Replacing an operable window with a fixed window. Can I glaze it directly into the jamb? I've got the following former closet window which until recently had an thick framed operable wooden window.  The window jams were made from old growth redwood and are fine, despite many years with failing paint.  The failed paint is now removed, but the window is beyond repair.

There's no need for this window to be operable any more.  What options are there for maximizing light through the opening?   Can an insulated glass panel be inserted directly into the jamb (with no frame rail or stiles around it)?  If so how would it be glazed to avoid long term cracking as the building shifts or earthquakes happen?

It sounds like you want to leave the existing wood frame and remove the wood sash (the operable portion of the window).

Yes, this can be done, but it’s difficult. Glass is stopped (set) into a frame and the frame is nailed into the opening. I’d recommend you purchase a custom sized vinyl frame from a window shop and have them install it.

If you don’t want to do that, I’d install pre-glazed double pane glass between a pair of “stops” (small pieces of wood). You’ll need glazing blocks for the glass to sit on and glazing tape to seal between the glass and the new stops.

Also, I’d pre-paint the new stops before they’re installed to help rot and decay.

As you can see, this is complicated. Often it is easier to remove the entire window and reinstall a new window. Contact your local window company and they’ll give you a bid both ways.


How can I set up a timer for my motorized blinds? My room has a window with motorized shades, which can be brought up or down using a switch that's in the same enclosure as the light switches in the room.

I want to set it up so I could program the shades to be open now, but close automatically at 5:00 AM.

How can I do that? What do I have to buy and connect?

There are numerous timer switches that replace a conventional switch in a wall box. For example, this is a seven day timer from Honeywell

The wiring for simple timers is pretty straightforward. Usually you simply replace the existing switch and wire the new switch the same way. Often you need to add a neutral wire to the switch, and most recently wired switch boxes have a neutral available, even if it is not currently attached to the old switch.

There are also more advanced home automation systems that combine switches with hand-held controls that can both turn things on and off, or program them to come on based on time, temperature or a number of other criteria.

If you are unfamiliar with electrical wiring, even a simple switch replacement can be daunting (or even dangerous). If you are not comfortable with this or if you want a more complex home automation system, you may want to consult with a pro, or find a friend or neighbor with some experience.

SUPPLEMENT Based on the additional information provided, you could accomplish this using two timers. Wire the first one to work the up mechanism and the second to operate the down mechanism. Set the timers to turn on for 5 minutes (or slightly longer than what is needed to fully operate the mechanism), and then off. Just make sure that both are not set to go on at the same time. Clearly mark which is up and which is down.

 Links and images are for illustration only, not an endorsement of products or sources.


IKEA Furniture in Conservatory I have had an IKEA LACK Side Table in the conservatory for about eight months and it has started splitting (see below picture).

My guess is this is due to the fluctuating temperatures in a south facing conservatory - does this sound plausible?

What would be the best way to repair it?
Or if I replaced it, how can I prevent it splitting again?

Many thanks in advance!

If the pieces are naturally pulling out like that, it appears to be warping as well.  The temperatures are certainly contributing to the problem but, in my opinion, there are probably 2 other factors.  One  being moisture and the other being the quality of construction.

The piece appears to be made of engineered wood.  Engineered wood (particle board, press board, or whatever name you prefer to use) is like most other materials in that it has various grades.  Some high quality grades and some low quality grades.  This appears to be a very porous lower quality grade.  Most engineered woods do not hold mechanical fasteners well (nails & screws), so they rely on glue, which is fine when done well.  In this case, I would guess the porous engineered wood is retaining moisture along with the heat and breaking down the glue bond and allowing the piece to come apart.

Now that I have bored you nearly to death, what do we do about it.  I am assuming you do not want to drive nails or screws through the visible finished surface.  You can try gluing it back together but it will need to be clamped tightly and allowed to fully cure.  You will need to get in there with a glue brush or strip of cardboard and spread the glue evenly on both surfaces.  Perhaps that will hold, (maybe for a year, maybe for ten) and you will have only invested in the very best bottle of glue you can get your hands on.  If you can get behind the skirt boards under the top, you may be able to glue in some support blocking, again clamping securely and allowing to fully cure.

If that doesn't work, you may have to invest in a table that is made of materials more resilient to the environment of your conservatory.  Best of luck!


How many times can new shingles be put over the existing roof? How many times can new shingles be put over an existing roof? Two or three times?

In the U.S. for composition shingles it is 2 roofs only, then you must tear off all roofs. Also must tear off if roofing is wet, wood, slate, tile or cement. (See ICC 1510.3)


How to mount a 1/2" UNF drill chuck on an angle grinder with M14 thread? I want to connect a drill chuck with 1/2"x20 UNF female thread to an angle grinder with a M14x2 male thread. How to?

Safety Warning: Do not use a drill chuck at higher speeds than it is designed for. Specifically, it is not designed for the 10-12000 rpm of a typical angle grinder. Using it in this way may result in serious injuries.

(This question is still meaningful because there are angle grinders with speed control, and running them on slow rpms will be ok with a drill chuck. Or, for that matter, the required adapter will also help building a DIY angle drive from a dead angle grinder, which is then used with a normal power drill.)

Make sure that your drill chuck is indeed a 1/2"-20 UNF thread. Because threaded drill chucks come in several variants (source):

3/8"-24 UNF thread
1/2"-20 UNF thread
5/8"-16 UNF thread (or maybe that should be 5/8"-19 UNF?)
M12x1.25

If it's indeed a 1/2"-20 UNF thread, here are several options, using varying amounts of commercial parts and DIY:

Buy the required adapter. They are rare though, but you can try your luck with one of these:

Milwaukee 4932430464 (also here) ("Winkelschleifer-Adapter M14 für Lochsägen-Gewinde 1/2"x20", GTIN/EAN 4002395381258)
Festool 484291 ("M14 Stirring Rod Adaptor 1/2", GTIN/EAN 4014549088500) Discontinued product, but still rarely found, like here.

Combine a male/male adapter and a nut. So, you buy a "M14 male to 1/2"x20 UNF male" and a long (40-50 mm) M14 nut. For the thread adapter, you can try get hold of any of the following:

Ruko 108115 ("Adapter mit Gewindeschaft M 14 für Bohrfutter mit Artikel-Nr. 108 116", GTIN/EAN 4007140077967)
Festool 769150 ("Adapter MA M14-1/2"x20")
Collomix Adapter 1/2" outside – M14 outside
Eibenstock Adapter 1/2" to M14
Make your own, by welding M14 and 1/2"-20 UNF bolts back-to-back, with their heads together.

Weld a 1/2" UNF bolt into a long M14 nut, and cut off the head of the bolt. But that could be difficult to get perfectly straight.
Cut off the M14 bolt from the angle grinder, and weld on a 1/2" UNF bolt instead. This could also be difficult to get perfectly straight when rotating, and "damaging" the angle grinder will not be acceptable in most cases. Except where you have one to spare, or it's just the angle gear from a broken angle grinder that you are building an adapter for your power drill from.
Or use your lathe. If you have one around :) to make the adapter.


Sistering a split joist not code? I know that building codes vary by jurisdiction so for the purposes of this question I am in Baltimore County, MD.

We have a split joist in our basement. It's a 2x8, about 10 feet long. One side is in a joist hanger, the other side is resting on top of a steel beam. I had a local builder come out and give an estimate which ended up being ~$2500.

Most of what I have seen online suggests using a bottle jack to slowly raise the joist to close the crack, and then sister in another 2x8 (or 2?) to the cracked one, sprinkle generously with glue, and nail them together. I asked the estimator if this was the process that would be used and he said that it was not code and that they would be cutting out and removing the split joist and replacing it altogether. They would also have to pull up carpet in the room above to secure the sheathing.

Am I getting fleeced? Is sistering another 2x8 not code? I want it done correctly but I got a bit of sticker shock at the cost.

Edit: Here's a picture. Center is the crack, left is one end of the joist, right is the other end:

Edit: Here is another picture of the metal clips:

I may regret answering this question without first seeing a picture of the joist, but I’ll try.

There is nothing in the Code about sistering joists. There are references to “alternate design methods “, which sistering joists would apply. (See ICC Section 2308.8.2)

I’d leave the split joist installed and add a new joist on each side of it. I doubt the joist has sagged much and could easily be jacked back into position without damaging plaster walls, cracking windows, etc.

The new joist should sit on the beam in the same manner as the damaged joist (minimum of 1 1/2” bearing) and installed in a matching hanger on the other end.

In order to keep the new joists from possibly creating a squeaky floor, I’d use epoxy on top of the new joists.

I’d glue the damaged joist together and install a splice on each side to hold the joist together. Nail with 16d at 24” o.c. Staggered each side. (It’s just to keep the old joist together. It’s not supporting anything anymore.)


Can I connect to a separate neutral (white) wire for my switch/outlet combination? I have a junction box in my garage with three light switches. They are all on separate circuits and controlled by separate circuit breakers. I replaced one of them with a switch/outlet combo.

All the neutral wires that come into the box are twisted together with a wire nut capping all of them together. Do I have to pigtail a single wire from the capped group of neutrals (none of them is connected to any of the other switches) or can I just select the neutral wire that is associated with the black hot wire that I have connected to the new multi switch/outlet?

Location: North Carolina, USA

You must separate the neutrals completely.  Neutrals must be monogamous only with their individual hot.  That is a gravely defective installation.  If any neutral wire breaks, the hots together will overload it.

No need to untangle the Gordian knot right now, there's a simple workaround.  I once had an installation where I had 5 hots on 2 neutrals. (4 is feasible if two MWBCs are exactly correct, but this was not "exactly correct"!)  As a simple fix, I moved all the hots to one breaker.  This removed the overload issue, and for me since I was in conduit, was a compete solution.  For you, you'll still have neutral current returning on a different cable than hot current, and that needs fixing.  But it'll buy you time.

If you have one cable with two hots and one neutral, wired like a 120/240V circuit except it splits into multiple branches, that is called a ”multi-wire branch circuit" or MWBC.  If you have an existing one, learn all its tricks and traps.  Please don't create any new ones, as they are obsolete. (they don't play well with GFCI/AFCI)

GFCI breakers are very good "detectives" for this, they will trip if there is any neutral hanky-panky.  Being in a garage, they would need GFCIs if they were new work.  Fixing wiring defects is not new work.


Does electrical conduit in a cinderblock wall need to be covered before being plastered over? I have a receptacle in my kitchen cinder block wall and have chiseled a channel in the cider block for the Romex™ but I think the Romex™ needs to be in conduit like in this picture.
https://www.energyefficientbuild.com/images/RosO1-20080919-013a.jpg
Do I need to put a cover over the chiseled channel before I plaster over it or can I plaster right over the conduit?

NM can be in the hollow cavity’s of block walls but not embedded in a cutout.
When run in block walls, if exiting the wall conduit would be needed on the outside unless a surface covering is provided (a furring strip on either side with 1/2” plywood or Sheetrock) is another way to do it. Your actual work might provide more detail.


How to open the lid of this toilet water tank? Water is contantly leaking so I want to open the lid of the tank and fix the leak. However, I can't open up the lid! Any ideas?

Picture 1: The water tank from above. The two buttons lifted out from their places.

Picture 2: The lid pushed up as high as possible. A vertical plastic cylinder seems to be under the buttons.

Update after the comment of Wayfaring Stranger.
Picture 3: the lid lifted up as much as possible and slid aside as much as possible. The plastic structure under the buttons keeps the lid near its central position.

Update after the answer from Michael Karas.
Sqeezing in a compact camera on the left then on the right (at the cost of some crepitating noise) I managed to make Picture 4 and 5 of the inside.

The solution was similar to one of the ways Michael Karas suggested in his accepted answer. I used a pliers wrench to grap the outer ring around the flush knobs and turn it counter clockwise. I used considerable force, risking that I would break some of the plastic parts. This was the solution.

I managed to open the lid this way and found something similar to Michael's second picture. Turning the ring should have unscrewed it near the top, but it got unlocked near the bottom instead. (I plan to add pictures.)


Do Tamper resistant receptacles violate ADA barrier-free requirements? We are intending to build our home ADA barrier-free compliant, part of which has always been making sure people with limited mobility can reach all receptacles to plug things in, and also imposes limitations on how difficult it can be to operate things like doorknobs with a single hand. Yet the new tamper resistant outlets are so challenging to plug things into that even fully mobile, healthy, intelligent, and strong able-bodied people need both hands to put the plug in and are usually cursing at it before they finally get it to go in as much as a minute later.

This seems to defeat the purpose of ADA requirements. My husband has limited hand mobility already, which is only going to get worse as his disease progresses. Furthermore, we do not have children and will live in this home until we die, and I am only at my half century mark this year. It would seem that ADA and the NEC are at odds here, and if NEC doesn't make exceptions to tamper resistance for folks with disabilities, they are going to find that disabled people put power strips into all their tamper-resistant receptacles, and then instead of only two points where kids could contact power without TR protection there will be 6 or more at each receptacle and the hazard of a cord that can be damaged, too.

No, for several reasons.

To the extent there is a conflict, there is no conflict.

State laws adopt NEC.  ADA is a Federal law.  Federal law preempts state, as was decided at the Appomattox Court House in 1865.

The essence of ADA is You must do what is easy.  That never goes away, but a few things are specifically exempted, including how single family homes are constructed.  The core rule still applies, for instance, to a landlord renting to an ADA tenant.

NEC does not require ADA-inaccessible sockets

NEC requires listed tamper-resistant receptacles.  They delegate the definition of "tamper resistant" to Underwriter's Laboratories.

It does not require they be frustrating and difficult to use; that is decided by the individual manufacturers, and to a certain extent the UL's testing rules (which may be a place to make some legal progress).

Not surprisingly, cheap ones are cheap.  You can't just grab a terrible one and go "See?" You must make a reasonable effort to find a quality unit, or show that the nature of UL's certification process makes that unlikely.  It's on you; you're claiming tamper-resistant receptacles are not accessible, and bold claims require bold proof.

Be prepared for compromise

The people enforcing NEC are your local electrical inspectors, which NEC calls  the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction).  Be prepared for some back-n-forth with them.  For instance the AHJ may borrow a page from NEC 517.18C and allow a tamper resistant cover.

As long as they can come up with a reasonable way to comply, you probably wouldn't be able to pop an ADA exemption.  This is where ADA works against you: You must do what is easy.


Roofing shingle replacement: Hand nailing vs nail-gun I live in the North East.

Architectural asphalt shingles (whatever those are) need replacement or might last 4 more years depending on who I talk to.

One roofer tells me hand nailing is what he does.  He says nail-gun is how other roofers cheap out.

Is hand nailing a roof the sign of quality work?

I believe with a properly adjusted gun better results or at least more consistent results are possible. I always carry a hammer to set nails that hit a knot but I don't think it is cheaping out. In 20 years watch him starting to have have to wear a band on his elbow and possibly surgery from swinging a hammer. Full head nails available today are the same just in a rack or tape to fit the gun. I use my coil nailer and have not had any problems.


Furniture pads for furniture legs...always comes off, how to remedy this? I don't want to scratch my wooden floors so I'm using adhesive felt pads (circular ones) for chair legs, sofa legs, etc.

HOWEVER, they all seem to start to slide off and eventually need to be replaced.

Is there a better way to apply them or to permanently attach them?

I can probably take a small nail and nail them to the bottom of the legs, but then I'm concerned that eventually the pads will wear down and the nail heads will scratch the floor.

Are there other products out there that are more permanent?  I've seen the plastic feet with a pin, but I would prefer something softer as I think that the plastic will scratch the floors.

There are nail-on glides that have a carpet bottom.

They also come in a swivel version in case your legs have a significant angle.

  Images and links are illustrative only, not an endorsement of goods or sources


Where can I buy elbow grease? Whenever I'm in the process of fixing something or building something, people keep telling me all it needs is some elbow grease to fix a problem I am having. Although I'm not sure where to buy this 'elbow grease'. Can anyone tell me where I can buy it? I live in Los Angeles, California.

Elbow grease™ can be found in the Shake a Leg store.


Does my Remote Light bulb use power when not turned on? I just recently bought an RGB light bulb which comes with a remote and I was wondering if you turn it off with the remote but you leave the switch on does it still consume power?

Yes, but we're talking minimal usage. The bulb has to listen for your remote so it's using something.


plastic vapor barrier on basement ceiling - is it optional? I have a finished basement where the builder added a plastic vapor barrier between the fiberglass insulation and a suspended ceiling.  It is stapled to the joists.

The problem is the vapor barrier gets in the way of maintenance and ends up torn (or filled with mouse debris).  I recently installed a new circuit and needed to run the wire on the joists in the ceiling.  I had to pull out a bunch of the vapor barrier.

Additionally - the suspended ceiling supports have to penetrate the vapor barrier.  Does this mean it was leaky to begin with and likely didn't work anyway?

Since I have owned the house I don't think the vapor barrier has ever been 100% intact - and now it's even more so.  Is this a problem?

If the basement is finished and has no moisture issues, the vapor barrier is not needed. If it has moisture issues, the vapor barrier is probably a problem.


My Toilet Keeps Making Sounds Like It Is Filling Up Every 3 Minutes What is causing my toilets to kick on every other minute? It's not flushing - it sounds like the water is filling up. Does this make the electric bill higher?

Since you aren't seeing water all over the place, your flapper is leaking a small amount of water which is causing the float to drop to a level (apparently every 3 minutes) where it detects the water is low, so it fills the tank back up. If you aren't familiar with the mechanics of the float/flapper system in toilets, take the tank lid off and flush it a few times; it's pretty easy to see what it is doing. You might be able to slight adjust the flapper by just running your thumb around the part that seats or you might need to replace it (it's cheap and easy).

As far as electric bill, it won't make your electric bill higher if you live in the city since water is fed by gravity, but in the country where water is pumped from underground, it would. The bigger concern would be water cost if you are in the city.


How to resolve a drainage issue with aerator lower than the original outlet I have an issue with the drainage of a new kitchen sink I installed.

The old sink outlet was higher up (it was a more shallow sink) and more to the right. The same aerator was attached and the outlet had a p-trap which was connected to the outlet in "A". All worked well.
I installed a deeper sink with the same aerator, but the outlet was lower than the original outlet, so I connected it to dishwasher outlet at "E". Hose "C" comes from the dishwasher to the top of "B" which also has a Y at the top for venting (I think).
Now if we dispose food, it gets clogged at "F" and to clear it, I need to clock the top of the vent and plunger it. This used to happen frequently, until we stopped putting waste in the aerator.
"D" is a 90 degree turn and "E" is a T junction, although it it not a hard angle.

I went to Home Depot and spoke to the plumbing guys and they said I should run a straight line from the aerator to the join in "E" (bypass "D") and the 9- degree turn was slowing the momentum of the output and not creating enough force to push through the bend in "F".
I'm looking for more experienced opinion as to what other solutions there may be, if there are any. I had thought of putting a p-trap back on and running it through into the wall, but I'm not excited about cutting the backing and wall.
Any ideas and suggestions will be appreciated.

There's a few minor things wrong with this installation, but I'm not convinced any of them being corrected will make much difference, maybe all together may make a difference?

It is always a good idea to avoid unnecessary bends in any drainage system, so the disposer outlet should go out then straight down through a 90 ell, preferably a long turn ell, into the P-trap. No other inlets or outlets here, just one pipe closed pipe into the P-trap.

There is no need for a vent on the inlet side of the trap, there should be one in the wall from the original P-trap connection. I'm assuming the new P-trap is connected to the vertical pipe used by the old P-trap, yes? If not and not vented, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Every P-trap must have a vent on the outlet side.

The dishwasher should drain into the disposer through the small connector above the outlet. Some dishwashers do not adequately grind food waste, draining through the disposer ensures it gets done one way or another. If there is not a physical air gap fitting for the dishwasher, the flex pipe should at a minimum be attached to the underside of the counter to prevent drain back into the dishwasher from the disposer. If the disposer's dishwasher connection has never been used, there is a knock out plug inside the fitting that needs to be removed. Be sure to retrieve the plug from inside the disposer before running it.

This will give you a completely proper installation and hopefully eliminate your clogging issue.

Update

This sketch should better illustrate what I'm suggesting.

Once again, this is assuming the old trap was properly vented in the wall and the new connection ties into the vertical waste pipe of the old trap. This will mean the new trap should also be properly vented. If not properly vented, the trap will not function properly.

Update 2

Answering additional questions. Yes, venting is the big unknown. If the old trap worked well and you never noticed wastewater odors coming out of the sink drain, the venting is probably correct, especially if the new trap is tied into the same vertical waste pipe. If the new line went off somewhere else I'd be more concerned. It looks to me like you tied into a former cleanout formed by a vertical tee, in which case I am extremely confident all is well.

The air gap is required by some codes to make it impossible for sink waste to get into the dishwasher. This is important because of the potable water connection in the dishwasher. There is a slight chance of cross contamination without an air gap. If the waste pipe is merely fastened close to the underside of the countertop, this achieves a very similar effect with a high point, though cross contamination possibility goes from impossible to highly improbable. If the waste pipe were to go straight into the disposer without a air gap or high point, the cross contamination possibility becomes real. Even though the chance is still slight, the fact it is possible is something that for me is disgusting to even think about. Old food bits in drinking water? Ewww!

Pipe F. No, do not remove this. Hard to tell from the photo, but it appears you can just rotate the U trap portion anti-clockwise so that it's inlet is aligned directly below the ell outlet. By rotating the U portion and/or the disposer itself, you can achieve any sort of alignment required. Only the length of the outlet pipe from the disposer would need actual cutting (and the vertical pipe into the trap inlet of course). The horizontal pipe I drew going into the wall is not required, I didn't have your photo up for reference when I did the sketch, which I see now was a mistake. Sorry. Don't do that, leave that portion as it is. As long as the fittings connect together as shown, the actual lengths of pipe in between, or if there is no pipe at all, none of that matters.


Source for vinegary smell on leak? Recently, I headed down into our basement, the first time I've been down there in weeks to be honest, and I noticed that there initially seemed to be a leak coming from the Pittsburgh potty in the corner.
 (click to enlarge)
However, when I went over there to check, I noticed that the lid of the commode was damp, so my thoughts went to the pipes above.
 (click to enlarge)
The oxidation on the pipe doesn't thrill me, but when I ran hot and cold water through, I didn't notice any leaking or condensation.
Furthering the mystery, when wiping it up, it smelled, well, vinegary. More white vinegar than cider vinegar if that helps. That baffles me, as I can't think of a good source for that sort of a smell. I've checked with my wife, and we haven't been dumping a bunch of vinegar, or trying to use the baking soda and vinegar method of cleaning pipes. I'm going to check on it again later tonight, and tomorrow morning, to see if there's additional moisture, but the whole thing is rather baffling.
One possibility is that right above it upstairs is a cabinet, which does include a bottle of vinegar at the bottom, but I did not see or smell any vinegar residue in there.

The pipe with the corrosion is a SUPPLY pipe, not a drain pipe, so anything having to do with pouring vinegar down a drain would be irrelevant.
That coupling looks bad, as in someone did a poor job of soldering it, maybe used the wrong flux and there is a pinhole leak. The white material looks like a calcium deposit, likely from that pinhole leak and the water evaporating, leaving behind that calcium deposit (think stalactite in a cave). The blue material is copper oxide, a residue from corroding copper.
My guess given that evidence: the previous homeowner did his own copper plumbing (or hired a cheap handyman to do it) and made a mistake on that fitting (which would make me worry about others) right before putting the house on the market. Rather than re-do it, he may have just tried to clean off the calcium deposit. One way to do that is to use vinegar! But then the vinegar also reacted with some of the exposed copper and formed the copper oxide too.
Bottom line, I would not get too into the vinegar smell issue, you have a bad coupling that needs to be removed, the pipes cleaned thoroughly and a new one soldered in properly. If you don't have the skill set for this yourself, hire a plumber.


What type of security sensors should be used in a three bedroom house? I have just purchased a house and am hoping to install SimpliSafe throughout. I have 3 bedrooms: mine, my children's,  and my office. Would window sensors be best in all these rooms, and then motion detectors in the kitchen and living room? Are motion sensors a good idea if you expect not to be moving about at night? I was think door and window sensors instead on my 9 openings. Is this overkill? I was also thinking one window break sensor.

Alarms like the SimpliSafe support "away" mode and "home" mode. In home mode the motion sensors are inactive.  The need for window sensors has a lot to do with how hard it is to reach the window from outside.


How does wood paneling compare to drywall? what does wood paneling do better or worse than drywall? For example

cost
ease of installation
ease of modification
maintenance
longevity
fire resistance
noise insulation
heat insulation
etc.

The cost of prefinished wall paneling can vary wildly. Cheap 3/16 inch fake wood or patterned panels can cost around $10 per panel. A decent real wood veneer can soar to $40 each.

It is common practice to put paneling over drywall. Two main reasons for that are fire rating and ability to spread adhesive evenly so panels don't bulge between studs. There is no real R-value advantage. If anything, if paneling is not installed over drywall, the seams can be a source of air infiltration, negating any insulation value.

As a comparison, my drywall subcontractor charges me an average of $45 per sheet for 12 X 4 foot 1/2 inch rock, hung, taped, mudded, and sanded paint ready. This is really competitive with  decent quality paneling, especially if you figure in a drywall untaped backer. If you do decide to go with prefinished panels, be sure you really like it, because you're gonna be looking at it for a long time! LOL


How To Identify/Fix Source Of External Water My house is leaking!

It's hard to see but if I angle the camera just right, these small droplets of moisture become visible.  This is from an East-facing external bedroom wall taken during a pretty heavy rainfall.  They are about 3/4ths the way up the wall.  Not right at the ceiling, but no where near the floor either.

Oddly enough, the other bedroom with an East-facing wall doesn't have any similar water spots.

The house does not have any gutters on this side of the house, but I did clean all of the gutters out just before this, to eliminate that as a potential problem.

Additionally, one corner of the room seems particularly bad.  It has a visible (with the right lighting) spot of water damage on the ceiling:
I had to zoom in pretty far and play with the contrast - but there is an odd webbing pattern that I believe is due to water.  The entire spot is probably 4 inches in diameter.

Immediately below that spot, in the same corner of the room, there is some pretty bad damage near the floor:

In the other bedroom (sharing the same external wall), I seem to have some very, very tiny bit of moisture just on the top of the baseboard along the floor.

My problem is, I don't know how to identify where the water is coming from, or how to fix it!

The roof doesn't have any visible problems.  I went in the attic, to that particular corner (as close I could get) and I don't see any wetness from above.  I'd originally thought it was water coming 'up' from the ground, but the drops of water on the wall are so high, it makes me question that.

Will ripping apart the wall help in any way?

I have some sort of wood siding - I assume there would be some waterproof something between it and the inside of my house.  Can the water simply be coming 'through' the wall?

How do I go about figuring this out?

One tool that can help you is a drywall/wood moisture meter.

You poke the pointy ends into the drywall in the room or the wood in your attic and the meter uses the local electrical resistivity of the material to infer the moisture level. This can help you to find the wettest spots in the wall and the attic.


Does tar roof patch on EDPM rubber roof cause damage? I applied Henry 208 roof patch on my EDPM rubber roof. It looks fine and seems to be holding up, however I'm concerned that it may react with the EDPM chemicals. I have heard this can happen with certain materials, and I'm wondering if I should cut out the patches I did (1x1 foot or so...8 of them...), or if I will be fine with these patches.
Thanks for any advice!

Never, ever, feed them after midnight!
Like gremlins, rubber roofs are very special and cool... But they have rules.  You can get a rubber roof wet. You can expose it to direct sun.
But you can't put tar on it!
Ever.  Not even a little.
That product has a lot of fancy-dancy language designed to convince you to buy it.  But it's tar-based, like any such product that doesn't specifically say otherwise.  Go deep enough into the data sheets, it says it conforms with the material standards for tar roof patch.
What you did is the common ending for many a rubber roof.  Consumer has a leak. Consumer knows nothing about rubber roofs. Goes down to the big-box store and grabs a can of goop that says it fixes leaks. (tar, naturally).  Smears it liberally on leak.  Leak stops, consumer declares victory.  Over the next year, the rubber degrades, bloats, crinkles and comes unglued.  Meanwhile the tar dries out (as it always does) and cracks, reintroducing the leak.  Now they find a crinkled, cancerous mess, and what does the consumer say? "Wow, rubber roofs suck".
/facepalm

Here sat a broom and a can of tar roof patch.  It had been used by amateurs 5-7 years prior, to patch the adjacent metal roof, and was forgotten.  The drippage/leakage completely trashed the rubber.  The rubber underneath where the can was, is pretty much liquified.  Beyond, you can see rubber roof seams done properly.
Recover from this mess immediately
Yes, the tar has to go. ALL the tar.  Including the tar splatter that wasn't even an intended part of the repair.
You'll need to find a local home store (mind you: this may need to be more upscale than Home Depot) that sells DIY EPDM rubber roofs.  Ours sells a system called Rubberall for instance.  Get their installation and repair guides, and read carefully what they say about patching rubber roofs.
It would be ideal to use the documentation from the actual roof you do have, but generally, an EPDM roof is an EPDM roof, so you should expect competing brands to be compatible unless they advertise theirs as superior/different in some way.
I expect them to specify:

The EPDM rubber roof material (which the store will happily sell you by-the-foot, though it will be 10' wide)... this stuff is cheap.
Glue for gluing rubber to rubber.  (not so cheap)
Edging caulk to put around the exposed edge of the rubber.

Then you need to completely cut away all rubber which touched tar in any way, including the places you randomly dripped it.  To be clear, you cannot simply overlay the rubber roof patch on top of the tar -- the tar will be touching the patch and will corrode it as well.
Your patch needs whatever overlap the instructions say. EPDM is cheap, rework is expensive.
Very important - on the patch overlap area (where old meets new) you need to clean (do surface preparation) according to instructions.  Do not use random chemicals like paint thinner to do the prep, or you'll have the problem all over again!


Dating insulation or studs for determining when prior work was completed Thanks in advance for any help. My wife and I purchased a house two years ago and have finally gotten around to remodeling the bathroom. When pulling down the old drywall we were surprised to see significant termite damage to the studs and top plate of a load bearing wall. Someone had sistered several studs and blocking to some of the damaged areas. The work is substandard. The previous owners did not disclose this damage and owned the house for 15 years prior to us. We were wondering if there was any way to date the mfg date of the insulation or studs so that we could see if they did or did not have prior knowledge of the work. Thanks,

Shawn in New Orleans

Not for the lumber may have a grade stamp on it that does have various information but there is no date. The insulation might have a manufacturing date on it, it is worth checking. However, to my knowledge it is not at all required.


Replacement Bathroom Downlight We had a new bathroom installed a few years ago.  It has four LED downlight and, over time, the lights have all burned out.  I replaced one of the lights a few years ago, but can't remember what type of light I bought.  As I recall, the light came with a bezel and mounting hardware and various other bits, none of which I needed.  It seemed like a huge waste.
The light fixture has numbers on it (10w WW 36°) as does the cable, but nothing that I've been able to use to find a replacement.
The lights are on the bathroom ceiling and are recessed, with a small chrome bezel.  Two of them are near - if not above - the shower.  I assume they need to be IP65.  We are in the UK.  I went to Screwfix today but they were not able to help me - they couldn't show me any lights, I had to buy them and return them (Covid restrictions).  I have also googled this extensively but I have not seen any lights like this.
I would like to know what type of light this is - what I need to buy, and whether or not every time I buy one of these it will come with all the extra stuff that I don't need.  Also - is it possible to buy one where the bulb itself can be replaced (say a GU10 or whatever)?
Thanks

This is what I ended up using.  I got them at a store in the UK called ToolStation.

Here are the contents of the box.  The only thing  I needed was the light itself (lower left); all of the other stuff is waste.


Can I plumb this restaurant sink this way? Came across a 3 basin restaurant style sink that I am going to use in my basement (homebrewing!).

I'm using CPVC to connect to this faucet but there was originally a short threaded black pipe nipple with washers that went into the faucet from the back side and then a female CPVC connection to the water supply. The black nipples were solid gunk & rust inside so I removed them.

Instead of going back with another black pipe connection, can I not just use  CPVC male adapters straight into the back of the faucet?..is CPVC strong enough to make this connection and hold the faucet to the sink? It seems to hold (see pictures) but I didn't tighten it down very far, only did this as a test.  It seems like there should be a locknut on the back side to hold the
faucet in place and then the threaded plumbing fitting, but no one at the home center could help me find anything like this...should there be one?

I have seen this done with bad results due to the weight and abuse a large fixture goes thru with accidentally knocking pots and pans into it. My suggestion would be to use galvanized pipes not black pipes those are for gas lines but I have seen it many times.  The size of galvanized pipe usually in such small size is fully threaded so get one a little longer than needed and add a large pan washer to distribute weight and add a galvanized thin walled nut to add support then add 2 brass angled pex quick connects at 3/4 inch and pex it to your existing pipes with appropriate push in addapters.  This will give strength to the faucets structure and add a way to quick disconnet the bench from the wall if need to be moved or cleaned behind. Just a few ways  I did mine and with casters i can load it onto the lowboy trailer and travel with the shop.☺ Have fun!


What is a 'grounded neutral' and how bad is it? I bought an electrical device a few months ago.  A few weeks ago, it failed, complete with the release of magic smoke.  I contacted the company, and they've had me mail it to them and have been investigating the failure.

Today they contacted me asking to have an electrician come to my house and take some measurements; they said that they've talked to experts and they "...have indicated that a grounded neutral in a house with wiring like yours may create a scenario that could cause something like this."

My house was built in 1959, and while some circuits are grounded, the room where the device was plugged in has two-prong outlets, and the cable going to the receptacles is ungrounded.  The device used a two-prong plug.

I'm inclined to let them do the measurements, but before I do, I'd like to know:

What is a 'grounded neutral'?  My main breaker panel only has two breakers, one 30-amp for the A/C and one 100-amp breaker for the subpanel that powers the rest of the house; I'm pretty sure that Neutral and Ground don't touch inside the subpanel, but I haven't looked inside it for a couple of years.

Is there anything else I should know?

That explanation doesn't really make any sense to me personally.  The neutral bus bar in your main panel should be bonded to the ground bus bar so in effect, all neutral wires in your house are grounded.

The third prong in a typical three prong outlet is known as the equipment ground.  This is a safety feature that should cause your breaker to trip if an electrical fault inside of an appliance causes the metal body of the appliance to become energized.  The equipment ground protection however is a safety feature for YOU so that you won't be electrocuted in the case of an appliance fault.  It doesn't and shouldn't make any difference at all do the proper functioning of an appliance.

If an appliance you (recently purchased, older appliances may not have the same quality standards!) purchased has only a two prong plug, then it is essentially assured to not be an electrocution hazard in the case of an electrical fault, or it is not capable of having such a fault.

So basically what I am saying, the appliance you are talking about would never have been grounded anyway if it has a two prong plug.  Grounding has nothing to do with the failure of your appliance.

You must have misheard because perhaps the tech support person meant to say "Ungrounded Neutral" which potentially could be a problem for sensitive electronics.  The neutral (connected to the center tap in the main panel) can and does carry an electrical charge, so the neutral bus bar should be grounded to the outside through the use of a grounding rod to bring Neutral to Earth Ground.

If your home was built in 1959 then it is possible that the grounding rod was never placed deep enough into the earth to provide proper grounding, or perhaps it rusted away over time.  How far the grounding rod needs to go depends highly on the region you live in too. I used to live in a home built in 1958 and had a similar problem. A qualified electrician would be able to fix this for you, or an adventurous DIY'er.


How do I treat mold and mildew in shower grout? I have a tiled shower in an older house, and it's been a struggle to keep the grout clear of mold and mildew.  I'm planning on installing a bathroom vent to prevent future buildup, but in the meantime, what is a good approach for a good, deep clean?

To remove surface mold I use a 4:1 mixture of water:bleach.  Spray on liberally and allow to sit for about 15 minutes.  Rinse with water and wipe clean.

If you need to use a brush to scrape off heavy deposits, I recommend brushing away from your face or preferably wear an appropriate mask and goggles.  The mold spores are probably more dangerous than the bleach at that point, but neither one is fun.

Commercial cleaners such as Tilex tend to do a reasonably good job as well.

Whichever way you go, make sure that you give yourself adequate ventilation as the fumes may be quite strong.

As you've already noted that you need to take remedial action to prevent future growth, I'll just echo BMitch's comment that you should investigate if the mold has spread into the walls as hidden growth can be a future problem.


What type of screw should I use to install a latch lock on a metal door? I want to install a latch lock on a metal door.

What is the best type of screw for that?

I would rivet it. Do not mess with screws. Rivets are much more simple and will hold the latch tight.


Moss on siding, do I need to replace this siding before painting? This part of my house has a bit of moss, it looks like it has damaged the siding. I'd like to paint the front of the house, but I want to deal with the moss first. Will I need to replace the siding or can I just clear up the moss and paint over it?

You can save the siding, but kill the moss off first with a product you can get at the big box stores. Many products claim it will keep a roof clear of moss for 2 years. It will take a few weeks after applying it for it to do its job. Do not power wash or scrub the roof!! After it is gone remove the loose paint, making certain the wall is clean before priming and finish painting.


I plugged in a Space Heater to my outlet, now my outlet doesn't work. Power still on I'm a college kid living in my first house (not dorm) who knows absolutely nothing about electrical systems. I found the breaker box(?) in the back yard but have no idea what I would have to flip to even troubleshoot. Any help would be appreciated. The problem is summarized in the title.
In addition to my specific outlet not working, an outlet in an adjacent room also doesn't work. I still have power and just moved my PC to another outlet.

Check for a tripped breaker, not always obvious, but usually are.   If the panel is properly labeled, try turning off the breaker for the problematic circuit and then back on again, if that fixes the problem, you're good to go and don't use that space heater on the same circuit again!
EDIT:  An excellent comment below which needs to be repeated here:  If you are renting the house, this is a landlord problem and you should limit your activities to resetting breakers.
If no breakers tripped and  resetting them just in case didn't fix the problem,  you probably have a blown back stab outlet.   They are notorious for failing under heavy loads.
Since you said you have no electrical experience, A quick lesson:  Back stabs are a colloquial term used in electrical trades for outlets that to install, all you had to do was strip the ends of the wires and poke them in the back of the outlets (back stab). The actual connection was very tiny and prone to failure, esp. under heavy loads like a space heater.
What you need to do is get a voltage tester, find the breaker that controls the recalcitrant circuit, be sure, using your voltage tester that the power is actually off, and start pulling out outlets, looking for damage like burn marks, melted plastic, etc.
Best practice to put them back together is to pig tail the connection (power in, power out, power to the outlet via the pig tail wire-nutted together, blacks to blacks and whites to whites).  That way you don't count on the outlet itself to serve down stream outlets.
Be careful here, while this is a DIY site, it's up to you if you're comfortable doing this, if not, while we don't like saying this here, you might need to call a pro.


How to troubleshoot a leak in an Aprilaire humidifier? An Aprilaire 600M humidifier attached to my HVAC vent is leaking very slowly, about 2 ounces per day.  I have not seen it leak but the leak is coming out near the exhaust at the bottom of the plastic insert (see first pic below).
This is what I have tried.

Inspect the housing for cracks
Make sure the plastic insert is seated properly
Pour water into into plastic insert to see if it is leaking
Pour water into the pipe where it exits the humidifier to be sure the exit piping is not clogged.
Change the water panel

I noticed some white crumbly stuff at the bottom of the humidifier (see second pic below)
What else can I do to prevent the leak?
Thanks.
UPDATE

I opened the humidifier cover and turned up the humidistat so that I could see what was happening when the water flowed.  I saw water dripping at the bottom corner, originating about 1/2 up the side. (see third pic below)

I slipped in a thin wooden shim so the panel was not leaning against the holder (the tray) and the drip stopped.  (See fourth pic below.)

I do not see how to put in the panel so it does not lean against the tray.  Any help would be appreciated.

I can't quite tell whether you're seeing normal operation and mistaking it as a problem or if there's actually a problem. The white crumbly stuff is scale, also called mineral deposits. It is calcium and other minerals that are dissolved in drinking water.
I've drawn a line on the photo below to illustrate the path water should travel. It flows from the valve into the distribution tray at the top, trickles down through the evaporator pad, then collects in the tray at the bottom and exits through the drain hose. It's normal that the water that enters the humidifier will not all be evaporated - in other words, that some water will drain off when the humidifier operates. The amount of drainage will depend on how much the humidifier operates. If the indoor humidity is already close to the humidistat setting then the humidifier won't operate much and there will be little drainage.

The drain port at the bottom of the humidifier pad assembly should be inserted into the fitting at the bottom of the housing so that excess water goes through the drain hose. The humidifier pad assembly should sit fairly close to level and plumb in the housing so that the collection tray won't overflow. The water supply should be adjusted high enough that there's some drainage coming off the humidifier, but low enough to avoid overflowing the collection tray.
Based on the update of the question it sounds like water, as it trickles down the panel, jumps the gap to the plastic frame. A drip then forms and runs down the exterior of the frame, missing the intended drainage path.
The shim is a good idea. It seems reasonable to leave that in place and call it a fix. An alternative might be to modify the water panel. Maybe by crushing it down a bit on or near the edge you can make the gap from panel to frame large enough that rivulets of water flowing down the panel can't jump the gap.


How do I convert a 3-way circuit with two lights into two 3-way circuits that control each light separately? I have two switches in my kitchen, one on each side, that each turn on two lights at the same time. What I want to do is change it around so each light is turned on separately but still from both sides of the kitchen. I am assuming I have to add in a switch at both ends. Just unsure of the wiring part.

First of all: You will absolutely have to pull new wires for this, and it will involve opening the drywall in several places.

You'll also have to patch the drywall after, and almost certainly repaint each wall you put a hole into. You may be able to get away with painting just a section of the ceiling without it being noticeable, but very rarely can you get away with it on a wall.

Current wiring

What you have now is one of these two wiring variants:

Necessary Changes

You essentially need two separate 3-way circuits (take a look here for different wiring variants: http://www.buildmyowncabin.com/electrical/wire-3-way-switches.html).

In variant #1, you'd have to pull a new 14/2 between each light and switch, and change the wiring at each light.
In variant #2, You'd need a new 14/2 between the two switches, and another 14/2 between the switch and first light or to replace the current 14/2 with a 14/3.

Making diagrams for these is not simple, so if you describe or draw your current wiring diagram (or at least post pictures of the wires inside each box) then maybe I can provide some more concrete instructions.


How do I reattach this light fixture? The following light was removed from my outside front porch because the bulb had burned out.  Only problem is I didn't remove it and now I need to put the thing back up, but I'm not sure how the connection should be.  Is this something I should even be doing at this point?

It looks like you've ruined it.  The stranded wires (such as the black one visible in the picture) are usually permanently attached to the lamp (Inside those cloth tubes).  The solid wires are your household wiring.  Normally you'd attach the stranded black to the solid black with a wire nut, and the same with the whites.  Then attach the bare copper ground (or green) to the brass tab in the light.  But it looks like someone just ripped it off and detached the stranded wires from the fixture.

Buy a new one, and if you are unsure of how to remove the old wires or correctly wire a new fixture, the safest thing to do is hire a qualified electrician.

Also, make sure your housemates read this: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Light-Bulb


What are my options for venting my oil boiler? I have a small New Yorker AP-U (480?) boiler that is currently vented to a large flu in my house's chimney. I want to install a wood stove in my house and I'd like to use the chimney to vent it, which means the furnace would not be able to use that flue. What options do I have for venting my furnace?

P.S. I have a chimney expert coming to take a look tomorrow. I'm just looking for other opinions.

Since you're installing the wood stove new, why bother running it through the existing chimney? Just run new chimney pipe from the stove through the roof (added bonus that the exposed chimney pipe will radiate more heat to the room).


Is it worth updating my insulation? I have a 1969 Cape Cod 2,300 square feet, brick and vinyl sided home with cathedral ceilings that I want to update insulation in. I have the original R-7 fiberglass in the walls and R-12 in the ceiling. The roof has soffit and gable vents. There is only a 4 inch access in the ceiling from the attic.

Filling this with insulation would block the venting from the soffit to the gable vents. I had some companies offer to blow cellulose in the space and make it a warm roof. Other companies said not to block airflow because it would cause problems with the roof. The house is 50 feet across the back. There is a lake view so the first story has three large sliding doors and a wide chimney. There is less than 6 linear feet of wall to insulate.

All the bedrooms are upstairs and on the back wall and again have very little wall due to the chimney, French doors and large windows. I got a quote for about $2000 for retro foam in the side walls and front of the house. They said it would make a big difference stopping airflow in the walls because the side of the house took a lot of wind from the lake.

Another company would not give me an estimate because they said due to the large amount of windows and doors and because the ceiling was under insulated, retro foaming the walls would not make a noticeable difference. I have replaced all the doors and windows in the house and installed a high efficiency furnace. I live in Michigan with cold winters and warm summers.

Is it worth insulating whatever I can?

Update

The ceiling is built to the trusses. I went up into the peak and realized that there are cross braces so there is no way to insulate the ceiling over the bedrooms without removing the roof or tearing out the plaster ceiling. So the question is: will I notice a difference in comfort putting retro foam in the walls if the roof is only about R-12.  I realize that it will take many years of energy savings to make up the $2000.

The simple answer is "yes". Every piece of insulation you put in is a bit of heat that's not lost to the outside world. This is better for you as your house is warmer and your fuel bills are lower, it's also better for the environment as you're not using as much energy.

The more complex answer is "it depends". Buying and installing the insulation costs money (you don't say!) so the immediate equation becomes "is this cost less than the money I'll save over X years?". It's the answer to this that will, largely, affect your decision on whether to insulate or not.

The company who wouldn't estimate may be right (for their system) in that it would cost $2,000 (say) to do the work, but you'd only be saving $20 a year on your heating. This would mean it would take 100 years to pay back the cost. Now, if you can find a system that costs less then the proposition becomes more economical. Insulating the ceiling/roof space is a good thing to do anyway.

However, if your primary concern isn't the savings then you might decide to go ahead regardless.


Copper pipe going up to nowhere Here is a rough breakdown of the house in question:

A one floor home built in approx. 1960s or 1970s
A full basement, unfinished
A full attic with blown in insulation

I have been removing some bulkheads in the kitchen that look very similar to this:

I discovered a single, small run of 1.5" copper piping jutting out. The problem is that this copper pipe appears to go from the basement up to the attic for absolutely no reason.
This appears to be the waste water pipe, going directly up from the basement to beneath the kitchen sink - however, it seems to keep going up behind the wall.
The house has no history of dramatic changes or updates, certainly not anything involving a waste pipe being required in the attic.
The only clue is that almost all the copper water supply pipes in the house did something similar - supplying to the spot where they were needed, then running further up the wall a foot or so to be capped off. I believe this was a method for relieving excess water pressure. However, this pipe is a waste pipe, and seems to go much higher - all the way to the attic.
Does anyone know why a waste pipe might run much further up the wall than needed?

As OP noted in a comment, this is a 1.5" copper vent pipe. He found it poking through the roof.


Mixing valve for bath I saw my mixing valve under the bath that is so dirty. Is it normal? Thanks

Is that normal? Yes.
Common? Yes. You'll find plumbing in a similar state in probably hundreds of thousands of homes in the united states.
It is a problem waiting to happen? Yes.
Is it dirty? No.
That bad boy right there is good and corroded. A good candidate for proactive replacement. In the future, whether you wait for a leak (which could be a blow out or could be a pinhead) or you go ahead with replacing now, find a valve with solid brass connections to play nice with the copper. whenever you go to replace, give that adjacent copper a good look over to see if any of it looks like you need to cut it back and replace with new.


Light junction box near water We are wanting to put in sconce lighting in our bedroom. The junction box would be about 16 inches form our water shut off valves and bleed valves. Is there any issues about putting the lights in this proximity of the water valves?

The light will be install on the right side of the wall, which is over the bed.

I don't see any direct issues here.

However, to prevent any issues in a "what-if" scenario where the valve springs a high pressure (spraying) leak:
For the junction box in the wall, have the wires enter the box from the bottom, and have the wire form a "U" loop at the bottom.  This way, if there ever is some kind of spraying leak from the valve (unlikely) that any water that gets onto the NM jacket would drip off at the bottom of the "U" loop and not run into the junction box.  If you have the wire running in from the top of the box, its possible that in a leak situation the water on the NM cable could drip into the junction box which would be very bad.

Make sure the box is installed correctly, with the NM jacket coming just into the box.


Add water pump to outdoor fountain Right now the question is how to run power to the pump.

I have an outdoor fountain about 10 to 15 feet away from an outdoor outlet. In between the outlet and the fountain is a brick patio.

The thing is a mosquito breeding ground, so I added some mosquito dunks and want to add a water pump to cycle the water (the fountain has two levels - bottom level sits in the ground).

At first I thought about just plugging an extension cord to the pump, but I'm concerned about exposing the connection to the elements. Some people told me to just wrap the connection to the pump with duct/electrical tape. Not sure about that...

So, how should I get power to the pump without spending money on getting an electrician to run power underground to an outdoor outlet next to the fountain?

I ended up getting an outdoor extension cord for this.

The cord is used for stuff like powering Christmas decorations and the like, and has a cover to shield the outlets from the elements.


Damage to wall caused by chair I have a chair with some big metal rivets on the back:

It has caused damage to the wall, when people sit the chair slides back and causes this:

How could I fix that? Just putty and paint? If so, please recommend a type of putty. I am a total amateur here. Also, when painting, can I just paint the trouble spot or will it stand out if I don't repaint the entire wall?

I am also looking for something to put on the back of the chair to prevent it from happening in the future, if anyone has advice for that :)

I only see 1 small divot but some discoloring from the rivets. I might use a tiny amount of joint compound to fill that larger spot, then use a wet sponge and pat the area with a small amount of joint compound on the sponge or wall and pat around until the texture looks good. You will need to paint to hide the line and discoloring, if you have the original color you can fade it in and not have to paint the entire wall.
No brand of joint compound but as a new to diy I would find a pre mixed tub of standard joint compound found an any hardware or big box store I think it may come in a small tub about the size of a butter tub maybe larger but if sealed it last a long time. A standard dish sponge can be used rinsed and tossed in the dishwasher and can be used for dishes nothing hazardous in standard joint compound.


Installing bath sink draining for pedestal when drain does not line up I have install a pedestal sink in my basement half bath. The drain pipe is perpendicular to the sink and the p-trap does not extend out far enough from the pedestal to allow for connecting. What are possible solutions?
Thanks
Chris

More pipe. Either an extender on the trap or extending the drain from the wall.


How to remove stubborn paint spots from natural stone My upstate NY porch floor was built with stone quarried from northern PA.  The previous owner got some white paint drips on it which I would like to remove.  What I've tried so far:

mineral spirits
Sealkrete Clean-N-Etch concrete 2-in-1 cleaner & etcher

Neither of these made ANY difference whatsoever.  I even tried the Sealkrete undiluted.

The only other thing I can think of is straight muriatic acid.

The suggestion that you made in comments to try a wire brush may very well be a good first effort. However I would like to suggest some additional things as well.

Try to see if most of the paint spot can be removed by scraping at it with a sharp edged scraper or knife. This should be able to get most of the paint removed if it has any significant thickness like many paint dips have.
Most paint can be softened most easily with paint stripper. This would be most effective when most of the paint thickness has already been mechanically removed. Stripper can also help get out some of the paint that may have penetrated into a rough or porous stone surface. Before using do experiment with the stripper by applying some to an inconspicuous area to make sure the harsh chemicals in the stripper do not absorb into the stone and permanently discolor it.
Using a wire brush or coarse steel will would be tools of choice for removing the last remnants of the paint after the scraping and stripping. In the end there may remain some small amount of discoloration that cannot be removed without seriously abrading the stone.


Using tarpaulin to stop soil absorbing to rain, trying to prevent foundation damage There is a forecast for several inches of rain between Thursday and Sunday here. I am in an old brick home with a sandstone block foundation. The soils are clay in this area.

There is a rather large stair-step crack in one of the front bedrooms, it seems to open up by a fraction of an inch every time we have a large rain event. Due to recent drought, the front yard is mostly bare soil, that is very hard and dry. There is a slight downward slope, from the street towards the backyard.

I am concerned about the soil absorbing moisture and causing more cracking. Is it feasible to use heavy-duty tarpaulins to try and minimise the amount of soaking of the soil? I have been told I am an absolute nutter for even thinking this.

The slope has to go the other direction

The slope must be away from your house for some reasonable distance.  Otherwise tarpaulins will do nothing at all.

If the slope is away from the house, then yes, the tarps will help a lot.

Water flows downhill. If you think otherwise, that might explain why they are calling you a nutter ;) Every building code requires you take that into account when grading around your home, and you are required to grade so water naturally wants to back away from your house as it seeks the lowest level.

So have at least the first six feet slope away from your house.  If this creates a "low spot" or impoundment where water would pool, then you need to re-grade to give water an ultimate outlet.

This outlet can be underground; if you have somewhere on your property low enough, you can install a French or Buckeye drain to carry water from the would-be 'pound to the low outlet.  Don't spare the geotextile; you want to keep silt out of it.


Best solution for outdoor outlet with permanent connection? I have a circular junction box on my deck (outside) where I can presumably attach an outlet, and it is connected to a switch. I have string lights I'd like to permanently connect to to this outlet (they plug in normally).
What is the best weather-proof solution so that I can keep the lights plugged in, but have the outlet protected from the elements, and use the switch to turn them on and off?

You need a weatherproof 4/O to single-gang plate with in-use cover:


Can "dirty" brick finish be removed? I was looking at some brick suppliers for a project and I've come across an odd trend. A whole lot of brick suppliers have some kind of finish on the brick that's frankly ugly. The fashion looks like the bricks were dropped in various kinds of sand, gravel, clay or dirt before being fired.

This one is a fairly light sand texture treatment compared to some others. You can see it has a nice red brick underneath.

This one has a smoother clay veneer, again with the basic brick color showing underneath.

I believe the manufacturer refers to these as 'extruded', but it is very difficult to get information on what exactly has been done. They have other varieties of brick that art 'Iron spot', which I gather means iron salts were used in the manufacturing or finishing process, so I take that to mean these bricks don't have iron salts. They are definitely not reclaimed brick (mfg. promises all-new), but I see the point about it intending to look that way...

My question is, what is this kind of finish/texture called in the trade? Does 'Extruded' mean anything standard or is it pure marketing speak?
Can it be cleaned off or thinned out to reveal more or all of the base brick color underneath? Would pressure washing or sand blasting be possible or would that run the risk of harming the mortar?

what is this kind of finish/texture called in the trade?

It depends on the part of the world you live in and the manufacturer.

There are thousands of variations available, bricks tend to be classified primarily by colour but also by texture and by a lot of other attributes such as "dragface", "handmade", "thrown", "waterstruck", "extruded", "light texture", "heavy texture", "smooth" and so on ad-infinitum (only limited by the imagination of marketing folk).

  Can it be cleaned off or thinned out to reveal more or all of the base brick color underneath?

No. It is more appropriate to buy bricks in the style you want.

  Would pressure washing or sand blasting be possible or would that run the risk of harming the mortar?

Either of those would damage the bricks or mortar.


Can I use bisphenol resin to bond plastic? I have a tube of bisphenol two part resin I'd like to use to repair headphones with a broken band. Problem is the band is plastic. Can I use a BPA resin to bond the earphone back to the band? I ask because both parts are plastic, and I don't know how well BPA plays with plastic. I also have JB weld which I know does NOT play well with many plastics.

I can also grab any relevant adhesive if there's something you think would work better.

Epoxy is not a bonding agent; it is a filler. Use something that is called plastic cement, or melt the pieces together. Epoxy only works well for bonding if the surfaces are rough such that the epoxy can fill the voids on each side of the bond. Epoxy's internal strength is high, but it does not attach well to anything, so it can generally be pulled right off its host surface. The only way to attach something to a smooth surface with epoxy is to drill through the surface and let the epoxy ooze through those holes and spread out on the other side; like a molly bolt.


What is the correct material to reseal a shower pan to a drain pipe? After finding a leak in room below my shower, I discovered that the silicone like ring that was attaching my shower pan to my drain pipe was peeling back

I pulled the seal the rest of the way out, and found some sort of chalky substance under it that seemed to absorb water fairly easily, I am not sure how these are assembled, but I assume that water is able to pass through it and was making it to the drywall below.

What is the correct way to reseal this? I assume I could just add some standard bath silicone again, but with the peel back happening once already, I'm curious if there are better options. I also have seen some say that plumbers putty is good for this, but I've also hear that that is not supposed to be used directly on plastic.

it was installed wrong, there's no real correct way to fix this other than starting again and using the correct fitting.

The correct way is to use the pipe fitting that matches the shower base,
you may be able to do from below or it may require disassebling the
shower floor and walls in addition to cuttihg a hole in ceiling of the room below.

Next best is probably to weld the pipe to the shower base if the two are made of compatible plastics, this could be a fusion weld done with a heat gun with a plastic welding head or (it it's all PVC) a solvent weld done with that Marley stuff.

if you want to make another doomed attempt at sealing it with caulk choose a product that has low shrinkage (preferably no shrinkage)


How to install 4-prong dryer in 3-prong receptacle with 4-wire cut ground? I bought a new dryer while living in a new construction apartment. I then moved to an older home (pre-1996 construction) with a 3-prong receptacle. I was about to buy a 3-prong plug but decided to open the receptacle and take a look. In the box I was surprised to find 4 wires with the ground wire cut very short and not used. So, can I use the 4-wire, wire nut a longer ground, and wire this to a new 4-prong receptacle that I'll buy?

That would be fine, as long as you make sure that unused ground wire is in tact and properly terminated back at the panel.

Testing continuity to ground is not IMO a sufficient test, since a neutral and a ground would both show continuity to ground.  Hopefully the cable is run exposed where you can see it and verify that it goes where it should in the panel.


laying hardwood floor in the basement over concrete and vinyl I'm laying hardwood flooring in the basement, I was told that I can lay the wood over the vinyl but how do I level the vinyl is it true that I can use roof shingles?

I think you need to go with a primer and liquid leveling agent.  The problem with usinng shingles for something like this is getting the shingles to bind with the vinyl.  They would normally be stapled to a wood subfloor.


How does Schlage SecureKey Re-keying mechanism work? Here is their consumer info. And here is an amateur teardown, although I can't tell from the pictures how the thing actually works. Does any one have any better powers explanation?

But beyond just being curious about the internal workings, the real question is how it compares to a regular pin-tumbler lock for security, smooth operation, longevity, etc?

Good info here: http://www.lockwiki.com/index.php/Schlage_SecureKey


Why doesn't my new GFCI outlet work? I installed a new gfci identically as the one I removed.  The green light is on, but it isn't working.  I hit the reset button, still nothing.  I hit the test button, but it doesn't budge.  Please help

Hook up 2 wires to the LINE terminals only.  Cap off the others.  Plug something into it.  Switch the breaker back on and see if the appliance powers up.  If it doesn't, you got the LINE terminals wrong.  Power back down and Work on that.

Once the unit powers up and acts normally, then hook up the other wires.


Is this mystery cable safe? Found this while tearing down some old shelves in the basement. It was wedged behind the shelf in the air. This is coming from the opposite side of the basement where the electric box lives. Any ideas what this cable is used for?

I mainly trying to figure out if its safe to touch before i start working near it.

That's definitely power. Looks like ungrounded split-phase from the colors, possibly 10AWG commonly for dryers or hot water heaters.  Might be cordage.

That is just as scary as it looks IMO, and I would follow it back to source and decommission it with extreme prejudice.

As for the cable, shuck it and sell the copper, without a ground wire it's useless even for what it's listed for.


How do you clean up silicone caulk? How do you clean up silicone caulk?

The product label doesn't have clean up instructions. It is impervious to soap and water (even that orange pumice soap). I didn't have much luck with mineral spirits or xylol either.

Is there any way to clean it off of surfaces besides waiting for it to cure then scraping it off?

while still wet, denatured alcohol will work.


Can CFL bulbs in a fixture with a dimmer switch damage old wiring? Our wiring is not functioning now after using a CFL bulb in a dimmable light fixture.  Is it possible that use of the CFL bulb could affect our old wiring?  We may have to replace the wire leading to this fixture.  Also other light fixtures on same wire are not working now.

Typically CFL's are not made for dimmers. You need to match a dimmable CFL with the right type of dimmer. It is possible that the CFL damaged your dimmer but not the wiring.


Stove Knob adapter 8mm to 6mm? My stove takes 6mm stove knobs but I bought 8mm stove knobs.

Is there an adapter or something to make the 6mm shaft work with 8mm knobs?

I couldn't find such an adaptor, but you may be able to make your own. Find a section of small copper pipe with 1mm thick walls, with ID greater than 6MM and OD greater than 8MM. Cut a length to match the D-shaped section of shaft, and then squash it to a tight fit around the shaft. You'll probably need to cut it along the length to reduce some of the circumference; do that on the side opposite the flat of the D (that's where the stress is). Then see if you can get the knob to be a straight fit. It will be iffy, and may not last, as indeed there will be a lot of stress on that flat.


Frozen water lines, what should I do with my electric hot water heater? I woke up yesterday (Thursday) morning to frozen water lines.  Left taps open all day and still nothing. I will not be able to get anyone in before Monday or Tuesday to thaw the lines.

I don't know what I should do about my electric hot water tank.

I can hear it clicking on and some other funny noises. I do not know if it is full, half full, or even empty.
IF I turn of the electric supply will the water in the heater freeze?

If I leave it on and the tank is empty will I burn out the motor?

I do not know what the water IN line looks like or heck even the water OUT line for that matter....
I have asked a couple of male neighbours what to do and get 'well either way will be okay'  so not overly helpful ~and no one will drop by!
Any help would be appreciated

What is the temperature where the hot water heater is? The tank is big and insulated and while it will take longer to freeze, if the ambient temperature is below freezing, it will eventually freeze.

When pipes freeze, there is much less water volume so they will freeze much faster. Also, copper is an excellent conductor, so standing water in copper pipes will be very close to the surrounding temp.


Home Theater projector re-searches for input when power surges (light/ac/fridge turning on or off) I live in the US and have an interesting problem with my home theater system that Google couldn't quite solve for me. My home theater setup is as follows (I can provide model numbers upon request, if necessary):

AT&T Uverse box
Sony A/V Receiver
Viewsonic Projector

The Receiver and uverse box are plugged in to the same surge protector and the uverse box is connected to the receiver via HDMI. The receiver is then connected to the projector via HDMI and the projector is plugged in to an outlet on the other side of the room.

Here's the problem. This does not happen 100% of the time, but often. When a light turns on or off, the A/C turns on or off, washer, dryer, fridge, etc. When any of these turn on of off, the projector goes to the screen showing it is searching for a different source and simultaneously the sound stops. If I just change the source on the projector the sound does not cut out because the sound is coming from the uverse box to the receiver.

So far this sounds like this question:Why would my TV turn off/on when connected to a surge suppressor?, but here's where things get interesting.

I had this problem in my apartment and got a new receiver(for other reasons) and I still had the same problem. Then, I moved to a new house and the problem remained. At the old place I had a Time Warner cable box and now I have uverse box. Literally the only thing that has stayed the same in this whole thing is the projector. That would indicate that the projector is the problem, which it very well may be, but I wanted to get some more insight before I went out to buy a new projector.

So the question is, does anyone know what is causing all this?

Something is sensitive to fluctuations in voltage. My first guess would be the receiver.

Instead of buying a new projector or receiver, buy a power conditioner. This will ensure that your cable box, receiver and projector all receive a constant voltage.


How can I manage a drop ceiling potentially overlapping the top of a window? Modifying a garage to turn it into bedrooms, I will be hanging a drop ceiling to cover up pipes, wires, etc., overhead.  An existing pair of windows (pictured) goes almost all the way to the current ceiling, with only about 2" of trim above the rough opening.  Due to a water pipe about 7" below the ceiling, my drop ceiling would overlap the window's opening by about that much.  (I haven't done a drop ceiling before and I'm not sure what the thickness of that hardware is.)

Certainly one option is to replace the windows, buy shorter windows, and wall in the top part of the rough opening to make a smaller opening that will fit below the drop ceiling.

My question, though, is: can I continue to use the existing pair of windows, even if they are partially overlapped by the drop ceiling?

If so, are there problems I should expect and special measures I should take?
If not, why not?

Clarification: the window on the left, and the dog door, are going to go no matter what.  I'm envisioning buying another window for the left side to match the one at right, if this is reasonable.

I had an almost an identical situation as you have shown except I worked very hard to eliminate the amount the drop down ceiling came down and was able to get it to work at 3.5 inches. I the built a wood box as shown in my diagram below that allowed the drop ceiling to fit around the box but still allow the window to exist full size.

This picture is a side view looking into the edge view of the window unit. The box is typically made of four pieces of pine boards including the top, two ends and the front face that parallels the window. The amount of projection out from the window will depend upon far back the window surface is from the wall surface and how far down the drop ceiling comes.


Buzzing sound from junction box when dimmer switch is on I replaced my dishwasher a few days ago. The old one didn't need / use a ground, but the new one does. The old one was coming through a junction box that then went along to a dimmer switch, with 3 wires running to it. I measured with my MM hot - neutral and got 120, then hot to third wire and got 120, then again neutral to third wire and got 0 also. I assumed that that was the ground wire and spliced in a wire at that junction running it to the ground wire of the dishwasher.

Dishwasher works fine now. However, when I turn on the dimmer switch, there's an audible buzzing sound and the lights don't come on. The dishwasher continues to work (or at least stay lit) with this switch on.

What did I mess up?

edit

It's possible that the cap I used to splice the ground wire in was too small for 3 wires. Would this behavior be consistent with a loose ground connection for a dimmer switch?

edit 2

It was a loose connection. Fixed that, switch works, no buzzing. But I'm still concerned that the yellow cable coming in is not a ground.
Measuring hot - supposed ground. Switch off - 120V. Switch on - 0V. Neutral - supposed ground. Switch off - 0V. Switch on - 120V. Is this a switched hot? This is off the old dishwasher circuit breaker. The only thing on it is the dishwasher, dimmer lights and one kitchen outlet. Why would there be a switched hot down there?

Picture:

Center hole - in from the wall. White, Black and Yellow wires. Conduit to the right - goes to dimmer switch. Conduit up goes to the new dishwasher box. It looks like there are 4 wires running to the DW box, there aren't. The yellow just loops past it. I'm using a scrap of white wire for the ground (I know, I'll fix it - all I had at the time).

Yellow is indeed not a ground

Your house was wired up using conduit (rigid and flexible) instead of cable -- therefore, the electrician could use whatever wire colors he so pleased (with the only ones off limits being white, grey, and green) instead of being stuck with the NM-cable defaults.  Furthermore, the conduit itself is a grounding conductor, so there's no need for further grounding wires running inside it.

So, simply use a green or bare jumper to a grounding screw in the box (there are dedicated holes in the back for a standard 10-32 grounding screw) to ground your dishwasher.  And the yellow is likely a switched hot indeed -- the buzzing was the dimmer's way of complaining about the wiring.


One fuse turned off, still 130 Volt on circuit. How is this possible? I have a 3x230V electrical system in my house. Every circuit has 2 fuses (one at both ends). On one of the circuits one fuse is switched off, but my lights kept working (although at half their strength). I measured the voltage of the circuit and it was 130 Volt. Is this caused by an unwanted contact and if so how could I find it?

The fuse is designed to protect from overload, not render the circuit safe for maintenance.  When a circuit is protected by 2 fuses, you need to pull both fuses.  This would also be true, for instance, in a North American or Philippine 240V load.

This problem is precisely why North America has moved to circuit breakers, and installations like this use multi-pole breakers that either have "common trip" across all poles, or are handle-tied for "common maintenance shutoff" across all poles.


Why is the pressure valve repeatedly tripping on my water heater? The pressure valve tripped on my water heater, which is about 2 years old. I put a new one on, and about 24 hours later it tripped again.

I turned the power off but 10 hours later it still tripped again. What would cause this even with the power off?

If the PT valve opens after hot water is used say from a shower, there are three possibilities.

There is no expansion tank connected to your hot water tank or the one installed needs serviced or replaced. The cold water that enters the tank expands as it is heated causing the discharge of water due to over-pressure in the tank.
Your incoming water pressure (the normal house pressure) is too high. Normal incoming supply pressures are usually around 80 PSIG. If that is the case you may need a pressure reducing valve on the incoming house supply line.
The replacement TPRV pressure setting is too low. Most are sold with pressure settings of 125PSI or 150PSI. I prefer the 150PSI as long as that pressure does not exceed the tanks pressure rating.

To correct your problem you may any one or a combination of all three to fix your problem. One last thing, you may want to check with your governing bodies to make sure you do not break any building codes. I never had any problems however I have been retired about 10 years and big brother is always on the prowl and watching.


How can I disassemble and install an old Schlage door knob? I have an old brass Schlage unkeyed door knob/latch set. I would like to install it in a door, but can't figure out how to take it apart. The rosettes thread on, but I can't figure out how to get a knob off. There are 2 small holes on both knob shafts. I have already tried pushing something into the holes and pulling/turning the knobs.

A pin in the small hole starts it. Pull on the handle as you push the pin in the hole. An ice pick or small nail will be strong enough to do what you need. After the knob is off, you may be able to remove the rosettes as you suggest, but a lot of the rosettes are removed by prying of the rosette by setting a flat screwdriver tip in the slot that is visible at the edge of the rosette where it meets the door. This is usually located on the low side of the rosette. After that is off, the 2 screws that hold the rest of the knob is visible.

This is for the other hole, this is just for the idea, the pin on this one is too big to fit in the hole of the rosette.

It takes a little finess to remove, first be certain you are able to depress the release. On practically every schlage I worked on, only one side will release. Once you know you have something depressed, lightly push and pull on the knob, you should be able to observe the slight movement of the knob at the hole were the pin is inserted, the hole will move one way then another to touch the pin. Once that is confirmed, pull the knob and release the pin after a firm pull is made. If it does not work on that side, try the other side. It will work.


How can I soundproof an interior door? I'm looking to soundproof some interior doors.

My plan was to drill a 1/2" hole at the top and fill it up with foam, but I'm not sure what type of foam to get.  I've used tiny foam cans before, but I'm not sure they'd be up for the task.  My fear with them is that the first few seconds foam will get stuck to the sides of the door halfway down, and then all of the foam that follows will fall on top of that foam, leaving the bottom portion of the door uninsulated.

I suppose another option (and probably a better one) would be to drill a tiny hole at the bottom, in which a straw from a can of foam would be placed and sealed with silicone.  Another hole could be drilled at the top of the door, serving as a vent to get rid of the air that's being displaced by the door.

Anyways, any tips/advice/product recommendations are appreciated.

PS: I will deal with the walls later.  More care has to be given to them due to the high risk of fire.  Foam puts off gases that are not only flammable, but I believe perhaps also self-oxidizing.  I say this because I once knew a guy whose house burned down due to spray foaming the interior walls (during the actual application, not afterwards), and rumor has it that the entire house was engulfed in flames in minutes (too quickly to save a $100k painting) and burned as if it were doused in gasoline.

PSS: The windows are not a concern, as external noises are not typically the problem.  IT'S COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!  (Obligatory movie quote)

Hollow core doors are actually not totally hollow, they typically have cardboard glued inside which just serves to stop the panels from warping.

Sound moves through both air and structure.

Your main concern should be air - are the doors totally sealed, especially the gap at the bottom? The door should shut tight, and ideally be air-tight.

You should also consider vents joining the rooms, as sound can travel there as well. On the flip-side, you do need vents in the room (both a way in and out), or the air will get stale, it won't be heated/cooled, and worst case can actually lead to mold growth. It is only fairly recently that they started building homes with return vents in most rooms -- in older homes, the gap under the door is actually the only way air circulates when the door is closed, and usually there is just one return vent per floor.

You can only minimize sound travelling through structure. Using a foam core door or an interior door designed for soundproofing would be a good option. A solid door should also transmit less sound than a hollow one. An exterior door may also be an option.

There are of course other concerns like sound travelling through walls and other structure, but that's beyond the scope of this question and also fairly well covered by other questions.


Sand Colored dry wall to birght white I need to repaint a front bedroom.  Did I need to prime the sand colored walls first or may I go ahead and bright bright white over it.

No. If the wall is painted it is essentially already primed.


GFCI in garage keeps tripping when I turn on kitchen lights The GFCI outlet in my garage keeps tripping whenever we turn on the kitchen lights.  When it trips, two cable TV boxes in the living room and one bedroom also lose signal.  I press the button (sometimes I have to press it 2-3 times to make it stay in) and the cable TV boxes re-acquire the cable signal.  I have not been able to identify any other impact by the tripping.  Does anyone have any idea what I can do to troubleshoot or fix this issue?

It does not seem normal that a GFCI in your garage should control outlets in the living room and bedroom.  Usually, they are connected to outlets in bathrooms and/or kitchens.  Nevertheless, you should try unplugging the two cable boxes and see if the problem persists.  If it does, then the kitchen lights need to be investigated.  If it does not, then you need to investigate the outlets that are used by the cable boxes. If you are comfortable around electricity, you can take apart the outlets and/or the light fixtures and look for wiring problems such as loose wires, worn insulation, etc.  If you are not, then you should call an electrician.


What type of tradesman do I need if the downstairs of my house is too cold I have bought a home and in winter the extremities of the ground floor are very cold. The original part of the building is the centre, and it has been extended in the front and the back. The main living areas are the open plan kitchen (which is the rear extension) and the lounge (which is the front extension). The boiler is in the loft, so when the heating comes on the upstairs radiators heat up first and then the downstairs radiators in the middle of the house. Lastly the radiators in the lounge and kitchen come on. They don't heat up as well as the others unless I turn as many of them off as possible. When the weather is very windy then there are lots of drafts.

I want to improve the situation, but I suspect it is a combination of my boiler not being 'man' enough to heat all the radiators, not enough radiators in some key areas, and unsatisfactory insulation. So I am looking for a tradesman who can advise me on what is required. However, I am not sure what type of tradesman I need. I fear that if I get a plumber in it will be diagnosed as a plumbing issue and if I get a builder in it will be a different conclusion.

So is there a type of tradesman who specialises in the broad subject? If yes what are they called and how do I find one.

If it is relevant I am in the UK.

Thanks.

I'd look for a local "Heating Engineer".


Installing Honeywell WiFi Thermostat I am trying to upgrade to a programmable thermostat.  I bought the Honeywell RTH9580 with WiFi.  I can get power to the new thermostat and get the fan running.  However, it will not work when the fan is set to automatic, or get the AC or Heat going.

The furnace board has the following wires

A jumper from Y to G
White wire into W1, with jumper to W2
Red wire to R
Green wire to G
Blue wire to C

I set up the Honeywell as follows:

White wire to W1
Red wire to Rc with jumper left in place to R
Green wire to Y (and also tried G)
Blue wire to C

Like I said the fan will run when set to run but not auto and neither AC nor Heat kicks in.

I would remove the jumper from Y to G and use your yellow for Y.

On the thermostat and the furnace you should have
Y , yellow (cooling)
G, green (fan)
R, red (power 24v) jumper R to Rc, Rh
W, white (heat) no jumper, on thermostat use W1 (first stage heat). Leave W2 unused and set the thermostat to single stage heat, single stage cool, that way the thermostat knows that there is nothing connected to its W2 terminal.
C, blue (common/ground) this wire allows the thermostat to draw power from the HVAC system as opposed to using the batteries.


What is the purpose of repainting the walls of an apartment? I heard that in some places in US, such as NY, there are regulations of requiring repainting the walls of an apartment once in a number of years.

What is the purpose of repainting the walls of an apartment?

Does the paint prevent something unhealthy leaking from the wall, like lead?

Is the paint itself harmless to health?

Thanks.

In some areas, such as rent controlled communities, there may be
  requirements for landlords to paint rental properties. In New York
  City, landlords must paint every three years, while in West Hollywood,
  landlords have a four-year requirement. [source]

The implication seems to be that landlords are required to paint simply as a measure to prevent decay of the property and poor or unsanitary conditions for tenants.

More reading


Powervent Water Heater Has Cold Air coming into Vent I have just had a new powervent water heater installed by a licensed plumber.  All looks well and runs well except the fact that there is a big draft coming back into the vent while the blower is not on. Not just some cold air but coming in pretty hard.  This does not seem to be right. Forget the fact that I live in Chicago area where it has been 3 degree each morning this week it brings extremely cold air into the room

Details:
Installed in Basement along with a high efficiency furnace
Both use combustion air - obviously the Water heater would as there is no other option to vent out the side of the house.  Full Basement not finished so plenty of air.

Vent goes essentially up and out the side of the house and meets all the venting criteria set aside including slope, length, limiting use of 90's etc per the Kenmore manual.  The total run is only about 5 ft plus a few 45's which would make it about 17ft.  It has 3" pipe.

Has anyone seen this before, I cannot find a whole lot of information and honestly the manufacturer has not been much help. They told me I have a venting issue but when telling them my setup they can't tell me what is wrong.

It's a bad & incomplete install & nothing at all to do with the equipment. Get that Contractor back to seal everything up, which is the law. You very likely could & would get exhaust gases with that cold air.

There's absolutely no reason at all that you should feel even the slightest draft. It needs to be fully sealed inside & especially outside. I'm sorry a "pro" left you with this shoddy work...they should've been upfront & scheduled to comeback the next day to finish-up.

If they refuse, then call the Building Inspector to report them & force them back out to do it right.