surfaces on the two trimmed edges and the hardwood accent piece the dowels and glue should be plenty strong to hold things together.

You may want to cut the accent piece just a small bit longer than the amount needed and then trim and sand it to the existing round table edges after the gluing is done. This will give you the greatest opportunity blend the edge of the table to the nicest fit and look.

I see some challenge in clamping the round table to get good tight glue joints. You may need to fabricate some jigs to help provide a place to engage your clamps across the width of the table. The sketch below shows one idea of how to do this. Some flat boards about 4 -> 5 inches wide can have some blocks glued and screwed on the ends that will provide a place to engage the clamps.

I have shown the blocks somewhat offset from where they would actually be attached to the boards so that you can see the nature of how they would fit to the contour of the table edge. Long bar clamps or pipe clamps would be spanned across the table top at the overhang of these boards as shown in the next picture.


Best way to close gap around a fire place? Along my fire place I have pretty good gaps that allows a lot of draft into he house during winter. I was thinking of just using foam backer rods and then caulking over that to seal the gaps nicely. I assume there wouldn't be any fire hazard since the fire place does not get hot on the side of it, even though there is a heat vent. Any better suggestions on how to fix the gap?

That looks like a good solution. There's no fire hazard there (if there were, you'd also be worried about the wood). You may have to switch to something thinner at the bottom there, and use additional pieces to fill in the joints between the blocks. Something I've used with good success are lengths of foam pipe insulation; it's cheap, and you can easily cut strips of any width you like.

Given that there's no water to be blocked, if you can get the gap completely filled by the backer rod you may not even need the caulk; doing without caulk would be nice since caulk would be really hard to get off the masonry.


Way to mount a small tv (27-32”) on bottoms of stairs angled down slightly? I’m looking to add a tv to underside of stairs? Is it possible to do so?

If you mean anything remotely like a "modern" TV, (flat panel with VESA mounting holes on the back) it's trivial - just screw a "ceiling mount" to the bottom of the stairs. Get one which allows for an angle adjustment - most do.


What are these black bugs and how do I get rid of them? These bugs keep appearing from under my baseboard. The ones laying out are never moving but when I vacuumed them up, I sucked whatever would come out from under the baseboard which made some lives ones come out but they never get too far from the wall before they stop moving and seem to die. I sprayed some general indoor/outdoor insecticide but that did not seem to help because they re-appeared a couple days later. They are extremely small, similar in size to gnats and black.

How do I get rid of these?

I agree with Daniel they look like what we used to call sugar ants but the photo is kind of blurry, lots of different ant baits out there will work, or things like diatomaceous earth spread where they are traveling will cut them up, wear a dust mask if you use this because it’s not good to breathe but it is non toxic (used in swimming pool filters) if you don’t want to use poison.


How can I safely get rid of the odor caused by EasyOff oven cleaner? I recently cleaned my oven with something called EasyOff Fume Free. It worked great at getting the crud off my oven, but now, for the life of me, I can't get rid of the smell.

The "fume free" part of their marketing is a joke. If I turn the oven on, even at its lowest setting (~100 degrees), it starts emitting a nauseating odor that chokes me out and makes my throat sore. I opened up all the windows, opened the doors, started a big room fan, and left the house for an hour. I came back and the smell was still there. It only goes away after I turn the oven off.

I tried washing the inside of the oven with water and a sponge, and that didn't seem to help.

Is this normal?!? Has anyone else had a similar experience with this (or similar) oven cleaning products? What was the fix?

I think you're going to have to burn off any residue. This is going to take a very hot temp for several hours. If your oven has a self clean then try using that, otherwise I'd set it to max temp for 2-3hrs and then give it several more hours to cool off before you open it and wipe away any remaining residue.


Checking voltmeter on my Honeywell Wifi Programmable Thermostat I have a wifi programmable Honeywell thermostat. Worked fine for 3 years, this morning I turned on my gas furnace for the first time this year and it would not go off, even when I set the "Heat" / "Cold" / "Off" to "Off."

Called Honeywell, and they told me to check the voltage "between the R and G wires" on the thermostat to be sure I was getting around 24 v. Not sure what they meant by testing "between the R & G wires." I've tested the R & G wires independently and they vary from 12v to 16v. I connect the COM end to a screw in the thermostat's case and the other end to the R or G wire screw. Are they suggesting that I touch the red cable to the R or G wire screw and them COM into the other wire screw?

Sorry, but I'm confused about the "between the R & G wires" comment. (Between the R & G wires is the Y wire, but I don't think that's what the tech was asking me to do. Difficult to communicate, because tech was on phone and spoke with a very strong, almost unintelligible foreign accent.

Also, why does my voltmeter sometimes read 13.0 (for instance) and at other times read -13.0? (with a minus sign in front of it).

Are they suggesting that I touch the red cable to the R or G wire screw and them COM into the other wire screw?

Yes.

Voltages are potential difference, they are relative not absolute. You can often measure with respect to protective ground but it is usually more appropriate to measure between two current-conductors (e.g. between circuit ground/common/neutral/negative and circuit supply/line/live/positive)

In extra low voltage DC systems (<50V), screws in the case may not be electrically connected to the circuit under test and so may not be useful in measuring voltages.

  why does my voltmeter sometimes read 13.0 (for instance) and at other times read -13.0?

Because sometimes you connect the voltmeter leads the other way round.


Standing water inside tub drain I recently moved into a new home. One of the things I was getting around to doing was installing a hair catch for the bathtub, since there is no catch or drain stop installed. I purchased a universal hair catch at the hardware store and was about to install it, when I noticed there is standing water inside the drain. I then purchased a Drain Weasel tool to see if I could fish anything up, but to no avail; absolutely nothing comes up.

The water drains completely fine when the shower is running. If the spout is running, it is a little slower to drain. Here are a couple pictures for reference.

I find it interesting that the water doesn't get insanely backed up when I'm in the shower, yet this standing water never seems to drain. Is there possibly a clog somewhere deeper in the drain? Probably a job for the plumber? For the record, I live in a planned unit development.

That is just the water that's on the other side of the trap that's in place to keep sewer gas from coming up through the drain. Some traps are further away from the drains so you might not notice it but if the trap is located right under the drain, standing water will be there. When the spout is running it will disrupt the water flowing down the drain just because of the forced flow of water, that's normal. It's a great idea to install those hair catchers.


How can I prevent grout from sticking in the small dimples in tiles? I have installed a glass/natural stone tiled backsplash. I used a darker grout but when I cleaned the excess grout off,all of the holes and dimples in the stone tiles were filled with the grout and I can't clean them out.It looks awful.Would a sealant have stopped this from happening or would a lighter colored grout have worked better. Luckily I only did a small area so I can re-tile that area but I need to get it right next time.

If you really want to prevent any grout getting stuck in the dimples of the tile you need to mask it off. Yes- I know.. every single tile? Unfortunately, yes.

Style and beauty is hard work.

But you can use the wide masking tapes and then just try to grout as cleanly as possible. Do not smear the grout allover the tile. Keep to the area you want to grout. Possibly apply grout with a grouting tool then smooth it with a sponge; washing it regularly.

Once its all dr peel the masking tape away. Viola.


Is it necessary to strip all of the previous paint before repainting my indoor metal spiral staircase? I have a metal spiral staircase that has an existing coat of paint, but I want to re-paint it white.  Do I need to remove all of the existing paint before I re-paint it?
I’m not sure exactly what kind of metal or what kind of paint the original coat is, but the paint is in great shape and there is no rusting or anything.  The treads used to be covered in carpet and so there’s glue residue on them that will need to be removed, but I’d rather not have to go through the tedious process of sanding down each individual railing (further than a rough sand to allow a bond to the original paint).
A related question is whether it would be ill-advised to use the standard semi-gloss paint I’ve been using for the doors and trim around the house, but I’m guessing it’s best to use a more specialized paint.  I plan to get tread covers for the steps so the paint won’t need to hold up to traffic, but I certainly want to do the best I can to make sure it won’t peel or chip any time soon.
Thanks!

If the paint on it is well-bonded and not flaking off or rusty (but it's inside, so rusty is less of a problem, presumably) then simply scuffing to the point where the new paint can bond should be fine.
When the old paint is flaking off, then you really have to remove it, since part of it flaking off indicates that the rest of it is a dubious substrate for new paint. Consider that the bond of the new paint to the metal is the bond of the new paint to the old paint, and the bond of the old paint to the metal - so if the bond of the old paint to the metal is at all doubtful, it has to come all the way off. Your description indicates that this is not the case.


Why do painters seem to prefer brush to spray gun? I notice that the high end interior painters I use always insist on either using a roller or a brush. They never want to use a spray gun.
I know cars are painted with a spray gun, so I really don't understand why they think a spray gun will produce a bad quality finish.

It isn't the quality of the paint, though the different processing (cars: paint then bake it on, buildings: paint, let air dry for days) may be part of it.
It has to do with preparation and control.
A new car is NOT spray-painted after full assembly. To do that, you would have to mask the tires, windshield, windows, chrome, etc. Literally the entire metal shell of the car and nothing else is spray-painted. There is no harm (except wasted paint) by spraying where you shouldn't.
A house, even new, is not setup for spray-painting. You have electrical (though if you see paint inside junction boxes, that could explain it), plumbing, windows, etc. all of which are installed (to varying degrees) before the main paint job. Plus houses are routinely painted years later as a house may last 50 years or more - few cars last anywhere near that long.
Even over a relatively long car lifetime - e.g., 20 years - the original paint job will generally need only touch-ups as it is typically quite rugged, with multiple layers designed to hold up against years of use, UV radiation, weather, etc.
When repainting a car, typically after accident damage, spray-painting is used. The extra effort involved is significant, but brush marks on metal car body are a bit more of a problem than on house walls and it is the only practical way to match the original finish. But it is an ordeal - and most people never repaint their car unless it is seriously damaged.


Replace outdoor fixture where existing fixture larger than new one I have an outdoor light fixture for an "Outdoor Lantern" type light.  This fixture is recessed into the siding and has a crossbar-style mounting unit similar to this.  I'd like to replace it with an exterior flood light to give the patio more light;  I've purchased an exterior flood light kit which includes a new weatherproof surface mount fixture box much like this.

Unfortunately, the hole drilled in the siding for the existing fixture is larger than the new surface-mount weatherproof box can cover.  I can't position the new box such that there is no exposed gap to the recessed existing fixture.

What's the best way to install the new light?

A tricky situation. If you can't get a piece of texture matching siding that you can paint to match, then I'd go with Aluminum flashing that you can easily paint & profile to the siding. You'll want to caulk & then screw or pop rivet the siding or flashing chunk to just under the siding's closest above rib to act as a roof for your patch, you're screwing the patch into just the siding & not the building or sheathing. First though, screw in an oval piece of plywood to the building's sheathing to fit in the old hole & fill-up the recess to mount your patch & new fixture to, center drilled-out for wiring. Use aluminum screws or rivets to avoid rusting, caulk your patch to the siding & caulk your fixture to your patch. Also, screw plugs with plumbing tape into the new box's unused holes, even if it's a bottom one.


Can I put 2 air conditioners in one line with 2 breakers? I might have the need to get an another air conditioner. Problem is I no longer have any additional space for another breaker in my main panel. I would like to know if it's safe to add another breaker on the same line for the other air conditioner? Something like the diagram below.

UPDATE:

My apologies for the lack of information. Currently my setup is similar to the diagram below but remove the first air conditioner.

The first 30 amp in the diagram is the 30 amp breaker in the main panel. Then there's another 30 amp breaker at the end before it goes to the air conditioning unit. This is how the electrician/installer did it. Although I think the 2nd breaker is not necessary.

We use 220V here and 30amps for outlets. I believe the wires are gauge 10. The current air conditioner is a 1HP non-inverter. Planning on adding a 2.5HP air conditioner.

UPDATE: 06/04/2020

Uploading image of the first A/C unit.

I don't have any info on the 2nd A/C yet as I don't have it yet. Haven't decided what to get yet but initially I wanted to get something with 2.5HP  as I need to cool a 30 sqm room.

Ummm, no, you cannot do this and there is no purpose it in anyway.  I'm going to guess that you have a dedicated 30A circuit for your 120V A/C unit.  That means that there is no more than 30A available on this circuit and the installed A/C needs that amount.

If you try to add another A/C on the same circuit (all code concerns aside) you will still only have the 30A available and there will not be enough available to power the 2nd unit.  So anytime both are operating the breaker will open.

What you need is a NEW 30A line from another 30A breaker in your box.  You mentioned that your box is full and that's a problem.

I suggest here that you need the services of a qualified electrician to see if the current box can be reorganized to free up some space for another circuit.  Otherwise the solution is likely to include upgrading your box to a new one that has more room.


Mounting iron gate on crooked posts I just finished repairing some heavy damage on my steel and cast iron front gate. I'm ready to hang it again but I'm having a little trouble because the pillars on both sides have a slight outward lean. The lean existed before the damage, and I can't / don't want to really fix it, but since it was already a problem pre-damage (the latch never engaged properly) I'd like to improve it while I have the chance.
I've exaggerated it in this drawing:

A top-down view is at the bottom to hopefully clarify.
I'm welding it all back together, so I'm flexible with component positioning (including mounting the lock box [this] at an angle if necessary, and the strike plate position and offset).
At its narrowest (on the bottom) the gate is about 3/4" narrower than the posts, so minimum 3/8" on each side if its centered. At the top the gate is 1 5/8" narrower than the posts, so maximum 13/16" on each side if its centered.
The gate is left-handed reverse, the current trim / stop piece is about 1-1/2" wide. The posts are 2x2" square tube, the gate frame is 2x1" square tube.
The hinges I have now are 5"x5" butt hinges (these).
The pillars are roughly 2'x2'.
I'm having trouble figuring out how best to mount this gate. My goals are pretty evenly spread between:

A balanced swing (slightly out of balance is OK -- but just a little).
Not overshooting the post when closing (good contact between trim and post when closed).
Latch engaging properly (lock box holds a mortise lock, keyed on both sides, deadbolt + latch).
Hiding the crookedness / looking nice.

So my question is; is there anything I can do to achieve all of those, or at least a good compromise?
If I could straighten the pillars I would, but they're crooked due to settling over the last 80-90 years (this is a brownstone in the city), and it's affected by neighboring structures. The masonry work on the pillars is in great condition, the crack from settling is on the ground directly centered between the posts. That's a long way of saying those pillars aren't budging at all.
The posts themselves also aren't going anywhere. They're bolted into the pillars in multiple places and also the bottoms are set 3" or so into the concrete floor. Straightening those isn't a project I feel comfortable taking on.
What are my options here?

If you can't straighten the pillars by mud jacking as Sherwood suggested, I'd suggest embedding rods into the pillars, then attaching the jambs (your 2x2 posts) to those and getting them nice and vertical.
Once the jambs are vertical, it should be a piece of cake to attach the hinges and strike plate so your gate is centered, vertical, and balanced.
Trim out between the jambs and pillars to hide the angle. You don't indicate the height of the posts/gate, but 7/8" split evenly (7/16" per side) should be reasonably easy to hide if the gate is door height (7' or so). If it's shorter, it will be more obvious, but there's only so much you can do.


Can Laminate flooring be installed on Steps? Can Laminate flooring be installed on steps?  I've seen that many laminate flooring manufacturers offer stair nose pieces like this.  It would seem that you would fasten (with finish nails) the thick part of this nose to the step, and that this would provide the "4th wall" that you need for floating laminate floor installation.

The flooring person at the local "Big Box" store said this couldn't be done, however.

Just curious if this can be done or not.

Nope.  That's for the top of the staircase where the floor runs out.
Stairs need to be extremely stable.  Any movement at all can lead to disaster.

Your best bets are to refinish (tough) or carpet.


Toggle Bolts in Concrete Ceiling I want to hang a baby bed in our bedroom (less than 20kg /44lbs).

I drilled a hole into the concrete ceiling.. which i was expecting to be quite thick, but its actually only about 4cm (1 9/16") depth!

I'm guessing it's made of stuff like in the pics below (as when i view this slab from the balcony it's very thick)

Originally i was thinking of using expansion bolts... but from reading data sheets it seems like i need a hole deeper than 4cm (1 9/16")

So thinking instead of using toggle bolts.

The questions are:

Is 4cm (1 9/16" concrete) ok to be drilling and hanging 20kgs (45lbs)
?
Any issues with using Toggle bolts to handle that weight?
i read the data sheet from PowerFasteners (see snapshot below) and it seems to be totally fine Any issues with drilling two holes close to each other as a backup?

PowerFasteners Toggle Bolt Data sheet:
Allowable Load tension values look fine...

thanks in advance!

I would not put my faith in a regular toggle bolt. The small bend pin that acts as a hinge for the wing to pivot on and are critical for its integrity seem weak at best. I would rely on it for shear strength rather than tension.

Here is what I would use instead...


Can I use my wet-vac to shampoo my carpets? I have an old Rainbow brand dry/wet vacuum that my mom got at a yard sale, similar to this model. My family grew up with this kind of vacuum at home, and it was useful not only for typical carpet sweeping, but also for cleaning up wet messes.

This type of vacuum has a water-filled basin in the bottom to catch whatever gets sucked up.

My question is, can I use a cleaning solution plus this vacuum to shampoo my carpets similar to a Rug Doctor?

EDIT:
More information: I'm hoping to clean our apartment's carpet of the dirt build-up from in front of where our couch was before we re-arranged the living room. There is a noticeably darker strip where our feet would sit. I don't think there are any tough stains that need extreme heat to break up, just dirt and a few water-soluble spills here and there.

Our apartment is tiny and only has three carpeted rooms, and only the living room gets regular shoe traffic, so it's the only room I'm thinking of doing this in.

The Rug Doctor type of carpet cleaners heat up a relatively large amount of water to a very hot temperature, and spray it fairly evenly into the carpet along with the cleaning solution, then vacuum it back out.  Although they are often referred to as "steam cleaners", the rental ones I have used don't actually produce steam, but very hot water (below the boiling point).

A wet vacuum like you indicate will do the last portion of vacuuming up the solution, but the missing piece will be the heating and spraying of the solution.  I have definitely had carpet stains that no amount of spray-on cleaner (like "Resolve" spray) would remove, but the rental cleaner would.  I believe it is the super hot water that makes the big difference.


How do I shut down power on my standalone generator so it doesn't backfeed while I put a 100 Amp panel in my polebarn? Hello to all of you folks this is probably going to sound like a stupid question and I'm kind of feeling stupid for asking it but I need to know??

Ok my dad has a stand alone generator and what I need to know is how I disable it from coming on while i'm putting a 100 amp panel in place of the old fuse box that is currently in his tool shed?? Thanks so much.

Disconnect the starting battery cable on the generator. Leave a sign informing others not to reconnect it without your permission. You could even take the battery away to be extra safe.


magic chef gas stove no clicking, gfci is tripped, won't reset just like usual, I cleaned the magic chef gas stove Under the top. the gfci in the next room went red, no clicking, no pilot, but it's clean. What's wrong?

There are five possibilities.  Note that there could be more than one of these underlying the problem.

You aren't resetting the GFI correctly.  Move the breaker handle all the way to off before turning it back on.
The GFI is broken.
The range is broken.
Something else on the same circuit is broken.
If the circuit has never worked correctly, the circuit wiring might have been done incorrectly, or it has changed.  A peek inside the circuit breaker panel for loose wires could identify the answer.

We need more information to determine which problem it is.


need to connect a c wire to my furnace/air conditioner I installed a nest with 5 wires, but the blue wire is not connected to anything on the 25-30 year old furnace. We tried connecting the blue wire to what we thought was a common terminal, but the furnace started making clicking noises when we turned the power on, and wouldn't respond to Heat tests from the Nest. So we figure we must have connected to the wrong spot. I can't seem to find a wiring diagram, and couldn't find documents online for our furnace.

Currently the nest is connected with just 4 wires (and all is working correctly), but we suspect in April when the furnace is not used, it will run out of power and start causing the furnace to turn on to get power, and the furnace is really old so it might not handle that very well.

These pictures are before we put in the blue wire. The wires from the thermostat are coming in at the top (green yellow red white, red and white wires go left at the top). The place we tried connecting the blue wire is the "C/COM" terminal on the circle-shaped component. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

The unit is a Magic-Pak HWC series.. Model number 38HWC122A-10A.

Photo 1 is the full wiring

Photo 2 is the component with the C/Com Terminal

Photo 3 is the component where the red thermostat wire goes to

Photo 4 is the ignition system terminals

Your C wire should be connected the GND terminal on the ignition module.


Should a circulator pump be installed on the supply or return of a forced hot water heating system? I currently have a forced hot water heating system with 3 zones, all of which have the circulator pump on the supply side of the line.  I need to install a 4th zone and am being told that putting the circulator on the return side is more efficient.

What are the pros and cons of the circulator's location?  Are there issues having some on one side and some on the other?

Water pumps pump water, not air, so putting it on supply side makes water allways available for circulator to pump. If you put that circulator on other side it could be hard to fill system with water and avoid air pockets. And basicly you can't pump air with water pump as it makes them break.


After a water main line repair on our street, our hot water stream for the bathtub suddenly is very weak. Could the pipe be clogged by debris? Situation as described in the question. We first suspected a partial freeze (temperatures have been extremely and unusually low here in Austin), but even after hours of running the steaming hot trickle, nothing improved. All other pipes seem fine, and opening other faucets doesn't seem to affect the issue – so I don't think it's simply a lack of water pressure in the system.
I'm starting to think it must be some partial mechanical blockage. We do have a hot water tank, and the bathtub is the first branch line after the tank. Could a) the extreme temperatures, b) the main line repair, or c) the fact that we let the bathtub faucet drip all night to prevent the pipes from freezing, somehow have caused this? Could the dripping have dramatically accelerated calcification with chalk sediments from the hot water tank, for example?
Unfortunately, I can't access the 5 or so feet of pipes where the problem must originate from.
Hannes

Yes debris could be plugging the bathtub valve (easy check other faucets working properly? )
Could the trickle of water speed up the mineral deposits cause this (if you have been doing it constantly for years,,, ok not to this level)
Debris are probably plugging the orifices in the valve. Many valves can be disassembled then water flowed pushing out the debris that are causing the blockage.
Single handle or washer-less faucet. Turn the water off pull the cartridge, the tricky part now flush the valve by turning the water on for a second pushing the debris out of the valve. If the valve is recessed in the wall aluminum foil or even heavy card stock paper around the valve into the tub to catch the water reduces the mess. Clean out the cartridge some are not that expensive to replace and you get new seals. Reassemble and turn water back on.
I have done this on multiple valves. Washer based valves same process remove valve stem and flow water to flush debris out.
If a shower head is plugged don’t forget it could be just the head it self, but tub spigots are usually wide open after the valve so the blockage is normally at the valve(s)


What's the best lubricant for a refrigerator water dispenser switch? The water dispenser on my refrigerator sticks when you press it in. Sometimes it pops right out, and sometimes it stays in for 10-15 seconds. I've taken it apart a couple of times, cleaned it out, and tried spraying lithium grease and Liquid Wrench "Dry Lubricant" in there. Both work for a few weeks, then it starts sticking again, and gets worse over time.

The switch is a little plastic wedge that slides inside a plastic opening. Any tips?

You could try silicone grease. It's usually used to lubricate O-rings. It's food safe. You can  buy a small container at the home store for a few dollars.


Why does my fluorescent ceiling fixture trip the GFCI sometimes? Every so often, roughly a 1/20 chance, flipping the light switch to my laundry room's fluorescent fixture will trip the nearby GFCI outlet. Why is this? Is it more likely to be the GFCI being faulty or the fixture itself, like a faulty ballast? Or could it be the light switch? The switch has already been recently replaced, but I don't think I grounded it during installation (it wasn't grounded initially so I left it that way). Could having a light switch that is not grounded cause this phenomenon? The fixture is probably older than 20 years. It uses a double circline bulb.

Interference
The problem could be caused by Electromagnetic interference, or an attempt to filter the interference.
Older Ground-fault circuit interrupting (GFCI) devices may be more susceptible to EMI related nuisance tripping. If you have an older GFCI device, you should first try replacing the GFCI device.
Some fluorescent fixtures have an EMI/RFI filter built into the device, to try and prevent any interference produced by the fixture (ballast or bulbs) from leaving the fixture. In most cases the interference is bled off through the equipment grounding conductor (EGC), which can lead to an imbalance of current between the ungrounded (hot) conductor and the grounded (neutral). This current imbalance may be large enough, and long enough to trip a GFCI device.
Ground-fault
It's quite possible that there may actually be a ground-fault somewhere in the fixture, or the switch. Could be a stray arc somewhere in the fixture when it turns on/off, that causes a small amount of current to leak. It might be worth trying a more modern fixture.
Why is it GFCI protected?
You may want to figure out why the fixture is GFCI protected in the first place. If the protection is not required, removing the GFCI protection will certainly solve your problem.


Replacing old 2-pole line volt thermostats in a 120V hydronic heating system - is this configuration safe and acceptable? I am replacing several old mechanical 120V 2-pole thermostats each of which controls both a blower fan (which blows air over hydronic coils to push warm air into the room) and a single central circulator pump (which circulates hot water to each blower fan unit). To function correctly, the pump must run when any fan is running, but each fan only runs when its thermostat is ON.
Currently, both poles of each thermostat are turning on LINE voltage to both the corresponding fan and the central pump. As shown below:

I would like to replace these thermostats with new 2-pole smart thermostats (this unit: https://www.sinopetech.com/en/product/smart-double-pole-thermostat-for-electric-heating-3600-w-zigbee/) but it requires a voltage difference across the poles, so my plan is to wire one pole to hot for both the fan and the pump and the other to neutral only the fan:

I'm confident this should work, but the potential issue I see with this is that when any thermostat is ON, the hot leg for each fan will be energized (although a complete circuit wouldn't be present since the neutral would be open). Is this permissible by NEC and is it safe?

Your idea probably won't work correctly to begin with
Your proposed setup probably won't even work quite right, whether you use old-style mechanical thermostats or new-style "smart" thermostats.  With two-pole mechanical 'stats (such as the Honeywell CT410B), only one pole is thermostatic as a general rule, with the other pole simply being a disconnect.  As a result, you'd get improper operation, either with all the fans running when any thermostat calls for heat or the circulator running if any of the thermostats are switched on despite a lack of heat calls.
Smart thermostats, unfortunately, fare no better on this front; some use TRIAC controls similar to light dimming, and won't work for this anyway, but even those that use relay switching likely only thermostatically control a single pole, with the other pole switched by a mechanical ON/OFF switch.  (At least, that's the case for the Lux PSPLV512 I was able to find a manual for -- as is typical for "smart" gadgets made by gadgetmakers who think that they know better, the documentation for the thermostat you linked is terribly insufficient for me to determine if your choice of thermostat actually will work for this application, but I doubt it.)
Better plan: use some relays
A better idea would be to use single-pole thermostats in the hot wire, along with simple relays for controlling the circulator pump from the individual fan-coil thermostat signals.  This way, you get proper thermostatic control of all the parts involved, without any worry about "backfeeding" of voltage into places you don't want it to go.  You'll want UL-listed relays with 120V coils and enough HP rating to control your circulator; for fractional horsepower circulators, a set of RIB2401B relays will do the job for sure (they're rated for 1HP at 120VAC), but lesser-rated relays will work as long as they're big enough for the circulator load.  Each relay has its coil connected across the corresponding fan, with the common terminal on each relay connected to 120VAC and the NO contact on each relay feeding the common circulator bus.


Bathroom circuits code I am putting in a 1/2 bath and I am planning my electric. I will be running my current 20amp bathroom receptacle circuit to this new bath so they can share that circuit. Can the new bathroom share a light circuit with the hallway light circuit or should I be running the current bathroom light circuit to the new bathroom lights? So, the two bathrooms would share a circuit for the receptacles and a circuit for the bathroom lights?

Yes, bathroom lighting and other hardwired loads are always allowed to be on other, non-bathroom circuits, except for these particular ones:

Not Kitchen countertop circuits, since they must be dedicated to that. NEC 210.11(C)(1)
Not the laundry room circuit, since it must be dedicated to that.  NEC 210.11(C)(2)
Not a bathroom receptacle circuit that serves other bathrooms. (NEC 210.11(C)(3) which is what ThreePhaseEel is talking about.)

However, it's allowed if the bathroom recep circuit serves only this bathroom.

So for instance, suppose your existing bathroom recep circuit, the one you want to extend, already serves non-bathroom loads, but it's "grandfathered" because this was setup before Code changed. That's fine; it gets to stay grandfathered; but you can't use it for the new bathroom.  At all.
The rule of grandfathering is you can't make the situation worse.


How can I recreate this wall bed with a desk? I am looking to recreate this design without spending almost 5K -

I found a very similar wall bed mechanism (between $340 and $750), depending what's provided, in Canada that can be shipped to me very inexpensively -

I would still would love to have the table that does't have to be folded and just turns into a shelf that slides under when the bed comes out - see video. This is the ideal functionality for me, as I live by myself, have a small apartment, work online from home and when I am home, I either sleep or work on the computer - I most definitely don't use them both at the same time. :)

So any ideas how to make that table portion that slides under the bed while keeping everything on the table still there would be appreciated. If I used a drop leaf table for example, it would be a real hassle to re-setup my workstation every morning. Metal? Wood? Hinges? It does not need to support the bed, as the wall bed mechanism that I found already has a support leg.

Much appreciated, pictures of a similar design would be great!

Lee Valley -- Hiddenbed™ Bed/Desk Hardware Kit -- http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=72053&cat=53&ap=1 might be suitable. (And not $5K.)


How can I get a flex-bit unstuck if the shank is stripped? We have a flex-bit stuck in wood - tried to drill it through the ceiling and the shank (bottom part of the bit) stripped so now it can't be "locked" to the chuck of the drill.
Is there any way to adapt a stripped shank/attach another drill bit/shank to it?

Follow up question - if you couldn't get it out - who would be the professional you'd call?

If it is a steel shank drill bit, grind off where it's striped, ~2". Otherwise just skip to grinding three flats, 120 degrees apart to give the chuck something to grab. Back the bit out and start over with a nice, fresh battery. Corded drills with keyed chucks are way down in price. Using one of them could most likely get you out of this situation and would probably have avoided this in the first place.

You were using something like this, hex-headed flexible extension in a cordless, keyless-chuck drill.

When you should of been using this, 4' flexible drill bit, keyed in a corded drill's chuck with a handle.


How do I work out a rug curl? We recently moved into a place with a lot of hardwood floors and so we needed to put down about 5 area rugs. A lot them arrived rolled up and we unrolled them there was lingering curl that we needed to more or less press out.

It's been a couple months now and two carpets still have curl remaining in one corner that doesn't seem to want to settle. At this point, I've tried placing books on the curl for a couple days, folding the curl under itself to try and force it out, and of course just giving it time to work out but it doesn't seem to want to go away.

If it matters, the others which did settle out seem to vary a lot. One has a heavy pile, the other two have a very thin pile.

Is there anything else I should be thinking about or trying to get the curl to work out?

Synthetics tend to soften nicely with a little heat. If you're in a warm climate, lay them face down on a clean surface in the sun for a while. They should become noticeably more limp. Bring them inside while still warm and lay them out.

If you don't have warm sunshine, a heat lamp or other mild heat source could do. Be careful not to melt anything.

Natural fibers tend to relax with moisture. A clothing steamer or simple spray bottom might be enough.


How can I build a brick mailbox? I'm planning to build a wall block mailbox with the wall blocks that are 3.75" X 7.5" X 11.25".  I've worked out the plans that allow for a particular mailbox to fit nicely in a space.  However, it occurred to me that the blocks directly above the mailbox will not be sitting on anything except the mailbox.  I'm concerned that the wall blocks will just crush the mailbox over time.  Is there some steel plate or something that can be used to span the distance above the mailbox that would be strong enough to support the weight of the blocks above it?

The X indicates where I'm concerned about it falling in.

 ___ ______
|___|______|
|______|___|
| |  X   | |
|_|      |_|
| |      | |
|_|_ ____|_|
|___|______|
|______|___|
|___|______|
|______|___|
|___|______|
|______|___|
|___|______|

It occurred to me that this project might benefit from a single piece stone cap and eliminate lintel altogether.  You could incorporate a bit of slope and weather proof the structure.  A stone supply house could fashion it out of limestone.

More traditional lintel:
This window drawing is pretty analogous to a mailbox opening:

You are probably building a double wythe wall, not a veneer, so an upside down 'T' is used


Window AC not cooling I've GE window AC 0.75 ton it has stopped cooling
I cleaned the nylon net properly with old tooth brush,it was totally blocked
Then I combed the metallic horizontal fin like structures which were behind the nylon net covering the twisted copper tube with same brush they were partially blocked
Further I combed and cleaned the same fin like structure which was out side
After some time I switched the AC On
I worked well
First it started blowing normal air
Then it clicked the compressor also but within 25/30 seconds compressor switched Off and again and AC started blowing only normal air
I then switched Off my AC and allowed to cool the machine
after 1 hour I repeted the same and the compressor switched Off again
Then I noticed that water has stopped dripping from outside also the water tray had very little water in it
I called the local machanic
He examined my AC and told that Gas is leaking from the thin tube comming out of compressor,it may have caused due to rubbing if that metal tube on body of compressor due to vibration
Further he pushed back the tube little bit to avoid contact with compressor body
He told me that he will try to weild that thin tube... but it may block the tube he will try it..if it ever get blocked we have to replace
(I felt his story professionally good but smelt some thing fishy in it..)
Many a time while browsing on NET I came across this sight..
So I am making it try today to ask my problem...
I hope I'll be satisfied
Thank you...

See:
http://homerepair.about.com/od/heatingcoolingrepair/ss/wind_ac_troubl.htm
or
Try searching the internet for "repair air conditioner" or "appliance repair,"  or "window air conditioner repair."

If the compressor starts, but then shuts off, it may be overheating, caused by a blocked tube.  A thermal overload device cuts off the electricity to the motor.  When it cools down enough, it will close again (like a thermostat) and allow the compressor to run again until it overheats again.

If the tube is leaking, it will blow bubbles (even very slowly) when you apply soapy solution on the tube where you think it is leaking. If the refrigerant gas has completely leaked out, it may not blow any bubbles. If the compressor will not run, it will not pressurize the refrigerant gas to force it out through the leak.

When the compressor does not start at all, you may still hear a humming sound, which means that electricity is running through the coils in the compressor motor, but it won't rotate.  This can be caused by a faulty starter capacitor.  The purpose of this capacitor is to allow the starter coil to "kick" the coils out of magnetic alignment and allow the running coils to take over.  Turn it off right away to prevent overheating.

I replaced a capacitor in one of my air conditioners, and it worked again.