Is this mold on my room's ceiling? Is it dangerous? We have a room that has been unused for a while. We noticed some faint spots appearing on the ceiling a couple years ago. The spots have slightly darkened over time but haven't changed in size or shape. I was not sure if it was mold or something else. We couldn't see any obvious signs of water damage or moisture in that area. We even looked in the attic. Other than these spots isolated in one corner, the ceiling and other walls look fine. We ignored it for all these years as the spots haven't really changed in size, shape or color but now we want to use the room and were planning on painting it when we noticed these spots again. Could this be mold? If so, is it dangerous or we can just put a good primer and paint it over?

Ceiling picture without flash:

Ceiling picture with flash:

They definitely look like water spots or leaks. You stated you've been in the attic and saw no sigh of leaks... have you been up there lately and actually looked at the drywall where the spots are? If no signs of any leaks, blotch some bleach over the spot. If it's an old water stain that might remove it. If you do paint, get a stain blocker and apply it per instructions before painting.  It really does not look like mold. have you ever had any rodents up in the attic??


Which mortise lock/brand I should get to replace this one? I got the Marks Metro mortise from HomeDepot and thought it would match the current size (I thought mortise has a standard size). However, when I try to replace it, the old mortise is a bit bigger.
I can't find any brand information on the old one. Any idea which size/brand will match this mortise? The bigger one is the one that I want to match.

Thanks!

The one on the right (the old one) is an old Russwin Emhart mortise lock. You can still purchase ones like it from Corbin Russwin but they are quite pricey. If you want to replace the Emhart with the Marks Metro, a few shims and a new strike plate as well as some alterations to the door/door jamb should do the trick.


Drywallers messed up tile backer board, can I still tile? I had the drywallers install denshield tile backer and I am finally getting around to tiling. I noticed a problem while looking at it the other night. Most places I've seen say that the gap between the tub and the backer should be 1/4"-1/8". I'm not sure what happened here, but it looks to be about 1 1/8" to 1 1/4".

Can I still tile with this or do I have to cut out a section 1-2" above and install new denshield to the correct tub gap? I don't think the grout will stick correctly if there is a void behind it.

I will be contact the drywallers to tell them about this, however, the project was done around 2 months ago.

thanks,

Eric

That big of a gap is a problem, especially the gap in the 2nd picture. It is standard practice to ensure that the waterproof membrane overlaps the vertical lip of the tub at the wall, so that any moisture that penetrates through the grout (yes, grout is porous whether or not you use grout sealer) will make its way down into the tub well rather than into the wall/stud bays.

This is a quote from the DensShield tech. sheet:


Replaced a light switch and now it’s always on. Pops if you flip the switch Replaced a light switch with a dimmer and now the light won’t turn off and pops if you turn the switch off. The box contains 3 black wires, 3 white wires, and a ground. Only one wire is hot, the black one with the piece of electrical tape. The 3 white wires were connected together and the three black ones together. It was a single pole switch and replaced with a single pole dimmer. I even tried putting the old switch back on and it’s the same issue. You can see all 6 wires in the pics. There is an outlet box below the switch nozzle not sure which wire goes where. House was built in 1982. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It appears in this box, all the whites are actually neutral.  Splice them together, fullstop.

Now, splice the known-supply-black (hot) to one of the other blacks.  Hopefully one of two things will happen, either a lamp will light continuously, or some downline outlet that is now dead will spring back to life.  If that black wire turns a lamp on, mark it with red electrical tape, sold in 5-color packs for $4.

Now at this point all the black wires should be always-hot and all the red wire(s) should be lamps.

Go get the instructions for your dimmer.

identify which wire is ground (the green one, grounds are always and only green, yellow+green or bare). Unscrew the ground wire off your old switch and splice it to that wire.
Identify which dimmer wire is always-hot/line.  Splice that to the black wires.
Identify which dimmer wire is switched-hot or load. Splice that to the wire(s) you marked red.  A yellow or orange wire nut shoudl be about the right size,  you should own wire nuts.

Test, button it up.

Next time you do this...

You got into trouble for reasons. Learn them and don't do them again.

Don't take apart more than absolutely necessary.  The actual job involved only interacting with the two wires landed on the switch backstabs, and its ground.  All that other stuff was out-of-scope for the project.

You should have yanked the two wires out of the backstabs on the switch, (or cut them, those are pigtails, cutting pigtails is fine).  That would have given you only two wires to deal with, lots easier than six.   You would have quickly figured it out.

The usual reason we see people do this is curiosity.   Now let's pause and think about the rationality of this.   You don't know the craft. You want to know the craft, so you want to see how things are put together.  Fair enough.  But learning electrical by dismantling your house doesn't seem very efficient, does it? It's not.  Get a book.  Go to a library and pick a 2011 or newer book on home wiring that feels accessible to you, and devour it.  Learn all about grounding electrodes and receptacle tabs and switch loops and subpanels.  Don't attempt to "learn on the internet", because Google only answers questions, and you need a well-rounded primer on the field to know which questions to ask.  In other words, Google only gives you swiss cheese knowledge: you don't know what you don't know.

Having done so, you're ready to lurk around here and read answers and try to guess who the smart ones are.  A few answers might come out of you - we'll tell you if it's wrong.

Don't cut off in-wall wire length unless you absolutely have to.  That length is too precious to waste, as it can't ever be replaced without demolition work.  Cutting those wirenut/twists off was senseless.  You will simply be putting the white wires back as they were, and the black wires were already correct with a pigtail that you could've attached the dimmer to.  Shame, the splices were very well done.

It's much better to untwist that wirenut or side screw, or twist-pull a wire out of a backstab... (which wrecks the backstab, but that's alright, you'll never use a backstab.)

Of course, don't use backstabs; they have a lot of reliability problems.


Is it OK to run NM-B cable from outlet behind TV to surge protector? I already know that I can't run a TV's actual power cord behind the wall to a surge protector.

Here's what I'm thinking about doing instead.  Mount a recessed outlet behind the TV, run the cable behind the wall from that outlet down to a recessed multimedia wall plate where it would come out and be terminated with a 15 amp plug and then plugged into a UPS surge protector.

Is this OK and if not what could be done that would allow the TV to be plugged into surge protector?

Why you shouldn't use NM cable
NM-B cable (Romex®) is not designed to be used as a flexible cord, and must be properly secured and supported.  It's also not rated for use where it may be exposed to physical damage.
Flexible cords have thicker jackets, which are designed to hold up to a bit more abuse.  They also contain stranded wires, which hold up to movement much better than solid core wire.
If you were to use NM-B cable in this way, there's a few potential problems.
Abuse
The exposed bit of cable could be damaged, exposing the conductors. This could be a shock, and/or arc-fault hazard.
Movement
Repeated movement of the cable, could cause damage to the core of the wires. This damage could lead to increased resistance, which could be a fire hazard. Ultimately the movement could lead to the conductors breaking, which could pose an arc-fault hazard.

Alternative solutions
Instead you could go with a product like this Recessed Pro Power Kit w/Straight Blade Inlet.  The inlet at the bottom of the wall, gives you a place to connect a power cord.  The lower inlet is then connected to the upper outlet, using proper cable (e.g  nonmetallic sheathed cable NM-B).

This is a much better, safer, and cleaner installation.
You'll also find that surge suppressor receptacles are available, though may not offer the same level of protection as a standalone device.

Products shown are for demonstration purposes only, I do not recommend or endorse these specific product.


What is this hole in my concrete basement floor? I've striped my basement floating floor, as I want to have a epoxy/polyurea flooring installed. I've found this hole, with a plastic frame, under the floating floor. It was covered with some transparent tape and there was some kind of sealant inside the tape around the hole.

The new flooring would cover it. So, I wonder:

what is this hole ?
what's the purpose ?
why was it taped and sealed ?
anything special I must do/not do as the new flooring cover it ?

Extra information:  I believe there's some sort of pressure differential, as I was feeling a very slight breeze from it (I think) with the tape removed. It was raining outside today and I believe I heard a very faint gargling noise from it (might have been coming from outside, though).

House is in Quebec, Canada, build around 2005.

Lastly, spouse is very concerned about radon gas and anything that might be a way for radon to get in or accumulate is extra concern.

Thanks !

The coin, for sizing, is a canadian 2$, barely larger than a quarter.

It's a floor drain. It was covered in an attempt to keep sewer gas from coming out of it once the trap dries up.

If you're going to cover it, it should be an airtight seal. But blocking off the floor drain in your basement is up to you. Even a small flood could become a real problem.

If you find a way to leave it functional, add some water to it every once in a while to fill the trap back up.


How do I get rid of super glue marks? I was using Gorilla super glue (this damn thing) to fix some chipped off furniture pieces and a loose rubber pad on a laptop. I think I used too much of it and made a little mess with spilled glue. I accidentally left some finger imprints on the laptop and furniture and the loose rubber strip was not aligned right. Is there a way to easily remove the marks? I tried scrubbing and it didn't seem to work. The most concerning marks are on my laptop front and back (I think the laptop case is aluminum with silver paint, not sure though).

Follow-up question: Can I use acetone on a laptop surface and on rubber?

From the FAQ on the Gorilla Glue website:

  To remove uncured Gorilla Super Glue, use a towel dampened with acetone or isopropyl alcohol to blot the area. Several applications may be necessary to completely remove the uncured glue. For removal of cured Gorilla Super Glue from the surface of your project, soak bonded area with warm soapy water or acetone. The adhesive should begin to soften, but many applications may be necessary. Keep in mind that isopropyl alcohol and acetone can damage some surface materials, such as countertops and some plastics. Always test in a small, unseen area first.

Using Acetone or fingernail polish remover is a common suggesting for removing super glue type adhesives.  Of course, you need to make sure the surface you are removing it from will be safe from the acetone.


Replacing Oil Furnace with Heat Pump My wife and I would like to remove the older oil heat from our home and replace it with a heat pump. We currently have an Amana central air conditioning unit (3 ton), and an oil furnace in the basement. From what I can tell, it looks like the furnace is doing all the air moving (upflow), blowing air through a Goodman CAPF Cased Indoor Coil, which is of course connected to the outside unit.

Since the furnace is doing all the air moving right now, but the coil is working great, can the furnace be removed, and in its place install a modular blower? (Like Goodman's MBR, for example).

A blower will only work if you are content with A/C only and no heat. It's probably illegal to have a house with no heat unless you live in the tropics. AFAIK, most A/C units cannot be converted to heat pumps, so it would likely be a complete system replacement.

Also, with conventional heat pumps in all but the most temperate climates, you need a source of backup heat because the heat pump will not work well in very cold weather. So you still pretty much need a furnace with a heat pump. Only heat pumps using alternate heat sources such as ground or ground water do not need backup heat. Such systems are more costly to install than backup heat, but should pay off in the long run with better efficiency.


Is it safe to leave exposed black wire from doorbell transformer? Is it safe for the time being to leave a loose black electrical wire from my doorbell transformer? (I think this is the transformer based on what I have read)

I tried to push the box into the wall and it didn't quite stay and a wire I think came loose. I think this is a hot wire but I am unsure and do not want to touch it. Is there any issue with leaving this exposed until I can get someone to check it out? The doorbell no longer works so I'm guessing this is the power to it.

I believe it came out of the red cover which has the other black wires.

No, it is not safe.

I would turn off power to that circuit at the distribution panel, test the wire with a suitable voltage detecter/meter and insulate the end of the wire until the whole repair can be completed.

If you can't do this and the house is occupied, I would treat it as a serious life-threatening hazard. I would prevent all access to that room, by fitting a lock if necessary.


Can you use three 2x8 sandwiched with 1/2" plywood between to get a 16' header Header to supporting the roof and rafters.  It was a patio converted to a sun room and I would like to replace two large windows with a sliding door.  Currently 4x10x12 header with post in middle.  Want to remove post with three 2x8 DF with 1/2" plywood sandwiched between to get my 6" and span 16'.
I'm tight on space, that why I need to use 2x8.
Please advise if this will work?

A beam made up of multiple members with plywood spacers can be done, if the fasteners are up to code.
However, that really isn't your question. You want to know if you can reduce the depth of your header while also increasing it's length. For any given condition (loading, length, beam size, material (wood or steel)), the two things that most affect the design are those two (smaller differences have larger ramifications).
Further, for a longer beam, deflection controls not strength. Deflection is many times more dependent on the depth of the beam rather than the width.
Therefore: You CAN NOT make up the difference in depth by widening the beam.
To get a more specific answer will require a site visit by a structural engineer so they can determine the loading and other site specific conditions.


Have Gas Water Heater...Wondering If It Needs to be in a Closet I received a "gift house" from my father-in-law a few years ago. A lot of the problems have been repaired over the past few years, but I have a major one that keeps kicking my butt.

The previous owner (not inlaw) enclosed the garage and did a sloppy job of enclosing a gas water heater in a closet inside of the washer/dryer room. It has literally killed me for the past few years as it has zapped my electricity bills and allowed rodents access to the internals of the house. The house is on peer and beam minus the enclosed garage which is obviously slab. The inside of the hot water heater closet has holes, gaps and large drywall cut outs everywhere which opens up to the crawl space below the platform the water heater sits on. You can also see the roof planks if you look at the closet ceiling. The water heater also does not sit inside a proper drain pan. In addition to all of this, the size of the closet causes the washer/dryer (side by side) to overtake the door entry way to the laundry room.

I do not have the funds to upgrade to a tankless unit at this time. But, I am wondering if I can drain and remove the heater and then tear down the closet. Properly fix the walls and ceiling behind the HWH and fix the heater platform (with drain etc) and make sure I properly vent out the gas exhaust and basically get rid of the closet all together.

A few other pieces of info. The washer/dryer are electric. The water heater is 3 years old. I live in Dallas. There are two standard interior doors; one leading to the kitchen, the other leading to the master bath. The washer/dryer room is about 6x12 and does not have an a/c vent in that room. However, the kitchen and master bath both have ducting.

Is it safe to get rid of the closet? Can I demolish it and repair the walls behind the unit and simply sit the HWH back on its platform opened to the laundry room? Does anyone know if this would cause any code issues?
I do plan on having a CO2 detector next to it if I do so.

Here are some pictures to hopefully give you an idea of what I am working with. Please ignore the mess.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

The closet is protecting the water heater from damage. I don't think you should demolish it at the present time. I doubt leakage of unconditioned air into this heater closet is having any significant effect on your electricity bills.

It is my understanding that there is a code requirement in Dallas that tank water heaters have a pan under them, and there must be a drain from the pan to the crawl space, to the outside, or to a garage where it would drain out. But if you don't have a pan, I don't think you are required to remove the tank and install one.

For the life of the current tank water heater, forget about about a tankless water heater for this house. The cost would not make sense for this dwelling.

The first thing to do would be to get carbon monoxide (CO) detectors installed in the living space of the house (bedrooms and hall or living room). Next insure that the combustion gas flue meets code.

Then attack the rodent problem with snap traps (no poison) in the heater closet and in the attic if it is accessible. If you have children or pets, you must put the traps where they cannot get caught. If rats are in the attic or garage, they will find a way into the living space of the house. If you want to put traps in the garage, put them at a height where pets cannot get to them or put the traps in a box with an opening that denies entry to dogs, cats and children.


How can I tell if my bathroom vents are connected? I've lived in this house for 20 years. The bathrooms (3) all have switches for fans, but the two upstairs ones do nothing when you flip the switch. Recently, while doing other work, we discovered that there are fans in place and a wire just sitting there not plugged in. On plugging each of them in, we discovered that when you flip the wall switch, you hear a fan sound and it appears to be working.

So why weren't they plugged in? Why did the previous people disconnect them? There are vents in the outside walls in roughly the right places, but perhaps the disconnected fan units in the bathrooms are not connected by any kind of venting or ducting to those outside vents. How can we tell? Is there something we could release into the air in the bathroom and watch for outside? If we go up into the attic crawlspace, what should we look for? If they aren't ducted, what are the consequences of using them - say in a -20C winter when someone is having a hot shower?

You can tell if they are ducted by looking. Go in the attic and see if they are connected to duct work that goes to the outside.

If not, don't use them as you'll be pumping humid air into your attic space which will lead to either mold and/or water damage.


Remove ceiling fan/light combination replacing with a light and remove 1 of 2 switches that controlled the ceiling fan I am replacing a ceiling fan/light kit combination with a light fixture. The ceiling fan is controlled by 2 switches; one for light on/off and one for the fan on/off + 3 speed control. My desired end result is 1 switch to control a new light (replacing that switch with a dimmer switch).

At the switch box:

Switch on the left (light control) has red/black/ground
Switch on the right (fan control) has 2 black wires; one was wired to the black lead on the switch (marked with blue tape in the picture) and the other to the red lead on the switch.

At the ceiling fan:

The wires are connected as what appears to be normal (no image attached):

Red to fan blue
White to fan white
Black to fan black
Ground to fan ground

Yes; both switches function as expected controlling the light on/off and fan on/off/speed.

Questions

What switch should be used for the new light? The previous fan light control or the previous fan speed control? Doesn't matter to me which one to remove; I plan to use a blank for that.
Based upon the response to question 1, what wires to use for connecting the new light (red to lights' black, white to lights' white OR black to lights' black, white to lights' white OR something else)?
Knowing that I want to remove the extra switch, do I just cap those unused wires off or do they need to be otherwise connected?

Thank you for helping me out!

It looks like you have a pretty "normal" setup:

Black (hot) & white (neutral) come in from the panel.
Black (switched hot), red (switched hot) and white (neutral) go from the box to the fan/light.

What you should find, but is not 100% clear from the picture, is a wire nut connecting three black wires - incoming from the panel, light switch, fan switch. Assuming you can find that connection (because if you can't then we need to figure out what is going on before doing anything else):
In the switch box

Remove the pigtail that used to go to the fan switch.
Cap the other black wire from the fan switch - you won't be using it.
Use the existing light switch (unless you want to switch a Decora style or a smart switch) - no change needed to that switch in the box.

In the ceiling box

Cap the incoming black wire - this was for the fan and you won't be using it.
Connect the red wire to the new light's hot (typically black) wire.
Connect the white wire to the new light's white (neutral) wire.
Connect all grounds together. New light ground may be green or bare.


How can I seal a below-grade window permanently? I purchased my home a couple of years ago and this year I am going to replace the deck and build a fence.  The deck was in terrible condition so I completely took it down.  To my surprise I found 2 below grade windows under my deck that had been dry walled over on the inside.  In fact the previous owner even left the glass panes in the windows.  I want to fix this permanently and fill it in so it won't ever be a problem again.  What is the  best way to do this?

Jeff, you didn't say what material the windows were in. poured concrete foundation wall, framed wall?? Is there siding around the windows? A concrete wall could be filled with bricks and mortar. If it is a framed wall, build a framed box, shiething, then some flashing, lots of silicon caulk and match the siding. A picture would be a great help on this one.


What is this thing in my dishwasher? What is this part in my dishwasher? It is not shown anywhere in the manual.  The brand is Electrolux.

According to many unofficial manuals, it is a salt container.


Kitchen Cabinets And Dry Wall Screws I've got some kitchen cabinets that were hung using 4", course threaded, dry wall screwed.  At every stud there is a screw at the top and bottom of the cabinet.  Additionally, each cabinet is joined to the one on either side 3-6 3", dry-wall screws.  I hope I'm explaining that correctly.

Anyway, after having/using the cabinets for years, without any problems, I read an article about how bad it is to use drywall screws for anything other than drywall.  I was told by the guy at the Home Depot that my family is seconds away from death because it's a miracle they held at all; and that I need to replace them ASAP, with these 4" 'Gold Screws' he sold me.

I've replaced all of the 4" drywall screws with the gold screws.  My question is about the drywall screws used to keep the face of the cabinets flush....they are only 3" drywall screws; but they've been covered with wood putty and sanded.  The color isn't a perfect match, so I know where they are.  Also, the 4" screws I bought are too long, so I'd have to head back to the store and buy more.  Is this necessary?  Do I risk life and limb by not removing those screws and replacing them with the gold ones?

II would say you are fine (and you may have been fine before, who knows). You have replaced the screws that hold the cabinets to the studs, and those are the ones that hold the cabinets up. The ones in the face just keep the faces flush, so if one ever breaks, do the repair then.
Hope this helps.


How do I open stuck sliding door? Stuck Patio Sliding Door is similar but has a different locking mechanism

I have a sliding door to my balcony which is stuck on one end. I cannot push the lever/button down that will unlock the latch.

I tried to remove the entire front face by inserting a sharp object (a small screwdriver in my case) at the pointed areas but I could not make much of a dent. I am unable to try this from the other side as there is no clearance to do so.

How do I remove the cover or unlock the door? I cannot slide anything between the frame and the door to unlatch as there is not room there.

A picture of the latch from the other side

Try pushing the door closed as hard as you can and maybe this will take pressure off the latch mechanism allowing the door to be unlatched. I know of one case where someone took too much slack out of the the door by threading in the screw in the jamb too far. They then latched the door and it was stuck.

After you get the door to unlatch and get it open, adjust the latching to introduce a little slack in the latch. If it is a case of in-and-out alignment, you might have to bend or file one side of the hook, but I would suppose there is some sort of adjustment.


How do I turn builder rough-in plumbing into a basement bathroom? Our house is nearly complete and I am planning our next steps. We have plumbing rough-in pipes for a basement bathroom, and to save some money I am planning on doing the bathroom myself over the next few weeks/months. I have done a decent bit of googling and have yet to find a tutorial that shows how I can go from rough-in to bathroom.

Q: What are the steps I need to take in order to create a bathroom from the rough-in pipes, and is there an instructional resource I can follow along with?

Details:

The framing is already done since the rest of the basement is finished
The floor will be tile
The sink will be a pedestal
I am considering putting in a utility sink instead of a shower and making it so it can be swapped out for a shower if we sell. Anything I should know there?

Given what we know (virtually nothing), the question is too broad. Order of operations depends on a number of design and product choices. Here's a rough outline.

Frame the walls. Be sure that your toilet flange is centered 12" from framing. Be sure that your other plumbing and cabinetry plans fit as expected.
Run plumbing through the walls for your fixtures. Cap pipe stubs.
Rough in electrical.
Insulate and install vapor barrier as appropriate.
Install tub or shower pan. Install shower surround if it goes against framing.
Install drywall. Tape. Texture. Paint.
Install flooring and cabinetry in the desired order. Depends on flooring which comes first. Ceramic tile tends to go in after cabinetry. Vinyl may go in before.
Install trim woodwork (doors, casing, base, shoe).
Install electrical devices and trim.
Install shower surround if it goes over drywall.


15 Amp GFI breaker trips in main Breaker panel I have one 15 amp GFI breaker in my main panel. We have two patio outlets, the garbage disposal and one outlet in each of the two bathrooms all wired common. Whenever we have company and women are using hair dryers at the same in each bathroom the breaker trips. Would it be OK to replace the 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp so it doesn't trip anymore when they are drying their hair?

No! The goal of a breaker is to trip before the wiring starts a fire. If you increase the breaker limit without changing the wiring, the fire may start before the breaker trips.  So, you would have to update wiring before you can think about changing that breaker.


Does an air return duct do anything when the air conditioning or furnace is not running? I recently had a contractor create a new wall which cut me off from the rest of the house.  There is one AC/Heating vent in the room and when the door is closed it gets very, very hot.  As soon as the AC kicks on the room gets very, very cold.

The same contractor later told me that I needed a return air intake to cool the room down.

My contractor is a good carpenter, but his HVAC knowledge seems a bit iffy.  The air intake return would doubtlessly help the AC run more efficiently, but - would an air intake vent do anything when the air conditioning is not running?

It depends on a few factors but just based off of what you've mentioned I'd say that it probably would be fairly good at keeping the room a more moderate temperature.

This is mostly because the air handling unit will be drawing the hot air out of your room and in the process the cooler air from the rest of the house will displace the hot air. Since you mentioned that the room cools very quickly I'd venture a guess and say that the room has good air flow in and out (air will flow down the path of least resistance) or is very close to the air handler (making the installation of a return simple).

It depends a lot on how easy and/or costly it is to install an air return in the room but it seems like a fairly good idea. The new California residential building codes are actually mandating a whole house vent fan to effectively accomplish the same thing (cooling without needing to run the AC) because it's really effective at reducing the temperature more efficiently.

If you do move forward with installing air return remember that the higher the intake is the hotter the air it draws in will be.


Testing electrical outlet wiring, arising from wikipedia The following paragraph appears near the end of this article:

  Simple three light testers cannot detect two potentially serious house wiring errors: (1) neutral and ground reversed at the receptacle. (2) a bootleg ground, where the neutral and ground pins have been connected together at the receptacle. This may be done by someone fitting 3-prong receptacles on a circuit that has no ground wire. These errors can be detected with a multimeter and a test load, to verify that the ground connection is separate from the neutral and is not carrying normal circuit current.

Would someone please explain how to use a test load with a multimeter to do what's mentioned in the paragraph?

I'm taking a stab to open the analysis. Based on the wording of the Wikipedia entry the puzzle is to devise a test using a test load and a multi-meter with the cover plate in place. To detect whether the ground is carrying current one would connect a load to one receptacle of a duplex pair and then on the other receptacle measure the voltage difference between the neutral and the ground or the hot and the neutral or ground. If this is a single receptacle one would use a multiplug cord or adaptor. Somehow the results would reveal reversed neutral and ground or bootleg ground.

Another possibility is with the load connected use an extension cord to a known good receptacle. Measure the voltage difference between a good ground and the ground and the neutral on the receptacle under test.

EDIT

The detection of a bootleg ground in a given receptacle seems straightforward. Connect a significant test load (10 to 12 A) and measure the potential difference (voltage) between the neutral and the ground. If they are tied together in the  box, the voltage will be close to 0. If the ground and neutral are tied only at the panel, the voltage will be > 1 V to ~ 3 V. I have a simple Fluke tester which will not read less than ~4 V so using that meter I would measure the voltage between the hot and the ground and the hot and the neutral. If these are equal, then there is a bootleg ground.


DIY Desk / DJ Stand from Acrylic I have a tall stairwell leading up to my attic 'den' and I was thinking about building a table top onto the railings to create a space for some turntables, mixer and laptop. Initially I thought I'd build it from wood, but experiments have made me see that even covering about a third of the stairwell makes it horribly dark. So I thought I could make a table top out of some transparent, heavy duty acrylic or polycarbonate that could be drilled and bolted onto the stair rails and take the weight of the kit (around 25-30kg).

Can anyone recommend a suitable material for loadbearing applications such as this? And any observations about thickness required, solving any sag issues, mounting techniques and so on would be very gratefully received.

Here's a crude schematic:

Photo of the room:

Dimensions would be approx 135cm x 750 cm.

I'd like some more project details, but 10kg isn't really that much of a load, but it all depends on how everything is supported. If the load is cantilevered out 1m from the anchors, then you're going to need much thicker platforms than if you have doubly-supported structures.

If you're into laser cutting things, acrylic is laser cuttable, which makes it easier to work with. Unfortunately, it has a tendency to shatter when it breaks. In this case, you'll want a thick enough piece to keep the material stress below failure. Without knowing how it's supported, it's impossible to say how thick to make this, but I doubt you could go wrong with anything greater than 1/2" or 12mm.

If you plan to cut the panels with a saw, then polycarbonate is probably the best option. Impact/shatter-resistant, it's unlikely to break at all. For this material, you'll want it to be thicker to prevent it from deflecting. It's not about strength, but stiffness. 1/4" or 6mm could be enough, but, again, it depends so much on geometry.


Got Red Tag warning from gas company for hot water tank (Canada) Gas company technician asked me to take a look at hot water tank and there he issued me Warning B Red tag and gave me 5 weeks to fix the issue. Issue in related to clearance from combustibles (TSSA code 8.18.t1 t.86) (something about 6 inch clearance from combustibles). Area should in red rectangle is what technician was concerned about. My water heater is old (2010) and was here when I bought the house in 2014. A few contractors I asked to want to sell me new water heater. Is it an easy DIY or should I ask for a contractor to fix it ?

What size is the vent pipe. Most water heaters use a 3" or 4" flue pipe. If it is larger, and it does look larger than that in the pictures, you could resize it to the correct smaller size, which would yield a little more clearance. Also ask the gas company's inspector if you can replace that single wall pipe with double wall "B" vent of a smaller size (correct size) and also nail  a sheet of 5/8" fire-shield drywall to the butchered wood. Another thought, if the other flue pipe is the one to the left in the top picture, you could cut that pipe, install a pipe flue tee of the correct size and eliminate the flue pipe that is in question. You may need to hire a professional sheet metal person or HVAC company to perform this change since The pipe after the connection point would have to increased slightly.


Can I use green wire in a residential wall box? This is a 1985 home wired with typical NM-B wire and plastic wall boxes.
I have a few light switches around the house that have no ground connection. There are ground wires in the box, but the switches themselves don't have a ground screw. I guess this was a valid thing to do at the time, but these switches need updating.
To ground the new switches, often times I need to run a ground pigtail from an existing wire nut to the replacement switch. And I'm running out of 14-gauge copper wire scraps to do that with. I've searched all the local big-box stores looking for 14 (or even 12!) gauge bare copper rolls, and I can't find any. I can get insulated THHN or NM-B with no problem, but stripping eight inches of insulation off of that seems like a real chore unless I'm missing a trick.
One thing I did see -- they sell rolls of green-insulated THHN in appropriate gauges and lengths. Since green universally means ground, can I use that for my application?
Separately from the question of whether it's code-compliant to do, if a seasoned pro came by later and saw something like that in the box, would they think the previous work was done by a knucklehead? I ask because I've never seen green wire used in residential wiring, either in this house or anywhere else I've ever lived.

Green wire is perfectly legit. If you are really lazy or in a hurry you can even get pre-cut pre-stripped green grounding pigtails ready to go.
Ground is the only thing it can be used for, but "green or bare" is fine for ground nearly everywhere (I think there are some hot tub/pool specific cases where green is required and bare is not OK, but I don't have any detailed familiarity with those installations as I don't have one.)
Incidentally, it's trivial to strip long lengths of wire with a utility knife if you clamp the end of the wire and pull as you cut. I opted to go full conduit and have been using the NM that was partially installed as grounds (where needed - most of the grounds are the EMT conduit itself), and can strip a 12 foot chunk in less than a minute. I detest the scam where the THHN inside NM cable is not labeled as THHN so it cannot be used any other way...


Cement Recommendations for Fence Posts I am planning to event a fence this summer and, given the size of ~ 250 linear feet, am looking for the cheapest option for cementing the poles. I am considering the use of metal Postmaster (MasterHalco) posts and plan to set them 4' in the ground in ~ 8' holes as I am up north and the frost line is ~3.5 feet.

I have checked out multiple types of fast dry concrete specifically designed for fence post but would like to find a cheaper option. Is a standard portland concrete mix acceptable for this application? If Yes, what ratios of cement/sand/gravel should be used?

Also, are sonotubes recommended?

Thanks

If you are going that deep in the ground, your fence posts will be plenty stable by placing and packing the dirt back around them. To pack the dirt I use a 2X4 with the end cut down to size and rounded for a better feel as a handle, and for tighter places I use a 1X4. I would only do concrete around them if you are setting a large gate to a post.

If you must use portland, instead of the just add water type, the mix ratio is 1-2-3. 1 shovel portland, 2 shovels sand, 3 shovels gravel.


What would cause my furnace to only work with the filter removed? My Carrier furnace works fine without the air filter in place on the return. With the filter in place it works for a while and then stops with a complaint about "limit, or flame rollout is open" (Carrier unit error 33).

What are some next steps I can carry out to narrow down the problem?

As Tester101 mentioned (and he really should've made it an answer, because it's at least a partial one), the filter could restrict airflow to the point where your furnace overheats. Hence the 'Limit' error.

But wait! Trying a cheaper filter, or running without a filter, isn't a good answer. You'll shortly find that the furnace won't run at all, with or without a filter.

What this probably means is one of two things, both of which are not DIY in my book. The first is that your blower unit is going, or is clogged with dust/dirt/pet hair/warm fuzzies/etc. This would require a qualified HVAC professional to replace. The second is that you may have an A/C unit, and the coils are clogged. The second is somewhat DIY-able, but I can't give you directions because I don't know your unit. Mine slides out on kind of a tray, which lets me blow the coils off with compressed air or coil cleaner (which is available as an aerosol at the hardware or home improvement store near you.)

Not tending to this risks a furnace fire. That's why it stops. Get it taken care of!


16 SEER A/C on older furnace I am getting competing bids to replace two 16 year old builder grade air conditioning units.  (3.5 + 4 ton).

One bid is for 14 SEER Carrier units (24ACC442A003) with final price $6,320.

The other bid is for 16 SEER Lennox units (EL16XC1) with final price $8,474.

The carrier tech also quoted 16 SEER unit but said that I would not see the efficiency unless I also replaced my furnace.

Is what the Carrier tech said true: That the 16 SEER units will not achieve 16 SEER without replacing the furnace?

I posted the following tweet to ask Lennox:
https://twitter.com/pottmi/status/868529151749304322

True...but it's true for the 14 SEER unit too. It's a package deal. The condenser, evaporator, coils, furnace, etc. all need to be replaced to achieve the SEER rating.

Remember, the SEER rating is the MAXIMUM that is achieved. Depending on the number of heating days verses the number of cooling days per year is important too. Typical savings usually is about $10 - $20 per month from 14 to 16 SEERs. (Even 21 SEER unit has a savings of only $50 - $75 per month.) So, if you're COOLING about 6 months a year, your savings is about $60 - $120 per year. (We don't recommend a 21 SEER rating because the unit is two stage, complicated and expensive to service.)

By the way, here the cost difference between 14 and 16 SEER is about $500 - $700. (Installation cost is the same.)

Other considerations:
1) Here, we heat most of the time, so we are concerned about the HSPF rating.
2) Warranty (actually, we like Trane, Lennox, Carrier equally. Also, I just heard about a recall on some Carrier units...be sure to verify this.)
3) A programable thermostat will save a lot.


Engineered hardwood over uneven basement subfloor? I purchased a house 2 years ago with a partially unfinished basement but had all the supplies to finish. I am getting around to doing the flooring soon. I have nice oak engineered hardwood flooring and underlay. The basement floor has 1" rigid foam board glued and taped with 5/8 T/G OSB overtop as a subfloor. Now the OSB is not secured to the concrete so I do plan on securing the subfloor to the concrete with tapcons. Have not done so in case I need to add another layer of subfloor. The problem I am having is the concrete is not very level so my subfloor is not level. I have one bad area that has a 1/2" dip when checked with a 6' level. There is other uneven areas throughout the basement but none as bad. The walls and bar cabinets are installed over this subfloor. This low spot is right in front of these cabinets. What are my options for leveling this floor so I can install my flooring?

I would be looking at getting some self leveling mortar/ concrete mix and at the very least, filling in those voids. Your sub floor needs to be securely fastened to the concrete floor which means it will "sink" in where the voids are and that will show when the new wood floor is installed. If you avoid fastening the sub floor into the voids hoping to just go over them, you'll feel the depression and hear a squishing sound every time you walk over it. The smoother and leveler your floor is, the better your new flooring will look and hold up. Good luck.


Can two 120V outlets be converted to one 240V for stacked washer dryer combo? There are two 120V outlets in laundry area of all electric townhouse built in 1982. All the 24" wide electric stacked washer dryers combos require 240V. What is the best way to make necessary improvement?

Your unit already has a 240V dryer plug. Guaranteed.
An all-electric townhouse built in 1982 WILL have a 240V electric dryer plug in the laundry room.  Period, fullstop, end of subject.  You just haven't found it yet.
While you're searching, also search for a gas line.  That would be very surprising in a development that is all electric, because usually the whole point of going all-electric in a condo complex is to avoid even having to bring gas onto the property!   For instance my friend has an all-electric house, the entire square mile does not have gas lines.
I suspect you'll find no gas line.  If so, it is impossible for the building to receive an occupancy permit without a 240V dryer socket in the laundry area.  It MUST be there.
The longshot
Which makes no sense, because if the last guy did this, there'd be no way to dry clothes!!!!
Now, you know what the common 120V dual receptacle looks like.   Maybe you've also seen "single" 120V receptacles with a round socket instead of oval.  Each of those fits in a space we call a "gang" (no idea why).
If you're seeing two of those next to each other (say, 4 sockets, or 2 singles next to each other, or a duplex and a single) in a "2-gang" space with a basically square cover plate... then it's remotely possible that somebody hijacked the 240V dryer plug and replaced it with dual 120V circuits.
The hint is that a 240V dryer socket normally takes a 2-gang space.
Conversion in that direction is possible (240 to dual 120s).  And if that "240 -> dual-120" conversion was done, it can be un-done.
Other than that, conversion in the other direction is not possible: you can't take any random pair of 120V circuits and turn them into a 240V circuit.
This all seems highly improbable... but as Sherlock Holmes says, when you eliminate the impossible (the townhouse not having any dryer power), what remains no matter how improbable must be the truth.


two eletronics with one circuit breaker my new home has 1 circuit breaker (among others) with 220V, 2000W and 20A configuration.
It's ok to use 2 power outlets together with this circuit breaker, in order to use 1 cooktop (gas stove) , which asks for a 2A circuit breaker, and an electric oven, which asks for a 15A circuit breaker and has 1900W max ?

The electric oven is a high-power appliance and should have it's own outlet that has its own breaker.  I don't know anything about the electric code in Brazil, but it may even require this.

If you want other low-power outlets nearby, you can group a few on a single modest breaker.  That gives better overall protection, since the trip current for the small appliances will be less than it would be otherwise.  It also isolates better the voltage sag and other issues caused by the high power appliance.


Size of header required I am working to remove a load bearing wall between my living room and my kitchen. I removed the sheetrock and the top of the wall has 2x4 top and double plates that is perpendicular to the ceiling joists (load bearing give away). The opening will be approx 9 feet tall and 11 feet wide.

At either end of the opening, I am looking at 1 king stud and 2 jack studs and adding a lally stud under the floor in the crawl space under each jack stud location.

Living room is a vaulted ceiling and the room above the kitchen is a bedroom and closet. I am I looking at using 2x10x12 (2ea) with a 1/2' shim in between to brace the span.

Will this be sufficient for a header?

Two by tens are insufficient, and will sag over time. I would suggest a lam beam for this.


How much current can my double pole breaker supply? I originally planned to install a subpanel and feed it 90 amps.  I thought I could do this by putting a 90A double-pole breaker in my main panel and feeding off that.  What I was told was "This will supply 90A on each leg, so your shop will really have 180A", but I don't think that is right.  Does that truly supply 90 amps on each leg or does this get reduced to 45A on each leg (i.e. if I'm running equipment at 240 V then I have 90A available, but all the 120V stuff is limited to 45A)?
I think where this could bite me is if I'm running a welder at 240V and 50A (25A per leg) and somebody else is running the table saw and the compressor kicks on (assuming saw and compressor are on the same leg).  This scenario will trip the breaker, correct?

Common misunderstanding.  If you supply your sub-panel with 90 amps at 240 volts, that's what it will have.  You'll still have 90 amps available on 2 legs at 120 volts. So yes, you'll have 180 amps available at 120 volts (90 amps on each hot (leg)).
If possible, can you run your table saw and compressor at 240? Many motors can easily be converted from 120 to 240 with a simple wiring change.  See the face plate on the motor for instructions.  If not, be sure they are on separate 120 v legs. And just because the instructions for a table saw says it needs a certain amperage, the reality is tools like a table saw rarely draw their full load.   I know others here tend to over-kill the supply, but I'm a bit more realistic to real-world considerations.


Using two 12/2 cables for 30 amp? I know it's not NEC and far from the right thing to do.
I need 30 amps at the garage.
I already have two unused 12/2 cables (w/ground) running to the garage.
I was thinking to use one 12/2 cable, combine the black and white from one, put it on one phase and use another 12/2 wire, combine the black and white from that one, and put it on the other phase. The grounds of both would be tied to neutral.
In the garage I'd make a breakout box and attach each 12/2 to a wire of a 6/3.
Each 12/2 would be a hot, 120VAC of a leg of the 2 double circuit breaker.

I'd be pulling about 30 amps for an electric car charger.

Please give me all the reasons why NOT to do this, and that it's a bad idea.

12/2 - Black & White - Phase 1, 120VAC   > Black wire on 6/3

12/2 - Black & White - Phase 2, 120VAC   > Red wire on 6/3
Ground > White on 6/3

Grounds of each would be tied to neutral/ground.

1) With only a couple exceptions (of which yours is not one of them) the National Electrical Code does not allow the paralleling of conductors less than 1/0 AWG in size. The reasons for just about everything in the Code is safety.

2) In your scenario you will have neutral current flowing on a bare equipment ground wire. Another code violation because it is very unsafe.

3) Current flowing in one direction in a cable and not in the other direction can cause electromagnetic inductive heating if passing through ferrous metal components like cable clamps, locknuts, panel knockouts, etc. (The principle used by induction cooktops) This leads to melting insulation, FIRE  and everybody dies. Not a pretty scenario. Again this is prohibited by the code for the, hopefully, obvious reasons above.

So, short answer to your unsafe proposal is NO don't do it

Run a properly sized cable. It is not worth your life or your family's lives to save a few bucks.

Good luck!


Cutting strands of wire to fit plug I am a hvac tech, but my question is I have 2awg stranded and my plug is 6awg, will it matter much if I cut some strands to fit my plug? the plug is 60amp 250vac for a piece of kitchen equipment if the matters.

Yes, it matters a great deal.

Cutting off extra strands will create a big safety hazard, yes. Yes, it will affect the resistance of the connection.  It will cause a voltage drop and localized heating, which may melt the plug.  It could also cause arc faulting, which could ignite grease or flour residues.

But also, the plug has a built-in strain relief.  It is designed to clamp #6 cable, not #2.  It won't be able to clamp #2, which in practice means the strain relief just won't be used, and any pulls on the cable will yank on the connections directly.  That would be bad even if the terminations were proper!

The NFPA and UL don't make these rules to be a pain.  They do it because experience has proven things blow up if they don't.

There are some other problems. Plugs/sockets larger than 60A are very unusual, which means cordage larger than 6 AWG is very unusual.  I have a strong suspicion this is not cordage, but in fact is building wiring. Don't use building wire intended for in-walls or underground, in an application where a flexible cord is normally used. Building wiring can't handle the flexing  and motion of cords.

Trying to use #2 here is wrong.  Anyone with an experienced eye will spot a #2 cable going to a plug.  They could get written up on a walk-through.  If this shows up in an investigation of an injury or fire, you could really be in the soup, because the boss will swear he didn't tell you to do that.

I know you have something "on order", but the correct cable is readily available.  It's simply 6/4 or 6/5 cordage (3-phase+ground with or without neutral; number of wires = number of plug pins) and they cheerfully sell it by the foot.  Most likely there's an electrical supply house within 2 miles who stocks it.

And it's cheaper to boot. Significantly cheaper than #2.

Super easy to do it right, so do it right.


Who should I call for plumbing upgrades? We need the hot/cold valves replaced for our washer and the kitchen sink/faucet replaced. Call a plumber or handyman?

A handyman should be able to take care of the sink / faucet replacement, but I'd want a plumber replacing the valves.

If you've got a plumber coming anyway, they may do the faucet replacement, but probably not the sink replacement.


How much weight can single-track shelving mounted on brick wall hold? I'm looking at attaching shelves to a brick wall using single-track metal strips with adjustable brackets.  The metal strips will be 78 inches long and I'm planning on using pine shelves 47 x 12 x 3/4 inch. There will be 5 shelves in total. How much weight do you reckon I could put on each shelf? And what length screw would be the minimum I would need?

If your brick is solid and does not seem to be crumbly (like in +100 year old house) then I would always suggest and even my self use and Anchor bolt - In some countries called a robolt - These are on of the best load and pull rated bolts. And I always try to use these bolts because you can never be sure about who will put what on a shelf. Using these bolts if installed correctly(not difficult) are rock solid.

The downside to using these bolts is that you need to drill very deep into the brick. 8-10cm for a small bolt.
The upside though is that it passed the monkey test1.

All you have to do is:

drill the correct diameter holes into to the wall as straight as possible in the correctly marked locations.
Remove the bolts mechanism, feed the threaded rod through the rail and replace the bolt mechanism on the other side of the rail.
Repeat at key location on the rail.
Place against wall and insert all bolts as evenly as possible.
They sould slide in easily but you apply more pressure to get it in there.
Tighten each bolt until you feel it getting harder turn the wrench.
You want to get it tight enough where you feel enough pressure that will make you change your standing stance. That should do it.
By this point it should pretty rock solid!

And because this is for your home and not a building site you would finish it off with a bolt "nut" cover. This will give you some extra points with the wife for paying attention to the finer details. You can get various shapes, colours and finishes. Or just paint over them.

Using anchor bolts makes you only have to worry about the bearing load of the brackets and shelves you use. But it is obvious the shelf max load should not exceed the anchors load capacity to be safe.

I have seen shelves that collapsed because the bracket could not hold the weight but these bolts stayed put!

Disclaimer: Just a bit of humour but entirely factual.

1Monkey Test

  It is a test that is taken out on shelves , hooks or other newly
  installed equipment that will be used to hang things off. The test is
  simple. Hang on the object and wiggle like a monkey. If it does not
  rip/pull out / bend or create damage to the area around it. It is
  monkey proof and guarantees to carry ridiculous load. Tested in South Africa in camping sites near nature reserves on outside fixtures


HVAC thermostat current What is the typical current (in mA) carried by the 24v thermostat HVAC wire bundle in a typical low voltage application?  I'm using 18/7 wire.

HVAC transformers are commonly rated 24 volts, 40 volt-amperes (VA).  So they should be capable of providing about 1.6 amperes.

40 VA ÷ 24 V = 1.666666 A

However, the amount of current flowing, depends on what load is connected. If the load is only drawing 5 mA, then only 5 mA will flow on the wire.


Why does it take several attempts for my garage door to go all the way down? It comes back up at different points. Sometimes it won't even start going down. Both my yellow and green lights are on, but it keeps coming back up.

The runners are dirty / blocked or the guide wheels / pins are sticking, not rotating and increasing the load so that the safety limits come in causing the motor to stop or be reversed.


A handyman abandoned his tools at our place, won't answer calls I am not sure if this is the right place for this question, but a handyman we hired (Massachusetts area) has left his tools, including a blow torch, at our place after a botched bathroom tub repair. His tools have been at our house for over a month now, and he won't pick up calls or answer messages anymore. We were worried he might have COVID or was maybe unwell- he did pick up the phone once, he said he would be collecting his tools soon. That was three weeks ago.
Maybe just being paranoid, but first: is there any danger of his blow torch exploding for any reason? We have just left all his things untouched, so it's just sitting there in his tool bag without any chance (hopefully) of getting direct heat or getting punctured. We are pretty sure he was not licensed to use that blow torch as he is a handyman, and not a licensed plumber.
Secondly: I am just perplexed by this mystery-why has this man left the tools of his trade at our place for over a month? Are the tools implicated in a crime or something? What is the recourse for my family here? Is he waiting for us to get tired, throw them out and bill us for new ones? Anyone deal with something like this?

You don't need a license to operate a plumbing torch. There's no danger of it spontaneously exploding if you keep it away from heat sources and open flames.
He hasn't dealt with you punctually because he's an unreliable flake. Look up laws for abandoned property in your locality.
Eventually his tools become your tools.


GE Dishwasher Error Codes (PDT760SSF4SS) My GE Dishwasher is displaying active error codes F51, F65. I can't seem to find any information on the meaning of these. Can anyone tell me what these mean?

Searching for GE Dishwasher Error Codes (as they generally aren't model-specific), I found the following page: http://www.searspartsdirect.com/dishwasher-repair/error-codes/ge-dishwasher-error-codes.html

F51 is "Temperature sensor failure"; "Shut off power to the dishwasher and check the wiring connections on the temperature sensor, which is located on the flood switch. Check the resistance of the temperature sensor. It should measure about 11,000 ohms at room temperature. Replace the flood switch if the temperature sensor is defective."

F65 is "No water detected by the inverter control board": "If the dishwasher didn't fill, make sure that your water supply cut-off valve is open. Replace the water inlet valve if defective. If the dishwasher did fill, shut off power to the dishwasher and check inverter control board wiring. Reconnect any loose wires. Replace the wire harness if damaged. If the wiring is okay, replace the inverter control board."


How can I detect sub-second interruptions in mains electricity supply? TL;DR: Is there a cheap and simple tool for detection of very brief mains power outages?
Long story and explanation:
Yesterday and today we experienced three or four interruptions in mains electricity supply - some appliances with switched power supply units (PC screens, LED lights) flickered or failes for a very brief period of time, while appliances with good ol' transformer+rectifier setup (like the clock display on the oven panel) didn't seem to be bothered by them.
I firmly believe that we have had many of these in past two years, as these glitches manifest themselves by various strange effects that I can't find better explanations for (fridge-freezer box somehow stops refrigerating and sounds an alarm few hours later, the wifi access point seems to brown out and functions very erratically until next restart, one PC headless restarts itself).
I've had the utility guy over today, he measured our mains tap (voltage, impedance, inter-phase impedance difference etc.) and he said everything looked good on their part so he can't really do anything. He further said I need to check my own wiring, which I will do, but I suspect there is something amiss at the utility since the whole building of 5 units experinces similar weird occurrences as we do. Lastly, he said I should talk to our neighbors and ask if they have similar problems. If they do, he'll come back and do more checks (we are connected to an underground cable which may be failing somewhere but he has no means of detecting that before a full blown failure and as per his measurements right now everything looks good).
Now it took me some two years to actually witness this phenomena, as it usually happened when I was away or in broad daylight with no lights on, and one could only guess we had this brief outage hours later when the fridge/wifi problems manifested themselves. I'm a bit on the technical side of thing, whereas my neighbors are not. Which means even if I ask them, I doubt they won't be able to give me a definite answer whether they, too, get these glitches.
So I'm thinking if I could get them some simple and power efficient gadget for them to plug in to their own socket somewhere, I could just ask them whether the thing has gone dark/silent/pop/kaboom lately, and we all would get a nice answer to a complicated question.
All I could think of was a relay feedback loop which must be manually "activated" and the loop will open on power failure in the relay. But I would prefer a off-the-shelf solution one can buy chaply in a shop, as I don't really want to give my nice neighbors a strange gadget I engineered to put into their wall sockets (and I'm not certified to manufacture such things either).
I specifically don't ask about checking my own electrical installation, as I'll have a professional do it. Also our wiring is three years old and had to be checked officially before we were actually allowed to move in and use it.
Our location is the Czech Republic, Europe. We have three phase 240 V burried cable mains with 8 separate meters for various units, staircase etc.

Personally I would solder your self-latching relay solution. It's simple. If you don't like working with 240V, maybe an AC relay after a transformer or even a DC relay after a USB charger could work. Of course, check to make sure it triggers on brief interruptions.
You can even connect a clock to the switched side (e.g. a timer - but one with a mechanical motor) and determine when the outage happened based on when the clock stopped.
Have you looked at "power logger" "voltage logger" or "energy logger"? You'd have to check the specs if glitches are recorded. A "data logger" and the "voltage logger" are likely the most versatile to log brief/glitch events.
Alternatively, you can

record the DC voltage after a usb charger and a tone generator using a voice recorder app, and use a simple computer script or audio editor to find the time and duration. Or record the AC hum/cycle, double it to 100Hz using a rectifier bridge, in case 50Hz is filtered out before recording.
use a video triggered webcam directed at a light to get the time info. The ensuing "dark flash" would have to trigger a recording, and it can even notify you by WiFi
hook up a relay to an alarm circuit, a cheap one with WiFi/internet notification and logging.

If any of these get close to what you would like to try, we can discuss the details if needed, to help you further along.


How should I attach a toilet flange and toilet with this particular situation? OK, after doing some research I believe the best way to install a toilet is on a flange that is attached on top of a finished floor, and if a flange is too low or too high there are ways to accommodate it.  But I need some expert advice in a situation where I may have some flexibility, but not to do it the ideal way.  Let me explain.
  Here is my current situation, and I'd rather not try to change it:  There is solid, stable subfloor and concrete backer board that surround an ABS drain with a 4" inner diameter.  The drain is clean of wax or adhesives and there is no flange currently attached.  There is solid, level tile here too but the opening in the tile around the drain is about 8 inches.  So a standard flange can fit inside this opening and be bolted/screwed down securely through the backerboard and into the subfloor.  But this would result in the flange being lower than it should be.  The surrounding tile would be level with the top of the flange (approximately) instead of the bottom, as it would be if the tile were cut closer to the drain and the flange could go on top of it.
  So I have some options, but not unlimited options.  What is the best approach at this point?  Thanks.
  Edit for additional clarification:  by "not wanting to change my situation" I mean I do not want to retile the area; I need to work with the situation as it is.  A commenter suggested I just install the flange, then use a known solution for situations where the flange is below the finished floor level.  That's a good suggestion.  An alternative might be to install the flange in some way where it would not be too low to begin with, which might be possible because I have the luxury of not having yet installed any flange.  So I want to know which of these approaches is better, and, what specific technique or product is suggested for that approach.  I hope this makes my question more clear.

Since there is no flange installed yet you could just fill in the void with materials such as plywood or hardy backer to bring it up close to the level of  The existing floor  then solidly secure the new flange with long screws.

The wax ring mounting system of a toilet to a flange is fairly forgiving so you do not have to be precise.  You could leave it the way it is and use a  extra thick ring or you could fill it as I suggested and use a single thickness ring or one of the newer rubber  gasket options.  Having the  flange above the level of the tile floor is not necessarily the right thing as this could be problematic in getting the toilet to  sit tight to the tile floor without rocking .  I would shoot for having the top of the flange be at the same level as the tile floor( or slightly lower ).  You want enough gap for the wax ring or mounting system but not so high that it interferes with the toilet.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, there is no one correct answer for your question.

Many times when I lay a new bathroom tile floor I am able to unscrew the flange and lift it up and slide the new  cement board underneath it but sometimes that is not possible and I have to use a thicker wax ring or a flange extender.

I saw a new product on this old house that was a thick squishy foam type ring that looks much nicer to use then wax.


How to remove glued down carpet pad? Going to tear up the carpet/pad and put in hardwood.  Carpet comes up easy.  The pad however has been glued down and it isn't your normal pad.  It's the same thickness (give or take) but more like moderately dense foam.  Trying to pull it up just results in ripping off a little bit, leaving some of it glued to the floor.  I've done a little bit of it with various chisel/spatulas and it's a nightmare process.

Doing it the way I have been would take weeks and right now I'm seriously tempted to just tear up the sub floor and replace it too.

The DIYer in me thinks there must be some sort of solvent I can pour over the whole floor or some sort of hard-wire-brush-on-a-floor-sander attachment that can just tear it off.

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions?  There has to be something...

UPDATE: I ended up buying a Spyder Scraper for my sawsall on the off chance it would work and it worked amazingly well. Like shearing a sheep easy.  Kept the sawsall angle low to the floor and it removed the padding quick and easy. Occasionally I'd hit a nail or edge and ruin a blade, but only went through 3. Totally worth it. Removed 4-500 sq ft in about 30 minutes.

https://smile.amazon.com/Spyder-Scraping-Attachment-Reciprocating-Multi-Pack/dp/B002GP7GBI

I've worked in the floor covering business for several years and here is a good quick way to remove glued carpet padding: after slicing the padding in half length-wise with a utility knife pull up as much as possible. Padding usually is made into 5 foot rolls. Halving it makes it slightly easier to pull up. The installer will normally apply the glue from a gallon can directly to the concrete floor in a continuos serpentine manner so that when the pad is rolled onto the glue it makes contact to just shy of its outer-most edges. I've found a 4"-6" floor scraper helps alot ,too. Also to remove any of the stubborn residual pieces 'kick/ scrape' them with your shoe bottom. It quickly pulls up any remaining pieces. This shoe kicking action also works for padding that is stapled to wooden floors.


How to make table legs from wooden planks? I'm making a coffee table out of old pallets. The top part is finished, all it needs now is legs. I want to use only parts from old pallets and I don't want it to become very heavy, so I was thinking of using 2 planks in a 90° angle on each corner of the table as legs. I have no experience in woodworking so I don't know if this is a good idea or how to do this...

Will 2 planks in a 90° angle be stable enough as a coffee table leg?
Should I mount the planks on each side of the corner of the table top
or should I mount them under the table top and hold them in place
with a frame?

It would be appreciated if someone could point me in the right direction.

90 degree planks will be plenty strong assuming they are not super narrow. Without knowing the details, it's not possible to suggest the best connection. You will want to connect to whatever member has the greatest vertical depth for maximum stability. Do everything possible to ensure the legs are rigidly attached. Nails or screws alone may not be enough. If possible, slightly rabbet the legs into something. The rabbet does not need to be very deep to help significantly. Of course, the fit needs to be fairly snug to be of benefit. Also glue the joints unless the need for disassembly is important. Common woodworker's glue is adequate.


How should masking tape be used when multiple coats of paint are being applied? When painting, sometimes mask-free cutting-in is impractical and masking tape must be used. The advice here is to remove masking tape before the paint has dried. That makes sense when a single coat is being applied. But what should be done with masking tape when multiple coats are being applied? Surely the correct procedure is not to remove the tape and re-mask for every coat.

Usually the second coat doesn't need tape because you don't need to get as close to the edge. But if you are going to, you'd want to re-mask for each coat. Otherwise the paint can seep under the masking tape while it's drying or it will pull non-masked paint off when you remove it.


Why is the fridge water line popping out of the connection when under pressure? I am trying to run a water line for my fridge.  I put the saddle valve into the sink cold water copper pipe.  That seemed to work fine - no link from the valve.  But, when I screw the plastic tubing into the fridge, and then turn on the water, the plastic tube pops out of one end or the other when the water reaches full pressure.  Only takes a few seconds for it to pop out.

Each end of the tube connection has a copper insert for the plastic tube, and then a copper nut that the tube goes through.  I run the plastic tube through the nut through the tube, then put the insert in, and then screw it on as tight as I can with a wrench.  No dice.

What am I doing wrong?

Make sure that the pipe is inserted into the valve as far as it will go before you tighten the compression fitting - it would only slip out if not properly tightened against the ferrule.

Two other recommendations:

Get rid of the piercing saddle valve and install a ball valve (1/4 turn) that has either a compression fitting or is soldered in place.
Scrap the plastic pipe and pick up some 1/4" flexible copper supply line.

The first is more important.  The piercing values are usually not to code.  They can be difficult to turn off (not good in the event of a leak), and often the pierce does not make a  large enough of a hole for adequate water flow, which can result in ice making problems and slow water dispensing.


How can I run an additional electrical circuit to a wall mounted TV? I am in the in the planning phase of mounting my 50" plasma in my living room.  The wall the TV is going on is an exterior wall (it should have insulation) and the interior side is already finished so I don't have full access for running new electrical.  I am thinking of running the wires behind the wall from the tv down to the bottom of the wall and having them come out at the bottom and running them outside the wall along the baseboard to the reciever/cable box/etc.  This way I don't need to punch holes in the drywall and run the wires through the studs.

For running the low voltage wires I will get two face plates that allow me to run the HDMI cables through the wall.  But running the electrical to behind the TV is trickier.  I found a kit (Recessed Pro Power Kit w/Straight Blade Inlet White) that seems to be designed for this situation.  Is there a way to get this myself without buying the whole kit?  I don't need the low voltage lines to run next to the electrical, and I would like to actually have a normal outlet behind the TV (so I can plug 2 devices into it) instead of just one like in the kit.

For the outlet behind the TV I can just use a normal outlet but I don't know how or what to use for the other "outlet" the gets the power initially.  I don't want to buy the $50 kit above just for that piece.

EDIT: While there are other eletrical outlets on this wall, none are below were I want to mount the TV so I can't reach them without going through studs.  However this is an exterior wall on the first floor, I can get to the bottom of the wall from my unfinished basement.  Initially I liked the product I linked from Monoprice because it would still allow me to run my TV through me APC surge protector.  However I have found some in wall surge protectors (like this) so if I run power from the basement I could install one of those.

See my previous answer to a similar question.  (It's kind of funny.  I even mention that that same kit you found seems a bit pricey.)

I used a single, recessed, dual-voltage wall plate that lets you do your media and power cables all in one plate.  You just buy an "old work" electrical box, wire it up, and attach it to this plate instead of to the drywall.

I used 6-port keystone plates for the media ports, so I could put just the ports that I wanted back there, and even customize it easily later, if needed.


Light switch connected to Smoke Alarm So my light switch is connected to my smoke alarm in such a way that the smoke alarm isn't on/charging unless the light in the room is also on.

I live in the United Kingdom. This is an upstairs bedroom light. Smoke alarm in adjacent hall.

Pretty sure that black is neutral, red is live and green/green+yellow is earth.

I've a feeling I should only need to move one wire to make it so the smoke alarm is always powered, and my light switched, but not 100% sure how to identify which wire?

Any help would be appreciated.

Here's the switch:

A wiring diagram:

The alarm wiring:

The lamp wiring:

My guess would be

I notice someone (you?) marked the switched-live wires with black dots (single and double). If you are especially lucky, whoever did this also similarly marked the wires in the light fitting and in or behind the smoke alarm.

So for example it might be something like

switched live 1 - light fitting
switched live 2 - smoke alarm
permanent live - unused?

The bottom red wire is most likely the live feed in from the fusebox/consumer-unit.

If there are two reds behind the smoke alarm, it may be that one is the upper permanent live and the other is one of the two switched lives. If so you can rearrange wiring at the alarm. Otherwise you need to move wires at the switch.

If all else fails I would turn off the breaker for that circuit, disconnect the three red wires that exit the top of the back box, open up the smoke alarm, remove the light bulb (in case the alarm piggy-backs from the light fitting) and then use a continuity tester (e.g. Cat II multimeter) to work out which wires go where.

  I have a cheap DT830B digital multimeter that I've never used.

Not ideal, but here's what I would do. Take great care as 240VAC is potentially lethal.

disconnect all the red wires (R1-R4)
plug black lead into bottom socket marked "COM"
plug red lead into middle socket labelled VΩmA
Set dial to V~ 750 range
prop the meter up somewhere you can see it which is near to the switch.
hold the probes keeping your fingers at least 1" away from the metal tips.
press the black probe tip firmly into the top of the black connector where there is a brass screw clamping the wires together.
press the tip of the red probe against each of R1 to R4 in turn and make a note of which ones show 230-250 VAC.

With luck that will identify which of the red wires is the live feed in. You can then try connecting the live wire to each of the other reds one at a time to see what turns on. That will identify what the other wires go to.

  Connecting R2+R3 puts the light on ...

Test results:

Connections            |switch |light  |alarm |other |conclusion
-----------------------|-------|-------|------|------|--------------------------
top=R1+R2+R4 bottom=R3 |off    |off    |ON    |-     |R3 is not live-in nor alarm
"                      |on     |ON     |ON    |-     |R3 to light
R1 + R2 + R3 + R4      |-      |ON     |ON    |-     |-
R2 + R3                |-      |ON     |-     |-     |R3 is light, R2 is live-in
R2 + R4                |-      |-      |ON    |-     |R4 is alarm, R2 is live-in
R1 not connected to R2 |-      |-      |-     |OFF   |R1 is other rooms

So in summary:

R1 is to other rooms.
R2 is live from fusebox/consumer-unit
R3 is light
R4 is alarm

Your Crabtree switch has a top connector, often this will be labelled COM, in your case at appears to be marked COMMON. I would connect R1, R2 and R4 here

It also has two lower connectors - it is a two-way switch (US nomenclature: three-way) used where you have two switches contolling one light (e.g hallway). In this case it is being used as a normal one-way switch. The two lower connections are usually labelled L1 and L2†. I would connect R3 to L1 here.

Summary

top (COMMON) = R1 + R2 + R4
bottom (L1) = R3

It doesn't matter if you swap the roles of the top COMMON and bottom L1 connectors if that makes it easier to fit the wiring in.

If the normal ON position of the switch has the lights off, just move all the wires that are in L1 over to L2.

†Other manufacturer's switches sometimes have the common position labelled as L1 and the other positions as L2 and L3.


Other than unforeseen surge in draw, what can cause breaker tripping? My house originally had a single main panel, 150A. Some years ago, I decided to split the basement apartment and the main unit. The original main panel is in the basement but I wanted the main unit to have its own panel so I put a 100A breaker in the basement panel to feed the main unit subpanel.

A strange thing happened to me this morning. I woke up and and the power was out in the main unit of my house, where we live. I first thought the whole block lost power, as a result of some construction work nearby. However, that was not the case.

What turned out to be the case is that the 100A basement breaker had been tripped overnight. I know that breakers usually trip when there is excessive demand to draw amperage. I find this to be an extremely unlikely explanation because of the time of the day. Even if the AC was on (20A blower + 30A outside condenser), which I doubt it was because it was something like 70 degrees outside, it wouldn't come near to 100A. Realistically, what was likely drawing current at the time was the fridge, bedroom ceiling fan, and various super low amperage devices, like the modem etc. This is the first time it's happened in probably 5-6 years.

Could it have been that some external surge coming from the street bumped the breaker? I find it odd because it first went through the basement main panel, the rest of whose breakers went uninterrupted.

The 100 amp breaker could be faulty.

The wiring between the two panels could be faulty. A break in the wire could cause resistance and draw enough current to trip the breaker. Or a break in the insulation could allow a short.

If a breaker in a subpanel is faulty, and it fails to trip when the circuit it protects draws too much current, then the upstream breaker will trip. In your case, the upstream breaker is the 100 amp breaker in the main panel.

There is also a small possibility that you have the wrong 100 amp breaker for you application. The breaker for your AC might have a trip curve that allows for high current draw briefly, but the 100 amp breaker trip curve does not. Please post the model numbers of those breakers.


Why are my wall hooks ending up crooked? I have a power drill and sometimes use it to make holes to put up hooks, etc. in my brick+plaster wall. But no matter how carefully I line the holes up and measure them, the hook always ends up at a crooked angle.

My method:

Hold the hook against the wall
Use a thin pencil to mark the two holes that need to be drilled for one hook
Take the hook down
Place the drill on the first mark
Slowly drill a little way in, until I'm sure the hole is in the right place
Drill all the way in, using the drill 'hammer' setting
Put a raw plug in the hole, hammering it the last part of the way
Place the hook back up, partly screw in one screw, and check that the 2nd mark is in the right place
Take the hook down again and drill the second hole.
Put the hook up and carefully screw both screws in

The hook will be mostly straight right until the last minute, when screwing the screws in for the last few millimetres will cause the hook to skew wildly to one side. Holding the hook firmly in place while screwing can improve it very slightly, but it's still not perfectly vertical.

What am I doing wrong?

The screws in your picture have a tapered head that match the holes for the screws, so when they are tightened all the way, it will force the screw into the center of the hole; this is why they are OK until they are tightened.  My guess is that your marks or holes are not perfectly in the center.  It could also be that you are drilling at an angle.  Grab a square and hold it against the wall so you can see what 90 degrees perpendicular looks like - are you drilling on that angle or slightly off?


Why did my electrician put metal plates wherever the stud is drilled through? My electrician put the metal plates pictured below wherever he drilled through a stud. My guess is that this strengthens the stud, because it was weakened by the holes he drilled.

Studs with metal plates added:

What are these metal plates?
Why are they used?
Is this good practice?
What are the alternatives?

This is excellent practice. These plates help guard against someone accidentally drilling into the wire when mounting things on the wall.


Fixing slope on concrete patio - grinding a drainage channel? My house has a concrete patio (about 16x16 though its 5-sided) which is not sloped properly for drainage. In some sections it seems basically level, in others (near the doorway of course) it actually pools water.
The worst area I estimate slopes about 1/8" per foot the wrong way. I mapped it out by making puddles; this area is about 6-8' across, sort of an oval. It, and the door, are in one corner of the patio. From the door to the yard is about 16'.
The concrete itself is in excellent condition. It doesn't show any signs of settling nor is it cracked, I think it was just not poured with correct slope in the first place.
I am planning to deck this over with sleepers laid over the concrete. So the concrete appearance is not very important.
Ideas how to deal with the slope:

(CAN'T DO) Pour some leveling compound - height by the doorway is already very tight, can't afford to lose any of it

(POSSIBLE) Grind channels to achieve at least 1/8" per 1' slope, from the low spots to the yard. Rent a grinder like the example pasted below. Concern: might have to grind off a lot of material, maybe this is not practical.

(POSSIBLE) Cut channels with a diamond demo-type saw with correct slope. Cut as many as needed. Concern: thin channels may clog with time.

Are either #s 2 or 3 feasible? Am I missing anything important, or is there another option I'm ignorant of?

We did end up renting a walk-behind grinder and it did the job.
It was not "easy" but only took a few hours, and the rental cost was reasonable. The ideal grinder we wanted was out of stock but would have had a smaller cutting width. However the one we used despite being larger still didn't take excessively long to do the job.
We had a small amount of water running the entire time which basically eliminated airborne dust, removed the dust, and indicated when the drainage was working well enough. We used that the judge when it was "done" rather than focusing on any exact measurement of slope.
In hindsight I think the job seemed intimidating but it was actually quite reasonable to do.


Is my plan for an AC disconnect with GFCI appropriate? My new AC system will include two motor loads:

Central AC (Rheem RA1642): 208/230-1-60, 40A MOCP, 25A MCA, 20.2A rated load
Minisplit (Fujitsu 12RLFW1): 208/230-1-60, 20A MOCP, 12A MCA, 5.9A rated load

I also intend to provide a 120 VAC 15A GFCI outlet.
I propose to install the GFCI outlet on one pole of the circuit feeding the 20A disconnect. NEC table 201.24 permits a 15A receptacle on a 20A branch circuit (see this question). Based on NEC 210.23(A)(1)&(2) the max permissible receptacle load would be 16A and the max permissible utilization load would be 10A. With a 15A outlet and an AC rated at 5.9A heating (4.4A cooling) I should be within these limits.
Has anyone experienced GFCI nuisance trips hanging such an outlet on one pole of a circuit with a two-pole motor load like this? I wonder whether a transient voltage from the motor turning on/off might cause a trip?
The 40A disconnect will remain on a dedicated 40A circuit.
The wiring would go as follows:

Central AC: 60A fusible NEMA 3R disconnect (with 40A RK5 fuses), #8 THWN to internal jbox, 8/2 NM-B to service panel with 40A 2-pole breaker.
Minisplit + GFCI: 30A fusible NEMA 3R disconnect (with 20A RK5 fuses), #12 THWN to internal jbox, 12/3 NM-B to service panel with 20A 2-pole breaker. GFCI outlet either integrated in disconnect panel or in separate weatherproof box.

I will run #10 Cu ground wire. All THWN to run above ground in shared conduit thru and along outside of brick wall under an eave in Virginia. For ampacity, no temperature correction has been applied but 5 current-carrying wires in conduit calls for an 80% adjustment. For conduit fill we have 2@#8 (0.213), 1@#10 (0.161), 3@#12 (0.128). With 3/4 SCH 40 PVC conduit I estimate less than 30% fill (I am permitted 40%).
Any comments or concerns about this plan?
Thanks for the initial feedback. I've edited to clarify the requirements. Here's a link to my original (and more muddled?) question.
From sub-panel to outside

Along the outside wall

A rough wiring schematic
Two disconnects shown as dashed boxes with GFCI outlet and lugs for fused circuits and ground.

I don't like putting the maintenance receptacle on the same circuit as the equipment, especially when you have capacity to do otherwise.
You only need one ground, sized for 40A, so 2@#8, 1@#10, 4@#12 is less than 30% of PVC sch40 fill.
You might be better off eliminating all #12's except the white, upsizing your feeder one size to 60A #6 CU feed to a single outdoor 6 space NEMA 3R panel and using 3 separate breakers rather than mounting a j-box to split the feed or routing feeds through disconnects. Conduit fill will only be 27%.


Exterior Home security/Lighting compatibility Are there any exteriour security lighting systems via sensor or light you can connect to your exterior home lights for security..

For example if there are sensors I could buy and put around my big yard and if these sensors were to be set off by an intruder is it possible to somehow have all the exterior lights on my house by this sensor or have it wired to do so.

Is there a product like this on the market?

Several companies make separate Passive Infrared (PIR) detectors that could be used for your purpose. Or you could just mount motion detector lights in chosen locations or on the outside of the house. That is what most people opt for. Tying the whole thing together could be done but at an added cost that most people don't want to spend for what they get out of it.

Half of solving all design problems is getting familiar with the available products. This comes from experience and research. Spend some time browsing the net for motion detector type lights and sensors. You will find lots to choose from.

Good luck!


Does this water filter look clogged? My refrigerator uses EveryDrop water filters like these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VBP8QPO/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The refrigerator is brand new, and I am already on the 2nd filter. The one that came with the fridge was already really slow flowing when I first hooked it up. The 2nd filter is pictured below. It lasted for a few weeks flowing OK before the fridge then started saying the filter was clogged. My whole house is already on a central filter: https://www.whirlpoolwatersolutions.com/products/central-water-filtration-system/

So I have a hard time believing that the filter is actually clogging up. Does this looked clogged to you all? I broke the housing so I could inspect what was inside the filter. Is the refrigerator lying to me about the filter needing to be replaced (A kitchenaid)?

It doesn't look clogged, however, your fridge is probably on a use "timer". Basically it senses how much water flows through the filter. This includes both ice maker and water dispenser. You can try to just reset your filter warning light and see. If the flow of water is reduced, then it might be clogged. If you have a whole home filter system, you might be able to get a bypass filter for your fridge, or, like I did with mine, cut the line on the fridge from the valve to the filter, and the filter to the ice maker and dispenser, and connect them together. Now my water (RO system under sink) goes from the input valve at the back bottom of the fridge, straight to the valve for the ice maker and dispenser, effectively bypassing the filter. I then just "reset" the filter change light when it comes on. No water passes through the filter, so its not sensing a clogged filter, just sensing the amount of water used.


Can an improperly attached ledger board be flashed correctly without removing the existing ledger? I have a existing improperly installed deck attached to the house which I am retrofitting. I already have a permit approved but not sure how to flash the existing ledger board without removing the entire structure. Is there a way to flash this to keep out moisture? Currently there are parts that are attached with a ledger and some that is not.

@trebor nirom , sorry I did not see your comment was going through old questions and found it.  One product I have used is “cop-r-shield” it is thin copper some what easy to form but more expensive than the “tight seal” aluminum flashing tape that I regularly have used. The aluminum is thin so if poked with a stick it can be punctured I pressed it tight up under the siding and down the wall then over the ledger. It lasts and did the job on that deck , no more water getting in the walls. The copper cost ~40$ for a roll and the aluminum is ~10$ other than one of my kids poking holes in a section it has held up for close to 20 years. Where the holes were poked through I added another layer about 6” wider on each side, it will stick to itself.


Installing a door threshold on concrete slab I am trying to install the following door threshold on a concrete slab.  The door leads outside and the old threshold was rotted from water penetration.  The following pictures show the concrete subfloor and the rotten threshold.

The person that installed the old threshold first placed a bunch of caulk directly on the concrete slab, then placed a sheet of plastic over that, and then placed the threshold over the plastic and held it in place against the door frame with some staples.

I believe that the plastic might have contributed to the rotting by trapping moisture.  Is the correct way to install the threshold to the concrete slab to:

Lay down a bead of caulk (I have the DAP Alex Plus) at the very edge of the slab to prevent water from running under the threshold,
Add more caulk to the rest of the underside of the threshold and put in in place on the slab,
Fasten the threshold to the concrete with screws?

And should I leave the plastic sheet out of all of this?

Even when swept clean I would not consider that a properly prepared surface for a threshold. Just the nature of the uneven surface of those filled concrete blocks would make water tend to collect underneath. You should use a concrete patch/resurfacer to create a smooth level (or slightly sloped away from the opening) surface, then attach the threshold per manufacturer's instructions. All the retrofit thresholds I have seen or installed need to be screwed down, yours included. You will need to mark and drill into the concrete and use an anchor to screw it down.


Switching downspouts to the other end of a gutter What kind of accessories are available for switching the downspouts to the other end of the gutter? I'm not as concerned about the downspouts themselves as much as the connection to the gutter. I'm assuming I'm going to need to patch the connection to the old location and then cut a new hole in the other end. The gutters are metal and the downspouts are rectangular.

You will need:

1 - Rivets or screws. I would recommend rivets for aluminum gutter

2 - An outlet for the new downspout, if you can't reuse the old one

3 - A piece of metal slightly bigger than the width of your downspout

4 - Aviation snips, if you currently don't own any

5 - Gutter sealer or solder bars

6 - A new downspout, if needed

7 - As tester101 mentioned, you might need to change the slope of the gutter.

Now, All gutters should be sloped, but, this is not always done and is not always that big of a deal if the gutters is not that long. However, if it is sloped already, then you will most definitely need to remove the hangers and change the slope from one side to the other.

Directions:

1 - Start by removing the old downspout, however attached it is. If soldered you will need a torch or a soldering iron. If not, rivets or screws are easy to remove.

2 - Remove the outlet.

3 - Patch the hole with a piece of sheet metal, copper aluminum or steel

4 - If copper, solder the patched metal for that you will also need an soldering iron. To solder the copper together you also need soldering fluid, or acid. A torch will heat the metal too much and you won't be able to solder it together. If aluminum or steel, rivet it together and seal it with gutter sealer.

5 - Adjust gutter slope if necessary

6 - Using the newly purchased or older outlet, cut the new hole for it on the other side of the gutter. Use the outlet as a jig. Place over the bottom side of the gutter, as it will be easier to cut the hole. Using a scratch all or sharpie, mark the outlet on the gutter. Make sure you mark the INSIDE of the outlet.

7 - Place new outlet. Example

8 - Solder it if copper, or rivet it and seal it if aluminum or steel.

9 - Attach the downspout.

This should be done at your own risk. There's a reason professionals do it daily.

Have fun!


Replacing doorknob and my current hole is bigger than the new doorknob We are replacing our old doorknob with a new Schlage that is keyless.  The current hole in the door is bigger than the new doorknob.  Any suggestions on what we should do to cover the old hole?

Adapter plates are available in various sizes and finishes. Visit a reputable lock & key/locksmith shop or look online. Alternatively, I have used high-performance 2-part wood filler to fill old knob holes, then re-drill to proper size.