2 post swing set strong enough? I was planning on making a 2 post swing set. Posts 6x6 inches (5.5x5.5) by 12 feet. 4 feet into ground with cement. Cross beam of 6x6 inches (5.5x5.5) by 10 feet with 2 swings. Will this be strong enough for the forces? I realize an "A"-shaped structure is stronger but I was wanting to do a 2 post swing. Thank you.

Back in the dark ages, when playgrounds were built with concrete and asphalt surfaces, I saw 2-post swing sets built with 4-6" diameter steel posts (I was a kid then, I never measured accurately). If you want to use steel and weld it up, you're probably good.

If you want to use wood, you'll probably have too much flex. One of those posts could snap after some use (not day one) and send a kid flying. Flying off a swing at the top of the arc is great fun (even at my age), but having it be an unplanned event, with large chunks of wood following, would be considered by most to be a Very Bad Thing™.

Consider both swings going in sync - you've got all the weight pulling on both posts in the same direction at the same time. Now consider both swings going in opposite directions - each post is going to bend in the direction of the local swing, and the cross-member is going to twist. If your kids are even remotely normal, as they get older (and heavier), they will want to see how far they can get the thing to bend by swinging in unison, and how much they can make it twist by swinging in opposite directions.

Bear in mind, your kids may be small now, but they'll grow. We had a small steel swing set in our backyard that we installed when our kids were small. They continued to use it into middle school when they were in the 50-100 lb range. They continued to use it in high school when they were 100 lbs+. They had friends over and had more people on it than it was designed for. They had people swinging on it and hanging on it and climbing on the top bar all at the same time. As they hit middle school (and even earlier) they thrilled at trying to make the A-frame swing set lift up by swinging in unison. It came with screw-in anchors. We had to buy more anchors and bigger ones and put one on each of the 8 legs to keep them from tipping it up. It's just what kids do.

No amount of parental policing will ensure that the swing set will only be used according to today's design standard, and even if you manage that, there will be kids sneaking in when nobody's watching, mostly because you've gained a reputation for being the "swing set Nazi" and they want to show you!!! It's just what kids do.

After 10 or 15 or 20 years of rotting weathering and hard use by heavier and heavier kids (we took ours down just a couple of years ago after 2 of the 3 kids moved out - they would still swing on it with their college aged friends when they had them over), even pressure treated lumber will start to wear. There's really no telling when it might give way. Wood's a natural product and the average strength of a PT SPF 6x6 might be sufficient, but the particular pieces you pick up from the lumber yard may be below average (or may be well above average, who knows).

Spend the extra money and yard space for an A-frame design. You don't want the neighbor's kids going to the hospital and their parents suing you.


Washing machine installation - unsure about current setup Just moved into a new home and ordered a washing machine from Currys (I am UK based), I have booked installation with the delivery, but just want to make sure I have everything required before installation - Especially in regards to the hot/cold taps that seem to be missing!

I have attached a few photos that show where the previous owners had their washing machine installed - will the Currys guys need anything else for installation or are we all good? Besides the waste pipe, I can't make any sense of this setup (previously lived in a flat where the hot/cold taps were clearly labeled).

I assume C is for cold and H is for hot, but where are the actually taps? Where does the water supply come from? What is with that piece labelled "A.F.L W 3/4"?

New image:

Those large "nuts" look like caps for 3/4" pipe that should have spigots on them. the two smaller "holes" in the wall appear to be the shut off valves for the pipes. Try removing those caps and experiment so you'll know what's what.


Can a furnace with a variable speed blower be used in a multistory house? I just had an HVAC guy out to give me an estimate on a new Carrier Infinity series furnace and he said the second floor rooms will always be colder because the thermostat is on the first floor and not as much air is force up there when the blower is at low speed.

Is it true that a furnace with a variable speed blower is not suited for a two story house with the unit in the basement?

Does the ratio of static pressures between two stories differ at different blower speeds? That's a very interesting question, but I believe it's a moot point. Any dramatic difference would mean your system isn't balanced correctly in the first place. (needs zoning, split systems, or an actual balancing)

Stack effect will cause plenty of heat to go upstairs, while the cold air will settle. I'd be more concerned that it won't cool right. Except that furnaces usually only run at high speed for AC because cold air is denser, making it harder to push. If your old system heats and cools just fine I don't foresee a problem.

Without being in the correct centralized location (which is somewhere on the first floor of a two story), the thermostat will not control the house properly. In low-fire mode, indeed less air will go upstairs and downstairs, per minute. Blowing softly is what makes it more comfortable. It will run longer and more often, reducing the intermittent temperature differential, keeping the house nice and even.

So no, the same amount of 'less' air will be coming out below as above. Your contractor either is trying to up-sell you into a split system (or knows more than I do) or convince you that zoning is required (a possibility, however this can be retrofitted later at your discretion). Either of these additions would dramatically increase the cost.

Unless your house has automatic zoning and was balanced by a genius, it will always be hotter on the second floor in the winter, and colder on the first in the summer, just like everyone else's.


Blue-collar / Foreman / Project Management Vernacular I'm going to be installing something over and over again in many homes, and in order to help me keep track of what I need to do the job, I'm creating two parts lists for the three-hundred or so different items that I need.

One list is for items that will be used over and over again on different homes (such as my power tools), and the other for items that will be consumed by the project (such as, for example, the two pumps that are installed with each system.)

The names for these lists that I've come up with are "Persistent Items" and "Consumed Items", but obviously, while those names convey the idea, they sound rather stupid.  "Perennial" or "recurring" could be used instead of "persistent," but I'm on the fence about the whole thing until I can get some feedback.

So my question is this -- does anybody here have names for these lists that are better than "persistent" and "consumed"?

I often make checklists for jobs, especially if they are a distance from my shop, and assures my helpers get all the stuff I want on the site.  Rather than one word headings, I usually two or three checklists like 1) Tools and equipment. This includes the obvious tools and things like ladders, extension cords, compressor hoses and the like. 2) Material list. this has all the components that will be needed and purchased by the customer. Lumber, trim, paint, light fixtures, insulation etc. 3) Shop stock. this list contains all the consumable items that are not billed individually. This includes stick nails, small electrical supplies, fasteners, tapes, caulking etc. I build these lists when I am estimating the job, then  keep these lists in a customer file, so it is easy to bill out materials etc when the job is done.


How do I know if the canister of silica gel or strips of vapor corrosion inhibitor have lose its effectiveness in absorb moisture? Usually I put canister of silica gel or strips of vapor corrosion inhibitor in my cupboard (that contains many metal repair tools) to absorb moisture so that I keep the rust at bay.

So, How do I know if the canister of silica gel or strips of vapor corrosion inhibitor have lose its effectiveness in absorb moisture? (so that I can replace them with new ones. or do they really last a lifetime?)

Silica Gel often has a color indicator, either going from blue(dry) to pink(wet), or from orange(dry) to green(wet). By heating the gel to 250 °F for 2 hours, you can restore the gel to its dry state and reuse it.


Dual Evaporator Refrigerator -- Evaporator Coil and drain Freeze up... Internal Fan Operational? I've got a very nice split door refrigerator, bottom drawer freezer. (GE model GFE2HSHFSS).  This unit has two separate evaporator coils, one for the refrigerator (fresh food) and another for the bottom freezer.  So the top evaporator coil totally froze up, including the drain.  Made lots of ice in the wrong places.

I took everything apart, waited for the ice to melt and carefully put it all back together. Its not clear at all to me on what caused the freeze up issue.

It could have been poor seal on door allowing high humidity to condensate / freeze in the refrigerator.  (highly unlikely, as I would see a fail somewhere.. I see not.)

It could be low refrigerant causing screw ups with Thermostatic eXpansion Valve (TXV) and partial core evap issues. I'm not seeing that.  Remember this unit has two separate evap cores, one for freezer and another for top refrigerator.  The freezer evap core seems just fine.  I doubt this unit has a leak.

My suspicion is the top DC air flow fan motor is inoperative.. but this isn't really clear.  When the door is open (or open with door switch pushed closed) I totally can't hear or feel much in terms of upper refrigerant airflow.  There is a barely discernable feel of air coming out of the refrigerator evap core outlet, at the bottom of the refrigerator fresh food area.

I can't tell how a properly operational system functions.  I would have thought that in a system with evaporator core at the bottom of the refrigerator that air would flow INTO the evap core at the bottom of the unit and output from the top of the refrigerator area, but this doesn't seem to work that way.  Generally in HVAC design cooling air is delivered to the top of the area where cooling is desired, not the bottom.

Also, although the freezer is getting cold, the top refrigerator (fresh food) unit @ 20 hours of operation since startup is around 53 Deg F.

Anybody have one of these split door bottom drawer freezer type units?

How does the top unit air flow work?
Can you hear / feel the upper fan motor running when you open the door?
Can you hear / feel the upper fan motor running when you press the closed door button?
Can you discern the direction of air flow in the back of the unit?  (air IN at the top, or OUT at the top of the refrigerator fresh food unit?)

Many thanks.

I've got pretty much the same fridge.

GE Profile. I can tell you that the outlet is at the top and without the ciculator running it will freeze. The circulation fan runs even with the door switch open. Also I think the defrost timer on these are solid state, not the mechanical ones that often fail. There could be a sensor somewhere cousing problems with the defrost cycle but you best course of action, based on the information provided, is to test the fan. If it's DC you can test it with batteries. A 12v DC motor will run on a 9v for testing purposes. It's voltage rating should be written on it. I'm an HVAC tech primarily but also do appliance repair, refrigeration and I'm a licensed electrician though I would never claim to be an electrician.

Unfortunately I have never had any problems with my fridge like you are having so I can't help in more detail.


How should I build a raised subfloor for my basement bathroom? I've ripped out the bathroom in my basement that was finished by the previous homeowner. I'm now rebuilding, and curious to the most correct way to go about this.

The whole basement was finished using 2x4's running over the basement concrete, fiberglass insulation between them, (paper side up) plywood on top, tiles directly on plywood. No vapor barrier above or below the slab. (The fiberglass in the rest of the floors WILL eventually be replaced and maybe the floor lowered, I know the moisture plus fiberglass will be bad)

The bathroom floor was previously raised about 10 extra inches relative to the rest of the floor, for drain pipes that were run above the slab. There was no headroom. Now I've cut up the concrete floor, had a plumber run pipes, re-filled with bagged concrete, and leveled the cutout with self leveling cement.

Due to the way my house sits, the main drainage pipe was only 1" deep in the slab, meaning that as the pipes go across the bathroom, sloping down into the main drain, parts of pipe are only half-under the concrete, and parts are completely over the concrete. At the highest point, one pipe is 2.5" over. This means I'll have to raise the subfloor to at least that, and that's fine because it'll match the rest of the basement. I'll have to notch the floor joists for pipes, which is why I did self-leveling underlayment - I want everything to be supported well so tiles don't crack.

Now that the scenario is described, I just don't know where to start. I'd like to just put pressure treated 2x4's down, laying flat, ramsetted into the concrete. I'm not sure how that will stick to my fresh concrete/self-leveled substrate, and I don't know if I need a vapor barrier under that? Directly on top of those 2x4's, I'd like to lay down regular 1x4 and just screw them together, giving me a floor height of 2.25". I'd like to put 2" foam board between the supports, but I don't know if that's the right type of insulation and I'm not sure what type of board to use.

At this height, the floor will clear everything except for a patch directly in front of the toilet, where the thickness of the 90 degree elbow will be 1/4" above the top of the floor joists. I figure I can just take a router to the floor board there to allow it to clear the pipe, as nobody will ever step directly there... the toilet is on top of it, and the toilet will be well supported in other areas.

On top of that would be 1/2" cement board, ditra, thinset and tiles.. I'd end up with roughly 4" tall floors, which is actually the same height as the rest of the basement!

Now I just realized what another problem is.. if I do it this way, the 90 degree PVC bend that's intended for the toilet will be about 1/4" above the tile. Is that too high to work with? Could I take an oscillating tool and cut it flush with the flooring so I can install a closet flange? Is there a certain depth that 3" pvc fittings need to mate?

Lots of questions (related to this Meta discussion).  I will just tackle a few points I feel confident about answering.

Subfloor

The Schluter DITRA does not need to be on CBU so I would skip the 1/2" layer of cement board you are planning on using and make your plywood subfloor thicker (or just skip the CBU and keep your 23/32" OSB).  CBU is not "stiff" enough to be a subfloor, it can be used instead of DITRA but it must be secured to a subfloor. It rarely makes sense to use 1/2" on the floor unless you are trying to make the finished floor come out to some specific height (for example to help the transition to another room with a different floor).  If you are not goin gto use DITRA, you will want some CBU on the floor but the 1/4" stuff is fine.

Apply the modified thinset and DITRA directly to the plywood subfloor.  Checkout Schluter's DITRA Installation Instructions for details on the subfloor prep and how to secure to DITRA to the plywood.

Toilet

Without a picture or diagram it is not really clear to me exactly what the issue is with the toilet drain, but that won't stop me from taking a guess :)

You may be right about getting away with cutting a larger hole in the subfloor to handle the bend of the toilet drain pipe. Are you sure the PVC drain will stick above the finished floor? Realize that the thinset between both the subfloor/DITRA (not very much) and DITRA/tile (more so) will add a little to your height, maybe between 1/8" to 1/4".

Have you measured the height of the toilet drain with the flange installed (just dry fit it to take a measurement)? The flange can be installed on the top of the finished floor (tile), on top of just the DITRA, or on top of the plywood subfloor.  In your case you would probably want it as high as you can, so install the tile first and then glue the flange to the PVC closet bend. I think once you dry-fit the toilet flange you will see you are OK here.


New Air Con wont turn on. Any fix? I got a brand new air conditioning unit installed (Mitsubishi MSZ GL60 VGD) about a week ago. We've only used it a handful of times and it worked fine.

However, today I went to turn it on and it didn't respond. Neither input from the remote or button on the condenser worked. The remote's batteries are fine, there are no tripped switches and the power switch is on.

Would anyone know what I could do to trouble shoot this?

I would call the installer.  It's only been a week, you should still be under warranty.  You've checked the obvious things.


Ac Induction or Broken Wire? I'm making a DIY wall mounted pull-up bar (I'm too tall for the normal kind, and can't fit a commercial wall bar due to a sloped ceiling) and I just mounted the heavy duty brackets I'm using, but I've run into a problem: My AC wire sensor and AC sensor pen go off when I check the left bracket which is mounted to the king stud of my door--along which the wires for my ceiling lights are mounted. And when screwing into the wall the lights did flicker just a small amount once with one screw--but light flickering isn't uncommon in my area being on the end of the line and my house is kinda old. However, the bracket is safe to touch as are the screws. And when I took it out of the wall screw by screw the effect did not disappear regardless of the screw being one that went in fine, or the one that might have caused the flickering. Also I did not hit any metal wire protectors in the stud.

I'm wondering if what my sensors are detecting is an induced current in the bracket and screws? I have a Tv mount and several other things mounted on different studs with wires running relatively near them that are definitely fine but still set off my detectors. Plus, my house is old with thick solid core wires (Could wires moving while drilling cause flickering?).

No breaker's have tripped, everything else on the circuit is fine. Nothing accept the one flicker. I'm just not sure what to do. Should I be worried or just call it a day? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

As others have already commented, the touchless voltage detectors are often too sensitive. I've found that if I keep a finger on one side of the detector tip while checking individual wires in a box it takes care of the oversensitivity. Try laying a finger on one side of the detector pen tip while checking for voltage on the bar or bracket. If it still beeps, get a multimeter and extend a connected wire from the bar down to where you can test between it and the grounded (third) prong of three-prong outlet or other ground connection to see if you have voltage. Using this wire extension from the bar setup you can also check for voltage between it and neutral, and between it and hot. Record your findings and comment here.

It is possible you may have skinned a wire with a mounting screw without breaking it. It is also possible that you are not getting shocked because the other surfaces you are touching is not sufficient to ground you, especially if you are wearing rubber soled shoes. One day you may grab a hold of the bar in bare feet, expecting to do a few reps and find yourself needing a defibrillator instead. I think it is worth doing a few more tests to be on the safe side.


Is there code that states there must be a sheet of plastic between vinyl siding and the house sheathing? I'm the president of a 20-condo association and several residents have been complaining of water coming in and destroying their drywall.  The water is coming in at the exact same place in all units and the residents claim they didn't have this problem until we had a company replace all of our siding a few years back.

The owner of the company who did the siding said that we need to caulk around the J channels to keep the water from coming in.  I had a company come out and look at it and they said that the problem is that there's no layer of plastic wrapping between the siding and sheathing.  He said different counties/cities/states have different codes for siding installation.

Is there indeed a code for this type of thing?  Where would I look to find this specific code for my area?  What keywords should I be looking out for?

Yes. What he was talking about was the "water-resistive barrier." (WRB) This is typically Tyvek housewrap (a kind of vapor-permeable plastic) or grade D building paper (tar-soaked paper). All wood-framed buildings need one of these, or else any water that penetrates the siding can contact the sheathing, and will quickly rot it out and infiltrate inside. All buildings in jurisdictions covered by a building code are legally bound by this requirement.

If your condo building was re-sided by somebody who removed the WRB and did not put another one, you have an emergency situation on your hands. You need to IMMEDIATELY have someone remove the vinyl siding, replace any water-damaged sheathing, studs, and drywall, and install a proper WRB behind new siding. This is not optional. If you fail to do this, the building could be rendered structurally unsound and effectively uninhabitable due to mold; the aforementioned building materials are highly vulnerable to water. It will cause them to grow mold, become soft, and get eaten by termites.

Another possibility, because the residents say the water is coming in at the same place in each unit, is that the windows were not flashed properly--especially if that place is under any windows. This is a more common error than forgetting the WRB entirely but no less important to fix in a climate where it rains. The solution to this problem would be to make sure the wall's WRB is properly integrated into the windows' nailing flanges. A common error is not lapping the WRB over the top flange, but rather nailing the flange over the WRB--which allows any water flowing down the WRB above the window to get behind the window's flange and into the wall. Needless to say, if there is no WRB at all, the windows are by definition improperly flashed, and could easily be the water infiltration points.

It is highly likely that you have an actionable legal case against the company that installed the vinyl siding if either of these defects can be proven. Unfortunately, any company that will make such galling errors is unlikely to be well-insured.


Best way to fix the joists While doing the waste plumbing my overenthusiastic handyman bore holes bigger than 3 inches (in some cases 4 inches) into the 2x10 joists. He also notched the joist in one place. I am putting a 100 gallon tub on these 4 joists and it's making me super nervous. Besides this it will NOT pass the code.

I am looking to pull out the plumbing from these joists and structurally add the strength back to these joists. One idea is to sister the 2x10s with full length 2x10s (13 feet) and rest both the ends on the wall to properly support.

An inspector suggested that I add LVL 2x10 spanning 1 foot on either side of the hole/notch and rivet it with the weakened joist with Simpson Strong Ties SDS.

I am looking for advise on ways to fix the weakened joists.

You better go with what the inspector suggests, that will be the simplest thing, since he has to approve it. Otherwise you will most likely need an engineer involved to come up with something and that will cost. Just getting advice from a DIY site will not satisfy the inspector


Can I run a receptacle from a GFCI in the bathroom to another room? Can I run a receptacle  from a gfci  in the bathroom to another room?
Is this allowed? I know it would work, just looking to see if this falls under the electrical code?

The bathroom needs its own circuit, the only current code compliant way to go to another room if it is also a bathroom. Added per @harpers comment. If the bathroom loads include the fan and light then another bathroom can not be powered from this circuit. I like bathroom lighting to be separate because if the wife or girls plug in a curling iron and use a hair dryer at the same time it may trip the circuit and put them in the dark.


Is my toilet flange too high off the ground? Recently had my floors redone in a bathroom and the toilet flange seems to be a little high off the new tile floor. What are my options?

It looks like it is close to 1 inch two high. The easiest option would be to cut it below the floor and put a coupling in then you can keep shaving it down until it is perfect.


How to fix a self-turning handle on a Price-Pfister single handled faucet I have a  Price-Pfister 533 Genesis single handled kitchen faucet that turns itself off.  It is impossible to run water at a low volume because the moment your hand is off the handle it shuts off.

How can I fix this?

Pfister is so aware of this problem they have a video on the problem http://www.pfisterfaucets.com/about/falling_handle.aspx

Turns out they made a faucets with heavy metal handles but cheap plastic internal parts... after a few years they fail.  I called up customer service, identified myself as an original owner, gave an approximate date of purchase, and was sent new parts.

They sent me a new metal nut, Pfister part 941-7110 . Then, they sent a new chromed plastic handle that has less mass.


How to unlock a jammed cam lock I am trying to disassemble an IKEA desk, and need to get the cam locks off and out to take the desk apart. The issue is not prying them out, it's turning them to get them unlocked.

Most of them turned 180 degrees smoothly, from locked to unlocked, as they should.

There are only 2 cam locks left in the desk that just won't turn at all. Something is resisting the turn completely, it's jammed.

I used a Phillip's head and a flat head screwdriver, put in as much strength as possible, tried manouvering the boards (that the locks keep together) to get the bolts into a better position? Even tried an impact screwdriver, but stopped that quickly, as something was still resiting the motion.

As you can see I got desperate, now I'm out of ideas for how to unlock these cam locks. Any suggestions?

Basically apply more force.

They may break, depending how jammed they are - they are cheap zinc castings most of the time. The screws they connect to are usually steel so they are likely to survive, and you can get replacement cams (or join the "my knockdown furniture is missing a few cams" club, which is large and not exclusive.)

You might try the trick of tightening them slightly before going back to loosening them, sometimes that will help.

If you have a ratchet or wrench that you can apply to your screwdriver you can get a lot more force via leverage (helpful, though things may break) without the impact. If the impact is your best tool to apply more force, then use it. Square shaft screwdrivers can have a wrench directly applied, screwdriver bits can be inserted in the appropriate size socket for use with a a ratchet.


Will a Deck Get Damaged if it Rains Between Cleaning it and Sealing it? I'm looking to clean and seal my deck as per this process, basically:

Clean it
Allow a week for the deck to dry
Apply sealant

The way I am thinking of timing it, there's a chance it may rain between 1 and 3. So obviously, I'd want to wait another week after any rain for the deck to dry, but if I am trying to plan when to clean my deck, should I try to avoid any rain between 1 and 3? Will rain on a freshly cleaned (but not sealed) deck cause damage?

Rain really will not hurt unless the deck is wet when you seal it. If wet when sealed depending on the type of sealer it may be ok (water based) or with oil based it will not adhere as well.


Hanging ceiling hooks from concrete beams above drywall ceiling I'm hoping to hang two aerial yoga hooks from the ceiling in my apartment (I'm on a middle floor in a ten-story building). I popped out a light fixture to take this picture, and I want to make sure I understand what I'm looking at:
A: Is the support beam holding up the floor above me -- it feels like concrete to the touch.
B: There appear to be two thin boards attached to the bottom of the beam -- what are these for?
C: Is a lightweight steel frame holding up the drywall of my ceiling
D: Is the drywall of my ceiling
E: Is another steel frame, holding up the ceiling framing
Am I correct in thinking that I'd need to mount the hooks into the concrete beams (A)?
I want the hooks to sit flush against the drywall ceiling and there's a gap of about 3 inches between the top of the drywall and the beam: Naively, I'm imagining drilling ~6-inch wedge anchors through the drywall and into the bottom of the beams.
Am I being an idiot and/or overlooking any complicating factors here?

You should not mount anything to the beam (A) by drilling in to it. Under load the bottom is under tension and the width of the hole reduces how much the beam can manage. Think of it as cutting a strand in a rope.
Theoretically you could saddle the beam with a strap, rope, chain, and cut out a section of sheet rock to allow for play, or have a brace made to provide a stiff point at ceiling level. This however is done at the expense of compromising the fire resistance of the beam and ceiling since you would be removing some fire barrier and adding a heat conducting medium saddled around a major structural component. A likely violation of your rental, lease, or association agreement in addition to your local building codes.
Consider having an assembly made that can be assembled below the ceiling. Something like either an A frame or a heavy gauged post mounted to a plate assembly. (Like much of the equipment at a gym)


What fittings can I use to re-route my copper DWV pipe? I need to change the direction 90 degrees and then transition from 1-1/4" copper to ABS. This is a dry vent that I am trying to reroute.
How can I reroute the vent as shown in this picture? It will go between the 3" soil stack and that vent that has some white drywall spots on it. (The line is drawn in front of it but it'll go behind.)
All the horizontal wood you see in the picture under the joists is gone--that was the framing for the wall that was hiding these pipes. I removed that to make room for this pipe's new route. I need to stay on copper till I pass through that narrow space, after that I will switch to ABS.
So it will be the original vertical pipe, then a flexible elbow, then a short horizontal copper run and then the flex connector you posted below and then ABS.

Here is the challenge, top view of a horizontal cross cut at the bottom of the joist level.The pipe will have to go along the long thin arrow in the sketch toward the wall

I'm not sure why you need a flexible elbow. I'd use a 45 above the plates (near the insulation), bringing the pipe out of the wall plane, then a 90 to go right underneath the joists. Isn't it that simple?

If you find that the fittings are too long for that, use two 45s on the vertical pipe, one out and one back to vertical, but offset to the left (near the 22" mark on your tape measure) so you end up tight with the wall plate (or its former position). Then a 90 gets you exactly where you want to be.

In all cases be sure to leave a small gap to the wood to avoid expansion ticking when you drain hot water. Cut and dry-fit all parts, then mark them as to position before disassembly.


Should I repaint this dryer part? on a combination washer/dryer, there's one metal part called the dryer duct, where water vapor right out of the drum is heated some more before going to cold water bath to condensate.

That vapor apparently carried a lot of soap with it, and after a few years there's almost 0.5Kg of soap there. I took it all apart for cleaning and there's soap under the paint, which is just flaking out.

I'm now removing all the paint and soap. The part is still pretty good. appears to be aluminium. and there's a heater element that goes right in it, so there's no rust showing anywhere.

Should I try to paint it again? with what kind of paint?

I'm guessing that if it didn't rust with all that humid soap under the paint for all those years, that it's mostly cosmetic.

I tried to buy a new one, but it's not made any more.

edit 1:

it was not dry soap after all. it was Al oxide dusty, i think. anyway, it was definitely not dried soap.

i ended up using a drill with a steel wool bit to make the entire part shinny.. removing the dust thing and the old paint. then painted it with a bbq grill enamel spray paint.

I would love to be able to inspect it regularly, but it is a major pain. I sealed the part with high temp silicon glue. also, disassembling the appliance enough to remove/open the part is a 4h job...

I did all that a few days after i posted this question. So it's been working perfectly for 9mo... i guess it worked out fine. I will try to inspect the leaving water for Al oxide dust tho. but not sure how i will do that...

The heating element, which appears to be a sort of steel aloy has no rust signs. The two screws hold it inside appear to be another Al alloy from the color (i'm no expert on metals) and are fine. I'm guessing the Al alloy used for the part was not up to spec for the temp changes and chemicals involved in the washer/dryer combination expected use. Typical LG cost cutting :(

I don't know much about combination washer / dryers, but are you sure you've identified the problem correctly? Why would there be so much soap residue in the dryer exhaust. I don't recall ever seeing any soap residue on a dryer. And why is there a heating element in the on the exhaust side of dryer?

To answer your question, though: if this part is subject to high heat, which it sounds like it is, I would use an oil paint designed for radiators, or some high-temperature Rustoleum.


Washer creating small holes in clothes My new front load washer is creating little holes in my clothes and I am trying to fix the problem but I don't know what to do.
The holes look like little circles about 2mm in diameter and they often come in pairs.
When looking inside the drum, the distance and pattern of the holes seems to match the little metal holes scattered throughout the drum.
Why is this happening and how can I stop it?
Furthermore this is not normal wear and tear as it happens in new high quality clothes as well, and started as soon as I got my new front load washer. It's also not due to buttons or zippers or overloading as it happened in small t-shirt only loads too.

It is of course possible that the drum is damaged or that the laundry is worn down between the rubber and the drum. Most likely, the drum is too full and the laundry is damaged as a result.


Floating, click together vinyl laminate strips versus square tiles and spreadable adhesive? I am planning to cover or replace an existing kitchen vinyl tile floor.

Home Depot user ratings on this click-together floating vinyl are split between high and low. The low ratings talk about difficulty to install.

One potential problem is an unlevel floor.  I can check the floor, so that is not an issue.

Another potential problem is expansion due to change in temperature. The HD video shows installing the floor around a floor HVAC vent.  That is what I will have to do.  Should I expect a problem over time due to the change in temperature.

Are there other installation or wear issues unique to floating vinyl versus vinyl tiles with spread-on adhesive?

The floating vinyl claims to be made of several layers and the salesman said they wear well as a result. I have not seen layers on the usual vinyl tiles.

In short, what are the pros and cons of using floating vinyl planks vs vinyl tiles and adhesive?

These are pure vinyl/rubber planks.  There is no warping and very very minimal changes in size.  These issues are unfounded.

Now personal opinion:  I have personally used these (not the exact ones but the brand) planks and I have used other pure rubber planks and I have to tell you that I have been very happy with them all.  The only thing I will say is that on the pure rubber side the planks are usually expensive and sometimes the top doesn't look non-rubberish.

As for the click lock mechanism, this is always something you should test at store.  I have personally never had issues with the Allure brand.  As for their mechanism I would give it a solid 7 out of 10.  You do have to get under the installed row which does cause an issue that you can unlock something while locking something in but it is just a simple puzzle to solve and when in place it is good to go.

As for criticism, first you could lay this stuff in a pool and it won't warp or bend - it is pure rubber.  So not sure what product they were rating or commenting on but this is not right.  Second if people have gaps it is because they have not locked something together correctly on a previous row.  These issues compound until you can see a noticeable gap.  This has nothing to do with the locking mechanism working or not, the user simply didn't install right.

As for warping or size changes due to temp or humidity, like I mentioned before this is a non issue.  Are planks better than squares?  It totally depends on the subfloor.  I would only glue down vinyl if it were in then sheets on a very flat floor or if it were in a commercial type building (apartment building).  Most home floors basement or main floor do not have concrete that is flat enough to support glue down directly on concrete.

And as far as install on this brand I can do a very large bathroom 8 by 15 and go around vanity, toilet, shower, whatever in about an hour - I have installed this brand and similar 25+ times.  It cuts with a knife like drywall (or you can use a mitre saw) and snap clean.  Out of all of the flooring choices this is the fastest to install, the most durable, and least amount of prep.  The downsides are it is a bit cold and just might not have the look that most people want.


Should I form and pour the concrete all at once? I want to build a dog kennel/run that is 4' x 8'. I am planning on pouring a 4" concrete slab. However, part of my design is that I would like the slab to have raised edges all the way around it (except for an opening for drainage). Should I form and pour everything all at once or do it in steps? I'm not sure of the best way to accomplish this.

Here is a cross-section of what I'm trying to accomplish with the concrete slab.

If you don't care about leaks (or want drainage, so the dog is drier) forming the rim, pouring the rim, and then pouring the central slab is similar to whats typically done in a house basement. The joint between the rim and the slab will generally leak. If you pour a slab and then pour the raised edges on top, expect failure - if to scale, those are very thin sections of concrete and would be quite weak. You could key them with a form board into the slab face to improve the mechanical bond and thickness of the additional pour, but on this scale that's not much different from just pouring the rim first.

The usual reason for attempting to pour a structure like that all at once is to have it be waterproof - a monolithic pour will be much better at that - but's more complicated to do, as you either need to form the top of the depressed area, or (more commonly) form the rim so that the inside form is open, pour the rim (letting it ooze to the inside) and judge the slump and initial set such that you can get the top of the rim struck off without overfilling the central area, yet still be able to strike off the central area. In this case, that would seem to make things wetter for the dog, so I don't see it as an avantage.

For the easy approach, consider using 4" concrete bond blocks for the rim - no separate form to build, just lay the blocks, pour them full, and then pour the middle. Toss in couple sticks of rebar to make it robust for not much money.


Water coming in, don't know where from I have been struggling with a water leak in a flex space I have.

I don't know where it is coming from. I have removed the bottom siding panel, the paper behind and the wood is dry, but the concrete is very wet. I live in Vancouver and it rains a lot here. At first I thought it was coming underneath the siding from capillary action, but now I am inclined to think the concrete itself is the suspect. Thoughts?

How can I fix this? Tar? waterproof paint? Do you guys think it is the concrete or something else? Only the baseboards and floor on the sides are wet inside.

the reason is the shape and location of this ledge:

Therefore, take all the ledge off, look for slits (which are taking water inside from all terrace), seal them and if need, give on edge some suitable profile you can see here:
https://www.riversidesheetmetal.net/flashing-metal/masonry/custom/


daisy chain more outlets; wiring I have an outlet in a bedroom and want to add a couple more outlets in the room adjacent... I'll be running 12/2 wire for the new outlets the problem is that the outlet in going to tap into has two white and two black do I simply make two complete pig tails one for the exiting outlet one white one black and then the second pig tail for the new outlet?

I'm not sure I understand your proposed installation, but this is what you do, assuming the outlet is not switched in any way. I understand the two pairs of wire are both physically connected to the outlet. This sounds like a North American installation, I am assuming such, but instructions should apply to other areas, just that what each color does may vary. One pair is in coming power, the other continues on to feed other outlets or lights.

Remove all the wires from the outlet. Always connect all blacks together and all whites together (and bare grounds together). Each wire nut connection will have the two original wires, the new wire feeding new outlets, and a short pigtail wire. The pigtail is connected to the original outlet. Black wire connects to the yellow or brass colored screw side. The white connects to the silver colored screw side, usually marked as "neutral" (in North America).

I recommend properly binding the wire to the screws instead of using the convenient push-in connectors if you have a choice. IMO, you get a much more reliable connection this way, but the connection must be properly made up.


How can I fix a scratch on a mirror? I designed a wardrobe for my new house with mirrors on the doors. The project was executed, and after that I see a scratch on one mirror.

The mirrors have 5mm thickness. The scratch is like a line with about 2cm length. If you touch it with your fingernails, you can feel that it isn't so deep.

Does someone know any way to fix this mirror issue?

If you can feel the scratch with your finger nail then there is a good chance that it is too deep to remove by yourself, but you can certainly try!  Removing scratches from glass is similar to removing them from car paint - you use a polishing compound (made for glass) and ideally an orbital polisher to try and remove the scratch (lots of muscle power works too).  Make sure the area is very clean before you start and that all polishing pads, cloths, etc. are also very clean.  If there is any dirt then when you start polishing, you will end up scratching the glass even more by grinding the dirt into the surface.


Is there a way to increase toilet flush pressure to prevent clogs? My toilet seems to be a little, well, underpowered when it comes to flushing. It often "chokes" and "coughs" when flushing only liquid, which seems to indicate that the water pressure isn't high enough for the toilet. When flushing more solid waste, it clogs at least once a week. Can I increase the pressure when flushing to prevent this from happening?

To answer the question you asked, yes, you can get a new toilet that flushes faster. They have a flush strength label on the box, and the faster flushes are done by making the opening between the tank and base larger.

However, a slow drain may be more related to an improper vent or a drain line that's too small or improperly sloped. Without a proper vent, the flow down the drain is held back by the vacuum created by the trap built into the toilet. If the drain is too small, well, large things in a small drain take more effort. And if it's not properly sloped, we all know the direction this stuff flows, and it's not uphill.

To determine if the problem is with your toilet or with the drain, try pouring water into the toilet directly with a bucket and see if it drains fast enough. If that's better, replace the toilet. But if it's still not good enough, you've got some work to do.


What is this thing for? I've been shopping for houses and found this gadget in the garage. It's up near the ceiling and I don't know what it is for.  There's nothing nearby that would give any hints.  My image is unintentionally rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise.  I'm looking up at it.

I think I can make out 16v and 10 amps stamped on the frame.  I initially thought it might be for the doorbell, but thought the garage is an unlikely place for it.  I've never seen anything like this related to a garage door opener either.
The house was built in 2015.
Thanks

Looks to me like a doorbell transformer.


What is the appropriate way to seal an opening in a pressurized tube around an inserted object? I have a loop consisting of approximately 6' of 3/8" ID tubing, pressurized with a pump running at approximately 1 GPM.  I would like to add a few temperature sensors into the loop to read the water temperature at varying points.  Reading the temperature of the exterior of the tube will provide sub-optimal accuracy.  Fittings with built in thermometers are available, but expensive in quantity and would require the addition of a regulator to step down voltage in my application adding complexity and more cost.

The best way I can figure to do this is to buy a fitting like this, and then insert the sensor of a thermometer (such as this) into the reduced opening and then seal around it.  However, I suspect quite a bit of wiggle room around the sensor and fear that silicone will blister and eventually leak under the pressure.  And since there is a sensor line going into the opening I cannot simply tape over the silicone to resist the blistering.

This application requires reliability in the seal for a minimum of 3 years.  The seal can be permanent; there will never be a need to remove the thermometer from the fitting or line.  The loop will be filled with distilled water at temperatures ranging from 5C to 60C and the seal must hold at both extremes.

Many years ago at the beginning of my engineering career we made sealed temperature sensors using silicon diodes bonded onto the ends of Teflon insulated wire. The wires were then fed through two holes drilled through a short length of 0.25" diameter Teflon rod. The rod was the inserted into a standard brass compression fitting using a standard brass compression ring that tightly sealed the Teflon rod and formed it very tightly around the pass through wires.

What you see above is a heater assembly that produced a temperature controlled gas stream in the range of -55C to +125C. The two diode assemblies on the heater were for redundant critical over temperature safety cutouts and the one at the pipe TEE was used to monitor the gas stream temperature for closed loop control of the heater assembly. Thermal mass of of the system was part of maintaining a stable gas stream temperature.

Note that silicon diodes biased at a constant current of 1mA produce excellent temperature sensors that are linear over the whole operating range of -55to+135C.


Trying to set my thermostat to use FAN only for cooling I have a Bryant 60k BTU gas furnace(about 6 years old) and no AC. I can manually turn on just the FAN or leave it on AUTO for heating. I have the RITETEMP 6025 thermostat.

At the moment I am cooling the house in the summer by manually turning on the FAN from my gas furnace in combination with some open windows in my livingroom. The livingroom cools down quick from the open windows and the intake for my furnace is in the same room, so it picks up cool air and sends it to all the other rooms.

I do this by turning the fan on at the thermostat and letting it run for about 4 hours or until the bedrooms are cool, then I turn it off manually again, usually around 4AM.

Can I rewire my thermostat in a way I can achieve this automatically? For example, the house is at 85F, I select COOL on my thermostat and set the temp to 78F. The FAN runs until the house cools down to 78F then it stops.

When it gets close to the winter I will rewire for Heating as below.
At the moment I have 3 wires connected (G -Fan control, RH - Heater power and W - Heat control)

Here is the link for my thermostat manual:
http://www.ritetemp-thermostats.com/60XX/images/6025_installation_guide.pdf

Thanks

You can do that -- simply wire a jumper from the Y to the G terminals on your thermostat, and configure it as if you had an ordinary A/C.  That way, a call for cool will energize the fan, while heating still works as it normally would.


My three way lamp is suddenly just one way. Is this an electrical problem or fire hazard? my three way lamp is suddenly just one way. is this an electrical problem that could be a fire hazard? Why would a lamp just suddenly stop being three way after being plugged and unplugged?

The most likely explanation is that one of the two filaments inside 3 way bulb burnt out or broke.

If it was already close to burning out before you moved the lamp, the mechanical shock of moving may have broken it the rest of the way -- perhaps it broke completely so you didn't see the characteristic "flash" of a filament burning out when you turned on the lamp for the first time after moving it.

You could test the lamp contacts in the socket with a continuity tester at each switch position to verify that this is the case, but a much easier (and definitive) test would be to replace the bulb with a new 3-way bulb and see if it works.


How should I repair these very damaged floor boards? I've recently moved in to an apartment where the floor boards are damaged in some areas, presumably because there has been a lot of traffic in these spots. And it has been like this for years it seems, since the damage goes so deep. I'm attaching a photo.

I know I can't repair these much, I'm mostly looking to prevent further damage. My idea is to sand the area and carefully apply new white stain and new varnish. Never done this before though. How likely is it that the repairs will match the colour of the rest of the floor? Any advice on technique or products to use? Can I fill the "holes" with some kind of wood filler and then stain?

You'll never get it to match.  Even if you bought the exact same stain and exact same varnish, it still wouldn't match because the rest of the floor has aged.

The only real solution to this is to refinish the entire floor by sanding it down and re-staining.  While a lot of work, it is in the realm of do-it-yourselfers if you have the right tools and some patience.

You mentioned an apartment - if you are a renter you should get permission from the landlord before you try any type of repair by yourself.


How does a plumbing vent work? I would like to better understand the physics behind plumbing vents. Why are they necessary? Does air pass in through the vent? If so, when? Does air pass out through the vent? Is so, when? What would happen if I didn't have a vent?

Pluming vents do two things - they allow air in and they allow air out.  Simple right?

The first need of allowing air in can be visualized with a plastic bottle that has a narrow neck, like a soda bottle or milk jug, etc.  Fill it up with water, then turn it completely upside down to let the water out.  The water splashes out with a glug glug glug.  Air has to get into the container as the water leaves, so the air and water battle it out.  This isn't the exact scenario happening in your pipes, but the fact remains that water entering the pipe will displace the air in the pipe, and that air has to get out of the way in front of the water, and it has to come back easily behind the water.

If there was no vent, the water would drain slow and make a gurgling noise.  Depending on the length and shape of the pipe, water might not drain at all.

The second issue is that sewer water will create gasses/smells.  That gas can build up and create a little pressure.  If there was no vent, the gas could back up into your plumbing fixtures and do bad, smelly things.

The next thing you need to look at in the plumbing system are "traps".  Basically, they are bends in the pipe that hold a pool of water that prevent air from leaving the system where you don't want it to go.  The trap automatically seals a pipe with water near a fixture so that sewer gasses are forced up a vent rather than coming up through a drain.  Every drain in the house has a trap.


How wide to trench foundation slab for new plumbing? What is a good rule of thumb for how wide to cut the trench when adding new drain/waste/vent plumbing to a foundation?

Here is a made up example rule similar to what I am hoping to find:

Start with 2x the width of the pipe and
add 1” for every 6” you need to dig down

I ask because I would like to rent a concrete saw for just a day to cut the outline for the trench to create a nice clean edge and then do the jackhammering/digging on days afterward and I’d rather not have to rent the concrete saw again (or chisel and leave a jagged edge) if I find I didn’t cut wide enough.

That's a good rule, if a bit over-complicated. For most residential work that's within 24" of slab level, 12-16" is plenty, assuming that it's placed accurately.

You can always bell out the trench under the slab a bit if needed for a large assembly. Of course, plumbers would always want more. :)


What to do with leaky sink? Our kitchen sink has been slowly leaking for several months, and as of yesterday, it is finally leaking so bad we can't use it until it's fixed. I'm generally handy, but when it comes to plumbing of any kind I feel out of my league. My wife and I are trying to save money here and fix this without having to call a plumber, but I'm really not sure where to start...

As you can see, when the sink is on, water is coming out of the seam just above where the faucet meets the base...

I believe this is also causing a problem underneath the sink, as you can see in the pictures, water is leaking from somewhere above and has been corroding the metal pipe the sink connects to.

I've searched high and low and I can't seem to find a make or model for this sink. If there is a place I should be looking please let me know and I'll update this question with manufacturer info.

I talked to a guy at my local hardware store and he lost me very quickly. Tried selling me on a "rebuild kit", whatever that means.

I feel like if someone could tell me exactly what I have to do, that I will be very capable of doing it. I'm just not sure of the following:

How to pull apart or open up the sink to begin diagnosing the problem
How to diagnose the problem
What to do about it

Any pointers in the right direction are greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

Edit: I have successfully shut off water to and disconnected both hot/cold supply lines. I am trying to find these "mounting nuts" but can't seem to find any. Below is a picture of the sink from directly underneath the area where I believe these nuts are. The only thing I see is a hollowed-out brass bar (about 2.5" - 3" in length) protruding down, but no mounting nuts. Any ideas? Thanks again!

For inexperienced DIYers; or any body not really comfortable with plumbing in general, the easiest option is to replace the whole faucet.  While the faucet may be serviceable, stuck screws/bolts, proprietary disassembly steps, and difficulty finding replacement parts, make this a frustrating job for beginners.
The new faucet should come with instructions on how to install it, but here are the basic generic steps to remove the old faucet and install the new one.
Removing the old faucet
Turn off the water
Look under the sink, and you'll (hopefully) see something like this.

Actually, you'll see two. One for the cold water, and one for the hot.  Turn the knob until the valve is shut.  Then turn the faucet on all the way, just to make sure the valves are fully closed.
If you do not have valves under the sink; or the valves do not stop the flow of water, you'll have to shut the water off using another valve down the line or the main shutoff valve.
Disconnect the supply lines
Attached to each of the shut off valves, there should be a hose like this.

In some cases a rigid or flexible copper pipe will be used as a supply line, instead of a flexible braided supply line.
Using a pipe wrench or tongue and groove pliers, disconnect these pipes from the valves.
Make sure you have a small bucket under the connection, to catch the water that comes out of the pipe. A small amount of water is normal, it's just the water that was left in the pipe between the shutoff and the faucet.  If the water continues to flow or comes out under pressure, tighten the connection back up.  This means the valve is not working or has not been fully shut off.
Remove the mounting nut(s)
If you follow the supply lines (the pipes you just disconnected) up, you'll find the tailpiece (a long threaded pipe) with the mounting nuts at the top against the underside of the sink. There may be two (one where each supply line connects), or just one in the middle depending on the faucet make and model.

A basin wrench makes removing these nuts much easier.
On some faucets, the supply lines are part of the faucet and cannot be disconnected. In this case the mounting nut may or may not be right at the end of the supply lines.
Once the nuts are removed and the supply lines are disconnected from the faucet (if applicable), the faucet should just lift away from the sink.
Clean up the mess
Once the faucet is removed, scrape any old plumbers putty from the top of the sink using a 1" putty knife

Install the new faucet
Now that you have the old faucet removed, it's time to install the new one.  Follow the instructions included with the new faucet, or these generic steps.
Seat the faucet
Grab some plumbers putty, and roll it into a "rope" (about 1/2" or so around) in your hands. place the putty rope either on the sink where the faucet will sit, or around the bottom of the faucet itself. The plumbers putty prevents any water that may be near the base of the faucet, from leaking down into the cabinet below the sink.

Do not use plumbers putty on natural stone (granite, marble, etc.) counter tops, use a bead of 100% silicone caulk instead.
Carefully put the faucet in place, and press it straight down (don't worry if some of the putty squeezes out, that's normal).  If the faucet does not stand on it's own, get a helper to hold it for you.  Go back under the sink, and install and tighten the mounting nut(s) on to the tailpiece(s) using the basin wrench again.
Remove any excess putty that squeezes out from around the faucet base.
Connect Supply lines to the faucet
If the old supply lines are still in good condition, you can reuse them. Otherwise, head to the hardware store and pick up new ones (if not included with the new faucet).  Make sure to take the old supply lines with you, so you get the right ones.
Using the basin wrench again, connect the supply lines to the threaded tailpiece(s) on the faucet.
Connect the supply lines to the supply
Connect the other end of the supply lines to the shutoff valves, making sure to connect the proper line to each shutoff (you don't want hot water coming out when you turn the faucet to cold).
Check for leaks
Slowly turn the shutoff valves back on, and watch carefully for any leakage.  If you see a leak, turn the valve off and tighten the connection where the leak is.
Turn the faucet on (testing both hot and cold), and look for any leaks.
Tips
PTFE tape
Use PTFE thread seal tape on all threaded pipe connections, to reduce the chance of leaks.
Lube helps nuts come off
If any of the threaded connections are difficult to remove (when removing the old sink), soak the connection in penetrating oil.


Changing out programmable Light Switch, wire help needed! When we moved into our house 4 years ago that was built back in 1960 we had the programmable light switch that controls the front porch light replaced by an electrician that was doing some other work on the house since it wasn't working. Well 4 years later this one isn't working so I thought I would replace it with a new one.

I went to home depot and they asked what kind of wiring we had and I told him just black and white wires. He stated that the new programmable switches they carried wouldn't work with our wiring since there was no neutral wire in there. They said I would have to try and find an older version of the programmable switches to work. They said the new switches that have a green wire that need to be connected to a neutral wire and that since we only have black and white wires there is no neutral. I just wanted to see if anyone new if in fact what the home depot person said is correct and that we don't have neutral wires in this switch box. If so is there a way to hook up a new programmable switch or do I need to find an older one. Thanks for any help you can provide me with!

Ok here is some added info, I was looking at using the Defiant Model 49814 switch, here is pic I grabbed on the web of the wiring of the back of the unit

I have included a picture of our wiring. There are 2 switches the one on the left (top of pic)  is the programmable switch and the one on the right is a switch with a dimmer.

Green in house wiring is always ground, White is neutral. Hot is usually black or red but can be many other colors. The green wire goes to the bare copper ground. The white goes to white the neutral. Now the question is what black wire is hot, The black that is connected to both switches is the line side or hot leg. The switched leg is the black on the other side of your switch in the photo. This black wire going to the load will be connected to your blue. make sure to turn off the breaker while working on this.


How can I remove the interior side of a Kwikset handle set with "interconnect"? I just moved into this house that came with a handle set that includes some kind of interconnect plate on the inside that serves to unlock the deadbolt when the knob is turned.  I want to remove the entire interior side to put an August smartlock retrofit thing on the deadbolt part and install a regular door knob on the interior of the latch.

Here's what I'm working with:

The deadbolt and latch are not connected except by a strange plate assembly behind that face plate surrounding the interior knobs.  I can remove the screws of that face plate and pull it out at the top enough to rotate it about the lower knob, but can't seem to find any screws that hold that plate onto the door.  The lower knob doesn't seem to have any little screws for removing it either.  Is there a trick to removing the lower knob?  If I could do that, I would be able to see the entire interconnect plate, and I think I could figure out how to remove it from there.

Here you can see the interconnect plate.

The inside knobs are often removed on this type of product via a small slot or hole that will be visible at the stem of the knob. For a slot insert a small flat blade screwdriver in the slot and press in whilst pulling the knob away from the door.

If there is just a small hole insert a round pin or small sized allen wrench in the hole. Press in the pin and apply pulling pressure on the knob to remove.


Putting tar paper between plywood subfloor/underlayment and decking in kitchen We are preparing to put new sheet vinyl down in a kitchen.  We tore out the old subfloor and replaced it with new plywood. Is there any benefit to putting tar paper down between the floor decking and plywood subfloor ?

Yes its an additional vapor barrier and could prevent underlayment from warping. In a bathroom its always a good idea to do to keep moisture away from subfloor.


Why do my breakers trip after the kitchen range shorted? Recently, my electric range shorted out and caused the stove to malfunction. For some reason both the range and the oven are connected in one breaker(40 Amps). Because our house is very old all the wiring is messed up and definitely needs to be rewired, however that option is quite impossible in the moment.

The stove now killed one circuit of both lights and receptacles which will instantly die when you try to turn on the switch; no breakers ever tripped even when the range shorted.

The most confusing part is that when you turn on the stove or oven both the lights and receptacles would work normally, but not the stove or the oven, while being in two different circuit.

From what you are describing, you have all of the symptoms that you have lost a phase and it may not be the range circuit. It could be the main breaker or service conductors.

I would start by disconnecting the range and the oven then I would carefully open the panel covers and check to see if you are reading a nominal 240V across the output of the range breaker and checking the buses in the panel to see if you are getting a 240V reading above and below the main breaker in the panel. If you are getting a nominal 240V reading at all of these locations. Then check the circuit to the range and ovens and see if they match the panel or have dropped a phase. This might not fix the problem but you are trying to isolate the location of the problem.

There are a few comments I would also like to make about your circuit to the range.

First it is allowed by the NEC to split your range circuit to feed both a range and an oven.

Second a 40A breaker that feeds the circuit is not common in a residence. It is usually a 50A or minimum 45A breaker being fed by a #8 or #6 conductors. The size of the conductors are critical to the correct operation of the circuit and this may have even had something to do with the range shorting out. More imortant it may shorten the life of your new equipment due to voltage drop and improper voltage at the equipment.

Third and the really bad news. Your statement:

  wiring is messed up and definitely needs to be rewired, however that option is quite impossible in the moment.

That may have been true yesterday but may not be true today. The time to begin correcting the wiring may have already started or you could be facing more problems including possible burn and shock hazards. You may be able to phase in certain corrections first, but you need to consider permanent repairs instead of trying to bandage your system until later.

Hope this helps, stay safe and good luck.


How to remove an old KitchenAid dishwasher? I am looking for any information that could help with removing a KitchenAid KDC-37 SST dishwasher.  It appears to be part of an integrated sink-dishwasher-drainboard unit.  The KitchenAid support site is not able to find any information or manuals for this appliance; it's probably too old (perhaps up to 40 years).

You can find a photo (not mine, but it looks almost identical) here.

Ideally, I would like to be able to separate the old dishwasher from this unit cleanly so a new dishwasher can be installed in its place.  If that's not possible, I would still be very grateful for any tips about how to remove the entire unit.

For the record--in case there are any more of these models out there!--here's how it worked out.

The KitchenAid people were very helpful, but all they had were installation instructions for a comparable model.  From that I learned that the sink, sink cabinet, and dishwasher were originally installed as a "unit."

So, I gave up, figuring there were loads of attachment points that I just wouldn't be able to get to: the objective changed from replacing the dishwasher to rescuing the stainless steel sink and top.

It turns out, though, despite the claim on another Web site that "the dishwasher is secured to the cabinet with screws from the back, front, and through the side from underneath the sink,* that nothing could be further from the truth:

The counter and sink were held with screws beneath the front two corners and, in the back, with metal pegs designed to slide forward and up:

In this picture the counter has been turned sideways: you're looking at the original back right corner.  The installer reinforced it with wood.  I don't know whether the steel bar-and-peg assembly screwed to it is original or not.

The diswasher itself was attached only with four screws to the cabinet at its left:

In the photo, looking down into the now-open sink cabinet, you can see the one remaining screw (upper left) and a hole for another (upper right).  Two more screws were set in the bottom corners.  That's all!  In principle, you could remove this dishwasher by removing (or drilling out) these screws, cutting the water supply (sweated in place, of course), and pulling it forward.  No part of this unit was attached to the floor or walls, either: it was free-standing.

By the way, to bring this story to a happy close, here is a photo of the new sink cabinet (partially constructed) with the old counter and sink restored, ready for the new dishwasher:

Because the counter is completely hollow--it is reinforced with two narrow longitudinal ribs underneath, but that's all--it was necessary to reinforce the front lip for strength and to have a mounting point for the new dishwasher.  A 1.5" by 1.5" piece of poplar fit just fine.

(For those with sharp eyes and a knowledge of the electrical code: that little jury-rigged pigtail at the bottom was just a temporary setup to test the dishwasher before pushing it into place.  It was well worth the peace of mind to see that everything worked without any leaks: I lost a joist in a previous house to a slow undetected dishwasher leak.)


hole in drywall too big for old-construction electrical box - what to do? We cut the holes in the drywall for the electrical outlet boxes too big and now the wings on the old-construction boxes can't clamp the wall.

What are my options?

We just finished painting yesterday after weeks of hanging, taping and sanding the drywall. I new this was going to be a problem but I pushed it aside and said I'll cross that bridge when we get there, but now I'm thinking that was a mistake..

Thanks!!

They make various types of cut in boxes have you looked to see if a different type would work? And they make box clips just for oversize holes. If I get a chance I will try and find the manufacture of those clips but I know they make them because I have used them.

Just make sure the hole is not so big it can't be covered by the finish cover.


Honeywell RTH6500 WiFi Thermostat wiring questions for a heat pump I'm trying to install a new Honeywell RTH6500 thermostat on an old heat pump system that has regular plus emergency heat and the closest matching diagram says to put both the white "W2" wire and black "E" wire into the same port called Aux/E.  (pic attached of instructions page)

Questions:
1.) Is this right?
2.) Can regular and EM heat work off of the same port? (W2 & E wires in same port)
3.) I get all the other wiring matchups (I think) but what am I missing?

Here is what I have on my old system:  (Some of the labels could be wrong here)(pic attached with wires still installed on a regular Hunter Thermostat)
G__C__O__W2__E__R__Y1
  G = Green wire
  C = Blue wire
  O = Orange wire
  W2 = White wire
  E = Black wire
  R = Red wire
  Y1 = Yellow wire

The New Honeywell RTH6500 has two wiring rows for Conventional or Heat Pump: (pic attached)
Top Row - Conventional:  K__Y2__W2__G__W__C__Y__R/Rc
Bottom Row - Heat Pump:  K__L__AUX/E__G__O/B__C__Y__R/Rc

What goes where?  W2/White and E/Black are mysterious.

G to G on RTH6500 = Green wire
  C to C on RTH6500 = Blue wire
  O to O/B on RTH6500 = Orange wire
  W2 to W2??? on RTH6500 = White wire
  E to ??? on RTH6500 = Black wire
  R to R/Rc on RTH6500 = Red wire
  Y1 to Y?? on RTH6500 = Yellow wire

Thank you very much for your help!
Scott

enter image description here

It looks like y1 on old one is Rc on the new one,unsure of this so satisfy yourself before trying connection based on this observation.Also have you noticed the link between R and Rc,I would question this.Try asking manufacturer of after market part for advice.STeve uk Engineer.The instuctions are poor and the terminal markings maybe wrong.with thermostat.com are mentioned for help.Sorry I   do not understand the istructions.I will sleep on it. Had another look,Must say may not be compatible. Honeywell surprise me,Action to take,do not know.I have not given up,but hold little hope for success.I am now checking my suggested connections before posting them.good question,too many combinations.Einstein had it easier. Respect STeve uk.L?Wire missing. Steve has been called many things,genius is not one of them.Steve uk.You are missing,Internal diagrams for the controller,and external diagrams for equipment to be connected to it,also cable overal diagrams. All factors to carry out  this project. I have touched on subjects relating to  this before and now have little to add.pn,System may have lv electronic control as well,consider this.Do not mix wiring.All parts of the system may need to be wifi compatible to use wifi controller.


Measuring AC Voltage Behind Light Switch This is more of a theoretical question and not something I'm needing to do.
I understand the following, please correct me if I'm wrong;

Multimeter only measures the potential difference so
To measure the AC voltage passing through a light switch we need a neutral wire along with the live wire or
A ground can be used instead as neutral will be earthed somewhere and therefore be connected to ground anyway

So, from my understanding, are we basically treating ground as neutral then in this case?
Can a floating ground be used or must the ground be in the circuit of where the neutral is? I guess this is more a question of how the meter works.
What if no ground or neutral is present, am I out of luck?
TIA.

Yes, multimeters measure potential differences: phase to ground, neutral and also phase to phase.
Measuring at a switch, you'd need a hot and a neutral. You can measure to ground if a neutral is not in the box and while you'll get the correct voltage, you can't run a circuit off the two.
Grounds aren't normally floating but neutrals can be. If you have a hot, any ground will work it doesn't have to be from the same circuit.
If there is no neutral or ground at your switch or anywhere near it, you could take an amp reading and then get an accurate resistance reading of the circuit and work it from there: E=RI


What's the Actual Code for Receptacles Below Counters in Peninsulas I'm installing a kitchen that'll have a peninsula and I'm wondering about section 210.52(c)(5) where it says that "...receptacles mounted below a countertop must not be located where the countertop extends more than six inches (150 mm) beyond its support base".

If I've got this kind of situation (the counter is 12" deep):

can I install a receptacle a few inches in on the half-height wall (so that it's still under the counter, but not a full 12" in)?

Answer based on the NEC in the US:

  Can I install a receptacle a few inches in on the half-height wall (so that it's still under the counter, but not a full 12" in)?

Yes, that's almost right. As long as you are not more than 6" in laterally off the counter edge you are fine.

Also, the receptacle cannot be more than 12" down from the counter top.


Why is there no power on the load side of a GFCI outlet? I ran a new electrical line in my basement to include a GFI receptacle for a portable sump pump followed by a switch that controls four LED can lights. All parts are brand new.

I wanted to have the entire system GFI protected so placed the receptacle first in line. Per the instructions the wiring from the breaker was wired to the LINE side then wired from the LOAD side to send power to the switch then wired the can lights from there.

Doing this I couldn't get power to the switch. I then rewired the receptacle so both the line coming to it and the line going to the switch both were on the LINE side.

I now have power to the switch but without the GFI protection but when I plug in the pump I have to wiggle the plug to get it to work and once the pump shuts off it won't start again without giggling the cord again.  I inserted receptacle reader and no matter how much I wiggle it none of the lights light which is suppose to indicate an 'Open Hot'. I've gone over all of the wiring multiple times and everything looks good. My question is, what does 'Open Hot' mean and what might I have done incorrectly? Could it be a bad GFI receptacle? At $25 a piece I hate to purchase a second one if it might be something different.

If you're getting power on the LINE side but not the LOAD side of the GFCI, there's a few possibilities.

The GFCI is not set.

Make sure the reset button is pushed in all the way.

The device is not wired probably.

GFCIs typically will not set if they are wired incorrectly.

The device is defective.

Exchange it, or buy a new one.

There's a ground-fault.

Find the fault and fix it.

Based in your description, it sounds like a defective device.


Do I need to ground this switch? I am trying to replace a standard one pole switch with a dimmer.  When I took off the switch the grounding screw was not attached to anything and I can not see a grounding wire in the box.  The house was completely renovated by a developer in 2012 and my impression is that new electrical installations should have grounding (although I realize there may be additional rules around GFCI, etc). My questions are:
 1) what should I do about grounding?
 2) should this switch have had grounding?

Attaching images of the switch, box and circuit breaker.  Not the box has additional wires because there is another switch box behind it for the room on the other side of the wall

Thanks

You have a ground already.  It's called "conduit".

The locknut at the top of the box and the presence of the red and yellow wires with no black wire are dead giveaways that this installation uses metallic conduit, which is an able ground conductor all by its lonesome.

Normally, with a metal box, you'd simply make sure the switch yoke seats against the mounting ears on the box, grounding it as per 404.9(B)(1).  However, since some dimwit painted the mounting ears on the switch, you'll need to install a grounding jumper from the ground screw on the switch to a ground screw on the back of the box.

  (B) Grounding. Snap switches, including dimmer and similar control switches, shall be connected to an equipment
  grounding conductor and shall provide a means to connect
  metal faceplates to the equipment grounding conductor,
  whether or not a metal faceplate is installed. Snap switches
  shall be considered to be part of an effective ground-fault
  current path if either of the following conditions is met:

  (1) The switch is mounted with metal screws to a metal
  box or metal cover that is connected to an equipment
  grounding conductor or to a nonmetallic box with integral means for connecting to an equipment grounding
  conductor.

  2) An equipment grounding conductor or equipment
  bonding jumper is connected to an equipment grounding termination of the snap switch.


What is the cheapest way to stiffen a tube/pipe? I have some steel tubes (18 mm OD) which I wish to use as horizontal members in a storage rack (a bit like shelves). However, the tube flex and bend quite a bit when I put heavier boxes on them. The tubes flex about 40 mm over a 1000 mm span. Ideally I would like the flex to be <5 mm.

Is there any cheap(~$0) & readily available material I can put into the tubes which would stiffen them significantly.

I was thinking about filling them with concrete, but that seems a bit messy and I don't have cement/sand to hand. Would concrete work?

You could truss the tubes as shown in the picture below. The center block helps to support the tube when the truss member is placed in tension.

The truss could be constructed from heavy wire or threaded steel rod. The concept here would be similar to the scheme used on the wider steps of a wooden step ladder.

I would have suggested the possibility to place the truss wire / rod inside the tube but I suspect that the 18mm diameter of the tube is too small to let the center support in such scheme be large enough to make a significant impact.


Minimalist improvement on tiny shower? I've just moved into an old (1950's) home.

The only shower is in a tiny bathroom and it's so small that when I take a shower the shower curtain is stuck to one side of my body and the blinds from a window on the other side of the shower are stuck to the other side of my body.

It's very unpleasant, but I don't have the square footage, time, or money to install a new shower.

Is there any easy way to make an improvement?

If nothing else, I'm thinking of restraining the shower curtain with a 2nd rod or something. For some reason (probably related to airflow or temperature, I don't know) the curtain seems to be sucked inward a bit when the shower is turned on.

I would check on the type of shower curtain they use in hotels that have an arced curtain rod. This would give a slightly more room.

The reason the shower curtain sucks in when you turn the water on probably has to do with hot air rising and pulling in cold air at the bottom of the shower. Try leaving the curtain slightly open at the back of the shower to allow air to enter the shower without pulling the curtain in.

You could also put a layer of opaque material on the window and get rid of the window curtain.

Good luck!


Washing machine hot water hookup valve repair Recently I found my washing machine hot water hookup drips slightly when the washer is not attached. I believe it is a bad valve. When the washer is attached, water flows to the drain and doesn’t cause any issue. I talked to a plumber and he said the cheap solution is to put a cap on the hookup when there is no washer attached, but if I really have to fix the valve then he will have to cut up the dry wall and it will be very expensive.
I don’t want the bad valve to affect the pipe in the wall (water corrosion etc.) and cause bigger damage in the future but also don’t want to spend the money if it is not necessary. I don’t know much about plumbing so I want to ask here to see what your guys say.
Should just let it stay like it is or repair/replace the valve?

Should I spend $$ now to repair a known issue or wait to spend $$$$ later to fix the damage caused by known issue. Hmmm....
Also, how often do you attach and remove your washer hookup hoses? I'm 99.9999% certain that the last time I did that was when I last replaced the washer years ago.
If you want to save some money, and you're interested in learning some DIY skills, have the plumber replace the plumbing, but leave the drywall for you to fix. Most big-box home centers sell "project" sized pieces of drywall (smaller than 4x8' sheets) and small containers of drywall mud. You'll need a roll of drywall tape and a drywall knife or two. Tools and materials will probably be under $50, definitely under $100. There are loads of videos on the Tube of You on how to do drywall as well as oodles of questions here about it. It's not hard, it's just time consuming if you want to do a good job. If an adequate job is acceptable, it's a Saturday afternoon project. (Don't forget, the tools are reusable assets that you can apply to your next project with your new found skills, so they're an investment, not an expense.)


What to use to attach copper to stone? I am modifying a fountain, by adding spouts, made of shaped copper. I need to attach the spouts to the stone bowl, but am not sure how.

The fix must have a watertight seal with the stone, that is, the glue/mortar/filler must fill the small gaps between the cut stone and the copper shape
It must also prevent ingress of moisture which will freeze in winter and push the spout off
The fix must provide mechanical strength
The fix must be resistant to weather and both standing and running water
The fix must be flexible as the stone and copper will deform at different rates as it heats up and cools down over time

I have tried building mastic but it doesn't cure (its been over two weeks) as only small areas are exposed to air. I have also tried heating  with a heat gun and it just makes it even softer.

What do I use to attach copper to stone?

You don't seem to be using the RIGHT mastic, or "construction adhesive". Construction adhesive (ie PL or similar brand name) would be about the best material for the job, because copper is a REALLY DIFFICULT material to bond to.

Try experimenting (with scrap) with other brands or types of mastic/adhesive. Certain types of PL should set up near-hard within a couple of hours.


What gauge wire do I need to supply 15A to small building 440 ft from the main house? I have a small building that is 440 ft from the main house, and I want to supply power to it. One 15amp circuit will be sufficient.

What size wire is needed to do this?

Using one of the many wire size calculators on the internet, for 120v single phase:

  1 conductors per phase utilizing a #3 Copper conductor will limit the voltage drop to 2.59% or less when supplying 15.0 amps for 440 feet on a 120 volt system.

Also, please be sure to use the actual wire length, not just the distance between buildings (eg taking into account depth in ground, height to panels, farthest plug on your circuit, actual path wire will take, etc). With the same parameters, it looks like you can go to about 510 feet before you need to use #2 wire.


Can I use this old ChannelMaster antenna wallplate with Digital Antenna? I just moved into this house and have 3 of these old ChannelMaster Antenna wallplate connectors. Pretty sure this is hooked up to the antenna in my attic. It is old and I am wondering if there is an easy way to use a digital antenna with it? I found these adaptors that allow you too hook up a coaxial cable. I currently use the Mohu Leaf as my TV antenna at the moment and I stick it to the wall.

There is a lot of miss information out there concerning TV antennas and it mostly caused by marketing hype. Rabbit ears tv antennas made 50 years ago will pick up  broadcast from a  TV tower broadcasting a digital signal today if it is close enough. There are differences in quality and types, ( directional vs omni - directional- UHF, VHF etc. ). I currently have a set of rabbit ears with one of the "ears" broke off and piece of tinfoil ( it use to be my tinfoil hat ) attached and i get all the digital signals HD and non HD in my area.

It is all about placement, direction and distance.

some reading for those interested.

NO such thing as an HDTV antenna

10 things you need to know about Digital TV Antennas

All About Over-The-Air Antennas


Goal: make hardwood slats for a bed thin to flex, w/o degradation My goal is to make hardwood slats for a 4' wide bed, (center support, so span is 24"), thin enough so my heavier parts flex, adding comfort so I can minimize mattress. (Ideally, pad will be 1 inch cork, a nylon 'Persian-style' rug, and a very thin bed futon. I am thinking Japanese style bedding, minimal cushion. It needs to be thin to flex under my weight,  but not so thin that ot causes degradation that excessively shorten it's life-expectancy.

I saw the swing discussion, and thought about the International Council of Building Officials books, and tables that I used 40 years ago to determine thickness of joists and rafters for given spans, dead or live loads, pitch, etc.

I found a series of tables for hard and soft woods in a PDF download, I don't have the link, but it is titled, "Chapter 4, "Mechanical Properties of Wood," by  David W.  Green, Jerrold E. Winandy, and David E. Kretschmann."

I am struggling to grasp the understanding of the data. If someone would like a look, I think I can attach it to an email & send it.

Back to my problem: I am thinking of going with 3" wide ash stock, ripped to 1/2" to 5/8", to span the 24". I would like the board to flex at my shoulders for instance, to cause the bed at my shoulders to support an equal amount of weight as my abdominals for instance.

IKEA sells slatted wood bases for beds. The Luroy model is the most basic where “16 slats of layer-glued birch adjust to your body weight and increase the suppleness of the mattress”.

I’m not quoting them as an advertisement but just to give an example solution. (Although, you should consider whether the double/full at 52 3/4” wide could be used or modified to suit your need.)

Perhaps you don’t want to tackle layer-glued wood to start with a bend. Straight hardwood works but is going to be a little less springy since you will have to make it thicker to avoid rolling towards the center.


Troubleshoot my outlet My fridge in the garage stopped working. The outlet had no  power, I replaced the outlet but still no power.
Here are some observations I made:
The lights sharing the same breaker switch turns on and off properly
Using the current detector on the old outlet before replacement gave slow beep, around 1 beep per second.
Using current detector on a normal functioning outlet gives rapid beep, maybe 5-6 per second
Current detector no beep at all in the new outlet.
I am mystified.
Could the wire to the outlet be bitten off by a rat or something?

Thank you jack you are amazing. I went thought every gfci outlet in my house and finally reset the one in my upstairs bathroom to get power back in my garage. They are on opposite sides of the house too. It’s only natural that I check it last after looking all day. Hope I Don’t find out who set up the wiring for my house.


How can I connect a new ground rod? Illinois house, built 1963. Not sure if there is a ground rod or just the water pipes used for ground. Want to put in another/first rod. Can I connect it to the clamp on the electrical meter housing which has been used for other grounds? If not, where do I have to connect it, noting there is no known existing rod. Also, is there a distance limit from the ground connection point (e.g. electrical meter) and the rod? I'm looking at about 50 feet. Adding additional ones between would be problematic due to concrete.

In reading your question, I think we are into that area of all the things we call "grounding" which are actually bonds, jumpers and grounded equipment. What you need to concentrate on is NEC Part III Grounding Electrode System.

I don't expect a DIY to know the entire section, but the highlights goes as follows. The entire GES needs to terminate at the first point of disconnect in your system. If you open up your panel you probably see a large #8 or #6 Bare copper conductor (the Grounding Electrode Conductor) attached to your neutral bus. This is where your cold water ground should be attached. You need to attache your driven ground rod to the bare conductor.

The driven rod you are proposing is known as a supplemental or secondary ground to the cold water ground so you do not need to install two or more ground rods. It may become the main ground if you water pipe begins to get cut up and replaced by non metallic water lines. The NEC recommends that you should use as many methods of grounding as you can to any system.

In order to help you visualize what I just said I have attached a generic drawing of a GES. Just ignore the Lighting Protection part.

Hope this helps and good luck.


How to calculate wattage used in a solar panel set-up I want to run an electronic that uses 300 watts @ 5-10 amps via solar panel's on my rv.

I've got (2) 6 volt batteries set up in a series so it is 12 volts.

Here are the stats for one battery (so I assume you would 2x it?)

20 Amp Hour Capacity: 215
Delivers 395 minutes of run time at 25 amp draw
Delivers 105 minutes of run time at 75 amp draw

I have a 200 Watt 12v solar panel that charges the golf cart batteries.

Ignoring the power loss due to inefficiencies in the converter/ system and assuming there is nothing else connected to the system.

How long will I be able to run this per day assuming 10 hours of sun each day?

I’ve not seen a golf cart battery that was only 20AH , the 215 number sounds plausible so you would have 215 Ah at 12v with 2 batteries.

Are you sure you have your numbers correct? My guess would be you have an inverter that outputs 300w at 120, to do this it would draw ~25 amps from the batteries (the draw would be more because of losses in converting 12vdc to 120v ac).

If you want your batteries to last don’t discharge past 50% but golf cart batteries “deep cycle “ can go down to 80% but will only last a couple of years.
 Using 50% this would provide around 4.3 hours of run time from the batteries alone 25amps or 107.5 ah used , your run time would be extended by adding the solar if in full sun your total run time could be 11.8 hours as you would only be drawing ~9 amps from the batteries but you know your not going to have full sun and this would leave the batteries in a depleted condition or at 50%.
If you provide more information on your inverter we may be able to provide better examples.


Can't Remove Diamond Grinder Cup I have a grinder with a Dewalt diamond cup wheel I have been using to remove cosmetic issues on the floor of my basement before staining the floor. I am grinding the whole floor. I am about 1/2 done and need to get the diamond cup off the grinder but I am unable to do so. It is a reverse screw, yes I know I am turning it the right way, I've taken it off twice before.

I have also tried spraying some WD-40 in the threads and tried holding the lock with one hand and striking the wheel with a mini-sledge to loosen the diamond cup. Its still not coming off. I have a dust shroud on the grinder so I can't get a wrench on the back of the diamond cup. I can't take the dust shroud off without 1st taking off the cup. Any ideas how to get this thing off?

Put the grinder on a concrete surface like you're going to grind it, hold the lock button to prevent the shaft from spinning, push down into the concrete and turn the grinder counter clockwise to unscrew the diamond cup.

If that doesn't work, do the same thing with the diamond cup on concrete but stand with your left foot above the diamond cup on the backside of the grinder, and kick the other end (power cord side) forward with your right foot. You need to press the shaft lock at the same time, but sometimes you can get it to stay locked or use a broom handle or something long to press it to keep the shaft locked when you kick.


garage wiring problem I have 3 wires coming into a 3 way switch. I connected the hot black wire to the brass screw on the left side of the switch. I connected the red traveler wire to the black screw on the right side of the switch  opposite the brass screw. I connected the white traveler wire to the brass screw on the top of the right side of the switch. The five lights in the circuit will then go on and off with the operation of the switch. The light fixtures are wired to the switch utilizing the white and red traveler wires. My problem is I cannot get the other 3 way switch to function no matter what wiring combination I try. I would like to know the correct way to wire the second switch. Two things to note. There were two 4 way switches in the circuit. I took those switches out of the circuit by wiring the two red wires together, in each box, and doing the same with the white wires. The other note is that there is no current going to the second switch no matter how I connect the wires. Am I not connecting a load to the circuit at the second switch?

The black screw on a 3-way switch is the common, and the brass screws are the travelers.  It sounds like you wired up the switch incorrectly.


furnace for central air heating, as what for central air cooling? In my apartment, the heating and cooling seems to flow through the same central aid conditioning system. The device used to heat the air is called the furnace. I wonder what the name for the device that cools down the air? Are they not the same device?

Thanks!

The device that cools the air is called an evaporator. It takes liquid freon from the outside compressor unit and turns it into a gas. This process results in a lower temperature and your indoor air is cooled by it.


fan motor with capacitor Hi I have a fan motor off a blast chiller which im hooking up to my still radiator. the wires are brown black and blue.
it has to have a capacitor in line and thought it would be brown but I have tried that and it just sat their poleing.
does anyone have any experience and can point me in the right direction please

kind regards
pete

A search for this motor type and/or chiller type may show photos of the wiring of the capacitor. Most likely, that motor or chiller is produced under various names, but technically identical.


Should I scrape the paper backing from vinyl flooring off a concrete floor to prep for tiling? Once the flooring is pulled up is it necessary to remove the dense paper layer which ultimately glued the linoleum to concrete.  If it is not necessary to remove do I rough up the surface to make a more adhesive surface?

Or will thinset adhere to the dense paper layer?  This paper layer has been exposed on my kitchen floor for over 3 years with spills.  It does absorb but no deterioration.  Help! thank you for the expert advice.

I would not attempt to bond mortar to fuzzy paper. The resulting bond will only be as strong as the paper itself, which isn't good.

Use a combination of grinding tools, moisture, and scrapers to get the concrete reasonably clean before installing tile.