Is there a product that allows me to run a "mains" device off a power tool Battery I have some fairly large DeWalt 18V batteries, which run, e.g. my Cordless LawnMower.
I imagine that they'd also run my Corded tools, at least for a while, if I could connect them up.
But I can't find any such DeWalt product :( And I don't know what term to search.
All I find when I do searches is products designed to allow the opposite - running a battery tool from the mains.
Do these products exist? and if so what keywords should I be searching for?

Not sure product recommendations are on-topic here, but DeWalt does make a 20V Flexvolt series product called the Portable Power Station DCB1800 which can supply 120VAC @ 15A.  It also functions as a charger for your batteries.  It's not cheap, though.


Is it acceptable to drill a hole in the cabinet 'floor' underneath the sink to put a dishwasher hose through? We are installing a dishwasher into an old house that has never had one, and want to know if it would be acceptable to drill a hole in the cabinet floor underneath the sink to run the hose through?  We originally drilled the hole in the side wall of the cabinet, with the hose coming up the back of the DW, but the hose is blocking our ability to push DW all the way back.  We thought if we ran the hose underneath the DW and up through the under-sink cabinet floor we could alleviate this problem. Are there any potential water/mold-related pitfalls in placing the hole in the 'floor' as opposed to the sidewall?

Mine was run through the "floor" of the cabinet.  I haven't had any problems with it.


Issues with stacking shipping containers at odd angles? We're interested in building a house out of intermodal shipping containers, probably the standard 40' x 8' x 8' ones.

I understand that (a) shipping containers were designed to be stacked on their corner castings with appropriate twistlock pins, and (b) their sides are important for the container's strength, but cannot support much themselves.

In particular, one maybe shouldn't stack them seven stories tall after you've cut nice big window in the sides, unless you've reinforced the windows properly.

I'm curious : What caveats apply to stacking containers diagonally?

I'm considering a two story design with a triangle of shipping containers that has a another triangle on top, almost like a star of David configuration, except there would be a gap between the containers on both levels.

In this design, the second story containers would rest not on the corner castings, but on the rails.  We'd cut only small windows in the bottom story, while cutting larger ones in the top story.

I suspect you'd do better to support the upper level on columns/posts, rather than directly supporting on the containers below. I also suspect that you're engaged in fuzzy thinking if you think 3 40x8 foot boxes will make a nice triangle, unless you REALLY start messing with the structure. 90 degree ends don't make good 60 degree corners.

I think you'd likely be better off building from scratch if you want the shape you describe. It's not well-suited to shipping containers, and by the time you cobble things together to make it work with shipping containers, a ground-up build will probably be ahead, and far less compromised.


Installing eco smart 27 with sub panel breaker box I’m installing a eco smart 27 tankless water heater, which requires (3) 8 gauge wire with (3) 40 amp double pull breaks. I am having to install a sub panel for this, and I am wondering what gauge wire do I use to supply power to the sub breaker box with the 8 gauge wires? Thanks in advance

You size the sub panel feeders to the size of the over current protection you are using to protect your subpanel. For example if you are installing a 60A supanel then you would install a 60A breaker in the main panel. Then using NEC Table 310.15(B)(16) you would find that a #6 cu in the second column or a #4 AL in the fifth column is capable of carrying 65A so you would use those conductors.

Note that your Eco smart 27 can actually carry up to about 113A. Since it is SMART it probably only allows a certain amount of current depending on your flow, but it is not SMART enough to know how much current is being used by the remaining loads in your dwelling. It could overload the service.

Rather than feed through your panel causing unnecessary strain on your electrical system.  I would recommend you install a separate enclosed breaker by you main disconnect and feed you water heater from it. You are allowed to have multiple main disconnects per the NEC 230.71.

Finally I would check with someone and make sure your service is large enough to provide the adequate power for your new load. It could be your AHJ, utility company or a trained professional.

Hope this helps and good luck.


What does a slow beep mean from a Klein non contact tester? I am using a Klein non contact voltage detector and when the power is switched on I get a fast steady beep. And when I switch the breaker off I get a slow beep. Does this mean I am safe to cut the wires?

Have you read the user guide included with the tester? What is the model number?

I think Klein testers have a fast beep for higher voltages (48-1000 volts), and a slow beep for lower voltages (12-48 volts).

I'd use a multimeter (volt meter) to test the wires for voltage.  It could be that the non-contact tester is picking up phantom voltage, but you'll want to be sure before cutting the cable.

If you have internet over the power lines, you could be picking that up.


What is the most efficient way to install my new outlets? An electrician is installing a brand new 200amp panel (upgrading electric company service) right next to my existing panel in the basement. My current panel is in the wall flush with the drywall. The electrician says it'll be cheaper to install the new panel surface mounted with the drywall. That doesn't bother me but now I am wondering what the most efficient way to install my 8 new outlets will be.
They will each have a dedicated 20amp double pole breaker and won't be too far from the panel, probably only 4-6 feet. If the panel was in the wall I can wire them normally and then drywall again.

Since the panel will be out, what is the most efficient way to install them?
(The outlets can be positioned right next to each other.)

Do I need to run 8 separate conduits to each outlet?
OR Is there a way I can run a bigger size conduit down and then separate into 8 smaller ones for each outlet?

Looking for advice on what to do.

Conduit is allowed on the surface, most cable types would require protection.
You can run multiple circuits in one conduit, the NEC has derating requirements that generally limit you to 4 @240v circuits. 8 circuits is 16 current carriers, gets you 50% rating, which is problematic. It can be overcome with #10 wire on 20A circuits, but won't go down that rabbit trail unless asked.
If just straight 240v 20A circuits (without neutrals) the wires could fit 4 circuits of #12 wires in 1/2" conduit, but you will probably find it easier to push the wire through 3/4" conduits.
If you do run in just 2 conduits you would have box fill limits to consider. The calculation can be a bit confusing, but the minimum size box needed for the first receptacle location if you pull extra wires straight through, using grounding raceway, covers, and devices could be as small as 22.5 in³ (8 conductors, 2 for single device yoke, x 2.25 in³ for #12). Depending on cover used you might be able to get away with a 4²x 1.5" deep box, but you best be considering at least 2" deep, and then you probably could fit two devices per 4² box.
You could reduce conduit and box size after the first receptacle, but uniformity has appearance benefits without much sacrifice of space or cost.


Cause for an Amana electric dryer overheating We noticed our Amana electric dryer making a rattling noise as well as overheating (top of the appliance, air duct and clothes in the dryer are very hot).

Here are things I checked for:

Air vent is unobstructed and clean. It's a flexible 'accordion' metal vent that appears to be slightly damaged (one 'layer' of metal has teared) although it does not appear to 'leak' air in any way. Also, I can feel a breeze from the outside which reinforces the idea that the vent is unobstructed.
Cycling thermostat has conductivity;
Wheel blower was the source of rattling because it was wobbly. I gave it a couple of spins counter clockwise (facing the appliance from behind) and that seemed to secure it properly. (Edit: Initially I thought I had fixed the wheel blower but after running a cycle and observing the same overheating issue I retested the wheel blower only to notice that it doesn't seem to spin freely. I will try to change it.)
Heating element does not have visible breaks or warps and has conductivity (between the 'prongs' where electric connectors are but not between prongs and casing which I understand would be a short);
The exhaust duct (where the lint screen goes) is unobstructed, all the way to the metal part where the vent connects to.

I tried simply replacing the cycling thermostat as it was inexpensive and I did not see other possible causes but that changed nothing (dryer still hot).

Note: the dryer was not moved or changed in any way between its well-functioning state and the current overheating state.

What could be the source of overheating ? I thought about the fuse and high-limit thermostat but wouldn't those help avoid damage to the dryer in case of overheating but not actually prevent overheating ? My understanding may be incorrect.

The model number is most likely YNED4655EW although I did not find it specifically on my dryer.

I have seen things like sand buildup in the bottom of the blower housing the dryer was still blowing but the flow was limited causing the dryer to take longer to dry because of low flow and they only called me when the thermal fuse blew. I tilted the dryer on its back and ended up removing about 3 cups of sand after that the dryer worked normaly


NEMA 14-30 to IEC C14 power cable? I have a 2000W power supply running a battery charger that I use mostly for charging LiPo batteries for R/C aircraft. I've got this all mounted in a carrying case with a common "PC power socket" (IEC-60320 C14) mounted on the outside of the case. I currently run this from a 20A 120VAC circuit.

I'm going to be moving things around in the garage, including moving a washer & dryer along with adding some circuits to the electrical panel. This got me thinking about a dedicated 240V plug for the "charge box". I know the PSU will handle 240VAC, in fact I can't get the full output of the PSU at 120. The C14 socket I have mounted in the charge box says it's rated up to 250VAC. So far so good.

I have been thinking that I would just install a NEMA 14-30 socket when I do the garage work, then I would buy or make a NEMA 14-40 to IEC C13 power cable. Is there any reason this won't work? Is there a different plug I should be using in the garage wall? I'll still want to power the charge box 120V when I'm not at home so I would prefer to leave the C14 socket if I can. If I do change it, I'll want something I can plug both into my new 240V circuit at home and standard US 120V  NEMA 5-15 sockets.

Don't use a 14-30. This is rated for 30 amps and if protected by a 30A breaker, a 20 amp cord/connector would not be protected properly.

The better choice is a NEMA 6-20 which is 240V 20A rated. You can buy pre-built 6-20 to C14 cables.


How many wires can safely be secured in a Marrette 33 wire nut? I need to secure four 14 AWG solid copper wires and I have black wire nuts stamped Marrette 33, which look something like in the following photo except that the spring is copper:

Should it be ok? I don't have the packaging, and I have not found information on the wire limits. There seems to be a new color scheme now on newer wire nuts and wing nuts.

My impression is that four 14 AWG solid wires seem really at the limit, possibly past it. The four wires seem tightly secured in that I can't pull the wire nut off. When I undid the wire nut to check on the wires, they are quite indented by the wire nut's screw, but they did not twist together. With so many wires, they also don't go in as deep, so a couple of millimetres of the stripped part of wires is still visible below the edge of the wire nut. The wires were stripped to the same length as the textured portion of the wire nut. I estimate the wires are about 1 centimetre into the wire nut screw.

For context, this is an "inherited" situation at an outlet which has four 14/2 cables coming into the box, plus a two wire light fixture mounted to it. They are the line in, continuing line to the rest of the circuit, cable to the switch for the light fixture, plus another line to an outlet next to the fixture. This is in a bathroom.

Previously, there were up to five wires (four solid copper and one stranded wire from the fixture) attached together with solder, wire nut, and electrical tape. I have reorganized slightly by replacing the cable to the adjacent (formerly "razor only") outlet with 14/2 cable since the previous one had no ground wire, and removing it from the switched circuit. Now only 4 wires are at any connection.

I have not soldered the wires, and have just used wire nuts. Especially given how packed the box is, I'm a bit uneasy about any exposed live wires, so either I'll get larger wire nuts if these ones aren't suitable, or maybe just use electrical tape with the existing setup. Aside from not having larger wire nuts handy, I'm also hesitant due to the space constraints in this box.

Here is a catalog from Thomas & Betts, the makers of Marrette connectors. Pages 14-15 cover the black high-temperature wire nuts including the Model 33.

The graph on Page 15 shows limits of "Min. 1 #18 + 1 #14 Max. 4 #14", so four 14AWG wires is exactly at the manufacturer's limit.

There's also a detailed table at the end of the document (Model 33 is covered on pages 25-26) which tops out at 2 #14 + 1 #12, 4 #14, or 2 #12.


What are the recommended settings for a dual-zone air conditioning unit? What are the recommended settings for an air conditioning unit that is dual-zone? Meaning, if I have a house that is two stories I know that in Florida they recommend you keep it at 78 F in the summer and 69 in the winter, but the top half of the house will always get hotter (and colder in the winter). So what are the recommended settings for a house in a configuration like this that achieve the best of comfort and energy savings?

A simple solution is just to set the thermostats up with an allowance between them to compensate for the thermal convection. This allowance is usually around two degrees, depending on ceiling heights on each floor.

For example, if your preferred temperature in the Summer is 74°F, set the downstairs thermostat to 73°F, and the upstairs to 75°F, in effect bracketing your desired set point. The same two degree difference will usually be sufficient in the Winter as well. Just remember to always have the higher temperature on the higher floor.

For three story homes, a one degree difference between each floor may be sufficient, depending on how high the ceilings of each floor are. Just as with the two story home, the highest temperature always goes on the highest floor, no matter what the season.


Water pressure buildup causing water meter to turn I have a problem that no professional has been able to answer.  The water meter will turn intermittently even when main valve is shut off.  Water pressure on my fire sprinkler system has shown values as high as 150 psi.  My pressure regulator is set at 65 psi.  I have noticed that when the meter turns without any water usage, I can hear a knocking in the pipes.  I have also noticed that this knocking only happens when the gas water heater is firing to heat the water.  Any suggestions as how this can happen?  Thanks.

Heat and cold cause air expansion and contraction if your system is wet it may have a relief valve bumping excess pressure down a drain, If it is a dry system I would make sure the flapper at the wet/dry division is not leaking by this can cause all kinds of trouble but these are usually on large systems, smaller home health care systems I have experience with are wet and as the water in the plumbing heats the relief vents Down a drain. This is much better than a over pressure that starts leaking in the living space.


Lower kitchen sink drain pipe So I went to install a new kitchen sink that is 9 inches deep to replace the 6 inch double drain we had. The new sink hits the top of the drain vent. What is the best way to reroute the pipes? Currently the pipe is 26 or so inches from the bottom of my cabinet. It needs to come down about 4 inches atleast. My concerns are making sure it still drains fine after I shorten it. I am also changing from a 2 drain to a 1 drain sink. I am not sure if it is allowed to just lower the top pipe the vent sits on and install a new vent or not.

Lower everything 4", that is your best option.

If that doesn't fit, then find a shorter air admittance valve and or lower the existing one as much as possible.

If that still doesn't fit, then cap the air admittance valve. Add a Tee fitting below where the sink drain connects to the vertical drain pipe. Connect a 90 degree fitting to the Tee to make a vertical pipe, then attach the air admittance valve to the top of that. You'll have a wet vent for about 6-12", but it should work correctly.


Connect new gas dryer to an old 15/16” gas pipe I bought a new gas dryer and am trying to connect it to an existing gas supply point in my laundry room. The gas supply pipe ends with this 15/16” brass MIP piece:

I already bought a BrassCraft flexible gas hose that has 1/2” MIP pieces on both ends before discovering that I can’t connect that to my gas pipe.

I did some online search for adaptors that I could use in this situation, but couldn’t find any suitable ones.

Can you please advise what kind of adaptors / hoses I can use in this situation?

P. S. My dryer has standard 1/2” MIP gas inlet.

Remove the flare fitting from the 1/2" pipe and get a 1/2" hose with 1/2" FIP fittings on each end similar to the hose pictured below. If there isn't a gas shutoff valve for that section of pipe, you'll need to install one. Use pipe joint compound or gas rated Teflon tape.

Many locations do not allow people to connect their own gas appliances but require them to contact the gas company for the installation.
This is for your safety. Even if it's not required it's a good idea to have the gas company do it. They will check for leaks and the safety of other connections.


The oven in my range has stopped heating up, but the burners still work The oven recently stopped getting hot, but the burners still work fine.  Any ideas about what might be wrong?
Here's the kind of stove I have: Hotpoint® 30" Free-Standing Gas Range
Here's what I tried so far:

I checked the circuit breaker.  The circuit wasn't tripped and I flipped it on and off again just in case. No effect.

The manual said to check the shut off valve under the stove.  I think it's on, but I can't be sure.  Here's what I see:

I assume this is a recent model without a pilot light. And by recent I mean not ancient. There will be an electric heating element that glows white hot to ignite the gas. It can burn out. You might actually be able to see it glow if you look hard while the oven is lighting if it is working. Then again it could be electrical or mechanical.


Aluminum wire size needed for new 60 amp garage panel 130' from main 200 amp service in house? What size aluminum wire for a new 60 amp garage panel to be fed from a 200 amp main service in my house 130' distance?  How many wires?

Number 4 aluminum is good for 65 amps at 130' the voltage drop at 60 amps would be 2.55% . Up to 3% is allowed by code.


Help to find out Hot/active, Neutral & Earth in this junction box in Australia, NSW Help to find out Hot/active, Neutral & Earth in this junction box in Australia, NSW
It got
Red- ?
Back-?
Green&Yellow - Earth.
It seems an old house & wiring with old color standards. Just need to identify which is active & which is Nuetral among Red & Black.

There are two very good methods for discriminating hot, neutral, switched, ground, etc. that are available to the home DYI handyman. You can use a voltmeter or a multimeter set to "volts", or you can use a dummy load such as the ceiling lamp you just removed.
With the meter, you have to be careful not to touch the live wires with your fingers:

Turn the power off at the circuit breaker.
Disconnect everything from the wires, exposing the uninsulated ends. Spread the wires out so that none are near each other or near the junction box.
Turn the power on at the circuit breaker.
Carefully touch the meter probes to the exposed wire ends to test the voltage between each pair of wires in turn. Write down your observations.
Turn the power off at the circuit breaker.

With the dummy load, your are much safer, but you have to run back and forth between the work site and the circuit breaker panel:

Turn the power off at the circuit breaker.
Use two wire nuts to connect the dummy load to any pair of wires.
Turn the power on at the circuit breaker.
Observe whether the dummy load is powered, e.g. the lamp is lit et.al.
Turn the power off at the circuit breaker.
Repeat all the previous steps for each pair of wires in turn. Write down your observations.

In either case you should see these results:

Fault ground to neutral: 0 to 8 volts, lamp won't light (LED lamps may flicker).
Fault ground to hot or switched-hot: house line voltage (approx. 120 volts in U.S.A., may differ in Oz), lamp lights up.
Neutral to hot or switched-hot: house line voltage, lamp lights up.


Will I have issues in summer with 120v outlets sharing a double pole breaker with my 240v a/c outlet? I just moved into a 2 bedroom apartment and am planning ahead for summer.  While figuring out the breaker box so I don’t put more than one window a/c on a particular circuit I found out all of my 120v outlets in the living room (6 of them) somehow share a double pole breaker (240v and shows 15 on each of the connected breakers) with my 240v air conditioner outlet in the living room.  The voltage is correct on all of the outlets but my question is with everything wired this way with an air conditioner running along with tv/internet/sound bar, am I going to run into issues with the double pole breaker tripping or should it be able to handle the load?  Is this safe to have it like this? I’ve moved around in the same building and in other apartments in the same building that circuit breaker was always only for the air conditioner outlet.

It's fine; see what Ed says.  What Ed is saying is that a circuit serving 120V loads on both legs and also 240V loads is perfectly fine, as long as the circuit breaker has "common trip".  That's so if 120V loads trip one leg of the breaker, the whole circuit gets knocked out - if you left the other leg energized, power would leak into the tripped leg via the 240V loads).
You need to look at how much energy the TV, internet and sound bar take. Most people have no earthly idea how much energy devices take, so just read their labels/nameplates.  If necessary, skill up on what amps, watts and VA are.
And after that, take a hard look at those air conditioners.  Nowadays air conditioners are so efficient that they don't need 240V anymore.  So I would take a hard look at the SEER numbers of your existing A/C vs new ones, and work out the energy costs of each.  Hopefully you are not buying yourself new air conditioners every year, but giving the money to the power company instead of the appliance store.


What is the name of a screw-nut ring used to hold up a hanging lampshade? (see photo) I have a hanging light fixture that I'm trying to put a lampshade on. Because the light fixture hangs from the ceiling, If I don't screw something underneath it, the lampshade would fall down.

The light fixture has screw threads, so I can use a screw ring to hold the lampshade up. But, I don't know the name for the screw-ring so I don't know how to shop for it.

I see in this photo of the light fixture next to a screw-ring-thing that is too small, what is the British name for the screw-ring?

Try googling "shade ring".  I found quite a few that were of different sizes so you'd have to be more specific of the size.

Here's one I found  at 1000bulbs.com


Should I try to remove backer board and leave the plywood subfloor in place? Currently I have ceramic tile in the main hallways of my house. I am looking to replace this with hardwood flooring and will potentially be performing the demolition work myself to save money. I know there is concrete board under the tile with plywood under that. I want to know, how easy it is to separate the concrete board from the plywood so as to reuse the subfloor (assuming it is in good shape). Is it worth trying to separate it, or just pull it all up and start fresh.

If your question is, "Should I try to remove the backer board and leave the plywood in place?" the answer is, "Yes."

Unless the plywood is warped or damaged, that would be my first choice.  It should be relatively simple to pull up the backerboard from the plywood, although there will be a million fasteners.


How to size a whole house fan? I'm in the middle of a home addition and am thinking about adding a whole house fan.  The finished size of the house will be about 2000 square feet - approx 1500 on the main level, and 500 on a lower level.  I'm currently looking at the Quiet Cool Line of fans.

My question: How do I size the fan?  Is the relevant number to use the total square (really cubic footage, but the marketing material usually uses square) footage of the house, or just the upstairs square footage?  Seemingly it would just be the upstairs square footage, since the downstairs warm air would be rising anyway.  Or is there some other criteria I should be using?

When I sized the ventilation (with heat recovery) for the house we built, I used numbers based on the replacement rates for the activities in each room combined with the number of people.

So, bedrooms tend to have the lower requirements, kitchens etc highest.

We had extraction in kitchen / bathroom and input in bedroom / living areas etc  The unit we fitted, that was designed to run 24/7, was a unit 2ft * 2ft * 1ft deep. We also took the opportunity to bring the inlet air underground for 100 feet to help mitigate the summer high and winter low temperatures of the air.

We used this supplier : https://www.stiebel-eltron.com/en/home/products-solutions/information-engineering/ventilation-systems.html

Have a look at this link as that will give some relevant values:

Room air changes

Once you have the total amount of air to move, then you can work out the amount per hour and from that the fan size needed.


Hot water lasting only for 1 minute I just moved into a shared home and noticed that the hot water in my shower lasts for only about a minute before it turns ice cold. I told my landlord about this and he said he would rise the heat setting in the tank, which did make the water hotter but it would still last only abut 1 minute. My landlord later told me he would contact the maintenance guy.

After a few days he told me they could find nothing wrong with the heater so it's probably other people using the hot water at the same time, he pretty much told me to deal with it in a nicer way.

However I've tried showering at various times during the day and the shower behaves the same way.

I was wondering if you guys could come up with some ideas I could tell my landlord about what might be happening, and see if we can have a solution to this problem.

I am unaware if other tenants who might share the same heater are having the same issue, nor do I know the capacity or model of the heating tank.

Thanks in advance!

If the water heater is a tank type heater the dip tube for the cold water inlet may have broken off or become dislodged. Shortly after you start to shower the cold inlet water mixes with the hot water at the top of the tank and you get a cold shower. I would ask the other tenants if they are having the same problem. You could also try drawing hot water from another source such as a sink and see if you get the same results.


Right tool to drill a 3 to 4" diameter hole approximately 3ft deep through remnants of a ground up tree stump I'm installing a very basic fence with welded wire mesh that will be fastened to galvanized steel T-posts. But I've run into a snag. At the very end of my run on one side I cannot dig into the ground. This is because there used to be a very large 40ft tall horse chestnut tree. Most of the stump was ground away. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done as thoroughly as we all had hoped because the base of the tree was growing right up next to a cement wall that is our neighbor's garage. My T-posts are 10ft tall that have been dropped into the ground at about 3ft. I'm not dead center on where the tree trunk was but I'm about a foot over. This is where my last post will go. However, the trunk was approximately 20" or so in diameter. Even though I'm off to the side a bit I'm going to guess that the area I want to insert my T-post will be solid root.

If successful, my plan is to drill a hole large enough to drop the T-post in, use a cement or some type of epoxy (or I'm open to suggestions) to adhere the T-post in place inside the hole. Then I'll use braces to help secure it along the run of my fence and then another one that will run perpendicular into our yard to help secure it in place. See the link for the braces/
enter link description here

Those braces will help keep it secure.

My question is, what type of drill bit can I use. In addition to drill bits I was looking at extensions to help me get down deep and am a bit overwhelmed with what to use.

Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations?

The amount of torque it would take to auger even a 3 inch hole in a tree root would be way beyond what you could safely do with a hand drill. You might be able to rent a gas powered 2-man well drilling auger with as small of a bit as they have for it, then wedge sticks or something in with your post before pouring epoxy resin in it, otherwise you may end up needing a gallon or more of resin.

But...
Anything you do here is only going to last until the tree root fully rots away, then you will have to replace that entire post setup. Once you drill into it, it may accelerate the process and you could be looking at a couple of years max. The "geometry" option seems better to me; just add a post before and after the stump and angle that corner to go around it.

Another option would be to forestall the fence post installation a bit and either use a chemical stump remover (potassium nitrate) now, or drill a hole in the root and burn it out when the weather is dry.


Toilet/pipe Problem? I noticed this dried, sprayed looking, brown/yellowish stuff on my basement wall and looked up and it’s underneath one of the toilets.

I then had someone flush the toilet and saw nothing leaking out from anywhere. I noticed a little darkness around the main toilet pipe and a few drips of same looking stuff on other pipe.

Any idea of what this is or why it happened?
Please let me know if pictures are not viewable. Thank you.

I can think of three possible explanations:

The wax ring under your toilet just wore out and needs to be replaced. This seems unlikely if your house is only 16 years old; a properly installed wax ring should last 20-30 years.
Your toilet is not seated securely. This can happen if the bolts are not tight. If you can rock the toilet at all, this is probably your problem. When the toilet gets loose, the seal with the wax ring breaks. In this case you'd want to remove the toilet, fix the wax ring (or replace it with a new one) and then reinstall the toilet, being sure to tighten the bolts all the way but not overtighten.
At some point water pooled on your bathroom floor. (There could be lots of reasons for this: Someone took a shower with the curtain open, the faucet overflowed, someone tipped over a bucket, etc.) The water found its way down through the toilet flange hole. It picked up dirt along the way, hence the yellowish color.

Based on the information available, it's hard to say which of these three scenarios, if any, is the cause. If I were you, I wouldn't do anything at this point. I would keep observing: Go down in your basement once a week and see if you see (or smell) anything new near the stain. If you don't see signs of change, this was probably a one-time event, like water pooling on the floor, that you don't need to worry about again.

I'd also check to see if there still is water pooling on the bathroom floor. Check especially behind and alongside the toilet; it's possible the toilet tank is leaking, or the water supply line is leaking. But if you can't feel any water anywhere on your floor, then you most likely don't have an active problem.

You could replace the wax ring if you want. It's cheap (wax rings cost under 3 dollars) and relatively easy. But if I were you I wouldn't bother at this point because -- unless the toilet is loose -- I doubt the wax ring is the problem.

For what it's worth, I can't think of anything that could be wrong here that would result in catastrophic damage. Worst case, you have a small leak in your drain system somewhere, you caught it early and it would have to be left unchecked for months or years before it caused real damage. Best case, this was caused by a one-time event in the past that will never recur.

If you were suspecting leaking from a water supply line, I'd tell you to be more worried, because if that were to burst it could do significant damage very quickly. Not so with a drain line in this type of situation. The fact that the leak is over unfinished basement makes it even less concerning.


Are finishing bits sold as such? One of the answers for another question of mine recommended using a finishing bit in my router to leave about 1/16" protrusion remaining to be sanded. When I search for "finishing bit" though I can't seem to find anything labeled like that for sale. Is there another term I could look for, or does "finishing bit" just refer to a particular configuration of another bit?

Not sure.  We get our flush bits sharpened which takes down the blades which doesn't cut flush anymore.

What you can do is change the bearing to a different diameter.


Rubbered Washer Nuts Direction? When a nut has a built in rubber washer, does the rubber side have to go on the inside as it is almost impossible to get it started?

Please post a picture of the item.

If you're talking about Nylock style nuts where the element is to prevent the nut from vibrating loose:

The metal thread goes on first.

If you're talking about a nut with a built in fluid seal, due to its design, a Seal Nut will need to go on with the rubber element on the inside.
The rubber must be compressed to seal against the surface it abuts, it's not going to seal if assembled with the rubber element on the outside.

How the seal works


how should i wire up this 2-way z-wave switch? I want to replace the 2-way switch on the left with a z-wave dimmer switch.

Currently this box has a 2-way Dimmer on the left, and a 3-way switch on the right.  As noted, all of the neutrals(marked W and are White) are currently wired together in a single bundle.

When I replace the 2-way dimmer, which uses a neutral, what is the correct way to wire up the neutrals?

Thanks for any help!

Connect the neutral from the Z-Wave switch into the bundle of white wires, that's your neutral for that box.

(P.S. the red and black wires from the 3-way switch are not "always hot" and "switched hot", they're both travelers.)


AFCI Breaker tripping hoping to pick your brain about some electrical issue I'm having. The outlets in 3 of my rooms stopped working - the AFCI breaker (15 a) for that circuit is tripping and won't reset. The lights are on a separate circuit and work.

When I turn the breaker Off / On the power doesn't come back and as soon as I press the TEST button the breaker trips. I'm only giving out this detail because I'm not sure if it should trip on its own or if the fact that it doesn't give power and only trips on "TEST" is an indication the breaker is faulty.

I unplugged everything and that didn't help. Took apart the 15 outlets and nothing seemed out of order. Disconnected the outlet wires hoping to isolate the issue and that got me nowhere.

Ended up disconnecting the wires from all the outlets and making sure the wires don't touch to short - am I wrong to assume that all the wiring now being disconnected wouldn't cause a new reason for the breaker to trip, or would this indeed rule out the outlets / outlet wiring as being the culprit?

I have a few similar breakers in the panel - could those be swapped in an attempt to rule out the breaker or is that a bad idea?

Breaker still trips with all other circuits turned off, so the breaker can't be picking up something from another circuit.

Before anyone asks, I know this is better left to a professional but I'm renting and my landlord insists on doing all the repairs himself. He's a slow & lousy handyman, so I'm trying to avoid having him over for 10 days or trying to pay for a professional myself and ending up with a 4 figure bill.

Swapping breakers as a test to see if the breaker is working is a good idea. If both breakers trip then the only real method you have at hand is to isolated and find the area in the circuit where you are having a problem.

Isolation is the key. First disconnect the breaker and see if it will rest with no conductors connected. If it does then your problem is downstream. If you can try and figure out the order of the connections of the devices. In other words find the first device closest to the breaker, then the next and so on. Now you can disconnect all devices and begin to connect them together one at a time. Each time turning the power off reconnecting then turning the power on and see if the breaker trips. Once it trips now you have found the area of the circuit that is causing the trip. This will tell you the location of the fault in the circuit. Check each connection and splice working your way back toward the breaker and make sure they are mechanically and electrically sound and polarization is correct.

Also if you go through stack exchange you will find several remarks about plug-in connections on the back of a receptacle. Meaning make those repairs also.

It is a long and tedious process but the problems can be found and repairs made.

Hope this helps.


How Can I Reduce "Splashiness" in the Kitchen Faucet? I'm renting a home and the kitchen faucet causes a lot of splashing.  The first thing I did was un-screw the little piece on the end to check the aerator, and there wasn't one.  So I went to the hardware store and bought what I thought was right, just a little aerator screen to insert into the un-screwed piece.

But that didn't seem to make a difference.  The stream coming out of the faucet doesn't seem very aerated (still looks pretty laminar) and it still splashes a lot.

Is there something else I can try?  Every faucet I've ever used has been pretty well aerated, so I'm not really sure what to do here.

The screen is just one part of an aerator.  There are a few different components to an aerator. It's best to get a new aerator instead of trying to track down all the individual pieces.  It'll be worth the little bit of extra money. To make sure you get the right aerator the first time, I recommend that you bring the old one into the hardware store to match the threads.


Axial or centrifugal fan for short run out of kitchen? I'm researching replacements for a broken extractor fan in my kitchen. It is wall mounted and runs through the wall straight outside, no long ducting involved.

The current (broken) fan is the centrifugal design. My understanding these are best for long runs of ducting, and seem to be lower powered (lower volume of air removed per hour) compared to axial fans.

Another point to mention is that there is a shutter on the end of the ducting, on the outside (to prevent backdraft and bugs/dirt/debris getting in, I guess)

My question is, given I don't have a long duct to extract through, should I get an axial fan over centrifugal design. Axial fans seem to be more powerful, and the increased airflow seems good to clear out kitchen cooking odours, smoke, etc.

If not over a stove it may not matter much but if over a stove where it will pick up more grease and be harder to clean if centrifugal. The blades on an axial would be easier to clean and that is what I would use for ease of cleaning.


Why does Simpson Strong Tie require nails that would protrude beyond the rafter they're penetrating? Why does Simpson Strong Tie require 2-1/2" nails for the H2.5A connector when the rafter is only 1-1/2 inches thick? The nails into the rafter protrude 1".
The requirement is listed in the table on page 271 of the Simpson Strong Tie 2019-2020 catalogue. I am nailing the H2.5A connector into the double top plate and the rafter.

They don't.
The table lists rated uplift loads for particular installation scenarios, presumably with the largest nails that offer practical benefit. It doesn't list installation requirements. See footnote #13 for some clarification. It describes loading for alternative fasteners:

Allowable DF/SP/SPF uplift load for the H .2.5A fastened to a 2x4 truss bottom chord and double top plates using (5) 0.131" x 1-1/2" nails in the top plates and (3) 0.131" x 1-1/2" nails in the lowest three flange holes into the truss bottom chord is 260 lb. (160).

There's also a column toward the right side of the table that mentions 1½" nails. You can see that uplift load is substantially less (540) for short nails than it is for long nails (700).
2½" nails are mentioned for those (rare) cases where you have more depth to nail into. In those cases uplift data is important, so it's listed. It may also reflect the highest load rating achievable with that particular part.
You should use 1½" ("teco") nails into the truss chords (or rafters) and longer nails into the wall plates. This is standard practice. I've done so many times myself under inspection situations.


What is the minimum temperature for house heating system to keep pipes from freezing Roughly what is the minimum temperature to set a house heating thermostat controller to in order to keep pipes from freezing? Assume no other considerations, e.g. assume no one is living inside.

This depends on the particular house - both how the plumbing is laid out (are water pipes located in exterior walls, or not?) and the relationship between heat delivery and plumbing.

It may also depend on the heating system - i.e. hot water baseboards often have pipes that run in poorly insulated spaces at the edges of the house, and can themselves freeze if the house is too cool for too long.

Typical recommendations range from 45 to 55 F

One solution to avoid spending much on heating for a non-occupied house is to drain the plumbing and put non-toxic antifreeze in the traps so that freezing won't bother the pipes.


Assemble and dissemble tools for vanity table I am planning on building my girlfriend a vanity desk where she can apply her special make-up and all that lady stuff she enjoys as my anniversary gift. I have a concept in mind but one thing I know I want is for the legs, table, drawers and mirror to assemble and dissemble easily. The whole desk will be made out of wood because she loves wood.

My question is what are the nails or screws that make this possible. Just so I know so when I walk into home depot I will know what to look for.

Ikea tend to use these widgets whose name you may have temporarily misplaced:

"Furniture bolts"
"Cam and pin" fixings

Just because Ikea doesn't stock it doesn't mean you cant do an Ikea hack


adding a guard rail to a flat roof So I have a flat roof that is was at some point a nice sun porch off of what is now an office. When we bought this house this summer we had the door to it replaced and in working in my office I cant help but think I'd rather work outside when I can.  I guess I'm curious about how to go about adding a railing to the roof itself.  The house is brick and I could attach brackets on the other side of the gutters and that would work but its going to look weird I'm not sure if I could add the railing directly to the roof but if I could I'd like to. Does anyone know how this is usually done?

** EDIT it is a concrete flat roof

I would call a few fencing firms and have them give suggestions and pricing for a type of railing or fencing you like. The ones that have been in business for a long time have probably seen and installed any thing you can think of.


What could cause all the breakers on the left side of my panel box to trip? I added a double pole breaker in my panel box for a dryer receptacle. When I finished, I noticed the refrigerator was out - and the microwave. Went back to the panel and noticed that ALL the breakers were tripped on the left side. Reset them and all is OK.

The breaker I had just added was on the right side. House is about 4 years old. I can't imagine I tripped a bunch of breakers just by simply reinstalling the panel box cover. Any ideas?

This has happened to me.  You may have just manually tripped the breakers when you were putting the cover back on.  It doesn't take much force to trip the breaker.

It's unlikely that an electrical mis-wiring caused this, because each side of the box is fed alternatively by both of "hot" feed.  Say you have split phase 1 and 2.  The left side of your box will be fed by phase 1, 2, 1, 2, etc.  The breakers on the left side have nothing in common with each other that they don't also have in common with the right side.


Can I use standard electrical cable from a waterproof junction box when replacing an exterior light I am replacing a faulty exterior light with a waterproof (IP66) LED one with a PIR sensor.

There is an existing conduit through the wall, but it is a thick stone wall of an outbuilding and the provided cable coming from the light will not go all the way through to the inside.

I plan to use a sealed junction box (also IP66 rated) on the outside and run another cable through the wall from it.

Can I use a normal 3-core electrical cable for this, or should this cable also have a waterproof rating?

"Normal" 3-core electrical cable has a name, NM or informally, Romex.  It is not listed for outdoor locations.  For that, you would use its brother, UF.

However, if it is all-conduit between the two junction boxes, it is not illegal to use cable, just a major pain.   The more practical choice is THWN-2 or XHHW,  which is individual wires and easier to work with.  Most hardware stores sell it by the foot.  With this wire, there is an indoor and outdoor classification, but generally only one kind of wire is sold, and it is dual rated.


What kind of screws for crawl space vents? I'm removing one of the ancient crawl-space vents from my house in order to put in a wiring pass-thru plate.  The old vent only had a couple screws on it and the new plate has a lot more holes...  So, looks like I can't just reuse the couple screws I had.

Is there standard type and size of screw used for this application?

Also, should I put a bead of caulk around the opening before placing the plate?

Doesn't look like there is anything special here.. The vent itself is not sealed, so not sure why you would need to seal the edges with caulk, but it won't hurt if you do.

I don't really see any reason any special screws are needed if it's just wood around the outside. I would just probably put in some #8, 1 1/4" to 2" screws.


Should I run 2 regular circuits or a subpanel to my septic site? We're installing a septic system on otherwise undeveloped land. Eventually there will be a house near the septic system, but that could easily be years away. The electric service entrance is on a post on the edge of my property.

The septic system has a 240V 15A pump. We're putting 140' of 2" conduit in a trench to provide power to a post with the pump's control box.

I'd also like to put a 120V recep on the post, because it would be very convenient to have one there.

I could put breakers in the main service panel, one 240V for the pump and one 120V for the recep, and run those through the conduit. Or I could put a subpanel on the post, and run just one circuit from the main panel.

2 separate circuits seems simpler, but it would be nice to keep the space open in the main breaker panel.

Jay, you have a couple of requirements here.  First is to supply 240VAC to your pump. Since 140 feet is a long run and the pump is rated at 15 amps, it would be wise to oversize the wire gauge to 10/3 UF or DB twisted AWG. This will avoid excessive voltage drop, thus protecting your pump. You must still have it fused at the main box at the recommended amp size breaker. Do not put a higher rated circuit breaker than the pump requires. This would allow pump to overheat before reaching the amps necessary to trip the breaker. The same theory applies to the 120VAC GFIC outlet. Oversize the conductors, but do not overfuse at the panel.

A weather tight subpanel would be a good way to go,  if you can absorb the extra cost. It will allow you to have breakers closer to your pump and outlets. This really would only be for the convenience to not having to walk a distance to reset them if you are working in the pump area. As Niall  already said, you will only save one run of 12/2 or 10/2 and one breaker location in the main with a subpanel, so there is really no financial advantage.

Be sure to pull an extra fish line and leave it in the conduit for future use or maintenance, and don't forget your caution ribbon just below ground grade when you backfill your trench.  Good Luck.


Replacing/Fixing Exterior "Trim" Around Door and Windows Searched all over google and found nothing related.

I'm replacing a storm door and i've found this lovely surprise (in picture) left behind it. I'd rather not install the new storm door onto this, and am hoping for some advice.

What is this "Trim" and what is it called?
How is it attached?
How can i take it off and replace it? (Is it under the vinyl siding?)

Thank you for your time fellas.

If it was done with the siding, you're in for a fiasco. You might just trim it off to the siding's J-channel. But, it should be nailed-on along both edges. Unless you've got a Sheet Metal Brake or know how to duplicate its clean bends without a Brake, then I'd just leave it & tack it down behind the hinges. It's likely that it's covering rotted wood & what you don't know won't turn into a huge ordeal. Unless, you're up for doing it completely right.


how can i set up dusk to dawn outdoor lighting ? My digital in-wall electric timer will only work with a single pole configuration. My wiring currently has 2 switches/poles. The simplest option is screwing in an electric eye automatic light control at each of 3 outdoor lights.

Any way you like.

Connect your in-wall timer to a relay with a 1-pole coil that
controls two poles.
Replace your timer with a two-pole timer.

To me, either of those are "simpler" than anything having to be done to three separate locations...but none of it is very complex.

Add photosensors.
Replace the lights with fixtures that have built-in sensors (if they are not currently LED light fixtures, that's one
more reason to consider this approach.)
depending why you have them and what purpose they are serving, use motion sensors instead of photosensors so the lights are only on when needed. Lower electric bill and less light pollution.


Does my garden brickwork need mortar? We recently redesigned the walkway through our garden to our back door. This involved lots of scaping of the land -- especially to change the waterflow away from the house. The new walkway ends with a small brick landing. The contractor just laid them down and glued them in place.

I asked when they would finish it with mortar or sand or something. The contractor said that they were set tight enough and didn't need it.

Except when I step on it they move. And I live in Minnesota -- wont snow and ice get in there? Am I missing something or will this landscaping element not hold up?

I think you may have a problem brewing there.  I have never heard of bricks being glued in a situation like this.  Normally paving bricks will be set on a compacted base of stone dust and very fine packing gravel, then the joints are filled with fine mason sand.  Mortar is rarely used, especially in cold climates as it will crack with any movement associated with freezing or heaving.

If your bricks are moving under your feet, then they were not seated properly or the base is not properly leveled or compacted.  It is not acceptable to have any movement in the field from foot traffic. If your contractor says that is normal, or won't come back to fix the problem, You have a problem. The glue comment throws me. If your contractor said he "glued" the bricks in place, then I think you may have hired the wrong contractor. Maybe he specializes in hanging wallpaper!


Safety of 3-Way Lightbulb That Exceeds Max Wattage Only On Highest Setting Can you safely use a 3-way bulb (50-100-150W) for a lamp that accepts a 100W bulb maximum? Is there any fire hazard involved?

No.

A three way bulb has two separate filaments that are lit separately by two separate contacts on the bottom of the bulb. The three way socket allows each of these filaments to be lit separately or together.

A 50-100-150 watt bulb has a 50 watt filament and a 100 watt filament. It draws 150 watts only when both filaments are lit at the same time.

If you put a three way bulb in a conventional socket, only the center contact will be lit. In your case, that would be the 100 watt filament. This does not exceed the max rating and you are fine.


What is the white flakes and hairy thing on ceiling? Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on with this ceiling?

Is that a portion of a rebar that is exposed? If so, that is dangerous. That means it and other rebar is improperly installed. Depending on what is above, the floor/ceiling could be overloaded and come falling down. Concrete is designed to fail by tension (cracking from below) rather than fail by compression (exploding under pressure,) but I wouldn't trust it. If one rebar is installed improperly, (installed too close to bottom of slab,) then I'm sure many other rebars are not installed correctly. Obviously it's been failing for some time (note the rust) but if a new load is added, (snow, waterbed, etc.) it could trigger a disaster.
Get a professional to look at it immediately.


Can I safely use a #12 extension cord on a 15A circuit temporarily for extended periods? Is it okay to use an outdoor 25 foot 12 gauge extension cord for an outlet to appliance (temporarily) to make sure there will be no overheating of any wires, which will be running on a 15 Amp Circuit (which probably has 14 gauge wire inside the outlet within the walls)?

In other words, would this be dangerous, being the circuit breaker might not detect overheating (if any) during an extended period of continual usage?

As I mentioned, that the wall outlet leads to a 15 amp circuit, all my 20 and 30 amp circuits are used to the max).

I have used several 6ft 14/3 gauge extensions listed for 15A with a max of 1875 watts, of course this is bad, at each end they heat up and is very dangerous, because of the resistance. I was think a heavier wire - directly from wall outlet to appliance might be better (for now). Thanks in advance

The heavier wire (12 AWG as opposed to 14 AWG) wire in the extension cord will reduce the resistance of the cord. For a given load there will be less heating in the cord. However you should consider using as short of cord as possible. Don't use a 25 foot cord if a 10 foot one would work instead. Half the cord length half the resistance.

Be aware that if such extension cord heats up too much it is likely that you are putting too much load on the circuit and the wires in the wall are going to be subject to heating as well. Over heating electrical circuits are dangerous and can lead to fires.


Neutral 14 ga wires hot I just replaced my 15 amp outlet with a new decora 15 amp receptacle. I noticed even before disconnecting all of the 14 ga copper wires that when I tested each neutral wire that two neutrals were hot.

Originally they had two neutrals wired nut together with a hook to the receptacle coming from one of the conduits. The other neutral came from another location.  Even after resembling it and test it with the sperry stop shock it was green or wired correctly.

Why are these neutrals hot and if so should i separated the hot and wired nut those? I didn't use a voltage meter which maybe i should had. I did us a Klein non-contact tester. Again this was the original wiring from 40 yrs ago. Suggestions would be appreciated.  I also replaced all of the wire nuts and cut and stripped away copper wire as well as adding some new wiring.

UPDATE: I took it all apart the 14 ga wire from the receptacle. there are only two conduit s that feed into this box conduit 1 and conduit 2. (See all pictures below.)

I then took my voltage meter and check each white neutral wire with my klein clamp meter alligator ears which showed zero except for one voltage reading of white with a black mark on neutral wire which was only a small or negligible reading. The blue wire in the back was for a split connection and was never wired up. Put everything originally back with only one hot black wire i mark with red tape.

Saying all of this, i noticed that if i disconnect the one neutral with the black mark all of my receptacles/outlets that are controlled by that 15 amp are turned off. Why? Why not that one to be off while the other receptacles should just be turned on.  Why are the rest not working? Yes the sperry stop shock test works perfectly on this receptacle. Also used a breaker finder to see which two wires are truly connected to thar one 15 amp.

If that was run in a series could that be an explanation of when i disconnect that white neutral -black mark can cause 20 receptacles/outlets to shut off? Would appreciate the help. How could this happen? Yes it works and as i mentioned earlier in another question about adding another amp to split this 20 receptacles/fixtures/switches.

On second thought, i think this also happened with any outlet that i replaced with none of then working. Would have to double check that fact. Again i didnt do anything different but to replace the receptacles and switches as they had it originally wired. Thank you again.

Larry, a white wire can be used as a hot and if so is supposed to be marked with black tape or otherwise marked black. You are calling it a neutral, but, if I understand your explanation, when you connect it to true neutrals and turn on the breaker it immediately trips. This means it is a hot.

Stop connecting it to neutrals. The black marked white must be feeding something. This is what I think, but I am not an experienced electrician and have never worked on anything but my own housen and it is wired in NM. Unless someone here can help you, I fully agree that it is time for you to call an electrician.

The only thing in my limited knowledge that I can imagine is that this black marked white is or was connected to a switch. This switch controlled a receptacle or half of the duplex receptacle. If the latter, the tab would have been broken and the other half powered directly. Do you have a switch near this box which seemingly doesn't do anything? Is it on? Even if the switch is off it may have been disconnected and the two wires connected together and the switch replaced. This would be contrary to code, but could have been done.

Does everything work if you just cap this black marked white wire? If so, just leave it capped and accept that you have an abandoned wire in the wall. If my suggestion is right, then one of the black wires goes to the same switch and it could also be disconnected with no loss of function.


Why is grout at tub edge disintegrating? 1 year ago I remodeled my bathroom.
Tile guy did a cheapo job.  After the fact, I used a clear silicon to line the edge between the tile and the tub.
Now I see this deterioration of the grout at the tubs edge.
What is causing this?
Notes:

This is on an exterior wall.
Wall has insulation, Durock, AquaBan coating and taped edges.

It  is  probably failing because grout was in the gap prior to you caulking over it and it was not clean enough.
The gap should not have been grouted at all. You should remove all of the caulk and grout, use a  retractable utility knife and a five in one tool to clean it out. Use the flexibility of the knife to get as much of the old caulk out of the gap and off of the tub lip. (protect the tub lip with some painter tape) Clean the gap well with some denatured alcohol and 3M scouring pad and dry with a towel. (It is vital that you get all of the old caulk off.)
It should be filled with 100% silicone, mold/mildew resistant, caulk.
Tape off the tile and the tub with painters tape so that just the thin gap that you want caulk to be is exposed and then apply the caulk with caulk gun.
There are many tutorial videos on YouTube that will give you instruction on this technique; How to caulk a tub YouTube search.
Here are two
Ask this old house.
See Jane drill.


Can you identify the spigot attached to this water heater? I have a corrosion problem on my new indirect fired water heater. HTP technical support, the company that makes the heater, wants to know the alloy of the spigots attached to the hot water inlet and outlet pipes. I have appended below a photograph of one of the spigots. Do you know the make/model of this spigot or its alloy?

Note that it is definitely cast because it has a parting line.

It's called nickel brass, white brass or nickel-plated brass. It's perfectly acceptable. The bigger issue in the picture is the copper fitting attached to the tank, it should be a barstock or brass FIP. A bar stock or brass fitting or dielectric union should be put in between any black iron and copper fittings. The tee looks a little odd. But if it's brass it should be fine.

Not exactly the same I'm sure, but similar.

http://www.jomarvalve.com/products/categories/boilerdrains/brass.html


Water Pressure Fluctuating We are selling our house, and I have not noticed any problems myself with our water pressure, but the home inspector's report said---
Water pressure rising and dropping as pump is running and shutting down. This is improper.
Water pressure should maintain even pressure after the pressure tank. Recommend plumber to evaluate.
  I always thought it was normal for some change...that a pressure switch is set between two readings to come on and off and the pressure in the house would fluctuate between these two pressures.
 What am I misunderstanding?

It's a matter of degree. As the pressure tank discharges, the water pressure will go down. When the pressure goes below a certain threshold, a pressure switch will turn on the pump, and the tank will start filling and raising the pressure. When the pressure goes above a different threshold, the switch will turn off the pump and the pressure should be maintained as long as no water is used. When water is used the pressure should fall slowly. The difference between the two thresholds is called the hysteresis; too little and the pump will be turning on too often and running too briefly, and too much and the pressure vary too much.

If the pressure fluctuates "too much" (where the speaker gets to define "too much") then it might be a problem with the pressure tank, the pump pressure thresholds, or (escape clause!) something else. But that all depends on what the system is designed for. In a recreational vehicle, the water pump generally turns on as soon as you turn on a faucet, which is fine. In a house, though, this would be a problem, and cause pump wear and tear as well as annoying fluctuations.

I'd talk to the inspector and get details about the problem he saw and what he thinks the solution might be. You might also talk to a plumber with expertise in well systems.


How much pressure should you apply when rolling on paint? I hate painting, as I know many people do.  One of my issues has always been the streaks that are left on the wall.  I got to thinking that perhaps I'm applying too much pressure when I'm painting, and that's what is causing the streaks to show (even after a 2nd or 3rd coat).

So, how are SUPPOSED to paint?  Are you supposed to load the roller up with a bunch of paint and only apply light pressure?  Or do you just want to saturate (but not dripping) the roller and push a bit when rolling?

I know it's a simple question but I'm really bad at painting, that's all I can say.

Don't stretch your paint.

The problem is probably not pressure (assuming that you remain consistent), but what I call "stretch". Folks tend to stretch the paint load of their roller or brush too far. With experience you'll learn what's the appropriate coverage area for a loaded roller.

The goal, of course, is to end up with a uniform film of paint on the wall. If you're working your roller out past its range, you're forcing the dry roller through the film and creating voids in it. Instead, try this:

Load the roller with paint. My technique is to pull some paint from the pool up the slope of the pan, and then work the roller into it a few times so that I have even coverage all the way around the nap.
Make contact with the wall 6-12 inches away from the newly-painted region. This drops the initial load of fresh paint on dry land, so to speak, and creates a temporary repository of paint.
Work back to the previously painted zone, overlapping somewhat. Roll direction isn't important at this point.
Work remaining excess paint from the repository outward, stopping when it becomes difficult to get coverage. This is the extent of coverage for that roller payload. Do not increase pressure to gain more coverage.
Give the newly painted area one more roll, all in the same direction, blending with the previous area. Keep an eye out for voids and runs, which should be rare. At this point the roller should be fairly dry and not leaving edge lines. If it is, roll the edges out on new wall to clean them up, then re-roll the working area.

Using this technique I get consistently good results. For most interior wall situations, a coverage zone for a loaded roller is about 2ft. by 3ft. Maybe less.

I also paint almost exclusively with quality 3/8" nap rollers. I don't mind a bit of stipple, which helps hide roller lines and wall imperfections.

Or you have other problems.

All this said, if you're seeing streaks after a third coat, something else may be going on. Maybe you're rolling too long after the film starts drying. Maybe your roller has residual primer or paint of another color in it. Maybe the paint needs better mixing.


How to screw into "used" holes in wood? I want to fix my gate latch. The problem is where the latch used to be nailed into gate door, there are now oversized holes in them because the fastening point failed and the nails came out.

What's the best approach to fix?

I have two ideas in mind.

Idea number one is to fill the holes with some chemical that will simultaneously bond with the wood on the inside of the holes and also hold some screws I will drive into it. Hot glue is my first option because I have it available. Second option is epoxy.

My other idea is a little more elaborate, difficult and time consuming. It involves cutting out the entire section of wood surrounding the failed holes, then reattaching a similar sized section using a couple pieces of sheet metal, each with one end attached to the patch piece and the rest of the gate. But this seems like overkill. So I really like the hot glue idea.

What's the best way to approach this?

I would use wood glue versus hot glue. If the existing hole isn't too big, just find a screw that fits the hole, put glue in the hole and run the screw in to the hole/glue. If the hole is too big for the screw, add a toothpick (as d. george suggested) to tighten it up and add glue and screw. If the hole is REALLY too big, drill it out to match the size of a wood dowel, glue the wood dowel into the hole with wood glue, let it dry, cut it flush, then screw in the latch.


How do we polish an old damaged bathtub? We have a circa 1940 porcelain bathtub in a rental that has mild pitting and moderate discoloration. Is there an effective way to buff and polish the surface to make it look significantly better?  Right now it looks dirty ~ we have tried all kinds of cleaning products, without success. Resurfacing would be too costly.

The easy to your question is Yes. Clearly the products have shown that this is not an issue that will be solved with chemicals.

Be prepared that the remaining porcelain might not have the thickness needed to polish it.

You speak of buffing and polishing, that is the correct answer. You need to remove enough material to remove the 'dingy' parts.

The long answer:

Porcelain is a glass

To over simplify, they could be making pottery, or china tableware, instead they make bathtubs.

They take the metal tub, cover the surface with the glaze, and bake it at high temperature that will melt the glaze into a glass, cool it, polish it and put it in a box that they ship.

Polishing removes material, anything that gets polished, gets thinner.

Polishing makes things smooth, to make things smooth,is to make them level.

To make it level you can either get rid of the high spots, or fill in the low spots.

Waxing fills in the low spots with a different material, which clings to the surface where you applied it. For a while, and then you need to do it again.

Polish removes the high spots.

Almost everything in a tub, causes friction, friction gets bits of something to get in something, even if at a very small level. Water, dirt, and skin are among the biggest problems in a tub. Hot water only makes it easier to remove the porcelain.

porcelain can also be chipped or cracked.

The only options are to not use the tub, or to reglaze it. If there is not enough heat to melt the original glaze, then it is, at best, a really strong painted coating.


What's the proper way to fill this hole? Recently a dip formed in our flooring inside our sports performance training facility.  We discovered that the concrete job there had a good number of stones in it, and I believe that it was that combined with poor adhesion and cavitation that led to what you see at the following links:

I cleaned out all the larger 'stones', and am wondering if I can fix this myself.  If I do, what will I need?  What do I need to do to ensure that this doesn't happen again?  We're a training facility, so the floor needs to be able to withstand some amount of impact.

More pictures

Acquire a rotatory impact hammer drill so that you can pocket rebar into the existing concrete. Buy 'high-strength' expensive concrete. If you called a truck for onsite mixing (an unnecessary expense), tell the driver, 7 bag mix.

An alternative to rebar, for such a small patch, is to use long masonry screws, left standing proud to provide an anchor. E.g., use 3" screws, embedded a mere inch, using at least two per side (quarter inch diameter fasteners, minimum).

Knock down any sharp edges or small 'lips' in the hole, as it will crack along them later if you don't. I'd square off that part where it slopes down into the hole; it's not going to be thick enough there if you don't. Remove all unsound or lose concrete.

Before you pour, settle the substrate by soaking it with a garden hose. While you spray it, hit the sides of the old concrete to clean them of dust and debris. I like to slightly undermine what's there, so that it all locks in like a tetris piece. Wait until all standing water has dispersed.

There's what looks like a drain inside.

Insure the drain is 'properly' capped (plug it with empty concrete bags, leaving a little room for concrete and encapsulate the whole thing with your pour), this could be the root of the problem, or it's at least the reason a patch was slapped at it, in the first place. Do a better job anchoring it this time and you should be fine, even if the drain still weeps a bit.


Running 240v from two separate 120v receptacles In my garage I ran two separate 20 amp 120v lines, each to its own receptacle, each coming from one leg of my breaker box. I did this so I can run my table saw and dust collector at the same time. They are next to each other in the wall. I have a third unused 15A in the garage as well, where a refrigerator used to be.

I just received a free $1400 table saw that's 240v 12A. Am I able to make an adapter for the NEMA power cord (15A) that will split the 3 wires into two 120v plugs? For one plug, I will run a hot and a neutral and the other plug just the hot. This will give me 2 hots, one from each side of the breaker box, and a single neutral.

I know this isn't ideal, and ideally you would have a single breaker that would trip, killing both legs. But, if it did pull too much current from one leg, that would trip the overloaded breaker.

Please tell me how crazy I am.

Don't hokey-doke this thing when it's so easy to do it right.

You already have the right wires in the wall

You already have a dedicated circuit for your table saw.  I presume you don't plan on running both saws at the same time.  So we'll simply convert the dedicated table saw line to 240V and we're done.

Let's talk about the difference between a 240V circuit and a 120/240V circuit.   A 240V circuit has 2 hots and a safety ground.  A 120/240V circuit has 2 hots, neutral and a safety ground, and is able to power both 240V and 120V parts of the machine - such as a dryer's motor/timer or an oven's light.

A table saw will need 240V power.  It has no use for neutral.

Convert the 120V saw circuit to 240V

The cable is converted from hot-neutral to hot-hot simply by marking the white wire with black tape to redesignate it a hot.

Now, it must be punched down onto a circuit breaker.

We could do some very difficult rearranging of panel space. However there's an easier way.  There is a 20A 2-pole breaker in the left side center.  We'll replace that with a 20/20 tied quadplex. Possibly a Siemens (ITE) Q22020CT2, which provides two tied 2-pole 20A breakers.

The inner breakers are tied and also are common-trip.  I don't know what that existing 20A breaker serves, but it might need common trip.  So we place that on the inner.
The outer breakers are tied, but do not guarantee common trip (they do promise common maintenance shutoff).  They are suitable for this saw.

So for this saw circuit, remove the hot from the old saw breaker, and its partner former neutral (the one now marked with black tape).  Both those go on the two (outer) hots on the new breaker.

By the way, whoever runted all your hots and neutrals to barely enough length to reach the breakers they're on now.... don't invite them back.  Every hot and neutral should be long enough to reach every breaker space in the panel.


Garage door opener works with remote but not switch I have a 20-year-old Python Garage door opener. Worked fine.
I decided to add an additional "push-button" dry contact relay to the mix so I could operate it with my phone. After unplugging it, I hooked up the wires (22-guage stranded security wire) and tested it and it wouldn't operate.
After other tests, I tried shorting the two screws with a short wire. No joy.
The car (RF) remote works fine, so the safety sensors must be working.
I did this to an identical opener (I have three...) and it worked fine.
Any ideas?

OK, so I finally removed the "dry contact relay" wires, tested them for continuity, and reattached them in reverse. It all worked. My suspicion is that the "dry contact relays" have a "common common", meaning all the relays rely on a joint "common" (even though they all have a separate common terminal....) So, when I connected the relay reverse of how I connected the other garage door opener, I inadvertently ended up "shorting" the second garage door opener. Still not sure why it worked that way, but all's well that ends well, eh?


Is there a way to adjust this popup drain stopper, or is it defect? I just installed a new pop-up click clack drain for our glass bathroom sink. The only problem is that it doesn't pop up and down anymore. It did when I first took it out of the box. Here is a similar product of what it looks like:

Am I able to adjust it somehow? Did I forget something when I installed it? Or it is defect?

So I took it back to the store I bought it from and told them the pop up doesn't work anymore. They told me that the spring could be defect and he put in a new spring. Now it works! He told me that he's had 2 that were defect and he showed me how I could take out the spring myself.


What is this connector? I want to add screens to the wood-framed casement windows in my house, and while examining the existing frames, I found what appear to be connectors for screens (the oblong bit on the right in the photo). Only the windows that open have these. The fixed-pane windows don’t, which reinforces my assumption that these are for screens.

I’m planning to build custom screens myself, and I’d love to use these connectors if possible, to avoid drilling into the window frames. Does anybody know what these are called and what I would use to connect into them? The windows were made by Pella, if that helps.

I believe you have your answer right in your picture:

My guess is that if you investigate that swing out tab mechanism you will discover that when it is folded down to the inner window pane frame that it has a tab that goes right into a similar slot.


What is the gap called between exterior wall and roofing? I am trying to search but not even sure what this anatomy called, and what I am referring to is this horizontal gap where the exterior wall meets the roof.

I saw that some houses have thin horizontal metal panel to cover it, what is this procedure called? Is this a relatively easy DIY task?

In brick/masory homes the vertical slots are called weep holes.

Their purpose is to allow the rain water that soaks through the brick to come back out. From what I learned, about 10% of what gets on the brick passes through since the brick is porous. On the back side of the brick there is a drainage plane, or surface that has been traditionally tar paper nailed or stapled over the wood framing. The paper is lapped so the water as it collects goes over the laps and continues down where the through wall flashing turns it back out the wall through the weep holes.

7-28-2018 edit

I just re-read the question and seen I really did not answer the question at all. The horizontal gap is typically not there. as Lee Sam mentioned, counter flashing should be there, but I hope is still there deeper inside the recess.

For some reason the builder decided to set the brick on a steel lintel (beam of a sort) above the roof, instead of below the roof where this space would not be seen. If the through wall flashing allowed it, typical counterflashing could still be applied although there would be no backer for it. Backer would keep it in a vertical plane. As a mention counterflashing is used to cover the base flashing that is covering the tops of the last row of shingles.

This sketch is not the only way to do it, but it is the best way to do it, IMO. The problem is, the potential to damage the all important through wall flashing is quite possible (the black line behind and under the brick).

To simply fasten something on top of the shingles for the sake of holding something in place to hide the gap would also have a strong possibility of making leaks in your roof.


RV Inverter Cuts Out for Unknown Reason I use a 2000W Coleman inverter in my RV to run the coffee maker and flat screen TV. I used to run a fat extension cord from the inverter in the utility compartment through an open window into the RV but decided to wire a 25-foot length of 14/2 Romex cable for a more permanent, clutter-free hookup. The cable goes through an opening under the bed and runs along the inside walls inside plastic cord covers. To facilitate pulling the Romex through the cord covers and around corners I stripped off its outer PVC jacket and paper separators. The run includes two duplex outlets.
The new connection works for the most part. The coffee maker, power tools, a 19-inch flat screen TV, and a DVD player all work fine when I plug them in, but when I plug in the Toshiba 22-inch flat screen TV/DVD combo (even by itself) the inverter immediately cuts out and flashes its overload light. The crazy thing is that if I unplug the new wiring and run the old extension cord directly from the inverter to the TV then it works fine. The voltage level at the TV is 130V whether it gets there from the new cable or the old extension cord.  When it runs with the old cord the TV only pulls about 55W with no startup surge. Can anyone explain what the heck is going on?

I replaced the inverter and that solved the problem.


When calculating rebuilding costs for insurance purposes, should foundation replacement be considered? In this question I asked at what temperature a foundation becomes unusable for rebuilding purposes. The answer was a fairly low 570°F (~299°C). A house fire that burns a structure to the ground would probably raise the temperature of the foundation at least that high in enough areas to render that portion unusable. I'd think house fires that get that hot are rare, though possibly a bit more likely depending on the environment in which the house is located (e.g. rural, out in the boonies). Adding foundation replacement to one's insurance would certainly raise the cost of said insurance. On the other hand, should a house be destroyed in such a manner and you didn't factor in foundation replacement, there could be a significant out-of-pocket cost to rebuild. So, should we include foundation replacement in our insurance policy's rebuilding estimate?If the community feels this is off-topic, I'll gladly delete it. It really doesn't have anything to do with DIY.

Your insurance coverage should be sufficient to cover whatever loss you are expecting it to cover. If you carry homeowners insurance in case of fire, then it probably makes sense to ensure that the limits are high enough to replace the foundation and everything on it. If you carry homeowners insurance solely for liability reasons, it doesn't really matter what the property coverage is (you presumably have other ways to pay those rebuilding costs if needed).

When I lived in Houston, I carried flood insurance on my house. It was a 2 story house in a 1000-year flood plain, so I felt comfortable with a lower coverage amount for the flood policy, as I was only intending the flood policy to cover repair / replacement of structures and property on the first floor - if my second story was flooding there would be far bigger issues to worry about than my house! This allowed me to save a bit on the premiums. My regular homeowners insurance, though, provided coverage for a full rebuild and personal property.


How do I drill into an existing galvanized fence post? I have an existing metal fence post, set in concrete, in which I'd like to drill a new hole in that post.

Normally, I would use a drill press to drill into a curved surface like this.  Since the post is already set in concrete, this is not a viable option.

Is there some sort of guide jig or other tool or process to make this task easier?  I'm having quite a time drilling even a small pilot hole.

I would use a punch to make a small dent in the pole so my drill bit wouldn't slip.


Do I have a neutral wire? I am considering purchasing a smart light switch, and I am looking for help to determine whether I have a neutral wire?

My switch box has a bundle of white wires tied off in the back of the box, which looks like the neutrals. However, I also see another white wire going into one of the switches, which left me a bit confused on whether they are actually neutrals?

Here is an image of the switch box. Thanks in advance for any help!

It is quite common to have a single white wire being utilized as an always hot feed to a switch. It should, however, be marked with black tape. This is commonly called a switch loop. If you pull out some of these wires, with the breaker off, you'll see that the whit wire from the switch is not bundled in the group of white wires under the red wire nut. Those wires under the red wire nut are your neutrals.


how can I repair a leaking at the water main valve I noticed a leaking at the water main. idk if it's an easy fix. I wanted to ask the question before calling a plumber.

Depending on your water supply, it may be as easy as calling the water company / department - depends where their responsibility ends and yours starts, in your local area. They might tell you it's your problem, they might send out their plumber to fix it at no additional cost to you beyond your water bill.

Otherwise, valve leaks or replacement can be easy or hard, depending on a lot of details it's hard to see from here. While a picture might help, you never know for sure until you start trying to take it apart. You might need the water company to shut off a valve at the street, if that's where their responsibility ends, so you can put the new valve on inside the house.


Hot disconnected/ Neutral still connected OK? I am replacing a range hood with a microwave. The hood was hardwired in. I ran a new 20A circuit from the panel for the microwave. The existing hood wiring is tied into the kitchen ceiling light. There were 5 wires tied together in this box. I found and disconnected the hot wire, but don't know how to ID the neutral wire running to the hood. Can I leave it connected and just cap the hood wiring off since the hot wire isn't connected?

I ended up using trial and error to go through each neutral to figure out which one went to the range hood wire. Took a little bit of time but this way I can safely disconnect the wire and cap both ends. Might as well do it now while I have everything torn apart.


Using white/neutral for light switches I’m not an electrician, but I sure have added LOTS of lights and switches in my home. I’m almost done remodeling my basement and have just noticed that I have been splicing into the white/neutral wire for my light switches, and I should have been using black/hot.
All my lights turn on and off just fine. Do I need to go back and switch those to black/hot? If so, why?

This is a code violation. But there are real specific reasons (i.e., not just to have all switches look the same). A specific why this is bad:
With the neutral switched instead of hot, if you turn off the switch to change a light bulb, you still have a hot socket. Since ground is present (neutral is effectively ignored since that has been switched off), you could still have a complete circuit (e.g., if a bulb breaks) where normally you would not expect it. Actual maintenance work (beyond changing a light bulb) should be done with the breaker off, but most people would not bother just to change a light bulb.
And even if you remember this, the next owner might not know about this little "quirk". Which could be a shocking experience.


Button Cover for Part 103 Without Full PCB Assembly So, I asked this question over on iFixit three days ago, and haven't gotten anything back from them; so I'm bringing it over here mostly as-is because Stack Exchange at least responds. Hopefully I have the right community for this; nothing else seemed close enough.

We have a GE Microwave, model PVM9195DF1WW, at our old house, and the timer button has broken; it gets stuck under the outer panel when pressed. After taking apart the panel casing, we found that the problem stemmed from a broken spring; each button on this component has two plastic bars that function as springs to pop the button back up after it's pressed, and one of the springs had broken. The specific part is seen in front of Part 103 in this diagram; this site lists the part as a SWITCH PCB, ASM. The "ASM" part seems to mean assembly, which as I understand it means both the circuit board with the actual buttons and the plastic cover with the button faces. I only want the plastic cover, because presumably it would be less expensive, and I also wouldn't end up with a loose electrical component that I don't need. Is there any way to get only the plastic piece?

Unfortunately most appliance repair parts are assemblies, especially when you get into control panels.

Partially because its hard to inventory and sell the hundred pieces that make up just the buttons on your microwave vs just selling the entire section to replace.

Also because its faster to replace the whole assembly.  Its made to be taken out and replaced.  The individual pieces of it were not.  For the DIY people who don't mind spending an hour carefully prying plastic clips apart and replacing the button, the smaller parts would be nice.  But for the repair guy who just wants to get it done fast and move on to the next job, replacing the whole panel makes sense.

Besides, if that button broke, odds are there are others that have seen the same strain over the years and are close to failing too.


toilet tank not filling Toilet flushes ok, but then to fill tank, shut off valve has to be turned off and then back on. Why?

Your toilet fill valve has failed. You probably will need to replace it.
Whether it can be cleaned and rinsed out or adjusted or repaired, or must be replaced, depends on the type of fill valve. There are over a dozen common styes. Do a net search for "toilet fill valve images" and you will see what I mean.
You will also find the picture that matches your valve, which will lead you to the manufacturer, which will probably lead you to a tutorial on what you can do to maintain it. I can't tell you exactly what to do unless you post a picture of your fill valve.
The reason I think you will probably need to replace it is, locking up until the main water pressure is removed is a strange failure mode for a fill valve. However if your fill valve is a type that can be cleaned or adjusted, try that first (if you can find out how to take it apart).
Don't forget to close the supply valve before working on it, and if you have to temporarily open the supply valve to flush the line or whatever, hold a heavy towel or rag over the partially disassembled fill valve to avoid spraying the room.


Adhesive removal from Bruce flooring We have Bruce engineered hardwood flooring installed by a previous homeowner. At some point double-sided tape was used to hold down an area rug. I have tried to remove the tape by carefully pulling it up. The tape came up but the adhesive remains. I have a sample of the flooring and can see that it has a thin veneer (1/16") with a thin protective clearcoat over it.
I'm concerned about using anything harsh such as Goof Off or nail polish remover that might remove the clearcoat and damage the veneer.
What's the best way to approach this in removing the adhesive?

Goof off is really not that strong, I use Remove-it contractors grade citrus cleaner. I have found it is great at removing adhesive goo. Non toxic and even works well on mastic , both on hands and surfaces.

I use double sided tape for name plates on load centers, I have to update these when modifications are made I use dental floss to cut the foam then Remove-it and the goo wipes off sometimes a second spray is needed on larger areas but it has always worked for me.


Shower Tub Valve leaking from behind cartridge I have a Delta shower/tub valve which controls water flow to our tub (with a diverter that can be switched to shower).  There is a slow leak from the tub faucet which I am trying to repair.  This valve was installed less than 6 months ago, so the leak is a bit surprising.

After turning off our water lines, I disassembled the valve and removed the cartridge.  The cartridge and o-rings seemed ok and not worn (to be expected).

However, the leak was still occurring from behind where the cartridge was.  On the right side of this image, you can see some water leaking from the cold water supply line.  When this image was taken, the water supply was turned off and the bathroom sink did not have any water pressure or leaking.

Is this the same leak that is causing my faucet to drip?  (I am assuming so, with the water flowing through the cartridge somehow?)  Or is the cartridge still possibly to blame?
What could be causing a leak from further back than the cartridge?
What can I do to fix this?

What you see in the picture is just water that was in your pipe dripping out.  After shutting off water, there is always a small amount coming out.

If the leak is external (in front of your tiles), i would say it is your cartridge or seals of your faucet being faulty.  If it is behind the tiles, the soldering of your pipe must have given up which is very bad news.  Is your cement board wet?

If you have another bath with a compatible faucet, swapping them to isolate the problem.  Else get anothe faucet to try it out.

On a side note, I noticed the Redgard water proofing layer didn't fully cover all the way to the edge of the hole.  You might want to touch up and make sure water don't go behind.  Usually water damage happens at these openings.


Why were both circular florescent tubes not working last night but are working this morning We have 2 circular florescent ceiling light fixtures on a single switch. Last night neither bulb would come on. But this morning they are working fine.

I had checked the circuit breaker, that was OK (other lights attached to that circuit breaker were working).

We have noticed that we are not getting very long out of the bulbs recently, having to change them withing 12 months of replacement.

Each fixture has one bulb.

Note I am in Ireland: 230vac & 50hz

Also, I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but it seems that 'quality' of electricity in our area is poor. Occasionally a circuit-breaker in the house will trip, and exactly simultaneously one of the neighbors' intruder alarms will fire (as they do when power is interrupted) or the power in the neigbourhood will vanish for a second, resetting clocks and computers.

Change the ballast

Especially if it hums or buzzes.   Old magnetic ballasts (heavy, transformer in them) are notorious for failing in a way which burns up bulbs prematurely.  They also flicker and are cranky in the cold.  A worn tube will be finicky about starting; what's happening is the voltage required to strike the tube increases as the tube ages, until the ballast can no longer strike the tube.

Also consider North American suppliers for the ballast, most ballasts these days are multi-voltage 100-240V and 50/60Hz, just make sure of that.

I don't know if the T8 type bulbs exist in your country, but now is a good time to think about switching from T12 to them. T8 has the same socket as T12 so you do not need to alter the fixture (outside of changing the ballast, which you are probably doing anyway).    The ballast must match the bulb type, so select a T8 ballast.  The T12s are obsolete.


Should I let pressure treated lumber dry before building with it? I bought some treated 2x4's from Lowes, and it was fairly wet and heavy.  I went ahead and built a firewood rack, but screwing into it releases a lot of water.  It got me thinking, is it better to let the wood dry out a while before building with it?

This project is done, but if I was going to use treated wood in the future, should I buy some ahead of time and let is sit outside for a few weeks?

Unless you have a kiln to dry wood in, drying wood in a standard environment takes a really long time (if you buy firewood, usually you want ~2yr old wood!). I don't know that leaving it out for a couple weeks would dry it if it were so saturated that there is visible water coming out of it.  It is recommended to let wood used for hardwoods sit a couple weeks to get accustomed to the environment as far as humidity goes, but it is not being dried any further.

I would recommend that you find a better source of wood that is dried properly.  You also want to carefully select your wood, it might be that you just got a bad piece some how.

For outdoor projects, instead of PT lumber you might opt to try a wood like cedar which naturally resists the elements pretty well.


What sort of contractor (if any) should I call for this ceiling crack? There is a very narrow crack in my living room ceiling, pictured below. My concern, as you can imagine, is not so much the crack itself but the discoloration on either side.

I am frankly not sure how long it's been there (possibly already when we moved in, around 8 months ago), but it was definitely like this a few months ago with no changes that I've observed.

If I'm measuring correctly there's nothing in particular on the second floor directly above the crack, but it's just a couple of feet from a rather heavy whirlpool tub.

My question is, does this need attention, and if so what kind of contractor (if any) should I be calling? (Flooring seemed right to me,  but when I look for flooring contractors, they seem mostly to specialize in installation/refinishing, and it's not clear how to tell which of them would do a credible job assessing this.)

There is, or has been a leak - those come from plumbing or from the roof, or occasionally from a water spill on the floor above that was not cleaned up quickly.

If you are quite certain it's not expanding, and you never see or feel moisture near it after the tub is used, or after a rainstorm, you could hire a painter and hope that it was from a one-time spill event.

If it comes back a plumber (or a roofer) seems like a requirement, and for the plumber to see what's up you will probably need a drywall contractor to patch the holes the plumber will need to make to find out what's going on and fix it. You do not want to pay plumbers rates for drywall repair.

You'll still need a painter, but the drywall contractor might also do painting.