Moisture leaking out of chip in floor tile I dropped something heavy and mildly pointed onto the bathroom floor.

The Bathroom is tiled with ~30cm square black "slate like" tiles, but where I dropped this thing, the surface has been badly (2-3 cm radius, ?1-2mm deep?) chipped, and underneath the tile is pale brown.

Since I chipped it, there has been moisture welling up, through the chip. Initially I assumed it was just from the object dropped (it was wet), but the chip is still wet, and if I pat it thoroughly dry with toilet roll, then it 'spontaneously' becomes wet enough to mark a mark on toilet roll again, in <10 seconds.

The rest of the chipped tile, the other tiles, and the grout between the tiles all seem fine; no darkness, claminess, or any other sign of dampness.

What have I done, and what do I need to do now?

I know nothing about the tiles in question and don't (to my knowledge) have any spares.

I think your cracking the floor is a blessing in disguise.  Clearly there is water under the tile that needs to be dealt with.

I'd start by checking the obvious things like the toilet seal and the bathtub and/or shower drains.

But ultimately you're going to want to pull that tile up, dry it out thoroughly, replace any water-damaged materials, and replace the flooring.  There is no way it will dry out on its own at this point.


15A circuit allowed to supply multiple general purpose receptacles? For some reason I have it in my head that there is a section in the NEC which prevents the use of anything smaller than 20A circuits to supply multiple general purpose receptacles.

While I know for certain that the use 20A circuits to supply residential multiwire circuits is common convention and a requirement for some outlets in kitchens, laundry rooms, and bathrooms (sections from 210.11 of the 2014 NEC quoted below), I cannot seem to find a section in the NEC which prohibits the use of 15A circuits to supply multiple general purpose receptacles in other areas of the house. This is not to say I plan to deviate or am advocating deviating from this convention for circuits which supply multiple receptacles, I would just like to confirm whether I somehow tricked myself into thinking it is actually required by the NEC or if it is really just a good common convention.

  From NFPA-70:2014 (2014 NEC)

  210.11 Branch Circuits Required.

  ...

  (C) Dwelling Units.

  (1) Small-Appliance Branch Circuits. In addition to the
  number of branch circuits required by other parts of this
  section, two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch circuits
  shall be provided for all receptacle outlets specified by
  210.52(B).

  (2) Laundry Branch Circuits. In addition to the number
  of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at
  least one additional 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided
  to supply the laundry receptacle outlet(s) required by
  210.52(F). This circuit shall have no other outlets.

  (3) Bathroom Branch Circuits. In addition to the number
  of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at
  least one 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided
  to supply a bathroom receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits
  shall have no other outlets.

  Exception: Where the 20-ampere circuit supplies a single
  bathroom, outlets for other equipment within the same
  bathroom shall be permitted to be supplied in accordance
  with 210.23(A)(1) and (A)(2).

In the US under the NEC in a residential setting there is no prohibition for a 15A general use receptacle circuit. You are correct in that some areas; kitchens (and similar/associated rooms), laundry, bathrooms, do require 20A receptacle circuits, but there is nothing that prohibits 15A receptacle circuits in most other places.


Can p-trap be installed inside wall? I have a new vanity I am installing in my guest bathroom.  The current drain height is the same height as a storage shelf below my sink and does not allow the vanity to sit flush against the wall.

Code says (i think) the weir at the exit of the p-trap must be continually downward sloping at 1/4" to 1/2" vertical height per 1' of horizontal run.  So this means that I cannot adjust the drain height downstream of the p-trap.  So my only other solution is to install a p-trap behind the wall and adjusting the drain height upstream to a new wall entrance height a couple inches higher.

Reasons why I think this might be a bad idea.

I've never seen it done before.
An inspector would have to knock down the wall to confirm there is a trap installed.  (could be fixed by replacing new hole in wall with access panel)
A leak at the trap would be undetectable and could cause a lot of damage. (but does this have any more risk of leaking than all the other pipes behind my wall?)

So, has anyone heard of this being done before?  Is it ok to install a p-trap behind a wall?  Am I over looking another option that is a simpler solution?  What would you do?  Thanks in advance!!

I have attached a couple of pictures.

The back end of the new vanity showing the shelf.

My wall showing the drain line with the horizontal run

As far as the international plumbing code is concerned (relevant section is here), you're fine putting it pretty much anywhere that meets the distance requirements. In fact, the only mention of accessibility is in mental health facilities where traps are required to be inaccessible.  This is really no different than pouring concrete over the trap in a floor drain - just make sure it gets noted during the rough-in inspection.


Anyone installed a hot water coil in their HVAC ductwork to increase heat pump efficiency? Hydronic heat supplement to Heat pump Home heating System.
Anyone have experience putting a heating coil in the ductwork of a forced air heat pump system?

Background.
The existing HVAC system is a heat pump with auxiliary electric heat strips. I am considering supplementing the system by installing an Aquecoil HHU-AE-2 water coil (inbuilt circulating pump) to my ductwork, fed from my home water heater. My options are:
    1.  install using the manufacturer recommended direct connection to my water heater. The possible risk is growth of bacteria in the coil over the summer when the Aquecoil pump is idle. The manufacturer states that normal movement of water in the house over the summer as showers, faucets and appliances are used will induce a current in the Aquecoil loop and prevent stagnation and any growth of bacteria.
   2.   Install two closed loop systems with a flat plate heat exchanger to isolate the water in the Aquecoil from the water heater.

Existing systems.
   1.   Goodman 3.5 ton compressor.
   2.   Coleman Evcon Air Handler AH14 with electric two stage auxiliary heat strips. 960 atr cfm.
   3.   Gas water heater is Ruud PR75 (75 gallon capacity) and is located hard by the HVAC air handler. The pipe run from the existing house hot water feed to Aquecoil will be a maximum of 5'.

General configuration
Heat source using house water heater
   1.   Output side. T-fixture from existing hot water pipe, ball valve with bleed port, swing check valve,
   2.   Return side.  Swing check valve, ball valve, return pipe to water heater cold water input.
   3.   Add scald valve assembly to house hot water supply.

Questions.
1.  To what extent will this additional heating loop affect water pressure to house appliances when in operation, if at all?
2.  To what extent will the Aquecoil affect air pressure in the HVAC ductwork?
3.  Open or closed loop system?

Better idea: flip things on their head

You need hot water to run a hydronic heating coil efficiently, far hotter than you'd ever set your water heater to (water heaters struggle to reach 180°F which is the standard temp a hydronic boiler is set to).  However, your hydronic load probably pales in comparision to your domestic hot water load most of the time, and your current gas heater is not all that and a bag of chips regarding efficiency (EF=0.50).

So, the solution I propose is to use a hydronic boiler to drive an indirect hot water heater tank in addition to the coil in the air handler.  An indirect tank the size of your existing heater with a 150kbtu modulating-condensing boiler can give you practically infinite hot water, will have far fewer standby losses (~350-400Btu/hr for a Bradford White SW-2-80-L based on the AHRI figures of 0.6°F/hr and a 71 gallon potable capacity) compared to the kBtu/hr range standby losses of a conventional gas heater, and will be more efficient than your existing heater overall with a computed EF in the 0.7 to 0.8 range depending on the thermal efficiency you can milk from the hydronic setup (good modcons get into 95-96% thermal efficiencies, and indirect tanks are quite efficient as well), comparable to a good condensing gas tank-type heater.

Atop that, you'll be running the coil in the air handler more efficiently due to the improved delta-T available over what a domestic hot water heater can produce, and you have a solid platform for future desires (such as zoned air handling or radiant heat).


Any damage to Water heater when main water shut-off for a prolonged vacation in Texas Any damage to Water heater in the attic, if main water to the house is shut off for a month when owner on vacation, please? Thank you in advance for your help.

There should be no damage, but of course this would be non-freezing conditions. What setting would you leave the heater on? If electric, I would say switch off power to the heater. If gas, switch to vacation/pilot setting or even turn gas off at the heater.

Upon return I would turn the heater to hot (140 F) and let it come to temperature, then run hot through all delivery points.


Installing 3 Eve Light Switches - one works, but two others just flash the lights every 6 seconds I recently purchased three Eve Light Switches to smart-ify three sets of lights in my house.  I installed one on a dining room chandelier (with 9 LED lights) and it works just fine.  I tried installing two others in two other places (once wired to a room with 12 inset canister lights, and one to a room with 4 inset canister lights).  When I installed these, my Eve app was able to discover the smart switch, but the lights would just flash on and off (with a 6 seconds pause between flashes).

All three switches were parts of double switch plate, and so I was only switching out one of the two dumb switches with an Eve smart switch.

Each of the switches was in a wall box that had 4 white neutral wires, none of which were in use by the dumb switches and which were all just twisted together when I opened the box.  For each, I just selected one at random to use - though when debugging one of the installations that did not work, I tried 2 or 3 of them to see if that was the problem and none of them worked.

One on of the two locations that do not work, I tried installing both of the 2 Eve switches that I could not get to work, and both failed the same way.

In one of the locations that did not work (the 12 canister lights), most are incandescent bulbs, so the total might be drawing 12x65 watts or close to 750 watts.  But in the other two locations (the 9-bulb chandelier that works, and the 4 canister lights that did not work), they are all low-wattage LED bulbs.

So at this point, I can't pinpoint anything that is different between the installation that works and the two that don't work.  Anyone know what might cause a smart lightswitch to just flicker like this?

You add to the neutral pile instead of splitting it up

From your description, it sounds like you're picking a specific neutral wire out of the neutral bundle to attach the neutral from the smart switch to.  This is wrong, as it disconnects that neutral from the rest of the neutrals, leaving the smart switch possibly unable to power itself properly, as well as some loads unpowered as they have no return path to the utility for electric current to flow.

What you need to do instead when installing a smart switch is keep all the existing neutrals together while adding the smart switch's neutral to that bundle.  That way, the current that powers the smart switch joins with the rest of the current on that circuit on the way back to the utility.


What to fill basement floor gaps with We have some gaps in the basement floor of our new house. They're a few inches deep, seemingly with dirt underneath. There are some others that are less deep as well. Think some crickets are getting in this way. I'm wondering what's a good way to fill them in; sealant, or something like quikrete?

Be careful. You might have a "floating slab" basement, where the slab exists solely inside the walls. Something like this:
  |wall|                           |wall|
  |    |(========== slab =========)|    |
  |    |~~~~~~~~~~ earth ~~~~~~~~~~|    |
 /     |                           |     \
/      |                           |      \
|footer|                           |footer|

You can tell by checking the entire perimeter. If you have gaps all around, possibly filled with some sort of squishy material (rubber, oakum, fiberglass, whatever), or possibly covered over with caulk, cement, etc., then you've got a slab that floats inside the basement walls.
In this case, you don't want to do anything that will cause the slab to damage your walls. So don't fill the gaps with cement or anything like that. You can fill the gaps with squishy materials, or you can cover the gaps.
If you fill the gaps with something squishy, you can certainly cover that with a sealant like spray-foam or caulk. (But don't fill the gaps with pure spray-foam!)
Some products you might consider: for small gaps, consider using "backer rod", which is a round foam strip sold to help fill the gaps between window casings and the house framing. It comes in various diameters, so just find a side that is big enough, push it into the gap, and then you can caulk or foam over it.
For larger gaps, consider "concrete expansion joint strips". These are usually inserted between one concrete pour and another to provide a "pad" that will absorb some concrete movement. Typically 4-8 inches tall, and  1/2-1 inch thick. If you got a long open gap that's wide enough, you might be able to jam these strips down in.


Do I need teflon tape (or something else) for a plastic shower head? I bought a plastic shower head from home depot for $1.97. It said hand tighten. When I got home I could not find my teflon tape. I installed the new shower head by hand tightening very tightly and it seemed to seal good.

Should I use teflon tape? Should I use pipe thread compound as if I was attaching metal to PVC?

Most shower heads seal to the shower arm using a rubber washer. If that's the case with yours, the purpose of the threads is more to hold the washer tight, not provide a seal, and teflon tape or thread sealant compound are not useful.


Is there a good way to store and organize try/combination squares? I have a bunch of try/combination squares that I would like to store/hang in my work area but I cannot figure out a good system. Can someone recommend a good method to keep combination squares readily available and protect them from getting damaged? I would like to have at least the following within reach of my bench:

1 × 6  inch try square
2 × 12 inch try square(s)
2 × 12 inch combination square(s)
1 × 24 inch protractor square
1 × 24 inch straight edge / ruler (bonus points)

Updated information to address question:

I do have a pegboard in front of my bench. That is what is so confounding. I have not been able to think of a way to securely store/hang them on the peg board. Despite the existence of the peg board answers do not need to utilize the pegboard.

If all your tools are steel or other ferromagnetic material, I would try something like this:

It's a magnetic knife holder that you should be able to buy at any kitchen store.

Alternatively, you could build something along the lines of a traditional knife block by glue-laminating pieces of wood and leaving appropriate gaps for each square.  Although, some types of squares might not fit.


How long can I leave a paint brush and roller sleeve submerged in water without damaging them? I'm painting my fence (with water based paint) and have more to do tomorrow.

How long can I leave the paint brush in water until it's likely to be damaged? I think it's a synthetic bristled one.

How long until the roller sleeve is likely to be damaged? It has polyester fibre on it.

What about other types of bristle/fibre?

The way I've done this is not using water, instead take the roller or brush and put in a big ziplock bag and stick in the fridge. yes it may look gross in there but it won't be a problem to return to continue painting. It won't be able to dry as much. Certainily it won't dry out. Seems like my wife left one in there for a couple days to return AND multiple times too.


Asbestos fragments and hepa filter shop vac I pulled up some moldy flooring and found some slightly damp plywood boards underneath. Underneath that was some 12 x 12 tile. I put on a respirator and pulled up about 4-8 sq ft of the stuff. Anyway a lot of the tile broke up into fragments as it was nailed down, I wet the fragments and vacuumed it up using a rigid shop vac with a hepa filter. I took the trash outside and bagged it. Now I realize a hepa filter in a shopvac does not a hepa vaccum make. I also should have vented the exhaust outside but I didn’t.

This was all in the kitchen at my home, wife coming home soon, I wiped down surfaced and have a fan blowing out the door, anything else I can do? Do you think I created a huge mess by vacuuming up the broken fragments with the shopvac and hepa filter?

It is impossible to quantify the risk of disease from a single exposure but it is generally considered an issue for those who have had regular or repeated occupational exposure to asbestos over years.

You won't know for sure for a couple of decades but I wouldn't worry. Live your life and know that using wet handling methods significantly decreased whatever risk there was.


Can I remove parquet flooring adhesive by using a heat gun? I have to remove a parquet floor with possible bitumen adhesive and am unsure how thick the adhesive was applied.  I need to remove the flooring to prep for laying ceramic tiling.

Could a heat gun be of use to remove the adhesive rather than costly solvents?
Is this an effective method for preparing the floor for new tile?
If not what course of action would you recommend?

I'd advise against using heat. Last week I removed a parquet floor from my living room that had been stuck down with bitumen. After trial and error I found the best technique was to use a hammer and chisel to prise the tiles up, leaving just the bitumen coating on the floorboards. I then paid a guy to sand up the bitumen with a large industrial sander using very rough sanding paper. It took him about half a day and the floorboards now look great. (Make sure you use very rough paper and a powerful machine - if the paper isn't rough enough, the bitumen just gums it up.)

I did try a heat approach but this just melted the bitumen, making it sticky and even harder to remove. I also tried to use solvents, which had the same effect.


AC smells horrible - Clorox in the drain tube fixes it temp I moved into a upstairs apartment- studio 425 sq feet. The building is a 2 story building. It was built in 1971.

There is a horrible foul smell from my central AC. When it is not running and with windows open, I can smell it from the AC closet that it sits in. When the AC runs, my apartment will randomly smell horrible. Even my clothes will absorb the smell and I can smell that foul smell at work.

The drainage tube connects my AC with my neighbors downstairs. It has a T pipe and I can pour Clorox in it. If I pour a cup of Clorox down in it every few hours, it rids the foul smell. But it also makes my apartment smell like Clorox and I am not sure if that is healthy. If don't pour Clorox in it...the foul odor comes back with in about 9 hours.

I thought at first the AC coil was dirty, but if I am able to get rid of the smell with Clorox in the drainage tube then I don't know what is going. Can anyone please tell me what is going on with the AC? I'm not getting any help from the landlord.

The  condensate drain line at your unit should have a trap built into it to keep sewer gasses from being pulled up that line. Opening a window may worsen the problem. Since you live in an apartment, I would have a licensed HVAC company do the work. You could then contact the apartment manager for a refund. You could also contact the housing authority for advice on how to rectify the problem. Other solutions may be justified such as a small condensate pump to handle the condensate from your unit only. If you are handy, they cost around $40.00 dollars from "amazon ", or just have the previously mentioned professional do the work.


Why are my ceiling fan light bulbs burning out quickly? My ceiling fan light bulbs burnout frequently. From what I can tell the fan is mounted well and does not oscillate more than I would expect it to. I use GE multi-use soft white 40 watt intermediate light bulbs which are marketed for use in ceiling fans. Unfortunately, my local Home Depot does not carry any other bulb brands in this size. That said with the bulbs burning out so frequently it seems more likely to be another issue unrelated to the bulb themselves, but I am open to suggestions of others to try. What could be causing the bulbs to burnout frequently?

YouTube video of my ceiling fan running on high.

Does your ceiling fan wobble? Shaking a light bulb can break the filament. See How do I balance a ceiling fan?

Is your line voltage reliable? An electrician told me once that he swears by 130V-rated bulbs. If voltage surges a little, the 130V bulb will tolerate it better than lower-rated bulbs. The rating is printed on the top of the bulb. However, if this was the problem, you'd probably see it in other fixtures, too.

Line voltage varies because keeping voltage steady under varying load is very, very hard.


Is it a problem that I have two of each color wires on my Honeywell thermostat? I am thinking about upgrading my Honeywell thermostat. Every thing I have seen describes / shows a single wire for each color. My current thermostat has two wires connected to each terminal (two green wires, two yellow wires, two black wires, and two red wires).

The new thermostat I want to install (a Nest) says to only insert one wire per connector. Is this a problem? Do I need to get my furnace rewired? Or, should I just keep the wires twisted together?

The answer is yes; it was a problem. The wiring wasn't done correctly. I had an HVAC guy come out. He suspected that whoever installed my thermostat cheated by using some lower grade wire and doubling them up. Sure enough when he untwisted the wires from the old thermostat and checked the voltage with a multimeter we saw that the pair would give us the necessary 24 volts but an individual wire would only give us about 17. Nice.

Anyway, I shelled out about $100 to have him run a real HVAC cable. (I had him use 10 wire just incase I want to make use of more of the new thermostat's features in the future).


Can I fully load multiple breakers (rooms) in my apartment? I've got some very high-amperage devices (Bitcoin miners. ugh.) coming into my apartment; and although I'm going to pains to make sure I don't over-load any single room's breaker on the wall sockets … I'm wondering what the maximum amperage on the entire apartment (or, I suppose, the entire breaker panel?) is.

The wall-socket breakers for each of the three adjacent rooms I'm planning on loading (bathroom, spare bedroom, and living-room) are each 15A. Can I safely load each of those up to nearly 15A (so, a total load of 45A)? The breaker box has an inscription of “125A MLO”; what does that mean? Does that encode the maximum load of the breaker-box, or am I way off-base?

(Additionally: should I look for a particular brand of extension-cord, to ensure it can carry a full 14A over  feet? I don't want to cheap out, if it could set my apartment on fire. :P)

I don't know about your local code requirements, but in almost all countries at least the building has some breaker to connect to the power grid.

For example for my house this means \$3 \cdot 63A \cdot 230V = 43.47kW \$. Check it for your house. That is a whole lot of power that could easily set lots of things on fire.

However there are some things to note that do not make all this available for me:

There are other persons/electric devices in my house
the power company allows at most 40kW to be drawn continuously (due to limitations of the installed measuring equipment)
Drawing so much power will lead to a voltage drop that depends on many factors.
Most breakers do not like to be run on their exact amps value and trip after a while (sometimes hours). Use some safety margin.

Depending on the wiring you use (inside the walls and as short, non chained extension chords), they will introduce some more or less noticeable voltage drop, further decreasing the usable power for your devices.

For safety reasons you should check (or if you do not have the tools and knowledge to do so, let it be done by someone else) all equipment involved. There could also be other limiting factors involed, e.g. an RCD/GFCI.

125MLO indeed means that the panel is rated for max 125A.

For extra safety install multiple kill switch methods and a smoke alarm...


Hanging drywall: How to shim 1.5"? I'm working on framing a wall where a sliding glass door once sat. In retrospect, I believe I should have used 2x6 lumber to frame the wall, rather than 2x4. While one side sits perfectly flush with the existing wall, the other side (shown in the picture) sits about 1.5" back from the existing wall.

Can I screw 2x4s horizontally to the framing to "shim" the drywall into the correct position?

Also, these are several different things hanging on the existing wall (some sort of cement shingle, tar paper, foam board, etc) Do I need to remove all of these prior to hanging drywall, or should I leave them as extra insulation?

Here is an up close view so you can see the gap between the framing and the existing "wall":

Any advice is appreciated.

My thoughts the same about drywall @Comintern, to make up the 1.5 it would be easiest to attach 2x4's sideways.
If this is now a inside room I would remove the old exterior siding, However the “cement shingles”  look like the asbestos type commonly used you might want to have them tested prior to working with them for health reasons.
I don’t think I would ever put drywall over the lap siding even with the sheet insulation if now an interior room. If this is still exposed to the elements you really should use exterior sheeting.


Should unsanded grout become darker when wet? Anyone who recognizes me at this point will know I've been working on remodeling our bathroom (Should we use a tub surround and Curing time for grout with GroutBoost).
We finally finished everything up, let the grout dry and cure, and caulked around the tub. I used the shower with no plastic over the tile for the first time this morning, which, of course, gave me plenty of time to examine my workmanship.
I found a few little bits of grout on the tile faces that I was able to scrape off with my fingernail. I also noticed that the grout turns much darker when it gets wet, and when I rubbed one of the grout seams with my finger, I was able to get a little cloudy water on my finger. The grout seems hard enough otherwise and dried fairly quickly (returning to it's normal color).
We didn't seal the grout as we used Grout Boost Advanced Pro, and per their FAQ:

Does grout mixed with Grout Boost ever need to be sealed?
No. Since Grout Boost is mixed with the grout, the stain resistance is throughout the grout and can not erode like a sealer.

This is what it ended up looking like:

Click for large version.
Is the color change normal for unsanded grout? I am unsure as it didn't happen with the tile we took out. Also, is it okay I was able to scrape some leftover grout off the tile? I want to be sure my grout dried and cured properly.

Very nice looking job Jared, congratulations!  It is very normal for unsealed grout to change to a darker color when wet. This will happen even with fully cured grout.  Feel free to buff any excess grout or haze off your tiles, it won't hurt anything and that also is normal for newly installed tile.  If the darker color when wet bothers you, then go ahead and put a couple of coats of grout sealer on after about two weeks from the original grout date. Even though the manufacture claims stain resistance, it does not claim to stop the temporary color shift when wet.  Sealing the surface of the grout will stop the wetting of the grout and end the color changes.  You may find you need to reapply some sealer every year or so in a shower surround. Apply the sealer with a small foam brush just to the grout,  Buff excess off the tiles 15 to 20 mins later.  Looks Great!!!   Good Luck.


Removable windows for the porch or sunroom I have a potential project where there is a metal roof/awning/overhang supported by posts on the south side of the house. It is sort of like a car port, except there is no vehicular access to it (aside from pushing motorcycles or bicycles in there), and is hardly useful except for minimal storage, and protection of part of the southern wall from the summer sun.

The idea is to turn it into a more useful space, like a porch, greenhouse, sunroom, or combination thereof for some mixed use. For that it needs to be enclosed with ample window area (preferably, top to bottom coverage). Ideally, it would be completely enclosed and insulated for the winter, but, given budgetary constraints, minimally it could at least provide dead air space that is protected from the wind that can extend growing season a bit, and be a sort of thermal mass that can provide some accumulation of energy (however small) during sunnier winter days.

At the same time in the summer time it would be nice to welcome breeze to have an opposite effect to the greenhouse one (it would eventually be somewhat shaded with deciduous trees from the high noon sun). What my parents did in a similar situation on their porch is enclosed it and had basic glass panes installed, which are removed for the summer and the openings are protected by the bug netting to prevent insects entering the porch, and, subsequently the house (which is not necessarily important here, as there is no direct access to the building, and, in fact, could be detrimental to pollination if it is to be used as a greenhouse). That is one solution, but that also means to have to store the glass somewhere, and protect it from damage, which is not ideal, and my not be viable for the full height windows.

So I am looking for pointers or example solutions where such space could be created. Whether it could be glass, or acrylic panes; some sort of quality plastic film or panels that can be rolled up etc. I don’t want to violate SE policies for the question’s scope, just need a starting point from which to proceed, knowing what pitfalls, trade-offs and so forth to consider. But the more examples, the better.

The classic, olde-fashioned aproach used on our summer camp porch:

Short solid wall, screen above.

Large interior shutters, hinged at the top, ropes at the bottom, run over pulleys up in the roof, attached to cleats. Given purpose and era, those had small windows in them - you are looking for larger windows, principle would be the same, but you might want them a bit narrower if using glass (due to weight). Plastic glazing (polycarbonate twin-wall) would be much lighter - good plant light, not so good for views, not fragile.

The shutters were pulled up into the roof when summer came, and left there unless there were bad storms. The two at the corner overlapped and were rigged so that one went up first and the other had to follow it, or they wouldn't go. When they were down, a toggle at the bottom kept them from blowing and flapping about.

It's more fiddly to build than removable glass, but does simplify storage quite a bit. Height of shutter/window that opens can't be more than width of porch (but the solid wall portion could be glazed.)

On the third hand, if there's a good portion of non-window-area house wall on the back, you could store removable windows there against the house wall.

Responding to comment: I cannot find a picture of the old, simple system. The picture I can find that's closest is this more complicated bi-fold system, but if you imagine it with a single, unhinged window panel, and ropes/pulleys it's pretty close - it would just cover more ceiling, and be easier to build.


What to use for this floor transition? Recently bought a house with some questionable finishes. Just wondering what I would use here to transition between the tile and laminate flooring?

I am guessing I cannot use a T-moulding, as the notch will not fit. Thus, do the make something that is used for these particular situations? From the videos I have seen online, the gap is normally much larger than shown in my picture.

I was thinking of something like an oak carpet strip, as I can stain it. But it has screw holes, and I would prefer to glue something down? Again, I have zero experience here.

If you want to use T-moulding, you can cut the laminate back to make room. Probably the best tool would be an oscillating mulitool. You can get these with different types of blades, but the key thing is they can do fairly accurate plunge cuts to a controlled depth, and they can cut right in a corner/against a wall with almost no clearance.


Can I take a 240 volt 33 amp male plug an slice Okay. So I wanna wire my garage. My old home has an old unused 3 prong 240v plug just chilling. My home is limited to 100amps. Old old home. So, the garage, 60ft away has no power. No power=no man zone. I would like to run a couple different options. Sub-panel or just an extension with a gfi outlet.
I'm thinking about splitting the plug via a Junction box (new) prior to the old 3 prong plug *and remove said plug.
My understanding of it is that it's running 2 hot and a neutral. Can I split the hots (2) to create more plugs and lights. Really just want 3 exterior led lights for motion detection and lights outside. Inside I would like modernized  with a plug that can go 120/240 with 20 amps (so I can run my arc welder that requires a min of 20 amps on high or 15 amps on low- it needs a dedicated circuit so as not to be interfered when welding if I have a radio on and light. Help! Man in distress lacking a cave!
Or what are some better options?

Yes, you can use existing wiring to feed a sub-panel.  (you cannot put a plug on a sub-panel as far as I know.)  If the wiring is not quite long enough to reach your sub-panel location, put a junction box there and splice to an additional cable.

Your sub-panel absolutely requires a ground wire to the main panel.   Grounds can only be bare wire, green or green/yellow.  If the inspector sees any insulation other than that color, it cannot be a ground wire.

If your wire also has neutral, then you can make your sub-panel a 120/240V sub-panel.  Here's the trick: In the sub-panel, neutral must be isolated from ground.  Most panels give you a way to do that, by removing bonding straps or removing green screws.

If your wire does not have neutral, your sub-panel will be 240V only.  Use 2-pole breakers and NEMA 6 receptacles.  If you power anything hard-wired, make sure it is 240V friendly - most new fluorescent ballasts are multi-voltage, as are many other products.

If you need to run 120V-only appliances out of a 240V-only panel, they sell step-down transformers for sane prices.


Can I use a magnetic air seal on an exterior door? It occurred to me it may be a good idea to air seal an outdoor door using a similar magnetic seal as refrigerator doors. I can't find this product available today. Maybe because it would make opening the door a challenge.

But any idea if this would work to prevent air leaks? Or is anyone aware of such products?

I have come across "magnetic strips for doors" but the magnet only attaches to a metal door and no magnet for the door frame, just a rubber sweeper. These can still leak air.

Magnetic weatherstripping for doors is quite common. It attaches around the door in a grove that's part of the door trim. Inside the gasket is a magnet that pulls it tight to the door to form an airtight seal.

That is a cross section view. The fishbone shape on the bottom goes into the door trim for a tight seal. The magnet is the dark part on top and is inside of the weatherstripping so that it pulls the vinyl or rubber tight against the door. Click through the photo for a sample Amazon product.


How do I secure a canvas garage? I picked up one of those cheap canvas garages from Costco, to keep a few things out of the weather. It's 10' wide, 20' long, and maybe 11' high at the peak.

Our area is a bit prone to windstorms. I'm in the woods, so it's largely protected from the wind, but I still want to make sure it stays put.

It comes with tent stakes, but the ground is too soft for that to be reliable.

I thought about trying to attach it to concrete pier blocks, since they are heavy, cheap, and aren't permanent if we want to move the garage later. I'd put one under each leg, and fasten the leg to the block.

The blocks are formed with a hole in the top, about 5/8" diameter. The garage comes with some concrete anchors, presumably for use if you put it on a concrete driveway - you'd drill holes and secure it there. The anchors are way too small for these holes, though. Even the biggest anchors at the local hardware store seem too small.

I could try to buy larger anchors online.

I could epoxy in some inverted screws.

I could try to find some old railroad ties and screw in to those, instead. I'm not sure where to find those around here, however.

I could pour small concrete footings, although then I'm locked in to an exact setup.

What should I do?

You just need bigger anchors ;-) The largest of these is 60" long with a 7" diameter.


Backfeed breaker use I'm going to install a Eaton BRMLKCSR lockout on a Eaton BR816 B200 RF panel can i use a regular 240 v breaker or is a special backfeed breaker required to connect the generator?  Thanks

You can use a regular BR2xx (two pole) breaker for this

As you can see in the picture below just to the right of the breaker's UL mark, Eaton BR two-pole breakers have the screwhole required by the BR backfeed retainer kit as a stock feature of the breaker frame:

As a result, you can simply use a two-pole Eaton BR breaker of the appropriate amp rating for this, given your current hardware constraints.  (It won't be 100% Code unless you pull the N-G bond out of your genset, but it won't zap any linesmen, at least!)


Need help with install for weil mclain oil boiler I just bought a weil mclain oil boiler with tankless.

Can anyone tell me the configuration to plumb it?

I asked two heat guys how to plumb it and they gave me different setups.

I plumbed it according to Weil McLain schematic and they said that was wrong.

In situations like this, I generally find that the manufacturer is a more reliable source of accurate information than an installer, especially an installer whom you are not using (but then again, you might be wise not to use them, too.) Some installers learned "a particular way" which is either outdated for current equipment or was simply wrong in the first place and depend on that in exclusion to actually reading the instructions; this may not work out well.

The manufacturer has considerably more interest in providing accurate information for successful deployment of their products.


Range Hood Ventilation - Working around a stud I need to install a simple under the cabinet range hood with ventilation to the outside.  Of course, there is a stud blocking the easy horizontal path to the adjacent exterior wall.  I suppose I could go straight up out the roof.  But I am not doing that myself.  My questions are:

Is there such thing as a standard adapters suited to solve this problem?  The stud is offset about 2" from where the center of the centered vent would be if there were no stud.
Is there such thing as a range hood designed with this scenario in mind?  i.e. one with an offset vent.

Surprisingly haven't been able to find answers to those questions googling.  Only suggestion I've seen is to make a detailed drawing of what you want and take it to a sheet metal shop.  I don't trust myself to generate a good enough drawing.

Other option is to move the stud.  I think I know how to do that, but it would be nice if that mess could be avoided.

Many range hoods have options to route out the back (no good for you) or out the top. Vent out the top, use a right angle to go left or right and then another right angle to go back through the wall between studs.


Why circulator on heatpump Armstrong S-25 BF Cast Iron In-Line Pump, 1/12 hp breaks every year? I have a 4 zone water based heating system. One S-25 BF Cast Iron In-Line Pump, 1/12 hp heat pump for all 4 zones. The spring circulator breaks every year. It just broken again eventhough the assembly does not require any lubrication on S-25 BF. Before this model I had S-25 which required lubrication and I could see that on those old pumps lubricant oil was causing issue so I bought this one. Now it broke again.

Why is spring ciculator breaking every year?

Is there heatpump w/o circualtor that I can use in place of S-25 BF. Do I need a more powerful pump?

One possibility (and it's just that - a possibility, a guess, not definitive) is that your system leaks, and makeup water is being constantly introduced by an automatic fill valve.

The problem with that is that new water comes with oxygen dissolved in it, and oxygen rusts cast iron. So if your pump plugs up with rust, and fails, that might be your cause - as you have not provided any information on the symptoms of failure or state of the failed pumps, it remains a guess. If the failures are normally at the start of heating season, that's another clue in this direction - lots of time for the pump to rust while not spinning all summer.

If that is the case, a stainless steel pump might be the solution to your problem, though another solution would be to stop the leaks.

Systems with cast iron pumps and no leaks just rust out the oxygen that's in the initial fill water, and then rust no more, as there's no more oxygen.


How do I change the remote frequency options in my ceiling fan? My Hampton Bay ceiling fan remote control is interfering with my neighbours.  Inside the remote there are switches to adjust the remote frequency.

Where in the fan do I make the corresponding adjustment? Do I have to take the fan down?

The switches for the fan are either in the lower bell housing or on top of the motor assembly.

Check the lower bell first.  There should be 3 or 4 small screws holding this on, remove them and carefully remove the light assembly.  Look inside the bell to find the RF receiver, the switches are on this (you may have to pull it out to access the switches).

If the RF receiver is not there it is probably on the motor assembly, in which case the fan will have to be taken down.  Even if you have to take the fan down you should not have to disconnect any wiring, there should be a hook on the assembly so you can hang it from the mounting bracket while you adjust the switches.

Depending on the ceiling clearance you may have to remove the blades, then remove the decorative ring near the ceiling.  Carefully remove the screws that hold the fan to the mounting bracket, you should be able to hang the fan from a hook on the mounting bracket (so you don't have to hold the fan while you work).  Inside this assembly you should see the RF receiver, adjust the switches and re-mount the fan.


Can I adjust the temperature of the water in my radiators? I'm a complete newbie when it comes to HVAC. I did manage to install a new thermostat with help from here so I try again. I have a oil burner baseboard hot water system. My hot tap water is also heated through the burner. I know how I can change the temperature for the tap hot water, but can I change the temperature of the water that goes through my baseboard radiators? I attach a picture of what the system looks like since I am not able to describe the it in any meaningful way hoping the picture may tell someone something.

I think I found the aquastat for the heating. It's on the boiler itself. I have attached two new pictures. Is there any benefit to setting the temperature up? I also wonder what that metal piece attached to the temperature wheel is? That piece is set at around 170 it seems.

Boilers typically have a aquastat, high limit, low limit in one of several configurations.

This is an all in one unit specific to oil.

www.inspectopedia.com

Most aquastats look something like this on the outside

www.ebay.com

If you have conventional radiators high limit set to 150 max is common, convectors you can go to 180. It's usually best to run as low temp as possible but with oil it's very important to maintain a minimum chimney(stack) temperature. Low return temperatures can cause acid in the chimney. Now baseboard rads are split between the two types.

This is a conventional and beautiful cast iron radiator

www.allaboutrads.co.uk

This is the inside of a fin tube convector

www.inspectopedia.com

If your baseboard rads are copper tube fin type like the convector image, you can go up to 180. If they are cast iron you should keep the temperature lower because the surface gets very hot to the touch.

If you have any pictures of the controls attached to the system they would be helpful. Just keep in mind, oil is finicky and needs yearly service by a reputable technician.


How do I determine whether the existing fixture can support a ceiling fan? I'd like to replace a ceiling light with a ceiling fan.  I've replaced existing ceiling lights before but I'm worried about the additional weight of the fan.  How do I determine whether the existing fixture can support the fan?  The house is over 100 yrs old so it certainly doesn't meet any modern codes and there is no access to the ceiling except from below.

You'll have to look at the inside of the box where the light is mounted. It should have printing inside it - although at the age of the house, it may not. Boxes that can support ceiling fans will be known as "acceptable for fan support":

If you don't see something like that, you're going to need to take out some of the ceiling and replace to box with a fan box or run the risk of the fan being too heavy and falling down at the worst possible time.


How to tighten a wooden bannister (newel post) How to tighten a wobbly stair bannister?  I tried going in from the basement ceiling, the floor boards are in the way.  I tried drilling in a screw at an angle at the base to anchor to the bottom stair, and lets just say I now need to figure out how to extract a broken screw and patch a hole to lessen the carnage.  I imagined there is a nut/screw job under the wood that needs to be tightened, but darned if I can figure out how to get to it without ripping up the wood. I could try some glue, I suppose, there is a tiny gap around the bottom, but that doesn't seem like it would last past a few pulls.

I guess you already know that your attempted fix is a fail. One realistic way that such a newel post can be made more sturdy would be to do some re-work to the structure as follows:

A flat metal bracket is made with a round metal post welded to it. The round post (0.75 to 1.0 inches diameter recommended) would extend up through a round hole in the lower stair tread and rise up to a height of 10 -> 12 inches. The metal base plate is screwed up to the bottom side of the stair tread. The center core of the newel post would then be bored out to permit the newel post to be mounted on the projecting round post. (See picture below).


Garage exposed NM wiring - protection? I have built a steel garage kit.  All my horizontal NM runs are 9 1/2 feet high, fully secured (with closer spacing than code requires), and where needed I added pieces of steel studs to provide secure attachment and protection.  Of 550 feet of NM cabling there is literally just a few inches that are not immediately adjacent to a piece of steel.  The problem is the nebulous wording of NFPA 70 334.15(B) "Cable shall be protected from physical damage where necessary....."
In various posts/articles across the web (including this forum) people make statements similar to "wiring over 8 feet is considered protected" yet I can find no explicit statement in the code nor does any writer quote a reference to any such rule.  Is there any such code/rule?  My inspector says I have to construct coverings over all my horizontal runs - wood or plywood or drywall - to give them 'protection'.  Almost 10 feet up in the air.  Clearly absurd but I am not sure what the rational rebuttal is.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Update: should have mentioned, state is CA.  I found a document that seems to list all CA modifications to NEC, scanned that but did not see anything relevant.  The primary special feature was that I ran oversized conduit to the subpanel and left 2 breaker positions open, so someone someday can pull a bigger feed for a car charger.  They like that kind of stuff out here.
Success!!  Inspector came today but was not the previous one who is still (I think) officially assigned my permit.  Anyway, I had articles printed out as mentioned below, we had an intelligent discussion (which did not seem possible with the other one).  Contractors typically put up (unpainted) drywall in garages around here so possibly these guys do not deal with exposed NM much, who can say.  But he agreed no mechanical protection needed for NM over 8 ft in the air.  Whoopee!  Thanks for the extra code reference, I figured the 8 ft number was coming from somewhere.

Voltage application of 8’ is considered protected by elevation.
infact live parts can be considered protected above 8’ 50-300v.
8’7” is good for 1000v these are live parts see NEC 110.27.
Beyond that ask the inspector to cite the code reference.
There is no code reference that states all horizontal runs require protection.
Look at the code for a crawl space or a basement attic both are horizontal runs that usually are below 8’ and permitted on surface runs per NEC 334.15.
The exact height for protection from physical damage is not listed and I have provided multiple examples where protection by elevation is allowed and exposed nmb is allowed below the height you have.


Dog-friendly mouse hunting strategies after a year of using standard products? TL;DR: When commercial products have been ineffective or proven dog-unfriendly, what are some other mouse-catching strategies when the mice hide in baseboard heaters and have learned to avoid most traps?

Context:

I bought an old home in an old neighborhood. It soon became apparent that there are mice and they get everywhere*.

Steps taken:

I called 2 big name pest control companies. They both charged a lump fee of $350-500 then came out and put snap traps, then suggested I have a $3000-ish service come out to seal up the house.
snap traps (my own, all over the house)
glue traps (caught far more mice than the pros did)
many completely ineffective repellents
electronic sound-repllents
sprays
pellets

I never got them 100% gone and they keep breeding (or possibly entering from outside, but I sealed everything up as best as I could on my budget). I've probably caught 20 mice over the course of the year. Maybe more.

I had almost elminiated them for a while with well placed glue traps, but then

They learned to avoid them (I caught all the dumb mice; the surviving generation of mice are brilliant)
My dog got her paws stuck in the glue traps 2x despite preventative measures, and I can't let that happen again

So now their activity / numbers seems way up because I can't use almost any traps. The places where I know they go are also often places where my dog could get to and there's really no safe trap I know of for a dog.

What's a good strategy or tool for catching, killing, and/or driving out mice that's very dog-safe?

Any ideas, strategies, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

*I hate mice more than I describe to you. I've been cleaning their droppings and sterilizing everything in the house everyday for over a year.

There is a "home brew" and a commercial form of "bucket-trap" which basically lures them out to a freely rotating element baited with peanut butter and drops them into water to drown. If you build it with a hole in the side and use a lid (as the commercial version I recall is built) it's fairly dog-safe as there's just the hole in the side (typically with a ramp) for the mice to crawl in. The illustrated version would be not dog-safe at all, as it's open and appears to be using antifreeze (suggested when using them in the winter in unheated buildings.)

There are also the enclosed repeating traps which are dog-safe, since again, the mice have to crawl into them.

How well either works depends on your mice.


Is it normal to see nails coming through the roof decking after a new roof was installed? Our home was built in 1954, and is a Florida ranch style home.  We have about a two-foot overhanging soffit with trusses that show and with tongue and groove under whatever that’s called. Sorry, I don’t know the proper terms…

I had my roof redone. And nails have come through the plywood and show all over the attic and all the way around the soffit overhang on the outside.… Some are just the tips of nail that have come through the tongue and groove and some larger nails come through the trusses and have spilt the wood…My husband said this is normal, but it wasn’t that way before. Should the roofer repair all these nail holes?

The plywood of your roof is typically not as thick as your standard galvanized steel roofing nail, so it is expected for nails to show through this in your attic. The plywood can and is expected to take a bit of damage over time and this is okay as long as the shingle has something firm to hold itself down onto.

Over time if the plywood is too damaged to properly hold down new shingles or becomes too dangerous to walk on safely then a roofer should be able to identify such compromised plywood board and replace it as needed.

What is worrying about your question is that you specified that the roofing nails have split and damaged the roof trusses.  Standard roofing nails should not be long or thick enough to split or crack structurally sound dimensional lumber.

If this is what happened then you may have a problem unrelated to the quality of the roofing job.  Your home is over 50 years old in a warm wet climate, so you should inspect for a number of different problems.

Dryrot

Termites

Carpenter Ants

If you have any of the following indications of current or past damage to any of the three items then that would explain split, cracked or damaged roof trusses during a typical roofing job.

On another note: The soffit typically fits into a groove that is known as J Channel when installed on a roof overhang.  The roof overhang is typically MUCH too tall for any roofing nails to reach soffit.  I imagine instead you might be seeing a roofing nails perforating the fascia, which can be a sign of a sloppy rushed job.  Without pictures though we can't tell that for sure.


How do I set up a massive spider glue trap like the one found on Reddit a week ago? The thread details are at http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/kdmd2/thought_id_check_the_spider_trap_i_stuck_in_my/.

Does anyone know what sort of glue trap I should buy? And what are the best locations to set these traps up? Should it be under the drawer? In a corner? Or what else? Also - should there be a cover over the trap?

Are there also glue traps that work on the walls? (maybe even for spiders that go upside down?) And also - do they work better than the Victor Poison-Free Magnet traps? (that have walls that might divert possible spiders)

Images attached below.

My problem is camel crickets more than spiders.

I personally put the glue boards near the wall anyplace along the basement wall that gets wet the most often, and near the door to the outside.  Basically, it's the places where I've seen evidence of them, pushed up against the wall.  Under sinks and places of moisture tend to be the best locations in my experience.

As for where to get them ... um ... there's a website posted on the picture, but it looks like their catalog is more geared towards stores buying a display worth of product rather than just a few of 'em.  I've seen glue boards for sale at the local Home Depot, and I've gotten them at online before.

As for the question of cover, there are some that are designed so that it gets folded up into a little triangular tent-like shape, with the glue on the inside.


How can I hook up my dishwasher drain properly? The problem

I am installing a new Bosch dishwasher and have run into a conundrum hooking up the drain. The parameters are the following:

The dishwasher drain hose has a rubber bit on the end marked 1/2" and 3/4". It steps directly from 3/4" to 1/2" without an intermediate 5/8" level. The dishwasher is otherwise completely installed, so I would prefer not to pull it out to put on an entirely new hose.
The air gap has a 5/8" inlet and 7/8" outlet.
I want to drain into a garbage disposal with a 1" inlet.

This leads to two problems:

The drain hose appears not to fit the air gap inlet. I suspect I could jam it onto the air gap inlet with enough force, but I'm worried about longevity.

I do not mind replacing the air gap, but I've been unable to find one that had a 1/2" or 3/4" inlet and 1" outlet. Everything I've found, both locally and on the Internet, has 5/8" inlet and 7/8" outlet.
I need some way to connect the air gap outlet to the differently sized inlet on the disposal or (less preferred) some other part of the drain under the sink. I only need a couple of feet of hose.

The previous dishwasher had no air gap at all; it connected directly to the disposal (which led to at least one adventure I'd rather not repeat).

Right now I've taped the hose to drain into the sink, so do I have some time to do it right.

I'm puzzled because this seems like a common situation, so I wonder what I'm missing.

Sketch

Here is the situation. The red arrows are the two connections I am trying to make.

Photos

End of dishwasher hose:

Air gap:

Disposal inlet (the rag is simply to prevent leakage so we can use it while I solve this hookup problem):

I have had my Bosch dishwasher for about a year using the same setup you contemplate, so I'm familiar with the exact drain connector you have on the dishwasher hose.  On mine, there was something of a taper between the 1/2 and 3/4 section and being rather flexible rubber, and I had no difficulty stretching the 1/2 section of the fitting to fit on the 5/8 gap fitting.  I then tightened down the hose clamp with a hex bit on my cordless driver.  The clamp was tight enough to somewhat compress a groove into the rubber, and I tugged on the thing as hard as I could.  It isn't coming off IMHO.  I'm at work, but can send a picture later if you need.

I understand you are worried somewhat about the quality of the connection.  You could get a 1/2 to 5/8 adapter like this:

But that would entail 3 hose clamps and a section of 5/8 ID hose to connect between the adapter and air gap.  That seems like more points of failure.  At any rate, I think you already have what you need to get this working.


How should I maximize soundproofing when installing new hardwood flooring? I have  1000 sf of subfloor over finished basement in a 1970s two story residence. We want to achieve maximum sound proofing on this floor with open den/living room /foyer. Unfortunately I did not add soundproofing to the basement ceiling five years ago.

We are set on using a mid range engineered 5 inch by 3/8th inch plank. We  want contractor to pull up all carpet so we can address 1/2 tongue & groove subfloor and seek to treat certain squeaks and gaps and also pull up every other row and install Roksul in cavities- I think i can place /push them in.

Then we want an underlayment with best acoustic properties  say ECO ULTRA 980  or Floor Muffler but this decision gets confused by literature regarding a need to glue it down with say normal glue or not. Then install wood planks with more expensive glue Roberts 1535 at say $170 for 4  gal pail. The  various posts say  no need to glue down underlayment all. The acoustic glue is expensive I need  5  4 gallon pails. Any experiences?

There is no need to glue down the underlayment padding. The weight of the floor will hold it in place.  If you don't want it to shift while you are installing the floor, you can use double sided tapes (like the one used for carpet) to hold it.

I usually only put few strips of tape in "tricky" areas such as when approaching a door.  In a rectangular room, I don't use tape.


What could cause my range burner to be bright red and really hot when the dial is set to low? On one front burner I have a big problem.  I turn it on medium high until my water (or whatever) comes to a boil -- then, I turn it down to low heat (apx #2) -- and then many times, I look at it and the burner is bright red with an extremely high heat even though the dial is on low heat.  What could be causing this?

Kenmore electric range model 911.93614010

IME, Most electric stoves rely on duty cycles to adjust the heat of a burner. They do not alter the "flow" of heat like a gas stove. The burner is either producing heat, or it is not. If you watch it long enough, I bet you could even time the patterns of the different temperature settings.

I would call the manufacturer and see if there are any known issues, defects or recalls. Otherwise, I'd chalk this up to it's normal mode of operation.


What size pool jets am I supposed to purchase for 1.5 inch pipes? In my pool, I have two white PVC pipes that push water out, where jets are supposed to fit to increase flow rate.

The diameter of these pipes is 1.5 inches.

I purchased a 5-pack of "Pool and Spa Eyeball Jet 1.5" Threaded to 3/4" Open" jets from an online retailer.

I was sent a pack of 5 jets where the diameter of the threaded portion measured 1.75 inches, too big to fit in the 1.5" wall pipes.

I returned the pack, and requested the correct size.

Again, I was sent the same 1.75 inch pack back.  The product is a Pooline item number 11211C.  I found an independent description which measures the threaded portion as 1-1/2" MIPT.

Below is a photo from the website referenced above showing the MIPT, and photos of the items I received with a tape showing measurement.

Before I return these items for a third time, I want to make sure I am purchasing for the correct width.  Am I simply being sent the wrong item, or am I asking for the wrong item?  If so, what should I be asking for?

Nominal pipe size is for the hole on the inside of the pipe, and that is still subject to "nominal"

A pipe which is 1-1/2 inches (actually 1.557) on the outside is a 1-1/4" pipe.

A 1-1/2 inch pipe is 1.796 inches OD.

Here's a handy and very detailed chart/diagram

You have been asking for the wrong part, and have been sent the part you asked for, twice.


Hit wire on concrete wall while drilling a hole - problem? Hit a wire while drilling a hole on a concrete wall. Didn't feel like hitting anything, except there was a short, spark, and tripped the breaker.

With the breaker back on, haven't noticed any problems. If the wires stay apart, can any issues arise from this? Other than the breaker tripping again, in case the wires touch, what else can happen?

You can't just leave damaged wires in the wall.  The circuit might seem to work for now, but when a higher load is placed on it or anything moves the wires just a little bit, they can arc, short out against the conduit and melt/burn/damage other nearby wires.  This could happen years down the road, or the next time you plug something in.

I mentioned conduit, because in a concrete wall, the wires are going to be running in some.  This should make repair easier since the damaged wire can be pulled out and replaced.  You will want to make a larger hole in the wall to inspect your damage and fix any sharp edges that would damage new wire or prevent you from pulling new wire in the first place.

Also, circuit breakers will trip when the wire is shorted completely, but some arcing and burning can happen at a low enough current that the breaker won't trip immediately.  You can't rely on a breaker when dealing with physically damaged wires.


Is it normal to smell gas near a gas range? I recently extended our LP gas line to the kitchen so I could install a gas range. Since I'm technically not a qualified professional, I had the gas company come and test the line for leaks. There was a small leak detected which I was told was "about half a pound after 9 minutes" (I'm not sure what this even means). He said it's within the legal standard but I said I wanted the leaks fixed. He ended up making sure the fittings were all tight and had no noticeable leaks with an electric detector and said it was good to go.

This morning, I noticed that when I put my head over the range I could smell a little gas that was very noticeable if I wafted it to my nose. I could also smell a little gas when I opened the bottom drawer. I should mention that last night I was showing my wife how it works and I turned a burner on without igniting it to show her that the gas will just come out. This was only for a few seconds. Is it normal to smell a little gas with a gas range? Could it be that I'm just smelling the residual gas from the previous night? I'm not sure if I should call a plumber to check for leaks.

Note: Location is US

It isn't normal, and any gas in the room should dissipate fairly quickly. Get yourself a cup of soapy water and a paint brush and find the leak. At the very least your house will smell bad. At worst....


How to fix/improve a shared return between floors We have an older 2 level home where the lower level is a walkout basement.  Stairs connect the two levels, each is about 900 sq/ft.  We have a Carrier furnace plus a heat pump for HVAC.  This system heats/cools our entire house... sort of.  It blows “cold heat” in the winter, never quite warming if it’s actually cold outside, and coolish air in the summer, never quite cooling if it’s actually hot outside.  Maybe this is normal but it seems ridiculous.  That aside, we’ve got a single return on each floor, in the middle of the house.  AND those returns are stacked... the main level return is in the floor directly on top of the lower level return in the ceiling.  Whether this is good design or bad, it also has the strange effect of zero sound insulation in our home.  There’s basically a hole going straight thru between floors.  My questions is: how can the return issue be fixed/changed to eliminate the sound issue and improve hvac performance?  Thank you!

Your heat pump is not operating efficiently - how old is the unit - has it always done this ...

What is sounds like is that your reversing valves might be defective or most likely the unit is low on Freon - have you had the unit serviced to make sure it is up to snuff?
Also in winter the colder the temp outside the worse the heat pump will work. When temps are below 32 F - Aux Heat is best..

As for the hollow noise - the cheap route was done to build the house - you would need to do a dual duct system to get rid of that - perhaps you can split the duct into two halves and feed to the Air Handler ending up as one at the air handler .


Can a gas furnace be installed in an outdoor enclosure? I have an old home in which ductwork has been retrofitted.  The ducts for the first floor are arranged under the floor.  The first floor is heated and cooled by an electric package unit sitting just outside the house.

I want to replace the unit with something more efficient, and split systems have the advantage in efficiency and price.  However, there's nowhere inside the house on the first floor where the furnace half of the system could be installed.

Would it be insane to build an outdoor enclosure to house the furnace unit so that it would basically occupy the same real estate as the current package unit?

Since efficiency is your concern, why don't you install a geothermal system? There are geothermal split systems (example) that are designed to use very little space indoors.


Safety code for door opening Is there a safety code that states the minimum width of a door opening to the outside? Our sliding door only opens up to 24 inches.

An approved window for egress has the following requirements:

1st floor:
Clear opening width ≥ 20"
Clear opening height ≥ 24"
Minimum clear opening sq.ft. = 5.0 sq.ft.

So I believe this counts as approved egress.

As for an egress door, this site explains that code dictates that you only need one:

  This is a question that get asked quite often and many people are surprised to find out there is only one required exit door in a single family home per the IRC. However, there are requirements this door must meet. It must be a side hinged door, a minimum size of 3 feet wide and 6 feet 8 inches tall. So that sliding door, NOPE it doesn't meet building code for an exit door.

In summary, as long as you have one door per code (3' wide hinged door), you are set in terms of exterior doors. Your sliding door won't count as an egress door, but should count as a means of egress in terms of a window (if needed...such as part of a bedroom).


How do I remedy a ledger board that is pulling away from the house? The ledger board of our deck is attached with nails only. One side is beginning to pull away.  I put in more support posts so it is not separating further. What would be best to remedy the ledger situation?

Even if you've restrained the deck to prevent the ledger from pulling away more, I would be worried about those nails failing. If there's much separation between the ledger and the house you'll be putting bending stress on those nails. Is it feasible to add the lag bolts now? You haven't provided a picture or much description of the ledger area so it's hard to say what's practical, but I would say that getting that ledger securely fastened is critical to the safety of the deck.

Since this deck seems like it might have been a casual DIY job, you might also investigate the water membranes / flashing to make sure you're keeping moisture away from the house. Flashing may be difficult to retrofit but if it's missing or inadequate you should make an attempt to address that problem. Water can cause a huge amount of damage to both the deck and the house. There are several questions on this site that discuss ledger flashing.

If you can't properly secure the ledger to the house you might consider converting the porch to be free-standing, but that's a whole new project.


240 v 15 amp instant hot water heater no neutral I recently purchased an instant hot water heater. They get around using 10ga wire by utilizing two hots and a ground on a dual pole 15amp breaker over standard 14/2

I was advised to use a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter breaker. However those breakers normally require you to connect a neutral directly to it and have a small neutral pigtail that goes to the main neutral bus.

An electrician I spoke with stated to simply connect the two hots, the ground, the neutral pigtail, and not to worry about the direct neutral connection on the breaker.

Is this correct and if so will it still offer GFCI protection? If not I may as well save some money and use a regular 2 pole breaker.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Cheers

We went through this in a discussion about using North American GFCI breakers in Europlaces where power is 240V only.  Turns out the breaker itself needs neutral for its internal bits.  But actually, your connection advice is nothing more than the standard advice for hooking up any GFCI.

First, hook up the LINE side of the GFCI

On a breaker, the 240V GFCI gets its two "hots" when it clips in place and contacts the two bus bars.  That was easy.

Neutral, however, is a little trickier: you need to connect the neutral pigtail to the neutral bus. Aside from some plug-on-neutral panels that I don't much like, neutral is not available as a "rail" that the breaker can just clip onto.

Second, test for correct operation

Now that the GFCI is fully powered, you light it up and run it through its paces.  In this case that means hitting "Test" a few times and resetting it.

Third, hook up the LOAD side

Now with the GFCI checked out, you attach loads. On a GFCI breaker, the LOAD terminals basically are the ordinary output lugs every breaker has, except there's an extra one for the neutral.

Every conductor must attach to the GFCI, so if it was a split-phase load like a dryer, all 3 conductors would go to the GFCI.

However in your case, you only have the two hots, so those go to the two "hot" terminals on the breaker.  And you're done.

But I would talk to your AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction, or permit issuer/inspector) and see if a GFCI breaker is really necessary for a hard-wired, hard-plumbed heater. I don't think it is, but local codes vary.


Is my plan to add a neutral wire to a switch box ok? I'd like to add a neutral wire to an old switch box so that I can install a smart switch that needs a neutral wire.

I have a mud room and porch that each have a light fixture. The lights are independently controlled by a pair of stacked switches. Both fixtures are on the same breaker.

The wiring is old, and there isn't a neutral wire in the switch box.

I need to verify this, but I'm pretty sure 3-wire cable brings hot, neutral, and ground up to the junction box for the mud room light, and from there the same to the junction box for the porch light.

I think that neutral is then run in each junction box to each light fixture. The hot is then wired with 3-wire (including ground) cable to the switch box, which sends switched-hot back via the same 3-wire cable, to connect to the hot side of the light fixture.

I'd like to replace the stacked switches with a single smart switch that controls both lights (so that they would turn on/off together rather than being independently controlled).

My idea is to run hot/neutral to the switch box via the cable that currently is being used to switch fixture 1. The cable that is currently
being used to switch fixture 2 would continue to supply the switched hot that is necessary for fixture 2. The cable that is being used to take neutral and hot from fixture 1 to fixture 2 would then be repurposed to take the switched hot from fixture 2 to fixture 1, and to take neutral from fixture 1 to fixture 2.

Does this sound code compliant, and aside from code compliance, does it sound like a reasonable idea?

What you have -- ?

Note that colors signify function, even though the actual cable color is whatever standard cable colors are.   Here, red is switched-hot, white is neutral.

You can't cross the streams - er, send current going in a loop. This is AC.  It'll do bad things.

A basic rule is that currents must be equal in each cable or conduit.  Think about an army of ants exploring a tree.  Anywhere on the tree, if you count the number of ants that went up a branch, the same number will come back down.  Currents are equal in tree topology - but branches can't touch.  If an ant goes up one branch and comes down another,  currents are not equal.  Hence, circuits must be a rigid "tree" topology and loops must be prevented.

You see in the first drawing where there's a "Great Wall" separating the two switches.

So we do the following.

See how neutral goes a bit farther, but this avoids sending current in one direction around the triangle, and it is a tree (vine, anyway) not a loop.

**Notice how you will have two separate neutral splices in the left box.  Don't combine them and don't mix them up!


What can I use to back a door jamb strike plate with no framing behind? So I'm trying to replace the original entrance handleset door lock from my almost 100 year old house and after removing the old lock and patching up the holes. I looked inside the door jamb and realized the inside has nothing for the screw to catch, it's all hollow inside.

The original lock had some kind of metal block installed inside so the screws for the original faceplate had something to adhere to.

So now I have 3 inch screws for my faceplate that has nothing to catch. Is there something I can buy to install it inside the door frame?? Or do I need to somehow stuff wood blocks inside the door frame to install my faceplate?

I know of nothing short of installing something in the wall behind that frame - and oddly your door jamb does not have a stud there for the frame to mount to, as far as I know this has been common for a LONG LONG time.

From a security standpoint sounds like even the old system was there to keep honest weaklings from going rogue.

So you can remove that Jamb and install some framing stud in the back of it , use screws to attach it how you need to so you do not need to cut your wall, other wise you will need to cut that wall to fit and there are a couple options here - cut only at the top and bottom and remove the jamb or cut a piece all the way down and install the stud.


Running wire in wall between floors I am running a wire from my attic, through second story wall, down to first story. I cut a small hole in the second story wall to drill through the floor but I am hitting something about 10 inches down. Any idea what this is? It sounds like wood.
Should I get a longer bit and keep drilling?
 There is a set of stairs on the other side of the wall as well.

It boggles my mind when folks ask questions like this. How is anybody on the internet, supposed to know what's in your wall? We don't know where you live, what your house is made of, the layout of the house, "10 inches down" from what, etc.  Any answer somebody provided would be a guess, at best.

The only way to know for sure what it is, is to open up the wall and look.

If it's ~10" down from the second story floor, it's quite possibly the top plate of the wall below (that would assume 10" or 12" joists). Unfortunately, there's no way to guarantee that without looking. Happy drilling Bruh!


Can I install lower-rated fixture sockets to meet the rated current threshold for dimmer switches? Our room currently has 53 18W bulbs, and 18 11W Bulbs (we recently transitioned down from 75W bulbs, to LED equivalents).
We are looking to put the room on a dimmer system, but some concerns have been raised regarding proper electrical safety.
The commercial dimming system we are looking at has 12 10A dimmers. However, the concerns are that we would be running 71 light socket fixtures on 12 10A channels, thus pushing the potential limit beyond safe limits for 10A.

We have no plan to change out the bulbs to anything but the equivalent LED's, but I want to stay within electrical code. some of the answers I've gotten when talking with people I know in regards to potential problems, are that we cant put more lights on circuits or combine circuits, because we need to protect the wiring.

I know basics of electrical, but when getting into the code aspects as described above I want to go to people more knowledgeable than me so that this gets done right.

Would changing out alllllll the fixtures with lower potential fixtures (aka 60W sockets instead of 100W) load keep us within guidelines? Is there another solution that can get things operational without MAJOR re-wiring? ....or should we just proceed anyways, seeing as we aren't using high wattage bulbs?

--side note: I hope to contact a local electrical contractor to give us some guidelines and pointers, but I wanted to reach out online and get the general feel for the situation.

Any pointers or help is greatly appreciated!

You'll want a pro to help you with dimming.  Dimming LEDs is complicated -- well that's not true, native LEDs dim far better than any other type.  The problem is most screw-in LED bulbs are designed to "play well" with dimmers which also must play well with incandescent... and this results in extreme inelegance.

All that to say, if you use screw-in LED "bulb" replacements, you may be disappointed with the dimming.  However at the commercial / industrial level with fixed-LED (non-bulb) luminaires, there is much better tech, such as digital or 0-10V dimming controls, that really use LEDs up to their potential.  Don't be afraid of non-removable bulbs, LED emitters will outlive the building.

If you have plenty of extra panel space, I would not worry about reducing the number of circuits, because it costs money to do so, and why mess with a working system.  Remember if you have an Edison socket, some dimbulb  could screw in a 100W incandescent, then you must provision for that load on both the power supply and the dimmers/controllers.

If you must use sockets, use candelabra, as you can provison those For 40W as it's difficult to get incandescents above 40W. Strong LEDs are readily available at sane prices.  Don't waste your time with GU24 or any of the odd-duck sockets, the "bulbs" cost a fortune and the sockets will be gone soon.


repair drywall in the shower How do I repair a moisture damaged drywall in my shower?

This is a painted wall, and the paint is gone in some areas and the spots that have no paint get soaked when I use the shower. In these areas the wall is not flat, there are cavities where there is no paint.

I have found a few similar questions on this site, the answers recommend tiles, etc, I would prefer to leave it painted, and not reinstall this section of the wall. So I do not want to cut out this section and install cement board. I just want to waterproof it, fill in the cavities, and paint.

I have no idea what materials to use, how to waterproof it, etc. I have never done it. Please help.

EDIT: this is around the plastic shower stall, you can see the side of the tub in the left part of the photo.

The best thing you could do is to put ceramic tiles but since that's not what you want let’s try to think of something else. Firstly you must replace damaged drywall. It is extra sensitive when it comes to moisture or water. You can, and should replace it with moisture resistant drywall which is normally used in bathrooms. Then you should apply some waterproofing layer; something cement based (something like Sikalastic-200 W).But thing that is worrying me is do you have horizontal waterproofing layer (waterproofing on your floor? I'm asking this because horizontal and vertical waterproofing layer should be continuous. Than you can pain the bathroom with some exterior (façade) material which is impermeable to water or you can use something like travertine technique which is more expensive but looks really nice and it’s waterproof.


Australian plug on 220v pump I purchased a pump that is 220v 60 hz and is wired with an australian plug.  The vendor said simply to replace with an American 220v plug.  I cut off the australian plug and it only has 3 wires.  I cant determine where to attach the 2 hot 110v?  Does anyone have any experience with this?
Thank you

In North America (+Colombia, Ecuador) we use 240v center-tapped for 120V on either side.  In the rest of the world, they use 220-240V straight, no center tap.

For us, conventional household plug/socket is the 120V, and it has a name, NEMA 5.

There's also plug/socket  which supports 240V only, omitting the center tap.   This is called NEMA 6.  It looks nearly identical, but is keyed differently so it can't accidentally be plugged into a NEMA 5.

He is saying use a NEMA 6 plug.

NEMA 6 plugs come in several styles rated for 15 amps, 20A or 30A.  Use one that is correct for the power draw of your appliance, and the manufacturer can tell you which one they recommend, or search/ask a new question. If a 15A plug is correct, but you have a 30A socket conveniently available, do not put a 30A plug on it.  If you have that problem, search/ask a new question.

There are also other plug/sockets intended for devices which need both 120V and 240V, and provide the center tap (neutral) as well.  As long as they provide ground (NEMA 14), you could use one of those instead, or you could use NEMA 6 and an adapter cable.

If your house does not have any NEMA 6 sockets, that is fixable, ask a new question.


How does a microwave door interlock work and is a DIY repair feasible? Our microwave has developed a problem.  If the door isn't shut just so, the microwave thinks that it is open.  The door can be shut too lightly or too hard to exhibit the problem.  Recently it has began to pause right in the middle of cooking because it thinks the door has suddenly opened when it is still shut tightly.

From what I've read, the problem is likely with the "door interlock", a kind of sensor (or multiple sensors) that let the microwave know when the door is open or closed.

How do these sensors work, and is it possible to fix them yourself?  (I don't mind taking things apart.)

The specific microwave in question is a GE Profile PVM1790 over the range model.

This particular model has three microswitches to detect the door being fully closed.

If any one of them are loose or defective, it would cause the symptoms you experience.  Each switch is pricey at $30 from GE or $23 from Amazon but there are many low priced sources (see comments below), so I would open up the appliance and have a look to see if a wire has come loose, or a switch is no longer seated properly.  With it open, you should also be able to trigger the switch and see if it sounds like it is working correctly.  With this type of switch, listening to it can successfully diagnose them 90% of the time.

If all the switches seems mechanically okay, then bust out a DMM and use the ohmmeter to see which one is not remaining closed when toggled.


Sealing a cork tile floor? I just finished installing a cork tile floor (US Floors brand). If I do say so myself, it looks gorgeous! Cork is not generally recommended for a bathroom, but we felt that a half-bath should be a safe bet (not nearly the moisture around as in a full bath).

But just for peace of mind, I thought it might be a good idea to seal the cork -- the tiles themselves are pre-sealed, but not the joints (which are incredibly tight, but something could get through).

What should I use? Or should I even attempt to seal it?

Congratulations on the cork.  I put cork in my master bathroom a few years ago and it was the best floor I've ever had - warm in the morning and soft under bare feet.  I liked it so much I put cork in our kitchen too.

My feeling is that you don't need to seal it.  I didn't see any lifting or swelling on our floor over three years.  We're not especially fastidious people either - we basically just swiped puddles with a towel when we saw them.

Any sealant you put on that is capable of sealing the joints will be a film finish.  My gut says the subtle expansion and contraction of the cork along with the flex of the floor will crack a film finish like that in pretty short order, defeating the purpose.

One thing you could try if you're nervous is some clear wax.  Test it under a cabinet or something to see if you can force a tiny bit into the seam and still thoroughly remove it from the surface.  Also satisfy yourself that the solvent in wax doesn't damage the finish of the cork tiles. If it works ok, it might slow down penetration of water into the seams while still remaining flexible.


Bonding new ground wire from ground rod to exsiting house grounding block I am installing a new external TV antenna on the back of my house.  The house grounding block is about 100 ft away from the new antenna, around the other side of the house.  There is an existing exposed 6AWG ground wire that runs through my basement (serves, I think the gas meter on the other aside of the house).

Trying to tun 100' of 6 AWG ground wire from the antenna to the existing house grounding block, making a number of 90 degree bends in doing so, does't excite me (and I'm not sure that all those 90 degree bends are good for it).

I can run the antenna grounds (mast and coax) to a new ground rod.  It would not be difficult for me to run a ground wire from that rod to the existing 6 AWG ground wire running through the basement.  Can I (should I) do this - clip the new ground wire from the rod to the existing 6AWG wire in my basement, thus bonding the house ground to my new rod.  It's sure much easier than trying to run that wire outside the house with all its 90 degree turns.

For lightning protection, the antenna and mast should be connected directly to a ground rod. Use straight runs and avoid splices.

Even nearby lightning, as opposed to a direct hit. creates very high magnetic and induced electric fields, so avoid sharp bends in the ground wire and do not run near or parallel to other wiring.

Ground wire and rods are fairly inexpensive and are easily installed. Note that the size of the ground rod(s) depends on soil conductivity -- check local conditions.


Underground downspout pipe may be leaking I have been getting more and more water in my basement in the last few years. Every time it snows and melts, water trickles in around one spot in the basement floor.

I had someone come out to take a look and when they ran a camera through my yard drainage system, we saw that the buried pvc pipe has holes in the sides of the pipe. The technician thinks that this is the cause of the leaking as the spot where it leaks is right by a downspout with a buried discharge pipe. The start of the system has water running through it, further down near where this issue the water slows to a trickle, and then after another downspout is connected to the drainage system the water really moves through the pipe again. The drain pipe goes out into the storm sewer.

This guy was originally coming out to estimate for an interior drain tile to be installed, so it seems like he is actually doing things in my best interest since this will be much cheaper and i could even do it myself.

My question is this: Does this sound like a good reason to replace the pipe with solid pvc with no holes? Would having holes on the sides of the buried pvc pipe really cause enough water to escape that it would eventually leak into my basement?

It's not clear what you are telling us.  If the PVC is French Drain type, built with holes, then it's intended to allow water to flow in/out. If it is simply broken, then of course you should replace the broken length so it functions as designed.

To determine whether it is the source of the leak, do what plumbers do: dump water with some dye mixed in down the pipe and see if the colored water shows up in the basement.  If not, it's more likely what you have is a high water table and a microcrack in the basement floor (which may be patchable with hydraulic cement).

And finally, I dunno where you live but the towns I've been in generally ban any on-property drain from feeding a storm drain. YOu might want to check out the local codes.


Wall load bearing or not? We want to remove a wall in our kitchen, so we ripped out the drywall on one side. Is there a way to tell if it's load bearing or not? Here is a picture of the exposed framing:

It seems that the beams end just above the ceiling and do not attach to a cross beam above. Here's a picture from the attic:

The house was built in 2005. We have been told newer houses do not have load bearing walls on the interior. We also had a contractor come out and he was 97% sure it wasn't, but I still want to be sure.

Determining if this segment is load bearing should be evident to a competent contractor. There are a few things to look for. You have to look above and below the wall in question. In the floor or attic above, you have to determine if there is structure bearing down directly or via headers to this wall segment. Next, you need to look below in the basement level to see if a beam, post or other structure is directly below the wall segment carrying the load to the foundation.  While not always true, this wall segment may be load bearing if it is parallel to the longest dimension of the house, usually perpendicular to a gable end and located half way between the two longest exterior walls. There are a few methods of framing that could make this a load bearing wall, even if you have full trusses for roof support, ie; ceiling joists that rest on a center beam directly over the wall in question. As I said, most competent carpenters could look at this and determine it's load bearing status. Obviously, a set of plans would be helpful as well. Even if it is load bearing, a good carpenter will be able to design a header to span the new opening, support the load and allow you to remove the section of wall you want gone.


Suggestions on where to start hardwood flooring I will soon be ready to start laying hardwood in a bedroom - outlined below.  The boards will run parallel to the walls with the doors (joists run perpendicular to those walls).  The hallway outside the "door to hall" (and adjoining room) will have the same hardwood installed later this year.  I feel I should start on either the wall with the bathroom door or at the door to the hallway.  Should I start on the wall with the bathroom door and reverse direction to work the little square back to the hallway door?  I know there is a chance that they aren't completely parallel - but the area with the door to the hall isn't lit very well, so an "adjustment" wouldn't be as noticeable.  Should I rip a piece to use as a threshold there or just use the whole board (if I can) since more hardwood will be installed later?

Hardwood floors either have click-lock grooves or basic tongue and groove, but they all share that same basic idea.  That means they can only be laid in one direction.  The only place you can really start is going to be the top-left corner of your picture, and then move left to right and down towards the bottom.

If you start at the bottom, you can only move up, and that will cause you to have a transition strip of some sort in the doorway to the hall when you continue the flooring later.

When you stop in the doorway, rip a board to act as a "cap" for the edge of the last whole board.  If you don't cap it off, the edge will get damaged because it's thinner because of the tongue and groove.  When you're ready to continue, remove the ripped board to reveal a nice, protected groove to work with.


What's the difference between BTU and CFM when comparing air conditioners? I'm looking at GE in-window air conditioners. Based on research and room size I've determined a 10,000BTU unit will be best.

My next concern is the loudness of the machine.  This led me to two models.
The AED10AV and the AEM10AV.  There is only one major difference between the two.  The AED lists 230 CFM and the AEM lists 300 CFM.

My problem is understanding how CFM and BTU don't seemed to be linked.  Isn't cooling power (British Thermal Units) a function of the amount of air blown (Cubic Feet per Minute)?

They have almost nothing to do with each other.

BTU describes the actual cooling power.

CFM simply describes how fast it moves the working fluid (the air) through the system, and CFM does not matter for differences that small. Suppose you order water and one vendor supplies four 3-gallon jugs and the other supplies three 4-gallon jugs.  Not a difference enough to care about.

Noise has nothing to do with either one, and everything to do with the acoustics of the machine, shape and design of the blowers, and isolation of machinery.  Slightly more air volume matters little by comparison.


Is it bad to close furnace dampers in order to balance temperatures seasonally? I have a two story home. As such, it's always hotter on the second floor than the first floor.
As advised by many articles and how-to videos out there, I usually close the dampers in the ducts leading to the first floor in the summer, so that the cold air from the air conditioner is forced to the upstairs vents and then sinks down to the lower level, and vice versa in the winter so the warm air rises.
I'm trying to get a straight answer on whether this is ok or bad. I've now seen many other articles that suggest you should always leave all dampers and vents open all the time because you could cause damage to your furnace by creating unexpected blockages.
But most of those articles seem to be focused around the idea of closing off airflow to a room in order to save on energy costs. That is not my goal. I'm not closing off any rooms by shutting doors or anything. I just want the air to start in one spot and naturally move up or down in order to maintain an even temperature throughout the house.
So should I be able to adjust those dampers and registers? Or should I be concerned that it will damage my furnace?
FYI, the house was a new build in 2012, with a high efficiency furnace and AC unit.
UPDATE:
Even with the air filter out, it was still shutting off. Had a friend in the HVAC industry take a look. I wasn't there at the time, but according to my wife, he suggested that the furnace is too big for my house and that my duct work is smaller than it should be. So it was having trouble carrying the heated air away from the burners fast enough (which
She said that he turned down the gas valve a bit and increased the air flow (not sure how). Been a couple days and it hasn't shut off yet.

Yes, if you close too many dampers, you can overly restrict air flow which will burn out your furnace motor. However, what’s more likely is air flow will increase in the ducts/grills that have not been restricted. When this happens it could create a “whistling” noise because the ducts are too small for the amount of air being pushed down the duct.

When we design heating/cooling systems, we try to balance the air flow so more air can go where there is greatest heat loss/gain. Partially closing one damper will cause more air to flow to other ducts/grilles. So, yes, you can adjust your houses temperature in various rooms by changing (opening/closing) dampers.