What can be done to fix a squeak in stairs? This might be better suited as a community wiki, what do you think?

My parents house has very squeaky stairs. The house is over 100 years old, so it's to be expected. What can be done to fix a squeak in stairs, and prevent new ones from cropping up?

Since the house is 100 years old, the stairs are probably constructed using a tapered groove and wedge system.  The stringers typically had tapered dados cut into them to receive the stair treads.  Wedges were tapped in with glue underneath the tread to lock the tread into place.

Check if this is the case by looking under the stairs.  Hopefully the underside is accessible, if not you might have to remove some drywall or plaster.

If the stairs are constructed using tapered dados, please don't nail or screw the treads in to stop the squeak.  It might work for a year or two, but the treads will expand and contract, loosening the fasteners which will then squeak worse than ever.

Assuming you can get to the underside, find the squeaky stairs.  If the wedges are still there and sound, remove them, clean them, apply glue to the faces and tap them back into place with a hammer, tightening up the stair tread.  If, as is often true, the wedges are missing or splintered/broken, cut a new wedge using an existing wedge as a model.


What can I do about a room over the garage with temperature problems? I'm learning many things about our new home. This winter I learned that a room directly above a garage stays much colder than the rest of the house (up to 10+ degrees colder in our case). What options exist to eliminate or reduce this problem? Is there some way I can easily increase the insulation without having to tear floors up, or open up ceilings - or is that the best option available to me?

Jonathan, your problem is very common. Do you know what is in the floor for insulation now? Assuming there is some f/G batts or something similar, it would be hard to try to add anything else, such as high density cellulose  directly into the cavities. As much as you probably don't want to hear it, the best way is going to remove the sheetrock from the garage ceiling and remove the existing insulation. With the framing completely open, be sure to seal all holes through joists and floor areas where wires or other components may pass thru with foam. The absolute best insulation would be to have a high density foam sprayed into each bay and into any voids along garage door headers etc. This would give you the maximum R value and absolutely stop any cold air infiltration to the bedroom above. The goal would be to achieve an R value of 30 or more. The alternate method for DIY would be to again, seal any air passage ways and door headers with spray foam, then carefully install the max amount of f/g blanket and cover entire field with 4 mil poly and tape all seams and edges with tuck tape before reinstalling your fire rated sheetrock. This is not the best solution as the r value of the f/g is going to be limited by the size of the joists. 2X8 for example will limit you to about an R 23.  A slightly higher R value could be achieved with blown in high density cellulose after sheetrock is installed, in place of the blanket f/g insulation.  The spray foam is definitely the best overall, but the most expensive as well.

In response to Sharp Tooth's answer, too long for comment section: I have seen 2 to 4 inches of rigid foam insulation added to garage ceilings in this situation. The only drawback of this method is the problems it causes with garage door openers and suspension hardware. It also can cause issues with overhead lighting and overall head space. I hate to be a nay sayer, but I have to negatively comment on your other suggestions. Insulating a garage that does not have new style insulated, airtight doors is a total waste of money. Likewise, trying to heat a garage that is not build to be energy efficient can be extremely expensive to install and fuel, especially if a separate zone or plumbing needs to be added. This is not a viable solution as every time the garage door opens, out goes all that expensive heat. Carpeting, even over a thick foam pad will not help much either, maybe a gain of 2 to 4 "R", quite negligible. I hope you were not serious about heat tape under the ceiling. Other than electric or forced hot water radiant heat grids that would be installed under the floor, not under the ceiling, there is no safe product to do what you decribed. It would not work anyway, since the source of heat would be on the wrong side of the insulation and the vast majority of the heat would be wasted into the garage air. Sorry to shoot down your suggestions, but I truly believe questions should have informed, proven solutions, not wishful guesses.


How do I install a ceiling fan remote? I am trying to replace a busted Hunter ceiling fan remote.  The receiver unit from the old remote had 5 wires - live and neutral, and then 1 that was labeled "fan out", 1 that was labeled "light out", and 1 that was labeled  "common out."

The fan unit has 4 wires - 1 green wire that is capped, 1 blue wire labelled "for light", 1 black wire, and 1 white wire.

Can I use the new remote/receiver that I have and ignore the white wire (obviously capping it for safety?

Or do I need to replace the new remote receiver unit with a different one that has the third "common out" wire?

I only have a single light switch in the room.

According to the installation instructions for a Hunter Universal Fan & Light Remote Control (Model 27185), the device should be wired as follows.

Green/bare from ceiling to green/bare from receiver and fan.
Black from ceiling to black (hot) from receiver.
White from ceiling to white (neutral) from receiver.
Blue from fan to red (light) from receiver.
Black from fan to black (fan) from receiver.
White from fan to white (common) from receiver.
*Red from ceiling should be capped off.

*Optional: If the unit was previously controlled by two switches.


How should I get my ejector pump out of the sump? Forgive my story format: I have this 1/2 HP Sewage Package System and it is busted.

At first, it was tripping the circuit it was connected to. I enabled the circuit and when the float switch fired the pump, the water was successfully pumped up and out. I was proud of myself and thought I was done, but then it backed up again. Now, it is not tripping the circuit any more, and I can hear it 'humm' from time to time (no time pattern, really, which I think is strange), however it is not pumping the sewage up and out.

I tried taking the float switch out of the picture, but it still behaves the same.

This has been backed up before and hired professional to fix. It apparently had qtips and tampons 'clogging' it.

My hope is that I will be able to triage this myself and fix..or at least try before I hire again. My question is: How do I get this thing out of the sump? Will I first need to drain the sewage using a siphon (I'm next to a slop-sink, and the sewage at this time is diluted)? Or do I do a blind reach down and grab it (eww) and if so can you recommend a good LONG pair of gloves (its deep, probably past my elbow)?

I recommend using a wet-vac to empty the pit. If you don't have one and the pump was installed correctly the pipe would have a union fitting along it somewhere above the water line -- although not the best way to do things, the pump can often be lifted out by its pipe.


How do I reinstall round 6" duct pipe in my basement? The 6" duct pipe was removed in my basement. I am trying to put it back up, but the pieces will not go together.  The pipe is no longer round, and even when i try putting pieces together that have the same odd shape, the crimped edge will not fit into the adjoining piece.  How do i remedy this? I considered buying new but that will not help to join the piece that is in the rectangular duct.  There is no way for me to reach that section on the rectangular duct. Is there a tool to make the pipe round again?

Fix

If the pipes have been deformed (by placing something heavy on them, for example) then you can try bending them back to a round shape. If they're deformed to the point they actually have folds or creases in them, I'd give up and throw them out.

New ducts

Round ducts are sold as sheets with a special fold along the two sides that interlock into each other to form the round shape. They're actually very easy to assemble, and not very expensive. Most big hardware stores will have a few sizes in stock, in addition to elbows, boots and other parts.

Source: http://www.familyhandyman.com/heating-cooling/round-ductwork-installation-tips/view-all

You mentioned you don't have enough now anyway, so if you buy a few new pieces, you might be able to use their round shape to fit your existing pieces into.

Re-crimp ends

You can also get a duct crimping tool to redo the crimps on the end, making them tighter so they fit into the next piece over.

Personally, I've done several modifications/changes to ducts like this as part of basement, garage, and laundry room renovations, and though I'm generally always happy to have a an excuse to buy a new tool, I've never bought a pair of these.

A handful of times I've had to make a crimp more tapered to fit pipes from different eras together, and a couple times I've had to completely make my own crimp, but I've just used a pair of long needle nose pliers -- grab on, twist 45 degrees clockwise, move the pliers over 1/2", repeat until you're back at the start. It doesn't look as nice but it's totally functional. Just be careful of having too much protrusion into the duct as it can disrupt airflow.

Ideally all your crimps are also facing the direction of the airflow, but this isn't always possible.

Connections

You can use 1/2" self-tapping screws to attach ductwork together, usually a couple is all it takes. For dryer vents, it's better to avoid screws as lint will catch on them and block the pipe.

Don't forget to tape the seams using aluminum foil tape (not regular duct tape, which is not for heating ducts!). If there's no chance of the ducts being mechanically disturbed (eg, they're in a joist bay, secured by hangers) I've often only used duct tape (no screws) to attach them, but I don't know if this is kosher.


How to wire a light with multiple black/white/green wires from the ceiling? There are multiple wires coming from my ceiling, 4 black, white, and green, and 1 yellow wire.

Our light has 1 black, 1 white, and 1 yellow/green.

I wired:
- the black on the light to the bundle of blacks from the ceiling.
- the white on the light to the bundle of whites from the ceiling.

Then plugged in a light bulb. The light bulb was ALWAYS ON no matter what light switch I toggled.

How should I be wiring this? Thanks.

Yellow (and painted white) will be switched hot, connect that to fixture black.

The white bundle is neutral, the white from the fixture goes here.

Fixture yellow/green is ground and gets connected to the green bundle.


How do I remove this peephole viewer? How do I remove this peephole viewer?

I haven't been able to find one like this on YouTube how-to videos so I'm guessing it's an older style.

On the outside of the door is a gold plate surrounding the viewer, I can provide a photo if necessary.

The door is metal, about an inch thick.

The part near the lens is threaded, so you should be able to unscrew the front from the back by turning that circular plate with the notches. The notches are certainly meant for tightening and loosening.


Gas furnace control board issues: main burners never start; sparks never stop w/o flame sensor I have a gas furnace that uses an intermittent pilot/ignition to light the pilot. The furnace itself is having problems starting the main burners, so I took a look. I found the following:

When I turn on the furnace, the igniter lights the pilot flame, and the igniter eventually stops after 5-10 seconds, i.e., the flame rectification system appears to be working fine. However, the main burners never start. Measuring the (AC) voltage between the main burner output (MV) and MV/PV as well as ground on the ignition control module, it appears to be nearly 0 V. Does this sound like my ignition control went bad, even if it is able to detect the pilot flame and shut off the igniter?
As a test, I unplugged the flame sensor at some point and turned on the system. I wasn’t surprised to see the igniter sparking even after the pilot flame was lit. I was, however, surprised to see the igniter never stop sparking (at least for 5 minutes), while the pilot flame continued to burn. Is this normal? It seems like the igniter and gas should have been shut off by the ignition control after at most a minute or two.

If it helps, the ignition control module’s make/model is Robertshaw SP715A. The furnace is a Williams Forsaire Counterflow Furnace model #8508332.

Thanks!

If the flame sensor is disconnected it will keep sparking thinking there is no flame. I am not sure if that unit has a proving time limit or not. Many of the Honeywell models lock out after either 15 or 90 seconds and stay locked out until power or thermostat is interrupted or 5 minutes.
As fo the main gas valve it may be a few things. Check the grounding. Check for continuity throughout the entire grounding path. Check for 24 volts between MV/PV and PV. I would expect voltage there since you have a pilot light. Check between MV/PV and MV. If there is power there but the gas valve does not open check the same terminals at the gas valve. Still power then bad gas valve. No power there and good ground then most likely a bad ignition module.


How to find a non-switched wire in attic I'm trying to add a whole house fan in the attic.

Currently there are many power cables in the attic and as far as I know, they all feed lights and bathroom fans - implying they are all switched.

To connect the fan, I think I need a non-switched wire that I can tap into.

Will my search for a non-switched wire in the attic prove to be futile ?

Any tips on how to find one ?

You should check the instructions for the fan, but I suspect it draws too much current to simply be tapped into an existing circuit.  It may be best to hire an electrician to bring a new circuit from the panel to the fan location.


How can I make a clothes rack from this pipe? I found this piping in the shape of :

I want to turn it into a clothes rack since I have NO closet space.

I want it to be up right so the bottom pipe needs to be mounted to something to stabilize it.

It is one piece of pipe so the corners there are no connections, it is just bent at the corners. The beginning and end connect sort of like a male/female type connection but it is in one of the straight areas of the pipe.

Suggestions on how to do so...(simply, as I have only a few tools: a drill, hammer, and wrenches.)?

Here's another idea. Hang it from the ceiling with chain. You can then use both the top and bottom bar to hang clothes. You'll need a couple of heavy hooks to screw into the ceiling joist, some attractive chain, and a clasp to connect the chain over the pipe. You can find all of this at Lowes, Home Depot, or a hardware store. Tell them what you're doing and they'll probably be glad to help.


Hardwire Ethernet with CL2 wire We have a house that we are trying to setup for a shelter.  We are trying to get hardware ethernet into every room, without pulling wire to each room.

Three downstairs rooms, including an office have CAT5 wire, so we are set there.  Also we have a donated Netgear FSM7352S switch.  There are 14 rooms that we want to put ethernet into, which do not have CAT5, however all but one has 22/4 CL2 wire going to boxes for telephone outlets.

I would like to put the switch where the telephone wires terminate, and use the 4 conductor wire, even if it only supports 10 mbps, or some lower speed. It will save pulling lots of wire, and if it works at all, will be very helpful.

The question is: Will it work?
What is the expected performance, with less than 100 feet?

The raw speed is fine - a single user can (except for really heavy usage) do fine with 1.5 Meg. DSL, so 10 Meg. is plenty fast for typical internet use. The problem is making it all work correctly.

First of all, 10 Meg. ethernet is a bit of a problem these days. Pretty much everything will work fine at 100 Meg. and most new stuff at 1 Gig. with automatic fallback to 100 Meg. But already a few years ago I started to find devices that simply will not work reliably, and sometimes not at all, at 10 Meg. I know that sounds a bit crazy as the actual speed realistically needed by any individual device for ordinary internet use (as opposed to traditional LAN use) is 10 Meg. or less. So problem one is that 10 Meg. may not be good enough. I have also found that a marginal network connection may work OK at 10 Meg., but with 100 Meg. port on device and 100 Meg. port on switch, it may be hard to force the network to back down to 10 Meg. and left at 100 Meg. it may be unreliable.

The second issue is the cabling. Normally you need CAT 3 cabling, 4 wires (out of 8) for 10 Meg., CAT 5 for 100 Meg., and typically Cat 5e (and using 8 wires instead of 4) for 1 Gig. So 4 wires is actually fine for 10 Meg. or 100 Meg. But I have never seen 4 wire cable with twists needed for even CAT 3 operation. CL2 refers to the outer covering of the cable, it says nothing about the quality/type of the actual wires. See if you can find any additional labels on the outside of the cables that might indicate the type of cable.

There is more likely problem. Telephone wires can be done in a "star" configuration, which is similar to typical network wiring. But that is most often the case with offices where each phone jack requires a separate home run to the phone system. In most houses with ordinary phone service, several phone jacks will be daisy-chained together. That is fine for ordinary phone service, but not for twisted pair ethernet networks.

Are there ways to make use of substandard cable? Absolutely. But typically those are for situations such as "extra telephone cables in place going about 70 ft. above a 16 ft. high ceiling and another 30 ft. above a 12 ft. ceiling" and the connection to be run is for typical internet access, not a LAN, so super high speed not needed. In that case (which my brother took care of), getting a line driver (a little black box on each end of the circuit) to make it work was worth a few hundred $ and it solved the problem. Putting line drivers or similar devices in 14 rooms that are close to each other is likely more expensive than having a "cable day" and just getting the wiring done the old fashioned way.

There are also things you can do to save time and/or money in an install of this type (as opposed to a first-class office installation):

Run double cables to single locations and put the drops on opposite sides of a wall to get two rooms with one run (i.e., 2x cable but only 1x labor).
Use additional small switches - e.g., run a cable to a spot in 1 of 4 clustered rooms, install a 5-port switch (some are less than $10) and then run short cables to the other 3 rooms.

But I admire your choice of wired ethernet. Even if you end up providing WiFi as well (which actually does make sense so people can browse on their phones without expensive data plans), there are some significant advantages to having wired network connections.


Can I use a braided flexible supply on a Polybutylene Qest Shutoff Valve? I was repairing my leaky old qest PB angle valves in preparation to replace my faucets, and I overtightened a nut and broke it.  Can I replace the 3/8" supply line with a flexible braided supply with the integrated nut?  The nut on the qest fitting is 1/2" but the supply inlet is 3/8", so I'm not positive that this will work.

I purchased a 1/2" IPS braided supply but the design doesn't permit the inner sealing cone to sit within the 3/8" opening in the quest valve, making it impossible to use.  It seems the only option with these is the original type nut and a 3/8" OD supply tube/line.


Is 1/2" plywood standard and appropriate for a roof replacement? A local roofer submitted a proposal to me for a roof placement that included replacing rotten plywood with 1/2" CDX.  The existing plywood on my roof is only 3/8".   I thought perhaps he made a mistake, but no, this is what he is proposing.  He said it's only a difference of 1/8" thickness.  Is it customary to mix the thickness of existing and new plywood on a roof?

I spent 4 years representing a roofing company in NC.  Occasionally I have seen 3/8" plywood on a roof.  It is certainly not preferred by professionals interested in quality.  Mixing thicknesses is not preferred either, but if you use the proper underlayments and decent shingles, particularly archatectural, you aren't likely to notice.  Half inch on a roof is usually OK and very common, at least around here.  Obviously 3/4" is better.  If you can afford to replace all the plywood, it certainly wouldn't be a bad thing.


Can I install reclaimed pine flooring over a floating subfloor? I want to lay reclaimed pine floorboards over a newly laid concrete floor in a kitchen. Height from top of concrete to finished top of floorboards is 80mm. Boards are 20mm thick x 175 wide.

I could use 60mm battens screwed to the concrete. But I'd like to avoid this battening work by laying a floating floor consisting of 40 Celotex boarding, with 18mm plywood board on top and the nailing the floorboards to the ply-board. Can I use this construction?  Advice please.

it does greatly depend on climate, but if this is a slab on grade or a basement slab, you will have issues with wood warpage and expansion cracking from water permeation through the slab, no matter how much of a vapour barrier you install.  you will have to seal the slab with a urethane slab sealer first.  then you can put in drycore or any other type of ventilated subfloor.

also, you may want to consider that reclaimed pine, although lovely, is one of the worst materials for a kitchen floor.  its too soft and too porous for even sporadic exposure to water.  its a terrible wear surface as well.


How can I install a pendant light fixture on a cathedral ceiling with no attic space? My house has an integrated ceiling/roof with exposed rafters... the ceiling/roof is sloped and surfaced with V-edged 2" redwood boards over 4x6 rafters 4' on center.  I want to hang a pendant light over the dining room area (unfortunately right in between two rafters).  Do I need to mount raceway to a surfaced-mounted junction box? What type of junction box exisst for this implementation (that doesn't look like a rough piece of hardware)?

Here is a link to lots of images of a variety of surface wiring hardware.  There are several manufacturers of good looking surface boxes and raceways. One of the popular high quality makers is Wiremold.


Switched outlet keeps tripping breaker Re-wiring the garage and running into an issue with a switched outlet. The outlet is in the middle of the run (after a GFCI and before a single ceiling outlet for the door opener). I've split the receptacle to only have the top outlet switched and all of the hot outlets are working as expected.
Unfortunately the switched outlet trips the breaker each time it's switched on.
The wires coming into this box are:
2 wire from GFCI (from load)
2 wire from switch (white taped as 'hot')
2 wire from next outlet

Connections as follows:
- Ground from outlet to raised ground screw
- Black from GFCI, Black to next outlet, Switch loop (white from switch), and pigtail are nutted and connected to bottom brass screw
- Black from Switch connected to top brass screw
- White from GFCI, White to next outlet, and pigtail are nutted and connected to bottom silver screw

Any suggestions are welcome.

thanks to everyone's suggestions i was able to isolate the issue. there was obvious continuity btwn the black lead from the switch and the conduit. pulled the wiring and found a small nick in the insulation near a right angle connector. will be pulling new wire later this week.


How can I build my own water aeration system for radon mitigation? My house has a well. The well pumps water into a pressure tank in my basement. The pressure tank sends the water through a small whole-house filter and into the plumbing.

I have high radon levels in the water.

My plumber says he can install an aeration system for $6500 to $8500. I asked the state's drinking water office about cheaper alternatives. The reply included this:

  If you wish to use aeration, you could develop your own equipment
  setup (with a packed media tank, a blower, and a booster pump).

As I understand it, an aeration system involves an air pump that blows bubbles evenly through the water and a fan that blows that radon-rich exhaust outside. That seems straightforward.

But I can't find any instructions online about how to build such a system. Where do I find the materials? Is there a risk of cultivating bacteria in the water by adding another tank?

There are a variety of risks, including the risk that the system will fail to work as intended. You either punt those to let someone else design the system, or you take them on yourself when you design it.

To look at just one that you've thought of: Not growing bacteria in your water system is pretty much a matter of having clean water to start with and good sanitation when you work on the system. If your well is not contaminated, then sanitizing your water system whenever it's opened up for work should mean your system remains free of bacteria, if you don't introduce them. So, you probably need a filter (capable of excluding bacteria) on the air you'll be blowing through the packed media filter, for instance. Often, when you add up all the parts you need to do the job right, prebuilt systems don't look as expensive as they do when you haven't looked at the problem in depth; but that's not obvious until you do look into the details of the problem and solving it, reliably, completely, and without adding other problems.

If the air is not adequately filtered, you may need to add in a chlorination or other disinfection system after the filter to kill bacteria introduced in the filter.

Also - a packed media filter should reveal a few things to you in a search - it's more spraying the water over a physical medium that allows it to drip a lot than blowing bubbles. You need the booster pump because you lose all water pressure at this stage, so you pump from your well to the radon filter, and from the radon filter to your house. The thin layer of water on the media is more amenable to removing/exchanging gas than bubbles or droplets. The same type of system is often seen in waste treatment where a great deal of oxygen exchange is needed.

This from PSU extension has a pretty good discussion/description.

Here is a bit more on packed columns - you are interested in the process type called stripping or desorption.

This one is about removing VOCs and suffers a bit in translation but has good illustrations and removal of VOCs is the same basic process as removing radon.


2 circuits in a double gang box Can you have two different circuits (separate) in a double gang box--one for a light and the other for a receptacle in a bathroom or anywhere in your house?

No problem.   Two circuits can share a box, and even serve different switches or outlets in the same box. Be careful to keep hots and neutrals separate.

For instance a household member really likes running the hair dryer and curler at the same time.  Nothing stops you from running dual 12/2 to the bathroom receptacle, splitting hot and neutral tabs, and serving each socket from a dedicated GFCI breaker.

You could even do that with different main services, e.g. The above but with one side served with mains power, the other from a separately derived PV or generator system.  However you would need to distinguish each system with different wire markings or colors.  This is why gray is an allowed neutral color.


How can I diagnose my fridge's evaporator fan? How can I find out which part has failed in my fridge? The evaporator fan at the back of the freezer is not working, so the freezer is cold but the fridge is not. How can I figure out if it's the fan or some other (hopefully less expensive) part?

If the fan is not working, you need to focus on that first.

If you spin it manually, does it work? If so, the motor may just be old or clogged so starting friction is too high - try cleaning, then replace.
If you cannot spin it, check for obstruction. If none, replace.
Check voltage across the fan motor (with door switch open then closed) - if it doesn't turn on, then check electricals.

(It is a cheap and easy self repair)

Once you have got the fan working again, then check to see if problem is solved.


How urgent is it to fix cracks in foundation? I have a house with a floating slab floor built on a cement foundation.  There is a crack in the foundation that is 1/8 inch wide which has existed since before I moved in 4 years ago.  I never thought it was a problem until a guy (who is in concrete repair sales ) told me I should get it fixed.

Unless the crack gets wider or there are observable problems in the house, I'm considering not addressing it at all.  Is this a bad strategy?

If I do wait to fix it, will it likely be much more expensive down the road?

Small hairline cracks are fairly common in foundations and slabs. They are usually caused by ground subsidence, and typical freeze/thaw cycles. They can also form almost immediately after the slab is poured for various reasons. If the crack continues to open, or there is any shift in the slab, you definitely would want to get it checked out by a professional.

Slabs can be very costly to repair. There are techniques out there such as slab jacking, and underpinning the foundation. These kinds of repairs can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Honestly, this sounds like a scare tactic from your contractor to drum up some business. If I were you, I would first fill the crack with a caulk made to fill cracks in concrete, and keep an eye on it. If a full Winter season passes, and there is no change in it, then it should be stable enough to leave it. Just be sure to check it periodically, and inspect for other cracks.


Repair or replace a water pressure regulating valve? The water pressure inside a property is low.  The property obtains water from a municipal water supplier.  Staff from the supplier measured the incoming water pressure and reported it was within normal range (at the high end of the range, actually).
The staff reported that the pressure regulating valve going into the property likely is not functioning properly, but also reported that they know little about such valves.
Does that sound like a correct assessment of the problem, and if so, is it best to replace the filter and cartridge in the current regulating valve, or replace the entire valve?
Note that the pipes run vertically and there is no wiggle room for a different size valve if it needs to be replaced.

Many water regulators are dirty or need a rebuild kit.
Cleaning the regulator inlets and orifices may fix things.
A rebuild kit may be needed.
normally the diaphragm is the component that usually fails most kits come with a new spring and diaphragm.
some as cheap as  $15.00 for just the diaphragm.
Kits that have the entire internal setup spring, diaphragm, valve, screen, o rings, screws. Can cost over 100$.
So I suggest trying to clean them first.


How should I insulate garage ductwork when no gap exists between ductwork and ceiling? I currently have uninsulated HVAC ductwork running the width of my garage.  There's no gap between the ducts and the plaster ceiling above it. There's also very little clearance between the ducts and vehicles.

Based on some recent plumbing work I've done, I doubt there is any insulation between the garage plaster ceiling and the living space above the garage.

Most guides I've reviewed start with the assumption there is a gap where insulation can be wrapped entirely around the duct. Since that really isn't an option here, how can I successfully insulate them ?

There are different profiles of duct available.  In height restricted areas you can switch to a rectangular flat profile which might give you the ability to better insulate.


Installing an electrical outlet in my attic? So before it snows and gets colder outside I would like to install an electrical outlet in my attic. I'm gonna hook up a light to it. In my attic there is some wire running along the beams, could I splice it and add a junction box and then hook up a the electrical outlet to it? Thanks in advance.

If the cable is feeding a typical residential circuit, and if it's not already at legal capacity (which is fairly flexible in many cases), and if there's no other weirdness at play, yes.

If you're not lucky enough to have two feet of slack you may need to use two junction boxes. Cut the wire between two boxes and pull it into each of them. Run a new length of wire between, and splice in your new outlet leg from one box. It's more or less blacks to blacks and whites to whites. Junction boxes must remain accessible. Secure all cables appropriately (and within a foot of each box).


How can I stop a barbed coupler from leaking? This seems to be a common issue (drip line barbed couplers leaking) and I can't find any answers about this online. I'm wondering how others have fixed leaks in the fittings that are supposed to just work by popping them into the polyurethane tubing.

It's a pretty basic setup, but I'll describe how it's laid out in my particular case:

I'm installing a simple drip irrigation system for our garden using Rain Bird products. The 1/2" poly line runs from our outdoor spigot about 30' then is terminated at the end by folding it over clamping it at the end with a zip tie.

Near the end of that main line (maybe 8' from the end) a barbed coupler is inserted, with the other end going into about 10' of 1/8" soaker hose that is terminated by a goof plug.

The hole where the barbed coupler fits into the poly tube is leaking (and by leaking I mean spraying water about 12-16" into the air). It isn't positioned at a weird angle, the hole isn't too big, and I did push in the coupler all the way until it "snapped" into place. The coupler sits perpendicularly to the tubing. I've done this before, with some tiny leaks (just some drips), but never such a big leak. I've tried adjusting the position by pulling on the tube or tilting it at various angles, but the water just leaks out of different places.

Could it be because it's the only line coming off the main poly tube? I'm planning on adding several more soaker lines to hit the rest of our garden areas, which will no doubt distribute some of the pressure.

Does anybody have any tricks to sealing barbed coupler fittings so they don't leak?

The barbed coupler I'm talking about looks like this (am I using the wrong part?):

That looks like a very flimsy coupling, as it barely has anything to hang on to. Better to use a regular PVC barbed coupling, which looks like this:

Usually you use a stainless steel clamp around the connections:

With bigger/thicker pipe, you sometimes need to heat the pipe using a torch slightly -- just get it a bit pliable so you can get the fitting in, but not "melty".

Here's a finished connection (using "white stripe" 75psi poly - in this case as a non-pressurized drain line):

Here's another example showing connections to soaker hoses:


Are there optimal positions for A/C and heat register grills to be facing? I noticed a while ago that some of my A/C and heat register grills are facing the walls and not the room (the insides of the curves on the grills face the walls) in some rooms but not in others. My assumption was that they should all point towards the room, not the wall, that some of them were put on backwards. Is that a correct assumption or is there some reason why the system would benefit from grills pointing at walls, like for airflow reasons or something? Or does it not matter at all, but is a preference thing to not feel the air blow on you?

What a great question. I love questions that hit the sweet spot between a textbook, and the real world.

Textbook Physics says that you save energy by pointing the vent to blow to the room.

Real world physics says that blowing toward you better when the A/C is on, and to the wall when heating.

Personal preference is, of course, a personal decision.

In pratical terms, the personal decision is the right answer, I personally think, unless my wife does not agree with me.


Do I need to shut the gas off to my fireplace before replacing the wall switch? Do I need to shut the gas off to my fireplace before I replace the wall switch?

Generally speaking it's not necessary.
Disconnecting the switch is no different than turning the switch off. Both can create tiny sparks and both leave the fireplace without power. Of course, if you turn off the breaker as you should, sparks are less likely.
Either you have an electronic gas valve, in which case it'll remain closed, or you have a pilot flame, in which case it'll continue burning. Both are safe conditions.


Replacing old wires stuck on pipes inside concrete walls with new Cat6 cable My question is similar to this. But in my case, the wires are stuck. Tried pulling one (my bad) and it broke. There's still some wire that I can pull but pulling it again won't do any good. So I was thinking if I can pour some oil there for lubricating purposes but not sure how it will work or what effect will it have to the ethernet cable.
Appreciate any advise on this.

No, don't use oil for this.  It's flammable and also acts as a solvent on my materials.  There are commercial "wire lube" products that are safe for lubricating wires.  Most big-box home centers and all electrical supply houses have a selection of these.
But the trick is going to be getting the lube to where the restriction is assuming that the wire itself is not clamped, tied, or tangled on something that lube will not fix.


Preparing for laying ceramic tile - clean up after removing vinyl tile My bathroom had 12" square vinyl tile squares which I chipped off.  There is some residue of adhesive left on the concrete.  Do I need to try to remove it?  The floor scraper I have is not working.  Will a solvent help?  I am laying large ceramic tile with thinset.

Here is a photo with a bit of the tile on the left under the commode, showing the floor.

I have successfully used orange oil to soften the adhesive holding vinyl squares. I used it undiluted in just enough quantity to soften the adhesive. Then I scraped up the softened adhesive with a floor scraper frequently scraping off the floor scraper with a 3 or 4" putty knife into a trash can.

I then went over it again with more orange oil wiping with paper towels. Finally I used an electric floor cleaner and mopped. The concrete was still glazed and the tile installer used some kind of floor grinder to roughen the floor. I was not present for this; I was out of town. (The serious professional installation specifications for ceramic tile state that fresh concrete is not to be finished with a metal trowel prior to ceramic tile installation.)


What's the recommended procedure for converting a single circuit light switch into two switches for controlling a bathroom fan? I think my question might be similar to Controlling two fixtures on same circuit independently but I don't need anything as fancy.

Summary: I'm remodeling a bathroom.  Presently it has one switch which controls a single light.  I want to add a vent/fan.

Is there an easy way to wire a second switch off of the same circuit and have one switch control the fan while the other controls the old light?

The walls will be exposed so it should be relatively easy to run additional wiring.

No problem at all.
Power at the switch
If the power feeds into the switch box, you'll simply pigtail the ungrounded "hot" conductor to feed each switch. Then you'll run 14/3 or 12/3 nonmetallic sheathed cable (Type NM); whichever is appropriate, between the switch box and the ceiling outlet.  Then connect the white (grounded "neutral") from the feed, to the white (grounded "neutral") to the ceiling box. Connect all the bare/green grounding conductors, and don't forget to ground each switch and the box if it's metal. Connect the black wire from the cable that runs to the ceiling, to one switch, and the red to the other switch.
When you wire up the fan/light. Connect all the grounded "neutral" conductors together. Connect all the bare/green grounding conductors together, and don't forget to attach a lead to the box if it's metal. Then connect one ungrounded conductor to the light, and the other to the fan.

Power at the light
The old way
If the power is at the light, things are slightly more complected. But it's still quite easy. Again you'll need 14/3 or 12/3 cable between the switch and ceiling.  You'll still connect all the green/bare conductors together at each place, not forgetting to connect all devices and metal boxes.  In the ceiling, connect the white (grounded "neutral") to the white wire from the light and fan. Put a piece of black tape around the white wire from the cable between the boxes, and attach the wire to the ungrounded conductor of the fan or light. Connect the red (ungrounded "hot") conductor from the cable between the boxes, to the ungrounded conductor of the light of fan.
In the switch box, connect the red wire to one of the terminals on one of the switches. Put a black piece of tape on the white wire, and attach it to the other switch. Splice the black wire, and attach a lead to each of the switches.

The new way
If your area has adopted National Electrical Code 2011, you'll be required to have a grounded "neutral" conductor at the switch box. To accomplish this, you'll have to run a 14/4 or 12/4 NM cable between the boxes.  Then in the ceiling box, you'll connect all the grounds as before. Connect the white (grounded "neutral") conductor from the light, fan, feeder, and cable between the boxes together.  Connect the red wire from the cable between the boxes, to the ungrounded "hot" conductor of the fan or light. Connect the blue wire from the cable between the boxes, to the ungrounded "hot" conductor of the light or fan.  Connect the black (ungrounded "hot") conductor from the feeder, to the black wire in the cable between the boxes.
In the switch box, cap the white wire (unless one or both of the switches requires a grounded "neutral" connection). Connect the blue wire to one switch, and the red to the other. Splice the black wire, and connect a lead to each switch.


Need Help removing Mailbox (Architectural Mailbox 7500) from post Trying to remove this mail box from the post.

There are five of these fasteners which I believe are holding the mailbox the mounting plate.

Here is an interior shot, and as you can see, it is not simply the process of unscrewing.

Appreciate your suggestions and feedback.

Those are pop rivets.  They are not for removing.

The product would have been sold with those permanent fasteners already installed.  The mailbox was installed on the post after those were attached, therefore they cannot be important to removing the mailbox from the post.

You can remove them if you really want to by drilling them out, however this will prove to be a waste of time.

Have you looked inside the mailbox proper?  Sometimes screws hide there.


How to detect minor leaks in problem area below skylight? I've had problems with my skylight leaking into the conditioned space (roughly 1 gallon per storm), but I think it've fixed it for the short term by replacing its screws and caulking it. I don't see any water in the conditioned space now. I suspect that the fix won't hold up for long, but I'm hoping to buy some time to flash it until I can get my whole roof replaced.
In the meantime, I'd like to avoid costly damage to the drywall and trim below it (as well as mold!). Part of me fears that the light is still leaking to the attic but not to the conditioned space, creating an invisible risk of rot.
Is there a good way to detect small leaks in that area so that I can intervene before it becomes a big issue again? I don't need an immediate alert. It would be sufficient for me to crawl into the space every few weeks to check some type of indicator.

Rather than trying to find the location of the leak, I’d re-seal and re-flash the entire skylight.
I’m sure it’s not that large and if you fix one side of it today, then another side will have a problem next year.
I’d follow the manufacturers installation instructions if you have them. If not, I’d use “peel and stick” tape on all sides and make sure the tape correctly laps previous laps.


What Steps Should I Take to Troubleshoot My Gas Oven? I recently purchased a house, and it came with a gas oven. I've never owned or used a gas oven before, and the oven takes an extremely long time to preheat (like hours). I replaced the door gasket after reading up a bit online about common problems, but it still seems to heat very slowly.

What are my next steps? It does heat, so it seems like it's getting gas and all, and I'm planning to take the front off and give it a thorough cleaning, but I'm curious if there are any other "first look" steps I can take that might help before calling a specialist.

I'd start by checking the valve, make sure it's all the way open.  If the oven has a cook top, you can probably lift up the top and find the valve towards the back where the gas line comes out of the wall and into the oven.

If the gas appears to be cycling on and off while the oven is heating, then perhaps it's a bad thermostat.

Beyond that, perhaps there's a clog in the burner.  I've never cleaned a burner to know if it's a DIY job, so I'll defer to others for advice there.

As always, when working on a gas appliance, be sure to turn the gas off first before taking things apart.


Drywall anchor pull-out strength I need to hang a light fixture from my ceiling some distance away from its electrical box.  The fixture weighs less than 10 lbs and my ceiling is made of drywall.

I'm generally comfortable using drywall anchors for shear loads on vertical walls, but I'm unsure about how much weight the various designs of wall anchors can handle for pull loads.  I've done some internet searches but haven't found anything definite.

Can someone tell me how much pull-force the various common designs of wall anchors can handle?

EDIT:  To clarify what I am trying to do, see picture below.  It's not my light, but it illustrates the concept.

I would only trust a toggle bolt type anchor in a ceiling or overhead application, even if the manufacturer's information shows an auger or plastic expansion type anchor is strong enough.  With augers or plastic anchors, if the hole is just a little sloppy, the holding power is dramatically reduced.

The table below shows that even the smallest toggle in the thinnest drywall has a tension rating of 115 pounds, so at the recommended safety factor of 4x, it can support almost 29 pounds.

I would locate the nearest joists with a stud finder, just to see if there's one that's close enough to the spot;  if not, I'd use a 3/16" or 1/4" toggle.  I'd recommend a Strap-Toggle, Snaptoggle or similar, they are quite a bit easier to work with than traditional toggles, especially overhead.


Should the fill line be removed when decommissioning an old oil tank? So, I have a contractor decommissioning my old 650-gallon oil tank.   There is a 3" metal tube coming out of the ground from the tank that is what I believe to be the receptacle used to fill the tank when it was still active.

My question here is,  for the $1900  that I am paying to have this tank decommissioned, should I expect them to saw off and hide the  filler tube that pokes up 6 inches out of the ground?

Whether or not they remove the fill line, depends on how the tank is decommissioned.  There are three ways an abandoned tank can be handled, as explained in this PDF

The 1997 Uniform Fire Code, adapted by WAC 51- 44, requires that
heating oil tanks out of service  for a period of one year shall be
decommissioned  by using one of the following processes.

Removal from the ground and restoration of  the site in an approved manner.
Abandonment in place by filling the tank completely with an approved, inert solid material.
Tanks of 1,100 gallons or less may be left empty provided they are first pumped and cleaned,  and have the fill line capped or plugged,
below  grade, to prevent refilling of the tank.  (NOTE: Some local
juisdictions do not permit  this “clean and cap” method. Check local
requirements before beginning any decommissioning process.)

In the first method, the tank is completely removed, so the fill line will also be removed. With the second method, the fill line may be left behind.  In the third case, the fill line should be cut below grade before it's capped. So the fill line will still be there, but it will be at or below the level of the ground.
The document also has a good list of questions to ask the contractor.

Some important questions to ask contractors:
• Are they experienced?
Can they provide the  names and telephone numbers of current or
recent customers as references?
• Do they have environmental
pollution liability  coverage?
• Do they collect soil samples?
• Which laboratory do they use for the analyses?
• Where will the tank, oil, and contaminated
water from rinsing out the tank be disposed? Is
that disposal site insured?
• What documentation, labeling, and other
paperwork are provided? You should receive
documentation of disposal of the tank, a copy
of the lab results, documentation that the soil
samples were handled properly, a copy of any
permits required, and documentation of the
disposal and/or treatment of any wastes.


Electrical Outlets not working after pressure-washing the house I just had my house pressure washed and my power to my bathroom does not work. The breaker for my bathroom/outside receptacle did not trip.  I replaced the outside outlet and the electric still didn't work.

I believe the gfci in the main bathroom tripped, but I couldn't reset it because whoever painted my house painted over the electrical covers. So, I replaced 2 switches and 2 outlets in the main bathroom.  Turned the power back on and by golly it reset. There was a dim light from the led light bulb and the lights were lit on the switches I bought. However, when I went to flip the switch to turn on the light it didn't turn on.

I tried to look online and I remembered something about the tab on the outlets and when I replaced the outlets in other rooms I broke the bridge on the hot side. So, I did that in my bathroom outlets and when I turned the power back on I had no dim light or the lights on my switches.

I'm so close, what did I do wrong?

The problem may still be at the outdoor outlet

It's not unusual for the breaker to fail to trip.  It detects excessive current only (or GFCI or AFCI if equipped), it is not a detector-all.

You will probably need to turn off the breaker and take a closer look at the outside receptacle.  It needs to be inspected due to its role in the circuit.   If it is a GFCI receptacle, it is very easy to hook up LINE and LOAD incorrectly, causing it and everything downline to go dead.  (hook up LINE only; make sure the GFCI works fully; then hook up LOAD if you want that particular feature).

Is the outdoor outlet a GFCI?

From your description, this outside receptacle feeds the bathroom.  It's quite possible it is a GFCI receptacle, since GFCI protection is now required for outside receptacles, and a GFCI receptacle is one way to do that.  That would be important because GFCI receptacles can protect downline loads (which you say your bathroom is).  Bathroom receptacles need GFCI more than any other location, so it's quite possible this outdoor GFCI is set up to protect your bathroom sockets. It could be as simple as resetting this outdoor GFCI, which may have been tripped by the power wash.

However, having your bathroom GFCI device outdoors is inconvenient at best. If this is a GFCI, you might want to attach the onward wires to the LINE terminals, not use LOAD at all, and get another GFCI receptacle to protect the bathroom.


Can my dryer exhaust crossing my HVAC duct be a fire hazard? I have a dryer exhaust that crosses over a flexduct HVAC line, could the dryer vent cause a fire?

I really doubt it since your dryer duct should never get hot enough.

With the said, a couple things to consider though 1) how close to the dryer does the HVAC line cross and 2) are they touching? If the HVAC tub is plastic covered, I would make sure that they are not touching as it might melt it.

You might also find this article useful: http://www.ashireporter.org/articles/articles.aspx?id=41


Water is dripping from the furnace exaust flue I replaced my hvac and noticed that my flue is dripping water. Wondering what might cause it? I assume some sort of condensation, but I don’t know what should I do to fix it.

If you installed a high efficiency sealed combustion chamber system the flue should have been changed to pvc. The old school ducting should not have passed inspection as it is not designed to be pressurized, there is not much pressure but it is there. Actually there should be both a supply line and the exhaust, normally connected to a coaxial roof jack so the system has fresh air and can exhaust without creating pressure differentials. In my state this install would be a code violation on several levels.


Hoping to salvage a poorly sloped shower pan I pointed out some dips in the corners to the guy who built my shower pan and his action was to add more mixture in the corners and drag it down. He did not smooth it out, or "screed" it, I believe is the correct term, so I'm left with a situation where the new mixture ends very roughly on top of his first attempt. He has stopped work for now, while I save up some more money to finish the job (and more than likely hire someone else), but I'm wondering if I can use my grinder to smooth it out, and put another topping on it and try to screed it properly this time. I'm hoping to salvage this and not have to jack hammer this shower pan up.

Yeah, a stone grinding wheel (a wheel for grinding stone) in you grinder will be able to sort out any uneven spots.

Be sure to wear a dust mask, silica dust is nasty stuff.

There's probably no need to screed unless there are still low spots, small low spots can be accomodated handled by using extra tile adhesive when laying the tiles.


Air Conditioner question Is it typical for 1 of the (pipe) lines from my outdoor AC unit to have condensation? The AC tech added 1Ib of freon yesterday. Don't know if this has anything to do with the condensation.

It is normal for the suction line /vapor line ( going to the outside compressor) to have condensation. The amount depends on humidity and the characteristics of your unit. If you get frost on it , have someone check it out.


Breaker Trips when turning on saw I do wood working in my garage.  I have two saws a miter saw and a table saw.  About 1 in 10 times when I start either of the saws the circuit breaker will immediately trip.  Nothing else is running on the same circuit at the time of the trips.  They have never tripped after startup, including when actually cutting wood.  The breaker is a 20 amp breaker.  I attached an image of it and a label of the panel.  The outlet is GFCI, but its not the GFCI tripping its the breaker.  Their cords dont reach the outlet, they are plugged into this extension cord.

What are possible solutions to stop the breaker from tripping?  I read about trip time delay, is there a way to identify the trip time delay of my current breaker?  My guess is the solution will involve messing with the panel which I am not comfortable doing and will get an electrician to do, but I am interested to know what they might do.  Also interested if there is anything I should try before calling an electrician?

Thanks

I believe your problem is the extension cord.  Is there any way you can locate the saw(s) so that they can be directly plugged into the outlet?

What happens when you use an extension cord with an induction motor (which is almost certainly what you are dealing with) is that there is an initial surge of current until the motor builds up a resistance (called back EMF) as its magnetic field starts to stabilize.  When you use an extension cord there is voltage loss across the cord and so it takes more current to generate the back EMF.

Another possibility is to get yourself a heavy duty extension cord so as to minimize the voltage drop due to the cord.  These are generally more expensive since they contain larger copper conductors but may help resolve your problem.  I realize your cord is marked as "heavy duty" but it's a 12 ga cord.  A 10 ga cord is probably a better choice here.


Can I feed 2 sub-panels off one breaker? I have a 225A main service panel.  I also have 2 sub-panels with 125A and 200A ratings respectively.

There's a 100A 2-pole breaker in my main panel.  I want to feed both sub-panels from that single breaker (all inter-panel wiring, lugs and terminations are good for 100A):

Can I run the cable to subpanel #1, replace all the lugs with 2-wire lugs, and leap frog to panel 2?
OR, can I have an intermediate junction box with 3-way splices on all 4 wires?
OR, am I absolutely required to serve each subpanel from a separate breaker (not illustrated)?

Since this is fed from a breaker in your main you can do it with both wiring methods but it would be considered a feeder and the wire size would need to be good for 125% of the breaker or 125A the way I interpret the code. If all the loads are non continuous it could be 100% but with all those spaces there will probably be a few continuous loads so better to be safe for the long run.


New ceiling fan socket with copper wiring I am trying to replace the lightbulb socket in a ceiling fan fixture.  The wires coming from the fan are aluminum (I assume bec the wires are silver colored) the wires that came with the new socket are copper.  The wires on the old socket were aluminum.  I couldn't find a new socket with aluminum wiring.  Is it safe to connect the copper to the aluminum wires or do I need to replace the whole ceiling fan?

This is not aluminum, but tinned copper instead

There is no reason to use aluminum at such small wiring sizes; what you see instead on such finer-stranded fixture wires is tinned copper.  This is done to allow it to be easily used in applications where it needs to be soldered (say to a circuit board in a dimmer or fan receiver), and has none of the termination issues that actual aluminum wire does.


How do I get the water pressure back? I have what seems to be a strange, but hopefully easily solved problem. I have a Rheem Warrior series electric hot water heater in my mobile home.
My husband is installing a new shower and we could not find the shut off on the heater, so we had to shut the main valve off under our home.
Days later, we have plenty of hot water, but the cold is, lets say at half pressure.
We have shut the main off and on a couple times, hoping that would do the trick, but no luck! I'm going to try cutting the power to the heater next to see what that does.
I feel like this should have an easy solution and really don't want to call a plumber for something so silly! Any ideas would be appreciated!

Closing the main valve could have dislodged some rust / scale that is now stuck in the cold water valve. Since your hot is running ok turn the water off again and pull the valve apart.
You may have to slightly turn the water back on to fully flush the line out. Reassemble and see if you have full flow again.
Did you purge the air using the cold valves? this is when the gunk gets pushed into the valves.


Honeywell Zone System Wiring I have a Goodman HVAC system that is split into three zones. I wanted to upgrade to programmable thermostats, so I picked up three Honeywell RTH8580WF. Reading through the descriptions I noted they need a C wire hookup. I looked under the current thermostats, noted there wasn't a C wire, but there were several unused wires so I figured I could just hook them up at the zone board.

I opened up the zone panel, a Honeywell EMM-3, and after looking around inside I'm a little confused.

Unfortunately there wasn't a way to capture the labels on the wiring blocks, but here's a shot from the manual.

I've done enough wiring work in my life to understand the basics, but I can't figure out what the installer did with the C wire hookups for the thermostats (the blocks at the bottom). He apparently ran jumpers (the white wires) from the C terminal for thermostat 1, 2, and 3 and then connected them to the blue wire off to the left (which I think is supplying power to the HVAC board for some reason), and then is also connected to the heat relay terminal through the resistor. There's nothing in the installation manual about doing this kind of hookup.

I did some googling to see if there were other examples of EMM-3 wiring jobs out there and they all look pretty much like the wiring diagram, one wire per terminal.

Any thoughts on what's going on here? Should it be safe to just put an additional wire from the thermostat lines into the C block for each along with the white wire jumpers that are already there?

Remove the jumpers, they're superfluous

It appears from the installation manual for your zone controller that the C terminals for the thermostats are connected internally to the C wire coming into the board from its 24VAC power source.  This means that the white jumper wires between the zone C terminals and the blue C wire from the furnace can be removed altogether and your C wires hooked up in their place.

As to the 1K resistor?  Someone thought this unit power-stole, I guess, and put that in there to provide a bypass load to prevent erratic operation.  I'd remove it and keep an eye on the system -- if it doesn't malfunction after a week or two without it, I'd say whoever put it in was a member of a power-stealing cargo cult.


Old furnace with extra wire, but no c terminal Janitrol, 19 year old furnace I've searched multiple threads regarding this, but I didn't manage to find any that seemed to match my use case.  My board doesnt have a C terminal, and it doesn't have the other terminals connect to the transformer like a lot of diagrams show.  Where can I place the spare wire that I'll be using as C?  Thanks in advance.

Attach it to the junction of the fat blue wire and the skinny red wire

Since it appears like you have air conditioning, as the yellow wire from what looks to be your thermostat cable goes off to what looks like a connection to a white wire in a two-wire cable, likely running to the outdoor unit (compressor).

Because of this, we can make a good guess that the red wire from that two-wire cable connects to a C wire, and that guess is supported by the wire color scheme; the wiring diagram calls out the C wires as blue, and sure enough, the wire that red wire connects to is blue indeed.  So, I would try incorporating the C wire to your thermostat into that bundle, then.


I can't notch king studs to fit an electrical box, right? My office has a wall of closely spaced windows. I am looking to remove one window and replace with a swinging patio door. A 3'-0" door is easily framed inside this ~42" opening with a couple 2x4's to take up the slack. The catch is that I would like to have a light switch next to the door and there's just no room to fit anything.

This is a load bearing exterior wall. After poking a few small holes around the window I've concluded that each window was individually framed with it's own header, kings and jacks. This leaves maybe 1" of space between adjoining king studs. I drew up what I think I have behind the drywall:

Am I correct in assuming there is no good way to cut into these king studs to fit an electrical box? The (unlicensed) engineer in me wants to assert that a strong metal box notched tightly between these kings would be quite strong but I'm guessing they don't make switch boxes designed to hold substantial loads and this would be a big no-no.

If this is correct then I think my only solution is to re-frame the door from scratch (i.e., remove all the dry wall between adjoining windows). By my calculation this would leave me with just over 3" between adjoining kings:

37.3125” rough opening (between jacks)
40.3125” header length (between kings)
43.3125” across kings
Up to 3.344” between adjoining kings
50” between next kings
56” between next jacks (1/2” drywall)
57” between next windows

Here's what the re-framed solution would look like. I'm tapping into the circuit on the right because the one on the left has an open ground that I have yet to pin down and I want an exterior light fixture and a GFCI outlet installed.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

I would re-frame the door opening, like you outlined, for several reasons:

41" is way to wide for a standard door, a special order exterior door this wide will cost a lot. It might be more cost effective to re-frame, so you'll be able to fit a standard size door (34" is quite wide enough).
80" high rough opening is a bit low for a standard-sized door. Standard doors are 80" high, but your rough opening needs to be higher.

You don't want stunted and fat door, it will look strange and not proportional, even if you can special-order door of these specific dimensions.

So, I suggest you buy (or at least know the exact dimensions of) your patio door first, and then frame the rough opening to accommodate it.

This is most probably a load-bearing wall... So, I'd also add a temporary stud in the center of the opening while replacing the existing studs on both sides.


How do I nicely cover this floor pipe in the basement? So I'm adding flooring to my basement and I've got this sewer access cap thing in the way. I know I need to wrap the flooring around it and then I assume I'll need to cover it with something.
What is this thing and what are my options to cover it to look like it kinda matches my flooring?

I would switch it out for a flush cleanout plug and paint it to match as close as possible. You should not cover or hide it because it is probably for sewer clean-out purposes.


Repair/add subfloor plank patch what is the best way to repair this?
the joist is about 24" apart here. what is the best way to add a piece of plank and support it from the joist?

It's kind of hard to see the context here, but I'd guess the best way would be to get rid of all the pieces of planks and miscellaneous bits on the right side until you can get to the next joist on the right.

Then cut the existing plank(s) so that they overlap half of the joists on the left and then attach new planks to use the other half of the joists... The "seam" for the old, existing planks and the new, replacement planks will be centered over the joists.

Similar to this photo:

Except in the photo they're replacing the sub-floor around a toilet. Notice how the joists are half-exposed on either end of the cut out area. In your case, you'd fit the planks into the cut out area and screw them into the joists.

If you're not comfortable splitting the joists like that, you have a couple of other options:

You could glue and screw boards along the existing joists to provide
additional surface to attach the floor planks to. This is known as
"sistering" the joists. It's not too hard to do, but may be kind of
"over-kill" in this situation.
If you can remove the whole plank from wall-to-wall and replace it,
that may be preferable.


Why does a nearby switch turn off when I use a switch I just replaced? I recently replaced a dimmer switch with regular switch. The problem now is, whenever I turn the lights off, the electrical switch near by switches off as well. (which it never did before).
The box has 2 black wires and 1 red wire and 2 green wires which is screwed into the box. (the two green wires I have not touched at all)

Presumably:
The "always hot"  feeding power to both switches was confused with the "switched hot" and is now feeding the second switch from the first switch's switched hot, rather than the always hot to the box.


Fixing squeak in subfloor I’m having carpet installed in a few days, so I’m going through and pulling up the carpet and pad to put in deck screws in the subfloor plywood where there are squeaks. So far going well, but there is one area where I can’t figure out how to stop the squeak for the life of me. It’s in a corner, between the entrance to the master bedroom and the entrance to the laundry room.

In the pic, at the bottom you can see arrows where the last known joist is; it runs left to right. Then there is a run of over 32” till the next joist, at the master entryway (where green and red pad meet). There are nails in the subfloor from the builder at 16” from the joist, but they don’t go into a joist, as I confirmed with several pilot holes (seen in pic with X). In fact, I drilled a hole every 3” between the last joist and the entryway trying to find a joist, but to no avail.

I drew an outline in the pic of where I can step and hear the squeak. There is a circle with “center” which is where the squeak is the loudest. I’ve placed screws in the master entryway joist, and at the corners near the walls, but no luck.

Any ideas on things to try? I’m really confused, and the abscence of a joist where the nails are has me puzzled. Normally the joists are spaced 24” apart in the area below where this pic is taken.

Two long for a comment, Fully agree with shims and glue. I wish they had Gorilla glue when I was building, that stuff works really well as it expands and then gets hard so for some areas that's all that may be needed. The wood needs to be dampened with water first for gorilla glue to work. I have used it on a 2 story home the owner did not want to open the first floor ceiling. I drilled through the floor in several places above the joists dribbled a few drops of water in the holes and once the water soaked in filled with glue, after the glue was dry I cut the tops of the holes where the glue expansion bubbled up. Worked great but you will need to find the joists. There should be a joists because 24" would be the max spacing. My only other guess would be a change in direction of the joists.


Electric breaker tripping without anything plugged in My electric panel is outside and the door was open during a heavy rain. Not much rain got into the panel, but a small amount of water and condensation did.   One breaker would trip for a few hours, but is now working.  Another breaker continues to trip without anything plugged in.  Could there be some water damage to this panel that makes it trip?  Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?

I would bet that the breaker is toast. GFCI receptacles for outdoor use are required to be WR or weather resistant rated. I have not seen this listing on the GFCI breakers I have installed. So if it got wet from the door being open and trips it sounds like time for a new one.
You could always swap a working one with the one that keeps tripping to see if it’s possibly a real circuit issue.
If that breaker continues to trip it’s time to replace it. Molded breakers when faulty are by code not repairable. Could it be dried out like a cell phone? Maybe I have never tried this.


Measuring Electric Motor Shank Dimensions? I have an electric motor that has threads on the end of it. I'm interested in making a wood pulley to put on the end of it for use in a lathe. The only thing is that I'm not sure if I have the right tap or not. I measured, across the threads using a caliper, and got 9mm and using a TPI reader I got 1mm thread pitch. Does this mean that I need a M9 x 1mm tap to etch threads in the pulley so I can put it on the motor shank?

A little bit of research shows me that M9 taps are available in 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 mm pitch. This was a surprise to me. Your assessment regarding your measurements are correct, if your measurements are accurate enough.

To ensure one more level of success, consider to purchase a single nut of M9-1 and see that it easily threads onto the motor shaft. If it does, you can be confident that an M9-1 tap will do the job properly.

It is not unusual for a motor shaft to have a left hand thread. Purchasing a nut will also determine that aspect.

Consider that wood will require much more care when tapping such a fine thread. You will want very hard wood and also a sharp tap. Be sure to purchase the proper diameter drill to create a pilot hole in the pulley.

Additionally, you may want to use a nut insert, often known as a T-nut in place of tapping the hole. T-nuts are also available without the barbs, designed to be screwed to the surface.

If you are inclined to stick to wood alone, you can drill a hole slightly smaller than the appropriate size for the tap, then apply an epoxy that will soak into the wood, providing greater strength for the tapping process. Epoxy which takes longer to set will be stronger, that is to say, a five minute epoxy will cure quickly and be weaker than a one hour version.


Methodology to create black and white wall mural? I recently stumbled upon a wall mural (I believe that's what it's called anyway), that I found after researching some desks. I would very much like to emulate this style of wall mural found behind the desk and computer. Could anyone tell me the best way I might go about re-creating this sort of effect?

Photograph, large format printer, gator-board, dry-mount press, your favorite wall attachment hardware. The mural is panelized and the seams are visible in the image.


Can you glue backerboard to concrete then tile over? Want to know if you can glue backerboard to interior concrete wall for kitchen backsplash. Can’t drill as it’s a condo concrete wall. Concerned that tiles will shift as concrete wall shifts.
Thanks

Yes you can glue the backer to the wall. No matter what you do if the wall shifts there will be issues. Most the time if there is concrete I do not use backer unless there will be a large difference in surface height.


Does a 240v water heater circuit require a neutral? I am confused something. I want to install a tankless water heater. Mounting the device, the plumbing, wiring, routing to the 200amp panel is all easy and straight forward.
Where I get stumped is the two breakers.
75A (2x40)A 240 8 AWG
The directions show to run 2 8/2 with ground.
The Illustrations show to connect both black(hot) and white(N) to the two prongs on the breaker.
I totally get 240v using a black red and white. but 240 connecting the Neutral to a hot I do not get.
I guessing something like a dryer really is has two components using 120v each sharing a nuetral and we call it a 240v.
But true 240v is doubling up on the hot but what about the neutral?
If anyone can explain this I'd appreciate it.
UPDATE
Thanks for all the comments but seriously guys, getting all hung up on the "White is just a color" is odd.
I know a white wire is a wire.
So when you connect a wire to the hot and another wire to the neutral (in this case they are (pink and blue) on the panel. Then connect the other ends of these 2 wires to a 120v outlet. The current being AC travels in alternating directions on this pair of wires.
So if I instead connect both of these wires to hot and connect the other ends to lets say one of the heating chambers of a tankless water heater. I got lost on how the alternating current occurs the same on 2 hots rather that a hot and a neutral.
That my question. I am not asking how the current knows it's on a pink wire.

Confusion from failure to use marking tape
Yeah, I know.  Marking wires with electrical tape to indicate function seems like such a needless chore.  "I only need to understand it right now.  I will never be in here later troubleshooting!"  This of course ends up not working 1/4 as well as expected.   Some of the people who are marking-hostile write installation instructions.
Since UL approves installation instructions, I'm surprised they don't make the instructions follow Code.  Because in this case, Code sides with me.
It is illegal to use white as a hot.
However, if you are buying pre-manufactured cable, what you are allowed to do is use paint, tape, shrink tubing, etc. to re-color a white wire to be an appropriate hot color.
But it's mandatory.
So the most straightforward answer is to take your #8 supply cables, and after you're done stripping off the cable sheath to fit, go ahead and wrap the white wire with red electrical tape.

You can also use black, since there's no particular need with a water heater to match up phases.  A 240V circuit with black-black hot wires is perfectly fine.
If it were in conduit, that would be a different deal. Because individual wires are easy to swap, you're required to use the correct color in the first place - no remarking is allowed.
If you're absolutely militant about refusing to mark wires, then my only advice is to use /3+gnd cable (black red white) and just cap off neutral.  That would allow you to use one of the cables for a subpanel if the tankless heater doesn't work out.


UV Lamp on heating system? I have a Honeywell thermostat & keeps on flashing "change UV Lamp"

Where would I find the UV lamp installed in the system, & how do I replace it?

Some fan coil units have UV lamps after the filter to disinfect the air. If your FCU doesn't have one you need to program that alarm out of the system. If you don't have a manual or can't find how to do it. You can contact Honeywell hot line and they will walk you through it.


A line T-ing off my water heater drain line. What might it be for? There is a line T-ing off of the DRAIN line at the bottom of my water heater and I don't know what it is for.  It is UPSTREAM of the valve that I need to open annually to remove sediment from the water heater.  Does that mean that it is full of (hot) water under pressure? The water heater is located in the ground floor garage,. It feeds only my home, which occupies the top 2 stories of a 4 story townhouse/condominium.  This line T's off from the drain line and is insulated up to the ceiling of the water heater closet (where it disappears from view...)
Any ideas what it might be for would be appreciated.  Thanks!

Most Likely - the return line of a hot water recirculation loop. ie, "instant hot water" by means of a circulating pump which pulls hot water from the hot line and returns it to the hot water heater through this tee on the drain line, after running it through the supply lines to your faucets. Given your location 2 (3?) stories above the heater this seems very likely (no guarantee that it's working, but the system was installed at some point, anyway.)

So yes, it's full of hot water under pressure. Sounds like decent workmanship if it's fully insulated.

If you do not have a long wait for hot water, it's probably functioning.


Electrical Help: Swap 50A Range for separate Cooktop & insert Oven (30A each) House has a 50A, 3-line service to the old Range.
Want to instead have a separate Cooktop and an insert Oven located below it for a sleeker more integrated look. Each have a 30A requirement.
Can they both connect to the 50A feeder?
We have no good way to replace it with 2 separate circuits without replacing the whole electrical panel, and massive damage to ceilings, etc. to get it there.
Is it possible to share?
A range would have just as many burners and an oven on that same circuit, so it seems plausible.
Could replace the 30A cords on the appliance with 50A?  Or is it possible to fuse the 30A appliance cords in the J-Box before connecting to 50A home run?
(We'd need the J-box concealed in the cabinet, so a sub-panel option wouldn't work.)

Actually with no structural changes it may be a redecorating project. In several states that I have lived many people doing cosmetic updates like your project do not know the proper terms.
With the wrong term they end up doing way more than what is required.
for example in my current state if the receptacle is not moved more than 6’ the original wiring is allowed (we are on the 17 code with state exceptions until April).
In this case if the wiring is properly sized a large junction box being tapped for both devices MAY be acceptable is the box accessible after the work is complete? it all goes back to the AHJ so the location would be needed to know for sure but when the home was built the tap that you want was acceptable see NEC 210.19.3  and for a picture see exhibit 210.24. Last if tapped from the junction box to the next device usually requires conduit.
I do agree with most of Retired master electricians answer but the jurisdiction here is a big deal and I would not be pulling a new feeder if I could be in compliance with my state requirements. If you happened to have 3 insulated conductors (unlikely but possible) pulling a single ground wire I would do to bring up to the current code.


Finishing basement. Need advice for receiver/speaker setup I am finishing my basement and have been looking for a solution that'll allow me
to do the following:

Play sound from my TV to a number of ceiling speakers placed throughout the basement
Play music from a USB stick to the ceiling speakers
Play music from a device (like an iPod/iPhone/Android device) to the ceiling speakers

Those are the basic requirements.

I am not an audiophile. I just need a decent receiver and some decent ceiling speakers. I am not
looking to spend 1000s of dollars on this either. I do want the sound to be "rich" and not tinny.

Here's the receiver I am considering to buy: Denon-AVR-X2200W

And here is the type of ceiling speaker I am considering: Infinity CS60R

I plan to buy 6 in total.

Here's a drawing of the layout of the basement.

Nice-to-have:

Ideally, it would be awesome if the receiver would allow me to create 2 "sound zones" so that
I can send the same sound to both zones or send one sound to one zone and another sound source
to another zone and set the volume level of each zone individually. For example, Zone 1 could be
the ceiling speakers (4) which are not directly above the sitting area where I watch TV. And Zone 2
could be the ceiling speakers which are above the sitting/TV area (2). In that case, I would love to
be able to send the TV sound at one volume level to Zone 2, and music from a USB stick would be
played to Zone 1 at another volume level. Is this possible?

Questions:

What do I need to buy besides the receiver and the speakers? Obviously I need to buy cables
so that the general contractor can run the cables from the receiver to wherever they need to
go. But which cables should I buy? And is there anything else I need to buy besides cables?
How should the speakers be placed to get the best "sound experience". I have indicated in
the drawing how I intend to have the ceiling speakers placed, but I'm not sure if the placement
is "correct" or optimal.

Thank you in advance.

The Denon receiver you linked to should do what you want -- it can output to 7 speakers plus a subwoofer, and it can play from a different source simultaneously through two of its speakers (the surround back R & L). However, it's meant as a "home theater receiver" and not really a "multiroom audio receiver", so it may take some finicking with the settings to get everything to sound right. You might consider consulting a forum more suited for home audio enthusiasts for recommendations on specific receivers. At a minimum, I'd strongly suggest downloading the receiver's manual and reading through it to see if it has the options you need.

For your specific questions:

You need speaker wire. There are countless varieties of this, so just pick an option with a thick enough gauge (the longer the cable run, the thicker a gauge you'll want) and check that it's rated for in-wall use. Your speakers won't need any special type of connection (just strip the ends of each lead and plug the exposed copper into the jacks).
Ceiling speakers are, in my opinion, never going to give the best sound experience (there's a reason the standard home theater setup is to put speakers level with the listeners' ears). Assuming you're going to be putting out the same mono signal through each speaker, I don't think the particular layout of the speakers will make a huge difference. If you're interested in controlling each speaker's volume (or perhaps expanding your setup in the future), a multiroom receiver like this one I picked randomly might be a better choice.


Using fire retardant sealant for low-voltage cables through walls I plan to wire my house with CAT6 cables, running inside the walls (drywall, wood). I would have to drill through the floor and probably through fire blocks in between the studs.

Lot of guides advise to pull a string in addition to the cables, so that additional wires could be easily pulled later. I do want to do that, mostly for upgradability later on

However one guide mentioned to fill the fireblock/floor hole with fire retardant sealant.

If I fill with the sealant, there is no way I could pull anything else through it. So the question is: is it really necessary to fill these holes with fire retardant sealant, or is it safe to leave them as is?

If it matters, I am in Ontario, Canada.

If you don't run conduit, you won't be able to pull wires with a pull string going through holes in studs anyway. So you might as well firestop them (or run conduit and firestop around the outside of it.)


How remove front bearing in dremel 398 rotary tool? My Dremel (model 398) has a jammed front bearing probably due to too much dry wall cutting and not enough cleaning. I was shocked happy when I found several of those bearings (used) in my toolbox. I'm wondering how to remove the front shaft (red arrow) and bearing (green arrow). It looks like the bearing is glued to the main shaft of the motor and the front shaft is glued to the main shaft. The red arrow points to a hole in the front shaft. There is no set screw in there, just a hole. The front shaft is where the collet goes with the tools that one might want to use. Any ideas how to remove both the front shaft and bearing? Is brute force the only way to go?
Thanks

UPDATE: Added another picture to show the part that holds the bearing removed from the rest of the tool.

This bearing looks like it was pressed on from the splined end of the rotary shaft. Pull the shaft, tap it gently with a brass rod or a socket which fits around the bearing but won't score the shaft. Do this and the bearing should come off.

Edit to add to my earlier question based on the new image:
On a splined shaft as seen on your third image there should be a means to disconnect it safely from the plastic hub (or potentially clutch). Because the inner race of the bearing will be to large to fit around he non-threaded or splined portion of the rotary shaft the only means to replace the bearing is to entirely disconnect the shaft. That said, smaller splined shafts like this often only go back one way so be sure to make exactly how it is in its assembled orientation.


Can I move my furnace room ventilation intake closer to my furnace? I live in a 3 story townhouse with a garage in the basement. Off the side of the garage is our furnace room. The ventilation and exhaust for the furnace goes to the roof. For ventilation (air coming in) I have a straight which opens in the far corner of the Furnace Room, which the furnace sits in the middle of. Currently there is about 4ft of distance between the furnace and the ventilation pipe opening. The furnace room is almost airtight to the garage.

For another project,(to gain room in a closet on the third floor) I would like to move the ventilation pipe so that it opens into the furnace room directly over the furnace. I'd like to do this without cutting a new hole in my roof. So would I be creating any airflow issues if I put a bend into the pipe, and have it open within a foot of the foot print of the furnace. It would have 3 ft of vertical distance between the furnace and the intake.

If the distance is an issue. Could I put another bend in the pipe, in the furnace room, so that it would exit the ceiling directly above the furnace, but continue the pipe to near the same location as it currently exits the ceiling?

If I am over thinking this please tell me.

Your best bet is to refer to the owners manual of the furnace.  The manual will tell you how long the vent can be and the maximum number of bends.

When it comes to C02 I get really nervous and venting is important.  Call A pro.  It should not be a hard job.


Outlet has ground wire connected to neutral and I am trying to replace it with GFCI While replacing some old receptacles I found this.  The wiring is old and clearly whomever installed it was trying to trick someone from seeing it isn't grounded.  This is the first in the circuit and I decided to replace it with a GFCI to protect the rest of them (ceiling fan/light, 6 recess lights, outdoor spotlight and two other outlets). The wiring to a GFCI outlet seems straight forward but when I turn the power back on, it keeps tripping. When I push the Reset button, it instantly trips again. All connected lights and outlets are turned off or not being used.  Any advice?

The good news is that a properly installed GFCI effectively protects you not only from the ground faults that it is designed for, but also makes things so that the key use of the ground wire - to provide an alternate path for return current should there be certain types of failures in a device - will effectively be unnecessary because those same faults will also trip the GFCI. So safety-wise you'll be fine.
FYI, if you have a metal box, it may actually be grounded after all. You can test that by seeing if you get continuity between neutral and the bare metal box. If you do, then you can connect a ground wire to the GFCI receptacle ground screw and screw it into the box. And if the GFCI is "self grounding" then you won't even need that ground wire at all. But if you don't have that ground, you are still safe with a GFCI.
The key with a GFCI is to know which hot (black) and neutral (white) are LINE and which ones are LOAD. You have, as is typical, two hot wires and two white wires. One of those sets is coming from the breaker panel (line) and the other is feeding the next receptacle (load). If you know which is which, great. If you don't know:

Turn off the breaker
Separate the hot wires
Turn on the breaker
Using a non-contact tester like this one:

determine which black wire is actually hot. That is the LINE hot wire. The matching white wire is the load neutral wire. If you can't figure out which black & white wires are paired then it gets a little more complicated (but there are ways to figure it out).
Now that you have determined line vs. load:

Turn off the breaker
Connect the LINE wires only to the GFCI. The screws should be clearly labeled on the GFCI. (Hint: The LOAD screws are the ones that were originally covered with a piece of tape.)
Turn on the breaker
Test the GFCI - Test/Reset, plug in a device (lamp, radio, whatever) and Test again, etc.

If everything is good:

Turn off the breaker
Connect the LOAD wires to the other screws.
Turn on the breaker
Test the GFCI - everything should work now unless there is a wiring fault at one of the other receptacles.
Test the other receptacles.


Which wires go where in this non-standard GET dimmer switch? I am replacing some touch sensitive dimmers - where the touch doesn't work half the time - with another unit made my GET, I think.

The manufacturer has decided on making up their own naming and hieroglyphics for the terminals; L, Sw and a wavy line with an arrow through it.

The old switch has L1, L2 and COM which is fairly standard.

How do I wire this? Thanks.

So I wired:

L to permanent live.
Sw to nothing, which my best guess is for signalling between >1 GET switch.
Wavey-line-arrow to the load/driver.

Here's a diagram I found that is very similar (my unit has 'Sw' whereas the diagram has 'S').


Is the ground resistance meter indispensable when grounding your home? I'm Brazilian and I need to ground my house, especially because of some expensive equipment I don't want to use without proper protection.

By "grounding my house" I mean: provide an alternative path for current to flow to, in case of an electrical discharge or if the neutral provided by the power company breaks, for example. Here all power outlets have a third terminal for that purpose, and it's done by driving metal rods into the ground and connecting those terminals to these rods.

The thing is, I live in as small town and all the electricians around seem not to care for appropriately measuring grounding systems appropriately, by using a ground resistance meter. None of them even had one, and when I expressed my concerns about it (even though I'm admittedly a layman) they all dismissed it as something unimportant.

One of them told me ground resistance meters are expensive and that he'd test using a multimeter. If the voltage between ground and phase was the same as the one between phase and neutral, then it was ok.

Other would said he'd test it with a lamp. If the ground and phase could turn the lamp on, the grounding was good.

The other one (one whom I briefly worked with and the one I trust the most) was the only one who had a different attitude. He first asked me what kind of load I'd have on my system, what I planned to have connected. Then he told me I should have a separate electrical system for each of my showers (or other potent devices), each with individual grounding, and then all the least potent equipment could be connected to the main system, with one grounding for them all. But he also said he didn't have a ground resistance meter, but he'd tackle that by having 'three rods 3 to 5 meters away from each other providing the grounding' and that it should suffice.

So I tried looking into some other info in the internet and everything seems conflicting. The one guy who made the most sense for me was an electrician who told it is indispensable to have a proper meter, but that if you're an electrician and don't have one, there are some tests that are somewhat reliable you could make to make sure the grounding is good.

Basically he said one should disconnect all equipment from the outlets in the house, then do the multimeter test I mentioned before. After that, if the voltages were the same between phase/ground and phase/neutral, he'd connect some potent equipment (he used a drill machine) to phase/neutral and measure the current with an amperimeter. After that he's do the same test while connecting it to the phase/ground and see if the current matches. If those matched, the grounding was good.

I'm now left wondering, I absolutely need good grounding in my house, but the way it seems, I will either have to buy the ground meter - and they're expensive, especially considering ill use it only once - myself or go for one those fishy 'solutions' above.

What are your thoughts on it?

If the utility neutral breaks you're up against the ground (i.e earth, dirt, soil, water, rocks) being a relatively terrible conductor as compared to a metal wire, so the various tests involving testing the ground with a heavy load between hot and ground are highly dubious.

In the USA, the NEC (our local code, presumably not what applies in Brazil) requires either a ground test (time consuming, expensive meter) or two ground rods 8 feet or more apart, minimum. Many places have also implemented code requiring that in new construction the concrete foundation should include a "Ufer" ground or basically have the reinforcing steel tied into the grounding system, which is a far more effective connection to earth ground than ground rods in almost all soil conditions.

As a result, few electricians here bother to own the expensive meter, and most services have two (or more) ground rods 8 (or more) feet apart; Or one foundation ground (concrete encased electrode) and one ground rod.


Can you use the actual sink to route an undermount sink hole in a butcher block counter? I plan to install an undermount sink in a new butch block counter top that is 1 1/8" thick. In order to cut the sink hole, could I simply attach the undermount sink to the counter in the correct position, then use a router with a bottom bearing flush trim bit (1 1/4" carbide) to cut the sink, with the bearing running along the inside of the attached sink? I have read about the method of creating a template out of plywood, but this method seems like it would be easier and more accurate. Is there something I am not thinking about?

Putting a bearing against a sink surface seems to be looking for trouble. The slightest resistance in the bearing could tear up the finish of the sink, whether it is porcelain, fireclay, steel or resin.

I think it's worth the trouble to make a plywood template, unless you are in the sink business and have spare units to burn.


What’s the proper setup for mounting a tile cutting blade on a grinder? I am attempting to determine the proper safe configuration for using a 4 1/2” tile cutting blade with my metabo hot angle grinder. I have seen lots of folks utilizing angle grinders with these cutting wheels in order to cut curves or notches from tile.

I’ve read through the manual for my angle grinder and it says nothing about cutting wheels, it only mentions grinding wheels. Moreover, it prescribes a specific type of “depressed center” grinding wheel (type 27).

How do I ensure that my grinder and cutting wheel are a proper match In order to safely complete this job the grinder is new so I can return the grinder or wheel in order to obtain a compatible product. It does appear that there is a sort of but on the grinder so I doe, but again no information on utilizing that with a cutting wheel.

Also, the grinder manual states only use grinding wheels of at least 13,300 rpm despite the fact that the grinder’s own not load rpm is only 10,000. Originally the cutting blade I picked up was only 13,000 rpm. I have found a more expensive cutting blade with 13,300. The original blade also seemed to not match the arbor size. I’ve attached photos.

What is the best practice here? I really only need to make one notch cut and then cut around the toilet flange. I think I could get around the toilet flange with nippers if it came down to it, but imagine the grinder is the best tool for the job.Any help would’ve appreciated.

13,000 rpm blades are fine. While centrifugal force does mount quickly as rpm increases, 3,000 is adequate headroom. The concern is that the blade's mass tears it apart at maximum tool rpm.

The key to reasonable safety is making sure that the blade is both centered on the arbor and secured to the motor. If your blade arbor closely matches the arbor diameter, and you can securely sandwich it using the supplied nut along with washers of almost any kind, there's not really a problem using the tool like this. If you feel any wobble or imbalance, evaluate the situation before proceeding.

I've used the same AvantiPRO Turbo blade in my 7" grinder to cut hundreds of concrete pavers with great results.