Using left over pergo boards instead of 2x4 to mount a peg board I have a set of leftover pergo boards that I want to use as backing for putting up a 8’x4’ peg board. The wall I want to mount them on is concrete.

Would pergo boards arranged as in the pic behind the pegboard hold up the load instead of a set of 2x4s?  I plan to use concrete screws and will ensure that mounting is good.

Is pergo better or worse than 2x4s in taking load?
Appreciate any advice on this
thanks in advance,

Andy

Will it work? Yeah probably. Will it work well? Probably not.

When mounting pegboard, the furring strips, 2x4s, or in this case pergo really doesn't take any significant tensile load. What holds the pegboard up is the compression from the fastener pre-loading. 2x4s aren't even necessary, many pegboard kits come with a bunch of plastic spacers. All the pergo has to do is maintain the space between the wall and the pegboard, getting that compressive strength is not very demanding.

So, using your pergo, it's pretty wide, so you are sacrificing a lot of pegboard holes wherever those pergo boards are. If you really want to avoid spending any extra cash, rip the pergo down to 1.5" or 1" wide, it just needs to seperate the pegboard from the wall.

If your wall surface is flat, you don't even need any 2x4s or pergo boards, just use spacers, either plastic spacers from a kit, or just epoxy some hardware store nuts that are large enough for the concrete screws to pass through on the backside, for easy mounting. If the surface is bumpy like a stone wall, then build a frame out furring strips or 2x4s, depending on the level of unevenness.


Is there an alternative and less toxic way to clean an oven than using oven spray? I have drippings that have caked on to the botton surface of my oven. Now, every time we use the oven, they start to smoke and set off the smoke detector.

What are some natural ways to clean the oven? There's probably some major scrubbing in my future.  :)

If you have a self cleaning oven you can use that cycle. It heats the oven up to a very high temperature (600-700 degrees I believe) for about 5 hours which basically burns away anything that's caked on the inside.


How to stop cold air from coming into the house I have a door similar to this, but it is an external door.  There is a lot of cold air coming in from the bottom of this door, and around the perimiter (betweent he door and the frame).

This is a rental house, so I don't want to spend too much fixing this forever, just enough for it to be effective.

How do I prevent cold air from coming into the house?

For the bottom, you need to install a (or replace the existing) door bottom (Yeah, someone was really inventive with that name).  The thing goes on the bottom of the door and will fill the gap there.

There are 2 general types, ones with vinyl fins (like this) or ones with short brushes (like this).  I personally find the latter work better, though if you have a large gap, the brush type may not be long enough to fill the gap fully, though a gap that large likely means your threshold is improperly sized.


How do I run ethernet cable through a wall cavity? I want to install an ethernet jack in an interior wall of one room. I'd like to run the cable up through the wall cavity (so it is hidden) into the crawl space and back down another wall to another jack which would be connected to the network router. I presume this is a pretty basic thing to do but I'm not sure how to access the wall cavity. The walls are covered by a horizontal beam that gives me no clue what is underneath or how high they are.

Should I drill down at the red X(see picture) and feed the cable through, then guess the right spot to drill a hole at the site of proposed jack (coloured green)?

NB: I have been reading this question but it doesn't quite answer mine: How do I run ethernet, speaker wire, and coax through a wall into a crawlspace?

As others have mentioned, there may or may not be stuff in the wall obstructing your plan.  But most likely not (insulation it the most likely, but should not stop you).  Find an area between the studs and cut a hole in the wall where your box will go as other have described.  Then drill a 3/4" - 1" hole in top plate within the same stud cavity.  That's the easy part.

To actually fish the wire (up or down), you really should get steel fish tape.  I spent so many years fishing wire without this, and once I discovered them, I realized I could have saved so much time.  It is a steel wire that rolls up but does not bend left to right, so you can put it up or down the cavity (down would probably be easier as you can stick your hand in the hole too grab it).  One you have it pulled through, attach your wire to the end, and pull it back up.  Believe, this will well worth the $7.99 you will spend.

I have also used a contraption that gets attached to the fish tape that is like those old Chinese finger traps you probably played with as a kid.  It's a wire mesh that you put you wire in, and then locks on to your fish tape.  As you pull, it gets tighter on the wire so it will not disconnect in the wall.  Before I had one of these, sometimes the wire would disconnect from the fish tape in the wall and you would have to start over.  I could not find a link for this, but it is sold in the big box stores right by the steel fish tape in the electrical section.

Good luck!


Outlet box between shallow and standard? Is there an outlet box that's shallower than a standard, but not as shallow as a "shallow"?
I need a box that's smaller than a standard, but don't need one that's SO shallow. Hoping there's an in between, but can't find one.

Shallow box with an extender ring? Or double gang metal box with a single gang mud ring if you need more volume could work. You can mount either box set back from the face of the drywall


Can I change the gradient/slope of asphalt walkway with cold patch? I have a asphalt walk way that runs right next to my house and collects water. I have a outside sump pump near by, but there is a low spot on the asphalt next to the house that will always take water first.

I want to raise the gradient of the asphalt next to the house so the water flows down towards the sump pump away from the foundation. I was thinking about just adding a bunch of cold patch to adjust the gradient that I want. Its about a 7 ft area along the house that I would need to raise. Would that work? Would it look terrible?

You can certainly fill with cold patch, though for good adhesion you would need to start with getting the area really dry, which will be considerable work as it's a low spot that holds a puddle. What may happen, and is more likely if you don't get it well-dried out before applying the cold patch, would be water getting or staying between the patch and the old asphalt, causing the patch to pop loose when that water freezes.

Both the appearance and the odds of having it pop loose could be helped by sealing the whole area after patching to fix the grade, thus giving a more uniform color and also reducing water ingress.

There's no argument that ripping up and replacing with new hot asphalt or concrete would be less likely to fail long-term, and probably look better, but there's also no argument that it's going to cost a lot more and / or get out of your DIY comfort zone, depending where your comfort zone is.

A third alternative (since you are getting out the cold patch anyway) would be to cut a channel from the lowest part of the low spot to the sump, place a drain pipe in it, and then cold-patch the channel.


How do I make channels in plaster for electric lines? Most of my walls consist of solid plaster over masonry, which makes electrical work difficult to say the least. I want to add some wiring to an existing wall in order to add light fixtures to a room which currently lacks them. Since there are no stud bays to run wires, I will need to cut channels in the plaster to run armored cable or conduit.

What are the best tools and techniques for accomplishing this?

Channelling chisel on SDS drill.

For short runs a brick bolster works reasonably well (and produces much less dust)

Deeply scoring the plaster with a knife beforehand to define the edges of the channel may help to prevent large irregular chunks being removed.


Can I replace a 40A breaker with a 50A breaker? I am changing a 40A 2-pole (240V) Federal Pacific Electric Co. circuit breaker but I can't find one.  Can I use a 50A 2-pole? It's for a wall oven.

REPLACE THIS PANEL NOW

Your panel almost certainly is suffering from breaker-to-busbar contact damage, rendering it a ticking incendiary device.

See this answer for the gory details on just what is wrong with FPE's "breakers".

If you post a picture of your panel (dead front off), I can determine if you can have your electrician install one of the Eaton retrofit kits (the kit itself is several hundred $, but it saves significantly on labor as the existing enclosure can stay in place) or if you need a total panel replacement (cheaper parts, but more labor).


Why does a GFCI trip when anything is plugged into the other outlets? There is one outlet with the GFCI and several other outlets without. The GFCI outlet works fine, while anything plugged into the other outlets causes the GFCI to trip.

How should I detect and fix the problem?

A GFCI trips when the current coming in through the hot and out the neutral are not equal.  The fact that your GFCI trips whenever something is plugged into a LOAD-side outlet, but not when plugged into the GFCI itself, suggests to me that there's a neutral-to-ground-fault (neutral wire touching ground) somewhere on the LOAD side.

This is the way I would diagnose your problem:

Hit the "Reset" button on the GFCI so the LINE and LOAD are disconnected.
Turn off the electricity to that circuit.
Remove the outlet approximately halfway down the chain on the LOAD side.
Test for continuity (eg. using the OHM setting on a multimeter) between the ground and the neutral screws.  Under normal circumstances, ground and neutral are connected at the main panel, but since the GFCI (hopefully) disconnected the neutral, a correctly-wired circuit should find no continuity.  If my guess is correct, you will find continuity, confirming there is a neutral-to-ground fault.
Look for any loose wires in the box.  If you find any, re-splice the connections.
Unsplice the neutral and ground wires in the box. Check for continuity between the neutral and ground screws again.  If there is continuity, the outlet is defective.
Check for continuity between the incoming neutral/ground wires.  Repeat for the outgoing neutral/ground wires, if any.  If there is continuity, that tells you which half of the circuit the problem is on, so you can repeat this process from step 3 to narrow down the location of the fault.
If the issue turns out to be in the wall between two outlets, I would just run a new wire between those outlets.

The above is not a one-hour job; it will probably take you the better part of a day.  It will take longer if you don't already know how the connections between the outlets are laid out.

If you're not comfortable with any of this, hire a licensed electrician.


Are these holes caused by termites? These holes appeared about a week ago. Two holes had been there when I moved in, but I thought nothing of it. I noticed more of them this morning after I removed a painting from the wall.

I have found no wings or droppings.

My house is 15 years old and it had a flood in it some years ago because of something I think in the attic, it's unclear but their was a flood, which ive had people say it's just eating at the wall?????

Are those in a wall, I think they look like small holes like tacks, or push pins I guess my grand kids even have posters on the ceiling not only walls.

I have seen a lot of termite and carpenter ant damage and it is in wood not Sheetrock or plaster.

I sometimes use the small steel pins that have brass hooks .

OOK has 1 pin to 4 pin hooks in the style I think may have made these holes but I do not think they were made by pests. Or any kind of water damage.


If flame sensor will affect Motor assembly's functionality of furnace? How does that work? I have two Air conditioning company. A is the self-hired for my A/C, and B is assigned by home warranty company.

This summer, the technician with A came out for an annual maintenance on both A/C and Furnace. He stated on the report: "FOUND CRACK IN INDUCER MOTOR HOUSING. MOTOR ASSEMBLY SHOULD BE REPLACED BEFORE
FURNACE IS STARTED TO AVOID POSSIBLE CO POISIONING."

Then, I contacted B check out the furnace couple days ago. The technician with B stated "No worry, you will be easily smell it if there is any CO or gas leak. I don't smell anything. Flame sensor is too dirty that's what cause the issue "

But I am confused... what does that to do with the Motor assembly... and how does motor assembly work?

There is a chemical added to natural gas (ethyl mercaptan) so you can smell leaks. However, this chemical burns, otherwise you would smell it when using a gas stove -- so it will not warn you of a leak after combustion, which is where the Carbon Monoxide (CO) hazard exists.

You should probably inform company B, and your home warranty company, that their technician seems to be giving advice that could get someone killed and get one or both of these companies sued.

This doesn't necessarily mean company A was correct about there being a crack, or that company B was wrong about there being a dirty flame sensor. I'd suggest getting Yet Another technician in there to check both... or simply assuming that both problems exist and having both fixed; at worst, one of them will be good preventative maintenance.


What is this gap above the fascia trim called and does it pose any ice-dam risk There's an insect-screened gap of about one inch visible above the fascia trim, if you peek behind the gutters. The roof has no overhanging eaves. Is there a specific name given to this gap?

It looks to me like a version of "continuous soffit vent" that is not in the soffit. Interesting placement. If ice damming does occur it will go into the inside of the soffit but it may not get to the wall and ceiling framing. If ice damming has occured before, there will be water stains as evidence.


Weird junk accumulating in kitchen faucet aerator? Our kitchen faucet was replaced about three years ago when we moved in. Every week or two, the flow starts to get noticeably throttled and I remove it for cleaning. What I find inside is a layer of small, dark brown flakes of a non-magnetic material. They seems like a hard wax or plastic. I have not noticed anything similar in the other aerated faucets. What is this, and should I be concerned?

That may be the rest of whatever, though I'm doubtful. But, the aerator will restrict flow, so run the faucet without the aerator at full force with the sink plugged for both hot & cold & see if anything noticeable flushes out. If it seems to clear out whatever then just put the aerator back on & see if it ever returns.

If nothing really produces from the unrestricted run, then it's probably a (or more) bad cone washer in your flexible supply lines under the sink. Those lines are only supposed to be very-very lightly wrenched on.

I suspect yours were way over tightened, which severely damaged the cone washers. They would be splayed out into the water stream & slightly eroded with every use of the faucet. If that's the case then it's nothing dangerous & just an avoidable nuisance.


Switching 15 amp breaker to 20 amp for AC unit After moving into my new home I noticed there was only one 20 amp breaker in the box.  The AC unit was wired into it but since it was winter and I didn't need AC I unhooked it to wire in the 220 for my dryer.  My question is can I take one of the empty 15 amp breakers in the box and change it out to a 20 amp so I can have my AC and dryer both wired in?

Thanks!

Yes you can swap breakers out, but take extreme care to match wire to breaker.  Don't use 14 gauge (generally white) wires for a 20 amp circuit.  Also note that most 220V circuits in the USA require a tandem breaker taking two slots.

Investing in an electrical permit is highly recommended, if your jurisdiction will inspect at the end of the job.


Raise concrete floor with carpet to same height as adjoining floor My living room has a concrete floor and adjoins my dining room. The dining room used to be a kitchen in a pre-extension life and has a screed floor. The screed floor is about 20mm higher than the concrete floor of the lounge.

I have some existing hard wood flooring (maybe 20mm or so deep) to go over the screed and will be laying carpet in the lounge.

My question is twofold.

How close in height does the concrete and screed need to be in order to get a smooth transition?
How would I go about raising the concrete floor? I was hoping to lay some ply.

Background:

The house is 1930s. The concrete floor was added at some point later to replace a cavity floor. There is a channel, 100mm wide, around two edges of the concrete floor (including the edge with the transistion) where old heating pipes are laid.

If you choose to use plywood, go with the 3/4" T&G for the layer under the carpet. The trough were the heat pipes used to be can be spanned by the 3/4" plywood too. Also since the carpet compresses under foot, keep the plywood below the hardwood layer about 3/8" or so lower. That way when you step there, the transition will feel level.


Led lighting. Extended lengths I'm building in Thailand with limited local resouces and even less knowledge. 220v here.
I want to run a min. 30m of rgb 5050 using a dimmer for the run and one power source if possible.

(I could change to a single color (warm white) if the soulition is simplier.)

Online answers from Chinese suppliers vary from a big list of supplies to one that said I only needed  30a transformer.

One answer on this site suggested using a computer power source (say 450w) to get the 12v and supply the whole run, but I'm concerned about frying the first strips.

Anyone that point me in the right direction with required products or schematics would be appreciated.

Thanks

As Dan says, there is a maximum to the number of connected segments you can run. After that, you can get "RGB amplifiers" that are powered, and run the next set of segments.

You should take into consideration:

The max length of a segment on a single power source (as published by the manufacturer)
The size of the power supply needed, and the space you have for supplies
The cost of amplifiers and power supplies

It may make sense to have several small(er) power supplies rather than one or two large ones.


Is a bleeder-valve to let air into the water line necessary when the plumber put in a frost-free valve? Should a bleeder-valve leak if kept open? My computer updated when I was responding to great response I got from those kind enough to help and I lost everything. I'm starting over again. Sorry. A bleeder-valve to let air into water line was placed under second-floor vanity in bathroom to feed the 16 inch frost-free facet in the garage. We could not find the valve to use garden hose and builder told us it was under the vanity, but did not explain to us that there was a bleeder. We opened the valve, watered new law, next day the bottom floor was flooded out with extensive damage. The plumber had the frost-free valve shut, which is good, but the bleeder-valve open, so I estimate that the water backed up all the way to our upstairs vanity and leaked water? Questions:
Should a bleeder-valve leak?
Do you even need a bleeder valve if there is a frost-free facet installed?
Should a second-floor bathroom even be used to feed an outdoor facet?
Should a bleeder-valve be installed horizontal instead of vertical? Ours is vertically installed and on a 45 degree upward slope.
Also, I would like to add that the plumber connected to the water supply to the upstairs bathroom with 60 psi of pressure coming from the pressure tank in the downstairs utility room. Wouldn't 60 psi be sufficient enough to drain water from the line without a bleeder-valve anyway? And, would the 60 psi cause the bleeder valve to leak or malfunction?
One more issue: The sewage coming from our house goes through a 4 inch PVC pipe, through the utility room wall, and out to the septic system. Against the utility room wall, about three feet off the floor, is a plug? If the sewage was to back-up in our tank and we were to open the plug, the sewage would come into the house. Wouldn't it be better to have a shut-off valve instead of a plug--then you could close the valve and get the septic tank pumped-out. And, wouldn't it be better still, to have a shut-off valve mechanism outside of the house rather than on the inside?
I would like to thank all responders in advance. Your input is greatly appreciated.

IMHO:
In this case, a bleeder valve is used to protect outdoor faucets from damage during freezing weather.
Pre-winter, you turn off water to the outdoor faucet, you open the outdoor faucet and then open the bleeder valve to let the water drain out.
In the summer, you close the bleeder valve, you close the outdoor faucet and then turn on water to the outdoor faucet, restoring it to normal use.
I'm guessing you had the outdoor faucet replaced with one that keeps the valve portion inside the house (where it's warm) while the handle of the faucet is still outside.
They left the bleeder valve in place...but it was in the open position...oops.


Grounding tv antenna in attic? I know this question has been raised all over the internet, with a variety of responses, but here is my specific situation:
I purchased this antenna and plan to mount it in my attic. I have an indoor pipe chase leading from my attic to the basement to feed the coax through, and I have conduit electric throughout the house, including the attic for a pull chain light.
First, because everything is enclosed within the house,  is there any reason to ground the antenna? Some threads on other forums mention you ground outdoor antennas because of static built up by wind/debris or protection from nearby lighting strikes and its magnetic field, where indoor antennas aren't subjected to this..
It seems the attic will negate most risks.  My attic, like most attics have soffit and roof vents. Does the moving air coming through these vents create any risk for the indoor antenna?
Lastly, if I do ground the antenna, would grounding it to the outside of the electrical conduit coming into the attic be where I should ground to?

Good choice on the antenna. Lots of high quality reception for free. In fact, OTA (over the air) TV signals are often of better digital quality than TV through cable distribution. Cable TV is compressed/decompressed one more stage, to reduce the digital data rate, squeeze more channels, and make more money.
And OTA latency is lower: you will cheer for a goal before your cable watching neighbours. Just the right excuse to buy an air horn!
And to your question:

Is there any reason to ground the antenna?

For reception, Yagi antennas (the one you bought) are not grounded. This applies to the connecting cable (shield/core) and any of the active reception conductors: the rods/bars/arms/spokes of the antenna, not its mounting hardware.
Half dipole antennas (Ground plane monopole and Marconi antennas) are different, they have parts that must be electrically grounded. Theses are sprout antennas like the one on a car, and wire antennas for showrt-wave and HAM radio.
Exterior antennas must have their mounting rod grounded to provide electric discharge in the event of a lightning strike or static accumulation from other causes. The mounting rod is insulated from any of the active reception parts.
Air movement in your attic should not pose a problem.
You can use the "outside of the electrical conduit" provided the conduit has a continuous reliable electrical connection to earth-ground. You have to inspect it along its full length until you reach a working ground wire.
Grounding of mounting hardware is not required indoors. In any case, do not ground the electrical parts of the antenna.


How do I remove an old ceiling junction box to install one rated for a fan? I want to replace a light fixture in my house (1950s construction) with a ceiling fan.  I doubt that the existing box will support a fan.
I see the big screw in the middle of the box.  Is it holding the box up?  How difficult will replacing the box be without attic access?

If you have determined that the existing box is not sufficient to support a fan or you want to make sure that a box is designed for a ceiling fan, it would not be difficult.  After opening the breaker to the box in question.

Remove the old box.  You may have to cut some of the drywall away to remove the old box and to install the support bracket of the new ceiling fan box.
Once the old box is removed, use a ceiling fan mount like this and attach to two joists.
Re-patch the sheetrock and mount the ceiling fan.


Is there any way I can guard this pipe from screws and nails? I tried to take down a shelf yesterday and water started coming from the wall. Called a plumber and discovered this in my building's water main:

The pipe is big enough and close enough to the drywall that it probably looks just like a stud to a stud finder or similar.

Is there any way I can install some kind of nail guard in front of the pipe or otherwise standard way I can indicate to the next guy to not drill in this location?

That screw seems to have found the magic spot and I think it's unlikely to happen again, however you might want to somehow strap a protection plate around the Tee; I wouldn't worry about the rest of the pipe.


Considerations for installing a high efficiency furnace in my attic? I live in Upstate NY and in the winter it gets below 0° F.

I currently have baseboard water heating throughout my home. Prior to this I believe there was a gravity furnace which supplied the house with heat.

I am hoping to switch to a regular furnace for two main reasons:

I would really like to get central A/C in the future
I strongly dislike the idea of water lines everywhere in my house; copper does fail eventually

Right now we have 2 zones, upstairs and downstairs, which would be nice to maintain.

My 1940 home has a full basement and a full attic in which I can stand upright.

I would like to have a basement furnace which heats the downstairs. It will be trivial to run the supply lines and cold returns in the walls above the baseboard trim. This would allow me to remove the downstairs zone from my boiler.

I would also like to have an attic furnace to heat the upstairs. I feel that this would be easier than trying to run HVAC upstairs from the basement and it would make dual-zones easier to achieve. I think the supply lines would be do-able but properly doing the cold air returns would be a headache.

My understanding is that a high efficiency furnace has a condensate reservoir which gets pumped out through a 1/4 tube whenever it fills up; much like a dehumidifier with a built-in pump. Would this be a freezing risk? My attic does get below freezing.

Assuming I have insulated supply runs, would my attic get heated by the furnace and cause ice dams on my roof?

I do have some space on the second floor which can fit a furnace, would this be a better choice?

Yes you can put a high efficiency furnace in an attic hose if allowed by your local code. I use self regulating heat tape if there is any chance of the condensate line freezing.

Have you considered a mini split system? I have installed high efficiency furnaces in attics in the past but you would still need a separate compressor unit outside for AC.

The newer mini splits are extremely efficient and zone control can’t be beat as each unit or zone can be independently controlled.

With larger homes I recommend multiple outside units each outside unit can serve from 1 up to 8 inside units depending on the size and brand.  Mini split systems don’t require duct work and this is where installing a new forced air system gets expensive, in your case with multiple heat sources and ac you should at least consider a split as it won’t take up space in the attic or in the 2nd floor if you choose that location , no duct work is a big plus when changing heating styles like you are planning.


Shorten bolt with a sleeve of some sort? I have a reverse osmosis kit, and the faucet has a really long bolt which you use to attach it to your countertop. I can't get a tool up there to tighten it because the sink basin is in the way. I wonder if there is something like a sleeve I can put over the bolt so that the tightening nut sits much lower. Then I can get at it more easily with a tool. Does this thing have a name?

Thanks

A sink (or basin) wrench is your friend

The head turns through 90 degrees, and is spring-loaded to fit on the nut you're trying to tighten (or loosen). An invaluable tool for plumbing of all sorts, and very cheap.


How do I connect the wires inside a conduit junction box? I have some wiring in my garage (done by a sparky believe it or not...) where the wire is quite loose, just tacked to the wall with clips, and there are a few junction boxes as well as the usual switches etc.

I'd like to enclose the wiring in plastic conduit to make it neater and more protected, but I can't for the life of me see how the junctions would work!  All the conduit junction boxes are just empty boxes, e.g. this one from Screwfix

Am I supposed to put a "normal" junction box inside of that?  Or do conduit junction boxes exist somewhere that already have wiring blocks in?

Seems a stupid question but I can't found the answer anywhere!

You piqued my interest and I have a screwdriver.

Here's how a professional electrician in the UK made joins in wiring in my office building constructed 2001 (so as per regulations at that date).

Not all junctions contain joins. Some do.

So yes, use terminal strips (blocks) like these - all DIY stores have them, some ironmongers and larger supermarkets too. Make sure they are rated for the current they'll carry.

As you know, Part P of current UK building regulations apply to DIY work on wiring connected to mains supply.


Generic water-based polyurethane for concrete desk? I recently made a desk with a concrete top. It was a little rough so I smoothed the top with a liquid mix of just cement and water.
I'm now preparing to finish it. I have a pot of water-based polyurethane left over from a previous project. This one. It doesn't mention masonry or concrete on the tin.
Is there any reason why this won't be appropriate for a concrete desk?

There's no reason to think that won't work. Urethane can be used over almost any stable, non-soluble surface. I'm a bit concerned that your surface slurry resulted in a chalky finish that might tend to lift when you apply the urethane, but the first coat should seal it in.


3 black and white wires at light I have 4 basement lights wired off one switch. There are 3 blacks and 3 whites at the first light. I tried the notes posted here from 2019 (below). When wired this way, 3 lights come on and off only with the breaker and the first light operates with the switch. Now what?
INFO FROM 2019 POST:

So your box has only 3 cables. That means it's most likely wired up like this

Incoming cable from the previous fixture or circuit breaker
Outgoing cable to the next fixture
Cable to the light switch (looks like this might be the blue cable)

It looks like you nutted the wires all together. So somewhere in there you have a hot and a switched hot. When you flip your switch, you're creating a bridge between the hot and neutral, and thus your circuit breaker trips because you hit that max amperage instantly.
The good news here is that you can see the cables and where they go. What you need to do is follow the cables and label them. Then we're going to modify the box as such

Connect all the bare ground wires together and nut them off. Add your fixture ground into this.
Connect the incoming and outgoing white wires together with the white wire from your fixture and nut them off (very important the white wire to your switch is not in here)
Connect the incoming and outgoing black wires AND the white wire from your switch. Use a black sharpie to mark that white wire so it's clear that it is a hot wire. Nut them off
Connect the black wire from your switch (last wire left) to your fixture's black wire. Nut them off.

Things are different here.  In that other box from the other post, there were 3 cables:

Always-hot (black) and neutral (white) from supply
Always-hot (black) and neutral (white) onward to other points of use
Always-hot (white marked with black tape*) and switched-hot (black**) from light switch

Your situation has these 3 cables (note one of them is changed):

Always-hot (black) and neutral (white) from supply
Always-hot (white marked with black tape*) and switched-hot (black**) from light switch
Switched-hot (black**) and neutral (white) onward to the other lights

You simply need to group all always-hots (certain blacks and remarked whites),  all neutrals (unmarked whites), and switched-hots (those ones I recommend you mark red).

Marking things with tape to indicate their function makes things vastly easier, the next time you're inside that box.

* Use of the white wire, and this marking, is mandatory.
** Use of red tape to mark these wires is strongly recommended by me. This indicates their function -- switched-hot.  If you don't want to do that, that's fine,  but don't complain when you're confused :)

My recommended color code for wires is:

Black -- always-hot
White -- neutral (mandatory)
Red -- switched-hot #1  (this is a general convention)
Blue -- switched-hot #2 (ditto)
Two Yellow -- 3-way travelers  (this is a Harper special :)


My basement toilet and shower will not drain after it rains I just had a bathroom put in my basement. It's been working fine but yesterday we had a lot of rain and now the toilet won't flush and the shower will not drain.

It is a septic system and the other toilets and sinks have no affect of the basement bathroom.  Every other sink, toilet and bathtub in the house drains just fine.  Any ideas?

If your basement has a back flow preventer when the water level is high the pressure in the line from a raised water level is probably the cause. I had this happen, built the bathroom in the summer, it worked great until several days of rain then no draining like you have. Whatever you do don't make the mistake I did and think the back flow valve was plugged , when I opened it up got all the brown trout from the line above. I ended up having to add a pump to the system if I remember correctly it was around 500$ for the tank& pump a small one but we never had any problems after that.


Is a concrete slab required to support a block wall? I'm starting to plan my build of a backyard grill station / pizza oven. I plan to build a concrete block wall about 4 feet high. I'll put either concrete or stone surface on top, as well as a 1600 lb brick pizza oven, so it will be supporting a fair amount of weight.

I'm a complete novice to masonry projects, so I'm learning as I go. I have two questions:

1) Part of the wall will be built on what is currently dirt in a planter area; the rest of the wall will extend onto existing pavers. Do I need to pour concrete in the planter as a foundation, level with the pavers? Or can I get away with compacting crushed gravel as a base in the planter?

2) The grade of the pavers angle slightly down, toward a drain. What's the best way to level out the base of the wall that will extend onto those pavers?

Hopefully I provided enough info to get a few suggestions.

Thanks!
David

1) Part of the wall will be built on what is currently dirt in a planter area; the rest of the wall will extend onto existing pavers. Do I need to pour concrete in the planter as a foundation, level with the pavers? Or can I get away with compacting crushed gravel as a base in the planter?

You'll need to do 'something' to deal with the overturning and sliding forces on the wall, not just from the soil pressure but also that significant 1,600# surcharge. A 4 feet tall is generally the start of the retaining wall design height and even below that height it's assumed that the wall has a standard footing. You will need to provide a concrete footing and tie it into your wall with rebar (steel reinforcing). A typical footing (for 4' of soil) is 16" wide and 8" deep w/ (2) #4 rebar continuous. You need to have the bottom of the footing below frost depth to avoid issues with frost heave, and for soil in front of the footing to prevent it from sliding along with the entire wall. Provide a footing drain at the back or weep holes at the base of the wall because any water building up creates a lot of additional force that isn't considered

  2) The grade of the pavers angle slightly down, toward a drain. What's the best way to level out the base of the wall that will extend onto those pavers?

The footing should be below the pavers so you can have the pavers butt right up to the finished wall


Mounting a TV on the wall I am trying to mount a 20 inch TV on a plasterboard wall. There are only two studs in the wall. One where I won't be able to see the TV and the other above an electrical socket. I do not want to put the bracket on the stud with the socket. Nothing is in line in my house, so god only knows where the cable is. The only other wall is a chimney breast. I am reluctant to mount it there, in case I get it wrong. Also my drill is a bit week when going through brick. I really want to do this my self and not ask my brother. Many thanks.

Check out "togglers".  They work extremely well.  Two of them should be more than enough for a 20" TV.  Along the togglers you'll need a 1/2" drill bit.

http://www.toggler.com/products/snaptoggle/overview.php


How to Fix this Water System? Due to low water pressure and lots of water interruptions from our water supplier, we asked a 3rd party to install a water system. This is how the water system looks like based on my observation.

PROBLEMS:

After using this system for a few weeks, I noticed the following problems:

Low water pressure on the 2nd floor when pump is not plugged in. The reason is that there's not much difference between the storage tank outlet and the pipe responsible for delivering water in the 2nd floor.
When the water pressure from the supply is high, and the pump is not plugged in, the water flows okay (using the green line). The pressure is not high though, but enough to deliver water to the 2nd floor. The problem is the water from the supply can't fill the pressure tank (via blue line). I have no idea how water pump works, but should water flow through it when it's not running?
When both the storage tank is full and the pressure tank is also full (meaning it has reached the upper limit in the gauge), the pressure switch works well and turns off the pump. However, a slight drop in of pressure (say I just simply open a tap for a few seconds) in the pressure tank (the gauge reading drops down), the pump starts running again.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:

The following are the ideas that I thought would solve the problems above. I'm no expert when it comes to water system so I'm looking for your inputs and suggestions.
The following are the ideas that I thought would solve the problems above. I'm no expert when it comes to water system so I'm looking for your inputs and suggestions.

To solve problem 1, I'm thinking of inserting a small pressure tank (6 gal) between the storage tank outlet and the pipe responsible for delivering water in the 2nd floor (see broken-line orange box).
To avoid the pump running when the pressure from the supply is high, I'm thinking of putting another pipe that will connect the water supply to the pressure tank directly (see orange pipe).
I have no idea how to solve this one.

This system was installed 3 weeks ago so I'm assuming there's nothing that's been broken already since the day it's installed.

Zane; I gave a suggestion in your duplicate ask, however the picture is now worth a thousand words , "as the saying goes". I can't see how having that large tank mounted somewhere in the house will be of any value since you can not elevate it high enough to produce any decent pressure. For each foot of height of the water level above the point of use you will get .433 pounds of delivery pressure. so, to get even 20 pounds water pressure to take a shower, the top of the water level would have to be about 46.5 feet above the shower head. (1 LB = 2.33 feet or 20 LB = 46.5 feet). If your picture is how the system was installed there are a few things you could do: 1)"Fire" that plumber and hire one that knows how to plumb a booster system.  2)Replace the red pressure tank with a very large bladder tank. and get rid of that large tank that is somewhere in the house. 3) Make the big tank just a storage tank with a double swing check mounted on the top of the tank. (A good plumber will know how to do this) and move it to between the house water supply piping and the booster pump. 3) convert that large tank to a bladder tank similar to the red tank or just use suggestion 2, and get rid of that tank.  My 2 cents


How can I non-destructively remove hardwood transition strips? I'm trying to replace some tiles, but the transition between the hardwood floor and tiles has caused me some trouble. The hardwood floor was installed sometime after the tiles, so the transition strips were on top of the tiles.

I broke apart and removed the old tiles, and was hoping I'd be able to simply (but carefully) pry up the transition strips, install the new tiles, and then put the transition strips back in place. Unfortunately, the transition strips seem to be attached to the rest of the floor somehow.

It feels almost like a tongue-and-groove connection, as I can't get the strip along that edge to come up more than maybe 1/32". That just is surprising to me, because it seems like it would be very complex and difficult to have a cut angle like that and still have a tongue-and-groove connection. I was expecting glue maybe, but because of the way it bends it doesn't feel like glue or epoxy. I can work it back and forth and it doesn't seem to weaken or give any more.

Using the pry bar, I haven't pushed it really hard yet, easing up as soon as I can feel the floor start to move a bit, as I'm trying not to break anything (yet). I also haven't tried putting anything between the strip and rest of the floor, as I'm fairly sure I'll damage the surface by doing so.

Before I go to the fully destructive option (and just replace these with new T-Strips or something), can anyone give me some insight into how these are attached? What would a profile view of this board look like?

It's really hard to see but it looks like your moulding is a peice of your hardwood flooring with a relief cut to fit the tlie under it. If the flooring guy put that peice down before the rest of the room (that's how I would do it) it would have nails closer to the hardwood side with a towards the tile from top to bottom angle to them. To remove it without damaging it I would use a small but sturdy flatbars with a lever point under it as close to the threshold as possible and push down firmly working the peice up from one end to the other.


DIY door frame pull-up bar I came to posses an amazing, strong metal alloy bar that would fit my door frame perfectly! I'd like to turn this into a pull-up bar and hang it onto the frame.

What is the name of the things that I can screw into the frame on which the straight bar can rest?

Depending on the size of the rod, you might be able to use Closet Bar Brackets.  You can typically find these in wood but sometimes you can find them in metal.  And if that doesn't work, try some Pipe Flanges.


Circuit worked briefly after replacing GFCI, but stoppped I recently had an issue with the outlets on a couple of circuits not working. After testing, I was able to determine that the issue was a faulty GFCI and replaced it. The outlets were working with no problem.

A couple of days later, the same outlets stopped working. When testing them this time, I was able to find that one of them was causing the GFCI to trip.  I fixed that and that outlet works now, but the others still didn't.

I checked the GFCI outlet to make sure everything was still connected and one of the load wires had come out, so I put that back and tested it, but the outlets still don't work.

The GFCI outlet tests, resets, and works when something is plugged in. Testing with a non contact voltage tester doesn't register anything, but I haven't tried a multimeter yet.

I checked the circuit breaker to make sure that it wasn't tripped and that it was turned completely on.

What's the likelihood that the next outlet in the circuit is causing the issue? It's not showing anything with the voltage tester either, but since the GFCI isn't either and still works, I'm not sure how much weight that holds. Any ideas about what to check next?

Edit: Thanks for the quick responses.  I replaced the GFCI because it flat out wasn't working.  It wasn't that it would reset immediately, the buttons just didn't do anything

Non-contact voltage tester can be squirrely but assuming it's working I would do the following.
Make sure the GFCI is reset. With the faceplates removed start at the GFCI and carefully contact the hot lead on the line side of the GFCI. If it shows hot go to the load sign and do the same. If that is hot continue downstream checking each outlet until you isolate the problem area.
Once you do shut down the breaker and check the connections. Since you've had several issues with wires disconnecting make sure that you're not using backstabs - they are unreliable. Use the screws and always wrap the copper around the screw in a clockwise direction. I would also suggest that you pigtail your outlets. Don't through-wire them.
That should help you zero in on the problem It could be a bad outlet but it's probably a loose connection.


How to rough bath sink drain to maximize drawerspace I am roughing in the plumbing for a bathroom sink that I am going to build a vanity for. I'd like to have the drain only impact a top drawer and take up as little space as possible.  The drawer back will wrap around the plumbing. How close can the drain be to the bottom of the counter with a vessel sink?  In other words, how high can I rough in the drain? The supplies will be on either side and tight together. Thanks for any thoughts.

Your vanity plan should have front side doors in line with where the sink is located. Then the drawers should be off to the left or right side where there is plenty of height and space toward the back to accommodate their placement.

There are multiple reasons to not put drawers in the vanity under the sink area:

People stand in front of the vanity at the sink. It is extremely inconvenient to have drawers opening out at knee height where the you want to stand.
You cannot place any sort of drawer directly in front of the sink and drain because there is just not enough depth from the front face of the vanity to accommodate the drawer. Any drawer placed below the bottom level of the sink would have cabinet face framing running across in front of the cabinet that would make it difficult to make access to the space under the sink.
Having drawers in the space under the sink will restrict access to the water shutoff valves keep it from being possible to quickly inspect the drain area in the case of suspected leaks.

So I really recommend that you not put drawers in this part of the vanity cabinet. You will find plenty of things to store in the area under the sink behind the doors.


Venting a basement range hood I have a new range hood located in close proximity to the through the roof vent for the furnace and hot water tank; can I tap into that vent pipe for the range hood?

The venting for the furnace and water heater have to be separate from any other venting. You do not want backfeed from your furnace/water heater in through your range hood.


When you are adding new pipes segments to existing lines and they are capped at the end(ex copper stub outs)? what happens with the air trapped there? I am in the process of adding new pex segments and I have this question:when you are adding new pipes segments to existing lines and they are capped at the end(ex copper stub outs)? what happens with the air trapped there?
does it get pushed out if I open the taps to adjacent sink (next room) or upstairs (bathroom)

These dead ends will immediately or eventually fill with water. How fast this happens depends on their orientation and whether water can pour in and air can escape back into the main branch and escape through a different fixture.
Sometimes air can remain trapped for a long time if the dead ends are pointed upward.
A closed off upward column of a foot or two is used in plumbing to absorb water pressure hammering.
When a nearby fixture rapidly closes (e.g. a solenoid valve in a washing machine), the water comes to an abrupt requiring a place for the kinetic energy to go, and the water would "ram" or hammer into the valve thus forming a water hammer. The hard hammering can be softened by providing an air cushion in the form of an air filled standing pipe with a dead end as a shock absorber.

However, it turns out that the air and water do mix over time, and the the length of the air column shortens in that upright closed pipe, eventually rendering this kind of water hammer arrester ineffective.
Today plumbers will install a spring or membrane based water hammer arrester. The membrane based absorber operates on the same principle as the dead end stand pipe, allowing a pocket of air and the elasticity of the membrane to absorb the shock. The membrane maintains the integrity of the air pocket by preventing the mixing of water with air.


How to choose from options from house painting company? I recently had someone from a painting company visit my house to give an estimate.

He gave me three options:

(1) the cheapest paint, six year warranty, $3000

(2) a thicker paint, nine year warranty, $4000

(3) two coats of the paint from (1), fourteen year warranty, $5000

It is quite obvious that if I expected the paint to immediately begin peeling as soon as the warranty expires, (3) is the best deal.

However, I don't know enough about paint to have any idea how long these three different paint jobs are likely to last.

How can I compare these three options to make the best selection, assuming that I use this company?

Update: I just realized that I failed to specify that I'm speaking only about the exterior of the house.

I don't really know what cheapest paint vs. thicker paint means.  I am assuming that the cheaper paint is still a good paint if this is a company using it - not just some guy with cheap paint.  So I am making an assumption.  I am also assuming that the three levels all involve the same Day 1 finished look of the house because really if you are paying them they should be doing a professional job on any of the choices.

So:

I would not expect said company to exist in 6 years let alone 14 years.  They could.  But your expectation for this type of company is they won't.
If said company had a lot of issues with their paint, it would probably be more cost effective to fold and open under a new name.  And if the company does a great job then you probably have no reason to call them back.
It would be very difficult to prove that an issue 5-14 years later was due to the company's installation of the paint.  They will invariably come back with a list of home owner reasons.
You can't expect a company to come out and fix nicks, oily hand marks and so on.  There is wear and tear on paint due to the owner.  If you don't ever touch your walls and the temp/humidity levels in your house are acceptable a good paint will last 20 years easy.  But it doesn't in high traffic areas because we hit the walls with our body, hands, feet, furniture, whatever.
Do you even know if you will be in the house in 15 years?

So yea I would go the cheapo route.  Maybe get a little more information on the paint difference between 1-2 and look up the manufacturer info and reviews for those paints.  If there is a difference I would say slap on paint #2 and keep the warranty at 6 years.  You have to be honest with yourself.  Would you expect anyone to come back and repaint your house anytime after 3-6 months?

I have used TONS of different painting crews.  I verify while they are painting the exact type of paint.  Most of the time I choose the paint and provide that for them - I think you should ask about this option.  Often they might say well we only use this type of paint - and then be like great I will buy that then, as long as said paint is good.  I then look over their work as they go along and then inspect paint.  On last day I walk around with little bits of blue painters tape and mark any missed spots.  They fix those spots and we are done.  I don't call them back 3 months later if there is a scuff mark on a wall or if something is peeling.  If a week later I notice that they missed something big maybe I call but that is kind of on me - I missed a closet one time (well they did too) and a couple guys came to paint it.  That's it though.  If some guys come paint your house they don't own your wall issues for the next 15 years.


How can I winterize a set of Polaris heating units? We have 11 cabins that have Polaris water heaters with a copper tubing system that uses a blower to create the heat for the cabins.  We live in an extreme winter climate and sometimes the water heaters can be finicky. Currently we keep the heat on all winter and monitor the temps in the cabins.  However, we are going to be gone for a few weeks next winter with no one to monitor.  What is the best solution?  Is there a way to winterize the units.  I know some have told us to empty the water heater.  However with as finicky as they are we are wondering if this is safe?  Or will the components freeze and we have another problem? Suggestions?

Draining the units is a good idea. Before you do that, you should pump RV Plumbing antifreeze into the system. That way any water remaining in the pipes will not freeze. Also do the toilet bowls and anything else that you think could hold water. The trick is to get it everywhere in the system. It's not always easy if you are not familiar with the principles of plumbing. There are heat exchangers and pumps in those Polaris units. Very expensive to replace due to freezing and cracking. Only do it if you are very confident that you can get the antifreeze everywhere. Don't simply drain the system as you may not get all the water out and risk destroying your units. Another option is WIFI thermostats that notify you if the heat shuts down. Very expensive for 11 cabins but a great solution for long term monitoring.


What should I do about a screw jammed in my deadbolt? So, I recently purchased a new house and went about changing the locks. The doorknob worked well, but not so much on the deadbolt. Installed everything but one screw which wouldn't budge. I ended up stripping it, but was able to remove it. Since it was the same model as the old deadbolt, I figure the screws on the old one would work. I ended up jamming the screw and now even a stripped screw extractor bit can't move it. Any help would be appreciated.

You can try drilling the head of the screw, which will allow you to remove the cover of th lock and use a vise grip to un-tighten the old screw.
Good Luck


Constantly running toilet with floatless fill valve Is there anything to try or does the fill valve just need to be replaced?

A toilet with a floatless fill valve isn't fully closing and is filling past the overflow tube (blue circle in image):

I have adjusted the adjustment knob (red circle) as much as possible to lower the water level. If observed closely in the image, the diagram at the right of the valve indicates to turn clockwise to "raise" or counterclockwise to "lower" the water level. Turning it completely counterclockwise essentially closes the valve and causes the water not to fill at all or to fill very very slowly, however it does not seem to adjust the water level as much as I need.

To my recollection, even when this valve was brand new it was difficult to get the adjustment right. It brought the water level to the edge of the overflow tube, but over time it has gotten higher, at first barely seeping over the top, and now it's overflowing constantly.

Another thought was to try to add some extension to the overflow tube but that might be more trouble than it's worth.

The internal gasket/diaphragm needs replacing, check out this link.

It does appear that you could extend the flush valve overflow tube as the height appears to be below the water level mark on your tank. That mark is actually the right level for optimal flush performance for your toilet. If the valve is worn out it may not help though, although the weight of the additional water may get it to stop. You might try opening the valve up and gently rinsing the gasket, in case there is debris or build-up interfering with proper operation (turn the water supply off first!)


What is this name of this vent attachment next to my furnace? What is the name of this silver vent attachment thing at the bottom of the picture?

It is attached to the side of our gas furnace.
The black part is an insulated air duct which goes to a vent outside.
The furnace is in the basement of our house. We have cold winter climate in Canada.
The vent seems to pour in cold air from outside though.

That's your fresh air supply for your gas appliances. Newer high efficiency appliances are directly vented so you don't have the cold air dumping directly into your home. But for older style gas appliances, you have to have a fresh air supply to your utility room for combustion.


Why won't my toilet hold the refill water? I know there are several posts on toilet fill valves and supply lines, but I'm afraid that my issue may be much worse.

My toilet was draining slowly so I got a professional grade auger and ran it into the toilet. The toilet still drains slowly, but now when it tries to refill the bowl, it won't stay filled but completely drains out.

I don't see any visible leaks on the sides of the toilet.  What could be going on?

Nothing has changed, your toilet still drains too slowly, you still need to clear the obstruction. The bowl completely clearing will sometimes happen with partially obstructed toilets because, due to the very restricted passage, the vent air that normally breaks the siphon action cannot make its way to the bowl until long after all the tank water has been completely drained into the bowl, leaving no fresh water to refill the bowl.

As soon as the passage is cleared to its normal size, the vent air will have room to work towards the bowl and quickly break the siphon. The bowl is then refilled with the remaining fresh water, ready for another flush cycle.

ADDENDUM

Depending on the nature of the obstruction, if it's difficult to completely clear with an auger, and assuming the toilet bolts are not too badly corroded, it's worth removing the toilet and working at the obstruction from both ends. It's usually easier than most people think. There is still a portion of the passage that is difficult to reach, but you've doubled your chances. For the typical floor mounted residential toilet you will at least need a fresh wax ring to reinstall the toilet.


Trying to identify cause of minor leak from water heater TPR valve A few days ago I noticed about a capful of water in the pail at the bottom of my water heater's TPR valve outlet.  This is the first time I've had any water come out of the TPR when I wasn't testing it.

I moved into this house in 2011.  In 2012 I installed a water expansion tank, with a ball valve to disconnect the hot water system—the expansion tank plus water heater.  I realize the water expansion tank is probably near the end of its life.  The water heater is electric and over 20 years old (I know), but I've been flushing it thoroughly once a year and replacing sacrificial anodes as needed, and it hasn't leaked yet.

The only recent change to the system is that I used to have a pressure gauge connected to a hot water faucet instead of the normal connection to my washing machine, and I finally removed the gauge and reconnected the hot water hose for the washing machine.  When the washing machine runs, I can hear a knock in the pipes when the washer hot water valve turns on or off (which was why I installed an expansion tank in the first place).  Note that there is a PRV on the water main.

To test things, I opened the TRP valve and closed it against.  It took its good old time closing and kept leaking for a while.  So I opened and closed it again, and that time it closed more quickly and stopped leaking.  I had seen this once before in testing, so I didn't read anything into it.

Then I closed the ball valve to remove external pressure from the hot water system, I opened all of the hot water faucets above it, and I checked the air pressure inside my expansion tank.  It's down around 28 PSI from the 60 PSI that it's supposed to be at, so I'll have to address that.  But when I opened the ball valve again and individually closed each faucet, the TPR valve spit out a bit of water again when I closed the last valve.

Am I correct in my assumption that the TPR valve is failing?  Is it normal for them to fail gradually instead of opening catastrophically?  Would the underpressured expansion tank have any bearing on this?

It is fairly common for water heater relief valves to start leaking after you have manually opened/closed them. Sometimes it's due to boiler compounds on the seal/seat surface(s), sometimes due to seal/seat wear, damage, or failure.

I would not assume that it has failed, in that it would not open during an over-pressure/temp. event; however, it may continue to drip/leak which may be unacceptable to you.

The fact that it opened when subjected to the shock wave caused by the closing of the washing machine valve seems to indicate that it is functioning, albeit maybe it opened a bit prematurely because it's partially unseated since you "exercised" it. Then again, with the expansion tank operation potentially compromised, maybe the relief valve did it's exact job perfectly.

In any case, relief valve replacement is an easy job and they are relatively inexpensive. It makes sense to go ahead and replace, for your safety.


Insulating a 4" gap between roof and false ceiling My house has a false vaulted ceiling with a 4" gap between it and the roof. Unfortunately, whoever installed this ceiling neglected to install insulation in this gap.

However, I can access the gap from the attic and I do have enough clearance to slide things down the gap. My dilemma is how to best insulate this awkward area without taking down the false ceiling.

Here's a crude diagram of the location of the 4" gap (on the right):

And here is a photo of the actual gap taken from inside the attic looking down the 4" gap:

The gap is 4" wide, but given the fact there are nails sticking through from the roof, the minimum clearance is probably only 3".

I've had a couple ideas for how to approach this:

Rent a cellulose blower from Home Depot. The end of the blower duct will be too wide to fit down the gap, but perhaps I could blow in some cellulose, pack it in with a long rod and then blow in more cellulose behind it...?
Cut sheets of foam board to fit and then slide them down the gap. R value won't be great and thick sheets might snag on the roof nails while sliding them down, but at least there would be some sort of insulation.

Any other ideas or recommendations?

First, keep in mind that that venting in the roof rafters is essential to the ventilation of your roof.   Essential.    Do not fill that gap completely, you will be looking at future problems.

If the current gap is 3-4", the most you could do is insert 1.5" max of insulation.  Panels of Polystyrene come to mind because their R-value is better per inch of thickness than roxul/pink stuff.   You will, however, have to follow-up with "Great Stuff" foam to ensure filled gaps if you go that direction.


How should I address my bathroom's flickering lights and GFCI tripping mysteriously? (Schematic included.) So I inherited a bit of a nightmare for wiring in my bathroom.  I'll be calling in an electrician, but wanted to have an understanding of the problem first, as not to be ripped off, lead astray, etc..  So here is the setup/symptoms.  The entire bathroom is run off one 20amp line (both outlets and lights).  It is a pretty small bathroom, but has a bit of a complex circuit.  The line comes in from the breaker box, and splits in a 1-gang junction- one side of the split goes through a GFCI, the other is passed through non-protected.  Both halves go into a 3-gang junction box.  In this three gang junction, the GFCI protected branch goes into an outlet, then off to a switched light above the toilet (the switch is reachable from the toilet, which is why I think they GFCI protected it).  The non-protected branch goes off to the main lights over the sink, a fan, and a recessed shower light over the shower.

The symptoms- when this circuit is on, the whole house lights flicker occasionally.  Turn the circuit off, and the flickering goes away  (it seems that when the shower light is on the flickering increases).  Also, occasionally the GFCI trips when the fan is turned on.  Now the fan is on the branch that is not protected by the GFCI, which worries me a bit.  So my questions are:

1) Why would the GFCI trip when the fan is turned on sometimes?

2) How bad is this wiring setup (see schematic)?  Was the electrician a moron?  How might it be cleaned up?

3) What would cause the whole house lights to flicker?  I was thinking there may be some arcing going on somewhere in this mess.  Where can I look on my own, or suggest to the electrician?

4) Should the recessed shower light be GFCI protected?  Does the toilet light need to be?  It seems that those two branches should be swapped.

Sure sounds like you may have a couple of unrelated problems. Usually, a nuisance tripping GFI is a sign of a worn or aged GFI device. This is assuming there are no down line devices or lights that are leaking small amounts of current to earth ground. This would be uncommon for a light or simple switch, more likely with a motor load on start up or shut down.  The more important and potentially dangerous problem is the whole house lighting flickering when the fan and shower light is on. If you have an accurate digital VOM, you can look at the voltage drop at the breaker that controls the bathroom. If you see variations of much more than 5 to 10 volts then isolate which device is causing the fluctuation. (fan or bath lite) by turning them on individually and test again. A older fan is a common source of your problem as moisture and humidity may have invaded the motor and causing larger than average voltage drop to ground. If this fan is in fact the culprit, the fan may be heating up more than normal as well and could become a hazard. If you do not have a VOM or know how to test voltages inside your circuit breaker panel, I'd advise you to seek a licensed electrician soon to correct the situation.


Leaking outdoor faucet - stop gap solution? My outdoor faucet is leaking in a constant dribble, regardless of how tight I turn the handle.  The faucet looks very similar to this one.  I'm going to replace the whole faucet in the next month or so.

In the meanwhile, it is leaking against the house, wasting water, and I'm worried about the constant water puddle finding its way through the foundation into the basement.  I know I could go to the basement and turn off the valve to this faucet.  However, I use this faucet pretty often, and I'd hate to have to go into the basement and re-open the valve every time I want to use it.

Is there any other stop gap solution that I could use to stop the dribble of water from this faucet?  Maybe some sort of screw on cap that I could purchase?

Brass Hose Cap (~$1.50 @ Home Depot and Lowes).

You may also be able to find some with tethers (for those of us that constantly lose things like this) .


Wired fire/smoke alarms not communicating with each other After replacing the wired fire alarms in my house with new ones, when testing any of them, that one beeps but not the others.

Model is BRK First Alert 9120B6CP.

Each alarm came with three cables. Black and white for  power, and orange for sending the signal that should cause all of them to go off when one of them does.

I have verified they are all properly wired and that they all have power (green light is on for all).

Any ideas on what else to check or verify to have them all communicate?

It turned out to be a short-circuit. The cable connecting one of the alarms in the basement had been trapped by the electrical box cover. The cover is metallic, and had cut into the plastic enough to make contact.

To find the issue I turned off the breaker, disconnected the signal cable from all of them, and started testing them from the top of the house using a 9V battery, as mentioned in one of the comments (+ to orange, - to white). Started with two, verified it was working, and kept going connecting alarms to be signal cable until I found out the culprit. After detailed inspection of the one that was causing the issue I noticed the cable damage.

Thank you @ThreePhaseEel for the 9V battery trick. It was really useful.


Can I mount a 60" TV and mount weighing a combined 95 pounds to a drywall or plaster? I cannot find studs on my firewall but, when I drilled a hole on the wall, it seems to me that either the plaster or drywall was thick enough (like 1/2"). Can I Mount a 60" TV and Mount Weighing a Combined 95 pounds to that Drywall or Plaster?

You can find the studs, I know you can!  Here is a link to many helpful tips: http://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-find-a-wall-stud/ but the short version is, measure from the corner of the room (there will be a stud within 1" of each corner of the room and look for the stud on a 16" spacing (unless your home/condo/apt is really old).  Drill a few pilot holes (in the region of the bracket) until you have found a stud, and if that doesn't work then try some of Bob's additional sleuth tips.  Once you hit one, drill a few more small holes a half inch apart to make sure you know exactly where it is and are close to the center of the stud when putting in the bolts for the bracket.

Don't worry about putting extra holes all over that section of the wall, installing the bracket will cover it and if you do go to remove it you will probably wreck most of the sheetrock (the mount will glue itself to the paint on the wall) so you will have a patch job on your hands no matter how careful you are during installation.


What should I do about this bowing foundation wall? I'm currently in the process of buying my first home, and I found a property on the market that was priced significantly less than most homes in the area. The seller's justification for this was a bowing foundation wall. Other than this issue, I really like the house and it fits a lot of needs.

I took a look at the wall, and from my research, it seems pretty bad. There is a large horizontal crack running from the center to the right side of the wall, which seems to indicate an excess of lateral pressure, likely from rainfall. I put a beam up against the wall vertically to measure how much the wall has bowed, and it's a little over 5" (meaning from the base of the wall to the peak of the bulge).

My general research tells me that, in terms of bowing (the wall is bowing, not leaning), under 1" is not a huge concern, 2" something should be done immediately, and anything past 4" likely means the wall will need major repairs, most of which involve excavating soil on the other side of the wall (which would be very difficult in this case due to the house being on a hill).

How bad is this, and what, if anything, can I do myself to fix it? Common solutions I've seen are carbon fiber strips, steel beams, a steel anchor, or rebuilding the wall entirely, although I'm not sure which would be recommended here. Thanks all!

You have 1 advantage that the wall is only ~5’ below grade. Can it be repaired DIY yes, but this would be quite involved.

I would suggest digging out outside the wall for 2 reasons:

it would allow backfilling with gravel so it could drain and the hydraulic forces would not push it in again.

The second reason a temp wall set inside to support the home will allow rebuilding.

I would suggest removal of the brick a new footing being poured and a cinder block wall reinforced with rebar being installed once the wall is built, back fill the blocks with concrete. Then seal the outside of the blocks and backfill with gravel.

When I want good drainage I use river rock, not crushed quarry, because crushed packs tighter and doesn’t drain as well.

I would warn this is about as bad as I have ever seen and it really needs to be done prior to collapse. I would be looking for other issues like roof leaks, doors not closing or cut to fit so the door is not square , window problems etc.

You may have all of the above, if I liked the house I would tackle it but I grew up in houses under construction repair and continue today.


Can an arcing switch damage the breaker or cause a fire? I live in a 1980s  mobile home with light switches and breakers as in the picture. If the switch is arcing or if the switch is held between on/off for a few seconds can this damage the breaker? The switch is a self contained type.

Arcing is not a good thing for the switch but it won't damage a standard circuit breaker. If the switch contacts are held at a point where they arc the arc starts damaging the contacts. With a older possibly Mercury switch where there is a glass tube with Mercury the arcing if held to the point the mercury vaporizes I have seen the glass tube fracture so a new switch was needed.


HD Antenna Specs / Distance Is there a set of specs and / distances to narrow down the choices or to know how to choose an HD antenna that could replace my cable provider for access to local channels?

I wondered the same thing when I shopped for an antenna. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a set of specs or a way of comparing antennas from different manufacturers. All I found were reviews but they were all subjective and didn't help me rank one antenna over another, especially when the antennas were from different manufacturers.

That's when I bought various antennas and tested them myself using a Winegard Signal Strength Meter and my Tivo. Using the Winegard (which I have no affiliation with) was a very objective way of comparing them because you select a frequency and it gives you a signal strength.

I test the antennas in two different ways. For the first test I rotate the antenna for each frequency and record the maximum signal strength. For the second test I point the antenna in the same direction and leave it stationary (which is how most people use an antenna). I then run through the frequencies and record the results.

Even though I can only test the frequencies in my area, I figured these results might be useful to others so I put them on my website at: http://byebyecabletvbill.com/tv_antenna_side_by_side_comparisons.php. As time progresses, I'll be testing more antennas and adding the results there.


What is a suitable/recommended cable for OpenTherm? I have the Nest HeatLink connected to the boiler via OpenTherm. I need to move the HeatLink due to wireless connection problems with the thermostat.

The Wikipedia page for OpenTherm states that I can use a cable up to 50m with 2x5 ohm resistance. Not sure how to translate that into a specific decision for a type of cable.

Does anyone have more information on what would be a good cable for this application?

Use standard 1 pair of 0,6 mm^2 'phone' (class3) cable, it'll be enough (70 ohm/km, you'll get 5 ohm with 70m so well over the 50m OT limit) and also suitable for noisy environments as it's twisted. Remember to check that cable insulation is rated at least 250V if you run it in same mains power conduits as required by CEI regulations


entry door lock replacement My keys might have been compromised.
My options are :
1. Buy a Kwikset rekeying set and rekey all the locks (something I've never done before but there are enough Youtube videos that I can figure it out)
2. Replace all the locks with the Kwikset Smartkey locks and deadlocks so that in the future rekeying will be a 5 minute exercise.

Any thoughts on pros/cons of each approach?

Thanks
V

If this is something you will only need to do one time, swap out the latchset. The chance of dropping the pins are high the first time around, but with care, it can be done. I know this from experience. The new latchset gives new longevity as well.

If this will be a recurring thing get the keying kit, I see them online and you can pick them up for as little as the cost of a new latchset, for the smaller kits. There are really cheap ones too, but I know nothing of what they have the capability of doing other than rekeying one knob.

I have no faith in the smartkey setup, but I am a purist when it comes to locks. I do not claim to know about smartkeys, but if it is a matter of putting in one key, installing a specific tool, and then put in the new key and remove the tool and it changes the lock, sounds like somebody with the original and a new key, and the same special tool can do the same.


Bermuda grass is invading my Kentucky Blue? Any solutions that don't involve Roundup? I live in the mountain west, where my neighbor's lawn and the mountains nearby allow Bermuda grass to infiltrate my lawn. My neighbor says the only real solution is Roundup; but I'm sure that's not the case. What can I do to discourage growth of the one grass type while promoting growth of the other?

I've heard of using asphalt shingles as a barrier between grass and flower beds (just dig a trench and bury a line of shingles, may not be pretty but it's effective) and that should stop any more grass from spreading but as for the existing grass you may be forced to either use RoundUp or chop it out and re-seed. I'm not sure of any chemical or other control method that targets Bermuda grass specifically.


Cams stuck in Ikea case When I turn on these cams to dismantle this Ikea case, the wood splits and there's no turning happening. What to do please?

If the index mark is aligned with the stud when the panels are assembled, and the cam is turned clockwise, it should pull the panels together. The photo shows an unusual gap, which may exceed the pull range of the cam. It also appears that the cam has been turned counter-clockwise based on the position of the index mark. Alternatively, the cam has been turned almost 360 degrees clockwise, which is excessive in this application.

The split in the bottom panel is an indication that the cam is applying leverage to the engaging stud, rather than connecting to the collar of the stud. If you are unable to force the panels closer together, consider to back a few turns out on the stud to allow the collar to engage the cam. This will pull them together more effectively.


Shed Sub Panel Wire Thickness 150 ft What is the recommended wire thickness to run between 125-150ft to a detached shed (home office)?
I was thinking 60 amp breaker, 4/3 thwn-2 (2 hot, 1 neutral, 1 ground). Do I need more?

#4 THWN aluminum is exactly what I'd use.
As far as voltage drop, 150' isn't far enough for voltage drop to become a concern.  I don't even run the numbers until 180' :)
#4 THWN aluminum breakers at 70A (it's rated for 65A but you round up to the next breaker size which exists).
Because it's capable of 70A, you need a 70A ground wire, which is #8 copper or #6 aluminum.   If aluminum, it must be insulated.  You're allowed to use #4 aluminum, and the benefit is that you get to use black wire and mark it green with phase tape.  #8 or #6 ground would need to be actually green or bare.


How to fix out of level foundation walls I am building a detached two car garage and just had the footings, foundation walls, and slab/apron poured.  After the walls were poured, I thought that everything was hunky dory as the contractor said that the forms were level and they marked it before they poured.
Fast forward a few weeks and my dad and I used a transit level and story pole to get the level of the foundation all the way around just to be sure. Turns out there was about a 1.3-1.5 inch difference between the height of the rear and front of the foundation walls.  This out-of-level was pretty common all the way around the foundation.
Anyway, I asked the contractor to come fix it, so he came by and used this stuff to try and patch it and feather it to the high points:

I measured the level again today and it's still not perfect and in some cases it's not even close.  What's most alarming to me is I've never framed anything before and I need to start in the next few weeks but I'm concerned that the state that this foundation is in is going to cause a lot of issues.
Here's some more pictures from after the "fix."

Do any of you all have advice on how to fix this myself or on how to explain to the contractor how it needs to be fixed?  Or, is it okay how it is and the framed walls just need to be shimmed somehow?

Concrete that's "fixed" like this is sure to begin crumbling right after the contractor moves out of state. I'd be dissatisfied with this. As far as I'm concerned this is a breach of contract and is the contractor's responsibility, even as far as removing the entire thing and doing it over. That's out of scope for this site, though.
The only fix I'd DIY is to level the top wall plates and cut the studs custom to fit below. You'll then have to deal with the situation when you install siding, etc., so it is all parallel with the top plate. I would not fiddle with concrete repairs that may not hold up well.
One possible fix by others that I might deem satisfactory would be to have a skilled mason lay a shorty block row on the footings, level on top, and built up with mortar below where needed. That could be poured full of concrete to retain the integrity of the current foundation.


Where do i connect a "C" wire into my circuit board ? Goodman gmt140-5 I was excited to install my new Honeywell t5+wifi thermostat but after installing it nothing would turn on. After further investigating, the C wire was not connected to the board and I am honestly not sure where to connect it to in order to gain power. I am fairly new to this stuff but with a little help from more knowledge people I'm hoping I can connect one wire. if anyone can help, I will appreciate it. ]2

Connect your C wire to the junction of the the fat light blue-grey wire and the thin white wire

While it does not look that your furnace has a control board, we can use another heuristic to identify the C wire in your furnace's connections.  Since it appears you have central air conditioning, we know that the thermostat is connecting the red and yellow wires in its cable to turn the cooling system on; from the furnace, as we can see, the yellow wire continues on to the compressor contactor as the red wire in the outdoor unit's control cable.

That 24VAC, then, has to return to the furnace's control transformer somehow, and it does so via the white wire in the outdoor unit's control cable.  Hence, that wire must connect to C in order for your air conditioner to work, and we can thus make our C wire connection at the point where it joins with the furnace's control harness.  Hence, just add your C wire to the nut where the fat light blue-grey wire from the furnace joins with the thin white wire from the air conditioner.


Insulating against brick in rim joist bay I was hoping to air seal and insulate the rim joist in my basement. This is a balloon-framed house in zone 5, so the bays are open to the floor above. At some point brick and mortar were put in the bays as firestop.

This is what a typical bay looks like:

And here it is with the insulation peeled back (about 14" x 7", and you can see a stud about 1/3 from the left):

Everything I read online about regular joist bays says to put rigid foil-faced foam against the rim board and then spray-foam it in place (and maybe with Roxul or drywall facing the interior for firestop). I am uncomfortable with this approach here because I fear trapping moisture between the rigid foam and the brick for several reasons:

The foam will not be tight to the mortar/brick due to surface irregularities
Mortar/brick can crack and let moist air in
Mortar/brick can wick moisture

I can't find a definitive answer. What can I do safely, if anything? I don't really want to mess with 2-part spray foam because I have about 6 bays to do so I don't feel it will be cost-effective or worth the setup/cleanup time, but if that's the only way, fine. And I really don't want to hammer the bricks out. What about using regular canned foam (which is super flammable) and then covering it with Roxul or caulked drywall? Should I just try to air seal the holes and leave them uninsulated?

I think you can do air/moisture/heat in one shot by using spray foam behind foam panels.

Buy two cans of max-expansion spray foam. One may do, but it's best to have enough on hand.
Cut 1-1/2" or 2" foam panel to fit each bay reasonably well.

The plan is basically this: Spray a layer of foam on the mortar / set the foam panel in place / let the foam cure / trim the excess

Here's how I'd probably do the hot work based on what I can see:

Mark the thickness of your foam plus 1" out from the mortar near each end of the joist series. Mark that on the bottom of the joist (or mark an offset if the lower wall is in the way, or simply use some other reference, such as the inner edge of the sill plate).
Snap a chalk line between the marks, then square the actual (foam plus 1") marks up each side of each joist. This will be the final position of the face of the foam.
About 2" down the joist on each side of each bay, partially set a nail on each side of the bay. These will serve to retain the foam panels.
Spray a layer of foam, as quickly as possible, over the mortar. Use a stripe or zigzag pattern.
Slide the foam panel in place behind the nails, and set nails near the bottom in the same manner.
Let the foam cure for an hour, then pull the nails and trim any foam squeeze-out with a sharp blade. A fillet knife would do well.

The outcome will be a clean, uniform, on-plane foam barrier over which you could adhere drywall (though I don't consider that a serious concern).


Is it customary to build "built-ins" over carpet? I am planning on doing built-ins on either side of the utility door in the image below:

This is a crude mockup of the cabinets I'm going to build:

What I'd like to know is whether it's customary to build these cabinets over the carpet?

If it's good practice to remove the carpet under cabinets like this, is there any magic to tacking it back down properly?

You should cut away carpet.  The cabinets will last longer than the carpet and will just be a mess when it's time to install new carpet.  I'd want the cabinets secured directly to the floor, not through carpet/pad.

When you pull up the carpet and baseboard, you'll see the tack strip.  If you are careful, you can re-use it, but it is cheap to replace. You'll probably want a tool called a knee kicker carpet stretcher to properly re-attach the carpet to the tack strip.  You can rent them or cobble one together yourself.

Edit:
It looks like you are working on a slab.  In which case you'll need special tack strip with concrete nails and removing the old tack strip will be more of a chore.

In a pinch, or where the carpet is hidden from view, I have used large headed button-head screws.


Should the cement floor adheres to the concrete slab? If I want to use a cement floor (with broadcast color hardener) over a concrete slab (laid over compact soil), should it adheres to it, or be separated?

The concrete slab is rough, the cement layer over it will be about 40-50 mm thick (just cement and fine sand) and will be formed in squares of about 2x2m.

If I make an adherence bridge (using cement paste and adhesive additive) the cement layer will be an integral part of the concrete slab and moves with it. I see three problems: 1) the cement layer will lose a lot of water the concrete slab during curing; 2) any movement on the concrete slab will show on the surface of the cement; 3) moisture from soil might travel upwards to the floor.

On the other hand, if I use a separating layer (like a plastic film) between the slab and the cement floor I believe (not sure) the curing of the cement will be better, movements on the slab wont show directly to the floor, it might act as a moisture barrier. Is there any downside to it? Will it affect the strenght of the floor in any way?

Below in blue is the cement floor, in gray the concrete slab and in red the separating layer/adherence bridge:

I can't recommend adding a plastic moisture barrier between the pads.  Really if you have moisture in the soil then it needs to work its way out.  Moisture comes out of concrete all the time - we only see the worst case scenarios.

If you leave the plastic in there then the water will get trapped on the bottom slab.  Very good for the short-term.  Long-term though this will cause the bottom slab to decay and break down.  And since you are building on this, that's not a good thing.

I usually advise in drilling down into existing concrete and installing rebar or a mesh unit to join the floors.  To be honest with you I have never installed concrete on top of a floor like the one in your picture.  Common sense would tell me there wouldn't be much movement... but if I was giving out a 10 year warranty with my work I would rebar.


Protecting tiles from damage caused by child I have a one year old at home who takes great pleasure in pulling utensils from kitchen cabinets (which are just a little higher than him) and banging and dragging them on the floor. This has made impressions on the (brand new!) tiles and scratches which we aren't able to get rid off.

How can I protect my tiles from such damage ?

One thought was to lay chair mats (office) but they are of a weird shape and will need more than a few of them to cover a 6' by 10'rectangular tiled kitchen space.

I do not want to curtail his curiosity. Child safety locks are useless as he can simply pull the drawer with his force - bringing down the child safety lock. Now we have resigned to not keeping glassware in the cabinet.

You could use red rosin paper

Ram Board

Or some other similar product.  These products are used by builders and contractors, to protect flooring during construction.  They can be trimmed easily to fit any size and shape floor, are fairly cheap, and easily removable.


How often should I paint the exterior of my house? We're about to have the exterior of our house repainted.  How often should we expect the paint to last?

Location: Metro Atlanta, GA
Surfaces: Wood & Wood Composite Siding (Yes, I know it sucks)
Paint: Sherwin Williams SuperPaint
Colors: Different from the colors already on the house

Also, how much life would a second coat add to the paint?

There are just too many components to give you a definitive answer.  Atlanta doesn't have extremely harsh conditions, so if your house had perfect surroundings the paint could last 50-100 years.

Here are some factors:

How well was the house painted.  You ask if you should do a second coat.  Yes.  Basically if you have any paint "holes" were the first coat didn't fill this allows water to get in.  The water can expand during freezes (I know this is like 7 days a year there) but more importantly the water will sit there during warmer weather.  Do you need a thick second coat?  No.  But I would always do one on my house for non-"ceiling" areas.
What is the architecture of the house.  I have seen many many wood siding houses that have a flat cross rail.  Well guess what the water sits in these places, kills the paint job, rots the wood, and spreads.
Do you have anything else surrounding your house that hurts the paint or induces more moisture?  So ivy, big trees, large bushes, whatever.  I have big oak trees that drop limbs and acorns.  No big deal right?  Not short term.  But over years and years those tiny scrapes hold water and the paint starts peeling off.  If you have any plant life touching your house don't expect your paint to hold as long.  But this isn't a HUGE deal, the difference might be paint job every 15 years instead of 20.
Accidents.   Powerwashing, scraping it while making repairs, whatever.  Little scrapes turn into big things over 20 years.  (another reason for the second coat)
Gutters.  If your gutters don't properly work then the water will go down the side of your house.  Paint will not last as long.
Sun exposure.  Paint will fade in hard sunlight, even the best paint.  If one side of your house has extreme exposure then the paint will not last as long there.

There are just a lot of factors.  I would say the biggest ones being how well it was originally painted combined with the plant life around the house.  It is a science on where to plant trees and other things to properly shade a house but not cause other issues.  Can your paint job last 25 years in Atlanta?  I don't see why it wouldn't unless you have some issues mentioned above.


Accessing light bulbs on ceiling fan We just bought a house and it has this ceiling fan:

The upper portion has bulbs in it, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how you'd get to them. The top of the unit has a metal plate secured with 6 or 8 screws. I can believe you'd have to remove all of those screws, especially so close to the ceiling, to change the bulbs. The plastic side pieces do not seem to come out. Anyone have a fan like this and know how to access the bulbs?

That maybe your only way, so you may have to use a stubby screwdriver. Who is the manufacture and what is model number of your fan. If you can, upload a picture.


Do two layers of 1/2" drywall provide a fire rating equivalent to one layer of 5/8" drywall? On an existing 1/2" drywall partition, does adding another layer of 1/2" drywall over the existing bring the partition wall up to an equivalent fire rating as 5/8" drywall ??

Just to shed common sense on this.  Almost in all cases is it cheaper and less of a hassle to demo the 1/2" and install 5/8" than to install 1/2" over 1/2".   So to answer the question, just install the 5/8" so you aren't having a philosophical debate on fire rating with a local inspector.


How can I remove oil stains from a concrete floor? I rented a home, and the garage floor is concrete.  It looks like the previous owner had a small car that dripped more oil than it retained.  It has been parked on multiple spots, so there are seriously large oil spill spots all over the concrete floor, and they have been there for many months (at least).

I am storing my bicycle and motorbikes in the garage.  Oil is very bad for you when it gets on the tires.  I do not want to have accidents because of this.

I think I have the the following options:

Clean the floor: The stains are not fresh, so kitty litter will not work.  What chemicals do I use?
Paint the floor: Will the paint stick?
Put down car mats: This seems like a decent option, except I will need to get multiple mats and cut them down so they do not slide around
Put down interlocking garage mats: Most sensible option, except it is really expensive.

I would love to hear about your experiences and suggestions in this regard.  What are good ways of handling my problem?

Clay Absorbent.

This stuff is available at most auto parts repair stores.  Sometimes it is available at big box stores.

It is NOT the same as cat litter although it looks strikingly similar.  The resemblance is so close that "kitty litter" is the 'street' name for this product.

However, clay absorbent is far superior in its ability to remove oil from concrete.  For example, my father and I moved a broken 2.5 hp motor over a concrete walkway in a plastic tub.  At some point the load became unstable and the engine tilted enough to force us to drop the tub.  In doing so, we streaked the walkway with oil approximately 2" wide and 6" long.

Since I was away from home and he did not have any clay absorbent on hand, I promptly drove to purchase some and placed the product according to the manufacturers directions.  After the second application was swept up, I made a third application and ground the product into the concrete with my shoe and left it to sit until the next rain washed it away (not recommended, but hey the walkway was pristine beforehand and my dad has a low carbon footprint).

To this day, there is a spot on the walkway that is cleaner than the rest.  I am not exaggerating in the least when I say that the entire section now needs the ground-in-and-washed-off treatment to help minimize the white spot left behind where there was a dark black oil spot before.

Two applications should do for what you need.  Skip the ground in trick unless you promise to recover the waste water ;)

Edit:// Just read where you said spots are old and kitty litter will not work.

Try the clay absorbent.  It is about 100% more effective than cat litter on any day.  Also, if it does not come up, leave it for a night or two.

Other than that, (using a test spot!!!) dampen the concrete with fresh oil (detergents good...) then place the oil dry over it and leave for at least a day.  If all else fails, grind it in!


Can I add a "C-Wire" to boiler with this device? https://www.amazon.com/FAST-STAT-Common-Thermostat-Extender-Connection/dp/B01N6ERM04/ref=pd_sim_60_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=D3D121DG0B4379V2TRC6

On the surface it appears that it will work.
Here is a picture of the box for that zone. I see power coming in (top), existing two wires from the thermostat (top brown) and wires going to pump (bottom). Is this considered a dry contact switch? It's not clear how I would hook up such a device to this though.

[![the following is a schematic of your control system.  The center item you need to purchase and install.  It also needs 110-volts.Good Luck.  P.