Some advice on building decking for a hot tub I am building decking 310 by 330 to support an inflatable hot tub and a gazebo. the ground slopes away from the house by roughly 10 cm/meter so will need to raise the decking about 30-40 cm at the end furthest from the house.

I have had one builder round to have a look but was also considering doing it myself as I am pretty good at DIY around the house and looking online I had figured that I could do it myself

However the Builder who has been to see about the job insists that, for the amount of weight I will be having with the hot tub I have a brick wall built on 3 of the 4 sides instead of just using posts.

Is he correct, or can I just use properly foundationed posts into the ground (700mm deep is what I have read). If I do just use wodden posts how many shuould a deck of this size and carrying this weight use?

Metric... Lol, the easy part. 1 liter of water is 1kg so you need to consider that inflatable hot tubs are 800-1200 ish liters, so up to around 1200 kilograms. That's 2645 pounds. That's how much a compact car weighs. Plus people, plus your gazebo. Decks are very easy to build but you need more than a deck you need support and lots of it. I don't know your skill level and I don't ever want to discourage anyone that wants to get in there and get dirty but there are valid safety concerns. That being said I don't think you need a brick wall but I don't know the conditions of the ground your deck would be on. Here in Ontario we dig holes in the ground at least 120cm deep 25cm around and fill them with concrete as a support pads for the structure. A brick wall seems like an expensive option but it would be very strong. If you live in a cold climate and experience freezing temperatures, that brick wall has to extend below the frost line or it will heave.


Gas fireplace shuts off after a few minutes Background: Heat & Glo Escape 42DV natural gas fireplace shuts off after 2-3 minutes.  Will not relight immediately following shut down.  After an hour or so, it will relight and then extinguish again after the same 2-3 minutes.  The pilot light works fine, sparking and then lighting with each attempt.  Symptoms are exactly the same whether the glass is installed or removed.  Over the course of a month+ of troubleshooting, the fireplace has lit and stayed lit for a few hours (until I turned it off) just twice.  The other ~30 times, it behaves as described above.  We've owned the home for a year and the issue has been persistent the entire time.

Troubleshooting already completed:

Gas line from valve to main burners cleared out with air compressor
IPI (ignition/thermocouple/pilot light) assembly replaced
Control module replaced
Gas valve replaced.  The replacement valve came with a manual rheostat for high-low which can be removed and replaced with the electronic rheostat that presumably gets it's signal from the wall-mounted control panel switch for high or low.  I attempted using the manual rheostat first before replacing it with the electronic one, but the symptoms remained exactly the same.

I'm running out of ideas.  My next guess would be the gas line itself has low pressure (we're at 7,000 foot altitude, so it's supposed to be higher). I have another fireplace in the basement and it has no issues starting or remaining lit....though the flames don't look particularly big and bright orange.  There are no other 'low pressure' indications in the home (furnaces, water heaters and kitchen burners work great).  I have not measured the pressure at the valve as I don't currently own the proper equipment.

Anybody got any idea of where I should look next?

Thanks in advance.

Similar issue with an Escape 42DV. Different in that the flame goes out and re-ignites immediately.

Initially, the flame would go out and come back on as if someone switched it off and then back on really quickly.  Then, the problem worsened.  Finally, the fire would go out (along with the pilot) and stay out until the system was turned off (powered) and then turned back on.

I proceeded to replace the thermocouple and the controller.  Same issue.  It wasn't until I replaced the Dexen IPI electronic ignition control module that the fireplace returned to being somewhat stable.

I'm still having periodic shut-off/start-up within a second or two.  But, it can't be the electronics, since they're all new.  Also, I relocated them away from the firebox, so they'd stay cooler (thinking they themselves may be getting overheated); and there are no ancillary sensors.  This is a Direct Vent fireplace, where the flue is a jacketed pipe, pulling cool air in from the outside by pushing hot out the center pipe (creating a vacuum).  There is no fan in the flue.

The only thing left is to have the flue cleaned.  It is possible that there is a build up (after 11 years) of soot that is affecting the airflow, choking the fire momentarily, and the flue needs to be cleaned.

Hope my experience helps.


What is the difference between an interlock and a transfer switch? With respect to wiring a standby generator, what is the essential difference between an interlock and a transfer switch and what are the pros and cons of using one rather than the other?

Interlock
An interlock, is a device that prevents a switch (usually a breaker) from being turned on. In the context of switching between generator and utility power. An interlock is a device that prevents you from supplying a panel from both power sources at the same time.  It's typically a simple, low cost device, that has to be manually operated.

To operate this device, a user would have to:

Turn off the main breaker.
Slide the interlock device up.
Turn on the backfed "generator" breaker.

It may also require the user to turn off some of the breakers in the panel, if the generator is not capable of supplying the entire load. Therefore, interlocks may require additional knowledge and understanding to operate.
Interlock kits tend to be cheap, in comparison to transfer switches.
Transfer switch
A transfer switch (or sometimes transfer panel), is a device (or group of devices) that allows you to switch between two or more power sources.  It can be an automatic, or manual device.  It's similar to a single pole double throw switch, and allows you to select which power source is used.
A two source transfer switch will have three positions:

Utility (Util.)
OFF
Generator (Gen.)

Transfer switches typically require special knowledge to install, but are very easy to operate (sometimes being operated automatically).
Transfer switches tend to be more expensive than interlocks, especially automatic transfers. Though they may make up for the additional costs, in convenience, ease of use, and safety.


Black wire x3, white wire x3, ground wire x3. I took out a ceiling fan in a bedroom. I didn't pay much attention to how it was wired up because I've replaced 5 ceiling lights in the house previously and they've been without issue. My issue on this one is I have 3 black, whites, and grounds coming out. So I figured I'd hook them all together to the single black, white and ground in my ceiling light and they would work. So I do this, restore power at the breaker and go to the bedroom,  flip the switch and blow the breaker. I've also noticed if I throw the switch to the ceiling fan in my master it will also blow the breaker.  I've has no previous problems until removing this ceiling fan. Electrical is not my strong suite. I do have an ohm meter, but not exactly sure what to do with it...

This answer is brought to you by the term Switch Loop.

You're thinking "Oh, they must be color-coded".  They can't be color coded because Every cable in every house in North America looks exactly like this.  Black white bare.  Bare is reserved for safety ground, so it doesn't even count!

A light has 3 wire functions:  1. Always-hot.  2. Switched-hot (hot when the lamp is desired to be on). 3. Neutral (the current return for all loads).  You can't code 3 different wire functions when all your wire is the same 2 colors! (ground can never be used to carry power).

This is why I own 10 colors of electrical tape. So I can tape wires by function. Neutral must be white; I prefer black for always-hot and red for switched-hot.

I trust you have googled "switch loop".  That's one of your 3 cables.  The two wire functions are always-hot and switched-hot, and obviously, at least one of them has a misleading color!   (white is allowed to be things other than neutral- sure be nice if someone had taped it like I do!)

The other two cables are supply; and power onward to other outlets.  In both these cables, the wire functions are always-hot and neutral.  Since neutral is present, it must be white.

Your next step is figure out which of the 3 cables coming into your box is the switch loop.   Separate and cap them all, and turn power on.

The black wire that lights up a voltage tester, that is your supply cable.   One down.

Now if you notice, somewhere in your house something else has lost power. Go find it.  Put a load of some kind on it so you can tell when it comes back.

Turn off the power, and pick either unidentified cable.  Nut its black to the supply cable's black. Nut its white to the supply cable's white.  TURN OFF THE SWITCH. (the third cable will be disconnected) Turn the power back on and see if the thing that had lost power has it back on again.  If it does, that cable you just nutted is the onward power cable.
What remains is the switch loop.  You can confirm this with an ohmmeter with the power off; near 0 ohms with switch on, infinity with switch off.  Open up the switch.  Get some RED electrical tape.  Get access to the white wire at both ends, and wrap both ends with red tape to mark it as  switched-hot.  Do the same to the "hot" (non-white) wire on your fan or light.

Now thanks to the tape, you are color coded, and you can match "like color" to "like color" with wirenuts.


Anchor 1x2 wood on cabinet side wall Can anyone recommend a good method of anchoring a 1x2 9" wood strip on the side of the cabinet wall?  The strip will be used as a shelving bracket. I don't expect there to be a lot of weight but I'd like it to be pretty secure for holding the shelf.

It seems like screws would be a bad idea since the wall is only 3/4" thick. Perhaps I could drill a hole and use nut, bolt, lock washer? Would this work, and can you suggest a screw size and length? I've thought about adhesive such as Loctite, but I'm not found of the permanancy of that idea. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Since you are adding exposed supporting bracket for the shelves, and fairly large one at that, 1x2s, screws are the appropriate way to attach and remain removable.  Pre drill the holes and contersink for the screw heads in the wood strips.  Select screw length to just go deep enough in the side without punching through.

Screws similiar in size to drywall screws- 1-1/4 or 1-1/2" long, Measure the thickness of the wood strip and the cabinet wall to determine the screw lengh. Screws long enough to get good penetration in the cabinet wall without punching through the inside.


How do I find out what's wrong with my phone (DSL) line? I'm trying to wire up a phone line on my land. I don't care about voice, just about internet (DSL). It's 1.5Mbps, the only speed available.

The TELCO NID is on the same post as the power meter and main panel.

There are several runs of conduit to another post with a subpanel on it. I pulled 250' of UTP Cat5e. I attached one end at the NID, and the other end got a a Leviton Quick Port Voice jack. I plugged in the DSL modem and it failed to connect to the DSL.

Some things I have tried:

The box of Cat5e was 500', so the leftovers are the same length as what's underground. I connected it between the NID and the DSL modem, without pulling it all out of the pull box. The DSL modem was able to connect. This eliminates:

250' is too long for DSL
I wasn't punching down correctly at the jack
I was punching down on the wrong slots on the jack
I wasn't correctly attaching at the TELCO NID.

I stripped the ends of the blue pair and twisted them together. At the other end I verified continuity in that pair with a multimeter. The wire is not broken.

I have not tried plugging in a regular handset to check for a dial tone, since I don't own such a device. I will borrow one and add the results to this post.

My best guess right now is electromagnetic interference in the trench caused by the subpanel's feeders. The conduits may not be 1' apart. I wasn't here when the trench was filled, so I'm not sure. If this is the problem, would STP work?

EDIT I tried an experiment to eliminate underground interference from the feeder wires. I would turn off the subpanel's main breaker and see if the DSL could connect.

For power I used the inverter in my truck. I plugged the DSL modem in to the inverter and it was able to connect to DSL. The subpanel was still on at this point. I am surprised this worked. I immediately plugged the DSL modem back in to the subpanel's receptacle and it failed to connect to DSL. Weird.

I tried switching the breaker for that circuit to the other leg of the electric service, and that worked, too! It seems to work about 50% of the time this way. Weird.

What should I try next?

STP should help. Just make sure to ground it properly, or the interference can be worse - like a long antenna.


Adding common wires for nest thermostats I recently installed some Nest E thermostats for heating only usage. They’ve been great so far, but my HVAC guy warned me I would likely run into issues without a common wire. In the newer part of the house there is hot water baseboard heating. These wires come in to these two valves (for reference let’s call the closer valve Zone A and the further valve Zone B) :

These wires then run along to a switching relay and 24V transformer:

A wire goes from the switching relay

To this Honeywell box (which I believe is a zone control?)

And finally to this oil burner control where it meets the wiring that appears to go to the thermostat that controls the steam radiators (Zone C) in the older part of the house (I still need to fish a green/common wire through for this one).

So my question is - after I fish a common wire through for Zone C, how do I need to reconfigure the wiring so I am getting ~24V through my common wires?

First, if the Nest isn't reporting problems from lack of a C wire, then you don't have problems, so don't make problems.

If you do need a common wire, I gather by the grand tour of your system that you have no idea where C can be found.  The answer is the transformer has 2 terminals on the Low voltage side. They are  R and C.

Hypothetically, if you ran a C wire up to your thermostat and accidentally attached it to the R wire on the transformer, absolutely nothing would happen.  (The Nest would be trying to power itself off the voltage difference between R and R, which is 0 volts.)

You see where this gets pretty easy.

You can also tap "C" at any place it goes, e.g. Any solenoid, relay or actuator.


Do type-2 surge protectors render type-3 protectors redundant? If you have a type-2 surge protector installed in your main breaker panel, does that render redundant any type-3 protectors plugged in to various outlets throughout the house? The only way I can think of that type-3 surge protectors might still be useful is if they are more sensitive than the type-2 surge protector in the main breaker panel. Otherwise, they would seem to be pretty useless, though not harmful. (I am not considering RF filtering in this question, which I think is a separate subject.)

The real answer is in the specific brand and model of both types you have or plan to use. Some models break down at 400 volts some as high as 800-1000 with a Courdinated system there could be Benefits to having both on sensitive / critical systems. Most homes will be fine with a type 2 but these do fail and a redundant could save that very expensive device that has the type 3 protection in addition to the type 2.


Can I spackle over painted wood? I have a wall that is smooth (ish) large wood panels.

Originally, they were stained a wood color.

That has been painted over for years now.

I now need to bring the surface to super-smooth, so will be putting up a thin coat of spackle.

Can I spackle on the paint directly, or need I prime first?
(The current paint is a light shade of latex based paint, probably 12 years old.)

You CAN put drywall compound (please, not spackle - different products) over wood, but unless there's some major need to preserve every fractional inch of the room, it's generally much easier and better results to put drywall (you can use 1/4 or 3/8 rather than 1/2) over the wood surface first.


Why would a bathroom emit an odor if pipes aren't clogged? House has crawl space and the pipes aren't clogged, yet bathroom has stench that wasn't there yesterday. Only thing different today than yesterday is that it's raining today. Why would stench all of a sudden appear?

Sounds like you are smelling sewer gases. Two common ways those will come up drain lines are from a dry trap (make sure water has run in each drain within the past several months) or a failing wax seal under the toilet (you may notice water damage under the toilet when this happens, but not always). The other issue could be a blocked vent line which would result in gurgling in a drain when you use the plumbing elsewhere.


Can a dimmer switch be used in this circuit? An existing circuit in a bath (in TX)  has the following diagram.
Can the 3-way light switch be replaced  by a dimmer switch (without changing the wiring)?
Does the other 3-way switch need replacement at the same time?
R is for Red, B for Black, W for White, G for Ground.
Edit: I have incorrectly labeled 3 as Line. It should be 2.

Achievement Unlocked: Wire a box with 6 different wire functions without using any phase tape

Sorry, no points for that "achievement", just a lot of brain pain.  Let's try this.

Ah, suddenly I can hear myself think
Most of this looks pretty straight forward.  The top /3 cable is the supply side of a 3-way circuit.  The bottom /3 cable supplies light and fan in the usual manner.
But something rather squirreley is going on with cables 2 and 3 here.   You've labeled cable #3 as "Line" but then, feeding all the switches off the black wire of cable 2 doesn't make any sense.
So this raises more questions than answers.
What might make more sense is if cable 2 was actually line, and comprised a multi-wire branch circuit, with one pole serving all loads here, and the other pole heading off to parts unknown in cable 3.  Does the breaker for this circuit have 2 handles and the handles are tied?  (on Square D "QO" this might look like a double-wide breaker with a single handle).


Switches and outlets not working after short to ground I was replacing a outdoor GFI when putting back in box the ground touched the lower unused terminal and fried the ground, shorted GFI out. Now I have some switches in the house that do not work mainly on off switches and 2 standard outlets. No breakers are tripped?

All other GFI's in house work, What might I check next? I have not tried a new outdoor GFI yet.

It sounds like you fried the GFCI. 2 things that I Usually to to make it safe. turn the power off. With double gang or metal boxes wrap a couple layers of electrical tape around the terminals of the outlet or switch. Replacing the GFCI would be my first step. the outlet may work but not pass power to the other devices.


What is this sleeve in this toilet tank? There is a clear plastic sleeve around the flush mechanism in this toilet. I just replaced the flapper and the sleeve seems to interfere with the flapper, making it close too soon.
Why is the sleeve there? (new to me) Thanks.

All the answers thus far are correct, in that it's an (early) attempt to save water on flushing.
The important part I don't see in any other answer is that it's an early attempt, and they did not work very well. It's like watersaving toilet version 1.0 or 1.1, and watersaving toilet version 12.3 is on the market now.
If you'd like to save water while actually flushing waste effectively, upgrade the toilet to a current version. They work very well. That's a slapdash retrofit to a toilet that's designed to use a lot of water to flush well. The current ones are designed from the ground up to flush on less than half the water that probably uses, which is probably half what it uses without the plastic tube.


Control the individual brightness of LEDs on WS2812B I currently have two 16.4Ft WS2812B (individually programmable)  LED strips in my living room, both are connected with a single dataline but 5v DC sources going into it at both ends to prevent voltage drop.

Current setup works great at lower brightness but when running it at max brightness for any color (say white) you can notice the voltage drop as the LEDs are bright at the start of the strip (closer to the 5V source) then they are at the join point.

Now I have some noise going into the dataline (that is my fault) but random LED's start to populate random colors with differing brightness. Now I know how to fix this issue but the ability to see that LEDs can be differing brightness really interested me.

My question is, using the RPI python library I currently have, is it possible to address the brightness of each LED?

I currently use https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x to control the LED's via multiple python scripts and a Flask webserver.

Any advice on how to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

With WS2812B LEDs you supply the binary values for Red, Green and Blue of each LED. Each time a new serial bit stream is sent to the LED string all of these values need to be provided. I really suggest that you read the data sheet for the LED and you would already know this.

It is possible to scale the RGB value for each LED by multiplying each of the three LED binary values for the Red, Green and Blue by the factor. To brighten use a factor > 1.0 and to dim use a factor < 1.0. You must use care to make sure that the resulting calculations stay within the size/range of the normal binary values for each color. For example you cannot program a color value > 255 or less than 0.


Is there a quick, non-intrusive way to see what's under vinyl siding? Currently house-hunting, and one of the very cheap, in-need-of-work houses I've looked at has the unusual feature of a foundation-to-ceiling limestone wall inside, on one of the outer walls of the house. It's the rightmost rowhouse in a three-rowhouse structure, and the limestone wall is on the side -- the "right wall" of the entire structure, so to speak.

It's clearly a limestone wall. On the outside, cheap vinyl siding.

One other wall is shared with the middle part of this rowhouse. The other two walls, front and back, are drywall inside, cheap vinyl outside.

The front and back walls seem like they might be a bit thicker than they need to be. I'm desperately curious as to whether this entire rowhouse might actually be a limestone structure -- old stable building, barn, something -- that has been drywalled inside and sided outside by a former owner, possibly somebody who decades ago thought it would be easier and cheaper to side the building with crappy vinyl rather than pay to re-point the stone.

How can I check? I obviously can't start popping vinyl siding off a house I don't own, but if this is indeed a full limestone building, it could well be a real diamond in the rough.

Vinyl siding has seams between the pieces. You can push/pull at one of these to make enough room to get a small pen light inside for a peak. You can also inspect around any protrusions like water faucets or vents. Lastly, you can get a special vinyl pulling tool that is a thin blade with a small hook at the end. It's designed to be forced between two pieces and pulled down to release the siding from the layer below. With a little pressure from your hand you and pop the two pieces back together without ever removing a screw.

Two things to keep in mind: if the siding is properly installed, what you'll likely see behind the siding is a weather wrap (e.g. tyvek). And installing siding on a stone surface is likely to leave hundreds of screw holes that would take a lot of effort to patch.


Is it possible to have the fireplace and chimney put up against a supporting/load bearing column? I am planning to build a new house, but I have a question regarding a fireplace I want to have in my living room. I would like to know if it is possible to have the fireplace and chimney put up against a supporting/load bearing column? that is having the firebox and the chimney all the way up against the supporting column of the house.
Is there any danger that heat will make the support column weak?

As always, consult your local building codes, but there shouldn't be an issue with heat on a reinforced concrete column. Whoever draws the plans will need to figure out an appropriate way to tie the column and the chimney together.


Would pine or MDF baseboard better handle humidity fluctuation? I am in the market for baseboard in my son's room.  I am now trying to decide between pine or MDF.  In New York we get humid summers and cold winters.  Since one of the walls will need two pieces, I am afraid of expansion and shrinkage exposing the seam.

What is the best material to use, between the two, where price is not a factor as I priced both out and I can do either?  I'm looking for easy to work with and reduced fluctuation answers.

MDF may be marginally more stable, but in my extensive experience it's far too fragile to be used for house trim. I wouldn't install it if it was free. It dents and scratches like nothing.

If you're doing a typical bedroom you shouldn't have field joints, as either is available in 16-foot lengths. Even if you do, a well-glued and well-nailed miter won't come open.

If you do the corner copes well (and I did say copes--don't miter inside corners), and if you pre-tension them a bit (cut a sixteenth to an eighth long and flex the center in), and if you use a good wood glue at the joints, you shouldn't have winter gapping.

If you really want to be sure, use oak. There's no rule that says oak can't be painted. The cost difference is often negligible between red oak and clear pine.


When connecting hot to ground, lights turn on. Open neutral? In troubleshooting one circuit, I accidentally discovered information for a second circuit that I've also been trying to sort out. So, bottom line is I was stupid and lucky. While replacing a switch on the first circuit (breaker off), I accidentally touched the hot to ground on a switch next to it which is on the second circuit (breaker on) with a ground wire and the lights on this second circuit came on.

This second circuit is a combination of lights and outlets with branch circuits. Part of this circuit works and part doesn't. As I said above, when I jumpered hot to ground, everything worked. I think this means there is an open neutral somewhere because the circuit was completed when connecting hot to ground. Is this correct? If so, how do I find the open neutral?

thank you.

So I solved this myself by tracing the wires.  I figured out that two circuits had shared a neutral when I found two open splices, traced them back and separated onto separate circuits.  I didn't realize it at the time. Once I traced the wires, drew out the diagram and figured out there was no neutral, I figured out where to connect the neutral back in to complete the circuit. All working now.

For posterity's sake, the original circuit diagram:


Delay between toilet flushing and filling Suddenly the cistern is only filling after a delay from 2 to 10 seconds whereas it was immediate some days ago. I didn't touch anything and I'm sure noone entered my flat.

Not sure if it is a problem though as there isn't any leaking.

I don't know if it is linked but it seems this

doesn't serve any purpose since the cistern is filling whatever if it is open or closed.

Here is the best picture I could take:

That valve is necessary for whenever you need to service the plumbing inside of the toilet, it turns the water supply off. In the cistern on the other end of that pipe coming from the valve, there is a "fill valve" mechanism of some sort, tied to a float. When the water drops down into the bowl to flush, the float drops and enables the fill valve to refill the cistern, until the level raises again and it shuts off.

Most likely your fill valve is getting old and is sticking when the level drops, so it shows up as a delay in that the float is not falling when it should. This would be an indicator that it is close to failing completely and needs to be fixed / replaced.


Black and decker drill won’t stop spinning As soon as I plug my drill into the mains it starts spinning slowly but won’t stop completely which isn’t ideal when trying to use it, how can fix it?? Could it just be some dust has got into the trigger or something?

My old B&d drill had a small knob on the front of the trigger. When it as screwed in (turned clockwise) it would pull the trigger in. If yours has this function try rotating the knob counter clockwise. As other have stated it is possible that debris is in the switch. Try to manually pull the switch out and see if it stopped spinning.


Why is my thermostat turning the heat on too soon? I have recently come across an issue with my thermostat and when and how my heat comes on.

My thermostat seems to be an old round Honeywell. I set my temp at 65 typically. As of last night my furnace has been coming on what seems like too early as it's already above the temp at 67-68 degrees and turning off at around 72-74. What would be causing something like this to happen?

Appreciate any help as it's cold up here in New England.

Mercury thermostats are VERY accurate and last forever.
Either it is now not level, or the heat anticipator is mis adjusted or not making good contact.
If set at 65 degrees, the furnace should kick on at 64 and shut off at 66.
If the swing is wider than that, the heat anticipator needs to be moved towards shorter.
My Honeywell mercury thermostat is 65 years old
and still works perfect.


Anything wrong with this ground wire? Is it supposed to be insulated? Panel is from the late 1970's. Looks like there was some insulation on the ground wire, but most of it has come off. It's the same way through the crawlspace.

The best solution is to attach the ground wire to a copper stake that is driven into the ground close to the home. Ground wires should be insulated as at some time they may be live and dangerous.


Garage door opener surge protector I recently replaced my garage door opener after it was fried in a lightning storm.  To prevent this from happening again I was thinking about buying an 15 amp Isobar surge protector.

The opener is a 1/2 hp Chamberlain whisper drive.  Would an Isobar work on this garage door opener?

Does your garage door opener plug into an outlet located nearby?  If so the answer is yes, you can just use a plug mounted protector. It does not need to be specific to your opener model or type:

But if you've had a problem like this, your better bet may be a Whole House unit.  And your best bet is to use both.

I created a little guide Whole House surge protection over here:
http://obviously.com/1482/Whole-House-Surge-Protectors
(I was working on protecting a fire alarm and some boiler motors, but the principle is the same).

Be warned that "power strip surge protectors, despite impressive sounding warranties, have a limited record in protecting devices.  Some are poorly designed, others are actually fraudulent knock offs".  The whole house ones are only made by respected companies and they do actually work.


Insulation options for narrow ceiling space I've got a flat roof ( wooden, sealed with tar and then roofing iron on top of that ) with a 30 cm gap between the ceiling.  Not really enough for someone to crawl in unless skinny.

There's no insulation there at present.  The lowest the temperature gets is 0 Centigrade.

I've read on various sites that you need a gap between the roof and any insulation, about 30 cm. But that would mean I can't insulate.

Is the purpose of the gap to prevent condensation of the insulation material against the roof?  Is that a concern when I have a wooden roof?

Could I use blown wool?  That is said to both absorb and release moisture.

I don't have any down lighting ( which can be a hazard if covered with insulation ).  Recommended R value for this area for the ceiling is 2.9 metric ( US R of 16.5 )

video of roof space

The principle behind a flat roof is the same as with a sloped roof:  keep moisture out of the uninsulated space of the roof.  Most roof systems require venting. Venting is necessary to remove any moisture that comes from the inside of the home into the insulated space and causes condensation.  Condensation causes mold and other moisture problems. As long as there is enough room for air to move unimpeded throughout the space and in and out through the vents, you should be fine.  If you do not have the space for proper air movement, you can consider packing the entire roof with insulation. The idea with this method would be to prevent air movement in the entire space, preventing vapor from entering in the first place.  This method is used for vaulted ceilings and is fine if done right. You should do a super job of sealing the interior ceilings to prevent vapor transfer to that space.

As far as recessed lighting is concerned, there are "cans" that are made for use in insulated spaces.  They have a temperature sensor that turns the fixture off if it gets too hot.


How to install a toilet on raised flooring I’ve had to raise the flooring in my basement by 3 inches and this means the bathroom floor will also be raised. I now have to install a toilet on top of a 2 inch foam barrier and 3/4 inch plywood. I’m concerned about the per/sq/inch force of the toilet, so was wondering if I should replace the foam with plywood in the area that that toilet will rest on.
I’m also assuming that the exit pipe (floor flange) can be raised with an extension?

Given that there is plywood on top of the foam to spread the load out, if you use even the usual lowest grade of XPS (not sure what type of foam you actually used or plan to use) it should not deform under load. That grade is 25PSI, so if the plywood spreads the load to 16 square inches of floor it should still hold up a 100 lb toilet and a 300 lb person - and in fact the load will be spread to much more floor area, with any normal toilet base and plywood. The one I recently installed was probably north of 200 square inches just for the toilet base area, but some are smaller.
You can also get higher grade foam - up to 100PSI is available, or you can use solid wood or masonry (won't rot, wood might eventually) right under the toilet if you'd feel better about those options. Cut a hole in the flooring system, extend the flange, pour concrete. That will stay put until someone remodels and comes at it with a hammer...


What are some cost-effective tips for reducing external sound from entering a room? I have a small office room that shares a wall with our living room.  When we have guests over, their voices travel fairly well; they sound somewhat muffled but are still audible.  As I work from home occasionally, I'd like to reduce any/all noise as much as I can.

I'm not sure where exactly the noise is coming from... we do have central heating air ducts but the register is on the opposite wall... there's not much of a gap for the office door... maybe it's just coming through the wall itself?

Oddly enough, if I check sound levels from the adjacent room (on the OTHER side of the office), the noise from the living room is still there too (maybe a LITTLE softer but not by much).

Could someone provide some "sound-proofing" tips? Or perhaps ways to troubleshoot this further?  I'm on a limited budget so I can't really afford to tear down walls. Not sure if there's insulation...

-M

Step 1: Prevent air transmission between the rooms. Sweeps for the door or a heavier door; look at the heating registers and windows; things like that. You're saying the sound is muffled, which implies the high frequencies aren't making it in, so I don't think this is the major problem.

Step 2: Damp the transmitted vibration. Put big heavy bookcases on the wall between the two rooms (which side doesn't matter so much). Blow heavy insulation into the wall between. Hang a heavy quilt on the wall.

Step 3: Break up the sound in the source room. Use natural diffusers (heavy sofas with heavy foam pillows work great, or the aforementioned bookcase with loads of stuff on it), or buy foam diffusers to stick in the corners/edges of the room.

Step 4: Give up and wear sound-cancellation headphones...or install a white-noise generator in your office (either a fan-type one, or a water feature if you like more 'natural' sounds).

See also How Do You Reduce Floor Sound Transmission for more details.


Changing a 3 gang Australian light switch to a Smart switch I am wanting to change the older style Australian 3 gang light switch with a new ‘Smart’ wifi 3 gang switch.

I just need some help in getting the wiring in the right place.  I have included pictures of the old and new switches.

Any help would appreciated.

Existing switch and wiring

New switch

Unfortunately, your switch is wired using the '3 plate' or 'switch loop' method, so you don't have a neutral available at the switch.

You will need to either get a switch that doesn't require a neutral, or run a new cable to the light that the feed comes from - the two core cable.


How do I prepare aging cedar siding for staining/painting? I have a home with old, somewhat damaged, cedar siding. I believe the siding was put on in the early 90s making it about 20 years old.  On more than one side there are places were you can see the pattern of what must have been some kind of trellis.

I'd like to re stain the siding so that is has a more even color.  What should I do to prepare the surface?

If it's real cedar, it shouldn't be more complicated than scraping, sanding, and restaining.  You'll have to sand down to bare wood before restaining.  Depending on what kind of siding you have, it might be hard to sand it everywhere, in which case painting it might be a better option.  For paint, you just have to make sure you scrape/sand to the point where the paint has a good surface to adhere to.  Then prime and paint.

But you should make sure you know what you have.  Real wood is less and less common as siding, so you should make sure you don't have something like Hardiplank.


How to get wall plugs out Anyone know how to get a super old wall plug out? My husband and I are redoing our house we just bought and have multiple all over our bathroom. The house was built in 1958 so I don’t know if that makes a difference in what kind of wall plugs were used. I looked up how to do it. Did it the way it shows (by screwing in a screw and grabbing it with pliers to pull out) and it took a huge chunk of the wall with it because it has a really big metal back behind the wall. I tried to add a picture but it’s not allowing me to.

I believe you are describing  hollow wall anchors. Molly screw is a common brand name that has come to be reference for almost any hollow wall anchor. I think you have half the removal process. You need to install a screw then gently tap it with a hammer. This will straighten out the insert allowing it to come out thru a hole slightly larger than the original.


Help me understand complicated junction / switch box -- with diagram This is a double switch box in a bathroom. On my diagram the circles are wire connectors.  There are three wires coming into the box, each with a black and white wire. There are two switches in the box, one for a light, and the other for a fan. The fan switch is a timer. The timer was working OK but started making a loud buzzing noise so I took the plate off and this is what I found. I wish to replace the timer with another timer. My question is:
* should I go buy a timer that has a red, white and black wire coming out and just hook it up the same way?
* does this box need to be rewired?

Any timer should suffice.

If the timer is a powered/active device and needs a neutral wire, the neutral wire is available there for you to use.


Is this termite or moisture damage? Anybody can tell if this is termite or water damage on the picture?

It is both, termites are attracted to damp wood. Carpenter ants will do the same.


Sand deck or do not sand deck I just power washed my deck because I need to restain.  In some places there is no stain and in some places the stain is still on.  The power washing did an excellent job removing dirt.

I have read posts that say to sand the deck and then the very next post would say not to sand.  I can provide pics if needed.  I will restain next weekend.

Thanks,
Misty

There's rarely a reason not to sand other than the effort and minimal cost involved. It will usually result in a better final result to sand.

You get varying advice because every project is different. You haven't shown any photos, nor have you described the condition or age of your wood or the products you intend to use. With all those factors, how can you expect a clear, black-and-white answer? It's really a matter of prerogative.


Can I change a switch within a circuit from powering multiple lights to a single light? I have a family room ceiling fan connected to a single pole light switch.  However, that switch also controls a bathroom light, staircase light and a bedroom receptacle.  There is only 1 cable coming into the switch from above.  No other cables go out of that switch box.  How do I go about deciphering the circuit and removing the power from the switch to all fixtures/outlets besides the ceiling fan?

First thing you'll have to do is determine where the wire from the switch is going. I'm guessing that all those lights,fan, and receptacle are just daisy-chained with the switch interrupting the neutral inside a fixture box or separate junction box.  (Why, why, why?)  If you make the existing switch control only the ceiling fan, you'll of course, need to decide where you want to add a switch or switches to control the others.  Additional wiring may involve crawling in the attic if there is one, drilling top plates, and dropping wire to new switch locations.  That's the best I can offer given the vagueness of the problem as described.  I will add that, if necessary, you could probably rent a toner and probe to trace wiring (with circuit breaker turned off).  Or, more practical, find the suspected other end of the switch wire, disconnect it, and gently wire nut the pair together and then check with a multimeter for continuity at the other end to confirm that's your wire. HTH


Repair driveway expansion joint sealant during winter? We moved into a new construction home this part March. At our first warranty walkthrough, our builder told us that because we were a north facing home, we would have to seal our expansion joint where the driveway meets the garage in order for our concrete warranty to remain valid. They recommended cutting down the felt that was there from when the concrete was poured and then using a self leveling sealant over top. I did this in August using Sikaflex, though it turned out to be a bigger pain than expected to cut the felt down.

Everything seemed fine until this weekend, when we got our first sizeable snow and weather has been bitterly cold (sub zero temps). When leaving for work this morning, I noticed the driveway by the garage looks to have heaved up a bit and, unfortunately, the sealant has pulled away entirely from the garage side for the entire length of the opening. This leaves a crack all the way across, which I fear will result in more heaving as water runs off the cars and out of the garage, and now under the driveway. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to repair the sealant over the winter or if I'm stuck watching my new driveway get damaged? How likely is this to cause substantial issues over the winter?

I use a product called "Pli Stix". I am sure your local home center will carry something similar or order it on line. I haven't tried this product in the winter but I can't see why it wouldn't work. It is packaged in a 30ft coil. You clean out the crack using and air hose, leaf blower,shop vacuum etc to remove the debris. You fill the crack with the material and melt it in place with a heat gun or propane torch. The product melts and conforms to the opening.


What is this in my electrical box? Can I attach my ground wire onto this screw? Will it be securely grounded? I am trying to wire a dimmer in an old outlet box and need to attach a ground. All other holes are too big or small, except the two that are being occupied by what looks like a wire clamp. Is it safe to attach my ground wire to this clamp? Thanks for your help!

That screw holds down the cable clamp, which is anchoring your BX cables into the box.  I have seen it used for grounds but it's not ideal at all.

Push the wires around in the back of the box and look for a hole that is somewhat smaller than the others.   This may be tapped #10-32, if so it is specifically for a ground screw.   They sell #10-32 ground screws plated green, either with or without integrated pigtails.


How can I make an even ground for a garden nursery, without using concrete? I want to make a garden nursery. I know that many use concrete for this purpose but I would like to find out if there is a cheaper alternative. My requirement is simple - the ground should be even to walk on, low maintenance and it should be able to withstand the weather (I think water clogging can be handled by using the right gradient in height).

Are there any DIY options as well?

4" of packed gravel (tamped every 2" with a plate vibrator) will meet all your requirements: cost, DIY and drainage.  In fact, unless you are sited over clay, no slope will be needed: rain will percolate through.

If you want a more formal surface, add an inch of sand and top with pavers or flagstone.

Use a mix of crushed 3/4 gravel with fines (particles all the way down to stone dust, 21AA in my area)

Plate vibrator:


Is this a 3/4 in. regulator, or a 1-in. regulator? The image shows my home water pressure regulator and the 3/4 in. PEX coming out the low pressure side. I think (hope) it might be a 1-in regulator using a threaded adapter reducing to 3/4 in. Both sides look the same and use 3/4 pipe. The home was built in 2016.

(United States plumbing)

I don't see any indication that the pressure reducing valve is a different size than the pipe. What part do you think is the threaded adapter? If the pipe is 3/4 and the home was built this year I don't see why they would've used a 1" PRV with adapters.

Can you find a part number on the PRV anywhere?


Adding a light to existing 3-way Adding a light...  Power source 12-2 wire comes in to light at the top of stairs then 12-2 down to first switch then 12-3 down to second light then 12-3 to second switch. Can not get the second light to work.!

Not enough wires.

You would need 12/2 from source to first light, 12/3 from first light to first switch, 12/4 from first switch to second light, and 12/3 from second light to second switch.

But this is not the best practical way to add a second light to the original circuit.

Originally, if I'm not mistaken, you had 12/2 from the source to the light, 12/2 from the light to the first switch, and 12/3 between the switches.

Starting from that circuit, the best way to add a second light is to run a new 12/2 from the original light to the new light. This new cable need not, and probably should not, pass through the first switch j-box.

The wires in the new 12/2 must be used to connect the lamps in parallel. In the j-box of the original light, you will find two wires connected together -- leave these alone. You will also find two wires connected to the lamp. Of these, the one from the source cable is the neutral -- connect the white wire of the new 12/2 to this. The other is the switched hot -- connect the black wire of the new 12/2 to this.

At the new light, connect the white wire to the shell side of the light, and the black wire to the tip side. (The shell is the threaded part of the socket, and the tip is the little button in the center.)

Any other combination of cables is not going to be any cheaper than this, and will certainly be more complicated.


Miele Speed Oven Installation I would like to put a convection microwave oven over the counter and above my dishwasher so that I have counter-space that is clear for working. How would I attach the oven to the wall - it is an exterior wall.

The normal way to handle this would be to put the oven inside a cabinet.  Many nicer microwaves also have an option of purchasing a "trim kit" that will make it look like a nice, built in wall oven, but as long as you follow the specs for side and top clearance, just an open box of a cabinet will be fine.

The other option would be to just install a shelf for it to set on, but you would have exposed shelf brackets.  A cabinet would be held onto the wall with internal fasteners, and really is the "correct" way to handle this.

As far as mounting it directly to the wall, some microwaves are meant to go over a stove, and will come with a mounting bracket for the wall, but they also assume there will be a cabinet above the microwave to carry most of the weight.

You also need to consider where the microwave will be plugged in.  You probably need to add another outlet, but that's a different question.

Here are a few links for typical installation documents that you need to look for when picking out a microwave:

PDF for random Miele trim kit

PDF for "Specifications" that has very explicit mounting diagrams


GE Profile refrigerator model PSSS3RGXA SS not dispensing water or ice. Makes ice into bin Side by side refrigerator is cold, freezes water, makes ice cubes and dumps them into the bin.  The green LEDs for door alarm, water and quick ice are on.  The LED for lock is not on.

Pressing the actuator paddle shuts down all the LEDs and no water or ice.  Holding it down the temperature settings for the refrig/freezer are displayed.  Releasing the actuator paddle the set temp settings remain on.  No water, ice, mechanical sounds at all.

Replaced the interface dispenser asm part WR55x10818 and apart from being silver colored, the same behavior occurs.  And no ice.

I can't imagine it's either the auger motor AND the dispenser solenoid since we have a problem with water and ice.

I can't imagine it's a water problem since we get ice in the bin around the auger and we've emptied it (fills up again nicely).

Are there any suggestions?

Have you removed all of the tape that the refrigerator shipped with?  All of it?  For sure?

Check for any door open sensor switches that may be stuck.


Plug/fire stop holes drilled for running low voltage cable? I am considering running a low voltage cable (probably Cat6, but maybe fiber) up inside an exterior wall, between studs, from basement to 2nd floor in an existing home in the US. I should get riser- (or plenum-)rated cable due to the vertical aspect, right?

Would the cable need to be secured somehow inside the wall? If so, how? If not, can it just hang there for the vertical portion of the run?

Would I need to plug any horizontal things I drill through, e.g. the floor, say for fire stoppage? I'd want any modifications to be "up to code".

Cable Rating

Plenum rated cable is only necessary for a space, usually above a
ceiling or below a floor, that can serve as a receiving chamber for
air that has been heated or cooled to be distributed to inhabited
areas.

You should be fine with riser rated cable unless you're pulling it through an area that is designed as an air return or supply.
Securing Low Voltage Cable(s)
If you are pulling these cables in new construction, you would want to use low voltage staples to attach your cables every few feet to a stud or other framing member. Obviously in existing construction, unless you remove a bunch of drywall, this isn't feasible. It is acceptable to use the hole(s) in your studs, top plate, bottom plate, etc. to support the cable run. The NEC makes this exception even for electrical cable in remodel work:

NEC 334.30(B)
(B) Unsupported Cables. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable shall be permitted
to be unsupported where the cable:
(1) Is ﬁshed between access points through concealed spaces in ﬁnished
buildings or structures and supporting is impracticable.

Fire Block Penatrations
If you are drilling through a designated fire block (horizontal piece of framing in a stud wall), yes you are supposed to fill the hole with fire proofing caulk or spray foam. This might also apply to the top/bottom plates on the walls, but I do not know this for sure. Hopefully someone else here can shed some light on this. If you have enough access to caulk/foam the points where you drill holes, you could go ahead and do it for good measure.
In general, I'm not sure that much of NEC Article 300 even applies to low voltage installations. I recommend doing some reading related to NEC Article 725 or 800 where you will find the applicable references back to other articles, namely Article 300.


What should I know before hiring an electrician for a 3-phase commercial service pull? I am renting a small warehouse which currently has single phase power.  All of the machines I use require three phase power.  I called the electric company and asked about a new installation of three phase power, but it was incredibly expensive.  The building next door does have three phase power and they have offered to provide service from their transformer bank.

Upon calling the electric company, I was told that the wire had to be buried and it must be copper, not aluminum for three phase commercial service.  I looked at Lowes' website and I have no idea what cable is needed.  Here are the specifics for my project:

Distance: About 200-250' from my breaker box to the remote 3 phase connection
Power Needs: I have a 40Hp screw air compressor and run a few smaller
machines that have 5 - 10hp electric motors.  In addition to this, I
test other machines in order to sell them, and they can have motors
up to 100 or 120hp.  I can avoid running multiple motors at the same
time, if needed.  Also, I have an electric pressure washer with two 2.5 HP electric motors and an electric water heater.  Its electric plate states 20kw as total electric needs.
Conductor: Must be copper per electric company
Location: Must be buried, in a conduit
Line Voltage: I have no idea what voltage comes off of the powerline at 3 phase.
Machine Voltage: Some machines I have say 480 Volts, others say 240 Volts and, I believe, some say 208 Volts.  I can't remember on the last one, but I know 480 and 240 are used on some.

Can you recommend what size of cable I need to specify for this distance and power usage?  Also, how many amps should the 3 phase breaker box I specify be rated at, and what else should I know before signing on the dotted line?  I will hire an electrician to install the box, but I am trying to educate myself on the matter before spending any money.

This answer will confine itself only to the size of the conduit you should lay, and as you'll soon see, even such a simple question has layers of complexity.

This work will surely need to be fully permitted and that means it will need to be done to the spec of your AHJ (generic term for your electrical inspector: Authority Having Jurisdiction.) That will be the reason for the engineering review.

Metering and fusing at the supply

The other company certainly isn't going to give you 30kw of power for free. There will need to be a metering arrangement at that site, whether that's submetered and rebilled by the other company, or the utility puts a meter there.

There must also be overcurrent protection for the long run from this supply transformer to your site.  This may not be a simple household style "breaker box" as you say.

This stuff all needs to be figured out before you can really advance further.  What you can do is get the conduit laid in the ground.  Conduit is mandatory, which means cable is impractical.  Into the conduit will go several single-conductor wires, of a rating fit for outdoor/wet location use, such as THWN-2.

Conduit type

There are a variety of conduit types, such as PVC plastic, EMT metal, IMC metal, or the heaviest Rigid metal.  Rigid is pipefitted, with screw-in fittings.  All conduit is presumed to be full of water at all times.  The defense against water is in careful selection of wire.

You may have a maximum of four 90 degree bends (or rather, 360 degrees total) of bends.  However even this will be quite tough to pull, and will require a professional with his truck full of special pulling gear. It's best to keep bends to an absolute minimum for ease of pulling, but typically you need two 90s just to enter and exit the ground.

Trenching depth is a big deal in some cases. Rigid conduit (the most expensive) needs only 6" of cover atop it; 12" if it's under a driveway or parking lot.  Other conduit needs 18-24" of cover.

Figuring out conduit size is pretty simple, the conduit size is decided based on the number of wires and the size of those wires. Look it up in this table or this calculator and you're done.  Easy peasy

Wait.  How many wires?

First,  metallic conduit can often be a grounding path, in which case a ground wire is not required.  I am skeptical of metal conduit outdoors being an effective grounding path if it isn't Rigid conduit.  You really want a ground wire, so don't mess around here.  If you need a ground wire, it's allowed to be smaller than the conductors.

Ground aside, the number of conductors depends on the configuration: 3-phase "delta" or "wye". Delta has 3 conductors and no neutral.  Wye has 4 conductors and a neutral.  Most motors do not use the neutral. In most cases the neutral can be downsized when the loads are expected to be balanced (which motors will be).

A wye supply can drive delta tools.  In some cases, if the supply is wye, and you only need delta, you can simply take the 3 wires of delta.

This brings us to 3, 4 or 5 wires.

How large should the wires be?

You want to size your conduit for the worst-case wire size that you might ever need.  Conduit is more expensive than wire when you account for installing the conduit, repaving and the like.

You have provided a power requirement (120hp machine under test + 40hp compressor that someone will someday forget to turn off while testing).  That's 160hp or roughly 120kw.

You don't have a choice whether you'll be getting 208V, 240V or 480V, unless you intend to provision your own transformers.

Running the numbers for 480V... 120,000 watts divided by 480 divided by sqrt(3) = 144 amps.  That's enough infomation to head over to the Voltage Drop Calculator, using 5% as the tolerable voltage drop.  We get less than 2% drop with 1/0 Copper wire, which is a better answer than I was expecting.  480V really is magical stuff.

At 240V it's a bit more frightful: 289 amps.  Calc says 350kcmil copper wire - yikes.  "Kcmil" aka "MCM" is for large size wires too large for the AWG sizing system.  At these large sizes, you should really have a talk with the AHJ about using aluminum. Copper is not for this.

At 208V, we're talking 333 amps. Calc says 500kcmil.

Trying to run a 120hp machine on anything less than 480V 3-phase seems like madness.

Back to conduit size

In the 480V case (#1/0 wire), you could skin by with 1-1/2" conduit, but I would upsize to 2" instead, for ease of pull and future expansion.

240V (350kcmil) could get away with 2-1/2" conduit but I would go 3".  208V (500kcmil) will require 3" conduit.

There's no penalty for installing too-large conduit, except the cost of the conduit itself, which is negligible in the scope of total project cost.

Fitting conduit is a huge amount of the total work, which is why it's a good thing to DIY.  That done, pulling the particular wires required is straightforward work for your electrician when she has determined the right wire size.

There's also no penalty for installing too-large wire (except for the cost of the wire) however expect that cost to be considerable.

Adapting your machines

480V machines can often be re-jumpered 240V, or vice versa.  There will be a label on the motor indicating how to change jumpers.  It's not hard to design a motor to be 240/480, just not every motor is.

Some 240V machines can be run on 208V, or vice versa, but it's not as common.  Thermal machines like ovens will produce less power (208/240)^2 - and motors would need to specifically be designed to be dual voltage 208/240.  You have to consult the documentation.

If you need a voltage you do not have, you will need to provision either a 3-phase transformer, or three single-phase transformers connected correctly.  You could have them right in your shop.


Why is it said that a typical 120V household circuit "reverses" polarity? Responders have been very helpful with a recent post of mine. But I'm sorry to say this part still perplexes me:  In a 120VAC circuit, current flows from Line 1 through the load, and returns via Neutral.  If it had been a 240V circuit, the return path would have been through Line 2.

When the current reverses, the flow now originates at Line 2, not Line 1, so how does the 120V circuit reverse? Is there a "push" back from Neutral to Line 1, similar to the "push" from Line 2? If so, what is the source of the reversed current flow?

I have always felt that the Neutral leg was not energized. Please, would someone tell me what I'm missing?

My previous answer was a bit unclear, and a bit misleading. So I'm going to take another stab at it.

As before, we'll start by looking at the secondary side of a single split-phase transformer. And again, the loads are represented by purple rectangles.

Then we'll spit the circuit up into individual circuits, so we can take a closer look at each circuit.

If we visualize the current flowing through the circuits in the first 60th of a second, the current will flow like this.

During the next 60th of a second, the current will flow the opposite way.

The interesting thing about this, however, is if you look at the current flow on the neutral.  When you overlay the images, you'll see that the current flows both ways simultaneously on the neutral.

Because of science, the opposing forces cancel each other out. However, if one force is larger than the other, the current will not be completely cancelled out. So the "unbalanced" current will flow on the neutral, in whichever direction it's flowing during that cycle.

So technically, you could say the current is flowing both ways, and neither way (if they completely balance) at the same time.

Extra Credit

Facts

Neutral is always "0" volts.
L1 and L2 cycle from positive volts, to negative volts (alternately).
Energy always flows from points of higher potential, to points of lower potential.

Therefore...

When L1 is greater than "0" volts, current flows from L1 to N.  When L1 is less than "0" volts, current flows from N to L1.

When L2 is greater than "0" volts, current flows from L2 to N.  When L2 is less than "0" volts, current flows from N to L2.

When L1 is at a higher potential than L2, current flows from L1 to L2.  When L1 is at a lower potential than L2, current flows from L2 to L1.


Run wiring across hardwood flooring to a mid-room aquarium A client wants to set up an aquarium in the middle of a living area in a rented apartment. The flooring is hardwood parquet on a concrete base.

How can I run electricity across the flooring in a way that:

allows people to walk across it without tripping,
won't allow damage to the wiring, and
minimizes damage to the hardwood flooring?

My first idea is to use the flat-bottomed/rounded top plastic channel often used in office spaces to run wires between computers & printers. Relatively solid and a low profile. But how can I attach it solidly to the wood flooring in a way that allows for a later removal of the installation with the least visible damage?

I would use a hard plastic or metal version of the channel you describe, and run foam tape under each edge. It'll handle any unevenness in the floor and will be removable, even if an adhesive remover is needed.

Start with a "removable" version of the tape. If the floor has a good finish on it, you could then try a "permanent" version if the removable version doesn't hold up well.


main two pole 32 amp breaker tripping problem my question is why every morning where i switch on geyser after some time main single phase 32 amp two pole breaker is tripping.if i use afternoon or evening its working properly and some time breaker was not tripping.i install new geyser then also i got same problem. sometime breaker trip and sometime working properly. electrician check lose connection but there no any lose connection at all.this issues of that 32amp MCB ?how can i find out this problem and solve?

Normal breakers (not GFCI/RCBO or AFCI) trip because you are drawing too much power.

If it sometimes trips when you turn it on, and sometimes doesn't, that means either you were using more power elsewhere on that circuit during the times it tripped, or it is right at the edge of what that circuit can handle and it drew more power than usual or was on for a longer time.  Or the breaker is defective.

A clamp on ammeter can tell you how much power is being draw on a particular circuit.  If you had an electrician out to fix this, why did they check for lose connections and then stop looking?


Covering a creepy old tile ceiling I've been researching ways to 'fix' a large area (20x40) of old glued-in 10'inch square acoustic tiles on the ceiling in my house that I am renovating. No idea what is above the tiles (the house is over 100 years old) and I don't have the budget right now to spend much on fixing this up.

I am considering placing 1/4 inch drywall over the tiles (leaving them in place) using both construction glue and long screws). I could then add in wood trim pieces every 2 feet or so to add some architectural interest as well as additional support for the drywall.

Does this sound like a reasonable solution? Eventually, I will remove the entire ceiling and depending on what I find up there doing something different..the original ceiling was at 12 feet, but now it is at 8 feet and the other rooms in the house still have the 12 foot ceilings. But, replacing 20 windows is eating into my budget right now.

Thanks for any help or comments.

Depends on the kind of ceiling tiles. My inspector told me that the ones in my place are a variety that would indeed let me screw drywall in place directly over them. That isn't going to be true of all types, and I don't know how to tell what type one has just by looking.

(I too have a mix of ceiling heights, but that is because the house was built in two stages 50 years apart and the conventions differed. There is an area where the renovations overlapped the old house and the ceiling was lowered, admittedly; basically just the dining room and part of the kitchen.)


Capping a Side Spray Opening on a Moen Faucet I am setting up a portable dishwasher (an 18-inch GE portable dishwasher). Similar to this question from last year, I am planning to connect the dishwasher to a kitchen faucet with a side spray.
According to GE, "A sink spray attachment hose can burst if it is installed on the same faucet as your dishwasher. We suggest that you disconnect the sink spray attachment, if your sink has one, and place a cap over the opening."
So I've been trying to figure out how to cap the opening. I have a Moen Adler one-handle kitchen faucet.

I spoke with a representative from Moen and they claim that they don't create a cap/plug for this model. (They have a side spray plug service kit for other faucets.)
Does anyone know if there are any other options to cap the opening? I am looking for some way to remove the spray hose and block the flow of water that would normally go to the spray hose. As you can see in the diagrams below, the opening doesn’t appear to be a standard shape with a set diameter.
Here is a diagram of the spray:

Here are diagrams illustrating how to connect the spray to the faucet:

For your reference, the specifications for the faucet can be found here, the parts list here, and the installation guide here.
I would greatly appreciate any guidance that you could share.
Thank you.

You only need to disconnect the spray wand if you have a portable connection to the faucet nozzle with the faucet in the on position.
If you connect to the plumbing so the faucet is in the off position you do not need to remove your sprayer.
Sorry I did not catch that sooner but connecting prior to the faucet it self is the same as every other point on the plumbing system. At the nozzle faucet on 100% hot I can see the sprayer not being rated for that combination of pressure and heat.  If you add an adapter to your hot line for the quick disconnect that would be the way around having to disconnect the sprayer.


Can I raise the ceiling Without having joists visible I would like my plaster board ceiling to be raised in my children's bedroom as we are installing a loft bed and do not have a comfortable amount of space between the bed and the ceiling. Is there any way I can raise the ceiling without having the joists visible? Am I able to raise even half of the ceiling 600mm (about 2 feet)?

If I am reading your post correctly you want to raise the ceiling  by 600ml's which,  if Google is right, that comes out to 23.622In. I don't see that happening without a total rework of the ceiling. You have a better chance of lowering the bed at the bottom, but you are going to lose that space. Take pictures or give us a drawing with dimensions of the room and lets see what the group can come up with.


Door automatic closer - Can it be tightened? This is used to automatically close my shelf doors.

What is its exact name so that I may google better for information.
More specifically, I have a similar one with a damper added on top which is getting slack and mis aligned, possibly because of rust (its right under the sink and frequently gets wet). Is it possible to make it last a little longer and tighten it or adjust it in anyway or would I need to just replace it?

Specifically this is the problem I am trying to fix

And this is the faulty hinge

That is a 35mm cup hinge, sometimes known as a Euro hinge.

They wear out over time, so replacement is a cheap and cheerful option. If you buy a cheap one (say, at a big box store), you'll need to replace it at some point; if you buy a Blum/ Hafele/ Salice or other high-end replacement, it'll last as long as the cabinet.

When buying, you'll be faced with a staggering number of options regarding "overlay" and opening angle. Best bet is to remove the existing hinge and bring it into a brick/mortar place. Otherwise, a bit of work googling will allow you to match it up. One other option: you can get ones that clip on (as opposed to being screwed in place), which is very convenient.

Be gentle with the screwdriver when re-attaching the hinges... particle board won't take much abuse. A toothpick and some glue in the hole might help if things feel loose.


What is the difference between a conservatory and an orangery? I will shortly move into a new home in Abergavenny in Wales, which I have already asked my wife about extending. I am more curious at the moment, but the plan is to build the extension in the next year. I am looking at building either a conservatory or an orangery and can't really see the differences.

The company I linked to built my friend's conservatory last year and that is why I am using them as examples.

What is the difference between a conservatory and an orangery?

From Google:

or·ange·ry
/ˈôrənjrē/
Noun
A greenhouse where orange trees are grown.
Synonyms
hothouse

So, structurally speaking, there is no difference between the terms. The difference is merely based on what you put inside of it (whether or not you put orange trees in it). (If you grow lemon trees, is it a Lemony?)


Furring strips visible THRU drywall... On the FINISHED side! My house is early 50’s cinderblock construction.  The interior side of the blocks were furred out with 3/4” thick strips and finished in plaster (uninisulated).  At some point, the original owner put furring strips over the finished plaster wall in the living room and hung 60’s/70’s era paneling. I took the paneling down & had cellulose blown in behind the original plaster wall, then installed 3/4” thick styrofoam panels over the original plaster, and between the newer furring strips.  Then I hung 1/2” drywall where the paneling was, primed and painted it in a medium light green.
It took a few years, but a clear outline of every furring strip began to appear as dark shaded areas, along with perfectly round darker spots... which were the heads of every single countersunk & spackled drywall screw I installed.
Anybody hear of this???  What should I do??

My personal bet is that the cinder block is wicking water, which is wicking through the furring into the drywall. That will absolutely cause the issues you're describing.

My bet is there's no vapor barrier. You said there was no insulation and in-wall insulation is typically faced with tar paper, which is typically your vapor barrier.

If you're looking to fix this there's no easy way around tearing it down. You can leave the furring up, but I would add something like 6mil plastic over it before applying new drywall. You might also want to add some waterproofing membrane to the cinder block, to minimize the wicking.


Can I use a wood screen door to replace a sliding screen door on a french door There was originally a sliding screen door but I have not been able to find a replacement that fits or works properly. I would like to use a regular screen door to replace rather than a slider but not sure if this can be done properly.

It can be done if you make/find a screen door the right size.

You would have to get a screen door track (top an bottom) and wheels to match that you groove into the bottom of door.

There are all different set ups depends on the brand you get.

EDIT:.

You will have to measure it and order a door to size.

Or get one a little bigger and plane/cut to size. Then fit your hinges.


How can I clean out my gutters while still on the ground? My roof is taller than I'm comfortable getting on a ladder. I've got a couple weeds/trees starting to grow in them. Is there a tool that would somehow let me scrape or use water-pressure to clean the gutters?

You may want to look at something like the Gutter Cleaning Wand:

You don't need to hire a professional to clean out your clogged rain gutters. Attach the Gutter Cleaner Wand to any standard garden hose, and you'll be able to clear out those debris-filled rain gutters yourself. This heavy-duty hose attachment has a telescoping wand that extends from 41.5 inches to 68.5 inches to get to those hard-to-reach spots along your roof.

Rain gutter cleaner attaches to any standard garden hose
Spray nozzle directs water flow to blast away debris
Gutter cleaning device extends to 68.5 inches to aid in reaching remote areas


why would I have water leaking on the bathroom floor when someone takes a bath but not a shower Why would I have water leaking on my bathroom floor when someone takes a bath but not a shower?

Most likely the tub has a crack somewhere high and when you take a bath water reaches the crack but when you take a shower it doesn't since the tub doesn't fill up. If it's not a crack it's something related to the level of water in the tub. Could be the overflow drain.


What NEC code limits circuit breaker selection? I'm looking for a citation of the section of code that states more or less "You may only use breakers in a breaker panel that said panel lists as approved for use therein.".

What is the section number and actual verbiage as of the 2014 NEC?

110.2 Approval. The conductors and equipment required or permitted by this Code shall be acceptable only if approved.
110.3￼(B) Installation and Use. Listed or labeled equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.

Sometimes it's the basic stuff that's easiest to overlook.


Older rental home with fake wood look floor- dull, how to shine/polish? We moved into a rented house last summer, it has "fake wood" floors - not sure of the brand or type, but the place was built about 20 years ago. We have 3 big dogs, and between their paws and other traffic, the floor just always looks dull. Some areas appear to have been damaged by water/flooding under past tenants.  I have tried the vinegar in water, rubbing alcohol, etc. remedies and it still looks dull and filmed. Since it IS a rented house, I do not want to do anything that will either make the floor worse, nor do I have any intention of removing and replacing. I have read that you can't use products like "Mop'n'Glo" or "Future" on these, so what options do I have?

Use a liquid wax removing floor cleaner
rinse the floor completely clean with a mop
apply traditional liquid floor wax with an applicator or soft clean string mop

The floor will have a nice shine. This is how commercial floors in department stores look so nice and shiny. The drawback is that this has to be repeated every so often depending on traffic and abuse.


Electric clothes dryer I have a Whirlpool electric dryer (120/240 volt 60 hertz) that is about 5 feet away from the breaker box currently, but I'm remodeling and moving it to another room which is only about 30 or 40 feet away.

I was wondering if I could make a wire, keep it solid but make a wire out of my 10 2 wiring for this 240 dryer?

You'll need to pull a 10/3 from the panel to your new dryer receptacle location

The old way of wiring dryers (NEMA 10-30 with the dryer's chassis grounded using the neutral) was a terrible kludge, and rather unsafe at that since a fault in the dryer circuit neutral will render the dryer's chassis live, right next to the most-likely-grounded washing machine.

Since you're putting in a new receptacle in a new location, you'll need to do it right and pull a 10/3 W/G cable from the breaker box to the new dryer location -- neutral to neutral bar, ground to ground bar or combination bar if they are combined in a main panel, and the two hots to the existing 30A breaker, with the breaker turned off for all this of course.  At the new receptacle location, a NEMA 14-30R will need to be fitted -- black and red to hots, white to neutral, and green or bare to ground.

Don't forget to change the dryer over to a 4-wire (NEMA 14-30P) cord and pull the dryer's bonding jumper while you're at it!  You'll also need to use a torque screwdriver to tighten the breaker and panel lugs to the manufacturer-specified torque value (printed on the labeling for the breaker and panel) -- this is required by 2017 NEC 110.14(D).


Determine the best placement for attic ladder installation I have recently purchased an attic ladder from HD to install myself in my townhouse.  I have determined 2 good installation points that will not interfere with future furniture placement. The options are

Install the ladder in the hall, with the stairs facing the master Bedroom.
Install the ladder in the master bedroom, going away from the hallway.
Install the ladder in the master bedroom, opening into the hall.

Note, the unit says it needs 6'2" swing clearance, which means it must go into the bedroom door slightly, otherwise I cannot trim the unit.

Which open is best, does it matter?

The stairs should gain access to the attic in such a way that:

1) one has max. headroom,

2) the attic stairwell doesn't prevent access to any part of the attic,

3) the stairs permits a path of travel to a ground floor exterior door (ie. doesn't come down into the hallway in such a way one would have to close the stairs to exit the bldg.)

4) the stairs would not likely require furniture to be moved to be used.


Can this frost free garden faucet leak be fixed? I have a garden faucet that appears to leak through the packing nut but it is hard to tell. I have a video that shows the leak.

https://youtu.be/-BHnZI1TVb8

When I slowly open the faucet, the leak gradually increases but then almost stops when the faucet is fully opened. Is the packing nut bad or is it something else? Can a new packing nut fix this?

I believe it was the bibb washer at the end of the stem. I ended up buying a repair kit and followed this video. https://youtu.be/JOsmL2XtyMw

The kit is a Wall Hydrant Complete Service Kit that I bought at Home Depot for $20.
http://thd.co/1WcIbrP

It wasn't too bad. Hardest part was removing the rusted screw in front of the knob. I had to use some PB Blaster and a ratchet to grip the hex screw head. Once I got that off, I just followed the video. The faucet is drop free now!


Can a twist tie be used as a jumper for HVAC? I just moved into a new house and I'm putting in a new thermostat.

The old one had a little jumper wire between RC and RH, but my new thermostat has these two terminals spaced a few inches apart.

It's warm here and I don't have a way to get to the hardware store quickly...

Is it risky or dangerous to use a twist tie (like what you have on a bag of bread) as a jumper? Note that it can be stripped so only the leads are exposed metal and the plastic is still in the middle of the wire.

In a pinch, well you have to do what you have to do.  It's a wire, albeit a steel one, so it's not going to do as well conductivity-wise as a copper wire, but as long as it doesn't short out to any of the other terminals you should be OK.

The wiring in a thermostat is 24V not 120/240V like other electrical systems in you home, so the danger is significantly reduced.  But don't let it sit that way for an extended period of time.  The "insulation" was meant for one purpose which was not to insulate a conductive wire for a long period of time.

Did you check around for another wire that you could scavenge? An old speaker wire or something from your garage.  Just thinking out loud...


Bond CSST to Water Pipe - Allowed in 2017 NEC 250.104(B)? I am looking to bond out CSST gas line which is in our crawl space of the house (dirt floor) and the copper water pipe is close by. I was wondering if CSST can be bonded to the copper water pipe in Arkansas. I read through the 2017 NEC, specifically focusing on 250.104; however, I could not figure out a clear answer. I know that in some states, you are allowed to bond to the water system but I am specifically looking for Arkansas. Arkansas adopted the 2017 NEC with amendments on 1 Jan 18. Thank you.

The gas system only needs to be bonded at one point

Bonding the black iron at the meter to a legal bonding point (anywhere on the grounding electrode system, basically, using a listed tap connector such as an ILSCO GTT-2-2 to connect the gas bond wire to the GEC, or simply by landing the gas bond wire on the intersystem bonding termination device if one is present) will suffice for bonding the entire gas system; there is no need for an extra bond point for the CSST if the system is already bonded, as per this tech bulletin.

Or in short, simply connect the bonding wire at the meter to a suitable bonding point on the electrical system (not the water system, though!), as you don't have to worry about bonding the CSST separately.


Well Pressure Greater than 100 psi to pressure tank My signature 2000 pressure tank has a collapsed bladder and the pump runs with all water usage. Two days ago the pressure suddenly increased a lot and now the pressure switch gauge is pegged @ 100psi (normally 60)and the pressure switch isn't cutting in with any water usage. It's like there is no need for the tank.  I'm worried about the tank itself being at or OVER 100psi. Any ideas?

Must be a faulty pressure switch.  You can try loosening the main spring tension in there see if that helps.  You can turn off the breaker and get that pressure down a bit and try to figure out why the well pump does not turn off.  Pressure is high because the well pump is not cutting out at 60 psi anymore for some reason.


Air compressor valve going off I have a small air compressor for various small tasks.

Lately when I plug it in and turn it on, it starts working to fill the tank and once it's full, I hear the valve releasing the air thus the compressor always works and never gets full.

While it's plugged in I can use it and I believe that the pressure of the air coming out is the same as when it was working properly.

Any ideas of what the issue might be?

Thanks!

It sounds like the relief valve is sticking. Once the head pressure is gone it should close so it can start again. I have had to replace them in the past and have been able to clean carbon deposits out of the valve on oil lubricated models, and last is to make sure no sawdust or dirt is causing the arm not to close on the outside of the switch.


Can you add another stove to an existing circuit? Suppose you wanted to put a second oven next to the existing oven in your kitchen. Could you simply add a second receptacle to the circuit?

Hypothetically speaking, suppose your stoves were a Kenmore 970-678534, and a C970-502123, and your circuit had a 40AMP breaker and I'm not sure what the gauge the wire is, but it's fat, much fatter than the dryer cable. Hypothetically.

Nope

NEC 210.23(C) limits 40A and 50A multioutlet branch circuits in dwelling units to powering fastened in place (i.e. built-in) cooking appliances, not freestanding ones.  (A regular range circuit only has a single outlet, so it is governed by NEC 210.22 instead.)

Your 40A branch circuit could power either range, though, as a 13kW nameplate range comes out as 8.4kW of demand-factored load when you apply Table 220.55, note 1 to it, and NEC 422.10(A), paragraph 4 expressly permits the table 220.55 branch factors to be applied to household cooking appliance circuits.


How do I remove a drawer from Whitney desk (Pottery Barn) I have a desk drawer that is not staying closed, so I want to take the drawer out and adjust the gliders or something, but I can't figure out how to remove the drawer.

The drawer is on a Whitney desk unit that I got from Pottery Barn:

The drawer has metal rails on the side.  It doesn't have rollers and doesn't appear to have any levers.  I'm stumped.

I'm having the same problem with the PB Bedford desk.  I called the furniture dept. and they said on the drawer slides there's a lever and to push up on the one on the left and down on the one on the right and then pull the drawer out.  The drawer slides in your pic look just like mine, so maybe this will work.  I didn't have any luck, but it seems like a 2-person job.

Hope this helps!


How can I install a ceiling fan where there is no ceiling box or wiring? I want to install a ceiling fan with a light in a spare bedroom with no ceiling wiring. What size wire do I need to use to install with cord management channels and plug into an outlet controlled by a switch?

If you want to plug the ceiling fan into an outlet I would say don't.  Electrical receptacles are a source of unnecessary resistance.  Merely alter the receptacle to a wiremould style box and run the wiremould (through a switch box) to the ceiling fan, making sure you have a good mechanical connection (e.g. wire nuts) within the receptacle/junction box(es).  I won't go into cable fill violations here - it's easy enough to parse on the webs.  As far as AWG goes - it's easy to determine based on length of run and wattage of aforementioned ceiling fan.  It's a safe bet that 14 ga. or larger is sufficient to run any ceiling fan.  Individual wires of many gauges are available at most hardware stores in the US.  Tim Post's comment above with regard to the single gang extension box and the suitably supported fan-rated box still apply, and should be given more thought than picking the wire gauge.

Good luck with your air movement!
Paul


Find a Water Pump for Clothes Washer I'm trying to run a front load He Samsung washer (13 gallons water per wash) with water from a 18gal tub sitting on top of it. This is not enough pressure to get the water to work. It needs a minimum of 20psi but likely better if we can get a normal home pressure, roughly between 60-80psi. This means I would need to get a pump, but what flow rate for the pump? There are garden pumps with 1gallon per minute rate that runs 60psi. Will this work? I called Samsung and they tried but have no answer as to flow rate.
Please help identify what requirement in terms of flow rate or anything else you know that I might have missed for a pump to work in this situation.
Why? House burned down. No water source currently, only rain & collected water in buckets. I'm running this off of a generator. It seems the He washer uses less than actual hand washing the clotehs for the family. Thanks!

Possibly a sump pump.

Or, you can get about 8 psi for every 20 feet of height of the tub, such as on the roof or in a tree.

Or you can put it on pause, open the door and pour in the water.

Or you can remove the top cover, and find the vent in the top of the outer stationary tub, attach a hose and fill.

You could get poly drum 20 gallons or larger, or gang together 4 five gallon buckets with gasket lids.  Attach a bicycle or auto tire valve stem and a garden hose outlet. Put your 15 gallons water into the drum. Replace the screw-bung so it's air tight then pressurize it bicycle pump.  The smaller the air space, the less time to pressurize, but the quicker the pressure will drop.


I have a CAT5e cable with only 3 pairs (6 wires working) and need to do POE over it I have a cat5e cable that has 1 pair (orange / stripped orange) damaged -- it's a 100 foot line and the damage is like 40 feet in behind a wall [repairing it is not an option].
I need to power a unifi AP over this line. I am OK with 100mbps speeds.
How should I wire this up cable up to the rj45 jack?
I have a netgear POE switch for the power.
Thanks!

A starting note: If one pair of your cable is damaged, and this happened through some kind of physical abuse to the cable (or if you don't know how it happened), there is a very good chance that other pairs are also damaged, and you just don't have the equipment to detect it. If so, anything you try to with this cable is likely to work poorly, if at all.
Regarding data: in normal use, the orange pair would be carrying data, so you will need a nonstandard pinout if you want to use this cable at all. The standard pinouts are called T-568A and T-568B:
Note that the pins used for data are 1-2 and 3-6, and each of those pairs MUST be kept together (that is, 1-2 must be the same color pair, and 3-6 must be the same color pair.) For a normal "straight-through" cable, you would use either A or B (usually B, in my experience) on both ends.
One possible pinout that you could use with your cable: WGreen-Green-WBlue-Orange-WOrange-Blue-WBrown-Brown. From T-568A, this swaps orange with blue, keeps 1-2 and 3-6 paired as is required, and moves the orange pair into the unused center position (where it will remain harmlessly unused even if you wire both ends backwards, which is very easy to do by mistake.)
In order to use PoE with this setup, it appears that you will need what's called a "Mode A" PoE injector ("power sourcing equipment"). Quoting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet -- "In mode A, pins 1 and 2 ... form one side of the 48 V DC, and pins 3 and 6 ... form the other side. These are the same two pairs used for data transmission in 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX, allowing the provision of both power and data over only two pairs in such networks." This will be necessary in your situation, since all other PoE modes require all four pairs to be working.
Unfortunately, I can't find any documentation on whether your switch uses Mode A or Mode B for PoE. (Luckily, the PoE standard apparently requires the AP to accept either.) Wikipedia and some other sources suggest that Mode B is typical for injectors, and Mode A is typical for devices like switches, but this is far from guaranteed. If you already have the equipment, your best bet may be to try it and see; however it's not impossible that shorts in the cable could cause damage to your devices, so try at your own risk!


Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer won't spin I have a Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer.  Sometimes it stops and won't spin then displays code F02.  Usually turning it off for an hour and restarting solves the problem but not tonight.  When I try to restart it, it makes a grumbling sound for a while then gives up and beeps/displays the code.  Previously I opened it up and there were no obvious problems.  I checked the drain pump trap and there was nothing in it.  There isn't much in it so I don't think overloading is the problem.

The pump is bad or you use too much soap. Run a load without soap. If a load of clean clothes makes suds in the washer, you definitely use too much soap.
The pump can't pump suds -shopyourway.com

Of course it could be a senor malfunctioning somewhere...


What do you do if the rough in plumbing is supposed to stick out of the wall where you have two studs? I am installing a 48" floating cabinet and the sink
This is the manual of the cabinet I will install.
https://www.baindepot.com/media/ftpbaindepot/pdf/VW4818-23WAL-127.pdf
The cabinet has slots for the ptrap and arm trap assembly but I am not sure if I can use a 45 degree elbow to avoid the collision with that group of three studs
There is no room to maneuver to the right or left of the cabinet as the shower glass door starts within 1" from the cabinet's left side as in the second picture

Here is a diagram for the drawers

You have a large are you the left and right to bring the drain in it is quite common to run into studs not only on remodels but on new construction bring the drain up on the side that makes it easiest and use elbows to connect. The fewer bends the better but sometimes it takes a couple to get the job done.


Open neutral reading Using a three prong outlet tester I found all the outlets on a circuit show open neutral but the outlets all work. Any ideas?

For any suspected open wire, the steps are the same:

Shut off the circuit.
Remove the outlet cover, unscrew it, and pull it out to inspect the wire connections to the outlet.  Fix anything wrong.  Push it back in and screw the outlet back in place.  I defer replacing the cover to facilitate probing in place with a voltmeter if needed.
If it is acceptable or you are not extremely confident of being able to avoid the exposed contacts, switch off the main breaker.
Open the service panel by removing the cover to inspect the wiring inside.  Test every mechanical connection by grabbing each wire near the end and wiggling firmly to verify a secure connection.  Repeat for every end in a circuit breaker, every ground wire, and every neutral wire.
If you still can't find the problem, you may have to check every outlet on the circuit between the panel and the misbehaving outlet.  If you don't know the sequence, just check all of them.  Occasionally there may be wall switch boxes which contain a junction for the circuit.


Adding more floor joists in a crawlspace. Originals are 5' OC and need more support I just bought a 1956 ranch house in Portland, OR and am facing an issue. I've gutted the bathroom for a remodel and it's down to the studs. There was a bit of water damage to the subfloor around the shower/tub so I decided to replace the whole thing.

In the process, I discovered the floor joists are approximately 5' on center 4x8 which is certainly not up to modern day code. On top of that is tongue in groove 2x6 decking for the subfloor. The floor is surprisingly sturdy but many people have already suggested that it would be smart to add more joists, especially since I'll be tiling the floor.

The old joists abut against the concrete foundation, kind of like a mortise and tennon joint (not sure what it's actually called). The foundation is in good condition and doesn't have any cracks and looks dry. The joists span what looks to be the entire length of the house with 4x4 pier supports every 6' or so.

My question is what's the best way to add new joists to the space between the old ones? I guess I need to make a sill against the concrete for which I can attach the new joists. I can't see myself running new 2x8 joists across the entire length of the house, so I was thinking I could go a few feet past the length of the bathroom, using pier supports along the way with concrete pier blocks beneath, and then block off their ends between the original joists. Is that a structurally sound way to do this?

It sounds like my whole floor will need more reinforcement at some point but like I said, it all seems really sturdy for the time being. There aren't any significant sags or bounciness that I can find.

Here's a short video of a walk through the bathroom if it helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb59H0MT3bo (sorry for a couple f bombs! my dirty rotten mouth)

What you are calling a floor joist, appears to be much thicker than a 2x floor joist.   Maybe like a 4x8 or something.  So it's probably a "bearer" resting on the piers, which would explain why they are far apart.   Typically you would then rest floor joists across those beams, (or use Simpson hangers if the floor needs to be nearly flush to the beams -- which is your situation).

This is typical ...

This is where you need to be with Simpson joist hangers:

Can you measure the thickness of the wood that you are calling a floor joist (which is really a bearer)?   Also, that beam that is notched badly is not good (most likely).   This would be the time to address that notch, which is fortunately very close to the wall.   Can you measure the depth of the cut on that notch?

An easy way to do that would be to set a pier underneath the bearer so that no notched portion of the bearer is under stress.

Once you have addressed making sure that the bearer is properly supported, you can then hang joists between the two bearers you showed with joist hangers.  Then you would put the subfloor and whatever choice of flooring you want on the joists.