Adding Venstar Add-a-wire ACC0410 to HVAC with Nest Thermostat E I purchased a Nest Thermostat E and found that I don't have C-wire. With the research, including adding venstar to HVAC and Youtube video by Venstar, I tried to add c-wire to my Nest Thermostat E with the Venstar Add-a-wire (ACC0410). However, I can't find exact match with my HVAC control board system. So, I hope that someone experienced with these can help me what to do.
As you see below, it is different from Venstar Youtube video setting. The video doesn't have lines from compressor but mine does. Could you please help me how to connect my Venstar ACC0410 to my control board and what to do with Nest Thermostat E setting?
First, here is my current HVAC control board setting as below.

And, here is my current setting with my Nest without C-wire:

The final implementation is summarized below.

Just follow the yellow brick road to your C terminal
Based on the fact that you have a two-wire cable apparently running out to your compressor based on the fact one wire of the cable is landed on Y, we can find your C terminal easily.  In order for the air conditioner to come on when called, its contactor coil has to connect between Y and C as the thermostat applies 24VAC to Y to call for cooling.  So, the other wire from the compressor cable must connect to C, and looking at the labeling on your control board, lo and behold, it does!  Furthermore, HVAC terminal blocks are designed to have 2 wires under one screw, on opposite sides of the pressure plate, so the fact there's a wire already there is no obstacle to your plans.
From there, it's no different than how the videos describe it.


How do I know if it is safe to remove a wall? When looking at a wall, how can I tell if I can safely remove it?

Check if the wall is load-bearing

See that link for how to do this.

Try to see if there are are any high-voltage lines in the wall

Look for light switches, receptacles, lights, hard-wired smoke detector
In some cases, a wire may run though the wall, but not be visible. This is very hard to determine, and takes sleuth work (look for wires entering the wall from floors above/below, and consider based on locations of other electrical if it's likely this wall is used to run wires). There are voltage detectors that MAY be able to detect the lines, but not guaranteed (though if they indicate, you know there's a line there for sure).

Check for low-voltage lines as well (cable, phone, internet, doorbell, HVAC, speakers).

These are probably even harder to find than high-voltage lines unless there is something on the wall that gives it away. Accidentally cutting one of these is a pain, but not nearly as dangerous or life-threatening as a high-voltage line.

Check for plumbing

This can include hot/cold water, waste lines and vent lines.
Waste plumbing works on gravity, and so it will usually take the shortest route. Find bathrooms/sinks and the main waste lines in the house, and see if this wall falls between them.
Supply plumbing is hard to detect unless there is a fixture on the wall. Requires some sleuth work.

Check for air ducts

Relatively easy to determine: if there is a vent on the wall or you can see duct work connecting to it (cavities inside walls are often used as vertical ducts)
Can be a bit harder to find if it's used as a riser to connect horizontal runs between two floors. If it's above/below the main duct run then it's possible.
If you remove a wall without re-running vents, you may be cutting off the supply or return to an area of your house, which can reduce air quality and comfort.

Central vac pipes

Generally the rule is to try and avoid as many turns as possible, and avoid going up towards the vacuum. Same idea as finding waste lines: find the vacuum and the wall ports, and if this wall is in the most direct path between them it's likely to have lines. You may also be able to hear them, especially if you put your ear against the wall and have someone suck up a small pebble or something noisy (but that won't damage the vacuum).

Gas lines

Pretty unlikely to find gas running through the middle of a wall (especially one you're considering tearing out) but it's still a possibility.
Again, if the wall is the most direct route between the gas source, and the appliance (consider: water heaters, furnace, oven, BBQ), it's possible

In a commercial structure, the wall may be a fire wall (there will be doors on auto-closers separating this area from all others if this is the case - though check with your local fire department or building inspector).

Of course, even if you are fairly confident there is nothing in the wall, don't just pull out the sawzall and tear through it - put some holes in it first to visually inspect for anything you might have missed. Most people will take all the drywall off at least one side before touching studs, as it gives that total check that everything is good to go.


How to prepare poured concrete wall for adhesion I am considering the application of an artificial stone wall veneer onto a poured concrete wall. The wall is flat with no protrusions or other which might aid in adhesion. I do not know if any release agents were added to the forms when the wall was poured. Age of the wall is less than 15 years.

What is the best method to prep the surface to get the best adhesion and is there a best mortar for use in this manner? I have done a lot of drywall and other concrete work, but nothing to do with block or mortar so this is somewhat of a new area for me. The wall is about 9 feet high and 15 feet long and flat with no corners with a concrete floor - all bare an never painted.

How should I prepare this surface and what should I use for mortar here? I want it to look as natural as possible so do not want to use any caulk like adhesives etc. if possible.  Any other tips I might find of use?

EDIT: This is an interior wall, thus no weathering and has never been painted or otherwise surface treated.

If the wall is unpolished it already offers enough grip for any other concrete based adhesive.
Just make sure its dust free..dampen the concrete wall with a sponge.. let the water drip and sink into the wall and then use a normal adhesive recommended to be used stone veneer direct to the concrete

If it is polished concrete then you will need to grind slits into the concrete so that the concrete can adhere, also taking care to get the concrete into the prepared slits.

You do not need to use any other chemicals that i know off. done it plenty of times when applying plaster direct on concrete or slitted polished wall.. sticks forever.

Just make sure not use adhesive that dries super fast.. just a normal drying adhesive. Drying to fast can cause it the "glue" to shrink and pull away from the wall before it bonds properly.. that is why the wall should also be wet before application


Can landscape adhesive be used for a masonry fire pit? I'm building a fire pit...Just like in this video.

At 1:40 he is using an adhesive (looks like versa-lok concrete adhesive).  I didn't think it was needed, but I like the idea.  I thought video would use it on the base, but they use it only on the courses.
I didn't see anything about high heat in on the tub.
Is it effective under heat?
Can something like this give off dangerous fumes when heated?

Regarding Loctite PL 500 landscape adhesive (mentioned in the asker's answer)...

Service Temperature: -20°F (-29°C) to 150°F (66°C)

No, landscape adhesive (or at least that specific product) isn't rated for temperatures encountered in a fire pit.
That said, if you put a bead toward the outside of the course rings I'd expect it to hold up fairly well. Temperatures out there may get high enough to soften it, but probably wouldn't burn it.
Of course, there may be landscape adhesives (or products that could serve as such) with higher temperature tolerance.


How do I handle significant snow and ice dams on a 4/12 gable roof with ridge vents? It is our first winter in a new-to-us house, that has a pretty flat roof (3/12-to-4/12 pitch), and a ridge vent along the entire top of the roof.  We just had the snowiest December on record (Minnesota), which put a good 36" of snow on the roof, burying the ridge vent.  I have been up on the roof, and have cleared most of the snow, but we have a good 4' ice-dam that has bridged to/filled the gutters (and is a good 4" over the top of the gutters currently).  My primary concern, is that water seems to be getting behind the facia, into the eaves, then coming out on the outside of the house, and running down the exterior siding where it freezes.  So far there is no apparent water damage inside, but I want to get this cleared up ASAP before it gets into the house.

My questions are-

1) What is the best way to get rid of the ice dam (the entire edge of the roof, on both sides of the house, 55' on each side, has an ice dam going 4-6' up the roof)?  I have thrown a bunch of potassium chloride up on the roof, but it didn't seem to do too much.  I'll try the nylon tube mentioned in the answer here, but how should I orient it to get the most ice off the roof?

2) How do I prevent this in the future?  I have a roof rake, and can rake the first 6-8' of the roof, but does that do any good if the ridge vent is blocked?  It sounds like the heat tape doesn't work all that well.  Thoughts?

Edit- Well, the nylon stockings with potassium chloride have been on the roof for 8 hours now, and they have yet to melt anything... hummm...

Ok gentilmen , lets talk ice dams. First and foremost, what causes an ice dam to form anyway. Heat trapped in an attic, either from heat loss from the house or sun beating on the roof, cannot escape quickly and melts snow on the roof. This water drains to the bottom of the roof where it runs across a cold edge and freezes. The overhang of your roof (soffit area) is typically not over a heated area and tends to be very cold, much colder that the rest of the roof. Even with a well insulated ceiling and good ventilation ice dams will form if conditions are right. This is where the old saying,"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" rings true.  Any time you have a heavy snow load on your roof followed by some moderate temps or sunny days, some natural melting is going to occur, especially if the ridge vents are buried in snow. Sun hitting the gable ends will heat up the attic a bit too. Many times the ice dam starts in the gutters then bridges over to the roof edge and starts it's way up. Once it starts, there is now way to stop it unless the source of water building it is taken away. The only way to deprive the ice dam of more water is to REMOVE THE SNOW FROM THE ROOF AND MAKE AN EXIT FOR ANY REMAINING WATER TO DRAIN. This is why it is so important to use a roof rake soon after a snowfall to remove several feet of snow from the edge of the roof. With the snow removed, you can see if a dam is starting and can address it quickly while it is small and easy to treat. Other things to consider may include, if you live in an area where your ridge vent commonly is covered in snow, add a gable end vent on both sides of the house and be sure the soffit vents are equipped with "proper vent panels" inside and that they are not blocked by insulation. Always use a minimum of 6 feet of Grace ice and water shield, or if you want a good insurance policy against leaks, cover the entire roof with Grace before shingling. This may cost a bit more up front, but pays for itself in the long run.  Maximize your attic insulation. Take a good look at your gutters and consider lowering them if they are too close to the drip edge where ice dams begin.  There is no one thing that will prevent ice dams, but if you look at all the preventions at your disposal, dealing with them will be a lot easier.  Sorry for preaching guys, but I give this same speel to many customers every year when water is leaking in their homes and they are shelling out big bucks for repairs. Two years ago here in Maine, the huge snowfalls and subsiquint ice dam problems prompted homeowners insurance companies to send out letters telling policy holders that they would not cover a second  loss if these precautions were not met.


How do I fix a broken window in my aluminum framed sunroom? A lower window is broken in my aluminum framed sunroom, as shown in this 33 second video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLQfd0FPwYU

Will I need to:

drill out rivets
take apart the whole section of wall
cut a custom size of glass, etc?

Or do the windows come pre-framed in standardized sizes?

I'd replace just the sheet of glass, which can be obtained cheap/easy/quickly at nearly any hardware store or similar.  The store will cut a piece to your measurements.

Taking care to not damage anything else, I'd remove the outside bevel, cutting/ripping it out, destroying the bevel if necessary.  By bevel, I mean the triangular piece that normally presses up against the glass.  It looks to be about 1/2 wide. This would not involve drilling out any rivets or using a rivet gun.

I'd then insert a new window pane, then either reinstall the old/new bevel, or just caulk it place with a silicone caulk.

The important thing is to not damage anything else.

For measurements, you can cut a piece of cardboard to size and test it out in the opening. Bring it in to the store to show the employee and to compare it to the piece that they cut, just to double check that it is the right size.


Dryer Vent Exhaust Fan My wife and I just bought our first house. I think that we discovered that our dryer vent is going to require some regular maitenence to keep it clean and able to dry our clothes.

When we moved in, we found that the vent opening in our laundry room was absolutely full of lint (solid). I got the vacuum cleaner and sucked up as much as I could and reached up and pulled out some more. When she ran our first load of laundry though, it didn't dry much at all. I went up to the attic and looked in our vent up there and there was more lint but not as much. I'm going to pick up a dryer vent brush today after work but I noticed that it looked like the tape on their vent was very new looking which leads me to think this was something they regularly had to do.

I'm wondering how easy / effective is it to get one of the fans to attach to your vent that will essentially help it along. I can't think of what the fans are called right now though.

They're often called dryer booster fans. They aren't particularly difficult to install, and they are reasonably effective. However, they also have some significant downsides - the fan itself obstructs the the vent pipe, which makes it much more difficult to effectively clean the vent, and it will further reduce airflow and increase lint accumulation should it fail to operate (due to user error or mechanical failure, both of which will occur eventually).

Installing and running a booster fan would certainly be preferable to your existing situation, but it would be even better to improve the venting to get sufficient airflow without needing a booster.

Any flex duct should be replaced with rigid, smooth wall metal. Turns in the duct work should be minimized, and where they cannot be avoided, use long turn "dryer-ell" bends instead of the standard sharp 90 if possible. Installing a recessed dryer vent box where you connect the dryer can often allow you to connect the dryer with fewer turns in the dryer hose, as well as protecting the dryer hose from crushing damage. The dryer hose should be semi rigid aluminum flex duct; soft foil flex duct or periscope connectors should not be used. Make sure the exterior vent opening in the wall or roof opens widely and is not too restrictive.


How long should I wait before using my electric oven after using WD-40 on the element mounting screws? I had some rusted mounting screws that were holding the heating element in my electric oven. I sprayed them with WD-40 and got the element replacement put in. I have wiped the area down.

How long before I can use my oven would you suggest?

I did the same thing but with PB Blaster (it smells even worse than WD-40) for an outdoor kitchen. I just wiped it down with soapy water and ran the oven at 425 with the door open for about 10 minutes before putting any food in it. There really wasn't any smell or smoke because the petroleum distillates burn off very fast.


Toilet Still Gurgling Three months ago when we moved into our home, the toilet started gurgling so we had septic tank pumped, and drainline from house to septic cleaned out. Two months ago, happened again, so we tried a chemical clog remover that helped for a bit. Last week, it started again whenever water was run. Plumber came out and cleaned a clog out of vent line which is now completely clear, and installed a secondary vent (he can't figure out where the vent connects with the line). Gurgling now only happens when a lot of water is released into main line, such as after a load of laundry is washed or a sink of dishes is drained; air is bubbling up into the toilet, and it seems to get faster as the amount of water in the pipe decreases. The drains are draining normally (no slow or delayed draining) and there is no standing water in the outside check pipe between the house and septic tank. There are no trees or plants anywhere around the drain lines out of the house or from the tank to the drain field. Help!! I literally have tried everything and have NO IDEA what else to do!! Thanks to everyone who has been trying to help me diagnose this!!

If there is not any backup evident at the outdoor clean-outs or tub drain when sinks and toilets are flushed together, then I would say the septic is not slow draining and air bubbling into the toilet requires that the soil vent serving the toilet be plugged some other way.   Since the toilet vent line was recently cleaned and found to be plugged, I would surmise that the vent has somehow become plugged again.

Offhand I can think of two possibilities:

(1)  The toilet soil pipe has a sag near the connection to the soil vent such that the branch to the vent tends to collect sewage and become plugged;

(2)  The toilet soil vent is connected to the drain line incorrectly (incorrect wye, installed backward, etc);

There are companies for hire that can run a camera through the lines to find the problem if you are so inclined.


Adding new joists to old deck: lumber size mismatch Very new to this forum, forgive me for any mistakes.

I am replacing the decking on an existing deck at my house, and the new decking is a composite PVC cap stock product. The old decking was cedar, and the joist spacing was 24". That is beyond spec for the new decking, so I am adding a 2x8 joist in between for 12" spacing.

The problem I'm having is that the old 2x8 joists are 7" actual width, whereas the new joists are 7.25". This causes the new joists to be proud of the old ones, including the rim joists. I don't think I can just hang them and then run the decking over uneven joists.

Has anyone seen this before? Can anyone comment on why the old joists are small? Could that just be due to shrinkage?

First make sure that your support posts and beam(s) are in good shape.  You'll be adding a lot of weight doubling the number of joists and adding the heavier  PVC decking.

Your choices are to either allow the new joists to hang lower than the others, or if you don't like how it looks, cut a 1/4 inch off the width before they are hung.

No matter which choice you make, the joints are still hung flush on top.


Need help with sagging gate double gates My gate used to be a single very large gate, but a local handyman cut in half about 3 years ago and made it a double-sided gate with a latch in the middle and a ground rode on one side.  Both sides have cross bracing.

One gate has held up pretty well (Right Gate).  The other gate is sagging at the top inner side (Left Gate), which is causing the latch to be misaligned and also causing a gap at the bottom which the bankyard chickens like to escape through.

Reviewing the images below, does anyone have any recommendations on how to improve the Left Gate sagging issue?  Should I remove/ re-add the cross bracing?
 I noticed there were some gaps between the horizontal beam and the cross braces; maybe a tighter fit would help?  Should I implement the "X" pattern as seen on the Right Gate?  I also noticed there are products out there; they're a bit price, does anyone recommend these?

I'm not much of a carpenter or handyman, but I could get some 2x4 wood and put my straight edge and jigsaw to work on cutting some cross braces. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  If you could provide photos or sketches, that would be very helpful!  Thanks!

My sagging gate is of a similar nature this posted question (How can I fix the issues I'm having with large double gates?).

Product links: EZ Brace - Anti Sag Gate Brace $50... or Gate Brace No Sag Gate Kit $40... or Rocky Mountain Goods Anti Sag Gate Kit - Extra Strength zinc plated steel $18

Images

Image1: Cross brace design of both gates (Left=sagging / Right=stable)
Image2: Ouside view of gates (Left / Right inverted view)
Image3: Center latch & Left ground rod with gap problem
Image4: Left side angle (sag) & Right side angle (stable)

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

The left side gate is not made correctly.

The cross brace is supposed to prop up the swinging end of the gate.  In other words, you want to go from the lower hinge (in this case the lower left) to the upper end of the horizontal brace (in this case the upper right).

The diagonal on the right is oriented correctly, the diagonal on the left is not.


How to wire humidifier to furnace I have a Goodman high efficient furnace with a carrier humidifier attached to the back. The humidifier wasn't working because the solenoid coil was burned, so I replaced it with a new solenoid. The humidifier has a control panel mounted to the airduct. I'm trying to wire this humidifier up. I do have a 24volt transformer, but no HUM connection on the board. I noticed on the wiring diagram for the furnace it says to wire the humidifier to the C connection on the RYG...etc. I'm lost here. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

It looks like the humidifier connections on the board will provide 24V for the humidifier when the furnace is on so I don't know that you need the transformer. Do you know which terminals on the board those are? If not post a photo of the board. I assume the humidistat only has two wires and the humidifier only has two wires, if so then the attached wiring diagram should work.


NEC 210.70 and old wall sconces I'm planning a diy rewiring of my 1914 2 story.  All the upstairs bedrooms (3) have wall sconces with small switches in the fixtures.  These sconces are the only light fixtures in the room.  The entire upper story has decades old, brittle, single conductor fabric wire; and no fixture boxes - I want to add both.

If I run new 14/2 plus ground and add cut in boxes, I believe the entire circuit will need repaired to modern code (as far as I can tell we're still NEC 2014 here with a small page of state additions.

210.70 says each light fixture in a dwelling needs a wall switch.  Does the switch built in to the fixture count, or will I have to cut in normal switch boxes and connect them to the fixtures?

The lighting outlet needs to be wall-switched in a finished room

NEC 210.70(A)(1) states (sans irrelevant exceptions):

  (1) Habitable Rooms. At least one wall switch-controlled
  lighting outlet shall be installed in every habitable room
  and bathroom.

The "wall switch-controlled" part is easy enough: it means that there needs to be a switch on the wall (located as per Article 404 and other criteria) that turns a lighting outlet in the room on and off (it can be a dimmer, smart-switch, or occupancy sensor, provided there is a wall control that can switch the outlet manually).

However, the key here lies in the NEC's definition of the term "outlet", for which we turn to Article 100 (aka the NEC's glossary):

  Outlet. A point on the wiring system at which current is
  taken to supply utilization equipment.

From this, we can tell that the lighting outlet in question needs to be switched before it ever gets to the utilization equipment (luminaire, in our case).  As a result, the built-in switch on the existing luminaires is no good for this job.  Besides, making it so that you have wall switches in the conventional places will make everyone happier, especially your houseguests.

If you wish to keep the sconces...

There is a way you can keep the sconces, though -- you can make it so the wall-switched lighting outlet powers a different lighting outlet/light fixture (on the ceiling, preferably, although putting it on another wall will work too).  That way, the new fixture becomes the primary source of light for the room, and the sconces can be kept the way they are (save for  being mounted to boxes and connected to modern wiring) as accent pieces.


How do I insulate my unfinished basement with half foundation, half siding? I have a 1910 bungalow with an unfinished basement. The issue I'm encountering is that the main floor gets extremely cold in the winter and requires a lot of heat ($$$) to keep it warm. The unfinished basement has no insulation whatsoever, and I haven't done anything to keep the cold out other than spraying foam to plug up the gaps around pipes entering the house from the outside.

My thought process is that by insulating the unfinished basement, it won't get quite so cold, and less heat will escape downstairs/less cold air will creep upstairs. According to energy.gov, insulating the walls in a basement is preferable to insulating the ceiling between the basement and the main floor, so that's what I'm looking to do.

This is a photo of one of the walls in the basement:

I've seen lots of videos on how to insulate when you have a solid concrete wall in a basement, or how to insulate new construction, but I'm at a loss for how to approach these walls, as the top half appears to be reverse side of the bare siding and the bottom half the foundation.

How do I insulate this whole mess without risking moisture issues? Do I build a stud wall in front of the existing wall from floor to ceiling, leave an air gap between the bare siding and add a foam insulation board, then put fiberglass insulation against the foam board up to the face of the new stud wall, then attach the vapor barrier? Do I put foam insulation board directly against the concrete at the bottom or do I need an air gap there as well?

Any help (especially a diagram if possible) would be very much appreciated!

Waterproofing

Waterproofing the siding should be done from the outside. As in pull the siding off if necessary and replace/repair damage.
If you are concerned about waterproofing below grade this is something you should look into. It's called dimple board (forgot it's proper, name air gap something or other), but it would require you breaking concrete around the interior perimeter and installing a sump pump and weepers for it to be fully effective

https://www.citywidegroup.com/waterproofing/interior-waterproofing

Insulation

This is what I would call minimalist insulation
https://www.homeconstructionimprovement.com/basement-wall-insulation-detail/

This is similar to the method I would use
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/how-to-insulate-a-basement-wall

Your situation is a little different as you have some siding up above. I would continue a plumbline straight-up creating a large void in behind the wall where the siding is. I would then fill that cavity with insulation. I would then apply vapour barrier with acousti seal in the joist cavity's and at the bottom plate. If your plan is to finish the basement make sure to waterproof, if necessary and run all your mechanical and electrical before you insulate. If your plan is just to insulate to make the upstairs more comfortable then you can stop here.

Side Note the diagrams show a pressure treated bottom plate. We don't do that here in Toronto because it's toxic. We wrap the bottom with a water resistant plastic which is then carried up the stud wall on both sides and becomes part of the vapour barrier.


How do I safely replace a worn out electrical outlet? I have a number of outlets that are old and worn out (plugs fall out of them mainly.)

Obviously I need to turn off the breaker to replace them safely.

Any guidance on how to rewire them, how to properly ground the new one, and how to safely test them once the power is back on?

If you plan on doing much electrical work around the house, get a multi-meter. It's just a little box with black and red probes on the end. Safe enough to stick in an outlet to see if it's live or not.

Outlets are mostly idiot proof. Turn off the breaker, pull it out of the box, see where the old wires are attached and move them one by one to the new outlet. Probably the old outlet already has a ground wire, in which case you're done. If it doesn't, it's probably time to call a pro.

Once you have it hooked up and the power is back on, you can use the multimeter to test. There is a hot side and a neutral side to the outlet. Ground behaves the same as neutral as far as the multimeter is concerned. You should be able to stick one prob in the hot side and the other into ground or neutral and get around 110 on the multimeter (+/- 2-3 volts).


How can I secure a plastic toolbox to the wall? I have a plastic toolbox that I want to mount on the wall. I need it to be extremely stable once mounted, and I was therefore considering simply screwing it directly to the wall. However, I'm concerned that I might crack the plastic. What would the best way be to do something like this? The toolbox is made from a softish plastic, so that's why I was even considering drilling through it.

If the tool box is not actually designed to be mounted to the wall then there is a strong possibility that doing so may deform the box so that it does not function in the way intended. This could be especially true if the box has a hinged lid. I think that your best bet would be to build a small shelf for under the tool box and secure that into the wall studs. You could then secure the box to the shelf possibly by even gluing it in place. Gluing the base of the box to the shelf would have far less chance of deforming the shape of the thing. Using a shelf idea also allows easier adjustment of where to place the box so that a possible lid does not interfere with the wall.


Hearing hum near natural gas gauge, should I be concerned – Pic Attached I have been living in my home for over 10 years and it is heated by natural gas. Over the last few weeks I have occasionally been hearing a sometimes loud hum from near our external gas gauge. I have attached a picture of the object off the gas line making the noise. It almost seems as something should screw into there. Any idea what this is and if I need to screw something into it?

Update: This was months ago, but I called the gas co. and they replaced the gas regulator without asking any questions or any charges.

That does appear to have been altered, the threaded portion in the top picture looks abnormal in that a cover or cap etc is missing, they typically are not like this, maybe some kids messed with it, call the gas company in any case,  do not tell them  the kids did it if anything say an ex lover might have messed with it this way  they wont try to bill you for it.


Why is my stucco cracking? I am hoping for some advise please on the exterior cracking of our house, and how to rectify it permanently if possible, you can see from the photos painters have tried to cover this up when painting however, it then returns again, my thoughts are to widen the crack to roughly an inch or so, fill that and then repaint?  Thanks & Regards

House timberframe plastered exteriors.
House is roughly 35 years old
Houses to the left and right have the exact same cracking

The cracking is only a symptom. The symptom has previously been treated by covering with paint. Your proposed solution is simply another form of symptom treatment. The cracking will return, probably in the same time frame.

The underlying issues is what needs to be addressed to make the symptom go away. The issue is the soil under your foundation, either it is settling or you are on expansive soils

We don't have enough information to determine the source of the issue here now. I suggest getting a professional out to evaluate the situation to see if it is something that can be addressed in your budget. Otherwise, just continue covering the cracking with paint.


Is it acceptable that the only access to a service panel is through a master bedroom closet? We are planning a remodel and I have a question about the location of the breaker panel. The remodel plans would leave the panel where it is, in laundry room. I am aware that the breaker panel will need a certain amount of workspace and it will have that. The concern is that, according to our planned layout, the only access to the laundry room would be to walk through the master closet, and through a door at the back of the closet which opens into the laundry room. Currently, the only way to access the laundry room is to go outside onto our carport and go through the door. We are planning to turn the carport into a Master Bedroom, Bath, and Walk-Through closet. Does this break any codes? Thanks in advance!

As long at the panel is not in a bathroom, clothes closet or on a stairway the panel would be ok with the required working space 30" width or width of the panel if wider than 30" and headroom it would be legal if accessible. I realised I did not specifically answer your question. Yes your service panel can be in a room that is accessible and yours is accessible (and not in a prohibited area).


10cm brick wall carrying capacity for additional beams I'm trying to get an approximate feel on how much can a 10cm brick wall be loaded with. Here is an image to describe the problem:

I am planning to make an elevated bed and the beam on the picture should be the main carrying construction. It should be able to withstand two people sleeping there, I plan to test it with 4 people directly hanging at the beam and swinging.

I don't have enough experience on how the brick wall would behave when exposed to such stress. The load will be solely vertical.

Does it makes sense to put another beam as a pillar as suggested in the picture below?

I know it would probably help, but I wouldn't want to go solving problems that don't need to be solved.

How would you approach this problem? What would be your biggest concern?

I would highly recommend that you come up with a plan that uses legs on this bed construction that come all the way down to the floor. This way you do not need to fasten into the wall at all. Such a construction can also be easily disassembled for moving from room to another room or another dwelling. You also avoid messing up the wall.

Long legs on an elevated bed will need to be constructed so as to prevent racking of the structure. One way to achieve this would be to put a skirt board around the legs on three sides near the bottom. Some angular bracing may also be necessary.


using dryer 240v outlet for 125v kilm My wife purchased a kiln that requires a 30 amp breaker, has NEMA 5-20 plug. We are going to put it in the shed but the price to run electric to the shed is not affordable.

Can I use the 240v outlet for my dryer to run a NEMA L6-30P extension cord with a 30Amp L5-30P to 15/20Amp NEMA adapter to the shed?

kiln - http://www.clay-king.com/kilns/skutt_kilns/skutt_km_614_3.html

extension - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K7X7W61/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A15AM8MHT45F3Q&psc=1

adapter - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MGJ2F4/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thank you.

FOLLOW UP QUESITON:

Thank you all for your time. Very much appreciate it.

It does appear there is no ground wire, however, there is a outlet right next to it that does have a ground wire. Can it be utilized?

UPDATE:

I think there is a ground wire hiding under the black..

No. Just no.

Current

Your kiln specs are for 20A. Your dryer breaker is (or should be) 30A. 30A is a lot more than 20A. If you had a failure where the kiln pulled 30A for a while, the breaker would not trip and your kiln might be damaged...or start a fire.

Ground/Neutral

Your kiln needs hot, neutral and ground. A 6-30 is a 3-wire connection. It will likely have hot, hot, ground, in which case you don't have a neutral and would then be piggybacking neutral for your 5-20 on ground, which is not to code and not safe.
Your dryer receptacle is actually more likely a 10-30, which is an obsolete-but-grandfathered type with hot, hot, neutral, in which case you don't have a ground and would then be piggybacking neutral for your 5-20 on ground, which is not to code and not safe. It is considered "safe enough" for dryers but your kiln does not fall under that limited exemption.
Your best bet to avoid running a new cable from the panel to the garage would be to see if you can retrofit ground. There are rules for doing that, but if you can legally do it then you could:

Replace the 10-30 with a 5-20 (no dryer any more) and replace the 30A breaker with a 20A breaker.
Install a subpanel. Not sure if you can use retrofit ground for a subpanel though - Harper or one of the other pros can answer that (and fill in 100 other details I missed). Then connect a 14-30 (replacing the 10-30) for the dryer, a 5-20 (for the kiln) and other circuits as well. As long as you don't run the dryer and kiln at the same time, this would probably work quite well.

Double-check the specs - and safety - of the kiln
The specs are a bit confusing:

120V
20A
2,300W
5,940 BTU
10 AWG
NEMA 5-20

20A specifications: 20A (obviously), 5-20, 5,940 BTU (1 kWh = 3,412 BTU, so 5,940 BTU = 1.74 kWh = 14.5A @ 120V, which fits just fine on a 20A circuit)
30A specifications: 10 AWG (it is perfectly fine to use 10 for 20A circuits, but code normally only requires 12), 2,300W (2,300W/120V = 19A and since this is continuous usage it needs a circuit rated for higher current - and the next typical size is 30A)
Just doesn't add up... That could be laziness, specs not up-to-date, etc. Or it could be a sign of poor and possibly unsafe design.


Should I cut air space in my basement foam board insulation? I intend to finish a part of my basement following this guideline from Fine Homebuilding and Building Science. In this configuration, the foam board completely contacts the concrete. My conern is that should a small water leakage event occur, such as a washing machine or a water tank leak, the water will have nowhere to go and gradually seep through the foam and eventually lead to the entire floor needing to be replaced.

I've noted some products on the market make a point in having air space in their floor contact area, for example AmDry, DriCore RPlus and ThermalDry. See sample photo below.

I'm thinking it would not be too hard to use a table saw and dado blade to cut channels in the back of the panels. I was thinking I would cut half inch deep, quarter inch wide, on a 4 inch grid.

The down side is that this will decrease the PSI capacity of the foam. I was thinking I might have to increase the thickness of the plywood over the foam. I'm not sure if this effort would even be worth it without the water-proof layer that the commercial products offer - however, I assume anything is better than nothing. I'm not sure if this will weaken the insulation and cause it to crack along all these lines.

I did almost what you propose, but used a commercial dimpled tile mat between the foam and the slab floor.  It worked out great, no issues after 6 years.
That said, the go to place for detailed energy questions like this is Green Building Advisor http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/ (I have no affiliation with them).


How to make a floor? OK, that's a very broad question. Let me give the details:

We own a very old (estimate: about 100 years) rural house with some land. My wife spent lots of her childhood summers there, our kids like it, sentimental value, etc. We generally like the place, but the house is in a terrible shape.

It would probably need to have MAJOR renovations/upgrades done; or possibly even be rebuilt from scratch -- but we don't have that kind of finances available right now. We're not broke though - despite the COVID situation we're pretty financially stable and could devote some money to it. It's hard however for me to put down a specific number; and anyway the prices of things in my country (Latvia) cannot be directly compared to other countries, so I won't bother. Let's say I can afford small stuff (for a house). I would also like to complete the project myself without hiring additional people, unless absolutely necessary.

The house itself is a log-cabin type, although probably larger than what most people would imagine with that name. 3 large and 2 small rooms; a kitchen; spacious attic - it's a decently sized small house. I don't know the state of the logs themselves because they're covered both inside and out; but I'll assume they're fine. In the olden days people lived in the house all year long, but for decades now it has only been used as a summer cottage. Hence it is not being kept warm and dry all year round.

As far as we can tell, the house is built directly on the ground. There's no basement, and I doubt there are any supports in the ground or whatever. This also means that... the floors are directly on the ground too. As in, a most of the rooms have wooden floors which are more or less fine; but some just have thick, painted cardboard (there's probably a special name in English for cardboard that is meant for floors, but I don't know it). This cardboard... has not fared so well. In fact, the state of the floor in those rooms is pretty critical.

So, my current wish would be to restore that floor. Maybe even upgrade the floors in the other rooms too, if it seems worth it. But what do I do? Where do I start? What's the proper method that would ensure a structure that would last for ages?

Should I dig a pit beneath and add ventilation and sheets of plastic for moisture insulation? Pour concrete? A layer of bricks? Get creative with waterproofing membranes (the ones used in bathrooms)? I need ideas to work upon. :)

Reinforced concrete with a plastic membrane below sounds like a good solution.

Ideally you'd want to dig foundations under the walls too so that they can be raised off the ground and kept dry, but this "underpinning" is a very technical task, and if the walls are ok they can be left as is.


Are these LED panels suitable for lighting above dining area? I want to light a dining area that is ~12'x 18', with exposed wood ceiling, supported by beams that were created with two 2"x 10" framing lumber, with a 1"x 4" bottom cap.  Wiring for the current lighting (track lights) runs in the space between the 2"x 10" members in two "beams". The beams are spaced ~26" apart.

A friend gave me four flat metal LED panels that were removed from display ceiling lights, along with two drivers.  The LED panels are 7"x 15", with 112 LEDs on each. I contacted Cooper Lighting, for specs, and their reply:

PEL2000835 = LED Panel, 7"x15", 2000 Lumen, 80CRI, 3500k.
PLE2000835 is a discontinued product that was made for us by a third party.

The drivers are Phillips Advance XITANIUM 48W 2.0A, 0-10V Dimming.

Questions:

Are the drivers usable for more than one of the panels?
Should they be mounted off of the wood, suspended to allow air circulation, or would they be OK enclosed between the 2"x10"s?  I've had one of the panels on for two hours, and the driver is warm to the touch, resting on the floor, but not "hot".
Would two of these, spaced 5' apart, be sufficient to illuminate the area, or should I go with four panels, with dimmers?

Thanks for any help.

To give you a rough idea, a new 4' fluorescent tube puts out in the ballpark of 3,000 lumens, which decreases with age, and a substantial amount is lost in the fixture.  LEDs are directional.  So each panel will deliver roughly the amount of light of a one-tube fluorescent fixture with a fresh bulb.  The light will be fairly concentrated under the LED fixture.  The total light from the four panels is in the ballpark of what you need for a room that size for good illumination, and it sounds like they are dimmable from there.

In a dining room, you typically want most of the light over the table.  The amount of spread will depend on how high the ceiling is.  Figure out the best location by looking at the spread pattern in a dark room.  You can shine them at a wall from the same distance as the ceiling is from table height.

You will probably get the best result if you overlap the illumination so that the weaker edges add to a brightness more comparable to the center of the light from each fixture rather than acting like four spotlights over different areas of the room.  Depending on the shape of your table, you might get the best illumination pattern arranging the fixtures in a square array, a diamond array, or a linear sequence.

Depending on the amount of spread, you may have to compromise (the ceiling may not be high enough to achieve a lot of light spread).  You might improve the spread by putting the fixtures behind diffusers.  You can assess the effect with the wall test.

LEDs put out the least heat vs. light of the common home lighting sources.  Even incandescent fixtures can be mounted against the ceiling, so there isn't a safety issue mounting LED panels against the ceiling.  However, heat can shorten the LED life, so it wouldn't hurt to leave a small air gap for circulation.

Look at mounting the panels at a slight angle from the ceiling.  This can accomplish several things.  It may give you more control in positioning and aiming the light.  Light from the angled fixture will fall on a larger area, spreading the light more.  And the angle will create an air flow above the fixture to provide some natural cooling (air will flow toward the higher end).  If the panels are in a square or diamond pattern with the center of the pattern lower (so the panels are aimed out), it may naturally circulate the room air like a ceiling fan at a low setting, rotating in the direction of blowing the room air upwards.


Is it safe to be in insulated attic Is it safe for me to be in an attic with this type of insulation without a mask?

I have found myself coughing whilst laying floor boards and I’m not sure whether that is general dust or something to worry about?
Thanks in advanced...

Generally, it's safe to be in an attic with fiberglass insulation without a mask. Is it a good idea? No. It can get into your lungs and cause the coughing you're experiencing and can also irritate your throat. the coughing you're experiencing is probably a combination of the fiberglass and the dust that settles from the venting of the attic. Do yourself a favor and wear a mask.

@Chris Rodgers mentions about how much stuff adheres to a mask after just a short while and that reminded me of a photo I took last year after being in my attic for about an hour installing a whole house fan.


What is this electrical device shown in picture? I was watching "Better Call Saul" and came across this electrical device. I have never seen such a device. I want to know what it is called and what does it do/measure?

Here is another angle.

That's a Hollywood service panel.  In the same way that's a Hollywood starship.  (pretty sure real starships won't look like that.)

Here's what a real service panel looks like.  By the way, Better Call Saul is set in 2002, six years before Breaking Bad began.

Unfinished wall area optional; all the wires could be hidden behind studs and drywall and covered right up to the edge of the panel cover,  though that makes the electrical system less maintainable. And by the way, the cables bundled like that is illegal, cables need to cool.

The switch in the upper left is the main; throwing it would do the trick.

That said, the fiction may be trying to express that there's  some sort of "smart home" equipment going on here, and that might look exactly like that.  That did exist; it just wasn't purchasable at Home Depot and didn't talk to Siri. However, this would only switch the lights; if this scene also cut receptacles and other fixed loads (HVAC?) then only a madman would build a system like that. In 2002 if you shut off power to a PC, you lost all your work.  Smart-home gear had two forks of development:

Homebrew-tier, with BSR X-10 (powerline signaling) for the hard control, and Apple II / Amiga / Windows 95/98 / Mac OS 9 for logic, scenes, that kind of thing. X-10 goes back to 1977.  (It's really common in the SCADA business to be stuck with heinously obsolete PC hardware because the vendor refuses to rewrite the software for the "platform of the week").  In this branch, the consumer facing controls tend to be pretty hokey-dokey, they are either obviously homebrew, common AC switches retasked for DC, or made-for-X10 deals that fit in a 1-gang space (e.g. standard receptacle cover).
Industrial-tier, or what they call SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). This is the commercialized version intended for commercial operations large enough to have their own Facilities Departments, e.g. your local community college, a hospital, midsize factory, office building, etc.  That's what it's intended for; nothing prevents the super-rich from installing it in a residence.  Then you get into exotic or bespoke controllers like that one might be.  Again, heinously obsolete hardware is often seen.

In practical shooting terms, if they had built this set from scratch, they could have had this control actually work the lights.  However, I have to guess they rented/borrowed this facility to shoot in.  In that case, this is most likely a security panel and has nothing to do with the lights.  Right around the corner is a gaffer's best boy, who is throwing the lights off simultaneously.

Now here's an important fact about film/TV lighting.  The ordinary lights in a location are not nearly enough.  You need to pile on thousands of watts of additional lighting - just shooting a cozy 2-person "between two ferns" shot calls for 2-3 500W halogen fill lights. The problem is light is exponential - double your lumens and you only gain 3db of light.  Office lighting is required by law to be a certain light level...  If you try to shoot in that, you get very grainy shots and your project looks like Blair Witch or Cloverfield. Seriously, installed lighting in a room (or a desk lamp in a "between two ferns" shot) is nothing but a prop.  It doesn't provide enough light to be useful.

So in that scene, there might be 10,000 watts of additional lighting thrown onto the room behind. The down-lighting is cool, but why is the ceiling so bright between the down lights? Because down lights do not work that way, the ceiling should look almost black in a photo like this because that's how cameras see it. That considerable amount of light is coming from the TV lighting that was added to the room.

Anyway, one of two things is possible, either the gaffer is throwing the room light switches and added lighting simultaneously (which seems like it would have a chance of causing messed-up takes)... or they have pulled apart the room light switches or supply and tied them into their gaffer board so they throw together.

It's also possible they even changed the bulbs in the lights, so the characteristics matched - you can't have that copious TV lighting switching off instantly because it's LED, whilst the actual room downlights fade out because they're halogen.  That would look stupid.

I'm not even starting into matching color temp and CRI, and CRI is more critical because camera eyes aren't human.


How to identify a nut I have to replace a nut on an old sliding door that dates back at least 50 years. The nut fits a 7/16 spanner, but that's all I know about it. Unfortunately I can't take the nut off and take it to my local hardware shop because the door is in continual use and would have to be wedged in place when I take the nut off. So I have to try and work out what the thread is so I can buy a replacement nut.

From Googling it seems that if a 7/16 spanner fits the nut is (probably?) either 3/16 Whitworth or 1/4 BSF. And I can probably estimate the bolt diameter to enough accuracy to tell the difference.

My question is: does the above make sense. If I hold a ruler up to the bolt and it looks nearer to 1/4" than 3/16" do I just go out and buy a 1/4" BSF nut? Or a 3/16" Whitworth nut if the bolt looks nearer to 3/16" than 1/4"?

Not that buying the wrong nut will bankrupt me, but it's a long drive (through the snow!) to the hardware shop :-)

A few alternative approaches that don't require guessing:

If the nut fastens to a removable bolt rather than a bracket with a permanent threaded rod, don't bother trying to match the nut.  Replace both the bolt and nut with something about the same size that fits the existing holes.
If there is a removable bolt, but it also threads through other hardware, temporarily remove the bolt and nut and measure the size using the bolt.
If there is not a removable bolt, temporarily remove the nut and measure the size and thread of the exposed portion of the "bolt".  Put the nut back on until you buy the replacement.  If you have a thread gauge (or there are cheap ones you can buy), that will make it easier to get an accurate measurement on either the bolt or nut.
If you don't have a thread gauge and measurement is difficult, temporarily remove the nut.  Lubricate the nut and threads, then make a quick "casting" of the thread with hot melt glue or other material, including enough material to grab to unscrew the casting.  Unscrew the casting and put the nut back on the door.  Then take the casting to the hardware store to find a matching nut.


Can I accelerate the cure time for acrylic caulk? This is related to this question:

Can I accelerate caulk drying by using a fan or heater on it?

...but that question kind of veered off into talking mostly about silicone caulks.

I'm trying to caulk parts of a deck I just built (namely around the railing posts). It's wet and cold (pacific northwest) and the silicone caulk I initially used never set after 3 days. So I thought I'd tray an acrylic based one (DAP Dynaflex 230). Can I speed up the cure time on this with some technique? Perhaps heat? I can't find any definitive answer as to whether heat helps acrylic caulk cure faster. I can only find references that heat does not help silicone caulk and actually is a way to remove silicone caulk.

Well, DAP Dynaflex 230 is a great caulk, but like all other acrylic caulks that I used, they specifically state that curing time is longer in cool or humid conditions.

See their TDB:

  Apply in temperatures above 40°F (4.44 °C).
  Do not apply if rain or freezing temperatures are forecasted before full cure can occur. Cold weather and high humidity will slow down cure time.

So yeah, if you're applying it in cold and wet weather, it will take longer to cure, so moderate heat might help (application temperature is up to 100F/38C, don't just bring a heat gun to it), as well as shielding it from elements.


Portable Generator Grounding When running a portable generator to provide power to my furnace, sump pumps and television etc during an extended power outage, can I simply run a ground wire in alongside the extension cord(s), from the grounding terminal on the generator, to a water pipe grounding clamp?

The furnace has an individual transfer switch (it goes by the name "EZ Generator Switch") that receives the female side of the extension cord. The Sump Pump, TV, etc. get unplugged from the home outlets, and plugged into the other extension cords coming from the generator.

Grounding isn't the problem, your neutral is

Since the EZ-Generator-Switch for your furnace has a continuous neutral and ground, I'd recommend doing nothing additional here for grounding.  Your generator is already grounded through the ground connection from your house wiring to the EZ-Generator-Switch and the ground wire in the cord from the EZ-Generator-Switch to the generator.

Now, the neutral is a different problem.  Portable generators bond the neutral to the ground themselves as they're intended to be used as standalone supply sources.  Your house wiring also bonds the neutral to the ground at the main panel.  So, not switching the neutral to your furnace between your house wiring and your generator effectively parallels the two neutral/ground bonds, which is problematic from a Code compliance/safety standpoint (a GFCI equipped generator will trip its GFCI under these circumstances, and it can have other baleful effects as well such as inadvertently energizing grounded metal objects with circulating currents).

If you wish to use this generator only for powering your important things in this (hacky, but safe) way, you can remove the neutral/ground bond wire from the generator and set it aside.  However, if you do this, you'll need to replace the neutral/ground bond if you wish to use the generator for anything else.  A better solution would be to switch out your existing EZ-Generator-Switch for the version with the switched neutral -- that way, the two neutral/ground bonds (your house's and the generator's) never get put in parallel.


If my air conditioner return line iced over and the fan stopped, is it broken? We've lived in our house for three summers and have never had any problems with the air conditioner. Today I noticed that there was ice on the coolant return line outside the house. I didn't think anything of it.

Later in the day (now), the system had shut off. Even though the temperature in the house was much higher than the thermostat setting, neither the air blower nor the fan in the AC unit outside was running.

I've read that the ice on the lines may mean that the system is low on coolant. Will simply having the coolant recharged fix the problem? Do I just need to wait for something to thaw?

ice usually means either your air handler isn't pushing enough air across the coil, or your system is out of refrigerant.

so first step is to set the cool/off switch to off. then set your fan switch to on. if the air handler fan does not turn on, then you have a problem with your air handler or thermostat. possibly cheap. possibly something you can fix yourself.

otherwise, you probably have a problem with refrigerant (which should not deplete, and if it does then you have a leak somewhere) or your compressor. in either case, you should leave your system off to avoid damaging your compressor until someone can come out and look at it.


How would you go about installing shelves _in_ the wall? I would like to install shelves in my wall. The wall itself is sheetrock. What tools would I need, and how would I go about it?
I believe what I'm trying to do is called built-in shelving, if that helps.

We need a whole lot more detail here to give you any helpful answers.

Your wall is more than sheetrock. Sheetrock is just the outer part. Inside there will be studs (metal or wood) and possibly insulation, wiring and plumbing.

As stated, built-ins aren't 'inside' walls...merely built into the house as a whole.A built-in can be as simple as buying a bookshelf, sticking it against the wall, and then trimming it out to give the look of it being originally built as part of the house. On the other end of the spectrum, you could take down the entire wall and construct a full-wall storage unit that also acts as a supporting wall.


How can I repair this broken bathroom tap? So we had a bathroom tap that looks pretty much like this:

the red lines I drew are where the tap has a kind of screw joint that separates the head from the side hot/cold taps. The problem is the head of the tap (everything above the red lines) has fallen off!  :( We can't screw it back, the screw joints seems eroded/rusty/useless. And the metal head of the tap is really heavy so it doesn't stay put long even if we try. Is there any home-made material or gluey thing that has the strength to hold the tap's head back on the bottom screw without actually blocking up the water flow?

In the long term, I think you need to replace the faucet, but in the meantime:

You could try an epoxy with metal added (J-B Weld is the most famous, but the SuperGlue company makes a light-duty metal epoxy that I've used for a bunch of jobs; the one-use packages are available at the 99-cent store).
In either case,

clean and dry the surfaces (turn off the water to avoid mistakes)
mix the epoxy and apply it (making sure not to block the water flow, of course)
CAREFULLY clean any excess from the outside surface - it will be much harder to remove once it's set
line things up carefully, and stabilize the joint while the epoxy sets.  I recommend a "dry run" - try to tape it up and see whether it will hold, or whether you'll need some sort of clamp.  There's nothing worse than finding out that your joint isn't stable when you've already glued it!
Pay attention to the directions and DON'T remove the tape (or clamp) or try to run the water until after the recommended curing time.

I don't know whether I'd trust the resulting joint to hold pressure, but since this is beyond the valve that shouldn't be a problem.


Can you apply surface-bonding cement over stucco as an exterior finish? Let's say you have a wood-framed wall with cement-based stucco cladding and it's in pretty good condition, with a few typical stucco cracks. If you wanted to seal the cracks, add another layer, and change the color, could you apply surface-bonding cement instead of a (much more expensive) additional layer of stucco?

Yes as an exterior (no as an interior).

The general rule is that the hardest surface must face the side that water would be attacking from.  If you reverse it, any water that penetrates cause a pressure build up when it meets the harder surface and cause the softer material to crack.


Why is my cement cracking near the wall? I have an old barn/garage that has mason block walls. The entire foundation is a concrete slab with footings for the exterior walls. For some reason, about 6 inches from the exterior walls, the concrete is cracked, and is sticking upwards.
Why is this happening and is it something I need to worry about?
I plan to frame a wall across this, however, the crack makes the flooring uneven, so how do I even out the floor?

That crack looks too uniform (straight) to be a structural crack.
The concrete under the masonry wall is probably the top of the foundation wall. I suspect the slab was poured up against the foundation wall and the edges of the slab have spalled off.
If you notice there’s a control joint running perpendicular to the masonry wall too. This helps keep the slab from having random cracks.
Yes, the joints are a little rough. You can grind down the high spots and fill in the low spots with a concrete filler or sealant if you’re concerned about expansion. (Concrete continues shrinking as it ages, unless you live where the sun could heat the slab and make it expand.)


How can I fasten pink polystyrene wall insulation into a structure? I got a big polystyrene board from Home Depot (you know, the kind with Pink Panther on it). I want to glue it together with Liquid Nails to make a house for feral cats in my neighborhood.

However,

I noticed that it's laminated on both sides. Should I remove the lamination so that the actual foam adheres and not the laminate?
Will giving it a few coats of paint make it waterproof? If not, should I try something else?

Firstly, as has been said, that material will not hold up to either the cats or the weather. You need an actual siding over it.

The construction adhesive you mentioned will eat the foam unless it's the water-based "panel" or "project" variety. The solvent in the heavy duty type dissolves polystyrene.

I built a similar "hot box" for my dog using the same stuff. I assembled six panels by creating a frame of 2x2, fitting 1-1/2" foam inside, and screwing 1/4" BC plywood to both faces. I strategically extended the plywood 2" on one face as needed to create the lap necessary to screw the other panels in place. It's extremely solid and comfortable. I have it mounted off the ground by just the front panel, and I can stand on it with no movement whatsoever.


Can I run 3 feet of water pipe in the attic for a rain shower? I have a shower that I totally gutted out.
I plan to implement a regular shower head and another rain shower head. I already have the majority of the work done and have only one thing left: to run a piece of pipe to the attic, then stick it out back to the shower (around 3-4 feet through the attic).

I have a couple ideas, but not sure which to pursue:

To build a box in the attic (ceiling drywall, plus add a piece of plywood on top of the joists in the attic to create an air tight space for the pipe) and cover with insulation
add some heating element round the pipe
just leave it as is but make sure that the pipe is sloped. This will allow the water to get out of the pipe when there is no pressure (my distribution valve will leak it through the on-the-wall shower).

What is the best way of doing this?

where is the home?
he most important question:  Does it freeze in your attic?
Even if it freezes - if the pipe is beneath ample insulation it is ok - Unless you are on an extended vacation - in which case must leave the heat on low enough to make sure the house envelope does not drop below freezing.


Blower fan speed selection I am reading a book about HVACs (not finished yet,I might find my answer down the road) and they say that you can increase the speed of your blower (well ..you can adjusted) to obtain the airflow you want. The increase depends on the design of your duct system.
My question is this: when your HVAC technician installs the furnace, for an optimal functioning, does he have to chose between the two-three options available these days or the motor arrives from the manufacturer with a factory default speed and the design of the duct system has to be done around that ?

Most blower motors are 3 or 5 speed motors, though it varies by manufacturer.  Typically they come with heat set to use LOW, cool and fan set to use HIGH.  If it's a 3 speed motor,  the HVAC tech is limited to only adjust to MED.  Whereas if it's a 5 speed, the HVAC tech has more flexibility.

In most cases the factory settings are adequate.


Splitting a hydronic zone. Zone valves or separate circulator pump? I had some plumbers take a look at my hydronic system to discuss splitting the single zone. They proposed to use separate zone pumps. In retrospect the other way to do this would be with zone valves. Any reason to prefer separate zone pumps and a lot of extra pipe?

The problem with one pump and valves is that you can't ensure that you always get the flow you want when one of the valves is closed vs. both open.  So things can be difficult to balance.
With two pumps there is more control and you should get more even heating.
Unless you have a strong reason to do it another way, I recommend you take the advice of the plumber you choose to do the work.  Otherwise it could end up being a "you told me to do it this way" scenario.


Can I print plastic blank space fillers for my service panel? I'm guessing the answer is "no" but I saw this question and got curious. If panel fillers are expensive, and you don't have a breaker, can you 3d print your own? I'm guessing the panel front cover and fillers are part of UL and therefore making your own is against code?

One more step
You'll need to send several specimens of your 3D-printed cover plate to Underwriter's Laboratories along with a $5000 check, and have them "UL-Classified" for the panel in question. You'll be able to 3D-print the "UL-Classified" mark on the cover plate once you have that certification.
What UL will do is give it a variety of tests to make sure it won't accelerate a fire and will actually contain a panel fire, which is its primary job; will hold up to prodding by a 5-year-old who wants to see what's inside the magic box; won't go brittle and fail over time (least; they'll bomb it with UV light), and if forced to burn by an externally applied fire, won't off-gas toxic gases of some kind.


What typically causes a toilet to leak? So I have a leaking toilet and it's leaked through the ceiling drywall... is that typically caused by a leaking seal, or is it the toilet itself?  It's been noticed today after we had a toilet overflow (thanks to my children :-).  Where do I start the  investigation, pull off the drywall and look there first?

If it's the toilet itself, you'll see water on the floor around the toilet -- water will leak from the union of the tank (backrest) and the bowl. Make sure that the tank is attached tightly to the bowl (bolts are under the joint) and that it cannot rock.

If it's the seal or the plumbing beneath it, you will see water flowing from underneath. You'll need to replace that drywall under the toilet and get it all dried out anyway to prevent mold, so you might as well pull it down.

Wax seal rings are cheap, and unless the water is coming from the tank or you see a cracked pipe in the floor, are probably what you're going to need to replace. Just go to your local home improvement store and get a "Wax Ring Kit" and you should be good to go.


Inserting a connecting threaded water plastic pipe between two fixed ends Newbie to plumbing here so please excuse the question if it does not make sense!

This morning I removed a length of threaded plastic water pipe that was connected to an elbow at one end and to a "T" connector at the other. The reason was that the "T" end (coming directly from the roof tank) was leaking and I decided to remove the pipe to check for cracks etc, (fortunately none were found). I removed the pipe by sawing it right through the middle which made it easy to unscrew the two cut ends. The situation after removal was as per photo below:

To be clear all fittings had been installed by the plumber about 20 years ago, however I imagine that at the time of installation he would have added a component at a time, and thus the problem I encountered would not have arisen.

The question (and my problem) is how do people replace such pipes given that the two "ends" are now fixed in place and cannot turn? Surely tightening the pipe at the "elbow" end would mean loosening it at the other "T" end? And if you try inserting half the thread at each end, then surely it is unlikely you would get a very tight seal at either?

For the work in hand I got around this problem by using "Acorn" fittings with adaptors (as shown below) - albeit it was a very tight squeeze - but I am dying to know how a plumber would have done it using the "old" threaded pipe. If anyone can explain it would be appreciated!

You use a fitting called a union.

It allows you to thread a nipple into the elbow, and a nipple into the tee. Then you use the union to connect the two nipples.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

They are available in many sizes and materials.


I get no water from the kitchen faucet I've read the answers on this site, and now I'm wondering, where is the aerator?

OP: noted there was no water from the Faucet or Dishwasher, in subsequent follow up, it was noted the dishwasher does work & use of the Hot or Cold produces no water flow.

To directly answer your question the aerator of a typical kitchen faucet is located as shown below by the arrow.


What type of wood should I use to resurface my table? A club at uni has this great big old table. (about 1220mm by 2420mm).
The club in question is the gaming club, so pen and paper RPGs, card games, boardgames, warhammer. fairly rarely models are assembled on it, so it it will get a bit of glue and paint, and maybe some knife work done on it.  It also gets desktop computers put on it occasionally when the computer club has a LAN.
Biggest concerns are it getting dirty - greasy fingers, chips, soft drink spills,
and  it being flat. It must be flat so dice can be rolled. (which makes planks kinda bad).

It was made by I don't know who over 20 years ago. The legs and framework are great, but the table top is chipboard which has become all flaky and bad. Someone decided to sand it down - which of course only made it worse. They wanted to take a wire brush angle grinder to it but I really think they are leaping from bad idea to a worse one.

The reason we can't simply replace the table top is that it was glued to the framework.  With a lot of work it could be pried off (and  a wire brush might come in handy then.)

But as a easier solution I thought we could just screw something on top of it. Leave the chip board in place, and put something over the top.

I'm not super experienced, done a little bit of stuff before.
Here is what I'm considering:

3mm MDF sheet

Pro: very cheap - just replace it when it gets ratty
Con: Scratch, dies to water

3mm Masonite
I've never worked with the stuff much, but as I understand it:

Pro: Tougher than MDF
Con: Similar vulnerability to water

3mm Tempered Masonite
I've never worked with this either, but as I understand it:

Pro: Really tough, and water-resistant
Con: Very hard to get.

3 Ply

Pro: Not so vulnerable to water
Con: cracks and splinters

Pine planks

Pro: Not a particle board, can be worked with sanded etc.
Con: Comparatively expensive, require a lot more work

Are there options I haven't considered? The goal is to have something I can do in a afternoon, for somewhere under $100.

EDIT:
I ended up using Tempered Masonite.

Depends on what the table is used for.  Given the description of wear, let's assume it's a college project work table, that needs to handle anything from homework writing, gaming, to x-acto knife cutting, to light woodworking, painting, etc.

I would suggest hardboard (aka Masonite).  It ain't fancy, but it's cheap, widely available in 4 ft x 8 ft sheets (so no cutting required), and suitable for this level of usage.

You could glue it to the existing surface using regular wood glue, however you might think about instead just nailing it in using a lot of small tack nails; this way if the surface becomes too heavily marred, future maintainers could just rip it off and replace it with a new sheet of hardboard.

I use hardboard for surfacing my work tables in my shop.  I generally throw a couple coats of polyurethane on top.  I suspect you could use pretty much any sealant you wanted on it (or none!)  If it's going to be used more for homework/gaming, and less for crafts, a hard coat might make sense.


What type of insulation/sheathing material is this? I have a house that was originally built in Chicago in 1954 that had an addition put on in the 90's.  The original roof and part of the original exterior was built over is now visible in the attic of the addition.  This is a picture looking at the back of one of the original walls, it may have been an exterior wall.  I'm not sure if this was sheathing or insulation.  Notice there are white strings running through the material and it's uneven, almost like tree bark.  The gray on the right of the photo is the exterior, which is brick.
Any idea what this material is?

Finally figured it out after having found another location that was more accessible with the same material.  It's Kimsul balsam insulation.


Pocket door variation Remodeling the bathroom. I want to put in a pocket door, centered, in a 60" opening.  Is there a split door product available, that will work similar in principle to draw drapes?

To put the door in as planned, right now, the door opening is in the corner.  I don't like it: at all. The contractor did not want to move electrical wiring to make room for the door on the side of  'opening' that had room to make the pocket door go where I wanted it.

You don't need a 'split door' but rather just two narrow pocket doors. A pocket door is just a regular door hung on a rail system. Buy two narrow doors, two pocket door rail systems, and you should be good to go.


What is the best technique for using a drill to insert screws? It looks so easy on the DIY programs, but I battle to insert screws using my drill. The screwdriver bit keeps slipping out, and it damages the screw head.

Is there a neat trick for this?

Should I set the drill's speed to low / high?

Short bursts or steady power?

I'm not an authority, but start with this:

Keep the bit inline with the screw's direction of penetration.  Most times I see newbies struggle with that.  If the drill/chuck is cocked in relation to the axis of the screw, it creates all kinds of trouble.
Firmly push inward, not letting the bit slip back out of the screwhead.
Bits are consumable.  They don't last forever.  Are you trying to use a bit that's too worn?  Once a bit has slipped badly even a few times, it's probably toast.
Slower, steady power is your general best bet, the only exception being when you need a BURST of torque, whereby you time your pushing/pressure effort with a burst of speed on the drill.  But that's seldom needed, and you'd still use the low range.


Electric cooker plate trips the power - why? (New here and little to no experience with electrical appliances - please be gentle)

I live in France, in a not-so recent apartment (don't know the exact date, I'd say at least 15 years old but no more than 40). The other day I felt up to it so I decided to give my electric hobs a bit of a clean. I grabbed a sponge, some warm water and some dish soap and got the burnt fat and bits of onion off it. However, now one of the two plates trips the power whenever I turn it on.

Here they are, if that helps at all. The brand appears to be called Teka.

The one in the front works absolutely fine on all settings. The big one in the back will trip the power even on 1. I doubt it has anything to do with the power consumption of the electric plates, as I had the washing machine on earlier and that went fine.

I looked a bit online and apparently this problem can occur and requires a specialised technician to fix, but I also saw that it could just be due to water causing problems in the circuitry. Is there any way to find out?

Secondary question, if I do need to call in a electrician, can my landlord reasonably blame me for the problem and make me pay for it? Or would it be considered general wear & tear?

GFCI aka RCD
Water and electricity don't mix. Or rather, when they do it is often fatal.
In order to help prevent problems, GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter - common terminology in the USA) and RCD (Residual Current Device - common in many other countries) are now required in many countries, particularly for kitchen and bathroom receptacles as those are the most likely to have water problems.
When you cleaned the appliance, you probably ended up with some water dripping down inside it where you can't easily dry it off. That little bit of water is conducting a little bit of electricity from the normal circuit wires to the rest of the appliance. The result is that some electricity doesn't flow back through the normal path and the GFCI or RCD detects this and trips.
How can you fix it? In some cases, just waiting long enough for everything to totally dry out will solve the problem by removing the conductive water from the appliance. However, this may actually be a symptom of a larger problem - e.g., worn insulation or cracked components that allow water to get where it shouldn't and cause problems.
With a small appliance the answer is almost always "toss it" - for a typical $10 - $50 appliance the costs (time and/or money) involved in opening it up to clean/dry/fix it are just not worth it and the risks of not doing it right are significant. With a large appliance sometimes the repairs are worthwhile.
If it was me, I would give it a few days to see if it dries out and if it does not then either look for a replacement or see if an appliance repairman can fix it. The catch is that (as has happened to me with other problems) you might pay for a service call only to be told "not worth fixing".


Protecting a stone retaining wall from water running down it I have stone-and-cement retaining walls on two sides of my sloped driveway; they're new, and have cement caps. There's a long wall on the side of the driveway that's sloped about 1:20, and at the bottom end is a shorter wall that is sloped at about 1:40. The walls slope towards their mutual corner.

Water runs down the driveway towards both walls. The long wall is protected from water by a granite curb, but that just directs the water over the short wall. The water pours over the top of the wall and runs down the face and through the stones. I'm worried that this will harm the wall, especially with all the freeze cycles we endure in New England.

I want to add a second curb that protects the shorter wall from water, but which ends about 2' from the corner. Water would be directed through this gap, and somehow be brought away from the wall so it doesn't run down the face.

I can figure out how to choose and fasten the new curb (or I'll post a separate question): for the moment I'm looking for ideas on keeping the water away from the wall. An example would be to take some heavy rubber sheeting, glue it to the top of the wall, and drape it down the back of the wall, with the bottom edge ending in a trough to take the water away. But, I doubt the glue joint would last more than a season or two.

So, any ideas on how to protect the wall from water? (I'm also interested in comments on whether my worry is valid; it's a well-built wall, and perhaps it will just shrug off the water.)

Here are some pictures. First, from the driveway side; note the curb down the wall on the right:

Second, from the back of the shorter end wall. I'd want to have water coming over the corner at the left, but protect the wall from the water:

Honestly, I would imagine your walls will be just fine with a little water running over them. The stone walls all over the Irish countryside have been standing for a year or two and seem to cope with the wet, cold North Sea coastal weather pretty well, and most of those aren't even set in mortar.  ;-)

What I definitely would do is consider what kind of footing the wall is built on. If there's a chance of water running down the wall and digging a trough at the base that undermines the wall, you might beef up the footing and/or build in some drainage.


How can I remote control a switch for a pool pump? I want to be able to start and stop two pool pumps by remote control, independently.
Each one works at 220V, 1 kW (i.e. around 5A, expect a current spike when starting.)

Do you know an off the shelf solution for this?
If not, any DIY solutions are welcome.

Expect the location for the switch to be dry.

The main use case is turning on the 'swim against the current' pump, from a wireless keychain remote. It would be even better if this pump would turn off automatically after, say, 30 minutes.

There are many different solutions depending on how much you'd want to spend, how much DIY you want to do, and what exactly you are trying to achieve. I would not try to directly switch this load: inductive loads generate voltage spikes when switching them, which can damage electronics and such that are not designed to handle it. They also have high in-rush startup currents which are beyond the normal ratings.

On the cheapest, very DIY side, I would use a definite purpose contactor for each pump (~$20, give or take), and run some smaller (14/2) wires inside to a switch.

The benefit here is the wiring going inside is low-current, and so you can use a regular lightswitch, count-down timer or programmable timer.

Insteon is another way to go. Insteon is a power-line carrier signal, which means it runs over your existing wiring. They have a high-current relay module which would be used to control your pumps.

You can then control from any Insteon-capable controller: there are a number of keypads, light switches, timers, home automation controllers, key chain remotes, motion sensors, and PC interfaces. The benefit of this is your "remote" can be anywhere (and you can even have multiple remotes). For example, here is a 6-button keypad that would work:

You could have a timer/controller set up to run your pump at certain times of day, or have a motion sensor that runs it if someone is in the pool area, or a button to manually trigger it. With a controller you can do very complex things, like have it run if someone is in the pool area for more than 30 minutes, or if it's manually triggered, and also ensure that regardless of that, it runs for at least 4 hours every day. Heck you can go crazy fancy and have it run more after it rains, or after it's particularly windy (to get leaves out).

I've linked to smarthome.com (who is the manufacturer of Insteon) but you can also buy their stuff from many other places, including Amazon.com.

There are equivalents to Insteon in other technologies (both wireless and power-line carrier) such as Z-Wave, UPB and X10 (though X10 is very poor technology, I would recommend staying with something newer).

You can also combine. For example, there is a UPB dry-contact output which you could wire up to a definite purpose contactor.


Thermostat turned off and furnace no longer works after doing some electrical work to a switch outlet I was trying to install a smart switch to a double gang electrical box and unplugged wires. As I was working on the smart switch I had to disconnect everything. Much to my dismay, the switch was not able to be connected, but now my thermostat, which is a few feet away is not not powered on.

I go to the furnace, and see that the plug that it is plugged in to is also not working.

As I go back to the switch/gang box, I see that there is a cable with 4 wires, not the typical 3. The colors are red, black, white, and bare which are all disconnected and capped for safety for now.

There are two other wires with the regular 3 wire configuration (black, white and bare). I believe these two wires go to the porch light and the landing light circuitry, but at this point I'm not sure.

Any ideas? Can anyone tell me how I can wire this up just to get my furnace working again?

Can anyone tell me how I would re wire this thing just to get the furnace and thermostat working again?

You need to figure out which cable is the feeder, the one from your service panel and the one going to the outlet. Connecting black to black , white to white and bare copper grounds will get that working in most cases.

The switch and lights may take a bit more information and photos to get correctly connected. Remember when switching sometimes the wire colors don't follow black is hot and white is neutral.


Does Fluorescent Lighting Cause GFCI-Protected Circuits to Trip? I have a plug-in fluorescent light with two 40-watt bulbs. If I try to plug it in to an outlet protected by GFCI breaker, it causes the breaker to trip. It works fine in a regular outlet. Is this expected or is something wrong?

Most likely, it's an actual ground-fault in a defective ballast, especially in light of the fact that one fixture is causing it to trip.  In the past couple decades there's been a switch to electronic ballasts, starting with the higher-end units.  I see LOTS of failed, older magnetic ballasts and a few failed cheapie electronic ballasts.

A quality fluorescent fixture made out of stout sheetmetal is worth keeping, because it's infinitely upgradeable to better ballasts, T8, even LED.

So I would first, check the lampholders for any signs of physical damage or arcing.  Tombstone style ones cost about a buck and they're mostly standard.

Then I'd swap the ballas-- hold on, I'd pause and evaluate LED replacement "tubes" -- particularly for build quality, light quality and color.  There is an ocean of cheap LED "tubes" out there but the quality isn't very good.  To be honest I'm sticking with fluorescent because I can walk into Menards and get a top-name 90 CRI bulb in either T8 or T12 for a sane price. You won't see a 90 CRI LED at a consumerable price, for awhile yet.   I'll wait.

Since I'm doing the ballast, I'd make a call whether to stay with obsolete T12 tubes or switch to the superior T8.  It matters - the ballast must match the bulbs.  I've seen T8 tubes in a T12 ballast or vice versa, but it runs poorly and fails the bulbs quickly.

In the USA, we "outlaw" old tech by requiring quality comparable to the new tech.  If the market can do it, good on them.  So T12 bulbs are still for sale, and they have excellent efficiency and CRI.  But I wouldn't count on that long-term.

Lastly I'd evaluate instant start, vs rapid-start, vs programmed-start ballasts.  Instant-start wears out the tubes fast.  Rapid-start uses the pre-heat filaments (hence, 2 wires to each end of the tube) to warm-start the light.  Programmed-start ballasts use a microcomputer to do that very well. That matters if the bulb is hard-to-reach, expensive or switched on often.

As you might guess, instant-start ballasts uses 1 wire per tube.  They are often used with shorting lampholders, which short the two pins together. Those won't play nice (or even connect!) to a rapid- or programmed- start ballast, you'd need to change lampholders.

Lastly, your ground fault may come from a tendency in some ballasts to use capacitive effects between bulb and metal frame of the fixture to start the bulb.  These are cheaper ballasts, and yes, that thing they do is an intentional ground fault, which would trip a GFCI unless it's isolated (i.e. by a transformer).

Noting that you linked a $13 Utilitech fixture as your likely fixture, as you can guess, those are pieces o'junk.  I regrettably have about a half dozen.  I've had 2-3 ballast failures in 6 years! They usually use instant-start ballasts, and judge the sheetmetal for yourself.  The lampholders are alright... but they're shorting.   Cord's good.  All 8 inches of it.


Is water pipe grounding achieved thru pipe or thru water? I've got a 1901 house, with copper (new) piping.  Some of the electrical (old knob and tube circuits) are grounded to the water pipes.  The copper pipe goes out to my shutoff valve located outside. so far so good.  However, the waterpipe from the shutoff valve to the ground has been replaced with PVC.  So, the contact with the ground is actually a PVC waterpipe for at least 1' above ground. My question - Is this considered to be safely grounded?    (or do I need to install a ground rod from the cu pipe?).

The grounding is accomplished through the metal pipe, not through the water.

Pure water is an effective electrical insulator. It's only conductive when there are dissolved salts in it (not just NaCl, but any metal salts creating free ions floating around in the water). In that case, water can become a very good conductor. But it isn't really the water doing the conducting.

That PVC pipe is not creating a suitable path to ground.

You need to drive at least one grounding rod (probably an 8' copper or galvanized steel solid rod, which you can buy at your local home improvement warehouse), and run a #6 copper wire from that rod to your main service panel, where you'll bond it to the grounding bus. You also need to leave all of your copper and/or iron pipes bonded to the grounding bus in your main panel.


What kind of standard switch do I need to replace this dimmer? I have a ceiling fan (with light) currently controlled by a dimmer switch that I'd like to replace with a standard switch.

The current wiring is shown in the picture, with two black wires going into the dimmer (and a yellow out to nowhere), two white wires connected to each other inside the box, and a ground wire inside the box not currently connected to anything as far as I can tell.

I'm looking for some advice on what kind of standard switch I need to use to replace it and how to make the connections on the new switch. As far as I know, this is not a 3-way or 4-way setup ... just one switch controls the fan/light unit, but I'm not sure what to do with all the extra wires in the box using a standard 1-way switch.

This is very easy: Just connect the black wires to the switch.

Be sure, of course, to turn off power (and verify it's off using a non-contact tester).

You can remove the two black wire nuts, and then just connect those wires directly to the screw terminals on the switch.

New switches will also have a ground screw (green) that should be connected to ground (using bare copper). I can see some ground wires twisted in the back of the box -- it almost looks like there's an extra piece there that used to be connected to a switch, you can maybe use that. If not, get a 6" or so piece of #14 bare copper wire and twist it into the existing grounds, and then connect to the green screw on the new switch.


What was the purpose of this drain outlet and I would it be OK to floor over? Removed basement bathroom tiles and found a drain outlet which was tiled over. This bathroom is in the basement where we are adding laminate flooring. Was wondering why it is there and if it would be Ok to adding flooring over... or do I need to keep it accessible?

Probably a cleanout (which means it probably should not have been tiled over)
You can get a dressier "flush cover" to allow access to it without being that much of an eyesore.


Sub panel supplied by two different lines from main panel I looked but couldn't find this asked already.
I found a sub panel in the crawl space of my home.  It looks to supply an upstairs addition.
It has 2 different 14/2 cables going into it from the main panel, each on a 15 amp breaker.
Inside the sub panel are a 15 and 20 amp breaker, with the 20 amp connected to 12/2 running up to the addition and 14/2 on the 15 amp.
My best guess is this was done to get 20 amps up to the bathroom by "splitting" the current over the 2 lines supplying the sub panel.
Is this even legal?
I could probably replace the existing 14/2 going into the sub panel with 12/2, but I'm not sure that is an acceptable solution.

Either it's 120V subpanel and he's plain paralleling... which is rather bad.

Or it's a 240V panel, and he's supplying hot/neutral/ground with one cable and the other hot with the other cable.  That's a different kind of bad.

Both are unacceptable.  You should replace both cables with a single /3 cable:

4/3 Aluminum or 6/3 Copper if you want 60A in this subpanel
8/3 Copper if you want 40A
10/3 if you want 30A
12/3 if you want 20A
14/3 if you want 15A, but this is fairly pointless.

And, both hot wires need to land on a 2-pole breaker which has common trip, meaning both legs trip together, and, move either handle, the other goes too.

Note that a duplex/tandem/twin/double-stuff has independent handles and must not be used, as it will create a dangerous situation if you do.


Should I remove this saddle valve, if so what is the best way to do so? Currently this saddle valve is exposed but I would like to close this wall up.  Before I do I'd like to know if I should leave the valve as-is or if I should remove it.  If I remove it what is the best way to do so?

This used to be a valve that fed a refrigerator.  We turned this off some time ago.

Update

I wanted to give everyone an update and hopefully help others looking for assistance.  Based on the responses I received I went with a Sharkbite 1/2" coupling (not a slip coupling), and it was pretty straight forward to install.  Thanks to all for your feedback.

Ed has the important part of the answer. Saddle valves are trouble, and since you're not using it, it's easy to eliminate. Even if you were using it, it makes sense to replace with a soldered-in valve.

If this is copper tubing, it might be pretty easy to replace this valve with a slip coupling. It is especially easy if the tubing is long enough to flex it laterally to slide a coupling on. That is a straight copper coupling that doesn't have a ridge or other bumps in the middle.

turn off the water
using sandpaper now to clean the tubing is easier than after the cut
remove the saddle valve
cut the tubing right at the pierced hole, either with a tubing cutter or hack saw
de-burr the cut, and clean the tubing of any crud from cutting
clean and flux the coupling
flex the two cut ends apart enough to slide coupling on
bring cut ends together again
center the coupling over the cut. Mark the tubing if necessary
solder


Ceiling joists job in a cinder block house So I have a 25 x 30 square house made of cinder block. Roof is just a gable roof with gables on the ends of the 30ft length.

My question is, I know in stick framed houses the ceiling joists act to hold up the walls. Do the ceiling joists provide any structural integrity in a cinder block house of this nature or are they only to hold up the ceiling drywall?

Ceiling joists don't necessarily hold up the walls. What they do is prevent the outward force of the roof pushing the walls out. The joists 'pull' the outward forces together canceling them out so that the only force on the walls is then downwards.

Whether your walls are stick frames or masonry, they're strength is in compression from downward forces rather than deflection from outward forces.

If you're planning on removing the ceiling joists, you will need to replace them with something. Beams could work as could steel cables.

Alternatively, you could install a ridge joist. A ridge joist is supports by columns down to the foundation and will carry the weight of the roof.


Help getting rid of a mice 6 days ago, I saw a mouse run down my hall and I almost had a heart attack! It was 2:30am and I just got home from work. I knew I wouldn’t sleep if I didn’t set traps, which I had none, so I drove to Walmart at 2:30 in the morning and bought 16 snap traps! Placed 8 of them with peanut butter in the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, my bedroom, my daughters bedroom and our spare room. Yet have caught nothing and none of the traps have been touched, so I know this mouse isn’t going near them!!! Well, just a little while ago, I saw it going from my living room to my dining room! I need to catch this thing before I have a break down lol I am terribly afraid, yes, even of a little mouse! Does anyone have any idea why this is not working or what else I can do?? Please help, just want it gone and not think about this anymore!! Thank you in advance

You are better off with a piece of cheese - also traps that capture are better than the slam and decapitate. I never had any luck with peanut butter - cheese works well.

1: Do you live in an Apartment or a Separate residence?

If Apartment , Town home or Condo the issue is that you could have an entry way from one unit to the other that you will need to close off - I had an apartment and behind the stove where the power cord was there was a hole in the wall .. I taped it up and no more mouse.

2: You will need to clean the home thoroughly looking for anything and everything that the mouse can get into for food - including open boxes of cereal in the pantry.

You can nickname the mouse and it might help with you being terrified - yes a bit light - hearted .