Flex connecting two black pipes mid line The gas line coming into my newly redesigned kitchen and supplying a range has to be routed under the sink because there was no room behind the rear left corner to go behind the studs in the wall. The valve on the left, terminating a 1/2" black pipe, is where it enters and the nipple in the back wall is where it exits the sink to travel another approximately 10' to the range, again via 1/2" black pipe.

Of course, because the area under the sink is messy, busy, and complicated, as can be seen in the picture, with other pipe, cable, garbage disposal etc, running black pipe there, with a minimum of two elbows in a tight space would be inconvenient, obstructing and difficult to turn the wrench so I want to use the yellow flex connector. However, I know that flex is usually used between a black pipe terminal and an appliance and what we have here is mid-line.
So I have several questions:

Is this generally permissible by the US codes (specifically mid Atlantic, relatively strict)?
Considering that the two ends of black pipe it connects are 1/2", can I use 1/2" flex (which I think is smaller inside diameter than 1/2" black pipe), which I obviously prefer for spacing reasons, or should I go with 3/4", which I think corresponds more in inside diameter with 1/2" black? The final flex connector at the end that connects the range is 1/2". The picture shows a 3/4" that is 36" long, which is too long and I plan to replace it with 24" so I don't need to wrap around the PVC pipe like it shows here, which comes in both 1/2 and 3/4". Does it actually matter and can using a slightly fatter pipe between two smaller cause any adverse effects?
Someone (whose advice I am not taking unverified) told me that this connector might need to be electrically grounded. I do have an adjacent junction box in a laundry bay to the left of the sink. Should I ground it using a pipe grounding clamp?

Valve at the appliance
You didn't mention whether this valve here under the sink is the only one or whether there's another shutoff at the appliance. A valve somewhere in the plumbing system is a nice optional thing, but there really must be a valve at the appliance for service or emergency use. A person unfamiliar with the house is never going to think "hmm, no valve behind the range... maybe under the sink??"
Appliance connector.. not the right fit
The flexible tube connector shown in the photo is an appliance connector. When necessary, it is customary to have some hard pipe directly attached to an appliance and then use the flex connector to make the jump from the appliance to in-wall piping. Think of a furnace, for example: hard pipe extends from the gas valve to the exterior of the furnace cabinet and flex goes from there to the building piping. It's also not unheard of to join two flex connectors to gain additional length.
It's easy to imagine a mash-up of the furnace situation and the two-connectors-for-extra-length situation and morph it into something like what you've built here. I'm no expert in the fuel gas code, but I suspect that's taking things a bit too far. An appliance connector isn't the right material to use for making this connection.
Making things neater
So, how could things be better? First, put an elbow on each pipe stub and aim them both toward that left-rear corner. This at least gets you started on the right foot, keeping the connection out of the jungle in the middle of the space.
Next, if you really must have flexible tubing, CSST (corrugated stainless steel tubing) is the right material. I know, I know, it looks like exactly the same stuff as the appliance connector. Except it is listed as building piping. You can get this in many home centers now. It comes in coils of various lengths; you trim it to fit just right and then install connectors on the ends.
Save some money
CSST may be relatively expensive for the 2 feet that you need. So, about those left-right nipple/coupling sets.. Hang on, don't leave!
You can minimize in-cabinet wrenching by strategic pre-assembly of parts. I would do it as three:

90 degree elbow with left-right nipple pre-installed. This will go on the supply pipe.
Long piece of pipe, 90 degree elbow, short nipple, elbow, another long piece. This will go horizontal along the left side, upward in the rear corner, then horizontal across the rear wall.
Another 90 degree elbow with left-right nipple. This will go on the stub heading out to the range.

You can see how these will come together. Install the elbow-and-nipple assemblies on the stubs first. Then lift the pipes-and-elbows assembly into place in the rear corner. Use the two left-right couplers to pull it all together.


Ceiling fan/light suddenly stopped responding to remote controller The ceiling fan w/light are controlled by a remote control device. A wall switch which over-rides the remote, i.e., if the wall switch is turned off, the fan and the light would turn off. And, the switch must be turned on for the fan and/or light to respond to the remote.

Suddenly the fan is stuck in low speed, and the light won't turn on. The remote control has power and just to be sure the 9v battery was replaced with a fresh one. The remote has four toggle switches which have not been altered. The receiver is housed at the top of the ceiling fan close to the ceiling. It is about 14 feet from the floor. The receiver dip switches have not been altered either.

What could be done to re-connect the ceiling fan/light and the remote controller

1) Tested the remote control by setting the dip switches to match a remote for an identical and properly functioning ceiling fan in another room. That fan did not respond to the remote.

2) Set the dip switches of the other remote to match the failed remote. The failed fan did not respond to that remote either.

It turns out that the dip switches between the receiver and the remote control somehow became unmatched. The mystery is that it was the receiver that was changed. The receiver is at the ceiling end of the fan. The ceiling is about 15 feet from the floor. Once the receiver dip switches were reset to match the remote dip switches, the issue was resolved.


How can I grind a portion of the threads off a hex bolt? I need to grind down the threads on a 4" hex head bolt while preserving 1 inch of threads closest to the head.  I need to do 5 bolts this way.  I'm thinking bolt in vise and then using a belt sander. Have any other suggestions?  I am using the modified bolts to create a roller bar on a trailer.  The nut will be welded to a bracket, the bolt will be inserted then threaded down to lock in place.  The roller bar is water pipe with a roller bearing insert, that's where the smooth part of the bolt comes into action.

If it's not important for the shank of the bolt to remain perfectly round then a belt sander with a coarse grit will do fine. The 80 grit is the most fine I'd try; 60 would be better. Grits as coarse as 36 or even 24 are routinely used for fast material removal by an angle grinder when working with steel. You could get a belt that coarse but it will leave a rougher surface compared to 60 or 40.

Assuming that your bolt is fairly small in diameter it might be slightly easier if you can fix the sander in place and manipulate the bolt instead. Ask an assistant to hold the sander upside-down on a work bench. Then hold the bolt to the belt while rotating the bolt. You'll be able to see the work as it progresses and it'll be easier to control. The bolt will get hot quickly; plan on using pliers (locking pliers if possible) to hold it.


Should I set deck post footings deeply or use concrete footings? I am building a deck.  How about setting 6x6 p.t. posts down on a concrete footing at 4 feet deep (the frost line here) and fill with gravel and soil, and then let the posts run high for the railings?  This is instead of doing concrete piers and setting posts on them above ground. I may be doing posts like this near the house to avoid flashing needs there, so I could use the stiffness from the posts being done like a pole barn. Any issues with frost pulling on the sides of posts, or does it only push up at the bottom?

It works for pole barns, it will work for your deck. However, be careful of the quality and/or treatment of your PT lumber - I've seen pressure treated lumber rot off in the ground despite being pressure treated. I think the thicker sections (such as 6x6) are rather difficult to get throughly treated all the way through. I've seen some pole barns use 3 2x6 laminated (though that was ALSO a trick to be able to have PT in the ground and non-PT above the ground, by having a staggered splice in the layers after it was above ground.) Presumably there are more carefully done ones that are "post or piling" grade and less well done ones that are "landscape timber" but in many cases there's just one type in stock, take it or leave it - so you might want to look into it more and figure out when you should leave it and shop elsewhere, or special-order something different.


How to pump water from two cisterns with one pump I live in Mexico where we get city water two or three times a week which is stored in our small cistern. I want to add a second cistern and use the same pump for both to send water to the house. The two cisters cannot be connected at the bottom.  How can I make this work?

Put the second cistern above the first cistern, and let gravity move the water from the second into the first, leaving the pump on the first. Use a valve on the pipe from the second to the first to prevent overflowing the first when both are full/being filled.


Can I hire non-licensed architecture firm for residential project? I recently considering on a major renovation/remolding of our house in Los Angeles, and we do contacted a few candidates from online, the talented one we like told us that their small firm is not a licensed architecture firm in California. And we are told in California an architecture license is not required to work on residential project. I'm not sure if this is true, and we really do want to hire them, but we don't want get into any troubles in the future. Thank you.

No, you do not need a licensed and/or registered architect for a residential project in California.

You can check with the State licensing agency. Here: https://www.cab.ca.gov/

The building department can require anything, including peanut butter on the roof. (If they do, there’s an appeals process, which they’d loose on the peanut butter issue.)

However, if they require seismic calculations, footing calculations, plumbing calculations, electrical calculations, setback requirements, etc. your designer can hire a local engineer and/or architect to prepare such calculations.

Make certain you know what your design firm is responsible for...approved plans and specs suitable for a building permit? AND what is the fee for such plans and specs and when they’ll be completed and suitable for submission to the Building Department.

Also, are they going to assist during construction? If not, what is their fee (hourly) to answer the contractor’s questions.

Are they helping pick the colors, size of HVAC unit(s), plumbing fixtures, vents, etc.


What type of bolt should I use to maintain a movable joint? I'm making a collapsible frame for a moses basket. The design is something like a deckchair, where two lengths of timber cross each other and are fastened with a bolt but can still move in relation to each other.

My question is what type of bolt to use? I'd like this to be as solid as possible while still collapsing smoothly when required. Is there a special type of bolt or am I looking at a certain nut - washer - bolt combo?

For neatness you could consider the use of a carriage bolt through from one side of the wood "pivot" point and then put a flat washer and a nyloc nut on from the other side. The parts look like this:

Carriage bolt - The square part under the rounded head keeps the bolt from turning in the wood.

Flat Washer - This keeps the nut from digging into the wood.

nyloc nut - This special type nut has a nylon insert that keeps the nut from loosening and spinning off the bolt.


Where do I connect my new T-Stat in my Weil Mclain boiler I have a new smart thermostat and looking to connect to my boiler. As you can see in the picture there are (2) yellow wires which are labeled 24v control. One yellow wire is connected to the Y terminal and the other yellow wire is connected to the G terminal. The wire from the current thermostat is connected to the Y terminal and the G terminal with the common wire wrapped up and not connected to anything. Do I connect the control wire to both yellow control wires? Or just one and if only one, which one does it connect to? Or does it connect to a different terminal?

Your boiler wiring is a bit tricky...
Your boiler, along with some other Weil-McLain boilers, is a rather tricky beast in that it does not supply 24VAC to the thermostat connections at all times.  Instead, it only supplies 24VAC to the 'stat if the low-water cutoff has not opened its contacts to shut the boiler off, which is a problem for a smart thermostat because without that constant supply, it might "lose its mind" if the low-water cutoff on your boiler ever kicks in.
...however, we can overcome this, but we'll need to pull a fatter cable to do so
The good news, though, is that like many modern thermostats, your Lyric T5 supports what are called two transformer systems, with separate power sources for heating and for cooling.  Furthermore, in these two transformer systems, the Lyric T5 pulls power from the cooling transformer (Rc/C).  This is good because it means that once you pull a fatter thermostat cable through to have enough spare wires, it's possible to wire your thermostat so it gets constant power, yet doesn't inadvertently bypass the low-water cutoff.  (Consider that bypassing the cutoff would a) void any insurance you have on your house and b) render the boiler vulnerable to blowing up due to trying to run with insufficient water.)
You'll want to pull a fat cable for this, by the way; I'd recommend an 18/7 or 18/8 cable at a minimum so that you leave spare wires for the next installer to use.  Once you have the new cable in:

Red goes to R on the boiler and Rc on the thermostat base
Brown goes to G on the boiler and Rh on the thermostat base
White goes to Y on the boiler and W/W1 on the thermostat base
and Blue goes to C on the boiler and C on the thermostat base

This way, the thermostat gets constant power from Rc and C while connecting Rh to W/W1 to call for heat.  Once everything's in place and wired, I would run a simple test after turning things back on, though:

Crank the heat up to maximum to cause a call for heating
Head down to the boiler and activate the TEST function on the low-water cutoff, or simply unplug it from the boiler if your LWCO lacks a TEST function
Make sure that the boiler shuts off (stops heating) while the thermostat stays on when the LWCO is in TEST mode (or unplugged)
Once the test is concluded, make sure you reset the LWCO to the operating mode (or plug it back in if you had to unplug it) and set the thermostat to your desired temperature


How do i remove mineral deposits from a toilet's rim jets? I have an old toilet, and the mineral scale inside (INSIDE inside) the rim is slowing the flush speed.  I reckon I need to temporarily block up the holes somehow, dump a solution in the flapper, and hopefully let it dissolve the buildup (then unblock the holes).

Is there a good natural solution, an "oh, just put in a bottle of corn syrup and let it sit for 2 hours" type of thing, or what?  Where I live, brand names are hard to come by, so I'll need a generic type of thing... any thoughts?

Found an even better article a few years later, again:

The best way to completely clear the rim jets is to plug each jet with plumbers putty, pour acidic toilet cleaner into the overflow tube located in the toilet tank, and let the acidic cleaner sit for a while and dissolve the build-up and deposits. After a few hours, remove the plumbers putty and flush several times. Finish the job by scrubbing with a brush to remove any leftover debris.

Older answer
I just happened across this comprehensive answer a few years later.  Here's the content:

You can test the toilet by pouring a 2-gallon bucket of water directly into the bowl. If the water swirls and goes down and stays down, then the jets are probably clogged.
You can repair this condition yourself with a little effort and a $20 bill. You will need a gallon of calcium, lime and rust remover, sold under the brand name CLR (at most home stores), a 1-quart soft-plastic container (metal might scratch the ceramic inside the bowl), a plastic bucket, rubber gloves, eye protection and a well-ventilated room. Use a portable fan if you have to. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants to protect your skin from the chemicals. Read and follow the safety directions on the CLR container.
First, turn off the water supply to the toilet. There should be a shut-off valve on the wall or floor under the tank. If not, turn off the water supply to the home. Flush the toilet, then drain and sponge out as much of the water as you can find from both the tank and the bowl.
Next, remove the tank top and the rubber flapper valve at the bottom of the tank. Start the cleanup by pouring all the CLR into the tank. It will fill the bowl as it enters and starts to clean the jets. Using the plastic container, scoop up the CLR from the bowl and pour it back into the tank.
Keep scooping and pouring, and you will start to see flecks of mineral deposits inside the bowl. At some point, the CLR may start to foam as the chemicals react with the calcium and lime, and you may notice an acidic odor.
Leave the room or use the fan and venting to avoid breathing the fumes. When the air has cleared, continue to scoop and pour until you see the CLR running out of the jets freely.


Wall covering, asbestos or horse hair? When removing drywall we noticed old wallpaper or painted plaster underneath and behind an old door frame we took down. When looking at the designs we noticed white fibers and are worried it might be asbestos.
Please tell me I’m being paranoid and it’s just horse or animal hair. Our home was built in 1898.

You cannot identify asbestos-containing material by looking at it.
If in doubt have it tested!


Can I attach drywall directly to a wood beam? I'm finishing my basement and need to build a soffit around the HVAC trunks, pipes, and a wood beam.  I'm planning to build a ladder on one side of the ducts and another between the ducts and the beam.

I'm hoping that I can just screw the drywall into the beam to make one large soffit.

In general, there is no problem in screwing drywall (or most other materials or light weight fixtures) into any framing members. This includes 2X studs, beams, steel studs or other variants on these.

There are restrictions on notching and drilling large holes. Dimensional lumber is most forgiving of these modifications, but manufactured beams have especially strict rules about what size and shape holes can be punched through them, and also restrict where they can be put.

Screws, especially thin drywall screws, present no such compromise. If there is some reason why you don't want to screw into the beam, you could use construction glue, but this is much harder to remove if there is some need to change or repair the area.


Is this small stepped crack under window a worry? We recently bought a house, nothing like subsidence come up on our survey, we went for a full survey.
We have noticed a small stepped crack under the window outside the front. No evidence of any issue else where. And the window is a fairly new replacement by the old owners.
Our house is a mid stepped terrace house. Does this just need repointing or could there be a problem?
The crack is less than 2mm wide

That doesn't look like a problem.  Mortar cracks like this in brick facing are not uncommon as a home ages and settles slightly.  A problem would be when the crack is opening up and showing significant movement.
I would, however, re-point or caulk this mortar to prevent water from infiltrating and then freezing and possibly opening this up wider.


Why would the pressure in the cold water lines increase whenever the hot water heater runs? My problem started a few months ago. I started to notice my cold water pressure was spiking to over 140 and broke one of my Whole home water filter tanks.
I had the pressure-reducing valve replaced thinking that was the problem. Then I continued to notice it happening, so I tried shutting off the supply to the hot water heater at night and would check the pressure in the morning and it was fine. I did this for several nights and every night it was fine, so obviously the pressure increase is migrating back out of the hot water heater into the cold water supplying it.
Why does this happen and how the heck do I fix it?

This is a problem on systems that have check valves or pressure reducing valves (PRV).
What is happening? The system fills up to line pressure or what the PRV is set to.
With no leaks and the water heater at its lowest temp the pressure is say 60 psi and now the water heater starts heating the water starts expanding but has no place to go so the pressure builds until the water heater turns off and cools a little and the cycle repeats.
How can this be prevented ? Addition of a small pressure tank literarily only about 3 gallons on the cold water inlet will completely eliminate the problem.
The pressure tank has a air space that the water expands into and the pressure only slightly increases a few PSI and things won’t be breaking.


How should I wire this ceiling light pendant? I'm installing a light pendant.  Its wires are white, green, black.

My ceiling box has wires that are white, green, red.

I've attached white-white, green-green, black-red.

two questions:
1) assuming black and red go together, is this correct?
2) green-green is secured by wire nut, bypassing green screw.  Or should both be wound to the green screw?

addendum:
I had a leftover 6 inch red wire (from a previous endeavor) so I stripped it till it was bare, and used this to wind to both ground wires (from source and pendant) into the wire nut and then attached the other end of the bare wire to the green screw.

Both black and red are typically used to indicate hot.  Though you can't be positive without actually testing it with a multimeter.  Red is usually used when there are two hots (14/3 wire instead of 14/2).

Both green and bare copper are used to indicate ground.

So it sounds like you wired it correctly.  The green wire from the line (source) should also be attached to the green grounding screw in the electrical box.


What kind of wall material should be used in wet areas in a bathroom? I'm replacing a one piece fiberglass tub with a two piece (tub + surround) unit.  In the bathroom right now, there's just drywall, no special material.  Should I replace the drywall with greenboard, or with a cement board material (i.e. Durock)?  How many feet adjacent to the but should be replaced with one of those two materials?  Should I also replace the material behind the vanity with one of those two?

Greenboard (or any paper faced drywall) is an unacceptable substrate for any wet application (shower or tub stalls).  Regardless of tub stall surface (tile, fiberglass, etc) you will get some moisture penetration through the shower liner and this will eventually create bigger problems.

You need to install Hardibacker or Durock (or any cementitious board) as the substrate for your tub/shower stall.  Matter of fact, in many municipalities it is required by building code.  It only needs to be installed in the area of the tub/shower, though no need to extend further out.

The rest of the bathroom can be done in greenboard though (and that isn't a bad idea).


How can I remove a carpet stamp? I am not really sure what to call this, so for right now I am just calling it a carpet stamp. But really it's an indentation that was made by some sturdy iron railing fixed on to my living room floor. I guess it's the same thing as if you had a piece of furniture sitting on your carpet for ages and it made a really deep indentation.

Is there any way I can fix this area of carpet? I'd like to get it elevated back to the same height as the rest of the carpet.

There are a couple of ways you can get dents out of carpet. The key to getting dents out of carpet is to do 3 things: add moisture, dry, and fluff. Keep repeating these steps and eventually the fibers will be back upright.

Moisture

For this, you can:

Put ice in the dent and let it melt
Use a spray bottle to soak the fibers
Put a damp towel over the dent and use an iron on the steam setting.

Dry

Dry the dented area with:

A rag or sponge
A blow dryer
The iron if you used the iron on the steam setting

Fluff

Fluffing can be done with:

Your fingers
A fork or a spoon
Vacuuming over the area


Breaker Tripping Mystery I have a mystery regarding trip switches. The 2 switches that I isolate  when the problem occurs the 2 breakers does not trip individually, The main breaker trips all the time which is on a different circuit. Look at the attached picture. Arrows on the top shows the 2 breakers that I isolate and on the bottom shows the main breaker that trips all the time. By me isolating the 2 top breakers the rest work ok and no more tripping during the night.
During the day where I have most of the electrical appliances working  and don't experience any circuits tripping.

At nighttime when going to bed the 2 circuits keep tripping. These are the outside outlets and the perimeter fence lights although these 2 circuits are not in use

During the day I can use these 2 circuits and don't experience any tripping. I purposely used the perimeter lights and outside outlets during the day and they don't trip . They only trip at night even when not in use.

I have rattled my head to try and carry out fault findings with no results. Could it be that the breakers have weakened but then again why not during the day

That main breaker appears to be an RCD (Residual Current Device, also known as a GFCI or Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter).

So, apparently you have a ground fault somewhere in one or both of the circuits that are tripping the RCD. Since those circuits are both outside, they might travel through a common junction box or conduit that's suffered from water intrusion (and perhaps the nighttime temperatures lead to condensation that trips the breaker).

Some electrical equipment can lead to nuisance tripping of RCD/GFCI devices (such as electrical motors or fluorescent lights), though since you say that the breaker trips even when the circuits are not in use, this is likely not the problem.

I'd trace out the wires that lead out to those outside outlets and perimeter lights and see if you can find any damage or water problems.

There are a number of stack exchange questions on gfci tripping, which might help you isolate the problem.

If you can't find the problem, I'd call out an electrician to evaluate the circuits and if he can't find the problem, maybe try switching out the main breaker to see if that main RCD is faulty.

Providing your location would be useful, you're apparently not in the USA since that breaker does not seem to be common here.


Stone veneer cracking and falling off a large piece of the stone veneer has fallen off. What is the best way to reattach it?
The brick behind the veneer is not in good shape. It flakes off when I scratch it. Should I treat or seal the brick before I try to reattach the veneer?

Don't seal the brick. It will only prevent adhesive from bonding correctly. If the brick is loose remove it, vacuum the dust and re-install the brick.
If the mortar is loose scrape it out and re-point the joint with mortar or concrete caulking. Allow the repair to cure.
Brush or vacuum the brick face aand joints to remove any dust and loose debris. Same for the veneer; clean the back surface.
Get a cartridge of construction adhesive and load it in a caulk gun. I've had good results with PL400, but any brand name will do. Apply gobs of adhesive about the size of a quarter to the bricks face.
Press the veneer back into place trying to make the broken seam as tight as possible. Hold the repair in place with strips of duct tape.
When adhesive has set any gaps along the repaired edge can be filled with concrete caulk to keep water out.


Padding on dining chairs uncomfortable (compressed) We have some dining room chairs that are about 10 years old and the padding on the top has gotten quite uncomfortable. When we sit on them, the outer frame of the seat part of the chair presses against my thighs -- it seems that the padding that's on top of the frame has worn out. My understanding is that the foam inside can get worn out, although it's possible the black mesh (see photo) has also stretched out. The white fabric that you see if the fabric underneath the outer slipcover (which is dark gray).
Is there a way I can make these chairs more comfortable without a major surgery to the chairs and also without changing the appearance?
My understanding is that the proper way to fix these would be to take off the white fabric and replace the foam, and then replace the white fabric with the staples. This would be a major project and I'm looking for a more expedient fix because we're not planning on keeping these chairs that long anyway. I'm curious if there's a way to add some foam on top of the white fabric, possibly securing it somehow, and then adding the cover back on top.
Please let me know if you have ideas about:

an approach to adding padding without major surgery

which type of padding / foam to buy

To replace the foam underneath the white cover you have to remove the white cover.
When you just have the wood frame, the first part that is added is the webbing that crosses left / right and forward / back.
Once the webbing is secured, then the foam padding is added and it can be shaped like a curve on the edges or slightly thicker in the middle.
Then there may be an intermediate cover and the final white cover which is secured with the staples. Getting the cover stretched appropriately so that there are no creases takes patience.
Then the base black cover is fitted to hide the staples and edges of the white cover - so that when you grip to pull the chair you don’t feel the edge of the white cover.
This is a project that can be very rewarding.


Are there pitfalls to joining utility Energy Wise programs? I'm specifically talking about Duke's EnergyWise program, but I'm fairly sure utilities everywhere are adopting similar programs. The idea is that they tie into your major appliances (i.e., heatpump and hot water heater) - during high demand they can temporarily shut off your appliances (maximum of like 16m at a time) and in return you get a credit of up to ~$150 on your power bill over the course of a year.

What are the gotchas for this kind of program? Assuming I'm ok with them occasionally turning off my heat pump and hot water heater for a few minutes every now and then, should I be concerned with anything else?

This is actually a very good thing for the future of the grid.  It's just off to an awkward start (and a very late one).

This particular awkward start could do this during peak power-demand times, mainly the hottest afternoons when everybody is running their A/C:

Reduce the duty-cycle on A/C and electric heat to about 50%, which only matters if its duty cycle is over 50%. That would be an issue if the day is very hot/cold, or you program your thermostat to chill/warm the house an hour before you get home. (in that case make it 2 hours). They say 16.5 minutes worst case out of 30, they are allowing for propagation time for the "cycle" signal - transmitting data over power lines is very slow and very narrow-bandwidth.
You have hot water, but as you use it up, your water heater can't replace it, for up to 5 hours.  But who takes long hot showers on hot days? Tanked heaters hold hot water just fine for hours, but when you use it, it'll be gone.  It will extend runtime if you use anti-scald faucets and bump your heater temp as high as possible (also helps for legionella).  You may be able to exclude this from the program, but you'll make less money if you do.

You can beat the water situation with a gas water heater or with solar collectors (which heat water) - they will be at peak performance right when the cycling happens.  If your HVAC is running >50% duty cycle, insulation can fix that.

Let's talk about why.

How the grid dispatches

The power grid was designed as a one-way service: a central authority generates and delivers, and consumers only consume. "Alternative electric companies" like Enron only exist on paper, it's still the same grid run by the same authority.

The grid architecture is currently has "open demand": consumers can draw any load, and the generators must either provide it, shed load (in a gruesome way), or the grid collapses.

Load varies dramatically through the day, so you must add and remove generating plants.  Except some plants aren't made to cycle daily - nuke, coal, geothermal, any steam plant.  Others make power when they make it (solar, wind).  The top of your capacity that you only use 20 days a year for 6 hours, are called peakers.

You also need to cover second-by-second changes in load. This is done with "spinning reserve" - part of your capacity that is spun up and on the line, but doing no useful work.  Steam plants hate this, and it's wasteful with "all capital expense" plants like nuke, solar or wind. Back to peakers.

Peakers are traditionally Cat/EMD/GE diesels, or of late, jet engines driving a generator.  They are "highly" dispatchable - meaning the central authority which controls the grid can push a button and get them online in a 10-15 minutes.  (That doesn't sound very "highly", does it?)  This is only good for replacing lost spinning reserve, it can't fill an instant need for load.  And because of this, quite a bit of spinning reserve must be kept up.  And peakers are ex.pen.sive!

If only they could dispatch instantly.

If only peakers were cheaper.

If only power could be stored somehow.

Power storage

Electricity does not store, even for 1 second.  It regularly drives the spot market price to zero. That's especially a problem if your region is heavy in baseload (coal, nuke, wind) like Ukraine, France or North Carolina.

Pretty much your only storage options are hydro backpumping or batteries.

However, that says nothing about storing the work product of electricity, e.g. You can certainly store hot water for a few hours or a chilled house for a few minutes.

The impossible dream: dispatching load

A 10MW deficit in the grid can be made up either by dispatching 10MW of generators or "dispatching" 10MW of load.  The gruesome act of rolling blackouts can hardly be called dispatching, but there was no other way to cut load in a controlled way. Now, with the computer/network revolution, there is.

And load dispatching (or the industry term, demand-side management) dovetails very nicely with that thermal energy storage I mentioned in water heaters, whole house A/C and heat, pools, and other loads you can reasonably afford to pause, like washers, dryers, dishwashing, charging electric cars, etc.

Potentially they could also dispatch your generating capacity.  Not your solar; it's already the perfect peaker.  I'm talking about having your Tesla PowerWall, EV or home generator backfeed onto the grid, for which you would be decently paid.

From the grid's perspective, demand-side management that is instant greatly reduces the need for spinning reserve.  It also reduces the need for peakers generally, at a time when solar is coming on gangbusters, and solar is an inherent peaker.  It's possible if demand-side management is widely adopted, peaking plants could cease to exist - a literal breath of fresh air to the minorities in whose neighborhoods most are built.

Your duties as a citizen in a great society

I don't believe America should be a nation of leeches greedily grabbing what they can, in a national-scale "tragedy of the commons". I think each of us owes something to the social contract that gives us our freedom and prosperity.

Provided, of course, they pay us. Part of our social contract is capitalism: wealth should go to its creator.  Fair enough.

These technologies stand to make a much stronger, more robust electrical grid, with less pollution and much lower costs.  Which should come back to the consumer, preferably in proportion to their participation.

Another part is independency.  It is an affront to individualism to depend mouth-to-teat on the power grid.  While load dispatching/demand-side management does nothing for this, the enabling technology will enable other stuff that help individuals achieve energy independency, or at least choose the terms of their relationship with the grid.

Consumer demand-side management, version 1.0

Obviously from their literature, the implementation is rather cheesy... grafted on and hacked.  They aim to operate heavy contactors on your water heater or pool, and interrupt your thermostat wiring to regulate your A/C or aux heat.

Of course since all this stuff moves at the speed of government regulatory authorities, it's only now reaching the consumer.   And it's a rough-hewn and awkward shadow of what the technology and business practices could and should be.

Others have gone through the plan in the most critical light possible, with an aim to reject it out of hand.  So I'll say that the power company is being conservative (in their favor) because this has never been done before, and nobody has any earthly idea how the economics will end up working out, and they don't want to lose their shirt.  There's another factor: "I don't have to outrun the bear".  For a limited rollout, they don't need everyone - suckers will suffice. So it's no surprise their initial offerings will be... lowball.

Consumer demand-side management, version 2.0

As it proves itself and matures, I'm confident the value of demand-side management and backfed home power dispatching will become more appreciated, and become priced correctly.  Remember most delivering power companies are profit-regulated, excessive profits can't go anywhere else but back to the ratepayer.

The real beauty of this tech will arrive when it becomes integrated with the appliances.  Now your water heater knows exactly what to do when it hears Code Orange groups 1-9 on the power line signaling: let itself cool off from 160 (legionella temp) to 120 (still usable temp) which will take hours.  And when you use enough that the whole tank drops to 110, fire back up anyway.  Now you're not impacted at all, and really, neither is the grid, since draining a tank during outage time is rare enough not to matter.

Your furnace haggles with the grid: "the house is worryingly cold, I need power." and the grid goes "run in heat pump mode if able, otherwise aux heat authorized to 50%".

Your washer, dryer and EV charger have an "urgent" button you can push for when the job can't wait.

It empowers off-grid living too.  The tech can be easily extended so appliances know how to behave on generator or solar/battery. For instance the generator manager goes "Dryer, suspend because heat pump needs to run". The solar controller knows batteries are topped up and it's about to start wasting power, so it says "dishwasher GO" or "air conditioner please overcool" etc. No one would ever build this tech just for solar, but it's an easy add-on to demand-side management tech.

Now it becomes easier to build a more robust off-grid solar home, and cut the big cord entirely.

Anonymity

Some people are really, really worried about the Gub'Mint knowing they have a clothes dryer.

Okay, maybe you don't want them knowing you did a marathon washer-dryer run an hour after the coroner's time-of-death :)

Seriously though, smart meters are a big ooga-booga privacy-scare issue, especially in light of just how much data can be divined by home power monitors like Curb. You have to be politically active to deal with that, both with your legislators and with your utility regulators.

I can tell you this: The utility doesn't care.  They need load dispatching for the reasons I describe, period.  It will suffice for them to clump you anonymously into a large group at random, say group 7, so they can command everyone in group 7 to go to reduction level Yellow.  Other than that, they only need to know if you signed up and are cheating.  But there can be ways to figure that out without invading your privacy.

And as I said, the power company simply lacks the bandwidth to spy on you. Their communication network is the power line and it can't handle Big Data.  As mentioned, it takes 90 seconds to broadcast a simple demand-side management SCADA control.  It is adequate to remotely read and shut off meters and  broadcast demand-side dispatching signals, but that's about it.  If they wanted to spy, they would put cell phone modules/antennas on smart meters.  Watch for that.


Exposed wiring repair? I am installing new ceiling fans and noticed this red wire had some exposed copper. Can I just wrap it with a cable cable repair/electrical sealant pad or do I need to have the entire wiring replaced? See image below.

I see some exposed copper on the white wire if this is what you are talking about I would suggest shrink tubing, it can be shrunk with a match as most don’t have heat guns, the better types have an adhesive sealant that holds and seals much better than electrical tape, tape tends to slide off and move around more than electrical tape but inside a box a proper tape job with 50% overlap would protect the exposed copper from being hazardous.

50% over lap is starting the wrap at least an inch prior to the damage after the first wrap the over lap of 50% creates 2 thicknesses of tape , for added thickness a second pass provides 4 thickness.

I would recommend a quality shrink tubing over tape.


do squirrels chew lead-coated copper flashing boots on rooftop plumbing vent pipes I've seen pictures of damaged lead pipe boots where squirrels had chewed on them. Does the same damage risk exist with lead-coated copper?

Squirrels can cause many thousands of dollars in damage trying to get inside then if they do the mess and insulation both thermal and wiring they chew on and make nests out of. In the Pacific Northwest (the area I live) metal roof jacks and boots are the best to reduce damage but if they think they can get in they will really work hard at making a hole to enter. I have not seen much difference with copper or galvanized both are better than the PVC type that the little varmints can go through in a day. The best defense I have found is to make sure the jacks are sealed down with asphalt sealer (I don't think they like the taste). Lead and lead coated materials are getting tough to find in my area because of the push to remove lead from building materials. With that said if there is a small section that is loose they will try no matter what the material is or that is what I have observed. A good nasty tasting sealer and metal is the best option I have found with asphalt working the best for me.


How can I determine if moisture in a basement is due to condenstation vs intrusion through walls? I have a 1902 house built upon a limestone foundation, and I am interesting in finishing a portion of the basement to build a home office. Before I build anything though, I want to make sure I do it right.

The basement, and the walls in particular, seem to be perpetually damp. There has never been standing water anywhere, nor dripping off the walls, and despite one spring having the yard flooded with standing water, I haven't had any flooding in the basement.

So while the dampness could be condensation, reading online has stated the limestone can often be porous and water will come into the basement in miniscule amounts, which was not a problem in 1902 because people thought of the spaces as cellars rather than working spaces.

Other reading says not to worry about it, and to spray a generous amount of closed cell foam in the space between the block wall the finished interior wall, and call it a day.

If the dampness is just from condensation, that seems like a reasonable course of action, but if there is water wicking through the stone, that seems like a ticking time bomb of problems.

Of course, an option would be to further insulate the wall from the exterior, but excavating around the foundation would incur serious expense and hassle that I'd prefer to avoid considering the purpose of all this is for an "elective" operation.

So, how can I accurately determine if the dampness is condensation vs wicking? And, if closed cell and XPS foam is used from the interior, does it even matter? Or is exterior insulation the only solution and anything else is just a time-delayed money waste.

edit: I have seen a description of a test consisting of taping a plastic sheet to a surface, but the walls have far too much texture to get a reasonable seal.

I have used a piece of plastic like a garbage bag tape one to the walls and 1 to the floor and peel it off the next day if it or they are wet it is coming through the slab and or walls (quite common). The slab might be an easy fix , I have used 2 part epoxy paint for concrete with really good luck to seal floors, cut the amount of water in the dehumidifier drastically. I have only used epoxy paint on block and poured walls not natural stone so I am not sure how well epoxy paint would work there maybe some water seal? Like Thompson’s I have used that on pavers to reduce freeze cracking and that worked so it may help the walls also. Most of the moisture I have found in a dry basement is from the floor and bottom foot or so. It is amazing how much moisture can make it into a dry basement. Check with the plastic taped all 4 edges to see where the problem is coming from. This should prove it to your self and since dry a nice dehumidifier may be all that is needed but in my experience painting sealed things up well.


Which one is the common wire on this 3-way switch? I'm unsure which is the common post and which are the travelers. I THINK the common is the black post on top... but I really don't know. I though the travelers were parallel to each other. Can you tell from the pictures which one is the common wire?

Black is the common.

This can be confirmed with a multimeter on an unconnected switch. Testing for resistance, there should be infinite on the two brass terminals regardless of the switch position. The connection between the black and each brass should change from infinite to direct connection with the flip of the switch.


Do I need an extra deep old-work box for a stucco wall? Do I need a deep rework box to fit to the 1 inch wall thickness. Do they manufacture one that the  tabs are back about 1-2 inches? How does one get the tabs in the hole to secure them tight?

Old Work Box Mounting Accessories Link

Option One: Old-work Switch Box Supports with 2-1/2” Long Legs - Most common technique, though probably not as easy as option 2, which is relatively a new design.
Option Two: Cut In Box "Old Work" Mounting Clips.

These items should never be used to support a fixture.  Strictly speaking, only switches and outlets on a vertical wall, or similar.

I would opt for 2, as it may be easier for those not familiar with item 1 and thick walls.


should i remove trim before caulking window For weatherization purposes, is it worth removing the trim around windows (and sliding doors, etc) and filling the gaps behind the trim with spray foam (or perhaps caulk?), or is it acceptable simply to caulk around the trim?

Adding expanding foam around windows and doors is a cheap way to add insulation. If you're willing to do the extra work involved in removing and reinstalling the trim, it's definitely worth doing.

Adding caulk alone might stop drafts but isn't as good of a thermal break.

Make sure you use an expanding foam that is specifically for windows and doors. This product will not expand as much in order to prevent malforming the frame.


Is it safe to run a Kinect 360 cable in drywall? Does anyone know if it's safe / compliant to run a Kinect 360 cable in drywall?  No extension, just the original cable, running a vertical 5-8 ft segment.

Most likely not code compliant, at least - the insulation fire rating is what matters there - if you can read off any codes on the side of the cable jacket it might be possible to be more certain.

I'd suggest two boxes and a short section of conduit, as much because it will make it easier to replace when some new thing comes along in a few years, as for improved code-compliance/safety.

Responding to comment: - an electrical junction box at each end, not just "an opening" - I'd probably use EMT (electrical metallic tubing - the lightweight and cheapest type of steel conduit)  in between the boxes - use a size generous enough to pass your connectors through. Other types of conduit are probably acceptable, that's just what I would prefer for cost and effectiveness. While it might be acceptable to use the orange plastic low-voltage boxes, I prefer to stick with steel boxes.


Swap 2nd thermostat for *off* swtich downstream of 1st thermostat I have two thermostats running two different fans wired up like this:

I'd like to replace the 2nd thermostat (on the right, in box #2) with a switch. I have done this and have the ability to turn Fan #2 always on, regardless of thermostat #1. I'd like the opposite, and am not sure how to wire it.
Desired operation:

Thermostat #1 controls both Fan #1 and Fan #2 at the same time.
If new switch (replacing Thermostat #2) is off, Fan #2 does not run.

Just replace A with B.  In Box#1 disconnect the live wire to the switch for Fan#2, from the 120V source and connect it to the Fan#1 terminal.
If these "high voltage" thermostats are actually carrying the load current, not using a relay, make sure Thermostat 1 can handle the current for both fans.. Look at the labelling or documentation for the thermostat and for the fans to figure that out.


Should I favor a tighter joist interval or more blocking between joists in order to get the most firmness in the deck? I am planning a deck with dimensions of 14' x 20', where that is 14' out from the house, and 20' along the house wall.  This will be an elevated deck with 2' of that outward span cantilevered.  The plan calls for 16" OC joists and blocking at the halfway point of the span.
My question is about creating the stiffest feeling for the deck.  Basically, is it better to do more blocking or 12" OC joists?  I don't want that "springy" feeling at all.  Nice and solid.

Give a short and simple answer because you have a relatively common deck size.   16" OC is fine.   Put two rows of blocking with the same materials as the joist.   The blocking should split your deck in thirds.   If done well the blocking will appear to be some sort of magic beam that goes through your joists.
I mention that because I always add at least one row of blocking to all decks.   You do not want your joists turning on you due to moisture/humidity issues.   The best way to combat this is blocking.   Therefore you need to do it anyway and with 16" OC you should have little to no deflection give you are using at least 2x8 on top.
Note:  I want to add that your piers probably play a bigger part in the apparent "stiffness" of a deck.   Any kind of sway in them and your deck will have a bouncy or flimsy feeling.   This may mean that you want to sink your piers a little lower, get bigger piers/lumber and ensure that they are set correctly.   If these things have any given your deck will always have give.


City replaced water meter, then bathroom sink pressure dropped, rusty water A few days ago, the city came out and replaced our water meter. When I came home and used the bathroom faucet, I noticed there was air in the system. No problem there, but later that night and the next day, I noticed that faucet - and only that faucet - had extremely low water pressure. Barely a dribble. Additionally, we were getting rusty(?) water on occasion.

I removed the faucet altogether and ran water directly out of the hot and cold hoses from the wall for a second to ensure water pressure there was okay. Everything was fine. I tried to backflush the faucet head just in case there was some debris in there. I put the assembly back, connected the hot water and ran some water through the faucet assembly for maybe two to three seconds. A ton of opaque orange water came out, then cleared up. Then I hooked up the cold water and tested that one, but only a very tiny amount of discoloration occurred. But when I started the cold water, the faucet was already hooked up, so no air in the system.

After putting the whole thing back together, my water pressure is back up, but maybe 80% of what it should be.

It seems I have two problems:

Why is the water pressure here - and only here - low?
Why is there occasionally rust(?) coming out?

My best guesses are:

Some debris in the faucet. I've tried to clean it out (not knowing what I'm doing), so is there a better way to do so, or should I replace it?
Air in the system lets water move more quickly when first starting and flushes out a ton of stuff in the pipes? (My house is ~50-60 years old.) Or possibly a hot water heater issue? But I don't have enough data to back up either one.

You're right--some metal was jarred loose by the work on the meter and the resulting pressure shock. What you weren't able to clear out already is probably stuck in the aerator screen (or flow reduction disk, if present).

Unscrew the cap at the faucet outlet. There should be a mesh screen there, and possibly a perforated plastic disk. Pull them out and rinse them. Run some water through the faucet without the screen and disk.

If that doesn't clear it up you'll probably need to disassemble the faucet. That's not usually difficult, but may involve replacing some o-rings or seal seats. Most faucets made in the last 15-20 years will have replacement parts available at hardware stores.


Is it possible to use a milling machine *bit* in a drill press? Reverse of "Is it possible to use a drill press as a milling machine with the proper bit?".  I'd think it would, but I imagine a CNC mill might be taking off less "material per unit time" than a drill press.  Also, would the fluting be different for a CNC mill and drill press?

Edit: I found an answer at BladeForums - I'm posting it here just for reference.

Mills and drills are not just random chip makers. They are totally different, and for good reason.

End mills are designed to work off the ends of the tool, i.e. they are driven laterally into the work. They are built for this kind of shear stress, and not to be driven axially.

Drill bits are designed for axial forces not lateral ones - they fall to pieces when driven laterally.  And drill bits have a vital feature end mills do not: the ability to cope with the varying tool speeds radially, and particularly the ability to drill in the center where tool speed is zero.  End mills simply are not made for that!

So you say these things are "the reverse of", they are not the reverse at all.  Using an end mill in a drill press is a completely different kind of operation than using a drill in a mill.  An end mill in a drill press doesn't make a whole lot of sense (except in rare cases.  And yes, squaring the bottom of a hole is one of them, because the end mill doesn't have to cut the center of the hole).

Whereas a drill in a mill makes a lot of sense.  Of course you are just drilling holes, but the mill gives you unbelievable ability to position the work precisely (especially with multiple holes that need to have a relationship with each other!) that you just don't have on a drill press.  You can also use the mill's auto-feed to maintain feeds correctly, and it typically has better control of speeds as well.


Band board in contact with ground- how to waterproof? We recently bought a home built in 2004. During the inspection it was noted that there is what is assumed to be pressure treated wood "band board"or a ledger board (?)at the rear of the home adjacent to a patio. The house has a crawl space. There is masonry foundation in the front and sides of the house, but in the rear there is this two feet of treated wood buried with a few inches above ground. Should we excavate the area where the wood makes contact with the ground and waterproof? Should we replace with masonry? There is NO water currently going into the crawl space, but rain regularly flows towards this area.

If it's properly treated for ground contact, "do nothing" works just fine. Entire foundations are made of properly pressure-treated wood.


Radiators no longer heating up after cold weather I have a Worcestor Danesmoor boiler that lives in a stone outhouse and heats the water and radiators in my house.

The heating is set to come on at certain times of day, but during some recent cold weather it stopped coming on. I tried pressing the manual reset button a few times, but assume there was something frozen in the system somewhere as it would just turn off again. Once the weather warmed up to above zero, the boiler started coming on again as usual.

However, since this happened, three radiators in different parts of my house have stopped heating up. The rest of the radiators in the house are working fine. I know the radiators were all working properly before the cold weather as I had recently bled them all and checked. One of the radiators that doesn't work will sometimes come on if I leave the heating on long enough, but then starts to cool again. All of the radiators have thermostat valves.

I noticed that the boiler pressure had dropped a bit, so increased it back to the recommended level, but this made no difference.

I can't find a plumber to come out for at least a week, and was wondering if there was some quick solution I could try to get the radiators working again?

Any advice much appreciated.

I assume that this heating system is hot water and not steam since you said that you bled the rads. That said, when the boiler is working and most of the rads are hot, try bleeding the ones that are cold. If water comes out of the bleed valve then there is enough pressure in the system. If not raise the pressure. At that point, the problem is probably water flow. You could have bad thermostatic valves, frozen or plugged lines, a bad circulating pump or something else. Try this and let us know the results.


How to test that GFCI works? I hired an electrician to install a GFCI outlet outdoors. I need this to power some pumps in an aquaponics system, so I need to guarantee it works, so kids don't get hurt while playing in the water. How can I verify the electrician installed it correctly and the system is safe?

The TEST button is a pretty darn authentic test
The TEST function on a GFCI is required to create a current imbalance in the sensing toroid, exactly mimicking the action of a real ground fault. (See UL 943, clause 5.15.3 for the details.)  So, you can be confident that a GFCI that trips when you push TEST will actually trip, whereas the TEST button on external testers may fail due to a receptacle being miswired in certain ways (such as Hot/Ground reverse) or a simple lack of equipment grounding provisions to the receptacle.  Note that NEC 406.4(D)(2) permits the use of ground-fault circuit interrupter protection as a safety retrofit when equipment grounding is unavailable.


Ductless AC Initial Charge I just purchased an LG mini-split set:

18,000 BTU indoor unit
https://www.supplyhouse.com/LG-LSN180HSV5-18000-BTU-Ductless-Standard-Multi-F-Air-Conditioner-Inverter-Heat-Pump-w-Built-In-WiFi-Indoor-Unit

7,000 BTU indoor unit
https://www.supplyhouse.com/LG-LMN079HVT-7000-BTU-Ductless-Multi-F-Wall-Mounted-High-Efficiency-Air-Cond-Heat-Pump-Indoor-Unit-w-Built-In-WiFi

20,000 BTU outdoor unit
https://www.supplyhouse.com/LG-LMU24CHV-20000-BTU-Multi-F-Inverter-Heat-Pump-Outdoor-Unit

The submittal sheet for the outdoor unit says that max piping length for the included refrigerant is 73.8ft.  The actual wording is: "Piping Length (no add'l refrigerant, ft) 73.8".

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.supplyhouse.com/product_files/LG-LMU24CHV-Submittal.pdf

Questions:

1) Since I am using two indoor units on one outdoor unit, does the max pipe length take in account both sets of pipes?  For example if unit 1 has 50' of pipe, and unit 2 has 23.8' of pipe, will this be OK?

2) If I use less pipe than what is specified, will I have to drain off excess refrigerant?  I assume not, but I just want to make sure

3) The suction line for 18000 BTU indoor unit is slightly larger than the suction line for the 7000 BTU indoor unit (1/2" vs 3/8"), but the liquid lines are the same diameter.  Will this impact the maximum pipe length for the included refrigerant?

You are asking questions about a system that requires EPA licensing and training. So it is somewhat off topic. Do you know the system needs to have a vacuum pulled on the lines? Most require 500um. A standard gauge set is normally used with a twin temp gauge after that to measure super heat and cooling, these values will be out of spec and more of the type of Freon your unit needs will have to be added. This can only be done by someone that has the appropriate 608 license for residential of which there are 3 most of us have all 3 or a universal license, even then an additional license is required to work on automobile/truck systems or a 609 license. Did you know there are rewards up to $10,000 for turning someone in for working on AC systems without a license, the fines go up to $25,000. So it is not a good idea to work on AC systems without knowledge and licensing. Note if your system did have a good vacuum level pulled prior to opening the system you have much larger evaporators than condenser (this is normal with mini splits) but the evaporators do require some of the charge also so you probably will need some additional fill to have the system properly charged, running a system low on Freon will shorten the compressor life especially on mini splits.

Added info 28 June 19
I thought I would make an update to this answer, in a recent training class I found out about some split systems that have precharged evaporators and line sets. The reason the training brought these up is they are a DIY install a bit more expensive up front but no license required.
 They are some what limited at this time (fixed line set lengths and single head) so you may find a coil next to the outdoor unit of ~15’ of line set that was not needed but it can not be shortened so the extra is left next to the outdoor unit. The training covered repair because since these units are diy and just “bolted together” there has been a fairly high failure rate.
How are they DIY and why are they failing?
They have self sealing connections at the connection point, the problem is that they suggest leak testing with bubble solution (this is how we find gross leaks that are really bad) professional leak detectors (not the 15-30$ internet specials) can detect leaks that are 1/1000th of bubble solution, so many of these DIY systems are failing at the 1-2 year from install point, they did suggest some liquid sealants to add to the threads of these joints and re charging if the DIY installer calls prior to damage to the compressor or moisture entering the system. So there are some DIY splits out there but be cautious as the extra cost up front is not much different from the same size system professionally installed and if you factor many splits have a 10 year warranty where the DIY have 90 days to 1 year ( not verified by me) the DIY may end up costing much more in the long run. I was unaware of these systems in the past but trying to help the stack exchange community thought I should provide this extra info that it may be possible to DIY a split system but I would suggest having it professionally leaked checked at the outdoor unit and the line set at the evaporator where it goes through the wall as these were the 2 main points of failure. With a well sealed system the higher quality split systems are expected to have a similar life span as a professionally installed system according to the training.


Is it possible to install a whole house humidifier away from the furnace? My building is essentially a single extremely large room.  It's a 25'W x 45'L x 20' H concrete box, with an open mezzanine over the back 1/3 of the box.  The HVAC system is gas-fired forced air, installed outside on the roof, and due to the foolishness of the builder, the heating registers are all at the ceiling level, except for one under the mezzanine.  The air return is in the middle of the ceiling.  The only water is also under the mezzanine.

EDIT:  There are basically just two runs of ductwork.  One comes from the roof-mounted HVAC unit, and runs down one side of the ceiling.  I'd guesstimate it at 8" x 12" ish, and it has four registers along it.  There's a single branch off the ceiling duct that comes down and runs along the underside of the mezzanine - flexible and maybe 8" diameter.

I've been looking to get a humidifier, and all the stand-alone units of a size that make sense for a space this size get pretty mixed reviews (and also require filling multiple times a day).  Installing a whole-house humidifier at the furnace is not an option, due to its location.

My question is:  can a whole house humidifier be installed somewhere other than at the furnace?  My options:  (expensive) run water up to the 20' ceiling and install on a duct up there.  (easier) install on the one duct that's near water, under the mezzanine - but that's only about 25% of the incoming air.

I suggest a swamp cooler - or as Home Depot calls them online 'Portable Evaporative Cooler.'

The big ones (which do come with wheels), a seem to do well in the reviews. There are many negative ones, but those seem mostly from people who do not understand what the product does. The are listed under the Air Conditioning heading, and talk about how much cooler they will make the room.

But you will not sell many with a slogan of 'These things toss water in the air, hope it sticks to you, and when the hot air, with no humidity from outside hits you, it will evaporate off your skin, and you will feel cooler'.

However, if your goal is to have humidity - even most of the negative reviews will sound good to you.


Run new electrical wiring in backyard from existing wall outlet I am planning to run a new electrical wiring in my backyard and start from where the current outlet is at the wall (behind my kitchen):

It's right above the deck and here is the picture under the deck (about 4 feet tall)

I plan to run the wires under the deck using all PVC conduits. However, I am wondering how to connect the new wire from the wall.

I am thinking of two options.

Option 1:

Pull the wire through the bottom of existing box and box cover like this

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/2013/11/07/whats-the-difference-electrical-conduits

However, the current electrical box/cover is very flat to the wall. I don't know how to pull the wire through the bottom like the picture.

Option 2:

This leads me to option 2 which is to run the wire inside the wall first, and then pull it outside the wall through a LB box under the deck:

http://www.familyhandyman.com/electrical/wiring/electrical-wiring-how-to-run-power-anywhere/view-all

But to be honest, this option is too complicated with many small parts: nut connector, EMT, conduit connectors, LB, RMC, 4x4 box, seal ...

I am leaning toward the first option (Option 1). What are the pros and cons? If I go with Option 1, I have to drill a hole in the deck (which is fine) to run under it. But how do I "protrude" the box at first? Do I replace the existing box so it's staying outside the wall?

UPDATE

I added the extension box and ran the PVC through the deck outside.

Questions:

I will add a strap at (A). Right?
Do I need to put glue or seal around the hole at (B)?

I would suggest the use of a weatherproof (WR) box extender. One of which could be installed over the existing box giving you sides on to which to connect the PVC conduit.

The following is an example. No endorsement of specific products is implied.


Changed breaker to GFCI now it's always tripping... I noticed my pond aerator was connected with a standard breaker and swapped it out for a GFCI breaker.  Now, when connected to the circuit, it always trips.  When disconnected it does not trip.
My circuit...

Double pole GFCI breaker is connected to black and white conductors with Ground conductor to ground bar.  Pigtail from breaker to neutral bar.

All conductors go to a simple Tork 1101 timer... the first conductor is connected to the power side of the timer.   The 2nd conductor is connected to one leg of the pump.  The ground conductor is connected to the ground of the pump.  The switched side of the timer goes to the second leg of the pump. There is an individual neutral attached to the other leg of the timer.

Why does it always trip and how do I fix it???

Your use of GFCI is highly correct
Electric-shock drownings are an epidemic in the U.S.  This is when someone goes dockside, or to a pond, or in a fountain, and is shocked by leakage current.  Often, this takes out their rescuers, too, in a tragic daisy chain until a rescuer arrives who realizes this is an elecricity problem AND has rubberized waders OR knows how to shut off the power. By this time, the people in the water have drowned.
So you are absolutely correct to get this under GFCI protection.  As it happens, your GFCI immediately tripped  because you do, in fact, have a ground fault. I suspect you had always been one simple "loose wire" away from catastrophe, but now you have caught that.
The GFCI-end wiring is correct.  The only error is that 240V is supplied as 2 hot wires, and since you are tasking the white wire to carry "hot", you MUST re-mark it a hot color - black is fine.  Spiral of electrical tape, sharpie, shrink tube... whatever.  In reverse order of durability.
Bootlegging neutral for the timer, not so correct
Neutral is not ground.  That is an axiom you must memorize.  Neutral and ground must be kept separate at all points past the main disconnect switch (typically main breaker).
The timer you specified is a 120V timer.   Here's how it was already wired:

Timer ground to ground
Timer HOT to one of the two hot wires that provide the 240V
Timer NEUTRAL to ??????   (you did not say)

Most of us know what was done.  Neutral does not exist in the box since you are using the /2 cable for both hot wires.... so timer NEUTRAL was bootlegged off safety ground.  That will "work" as long as nothing goes wrong.  If something goes wrong, it will electrify the timer chassis, and the water, and everything connected to the water.   So... bad plan.
It's tripping the GFCI because the timer's current is coming off a hot and being returned to ground.
You are at an impasse.
To continue using this model of timer, you will either need to trench /3 cable from the house (no thanks), or install a transformer to provide a locally derived service here (and have the inspector approve that).  It can be quite small - just a few watts as it only needs to power the timer motor.
Or, you can replace this timer with a 240V model which draws hot and hot, and does not need neutral.


Our water heater blew a leak. What should I do now? The water heater is located in a closet with our central HVAC near the kitchen. The floor of the closet is plywood raised about foot or two to make room for the HVAC intake. The walls are drywall. The drain plug was actually replaced by some industrial sticky tack, and this plug popped out causing the leak.

The floor of the closet was saturated, as was some of the drywall in the closet. Water poured out of the the closet and pooled in the space beneath. Once it finished with that it began to spread. It seeped under/through the wall into the living room that has laminate flooring with some type of padding underneath. We have a concrete slab home, thank goodness.  After saturating much of the living room it seeped under the walls into our master bedroom/closet. Additionally it pooled in front of the closet on some tile flooring and then seeped under the wall to the garage.

Obviously we're going to have to replace the damaged laminate. Do we need to replace any of that padding-type stuff?

Are we going to have to replace the floor/drywall in the closet? Pieces of the walls?

What do we need to consider?

I would file a claim with your homeowner's insurance agency; you may be looking at a lot more than $1,500 worth of damage if you pay it out-of-pocket. That water-damaged drywall can grow mold with its paper facings. So can the MDF core of the laminate flooring if you don't dry it out and remove it ASAP. Same with the plywood and the (presumably but hopefully not) wood sill plates and studs that comprise the walls that the water infiltrated to get into the living room, bedroom, and garage.

Even if you don't file a claim, I would take potential mold problems very, very seriously. Same with termites. Pooled water + construction lumber = terrible terrible badness.

When you say a "concrete slab home," does that mean slab-on-grade foundation or monolithic concrete construction, i.e. with ICFs? If the latter, then first of all congratulations, and second of all, your home's structure is probably okay. But you will still need to replace anything cellulose-based, including drywall due to its paper facings. The laminate padding is probably some type of foam so that may be salvageable.


How can I tell water pressure is too high for the washing machine? The technician installing our washing machine said that the water pressure in the pipe to which our washing machine is connected is too high, and that it will break if we use it this way.  The manual says that it should be between 100 and 1000 kPa and that if it's higher we should have a valve installed.  I have contacted the apartment building management company, so it is theoretically possible that they will do something within the next six to eight weeks, but they probably won't tell me when they have.  How can I tell if/that the water pressure is too high (and thus, later tell when it no longer is)?

I have tried to take a photo of water flowing into an empty washing compartment, but it's difficult:

Water pressure gauges that connect to garden hose fittings are common at home stores in the US.  I assume you are from elsewhere because of the units you used for pressure, but, for instance, at Home Depot the gauges are found in the lawn sprinkler area because water pressure is an important consideration for the design of a sprinkler system.

You may have to look around at stores that sell irrigation or general plumbing supplies to find one.  For an online search "water hose pressure gauge" should give plenty of results.  Of course I'm also assuming that your washing machine uses the same fittings as a garden hose, so make sure you get the right connector (again, standard in the US).


Suggestion for outdoor receptacle I need to run a pool pump outdoors with an all weather extension cord. I also have string lights and lamps and other outdoor items I can plug into outdoor type receptacle with enclosures that hinge at each outlet. These are likely not designed to safely use them while its raining or continuously.

How can one cover the receptacles in a manner that allows things such as (all weather) lights and motors to be plugged in while the cover stays closed?  I'm in Charleston, SC btw.

The device you're after is called a while in use cover, or "bubble cover" more informally.  Get an extra duty one -- they're sturdier than the regular, cheapo flavor.


How to achieve a straight line when not flush to required wall? Currently preparing an area in our garden to lay a paved patio area and pergola (the latter being provided by a professional).

My wife and I need to build a supporting wall around the sides and at the top side (see the photos below). Essentially, the supporting wall needs to be parallel with the brick wall (Which is actually our garage)

What my wife and I cannot figure out - and we're not entirely certain that this is a 'common issue' - is how to get a straight line with a wall that is 'higher up' than our supporting wall.

Being that we cant simply butt up our builders square, because the wall underneath the brick wall isn't straight by any means (and we doubt we can get it straight/want to!) - how do we plan to build a parallel, straight wall?

Other photos for reference:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n0uZGcJKewga6NwDj0t0hq0YT7brKBjd
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1a4cKgta-jaHFm3Nj2UcmzEQPjZK8fy-A

I'd set a couple of 2x4 stakes in the patio area as an offset line, parallel to the brick but out of the way of the new wall. This will allow you to set your final lines appropriately.

Establish your first parallel line with a level

Drive a stake in at an arbitrary location with the width perpendicular to the garage foundation down at the level of the wall.
Take a round number measurement to the center of the stake top from the brick. Set another stake roughly at that location.
Now take a more precise measurement to a mark at the approximate center of the stake using a level. Stand the level on the stake with one edge at the center and set the bubble plumb. Now measure between the level (when plumb) and the brick.
Transfer that dimension to the other stake using the level. Keep the level plumb and move it until you have the correct dimension, then mark the stake. You now have marks creating a line parallel to the brick.

 |________________________________________________| <-- garage foundation

 **************************************************
 *                                                *
 *                                                * <-- patio area outline
 *     _                                  _       *
 *    |.| <--- stakes with nails ------> |.|      *
 *    |_|      equidistant from brick    |_|      *
 *                                                *

Create a perpendicular line using the 3:4:5 technique

Set a small nail in each stake and pull a dryline between them.
Measure between the nails and find a slighly smaller dimension that's a round multiple of 3. For example, if you measure 123 inches, mark 120. This is the second corner of your 3:4:5 triangle. The first was the nail from which you measured.
Pull a tape measure from point 1 (the nail) extending roughly perpendicular to the dryline. Find a dimension that's 4/3 of the earlier measurement. (Multiply that number by 4 and divide by 3. For 120 you'd get 180.)
Strike an arc on the ground or some scrap lumber at that distance, a foot or so both ways from your estimate of perpendicular.
Have an assistant hold the "dumb" end of your tape measure on the mark you made on the dryline earlier without moving the dryline. Find where a number that's 5/3 of your original dimension intersects with the arc from the previous step. That point lies on your second reference line, which will be perpendicular to the first line.
Set a stake and a nail at that point and pull a line back to the original nail.

 **************************************************
 *                                                *
 *     point 1 (nail)           point 2 (mark)    *
 *     _                          |       _       *
 *    |.|  ---- multiple of 3 ----*----  |.|      *
 *    |_|                                |_|      *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     | <-- measure a multiple of 4              *
 *     |     from point 1                         *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *     |                                          *
 *    \_/ <-- strike an arc                       *
 *                                                *

From there you can take measurements to parallel for your actual wall positions. The drylines can stay in place during wall construction for reference.


Why would a shallow well pump go on and off too much? Shallow well pump pressure goes up to 50, then pump shuts off, even though the tap is still on. With a small, I think 2 gallon, pressure tank, usually the pump stays on until you turn off the tap. Water pressure seems fine, but the pump is going on and off too much.

Your pressure tank is what is considered "water-logged". If it is a bladder tank, the bladder inside the tank may need to be re-pressurized or perhaps the bladder tank needs to be replaced. There is an air valve on top to do this, if it only needs re-pressurizing.

To my recollection, and I may be wrong, and possibly your specs may differ, the tank, with no water in it, and the pump turned off, should have about 7 PSI of pressure in the bladder. You may need to drain the water lines in the house to do this. When the tank is then working with the system and the pump increases the pressure to 40 PSI+, then the pump should cycle as it used to.


How do I determine the thickness of wood needed for a desk? I would like to make some furniture. It'll hold my computer, some books and still need to be strong enough to hold the weight of me leaning on it etc.
How to I calculate what thickness of wood is needed and how regularly supports are needed?
Here is a sketch of the piece I'd like to make:

I am thinking of using Pine, but am not fixed on that (any suggestions?).
Looking at a television stand I have, it seems that 60cm is a reasonable gap for the top, however the bottom will have to support all of the weight for the unit.
I hope this covers the basic information that was missing, feel free to ask more though!  Any advise is welcome.

If I were making a desk 3/4" is the minimum that I would go on thickness.  You could definitely go thinner with strapping under but I just like the look.

If you are worried about flex I would use the sag calculator.  It is great and I use it when I build custom shelves.  A desk should inherently have more support than a shelf but a desk will also have more load - so I believe the the calculations should be pretty close.


How does one determine the current draw on a single circuit? Is it possible to be able to measure a single 15A circuit at any point along the circuit to determine if there is a current draw on that circuit and how much it is?

I'd like to figure out how to put a sensor on my home's circuits to be able to integrate the results into my home automation system, and thus, be able to create limits that would trigger specific scripts or routines, etc.

There are a variety of pre-made products which do just that.  The controller sits inside your electrical service panel (or on a single circuit) and you place a "clamp meter" around the hot wire in question.  It then communicates with you via powerline signaling or WiFi (cute little WiFi antenna pokes out of a knockout on your service panel.

Obligatory warning that nothing about being an electronics guy prepares you for the requirements of mains electrical (and in fact mis-trains you).  One cannot just hack random electronic components into a mains electrical system, even if the components are UL listed.  You may only use approved, preassembled equipment that has been UL* listed as equipment for use with mains power, and you must install it according to its labeling and instructions**.  These items are not found at Mouser electronics, Amazon Marketplace, and damn well not Alibaba.  They are found at big-box retailers (though they can be sloppy) and your local electrical supply house.  You also cannot mix class 1 and low voltage wiring.

* or similar testing lab.  CE is not a testing lab.

** because the listing is contingent on installation in that manner.


Will 2x10 joists span 10 feet between rims for a cabin? I intend to build on Weiss Lake in AL. If I use 8x8 posts, can I span 10 ft with 2x10 or should it be 2x12 for the floor joists?

How far you can span with a given joist size depends on the load, the spacing between joists, the type / grade of wood, etc. - but not on the size of the supporting posts.  There are lots of tables you can find online such as http://www.southernpine.com/span-tables/

I'd see what's done locally but I'd bet you're way better off with piers made of concrete poured into sonotubes rather than sinking wood posts below grade.  But if you do, you do need a footer under the post.


Tile making clicking noise when stepped on and grout flaking away I bought a house built in 1993 a few years ago. When we first moved in the tile seemed fine, recently two of the tiles right outside the shower have started making a clicking noise when stepped on and the grout has started to flake away around them.

Ideally I'd like to know if the underlayment got water damaged and is bulging or it was just a bad thinset job. One of the tiles that I can see the edge of is stamped July 2007 so I'm guessing the bathroom got remodeled around then. Whats the best approach? Re grout and ignore it? try to pull up a tile? if so how? use caulk instead?

We plan on remodeling this bathroom in ~5 years which is a while off, but we don't care too much about the look of this particular tile until then because it's covered in a bath mat most of the time. Here is a bunch of pictures and a video.

I have made successful "temporary kludge fixes" of problematic loose tiles by removing them, cleaning, and installing them with polyurethane construction adhesive. Some have lasted for years. It's a kludge, but it may work without getting into complete redo if you'd rather not do that now.

Keep the adhesive underneath and regrout around them.


Washing Machine Agitator Noise I have a top-loading Maytag washing machine that is making a brief "rubber on plastic" whining noise during the agitation phase of a laundry load and when the wash cycle completes. Just in case it would be useful, the model is a Maytag Performa PAV3360AWW.

When I run the washing machine with no laundry (just water in the drum):

No sound at all, everything sounds good during all cycles: agitation, rinse, spin
No "screeching" brake sound at the end of the spin cycle

With laundry:

During the agitation phase, the washer drum seems to be moving counter-clockwise by about a half-inch or less (but visibly moving!) when the sound is being made. Sometimes it goes for seconds without making the sound, and the drum seems to stay in place the entire time.  However, when the sound does occur, the drum is moving counterclockwise by a small amount. My guess is that the drum is slipping when it should be in place???
At the end of the final spin cycle, it sounds like "screeching" car brakes when the drum finally comes to a stop

Any suggestions for troubleshooting and diagnosing the issue? Is there a specific part I should look at?

Two main things worth checking come to mind.  The first is that the counter-balance weights are properly secured to the outside of the drum.  Sometimes these loosen up and make all sorts of weird and wonderful noises.

The second is that the bearings have failed.  The screeching noise you mentioned would make this more likely.  If the bearings have failed it is a very significant and costly repair - often the solution is to just replace the machine.

Either way I would recommend removing the top and front panel of the machine and running it to see if you can visually identify any problems.


Is this a valid layout for a stairwell light? My pair of lights and pair of switches was working in my basement stairwell.  I'm redoing the wiring because I added more switches but I can't get the stairwell lights working again.  The only thing I can control is how the lower switch is wired:

I haven't tried this configuration yet.  Is it the correct way to do this?

UPDATE:  Got it working tonight.  Here is the corrected diagram:

@AndyMcKenna No, the way you have the switches wired will not work correctly. If you look at your new switches there should have 3 terminal screws. There should be two copper looking screw(traveler wires), setting across from one another, and one dark screw(power in and power to the fixture) at the bottom of the switch by itself.

  Warning: You'll be working around live electrical wires during this procedure. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, please contact a local licensed Electrician.

    For this example I am going to use the wire color you used in your picture.

You show the white/neutral wire going straight to the light this is correct. FYI the white/neutral wires could go through the switch boxes so do not mix the wires up.
Determine which switch has power coming in from the panel, you can do this with a Non-contact voltage tester or a Voltage Meter. Try to identify the wires as you go with tape or wire numbers.
After you have identified the power from the panel turn off the breaker.
At Switch #1, where the power comes in from the panel. This is your home-run switch and you terminate the Black wire on the darker screw. This is your power in from the panel. The Red wire terminates to one of copper screw and the White wire terminates on the other copper screw. These wires are your traveler wires, they lead to the other switch.
At Switch #2 The Red wire terminates to one of copper screw and the White wire terminates on the other copper screw. The Black wire on the darker screw. This is your power to your fixture.

As for adding switches, unless the power is at the box you want to add to, you will be just adding a switched switch, meaning that until the switch gets power it will not work.


Simple 3-way countdown timer switch I've reached the end of my rope with family members who won't turn off lights. I'd like to replace several light switches in my house with switches that just turn the lights off after 30 or 60 minutes.

Here's the thing though: Some of my circuits are 3-way. And I want the timer to start regardless of which switch is flipped.

The thought occurs that it should technically be a simple thing to build a switch that could start its timer any time power starts being supplied to the load and then flip itself to the other state when the timer expires. However, I've been unable to find such a product.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Or, I'd gladly try to follow instructions. I've got some experience with solder and electronic components.

Best,
Michael

You could try something like this but I am not endorsing any particular brand:
http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-required-Single-Pole-Location-MS-OPS5M-WH/dp/B005WM3C42/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448105879&sr=8-1&keywords=3+way+Occupancy+switch

Apparently they do operate like you say. They still turn the light off after there is no motion for a time.

Check the install instructions here. http://www.cesco.com/resources/027557/596670-AttachmentURL.pdf

Take a look at the 3-way wiring diagrams. You have to make a small wiring change at the mechanical 3-way when you install one of these.

These switches do not require a neutral to operate but they do require a ground wire at the switch location. Check to make sure you have ground wires present at your switches.

Good luck


Water pressure regulator bad? I checked my water pressure. It was 100! But after I adjusted it to 60 my water pressure immediately dropped to 20 after opening cold or hot faucet! Is my water pressure regulator is going bad?

I've never heard anything as strange as trying to adjust your water pressure with a tap running, this makes no sense at all.

Turn your pump off, run the water until your pressure drops to about 30 psi, then flip on the pump again and see what pressure the pump stops at. if it's below 45 psi then turn the adjusting nut clockwise until the pump restarts and wait to see what pressure it stops at. If you want 60 psi then just continue adjusting until you reach the 60 psi you're after and that's it. If it won't go up to 60 psi then it could be the regulator isn't designed to go this high and you need the proper one to get the pressure you're after.


What's a good way to customize or recess a lightswitch? I saw this etsy project:

Working Arcade Light Switch

And while it's pretty cool, I'm not huge into arcade or fighting games, so I was going to make my own, and change the buttons.

How would be a good and easy way to do that?

I don't want to make my own switch, but rather, reuse an existing switch. I don't want to modify the internals of a switch, because I want to leave safety mechanisms in tact.

My first thought would be to use a "decorative" switch and replace or cover the button mechanism, but the biggest problem with that is that the switch sticks out too far to be easily covered by the wall plate. So, I'm thinking I want to recess the switch somehow, and I might be able to manage something by bending the metal part the screws screw into, but I'm not sure that's a good option, and feels quite hackish.

Any suggestions?

Update: I think that everyone misunderstands my request? I don't want to open up the light switch. I want to change the appearance of the system.

Thought experiment: Let's say I really like chocolate bars, so I want to make a chocolate bar light switch. I want to follow all the UL rules.

Glue a plastic chocolate bar to a rocker light switch. I look at it from the front, and it looks great, covered the switch. but I look at it from the side, and I can still see the light switch, I don't like the look of it (because I want to hide the light switch).
I measure the amount the chocolate bar sticks above the wall. Let's say that's 1 inch.
I take a jig saw, and cut out all the sheet rock that would be covered by the chocolate bar.
I remove the switch, electrical box, and move all in-wall wiring aside for the time being.
I then remove 1 inch (or the amount discovered in step 2) of the stud the electrical box was attached to, everywhere that is now exposed by the sheet rock.
I reattach the electrical box, now 1 inch more recessed than it was before (presume there's still room, because it's a big wall)
Re attach the wiring, and put the switch back into the electrical box.

Voila, I now have a chocolate bar lightswitch, and it looks the way I want. Did I violate any UL rules? Or otherwise do anything an electrician would say is a bad idea? I don't think so. If so, please let me know which step is wrong. I could do all of this, but step 5 is an annoying step, (as is step 3). Can I avoid any of those steps and recess the light switch in another way?

I would not recommend this. Switches are tested to electrical safety standards which includes making sure they have adequate insulated properties that prevent you the user from getting a shock. They are also designed to drain a short circuit to the earth/ground by cross bonding metal components built inside the switch. Modifying a switch could invariably invalidate those safety features. Making it a hazard for you and anyone else using said switch.


Repairing 2 long cuts in vinyl flooring I need to repair 2 long cuts in the vinyl flooring in my kitchen. The 2 cuts are near each other and probably take up about 8 inches in length. Everything I've read has talked about patching but I'm not sure I could (or should) cut a square of this length for repair. We don't have any original flooring left from the previous owners. We plan on changing out the flooring but that won't be for at least 2 years. Would repairing the cuts as if they were small cuts work or do I need to cut a big patch to fix?

Pry up some of the cut so you can apply a fresh adhesive
Apply some vinyl flooring adhesive (preferably in caulk tube form since you don't need much) to the floor
Press the flooring down and wipe up any excess adhesive
After letting the adhesive cure, apply seam sealer to the edges to make the floor seamless


Will unpainted plaster become water damaged? We have had our bathroom done recently and the builders plastered one of the walls, then fitted the sink and toilet.

I am now going to paint the walls myself, but I'm concerned about the plaster behind the sink and cistern.

Should I remove the sink and cistern to paint behind?
If I leave those hidden bits of plaster unpainted would they suffer from water damange over time?

(It feels wrong to pay someone to fit a bathroom, then immediately take out the units yourself)

They will not suffer from water damage unless water gets back there. Normally, that shouldn't happen and there are millions of installations with no paint behind toilet tanks and sinks with no deterioration. But it's still up top you if you want to make absolutely sure.


Maytag Model- La612 Series 04 fills up on it's on and then starts running by it's self My friend has an old Maytag washer and the other night it filled up on its in and just turned on and started running scaring her half to death. I am thinking the water inlet valve, but I can't understand why the washer is running on its on if it is switched off. Any ideas??

If its running (agitating, changing gears, etc) its not the water valve, its the master control switch.  Its getting a ghost signal to begin the wash process, or its just faulty.  I would suspect the latter.


Why do many construction projects leave so many nails behind? I just had a significant amount of work done on my house and the contractors left lots of nails scattered around my yard.

I have a two-part question:

Is this typical?
If it's typical, why is it the case? Is it just the cost of doing business? Or could contractors be more careful?

Yes it is typical, but a conscientious contractor will pick them up with a magnet or not let them drop to begin with. Sadly, from my experience, not many workers do. Cost of the nails versus the time needed to pick them up, it is cheaper to leave them.

I would call and let the contractor know you are not content with the nails everywhere, see if any action is taken.