How can I repair crumbling tile sealant? About a year ago, we hired a worker to tile my kitchen : I don't know how he worked, I wasn't there. The result seemed good enough.

However, today, in some places, the sealant seems to be crumbling : we occasionally find bits about 1 cm long.

What causes that, and what can I do ?

Let me see if I understand: Your kitchen wall is covered with ceramic tiles and the "sealant" is actually grouting between the tiles, right, and now grouting is falling off? If this is the case my first guess is that grouting mass was old (wasn't used before expiration date).There could be some other reasons like poor workmanship etc. On of this is really a big deal, I mean it's not anything serious. What you should do is clear with some sharp tool existing grouting and apply new one. Material is not expensive, and you can do it on your own, because it doesn't require any special skill, just follow the manual.


Kids Knotted Rope for Climbing I have an old walnut tree that I want to attach a knotted rope to for my boys to climb.  Would the rope in the pic be a  good choice?  I am looking for something that would not hurt their hands too much and would be able to withstand some inclement weather.

IMHO that's much too small in diameter for comfort. Possibly also for safety in that material. The "safe working load" listed is almost certainly not one involving using the rope for supporting people or things above people, where it's typical to derate (or over-size) by a factor of 7 or more.

IMPE a 1 inch/25mm to 1.5 inch/37mm diameter rope is more typical for a "knotted climbing rope" in manila. That may be sold as 3 - 4.5 inch (circumference) rope depending how it's listed for sale.

I'm dubious of sisal for the job as it's somewhat more prickly (the major use I'm familiar with it from is as haybale twine - and that's hard on the hands.)

Plastic or plastic blend ropes will hold up to weather better than natural fibers, but can be damaged by sun over time.


Energy efficient bulb takes a long time to get bright Ive recently moved into a newly built house (im in the UK).

When I turn my bedroom light on it takes a long time to get up to full brightness which is quite annoying. Ive unscrewed the lightbulb to replace it but it has a fitting ive never seen before.

I want to replace the bulb with one that wont take so long to get bright. Do I have to buy one from the website on the bulb tp24.com, or is this a general fitting?

The bulb has the following on it:

tp24-2315
L1 GLS 15W

240V/50Hz 2700K

That type of bulb base is called a GU10 and should be widely available at home improvement stores, lighting stores, etc.

That particular bulb is a CFL (compact fluorescent) and the behavior you describe is pretty typical for these bulbs though some are better than others. An incandescent,  halogen or LED bulb will produce light at full intensity almost immediately.  Incandescent being the cheapest and LED the most expensive.


Why won't my pilot light stay lit on my hot water heater? I have a reliance model 5 30 NORS971 gas HOT WATER tank. The basement flooded a little and put out the pilot. When it would not light, I replaced the pilot tip and went ahead and replaced the thermocouple. All went well and it lit and fired the burner.

One week later, the pilot would light but go out when button released. Replaced the gas control with one from another tank and it worked for about a week. The pressure relief was then leaking a little so replaced it.

One more week and not working so bought new gas control and replaced and all lit.

Now 2 weeks later, not working and pilot will light but, goes out on release. used multimeter and get 20 mv on thermocouple.

What would be cause of gas controls burning out?

Here are a few things to consider, from a Reliance water heater Installation Instructions and Use & Care Guide.

  Safety Shut-off
  This water heater is designed to automatically shut-off in  the event of the following:

  The pilot flame is extinguished for any reason.
  The water temperature exceeds 195°F (91°C).
  Excessive build up of dust on the base ring filter or  flame arrestor. See Maintenance of your Water Heater  Section.
  The ignition of flammable vapors.

  A thermocouple is used to determine if a pilot flame is  present, and will shut off the gas supply to the main  burner and the pilot if the flame is absent. This unit is  also equipped with a thermal switch, designed to shut off  the gas supply in the event the water heater has been  exposed to flammable vapors (e.g., spilled gasoline),  poor combustion caused by a blocked vent or insufficient  combustion air. If the thermal switch opens:

  Check the flame-arrestor for signs of high temperature  (blue or black discoloration). See Figure 29.

  Click for larger view
  If there are signs of high temperature, inspect your installation for any problems with venting, combustion air supply and for a flammable vapor event (see "Pilot Light Troubleshooting Flow Chart" section). Correct any issues prior to resetting the thermal switch. If you suspect a flammable vapor incident has occurred, do not use this appliance. Immediately call a qualified technician to inspect the appliance. Water heaters subjected to a flammable vapors ignition will require replacement of the entire water heater.
  Reset the thermal switch by depressing the small button in the center of the thermal switch. Follow the Lighting Instructions found on the front of your water heater

  A high temperature limit switch or ECO (Energy Cut Off) in the tank is used to shut off the unit if the water temperature exceeds 195°F (91°C). The ECO is a single-use switch, which, if activated, requires complete replacement of the entire gas control valve/thermostat. If the ECO should activate, the water heater cannot be used until the gas control valve/thermostat is replaced by a qualified technician.  Contact your local dealer for service information.

Also make sure you check and clean the base-ring filter.

  External Inspection & Cleaning of the Base-Ring Filter

  At least annually check the base-ring filter (Figure 29)
  for any dust or debris that may have accumulated on
  the filter screen. NOTE: If the water heater is located
  in an area that is subjected to lint and dirt, it may be
  necessary to check the base-ring filter more frequently.
  Follow the Lighting Instructions to turn off the water
  heater and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before
  attempting to clean the base-ring filter.
  Use a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment to
  remove any dust or debris that may have accumulated
  on the filter. NOTE: If unable to inspect or clean the
  base-ring filter, follow the “Cleaning the Combustion
  Chamber and Flame-arrestor” instructions.
  After the base-ring filter has been cleaned, follow
  the Lighting Instructions to return the water heater to
  service.

The guide also has a pretty good troubleshooting section.

  Click for larger View

Make sure the unit has plenty of combustion air. Often after a flood in the basement, folks tend to shuffle things around. If things are stacked too closely to the appliances, the combustion air to appliances can be restricted.


Why won't my new water valves turn on? Alright I just replaced my bathroom sink and faucet had some problems but managed through.  Turned my water back on and the went back to the bathroom sink to turn the valves on but they won't turn.  The valves are brand new quarter turn Sharkbite stop valves.  What could I have done wrong?  Both valves are in exactly the same state, they just won't turn.

Based on the above discussion and my own experience:

Turn the water off and twist hard.  New ball valves can be sticky, and the house water pressure behind the valve could be making that situation worse.

Apparently this worked for the original poster.


What natural-wood finish should I use to protect a door from pet scratches? I'm installing a new solid-core wood door in one of my bedrooms.  I want the door to have a natural wood look.  However, I have a dog who will scratch at the door to open it looking for me / squeaky toys / a quiet place to chew said squeaky toys.

What type of finish should I use to minimize -- or eliminate, if possible -- the damage from pet scratches?

Hey Niall, Several coats (4-5?) of a good oil based urethane is gonna be the best protection, but even that is gonna show dog scratches eventually and won't protect the raised panel details that will get rounded over by Fido. Short of a protective barrier, like a piece of thin plexi, I don't know of a thing that will hold up to repetitive scratching, sorry.


No electric current going into Water Heater We bought a brand new water heater back in November. Came home last night to no hot water.  Check circuit breaker and it wasn't tripped.  Turned it off an on anyway.  Nothing.  Hit reset button on thermostat, nothing.  Check for electric current per manufacturers instructions and there was nothing.   Put in a new circuit breaker.  Still nothing.   What else could it be?

Since this is brand new, and assuming you hit the red reset button on the UPPER thermostat, then it's most likely a loose wire somewhere. It might have been touching a terminal and worked for a while, but under load that loose connection over heated and burned away. One bad connection and the entire circuit is broken, so unless you know how to test for that, you can easily get a false negative reading. Here is what your entire circuit looks like.


Are split receptacles wired with #14 appropriate in a bedroom? In my bedroom I found four split receptacles at 14 gauge wire connected to the switch. Is this okay by NEC standards to have in bedrooms? The reason was that the previous owners moved their furniture in the room around.

In the other bedroom same situation except that it is tamper whereby it has 2 different 14 gauge circuits. In the panel box I have too shut off two breakers. Again this. Was done 30 yrs ago. Is there a way for me to correct this (if it is a Nec problem)? Walk me through this please. Is this truly tamper?
Can it be corrected at the switch? Or do I get a double breaker connecting both those circuits to it.?
The problem is that both of these different circuits connect hallway lights and the other connects to another bedroom and even a front room light.

That is totally fine.  NEC requires receptacles be at a certain spacing (so extension cords are not needed).  It does not care if those receptacles are split and half controlled by a light switch.

If anything, split receptacles all around help avoid the need for extension cords.  I see many homes where the solitary split receptacle is stupidly placed, and you are stuck with a bad placement, or must run an extension cord.

You need to be very careful with splitting receptacles.  You must break off the correct tabs.  If you fail to break off a tab that needed to be broken, you will cross circuits into each other, defeat light switches, or make a rather big bang if it's an MWBC.  If you break off one too many tabs, one outlet won't work.  If it's getting confusing, then break off both tabs and pigtail both sides of the receptacle, and hook them up as if they are 2 separate receptacles, one at a time.

If another bedroom has 2 complete circuits for bedroom receptacles, that is fine.   It would be rather unusual to see a receptacle split between two different circuits, but this is a rarely-seen feature, not a bug.

It's also possible that a duplex receptacle, or even a receptacle chain, could be fed by a multi-wire branch circuit.  This carries 2 full circuits on a single /3 cable (black red white).  These are very efficient ways to bring a lot of power to a room, if you know what you're doing.   If you don't, you can inadvertently create a serious hazard.  This MWBC solution would not be used in new work, because it makes AFCI and GFCI protection more expensive, it is cheaper to simply run two separate /2 cables.


Toilet and shower will not drain While I was showering this morning, the water refused to drain. After hours of it being in the same state, I found out the toilet would not drain as well. The sink, however, does. If the toilet is flushed, it is sent to the bath tub.

Plunging doesn't do anything (I blocked the spillage pipe in the tub as well as the toilet and plunged from the shower, as my toilet has a very unusual hole that the plunger doesn't cover). Using Liquid-Plumr (chemical drain opener) allowed the shower to drain and the toilet to flush until the shower is turned on again. When the shower is turned on, it'll drain but the toilet will start to bubble and fill.

I used a snake and found no blockage from the toilet or the tub.

I found a product called the Drain King, but I wouldn't know how to use it. Could I use it from the sink drain? Will this even fix my issue?

Any help would be very appreciated. I only have this one bathroom; you can guess how inconvenient this situation is.

Edit:

It seems the sink does back up to the shower. I'm having no issues in the sink area itself, though.

You have a blockage further down in the pipe that services your shower, toilet and sink. That's creating a sea of liquid that comes out at the lowest available point (i.e. your shower). Drain cleaner will be worse than useless; while a pool of poop may be nasty, a pool of caustic poop would be even worse. A 5' or so drain snake won't do it; you probably need something much longer, and a way to get it into the pipe (past the traps on whichever device you enter through). And, until you've cleared it, stop adding liquid to the situation.


How to stabilize a crack in wood? I am working on my first wood product. I am completely new to this. The following happened:

My question is: How do I stabilize this crack?

Can I fill something into the hole so that the crack doesn't get any worse?

Put glue-ca or wood glue in now, back out the screw and then predrill and lightly countersink so the screw will hold but not force wood apart.


how much weight can this square stock hold I have a 2" square stock 1/4 thick hollow. It's 210" long.  It's being supported on each end by 4". How much weight can it hold in the center

It's 1018 cold steel 1/4" rounded edges and hollow. I just need approximately how much weight it can hold in the middle. It is supported on both sides by 4". Total piece is 210". Just need an idea of weight it can hold not using this to live underneath it, it was just holding something up in the backyard shed just need an idea that soul can't hold 200 pounds 100 pounds Etc. It's also floating on cinder blocks 4 inches on each side

2" at 17 feet - pretty much none. That's going to act more like a wet noodle than a beam.

The 2x2x1/4 load tables here (page 35 or 65) stops giving any load figures at 5 feet. While the steel type is probably not the same, the difference steel type makes is small compared to the difference geometry makes.

http://www.cousesteel.com/AndysPlace/Pdf/LRFDBeamLoadTables.pdf


How do I flatten out a small, localized bump on a concrete subfloor? I am laying some laminate flooring in my basement and after I ripped up the carpet I found a rather large bump on the concrete subfloor.  I need to flatten this thing out so I can lay laminate on top of it.

Note that I am not trying to level the floor - I'm just trying to make it have no bumps.

What's the best way to remove this concrete bump?  Should I chisel it out?

Tried to upload a picture, but imgur keeps rejecting it (yes, it's under the size limit, by a lot).  I'll try again later.  Just imagine a concrete floor with a little acne.

A silicon carbide rubbing block. I'd swear this is a duplicate but it's not showing up in the "related" links.

Inexpensive hand tool, makes short work of bumps, by hand. Use some water to lubricate and prevent dust while grinding.


gas furnace pilot light is lit,,won't produce heat, making a clicking sound,,, my gas furnace isn't producing heat  the pilot light is on  and it's making a clicking sound  what can I do?   I've tapped the flame rod.

Without knowing the exact make/model of furnace, it's impossible to give a specific answer.
Flame Sensor
It sounds like the furnace may not be detecting the pilot. The furnace uses some type of flame sensor to determine when the pilot is lit. Often times these devices can become covered in soot, and have a difficult time detecting the flame.
Furnaces often have an electronic device that is used to light the pilot, rather than having a pilot constantly burning.  One type uses electricity to make the tip of the device heat up enough to ignite the gas, while another uses a spark to ignite the gas. If you have the spark type, that could be the clicking you're hearing. It would be a steady click--click--click. If the furnace is not detecting the pilot, it will continue to send the signal to the ignitor to light the pilot. This may be why you are hearing the constant clicking.
The first step to solving this issue, would be to locate the flame sensor in your furnace.  It will be a device with wires leading to it, and it will be in very close proximity to the pilot flame (as in, the tip of it should be in the flame).
Once you've located the sensor, you can clean the tip using fine steel wool (#00, #000). Gently rub the sensor with the steel wool, removing any black soot from the sensor.
WARNING: Make sure the power to the furnace is off; using either the breaker or servicemans switch, before performing any maintenance on the furnace.


What's the best way to recreate exterior wood trim? I have some decorative wood pieces on the front of my house that are old and falling apart. I took them down to recreate them anew. Someone suggested I could trace them and cut out new ones in the same style. This seemed like a straightforward suggestion until I started trying to trace them and realized their edges are ragged from age and peeling paint and so forth. How should I go about recreating them? I bought wood already and am ready to go once I determine a good method.

Should I trace onto paper and clean up before transferring to the new wood? Should I use a French curve to make sure the arcs are steady? Etc. Any experience you can offer will be helpful. Thanks!

ETA picture of house. Here I've overexposed it so you can see the wood trim I have been talking about. Does anybody know what the architectural term for this trim is?

Tracing is the first thing I would try.

If the trim detail is not super fine, sand lightly to remove burrs and bumps, and then tape (painter's tape probably, or whatever you have on hand that is close) along the the path the pencil will take to bridge valleys and pits.


3-prong grounded female plug for 12-gauge wire with an 18-gauge ground wire I am trying to find a 125V female plug receptacle with ground for a 12-gauge wire run in the 1960s, the ground wire of which is a much narrower gauge than the white and black conductors. The Levitons and the P&S's at the big box stores assume the three wires are going to be the same gauge, and so they don't get a tight grip the ground wire; it just slips right out.    Is there a name for such a connector?

Go ahead and buy the modern version.  To make the light gauge ground wire secure, add another bit or two of wire—each an inch or so long—beside it into the terminal.

This will fill up the slot enough so that the screw meets the wires and can clamp them together firmly.


How do I clean a sink overflow drain? I want to clean inside the hole of the bathroom sink that is used to control overflow.  I can stick my finger in there, and rub off a small circle's worth of stuff, but I'd like to clean it more than that.  Any ideas?

First question: is the overflow blocked? If you fill up the sink and leave the water running, will it spill onto the floor?

If no, don't worry about it. There's may be some mold or soap scum in the drain. If that wigs you out, a bottle brush and some bleach should do the job.

Second question: is the drain blocked because your child pushed bits of toilet paper into it? If yes, then you'll have a solid mass of papier mache in the drain, and the only solution will be accessing it from the bottom (which means removing the tailpiece). My suggestion below won't help.

So, assuming that you have a "normal" clog in the drain, such as what might happen if you shave with a full basin and hair floats into the overflow, you can get a plastic mini-snake that is designed to pull hair out of a drain.

Here's one example that Home Depot sells: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/plumbing/drain-openers/brasscraft-zip-it-bath-and-sink-hair-snare-bc00400.html


How to Remove Burn Marks from pvc floor As you can see on photos there are some burn marks. Really hot moka pot dropped down and I want remove them.What would you suggest me?

P.s.: I am actually not sure if flooring is pvc
P.s:.I thought about grinding it with sandpaper and then fill it with something

For the most part, you don't. These kinds of plastic flooring materials are simply not very durable, especially to heat. But maybe you can cover it up with paint or something, after sanding or grinding down the black stain.


Is wiring with melted insulation and exposed copper dangerous? A plumber has melted the grey sleeve on a two core electrical cable in our kitchen whilst soldering a joint on an adjacent copper pipe. I can see exposed copper through a small hole the cable sleeve. This hole is approx 1cm in length.

The cable is at floor level, under the fridge freezer and as far as I can tell, runs to a socket. I've checked everything in the kitchen and it's all working.

Is this wire dangerous? If he tries to fix it with electrical tape will this suffice?

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like a fire waiting to happen. You'll need to cut out the damaged part and splice them together again.

If there isn't enough slack then you'll need a new short run of wire to bridge the gap.

Because you have physical access to the area The splices should be inside junction boxes.

Bill the work/materials to the plumber or deduct it from his bill if you haven't payed him yet and tell him to invest in a scorch pad to avoid stuff like this.


My attic unit already has a wire connected to C, can I still connect a wifi thermostat? I have an extra wire I can use for the C wire on both ends but in my attic the main unit has a wire already attached to the C spot and going away from the unit to something else. Can I attach two wires to the c terminal?

Yes.

If you have an air conditioner, the C wire is used to connect the relay in the outside condenser unit.

Technically speaking, if the transformer in your furnace is too small (eg: JUST big enough to power the control board, relays, and the condenser relay) then it's possible that the thermostat could push it over the edge, causing your furnace to not work and/or behave strangely. However, the amount of power we're talking about here is pretty small. Unless you're connecting a thermostat with a monster color touchscreen to a 20-year-old furnace/air handler, chances are you won't have an issue.


How to wire 2 switches with 1 hot wire? My living room area power is apparently controlled by 1 switch.

When on it powers all outlets and a light above the tv. Also, the switch has to be on in order for  outdoor light to function and  for 3 way stair lights to work.

I've taken the switches off and am currently staring at wires. There is ONE hot wire (bottom center), 2 ground, 4 load/travelers. One of the load wires had the wire covering cut off so that it was on BOTH gangs. The left switch only worked if the right switch was on. I tried to draw out a diagram to show what was done.

How do I get the outlets to work on their own?

[![Wire From Gang 1 to

2]3]3[]4

You definitely have a hard one here.

And it really isn't helping that "the last guy" was plainly nuts, because it casts shade on all the previous work.

The best we can hope is "the last guy" changed the switches for aesthetic reasons, and either bought the wrong switches or connected them wrong.

But we have a few clues.

First, all the white wires go together.  There are lots of other arrangements that are more complicated, but fortunately, we don't have any of those.  No switch loops, no weird 3-way stuff etc. (well possibly one straightforward 3-way).

Second, the hoppy white wire which goes to both switches -- that is certainly an always-hot supply wire.   Let's mark this one black with tape because we know it's always-hot.

Third, you detected a different always-hot supply wire.  Let's also mark this one black with tape.  That tells me the above (hoppy) wire is actually carrying always-hot power onward to other locations.  This is a huge lucky break.  Normally onward wires are difficult to identify. But now we know (well, we hope) that no matter what, the above two wires are always-hot, must go together, and they must land on one terminal on each switch.

Now, we have 3 wires remaining, which is one more than we expect.  Weirder, there are two /3 cables in the box.  What I suspect is that the three wires go to:

One of the lights or switched receptacles
Another light or switched receptacle
Onward always-hot power to other outlets.

Well, honestly, it doesn't matter if we switch all three of them.

So I'm inclined to have you get a duplex switch (2 switches on 1 yoke) and do exactly that.  And see what happens.

Hooking it up

So... the two "supply hot" wires need to connect to each other, and to 1 terminal of a 1-way switch, and to the common terminal of the duplex switch.  You seem to know how to do that well enough.  I would actually have the "loop through" wire go to the duplex then onward to the single switch, that'll let you finish with an extra terminal for always-hot.

Each of the 3 remaining wires goes onto one of the switch outputs.

Now, you will have 3 things under control of switches.  Two will make sense, and on one, it will be obvious that it should be always-hot.  Once you identify it, move that wire to an always-hot terminal.  At that point you'll have 2 things switched, and you can go back to plain switches.


Economical way to prevent dusting from AAC blocks in your garage? Two main walls of my garage are made of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks and they produce a lot of dusting. Total surface I need to is around 25 square meters.

What can I use to prevent future dusting from the walls? I would prefer something liquid where I can use a roller or a paintbrush instead of preparing the mix with water (as this would involve more dust and efforth).

In case it matters, I live in UK. I seen people recommending PVA but I seen many types and I don't know which type and quantity I need.

I also have concreete floor (15sqm) for which I need a solution, for the same reasons, I don't want more dust in the garage. The garage is used only for storage, so I am not concerned much about traffic. Still, I don't want to see the coating peeling from the walls or ceiling in the next 4-5 years.

I ended up with this mix:
- 1 part PVA
- 5 parts white masonery paint

I also added some extra water (less than 1 part) to ease mixing and to compensate for the big absortion abilities of the blocks.

I will post some photos after but it was looking promising even after 15 minutes.


Did I install the wrong bulb, or is there a problem with my oven? Now as far as I know there shouldn't be any problem using a new bulb with less wattage - it will just consume less.

But after the lamp in my oven recently broke, I replaced it (a 40W bulb with E14 socket) with a 15W one rated for use in ovens. It lasted about two days, started flickering, and then broke.

Before I call the landlord to check if something is wrong with the oven (it's not my kitchen) - is there anything I may have done wrong?

Another thing I have noticed in recent months is that I used to get shocks when touching the metallic sink next to the oven. But that's static electricity caused by dry air - if it were faulty wiring it would be more than just unpleasant I'd guess?

Assuming both the original and replacement were both standard incandescent oven lamps, then there is no problem installing a lower wattage other than less light. Do double check your new bulb is for the correct voltage for your area. If you bought it locally, it should be. If you mail ordered it, and you live in a 220v area, you may have gotten a 120v lamp. Putting a 220v lamp in a 120v socket would be harmless, though a very dim light source.

Even though heating elements and supply for ovens are often double the normal mains voltage, all ovens I've had experience with have the ancillary things like clocks and lights running off normal mains voltage.

Static shock is easily distinguishable from mains current. With static shock you first get a tiny little spark (which may not be visible, but feels like one) and then nothing if you continue touching the surface. Mains power throbs at 50 or 60 cycles per second, and there is not usually any spark between you and the conductor, and current continues as long as you are in contact. While mains power can kill at full strength, stray currents can be small enough to just be unpleasant, but still an unsafe situation that must be rectified immediately.


2 out of 5 ceiling lights in basement won't work 2 out of 5 ceiling lights in basement won't work. The fuse never tripped. The lights never flickered. They worked perfectly before. The house was built in 1997. The basement is unfinished so I can see the wires going into the fuse box and they look fine. I did try new bulbs and brand new fixtures but still no working light bulbs. I don't own an electrical reader or tester. Do I need an electrician to fix something in the fuse box?

If 3 out of 5 do work, and 2 out of 5 don't work, and it's all the same circuit (unclear if that's the case from your question) the problem is likely to be a failed connection between the working lights and the not working lights, rather than anything at the fuse box.
Since you have already tried replacing the fixtures, (which would presumably mean you have changed the connections at that end of the wire) the most likely location for the problem is at the last working fixture, where the wire runs on to the first not working fixture - speculating that they are wired in a linear manner, since that is also unclear from your question.


Should I expect a level ceiling when my kitchen was completely gutted? My contractor is giving me the runaround. I really like the guy, but I feel like this is unacceptable. My new cabinets look off because of it. What should I do?

First, let's assume the cabinets and floor are level and the ceiling is not. I would have taken the time to shim the strapping on the ceiling before installing the new drywall or ceiling tiles. This is standard procedure in a good renovation project. Normally, one would shoot a laser around the room and level the ceiling as a first step in the process before cabinets were installed. Depending how far off and how long the wall of cabinets are, it is very difficult to camouflage an unlevel space between the upper cabinets and ceiling with trim.  Can you give us some pics or measurements of the offending area?


What could have caused an electrical shock from a concrete patio? I didn't feel it myself, but my son-in-law and my own son said they were shocked when they touched the cemented ground in our backyard. We bought a new metal fire pit which we had set up and both men were picking up some wood off the cement when they were shocked. They said it felt like stinging and when they touched it repeatedly(don't ask me why)they could still feel it. It was just their hand and the cement. They were not touching water or anything else to create a flow.A few minutes later it was gone. It's been about a month and has not happened again.What could it have been? I'm a renter and I'm wondering if I should bother my landlord with this information when it's not happened again. This is a pretty old house.

Cement is not a good conductor so a live electrical charge from the cement is a near impossibility.  But that doesn't rule out a static charge.  If the humidity was right and enough friction from the wood to break some electrons free just might generate a static charge.  But I have never heard of cement getting a static charge before but then again, I'm not moving wood a lot on a cement pad.


Use Gap and crack sealant on the window sill I have a small gap (2mm) under the window sill that is causing some draft to come inside the house. I have attempted to correct this using the Ge Silicone Caulk, but the draft continues to come in.

So I am going to now try the gap and crack sealant in that area? The name of the product is Gaps and Cracks Insulating Foam Sealant and it is available at home depot.

How can I stop the draft from coming in? Is this the right product that I should use?

The temperature outside is 20 degrees F.

If the product your talking about is GreatStuff (which it sounds like it is), you'll want to use the window and door variety instead.

The gap and crack formula expands too much, whereas the window and door stuff doesn't expand as much.


What are my options to level out my air conditioner? The air conditioner on the side of my house is on a small slab of concrete.  Over time, it has started to tilt as the land has settled.  We just recently moved in and a few of the neighbors have givens us advice, almost all of which is different.

What options do I have other than paying someone to remove the unit and re-lay a new foundation for it?

I would try getting a crow bar or 2x4 under the slab and seeing if you could lift it up enough to get some gravel underneath it to level it off.  Although this could be difficult if the ground around the slab is soft.

  Step 4: Check concrete pad on which
  condenser rests to make sure it's
  level. Set carpenters' level front to
  back and side to side on top of unit.
  If pad has settled, lift pad with pry
  bar or piece of 2-by-4, then force
  gravel or rocks under concrete to
  level it.
  http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-maintain-an-air-conditioner2.htm


What are my insulation options around a shower? I'm remodeling my bathroom and shower and I'll be replacing the insulation on the external wall. This wall is the "back" of the shower (opposite from where the water supply lines are). With this in mind, I should be able to just choose some insulation and then plop it in when I have the wall torn down.

The main question and concern I have is about vapor barrier. I will be using cement board with a liquid topical membrane (like Redgard) for waterproofing the shower which means I'm not supposed to put a vapor barrier on the back side of the wall because it is bad to trap moisture. How does this affect insulating? Am I safe to nix the vapor barrier around the shower? What should I do for the rest of the bathroom?

I'm not too concerned with price so if there are other options besides batting insulation (such as foam, etc...) that would solve my problem, I'm willing to hear those ideas as well.

I'd use unfaced fiberglass, at least if each wall cavity has a place above the shower where the wall can breathe.  Fiberglass is very permeable to air, which is why it only works well in still air.


How many receptacles can I place on a 20 ampere 120 volt breaker? How many receptacles can I place on a 20 amp breaker if it's a 120 volt circuit? How many on a 15 amp circuit? I'm trying some DIY on my bathroom and bedroom. Help would be appreciated.

There's no limit to the number of receptacles that can be on a circuit in a residential dwelling.  Code does specify a minimum number of receptacles required in a room (NEC 210.52(A)), based on the length of the walls. The code does not, however, limit the number of receptacles per circuit.

In industrial/commercial spaces, 180 Volt-Amperes (VA) is used when calculating receptacle loads.  This value is often used as a guideline in residential applications as well.  For example, given a 15 ampere 120 volt circuit, you could have 10 receptacles @ 180 VA.

15 A * 120 V = 1800 VA
1800 VA / 180 VA = 10

So a 20 ampere 120 volt circuit, could have 13 receptacles @ 180 VA.

20 A * 120 V = 2400 VA
2400 VA / 180 VA = 13.333

These numbers are simply a guideline, and have no real meaning in residential dwelling units.

You will have to keep the bathroom and bedroom circuits separate, and the bathroom receptacles will have to be supplied by at least one 20 ampere branch circuit (NEC 210.11(C)(3)). So you'll need at least two, 20 ampere branch circuits. One for the bathroom receptacles, and one for the bedroom receptacles.


Determining if a recessed light is rated for outside use How can I determine whether a recessed light fixture is rated for use outdoors? I understand local codes will have a say, but I'm looking for a general purpose answer.

I have a covered, wrap-around porch on my house that I would like to install recessed lighting in. I would assume this is considered a wet location. The wiring is already there as there are two outdoor ceiling fans, so I'm mostly concerned with understanding what sort of specs are required of the actual fixture.

For example: I see this sort of fixture which is labeled as "in damp locations" but does not explicitly call out outdoors/exterior. Conversely I see this fixture which is marked for exterior use, but there is no specific rating that I see.

I guess a related question is whether or not I'm just looking in the wrong place and need to go to a specialty store for this sort of thing?

Edit: This is one side of the porch.

A damp location is defined in the National Electric Code (NEC) as an outdoor location protected from driving rain.  The underside of outdoor porches, breezeways, and the like are typically considered damp locations.  Wet locations are those unprotected from driving rain, splashing or sprayed water, such as car-wash rooms.

It sounds like you are referring to a damp location.

Also, by outdoor porch, I do not mean a little, postage-stamp sized awning over a landing-sized stoop, as is sometimes seen in low-cost tract housing.  The rule is common sense: can driving or blown rain reach the location?  If so, then wet; if not, but outdoors, then damp.

The first fixture you link is fine, as it specifies "damp". The second one probably is, as it us described as for indoor or outdoor.  If you physically looked at it, it probably have the words "for damp location" embossed on the frame.  If not, as a licensed electrician, I would hesitate using it.  The code stated that these words are required.  If it doesn't say damp or wet, then it's dry only.  Also, "for wet" is acceptable for damp locations.


Put a wood board on home wall concrete My condo is made out of concrete. I like to put a wooden board up (~25mm thick, 600mm in width, and 1800mm in height) on my concrete wall so I can nail up the wall and load it on with tools (drivers, drills, wrenches etc.)

Questions:

How to locate if there are electrical wire running inside the concrete? I have no drawing of the condo. I have seen construction worker having a handheld device that beeps when they survey a concrete wall. Is that what it is and what is it called?
There are so many type of screws I found online that drill into concrete. For example, this. The description wasn't very helpful and I wonder if someone can help tell me which screw I should use to drill through a wooden board and into a concrete wall

1) To find wires buried near the surface in walls you can use a "cable detector" They have various names. One example is the Bosch PMD-7.

2) The type of screw depends partly on weight. For concrete, you could use a goodly number of tapcon screws or perhaps a fewer number of sleeve anchors. Check the weight rating of the screw and work out the expected load of your wooden panel plus all the things you will hang on it.


Which wire goes to which terminal on this single pole switch? I have a simple light switch I want to get hooked up but not 100% sure if it will work. The switch has 1 brass screw on each side and 1 green screw. I read that the black/red wire should go to the brass screw while the white should go to silver, however, this switch has two brass screws and I have 1 black wire and 1 white wire.

Switches don't have silver screws (unless they have brains inside)
Your rule about "black to brass, white to silver" is a good rule of thumb for how receptacles are wired.  However, since a "dumb" lightswitch simply connects terminals to other terminals, it needs no connection to the neutral wire at all, and thus has no silver screw on it to begin with.  "Smart switches" and some other devices such as many sensors and timers, though, require neutral to work so that they have a reliable source of power for their own innards.
Furthermore, prior to the 2011 NEC, electricians were freely allowed to take advantage of the fact that switches don't need neutral by running an "old style" switch loop using /2 cable as you see here.  The white should be the always-hot coming down from the fixture box and the black should be the switched-hot connecting the switch to the fixture, but that rule was not always obeyed in older wiring.  It doesn't matter from your standpoint, though; simply wrap the white wire with black electrical tape to denote that it's not neutral, then connect white and black each to a brass screw on the switch, button everything up, turn the breaker back on, and enjoy!  (There appears to be no grounding wire in your box, so there's nothing to connect to the green ground screw on your switch.)


Connect two grounding rods I added an exterior TV antenna and a grounding rod next to it with a 6 gauge copper wire going to both the antenna mast and the ground on the coax coming from the antenna.   It is about 15 feet from our electrical panel and after reading a bit more I have found that I need to bond the two rods together with a 6 gauge wire.  The grounding rod for the house is inside a garage wall with a stucco exterior.

Can the wire for connecting the two grounding rods enter the attic under the eves and cross a portion of the attic and go down an interior wall?

What I would like to do is clamp the new wire to the wire that goes from the coax to the new ground rod and run it into the attic and down the inside of the garage wall, cut an access point into the wall where the house ground wire comes up to the breaker box and clamp it to that wire.  Is that an acceptable way to do it?

Yes what you are doing is fine.  IV Grounding Methods ,  In the code 820.100  coaxial cable shall be grounded. 820-100  (A) through (D).   (A) (1) Grounding Conductor , shall  be insulated and shall be listed.  (2) Material copper solid or stranded.   (3) Size , shall not be smaller than #14 awg and shall not be required to be larger than #6 awg.   (4) Length ,run as short as practicable,not to exceed 20 feet in length.   EXCEPTION,  If you can not have that length,a ground rod may be used in dwellings.  Run the cable as straight as you can.  And protect the wire from physical damage,where you go into stucco sleeve wire in sch80 pvc conduit. And you may want to run conduit on inside wall of garage to electrode, or if that is the main panel to the ground lugs. all connected and bonded .


What options are there for converting from a wood stove to another type of heating system? My folks are into their 80's now and live in rural Maine. Their ONLY way of heating their home is with a wood stove - just a single wood stove. Up to this point, my folks have been able to tend the stove but because of health reasons, this situation can not continue much longer. Presently, there is no duct work. Unfortuneately, the house was built for a wood stove. My sisters and I are looking to have some type of propane gas heat system installed. What types of systems are available that can be retrofitted?

With no duct work already existing, there's nothing really to "retrofit".  What you'll be looking at is a new install in an existing house, something that's ABSOLUTELY doable.  In fact, a few years back I got an estimate to install a new HVAC system and run a new trunk up to the attic and the estimate was about 12k.

The only thing that wouldn't have been new in that case was the gas line into the basement.

Newer high efficiency furnaces can be had which don't need to be vented out the chimney but can simply be vented outside the basement wall and partway up the side of the house.  Likewise running propane or natural gas is pretty straight forward.

The most complicated part will be running the ducting.  The ductwork should be sized out by a pro - size matters, particularly for the air return, which if too small can burn out the furnace.


Remove Urine from Amana In-Wall Heating/Air-conditioning Unit I just moved into a new apartment and noticed that when I turn the fan up high on the in-wall heating/ac unit there is a strong smell of urine. I swear that someone peed in it. Is there some way to open the thing up and look? The one that I have looks like this.

If there truly is urine or dried up remains of urine in the heater one way to clean it up is to douse and wipe it up with a product such as "Nature's Miracle" which neutralizes the odor causing organics in urine and its by-products.


How to retrofit an impermeabilizant asphalt layer in a roof An owner asked me to repair a roof for a never maintained ~60 year old construction, which lost its impermeabilizing properties, and year after year leaks water from rains through the concrete over the interior of the building.

For impermeabilization, an asphalt layer covered with a paint layer was used in the original construction, which -as the picture shows- has clear signs of damage due to all the passing years, peeled off, dryed, by the action of sun, and showing moss evidence due to the humidity in the zones not directly exposed by sun, penetrating the structure.

Beside the evident structural damage at the joint zones, which will be properly solved case by case, my question is how to reisolate the roof from the water action, and I do not have any clear clue about

How to remove the paint layer for working directly over the asphalt, applying temperature over it to re-melt it,
Or even remove the original asphalt layer at the compromised zones.

Which should be your best advice for removing or retrofitting a damaged impermeabilizing asphalt?

I haven’t done hot tar since my dad passed so this is from 40 years back I might be forgetting.  Today I would wear a tyvek suit as every job ruined a pair of pants.

We used to use a weed burner and heat the top layer snow coat or whatever it was  until it could be picked up with a shovel, yes the tar can catch fire if you get it two hot , lay the shovel flat on the flames and it will go out move to a different area until that cools, once you get the hang of it you can really move quickly. We did have an old fashion water based fire extinguisher that you fill with water and compressed air incase the fire gets out of hand but it never did. Once you have the old stuff removed (leave as much of the tar as you can) you will need to rent a tar bitch (as far as I know this is a proper name)  on the one we used it would get to hot and set the tar on fire every now and then you have to close the lid and we had a coke bottle full of water you dumped in the fire would immediately put out, I mention this because you never want to use a tar bitch under a tree or building structure after coating the roof with fresh tar it’s time to paint, the paint silver or white is to keep the roof cool so the tar won’t melt in the summer.

We used an airless sprayer to put the paint down and worked backwards so the paint could dry.

For taking the tar to the roof we used metal 5 gallon buckets but did not fill them all the way 1/2-3/4 . We also attached a tarp to the side of the house to protect from an occasional splatter.

The tar or asphalt came in blocks that some times we would break with a hammer as we got close to the end.

That’s all I remember I know the first time I was constantly catching the tar on fire at the start don’t panic use the shovel to put it out. We used cheap cotton gloves they keep you from getting burned and can be tossed in the trash. WD40 works well for cleaning the first layer off.

Good luck, I was glad when mom sold that thing it is nasty work, but the pay was good.


Why are shaver outlets standardised worldwide, but regular electrical outlets aren't? Wherever I go in the world, the electrical outlets I plug my shaver in to seem to be the same. However, depending on where I am the regular power outlets will be different: some have three pins, some have two; some have an earth pin, some don't; some have flat pins, some have round pins, some have square pins.

I'm not sure if this is right place to ask this, but I can't find anywhere better (please let me know if I should move my question!): how is it that the electrical industry got its act together sufficiently to standardise shaver outlets, but not regular power outlets?

That's not the half of it.  Go in any post-1940 sleeper car at a railway museum.  There's a shaver outlet and guess what.  Mind you, there are only two power sources in the car, a 32v battery charged by wheel driven generators... And service steam.  I'm not sure if they tap the generator to get something vaguely resembling 110VAC at random frequencies, but this passenger-car power was  exceedingly filthy and only good enough to run a shaver, and the receptacle is placarded "shaver only".

Amtrak's new cars retained this placard needlessly, when they standardized train power at 480V delta served from a generator car or inverter on the locomotive.

At the time this became the norm on rail, trains were THE way to travel. I'm sure passenger liners had similar receptacles, and this spread all over the world.

"110V-ish good enough for a small brush driven DC style shunt motor" is not a particularly high standard to hit.  Frequency is not an issue, and a simple transformer will do the job.

Frankly given the ubiquity of digital switching power supplies, I'd expect a new world receptacle standard which promises only some random voltage between 74 and 277 at some fixed number of watts.

As for sub-10-watt receptacles, there's already a standard for that.  USB.


Can old ceiling fan with red, black, green wires be replaced with one that has light? There's a very old ceiling fan (without light) that I would like to replace with a new ceiling fan that has a light.  I took off the switchplate to see how many wires, and there are three (black, red, green).  But it's a pretty old-school Nutone switch with a transformer on it so I'm not really sure that the wires would support separate fan and light controls at the switch.  Can someone here please advise?  I'm hoping the image I'll try to post here works...

You might even be able to add a light to the existing fan; many are/were wired for lights and it's just a matter of using a threaded nipple to attach the fixture and connecting it to the wires provided for the purpose.

If you do need to replace the fan, you should probably replace that controller with a simple switch. You would then use the fan's pull chain to set its speed and a pull chain on the light to turn it on and off, or wire in a modern remote control box.

Very doable; I got fans without lights and added fixtures to suit. One I left on the existing wiring and I do use the chains to control its modes. For the other it was easy for me to pull new wire, so I set it up with a 2-switch unit, one for light and one for fan, though the chains also exist for fan speed control and so I can kill the light from bed. ;-)


How Can I move an old galvanized pipe I'm remodelling my bathroom. The tub needs to be pushed back about 2in against the wall but an old pipe is in the way. I think it is no longer being used. But it's placement is confusing me. The pipe comes up from the basement drain lines. It goes straight up to the ceiling in the bathroom. In the bathroom the pipe branches to the wall behind the sink area but the pipe is caped off. A new pvc pipe drain has been put in to the floor for the sink. The confusing part is the pipe runs up into the ceiling and then disappears. There is no bathroom upstairs. And I can't imagine there has ever been a bathroom upstairs. So why would the pipe run up to the second floor. Also what can I do to move this pipe back a few inches? Can I cut the pipe and attach a softer flexible pipe at the point where l need it to go behind the edge of the tub? I'm scared to just cut the pipe out because I don't know what it's leading to upstairs.

It's most probably a drain vent pipe.  Go look at the roof directly above where this pipe is.  If you see something like the picture then it is a vent pipe.  If so you can reroute this vent with a section of PVC.  Here is a link on how to connect PVC to galvanized:  PVC to galvanized  The detours should be angled up at least 45°.  If you do cut out a section of this pipe make sure that you support the upper section adequately, with braces to the studs, so that it does not drop down due to its own weight.


HVAC contactor sparks when AC kicks? The HVAC and control board is a McQuay Mark IV.  I'm not sure if I would like to try and fix this myself yet.  Just trying to figure out the issue before deciding where to go.

Here's the scenario:

Switch thermostat to Cool setting.
Set temperature to 5 degrees below current temperature.
HVAC fan starts to kick in.
15-20 seconds later, AC compressor kicks in.
30-60s after compressor kicks in, the contactor sparks and makes a short 1-2 second popping/buzzing/humming sound, a red LED light flashes once, and the compressor stops.
HVAC fan continues to run.
If left running, the HVAC continues this nonsense and repeats from step 4.

Can anyone help diagnose?

Other things to consider:

A Nest thermostat was installed during winter.  The heating works fine. Tested out the cooling and couldn't remember having any issues then. The installation involved plugging in a blue wire as common for power source, which was spliced from the bigger brown wire that runs to the thermostat.  It was plugged into the C terminal.  Also, the super came by once time when there was no heat coming through and fiddled with the pipes and drained some liquid out before the heat returned.

After checking with the building maintenance, the super said, because the building's main system is in "heating" mode and haven't switched back to "cooling" mode, the HVAC will automatically override and turn off the compressor.  The building officially switched to "cooling" mode yesterday and my HVAC is operating as normal again.  As it turns out, it is the building's main override.


How do "infinite zones" in induction cookers work? I'm considering switching from ceramic to induction. I noticed that several producers (e.g., Electrolux, Bosch and Siemens) advertise something like "infinite zones", where the size of an induction zone is automatically adjusted to the size of the pot.

How are "infinite zones" achieved? Do they deliver what they promise or are they just marketing BS? I'm worried that "infinite zones" is euphemism for "let's inject a lot of power in a very tiny surface, 'cause customers won't notice".

As far as I can tell, this means coil sections are added and removed to couple efficiently to the pot currently in use, monitoring whether power is being drawn or not. It is a bit nicer than having to be as aware of minimum/maximum pot radius for each inductor, which requires a bit if attention on my induction range.

Pick your price/features trade-off...

(I do like induction, generally; it behaves much more like gas in its immediate controllability, and you can do silly tricks like cooking with a paper towel between stove and pot to catch splashes... but remember that it probably will require a few hundred more dollars to replace nonmagnetic pots.)


What dimensions does the base need to be for a standing post? I came across this picture and want to build a few. I want to do 10' 4x4 posts but don't know what the dimensions of the base should be to support the post. Any suggestions?

The boxes will be filled with rocks and used to support string lights. Here's a rough sketch of how the string lights will be hung:

To hang string lights you shouldn't need a lot of weight in the bases unless you're stringing 100' or so. For an average size yard I think what you show in the picture should be fine. I assume that you'll fill the base with with a counter-weight of stone or sand. You could use them as planters but then you'll want to put a liner in to protect the wood from the soil and moisture.
I would do large river rock in case you want to move the posts into a new configuration. It'll be a lot easier to unload and reset than sand or soil.
The structure in the picture is made up of 2x4s (actual size 1.5"x 3.5") with a 4x4 post (actual size 3.5"x 3.5"). Therefore that box is 19 inches high (including 1.5" for the feet on each corner). The width based on the 4x4 post is about 16" wide with an interior dimension of 13"x13".This might be a little off but not by much.
As I said above I believe that filled with rock or sand that will be a sufficient base for the posts to support light strings of 25 or 30 feet (you didn't indicate length of light string). However, it wouldn't hurt to over-build the base to a 24" square box with the same height.
Other factors to consider are:

The ground under the base needs to be level.
The post needs to be securely supported within the base (can't see inside). The river rock I suggested will help support it.

Possibly a StackExchange engineer might want to weigh in on this.


Can a furnace high limit switch be bypassed for testing, and is that dangerous? A repairman recently found that the actuator and the high limit switches were not working when our 15+ Carrier gas furnace was only blowing cold air. There are separate thermostats for the downstairs and the upstairs.
I understand that he bypassed both of these controls until parts were ordered.This was on a Friday and left operating at full capacity like that until the new parts were installed the following Monday. Meantime, when he returned that Monday the coil on top of the unit had overheated and melted, as did a section of the ducting. My friend who lives downstairs said after the repair, when he got home from work, the CO alarm was going off.
Can these controls be bypassed and the unit allowed to operate for 3 days? I thought that this method of bypassing these controls should be for testing the unit on a temporary basis for testing, not left to have it operating at full capacity for this length of time. Could this have caused the further damage that was not present that Friday? Also, could any of these factors cause the CO alarm to be activated after the final repair? I was out of the state when all of this happened.
Please advise. Thanks.

Yes, you can bypass the high limit switch for testing. It's as trivial to do as it sounds.
It's the acme of foolishness to run it like that for any length of time, though, and I think you already know that it could cause more damage. The high limit switch is there to protect against the type of heat damage you describe, along with fire. I'm amazed that metal melted without burning down your house. And yes, CO can build up due to a clogged heat exchanger, which is probably what tripped the limit switch to begin with.
I'd get a different repairman and suggest to this one that he's lucky you aren't suing him for criminal negligence or unintentional homicide. Chances are what he did was actually illegal.


How do I install a handrail for stairs? The staircase to my basement has a metal handrail that I was able to pull out of the wall because the brackets take a single screw and those single screws were only 1/2" long.

I would like to replace the entire handrail with a new handrail and brackets. I am going to buy a simple wood handrail and these style brackets.

The building code in my area states the top of the handrail must be between 865mm (34") and 965mm (38"). I have two toddlers and would like the handrail to be as low as possible so they can reach it.

There are several studs along the length of the wall where I will put the handrail so I'm assuming if I install it correctly I won't have the same problem as I did with my old handrail.

How do I ensure the handrail is 34" high? From where do I even measure? How can I be sure that the entire length of the handrail is the right slope and correct height? Is there a simple and straight forward way to install a handrail?

The height is generally from the front of the tread straight up to the top of the handrail.

To get the brackets at the right height, you'll need to do some measuring and marking.

Measure the bracket top to bottom (if its height isn't already stated in the literature).  You can allow for the thickness of the handrail by resting it on the stairs and measuring how high its top is above the front of the tread.  Subtract those two numbers from the height you want the railing to be at to get the height for the bottom of the bracket if it were installed directly above the front of the tread.

Mark that height at the top and bottom steps and draw a line through them (if you can get a helper or two, you should have a nice straight piece of wood of just about the right length to hand; otherwise a straight-edge, the longer the better so that the line is in as few segments as possible).  Your stair may not be perfectly even and regular, so you may want to measure the height above each tread and adjust the line accordingly if some of the measurements are out of the allowed range.

Finally, take your stud finder, locate the studs and install as many brackets as you need.  The bottom of the bracket should be touching the line you've just drawn.


Can I install luxury vinyl planks over ceramic tile? My existing bathroom floor has tiles like shown in picture. I want to install interlocking luxury vinyl floor planks.

Can I do it over existing floor ? if yes, Do I have to fill bevel edges of the tiles with anything to level it ?

There are some spots where one or two tiles are not completely leveled with surrounding tiles, Can I chip/sand part of the tiles to level that ?

The imperfections will be felt through the vinyl flooring if you do nothing.
Option 1:
You should remove any tiles whose edges are not flush; hammer them, chisel them, whatever.
Next you should pour self-leveling cement and sweep it into all of the grooves. Now you can install the vinyl.
Option 2:
Remove all of the tile until you get to the flat sub-floor and install the vinyl.
Removing the tile will be easy if you can get your hands on an SDS-max rotary hammer and use a good chisel.

Option 3:
Lay down 1/8th inch plywood and install the vinyl on top of it.


Dimmer switches have no ground wire I went to replace two kitchen dimmer switches with new toggle dimmers (the old dimmers work, this is only cosmetic).  When I removed the face plate, I found the existing switches did not have a ground wire attached.

There does appear to be ground wires twisted together in the back of the box (see attached photo).

The previous owner remodeled the kitchen ~15 years ago, so I'm not sure if this install was just a quick carry over / install from the original switch install from the early 1980s.

Any info would be appreciated!

Add some ground pigtails

Take the existing bundle of bare (ground) wires, and add a couple pigtails of bare or green wire to the bundle, making sure the bundle is joined properly using a wirenut or push-in connector instead of just being twisted together.  The other ends of the pigtails simply land on the green ground screws of the new dimmers.


Should loose underlayment nails be driven in or removed? When installing vinyl sheet you should not allow nails etc to be sticking out because these will show in the floor.

When taking up the old floor you will often find nails are sticking out.  How did this happen and if one was to hammer them in, wouldn't they come back out with time, in which case, isn't it better to remove and fill them up?

Are they ring shank nails? If so you should be ok hitting them back in. If not, I would remove and use deck screws to fasten the subfloor back down.


How can I temporarily finish a basement without actually finishing it? I just bought a brand new townhouse and had plans to immediately finish the basement. I would like to turn it into the media and tv area, as the living room on the main floor is not big enough for the whole family.

The problem is, the builder has stated in the warranty that we can't finish the basement for the first two years. We have to wait until the foundation settles. Otherwise, we void the structural damage warranty.

Doe anyone have some ideas on what we could do?

You could pin up several runs of Backdrop Drapes along the walls. They come in many colors and are less than $40 for a 10' wall span. You could cut out around the windows and even hang a temporary blind. If you already have all of the electrical installed it would be easy to pull some short extension cords underneath or in between the curtains for TV's.

Some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet for the floors would be cozy if you threw down some temporary rugs. You could use a few screws and pin it to the bottom plate to prevent too much sliding.


How do I DIY a spinning CD/DVD storage rack? I have an embarrassing number of dvd's and cd's; I think it's up to about 600 - 800 now... I have long ago started putting the majority in cd binders, but I have a really nice room dedicated as a library and I'd like to make the dvd's more accessable.

What I was thinking of was a podium that has a motorized spinner that could store all of the dvds in the body.  You could then scroll the entire catalog forward and backward to find what you want.

My carpentry is good enough that I could build the podium no problem, but I needed help on the guts... If there is a kit that someone knows of or has any ideas it would really help.  I have included a (pretty terrible) sketch of what I had envisioned...

[EDIT] I'm adding links to this picture and this Youtube demonstration of what I believe this user to be referring to.

What you are looking for is "lazy susan hardware"

This will give you the spinning base you need to put your rotating shelves on.  I know Ace sells it, probably HD and Lowes do too.

A google search found a few examples of motorized lazy susan hardware - and some how to videos.


How do I build my basement bathroom so that it aligns with existing in ground plumbing? I’m preparing to finish my basement. This is a 2008 house with drain plumbing already built in to the existing concrete to support a bathroom.
Assuming tub/shower drains are in specific locations, how do you frame out a bathroom so that when it comes time to install the tub/shower it aligns with the existing drain pipes? The pipes stick straight up out of the concrete floor about 2 feet. Is a subfloor required? I don’t want to hack these babies off and find out I did something wrong.
What is the standard procedure here?

Depends how it was installed. In many cases, the "standard procedure" is to cut the concrete open so you can get the "roughed in" (i.e. roughly positioned) pipes connected to exactly where you want them. Depending exactly WHAT was roughed in, you might need to do that so there IS a trap on the shower, for instance. The roughed in pipe may not have one installed, and unless you are raising the floor the shower/tub trap has to be under the floor level.
Concrete can be cut, drilled, and broken up as and when needed.
If you open the pipe up and carefully (don't drop anything in) shine a light down there, then pour a quart of water down the presumed shower/tub pipe, you should either see standing water (and the smell will stop) or you won't, and it won't. That will tell you about the trap situation. It probably won't have a trap full of water if it's been roughed in a while, even if there is a trap, so you need to add the water and see if some stays, or not. The toilet and sink/lavatory drains would not have underfloor traps.
If you do have a trap on the shower/tub drain, then you would need to choose the specific shower/tub you are going to use based on where it is, and how you will construct the walls, remembering the thickness of all layers, and build to suit - or cut the floor and adjust anyway.


Insulating basement rim joist cavities I'm trying to figure out the best way to insulate the ceiling corners in my basement. The wood is flat against the foundation of my house, and I can feel cold air coming off of it. There are joists running perpendicular to the crevices and some piping and wires running in it.

I was looking into a spray-on insulation since they are tight spots, but I'm not sure if it would be easier to buy some type of insulation foam board and cut it to fit the crevices.

Cutting rigid foam really won’t be much better than what you have unless you seal the boards with foam.

I would spray foam around the penetrations first. I use a closed-cell foam that sticks well and can be sprayed on then it expands to ~1-1/2” but  that is a small space and the stuff I use really doesn’t store well. It covers ~100sf per can or so.

I might try with the big box stores foam in small cans around the pipes and wires then cut some rigid board fit in place and seal the seams. This would be the most cost effective way. If the rigid foam was cut and ready to put in it could be done with 1 can.


How do I choose paint for exterior steel on carport? Planning on painting the steel purlins of a carport, that is peeling.  I assume the primer and old paint are "oil based" alkyd. I think we will have it sandblasted.  What primer should I use on the bare parts.  Can I use an acrylic finish coat, if the paint that is left was oil?

I would buy an auto-body primer and then use auto-body paint.  You can get a really good look doing this especially if you spray.


How should I orient the laminate flooring in this room? I'm planning to install new laminate flooring in a bedroom that has two closets, and I just want to make sure I'm orienting it correctly. From what I've read, there are two rules for this:

Along the longest wall of the room
Perpendicular to the highest source of light

I am only able to follow one of these rules for this room. Please take a look at what I'm planning so far:

Here, I have the laminate along the longest wall of the room, and I'm planning to use T-moldings at the closet doors so the laminate is along the longest walls in there as well. Is this a good way to lay it out, or is there a better way?

Not an expert but I have installed laminate in 3 rooms in my house.  I would go with the light (assuming you mean windows being the light source) rule for the following reasons:

Assuming your drawing is to scale, if you eliminate the alcove in front of the closet, the room is almost square making the longest wall rule almost irrelevant.
The reflection off the floor from outside light when you walk into a room will be broken by seams in the laminate (I've found that even the flattest laminate still has seams) which will make your room seem darker and probably look smaller as well.

Also, no matter what the choice, I would probably recommend putting the laminate in the closets the same direction as the main room.  I believe those rooms are small enough that the longest wall rule doesn't really apply and I believe it will look funny having the boards a different direction when finished.


What is the difference between an AFCI and a whole house surge protector? Is there a difference between a whole house surge protector and an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI)?

Yes.

An Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) is designed to detect arcing faults within a home, and interrupt power to prevent fires. A Combination Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (CAFCI) will detect both parallel and series arcs, while an AFCI will only detect parallel arcs

A whole house surge protector is designed to divert surges coming from outside the home, to prevent damage to electronics within the home. Typical surge sources would be, nearby lightning strikes (it likely will not protect against direct strikes), malfunctioning service equipment, etc.


What powers a Nest thermostat? I have an older thermostat I'd like to replace with the more modern Nest thermostat. The online Nest compatibility checker tells me that I have a compatible device. However, I'm not sure how it could work since my existing thermostat runs on batteries. How would the Nest draw it's power? The older thermostat (pictured) has R, W, Y wires and a B which is not connected to anything. The other end of the wire (pictured) mixes colors with two smaller wires (the heater and the AC I'm assuming?). Is this a DIY job or something that should be handled by professionals?

Thanks in advance!

The Nest runs on power supplied by your furnace. Typically the red wire is +24v. It doesn't need battery backup partly because its scheduling and other configuration data are stored online. It may also have some non-volatile memory for basic data.

In some cases, the common (C) wire isn't present. In your case, you have an extra conductor that should serve that purpose if properly connected. Here's more on that.

No need to call in the pros. If you find that something doesn't work, contact Nest. If all else fails, hook the old thermostat back up until you figure out the issue.


How to remove dark stains on light-colored granite countertops There are dark stains on my 2 year old light color granite countertops, even though I applied 2 layers of sealer* when they were brand new.  They were purchased directly from a large wholesaler by a friend who is a very small contractor.  The locations of the stains and a history of only infrequent small water splashes suggest that they were caused by human skin oils.  How can the stains be removed, and future staining prevented?  *"Stone Pro" "Ultimate Pro" "Impregnating Sealer for Dense Stone" was used ($43 a quart).

If your stain is something like oil that has made it past the sealer you may be able to “draw” it back out of the granite. You want a poultice to sit on the stain, you can buy special powders for this by I found plaster of Paris and acetone worked better.

Be sure to test in an inconspicuous spot first to make sure this will not make things look worse.

Wipe the area clean with soap and water to remove any dirt and grime.  The surface should be clean above the oil spot.
Mix plaster of Paris with acetone in a container.  Start with the plaster of Paris in the empty container and slowly add/mix in the acetone until the plaster is dissolved into a goopy paste. You don’t want it too runny but you don’t want dry chunks of plaster either.
Put the mixture on the stain, overlap the stain by at least an inch all around and pile it up a bit.  Don’t spread it out too thin, I usually have it at least a ¼ inch high.
Cover with plastic wrap and tape down the edges with masking tape.
After 12 or 24 hours remove everything (the plaster of Paris mixture, plastic wrap, and tape). The stain should be lighter or gone completely.  If it is lighter but still visible repeat the procedure.

This process worked well for me on my white granite that was super porous and I mistakenly used plumbers putty to seal the kitchen faucet. I was horrified to see an oil stain the next day. I removed the putty and let it dry out but the stain persisted. Using the process above I got it removed.

Last point, you likely will just have to seal this granite a lot. You have enough sealant on it when water beads up on it, once it stops you need more sealer. It may be 1 or 2 years later or even sooner. The stone will tell you when you need to reapply, not a calendar.


How to enlarge lock hole (small mailbox)? Hi,

Had to break my apartment mailbox lock open after the key broke. Been looking and no where seems to have a lock that small. How can I enlarge the current hole?

I am far from a hands on guy, thought I can chip the sides off by moving the drill bit around, but got no where after going at it for half an hour

Please let me know how this is often done and what I need to do it.

I would search for "mailbox locks" on your favorite search engine and don't forget to go on line and check at Home Depot, Lowes and Ace Hardware. They have locks that may replace the lock you had to remove. Lastly, look on the box for a name. If you find a name contact them for their recommendation.


refractometer instead of hydrometer for battery testing? some one pointed out to me that there is a better and more accurate way, as he says, to measure the specific gravity of my lead-acid battery then the simple hydrometer. he suggested some thing like this.

is this actually better? has someone tried it and can give some insight about this tool?

A refractometer is actually a much more accurate tool for measuring specific gravity (of any liquid). Though IMO the accuracy of a hydrometer is close enough as to not justify the additional expense.


what is the distance a service drop needs to be from windows Hi thank you everyone for your awesome input and help. I'm trying to decide placement for service drop to new electrical service panel/main circuit breaker panel. this is new construction of a two story house and I'm hoping to place it on side wall in between two windows that my service drop pipe has a straight shot up the wall thru the 2nd floor and out the roof. there is only 24" on each side of panel then windows.

The raceway for the service conductors can be where you want. Here is the pertinent National Electrical Code language:

230.9 Clearances on Buildings.  Service conductors and final spans shall comply with 230.9(A), (B), and (C).
(A) Clearances.  Service conductors installed as open conductors or multiconductor cable without an overall outer jacket shall have a clearance of not less than 900 mm (3 ft) from windows that are designed to be opened, doors, porches, balconies, ladders, stairs, fire escapes, or similar locations.
Exception: Conductors run above the top level of a window shall be permitted to be less than the 900 mm (3 ft) requirement.

Notice this actually refers to the service drop conductors not the conductors down the side of the building. "Open conductors" is the old three wire service drops and "multiconductor cable without an overall outer jacket" is triplex. These are both used for the actual service drop. Once you hit the house and transition to SE cable or a raceway you can put the service where you want as long a step it is adequately supported.
Your conductors are in a raceway and as long as the service point itself has a 3 foot clearance from the windows horizontally you are good.
Now, you said "up the wall" so I presume you are attaching your raceway on the outside of the house. That would be the normal method. Then up through the eave to the service point. Passing the service through the wall before it is protected by a breaker or fuse is a Code violation. The service is supposed to remain outside the home until it reaches the closest point to the main disconnect. Your inspector may have some specific Code interpretation about passing through the eave. This is usually allowed if it just a small slope at that point and is a non-habitable part of the home such as an attic.
Good luck!


How can I stop the boiler from heating the radiators when only hot water is wanted? I have Baxi Boiler (model unknown at this precise moment in time) which British Gas have fixed up to a seperate control panel (see image - not our actual panel, image from Google!).

The problem is that even with the Central Heating set to off, when we want hot water, either via the timer or setting it manually to "on", all the radiators heat up.

Is an easy to fix problem? Has the control panel been set up incorrectly, or is this a problem with the boiler?

It's extremely difficult to answer you questions accurately without examining the installation. It could be as simple as replacing a defective solenoid valve, or even just correcting the wiring. If your system is actually a single zone setup, it would still be possible to modify it to separate the domestic water from the radiators by installing some solenoid valves and some basic control wiring so the valves open and close appropriately based on the various operating conditions.

Heating your house in the summer every time you need hot water out of a tap is very inefficient. It's worth getting this sorted, a correctly operating system should pay for the modifications in a few years of saved energy costs.


Radon Manometer shows negative prey when off I had a Radon mitigation system installed last week. When I turned on the fan it was all working great. A few days later the pressure level started to drop a little each day, until day 4 it was even. Then when I turn off the fan circuit breaker the level goes negative. So the fan is still pulling.

What would cause the pressure to be greater in the pipe, open to the outside, then in the basement?

You have to get rid of those bubbles, or your manometer will be completely inaccurate. A U-tube manometer works by balancing the weight and pressure on either side of the U. If there's no pressure difference, then the liquid will move until the weights are equal, which happens when the levels are the same (and, if you have the right amount of liquid, it will read "0" on the scale). If there's pressure on one side, it'll push that side down until the weight difference balances the pressure.

This all goes out the window when you have bubbles in the tube; the bubbles add height, but no weight. For example, your center picture shows the liquid tops being equal, but with that big bubble on the right it actually means that the weight on the right side is less, which means that there's more pressure on the right than on the left.

I'd get rid of the bubbles, and then check again.


Is It safe to have underfloor heating with lead paint? We’re in the process of renovating an old farm house with a old section and a new side.
Because the house has a hydronic heat system we are looking to convert to underfloor heating throughout. Right now it’s a mix of forced air in the old part of the house and underfloor Heating in the new.
We just hit a bump though, having discovered that all the 2nd floor rooms have lead painted floors underneath a plywood subfloor and then a laminate or engineered flooring (depends on the room).
We plan on keeping the old board sealed under a newer floor, but should we look to remove the paint first? Will the underfloor heating cause the paint to off gas or something?
Thanks,

Lead melts at 621°F. Fumes are released at 900°F. Your in-floor heating and floor are going to be at temperatures an order of magnitude lower than the temperature you need to create off-gassing.
You should be safe.


Fire rated cap for recessed lighting can I am in the process of installing 6inch retrofit LED recessed lighting in the first and second floor.

This is a remodel.

I intend to use airtight IC rated cans for the same.
For the first floor there is no insulation
The second floor has insulation and roof access through attic.

The inspector with the township wants to know what type of fire rated cap I will be using.

I then started researching about the installation of fire caps which requires me cut into the sheet rock and close spackle  and paint it again. There is obviously more time/cost involved.

Question is are the caps really required by code?

I tried looking up NEC code for recessed lighting with fire caps but couldn't find much

Any guidance appreciated. If anyone can point me to related documentation of the fire cap requirements for LED recessed lighting that will be great.

Thanks

After much wrangling, the inspector provided a suggestion that worked.

He indicated that the below fire hats can be folded and inserted through the 6 inch hole.

http://www.tenmatusa.com/insulation-protection-covers/ff130e-recessed-light-draft-stop-cover/

Then get the can in place and we are all set.

I now have approval and final inspection done


Water Heater Exhaust - how to connect the 3 inch hood to four inch exhaust pipe I'm working on this gas water heater with 3" hood almost attached to an elbow that reduces from a 4" exhaust flue. This was only attached by a lot of aluminum tape. The problem is that the ends of both sides are exactly the same size. What parts do I need to do this properly?

Here is a picture of the current situation

It may not be pretty but there isn't anything wrong with using aluminum tape on this. However, there are other options.
There are a number of reducers and elbows that will fit:

This is a 3" to 4" adaptor that should get you started and can be combined with a flexible elbow:

These are American Metal Products available at HD. You may have to do some adjusting - ductwork is as much art as science. If these particular items don't work for you there are others out there.


Help with Garbage Disposal install and high drain pipe The drain pipe for my sink sits pretty high, and then the sink-bowels holes are pretty close to each other.  Below is the best my friend and I could do to make this work, and I just realized we need to baffle T to keep the pressure of the disposal from spurting out to the other bowl.  Question is, have you ever seen this High of a p-trap and it will actually work?  With water, works fine but I am afraid of using the disposal because of the low-p trap and high drain pipe for the waster to travel that high to make its way out.  I live in a condo, so cannot change anything behind the wall.  Any ideas or recommendations of how I can best make this work properly?  Much appreciated.

The drain into the wall needs to be below that of the disposal and sink, there's no way to beat gravity with this. Your options are to:

Raise the disposal output (with a different disposal)
Raise the sink (with a different, shallower sink, or at least a shallow drain for the disposal)
Lower the drain at the wall


Threaded copper fitting stripped, whats my next move? I have an awkward plumbing problem. I am inserting a T-fitting into the flexible riser of my kitchen sink and in the process seem to have stripped the copper shank coming from the faucet. The fitting:

The 1/2" nut that attaches to the shank coming from the faucet turns, but does not tighten, nor does it come off. When the water is turned on, the joint leaks. So, I think I have stripped this thread somehow.

What's my next move?

If I cut the shank, then the stripped part is still going to be stuck in the adapter fitting. Also, the shank will get shorter, and I am not confident in my ability to thread a copper tube so that it is water tight.

As you can see from the photo, it is a 1/2" to 7/8" adapter which attaches to the copper shank coming from the faucet (the corroded pipe at the top). Even though the pipe has some corrosion on it, the joint itself does not.

I have tried very forcefully to pull/twist it off, but it just turns. Does not come off.

That looks like a standard '3/8 compression x 1/2" MIP' (male iron pipe) connector. You can get it at any hardware store.

Normal procedure is to cut the tubing above the fitting and install a new one. Your tubing does not look too good, you have to have fairly smooth tubing surface for the new compression fitting to be able to slide on and seal. You may have to cut a little farther up on the tube. Be VERY careful not to kink or bend the tube while cutting it.

This is how compression fittings work.

You may want to purchase a mini tubing cutter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u77SJgIS4mY,


Can I add an exhaust fan to bathroom without exterior wall or roof access My master bathroom is wired for a fan, but I opened it up and found that it is just venting into the joist between the ceiling and the second floor.

There are no exterior walls to access in the bathroom. Also the joist runs to the main house in one direction, and to a back room in the other.

The back room has the end of a hip roof over it, but I don't think there is any access into the roof section.

So I think the only option would be to bring a vent down the joist, through the wall into ceiling of the back room and out through the roof. Is something like this possible without completely cutting up the ceilings and the roof?

I'll probably have a pro look at it, but how much would something like this cost?

Without seeing the house I cant tell you. It sounds like you are talking about creating a soffit which is going to be alot of labor.

You have some other options.  If this is just a 1/2 bath you can but a vent-free vent that uses a charcoal filter for smells.  If there is a bath then you can get a small dehumidifier.


Running electric to swimming pool pump My town is making me get a permit to install a Bestway swimming pool, this one:  Link

Looking it over, it states not being able to connect this pump through an extension cord. I intially purchased this pool because of the price and I thought it would just be a quick set up. Apparently not the case, but after thinking more into it, it is worth the extra steps for safety.

I initially got a bid of $1300 to install the outlet about 75 ft away and it will be $200 cheaper if I do the trenching. I got another Bid for $600 for hook up if I do the trench and lay the wire.

I have experience with electrical as I have swapped outlets, installed fixtures, changed a breaker out on my breaker box, and installed an accessory receptacle to my dedicated furnace circuit for a humidifier, and I wired up the humidifier no issues. So, with that under my belt I feel confident if I am already running the wire and doing the trenching, maybe I should hook up the wires myself and save the $600. I figured going into it it would be half of that to do this job.

With this guide, Guide and various other research I have been doing here is the conclusion I have come to for installing this line:

Install At 18 in. deep, run THWN-2 conductors inside PVC conduit with a GFCI outlet at end.

OR

use direct-bury UF-B (underground feeder) cable which I would still do at 18 inches, since I will have a trencher, and the have a GFCI circuit breaker at panel.

What I am still fuzzy on. I have all conduit in my home with either method I would need a ground. Would I lead the ground from the circuit breaker box, or feed conduit to the outside of the house, with a junction box, and then transition to the pvc junction connecting the ground to the metal junction box connected to the conduit coming from house?

Also, I'd imagine this run and area it pops up will need to be a minimum of 5ft from the pool?  Also, I figure I would run 12 guage or wire rated for 20amp in the event I ever wanted to upgrade.

What should the end terminal have near the pool: Can I have a GFCI duplex outlet with a weather cover and just connect the filter to it? And because this filter seems pretty wimpy, can I still use it as an accessory connection for doing stuff around the yard?

Thank you.

Pools are more often hard than not -- even for the pros

Article 680 of the NEC covers swimming pools and similar constructions.  It's sadly one of the more complex articles of the NEC, and thus easy to get wrong, even for a pro.  Attention to detail is critical here as even relatively small shocks in a pool can lead to fatal electric shock drowning.

With that said, it's not an impossible DIY job, especially given the type of pool you have.  Your pool is indeed a storable type due to its fabric liner construction even though it exceeds the 42" depth limit otherwise set in the NEC -- this isn't clear due to definition conflicts in 680.2, but to interpret this as a permanently installed pool would cause a mess trying to apply several Code requirements (such as full equipotental bonding of the pool and surrounding ground) to this situation.

Your plan with the conduit is fine

Your plan with the PVC conduit is more than fine, and putting in an amply sized conduit (3/4" at a minimum) will leave room for future expansion should another circuit need to be run to the pool.  You will need to provide a switched receptacle fed from the load side of the GFCI you are installing though -- this is to meet the disconnecting requirements in 680.12.  However, while-in-use covers and non-metallic weatherproof boxes only go up to 2 gangs, switched GFCI/receptacles can't be wired to switch the receptacle off while the load terminals stay on, weather-resistant switch/receptacle combos aren't a thing to begin with, and modern GFCIs get grumpy when placed on the load side of a switch (you need to reset the GFCI every time you flip the switch on).

Given all that, I'd use a weatherproof double gang (FD) conduit box securely mounted to a post in the ground between 6' and 20' from the pool's edge and provide GFCI protection at the panel with a GFCI breaker -- one gang is a standard wall switch, while the other gang is a standard duplex receptacle wired to be half-switched by the wall switch.  This way, one half is disconnectable so that it can be used for the pool pump, while the other half provides power while the pool pump is disconnected (for lighting, maintenance, or uses unrelated to the pool).

The filter pump, then, plugs into this switched receptacle, and the whole double gang assembly is under a double gang while-in-use cover that also weatherproofs the switch.  Also, don't forget to drill a 1/8" drain hole in the bottom of the FD box so that what water does get in can get out, and so that pressures inside the box and conduit system can equalize with the ambient barometric pressure, reducing the driving forces for water leakage across the box and cover seals.

Last but not least, don't forget to slap a "GFCI Protected" label on the receptacle!


wires to outlet died all of a sudden There is one double three-prong outlet in one of our bathrooms. All of a sudden it stopped working. The bathroom also has four light switches. They all work. I switched the breaker to off, removed the dead outlet's receptacle, placed multimeter probes red to white wire and black probe to black wire. The reading fluctuates between .110 and .112. I know the multimeter works because I tested other outlets and get readings of 120.1 or 121.
What could the problem with that outlet be?

Search for outlets that aren't working elsewhere in the house. Start with the bathrooms. You probably have a bunch of daisy-chained outlets on one circuit. The simplest "fix" will be if one of those outlets include GFCI protection that has tripped - reset and then all the other outlets will start working again. If that is not the case then you have to check each outlet in the chain for a loose or broken connection.


Should I remove rust from my gas meter? My home is about 8 years old. Despite being painted, my external gas meter has rust at every thread/joint location. The rusting is mainly on the pipe threads. I'm afraid this could eventually lead to leaks.

I have several questions:

Is this a significant enough problem to warrant removing the rust and repainting?
If "yes" is the answer to the above question, what is the best way to remove the rust and repaint? Based on other posts and my experience, I would wire brush the rust spots then use CLR, Evaporust, or some other rust-removal solution. Then I'd paint with a rust-proof paint.
The answer to this post implies the Gas Company is responsible for maintaining the gas meter. Should I just notify them?

No. The rust is inconsequential and those pipes will likely outlive the gas meter equipment itself. The reason that the rust is at the threads is because the threads are not painted well on purpose; it prevents a good seal when they're putting the gas meter together.

Depending on your gas company's policies, painting the gas meter could be a violation of your customer agreement with them.

Using evaporust, CLR, TSP, or some other cleaning agent on the threads could dissolve the pipe dope and cause a leak. I would leave it alone.


Should I mount brackets to the wall or the shelves first? I've planning to mount some shelves using these IKEA Lerberg brackets

Should I mount them to the wall or the shelf first?

You may not have a choice if the shelf locks in by sliding forward. If that's the case, you mount to the shelf first and then hang it on the wall. Otherwise, the wall blocks you from installing the shelf. And even if it's not necessary, you may want to do it that way to get the shelf tight to the wall. Mount the brackets 1/8" or less from the back of the shelf, so the shelf touches the wall just before they do. Then, after hanging, when you tighten the screws on the wall, the shelf will get pulled tight without any gaps.


No hot water at kitchen tap I've been having hot water problems of late. I have replaced all shut off valves in bathroom and kitchen, have installed new faucets throughout and replaced the dip tube BUT I'm still not getting any hot water at my kitchen sink (furthest away from tank).
I do get hot water in both bathrooms near the tank.
Please help. Have had 2 plumbers in who havent been able to fix the problem. We have had no construction done that would require extra lines etc in several years.
Mary

What did the plumbers do / say?

Seems like you'd just remove the braided sink line coming from the hot shutoff under the sink and then test to see the water pressure and flow.

If they replaced the shutoffs, that implies they did the above and didn't get water flow, why they'd replace the faucets at the point seems like a waste of money.

If the shutoffs don't supply water then you have a problem somewhere between your hotwater tank and your kitchen faucet.

Could the pipe be frozen somewhere?  How cold is it where you are?