How to fix armoire to bent wall and mask the gap behind it? So I made an armoire and want to fix it to the wall. But the wall is in the old house and it is tilt a bit, not forming an angle of 90 degrees. So if I just fix armoire to the wall it will not be horizontal and I don't want that.

Is there some standard procedure how to approach this problem?

I was thinking of simply taking some old wood of appropriate thickness, put it behind the armoire in appropriate place and then fix the armoire through that wood to the wall. For some reason I was hoping there is some better way of doing it, is there?

In addition, this will leave a hole looking from the side of the armoire. I thought of putting some moulding to cover it up, any other ideas?

Your plan is fine (and exactly what I'd do). Most furniture has a small gap behind it anyway, so it shouldn't look bad.

The only other alternatives that won't look odd would be to actually shape the cabinet to fit the wall--the side panels and top would need to extend back at an angle. Trying to conceal the gap with trim boards might just draw attention to the matter.

If you wanted to, you could wrap the entire back perimeter with coordinating trim in whatever manner suits the style of the piece.


Nets to protect windows from typhoon damage I'm building a house in a part of Asia where typhoons are common. The houses (including mine) are all built from reinforced concrete. When a typhoon comes, people typically hang nets in front of any large exposed windows, to protect them. The nets are hung from hooks that are built into the concrete. My architect wants to add eaves all over the place so that there's some place for the hooks. I don't like the look of the eaves, and it seems ridiculous to have them if their only purpose is to support the hooks/nets.

So, I'm looking for alternatives. Maybe a different way to hang the nets, or (ideally), some approach that won't even require the nets. Y'all may not have any experience with typhoons, but hurricanes are similar -- just strong winds and heavy rain. Any ideas?

I've seen the nets & in your case without eaves, which I agree with. You'd have to have deployable locking arms to swing out in order to catch whatever, but nets have very large gaps & therefore I wouldn't be sure of any success claim's credibility.

But, are you sure it's a Real Architect? It doesn't sound like one to me. See if they've heard of Shutters. There are Shutters of every kind for everything & yes they're hurricane or typhoon resistant & even proof. You just shut & lock them, this also works for when you evacuate, I mean go away on vacation.

There are hinged door swing type Shutters, that even come in bi-fold & tri-fold sizes for 6-foot & more openings. There are slide Shutters for just smaller window sized openings. There are roll-down style shutters that are the same as what you see when a store closes for the night for all sizes of openings.

Shutters are better because they don't have gaps nor flex like a net & don't have to be stored anywhere or installed in a panic. They can even be motorized & bulletproofed & painted.


How to open a door without a door knob? I am currently locked inside of the apartment that I just moved into today. I noticed that the door knob was a bit loose when I first opened the door this morning and when I turned the knob from the outside, the knob wouldn’t turn on the inside.

Eventually I tried to leave my apt and as I turned the knob and pulled, I just pulled out the knob. Anyone know how I can open this knobless door?

All other tutorials and forums on the internet seem to be for a different type of door. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. This is the best picture I could take because the opening is so small and the camera would not focus properly on any shot at all more detailed.

Stick a slotted screwdriver into the square hole and turn it counterclockwise...


What is the most suitable material to use for baseboards in bathroom I used particle board baseboards in our bathroom a few years ago, but found, even after prepping/painting them, they have swelled up with the moisture in the bathroom (more around the bath area).
I was in the store this weekend and see they make a "plastic" baseboard, but see some challenges with cutting around round corners and painting (adhesion).
Is there a right material to use for bathrooms?

Real wood.  Poplar trim is what I use for bathrooms or basements.  It is hard and holds up to moisture well.  If you get the plastic stuff it will look like... plastic.  It would have to really be in modern room or business setting to look right.

I would suggest getting poplar (pine is cheap and has moisture bulging issues) or some other hard wood.  Give it a first coat with drylok.   Follow up with whatever you want.  I would suggest an oil based paint for bathroom trim though - it is tougher and cleans up better.


Is the use of 14 AWG on 20a circuit acceptable? If not, how long has it been prohibited by the NEC? During an effort to add an additional circuit my garage, I discovered that my house, which was built in 1999, has 14 AWG wire run off 20a breakers. My questions are simple:

Was this valid under code at the time of construction?

Do I have a problem that needs to be corrected?

I'm caught between trusting the circuits as they are, or biting the bullet and swapping all my breakers (about 20) for 15a. Not an insignificant cost or effort.

My background:
I am a structures engineer. Basic electrical theory was covered as part of my education.
I've been playing with electronics since I was a wee bairn.
I recognized that this was insufficient to be play with electricity in the real world so I pulled up the 2016 NEC and drilled into relevant sections. After my fun quota was filled by that, I settled down with Wiring Simplified (44th ed.) to make it all make sense. With all that, I'm pretty confident that I understand residential wiring at a better-than-apprentice level.

The answer is no this was not code in 1999. 14 Awg has been limited to 15 Amp breakers at least since the 70's. If there is a fire some insurance companies will not pay if the service has been modified without permit. Since the wire size is wrong for the breakers this could be a way out for them if a problem did occur. Breakers can be found on line for a few dollars each make sure to match the type with the panel and the brand for the safest fix.


Is it possible to use a power inverter to run a sump pump? If the power should go off, I want my sump pump switched to a power inverter combination. Is this possible?

Sizing the Inverter

If you want to run an appliance like a sump pump from an inverter, you need to make sure that you get one that's large enough.

The pump will be rated according to how many amps it draws (probably in the range of 5 or 6, based on a quick internet check). However, when an AC motor starts it uses a much higher current, maybe 2x as much. Ideally you would measure this surge current amount and duration so that you know what you're working with, but you could assume double the current for several seconds. So if you have a 5 amp pump, lets assume its surge current is 10 amps.

Inverters are usually rated by watts, but you can compute the amps by dividing by 120V. Inverters usually have a continuous wattage rating and a higher surge rating. Unfortunately, cheaper inverters will only surge for a fraction of a second before cutting out, so you can't just assume that the surge rating of the inverter will be able to supply the surge current of the pump.

The only way to really be safe is to get an inverter whose continuous rating is greater than or equal to the surge current draw of the pump. So in this case yo'd be looking at a 1200 watt inverter (which may have a higher surge rating).
[Some of the nicer brands of inverters will publish how long the surge rating can be used for, e.g. 0.5 seconds, 2 seconds, 60 seconds. If you know that your inverter has a long surge time, you may be able to get a smaller inverter].

Sizing the Battery

If this is just for a one-off emergency usage you may be able to run the inverter from a car battery, but you should at least have a sense of what you're getting into. To compute the battery runtime you need to know the amp draw on the battery. Note that the amps coming out of the battery will be at least 10x higher than the pump's amps, due to the much lower voltage. A 5 amp / 120V pump is using 600 watts, which is 50 amps at 12V. Assuming an inverter efficiency of 80% you're pulling around 62 amps from the battery. The capacity of car batteries varies based on model, but a good sized battery probably has 50 amp-hours of capacity (that's 50 amps for one hour, or 25 amps for 2 hours, or 10 amps for 5 hours). So you're looking at getting about 45 minutes of runtime until the battery is totally dead. (Of course it's not good to run a car battery all the way down, and then you won't be able to start your car, so it probably wouldn't be prudent to actually run it for 45 minutes).

If this is going to be a semi-regular event, you probably want to get a marine / deep cycle battery or two. Those have a higher capacity and will withstand discharges better.

Other Considerations

Automatic Transfer: Most small inverters just have regular 120V outlets that you plug your load into. If you want the inverter to be hooked up full-time and transfer from mains power to battery power, that will require something more sophisticated and probably a professional installation.

Wire Size & Fuses: As you can tell from my rough example numbers, you're looking at 60+ amps from the battery, which is a LOT. Standard household romex / extension cords is not going to be safe for that amount of current. You must properly size the wire or you will have a fire.

In addition, you should have a fuse on your wire with a rating less than or equal to the wire capacity. The purpose of the fuse is to blow before something catches on fire. If you're regularly blowing fuses it means there's a dangerous problem with your setup.

DC Pumps: If you want to run a sump pump from a battery on a regular basis, you're probably better off just getting a 12V DC pump and avoiding the inverter. You can run those directly from a car battery.


How should I wire RV hookups? I want to put an RV hookup on a post next to an RV pad.

Some RVs take 30A/120V, while others take 50A/240V. The main reason for the latter is to let you run two AC units at once, but in our mild climate we never need to use the AC. I just want a neater setup than running an extension cord.

In addition to the 30 outlet, I want to include a 20A convenience recep.

I have seen RV hookup panels with a 30A breaker + recep, and a 20A breaker + recep. I think that means running two separate circuits from the upstream panel, right? I think I can share ground, so I would have 4 conductors total.

Maybe I should put a 30A sub panel at the site, running a single 10/3 cable underground.

What is a good way to set this up?

You can share ground, but I believe you'll get into code issues if you share the neutral, so you'll need 5 wires (Hot 30 Neutral 30 Hot 20 Neutral 20 Ground 20&30) even though the neutrals probably could be shared from a purely electrical point of view.

Ah, wait - you're saying you'd put a 30A 220V sub-panel on the post, so you'd just need the 4 conductors (L1, L2, N, G) to feed that, and then you'd run the receptacles from that sub-panel. Should work and pass code, don't know that it will be cheaper given the need for an exterior-rated sub-panel and a breaker to feed it. Wire is expensive, but maybe not THAT expensive.

Personally, I'd run 1" schedule 80 conduit and pull individual wet-rated wires rather than run a cable. But that's an opinion


Should I apply lacquer over a wall papered with book pages? I just wallpapered my library with old book pages, and I'm worried that the wallpaper paste will eventually dry up and peel away from the wall. Should I apply a layer of lacquer on top of the pages?

I'd be tempted to cover them with a decoupage glue or mod podge. Polyurethane may work as well, but I'd test it by gluing some pages to a board and then coating them and waiting a couple of months to make sure it doesn't yellow or mess up the inks.


Can I turn the water off at the street to work on my plumbing? My angle valves under sink are hard to reach with garbage disposal in the way.

Can I turn the water off at the street to change parts in faucet, or will this drain my gas hot water tank?

I shut mine off at the entrance to the house, rather than the street.  The hot water tank has some elasticity to it, so it will hold a little "pressure" but that will bleed off with a faucet open.  If you wish and are able, you can drain down the system by opening a faucet that is lower in elevation than the one you are going to repair.  This is usually not necessary.

A couple of tips.  Slowly reapply pressure, not just in case what you fixed is leaking, but also so that the hot water tank doesn't get a rapid change in pressure.  Also you might want to put the hot water tank on pilot, rather than ON, while doing your work.  You do not need to drain the tank.  If it is above the faucet you are going to repair, it may be necessary to turn the water off on the tank. Usually this is not necessary. (Example of when it is: You are fixing a faucet in the basement, and it is located below the top of the hot water tank.  In that case, you need to close the valve out of the tank.  But you do not have to drain it.)

Slowly open the faucet after you apply water pressure, so that any air is bled out without hard slugs of water causing hydraulic banging in your pipes. If you leave a faucet open, you may end up with splatter on walls and floors from water and air coming out of the faucet when you first turn on the water.

Good luck with your repair.


Sticker peeled off paint from wall I removed some kid stickers on the wall and it peeled off the paint.  Hoping to fix this myself but not sure on the best route to take. Attaching a picture of the damage, what are the exact steps I should follow here?
Based on initial research, I think the steps are:
(1) get spackle and spread over area with putty knife and wait for it to dry
(2) sand with 100? grit
(3) apply layer of paint (given it's just a few spots, is it ok to skip the primer?)
Any detailed guidance would be appreciated, first time at this.  Thank you!

It looks to me like that is just the top layer of paint. Assuming that is the case - i.e., the drywall underneath is not damaged beyond small scratches - you don't need to use any spackle. In fact, doing so would be a lot of work because you don't have any real holes to fill - you'd be sanding nearly all of it off.
However, you can't just paint over the existing paint. You need to sand it down so that you don't have real edges from the old paint. Primer wouldn't hurt. If you are going to repaint the same (or very similar) color & finish then you may be able to get away with primer just over the damaged & sanded areas, but that might result in an inconsistent topcoat.
The most important thing though is that you should repaint the whole wall. Otherwise, even with a near-match on the color, the difference between old & new will be quite obvious. If you use a close-enough color, you can get away with painting just one wall and not the rest of the room.


Is there such a thing as an actual 60W draw LED or CFL bulb? CFL and LED lightbulbs are sold as being "40/60/100 watt equivalent". They're designed and sold as replacements for a certain wattage of incandescent lamp.

I have some fixtures where I want a very bright bulb. Since CFLs and LEDs can get more light out of less wattage it seems to me that an actual 40W draw CFL or LED that would be significantly brighter than a 40W incandescent.

Does such a super-CFL or super-LED lamp exist?

Yes, you're looking for lights with a high lumen output.  Since LED/CFL bulbs don't convert heat to light, the wattage isn't directly proportional to the light output.  As an extreme example, consider that a 2 watt laser is powerful enough to burn some materials, or blind you!

What you'll likely find is that more expensive LED bulbs from lighting specialty stores are brighter than the cheap bulbs you find at your local home improvement store.

There are other characteristics of the bulb other than power which impact the perceived brightness - reflectors are a good example.  A bulb with a wide spread will seem less bright (in a room) than a bulb with a narrow spread since the light is being diffused more.


Why is foam coming out of the kitchen drain while washing dishes? I am in Saudi Arabia using FAIRY liquid dish washer to clean my dishes after meals. Every time I observe that the foam is coming out of the drainage located at the kitchen floor during my cleaning of the dirty dishes with FAIRY lemon liquid dish washer.

What is the problem? Why does this foam (bubble while color) come out every time I wash my dirty dishes? What should I do to get rid of this?

I'd start by making sure you aren't just using too much soap in the dishwasher. More likely, the dishwasher is pumping water into the same waste pipe that the floor drain is connected to, and the pipe can't handle the water fast enough to keep the floor drain from backing up. I'd suggest two things:

First, check to make sure that the drain itself isn't running slow and start treating it with an enzyme drain cleaner. It probably wouldn't hurt to run a plumbing snake down the drain to make sure it isn't partially blocked.

Second, you can install a floor drain check valve for the drain in the kitchen floor to keep water from backing up through it. Even if you can resolve the issue by cleaning out the drain, this would probably be a good idea. You never know what else might back up through there some day.


best way to drill through a window beam having big problems trying to drill through a reinforced lintel to hang some brackets, i presume the concrete lintel has steel in but using a hss drill bit fails - which are the best type of drill bits to use, technique and which ones are the best.

thanks

I had similar problem when putting up curtain brackets and hit a steel lintel. I was recommended 135deg split point cobalt and a good metal cutting paste. I must say I am well impressed with results.

I was also advised :

Drill slow
Use light pressure
Use cutting paste
Stop every 10 seconds to give the bit a chance to cool down


3-Way Worries: Is My Wiring Safe? I need some help working out if the wiring in my recently-purchased house is dangerous. Quite a lot of stuff around the house, from the drywall to the flooring, was evidently done by the previous owner himself (he built the house) or by other non-professional friends of his, and it's possible this amateurism extends to the wiring also.

The two living room 3-way switches were working fine until I put new rocker switches in, after which I found that one of the switches must be on for the other one to work. Okay, so I must have mixed two wires up.

I did some reading on the interwebs, but everything I read failed to describe the situation I was facing. With both switches disconnected (everything but the grounds), they both showed a hot wire (according to my non-contact tester). Everything I'd read said that there should only be one hot wire out of six wires. Through trial and error, I was able to discover the combination that works; at the hall switch, the hot goes to common; and in the living room, the hot goes to one of the other terminals.

So, everything works fine now. What's worrying me though is that, in my reading about this issue, I learned that there are certain ways of wiring 3-ways ("California"/"coast"?) that are not safe. The fact that I couldn't find anything about having hot wires at both switches has left me concerned as to whether my wiring is okay or not.

What do you think? Is this enough information?

The usual blunder is looking at wire position rather than purpose.    Anytime you work with 3-ways, your first priority is identifying the two messenger wires going to the switch from the same cable.

However when novices change 3-way switches, they usually look closely at the physical position of the terminals on the switch, duplicating this on the new switch.  The problem is manufacturers totally randomize which screws are in which positions.  So the swap ends up shuffling the wires on the switch - and creates cases where the switch won't work in some positions.

The right way is to pause before removing the old switch, identify the messengers (typically on the brass screws of the old switch) and then mark them with colored tape, e.g. I like to use yellow for messengers (they can both be yellow since they are interchangeable.) Be sure to mark the wires the same on both ends of the wire.

The good news is there are only three possibilities - one wire is the common and the other two are the messengers - and often the common goes into a different cable than the messengers, which are always together.

That wiring

Homeowners doing their own wiring can be a problem because they can often get quite "inventive".  Worst case, if you have to tear work out, they usually do give you enough wires to do it properly.  If not, "smart switches" can often save the day.

You can exclude a California style wiring because it would involve /4 cable or (illegally) two /2 cables paired.  The Carter system (serving hot or neutral, lamp in the middle, lamp lights when one is hot and the other neutral) is something to watch out for, not least because it is a wiring loop, which is bad.  All wiring should be physically in a tree topology.


Alternative to wood furring strips? Just bought a house with a pool. The pool decking is comprised of large, square concrete pads that are separated by wood furring strips. The prior owner has used pressure-treated 1x2s atop a small gravel bed for drainage. I'm looking for an alternative to the wood that won't bow and will retain its aesthetic qualities for a long time. Options I've considered are things like Trex, Extira, decorative gravel. Someone told me about a soft, permeable material that holds its shape to provide the nice, clean edge, but helps drainage, but I can't remember what it was.

Any ideas on what materials I can consider? Many thanks in advance.

I’d consider plastic furring strips. Contact a company that makes plastic planks, (i.e.: for park benches, etc.) You can cut and shape the planks to any size, it’s rot-proof, and is not susceptible to expansion and contraction.


replacing tub surround: pros and cons glue-up vs direct-to-stud? i'd like to replace my aging (PVC) tub surround with a sturdier, but inexpensive, multi-panel acrylic (or similar). Noticed those are either glue-up or direct-to-studs. What are the pros and cons of each install method?

Pros:

Glue up

wall is flatter, less variance, less warping
generally easier to install (once prepped/drywall up)
if going drywall underneath less echo/tin can sound
on a direct install you must be able to pack the cavity with insulation to prevent push-in and (more) echoes, glue up you don't worry about that
transition to other parts of the bathroom is easy since drywall to drywall or drywall to backer is really no transition

Direct

Can have it installed very quickly (no prep)
don't have to worry about water affecting what is behind it
the more expensive ones have good transition molding that allows you to install drywall after with small seam to be caulked.


Switch with 9 wires, but Hello all! New Years Eve problem occurred. We have 3 switches in our master bathroom. One controls the light above (or that’s what we were thinking because when you click it- it turns on the light), second controls the ventilation and third controls the vanity lights. When we click the last one we hear buzzing so we didn’t use it until now when we decided to fix it upon buyer’s request. Anyway...

We opened up the switch and surprise, surprise- 9 wires!!! 9!!! After my husband couldn’t figure it out, he taped them all so we can try this morning. He tried the switch in our master bedroom- nothing, tried the first switch for the bathroom- nothing. The outlets are working, but the other 2 switches that  are working okay are also with 9 wires.

If anyone has any idea how to fix them I will be very grateful! The buyers are coming again in 3 days to have a look at the house, and we want it fixed beforehand, but we can’t afford to pay someone since will be a “holiday pay”. Thank you!

Ps We are foreigners so if someone have the patience to start everything from scratch- amazing!

Big mistake... maybe

The bare wires are easy -- those are always Safety Ground.

In residential wiring, the information on how to make connections is provided by position.  That is to say, how to connect them is told by how they were connected before.  Get it? By unhooking all the wires at once, you destroy that information.

Now, there's only two reasons to do that; either your husband is deranged, or he reasonably saw that the wiring arrangement was perfectly simple and straightforward, and easy to remember.  (These are called "switch loops").

I'm noting that the cable sheath was kept on the wires very far into the box, and not split into individual wires until 3" from the end. That is very much in favor of the "Simple, legal, easy-to-remember" theory.

  However, it's worth mentioning that the "simple, legal, easy to remember" arrangement cannot possibly affect lights, switches or outlets anywhere else in the building - only the controlled light/fan. So if that is happening, then we have a huge, stinky mess on our hands: this wiring job was already shoddy and dangerous before your husband ever touched it, and a DIY fix is out of the question.  You will need to either hire it done (sorry), or disclose the defect and let the buyer fix it. I recommend the latter, because that lets the buyer choose different fixtures etc. while they are in there doing the work.

Assuming the legal/simple way

So, proceeding on the assumption that the legal way is the way it was done, and that you are using plain switches, not these "smart switches"...

Each cable gets handled one at a time.   For that cable, the bare goes to the switch's green Safety Ground screw.   There are two screws remaining.  Put black and white there.  Which one goes where, does not matter.

For the ground screw, you must shape the wire into a shepherd's hook that will go around the screw shaft (under the head) at least 180 degrees, and it's good workmanship to crimp it so it goes around even more (and won't fall off).  It's probably that way already.  Put it on clockwise, so when you tighten the screw, it tightens the hook.

For the other two wires, if they are straight, use the "backstab" back-wire holes: there will be a little graphic illustration on the outlet that will tell you exactly how long to strip the insulation.  Do it just like that, and then, shove it in the hole all the way until bare wire can no longer be seen.  (On better switches, you must tighten down the screws to get the wire to hold.  Tighten them quite firmly. But please don't use that type!)

You could also attach to the side screws using shepherd's hooks similar to the ground wire, and that's better if done properly.  Honestly, given your level of skill, I want you to use the backstabs because if you cut the insulation the right length and push them all the way in, they're impossible to screw up.  Otherwise you need a torque screwdriver to set the screw torques right (usually, people set them too loose.)

The regulars here will object: yes, we generally think of backstabs as universally bad, because they go "open" for no reason, and that is a huge nuisance.  However, here, they are selling the house. The nuisance won't be theirs, so it's much more important that the work be the safest possible given OP's skill level.  Besides, these are switch loops; nothing will be affected by an "open" except the lamp itself.


What kind of material do I need above the tile line in my shower? I have a shower with original, 100-year-old tile.

The tile and the drywall-like material above the tile line has survived well, but we're planning to replace it in the entire bathroom due to significant cracks from settling and leveling.

My plan for most of the bathroom is simple: barrier plastic, moisture-resistant drywall and replacing the ancient exhaust fan.

But I don't feel confident about putting moisture-resistant drywall in the shower. The tile line is only around 5 feet off the ground, so splashing and steam are significant. This will only get worse because I plan to move the shower head up another 6 inches to be more comfortable for me (it's installed with the head around about 5'6" now, and I'm 5'10").

Matching, replacing, or adding more tile to bring the tile line higher isn't an option.

What sort of material can I install above the tile line that meets the following requirements:

Does not aesthetically compete with the vintage tile.
Will be reasonably steam-and-splash-proof.
Ideally, can be painted to match the rest of the bathroom.

I've been considering Kerdiboard, but don't know if it can be floated and painted like drywall. The only other option I've seen are the plastic sheets, but I don't expect I'd be able to paint them, even if I find one that doesn't have some faux-tile or other ugly texture to it.

Any ideas?

Given your requirements, and in the shower area only, I would put up a cementitious backer board like Hardibacker or Kerdi-board and use drywall mud to smooth it as necessary. Elsewhere in the bathroom I use normal sheetrock.


Connecting fluorescent lights this is my first time here and I hope you will appreciated that I am no expert in this.
I live in Australia by the way.

In my shed I have one fluorescent light with one switch.
I have added an extra fluorescent light over the bench in parallel and I am using the same switch. That is all OK.
Now I have picked the power from the existing light junction box and extended the wiring to feed another fluorescent light at the back of the shed.
In between those two lights (Fluo) I have put a switch to activate only the last light in the back of the shed.
I am not sure how should I connect the wires in the junction box to activate the light at the back of the shed.
I was thinking of connecting the (Red, A, or L) Active coming from the previous junction box to the Active going to the switch box
Then The Black from the switch box to go to the last light  (A, L) (back of shed)
The Neutral (Black, Blue, N) are connected together in the junction box and directly to the light at the back of the shed.

Could somebody kindly advise me if I am about to stuff it up or is it the right way.

Thank you

I think you have it right.

In the US one would put the switch (if a simple switch) in the hot line and the neutral and ground would run through to the new fixture. This achieves the effect that when the switch is off there is nothing hot past the switch. Some simple switches have a ground connection so one would attach a ground to them and the ground would go on from there. Some modern switches require that a neutral be connected to the switch because the switch itself consumes power. There will still be a continuous neutral from the line to the light. The switch does not break the neutral when the switch is off.

In practice one length of cable would enter the box from the line and one would leave to the light ot be switched. The two grounds would be connected according to Australian practice (and one short piece of wire would be connected to the other two to go to the ground contact of the switch if any). The two neutrals would be connected (and if, and only if, the switch requires a neutral, one short piece of wire would be connected to the two neutrals to go to the neutral contact on the switch). The hot line wire is connected to the switch line contact and the other hot to the load contact.

It is also important to have the hot and the neutral paired and running beside each other in the same cable or conduit. Once inside a box it is OK for them to not be parallel.


What does it mean when a drill says it is 3/8", and where do I get bits and extensions for it? Bought a Ryboi D42 3/8" drill.

A bit of confusion first, when it states it's a 3/8" is that saying the diameter or circumference of the drill hole is 3/8"? or something else?

This drill is very good for it's price but I don't know what to do for bits and other extensions. Do I have to buy specialized parts/bits from Ryboi or can I use any bit that fits the 3/8" diameter/circumference?

Thanks

3/8 inch is the maximum shaft diameter that fits in the chuck.  That doesn't mean you can't drill larger holes, but the part the drill chuck grips has to be this size or smaller. (Some higher-powered drills have half -inch chucks.)

Bits should be widely available -- home centers, hardware stores, most places that sell tools.


Replacing receptacle wallplate with nightlight, but terminals are not exposed I went to change the existing wall plate with a wall plate that has a built-in night light when I went to do this I noticed the wiring on the outlet itself is covered by what looks to be a plastic box that covers the wiring on the sides they aren't exposed and they need to be for the night light to work what kind of Outlet is this and what is the plastic box surrounding it how can I get my night light to work?¹ thank you!

This is a cheap outlet that only uses backstabs for connections, no screw terminals. You will need to replace the outlet with one that has screws.
Turn off the power and unscrew the outlet and pull it out of the box. Get a small screwdriver and insert it in the slots in the back of the outlet by each wire while pulling at the wire. The wires should come out. Shepard hook the wires and screw them into the new outlet, black wires to brass screws and white wires to silver screws. You can also pigtail the wires if you have some extra wire and some wire nuts.


How can I cu a heart-shape out of wainscoating that has been nailed together? I am in the process of trying to figure out how to cut out a heart shape from wainscoting that has been nailed together.  I want to leave the nailed wainscoting in tact. What power tool should I use?

A lot of care will be needed to create this, but it can be done.


Adding a 3/4-wire 220v receptacle I've got two 220V appliances I'm trying to add a receptacle for. I've got a dual-pole 25A breaker, and am completely replacing the existing outlet.

My issue is that one appliance has a standard NEMA 6-15 plug, and the other just has a four-wire pigtail.  I'm trying to figure out how to wire them both up.

For the four-wire appliance, it looks like the NEMA 14-20 is the correct plug to attach to it.  It should only draw 6 amps-- is there a lower-rated four-conductor plug I should use?

As for the receptacle, my understanding is the 6-15 doesn't use the neutral wire.  Can I run 4 wires to a junction box and then have two outlets-- a 6-15 and a 14-20-- with the neutral only going to the 14-20?

Am I doing something terribly wrong or dangerous?  This doesn't seem too complicated, but I've heard enough horror stories to be cautious.

EDIT:

The appliances are a table saw (13 amp draw) and a dust collector (6 amp draw).  There's not room in the breaker box for another set of breakers, so I was hoping to get both on the same circuit.  But it sounds like it's a better option to separate them?

The wiring diagram for the dust collector doesn't help me much-- it can be wired for 230V or 460V operation and details how to change that, but never specifies what the four leads are for.  They're standard colors (black, red, white, green).

The existing breaker is two 25A breakers with their handles attached.  Each connects between neutral and a different hot side in the box.  I went with 25A over 20A just because the draw from both appliances is 19A and that didn't seem like a lot of room in case one draws a bit more on startup.

Because you selected a 25A breaker, you will need to use 10AWG wire for the branch circuit.

NEC has a table of which receptacles are permitted on which sizes (amperages) of circuit.  Nothing in the NEC authorizes any kind of receptacle on a 25A breaker.  It will exceed the capacity of a 20A receptacle.  A 30A receptacle will allow plugging in things which draw more than 25A.  No receptacle will work.   As such, all loads will need to be hard-wired.

An additional rule says that if the sum of all hard-wired loads exceed 50% of the total circuit ampacity, then no receptacles are allowed on that circuit.

I have no earthly idea why you bought a 25A breaker.  But when I was first learning, I bought a stack of 30A 1-pole breakers reasoning that surely they must have a use - and then I never found one, except for a TT30 RV connector.  So welcome to the club.

Normally on a circuit of ampacity X, all sockets on that circuit must be of ampacity X.

On a 30A circuit, there can be any number of receptacles, but they all must be 30A.

A 20A circuit can have any mix of 15A or 20A receptacles, unless there is only one socket, and then it must be 20A.  This is due to a special exception in Code, you cannot mix-and-match socket sizes otherwise.

If I were you, I would take back the 25A breaker and get a 30, then 10AWG wire to (daisy chained) a 14-30 and 6-30 receptacle, modify both cords to have a -30 socket on it, and done.

I wouldn't try to make it work on a 20A receptacle, you're overamped - the dust collector is a continuous load so 6A * 1.25 derate = 7.5A + 13A saw = 20.5A -- too much for a 20A breaker.

Actually, if I were you...

I would take back the 25A breaker... and get the gear to put a subpanel in the wood shop.  My motivating factor would be the shortage of space in your main panel.

a 60A breaker
4AWG Al wire /3 with ground
A subpanel of good quality, e.g. Siemens, CH, QO etc. with 20 or more spaces.  I don't care the ampacity of the subpanel as long as it's >=60.  It needs a main breaker if it's in an outbuilding.
Ground bar accessory kit (any respectable panel will come with this)
two 20A/240V breakers for that subpanel type
20A/120V breakers as desired
A bit of 12/2 and 12/3 wire  (or THHN if in conduit)
A NEMA 6-20 duplex socket (can be 6-15 if duplex)
A NEMA 14-20 socket
NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 sockets as desired
Necessary boxes, conduit, etc.

The 6-15/20 duplex receptacle is for the saw and whatever else.  The 14-20 single (they don't come in duplex) is for the dust collector. 14-20 is a common receptacle type, 14-15 exists but nobody stocks it.   The common-as-dirt 5-15s or 5-20s are for all your 120V tools.  I assume you already have a circuit coming in to supply those, serve it out of this subpanel.  Pro tip: leave the lighting served out of the main panel, that way if you trip the subpanel breaker the lights do not go out.


Best way to finish off this stair trim Looking for ideas please on the best way to complete this trim.
Do I run the 1/4 round to the floor and trim the baseboard to fit, or run the baseboard to the stairs and [somehow] match the 1/4 round to baseboard?
Or other options>?

Fill the gap with a plug at the space between the stair stringer and wall (2nd photo: where the floor molding disappears). Or cap the beveled end of the stair stringer with 3/4" pine with the stringers profile.
If that gap is closed the floor molding will butt against it. Than the quarter round can be terminated with a face bevel right equal with the stringer.
The gap has to be covered in order to have an flat (90 degree) surface to cut the molding's to.


Can I run 100A service from a 200A panel in a garage to a house with an existing 60A service? I have a somewhat unique situation. I had a separate 200A service run to my garage a few years ago to run my welders and compressor. My house still has 60A service. I am now moving my wood shop from a commercial space into my basement and will need more power down there. I was advised by the electrician who installed the 200A panel in the garage that at some point I could pull 100A off that panel and go underground to the house. I have no problems with the existing 60A service in the house so simplest approach would seem to just install a sub-panel in the basement to feed all the woodworking machinery and leave the existing house wiring as is. I intend to run 2/2/2/4 THHN/THWN wires in conduit to feed the sub-panel.

Reading up on this I find much confusing info regarding grounding and bonding and of course it's all addressing a sub-panel from the house to the garage, not the way I'm going. So a few questions...

Am even I allowed to have two panels in the house with separate feeds?
Unlike most garages the house is full of 'metallic pathways' and I assume the existing 60A panel is grounded so how would one properly deal with bonding and grounding the new 100A sub-panel in the basement?

I understand the  ground and neutral in the sub-panel should not be bonded but I'm confused about the grounding. Some say grounding electrode, others say the #4 equipment ground is good, some say I need an additional grounding electrode at the main panel in the garage...

Any clarification would be much appreciated.

National Electrical Code 2014
Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection
Article 230 Services
I. General
230.2 Number of Services. A building or other structure
served shall be supplied by only one service...

If you live in an area covered by NEC, you're only option is to upgrade the service to the house.


Rafter above location for light, exterior light box choice Retrofitting from knob and tube. One location has a rafter directly above where the light should go (and currently is). The ceiling is 3/4 in beadboard. Can I use a 4 inch pan box cut in to the beadboard, and then a junction box above and next to the rafter for the wiring? Should the bottom of the pan box be flush to the bottom of beadboard?

I'd use a saddle box instead

Instead of trying to cobble together something out of two different boxes, raising issues of access to the upper box, I would use a saddle box that fits around the rafter instead, as shown below (photo for exposition only).  This provides adequate space for splicing while allowing easy access to all the wiring here just by dropping the fixture.


New Arbor is 'stuck' before first use I just received my new Arbor in the post for Holesaw cutting.
I gave the upper ring a few experimental turns and now it is completely jammed!
I've tried holding it in a vice and twisting it in either direction, but it won't budge.
I also tried:

WD-40 lubricant
tapping it lightly with a hammer
placing it in the drill and drilling lightly with it

I guess my main question is: which way "should" the upper ring be able to be turned?

the upper (photo: lower) knurled (diamond pattern grip) ring drives the locking pins in and out,
to extend the pins tighten it.
it looks like the near-side pin is crooked, if you sort that out it should come loose.


Hanging hooks in a weak wall I used to have some (guitar) hooks which were screwed into a brick wall, but 2/3 of them have fallen out. My only guess is that (since they are all at the same vertical height) they all went into a line of mortar rather than brick? Anyway would like to put them back up, and for them to stay up this time.
I don't think the original holes are salvageable, they've become quite enlarged, and unhelpfully filled by yours truly.
My plan is to screw and silicone adhesive a wooden batten to the wall and then screw the hooks into the wood. I'm thinking sand and varnish a 18x69mm spruce batten, use 4 chunky screws and wall plugs and a healthy dose of silicone adhesive to hold the batten to the wall, and finally some small screws to hold the hooks to the batten (the holes in the hooks are small, and the wood is thin, so the screws have to be both small and short).
I just want to check that I'm not missing anything before I permanently butcher my wall, and ask whether it's okay for the screws holding the hooks to the batten to go all the way through the wood, because the screws that came with it are just slightly too long. 3 guitars would weigh about 10kg in total for reference.

I think you have a nice project idea.  The type of masonry anchors/screws you choose will be important.  I recommend Tapcon screws long enough to use a washer, penetrate the wood/cleat, and go 1.5" into the wall.  So that'll probably be 3" in total length.  Get the recommended masonry drill bit when you purchase the screws; and install them approximately as described, below:

mark the desired location of mounting cleat on the wall

mark the desired screw/anchor locations on the cleat

drill holes in the cleat

place the cleat against the wall again, and use the drill holes to transfer marks to the brick wall (spray paint with a thin nozzle works well)

pre-drill holes in the brick using the recommended masonry drill bit; this will be slightly thinner than the tapcon anchors.  A hammer-drill helps a lot here.  The needed hole will be around 1/4" deeper than the fastener, so for a 1.5" fastener installation depth, hole depth 1.75".  The instructions that come with the tapcon fasteners will indicate this, too.

hold the cleat back up to the wall.

install washers and tapcon anchors through the cleat and into the wall.  An impact driver with the correct hex bit will help.

The trick with this is if you don't already own a hammer-drill and impact driver (and bits) you may need to rent or borrow them, or the job will be more difficult.  That's half the reason for paying handy-men is if you don't want to accumulate expensive tools that you may not use often.


Does 100 yr old concrete floor need replacing? Our house was built in 1905 and the concrete floor is uneven and gets a lot of moisture at times.  We replaced the gutters which helped a little.  We'd like to finish the basement, maybe use stained concrete.  Is newer concrete normally better, less prone to getting as moist?  Is there an additional way to create a moisture barrier that wasn't used in 1905?   I would consider the moisture to be relatively minor, but too much to consider installing a floor or carpet.

Concrete is porous, regardless of whether it's new or old. If you replaced it with a new floor, you could have a drain installed around the perimeter to stop most of the moisture infiltration. The best solution is to install a barrier around the perimeter of the exterior, which requires a lot of digging to get to the bottom of the foundation and installing a drain at the bottom to remove the moisture that gets to this barrier. A less intrusive solution is to install a French drain anywhere you have moisture problems around the outside of your home.

Regardless of how you decide to fix this problem, you should ensure that the yard is properly graded away from your property on all sides so that any moisture in the ground goes somewhere other than against the concrete foundation. This, combined with your work on the gutters, could be enough to make the moisture levels tolerable.


Any way to determine capacity of old washer/dryer? My parents have a Whirlpool washer (model LA7000XS) and dryer (model LE7080XSW0) from 1987.  They want to replace them, but want to make sure the capacities of the new washer and dryer are at least as large as the Whirlpool ones.

They still have the manuals for the Whirlpool washer and dryer, but the manuals don't mention the capacity at all.  Neither do any of the stickers in the machines.  Is there any way to find out what their capacity is?

According to page 4 of the LA700XS manual the washing machine's extra large load is 21.7 gallons which would translate to 2.9 cubic feet.

Most online buying guides for dryers recommend getting one that is double the capacity of your washer so the clothes have room to move.


Remodeling a pre-1920's home with planks on the interior walls I own an older home in central PA; my guess it is pre-1920's and I was going to remodel the living room and insulate the walls and run new wiring. The walls are horse hair plaster; when I removed the plaster and lath there are planks that run horizontally on all the walls.

If I remove them to insulate do I need to put them back on? Are they part of the structural framing?

Most likely it is shiplap. We just remodeled our kitchen in our 1935 house and underneath the drywall and paperboard, we had something similar. Actually the order was: shiplap, cheesecloth, several layers of wallpaper, then either paperboard (lower half) or drywall (upper half).

As far as whether or not it is structural, we went with the assumption that it was. I'm sure the vertical spacing of the studs in approach does not meet current building standards. However, I am not an architect either. At the very least, having it behind the drywall makes it incredibly easy to hang the drywall and anything else for that matter.


New residential toilets all so tall? Are all new toilets high off the ground?  Our existing toilets (one 20-year-old Toto and one ancient 5 GPF monster that I am shopping to replace) are around 14.5" from the floor to the rim of the bowl.  But all the toilets I've looked at online (from Kohler, American Standard, etc.) seem to be at least 16" high.

We are looking for a 14" rough-in toilet so is that the reason why they're all so tall?

I know some people like the higher height but we prefer the height of our existing toilets.  Is there a modern brand and model that is similar to our existing "low-rider" porcelain thrones?  If new toilets are all taller, is there a brand and model that's less tall than the others?

Also, I know there are ADA compliance heights for commercial toilets, but for single-family residential (in California) are there also likely to be code requirements governing toilet heights?

There are still toilets with bowl heights of 14.5 - 15.5". It seems as though Kohler (among others), like to advertise their "Comfort height™" toilets. However, they do offer toilets in all height ranges.

Standard height: 14 1/2" - 15 1/2"
"Comfort height": 16" - 17"
ADA Compliant: 17" - 19"


24" on center framing When framing wall studs 24" on center and the joists are running north and south you layout the wall studs to sit directly above the 24" joists. What do you do for the outside walls running above the east/west rim joist? Is only having the rim joist available to set the 24" on center studs acceptable or do you need to install additional structural support?

Your east west wall as the floor is concerned is a non bearing wall. For the situation, you want to address, I usually double the rim joist to add a little width under the subfloor to support the wall above. If the wall above is a bearing wall, the doubling of the rim joist should handle the load as well as long as the load is transferred to the foundation.


How do I remove the stair treads from under the stair skirt in order to replace just the tread? I am having our oak stairs refinishedby professionals.  Before that happens, I am replacing the entire banister and balustrades.  The bottom 2 stair treads need to be replaced because the banister was notched into one and the last one has a curved edge and we want to square it out.  The treads go UNDER the stair skirt.  I have attempted to get the tread off but am having difficulty getting it out from under the skirt. Is there a trick to this or do i really have to take the skirt off first- hoping to not have to do that...

The skirt board will be difficult to keep intact by removing it. In an older house, the treads will be face nailed through the top surface, most likely in 3 different rows, 1 at each edge and a row in the middle. The best route to take is to split the tread lengthways to reduce it to narrower widths to pull smaller pieces from around the nails that are holding it in place. There is a strong chance there will be a few nails going into the riser as well, split the tread there first and release those nails, and pull them out. Split the tread next where the next line of nails are and remove that one and its nails.
Do this until you get about 1 1/2" from the riser going up, you may have noticed by now that there are nails going into the back edge of the tread. Carefully pry the last piece off and rotate it out of the pocket left by the notched skirt board. You may be able to back these nails out with a hammer, but you may be able to cut them off and set the remaining "nub" below the surface with a nail set. This should cleaned down to the bare wood so the new tread will be glued to this, and the left over nail shanks will get in the way.
Another method to use, which is a blend of what I described above and another technique is after the nails in the riser at the front of the tread are found and removed, locate all the nails, or at least some of them, and using a nailset with the end, the same size as the nail holes, (most nailsets come in 3 different sizes) drive the nailset into the spot where the nails are, setting them deep, very deep... all the way through the tread deep, deep enough to split the tread in the way I described above but not using chisels or prybars, although they may be handy here too. Remove the split wood as it comes loose.


One "hot" wire be pigtailed into multiple "hot" wires. How does that affect the electricity going through them? When wires are pigtailed together like this:

...one of the black wires carries the current "in" to the nut, and the other two wires carry it "out" to the outlet and whatever other devices are down the line.

My understanding of electricity is basically limited to the water-in-a-pipe analogy. According to that, it seems to me that "splitting" the hot wire into two wires like this would result in the two "out" wires carrying half the electricity of the "in" wire.

Obviously this isn't the case since pigtails like this are everywhere and devices continue to function just fine. How does this work?

(My initial guess is -- using the water analogy again -- there's enough "pressure" to fill both "pipes" with adequate current.)

Analogies can get you in trouble when you extend them past the point they are useful.  I will present a different one that is more applicable to your situation.

Electricity in your house is basically a pull system.  If I plug (turn on) an electrical device, it will attempt to draw its rated power.  A 60 W light bulb will draw 60 W, a 1000 W hairdryer will draw 1000 W, a small TV may draw 200 W.  For a North American system as this appears to be, the power is supplied inside your home at 120 V.  We convert Wattage into current using I = W/V.  So the light bulb will draw 0.5 A, hairdryer, 8.3 A and TV 1.6 A.

The wiring you show appears to 14 AWG which is typical household wiring and is rated at 15 A in most applications.  I would expect a circuit breaker is protecting the wire and it will trip above 15 A.

The single circuit into the pigtail will be able to handle a maximum of 15 A.  The two downstream pigtail circuits will provide as much current as needed by your loads (like the light bulb, hair dryer, or TV) up to a combined 15 A.  Some more math here, in = out1 + out2.  So if it is 15 A, either pigtail can handle up to 15 A, one at a time but not simultaneously.  Or your can have any value where the two pigtails add up to 15 A.

So a pigtail with multiple outputs can supply multiple loads without any detrimental effects as long as the combined load can be supplied by the input wire and circuit breaker.

Additional details to be ignored:

I have ignored many factors here that are not relevant to this question.  Sustained current may be limited to 10-12 A not 15 A.  There will be voltage drops as the load increases.  My 60 W equivalent LED is much lower actual wattage than the older light bulbs.  I have assumed the correct breaker is installed and wiring is to code.


Is it necessary to notch the side door jambs for setting the header piece? I need to make my own door jambs from 1x lumber because I have a salvaged antique transom (the whole door is actually restored antique) and couldn't find pre-made ones at Lowes/HD that are long enough.  I did notice that the regular sized ones had a notch on each side jamb to set the header piece.  I was wondering what the advantage of that is over simply laying the header piece on top of the side pieces.  I can probably make notches in my homemade jamb but it would be easier to avoid the trouble and just set it on top of the side jambs.

Can anyone elaborate on the need to make the notches?

The rabbet joint you refer to is done for strength, its a mini jack/king, where the side jambs support the head jamb.

Your plan for a butt joint will be sufficient.


1 switch controls lights and fan, the other controls nothing. How can I make one control lights and one control the fan? It seems like this was the way it worked originally, but someone had it changed.  There is another area in my apartment that is in the same situation.  I measured 114VAC from the right switch (I'm assuming the fan) and 86VAC from the left (not sure what's connected there since it does nothing). Please help!

86 volts sounds like you might have an open neutral, and you're reading backfeed through a load somewhere.  Time to call an electrician - usually this sort of thing happens because a white wire on 2 conductor cable had been used for a switch leg, but somebody went into a box and went color to color putting wires back together, which opens the normal return leg for current. It could be the box pictured, or your ceiling box for the fan/light, or something you haven't looked at yet. A tone tracer [breaker off] and some detective work will find it - the last thing messed with is the first place to look.  Meanwhile, make a note of everything that does not work to help out: lights and receptacles.  Plug in a cell phone charger or whatever to outlets to see if they're good.  Open neutrals can be a rattlesnake for the unexperienced: just because something doesn't work does not mean it can't shock you.


What is this hinged metal hardware with an eyelet? Does anyone know what this is? I think its something related to picture hanging, but not sure.

Its about 4-5cm long

It's a "fangs" style fastener- I use similar styles to hang junk in my cubicle. The teeth latch on to the foam board in my cubicle walls, or it could also be used to grab the foam backing of a picture frame. Found it on amazon by googling "Eye Fastener for Foam Board"

Drytac Push/Pull Hinged Hanger


How can I sound proof bathroom walls? I'm trying to figure out the best, least intrusive way of sound proofing the walls of a bathroom. The bathroom shares a wall with my bedroom, and my 3 yea old's bedroom. The main problem is the sound of water running (plus every bump on the counter and everything) echos loud and clear through the wall into my sons room.  I found sound deadening drywall and it seems like a good choice. Another option is adding another layer fo drywall with something like Green Glue between them. But all the walls and ceilings in the house are textured. So replacing just one or two walls in a room is just not possible.

This is the layout of the two rooms. I've added red box around the wall with the most noise.

Is there anything else I'm missing here that I could do to dampen the noise short of tearing the bathroom apart?

I wouldn't tear the bathroom wall apart... I'd tear the bedroom wall apart.  What you are experiencing is the noise traveling through mechanical connections to the wall (screwed to studs) and the noise from the water passing through thin copper pipe (probably the Type M pipe rather than the thicker Type L).

The only effective way I know of is to insulate that wall with Roxul Safe and Sound.  It's an insulation designed for noise.... and noise only.  It doesn't burn.  To go the added mile, use resilient channels before hanging the drywall.  The demo is probably a DIY, the installation of the Roxul is DIY, and the drywall.... call someone.  For a few hundred bucks the repair will disappear.

Edit:
Blown in insulation will not work... blown in is for warmth, not sound. It's the sound transfer you're trying to conquer. We once built a house and insulated the walls with thermal insulation, thinking just like you are. It didn't work. We had the type L pipe, all the plumbing was fastened with cushioned fasteners. We thought we had it knocked. Turned out, it was a waste of money.

If you truly want to fix it, just take down the drywall and do it the right way with the Roxul. Going into a wet wall from the bathroom side is a suicide mission. Building an offset wall will create a door opening that's 10"... with a door that has a 5" jamb. Then there's the carpet... or other flooring surface. It sounds like a difficult job, but it's probably only one weekend.

Otherwise, just buy your son some foam ear plugs at Costco and call it a day.


Can I use 14/2 wire on a 2500 watt heater Can I use 14 Guage wire on a 2500 watt baseboard heater.

Heaters must be derated to 125% when provisioning service for them. So 2500 watts gets derated to 3125 watts and that is what you must provision.

That is within the 3600 watt capacity of a 15A/240V circuit.


What type of pipe and fittings is this? I recently had to disconnect the toilet connected to this pipe, and on connecting it back I seem to have accidentally twisted it (despite efforts to the contrary.) This has caused a tiny leak on one of the yellow elbows.

It's plastic pipe, looks to be 10mm, is from a house in the UK built around 2000, and seems to be really hard not to twist.

What type of pipe is this, and what should I do now to try to fix it - should the elbows be replaced, and if so with what / how? How can I try to avoid twisting it in the future when I do this sort of work?

What type of pipe is this

Just plain 15mm plastic pipe for domestic water supplies. The elbow fitting looks like John Guest Speedfit, so the pipe may have been selected to match but I believe everything is pretty compatible nowadays.

See How to remove this plastic pipe elbow (scroll down for Speedfit)

  should the elbows be replaced, and if so with what / how?

I would replace the elbow and the short vertical section of pipe. Use the same type of connectors (for consistency, no other reason). I'd check the condition of the pipe stub from the wall and clean it up if necessary.

See question linked above for how to remove elbow. Obviously you have to turn off the main stopcock and have some old towels or equivalent to soak up spillage. You may need to bung the loft tank ("attic" for leftpondians though you generally don't have this kind of arrangement AFAIK) or turn off a valve in the cold supply from the loft (otherwise you have to tie up the float valve that fills the tank and then drain the main loft tank which takes ages through a bath tap for example)

  How can I try to avoid twisting it in the future when I do this sort of work?

I usually clamp a mole-wrench (leftpondian: vise-grip) onto the body of the service valve and hold that firmly immobile with one hand while using a spanner in the other hand to loosen the nut at the top. Some service valve have flats on the body for this purpose but many don't. Take care not to crush the valve (I've never done this but it might be possible with a large mole-wrench and excessive enthusiasm)


Converting to a double switch but lost power to rest of circuit When we put in a new bathroom fan we replaced the switch in the bathroom to put the fan/overhead light and the vanity light on different switches.  It was originally wired with a single pole switch where there is one hot wire, 3 travelers or load wires and a ground attached to the switch.  2 of the traveler or load wires are pigtailed together, so on the old switch one copper end hooked on to the screw and the other one was pushed in.

On the new single pole with two switches, there are enough screws on the load side for both of the load or traveler wires to attach to screws, and the hot and ground attach fine.

No matter which screw on the hot side I put the hot wire on the rest of the circuit (other lights in the house) only works when the fan is on.  The items in the bathroom work fine and independent of each other.

Any advice for whether we need to give up on the double switch?  Or whether we need to check the wiring in the fan?

Thanks for any suggestions!

I'm adding photos:

Like Mark Twain said, "it ain't what you don't know that gets ya... it's what you know that just ain't so!"

You're talking about travelers, well there are no 3-way switches here, so there are no travelers.

There is such a thing as a switched-hot wire, i.e. that is energized when the switch is on / the device is intended to be energized. But that is not a traveler. Some people call it a load wire, but I don't like using that word because it becomes extremely confusing if a GFCI is anywhere nearby.  So  I call them switched-hot, and I expect to have one per device switched.

Then you're talking about one hot wire and 3 load wires.  I've never seen that before, and wouldn't expect to see it.

Typically when you have multiple black wires joined together, especially when they are pigtailed to a switch, that bunch is actually all hot wires.  Obviously one of them is coming from the panel, but the rest are going either to switches or outlets here, or to those onward loads you say now don't work.

So I think your belief that the cluster of black wires is "travelers or load wires" is the part that just ain't so.

I would try putting the wire-nutted black onto the "hot"/common side of the switch, since I think they are actually your supply always-hot.  And that solo black on the switched/load side.  See if that makes it work any better.

At the very least, try this: Connect nothing to the load side of the switch in the lower (black) position.  Try connecting different black wires to the hot side of the switch until that upper (red) switch starts working.  Once that's the case, you know you have the correct hot wire(s) over there, and connect the remaining hot wire(s) to the load side lower.


What is the best choice for patching and leveling concrete before tile install? We have a small area of concrete foundation that we need to patch and level prior to ceramic tile installation (12×12 tiles). It is concrete that we chipped the old tile mortar off of, so there are some places where there are small holes and there are some uneven places. I’m trying to determine which Mapei product we need to use. It is a small job and the whole floor doesn’t need leveling, so we don’t want to spend a fortune on large bags of things and expensive additives, so I’m trying to find the most economical option that will work for us. I’ve look at Self-leveling compound and Planipatch, but as far as I can tell they both require liquid additives. What would be the best choice for our situation?

These are the products I’ve looked at so far:
MAPEI 50 Lb. Self Leveler Surface Preparation
MAPEI 25 Lb. Floor Patch and Leveler

Would the same mortar we plan to use to put down the tile be acceptable to use for filling things in and smoothing them out?

If you only have chips and small holes to fix, the floor patch and leveler will be a sufficient and cheaper.

If the holes are minor ( < 1/2" deep and < 1" in diameter), skim coating the area with your thinset and then pulling the notched trowel will safely allow you to bridge with 12x12 tiles.


How to remove tiles from wall? I have a wall in my house with tiles on it. I would like to remove the tiles but am not sure how to do that correctly. I see from other posts that this kind of thing seems to be a more difficult job. Does this advice apply in my case? The wall behind is made of drywall. This is an accent wall, not a fireplace.
It seems as if I may be able to pry the tiles off the wall. Easy way to remove tile concrete from bathroom wall?

With the wall behind the tiles being drywall you would be wise go rip the tiles and drywall down
Removing the tiles will tear the paper and possibly take chunks of the gypsum out. Even going very slow and trying the Sheetrock will be heavily damaged.
I would rip the tile down with the Sheetrock, we can’t tell how wide the wall is but it will be much faster to demo and replace.


Additional receptacles on 20 amp service using quick holes on back Garage with yellow 12-2 + G wire and 20 AMP breaker. I am adding receptacles. Hubbell has a 20 amp commercial receptacle that will take the 12-2 wire through the holes on the back. I note that these are not blade connectors, there are clamps in the holes operated by the screw on the side. I have read that you should not use the quick connect holes with 12-2 thus my question: Are the Hubbell 20A receptacles okay to use 12-2 in these clamped connector holes (on the back)? Thanks for any assistance.

That type of outlet is what we call screw-and-clamp (or I stubbornly call it screw-to-clamp).  Here's a great page comparing the two.

There is nothing wrong with screw-and-clamp. The only caveat I have from the rare times I've dealt with them, is set your torque correctly. Undertorquing will make the wire(s) pop right out when you shove it into the box.

Using the word "quick" to describe screw-and-clamp is something I strongly discourage, because the trade name for that other thing is "Quick-Wire".

(For some reason, manufacturers are reluctant to use our preferred pejorative, backstab, for the jab-and-forget-until-half-the-circuit-goes-dead-for-no-reason types).

In the early days, UL approved backstab connections which were dual-rated for #14 and #12 wire. But these had problems and they were forced to backpedal from that, because the cheap springs (4 for 50 cents) didn't have the range to grip both wires properly.  (also, accepting #12 copper also meant #12 aluminum could fit, and #12 aluminum is legal in 15A circuits, but that copper-only termination couldn't support it.  This is made worse by copper-clad aluminum being out there, forcing you to look at the wire end to determine type).

One time I was running a dehumidifier and the plug felt warm.  That shouldn't be.  The socket was warmer. So I popped it open and found a #12 stranded wire shoved into the backstab. 1/3 of the strands just splayed all over the place.   Stranded wire is a great application for screw-and-clamp, because it helps unraveling to super-twist the wires, and that's a lot easier to do on a straight wire than a shepherd's hook.


New construction subfloor unlevel So noticed my floor is unlevel in a new construction house. It is only sinking at the 2x4. Is in lake county Indiana.

I look in the basement and see at the subfloor seam it did not hit the joist so they nailed an extra 2x4 in.  Is this against code? How should it be fixed?

For a 2' span from the adjacent joist on only half the width of the sheet, that block is more than adequate. If there are a half dozen framing nails in it it'll never move. You could park a piano there and it would hold. The key is the fasteners, not the height of the block.

Now, you mentioned an out-of-level condition and failed to explain where. (Edit: I see it now in a comment.) I'll assume that it's the end of the sheet over that block. If so, the block should be raised or shimmed to bring the sheet level with the others.


Should my A/C compressor come on when I turn only the fan on? I have a bog standard HVAC system with a Nest thermostat. When I tell the theromostat to turn the fan on for 15 minutes the A/C compressor also kicks on. Is this normal?

This is not normal.  When the thermostat energizes the G terminal, only the blower fan should come on.

Check for a jumper/short between Y and G either at the thermostat, or the air handler.


Air in the plumbing problem I have a plumbing system just like this picture in my house:

The water comes from the water tank that is on the top of the house. In this particular situation shown in the picture, the water goes to the first floor, enters in a forked connection and goes to the tap 2, in the first floor, and to the tap 1, in the second floor. This is a project failure, the connection should be in the second floor, due to this, I'm having problems with air inside the tube that links the tap 1 with the connection. I think the air is getting into the tube by tap 1.

Tap 2 is working nice. Is not always I have tap 1 not working. When I take the air off the tube, it comes back to work, but, by the time passing, 6 months approximately, tap 1 stops flowing water.

How I can avoid this situation without change the tube system? I thought about a retention valve connected to the tap 1, would it work?

Air probably collects in the lines when faucets are in use at differing flow rates and then one is turned on suddenly. For example consider the upper faucet operating at a small trickle and the lower faucet is off. Then the upper faucet is suddenly turned on full blast. The straight through flow to the lower faucet from the forked fitting could actually act like a suction on the upper pipe for a moment and probably take in a small gulp of air from the upper faucet.

If your fork in the piping looks like this:

You may want to try a fork that looks more like this:

. . .with the water flow from the tank entering as shown by the arrow. In this scheme there will be less possibility of the straight through flow suddenly starting creating a suction from above.


Electric stove wiring Help!

I had the bright idea of changing my electric stove top, it looked simple enough.

I have 220V coming from my wall with one green, one bare, one hot black and one black wire.

From my stove-top I have one green, one bare, one red, two black and one white wire.

I connected the two greens & the bare wire together.
I connected the two black wires together.
I connected the one black hot to the red hot wire.

But now I don't know what to do with the white wire coming from my stove.

The stove works great. The problem is that I have a white wire that I don't know what to connect it to. I may be wrong but I think this is a common wire and not a hot wire. To what set of wires do I connect it?

Well, you say you have "one hot black and one black wire" from the wall? What does this mean?

If all you have from the wall is two hots and a ground you CANNOT use this circuit for this cooktop. This is a straight 240V circuit with no neutral.

According to your description your cooktop requires a 4-wire 120/240V circuit.


Practical differences of two types of tile levelling system I'm looking to tile a relatively small area floor (about 4 sq m) with ceramic tiles 300x100 mm, 10mm thick. There are two main types of tile levelling systems that I've seen: clip and wedge

and the screw-cap type ones

What are the practical differences between the two?  How to choose one or the the other? Or is this purely down to what I prefer to work with?

Please note that these images are purely for display purposes, I don't have any preferences at present on specific brands.

I agree that these leveling systems are both more effective for larger format tiles. However, I think the question is good and one I had trouble finding an answer to when I was tiling my kitchen.

Re-use

Wedge: The wedge is re-usable, the plastic tab is broken off.
Screw/Spin: The spin top is re-usable, the plastic tab is broken off.

Tools

Wedge: To get the right pressure, a special tool is needed
Screw/Spin: The spin top is re-usable, the plastic tab is broken off. No special tools are needed.

Corners

Wedge: The wedges are really intended to go across two tiles, so for a corner, you need 4 wedges.
Screw/Spin: The spin top can sit directly on a corner or a T and provide leveling across each tile.

Shifting

Wedge: The wedge pushes both tiles in the same direction, which is not a problem if you have spacers between the tiles.
Screw/Spin: The spinning action of the top can cause the tiles to shift in different directions as you tighten them. This can cause the tile to twist slightly, even with spacers.

Availability

Both systems were available through a certain orange big box store (I found the wedge-type in-stock, and the Screw type needed to be ordered online).

My Experience

I ended up trying the wedge type first, then switched to the screw type. I found that the upward pressure of the wedge on the plastic could cause the tab to break prematurely (and you have to pull the tile up to put a new tab in). With the screw type, I could tighten, loosen, re-tighten as needed. I could also put one screw type at the corner intersection of 4 tiles. In the end, I was very happy with the result using the screw-type.


How to make custom stringers for wooden/picket fence? I am building a wooden picket fence for my backyard, and have decided to go with a pressure-treated dog ear fence available here.

The problem is my back yard has a lot of uneven terrain, and so there are several fence sections that I will need to construct myself. Lowes sells individual pickets, but (very surprisingly) does not sell the wooden stringers that run horizontally and hold the pickets together.

As you can see in that link, the panels each have 3 rows of stringers that are 1.25" wide, 2.5" tall and 8 feet long. This dimension (1.25" x 2.5") seemed curious to me and didn't ring any bells. I thought that it might be a 1x3, but it turns out 1x3 is actually 0.75" by 2.5". So these stringers are half an inch thicker.

I tried looking up standard lumber sizes and have not found anything that is 1.25" x 2.5".

So I ask:

Do pressure-treated stringers like this exist somewhere? If so, where?!?
If not, what is the best (and hopefully, cheapest or at least cost-effective!) way to construct stringers with these dimensions? It has to be exact otherwise my wife will nag and I'll never hear the end of it...

A few options (ordered by relative ease):

buy the premade section and cut to fit
use regular 2x4 (1.5x3.5) material and ignore the size difference
find a tablesaw and rip stock to the exact size you want

Alternately, you could run the panels full width and fill in any gaps at the bottom with triangular pieces.


Shop Wiring Bewilderment I'm working on rewiring a basement/shop area. The problem I am having is figuring out how to wire it all together using the least amount of wire as possible. I have installed 2x 30 amp breakers already. I began wiring up the first of twelve double gang boxes and quickly realized i was in over my head. In the attached picture i need the 4 black circles to be powered by the black switch, and the same thing for the blue and green ones. I need the red circles to be always hot though. my power source is on the left and the 3 switches are located about 50 foot away from that. I was planning on using one of the 30 amp breakers to power the black, blue, and green outlets. And the other 30 amp breaker to power the remainder red circles. The black, blue and green outlets are for the overhead LED fluorescent lights. Thank you in advance for your help.

Return everything you can.
Go to the library and look at their books which are primers on doing home electrical wiring.  Browse all of their such books, and grab the one that seems in scope and feels the most accessible to you.  Read it thoroughly, not "twittery ADD skimming".   You can skip stuff like subpanels, wells, stoves and hot tubs since you're not doing that.
Inventory what you still have.
Think about what you want to do, and come back here and ask "here's what I want, here's what I've got, what advice do you have for minimal waste of material and keeping new purchases sane?
Diagram out what you intend to do.
Decide whether you are going cables vs conduit.
Go to the town hall and pull a permit.   This will mean your plan gets some oversight from the local inspector, which will further help avert errors.  It will mean a final inspection/sign-off before completion.  It will also assure you don't get nailed on it when you sell your house and be forced to pay a pro to fix it out of your house proceeds.
From now on, go to a genuine electrical supply house, rap with the clerk about how you are sick of big-box bad advice, but were there for the discounted prices, and that you had heard the were actually fairly priced.   The reason to do this is a) save money, and b) stop being poisoned by the absolutely awful advice dispensed by the $9/hour big-box clerks.

Let's say we're at #4.

Your proposal, as stated, will place 2 different circuits inside the same electrical box.  That's not a big deal, but it absolutely requires you understand keeping hots and neutrals separate.  It will also save wire to do this other ways.

A separate circuit just for lights is very wise, but will be more expensive to wire.

Putting your entire shop on one circuit is more concerning.  Depends what you plan to do with your shop. I just have to think you'd be better off with more than one circuit for receptacles if you can swing it.  One area it helps you is shop receptacles generally must be GFCI - lighting does not.  (Though if the main panel is above the flood zone and the circuit is not , GFCI always helps.)

As a cost savings, I might make 1 circuit per section, putting the lighting on the receptacle circuit.  This avoids having 2 circuits in a box.  You run the risk of a breaker trip blacking out the lights, but you'll probably have at least 2 banks of lights on.

When a freezer loses power, that's bad news, because usually nothing warns you of this.   Your worst risk is of a freezer in the same GFCI zone of a circuit, tripping because something else in the zone tripped the GFCI.  Therefore I prefer dedicated circuits for freezers, and try to find a way to omit the GFCI.

Using receptacles for lights is perfectly reasonable - most of my installations are this - but all mine are located on the ceiling.  Luminaires are allowed to connect with flexible cords, but only within reason - I don't think the inspector would approve an arrangement which invites cords (or gasp, extension cords!) being stapled to the wall or draping across workbenches.

Where you see knee level switched receptacles for lamps, that is a cheap method used in newer housing stock, and is intended only for floor or table lamps, not ceiling-hung lights.

If you are not putting lights and receptacles in the same place, you can divide and conquer - install the lighting circuits in one project and the receptacles in the other.


Solder debris in multi zone hot water baseboard boiler heating system blocking valves I do not know how old the copper piping for the hot water heating system is.  We purchased the house in 1977.  We replaced the furnace with a Peerless Pinnacle boiler in 2006, included an integrated hot water heater and separate zones for the hot water heater, living room, kitchen and 2nd floor. All the piping was soldered. In 2015 we added a laundry room, heating under the floor and another zone. The piping is solderless.

Over the winter of 2019, we had a problem with overheating in the second floor.  The HVAC people found a small piece of solder stuck in the check valve for the pump that was dedicated to the 2nd floor and the extol tank was replaced.  Charge was $ 571.  Since then we have had incidents with all of the other check valves in their respective pumps except the one for the hot water heater.  Each had a piece of solder stuck in it and all of the check valves in the circulating pumps have been replaced.  Each time they replaced a valve, they found a small piece of debris that they identified as solder that kept the valve from closing completely.  In trouble shooting this problem, they flushed the entire system. Through all this the company did not charge any extra.  In September, the HVAC company did winter maintenance on the furnace.  The next day, the first floor overheated.  The service man found a minute piece of solder in the check valve and replaced it.  The cost was $ 371 but they reduced it to $ 276.  Tonight the first floor is over heating again.  Each check valve and service call is expensive.  In all the years we have had a hot water heating system, we have never experienced this kind of a problem and the HVAC company has never seen it either.

They have recommended a screen which will cost $ 500, not a magnetic one, as the problem is with solder which is not magnetic.  I am beside myself and very concerned about the expense.  Do you have any suggestions or opinions on this issue?

Whether a screen will fix your problem or not depends on several things.

Particle size. Only if the screen is fine enough it will retend the particles.
Amount of dirt. If the debris in your circulation is more than the few particles it might sooner or later just clog the screen. Perhaps the screen needs more regular service than every other device.
Origin and distribution of the particles. You mention that the problems rose also after service. Then particles might migrate against normal flow direction during service periods when the pumps are shut down for longer time. A single screen before the pumps and their respective check valves then won't protect you. Where the affected check valves before or after the pumps (from flow direction)? If after this could indicate debris coming down against normal flow direction during times with no water flow.

The HVAC-company servicing my parent's home added kind of siphons in the system. It was to catch spurious air bubbles but also catches debris. They consist of short vertical tubings with at least twice the normal piping diameter. On top of the tubes they mounted an automatic bleeding valve. The water entered the big tube from the side and left it at the other side. Air was catched on the top and debris on the bottom due to the reduced flow speed inside this vessel. I don't know if this works in your case, but you might talk about this with your HVAC company.


What could be causing my bedroom to be so cold, and how can I make it warmer? I live in a two story townhouse with a basement. This summer, they replaced the furnace and air conditioning unit. Last winter I put 3M film over the windows to help with drafts and it worked great, I was warm and comfy all year.

This year I did the same and my room is always cold and the heat is set to the same temperature. I figured a new furnace would heat better. My bedroom is on the 2nd floor and the furnace is in the basement. That is 2 floors away. Heat rises. In the summer the upstairs is a lot warmer than the ground level living floor. Now in the winter it's the opposite, the upstairs is colder. I don't get it.

Is there a way to keep my bed room warmer without turning the heat way up or adding supplemental heat with a plug in heater?

I would also expect the new furnance to provide better heat than the old one. First thing to to is be sure you didn't arrange anything in the room different from last year. You don't have anything  blocking the air registers. Check and make sure the air filter on the furnace is not clogged. If the room has only one register leave the door open so the colder air can circulate out of the room. If nothing in the room has changed contact the installer and ask them to check for any blockages or leaks that might be preventing the heat from reaching the room. It may be a problem with the blower pushing the air to that end of the house. If you have never had it done an energy audit is always a good idea. Most utilities offer them for free. They may point out missing duct insulation or air leaks that make the room colder than the rest.


Tap keeps dripping even after reseating - broken? I've replaced the washer in the tap and used a reseating tool, but when I feel with my finger there's what appears to be a "notch" in the area the tap washer would be pressing down on. Picture is attached.

Is this tap effectively broken? I'm wondering whether I should just replace it rather than continuing to try and repair what is a pretty old tap.

I would say that your excellent picture shows that the seat in this valve is not smooth and planar all the way around. With that said it looks like this valve is definitely in line for replacement.

As a temporary work around you may want to see if you can find a faucet washer that is made of silicon instead of the normally much harder faucet washer material. It may be able to squeeze down on the imperfect seat and seal off the faucet till you can make the full replacement. Do not wait too long however because the turning under pressure to close the faucet with a silicon washer is likely to degrade and tear up the washer surface.


Is it safe to replace a GFCI breaker with an arc fault breaker? We recently had our electrical panel replaced/upgraded and I noticed that our GFCI breaker was replaced with an Arc Fault breaker.  Is that safe? Are GFCI breakers obsolete now?

GFCI are still needed because ACFI do not provide the same level of ground-fault protection as GFCI. In the United States, the GFCI is triggered at 4-6 mA of current-imbalance. The trip-limit for AFCI devices is a current-imbalance of 30-50 mA. So AFCI devices do not provide the same level of ground-fault protection as GFCI devices. You may want to use both an AFCI and a GFCI on your circuit.

In addition to ground faults, AFCI devices do also detect arcs. GFCI and AFCI are designed to detect different faults from eachother.

GFCIs are still needed near sources of water (like the kitchen and bathroom), in unfinished basements, and outdoors (among other locations) (and even if the circuit uses an AFCI breaker).


How do I compare furnace models? I need a new furnace, and I have quotes from two companies, for three different brands of furnace, Carrier, Trane, and Lennox. Both companies have provided the model numbers of the units they would install.

I understand how to compare efficiencies, and some of the features, such as variable speed fans and dual stage burners. Each of the manufacturers offers basically the same models, such as 80% single stage, 95% single stage, 80% dual stage variable, 95% dual stage variable. Comparable models are are similar in price, within 5-8%.

How can I compare the models to determine which is the best fit for me?

I believe it is best to purchase a level of unit that meets the needs of the home.  80% single stage is good for basic heat where the fuel is not too expensive and the climate is not too cold.  More sophisticated technology has higher initial costs and repair costs, so it is not advantageous to go up the efficiency scale unless justified by the fuel savings.  The quiet operation and more even heat distribution that comes with a variable speed 2 stage unit is loved by some homeowners, but again that adds complexity and cost.  Also, 2 stage variable speed does not save much in operating costs.  If one is not sensitive to cost and one wants to buy something fancy to show to the neighbors, I see no fault in that.

I would also say that correct sizing of the unit, correct installation, and a reliable contractor are all much more important than brand.


Is a2x8x10' enough support as a ridge beam for a 14'x10' shed roof? I'm building a 14' x 10' shed with a gable roof w/ 3.5/12 pitch. I plan on a 2x8x10' ridge beam attached &supported by 2-3 2x4's. rafters will be 2x6x8' 16 or 24" oc. i was hoping for an opinion about the ridge beam size. i'm not sure i understand span tables compleatly. thanks for any advise. Ed.

I assume from your description that your are stick framing (ie not using trusses, and not with any ceiling joists.

The short answer to your question is "maybe", but probably not. The answer to the question depends on the expected wind and snow loads in your area, the species of the wood you plan on using, whether it's normal dimensional lumber, or a laminated beam.

My best advice is to find the permitting authority for your area (typically either the city or building department), and go in and talk with an inspector. They can give you a much more definitive answer than you can get from us, and you can be more confident in it. If you are in an area where that is difficult, the best answer I can give you is that a single 2x10 may work if you have very light loading, but I would be more comfortable with a doubled 2x10 instead. I tend towards overbuilding in cases like this, and the cost of a doubled 2x10 in cost and effort it minimal.

Note that with a ridge beam, you need to carry the load in an uninterrupted path from the beam all the way down to the footings. A 4x4 should be fine for that.

Hope that helps.


What is good advice for a beginner layng insulation? Background
I have a manufactured home from the 70's with metal siding, wood studded walls and fiberglass insulation on the inside.  I had a clogged gutter, which caused water to run behind the siding, around the window, into the house and made the drywall & insulation soggy. Then I accidentally poked a hole in the drywall.  There is a noticeable draft coming from the hole in the drywall and the wall has always been seemed poorly insulated.

I cleared the gutter and the wall dried out, but now I want to fix the damage.

Question
I was planning on just taking out the 8 feet or so of drywall and replacing it and the insulation, but I want to do it the "best" way possible.  So what would that be?  Using pre-faced insulation?  Unfaced insulation with vapor barrier and sheathing tape?  Does the vapor barrier go on the warm side or the cold side?  Can you recommend any particular products?

Bonus question: Can you recommend any good DIY books on the subject?

Since you're going to have the walls open, I would use pre-faced fiberglass batting.  The rolls give you more flexibility than the pre-cut batts if you have non-standard height walls and they're usually a little cheaper per square foot, but I see special offers in the big-box stores all the time so shop around.

There's no special trick to installing it, but wear a dust mask that's rated for fiberglass dust.  The vapor barrier goes on the warm side.  I usually cut pieces to length before installing them in the wall (but I'm an engineer and can't help myself! :), but you can cut it to size while it's in the wall if you're not as OCD as me: put the loose end at the top of the wall, unroll and stuff until you reach the bottom then cut it off.  Run a bead of adhesive along the stud, then unfold the flaps at the edge of the insulation on one side of the stud and press into the adhesive.  Repeat for the insulation on other side, then staple the two of them into the stud.  Tap the staples in with a hammer if they didn't go all the way.  Done!

I don't have a book recommendation, but it's easy to learn how to do it.


lutron sensor switch - wiring help I have the Lutron Maestro 2 Sensor Switch. As seen in the picture, it has a ground and 2 black wires.

My junction box has black and white, and is a metal junction fully grounded. Im not sure what I do with the second black wire on the switch.

Update:

@manassehkatz pointed out that the wiring was most likely a switch loop, where the installer just used the black/white for the hot and the switch-hot, therefore confusing my insanely newb brain when an unmarked white was being used for the return hot from the light.

THANK YOU

Unfortunately, the Installation Guide doesn't say much. It shows the two black wires but does not have any indication as far as which one goes to hot vs. switched-hot. The implication is "it doesn't matter".
However, the marketing information (and the installation by omission) makes it clear that no neutral is required. But the switch has to get power from somewhere to run the motion sensor. The instructions indicate this is by using ground:

Both bare and green ground wires are required to connect to ground. If no ground is available, consult an electrician. Device will not function if it is not grounded.

So that tells me two things:

The green ground is NOT for safety but rather in place of neutral for the motion sensor power. According to Q&A on homedepot.com, the switch uses < 1 watt when "off". That puts in the relatively safe range as far as current running over the ground wire. While using ground in place of neutral is not normally permitted, it is still allowed within certain limitations, and it avoids the problem of either (a) requiring a neutral in the switch box which many boxes simply don't have or (b) running a small amount of current through the switched line when off, which works fine on incandescent bulbs but on LEDs will often result in either flashing lights or a very low constant glow. It might put it below the normal threshold of a GFCI, but I wouldn't count on it.

The bare ground is for safety.

Provided your box really is properly grounded, connect both grounds (green & bare) to the box, connect hot to one black, switched hot to the other black, and you're done.
This actually makes for a very simple and almost foolproof installation. But they could have made it totally foolproof by being upfront in the instructions about how it uses the wires. A classic example of dumbing down instructions too far, raising more questions instead of making things easier.
Beware of GFCI
As I understand it (pros can chime in, of course), lighting circuits in areas that require GFCI for receptacles (bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, etc.) do NOT need to be on GFCI. They can be on GFCI, and if so then a switch like this might be detected as a ground fault. If that happens then you should either move the lighting to a different circuit or (generally much simpler) pigtail the lighting to the LINE side of the receptacle instead of daisy-chaining off the LOAD side.


Could shingles that are not flat be caused by stapling the sheathing rather than nailing? We recently asked someone to add a covered porch to a new construction. He reported back that the existing roof (which was built by a different contractor about 6 months ago) has some issues. He said it could be because the plywood was stapled rather than nailed, but he is not sure. I wonder if any of you could tell by looking at a picture. I already reached out to the company that built the roof and I am waiting to hear back. Since I know nothing about roofs I would like be somewhat more knowledgeable.
Thanks

If your contractor is claiming the fasteners are loosening from the sheathing it is a simple matter to verify. On the roof any nail or staple that has pulled away from the rafters will have pushed up or through the asphalt shingles. If it has only pushed the shingle up carefully pry the shingle up further and peer under it. You should be able to see the nail head or staple crown.
If several fasteners have loosened along the same edge or seam an obvious bounce will be detected when pressure is applied over it. Fasteners pulling from sheathing (whether staple or nail) happens to the best constructed roof even if the fastener schedule is followed. Over time expansion and contraction slowly work the fastener loose.
Longer, additional, and accurately set fasteners may be needed (or lacking) for the sheathing.
Unless the felt paper under the shingles was crumpled in a knot or completely 'FUBAR-ed' it may be that rolled roofing was used as an under-layment (not common under shingles, but possible). Rolled roofing is known to wrinkle if installed in long lengths (more than 15-20 feet?).