furnace blower motor vibration when working hard A few weeks ago my furnace developed a vibration that can be heard throughout the house.  If I remove the side panel of the furnace or if I remove the filter, the vibration goes away.  My theory is that the fan works fine when it doesn't have to work hard but when pulling air through the filter (which is new) it has to work harder and vibrates.

My questions are:  does this make sense?  And if so, how can I troubleshoot it further?

-Edit- the old piece of junk ended up dying yesterday.  We are replacing the unit.

I read this post last night when one of the blowers in my system started vibrating, shaking the entire house. The comments above encouraged me to look into it myself, and I wanted to share what I've found in my case for the benefit of anyone in a similar situation.

In my case, it seems the Installation Instructions were left inside the unit and pages of it got jammed on the blades, causing the imbalance.
After I removed these, everything went back to normal. The AC is 6 years old, so these instructions must have been there since the installation, probably taped to a side panel internally.


How to connect a 4-wire range from this panel? I am trying to connect a new 4-wire range in a new location in my house. When I removed the old cover I see 3-wires connected 1) red 2) black, and 3) green.

If I understand correctly, red and black are 110v each, and green is ground. I picture a rod in the ground for green. Neutral in another hand, I picture it as a wire taking back electrons to the station.
Now when I open the panel - I noticed that the neutral (white) and the ground (green) are connected to the same bar on both sides of the panel.

So my questions are as follows:
-- Why are white and copper (ground) come from the same bar?
-- How do I use this setup to connect a 4-wire system?
Side note: My new range allows for a 3-wire setup - maybe all is possible with my house.

This is your main panel so grounds and neutrals are allowed to be attached to the same bars.
You'll need a four wire whip, probably provided, from you new range, to your outlet box. Connect your black to black, red to red, white to white and green to bare copper. The black and the white wires should be 120 Volts phase to neutral and 240 Volts phase to phase.
Check your instruction booklet and it will tell you how to remove any jumper from neutral to ground on your range.
Make sure your range amperage does not exceed the breaker and wires that are feeding your range circuit.
If your range didn't come with a 4 wire whip, you might be able o add the white wire depending on the FMC size.


Blind stop for replacement window in rough opening http://www.homedepot.com/p/American-Craftsman-27-75-in-x-53-25-in-70-Series-Pro-Double-Hung-Vinyl-Window-2854786/204814587

I am following the guide at above link. This is for replacement windows from home depot. It mentions if there is no blind stop I will have to rebuild it.
Is this absolutely neccessary? What is its purpose, and what is a good resource for rebuilding it?
I currently just have a rough opening (down to studs), and I am not sure what I may need other than the replacement window.

If I purchased the new construction window, which is nailed from the outside, would this have the stop as a part of the window?

Photos of the opening

Exterior:

Interior:

Replacement windows are not designed to be installed in rough openings. They are designed to be installed inside of an existing window opening with the sashes removed.

If the exterior side of the wall has been stripped down to the sheathing, you would want to use a new construction window.  If it hasn't (or it can't reasonably be done), you likely won't be able to integrate the window flashing of a new construction window into the wall's vapor barrier. If this is the case, you'll need to rebuild the window jamb and casing inside your rough opening and install an exterior stop for your replacement window to sit against in the opening (this is simply a band of trim around the inside of the jamb).

Edit

From the photos, it appears that the existing window that was removed was similar to a mobile home window (it was a single unit with an integrated jamb).  In order to prep the opening for the replacement window, you'll need to build the parts of the opening that the replacement window assumed would already be in place.

First, you'll want to remove the 1x that was already added to the opening - it appears that it was installed flush with the exterior sheathing, but it also needs to be flush with surface of the interior wall so it doesn't leave a gap there when it's time to reinstall the interior trim.

Next, you'll basically do the same thing you did before, except you'll need to also need to install a 1x across the header on the top.  If it doesn't match the dimension of a standard milled lumber size, you'll need to get the next larger size and then either rip it or plane it until it is flush with where the trim will go on both sides. This is personal preference, but I'd get finish grade wood for this and install it with finish nails instead of screws.  This part is going to end up as part of the visible trim when you're done. Basically what you'll be doing in this step is building a jamb for the replacement window to sit in.

Once you have the jamb in, you'll need to install the exterior stop.  On a traditional window, this is the outer-most piece that forms the "channel" that the sash slides up and down in.  A replacement window re-purposes it as part of the exterior trim that would cover the any gaps between the window and the jamb.  I'd use a 1x1 or something similar for this. I usually see it referred to as "screen stop moulding" in the mill-work aisles locally. You'll need enough to go around your entire opening.

You'll want to find the there the replacement window is going to sit when it's centered in the opening, and then run a band of the stop strip all the way around the exterior side side of the jamb where it would meet the window:

The red "shaded" (forgive the horrible line drawing) area is where the window will go. The 1x1 is on the right.

After that is in place, install the replacement window following the manufacturer's instructions beginning at step 11.  In step 19, you'll be adding new trim instead of replacing what you'd have otherwise removed.  This would usually also be something like the 1x1 that you'll have on the other side, but can really be anything that covers the gap.


3 phase panel in shop showing weird voltage! I had a air compressor stop working.  It was buzzing. So I checked voltage.  It’s a single phase compressor one side is getting 120v the other is reading 224v. Upon further voltage testing I found that every two breakers is reading the same.  Most of my equipment that is double pull is now not working.

Mains from the power company read a:120 B: 230 C:120

Is my panel bad?

Looks like a feeder fuse(s) opened, measure a-b a-c and b-c , some of the measurements show voltages as they are feeding through other devices. If you measure low voltages at your main panel call your power company and tell them you have lost phases. This happens all the time in industrial sites where a fused feeder gets over loaded sometimes a short on 1 phase takes out a 2nd then the circuit breaker trips, you still have power on 1 leg so there is no breaker probably fuses at the pole.


What is the difference between “Planning Permission” and “Building Regulation” in the UK and when do I need to get them? It can be very confusing to know what is covered by “Planning-Permission” and what is covered by “Building Regulation”,  so can we have a short answer with links please.

Planning Permission determines whether you are allowed to make the change. The DirectGov site has information about when you need to apply. You need planning permission before you start building - ideally before you hire a builder. You will need architects plans to obtain permission.

It is possible to get planning permission retrospectively, but don't rely on this. If you fail you will have to demolish your extension/building and restore the site.

Building Regulations determine whether what you have built is legal (safety, insulation etc.). There's some information on the Government's Communities site

An inspector will visit your site at regular intervals or by appointment during the build to check that each stage meets the regulations. Work shouldn't start on the next stage until this has happened as you might have to redo aspects which would be a waste of time and money.

Some types/size of building/extension don't need planning permission, but will still need to pass inspection. The exemptions will depend on where you are.

This is probably one of those cases where quoting from the linked pages is a bad idea as these can and do change quite frequently and there may be local regulations which supersede the national ones (Conservation areas for example).


Small Drywall Tiles for Ceiling Im finishing my basement and I don't trust little drywall screws to hold a big and heavy sheet of drywall on the ceiling. Even when professionally installed and it's said to be conpletey safe statistically. So that said, since I dont want a suspended ceiling tile system I was wondering if I could simply cut my drywalls into small and light tiles and put them up.

It will require a lot more work to fill the gaps etc but can this work?
Don't try to convince me a bigger sheet professionally installed is safe - this is just for my own sanity :)

My thinking is: if one of those sheets come down it wont pull the rest of it down with it

All you accomplish by hanging small pieces and then taping all those joints is to add more fasteners and more lumps in your ceiling. The taped joints effectively make it all a single sheet, just as it would be if you hung larger sheets.

Do a little math and you'll realize that each fastener already only holds up a small bit of drywall, on average. Adding joints actually makes it all less stable.

Deal with your irrational fear and do it the right way. Add more fasteners if it lets you sleep at night, but I can't imagine that this is the only thing preventing that.


Garage door opens abruptly My garage door opens very abruptly and it's only a year old. Does it need oil or wd-40 and where?

Everything shakes like it's going to fall off the ceiling or come off rails.

Brand: Chamberlin
Lift master pro
1/3 hp

From my research for that particular model, I can see that it's a chain drive lifting system. If this is incorrect, please advise. The videos I've seen show a centrally located coaxial spring acting on a rod over the width of the door. Not visible in the video would be a set of spools with cables lifting the door from the edges/ends.

Machavity would be suggesting to disengage the lift mechanism by pulling on the red handle. The door springs should be powerful enough to allow you to lift the garage door manually, as when the power goes out and you want to leave anyway, or maybe return home, or just mow the lawn.

If you are unable to lift the door, examine the spools/pulleys at each end to ensure the cables are not wrapped over previous layers causing excessive friction and possibly wear.

Examine also the spring for breaks or slippage. Some people recommending using a spray lubricant on springs of this type. I'm not sure if the reasoning is to reduce friction, prevent rust, or both.

If you are able to easily lift the door, make note of the rollers in the tracks. They should move freely as well. Lubrication on the axles of the rollers is a good idea. Lubrication of the wheels in the tracks is not particularly effective, although it may quiet the roller noise by an insignificant amount.

If you have spring or pulley problems, the drive mechanism may be taking on a greater load than design allows. If the internal gearing is plastic (which is likely), the gears can slip, wear and occasionally have broken teeth. Manually lifting the door will bypass such failures.

With the door in the down position, with the red handle disengaged, actuate the opener and listen for slipping or skipping gears. Reverse direction once it reaches the open position until it locks into the red handle. It may be necessary to lift the door somewhat to make the red handle click into place.

A big part of repairing a problem of this sort is to isolate the source. The above steps may provide you the key information to solving the problem.


Can I vent a bathroom through the soffit if I use a product designed for it? I am looking for some clarification. I have been reading about installing an exhaust fan in a bathroom, and I have been reading that you should always vent to the outside, but I continue to read that you should never vent through the soffit.
I am not really sure what this means. Do they mean that you should not put the vent up to the soffit and hopes that it will go out, or do they mean that you should not even use a Soffit Vent designed for this.
I keep seeming devices like these Bathroom soffit vents and these which appear to be vents that get installed into the soffit, and then allow you to vent directly to the outside.

These devices seem like they would work, are these devices acceptable?

In the past I was a big fan of soffit vents. I figured if you used quality vents with a good back-draft damper, and sealed and insulated the duct well, it was a great way to vent bathrooms. There are several key benefits:

First and foremost, it avoids penetrating either the roof or a gable
wall, so it eliminates any risk of liquid water intrusion from
wind-blown rain or unsheltered gable walls. However problematic humid
air is for an attic, I think liquid water is an order of magnitude
worse..
It also allows for short efficient duct runs, keeps the duct low (in between
the floor joists), and therefore well underneath blown in insulation
(so you can use rigid duct and avoid the need for separate
insulation).
Finally using a soffit vent sort of creates a thermal trap- warm air
from inside the duct wants to rise not sink, so there should be less
heat less when the exhaust fan isn't running. Even with dampers at
the fan and the vent, those dampers are certainly not airtight. Often
the end of the duct often goes up a little bit before going down and
out the soffit vent, so that only enhances this thermal trap.

However despite all these benefits, which I think are significant, I'm starting to reconsider whether soffit venting is generally a good idea. I've done it this way in the past and I'm a little embarrassed that I never even considered the fact that a substantial portion of the exhaust air could get sucked right back into the soffit vent or adjacent soffit vents.

I do think that by closing off the soffit vents (into the attic) in the joist bay that you're venting from, and one on either side, will greatly mitigate this issue. The moisture should diffuse into the surrounding air very rapidly, especially when there even the slightest breeze. As will making sure the underside of these soffits is painted or otherwise moisture resistant. I also think it's important to realize that this is just bathroom air we're talking about, not a dryer vent, so while the air will be humid during showers it's not like we're blowing clouds of steam..

Also keep in mind that the whole point of soffit vents is to allow air to constantly wash along the underside of the roof decking, and remove any moisture from the attic, so any moist air that gets sucked in or condensation happening should be quickly removed- not saying that this can't possibly pose a problem (especially in winter), but I think there's a lot of built-in tolerance.

So I'm somewhat on the fence. I'm leaning towards thinking venting through a gable wall is better, especially if it is protected by an overhang, but I don't think soffit venting is as horrible as some make it out to be. And I would probably choose soffit venting over making another hole in the roof any day, for retrofit especially. I also think Dave makes a lot of good points.


Baseboard radiator pipes running along edge of room My house has baseboard radiators (water, not steam if it matters) and one room has the piping enter at the southwest corner, run all the way along the west wall, then feed the heaters on the north wall. They used to be covered by a built-in cabinet unit, but I removed the cabinets.
How can I effectively seal the floor/wall gaps and/or cover the whole pipe run?
Here are the pipes at the southwest corner:

Option one - buy some baseboard radiator cover (just the cover) and put it over them. In the grander version of this you might do some replumbing to get them up inside it more neatly, but if it's heating season now, I suggest waiting for summer.
Option two - build a small pipe chase around them. Basically a board in front of the pipes, and a board on top of the pipes. That may need a board behind the pipes for stability - screw that one to the wall, screw them all together. Provide an easily unscrewed access port over that valve. The top board and supporting boards should tolerate being stepped on by normal humans, or perhaps even heavy ones.


How bad is the seam on my quartz kitchen countertops? How bad is this seam on my quartz kitchen countertops? I am not sure if this is normal or how bad this is. I know there is usually a seam but this seems a little big to me.

Actually, I noticed two problems with your countertop. One, the gap does seem too large for a stone countertop. Two, the seam is perpendicular when it should have been cut and fitted at a 45 degree angle. The edge, or bullnose would fit together much better if cut and fitted at 45 degrees.  I suspect this was stock material installed by someone not equipped to do it properly.  Normally, the joints would be precision fitted at a 45 degree angle at the stoneworks before installation. The joint on a quality countertop would be exact, epoxied and polished.  In your case, there is no real, easy fix. The gap would have to be filled and sanded. Then the surface would have to be polished to bring back the original finish.


What type of light is this? I have inherited 4 of these outside lights which appear to be very solid and well made but i'm not sure how to make best use of them.

Those are similar to a open wiring lamp I have installed in offices but in a waterproof fixture . They are most likely mr16 12v 20w lamps (the coated reflector gives them away) they could be a higher voltage but not likely to be above the NEC touch limit for wet locations.


How do I attach the cord from a pendant light to a nipple/threaded shaft? I have a pendant light, it has a cord but no threaded shaft/nipple on it so it can be attached to a bracket on in a ceiling junction box.
I can feed the cord nicely through the shaft but how do I secure the shaft to the cord?
Is there a special piece of hardware I need?
I purchased a threaded shaft like this:

And my light fixture looks like this
Update: Here is the junction box where it will be hanging (I know I need a hickey for this style junction box which will allow me to connect the shaft).

Unlike some lamps this doesn't hang from a metal tube with the cord running through it.  It hangs from the cord.  Shove it through the nipple and tie a knot above it.
There are S-shaped plastic dongles you can attach to the cable above the nipple, but those cost about 10 cents more than a knot and do the same thing.  Hopefully your ceiling box already has a canopy (decorative cover) as this lamp probably doesn't come with one right?
If you want to spend a few cents there are plastic bushings for these nipples you could stick into the top to protect the cable, and there are compression fittings where you shove a plastic bushing in the nipple and then a plastic collar screws down on it.  IMO none of those is necessary unless you plan to swing from the lamp.
EDIT: I'm not sure why @threephaseEel asked for a picture of your ceiling box, but it's a good thing.  Now that I've seen it, I think you should ignore this answer.  You cannot use a standard crossbar and nipple with that box because the mounting hub you have for a chandelier will obstruct it.
You either need to

perform surgery on the box, removing that hub, which I don't recommend with that delicate K&T wiring OR
Buy an appropriate canopy kit, which I'll recommend in a new answer.


How to seal around ceiling duct? We were painting our ceilings and removed the register for the central heating system.

The hole is roughly cut. And I can see right through to the attic along the edges between the duct and the ceiling.

We have a 1939 house and most likely there is lead within the various layers in the ceiling exposed by the hole that was cut.

Also, our attic is really dusty and I don't want any dust to potentially be blown into the room.

I want to seal the raw edges of the ceiling AND I want to fill the gaps between the duct and the ceiling.

How would I go about doing this?

Update: repaired

I took Dan D.'s advice and sealed with joint compound and followed up with UL181 metal tape.

What I'll probably also do is to go into the attic and seal around the attic floor/rigid duct interface with caulk or expanding foam.

I would use drywall compound and fill in between the wall and the duct. And then I would tape using a UL181 tape (I like foil mastic) over the inside edge of the duct and the wall. Apply the tape flat and rub it smooth. The tape will be covered by the register.

Using UL181 tape to seal the duct to the ceiling membrane really should be standard.


Foam board insulation over drywall Guys I am living in a 500 sq ft apartment built in the 1950's and it has a south facing wall. I run the 10000 BTU AC almost 24/7  and in the afternoons the wall is very warm if not hot to the touch on the inside. and appears from the windows to be around 9 inches thick with stucco on the outside.

Because of the age and the make of the wall, I believe there is either no or little insulation. Would it be worth the cost to place rigid R type insulation over this sheet rock (drywall) on the inside and drop the temperatures?

If the apartment is a 8" thick "cinder-block" wall with no insulation, then it's R value is likely around 1.5-2. If it's a concrete wall, it's R-value is around 3.8-4.

In any case, 1" thick polystyrene foam has an R-value of 5, and ½" drywall is about .5, so adding the foam and drywall (combined R-value of 5.5) over your existing drywall will more than double the wall's insulation value (in the case of concrete) and almost quadruple it (in the case of cinder block). All assuming there really is no existing insulation.

I would say the wall will become dramatically cooler.


Baby proof 240V outlet(for air conditioning) in living room I have a 240V outlet in living room. It is used for AC unit installed just above it. This outlet is very close to floor. Around 3 inches above floor. We have small baby in house and she has started crawling now. I need to baby proof this. I could not find any safety covers for 240V outlets anywhere. Amazon has many safety covers but all are for 120V standard two outlets. Here is the picture of this outlet and AC unit above it.

I cannot put anything in front of this as it would block AC. Any ideas on how I can block this part of wall from baby. Any idea is welcome.
Thanks, Sunil

I think that what you want is an In-Use Cover.

Secondly, baby fencing is a must. If you don't have some, or don't need it here, you'll need it somewhere. If you don't want to attach it to the wall (understandable), just set something heavy (like a box or bucket of stuff) on the inside and oustide of the fence to support it and keep baby from knocking it over.

EDIT- Mounting an in use box:

EDIT- Plate kit:


How find out what the second switch button is for in bathroom? Long story short, I'm trying to install one sensor switch for both fan and light in the bathroom. I have one light switch outside the bathroom. Inside the bathroom there is 2 gang switch box with 2 switches connect. One is for the fan the other one I have no idea what it's for. It could be for the light but the light does not turn on or off with this switch. Is it still possible that it could be for the light but the switch is dead? The black wire is hot for the right switch. I took the plate off and tested it with non-contact tester.

Left switch is for Fan and Right switch is the one I can't figure out what it is.

Bathroom light switch from outside

I found out that the Fan and vanity light are not even on the same breaker. So this mystery switch is not for the light. I found out from previous owner that it may have been for a light before the bathroom was renovated.


small floresent tube removal from a wooden dislay unit I have a wooden display unit that has small florescent tubes as a back light, one of  the tubes has gone .Cannot remember how to get the tube out.
Any ideas out there.
                        Jack

Reverse engineer the tube

Go to the store and find the replacement tube. Look at the ends.

If they are single nubs (probably not), you slide the tube linearly to compress a socket at one end - anyone's guess which.

If you see two pins on each end, the vast majority of those involve rotating the tube 90 degrees (or nearly so), then it slides/wiggles straight out.  A small number involve the tube snapping straight in.

When choosing a new tube, look closely at CRI (color rendering index).  Older fluorescents were positively pallid.  New fluorescents must be 80 CRI or better, which is quite good.  It's like steam locomotives and carburetors, they got really excellent just as they were going obsolete.

Hulk! Smash!  Then go with 12V LED strips

The other option is to remove the tube ungracefully, mindful that fluorescent tubes contain a very small amount of mercury.

Then obtain common "LED strips" in either monochrome in any of several color temperatures (including adjustable), or RGB or RGBW color... Obtain a dimmer/blender/controller if you want that, and a 12V DC power supply that plugs into the wall.   Many outfits on Amazon and eBay sell this stuff a-la-carte, or in complete kits for about $20 for the works, including 16 feet of LED strip.  Better vendors charge more (often, usuriously more) but have better control of CRI.

You should brace yourself for the fact that LEDs never fail, so take care to choose the right stuff the first time, as there won't be a second.   Power supplies and controllers do fail, but are cheap and easy to replace.


How do I manage possibly lead containing paint flakes? House built in 70s
It has been repainted 2-3 times since then
There's an area of 2 square meters of flaking paint in my bedroom. Fine dust of it right below :(
Concerned about lead
Limited money

I know that in order to repaint over it I would have to scrape the paint somehow (following scary containment strategies wrapping stuff etc) but this question is not about that. I want to stop the possible lead contamination from flakes turning into dust and I don't care if I end up with ugly patches of missing paint. Should I just pull the flakes by hand or will I end up worse? On the other hand, even if these flakes are left on their own they will turn into dust anyway. If I encased the area in ugly plastic wrap would it make flaking worse?

ANY paint will turn to dust eventually. Removing the large flakes and re-painting is your best bet.

I will say, for a home built in the 70's there is only a very small likelihood that there is any lead paint present. I took the lead paint course, and I'd  have to look the numbers up, but for a home built in the 1800's and early 1900's the likelihood is in 90% range. that number decreases down to the 10% range by the 70's, and lead paint was banned in 1978. I've seen scare tactic quotes that say "Three-quarters of the homes built before 1978 contain some lead-based paint." While this is true it is highly misleading.

Do a web search. There is more info on lead paint that you'll care to look at. Lead has become another buzz word like asbestos, and a lot of people are making a lot of money off it.


Deck support for a 2 man hot tub I am looking to add a 2 person hot tub on my deck. My deck is made of all 2x6 material 12" on center floor joist, with 4x4 post and a 2x12 support band. It sits about 2 feet off the ground. The weight of the tub full would be about 2300 pounds.
Will my deck hold this or will I have to add support?

To answer correctly, you would need to show or say the dimensions of the tub and the distance from the existing 4x4 supports. Don't forget the additional weight of 2 people. If it is near a support post, you will be fine. I would play it safe and add a post, secured to a 2x6 directly under the tub.


Diagnosing Refridgerator Condensate Draining process SYMPTOM

Renter reports water on the floor from fridge.  It seems silly to buy a new fridge if the only issue is the condensate processing is needs correction, however, this is the second incident on the same fridge.

I inspected the fridge yesterday.  The plastic evaporator pan was full of water.  Renter indicated it had overflowed once last week.

What is the most common reason why the evaporator pan is full and overflowing?
Is there a clever method to determine why is the water not evaporating?

The freezer works fine.  The fridge occasionally freezes items (an onion, watermelon) but does work.  Does occasional freezing indicate an issue? or is this as simples dialing down the cooling setting?

Clogged Condensate Drain?

I noticed the fridge and freezer were very dirty.  I read that a clogged drain (from food or debris) in fridge/freezer compartment can lead to water overflow.  The entire fridge/freezer should be emptied and cleaned, and drain should be wiped out.  A warm solution of water and vinegar can be poured in the line.  Also can use a pipe cleaner.

If the evaporator pan is full can one conclude that the drain lines are not clogged and not the problem?
Are there any other questions that I should be answered to diagnose
root cause of problem?

If it the root cause requires a new refridgerator, that's fine, however, if it doesn't that would be preferable: not just economically,it is a PITA to replace the fridge on the second story.  I don't want to buy a new fridge if the problem is a clogged drain line or involves a simple part replacement.

Insight and experience are highly appreciated: thank you.

If the door seal is leaking or the door left open the coils ice up and when the fridge goes into the defrost cycle it can overflow the drip tray. This is one thing I have seen folks toss a good unit for when sometimes the seal just needed a good cleaning other times the seal needed to be replaced still much cheaper than a new unit.


Adding another line/wire in metal conduit I have an outlet box in garage that contains two No. 6 wires that was used for an electric heater. Would like to covert it to a NEMA 14-50 outlet to be used to charge an electric vehicle.

The No. 6 wires come into the box through a 3/4" metal conduit. Do I need another No. 6 for common? And can another No. 6 be pulled through the conduit with the other two 6s already there? The distance of the pull would be about 45 feet with two 90 degree bends.

Thank you very much.

You need to determine first as asked in the comments, do you NEED a neutral?
That would depend on the car requirements. Refer to the car manufacturer's manual.
The power supply is just dumb power.  All the fancy charging logic circuitry is in the car.

NEC chapter 625 has specs for the charging system. Note it has to be GFCI, possibly AFCI too, depending on where it's installed.
Free code lookup here-
https://www.nfpa.org/NEC/About-the-NEC/Explore-the-2017-NEC?openpage=106&access=open
(free registration required)
unfortunately without search function- Chapter 9, tables 4 and 5 have your answers about conduit fill.

Chatty explanation here-
http://www.codebookcity.com/codearticles/nec/conduitfill.htm


Routing electrical wire when existing hole is too tight Check out the wires running

I tried to add an extra wire so my powder room light and fan would be on separate switches but even after removing the staples so the existing wires could move about a bit, I just can't fit an extra wire.

Removing it all and expanding the hole doesn't seem efficient. I don't have access to where they run to. (Not without removing cables / having to re-run them)

Instead, can I drill a new hole parallel to it like this? It' the only thing I can think to do:

Sure you can drill extra holes just make sure you don't nick the existing wires.


Wiring in a Dusk/Dawn sensor to my porch light I am trying to wire a Dusk/Dawn sensor into my covered porch light.  My problem is the sensor has Black, Red, White wire and my light has Black, White and Ground wires.  Which wires connect?

On the sensor black should be LINE, the ungrounded (hot) feed.  Red should be LOAD, the supply to the light. White should be neutral, and green is ground.

The black wire coming into the box, should be the ungrounded  (hot) feed (likely from a switch).  The white wire should be neutral, and green/bare is ground.

Connect all the grounds together, and to the box if it's metal.
Connect the white coming into the box, to the white from the light and sensor.
Connect the black coming into the box, to the black on the sensor.
Connect the red from the sensor, to the black from the light.


Replacing a light switch that has 2 red wires and 1 black- one red was on the screw the other red was back stabbing the same portion I am replacing a light switch that had 2 red wires(one connected to screw and one backstabbing) and the one black was backstabbing the upper part of the switch. I understand I should use the screw to attach rather than the backstab. The new switch I bought only contains screws. There is no overhead light in the room and the only thing the switch controls is the bottom half of the wall outlets. In the new switch do I need both red or can I cap one of the red ones? Or should I use a wire nut and pigtail the reds together then attach to the screw?

The simple answer is to connect your new switch in an electrically equivalent way -- pigtail the two reds together and attach it to the screw.  This will guarantee the switch functions exactly as it does now.

If instead you want to disconnect one of the red wires, you need to figure out where they go.  It's possible that they're actually the hot wires  and the black is the switched hot, and one of the reds continues on to power other devices.  In that case, you should not disconnect either of them.  Or it's possible the reds are the switched-hot wires, and that one of them is no longer in use, and could be capped off, but you'll need to figure out which is which.


How to automatically turn something off at 11pm and on at 6am? I would like to find an electronic timer that can automatically turn my internet router off at exactly 11pm and on at 6am.

I would prefer a timer that is digital, so the time off and on is precise.

Where can I buy such a device?

It is likely that your router can be plugged into an ordinary power strip. There are commonly available power strips with seven day digital timers built-in. The SE is not a product recommendation forum, which means it's not proper for me to provide specific product identifiers, but you can use your preferred search engine using the terms "digital timer power strip" and select the item which best meets your needs.

I have a pair of these devices in use, as the day of timed operation varies from week to week in my application. For your daily use, you may be able to locate a 24 hour version rather than a full-week version, making the programming slightly easier.


Shower runs cold, then hot, then cold. Faucet in same bathroom runs hot after shower The 50 gallon gas water heater is on the first floor. Water pressure coming into the house is roughly 40 psi. On the second floor the kitchen and bathroom faucets are cold when turned on. I mention it, but it might be due to the design of the house. On the third floor in the shower, when turned on it runs cold, then a normal temperature, then it starts progressively getting colder so I have to keep turning it up. After taking a shower, a faucet in the same bathroom runs scalding hot. Giving it a minute, it gets to a more normal temperature. The mixer in the shower is an old design, the faucet is brand new. Water pressure everywhere in the house feels a little weak.

Besides clogged pipes as described by Programmer66, thermostatic shower valves are known for this problem. The cold and hot water side is mixed upstream of the closing valve. In normal faucets, the mixing is downstream of the valves. To avoid cold water to be pushed into the hot water pipes (and vice versa), thermostatic valves have special pressure balancing or one-way valves that could be made with diaphragmas, which are not reliable in the long run being  a rubber-like thin material, especially the element in contact with the hot water. A Google search "thermostatic shower valve temperature problem" will present many Infos including DIY videos.


How to properly terminate dish washer / garbage disposal? Introduction
I am renovating a house and had an electrician come in to update power, run new outlets, etc. I will be installing a garbage disposal that uses a switch (switch already installed) and a dishwasher.  The electrician left an open junction box with wire nuts on the connections for the garbage disposal and a set of 3 wires coming out of the wall for the dishwasher. Each are on their own circuit now.
How to properly connect?
I am capable of whatever method is needed but I want to know two things:

For the garbage disposal I can connect the wires via wire nut to the garbage disposal wires without a problem but do I leave the junction box open without a cover? That doesn't seem right.. How to I close it up properly?
For the dishwasher a similar question, I can connect the wires to the dishwasher via wire nuts too but how do I enclose the connection? Should I install a plug to the end or some other way?

I recently remodeled my kitchen, and the original wiring was just two romex's coming out of the wall and hardwired to the dishwasher and disposal respectively.   There are wiring enclosures on each appliance.  Evidently that was acceptable in times past.

I'm sure our more knowledgeable contributors will come by and cite the current code.

I decided to go with installing a wall box for each circuit, and installing a single 20A receptacle for each (assuming they are 20A 12g circuits).  This allows you to simply and definitively disconnect either when doing any servicing.  It's simple, safe, and straight forward.

You can get an appliance plug that wires into the disposal at the store.  My Bosch diswasher came with a power cord that terminated in a supplied plastic surface mount box.  I put that under the sink and connected an appliance rated cord and plug to it.


Kenmore Electric Stovetop 790 coils not getting red hot Can someone tell me how to troubleshoot why on the highest setting the electric coils are getting hot, but not RED hot? The oven is the same. It takes forever to preheat to 350 (~1hr+). I recently did a kitchen remodel and we moved the 240v plug to maybe a foot down the wall. Ever since the move, my electric stovetop does not work the same. I'm not sure if the guys who did the rewiring did it wrong or if there is a problem with the wires inside the stovetop itself.
I am watching this video, is there any other resource out there that I can use to figure out this problem?

It sounds like a bad wiring job. Typical US ovens use 120 for controls and 240 for heating elements. If wired incorrectly you could end up with 120 for the elements and 1/4 the expected power (= heat).


Dryer power cord screws won't tighten When I try to screw in the dryer power cord, the screws make contact with the square plate  behind the contacts. The screws, however, will not screw in all the way and are leaving a gap which is preventing Full Contact of the three pieces. Is there supposed to be a gap? How can I fix this?

edit
Maybe the screws are the problem? Should I get a smaller screw that goes all the way in?

Test screw length with nuts removed

With the cord terminals out of the way and the nut removed, test inserting the screw through the appliance terminal. Does the screw go in easily and contact the appliance terminal? If so then the screw length is OK. (Threads on the screw and/or nut may still be damaged, but at least you'll know whether the length is good.)

Turn the cord terminals over

Look at the picture below. Notice that the appliance terminals are rotated so that the crimp is "up" ie facing the viewer. The crimps on the cord are facing "down" away from the viewer. Because the crimps stand proud of the terminal face they may be hitting the plastic barrier piece and preventing the screw from being tightened correctly. Twist each conductor 180 degrees to eliminate the interference between the crimp and the plastic.

Replacing the hardware

If you do decide to replace screws and/or nuts, be aware that it's easy to make a mistake. When you have your final selection, ensure that the nut spins onto the screw easily (that the thread pitch is correct) and also ensure that the screw doesn't wobble in the nut (ie, that the screw's diameter is correct). It's easy to get an 8-32 screw and a 10-32 nut, for example, but the combination won't hold reliably.


Prevent home door to freeze during winter This summer, we installed a new front door. It was right until winter arrived. The problem is the following. When temperature goes below -5/-10 celcius, the door gets really cold and condensation freeze and form ice inside the house. As a result, it gets hard to close the door and the ice/condensation melts and everything gets wet around the door. Also the ice thickness close to the floor gets as thick as 4cm in some areas...

More about the actual door, it's "wooden"/metallic door. The frame is metallic and the exterior side of the door is also metallic while the inside part of the door has some kind of "wooden" panel.

It's clear that the problem is caused by the metallic frame, the room cannot heat the frame enough so the colds gets into the house and condensation starts... The door is inside a small "room" of 2m x 2m.

Installing a new door isn't a solution.

I have some ideas but I have no idea how effective.

Install a wooden frame on the outside so air cannot directly have contact with the door's frame.
Heat the room (I only have space to install something that would keep the floor warm. I'd pretty much have to redo the whole entrance and it's not clear if we can heat it enough so to prevent condensation.
Drill holes in the frame and spray some foam like Penosil.

I've seen similar situations (although not with 4cm of icing!) in situations where there doesn't seem to be any leaking of exterior air, but the interior humidity was quite high in a localized area of freezing. Simple answer: consider dehumidifying, or venting to interior air, the affected area. [Since there is no further work to be done with the door, according to your post.] Heating the affected area may also work, but I'll explain why I consider this a last resort.

The problem

It sounds as though you have an entryway (or foyer) enclosing this entry door, for practical purposes of airflow (or limiting air flow). If you are using this area as a "mudroom" or area where wet/cold/snowy coats/boots/outerwear can be left or changed from, then the moisture brought in by that wet material could be evaporating, then condensing on the sub-freezing surface of the door, then of the ice as it builds up.

The Solution

Removing this moisture from the air will assist in limiting the amount of icing occuring. This could be done by any combination of the following:
- Remove clothing/outerwear/footwear that has moisture from the affected area after initial entry. Moving that snow-covered coat in from the foyer will mean that it dries inside the main dwelling, instead of in the foyer. This could be drips/puddles in the house, but this evaporating water will also humidify the main living space, and not condense/freeze on the entry door. A rubber mat/tray can also help with this. Footwear can be removed to bang off loose moisture on the exterior of the dwelling, then set to dry in the living space.
- Dehumidify the entry. A simple dehumidifier can do this, or simply open the door to the outside/inside for a few minutes each day. The air exchange (although wasteful of conditioned air) will also exchange the moisture in the air. Depending on the amount of moisture, however, the air exchange may need to be done multiple times daily. On the up-side, this air exchange, if done to the interior, may warm the space enough to thaw the ice off of the door itself, giving a "reset" of the situation.
- Heat the entry. I'd consider this a last resort, because heating will not solve the problem. The problem is a sub-freezing surface, which you will not be heating - the air surrounding the sub-freezing surface will be heated, and the heat will be quickly conducted through the thermally-efficient conductor of the door surface to the exterior of the dwelling, once again returning to the state of maintaining a sub-freezing surface on the door.

Provided there is truly no leakage of air, this is actually a humidity issue. It may be worth it to buy an inexpensive (but accurate) humidistat to check the humidity levels. The tool would have future uses, so it's not a one-time purchase without future utility. Lowering the humidity level in that space is the best way to solve the problem.

For the future

In the future, (or perhaps this can be done in the short-term as well,) consider treating the interior surface of the door. A non-stick spray (silicone lubricant) or wax (for skis, cars, even just regular candles) would help the moisture (and ice) be more easily removed from the surface. If the condesation cannot be stopped, it could at least be mitigated by quick removal when someone passes through the doorway. 4cm of ice isn't good, but 1cm of ice that falls off everytime someone slams the door closed coming or going may limit the thermal compromise of that room, and ease in operating the door. There's also the added bonus that ice is solid moisture - so dehumidifying the room of that chunk is a simple as throwing or sweeping it out the door.

A long shot

There is one other option, but it's not necessarily adviseable. Venting the room completely to the outside or inside of the dwelling will provide constant air circulation, especially if induced via convection. This would circulate the higher-humidity air with the larger vented-to area. However, this would provide a heat-sink if vented to the inside, and/or a very cold room if vented to the outside. (You may also transfer your freezing problem to an interior door if ventin gthe room to the outside.)


Well pump only works with on/off switch not control box My well pump is setup with an on/off switch that works fine as well as a control box that should be turning it on when activated.  Now it just makes a clicking sound and nothing happens.  I am attaching an image of the setup as well.  the  piece with the brown square moves out when the control box turns on and back when off.

The clicking is the relay being pulled in. This is a common failure in relays after thousands of cycles the contacts burn and do not make good contacts, I have special burnishing tools to clean the contacts and this can also be done with a fine sandpaper (400+ grit), but cutting away contact material is a short term fix in some cases. A new relay is going to be needed in most cases.
The part number is usually stamped on the body, or the voltage of the controller and the voltage & amperage of the relay will be needed to get a replacement.

I only see 4 wires, 2 are the control voltage that pull in the coil and the other 2 are the “switch” that sends power to the pump.  Make sure to label them, so you don’t mix them up.


shower shock,when hot or cold water is used in other parts of house our 2 showers, we can't run any other hot or cold water without get extreme hot or cold differentials while in the shower.bought house last year,built in 1985.

Pressure
Go to the local hardware or home improvement store, and get a water pressure gauge. Most likely they'll have a simple gauge that can attach to a garden hose spigot.

This will allow you to measure the water pressure in your home. You'll want to make sure the pressure is somewhere between 40 - 80 psi.
If the pressure is low, you'll want to look for a pressure reducing valve (PRV)

If you have one, you could try adjusting it to raise the pressure. To adjust the valve:

Loosen the locking nut on the valve (The nut just at the top of the bell on the valve), and back it off a bit.
Use a wrench to adjust the bolt on top of the valve. Clockwise will increase the pressure, while anticlockwise will reduce it.
Once you're finished with the adjustment, snug the locking nut back down (not too tight).

If you're adjusting the valve, and the pressure still doesn't seem to be going up. You're either not getting good pressure supplied to the building, or the PRV is busted. If you're on well water, you'll have to start working towards the well to figure out why the pressure is low. If you're on city water, you should be able to contact the city to see what pressure they're supplying to the house.

Volume
Without being able to inspect the plumbing, this is a difficult problem to diagnose.  The first thing to check, is the size of the supply pipe. You'll want to have at least a 3/4" supply, though 1" is possible.
Next, you'll want to look for areas where this size is reduced.  The main trunk plumbing should be the size of the supply pipe, and should only be reduced where it splits off to supply a fixture.  If you have a reduction in size that's supplying more than one fixture, you may have found your problem.
If you find this to be the problem, re-plumbing parts or the entire system is likely the only solution.


Cover exposed insulation behind bathroom wall in basement I have a finished bathroom in the basement and 2 of the walls are shared by a storage room. On the storage room side, there is exposed insulation and pipes I’d like to cover.
What can I use to cover it?
I was looking at plastic sheeting or drywall or anything but with the moisture concerns I wasn’t sure.

I would use plywood, which would make hanging various items easy. I would also mark the stud locations lightly on the floor and above and transfer those as vertical lines on the plywood, for the same reason.
Alternatively, you could use pegboard which would allow air movement and also facilitate using various wall hooks (although I personally am not a pegboard fan...)


Hot water and cold water switched in shower I recently bought a house and in the master bathroom the hot and cold water seem to be reversed.  When I turn the dial left, the hot water comes out first with very little pressure.  As you continue to turn the dial left, the water pressure goes up but with it comes cold water.   I've read you can turn the valve 180 degrees, but I'm not sure if my shower fits that method.  Took a photo with the dial off.  Any help is appreciated. Thank you,

I did this a while ago in my shower. I can't remember exactly, but that stem sticking out is part of a bigger cylinder/canister that fits inside of the big pipe. When I did it I worked the whole canister out of the pipe (it was stuck in there pretty good), took a look at it and played with it until I got the right rotation.

Like Daniel suggests, you want to make sure each limit of the movement is fully hot or fully cold. If you get it wrong you can miss the full range, or even have a dead spot in the middle with hot and cold on either side.

It looks like you have to take the front cover of that pipe of to get the canister out. Have fun.


Bucket pulley/hoist for kids climbing frame Firstly sorry if this is the wrong place.

I've just finished assembling a climbing frame for my son (with great difficulty!) which had a sand pit underneath it. What I'd like to do is add in a very simple bucket pulley system - that will allow him to fill a bucket with sand, and pull it up to the second level, and hoist it back down.

For an example, see below picture at a local playground

I've been looking at pulleys online but they seem like they would fall back to the floor once you let go - I want it so that the bucket stays on the 2nd level til you pull it back down, if that makes sense?

I'm not the best at DIY so I do apologise if I'm being stupid!

What you are looking for is called a "manual chain hoist" and if you search for that you can find some light weight low cost versions from several sources. But you have to understand that these are not toys and little fingers can get injured. To keep from dropping the load if you let go of the chain, they will have some sort of braking mechanism; either a pawl and ratchet, or a friction clutch. The ratchet and pawl type come with a risk of pinch points and someone releasing the ratchet with too much of a load, letting it free-fall. The one in your photo example looks like it is probably a friction clutch version. The problem with those is that they wear and need periodic adjustment, so neglecting that can result in the load falling and hurting someone. That playground likely has an assigned caretaker who's job it is to measure the holding force and adjust the tension on a regular basis.

How about just tying a rope to something at the top and your kid can pull it up? it would inherently limit the weight and thereby the danger of it falling.


Can I repair this corroded shutoff valve on my own? I just noticed that this valve is corroded and slowly leaking (arrows point to the leaks):

I started looking online for information and found this page, which discusses different types of valve, but I can't really tell whether this is a compression shutoff valve (install with wrenches) or a copper sweat shutoff valve (solder into place). Which is it, and is this a repair that I can make myself, or should I bring in a professional?

That's a soldered valve, with a drain cap (typical for things that you might drain for the winter after shutting them off, though not always employed that way.)

Replacement is not the only solution, and may not be the best option.

The packing nut leak (right side) might be as simple as using a pair of wrenches to slightly tighten the nut on the handle stem. The wrench close to the valve body is just holding still so you don't twist the pipes while tightening the nut closer to the handle. In more extreme cases you might need to repack it (shut off water, remove handle and nut, replace packing material.)

The drain cap (left side drip) may either need to be tightened slightly, or else shut off the valve, remove the cap, with a bucket to catch the water that drains out (if the valve was installed in the correct direction, you don't have to shut off the main supply) and replace the gasket in the cap, or get a new cap with gasket.


No 120 in my dryer receptacle I am not getting 120 @ my hot to neutral
 in my dryer receptacle
For my dryer outlet h1-h2 =240,  h1 -n <40  ,  h2-n <20
does this mean that i have no ground at the box?

With no 120 v reading the grounded and or grounding lugs going to a main panel are open. This happens at the outlet quite frequently. I mentioned both because it was not stated if it was a 3 or 4 wire.


should i mount a tv on top of gas logs fireplace Is it okay to put a tv on top of a gas logs fireplace? I am concerned since the emitted gases must be making the walls hot?

I say no.  THat TV is full of PC boards.  Printed circuitry hates heat.  Good quality computers have a half dozen cooling fans.


What is causing a replacement ceiling fan light to flicker? I had a Hunter ceiling fan with a light kit attached.  It started making a humming sound and then a loud pop.  This caused the circuit breaker to trip.  After resetting the circuit breaker, the fan worked, but the lights did not.  I bought a new light kit and installed it the same as the previous light kit (which was a slightly different model, I think this one).  The old light kit used incandescent candelabra  60W bulbs.

After installing the new light kit, when I turn on the light, it barely flickers.  If I touch the light bulb, it flickers slightly more, but is still nowhere near full power.  I tested the light socket with a volt meter and found that the light socket is getting slightly less than 120V (as expected).  The light bulbs work in other fixtures.

Any ideas on what could be causing the issue?

It turns out there is a watt governor (part# 98480-02) which seems to go wonky on Hunter ceiling fans.  I took out the watt governor, hooked nuetral to the wire nut with all the neutrals, and the hot lead to the hot wire nut, and now all is well.  See a description here:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t3831943-fan_lights_just_started_blinking


Can I apply polyurethane to a new table? I'm buying a new kitchen table and dining room table, and I'm trying to keep them from getting scratched from regular use. Can I apply several coats of polyurethane to a brand new table top to make it scratch-proof?  Or will that ruin the finish?

(See my above comment) Unfinished or stained wood is best for a poly finish. Have you considered getting a clear glass top protector for your tables? 1/4" glass is pretty cheap and you can get it cut to size with a beveled edge. Affix it to table with clear adhesive pads--very cheap and easy to use. Going with glass will be MUCH LESS work and will last forever (pretty much).


Why would the lights on a ceiling fan not work after a power outage even though the fan does? Why does the ceiling fan work but the lights on it will not turn on after a power outage?

Could be a number of things.

I've had ceiling fans that are on two different circuits: one for the fan, and one for the light. It could be that the breaker is thrown on one circuit but not on the other.

It could also be that a surge caused the outage, and that burned out the bulb, the switch inside the fan, the switch on the wall, or any add-ons such as wireless remotes.

It could be that the light is on a 3-way switch, and someone flipped the other switch in trying to get the lights to work during the outage.


How can I clean powder of dry paint on carpet? I removed old paint from the wall with a steamer. Now I have a lot of this old paint in the form of powder or very small pieces all over my carpet.

It's OK because I plan to replace this carpet soon, however in the meantime I'd like to make it relatively clean.

Is there a way to remove this dry paint from the carpet without using a professional vacuum cleaner?

I'd try a shop vac, quite loud, but very high suction.  Use the smallest opening attachment and 'rake' the carpet.

If you don't own one, ask around.  If you decide to buy one, an 8 gallon wet/dry is a good intermediate size.


Is it about time to replace the water heater? My wife and I just recently closed on our first home. The home was built in 1930 and aged excellently. The couple who we bought the home from had purchased it as a foreclosure in 2006 and made it their retirement project to completely restore the place; they did a wonderful job and covered almost everything.

Before getting to the question; there are no visible signs that the water heater is going bad. It's a 240V electric water heater with two 4500 watt elements. It's still capable of pumping out crazy hot water (I need to turn the temperature down I believe). Without looking closer at it and it's tags, I never would have guessed, but it was installed in March of 1984 - it's almost a 32yo heater. Everything I've seen and heard says that most heaters only last half of that time. The other thing that might affect it, is that it was winterized in October of 2004. Our guess is that it was cleaned out then and that extended it's life, but I'm unsure.

They all eventually wear out, I'd just like to know what the thought is on this and if we should bite the bullet and be looking for a new one before it goes.

Oh and my other thought is what this could be doing to our electric bill. I'd take the guess of course that the newer ones are all more energy efficient and we'd be saving some money there to make up for it. We also have natural gas to the house; I believe we'll go with a gas heater next time around from what I've heard, but I'm not really sure if it saves much money there either?

Thanks

Didn't read the tag correct before now.. it's it least $800 a year or about $65 each monthly power bill.

I think it'd definitely pay for itself to replace it. From what I've seen, the models today are more like $500 a year. That's $25 saved per month.

Newer water heaters do not last as nearly as long as they used to. Nowadays, you are lucky to get 10 years out of one. This is due to the way they are manufactured.

There are still some water heaters around that are from the 1960s that work perfectly fine. The tanks on some of those heaters are made out of copper, and won't corrode like modern steel tanks.

Your tank most likely has replaceable sacrificial anodes in the tank. These anodes will corrode instead of the walls of the tank. The life of your heater will be much longer if the anodes are maintained. These are fairly universal, so you should be able to find ones that are compatible. The anodes should be inspected or replaced at least every 5 years.

The newer heaters do offer an energy savings, and some of them have a programmable timer on them which can turn down the temperature at night, and when you are away. They are also better insulated, so there is less heat loss. You can purchase a water heater blanket which will add an additional layer of insulation to the tank.

As long as there aren't any signs of failure on the tank such as rust spots, etc, then you should be good to go. Just as a warning, tanks can fail suddenly, and without warning. A leaking water heater could potentially flood your entire basement. There are water leak detection alarms on the market that are inexpensive which set off an alarm similar to a smoke detector if a leak is detected. It would be a good idea to install one just in case. Even newer water heaters can fail, so it is actually a good practice to have one of these alarms for any water tank installation.


Device to detect where heat or cold air is escaping or entering a structure I would like to lower my environmental impact and reduce my energy bills by reducing areas where air might be entering or exiting my home.

What type of device can be used to detect where heat or cool air is escaping or entering a home?

I would prefer the device be inexpensive, if possible.

A thermal imaging gun will show you all the hot and cold spots inside your house, but they are very expensive.

What I did was I purchased a infrared thermometer gun at my local harbor freight. It cost about $15.00 Then I went around took all the temperatures throughout the house.

I found in my basement the rim joists were not insulated, I also found my attic hatch was not insulated. After doing that and caulking the windows, the cost for the insulation and caulk paid for itself the first winter.


Installing a new fan with old wiring I'm trying to install a new fan (which I've done more times than I'd like to admit). This is the first time I've seen such odd wiring. The house is from 1975, and there are three different wiring components coming into the junction box (we'll call them 1, 2 and 3). All three grounds are grouped together. The white from 1 and 2 are tied together with an extra cable being loose. The white from 3 and the black from 1 and 3 are tied together and look burned at the end. the black from 2 is loose. I tied the loose black and white ends to the fan, but it's not working. I'm not sure sure what's going on.

Your numbering sounds not quite right.   It sounds like a standard setup, with supply coming into the fan box, supply being carried onward to the next load, and a switch loop for the fan.

Looking at the two whites with the pigtail, these are actually neutral, two whites come from supply and go to onward.  You don't need to care which is which.  The pigtail is neutral for the fan.

In the bundle with two blacks and 1 white, the two blacks go to supply and onward.   The white is being correctly used as always-hot in the switch loop.   White is used to make it easier for electricians to realize this is not a neutral wire; it is always hot and is easily detected.   It should be wrapped in black tape on both ends to designate it a re-tasked hot.

The remaining loose black is switched-hot from the switch loop to the fan.

The fan connects to that loose black (switched-hot) and the white pigtail (neutral).


Can you lay bricks up right When I look at pretty much every building, bricks are laid "flat" or horizontally - this is where the longest part is typically adjacent to the ground.  I am aware, this is not a 100% rule, such as arches etc but for foundation, it seems to be the norm.
This is what I mean by "flat" or horizontal

I'm trying to predict if I can lay bricks vertically (so the longest part is at right angle to the ground) and if it will be stable. By right, angle, I mean

My project uses dense blocks, and they are:
Height: 215 mm
Length: 440 mm
Width: 100 mm
Weight: 18.20 kg
The goal would be to stack only 1 brick on top of another, meaning, only 2 bricks tall. Given each brick will actually be 440mm high (as I'm stacking them 'vertically'), it means a total height of 880mm. On top of this, I'm laying 320mm concrete slabs on top to create a worktop
In total, this will create a 2m squared shape (with the max of 880mm all the round around)
I'm unsure if such a thing is likely to be stable, given it will cemented onto a flat concrete slab
Is there any way to tell other than trying it and seeing if it falls down? The fact that I always see bricks being laid flat makes me think I'm doing the wrong thing but, I'm building a 'table', not a house.

In general, no. The reason is that you have quite small contact surface of each brick with the brick above or below, and also the vertical shape makes the wall less robust against shear stress (roughly speaking: force applied horizontally is multiplied by the height of the brick to compute the momentum, and the momentum is divided by the length of the brick to compute resulting forces in critical points).
However, for a small patch of bricks like you plan to do, this might be less of an issue. Still, you should interleave them, which means cutting them in halves for one of the two layers, that's not gonna be fun to do precisely.
I would personally still go for standard laying and make 4 layers by 215mm. Note that including the masonry mortar (I hope that's the right word for the glue you put between the bricks), that's basically the same size as stacking them vertically, and the wall will be stronger.


I hit a pipe with a mower and now it won't turn I was mowing the other day and there was a pipe sticking out of the ground. The pipe wasn't carrying any services, just a piece of metal sticking out of the ground (I've now removed it).

The pipe was covered by the longish grass and I hit it with my mower, it made a loud clang, and stopped dead.

Now the blades on the mower are very hard/stiff to turn by hand. Using the pull starter is completely impossible, the rope would break if I pulled it any harder.  I'm thinking the drive shaft may have disconnected with the engine, but I don't really know a lot about small engines.

Some more information. It's a Husqvarna mower, one year old with a Briggs & Stratton engine. The engine is still under warranty, but the closest authorized repair place is two hours from where I live.

I'm wondering if someone has come across this situation before and would know if it's an easy fix or is the mower a write-off.

EDIT:

Thank you everyone for the answers and suggestions.  Due to the amount of warnings below, I'll take it to a repair place.  If some more information comes in I'll post it up here.

The reason I was thinking about fixing it myself was the support person from Briggs & Stratton gave me a suggestion to buy this Repair Manual

EDIT 2:
I didn't take it to a repair place and trying myself.  So starting to take it apart (spark plug is out) and get the top cover off.  The main wheel that turns with the blades can rotate 2 full turn freely and then for the next 1/4 turn it is very tight, then repeats.

EDIT 3:
Success!  After spinning the wheel and blades a bit more everything seemed to loosen up and now it's working!  Turns over with one easy pull of the rope.

EDIT 3.5:
Because if all the interest and concern over the pipe, see photo.  It was well inside my property line and I assume it was once used to hold a flag or sign.

This sounds like that impact has bent the crankshaft, which means that the engine will either need replacing or to be rebuilt.

You need to decide whether a 2 hour drive to get a quote with the waiting for repairs to be completed is worth it or just to buy a new one....


Is there a way to drill a 1"-diameter hole through 1/8"-thick steel using a standard cordless power drill? I am trying to reinforce a custom door I am building.  Because it's made only of two layers of MDF, it is not as rigid as I want it to be and shows signs of bowing.  Since it's going to be a soundproof door, any curvature in the door will be detrimental to a tight seal around the stop.

The only low-profile solution to reinforcing the door that I have found is a 1/8"x1 1/2"x6' length of steel that I found at Menard's.  It is very ridgid and would be perfect for attaching along the inside edge of my door which is also 1 1/2" thick.  The problem is that I need to drill a 1"-diameter hole through it for the latch assembly, but I have no idea how I am going to do that with the cordless power drills that I have.

Using a holesaw in steel that's more than about 1/16" thick can be frustrating.  The bits wear out fast, and it really likes to bind.  I've had better luck using a step drill bit, like   this one from Harbor Freight.


Why is the water in my freshly filled above ground pool green? I had drained all but a foot of my 12'x 42" round above ground pool.  The remaining water was CLEAR, though there was a small amount of remaining "dust" on the bottom of the pool.  Thinking that once it was full, the filtration system would capture remaining silt.  To my SHOCK, once 3/4 full, it was a DEEP MOSS GREEN!  I filled it out of the hose, like I have several times, and I'm stumped.  WHY would the water out of our hose turn the pool GREEN?

If you get a bag or 2 of shock treatment it will help knock the algae out. This time of year I find the toughest to keep my pool clean as the water is warming and it gets away fast shock treatment brings the chlorine levels up. The link is for a small box of bags I usually loose control several times a year when I forget to put a chlorine tablet in the skimmer after all the kids and grand kids are over. If you treat it quickly it will only take a day or 2 to clear up if you let it wait a week it may take a week or more to clear up. Vacuuming the bottom and sides will also help reduce the growth. If you don't have a test kit these test strips are very easy to use to track the chlorine and PH levels of the water. Muriatic acid and baking soda are used to raise and lower the PH. A proper PH level will also help to stabilize the water. The last thing I use is blue clarify. This helps the water to be crystal clear and sparkly 1 bottle usually last an entire year as it only takes a little and I only use it if the water starts to appear less clear. Last make sure your filter is clean back wash or clean the filter elements you don't see all the gunkies growing in there and it is a great breading ground if not clean. Hope this helps and you get to enjoy your pool.


Is a metal post base needed on a concrete pier? I'm building a backyard storage shed that will be supported by two 4x6x16' pressure treated rails laying on concrete piers.  The 6" side will be flat against the pier.

At the building supply store I have seen metal 6x6 post bases that seem to be used for attaching a post to concrete:

Since I'm using pressure treated lumber, and the piers stick above the ground a bit, do I really need these?  Can the rails sit directly on the concrete?  I can bolt the rails directly to the piers with wedge anchors.

You can sit the rails (or beams) right on the piers and level them using shims. That bracket is used for vertical mounting columns.


Fly problem in my house Not sure if this belongs here but it’s the closest I can find.

I discovered some flies in my food waste bin that our local authorities make us have and now I can’t stop seeing them, I find loads. I have since got rid of the bin completely.

I have tried spray but out right killing them I find the easiest and quickest way.

What is the best way in lockdown that I can get rid of them? Traps etc

Flies (assuming common house flies) are attracted to gaseous chemicals released by decaying things. No decay, no flies. If you have removed the bin and they are still coming in, it's because there are still traces of decaying material attracting them. Clean everything with a strong household cleaner or a solution of diluted bleach.


How can I determine if there is asbestos in something? I pulled up some old flooring. Underneath there is material that looks like paper, maybe fabric, that is glued to the hardwood below. I would like to refinish the hardwood. Is there an easy way to determine if the material on top of the wood has asbestos in it?

From the similar questions linked in the comments above, the general answer is to:

Avoid ripping or tearing that would result in dust. It's only in the form of dust that asbestos is hazardous.
You can get an inexpensive test kit or check with local companies that perform this test.
If it is asbestos, only have a professional attempt to remove it.


Suggestions for building plywood landing and connecting to concrete stoop? I would like to add a plywood landing to the garage and kitchen door entryway from the concrete stoop.  The Cinder block garage, which was built later and abuts the house, has a horizontal crack that runs below where I want to attach a 2”x4” ledger with concrete screws.  The plywood landing, which would connect to the sloped stoop, would be about 29” x 8’ with some sort of railing.
Is it necessary to chip out and re-point the cinder block bed joints with mortar? It is getting pretty cold for mortar to set here in Northern Illinois. I can try to notch the legs that support the ledger but the floor is pretty uneven too.
I was planning on attaching a ledger to the wall and stoop in a L shape fashion.  Since the stoop has a slope should I just add a transition piece or should I build it sloped to match?
Also, the stair rise is high, the first stair is 10 1/2” and the second one to the top of the landing is 7 1/4”.  Should I just add a wood step to the bottom floor and secure it somehow?
This is for an 84 year old elderly family member who has a hard time with the steps. Any tips you may have on construction and design are appreciated.
Thank-you

I would build it more or less exactly as you've sketched it, but on posts like a deck. Don't attempt to suspend it on the block wall. Build a conventional floor system with 2x6 sides and joists on 16" centers, then cover it with 3/4" plywood.
Drop six legs to the slab fastened to and supporting the rim joists. I'd probably use one 2x4 under the rim and one against it and lapping onto the joist, inside. Be aware that these will vary in height to accommodate slope in the slab.
Post detail:
 __ __
|  |  |
|  |  |<-- rim joist
|  |  |
|  |__|
|  |  |
|  |  |<-- outer leg member
|  |  |
| <|--|--- inner leg member
|  |  |

You can then fasten it to the block to hold position, but you're not relying on that connection for load bearing. You could also just put a dab of construction adhesive under each post to lock it in place.
As to the slope in the concrete stoop, I'd consider twisting the deck to go from sloped at the concrete to level at the other end. It really depends on what the user prefers, though. The alternative is to set the deck level with the low point on the stoop and create a small transition wedge to blend with the concrete.
A good railing strategy is just to use 2x2 spindles on 5-1/4" centers with a 2x4 top rail (oriented vertically). Optionally cap that with another 2x4 or 2x6 to create more of an elbow rest. Fasten each spindle to the rim joist with two 2-1/2" screws.
The stoop step is a conundrum. Your idea to build a wooden bottom step has merit, but stair sets with random rise heights are a problem. I'd consider building a full 3x3 landing 7-1/4" down from the lower tread, leaving you with two uniform rises above the landing. Mentally this is less likely to result in stumbles.


Is luxury vinyl tile cost effective? I am about to tile my bathroom floor, and a friend pointed me to this Luxury Vinyl Tile

Basically, I'm wondering if the money savings, and ease of installation will hurt me in the long run when I go to sell in 3 to 5 years. Or in other words, should I just suck it up and install ceramic tile.

I'd echo what Tester101 is saying. Going with vinyl vs cermaic is really a question of the style and price of home in relation to others in the area. Whether the price of the house is dramatically affected by this decision is hard to tell.

Does it match the rest of the house? For example, if your bathroom has a walk-in glass shower that's done in granite tile, granite counter tops, and a $600 vanity, then yes, using vinyl tile will make the whole thing look cheap. If your bathroom is more modest, then you can get away with these tiles.

Houses in a given area typically sell in a certain range. If you put several thousand dollars into high-end everything then you'll probably be able to sell at the top of that range, but no one is going to pay $350k for a house in a neighbourhood where all the houses are $220 to 260k.

That said, the straight-up price difference to DIY is not that much. I actually just installed these exact vinyl tiles in my bathroom. I went with them for a couple reasons:

I don't really like cold tiles, and so factoring in a in-floor heating ups the cost
My house does not have a lot of high-end finishes, and is not worth enough overall that I'd get a return on investment from this.
To put in tiles, I'd have to significantly beef up the subfloor, and I didn't want to put that much money or time in.
I have not tiled before, and was trying to complete this project in a weekend while the wife was gone as it's our only shower and she was not thrilled at not having a shower.

Overall I'm pretty happy with them. They do take some playing with to get them perfect (especially if your walls aren't perfectly square, like mine) - the first row is critical. I messed mine up a little bit, and there's a very slight crack between them, but it's not too bad.

I also noticed that the "grout" lines on the edges are not perfectly uniform. Some are skinnier than others. I unfortunately ended up with two planks with skinny edges butted against each other, next to two with thick edges. It's subtle, but it's the sort of thing that once you see it, you can't un-see it. If I used them again, I would take a whole bunch out of the box, and lay them out before hand to make sure the edges are balanced.

I am happy with the way they turned out. It's about equivalent to a normal vinyl sheet floor. It's not even comparable to the old peel-and-stick tiles. I definitely noticed in the store that there are some that don't look that nice, and if you do a bad job at installation for sure they won't look good. My first try at it, I had the first row misaligned and so by the time I was just a few planks in, it was horribly offset. I had to go back and redo it all (which luckily, you can do).

Here's part-way through the installation, to give you an idea of how they go down:


Is it safe to hang a 39lb projector screen from a drywall ceiling without using the joists? Is it safe to hang a 39lb projector screen from a drywall ceiling without using the joists? I'm having a debate with someone over how we should hang a projector from the ceiling. I want to place screws into the framing, however the joists are off center from the wall and would either require chains or that the projector screen just be off center. The person I'm debating with wants to use a steel toggle bolt anchor or some other method of hanging a heavy item in drywall without a joist.

Absolutely not.

First, the drywall will almost certainly sag over time and leave a permanent bulge. That's if (IF) the drywall doesn't pull off the screws holding it to the ceiling. That is the risk of this scenario--not simply the projector coming down.

Here's how it could play out: You hang the projector, and all seems well. Over time the natural vibration in the home causes the single drywall screw nearest the projector to work through the thin paper top layer of the drywall. Because drywall is flexible, the sheet starts to sag. Now the force is on more screws, but the initial damage is done. If there are only a few nearby screws, the same thing happens there. If you're lucky, this stops movement, but now your projector is hanging on an inverted drywall bubble, bouncing around with every step on the floor above. It's not a pretty situation.

Use a decorative board of some sort to span between joists, and mount the projector to that.


Whirlpool ice maker making knocking noise, but still makes ice Ice maker is making ice but has started making a clicking noise.  I can see the two gears slipping and making the noise.  It is still making ice, but the noise is irritating.  Any suggestions how to fix this?  The gears do not look damaged.

I had the exact same issue.  Web search just turned up retailers and drop shippers trying to sell me a new ice maker.

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS KIND OF REPAIR UNLESS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH WIRING ISSUES!!

There are several YouTube videos showing how to remove and replace the ice maker from the freezer.

What I discovered was a poor connection at the factory wire nut connecting the thermostat to the heating element.  This prevented the heating element from warming up fast enough to free the cubes before the ejection fingers hit the cubes.  Fingers could not move causing the gears to slip.  I simply removed the crimped wire nut, soldered the connection and replaced the wire nut with a twist on type.  Unit has worked great ever since.


What is an A-19 light bulb or lamp? This may sound simple to some but I bought a couple exterior light fixtures.  They say only use type A-19 light bulbs or lamps.  From what I guessed looking through the net I think this means no CFL energy saving bulbs.  What exactly is an A-19 type light bulb?  The light fixtures I bought have a sensor and dual-brite dimmable lighting capability which I don't even plan on using.  I want it on at 100% brightness at all times.

It defines the physical size of bulb that can be accomodated.

  The most commonly used A-series light bulb type is the A19 bulb, which is 2 3⁄8 inches (60 mm) wide at its widest point, approximately 4 3⁄8 inches (110 mm) in length, and has a one-inch wide (type E26, i.e. approximately 26 millimetres wide) Edison screw base.

From Wikipedia

Any CFL that fits in the space provided should work

Some LED lamps sometimes need airflow to keep their temperature in operating ranges. So might have issues in a fully enclosed fixture


Can an addition be attached to a post and pillar foundation I am looking to buy a home that has a post and pillar foundation. It is a one bedroom, so one of the requirements for the future is that it be able to be expanded to at least 2 bedroom. It is in the Seattle Greenlake area. My question is whether or not it is possible to build on an addition (one or two story) to the house and connect it to the existing post and pillar foundation?

Yes - drill more holes, set more posts, expand away.


Is there any significant loss of cooling efficiency to wrap the both sunction line and liquid line together using one single insulator? The installation of a split-type air-conditioner wraps both sunction line and liquid line together using one single insulation, instead of wraping each line separately.  Is there any significant loss of cooling efficiency to do so?

[EDIT1: Looks like that I mixed up the pipes and now corrected them.]

[EDIT2: This type of installation is very common in my city and they even wrap the electric wires inside the insulator too.]

I have not seen this done. I thought the return suction line was supposed to be cold to help cool the compressor. There is no need to wrap the high pressure liquid line at all.


Convert One 3-Way Light Switch to Belkin WeMo Light Switch (Single Pole) Our foyer chandelier has three switches that control it. I want to control it with a Belkin WeMo light switch, which specifically states is not compatible with 3-way switches/fixtures, sadly. Well, if I can't convert one of the three switches to be a Belkin WeMo light switch and keep the other two switches working, I'd like to just convert one of the switches to be a WeMo light switch as a single pole, such that the other two switches would simply be left in their on positions.

In my case, the light switch I want to convert/replace has four wires. Two black wires. Two white wires. There appears to be a couple loops of bare copper wire inside the metal box, but currently it does not appear to be connected to the existing switch in any way.

The new Belkin WeMo light switch has four wires of its own. Two black (labeled switch, one with a lightbulb icon, the other with a lightning bolt icon), one white (labeled neutral, with a zero icon), and one green (labeled ground, with the standard icon for ground).

So how might I go about figuring out what wires on the WeMo light switch to connect to what wires currently connected to the existing 3-way switch to pull off this functionality?

Any tricks/hacks that might help me keep the functionality of at least one of the two other three-way switches and have the third WeMo light switch altogether? I do wish Belkin would just come out with a 3-way version already, but until that happens, I guess I'm stuck taking this route if I want the WeMo capabilities (and I do).

SHORT ANSWER

You can't convert the WeMo switch to replace a three way. You can add it to a three way circuit to turn lights on and off if and only if the three ways were first set to leave the light on. When you turn off the WeMo (at home or remotely), the lights will go off. When you turn on the WeMo (at home or remotely) the lights will go on. But, if the lights are already off because the three ways were used to turn them off, the WeMo will not turn them on.

LONG STORY

The WeMo light switch is a simple on and off switch (as far as your electrical system is concerned; yes, I know it does more). It allows a circuit to be on or off, based on whether that switch is on or off, period.

A three way switch also turns a circuit on or off. The difference is a three way switch is one of a pair. Each switch changes the state that the other switch has created. For the switch closest to the power supply (A), current comes into the switch on one side (on the common terminal) and leaves the switch on one of the two terminals on the other side (the travelers), depending on which direction the switch is thrown.

On the second three way switch (B), closer to the light or other device, the power comes in on one of the two travelers and leaves the switch via the common if and only if the switch is thrown to the same traveler as switch A.

For three way switches, there is no on or off position. Rather there is traveler 1 and traveler 2 positions (not labeled that way but called that for illustration). The circuit is on when both switches are turned to the same traveler and off when they are turned to different travelers.

This illustration also shows the 4-way switch described by OP.
It also does NOT show neutral and ground wires which MUST be connected as well.

All of the illustrations show just one ON position for the 3-way/4-way setup.
There are actually four possible ON combinations and four OFF combination.

The WeMo can be added to this circuit by placing it between the hot line and the common terminal on three way switch A or between the common terminal and the fixture on switch B.

or

 These illustrations do NOT show neutral and ground wires which MUST be connected as well.

WeMo effectively interrupts or connects the power either before or after it goes through the three way setup. However, If it three way pair is off (the swithces are not turned to the same traveler), then the circuit will stay of, regardless of the WeMo setting.

Whether this works for you depends on whether you are willing to be sure to turn the three way setup to on before you leave and then control the system with the WeMo.

THE SETUP

The existing switch you are describing does not sound like a three way, but a four way. This is a switch used between two three ways to give an additional location to switch a circuit on and off. (The white wires are actually being used as hot lines and should have been marked with black tape or a black marker). This switch cannot be controlled by the WeMo. You need to find the one of the real three ways to make this work.

When you do, connect the wires as follows:

WeMo GREEN wire to the BARE wires in the box.
WeMo WHITE to WHITE wires in the box.

If you are placing the WeMo next to three way A (closer to line voltage):

WeMo BLACK (Lightning bolt) to BLACK or RED power line currently attached to COMMON terminal on existing three way switch.
WeMo BLACK (Light bulb) to COMMON terminal of existing three way switch.

If you are placing the WeMo next to three way B (closer to fixture):

WeMo BLACK (Lightning bolt) to COMMON terminal of existing three way switch.
WeMo BLACK (Light bulb) to BLACK or RED power line currently attached to COMMON terminal on existing three way switch.

REMEMBER, the three way setup has to be set so that the circuit is ON for the WeMo to be able to control it remotely. (The four way you have been looking at complicates the circuitry, but you can effectively ignore it; just make sure the overall circuit is ON before you leave; it doesn't matter which switch you flip to turn it on.)

SUPPLEMENT

Based on the OP's comment, he or she is willing to lose the 3/4-way functionality and install the WeMo only to control the fixture. That cannot be done by replacing the 4-way switch described because there is no neutral in that box.

The WeMo could be swapped for one of the three ways if there is a neutral in the three way box.

If you are replacing 3-way A, attach the black lightning wire to the black (or red) hot from the line. Attach the black lamp wire from the switch to the black traveler. Cap the white traveler. In the 4-way box, remove the switch and join the two black traveler wires. Cap the whites separately. Place a blank cover plate over the box. In switch box B (closest to fixture) remove the switch. Attach the black traveler wire to the fixture wire. Cap the white traveler wire.

If you are replacing 3-way B, follow the same steps, except in box A, the black traveler is attached to the hot line, and in Box B the black lightning wire is attached to the black traveler and the black lamp wire is attached to the fixture wire.


Will having an expansion tank on the hot water pipe cause any problems? I want to replace my water expansion tank and I just found out that it is installed in the hot water pipe coming out from the water heater. From what I've read, it should be installed in the cold water supply. I want to know if this will cause any problems

The only 'problem' is that it fills with hot water. The water sits there and will get cold if not being used.

When the hot water is turned on again, this cooler water will mix with your hot water.

Your hot water will change in temperature a bit until the water in the tank, and the metal of the tank get hot.

Nothing will happen that will ruin your plumbing.


Testing for MSRA/Staph in your home I am unsure if this is the proper place to ask this, or if the Biology StackExchange would be better, but I thought to start here first!

My situation is that I have been suffering from skin problems since moving into an apartment 3 years ago. Last year I asked the owner to install a new shower head, because pressure was low and I kept seeing red slime ooze out of it, even after cleaning it. She had a plumber look at it and he said to use Tilex to clean it, and soak it in vinegar. I started doing those things. No visible red slime anymore, things appeared to be okay.

Fast forward a year later, and I had to go to the doctor to get diagnosed with impetigo/staph. I believe it has been occurring over the course of 3 years and I have written it off as other skin problems, until it became an overwhelming problem. The doctor gave me medicine and it seemed to be cured.

But now a month has passed since I was cured and the symptoms started to re-appear.

I went ahead and soaked the shower head in vinegar for 8 hours. In doing so, I noticed all this black slime oozed out of the faucet below it, in the tub. Along with the black oozey slime, there was also signs of cleaner I had once used (dish soap with vinegar) and that was many months ago. This was very troubling when I saw it, so I cleaned it all up with Tilex. Everything seemed to be fine.

But then I noticed a massive amount of black mold come out of the shower head, so I wiped that off, and it was a lot!! Then I put Tilex on the shower head again, and even more mold came out. Rinse. Repeat. Gross.

I suspect this has been the culprit of all my skin woes. So I immediately replaced the shower head, against the owner's wishes. I can honestly say, the shower experience is much better. The pressure is much better. The water seems cleaner/less white. I even went as far as to buy pipe cleaning brush and clean out the shower head valve, inside and out, with Tilex and Clorox foam. From what I can tell this thing is clean now.

But how can I get the pipe tested for MSRA? How can I test the water for MSRA? Is that even a thing? It seems that they only test people for MSRA? I suspect it's the walls behind the shower are full of mold? Help!

When we finish a project we make the plumber test the water by sampling at least two faucets.

They take the samples to our local medical testing lab. Be sure to tell the lab what they’re testing for...because they’re usually testing for fecal matter.

Maybe you could call a local plumber and see who they use and what they use for taking the samples. (The testing lab will want to establish a chain of custody on who took the samples, where the samples were stored, etc.)


How to install a junction box for a wire splice My unit is getting ready to sell and the home inspector said I need to install a junction box ... I don't know what to do. Is this something my association management should take care of? How can I put a junction box on this? This is where it is in my kitchen.

It looks like the root problem is that the under-cabinet light was not installed flush to the back of the cabinet-wall corner.  The casing of the light itself is typically meant to be used as a junction box, and it should have enclosed the wires from the light, from the wall, the wire nuts, etc.
You should remove the light, feed the cable from the wall through the existing hole in the light fixture, reinstall the fixture absolutely flush the with cabinet bottom and wall, and then re-attach the wires inside the fixture. You may need to trim the wires a bit, or maybe you can just gently push the extra inches back into the wall (probably better).
If the hole in the fixture doesn't already have a clamp or you will need to add one (secures the cable & protects it from metal edges). Personally I like the the plastic snap-in type (example) since they're easy and fairly flush. But there are others; your local store can advise you what they have.
The reason for insisting on there being no gaps is so that the wall cable is not exposed even a little; I believe if its done that way it will satisfy electrical code. References: just what I recall reading when I was installing similar lights myself.


How do I run cable through my ceiling? I have a cable that I need to run through the ceiling. I'd like to go under the floor, but I have a split level house, and this is the lower floor, so I don't believe there is room in the bottom half of the wall to run cable.
Here's the situation in the ceiling. I think I have a decent handle on what needs done, but this is my first time having to do something like this, so I'm looking for tips and how I might actually fish the cable.
So here's where my cable comes in to the house (wall to the right of this pic out of frame), and where I can easily access the joists:

In my living room, here's what those ducts look like. Fortunately the joists run in the direction I'd like to run my cables.

Here's the TV, my wife wants a shelf above it for the cable box, home theater PC, etc. So I need to fish network cable to this spot on the wall. There is a cable outlet there already but I have hunted all over and I cannot find a the other end of the cable. This house was a rats nest of RG-11 wiring when I moved in, and none of it makes any sense.

Here is the approximate cable run.

My biggest questions:

how I'm going to get the cable about 4 feet down through that hump in my ceiling and then make a 90% turn.
How to fish it along the ceiling
Am I going to have to cut an access hole in my wall by the TV, then patch the drywall to do what needs done? I can't think of any other way to do it. At least not in a hole the size of a wiring box.

Couple problems I see. First is the textured ceiling. You'll never be able to open that up and patch it without being obvious, the texture is something that just isn't done these days. Second, the exterior wall should have insulation in it, so you'll end up fishing the line through insulation and the vapor barrier.

Instead, I'd suggest running the line around the floor if you can get it to a convenient wall anywhere in that room. Use some fasteners to keep the cable at the base of the wall to run it around the room: