Electrical outlets show good but not working Just moved into home. None of the master bedroom outlets are working. Same breaker. I tested all four outlets via 3 pronged tester and all show as correct and working. Also tested voltage via multimeter and showing around 123v.

When I plug in a lamp I get dim light versus same lamp in other rooms. And a cell phone plugged unto charger keeps going from off to charging over and over. On off on off and so on at a steady pace. The whole breaker panel was changed/updated right before we moved in.

Scratching my head on this.

You have a high resistance connection somewhere in the line.  I would bet that if you have the lamp plugged into one of the outlets and turned on, if you then check another outlet, it will show a low voltage. The reason the tester and meter alone don’t show a problem is that they draw very little current.

First thing to check, with the lamp on, is voltage between neutral and ground. If it’s high, the bad connection is the neutral. If hot-neutral and neutral-ground are both low voltage, the bad connection is in the hot line.

Since you say the breaker panel was recently changed out, I’d start there. If you’re comfortable working on the panel with the cover off, check for a loose wire to the breaker or neutral bus. Remove the wires, clean or cut and restrip the wires and retighten. If you’re not comfortable, call an electrician.

One more note: you didn’t give the age of the house but if it was built in the ‘60s or ‘70s, you may have aluminum wiring. If the wires look silver colored instead of copper, stop and call an electrician. Aluminum wiring needs proper treatment to avoid future overheating and house fires. Judging from your question, I doubt you’re qualified to handle aluminum.


Can I cut a 240V wire half way? I put a nail thru a new 240V wire, causing a short and the breaker to jump.

Do I need to replace the complete wire or can I cut out the damaged portion and just install a junction box to isolate the cut?

Fundamentally, what I want to know is does a stove wire need to go uninterrupted straight from oven to breaker box or will it work with a joint in the middle?

I just wanted to save on replacing the complete wire, those are expensive...

As long as the connections are properly contained within a box, and the box is accessible, there should be no problem doing what you want. However, cables are usually run with very little slack in them, and you'll need enough extra wire to make the connections within the box.  If you can't get enough slack in the line, you'll have to install two junction boxes, or replace a bit of the cable.

Make sure you...

Use a large enough box.
Use the proper sized connectors.
Use the proper sized wire (if needed).
Make the connections tight enough.

Things to watch out for...

Aluminum wire.
Even though a larger size wire has to be used, the price of aluminum wire is often less than copper.
Electrocution.
Make sure you turn the breaker off before you begin, and test to make sure the power is actually off.


How do steel and enforced concrete posts compare? From what I observe in my region posts in both municipal and private construction - mostly fence posts and lighting posts - are gradually replaced from enforced concrete to steel pipes.

Is it just my region or is there a fundamental reason to prefer steel pipes to enforced concrete? I mean steel corrodes if not maintained regularly and enforced concrete doesn't seem to change over time at all so enforced concrete seems more practical.

How do steel and enforced concrete posts compare? Why prefer steel posts?

I thought that there is also a safety angle here. Steel pipes tend to bend and fall over if hit by cars etc, therefore have a better impact for the ones that hit it. Concrete on the other hand does not tend to bend and therefore will cause a lot more damage to those that run into it. Of course this may have nothing to do with what you are seeing.

Here in the UK they are also rolling out collapsible frames that are used for large road signs as well so that if cars hit them they only cause minor damage to the vehicle as they bend and collapse around the car.

edit: The frames are known as Lattix. Lattix Website
      The safety aspects are demonstrated here. Lattix Safety


Rail bookshelves on a wall with steel studs I want to mount bookshelves on rails in my office. My office manager says that the walls are "drywall on steel studs" on one side; plaster and lathe over "thin steel studs" on the other.

What are my options for mounting? I assume I want to screw directly into the studs - but with what? Just a standard screw? Togglebolt?   Note: I am in earthquake country (California).

This is sort of what I want to do:

There's no such thing as a "standard" screw. Every type of screw has a particular purpose. In this case you do want to screw into the steel studs, and therefore you want a screw with a thread pitch and depth to suit. Most screws provided with shelving systems are better suited to wood studs.

The first problem that you're likely to encounter is that the "standards" (vertical rails) are usually countersunk to accept a small #6 or #8 flat-head screw, which is a bit on the small side for a massive stack of books. The second is that they system in your photo appears to only be supported every 32 inches. That may not allow enough anchors to be used.

If you 1) use all available screw holes, 2) install standards on every stud (which means using a shelf system that has brackets every 16 inches), and 3) use the largest sheet metal screw that fits behind the shelving you're using (#8 or #10), I think you'll be successful.


Is it against code to run electric Line in cpvc out of breaker panel and into the ground? Electric question, Is it code in Az to run an electric line in cpvc out of breaker panel into the ground and to destination

You have to use conduit listed and labeled for electrical use. So if you're thinking about using plumbing pipe, forget about it.

Since the conduit will be underground, it's considered a wet location. That means you'll have to  use wires that are allowed in wet locations. THWN is commonly used for this, though is likely advertised as THHN/THWN or THWN-2, or something similar.

Wherever you enter/exit the ground, you'll want to use an expansion fitting. This allows the conduit to expand and contract, as well as allowing the ground to heave and depress as soil conditions change.


One outlet, two hots, one neutral, no power to the other outlets Here it is my scenario:
All 120V outlets.
Several outlets and I don't know how they are wired between them.
Everything was working, but I decided to replace one outlet that was too old. This outlet was an old 2 prong outlet.
I opened this old 2 prong outlet, there were three wires connected to it.
After disconnecting the wires, used a voltage tester. Two are hot and one is neutral. Used a multimeter, and confirmed it reads 120V between each hot and neutral. There is no voltage between the two hots. Strange that one hot is painted the same color as the neutral (white) while the other hot is red. See picture, cables coming out in this order: hot white, hot red, neutral white.
I decided to simply put everything back in the same old 2 prong outlet just to simulate same installation. Installed the two hots on the same side and the neutral on the other side. I see that this old 2 prong outlet has no tabs separating the top and bottom outlets, that is, the two hots are now together. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the original installation, but I guess there is no other way to install it, otherwise one of the hots would be connected to a neutral which is wrong.

The problem:
This outlet is working as it was before, however all other outlets in the apartment are not working.
The outlet box does not show any other wire that could have disconnected when I opened, everything looks good inside.

Any idea what caused the other outlets to stop working even though this one is working as before?

Thank you!

Here is the probable answer: the “hot” white wire isn’t. It’s the neutral from your downstream outlets. It looks hot because you have something plugged in that is conducting voltage from its hot wire. If you unplug (or completely turn off) everything plugged into the non-working outlets, it should no longer appear hot.

Try connecting the two white wires together on the neutral side of the outlet.

In the future, always label wires before disconnecting if anything looks at all funny.


Meross 3-Way Switch installation where the first box connects the power source, light, and second switch cables I'm looking to add a Meross MSS550 3-way switch.  My wiring matches this diagram.  The Meross switch requires a Live, Neutral, Ground, and 2 traveler wires.  It only requires the replacement of one switch, and I'm looking to replace the left switch in the diagram.
My question is if it's OK to rewire it such that the live Black wire from the source connects into the common terminal switch on the left?  Subsequently can the Black wire from the Right switch connect with the Black wire leading to the light.
Based on that answer, I'll have the 5 wires identified to swapping out the left switch with my new  Meross unit.

Yes, you understand how that works.  However.
When neutral is not in a cable, and always-hot is in a cable, white must be always-hot.  (and it must still have marking tape indicating that it is a hot).
So you may reverse the 3-way configuration to take always-hot to the far switch.  But this means you must change (on both switches) which ones are the traveler wires.   White must become always-hot, and black/red become the travelers.


Breaker Mapping Questions I recently moved into a new house and I've been mapping my panelboard. I've got pretty much everything mapped except for a couple circuits. I know there are some experienced folks on here so I thought I'd see if anyone could weigh in on what I'm looking at here or had any advice.

Some context, I live in the northeast of the US and many of the appliances are gas powered (stove top, gas boiler, water heater, and dryer). The largest electrical loads on the panel from what I can tell are the condenser fan/compressor unit on the outside of the house and the AC/blower unit in the attic. Each of those are on their own 240V 20A circuit. Everything else, except for one circuit (next paragraph), is a single pole 20A or 15A circuit.

I've mapped each breaker by opening it and then checking the voltage at the terminals and then checking the lights/outlets throughout the house. What I'm having some trouble with is the following:

There is a 240V 30A circuit and I have no idea what it is connected to. Even if I were to open it, how would I know what to look for if I don't have any idea what it might be powering? I'm confused because I'm not sure what other load in the house would require a circuit that size. There are no major electrical heating elements that I know of (its all hydronic) and the only large motor loads are the compressor/condenser fan motor and attic unit.
I think the last two breakers might be bad. I get 300-700 mV readings when I open them and check the voltage across either of their terminals. Thus even when I open them I can't tell what is on them. I plan to replace both of them soon.

240v / 30 amp would typically be for a clothes dryer outlet.
As people live in homes, and time goes by, they change things. I'm guessing, of course but possibly the dryer is now a gas dryer and there behind that dryer sits an outlet that isn't being used.

Other stuff :
A outlet in the garage for a "welder" that somebody had installed. And possibly hidden behind something.

Again, I'm guessing.


How does a ball bearing door hinge work? I've been unable to find a clear explanation of the design principle behind a ball bearing door hinge.

In the image below, the casing for a ball bearing assembly is highlighted.

One description states:

  Ball bearings are engineered to throw the knuckle weight against
  specially hardened steel raceways, which ride on the bearing surfaces.
  The one-piece cup protects the bearings from moisture and dust.

Can anyone clarify what this means, and the internal layout of the assembly?

I'm also wondering about their durability, given that the mechanism isn't solid metal, but has internal (presumably moving) components under the casing. How thick is the casing, and does it carry all of the vertical load, or is the load shared with the internal components?

The casing is very thin and its purpose it to keep the bearing's balls in place, protect them from dust and grime and to hold in some lubricant. It doesn't share any load. The hinges are very durable as the friction load is much less than with a regular hinge. They are also quieter.
Below are a few diagrams on what might be inside a ball bearing hinge:

Hope this helps.


Lean Ikea Krabb mirror against the wall (for decoration), need something to prevent them from slipping https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/298y83/help_lean_ikea_krabb_mirror_against_the_wall_need/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_title

There's similar questions online that were asked.

Is there a way to lean a mirror/board against the wall and ensure that it doesn't slip without hammering a second piece of board on to a wall top of it? I've tried learning this mirror on a piano and for some reason that works, but I need a solution for a home without a piano. I can't afford making holes in my wall. This is also unwieldy because that means my mirror is fixed and I have to re-hammer in a board every time I move the mirror.

I don't trust grips on the bottom of the mirror to preventing it from slipping if I touch it. I don't trust corrugated rubber matts or changing the carpet.

Your cinder block holding a board provides an indication that the answer you seek does not have to be particularly elegant. You could place another board under the block, with the same cleat, positioned outside the base of the mirror. This would prevent the mirror from sliding away from the wall.

A less bulky alternative would be to keep the cleat, extend it wider than the mirror and attach it to the bottom of the vertical board with strong cord. This would allow the entire assembly to be collapsed when needed. It would be necessary to implement additional fastening to prevent the cleat from riding up the mirror. A slot in the cleat into which the mirror would seat would serve equally well in that respect.


How do you add a T join in to an existing underground drain pipe? I have an existing drain pipe that takes water from our roof catchment, and sends it down into our drinking water tank (this is our household water supply).  We now have a new building, and I wish to route the extra rain water from this roof into the same pipe.  So I want to add a T-junction to this existing pipe, and route the new roof pipe into it.

I have repaired broken in-ground agricultural pipe sections before, but had (too much) trouble trying to insert joiners as there is no "give" in the buried pipe.  Eventually I used rubber-sleeve type joins, but am unsure of using these with drinking water.

So, short of digging up 20 metres of pipe to get some extra bend/movement, with an existing 100mm UPVC "poly" pipe in the ground, is there technique for adding a new T-intersection?

Not relevant: Add T fitting to pipe

One technique with a little more digging, but not a lot, is to cut out a section of pipe, add 4 elbows to make an offset and put the tee in the offset.

Depending on what fittings you can get, there are also "saddle" or "snap" tees made to attach by clipping onto the pipe (and drilling a hole, and gluing, typically.)

This assumes that the pipe size is sufficient for the flow from both roofs - otherwise, you might be better off with a new pipe from the new roof right to the tank.


Metal drainage grate, available off the shelf, or will need to have it custom made? I need a metal drainage grate that will be at the foot of some stairs leading into a basement.
Is this something I will need to specially order or have fabricated, or can it be bought standard?
I did talk to a drainage grate company, but they said all their grates only come in 2 foot sections, so if I wanted a continuous 48" grate they would not have that.

If you can not find the exact size grate that you need "off the shelf" then you will have to find alternative.
Custom  made OR buy a bigger one and use an angle grinder to cut it to size. Go to steel/metal supplier, you can get grating material in a variety of sizes.
This answer is as comprehensive as possible given the information provided in the question.


Can I use a 5 mil blue tarp as a moisture barrier over a dirt floor in a crawl space instead of poly sheeting? Can I use a 5 mil blue tarp as a moisture barrier over a dirt floor in a crawl space instead of poly sheeting?

Most blue tarps are usually some kind of coated fiber construction and first, I would question how vapor impermeable it really is, and second I think it would not be nearly as resilient and repairable as poly.  Once the tarp material starts to break down and/or tear, it seems to be impossible to repair in my experience.  Admittedly, that has always been in situations with UV exposure, but I personally still would have trouble trusting it to last as long or be as effective as 12 to 20 mil poly (which is likely overkill... I think most people say 6mil is a practical minimum).


What can I use to fill cracks in boarded walls before painting? My house was built in the 30's. and the walls are tongue and groove. Over the years cracks have formed between the slats. Is there a compound similar to joint compound that I can get to fill them before painting?

Wood moves.  Fact of of life.  Engineered wood (plywood, OSB, hardboard) moves less, but it moves.

In the 30's they were still using first growth lumber.  Might be worth stripping and then staining, although that is a lot of work.  If it's painted they may be lead based paint.  Research that.  Do NOT let lead paint get airborne (don't sand)

Ok.  You don't like wood.  Cover with drywall.  I don't like quarter inch -- I'm not good enough to get it on flat, and it's not a lot cheaper than half inch.  However it's lighter. While you're at that:  Shine a bright light at a shallow angle:  Is the present wall flat?

You will need to put box extenders on any wiring.

You may want consider taking the T&G off and bringing the wire up to code.  Probably knob and tube that old.  You may also find you have no insulation in the walls.


What is the recommended home design software? I am going to be finishing my basement.  I would like to design the new basement myself using design software.  What is the recommended home design software?

See this question. Google Sketchup seems to be a good option if you don't want to pay big bucks.

Also, here's a tutorial for framing layout in Sketchup.


Ceiling fan mounting, old home, worried I did it wrong This weekend, I replaced a non-functioning ceiling fan in our home with a new one. The home is over 100 years old. When I replaced the fan, I found what is pictured in the attached image. It seems to be an old style pancake box with a center stud mounted to a ceiling joist. The mounting bracket and nut over the center stud used to hold the previous fan, which had been there for several years. (The old fan was there when I moved in.) I showed these pictures to the employee at a big box home improvement store, and he said "yeah, you can totally attach a new fan to that center stud and bracket! I live in an old house too and I've done that for lots of fans."

So I did, and I covered and sealed up the hole as well, because there's some old insulation in the attic I don't want leaking down into the room. Now I'm reading about fan-rated boxes, and I'm worried I did something bad. (Do your research first, kids!) I'm terrified this old box isn't strong enough and the fan is going to fall on someone. Here's what I'm trying to figure out:

1) Am I in danger? That old box and pipe seem pretty beefy, but I know fans are heavy and motion can wear things down over time. I also have no idea what I'm looking at. I should add this is over a bed, so someone will be under it for several hours at a stretch, and not alert.

2) Is there some way I can brace or reinforce this from above, up in the attic, so I don't have to open (unseal) everything up again?

3) If I don't want to mess with that old box and all the other electrical in there - because I have no idea what it is - would I be better off returning the fan and just installing a light, which wouldn't put stress on the box?

EDIT: I noticed the packaging says to use a box rated for a 35lb or less fan, so this is not a very heavy fan.

EDIT #2: I was able to get into the attic and look at the mounting from the top. The threaded pipe with the fan bracket seen in the "from below" appears to go all the way through the mount, loops over a crossbeam, under another joist, and runs all the way across the attic floor. (Not the conduit, the darker pipe next to the conduit) Due to the light oxidation, I think it is steel. It could be iron, but I didn't think iron pipes could have smooth bends like this one does? In any case, I know it isn't up to any modern code, but it seems very strong. The only risks I see now are 1) the fan bracket failing, which seems unlikely since it is designed to be a fan bracket, or 2) The threads in the nut or pipe somehow strip, which also seems unlikely given they are steel.

That support is probably an old gas line (pre electricity) I say this because of the length you described. If it was shorter and anchored in the box itself or just above the box it would be called a hickey. Years back this hickey was a normal way to support heavy fixtures. And as long as it cannot come down your fan will stay up there. As far as other comments this is not knob and tube. Because it is in conduit, since it is in conduit I would consider pulling some new thhn wiring. Now for the last part of your question, current code calls for listed boxes but on older homes I have used the same hardware you have and there were no problems that pipe is probably stronger than a listed box.


Natural/Free Composting Liner I live in an area where we have municipal composting, so it's quite common that every house has two composting bins: a tall green one (about a meter tall), and a smaller, pail-like one. They pick up compost bins every week. (It becomes landfill material.)

I understand that it's possible to purchase compost liners; but I'm not looking to spend more money, since composting is such a regular activity. What are some free, natural materials I can use to line my compost bins with?

I would also like to minimize the need of washing the compost bins. So for now, I'm trying to line them with newspaper; but this still necessitates putting compostable material inside a plastic bag, and transferring it the night before pickup. Is there a better approach?

You can use any biodegradable material for this purpose, including weeds, grass clippings, newspaper, napkins, pizza boxes, cardboard, hay and straw that has gone bad, wood chips, wood shavings, and sawdust.


Light and fan switches I would like to have a double wall switch for the toilet where one switch (#1) turns on both the light and the fan while the second switch (#2) turns only the fan. Please note the light and the fan are separate devices operating at 220V.

So if I turn on the switch #1 both the light and the fan are turned on and the switch #2 has no function while the switch #1 is turned on.

If I turn on the switch #2 while the switch #1 is turned off, I was the fan to be turned on while the light is turned off.

I usually deal with DC circuits and in that case I could most probably just throw 1N400X diode between the light and the fan both of which would be connected in parallel to the source. However, I'm dealing with 220V AC here and I'm not quite sure how to make it work in this case.

You can achieve this in several ways.

The most brain bending method :-) is to use two SPDT (2-way / changeover) switches.

This is a standard item, but this is a not too usual means of connection. Note that terminals should be sleeved with appropriate colours as electricians may at first be confused with the arrangement.

Connect thusly :

When both switches are "up" neither device is powered.

When SWA is down live is connected to the light AND also to the fan via SWB top contact.

When SWA is up and SWB is down live is connected to the fan via SWB lower.

When both switches are down the light is powered by SWA and the fan is powered by SWB.

______________________________________

If only SPST switches are available then.

Use switches A & B - each SPST, and a SPST relay.

Switch A operates Fan.

Switch B operates Light and Relay. Relay operates fan.


Groundwater cooled heat exchanger - forced air I have kind of a crazy idea I have been scheming - I live in Alaska, and have a private well - the groundwater here is very cold(40-45F) or so. The last couple of summers have been miserable hot up here(A/C is very rare), and I have been looking at cheapy single room or diy air conditioners, and ran across a simple fan with a coiled copper pipe circulating cold water. That got me to thinking, why can't I scale that up, and have a cold water circulating pipe inside my furnace vent. I found some pretty inexpensive Water to air heat exchangers online, with copper pipes, and aluminum fins.

When it gets really hot inside, I turn the furnace fan only on, just to circulate some air. So I figured I could just turn the fan on, and run my sprinklers a bit outside, or do dishes to circulate cold water through the heat exchanger. I wouldn't be looking to cool the air dramatically, just slightly - enough to give some relief on very hot days. Here is a diagram that kind of explains what I am thinking. I also added a loop for the hot water heater, thinking I could switch the heat exchanger over to hot water in the winters.

How crazy is this, and what would the major problems be? I do have a condensate pump already, and I figure the heat exchanger will sweat so I would add a drain there.. Would I be adding so much moisture to the supply air I would also need a de-humidifier? Would the supply air not really cool down at all like I am hoping?

Thank you for any response.

Using only cold water to lower a buildings temperature was common many years ago. I have not seen any of the systems that still work but I do know  or was told that they worked. This would be similar to a typical A/C system except that the cooling medium would be water instead of a refrigerant cooling the air.  Know this that most large buildings, schools, hospitals, and office buildings use cooled water to do the A/C since it is easier to circulate a cooled water than to have spot cooling everywhere. In your case, instead of using a refrigerant to cool the water, you will use a dedicated cold water source as your cooling medium. A cold water source is located, a well, an underground stream, or an aquifer that is tapped into and the cold water was pumped into a water coil similar to an A/C coil and the discharge water, now slightly heated is returned back into the source. This idea will work if the source water is cold enough, you can remove and return enough water to suit your needs, and it is allowed by the codes concerning this action. Will your idea work, yes, is it allowed, ?, is it cost effective, I do not know.


Channel between foundation wall and floor in crawlspace I have a split level house with a crawlspace. I've pulled the insulation out and discovered some minor mold issues on the wood framing and concrete walls. I removed the framing to replace any moldy pieces. After removing the base plate from the framing i've discovered a channel that runs underneath the framing base plate along the outside wall perimeter. Inside of the channel was damp with a 2x4 wrapped in plastic along the channel. I've attached some pictures of the channel. Can anyone tell me what the channel is for and why the 2x4 is there?

Thanks!

It appears to be a drain channel as part of a groundwater mitigation system. Most water enters a basement through the area where the floor and walls meet, and this would carry that away, presumably to a sump pail. I can't tell you what brand yours is, but a search reveals many similar products.

The bottom plate of the wall is wrapped to minimize moisture absorption and transmission. Whether the channel was installed at the time of initial home construction or later is unclear. I can imagine a solution where channel is installed on top of an existing slab and a thin layer of cementitious material is poured inside it to raise the slab level accordingly.


tankless water heater before the reg hot water What if I installed a new tankless water heater before the regular hot water heater, so that the tank water heater is getting filled with hot/warm water vs the 40 degrees water its getting now? Our 80 gallon tank turns cold quickly. We had a 40 year old solar unit doing this which has to be removed or replaced, and want to look at all the options.

If your 80 gallon tank turns cold at an unacceptable rate, either you have a broken hot water heater (like, a broken siphon tube), or you really, really like high water flow.   For instance a lo-flo 1.5GPS shower head, given 2 parts hot to 1 part cold, should last 80 minutes.
I would start by looking at the water flow rate out each faucet (i.e. by sticking a gallon bucket under there and timing it with a stopwatch), and comparing that to best practices for efficient homes.  Your problem might be right there.
Obviously you should be able to get the lion's share of 80 gallons of water out of the heater before it turns cold. It may be broken.  For instance there's supposed to be a pipe or baffle to assure that incoming cold water is deposited in the bottom of the tank.  If this has corroded and is dumping cold water at the top of the tank, your outlet pipe will tend to gulp up this cold.
You will not be able to buy another 80 gallon water tank.  New tanked water heaters of that size must be "heat pump" types - they use half the energy but make a lot of noise.  Also since they are pumping ambient heat into the water, they chill the area around the heater. Your HVAC system will have to work harder in winter, summer will be a wash.
Another complication with tanked heaters is they must now be kept at 140F or hotter to prevent formation of legionella, the bacteria responsible for Legionnaire's Disease.  It was always a problem, but now we know it, so now it is a requirement.  This higher temperature means more insulation losses and less efficiency.  It also will cause scalding, so it absolutely requires new blending spigots with anti-scald features - traditional 2-knob setups cannot be used.  This most likely means a low-flow shower valve.
Tankless heaters are excellent if you can provision the large electrical service.  They are actually more efficient, since they only heat the water you use, and only when you're using it.  Since they don't have an hour to preheat the water, they must do all their heating on-the-spot, so they need more powerful heaters.  But you also don't need to pay them to preheat water for an hour or keep it at temperature.  Tankless heaters also don't pay for insulation losses. Local heaters can be moved quite close to the point-of-use, so you are not heating a long hot-water-pipe run - nor waiting for it!  However to keep power requirements sane, you must keep flow requirements fairly modest.  Since they don't store hot water, legionella is not a factor, so you can heat to the more modest and safer (for scalding) 100-110 degrees F.
Using a tankless and a tanked together makes no sense.  Putting the tankless after the tanked is useless since the tank must be kept up at 140 to stop legionella, so the tankless would never run until the tank is exhausted.  Putting the tankless before the tanked might slow exhaustion of the big water tank, but probably not by enough to matter, and at a huge energy cost.


Can someone what kin of audio input that is Can someone tell me what kind of audio connection that is.

It is a 13 pin 3.5mm aux input or din connector 3$ on eBay To stereo just the plug 2$ the 3.5mm is important as there are many different sizes of 13 pin connectors.


What could be causing a high pitched squeak when the water is turned on? When the water is turned on for toilet flush or sinks-hot or cold and when the clothes washer is filling (newer type washer that adds more water), many times for the first 4 minutes (starting the water and when the water add is stopped) there is a squeak in the plumbing. It seems to come from the utility room where the water enters the house (and where the house shut-off/pressure reducing valve is located). Again, even though the taps are turned on away from the utility room, the squeaky noise (high pitched) comes from the utility room.

It sounds like your problem is pipe movement.

During installation water pipe/tubing is suspended with metal tape, supported by brackets or run through holes drilled in the studs.

When the water flow abruptly starts or stops, this causes a pressure surge to run down the length of the pipe, causing it to move.

You will have to find the location where the squeak is coming from and modify the mounting so the friction causing the squeak is eliminated.

Rubber tape around the pipe under the bracket, repositioning, spray urethane foam can all be used to minimize the movement or separate the pipe from what it's rubbing against.

Installing water hammer arresters in the hot and cold runs can help absorb the pressure pulse and minimize the movement in a worst case scenario.

Our shower on the other end of the house was a good wash day indicator, creating a regular squeak symphony as the solenoid valves cycled to moderate water temperature. A couple squares of neoprene rubber and vinyl coated drive style brackets eliminated the issue by providing a semi-resilient attachment that separated the pipe from the sub-floor it was laying on.


Converting I+ I- thermostat to 'standard' wiring I've been replacing my thermostats with the RadioThermostat CT50, which reports to my home-brew home control/alarm system.  I have a 3-year old AireEase 4-ton unit in the shop that has a Comfort Sync 103796-03 smart wifi thermostat. When I removed it, there are only four connected wires, two of which go to terminals marked I+ and I-.

I googled this and found that this is some kind of communications bus architecture that sends heat/cool/fan signals over just the two wires.

The guy that installed it says 'you should be able to convert it fairly easily', but I am sort of stonewalled here.  I have plenty of unused wires in the thermostat cable. I was thinking I may have to change out logic or comm boards in both the heat pump and the furnace. Has anyone done this successfully?

Easiest course is to just put the ComfortSync back, admit defeat, and have one 'bastard' thermostat. But I would REALLY hate to do this unless there is lots of $$$ involved.

The upper photo is the air handler, lower is the heat pump.  Could this be simply a matter of installing the thermostat and connecting the W1,W2,Y,G,R leads to the terminal strips in the photos?

You should be able to wire your thermostat to the conventional terminal block on the air handler

If you look at the bottom edge of your air handler's control board, there is a terminal block to the right of the two ComfortSync connections that has been labeled with conventional thermostat signal labels.  This means that your control board should support standard 24VAC thermostat signals instead of a communicating thermostat.  You can test this by disconnecting the communicating thermostat from the rest of the system, then jumpering R to G on that right-hand terminal block; when you do this, the fan should come on.

If that is indeed the case, then I would wire the new thermostat conventionally, as it sounds like you have sufficient spare wires in the cable from the air handler to the thermostat to do so.  You shouldn't need to touch the wiring between the air handler and the heat pump, by the way, for that matter.


Reduced flow from bathroom faucet but not anywhere else I have a similar problem to the one mentioned here:
How do I diagnose weak water flow from tub faucet and shower?
The bathroom faucet in my rental apartment has a very slow flow even with both handles fully opened.  However, no other fixture in the house is having problems.
Upstream of the faucet each line (hot and cold) has a diaphragm shutoff valve.  Upstream of that is the valves for the whole house.  Because this is happening on both lines, I'm almost positive this has to be an issue with the faucet it self.
Environmental factors that one might also need to consider:
Other units in the condo had frozen pipes that burst and needed to be shut off.  Given the Mickey-Mouse jobs I found in other areas of the house, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this faucet is fed from a different unit's lines lines.
My renter is a slob, and managed to ruin every appliance in one way or another, so I wouldn't put it past him to have found a way to mess up a faucet.  That said, he did say that this issue coincided with a previous pipe freezing.
Is there something I can do to increase the flow coming out of this faucet? or do I need to replace it?

It sounds so similar, practically identical, to the issue that I was having, that I would not be surprised to find out we live in the same building.

Jumping right to solution: I bet that your weak flow problem is caused by debris (probably mineral deposits) in the pipes feeding the mixing valve.

To check the hypothesis without doing any work, attach a water pressure gauge to your problematic faucet. Take a reading with water on, then compare that to a good faucet. If my hunch is correct, those readings will be about the same.

How to fix will depend on particular type of your mixing valve. Shut off the mains, then disassemble the mixing valve. Take photos as you go, this will simplify the job of putting it back together. In my case, there were mineral deposits (rocks) in the pipes, just prior to tiny plastic one-way siphons. Removing that stuff resulted in a dramatic improvement of the flow. I can post my own pictures, but I doubt they will be helpful to you. That is, unless you really do live in the same building.


How should I remove corrosion like this from radiator connections In the process of replacing a radiator and there is a fair amount of corrosion around the connections.

I plan on scrubbing as much off as I can with sandpaper or steel wool, but is there a recommended way to clear corrosion here? Or does it even matter that much if I can tighten the fittings up enough and use PTFE tape?

You can clean the threads with a soft wire brush without being too aggressive and clean the tapered area very carefully with a very fine steel wool (not sandpaper), so as not to score the taper and cause a leak that can't be stopped. Make sure to clean both pieces, the one on the radiator and the one in the picture.  If the tapered area is rough or deteriorated in any way, you could coat the tapered area with a thin coating of RTV silicone and tighten the union nut.Do not use teflon tape on the tapered area, use silicone only.


Why don't I have hot water after shutting off the water supply for a while? I have a 240 watt State Select 40 gallon water heater. I shut off the water supply for maybe 6 hours to replace faucet seats in the shower. I  turned off wrong breaker, and 2 days later no hot water at all.

What do I need to do to get my hot water heater working again?  Would I just need to replace the heating elements? Both elements?

I read also about dip tubes melting on other sites. Is this in my unit and  something I would need to replace?

I have replaced heating elements before so that's not new to me. The model number of my unit is EN6-40-DORS 110. Thank you.

On the upper thermostat, there is a sensor that would trip if the water got too hot inside of the tank, BEFORE the TP valve would blow off (which we assume didn't happen because you didn't mention it). It's called an Energy Cut Off (ECO) switch. There is a red button on it. Open the upper access panel, you should see it there. Push the red button and if you hear it "click", it was tripped and it should work again after that. If not, or it doesn't click, it's something else. If it trips again really soon after resetting, an element was damaged.

And it's 240V, but it is 6,000 watts...


Why is there sand/gravel under clay tile In a toilet room rather than concrete slab? I am repairing flood damage in a friend’s home in Houston and upon removing the clay tile from the floor of a toilet room off of the master bath, I found it lacked the concrete slab underneath which the rest of the house has.  The rest of the bathroom had been carpeted.  It doesn’t look like the concrete had been removed, rather, it was never poured. I’ve not seen anything like this, does anyone know why? The plan is to tile the complete master bath area but it seems like we will have to pour concrete in this particular area.

The floor was probably installed over the main/original slab using a "dry pack" method, wherein a sand and cement mixture is mixed to a stiff (but not wet) packable and slopeable consistency. The flood likely compromised the integrity of the dry-pack.

After careful tile removal, you may be able to use a wet mortar mixture to resurface the original floor. I would, however, worry about moisture underneath.


LED Light bulbs always blow prematurely in ceiling fans I've seen related questions to this - where the standard bulbs keep blowing prematurely in a ceiling fan. As a result of the general issues of wobbly fans and possible current instability, I got some LEDs - and for about 2 months the results were astounding.

However, they both just died on me, about a week apart from each other. I'm really left at a loss now as how to proceed. I don't like the wiring in this house - its dodgy at best and down right dangerous otherwise. The previous owners really did not care for taking time etc to be careful. The house has been built and maintained on the cheap.

So - anyone got any ideas what I can do to either fault find or fix this issue?

In addition to the first answer... some LED lights are not dimmable. Therefore, if there is a speed switch and/or dimmer switch, make sure that: 1) the LED bulbs are dimmable, 2) the Dimmer/Speed switch is properly rated for fan and LED light use, and 3) the switch is wired properly.

If these are not the case, then the fan could be defective and causing the issue.


Proper construction for load bearing header What is the proper header construction for a 16' span load bearing for a single story house?

The only beam that will meet modern design standards for a span that long will be LVL (laminated veneer lumber) or steel. And it'll take an engineer with detailed information about your home to tell you what dimensions are required.


Can we safely hang a ceiling fan from our vaulted livingroom ceiling? We have a tiny 1920's bungalow that's changed shape over the years, and we'd like to add a high efficiency ceiling fan to our living room in to replace an existing (lightweight) chandelier. The ceiling in this room was vaulted by a previous owner, who apparently built a soffit directly on top of the sloped drywall presumably for the sole purpose of wiring and hanging said chandelier. The small metal electrical box is definitely not the fan-supporting variety, and I'd ultimately like to know if we can safely add one without major structural and drywall work.

The entire ceiling was vaulted to match the roof line, with the drywall presumably fastened directly to roof joists. (We can't confirm this without taking off the roof, but it seems like a sound assumption.) I liberated the little electrical box and stuck a cheap USB snake camera into the soffit, which is how I learned that it was built on top of (lowered from) the larger drywall section. More critically, it seems that the soffit is built off of 2x4's that were affixed (screwed/nailed?) to the ceiling as a base for hanging the drywall with a patchwork of small plywood pieces, screws+nails, and miscellaneous small trim pieces. If there's a code for this, it's unlikely that it was followed.

I wasn't able to confirm how and exactly where the long 2x4's are affixed to the drywall, but I assume it's nailed and screwed into joists at reasonable intervals given that the soffit continues to stay in place and doesn't show any signs of stress or cracking in the four years we would have noticed.

The entire house is filled with inaccessible mysteries like this, and we're wondering in this case what we'd need to safely hang a 15lb (with mount) ceiling fan that draws 1.95-21.14 watts depending on its speed. Fan boxes can apparently be retrofitted to studs, but I'm not sure that non-structural 2x4's attached to drywall qualify as studs.

Can we get away with opening the bottom-most (flat, horizontal) drywall around the electrical box and reinforcing the area with more 2x4 framing, only having to re-drywall one surface? Do we have to rip off and rebuild the entire soffit to do this properly?

That's actually what I would suggest, but be aware of the problems in opening it up. Assuming the drywall was done correctly, there's going to be corner bead. Hopefully they didn't nail it together, or you might have to replace a lot more beading that you're planning to.

You might not need more framing, though, It's probably a full box already. Just take the old box out and put a solid fan box with brace in.


Second coat of Quikrete High Performance Self-Leveling Resurfacer I've just poured a first coat of Quikrete High Performance Self-Leveling Resurfacer and have irregularities due to not pouring each bucket fast enough for the area I'm resurfacing (250 sf) and, i think, that the water:concrete ratio was too thick to flow. Perhaps due to the relatively low humidity where i am?). I need to level the first coat.

I submitted a support request on Quickrete's site but no response yet.

Can i pour a second skim coat?
How long can i wait? Or must i wait?
Is any additional surface prep required?

Thanks

The OP added this in a comment:

  I never heard back from Quikrete from the email support request so
  called the customer support number and the guy was very helpful.

  Answer: Yes. Multiple coats can be applied. Restrictions - wait 24
  hours. Pour additional applications up to 1".

  I was envisioning the stuff freely flowing all over the floor like
  water, but it's cement. Mistakes I made:

  Not having maximum amount pre-mixed and ready to pour (literally) at once.
  Underestimating amount of material I needed.
  Trying to smooth it with a floor squeegee. Don't touch it!
  A bit too thick


G1/2B to NPT Coupling I'd like to retrofit our shower with a rain head by attaching a Kohler K-76331-CP diverter to where the current shower head comes out of the wall, then having one of the diverter's connections go to a regular shower head, and the other connection to the rain shower head.  The diverter connection that I'd like to use for the rain shower has male threads labelled G1/2B.

Normally this connection would point downward and have a hand-held shower hose attached to it.  What I'd like to do instead is have that connection point upward and attach a rigid 15-in pipe to it (e.g., a 15-inch nipple) to feed the rain head.  I called Kohler, and they said that there's no problem pointing the connection upward.  But I'm not sure how to join that G1/2B output to a rigid NPT pipe.

Is there a coupling I can use, or is there some other method of doing this--for example, a 15-in pipe that would have a G1/2B female connection on one end and an NPT male connection on the other end?

The G in the thread size looks like it denotes a British Standard Pipe (also known as BSP or BSPP) size of 1/2".  For whatever reason, Kholer decided to use this size on their hand showers, and that's what this valve is designed for.

You would need to find an adapter such as this one to convert to NPT. This listing mentions shower fixtures, so that is promising.  The title and description contradict each other on which side is BPT and which is NPT, but the product images look like it's what you need (they show female BPT threads).

Here is another possible adapter, but not chrome plated.  If you are in the UK, you may be able to find a BSP to NPT adapter easier.


What Paint Finish (flat, satin, etc) Should I Use in a Rental Property? What finish should I use (flat, eggshell, satin, etc) for the walls in a rental home? In the past I've used eggshell and even satin on walls on the theory that I would be able to clean them (as opposed to repainting them) in between tenants. But I find that I want to repaint entirely in between tenants so the net result is that I've increased my prep time because it takes longer to take the gloss off those finishes. I'm currently considering two options:

recommitting to cleaning the walls, not repainting and just being better about setting a tone that lets prospective tenants know that they are our partners in maintaining the condition of the property
finishing all walls with 'flat' and repainting in between tenants ... still setting the tone mentioned above but accepting that the best way to get a really fresh look for new tenants is to paint, and given that, using the paint that is easiest to paint over.

I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter.

Good question Nick.  I manage several rental units and have dealt with the same situations. Originally, flat paints were used in most of the rentals and almost every couple of years they needed repainting especially if kids were in the unit. Flat paint is hard to wash and very susceptible to marring and finger prints etc. The newer flat enamels are better, but not great. I changed over to a harder eggshell finish. Depending on the time a tenant is there, the eggshell really outlasted flat, usually good for 3 to 5 years unless damaged. Satin enamel works great for ceilings, hides marginal imperfections and very easy to clean between tenants. I have also found that since looks is more important than durability, I have used a lot of PVA grade wall paints from Ben Mor. At contractor price, it can be almost half as expensive than premium grade paints, covers well, lasts for several years. I have given up on expecting paints to be show ready after a few years in a rental. Cleaning and touching up walls takes almost as long as painting so a new quick same color wall paint job between tenants freshens up the place and smells new when showing the apartment. I tend to use just a couple of colors for most everything, so I buy 5 gal cans for economy, batch small leftovers and treat older paints with Flotrol. Be sure to keep the color formula in a notebook (ask for an extra sticker) so you can buy a good match later. Changing colors always requires two coats, but one coat of same color is normally fine. You can use your leftovers with new paint if you strain it through a mesh colander and batch it with your new paint, thus slight color changes disappear.


Only 1 out of 7 baseboard have heat coming out House Heating system: Mini Gas Low Pressure Boiler

I have 4 Thermostats in the house (1-Master Bedr, 1-Kids room, 1-guest room, 1-living room)
All 3 rooms are generating heat exept in the living room.
The living room have 7 baseboard and only 1 of them is generating heat

what would caused the other baseboard to not generate any heat?
I check the crawl in, and I can visibly see all the pipes running to each baseboard and i don't see any leak and none of them are warm/hat to touch

You may have an air lock.  Any air in the system will keep the water from flowing. Your system and BB's should have little air vents to vent the air.  Investigate these air vents (sometimes called "bleeder valves") and what they look like on-line and then start looking.  Under your hinged end covers you should find these mini air vents. They usually take a flat blade screw driver to open.  Turn the top slightly to the left.  It should spit and sputter air and water.  Once the air is gone and you only have water coming out close the vent and go to the next one.  Once all of the air is out of the system, the water will move and bring heat to the area. (Look up air vents for hydronic heat systems, sometimes called key vents.) Also turn up the water pressure on you system.  It should be around 10 to 12 psi.  You have to have some water pressure in the system to drive the air out.


Removing the cover for this light fixture There are three prongs that hold a dome shape cover together. One of the prong is spring loaded.

Normally, you would push the cover to the direction of the spring loaded prong, then the spring would extend enough and you can take out the cover. However, for this one the prong did not extend enough to slip the cover out. The spring loaded prong moves about 1 cm, but that is not enough for the cover to fall off.  I tried to push it very hard, but it still does not extend enough.

Each prong is screwed from the inside, so I cannot take it off.

Is there some special way of taking the cover off?

Pull the spring-loaded prong away from the dome, and tip the dome below it - then pull the dome away from the other two prongs. Don't push the spring-loaded prong with the dome.

Simple geometry says that the required distance of movement to get
one prong clear is considerably less than what's need to clear the
ones at 120 degrees from it.
Trigonometry quantifies that to about half, if I'm constructing the
problem correctly in my head.


How can I fill a gap beneath windows? Outside my house, there is a gap visible below some of my windows. I have attached pictures to make it clear, since I don't know the terminology.

The gap is about the width of my thumb. I can see the insulation easily.

Should I fill this, and if so, how?

Gallery link: http://imgur.com/a/P3Sl6

Note: this question is different from my other question I recently asked here. This is specifically dealing with the windows, whereas the other question simply involves some decorative trim.

Backer rod and sealant can fill the joint. Provided the installation prevents bulk water infiltration, it provides an additional layer of protection. If the joint currently allows the passage of water, this is a stopgap versus reinstalling the windows properly.


Ryobi snowblower stalls seconds after starting So I've had a small Ryobi snowblower (40v, 20 in brushless model).
Been working fine for a few years now .. but just today I took it out, started it up .. and it immediately stalled. I hadn't yet started hitting snow ... just start it ... wait 2 s, stalls.
The "scoops' or whatever you call them are spinning .. (confirmed by having a 2nd person watching from in front) .. both batteries are showing full charged and I've tried both batteries.

I'm not sure what else to check or try ... hoping I don't need a trip to repair shop :)

Ok so I was unable to troubleshoot this on my own, and I checked the batteries out a few times, they seemed perfectly fine.  So took it into the shop, turns out the problem was a burned out motherboard.  Fixed under warranty, so that's good.

Just wanted to post the update here for anyone else encountering similar symptom.

Batteries are fine, no issues with them.

Cheers!


Is it common to caulk around the edges of vinyl tile instead of going underneath wood paneling? I have a guy going into a rental unit of mine to put in vinyl tile. I told him specifically that I wanted it under the base of the wall's wood molding (similiar to this stuff).

He was put off by this idea. Told me he wanted to use caulk instead and that it was a better option. I insisted because I thought he was corner cutting and he went under the molding like I had requested.

My question is though, now after researching this. It doesn't appear to be that much of a cut corner as I originally took it.

Is it common practice to caulk around the edges of vinyl tile in a kitchen instead of going underneath wood paneling?

Caulking from vinyl to quarter round isn't a very long-term solution.  The quarter round is small and flexible, the area is dirty, it sees a lot of traffic, it gets dirty.  The caulk will fail within a year or two of use and have to be scraped and redone.  Putting the flooring under the quarter round with no caulk is a much better solution.


New grout yesterday, efflorescence today - what do I do? I just finished grouting my kitchen floor with unsanded dark gray grout (near-black "charcoal" according to the box, also it contains portland cement). Not long after the first section I started noticing some efflorescence forming in a few places. At this point everything is done and it is a day old. Despite some attempts to mitigate, there is still quite a bit of efflorescence (very splotchy, but in many places).

Things I have tried:

Sponging sooner and with shorter waits in between, to try and reduce the total amount of time the grout was wet. Did not seem to make a difference.
Letting the grout sit and dry out longer in between passes with the sponge (10-15 min). Did not seem to make a difference.
Using a brass wire brush after curing. This worked well (aside from some mild depth to the grout lines, but the grout beneath was revealed to be much lighter than the "charcoal" color. A bummer but this got the most uniform result.

So 2 questions:

For next time, what stategies are the most effective at mitigating this?

Are there types of grout that don't have this problem (or to a lesser degree)?
Can I buy some kind of additive?
How likely is it that something I am doing during application is the issue? What should I be mindful of?

For this time, what can I do now?

The wire brush works, but the grout underneath is lighter than the untouched areas without efflorescence (not sure why). Also, if I brush an area without the efflorescence, that is lighter underneath too. I realize I may have to live with that, which is unfortunate but I'm cool with it.
Would using muriatic acid get me different results, or would it more or less be similar to the brush method (perhaps without removing as much material)?

The efflorescence is just a bit of salts that precipitated at the surface of the grout. Stop wire brushing it and wash it with a scrub brush, with a dilute solution of muriatic acid and warm water, that should take care of the problem.

Next time use a bit less water when mixing your grout, if it is soupy then that is too much water. Always let your grout slake, as (likely) described in the mixing instructions.

You should be sponging as you go, dirty sponge/clean sponge, with well wringed sponges, rinsing and changing bucket water frequently. This helps remove salt-carrying water from the grout surface before it can dry into an efflorescent crust or residue. Always follow up with an acidic "haze" sponging.


How can I reduce the noise of a street in front of the house? Situation: A rented flat with a busy street right in front of it.
The bed room faces towards the street with a window front.
As the flat is rented I can not build something permanently like new windows or a wall. I already thougt about styrofoam plates, other foam or heavy curtains but don't know what is usable.

According to a municpial computer model the noise is between 55-75 dbA in 4m height from the ground. The flat is like 10-15m from the ground.

How could I reduce the noise from the street?

Edit: As it was suggested that this question is a duplicate of this one and this one: I don't have a garden and can not set up a wall. My question is only about inhouse insulation.

Edit 2: The noise is mostly a problem during bedtime as it disturbs the sleep. Foam earplugs are not a solution for everyone due to medical reasons.

I use a white noise generator while sleeping.  These devices can provide a neutral sound that is fairly relaxing, while drowning out most of the street noise.

This isn't a 100% solution, but it's something that sits on your night stand/dresser and doesn't have to cost a lot.  It can also be taken with you on vacation.

These usually have multiple options for sounds, so if you like trains, ocean waves, birds, or whatever, there's probably a setting for you.  Mine has 11 options (IIRC), and I use the rain storm option exclusively.

I think I've even heard of phone apps to do the same thing.

You might be able to get a white noise generator device with an oil/scent option, to further help relaxing.  This is usually a paper or cotton pad that you put scented oil on, which has a tiny fan to under it to spread the aroma.  I never used it, but it's something to think about.

FYI, pink noise is not white noise.


How is a pipe nipple's length measured? Like many items which have "trade sizes" it seems a little ambiguous what the length of a pipe nipple actually means.

For instance, if I see a 4" pipe nipple advertised, what portion of the object is the 4" a measurement of? Is it even a measurement at all? (like 2x4 is not really 2" by 4"...)

Looking at various shopping websites doesn't actually make this very clear. And unfortunately I don't have any examples on hand to examine. Even if I did, I'm not sure if this is an industry "standard" or not.

I looked at some manufacturer's documentation. Short answer: the stated size is the total length of the pipe nipple including the threaded sections.
This does appear to be consistent among manufacturers (at least in the US / North American market).
Also an important detail is that the length of the threaded sections is standard for each pipe diameter. So with a little information you can figure out what length the unthreaded middle portion of the pipe nipple has.
Length diagram from Anvil Intl.:

Alternate
And their accompanying diagram of the available standard nipple lengths. What's important about this is the "close" lengths - these are nipples that are fully threaded, and so its the shortest total length they could be at that diameter. If you subtract this from any of the others you get the unthreaded length.
Example: a 1" size pipe 6" long. The close length is 1 1/2", so the remaining unthreaded portion must be 3 1/2". (Plus or minus 1/8" as noted on the first diagram).

These documents state "APPLICABLE SPECIFICATION: ASTM A733" which means, I think, that these measurements should be consistent among manufacturers.


No C for new thermostat I bought a new thermostat, and I need a C connector, but its missing on the unit. There is no C what so ever, but I do have a B and O connector, maybe I can use one of them for the C.

Please see the attached schematic from my machine and a pic of the connector/wiring itself.

It's all in a name

The silly folks who made your air handler decided to call their C terminal a B terminal instead, perhaps because it has a blue wire hooked up to it in the wiring diagram.  This blue wire goes to CN-1, which connects to the blue wire (return) from the fan relay and to the blue/black return wire to the transformer.

So, hook your thermostat C wire up to the B terminal and call it a day.


On a final project of residential automation, where should I put my Arduino? In a final project, where should I put my Arduino board and it's relay modules cases?
Maybe should I do an electric panel only for this purpose, or have other most simple solution?
Thanks in advanced.

In a project box, on or in a wall. Like an alarm system or other low-voltage gear.


Whole house dehumidifier- freestanding vs vented I’m considering the purchase of a Dehumidifier for our basement, to avoid mustiness in the unfinished/unconditioned portion. I want a nicer quality HVAC-grade unit, both for energy-usage reasons and because I’m not impressed with the quality of hardware-store freestanding models (plastic-box on cheap wheels.. you know the kind.)

Looking at something HVAC-grade like the “Aprilaire 1850” or “Santa Fe Impact” — and there are other good ones too — I see that sometimes they come in Freestanding and Ducted models.

Am I correct that the only difference (e.g. between the 1850 and 1850F) is the plastic “fluting” to accept HVAC ducting, and a small difference in price?

If so, is there any reason why I wouldn’t want the duct-able version? That way if I wanted to attach it into the HVAC system later, I could.

I have installed dehumidifiers in the past. The only difference I saw was that free standing models have a catch basin.

The built-in models require a drain or a pump in the tray, to pump the water to a drain, but otherwise, they work the same way.

For ducted models using the pressure of your HVAC system, there is a flow switch to start the compressor when the blower fan is running in "heat mode".


Why did I have to change the wiring to use a smart WiFi thermostat? I just installed a Emerson Sensi wifi thermostat.It works, and I ran a separate C wire. I had a 24 volt 5 wire Robertshaw programable thermostat that ran my boiler, air handler and AC. It is all single stage. On the old thermostat the W wire went to the Taco boiler control and made a loop back to the common side of the transformer in the 20 year old air handler. RH, RC ( jumper removed), powers the T stat,is on the hot side of the transformer. G goes to the fan control and Y goes to the AC condenser.It did not have a common, which I added to the Sensi with a new wire

When I wired the Sensi up with the same configuration, and the new C wire, it did not energize the heat zone on the Taco controller when the Sensi calls for heat.. I called Emerson and they told me I had to take the return loop from the Taco and attach it to the same hot side of the transformer that the RH and RC are connected to (they are now all wire nutted together). Nobody at Emerson can tell me why the W wire leaves the Sensi on one side of the transformer, and returns to the same side of the transformer. This goes against typical thermostat wiring and my old configuration. It also is not how the G (fan) wire and the Y (AC) are configured. They return to the common side.

Does anyone understand why this new thermostat actually works in this situation. It baffles me. The people at Emerson are very nice, but they are only reading from their manuals. They are clueless about how this stuff works.

The boiler probably has its own transformer. Removing the RH-RC jumper allows the thermostat to close the switch that the boiler needs closed; not powered.


What's the best way to waterproof a concrete structure for a tropical climate? I am constructing a building from reinforced concrete and AAC blocks in Indonesia.

The building will have a flat (2% sloping) roof of reinforced concrete. This will be exposed to tropical rain, as will a overhanging canopy. It will also have foot traffic, leaves, detritus, etc.

I understand that it is important that the roof not leak, in order to avoid water entering into the building, and the canopy also not leak, in order to prevent the rebar rusting and failing over time.

As the roof and canopy are yet to be constructed, I may have the choice of coatings after pouring, concrete additives/modification as part of the pour, or both.

I can find in terms of coatings:

'waterpoofing slurry' based on resin modified cementious material (this is supplied as a bag of cement-like powder with a solvent) - this needs to be protected by cement screed as it is not UV stable
waterproofing mortar - (cement to which water is added)
' a cold applied, one component waterborne liquid applied
waterproofing membrane', a 'Polyurethane modified Acrylic Dispersion'. Apparently this may also enhance solar reflectivity. There is an optional 120g weight polyester fleece, which is a polyester fleece product, you can apply at the same time.
A combination of non-woven polyester membrane, and 'UV-resistant acrylic emulsion'
" one component, liquid elastic waterproofing coating, based on styrene-acrylics copolymers in aqueous dispersion reinforced with fiber to increase the tensile strength of the product. It forms a flexible, waterproofed and durable film layer"
ATACTIC POLY PROPYLENE (APP) MODIFIED BITUMEN-BASED WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE
WITH NON-WOVEN POLYESTER FELT REINFORCEMENT WITH SAND BROADCAST  (i.e. you melt bitumen onto the roof, and there's sand on top)
self-adhesive, rubber modified, bituminous sealing tape - this is a roll of tape, so I guess you would not use it for a whole roof, but only for small areas
steel corrosion inhibitor - surface-applied (for the canopy only, which technically doesn't need to be waterproof)

Or concrete admixture:

Watertight/superplasticising (HRWR) concrete admixture (Combination Fatty Acid and Polycarboxylate )
Crystalline admixture

What's the best way to go? It seems like an admixture might save time and effort? But is it sufficient?

I would use the HRWR admixture to help seal the concrete. Alone, it might not be the best roofing solution, but it's well worth the minor cost for the extra protection.

The biggest problem that I heard was foot traffic. Normally I would recommend EPDM, but I'm not so sure about foot traffic. This sounds more like a terrace, in which case, silicone cement is most commonly used.

However, something like a layer of asphalt would be more durable. This could be layered over steel. I would consider using coal tar (sealer) on top of the asphalt (which works better than bitumen/petrol tar) for shedding water. However, using coal tar is against roofing codes (causes cancer) in most of the world.

But one alternative that was not mentioned would be a green or living roof. I don't really know much about the materials involved, but in a tropical climate, it might be best to just go with the flow (in a sense). Fighting the elements can sometimes be harder than working with them.


Did the previous painter neglect to prime? The paint on our house is peeling badly.  It's yellow paint over wood siding (clapboard).  When I scrape, I get pieces of paint that are yellow on both sides, and bare wood underneath.  Does that mean that the previous owner failed to use primer?

It would appear to be that way.  There should be a layer of primer.  If they did I am sure you would have seen some white on the other side instead of just yellow.


How do I properly ventilate my pantry? I live in a very old appartment which has a food pantry in the kitchen. The pantry has a wall outside and on that wall is a hole.

What do I have to put in that hole in order to match with the pantry requirements?

I'm tempted to say that venting a pantry outside could be a bad idea as I imagine it would be a very attractive smell to rodents who will find their way in.  You'd also be forcing conditioned air outside for no real reason which will just increase utility costs.

As suggested in the answer by The Evil Greenbo, two passive vents would probably do the trick just to get the air circulating, and then you could fill the exterior hole.

If you need more airflow you could try a fan in the room, or even just leaving the door open a bit.


what can the county do if my shed violate zoning distance? So, here is the issue. Me being stupid, decided to start building a 12 x 16 shed. (sits on wood foundation)

THEN I started researching what the county permits. The shed has a setback of either 5 or 10 feet (dont know my zone) if its bigger than 120 sqft, which it is. (from what I read - can be wrong i will be calling on friday)

I placed it 3 feet instead. I invested over $4,000 in it with electrical, which passed inspection from a electrical company.

the state is colorado and county is el paso in colorado springs.

YAY ME! so, what can a county do? Can they force me to take it down? if I dont?

Usually the penalties are right there in the code. My town, it's a fine of  $50/day from the time it was built until the time it's corrected; i.e. not a trivial amount. It will vary with the Local Area Having Jursidiction (LAHJ) so only someone from your immediate area would know what might apply to you.

As with most laws, ignorance is not considered a valid excuse, and generally will not sway the zoning board (which is usually what holds sway over this sort of thing, in my area, anyway.)


LED Bulbs won't fit my garage door opener These are the last bulbs in the house that I have not been able to change over to LED.

You might be thinking to yourself, they only turn on for 1 minute, what is the big deal. I've started to notice if both bulbs are plugged in and you run the opener too many times, the opener starts to over heat. No bulbs, and the opener keeps going like the energizer bunny.

I've tried almost every single LED bulb that I've been able to get my hands. And the hole is designed for only this type of bulb unfortunately.

Any Suggestions?

The plate where the bulbs sit is not screwed in, it's welded into the opener. I thought about making the hole bigger, but worry about damaging the opener.

I do think the opener is named incorrectly - it should be Ambass-a-door. But that doesn't affect the solution:

Get an extender

IMHO, $2.74 isn't much compared to the hassle of cutting a hole in sheet metal and risking ruining a functional garage opener.


Why does my washer trip circuit breaker on sanitize cycle? Bought this machine used and the seller failed to mention this to me or this is a problem with my wiring.

All cycles complete 100% on this machine (LG model WM2277HW), except for the aforementioned "Sanitary" cycle. That cycle is one of the reasons my wife wanted to purchase this.

Anyway, I've done general troubleshooting and I'm somewhat lost.  I've got 123 volts at my outlet, which is a dedicated line straight to the breaker box with a 20 amp breaker (I have swapped around breakers and their location within the box).  I replaced the old outlet (I could feel it getting hot) to no avail.

LG service manual says I can check water temp by pressing and holding the Wash/Rinse button.  During the sanitary cycle, the display shows the water temp slowly rising, as there is an independent water heater inside this unit (which I believe is only used during the sanitize cycle).  At some point that I'm not certain of, the breaker trips.  If I hear it I can run over to the breaker box, reset it, turn the unit back on, start the cycle again and it will trip it at the very beginning of the cycle instead of halfway through.  If I wait a couple minutes, it will run the cycle again without tripping in the beginning.  If I open the door up, the water has definitely been heated and I can see steam.

I've run tests (very high RPM spin speed, water cycling, heater on/off) as indicated in the service manual and nothing trips the breaker.  All this leads me to believe I've maybe got some exposed insulation in that line and after the washer has been pulling a lot of amps for a while the heat is causing expansion and then a short develops.  Or both of the breakers I tested are faulty.

Does this sound feasible or is this more than likely a control board/ heater element issue in the washer?  I know I need to test it on another line, but I don't have another dedicated line anywhere close.  I could plug it into the other bathroom circuit, remove all load and test there.  Will that work?

My thought process:

Heater element is working long enough to raise temp considerably,
indicating non-faulty.
Tumbler works on regular cycle, indicates no-fault
Drain pump works on regular cycle, no-fault
Circulation pump works (though rather loudly) on regular cycle, no-fault
This leaves the outlet, wire, or breaker as most likely culprit

As mentioned by @Steven. You'll want to get yourself an ammeter, and figure out how much current the appliance is drawing. While shopping for the meter, you'll want to look for a "Peak Hold" feature (though it might go by other names depending on the manufacturer). This feature will allow the meter to retain the highest measured value. That way you don't have to monitor the meter.
Remember when using the meter, you have to clamp it only around one of the circuit wires. If you clamp it around the cord; for example, you'll always get a reading of 0. The best way to do this, is to clamp the meter around the ungrounded (hot) conductor in the panel where it connects to the breaker.
Circuit breakers include overload protection, which is also known as thermal protection. This is typically a bimetallic strip, that pulls the contacts open if it gets too hot. This type of protection is time delayed, since the device has to physically heat up. If the current through the breaker is really high (but less than what trips the magnetic protection), the device will heat up quicker and react more quickly.  In your case, however, it's more likely that the current is just high enough to cause the breaker to slowly overheat. This would explain why letting it cool down (waiting), would allow it to run longer once reset.
Your intuition could also be correct, and a loose connection could be exacerbated by the heating due to high current draw.
In either case, an ammeter will be a useful tool to start diagnosing this issue.
NOTES:

If the breaker is a GFCI breaker, the sanitize cycle could simply be leaking too much current.
If the breaker is an AFCI breaker, the sanitize cycle may be doing something strange that the AFCI is picking up.
Thermal protection in circuit breakers can be affected by the ambient temperature, and the temperature inside the panel. So if the panel is in a really hot location, it could trip before it typically would/should.

Update:
Now that it's clear that the circuit is protected by an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) circuit breaker, I'd like to change my answer.  While an ammeter is useful, and testing the max. current draw might be useful.  I suspect that the machine is doing something during the sanitize cycle, that the AFCI doesn't like.


How many bags of concrete do I need? I would like to make a small concrete slab of the following dimensions.

Length: 1.2m
Width: 0.86m
Depth: 0.09m

The cubic volume as i understand it is all those numbers multiplied.
result: 0.0929m2

If a bag of pre-mix concrete says
0.2m2 x 50mm

How many bags would I need?

Update: Brick BBQ construction. I am doing this for "homework" :)

I would say 10 or 11 bags (depending on how sloppy you are).

0.2 * .05 = .01

.0929 / .01 = 9.29 bags

Since you never get perfect yield from a bag, I would personally go with 11 bags.


How to fix when water is not sinking from bathroom and balcony? It's my first question on this site, even though I have toured it but still if my question is not to the conventions of this site please let me know and I shall try to improve it.
I live on the 3rd floor in my building, yesterday when I got home after work and went to wash myself in bathroom (I want to stress that it's not toilet but the bathroom) I found that water is not sinking into the sink rather it is still there and my bathroom has become a pool. The first step that I did was the obvious one, I poured acid (acid is colloquial term for that hard toilet cleaner) into the sink, pierced some pointed materials into it's holes (my sink looks like this, it is at the corner of my bathroom), and finally used the bathroom suction cup. But unfortunately nothing worked well, it then stroke me that the sink is clear but the drainage pipe might be clogged. I came out and found that my balcony had water coming out from it's sink, it became quite a mystery of how it could happen. Let me give you a sketch of room (the bathroom is attached)

And after contacting to other society members, I found that people just below me (that is on flats immediately below me on 2nd and 1st floor) have no such drainage problem. Considering that the water is not going down the drainage pipe but flowing out of the balcony sink seems to suggest that the pipe line from my bathroom sink and pipe line from balcony's sink get connected to the main drainage pipe and at the joint there is a clog and hence instead of water flowing down it gets transferred to the adjacent pipe (that is from bathroom to balcony and vice versa). After talking to the owner of building and the plumbers, I can present this picture of pipe lines:

(Those red lines are the connecting pipes, connecting the sinks to the main drainage pipe). The joint seems to be clogged and because of that water from bathroom sink flows through the red pipe (red is just for reference to thee picture) and due to blockage doesn't go to down but flows through the red pipe connecting the balcony's sink.
I know the last option that is left to me is to call the high-tech plumbers, they will cut the walls and the floors to go to the joint and will find something. But this process is long, it will take 3 to 4 days or even longer with lot of cost and destruction of well arranged house (cutting of wall, and deconstruction of bathroom floor). Is there something that I can do that will not involve the deconstruction and solves my issue? Is it possible to suck out all the water that is stagnant in pipe by some suction pump and then pouring some hard cleaning liquid that will fix the scum?

they will cut the walls and the floors to go to the joint and will find something

Try to find plumbers that don't tear down half the building to find they now see the outside of pipes, while the problem is in the inside ;-)
Instead find a plumber with a device that, as you described, can suck water out of the pipes first, then uses another device to go in the pipes and clean whatever is there.
It shouldn't be hard to find one with a camera device that can look at what is going on inside.
Btw. putting acid or any kind of cleaner into a pipe where the cleaner would have to go through a lot of water until it reaches the clog doesn't make sense.
You will end up with a pipe still full of water and the dangerous cleaner on top. That means you don't suck only water out of the pipe but also stuff that shouldn't get in contact with you.


Extra wires on dual switch install I installed a ceiling fan with a light fixture in place of a light fixture and ran an extra wire from the ceiling fan to the switch. Would now like to install a dual switch to control fan and light independently. I have 4 wires at the switch now and am not sure how to connect two of the wires to the new switch.

I have a red wire to the fan and I know this goes to the fan wire on the new switch. I have another red that is traveling both up to the fixture and down to an outlet or another switch, I believe. I think this is the hot wire as it was connected to the common screw on the single switch.

I also have two purple wires going to the switch one connected to the top right and one to bottom left, both of which are heading up in the conduit. I know that the wiring goes to a smoke detector before arriving at the ceiling fan/light fixture, if this is important.

There are two white wires traveling through the box. I believe those are neutral. I'd appreciate some insight. Can this switch be installed here? And if so, where do I connect the purple wires?

Was it a single pole switch to begin with? Before running your own wire, there should have just been two wires tied to the switch (and a ground); the power coming in and the wire running out to the old light. The other wires should not be wired to the switch unless you want the switch to cut the items off as well (if they are downstream of it).

I drew up a quick, crude sketch of what you'll need to run this setup, regardless of what else is there. Get it down to the basics first and work up is the best way to troubleshoot.

Coming into your box should be the main hot line, I believe you said it was red. Pigtail off of it to the two commons on your new double switch and wire nut them all together.

Next, take your old wire that ran to your light and connect it to one of the other screws. This is where you'd decide which switch to control which item.

Take your new wire that you ran from your fan and connect it to the last screw. Then back at your fan/light, wire one of the lights to the fan and one to the light. Twist together and cap off the neutrals and you should have a working system.

I'm not certain of what those other wires are there for based on your description.. were they connected to the old switch? But, this will get the fan and light working.

Also, like mentioned in Iggy's answer, this won't allow you to control the fan speed from the switch, it'll just cut it on and off.


We noticed a small puddle in the basement due to melting ice but it has not happened since - should I still replace patch on foundation wall? We noticed a small puddle during a warmer period last week and traced it back to the foundation wall. I removed the drywall and insulation (it was only on top half of wall) and found that the previous owner had patched over a small crack at that spot. They seem to have done a very thorough job and the patch seems fine but it was slightly damp - not wet - to touch so we assume this was the source of the puddle.

Since then we have also cleared the ice around the downspouts and drainpipes and even extended the drain pipes to go further from the house - and we have not seen any water in basement since!!

So - do I need to do anything about this? I am wondering:

Should I remove and then re-patch the spot that seemed to be the source of the first leak?
Should I just put a moisture alarm in there and replace the drywall/insulation again?
Should I just focus on just keeping water and ice away from the house for next year?

As mentioned - there has not been any further leak noticed since we improved the drainage in the area.

When a crack appears in the house/basement, it usually is the last place to show that something is wrong on the outside. Your actions were a good step into the right direction. Since the previous owner seemed to have the same problem you should explore the reason.If your house sits on higher ground than the surroundings you should be ok with just the actions that you took and you could just dig that spot up and patch and seal it from the outside. If it is a low spot, you should consider putting  drainage in.General rule...your house should be sitting on ground that is as dry as possible. Moisture goes in cracks, freezes and makes cracks bigger. If not taken care of you could end up with costs to rebuild and not only that wall but more since the next step would be a moving house!!!


Painting Ikea Stora Loft Bed My wife and I were able to get an Ikea Stora Loft bed for my 2 year old son for free.  We thought it was a bunk bed and that it was dark brown, but it turns out its a bed on stilts and is black.  I like the size of the bed for him and the fact it has railings, so i told my wife I would try to make it work.

I need to do two things to get it to work:
1. Cut the legs to make the bed regular or lower than regular height.
2. Paint the bed an espresso brown

Cutting the legs wont be a problem, I dont think.  Just take off enough to have it sit at the height we want and put the pin in the bottom, even though it will be going on carpet

For painting, should I sand off the old paint first? It looks like its made out of pine. All websites say to use primer and just paint over it.  I have an orbital sander and its not a heavy coat of paint. Should I sand, prime and repaint?  Priming and painting over the original paint will save time, but I'd like it to last.

I plan on using a foam roller to paint, just need to know what primer/paint I need to get.

Sanding is going to take a huge amount of time and for an IKEA bed I don't think it will be worth it. I think I would just paint it with white primer and then the colour you want.


Increasing flow rate on a whole-house humidifier I've got an Aprilaire 550 on my furnace, but it basically never hits the humidity target. I know it's on (I can see microbubbles moving through the tube between the solenoid and the sponge), but there's no water coming down the drain tube, and the sponge is basically dry. Should there be excess water? Should the sponge be wet to the touch? There's a strainer and a restrictor in the plastic tube after the solenoid - I'm tempted to widen the hole in it, but not sure what's the expected behavior.

You can take the line off after the solenoid and clean out the orfice carefully (do not enlarge the hole) and the strainer. Shut off the water supply, remove the tubing to the solenoid, place the end in a bucket and flush out the tubing. Reconnect the supply tubing, turn on the water, get a catch basin or cup to catch the water and turn on the humidifier for a few seconds to insure that the solenoid is opening and not plugged. Reassemble the solenoid discharge tubing, and anything else that you had to take apart. Turn on the dehumidifier' Water should run into the humidifier distribution tray and drip onto and thru the filter pad. The excess water will drain out the bottom of the humidifier through the tubing and into the floor drain. If you have a manual that came with the humidifier read it first to get familiar with the layout and parts you will be cleaning. The service company should inspect and service this humidifier yearly.


Air admittance valves on waste pipe with extraction Just move into a new apartment which is on the upper floor of three. The bathrooms of each apartment are directly above one another. I believe that the exhaust vents of the bathrooms in the apartments below are connected to the main soil waste pipes, as is the exhaust vent in my own bathroom. I know they should be separately vented but these are old Victorian properties with no other vent options for the flats below. I can easily install separate venting for my own bathroom fan.

I have noticed a drain smell since moving in. I have just discovered that:

The 4" waste pipe is connected to the 3" roof pipe with gaffer tape. The connection is under my bath and effectively unsealed with the result that the waste pipe vents into my bathroom.
To make matters worse, there is another break in the 3" pipe behind the tiled rear wall of the bathroom. It is impossible to reconnect it to the roof vent without breaking into the wall.

So even if I fix the connection under the bath, the waste pipe will vent behind the wall.

My question is, can I just cap the waste pipe where it terminates under the bath with an air admittance valve, bearing in mind that the exhausts from the bathroom fans below vent into the waste pipe?

My concern is that the fans could cause a build up of air pressure in the waste pipe. Would the air just escape down the sewer?

See comment above, this is a condo/owned property, not a rented apartment.

Since the other bathrooms vent into this pipe you cannot simply cap with an AAV.  The air flow from the fans will dry out and empty traps, leading to sewer gases elsewhere.

You need to break into that wall and fix it properly.


I am installing a Honeywell RTH6580WF with a TACO SR504 The current installation does not have a C wire.  So I have run an extra wire and am now confused as to where to connect it.  There is a 24VAC connection and a common connection.   Comments say that the C wire provides 24VAC.  Does that mean it connects to the 24VAC at the TACO or because it is common, it connects to Common.

Connecting to 24VAC shows 24VAC between R and C and 0 VAC between W and C.
Connecting to common shows 0VAC between R and C and 24VAC between W and C.

Color me puzzled

Any guidance?  Thanks

I had the exact same problem.  The 24volt term seemed to test 24 volts with the red wire and the COM tested 24 with the white.  It was wired with thermostat wires at Taco right red and left white.  4 thermostats and 2 days later the only solution was.  Wire all "common" wires to the COM terminal and reverse white and red on thermostat.  I did not want to rewire the TACO.  This worked perfect.


New construction built on frozen ground = house settling 3" from north to south We are in the process of building a new home. Our foundation and framing guy built through the winter, assuring us that they install wood basements all year. We have a wood basement with a wood floor and a 2" x 6" framed home on the wood basement foundation.  The frost has come out of the ground and our house has "settled" 3" on one whole side.  Our house is designed to load at 2,000 Psf and our soil (sand) supports 4,000 Psf so it's not a soil problem. Any suggestions? I just need my floors to be level!

Get your foundation and framing guy to deal with it. It should be his problem, since it's certainly his fault.

That may take your contract (one hopes it has appropriate language) and a lawyer, or not, depending on how much integrity he does or does not have.


water in some corners of cement crawlspace I have a large crawlspace. I have seen water in two corners of the crawlspace. Not standing water or anything, just dampness... just enough water that I know there is water getting in. It's not just the dirt, it's the actual cement of the foundation that is getting wet, and it gets slightly worse when it rains.

I had a general contractor suggest to me that the dirt on the corners of the house needs to be graded away from the house. That's obviously something that can and should be done, but it doesn't seem like an actual fix, rather a temporary solution.

EDIT:
It seems that the solution would be to slope the soil away from the foundation.

Reworded question:

What's the best method to re-grade/slope the soil around the foundation to move water away from the house?  Are there special types of soil that can/should be used?

What the contractor is "full of" is excellent advice.

If you really want to spend money like you have a firehose connected to your wallet, dig out around the outside of the house to the footings and put drains there which slope out to daylight (or a sump if you want to be beholden to a sump, and its pump forever) - and coat the walls while you have it open, but the drains are the important part of that job. It's the ultimate drainage retrofit (and SHOULD be done as a matter of course any time a footing/foundation is poured, as that's the only time it's CHEAP to do, since the hole is already there and open), and it STILL goes with fixing the grade around the house when you refill the hole.

If you "dig back on the corners" and coat them, you'll "magically" get leaks elsewhere along the walls - if you are going to dig, dig all the way around and get that over with so you can drain it properly.

It's a far more economically sensible approach to start with removing the source of water trying to drain into the basement in the first place by fixing the grade. There are other relatively less expensive steps you can take as well while doing that, such as laying a plastic or EDPM rubber barrier under the soil that slopes away from the house for some distance, without involving digging all the way down to the footings. But you don't have to be economically sensible, if that's against your principles.

Unless you are 10 feet tall, 7 feet is a basement, by the way. Not one with a lot of headroom, perhaps not one you can finish under some codes, but if you can stand up in it, it's a basement...


Are mice dying in my loft? I have a downstairs toilet that protrudes from the side of the house. As a result, it has a loft area that is not accessible without cutting into the plasterboard ceiling.

Mice are fairly common in the area due the woodlands opposite the house, so it wasn't a surprise when I started hearing noises in the space above the toilet. What I have noticed recently are some dark orange spots appearing on the ceiling. Some now have droplets hanging from them.

Could this be decomposing mice in the loft space?

It's worth noting that last year some water damage had occurred which has (hopefully) been fixed.

The presence of the droplets seems to indicate that there is still a water leak in the roof of the bumpout. The discoloration is likely coming from the accumulated dirt and dust in the "attic" part of the bumpout. It is also possible that the discoloration is coming from the leak water pooling in an area where the mice deposited their droppings and then finding its way through the drywall on the bathroom ceiling.


What's the recommended way to install the wall mounting spacer? I'm building a besta cabinet. I'm following the instructions.

I'm on step 8 (page 13). It says to push the spacers (item number 141413) into the holes. I got them in a tiny bit, but no matter how hard I push, it won't go in any further. It's like the holes aren't big enough.

I called ikea, and the person at the store didn't have any suggestions except watching videos online, and all of the besta videos I've seen don't have anything about this spacer, it looks like this is a new model, because the other videos have different things on the back.

I could probably rig something like a thick sheet of metal or something to give me a place to hammer against, but that seems like the wrong thing. What else can I try?

I would try to gently compress them in with pliers (ordinary slip joint or channel locks) or a clamp (e.g., a C-clamp).  Use a scrap of wood as a protector on the outside to prevent damage to the finish. You might have to alternate from one pin to the other until both are easier to push in. Do the pins or the holes have a means to avoid resistance from trapped air?


Ceiling fan light flickers one time when fan is turned off with switch We recently updated our knob and tube wiring to grounded wiring. We have a ceiling fan with a light (I believe it is Merwry 52 in Integrated LED Indoor from Home Depot, but not positive - it came with the house).
Problem: When we use the switch to turn off the fan (with the light off), the light flicks once as the power switches off.
-This does not happen when the fan is turned off with the remote.
-Both the fan and light are on the same switch.
-It is not a dimmer switch.
Is this a wiring issue?
Is this an issue with the LED light?
Why does this occur with the switch and not the remote?

i don't think there's anything wrong with it per se, that's just how it's made/designed. The cause is quite complex, but I'll try to explain.
Keep in mind that the built-in LED is very sensitive to even small amounts of power.
When you use the remote to turn it off, a tiny computer in the fan either tells the LED's DC power supply to turn off, or it disconnects the LEDs from the DC power using a transistor, and the light shuts cleanly off.
When you use the switch, that tiny computer is unplugged and cannot control anything, so the effect is indeterminate. There's enough residual power in the power supply that finds it's way to the LEDs without a controller controlling. It could even be generated (literally) by the fan still spinning, inducing a current that flows back into the incoming supply and drains the only place it can; the light.
At any rate, it's harmless, if annoying. You could hack apart the fan and make some adjustments to the circuitry, but that will void the warranty, bother your insurance, and risk breaking things, all for a rather small payout.