Lights dim on a switch that was a 3 way I have a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan with 4 lights in my kitchen that dims after I turn it on.
The house is over 100 years old and has been through multiple remodels.  It appears as though that the kitchen light was originally a 3 way, as when I tried to replace what I thought was a faulty light switch, I was greeted with a 3 way switch.  I have no idea where the other 3 way switch is located.  I have manipulated all of the switches in the house and this 3 way switch has no sibling.
When I moved in, the kitchen light came to full brightness.  I replaced the 40w incandescent bulbs with LEDs (one of the original bulbs was missing). The first day after the replacement, the lights came to full brightness.  Over time, they are dimmer and dimmer when I turn the light on.  If I smash the switch on, they come to full illumination, only to dim.
What am I doing wrong?

Significant change to the original problem:  The lighting dimmed because the current regulator in the fan burned (or was burning) up.  I took it apart and found significant charring and plastic deformation inside.
I bought a similar model from ReStore and Frankensteined the two together into one working fan.
The three way switch had no impact on the fault as should have been noticed since the observed fan speeds only slowed when the light was turned on.
Thank you to those who read my problem and tried to help me solve it.


No water to toilet after the city purged hydrants The city was opening fire hydrants around the neighborhood resulting in no water coming to the house. This happened while I was at work. When I came home I had to turn the faucets and showers on to release air in the lines.
Everything works except for the upstairs toilet. It is not the fill valve inside the toilet, There is no water coming to the toilet from the plumbing.
I have disconnected the line and no water is coming out.
The sink gets water upstairs.
What are the possible reasons for this?

If the first comment doesn't work and there is a speedy valve below the toilet;
with two people-

first turn off main water valve.
Open cold water faucet in the affected bath to release the water pressure then close it gently.
With a small bucket at hand, remove the bonnet (valve handle has to be neither all open nor all closed) off the toilet speedy valve
then have the 2nd person open the main valve slightly to purge the toilet line while catching the water in the bucket.
Reassemble bonnet onto valve,
open main valve slowly and test for flow at toilet. Make sure you left the toilet valve in the open position.

Speedy valve:


Apartment using ground wire as neutral I was answering a trouble call in an apartment today that a pendant light fixture had come down and was hanging by the wiring.

I went to remount it, but noticed that the light fixture wiring was connected to Black and Ground. The white was unused and coiled up...and oddly, there was a coiled up unused red wire (Like for a 3-way switch, but this isn't a 3-way switch controlled light). They just used that type of cable for the wiring and didn't use the red wire - what a waste.

The light switch for the fixture is on a 2-gang box. The other switch on that box is for the kitchen lighting (which IS a 3-way switch controlled fixture). So I opened up to check the wiring in the box and think I see what's going on.

The kitchen 3-way light looks to be set-up like Wiring Diagram #1 from this link: https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/how-to-wire-a-3-way-switch-wiring-diagram

Power comes in to the kitchen light fixture and then runs over to the 2-gang box (Use that top oval in the wiring diagram for visual). The white wire going into the box is now the hot. There isn't really a neutral on this wire going into the box, right?

Well so now back to the problem pendant light fixture (not the kitchen light fixture). It takes it's hot from that white wire. But there's no actual neutral to tap into, so instead the problem light fixture uses ground as the neutral.

Does there need to be another power-in cable run to the 2-gang box for the problem pendant light fixture to tap into?

I need to check the other apartments now. Maybe this is how all of them are done.

OK, disconnect that pendant light until you fix the problem. you can't have a ground wire carrying load. There is no neutral in that box.

You've got to choices (well, maybe more), you can run a new feed to the duplex switch and utilize the unused white and red wires to get neutral and switched power to the pendant light after disconnecting the switch from the existing source. You could also run a new feed to the pendant light box, connect neutral to light and utilize the black and red wires for switched hot after disconnecting switch from existing source.

Remember to connect all grounds from new feeds to existing ground wires


Add an electric socket to an existing light circuit (230v AC) I have an existing single light controlled by a single switch in understair storgae space. Now I need an additional electric socket there as its an ideal location to power my security alarm. (No heavy load, its just a 12v adaptor to be plugged into the 230v socket).

I tried to open the existing switch and it has a single chorded cable with 3 wires in it. With the line (Brown) goes through the switch and remainig neutral(Blue) and earth (Green/Yellow) goes directly to the bulb.

Can I safely add a socket to this circuit ? Please kindly help with the connection details.

Many thanks in advance. This is for house located in UK.

Here is the connection diagram, I am planning to get the result. Is this is fine without any issues ???

It sounds as though you have phase, neutral and earth available to you. So the initial answer is yes but there are two snags:

UK regulations require an RCD/ELCB (earth leakage protection) device on all socket circuits.
Someone could plug in a high current device into the lighting circuit.

Best way out of it would be to tap off L, N & E through a low current RCD and to a 13 A socket. That would address both problems. I had a look for low current (2 A) RCD but can't find any in RS or Farnell catalogues.


Best materials to seal curved shower wall corner to shower tray The shower on my boat has curved corners where the 'walls' meet. The walls are currently sealed to the tray with a curved profile strip of plastic plus silicon sealant. The profile strips were cut short as the curved corner would have stopped them meeting in a neat 45 degree mitre. The gap between the profile strips was filled with silicon sealant and looks messy.

The sealant is discoloured and needs replacing. What is the best method and materials to seal the curved corner to the shower tray?

I guess that the profile strip was used to hide a gap between the shower wall and the shower tray. I am keen to have all the materials to hand before i remove the old profile and sealant. This is because it is my only shower and I don't have a bath, so once started I'd like to complete the job fairly quickly.

Ceiling above the corner, to give a clearer idea of the corner radius:
ceiling above the corner, to give a clearer idea of the corner radius

You might try a flexible plastic "caulking strip":

I have used this several times and will share what I think are keys to success:

remove all the old strips and all the old caulking. Caulking removal is not easy and IMO is best accomplished using mechanical means (cutting and scraping) combined with chemical means (caulking remover). This takes time because the caulking remover needs time to soften the old caulk.
Thoroughly dry the entire cleaned area and waterproof the gap between pan and surround before covering it with any trim. This means caulking the gap, it's important because it will prevent water intrusion when (not if) the trim inevitably fails again over time. I won't go into detail about best practice for caulking, there is already substantial info. about that on this (and other) sites.
apply decorative trim. I suggest the caulking strip because it can accommodate curves of reasonable radii. It comes in many widths and colors, with matching widths on both sides of the fold or with narrow x wide configurations. I have found that warming it up a bit (let it sit in the sun for a while) prior to installation facilitates the process.


Anti frost faucet leak This faucet was installed last summer, strange leak through holes in stem.. any idea what is causing this?  Can it be fixed??

From your side view it looks like there may be a minor leak around the valve stem just behind the faucet handle. You can investigate this by first removing the faucet handle. Then loosen and remove the part pointed to below:

(Do this with the faucet initially shut OFF).

Under this part you should find a rubber type part that fits around the valve stem. When this part is screwed in tighter it will compress the rubber part around the valve stem to keep it from leaking.

Sometimes with age this rubber type part will get hard or cracked so that it can no longer provide a good seal against the valve stem. In this case it is necessary to replace the rubber part.

There are also cases where the valve stem itself can get oxidized and/or corroded to the point that it no longer presents a nice smooth surface to the rubber seal part. It may be necessary to shine up the valve stem using a fine grade of steel wool.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to lubricate the valve stem and inner surface of the rubber type seal part using some petroleum jelly.


Replace coaxial cable I have some coaxial cable on my wall, I need to replace it with a different cable, but when I pull the cable, it doesn't move at all.
I know in the US it's common that these cables are stapled, but where I live that is not common at all, these are brick walls, and the cables are inside plastic tubes. I think the cables have been there for a very long time and now they are stuck, is there a way to pull those cables?

They would not be stapled in conduit anywhere in the world.
Check very carefully that you have found both ends of the same cable/conduit. The most likely reasons for "being stuck" are:

that you have the same cable, but you've missed a spot where it comes
out of one conduit and goes into another (possibly being attached to
something),
or you have two different cables and the other end of the one you are trying to move is fastened to something outside the conduit,
or you've missed a "pull point" (removable access cover or junction box) providing access to the cable inside the conduit so that you're not trying to
pull it around more than 360 degrees of bending.

Typical access points involve a relatively sharp bend which you will NOT be able to pull around, since you are supposed to remove the cover and pull from the open access point.
If you think you have eliminated those possibilities, you could put a vacuum cleaner (wet or wet/dry type - a "shop vac") at one end, and verify that you really do have the correct conduit at the other end by noticing the air getting sucked in there, and then you could apply some wire pulling lubricant to the open end, and allow the vacuum to pull it into and through the conduit. That should help the wire to move, if it's not actually bound up by a sharp turn at an access point you have not opened to pull from.


Hydronic, In-floor, Radiant Heat I am considering including a hydronic (Pex tubing) radiant heat system in my new house (still in the planning phase).  I have done some reading/resaerch...here was a straight-forward, mercifully direct and short, non-“buy me!” write-up:  https://www.everything-about-concrete.com/concrete-floor-heating.html
My main take-a-ways/questions:
-- Is a radiant floor heating system and a traditional HVAC/furnace system necessarily duplicative or overkill?  Or can be considered supplemental to each other.
-- “Properly locating the manifold”…I am not sure of the implications of “properly locating.”  Can't just be anywhere convenient in the garage, for instance, as long as a hot water line is available?
-- Shocked (as usual) about the cost per sq foot estimates…it is just Pex, zip ties, some basic labor additional for each square foot; the basic planning/layout and manifold/control unit are up-front single costs amortized (or whatever word) over the whole covered area.  Am I missing something?
-- I gotta wonder what the “catastrophe” rate is, either at install time (e.g. after the slab is poured) or during the life of the home (e.g. a severe crack in foundation splits Pex; inferior Pex used and it starts to leak)?
-- “Radiant floor heating usually lasts around 20-35 years”…huh?  Important to know if this means the manifold/controller (easily replaced) or the Pex system itself?

Lots to answer here.  I would have posted this as a comment, but I have too much to say.
I have an 8 zone hydronic (in floor concrete) heating system...probably "over-zoned", but that's a different issue.
When you say "the manifold" that implies only one zone. I have 8 manifolds.
PEX is awesome and will last a lot longer than 35 years.
There are a lot of considerations when designing an infloor system. IE: what is your heat source? Electric boiler, Propane boiler, Natural gas boiler?  Air to water heat pump? Geothermal heat pump?   I love my in-floor heating, esp, during the winter, but bear in mind it's SLOW SLOW SLOW to heat up a space. You can't do typical night-time setbacks on your T-stat by more than a couple of degrees. Also, of course, in-floor heating doesn't give you A/C.   My house is set up with an air handler and ducting for A/C as well as aux heat for when the in - floor heating system can't get up to set point.  That's done via a fan coil from the boiler to the air handler and is controlled by the T-stat as Aux-Heat.
As I've said here before, and hate to say it bc this is a DIY site, but you should at least consult a pro in this field to give you a design, with tubing layout, temp loss calculations...you don't want to screw this up...it's hard to fix later.


What does the 26/6 mean in a pump rating? I've been told I need a 25/6 rated circulating pump for the central heating. What doe these numbers mean exactly. I want to know because I discovered my existing pump is rated for a 6m head.

It has been a few years since I looked at specs on one but the two numbers are identified as Q/H or (m3/h by m).  (m = meters)
To my understanding Q is volume of flow in m³/h (25), so how many cubic meters of liquid can flow in a hour period.
With H is delivery head in m (height) which is the height you can pump a liquid to straight up.
These are the basic description for standard values.  In an exact case to determine what values are needed in a specific application would be based on all the variables such as pipe sizes in the entire system, desired pressures, suction tank/source levels and more.


No Power Going to my new GFCI I have installed a Leviton 15amp GFCI.  The one I replaced said 15Amps on it's metal tab but it also said 20A on the body.  The breaker that feeds this outlet is 15Amp.  After I replaced it, I was not getting any power to the unit other than a small green light at the bottom corner of the new GFCI.  I used a pen-tester and it showed power going to one of the black wires that connect to the lower side of the GFCI, but the other wires (white & black) had no power.

Any ideas out there as to what I am doing wrong?  Thanks.

I figured it out.

Th new GFCI reversed the line and load terminals from what the old GFCI had.  All I did was to reverse the white and black (hot) wires and everything works fine.

I hope this will help others out in the future.

Matt


Is it common to build a mortar pan shower with no waterproof membrane? I have found myself in a situation where the contractor installing our walk in shower seems hell bent on installing it without a shower pan liner.

From what I can deduce he's approaching it this way (because he's had to break up the mortar once already).. 1) install the drain, 2) put mortar down almost up to the top of the drain. 3) Tile it 4) water proof it.

Everything I have read about mortar pan showers says you have to install a pan liner so that when (if) the water gets through the tile it will be caught by the liner and drain without causing mold and other problems.

I'm about to ask him to terminate the work but is his approach to installation common?

Absolutely incorrect. Traditional shower pans are built thus:

using "dry pack" method, create sloped mortar bed to drain weep holes
waterproof sloped floor using hot asphalt or vinyl pan liner, should extend over curb and up surrounding walls at least 2" above curb
ensure drain weep holes are clear (ring with gravel and/or busted tile chunks)
float sloped floor over waterproof membrane, up to edge of drain (allowing for tile height)
tile


Floodlight randomly, dimly lights even when lightswitch is off This problem baffles me completely.  In one of our bedrooms, we have two floodlights connected to a one-way Z-wave dimmer switch.  Both floodlights are Cree BR30s.  When the light switch is off, one of the two floodlights randomly lights up very dimly.  If I remove the "problematic" light, the other floodlight does not randomly light up and continues to operate normally.  This leads me to believe that it can't be a problem with the light switch.  I plan to install an incandescent light today to see what happens when the light types are mixed.

I don't know what else to ask, except, how is this even possible?  When the floodlights were occupied by normal incandescent lights, this never happened.  What sort of debugging strategy would you all recommend?  Thank you!

UPDATE 1/28/2017: I finally ordered and installed the recommended dimmer switches and they work!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006LQFHN2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It appears from the 45606 manual that this model is not designed for use with anything but incandescent loads:

  This dimmer switch is designed for use only with permanently installed
  incandescent lighting
  fixtures. Do not use it to control fluorescent lighting, transformer
  supplied lighting/appliances, motorized appliances or receptacles. The
  incandescent lighting controlled by this dimmer switch must not exceed
  a total of 500 watts.

And

  Minimum Load: 40W, incandescent lamps only.
  Maximum Load: 500W, incandescent lamps only.

From my understanding of these Z-Wave dimmers, the ones that are LED compatible utilize a neutral (white) wire. This model does not appear to have a neutral wire.

Dimmable LED Compatible Model

The GE 12724 (ZW3005) Z-Wave, In-Wall Smart Dimmer (Interchangeable Paddles) is listed as compatible with dimmable CFL and LED loads:

  UL Listed to work with dimmable LED & CFLs

  Screw Terminal installation; requires wiring connections for Line (Hot), Load,
  Neutral and Ground. Traveler wire required for multi pole installation

  Maximum Load: 600W, incandescent; 150W Dimmable CFL/LED


if a gas grill's push-button battery-operated igniter is clicking, but grill doesn't light My grill is: the Weber Q 1200

If an outdoor gas grill's push-button battery-operated igniter is making clicking sounds, but grill doesn't light, what clues does that give me?

I think it means that the module is mostly working, the battery is working, but somehow there's no flame produced. Is this correct?

Also: what's the first thing I should try to fix?

Update (how it was solved):

the accepted answer was very helpful to me because it broke down for me that the most likely culprit was probably food drippings in the area where the igniter spark operates.
So, I lifted the grating, scraped off any rust/drippings in that area, and my igniter started working again.
There wasn't anything wrong with the igniter. It was just that the gas wasn't coming out of the nearest hole in the gas pipe because that hole was rusted over and blocked by food drippings.

Follow the wire from the button to where it ends, somewhere near the burner.

In theory, it will be clipped a specific distance from the burner so that a spark will jump between it and the burner to ignite the gas.

In practice, it could be covered with food drippings or could have become detached from where it is supposed to be, or it could be thoroughly corroded.

If you can clean it and make sure it is attached in the right place, it should work okay again.

But more likely there's not much you can do that will make a permanent fix, and you'll end up using a hand-lighter to ignite the flame.


Why won't either toilet in my mobile home flush? We have two bathrooms on either side of our trailer. For some reason neither of the toilets want to flush. The back fills up with water, I flush and the water sits in the bowl and doesn't drain at all. I've plunged the hell out of it. It's been snaked. I don't know what else to do. Someone HELP!!

Well I am leaving this as an answer because of limited information.if you live in a park contact the superintendent. If on your own property your pipes or tank can be plugged. More information is needed. And you may need to have your tank pumped. I have helped a firend that had a park and with floods one of the tanks floated several inches and broke the pipes the filled with mud and several homes had the exact problems you have more info is needed.


Identifying fault in a lighting circuit I have some strange symptoms with my house's lighting circuit, which I am trying to isolate.

There are two lighting circuits in the house, upstairs and downstairs (although some downstairs lights seem to be on the upstairs ring - which I find strange)

I had 3 GU10 bulbs in a light fitting in the kitchen - two halogen, one LED. This was working fine, until one of the halogen bulbs blew.

I replaced all 3 bulbs with LED bulbs, for consistency and since then I have had a persistent problem that the bulbs are very dim until you turn on several other nearby lights (all on the same ring from what I can tell)

Whilst the bulbs are glowing dim, it also causes interference with our TV reception, which is probably due to a booster unit being wired up to the lighting ring.

My question is: can bulbs cause this strange behaviour? We have had other similar issues, which have been resolved by replacing all bulbs in the house with non-LED/non-CFL bulbs, which seem to cause problems. Or perhaps it is one or more light fittings at fault?

The breaker never trips, which is something I guess.

It's your old dimmer, motion sensor, lighted switch, smart switch etc.

It isn't made to play with LEDs.

A dimmer, smart switch etc. is an active machine which requires power to operate itself (i.e. always-hot and neutral).  Many old installations use what we Yanks call a "switch loop", containing always-hot, switched-hot, sometimes earth and never neutral.   (Our Codes now require provisioning of a neutral).

Therefore older active switches (and some new ones) power themselves by "placing themselves in series" with the load.  When the load is off, they depend on a unique characteristic of incandescents that an unlit incandescent is a lot like a dead short.  The active switch   can leak small amounts of power through the incandescent without lighting it up.

LED and CFL have switching power supplies which do not like that (unless they are specifically designed for that). When you removed the last incandescent, you placed the active switch and LEDs in combat with each other, hence the RFI.

You did not state which special ability the switch has, so it may not be important to you. Swap it for a regular switch and done.  Or, put one incandescent back in. Or get a modern LED-rated version of that thing and matching LEDs.


How can I empty a bucket of stinky water under my sink? Well, the kitchen sink was leaking and a family member stuck a bucket under there and never told anybody. The problem is the pipes under the sink actually go into the bucket and it is full of water that smells HORRIBLE. I can't move the bucket without spilling horrible smelling water everywhere. I tried using a fast food cup to remove small amounts at a time but the fumes made me light headed and I got some on my hand.

Any other ideas at all? My brain isn't working correctly after breathing that stuff in.

You should siphon the water out using a tube or flexible pipe.  I have included an article containing instructions on how to do this here. You will have to adapt it to a much smaller scale, but the principle is the same.  If you just do a search for siphoning, maybe you will find a better/more applicable example. I just chose this article bc it wasn't about stealing gasoline. Let's not promote that slimy practice, shall we?

I had to do this once when the grease trap got clogged at work backed up into the sink. It was 11 pm and I had to get the "water" out of the sink so it wouldn't sit there all night and stink up the whole place. There was no WAY I was sticking my hand in there to scoop it out. Siphoning works. Give it a try.


Turning off Air Conditioning when out of the house for extended time Most people that live in cold climates know that you should not turn your heat off when you go away for an extended period of time.  Just turn it down so the pipes don't freeze.  What about the opposite?  If you are going away in the summer should you leave the AC turned on, just turn it up a little bit?

I am sure the best answers depend in your climate, if you live in Arizona and temps reach 115 degrees F (46C) every day, you should probably leave it on.  So for the sake of a good question and answer, where is the cutoff?  Outside temp averages in the 90's, 80's 70's, what should you do?

If you do turn it off and the temp reaches say 100 degrees F inside for an extended period of time, what things could happens to your home and its contents?

I see a few problems with leaving the AC off for a while, depending on climate.

The AC provides dehumidification.  So if you live in a humid climate, leaving the AC off can cause issues in the house (swelling doors and window frames, cracking plaster, mold, etc).  You generally want the humidity in your house to be 50% or less.
Stress on your fridge.  If the room is too hot, the fridge will struggle to keep your food cool.  This may shorten the life of your fridge, or cause food spoilage.  (Not sure what the upper operating temperature limit is for a fridge.)
Any pets that you leave behind on vacation.  Even if you take your dog or cat to the kennel, what about your fish tank?  Will your fish be happy in >100F water?  Don't let the temp in your house get higher than what your pets can tolerate!


Why is the neutral tab broken with only one neutral wire? I'm replacing 15 amp outlet receptacles in my home and I came across an outlet that had me confused.

The receptacle has two hot wires (a black wire and red wire) with the hot tab broken.  The receptacle has one neutral wire with the neutral tab broken.

What has me concerned is that the neutral tab is broken and there's only one neutral wire.  What scenario would call for that wiring configuration?

Let me guess, the room with that outlet, most likely a bedroom, doesn't have a ceiling light fixture. That or a ceiling light was added later on. And one of those outlets never worked.

The setup you described is typical of bedrooms in many homes where the primary light source is a plug in lamp. Since the lamp only needs one outlet, the other outlet can be left hot at all times instead of switched. So the electrician runs a three conductor cable from the light switch: white is neutral, black is constant hot, and red is the switched lamp socket. This way you can plug in an alarm clock or phone charger and not have it controlled by the switch.

My guess is the electrician was inexperienced and broke off both tabs without realizing they only needed to break off the hot tab. Probably a new guy tasked with doing the grunt work of wiring the receptacles and fixtures. No one ever bothered to check both sockets and the rest is history.


Corner Bathtub with Faucet Holes? I need to replace a corner acrylic bathtub from 2005.  My plumber doesn't know anything about what we have installed here; I bougth this house and don't know the model number of any the bath parts.
It's a Kohler tub, and Kohler is going to try to identify what part number it is (in 5 business days...).
Currently with Kohler I don't see any corner tubs with the faucet holes drilled out like this.  No one at Kohler knows anything what this is.
Do you actually just drill out the acrylic tubs like these for the faucet and mixer?
The frame that the tub is in has front panels, that can be pulled apart to access the mixing valves.
Any one with some experience who knows what this tub?

I have put those in and depending on the model they do not have the holes. I have installed them reversed  to what you have (almost) you could reach the 3 handled for the faucet mounted on the wall, I am sure the same tub. I also have installed other tubs with the taps in the wall and 1 like yours where I had to use a hole saw to drill the 3 holes not hard but I recommend sharp or new hole saws and water on the cut like a spray bottle to keep it cool the faucet pieces are larger than the holes but 800$ tub is easy to mess up trying to use a dull 25$ hole saw.


Why does my LED light take several minutes to come on? My led ceiling light does not come on straight away after switch on. It can take anything from 5 to 20 mins to illuminate. It does come on eventually. I have two separate switches to turn on this one light in different locations in my lounge ( thought I’d mention this in case it’s relevant).
Thank you for any advice

The driver circuitry May have been damaged or had cold solder joints that are failing.
The led dimmed or not should be almost immediate.
I have had drivers that had cold solder joints on very high end fixtures that caused the fixture to take longer to light to start with and a while later it would not light at all as these fixtures were almost 500 ea I figured out the problem and it a bad solder joint (I don’t have to mention where the fixtures were made but it was not the US)
If you still have a warranty I would recommend trying that route because if any LED won’t light in under a second something is wrong.
I would also recommend getting DLC approved lamps or fixtures DLC is design Light Consortium and they usually have a 5 year warranty (some 3 year) .
All the ones I have seen also have UL listing (I have to have this for industrial or another nationally recognized 3rd party facility).
Since the lights are taking more than a second there is a problem it could be a loose wire can be a possibility. My experience has been bad drivers on almost 100% of my failures.


How to prevent two doors from opening into each other? I have pantry cabinet door that abuts the door to a half-bath. They meet at a 90° angle and are hinged at the same side:

Right now, I have a hinge pin doorstop on the half bath door.  Temporarily I have it taped to the half bath door so it rotates along with the door.  If the half bath door opens fully, then the hinge pin doorstop contacts the wall between the hinges of the two doors.  If the pantry door opens when the half bath door is closed, the hinge pin doorstop catches the pantry door before the two doors hit.

Part of the reason why I needed to tape the hinge pin doorstop to the half bath door was because its pads are at 90° to each other.  If there existed a hinge pin doorstop with the pads at 180° from each other (so it looks like a "T", with the base of the T attaching to the hinge and a pad at either end of the top of the T), I think that would solve my problem.

Does such a doorstop exist?  Is there a better way?

Edit:

Here is a picture of the doors:

Here is a closeup when the bathroom door is open, with the hinge pin doorstop hitting the wall:

And a closeup when the pantry door is opened:

With this current setup, the pantry door can open at most about 45°, which is sufficient, and the bathroom door can open to a full 90°.  Under no circumstances can the two doors touch.

Based on your excellent diagram, I think these may be your ticket.  They are designed for your very problem.

Disclaimer: I've never bought anything from the site in the link and I'm not endorsing them.

The Stoppa


How do I get my small portable generator started? My portable generator has been sitting for quite awhile.  I drained out the old gas and refilled.  Squirted carburetor cleaner.  Spray starting fluid it starts as long as starting fluid is squirted.  I am pretty sure the carburetor is gummed up.  How do I clear the line inside the carburetor.

Step one would be to drop float bowl and clean float pin and bowl.  The amount of gummy residue there will direct how much more disassembly/cleaning is needed.

The needle valves may also be gummed up.  If you remove them, count revolutions very carefully, for replacement.


Cheap digital thermostat turns off furnace when cold? I woke up this morning and my thermostat which looks like a pocket calculator was just turned along with my furnace.  I pressed both buttons and it turned back on, but my house was freezing cold.   When it turned back on all of the segments on the display lit up first, and after that it worked as expected.

When I lived in places before I always had analog thermostats and never had them flake out like this one; the time wasn’t even set when it came back of because apparently it doesn’t keep the time; maybe the power went out and caused this, but I’m ultimately I don’t have any evidence of this.

Has anyone had experience with a thermostat like this, do I just need to buy a new one?

Update

Here is the back of it:

Here is inside the wall plate where two wires come in:

Anyway, I guess it turns on and off when bumped because the batteries aren’t held in place terribly well.

Also, to your point there isn’t much connecting it to the furnace, just two wires from plugged into a MOFSET that the thermostat plugs into via pins.

99% sure this will be a thermostat that needs batteries. A fairly common approach to getting "smart" features without changing from old two-wire (heat only) mechanical thermostat wiring. I've lived with several variants - the batteries and method to get to the batteries can be less than obvious, depending on the design. If new batteries don't solve it, then it probably is new thermostat time (had that happen with one of them after 20 odd years of trouble-free service...)

Generally plan on replacing them once a year rather than waiting for them to leave the house cold. As a new homeowner, if you have not had your heating system professionally serviced annually, you might schedule a service call (for the heating system maintenance, not just for getting into the thermostat) and have the service person show you how to get to the batteries, as they will probably have a good idea how to get to them without breaking the thermostat (not uncommon to have to pull it off the wall to get to the batteries, but HOW you pull it off the wall without breaking it is not always evident.)

Otherwise, figure out what brand and model thermostat you have and look up the manual on the internet.


GFCI outlet trips from any heating element I have two GFCI outlets in my kitchen one each side of the sink.  Each outlet then has three outlets after it which when the GFCI trips interrupt their connection as well. I feel this is pretty normal but I did not wire it. No work has been done in this room in quite awhile like years. Just this past week my vacuum sealer started tripping the GFCI when it’s pluged into any outlet down stream. It trips when the heating element turns on. Then last night my instapot tripped it. The instapot has read off that outlet for the two years we have had it. In that same series of outlets we have our toaster oven plugged in and it has never tripped it. I am baffled at what the issue could be. Is it possible that the gfci has an issue and needs replaced or do I have some kind of bigger issue and how do I test to see what my issue is.

If your vacuum sealer is like mine a plastic case with a 2 prong cord there is not a way for a ground fault , I would say that since you have 2 devices causing tripping and this has worked in the past. the GFCI is failing. I started using weather resistant GFCI outlets in bathrooms quite a few years ago because bathrooms can have very high humidity levels and the outlets being in walls can sometimes condense moisture similar to being outside. I don't normally use WR GFCI'S in kitchens because they are normally larger rooms and not exposed to such high levels of moisture. I would swap out the GFCI. The new ones have more sensitive electronics and constantly self test where older ones I have found failed (test won't trip on outlet or plug in tester) or trip for no good reason like a double insulated device with a 2 prong cord, so this should solve your problem.


Detect Home wiring breakage I am having a problem with my home concealed wiring . In two rooms i am having delay of 3-4 seconds to get power once the switch is on ( whether it is light, fan or power plug ) . Both these rooms are charged from a line that starts from main switch board  ( where distribution happens ) and comes to a junction board from where it is split to two rooms . I got my computer's motherboard (connected to power plug in one of the rooms )  faulty and the repairmen told it was due to power problem .

Is this problem due to breakage of connection wire ? If it is what is the best way to detect the breakage .

A single strand copper wire used to connect between switches ( the positive terminals ) which broke and was causing the breakage . Replaced that with a stranded wire and problem solved . –


Chalkboard shower surround? I have enough slate chalkboard from an old school to make a shower surround.  Support is not a problem, heavily reinforced concrete floors, cast iron tub with tile lip.  Need advice on adhesive and what to grout to use.  The pieces are 3 x 5 so will have seams.

Slate is very porous, so however you install it, note that you're going to have to seal it well before it will be practical as a shower surround. As for grout, I'd use standard grout for shower tiles (as that's essentially what you are installing). Standard thinset should work for installing it on the wall.


Shower tub leaking - is this the washer I replace? I have a slow drip out of the tub faucet even when the cold water is off. I have disassembled the cold water handle and attached is a picture of the stem. I think that the washer in the middle is the culprit. Can anyone verify if this is the likely cause? Recommendations for proper way to fix?

"Can anyone verify if this is the likely cause?"

I can't verify but I can tell you that you are on the right track. The flattish washer in the middle is called a bibb washer and (as @Tyson's comment relates) pushes up against a hole in the faucet through which water flows.

The "hole" is not just a simple hole, it is actually a (normally) removable faucet seat which is also replaceable/repairable, but likely requires a special tool to remove.

The rubber bibb washers get a rough groove worn into them, break apart, or become soft over time, compromising their ability to hold back the water flowing through the hole in the seat.

The pic below is probably nothing like your faucet, but it does illustrate how a "bibb" style valve functions (in the pic they call the bibb washer a stem washer- lame):


Moving awning support column I'm wondering if it would be possible to move this support column 1 meter to the left, so that it lines up with the start of the sliding doors instead of being in the middle of it. Would I need to add extra bracing/support?

That design was very poorly thought out, but you undoubtedly know that already...

The structural members going along your house will have a maximum "span" width that they can support. Moving it to one side will decrease the span on the side that you move it to, but INCREASE 9it on the opposite side, and you will have no idea if that will be too much or not. If I had to guess though, it probably is, otherwise they would have made it wider to begin with.

So what I would do is to decrease the span on BOTH sides by adding ANOTHER support post, one on either side of the sliding doors. That way you have not increased the span anywhere and there is no doubt as to whether or not it is safe.


Can I use lag screws, lag bolts to hang swing vertically from a wood beam? I need to hang a swing (picture attached) from a large wood beam in my living room.  The beam is 1 foot high and 1/2 foot wide. (quite strong).

I am planning to use 2 metal faceplates . Each faceplate has a hook welded to it and has 3 holes.  The holes are 1/2 inch in diameter.

The swing seating area is a flat plank.

Need to support up to 1000 lbs total.

Q: Can I drill a lag screw / nut vertically to hang the swing ?  (picture)
Q: If so, what are the recommended lag screw dimensions:
   1/2 inch diameter x 6 inches long or
   1/2 inch diameter x 4 inches long ?

Q: alternatively, can I use a 1.2 inch diameter - sleeve anchor ?
   or is this only for concrete?

Photos attached:

thank you

No, I would not trust those welds to hold for long under the loading effects due to swinging.

I would get bolts / hooks (3/8" dia min) that bolt through the plate which I would also have as 3/8" thick.

Edit, how about these:

Link to source https://www.easternjunglegym.com/heavy-duty-ductile-swing-hanger


converting two lights from two switches to two lights from one switch I have a double gang box with two switches that run different lights, from the same incoming cable (power through the switch first).  Therefore, I have one "incoming cable" and two "outgoing cables", one running to each light fixture.  I would like to make it so both lights operate off one switch, doing away with the other switch.  I want to make sure it is OK to run a pigtail hot wire off the switch and connect to the two hots of the cables running to the lights, while connecting all three neutrals together.  Is this the correct way to wire this situation?  Thanks for any advice/assistance.

Yes, that is acceptable. Don't forget the grounds, too.


Breaker lets more Amps then its max The last few day's I had the main breaker triped a few times, I checked the amps with a multimeter and when the central air conditioner turns on it draws 150! amps for 1 second and then goes down to 20, its breaker is a double 50A breaker and the main is 125A. So is this the cause or its normal that when turning on it should go up so high and maybe the breaker is designed so?

If a breaker is tripping regularly, that's a serious problem you should look at.   That is not normal or acceptable.  It means something is wrong with your overcurrent protection, or a defective device actually drawing too much current.

It is normal for circuit breakers to allow overcurrent for a short amount of time.  This is needed by motors to start, incandescent bulbs to light, and many electronic power supplies to initially start up.  The term is called "inrush current".

Ultimately the purpose of breakers is to protect wiring and receptacles.  Overcurrent makes them excessively warm, but small overcurrent makes them warm slowly.  The breaker is designed to trip before this heat would endanger the wires.

Many breakers also have an instantaneous trip, where they will trip immediately for very high current (i.e. a dead short).  This is many times the nameplate rating of the breaker.

There is a chart for your breaker of how much overcurrent it will permit for how long.   Here is one example, there should be a vaguely similar chart for your breaker.   I'd get and see if it explains your breaker's tripping behavior.  If it doesn't, then either your measuring method is not precise enough, or you have a bad breaker.  I would be surprised at a breaker instantaneously tripping at 125% of rating.


Lack of soffit vents with the use of ridge vents on a 1941 home [Home is in Georgia]
I made the mistake of installing ridge vents on my home last year without any soffit vents. I have since learned that doing so will actually cause the air to be drawn from all accessible places, including a leaky 1941 ceiling.
I realize what I should have done was to install drip edge venting but am unable to do so retroactively (I think). Since I have learned of this mistake, I have air sealed the ceiling. The attic currently has 4 gable vents located on all 4 walls of the house but they are located at the peaks which to my understanding, limits the air flow across the bottom of the decking and thus preventing proper cooling.
My question is this; I have an enclosed porch which has a ceiling that is a part of the attic. It has no insulation over it and I was wondering about the benefits of installing a large vent in the ceiling to allow for more air flow to the ridge vents. I realize that this will still not provide the same benefits as soffit vents and baffles in cooling but I figured it may reduce the amount of air being drawn from inside the house and also allow for less heat buildup in the attic.
Your insights are greatly appreciated.

Adding a vent to the ceiling of your porch would only be beneficial if you open up any exterior windows and doors leading into the porch. Then you'd have air flow from outside through the porch and up into the attic. The only time it would be useful would be in the summer when you'd be replacing 130 degree air with 85 degree air. so yes, it would benefit in the summer. If you opened the doors leading to the porch from your living space in the summer, you'd be sucking AC air from the living space to the porch into the attic.... not too efficient.


Air handler condensation draining problem For the life of me, I cannot figure this out.  My air handler and heat pump were installed in 2006 and work great.  For the first summer since I've owned the home, condensation started to not drain properly and is leaking onto the filter and onto the basement floor.  The inside of this handler is spotless, including the drain pan.  I took apart the PVC pipe and cleaned it out well, although I don't think it needed it.  I still have major dripping!

It does not look to me like it should be overflowing.  It pours out of the hole circled below and then onto the floor and back into the unit and onto the filter.  If it is coming out of this hole, why is it not going down the correct outlet to the pipe?!

The only change point I can think of is that I purchased a box of filters on the web that had a pretty high MERV rating of 12.  The fan seems to push air through it pretty easily, but I am wondering if this is somehow producing a vacuum that is not letting the water drain correctly.  I removed the plugs pointed out below by the arrows to try and relieve this vacuum, but it did not work.  Any thought or advice?

Last night, I cracked open a cold one and just watched in the basement.  I can here the water build up in the pan as it makes this gurgling sound like some force is preventing it from draining, but it is on the verge of overflowing.  Once the blower stops, all the water drains quickly.  Some down the pipe, some out of the that hole.  If the water is building up, I simply don't understand why it won't drain down the pipe.

The water also drained when I removed the filter and left the cover off while the blower was running.

What you’re describing sounds like a combination of negative pressure in the compartment that the drain pan connected to and an incorrectly sized p-trap on the condensate drain.

The depth of the t-prap has to be greater than the negative pressure in inches of water column of the compartment where the drain is connected to. A t-prap with insufficient depth, will prevent the condensate from overcoming the negative pressure which prevents draining until the fan stops.

Further information on sizing of p-traps for condensate can be found in this pdf article: Condensate Traps by Ronald F. Brusha.


Old GE Panel, OK to Keep? This in an old (1955) GE panel that was formerly the only panel for a house with 3 phase 100A four wire service (yes, three phase).  I had the service updated to 200A standard three wire and new main panel.  This is now a sub panel with no separate ground.  I had the breakers replaced because one of the old breakers was found to not trip on a short.  Much of the circuits have now been replaced by new home runs to the new panel.  The last circuit to go will be the water heater when the new plumbing is done.  OK to keep this as a sub with existing SquareD breakers? Pix of panel

This panel might be OK as a subpanel, but it will be rather limited by breaker compatibility issues...
What you have here is a rather...ancient GE panel; in fact, it is ancient enough that it dates back to before the modern "double stuff" breaker type in the GE Q-line (the THQP).  Instead, it calls out the thoroughly obsolete and unobtainable type TR breaker as its "double stuff" breaker type, which means that you are restricted to full-width single-pole breakers.  Furthermore, it is old enough that it dates back to well before current generations of the THQL breaker design (we can tell because it calls out type TQL breakers for the single pole, with type TR tandem breakers), so you may run into issues installing new-production THQL (issue RTxxx or newer) breakers; the only way to tell I know of is to try it and see if the breakers seat down fully on the stab.
This issue is better documented in this DIYChatroom post, with the pertinent parts quoted below for posterity:

GE changed the way they set the breaker's seating height. In my panel, you push the breaker down until the top of the molded slot rests on the stab. TQL breakers, THQL Issue UOxxx (probably MJxxx, NExxx and others too), and also Siemens QP and Eaton BR, can work this way, because they all have the same slot profile.
Recent panels have a ridge of insulating material next to the stab; the bottom of the breaker's case rests on the ridge. The stab is not as tall. It doesn't penetrate the breaker as deep. All the above breakers (except TQL which somehow doesn't quite fit) can be mounted. Also Issue RT-xxx of THQL, which doesn't fit the old bus because it can't accommodate the tall stab. Issue RT-xxx is all you will find in retail stock.

Note that even if current issue THQL breakers do not fit in your panel, you should still be able to use UL classified Eaton type CL breakers in it; however, this limits you to 50A branch circuits overall, and also means you can't get dual-function breakers, two-pole arc or ground fault breakers, or other sorts of exotica for that matter.  These limitations may or may not matter specifically to you, but would weigh against retaining this panel if I were in your shoes, especially considering that it will become surplus to need in any case.
But you do need to evict the aliens if you wish to keep it, though!
If you wish to keep this old soldier of a panel in service, you will need to evict all the alien breakers, though; while Eaton BR and Square D Homeline breakers appear to fit, they are not the correct breaker types for this panel and using them can lead to trouble with the breaker-to-busbar contact system down the road.  As I said before, while new THQL breakers may not fit, used or "new old stock" THQL breakers should still work, and so should Eaton CL breakers that are UL classified for GE panels.
As to how it was used in three phase service (or not used, as it turns out)
As folks may have noticed, the OP's loadcenter is nominally a single-phase, three-wire panelboard, yet it was used in a three-phase, four-wire application.  How? The key in most situations, albeit not the OP's, lies in the rightmost of the panel's three wiring diagrams, where it depicts what is known as a delta breaker being applied in this panel.  These oddball breakers are three-pole breakers, but with two jaws and a pigtail for the line-side connection instead of having three jaws, like a normal three pole breaker.  (The closest thing in appearance to a delta breaker in today's usage is a two-pole switching neutral breaker, but those are different internally as there is no overcurrent trip in the neutral pole.)
In this setup, the two line side jaws connected to the panel busbars, which provided the A and C phases in a 120/240V, 3-phase, 4-wire, high leg delta service, while the pigtail was hooked up to the incoming B phase (high leg), allowing a three-phase load to be powered alongside normal single-phase loads, such as when a three-phase air conditioning compressor or a small amount of three-phase machinery was to be powered from the same service that supplied normal single-phase lighting and power loads.
However, delta breakers had several usage limitations, one of the main ones being that they cannot be correctly used if a two-pole main breaker or main switch is upstream of them.  In particular, what would happen if you tried to use a delta breaker downstream of a two-pole main device is that the busses would stay live with the main shutoff and the delta breaker left on, as the B phase (power/high/wild leg) would backfeed the remaining phases (legs) of the service via the three-phase load.
Fortunately, the fact you had a separate main disconnect in the form of a fused switch kept this from being an issue; in fact, it does not appear that your panel ever had any delta breakers in it.  Instead, the three-phase feeder to the AC disconnect was (likely improperly) tapped at the main safety switch, bypassing this panel entirely and allowing it to serve as a single-phase panel fed by the two lighting legs (A and C phases) of your high-leg delta service.
While it was possible to safely use them in main-lug subpanels fed from three-phase main panels or main shutoffs (such as if the B phase was fed to your panel first instead of bypassing it on its way to the air conditioner), in "rule of six" split-bus main panels, or in a backfed main breaker configuration using a delta breaker as the main breaker and spliced pigtails to distribute the B phase, the misapplication issues encountered in main breaker applications, along with the deprecation of the "rule of six" as applied to split-bus loadcenters, mean that delta breakers are no longer permitted to be used in panelboards atop being long-discontinued items.
Nowadays, the notion of the high leg delta itself is almost obsolete; three-phase combination lighting and power services are run at 208Y/120V, using designed-for-purpose three-phase, four-wire distribution equipment, despite the losses it entails when running resistive loads, as 208Y/120V can be subdivided (for say a multi-unit building, or multiple buildings on a single transformer bank) in a balanced fashion even when individual buildings are being fed with split phase service (120/208V 2 phase 3 wire service is commonly provided in dense areas or for individual tenant spaces/units in high-rises and other dense buildings), vs the intentional imbalance of a high leg delta configuration, and also does not introduce the equipment-damage risks that are present in a high-leg delta service due to the fact the "high leg" runs at 208V phase to ground and thus will damage 120V devices if it is accidentally used to power a single-phase circuit.


Understanding GFCI protection According to the diagram below the two (non-GFCI) downstream receptacles are said to be GFCI protected.  Does this mean that if someone were to accidentally create a ground fault at either of the two rightmost receptacles the GFCI receptacle in the middle would trip and cut off power to all receptacles downstream from it?

GFCI diagram http://www.jimspect.com/livesite/wp-content/uploads/Receptacle-Type-GFCI-Protection.png

Is there anything wrong with replacing the two rightmost receptacles with GFCI receptacles?

Finally, if you did perform this replacement and if you pressed the TEST button on the rightmost GFCI receptacle, would the two GFCI receptacles upstream also trip?

Yes, anything connected to the LOAD terminals of a GFCI device is GFCI protected. So a ground-fault anywhere on the circuit "after" the GFCI device, would cause the device to trip. This will cause the receptacles on the GFCI device, and all the devices attached to the LOAD terminal to lose power.

Connecting GFCI devices on the LOAD side of a GFCI device, should cause no problems other than wasting money.

If you wired three GFCI devices in line as you suggested, and then pressed the test button on the last GFCI in line. The previous GFCI devices should not trip.

Internally, a GFCI looks similar to this.

So when it's set and the test button is pressed, it looks like this.

When the test button is pressed, current flows through the test button, through a resistor, around the current transformer (CT), and back to the grounded (neutral) terminal.  I've highlighted the current path in yellow.

So as you can see, you'll have 6 mA on the ungrounded (hot) terminal, and also 6 mA on the grounded (neutral) terminal. This GFCI device tripped, because the return path of the test circuit bypassed the CT. The current will not bypass the CT in the other GFCI devices, so they should not detect the test ground-fault.

This blog post might help you understand how GFCI devices work.


Can you paint a ceiling that has acoustical texture?? My guess is that a paint sprayer might be easiest, but are the other ways that won't remove the texture?

You can use a really thick-napped (1" nap) roller, but make sure to go very slow, or you will fling paint everywhere.


My faucet valve cartridge is stuck. Need help! I have Symons Callie SLW-7112-RP faucet and recently there is a water leakage on both hot and cold water. It is clear that the valve cartridges need to be replaced. I followed the instruction and replaced the cold water valve cartridge. But at the hot water side the cartridge seems stuck and can't be removed easily. I attached few images to show the situation.

above is the cartridge without the handle ad cap

above is the instruction guide shows that the cartridge is screwed into the control valve and this is the stuck point, I can't remove it out from the control valve. I have used WD 40 and no help

above just shows that the instruction says how easy to remove the cartridge from the control valve base. I think I need some tool to hold the base. Currently when I turn the cartridge, the whole parts is truing.

Any suggestion or recommendation on tooling is appreciated.
J

As already suggested you're going to need a good penetrating oil with several applications over time.
As you've discovered the problem is going to be holding the valve in place while you try to get enough torque to loosen the cartridge. Typically most valves will have flat surfaces built into the valve body to enable you to stabilise the valve with a wrench while loosening the cartridge. In the pictures you provided I don't see an obvious place to hold the valve with a wrench. It appears that both the top and underneath mounting nuts rotate.
I believe your best recourse is to tighten the faucet onto the counter as firmly as possible using wrenches above and below the counter - which may require two people. You can then put one wrench on the mounting retainer above the counter applying clockwise pressure while you turn the cartridge with another wrench in a counter-clockwise direction.


Is it possible to get a accurate assessment of a roof without ripping it off? I just bought a house, and knew it needed a new roof because of its age. I had a roofing company come out and inspect it. The inspector spent a couple of hours standing on the roof and going through my attic.  He showed me pictures of the inside attic meticulously showing me pictures of small nail punctures and such and explaining to my wife and what this meant etc. He eventually gave us a price of the job guaranteeing that this would absolutely not change. We were concerned about any surprises after the roof comes off. Long story short day of the job the foreman calls and says the plywood is 3/8" and is too thin we need to replace all the decking. And not only that it had  large baseball sized holes in places. Our price went up 10k and we felt mislead. They kept pushing back telling us no one has x-ray vision so it was impossible to understand these conditions. We of course felt mislead.

Question is, could they have been able to detect the thickness of the decking beforehand?  And those craters in the plywood, could he have seen it in the attic?

He eventually gave us a price of the job guaranteeing that this would absolutely not change.

Ok, so I assume this is in writing, correct?  If so, it's his problem, not yours.  Of course there may be the "fine print" that covers such things and makes the roofer's "guarantee" worthless.

It's hard to say beyond that without seeing the actual contract you signed.

But yes, a roofer should have been able to determine the condition and thickness of the decking before giving you the quote.


Roof stone tiles. How to fasten them? I am watching a TV program where they are restoring a ruin into a cottage. One thing that left me aghast is the fact that the roof was made with flat, very heavy stone tiles. Ater they rebuild the roof frame with wood, they put the tiles back on the wood by drilling the tiles and using a long nail down through the wood. It's just a matter of time that the nice british weather promotes rust on the nails and a 50 kg tile slides down to kill the poor chap walking by.

I have no knowledge of roof restoration, even less with such unusual tiling, but what is the proper procedure to fasten them without breeding disaster ?

You can buy special metal brackets for roof tiles:

Most of the roofs I have seen have used nails, and only in certain places, relying for the most part on the friction and weight of the roof tiles to hold them in place.  Whether brackets are required depends on wind speed, wind direction, subroof type, roof angle, roof shape, height, and other factors.

Regardless of whether you use brackets, nails, or screws, they must be stainless, galvanized, or otherwise protected from corrosion.  Nails must have ring-threaded shanks.

(Source: manufacturer's instructions for various roof tiles sold in Norway.  Check your local building codes and the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your roof tiles.)


Building a roof over terrace I have started some work with a contractor to replace a roof on a terrace.
They have removed the existing roof, and have left apparent some metallic bars placed on top of pillars. It feels sturdy in the sense that a 70 kg man can pull himself by the arms grabbing the metal bar, and it does not break (it bends ever so slightly).
For various reasons, I have started to lose confidence in the contractor. I worry about his competence. I am not sure I should cut the project now (which would be painful financially and would create conflict).
So I feel I need to educate myself on how to make a tile roof, to make sure I can watch what he does.
Three questions in total, but I am grateful for any advice, any partial answer:

How can I make sure that the metallic bars will indeed support the weight of the tiles, plus the weight of the drywall he will put below?

What minimum slope do the metal bars need to have?

What other advice do you have for me, to watch out for in that situation?

Photo of the tiles he bought is below.

Your roof system is not appropriate for several reasons: 1) required slope, 2) structurally inadequate

The IRC Building Code requires a minimum slope of 2.5:12 for tile roofs. Your roof appears to be about 1:12. The tiles will need to be installed in what is called a “low slope application”, which includes plywood with a double layer of underlayment, which adds to the weight.

The loading your roof must support is tiles = 6 to 10 lbs. per square foot (psf) depending on the tile + 2 layers underlayment = 1 psf + plywood = 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 psf depending on the thickness + joists = 1 1/2 to 2 psf + drywall on ceiling = 2 1/2 psf for a total dead load of 11 1/2 psf to 15 psf PLUS a live load of 20 psf to 30 psf for a total load of 31 1/2 psf to 45 psf. That is extremely high for a roof.

The current structure could only support a total load of about 5 psf based on my experience. (I don’t have calculations to prove my statement.)
In addition, the structure must support a wind load and an uplift force, which depending where you are , that structure is not adequate.
Get a Building Permit and the inspector will reject it for you.


How should I remedy bowed floor joists? My house is 24'x24', (2 story), kitchen (main floor) has approx. 5 "bowed-up" floor joists in a row in the middle. I want to change all cabinetry, so while removed, how to "safely" remedy this bowed floor? I have access to the 2"x8" floor joists from unfinished basement. Built in late '78, main beam is wood. Would also like to know what causes this. Can I "sandwich" the bowed floor joists between 2 others (adhesive and bolts), then "shave" the top of the bowed joists in the middle? Seeking advice...

You'll end up getting different answers from different people.  Some folks actually will tell you to notch the bottom of the joist to let it sag back down before sistering the joist.  But IMHO, it would be best to know the cause and effect before making any permanent structural changes like this.

I had a similar problem (high joists in poorly constructed house, not bowed) and ended up just raising the other joists to be level with the high ones.  No structural changes, just shims on top of low joists.  Resulting subfloor was dead flat when all was said and done.  If your joists are truly bowed up in the middle, it will be more work since you won't be able to use uniform thickness shims.  Shims on the outside will have to be thicker than in the middle....


Where to find drawer box components? My kitchen cabinets need an overhaul. The cabinets, doors, and drawer fronts are in decent enough shape that I can clean, sand, and stain or paint. The drawer boxes themselves however are not appealing looking and are made out of melamine. I've researched a bit on how to make drawer boxes and it seems straightforward, but it appears you need a table saw or routing table or some other piece of expensive stationary machinery. I only have circular and reciprocating saws. I'm wondering if it's possible to purchase drawer components made to a specified height which could then be cut to length.

Can mill work shops prepare such components? How can a DIYer with basic power tools find prefabricated components with which to construct drawer boxes?

Interesting question Ryan. Over the years I have bought a lot of doors and drawer fronts, but never a drawer box as a component. I suspect if you have 6 piece drawers, you might be able to get the boxes directly from the cabinet manufacturer.  I have never seen just the box components, (sides, backs, bottoms etc) listed anywhere for sale.  You could check with local millwork shops, I'm sure they would be happy to build boxes for you.

The boxes can be made in many ways. Cheaper ones are square cut or simple dido with glue and staples made from particle board etc., while high end drawers are made from hardwood boards, dovetail joints and solid wood bottoms.  The price can vary wildly.

If you wanted to build your own, it certainly can be done with a few tools.  At minimum, you would need a 10 inch table saw with a decent fine tooth blade (60 to 80 tooth), and perhaps a dido blade. You can make decent simple dido'ed corners and cut a slot for the bottom to slide into. A power stapler and good wood glue would be handy also.

As far as table saws are concerned, I own four of them, one of which is my light weight portable 10 inch with folding stand. I paid less than $200 for it and it has held up extremely well on the job and has no problem ripping up to 2" framing lumber. Mine happens to be an Hitachi, but there are other inexpensive ones to chose from.

Building simple drawer boxes would be a great project for you to learn some basic woodworking skills, get to buy a new cool tool, and have the satisfaction of have done them by yourself. With a little practice on some scrap stock, you will confident enough to build those boxes with decent materials and save yourself a ton of money.  Good Luck.


Can a smoke detector circuit be GFCI and CAFCI protected? I purchased a dual GFCI/CAFCI circuit breaker to place on my circuit that contains only smoke, CO, and heat detectors inside my house. Is there anything wrong with this or can I install it to have both types of protection?

A smoke alarm can be AFCI and or GFCI protected so the answer is yes. Code  exempts fire alarm systems installed to code NEC 210.12.A.6. from AFIC requirements. My state also exempts Fire alarms from GFCI requirements.
  The risk to the system tripping out is greater than the chance of a fire or shock from the system. I totally agree with @Harpers comment.


fast fill faucets and fast drain for 70 gallon walk-in tub Is there a size requirement for a fast-fill faucet? 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch supply pipe?

Will it work with a 1/2 inch line?

Also, what size drain for a fast empty of said tub of 70 gallons?

It's likely you can only reasonably change the draining. If you have 1/2" from the street then you're stuck with that. 1/2" can work great though your utility's pressure or what they push & what you pull will be the limiting factor, so you're stuck there too.

However, you have a minimum of a 3" drain line for the toilet & the tub can possibly be taken up to that for very much improved draining. I say possibly because the tub may only accommodate a 2" maximum drain or you have building structural members that can't afford 3" losses or a 3" pipe configuration can't actually fit under the floor...it's not just a right turn into a straight pipe.


How can I build a screen door? I have a guesthouse with an unusual door, 32" x 76", and it needs a screen door.

Home Depot has tons of cheap-o screen doors that could be cut down to maybe 32" x 78" safely, but an additional two inches will probably cost my screen door structural integrity.

I've thought about building a screen door, but -- well, I lack some of the tools I think I'd need, namely: a planer, a joiner, and mortise and tenon jigs. I have a table saw, but it's disassembled and I have no where to actually run it. I do have a circular saw, a router, a jigsaw, a miter saw (chop saw), and a hand drill (all electric).

I could order a custom screen door for $250-300, but I can't believe there isn't a less expensive solution out there. I spent $300 for the door itself -- and can't believe I should have to spend another $300 just for a screen door.

Most of the plans I've found on the net require tools I don't have, and are overly complicated for my guesthouse's needs.

Here are a couple of possibilities, and I'd really love your feedback:

Could I accomplish what I want with just some pegs and maybe a couple of L-brackets? Or will that be too weak with the constant slamming of the door?
Is there a simple way to construct a mortise and tenon jig that would enable me to use only my router and maybe a drill for this project?
Am I missing some other obvious option?

Where are you when I need you, MacGyver? ("macgyver" should really be a tag here on diy.)

Personally, I'd get the table saw a portable folding stand, you can do basically everything you need with the tablesaw and can build any of the jigs you need.

You could also do most of the work with your circ saw and router but getting the wood to the correct dimensions is going to be easier with a table saw since you don't have a planer or jointer.

Instead of mortise and tenon, look at doing half laps for the corner joints and for a support brace or two across the middle. You can probably get some nice looking metal braces to strengthen up the corners as well.  You should be able to do half laps using your circ saw or router. You can also profile all the edges with the router to making look nice.


Where can you find out how repetitive the patterns of a particular laminate floor are? We are interested in installing laminate floors from the Quick-Step brand.  Of course, for a laminate floor to feel "natural", there needs to be enough "variation" between sheets/planks so that the eye does not detect patterns that break the illusion.

There is a particular model we are interested in (UE1491), and would like to know how many variations it contains so we can consider how "repetitive" it will be once installed.

How/where can we find that out online (other than contacting the manufacturer and waiting to hear back which takes ages)?  It doesn't seem to be published anywhere on any of the Quick-step sites.

Have a look at this image gallery, but keep in mind that photo searches often introduce random unrelated images (like the bicycle team and warrior princess).

The most telling image—to me—is this one from here:

The break in grain and the prominent joint is something I notice right off, but it is also something completely normal in natural wood flooring.

My experience is that the monotony of a pattern can be hidden during installation by taking care to arrange the units in an order which does not repeat closely.  If you won't be doing the installation yourself, perhaps you are up to laying out like half the units in a desirable arrangement for the installer to use as is.  (They will appreciate not having to carry and open the packages.)


Can I use another brand of LED driver with IKEA lighting? I'm planning on getting IKEA OMLOPP lighting. However, since I would need multiple Ansluta transformers and they are quite expensive, I was wondering if its possible to use a regular LED driver instead.

The specs say it outputs 24VDC (constant voltage). Should I just get a constant-voltage 24VDC LED Driver then?

I can only answer this question as if I were a contractor. In general we order the drivers and material approved by the manufacturer. Meaning I would stay with the original equipment. If you choose not to use there approved equipment then it might cause damage to the entire system and void any warranty you may have for replacement. As a contractor I would recommend you stay with the original equipment or sign a release that we were not responsible for any damage and you understood that you would still have to pay me for the work performed.

Would you feel comfortable entering an agreement like that?

If you are wondering if the manufacturer would approve a different driver. You would have to see if they have them listed on their web site or call their Tech Line.


affordable metal tubing longer than 10ft? I am working on a project where I require several lengths of metal tubing in lengths of 12ft or so, 1.25-2" diameter.  The rub is, I need it to be affordable, perhaps no more than double the cost of 2" EMT conduit.   Any suggestions for what materials to pursue ? Thanks.

What kind of material?  Purpose?  You're leaving alot out here.

Steel yards typically carry 20' or 24' sticks of various profiles, including tubing.  Price will depend on size, etc.


Daisy chaining ungrounded LED, what do with last ground wire? I’m daisy chaining 4 LEDs that aren’t grounded and was wondering what to do with the last ground wire. For the first 3 LEDs, I connected the grounds with a wire nut (see picture). What should I do with the ground wire for the last LED where there will only have a single 14/2 wire coming in? Cap it with a wire nut?

If there are no grounds on the fixtures, just leave the ground wire unconnected and in the enclosure.  Personally, I would cap it with a small wire nut to prevent it from working its way into the connectors. The ground wire is connected at the other end, right?


Electrical across studs in basement? I have a small workshop that I need to add an outlet for. There's a light switch 2 studs away that I'll use for power.

I have no plans to drywall this area of the workshop.

Is it ok (against any kind of code) to run romex across studs (instead of boring through)?

Yes, there are codes against running nonmetallic sheathed cable (Type NM) along the edge of studs. The cable must be protected from physical damage (NEC 300.4), which it would not be on the edge of the studs.

If you don't want to bore holes, you can use schedule 80 PVC conduit (or any conduit rated to protect cable).

Even if you do bore holes. Since you're not covering the wall, the cable could still be considered "exposed".  In which case, it would need to be protected from physical damage.


Ceiling fan and lights not working after bulb pop We have a modern Hampton Bay ceiling fan and light fixture. Recently, when I turned the lights on I heard a bulb pop and the whole thing went dead, lights and all.

I believe the capacitor in the photo is the culprit. I know I can probably replace it, but is there a chance I could bypass it and wirenut the red and white wire together?  I checked the breakers, they weren't tripped.

Usually a capacitor in a single phase motor circuit is to shift the phase of the start winding so the motor will start.

Otherwise a single phase motor will just sit there and hum since it will be locked up.

Here is a diagram of a ceiling fan circuit.

If you bypass or short circuit the capacitor I believe the fan motor will no longer start.

Better to replace it if it is broke.

If you disconnect it from the circuit and test it with an ohm meter a good capacitor will show zero at first and climb to infinity. Then swap your leads and it should do the same again. If it shows open or shorted it is broke.

Good luck and stay safe!


Kerdi Board at edge of shower The shower I am building is 36x42 on the inside of the curb.  On one wall the 4ft wide kerdi will go exactly to the point where the tile will end.  On the other will can I hang the entire 4ft wide piece of kerdi board and skim coat it with mud, sand, and paint, or do I need to cut it to fit exactly to the edge of the tile?

Assuming that you have drywall next to the Kerdi board it doesn't really matter.  The backer board should reach the outside of the wet area.  After that it doesn't matter what is behind your tile - drywall/backer.  I often just run the backer to the point where I don't have to cut it or to the closest stud.  Actually running your kerdi board to the edge of the tile is what you should not do because that seam would be more prone to crack.  On most of my installs I try to hide the backer to drywall seam behind tile.


Drill a large circular depression into a wood surface I want to mount a Qi phone charger flush into my desk. So I need to put a circular hole into the desk that's about four inches across and a quarter-inch deep. What is the appropriate tool for this job?

Use a router with a pattern bit or a pattern collar and a end-cutting (plunge) bit.

Create a circular template route out the interior. You can adjust the depth very accurately and bottom of the depression should be pretty smooth.


Do I need to add roof vents if I close off a small attic space in the garage? I have a small section of roof over the front of my garage, which I would like to insulate and drywall (making my garage fully insulated).

It is 39" high, and 54" by 17', framed with 2x4 trusses, and facing almost directly north (I don't think it ever gets direct sun). I'm located in south eastern Ontario (near Toronto), and the temperature typically ranges from about -30 to +30C. The garage is not directly heated, though is attached to the house by two walls and so some heat loss from the house is going to heat it (even without being 100% insulated, today when it's 13C outside, it's noticeably warmer in the garage).

Click for full size image

There are soffit vents in this section, and since it is open to the garage below it currently gets some amount of air circulation. I was planning on insulating with R14 fiberglass batts.

Can I close it up without issue, or do I need to add vents of some sort? Presumably I need to make sure there is airflow from the soffit vents at least. Since this is the front of the house, if I do need vents, are there any options for discrete vents?

UPDATE: Spray foam installed

I decided to go with the 'hot roof' method, spraying the underside of the roof decking.

At the advice of the spray foam installer, I put some rigid foam boards blocking the soffit space. There is a continuous thermal break from the walls (batt insulation) to the ceiling (spray insulation).

After the spray foam was installed, I immediately noticed how nearly air-tight it feels, which made me a bit concerned about moisture. Since it's easy to do now (prior to drywall) I'm in the process of adding an exhaust vent that vents outside.

It has gotten as low as 0C out, and the garage was still at a comfortable 14C.

You can do a hot roof and not require any ventilation, though I would not recommend it anywhere snow accumulates on shingle roofs. Even if i don't like it, it is allowable.

Whether you need additional ventilation depends on how much you are getting now and what is allowed by the governing building code for your area. According to the International Building Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, R806 Roof Ventilation, you need the equivalent of 1/300 of the area ventilated in free vent area. If the soffit vents do not provide this, you need to install additional ventilation or opt for the hot roof concept.

Also, the attic area needs to accessible by a min 22x30 inch opening. You must also install a class 1 or II vapor retarder on the warm side of the insulation or the ventilation requirements double.

The building code does not address moisture control within the garage space, it's only concerned with moisture in concealed spaces or general ventilation of habitable spaces. You may wish to address moisture in the garage itself with exhaust fans or operable openings. This is unrelated to attic ventillation requirements.


Low pressure in shower of tub/shower combo I have a tub shower combo where the tub and the shower have separate taps but I believe share the same water lines.

The tub part has tons of pressure but the shower has hardly any.

I've recently fixed the cold water tap on the shower, it was leaking and needed new o rings, this restored a little bit of pressure.

Would a new shower head help?  Could it just be a gravity issue?

Try replacing/cleaning the shower head extension (the bit between the shower arm and the head), as they sometimes have screens/restrictions that get gunked up.

You'll always have less water volume out of the shower head, than you do from the tub spout.  But if the flow out of the head has reduced over time, it's likely due to mineral deposits.


Why would the electrician use 8 gauge wire on a 20A circuit? (Still learning) Just noticed that our electrician had used 8-gauge wire for a 240v 20amp circuit. Why would he do this? Couldn't he have just used 12 gauge? Is there a method to the madness?

There can be many reasons for using a larger than normal wire, including but not limited to.

The person desinging the installation thinks that the breaker rating may need to be increased in the future.
The circuit is unusually long and the larger wire is needed for volt drop reasons.
Thermal insualtion or grouping concerns require the cable to be de-rated.
The electrican was in a hurry and simply didn't have any smaller cable of the appropriate type on-hand.
Someone simply made a mistake.


Salt to chlorine conversion for pool The LARGE pool is totally enclosed in six foot stone walls and bug-cage. Can harmful gases accumulate from salt to chlorine  conversion and can harmful gases linger in an enclosed area?

A salt water chlorinator does not produce chlorine gas (it uses the salt in the water to produce hypochlorous acid and sodium hypochlorite: source). Moreover, the process takes place under water in an enclosed container. You therefore shouldn't have any fear of harmful gases from that process.

Furthermore, the smell that poolgoers usually associate with "chlorine" isn't actually due to chlorine but to chloramines (byproducts of chlorine sanitising organics in the pool) which indicates a lack of free chlorine in the water. Because salt water chlorinators can produce free chlorine continually, you don't usually get the "chlorine" smell with salt water pools.


How can an outlet with only 2 wires (hot and neutral) be grounded? I live in a home that was built in the late 1930s with some old electrical wiring and some new wiring. As I was identifying which outlets and lights are controlled by which wires I discovered a brainteaser:

A garage outlet that my outlet tester identified as properly wired and grounded:

However, it only had 2 wires going into it: a red one and a white one:

Furthermore, for some reason, the box that holds the outlet is attached to another box with thicker gauge wires that are black, red and white which are not connected anywhere.

I suspect the other box with thicker (12AWG) wires used to have the outlet for a dryer, while the first outlet pictured used to power the washer (they have since been moved to another location).

But my question remains -- how can my tester (which has been pretty good at showing missing ground in other outlets) be showing this outlet as ALL GOOD in terms of ground even though it only has 2 wires going in?

P.S. Making sense of the source of these wires at the panel is not an option for me -- it's a mess.

The conduit is the grounding path

Note that the wiring in your case is run not using sheathed cables, but as individual wires inside a metallic conduit (aka the pipe-like stuff you see heading off to the left in your picture).  As a result, the conduit is a serviceable grounding path in its own right, connecting the receptacle grounds and boxes to the grounded panel enclosure without any need to run an extra ground wire through it.


Stuck drilling wood frame between floors Wiring 10 y.o. house with Ethernet.  Read this; picked a spot; drilling 1st hole through the floor:

This illustrates exactly what I'm trying to do, so only flex-bit (no spade or auger) would work:

Started with cordless drill, but soon after changed to corded one.  @ ~1.5" depth the flex-bit got stuck and the shank stripped.  I thought of filing off 3 flats to allow for tighter grip, validating that idea found this question.  Confirmed: it worked!
I clean sawdust inside the wall with vacuum (via a tube) and monitor progress with a borescope:

This looks like a subfloor OSB panel:

Notice the difference with previous photo - now I'm in solid wood:

I got ~3" down, but suddenly now the bit doesn't seem to bite anymore - just burns the wood, I don't understand why.  Tried long enough, varying pressure - but no go;  the bit comes out with charred gunk.  Cleaned it several times:

Friction creates smoke:

The bottom of the hole now looks burned:

@Harper says "Hitting something super-hard means don't drill there" answering this question.
There are no noises of any kind.  I'd expect some screeching or squealing if the bit was hitting a metal plate..
Picked spot lines up with between-the-studs cavity downstairs, which already houses TV cable (and thus has an outlet!) - I want to build up on that.  Any advice?
UPDATE 2021-Mar-25
The flex-bit is new, I'd be very surprised if it goes dull after drilling only 3 inches :o).
As suggested, I tried it on a piece of wood, looks good to me:

Will try drilling a new hole to the right of the first one - through the same drywall opening.  Would like to avoid messing with drywall:  never done that before, and even if easy it involves painting => color matching..

You could have hit a knot in the wood.
These screw tip bits might not be able to pull through without additional force, which you cannot apply with a flex bit. Try a different drill spot from the same entry point, 3 to 4in over sideways. If it were a nail or a plate you'd hit hard and possibly jam, but likely not heat-up.
I did a similar hole with a straight auger/spade: with the box low enough and a long enough bit you can hit the right angle. Remember, you can cut a hole the size of the ethernet cover (minus a margin). But maybe it's too late for that since you have one entry point and don't wish to patch the drywall.
Also, from one DIY to another I'd add: don't be afraid for patch drywall work. Start with a 4in hole saw, and keep the cut out. Lots of videos, and lots of help here.


Figuring out the correct way to connect a duct fan (europe) I found a new old duct fan in a garage sale, the seller said he bought it around 10 years ago, never used it. Anyways, it was in pristine condition inside its plastic wrap but came without a box and with a tiny instruction leaflet, the only markings I found as to what it is is just stylized "CATA" written on the leaflet.

Anyways, on the backside its got 3 electrical connector marked N, L and SL. The leaflet explains(in german) that blue wire -> N, brown wire -> L and black wire -> SL.

So that's what's confusing me. There is no black wire here and while N would probably be neutral, I have no clue as to what the L or SL are. I think the L should be the hot wire (being brown) but I can't be sure.

Anybody got any insight into this?

EDIT:

I found this diagram while looking for "CATA" duct fans, it also has the N L and SL markings and I think sticking the blue wire in N and brown into both L and SL should make it work?

Still strange though, if they wanted the hot wire in SL for a switch, why also have it also permanently connected to the L? Might have something to do with the "TIMER" potentiometer on its backside..

L = line, SL = switched line. It may be that the fan can be configured to run for a number of minutes after the light is turned off. It's probably a bathroom fan.


Missing Step & Kickout Flashing / Sinking Front Step (?) What's the least intrusive way to install flashing where my roof intersects with a wall? Do I need to tear up a bunch of shingles or can simply attach the flashing with something on top of some roof sealant in the valley? I suppose one option is to install the flashing and find a column's worth of matching shingles... how do I find out what the local codes are specific to this?

As you can see, there are old (?) water stains visible on the sheathing inside the garage, though I've never been able to detect any wetness by touch. I should really cut a hole into the drywalled ceiling and take a look around now that I think of it... Would tracing the current stains with a Sharpie be a means to detect if the stains are growing? Should I replace the sheathing as long as I'm at it?

Unfortunately the previous owners must not have noticed (or cared) that the roofers forgot the flashing. Our inspector caught the issue when we were buying the house but I'm just now getting around to doing something about it a year later.

The image of the wet spot on the siding was taken after some light rain. I'm not sure why it's just that one area.

Also, I can tell that the front step adjacent to this wall has been slowly sinking for a long time based on several factors (images included). The previous owners said they changed the grade of the step (after some water got into the crawlspace) so it would slope away from the house "as it should" but it looks pretty crappy to me. This is probably related to the missing flashing, right? Is there a good DIY fix for this?

And I'm aware of the sag in the rafter (though maybe it's just the fascia - based on that cut in it near the peak?) but I have no idea what to do about it or how to determine how big of a problem it is.
Is it as simple as taking a look around in the ceiling and I'll be able to tell?

Any tips or advice is more than appreciated!

Other Info.:

House built ~30 years ago
Roof replaced 5 years ago
Siding is hardiboard

That's a bigger disaster than you see. That Hardiboard needs to be cut at least 1" or so above the roof surface. Believe it or not, Hardiboard can't get wet. It's the engineers' dirty little secret, can't wait to dole out the big fat "I told you so's" when the lawsuits begin....

That wet spot is your sign - you need to remove all the siding from the gutter on up, install step flashing, with the kick-out at the bottom you described, then reinstall the siding. You'll sleep better at night knowing it was done right, and it won't leak anymore.

EDIT TO ADD: I don't believe your stoop is related to the leak. May be a contributing factor, but not the culprit. Stoops are poured on ground that is disturbed and excavated during construction, on backfilled soil. Repeatedly, builders and homeowners pour stoops without firmly anchoring the pad to the foundation with steel to prevent reverse sloping. In your case, the stoop needs to be broken up, properly anchored, and repoured. Sorry.


Converting a 3 way circuit from controlling outlets to controlling a fan I have two switches in the livingroom that control the outlets in the room. We never use them and in fact since we swapped out all the outlets due to age, we didn't split them so they're hot all the time regardless.

I'm in the process of converting some switches into smart switches and already ran a 2 pole wire in my office to control the light and fan separately. I'd like to do that in the livingroom as well, only difference is there will be two switches for the light instead of just one.

What I've done so far is ran a second 2 pole wire from the ceiling fan down to one of the switches. So I have a black and white wire from the light (what I want to toggle). Currently the 3 way switch has three wires, one red connected to the traveler that goes to the other switch. One black that goes to the other switch as well, and another red in the common that's going to the outlets.

The other switch has one red wire and a black wire (black is in the traveler) going to the same source. There's a black wire in the common going somewhere else. Unfortunately I'm unable to determine where exactly everything is going on the second switch.

Any good advice is great. If more information is needed, please ask and I'll do my best to find out.

Thank you in advanced for any help.

So, I got it. A little research and wire tracing, I figured I had this setup:

So I followed that diagram, wired the traveler to a hot wire so the outlets would always stay on, and everything worked. Even grounded the switches. Decent little setup now so if anyone in the future wanted to revert back, they could easily do so behind the switches.

Lessons learned: The internet doesn't answer your questions, just points out what else is wrong.

Hope that diagram helps anyone else dealing with stuff like this.


New T&P valves on water heater leaking, pressure driven from 65 to 165psi a family I know moved into a house that's three levels, garage is at ground level and has two gas water heaters, one for each flat above. Both are 48 gallons. Each has four settings: A B C and Very Hot. Both are set at A.  Both tanks have brand new T&P valves.
They continue to drip. So I tested the pressure and generally get a reading of 60 to 65 psi (when a water line is open, ~40psi) I turned up tank  #1 one click (B) and by the time it finished heating the pressure rose to 165, the valve started dripping at 155. I turn that tank back to A and turned tank #2 up one click. This time the pressure only went up to 161 (only!) And tank number one started dripping at 155 psi. and tank number two started dripping at 160. I didn't even want to try what would happen if I turned both heaters on at the same time.
So here are the questions:

Is that a normal pressure range or is there a problem with the thermostats allowing too much flux in the temperature? (I didn't have anything to check the temperature so I don't know what the high/ low in a given setting is)
Since they have a common cold line supply, they're only about 4 or 5 feet apart is it safe to use one expansion tank- getting one that is qualified to handle 100 gallons?

The tanks I've looked at seem to have a max of 150psi. Obviously won't work.

I get conflicting recommendations on how to position the expansion tank I would think that you would wanted pointing up so the water pushes up against the air. Maybe it doesn't matter? Does the length of the tube coming off the T going to the tank have any effect?

There is a pressure regulator at the shutoff valve. There is no expansion tank. I decreased the house pressure by about 15psi when I left.
So, just add expansion tank(s)? New t-stats?
thanks
Rudy
=====
A bit of history if you're bored. They had a plumber over cos there was water on the floor near the tanks. Since it was not leaking when the plumber got there he said he had no idea what it could be. Then they said the water pressure was low so he turned it up. THEN they called me, I told them it's 50% extra when I have to come in after someone else (I think this should be a standard rule). Stopped by the house, left two plastic cups with pebbles in the bottom under the discharge tubes, next morning, the floor was dry, water in cups. Changed out both TnP valves, still leaked.

Follow the manufacturer's installation instructions, and install an expansion tank. "Up" or "down" doesn't matter, only the pressure the tank is charged to matters.

When water is heated in a closed system, the pressure increases.  When you install a check valve or regulator on the water supply, the pressure increase cannot push back into the supply plumbing.


Are 2 prong outlets that are downstream of a GFCI outlet ground fault protected? If I place a GFCI as the first outlet in a series of ungrounded 2-prong outlets, and connect the wires going to the other outlets to the load terminals of the GFCI, will it "protect" the entire series of outlets if a grounding event occurs?

If it would protect it, would a GFCI breaker on an ungrounded circuit accomplish the same thing?

I may have read some misinformation that said that the GFCI measures differences between the hot/neutral and hot/ground, so I'm not sure what's true.

I found a similar question (Are non-GFCI outlets that are downstream of a GFCI outlet ground fault protected if they are fed from the GFCI outlet's load side?) but it didn't say if it would work on an ungrounded system.

Ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) work by looking for imbalances between the ungrounded (hot), and grounded (neutral) conductors.  A grounding conductor is not required for a GFCI device to detect ground-faults. Any devices connected to the Load side of the GFCI device, are GFCI protected. This blog post might help you understand how GFCI devices work.

If you take a look at the code quoted in this answer, you'll see that not only are the "No Equipment Ground", and "GFCI Protected" labels required. You should also not connect any grounding conductors to any 3-prong receptacles that are downstream. If there is no grounding conductor in the circuit, no grounding conductors should be connected anywhere in the circuit.

Also of note, is that this only applies to existing circuits that were installed before the code change.  All new circuits must meet or exceed current codes.