How to stop outside rainwater from coming in under the wall and through the concrete floor of my garage conversion? I have got a problem with an attached garage converted den in a 1978 built brick home.

The heavy spring rains are redirected to the two year old perforated drain system on the side of the house approximately 10-15 feet away and slopes down into the swail on top of the drain system.

However when it rains for days and days the water is not running fast enough and sits in puddles on top of the drain system and takes days some times to disperse. I also have another drain next to the driveway that begins at the outside wall where the door used to be and runs down the edge of the driveway and it works well.

So here are the two problems:

The floor of the garage conversion den, which is lower than the house, is seeping water to the surface and cracking the floor and popping bits of concrete up and making holes that seep water.
Under the wall where the door used to be is letting water through. The spot the water leaks through is where the driveway butts up against the wall; and the edges of the driveway in the corners where the outside brick wall begins. The walk way to the front door is also cracking and it leads right to the edge of the driveway in the corner where the siding and brick meet. I don't know if you can get the picture. This allows water to get under the concrete and under the wall. I put another layer of concrete up against the wall on the outside and sloped it but the corners again are the problem and I suspect the end of the slope down that meets the old driveway is letting water get through. I need a new driveway but can't afford one right now.

Is there a product I can put on the outside siding/driveway and corners to seal it up. And is there a product I can put on the floor to keep the pressure of the water from breaking through?

It sounds to me that the first thing you should do is rebuild your drainage system.  If you still feel that once the system has been adequately rebuilt, or if this is not a feasible option for you, then there are various floor water sealing products out there you can use.


Excess Heat in Basement Unit I live in a basement unit in an old building. There are steam pipes that are running through above my ceiling and these are what's causing the excess heat. Because it's an old building, I'm sure the insulation on these pipes has been degraded. There is a closet in my unit that has the most concentrated heat. Is there some temporary fix (until the insulation of the pipes is checked) to divert the heat to some other location or if there's some sort of heat sink?

This is a very common problem in old steam heated buildings. They get too hot or too cold. Your only option as a renter is to open windows or use vent fans if you have them. I would contact your landlord or management company and see what they have to say. Perhaps they have a solution. You can also talk to your super and see if they have any tips or tricks. Otherwise you are stuck with your situation. A removable window fan with louvers and thermostat would be a simple automatic solution.

Second, when you say steam pipes in an old building I picture old asbestos covered pipes. Don't mess with those, EVER! Asbestos doesn't really degrade and neither does fiberglass provided there is no water damage. If I were you, I'd look for another apartment if you have asbestos. You could be living in a health hazard if the asbestos wasn't removed (and it rarely is as the cost is enormous).


Resetting stones on a sinking patio My patio covered with slate has sunk a little, as indicated by the bowed line on the left. The patio is up on the level indicated by the arrow in the image on the right.

My question is: if I were to have the slate reset, is it just going to start sinking again? It seems that because of its location, there is some erosion issue that would need to be addressed first. Or is this something that happens no matter what?

While I'm not an expert, typically you can pull up slates, re-level the sand underneath them, and then re-lay them.

It is entirely possible that the slates were put on too-thin a layer of gravel and sand, and that the underlying soil has compressed a bit since they were laid.  This is different from erosion.

It is also possible that they were laid in order to promote drainage and avoid puddles.


hot water coming out of outside faucet A couple of things.   I have two bathrooms and one of them, you cant really take a shower due to not enough hot water.  You can shower for about 5-10 mins and the water is now warm, even when the handle is all the way on hot.    Also a outdoor faucet has cool, then hot, then cold water coming out of it.  I have checked the pipes and they are ran correctly, (hot-hot, cold to cold).   My bathroom has no problem due to the kind of shower I have.
This a new build and the water is not "hot" anywhere.  I have the temp. on the tanks 130.
Help
Carolyn Stump

A few possible causes of the issue:

There are long runs of uninsulated cold and hot water pipes next to each other. The hot water pipe should be insulated to keep the water inside hot, and the parallel pipe cold. If you have any way to access the supply lines, insulate at least the hot water pipe. It is also possible that insulation in a wall or crawlspace, as opposed to pipe wrap, has been damaged. For example, if water has leaked into a wall, perhaps from an ice dam, it can cause wall insulation, particularly cellulose insulation, to clump and settle, and rodents can remove pipe insulation in a crawlspace.

Backflow from convection and from expansion of water in the hot water tank is pushing heated hot water backwards, into the cold water supply line, wasting that heat. Install a backflow preventer. A quick test for that issue is to partially throttle the water entering the heater, but do not reduce it to a trickle, let the tank overheat and be damaged! If water in the outside tap is now noticeably cooler, backflow is at least one culprit. Reopen the heater valve after testing!~


Can I wire additional circuits off of GFCI this way? Currently, I have a GFCI outlet that has two more outlets down the line as shown in this diagram.
I am moving around some circuits and I need to temporarily hook up 3 additional outlets that are losing a line.
Is it proper to wire that additional group of 3 (non GFCI) outlets from the GFCI itself just like the original branch of two? I am showing that new branch with arrows. The circuit is 20A and I am not worried about overloading/tripping -it is temporary so that we have functioning outlets while the work is being done. I do have additional GFCI outlets if I need to add one in this situation. Thanks.
Thanks.
EDIT: apologies for the bad initial diagram that I pulled off off the internet in a hurry on my phone. Here are the actual photos. The GFCI has the line going into it. From there, I have a circuit branching out with two standard outlets. What I want to do is to hook up the second "branch" with 3 more outlets on the other side of the wall (temporarily, so that we have functioning outlets before the wall goes away)
This branch will also be hooked up on the GFCI side (see on the bottom 2 photos how I connected them on GFCI load side. Does this look good?

Yeah, that works.
Sorry for such a short answer; your design is correct.


Gluing small pieces of drywall What is a good kind of glue to glue small pieces of drywall that are too big for mud patches but small enough that driving a screw through would crumble the drywall piece?

Any common construction or project adhesive. That said, drywall nails are fairly thin for just that reason. If it's large enough that you're installing a patch, a nail won't destroy the patch.

And that said, it's often the easiest solution to simply enlarge the patch to something suitable for repair, say 6" x 6". Float some one-by lumber or plywood scraps for backing and be happy.


Is this mold situation ok to ignore? We just bought a home in the North-East and were told by the home inspector that we had some mold growth in the attic, but that he didn't think it was the "toxic" black kind so it wasn't urgent, but we should get it checked out at some point. We got a 2nd opinion who agreed and in fact said some people just live with it.

We had a mold test done to confirm and my understanding is that it concurred with what the home inspector said. It was mold, but not the worst kind.

Main House Air Test:

Aspergillus penicillium = 14 raw - 560 count / m3

Cladosporium = 5 raw - 200 count / m3

Ascospores = 6 raw - 240 count / m3

Attic Sheathing Bio-Tape:

Cladosporium: "Very Heavy"

He estimated it would cost $3,000 to remediate.

We then passed his remediation plan onto local mold remediation companies who quoted us $5,000 - $8,000! And that is just for the mold, does not include installation of an attic fan to prevent future growth or new insulation.

I want to be responsible with our health and the health of our house, but this feels like a crazy amount of money for a relatively low amount of everyday mold.

Is it irresponsible to do nothing?

Every stick built house has mold of some type. I have worked in construction since the 70’s and well as a gopher 60’s , I currently work in a lumber mill , the boards are sprayed with a fungicide , plywood when I worked in that plant I could not believe how fast the “mushrooms” and other fungus grew on the edges of the veneer prior to being assembled. So don’t panic , proper ventilation is needed, high moisture can cause mold growth even with concrete structure. If there is real mold issues up there make sure soffit vents are clear and a ridge vent is clear I have not seen many metal vents get plugged but it can happen.


Installing a Bathtub that does not have a flange We are in the process of doing a bathroom remodel and we noticed that the bathtub we ordered does not have a flange.  The bathtub will be installed in an alcove setup (surrounded by 3 walls) and will mainly be used as a shower.

The bathroom is currently stripped to the studs, the floor is not finished (just leveled).

What is best practice to install this sort of flange"less" bathtub?

We have already purchased 1/2in Durock and stone tile that will be used in the bathroom walls around the bathtub.

I hate to give an answer that's not really an answer but I think you need to return that tub. Without a flange there's no way to guarantee that water won't migrate over and around the edge of the tub into your wall where cavity where it will fester, unseen until you have a major problem. If someone has a better, more can-do, solution I'll be the first in line to delete this answer but until then, sometimes you just have to cut your losses:(


Is having a window in a room that is below grade a requirement? This would be in Charlotte, NC, Mecklenburg County.  I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that rooms that are below grade are required to have a full size window in them or they can't be considered part of the square footage calculation or are a safety hazard or something like that.

Any truth to that statement?

I can't speak for your local codes, but in general codes (in the US anyway) require a minimum ratio of the area of window to area of the room for it to be called "living space".  There are also requirements for egress in that you should have two ways to get out of any "living space" room, usually satisfied by a door and a window.  An egress window has to meet minimum requirements for area and either width or height of the opening, and with a basement window, you have to have a window well that's large enough that you can climb into it from inside the house.


What are the uses of the various schedules of PVC pipe? I had a plumber come out the other day to do some work and I offered up some spare PVC that I had leftover from various projects and he told me that it was schedule so-and-so and wouldn't be appropriate/durable for the task I had in mind.

I had never even paid attention to the fact that PVC pipes came in different "Flavors" or schedules and always just grabbed whatever I came upon first that was the right size. Kinda scary thinking about all the DIY projects I have used it on.

So can someone give me a brief summary of the different schedules of PVC pipes available and what each one should be used for?

The schedule is the wall thickness of the pipe (essentially how much pressure it can withstand).  Wikipedia has a Nominal Pipe Size Table (and the article goes into the description of the size and the why behind them).

From this article http://www.ehow.com/facts_5575151_difference-between-schedule-schedule-pipe.html:

  For a relatively constant pipe outside
  diameter, the wall thickness varies
  from Schedule 10 (light) to Schedule
  40 (standard weight) to Schedule 80
  (extra strong) to Schedule 160 (double
  extra strong).

  Schedule 40 pipe is typically used in
  construction. However, if a stronger
  pipe is needed, then Schedule 80 can
  be used. An example where Schedule 80
  should be considered is if the pipe is
  exposed during construction. The
  stronger pipe is more resistant to
  incidental bumping by workers or
  equipment.

In my house the line that runs out to my irrigation system and the sewer pipe are all schedule 40 (the schedule is usually printed on the pipe).


Just installed Sure Vent is not working and sink is clogged. What did I do wrong? Just installed a Sure Vent underneath our kitchen island sink. I added the T and 5-6 inch of pipe between the T and the sure vent.
Now water is filling up the sink and the sure vent pipe.
What did I do wrong?

The actual issue was the drain blocked. The Surevent was properly installed and just exposed even further the fact that our drain was clogged. A full bottle Drano and a few dead dolphins later we are good to go.


Water shut off to solder on an adapter? I need to put an adapter onto a ball valve at the end of a supply line.  Do I need to shut the water off to the whole line?

The ball valve can, I assume, shut off the flow where you need to attach the adapter. In that case just close the valve, attach your adapter, and proceed.


Painting over reversed drywall I had a painter come over to paint the garage drywall (it was reversed for some reason).

https://imgur.com/V9Q5jcW
https://imgur.com/Uhajs6q

He used Sheetrock Dust Control to cover the nails and seal the drywall gaps. Later used 3 coats of Glidden Premium Exterior Paint for the walls and ceiling.

https://imgur.com/qPcenMj
https://imgur.com/2rBk6uM

The result looks pretty uneven, annoyed that I spent the money on a professional and still didn't get an even looking wall paint

How can I get an even paint if I have to paint over this myself

Three coats of paint here is insufficient, or rather inappropriate. This surface needed a good sanding, and probably some ready-made drywall joint compound, to make it even and clean.

Then one coat of primer and two coats of paint (until nice). In the current condition, I'd be afraid whatever you put over will flake sooner than later due to the bad base.

Personnaly, I'd have gone

drywall compound till nice all around
sand evenly
primer
2 coats.

I assume all those racks and shelves were removed prior to painting, right ?

From the current condition, I'm not sure how much sanding would give enough for the new paint to hold.


30 years old exterior wooden stairs, repair or replace? We manage this condo in lake tahoe region, and as you may know, the area snows a lot during winter time. The exterior wooden stairs (circled in red) is about 30 years old, and we are thinking about doing some retrofitting, although it still works fine. Previous owner replaced some railings and steps as we can tell. I recently got a quote from a contractor to replace the whole stairs, and quote is at $53,000 staggering price. To reinforce or repair it, we could replace some railings, treads, steps, and reinforce the posts, and that would cost a few hundreds or $1000 - $2000. I'd like to bring this up to this forum to hear some experts' opinions.

This seems like an impossible question to answer based off of this one picture. If you can't afford to replace it and it's not in dangerous condition, then I don't see why fixing the problem areas wouldn't be your best temporary solution.


What do I need to know before taking the home owner's electrical test? Inspector came over and checked out my basement today.  He suggested that I take the `local home owner's electrical test to sign off on that part of the permit.

They give you the NEC 2008 handbook, 10 questions, and 2 hours.

What are the basic things I should know.  Any tips?  How hard is too pass (I understand this may vary)

First this varies by municipality.  Almost all municipalities use a multiple choice test and mine did not.

I would say key things you should know:

Definitions.  You need to know what terms mean so that you can find the answer with the right context.
Understand the basic electrical equations.  Power, ohms, watts, cable requirements...
Understand what each section of the guide covers.
Understand how to properly find things using the gloassary.
Have a good understanding of basic electrical code.
Be good at math.  A lot of questions require math skills.
Understand how to diagram basic things like 3-way switches, laying out outlets in a room, a switched light, a ceiling fan with controls for light and fan, gfci switches...

Extra Note - I passed.  So if you have questions shoot me an email.


Does the bare wire in an 8/2 cable connect to neutral or ground at my sub-panel? I am running electric to a building on my property. i have a 30 amp double breaker at the house panel and have ran roughly 110 feet of 8/2 with a bare ground and installed a ground rod at the sub panel for the building.

I know black and white are my 2 hot wires and the #6 coming from ground rod goes to my grounding bar in the sub panel, but do I hook the ground wire from the #8 to the ground bar or common bar at the house panel and the sub panel?

The current National Electrical Code that most jurisdictions employ will no longer allow a 3 wire sub-panel feed.
4 wire feeders are now required for sub panels. Two hot legs, a neutral, and an equipment ground.

250.32 Buildings or Structures Supplied by a Feeder(s) or Branch Circuit(s).
(B) Grounded Systems.
(1) Supplied by a Feeder or Branch Circuit. An equipment grounding conductor, as described in 250.118, shall be run with the supply conductors and be connected to the building or structure disconnecting means and to the grounding electrode(s). The equipment grounding conductor shall be used for grounding or bonding of equipment, structures, or frames required to be grounded or bonded. The equipment grounding conductor shall be sized in accordance with 250.122. Any installed grounded conductor shall not be connected to the equipment grounding conductor or to the grounding electrode(s).

Hopefully, you can correct this without too much hassle.
Good luck!


Connect Two sets of 5 meter RGB Lights I bought two of these RGB led strips of 5 meters and would like to connect them together. Is is possible to do this with the power supply I have or would I need something stronger or maybe an amplifier?

If both 5 meters strips came with one ac adapter each, you can connect the strips together, and put one ac at the start of the strip and the other ac adapter in the middle (where you connect the two strips together).

That amazon link shows:

LED voltage 12V
Wattage: 24W
Power Supply: AC/DC ADAPTOR INPUT 100-240V; OUTPUT 12V 3.0A

the adapter gives you up to 3 amps, but each strip can use 2A, (24w / 12V = 2Amps)

The adapter can (and most of the time should) give you more amps than what you need, the strip will decide how much it will draw from the adapter, so amps won't burn the strip.

Or you could buy a single adapter that is 12v,  6 Amps (or higher, but has to be 12 v).

Hope this helps.


Changing a pendant light to an LED pendant ligh I am installing 3 LED pendant lights where regular pendant lights  were previously from the new LED light there are 2 wires silver clear coated and a silver clear coated with a white stripe. From the ceiling there is a white wire, a black wire, 2 bare copper wires and a braided copper mesh wire.  How do I wire it?

The 2 silver wires are connected to the black wire, the two silver wires w/ a white strip are connected to the white wire, all of the bare wires are connected to your bare wire in the box.


Can a 6x6 post be used horizontally to support the walls of a shed? Can a 6x6 post be used horizontally to support exterior walls of a shed?  6 x 6 will be supported every 5 ft on a concrete pier.

Almost absolutely. A 5' span is small enough that there's almost no shed you could build that wouldn't be fine on those timbers. It's only if you're talking 20' walls and a huge roof span that I'd be concerned.
If you want a more confident answer, tell us more about your shed. Size, wall sheathing, floor framing, and other factors are relevant.
Note that they should really be pressure-treated or isolated from the concrete and protected from ground moisture (splash).


Just installed a new light near an existing one but one stays on, any help? I installed a new light fixture near another using the power that comes from the switch (spliced into) and put a box in and took the power off that to my other light which was off that switch to begin with. What happens is I turn the power back on and one light is always on while the other is off, if I throw the switch it shuts other light off and turns other on.

Can someone tell me how to fix or give a diagram please. I have black white and ground. Thanks for any help.

You have a wire crossed. Typical series would be black to white from one light to the next, and white all the way through the series. 1st light: white wire from switch continues to the 2nd light, the black wire on the light is connected to the black wire from the switch. 2nd light: white wire from 1st light is connected to the black wire of the 2nd light and the white wire on the second light is connected to the white wire from the switch.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
                                 W
BBBBB(light)WWWWWBBBBB(light)WWWWW


Why is water from the dispenser slow after replacing the water filter on my refrigerator? At one of our rental properties, we have a GE GSH25JFXN WW Refrigerator. Our tenant changed out the water filter because of the recommended time to change it. He said that before he changed the filter there was good water flow at the water dispenser. After changing the filter, water flow at the dispenser was slow. Here's his e-mail before I went out there yesterday

  "Thanks for the email.  I changed out the filter because it had been on for longer than 6 months.  When I took the old filter off, that's when I noticed there might be a potential leak (where the filter is attached).  I installed the new filter and the water would barely come out.  I've changed out the filter before and never had this issue.  I gave the reservoir time to fill and I also held down the water dispensing mechanism for 5 minutes (at the request of GE customer service to make sure any air was pushed out of the tubing).  Was still slow coming out.  GE recommended trying another filter in case the one I got was defective.  I bought the official GE MWF water filter each time and am still having the same problem. My rough estimation is that it's taking 7 seconds to fill about 1 ounce."

Here's a picture of the point of connection for the water dispenser. Also when you take out the water filter, it kind of leaks at the connection and it stops when I press on a little white button on the right.

I went there yesterday to try some things:

I checked to see if there weren't any kinks in the piping. I found none.
I tried this solution. http://boogster.blogspot.com/2011/10/ge-profile-refrigerator-slow-water.html I didn't know what part the person was sharpening.
I tried cleaning the water discharge at the filter with a pipe cleaner and didn't feel like there was any blockage there.

So I noticed that he turned off the icemaker. I asked him to turn on the icemaker to see if any ice were to be made. This was around 5:30pm yesterday. I followed up with them today (12 noon) and he said the following:

  "Just looked actually. Ice was made but not very much at all.  The ice was also thin and even hollow in some spots so it's not getting very much water to make the ice."

I wanted to see if it's the main water supply to refrigerator or something that is just affecting just the water dispenser. I have attached pictures of the water filters for reference. There is a slight difference in the both of them. The old one is on the right.

I had the same issue and it turned out to be air in the system.  When you install a new filter, it's full of air.  I took out the filter, dumped out the water out of the filter, refilled the filter in the sink, and reinstalled the filter.  It took a few tries to get all of the air out of the system.


Cutting laminate countertop with minimal waste I have a 6-foot long "slab" of laminate kitchen countertop that I need to cut in half. Each half will be installed on top of a 36-inch long base cabinet.

At least, that is my tentative plan. I am concerned that when I cut the countertop in half, I'll lose an eighth of an inch or so to the saw blade, I'll therefore end up with two pieces of countertop that are just short of 36 inches long, and they won't quite fully cover the cabinets.

Is that something I should be concerned about? Is there a way to minimize the loss from the saw blade (would cutting really slowly help, for example) or to squeeze any length out of the cabinets so that the counter top will fit them cleanly? Or any kind of trim that people use in this situation to hide the imperfection if the countertop is a little too short for the cabinet?

They do make edging strip (glues on, at least that's the one I used) to close the open sides and they also do aluminum edging strip or chromed ones.

If I find a link...

Oh, and measure twice and cut once : definitely don't want to go wrong...


Drywall Gap Too Big To Tape I am wondering if this gap is too big to tape and mud over.  The house is over 100 years old and the walls are not quite straight to say the least.  The opposite wall is relatively square btw.  It gap is about an inch at the top and tapers to nothing.

I think I'd lay in some half-inch filler and nail on a corner bead, 1/8" from the tile. You'll need to trim the one flange to less than the depth of the gap. Skim the bead out 8-12". This will leave you with a very nice, straight edge that you can caulk or grout the tile to without adding a clumsy visual transition.


Two AC Units in 1 Window Opening? I have a fairly wide horizontally sliding window.  The AC units made for horizontal sliders are expensive.  So, is there any problem with putting two normal window AC units side by side in the same window slot?

The only problem I see would be if the outside part of the units condensing coil and fan drew air from the side of the units and placing them side by side would restrict that air supply. If that were to happen, the units would not be able to remove the heat build up as part of the refrigeration cycle and the units would not cool. If the window is high enough you could stack the window units one above the other thereby not having any unit affecting the operation of the other. If the window is wide enough, Why not just buy 1 large unit to satisfy your cooling needs.


How can I repel or trap lizards? I know a lizard was hiding in a certain place and unable to get rid of it.

I kept garlic, onion and naphthalene balls as some suggested but no use.

Either i would need to know a use and throw way to catch the lizard or need to place something to avoid it.

Pls help me with suggestion.

Thanks.

The simplest solution is a small live animal trap. Havahart is the most common brand and is widely available in hardware stores with an agricultural bent.

If it's a salamander rather than an actual lizard you may need to cover the trap so it's dark and inviting enough. That's an educated guess; I'm not an herpetologist.


light switch controlling wrong light I have a light in the bed room controlled by its own switch and one in the closet with its own switch. when turning lights on each switch controls only the light it was intended to control. However when i shut off the closet light it also shuts off my bedroom light and the only way i can turn the bedroom light back on is to shut it of and turn back on. Both switches are single switches. I haven't tried anything because i don't know where to start.

Your question is pretty broad, so this answer will be as well.

When troubleshooting issues like this, you are going to have to open up electrical boxes, and look at all the wires inside.  This normally means pulling out the light switches (don't disconnect anything unless it is clearly labeled for later) and the light fixtures to get a clear picture of what is happening.

When wires come into an electrical box, they can do a few things.  They can just pass right through on to the next box.  They can be switched on and off and then go to the next box.  Finally, they can supply power to a fixture (and then go on to another box).

In your situation, one thing that could have happened is that in the switch for the closet light, there was supposed to be an un-switched wire that passes on to the switch for the room light, but it accidentally got tied into the switch.  This mis-wiring could have also happened in the box for the closet light fixture.

The first step is to open the closet switch box and light fixture and see how they are wired.  Pay attention to black wires that are bundled together and . think about how constant power comes into the box and needs to leave the box, and switched power must also leave the box to get to the light fixture.  If you don't see something you can't explain, you may also need to open up the two boxes for the bedroom.

Now, I will also say that figuring this out might not be the best "first project" to tackle if you have not dealt with home electrical.  If you have installed switches, outlets, and light fixtures and maybe installed a new outlet, etc, you would be more prepared.  Some of the wiring conventions might not be obvious to a newcomer, and it's easy to mess things up.


Can I run wires from two separate circuits through the same box? Can I run wires from two separate circuits through the same box, if one of those circuits is just passing through (no connections)?

I have a switch in the basement which is currently wired to outlets in the room and I want to change it to switch the overhead light instead.

I know how I would go about wiring it. The diagram shows how the room is currently wired. What I will do is remove all wires from the switch twist the two black (live) wires together with a nut and remove the pigtailed ground from the switch (and the box). That leaves those outlets all normally powered without a switch.

This wiring diagram belongs to do-it-yourself-help.com. The original can be found here: https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/outlet-switch-electrical-diagrams.html

Now my question is, can I just leave those wires in that box even if I am going to run wires from the light into that box, and to that switch? The light is powered from wires on a different circuit, so I will have two sets of wires from two different circuits running through that box.

It seems okay to me, although it's not clear if I am breaking regulation codes by having two circuits so close together. I know you will likely tell me it will depend on where I am (Alberta), but I would rather err on the side of safety. Would you do this, yourself? If not, how would you properly route the existing wiring around the switch? I know that wherever I choose to splice those wires, they need to be in an accessible box.

The answer is yes you can have 2 separate circuits in the same box (they can have a splice also but not needed in your case). The only concern would be the total box fill. Based on the NEC the wire fill would be calculated at 2.0 for each conductor for 14 gauge wire and 2.25 for 12 gauge wire. The device or switch counts as 2X for the largest wire connected to it or each in the box. All the ground wires count as 1X of the largest ground in the box. If the box has clamps they are counted as 1X of the largest wire. With the numbers added up they need to be smaller than the listing on the box for cubic inches. If more information is provided on the size of the wires entering and exiting the box and total number of devices we can help with the calculation.


Electrician need to replace/inspect weather head and conduit? My weather head has always been broken and taped up. With a recent storm, the wires coming into my house broke off completely so I decided it was a good time to finally replace the weather head.
In the process, my neighbor came over and said it the wires need to be inspected before the electrical company can turn back on my power since the lines were hanked off. Is this true? Can I still replace the weather head myself and have the electrician just inspect the lines going into the electrical box from the weather head?

That line from the power company pole to your weatherhead is called the service drop.
The service drop is always energized.  There's no breaker or switch up on the pole. To de-energize a service drop, they have to come with a boom truck and go up there and detach each hot from the poletop splice.
So yes, the power company must be involved - that can't be avoided.
If you're saying all 3 wires have broken completely off your weatherhead and are laying in your lawn, then call the power company IMMEDIATELY since this is a downed power line that is energized, and can kill a kid.  They'll be out fast for that!
You have to check with your power company but usually they want to see proof of a city inspection/approval before energizing equipment.
So your project scope should be to replace the weatherhead.  Generally the city inspector won't make you replace a bunch of other stuff too.
If your circuit breaker panel is also as roached and old as that weatherhead, then I very strongly suggest you also replace the electric meter with a "Meter-Main".  Why?  Because this will let you fully de-energize the tired old main panel, which will open up a whole bunch of options... Some of those options enable DIY work, and other options enable doing the work in "small steps", which simplifies permitting requirements and doesn't require your house to lose power for more than an hour at a time.


Replace rotten bottom plate I have attached garage with room above it. It has three exterior facing wall. The wall sits on 3-4 ft concrete. I am seeing some water coming through one of the wall. On the other side of the wall there is a little area for plantation and I suspect that is where the water is coming from. This wall sits on concrete for about 7-8 foot and then it goes down to the floor of the garage.enter image description here[![enter image description here][2]][2]
I can see the rotten bottom plate in the interior side of the wall in the garage. My question is what is the best way to replace this rotten plate. Is this something a DIY can do or is it best left to professional?
I am attaching the pictures for reference. The area marked in red lines is the bottom plate I can see from poking through the drywall.

If the bottom plate and studs were installed to finish the garage, only to support the drywall, then replacing the bottom plate would be fairly easy. You'd have to remove the drywall, remove the nails from the studs into the bottom plate and them hammer out the bottom plate. If there's any weight from the top plate, you might need a ceiling screw jack to temporarily support it. If any of the studs are rotting, you'll need to cut out the bad sections and sister in some replacement sections. Be sure to use PT wood. You'll also want to find out where the water's leaking in from the outside and seal that off.


Convert plug-in light to hardwire (not hardwire to plug-in) My wall has these three wires poking out of the wall right under the cabinets. Looks like ground, hot, and neutral to me.

I would like to put in new under-cabinet lighting. I noticed that hardwired lighting is on average three times more expensive than plug-in lighting. However, both types of fixtures look the same to me. So I'd rather go for the cheaper plug-in lighting.

While studying the plug-in lighting, I only see that they have two wires. Take a look at this LED strip light, for example. It has one red and one black wire.

Another example is this bar light. It comes with a two pronged plug. So I'm assuming that when I strip the plug, I'll see two wires inside.

I know almost nothing about electrical, but I already see a problem. 2 and 3 do not mix. It seems like the light fixtures only have hot and neutral, but no ground wire. Am I allowed to just hook up the hot and neutral and leave the ground unpaired? Will my light explode in some thunder storm without grounding?

You are conflating 12V systems with line-voltage systems

When you say "hardwired lighting", you are actually referring to line-voltage ligthing.  This runs on 120V or 230V (actually, it runs on ~12V but has an onboard conversion module) and must be cabled to the high standards of the electrical code for mains wiring.  This stuff can kill you; if a lamp falls off and drops into a sink of dishes you are washing, you get to see how good your safety protection is on the circuit.

When you say "plug-in lighting", you are referring to one format of low voltage lighting.  This runs on 12V or 24V, and the electrical code for wiring methods is much more relaxed.  This stuff cannot kill or even shock you.  If it falls into a sink of dirty dishes it will probably remain lit.

Low voltage lighting is better - for safety, for ease of wiring, and for cost - not needing a high voltage conversion module in every light.

It would pay to do some more learning about these two very different technologies.

One neat thing about low-voltage is dimming works much, much better in terms of which lights they can dim, and how much they can dim.  That allows you to over-lamp your installation, and back down the brightness to what is comfortable at night, while being able to pump it up for working by day.

Convert this entire system to low voltage

The problem is, the wiring methods here are a nightmare.  One does not simply put mains wiring through a crevasse in the wall.  It is totally unacceptable as 120/230 mains wiring and must be completely redone at considerable expense, with lots of drywall work.

On the other hand, this sort of thing is typically acceptable for 12V/24V wiring.

Plug or hardwire has no bearing on voltage

Plugs or hardwiring are a wiring method, and work on either one.  That means you are free to use hard-wired wiring methods on 12V/24V stuff.


Trouble finding studs in garage I have a new house, and the garage shares a wall with an interior wall... trying to hang a pull up bar on it, so I need to find the studs.  I took pictures of the house as it was being built, but all of the earliest ones show the garage wall covered in plywood.

On top of the plywood is a layer of drywall.  I tried using the Zircon i520 but it fails to pick up anything, except right around the tape joints.  My magnetic stud finder shows a couple of hits within 1/4" of each other at the same spot at the Zircon, so I drilled three test holes around the area and only managed to hit nothing.

Is there anything I can do to make this possible?  Strangely, I stuck a screwdriver in the hole that I had drilled and it went in 7" until the insulation started to make that difficult.  I thought that the studs were only 3.5" deep.

If the drywall was hung on top of plywood with nails or screws there's a decent chance those won't align with the studs, which is why your magnetic studfinder could lead you astray.

The plywood has to be anchored to studs, and those should be 16" on-center.  So you only have to find one as a reference point.  As an alternative to opening enough of the wall to probe for a stud you can use the fact that the plywood anchors are magnetic and roughly 16" on center, combined with the existing holes that failed to find a stud, to map out likely stud locations.


How can I convert two recessed lights on a single pole switch to two separate lights with light controls? I have a bedroom with two recessed can lights operating from one wall switch. I would like to add a ceiling fan/light to one of the outlets and convert the other to a track light with its own light switch control. What are the wiring connections I need to make to convert this into 2 separate lights with light controls?

Conversion is too soft a word for what will have to be done, it is more than likely going to be a rework.

Somethings you need to figure out:

  I would like to add a ceiling fan/light to one of the receptacles

A ceiling fan is far heavier than a recessed can light and thus needs additional support.  The recessed light box will need to be replaced with a special box that braces itself into a ceiling joist or into a wooden block between two ceiling joists.  Looking at how the recessed light box is being fastened into the ceiling will tell you how to do this.

  and convert the other to a track light with its own light switch control.

This can be done but even in the best case scenario, you will need to run an additional cable from the switch gang box to one of the luminaires.  This is of course assuming that the cable coming from the breaker is coming into the switch box.

It becomes more complicated if the power to the breaker is coming into one of the two lights.  In this instance you would need to run a 3 wire and ground cable from the switch box to the light with the power line coming in:

NOTE: All of this of course is assuming that if one of these happens to be a fan/light combo, then the fan and light will be wired to turn on with a single switch, rather than separate switches for each function.

NOTE 2: This also assumes that you have already have a double gang box for installing two switches.  If you do not have one then you will need to open up the wall and install one.

NOTE 3: The following diagrams assume equipment grounds are properly wired throughout.


How many square foot of coverage per bag of mortar when repointing brick? I haven't been able to find the answer anywhere. In a standard 80lb bag of mortar mix, how many square feet of coverage can I get when repointing a running bond brick wall with standard 8x4x2.25 assuming a depth of about 1"?

Anybody have a rough rule of thumb?

Had a few minutes... created a model in SketchUp and found that with a 3/8" wide joint the mortar takes up .55 sq ft per square foot of wall. 1" depth after removing part of the old mortar and it comes out to 0.015 cubic feet per square foot of wall.

About 0.7 cubic feet of wet mortar per 80lb bag and that comes out to close to 46 square feet per 80lb bag for a 3/8" wide mortar joint.

With a 1/2" joint width yield is roughly 36 square feet per bag.


Why do some light fixtures use multiple bulbs? I've never really given much thought to this until recently. Why would I want to put multiple bulbs into a single fixture?

Every bulbs burns at a specific brightness. Putting more bulbs next to each other won't make the light brighter. Or will it?

So what does it actually do? Obviously, it will spread out light at a larger area, but how much are you actually achieving if the bulbs are so close together as they are with this fixture?

The question came up because I'm equipping multiple rooms with LIFX bulbs. When I spend that kind of money, I'd like to know that I'm actually achieving something by putting multiple bulbs right next to each other.

We use artificial light to light up things.  The brightness of a thing depends on how many photons are falling on it.  Doubling the number of bulbs actually does double the number of photons.  That makes the thing visibly brighter.

One basic method of dimming a room is to have 2 switches, each of which controls some lights.

More bulbs will not throw the light any farther.  What will happen, however, is that faraway things will get more light with more bulbs.  For instance with a single bulb, it might get 5 lux... with 4 bulbs it will get 20 lux and thus be more visible.


Ceiling Fan update with Metal Sheathed Cables and Romex I have a few questions here. I was checking out my ceiling fan to see if I could install a separate switch for the fan and the light. When I got into the attic, this is what I found. Questions..

I assume this box is suitable for a fan?
I think the three wires coming in are metallic sheathed cable and if so, shouldn't they be used with a metal box?
The one cable looks like it has some damage on the cable, should these be replaced with Romex and be updated?
Lastly, can both types of cable be used together like this?

Thanks for the advice.

Since you have access to the box from above a ceiling fan box would be a good and easy replacement.

The wires only look like they have metallic sheathed, they are not.

If you feel strongly about damage to the wire you can always replace it. As long as the insulation on the inner conductors is not damaged the wire should be fine.

Yes, the two kinds of wires can be used together.


Losing water pressure in water hose while washing vehicle We washed two vehicles today. The problem occurred while washing the second vehicle. The hose and nozzle remained the same while washing the second vehicle. While washing the second vehicle, the water pressure was substantially decreased to the point that there was only a drizzle coming out of the nozzle. This lasted for a few minutes. Nozzle was set to jet stream (a forceful stream). We checked the nozzle and the hose. Nozzle was properly set, rather than being set in between two settings. There were no kinks in hose; the hose was not trapped under a tire. I’m puzzled. Is there any reason why a non-obstructed hose would lose water pressure?

We are located in a subdivision on city water (not well water).

There are a few reasons this can happen.

Other uses of water + small lines

Depending on the size of pipes and the way it's plumbed in, it could happen if something/something else in your house was using water (dishwasher, washing machine, shower). This happens a lot in subdivision homes (which are built using the bare minimum amount of money required to meet code), where all the branch lines are 1/2".

Hose clogged

You can also check the hose when this happens: disconnect it from the hose bib (aka spigot), and see if that has a reduced flow as well.

If it doesn't, there may be something clogging your nozzle or hose.

Pressure regulator

You may also have a pressure regulator on your house (see pic below). These can have trouble if the supply pressure is below what they're set at -- I'm not 100% sure what happens but I'd bet it would reduce the pressure like what you've said.

They can also get clogged with debris (though unlikely with city supply) and sometimes fail for no apparent reason (though again, unlikely).


Is High Friction Aggregate a type of stone or treatment applied to a stone? I am doing some research about decorative stones and came across high friction aggregate.  I am a bit confused and here are my two questions:

Is High Friction Aggregate a separate type of stone OR is it a treatment applied to stones?
If it is a type of treatment, why would someone want to use it on granite/veneer/quartzite stones? I ask because the treatment is used to make skid resistant surfaces.

I don't know of a residential use.

It is more a class of stone than a type.

For roadways, high friction aggregates (calcined bauxite is the most common component) is applied (bonded would be a better description) in areas where skids frequently occur, to improve traction.


Teflon Tape or Sealant on Any Flare Fittings for Gas Connections? I am trying to hook up a gas dryer. The gas line has a flare fitting 1/2 in. that goes into a 1/2 in. x 3/8 in. coupling/reducer (in order to fit into a 3/8 in. gas connector, as suggested by help from Home Depot) and then into an excess flow valve, which then goes into a 3/8 in. gas connector (and then the dryer) Should I put Teflon Tape or Sealant on any of these connections?

Looks like you have to connect the gas flex directly to the valve and no other other fitting in-between since the valve itself has already the flare male and the hose is flare female, you can't put either of those fittings because they're taperd and not flare the question is only if the valve and hose are the same size if not then you need a flare reducer or another size hose, and no sealant should be applied on treads of a flare connection since the seal is achieved by the flare being tight and not through the treads.


Is it possible to fix this swollen floor? First of all sorry for my English. I've built a playhouse for my kids:

I've painted it using this:

The construction took me maybe more than 3 months (this was my first attempt to cut a wood and build something with it) and many times it rained before I could able to paint. However there was nothing wrong about the floor, before its being painted. I've waited for a moment that at least 4-5 days it didn't rain and feel confident enough that its dry enough to start painting. After ~1 week I've painted, the rains start again; and after a while I've realized that the floor was swollen like this:

I was thinking that the paint would seal the wood from water, so there would be no such problems. Actually I have no idea why this happened. I'm not sure the wood is wet or not, and this problem is because of being wet.

The floor has two layers. The upper layer is molded board (as seen in the picture) of about 1 cm thickness. The lower layer consist of boards of 2cm x 20cm x with of the entire floor. And this lower layer boards have a 0.5-1 cm space between them and they are sided perpendicular to the upper layer. I mean they are not on the same direction. So I don't expect this problem is caused because of the lower layer. Also I saw no problem when I look from the bottom.

The upper, swollen floor layer has been screwed on every beam. This picture shows the places of the beams (the view direction is from ground to the sky)

My questions:

What might be the reason for this. Can it be the paint? Should I had
used a varnish?
Is there a way to fix it? I've tried to put some screws on the
swollen parts, but it did not help at all. I'm 130 kg and the swollen parts are not effected when I jump on them.

Edit

Layers:

Bottom View - The two layers are screwed to every beam shown in this photo:

The problem:

The upper layer boards are like these:

I hope its more clear with these photos.

Your floor is set too tight.  The manufacturer's instructions will have specified a gap--- perhaps 1/2" to 1/4" at the edge of each run.
As the wood accepts and releases moisture it will expand and contract.

Next time, finish the boards before you install them, and leave gaps based on the type of floor board used.

You can probably remove all those boards, discard the worst of them, then re-set them in there expanded state, and be fine.  For the exterior deck area, use boards without an overlapping groove, and leave enough space for water to drain off each board.  Probably use a single layer, not two, exterior.


Why my samsung washer and dryer takes too long to dry? I have a Samsung WD6000 that washes and dry clothes.
The problem is drying is taking too long, where 4 hours is not enough to dry clothes below the limit of drying (it's 11kg of clothes for washing and 7kg for drying).
I have replaced a few parts:

The drying turbine motor
The resistor (the part that produces heat)
The thermostats
The thermistor

And:

Downloaded the app and did the machine check, nothing wrong
Activated the process of drum weightening
Opened and cleaned the turbine and the duct.

Sometimes (not frequently) the thermistors disarms and I have to press that button on the middle to make drying work again.

At the end of the washing and drying cycle, even selecting 4:30 hours of drying, clothes are hot, but still humid like the vapor did not leave the machine and got back on the clothes.
Only using the washing cycle, clothes end humid, but not wet. So it seems the problem is on the drying cycle.

Maybe the problem is not the dryer but the washer.
Your machine is both washer and dryer and you have thoroughly investigated the dryer.  Maybe your washer is leaving clothes too wet.  I had trouble with my washing machine when it would not spin enough and clothes stayed wet.  They were too wet for the dryer.
Run a load but do not dry them - have it stop after wash cycle.  Are clothes dripping wet?  Sometimes a washer thinks it is unbalanced or for other reasons does not finish the cycle like it should.


How do I remove spots from my new ceramic tiles? I just laid dark brown ceramic tile in my kitchen. After grouting and cleaning I still have spots and round circles (from the cleaning bucket's bottom) on the floor. I have tried soap and water and scrubbing each tile with a soft scouring sponge, but the spots and circles are still there.

How do I remove these marks?

It is likely grout haze.  Wait a week, daily damp mop the grout lines.  Then carefully use a haze remover sparingly (it is an acidic product) The marks will come right up.  Well rinse all areas of any solution, especially any that gets on the grout.

I made the mistake of not sealing a matte bisque mosaic hex floor tile before grouting early in my tile career.  I then used the haze cleaner too early.  It cleaned the haze alright.  It also removed some color from the grout.  I had to go back and hand stain the grout lines individually.  That's why I'm suggesting a week of curing for your grout.


How do I clean a 96-gallon automated trash can? The town provides us one of those automated trash collection 96-gallon trash cans.  Ours really stinks... you do not want to be down wind from it in the summer.  I have been avoiding cleaning it for more than a year now, but I figure with the cooler weather, it is a good time to tackle the job.  What is the easiest/best way for me to clean it right now (I really do not want to climb inside)?  And once I clean it how can I prevent it from getting this bad again... any regular maintenance or tips/tricks I should be using?

Dilute chlorine bleach and your garden hose (assuming an adjustable nozzle that can give you a focused spray).  No scrubbing required.

You can't really prevent it from getting smelly, but keeping all the trash in plastic bags will help.  I use 13-gallon drawstring bags in the main kitchen trashcan and plastic shopping bags in my others.  Tie them off before dropping them in the trashcan.


Is it safe to convert a candelabra base in my ceiling fan to a medium base for use with larger CFL's? I have a ceiling fan with 3 candelabra sockets.

The lighting from the incandescent bulbs is terrible.

I have these 27 watt bulbs that fit a medium socket.

I want to use this type of adapter.

Given the following images, is it safe to use 3 x 27 watt bulbs with this fixture? (Can I use up to 40w per socket?)

I am also OK with removing the glass bowl to make this work, I just want to make sure this is safe!

The Caution reads as follows:
Caution: To reduce the risk of fire re-lamp 40wx3 TYPE B 10.5 MAX.

The individual sockets say MAX 40W on a sticker but the other side of the socket it says 75W 125V (Why the discrepancy?) :

You will be OK as far as not overloading electrically. You need to adhere to the most restrictive labeling, the 40wx3. Since you are using 27wx3, you are OK. The 75w limit is for the socket base only. It can handle 75w, but the rest of the fixture cannot. Be aware that 81 watts of fluorescent light is WAY more than the 120 watts of incandescent. If 120 watts was adequate, this could be overkill. There are various CFLs available in a range of light output, so you should be able to find an appropriate output.

Another consideration is weight. Some CFLs are rather heavy, and that weight cantilevered out by the adapter adds significant leverage on a socket only intended to support a small candelabra lamp. Multiplied by the fan vibrations, this could be an issue. Carefully evaluate how sturdy the sockets are mounted before proceeding with this change over.

And of course there is no way the bowl will fit over this sort of configuration. You will have the joy of everyone being able to see your handiwork :)


What could cause bubbling in the downstairs toilet of an urban condo? About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that the toilet would bubble and, eventually, the water would back up into the shower in the basement of my duplex down condo. What started out as about 12-15 minutes of time to back up (like the length of the shower), turned into a back up within 3-5 minutes.

Last night I used a bottle of Liquid Plumber in the shower, to no affect.

I'm certain that the sink, shower, and toilet are on the same line out, but after showering in a different bathroom this morning, it looks like this is not adding to the backup. My thought here is that this is a clog between the shower and the toilet, or down line from the toilet, and not a venting problem, since it's not affecting the other sinks in the house. Since I'm in Chicago, this isn't a septic issue.

I also believe this line is below the water line and feeds the sump pump. I'm investigating the sump tonight.

Any guidance or other thoughts? Anything someone might consider or had epxerience with?

I'd start by snaking the shower drain. Liquid drain cleaners help with grease and oil buildup in the trap, but less so on hair or other solids, especially if they are further down the line (e.g. near the vent). The shower drain will be a lot easier to snake since you don't have to worry about damaging the toilet's porcelain finish.


How can a circuit breaker turn on a different circuit? So I recently bought a house built in the 70's and been dealing with issues ever since. Recently I was going to do some work with the electrical in the master bedroom when I ran into a problem and now I'm lost. Here's the easy way to explain what's happening

In this order:

Turn off breaker 9 master lights turn off
Turn off breaker 11 outside plugs turn off
Turn on breaker 11 outside plugs and master lights turn on
Now only turn off breaker 11 only outside plugs turn off.

Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

UPDATE

So I have traced the outside plug back to breaker 11 it's is a straight shot through crawl space no splits or junction boxes, I'm assuming this means the box needs to be replaced? If so any suggestions on brands to buy/avoid?

Update 2

So the last update was wrong I have no clue what in my house breaker 11 is powering and while checking I heard arcing in the box shut main power, electrician came out got the box operable for the time being and working with insurance to replace it

Here's some images of what the electrician found:

I am really suspecting that someone has hooked a grounded conductor(slang neutral/white ) wire to a hot wire
Say in a light socket where the white wire was used as the pwer wire for the light fixture and it wa snot taped off to show it was the hot
 A white wire was hooked to it thinking it was a neutral
 I fought a problem like this for weeks in a building. Someone had done this to several runs
 It could be in any junction box, at a light switch ,an outlet or even in the breaker panel

Most likely you will only have to work these three circuts
 Another idea is someone tried to do a multiwire circuit and got it mixed up or a three way switch was replaced with the wrong switch and to make it work they wired some wires to others

I would start by taking stuff apart like outlets one at a time and see when problem goes away or take fixtures loose one at at time
 Last you could have a two circuits doing the same thing


Why does this new HVAC have open holes in the side? My MIL has a Goodman HVAC installed and it's not cooling properly. I'm trying to understand what the outlets are for. One of them, is hooked into some PVC pipe which goes outside. The other outlet is uncovered and pushes out cool air.
I am attaching an image to show the two outlets in the unit. I am hoping someone can shed some light on what these do and if it may be related to the issues.
I Am wondering if it is installed properly or not.

[ Edited to reflect that this may or may not be outside vented and may or may not be dangerous. If you upvoted mainly because I warned of the dangers, now's your chance to remove it :) ]
That is a high efficiency heating system.  It uses a PVC pipe instead of a chimney for its exhaust.  There are two kinds. Some are "direct vent" that use another PVC pipe to ingest air from outside for combustion.    The other kind uses air from the room around the boiler for combustion (but still exhausts to the outside).
Hopefully yours is is designed to consume room air, as more thoroughly described in another answer, in which case the empty hole is where it gets its air.  If it's properly installed it will be in a room large enough to provide it plenty of air for combustion, or in a smaller room with one or more vents into larger spaces.  You should check the model and the manual to see if it is installed correctly and in a large enough space.
If yours is meant to be direct vented (consume outside air) it would have a second PVC pipe going outside.  Your manual will tell you.   Hopefully that's not the case but if it is, you should not use this for heating until it has been fixed.
Either way it's a good idea to install a CO detector near the unit.   As little at $15.  Some give you a reading so you know if it's non-zero even if not at danger levels.
All of this relates to heating.  I don't have an answer to the issue of not cooling.


How can I repair a buried 120v cable splice to make it meet code? I have an electrical question. I have a cable feeding an outdoor yard light. It was cut, I spliced it, soldered it and wrapped it with tape. Is there a way to splice and bury it safely to code? If not, I'll need to dig a 30 foot trench to replace the whole length.

Was about 8 inches below ground, surfaced over the years and probably hit with the weed trimmer.

It is outdoor cable inside copper tubing. Years ago when I bought the wire I knew outdoor was gray. The box said outdoor but it is white like indoor wire.

It was spliced about 20 years ago but am fixing up house and like to hide the ugly splice.

What you call "Romex" is actually NM cable.  It is not rated for outdoor,  wet locations nor direct burial.  UF is rated for all three.

For direct burial rating,  what matters is the lettering on the cable, not the color.  Several vendors are choosing to use white for NM 14, yellow for NM 12, orange for NM 10 and  gray for UF of any size. But that is not a standard and has no force of law

Copper is not a legal conduit wiring method, so it is irrelevant and it counts as direct burial.

Direct burial requires 24" burial depth. Rigid conduit requires only 6".

Direct burial splices are not allowed except with certain splice kits designed specifically for that.

This would be a hot mess if it were mains wiring.

But it's low voltage DC. Right?

Because these defects would not be of concern if this circuit were less than 30 volts and less than 55 watts.

So I would be thrilled to hear that the cable actually goes from the switch to a low voltage power supply  in the 12-24V range, which then powers 12-24V LED lights at the pole. These are readily available for RV or automotive use.

I presume it might be low voltage since it can easily handle the load, so there's no reason to risk electrifying the ground and wasting energy from AC mains  leakage at the splice


Trenching up against fence posts I am planting a small nut orchard.

I have about 1500' of fence line enclosing a few acres.

So far, I have placed all of the poles for the fencing.  These are 12' 6 inch diameter treated wood posts, with 4 feet buried.  The distance between posts is 12'.

My plan was to trench along the outside of these posts, and to bury vinyl coated welded wire mesh fencing 2' deep.  This is to exclude groundhogs from the planting area.

My issue is that the trenchers I have looked at all seem to have the digging blade in the center of the machine, so that the closest I could get to the poles easily would be half the width of the machine.

Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated.

You haven't done yourself any favors, but if only the posts are in you could make it work. You'd just have to plunge next to a post, trench six feet, then rotate the machine and repeat. The blade ought to protrude enough to clear a six inch post, and if the fence sections aren't installed clearance between the posts isn't an issue.

In all honesty though, I suspect using a mattock to dig pass the posts may be less aggravation. Trench what you can, and knock the gaps down by hand. It's not like you need to get all of the dirt out as you can work the mesh into loose soils.

I hesitate to mention it but if it's just the posts and they're set in the ground not cement you can pull them straight out and drop them back into the hole after you do the trench. The easiest way is definitely a front end loader with a chain on the bucket; it's a lot more work with a chain, crowbar, and blocks.

There are also chainsaw attachment/chainsaw type trenchers. (Terrasaw among others) I've no idea if you can find one at a nearby rental place but it may be worth a look. I've no experience with them, sounds like a long day but it'd get you close to the fence. [There's also something called the "Alpine Magnum" that I mention for the sake of completeness. I'd never even heard of them before and I'd be absolutely amazed if anyone rented them.]

If the whole fence is in or nothing above works I'd suggest renting a small excavator for the day, assuming you have room along the fence line to drive. That would let you dig flush with the fence, but the trench would end up a bit wider.

Maybe the best piece of advice is to visit your local equipment rental place (the one the specializes in renting machinery, not the BORG) and explain your problem rather than what you want to rent. They know what they have in inventory, and can give you suggestions. For example, the one here rents Bobcats for 1.28 Gigadollars per day and small banged up Kubota with a backhoe for about a quarter of the cost. So "I'm digging a hole" saves you a ton of cash over "I'm looking for a bobcat excavator." Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll have an offset trencher or small skid steer with a tiny bucket.


What alternatives do I have to cap/plug the kitchen spray nozzle I have a seasonal camp that is winterized each year.  The kitchen faucet spray nozzle must have suffered from some ice damage and leaks constantly.

The feed line to it comes from the mixed section of the faucet and there is no way to disconnect it.

I would like to avoid buying a whole new faucet set and I do not use the spray nozzle.

Can I just cut it and cap it or is there another way to correct this problem?  (the water leaks all the time and if I don't keep the sprayer in the basin it leaks into the cabinet)

I don't want to replace the hose/sprayer - since I also want to use the hole in the sink back for something else.  I don't use the sprayer.

I suppose the answers depend on the model of faucet - in this case it is a MOEN - and it does not look like the host it detatchable.

Since you did not provide the model of the faucet, here is a YouTube Video that shows how to cap a typical sprayer. In this situation, you'll likely need a 1/4" brass cap, some PTFE tape, and an adjustable wrench.


Can I use plastic as moisture barrier under fiber cement siding? I want to attach fiber cement siding planks to furring strips over concrete wall. My understanding is that I need some moisture barrier to prevent water from getting to the wood. So can I staple 6mil plastic for that purpose? The surface I am covering is very small - around 30sqf.

The moisture barrier would generally go between the furring strips and the concrete and would be attached to the wall simply by attaching the furring strips to the concrete. If you wanted to really seal the area you could run a bead of adhesive sealant between the moisture barrier and the wood.

6mil plastic is a "vapor" barrier, not a "moisture" barrier. The difference is that a moisture barrier allows air to permeate it but prevents liquid water from going through. A vapor barrier prevents water AND air being transmitted through it. Moisture barrier is used between porous materials like concrete and wood to allow the various materials to acclimate to changing temperature and humidity without exchanging liquid water (the concrete will absorb a lot of liquid water from the ground, and then pass it into the wood which is a sponge for water, which will cause the wood to rot). If vapor barrier is used, moisture will be trapped on either side of the barrier, which can cause puddles of condensation on the moister and/or warmer side of the barrier.

So, to answer your question, you should probably use a product like Tyvek or TyPar, or an older material like roofing felt, between the furring strips and the concrete. For an installation like this, you can just cut strips of the barrier to prevent direct contact between the materials, and then simply place them behind the furring strips as you attach the strips to the wall.


Finish a laser engraved piece of wood I've laser engraved text onto a wooden plaque . The engraving has some finely spaced grooves. I want to apply a stain on it , sand it out so that the engraved portion is darker than the rest. I'm planning on using a fine-grit sandpaper to hand-sand it. I'm a little worried that sanding will blend the engraved and non-engraved portions of the wood - the engraving is probably 1mm deep.

Is there an alternative ?

Use a sanding block (ie, do not hand sand with your fingers) which will prevent the sandpaper from pressing into the grooves.

1 mm is huge, for anything reasonably described as fine sandpaper and not applied with excess enthusiasm.

But, as is always the case, testing your complete proposed finishing process on a suitable piece of (in this case) laser-engraved scrap would be the best bet.


In England: ground or air based heat pump? Weather is not too extreme in southern England, will not need a/c. Want to install central heating for the first time in an old Victorian house. There are no radiators, no base board units, no under-floor heating, nothing. Well, a lot of chimneys and wood/coal stoves in fireplaces. Will be doing all the right things re. insulation and windows.  Want to be as green as possible, also independent of net if possible. Looking into geo-thermal but am not sure if govt. incentives make it worthwhile. Any advice welcome.

A ground-source heap pump is a custom-made-site-specific piece of equipment, and as such, will be more expensive and failure-prone. On the plus side, it will be more energy-efficient than the compressor of an air-source heat pump system. With today's super-efficient air-source heat pumps, you'd be looking at a coefficient of performance (COP) of ≤ 3 for air-source and ≤ 4 for ground-source. Both are very good. In general, I would favor an air-source heat pump due to lower upfront costs, higher reliability, and greater ease of maintenance and replacement.

But the real question for your situation will be distribution. You say you're installing central heat and are talking about heat pumps; I assume this means you'll be adding ducts. But even with ducts for distribution, a victorian house with a lot of small rooms and multiple stories will be much more comfortable to heat using modern equipment if you also super-insulate it. You should pay very close attention to your air-sealing and insulation details, and budget more than you think for this.  And buy better windows than you think you need. Definitely triple pane. Better to spend more on the building envelope and less on mechanical equipment than the reverse!

If you want to be "net zero" you need all your mechanicals to be electric (no gas or oil), and you'll want to keep your interior electric load as low as possible. LED lights, no huge plasma TVs, etc. And you'll need a lot of solar PV to generate the electricity required to run everything. In cloudy England, that will be quite a lot! To deal with this, you might want to look into solar-trackers, per-panel micro-inverters, and even residential wind turbines. You'll need to have a net metering arrangement with your municipal electric company/service as well.


Are intermediate vertical supports necessary for horizontal fence rails? We are putting up a fence with horizontal wooden pickets on posts spaced 6 ft apart.
I have seen some fences with 2x2 vertical supports going up the middle of the pickets to help support the boards from warping or bowing. The difference, though, is that the fencing I've seen were 8 foot sections, not the 6 foot sections I'm doing.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these vertical supports and if it is worth the few extra boards and time?

The thickness of the horizontal "pickets", the quality of the lumber chosen, and the prep and maintenance will determine the rate at which the wood will warp, split and crack. I don't think that a 2x2 or 2x4 stiffener will do much to prevent any of this.
However, the stiffener will stiffen the boards, even on a 6' span, helping to hold them in position against wind, someone climbing the fence, or just simply leaning against it.
It seems, from the tone of your question, that you don't particularly want to install these stiffeners. I'd recommend that you not install them at first. Try out a few sections of fence and see how it works for you. Lean on the fence (as you might if talking to a neighbor), try climbing it (as your kids are guaranteed to do at least once) and see how it holds up. If the "wobble" is acceptable to you then leave the stiffeners out of the equation. If the "wobble" is not acceptable, then you know your answer.
Heck, you could build the whole fence without these extra verticals, then install them all later if you determine if you need them.

As a side note, it almost appears that the stiffener in your image is acting as an intermediate fence post - it could be touching the ground or even buried in the ground, but I'm not sure it is.
Additionally that looks more like a 1x2 or 1x3 stiffener, and I'm not sure how much that would do in comparison to 2x material.
If you do decide to go with the stiffener, I'd suggest only one screw/nail per picket into the stiffener. This will allow your horizontal pickets to expand and contract with the weather and the seasons and minimize the splitting damage to them. If you put 2 screws/nails in there, it's possible that you'll increase the rate at which they fail.


Will a horizontal 2x4 support my body weight? I want to use a framed doorway to do chinups but I'd hate to come crashing down to the floor on my tail bone. This doorway is framed but not drywalled.

I realize there are a lot of factors but not sure how to calculate this.  The stamp on the 2x4 says "A. F. P. A. 134 S-P-F xxxx KD-HT 2" where xxxx is illegible.  I don't know what any of that means but maybe it's useful.

I weigh about 210 lbs.

I expected to see a double 2x4 header while you have a single; I'd make it a double.  FYI, you can look up weight it can support on beam span table/calculator.  You can rely upon the jack studs to support the weight but I'd add metal brackets (e.g. Simpson Strong Tie) to add additional support (i.e. for the not strictly vertical forces) since you're jerking around and brackets are less than $1 each.  Bracket the king studs to the header and two more brackets for the cross-beam.
P.S. Your stamp means it's kiln-dried southern pine/fir


NPT used in U.S Pressure Gauges Is the NPT used in United States Pressure Gauges parallel or tapered?
The following is the unattached photo.

When I attached the adaptor which is NPT to BSP converter. It is not all the way when tightened, not even half. Is the Pressure gauge thread tapered and the adaptor parallel? Or vice versa? how do I tell?

It's pipe thread - i.e. tapered, NPTM, unless you have an oddball gauge. Size depends on the gauge.
How do you tell? Measure it.
No idea what you have for an adaptor internal thread.
How have you "tightened" it - Hand tight? Using wrenches? Clearly not using pipe dope or teflon tape, one or the other of which is required to actually get a seal.
If you refer to the Wikipedia page linked, you'll note that 1/8 and 1/4 (likely typical sizes) have about 3 turns difference between "hand tight" and "effective thread length."


Why does my furnace turn off when the thermostat's LCD dims? Recently I replaced an old mercury thermostat with a programmable digital model (a PRO1 T955W).

It is set to operate in Heating mode. The desired temperature is set to 70 and the in-home temperature is in the low 60s. Yet, the oil-burning furnace does not turn on.
As soon as I touch the LCD screen, its back-light turns on and shortly afterwards the furnace motor starts running/burning. Then after a few seconds, the LCD dims, and the furnace stops before the desired temperature was reached.

I was initially wondering if I might have switched around the R and C connectors. The thermostat only has those two inputs. After switching them again, the same problem persists.

Any ideas?

EDIT:

Here is a picture of the wiring. It shows the R & C wires. The insulation looks a bit worn. I have made sure that both cables are securely screwed into place.
Picture of Wiring

Here is a picture of the back side of the thermostat:
Picture of backside

Here is a picture of the thermostat display when connected. Here the display is lit (after I pressed the display), and the furnace immediately turned on. As soon as the display dimmed (after a few seconds of not touching the display), the furnace stopped immediately.
Picture of thermostat display

What happens when you short out the two wires?  A simple mercury thermostat does that to turn the furnace on, so when you do it the furnace should come on.

If that works, then I'd guess that the new thermostat is defective.


Should I relocate the HVAC unit in my attic? I have had a couple of estimates to replace our HVAC system and one contractor says he would relocate the system to a more central location in the attic. One says there is no need to relocate. There is an additional cost to this relocation, of course. The unit is set on one side of the house in the attic.

Any thoughts on what I should ask and if this is necessary?

Necessary?
No.

More efficient?  Yes.

When the HVAC is centrally located the warmer/cooler air has less overall distance to travel to cover the entire house, as it's radiating out from the center.

If you have noticed that one side of your house is less comfortable than the other, it may be worth the relocation.  If the house is generally comfortable year round already when the system is operating, I would not bother with moving the new one.


Why does one of my showers consume all the hot water? 1960s house with 2 showers. Just replaced the 55gal electric hot water tank elements, and there is hot water in all of the faucets, showers.
However one of the showers only runs lukewarm. Obviously there is an issue with that shower’s mixing valve. But, this lukewarm shower takes/uses all of the hot water. So, if someone has a lukewarm shower, the hot shower has no more hot water.
It is a small hot water tank, so back when both showers were not it was not unusual for this to happen. But now that barely any hot water is coming out of the lukewarm shower, it’s a mystery where all that hot water has gone.
Checked for leaks and can’t see any in the hot water supply. Checked the hot water tank and it’s working. So where is all the hot water going if the shower is lukewarm? Next step, after looking at the mixing valve is to put a low-flow head on that shower and see if it’s just the sheer volume of cold water overwhelming the hot water and making it feel lukewarm while simultaneously putting all the hot water down the drain.

There is a good chance that the lines are oversized for that bathroom.   I dealt with this in a shower in France that I needed to redo.   It was basically close to our equivalent of 3/4" for the cold/hot pipes and I reduced them to a little under 1/2" and it resolved the issue.
If someone turned on both sides high it was out of hot water in 12-15 minutes before we reduced the pipe size, hot water gone from a good size tank.   After it lasted about 35 minutes - which is good for 3 people to shower separately.
The other issue I have ran across is the rain shower heads.   These things seem like water is coming out normal but they are usually so big there is upwards of 3 times the amount of water used.   It boggles my mind how much these things use.
As for your issue, if you remove the shower head and take a picture of the insides it is highly likely you can block off a lot of the flow with a simple rubber gasket/ring.   Without getting into the wall this is your first and easiest option.   A valve from the 60s or even more than 20 years old... I honestly wouldn't touch it as my number 1 piece of advice with intricate hardware - especially old - if it works leave it alone.


Is it safe to put drain cleaner down a dishwasher? I believe, my dishwasher is not draining fully. (See separate discussion of my diagnosis here. For this question let us assume I'm correct.)

We've cleaned the filter and followed the relevant suggested steps in the manual (PDF version, See pages 27/28), to no avail.

The drainage isn't fully blocked - I'm left with an inch or two or rinsing water, not ALL of the washing water - so I suspect that the drainage hose is partially 'gunked up'.

Is it safe to take out the various filter bits, empty a bottle of drain cleaner into the outlet space, and then run an empty rinse cycle?

I can't really see any reason it wouldn't be OK - but it seems wise to ask :)

That is not a good idea
I would definitely NOT put drain cleaner (any type, but especially caustic drain cleaner such as sodium hydroxide) inside any equipment - e.g., dishwasher, washing machine (laundry), disposal. Drain cleaner should only go directly into drain pipes. Drain cleaning chemicals are designed to interact with and dissolve accumulated hair, grease and dirt in some manner (the exact method depends on whether it is a caustic cleaner or enzyme based or something else). Drain cleaning chemicals are NOT designed to clear out "foreign objects" (classic example is a toy down the toilet, but this can also include other things such as small pieces of plastic or metal that ended up in the dishwasher drain)
The general process is to figure out if the problem is in equipment or in the pipes. Disconnect the equipment from the drain pipes. In the case of a dishwasher that is normally by detaching a flexible hose from the dishwasher. If you think there is a clog in the pipes, ideally disconnect any flexible and/or easily removable parts (in the case of a dishwasher, disconnect the hose from the sink/disposal end and do any serious drain cleaning (snake, drain cleaning chemicals, etc.) starting at the sink trap (preferably AFTER the sink trap if it can be removed easily) and definitely after the disposal.
Assuming that the pipes are clear (either clogged and now clear, or tested by running large volumes of water from the sink and determining that there is no problem), then the problem is in the equipment. That can be a problem with a pump, with drain line configuration (dishwasher requiring high hose loop or air gap but instead having a straight hose) or something broken/blocked inside the equipment. If there is something broken inside the equipment then drain cleaner would only make it harder to fix. If there is something blocked inside the equipment then it is unlikely (though not impossible) that it is something that drain cleaning chemicals can fix. More likely it will be plastic or metal which may be affected somewhat by drain cleaner - but the dishwasher parts themselves (pumps, fittings, etc.) can ALSO be affected, negatively, by drain cleaner. Drain cleaning chemicals have the big advantage of working, to paraphrase Einstein, as "spooky action at a distance", but that is not an advantage for a dishwasher which is totally accessible.
Bottom line: Don't pour anything down a dishwasher not recommended by the manufacturer. Unlikely to fix anything and likely to break something else.


How to remove protective film from shower after being left in the sun How to remove protective film from shower after being baked in the sun

No doubt the adhesive (and maybe the sheeting itself) has permanently hardened at room temperature. You'll need to either warm it or use a solvent to soften the adhesive.

First, I'd try a heat lamp. An infrared flood light would do, or a halogen utility light in a pinch. Set it up so that it's no closer than maybe 24" from the tub at any point--you don't want to scorch the surface. Monitor it closely and often. Work one area at a time.

If that doesn't work, move to mild solvents like GooGone, depending on what the manufacturer says about cleaning solutions.


How full does a home water heater get? It's about time to replace my anode rod in my 40 gallon water heater. I am interested in trying one of these actively powered models: https://www.amazon.com/Corro-Protec-CP-R-Titanium-Powered-Heater/dp/B01H459TAK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

because if the advert is true, this should take care of corrosion "forever", well at least with a 20 year warranty.

The major difference between this one and a standard noble-metal version, other than the fact that it's powered and made of titanium, is how short of a rod this one has. I'm assuming the rod needs to be somewhat submerged to have an effect.

How full does a home water heater usually stay? Is there a high/low water-level threshold used to determine when to control more water, or is it a continual refill?

A water heater stays 100% full all of the time due to the fact replacement cold water (to be heated) is being added via the cold water inlet line at the top of the water heater each time a hot water tap is opened.


If I turn off the breaker to the Gas furnace will the pilot light go out? I need to turn off the breaker for the furnace but am afraid this will turn off the pilot light to my gas furnace & I don't know how to relight it. Are any special steps necessary to prevent turning off the pilot?

.This is a Lennox G2 Series Gas Furnace Model # G20Q2E-75-C1

Updated Question with the info on furnace . It is a Lennox Gas furnace Model
G20Q2E-75-C1.

Gas appliances tend to use a thermocouple (which is a self-powering device) to keep the gas valve to the pilot light open.  This means that the light will not go out when you turn off the breaker.  Thermocouples are pretty interesting - learn more on Wikipedia here.


Single device for digital to analog television signal conversion Recently Time Warner Cable stated that for our area the transmission was going full digital and that individual converter boxes are needed for each television.  (http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/support/tv/topics/digital-adapters.html)

Does a device exist that can do the conversion for all channels?  This device could be placed where the coax run comes into the house, the conversion is done, and all the other TV's in the house could be controlled normally.

Additional question: If a single box would not work, would it be possible to have a passive converter for each TV so the channel could be changed on the TV and not with the box?  I ask this because devices such as VCR's, DVR's, and USB tuners would suffer from not being to change the channel through their own programming.

Does a device exist that can do the conversion for all channels?

Not simultaneously, so far as I know. Typically a "set-top box" (digital decoder) can decode a single channel at a time. You can get two or three channel devices at higher cost but so far as I know there's nothing that simultaneously decodes dozens or hundreds of digital channels and multiplexes them into an analogue signal on a coaxial cable from which multiple analogue TVs could select an analogue channel.

So you have to use the remote for the set-top-box to choose a channel.

  and all the other TV's in the house could be controlled normally.

Not for choosing a channel

  so the channel could be changed on the TV and not with the box?

No.

  I ask this because devices such as VCR's, DVR's, and USB tuners would suffer from not being to change the channel through their own programming.

Annoying isn't it. Welcome to the future.


Why would you ever choose open-cell spray foam? I've been researching spray foam for the attic in my Maryland house built in 1901.  Currently it's a vented attic, and we've decided to spray foam the bottom of the roof deck, turning the attic into un-vented conditioned space.  The insulation company is pushing us to do open cell spray foam because it "costs less" than closed cell.  But I don't think that makes sense.

All of my research tells me that closed cell has double the R value of open cell, and also costs about twice as much per cubic inch.

So if it has double the R value, I only need half as much of it to accomplish the same results, right?  And at that point, if it costs twice as much, but I'm only buying half as much, then the cost is a wash, right?

Benefits of closed cell:

Closed cell also works as a vapor barrier, which open cell does not, meaning closed cell is more likely to prevent mold growth and rot.
Closed cell is also stronger, and adds rigidity and strength to the structure, which open cell does not.
Finally, closed cell takes up half as much space, which means it's less likely to be in the way if we decide do vaulted ceilings in the future.

So if you only ever need half the amount of Closed Cell, why would anyone choose open cell, even if it "costs more"?

Like most things, both have their benefits depending on the situation. Personally I'd default to using closed-cell unless there was a specific reason for open-cell, which can include:

Open-cell permits drying. If you already have a vapour barrier (eg: below attic rafters) this is good, as multiple vapour barriers can trap moisture and lead to problems (eg: in the wood for the rafters).
Open-cell remains flexible. This can be useful in some cases where the house is settling or shifting. Closed-cell does resist this to some extent, but when it fails it's likely to crack and leave a gaping hole, which compromises the insulation value.
Generally cheaper per same RSI. You'd have to price this out to be sure, but it uses about 1/3 the material for a bit over 1/2 the insulation (RSI) value.
Higher expanding. As an example, I used closed-cell spray foam to do most of my basement, but open-cell to fill the joist bay for a 4' cantilevered floor, because it wasn't possible to reliably get closed-cell to cover the bottom of the floor above. Using open-cell allowed the entire bay to be filled completely.
Less off-gassing than closed-cell. Most closed-cell uses a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) based blowing agent, while open-cell uses a water-based agent. This apparently leads to less smell, if that's a concern. (In my experience, having used it in two different houses for different applications, smell and off-gassing of closed-cell was a non-issue. If you search the internet for this though, you'll find lots of complaints.)


How can I determine why my lights are flickering? I have a child at home who has learning difficulties.  Sometimes she jumps up and down on the floor.  Recently this has caused the downstairs living room light to flicker.  Upstairs under the floorboards I found a connector block with the three wires from the living room light switch going in one side and obviously three wires leaving the other side.  Oddly the bare earths were just twisted loosely together underneath.
Now I may not be a qualified electrician, but it's obvious that twisted wires isn't what you are supposed to do, so I replaced this with a six connector block strip and connected the wires back up properly.  The light then worked correctly.
The other day it started flickering again and after going out shopping for a few hours I returned and the light no longer worked.

In the switch on the wall the two incoming wires are live in the off position and the single outgoing is zero volts...with the switch in the on position all wires are live.  At the light itself both pins are live when switched on.

is this caused by a broken neutral or by possibly something else, if so any pointers would be helpful.  All other lights work without fault and live testing was done with a screwdriver as I do not have a test meter...a bulb will light between live and earth in the circuit.

Flickering is caused by a bad connection somewhere.  It could be the bulb or socket that is bad (you did try a new bulb, right?), or it could be a bad connection anywhere along the line: at the fixture,  switch, any electrical box along the way or a fault in a cable (staple, screw, etc.).  It could be the hot or neutral that is bad. A sign of the neutral being open is other lights getting brighter or dimmer. While the ground not being well connected would not cause the flickering, it might be a sign of other bad connections along the way.

You will need to visually and physically inspect all of the connections with the power turned off.  Wiggle wires, look for ones that pull out of connections.  Look for nicks or otherwise degrading wires.  Check the wire insulation too. Look for heavily oxidizes wires or connections.

You need to get yourself a non-contact voltage tester! You shouldn't be testing live circuits with a screw driver, that's a going to get you killed.

(source: homedepot.com)

Call an electrician if you are unfamiliar with electrical work.


Closet 3-way switch or toggle Is there such a thing as a closet door three way. In other words, I have two large closet doors that close one to the right and one to the left. I have power inside the closet and would like to turn on a light either by opening the right or left door. Instead of a "three way, I also thought of a toggle type switch that could be mounted above the doors that would trip on if opened either way. Any suggestions?

As the comments suggest, buy a pair of physical proximity switches, mount one for each door, and wire them in parallel. That way, either door, or both, will turn the light on when you open it.

Sample item:
door switch


What was the purpose of this diagonal 2x2 along wall? Local inspector passed me through insulation and I'm preparing to do the drywall.  When I pulled the insulation wrap on the yellow insulation part, I noticed this 2x2 sticking out diagonally.  For what purpose do builders typically do this?  Just to hold in the insulation or is it somehow structural?  Figured with a 2x2 it's probably not the latter, but just curious.

It was probably temporary bracing used during construction. It can be safely removed once the roof structure is complete and the walls have structural sheathing properly installed.


What could cause fluorescent lights to sporadically not come on? My kitchen has 9  26W fluorescent can lights (not CFLs - they have external ballasts). Often when I turn the switch on, particularly after they've been off for at least several minutes, about 4 of them won't light. They'll flash momentarily then stay dark. If I unseat the bulbs (handy being very tall :) ) and reseat them a time or three, the lights will come on. I've tried replacing bulbs, to no avail.

I'd assume bad ballasts, but a couple of things make that less likely in my mind:

While it's usually about 4 lights that don't come on, it's not the same 4. Some more commonly have the problem, but all 9 have at some point.
This has been happening since the ballasts were new (about 2 years ago). It might be getting a bit worse (i.e., more lights out on average) over time.

The lights are on a dedicated 15A circuit. They're switched by a 3-way switch. The ballasts are Sylvania QTR1x26T4. The wiring, circuit breaker, fixtures, ballasts, and bulbs are all about 2 years old.

Anybody know of possible causes for this behavior?

Fluorescent fixtures can be rather tricky. With that many installed on the same circuit, what you might be seeing is an unbalanced load on the circuit, causing some of the fixtures to have full current and others, less, and quite simply a ballast, or any fluorescent will not work without full current. With the warm up times of older ballasts,  combined with different features of newer electronic ballasts, this could be the answer.

Isolating part of the fixtures on the circuit from each other quite possibly will solve this. The simplest way would be to install two (or more) switches instead of one, preferably running from different circuits.

You might also consider replacing some, or all, of the can lights with LED. This would considerably lower the load, as well as saving energy. Quite interesting that you have can lights with an external ballast, as well. I've never seen that. What type of bulb do these use if not a CFL? Is it possible that what you think is a ballast is simply a wiring box where the can lights connect to the wiring, or some sort of dimmer control?