How can I rearrange this plumbing to drain correctly? So here's some plumbing in my house (not done by me):

This was before I sealed everything up behind drywall. The drain is actually used for a Cat Genie, our laundry is in another room.

Now we're having an issue where the drain is not draining quickly enough, sending gross water from the fancy flushing litter box onto the floor.

I've got an endoscopic camera down to the wet trap and didn't see anything amiss, but before I tear into the drywall, I was hoping someone could tell me -- does this plumbing job look acceptable? Do you think my problem is here or downstream?

The venting you see is into the wall -- this is on the first floor, getting a vent all the way to the roof in this 80 year old house would be a Herculean task.

Any pointers appreciated -- I do ok with electrical, but other than decent skills with PVC, plumbing isn't my area of expertise.

I'd say the standpipe is a bit short, though I think 24" is minimum code. If the p-trap is clear, then possible issues:

there's a clog further downstream
the cat toilet is simply expelling too much water too fast
the vent stack is plugged

It's not a great fix, but one potential solution is to install a wash basin and connect that to the p-trap instead. Then have the cat toilet dump into the sink. That way the wash basin can completely fill and slowly drain.


Why am I getting no satellite signal after running electrical cable alongside the satellite cable? I am adding exterior lights and I ran exterior grade electrical wire along the side of the house and tied this wire to the Dish Satellite wire running in the same direction.  Now I have no Dish signal.

Did I cause this by tying these cables together?

In order to rule out that you didn't somehow damage the coax, cut power to the circuit and see if this restores the signal. If it does, then yes you've introduced enough interference to prevent reception.  If it doesn't, then you might have damaged the coax.

RG6 Quad Shield might help but generally it should be 8-12" away.

As an aside, tying electric cable to a Telco cable doesn't sound like a safe installation. You might want to contact a licensed electrician.


Do flexible braided hoses have a shelf life if stored unused? As far as I know, their components are the EDPM/nitrile rubber inner tube, the stainless steel fittings/crimping at either end (possibly a plastic push-fit connector) and the stainless steel braid.

Provided they are stored correctly, I suspect the stainless steel components would not be an issue, but how about the rubber tubing? Does the rubber become brittle if left unused?

Is there any point beyond which you would no longer consider them safe for use?

Any rubber or synthetic will degrade with age it depends upon the composition at which rate that will happen. If they are old 10 years or so I would just buy new ones the risk from damage is to great.


Will using surge protectors with a two prong outlet adapter help against power fluctuations I know that all surge protectors/upc's need outlets that have earth ground and be three pronged to safely protect against lightnings, but I would like to know if they can help against power fluctuations, even if just a little.

I have started unplugging my computer during rain and thunder storms but sometimes in my house the power fluctuates before any storm begins which causes my computer to shutdown or restart unexpectedly. If a surge protector can help in these situation then it would be worth using to to me.

First, I'd suggest looking at Is is safe to plug a surge protector into a 2-prong outlet using a 3-to-2-prong adapter?.  That may answer your question.  I'd also suggest looking at the outlet box and seeing if it's already grounded, in which case you could just replace the outlet.

However, if it's protection against power fluctuations you want, I'd suggest a UPS, not a surge protector.  They have an internal battery, and if you buy an Online/double-conversion UPS, the battery is always what's providing the power.  They may well not like being without a ground.


How can I remove cured tile mortar from subfloor? I was setting tile last night and had to stop before the room was done. I was being diligent to make sure the edges that were adjacent to the unfinished areas were smooth but in my exhaustion I missed an edge. What is the best way to break up this cured thinset without risking the adhesion of the surrounding tiles?

Tile mortar is actually fairly soft. If you have access to a belt sander, take a coarse grit to it. Otherwise, scrape at it with a robust flat tool like a cold chisel.


Allowable load tables based on usage When looking at allowable load tables from Simpson for their joist hangers, why are there different numbers for different cases, even though the force is in the same direction?

For example, the LUS24 hanger with SD screws and douglas-fir/southern pine says something like this:

        Uplift (160)    Floor (100) Snow (115)  Roof (125)
LUS24   495             870         1000        1085

I can understand how the uplift load would be different from the floor load (the force is acting in the opposite direction: upward), but why list the snow and roof load and why are they different (the force for all three is acting in the same direction: downward)?

Loads are based on use...not all loads are the same.

Floor loads are considered permanent loads (100%), while snow loads are considered short term loads (periodically loaded).  Snow in some areas are rated very short term, less than 7 days (125% stress). Some snow loads are rated short term, less than 1 month (115% stress).

What this means is that you’re allowed to increase the allowable stress by a factor of 15% or 25%, respectively.

Little known fact: when a single joist/beam is calculated, allowable stress values are less than if they are repetitive. That is to say, joists or beams installed repetitive (say 16” o.c.) can use a higher allowable stress value than a single joist/beam.


Vinyl covered cabinets I just removed the vinyl laminate from my kitchen cabinets. I've been trying to scrape off all the glue but it's been a project. Is there anything else I can remove the glue with? Sanding only melts the glue so I've been scraping it off with a small spatula. I have the primer and paint already, Sherwin Williams helped me pick out the best paint to cover them with. Does all the glue have to be off before I prime?

You'll want all of the adhesive off before you paint. If you want a non-chemical alternative, you can scrape off the majority a lot easier if you heat it up with a heat gun or a hair dryer.  This is basically what your sander is doing through friction, except the melted adhesive is sticking to the sandpaper and smearing instead of coming off.

After you get the bulk of it off, the remaining residue can be stripped off with an adhesive eraser wheel in an electric drill (do this outside, it will make a mess). This is essentially the same thing as the belt cleaner @paperstreet recommends - just powered by a drill instead of an elbow. Auto supply stores would be a good place to look for one.

Finish up by sanding with 120 or 150 grit sandpaper followed by 220 grit.

BTW, I hope that you told Sherwin Williams you were painting MDF and that they didn't give you a water based primer - these can raise the fibers in MDF and make it practically impossible to sand out.


how to trim existing stud width? I want to recess something into the wall between the studs.   Problem is that it is approx. 1/4" longer than the gap between the studs.  Is there a way to shave off this small amount of the existing stud (i.e. the "2" (1.5") side for about 2' length

You have several options here, and you're going to be stuck with some limitations as to which method you use. You can use a reciprocating saw, but as it was pointed out by @JACK, there'e the danger of being unable to control the saw and cuttin all the way through to the other side.
You can use a hammer and chisel, but here you'll be shaking the entire wall and potentially cause some superficial damage that can cause some severe headaches if you have to match texture and/or paint. The reciprocating saw can also run this risk.
@Chris Butler also suggested a circular saw, which can work, but you're teetering on a very narrow edge and will cause a fair amount of mess.
My preference is to use a multitool if you have one available. If you don't have one, they're pretty inexpensive and very handy. This would allow you to do a plunge cut and you can use the fat edge of a speed square to help ensure you're keep to your 1/8" or 1/4" depth (1/8" if trimming both studs or 1/4" if only trimming 1 stud. These are also great in tight places.
You can try a combination of a laminate router, sharp utility knife, or chisel, but I wouldn't recommend that. I only mention it to try and cover all bases I can think of.
In case you have seen or heard of the multitool, here's a picture of one.


Identifying insect of old egg pod Can anyone tell me what insect this old egg pod would belong to? Found it in cavity of exterior wall, want to see if I should investigate further

Looks to me like a  mud dauber wasp nest, not egg pod. Mostly harmless to your house, though the nest may trap a bit of moisture; you could knock the nests off during the winter if so inclined, or when they'te no longer occupied. Mostly harmless to the occupants too; these are fairly polite wasps.


Why is my sprinkler system backflow leaking after being winterized? After having my sprinkler system winterized, I noticed water leaking from the spigot. I thought it would stop once all the extra water came out but it is still leaking after 1 week.
I turned the spigot to the off position and after about 30 minutes I noticed a slow leak coming from somewhere on top around the back flow area. Right now I have the spigot turned back on so the leak will come out from the spigot instead.
The main water shut off to the sprinkler system has been shut off from inside.

What can be causing this slow leak?
What can I do to stop the leak just for winter without having to do any crazy repairs?
In the picture its leaking from the red circle because originally the spigot was open to release leftover water. But the slow leak never went away. So I shut off the spigot and notice slow leaking coming either from the yellow area or blue area. It is hard to tell since my wall is wet. But to me it looks like leak from the blue circle.
So right now I have my spigot (red circle) leaking . And hasn't stop for a few days now.
[1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/73ixC.jpg![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cbOMx.jpg)

Another key note is  the main sprinkler water valve inside the house is shut off and well as another valve closest to the wall of the sprinkler pipe is shut off as well. So two valves on the same pipe inside the house. Those don't have any leaks but I'm hoping  they don't need any repairs?? I thought those would be preventing any water from going outside to the system.
Inside shut off valves are both off and not leaking. Another member mention this might be the issue.  They are both not leaking. Since being shut off for winterizing.
.

Your main shut-off is leaking ( not shown ) into the system. Until it completely stops water flow ,leave the red hose bibb open to prevent water from going into the rest of the sprinkler system. I would also open the unmarked blue handle valve to help the sprinkler system drain.


Dusk to dawn light goes out when heat pump starts up My pole dusk to dawn light goes out when my heat pump starts up.  The lights in the house will flicker and the outside pole light goes out, then about 5 minutes later it come back on.  When the heat pump starts up it goes out again.  Off and on all night long.

I am pretty sure what you have is classic case of voltage drop. Ballasts for vapor lights and some cheap light sensors for incandescent par bulbs will be tricked or drop output, so light goes out and has to restart when voltage is restored.  The reason for the sudden drop is really the concern.  Since the heat pump employs a fairly large motor, it draws a lot of current at start up. This is called inductive kick. It takes a few seconds for the coils of the motor to saturate and start he armature spinning in the magnetic field. Since the coils are a dead short until saturation is achieved, they draw large current.  E = I/R, ohms law explains this. So what is the solution?  You may need to have the heat pump motor checked out or add a motor starting capacitor across the windings. I cannot tell you what size capacitor you will need as it can vary widely depending on motor size. This is a very common problem in residential services that are close to current capacity with an unbalanced motor load. Even though you may have a 100 or 200 amp electrical service, it can be overtaxed temporarily  by an unbalanced motor start up


Are these walls load bearing Looking to remove the closet and wall in this restroom. Already had a structural engineer look at it before I removed the drywall. He only checked the studs with a Franklin stud sensor and didn't go into the attic. He assured me it would be OK to remove the walls, but he only took about 5 seconds to determine this with his stud sensor. Is it really that fast? I'm still unsure after removing the drywall and wanted a second opinion before I remove studs. Here are pics...

Here is another picture from the restroom

The structural system seems to be independent of these walls.

However, structural loads can come from “other” building components.

The drawing appears to be a roof framing plan, but it’s not labeled and you don’t indicate if it’s a floor or roof. If the walls do not extend up into the attic and if there isn’t a post that rests on the walls, then I doubt the walls are structural.

I doubt a post would rest on any portion of these walls, except at the intersection or at the ends where there are double studs. I’d double check those areas carefully.

The drawing does not label the members above these walls, but the spans are considerably shorter than other spans. Generally once a “critical” span is determined, all the remaining spans are the same. (Using the same size lumber throughout can save money and reduce mistakes.) Therefore, if there is a superimposed load (such as an AC unit) then this area of framing could easily support additional loads without adding these additional support walls.

In addition to supporting vertical loads, the walls could be “braces” for long walls. That is to say, these walls could brace a long wall so it doesn’t wobble sideways. However, these walls have doorways so they don’t lend themselves to being a “brace”.

To answer your question, yes, it is a bit unusual that someone could visit the site and make such a quick judgement...especially if the gypsum board had not been removed yet. However, I’d guess they are not bearing walls and can be removed.


How do I replace an old ladder's anti-scratch strip? An acquaintance of mine an old aluminum ladder, sort of like this one:

The ladder used to have some kind of rubbery strip at the forward edge of its top platform, to prevent it from scratching the wall when it's leaning against it. But - that strip is all worn out.

My question: What should I replace it with? I mean, obviously, some other kind of rubbery strip which adheres to aluminum, but - there's lots of kind of rubbers and adhesive strips. Is there some combination of materials, or category of these things which I should look for?

Also - should I look for something which comes with adhesive, or should I use use my own glue/bonding agent to attach the strip to the ladder?

I would use a strip of UHMW plastic it won’t wear out and can be held in with counter sunk screws  I have 2 strips of this plastic on the bunks for my boat and over 25 years of use they still look great, no marking on the boat hull.

I would not use a self adhesive strip as with pressure they can move and that would not be good in this case.


How can I keep leftover drywall mud from drying out in the box? I'm not quite sure how much drywall mud I'll be using for my upcoming project so I'm planning to buy a box of it. Assuming that I have some left over, is there a technique for not wasting it? Will it last for awhile if I make sure to tie up the bag again and close the box lid? Or should I assume that it'll only last for a short time after I initially open the box.

Also, what's the shelf life for drywall mud? Should I only buy as much as I think I need? Or if I found a good deal, will it keep for awhile (for use with other projects later)?

-M

I don't have any experience with boxes, but have quite a bit with the 5-gallon buckets of compound.  Without knowing much about how those boxes seal, I'd recommend going with a bucket- the buckets/lids seal air tight which is important for keeping the mud from drying out.  The other thing I'd recommend- every time you close the box or bucket, put a piece of plastic sheeting over the top of the mud.  This traps the moisture in against the mud, and prolongs its shelf life.  The buckets come with a round piece of plastic sheeting on top of the mud-
I just fold it in half (to keep any bits of mud stuck to the plastic from being exposed to air) then when I am done for the day, unfold it, and put it back on top of the mud in the bucket.


What causes old wood smell, is it bad to ignore it, and how to clean it? I bought vintage wardrobe and cabinets and some of them have this old wood smell that you can smell in old people's homes sometimes. Does it mean it's 'moldy' in some way or there can be other reasons? The wardrobe smell is mild, something I definitely smelt before in old people's houses, and I'm not even sure if it's a bad smell. So is it ok to ignore it and put my clothes there? It looks in really good shape actually. I've tried cleaning it with soap and white vinegar but it doesn't help. I don't know if I should keep cleaning or maybe it will go away if I leave it open always.

Most info on the internet suggests natural solutions but what about sanding and repainting? And what about commercial wood cleaning products? Anyone had any luck?

Thanks

If you put your clothing in there as-is, the clothing and then you, when you wear them, will smell just as bad.

The smell comes from such furniture sitting closed up for long periods of time.  I've found that taking out all the drawers, opening all the doors, and exposing all of it to fresh air and, if possible, direct sunlight, will eliminate the smells in a relatively short period of time.

If it's more stubborn, you can try an "oil soap" type cleaning product.

If there were mold and mildew, you should be able to see that on the surfaces and if present, you'll want to clean that with an appropriate commercial cleaning product that acts on mold and mildew.


Remove old yellow glue from wooden floor that has consistency of cement We have taken up the carpets in a house we just bought to reveal the lovely dark floorboards, but what we have (what i guess) is old dried glue around the edges.

The hardened glue is yellow and when you scrape it with something sharp, it scrapes away and it seems to have a powdery consistency, but is hardened like cement.

I have read some stuff online about using vegetable oil to soften it etc but that has had no effect.

I don't want to scrape it off for fear of damaging the wood underneath.

I have also read lots of things warning from using solvents as that could damage the wood also.

So, the upshot is i don't really know the ideal solution here and would love any advice that can be offered!

The best thing is to try a little bit in an inconspicuous area of the floor to see if it works before doing the rest of the floor.

I just finished cleaning up my floors- I had carpet pad glue all over the floor. For me, two things worked: mineral spirits, and Wil-Bond.

Keep in mind that your surface may be different, your glue may be different. It's also possible that the glue will pull up the protective coating on the wood, or even some of the wood itself. In that case, you may need to re-stain and/or re-surface the wood.


Can I put an AFCI receptacle on a branch circuit that shares a neutral with another branch circuit? So, I have a Square D QO panel that had one of the original AFCI breakers go bad, and in the process of researching how to fix that, I learned a bit about this whole AFCI thing and how newer code requires it in virtually all living areas.  After replacing the bad breaker (test button never worked), this means that only my bedrooms have AFCI protection via two breakers.  I began to look at my living room setup and discovered that it's on a two-pole breaker (15A), with the second pole shared by the main hallway and bathroom lighting circuit, w/ both branch circuits sharing the neutral wire.

Some more digging turns up that Square D (now owned by Schneider-Electric) does not make a two-pole AFCI breaker for QO panels, citing limited demand for two-pole AFCI for shared neutral circuits (pg 6)†.  So I looked up an AFCI receptacle, which are pretty new overall, and found the AFTR1-W by Leviton.  If I were to get and install such a receptacle as the first living room receptacle downstream of the living room breaker, will that provide AFCI protection for all downstream receptacles?  And will the neutral wire going through the the living room circuit cause the AFCI receptacle to trip if I flipped on the hallway or bathroom lights?

If so, that will cover about 98% of my living room outlets.  Oddly enough, it appears that the builders pigtailed somewhere after the living room breaker, but before the first receptacle, and used that pigtail to power a GFCI receptacle by my front door that grants GFCI protection to the receptacle outside on the front of the house.  I can test this, because if I plug a GFCI tester into the first downstream socket, I can't trip the nearby GFCI receptacle, so they have to be in parallel somehow.

I don't think that if I put the AFCI receptacle in that I'll be able to cover that GFCI receptacle as well, unless I find the pigtail in the wall and wire it to be on the load side of the AFCI receptacle somehow.  But that's only assuming the shared neutral doesn't prohibit me from even using the AFCI receptacle.  Also doesn't look like they make a combination AFCI and GFCI receptacle device, either.

† Also, Schneider-Electric has this to say about shared neutrals in residential wiring, too.

Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) receptacles are similar to Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) receptacles, in that they both operate on the Line / Load idea. When connecting an AFCI receptacle, downstream devices are only protected if they are connected to the Load side of the device.  If devices are connected in parallel using pigtails on the Line side, they will not be protected by the AFCI device.

Since connection-wise, AFCI and GFCI receptacles are similar. The answers to these questions can be useful in this situation as well.

How can I add a GFCI breaker on two circuits with a shared neutral without rewiring?
How do I install a GFCI receptacle with two hot wires and common neutral?

Basically, these devices only monitor the wires on the Load side of the device. Which means, anything upstream on the Line side doesn't really matter. Sharing a neutral should not be a problem, as long as it's done properly (e.g. don't share a Load side neutral, only share the Line side neutral before the device).


How do I permantely plumb 5 tiki torches around my pool by placing a T on my buried propane tank which feed the pool/hot tub heater? What is required to "T" off of my buried propane tank that feeds my pool/hot tub heater so I can permanently mount 5 tiki torches around my pool?

Make sure you are hooked up on the low pressure side of the regulator. I would bury a roll of 5/8" of type k copper line around to all torches. Usually there is 1/4" fitting you will need. That will get silver soldered to a 1/2 by 1/4 inch reducer, so you can hook up the the torches individually. Make sure your regulator is sized correctly and that 5/8" copper is the proper size! You will need to figure distance, for the burners too. Once you have that, it is real simple.

Make sure you put concrete around the posts when you bury them. Do not get the copper pipe into the concrete, it will corrode the copper.


240 volt heater installation I would like to hook up a 240  garage heater with wire I had used for a old hot tub.  The wire has 4 wires ,red, black,  white and ground.  The hook up on the heater only has 2 hook ups for a black and white wires and a ground.  Can I hook it up with the hot tub wire and what would I do with the red wire. Thanks

Maybe! but read the instructions for over-current protection of your 240 volt heater, you might have to swap out the breaker. Also, make sure the wire gauge size is good for the heater. Larger than needed is OK, smaller is obviously not. As always, wire size, breaker rating and device amperage requirements all need to be considered. But just having an extra conductor in a cable isn't an issue, to actually answer your question.  Use the red & black as the hots, the bare copper or green wire as the ground and cap off the white. Double check your voltages to make sure nobody monkeyed anything up.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:  JACK mentioned the possibility of this being a 120 volt heater due to the black and white wires.   CRITICAL that you make sure this is actually a 240 volt heater. If not, well, lets just say it will get very hot very quickly and probably start a fire if over-temp devices don't trip.   Sorry for my answer...it was clearly limited to other possibilities.


How can I strengthen shelves? I have shelves that stick straight out from the walls and want to add decorative ropes or such to make the the shelves stronger, What can I use? I would like to be able to stack many hard cover books on these high shelves.

It sounds like you have a floating shelf.  Because of the shear forces, these don't hold very much as they just end up pulling away from the wall.

If you want to pile heavy books on it, you are going to need to support it properly. The words "decorative" and "strength" don't usually go well together.  I would think you need something solid and not a rope. With rope you have to worry about tensile strength, stretch and how to anchor it (will the anchor now hold the weight?).

The best thing to do is install a bracket below the shelf to support it.  How many of these you need will depend on how long your shelf is and what it's made out of.  You could always start with two (one on either end), and if the shelf is sagging, install another one in the center.  There are "decorative" brackets out there but the basic principal is the same.  Make sure you anchor these into a stud and not just the drywall or else you'll end up just pulling the drywall off your wall.


Cut acrylic with table saw? Can you cut acrylic with a table saw (universal wood blade)? Or is this a very bad idea, as it will badly melt the acrylic and make a mess of everything; or dull the blade or something like that?

Universal wood blade might not be the best for this.  Blades with a high tooth count (100 or more for a 10" blade) will work best.  Try to find a blade with a low rake angle (teeth should look straighter rather than laying down at an angle).  Blade height should be adjusted so the blade sticks above the material 1/2 or more rather than just clearing the material as is common with wood.

For thinner material, you want very tight clearance between the blade and the throat plate.  This helps prevent chipping because the material is supported as much as possible.  This might mean making a custom throat plate or buying a low clearance plate made for your saw.

Your fence needs to be strait and sturdy, and again for thin material make sure theres not a gap under the fence where the material can slide.


Whistling Noise after shut off Both faucets and toilet have whistling noises just as I shut off the valves or the toilet finishes flushing.  I don't hear it in any other part of the house.  Any ideas?  It just started a week ago.  Thanks

I'd say the water pressure is too high. As the valve closes, the water rushes through a smaller and smaller hole.  The pitch of the sound of the water moving through the valve increases, as the size of the hole decreases.

Whistling works similarly.  You make a small hole with your lips and tongue, and force air through the hole.  The harder you blow, the louder the sound. The smaller the hole, the higher the pitch.

Measure the water pressure, and adjust/install a pressure reducing valve.


Good way to fix a notched railing post? My front porch has a corner railing post that is notched on two sides. The top is 4x4, but only about 1.5"x1.5" goes below deck and it's fastened to the rim joists there. It is quite wobbly, and not safe, and I'd like to fix it properly. Is there a way to do this relatively simply?

The real answer is to replace the post. But if you need a quick fix, perhaps a couple of braces would work. I think that a wood post anchor might work too, if you can slip it over or under the post (maybe it's too late for that).


Can I repurpose pine tree stump grindings I recently had some pine trees removed from my yard and had the stumps ground down.  Now I need to get rid of the stump grinds.

Can I use the stump grounds for a playground area or are there reasons I should not?

If not there, is there an issue using it under a deck (always shaded area with minimal foot traffic)?

Depends.  I use substantial amounts of chipped wood in my tree farm operation.  I find that I like to wear gloves working with it because the ends are sharp, and it's a source of splinters.  It's painful to walk on barefoot.

If you use it as garden mulch, it should be composted for about 3 months first.  Pine in particular is loaded with terpenes which is tough on other plants.  3 months kept damp and the terpenes decompose or leach out.

If you have a garden plot, or an annuals bed, compost it for one season, then spade it into the plot.  Wood chips hold moisture and will reduce the needed frequency of watering.

Do NOT use it as a thin layer in muddy areas.  It mixes with the mud, and you end up with a region that never dries out.  If you wish to use it this way, put down a layer of geotextile first, then put a layer of wood chips on that.

You can also just spread it out with a rake, and after a rain go over it with a roller.  It will gradually decompose into your sod.


Why is my electric furnace warm if it isn't being used? Our furnace has not been used as the weather has been fairly warm lately. It may have turned on for a minute the previous night, but I do not know. Anyways I was walking past furnace and noticed I could feel heat coming through the covers. I removed the cover and it was pretty warm. The blower motor felt kind of hot. I flipped the breaker to cut off power supply to the furnace. I did not smell burnt wiring but there was a hot smell. How could the furnace have been so warm when it hasn't been ran regularly the last few weeks?

Could be a faulty thermostat. If you have a multimeter, check if there is any potential on the output, change the setting for a temperature, higher than the ambient and check again. If the electrical potential is the same you may need to change the thermostat. IDK, but I think the heater can't just turn on by itself- there must be a stuck relay/contactor or the thermostat is faulty.


Combining Two Lines Into Single Circuit I have a circuit that's starting to reach its limits and there's an outlet (on that circuit) mounted to the stud almost directly below the circuit breaker. My goal is to create a dedicated circuit for the outlet below the breaker panel and I thought I had a simple solution to my problem, but it turns out one line goes into the outlet and two lines come out of it. My original assumption was that only a single line came out of the outlet box and I originally planned to simply move that line directly to the breaker, but when I determined there are actually two lines coming out of the box, my plan fell apart.
What are my options? The only one I can think of is to create three individual circuits, but that's not really what I would like to do because one of the lines runs to an electric blower that probably draws no more than five amps (if even).
Just to recap, I want to move the outlet below the breaker to a dedicated circuit and I would like the two lines running out of the outlet box to stay on the original circuit. Is there any good way to accomplish this?

A breaker box is a perfectly legitimate junction box.
Assuming (since you mentioned moving the cable to the breaker) that you have adequate slack in the cables to move them to the breaker box:
So (if the breaker is not listed for two wires - varies with many details, I know the SquareD QO ones I have are, for copper wires of limited gauge range) just put a pigtail on the breaker and wirenut it to the two hot wires from the two cables you want to relocate, and either do the same from the neutral bar (Only ONE wire per hole on the Neutral bar, though) and wirenut to the neutrals on the cables you are relocating, or use two holes on the neutral bar if you have room to do each of the neutrals you are relocating.
Likewise, connect the grounds to the ground bar (which might or might not be the same as the neutral bar, depending if it's a main panel or a sub-panel) and which might be listed for more than one ground wire per hole (check the box label for that information, and the required torque value for the ground and neutral bar screws. Breaker torque value my also be noted, or you may have to look on the breaker itself for that number.)
Use a torque screwdriver (or low-value inch-pound torque wrench) to make the connections properly.


Sprinkler System Wire cut accidentally I moved into this house last year. When the cable guy came last year he cut the sprinkler system wire by accident. At the time I didn't know what these wires were for. After spending hours today, I found out the wires he cut were for the sprinkler system.
My question is, what is the safest way to reattach the wires? I found that these wires only have 24 volts current. Can I buy 10 feet sprinker wire and reattach it or do I need some sort of junction box? I cannot replace the entire wire since it's going through the garden bed and it's a long distance.

It's going from that black tape to the bottom of the siding

Use a junction box anyway

The goal is to make the splices in dry space so they don't fail later.  The primary water-keeping-out strategy is to have the wires enter the bottom. Trying to watertight electrical boxes "like a boat" is generally a lost cause.

Go to a real electrical supply house.  Get

an outdoor junction box with 2 entries on one side, ideally 4" x4" so you have extra room to work.
A blank cover for the box
Two strain reliefs of the correct size  for the cables. They should not be watertight strain reliefs.  And
A few small (blue) wire nuts, ideally Ideal.  Don't over-buy the nuts, they have little use outside thermostat, doorbell and rewiring fluorescent lights.

The reason to use a proper electrical supply house is the lid will fit the box, and the strain reliefs will be the correct size and type.  Also it will take 3 minutes instead of an hour. And will be cheaper. And won't involve bad advice!

On the bench, plug and seal any holes not on the bottom with the supplied plugs and silicone. Strip wire ends.  Mount the box, fish the wires in with the strain reliefs, and make your splices.  Cover on, done!


What precautions should I take when burning pine firewood? I've heard that burning pine in your fireplace can cause creosote to build up in the chimney.  If I get my chimney swept at the beginning of the season should i be safe to burn pine for the rest of the winter?  Are there any other precautions I should take before/while doing this?

There is no hard and fast rule.  A few fires a season may be OK, a daily fire that is not very hot may not be.    Creosote builds up from vapors condensing on the interior surface of the chimney, so the amount of buildup will depend on how hot the fire is, chimney construction, and possibly even what time of year the wood was cut (there is more sap in the wood in spring, for example).

I would definitely discuss this with your chimney sweep; if they are knowledgeable, they can help assess the chimney construction and probably give you some tips on how to minimize creosote buildup with your particular configuration.

Keep in mind that chimney fires can be extremely dangerous to your house, so it would pay to be conservative.


Well pump issues for irrigation system I bought a house a few years ago and am finally getting around to working on the irrigation system.

I have what I believe are two separate wells for outside water - one for the irrigation system and the other for a few spigots around the yard. I am in central Florida - I believe that matters regarding well type/depth?

Here is the well for the irrigation system:

The top of that is about 6” below the ground level. Although it starts up and I can feel the ground vibrating around it, I don’t get any water from it. Could there be anything I’m doing wrong, or does feeling the ground vibrate mean that it is definitely running and needs to be pulled to investigate?

EDIT (5/5/2020): After pulling the pump up about 4 foot and lowering it back down, it now slowly pumps out a steady stream of very dirty water. The foot valve seems to work fine - it starts putting out water immediately when turning it on, so it's not leaking back down, at least not quickly.

Am I safe in assuming that this points to a dirty/clogged filter at the bottom? And is the only fix a pull and clean?

Here is the well and pump for the second one:

This one has a pressure tank, unlike the irrigation well. I’ve tried priming this one via the priming plug and by back-feeding the spigots. The water that I put in gets pressure-fed back out to me, but I get nothing more. Could I have a blocked pipe?

EDIT (5/5/2020): I determined that the tank had a bad bladder, so I'm going to replace that. After letting the pump run for a long time, it does bring water up, in cycles. It will start to pump out water, and then it stops for a few seconds. This cycle goes on forever.

Does this cycling point to an issue with the pump or with the well?

The jet pump may have a failed jet or plugged with sediment , that you can feel vibration on the submersible would concern me that must be really in bad shape to feel movement.


Are 4 toggle bolts enough to hold up a 32in TV? My studs are 16 inches apart, but the stud is exactly centered on where I want my TV on the wall. The horizontal bars for my wall mount are 25 inches long (not long enough to reach the next studs to the left and right). So I am thinking I would need to use toggle bolts. Will toggle bolts be enough to hold the TV on the wall?

My TV is a Sony Bravia KDL32BX420
Weight: 20lbs

Mount: Cheetah Mounts APTMM2B

Use toggles, but also put at least one good fastener into the stud. (Even if you have to drill a new hole/holes in the mount.)


Septic tank treatments ok for dry wells? We have a property where as best we can tell they ran the kitchen sink drain into a dry well buried in the ground. We have plans to re do this into the septic system but in the mean time, can I use septic tank treatment like ridx in this think to help break down some solids?

I'm certain it's just greywater with probably food scraps.

A septic tank breaks the waste into three categories: 1) scum that floats to the top, 2) waste that settles to the bottom and is eaten by bacteria and decomposes the solids, and 3) effluent (liquid) that is in the middle and runs out to the drainfield.

There is a delicate balance in your septic tank to keep the bacteria healthy and working. When you use too much soap, Clorox, etc. it will kill the bacteria and the septic tank will stop working. Adding a treatment neutralizes the soap, etc. and keeps the bacteria healthy.

Your dry well does not have this layer of waste and bacteria. Rather, the waste is scattered throughout the well. So, no, adding a treatment like Rid-x will not help.


How can I hide or dress up a large wall of debris? We have a large "debris wall," made up of stumps, tree trunks, and other leftovers from when our lot was cleared, to one side of our driveway.  We considered having it removed, but it provides a privacy barrier between us and our neighbor.  If we removed it, that would leave a wide open area.

You can see, in the photo, part of the edge of the driveway in the lower left and again in the upper left, as it goes over a rise going to the house.  There isn't much room between the debris wall and the driveway.  You can also see part of the house.  We worked hard on the house design and on the yard near the house to create the feeling, when you drive up, that you're entering a story book setting.

It would be nice to find a way to hide, dress up, camouflage, or otherwise make this easier on the eyes.  We considered ivy, but that can spread and get out of control easily (on both our side and our neighbor's side).  If we plant trees or bushes, they'd have to go at least 20' high and block the view during the winter as well as the summer.

Last summer a lot of pokeweed grew up on part of the wall and, while it's a weed, it's not ugly and helps hide the debris.  But during the winter, when it dies out, while it's still easier to look at than the debris, it doesn't seem to want to grow on the end you can see in the photo.

We'd like to hide it but make it look natural or at least interesting and not out of place with the mood we're creating for the house and yard.  I wouldn't be opposed to building something, but that would be expensive and a lot of work if I just built some kind of wall along the 70' or so of this mess.

Edit: This debris wall is at least 15' tall, maybe 20' in some places, from 50-70' long and maybe 30' or more wide.  It's also not fully stable.  While everything seems to have settled, there is no way I'd climb on it to reach the top or so I can spread or shovel anything on it.

Plant desirable native shrubs and vines that would grow over the irregular surface and transform it into an aesthetically pleasing feature. You might have to add soil to fill voids, and you could mix leaves into this soil for fill.

You could put up a barn owl box to entice one or a pair to live there and provide natural rat control. If you don't have barn owls where you are, then you probably have screech owls. We have had boxes for screech owls in our back yard for almost 40 years and they do some rat control, but not like a barn owl or barred owl would.

Have you had any suggestions that in the current condition your yard is not in compliance with residential code? We have a natural yard in a sea of manicured lots and we have gotten three citations for code violations over the past 10 years. The underlying criticism is that our lot (10,000 sq ft) is not neat and so surely must be in violation.

The code inspectors have so far ruled that our yard is in basic compliance under the xeriscape allowances in the city code, but they always find one or two technical violations or common violations that are mostly overlooked. Last time the only thing we had to do was trim trees in front to be above 14 ft from the street surface.


Identify this programmable thermostat? A tenant in my rental home had the programmable thermostat shown below installed by an electrician friend. Unfortunately, neither the tenant nor the friend has its instructions and can't remember where it was purchased. I've taken it apart and can find no branding on the outside cover or on the circuit board. I can't identify it by scanning through Google images. Can someone identify this thermostat so I can track down an owner/operator manual? Thank you!

It's a Braeburn 5400 thermostat, or a knock off of a Braeburn 5400.

5300-5400%20Tri-Fold.pdf

5400%20User%20Manual_0.pdf


How do I repair this friction ABS kitchen sink pipe fitting I have an ABS pipe fitting under my kitchen sink which appears to be held on by friction (white piece just above the p-trap). After the p-trap the pipe makes a long run to the left where it's not really supported by anything. It seems the weight of this run caused the pipe to slide down off the drain pipe, causing a huge gusher.

I'm not totally sure how this is intended to work, but it seems like the white fitting just holds the p-trap and everything on by friction? If so, what should I do - replace the white piece? Anything else? Also, how do I know what the correct height of the fitting and slope of the lateral pipe should be. The lateral pipe was fairly level before, but a friend noted that ideally it should slope a bit. Not sure if I'll mess anything up by adding slope.

(Note: zip-ties in the pic are my temporary safeguard).

The white fitting should be on top of a small compression ring, so when reassembling the pipes you would add the white female threaded fitting, the compression ring (thin side pointed down), and then the black male threaded side of the fitting. When you tighten this by hand, the compression ring will get squeezed between the two pipes and make a water tight seal.

For the slope, 1/4" per foot of run should be your target.


multiple motion detectors wired together I would like to wire multiple motion detector light kits in parallel, so when one motion detector is tripped it will turn on all three lights.  Each light kit has 2 LED lights on it.  Schematic and text description below.

That looks fine. Only thing is, every motion detector I have seen only has one white, and all the whites (neutrals) get spliced together.

At the motion detector:

Black hot in - MD black

Blacks from the two lights - MD red

ALL whites in the box together


Can I Remove One Side of Wall for Shelves Our bathroom is a bit small and I want to take advantage of all the space I can for making shelves. I would like to remove the drywall on the bathroom side of an interior wall between 2 studs and use thin pallet wood to frame in a shelf that will protrude out from the wall a bit. Are there any rules or restrictions when doing this? This is on an interior wall. The other side of the wall is a bedroom closet.

Edit to add details

The shelves will start 18" from the edge of the shower, but they will be about 3.5' off the floor and will be replacing drywall (although it may be the green mold resistant stuff). I'm going to trim the back and sides with some thinner gauge pallet wood, and the shelves themselves will be made from thicker pallet slats. Behind the pallet wood, the studs and drywall will be painted dark brown. I'm thinking I will need to fill the cracks/nail holes in the wood to keep water out. White caulk would look interesting in the weathered wood. Will a full moisture barrier be needed behind the trim? Or can I just fill the cracks as suggested?

I do not see any specific problems with embedding a shelf as you propose. Particularly due to the fact that the other side of the wall faces into a bedroom closet. Places where this may not be a good idea are:

An exterior wall where the the embedded shelf would interfere with having insulation in the wall.
Locating the embedded shelf in a high moisture area adjacent to a shower.
If installation of the shelf requires removing any moisture resistant wall covering including vapor barrier, cement board or tiles.

In fact many bathroom medicine cabinets are simply a shelving unit that is installed between two studs.

It is possible to build an embedded shelving unit in such way that you trim it out nicely so that the actual studs and back side of the adjacent drywall are all covered. This could include using a piece of appropriate thin sheet material to cover the drywall. Here is a nice example:


LED Bulbs - Which Measure is the Best Indicator Of Efficiency I have been on a mission to slow replace all the bulbs to LEDs. At first, I use to judge the LED bulb's efficiency by looking at the % Energy Saving, that all bulbs have at the front of the box. However, I realised, its not a good measure of the bulb's efficiency.

So now I look at the two measures : wattage & lumens and divide the lumens by wattage to get the efficiency of the LED bulb I am purchasing. As an example, I try to go for a bulb which is atleast 100 lumens / watt. Unfortunately, most of the LEDs I have already installed are well below that (going around 85 lumens / watt).

My question is, is this the correct way to judge? How does one tell which are the most efficient bulbs on the market?

Watts per lumen is the way I evaluate With more lumens per watt  is the best way because you have to look into the numbers to figure out how it was calculated for savings based numbers. I have seen 2 LED lamps with the same voltage & lumens show quite different saving numbers. The last thing to think about is the color frequency. For my home and plant I go for higher numbers for 2 reasons, 5k+ helps to reduce SAD and looks more like daylight. Down around 3k looks yellow/ orange and althow some lamps may score higher energy savings at a lower # this is based on incandescent lamps that match this color.  the "warmer 6k lamp" used less power and to the human eye looks brighter the older technology led were advertised as more cost savings based on lower initial cost (due to older technology). Added per request; I live in Oregon where SAD is a problem because of cloudy sky's a broad spectrum higher color frequency light ( in the blue spectrum) helps reduce the affects when I worked at HP the plant was relamped with 6k lamps to combat this issue. Some rooms use only yellow light to prevent the photo masks from being exposed a test was done in 1 area where the operators that worked in the photo area spent at least 15 minutes with direct exposure to 6k & 6.5k at higher than normal light levels and the "sick time" for the area dropped after that they did the plant relamp and 3-4 years later the average "sick time" across the entire site was reduced by 3% according to the site health nurse.


Max distance for 2x8 pergola rafter span Building pergola with two rows of 3 posts. I'd have 2x10 beams mounted on the posts supporting the 2x8 rafters, but I'm curious how far apart I can push my rows of beams. Ideally I would love to have them 13' apart with the rafters cantilevered 18" on either end but I'm worried I will have sag.

I should note that I am planning on having 2x2 slats on top of rafters spaced every 12". Also, will be using PT lumber.
Thanks

I would think you'd be safe at 13'. Although it's not an exact comparison, 13' seems to be "in the ballpark" considering there won't be much load on them.

Here's what I'm basing my opinion on:

Max. Live Load 20 lbs/ft2 (956 N/m2)

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/horizontal-roof-rafter-span-d_1484.html

And also using this calculator to try various wood species and spans, etc:

https://www.awc.org/codes-standards/calculators-software/spancalc

I think how the "rafters" are attached might have some significance for you too.


Compression fit necessary for waste pipe Ive never done plumbing so im trying to learn some basics. I have this waste pipe (i believe thats what its called) sticking out of the wall. I believe its a 1.5" waste pipe.

I want to connect it to this p trap kit i put together.

I obviously cannot just stick them together as the waste pipe does not have a threaded connector.

What is it i need to connect the p trap to the waste pipe? I believe it maybe called a waste pipe compression fitting? If thats what i need what size do i need?

Im confused because the ptrap says its 1.5" but the waste pipe is thicker and also i think is 1.5".  I think the waste pipe is 1.5" because i can connect another pipe to it to that states its 1.5". And yet the waste pipe is thicker then the p trap. I.e. This image...

That t thing in the middle clearly says 1.5 on it (i presume inches).

As a bonus question what kind of adapters do i need to use if the waste drain is not center with where the sink drain will be?

Edit

The fourth picture is just for illustration purposes i dont plan to use the sanitary t. It was just to show what i meant about my confusion between the difference in sizing.

Your forth photo is not correct, the fitting in the photo is a sanitary tee and is not used in that location. there should be one in the wall and that is what the waste pipe is glued to.

Your third image is correct except you need a 1-1/2-in dia PVC Trap Adapter Fitting

to glue onto the waste pipe coming from the wall. It glues on to the waist pipe and has treads to accept the compression nut you have with your p trap kit. You will then slide the p trap pipe into the adapter and compress the washer to the adapter by tightening the compression nut to the adapter.

To account for an off center p trap alignment you can swing the p trap sideways ( if it is not to far off center ) and then adjust the length of the pipe going into the waste adapter. You may need an extension or to cut to length depending on how close you are. If you are to far off center you can use a flexible pipe, i do not like them and avoid them if i can. i prefer to use solid glued pipe and 45% fitting. ( Or a 90% elbow and come at from the side. )

If that is what is required then you need to extend the waste pipe out with a 1 1/2 inch coupling to the distance needed to come into it from the 45% angle, on the end of this pipe you put the 45% fitting then  another short section  1 1/2 pipe and the adapter glued on to that so you can run the p trap pipe into it.
( try to make this short section of pipe long enough so that if in the future you have to cut it to make changes you have enough to glue a new fitting to. )
 Dry fit everything, this will take some thought and planning, since the p trap is swing-able you have some leeway for the waste pipe extension. Make all your cuts and dry fit it all together BEFORE YOU GLUE. If the distance from the p trap to waste pipe extension is to great you can buy a slip joint extension to bridge the distance. It works on the same compression principle and you cut it to the proper length.

BE AWARE : when you dry fit you can not get as tight a fit as when you glue I.E. When you glue the distance will change slightly because the pipes and fittings will slide further onto/into one another. I try to account for this when i make my cuts but because the p trap swings you have some wiggle room.

There are many angles here and therefor more than one way to skin this cat. Try to keep the number of turns that the water has to make to a minimum to insure a better flow. I find it is better to buy all the fittings and pipe i might possible need and take back what i do not use to avoid multiple trips to the store.


Use 6-30 plug on 14-50 outlet I am planning to install a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage on a 40A breaker (Romex 8/3 cable from breaker to outlet) for use with an electric car charger. The charger will charge my wife's car in the wee hours overnight.

The charger also has the option of coming with a NEMA 6-50 plug rather than the 14-50, if that's a better option.

Sometimes in the winter, I like to work in the garage. So, I got a plug-in heater that has a NEMA #6-30 plug and requires a 30A circuit.

I'd like to be able to unplug the charger and plug in the heater. Since the heater draws less power than the charger, as long as the circuit is sized for the charger I think this should be OK. Assuming so, here are what I see as my options:

Chop the 6-30 plug off the heater and replace with a 14-50 (or 6-50) plug.
Get an adapter from 6-30 to 14-50 (or 6-50).

Would appreciate any thoughts on this: Is it feasible? Are there better options (aside from running a separate circuit for the heater)? Is there any advantage to getting the charger with a 6-50 rather than a 14-50? Is 8/3 Romex sufficient?

Thanks,

AEP

Chop the 6-30 plug off the heater and replace with a 14-50 (or 6-50) plug.

That's going to be the cheapest option.  Not bad if you know you're never going to move that heater around.  These plugs are readily available at home improvement stores.

  Get an adapter from 6-30 to 14-50 (or 6-50).

Flexible and reusable parts option.  Modeately more expensive, and those are not very common adapters to find.  You will probably have to build one from parts.  I'd buy a 14-50 stove code, and outdoor rated outlet box to put the 6-30 in.

Better yet, get an outletbox that's twice as large, and put a 6-30 and 14-50 on it, so you can keep both plugged in at all times.  Just keep in mind if you use both at once you're likely to trip the breaker just as if you turn on too many appliances in a kitchen at once.

  Are there better options (aside from running a separate circuit for the heater)?

You could run a subpanel.

If I was you, I'd run a 100A service from the main panel to a subpanel in the garage.  Garages are a great place for a subpanel.  If you decide you want to run both the charger and heater at once, you can, and you can add capacity for a compressor, or power tools later on easily, too.

I'd recommend if you add a subpanel in your garage to include a pair of 20A outlets nippled to the sides of it just to have it available.

You could then hardwire the charger and heater, and save cost and eliminate visual clutter of the outlets and plugs.

  Is there any advantage to getting the charger with a 6-50 rather than a 14-50?

I would not expect there to be much difference, but you didn't say what chargers you're referring to.  I would buy whatever's cheapest, and I'd probably hardwire it to the subpanel to save on connector cost and risk of connectors breaking.

  Is 8/3 Romex sufficient?

I'm going to refer you to an NEC ampacity table so you can make that decision for yourself, but I wouldn't use 8AWG for 50Amps

Assuming you're using Copper and its going to be instaled in a wall, I'd use 6AWG.

Or run the subpanel with 1/0 (one ought) aluminum or 1AWG copper, and then I'd be comfortable using 8 AWG to a charger directly adjacent to the subpane.


Which painting tool is better? sponge paint roller roller, woven roller or spray paint?. Do you have a preference? I have a large surface to paint, a house actually. I've used all tools before and I wanted your advice on which tool do you prefer for larger surfaces. I have to prime, and put 2 finish layers.
EDIT:
So to be precise:
10 feet walls, about 8 rooms, 1800 sq ft house. Brand new gyproc just installed. So I'll first do a coat of primer of course. I was wondering if I could dare spray paint to go faster then roller, I've only sprayed outside before. It will take me forever with a roller to put 3 layers. For now it's all white with 1 accent wall per room and texture doesn't really matter that much to me, it's mostly speed and make a good enough job.

They are all "best" in certain conditions.
Spraying is "best" for large surface areas when overspray can be mitigated for example.
Rollers are good for relatively smooth surfaces and
Brushes are good for tiny difficultly shaped areas and cutting in.


How can I remove the glass domes from my light fixtures? This is embarrassing to ask, but I can't figure out how to change the light bulbs in my house.

The light fixtures are unusual and when I first bought my house I thought they were a selling point because they looked so lovely and unique. But now I can't figure out how to change the bulbs when they burn out.

I have tried rotating and pulling down on it, but the nuts prevent any movement. I have tried looking for secret latches, etc., but nothing has worked.

I've shown the fixtures to others and no one can quite figure it out. I have three that still work and two that have been burned out for over a year. Please help! And thank you.

This looks like fixtures I have had, which are held in place by three screws.  It's hard to be certain from the photo, but if it is like this, then you should loosen the screws by hand bit by bit until you are able to remove the globe.  That should expose the bulb and the socket it's screwed into.

If not, then please climb up higher to take a photograph that shows the part of the globe that comes closest to the ceiling.


Wiring 2 lights with 2 switches in a double gang box I am trying to wire 2 lights, one ceiling and one over my door for my porch. I have 2 switches in a gangbox already as well. This was the previous set up before I redid our porch.

Currently have 3 14/2 cables in my gangbox, 2 14/2 cables in the junction box for the ceiling light, 1 14/2 cable in the outside light.

Is there a proper set up for this, most things I have tried either only turns on one light over the door or blows a fuse in my panel

In the switch box ("gangbox" is not what we call it) One of those 14/2 cables is the hot feed from the panel.

In that box:
All of the bare wires (grounds) get connected together.

All of the white wires (neutrals) get connected together.

The switches are fed from the black wire from the panel.

The switches are then connected to one each of the black wires to the ceiling light and outside respectively.

Good luck and stay safe!


How do I seal an unused washing machine drain? I have an unused washing machine drain in part of my house and it's started to smell because (I assume) the water in the u-pipe has dried up. My objective is to stop the smell and I guess the only way to do this is to seal this. I want the seal to be temporary in case I want to use this again in the future. I've tried putting scotch tape over the hole but it won't stick and I'm afraid that tape in general will come loose at some point in the future.

Before I go off and buy some heavy duty duct tape or the like does anyone have some obvious answer I've missed?

Pour some RV antifreeze into the trap. It won't evaporate quite as fast as water, and will stop the sewer gas until the rest of this is sorted out.

A sink stopper won't do what's needed here. A test plug  goes in the pipe, which is probably no more than 1-1/2 to 2 inches. The seal is formed by winding up the screw so that the rubber seal is expanded against the walls of the pipe. I have no idea where you think you can stick a 3-1/2" stopper in the washing machine box you've pictured. You'll need to cut the hole for the drain properly if, as it appears, it's not really matching the hole in the pipe.


Bathroom exhaust fan turn on with light or independent switch I have two toggle switches, one for the bathroom light and one for the exhaust fan to operate independantly.  Each has it's own 14-2 wire run to it from the switch.  I want the fan to come on always with the light (which it does not now) but also keep the ability to turn on the fan and let it run longer with the lights off (use it independantly).  Is there some way to wire this or use 3-way switches to accomplish it as the kids do not always turn on the fan when showering...

Install a humidity sensor fan control, like this one from Leviton. It will automatically turn on the fan, when it senses excess humidity in the room.

humidity sensor fan control http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/43/43ea781d-e83f-41d3-98c2-90fec341f3c6_300.jpg

You should be able to find them from other manufacturers as well, this was simply the first example I found when searching.


Carpeting over a ceramic tile patio- backerboard? We have a 20ft x 10' second floor patio outside the master bedroom. Structurally, it is sound.  The tile matches bedroom and rest of house- looks very nice.

However, we want to put a good outdoor carpet on the patio. While yes, the tile is same as in the house, based on past experience, a carpet traps that chalky dust that collects on a tile patio so you don't track it into the house.

Plus the carpet deadens sounds, etc.  We don't want to destroy the tile for resale and I know that glue/nailers will destroy the tile.

So.... would placing exterior grade plywood subfloor and/or backboard over the tile and screwing that into just a few spots around the perimeter work to minimize tile damage?

The patio gets lots of sun and we get very, very little rain on it due to a significant roof overhang all the way around.

Or, perhaps put a plastic barrier between tile and backerboard would work as well.  Then, glue down the carpet as normal?

Most good outdoor grade carpets have a rubber mesh bottom.  Just hit lay down 8-10 double sided tape pieces.  The adhesive will come right off tiles with hot water.  If you want to allow for the carpet to be washed you can use Velcro strips.


Is this 110v 1hp motor reversible by swapping leads? When wired for 115v, is this motor reversible by swapping leads?

http://i.imgur.com/nX7gCxX.jpg

Yes:

tag the red lead on T4 with electrical tape
remove the red leads from T4 and 3, leaving the black lead connected to 3
connect the tagged red lead to 3
connect the untagged red lead to T4

(This is how you implement the "swap the red leads" procedure mentioned briefly on the nameplate.)


How to connect a 3 wire plug to a 2 wire outlet? Bought a vent fan that came with 3 wires, but homes here are only 2 wires (not sure which but no ground). What to do with the extra neutral wire? Should i cut it or twist it with the other two??

Disclosure: I'm not an electrician, but I know a few and do my own electrical work to be inspected by more qualified people.

Generally in the manual for such appliances they advise grounding the green wire to the electrical box you would be installing the fan in.

This doesn't really gain much of the benefit of having a ground wire available, as it most likely will not be running to a proper ground.  Regardless, in older houses where ground wiring isn't available most of the time (mine is like this) that's the best you can do.

That said, you may want to consider if possible replacing an upstream outlet near this device with a gfci outlet.  It doesn't require a ground wire, but you can set up ground fault protection for this device without it.  I've been told that is one way to get grounded (eg. 3 prong) outlets in a house with older wiring.   You would have a circuitbreaker -> gfci -> 3 prong outlet configuration.   Then the 3 prong outlet is protected by the gfci.

This might be useful reading as well:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/replacing-two-prong-receptacles


Faced or Unfaced Fiberglass in a basement stud cavity that has IPS Foil Board? Insulating in Zone 5. Basement is 90% below grade, maybe 8" to 12" exposed foundation around the top of the basement wall.
Applying R-6 Foil Faced Poly Iso to the poured concrete wall, then standing 2x4 stud walls tight against the foamboard so they help hold it in place while the glue on the concrete side dries.  Then going to run wire and such thru the stud cavities and want to insulate that space as well.  Since Foil Faced Poly-Iso is considered a vapor barrier with very low perm rating, I am thinking better to use unfaced fiberglass, but on the same note it takes more work to install unfaced fiberglass, and cutting around boxes is now messy and doesn't lay as nice.
I'm thinking that really there should be no moisture between the foamboard foil edge and the kraft faced insulation, but worried that if something happened, say a leak or whatever, that moisture may get trapped in the stud cavity.
Any input, or experience from others who have done this?  I believe the foil faced insulation will be great and preventing any moisture from outside migrating or condensating inside the walls.

You don't want to apply a double barrier as this may result in the dreaded "moisture sandwich" inside the wall.
Use unfaced batts. In fact I'd recommend rockwool over fiberglass for your use case due to its moisture resilience and easier working.


How should I terminate this wiring and install a new outlet? We bought a house with a old main panel and previous owners installed a sub panel in the garage they also had two very large dryer size outlets one in the wall and as expected and one nailed to a 2x4.

I thought I could get the Wiring for the 2x4 outlet completely out the wall but it is hung up in the wall. I also removed the 2nd dryer outlet and come to find out it continues on to an unknown destination.

I want to use the space in the sub panel to power a microwave, and for heat at a later time, but i needed to remove the 2x4 outlet because  it’s unsafe. The 2 dryer outlet was incidental trying to follow my hang up from the 2x4 outlet.

What is the best fix considering, I want to terminate the 2x4 outlet completely and would eventually run new heating unit. Should I terminate both ends in a box and put one in the wall and one in my garage attic? Or is there another option? I can’t get it out the wall?

What do I do with this other outlet that has an unknown destination?

the large black bundle went to the 2x4 out let the white bundle went to a standard dry out let

This is the outlet that was on the the 2x4, the other one is  smaller and I will have to add it separately.

That feeder is HUGE and can support a heck of a lot more circuits than just 8.  Let's make the most of that. You're talking maybe $150 here to do this right, and you'll be so, so much happier with the situation when you are done.  Believe you me!

This panel already has a huge defect: neutrals and grounds are on the same bar - you can't do that!  The ground is in fact a separate supply wire, but they've just wasted it by attaching it to the neutral bar. But that's typical: this subpanel job was C H E A P, and the guy skipped the ground bar to buy another latté, I guess. The last guy really liked latté's, clearly.

In for a penny, in for a pound

One of the worst electrical problems you can have is too small of a panel in terms of the number of spaces.

Your main panel is full, that's why the last guy added the subpanel. The subpanel is full because the last guy really wanted to have a latté instead of a bigger panel.

**Since you've already busted out the drywall, and are already "in it" for a bunch of drywall repair, let's yank that subpanel and replace it with a much larger subpanel - something on the order of 24 or 30 space.

If space is a factor, consider Eaton CH.

This panel has issues anyway; it's got breakers from 2 different manufacturers in there. That's not allowed.  It's not a "brand loyalty" thing, it's a safety thing - breakers are not safe in competitor panels because the bus stabs are shaped differently, and they won't clamp on properly.

The "thru Romex" cables are interesting.  There's nothing wrong with that.  I bet they either terminate or splice in that switch junction box right below this panel.  So you can pull them out of there and do the exact same trick through the replacement subpanel.

Now that you have 24/30 spaces, just go ahead and put the circuits you are removing ... back in the panel.

There's nothing wrong with those circuits as-is.

Although you are onto something - 3-wire dryer outlets (called NEMA 10) are dangerous and bad and must go.  But these are not that.

The picture you showed is called NEMA 6 (specifically NEMA 6-50 for 50A) -- it is 240V with no neutral, but it does indeed have ground.  Great for welders but even better for electric vehicles.  Oh yes, I'd want to keep at least one of those in a garage!  Resale value if nothing else.  "Oh look, dear. They already have a socket for our charger! That's $1000 we don't have to spend. Let's make an offer."

You didn't picture the other ones, but if they are similar, that is fine.

The socket bolted to a 2x4, there is nothing wrong with that, that is called "surface mounting".  That is fine if a) the socket is mounted inside a junction box (I prefer metal for surface mounting; it takes damage better), and b) the cable is reasonably protected wherever it is exposed.

So rather than untangle the potential mess of "what are these outlets and where do the wires go?", I would just go ahead and put them back in the larger panel, and not worry about them.  Like I say, that NEMA 6-50 is legit and is pure resale value.  Can't speak to the others, haven't seen them, but they sound fine.


How can I avoid marking up a toilet with a toilet auger? For the sake of this question, assume that:

There is a clogged toilet that cannot be unclogged with a plunger
A toilet auger magically appears in the bathroom

It seems that the auger could leave a bit of a mess on the toilet (at least the part where the bottom hole is) because the end of the auger is a spiral shaped metallic thingy.

How could I avoid marking up the toilet if I were in such a situation?

Side Exhibit:

Let's say that all the advice is ignored and it turns out that the auger does leave marks. Can the marks be removed?

Edit:

Thanks for the answers. I've up-voted everyone's responses.

Unfortunately, reality kicked in the door by:

Leaving no marks from the auger or the metal bits
Leaving black marks where the bend at the bottom of the toilet auger goes (often covered with some sort of black plasticy or rubbery material)

So, my new question is:

How do I get those marks off the toilet?

I've had to use one a couple of times, and haven't had any problems with it marking the toilet.  The auger is flexible, so it's going to bend before you damage the porcelain... that is, unless you're using a lot more force than you should be.  IME, the clog is softer than the porcelain: the auger will take the path of least resistance through the clog, so you just need to apply enough pressure to keep the bit moving forward.

More instructions for using one are on about.com, ehow.com and acmehowto.com.


How to flash a window when using insulating boards with air barrier included? We are going to re-insulate and re-side our 1947 home with new Roxul ComfortBatt, IsoClad 2 1/4" foam boards and some basic kaycan vinyl siding.

I have been looking at how to flash a window and have concluded that I'll need to remove an existing window, flash the frame and re-install it. All of the guides I have read use an air barrier that is not included in the foam board, meaning they can cover the window frame and cut the wrap in order to fold it into the frame and flash properly.

Like this:

What I am wondering is, what is the correct way to flash a window when using an air barrier that is stuck to the foam board insulation?

I was thinking of buying the smallest roll of House Wrap and just cutting a section out to cover up the width of the window, but if this is not necessary i'd rather not spend the time/money.

I can't find anything in the Isoclad manufacturer's website or the product manual.

Thanks!

You got it. Just install a piece of housewrap over your window, going past the window, maybe 4"+. Then seal thw housewrap to your foamboard using housewrap tape, or flashing tape.

Then, refer back your drawing there and cut as necessary.

Remember, you can hide all bad cuts with the tape.

Alternately, just flash the entire window frame in wide flashing tape and walk away. A tiny bit more expensive, but much better job.

Good luck with your project.


range hood with an offset We have an old and rusty range hood in our kitchen that needs to be replaced. It is 42" wide (over a 31" cooktop).

The problem is that the vent opening is not at the center of the hood (see picture). All we could find are standard hoods where the duct opening must be at the center (here for example).

Does anyone know a hood model that looks like this? or that can be easily modified to look like this? Or is a non-ducted hood our only chance?

Thanks

Never seen one like this - BUT have installed many a hood in cabinets where the vent did not end up exiting the center of the cabinet.  a combination of adjustable elbows will offset the vent if you have at least 15" height in the cabinet.  As a last resort flexible aluminum duct could be used but only if you have no other options.


What could cause my ceiling fan light to go off after 2 seconds of being on? The light in my Harbor Breeze ceiling fan stays lit for only 2 seconds. Otherwise the unit works great.  What do I need to do to fix this issue?

The bulb wattage is too high.  Try moving the wattages down a notch and this should alleviate the problem.


Why don't I see more progress when sanding my stair treads? Doing some DIY around the house, any suggestions would greatly help.
I want to refinish my indoor steps and railing(sand and repaint)
When i am trying to sand the steps its very hard to sand it, although i am applying pressure i dont see it sanding (no dust/powder).Basically nothing is happening. Sanding paper i am using is Grit 80.
Any ideas what i am doing wrong or what is missing?
Thanks in advance.

A vibrating or oscillating sander isn't going to be aggressive enough for that job. It's really only suitable for light finish sanding. You need something that spins, or at least something with a random orbit (more movement).
80 grit is probably a good choice for working through the varnish on your steps but you need the moves only a different type of sander provides or you'll grow old waiting. Part of the problem is that varnish clogs paper grit quickly--it doesn't let go like clean sawdust does.
You might also consider chemically stripping the varnish to hurry the restoration process. Sanding through it can be a real chore.
All that said, if you have the option of temporarily removing your treads, that's what I'd be doing. You'll have a difficult time getting satisfactory results around the edges with them installed. You'll have visible lines from the existing varnish and stain, and you may have visible surface level variation as well. If you can gently pop them out, pull the nails out the back side, and sand or strip fully in a workshop area, that's the ticket.


15 meter zinc gutter, flex enough to bend a little (0.5 degree)? I have a flat roof, ~ 150 m2. The roof is under a ~ 5 degree slope.

Since the roof is approx 15 meters long (by 10 meters wide), I was thinking to make (on the low side) the high point of the gutter in the center of the wall. Then install the drains on each side (125mm dia).

           drain          CENTER         drain
           (low)          (high)         (low)
             |--- 7500 mm --||-- 7500 mm --|
             |                             |
        (0.5% drop)                   (0.5% drop)

I would like to use zinc gutters (½ round), but I'm a bit concerned how to connect these at the center.

If I buy a long piece of zinc gutter (~ 6-10 meter), would this by itself be flex enough so I can achieve a 0.5% drop/pitch? Or would I need to solder two parts in the center under an angle?

Thanks!

Galvanized steel will easily take a small strain like that. The normal yield strength of steel is not reached until total strain is 0.5% strain. That is ,it would need to be held in place to prevent "springback" at 0.5 strain.  However , 0.2 % is permanent strain ( no springback). Or , extreme case ,you bend it slightly ( I doubt that will be necessary).  If you want a 6 m ( about 20 ft) length with no seam you will need to use aluminum , not galvanized steel.


Water still running after shutoff We have a waterpik handheld showerhead that is dripping. I shut off the water at the street, and the inlet valve on our instant hot water heater. The water at the faucets is off. I turned the shower faucet on to make sure water wouldn't flow, but water is flowing slowly out of the showerhead. Even when I turn the handle off and on again, it makes the gushing noise and more water comes out and then it slows down but never stops. How do I stop the water from coming out of the showerhead?

It sounds like you have more than 1 bad valve. The valve to the home is leaking and the ones to the shower are leaking. If really old you might turn a bit harder for a gate valve, if that won’t shut it off open a hose bib they are usually the lowest point on the system. Then pull the faucet stems and replace the washers. After replacing the washers on the shower I would be checking the shut off to the water heater also many have a cold water main shutoff at that location change that washer also. If you can shut off at the street then change the washer at the house shutoff and you should have fixed everything.
I purchased a kit with 2 or 3 different sized washers they look like little volcanos
These are healed in place with brass screws my kit came with some of those also.
Over the years I have repaired hundreds of valves mostly with the washers and some valve stem packing I replace them and still have the metal box (tells you how old it is)
Every home owner should get a kit like this only 10-20$ and start adding as you do other valves, mine also has orings for washerless faucets now you can fix the valves in just a couple minutes in most cases for under a dollar.
Worst case you may need a seat cutter / reamer but most of the time a new washer will do the job.
I am sure there are videos online to provide live examples on how to do it.


What is an air conditioner compressor hard start kit and how does it work? My air conditioner compressor wasn't functioning properly recently. The compressor wouldn't start when the start relay energized. A HVAC technician diagnosed the problem nebulously as "It needs a hard start kit because the compressor is getting old and tired."

The compressor is a machine. It doesn't get tired. I am asking for a precise description of the components in a hard start kit and how they're connected to the compressor.

Residential A/C compressors are generally single phase motors and all single phase motors do not naturally rotate on their own, they need something to START them rotating. There are numerous ways to do that, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. For A/C compressors, they use what's called a "Capacitor Start" method wherein a capacitor is put into the motor circuit for the first second or so in order to get it to start rotating, then once it has begun rotating in the correct direction it is taken out of the circuit again with a device called a "Potential Relay" (in most cases) that knows when the motor gets to speed.

A "Hard Start" kit is just a bigger capacitor for the motor and new a Potential Relay suitable for that bigger capacitor. The working principle behind his recommendation is that your existing motor starting capacitor was sized for when the motor was new and fresh, now the bearings are wearing and there is more friction, so that original capacitor is not strong enough to make the motor begin rotating. Some people also seem to believe that capacitors get "weak" over time (they don't; they either work or they fail, there is no "weakening").

There is some debate as to the validity of that concept though, because motor people know that over sizing a capacitor does not make up for bad mechanics and in fact comes with a new set of problems, otherwise the motor mfr would have just used a larger capacitor to begin with. The original purpose of a "Hard Start" kit was actually intended to deal with situations where your line voltage is too low for the motor to start, so the larger capacitor gave it a boost. Sometimes it can be true that when your A/C was first installed, the line power was higher and now so many people in your area have added A/C units and/or other big loads that it is causing a voltage drop that you didn't used to have. So my theory is that because adding a Hard Start kit will fix that problem sometimes, some HVAC technicians have taken to looking at them as the "cure-all" for any sort of problems. But if your compressor is truly wearing out, a Hard Start kit will, at best, only prolong the inevitable. It might get you through the summer, but be prepared for having to have the compressor replaced sooner than later.

Unless you can determine that your line voltage is indeed lower than normal. Your utility or an electrician can tell you that.


Help Critique deck post and beam location please critique my deck design and post locations. One side of the deck will be attached to multiple ledger boards, another sitting on the beam with 1 feet overhang. Deck is at most 1 1/2 feet of the ground at some places. Grey area is existing concrete steps for the door on the right to them. Joists are 12 inch of center, 2 x 6 sized for a composite deck

I am not a structural engineer but i have built decks so take my opinion for what it is worth.  Your post spacing looks good, But we do not know what size beams you are using and that matters in order to know if they are adequate.

I would move your first beam in towards the house 2' so it is 8' from the wall. That way each joist run is 8'

2x6 for joist is inadequate. Your long run of joists ( 10 feet ) will require  that your joists be at least 2x10 lumber.

I might use 16 foot joists so they run over both beams instead of having  the first beam be a double ledger.

There are online deck calculators that you plug in your dimensions and it will tell you what size joists and beams and posts specs you need.


Garage Gym - Mounting Folding Squat Rack to Plasterboard Wall I have purchased this squat rack to go into my garage:

Unfortunately, they do not come with mounting instructions and the manufacturer recommends getting a builder in to do it. Instead, I'm going to try and do it myself.

The rack itself is quite heavy duty steel and will potentially have to hold a lot of weight so it needs to be as sturdy as possible and solidly fixed to the wall. The wall in the garage is 5mm plasterboard. One possible complication is that my house is a new build and so has been built with some fairly new techniques. The house is steel framed, so no wooden studs, and instead the walls are attached to steel studs 1.5mm thick.

My plan is to buy some 2x8 wood planks and mount two horizontally at the top and bottom of the wall, and then fix the brackets (pictured) to the wood.

Is this a good plan? Or is there a better way to do this?

If I go with my plan, what is the best way to fix the wood to the wall? Would it be best to find some long (100mm+) self-tapping screws to go through the wood, plasterboard, and finally into the steel studs? Or use these  toggles to attach the wood to the plasterboard? Or a mix of both? Is 2x8s enough, or do I need to go thicker?

Once the wood is up I can use the provided thick wood screws to mount the brackets.

Thanks.

I have mounted a lot of gym equipment, it's much more demanding that regular construction.  To make it safe, you have to really overbuild.

IMO the challenge here is pullout strength.  The posts of the squat rack are what will carry the weight, but when you rack the weight, it will want to rock significantly.  You have to make sure it does not pull out of the wall or you have a bad situation.

Plan of attack

The way that rack is made, you have four mounting bolts for each of the four points of attachment.  They are not likely to be positioned over studs.  So my thinking is, you want 2x boards on the wall - horizontally, so you can anchor into several studs.  Once they are up, attaching the equipment to the boards will be easy.

I'd say 2x6's will be adequate.  I want to attach them with one toggle bolt and one screw at each stud.

You are going to want boards that are a little over 4' minimum, about 52" is good to hit four studs at the standard 16" on-center spacing.  Depending where the studs fall in relation to the mounting brackets, you might want to go for five studs, so say 68" boards.  It really depends on where the studs are, how wide the rack is, and where you want to place it.

Layout

The first critical step is locating the studs.  Take your time here.  It may be best to make a horizontal cut with a jab saw into the drywall on either side of the stud until you find the studs.  If you make these exploratory cuts behind where the boards will be - at about bracket height - they will be covered up when you're done.

Mark the stud locations with a pencil line from above the top board all the way to the floor.  If you don't want to look at the pencil line when you're done, use masking tape.

Mark the stud lines with horizontal marks where the brackets will fall, then make marks for the top and bottom of the boards.  This is important.

The attachment can be a little tricky but if you do everything in the right order the layout is easy.

Put the boards on the floor and mark the stud locations with a speed square.  Drill two evenly spaced 3/16" pilot holes in the boards for each stud attachment.  If you make the holes 1-1/2" from the edge of the board, that ought to work.

Attaching the boards to the wall

This part can be tricky with steel studs, it may be obvious to you how to lay this out but in case it is not I'll go over the details.

The idea is to first mount the boards to the wall with sheet metal screws, two at each stud, then remove the boards, and replace half those screws with toggles.  This just makes locating the holes for the toggles easy.

You're going to need 16 (or 20) screws, #14 x 3" sheet metal screws, either flat head or hex-washer head.

Drill one pilot hole in the left-most stud for the top left screw.  Swap the drill for the driver and screw the board to the wall.

Use a level, level the board, and drill the next pilot hole through the pilot hole you already have in the board.  Put the level down, get a screw, swap the drill for the driver, screw the board to the wall.  Drill the rest of the pilot holes for that board and drive the screws.  Repeat for the other board.

At this point it's really pretty sturdy but not strong enough for gym equipment.  The toggles will make the difference.

Unscrew all the screws and remove the boards.  Now we install the snaptoggles / easytoggles pictured in the question.  You'll want the 1/4-20 ones, which need a 1/2" pilot hole.  I like the 1/2" stepless drill bits for this, but you can use a 1/2" titanium bit or other metal drilling bit.  Install these in place of the TOP screw at each stud attachment.

You will have to re-drill the top pilot holes on the boards to 1/4" of course.  Re-attach the boards to the wall with the 1/4" bolts included with the snaptoggles and a 1/4" fender washer between the wood and the bolt head.  Don't make them all the way snug yet.  First replace the screws in the bottom holes.  Then go back and snug down the 1/4-20 bolts good and tight, you'll should see the washer deform just slighty.

Now finally - Mount the Equipment

Now the easy part - carefully mount the equipment to the boards with 1/4" x 2" or 2-1/2" lag screws and washers, mark and drill pilot holes first of course.

All the real work is making a solid "foundation" for the equipment mounting.

Easy, right?


Fill shower trap when it gets empty with water pressure I have a problem that i want to solve with a temporary fix:

When somebody flushes toilet in the apartment house, my shower drain is emptied.

I bough some tube and a water bottle and connected the tube to the bottle. Filled the bottle with water and put other end of the tube to shower trap - the problem is the water is still constantly running into the trap. I wanted it to stop when the end of the tube is in the water. How can i achieve this?

Here is a possibility but I'm not sure it would work in practice.

You'd need a container which could be sealed so that water will flow out the bottom when the end of the hose is uncovered, but when the cap on the container is secured a low pressure will develop on top of the water in the container. This is the principle used for animal water bowls which replenish a tray from an inverted container.

I can imagine a plastic jerrican with a hose coming from the bottom. Fill it and the water would fill the tube and start flowing. Then screw on the sealing cap and a 'partial vacuum' will develop above the water. When the pressure goes down to a certain level the water flow will stop.

When the trap is drained and the end of the hose exposed, bubbles of air may move up in the tube and increase the pressure above the water in the sealed container. The diameter of the hose is critical--it must be large enough for bubbles of air to move upward through the water in the tube all the way to the container.

You may  find that adding detergent to the water in the reservoir would enable bubbles to form and move up the tube when the end is uncovered. The detergent lowers the surface tension of the water and allows bubbles to move up the tube.


after using blender, all outlets in kitchen stopped working and now devices connected to them flicker on and off A family member was using the blender this afternoon in the kitchen, and it suddenly stopped working, along with the rest of the outlets in the kitchen. I reset all the breakers, including the main, and it doesn't seem to have fixed anything. I tried resetting on of the 2 GFCI outlets in the kitchen and it went red. The other is slowly blinking green. Devices connected to the kitchen outlets, like the fridge and dishwasher, are flicking on and off. If I plug in a cell phone charger to one of the none-GCFI outlets (there are at least 2), that works, but plugging in a larger device does not work. What is going on?

I shut off the breaker just to be safe, and plan on calling an electrician in the morning.

Ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) can be triggered by a current pulse, e.g. that from starting (or shutting) an electric motor. This is normal behavior and does not necessarily mean that there is an issue with the motor.

Be sure to unplug any device with a motor or transformer (e.g. blender, food processor, radio or refrigerator) and then reset all GFCI's on the circuit, because if a device with high inductance is left plugged into the circuit, it may immediately re-trigger the GFCI again as soon as the reset button is pressed.

To reduce the nuisance of false GFCI triggering, a snubber or surge-protector may help prevent the inductive kick from a blender, food-processor or refrigerator motor from triggering the GFCI. Caveat emptor: success with snubbers and surge-protectors depends on the inductance of the motor, sensitivity of the GFCI and rate of current change (di/dt). Sometimes it's just easier to reset the GFCI.

For that reason, though GFCI's are required in wet locations, e.g. kitchens, it can be problematic for refrigerators. When the fridge compressor cycles on and off, the GFCI can trip, leaving food to spoil. In the US, the NEC allows installation of kitchen refrigerators on a separate circuit without GFCI in private dwellings.


Dried expanding foam on floorboards, how can I remove it? The girlfriend and I bought  an old house and the floorboards are in brilliant condition so we've decided to sand them, stain them, and varnish them.

As soon as we took up the carpets we noticed expanding foam everywhere. The problem we now have is that around the edges of the two rooms and hallway we want to sand this stuff is stuck on there. I'm guessing it's been on there for a few years at least. I don't want to run the sander over these areas incase the foam is hiding some screws or something that will ruin the machine, so I want to find out how I can remove the foam from the boards so I can then sand them?

I'd try scraping before sanding, using a razor blade scraper or a furniture scraper -- a slightly more targeted tool.


Paper cone paint strainer for latex paint I'm trying to strain some run-of-the-mill latex paint that has rust from the can, etc. I have used filters like the one shown below in 100 micron and 190 micron, and both clog almost immediately (with paint, not debris). It seems like they make 400 micron strainer bags for 5 gallon buckets, but I haven't been able to find anything bigger than 190 micron in this paper cone style. Is there is a different product usually used to strain small quantities (gallon and quart)? How do you do it?

Throw out the rusty paint, move on with life.
Get a colander from a thrift store.
Buy the "5 gallon" filter and set that over your ring so that you
can use just part of it (perhaps with some clothespins to hold it in
place.)
(non-ripped) nylon stocking. Or non-ripped portion of ripped nylon stocking.


HVAC blower control in several rooms At my church we have lots of HVAC systems. Some of the systems condition several rooms. As you know, you can't make everyone happy at one time. The thin older ladies in one room are freezing and the overweight men in the next room are roasting. The solution is to close the vents in the cold room (Yeah, that's not how it should be done, but you don't argue with the women). The problem that occurs is that when too many vents get closed, the back pressure causes the tape holding a duct transition together comes apart and air goes where it doesn't need to go. Then when the vents are opened, the system leaks air and can't blow all of it into the rooms. Fixing the duct so that the tape can't blow off would be difficult, but the excess back pressure would still be a problem.

Budget is a big concern. How can this problem be resolved? One thought that comes to my mind is to have a spring loaded gate that dumps excess air into the hallway.

Ducts shouldn't be held (or even sealed) with tape. That's an obsolete technique. For a quick repair, you might find that aluminum foil tape is robust enough to hold. Otherwise, clean the duct surface and use clear 100% silicone. Give it at least 4 hours to cure. 8-12 would be better. Note that silicone isn't paintable, so if you need that you might consider urethane caulk.

Really, an in-duct damper at the split to each room is best. You may need to get a tinbender involved, as special tools and techniques are sometimes required.

Finally, consider switching the occupants of the rooms. Sometimes the best solution is the simplest one.