Remove paint from stained glass windows I have a couple stained glass windows that look to have paint around the outsides from previous owner painting the trim. Any suggestions on removing the paint without damaging or am I out of luck?

I have used Citristrip often to remove paint from windows after the painters have left. It works on stained glass. You brush it on thin and only have to wait for 10 minutes or so and then wipe it off. Avoid getting it on the trim because it'll remove that paint too. As with all cleaners, try it in a small spot to see how it works.


What is the maximum depth below grade for termite activity? I'm endlessly revising my perimeter footing insulation project and need to know: how far below grade do subterranean termites tunnel? These would be normal subterraneans, not formosans. For some reason, my search-fu is failing and I cannot seem to find this information anywhere online.

According to this paper from the University of Nebraska, they can go up to 20 feet in the ground:

  Subterranean termites are ground-dwelling social insects living in colonies. The two species found in
  Nebraska have similar habitats. These termites have the ability to adjust the depth of their colony (nest) in soil
  depending on temperature and moisture requirements. The colony may be 18-20 feet deep in the ground.

  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2159&context=extensionhist (PDF Link)

The paper goes on to say that the species they observed are local to Nebraska, however I think it demonstrates these things can dig deep, probably deeper than you can make a barrier. Other less-reliable sources cite depths up to 40 feet.


Proper Trap Diameter My kitchen sink drains slowly even after I snaked it 20ft without hitting any consequential clogs.  I'm thinking there could be a couple of issues:

The trap diameter (2.5") is too wide for the inlet diameter (1.5") and therefore the pressure from the draining sink is not great enough to force the water past the trap.  In which case should I just put in a trap to match the inlet diameter?
The air ventilation in the system is insufficient.  If so, maybe a vent on the outflow side of the trap would help?

There is no problem with the trap being larger, in fact a larger trap and drain line will reduce the chance of a plug. I have found several homes that the vents have gotten plugged from everything from leaves to birds and squirrels getting in them and plugging the vent. If your vent is plugged it may drain quickly for a few seconds then go slow one telltale sign that the vent is plugged or not there, is if the sink drain starts gurgling after the water almost gone or none left in the sink a few seconds later. For an older home I would be looking into checking the vents because that larger line it should drain quickly assuming there is not a big chunk of food waste or grease just below the drain or at the dishwasher T.


240v plug, converter or transformer for EU kitchen appliance in the US My Kenwood Major Cooking Chef (KM096) being my prized kitchen appliance, is the only one EU machine I've taken with me to the US. It would have been much more expensive to replace and letting it sit in storage.
Now comes the question of powering it and I fail to determine the best one. Which one would you chose between the following?

Use the existing 240v outlet in my kitchen with an adapter. That would require calling an electrician to do the work.
Use a transformer. Based on the fact that the KM096 can draw up to 1500W, I'm thinking 3000W to be safe

I believe it's set to operate on 50Hz vs the US 60. What would that entail?

As far as frequency difference and motor speed, note what Ed Beal says.
Your worst case play is to get an "online" UPS from the European world. Most UPS's just pass-through AC power as they get it, while also using it to charge the battery.  Only when power fails do they switch to battery+DC-AC inverter.   For an online UPS, it's different. They convert all incoming power to DC, and the DC-AC inverter is used at all times - so a switch to battery is seamless and instant.  As a result, it always outputs 50Hz even if the input is 60Hz. But that only matters if your motor cares.  Let's see the nameplate.

Use the existing 240v outlet in my kitchen with an adapter. That would require calling an electrician to do the work.

No. That "existing 240V outlet" is for the oven/range.  It has a 40A or 50A circuit breaker.  That appliance is designed to fail in a way that would trip a 13A or 16A  breaker.  If a 40A breaker were "protecting" it, the breaker wouldn't even notice while the appliance burns.
We really need to see the nameplate on the appliance, but I'm guessing it's between 6 and 13 amps at 230V.   It would take a 15A (or tops, 20A) breaker to provide adequate protection.
If you don't plan to use an electric range or oven, it is possible to change both the socket and the breaker to 15-20A, using the existing wiring in the walls.  While you're at it, you might want to use something like Legrand Wiremold surface conduit to bring the socket somewhere more practical.  Code requires kitchen appliances have cords no longer than 2 feet, and strongly discourages extension cords.
Keep in mind the 240V outlet will NOT be GFCI, which means if it falls into the sink, you are dead. So don't do insane things like draping an extension cord across the sink area, or having socket+cord such that it could get near the sink.    However if you are one of the several US states that has adopted NEC 2020, your 240V circuit will need to be GFCI - upside no worries; downside requires $80 GFCI breaker.

Use a transformer. Based on the fact that the KM096 can draw up to 1500W, I'm thinking 3000W to be safe

No.  The problem is, EU wall sockets can deliver 3000W, But USA wall sockets cannot.
The downside of our safer 120V is that less power is available, and for many EU heating appliances, that's just not enough.  That's one thing that endears EU appliances to Americans, actually; they work better because they have more power to work with.
What you'll need to do is have an electrician add a dedicated 240V kitchen countertop circuit. You won't find too many electricians who will be will be willing to do this without that $80 GFCI breaker, which will require 2 full spaces in the panel.  If your panel is full, that will require some rearranging which will be extra work and $$$, which may also expose other flaws which also need addressing.  Upshot, this could snowball into $500, or even as much as $2000 of work if the electrician arrives and finds a hopelessly miswired FPE main panel, for instance.
You may get very lucky and find an existing "Multi-Wire Branch Circuit" configured in a way that lets the electrician swap in a dual-voltage receptacle and you're good to go. That would be an easy $100-ish job.


Does composite decking hold more solar heat than wood decking? In the Virginia townhouse I'm renting, there's a deck out back made out of composite decking material (or rather, topped with it; the underlying structure is wood). Stepping out onto the deck after it has been in the sun for several hours, I find it's quite hot in bare feet - painful to stay out for too long even. I don't recall the cedar deck in my old house being that hot, even in the Texas summer sun.

Is this my mind playing tricks on me, or does the composite decking hold more heat than wood decking? The composite deck is a light brown color, similar in color to the cedar deck at my old house.

No, you're not mistaken, you are perceiving the main drawback to composite decking material; compared to real wood it gets hot and stays that way longer.


What is eating my drywall? Something is leaving scars in my drywall and deposits on the outside that I presume to be wood. These deposits are flat, stick out from the wall, an inch or more square, with a gap between the top and bottom layers.

The 1st picture is of a groove about 4 inches long in the drywall.

2nd is of the same area with some drywall removed (showing 1/4" gap between drywall and frame).

3rd photo is of one of the fan-like deposits that stuck out from the groove.

4th is a dead bug that i found nearby, may or may not be related to the damage.

I live in North Texas

Click for full size

Looks like termites.

Termites travel in mud tubes and those pictures look like your drywall has lots of mudtubes.   They may not be eating the drywall (maybe the paper) but using it as a conduit to get to your wood.
That bug is a some sort of fly. It could be a dragonfly with a pair of wings missing or eaten.  A dragonfly is a predator of a termite.

But I think after some investigation, it is most likely a robber fly.

Robber Fly Pics and Information


Upstairs shower running out of hot water almost immediately I have old copper piping through most of my house. When I get a leak I just replace part of the old copper pipe with pvc.

Most recently I had a leak in my hot water side and changed out a portion of my hot water pipe that leads to my upstairs shower.  After that I lost water pressure in my kitchen sink and my upstairs shower runs out of hot water almost immediately however if you flush the toilet you can get more hot water.

I have replaced the water heater and that didn't help my problem. I also checked to see if my pressure balance valve was stuck but my faucet is so old it doesn't have one.

What is my next step?

You just replaced the tank so it shouldn't be a broken dip tube as I had first assumed. My next thought is there might be a blockage somewhere, but you should notice that as a loss of total pressure (compare the flow rates of your hot and cold coming out of a faucet somewhere).

You should probably remove your shower valve's cartridges and clean them while you're purging the entire system and flushing out debris.

I have a single handle shower valve that doesn't get as hot, or for as long as I'd wish, so I have cut back the cold water by closing its supply valve a little bit. This adjustment alone has increased my acceptable temperature dilation from ten minutes to upwards of half an hour.


Is there a way to fix a small chip in a wall's paint? I'm not sure exactly with what I've bumped my wall and caused this this:

Is there anything that can be done to fix this without repainting the entire room?

I've been reading around a bit, and not sure exactly what to call this, hence the weird question title.

The paint is a beige-ish colour, not exactly white.
The hole is about 2 x 1.5 cm in size. Here's a picture which shows scale.

I've read a bit about spackling paste, though I understand that's for small cracks and holes.

Here are some picture with a better resolution: Picture 1 and Picture 2

Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with this sort of thing. Help please.

Also, this is in the UK, so you can tell what stores I might have access to for materials.

If this is no deeper than about 1/16th of an inch you can fix this with a can of wall texture. Any deeper and you'll probably want to get some spackling paste.

If you get the paste, smear it in, and scrape it level with the wall using a plastic scraper. Let it dry. Dap Drydex is good for this because it starts out pink and turns white when its dry.

Next, spray on the wall texture. A knockdown knife will make it easier to get the texture to match your existing texture.You might need to redo this step a couple of times to get it right if you're new at this. Get a wall sanding sponge and take the dried texture off if you redo it. You also might want to use the sponge between the spackling step and the texture step and maybe even before doing the spackling. If you get the basic tools you need (scraper, wall sanding sponge and knockdown knife) as well as the materials(spackling and wall texture) you can rinse and repeat until you get it looking perfect. It takes a bit of practice to get it looking right.

Then, apply paint and you're done.


How do I stop patches from showing through paint? I've painted a patched, bare plaster wall with a medium purple claypaint (Earthborn, "Jack Horner" color). The few places where I've patched the wall the paint is significantly darker, even after a mist coat, a full coat, and two further goes at spot painting those areas. It seems to be an absorption issue, as each time the patched areas took far, far longer to dry than the areas around them. How can I remedy this?

Below is a photo I took a bit after spot painting one of the patched areas with a roller. The new paint directly on the patched cracks is still quite wet, while the paint to each side is nearer to being dry.

I fixed this the hard way, by sanding off the impermeable filler. I was kind of a pain, but did get me the desired result:

For reference, the filler was Everbuild Deep Gap Filler. It's worked well for me elsewhere, but seems quite incompatible with clay paints, for what it's worth.


How do I remove plastic-headed wiring staples? I have this type of wire staple in my attic holding wires together in certain places but I need to move the wires. How do I remove these?

You can use the claw of a hammer, a cat's paw, a small pry bar or a flat blade screwdriver as a prying device. Slip the prying device between the plastic & the cable, or slip it between the wood and plastic and pry. Pry gently if you're between the cable and the staple - you don't want to dig into the cable housing and damage it. You can also twist to gently begin moving it away.

If the wire staple is really tight, you can use vice-grips* to grab the plastic around the nail and pry it out a bit until you get enough room to get under there to pry it out. (Or, just keep bending with the vice-grips until you get the nail out - they're not that long.)

Depending on the amount of effort that goes into removing them, you may be able to reuse the wire staples to resecure the wire in its new location, or you may mangle it far beyond reuse. Have a small bag on hand for replacements. It's easier to return the bag unused, than to be up in the attic when you realize you need a few.

*Using "vice-grip" as a generic term for locking pliers, no specific endorsement of Vice-Grip™ brand locking pliers implied or intended.


What is this white powder coming out of my baseboard? I was about to start cleaning when I noticed this white powder/dust coming out of the baseboard of my kitchen area and I was wondering what it might be. The powder seems quite fine and it very faintly smells like something sweet but used in construction. I have seen similar threads mentioning efflorescence but it does not really look similar to me and this is the first time in my 3 years living here that I saw this powder. Whats interesting is that the powder was being pushed towards the inside of the room almost as if there is a draft going through the baseboard/floor into the room. The dust only appeared on this one part of the baseboard and in no other room either. The wall is an inner wall and the part near the baseboard is some kind of drywall used to route electrical wiring.

Here are a few pictures of the powder. Let me know if more information is necessary

It looks like drywall dust. There were probably cuts made with a rotary tool which left dust inside the wall, and now it's working out, possibly due to air pressure in the wall from an HVAC duct or just environmental air surges.

I'd run a strong vacuum sealed against the joint with rags. That should pull most of it out, though you'll still probably see some residual dust for a while.


Wiring a GE smart switch in a box with 2 light switches sharing a neutral wire and switches sharing a hot wire on same circuit Two switches in the box control 2 separate exterior light switches. I am attempting to replace one of the exterior light switches with a GE smart switch. I have three pairs of wires going to the two exterior light switches. All 3 whites wires from the 3 pairs are wire nutted together. The switch I am attempting to replace with GE smart one has a black wire on top of the switch and a black wire on the bottom running over to the bottom connector on adjacent switch that controls a different outside light. There is a 3 way switch in the box also with a neutral but it is on a separate circuit. Need possible solutions on how to wire the GE smart switch. I don't care if the smart switch controls both exterior lights but that would be a plus! Thanks

This is not as hard as it looks

We can tell from your photo that the far left cable provides the always-hot and neutral for the lighting branches on the left and center switches, which leave via the two middle cables, while the far right cable is for the 3-way circuit and thus needs to be left alone.  Furthermore, we can see the neutral bundle for the two outdoor light circuits in the back of the box, running left to right.

This means that putting both outdoor lights on the same smart-switch is easy.  The neutral bundle gets pulled out from the back of the box and the switch's neutral gets added to it, with a pigtail of appropriate gauge wire used to make the connection.  Likewise, the existing ground bundle is pigtailed to the ground screw on the switch, and another pigtail is run from that ground bundle to the ground screw on the 3-way switch to the right, as the grounding in this box appears to be improper.

Then, we can cut the wire that connected to both the left and center switches (on their lower screws in your photo) back to just before the first stripped section, strip an end, and connect it to the LINE terminal on the switch.  The two wires going off to the outdoor lights are then wirenutted to a pigtail that connects to the LOAD terminal on the switch.  Get a suitable faceplate (3-gang with a blank in one position, a decorator or toggle in the second, and a toggle opening in the third -- modular faceplates are also an option for this, or you could use a switch-filler in the existing faceplate if your new smart switch uses a toggle style handle), button it all back up, turn the breaker on, and enjoy your new smart switch!


PVC pipe projector screen frame 18x10. How to support top heavy? I built a frame for my projector screen outta PVC Pipe. It's roughly 18 feet long and 10 feet high. I did 2 5 foot sections vertically and 3 6 foot sections horizontally. I have a base at each section of 2 feet on each side.  Basically a tic tac toe board.

Problem is it's a little top heavy.  Right now I have staked it In the ground to control it. But that's a temporary fix. Is there any kind of PVC brace support that I could put 2 feet on each side of the T connection to make sure it holds up?

Any idea are welcome

Any idea are welcome

fill bottom tube(s) with lead shot or sand.
buy some extra tee and 45 degree joints and make triangular braces.


shower water either hot or cold; not mixing; valve/ cartridge/ plumbing? In my rental unit, the shower [no tub, just shower] faucet is completely goofed up.  It's a 1 handle faucet. The hot and cold water don't mix.  If it was a clock, 'off' is 12:00. Turn counter clockwise to 11, 10, 9:00, the water is cold. The handle won't go past, say, 9 or 8:00.  Turn clockwise back to 12:00, it's off.  Turn it clockwise to 1:00 2:00, 3:00; it's HOT. I't won't turn past about 4:00 or so.  There's no way to get warm water. Hot and cold are opposite each other; you can get only 1 or the other.  My last tenant never complained about it, but my new tenant can't get it a comfortable temperature, and I can't figure it out either.  Anybody??  Thanks in advance!

The cartridge inside the shower body may be shot. Call a plumber and have him inspect it, if you don't know how to change one. They're relatively easy to do. remove the handle, remove the housing, pull out the cartridge. reassemble...


Are alternative roofing types, such as rubber roll, usable for a typical residential sloped roof? I'm wondering specifically, if rubber-roll roofing, such as this can be used on a sloped roof.

Or maybe if there is something akin to the stretch-and-seal tape but in large sheets that would be weather resistant and suitable for roofing applications. That way the seams would be self-sealing.

Essentially I'm wondering about some sort of rubber or silicon roofing that ultimately will turn itself into one single coating, as opposed to typical shingles which have a million seams in them. Can you tar a sloped roof?

I think one could feasibly cover a sloped roof with that stuff, but it would be very odd.  Most HOAs and neighborhood associations would reject it.  You neighbors would be annoyed.  If snow or ice accumulations are possible for the climate, it probably would cause random ice sheet falls, which is not an issue for its intended use on level roofing.

As some comments hint, a properly installed composite roof becomes a single, seamless sheet of roofing.  It only takes one warm day for the shingles to soften and then seal together.  Even before self-sealing, the shingle and seam overlap makes the roof rainproof.

Anyway, the danger of a roof leaking is not the integrity of the initial installation's seams and whatnot.  It is the decades of abuse wrought by the weather (sun, hail, wind, snow), moss, leaves, tree branches, animals pecking or running, maintenance people walking across it, using shovels, picks, rakes, and brooms to clean it, blasting it with a power washer, etc.  Any of those can poke holes, cut slits, move flashing, or lift up edges.  That's the most likely cause of leaks.


How to skim (plaster) a tight corner under stairs? I need to skim an area of wall below some stairs. There's a tight corner where the boards below the upstairs stairs meet a length of trim:

Annoyingly, this is pretty much at eye level for anyone going down the lower set of stairs so I want to get a reasonable looking finish. (I'm using board finish on plasterboard.)

Any tips for getting into tight corners like this?

You can use a mason's trowel. Or you can cut and modify a low cost 6 inch putty knife to fit the angle. When using either, drag the point out from the corner and keep the point of the tool in contact with either adjacent surface.


Renovations after years of hookah smoke I am looking a two-storey house in which the current owners have smoked hookah for a number of years, and the interior has a strong smell.

What kind of repairs would need to be done to restore the house into a normal condition? I've read that cigarette smoke can require replacing walls, ceilings and to remove the lingering smoke particles and tar. I know that hookah uses water for filtering, and the result is more of a vapor. Would it do the same type of damage as smoke?

I've only found sources discussing cigarette smoke and its effect on property value, but nothing about smoke. Does anyone have first-hand experience in dealing with this, or know of any resources?

My perspective is that the issue with cigarette smoke is the discoloration and the smell. Both aspects are present in this property, so similar treatment is appropriate. (Which is basically a coat of sealing paint, and replacing everything that can't be painted over or thoroughly cleaned.)

It is possible that easier methods are available, and it might pay to try various cleaning products on the walls to see if you can get lucky, but assume you'll need cigarette-level treatment, and price that into your offer.


Is the orientation of an expansion tank with respect to the pipe important? Does it matter whether a thermal expansion tank (for water heaters) is installed above the pipe it tees from (tank's threaded port pointing downwards) or if it's installed below so that it hangs from it (tank's threaded port pointing upwards)?

In general, the tank can be installed vertically above or below the plumbing, or horizontally.  Typically, the tank is only required to be supported when installed in the horizontal position.  Most smaller tanks are designed to be supported by the plumbing, when installed in the vertical orientation. The most common recommendation seems to be, to install the tank vertically below the plumbing.
You'll want to check the manufacturer's installation instructions, to determine how to properly install the specific tank you're using.
Here's example installation instructions, from a Watts® Potable Hot Water Expansion Tank.

5. Install the expansion tank in the system (refer to Figure 1).
a. The weight of the expansion tank filled with water is supported by
the system piping. Therefore, it is important that, where appropriate,
the piping has suitable bracing (strapping, hanger, brackets).
b. The expansion tank may be installed vertically (preferred method)
or horizontally. Caution: The tank must be properly supported
in horizontal applications.
c. This expansion tank, as all expansion tanks, may eventually leak.
Do not install without adequate drainage provisions.


Federal Pacific 200a main panel problem with oversized 100a 2pole breaker There is a 200a FPE breaker box (yes, I am aware of all the problems). It is not in the homeowners budget to replace at this time.  He has 2 issues:

His panel is full
His electric furnace is an older 100a furnace. The 100a breaker in the panel is a double pole but it also over crowds the adjoining spot on the right rail.  So, essentially, his double 100a breaker is taking up 4 spots (2 on left rail and creeping over (preventing other breakers) and partially covering 2 spots on the right rail.

This is a problem because the home owner has to disconnect the 100a to plug in the 30a for the dryer.  I advised him that is not ideal in any situation, but extra not ideal with a FPE panel.

I thought about installing a sub panel for him right next to the main panel and just re-route the dryer run to that one but I have not installed a sub panel before.  I am competent in my ability to do so but would like to hear suggestions from others before I attempt that feat.

thanks!

The 100A breaker is overcrowding the other slots for a reason: to enforce stab limits.  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and FPE  got that right.

If you did what you wanted to, you would have 130A on those two stabs.  That's over stab limits for a lot of modern panels! If you've ever seen panels where the main breaker is in the upper left corner and nothing is allowed across from it even though there's nothing wrong with those spaces, that is why.

So if you have felt righteous to do this because you feel you are working around a panel defect, no.  This is a plain case of playing swap-the-breaker on an overfull and overloaded panel, with known stab-reliability issues, doing the very thing that has everyone spooked.

The 100A breaker is not double size.  It is normal size 2-pole.  The other breakers are double-stuff. This is a 12-space panel with 8 spaces double-stuffed.  A 12-space panel on a 200A, all-electric house.  One has to woder if this was permitted in the first place!

Kill it with fire before it kills you with fire

If you're family, stop fooling around and swap the main panel.  It's not any harder than a subpanel, you just have to work in the dark because the meter is pulled.  Shop smart for a 40-space of a sensible physical dimension (CH, QO) and combo-pack that includes some breakers. Don't even attempt to solve AFCI or GFCI issues, aluminum wiring issues (loop back on those later, just use Al-rated breakers) etc.  If the AHJ insists on increasing project scope to include ancillary stuff like that, then just don't pull a permit and do it underground - but do it correctly.  Do double-check your wire sizes - I see too many 30s and not enough 15s.

If you're a contractor, run... this panel is a fire-starter, and if one does, your insurer may decide you're on your own!

Why not a subpanel?

Because I don't believe it's a significant cost savings over just swapping the main panel, it's a band-aid on a very bad situation, and the heat needs the whole 100A, there isn't spare (electrical) space in the subpanel for anything.


This shower valve doesn't seem to have a set screw and i need to take it off Someone lowered our shower heat a couple years back for an older family member. I've tried taking it off but its like there's no set screw at all. It's a delta series 1400. There are no other openings but the one in the photo.

One of those holes in the lever is clearly for attachment (probably the one closest to the wall). Originally there was a hex set screw inside the hole, tightened to hold the lever onto the valve shaft:

So, your first step is to see if there is still a set screw in there, and if you can loosen it with a hex wrench.

If there really is nothing inside the hole, then the set screw is gone and the lever is being held on by friction and/or corrosion. This means that you'll have to use persuasion to get the lever to come off. Tapping (lightly) on the hub of the lever with a metal hammer might loosen things; using a screwdriver as a lever might also work. If you can get the bezel off by taking off that Phillips-head screw (and its likely partner on the other side) it could help.

Warning: too much pressure and you'll bend or break the valve, possibly causing a flood. How much is "too much" is a tough question; you might want to turn off the house water before you do this, and have a plumber on speed dial Just In Case.


Incorrect voltage at light sockets Light bulbs on our kitchen lighting circuit need frequent replacing (lasting only a few months.) All other circuits in the house behave normally. There are three switch legs on this circuit:

6 recessed lights, on a 3-way switch, with LED bulbs. Distance from switch to first light is ~10'. Each can is ~3' from the next.
5 pendant lights, on a single dimmer, incandescent bulbs. Distance from switch to first light is ~15'. Pendants are ~3' apart and ~5.5' long.
Chandelier with 5 light sockets, on a single dimmer, incandescent bulbs. Distance from switch to light fixture is ~15'. Light sockets are ~6' from ceiling.

An electrician came out and discovered that the voltage at each switch is 120v, yet each light socket only reads 113v. The electrician checked in the attic and didn't see anything odd; the wires looked fine, no extraneous junction boxes, no damage, etc... The advice was to try out bulbs rated for 110v instead of 120v or re-run the switch legs.

What could cause such a voltage drop over short runs and three distinct switch legs? Do I have any other options besides the two offered by the electrician?

In residential interior wiring, voltage irregularities generally are only a concern when over-voltages are seen and not under-voltages.  Incidentally however, when there is an under-voltage, there is usually an over-voltage on the opposite phase somewhere else to balance it out.

113V is fine. Light bulbs, except for the LEDs, are pure resistive loads and will not burn up from under-voltages. Now 130V would be a problem if the bulb is not rated for 130V.

I would also consider hiring a different electrician as what he suggested is nonsense.


HVAC is suddenly blowing room temperature air—compressor, fan still turn on I intend to call a repair person, but I just want to make I've exhausted possibilities that don't involve messing with the refrigerant lines. The A/C was working yesterday with no problems (outdoor temp in the upper 90s), but today it started blowing room temperature air from the vents during the day (~85°F inside, outdoors again in the upper 90s), and same thing at night (~85°F inside when exterior temp was 70°F).

Outdoor condenser fan is operational
Thermostat is set to "Cool" and "Auto" fan (and there is no heat pump)
Outside unit is clean, free of debris, manufactured in 2004 (Duncan)
Indoor filter is pretty clean; no obvious air flow problems inside
Compressor turns on and heats up to an exterior temperature of ~130°F (perhaps hotter, it had not been on too long before I checked)
The larger, low-pressure, insulated line is very hot by the compressor (nearest 6 inches of pipes was ~115°F) and ambient temperature about 1 foot away from the compressor (~90°F); the smaller, high pressure line was also hot
There are no visible signs of leaking refrigerant; none of the pipes are cool, let alone freezing

Mostly I'm just surprised that it broke so suddenly, though everything I checked seems to be working. Any common wiring issues that are consistent with these symptoms? Or can bad compressors exhibit these symptoms?

If it quit cooling all of a sudden My best guess would be the compressor. To be more precise it is most probably the suction valve has broken. Either way the unit needs to be replaced.


How can I determine why my ceiling fan is noisy? I have a 5-blade ceiling fan in a child's bedroom (Hunter Douglas).  The fan came with the house, so I know nothing about it.

It worked fine for a year or so, but it is quite reachable from an upper bunk by the room's inhabitants.  I can imagine that it has been used as a toy flinger and has been pushed and prodded quite a bit as well.

Now the unit has scraping noise when it rotates.  It's not a raw metal-on-metal sound, but somewhat muted.  When powered, it's loud enough to be annoying, and it's bothersome enough to the kids that they don't want the fan on, even when it's pretty warm in there.

I can rotate the blades by hand and hear the scrape even at quite slow speeds.  It appears to come from one side of the hub, and it's heard five times for one rotation (same as number of blades).  If I shove it sideways slightly, the sound is only slightly affected.

I don't know anything about ceiling fans.  Is there anything in there that I might be able to repair, or tips about where I could start looking?  Or is this something that I shouldn't try to work on?

As an update, I think I was initially intimidated by the blades.  I thought removing them would be either tricky or time consuming.  But I got into it and it went easily.

Yes, you have to take off the blades to work on it.
No, it's not that bad.  The blades have captive screws.  Even with limited access, it goes pretty quick.

After I got everything apart, I found that the electronics package for the remote control had been taped to the ceiling and the tape had failed.  The bundle was sitting on top of the motor housing, making a sound as it spun around.

At first I would have said its just the noise of the motor Inducing the power into the windings. But since you hear the noise when the unit is off, It is obviously a noise near the bearing. Either your bearing has seized or the bearing housing assembly has been damaged.

The only thing to do is to try and gain better access of the bearing area and visually inspect.  It could be the metal scraping near to the bearing assembly, but its so hard to tell.

Remediation action could involve
- bending any contacting components
- replacing the bearing (which will be difficult since its probably press-fit)
- applying grease and lubricants to minimise scraping noise.

But once again, its hard to tell without looking.


How to change dishwasher embedded in wood floor? I had a bad leak under my dishwasher, and it looks like the parts will be a fairly substantial cost, and I'd like to upgrade to a quieter model.   However a wood floor was installed after the dishwasher and has effectively locked it into place (see photos).  The adjusting feet cannot be reached to retract them, and there is no room to push it back first.

What type of tools or techniques can be used to get the dishwasher out and a new one installed?  I'm thinking a chisel is about all that could work, and add some quarter round afterwards as needed to cover it up.   Power routers require some circumferential clearance to work.

I would get a sawsall type of tool and cut it out with metal cutting blades. Be sure if you take this route to turn the power and water off in case you cut the lines.


Does water dripping through my soffit indicate a problem? When it rains, water drips through the soffit and along the inside face of the fascia. This picture shows the water dripping through, but when it rains harder sometimes there's more:

My landlord just installed that aluminum soffit. Above it is solid plywood. This is at the valley of an L-shaped gabled roof.

Is this a problem? It's not a ton of water and I haven't noticed any leaks inside the house, but it seems to me like there shouldn't be any water in there. The gutters have been recently cleaned and there's no debris in them.

EDIT: added a few more photos

Here are two shots of the valley in question from above, plus another shot of a different gutter to show the construction and condition of the roof.

The shingles are approximately 4 years old, on top of an older layer (maybe more? hard to tell). There doesn't seem to be a drip edge. The shingles extend over the fascia and into the gutter by about 1".

Oh, wow. I'm sorry, but your roof is probably bad. If you can get the money you paid four years ago back (doubtful), I would, but you probably need to get that entire mess torn off all the way down to the decking, and probably quite a bit of the decking near the edges of the roof too. You can tell because the shingles look "lumpy" and have a rolling look to them -- like someone's melted them, especially near the edges -- and the valley is curved instead of sharp. I can also see the lines running across where different runs of roof sheathing panels meet (every 4' or so); that it's sagged in between these lines is a sign of sheathing damage.

Your roof isn't the shingles, so it doesn't matter that the shingles are only four years old. Your roof is actually the tar paper and ice and water shield that is underneath underneath the shingles. Multiple layers of shingles are bad; it means that they didn't replace the actual stuff that keeps the water out of your house, they just replaced the stuff that you see that goes over top.

If you go up into your attic when it's been raining quite a bit, see how much more of the underside of your roof sheathing is damp. If there's a lot, you need to get it torn off and replaced as soon as possible. If there isn't much, you have a few years to save up for it, but it looks bad now from the top. Make sure when they re-do it that they tear everything down to bare wood, remove all the nails and staples and junk, use Ice & Water Shield along the roof edges and in the valleys, and then put new 30 year tar paper and shingles over it. The tar paper and ice&water shield is what actually keeps the water out of your house. The shingles only protect the tar paper from abuse.


What should I run from the main breaker box to the garage? So this is a question that's been asked a lot, but reading individualized responses is creating confusion for me, not answers.  I have a detached garage with existing power, and I have added a few items to the circuit.  Because I don't know what the original design of the circuit was, I'd like to remove the additions and add my own dedicated circuits to operate what I need.

I will leave the 1/2 hp garage door opener, the single bare bulb light fixture (although I could remove this with no stress on me) and the two duplex receptacles on their original circuit.

I have only three empty slots in my main breaker box and will run 12/3 wire about 200 feet to my garage (unless suggested to do otherwise.)

What I'd like to power is:

6 four foot florescent light fixtures, two T8 bulbs each will be switching to LEDs as budget allows, on a switch near the entry door.
8 LED recessed lighting fixtures in the eaves of the garage, with one motion detecting flood light out front, dusk to dawn switched in the house and the garage.
8 receptacles that will be responsible for powering:
3 to 4 power tool rechargeable battery chargers that may or may not be used at the same time.  a 7" power saw, a 12" miter saw, a 10" table saw and eventually a light to medium duty MIG welder (110 v) and a 2.5 hp air compressor with intermittent auto start, a bench grinder, a shop vac, and assorted hand tools, grinders/drills/soldering irons/routers etc.

The power tools (with the exception of the chargers) won't be used at the same time, I only have 2 hands.  But I can envision using the big saw and having the compressor kick on. I obviously don't want to suddenly be working in the dark, or to burn my garage down.

What should I run from the main breaker box to the garage?  Should I install a sub panel?  What size breakers for each circuit?  All three circuits now, or two with future expansion?  How would you design the circuits to accomplish what I want to do?

I understand, ahead of time, that the absolute best way to do this would be to hire a reputable electrician, but I am a big time DIYer, and would like to learn as I go.  I also understand that I am only asking for advice from experienced folks, and am still responsible for making my own decisions, and facing any potential consequences....

To be more specific, I have a GE 200 amp main box on the outside of my house, say street west side.  The detached garage (attached by a breezeway roof overhang) is in the back yard east side.  I stepped it off and being pretty liberal came up with a 167 foot run.  The plan is (until advised otherwise) to run a conduit from the main box up to the attic, through the attic and the breezeway connector to the garage.  My local code prohibits aluminum wire, so suddenly my small project just became a major expenditure and overhaul.  The three empty slots in the main are randomly placed, I would have to relocate one double pole one position upwards to gain two adjacent slots for an additional double pole.  I researched and simply muddied my own waters.  Went looking for answers, and came back with more questions.

As you can see from this very, very rough sketch, burying the feeder wire is not an option.  The solid black line between the two buildings represents the breezeway which connects the two, and through which the existing wire is run, down from the attic to the first story ceiling and through the connecting run.  I priced some 2/2/2/4 for the feeder and holy COW, I think I need a copper mine of my own.

Anyway, those are the distance specs, with the same power tool toys as described above.  Still--any suggestions?

As Isherwood and Ecnerwal advised, it would be in your best interest to set a sub-panel in the garage.

TL:DR Set a 60 amp sub-panel and feed it with #6 NM wire from the main panel. Separate all your neutrals and grounds at the sub-panel and buy the ground bar kit for the ground wires to attach to in the sub-panel. DO NOT install any bonding screws between the box and neutral bar. (If your welder draws more than 20 amps you should probably upsize this to 100 amp panel fed with #3 wire if you plan to have the compressor and welder on at the same time.)

Longer version:
The size of the panel depends on what you plan to run now and what you may plan to run in the future. The 2.5 hp compressor is the largest load you listed and will draw a little over 24 amps at according to Table 430.248 of the National Electrical Code. Let's say 28 amps at 120 volts. (Is there any way to re-wire the compressor for 240 volts? This would halve the current and reduce your voltage drop.)

The proper way to size this is 125% of the largest motor's listed current from the Table 248 in the NEC plus 100% of all the other motors table listed currents. Then, take all your other devices and add the current draw on each one at 100%. Take the total and divide it by 2 since you will be running a 240 volt circuit and all the loads are 120 volts and the current is split between the two legs. Now you have your current draw for all loads in the garage and this is the current draw for the feeder to the sub-panel.

For the sake of argument let's say you come up with 40 amps (this may be high or low for what you have listed but you didn't have a current draw for the wire welder so I will press on). You could then run a #8 circuit if the feed was shorter but to compensate for distance and voltage drop you upsize one wire size to #6 wire. Since you can only get sub-panels in certain sizes you will most likely have to buy a 60 amp sub panel without a main breaker in it. (Since the garage is attached through the breezeway you don't have to drive a separate ground rod. So don't worry about that.) If you go with a 100 amp sub because of the draw of the welder then You may end up with the #2 wire to compensate for voltage drop.

Now, unless your local building code requires it (and Chicago is the only place I know that requires Conduit in residential) you don't have to use conduit. You can use standard NM copper cable to make this run and it will be way more affordable than running conduit and pulling wire.

Power factor is not considered when sizing circuits in residential occupancies. End of story.

The number of circuits is a consideration for convenience but is not taken into account when calculating the size of the sub-panel and its corresponding feeders and breaker.

So, there you have it. Simple eh?


2 hot wires into light switch and no neutral I recently bought a home built in 1908 and I've found some funky electrical issues - such as the entire main floor on one 30 amp circuit. This morning I went down to the bathroom on the main floor and the light switch plate (light switch on top, outlet on bottom) was very hot with a slight smell of burning. I cut the power and say that the back of the switch/outlet was a bit melted. There were 2 wires coming in and 2 wires going to somewhere (assumed to be the light).

Also saw that some of the wires (old cloth wrapped type) were losing their insulation a bit. Since the wire was in a metal conduit (i.e. pipe, with a metal box holding the actual switches) I cut some of the piping away so I could access the wires and re-wrap them.

When I went to test the wires to reconnect everything I found that the 2 wires coming in are BOTH hot when I touch one sensor to one wire and the other sensor to the metal pipe covering the wires coming in. However, the circuit would not complete (i.e., my tester didn't light up) when touching one of the hot wires to either of the wires going out (presumably to the light) or one sensor to the hot wire coming in and one sensor to the pipe covering the wires going out.

Unfortunately this has also knocked out the electricity on my entire main floor (because it is all one one circuit) and it seems that no combination of reconnecting the wires is working.

So I'm quite confused - there seems to be no neutral coming in and I cannot restore power to the rest of the circuit.

Any ideas? Even if I can get to the point of restoring electric to the rest of the floor and calling an electrician that would be great.

Belatedly -- from the OP's description, it appears that the original wiring was quite naughty and used the metal conduit as a neutral.  This'd explain the lack of a return current path once the conduit was cut back to repair the wiring insulation, which is also a no-no as you probably won't get it back together again without an excessive amount of work.

Not only does the OP need an electrician, the OP needs to warn their electrician about this lest they zap themselves unwittingly!  (A family friend of mine who is an electrician encountered a similar issue, only finding out when a conduit fitting arced as he went to repair it.)


Should drywall be hung horizontally or vertically? For reasons including time, money, ease of installation, and structural strength, should drywall be installed horizontally or vertically.

Horizontal:  Pros will fit top piece to ceiling first and cutoff bottom piece for a 1/4 to 1/2 gap at floor.  The tapered joint is easy to fill.

You can also get a tapered butt joint by hanging the butt ends between studs and using a floating backer with a depressed center area that forms the "butt taper".  They are available commercially or can be homemade. This is the easiest way to get a "dead-flat" ceiling (or wall) when only the best will do.


Can a room be very cold because of the floor? My house has a very small kitchen which is actually an extension of the house with its own roof.

I suspect its roof insulation is old and not effective, because this kitchen is quite cold (8 degres celsius sometimes in winter).

Landlord says the room is cold because the floor is made of concrete with tiles on top of it. I personally find the roof explanation more convincing, but I admit that the floor in this kitchen is extremely cold. Sometimes I get out of the kitchen just because my feet are cold.

So is it possible that the landlord's explanation be correct? Can the floor make a room cold? And if so is there a way to make the room less cold?

Yes, the room can be very cold because of the floor.

Concrete slabs do not insulate well (R-value around 0.6!), and they lose most of their heat along the outside edge of the slab (the ground beneath the slab is a decent insulator).  Using a Heat Loss Calculator, I assumed you had a 10x10 room with a completely uninsulated floor (concrete), uninsulated walls (stick built w/drywall), and ceiling (drywall ceiling with an uninsulated attic).

Heat loss was 4050 BTU/hour from the floor, 5440 BTU/hr from the walls, and only 1540 BTU/hr from the ceiling.

So, while your ceiling may be a factor, it's probably not the most major factor.  Given that your floor is very cold, you probably don't have much (or any) insulation on that slab.

On the outside of the building, see if you can see the edges of the concrete slab.  If you can, then it's not insulated.  Buying some one-inch R-5 foam insulation and affixing that to the perimeter of the concrete slab drops the heat loss from 4050 BTU/hour in half to 2050 BTU/hour. Two-inch, R-11 insulation drops the heat loss to only 1050 BTU/hour.

Placing a rug on the floor would likely be insufficient, as carpet only gives an R-value of around 1.3 (and an area rug isn't going to cover the entire floor, anyway).

Edit with more information:

Consider a house built on an uninsulated concrete slab.  Insulating the slab can lead to a reduction of 10-20% in total heating costs.  Of the heat lost through a concrete slab, up to 80% is lost through the exposed outside edges.


Are my direct-vent water heater flues installed in a standard manner? We recently moved into a property with 2 water heaters installed in the basement. During the inspection, we were told that the water heaters were relatively new, but the exhausts were "odd".
Yesterday, we had a strong gas smell in the basement and promptly called the gas company. The representative told us that the cause was a downward draft of the flue gas.

A plumber came by and told us that he hadn't seen such an exhaust, and at first recommended we change the entire water heater, and after a while (seeing the neighbor's setup) told us to change the exhausts.

I have attached 2 pictures of the exhaust installation.

My questions are:
Based on the pictures, is this a normal setup?

There is silver HVAC foil taped around the vent. I removed it off one exhaust and experienced a draft of air coming down in the basement, near the water heater.
Would it help to reseal the duct with foil tape, poking holes in it, so the exhaust can escape?
This would be a temporary measure till I get some more opinions/estimates.

This is not a good example as the venting pipes are right below some windows which can leak exhaust gasses back inside the residence. This would be illegal in the state of Michigan.


Insulating and framing a basement after drain system and plastic vapor barrier installed We had a moisture problem in our basement located in Minnesota. Recently some foundation water came up and ruined our carpet, when we tore out the drywall there was moisture build up and some mold on the walls. The exterior wall was removed and a Waterguard drain system with sump pump installed with a plastic sheet/water vapor covering the entire wall and tucked into the drain.

My question is how do I insulate the exterior basement wall now that the plastic vapor barrier was installed with the drain system.picture of wall with new vapor barrier](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Juif2.jpg)

You can do almost anything since it should be fairly dry on the inside side of the vapor barrier.  Best would be some kind of material that can tolerate a little water and resists the flow of vapor.  Any humidity in the basement air will tend to cool when it touches the vapor barrier and condense into water on the wrong side of the vapor barrier.

Sheet XPS or PolyISO Foam with seams taped would work and be an easy DIY project.

Better would closed cell spray foam installed by a contractor.

For a lower budget option you could go with a mineral batt insulation that is vapor open but will tolerate being wet without being a food source for mold.

Fiberglass batts are probably the worst choice since they tend to degrade in moist areas.  I would not recommend them.

Do not put an additional vapor barrier on the inside side of the wall, this will just trap moisture inside the wall cavity.


How do you install the plastic/nylon toggle anchors? I recently bought a shelf that included these types of wall anchors, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to install them. What's the trick with them?

They are also shown on the Lowes website here too: TOGGLER 20-Pack Plastic Toggle 5/8-in to 3/4-in Drywall Anchors with #8 x 1-3/4-in Screws

I found this video on youtube titled: "Plastic Toggle Anchors" that shows their installation. The trick is to use your index finger to push in the toggle so that it can collapse down into a "barrel" shape for insertion into a pre-drilt hole in the dry-wall.

Here are the key shots from that video.

image #1

image #2

image #3

image #4


How clean inside range hood, over fans? My Toronto, CA condo has Sakura R727II range hood. I screen capped page 7 in Installation Guide. I bought 7 years ago, and never cleaned inside! When I sear or pan fry some things, I smell much smoke now!

Much smoke means grease clogging fans and exhaust duct. Right?

Undeniably I can't see or reach over fan inside range hood! How can I clean? Easy to remove range hood? Or I need technician? Is there profession called "range hood technician"?

I would start out by thoroughly cleaning the fan housing and blades. Most of the grease you're referring to will be on the blades and will really cut down on their efficiency. So remove that grease and you'll see a big difference. Anything more than that will require removing the hood.
If you have access to the area above the hood, like a cabinet or attic, you can disassemble the vent pipes and clean them. Just make sure to re assemble them correctly.


How can I grind and smooth a concrete table top? Hey guys so I just welded up a table and now I am going to make a table top. So here is the problem. I welded the table up and looks square but is off about 2 degrees here and there from heat warpage. So I want to make a tabletop that is flush with the steel bar I have. Going for the modern look. I'm afraid that no matter how closely I measure the concrete will overhang in some spots. How hard will it be to grind down the sides of the table to match? Also is there a cheap way to smooth out the table top without having to spend a few hundred on wet sander and multiple special pads? I have a grinder and sander and different types of disks but no specialty concrete tools.

You can always use a masonry grinding wheel and a level, but be warned, there will be a LOT of dust! You'll want to seal off the room from the rest of the house, open the windows, put fans in the windows, wear goggles and a respirator. They sell shrouds that you can hook up a shop vac to the grinder to get a good bit of the dust, but it's still bad. And at that point, it might take you 2 to 4 hours. I leveled some high spots on my basement floor and man, what a time waster! You may be happier if you rented something bigger than a grinder, or used something like below - the bonus being, if you used aggregate, it'll shine through after grinding.

You could also rig up a sled if you would like, where you attach something flat to the back of your grinder and then run it along something flat and level independent of the table surface, like below. Unfortunately, I don't think they make diamond cup bits for routers, but you might be able to use a diamond hole saw with a 1/4" shank if you want to use a router/sled method.


I removed two three-way electrical switches; they don’t work now The first picture is the switch that is wired to electrical panel.

Notice one of the screws is black? The other two are brass.

Get a 5-pack of colored electrical tape and mark both of the wires to the brass screws with yellow  tape.  Those are travelers and they go to the same place, in the same cable, and are interchangeable (no need to tell them from each other).

This makes 3-ways a lot easier to deal with.

Also, hook the wires around the screws, they are far more reliable than backstabs. For one thing you can see if they are engaged properly.


What amount of shingle overhang on a rake side is acceptable? A contractor is telling me that his roofer always installs shingles with "this amount" of overhang, yet I am hard pressed to find similar installs in my neighborhood.  The box of shingles states 1/2" overhang with  a drip edge, 3/4" without.  The amount of overhang on my new screened in porch is 2".  I have read on forums that anything 1" and under is acceptable and typically passes inspection.  I live in Ohio; not in a high wind area.
I am done dealing with the contractor; it just not worth the energy or the arguing.  If I choose to fix this myself, is it worth trimming the shingles back to 1/2" or should I take my chances with heat causing the shingles to bend or wind ripping them off?

A 2” overhang for shingles is excessive. Always follow the manufacturers installation instructions, because 1) performance is limited, 2) longevity is limited, and 3) warranty is voided.

shingles will sag and bend over time. This can create problems elsewhere, like tearing the underlayment, etc.

Shingles will wear out quicker because the shingles will fold at the roof line.

If you file a claim after a few years, a manufacturer’s representative will visit the site and void the claim. (If pieces of shingle blow off and break your neighbors windows, you’re liable.)

I find that when obvious things are done improperly, then other things are often done improperly too. I’d check the number of nails used per shingle, placement of nails from the top of the shingle, distance of first nail from edge of shingle, exposure of shingles, etc.
Btw, check several places on all sections of the roof. One roofer might do a great job where he’s working, but his assistant might be terrible.


Why the noises in the new furnace? A company installed a new HVAC system 2 weeks ago. The furnace is a Carrier Infinity 58TN.
Two days ago I noticed a low key constant noise from the furnace in the morning around 6:20 am. The noises were loud enough to draw my attention. I went in and opened the furnace door/outer cover and tried to see where the noise comes from. It seems it is from the box where the blower is located, maybe furnace. I am not a mechanic. Then I gently tapped on the covers, the noise stopped. I thought this may be some kind of vibrations. But this morning around the same time, I heard the noise again. I took off the door and tapped the cover over the blower/furnace, the noise stopped.
Does anybody have the same problem. I plan to call the installation company after the 4th holiday but just wanted to see if this maybe just a simple thing that can be resolved by myself.
Any suggestions?

Called Carrier and talked to a technician. They said it could be transformer or fan motor. They need to be replaced. Will see the company tomorrow.  Keep my fingers crossed.
A technician came. He found out there was a screw between new unit and the return of air duct. He took it out and screwed the two parts together at the base and taped them also. The noise has disappeared since then.


HVAC air flow question What is an appropriate distance between a finished floor and bottom of an interior door to make sure there is adequate HVAC air flow when door is closed.
Several sites say in order for there to be proper air flow the doors would need to be at least 1 1/4" off the floor (doesn't look right) and that the HVAC unit will not last as long if there is restricted air flow. The alternative is to put air returns in every room.

Years ago, every room had a cold air return. Today, most HVAC systems have a central return air grill. In order to get air delivery into that room, the bottom of the doors need to be trimmed. I am from the "old school" and still believe in a return grill in every room except the bath room and the kitchen. Why the central return grill, installed cost, of course. Now we see questions as to "how can I reduce the noise coming into a bedroom"? Easy, insulate the walls, add a return in that room, and replace the door which has had the bottom cut off to enhance air flow.  My 2 cents.


How can I repair rotten siding around my hose spigot? I was getting ready to repaint a siding board with peeling paint, when I realized there was quite a bit of rotten wood around the hose spigot that goes through the plank.  Below are some pictures from after I cleared away most of the soft wood.
Can I repair this without replacing the board, or do I need to hire someone to replace the board? I've repaired some small areas of rot in other areas with wood hardener and epoxy putty, but those repairs didn't go through the board and I'm not sure if it would work to screw the spigot into the epoxy. Replacement won't be so simple since it's a frost-free spigot and someone would need to cut an access panel in our finished basement to remove it.

It's not possible to see in the picture below, but the rot extends upwards behind the board for about a half-inch.

As a rule I don't like using short pieces of siding mid run. But you may need to run pieces shorter than 4' to do this repair. Make sure your final cuts do not line up with another joint above or below the next course. Plan your cuts from top to bottom, since cutting an upper piece of siding first, may make it easier to cut the next piece down. Also locate the new joints over studs.
When adding the new siding, use material behind the joints to divert the water that will come in during foul weather. There are materials available that are specific for this purpose, but I have used aluminum, sheet plastic, or tar paper to use as a "slip" behind joints.


Hooking up a 50A hot tub breaker to a 60A subpanel I am considering adding a hot tub to my backyard. Most of the ones I've seen require a 240v 50A breaker, presumably with #6 4-wire.

It would be most convenient to run the line for this from my subpanel in my detached garage. I had an electrician put in the subpanel just a year ago (so it is up to modern standards; previously it was knob-and-tube! house built in 1927) and he set it up as a 60A subpanel. This consists of a 60A breaker at the main panel in the house, run underground to the subpanel in the garage, which has room for eight GE Q-line miniature breakers. Due to the number of available spaces, I'm guessing the breaker panel could handle more than 60A, but it's just limited by the breaker at the main panel and by the amp rating of the wire going between the panels.

There isn't a lot of load in the garage usually, just a couple lights and outlets. I think we could have gotten away with using two 20A circuits, but he wired up two 20A circuits and two 15A circuits, using 4 of the breaker spaces. This adds up to 75A, but from what I understand this is okay since once it hits 60A it would trip the breaker at the main panel and shut off the entire garage. Occasionally we will run a 12A electric lawn mower or other similar electric lawn tools from the outlets. The lights are motion lights on the outside, and switched fluorescent shop lamps on the inside.

Okay, now for the the question: Would it be okay and up to code to run a 50A 2-pole breaker in two of the remaining 4 slots in the panel and hook the hot tub up to it?

I'm assuming that the hot tub isn't going to be drawing close to 50A under normal conditions otherwise it'd regularly trip the breaker. But even if someone is sitting in it with the jets on and say it draws 40A, it seems like I could still run the lawn mower at 12A and have a couple lights on and not trip the 60A breaker at the house. (Related: does anyone know how many amps a typical hot tub would draw at peak and during regular operation?) I assume this line of thinking is why the electrician was able to put 75A worth of breakers on that 60A panel.

But, if any of this screams "could cause a fire" or "not up to code", please let me know! Thanks in advance!

@Steven is essentially right.   What has been explained many times on this site is that there is NOTHING dangerous about what you propose.    The 50A breaker will be protecting the wiring to the tub (and internals of the tub).   The 60A breaker is protecting the wiring to the subpanel (and its internals).    You can do this if you want and you will be perfectly fine.   BUT, if the tub really does pull 50A and you have it on at the same time as other devices in the garage which are taking more than 10A then the 60A breaker will trip.

Bottom line:   You can have as many breakers as you want totaling more than their main/subpanel breaker.   It is safe.   It just will trip if you actually consume more than that at any one time.   You have to figure out whether that situation will ever occur.


Need guidance and advice for a mixing valve I'm debating installing a mixing valve on my shower to hopefully eliminate the routine scalding associated with taking a shower. I've read a bit online but I have questions.

I haven't seen a P&ID of an installation. With a two valve system, should the mixing valve be installed upstream of the hot water valve and cold water be plumbed in like normal?
I have seen advice suggesting check valves. Do I need them on both sides or just the cold side?
Any recommended brands or styles?
Any other tips?

If your existing shower is a two handle type (independently controlled hot and cold) the simplest solution would be to install a temperature actuated flow reducer. This devise can be added inline between the shower head and the shower arm. It will reduce the flow out of the shower head as the temperature gets too hot. This will give you time to adjust the temperature before getting scalded.

The best solution is to replace the existing shower valve with a modern pressure balanced one. This type of valve will adjust the flow of the hot if there is a drop in pressure on the cold side due to a toilet being flushed. This would require you to open up the wall in order to replace the valve (easy if the back side of the shower wall is accessible).

Update: Some manufactures sell a cover plate for converting two (or three) handle shower valves to pressure balanced ones. The cover plate conceals the leftover holes in the tile from the old valve. Here's a clip from Ask This Old House on installing one.

If you’re not able to replace the valve, but the water lines are accessible (in an attic or basement), you could install a point-of-use thermoplastic mixing valve on the hot line that feeds the shower valve.

You can also adjust the temperature of your hot water tank, however you don't want to set it too low as you would increase the risk of pathogens.

Lastly, adding check valves will not help if the issue is pressure balance.


Help with lights flickering at weird regular interval Lights flicker for ~17 seconds at 1 flash/sec, then normal for ~23 seconds. This cycle repeats itself continuously.

The video starts with the 23 second "normal" period, followed by 17 seconds of flickering, and shows 2 cycles. May need to turn screen brightness up, but if you watch closely the flashes are evident.

Context about my home's electrical system:

video is of ceiling light
flickering is not isolated to a single circuit. Occurs in bedroom
circuit, bathroom circuit, kitchen circuit (fridge light),
outside garage light, and floor lamps plugged into outlets
1950's house, copper wiring, no ground on most circuits except for
kitchen. Location is in Indiana, USA
In Jan 2018, recently after purchasing house, I:

installed GFCI outlets at the head of each circuit to conform with NEC code for having 3-prong (grounded) outlets on wiring with no ground.
replaced all other normal receptacles and switches
replaced all lights with LEDs
flickering phenomenon only started about 4 months ago, well after I made above changes

I have a single dimmer switch for kitchen ceiling light, which is LED. Both dimmer switch and LED claim compatibility with dimming functionality. Oddly enough, this light doesn't flicker, at least not strongly enough that I can perceive it
100 amp service

Things I've tried already:

Had utility company replace connections to weather-head due to
imbalance on legs of main coming into panel. Flickering was occurring
before this, and this did not solve.
Asked utility company if transformer was sized appropriately/working correctly. Technician said yes, but also didn't climb pole to inspect transformer.
Inspected breakers on all circuits. Replaced some that I thought
could have poor connection, but flickering continued.
Inspected panel for any loose connections at bus bar, tightened a few, but found nothing suspect

I'm fairly handy, an engineer, and confident in my ability to troubleshoot without getting myself electrocuted, but I'm out of ideas. Any thoughts?

Link to video

Panel model info:

I had strange flickering in the past (but not quite with the strange periodicity you are), and this is how I found the device(s) that was dirtying up the power for my whole house:

Go to the breaker and shutoff all but one of the flickering circuits

Did the flickering stop?

if yes:

One by one turn each circuit back on until the flickering returns
Once flicking returns you now know which circuit contains the device causing the problem (the last one you turned on). One by one, unplug/unscrew each device/bulb from the circuit until the flickering stops

if no:

Turn off the circuit, and switch on a different one that you had noticed flickering on

If the flickering is gone, it was due to a device in your home, proceed to step 3 to isolate the device.
If you are still experiencing flickering, it is likely due to a problem your electrical carriers equipment.  Call them and let them know you've isolated the problem to something on their end.


Laundry closet door wont close Live in a condo and stacked washer/dryer are in a closet.  New w/d installed, but now closet door wont close as w/d stick out 1/2 inch more than old w/d.
There is trim molding around door. Can we nail on another piece of molding on top of existing molding around door and rehinge door again?  What is best way to get door to close?

Trim molding will not hold a standard hinged door. It would take a skilled carpenter to move a hinged door outward.

What part of the machines is preventing them being pushed further back? Could it be simply the dryer vent hose is interfering? Compare the specifications on the machines to the dimensions of your space. Is the washer hitting your back baseboard?

If it is just one projecting area on one machine, consider making a recess in the back wall, if a stud is not in the way (maybe not a good idea if this back wall separates your unit from the adjacent unit).

If you cannot shift the machines further back, either the machines are too large for a standard space for compact w/d or your space is non-standard.

If the former, return the machines as unsuitable for a standard space.

If the latter, remove the hinge pins and remove and properly store the door, but leave the hinges in place so the door could be rehung later. Hang a heavy curtain over the door opening, or install a hanging, sliding "barn door" over the opening.

EDIT My experience with doors is installing six pre-hung interior doors so I can imagine how I would proceed to move the door outward by 1 inch, but it would be a job and I couldn't say how it would look in the end. I suppose a skilled carpenter would make short work of moving the door out, but the end product might still look a little  strange.


What is this electric plug called? I need to buy a replacement for a twist-locking electric plug that looks like this:

Picture of the socket:

Searching online I can't seem to find anything that matches. The closest thing I found are NEMA twist-lock plugs, but they have a different locking\ground pin.

Can someone identify this plug type?

I found this, which looks like the right one. You didn’t list specs so I just went off of looks. Called a Non-Nema.


Why would a gas water heater discharge water in the winter? Bradford White gas water heater discharges about an inch of water into a five gallon bucket over 3 to 4 days. It is less than a year old.
Is it working properly, or does it need repair already?

Actually, this requires a system analysis to determine if it's a problem of the water heater, or a problem of your system needing a expansion tank.

For instance, if your water supply is provided with a check valve or a pressure reducing valve/regulator on its input, a water heater full of cold water will cause expansion, and without an expansion tank or an open connection to a supply (which a check or regualtor is not) to relieve pressure, pressure in the system will rise as the cold water is heated and expands.

You may be seeing this more in the winter as your water supply may be colder, so it has more potential to expand.

The valve is a temperature and pressure relief valve, so EITHER overheating OR overpressure will cause it to vent. I'm going to guess that it's more likely a pressure issue, and would probably be easily resolved by adding a small expansion tank; but I can't be sure about that without more details about your water system, or actual measurements of the temperature and pressure when it's venting.


Adapting 3/4 gas outlet to 1/2" appliance? One of these things is not like the other.  That's a 3/4 gas outlet and a gas dryer with a 1/2" fitting. What's the best approach to making them connect?  The dryer is old so I'm a bit leery of trying to unscrew the 1/2" adapter at the appliance side.

If you don't want to remove the 1/2" adapter from the dryer you will need a new supply line that has the correct size. I don't like using intermediate fittings but prefer the the correct size fitting on the flex as this reduces the possibility of a leak.


NEC 422.16(B)(2) Built-in Dishwashers and Trash Compactors Requirement According to the titled part of NEC, "(4)Receptacles shall be located to protect against physical damage to the flexible cord."

I have installed a dishwasher recently, but the plugged to a receptacle newly installed right next to a base cabinet. I know the receptacle is usually under sinks, and in that situation, we may be able to say that the cabinet is protecting the cord from damage. Is my situation violate the code since technically the code is exposed to a traffic area. See the picture below. Thank you for your advice.

NEC 422.16(B)(2) is pretty much a repeat of NEC 400.12 Flexible Cords and Cables Uses Not Permitted. (7) Where subject to physical damage. In review of this Article 400.12(3) also says where run though holes in walls ... or 400.12(4) where run through doorways, windows or similar openings.

First I would say I don't think the location of the receptacle and cord pose a threat to physical damage, but I do think it at least violates the intent of parts (3) and (4).

I will say that there has been plenty of debate among the electrical inspection community on whether a cabinet side is really a wall or a partition and is it allowed to be penetrated. I suspect a clearer definition will come out in later Code publications but right know everyone is stuck with the ones we have.

As I have said before, I have an opinion but it doesn't matter. These debates have pretty much left the decision up to the AHJ (electrical inspector in your area). You should probably check with your municipality on their opinion.


what kind of drywall texture is this and type of brush to use to get this texture I would like to know the texture in my drywall ceiling to repair and match the existing texture

I think that's a crows foot pattern made with a texture brush that is stomped/slapped versus the drywall. I think this brush is overkill for a patch job, but the texture it creates seems to match pretty closely with your picture.
https://www.all-wall.com/Categories/Drywall-Texture-Brushes/Crowsfoot-Drywall-Texture-Brush.html

You may be able to purchase the brush at lowes/home depot but I've found that drywall texture tools availability is hit or miss depending on the location.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with using stomp brushes, but I think there's a couple of videos on youtube that do a pretty good job explaining.

I would recommend mixing up the mud and practicing on a piece of cardboard/scrap drywall until you can consistently get a similar pattern.

I just did a lot of ceiling patching, and I ended up having to add a good deal more water to the mud than expected to get the pattern to match (or as close as I could come).


Should I proactively replace my Federal Pacific service disconnect boxes? (not a breaker panel) House was built in 1985. On one of the exterior walls, there are two Federal Pacific service disconnects for my outside HVAC units. The label on the first one indicates it's an FPE model R160, which is the service disconnect for a 40A furnace/compressor. The label on the second one says FPE model R130, as the service disconnect for a 25A A/C compressor. There is a pair of fuses inside each pullout, one pair are Bussmann and the other pair is unreadable due to weathering. Both circuits are protected upstream by appropriately sized breakers in a GE panel.

I know Federal Pacific has a well-deserved bad reputation for the flaws with their Stab-Lok panels and breakers, but I'm unsure if that tainted the other product lines they were manufacturing in the mid 80s. Seeing as how neither of these is giving me any trouble, is there anything about having FPE gear on my house that I should be concerned about?

Even if there are no immediate concerns, when the day comes that I want to sell, should I expect an overzealous home inspector to (incorrectly?) call them out as needing replacement?

No you do not need to replace them, their disconnects are fine and also their transformers are good. FPE stablock is what gave them a bad name. It would be like saying your favorite car MFG was judged by that 1 bad model (they all have them). I have several that have been in regular use for decades, so would not worry about the disconnects.


Oak stair landing joints splitting We had stairs installed in August, but the landing oak seems to be splitting at its glued joint and looks unsightly. The fabricators have been out, tried to reinforce from below and filled the joints. Now, two months later, two planks have opened up on the landing! The house was refurbished and of course central heating switched on, but should the landing be opening up like this? Shouldn't it be more rigid? It looks unsightly.

Due to climate changes in your house (moisture and heat fluctuations) and the natural tendency for wood to be effected from them, wood will move. The drier and more unsealed the wood is the more it will swell and contract. Also depending on how it was milled and what section of the tree it was cut from will determine how much moisture it can absorb and release.   You are correct in surmising that the landing shouldn't be splitting. Although wood can't be prevented from moving altogether there are steps that can account for and limit this movement. When constructing a project made from wood the planks  moisture level should be around 15%. If they are to used indoors with a central heating system an even lower level of 11% should be used. A kiln is used to get this final moisture level.  If the landing was installed using strip (1 1/2-2 inch wide) flooring that was milled with a tongue and groove the tongue should be nailed to the sub floor and into the floor joists if possible. If the boards are wider than 4-6 inches they should be installed in such a way that the fastener keeps them flat but can also allow for slight shifting. This is sometimes accomplished by oval screw holes from underneath.   If the board split is slight epoxy filler/adhesive can be color matched to the wood species to make the patch less noticeable. I would be hesitant to use any other type of filler for a floor patch since the nature of the wood is to move the patch will eventually get pushed loose.


How to construct this 4-way X table leg arrangement? I have googled a bit trying to find a similar project, but so far all I can find is this page.

Any suggestions on where to find guidance to build these legs?  Inspection of the photos hasn't helped.

The table I am building is a 34 inch diameter fir tree slab about 4 inches thick; it weighs about 40 kg (90 lbs).

Interesting design. A google search on the image leads to The Four Leaf Clover Coffee Table which includes the image

It looks like the "X"s use half-lap joints, then maybe matching slots in each X.


Broken step on staircase We have a broken step on our carpeted staircase.  How can I remove then refit the carpet without damaging it?  When the carpet has been removed, I will have to repair the step if possible, then refit the carpet.

Staple or tack the carpet to the bottom side of the tread above the broken tread, just past where you staple it, cut it with a sharp carpet knife and peal it back, fix the broken tread and then pull the carpet back in place and staple it back into place.  Since all of the stapling and cutting will be on the underside of tread it shouldn't be very noticeable.

Or hire a carpet guy on craigslist or something to come and pull all of it up and relay it for you after you've fixed it. I assume this would cost about $100.


Are there special pocket hole screws? I purchased a pocket hole jig and it comes with screws. Are these special pocket hole screws? Is there a type of screw I should be using with pocket holes, or would any wood screw work just as well?

Yes, those are special pocket hole screws.  They're basically just self drilling wood screws (which is why they have the fluted tips).  Standard wood screws may work, but you are forced between trying to center a pilot hole at the bottom of your pocket or risk splitting the piece you're screwing into.

As far as finding more of them, just search for "pocket hole screws".  Most of the big box home improvement stores should carry them.

Kreg Pocket Hole Screw with flat head to engage step in drilled hole and thread cutting flute to prevent wood splitting.


Dishwasher pump is crackling [video]; is it obstructed or does it need to be replaced? My dishwasher (Frigidaire Model FDB2000RFC1) is making a loud clicking/cracking  sound when the drain pump is active.
Is it possible that there's just something in the pump that isn't being ejected properly?  or do I need a totally new pump?

I dismantled the "drain pump assembly" part making the noise and the solenoid and paddle flaps looked fine.  However when manually turning the flaps I could occasionally reproduce the slappy / crackling noise.

Upon further inspection, it was apparent that the seal the axel for the agitator had a small leak.  I ordered a new piece and sure enough, the sound is gone!


electric water heater wiring Main panel has one 100 double breaker and two 60 amp double breakers.  There are extra slots for more breakers. Can I install a 30 am double breaker in on of the extra slots to wire up a 30 amp electric water heater with 10 gauge wire?
Thank you.

You can.  But your total electrical may now be too much.  It depends on your service capacity.


Why doesn't this LED strip work, even though the power supply seams appropriate? I recently bought a 3528 SMD Flexible LED Strip, 300 LED for 5 M.

The Power Supply I have output 12V and 3A.

From what I found online, this seams okay, but it doesn't work. I managed to light them once, but the led strip doesn't light up until the end.

How can I know if my power supply is appropriate?

Based on the LED strip that you have, your power supply will not be enough. You need a minimum of 4 amperes to fully power the strip.


Wiring subpanel in detached garage Long time reader and first time poster here and want to make sure I'm running power to my detached garage properly.
I built a detached garage next to my house and just got done running the wires from the main meter panel to the subpanel inside the garage and the setup is a follows:
Main panel is approximately 125 feet from the subpanel. I have a total of 4 wires coming from the main: 2x 2awg aluminum wires connected to a double pole 125 amp breaker for hot, 1x 2awg aluminum wire connected to ground bar for neutral, 1x 4awg aluminum wire connected to ground bar for ground.
I have also installed 2 8' ground rods, hammered in 12 feet apart to provide a local ground for the garage with a solid 6awg copper wire in addition to the 4awg wire from the main panel.
I'm not going to bond the neutral bar to the subpanel chassis. And there will be another 125 amp breaker in the subpanel as the mail breaker for quick, local disconnect of all power.
This is my first time doing any wiring at this scope and level and want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
Thanks in advance,
Kash

A 125A "main breaker" in the subpanel is fine.
However, the breaker feeding this, which is in the main panel, must be 80A or 90A depending on the insulation of your wire.
Actually, I'd recommend a "larger" subpanel than 125A.   The thing you really want is spaces, because a 90A subpanel can support a whole lot more circuits than you think it can.   A whole lot more!   A 30-space sub would not be excessive, and ones with that many spaces will tend to be 200A.
The old "16 spaces 32 circuits" trick doesn't work anymore, since almost all circuits these days require AFCI or GFCI breakers. NEC 2020 now requires it for 240V loads.
If you thought "125A breaker in the main panel is OK", then the source of your information is extremely poor - that's a hard mistake to make since every internet source will tell you otherwise.  Revisit every one of your decisions which came from that data source.
Other than that, everything sounds OK, but 125A on #2Al is such a blunder that you should really go through the rest with a fine-tooth comb.  Feel free to make full use of us!


Why would 2 different sprinkler zones cause pressure at the pump to drop to 0? Why would 2 out of 3 sprinkler zones cause the pressure reading at the pump to drop to 0? This is a well irrigation system and it is separate from the home's well. The pump is a 3/4 HP, has a flow rate of 10 GPM and is designed to maintain pressure at 40 PSI. The pressure tank is 2.1 gallons. The pump turns on at 30 PSI and off at 50 PSI. Zone 3 maintains 40 PSI perfectly, but zones 1 and 2 immediately drop to 0 PSI when activated, occasionally creeping up to 10 PSI but no more than that. There is still flow to the heads but they don't pop up. Is it possible there is a leak in both zones? If so, why would the symptoms be identical? Surely it would vary to some degree? I see no sign of leakage either, even after capping off all the heads. With capped heads, all symptoms are the same (0 PSI reading at the pump with an occasional 10 PSI). Assuming there is no leak, why would the pressure not build up with capped heads? If one zone is working fine, it couldn't be the pressure tank or pump, could it? The only thing I can think of is that there is a large obstruction in the mainline before the bad zones but after the good one, but even then, why would it not build pressure (since it's an obstruction)? The water must be going somewhere. Any help appreciated.

I ended up fixing this issue by capping off the heads and turning the system on for hours at a time as opposed to just a few minutes. This extended time running the system while capped off allowed buried line breaks to be revealed. There were multiple line breaks and crushed heads run over by vehicles in the past. I fixed all this last summer. As a preventative for future breaks I placed concrete doughnuts around each head.


How to fill crack in marble shower sill Our shower has a has sill about 4" above floor level made from a single piece of marble, approximately 60" x 6" x 1".   The shower surround runs down the center, and is well-sealed to it, with no evidence of seepage.   However, there is a wide run of soft limestone on the outside which is eroding away, leaving a lengthwise crack in the marble; this has been growing increasingly wide and deep over the past few years.

I'd like to clean it out and fill it with something epoxy-like (ideally black to match the dominant color of the marble), but I'm wary that anything that expands during curing might cause further problems with the stone.    Are there any materials that are well-suited to this?

You can buy powdered marble dust which is used like a mortar to repair cracks.


How to lift/raise/repair a segment of concrete slab? I have an 8-year old concrete slab around my pool. One slab has sunk by about 2 inches on the short side. The slab measures about 6 feet by 3 feet by 4 inches. It rests against the pool structure on the long side. The opposite long side is grass. The two short sides are separated by a 1 inch wood separator from other slabs.  There is a thin "cool deck" covering of on the slab.

My question:  what is the best choice of action for me to repair this?

Can I raise it to fill underneath it with sand? How? How do I prevent the slab from cracking?

Should I pour concrete on it? It will be tapering from 2 inches to 0 and probably won't stick. Also the cool deck cover gets covered by concrete.

This slab is small enough that you should be able to easily lift it out and repair the base soil. Unless the concrete was weak initially or in otherwise poor condition it won't break.

From the lawn side, trench along the slab about 6" wide and to the bottom of the concrete. Save the sod by wrapping it in a tarp.
Using heavy steel or wood bars and some fulcrum blocks, begin lifting the concrete. Work in stages and block it up as you go.
Once you're high enough, move the blocks rearward, underneath the slab. Continue maneuvering it until the entire slab is floating above the level of the surrounding slabs.
Lever the raised slab sideways as needed to gain access to the soil below. It's not necessary to move it completely out of the hole area.
Repair your soil base using non-organic sand or gravel. Tamp it well and leave it 1/2" higher than necessary.
Move your slab back into position and remove the blocks. Be careful not to drop it to prevent damage to it and the surrounding slabs.

Allow the slab to settle for a few weeks, ideally through a rain event. If it doesn't rain, flood the area well to allow the soil to compact and settle.

If you find that you've left it too high, a hose worked under the slab from the lawn side will allow you to wash out some fill soil. Work slowly so as to not go too far.


How do I close off attic vents? First of all, I'm clueless when it comes to DIY so forgive my amateur lingo and general clueless attitude. I'm still learning, be patient with me.

My wife and I bought a house on the sunny island of Guernsey last year which as you may know don't come cheap. The house looked immaculate when viewing it but upon closer inspection there's a few oddities that cropped up.

One of the significant oddities was when I clambered up into the attic to find that it's open to the outside air. By this I mean at the bottom of the roof (where the guttering is) to the top of the external walls it is completely open. You can see outside. The gap isn't big at all, but the attic is very cold. A typical attic I know of is usually warm and closed to the open air.

Now I know nothing about this kind of thing, but I assumed this isn't normal nowadays at least? Should it be closed off? Would this help with heating the house?

Apologies for the awful explanation, perhaps someone could decipher what I'm talking about and apply some logic to this construction? I'm assuming there's a name for this kind of thing?

The answer is "don't do that!" The vents you're seeing are ridge vents on top and a soffit vent on the bottom.

Attics need ventilation, these openings are by design and critical to avoiding serious roof damage. If you close them off, your attic will overheat in the summer, and cause ice dams and water damage if it snows. Newer vents include screens that will prevent pests from getting into the home. And you can also install baffles if you need to insulate into the rafters rather than the joists, but insulating the joists is preferable.

Here's a nice blog post about roof ventilation that will give you more details.


120 volts on the metal for the breaker box There is 120 volts on the metal box for my breaker box The box is 100 amp. What are some reasons for this to happen.

First, shut main power off and use a big wooden stick to do it. Seriously.

Finish reading this on your phone.  Every ground in your house is hazardous.

Then, re-test to confirm the problem has in fact gone away.   If the problem is still there, then call the power company to report an outage, tell them what you are getting and there should be a truck out there within a few hours.  (That last promise void if your power company has recently experienced a weather calamity like hurricane, flood, or ice storm.)

OK, the problem is gone.  If you can set yourself up a safe environment to do this, and a reasonable testing regimen, you can turn off all the branch breakers, and turn on the main breaker.   Then, turn on branch breakers one at a time until the problem returns. You're gonna want to use the broomstick for all this.  If a single branch circuit causes the problem to appear, note that down.  This is not critical to fixing the problem, so don't take any undue risks collecting this data. But it will behelpful information later, this circuit has a ground fault.

Now with everything off again, and the panel testing safe: off to the library you go.  You need to pack your brain with all you can about the

Grounding Electrode System

This actually is a fairly simple beast, but its few parts must all be correct.  And "beast" is the operative word, because a stoutly built grounding electrode system prevents this from happening by brute force.

The starting point is something that ties to Earth: either grounding rod(s) that are (current spec) 8 feet long, and 2 rods (unless you do a test that costs more than another rod); a water main if it can be assured it's all metal (and if you're in Flint, it may not be since so many water supply pipes are being replaced with plastic), or a purposefully constructed UFER connection to your concrete slab's reinforcing rod network (by far the best, but nobody ever remembers to spec it.)

Then you have some nice, beefy ground wires (e.g. stranded #4) from the electrode to the main panel.  This ground must be one continuous run, it cannot be cut and spliced.  (But can be copper-welded ie brazed).

At the main panel end, it firmly attaches to the metal of the service panel, and/or the grounding bar.  I am fond of belt and suspenders, I use a thru lug on the panel proper, and then onto the grounding bar.  This is what assures the equipment grounding system (panel case and all those green and bare branch circuit wires) cannot be far from earth  potential.

The above system is the one that has failed for you.  As you can imagine, it is not a sexy or attention-demanding system, and is oft-forgotten.

Look for anything changed or out-of-the-ordinary.  The classic is the water company fitting a smart meter that happens to be plastic.

Now is the time to give that system a thorough inspection and fix/overfix anything that is deficient or not up to the latest codes. You want this stuff beefy.   In a case like this, there can be a violent tug-of-war.  It's important for safety that the grounding electrode win and the branch circuit breaker be forced to trip.  If the branch circuit wins and kills the grounding electrode, then you get this failure mode.

Once all that's done, then come back 'round on the ground fault issue on the bad circuit you identified. If you did a good job here, it will trip the breaker instead of electrify the house.


Thermal expansion: installing a hardwood floor and subfloor I plan to add a subfloor in the unfinished attic, and lay down hardwood on top of it. The attic has large temperature swings, from about 50 to almost 100F (something will have to be done about that later), which makes me concerned about how to properly install the subfloor and then the hardwood planking on top to accommodate thermal expansion.
I will install at the highest temperatures in the range, so contraction is probably what I should properly worry about.
What is done to allow for expansion/contraction? Is there a preferred alignment of subfloor panels to the underlying joists? and is there a preferred alignment for the hardwood slats? I would like to make the hardwood direction match the rest of the house...

Upon further research, it was made clear that humidity/temperature need to be stabilized first, temperature excursion would damage a hardwood floor.
After the temperature excursion is addressed through proper heating and cooling, the primary concern for expansion is against the walls, where a 1/2" perimeter is to be left for expansion. If the Drywall is floating above the floor, the hardwood and subfloor can expand under it as needed.
The 8x4 boards of subfloor should be laid down orthogonally to the direction of the rafters.