Kitchen Physics: How to unstick metal pot lid from wooden salad bowl So this isn't really a home-improvement question but I think the people here have the skills to answer it. If there's a different site you'd recommend asking, please let me know and I'd be happy to move it there.

My wife and I got a salad bowl that was hand-made by my uncle as a wedding present. It has sides that are perpendicular to the bottom of the bowl. At some point a pot lid was placed on the bottom. Nobody noticed that it fit around the bottom of the bowl well. In fact, it fit a little too well. We just noticed that the lid is firmly stuck to the bowl.

Becuase it was a hand-made family wedding gift, I want to minimize any possible damage to the wood bowl. But the solutions I can think of to separate them are contradictory. Our apartment has gone from the usual summer 75 F to a comfortable fall 70F. We don't have a thermostat or control over our heater (this is normal in our city). So I assume the metal getting colder and contracting doesn't help things. But it also means it's less humid so the wood should be swelling less. I could put it in the driest location I can think of, but that would be even colder, causing the pot lid to contract more. I could apply heat to the lid, but most ways I have access to involve steam or hot water, which would swell up the wood. Then there's trying to add oil or soap to the place where it meets, and even if I could get those between, the slipperiness interferes with anyone trying to grip them and pull them apart.

What would you suggest for getting this metal lid unstuck from around the outside of a wooden bowl?

Heat is the right thing here, even if it's steam. The lid will expand more than the wood will. I suggest putting a saucepan with water on the stove, and then placing the lidbowl on top of that. Heating the saucepan and water will directly heat the lid, and limit the amount of heat and steam on the bowl.


Why is my fan continuously running when A/C is selected? I bought a home with a honeywell TB8220U1003 thermostat that automatically turns heat on and off with no issues if I have the setting (switch) on my furnace set to heat. In order for my cool to be activated, I need to manually switch my furnace from heat to vent (electric furnace). By doing this, my blower/fan runs continuously even though I have the fan setting on the thermostat and the furnace set to auto. Why won't the thermostat control the fan with the cool setting the same way as the heat? I am grasping at straws here and frustrated, the thermostat is supposed to do the work for me....please help if you can.
It is too dark outside at the moment to provide the make and model of my A/C unit but my furnace is  Chaudair, Federal Pioneer, Model NCEF-15, manufactured in October 1987 (electric). From the little research I have done, I believe I am running a 1H/1C conv unit.Is this something that I will just have to live with or is there a solution to this issue?

It looks like the fan is programmed to be on when in cooling mode. See the programming guide for the TB8220 section “fan schedule” it’s on page 18 of the manual I found. With fan in on it runs all the time, auto only when needed then there are other settings , occ1, unocc1, occ2 and unocc2 , other than this there is a manual override of the fan schedule, so if it runs fine in heat mode but you don’t like the choice in cooling mode you will need to reprogram the thermostat, note if I install a electrostatic filter in a home the default setting to keep the pollen and dust free in the summer is on all the time so I would check for an electrostatic filter just prior to the air handler, if you have one they need to be washed down every month or so based on how much your unit is picking up, once the grid wires are full they don’t catch the dust and pollen, I put the grid in the shower and a hot water rinse is all that is normally needed, if there are smokers in the home a spray with simple green will cut the tar but it may take 2 cycles to get nice clean wires. Let air dry then reinstall, note even with an electrostatic filter there should be at minimum a fiberglass filter prior to the electrostatic to pick up the big particles.


How should transitions from inside to outside be handled when running a circuit? I'm planning a 220v circuit from a subpanel in my garage to an outdoor A/C disconnect for a mini split install. The cable would up run from the panel into the attic, across the garage along a running board, and down into the wall cavity on the appropriate wall. At some point the cable needs to exit the wall cavity into the disconnect.
But I'm unsure of what the common practice is for getting this wire from inside to outside.
Ideally, I wouldn't have to transition to conduit at all, and could just feed the cable in through a cable clamp on one of the knockouts on the back side of the A/C disconnect. However, given the box will be mounted on siding, I'm not sure how easy it will be to get the box flush enough that water intrusion isn't of at least some concern. And, even in this case, I'm not sure what the right way to go into that box is.
So maybe it would make more sense to transition from the wall cavity into flexible water tight conduit and then into the disconnect. Or maybe the solution is to run the entire circuit in conduit from panel to outside?
To try to figure out how this might be handled in a professional install, I checked out my existing A/C unit. There is a 10-2 (w/ground) UF cable which runs from my main panel in the basement, through the joists in the crawlspace, and exits the house here:

Here's the outdoors side, where it connects to the disconnect (which is right out of view at the top of the picture):

It doesn't look like whoever did this install did anything particularly special when exiting the house - there's just a hole, and although I can't see the inside end of that flex conduit, I'd bet that the cable is just "stuck in there".
In general - what's the best practice for making the transition from cable in the stud cavity to that outdoor A/C disconnect box? Should I transition into conduit somehow? Should I feed the cable into the back of the box and caulk it well? Or should I stop overthinking it and just shove the wire into some flex conduit like the people who built my house apparently did? This work will eventually have to pass an inspection as it requires a permit in my jurisdiction.

I'd use an indoor JB directly opposite the disconnect with a nipple connecting the two
Rather than trying to run the cable out exposed and then into the bottom of the box, or try to clamp it when it's going into the back, I'd put an ordinary 2½" deep, "5S" (really just under 4¾") square metal junction box on the inside back-to-back with the disconnect, then use a nipple with sealing locknuts to connect the JB to the disconnect.  The cable for the AC comes into the indoor box and transitions to THHN wires there; these wires then run off to the disconnect via the nipple.
You can also have a general lighting/receptacle indoor branch circuit land in the indoor box and transition to THHN as well to take it outside for the serviceperson's receptacle. This is handy if your air conditioner disconnect provides that feature, and also allows you to "camouflage" the junction for the air conditioner behind an ordinary outlet.  Note that you may need that "5S" box to do this, as smaller boxes may not provide enough space for large A/C feeds.
You'll want to caulk and flash around the nipple penetration just like it was any other plumbing penetration, too, since the sealing locknuts help keep water out of the electrical boxes but don't do anything for keeping water out of the wall cavity.  The good news is that being a piece of pipe, it's much easier to flash and seal around the nipple than it would be if you were trying to run a flat-ish UF cable thru the sheathing!


Unsure about wiring in electrical box My circuit box door says that Dryer and outside outlets are connected on breaker 13 and 14, uppon opening the box and retracing wires I found that Dryer wires are just dangling inside the box not connected. I would connect them to the breaker where it says it's supposed to be, but the wire for outside outlets is just so thick that I don't believe it's for those outlets (7 outlets and wire is 8 or 6 gauge, while dryer is 10 or 12). The two breakers are 50amp (red on one, black on other).
Would I be safe connecting Dryer wire to those breakers also?
Or am I better off replacing the two NA 20 amp breakers (they are for laundry plug and furnace black wire each) with two 50 amp breakers and connecting red wire for dryer on one and black on other?

Or should I replace those NA 20amp breakers with one 20amp tandem and one 30amp tandem?

If you haven't burned to a crisp yet...BURNINATE THIS PANEL

This box is very definitely a FPE Stab-Lok, and thus needs to be burninated with extreme predjudice before it burns your house down!

I'd simply replace it outright; ordinarily, an Eaton retrofit interior would be an option, but your panel is stuffed to the gills with tandems, and since tandem GFCI/AFCI breakers are not a thing, you will need far more spaces on your new panel than will fit in a cabinet that size (a 24 circuit CH main breaker retrofit interior requires 29" of height, and you only appear to have about 24").  I would get the largest panel I can, however, to avoid having "overstuffed electrical panel" syndrome again in the future.

As a result, a bare minimum replacement for this application would be a 30 space, 100A, main breaker unit; however, I would splash out and get a 42 or 54 space, 200/225A unit and downbreaker it to 100A (either through swapping to a lower amp main or using a backfed 100A branch breaker with a hold-down as the main as not all 200A panels can accept a 100A breaker in the main breaker position).


Shower head with easy on/off switch I am making a new bathroom with tub where I want the shower to have easy on/off system. I can't find such thing at homedepot or lowes.

Typically you have to dial the mixer starting from to warm and this is how you turn on/off as well.

But I want the mixer to be one settings and ability to shut off shower and turn it on back at the same level (very much like single lever faucet).

Is there anything like that available on market? Do I have to improvise otherwise?

There are certainly shower heads with their own flow control valves, and I know such valves used to be available separately to be installed between wall and head.

There are also mixing valves which separate temperature and flow, though most of the ones sold in the US seem to put on/off on the temp control, perhaps for some obscure liability reason.

So yes, it probably exists... But it may be hard to find or require importing.


Trouble fitting plumbing under new vanity I am trying to install a new vanity and have run into some trouble trying to fit the plumbing needed under the sink because:

The vanity is small
The plumbing goes directly into the floor
All the pipes are really tight together limiting the amount of space for PVC
The PVC drain pipe leading into the floor is not straight up-and-down (it's crooked)
The sink drain and drain pipe are located weirdly with respect to each other.

The following is my attempt at the plumbing, but I believe that the distance from the p-trap's union and the elbow is not up to code. Also, to get the old (crooked) drain pipe to line up with new piece of PVC, I cut the drain pipe at an angle which I assume is probably not the correct solution to the problem. Finally, the sink is now gurgling or gulping when water flow is strong and it wasn't before.

How can I improve my current design and could my current design have caused the gurgling/gulping?

Note: There is a vent that goes from the crawl-space below the bathroom to the outside. I am assuming that the sink is connecting to that. Also, I have not checked if it is clogged but it was working fine before I removed the old vanity so I am making the assumption that it is still working.

EDIT: Here's a picture of the setup before I removed the old vanity. Please note that I had already removed the sink so the sink drain is not there

Not sure how many bends (90's) your drain makes after the vanity, but if only one, you could stick a 90 on the drain coming from the floor of the vanity, and have it sloping up and point towards the back corner of the vanity. You could then run another 90 straight up with an AAV at the top of the pipe and have your trap tie into this vertical pipe significantly lower than the AAV, giving you a long enough pipe after the trap before a vertical drop. This may alleviate the gurgle noise but I do not know for sure. Your trap should be draining into a pipe that has a vent on it, so that when the water does a vertical drop it doesn't cause suction on the trap and pull water from the trap causing gases to escape from the sewer system into your house.


How to seal around an existing wood window after removing old siding We are removing old siding from a house, and replacing it with Hardie lap siding.  We are leaving the original wood-framed picture window in place.  With the siding removed there are gaps between the window jamb and the sheathing.  Should we use caulk or peel-and-stick, or both, as an extra precaution against potential water damage, before we apply the house wrap?

I'd be sanding them and caulking them before applying the house wrap.


What is required to connect solar panels to my home without connecting to the grid? My household has a base power consumption of approx. 200W-300W. I am considering if it was possible to get a reasonably sized solar panel to cover its needs when the sun is up, with a seamless transition to the grid for spikes / low light times.

As I am a complete newbie to solar energy, is a solution like the above feasible? What kind of device would I need to interface, let's say a 300W solar panel to the rest of my system? I am not interested in energy storage / delivery back to the grid, I am just after supplementing my current supply with a bit from the sun.

Typical grid connected installs of solar panels on homes need a couple of items to get them to work (it's not just lets slap some panels up there and wire it into the house).  Solar panels are DC (direct current), your house is AC (alternating current), so a inverter is needed to create the AC current.  Also that AC current needs to be synced to the same wave form that is being feed from the grid, another device (or sometimes packaged in the inverter).  Then the new solar AC is then tied into your main panel, typically requiring another box.  Also depending on the install, the panels might be electrically separated from each other (a good thing) requiring another device.  Once connected, excess power from the panels will feed back into the grid and in some areas this will be credited back to you on your bill.

All said, this work needs to be done with a permit, typically with buy off from the power company on size of panels.  Also for most DIY'ers, this is out of their scope of skill.  Get some quotes from solar panel companies and electricians in your area to get an idea of what you are looking at.

Also look at the cost of the system and how much it is going to save you each month.  Solar is popular here because power goes up to .30 a kWh depending on usage.  But for my energy usage, I'm only sitting at .11 on average making solar unreasonable.  My last bill was under $2 after energy program usage credits where applied.


Would you put heavy tile floor-to-ceiling over this "blueboard"? We have an upstairs 9x5 bathroom in wooden construction. Ceiling height is
8 feet. Our contractor used a combination of "GoBoard" (concrete-type board) for the shower area, and "blueboard" for the remaining part of the bathroom.

We purchased porcelain tile that is 12x24", 5/16" thickness, and this tile is heavy. Each piece of tile weighs about 8.5lb (so about 4.25 per sq ft).

We'd like to tile from floor to ceiling to achieve a modern look, but don't want backerboard/tile to fail someday down the road, and come crashing down.

The current dilemma is whether to:

A. Scale down the plan and tile only a portion of the wall, perhaps the lower 4 feet.

B. Ask the contractor to replace the "blueboard" with something stronger.

C. Go ahead and tile over the blueboard.

Was hoping someone could suggest ballpark figures of safe/unsafe load and if we're thinking correctly here. Many thanks.

What you have is done all the time. In some cases it is set on regular drywall, a little weaker than the blueboard. The loading tests the shear strength of the screws and glue that holds the drywall in place, if it has it. If it was done like that on the ceiling, it would be a different matter.


wiring for illuminated 3 way toggle switches i have two three way  illuminated toggle switches in my bathroom. when the bathroom light is out only one of the illuminated toggle switches glows; the other does not. how can I wire these so that both illuminated toggle switches glow when the light is out.

Assuming your switches are similar to the Leviton 1463 (wiring diagram taken from their site):

Leviton 1463 wiring diagram http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibcGetAttachment.jsp?cItemId=wWm55e.lPvCEg-uYaozWiw&label=IBE&appName=IBE&minisite=10251

there is a resistive bridge between the two travellers that is tapped to feed one end of the pilot light, with the other end connected to the common terminal.  When you put two of these in circuit and put the switches in opposite positions, the net effect is that of a resistor-bridge with the pilot lights shunting two opposite legs (which two depends on the switch positions).  When all the parts work, this means that both pilot lights are effectively in parallel, and will both be on with the switches off.  However, if one of the legs that isn't shunted by the pilot lights at the time is toast, the other pilot light will not light.

Either that, or one of the pilot lights itself is gone.  Either way, you'll be replacing a switch.  As to which one? Well, you can test them with a multimeter:

Turn off the circuit.
Remove one of the suspect switches.
Put your multimeter on the Ohms setting (a 200kOhm or 2MOhm range is a good starting point if you have a manual ranging meter)
Measure from the common to each traveler terminal -- one should show a dead short, the other should show a high but finite resistance (somewhere between 40-50kOhm and perhaps 500kOhm or so).  If you get an infinite (open circuit) reading on the meter, then you've found the dud.
Flip the switch and repeat the test.  Again, an infinite reading means the switch has gone bad internally and needs replacing.
Reinstall the switch under test if it passes, and repeat this procedure with the other switch.


How do I fix my table top from chemical damage? I do acrylic nails and I'm usually pretty cautious, but today I've had either monomer liquid or acetone leak through my many layers of towels.

It has caused the finish on my table to blister and take on the print of the towel fabric. The table is stained and I don't want to have to sand too much of it off so that it requires re-staining. What can I do to repair this?

A picture would be SOOOOOO helpful. As well, knowing what the finish is and even what the table is made of.

Even without that information, almost certainly the only fix will be to strip down the (entire) surface of the table. At least it is the only fix that will look any good. You will never get a uniformly good looking solution otherwise.


Is it possible to recharge a dehumidifier I have an old Santa Fe dehumidifier capable of removing 110 pints of water per day. It has recently stopped working and the company diagnosed it over the phone as being low on R22. But they wouldn't tell me whether it can be recharged.

Generally speaking, is it possible for a diyer to recharge a stand-alone dehumidifier the same way one recharges their car cooling system?

TLDR: Not just no, but heck no.

Throwing good money after very bad

First, electricity costs: any dehumidifier old enough to use R-22 is also super inefficient as-built: The government's Energy Star program has really pushed/incentivized manufacturers to make appliances more efficient, and wow, have they ever done it!  We constantly have people asking how to connect a 15-20A whole-house air conditioning unit to the old 30A wiring that their obsolete unit required.  You will literally save the cost of the new unit in a few years of use, even if you didn't also have to fix it.

But you also have to fix it.  Here's the thing.  Geordi LaForge didn't "beam" the R-22 out of your unit... it leaked out via a leak you're not even thinking about yet.   The leak is quite likely due to general deterioration of the unit, e.g. corrosion on the aluminum evaporator between the fins, and you will find the unit entirely unfixable in any practical sense. Yes, you can fix the one leak, but right next to it are 8 more places leaks about to occur.

You would have to retrofit a Schrader valve, charge the unit with R-22 and dye markers to even find the leak, so we're talking at least 2 charges of R-22 if you can quickly fix it, and most likely you can't.  Do you have experience fixing refrigerant leaks? Now it's even more R-22 as you learn.  And if you botch the repair in a way that finally kills the unit... then it's all wasted.

Realistically the best you could even hope for is one more season of service. Is that worth the expense, R-22 and risk? Of course it isn't.

I'm a big fan of the thrifty gene, reuse-ability and avoiding the throwaway economy, but there are limits, for Pete's sake!  Obsolescence/efficiency matter.

You cannot legally service this yourself

Because the law restricts freon sales (the existence of a black market does not mean it is legal), and you need licensure, not least because you must (be competent and equipped to) recover any recoverable freon, e.g. the stuff suspended in the oil.

Here's what they don't want (for below reasons):  Cleetus  refills unit.  Cleetus did not understand that missing freon means you have a leak.  Cleetus assumes botched refill, refills again.  That leaks out too.  Cleetus finally gets a clue and adds some dye marker (third refill now), finds leak at freshly installed Shrader valve.  Fixes that.  Refills again.  Finds real leak, makes amateur-hour attempt to fix.  Refills again.  You're getting the picture. The government cares because of the freon, but it's bad for Cleetus too: cumulatively, Cleetus has spent more in cash than buying a brand-new one, not to mention about $1000 worth of Cleetus' time.

The government doesn't allow that, which is why you need to either get the training, licensure, and equipment... or leave it to the pros.

Note that this article is from 2010.

Substitutes available. Asterisk.

The refrigeration cycle works on the principle of the gas laws.  Almost any liquid or gas will work as a refrigerant as long as its vapor temperature and vapor pressure are in a practical range, and the equipment is tuned for that range.  It's also helpful if the refrigerant isn't corrosive, poisonous or flammable, though that last one is negotiable :)   So there are lots of choices.

However, every one will have its tricks and traps. For instance some very good refrigerants are incompatible with the mineral oil used in R-22 units (and they have a solution for that).

Why

R-22 is basically the architectural version of R-12.  And if you followed what happened in the 70s/80s with the R-12 phaseout, that has also been happening with R-22.

Nothing about refrigerant requires freon per se - the refrigerant cycle will work with any gas, but the equipment needs to be tuned for a particular boiling point and vapor pressure. But many are corrosive, toxic, flammable etc. (R290 actually is propane, and foam cups have been blown with pentane since the 50s).

These are extremely simple molecules - a carbon with some fluorines and chlorines tacked on. Atomically, those two bond quite violently, making the molecule rather stable after it is created. That was the idea; have a molecule so tightly bound it won't react with anything, and thus, is non-toxic.  Much like a noble gas (helium, argon, xenon etc.) but that boils at a useful temperature and pressure for air conditioning.  The scientists really patted themselves on the back with these.

The molecules were presumed to be so stable that they couldn't interact with anything. Nobody imagined what would happen in the high atmosphere.  Turns out under those extreme conditions, they do react, and they were tearing part of the atmosphere off the planet. Even worse, the reaction finished with the freon intact, and the destruction would repeat again, and again, and again.  (this is called being a "catalyst").

Rather than go underground and make Kate Beckinsdale our queen, the world decided (in Montreal) it was less destructive to the economy to just phase out those refrigerants and blowing agents.  And it's working... but not fast enough; I'm almost out of sunscreen!

I don't know if you were around for the R-12 phase-out, but they pulled that lickety-split (considering they had to retool a whole supply chain).  R-12 went first becuase it was the most damaging, it went in vehicles which ran in hostile high-vibration environments so they had a lot of leaks, were often wrecked and scrapped, etc. R-22 was also a problem but not as urgent, since residential systems last a lot longer.

Anyway, they did phase out R-22, starting by putting pressure on equipment manufacturers to change to safe refrigerants. They slowed production; for the last 10 years they've only made 10% of the R-22 they used to, and that did drive up prices, but it also reduced demand, since homeowners with older systems were driven into new systems both by freon costs and by efficiency gains, which paid for the conversion in electricity savings!  Around here we see lots of people installing A/C systems needing 15A and 20A breakers - on old wiring with 30A breakers.  Sign of the times!

Production has been suppressed for a decade, but very recently, in Jan 1 2020, production was banned altogether.  All R-22 on the market is either

new old stock
Recycled freon (since servicers are required to "vampire out" remaining freon and send it up the recycling chain to be reused or annihilated, that's part of why you need licensure to handle freon).
Black market stuff from the third world, but in that case more likely:
Fake
A "substitute", that could be viable if the installer knew what it was and how to navigate its tricks and traps (but they aren't saying, and you're proceeding assuming it's real R-22). *

Since the ban, you can expect prices to be a "hockey stick" graph as old/recoverable stock is used up. Since it was only banned Jan 1, we're just rounding the corner, and prices will go ballistic from here.

* There's lots of R-12A on the market; read the fine print, it's not even slightly R-12.


Cementing in around soil pipe exiting around brick wall. Is this required? I've had a loft extension done on my house, all has gone pretty well. The last snagging point was that I spotted that the soil pipe hadn't been sealed in where it exits the wall. The guy on site put some expanding foam around on the internal wall so you can no longer see daylight from the inside, but they've not cemented in around the pipe on the exterior wall, and they are saying they don't need to.

The hole they have cut is a pretty good fit for the pipe, so it's not a huge gap (it's actually quite hard to see a gap from the outside) but it looks to me like cementing on the outside is a pretty standard thing to do.

I'd like your opinion on whether I need to push back on this. Is there any chance of water getting in to the brick work?

First of all, did you have any agreements on how the pipe is to be fitted? If paperwork mentions sealing the pipe entry in any way, the final result should match the criteria laid out in the agreement you had with your contractor.

That aside, you said that it is hard to see any gap from the outside of the building so to me, the question on whether or not you need the soil pipe cemented in depends on where the soil pipe is entering/leaving the building.

If the pipe is entering the loft and you are not looking to inhabit the loft, the expanding foam will help with mitigating any water ingress if the expanding foam is protecting the wall cavity from rain water and so I would agree that you don't need to have the pipe cemented in. In fact not being cemented in will make things easier for you or anyone else if the section entering/leaving the building needs removing for repair or replacement. It all depends on how you wish the aesthetics to be.

If the pipe enters/leaves an inhabited space, the interior part may aesthetically be better if it had some cement around it, but that also depends on how the decoration is going to be sorted. If you are plastering the interior around the pipe, you dont need cementing done as the expanding foam used will protect the plasterwork from water ingress.


How to cheaply fix crooked looking tile? Is there any way of making the tiles on the back wall look straight?

Trim baby, trim...
You will need some custom angled molding made to follow the straight lines of the tile joints, but "absorb" the crookedness of the wall in its internal angles. It will not be an easy fix though, it will take a very skilled millworker / cabinetmaker.


Can a vapor barrier follow the profile of floor joists? I'm renovating the 4th and top floor of a house built in 1906 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The house has masonry load-bearing walls and wooden beams.  The current situation is shown in the image below.

The area in pink has the building envelope as shown in the B-B section cut below somewhere between grid lines 5 and 6. Note: This space currently is not insulated.

The mason wall shown in the image below will be destroyed.

The image below is taken from the 4th floor looking at the top of the 3rd floor ceiling after the floorboards were removed.

A glass facade will be installed 1 meter behind the location of the existing masonry wall thus creating a balcony that is 1 meter longer than it is currently. This is shown in the proposed floor plan below.

In an ideal scenario, this entire 3rd to 4th-floor building envelope would look like the following section. Note: Rockwool insulation and vapor barrier added

However, this is not possible since the 3rd-floor ceiling cannot be removed.
Ideally, there is insulation in the floor cavity and therefore a vapor barrier is required. Is it a good idea to wrap the vapor barrier around the floor joists as shown in the section below?

I’m worried this may cause condensation to occur around the floor joists which is the last thing I want. If that could happen I would prefer to leave the space un-insulated, unless someone has a different idea?

No, I do not think a vapor barrier should follow the profile of ceiling joists.
Condensation occurs when vapor reaches its dew point.
Placing a portion of a vapor barrier on one side of an insulation space and not on another side (where the wood joists occur), will stop the vapor from penetrating the insulation space but not the wood joist space.
Wood is porous and vapor will penetrate the wood. As it travels through the wood (vapor moves from warm to cool) it will hit its dew point and turn into condensation... causing the wood to turn into dryrot.
If you can’t remove the ceiling material, maybe you can paint it with a good finish paint material. (Paint is a vapor barrier too.)


what is the correct procedure to patch up cinder block hole with plumbing? (followup question to Why is this Ptrap installed in this location?)

Here is the hole that I want to patch up:

As you can see, it is a cinder block wall with concrete foundation with a new PVC drain pipe. I want to cover the hole to prevent future water damage to the foundation. I also want it to be relatively easy to break the wall again and expose the pipe in case there is a problem with it.

Here is my current plan:

use a shop vac to drain the leftover water and dirt
use "great stuff" expanding foam to fill up the left and right blocks
use the foam to cover the pipes with 1 inch layer
use mortar type s to fill up the rest - including the bottom block
wait for it to dry and paint over using the same color

Is this a good plan? are there any mistakes that I need to avoid?

update: a zoom out of the project

You need to make sure that you can have access to the space in case you need to address any issues with the plumbing in the future. ( especially since you have a fernco type rubber fitting installed. )

You should install an   outdoor rated access panel  that either has a hinged door or a removable panel. Either option will need to have hole for the clean out plug as it stands proud of the wall.

Depending on the size of your opening you may find a metal/plasic access panel in the size you need and then cut a hole in it or you may have to have one manufactured. It should be installed with an outdoor rated sealant or silicone and then screwed to the wall with concrete screws or concrete anchors  with the appropriate fasteners.

Spray foam may be OK for the adjacent block cavities but i would not surround the plumbing with any material that can not be removed easily, for any future maintenance, stuff fiberglass insulation all around it so you can pull it out if you need to.


How to connect weird fridge water line I have this water line for my fridge. I don't know how it's suppose to connect to the water since it's just a plastic piece. The gold piece is where it's suppose to connect but doesn't connect to the plasitc at all. I looked in the plumbing section at Lowes, but couldn't find any adapter for it.

When I unscrew the gold piece the line fits but the silver screw isn't long enough to screw into it.

Edit: I cut the line and it connects but it's leaking.

whirlpool refrigerator model: ed5nhgxmq10

You have some sort of plastic water line that works with a very specific type of stop valve that looks like the the one in the back of the last picture.  The plastic seats on the 1/4" valve body and the compression nut keeps it tight.
For some reason, it looks like you don't have the other side of that valve, and you are trying to connect it to a 1/2 x 3/8 valve with a 3/8 x 1/4 reducer.
If I had to do this myself, I'd either replace the stop valve with a 1/2 x 1/4, and see if you could get it to work with no brass ferrule,  or I'd cut the water line straight behind the compression nut, use a double end press-fit connector such as this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/John-Guest-1-4-in-O-D-x-1-4-in-O-D-NPTF-Polypropylene-Push-to-Connect-Coupling-Fitting-803149/300753474
combined with a short piece of copper 1/4 tubing to your existing compression fitting.
Alternatively, they make metal inserts that stabilize the plastic water line, and you can just use the compression fitting that you have on that valve like you were trying to.
Edit:
Technique for using plastic compression fittings with brass reinforcement inserts is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=127&v=aFpZfr0YQ28&feature=emb_logo


What is the difference between a GFCI ungrounded circuit and a grounded circuit? From reading this article it seems like an ungrounded 3-pronged outlet can be made safe by installing a gfci downstream in the circuit.

Although the technique of installing GFCI devices in an ungrounded
circuit doesn’t ground the circuit, it does provide protection in the
event that any electricity leaks to ground, thereby preventing
electrical shocks and injury.

So, what is the benefit of having both a GFCI (say right in the panel) and a ground in the box?
Does the ground in the box provide any extra protection or benefit beyond the protection of the GFCI?

Protection, in theory, no.  The GFCI takes care of the “killing” risk of an outlet, at least, it does as well as grounding does.
However actual grounding does something GFCI does not: provides a place for natural electricity to go, notably ESD from shuffling your feet across the carpet in winter.  With a ground wire, that simply goes into the building’s grounding electrode system.
Without a ground wire, it finds a place the equipment is not insulated for 20,000 volts (many such places), and leaps to the hot or neutral wire, then goes through equipment if necessary to the neutral wire, then via the house’s neutral-ground equipotential bond to grounding electrode.  The equipment might not enjoy this too much.


Relabeling 6-AWG Wire I'm pulling 2 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground through conduit to a subpanel and I was wondering if it's possible to use the same color wire and just relabel the endings. I was thinking of using 6 AWG white.

My understanding is that the ground needs to be either bare or green, so no relabeling on that. Also neutral needs to be white, which is the color I'm using anyways.

So can I just relabel the 2 hots with black & red tape at the endings? Any NEC reference would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

The colors reserved for the grounded conductors (neutrals) are white and gray, and any base color with three continuous white stripes.  You can't re-identify white or gray insulated wires and use them for ungrounded conductors (hots) for circuits over 50V, unless they are a conductor in a cable or cord.  This is commonly seen when white conductors in NM (romex) or MC or AC cables are used as hots in switch loops.

The code section to refer to is

  200.7 Use of Insulation of a White or Gray Color or with Three Continuous White Stripes.

So I'd just buy black for the hots, and relabel the one leg with red.


Thermocouple measured okay, but replacing it fixed the problem? So the pilot on my furnace wouldn't stay lit. I tested the thermocouple with my multimeter and got 29 millivolts which meant it was still working.
Assuming I was in over my head, I called the plumber who proceeded to change the thermocouple and now everything is fine. Family is warm, what more can you ask for?

Is it common for thermocouples to test fine but still not actually work? Everywhere I looked said over 25 millivolts means the thermocouple is fine and there must be a different problem.

Voltage is not a universal indicator of effectiveness.   Ask anyone with a dead car battery.

Like many providers of power, it is not uncommon for them to have a reasonable "open-circuit" (no-load) voltage, only to fail when the load attempts to draw its ordinary and reasonable amount of current.   That qualifies as "defective" and the voltmeter did not tell the tale.

People use voltmeters because it is easy, not because it is thorough.  Examining current is more useful but harder, because it must be detected "in-line", and particularly with DC, that means splicing something in series with the current flow.  Or unhooking the load and hooking up a dummy load of known value.  Or permanently installing an "ammeter shunt", a resistor of known and low value, and measuring a small voltage drop across it.  We just had a $10,000 problem because of not knowing a large engine's normal cranking current, because there is not ammeter in the starting circuit.  Putting one in is hard.


How do I install hanging cabinets with a flimsy backing? I went and watched this 1 min video clip about hanging cabinets:

http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_3d_index.asp?page_id=35750421

It seems to say to just screw my cabinets into the wall (where the studs are) through the back of the cabinet.

The cabinets I am going to buy from home depot don't really have a solid backing (not sure what it is, but it is some kind of thin composite material.)  If I screw through that I am fairly sure that my cabinets will rip off the wall in fairly short order.

What is the procedure for getting those to stay on the wall?  I would rather not put a second layer of wood inside my cabinet, but that is all I can think of now (or use a really really big washer :)

I would welcome any ideas.

I was just looking at the site you mentioned in your question. Definitely  factful, but not the best DIY tutorial, and leaves out many alternative methods. I have always preferred to mount cabinets through the backer above the top panel of the cabinet so the mounting screws do not show inside the cabinet. Even cabinets with a thin flimsy back panel can be successfully hung to the studs if you interlock the jams with cabinet screws( clamp the cabinets together and install a 1 1/4 inch counter sunk cabinet screw through the jam to secure it to adjacent jam) and then use a screw that has a washer mounded right to it, Yes, a special cabinet mounting screw, to secure cabinet to the wall at each stud. There is usually about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of some sort of frame or panel extending above and below the box area of the cabinet. This area top and bottom is the best place to install the screws.  Another method is to install a good looking ledger level under the cabinets for them to rest on, taking most of the load away from the screws holding the cabinets to the wall.  There are some great how to videos on the "This Old House" web site, check them out.


What is the best way to remove and prevent leaf stains on concrete pavers? We have a brand new paver stone walkway/patio. To my dismay, I noticed that their were leaf and acorn stains from the oak tree in the front yard. I've learned my lesson and I'm going to try to keep the walkway swept more regularly.

Will these stains go away with enough rain & time? If not, what's the best remedy for removing these stains? What's the best mode of prevention?

The tannins from oak leaves will leave stains behind. I would suggest not worrying about it. Those stains are just character, part of nature. Choose to appreciate nature.

You could probably bleach them out (using simple chlorine bleach or oxalic acid), but why? Why introduce harmful chemicals into the area that may hurt you or damage your plants? Besides, the bleach may not get everything consistently the same color as it was. So you may just leave yourself with another problem to solve.

Sunlight will cause them to fade over time anyway, and as other stains occur, the pavers will become randomly stained, eventually all to the same color.


CO/ALR Outlet Wire Mount Screw Torque When installing a CO/ALR outlet is there a recommended torque specification for the mounting screws? Unfortunately, I have some aluminum wiring in my home.

I think you're confusing Alumi-conn connectors (which do have a recommended torque) with CO/ALR. A normal CO/ALR outlet simply needs to be hand tight. I've never seen any specification listed for torque, nor have I ever needed to use my torque screwdriver on one.

Leviton's CO/ALR installation instructions do not list a recommended torque.


Raising hot tub to match deck height I want to raise my hot tub to the level of my deck. My deck is 50" high and my hot tub is 29" inches high and is a smaller 4/5 person tub. I have a concrete slab in place from an old hot tub. I was thinking to add two layers of cinder blocks and then a layer of thick pavers to reach the height. My slab is a bit uneven (about 1 to 1.5 inches) so was thinking to put some gravel down first.

In the end it would be 1) concrete slab 2) gravel layer to level 3) two layers of cinder blocks 4) one layer of thick pavers 5) treated plywood to ensure levelness 6) hot tub, which would then be level with the deck.

Is this a bad idea in your opinion or would it provide sufficient support? I'm wondering specifically if having so many layers would cause any instability at that height or if it's low enough to be ok.

Thanks for your input!

I have used cinderblocks up to 3 layers high on a large tub 9x9. I would put the blocks directly on the slab then fill them with gravel. The cinderblocks are not known to be strong unless filled but if they are filled even a large tub held up for almost 20 years.


Electrical wiring to indoor light switch -- two black hot wires or one line/load wire? I'm replacing a light switch that controls outdoor house lights with a hardwired timer switch.  I tried attaching one of the top black wires in the pictures below to the timer's line wire and I attached the other one to the load wire.  The lights outside remained on and wouldn't turn off.  I then switched the two wires around and now, 3 of the 8 lights permanently stay on whereas the others shut on and off properly, but all the lights are significantly less bright than they were before.  Not sure where I am going wrong here, unless both wires are "hot" wires and should be tied together to the timer's line wire? Of note, this is the only switch controlling the outdoor lights.  A pen volt meter arrives soon from Amazon.

Pics:

Thanks.

Switches have 2 "sides": Supply (always-hot) and switched-hot onward to the light.

The "same wire" wire notably stops here and goes to another switch. Only always-hot/supply will do that.  So we just ticked that box; we now know what it is.

The other two wires on your old switch must therefore both be switched-hot. That's unusual but not impossible.  Noting that you have 3 lights and 5 lights acting somewhat independently, my guess is that one of those wires feeds the 3 lights, and the other one feeds the 5 lights.

Anyway, those wires were together before.  Note they were both touching the same metal plate before, thus connected before.   You decided to separate them, I'm not sure of your reason and maybe you aren't either.  But if you want it to work like it did before, don't separate them :)


How much cheaper is it to buy nuts and bolts by the pound? I have heard that buying nuts/bolts/lag screws by the pound is cheaper than buying them individually. In my town, Tractor Supply sells them by the pound, whereas Lowes sells them individually.

Is this true? I know the answer is "It depends on how much each charges," but wondered if anyone actually tried buying a pound of something from each place and looked at the cost.

You do not really need to buy a pound of the item to determine the cost per pound. From the weight of a single item, you can figure out home many there are to a pound. Then from the price per item and the price per weight, you can figure out which is a better buy. The nice thing is people have already weighed a lot of items. Here is a chart of bolt weights and another with nails and screw weights.


What kind of light can I install in a small, low-ceiling coat closet? Our Northern California house has a small coat closet (really a hallway with 2 doors and hooks for coats) between our front entry-way and our basement. It's a tiny space: 3 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and has a low 7-foot-high ceiling. The door to the entryway swings out, and the door to the basement swings in.

What are options for installing lighting in this closet that are likely to pass muster with the local code inspector?

I'm familiar with the NEC requirements for closets which I believe means that a ceiling-mounted or recessed CFL or LED luminaire is the only valid option. But the 7-foot-high ceiling is a wildcard and I'm not sure how it interacts with other code requirements.

In addition to code questions, I'm also concerned about functionality—will any solution actually light up the space effectively? If I used recessed fixtures in this small space, will they shine straight down and leave the coats in shadow?  If someone passes underneath will it kill all the light in the closet?

Or should I stick to ceiling-mounted fixtures instead?

You could try something like a Philips SpotOn.  LED light, batteries-operated, motion-sensor-activated. Ideal for small, dark closets and cabinets.


Getting a countertop dishwasher to work in a convenient manner I purchased a Koldfront countertop dishwasher for an old home I've just bought.

I'm up to my knees in expenses and projects, so I don't want to get into anything major, like having a plumber trying to run a new hose to it (or trying to do that myself yet).

However, I want to get it working -- currently the faucet connection doesn't seem to fit the only faucet in the kitchen sink -- and I want to make it such that I don't have to unscrew my Brita water filter and screw on the dishwasher adapter every time I use it.

To get it working I think I need to order a "faucet adapter" from Sears for about $20 (?).

My real question is on the 2nd part -- what would I have to do to make it where I can permanently (or semi-permanently) attach both the Brita water filter and the dishwasher to the same kitchen sink faucet?

Is there some sort of diverter I could use to do this?

I have the same issu than you. I'm expecting to put a divider and to connect the brita on one end and the dishwasher quick connect on the other end. I could also use an elbow adaptor if I wish both faucet to face down. By now, it's the better option I found. I also try to find another quick connect to connect to the brita and switch on the brita and the dishwasher when I need it (as suggest by the other comment) but I didn't find any wet.


What type of anchor for fastening to block wall? So, I started with What type of screws and anchors are used for concrete? - but it's not particularly clear to me.

I (hammer) drilled 5/32" holes into an exterior wall for 3/16" tapcon screws. These didn't hold. So now I'm wondering what kind of anchor I should be using -

Wedge?
Sleeve?
Split?

Or can I use a standard plastic anchor I have, assuming it fits properly? I can't seem to wrap  my head around the differences in these "concrete" anchors except that wedge shouldn't be used for block, only solid concrete.

The wall is stucco of minimum depth, then I'm guessing cinder block. It's not brick.

I need to drill in and still have maybe 1/4" sticking out to hang a garden hose mount. So in terms of strength, I just need to hold say a 25 ft garden hose that may or may not be completely full of water.

With stucco the wall is two thin for tapcon screws, Since you already have a hole I think your best bet is a molly bolt or toggle that expands once inside the wall  fill the hole with calking so no moisture or bugs can find thier way in.


How do I replace two split receptacles with GFCI receptacles? I need to replace two receptacles in my kitchen with GFCI outlets. On each receptacle, the top and bottom outlet are on different breakers. I've replaced standard outlets before, but this seems a bit more complicated.

The A outlets are on one breaker, and B is on a different.

An electrician once told me (several months ago before i was ready to do this project) that I could just cap the red wire on the left and the black wire on the right. Not sure I quite remember what that means.

These load to other outlets as well. Any thoughts on how I can replace these with GFCI? Thanks!

You have what is known as a "multi-wire branch circuit", where two otherwise independent circuits share the same neutral return back to the electrical panel.  Wiring the GFCIs in a naive manner won't help you here, because in a shared neutral situation, the GFCIs won't see the return currents coming back from the "other" hot wire, and will trip as they are designed to do as a result. However, there are two options to rectify this, depending on your situation:

1. Replace the breakers with a two-pole GFCI circuit breaker

Depending on the make and model of your electrical panel, you may be able to obtain a two-pole GFCI circuit breaker for it; in that case, and if your kitchen circuits come from adjacent breaker slots in the panel, you can replace the kitchen circuit breakers with a single two-pole GFCI breaker and get GFCI protection without rewiring the outlets.

2. Install GFCI receptacles so that each receptacle device is on a different leg.

Right now, you have what's called a "mixed leg" shared neutral circuit, where both legs are present at each receptacle device, instead of having half the receptacle devices attached to one leg and half to the other.  However, you'd have to pull a 12/2/2 instead of your current 12/3 for all devices attached downstream of the first GFCI, or retrofit all outlets on this circuit to be GFCI outlets, which is undesirable.

Borrowing a diagram from this answer by Tester101:


What type of subfloor will stand up to water in a bathroom? I'm remodeling our bathroom because of some issues we're having with our floor. The kids weren't shutting the shower curtain when they decided to take a 30 minute shower. They would have a pile of wet clothes in the corner which made the bathroom floor sag. The edge by the tub is actually breaking in due to it being wet.

My question is, what type of wood should I use for a bathroom sub floor, and should I coat it with waterproof sealer?

Also I'm not sure what the best bathroom flooring options are to withstand water and moisture. We don't like the thought of tile.

First of all, you cannot assume that any flooring you install is going to be "waterproof".  That is an impossible standard in home construction, so the solution is to PREVENT water from getting to the floor surface and also to ACCOMMODATE any that does get there.

That being said, you should choose a flooring material that doesn't degrade when wet.  Tile is one choice, vinyl flooring is another, also some engineered flooring products.  Check with your local supplier for some good wet-location choices.

To prevent water from getting to the floor in the first place you want to fix the problem with your shower/bathtub so that the water is not able to be sprayed or splashed on it.  Obviously shower curtains are one cheap solution but it seems in your case that's not being used.  How about a surround that keeps the water contained in the shower/tub?

Finally as far as your underlayment, use a product that can withstand long-term water exposure.  Cement-based backer board is a commonly used product for this application.


What are these (utility?) boxes at the side of the house? What are the four boxes in the picture below for? The fat pipe to the left goes up to the electricity meter. I've also included pictures of the two labels I could find.

Also, why is there a green plastic rope coming out of the first box? I found the box slightly gaping with the bottom screw missing1, and the rubber water seal around the cover a bit ripped where the rope is coming from. When I pull on the rope, there seems to be no resistance as if I could completely pull it out of the box. The fact that the seal is cut up where the rope is makes me think it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place...Should I pull out the rope and fix the seal of the box's cover?

1 I placed a new screw as seen in the picture, so that the box isn't gaping wide open (to rain, insects, etc.)...

That is non metallic (PVC) electrical conduit.

There must be wires in them that come from or go to the inside of the house to an out building or ?? .

The green cord could be left there for fishing ( pulling ) new wire from one of the  ends. Have you seen this green cord near any other electrical fixtures?

The covers come off to facilitate fishing the wires, It can be difficult to fish the wires thru many bends, so with this setup, you can pull a length of wire from one direction thru the open body and then pull the remainder as you help feed in to the body to complete the turn, then put the cover back on.


What type of threshold weather-stripping goes here? This is for an external door to the garage. It originally had some rubber weatherstrip in it, but it was all busted up and falling apart and dry so that it squeaked really badly. I stupidly didn't take any pictures when I took it out, and now I can't figure out exactly what type goes back in here.
I haven't tried unscrewing the screws to see if that helps me or not since I don't want to break it if I don't need to touch it.
What is this type called so that I can search for it? And do you have a picture of what it should look like, ideally?
Thanks.

I'm guessing that it had a conventional rubber or vinyl gasket inserted into the slots on either side of the screws:

image source
With some diligence you may find a new part to fit, but it'll need to be just the right height. It may be easier to replace the entire threshold with a new kit.


How much can I safely suspend from ceiling joist? Which screws? I want to hang a motorized projector screen on my basement ceiling. I'd like to know how much weight I can safely hang from the ceiling (joists? See picture below. Arrow marks the spot I'd like to drill/screw at). There's one such structure in the ceiling every 20 inches.

The screen weights 50 lbs and would be hanged from each end. So, 25 lbs on each end.

How do I determine if it safe to hang that and how do I pick the right screw size and length ?

If it makes any difference this is a Montreal house and there's 2 more stories above the pictured ceiling. The room is 18' long, but I don't know if there's a beam or anything midway to hold this joist.

These floor trusses can handle a lot of weight.  Nothing to worry about regarding the projector.  They could probably handle a couple of hundred pounds each.  I would recommend that you drill that bottom cord and use 1/4" bolts.  They will last indefinitely.  P.


What the purpose of a label on top of a capacitor? I notice that some HVAC capacitors have labels printed or sprayed on them like the black "negative circle" label on top of the capacitor in the picture. What is it supposed to indicate?

The black circle is not a label; it is a safety vent. If an electrolytic capacitor overheats due to high DC voltage, to a large AC component, to reverse connection or to internal failure, it will build up pressure until something gives... hiss, or sometimes bang.

To prevent B A N G, vents are designed to fail gracefully, or at least not too abruptly. The vents are marked below: a weak thermoplastic disk in the harder thermoset top of the large capacitor, and the score marks to weaken the thin aluminum in the smaller, which has already failed.

There should be clear polarity marks on the electrolytic (unless it's a non-polarized cap), often a black stripe along the negative side, plus mark(s) (+) on the positive, or embossed marks near the terminals. (Barely visible in the photo below is a plus mark below the right terminal of the big blue cap.)

BTW, from the terminals, I might guess that this is a non-polarized motor-starting capacitor, but take that surmise with some circumspection. Check the schematic or parts call-out if it needs to be replaced!


Tile directly adhered to subfloor I can home from work last night to find that the contractor began tiling in the master bathroom and is applying the ceramic tiles directly to the existing subfloor. My knowledge isn’t vast, but I would see this as a huge problem. They’re supposed to continue tomorrow. Is this acceptable practice? Shouldn’t there be a backer board of some sort?

Tile should never be placed directly onto wood, especially in a wet area like a bathroom. The wood expands and contracts. You will have some nasty cracks in the grout and the tile will probably come loose. Make them rip that back out and do it right.


fitting heavy duty brass door hinges I am at the moment preparing to replace my heavy duty brass door hinges on my back kitchen door. To do this properly I have to remove the door.
In order that I drill the screw holes accurately and centre I have invested in a set of self centring drills,  The brass screws that came with the hinges are a size 10 now looking at the chart of drill sizes for this size screw it calls for a .190" diameter drill which is around 3/16"  Now I selected the centring tool with that size drill but unfortunately the spring load guide is smaller in diameter than the holes in the hinges and will therefore not work. Do they make special centring tools for this type of hinge the only other answer the way I se it is to buy bigger diameter screws but I am not sure that this is the right way to go about it.

I'm assuming you're asking about drilling holes in the jamb and the door because the new hinges have different holes. If I've misunderstood your issue, I'll edit.

Mark your holes from the hinge with a sharp pencil. Punch a divot in the middle of the circle with a nail or screw. If you look at it and it seems a little off center, do it again, but angling toward center. Keep making the divot deeper until you think it's dead center. (Nothing wrong with practicing all this on scrap. Nobody was born with these skills.)

Now drill. (3/16" sounds a little big to me, but I haven't consulted any charts, so maybe you should ignore me on this point. Steel screws will be different from brass screws and different woods are, well, different.) Keep the drill bit perpendicular (use someone to look at your angle and guide you if available). If you creep off center, angle the drill toward the center and resume.

If one of your four holes is a little wrong, screw that one last. If they're all wrong (hopefully in different directions), use them to push/pull the hinge to the right place.

If, when assembling the door, the hinges are a little off, feel free to tap them gently with a wood block (to protect the finish) and hammer to encourage them to mesh. If they're way off, loosen the screws, mesh them, and tighten the screws again.


Cement board over existing drywall dilemma Can you use cement board OVER an existing drywall for a new tile shower installation in a bathroom renovation?

Yes!  This is actually a very common install method.  I do drywall, plastic, then hardieboard on nearly half my tub shower surrounds.  It is easier to work with 1/4" HB and I get flatter walls.  You could make a point that this type of install is the most effective and long term in a lot of cases.  For a stand-up shower I would however put something like redgard over the backer.


Remove asbestos-covered ductwork or leave in place? Asbestos tape-covered ductwork that is coming from the furnace leading to each vent in the entire house. Is it a bad idea to leave it as is without disturbing, or would replacing all hvac system coming from the furnace be a better solution?

Asbestos is OK as long as it doesn't get airborne. No reason to disturb it unless you're going to be renovating that area (and even then you may be best off leaving it).


Is it going to be worth replacing bat insulation with rigid foam between bedroom and garage? I have the classic problem of two bedrooms above a garage that are too hot in the summer. In the winter it can be cooler upstairs than the rest of the house but not as much as a temperature difference as in the summer. There is an attic above the entire second floor that I'm not sure whether or not could be a factor too. The attic has blown insulation that is deep enough to cover the ceiling joist plus a couple inches but has settled/shifted some over the years. If it helps, this house was built in 1998.

Since I'm in the process of replacing the carpets, that gave me the opportunity to see what is between the subfloor and garage ceiling. After cutting a small hole, what I found is a void of about 9" filled with fiberglass batt insulation. The insulation looks to be kind of bunched up so it fills the void vertically for the most part.  I can't see the rim joists.

Would pulling up the subfloor, removing the fiberglass, and replacing it with rigid foam be effective at blocking the heat from the garage? Or am I looking in the wrong direction and should be looking at the attic instead? Or is it time to call in someone who knows what they're doing?

Rigid foam, no, not unless you airseal it. Spray foam, yes. Assuming you define "worth it" as valuing comfort over money. ROI is 10-20 years for just about anything in HVAC, if ever.

I'd pull the drywall off the ceiling in the garage, not pull up the subfloor, unless it was being replaced.

Ridged foam in the attic might be easy to install and do something.

Someone who knows what they're doing might say no matter what the insulation, you have insufficient airflow. I'm going to guess all three: above a garage, below an attic, and longest run from the furnace. Bonus points for unideal sun exposure (get better drapes).


Is acoustical texture in HVAC ducts an asbestos concern? We bought a house 3 years ago - it was built in 1972.  Most of the textured ceilings were already removed, except for a few.  I recently noticed the texture actually extends behind the wall-mounted HVAC vents.  Mostly to the top of, but also the bottom of the actual ductwork.

The vents seem to attach in a way that you cannot get them on and off without scraping some of the texture.  I've never removed them before, but there appears to be loose texture on the bottom of the HVAC ducts.

What's the best course of action to deal with this?

Chances are slim that your texture contains asbestos, but you'd have to mail a sample to a testing lab to be sure. It was outlawed in texture in the late 70s, but it wasn't terribly common for that purpose. Follow a safe procedure if you do so.

It's normal for texture to show inside ductwork, etc. The walls and ceiling are sprayed before the vents are installed, and no effort is typically made to prevent overspray. The little bit of texture that's disturbed when you remove a vent isn't much of a concern. You could simply vacuum it up when it occurs.


Is It Possible To Install Another Switch To Control Fan? Is it possible for me to install another switch to control the fan? This switch controls the light/fan. However, if the switch is off neither the light or fan can operate. I would like to separate these controls if possible. I don't know what the white wire is that comes in, goes into the wire nut, and then goes out as two wires.

I believe there's really only 3 wires to use here. The ground on the left of the switch, the power coming in on the bottom right of the switch (wire cut so looks like 2 wires), and the power going to the fan on the top right of the switch. Unless I can use the white wire somehow?

It looks like you have "Romex" (NM) wiring now, so you don't have the option, at least not easily, to run another wire to go to the fan.  If you have normal metal conduit, you could use a "fish line" to pull another wire.  If that were the case, you could swap out the current switch with a "double" switch without changing the box.

But, this can sometimes be tricky in any case, since you don't always have a straight shot from your switch to your fan (which may well have been wired intended to only be a light fixture).

The 2nd white wire coming out is a mystery to me.  White wires are typically the "neutral", so having it come in to this box and then go back out (with the wirenut to connect) makes sense.  But it's odd that there would be a second one in the current cable coming in -- if the cable did have 3 wires plus ground, they would normally be, for examample, white, black, and red.


Filling big horizontal gaps in bathroom tile This is one of our first DIY projects, thank you in advance for your help!

We removed an old baseboard of the heating system in the bathroom and were left with a horizontal gap in the tiles. As you can see, the gap between the tiles and the drywood gets up to about 1 3/4" at its widest point.

We heard about grout, epoxy grout, acrylic grout, silicone and other options.

Which one should be best for this case?

Grey, sanded. 'black' is easy: #60 charcoal.

I'd grout it first though. I've had luck with a grout line that wide, and it was a wood-to-tile threshold nonetheless. A 1/2"-plus deep and ~2" wide? I'd go for it; that will seal the gap better too. Then base and quarter round.

I'm an all-or-nothing type of guy, but that's way too much all to get excited about what will end up being a slightly too wide grout line along the trim, of an otherwise serviceable tile job. - When you gut the bathroom though....


What's this tarry sheet under the tiles? The tiles are becoming loose on the steps to my home and need to be replaced. As I pull some of them off I discovered this black sheet under the tiles. It smells tarry and has a texture between fabric and chewing gum. It's somewhat sticky and in places it's very stretchy. Some parts are really easy to pull off of the concrete base, and in other places it sticks incredibly well. This material seems to be only present in that right-hand low plateau, not anywhere else.

What is this sheet made of?
What is its purpose? Why is it here?
Should I use a similar sheet again?

To add some details, the base is made of solid concrete and it was built only 5 years ago. The tiles are coming loose not because the mortar is poor but apparently because the concrete was surface treated somehow and that treatment is coming off.

I can very easily remove most of the vertical tiles with just two fingers, and the back side of the tile has its glue firmly attached and also a thin layer of this other, darker color which comes off completely from the concrete. You can see it best in the vertical part on the top left of the third picture above. The horizontal tiles are stuck much better but not everywhere.

It looks to me like roof membrane.

And I have to say I can't imagine why anyone would do the install like they did.

With a solid concrete base, the only water proofing necessary is against the foundation.  The tile could have (and should have) been applied directly to the base with mortar.


can this antique douglas fir floor be saved? I bought a 100+ plus house and to my horror, under the carpet was not the strip hardwood floor we expected, but particleboard. Not OSB, not plywood - particleboard (which I just learned would need to be replaced anyways with plywood if new flooring going on top).

BUT! Under the particle board are very old wood planks! They're 5" t&g douglas fir (I think) and they look like they've never been sanded once. There's an old varnish or shellack finish (except for in the middle of the room where a rug must have been) so they where not installed as just subflooring.

They're awesome! But.. they're plenty soft, gaps as big as 1/4", plenty of damage and splinters, tons of nail holes, a large section by the front door was replaced with pine, etc. And here's the biggest problem maybe: there's no subfloor underneath them!

However I don't think they're worn badly at all and we're intent on restoring and using them, even if that means pulling them up and flipping them over to the unused side. It's only in one small room -- about 300 sq ft -- but it's the living room and the heart of the house. And we're on a major budget and new flooring is expensive, less sustainable than reclaimed, and not as cool :).

What do you recommend? Should I sand them with a drum sander or just a DA sander? Or would a DA sander catch splintered edges and rip out large sections? What finish do you recommend? Poly or a hard wax like rubio monocoat? What about wood filler? Any other tips??

Thanks! (BTW, I will NOT accept NO for an answer!)

It is totally feasible to do this. Just a lot of hard work.

We redid a laundry room that had a worn painted outdoor porch floor (the house is from 1869 and has been organically growing for 150 years). Tongue in groove. Fir, we think. We pulled up the boards carefully, removed the nails, hand scraped the edges, (which had been coated with paint and would prevent close reassembly), put in a subfloor and then reassembled the porch floor over it. We then sanded it down (no drum sander -- too small an area and too hard to control). It is finished with a good satin poly, three coats. We left it a bit rustic.

You do need a subfloor for strength, to prevent flex and to minimize airflow from below.

You are likely to have a few damaged boards, so you may need to rearrange the pieces to compensate. This will leave you short several board feet, so you may need to use a border of new wood around the edges to fill in. Small holes can be left open or filled, depending on your taste.


Ceiling fan grounding I have a new ceiling fan with a ground wire but no ground fron the metal box. Where can I attach the wire on the fan so it’s grounded?

The metal box should be grounded, unless your wiring was done incorrectly. Look in the back of the box and you should see a cable coming in to the box, with black, white, (possibly red), and a green or bare copper wire. The copper wire should be screwed into the box itself, providing a ground.

If not, it's possible the cable is armored or run through metallic conduit, which would provide the ground.

In either case, simply attach the green wire from the fan to the metal box, being sure to strip enough insulation.


What type of Circuit Breaker is required for this slot? I was looking at adding an extra breaker or two to my panel as I have two open slots. I opened the front of my panel to see what I was dealing with inside and was perplexed by what I found, I'm going to obviously need a professional for this but for my own education I'd like to find out what's going on in these two slots, it doesn't look like a 2-pole breaker would go there but I could be wrong? Can someone clue me in, thanks!

Edit: My house was built in 1960.

Based on Harper’s answer I’d like for the time being until I have the funds to go with the Easy Option. I do have a few follow up questions in regards to it. This is being done with the intention of adding some extra lighting and outlets to my attached garage. I have a single 40 watt and 15 amp plug in my ceiling not great for a workshop.

I would like to run two independent 120v circuits, one for the outlets, one for the lighting. If I wish to each independent circuit to be 20 amps, would that be a 20 amp 2-pole breaker or a 40 amp 2-pole breaker?

When wiring it this way I’d use the proper gauge wire (12 or 8 depending on amp breaker). But would I just be running #/2 one to each hot terminal for the independent loads?

I would never ask electrical advice at a big box store, my question was more so could I go to one and purchase the supplies? So I can go to a big box store and get the proper Square D “QO” breaker?

Update questions Part 2

@Harper Thank you for updating your answer with more info. If I were to keep the lighting on it's current circuit that looks like it's going on breaker 10 which is the current light and opener, microwave, half bath lights, basement stair lights and the side door light, that's only a 15 amp and I have some old 2 bulb fluorescent units I was going to install in the garage (4 or 5 of them), would this circuit be able to handle that additional load?

Spot 5/7 for the range is a 40 amp double pole that is not in use, we piped in gas because well I hate electric stoves. Could I remove that breaker, put in another 20 amp double pole and do the same thing and run my lighting off of that one? Is there a requirement that you provide a 240v for a stove?

Finally, when wiring up a double pole as two separate 120v services, would you wire up each pole like you would a single pole? As in Hot to one leg, neutral to neutral bus, ground to the ground bus.

Got it.

This is a "Rule of Six" aka Split Bus panel

Early on, most homes got 60A of AC electric service.  Later on, houses wanted more - but 100-125A main breakers were much more expensive. So they just had multiple main breakers, all in the cheaper <60A range.  Regulators didn't want homeowners having to switch off 20 breakers, so they wrote the Rule of Six that there can be no more than 6 main breakers to turn off the whole house.  That forced them into a split bus design, where one of the six breakers powers additional spaces in the panel, an internal "subpanel" if you will.

You have a "mini".  Which means you have four dual spaces, intended for four 2-pole breakers.  Water heater, A/C unit, range, dryer, electric car charger, large table saw, etc.

The one in the upper right carries power to the "rest of the panel",  the area with all the single breakers and double-stuff's. That lower area is, effectively, a subpanel in the same box. Shutting off that breaker shuts off power to the "subpanel's" buses.  It is impossible for you to shut off power to the upper area.

You must use particular breakers, and it appears this panel is compatible with simple breakers in the Square D "QO" family. That is great; this is a top tier panel that is commonly used in industry.  One would not be out of place in the Boeing factory. And the family is still made, so if you go with a subpanel, you can continue with QO, and I recommend you do.

There are 3 such 2-pole breakers currently installed, including breaker for the "subpanel" area.  It appears you have the option to install one more.  I wish I had a better view of the panel labeling, however it appears to say ONLY a 2-pole breaker is allowed there, or alternately a "dual 2-pole" which serves dual 240V circuits.  You are not allowed to put single breakers there end of subject.  (however that is not a barrier).

So several options from here.

Best option: Subpanel.

In this case you stick a 2-pole, say 50-60A breaker ($10) in that location.  You then feed a subpanel, where you have liberty to add a number of circuits.

Now on this forum we recommend very large panels (i.e. 40-space, $190) even if a small 12-space ($80) would suffice for now -- because the cost differential is tiny, compared to overall project cost of installing a panel. And you'll never need to upgrade your panel again, ever, and even more importantly, your ambitions are never limited by panel spaces.

(QO is also a more expensive panel than some; you don't have to remain loyal to QO, it simply allows you to exchange breakers.)

I'll take it one step further still.  Choose your subpanel, and its position, with an eye toward making it the main panel in the future. That is, locate it where it'll have easy access to the conduit from the meter. At some future point, you reverse the deal, and make the old Rule-of-Six panel the subpanel.

Once your new subpanel is in, you add new circuits to it.  There's no reason to fuss with the old panel; it can cheerfully serve forever as a subpanel, and is actually legal for new installation today as a subpanel.

Easy option: Plain 2-pole breaker in that location

The simplest way is to stick a plain 20A 2-pole breaker in that empty slot, exactly like the labeling tells you to.  How do you put a plain 20A 120V circuit on a 2-pole breaker?  Easily - land the neutral on the neutral bar, and the hot on one of the hot terminals.  And you're done!

You're getting 20A off that one side/leg of the service, so use 12/2 cable.

There's another 20A side/leg unused.  Could you attach another, independent 20A/120V circuit there also with 12/2 cable?  You bet.  They will be independent, except they will have common-trip, and common maintenance shutoff.

Could you do a multi-wire branch circuit with 12/3 cable? Yeah, the 2-pole breaker would be correct for it, but you really need to know what you're doing with MWBCs, and they have issues with GFCI and AFCI, so they have largely gone out of style.  I can do them because I have a lot of experience with MWBC, but nonetheless, usually I don't.

Now, from your edit, you say you want to upgrade both lighting and receptacles in the garage.  Use the old existing circuit for all the new lighting.   Use these two new circuits for receptacles only. That way, when you find out a table saw + a dust collector will trip the breaker, you won't be in the pitch black with your fingers inches away from a spinning blade!  You always want lighting on a different circuit when possible.

Maybe option: Install a quadplex 2-pole x 2 breaker

You see where there are other double-stuff breakers in this panel already.  There is a type of double-stuff called a quadplex, or two 2-pole breakers in the space normally occupied by one 2-pole breaker.  The labeling on this panel appears to support that.

This would give you dual 2-pole breakers, allowing you to do the above trick twice, giving 4 circuits.

However, it's quite an old panel, and it plainly intended to support certain series of QO breakers which may no longer be made.  You would need to closely study the labeling and the specs of the currently available QO quadplex breakers, and any Siemens "QD" quadplex which may exist -- to see whether the new breakers are listed for that panel.

Normally, you must not use brand X breaker in brand Y panel, as they won't fit properly.  Siemens QD was specifically engineered to fit in QO panels (won't fit Siemens), and UL tested and classified them as a safe match.

The labeling clearly shows it's not intended to support the "open quadplex" breakers where you have a 1-pole, a 2-pole in the middle, and a 1-pole.

Followups from your update 2:

All that lighting and the opener will fit on the circuit fine especially if it's LED, but the microwave is a bridge too far. The fluorescents, if they're old, figure about 100W (0.83A) per 2-lamp fixture.  If they're reasonably modern T8 fluorescents then 65-75W (0.54-0.63A).  I upgrade old fluorescents to T8 since the cost is very low (buy "pull" ballasts on ebay).

Yes, you can change that range breaker to a 20A. Cap off the old wires in case the next guy wants an electric range.

Yes, when hanging 2 circuits on a 2-pole, you just pretend they are 2 separate breakers without a handle tie, hot to the breaker, neutral to the neutral bar etc.


Can a switchover to backup power be seamless for a whole house? We're contemplating a backup generator for the house. Most of them have transfer switches that kick in quickly, and automatically, but naturally the generator has to start, spin up, and stabilize before switching over.

Is there a way to make that cutover seamless so the house doesn't notice? Basically, a "whole house UPS" that just needs to last 5-10 minutes. Both for the switch over from line to backup power and vice-a-versa.

Addenda:

We live in California where the power company is shutting the grid down for public safety reasons due to fires. Before, power failures were essentially very rare Acts of God with storms and drunk drivers. Now, during certain parts of the year, they're policy. But even so, the companies issue lots of "might" and "maybe" and "sometime" notices as to when, and where, they might turn the power off. As a consumer, we don't know when it will go out, and when it does go out it can be for several days. And, yes, it can be during some of the hottest parts of the year. A/C is routine in many parts of California.

I'm exploring this simply as I mentioned -- it can be a pain to "reboot" a modern house with it's zillion electronic appliances, devices, etc. If I don't have to, I'd like not to. Since I'm exploring the idea of backup power in the first place, I'm exploring what it might take to go that "last mile" to make it seamless.

We have glanced at the Power Wall, I was simply off-put by it's initial sticker shock compared to a conventional generator. I'm in the early phases of this process.

This already exists COTS

The Tesla PowerWall is the most high visibility version, but there are competitors, and you could even knock one together out of golf cart batteries  and inverters.  What Tesla brings to the table is positively exquisite battery-management tech, which assures the PowerWall battery will have a very long life.

"But I want a 5-minute solution, this is overkill!"

Actually no, it's a game-changer.  Because now, the generator doesn't need to carry your house. Just replenish the PowerWall.  So you can get it done with a Honda instead of a CAT.

If you go pure generator, then the generator must have enough capacity for your house's peak loads. You could end up needing a 20kw generator just so it doesn't croak when you put on everything at the same time, the 1 minute in 1000 that you do that.

The difference in generator size may pay for the PowerWall, especially since the generator does not need an ATS and other associated equipment; it only needs to be a generator.

A homes power use is actually quite small, and averages barely 1kw. That's because, while your dryer, water heater, A/C and oven may be going gangbusters on a summer evening, your house also has long periods of time of virtually no loads at all, as litle as 60W for refrigerator, night lights and your vampire loads (looking at you, Comcast). To run 1 KWH the whole month costs about $100 on your electric bill, so you can look at your bill and see for yourself.

I read this negative review from one of those anti-green naysayers, and he said "if your house draws 5kw on average, you'll need 70 PowerWalls for a 30-day outage".  Ok, first, 5kw means a $500 electric bill, not likely.  And second, a 30-day outage is insane, but if it existed, it'd actually an ideal use case for a small generator to complement a single PowerWall, just as I say.

Off-grid power is 10% generation, 90% conservation

However, only a fool would tarry forth into a power outage and keep using electricity like nothing had happened. Of course you're going to defer those wash loads.  Whip up something on the stovetop instead of bake.

Understanding what your big loads are and avoiding heavy appliance usage is instrumental to weathering an outage.

Another option, on the electrical side, is enforce this with multiple panels.  Have your main panel for utility-only loads, the ones you never want to run on PowerWall.  Sauna, dryer, etc.  pThen you have a subpanel for the loads that need to be on generator or PowerWall, and these are the ones that get automatically picked up on-the-fly.

You could even have a third panelboard full of loads that could go either way, like water heater or A/C.  That panel gets a $30 Siemens or QO generator interlock, and is normally switched to "Utility" so it dies when the power fails.    Once you are sure you have abundant capacity to drive one of those loads, you shut them all off, cut the panel over from utility to PowerWall, and switch on the load you want to run.

Of course, the best way is to make judicious choices about appliances, so you aren't creating a huge electrical load in the first place.  For instance instead of baseboard heat, use a heat pump designed to effective at very low-temperature range, so electric emergency heat never runs.  My house has an Empire furnace, that is gas and runs without any electricity at all.  We also have a gas water heater; being on-demand it needs a small amount of power for controls. A PowerWall is in fact overkill for my house.


Replace with Copper and "mixing" with Old Galvanized Pipe health concerns I have a 1940s house located in Indiana (no hard water). I'm doing a tub/tile replacement with 100% Dreamline Shower Kit, and Delta Single Trim T17255 hookup with shower head ONLY. This house is like 95% galvanized with a spatter of copper replacements lines.

I would like to join the bathroom shower with new copper at the trim valve hot/cold/riser, and run the same straight down to basement. Where it joins in the basement, a spider web of galvanized pipes (7/8") engulf my basement, starting from the water heater. Is it healthy and advisable to replace galvanized and  connect NEW copper?(Yes, I STILL have the Cast Iron FUGLY pipes in Basement!)

I DO NOT have the money to do an entire sweep of replacement galvanized. I plan on using "L" copper for horizontal and vertical lines from the valve down to connect to galvanized.

It's really hard to read your question, but I think you are essentially asking: "Is it okay to replace galvanized pipe and connect it with copper?"

The answer is yes, but there are a couple things to keep in mind:

Copper and galvanized pipe will suffer from galvanic corrosion where they meet unless they are isolated. This requires use of a dielectric union

Galvanized pipe also is generally cited has having a 40 to 50 year lifetime. Generally they will rust from the inside out, restricting the flow in the process.

This restricts the flow, and is often the reason that older homes have such poor water pressure. It would be a shame if you get your new shower installed and then find out the pressure is awful, and it could very well be that it is the galvanized supply lines and not the shower itself.

There is also the possibility that there are metals leeching out into the water supply from this corrosion, but to know if this is happening for sure you'd have to get your water tested.

Once you start seeing corrosion on the outside of the pipes, it's just a matter of time until you have a leak. I've actually hard of some home insurance policies not covering damage from leaking galvanized pipes, so that might be worth checking out.

There's also no reason you have to use copper, pex is a perfectly valid option, and for replacing a long in-wall run it's significantly easier to install than copper (it bends, and comes in spools up to hundreds of feet long).


Dual HVAC System with Dual UV lights - looking to power UV lights when HVAC runs So I have
(2) HVAC systems in the attic
(2) UV Lights in the attic ducts downstream of the blower(s) (powered by a standalone 120v outlet)
I would like to power the UV lights when the HVAC / blower is running
Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated,

The wiring diagram for the Amana unit appears to show a connection for an optional mains-powered electronic air cleaner. This might be just right for your use. You'll have to find literature from the furnace to confirm how much power that connection can support, confirm that terminals you can use are available on the circuit board, and confirm that the power requirement of the UV lamps is compatible with what the furnace control can provide.
The Carrier unit is a little more clear about its support for an electronic air cleaner. The legend printed under the wiring diagram shows terminals EAC-1 and EAC-2 are for powering an air cleaner at 115 V with current up to 1.5 A. I'd guess those terminals are going to be 1/4" blade quick-connect type.
For both systems you'd have to check the manuals, or simply experiment, to discover when the control turns on the EAC output.


Why does standing water collect along the bottom edge of my roof? I have a glass-roofed lean to conservatory with a shallow roof pitch. After heavy rain there is standing water at the lowest part of the roof where it enters the gutter. What would be the least acceptable pitch of the roof be to ensure complete runoff of the water?

As Jimmy said, apparently the area in question effectively has no pitch. It's a low spot possibly due to poor workmanship on the drip edge. Some roofers install it incorrectly, creating a "ski jump" at the eave.

As you have a glass roof, I'm really not sure what your situation is. A photo would help us offer more specific advice.


UPS or Stabilizer for LED TV Just bought a Panasonic LED TV. I want to protect it from voltage fluctuation and power interruption as in my area power goes frequently and my society has power back once power goes, generator on and power comes in 10-15 sec. Should I buy a stabilizer or UPS to protect my TV? I already lost my SONY TV because of power interruption.

Need your expert advice.

To cover a 15-second outage (power interruption) you need a UPS.

A basic UPS should protect your TV from surges, brownouts and overvoltages by switching to battery power (with a very short interruption to power) but during an extended brownout/overvoltage it will eventually cut power to the TV.

To cover extended brownouts or overvoltages, you need a line-interactive UPS.


Water running in basement floor drain but no faucets or toilets are running I can see/hear water running through the pipe just under the basement floor drain in the laundry, furnace and hot water heater room. Nothing is turned on in the house. If I turn off the main water inlet to the house, the water in the above mentioned pipe stops after a minute or so. No leaks in toilets or faucets. What could be causing this?

in some older homes, the sanitary sewer and stormwater drain lines are tied into one line out to the street mains.  you could be hearing/seeing drainage water from your exterior foundation weeping tiles draining into the main drain.  its often set up so that the basement floor drain acts as a vent, overflow and inspection point just upstream of where it dumps into the gas trap at the entry to the sanitary sewer portion of your household drain.

you can also look for a small plastic line that runs from somewhere just after the main shutoff down into the concrete floor.  this small line is designed to constantly flood water into the floor drain to ensure there is always water in the subslab trap at the aforementioned spot.  this ensures you dont get a dry trap and get methane coming up into the basement from the floor drain.


Raising interior prehung door before installation? I am getting ready to install standard height interior prehung doors.  I will have carpet installed afterwards and would like to set the doors at a good "standard" height to prevent having 1.) a big gap under the door and 2.) hopefully not have to take doors off and cut them down.  Being a prehung door, it appears there is 3/4" of space already created due to the door jambs being longer than the slab.

I know I will have the best padding available for my carpet but I believe that is only 1/2" thick then a fairly soft (high shag) carpet which I would guess is 5/8 to 3/4" long carpet strands?...though I do not know for sure how that all can be used to calculate the door height for sure.  SO I was hoping there is a good standard to use assuming carpet will be installed under the door slab.

Most places set the jambs on a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood, setting the bottom of the door at a minimum of 1 1/4" from the subfloor. If the subfloor is not level, make the lowest side a little higher, so the gap will be slightly bigger.


How do I install a pre-hung door in a rough opening that's too wide? I'm replacing an interior door -- including the original jamb -- in my house with a new 30" pre-hung door.  With the jambs, the new door is 31 3/8" wide.  However, the original rough opening is between 32 1/2" and 32 3/4" wide, leaving me a big gap between the old frame and new jambs.  The hinge-side stud is straight and plumb, so I'll probably not have to shim that side by much (if at all), which will leave the bulk of the gap on the latch side.

Can I fill a gap that big with shims, or should I think about nailing a 1x4 to the latch-side stud first?  If I use shims, I think I would need several to make up the right thickness: is there a trick to holding them in place while I secure the door jamb to them?

From you description, it sounds like you have a hair over 1 1/2 inches of extra space to make up. If this is correct consider this method. Place a full 1x4 (or whatever the depth of the wall may be) on both sides, as long as the new door frame will still fit comfortably in the new opening. When ever possible, I like to mount the hinge side to a solid petition without excessive shims. This makes it more solid without having to bridge a large gap with your finish nails, and makes it a lot easier to perfectly plumb the hinge jam.  I often replace the center hinge screw on the jam side with a longer matching screw that will attach to the jam. This does a few things for you. One, you don't need as many nails, gives a much more solid  feeling and sounding door, and gives you a tool to fine adjust the plumb if necessary.(especially on heavier solid wood doors. Just like with security screws on an entry door. After you are sure you are happy with the plumb on the hinge side, simply use visual to get an even gap on the top and latch side, in that order. You can then use shims on the latch side and shoot your finish nail just below your shims. this keeps the shims from dropping as you work down the jam. i don't usually shoot through the shims because they often split and I may want to slightly adjust them before the trim casings are installed.


Phantom Voltage on Hot Wire from Another Circuit While replacing a light switch, I shut off the circuit breaker for it and checked the voltage to be sure it was not hot. I noticed that the hot wire read 10VAC, which was odd. It was pretty consistent. Just on a hunch, I went and shut off the circuit breaker for another circuit nearby (the GFCI circuit for the bathroom outlets) and the 10 VAC went away.

I checked the neutral wire resistance to ground, and it was very low, which is correct.

Any ideas on what to look at for this?

The induced voltage you were reading is from the electronic lines of force crossing the non energised conductor creating a voltage (this is how transformers work or inductive coupling) any meter that has a high impedance will detect the phantom voltage, most meters are high impedance or have over 1 mega ohm /volt internal resistance this prevents the meter from loading the circuit and affecting the reading. There are also low Z or low impedance meters that have an internal resistance that is low enough to eliminate the phantom voltage without affecting the measurement. These low Z meters are not sufficient for electronics trouble shooting in my opinion due to the circuit loading. Low z meters are fine for power measurements. you have no problems to worry about. Note if you turn on the light switch after replacing you may see the voltage drop to nothing depending on the type of lamp or load on that circuit.


What is this plumbing "temperature regulator" called, and how do I adjust it? I was told the below restricts/governs how much hot water can make it to my tub/shower.  I'd like to know what it's called, and how I can adjust it to get hotter water.

I'm attempting to twist the "cap" (the beige-ish color) to the right, but am meeting more resistance than I would have expected (having no knowledge of how it works).  I'm afraid to attempt to turn too hard for fear that it is not what I'm supposed to adjust, and I could break/crack the pipe.

Or do I need to find an alan wrench or similar to adjust just the little silver deal at the top?

Thermostatic Mixing Valve
According to the installation instructions (PDF)

Let the water flow for at least two minutes to allow supply temperature to stabilize.
Calibrate the mixed water outlet temperature by placing a thermometer in the mixed water stream.
To adjust the setting of the valve, loosen locking cap screw with hex wrench, see Figure 4. Cap must be lifted 1/4" to adjust temperature. To increase the temperature, turn counter clockwise. To decrease temperature turn clockwise.
Lower handle and tighten screw.
Check outlet temperature.